Category Archives: UK news

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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Oligarch’s wife brings son into high-stakes divorce case

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Tatiana Akhmedova wants high court to have access to son’s papers in her fight for £453m – but he says her claim is unlawful

It is proving to be a very modern divorce. Armies of lawyers and advisers; hundreds of millions of pounds at stake; priceless art; a superyacht; a key lieutenant switching sides; the son dragged into the proceedings by his mother. No wonder some involved have likened it to The War of the Roses, the dark Hollywood comedy about a feuding couple starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas.

But now attempts to secure the assets awarded following Britain’s biggest, bitterest marital breakup may hinge on how the high court views an arcane financial practice dating back to feudal times.

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The ‘United States of Europe’ speech that Winston Churchill so nearly made

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A recently discovered document sheds new light on the wartime leader’s ‘iron curtain’ address

It was a speech that electrified the world, one that coined a phrase that was to characterise the political era that followed the second world war. But its content could have been very different, reveals a document freshly unearthed by a historian researching the life of Winston Churchill.

On 5 March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri, before a huge crowd which included the US president, Harry Truman, Britain’s wartime leader issued a famous description of the political division that was opening across Europe between the Soviet-dominated Communist east and the western democracies. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,” Churchill declared, “an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”

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Two-week quarantine will cripple us, aviation industry warns Boris Johnson

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Air travel bosses want assurances that science is driving the move, and that a clear exit strategy is in place

A two-week quarantine period for all travellers arriving in Britain risks devastating an aviation industry already crippled by the Covid-19 outbreak, Boris Johnson is being warned.

It is understood that the 14-day quarantine period will be announced by the prime minister, alongside a slight loosening of the lockdown measures that were introduced to slow the spread of the virus. Mass quarantine upon arrival has not previously been used as part of Britain’s response.

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Harry Dunn’s family call for parliamentary inquiry into death

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Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn ‘uplifted’ after meeting with shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy

The family of Harry Dunn have urged the shadow foreign secretary to call for a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of their son’s death.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn said they felt “uplifted” and believed Lisa Nandy would “take things forward on our and the nation’s behalf” after a virtual meeting with her on Friday.

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Police watchdog investigates London stun gun shooting

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Concerns raised about ‘disproportionate’ use of force after young black man is seriously injured

The police watchdog has launched an investigation into the conduct of three officers after a black man in his 20s was left with a life-changing injury in an incident in north London where he was shot with a stun gun.

Police on patrol in Haringey chased the man on Monday after he ran away from them following an approach, it is understood. They used the stun gun as he jumped over a wall and he fell, suffering serious back injuries, which his family fear could leave him at least partially paralysed.

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Britain was led by Churchill then – it’s led by a Churchill tribute act now

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With coronavirus lockdown subduing VE Day, contrasts with 75 years ago were many and varied

Somehow the quiet made it louder. By rights, marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day in the midst of a pandemic that has confined us to our homes – forcing us to keep our distance from one another, denying us the right to gather in crowds – should have muffled this commemoration. A celebration in private would surely feel like no celebration at all. Katherine Jenkins singing to an empty Albert Hall, streets with no street parties and the pubs all shut: how could that add up to anything other than a damp squib?

And yet Friday’s marking of the end of the second world war struck a deeper chord than it might, had it been just another sunny bank holiday. Yes, the usual rituals had to be suspended. There could be no wreath-laying at local memorials; instead, Prince Charles and Camilla laid two small wreaths on their own, in a crowdless corner of Balmoral, watched by a lone piper. There could be no veterans’ parades, no reunions for those who had served, no grateful handshakes from the politicians: 102-year-old former staff sergeant Ernie Horsfall had to make do with a Zoom call from Boris Johnson. And there were limited opportunities for silliness: the Winston Churchill impersonators were all dressed up with nowhere to go, forced to perform their cigar-and-V-sign shtick online.

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Visitors and Britons returning from abroad will be required to self-isolate for two weeks

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Stringent quarantine measures to be announced to prevent second wave of coronavirus

Travellers into the UK will be quarantined for two weeks when they arrive as part of measures to prevent a second peak of the coronavirus pandemic, Boris Johnson is expected to say on Sunday.

In his address to the nation, when he will present his roadmap out of the lockdown, he will announce the introduction of quarantine measures for people who arrive at airports, ports and Eurostar train stations, including for Britons returning from abroad.

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‘Never give up, never despair’: the Queen’s VE Day message

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Televised broadcast includes extracts from Churchill’s historic victory speech

The Queen led tributes to the wartime generation on Friday night, recalling the “never give up, never despair” message of VE Day as the country marked the 75th anniversary of victory in Europe.

In a special broadcast, on a unique day of remembrance, reflection and celebration taking place during the coronavirus lockdown, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.

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Lockdown walks, miraculous recoveries and flypasts: the week’s most uplifting clips – video

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As the lockdown days wear on, it can be hard to find hope amid the gloom. But people across the world are finding reasons to keep their spirits up – from lockdown charity walks and miraculous recoveries, to virtual graduation wishes from celebrities and socially distanced block parties


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VE Day 2020: Britain toasts second world war heroes as Red Arrows flypast marks 75th anniversary – live

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Latest updates as Europe marks 75 years since official surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces

A picture from VE Day celebrations at Holly House residential home in the village of Milton Malsor in South Northamptonshire.

Naeha Menon from Holly House said:

We went into lockdown on March 9th to stop our residents getting coronavirus, and with the support of our great staff we remain covid free, but taking precautions to ensure everyone can celebrate happily and safely.

Footage of Prince Charles reading an extract from his grandfather George VI’s diary entry for 8 May 1945, has been broadcast to mark VE Day 75.

The extract reads:

The Prime Minister came to lunch. We congratulated each other on the end of the European War. The day we have been longing for has arrived at last, & we can look back with thankfulness to God that our tribulation is over.

No more fear of being bombed at home & no more living in air raid shelters. But there is still Japan to be defeated & the restoration of our country to be dealt with, which will give us many headaches & hard work in the coming years…

“The day we have been longing for has arrived at last.”

The Prince of Wales reads an extract from his grandfather King George VI’s diary which describes The King’s experience of #VEDay on 8th May 1945.#VEDay75 pic.twitter.com/Rx0bsrh0SI

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Manchester police refer Taser incident of man with child to IOPC

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Video of officers Tasering Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara was circulated on social media

Greater Manchester police have said they are investigating an incident in which a man was Tasered by officers in front of his young child, after a video circulated on social media.

A video of the incident, which happened at a petrol station in Stretford at approximately 11pm on Wednesday, shows Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara, 34, being confronted by two GMP officers while carrying the boy.

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UK scientists condemn ‘Stalinist’ attempt to censor Covid-19 advice

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Exclusive: report criticising government lockdown proposals heavily redacted before release

Government scientific advisers are furious at what they see as an attempt to censor their advice on government proposals during the Covid-19 lockdown by heavily redacting an official report before it was released to the public, the Guardian can reveal.

The report was one of a series of documents published by the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) this week to mollify growing criticism about the lack of transparency over the advice given to ministers responding to the coronavirus.

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Royals and politicians observe two-minute silence to mark 75th VE Day anniversary – video

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Britain observed a two-minute silence on Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, marking the end of the second world war. Charles, the Prince of Wales, and the Duchess of Cornwall led the ceremony from Balmoral in Scotland. Political leaders also paid silent tribute at 11am along with the rest of the nation. Nazi commanders surrendered to allied forces in a French schoolhouse 75 years ago to the day.

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Red Arrows fly over London to mark 75th anniversary of VE Day – video

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The RAF's display team colour the skies above London red, white and blue to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Nazi commanders surrendered to allied forces in a French schoolhouse 75 years ago on 8 May 1945, bringing the second world war in Europe to an end.

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How Covid-19 contact tracing can help beat the pandemic

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If the UK government wants to start easing the country's lockdown restrictions, it needs to get contact tracing right. But what does that mean? What would successful contact tracing even look like? Josh Toussaint-Strauss tries to find out with a little help from Christophe Fraser, an Oxford professor and infectious disease epidemiologist, and Alex Hern, the Guardian's UK technology editor


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Brian May taken to hospital after tearing buttock muscles while gardening

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Queen guitarist says ‘I won’t be able to walk for a while’ after injury during lockdown and lambasts Boris Johnson over coronavirus

Brian May has complained of “relentless pain” after he was taken to hospital following a gardening injury that tore muscles in his buttocks – and, while in recovery, made a sustained attack on Boris Johnson’s preparedness for coronavirus.

Writing on Instagram, the Queen guitarist said: “I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of overenthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while … or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.”

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