Category Archives: UK news

UK coronavirus live: groups of six people can meet outside in England from Monday; No 10 backs Cummings

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Johnson unveils lockdown relaxation measures; Durham police say they won’t take further against against Cummings; UK death toll rises by 377 to 37,837

Q. In Northern Ireland the R has been increasing and is barely below 1 – should that cause alarm?

Vallance says the R remains below 1 everywhere but may be very close to 1 in some places.

Q. Do you really have the capacity to trace all the contacts of infected people?

Q. Why is the UK still only listing three symptoms for the disease compared to other countries?

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World’s oldest man dies in Hampshire aged 112

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Family pays tribute to ‘witty, kind, knowledgeable conversationalist’ Bob Weighton

The world’s oldest man, Bob Weighton, has died from cancer at the age of 112, his family have confirmed.

The former teacher and engineer, from Alton, Hampshire, took up the title of the oldest man in the world in February after the death of the previous holder, Chitetsu Watanabe of Japan.

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UK says it will extend Hongkongers’ visa rights if China pursues security laws

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Foreign secretary Dominic Raab threatens to change status of British national (overseas) passport holders

The UK will extend visa rights for as many as 300,000 Hong Kong British national (overseas) passport holders if China continues down the path of imposing repressive security laws on the former British colony, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said.

The move, which appears in outline to stop short of giving the BN(O)s a right of abode, is a response to growing Conservative backbench pressure on the Foreign Office to do more to help Hong Kong citizens fearful that China is about to extinguish their independence and political freedoms.

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MPs bring bill to ban late abortions for cleft lip, cleft palate and club foot

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Cross-party group proposes ending UK abortions after 24 weeks for minor disabilities

Abortion laws in Britain could be changed under cross-party proposals to ban late terminations on the grounds of minor physical abnormalities.

The abortion (cleft lip, cleft palate and club foot) bill, led by the Conservative MP Fiona Bruce and supported by 13 MPs, will be presented in parliament on 3 June.

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Covid-19 rehabilitation: journey from waking up to walking again – video

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David McWilliams is a consultant physiotherapist helping ICU patients recover from Covid-19 – from when they first open their eyes since arriving to their first steps. His team support patients at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth hospital, which has one of the largest critical care units in Europe and recently was treating more than 200 Covid-19 patients at one time

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The ‘super-driven’ ex-TalkTalk chief behind England’s track-and-trace scheme

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With UK’s route out of lockdown dependent on success, Dido Harding faces a huge challenge

The ex-TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding is facing one of the biggest moments in her eventful career, as she leads the government’s new track-and-trace programme upon which the country’s path out of lockdown depends.

Baroness Harding, 52, the chair of NHS Improvement, was brought in to shoulder the responsibility of this significant new strategy, personally risking the fallout if it does not go to plan.

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Lockdown violators using Cummings as excuse, say police

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Police commissioner warns of public pushback over Covid-19 containment measures

Lockdown rule-breakers are using the controversial actions of the prime minister’s top adviser, Dominic Cummings, as an excuse, a police and crime commissioner has warned.

The West Midlands PCC, David Jamieson, revealed he had received intelligence that officers are getting “pushback” from members of the public breaching Covid-19 containment measures after Downing Street’s defence of Cummings’ 264-mile lockdown trip. 

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‘Inconsistencies’ in Dominic Cummings’ story, says senior Tory

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Exclusive: Penny Mordaunt offers ‘deepest regrets’ to constituents as lockdown row rumbles on

Penny Mordaunt, a senior government minister, has said there are “inconsistencies” in Dominic Cummings’ account of his actions during lockdown and apologised for how recent days have “undermined key public health messages”.

In an email sent to constituents, seen by the Guardian, Mordaunt said Cummings’ continued position as Boris Johnson’s chief adviser was a “matter for the prime minister” but she also said she could “fully understand how angry people are” and believed there was no doubt he “took risks”.

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Coronavirus live news: WHO sounds alarm over surge of Covid-19 cases in Latin America

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Longest official mourning period in Spain’s democracy; unrest grows in UK PM’s party over Dominic Cummings lockdown breach; WHO says Americas are new Covid-19 epicentre. Follow the latest updates

There have now been 118,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the 54 nations of Africa, according to the World Health Organization’s regional office for the continent.

So far, about 48,000 people in Africa who have tested positive for the virus have recovered, while 3,500 have died, according to the latest updated from WHO African region on Wednesday morning.

Over 118,000 confirmed #COVID19 cases on the African continent - with more than 48,000 recoveries & 3,500 deaths. View country figures & more with the WHO African Region COVID-19 Dashboard: https://t.co/V0fkK8dYTg pic.twitter.com/W1hbvugno1

Hi, this is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog now, bringing you the latest headlines and stories, and the best of the Guardian’s coverage, from the coronavirus pandemic around the world.

If you have any comments, tips or suggestions for coverage please drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@gmail.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.

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Coronavirus live news: US deaths from Covid-19 have passed 100,000

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Qatar Covid-19 app ‘exposed 1m people’s personal details’; WHO sounds alarm over surge of Covid-19 cases in Latin America

Tom McCarthy writes that one of the key problems facing American efforts to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis is the population’s aversion to vaccines.

Only about half of Americans say they would get a Covid-19 vaccine if available, according to a poll, as a top US government scientist tempered claims by Donald Trump that the United States would be able to invent, manufacture and administer hundreds of millions of vaccine doses by the end of the year.

Related: Just half of Americans plan on getting Covid-19 vaccine, poll shows

Further to our story at 20.29, data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the United States has recorded more than 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, moving past a grim milestone even as many states relax mitigation measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The US has recorded more deaths from the disease than any other country in the pandemic, and almost three times as many as the second-ranking country, Britain, which has recorded more than 37,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Related: US passes 100,000 coronavirus deaths as states relax lockdown measures

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‘The support has fizzled out a bit’: frontline workers on lockdown easing

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We check in again with workers including a bus driver and a care home manager about their experiences of the pandemic

In early April, frontline workers including a bus driver, a care home manager and a cemetery worker spoke to the Guardian about their experiences during the coronavirus paramedic. Two weeks later we checked in to hear how they had been coping with the peak of the virus.

Now, another month on, with lockdown restrictions easing, we catch up with the workers to see how things have changed.

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Dominic Cummings: Tory unrest increases pressure on PM to sack adviser

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Extraordinary party revolt and public criticisms reflect anger over aide’s lockdown breaches

Boris Johnson faced an extraordinary and growing revolt from within his own party on Tuesday over his refusal to sack his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, for breaching lockdown rules.

On a day of dramatic developments, a junior minister resigned and more than 30 other Conservative MPs called for Cummings to go, many citing inboxes overflowing with hundreds of angry messages from constituents.

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‘The human fingerprint is everywhere’: Met Office’s alarming warning on climate

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Exclusively compiled data from the Hadley Centre’s supercomputer shows alarming climate trajectory

The human fingerprint on the climate is now unmistakable and will become increasingly evident over the coming decades, the UK Met Office has confirmed after 30 years of pioneering study.

Since the 1990s, global temperatures have warmed by half a degree, Arctic sea ice has shrunk by almost 2 million km2, sea-levels have risen by about 10cm and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 60 parts per million (17%), according to figures exclusively compiled for the Guardian to mark the 30th anniversary of the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for climate science and services.

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UK coronavirus live: Hancock hints at review of family lockdown fines as Tory revolt over Cummings grows

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Hancock announces anti-viral drug remdesivir will be given to some NHS Covid-19 patients; number of Tory MPs call on Cummings to resign as junior minister quits; official UK death toll passes 37,000

There are nearly 300 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 among prison staff than previously thought, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

Due to a change in reporting of cases among prison staff, and an additional evaluation, there were 873 workers who had tested positive for the coronavirus as of 1pm on Tuesday, compared to 573 recorded as positive in the last update as of 5pm Thursday.

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Appeals for calm after Tommy Robinson visits Barrow amid protests

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Far-right activist claims to be investigating case of woman accused of lying about abuse

The family of a 19-year-old woman accused of lying about being groomed and abused in a Cumbrian town have appealed for calm after the far-right activist Tommy Robinson turned up claiming to be a journalist investigating the case.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, ignored pleas from woman’s family to stay away from Barrow-in-Furness, where she was remanded in custody last week on charges of perverting the course of justice.

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First iPhone jailbreak in four years released

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Newly discovered vulnerability allows users to bypass limitations built in by Apple

A newly discovered vulnerability in iPhones allows users to bypass Apple’s built-in limitations – known as “jailbreaking” – for the first time in four years.

The release of a functional jailbreak for iOS 13.5, the latest version of the iPhone operating system, represents a breakthrough for the small community of users who rely on jailbreaks for everything from serious security research to simply running games and software that Apple does not allow on iPhones.

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UK behind Yemen and Sudan in global index of children’s rights, report finds

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Report also warns of ‘dire impact’ of pandemic worldwide with large number of children failing to return to school after lockdowns ease

The suspension of vaccination programmes, school closures and a surge in domestic violence during coronavirus lockdowns are likely to derail a decade’s worth of progress for children, according to new global research.

The Kidsrights Foundation on Tuesday published its annual rankings of children’s rights in 182 countries with Iceland scoring top for the second year running followed by Switzerland, Finland and Sweden.

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Coronavirus live news: Putin says Russia past peak of outbreak despite highest daily death toll

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WHO warns of second peak as global cases pass 5.5m; Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar denies picnic with friends was rule breach; world health leaders urge green recovery

I’m handing over to my esteemed colleague Kevin Rawlinson shortly, so I’ll leave you with a summary of today’s main global developments on the coronavirus pandemic:

A diplomatic rift has broken out between Tanzania and the US. The East African nation said it had summoned the top official at the US embassy to object to an advisory that warned of “exponential growth” of Covid-19 cases in the country.

Tanzania’s divisive leader John Magufuli has repeatedly played down the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic, appearing to model his response on the early approach taken by Donald Trump in the US.

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Dominic Cummings refuses to resign or apologise for lockdown breach

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Press conference raises more questions but Boris Johnson gives full backing to adviser

The crisis that has engulfed the government over Dominic Cummings’ conduct continued to rage unabated after an unprecedented press conference in which the prime minister’s chief aide repeatedly refused to resign or apologise for breaking lockdown rules.

After an outpouring of public anger rattled No 10, he attempted to explain why he drove 264 miles from London to his parents’ estate in Durham despite suspecting that both he and his wife had coronavirus.

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Two die in separate incidents on Cornish coast

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Teenage girl died after boat overturned in Wadebridge, and man died in Treyarnon Bay

Two people died in separate incidents along the Cornish coast on bank holiday Monday.

Devon and Cornwall police were called to reports of an upturned rigid inflatable boat in the water in Wadebridge at about 2.25pm. Three people were taken to the Royal Cornwall hospital and a teenage girl was later pronounced dead.

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