Category Archives: UK news

Coronavirus live news: Facebook reports rise in posts removed for hate speech

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Spain to quarantine overseas travellers; Trump walks out of press conference; White House staff ordered to wear masks

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that another 1,064 people have died and 18,106 new infections have been detected, taking the totals to 80,820 and 1,342,594, respectively.

Parts of Mexico that have been spared the worst of the epidemic could reopen as soon as 17 May – a date some health experts worry is too ambitious as the country still hasn’t carried out widespread testing or enforced strict quarantine.

Jorge Alcocer told reporters that roughly 300 of Mexico’s more than 2,400 municipalities would likely to be reopened, depending on assessments from the health authorities. The rest of the country is projected to reopen at the end of month – with school returning 1 June – according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will unveil plans on Wednesday for “returning to a new normalcy”.

They cannot know [which cities to open] because if a sample is not representative at the state level, would it be much less representative at the municipal level … It’s a national sample. Nothing more.

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Welsh national parks urge people not to cross border to go hiking

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Lockdown ease in England prompts concern people will drive to Wales to exercise

The three Welsh national parks have urged people not to cross the border from England to go hiking in the mountains or visit its beaches, pointing out that stringent restrictions on driving to do exercise remain in Wales.

There is growing concern that the easing of restrictions over travelling to do exercise in England on Wednesday may prompt lovers of the outdoors to head for the hills and coastlines of Wales.

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Coronavirus vaccine ‘by no means guaranteed’, says Boris Johnson – video

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There is 'no guarantee' of a Covid-19 vaccine to end lockdown measures, Boris Johnson has admitted. Noting the lack of a vaccine for SARS 18 years on, Johnson said the world may be living with the virus 'for a long time to come'

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Constable charged with murder after woman dies in Dorset hospital

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Timothy Brehmer to face magistrates via videolink following death of Claire Parry

A police officer has been charged with murder following the death of a woman near Bournemouth.

Officers were called to the car park of the Horns Inn in Christchurch Road, West Parley, Dorset, on Saturday afternoon after the ambulance service reported two people needed medical assistance.

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Johnson giving no clear direction on lockdown exit, says Starmer

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Labour leader criticises PM as government struggles to answer barrage of questions

Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of failing to give the public “clear directions” on the way through the coronavirus crisis on Monday, as the government struggled to answer a barrage of questions about its new advice to “stay alert”.

Boris Johnson was challenged by the Labour leader, MPs and members of the public over ambiguities and contradictions in the government’s new guidelines.

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Interpol issues red notice for ‘fugitive’ Anne Sacoolas

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Suspect in UK death of teenager Harry Dunn fled to US claiming diplomatic immunity

An Interpol notice has been circulated worldwide making Anne Sacoolas in effect a fugitive from justice if she sets foot outside her native United States.

Sacoolas was charged in the UK withcausing the death by dangerous driving of a 19-year-old motorcyclist, Harry Dunn, last August.

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Coronavirus: what are Boris Johnson’s new lockdown rules? – video explainer

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The prime minister's address to the nation on Sunday about new coronavirus lockdown measures for England was met with confusion by some. On Monday, speaking in the House of Commons, Johnson delivered a 60-page document clarifying the rules put in place to ease the country out of lockdown and limit the damage caused by Covid-19. Guardian political correspondent Kate Proctor is here to explain what the new rules are



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Refugee families reunited in UK after rescue flight from Greece

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Vulnerable people from Greek refugee camps reunited with close family at Heathrow

Some 47 highly vulnerable migrants have arrived in the UK on an “unprecedented” family reunion flight from Greece.

British refugees travelled to Heathrow to greet nephews, brothers, husbands and wives after Monday’s flight brought people from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan to join close family in the UK. The reunion was the result of two months of intense lobbying by the campaign group Safe Passage and the British peer Alf Dubs.

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Lockdown easing: have other leaders fared better than Boris Johnson?

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Guardian writers report on how various European countries have managed the process

Boris Johnson has been heavily criticised for failing to show Britain a clear route out of lockdown. Easing a nation out of two months of confinement is a complicated business, and some degree of confusion is almost inevitable. Here, Guardian correspondents look at how other European leaders have managed the process.

Spain’s lockdown exit strategy – known formally as the Plan for the Transition Towards the New Normality – was outlined by the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, during a televised press conference on the evening of 28 April. Sánchez said the country’s four-phase de-escalation initiative would be “gradual and asymmetric”, adding that the first stage – dubbed phase 0 – would come into effect on 4 May.

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‘Finally, at last’: vulnerable migrants to leave Greece for UK

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Group including teenagers Walid and Mustafa will be reunited with relatives after grim odyssey

Until last week, Walid and Mustafa had never met. Owing to their disparate backgrounds, they might not have had anything in common, bar their age: both turned 18 this year.

But the fresh-faced, bright-eyed teenagers have been brought together by a common desire to escape danger in their respective homelands – Syria and Somalia – and rebuild lives shattered by war.

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Global report: Covid-19 lockdown rules relax in European nations amid confusion in UK

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Boris Johnson criticised for vague blueprint; China reports more infections in Wuhan; Belgium and Greece also ease some measures

Millions of people across Europe are set to embrace a relaxation of stay-at-home rules on Monday, as countries around the world plot their way tentatively through the coronavirus crisis.

In France, from Monday members of the public were able to walk outside without filling in a permit for the first time in nearly eight weeks, teachers will start to return to primary schools, and some shops – including hair salons – will reopen. Bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas will, however, remain closed.

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Boris Johnson’s lockdown release condemned as divisive, confusing and vague

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Coronavirus lockdown stays in place but more outdoor activity will be allowed in England

Boris Johnson urged the country to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown this week in an address to the nation that was immediately condemned as being divisive, confusing and vague.

In a speech from Downing Street, Johnson said if the circumstances were right, schools in England and some shops might be able to open next month, and the government was “actively encouraging” people to return to work if they cannot do so from home.

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Johnson address shows he has been swayed by hawks in his cabinet

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PM attempted to strike a balance, but slogan change and back-to-work pledge will please libertarian right

Boris Johnson famously dislikes disappointing the people around him.

The result is this weekend’s barrage of confused messaging over whether the lockdown is ending, as he tries to please both sides in the battle raging within the Tory party about how to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

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I don’t know what ‘stay alert’ means: Sturgeon decries UK government’s new Covid-19 advice – video

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Scotland's first minister for Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has rebuffed the UK government's new coronavirus advice, saying that she doesn’t know what it means, and that her country would not use it. She also announced that people in Scotland would be able to exercise more than once a day

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UK coronavirus live: Sturgeon says ‘I don’t know what “stay alert” means’ ahead of Johnson statement

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Sturgeon says Scots can exercise outside more than once a day and should wear face coverings in shops; all devolved nations reject ‘stay alert’ advice

Sturgeon says communication teams in Scotland and the UK government are liaising over the message at the moment, and she is committed to a four nation approach.

“I am absolutely committed to a four nation approach”, she said, and said that the fact that evidence necessitates the nations following different timetables should not be seen as a break in this.

In Scotland, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has asked people to wear face coverings whilst in shops.

It comes as she announces that people can exercise more than once a day in Scotland.

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Family reunion rescue flight to bring vulnerable migrants from Athens to UK

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Exclusive: Greek PM intervenes to help 50 asylum seekers reach UK despite ban on direct flights

An unprecedented family reunion rescue flight is due to leave Athens, bringing 52 vulnerable migrants, including several minors, to join family in the UK.

The flight on Monday is the result of intense efforts by refugee families in the UK with the support of campaign group Safe Passage and the peer Alf Dubs. It was organised with collaboration from the UK and Greek governments after direct flights between Greece and the UK were suspended in March.

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Conservation society clashes with Disney over missing historic letters

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Campaigners call for return of 1930s wording to Twentieth Century Fox Film Co former offices

Disney, titan of the media and entertainment world, has enraged a group of Londoners attempting to preserve one of Soho’s best-known squares. And the battle is over one word: “Fox”.

In the south-west corner of Soho Square stands Twentieth Century House, a grand emblem of the American film industry’s key role in this part of the city since 1937. It is now in the hands of Disney.

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