Category Archives: UK news

Coronavirus live news: Netherlands hits record of new daily cases; Denmark’s R number at 1.5

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Dutch infections rise by 1,379 in 24 hours; rise in cases in Denmark; global deaths pass 925,000 as cases near 30m

As cases continue to rise in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has said it will maintain heavy public spending in an effort to counter the losses from the pandemic despite its finances worsening.

In his annual speech outlining the government’s new budget on Tuesday, King Willem-Alexander said:

In these insecure times, the government chooses not to cut spending, but to invest, in job security, social safety nets and a stronger economy.”

New coronavirus cases in the Netherlands have hit a daily record of 1,379 in the past 24 hours, according to Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant.

On Monday, health authorities in the country recorded 1,300 new infections, it said.

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MPs passed the Brexit bill – but what happens now?

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The internal market bill will face opposition in the Lords and amendments from Tory backbenchers

The internal market bill, described by the government as a key element of Brexit legislation, has cleared its first Commons hurdle, with two Tory MPs voting against it and nearly 30 more abstaining. But why is the bill so significant?

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Most diverse Booker prize shortlist ever as Hilary Mantel misses out

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With no room for Mantel’s conclusion to her Wolf Hall trilogy, the six finalists also include four debuts

Hilary Mantel will not win a third Booker prize with the final novel in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, after American writers made a near clean sweep of this year’s shortlist.

With four writers of colour among its six authors, the shortlist, announced on Tuesday, is the most diverse line-up in the prize’s history. Four debut novelists – Diane Cook, Avni Doshi, Douglas Stuart and Brandon Taylor – are up against the acclaimed Zimbabwean Tsitsi Dangarembga, and the Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste for the £50,000 award.

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US and UK warn travellers of risk of arbitrary arrest in China and Hong Kong

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UK updates travel advice and US urges citizens to ‘reconsider travel’ to Hong Kong

The US and the UK have warned of a risk of arbitrary arrest in China and Hong Kong in updates to their travel advice for citizens.

The US advice urged citizens to “reconsider travel” to Hong Kong, citing an environment in which the central Chinese government “unilaterally and arbitrarily exercises police and security power” in the semi-autonomous city.

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Brexit: barristers question selection of legal team leading UK drive to override deal

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Critics say advice should have been sought from lawyers without views on EU debate

The government is facing increasing scrutiny over its decision to use “committed Brexiteer” lawyers to provide advice on the legality of breaching the EU withdrawal agreement.

On Saturday, the attorney general, Suella Braverman QC, who chaired the annual general meeting of the Bar Council that represents barristers in England and Wales, faced repeated criticism over her role as the government’s chief legal adviser, according to those present.

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Brexit: Ed Miliband accuses Boris Johnson of ‘failure of governance’ in internal market debate – live

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Former chancellor Sajid Javid becomes most senior Tory MP to say he cannot back bill in its current form

The politics live blog will be paused for now, thank you all for reading along so far. We may be back later as the debate continues.

Heald also expressed his unhappiness at the UK government claiming precedent for breaking international law.

He said:

Can I just also say that I was surprised to see this justified by the precedent, allegedly, of the Finance Act 2013 General Anti-Abuse Rule by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

I was a law officer at the time, Dominic Grieve was attorney general. And one thing I can say about Dominic Grieve is that he was very correct and made sure that Government legislation did not offend the rule of law - he was extremely painstaking.

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New antibody drug added to Oxford University trial of Covid-19 treatments

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Regeneron’s experimental drug REGN-COV2 to be added to UK’s Recovery trial

The Oxford-based Recovery trial which proved that steroids saved the lives of some Covid patients will now take on a promising but far more expensive new antibody combination treatment, it has been announced.

A cohort of patients joining the trial in most NHS acute hospitals will be randomly allocated to Regeneron’s experimental drug, called REGN-COV2. The drug is a combination of two human neutralising antibodies against the virus. The company previously developed a similar antibody drug against Ebola.

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Hunting in England exempt from ‘rule of six’ Covid-19 restrictions

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List of exempt physical activities includes football, rugby, cricket and hockey among others

Grouse shooting and hunting with guns in England are among outdoor activities exempted from the government’s “rule of six” coronavirus regulations.

Confirmation that the latest health protection regulations permit groups of up to 30 to take part in any “sports gathering” was published only minutes before coming into force.

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Scientists find gas linked to life in atmosphere of Venus

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Phosphine, released by microbes in oxygen-starved environments, was present in quantities larger than expected

Traces of a pungent gas that waft through the clouds of Venus may be emanations from aerial organisms – microbial life, but not as we know it.

Astronomers detected phosphine 30 miles up in the planet’s atmosphere and have failed to identify a process other than life that could account for its presence.

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Alexei Navalny continues to improve, say German doctors

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Russian opposition leader taken off ventilator and can leave his bed, hospital reports

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been taken off a ventilator and is able to leave his bed for short periods of time, German doctors who have been treating him for novichok poisoning have said.

In a significant update, the Charité hospital in Berlin said Navalny’s condition “continues to improve” and hinted that he was able to talk. It said latest news of his health was made public after consultation with Navalny and his wife.

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Zhenhua Data leak: personal details of millions around world gathered by China tech company

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Cybersecurity experts concerned by possible intent behind use of big data to compile lists featuring everyone from low-key individuals to the royal family

The personal details of millions of people around the world have been swept up in a database compiled by a Chinese tech company with reported links to the country’s military and intelligence networks, according to a trove of leaked data.

About 2.4 million people are included in the database, assembled mostly based on public open-source data such as social media profiles, analysts said. It was compiled by Zhenhua Data, based in the south-eastern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

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Hold Still – The UK Lockdown – in pictures

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Hold Still is a digital exhibition hosted by the National Portrait Gallery. People of all ages, from across the UK, were invited to submit a photographic portrait which they had taken during lockdown. The project aimed to capture and document the spirit, the mood, the hopes, the fears and the feelings of the nation as we continued to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. The final 100 images include one by the Guardian’s Sarah Lee

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Coronavirus live news: UK reports 2,621 new infections as global cases hit one-day record high

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Public Health England also records nine further deaths; 14 refugees test positive after Lesbos fire; Silvio Berlusconi leaves hospital after treatment

French health authorities on Monday reported 6,158 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, sharply down from Saturday’s record high since large-scale testing began of 10,561 and Sunday’s tally of 7,183.

The Monday figure always tends to dip as there are fewer tests conducted on Sundays.

Related: Covid-19: Marseille and Bordeaux announce new restrictions

The Chinese city of Ruili will test all people there after authorities reported two new coronavirus cases imported from neighbouring Myanmar, state media reported late on Monday.

Ruili is part of Dehong Prefecture in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan. The city asked residents to quarantine at home, according to state television CCTV.

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UK temperatures set to hit up to 30C in September heat

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Hottest weather will be in the south but most of the country will see warmer days

The UK is set to bask in temperatures of more than 30C this week, as summer heat returns.

The mercury will be highest in southern parts of the UK, but most of the country will see a spell of warmer weather over the next few days, the Met Office has said.

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Coronavirus: 86% of doctors in England expect second wave in next six months

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BMA survey also found 90% thought test-and-trace failures were a risk factor

Almost 86% of doctors in England say they expect a second peak of coronavirus in the next six months, according to a new survey, as concern continues to grow over a recent rise in cases.

On Friday, new results from a population-based study suggested the R number for England is now at 1.7, with infections doubling every 7.7 days. While the prevalence of the disease remains lower than it was in the spring, an R value above 1 means cases could grow exponentially.

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‘Lost decade for nature’ as UK fails on 17 of 20 UN biodiversity targets

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UK government said it failed on two-thirds of targets, but RSPB analysis is bleaker – and suggests UK is moving backwards in some areas

The UK has failed to reach 17 out of 20 UN biodiversity targets agreed on 10 years ago, according to an analysis from conservation charity RSPB that says the gap between rhetoric and reality has resulted in a “lost decade for nature”.

The UK government’s self-assessment said it failed on two-thirds of targets (14 out of 20) agreed at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010, but the RSPB analysis suggests the reality is worse. On six of the 20 targets the UK has actually gone backwards. The government’s assessment published last year said it was not regressing on any target.

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Tory rebellion widens over Boris Johnson’s bill to override Brexit deal

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Criticism grows of plan to break international law as EU calls for bill to be dropped

Downing Street is facing a showdown with Conservative backbench rebels as criticism over its plans to break international law with a new controversial bill that could override parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement grew louder on Sunday.

It is understood that opposition among the party is growing, with dozens of Tory MPs expected to support a key amendment to the internal market bill that would give parliament a crucial veto of any changes to the agreement.

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Minister says he would resign over Brexit bill if law is broken ‘in way I find unacceptable’

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Justice secretary says he doesn’t believe international law will be broken, as discontent grows among Conservative backbenchers over internal market bill

The UK justice secretary, Robert Buckland, has said he would resign if the law was “broken in a way that I find unacceptable”, as Downing Street continued to come under pressure over planned legislation that would override parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

In a remarkable scene in the Commons last week that astonished Conservative backbenchers, the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, admitted the internal market bill “does break international law in a very specific and limited way”.

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Coronavirus live news: European outbreaks worsen; Australia sees anti-lockdown protests

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Cases hit daily record in Czech Republic; Austria ‘experiencing start of second wave’; 74 people at an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne

An Israeli cabinet minister, who heads an ultra-orthodox Jewish party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition, has tendered his resignation in protest at a looming coronavirus lockdown. Housing minister Yaakov Litzman argued the restrictions would unfairly impede religious celebrations of Jewish holidays.

The rules - the most extensive Israel will have imposed since a lockdown that ran from late March to early May - are expected to go into effect on Friday, the Jewish new year Rosh Hashana, and span into the Yom Kippur fast day on 27 September.

This wrongs and scorns hundreds of thousands of citizens. Where were you until now? Why have the Jewish holidays become a convenient address for tackling the coronavirus...?

We have to move on, to make the decisions necessary for Israel in the coronavirus era, and that is what we will do in this session.

India has reported 94,372 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, taking total cases past 4.7 million.

The daily increase was down on the record global spike in the previous 24 hours of 97,570 new cases and came after three days of recording more than 95,000 new cases. Infections have been growing faster in India than anywhere in the world.

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