A ban on weddings, and other public events did not deter one couple from 'tying the knot' in Slough over the weekend. While it wasn't a legally recognised ceremony, David Howell and Brenda Rolfe made vows to each other in front of their pastor who appeared on a YouTube live stream. After the ceremony guests were invited to the wedding reception on the Zoom app, and asked to wear wedding attire (from the waist up at least) and bring cake to eat
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Hampshire 112-year-old officially recognised as world’s oldest man
Bob Weighton presented with certificate at assisted living home where he is isolating
A Hampshire resident has been officially recognised as the world’s oldest man by Guinness World Records.
Bob Weighton, who is 112 years and two days old, was presented with his certificate by staff at the assisted living home where he lives, while keeping the appropriate distance because he is isolating.
Continue reading...Family’s lockdown adaptation of Les Misérables song goes viral – video
A family from Kent who shared a video of their living room performance of a lockdown-themed adaptation of a Les Misérables song have become a sensation online. Ben and Danielle Marsh and their four children changed the lyrics of One Day More to reflect common complaints during the Covid-19 lockdown. They say the video, which has gone viral, was intended to give friends and family a laugh during this stressful time
Continue reading...If coronavirus sinks the eurozone, the ‘frugal four’ will be to blame | David Adler and Jerome Roos
The Dutch-led opposition to a ‘coronabond’ to raise funds for nations hardest-hit by the pandemic is self-defeating
Last Thursday, the leaders of the European Union convened a video conference to deliberate the escalating Covid-19 crisis. On the agenda was a simple proposal co-signed by nine different eurozone governments: the “coronabond”, a new type of public debt instrument backed by all the members of the currency union as they come together to combat the virus.
After a long decade of crisis fighting in the eurozone – pitting north against south, creditor against borrower – the proposal marked a rare display of unity, and the meeting was a perfect opportunity to ratify it. Issued collectively, the “coronabond” would drive down the borrowing costs of some of Europe’s most heavily affected countries, staving off another sovereign debt crisis and freeing up much-needed resources to invest in public health and economic recovery. “We are all facing a symmetric external shock,” the proposal read, “and we are collectively accountable for an effective and united European response.”
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: rise in Italy, US and France deaths takes global confirmed toll past 40,000
Worldwide confirmed cases pass 800,000 as Spain and Russia also report record single-day death tolls and Mexico wakes to state of emergency
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Do you ever run out of questions, you people? Trump asks a room full of reporters.
Trump is talking about the impeachment. “They probably illegally impeached me... you don’t hear much about that nowadays because everyone’s talking about the virus,” which he is happy about, the US president says.
“The democrats their whole live their whole being their whole existence was to try and get me out of office any way they can even if it was a phony deal.”
"I think I'm getting A pluses now for how I handled myself during a phony impeachment," Trump says.
Continue reading...UK police warned against ‘overreach’ in use of virus lockdown powers
Exclusive: policing chiefs seek to set out legal powers forces have in coronavirus lockdown
Police chiefs are drawing up new guidance warning forces not to overreach their lockdown enforcement powers after withering criticism of controversial tactics to stop the spread of coronavirus, the Guardian has learned.
The intervention comes amid growing concern that some forces are going beyond their legal powers to stop the spread of Covid-19, with one issuing a summons to a household for shopping for non-essential items and another telling locals that exercise was “limited to an hour a day”.
Continue reading...Extend Brexit transition by years over coronavirus, UK told
European People’s party says it hopes ‘common sense will prevail over ideology’
The largest group in the European parliament has urged the UK government to do the “responsible thing” and extend the Brexit transition period, as coronavirus plays havoc with the timetable for an EU-UK deal.
The centre-right European People’s party (EPP), which unites the parties of 11 EU leaders, including Angela Merkel and Leo Varadkar, issued a statement on Monday calling on the government to extend the Brexit transition beyond the end of the year.
Continue reading...NHS nurse applauded by family as she returns from work amid coronavirus crisis – video
An NHS nurse working during the coronavirus outbreak in the UK received a standing ovation from her family as she returned home from a shift.
Her son shared a video on Twitter and said: 'We as a family have been welcoming our mum home from work as a hero. She is a nurse in the NHS in Britain and is working so hard every day! We will continue to do this every time she returns home from work'
Continue reading...Harry and Meghan to start new life with focus on family and charities
Couple reveal plans as they prepare to officially cease working duties later this week
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who begin their new life as non-working royals this week, have said they intend to spend the next few months concentrating on their family and privately supporting their charities.
The couple, who have relocated to California, will cease to be working royals and can no longer officially represent the Queen from Wednesday, as they seek to become financially independent.
Continue reading...Who is most at risk from coronavirus and why? – video explainer
The best thing to do when trying to understand a new virus like Covid-19 is to look at the data. The Guardian's science correspondent Hannah Devlin uses the latest figures to explain who is most at risk of contracting this coronavirus, why men are more likely to die from the disease, and the reasons health workers could be particularly vulnerable
- What is coronavirus – and what is the mortality rate?
- Coronavirus mapped: which countries have the most cases and deaths?
Country diary: last of the winter reed
Haddiscoe Island, Norfolk: Wally Mason may well be the last person in Britain to cut thatching reed the traditional way
It’s easy to lose your bearings among the vast horizons of Haddiscoe Island. This triangular grazing marsh on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk, enclosed by the rivers Waveney and Yare, feels far bigger than its 2,000 acres, and more remote than its position just off the A413 to Great Yarmouth should allow.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Spain wakes to more restrictive lockdown as New York state passes 1,000 deaths
Moscow announces lockdown of 12m people; Syria records first death
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Covid-19 infections worldwide have risen to 732,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The US had the most cases, with over 142,000; Italy was second with nearly 98,000; and Spain has passed China’s 82,000 cases with 85,000. Italy still had the highest death toll, with nearly 10,800. Spain was second with 7,340. More than 2,500 people have died in the US.
Two of Brazil’s most iconic football stadiums - Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã and the Pacaembu in São Paulo - are being converted into Covid-19 field hospitals as the country braces for an explosion of coronavirus cases.
The Pacaembu - whose turf has been graced by giants of Brazilian football including Pelé, Socrates and Ronaldo - is expected to open on Wednesday as a 200-bed clinic for coronavirus patients who do not require intensive care treatment.
“From what we have seen in Asia and Europe, the hospital system will fast become overloaded if we don’t have parallel infrastructure,” told Brazilian television network Globo on Sunday night.
The Maracanã - which has hosted two World Cup finals, in 1950 and 2014 - will also reportedly be turned into a hospital in early April.
Other Brazilian cities turning football stadiums into temporary hospitals include Boa Vista in the Amazon state of Roraima and Fortaleza in northeast Brazil.
As of Sunday Brazil had officially confirmed 4,256 cases and 136 Covid-19 deaths - the majority in Rio (17) and São Paulo (98). Those numbers are expected to rise significantly in the coming days as testing increases and the virus spreads. Brazil’s health ministry has warned the hospital system could collapse by the end of April.
EU citizens in UK at risk of becoming illegal as coronavirus response prioritised
Campaigners urge government to replace settled status process with guaranteed ‘right to stay’
Campaigners fear that EU citizens who have made their homes in the UK are at risk of becoming illegal as the government diverts resources to fight coronavirus.
Under current rules, all EU citizens have until June 2021 to apply for settled status. However, there are concerns that the pandemic will mean that the government support available to help EU citizens will reduce, and public awareness campaigns, designed to reach the most vulnerable people and those without an online presence, will be delayed.
Continue reading...Donald Trump refuses to pay security bill for Harry and Meghan
President tweets his intention as Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly move to California
Donald Trump has said the United States will not pay for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s security protection after they reportedly moved to California.
Harry and Meghan are said to have left their rented home in Vancouver, Canada after taking a private flight to the US before the border closed between the two countries last week.
Continue reading...Britons on virus-hit ship wait for Panama Canal green light
Passengers on cruise liner where four died and its sister ship hope to be flying home soon
Hundreds of passengers, many of them British, on a coronavirus-stricken cruise trip where four people have died are confined to their cabins awaiting the go-ahead to pass through the Panama Canal.
Dozens have fallen ill on the Zaandam cruise ship, which was stranded off the Pacific coast of Panama after several Latin American countries refused to let it into port. Some passengers were transferred to a second ship – the Rotterdam – on Saturday night.
Continue reading...Up to six months to see if UK measures have ‘squashed’ coronavirus, says top health official – video
The deputy chief medical officer for England, Dr Jenny Harries, has said restrictions could remain in place for up to six months, and that lifting them too soon would risk a second wave of infection. She said the current measures would be reviewed three weeks after implementation. ‘We actually anticipate our numbers will get worse over the next week, possibly two, and then we are looking to see whether we have managed to push that curve down and we start to see a decline,’ she said
Continue reading...Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe under consideration for clemency
British-Iranian dual national has had her temporary release from prison extended because of the coronavirus outbreak
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national on temporary release from a five-year jail sentence, is for the first time under formal consideration for clemency, her family has been told. A decision will be made by the highest level of Iran’s multi-layered government. There is no guarantee that clemency will be granted, or that she will be allowed to return to the UK.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, seen by some as a bargaining chip in the wider diplomatic dispute between the UK and Iran, was given a temporary fortnight’s release from Evin prison, Tehran, on 17 March along with 85,000 other prisoners at risk from the coronavirus outbreak. She has been allowed to stay at her parents’ house in Tehran but made to wear an ankle brace that keeps her within 300 metres of her parents’ home.
Continue reading...UK’s coronavirus lockdown will be in place for significant period, says Gove – video
The Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, has said the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in Britain will depend on people’s actions. He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show and that the lockdown would remain in place for a significant period
Continue reading...Late-breaking news: there’s been a pandemic while you were away
A full-scale disaster unfolded as we switched our phones back on after nine days of Colombian beaches and jungles
You can learn a lot about yourself in times of crisis, but you learn a hell of a lot more about the person you weather said crisis with. Best to strap in and bite your tongue. A lifetime of three weeks ago, my clever, rational other half and I went on a holiday to Colombia. He’s a man who rarely travels without a first aid kit, gaffer tape and a multi-tool thing allegedly essential for “survival”. I rarely travel without what he assumes are decadent luxuries – basic toiletries, to the rest of us – and three more books than I could possibly read. It’s a delightful match.
For eight or so days, we adventured on the country’s Caribbean coastline, trekked the jungle and landed on remote beaches far away from phone signal. It’s fair to say we were late to the memo. Turning our phones on after a self-imposed period of isolation was like watching a disaster film unfold. First, on a six-inch screen squinting at ticker tapes of rolling news. Then in full-blown Technicolor as Cartagena went into lockdown, with face masks being dealt out on street corners and a strict curfew enforced by police.
Continue reading...Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s leave from prison to be extended by two weeks
British-Iranian’s release from jail in Tehran, due to Covid-19 outbreak, now runs until 18 April
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband has said her temporary leave from prison in Iran has been extended.
Richard Ratcliffe said his wife’s father had been told that her temporary release from Evin prison in Tehran - granted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - had been extended by two weeks and would now run until April 18.
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