The brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of several protesters arrested at an anti-lockdown demonstration in Hyde Park. Between 50 and 70 people defied social distancing guidelines to gather close together at Speakers’ Corner
Continue reading...Category Archives: UK news
Practical joke or toy? Leather ‘mouse’ shows Romans’ playful side
Unique 2,000-year-old discovery made by staff in lockdown at Northumberland’s Vindolanda Museum
The Roman author Pliny the Younger advised “kissing the hairy muzzle of a mouse” as a cure for the common cold. His fellow countrymen linked mice to the god Apollo, who could bring deadly plague upon them with his arrows.
So they might not have seen the funny side of a lifelike mouse made out of a strip of leather which has been newly discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, south of Hadrian’s Wall, near Hexham, Northumberland.
Continue reading...Wild white storks hatch in UK for first time in hundreds of years
Birds born in one of three nests at Knepp estate in West Sussex as part of breeding project
White stork chicks have hatched in the wild in the UK for the first time in centuries.
Eggs in one of three nests at the Knepp estate in West Sussex have hatched, the White Stork Project announced.
Continue reading...Brazil loses second health minister – as it happened
Russia records highest daily fatalities; German football gets back under way; French child dies of Kawasaki disease. Follow the latest updates
- US House narrowly approves $3 trillion Covid-19 response bill
- Trump unveils ‘warp-speed’ effort to create vaccine by year’s end
- Brazil loses second health minister in less than a month
- Australia coronavirus updates – live
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
This live blog is now closed – the new one is here where you can join Rebecca Ratcliffe for continuing coverage.
Related: Coronavirus live news: Barack Obama attacks Trump virus response
Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding in trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat, Associated Press reports.
Some are accompanied by pregnant wives and young children, braving threats from the coronavirus pandemic. They say they have been forced to leave cities and towns where they had toiled for years building homes and roads after they were abandoned by their employers casualties of a nationwide lockdown to stop the virus from spreading.
On Saturday, at least 23 laborers died in northern India when a truck they were traveling in smashed into a stationary truck on a highway. Last week, a train crashed into a group of tired workers who fell asleep on the tracks while walking back home in western Maharashtra state, killing 16.
The government and charities have tried to set up shelters for them, but their numbers are simply overwhelming, leaving them little choice but to head on a perilous journey home.
Police say ‘dangerous individual’ still at large after north London stabbing
Suspect in murder of Jemal Ebrahim in Seven Sisters ‘remains in the community’, Met says
Police have said a “dangerous individual” is at large after the murder of a 23-year-old in north London.
Jemal Ebrahim was found stabbed in Russell Road, Seven Sisters, on Wednesday evening and later died in hospital.
Continue reading...Thousands of UK students caught in rent trap by private landlords
While campuses are shut by Covid-19, students are still being forced to pay for unused accommodation
Notttingham Trent University students Eleanora Brown and her boyfriend Nizar Ruiz are in lockdown at home in Norwich, with no prospect of returning to campus any time soon. The teaching buildings are closed and the university has released all of its tenants from paying rent this term. Yet their hall of residence, run by Collegiate, a private developer, is demanding £1,700 from each of its residents to cover the summer term.
While students at most university-owned accommodation do not have to pay rent for the third term, Brown and Ruiz are among thousands of students trapped in expensive contracts with private hall operators.
Continue reading...UK researchers hope dogs can be trained to detect coronavirus
£500,000 government funding for project that ‘could revolutionise’ screening
Dogs are to be trained to try to sniff out the coronavirus before symptoms appear in humans, under trials launched with £500,000 of government funding.
Dogs have already been successfully trained to detect the odour of certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson’s disease, and a new study will look at whether labradors and cocker spaniels can be trained to detect Covid-19 in people.
Continue reading...UK quarantine for travellers to now include French arrivals
Downing Street rolls back on idea of exempting people from France from 14-day isolation
Downing Street has rolled back on the idea of exempting travellers from France from incoming quarantine rules, with only freight drivers and experts working on anti-Covid-19 efforts being able to avoid the 14-day isolation period.
Boris Johnson used his TV address last Sunday to announce that quarantine restrictions would soon be imposed on people entering the UK, but only mentioned those arriving by air. It later became clear that the rules would also apply to arrivals by road, rail and sea.
Continue reading...Phil May, frontman with the Pretty Things, dies aged 75
Singer revered by David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix had complications in hospital following hip surgery
Phil May, frontman of riotous band the Pretty Things who were acclaimed peers of David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, has died aged 75.
He died in hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, from complications following hip surgery after a cycling accident, that are not related to coronavirus.
Continue reading...British negotiator gives EU two-week deadline to drop ‘ideological’ stance
David Frost says there has been ‘very little progress’ in talks with Michel Barnier as clock ticks on
Britain’s chief negotiator in the talks over the future relationship with the EU has warned Michel Barnier that he must drop his “ideological approach” within the next fortnight, as the latest round of talks ended in stalemate.
The comments from David Frost came as both sides offered a gloomy prognosis for the negotiations on trade, security and fisheries, with little sign of the teams finding common ground.
Continue reading...UK police use DNA to identify remains found in suitcases
Properties in West Midlands searched after woman’s remains found in Forest of Dean
Police are using DNA analysis to try to identify a woman whose remains were found in two suitcases in a forest.
Officers have also been searching properties in Wolverhampton and Birmingham following the discovery in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
Continue reading...Met police officer investigated after man shot with Taser stun gun is left paralysed
Outcry after man, 23, fell from wall after stun gun was fired in Haringey, north London
A police officer has been placed under criminal investigation after a man was shot with a Taser weapon and left paralysed from the waist down, the Guardian has learned.
The man, 23, was shot by an officer using a stun gun as he jumped over a wall and fell as officers tried to detain him in Haringey, north London.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Europe could face deadly second wave of winter infections, WHO warns
Spain hails large-scale antibody study; no Danish virus deaths for first time since March; China marks one month with no Covid-19 deaths
- Europe could face deadly second wave of winter infections
- Brazil loses second health minister in less than a month
- UK coronavirus updates – live
- US coronavirus updates – live
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
New York will join the nearby states of New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware in partially reopening beaches for the Memorial Day weekend, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.
Reuters reports that Cuomo’s announcement comes one day after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he was opening the beaches for the traditional May 23-25 start of summer.
Related: Coronavirus US live: House to vote on $3tn stimulus package opposed by Trump and Senate
There were 242 new coronavirus fatalities in Italy on Friday, down by 20 from Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 31,610.
New infections rose by 789, down by over 200 within the last 24 hours, according to the civil protection authority.
Continue reading...May and Johnson hung civil servants out to dry, report finds
Inquiry into Whitehall’s Brexit role says prime ministers failed to protect officials
Theresa May and Boris Johnson let the former chief Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins and other civil servants hang out to dry after they became “targets for political attacks”, an investigation into Whitehall’s role in the Brexit drama of the past four years has found.
The independent thinktank the Institute for Government (IfG) spent months talking in confidence to Whitehall sources including officials, ministers and special advisers, to shine a light on the behind-the-scenes experience of some of those involved in one of the most controversial chapters in British political history.
Continue reading...Murder inquiry after human remains found in bags in Forest of Dean
Two people in custody after reports of erratic driving lead to discovery of remains in suitcases
A murder inquiry has been launched after police found the remains of a woman hidden in two suitcases near the English-Welsh border.
The investigation began after a member of the public reported suspicions to the police about a vehicle being driven erratically in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.
Continue reading...Drivers tell of chaos at UK’s privately run PPE stockpile
Allegations raise questions over Movianto’s management of government stocks during coronavirus outbreak
The private firm contracted to run the government’s stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) was beset by “chaos” at its warehouse that may have resulted in delays in deploying vital supplies to healthcare workers, according to sources who have spoken to the Guardian and ITV News.
The allegations from delivery drivers and other well–placed sources raise questions about whether Movianto, the subsidiary of a US healthcare giant, was able to adequately manage and distribute the nation’s emergency stockpile of PPE for use in a pandemic.
Continue reading...Northern Ireland-born British and Irish win EU citizenship rights
UK government makes change to immigration law after Derry woman’s residency case
All British and Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland will be be treated as EU citizens for immigration purposes, the government has announced after a landmark court case involving a Derry woman over the residency rights of her US-born husband.
The move is a major victory for Emma de Souza ending a three-year battle to be recognised by the Home Office as Irish, a right enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement (GFA).
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: global deaths near 300,000 as WHO says Covid-19 may never disappear
Japan expected to ease state of emergency in many regions; Russia has second highest number of infections; Wuhan mass testing begins; follow the latest updates
- WHO says Covid-19 ‘may never go away’ and warns of mental health crisis
- ‘10 days of battle’: Wuhan draws up plan to test 11m people
- Australia coronavirus updates – live
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Morning/evening/whatever-it-is-where-you-are everyone. This is Simon Burnton taking on the live blog for the next few hours. If you have seen any stories that deserve our attention, or if you have any tips, comments or suggestions for our coverage then please let me know by sending me a message either to @Simon_Burnton on Twitter or via email. Thanks!
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today.
Today I leave you with something a little different – a Ghanaian pallbearer and his band of merry, morbid men, who have become the unofficial mascots of the pandemic in countries around the world:
Related: 'Why should you cry?' Ghana's dancing pallbearers find new fame during Covid-19
Continue reading...Dele Alli injured during ‘horrible’ knifepoint robbery at his home
- Tottenham midfielder hit in face by jewellery raiders
- ‘Thank you for all the messages … we’re all okay now’
Dele Alli has been injured during a robbery at his home in north London. The Tottenham midfielder was held at knifepoint and punched after burglars broke in during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Related: Jan Vertonghen's family robbed at knifepoint while Spurs were in Leipzig
Continue reading...Government unveils taskforces for reopening five economic sectors
Each will liaise over safely reopening businesses and places such as churches and libraries
The government has unveiled five new taskforces devoted to vulnerable sectors of the economy, intended to liaise with unions and others to see how soon each sector can safely resume work with coronavirus distancing measures.
The five areas covered are all ones that have to wait before even limited reopening efforts can begin, in most cases until at least July. They are pubs and restaurants; non-essential shops; recreation and leisure; places of worship; and international air travel.
Continue reading...