thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Anti-Semitism Accusations Used To Undermine Jeremy Corbyn, Says Len McCluskey

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Len McCluskey has said while Labour “never handled the anti-Semitism issue correctly”, some in the party “used” it to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.
The Unite general secretary has thrown his weight behind Rebecca Long-Bailey in the Labour leadership contest.
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Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, McCluskey said the row over anti-Semitism in Labour had provided ammunition for Corbyn’s enemies”.
“I’m absolutely convinced that there were those individuals who opposed Jeremy Corbyn’s election right from the beginning, used the anti-Semitism issue – which I think is quite despicable that they did this on such an important subject – to undermine Corbyn, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
He added: “Every single anti-Semite in the Labour Party needs to be kicked out.”
McCluskey rejected the accusation Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, was simply “continuity Corbyn”.
He said Long-Bailey was “absolutely brilliant”, “completely different” and whose “capabilities are beyond doubt”
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“I don’t know she agrees with all his [Corbyn’s] policies, I think she agrees with the radical nature of the alternative that Labour offers the electorate but she’ll have her different views about what her priorities are,” he added.
McCluskey also said Labour’s election loss in December was “virtually, solely down to Brexit”.
Len BBC
Long-Bailey needs the backing of one more Labour affiliate to secure a place on the ballot paper in the contest.
Candidates are required to have won the nomination of three Labour affiliates, including at least two unions, which amount to at least 5% of affiliate members.
The only other route on to the ballot is by receiving nominations from at least 5% of constituency Labour parties (CLPs).
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Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy have already made it through the nomination process, and Ms Long-Bailey is widely expected to join them in the coming weeks.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Wuhan Evacuations Planned As Coronavirus Death Toll Rises

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China’s health minister has warned that the coronavirus’ ability to spread “seems to be getting stronger” as the US plans to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan.
Fifty-six people are now known to have been killed by the outbreak, which has accelerated in China and seen the lockdown of a number of major cities and attractions.
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Chinese president Xi Jinping called the outbreak a “grave situation” on Saturday, and the government stepped up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, which remains on lockdown.
The US consulate in Wuhan announced on Sunday plans to evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, home secretary Priti Patel said the UK government was “looking at all the options” to help Britons leave Wuhan.
“It is right that we look at all options and that’s exactly what the government is doing right now,” she said.
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Her comments follow reports that foreign secretary Dominic Raab has ordered officials to examine the logistics for an airlift from the city.
The latest figures reported from China on Sunday morning cover the previous 24 hours and mark an increase of 15 deaths and 688 cases for a total of 1,975 infections.
Cases have also been found in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the US, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Australia and Canada.
National Health Commission minister Ma Xiaowei, speaking at a press briefing, said knowledge of the virus was limited, adding that the “virus’s ability to spread seems to be getting stronger.”
More than 50 people have now been killed by the virus. Kevin Frayer via Getty Images
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He said incubation period for the coronavirus can range from one to 14 days, and that the virus is infectious during incubation, which was not the case with SARS, a coronavirus that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.
Containment efforts, which have thus far included transportation and travel curbs and the cancellation of big events, will be intensified.
A notice from the US embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport US citizens on the Tuesday flight from Wuhan that will go directly to San Francisco.
It said in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals “at greater risk from coronavirus”.
French car maker PSA Group said it will evacuate its employees from Wuhan, quarantine them and then bring them to France.
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France’s foreign ministry said it was working on “eventual options” to evacuate French citizens from Wuhan “who want to leave”.
Also on Sunday, two of Hong Kong’s biggest attractions, Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, announced they were closing for an unspecified period.
Travel agencies have been told to halt all group tours and concern is growing over the potential impact of millions of people travelling back to cities after China’s Lunar New Year holiday ends on Thursday.
In the heart of the outbreak where 11m residents are already on lockdown, Wuhan banned most vehicle use, including private cars, in downtown areas starting on Sunday.
Images from the metropolis showed the usually-bustling streets eerily quiet as residents stayed at home in a bid to avoid infection.
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Officials have said the city will assign 6,000 taxis to neighbourhoods to help people get around if they need to.
Wuhan plans to build a second makeshift hospital with about 1,000 beds to handle the growing number of patients.
The city said another hospital was expected to be completed by February 3.
Medical workers have been among those infected and Wuhan media reported a doctor died of the virus on Saturday. The 62-year-old worked at the ear, nose and throat department at Hubei Xinhua hospital.
Medical supplies are reportedly being rushed to the city, including 14,000 protective suits, 110,000 pairs of gloves, masks and goggles.
The National Health Commission said it is bringing in medical teams to help handle the outbreak, a day after videos circulating online showed throngs of frantic people in masks lined up for examinations and complaints that people were turned away at hospitals that were at capacity.
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People wearing masks shop at a supermarket on the second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Stringer . / Reuters
The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold.
It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It can worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal.
Those killed by the virus have mostly been middle-aged or elderly people, sometimes suffering from other conditions that weaken their ability to fight back.
Around China, authorities cancelled a host of Lunar New Year events, and closed major tourist destinations and cinemas.
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Beijing’s Forbidden City and Shanghai Disneyland closed and people cancelled restaurant reservations before the holiday, normally a time of family reunions, sightseeing trips and other festivities in the country of 1.4 billion people.
In Beijing and other cities, most people wore medical masks on buses and the subway or to public places such as grocery stores, where workers dispensed hand sanitiser to customers.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Piers Morgan Slams 'Disgusting' Hugh Grant Over 'UK Is Finished' Comments

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Piers Morgan has reignited his feud with Hugh Grant after the actor said the UK is “finished”.
The Good Morning Britain presenter branded Hugh “disgusting” after he was asked for this thoughts on Boris Johnson’s recent general election win and the UK’s impending exit from the EU.
Hugh told AP Entertainment: “It’s a catastrophe. The country’s finished.”
Piers Morgan and Hugh Grant Rex
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After learning of Hugh’s comments, Piers took to Twitter to tear into him once again.
He tweeted: “Hugh Grant is so disgusting. How dare he say Britain is ‘finished’?
“The only thing that’s ‘finished’ is this stuck-up arrogant twerp’s credibility as any kind of political expert.”
Hugh Grant is so disgusting.
How dare he say Britain is 'finished'?
The only thing that's 'finished' is this stuck-up arrogant twerp's credibility as any kind of political expert. https://t.co/2ib7gWk7Tm — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 26, 2020
Over the summer, Hugh made headlines when he branded the prime minister an “over-promoted rubber bath toy”.
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This, of course, swiftly caught the attention of Piers, who sarcastically referred to the actor as “Halo Hugh… Britain’s moral standard-bearer”, posting a photo of his infamous mug shot, following his arrest in 1995 after being caught with a sex worker.
After getting no reply, Piers – clearly pleased with himself – made the same joke two months later, again not getting any response from the Bafta-winning star.
They subsequently clashed various times on Twitter in the lead up to the election.
Piers later branded Hugh and Alan Partridge creator Steve “sneering” as he gloated over last month’s result, given the acting pair had been high-profile advocates of tactical voting in a bid to prevent a Tory majority.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--How To Watch The Grammys 2019 On UK TV And Online

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With awards season now properly in session, attention turns to the upcoming Grammys, with the biggest artists of the last 12 months waiting to find out if they’ve been awarded with the most impressive accolade in music.
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There’ll also be some big-name performances from Ariana Grande – her first appearance at the Grammys since she famously snubbed the awards show last year – and Demi Lovato, performing a brand new song believed to have been written just days before her overdose in 2018.
For those awards show lovers hoping to follow all the action live on the night, here’s our guide to how to get the most out of the Grammys as they happen…
This year's Grammys will take place on Sunday 26 January MJ Photos/Shutterstock
First off, how can we follow the Grammys red carpet coverage?
Well, as ever, E! viewers can look forward to the usual coverage from Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic, who’ll be speaking to all of the A-list guests as they make their way into the event.
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This kicks off at 11pm and comes to an end two hours later when the ceremony begins, so make sure you get a coffee in fairly early on.
You can watch E! with subscription packages on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and Plusnet.
But how can I watch the main Grammys show?
Ah, well, this is where things get a little bit more complicated. Those wanting to watch the whole show in real time are in for a disappointment, as there’s no way of live-streaming it legally here in the UK.
However, we will be tweeting along with all the action, so if you’re planning to stay up, get following us now.
And for those who don’t fancy staying up until 5am, you’ll be pleased to hear that 4Music will be showing the whole ceremony on Monday (27 January) from 7.30pm.
HuffPost UK may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Prices and availability subject to change.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--The Masked Singer Viewers Blast Jonathan Ross Error After He Guesses Dead Star

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Viewers of The Masked Singer have blasted the show after judge Jonathan Ross mistakenly suggested that a singer who has died could be one of the celebrities taking part.
Following the performance “Daisy”, Jonathan guessed her real identity was singer and daughter of jazz musician Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole.
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The Masked Singer judge Jonathan Ross ITV
However, viewers soon noted that Natalie had actually been dead for over four years, having died at the age of 65 in 2015 due to congestive heart failure.
Natalie Cole died in 2015 EMPICS Entertainment
Many viewers complained about Jonathan’s error, especially as the show is pre-recorded, meaning there had been an opportunity to edit it out.
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I’d certainly be choosing people who are alive. Natalie Cole?!?! How did you let that be broadcast? 🙈 — David Lee (@grumpydaddavid) January 25, 2020
Erm, Jonathan Ross just guessed Natalie Cole, who famously and sadly died in 2015. And ITV kept it in. On a show that is pre-recorded. HOW? #TheMaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/mq3NPWGgVF — Tom Eames (@eamezey) January 25, 2020
So disrespectful of @itvstudios to put Natalie Cole photo up too #TheMaskedSingeruk SMH https://t.co/AAlCG36GtP — Elaine Grell (@originalElaine) January 25, 2020
To suggest that Daisy could be Natalie Cole is outrageous - should have been edited before screening. The beautiful Ms Cole sadly passed away NYE 2015. I'm still in shock at this clanger... #MaskedSingerUK — B D Harris (@beverooni21) January 25, 2020
What a stupid suggestion from Jonathan Ross. Oh yeah it could be a woman singing on this show that died in 2015. #NatalieCole pic.twitter.com/2Jl7xvqeaA — John Evans (@RKO_JPL7) January 25, 2020
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Cant believe you are putting Nataloe coles picture up there as a guess when she is dead. How ridiculous ITV. And idiot Ross — JJO (@Jjofromtheblock) January 25, 2020
To make matters worse, the mistake was also repeated on The Masked Singer’s official Twitter account, where they even tagged in Natalie’s legacy account – although the post has since been deleted.
Oh dear... they even tagged Natalie Cole who died in 2015. #MaskedSinger pic.twitter.com/Si1RxJ9nmy — Elliot Gonzalez (@elliot_gonzalez) January 25, 2020
Following the error, ITV issued an apology, with a spokesperson saying: “This was a genuine mistake by the panel. We apologise if this caused any upset to viewers.”
“Daisy” was unmasked at the end of the show after being voted off.
Daisy on The Masked Singer ITV
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It was revealed that US singer Kelis was the star behind the voice, which judge Rita Ora had correctly guessed.
Explaining why she took part in the show, Kelis said: “People have just been telling me my voice was distinct my whole career, so I thought, well let’s see just how distinct it is.”
The clues that pointed to Kelis’s identity included those about food, because she is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and those relating to jazz, as her late father Kenneth Rogers was a jazz musician.
Kelis was unmasked as Daisy ITV
Ex-footballer Teddy Sheringham, The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins, former home secretary Alan Johnson and EastEnders star Patsy Palmer have been unmasked in the series so far.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Commemorative Brexit 50p Unveiled Days Before UK Leaving Date

As with the withdrawal agreement negotiations themselves, the process of actually producing the coins hasn’t exactly been plain sailing.
Javid originally ordered production of the 50p coins in advance of the original departure date of October 31, but that didn’t exactly go to plan.
The eleventh-hour delay meant that around a million coins, which had already been produced and stamped with the October date, had to be melted down and the metal put aside until a new exit day had been confirmed.
The new coins now bear the January 31 date, and this time it’s pretty unlikely they’ll have to be melted down once again.
About three million of the coins will enter circulation around the UK from Friday, with a further seven million to be added later in the year.
Javid, who is Master of the Mint, was given the first batch of coins, and will present one to Boris Johnson this week.
As part of the launch of the coin, the Royal Mint will open its doors for 24 hours to let people strike their own commemorative Brexit coins.
The official reveal of the join hasn’t exactly been met with universal celebration – with many stating online that they’ll refuse to use them, save them to spend on European holidays, or donate them to charity.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--We Chose Alternative Birth Partners – And Here's Why It Worked

Malte Mueller via Getty Images
Who would you want with you while giving birth? For many women, the answer is likely to be their partner – the person they’re intending to co-parent with.
For others, though, they may want someone completely different in the delivery room, giving them practical and emotional support while they’re in labour. Their mum, sister, a trusted friend, or even a paid professional, such as a doula.
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Midwife Emma-Jane Berridge believes we should be talking more about our options when it comes to birth partners. There’s an implicit expectation it should be the father or co-parent, she says, when often they’re not the right person.
“I encourage women to think about whether their partner is the best person to be their birth partner,” she tells HuffPost UK. “I think we’ve gone a bit too far in the opposite direction compared to the past.”
So, what other options do women have? Four mums who had different birth partners with them at one of the most important moments in their lives explain who they had – and why they chose them.
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‘My waters broke and I messaged my best friend to tell her to come – and bring snacks’
Oonagh Barrington, 34, has a two-year-old son.
Oonagh Barrington Oonagh, 34, and her son Oscar, 2
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“Charleigh is my pal from uni, we lived together. She’s wise and sensible, but also very funny. She had a baby seven years ago, who was three or four weeks early.
“The week prior to my son, Oscar, being born, we went for lunch and I jokingly said that as my husband, Dave, would be on a stag do at the weekend and my Mum would be on a cruise, I’d probably give birth. I was only 31 weeks. She looked at me seriously over the table in Pizza Express and said, “mate, seriously, if that happens, call me.” I think I replied, “Yeah, yeah, sure!”
“Friday night rolled around and I was getting ready to go to the cinema when my waters broke. I thought I’d wet myself, but it wouldn’t stop. I started hyperventilating and called the hospital. They said it would be fine, but to come in anyway – and by the time I got there, my waters were still coming. I text Charleigh, who was at home watching TV. I told her what had happened, and asked her to come (and bring snacks!). She replied, ‘On my way. Getting snacks. Love you.’
“When she arrived, I was on my own in a room in shock. She very subtly and quietly started timing my contractions, while talking to me calmly. She then left the room, ran down the corridor, found a nurse and told them it was happening.
“Charleigh stayed with me for a full 12 hours, making me laugh by putting an empty vomit bowl on her head, helping me breathe and holding my hand – even though I nearly broke her fingers. She was my own PA, too, calling Dave, my parents, and updating everyone.
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“When Oscar got stuck at the final hour, I nearly gave up as I was so tired of pushing for four hours. She said, “Right, enough of this!” and went down ‘the head end’. She squatted down, screamed, “Go!” and I pushed him out. She’s amazing.”
‘I used doulas for all four of my births’
Alli Sturgess, 39, has four children aged 11, eight, seven and two.
Alli Sturgess Alli Sturgess
“In Orthodox Judaism, once a woman starts bleeding from the uterus, we stop touching our romantic partners – and this applies during childbirth, too. I was very interested in massage and being supported in that way so, for me, a doula felt like a good option. I gave birth to my first child in Israel and went on ‘word of mouth’ recommendation – we paid a lot of money but she’d unfortunately lost her mother two weeks beforehand and couldn’t do much for me on the day itself.
“My second doula was in Birmingham. I didn’t want to go into hospital on my own, I wanted to have someone with me who understood about birthing, so I used the Doula UK website. I interviewed lots of different doulas and found one I connected with: an ex-police woman who’d wanted a career change. She was very strong, which was great because I was using a birthing ball and she was catching me while I was leaning back and forth.
“The doula I used with my third baby, Jane, was the best of all – I was so fond of her. She was very calm and relaxed, and used massage oils in the build-up to birth. I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but I had epidurals with my first two and zero pain relief with my third.
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“I found my last doula once we’d moved to London. She was recommended to me by a friend and was great in the lead up to the birth, particularly in terms of giving me exercises to help with pubic pain, and trying to get the baby in the right position. She was really supportive, but didn’t actually make it to the birth on time because I gave birth too quickly – as soon as I arrived at hospital!”
‘My sister was the most supportive, calm and patient birth partner’
Emily Johnson, 45, has a four-year-old son.
Emily Johnson Emily Johnson and her son, five
“I was a single mum from the start because my son’s father wasn’t around. My younger sister, Katy, was with me while I gave birth – and she ended up being there through my emergency C-section. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Initially, I chose my mum to be my birthing partner, but she lived abroad, and two weeks before my induction my grandmother broke her hip, so my mum had to stay in Spain.
“My sister immediately offered to be with me during the birth, although the thought was fairly daunting. She was the most supportive, calm and patient person, even when things went wrong and I was rushed to theatre without warning. She was allowed to join me in theatre after I’d had my anaesthetics and spinal injections. And she was on the phone to our mum, panicking, while I was rushed down as things happened so quickly – but with me, she showed no stress or panic.
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“Katy was the first to hold my son, born healthy at 7lb 2oz. He’s now a very happy, handsome, healthy almost five-year-old. They have such a close bond. I’m forever thankful she was with me.”
‘My mum had been through it – I knew she’d be able to guide me’
Dionne Morrison, 24, has a three-month-old son.
Dionne Morrison Dionne Morrison and her son
“I had my partner and my mum with me at the birth of my son. The reason I wanted my mum there too, was because I knew she’d been through it – and I felt like she’d be able to guide me. I also knew it would be a special experience for her to see her grandchild being born. She loved that we included her in this – she knew it was going to be a moment she’d never forget.
“Towards the end of my labour, my sister ended up coming in, too – she held the gas and air canister for me. I’m not going to lie, towards the end it became quite chaotic having my partner, mum and sister in the room with me as the baby wasn’t coming out, and everyone had different ideas of what we could try!
“After 36 hours of labour, I ended up in theatre. It was a failed forceps, ventouse (suction cup) and an episiotomy that got him out. It was only my partner in theatre with me at that time, but my mum was in the room next door waiting for me to come out.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--The True Story Of The WW2 Holocaust Survivors Who Became The Windermere Children

Holocaust survivor Sam Laskier still remembers his shock at arriving at Lake Windermere in 1945.
At Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sam had been stripped, shaved, showered, and disinfected, before being tattooed with the camp entry number B2413 and sent to work digging ditches. On his three-week journey from Buchenwald to Theresienstadt he was given no food and had to survive on a sickening concoction he describes as “poison soup”, made from snow, leaves and grass that the prisoners scavenged from the side of the road when the cattle wagons transporting them stopped. By the time they arrived, one of the wagons carried just the corpses of those who hadn’t survived the journey.
Sam Laskier aged 19 or 20 years old in a photograph taken after he arrived in England Sam Laskier
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Now, instead, he was given underwear, clean clothes, a bed, a chest of drawers to himself and even a chocolate bar.
That he was now in an environment where he was encouraged to eat, rest, sleep and learn took time to sink in.
“We came from hell and we ended up in a place called Windermere that was absolutely phenomenal,” he told HuffPost UK. “We couldn’t believe our eyes. We were still traumatised to such an extent that we couldn’t trust people. We didn’t know if we were safe.”
Six million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust in the years leading up to 1945.
But from those unimaginable horrors grew stories of hope and resilience.
Sam’s tale is among them. It is dramatised in a new BBC programme about the 305 (and one stowaway) child survivors of the Nazi regime brought to Lake Windermere in Britain after the war.
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Sam Laskier Sam Laskier
They arrived in the picturesque Cumbrian village – chosen because it was believed the serene landscape and crisp air would aid their recovery – with just the threadbare clothes on their backs, having been liberated from concentration and labour camps. Many were the sole survivors of their entire families.
Airing on Monday, which is recognised by the United Nations as Holocaust Memorial Day, The Windermere Children tells the true story of those children who escaped the unimaginable horrors perpetrated by Hitler’s Nazi party and who were brought to the Calgarth Estate in the village of Troutbeck Bridge to recuperate and begin new lives.
A report detailing the children's arrival in The Carlisle Journal, August 17 1945 Supplied
The scheme was arranged by World Jewish Relief, then called The Central Fund for German Jewry, which was established in 1933 to support the needs of Jews in both Germany and Austria, and rescued about 65,000 Jews from Nazi Europe prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Following the liberation of Auschwitz, its focus turned to helping survivors of the concentration camps.
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Child psychologist Oscar Friedmann (played by Thomas Kretschmann) led the care of the children. Along with his team of counsellors, including art therapist Marie Paneth (Romola Garai), philanthropist Leonard Montefiore (Tim McInnerny) and sports coach Jock Lawrence (Iain Glen), they had four months to help the children reclaim their lives.
By the lake, the children learned English, played football, rode bikes, processed their trauma through painting – and began to heal.
The Windermere Children will air on Monday on BBC Two, which is Holocaust Memorial Day BBC
Some of the child actors together with the Survivors they played – Harry Olmer, Arek Hersh MBE, Sir Ben Helfgott, Sam Laskier and Ike Alterman Lake District Holocaust Project
The Windermere Children paints a picture of traumatised youngsters haunted by nightmares, and yearning for news of their loved ones. When the Red Cross arrives with letters about the fates of their families, none of them receives good news.
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But in the absence of relatives, the children find family in each other, forging bonds that have lasted lifetimes and continue to endure to this day.
Many of the resources and research for the programme were provided by Trevor Avery and Rosemary Smith, who have been compiling the Lake District Holocaust Project for the last 15 years and working on the film with the BBC for three years.
Sam Laskier and Harry Olmer were among those given new beginnings at Lake Windermere. Now both 92, they are among the last living Holocaust survivors.
Born in Warsaw in 1927, Sam was 12 when war broke out and 18 when he arrived in Windermere in August 1945. During his short life, he had lived in the Warsaw Ghetto and concentration camps in Blizin, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchewald and Theresienstadt.
A spread of bread and jam greeted the refugees upon their arrival, and Sam recalls rationing and squirrelling much of his portion away, fearful of a repeat of the starvation conditions most endured under Nazi rule.
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The children in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in showing their tattooed numbers on their arms after liberation HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He said: “It was very, very unusual. It was something tremendous, phenomenal. But at the same time, psychologically, we didn’t know if we were really, really safe. We had counsellors and psychologists who worked to phase it out of us. It took a while, but eventually we managed to get back to some sort of normality.
“We had every opportunity to do whatever we were capable of doing. You know, if you wanted to go and play the piano, they’d give you the facilities for that.”
Paperwork from the time charting the children’s progress revealed Sam to be a “very fair boy who does not like to wear light clothes because it does not suit him.”
“Sometimes lives very close up to himself and should be given here and again individual attention. He is a good natured and sincere boy, is Orthodox and wants to go to Palestine.”
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The attention and care afforded to the children would gradually pay off.
Sam said: “We knew the war was over, we started getting jobs, we started getting a reasonable life, I learned the language, we went out with young ladies and started going to the clubs. And eventually, we became so busy making our own lives and enjoying ourselves that we began to recover from the trauma. We were trying to live normal lives and to forget the past, but we will always remember the people we lost.”
Sam Laskier (right, blond) with friends at Lake Windermere Sam Laskier
The environment at Windermere encouraged a sense of family and belonging for children who had lost everything and who would have to re-learn that they no longer had to fight for food or possessions.
Sam added: “One of the things that helped us in Windermere was that while we didn’t have anybody else and we all came from different places, we had one thing in common and that was our suffering. Because of that we felt as though we were one big family.”
In 1946, Sam and his sister Rushka were reunited in the UK and he went on to settle in Manchester, where he met his wife Blanche and began a family of his own.
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The children were accommodated at the Calgarth estate in the village of Troutbeck Bridge, about a mile from Windermere. It was a wartime housing scheme used for workers for an aeroplane factory, which had relocated to evade bombing Lake District Holocaust Project
'The Boys' at the cinema on the estate Lake District Holocaust Project
Now a grandfather-of-five, he admits: “The stain of being in the camp is always with me and will be until my dying day.”
That suffering that united the so-called Windermere children was sometimes almost too much to bear.
Documents from the time reveal 15-year-old Harry suffered such vivid nightmares, he would be found shouting and banging on the walls of the dormitory. Upon being woken, he claimed to have no memory of his dreams.
The teenager pointedly refused to speak of his experiences in the concentration camps, and often urged others not to repeat what they had endured, insisting: “Genug, dass du es gesehen hast, must nicht daruber sprechen.” (It is enough that you saw it – you don’t have to talk about it.”)
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Harry Olmer was liberated from the Therezenstadt concentration camp by the Russian Army on 8 May 1945 Supplied
Harry had arrived purely by chance after taking the place of one of the children on the list (Frein Mincberg) who became too ill to travel. He had been liberated from the Therezenstadt concentration camp by the Russian Army on May 8, 1945.
On July 14, he was among the mainly boys and a few girls who were sent to England in a squadron of converted Stirling bombers that took off from Prague.
Each aircraft took 30 children at a time, with the youngsters sitting on the floor either side of the empty cargo holds for the eight-hour journey. Harry still recalls his wonder at being handed a sandwich during the trip.
One of six siblings, he was born in Sosnowiec, close to the German border in south-west Poland. Between 1940 and 1942, the family toiled under German occupation doing street cleaning and repairing homes.
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A Windemere record noting Olmer's nightmares and reluctance to talk about his experiences World Jewish Relief
After that, the family were expelled from their home and he was sent to a number of concentration camps and munitions factories where he filled shells with explosives and manufactured landmines in conditions he describes as “hell on earth”.
For Harry, being in Windermere meant “being alive”.
He said: “It was absolutely heavenly. Really heavenly. The difference was enormous in every respect; the accommodation, the food, the care. It was indescribable. You can’t compare it to what it was before.”
Harry Olmer in Windermere in 1945 Supplied
A month later, Harry was sent from Windermere to Loch Lomond, where he spent a further year recuperating. In 1948 he began to study dentistry at Glasgow University, qualifying in 1953. Records from Windermere describe Olmer as “very intelligent” and one who was “liked very much by the staff and the boys”.
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A handwritten letter archived by World Jewish Relief from Harry to his psychologist Oscar Friedmann states that he has been accepted to Glasgow University to pursue his dream of becoming a dentist, noting: “You were helping me through all these crooked ways and now that I am on the right path that lies before me straight ahead, I feel confident of receiving help in order to reach my goal.”
Harry did reach his goal, settling in Potters Bar, where he remained a dentist until his retirement in December 2013.
A further note from Harry’s time in Scotland, written to the doctor on his behalf, requests a £4 loan for a briefcase so he could keep his university books protected from the “Glasgow weather”.
It adds: “I am sure you will be pleased to know Chaim [a name he was also known by] passed his term exams amongst the top of his class. In fact I think he was second top which is really quite an achievement considering his whole background.”
Paul Anticoni, World Jewish Relief’s chief exec, said: “This year marks 75 years since World Jewish Relief, then known as the Central British Fund, rescued 732 child Holocaust survivors and brought them to the UK.
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“We are delighted that the story of the first 300 children to arrive in 1945 will be brought to life in the moving television drama The Windermere Children, followed by a fascinating documentary which highlights the role of the CBF, in particular one of our founders, Leonard Montefiore, and staff member Dr Oscar Friedmann.
“Our archive has documents recording the experiences of these children after arriving in the UK, the challenges they faced and the continued support they received from the CBF including money for new clothes and education as well as help with training and job hunting.”
He added: “It makes me proud to lead an organisation that has always been unafraid to tackle a seemingly impossible challenge. It cost the CBF in excess of £1m to rescue and rehabilitate the child survivors, worth approximately £81m today. With no government funds, the entire endeavour was supported by fundraising from the British Jewish community – not just for four months at Windermere but for many years to come.
“It may be 75 years later, but our history still inspires us and many aspects of our work remain the same. We help Jewish people around the world who have no one else to turn to. We understand the plight of the refugee and lend our expertise to giving them a second chance. And the British Jewish community rely on us to respond to humanitarian disasters, assisting people in need regardless of their faith or nationality.
“On Holocaust Memorial Day, I stand together with World Jewish Relief to remember people murdered by the Nazis and all victims of genocide.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--How To Stop The Thought Of Monday Ruining Your Sunday

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It’s 4pm on Sunday, you’ve still got hours of the weekend to enjoy and yet, your mind has sped ahead to tomorrow morning – and all the work you need to do.
“Sunday dread” – when the stress of Monday seeps into Sunday – is common. A recent survey of 2,000 adults found 88% regularly experience anxiety as the weekend comes to a close, with 3.58pm on Sunday being the most likely time for concerns to kick in.
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In psychological terms, the tendency to think ahead too much is known as “future tripping”, explains psychotherapist Lucy Beresford.
“It’s a sign of anxiety, and of not being able to stay in the moment,” she tells HuffPost UK. “For most people, Sunday is very different in tone to Monday, so Sunday dread is when you pitch yourself into the future, focussing on the stimuli you expect to have to deal with the following day.”
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As well as ruining your well-earned weekend, Sunday dread can have wider implications for your health if it’s not kept in check, adds Beresford. If we’re not relaxing in our downtime it can leave us feeling stressed, she says, which may affect our sleeping or eating patterns.
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“We also over-stimulate our fight-or-flight responses by anticipating things to be dealt with, i.e that presentation we have to make, that awkward conversation with a client, or even just the rubbish commute on a drizzly day,” she says. “Our adrenaline levels are raised and we can start to feel overwhelmed.”
So, how do you keep Monday in its rightful place and ensure you’re enjoying every moment of the weekend?
MissTuni Getty /HuffPost UK
The first step is to address the underlying problem, says therapist and Counselling Directory member Lucy Fuller. Ask yourself if there’s a specific aspect of your job you’re repeatedly thinking about on a Sunday night – then make a plan to tackle it.
“Rather than getting into the same cycle every weekend, think about what needs to be done to lower your stress levels at work,” she tells HuffPost UK.
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“Should you, perhaps, be having a chat with your boss about the fact you’re given more work than is humanly possible to get through in a week? Has the behaviour of a co-worker got out of hand and you need to talk to someone about it?”
We sometimes cast these bigger questions to one side during the busy working week, explains Fuller, which is why worry can rear its ugly head when we’ve taken time to stop and reflect at the weekend.
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Another way to take control, she adds, is to avoid leaving all the preparation for Monday morning to the end of the day on Sunday. Spread it out, instead. “Put the washing in the machine first thing Saturday morning,” Fuller suggests. “Finish off paperwork on a Friday afternoon, rather than letting that ‘weekend feeling’ set in too early and letting your Friday afternoon drift away.”
Creating a Sunday afternoon or evening ritual that can both “occupy yourself and calm your nerves” may also ease the dread, as this gives time for nurturing.
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“Get your chores out the way and have an evening ritual, such as a long bath and then an episode of your latest Netflix favourite, a cosy supper with close friends or a couple of hours on a pleasurable hobby,” says Fuller.
Getting outside for a brisk walk can also help, Beresford adds. “Swing your arms as you do so,” she advises, “and as evening sets in, write down five amazing or beautiful things you saw or did during the day to keep you in the Sunday headspace.”
Whatever you decide to do, the key to beating future tripping is to keep yourself in the here and now, says Beresford.
“When Sunday dread strikes, gently guide yourself back to be in the moment,” she explains. “Focus on where you are – sitting or standing – feel your feet on the ground, and take three deep breaths, letting them out as slowly as you can. This is all about being mindful.
“Whether you’re chopping carrots for the Sunday lunch or washing up after supper, do things that keep you focussed on the here and now in your body – really feel the texture of the carrots, or of the suds-y water on your hands.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--How To Caramelise Onions In Half The Time, Plus A French Onion Soup Recipe

Jeremy Paige
What’s better than a hot bowl of French onion soup on a chilly winter day? It’s amazing that with just a few simple ingredients you can have an incredibly flavourful bowlful. But the problem is, it takes so much time ― first you have to caramelise the onions, and then you have to assemble the soup and let it simmer to develop those complex flavours. Luckily, with the help of an Instant Pot and a fun chef trick to speed up the caramelisation process, this recipe cuts the cooking time in half.
Years ago, while working in professional kitchens, I learned about the magical powers of bicarbonate of soda. Did you know that adding just a little bit of it to your onions will make them caramelise faster? The soda increases the pH level of the onions, speeding up the Maillard reaction, which causes them to brown faster. I love making this soup in an Instant Pot because the pressure not only makes it all cook faster, but it helps develop strong, in-depth flavours.
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This French onion soup isn’t like all the other French onion soups out there. First, I like to add sliced fennel with the onions while they caramelise. The sharp, slightly bitter fennel adds some contrast to the sweetness of the onions. I deglaze the pan with red wine to add richness and acidity. I use nice chunks of sourdough bread as the garnish, because the tanginess of sourdough is the perfect vessel to hold globs of creamy, gooey Gruyere cheese. I garnish with grated Parmesan cheese to add a salty note, and freshly ground black pepper.
This soup can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for four or five days. You can even freeze the base of the soup, making for a super quick dinner option when you want a rich soup but don’t have hours to wait for it to cook. Just top the base with a slice of a toasted baguette and cheese, and dinner is ready in minutes.
Jeremy Paige
French Onion Soup
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 fennel bulbs, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 bay leaf
6 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Sourdough baguette, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. Turn on the Instant Pot and select sauté mode on high.
2. Melt butter, then add onions and fennel. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until softened, then add baking soda and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelised, about 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add red wine. Use spatula to scrape up any browned bits on bottom of pot. Let wine reduce by half, about 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add bay leaf, beef stock, Worcestershire and 2 teaspoons kosher salt.
6. Seal pressure cooker lid and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Use the quick release method to remove pressure.
7. Preheat oven to broiler setting.
8. Evenly ladle soup into oven-safe bowls. Top each bowl with 1 to 2 baguette slices, a few tablespoons of Gruyere cheese and 2 to 3 teaspoons Parmesan cheese.
9. Place under broiler and cook until browned and cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
10. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper and enjoy.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Yoga

fizkes via Getty Images Yoga has become exclusive, elitist and at anywhere up to £20 a class, expensive.
Yoga is high on the agenda in terms of what it means to live well these days. Once an underground pastime held in church halls and community centres, yoga studios are now jostling for space on high streets, roof-tops and at festivals across the world.
Yoga might save your mind, body and spirit, but not until it’s taken all your money. It’s become exclusive, elitist and, at anywhere up to £20 a class, expensive. But this modern yoga isn’t quite what it was meant to be when the practice first emerged in ancient India around 5,000 years ago. The old yoga was intended to be a method for self-inquiry and meditation. Yet, the new practice we have today appears to have become a trendy, self-serving, fitness-focussed activity.
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On social media, yoga is presented as a panacea to all ills, but this hasn’t been the case for me over the decades since I first stepped on a mat in a creaky east London gym in 1996. None of my teenage peers had heard of it back then – it was regarded as a strange thing to do.
Since then, I’ve witnessed how a relatively unpopular (in the West) practice, has transformed into a multimillion-dollar, wellness espousing industry, that’s led yoga astray. You know a culture is in trouble when it has become dominated by (white) people who have boiled it down to a handful of clichés, obscuring most of what it is meant to be about.
Yoga these days has trappings: plant-based diets, strappy crop-tops, and yoga-as-soft-porn via bikini bodies doing handstands on beaches. It’s intensely painful for me to see yoga – a practice that is deeply personal for me (and many others) – distorted, decontextualised and, in this case, sexualised.
There’s a lot of cultural appropriation involved in yoga too. Highlights include: tattoos of Hindu gods and the Om symbol, poorly pronounced Sanskrit chants and puns on the word Namaste. It’s not uncommon to see it slaughtered by activewear brands, as in “Namastay in bed all day”. Namaste roughly means “I bow to you” and is a Hindu greeting. It’s a lovely sentiment and you’ll hear it on the lips of a yoga teacher near you, but it’s not directly related to yoga.
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I wrote about its misuse on Instagram and several teachers got in touch to say they don’t say it anymore. One asked: “Do we know how it leaked into yoga?” My guess is that some westerners went to India, found yoga, returned home to share it and threw Namaste in for “exotic” measure. Years later, it’s ended up on T-shirts and in yoga classes.
I’m not against innovation, but there’s a trend for yoga being remixed with other fitness activities such as boxing, dance and HIIT to the extent that it seems any movement-based class is not exempt from being labelled as yoga. It’s also often blended with other cultural practices like cacao ceremonies, reiki, and gong baths, which pleasing as they may be, all stem from other cultures.
Yoga also has a serious diversity problem in terms of both teachers and practitioners, with classes tending to be predominantly white. There appear to be invisible barriers stopping certain people accessing yoga – specifically people of colour, people with disabilities, LGBT+ and those with bodies that don’t reflect the hetero-looking, bendy limbed, white, models generally presented on yoga marketing.
Teaching yoga has made me question whether I’m wrong to feel conflicted about what’s happened to to it. I can’t help feeling that what’s going on is in fact a perverse form of 21st Century colonialism. Here I am, a South Asian yoga teacher, feeling forced to distort a tradition that is a part of my own ancestral heritage. This paradox is exhausting to exist within.
Yoga is a political issue and it needs a revolution. But it’s going to take more than wellness businesses adding BAME faces to their fliers and marketing. Offering several subsidised spots during peak-times, prioritising teaching opportunities for teachers of colour – South Asian ones in particular – and taking yoga to low-income and hard to reach communities (and paying teachers better so they can do this) might work too.
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And on the ground, yoga teachers themselves could open every class that they teach by telling their students what yoga is and where it comes from – and be respectful and sensitive about how they do.
The priciness and whiteness of yoga suggests that wellness is a privilege, and it shouldn’t be. I strongly believe it’s the responsibility of everyone who works within yoga, and capitalises from it, to find ways to change that.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-27--Anti-Semitism Did Not End With The Liberation Of The Death Camps

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I was honoured to join survivors and leaders from over 50 nations at the World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem last week. We came together to remember the Holocaust and renew our promise to victims and survivors.
On this occasion, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, I was struck by the recognition that this was likely to be the last major event with a significant number of Holocaust survivors in attendance.
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It is our duty to ensure that their stories are shared with future generations.
When British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945 they discovered 60,000 starving men, women and children, many of whom had only moments left to live. The scale of the suffering and the evil that perpetrated it, is almost unfathomable.
Today on Holocaust Memorial Day the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab and I are announcing that the UK government will make a donation of £1m to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation to help them preserve the site, so that future generations can see it with their own eyes.
The shameful truth is that the cancer of ant-Semitism did not end with the liberation of the death camps.
Who could have imagined that 75 years later Jews would once again be afraid to walk the streets of Europe? Who could have imagined that synagogues would be attacked and cemeteries desecrated and destroyed?
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Who could have imagined that Jewish parents in our own country would be wearing protective clothing and standing guard outside schools? Or that swastikas would be daubed on shopfronts in north London and on student dorm room doors at our universities?
More than 80% of Jews feel unsafe in Europe today, while more than 40% have considered leaving. In recent years as many as 3% of European Jews have left annually. If you think about this for a moment, if this continued, in 30 years there would be almost no Jews left in Europe at all.
We will not rest until anti-Semitism is rooted out of our society. As Communities Secretary, I will do all in my power to protect our Jewish countrymen and women.
We were the first government ever to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism and I am urging all councils and universities to adopt and use it.
Over 115 councils have already done so, together with many universities. Organisations should not accept public money, but decline the IHRA definition.
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SIPA USA/PA Images
Today I am also announcing further funding to educate university students and academics in the horrors of the Holocaust, supporting trips to Auschwitz for hundreds of university leaders who I hope will return to their campuses and take the fight to the anti-Semites and those that give license to them.
The government is committed to legislating to ban so called Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) by public bodies. BDS is divisive and sows tensions. And its obsession with Israel is disturbing as anti-Zionism is merely the latest form of anti-Semitism.
We will build the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre beside the Palace of Westminster and in Jerusalem I met the impressive curatorial team from Yad Vashem who are advising us.
When one walks out of the shadowy darkness of Yad Vashem, you emerge into the brilliant sunshine and beauty of the Jerusalem hills.
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There is a sense of hope for the future and wonderment at the remarkable resilience of the Jewish people.
I felt that again when I returned home and looked at my own children, the great-grandchildren of concentration camp survivors.
We owe it to the victims to take on this hatred with every fibre of our beings and build the better world they could only dream of.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-27--British Government Pledges £1m For Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation

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Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, has said he will “take the fight to the anti-Semites”, as he announced a £1m package for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.
Monday is Holocaust Memorial Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.
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Writing for HuffPost UK today, Jenrick said the “shameful truth is that the cancer of anti-Semitism did not end with the liberation of the death camps”.
Jenrick said he would “not rest until anti-Semitism is rooted out of our society” and would “do all in my power to protect our Jewish countrymen and women”.
The communities secretary attended the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem on Thursday at which leaders from over 50 countries assembled to mark the anniversary.
“When one walks out of the shadowy darkness of Yad Vashem, you emerge into the brilliant sunshine and beauty of the Jerusalem hills,” he said.
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“There is a sense of hope for the future and wonderment at the remarkable resilience of the Jewish people.
“I felt that again when I returned home and looked at my own children, the great-grandchildren of concentration camp survivors.”
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The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation endowment fund supports the consolidation, restoration and long-term maintenance of the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.
The funding will come from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Foreign Office.
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Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, said he remembered the “heart-rending laments” by his grandmother for the family lost to Auschwitz and other death camps.
“The government is supporting the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, because we must never forget history’s darkest moment, and we must educate future generations so it can never be repeated,” he said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Grammys 2020 Red Carpet: Lewis Capaldi Has Some Fun As He Poses Up A Storm

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Lewis Capaldi made his Grammys debut on Sunday night, and made sure to make the most of his moment on the red carpet.
The Someone You Loved singer has garnered a reputation as one of the most unfiltered figures in pop in the last 12 months, and as he made his way into the awards show, he lived up to his reputation.
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Dressed casually in a black jacket, white t-shirt and trainers, Lewis struck a string of fabulous poses for the photographers waiting for the A-list attendees outside.
Among them were this arms-in-the-air display…
Matt Baron/Shutterstock
...this “oh my god am I really at the Grammys?” expression…
Lewis Capaldi David Fisher/Shutterstock
...this positively cherubic moment…
VALERIE MACON via Getty Images
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…and… well, we don’t even have words for this one...
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Lewis was nominated for his first ever Grammy at this year’s awards show, receiving recognition in the Song Of The Year category for his signature hit Someone You Loved.
After seven weeks at the top of the UK singles chart last year, the track went on to become a sleeper hit in the US, eventually reaching number one across the pond too.
He’s also among the top nominees at the upcoming Brit Awards, where he’s up for an impressive four awards.
As well as a nomination for Best New Artist, Lewis has also been recognised in the Song Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Best British Male Solo Artist categories.
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Check out more photos from this year’s Grammys red carpet in the gallery below...


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Kobe Bryant: BBC Apologises For Report On Star's Death Using Clip Of LeBron James

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The BBC has apologised after a report on the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant on its flagship news programme featured a clip of LeBron James.
The helicopter crash that killed the NBA superstar and his 13-year-old daughter was the lead story on the News at Ten on Sunday.
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As the piece reflected on the former LA Laker’s prestigious career, the report featured James in action rather than Bryant.
James currently plays for the Lakers, and this weekend overtook Bryant, who retired in 2016, as the third highest all-time NBA points scorer.
I genuinely cannot believe that the actual BBC News at 10 just did this pic.twitter.com/n6csMV9OOG — Matthew Champion (@matthewchampion) January 26, 2020
it literally says James on the jersey! What an absolute disgrace — Sarah Manavis (@sarahmanavis) January 26, 2020
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Dear BBC News, you appear to have inserted clips of LeBron James into your tribute package for Kobe Bryant for no apparent reason ... pic.twitter.com/E4j0ehycfd — Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) January 26, 2020
Dear @BBCNews ... that was LeBron James in your Ten o’clock News piece not Kobe Bryant — Mark Austin (@markaustintv) January 26, 2020
A tribute to Kobe Bryant from the BBC used footage of Lebron James because fuck checking the name on the back of a jersey. All the bullshit I've seen today is why I am utterly ashamed of my profession. There are no standards anymore. pic.twitter.com/C0HD9HmAjH — Richard Lewis (@RLewisReports) January 26, 2020
I grew up playing basketball and now that I’m living in the US, I was wondering how British media would report on the death of #KobeBryant. Didn’t have this in mind. https://t.co/47IUJcAI0T — Cordelia Lynch (@CordeliaSkyNews) January 26, 2020
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An on-air apology for the error came later in the broadcast and Paul Royall, editor of the BBC News Ten, took to Twitter to say “human error” was the reason for falling below “our usual standards”.
He wrote: “In tonight’s coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant on #BBCNewsTen we mistakenly used pictures of LeBron James in one section of the report.
“We apologise for this human error which fell below our usual standards on the programme.”
In tonight’s coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant on #BBCNewsTen we mistakenly used pictures of LeBron James in one section of the report. We apologise for this human error which fell below our usual standards on the programme. — Paul Royall (@paulroyall) January 26, 2020
Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, died alongside his daughter Gianna in the incident in California on Sunday morning.
Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva said nine people, including the pilot, had died in the crash but was awaiting the coroner’s report before confirming any identities as it would be “inappropriate” to do so.
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement: “The NBA family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.
“For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary: five NBA championships, an NBA MVP award, 18 NBA All-Star selections, and two Olympic gold medals.
Kobe Statista
“But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability. He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share it with future generations of players, taking special delight in passing down his love of the game to Gianna.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Vanessa, and their family, the Lakers organisation and the entire sports world.”
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LeBron James with Kobe Bryant on Saturday night. John McCoy via Getty Images
Bryant, born in Philadelphia in 1978, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to appear in the NBA and spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He was drafted in 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets at number 13, but was quickly traded to the Lakers where he would go on to become an 18-time NBA All-Star.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Grammys 2020 Red Carpet: All The Photos You Need To See From This Year's Awards Show

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The biggest names in music were all present and correct at the Grammys on Sunday, meaning this year’s red carpet was a particularly star-studded one.
For this year’s show, new talent dominated the contenders for the top awards, with Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X receiving the most nominations.
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Unsurprisingly, all three were in attendance on the night, and each made bold statements with their red carpet fashion.
While Lizzo brought old Hollywood glamour as she made her way into the event, Lil Nas X played up to the imagery surrounding his chart-topping hit Old Town Road as he posed for photographers in a bright pink cowboy suit.
Lil Nas X at the Grammys Emma McIntyre via Getty Images
Meanwhile, five-time nominee Ariana Grande probably stole the show on the red carpet, sporting an absolutely enormous dress.
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Ariana was up for some of the biggest awards of the night, including in the Album Of The Year category, a year after snubbing the Grammys following a much-publicised fall-out with a producer.
An incredible look from Ariana Grande Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
In 2020, no awards show is complete without an appearance from Billy Porter, who sported one of his elaborate numbers, this time including a bright blue suit, silver platform shoes and a suitably over-the-top hat (complete with metallic fringe, which had to mechanically opened by his stylist on the night).
And as if that wasn’t enough, the Jonas Brothers were also in attendance – posing alongside Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner and Danielle Jonas – while Shawn Mendes kept it cool in a purple suit.
Check out all the red carpet snaps from this year’s Grammys in the gallery below...
Grammys 2020 Red Carpet: All The Pics You Need To See See gallery
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Kobe Bryant: Sports Stars And Fans Pay Tribute To Basketball Superstar After Death

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As news of Kobe Bryant’s shock death spread on Sunday, tributes poured in for the former Los Angeles Laker.
Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, along with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. He was 41 years old and a father of four, leaving behind his wife, Vanessa.
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Barack Obama called the basketball star a “legend on the court” as he and wife Michelle sent their “love and prayers” to the family of Bryant and his daughter.
“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,” the former president tweeted.
“To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day.”
Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day. — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 26, 2020
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Alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant helped the Lakers win three NBA championships in a row between 2000 and 2002.
It is a feat that has not been matched since, with the Golden State Warriors losing in last year’s finals having won two in a row.
O’Neal tweeted: “There’s no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW”.
Fellow NBA great Scottie Pippen said he was “stunned” over Bryant’s death.
“Words can’t even come close to describing it. Just an incredibly sad and tragic day,” he tweeted.
Philadelphia 76er Joel Embiid tweeted: “Man I don’t even know where to start. I started playing ball because of KOBE after watching the 2010 finals. I had never watched ball before that and that finals was the turning point of my life. I WANTED TO BE LIKE KOBE. I’m so FREAKING SAD right now!!!! RIP LEGEND.”
I’m stunned. Words can’t even come close to describing it. Just an incredibly sad and tragic day. — Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) January 26, 2020
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Man I don’t even know where to start😭😭 I started playing ball because of KOBE after watching the 2010 finals. I had never watched ball before that and that finals was the turning point of my life. I WANTED TO BE LIKE KOBE. I’m so FREAKING SAD right now!!!!
RIP LEGEND — Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 26, 2020
Tennis player Andy Murray’s Instagram story read: “This has hit me hard. Thinking of all his family, friends and colleagues.”
Former England striker Gary Lineker wrote: “Oh no. How awful. One of the greatest sportsmen of our lifetime. Utterly tragic”, while current England forward Raheem Sterling wrote: “Rest easy Legend”.
Six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady said: “We miss you already Kobe”, while retired NBA star Dwyane Wade wrote: “Nooooooooooo God please No!”.
Former sprinter Usain Bolt tweeted: “Still can’t believe @kobebryant.”
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Actress and television personality Whoopi Goldberg said Bryant was a “hero” to her family in a tribute on Twitter.
“RIP Kobe, hero to many including my grandson, extraordinary athlete and always kind to me and my family. My deepest condolences to his family,” she said.
Actor Idris Elba wrote on Twitter: “Kobe is G. Will always be remembered. A sad day.”
Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles posted a photo of the US gymnastics team with Bryant, saying: “Rest in peace Kobe”.
US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paid tribute to Bryant and the other passengers of the helicopter.
She said on Twitter: “Deeply shocked at the news of Kobe Bryant and four others lost today. Sending all my thoughts to their families and loved ones in this devastating moment.”
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Deeply shocked at the news of Kobe Bryant and four others lost today.
Sending all my thoughts to their families and loved ones in this devastating moment. https://t.co/1bgEhj2AhA — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 26, 2020
rest in peace Kobe 🕊 pic.twitter.com/YtlMAVJHIJ — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) January 26, 2020
Singer Justin Bieber posted a photo of himself as a child with Bryant on Instagram.
He said: “It can’t be. You always encouraged me mamba. Gave me me some of the best quotes that we smile about to this day! Love you man!”
Actress Reese Witherspoon said she was “devastated” to hear the news of Bryant’s death.
She said on Twitter: “Just devastated to hear about Kobe Bryant. An extraordinary athlete, and a genuinely kind, wonderful man. Sending love, prayers and compassion to his family.”
“Continuing to move the game forward (at) King James,” Bryant wrote in his last tweet. Much respect my brother.”
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Bryant retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, finishing two decades with the Lakers as a prolific scorer with a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Kobe Bryant Dead: NBA Superstar Killed In Helicopter Crash

In 2018, Bryant became the first NBA player in history to win an Academy Award for his animated short Dear Basketball.
He faced backlash in 2003 after he was accused of raping a 19-year-old hotel employee in Colorado. He admitted to having a sexual encounter with the woman, but denied the accusation that it was rape. The young woman declined to testify in court, and the case was later dropped. They later settled a civil suit she filed in 2005.
Before his death was confirmed, tributes poured in for the former Laker.
Barack Obama called the basketball star a “legend on the court” as he and wife Michelle sent their “love and prayers” to the family of Bryant and his daughter.
“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,” the former president tweeted.
“To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day.”
Alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant helped the Lakers win three NBA championships in a row between 2000 and 2002.
It is a feat that has not been matched since, with the Golden State Warriors losing in last year’s finals having won two in a row.
O’Neal tweeted: “There’s no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW”.
Tennis player Andy Murray’s Instagram story read: “This has hit me hard. Thinking of all his family, friends and colleagues.”
Former England striker Gary Lineker wrote: “Oh no. How awful. One of the greatest sportsmen of our lifetime. Utterly tragic”.
Six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady said: “We miss you already Kobe”.
(Infographic supplied by Statista)


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--'Smart' Motorways Under Review After Surge In Near-Misses

A sign announcing a section of the M20 being upgraded to smart motorway, in Kent. PA Wire/PA Images
The government is reviewing new ‘smart’ motorways, where the hard shoulder is taken away when busy, after a big increase in near-misses was revealed.
An investigation by BBC Panorama found that on one of two converted sections of the M25, there were 1,485 near misses since the scheme was introduced five years ago.
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In the five years before it was a smart motorway, there were only 72 - representing a 20-fold increase.
Smart motorways transform the hard shoulder into another driving lane, leaving motorists who break down in the traffic.
They were intended to reduce congestion on the busiest parts of the road network.
It is understood Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has asked his department to review evidence on the safety of smart motorways, with recommendations expected to follow soon.
The BBC said it believes the government is planning to overhaul the network, fitting radar across the smart motorway system in the next three years.
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The car detection system – which is currently only fitted on two sections of the M25 – can spot stranded vehicles as soon as drivers break down. Nationally, motorists currently have to wait an average of 17 minutes to be spotted, and a further 17 minutes before they are rescued.
It also said that dynamic hard shoulders – which sometimes act as hard shoulder but can be opened as traffic lanes – will be scrapped.
Shapps told the BBC: “We absolutely have to have these as safe or safer as regular motorways or we shouldn’t have them at all.”
Sir Mike Penning, the former government minister who approved the roll-out, told Panorama he was misled about the risks of the system.
Sir Mike said: “They are endangering people’s lives. There are people that are being killed and seriously injured on these roads, and it should never have happened.”
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Research from the AA found that only 9% of more than 17,000 people questioned feel relaxed or safe driving on a smart motorway.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--The New Brexit 50p Coin Is Too Much For Some Remainers

Chancellor Sajid Javid has unveiled the new commemorative 50p to mark Brexit next week - and has faced an angry and mocking backlash from Remainers, with some suggesting they will refuse to use the newly-minted coin.
Javid originally ordered production of the celebratory coins in advance of the original departure date from the EU of October 31.
But the Brexit delay meant about a million coins had to be melted down and the metal put aside until a new exit date was confirmed.
The chancellor, who is Master of the Mint, has now unveiled coins bearing the inscription “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” and the date of January 31.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Angela Rayner Calls For Labour Leader To Be Stripped Of Power To Appoint Lords

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Angela Rayner has said the Labour Party leader should be stripped of the power to appoint people to the House of Lords.
Jeremy Corbyn has controversially nominated former Commons Speaker John Bercow, who faces bullying allegations, for a peerage.
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The outgoing Labour leader has also decided to hand his powerful chief of staff, Karie Murphy, a place in the Lords.
Murphy has been criticised over concerns about Labour’s handling of alleged anti-Semitism within its ranks.
Speaking at a deputy leadership hustings in Nottingham on Sunday, Rayner said the Lords should be abolished.
She added: “In the meantime, our leader should not be appointing people into the Lords.
“Our democratic structures here should be putting people into the Lords.”
Rayner, a close friend of leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey, is currently seen as the clear frontrunner in the contest to replace Tom Watson.
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Following the hustings, Rayner said: “This is how Labour demonstrates who we are - through deeds not words. We might not be able to scrap unelected peers yet – we need to be in government for that - but we can practice what we preach by ensuring our members and affiliates have a say in who makes law on our behalf.
“People’s peerages would end the Westminster bubble grip on who sits in our second chamber, and put real people in the driving seat.”
The other candidates in the deputy contest are Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler, Rosena Allin-Khan and Ian Murray.
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Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has pulled ahead in the leadership contest and was the first candidate to make it onto the final ballot.
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But he faces a tough challenge from shadow business secretary Long-Bailey, who has the backing of the current leadership.
Backbencher Lisa Nandy and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry are also in the race.
Bercow’s chances of being elevated to the House of Lords were delivered another blow today after a former Black Rod said he was submitting a complaint detailing allegations of bullying.
David Leakey said he would submit a dossier to the parliamentary commissioner for standards outlining the “intolerable rudeness and explosive behaviour” of the ex-Commons speaker.
It follows a complaint by Lord Lisvane, who was clerk of the House, which led Bercow to “categorically” deny having ever bullied anyone.
Writing in the Sunday Times, lieutenant general Leakey said he was “reluctantly” filing his own formal complaint “detailing allegations of bullying, intimidation and unacceptable behaviour” by the former Speaker.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Dozens Killed In Brazil After Highest Rainfall In 110 Years

Thirty-seven people have been killed in south-eastern Brazil after record rainfall, with thousands of people forced to flee their homes.
Civil defence officials said that in addition to the dead, 25 people were missing in the state of Minas Gerais.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--No, Your Testicles Don't Have Taste Buds. Stop Dipping Them In Soy Sauce.

Getty Images Dip your testicles in soy sauce all you want, but don't expect to taste anything, experts say.
lt started innocently enough. Late last week, TikTok user cryinginthecar logged onto the popular video app and shared an eyebrow-raising scientific finding with her followers.
“Did y’all know that if a dude puts his balls in something, he can taste it? He can taste it!” she asked, showing a screenshot of a 2013 Daily Mail article that seemingly proved as much.
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“If you have testicles please dip your balls in something, it’s for science and I must know,” said cryinginthecar, whose name is actually Regan.
Naturally, guys on TikTok, an app embraced by the Gen Z set, were up for the challenge.
Alx James ― who has more than 1 million followers on the app ― was one of the first people to claim they’d given their testicles the soy sauce treatment. Appearing to do a quick dab while parked in his car, James claimed that he had indeed tasted something.
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“Stop. Hold on now, oh my God, I can taste the salt!” James shouted. “That’s ridiculous.”
Hold on now indeed. While the soy sauce challenge has plenty of guys claiming they’ve “tasted” something, testicles do not have taste buds. Sorry, everyone. (However, big congrats to Kikkoman and other soy sauce producers! This could be a boon for their sales.)
The actual study, which was published in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction in 2013, found that male testes do indeed have taste receptors. These receptors can also be found in the “digestive system, respiratory system, brain and spermatozoa.”
But taste receptors aren’t the same thing as taste buds. In other words, your testicles can’t taste a damn thing, said Emma Beckett, a food and nutrition scientist who works at the University of Newcastle in Australia.
“I’ve weighed in on all kinds of fad diets and I’ve been asked lots of very interesting questions about my research and food in general, but it never crossed my mind that one day, I would have to explain to people that taste is not a reason to dip your testicles in food,” Beckett told HuffPost. (The researcher also posted a pretty helpful thread on Twitter demystifying the study.)
SCIENTISTS: Taste receptors are everywhere (true fact!)
THE INTERNET: I'm going to dip my balls in food! — Dr Emma Beckett (@synapse101) January 21, 2020
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“I never thought I would have to explain that the taste receptors in the testes do not connect to the taste centre in the brain,” Beckett said in an email. “They’re called the gustatory cortex, if you want the proper term!”
As the site IFLScience pointed out, attempting this challenge “would be like trying to taste soy sauce by dabbing it on the outside of your cheek.” Pretty futile.
And to be quite honest, you probably wouldn’t want your testicles to have a sense of taste, said Aaron Spitz, a urologist and author of “The Penis Book: A Doctor’s Complete Guide to the Penis.”
“I’ve seen guys’ balls covered in pretty nasty stuff ― things like fungal infections ― and their owners don’t have a bad taste in their mouth,” he told HuffPost. “Not to mention, all the awake vasectomies I perform without my patients complaining of tasting soap from the surgical scrub ― nor a burnt flavor when I sear their tubes with cautery.” (Ick.)
OK, but why do testicles even have taste receptors?
The study’s actual findings beget more questions. For starters, why in the world do testicles need taste receptors anyway?
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Apparently, the receptors function inside the balls to sweet and savory tastes like and umami that are important in identifying and compounding proteins in sperm production. taste.
“There’s a tricky little difference between taste receptors on the tongue and those in the testicle: the tongue responds to tastes and we decide whether food is edible,” explained Paul Turek, a urologist who runs the Turek Clinic in Los Angeles and San Francisco and is not affiliated with the study. “The testicle responds to ‘tastes’ as ‘chemical’ substances to decide whether to make more or less sperm and testosterone.”
That’s just another thing the testicles are responsible for, Turek said. Apparently, they’re quite the little multitaskers.
“It may have just been my senses becoming heightened due to the fact I was putting my balls in an unfamiliar place.” - Stuy Lewis, a real estate agent who took the soy sauce challenge
“Remember the testicle is an incredibly active factory making 1,000 sperm every heartbeat. The testicle’s job is to protect and nurture sperm production at all costs,” Turek said. “They have to monitor exposures such as substances to keep things safe and running.”
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Why did so many guys report “tasting” something?
Did those who claimed they tasted soy sauce experience something like a placebo effect? Were they just overly optimistic? To answer that question, we went straight to the source: a dude who dipped his balls in soy sauce.
“It may have just been my senses becoming heightened due to the fact I was putting my balls in an unfamiliar place, but I did feel a strange sensation as soon as they touched the sauce,” said Stuy Lewis, a real estate agent and TikTok user, describing his original response. “It was different than normal tasting but I could absolutely tell I was sensing something with my balls. My body could tell it was soy sauce.”
Now, after digging into the study’s findings a little more, Lewis is pretty sure it was probably just sensory overload. (Sticking your genitals in cold condiments will do that to you.)
“The smell alone may have tricked me into thinking I could taste it and I think the temperature change on my ball skin may have been a confounding variable as well,” he said.
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Whatever the case, Lewis is glad to have learned a little bit more about what goes down down there. The testicles are pretty impressive in the role they play. And the experts we spoke to were happy to provide a little online sex education to people intrigued by the social media experiment.
Moral of this incredibly weird, incredibly viral story? Dip your testicles in salty, cold substances all you want, but don’t expect the little guys to do even more heavy lifting and actually taste something.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Man, 21, Arrested After Death Of Footballer Jordan Sinnott

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a footballer died following an assault in Nottinghamshire.
Jordan Sinnott, who played for Matlock Town, was found unconscious with a suspected fractured skull following two disturbances in Retford on Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Nottinghamshire Police launched a murder investigation after the 25-year-old died in hospital shortly before 6pm on Saturday.
Three men have now been arrested in connection with the incident, including two men both aged 21 who were arrested on suspicion of murder on Sunday, police said.
A 27-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm shortly after the incident remains in police custody, the force added.
Officers initially responded to reports of up to eight men and women being involved in a disturbance in the Dominie Cross pub car park in Grove Street shortly after 11.25pm on Friday.
They were later called to assist ambulance crews attempting to treat Sinnott after he was discovered unconscious with a suspected fractured skull following a subsequent incident at around 2am in Market Place.
The footballer remained in hospital after the incident while receiving treatment for his injuries, where he died surrounded by his friends and family.
Sinnott is the son of former professional footballer Lee Sinnott, who played for Crystal Palace, Watford and Bradford City during his career.
Two other men were also injured during the incidents. A 27-year-old man sustained a suspected broken nose while a 44-year-old man suffered a suspected broken jaw.
Detective inspector Justine Wilson, from Nottinghamshire Police, said the force were still looking for people who may have been directly involved in his death and urged anyone with any information to come forward.
She said: “Our thoughts remain with Mr Sinnott’s friends and family, who our specialist officers are continuing to support.
“The family would like to pass on their appreciation for the supportive messages they have received and ask for their privacy to be respected at this incredibly difficult time.
“For the family’s sake I ask anyone who witnessed these events to contact Nottinghamshire Police or call Crimestoppers anonymously with any information they may have.”
Matlock Town said on Saturday that their away game against Mickleover Sports had been postponed due to “tragic and unforeseen circumstances”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-26--Arizona Man Dresses Toy Skeleton Up As Car Passenger To Avoid Traffic Rules

The dressed-up skeleton in the car discovered by officers. Arizona Department of Public Safety
Nobody wants to waste their time sitting in traffic, and when there’s an option to speed up your journey – whether it’s a shortcut or a detour through a quiet route – it makes sense to take it.
That being said, the list of reasonable time-saving techniques definitely does not extend to dressing up a toy skeleton and strapping him into your car so you can drive in the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane.
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That’s what one man in Arizona tried his best to get away with, until officers from state’s Department of Public Safety caught up with him and found that the camouflage hat-wearing passenger wasn’t exactly as he seemed.
Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun? You’re dead wrong! ☠ One of our motor troopers cited the 62-year-old male driver for HOV & window tint violations on SR-101 near Apache Blvd this morning. #NiceTry #YoureNotHeMan #AZTroopers pic.twitter.com/wQYY831mNY — Dept. Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) January 23, 2020
After officers pulled over the 62-year-old driver, they found the fake skeleton – still covered in Halloween costume-style rags tied to the seat with a yellow piece of rope.
The driver was given a penalty ticket, and the department tweeted a picture of the skeleton in a bid to warn other drivers against employing similar tactics.
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“Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun? You’re dead wrong!” a spokesperson wrote, in reference to the supervillan featured in the Masters of the Universe franchise.
It’s a technique drivers in the area have used in the past – in 2019 a man was caught driving with a mannequin which was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-27--Rebecca Long-Bailey Calls Idea Voters Rejected Socialism 'B******s'

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Rebecca Long-Bailey has said it is “bollocks” to claim voters don’t want socialism, despite Labour’s heavy election defeat.
The shadow business secretary, who is a favourite to be the party’s next leader, also accused Labour MPs of deleting shadow cabinet files in an effort to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.
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In a recording leaked to HuffPost UK, Long-Bailey promoted herself as unfailingly loyal to the outgoing leader, who remains highly popular with members, and claimed shadow ministers who resigned en masse in 2016 of tr to sabotage her work.
She was speaking at the retirement dinner of ex-Blyth MP Ronnie Campbell on Saturday evening.
The shadow business secretary said Boris Johnson’s election victory in December left her “in a state of shock” because “everybody loved the Labour Party” in the “people’s republic of Salford”, where she is an MP.
“We had a few wobbly people on the doorstep because of Brexit, but I thought everything was going to be alright,” she said.
She said she believed in the “worst case scenario it would be a hung parliament” but the exit poll left her “crushed”.
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Long-Bailey said: “I was in a state of shock and it was as if everything I believed [was] being ripped up before my very eyes, that everything we fought and we’re so proud of was suddenly invalidated, [that] no-one wanted us, no-one wanted socialism.
“And then I pushed that thought out of my head because I thought ‘that’s bollocks’.”
Long-Bailey was praised by Corbyn as “totally dedicated” at the same event.
Labour Party's Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell attend the launch of the party manifesto in Birmingham, Britain November 21, 2019. REUTERS/Phil Noble Phil Noble / Reuters
Long-Bailey was part of John McDonnell’s shadow Treasury team in 2016.
In her speech on Saturday she said files went missing after Labour MP Rob Marris resigned as a shadow minister and “flounced off” during a committee meeting in parliament.
When proceedings were abandoned, Long-Bailey said she ran back to her office “because I had a feeling that something wasn’t right here” and was told the files had gone.
She described the document as being held on a “shared drive” and the product of “months and months and months” of meticulous work mapping out the team’s bid to oppose the government’s finance bill.
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Long-Bailey said after the resignations she and McDonnell were left in the Treasury team, as Corbyn’s criticis hoped they would be “smoked out”.
She said: “I went in and I spoke to John and I started ranting and I think my exact words were ‘if they think they are going to get rid of us then they’re going to have to carry me out kicking and screaming’ and I sat in that office until about 3am going through all the clauses.
“Richard Burgon was dragged in at one point. Angela Rayner was dragged in and she got us a Domino’s pizza because we were starving and we got through the clauses and we went to the finance bill committee the next day fully prepared and I was pretty good if I’m honest.”
The story will be seen as a thinly veiled attack on her rivals Lisa Nandy, who resigned as shadow energy secretary, and Keir Starmer, who resigned as shadow home office minister.
Marris was among a huge cohort of Corbyn-sceptics who resigned and forced the 2016 leadership challenge which saw Owen Smith defeated. Marris stood down before the 2017 general election.
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He strongly denies there was any malicious intent but said that his assistant deleted the files because the document was created by his parliamentary office and was not the property of the Labour Party.
Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell.
“She is trying to imply I stole Labour Party information,” he said, adding: “My assistant removed from the computer documents which my office created using my parliamentary expenses. That information was not paid for by the shadow Treasury team, it was paid for by parliament and it belonged to me.”
Speaking on the same platform as Long-Bailey on Saturday, Corbyn also claimed “the information that she should have had in order to fight the Tories’ finance bill mysteriously went missing”.
Heaping praise on his favoured successor, who was last week endorsed by the powerful Unite union led by Len McCluskey, he went on to say she “gave an absolutely brilliant performance, because she was totally dedicated to standing up for our party against the Tories”.
In a clear if not explicit endorsement of Long-Bailey, he told the crowd: “It’s an absolute pleasure to be here alongside Becky Long Bailey, our candidate for leader.
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“I’ve known Becky since we came in to parliament and we’ve worked very well together. She has done the most to develop our trade union policies.”
Long-Bailey, who faces competition for the top job from Nandy, shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, has repeatedly faced criticism she is the “continuity Corbyn” candidate.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-27--Friends' David Schwimmer Dashes Reunion Hopes: 'I Just Don't Think It Is Possible'

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Friends star David Schwimmer has poured cold water on fans’ hopes of a revival of the sitcom.
The show has recently been at the centre of reunion rumours, after Jennifer Aniston teased that she and the rest of the cast were “working on something”, but refused to offer any more information.
This came after the star posted a much-publicised shot of herself and the rest of the cast in her first ever Instagram post, marking the first time all six Friends stars had been seen together since the show came to an end in 2004.
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But despite various rumours about what the cast are working on, David has said that nothing that has been offered to the cast so far “makes sense”.
David Schwimmer played Ross Geller PA Archive/PA Images
Speaking to the Guardian, the Ross Geller actor said: “I just don’t think it’s possible, given everyone’s different career trajectories.
“I think everyone feels the same – why mess with what felt like the right way to end the series?
“I don’t want to do anything for the money. It would have to make sense creatively and nothing I’ve heard so far, presented to us, makes sense.”
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The cast of Friends pictured in 2003 NBC via Getty Images
It had been claimed the reunion in question could be a behind-the-scenes look back at the show, which all six cast members would appear in.
In November, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that the original series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman were also involved in discussions for the unscripted special.
The cast of Friends have always maintained that they wouldn’t want to revisit the classic sitcom characters, including Lisa Kudrow, who recently branded the idea “sad”.
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In the Guardian interview, David also dismissed complaints from some newer viewers that parts of the show were transphobic, homophobic and sexist.
“The truth is also that show was groundbreaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage and relationships,” he said.
“The pilot of the show was my character’s wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended.
“I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context. You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-01-27--Laura Whitmore Hits Back At Claims Love Island Role Is Contributing To Climate Crisis

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Laura Whitmore has hit back at claims she is contributing to the climate crisis by jetting back and forth to Cape Town to host Love Island.
After a fan questioned why she was flying to Cape Town every week, the presenter said she only travelled to South Africa to film certain parts of the ITV2 reality show and said she was also an advocate of offsetting your carbon footprint.
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Laura Whitmore Empics Entertainment
The Twitter user posted the message this weekend, asking why Laura was “flying from South Africa every weekend to do her Sunday morning radio show then back to SA to present Love Island”.
Adding the hashtag “#ClimateCrisis”, they added: “Surely there are studios she could broadcast from in SA?”
Morning London! Just landed and back on air @bbc5live at 10am pic.twitter.com/FepWmJabta — Laura Whitmore (@thewhitmore) January 26, 2020
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However, Laura replied: “Love Island Aftersun is filmed in London – as all the guests are based in the UK. I’m only in Cape Town for the finale, public voting etc. And I’m an advocate of offsetting carbon footprint you’ll notice on my Twitter.”
Hi Jane, love island aftersun is filmed in London - as all the guests are based in the UK. I’m only in cape town for the finale, public voting etc. And I’m an advocate of offsetting carbon footprint you’ll notice on my Twitter. Thanks x — Laura Whitmore (@thewhitmore) January 26, 2020
Last month, Laura told HuffPost UK that she planned to off-set her time spent in the air.
The environmentally-conscious star said: “I’m going to plant lots of trees to offset my carbon footprint,” she says. “I’ve been looking at this website to see how many trees I need to plant – and it’s a lot!”
She has since tweeted about offsetting her carbon footprint and encouraged others to do the same.
There’s some amazing projects out there that you can use to offset your carbon footprint. I use https://t.co/FWr4s5gnpm as you can choose a wide range of projects to support. This time I chose Forest Plantations in Uruguay and they give you a certificate! Check them out! 🌍 🌲 pic.twitter.com/nnWQN7f8HO — Laura Whitmore (@thewhitmore) January 24, 2020
“There’s some amazing projects out there that you can use to offset your carbon footprint,” she tweeted. “I use https://co2nsensus.com as you can choose a wide range of projects to support. This time I chose Forest Plantations in Uruguay and they give you a certificate. Check them out!”
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