Investigation is fresh sign of breakdown in relations between Brussels and Anglo-Swedish vaccine supplier
An AstraZeneca plant has come under investigation by the Italian police at the request of Brussels in a sign of the breakdown in relations between the Anglo-Swedish vaccine supplier and the EU.
Officers were sent into the facility in the town Anagni, east of Rome, on Saturday evening after the European commission contacted the Italian government with concerns.
Continue reading...Home secretary says proposals will be biggest overhaul of system in decades
The home secretary, Priti Patel, says her immigration proposals amount to “the biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades”.
Here we take a look at the key measures being put out for consultation:
Continue reading...Valdis Dombrovskis, a European commission vice-president, said the commission was revising its export authorisation mechanism in order to 'preserve security of supply chains'.
Under the revised regulation, countries with a high level of vaccination coverage or those that restrict exports through law or their contracts with suppliers now risk having shipments prohibited
Continue reading...Commission on Information Disorder aims to address ‘avalanche of misinformation’, says Harry
Prince Harry has added another job to the burgeoning portfolio career he has built up since relinquishing his royal duties, by joining a US initiative to tackle fake news.
The Duke of Sussex has been named as one of 15 members of the Commission on Information Disorder set up by the Aspen Institute thinktank. Announcing the move, the prince said he was keen to tackle the “avalanche of misinformation” in the digital world and argued this had become a “humanitarian issue”.
Continue reading...Molecular switch makes human organ three times larger than great apes’, study finds
It is one of the defining attributes of being human: when compared with our closest primate relatives, we have incredibly large brains.
Now scientists have shed light on the reasons for the difference, by collecting cells from humans, chimps and gorillas and turning them into lumps of brain in the laboratory.
Continue reading...European commission revising export authorisation mechanism ‘to ensure vaccination of EU’
Britain has been singled out for failing to export Covid vaccines to the EU as Brussels empowered officials to prohibit shipments of doses to countries with a better vaccination coverage than within the bloc.
Valdis Dombrovskis, a European commission vice-president, said the commission was revising its export authorisation mechanism in order to “ensure vaccination of our own population”.
Continue reading...Younger staff in London follow revolt in US offices over remote-working conditions
The reputation of Goldman Sachs as the most desirable employer for aspiring investment bankers is at stake. Legendary for its pulling power with the best graduates, the bank is now facing a rebellion in its lower ranks.
Junior staff who used to tolerate long working hours thanks to office camaraderie have been forced to manage burnout at home, alone, throughout the pandemic. Some have started demanding change, while others are plotting their exit. What began as a little local trouble at a US office in February has now spread to the UK.
Continue reading...Taipei’s success shows lives might have been saved had the UK government acted differently
Along central Taipei’s busy Yongkang Street crowds spill out of restaurants and bars every evening, mingling with people queueing outside popular eateries for a tiny table to cram around with groups of friends. Children out way past their bedtime run amok over the play equipment in a nearby park, shrieking and laughing as their parents chat nearby.
In London, it would be unthinkable. In the Taiwanese capital, it is just another spring evening.
Continue reading...Prime minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus pandemic ‘is something that we will all remember and be dealing with in different ways – certainly in my case – for as long as I live’, adding that ‘the single biggest false assumption’ made early on was misunderstanding the risk of asymptomatic transmission. Speaking during the same briefing, the chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, said it was unlikely that Covid-19 would ever be completely eradicated
PC Oliver Banfield had been spared jail after drunkenly attacking woman in street
A male off-duty police officer convicted of attacking a woman as she walked home alone has resigned from West Midlands police.
PC Oliver Banfield was spared jail for the assault, which sparked criticism from the Labour MP Harriet Harman, who said the “system fails women and protects men”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: public figures considered to be permissible targets for otherwise-banned abuse, leaked moderator guidelines show
Facebook’s bullying and harassment policy explicitly allows for “public figures” to be targeted in ways otherwise banned on the site, including “calls for [their] death”, according to a tranche of internal moderator guidelines leaked to the Guardian.
Public figures are defined by Facebook to include people whose claim to fame may be simply a large social media following or infrequent coverage in local newspapers.
Continue reading...PM says he wishes ‘many things’ were done differently as country marks one year since first lockdown
Boris Johnson has admitted there are many things he wishes he had done differently to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic as the UK marks a year since the first lockdown and remembers the 126,000 people who have died so far.
At a Downing Street press conference, England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, also conceded the country had endured “a bad outcome”, but the prime minister once again refused to commit to a public inquiry to look at the decisions taken by the government over the last year.
Continue reading...Bloc expected to assess countries’ Covid vaccination coverage and record in facilitating exports to EU
The EU is expected to take into account the level of vaccination coverage in a country and its record in facilitating exports to the bloc when deciding on whether to prohibit individual vaccine shipments to the UK and elsewhere.
The revision of the export authorisation scheme, widening the criteria that will guide Brussels’ decisions on export requests, is due to be announced on Wednesday. EU leaders will then on Thursday discuss going further in controlling vaccine distribution when they meet by videoconference.
Continue reading...‘Game Changer’ was a work the artist made as a thank you to England’s health workers amid the pandemic
A Banksy painting of a young boy ditching his Batman and Spider-Man action figures for one of a caped superhero nurse has sold for a world record price of £16.7m, the money going to UK health charities.
The artist made the work as a thank you to the NHS, delivering it out of the blue to Southampton general hospital last May.
Continue reading...From going braless and wearing black – to therapists in ‘sympathetic necklines’ and politicians in fleeces, readers reflect on a year of getting dressed in the pandemic
It is a white linen suit that Perry Seymour misses the most. “It serves so many purposes, but always reminds me of summer nights,” he says.
Slim-fitting and miraculously stain-free, it is what he wore in the garden to celebrate his 55th birthday last July. Not that anyone saw it. “I never thought I dressed for anyone else, but I’ve found, without occasions or parties, I have no motivation to get dressed at all. These days, I don’t wear trousers unless I leave the house.”
Continue reading...Analysis: British government will hope a deterioration in relations can be avoided
The UK government is bracing itself for retaliatory action by China over its decision to impose sanctions on four Chinese officials in response to human rights abuses of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.
The British ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, was summoned by the Chinese foreign ministry to hear “solemn representations” about the UK sanctions imposed for the mass detention of Muslim minorities.
Continue reading...A day of reflection to mark the anniversary of Britain’s first coronavirus lockdown with ceremonies planned around the UK to mark the occasion and a minute’s silence at midday to commemorate the 126,000 people who have died
Continue reading...Alarming rates of violence have inspired a poster campaign that has spread beyond France to more than 15 countries
On a weekday evening, in between coronavirus lockdowns and curfews, Camille, Natacha and Cindy are out with a bright yellow plastic bucket of glue, two large brushes and a wad of A4 paper, each sheet covered with a single letter.
The women, all in their 20s, stop on the main road of this Paris suburb by the wall of what looks like a former bank.
Continue reading...Duke of Sussex’s first formal role since ending royal duties involves ‘meaty role’ as chief impact officer at BetterUp
Prince Harry has been given a job by a $1bn (£730m) Silicon Valley startup which provides professional coaching, mental health advice and “immersive learning” as its chief impact officer.
The Duke of Sussex said he hoped to be able to use his own experiences using the “the power of transforming pain into purpose” to help BetterUp’s clients with “proactive coaching” for personal development, as well as achieve “an all-round better life”.
Continue reading...In the pandemic, many have rediscovered the sheer pleasure of writing to strangers, with new schemes spreading hope and connection around the world
A few months ago, when the rules had been sufficiently relaxed to allow friends to sit together outside, Liz Maguire had coffee with a woman she had never met. The pair had already been communicating for months, and quickly fell into easy conversation. Later on, this woman tweeted about their meeting, to which another woman replied: “You met Liz Maguire? As in the Liz Maguire?”.
The Liz Maguire is a 27-year-old American expat living in Dublin. Though undoubtedly a celebrity in her chosen field, she is not a professional, but that is simply because she is not paid to do what she loves, which is to write letters to strangers.
Continue reading...