Category Archives: UK news

Scientists call for immediate rollout of Covid jab for UK primary school children

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Call comes as data shows 2- to 11-year-olds currently have the highest rate of infection

Scientists are calling for the immediate rollout of Covid vaccines to primary-aged children, as new data suggests that even a single dose of the Pfizer jab helps to prevent older children against infection, and shortens the duration and severity of symptoms if they do get infected.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, 2- to 11-year-olds have the highest rate of infections of any UK age group, with 4.2% testing positive during the week ending 5 March. Secondary-aged children (up to Year 11) have the lowest rate of infections, with 2.4% testing positive.

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Labour calls UK’s homes for Ukraine plan a ‘DIY asylum scheme’

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Criticism follows announcement that UK householders will have to name refugees they wish to sponsor

Michael Gove’s plan to permit UK householders to shelter Ukrainians seeking to escape the Russian war machine has been compared to a “DIY asylum scheme” after it was announced that people would have to name the refugees they wish to sponsor.

The communities secretary was criticised after setting out details of the homes for Ukraine scheme in the Commons on Monday, after complaints about the government’s slow response to the worst humanitarian disaster in Europe for decades.

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Two convicted in first murder plot case involving EncroChat messaging system

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Paul Fontaine and Frankie Sinclair convicted of plotting revenge shooting using encrypted messaging system

Two men who planned a revenge shooting have been convicted at the Old Bailey in the first murder plot case involving the use of the encrypted messaging system EncroChat.

Paul Fontaine, 36, from Hackney in London, and Frankie Sinclair, 34, from Cardiff, were found guilty of plotting a murder using the system, which was described in court by prosecuting counsel Kevin Dent QC as “an Amazon for organised criminals” in that it allowed them to purchase guns, drugs and counterfeit money clandestinely.

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Yorkshire’s lost ‘Atlantis’ nearly found, says Hull professor

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Is it hoped discovery of medieval trading town Ravenser Odd can teach people about perils of climate crisis

Hopes are high that a fabled medieval town known as “Yorkshire’s Atlantis” is about to be located and will begin giving up secrets held for more than 650 years.

Ravenser Odd was a prosperous port town built on sandbanks at the mouth of the Humber estuary before it was abandoned and later destroyed and submerged by a calamitous storm in 1362.

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Sleeping with light on linked to higher risk of heart disease and diabetes

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Exposure to artificial light at night worsens glucose and cardiovascular regulation, research suggests

Sleeping with the light on might scare away monsters under the bed, but it could be linked to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, research suggests.

Light is an important signal by which the body’s internal clock, which governs a host of biological processes from temperature to hormone release, is synchronised to the external cycle of day and night.

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Julian Assange denied permission to appeal against US extradition

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WikiLeaks founder’s application ‘didn’t raise an arguable point of law’, UK supreme court says

Julian Assange has moved a step closer to a US trial on espionage charges after the UK’s highest court refused to hear his appeal against extradition.

The WikiLeaks founder was attempting to appeal against a judgment by the high court in December that ruled he could be extradited after assurances from the US authorities with regard to his prison conditions there.

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Bermuda’s ban on same-sex marriage is allowed, UK judges rule

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JCPC overturns decision by lower court that ban was unconstitutional, in setback for LGBTQ rights

British judges have ruled that Bermuda’s ban on same-sex marriage is permitted under its constitution, in a setback for gay rights in the British overseas territory.

The UK’s judicial committee of the privy council (JCPC) – the ultimate court of appeal for Bermuda and dozens of other British overseas territories, dependencies and Commonwealth states – on Monday overturned a decision by Bermuda’s highest court, which ruled the ban to be unconstitutional.

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Boris Johnson plans Saudi Arabia visit to seek oil supply increase

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MPs voice deep concerns over trip after mass execution by regime and its continuing role in Yemen war

Boris Johnson is facing scrutiny over a planned trip to Saudi Arabia to push for an increase in oil output amid an outcry over the regime’s biggest ever mass execution and growing fears the prime minister may try to limit media scrutiny of the visit.

Downing Street would not confirm Johnson’s likely trip to Riyadh, but sources have said he wants to appeal to the Gulf state to increase its oil output to replace supplies from Russia.

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Hong Kong demands UK-based rights group shut down website

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‘We will not be silenced,’ says CEO after government accuses Hong Kong Watch of endangering China’s national security

A UK-based rights group has pledged not to remain silent after Hong Kong’s government demanded it shut its website and accused it of endangering China’s national security.

While China heavily restricts the internet on the mainland, Hong Kong does not generally censor the web, allowing residents to access sites and content that might be critical of Beijing.

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UK shoppers face more identity checks when buying online

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Two-factor authentication is designed to reduce the £376m lost to fraud in 2020

Online shoppers in the UK face more identification checks when paying for purchases on the internet from Monday, as new rules to clamp down on fraud come into force.

The new Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements will change the way people confirm their identity when using their debit or credit cards to make online purchases, and are expected to lead to more card payments being declined. It is the biggest change to card payments since chip and pin was rolled out 16 years ago, and is designed to reduce the £376m lost to online fraud in 2020.

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UK to donate more than 500 mobile generators to Ukraine

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Units will help provide power for key buildings such as hospitals, shelters and water treatment plants

Boris Johnson has announced that the government will donate more than 500 mobile generators to Ukraine to help provide power for key buildings such as hospitals, shelters and water treatment plants.

The UK government has set up a new Ukraine electricity network support taskforce, including many of the leading power suppliers. They will provide the generators from their stocks, with many expected to be delivered via neighbouring countries. In total, they should provide enough power for 20,000 homes or equivalent buildings.

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Tenants face having to find extra £1,000 for 2022 rent and bills

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Hamptons expects sums to become 54% of post-tax income for average rented household in Great Britain

Tenants already struggling with the cost of living crisis typically face having to find an extra £1,000 this year to cover higher rent and essential bills, research shows.

The estate agent Hamptons said tenants’ finances faced a record squeeze as higher rents and energy bill increases combined to pile more pressure on households in Great Britain.

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Severn Trent and Anglian Water pledge to do more to protect rivers

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Water firms commit to improving sewage discharge practices after government pressure

Severn Trent and Anglian Water say they will accelerate efforts to protect rivers after the government and regulators called on the sector to do more.

Last month, the environment minister Rebecca Pow called on water companies to significantly improve their practices in England and Wales to support the local environment.

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‘Pandemic is not over’: ministers criticised for scrapping UK Covid surveillance

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Schemes coming to an end is ‘yet another example of short-term thinking’

Ministers have been accused of “turning off the headlights at the first sign of dawn” after scrapping nationwide Covid surveillance programmes, with scientists saying it will almost certainly end up costing more money in the long run.

Last week, scientists announced that the React study – which randomly tests about 150,000 people across England each month to see how many are infected with coronavirus – will be scrapped at the end of March, and no further data will be collected beyond that point.

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Guardian documentary The Black Cop wins Bafta for best short film

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Cherish Oteka’s film is about a former police officer who discusses his memories of homophobia and racial profiling in the Met

The Guardian documentary The Black Cop has won the Bafta for best short film.

Directed by Cherish Oteka and produced by Emma Cooper, The Black Cop is about Gamal “G” Turawa, a former Metropolitan police officer who explores his memories of homophobia, racial profiling and racial harassment in his early career.

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‘Music is so different now’: Copyright laws need to change, says legal expert

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Industry figures warn that songwriters face future drawn out legal battles because the way in which people consume music has changed

Songwriters such as Ed Sheeran face a future of drawn out legal battles because the way in which people consume music has changed so much in the past half a century, a leading legal expert has warned, as she urged courts to reconsider how they interpret copyright law.

The rise of streaming on platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, combined with larger teams of writers behind hit songs, have led to a surge in high-profile copyright infringement cases in the past few years. Most recently, Sheeran is locked in an ongoing legal battle over Shape of You, Spotify’s most streamed song ever.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest news: UK says Russian navy has blockaded Black Sea coast; Zelenskiy urges Nato to implement no-fly zone

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Call from Ukrainian president comes after death toll from Russian rocket attack on military base at Yavoriv rises to at least 35 people

Russian forces may have also hit an airbase in Ivano-Frankivsk early on Sunday morning, according to the city’s mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv.

“According to preliminary information, this morning’s explosions were from an attack at the airport,” Martsinkiv said, urging those who live close to the airport to relocate in a Facebook post about 7.30 local time.

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Dublin welcomes dazed Ukrainian arrivals with food, buggies and toys

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An airport building is turned into one-stop shop for life essentials and legal support

“Thank you very much Ireland,” said Kate Kolva, waving a little blue and yellow flag in the arrivals hall at Dublin Airport.

As she waited to collect her best friend’s mother, Ukrainians with no family connections with the country were all too easy to identify.

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MPs’ pension fund drops Russian-linked investments in protest

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Cross-party group expresses unease about the fund’s stake in HSBC, which has held shares in Moscow’s oil and gas giants

Trustees of the pension fund for members of parliament have agreed to sell all investments linked to Russia after a cross-party group of more than 60 MPs raised concerns about connections to Russian oil and gas companies.

The trustees met last Thursday, having received the MPs’ letter, and agreed to act immediately to ensure the fund was cleansed of both direct and indirect Russian interests.

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How Dickens’ Pickwick comic serial brought his fans together

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Museum exhibit reveals the huge effect the The Pickwick Papers had on readers

Charles Dickens’s comic novel The Pickwick Papers, often overlooked today as a lighthearted period piece, was once a matter of very serious concern to thousands of fans across the world, some of whom adopted the personas of their favourite characters and founded appreciation societies.

Now the earliest proof that Mr Pickwick became central to the lives of many fans is to go on display at the Charles Dickens Museum in the novelist’s former London home in April. The Minute Book contains the official club notes of the first known Pickwick club and gives a clear picture of the way the book brought friends together to discuss the plots and debate social issues of the day.

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