Category Archives: UK news

What does getting Covid feel like for the fully vaccinated?

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The illness can still have a big effect on health and daily life, say three people in their 20s, 40s and 50s, who are double jabbed

As the number of recorded coronavirus infections in the UK rises again, we spoke to three people about their experiences of catching Covid despite having been fully vaccinated, and how it affected their daily lives.

Clare Jenkins, 44, from Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, contracted Covid this month after her 13-year-old daughter became infected at a party.

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UK Covid deaths average 100 a day with fears of rise when schools return

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Seven-day average now highest since March as children in Scotland return to the classroom

Deaths from Covid-19 are now averaging 100 a day across the UK, according to official data, and scientists have warned that case rates will jump again when millions of pupils return to schools next week.

The seven-day average for deaths within 28 days of a positive test now stands at 100, figures released by Public Health England on Monday show, a number that was last exceeded on 18 March.

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Afghanistan: what does each nation hope to get out of the G7 meeting?

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Analysis: Tuesday’s meeting called by Boris Johnson may include postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of crisis

The emergency meeting of G7 nations on Tuesday – called by Boris Johnson as this year’s chair of the G7 – is in essence a gathering of the vanquished but faces a threefold agenda: how to ensure as many Afghans as possible can leave Kabul, and whether the US is prepared to stay beyond the original 31 August deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces; how a resettlement programme can be coordinated for the medium term; and finally, how to encourage the Taliban to form an inclusive government, including by threatening sanctions or withholding recognition.

But each country will bring its own concerns and an ugly postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis cannot be ruled out.

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UK scrambles to complete Kabul airlift as envoy flags risk of provoking Taliban

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Exclusive: Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan says continuing evacuations after 31 August could spark reaction from militants

Britain has begun a last-ditch scramble to get people out of Kabul amid warnings from the senior diplomat on the ground that staying past the current 31 August deadline may not be realistic and risks provoking the Taliban.

Speaking to MPs from Kabul, Sir Laurie Bristow, Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said trying to hold Kabul’s airport any longer would be fraught with risk. He was speaking before Tuesday’s G7 meeting, which is expected to discuss a request from the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to the US president, Joe Biden, to stay longer.

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‘Devastating’: how UK’s foreign aid cuts could hurt the world’s poorest

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Data analysis highlights the human cost if thousands of overseas projects lose funding

Experts have warned of “devastating” consequences of the UK’s foreign aid cuts after Guardian analysis revealed the UK is cutting funding at a time when major recipient countries are at risk of becoming more politically unstable.

Thousands of activities providing life-saving support are being cut due to the government’s decision to reduce aid spending to 0.5% of gross national income.

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‘I cry all the time’: the plight of Afghan refugees in Calais

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More Afghans are arriving in norther France hoping to make it across the Channel to claim asylum in the UK

Salaam Khan had not long ago woken up after another fruitless night attempting to cross the Channel from Calais and was on alert for the arrival of the French police. They come most mornings to confiscate the tents of the hundreds of migrants and refugees sleeping on the city’s outskirts.

“It’s a new day and the same shit,” he said.

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Ministers accused of failing to secure rights of Britons with foreign spouses in EU

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Campaigners say Britons are facing problems with Home Office over rights to return to UK

Ministers have been accused of breaching their promise to secure the post-Brexit rights of thousands of British nationals who settled in the EU and married foreigners.

Campaigners at British in Europe (BiE) have written to the Foreign Office minister Wendy Morton and the immigration minister Kevin Foster telling of the “heartbreak” and “distress” endured by British citizens who are facing problems with the Home Office over their rights to return home to the UK.

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Nosedive in UK-US relations is another casualty of Afghanistan’s fall

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Ministers are becoming openly critical of Joe Biden after being left in the dark about major decisions

So much for the special relationship. As the Afghanistan crisis has unfolded, it has precipitated a high-speed deterioration in Anglo-American relations.

What began as a muted disagreement on whether it was right for the US to withdraw militarily has reached the point where UK government sources are openly briefing against President Joe Biden as the situation in Kabul worsens.

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Labour says PPE contracts must not go to Xinjiang firms that use forced workers

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Exclusive: Emily Thornberry appeals to Sajid Javid to tackle issue of forced labour in Chinese province

Labour has written to the health secretary, Sajid Javid, urging him to ensure a new £5bn contract for NHS protective equipment including gowns and masks is not awarded to companies implicated in forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region.

Following up earlier concerns about medical gloves for the NHS being produced in Malaysia, where there have been consistent reports of forced labour in factories, Emily Thornberry called for an urgent response.

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Coronavirus live news: UK reports 32,253 new cases as Ho Chi Minh City prepares for lockdown

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Panic buying as Vietnamese city prepares for lockdown; UK also reports 49 further deaths

More children are being hospitalised with Covid in the US south and midwest than ever before, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads among unvaccinated people.

One hospital in New Orleans has reported as many as 20 children hospitalised for Covid at a time in the past three weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. In 2020, that number never topped seven, the hospital’s physician-in-chief told the paper.

Doctors and staff working in GP surgeries across England are reporting a torrent of physical and verbal abuse from patients, the Independent reports.

Some GPs have told the newspaper they fear coming to work and say staff have quit over the threats they are receiving on a near-daily basis.

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Afghan civil war ‘unavoidable’ if Taliban refuse talks, says opposition leader

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Ahmad Massoud issues warning as militant group seeks to assert control around Kabul airport

One of the main figures still leading Afghan opposition to the Taliban’s takeover of the country, Ahmad Massoud, has warned that a new civil war is inevitable without a comprehensive power-sharing agreement.

The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who opposed the Taliban in the 1990s and was assassinated two days before 9/11 in 2001, Massoud told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television channel that war was “unavoidable” if the Taliban refused dialogue.

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Man arrested after ‘appalling’ homophobic attack in Birmingham’s Gay Village

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West Midlands police still want to speak to Sohail Khan and Ishaaq Ayaz after a man, believed to be Mosin Mahmood, handed himself in

West Midlands police have arrested a man and are searching for two other suspects in connection to an “appalling” homophobic hate crime in Birmingham’s Gay Village in which two men were abused and then cut with broken bottles.

The man, believed to be Mosin Mahmood, 31, handed himself in following an appeal in which he was named along with two others. He was arrested on suspicion of wounding and remains in custody.

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UK scientists look at reducing boosters to save vaccine for rest of the world

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JCVI considers lower third jab dosage to release stocks for poorer nations

Scientists in Britain are examining whether smaller doses of Covid vaccine could be used as part of booster programmes, amid hopes that the approach could also increase the supply of jabs across the world.

The use of so-called “fractional doses” has been proposed as a way of ensuring that precious supplies can immunise as many people as possible in parts of the world where there are shortages, while still providing high levels of protection from the virus.

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Murder investigation launched after fatal stabbing in Kingston

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Met police arrest two men, aged 18 and 19, after 22-year-old man found stabbed in south-west London

A murder investigation has been launched after a man was stabbed to death in south-west London. The 22-year-old was found after police were called out at 3.45am on Saturday to reports of a disturbance in Clarence Street, Kingston.

The Metropolitan police said a 19-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder and possession of an offensive weapon, while an 18-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder. Both men are in custody at a south London police station.

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Puppy smuggling: UK plans crackdown with curbs on dog imports

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Proposals would ban imports of dogs aged under six months, and those with cropped ears or docked tails

The importing to the UK of puppies aged under six months could be banned under tight new welfare standards proposed by the government.

The pushback against the “grim trade” of puppy smuggling will prevent puppies from being separated from their mothers too early, which puts them at increased risk of illness and death, said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. They can currently be imported from 15 weeks old.

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Wrong to label Extinction Rebellion as extremists, says Home Office adviser

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Peer at odds with Priti Patel over climate activists on eve of more protests

A government extremism adviser has admitted during a private meeting that it is wrong to label Extinction Rebellion (XR) supporters as “extreme”, despite the home secretary, Priti Patel, condemning the group as “criminals” who threaten the nation’s way of life.

John Woodcock, the former Labour MP who was asked by the Home Office this year to examine disruption and violence by extreme political groups, sought to reassure XR activists that he did not regard the movement as uniformly extreme during a Zoom video conference call last month. “You’re worried that I want to label everyone who supports XR as extremists and that is certainly not the case,” he said.

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From solar power in Africa to UK tomatoes – the eco-schemes to turn your cash green

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Savings rates are low but some green investments can pay up to 8% interest a year

Environmentally conscious consumers fed up with low savings rates are being targeted by a variety of green investments paying up to 8% interest a year.

However, those thinking about signing up need to be prepared to accept some risk to their cash. This is a lot riskier than a bank or building society savings account.

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Plymouth gunman faced no charges or caution for vicious assault last year

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Police watchdog investigates why Jake Davison was put on a rehabilitation scheme and had weapon returned

The Plymouth gunman was not charged or cautioned after he carried out a vicious assault in a city park last year, but instead was allowed to take part in a four-month rehabilitation scheme, it has emerged.

Jake Davison’s legally held shotgun was confiscated after he began the Pathfinder scheme and a worker from it found out he had the weapon and informed Devon and Cornwall police. But the shotgun was handed back last month after he finished the programme.

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Gauntlet to reach Kabul airport taking evacuees 24 to 48 hours

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Fear of Taliban roadblocks slows flow of people trying to flee Afghanistan on fifth day of RAF airlift operation

People fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan for safety in Britain are taking 24 to 48 hours to make it safely across Kabul for evacuation – and many have turned back home, scared to travel, defence sources have acknowledged.

Difficulties in getting the remaining Britons, Afghans and others to the airport became the most significant hurdle on the fifth day of the RAF airlift amid renewed speculation over whether it will last to the end of the month as planned.

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