thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--I’m Resisting The Urge To Make Christmas Extra Special To Compensate For 2020

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I’ve been more desperate for parenting advice this year than any other since my first son was born in 2014. And by “advice,” I mean any reassurance I’m not screwing it up. I click on everything from pandemic-related regression headlines to superhero face mask shopping guides, hoping to feel just a bit better about the well-intentioned yet inadequate ways I’m navigating this bizarre year for my five- and three-year-old boys.
But for all my clicking, there’s still an issue I haven’t seen addressed: the one having to do with magic. And now that the kitchen calendar is down to its last page and holiday ads are everywhere, I’m trying to figure out how to handle it.
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My family celebrates Christmas, and when I was a kid, that turning of the calendar to 1 December generated a magical force that glowed straight through till New Year’s. This force was so powerful that it caused garlands to sprout from our staircase, warded off homework and transformed my parents from unfulfilled housekeeper and exhausted commuter into storybook mother and father with all-new capabilities like baking pies and felling trees — while singing. My sister and I were also transformed: no longer bickering kids with “pigpen” rooms who went to bed in faded Ziggy T-shirts, but well-mannered children in ruffled nightgowns who drifted to sleep by the glow of plug-in window candles. We were in a magnificent spell.
So after I had my first son, I thought about how magical everything would be when my husband and I got to share this holiday spell with him. Because he was born in December, that first Christmas was a blur of breastfeeding mishaps and laundry. But as our second Christmas approached, I couldn’t wait to enjoy a perfectly magical holiday with my perfect husband and child.
Then around mid-November, I realised I didn’t have a personalised stocking for my baby. So I went on Etsy and lost an afternoon at work selecting and then ordering just the right one. Done. Then I realised I didn’t have a pretty way to hang the stockings, so I bought three of those decorative weighted anchors that sit on the mantle. Done. Then I heard tree farms sell out close to Christmas. I delegated that task to my husband, who in turn lost an afternoon at work calling around to compare prices and perks (cocoa? carollers?) at local farms. In the following weeks, we lost sleep to late-night gift shopping, accidentally double-booked out-of-state family visits, paid through the nose for Polar Express train tickets, ran out of tape, and realised we didn’t have a recipe for a single pie or nut roll between us.
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It was somewhere around then I started to grasp that the December glow of my childhood home wasn’t a naturally occurring force. That magic was engineered, manufactured — fuse by fuse, receipt by receipt — by my parents. And now, as a mother myself, I wasn’t living in a spell. I was the one expected to cast it.
Being a parent during the holidays suddenly meant stepping behind the curtain. You’re no longer a VIP audience member in a plush front-row seat dazzled by the Sugar Plum Fairy. You’re the crewmember backstage racing from pulley to light switch, to prop table, to trap door lever ... but without sufficient pay or training. You’re also the producer, responsible for everything from budget (the strategic coordination of flash sales with coupon codes) to quality control (shielding my son from the Santa we’d just visited who stripped to his New York Jets T-shirt in the parking lot).
Those pies — they involve converting cups to ounces. Those garlands — they have to be excavated from the attic. Those family visits — they have to be diplomatically balanced between sides. And those Christmas nightclothes — they have to be totally forgotten about and then bought at the last minute from Kohl’s at 11:40 p.m. on 23 December in a line so long you go to customer service instead, only to discover that line is longer and now you’ve lost your original spot.
“For me, magic has become a verb — something I do to my kids to set them aglow with holiday wonder while I stress every decision and detail on the backend.”
I’m the first to admit I’ve taken the manufacturing of magic too far, a compulsion that only increased with our second son. Instead of casting a spell, I’ve been hurling it — forcing every decoration to be magazine-ready and every moment to become a childhood-defining, life-affirming memory. For me, magic has become a verb — something I do to my kids to set them aglow with holiday wonder while I stress every decision and detail on the backend.
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And I worry this year will be worse. Because this year, with this one holiday, I feel the additional pressure of making up for everything 2020 wasn’t. Every birthday party reduced to a Zoom screen, every feeble explanation for why a friend/cousin/grandparent can’t come over, the canceled summer camps, the nixed Yellowstone vacation, and every single time I told my homebound kids, “Not now, mommy’s working.” With 2020 running out, my compensatory opportunities are dwindling. This year, the holiday season is looming like an exhausting deadline ― my final chance to restore all the childhood the last 12 months took from them.
(It’s embarrassing, by the way, how upsetting these pedestrian grievances get. I think about the cardiologists I interview scrambling to understand what’s happening inside the Covid-19 patient crashing in front of them, or the trash collectors my town forced to work after they tested positive, or the friends who lost their jobs, or people who can’t pay their rent or afford food, and I can’t imagine what right I have to cry over my 5-year-old’s anti-Zoom tantrum. But I do. All the time.)
So this year... I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to resist overspending on compensatory presents or spare myself the baking of a traditional flaming pudding. I don’t know how to avoid turning December into a massive, stressed-out apology for my suboptimal pandemic parenting, and I don’t know how to make the time and space for my family to slow down, breathe and enter into a spell together.
But isn’t that part of real magic? The not-knowing?
We don’t know how a saint-cum-Santa circles the globe in a flying sleigh. We don’t know how a star guided three gift-bearers to the cradle of a deity. We don’t know how a one-day supply of oil lasted eight nights or how any faith at all exists without proof.
I think it’s true that when you’re a parent, some magic has to be made ― designed and engineered like a suspension bridge or a single-handled can opener. But real magic can just happen — like the hard sparkle of sun through iced branches on a December morning or Spotify playing your late mother’s favourite carol just as you hang her memorial stocking. And the advantage to real magic is that there doesn’t have to be a magic-er and a magic-ee. It can fall on parents and children at the same time — and it should. Because no matter if we are kids or have kids or neither, everyone deserves to get magic-ed.
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So even though I don’t know what will happen this Christmas (will I wake up in another pee spot from the toddler who climbed into our holiday bedding?) or this time next year (will we all wake up to a beautiful post-Covid dawn?), I do know that I want to spend more time making memories without making myself sick worrying that I’m doing it wrong or not being perfect enough. There’s enough actual worry this year — or any year, really.
After 2020 has demanded so much work, strength and grit that my kids sometimes felt more like burdens than blessings, I want this holiday to be less about freaking out and forcing fun, and more about loosening my grip enough to let in the wonders that are already here. Because my one big certainty is my little family, and no matter what Christmas looks like this year, as long as I have them, it’ll be magical. Even if our pj’s don’t match.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Best Films On TV This Christmas – Here's Our Pick Of What The BBC, ITV And Channel 4 & 5 Have To Off

Best Films On TV This Christmas – Here's Our Pick Of What The BBC, ITV And Channel 4 & 5 Have To Offer

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If you don’t have access to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ and the films they have to offer this Christmas, don’t worry – there’s still plenty of good stuff coming to regular telly over the festive period.
We’ve trawled through the TV guide to find the best of what the main five channels are showing, and here’s 20 of our favourites (and what they’re the perfect occasion for)....
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Wreck It Ralph
When? Saturday 19 December at 3pm on BBC One
Perfect for? When you’re looking for something to fill the hours with until the Strictly final.
The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
When? Saturday 19 December at 10.40pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Lord Of The Rings fans, and those who like their films looooong.
Maleficent
When? Sunday 20 December at 2.45pm on BBC One
Perfect for? A lazy Sunday watch before Christmas really kicks in.
The Muppets
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When? Monday 21 December at 10am on BBC One
Perfect for? Watching in place of Muppet Christmas Carol, which is criminally absent from the festive TV schedules this year.
Oz: The Great and the Powerful
When? Monday 21 December at 1.45pm on BBC One
Perfect for? A new take on a well-known tale.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
When? Tuesday 22 December at 7.55pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Those who have missed seeing big blockbusters in the cinema this year.
Matilda
When? Tuesday 22 December at 1.35pm on Channel 5
Perfect for? A bit of childhood nostalgia.
Knocked Up
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When? Wednesday 23 December at 10.40pm on ITV
Perfect for? Some laughs, even if you have seen it like 50 times already.
Moana
When? Christmas Eve at 12.35pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Belting out How Far I’ll Go.
Cars 3
When? Christmas Eve at 2.15pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Containing the kids’ excitement as they giddy themselves for Santa’s arrival.
Paddington 2
When? Christmas Eve at 4.15pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Everyone. Honestly, one of the most joyful films ever made – and you don’t need to have seen the first to appreciate it.
It’s a Wonderful Life
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When? Christmas Eve at 2.35pm on Channel 4
Perfect for? If you’re not already in the festive spirit and need to get in it fast.
Early Man
When? Christmas Day at 1.15pm on BBC One
Perfect for? If you like Aardman Animations but you’ve seen Wallace And Gromit and Chicken Run a million times.
Coco
When? Christmas Day at 3.10pm on BBC One
Perfect for? If you want something to cry into your Christmas pud with.
Jumanji
When? Boxing Day at 4.55pm on Channel 5
Perfect for? Reminding yourself why the original is always better than the reboot.
Grease
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When? Boxing Day at 5pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Sorry, but when is Grease never not a perfect film?
Dunkirk
When? Boxing Day at 9.05pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Keeping those sick of watching family films occupied. Oh, did we mention Harry Styles is in it?
The Holiday
When? Boxing Day at 10.45pm on ITV
Perfect for? Clinging to those last few hours of the Christmas festivities.
Hidden Figures
When? Boxing Day at 6.40pm on Channel 4
Perfect for? Learning an important lesson about the ‘hidden figures’ in one of humankind’s greatest achievements.
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Jurassic World
When? Sunday 27 December at 4.40pm on ITV
Perfect for? Trying to wake yourself up after falling into a food coma with all you’ve consumed over the last two days.
The Silence of the Lambs
When? Sunday 27 December at 10.40pm on ITV
Perfect for? Scary yourself silly after watching too many cheerful Christmas movies.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
When? Monday 28 December at 11.25am on ITV
Perfect for? If you don’t have a Netflix subscription and haven’t already watched it there.
The Jungle Book
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When? Monday 28 December at 3.05pm on BBC One
Perfect for? Those intrigued by a slightly more grown-up take on the classic Disney tale.
Wonder Woman
When? Tuesday 29 December at 7.30pm on ITV
Perfect for? Catching up before the much-hyped (and much delayed) release of the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, next year.
The Greatest Showman
When? New Year’s Day at 5.30pm on Channel 4


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--How Happiest Season Twisted The Conventional Rom-Com On Its Head

For years, Christmas movies were hetero-territory. That’s not to say they weren’t quality viewing material – Love, Actually is and will always be a classic – but few have featured queer characters at all, let alone as lead protagonists. Apparently, all the gays in the world disappear come December 25th.
This year however, the queer community’s prayers were finally answered and we were graced with not one but several queer holiday flicks, one being Happiest Season starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis.
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The film, which premiered on Hulu due to the pandemic (it was produced by Sony and initially set to be released in cinemas), received a mixed response; while some felt it breathed life into the outdated rom-com genre, others thought that it was created out of a desire for political correctness.
Regardless of the response, the question of why it’s taken so long for a queer Christmas movie remains prevalent; is the world finally ready for an LGBTQ+ festive love story?
Happiest Season Hulu
Throughout cinema, queer people have notoriously been side-lined as camp/butch best friends, fashionable sidekicks or pervy PE teachers. Though representation on screen has vastly improved with high-profile movies such as Call Me By Your Name and The Favourite paving the way, rarely are the storylines positive or uplifting, and most often shrouded in despair.
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The ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope, which depicts queer people as more expendable than their heterosexual counterparts, is one still seen too often in film and television, with lesbians often singled out. As for trans characters, they were non-existent in 2019 cinema – for the third year in a row.
When it comes to the genre of rom-com, it’s a famously straight playing field. Out of the millions of romantic comedies that exist in the world, few feature characters that identify as queer. None have queer leads. Add a Christmas spin, and Happiest Season is the first of its kind.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, director and lesbian royalty Clea DuVall explained her reasoning behind making the film. “I love Christmas movies, but I had never seen my experience represented in a Christmas film,” she explained.
DuVall, who is openly gay, felt that the romantic comedy genre needed a modern day, relatable twist. “It’s a very heterosexual genre and to be able to have all the same feelings and see a story that feels familiar, that you connect with, but that also has two women at the center, it shouldn’t seem that radical, but it kind of is,” she said.
Clea DuVall Vince Bucci/Invision/AP
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Radical it may be, but it’s also record-breaking. 2020 has the highest amount of queer representation ever seen in holiday movies; The Christmas House, starring Jonathan Bennet (Mean Girls’ Aaron Samuels) premiered on the Hallmark Channel this November and is the first ever Hallmark production to feature a lead gay couple. Lifetime’s The Christmas Setup features real-life couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee who play love interests being set up by Lewis’ mother.
This inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in such a heteronormative space is an essential step towards equality, though there is still a lot of work to be done.
Fans of Happiest Season flew to its defense after Ben Shapiro, the host of The Ben Shapiro Show, launched a homophobic tirade at the film, claiming that Hallmark’s audience “is largely religious families with small children” who have no interest in seeing two women enjoying each other’s company beyond the realm of friendship.
Shapiro, who is well known for his controversial opinions and reactionary politics, is a voice many American conservatives are mindful of and shows that attitudes on queerness are still very divided in the country.
His claim that holiday programming “tends to be the kind of stuff that is really not socially justice-oriented” highlights the warped notion of homosexuality as a political movement rather than a human right, a dangerous ideology for progression.
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Nevertheless, Happiest Season was generally well received; Rotten Tomatoes gave it 83%, while publications such as The Guardian and The New York Times hailed it as ‘festive’ and ‘heartfelt’.
Happiest Season stars (L-R) Dan Levy, Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis. Hulu
The film didn’t get the release it was originally destined for, but just a few days after it premiered the film broke records as the Most-Watched Original Film Debut on Hulu. Though we will never see how the first mainstream lesbian rom-com would have performed in cinemas, it’s inspiring to see such positive reactions to such a revolutionary project.
Subverting a genre that is so well-loved is both a frightening and valiant move, but Happiest Season manages to keep intact all of the tropes that are cherished in a romantic comedy. There are misunderstandings, gawky ramblings and a touch of slapstick nearing the end that the movie could have done without, leading up to the imminent Happily Ever After. It’s also actually funny; Kristen Stewart’s Abby fumbles around with a natural and quaint awkwardness, while Daniel Levy flips the ‘gay best friend’ trope on its head and ends up producing some of the most profound lines in the movie.
Happiest Season is far from perfect and it won’t be winning any Oscars, but for the queer community it’s an auditory and collective sigh of relief. We deserve a Christmas movie that not only acknowledges our existence, but transcends the stereotypes and allows for a regular holiday experience.
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Movies should reflect the world we live in and represent all aspects of society, not just the dominant ones. Though independent cinema has always been there as a way for queer people to tell their stories, seeing mainstream actors in a movie about coming out to your parents at Christmas is not something to be sneered at; it’s a situation many LGBTQ+ people find all too familiar.
It’s taken a long time to get here, but the movie industry is finally acknowledging queers love Christmas too – even if they are full of awkward, tinsel shrouded moments.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Legendary Spy Author John le Carré Dies Aged 89

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British author John le Carré has died aged 89, the literary agency Curtis Brown has announced.
The renowned writer, whose real name was David Cornwell, passed away following a short period of illness. His death was not Covid-19 related.
Le Carré’s work includes Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
A statement shared on behalf of the espionage storyteller’s family said: “It is with great sadness that we must confirm that David Cornwell – John le Carré – passed away from pneumonia last Saturday night after a short battle with the illness.
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“David is survived by his beloved wife of almost 50 years, Jane, and his sons Nicholas, Timothy, Stephen and Simon.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Council Asks Schools In Greenwich To Close As Covid-19 Rates Rise

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Schools in Greenwich have been asked to close and switch to remote learning from Monday evening due to rising coronavirus rates in the borough.
In a letter to parents on Sunday, Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe said the south London borough was experiencing a period of “exponential growth” in Covid-19 cases, which required “immediate action”.
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He said infection rates were now at their highest since March, adding that the move was aimed at reducing the risk of further transmission.
Thorpe said: “I wouldn’t be asking for this unless the risk was extreme, but with numbers rising so rapidly it is clear action is needed.”
He added: “Although London is currently in Tier 2, this is being reviewed by the government who will advise us shortly about the decisions they make.”
The government has said it will review all tiers in England on December 16.
Statement from Cllr Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Council, regarding schools closures due to Covid19...https://t.co/brt0XeSpDD — Royal Greenwich (@Royal_Greenwich) December 13, 2020
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Thorpe stressed that the school closure was not an opportunity for parents to extend Christmas celebrations.
He said: “We now have the highest rates of infection in Greenwich than at any time since March, and for these reasons I have therefore asked all schools in Greenwich to close their premises from Monday evening and move to online learning for the duration of the term, with the exception of key worker children and those with specific needs (exactly the same as in the first lockdown).”
The latest data shows there were 715 new coronavirus cases recorded in Greenwich in the seven days to December 9 – the equivalent of 248.3 cases per 100,000 people.
This is up from a rate of 158.0 in the seven days to December 2.
The figures have been calculated by the PA news agency, based on Public Health England data published on December 13 on the government’s coronavirus dashboard.
In a separate letter to headteachers, Thorpe said the latest data suggested the rate of infection in London was doubling every four days.
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Speaking about the decision to close schools, he said: “This is honestly one of the most difficult questions I have wrestled with during all my time as leader.
“The Department for Education are clear this isn’t their position and indeed have issued directives to some schools.
“However, I cannot in all good conscience stand by whilst the numbers are doubling so quickly.
monkeybusinessimages via Getty Images
“If the numbers are indeed doubling every 4 days, they would do so again by this Thursday, exposing more people to risk.”
Schools in England have been warned they could face legal action if they allow pupils to learn remotely in the run-up to Christmas.
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New powers introduced through the Coronavirus Act allow the government to issue “directions” to head teachers around education provision during the pandemic.
But should schools fail to comply with directions to remain open, education secretary Gavin Williamson could apply for a High Court injunction forcing them to do so.
The Department for Education (DfE) said keeping education settings open remained a “national priority” and that it was “vital” children remain in school until the end of the term.
In Wales, secondary schools and colleges will move to online learning from Monday following advice from the Welsh chief medical officer that the public health situation in the country is “deteriorating”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Pair Aged 14 And 19 Arrested Over Death Of Boy ‘Of Secondary School Age’

Police tape PA Media
A 14-year-old boy and a man aged 19 have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a boy “of secondary school age” was found.
The body was found in Fishtoft, near Boston, on Saturday, Lincolnshire Police said.
The two teenage suspects remain in custody as police carry out “meticulous” inquiries, the force added.
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It added in a statement: “Final identification is yet to take place but we now believe the victim to be a boy of secondary school age.
“Two males, aged 14 and 19, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. They remain in police custody.”
Detective Superintendent Martyn Parker said: “This is a devastating incident in which a young boy has lost his life. The impact will no doubt be felt greatly in the community and beyond.
“We are working with those affected to keep them informed and offer our support.
“I want to reassure the public that we will do all in our power to meticulously investigate the circumstances of this young boy’s death and we would urge anyone who has any information that could support this investigation to get in touch.”
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The force appealed for anyone with CCTV covering the junction of Freiston Road and Woodthorpe Avenue and the entire length of Wing Drive and Alcorn Green between 8pm on Friday and 10.22am on Saturday to come forward.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Donald Trump's Absolutely Dreadful Weekend Explained For Brits

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Thousands of demonstrators marched in cities across the US on Saturday, echoing Donald Trump’s claim that last month’s presidential election was stolen from him.
Their evidence? Well there isn’t any. And unfortunately for the president, the people and institutions he was relying on to back up his baseless assertions are one by one doing exactly the opposite.
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One of the latest to do so is the most important by far – the US Supreme Court, which on Friday turned down yet another of Trump’s attempts to overturn the election result.
“From a legal perspective, the fat lady has sung,” said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst and University of Texas Law professor.
The deadline
For context, all of the weekend’s action is happening ahead of a crucial event on Monday – a meeting of the US Electoral College on Monday which will make Joe Biden’s victory official.
The Supreme Court
Ever since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential election last month, Trump has repeatedly hinted his hopes that the Supreme Court would come to his rescue and overturn the result.
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His optimism is based on the fact that during his presidency he appointed three Supreme Court justices which, in the loyalty-driven world of Donald Trump, he assumed would gift him their support.
If the Supreme Court shows great Wisdom and Courage, the American People will win perhaps the most important case in history, and our Electoral Process will be respected again! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2020
On Friday evening, Trump found out that it is in fact US law that dictates the actions of the court as it rejected a Texas lawsuit that sought to invalidate Biden’s win by throwing out millions of votes in four battleground states, including Wisconsin.
Trump had touted the Texas case as a potential game changer in his efforts to overturn the election result and openly called on the Supreme Court and state legislators to help. More than 100 Congressional Republicans and 17 states signed onto the lawsuit.
But in a brief order, the court said Texas did not have legal standing to bring the case. The three justices nominated by Trump – Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – signed on to the order without comment, Reuters reports.
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Trump spent much of Saturday condemning his perceived betrayal on Twitter.
The Supreme Court had ZERO interest in the merits of the greatest voter fraud ever perpetrated on the United States of America. All they were interested in is “standing”, which makes it very difficult for the President to present a case on the merits. 75,000,000 votes! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2020
The Wisconsin case
The Trump campaign and its allies have filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote count in numerous states, but state and federal judges have rejected almost every one.
And yet again, it was people appointed by the president himself who made the decision.
District judge Brett Ludwig, a Trump appointee, dismissed the president’s request for the court to order the Republican-controlled legislature in Wisconsin to name him the winner, and not Biden.
In a scathing judgment, the judge said Trump’s arguments “fail as a matter of law and fact”.
The other Wisconsin case
Trump’s attorney Jim Troupis had asked the Wisconsin supreme court to reject more than 221,000 absentee ballots, including his own, saying they were cast fraudulently based on incorrect interpretations of the law by elections officials.
But he faced a barrage of questions about his claims from both liberal and conservative justices, some of whom said the legal action “smacks of racism”.
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“What you want is for us to overturn this election so that your king can stay in power,” said liberal justice Jill Karofsky. “That is so un-American.”
Conservative justices appeared to be sympathetic to some issues raised by Trump, but also questioned how they could fairly disqualify ballots only in the two counties where Trump sought a recount and not other counties where the same procedures were followed.
Trump is challenging ballots only in Milwaukee and Dane counties, the state’s most liberal counties with the largest non-white populations.
He is not challenging any votes in more conservative counties where he won, PA Media reports.
“This lawsuit, Mr Troupis, smacks of racism,” justice Karofsky said. “I do not know how you can come before this court and possibly ask for a remedy that is unheard of in US history.
“It is not normal.”
The attorney general
In non-election news, the president has also been aggrieved by his attorney general William Barr, calling him a “big disappointment” on Twitter.
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The outburst was prompted by a Wall Street Journal report that Barr knew earlier this year about an investigation into Biden’s son Hunter’s taxes.
In a statement released by the president-elect’s transition team, Hunter Biden said on Wednesday that the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware was investigating his tax affairs, which he said he had handled “legally and appropriately”.
Trump appears to believe that investigating the affair earlier could have boosted his chances of winning the election – even though he maintains he did actually win.
Trump retweeted a comment from radio host Todd Starnes saying Barr should be fired. “A big disappointment!” Trump said in his tweet.
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Barr’s fate in the waning days of the Trump administration has been in question since he said last week that a Justice Department investigation had found no sign of major fraud in the November election, contradicting Trump’s false claims.
So what does this all mean?
In essence, those thousands of demonstrators who marched in cities across the US on Saturday, echoing Donald Trump’s claim that last month’s presidential election was stolen from him, are completely wasting their time.
Not that it has stopped Trump from continuing to claim otherwise...
Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime. Everybody knows that dead people, below age people, illegal immigrants, fake signatures, prisoners,.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2020
.....and many others voted illegally. Also, machine “glitches” (another word for FRAUD), ballot harvesting, non-resident voters, fake ballots, “stuffing the ballot box”, votes for pay, roughed up Republican Poll Watchers, and sometimes even more votes than people voting, took.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2020
....place in Detroit, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere. In all Swing State cases, there are far more votes than are necessary to win the State, and the Election itself. Therefore, VOTES CANNOT BE CERTIFIED. THIS ELECTION IS UNDER PROTEST! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Angela's Merkel's Dismissive Response To 'Vile' Brexit Sabre-Rattling Is Perfect

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We’re just 18 days from the end of the Brexit transition and the prospect of the UK defaulting to damaging no deal trade terms with the EU, and Boris Johnson still hasn’t got a an agreement.
So what does his government do? Blame Germany, of course.
A breathless front page splash in the Mail on Sunday blamed the country’s chancellor Angela Merkel for holding up an agreement.
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And it quotes a government source saying Merkel was “determined to make Britain crawl across broken glass” rather than reach a deal.
'Broken glass' on the front page. 'Authoritarian' on the inside. I wonder if there's some kind of godforsaken dog whistle these people are trying to blow. pic.twitter.com/t2E6JNpvKF — Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) December 13, 2020
On the inside pages, she is described as “authoritarian” and “unyielding”, in coverage that has attracted outrage for its apparent “dog whistle” references to the Nazis and the Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass) pogrom against Jews in 1938.
The comments have been described as “vile”, “revolting” and “reprehensible”.
So offensive of Johnson to brief journalists saying Merkel would make us crawl across broken glass. He knows the hurt this causes because of Kristallnacht. A deliberate act from the British Prime Minister. Utterly reprehensible. — Bill Esterson (@Bill_Esterson) December 13, 2020
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Under Thatcher a minister was forced to resign for saying the EU was ‘a German racket to take over Europe’. Now the prime minister himself briefs a far more offensive line to the Mail on Sunday, accusing Merkel of putting Britain through a new Kristallnacht
Vile and revolting — Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) December 13, 2020
So, asked about the British sabre-rattling over the weekend, how did Merkel respond? With pure sass, of course.
Put to her that “the UK press” was blaming her for the lack of progress in Brexit talks, she said: “Aha, that’s good to know.
“I’m not negotiating at all.”
Cool as you like.
Told that the British press is blaming her for the lack of progress in EU-UK negotiations, Merkel replies: "Ah, that's good to know. I'm not negotiating at all." https://t.co/fImtGmcBz5 — Jeremy Cliffe (@JeremyCliffe) December 13, 2020
It all comes a day after Johnson was accused of behaving like an “English nationalist” with an “irresponsible” decision to put Royal Navy gunships on standby to protect British waters from EU fishing trawlers if there is no Brexit deal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-13--Jeremy Corbyn Has A New Project

Jeremy Corbyn Has A New Project

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Jeremy Corbyn has announced plans for a new organisation to support social justice, peace and human rights in the UK and around the world.
The former Labour leader said his Peace and Justice Project will “bring people together” to create “a future that works for the many, not the few”.
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Corbyn, now sitting as an independent MP following the the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, will launch the initiative next month.
The project will aim to bring people together to support social and environmental justice, peace and internationalism and will focus on combating poverty, inequality and unaccountable corporate power, the Islington North MP said.
I’m pleased to announce the new Peace and Justice Project, bringing people together for social and economic justice, peace, and human rights in Britain and across the world.
Find out more in our video and sign up to our launch here 👉 https://t.co/RcnJE1kA6q pic.twitter.com/pyHpeHGa1S — Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 13, 2020
Sir Keir Starmer’s predecessor added that the Peace and Justice Project will promote peace, global co-operation, climate justice, self-determination, democracy and human rights by working with social movements and trade unions and building networks for progressive change,
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The project will commence on January 17 2021 following an online event which will feature panellists including Labour peer Christine Blower, Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey and Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Corbyn said: “The aim of the Peace and Justice Project will be to bring people together, for social justice, peace and human rights, in Britain and across the world.
“It’s there to create space, hope and opportunity for those campaigning for social justice and a future that works for the many, not the few.
“We will work with unions and social movements to build a network of campaigners, grassroots activists, thinkers and leaders, to share experiences and generate ideas about solutions to our common problems.
“We will combine research and analysis with campaigning and organising. And we can build on the popular socialist policies developed in the Labour Party over the past five years.
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“This year, many of us have felt powerless in the face of forces beyond our control. It doesn’t have to be like that. Things can, and they will, change.”
Rafael Correa, former president of Ecuador, said: “Coronavirus has shown again how neoliberalism is incapable of dealing with the huge crisis our societies face.
“Now, more than ever, we need to be united in our struggles across the world against neoliberalism and inequality.
“We need to build a world where corporate power is replaced with real democracy, where people have access to full rights, key services like health and education, and a life with dignity.
“I welcome the creation of Jeremy Corbyn’s new Peace and Justice Project, and I look forward to working with him for a world where people come before capital.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--No.10 Hints At Progress Towards A Brexit Deal In Talks With EU

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Downing Street has raised hopes that progress is being made towards a Brexit trade agreement, after branding no deal a “possible” and “potential” outcome rather than the “most likely”.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson refused to repeat the prime minister’s assertion that no deal is now “very, very likely” or the “most likely” outcome of talks.
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Johnson on Sunday agreed with Brussels to extend negotiations to try and strike a free trade deal and avoid the UK defaulting to World Trade Organisation terms for trade with the EU from January 1, which is predicted to be the most damaging outcome.
On Friday, the PM said no deal was “very, very likely”, but on Sunday would only say that “the most likely thing” was that the UK has “to get ready” for WTO terms.
On Monday, Johnson’s spokesperson hinted that progress was being made in the talks between UK chief negotiator Lord Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier in Brussels.
UK chief negotiator Lord Frost (left) and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier (right) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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“Obviously no deal is a possible outcome as the prime minister has said himself but we have been clear that we will continue to work and hope to reach a free trade agreement (FTA),” the spokesperson said.
Asked if no deal was the “most likely” outcome, the spokesperson said: “Obviously no deal is a potential outcome but the general point remains that we are still committed to trying to reach an FTA.”
Pressed again on whether no deal was now simply a “potential” but not the “most likely” outcome, they said: “We have been clear that no deal is an outcome that is possible and that we should be prepared for that, the prime minister has made that clear.”
It came as Barnier told diplomats from the bloc’s 27 member states that a deal is “still possible”.
For months the talks have been deadlocked on the issues of fishing rights and the “level playing field” to ensure that neither side can unfairly compete with the other on environmental standards, workers’ rights or state subsidies.
Barnier confirmed that those remain the main issues, telling reporters in Brussels “two conditions are not met yet”
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But the other issue which has dogged the negotiations – the legal mechanisms to govern any deal – was not mentioned by Barnier, suggesting those difficulties may have been resolved.
Barnier said the “next few days” are important if a deal is to be in place for January 1.
“It is our responsibility to give the talks every chance of success,” he said.
“Never before has such a comprehensive agreement (trade, energy, fisheries, transport, police and judicial cooperation etc) been negotiated so transparently and in such little time.”
A spokesman for the grouping of EU ambassadors said there is “full support for the resilient and persistent” negotiating team led by Mr Barnier.
Downing Street has repeatedly ruled out negotiations continuing in 2021.
Optimism around the continuation of the talks on Monday was reflected in the currency markets.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Christmas Bubbles Won't Be Scrapped Despite Rise In Covid Infections, Says Downing Street

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Ministers have “no plans” to scrap the five-day Christmas pause in Covid restrictions, despite a sharp rise in infections in some areas.
Downing Street has urged caution over the festive season, however, as health secretary Matt Hancock looks set to move London into the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions, tier 3.
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Three households can be together for five days between December 23 and 27 regardless of what tier the area is in or whether people isolated, the government has said.
Concern is growing among scientists that the temporary lifting of restrictions over Christmas could allow the pandemic spiral out of control, however.
Business secretary Alok Sharma defended the Christmas freedoms in an interview with Sky News on Monday, saying families “come together” during the break.
“I think it is right and balanced and proportionate and that is not going to be changing.”
The prime minister’s official spokesperson underlined also that Boris Johnson had set out the Christmas rules, but said the public “should remain cautious” and “follow guidelines, not just to keep themselves safe but others safe and to keep the transmission of the virus down over the Christmas”.
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When pressed on the issue, the spokesperson said there were “no plans” to change the rules.
The latest government figures, released on Friday, showed that the Covid-19 “R rate” rose on Friday to between 0.9 and 1, up from the previous week’s estimate of between 0.8 to 1.
If R is greater than 1, the epidemic is generally seen to be growing. If R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
A 'Stop the spread of Coronavirus' sign seen in Covent Garden.It looks increasingly likely that London will be moved up to Tier 3 of Covid-19 restrictions before Christmas. It was announced that London now has the highest Coronavirus infection rate in England, so when the Tiers are reviewed next week, London fears the worst. Tier 3 will mean bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants, must close except for takeaway, delivery and click and collect services, meaning a very un-Merry Christmas for the capital. (Photo by Keith Mayhew / SOPA Images/Sipa USA) SIPA USA/PA Images
A number of scientists have raised fears over the threat of a third wave in January due to the festive rules.
“If people aren’t cautious, then we will pay for our Christmas parties with January and February lockdowns,” said professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh told the Guardian. “With a vaccine just weeks away, why risk infecting vulnerable and elderly people we love
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Sharma suggested in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday that people can take extra precautions if they wanted.
He said: “If people feel that they would be safer not doing that, that is up to them.
“I know on your programme people have talked about ‘families will hug’ but I also know that there are people who have taken a conscious decision that, whilst they may have their elderly parents come over Christmas, they will ensure that they don’t hug them.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--'Get A Life': Alan Sugar And Dan Walker Clash On Twitter (And Yes, It Involved Piers Morgan)

“Sincerely pleased to hear you are negative,” Lord Sugar wrote at the time. “However, why are you a govt essential worker? Have I missed something? Like the Govn ‘Masochist bill’ [sic]”
Lord Sugar continued: “According to @PiersMorgan he is a Govn- designated essential worker. Does he mean the Govn see him essential to slag them off every day. There are other presenters to step in @gmb he is certainly not essential.
“[There are] Nurses, Doctors, Police, Army, train and truck drivers. He deprived a real essential workers from a test.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Donald Trump Has Hidden Evidence Of His Crimes For Years. Joe Biden Can Expose It.

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Donald Trump will leave office on January 20 under the biggest cloud of corruption and scandal of any president since 1974, when Richard Nixon waived dual victory signs after resigning in disgrace.
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But Biden is reportedly wary of launching investigations into his predecessor — and has made clear he won’t tell federal law enforcement what to do. “I will not do what {Trump] does and use the Justice Department as my vehicle to insist that something happened,” Biden told NBC News on November 24.
While Biden admirably does not intend on echoing Trump’s undemocratic “lock them all up” chants, his administration can simply allow independent prosecutors to make their own decisions by opening the books on the Trump administration to expose wrongdoing, self-dealing and unlawful activity.
This will require the adoption of an affirmative policy to release and disclose information both in response to requests from Congress, oversight entities, journalists and the public — something the Trump administration did not do almost as a matter of policy. But in other respects it will involve the proactive implementation of policies through executive order or agency directive that would allow for the release of documents suppressed by the Trump administration. Much of the evidence of the Trump administration’s malfeasance is not yet in the public sphere, and by simply disclosing it Biden could begin the process of holding the soon-to-be ex-president accountable for his misdeeds.
Radical Disclosure
President Donald Trump will leave office under a greater cloud of corruption than any president since Richard Nixon. The Washington Post via Getty Images
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While some of Trump’s potential crimes have already been outlined by prosecutors or special counsels — like in the Mueller report, or the indictment that sent Michael Cohen to prison for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels — not every crime or improper act has been recorded. Many are simply suspected based on public reporting and allegations made by former officials.
“There is a ton of information about the Trump administration that can come out pretty easily with the Biden administration just restoring normal practices,” said Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
CREW has released a report on how a Biden administration can create a more open government while also exposing the misdeeds of his predecessor, as has a coalition of transparency and watchdog groups under the banner of Accountability 2021. These reports contain a litany of recommendations that Biden could adopt immediately upon taking office.
His administration could, for example, issue an executive order re-establishing a presumption of openness for Freedom of Information Act requests and eliminate the political reviews that the Trump administration required for such requests. No administration has a great record on filling FOIA requests, but the Trump administration was significantly worse than previous ones, with records set for the extent of secrecy and the number of documents withheld from the public.
As part of becoming the least transparent presidential administration in recent history, the Trump administration also adopted a novel legal viewpoint on compliance with congressional oversight. Its theory was simple ― the executive branch did not have to comply with congressional requests for documents or testimony even during an impeachment inquiry. For this reason, the Trump administration rarely delivered the documents requested by congressional committees, specifically those led by Democrats.
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Just because the Trump administration will be gone on Jan. 20 does not mean those requests need to languish. Biden could order all agencies and governmental bodies to review all record requests made by Congress or other oversight bodies, including the Government Accountability Office, during the Trump administration and to fill them. Additionally, congressional investigators could resubmit their requests to the new agency heads to provide the Trump era documents.
An order for agencies to review and respond to congressional document requests regarding Trump administration actions could also involve reviewing and overruling the administration’s assertions of executive privilege.
“There needs to be a radical mind shift towards automatic disclosure” - Lauren Harper, National Security Archive director of public policy
“There’s been disputes before about broad assertions of privilege where documents haven’t been turned over,” Katherine Hawkins, legal analyst with the nonprofit watchdog Project on Government Oversight, said. “It used to be for categories of certain documents but now it’s just everything.”
Potential investigations might not involve direct lawbreaking by the president ― they could include acts ranging from human rights abuses arising from the child separation policy, lying to Congress, and the politicization of the Department of Justice and other agencies, including blatant Hatch Act violations by nearly every high-ranking Trump official.
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There’s also the ongoing debacle that is his administration’s failed response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
And it is not as though the policies of the Trump administration end when he leaves office. There are still migrant children separated from their parents by the US government who need to be reunited. Any investigation into this policy would need to review documents from the Trump administration to determine how the policy was implemented and whether anyone could be held to account for human rights violations.
Congress may request documents next year regarding executive branch malfeasance under Trump as it seeks to enact legislation like the For the People Act that aims to expand voting rights and limit partisan gerrymandering. Similarly, members of Congress could seek documents related to Trump’s relationship with particular countries to investigate whether U.S. foreign policy was corrupted in favour of his private, personal interests.
For example, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) requested documents from the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education on Dec. 2 related to alleged interference by Trump in the agencies’ activities regarding Turkish-U.S. government relations. Trump is alleged to have requested an investigation into self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen and pressured the agencies to favour the Turkish government, including in a criminal investigation into Halkbank, the large Turkish state-owned financial institution.
Also, Trump owns a commercial property in downtown Istanbul that is connected to Turkish elites, and former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has repeatedly suggested that the president was engaged in corrupt acts to protect his personal financial interest in Turkey. Such a request could be filled by a new administration.
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Biden’s attorney general could also mandate the disclosure of secret memos drafted by the Office of Legal Counsel. While the Trump administration has released some OLC memos to justify some of its most outrageous policies, including refusing to comply with congressional oversight, it has pointedly not released others, most notably a justification for why the Department of Justice did not indict Trump for obstruction of justice as recommended in the Mueller Report.
A move to disclose secret OLC memos would not be unprecedented. In early 2009, Barack Obama’s administration released some of the Bush administration’s secret OLC memos justifying its torture policy. But Biden could go further and simply order all OLC memos to be made public and put online.
“There is nothing stopping the next president from just saying all these things are now public, go to our website,” Libowitz said.
A Biden White House could direct the Office of Management and Budget to order agency reviews of all previous spending during the Trump administration to determine contracts or expenditures that may have been awarded due to improper political interference. Political interference in agency spending has been suggested in reports about Trump’s border wall, the Pentagon’s cloud computing contract and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Trump was also accused of illegally abusing agency expenditures when he held up Pentagon aid to Ukraine as part of his quid-pro-quo scheme to foment an investigation into Biden.
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President-elect Joe Biden could immediately open the books on the Trump administration to allow independent prosecutors to decide for themselves to press cases or not. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
The new administration could also target classified documents for review on whether they have been properly filed as classified. Trump’s impeachment revealed that the White House routinely placed calls he had with other heads of state on a classified server for no other reason than to avoid the president’s embarrassment.
“It’s appropriate for the Biden administration to review the Trump administration’s classification decisions to determine if any material was improperly classified,” said Erica Newland, counsel at Protect Democracy, a domestic pro-democracy nonprofit founded in response to Trump’s election.
And if Biden is worried that such actions are too backward-looking, the adoption of any open government and transparency orders and directives would also apply to his administration and future administrations. Trump’s ability to hide information and withhold disclosures from Congress, journalists and the public to cover up his corruption existed before he came to office. The idea is to prevent a future president from doing the same.
“There needs to be a radical mind shift toward automatic disclosure,” said Lauren Harper, director of public policy at the National Security Archive. “We have to have a fundamental shift not only in what should be classified but how we go about declassification. The loopholes were there. The precedents were set. We have to radically reconsider how we declassify information. It’s just not a sexy topic until you’ve got scandal involved.”
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What Happens Next
The disclosure of information from the Trump era could lead the Department of Justice to appoint special counsels, initiate prosecutions or indict officials. The release of new information may alternatively result in congressional investigations detailing what happened. Or this information could inform ongoing criminal and civil probes.
There are already areas where prosecutors could simply decide to prosecute once Trump is out of the White House.
The most obvious one is that the president’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, named Trump as a party to the campaign finance crimes that he pleaded guilty to stemming from payouts to Daniels and another woman, Karen McDougal, during the 2016 campaign to keep hidden word of their alleged affairs with Trump. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York could independently indict Trump for these crimes on Jan. 20 if prosecutors there were so inclined.
“It’s important for the sake of democracy for people who break campaign finance and other laws to be held accountable even if they’ve spent four years as president,” said Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance litigator at the nonpartisan nonprofit Common Cause.
Current and separate criminal inquiries are underway in New York state led by Attorney General Tish James and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance into Trump’s businesses for a range of financial and tax crimes. These cases operate independently from any federal government probes.
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“There are a number of investigations that I’ve read about that are at a state level,” Biden has said. “There’s nothing at all that I can or cannot do about that.”
Biden’s attorney general, however, could order the Department of Justice to comply with any such state and local investigations where requests to do so are made. This is something Trump administration Attorney General Bill Barr would not do.
Since Biden has promised to avoid the imposition of political pressure on the Justice Department, prosecutors could simply choose to pursue cases where the evidence is warranted.
A New Normal
President Gerald Ford reads a proclamation in the White House on Sept. 8, 1974 granting former president Richard Nixon "a full, free and absolute pardon" for all "offenses against the United States" during the period of his presidency. ASSOCIATED PRESS
A common perception persists of a norm that new presidential administrations should not investigate or prosecute their predecessors. This culprit for this perception is President Gerald Ford’s preemptive blanket pardon of Nixon for any potential crimes he committed during his administration.
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In line with Biden’s comments today about seeking unity and looking forward, Ford justified his pardon of Nixon by expressing concern that “our people would again be polarized in their opinions,” and “ugly passions would be aroused again” by a lengthy trial that would dominate political discourse for years.
But whereas Ford pardoned Nixon, he did not do so for Nixon’s aides. Previous presidents may not have been prosecuted by their successors, but that does not mean that successive administrations halted all investigation into their predecessors.
In Nixon’s case, aides including former Attorney General John Mitchell, White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman and domestic policy adviser John Ehrlichman, among many others, were subsequently prosecuted and convicted of crimes related to the Watergate break-in. Additionally, Nixon’s abuse of the nation’s intelligence agencies, along with revelations from whistleblowers, led Congress to host hearings for the duration of the 1970s on abuses by intelligence agencies dating back to their founding after World War II.
The independent counsel investigation into the Iran-Contra scandal, in which members of President Ronald Reagan’s national security council pursued an illegal and covert foreign policy, continued for four years after Reagan left office. It only ended when President George H.W. Bush pardoned all of the Iran-Contra figures shortly after he lost reelection in 1992 and just before indicted former Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger was set to testify in court. (This was effectively a self-pardon as Weinberger’s diary reportedly showed Bush knew about the illegal foreign policy.)
After President Bill Clinton’s last-minute pardon of tax-evading commodities trader Marc Rich, whose wife made large contributions to the Democratic Party and Clinton’s presidential library, the newly confirmed attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, John Ashcroft, appointed a special counsel to investigate whether Clinton had traded an official act for campaign donations. Special counsel James Comey ultimately found no evidence of crimes committed.
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When Obama took office, he faced massive pressure to investigate the illegal torture regime set in place by the George W. Bush administration as part of its global war on terror. Attorney General Eric Holder appointed John Durham as special counsel to investigate the CIA for authorizing and carrying out Bush’s torture policy. Durham ultimately did not issue any indictments.
Durham now serves as the special counsel appointed by Barr to investigate whether the FBI engaged in any wrongdoing during the Obama administration when it initiated the probe into whether Trump was personally involved with the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Root Of The Recipe: ‘Food Was A Treasure For Us Being Bedouin And Living In A Village’

Root Of The Recipe: ‘Food Was A Treasure For Us Being Bedouin And Living In A Village’
In this Root Of The Recipe episode, Syrian born Abdullah Alawayed talks about how his Bedouin upbringing inspired his cooking. Without the 24/7 convenience of supermarket chains, seasons inspired their cooking. Summers were for foods like tomatoes, aubergine, and peppers and winters were for vegetables and grains you could store for longer.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--We Have Our Strictly 2020 Finalists | Jive Talking

We Have Our Strictly 2020 Finalists | Jive Talking
After eight weeks of jiving and quickstepping, we have our Strictly Come Dancing finalists. One celeb and their professional will take home that Glitterball trophy very soon. In the semi-finals this weekend, Maisie and Gorka achieved a perfect 30 and Bill and Oti Tangoed to Metallica’s Enter Sandman, much to Shirley Ballas’ delight.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Robbie Williams Takes Swipe At Boris Johnson In Can't Stop Christmas Music Video

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Robbie Williams gives a prime ministerial briefing with a difference in his new music video, undergoing a dramatic makeover to transform himself into Boris Johnson.
The chart-topping star’s new festive track Can’t Stop Christmas sees him looking back over the trash fire that was 2020, with lyrics like “Santa’s on his sleigh but now he’s two metres away”, “people need something to believe in after a year of being in” and the opening line, “oh what a miserable year”.
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He unveiled the song’s music video on Monday morning, which sees him sending up the past-times some of us took up during lockdown, including knitting, Zooming friends and, naturally, online shopping for toilet roll.
But of course, no 2020 recap would be complete without a nod to Boris Johnson’s briefings, with Robbie donning prosthetics and a wig to play the PM.
Robbie Williams as Boris Johnson in his new music video Vevo
Robbie also appears to take a swipe at the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, with conflicting messages flashing up throughout the video including “stay home”, “eat out”, “don’t go out” and the classic “stay alert”.
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The Can’t Stop Christmas video ends with Robbie’s version of Johnson having a festive dance-off with his advisors, before being joined by the queen of choreo herself, Theresa May.
Johnson and May have a dance-off in the Can't Stop Christmas video Vevo
Can’t Stop Christmas is a new addition to the tracklisting of Robbie’s festive album The Christmas Present, which was released last year.
The album features covers of a number of Christmas classics, as well as new collaborations with stars like Rod Stewart and boxer Tyson Fury.
Watch the Can’t Stop Christmas music video in full below...


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Ross Kemp Recalls Barbara Windsor's Nervy First Day On The Set Of EastEnders As He Pays Tribute

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The pair appeared alongside one another in EastEnders as Grant and Peggy Mitchell, and remained close long after they had both bowed out of the soap.
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During Monday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, Ross paid his respects to the late showbiz legend, and shared a story from their first day on Albert Square that proved just how much of a pro she was.
Recalling their first day on set together, Ross reminded presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that 28 million people were watching EastEnders at that time, saying: “She turned around to me and said, ‘Hold my hand dear’. I held her hand and she said – ‘I’m going to be sick’.
“She walked over to the corner of the market and was properly sick and then she turned it on – that’s the pro she was.”
Barbara Windsor and Ross Kemp, pictured in 2009 Dave M. Benett via Getty Images
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“She had time for everybody, no matter who they were, what their class, whether they were royals, whether they were taxi drivers, everybody she came into contact with,” he continued.
Ross went on to say that even as Barbara’s dementia worsened, she was still putting others first.
“I spoke to her three weeks ago on FaceTime and by that time Barbara was in a very bad state,” he said.
“The nature of the illness is that it comes and goes, and as you get closer to the end, you lose more and more consciousness… and she rang me one Sunday afternoon and she just turned around to me and said, ‘I just want everything to be good for you in your life’. And that is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
He added: “She was a genuinely good person, and she was very, very lucky to have someone like Scott [Mitchell, her husband of 20 years] who stayed by her side and was a rock for her.”
'She said, "I just want everything to be good for you in your life". That will stay with me for the rest of my life.'@RossKemp recalls the last conversation he had with Dame Barbara Windsor as he shares his memories of the legendary actress with @piersmorgan and @susannareid100 pic.twitter.com/7BMMXeTUzs — Good Morning Britain (@GMB) December 14, 2020
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Ross ended the interview by pressuring the government to do more to help those with dementia, stating: “Somebody develops dementia every three minutes in the UK and it’s still considered a social care issue. It’s a medical issue … it eventually, slowly takes over their entire body.
“We need to spend more money on research and find out how to prevent this disease.”
Barbara was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, and went public with the condition four years later.
In the last years of her life, Barbara publicly campaigned to raise awareness of the disease, and last year met with prime minister Boris Johnson to discuss dementia care.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Boris Johnson Must Resign If There's A No-Deal Brexit, Says Tory MP

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A veteran Tory MP has told Boris Johnson to quit as prime minister if he fails to secure a trade deal with the EU.
Roger Gale, the MP for North Thanet, said Johnson’s position would be “untenable” if a deal was not reached.
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Talks in recent days have failed to produce a breakthrough and Johnson has said no-deal is the most likely scenario.
Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator, said on Monday morning an agreement was “still possible”.
Gale, who voted Remain in the referendum, said on Monday: “If Mr Johnson fails to reach an acceptable trade agreement with the EU the prime minister will also have failed the people of the United Kingdom.
“As a lifelong member of the Conservative Party, I believe that Mr Johnson’s position as prime minister would be untenable.
“As an honourable man, he would have to make way for somebody more able to pick up the pieces, to reunite the whole country and to show the leadership that Great Britain and Northern Ireland deserves.”
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The UK’s current trading arrangements with the EU expire at the end of the month, meaning any new deal would have to be in place by January 1.
If not, tariffs and quotas will apply and bureaucracy will increase, causing further damage to an economy already ravaged by coronavirus.
The need for any deal to be approved by parliament means that talks cannot continue right up until New Year’s Eve, but MPs are braced for the prospect of sitting over the festive period.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Tier 3 Looms In London As MPs Briefed On 'Off The Scale' Surge In Covid Cases

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London MPs believe they are being softened up for the capital being moved into the toughest tier 3 of coronavirus restrictions after being shown data showing infections are “off the scale”.
Sadiq Khan, the city’s mayor, said it was “possible” an announcement could be made by the government as soon as Monday.
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The tiers are not due to be reviewed until Wednesday, but health secretary Matt Hancock is set to give a statement to the Commons this afternoon.
Officials presented figures to London MPs showing coronavirus infections in London and surrounding counties like Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire are now “off the scale” and in some cases worse than the peak in the north-west, according to one of those present.
There is also concern about rates rising over “just a few days” since last week and that areas that showed progress after lockdown “are now rising to the levels pre-lockdown”, another MP said.
There were 17 London boroughs where the seven-day rate exceeded 200 cases per 100,000 people.
According to the latest figures, the borough of Havering has the highest coronavirus rate in the capital, with 1,314 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 9 – the equivalent of 506.3 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from a rate of 321.3 in the seven days to December 2.
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With tier 3 looming, the first MP said there was “big push back” from colleagues who fear the impact of closures will have on theatres and hospitality, which form a greater part of London’s economy than other areas.
Instead, some MPs demanded “targeting action” on schools as the data presented by public health experts suggested cases were rising fast among secondary pupils.
It came as Greenwich schools were asked to close and switch to remote learning from Monday evening due to rising coronavirus rates in the borough.
But deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries told MPs that closing schools “would do more harm than good”, according to the first MP.
People wearing face masks walk along Westminster Bridge in central London on Sunday Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
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The MP, explaining Harries reasoning on schools, told HuffPost UK: “At least their behaviour can be somewhat controlled and they can be taught good public health behaviour.
“If they’re not in school, they are likely to mix anyway without a responsible adult to intervene.”
Health minister Helen Whately did not brief MPs on what political decisions may be taken on London.
One MP complained that it appears the government will wait until Wednesday’s review of tiered restrictions across England before moving London into tougher measures, with any changes expected to come into force on Saturday.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Beverley Callard Shares Her Mother-In-Law's Unexpected Reaction To 'Mega Shag' Husband Revelation

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While Beverley Callard might be mortified about making a sexual revelation about her husband on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, it seems her mother-in-law is a lot less embarrassed about her son’s prowess in the bedroom.
The Coronation Street star has revealed her husband Jon McEwan’s mum has been boasting about him, after Beverley referred to him as her “mega shag” while on the ITV reality show.
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“Jon’s very handsome, he’s a mega shag,” she told her campmates. “He is a mega shag and he dances for me in the kitchen every morning and makes me laugh my socks off.”
Beverley Callard and her husband Jon McEwan Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Speaking about making the admission during Sunday’s catch-up with the contestants in A Castle Story, Beverley said: “I could not believe it, I was just convinced they’d edit it.
“I was convinced my mother-in-law would never speak to me again because I said that about her son.
“She’s now going round saying, ‘I produced that Mega shag.’
“I can’t believe it, she’s 88.”
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Beverley previously admitted she’d “wanted to die” of embarrassment after finding out the moment had made it to air.
“I thought, ‘they are quite bad words, so they will just edit that’,” she told ITV’s Lorraine.
“When Ant and Dec aired the clip for me last night, I wanted to die. I wanted to die.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Sia Says 'Pathological Liar' Shia LaBeouf Conned Her Into 'Adulterous Relationship'

“What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life,” she told the Times. “I don’t think people would ever think that it would happen to me. But I think that’s the thing. It can happen to anybody.”
In an Instagram post on Saturday, FKA twigs said she decided to speak out about her experience publicly in order to help others feel less alone.
“My second worst nightmare is being forced to share with the world that i am a survivor of domestic violence,” she wrote. “My first worst nightmare is not telling anyone and knowing that i could have helped even just one person by sharing my story.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Trump Says He's Scrapping Plan For Early Vaccine At White House

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President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was reversing an administration directive to vaccinate top government officials against Covid-19, while public distribution of the shot is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
Trump made the announcement hours after his administration confirmed that senior US officials, including some White House aides who work in close proximity to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, would be offered coronavirus vaccines as soon as this week under federal continuity of government plans.
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“People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary,” Trump said in a tweet. “I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”
It was not immediately clear what the scale of the vaccination program was supposed to be, according to two people briefed on the matter, or what effect Trump’s tweet would have on the government’s efforts to protect top leadership.
News that White House staff would receive the vaccine early drew criticism on social media. Trump and his aides have consistently flouted the Covid-19 guidelines issued by his own administration, including hosting large holiday parties with maskless attendees this December.
Officials said earlier Sunday that doses of the newly approved vaccine from Pfizer would be made available to those who work in close quarters with the nation’s top leaders. They said the move was meant to prevent more Covid-19 spread in the White House and other critical facilities. Trump was hospitalised with the virus for three days in October.
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“Senior officials across all three branches of government will receive vaccinations pursuant to continuity of government protocols established in executive policy,” National Security Council spokesperson John Ulyot had said. “The American people should have confidence that they are receiving the same safe and effective vaccine as senior officials of the United States government on the advice of public health professionals and national security leadership.”
The two people briefed on the matter spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. The New York Times first reported that top US officials would get early access to the vaccine.
The move to vaccinate top US officials would be consistent with the rollout of rapid testing machines for the coronavirus, which were similarly controlled by the federal government with kits reserved to protect the White House complex and other critical facilities.
According to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is not yet enough information to determine whether those who have had Covid-19 should also get the vaccine.
Pence has not come down with the virus, and his aides have been discussing when and how he should receive the vaccine as the administration looks to boost public confidence in the shot.
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The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses administered three weeks apart, meaning Trump administration officials would receive the final shot just weeks before leaving office.
Aides to President-elect Joe Biden have been discussing when and how he should receive the vaccine and have been working to establish plans to boost virus safeguards in the West Wing to keep the 78-year-old Democrat healthy.
According to a Capitol Hill official, lawmakers have not been informed how many doses would be made available to them, adding it would be premature to speculate who might receive them. The official was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Dawn French Wasn’t The First Choice To Play The Vicar Of Dibley

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It’s impossible to imagine anyone but Dawn French playing Geraldine Grainger in The Vicar Of Dibley, but it could have all been so different.
A producer on the classic BBC comedy has revealed that the show’s writer and creator, Richard Curtis, originally had other actors in mind to take on the lead role.
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In an exclusive interview with HuffPost UK, producer Peter Bennet Jones says the role was written for a “forthright comic actress” but stopped short of naming names.
Dawn French as Geraldine Granger in The Vicar Of Dibley BBC
“It wasn’t written for Dawn but she made it her own,” Peter said.. “Richard wrote it for a forthright comic actress. I think he might have even seen three or four different people have a go at it. Dawn got cast and the rest is history as it were.”
He continued: “I know he had a couple of other people but I think the right call was made. She just made it her own. She knows where comedy is - she’s a comic actress really, you can’t really imagine it without her, funnily enough.”
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After signing up for the role, Peter also revealed that Dawn was worried about playing the vicar.
Peter explains: “Joy Carroll [one of the first female vicars in the UK] made Dawn feel much happier about doing the show because she told Dawn that vicars can drink and eat chocolate and have a sex life.
“Dawn was worried about doing the part… [She was worried it] might be a bit pious. Joy Carroll was such a force of nature.”
The Vicar Of Dibley has returned this month for three 10-minute specials starring Dawn as the beloved vicar.
Dawn says she broke down in tears as she struggled to film a tribute to late co-star Emma Chambers, who played Alice Tinker, during one of the new episodes.
Dawn with her late co-star Emma Chambers, who played Alice Tinker. BBC
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Emma died in 2018 at the age of 53 after suffering a heart attack, and the sitcom will mirror real life events when Dawn’s character Geraldine Grainger explains that Alice has died.
Speaking to The Mirror about the scenes, Dawn said: “Along with all the silly, funny stuff, there is a moment where we pay tribute to Alice and that was not easy to film.
“Honestly, I had to do it seven times. I didn’t get through it once without tears but it’s really important to remember this is where real life and Dibley come together.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--GP Surgeries Begin Vaccine Rollout In England: Here's What You Need To Know

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The long-awaited coronavirus vaccine will arrive in GP practices across England on Monday as the massive operation to deliver the jabs to those most at risk begins.
Centres will operate from doctors’ surgeries or community hubs in villages, towns and cities, with some offering vaccinations within hours.
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But the rollout comes amid warnings increased socialising over the festive period could disrupt the distribution of the vaccine.
Here’s everything you need to know...
Who will get the jab this week?
If you are eligible for one of the first jabs you will be contacted by your GP.
Under the government’s rollout plan for the vaccine, those 80 years of age and over are first in line for the vaccine.
In a letter sent by NHS England last week, doctors were advised how to prioritise patients if there were more than 975 over people 80 years old eligible to be vaccinated, with advice stating they should take into account the ethnicity of patients .
“You could consider the following: i. Age 80 or over; ii. Co-morbidities; iii. Ethnicity,” it said.
Here is the vaccine priority list:
Older adults resident in a care home and care home workers All those 80 years of age and over, plus frontline health and social care workers All those 75 years of age and over All those 70 years of age and over All those 65 years of age and over All Individuals aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions. All those 60 years of age and over All those 55 years of age and over All those 50 years of age and over The rest of the population (priority to be determined)
How long does it take to administer the jab?
Each patient needs to be observed for 15 minutes after being injected to monitor for allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), safety guidance states.
Dr June Raine, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (), said: “Anaphylaxis is a known, although very rare, side effect with any vaccine. Most people will not get anaphylaxis and the benefits in protecting people against Covid-19 outweigh the risks.”
GPs are equipped to deal with allergic responses.
How many vaccines are available?
GP practices in more than 100 locations will receive the jab and each will receive 975 vaccines in their initial delivery.
To gain immunity, two jabs will be required. Scheduling for the two jabs should ideally be separated by an interval of at least seven days, spokespeople from Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) tell HuffPost UK.
This is because if you had both the vaccines in the space of a few days of each other – or at the same time – and then had an allergic reaction, it would be hard for doctors to tell which vaccine had caused the adverse effects.
“Because of the absence of data on co-administration with Covid-19 vaccines, it should not be routine to offer appointments to give this vaccine at the same time as other vaccines,” a PHE’s spokesperson said.
Dr Doreen Brown, 85, receives the first of two Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine jabs administered at Guy's Hospital in London last Tuesday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
What about other vaccines?
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is the only one currently approved for use in the UK but the chances of the University of Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine also being rolled out by the end of this year are “pretty high”, according to lead researcher Sarah Gilbert, who is professor of vaccinology at the university.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is still reviewing trial data for the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.
Are there any potential problems?
Prof Gilbert said the vaccine rollout means it is possible that life could be “more or less” back to normal by next summer – but it depends on transmission rates in January which she said could be affected by people travelling and mixing with others over Christmas.
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Restrictions are due to be relaxed across the UK between December 23 and 27 to allow families to spend time together in “Christmas bubbles” but NHS bosses have warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that any relaxation of restrictions in England’s tier system could trigger a third wave of cases at the busiest time of the year for hospitals.
Prof Gilbert said the US has seen a surge in infections and deaths after people celebrated Thanksgiving, adding that a similar rise in the UK could also affect the vaccination roll-out.
“It’s not possible to run vaccination clinics when staff are off sick, and there’s a very high transmission rate affecting people’s ability to come to be vaccinated.”
The first review of England’s tier allocation is due take place on Wednesday and NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts in England, has urged “extreme caution” in moving any area of the country to a lower tier while areas should be moved into the highest tier of restrictions “as soon as this is needed, without any delay”.
A dovernment spokeswoman said ministers will not “hesitate to take necessary actions to protect local communities”.
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Do I still need the flu jab?
Health chiefs have urged people with long-term medical conditions to get the flu vaccine before the virus properly starts to circulate. So far this year, just 46.8% of people with a long-term health condition and under the age of 65 have had the flu vaccine.
While vaccine coverage in this group is higher than it has been at this point compared to the last six flu seasons, it still lags behind coverage in other eligible groups. This year has seen the highest ever recorded flu vaccine uptake among older people, for example. With those most vulnerable to flu also being at high risk of severe illness from Covid-19, health professionals have said it’s more important than ever that eligible people get the free flu vaccine as soon as possible.
What about other parts of the UK?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Pro-Trump Washington Rally Sees 4 People Critically Injured In Stabbings

Police Chief Peter Newsham told the Post that police units were mobilised to keep the groups apart. But smaller factions that splintered off from the main protest appeared to be “intent on conflict,” he said.
A group of Proud Boys was filmed stomping on a Black Lives Matter banner and chanting “USA, USA.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Rylan Clark-Neal Reveals Huge Fee He Received To Appear On Celebrity Big Brother

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Rylan Clark-Neal has revealed the huge sum he received to be a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother in 2013.
The presenter said it felt at the time like he had “won the lottery” after he was paid £100,000 to appear, but even that was dwarfed by some of his fellow celebrity housemates.
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Rylan, who appeared on the 11th series of the Channel 5 reality show, competed against names including Steps star Claire Richards and actor Ryan Moloney, was eventually named the winner.
The It Takes Two host revealed the figure to Louis Theroux on his Grounded podcast.
Rylan Clark is crowned winner of Celebrity Big Brother on January 25, 2013. Mike Marsland via Getty Images
He said: “I got £100,000 to be in Big Brother. So to me, I’d won the lottery.”
At the suggestion it was a high sum, he added: “Yeah, I’ve never said that. I think that is the first time I’ve ever said how much I got paid to go on Big Brother.
“But when you realise how much money there is in television and what other people get paid to do the same experience or less than you, it’s quite, quite shocking sometimes”
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Asked about the larger amounts paid to celebrities, he said: “I’ve known very big payments for people to go into that house. I mean some people have been paid half a million pounds and got evicted first, put it that way.”
Mike Marsland via Getty Images
Rylan also suggested he was more hated than Jimmy Savile while he was competing on the X Factor in 2012.
He said: “There was two people on the front pages of the papers at the time that I was on X Factor. It was me and Jimmy Savile and six out of seven days I’d get worse press than him. Like that says something.”
Louis questioned whether he was truly compared to a paedophile at that time.
Rylanl replied: “They were just saying I don’t deserve it, I’m robbing people of places, which is fine…
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“The only reason I found it difficult – I’d just sit there and think about my mum.
“I told her: ‘Don’t read nothing, don’t look at anything, just let me do what I do. I know what I’m doing, let me just do it. Trust me, trust me. It’s going to be difficult but just let me do it’.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--National Health Service Apologises For Making Santa Desperately Ill With Covid In PSA

The public service announcement, which was yanked from YouTube, featured a gravely ill man with a white beard being rushed into the emergency room of an NHS hospital. He’s clearly in distress and cared for by a crew of caring professionals.
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The mystery man eventually bounces back to (apparent) sleigh-riding recovery, and his nurse discovers he’s St. Nick.
The video, entitled “The Gift,” was produced for the NHS Charities Together organisation which raises funds for nonprofits that support the health system. The PSA was intended to attract donations and as a homage to health-care workers and volunteers who toil amid the pandemic to save — in this case — Santa and Christmas. “Give back to those who give everything” is the tagline of the video.
The ad initially drew some praise, with The Daily Mail calling it “touching” and “heartwarming,” but the newspaper also described it as the “nightmare before Christmas.”
People commenting on social media were disturbed by the images of a seriously ill Santa and concerned about the video’s impact on children:
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This utterly shameful Ad MUST be taken down immediately, how dare you mess with the mental health of of our children SHAME ON YOU. https://t.co/gXDb5MhpEJ — Tonia Buxton (@ToniaBuxton) December 10, 2020
This holiday season, give your children the gift of shrieking, bedwetting paranoia by showing them the NHS film about how SANTA CLAUS IS GOING TO DIE IF PEOPLE REFUSE TO MINDLESSLY FOLLOW ORDERS! pic.twitter.com/MeFVHI60c6 — Consent Factory (@consent_factory) December 12, 2020
After a building storm of criticism, the spot was scrubbed last week. Officials apologised for the video and said it wasn’t “aimed at children and hasn’t been shown on TV.”
“We are sorry to the parents of any young children who have been upset by watching the ad and to the young children themselves,” the officials stated. “They were not the intended audience for it.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--Strictly Come Dancing Finalists Decided After Ranvir Singh Is Voted Out Of Competition

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This year’s Strictly Come Dancing finalists have been decided after Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh became the seventh celebrity to be eliminated from the competition.
Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing, pop singer HRVY, comedian Bill Bailey and EastEnders actor Maisie Smith will compete in next week’s final.
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Ranvir faced Jamie in the dance-off and the reality star won the votes of both Craig Revel Horwood and head judge Shirley Ballas, with only Motsi Mabuse backing Ranvir.
Casting the deciding vote, Shirley admitted she was becoming “quite emotional”.
She said: “Musicality, determination, conviction from both teams, they just gave their all. But I just feel that one couple had a little more determination, a little bit more ‘I’m not leaving without that trophy’ and with that in mind I’m saving Jamie and Karen (Hauer, his partner).”
Asked by host Tess Daly about her time on the BBC One show, Ranvir said of her professional partner Giovanni Pernice: “I’m just really sorry for him. He’s worked so hard and been in so many finals that I’m really sorry I couldn’t do it for you. Sorry.”
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From total beginner to #Strictly Semi Finalist. RT if you're as proud of @ranvir01 and @pernicegiovann1 as we are! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/myBuT9kZmh — BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) December 13, 2020
Giovanni responded: “You don’t have to be sorry at all, we’ve both worked very hard, you’ve been an absolute dream to work with. You are a true hero, your job at 3 o’clock in the morning then you come in the room and dance with me.
“More than anything you’ve grown as a person and this for me is the most rewarding thing that I could ask for, so well done to you. Well done.”
Looking back on her time on the show, Ranvir said: “There’s some really beautiful moments in there and so much more than I ever expected and I’m sad not to be in the final. But at the same time, I am glad that we’ve moved people to tears and the Argentine tango was an amazing moment.
“We’ve had some really fantastic memorable moments and I know I couldn’t have got this far without you.”
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Ranvir found herself at the bottom of the leaderboard on Saturday night with 44 points out of a possible 60 after each couple performed two routines each.
She waltzed to Josh Groban’s Un Giorno Per Noi, bathed in blue light, and earned 26 points. But judge Craig criticised her footwork, and said her dress “covered a multitude of sins”.
And later she jived to Christina Aguilera’s hit Candyman dressed as a sailor and scored only 18.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-14--14 Sad, Funny Jokes About The Reality Of Taking Days Off Work Now

Days off from work look different now that travel and spending time with others indoors is discouraged. You should still take time off from work even if you have nowhere to go — spending quality time on your couch can be great — but it’s also OK to take stock of what this year has wrought.