How restrictions are being eased varies in the UK’s four constituent parts
The lockdown is being gradually eased in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the details of how and when this is happening vary in the four constituent parts of the UK.
Continue reading...ONS estimates 1.1m people in community had ongoing symptoms in four weeks to 6 March
More than a million people in the UK were experiencing “long Covid” in a recent four-week period, according to new survey figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Statisticians estimate that 1.1 million people in the community had ongoing symptoms in the four weeks up to 6 March after contracting the disease at least three months beforehand.
Continue reading...Test your knowledge of famous pranks on one of the most divisive days of the year
There are only two types of people in the world. Those who enjoy media organisations and brands pulling April fool stunts. And joyless monsters. Assuming you are not one of the latter, while you are waiting to see what this year’s selection of hoaxes has to offer, why not take our quiz of famous and “funny” April fool pranks from throughout the years.
Continue reading...Diana to be among six women honoured as part of English Heritage’s scheme following public campaign
Diana, Princess of Wales, is to be celebrated with a blue plaque in what would have been her 60th birthday year.
English Heritage on Thursday announced its 2021 plaques for six women, who also include the anti-slavery campaigner Ellen Craft; Caroline Norton, who helped change Britain’s divorce laws; and the fashion designer Jean Muir.
Continue reading...Analysis: critics have accused ministers of trying to shut down debate through selective briefing
For what was billed as a landmark examination of racial disparities, set up directly by Downing Street and months in the making, the arrival of the report was curiously low-key – or, critics say, done with significant media manipulation.
The full 264-page report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities was released at 11.30am on Wednesday. But the bulk of the coverage came before that, when journalists and interviewers had very little idea what it contained.
Continue reading...Analysis: the report’s conclusions and recommendations on education, health, terminology and more
The government has released the full 264-page report by a commission set up by Downing Street to investigate racial disparities in the UK. These are its main findings:
Overall view
Continue reading...Spell of early spring warm weather continues after record 24.5C on Tuesday
Forecasters say there is a small possibility the UK could see the hottest day on record on Wednesday, as the spell of early spring warm weather continues.
It has been particularly welcomed in England, where temperatures have been the highest and people have just emerged blinking into the light as the nation begins to shake off a long national lockdown.
Continue reading...New guidance for England and Wales welcomed but critics say it fails to address perpetuation of rape myths and ‘contact at all costs’ approach
The family courts should prioritise the issue of coercive and controlling behaviour when considering disputes between parents in domestic abuse cases, court of appeal judges have advised.
Three senior judges set out fresh guidance on how these sensitive cases should be approached as part of a 47-page judgment after hearing four linked appeals brought by mothers over child contact.
Continue reading...Twelve months after the pandemic struck the Guardian’s economic tracker reveals real risk of lasting damage
When Boris Johnson announced the first stay-at-home order, effectively shutting down whole sections of the economy, it was hoped the tide could be turned within 12 weeks. As many months later, lockdown measures are being relaxed for a third time and Britain still faces a lengthy road to recovery from the worst recession for 300 years.
As restrictions ease, the chief economist at the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, warned that despite the reopening of the economy, the risk of a “jobs equivalent of long Covid” remains for workers across the country.
Continue reading...Collapse of Archegos has reportedly prompted SEC and FCA inquiries into Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Nomura and others
UK and US regulators are looking into whether global investment banks breached rules by holding group discussions shortly before launching a fire sale of nearly $20bn worth of assets belonging to the distressed hedge fund Archegos Capital Management, according to reports.
The Securities Exchange Commission is said to have requested further information from major US banks Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, as well as Japan’s Nomura and Swiss lender Credit Suisse about a meeting with Archegos founder Bill Hwang on Thursday.
Continue reading...Analysis: public disorder could have been avoided with more clarity about the legality of protests in the UK
Ambiguous, confusing and a mess is how the current coronavirus regulations dealing with protest have been described by MPs and peers tasked with scrutinising the government’s record on human rights. And it is the backdrop to the police versus protesters debate that should not be ignored.
In fact, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), a cross-party group, concluded that protest has never has been completely illegal during the pandemic, even under lockdown.
Continue reading...Study by Office for National Statistics based on data from blood test results
Half of people in the UK now have antibodies against coronavirus, either through infection or vaccination, tests conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
According to the most recent coronavirus infection survey, an estimated 54.7% of the population in England would have tested positive for antibodies to coronavirus from a blood sample in the week ending 14 March 2021.
Continue reading...Nineteen-year-old, who has sickle cell disease, left his home on 22 March, saying he was going to visit a friend
A London mother is seeking help to find her son who has been missing for over a week.
Student Richard Okorogheye, 19, who has sickle cell disease, said he was “struggling to cope” with university pressures and had been shielding during lockdown, according to his mother, Evidence Joel.
The Metropolitan police said officers were becoming increasingly concerned about the teenager who was believed to have left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on 22 March. He was reported missing on 24 March.
Joel told the MyLondon website: “Richard has never done anything like this. Something has gone wrong.” He would only leave the house to go to hospital for regular blood transfusions for his condition.
Joel recalled him saying he was going to visit a friend, although none of them had seen him, telling her to drive safe and that he would “see me later”, she told the website.
She returned home from a nursing shift at around 9pm and assumed he was in his room. She cooked him a meal but found he was not there when she knocked on his door and he did not answer his telephone.
The alarm was raised after a locksmith helped her gain entry to the room which was empty but Richard’s wallet, bus pass and bank card were left behind.
The teenager was last seen leaving his home and heading in the direction of Ladbroke Grove, west London, on 22 March at approximately 8.30pm, police said. Officers added that he was known to frequent London’s Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham areas.
Chief inspector Clare McCarthy, of the Met’s Central West Command Unit, said: “Our officers have been working tirelessly to locate Richard, using all investigative opportunities and data inquiries, speaking with witnesses and trawling CCTV.
“We are following every lead possible and are appealing for the public to help us in our work.
“If you may have seen Richard, please contact police. If Richard is safe and well, we ask him to contact us as a matter of urgency so that we can put his family’s minds at ease.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting 21MIS008134, or they can call 999 in an emergency.
They could also go online at https://www.missingpeople.org.uk to pass any information on to the charity Missing People.
Joint letter signed by Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and others warns ‘nobody is safe until everyone is safe’
The world needs a global treaty for pandemics to protect states in the wake of Covid-19, akin to the settlement forged after the second world war, Boris Johnson and other world leaders have urged.
In a joint article published in newspapers across the world, leaders including the UK prime minister, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, warn that a future global pandemic is an inevitability and that Covid has served as “a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe”.
Continue reading...Liquidation of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management sparked a fire sale of more than $20bn assets
Financial regulators across the world are monitoring the collapse of the New York-based billionaire Bill Hwang’s personal hedge fund.
The sudden liquidation of Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management sparked a fire sale of more than $20bn assets that has left some of the world’s biggest investment banks nursing billions of dollars of losses.
Continue reading...All the pomp of the new No 10 briefing room was wasted on a Covid press conference of little substance
The prime minister arrived in his brand new, £2.6m press briefing room with the unmistakable vibe of a feckless absentee father, doing his Monday afternoon teleconference call. Trying to be so many things at once. He wants to be the fun one, so did a shout out to Ilkeston Cycle Club, who met at midnight as the clock turned on the 29 March; then a big up to Hillingdon lido, who did whatever they do there. He also wants to prove that, this time, he’s deadly serious, a grave and sober man of his word, and his brow is heavy with all the memories of why you might not believe him.
He has some new curtains he wants to show you, which are both union flags, and some rather sudden paintwork, a fierce Conservative blue, because obviously that’s the colour of authority and this is your government for ever. Though when you consider how much he could have spent on wallpaper, you have to look on the bright side. The intention of the new setting must have been jocular jingoism, but it came off a little mournful, slightly beseeching, like: “Look, I’ve bought an inflatable mattress, soon you’ll be able to stay the night!”
Continue reading...Analysis: experts split on whether easy access to porn has fuelled sexual harassment, abuse and assault among young people
The harrowing reports of sexism and assaults in schools detailed on the everyonesinvited.uk website has fuelled concerns of a “rape culture” in educational settings.
The disclosures have raised concerns that easy access to pornography is part of the problem.
Continue reading...Results show increase in self-diagnosis accuracy after participants searched for advice online
That throbbing headache just won’t go away and your mind is racing about what may be wrong. But Googling your symptoms may not be as ill-advised as previously thought.
Although some doctors often advise against turning to the internet before making the trudge up to the clinic, a new study suggests that using online resources to research symptoms may not be harmful after all – and could even lead to modest improvements in diagnosis.
Continue reading...EU rules post-Brexit limit UK nationals to maximum 90-day stay per 180 days
Spain has warned British tourists and second-home owners that they are not entitled to spend more than 90 days in the country at a time post-Brexit, but dismissed reports that offenders would be rounded up and deported if they overstay.
Rules applying across the EU – which now apply to Britons – limit visa-free visits to those from outside the bloc to six months with an additional restriction of a maximum 90-day stay per 180-day period.
Continue reading...From pools and lidos to tennis courts and golf courses, it has been an action-packed day around England as lockdown regulations are relaxed to allow outdoor sporting activity. People will now be able to meet up legally outside in groups of six or two households and organised outdoor sport can resume
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