The Know Daily - Thursday 3 August

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Thirty-six new Stormzy Scholarships at the University of Cambridge will be awarded to black students over the next three years, with HSBC UK pledging a further £2m in funding for the programme. Since the rapper’s scheme launched in 2018, financial support has been provided to 32 black students from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds, transforming their university experience.

🩺 New powers for GPs

GP practices are being given powers to fast-track patients for heart and lung checks, in an attempt to speed up diagnosis and reduce pressure on the NHS.

Tell me more.
Under a new scheme, GPs will be able to directly order diagnostic checks for patients showing symptoms of conditions including asthma, cardiovascular disease, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - without needing to go via a consultant.

The Telegraph has pointed out that more than a third of people currently waiting for heart tests are facing a delay of four months - and the hope is that this fast-tracking process will help bring down a record hospital waiting list of 7.5 million patients.

What’s the bigger picture?
Giving GPs the ability to bypass hospital specialists is “part of a wider plan to reduce pressure on the NHS this winter”, said The Times.

A similar initiative started last year for cancer patients has already helped get quicker cancer tests for almost 80,000 people, according to the NHS.

How have people responded to the plan?
The charity Asthma + Lung UK has welcomed the scheme, with a spokesperson saying that too many people with lung conditions are “waiting too long to get a diagnosis and the support they need”.

The British Heart Foundation’s director of policy and influencing said the initiative “could help more people receive a diagnosis of heart failure sooner” but added that there need to be enough NHS staff in place to actually deliver the tests and treatment.

And what do GPs think about it?
The acting chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee in England acknowledged NHS England’s “efforts to tackle winter pressure demands” but said that it was “frankly counteractive” to do so by increasing the workload for GPs.

“These kinds of fast-tracked diagnostic referrals come with the expectation that additional work… will be done [by GPs] prior to referral and NHS England has provided no details on how already overstretched GPs will undertake the extra work required,” he added.

When will this become a reality?
The scheme is being introduced across England this month.

🐻 A bear-faced lie?

A Chinese zoo has denied allegations that some of its bears are actually humans in costumes.

Sorry, come again?
Yep - that’s right. A video of a sun bear at Hangzhou Zoo went viral on social media earlier this week, with some accusing the creature of actually being a zoo employee in disguise.

Sun bears - which are found in southeast Asia - do stand on their hind legs, as depicted in the video. However, the bear’s “slender legs and folds of fur” sparked allegations that all was not what it seemed.

Where has this suggestion come from?
“The claim has some precedent,” said The New York Times. A decade ago, a zoo in China’s Henan Province was “accused of replacing its lion with a Tibetan mastiff”.

Accusations have been levelled at other Chinese zoos in the past for attempting to pass off dogs as wolves, painting donkeys so they resemble zebras and positioning penguin-shaped balloons in a pool.

What has Hangzhou Zoo said?
“Some people think I stand like a person,” said a social media post from the zoo’s account, written from the perspective of a Malaysian sun bear called Angela. “It seems you don’t understand me very well… When it comes to bears, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge figure and astonishing power… But not all bears are behemoths and danger personified.”

According to The Independent, an audio clip circulating on the Chinese social media platform WeChat features a spokesperson from the zoo confirming that the bear is real. The person can also be heard saying that a human in a fur bear suit “would not last more than a few minutes before collapsing” in China’s 40C summer.

And what do the experts think?
Dr Ashleigh Marshall, an expert from Chester Zoo, told the BBC’s PM programme that the animal in the video is “definitely a real bear” - although she added that sun bears often “do look a lot like people in their costumes”.

What next?
The zoo is reportedly arranging for journalists to visit the sun bear enclosure, to see the creatures up close.

📈 Interest rates poised to rise: The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates from 5% to 5.25% at noon - the highest they have been since April 2008. “That would mean higher interest rates on mortgages and loans for some people, but also higher savings rates,” explained the BBC.

🇺🇸 Donald Trump indictment: The former president is set to appear in court in Washington DC this afternoon, where he will face charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Security has been ramped up around the federal courthouse ahead of his appearance.

🛍️ Fewer shoppers hitting high streets: Retail footfall was down by 0.3% last month, marking the first drop in July since 2009, according to new figures. The decline has been attributed to the unusually wet weather, rising cost of living and rail disruption.

📺 The shift to streaming: A new report by the media regulator Ofcom has found that the proportion of people watching traditional TV in a week dropped from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022, with even the over-65s switching over to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+.

🐳 Heavier news: Scientists believe they have discovered a new contender for the heaviest animal in Earth’s history after unearthing fossils of an early whale in Peru. The creature - called perucetus colossus - weighed up to 340 metric tonnes, topping the mass of the blue whale. See an artist illustration of it here.

Trivia answer: B) The PM revealed on Wednesday that he is heading to California with his family and the trip will include a visit to Disneyland.

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