'Once more, we should all stay home.' That is the message from England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, in a new coronavirus information campaign that warns the new variant is placing huge pressure on the NHS. Whitty is fronting adverts on radio, TV and social media from Friday which urge the public to ‘act like you’ve got it' to stop the spread of the virus
Continue reading...Category Archives: UK news
Pioneering Observer columnist Katharine Whitehorn dies aged 92
The first woman to have her own column in the Observer, Whitehorn was a celebrated writer and author
Katharine Whitehorn, the pioneering newspaper columnist and author, has died aged 92.
The Cambridge graduate worked briefly as a model before embarking on a celebrated writing career, working for publications including the Observer, Picture Post and Saga magazine, where she was agony aunt for 19 years.
Continue reading...Gatwick immigration detention centre closed due to staff Covid cases
Serco-run Brook House has been shut and some detainees moved to another centre, Home Office says
An immigration detention centre has been temporarily closed after several members of staff tested positive for coronavirus.
The Home Office said Brook House, near Gatwick airport in West Sussex, has been shut for 10 days. It said a “very small number” of detainees had been moved to Colnbrook immigration removal centre near Heathrow.
Continue reading...Firms halt deliveries from UK to EU over Brexit border problems
DPD pauses road service and retailers suspend sales or reduce lines amid concerns over paperwork and tariffs
A growing number of retailers and courier firms are suspending or cutting back deliveries into the EU as companies grapple with new border controls as well as import taxes.
On Friday DPD, the international delivery giant, said it was “pausing” its road service from the UK into Europe, including the Republic of Ireland. Separately, Marks & Spencer said it was concerned that a third of the products in its Irish food halls, including Percy Pig sweets, would now be subject to import tariffs. Such taxes could spell higher prices for shoppers.
Continue reading...‘We’re bursting’: a day inside a Covid intensive care unit
The Guardian spends a day with Covid patients and staff at Milton Keynes University hospital
In a private room by the locked entrance of the intensive care unit, Dilip Sharan is sitting up in bed, a plate of stew in front of him. He navigates his spoon around the breathing tube keeping him alive, every mouthful soundtracked by a discordant symphony of beeps and bongs from multiple monitors keeping tabs on his vital organs.
It is his fifth day in the last chance saloon of Covid care. He gasps for air, barely able to speak.
Continue reading...Hyundai’s value surges by $9bn amid reports of Apple electric car deal
South Korean firm backtracks on statement confirming ‘early discussion’ with US company
Hyundai’s value surged by $9bn (£6.6bn) on Friday after reports that it could join with Apple in developing a driverless electric vehicle – despite confusion as it backtracked on a statement acknowledging “early discussion” with the iPhone manufacturer.
Investors sent the South Korean carmaker’s share price on the Seoul exchange up almost 20%, as local media reported a possible tie-up on electric cars and batteries with Apple, which has been developing its own vehicle technology.
Continue reading...Covid in the UK: why is it so bad now and when will cases decline? | Nicola Davis and Linda Geddes
With a major incident declared in London and positive test results surging, experts answer key questions
The UK is seeing record numbers of people testing positive for coronavirus, with more than 60,000 positive tests reported on three days this week.
Continue reading...Covid-19 is ‘out of control’ in London, says Sadiq Khan – video
'I'm afraid this virus is out of control,' the mayor of London has said after declaring a major incident as the capital's hospitals struggle to cope with coronavirus patients. 'The NHS in London is at risk of being overwhelmed ... we could run out of beds,' Sadiq Khan said. The mayor told BBC News that as many as one in 20 people had the virus in some parts of the city. 'The best way you can help the NHS is by staying at home,' he said
Continue reading...Iran bans importation of Covid vaccines from the US and UK
Despite virus spread, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forbids what he calls ‘untrustworthy’ jabs
Vaccines produced by the US and UK will be banned from entering Iran, its supreme leader has said, even though his country has suffered the worst virus outbreak in the Middle East.
“Imports of US and British vaccines into the country are forbidden ... They’re completely untrustworthy,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a live televised speech. “It’s not unlikely they would want to contaminate other nations.
Continue reading...UK coronavirus live: ‘major incident’ declared in London as cases surge; Moderna Covid vaccine approved
Latest updates: Sadiq Khan declares major incident in capital with ‘spread of virus out of control’; seven million doses of Moderna vaccine ordered
- Sadiq Khan declares Covid emergency in London
- Moderna Covid vaccine approved for use by UK medicines regulator
- Pfizer vaccine protects against new Covid variants, study suggests
- Which countries have reported the new UK Covid variant?
- Coronavirus – latest updates
Making the announcement in London, Sadiq Khan said: “We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point.
“If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.
BREAKING: I have declared a major incident in London because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point.
One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.https://t.co/OjV7SZ4BgQ
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has declared an effective emergency in the city, as it grapples with soaring coronavirus case numbers and hospitals struggling to cope with the influx of patients.
London has been the worst-hit area of the UK so far in the winter peak of Covid-19 cases.
Related: Sadiq Khan declares Covid emergency in London
Continue reading...Giant sinkhole opens in hospital car park in Naples
Nearby Italian residence for Covid-19 patients had to close temporarily because of electricity cuts
A giant sinkhole has opened up in the car park of a hospital in Naples, Italy, forcing the temporary closure of a nearby residence for recovering Covid-19 patients because the electricity was cut.
Operations at the Hospital of the Sea were not affected, and firefighters said no one appeared to be injured. The sinkhole consumed a few cars in the hospital’s otherwise empty visitors’ car park on Friday.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: WHO says poorer countries not getting vaccines; Denmark to restrict all travel
WHO urges rich countries to stop making bilateral deals with manufacturers; Denmark to restrict entry from all countries after today
- Pfizer vaccine protects against new Covid variants, study suggests
- Iran bans importation of UK and US vaccines
- Which countries have reported the new UK Covid variant?
- Arizona becomes Covid hotspot of the world
The United States has set a new daily record for new coronavirus cases, with 290,000 cases reported in 24-hours, according to the Johns Hopkins global tally.
Some 3,676 people in the US died with the virus in the same period.
Mexico has reported 14,362 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,038 deaths.
It is one of the highest daily case increases and brings the total number of cases in Mexico since the pandemic began to 1,507,931, with 132,069 deaths.
Continue reading...Hampshire police officers sacked over ‘shameful’ language
Five officers from serious crime unit recorded making racist, sexist and other inappropriate comments
Five officers in an elite unit caught making racist, sexist and homophobic remarks have been sacked for their “shameful” conduct.
A covert bug recorded members of Hampshire police’s serious organised crime unit wishing death on foreigners, and an investigation found that part of the office where a black officer worked was called “Africa corner”.
Continue reading...‘We cannot take chances’ with South African Covid variant, says Grant Shapps – video
The transport secretary said fears that vaccines would not work against the new South African coronavirus strain prompted the introduction of testing for new arrivals into England and Scotland. 'There are concerns ... about how effective the vaccine would be against it, so we simply cannot take chances,' Shapps said
- Fears Covid vaccines would not work against South Africa variant led to travel curbs
- UK coronavirus live
Fears Covid vaccines would not work against South Africa variant led to travel curbs
Minister says extra check on travellers introduced as ‘we simply cannot take chances’
Fears that Covid vaccines will not work against the new South African strain of the virus have prompted the introduction of testing for new arrivals into England and Scotland from abroad, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has said.
Outlining the new testing regime for England and Scotland, he told Sky News: “This is an extra check and we’re doing this now because there are these variants that we’re very keen to keep out of the country, like the South African variant, for example.
Continue reading...‘I’m stuck here’: lorry drivers in Calais begin to feel effects of Brexit
Truck drivers tell of long delays for checks at the Eurotunnel as trade barrier goes up between UK and EU
Roger White arrived in France at 2.30pm on Tuesday with a truckload of hard cheese from Somerset.
Before Brexit he would have rolled off the Eurotunnel train and carried on up the A16 to Belgium, unloading his wares a few hours later at his ultimate destination in Utrecht.
Continue reading...Climate crisis: 2020 was joint hottest year ever recorded
Global heating continued unabated despite Covid lockdowns, with record Arctic wildfires and Atlantic tropical storms
The climate crisis continued unabated in 2020, with the the joint highest global temperatures on record, alarming heat and record wildfires in the Arctic, and a record 29 tropical storms in the Atlantic.
Despite a 7% fall in fossil fuel burning due to coronavirus lockdowns, heat-trapping carbon dioxide continued to build up in the atmosphere, also setting a new record. The average surface temperature across the planet in 2020 was 1.25C higher than in the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900, dangerously close to the 1.5C target set by the world’s nations to avoid the worst impacts.
Continue reading...Man, 19, guilty of murdering schoolboy he paid £2,000 to keep silent
Engineering student Matthew Mason bludgeoned 15-year-old Alex Rodda to death with a wrench in Cheshire woods
A 19-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering a schoolboy after paying more than £2,000 to try to stop him revealing their sexual relationship.
Matthew Mason admitted bludgeoning 15-year-old Alex Rodda to death with a wrench in woods in Cheshire on 12 December 2019.
Continue reading...University College London apologises for role in promoting eugenics
Links to early eugenicists such as Francis Galton a source of ‘deep regret’ to institution
University College London has expressed “deep regret” for its role in the propagation of eugenics, alongside a promise to improve conditions for disabled staff and students and a pledge to give “greater prominence” to teaching the malign legacy of the discredited movement.
The formal apology for legitimising eugenics – the advocacy of selective breeding of the population often to further racist or discriminatory aims – is UCL’s latest effort to address its links to early eugenicists such as Francis Galton, who funded a professorship in eugenics at the university.
Continue reading...Leave. EU leaves Britain after Brexit
Eurosceptic campaign group founded by Arron Banks is now registered in Ireland
Leave.EU has left the UK, as Brexit forced the Eurosceptic campaign group to choose between its name and its country.
According to domain name registration records, the organisation, founded by businessman and activist Arron Banks, picked the former. The website is now registered in the name of Sean Power, the chief executive of the Ireland-based professional services company BSG.
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