What are the rules for the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK? The Guardian political correspondent Peter Walker clarifies what we are and are not expected to do to limit the spread of the coronavirus across the country
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Matt Hancock calls for 250,000 volunteers to help NHS during coronavirus crisis – video
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced a new scheme to recruit 250,000 volunteers to support people who are unable to leave their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The volunteers will help the NHS and local services by delivering shopping and medicines to vulnerable people. Hancock also announced that an extra 35,000 staff, including final-year medical students and retired doctors and nurses, are joining the NHS to fight the virus.
Continue reading...Alex Salmond allies say he plans to sue Scottish government
Ex-first minister believed to be furious over treatment by SNP and Nicola Sturgeon’s office
Alex Salmond is expected to sue the Scottish government over the alleged role of its senior officials in his prosecution for sexual assaults, his allies have disclosed.
Sources close to the former first minister said he believed senior figures inside the government and Nicola Sturgeon’s office helped orchestrate significant parts of the case against him, and that he intends to sue for extensive damages.
Continue reading...How strict are the UK’s distancing rules compared with other countries?
Latest coronavirus measures still not as stringent as some others around the world
Boris Johnson’s announcement of strict new distancing measures laid out restrictions increasingly familiar around the globe since China initiated its tough lockdown in Wuhan city and Hubei province in January.
More vague in detail than those of some countries, the UK measures unveiled were a lot less stringent than in many other European countries, with penalties appearing to be at the softer end of a spectrum compared with those nations threatening huge fines or imprisonment for violators.
Continue reading...Labour’s long leadership battle ‘hampering coronavirus response’
Some MPs concerned over piecemeal approach and call for leadership election to be brought forward
Labour’s four-month leadership election to replace Jeremy Corbyn has hampered the party’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to some of its MPs.
Critics said the party’s leadership has been sluggish in responding to the crisis and Corbyn, as outgoing leader, has failed to command authority.
Continue reading...Coronavirus news: US could be next Covid-19 hotspot amid ‘large acceleration’ of cases, says WHO – live updates
Deaths jump in Spain; France tightens lockdown; Afghanistan appeals for help amid new cases; South Africa prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest updates
Thailand’s leader said on Tuesday he would invoke sweeping emergency powers in the face of surging coronavirus infections, Reuters reports.
In a sign of toughening official action a man was arrested over allegations of creating panic on social media.
Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia were among Southeast Asian countries accused by New York-based Human Rights Watch of using the pandemic to crack down on criticism. Both countries reject the accusations and say their measures are needed to keep order and combat disinformation.
The UK’s supreme court has adapted to physical distancing by holding its first remote, live hearing on Tuesday morning, reports my colleague Owen Bowcott.
The building in Westminster is closed but the case is being conducted via video links and can be watched online. The judges are determined that justice should be transparent even in times of pandemic.
The first appeal using the technology is the case of Fowler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, dealing with the intricacies of the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Treaty.
Continue reading...Lockdown ‘leads gamblers from sports bets to riskier choices’
Gambling website 888 Holdings sees increased online casino activity amid coronavirus crisis
Gamblers are switching from wagers on sport to far riskier online casino and slot games amid lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, according to one of the UK’s biggest gambling websites.
In an update to the stock market, 888 Holdings said it had been affected by the postponement or cancellation of events such as the Premier League and Grand National, cutting income from sports betting, which accounts for about 16% of its revenues.
Continue reading...Delay is deadly: what Covid-19 tells us about tackling the climate crisis | Jonathan Watts
Rightwing governments have denied the problem and been slow to act. With coronavirus and the climate, this costs lives
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The coronavirus pandemic has brought urgency to the defining political question of our age: how to distribute risk. As with the climate crisis, neoliberal capitalism is proving particularly ill-suited to this.
Like global warming, but in close-up and fast-forward, the Covid-19 outbreak shows how lives are lost or saved depending on a government’s propensity to acknowledge risk, act rapidly to contain it, and share the consequences.
Continue reading...London underground packed as services cut to curb Covid-19 spread – video
Carriages and stations appeared crowded in footage shared on social media on Tuesday morning as Transport for London closed a number of stations and reduced trains despite thousands of key workers, including NHS staff, still relying on the tube to get to work.
On Monday, Boris Johnson announced that people should stay at home and only travel to and from work where 'absolutely necessary' as the UK tries to prevent the spread of coronavirus
Continue reading...Britons stranded in Bali call for UK evacuation flights as coronavirus cuts routes
Some travellers told they could be stuck for months because transit countries will not accept passengers from Indonesia
British nationals stuck on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali are calling on the government to bring them home, saying they face the prospect of being trapped for months due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Two travellers told the Guardian they had tried to follow Foreign Office advice to return home immediately due to the escalating seriousness of the Covid-19 outbreak, only to arrive at Bali’s Denpasar airport and be told they would not be able to board flights due to travel restrictions in countries through which they transit.
Continue reading...Salmond’s acquittal could make him the SNP’s biggest challenge
Nicola Sturgeon’s party is now in the sights of its vindicated and emboldened ex-leader
When Nicola Sturgeon addressed a private gathering of Scottish National party politicians at Edinburgh Napier University towards the end of August 2018 and little more than a week after the original sexual harassment allegations against her predecessor Alex Salmond were made public, she spoke frankly: “How we deal with this and how we are seen to respond to this will say a lot about who we are as a party and also about the country we are today and want to build for the future.”
Speaking outside the high court in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon following his acquittal on 13 charges of sexual assault, Alex Salmond suggested that the verdicts would ultimately say something very different about the SNP. He referred to “certain evidence I would like to have seen led in this trial”, which would now “see the light of day”. Sources close to the former first minister were already briefing his belief that Nicola Sturgeon herself played a role.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: global death toll passes 15,000 as WHO warns spread of virus is accelerating
- UK coronavirus live updates
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- Spanish minister says older people found ‘dead and abandoned’
- ‘This is not a film’: Italian mayors rage at lockdown dodgers
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Edouard Philippe, the French prime minister, has said that country’s lockdown could last several more weeks, with new restrictions – including limits on daily exercise outside the home – now in place:
Any morning constitutional/jogging now has to be within 1km of home, 1 hour max, alone, and only once per day. https://t.co/3CvQzDtZpb
The International Olympic Committee is facing almost irresistible pressure to postpone the Tokyo Olympics this week rather than wait until its mid-April deadline – with a growing number of athletes, governments and national federations saying it is unfair to keep them in limbo during the coronavirus pandemic.
Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today that the Games would be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Related: Athletes across globe call for Olympic postponement as countries pull out
Continue reading...Fossil hunters find evidence of 555m-year-old human relative
Ikaria wariootia is half the size of a grain of rice and an early example of a bilateral organism
It might not show much of a family resemblance but fossil hunters say a newly discovered creature, that looks like a teardrop-shaped jellybean and is about half the size of a grain of rice, is an early relative of humans and a vast array of other animals.
The team discovered the fossils in rocks in the outback of South Australia that are thought to be at least 555m years old.
Continue reading...Alex Salmond acquitted of all charges in sexual assault trial
Former first minister’s allies claim he was victim of SNP witch-hunt after he is cleared
Alex Salmond has been acquitted of all charges of sexual assault, a decision that prompted his allies to suggest he had been the victim of a witch-hunt within the Scottish National party.
A jury of eight women and five men at the high court in Edinburgh on Monday found Salmond not guilty of 12 charges of attempted rape, sexual assault and indecent assault after about six hours of deliberations.
Continue reading...Crown court trials on hold while judges seek ways to protect juries
Pause follows uncertainty over how trials would work given physical distancing needs
Crown court trials across England and Wales were suspended or collapsed on Monday as judges attempted to find safer ways for juries and lawyers to conduct hearings.
There have been suggestions, including from the Ministry of Justice, that courts move to handling urgent work only during the coronavirus crisis, but no one has defined what types of cases that might involve.
Continue reading...Coronavirus outdoor etiquette: no spitting, and keep your distance
Britons should ditch their reserve and get used to telling people to stay back, say experts
To stop the spread of the coronavirus, the UK prime minister has urged people to steer clear of each other when they leave their homes.
So what is the new outdoor etiquette?
Continue reading...Woman sectioned after seven-year-old girl stabbed to death
Thirty-year-old detained under Mental Health Act after incident in Bolton park
A woman suspected of murdering a seven-year-old girl in a park in Greater Manchester has been detained under the Mental Health Act.
The 30-year-old woman, who has not been named, has been sectioned, Greater Manchester police (GMP) said on Monday. The force said the criminal investigation was ongoing.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: doctors and nurses in Belfast post message urging public to stay at home – video
Healthcare workers on the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak in Northern Ireland have made an appeal to the public. In a video, doctors and nurses from the Belfast trust respiratory team urge people to stay at home in order to save lives
Continue reading...Girl, seven, stabbed to death by woman in Bolton park
Police say 30-year-old suspect held after ‘totally unprovoked and random’ attack on Sunday
A woman has been arrested after the “totally unprovoked and random” murder of a seven-year-old girl in Bolton.
The 30-year-old suspect, who has not been named, did not know the girl, Greater Manchester police (GMP) said.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson threatens stricter measures if people flout social distancing rules – video
Boris Johnson has threatened to introduce stricter measures if people do not follow the government's advice on social distancing, saying that if people do not follow the rules then 'we will have to bring forward further measures'. The prime minister reiterated that people must stick to the two-metre social distancing rule, but added: 'It is very important for people's mental and physical wellbeing that they should be able to get out and exercise'
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