thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--So, Is Christmas Cancelled? Coronavirus Experts Make Their Predictions

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Will coronavirus be the Grinch that stole Christmas? It’s one of the many questions on everyone’s lips, following the continued Covid-19 restrictions.
News of a second lockdown lasting until December 2 has people worried whether or not Christmas will be the same.
Advertisement
And, Gove confirmed the four-week national lockdown in England could be extended beyond December 2. The Cabinet Office minister said the government would be “driven by the data” when it came to making the decision. “We are going to review it on December 2,” he added.
“It’s our hope, on the basis on the analysis, that we have that we will have significantly reduced the reinfection rate,” Gove said. “We will always take the decision in the national interest, based on evidence.”
Sage member Jeremy Farrar also suggested restrictions could need to be extended, saying that while December 2 was a useful target, “I just don’t think we can become fixed on it”.
Advertisement
It comes after a projection by the government’s own scientists showed the second wave of coronavirus will be more deadly than the first.
The projection – shared by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and reported in The Telegraph – suggested the death toll could remain high throughout the winter, peaking at a lower level than in spring but then remaining level for weeks – or even months.
In September, Boris Johnson announced restrictions, which included the 10pm curfew across England, weddings of just 15 people, working from home if you can and mandatory face masks in more settings.
The prime minister said at the time: “Unless we palpably make progress then we should assume that the restrictions I have announced will remain in place for perhaps six months.”
His statement marked a different tone to the previous Downing Street briefing, where he said: “I’m still hopeful, as I’ve said before, that in many ways we could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas.”
Government insiders previously told HuffPost UK certain restrictions could be in place until spring 2021. “Christmas will not be the same – of that I am absolutely sure,” says Sally Bloomfield, honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Advertisement
“To what extent Christmas may be cancelled depends on us right now.”
WPA Pool via Getty Images
“The re-opening of schools and the shedding and seeding of the virus more widely in the population leading up to Christmas will make ongoing, leap-frogging, Covid-19 outbreaks more likely,” says Dr Julian Tang, consultant virologist and honorary associate professor, at the University of Leicester.
Christmas Day (and the lazy period afterwards) doesn’t pose a big problem in itself, he adds. It’s the run-up that’s the issue.
“In the UK – unlike in Asia where everything is open and people go out a lot – Christmas is mostly a home and family affair – almost like a voluntary, self-imposed lockdown for a few days,” he says. “However, the main risk is likely the pre-Christmas shopping days and the festive spirit that this creates.”
Advertisement
Dr Tang’s concern is we’ll begin to relax social distancing behaviours if we’re going to crowded shopping malls and sipping mulled wine in packed pubs after restrictions ease.
“Shopping online for Christmas is safer but much less atmospheric and festive, so may not be so popular,” he says.
Although some universities are conducting lectures online until 2021, Prof. Bloomfield is concerned about the impact of many students returning home from campus.
“They’ll have Christmas parties and then they’ll come home and spread out across the country and spread the virus elsewhere,” she says. “It just doesn’t really bear thinking about.”
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine and expert in infectious diseases at the University of East Anglia, is a little more optimistic.
Christmas is a religious festival and will never be formally “cancelled”, points out Prof. Hunter, but we may need to celebrate it in more intimate ways this year. Judging by the current trajectory, the next peak infection rate could be December to January, he adds.
Advertisement
“The big office work parties and things like that almost certainly won’t be happening in my view, which some people might breath a sigh of relief at,” he says.
Even if church ceremonies do go ahead as usual at Christmas, “the big issue about churches is the age distribution,” says Prof. Hunter.
“Most people who attend tend to be quite old, on average. It’s quite plausible that the government may recommend shielding again at some point, probably sooner rather than later, I would guess,” he adds. “Even if church services can go ahead, it may be the case that three quarters of the congregation can’t turn up because they’re supposed to be shielding.”
Schools still might be open, adds Prof. Hunter, “but the typical school nativity play probably won’t happen”.
“Schools won’t be getting loads of parents into a hall to watch their children pretend to be shepherds,” he says.
Advertisement
Of course, as different restrictions are already in place across the tiers, multi-household meals are unlikely to be happening. Even if restrictions ease, granny might need to stay home. “Covid-19 can be more severe in older populations,” says Dr Tang. “So, sadly, multi-generational family gatherings may be potentially less safe and may need to be avoided.”
A vaccine may be available by Christmas, says Prof. Bloomfield, adding a glimmer of hope. But the chances of it being rolled out nationally by December are slim.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Trump's Campaign Is Testing The Ways It Can Distort Reality Online

HuffPost is part of Verizon Media .
We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through @ @ @ @ @ similar technologies , to display personalised ads and content , for ad and content measurement @ @ @ @ @ development .
Your personal data that may be used • Information about your device and @ @ @ @ @ IP address • Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps Find @ @ @ @ @ use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy .
To enable Verizon Media @ @ @ @ @ your personal data select ' I agree ' , or select 'Manage settings ' for @ @ @ @ @ your choices .
You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy @ @

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The presidential election is just 56 days away, and as Donald Trump struggles to gain ground in key states, he is increasingly relying on deceptively altered media to bend reality in his favor.
In the past 10 days, the president’s team has deployed misleading imagery to attack his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, at least three times. White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino tweeted a fake video that appeared to show Biden sleeping through a TV interview. The “Trump War Room” Twitter account shared an out-of-context clip of Biden saying, “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.” And on Facebook, Trump has run dozens of ads featuring images of Biden that were manipulated to make the former vice president appear older.
Advertisement
And those are just the latest examples. Trump’s political apparatus has shared a deluge of misinformation with tens of millions of people through social media over the years — including a deceptively spliced video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that appears to show her disrespecting a Tuskegee airman, a fake CNN segment about a “racist baby,” a misleadingly truncated video of Biden in which he appears to endorse Trump, an altered video of Pelosi in which she seems intoxicated, and more.
This kind of visual election misinformation is not a new phenomenon — it’s been around for years, including an infamously forged photo of then-presidential candidate John Kerry, ostensibly with Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally, that made headlines in 2004. But Trump’s team has repeatedly engaged in this practice directly, elevating the tactic to an unprecedented level while defending its hoaxes as mere satire. The campaign is testing the boundaries of social media sites that let false information go viral — and they haven’t found much resistance.
As Election Day looms, the stakes are critically high. Russia’s fake-news warfare demonstrated in 2016 just how vulnerable America’s democracy is to online misinformation. And this time around, experts are also fretting about what might happen if an election hoax blows up on social media on the eve of the vote, leaving no time for it to be debunked.
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (Instagram’s parent company) are scrambling under mounting public pressure to stifle the spread of political misinformation engulfing their platforms. Each site has policies in place to generally add labels to false and misleading content identifying it as such rather than simply removing it, and Trump’s campaign has eagerly exploited this leniency.
Advertisement
Whenever its posts are labeled as manipulated media or misinformation, the campaign sees an opportunity to rally its base against tech titans’ supposed political bias.
“Trump officials are obviously playing a game here,” said digital forensics expert Hany Farid, a professor in the School of Information at University of California, Berkeley. “And of course, when something gets censored, they go crazy saying ‘This is anti-conservative,’ which, by the way, is working.”
Sensitive to such claims of bias, Facebook has relaxed its enforcement rules for conservative personalities and news outlets, according to leaked Facebook documents obtained by NBC News. The social media giant also refuses to fact-check political ads, which allows politicians to amplify their lies and to micro-target them to specific audiences without consequence.
Last month, Trump ran an ad featuring edited and out-of-context images of Biden that appear to show him sitting alone in a basement along with the text, “Deep in the heart of Delaware, Joe Biden sits in his basement. Alone. Hiding. Diminished. Refusing to answer questions about the crazy far-left ideas he’s adopted.” In fact, Biden was sitting in a crowded room of people; the images in Trump’s ad were cropped to exclude them.
To Farid, Trump’s aggressive use of deceptive online imagery is a form of “asymmetric warfare.”
Biden vowed in 2019 that he would not “fabricate, use or spread data or materials that were falsified,” or spread “doctored audios/videos or images that impersonate other candidates, including deep fake videos,” and to date, he appears to have kept that promise. His campaign has pointed to Trump’s reliance on such tactics as evidence that it “cannot and will not compete on facts.”
Advertisement
Trump isn’t the only presidential candidate to pollute the information system with manipulated media before trying to pass it off as satire — although the scale at which he does this is unmatched. After a dismal performance in February’s Democratic debate, New York City’s billionaire former mayor, Mike Bloomberg, shared a video to social media that was deceptively spliced together to make it seem as if his opponents were left stunned and in silence after he asked them all a question.
The video included chirping cricket noises, which were clearly fake, but as The Guardian’s Julia Wong pointed out, “it’s hard for the average viewer who hasn’t seen the debate to discern which parts of the video are real and which are fake, making it a potent and misleading piece of propaganda.” Still, Bloomberg’s campaign insisted the video was “tongue in cheek.”
The Trump campaign often defends its use of false or deceptive media as jokes, parodies and satire: “To all the triggered journalists who can’t take a joke about their candidate, it’s not our fault Joe Biden was dumb enough to say this on camera,” @TrumpWarRoom tweeted after facing backlash in response to its latest truncated clip of Biden. (In the full video, Biden says, “Trump and Pence are running on this, and I find it fascinating: Quote, ‘You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.’ And what’s their proof? The violence we’re seeing in Donald Trump’s America.”)
Likewise, the video that appeared to show Biden asleep on TV was “quite obviously a parody,” Trump’s communications director, Tim Murtaugh, told The Washington Post, echoing the campaign’s defense of many of its other similarly deceptive videos.
The line between political humor and misinformation is nuanced, said Farid, but a reasonable person might not recognize the campaign’s deceptive imagery as fakery “because it’s not being sold as satire.”
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Boris Johnson's Tough New Coronavirus Curbs Could Last Until Spring

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Boris Johnson has been forced to tear up his plan to get Britain back to “normal” by Christmas and instead impose tough new Covid restrictions after a dramatic spike in the virus among the under-30s.
The prime minister appeared alongside chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientist Patrick Vallance for a live No.10 TV briefing after figures showed coronavirus infections among young people are now rising rapidly and are double the national average.
Advertisement
Asked directly if Christmas was “cancelled” for many families that wanted to get together, Johnson said it “breaks my heart” but new curbs were needed.
From Monday, a new “rule of six” will be introduced in law, with arrests and fines for the first time for those who gather in larger groups.
A three-month review will take place in early December, but it is unlikely rules will be relaxed and they may be tightened further.
Among a raft of measures are:
New police powers to break up house parties of more than six people, with neighbours actively encouraged to inform on any rule breaches;
Pubs and restaurants forced by law to keep registers of all customers, with 10pm curfews in areas of high Covid prevalence;
Forcing airlines to require passengers to fill in locator forms before they fly
More Border Force police spot checks of people who arrive from abroad;
A much more limited return of fans to Premier League football matches and other live stadium sport;
An army of newly qualified and retired environmental health officers recruited to help councils police hospitality breaches.
Two whole households will no longer able to meet if their numbers are greater than six.
Only one support bubble will be allowed, so only one set of grandparents will be able to see their grandchildren.
“It breaks my heart to insist on these restrictions upon individuals, families, grandparents,” he said.
“This rule of six will of course throw up difficult cases, for example two whole households will no longer be able to meet if they would together exceed the limit of six people and I’m sorry about that, and I wish that we did not have to take this step.
“But as your Prime Minister, I must do what is necessary to stop the spread of the virus and to save lives.”
Johnson admitted the rules to date had become too “complicated” and it was time to simplify the public health messages and to legally enforce them.
Advertisement
The new crackdown is in stark contrast to the tone struck by the PM in July, when he suggested there would be a “significant return to normality” by Christmas.
Crucially, new curbs are expected to be in place until next spring but with a three-month review in early December, government insiders warned.
Whitty said: “The period between now and spring is going to be difficult. You shouldn’t just see this as a very short term thing.”
The PM said: “I’m still hopeful that in many ways we could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas.” But he accepted that would not be possible without a “moonshot” plan to get mass, daily testing in place.
The national Covid rate among all ages has in the past week risen from 12.5 to about 19.7 per 100,000 – just under the level at which the UK slaps quarantine curbs on other countries.
Advertisement
But the detailed figures for young people are driving the rise, with the rate for 17- to 18-year-olds now at 48.1, for 19- to 21-year-olds 54.5, and 20- to 29-year-olds overall 41.6.
The latest graph with the under-30s spike HuffPost UK
The rise is not just down to extra testing, as the rate of people who test positive has trebled from 2.5% a couple of weeks ago to 6.1% among 17- to 18-year-olds, 5.1% among 19- to 21-year-olds and 3.5% among 20- to 29-year-olds.
Regarding the six people rule, Johnson said: “This will apply in any setting, indoors or outdoors, at home or in the pub.
“The ban will be set out in law and it will be enforced by the police – anyone breaking the rules risks being dispersed, fined and possibly arrested.
Advertisement
“This single measure replaces both the existing ban on gatherings of more than 30 and the current guidance on allowing two households to meet indoors. Now you only need to remember the rule of six.”
The PM revealed that he still wanted universities to go ahead with opening to students this autumn because they were crucial to “life chances” of young people.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Piers Morgan Reflects On Controversial Interviews With MPs: 'I Probably Went A Little Too Far'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Cast your mind back to the very beginning of lockdown (we know, it feels like a decade ago), and you’ll remember Piers Morgan making headlines on a fairly regular basis for his interviews with various government ministers on Good Morning Britain.
Advertisement
Eventually, MPs stopped appearing on the show full stop, with the divisive presenter claiming that the government had banned its ministers from appearing on the ITV daytime show.
During an appearance on Wednesday’s edition of This Morning, Piers reflected on some of his more fiery one-on-ones, admitting that while he may have gone “a little too far” with his approach, he doesn’t regret the way he conducted his interviews.
Piers Morgan on This Morning Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
When presenter Phillip Schofield pointed out Piers’ reputation for talking over his guests, he responded: “Sometimes I know that I probably went a little too far but I was genuinely angry.
Advertisement
“I had work colleagues... Kate Garraway’s husband, in a coma. I had three friends who lost their parents in care homes. I had others who narrowly escaped and nearly died.
“I do feel if you were that closely touched by it... It made me so angry, in my view, the way they mishandled it.”
He added: “In terms of the government ban on Good Morning Britain, it has now been 134 days, I don’t regret a damn thing I did with those government ministers.
“I think they have been a total shambles in this pandemic, I’ve made no secret of it. I think so many more people died who shouldn’t have died, I think what they did with our care homes is a national disgrace, so I make no apology for holding their feet to the fire.”
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby interview Piers on the This Morning sofa ITV/Shutterstock
Advertisement
While MPs have declined to appear on Good Morning Britain, Piers has made no qualms in criticising his BBC counterpart Dan Walker, who has been able to land interviews with key government officials.
And back in July, the presenter blasted Matt Hancock for appearing on another ITV daytime show, but only once Piers had gone on his annual summer break from GMB.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Michael Cohen Predicts Trump Plan To Save Himself If He Loses The Election

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Michael Cohen, the former longtime fixer and personal attorney to Donald Trump, says he believes his old boss has a backup plan to save himself from criminal prosecution if he loses the November election to former Vice President Joe Biden.
The drama, he said, would take place in the 11 weeks between Election Day and the January 20 inauguration.
Advertisement
“My suspicion is that he will resign as president,” he told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night. “He will allow Mike Pence to take over, and he will then go ahead and have Mike Pence pardon him.”
Michael Cohen says Trump will go to great lengths to avoid criminal charges: "If he loses ... he will resign as president, he will allow Mike Pence to take over, and he will then go ahead and have Mike Pence pardon him." #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/e5ReWb4bEs — PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) September 9, 2020
Trump has freely used his pardon power to help political allies, granting a commutation to Roger Stone, a pardon to disgraced former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and a pardon to former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, who has been a Trump supporter on Fox News.
The president has also claimed he can pardon himself, which no president has done and would likely go to the Supreme Court, making a pardon from an elevated Vice President Pence a more assured route of success.
Advertisement
Cohen turned against his former boss in 2018 when he cooperated with investigators, testified before Congress and pleaded guilty to numerous criminal charges, including lying to Congress and violating campaign finance law, which he says he did for Trump.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Great British Bake Off's Return Date Confirmed By Channel 4

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Anyone in need of some on-screen escapism can breathe a sigh of relief, as Channel 4 has confirmed we’re less than two weeks away from a brand new series of Great British Bake Off.
Initially, because of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the TV industry, fans were concerned that we may not get a series of Bake Off in 2020, but it was later revealed that bosses had managed to film a whole new run “in secret” over the summer.
Advertisement
It’s now been confirmed there’s not long at all to wait until the new episodes hit our screens, with the show set to return on Tuesday 22 September at 8pm.
The news was confirmed in a tweet on the official Bake Off Twitter account, alongside a photo of the show’s freshly-updated team, including new addition Matt Lucas.
Put a little love in your tart. Join us on Tuesday 22nd September for the return of The Great British Bake Off! #GBBO pic.twitter.com/q5k4kjrTZt — British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) September 9, 2020
Matt is taking over as Noel Fielding’s co-host from Sandi Toksvig, who stepped down from Bake Off earlier this year.
Advertisement
Also returning to the tent are Prue Leith and Bake Off’s longest-serving star, Paul Hollywood.
Paul, Prue and Noel will all be back for the upcoming series Channel 4
Channel 4’s deputy director of programmes and head of popular factual, Kelly Webb-Lamb, recently teased what was in store for the new series, insisting it was important to the team that Bake Off feel as “normal” as possible.
“I certainly felt that working to ensure we could get Bake Off back on the screen was such an important thing for us as a channel,” she explained. “[And] such an important thing for the audience and Love Productions [who make Bake Off] were just full of ingenuity and determination to get it to happen.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Is This Boris Johnson's New Excuse For Breaking The Law? He Negotiated His Brexit Deal 'At Pace'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Boris Johnson has been accused of trying to back out of his own Brexit deal because he negotiated it too quickly.
No.10 said that the withdrawal agreement (WA) Johnson trumpeted as “oven ready” in the election and signed in January was negotiated “at pace” in “the most challenging possible political circumstances”.
Advertisement
It stressed that Johnson signed up to the deal on the understanding that “ambiguities” would be resolved and new British legislation was needed in case Brussels and London couldn’t find a solution.
But the EU reacted with fury after the government published the Internal Market Bill, which confirmed that the prime minister wants to give the UK the power to renege on the deal and break international law.
And Downing Street’s line prompted Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon to jibe that Johnson appeared to be justifying its bad faith by saying the UK-EU deal was “signed in a rush”.
“In the General Election it was, according to the PM ‘oven ready’ - now, when they want to jettison it in breach of international law, it was ‘signed in a rush’,” she tweeted.
Advertisement
“What a bunch of incompetent and unscrupulous chancers - and they are trashing the UK’s international reputation.”
Former Tory PM Sir John Major also let rip, putting out a statement that breaking treaties puts at risk “something beyond price that may never be regained.”
European Council president Charles Michel described Johnson’s approach as “unacceptable” and suggested it could lead to the collapse of talks on a long-term trade deal, currently ongoing in London.
The Withdrawal agreement was concluded and ratified by both sides, it has to be applied in full.
Breaking international law is not acceptable and does not create the confidence we need to build our future relationship #Brexit — Charles Michel (@eucopresident) September 9, 2020
Key passages in the Internal Market Bill published on Wednesday confirm Johnson wants to unpick parts of the WA to give ministers sweeping powers to decide when EU rules apply to trade between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland.
Advertisement
The Internal Market Bill, published on Wednesday, gives UK ministers powers to regulate trade in Northern Ireland, with “relevant international law” like the WA “not to be recognised”.
It also gives ministers the power to make regulations to “disapply” an entire section in the WA on state aid rules, which govern how much money a government can give in subsidies to companies or industries.
Sir John Major said: “For generations, Britain’s word – solemnly given – has been accepted by friend and foe. Our signature on any Treaty or Agreement has been sacrosanct.
“Over the last century, as our military strength has dwindled, our word has retained its power. If we lose our reputation for honouring the promises we make, we will have lost something beyond price that may never be regained.”
The plans have already triggered a backlash from Tory MPs and there are growing signs of a civil service walkout over the plans following the resignation of the head of the government’s legal department Sir Jonathan Jones.
Advertisement
David Melding, the shadow counsel general in the Welsh Conservative Party, has also announced he will resign over the move.
Reacting to criticism over the plans, Johnson’s official spokesperson told reporters: “The withdrawal agreement and Northern Ireland protocol aren’t like any other treaty.
“It was agreed at pace in the most challenging possible political circumstances to deliver on a decision by the British people, with the clear overriding purpose of protecting the special circumstances of Northern Ireland.”
No.10 suggested that the “ambiguities” that were left in the agreement were partly due to the time pressure of getting a deal, but the whole point of a joint EU-UK committee was to resolve such outstanding issues.
The new legislation is just a “safety net” in the event of those issues not being resolved, sources said.
Advertisement
But Michel said the WA “has to be applied in full” and warned the prime minister that his approach “does not create the confidence” the EU needs to tie up a long-term trade deal.
The prime minister’s chief aide, Dominic Cummings, has reportedly made getting more freedom over state aid a priority for Brexit negotiations.
On Tuesday, Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis admitted the plans “break international law”.
"Yes, this does break international law in a very specific and limited way."
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis says the UK's plan for possible changes to the Withdrawal Agreement would go against international law but that "there are clear precedents" to do so. pic.twitter.com/9IsJf40jVV — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) September 8, 2020
And after the details were published in the bill on Wednesday, Michel said: “The withdrawal agreement was concluded and ratified by both sides, it has to be applied in full.
“Breaking international law is not acceptable and does not create the confidence we need to build our future relationship.
Advertisement
State aid is currently one of the main sticking points in ongoing talks on a longer-term trade deal.
Ministers are worried that the WA negotiated by Johnson last year risks giving Brussels control over UK state aid already because of the way it treats Northern Ireland, which will follow EU rules on certain aspects of trade but UK rules on others, to ensure it keeps an invisible border with the Republic.
There is a concern that the EU could interpret these rules broadly and hamstring the UK’s ability to use state aid in the rest of the country, outside Northern Ireland, because it could argue that a mainland company could still be operating in the province.
The UK is also seeking to seize powers for ministers to unilaterally decide what goods are “at risk” of being sold into the EU via Northern Ireland, and must therefore comply with Brussels tariffs.
Experts believe both of these approaches would put the UK in breach of the WA.
But Downing Street insists that the WA explicitly left many issues on Northern Ireland up in the air, to be hammered out by a so-called “joint committee” of UK and EU officials.
No.10 has said its plans are simply a “safety net” if the joint committee cannot agree.
“We are fully committed to that process,” the spokesperson said, revealing that the UK had accepted a request for a new meeting of the joint committee.
Advertisement
Earlier in the Commons, Johnson said he feared a failure to agree the joint committee could leave the UK open to “extreme and irrational” interpretation of the WA by the EU.
“My job is to uphold the integrity of the UK but also to protect the Northern Irish peace process and the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
“To do that we need a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations of the protocol, which could lead to a border down the Irish Sea in a way that I believe – and I think members around the House believe – would be prejudicial to the interests of the Good Friday Agreement and prejudicial to the interests of peace in our country.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--A Minute Of Kindness: Project Q - ‘We use hair as a form of social justice’

A Minute Of Kindness: Project Q - ‘We use hair as a form of social justice’
Project Q offers free gender-affirming haircuts and workshops to LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness, as a form of social justice. Workshops include providing life skills, in place of absent parents, like financial planning and nutrition on a budget.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-09--Government Shovels 3,000 People Into Horse-Racing Festival Hours After Covid Ban Announced

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Health officials on Wednesday ordered a four-day horse racing festival in Doncaster to be held behind closed doors – but not before more than 3,000 spectators had attended the first day of the event which was being held as a government trial.
According to the Doncaster Free Press, more than 3,600 spectators were set descend on the St Leger Festival on Wednesday, with that number rising to more than 6,000 over the following three days of the four-day event.
Advertisement
But a last-minute intervention from local health officials means that the races from Thursday to Saturday will be held without any spectators in the stands.
“On the grounds of public health and public safety I have instructed the course to hold the St Leger Festival behind closed doors from tomorrow,” said Dr Rupert Suckling, director of public health for Doncaster.
The races were being used by the government as a pilot event to investigate how large sporting events could return during the Covid-19 crisis, but thousands of people had signalled their concern that the races could undo months of hard work to control the virus. Even the town’s mayor opposed the plan and described it as an “imposition”.
The gates opened for the festival just hours after the government released a late-night announcement on Tuesday stating that from next week it would be illegal to meet up in groups of more than six people.
Advertisement
Almost 6,000 people had signed a petition calling for the four-day festival to be called off, citing fears that the work the Doncaster public has put in to minimise the impact of the virus will be undone by the influx of visitors.
In a statement on the petition page, entitled “Stop the St Leger, Protect OUR Town”, Chris Brodhurst-Brown – a district councillor for the Armthorpe area of Docaster, wrote: “Doncaster people have worked tremendously hard and made many sacrifices to keep Covid-19 levels in the town comparatively low. Our health and caring services have worked tirelessly to protect us.
“We feel that to hold the St Leger in 2020 will create large amounts of unnecessary risk and could undo the amazing efforts of people in our community.
“To put 6,000 people together in one place, over several days, with alcohol in play, is an insult to those who have gone without seeing family for a very long time, those who have assiduously shielded for many months, those key workers who have worked their socks off whilst literally risking their lives, and to all of us who have played the game and followed the advice.”
The petition calls on Doncaster’s mayor, Ros Jones, to work with the police to stop the event from going ahead at all.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Jones published an updated statement. that slammed the “government imposed” festival as a “major risk”.
She wrote: “My personal opinion remains that the festival is a major risk for the borough that I would rather not see happen but there are no current grounds that can be escalated for it to be held behind closed doors.
“This event, I reiterate, has been imposed upon the borough by government as part of a national pilot for spectators to return to sporting events.
“I fully recognise the need to get back to some sort of normality and appreciate the economic benefits that the St Leger Festival brings to Doncaster but I believe the risk is too great as we are seeing rising infection rates nationally.”
Health experts at Doncaster Council initially gave the event the go ahead after determining that it had surpassed the requirements set in 10 different tests, which include no significant increase in Doncaster’s Covid rate prior to the event, and ensuring that no one from areas with Covid-19 restrictions can enter.
Advertisement
According to ticketing information published ahead of the races, half of racegoers are from Doncaster, 25% from South Yorkshire, 20% from Yorkshire and 5%from elsewhere.
Nearby West Yorkshire is already subject to enhanced Covid-19 restrictions following identified outbreaks – with fears that the races could increase the prevalence of outbreaks across other parts of the region.
No more than 6 people together from Monday, yet over the next few days, thousands will be meeting at Doncaster races.
So fed up of this shit now. This government doesn’t know its arse from its elbow. https://t.co/WOkK6sURJS — Jules Swain (@julesbuddle) September 9, 2020
Did I hear this right, Doncaster races is to go ahead despite new restrictions coming in on Monday? Is COVID19 avoiding Doncaster for the next few days?#BBCBreakfast — Clive Hallam 🇪🇺🇬🇧Proud European (@challam19) September 9, 2020
Meanwhile, criticising the government’s decision to press ahead with the Doncaster races, some have pointed to Matt Hancock’s close links with the racing industry.
Advertisement
As highlighted by the Guardian in a June article, the health secretary is the MP for Newmarket – a major centre for horse racing – and “receives tens of thousands of pounds in donations from wealthy racehorse owners, trainers and other members of the sport’s establishment”.
Dido Harding, who runs the government’s Test, Track and Trace effort, also holds a board position with the influential Jockey Club, which runs a number of major racing events including the Cheltenham Festival.
Approached on Wednesday morning for comment about what the announcement of new restrictions meant for large events, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) directed HuffPost UK to a comment Hancock made on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning.
"We'll set out what that means for some of these events"
On #BBCBreakfast we asked Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, what impact the new social gathering rule in England will have on planned trial crowd events like Doncaster Races. This was his response ⤵https://t.co/LaFa686pb1 pic.twitter.com/I7Try2tAUN — BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) September 9, 2020
The event has been compared to the Cheltenham Festival, which ended days before the UK went into full lockdown and was attended by around 250,000 people.
Advertisement
While senior council figures warned against the validity of comparisons, The Guardian reported in April that Gloucestershire hospitals NHS trust, which covers Cheltenham, had recorded 125 deaths – more than double the total at two trusts in Bristol which had 58 deaths each and Bath, which had 46 deaths.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Former Tory Leader Michael Howard Blasts Boris Johnson's Plan To Break The Law

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Michael Howard has become the latest former Tory leader to savage Boris Johnson’s plan to break international law.
A row broke out earlier this week after the prime minister announced new legislation that will override part of the Brexit divorce deal signed with the EU.
Advertisement
Ministers admitted it will break international law in a “specific and limited way”.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Thursday, Howard said to do so would cause huge “damage” to the UK’s “reputation for probity and respect for the rule of law”.
Howard, who led the Tory party between 2003 and 2005, said he never thought he would hear any British minister propose breaking the law.
“How can we reproach Russia, or China, or Iran when their conduct falls below international accepted standards, when we are showing such scant regard for our treaty obligations?”
Johnson yesterday told MPs “we expect everybody in this country to obey the law”, despite his plan to break it.
Advertisement
Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor as prime minister, said the UK was in danger of losing the trust of other countries.
“Given that, how can the government reassure future international partners that the UK can be trusted to abide by the legal obligations of the agreements it signs?” she sad.
PA
And John Major, another former Tory PM, also reacted angrily. “For generations, Britain’s word, solemnly given, has been accepted by friend and foe. Our signature on any treaty or agreement has been sacrosanct,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“Over the last century, as our military strength has dwindled, our word has retained its power. If we lose our reputation for honouring the promises we make, we will have lost something beyond price that may never be regained.”
Advertisement
The government has claimed the move is necessary to preserve trade within the UK and prevent a border between Britain and Northern Ireland.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Gogglebox's Pete And Sophie Are Related To The Chuckle Brothers And Our Minds Are Officially Blown

LOADING ERROR LOADING
In the most random family tree news since it was revealed Danny Dyer was a descendant of royalty, it turns out Gogglebox stars Pete and Sophie Sandiford are related to the Chuckle Brothers.
What’s more, their family connection has actually been in plain sight this entire time.
We’re not quite sure how or indeed why, but some fans have picked up on old tweets sent by Paul Chuckle that revealed he is Pete and Sophie’s great uncle.
Advertisement
Paul – whose real name is Paul Elliot – is, of course, famous for the legendary kids TV show Chucklevision, which he appeared on with late brother Barry from 1987 to 2009.
The Chuckles’ relation to Pete and Sophie was picked up on thanks to a throwback photo he posted in March 2019, writing: “This day 2018 with my great niece and nephew.”
This day 2018 with my great niece and nephew @PeteandSophie #Gogglebox pic.twitter.com/oFlNkV1ulf — Paul Chuckle (@PaulChuckle2) March 3, 2019
Just a few months later, Paul also shared a photo of a lunch date with them and some others, calling himself a “proud uncle”.
Advertisement
Sophie also paid a public tribute to Barry, following their great uncle’s death at the age of 73 in August 2018.
She called him a “truly lovely and funny man to be around”, writing: “You filled millions of childhoods with laughter and entertainment including mine and Peter’s. You will be sadly missed by many. Rest in peace Uncle Barry.”
Quoting the Chuckle Brothers’ famous catchphrase, she added: “Lots of love from me, to you.”
A truly lovely and funny man to be around. You filled millions of childhoods with laughter and entertainment including mine and Peters. You will be sadly missed by many. Rest in peace Uncle Barry.
Lots of love from me, to you🌟 pic.twitter.com/5b5KE4whOh — Gogglebox Soph (@PeteandSophie) August 5, 2018
Pete and Sophie have been known to deliver many chuckles of their own since joining the cast of Gogglebox in 2017.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--The Syrian Girl From 'For Sama' Just Had Her First Day Of School

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Amid the flurry of first-day-at-school pictures on social media this week, one little girl stands out.
At first glance, with her maroon cardigan and matching book bag, blue shirt and pinafore, and new shiny black school shoes, she looks much like her peers.
Advertisement
But this is Sama, whose mother made the acclaimed ‘For Sama’ documentary – about the horror of giving birth and raising a child in war-torn Aleppo. And now the family live in the UK, she is off to her first day at primary school in London.
Waad Al-Kateab’s daughter was the subject of her multi-award-winning documentary, which was nominated four times at the Baftas and also received an Oscar nomination in February.
The Channel 4 journalist, filmmaker and activist posted three pictures of Sama to her Instagram account to show off her smart new uniform – and fluffy pink unicorn pen – a world away from the first-hand footage filmed by Al-Kateab in the documentary as they went through life in a city under siege.
Advertisement
In the post, Al-Kateab wrote, “First day at school”, with multiple heart-eye emojis, and in Arabic: “My little heart is too much.” Hundreds of people commented to congratulate the family and to send Sama good wishes.
In the hard-hitting documentary, which is available on Netflix, Al-Kateab shows what life was like during the uprising in Syria. The family fled Aleppo in 2016.
“Nothing has changed in Syria. It’s still happening,” she said in a recent interview with Vogue Arabia. “There are still people in Aleppo being shelled and bombed.”
Waad al-Kateab Waad al-Kateab's award-winning documentary, For Sama.
She now has two daughters – Sama, four, and a younger sister, Taima, three – who even have London accents. “They speak a mix of English and Arabic,” Al-Kateab told the magazine. “We are trying to keep the Arabic level good, but it’s difficult.”
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--California’s Apocalyptic Wildfires Can Be Seen From Space

Shocking satellite pictures have revealed the extent of California’s escalating wildfire crisis, with flames and smoke covering thousands of acres of forest visible from space.
Images shared by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and NASA show thick smoke covering swathes of the US’ west coast, with the haze drifting across the entire country.
Advertisement
The Suomi NPP joint NASA/@NOAA satellite captured images of fires affecting the U.S., with smoke from California to Arkansas and a haze present over the East Coast. Instruments also captured data on where aerosols released by the fires have traveled: https://t.co/FoUOfhNHk1 pic.twitter.com/ScPegvI9c1 — NASA (@NASA) September 8, 2020
The San Francisco Bay Area awoke to a disorienting sight on Wednesday morning: deep orange skies and a smoky darkness lingered hours after sunrise, serving as a stark reminder of the wildfires still raging across California.
The phenomenon ― which was also seen in Oregon on Tuesday ― is a result of 16 different fire complexes burning in the region, dispersing smoke with the help of gusty wind.
Advertisement
“Strong winds over the past few days transported ash from fires in northern California and the Sierra Nevada into the region,” the Bay Area Air District, the region’s air quality control agency, explained in a tweet.
“If smoke becomes too thick in a certain area, most of the light will be scattered and absorbed before reaching the surface, which may cause dark skies.”
A thick layer of marine fog below the smoky skies intensified the effect.
The National Weather Service’s Bay Area branch warned that even though the air quality in the region was moderate on Wednesday morning, the “unprecedented smoke” hanging high in the air would likely descend closer to street level as the day went on, making the air more dangerous to breathe.
It was a familiar warning for Californians. Uncontrolled blazes across the state this year have so far burned a historic 2.3m acres, representing a nearly 2,000% increase in land burned compared with the sam time period in 2019, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“This is yet another reminder though that we’re living with the effects of climate change in real time,” San Francisco mayor London Breed tweeted Wednesday morning.
Advertisement
Here are some images of Wednesday’s orange skies, which many compared to a scene from Mars.
San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images via Getty Images
Jim McVeigh, a custodian, cleans the entrance of Children’s Fairyland, a small amusement park in Oakland, California, on Wednesday morning.
Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
“This is feeding into my mind that this is a dream,” McVeigh told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The problem is it’s not bright enough to clean this.” He called it quits after an hour because of the poor light.
San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images via Getty Images
Advertisement
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Oakland Temple was engulfed by smoke from surrounding wildfires.
Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
A person exercises at an orange-tinted Lake Merritt in Oakland.
Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Two people take photos of the unusual light over the bay at Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, California.
Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Advertisement
A ferry terminal in San Francisco is illuminated by the orange glow.
Stephen Lam / Reuters
Visitors to San Francisco’s Dolores Park observe the darkening sky.
Stephen Lam / reuters


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Senior Tory Tells Matt Hancock It's 'No Good Blaming People' For Testing Problems

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Matt Hancock has been told it is “no good” blaming members of the public for problems with the UK’s coronavirus testing system.
The health secretary said on Thursday too many people who did not have symptoms were asking for tests and using them up.
Advertisement
“If you do not have symptoms and haven’t been asked then you are not eligible for a test,” he told MPs.
“It is important that people who are not eligible do not come forward for those tests because otherwise you’re taking a test away from somebody who has symptoms.”
But Greg Clark, the Tory chair of the Commons science committee, told Hancock to “get a grip”.
The former cabinet minister said the health secretary “must accept that there is a problem here”.
“Constituents of mine in Kent this week displaying symptoms were advised to go for tests to Bude in Cornwall and Galashiels in Scotland,” he said.
“This is in a mild September before the autumn and winter when people have coughs and colds that may look like symptoms of Covid.
Advertisement
“And it is no good blaming people who are asymptomatic – I’d be interested to see if the secretary of state could say what percentage of people are turning up for testing that don’t have symptoms.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Clark, who served as business secretary and communities secretary under Theresa May, said: “I think this needs his personal grip. He referred to the need for him to increase testing capacity from 1,000 a day to 100,000 a day.
“This is an urgent matter, it needs a grip before the autumn bites, the autumn-winter bites. Will he commit by the end of the month to make sure anyone who has symptoms of Covid can get a test at a reasonable place, convenient to their home?”
Hancock was speaking shortly after new figures revealed the NHS Test and Trace programme posted its worst ever figures for contact tracing.
Advertisement
For the programme to be effective, 80% of “close contacts” of people with Covid reached by the system to be identified and then told to self-isolate.
But figures showed for the latest weekly update that just 69.2% of people were reached.
The government has pinned its hopes on a “moonshot” programme of mass testing.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Winchester School Bus Crashes Into Railway Bridge Leaving Three Children Seriously Injured

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Three children have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a school bus crashed into a railway bridge in Winchester.
Another 13 children suffered minor injuries in the incident, Hampshire Police said.
Photos from the scene show the wreckage of the double-decker bus, which crashed into a bridge on Wellhouse Lane at 8.10am on Thursday.
Advertisement
A police spokesperson said that three pupils had been taken to hospital with serious – but not life-threatening – injuries.
He said: “We were called at 8.10am today, 10 September, to reports of a serious collision on Wellhouse Lane, Winchester, after a school bus collided with a railway bridge causing significant damage to the top of the bus.
The scene on Well House Lane in Winchester after three children were taken to hospital with serious injuries while 13 others suffered minor injuries after the school bus they were travelling in crashed into a railway bridge. PA
“Three students with serious, but not life-threatening injuries, have been taken to hospital.
“A further 13 students with minor injuries have been dealt with at the scene.
“All the students involved are aged between 11 and 16.
“A road closure is in place on Wellhouse Lane from the junction with Andover Road North to School Lane to enable us to deal with this incident. We thank you for your patience.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--NHS Test And Trace Reports Worst Contact Tracing Figures Since It Launched

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Boris Johnson’s hopes of a “moonshot” mass testing for Covid-19 have suffered a fresh blow after his flagship NHS Test and Trace programme posted its worst ever figures for contact tracing.
The PM’s independent scientific advisers have repeatedly warned that stopping the spread of the disease requires more than 80% of “close contacts” of people with Covid reached by the system to be identified and then told to self-isolate.
Advertisement
But figures for the latest weekly update show that just 69.2% of those “close contacts” – defined as being within two metres of a Covid carrier for more than 15 minutes – are actually being reached.
The statistics, for the week between August 28 and September 2 show a fall on the 69.4% of the previous week – and are the lowest weekly percentage since the service launched in May.
Testing turnaround times are also well short of the 100% within 24 hours target set by Johnson, with an average of just under 63% of in-person tests meeting that deadline. Times for home testing and ‘satellite’ care home testing fell again.
In line with the spike in cases reported in recent days, the figures for the week to September 2 showed a huge jump in positive tests, with a 43% increase week-on-week.
Advertisement
On Wednesday, the prime minister pinned his hopes for a return to normality in the UK on a “moonshot” plan to get millions of instant tests to the public for daily updates on their Covid status.
Under his proposal, which has been met with heavy scepticism by even his chief scientific adviser, those who test negative would then be free to go to work, the theatre or sports events.
With the public facing lengthy delays and an acute shortage of local testing availability, critics have suggested the government focuses its time and money instead on improving NHS Test and Trace.
Many people who tried to access a test on Wednesday were met with an error message telling them to try again, and warning them not call the helplines.
And on Tuesday, Sarah Jane Marsh, the service’s director of testing, apologised to people who were unable to get a test.
Advertisement
Johnson, who has described the service as “world beating”, this week used a different definition for the close contact rate, preferring to say that where contact details were provided it was actually at 80%.
Baroness Dido Harding, Executive Chair of NHS Test and Trace, in Westminster, London. PA
Today’s figures showed that even on that definition, the percentage had dropped to 79.4% from 80% the week before.
Government insiders say that the low contact trace figures are explained partly by the shift from hospital and care home cases - termed “complex cases” - towards community transmission, where it is more difficult to identify and trace people.
Ministers hope that the new compulsory requirement on pubs and restaurants to keep lists of contacts of customers will help improve the figures. Under the PM’s latest tightening of restrictions, hospitality venues will be legally required to keep lists for 21 days.
Advertisement
But shadow health minister Justin Madders said: “There is nothing world beating about this test and trace system.
“Taking into account all contacts identified, 69.2% were reached not the 80% claimed by the Prime Minister yesterday. The percentage reached for both complex and non-complex contacts has stayed roughly the same since mid-July.
“With millions of people having returned to work and schools this week it is concerning that the system is not improving. This continuing failure does nothing to provide the public with the safety and assurance they need.
“In the week where the testing system failed to provide locally available tests for people who desperately need them, it seems nobody in Government has yet picked up responsibility to turn things round and for the Prime Minister to not even know how the system is performing is a worrying sign of the lack of grip Government has on the scale of the problem.”
NHS Test and Trace chief Dido Harding had not made a public comment for a week. One Whitehall source told HuffPost UK: “Is it a case of ’disappearing Dido? This week of all weeks, test and trace is in the news.”
Advertisement
But Harding did issue a statement on Thursday lunchtime, insisting that the service was “working” and that the UK was doing more testing than other comparable European countries.
“The figures show we have seen a significant increase in the demand for tests, but given the concerning rise in cases over the last couple of days, it is still vital for anybody who has symptoms to book a test and follow the advice you receive if you are contacted by NHS Test and Trace,” she said.
“New booking slots and home testing kits are made available daily. And for those who don’t have symptoms or haven’t been told they must have a test, we would please ask you to reconsider as it might could be taking a test away from someone who really needs it.”
And business chiefs waded in too, with London Chamber of Commerce chief Richard Burge urging the government to “instil confidence in the integrity of the system immediately”.
“A fully functioning Test and Trace system is imperative for managing the spread of Covid19 and saving lives.
Advertisement
“But it is also vital to economic recovery, whether by instilling consumer confidence in areas of high population such as London, or avoiding businesses having to scale-back or shutdown due to reintroduced restrictions – whether locally or nationally.”
There was better news for the government on turnaround times for tests, with a rise in the percentage of in-person tests (at mobile and regional test centres) results received within 24 hours.
The figure went up to 61.9% compared to 53.3% in the previous week - but it is a long way short of the 100% that Johnson set as a target by the end of June.
He told the House of Commons on June 3 he would get “all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that”.
The department of health and social care said that on a different measure - of getting test results by the end of the following day, rather than within 24 hours, 89.6% of in-person tests results were received “the next day after the test was taken”.
Advertisement
But some turnaround times worsened again, with 10.7% of test results were received within 48 hours for home test kits and satellite test centres (used for care homes and others), compared to 11.3% in the previous week.
Satellite test centres - which are supposed to provide kits for care homes “that have a particularly urgent need” - saw the median time for a result increase from a low of 28 hours in mid-June to 83 hours in the latest week.
A total of 9,864 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England in the week to September 2, according to the latest figures.
This is an increase of 43% in positive cases on the previous week, and is the highest weekly number since Test and Trace was launched at the end of May.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--The Rule Of Six: All Your Questions, Answered

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The rule of six bans meetings of more than six people in England. The law will be enforced by the police and anyone breaking it risks being “dispersed, fined and possibly arrested”, said Boris Johnson.
Failure to stick to the new rules originally meant a £100 fine, but on 22 September, Johnson said this has now doubled to £200.
Advertisement
Johnson also tightened restrictions on the “rule of six”, no longer allowing weddings of 30 people. The rule of six now also applies to indoor sports, amateur performing arts and choirs.
As with every Covid rule to date, there are terms and conditions, exemptions and practicalities to navigate. People have a lot of questions, so we’ve attempted to answer them.
Bojan89 via Getty Images
Wait, doesn’t this mean we can now see more people indoors than before the ‘rule of six’?
Bizarrely, yes, in some circumstances. The previous rules banned more than two households from meeting indoors at once, meaning three individual friends from different households couldn’t go for dinner.
Advertisement
The new rule of six has replaced that rule, so now, you can technically go for dinner with five mates from different households, while abiding by social distancing rules. Some have raised concerns that the new six-person “restriction” will actually mean more people mixing.
Surprising that the new “rule of 6” law for England replaces the guidance that you could only meet with people from 1 other household indoors.
So bizarrely you now CAN see 5 people all from different households in your home or the pub, when you couldn’t before. — Louise Ridley (@LouiseRidley) September 9, 2020
The new rule might sound counter-intuitive, but it’s an attempt to simplify the system. Let’s face it, clarification was needed. If you’ve been anywhere near a pub or restaurant in the past two months, you’ll have seen people definitely not abiding by the two household rule, anyway.
What happens if you’re in a family bigger than six?
If you live with more than six people in one household, you’re exempt from the rule – so don’t worry, you don’t need to kick one of your children out of the family home anytime soon. You’re also exempt if your support bubble exceeds six people, e.g. if you’re a family of six, but a single relative or friend has joined your “bubble” for support, they can still see you.
If you are part of a big family, socialising will another household will be more difficult, though.
“Two whole households will no longer be able to meet if they would exceed the limit of six people,” Johnson explained in the briefing. “I am sorry about that. I wish that we did not have to take this step but as your prime minister, I must do what is necessary to stop the spread of the virus and to save lives.”
Advertisement
Children are included in the rule of six in England. This is different to Wales and Scotland, where the rule of six does not include children under 11 and 12 respectively.
But, we can still go to weddings?
On 22 September, Boris Johnson reduced the number of people who can attend weddings. “I’m afraid that from Monday [28 September] a maximum of 15 people will be able to attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, though up to 30 can still attend a funeral as now,” he said.
“Covid-19 secure venues, such as places of worship, restaurants and hospitality venues, can still host larger numbers in total but groups of up to six must not mix or form larger groups,” the government website states.
And kids can see each other inside school, but not outside?
Bingo. Your son or daughter might be mixing with a class of children during the day, but that doesn’t mean you can have a huge birthday party. Why? It all comes down to setting: schools have completed risk assessments, your home is a wild card.
Good question! I’m curious to know if my daughter can have a birthday party with her classmates. The ones she’s deemed safe to be in a bubble at school with 🤷🏻♀ — Lucy (@lucy_anne88) September 9, 2020
Advertisement
Do we need to worry about childcare?
No, don’t panic. Several people online have been asking what this means for childcare and carers, particularly for children with special educational needs.
The government exemptions include “work”, “registered childcare”, and “providing support to a vulnerable person,” so you’re covered.
What is in place for carers and parents of children with SEND with this new rule of 6, I'm mum of 5 with SEND in my home, so noone is allowed in my home or are carers exempt? #BBCyourquestions — mandyheadley (@mandyheadley) September 9, 2020
Will protests be banned?
There have also been widespread concerns that the rule of six will stop people’s right to protest – and there’s been some ingenious solutions floated.
Am I right in thinking that under the new "rule of six", if seven people choose tp march down Whitehall protesting about the government they can now all be arrested? — Suffolk 🔶#FBPE (@TimInSuffolk) September 10, 2020
Advertisement
If they were singing hymns, would it count as a religious service and be okay? — David Lawton #FBPE #RejoinEU (@Scrabble817) September 10, 2020
But don’t panic – on the government’s website, protests are listed within the exceptions where groups can be larger than six people, stating: “Protests and political activities organised in compliance with Covid-19 secure guidance and subject to strict risk assessments.”
What’s the deal with sports?
Organised outdoor sports of more than six people are allowed, as long as they abide by the gyms and leisure centre guidance. You can’t grab six mates for a casual kick-about, though. However, restrictions on indoor sport have tightened, and they’re now limited to only six people. Exercise classes can still go ahead with more than six people, providing social distancing is in place.
Elite sporting competitions or training programmes are also exempt, but watching sport is unlikely to return to normal anytime soon.
The organisers of any sporting event likely to attract spectators have to publish a risk assessment regarding social distancing first. Government insiders told HuffPost fans should expect a “much more limited return” of spectators to Premier League football matches and other live stadium sport, following the new law.
Advertisement
Will support groups be impacted?
Some types of support group are exempt from the rule of six and can take place in groups of up to 15 in a public place.
The government website defines support groups as “a group organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support to its members or those who attend its meeting.”
Groups exempt include, but are not limited to:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Petrol Car Ban And Flight Tax: How The Public Think We Should Tackle Climate Change

Taxes on long-haul flights and a ban on new petrol cars should be introduced to help the UK tackle climate change, the nation’s first citizens’ assembly on the issue has recommended.
The final report from Climate Assembly UK also supports a ban on sales of new gas boilers and new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2030-2035 to help Britain meet its legal goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The group of more than 100 people from across the UK also said the shift to net-zero must be fair to people, and allow for freedom and choice where possible for individuals and local areas.
Climate Assembly UK was commissioned by six parliamentary select committees (but not including the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and asked to examine how the country can meet its legal target to cut greenhouse gases to zero overall by mid-century.
While 2050 is the date the government have agreed to work towards, many climate campaigners have said that this target is already far too late to make a meaningful difference to global warming.
The group, who are representative of the UK population including in their views on climate change, met to learn about, discuss and make informed decisions on options for meeting the net-zero goal. The recommendations they came up with are advisory only, and do not have to be enacted upon by government.
Here’s what the assembly came up with:
Banning new petrol cars by 2035
Members agreed on banning the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2030–2035, with moves to quickly stop selling the most polluting vehicles and grants for low carbon cars.
A reduction in car use by an average of 2%–5% per decade, improved public transport, and investment in cycling and scooters.
Taxes for frequent and long-haul flyers
People should still be allowed to fly, the assembly said, but there should be limits to the growth in passenger numbers and frequent and long-haul flyers should pay more, with taxes that increase as people fly more often and further.
They also agreed on a need to investment in development and use of new technologies such as synthetic fuels and electric aircraft.
Carbon zero homes and ban on gas boilers
The assembly said efforts to retrofit homes to cut emissions need to minimise disruption in the home, with extra support for costs and flexibility and choices for homeowners.
They added that there should be a ban on sales of new gas boilers from 2030 or 2035 and local plans for zero carbon homes, with areas able to choose the best technologies for their needs.
Drop our meat and dairy consumption by up to 40%
Many of us have already chosen to change the way we eat already, but assembly members recommended that as a whole there should be a change in diet more widely to reduce meat and dairy consumption by 20%-40%.
They said there should be increased education to help make the changes voluntary, and labelling food and drink products to show the emissions that come from different foods.
Recommendations also included restoring woodlands, peatlands and gorselands and supporting farmers to make the shift to climate-friendly farming.
Eco-friendly shopping
Assembly members said targets, standards and taxes should be used to ensure businesses make products using less carbon energy and materials, and products should come with carbon emissions labelling.
Measures should also be introduced to enable product sharing, to reduce new purchases, and to support increased recycling, they said.
New wind and solar farms
Offshore wind, solar power and onshore wind should be used to generate electricity as the UK moves to net zero, the group recommended.
There were much lower levels of support for bioenergy, nuclear, and fossil fuels with technology that captures and permanently stores emissions.
Managing carbon emissions
The assembly said the UK should work toward better forest management, restoring and managing peatlands and wetlands, using wood in construction and enhancing the storage of carbon in the soil to absorb emissions from the atmosphere.
There was less support for technologies to remove emissions, but some support for further research and development into them.
Build green initiatives into Covid recovery
The assembly said limits or conditions should be put on investment in high carbon industries, support introduced for low carbon sectors and a reexamination and further investment in infrastructure.
Make the most of the economic opportunities presented by the path to net zero and try to deal with Covid-19 and climate change together where possible.
What else?
The Climate Assembly introduced a number of additional recommendations, which include:
Making the transition to net zero a cross-party aim, rather than a partisan issue
Greater transparency in relationships between the government and big energy companies
Ensuring UK emissions are not simply pushed elsewhere in the world
What didn’t the assembly pass?
The Citizens’ Assembly was focused on examining ways to bring the UK to net zero emissions by 2050, but many say that this legal target does not go far enough and in the intervening 30 years irrecoverable damage will be done to the planet.
Groups such as Extinction Rebellion have called for the legal target to be reduced to 2025, but the assembly did not pass two proposals on bringing these target forward.
Slightly more members opposed it than those who supported it, and the balance was held by those who said they were unsure or didn’t mind.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Jacob Rees-Mogg Self-Isolating After Child Develops Coronavirus Symptoms

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jacob Rees-Mogg is self-isolating after one of his children developed coronavirus symptoms.
Many thanks to @StuartAndrew for standing in for me at Business Questions. One of my children was tested for COVID-19 last weekend after displaying symptoms. In accordance with government guidance, the household has been in self-isolation while we await the test result. — Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) September 10, 2020
Deputy chief whip Stuart Andrew stood in for the Commons Leader at business questions on Thursday.
Rees-Mogg recently tweeted a photo of some of his children as schools reopened for pupils.
The holidays are over and my five older children certainly need and want to be at school. pic.twitter.com/oOfMLQrlNa — Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) September 2, 2020
Advertisement
Valerie Vaz, Labour’s shadow Commons leader, said: “We all wish the Leader of the House and the whole Rees-Mogg family well.”
It comes a day after Boris Johnson imposed new lockdown measures on the country in a bid to halt a recent surge in cases.
The prime minister urged people to limit their social contact “as much as possible” as he confirmed that social gatherings of more than six people will be outlawed in England from Monday.
Meanwhile Professor Neil Ferguson, whose modelling led to the decision to impose the lockdown in March, said people should “hesitate” at the “headlong rush to get everybody back into offices” amid the rising cases.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--The Sex Education Cast Could Not Be More Excited To Return To Work As Series 3 Gets Underway

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The Sex Education cast looked like they could not be more excited about returning to work, as production on the Netflix series resumes.
Stars including Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield were seen in a new video, which showed the cast’s hilarious preparations for their return to set.
Advertisement
In the clip, which was shared on Twitter with the announcement series three was now in production, Asa brandished his beard trimmer to remove his facial hair and mulled over which board games to take with him to set.
🍆 NEWS 🍆: Sex Education S3 is officially in production pic.twitter.com/dj1pqdHqau — Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) September 9, 2020
Gillian joked that she still had “lockdown hair” as she was seen sporting a longer ’do than her character Jean Milburn usually has.
She also practised wearing a baby bump, after it was revealed Jean was pregnant at the end of the second series.
Advertisement
The video also featured Asa, who plays Otis Milburn, putting on his face covering before waving goodbye to his cats, while Chris Jenks, who plays Steve Morley, was disturbed during a relaxing bath with a loud alarm.
Interestingly, Chaneil Kular, who plays Anwar, was also seen getting his entire head moulded, along with the caption “Spoiler??”.
The Sex Education cast are heading back to work Netflix
A third series of Sex Education was officially confirmed back in February, before production was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The second series debuted in January, and finished with Adam Groff finally declaring his feelings for Eric Effiong, and another hurdle thrown in the way of Otis Milburn and Meave Wiley getting together.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Neil Ferguson Warns 'Headlong Rush' Back To Offices Should Be Paused

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The government should “pause” its “headlong rush” to persuade people to go back to work in their offices, professor Neil Ferguson has warned.
Ferguson was the the Imperial College epidemiologist who devised the model of infection that persuaded the government to introduce a national lockdown in March.
Advertisement
Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced that social gatherings of more than six people will be outlawed in England from Monday, in an attempt to reverse a recent surge in cases.
But the new rules do not apply to workplaces. And Dominic Raab, the first secretary of state, claimed on Sunday that working from home was “damaging the economy”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Thursday morning, Ferguson said: “The case number increases we’ve seen in the last two weeks, do not yet account for the reopening of schools.
“So undoubtedly that may increase transmission still further and there may be a need therefore to reduce contacts in other settings.
Advertisement
He added: “Certainly I think we should hesitate and maybe pause at the headlong rush to get everybody back into offices.
“But some people have to work and I completely understand the concerns in many quarters that everybody working at home has an economic impact, particularly on city centres.”
In order to get people back to work, the government is banking on a a new test that does not need to be processed in a lab to be developed, so that users get their results in a matter of minutes rather than days.
Similar to a pregnancy test, the saliva test would eliminate the need for people to travel – sometimes long distances – to testing centres before returning home to wait for the result.
The project has been dubbed “Operation Moonshot” by the prime minister, a reference to its complexity and ambition.
Advertisement
PA
But professor David Spiegelhalter said the plan had led statisticians such as himself “banging their heads on the wall”.
“If you only have 1% false positives among all the people who are not infectious, and you’re testing the whole country, that’s 600,000 people unnecessarily labelled as positives,” he said.
“You’ve got this whole downstream business that that person will be told to isolate, their contacts will be told to isolate, and so on.”
On Wednesday, a further 2,659 positive cases were confirmed across the UK, taking the total up to 355,219.
Advertisement
Positive results have increased from from 12.5 per 100,000 people to 19.7 per 100,000 in the UK in the last week – with a particular rise in infections among young people.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Right-Wing Blogger David Vance Suspended From Twitter

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Right-wing blogger David Vance has been suspended from Twitter amid repeated accusations of racism.
The social media platform was urged to act on Monday after Vance replied to a tweet by Marcus Rashford – who campaigned throughout the summer for free school meals for children – citing the stereotype that there is a “disproportionate problem within the (UK) Afro-Caribbean [sic] community of Black men abandoning their pregnant girlfriends.”
He also asked the England footballer, who is Black, if he had ever met his own father.
Vance, who has recently written for AltNewsMedia – a site which purports to provide “an alternative to the fake news mainstream media narrative” – has been repeatedly accused of racism and Islamophobia during his time on Twitter.
Advertisement
He has previously tweeted other prominent Black campaigners and politicians, including MP David Lammy and Femi Oluwole.
AltNewsMedia confirmed Vance’s suspension, posting a statement from the blogger’s Parler account in which he wrote: “The good news is I’m finally free from the sewer of Twitter.
“My account was removed overnight. I’m happy to be free and Parler is my choice of social media.”
Parler is a US-based microblogging platform, similar to Twitter, and has been touted as a “free speech” alternative. It has been adopted by a number of right-wing figures, including Katie Hopkins who has also been banned from Twitter.
David Vance's vile racism is *finally* off Twitter. He has been suspended & driven to Parler
Congratulations to those who reported him & highlighted his racism & good that @TwitterSupport acted albeit very belatedly
(Although worth noting that the vile @AltNewsMedia remains!) pic.twitter.com/aLBtlU0FaD — Miqdaad Versi (@miqdaad) September 10, 2020
Advertisement
DAVID VANCE GONE!
At last,this obnoxious racist, Islamophobic,transphobic, misogynistic bully’s account has been frozen.
As this world class, no-class hate monger complains about the hate directed at HIM, let’s review some of his highlights: Islamophobia! Imperialism! Racism! pic.twitter.com/QhwRIuGxoF — Dr Louise Raw (@LouiseRawAuthor) September 9, 2020
A Twitter spokesperson said: “Abuse and hateful conduct have no place on our service and we will continue to take action when our rules are broken.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Kate Garraway Discusses Not Being Able To See Husband Derek On Wedding Anniversary: 'It's A Tough Da

Kate Garraway Discusses Not Being Able To See Husband Derek On Wedding Anniversary: 'It's A Tough Day'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Kate Garraway has said she is experiencing a “tough day” as she is not able to see husband Derek Draper on their wedding anniversary.
The presenter celebrates 15 years of marriage to Derek – who has been in hospital since March after being diagnosed with coronavirus – on Friday.
Advertisement
Kate discussed how she is not able to visit him in intensive care on their special day on Good Morning Britain.
Derek and Kate in Australia last year, shortly after she left the I'm A Celebrity jungle James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock
“What an extraordinary thing. I won’t be able to see him today,” she said.
“I kind of hoped I would but it hasn’t worked out that way for the visit… But maybe it would be a bit strange anyway. So it’s a tough day.”
Giving an update on Derek’s condition, she told her co-hosts: “He’s still here. There’s not a huge amount of change…
Advertisement
“There are so many seeming positives and then plungings…
“So, you have to think at least he’s here with you. You have a flicker and then a bad day but you just have to keep going,” Kate said.
'You have to think at least here's here with you, you just have to keep going.'
Today is @Kategarraway and her husband Derek's 15th wedding anniversary💍
She won't be able to see him but we are sending all our love and congratulations. pic.twitter.com/LxttbgdWxs — Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 10, 2020
While Derek, who is a former lobbyist and political adviser, no longer has Covid-19, he still remains seriously ill in an induced coma.
However, he has shown signs of consciousness in recent weeks, even occasionally opening his eyes.
Kate recently revealed how Derek had lost eight stone since being admitted to hospital.
Recalling of her shock at seeing him for first time on a FaceTime call as he lay unconscious in his hospital bed, she told You magazine: “He’s lost nearly eight stone in weight, a lot of it muscle throughout his body.
“He looked worn-out, thin and pale with dark circles under his eyes and there were lots of tubes.”
The couple, who are both 53, married in 2005 and have a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, Darcey and William.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Donald Trump Jr. Defends Kenosha Protest Shooter: 'We All Do Stupid Things At 17'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday defended Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who fatally shot two anti-racism protesters in Wisconsin last month, stating that “we all do stupid things” at that age.
During an interview with the TV show “Extra,” the president’s eldest son was asked why the Trump administration hasn’t condemned Rittenhouse’s actions.
Advertisement
“We’re waiting for due process,” said Trump, whose father frequently attempts to undermine due process and the rule of law. “We’re not jumping to a conclusion.”
He continued: “If I put myself in Kyle Rittenhouse [sic] ― maybe I shouldn’t have been there. He’s a young kid. I don’t want 17-year-olds running around the streets with AR-15s. Maybe I wouldn’t have put myself in that situation. Who knows? But we all do stupid things at 17.”
“Extra” correspondent Rachel Lindsay interrupted that Rittenhouse’s actions were “a little beyond stupid.”
“Really stupid — fine,” Trump said. “But we all have to let that process play out and let due process take its course.”
Advertisement
Police arrested Rittenhouse on August 26 at his house in Antioch, Illinois, which is about 30 minutes southwest of Kenosha. He was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in connection to the deaths of two people during a demonstration held the night before to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot in the back several times by a Kenosha police officer on August 23. The shooting sparked protests in Kenosha and in other cities across the country, including in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by police in May.
Hours before the shooting on August 25, Rittenhouse ― armed with a military-style semi-automatic rifle ― told right-wing news site The Daily Caller that he was in Kenosha to protect businesses that might be vandalized by protesters.
Bystander video obtained by The New York Times shows a group of unknown people pursuing Rittenhouse at one point during the night. One of the people in the group can be seen firing a handgun into the air.
Advertisement
Another person from the group ― 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum ― can be seen throwing a plastic bag at Rittenhouse and attempting to disarm him. Rittenhouse then fired multiple shots at Rosenbaum, who was later transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
Moments later, after appearing to make a phone call, Rittenhouse can be seen fleeing the scene. Several bystanders chase after him before Rittenhouse trips and falls to the ground. He then fired multiple shots as three people rushed toward him, killing Anthony Huber and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, both 26.
Rittenhouse then walks toward nearby police cars ― mostly with his hands in the air, but lowering them to his rifle at times ― as bystanders shout that he had just shot people, according to video from the scene. Police went straight over to the victims and did not apprehend Rittenhouse at the time.
An attorney for Rittenhouse has said his client was acting in self-defense and called him “a shining example of the American fighting spirit.”
President Trump has refused to condemn Rittenhouse’s actions, suggesting days after the shooting that the teenager “probably would’ve been killed” had he not fired his rifle at the anti-racism protesters.
Advertisement
Asked Tuesday whether he understands what the phrase “Black Lives Matter” means, Trump Jr. said “of course.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Ronald Bell, Kool & The Gang Star, Has Died At The Age Of 68

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Kool & The Gang co-founder Ronald Bell has died at the age 68 it has been announced.
A rep for the musician said he died on Wednesday at his home in the US Virgin Islands with his wife by his side. No cause of death was released.
Ronald "Khalis" Bell Rich Fury/Invision/AP
Advertisement
The singer and songwriter co-founded Kool & The Gang in New Jersey in 1964 and wrote some of the group’s best-known songs, including party staple Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie and Summer Madness.
The band were one of the biggest of the 1970s and won the Grammy for Album Of The Year in 1978 for their work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
(L-R) Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald "Khalis" Bell, Dennis "DT" Thomas and George Brown attend a ceremony honouring Kool & The Gang with a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. Rich Fury/Invision/AP
They are also one of the most sampled artists of all time, with the horns from their 1973 funky jam Jungle Boogie featuring on hundreds of other songs.
Advertisement
In 2015, Kool & the Gang were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Firms Using Covid Crisis To 'Squeeze More Out Of Staff'

“Unless ministers fix this gaping hole in our safety net Britain will be ill-prepared for a second wave of infections or more local lockdowns.”
O’Grady said the government must not try to force people back to work, despite fears of an economic hit.
She said Boris Johnson appeared to have a “tin ear” over the issue, adding: “What I think people want is confidence based on facts. They want to know workplace safety standards are tough and will be enforced.
“We don’t need a bit of encouragement, what we need is action to make sure it is safe.”
She said there remained workplaces that were not Covid-secure.
“We are obviously very concerned about some parts of fast fashion, food processing - the kind of places we have been fighting to get union recognition for years and they won’t let us in and now we know why,” she said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--‘I Don’t Want To Scare People’: Trump Again Defends Downplaying COVID-19

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Donald Trump once again defended his actions during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and said he wanted to show Americans “calmness” and be a “cheerleader.”
Trump made the comments in a lengthy interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday, his latest effort to distance himself from revelations published in excerpts from “Rage,” the forthcoming book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward.
Advertisement
In one of a series of bombshell interviews with Woodward, Trump said he knew in early February the coronavirus posed a deep threat to the country and was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
“I want to show calmness, I’m the leader of this country,” Trump told Hannity on Wednesday after the accounts were published. “I don’t want to be jumping up and down, I don’t want to scare people. I want people not to panic. And that’s exactly what I did.”
Irony is dead.
Trump to Hannity: "I’m the leader of the country, I can’t be jumping up and down and scaring people. I don’t want to scare people." pic.twitter.com/OUX6Kkx6VI — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 10, 2020
Public health experts have, for months, been issuing stark warnings about the threat of the pandemic, urging the public to wear masks and social distance even as the White House urged large swaths of the country to reopen. Infections have continued to rise for months in some places, and there is ongoing concern about the rate of spread at schools and college campuses.
Advertisement
The US president went on to defend his actions Wednesday and laid blame for the spread of the coronavirus on China, touting his efforts to close US borders to many travellers from China and Europe during the early days of the pandemic (although there were many exemptions to those bans).
“We’ve done a really good job,” Trump said on Fox News. “Really, it’s amazing what we’ve done. We’ve done an incredible job.”
The comments echo those he gave reporters at the White House earlier in the day.
At the time of his interview with Woodward, the president was publicly downplaying the virus and saying it was no more dangerous than the flu. He has continued to champion the US response and to place blame largely on China, even after Covid-19 has killed more than 190,000 people in the US.
“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump told Woodward in a February 7 call, details of which were published by CNN and The Washington Post. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
He went on: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Advertisement
Both the White House and Trump’s GOP allies went on the defensive after details of the Woodward book were released. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had “never lied to the American public on Covid” and “never downplayed the virus.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee hoping to unseat Trump in November, dismissed those claims.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Amy Schumer Reveals She Has Lyme Disease And Asks Internet For Help

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Comedian Amy Schumer said Tuesday that she has the tick-borne infection Lyme disease ― and may have had it for years.
The I Feel Pretty star posted a throwback photo of her with her first fishing pole.
“Anyone get LYME this summer? I got it and I’m on doxycycline,” she wrote. “I have maybe had it for years. Any advice? Can you have a glass of wine or 2 on it?”
Advertisement
Schumer said she was avoiding the sun and was taking “lyme-2” herbs, adding: “I feel good and am excited to get rid of it.”
Schumer is likely to make a full recovery if she caught her Lyme disease early, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“For early Lyme disease, a short course of oral antibiotics, such as doxycycline or amoxicillin, cures the majority of cases,” the government institute says on its website.
Advertisement
“In more complicated cases, Lyme disease can usually be successfully treated with three to four weeks of antibiotic therapy.” But joint pain and neurological symptoms associated with the disease can sometimes persist.
Early symptoms of Lyme, which one can contract from the bite of a deer tick, include rash, neck stiffness and fever, according to the Mayo Clinic. Later ones can include neurological problems such as temporary paralysis on one side of the face.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Mass Coronavirus Testing Plans 'Could Cost Up To £100bn'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Ambitious mass testing plans, that could keep hopes of Christmas parties alive will cost as much as £100bn, according to reports.
Leaked documents seen by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggest that project “Operation Moonshot” – which would see millions of UK-wide tests carried out daily – could have a price tag close to that of the £114bn budget given to NHS England in 2018/19.
Advertisement
Boris Johnson believes the scheme could help sport and entertainment venues reopen fully and allow people to socially mix in large groups again with on-the-day tests.
The deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, said the success of Moonshot would depend on how it is handled.
She told ITV’s Peston: “We do want to get back to as much normality as we can and any opportunity to do that through a new testing programme or using different testing technology is clearly a good thing to be following, but it’s not quite as simple as just doing that.”
Moonshot has received mixed reviews from the scientific community, including from Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), who said it was unclear how it would work given the “huge problems” currently seen with lab capacity.
Advertisement
Ministers have faced increasing pressure in recent days over availability of tests, with many people reporting being sent hundreds of miles from home to get checked for the illness.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new testing plans come as the prime minister admitted it was “too early to say” whether big parties could be held over the festive season this year.
Speaking at a Downing Street briefing on Wednesday, the prime minister hoped that “we could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas” and pointed to mass testing as something which could help society open back up further.
However, the leaked document states that the PM believes a mass testing programme is “our only hope for avoiding a second national lockdown before a vaccine”, the Guardian reported.
Advertisement
For now, Johnson urged people to limit their social contact “as much as possible” as he confirmed that social gatherings of more than six people will be outlawed in England from Monday.
Lockdown rules could also be tightened in other parts of the UK, as rates of Covid-19 infection have risen across the country in recent days.
Meanwhile the latest figures in the government’s test and trace will be released on Thursday.
Last week, the number of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 being reached through Test and Trace was at its lowest since the system was launched.
On Wednesday, a further 2,659 positive cases were confirmed across the UK, taking the total up to 355,219.
Positive results have increased from from 12.5 per 100,000 people to 19.7 per 100,000 in the UK in the last week – with a particular rise in infections among young people.
Advertisement
Infections are most prevalent among the 19 to 21-year-old age group, with 54 cases per 100,000 people.
In Northern Ireland, it is expected that restrictions will be tightened on Thursday, while in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will announce the latest review of lockdown rules north of the border.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-10--Kim Jong Un Called Trump 'Your Excellency' And Said Their 'Special Friendship' Was like A Scene From

Kim Jong Un Called Trump 'Your Excellency' And Said Their 'Special Friendship' Was like A Scene From A Fantasy Film

LOADING ERROR LOADING
In a series of letters reportedly obtained by Bob Woodward for his new book, Rage, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un called President Donald Trump “Your Excellency” and said their relationship was like a scene from a fantasy film.
The Washington Post and CNN published details from more than two dozen letters the leaders sent after the 2018 summit in Singapore, the first time a sitting US president had met with a leader of the North. The missives add new context to the cordial relationship between Trump and Kim and feature deep flattery towards the president.
Advertisement
“I feel pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as Your Excellency,” Kim wrote in one letter, per the Post. In another, the North Korean leader said he was thinking of “that moment of history when I firmly held Your Excellency’s hand at the beautiful and sacred location as the whole world watched with great interest and hope to relive the honour of that day.”
Trump did not share the letters with Woodward, who told the Post he obtained them independently. CNN acquired transcripts of two letters, sent in December 2018 and June 2019. However, Trump hinted at the content of the letters in late 2018, saying the pair “fell in love” after Kim wrote him “beautiful letters.”
The diplomatic relationship was a swift change from the early days of the Trump presidency. Then, the leaders swapped increasingly acidic names, with Trump calling Kim “Little Rocket Man” and Kim describing Trump as a “dotard.”
In an interview with Woodward, Trump described his later chemistry with Kim, saying it was near-immediate.
Advertisement
“You meet a woman. In one second, you know whether or not it’s going to happen,” Trump told Woodward of his relationship with Kim, per The New York Times. “It doesn’t take you 10 minutes and it doesn’t take you six weeks. It’s like, whoa. OK. You know? It takes somewhat less than a second.”
The Trump administration’s relationship with North Korea has soured over the last year and Kim announced in December that he would no longer be constrained by the moratorium on nuclear or long-range ballistic missile testing.
Trump defended his three meetings with Kim to Woodward after many foreign policy experts warned that the US had received few concessions following the summits while North Korea won deeply craved international legitimacy.
“I met. Big fucking deal,” Trump told Woodward, The Washington Post reported. “It takes me two days. I met. I gave up nothing.”
Trump also said his efforts to convince Kim to give up the North’s controversial nuclear weapons program were like convincing “somebody that’s in love with a house” to give it up.