Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Foreign Office quango says some of NGO’s claims against machinery firm ‘merit further examination’
The British heavy machinery firm JCB’s sale of equipment used in the destruction of Palestinian villages in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is being examined by a UK government body to determine whether its due diligence process complies with human rights guidelines set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The case is likely to test the degree to which multinationals are responsible if their export goods are sold by local distributors in ways that infringe human rights.
Below are updates of what’s happened in recent hours. I am now handing the blog over to my colleague Archie Bland, who will continue bringing you live updates. Thanks for following.
• Malaysia on Monday announced that it will impose some restrictions on movement in its capital city and in the neighbouring state of Selangor from Wednesday, as the country grapples with a fresh surge of coronavirus cases.
Italy is set to ban private parties and limit the numbers of guests at weddings and funerals among new restrictions aimed at curbing a surge in coronavirus infections, according to a draft decree seen by Reuters.
The decree, which could be issued as early as Monday, prohibits people from hosting more than 10 guests in their homes or in any other private premises.
It also states that no more than 10 guests will be allowed at weddings, and no more than 15 people can be present at funerals. Italy on Friday topped 5,000 new Covid-19 cases in a single day for the first time since March. Daily infections remained above 5,000 on both Saturday and Sunday.
Deaths linked to Covid-19 are far fewer, normally below 30, compared with peaks above 900 per day around the end of March.
Under the draft decree, amateur contact sports involving more than 6 people, such as soccer, are to be suspended and more severe social distancing is to be imposed in some workplaces.
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, is about to hold a briefing on the latest coronavirus statistics. It is due to be carried live by the 24-hour news broadcasters.
Here are the main points from Sir Keir Starmer’s LBC phone-in.
The government has been treating local communities, particularly in the Midlands, north-west and north-east - and their leaders - with contempt, that Whitehall knows best and we will simply tell you what’s coming your way. It’s just not good enough, you have to take people with you on this, listen to what local leaders are saying.
Keir Starmer says Margaret Ferrier's behaviour was "jaw-dropping" and she "should just resign".
I think it does sometimes have to involve the police, unfortunately. When I was director of public prosecutions there was a lot of focus on whether what people say on social media should be policed or not. There’s got to be a level of tolerance, of course. But there is a line that can be crossed and it’s very important that when it is crossed there is [police] involvement, in some cases prosecutions.
Of course journalists have the right to ask questions, and there has to be tolerance of free speech. All I’m saying is, as a general proposition, that there is a line. When people go over the line is, it’s right that it’s investigated.
Decisions of the police to investigate particular cases are clearly an operational matter for them which I can't comment on, but as a general principle, it's important the law protects freedom of speech.
Make no mistake. This is the Leader of the Opposition supporting the arrest of a journalist for something his guest has said. Absolutely extraordinary, with terrifying repercussions for freedom of the press. https://t.co/CEn5WZfzl5
Somalia-born former Labour Mayor of Islington Rakhia Ismail earlier told LBC the only wanted to have her involved as a "tick box".
No 10 has warned that the UK is at a “critical juncture” for controlling the spread of Covid as Boris Johnson prepares to lay out new rules that will see pubs and bars in areas with the highest infection rate forced to close.
The prime minister is expected to address the nation on Monday after a frantic weekend of discussion with local leaders from across the country.
Nets could be used to clog propellers and halt boats, says former Royal Marine in charge
The Home Office is considering permitting the use of nets to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats to the UK to claim asylum, according to a former Royal Marine tasked with preventing the journeys.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the Home Office’s clandestine channel threat commander, Dan O’Mahoney, said nets could be used to clog propellers and bring boats to a standstill as they attempt the crossing over the Dover Strait.
Former Conservative leader says government should assess China’s influence in areas from 5G to Covid-19 research
Chinese ownership of British businesses should be subject to a national security review by the UK government to assess the impact of Beijing’s growing economic power, according to the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.
The senior backbencher – a leading figure in the rebellion that forced Downing Street to introduce tougher controls on Huawei – believes ministers have failed to deal with the scale of China’s influence on strategic industries in the UK.
Duchess of Sussex speaks of ‘almost unsurvivable’ online abuse she has experienced
The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she was told last year that she was the “most trolled person in the entire world” in a podcast in which she opened up about the “almost unsurvivable” online abuse she has experienced.
Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, joined three Californian high school students during an episode of their podcast, Teenager Therapy, and discussed topics including mental health stigma, self-care and online abuse.
Doctor says president not replicating virus, but no word on whether he has tested negative; Europe records 100,000 daily cases for first time. Follow latest updates
Mainland China reported 21 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on 10 October, up from 15 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Sunday.
All the new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas, the National Health Commission said in a statement.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed, fell to 23 from 39 a day earlier. All of them were imported.
The total confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China stands at 85,557, while the death toll remained at 4,634.
In Australia, the ACT has confirmed no new coronavirus cases. From the statement sent by the ACT government:
There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the ACT in the past 24 hours, leaving the ACT’s total at 113. There are no active cases in the ACT.
A total of 110 cases have recovered from COVID-19 in the ACT.
Slovakia will impose stricter coronavirus restrictions from Thursday, including making face masks compulsory in public and limits to public gatherings, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday.
The government will also debate on Monday whether to limit gatherings to six people, health minister Marek Krajci said.
Brazil confirmed 290 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 12,345 new cases, the nation’s health ministry said on Sunday.
The South American country has now registered 5,094,982 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 150,488 total deaths.
Under the grandeur of Preston market’s Victorian canopy, the nervousness wrought by a resurgence of Covid-19 is not far away. Amid the fruit, veg and dairy stalls, all the shoppers and stallholders are wearing masks, keeping their distance. “Everybody seems to be sticking to the rules as much as they can,” said Gary Quinn, the landlord of the Orchard pub. “People haven’t been very clear on what is allowed, but I haven’t seen people acting maliciously. People are trying their best.”
Despite the efforts, the city is again seeing a resurgence of the virus, with 324 cases per 100,000 in the past seven days. Like dozens of other local authorities around the country, Preston city council is not solely relying on the national test and trace system to help track the virus. It has taken matters into its own hands, setting up walk-in test sites and its own tracing system. Its team has received 300 local contacts a week, with council staff making home visits to more than 100 people who needed to self-isolate and could not be contacted by any other means.
Exclusive London firm blames recent violent assault on home secretary’s remarks that ‘activist lawyers’ were frustrating the removal of migrants
Britain’s top lawyers have written to Priti Patel to express their concern after a knifeman threatened to kill an immigration solicitor last month in an attack colleagues say was directly motivated by comments made by the home secretary.
On 7 September a man with a large knife entered a London law firm and launched a “violent, racist attack” that injured a staff member before the assailant was overwhelmed.
UK and French leaders spoke as British and EU negotiating teams engage in eleventh-hour trade deal meetings
Boris Johnson has held Brexit telephone talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as the clock ticks down to the deadline for a deal.
The two leaders spoke on Saturday with seemingly just days remaining for an agreement on a future trade deal to be reached, after UK and EU negotiating teams met on Friday for what sources said was a positive meeting.
Reports of rare bat species in ancient woodland being cleared for high-speed rail line
Lawyers have warned HS2 it might be felling trees illegally, after an ecology report found evidence of one of the UK’s rarest bat species in an area of ancient woodland being cleared for the high-speed rail line.
Legal firm Leigh Day has written to HS2 Ltd urging the company to halt activity at Jones’ Hill wood, near Wendover in Buckinghamshire, as it does not have a licence to carry out work that could disturb rare barbastelle bat roosts. They say to continue doing so could be a criminal offence.
Move follows Belarusian government’s decision to expel 35 diplomats from neighbouring Poland and Lithuania
The UK has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Belarus, Jacqueline Perkins, in response to the Belarusian government’s decision to expel 35 diplomats from neighbouring Poland and Lithuania.
Minsk asked the two countries to scale back the number of diplomatic staff they had in Belarus on Friday amid ongoing political unrest following the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has taken aim at the British vaccine testing safety regime, warning that UK approval of a vaccine would not automatically mean it was safe according to the US’s own procedures.
Amid a race to produce an effective vaccine against Covid-19 that meets broad international acceptance for safety, Pelosi’s comments appear partly motivated by concern that any quick and unilateral British approval of a vaccine might be embraced by Donald Trump for political gain, perhaps even before the 3 November election.
An open letter that made headlines calling for a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 lists a number of apparently fake names among its expert signatories, including “Dr Johnny Bananas” and “Professor Cominic Dummings”.
The Great Barrington declaration, which was said to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners around the world, was found by Sky News to contain numerous false names, as well as those of several homeopaths.
Hospitality businesses in the north of England have said they will struggle to survive on the new support package unveiled by the chancellor if they are forced into weeks of local lockdowns.
Carol Ross, the landlady of the Roscoe Head pub in Liverpool, said the new jobs support package- which includes the government paying 67% of employee salaries if businesses are forced to shut down and a further £3,000 a month in cash grants towards other costs – was not enough.
Charlie Nurse from the University of Cambridge’s Centre of Latin American Studies sets the historical record straight on Dolores Ibárruri and artists’ support for the Spanish Republic
I enjoyed your review of Giles Tremlett’s latest book on the International Brigades (3 October) and look forward to reading it. However, probably in common with other readers, I was mystified by the review’s reference to Dolores Ibárruri – without doubt the most famous figure in the Spanish Communist party during the civil war – as an opera singer. Ibárruri, known as La Pasionaria, was not an opera singer, although her speeches were, by contemporary accounts, undoubtedly dramatic performances.
It is also somewhat misleading to cite Orwell, Hemingway, Spender and Auden as examples of artists who were drawn to the International Brigades. They were, it is true, supporters of the Spanish Republic, but that is a different matter. None of them joined the brigades, though Spender declined an invitation from the British Communist party leader, Harry Pollitt, to volunteer. Orwell, famously, was in the militia of the POUM, which was targeted as a “Trotskyist” organisation and suppressed in 1937. Charlie Nurse Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge
Campaigner gives first major interview after being appointed as government adviser on issue
The UK needs a frank conversation about the fear of male violence that women live with every day, according to the government’s new adviser on violence against women and girls.
In her first major interview since her role was announced on Friday, the feminist campaigner Nimco Ali – who has been a key figure in the global fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM) – said she wanted to work across political, ethnic and gender lines.