thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Student Nurses On Coronavirus Front Line Should Get Tuition Fees Refund, Matt Hancock Told

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Student nurses who rushed to the coronavirus front line should have some tuition fees refunded by the government, Matt Hancock has been told.
Advertisement
As the Covid-19 outbreak took hold in the UK, thousands of final year nursing, midwifery and paramedic students stepped up to help.
But despite this, they are still paying universities for tuition.
Lib Dems Layla Moran, Munira Wilson and Sarah Olney have also underlined that final year nursing students are in financial hardship as they could not access a nursing bursary.
Until 2016-17, those studying nursing could apply for up to £16,454 a year, but the bursary was scrapped in 2015 until Boris Johnson reinstated it last year.
Now, in a letter from MPs, Hancock has been asked to reimburse those who have missed out on their last term of teaching.
Advertisement
The trio of MPs say universities should not have to foot the bill and it is “not reasonable” for students to do so either, after they came forward at the NHS’s hour of need.
Olney, who represents Richmond Park, told HuffPost UK “the least” the government could do would be to refund students.
She said: “Many student nurses have heroically stepped up to the front line during the coronavirus crisis. Instead of having their final term of teaching, they are working to save lives in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic.
“However, they are still paying tuition fees for a course cut short by Covid-19. Although the Tories have thankfully reversed their decision to scrap nurses’ bursaries in 2015, this has still left the current cohort of final year nurses without financial support.
Nurses watch as a mural is painted in recognition of the NHS on the Falls Road in Belfast, as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA
Advertisement
“It is not right that student nurses are paying fees for tuition they aren’t receiving, as they risk their own health to care for our loved ones during the pandemic.
“They are on the front line working to slow the spread of the virus and provide critical care for those in need. The government must step up and directly reimburse student nurses, it is the very least they can do.”
It follows a separate letter from Labour’s Diana Johnson, and signed by 50 MPs, calling for the cancellation of student debt for student healthcare workers sent to the front line.
50 MPs have signed my cross-party letter to the Secretaries of State for Education and Health calling for the great work of student healthcare workers at the frontline of the #Covid19 pandemic to be recognised through the cancellation of their student debt. pic.twitter.com/XIsr764Kf2 — 🌈Diana Johnson #StayAtHomeSaveLives🌈 (@DianaJohnsonMP) May 18, 2020
In April, Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, celebrated the work of student nurses, who he said would be working alongside retired staff who were also returning to the front line to serve.
Advertisement
“These students are beginning their careers as the NHS faces the greatest global health challenge in the history of the health service,” he said.
“Their commitment to the NHS and all it stands for is as great as that of any previous generation, and the whole country will be both grateful and proud.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Watch Live: Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden Leads Daily Coronavirus Briefing

HuffPost is part of Verizon Media .
Click ' I agree ' to allow Verizon Media and our partners to @ @ @ @ @ to access your device and use your data ( including location ) to understand your @ @ @ @ @ measure personalised ads .
We will also provide you with personalised ads on partner products @ @ @ @ @ we use your data in our Privacy Centre .
Once you confirm your privacy choices @ @ @ @ @ changes at any time by visiting your Privacy dashboard .
Click 'Learn more ' to @ @ @ @ @ Media and our partners collect and use data .

Watch Live: Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden Leads Daily Coronavirus Briefing
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden leads Downing Street press conference alongside national medical director for NHS England Professor Stephen Powis. It comes as Boris Johnson promises UK track and trace system to be in place by June 1.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Yes Boris Johnson, There Will Be Trade Checks Between Great Britain And Northern Ireland Once Brexit

Yes Boris Johnson, There Will Be Trade Checks Between Great Britain And Northern Ireland Once Brexit Is 'Done'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Boris Johnson has always insisted his Brexit deal would not create any extra checks for the vast majority of businesses trading between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Advertisement
But after months of wrangling, the UK has finally published its plan for GB-NI trade under the withdrawal agreement.
And guess what? There will be checks.
Businesses will need to fill out import declarations for goods travelling from GB to Northern Ireland. These goods will then be subject to checks.
And Northern Irish firms will only get “unfettered” access to the rest of the UK if they “qualify” under a scheme being set up by the government.
For many, that became apparent as soon as Johnson made his concession to the EU to treat Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK, in order to get a deal over the line.
Advertisement
He did that because Tory Brexiteers did not like the deal negotiated by Theresa May, which kept the whole UK on the same term, but meant the country as a whole would need to follow EU customs rules.
Under Johnson’s deal, Northern Ireland alone follows EU rules in food and goods, and it will continue following Brussels customs rules while remaining in the UK customs territory.
This will maintain the invisible border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, while leaving the UK free to sign free trade deals with countries like the United States.
But the so-called Northern Ireland protocol also means the kind of extra bureaucracy that Johnson has struggled to admit to.
Advertisement
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said that “many fear” the government is not willing to admit the full extent of additional checks and tariffs on goods.
She told the Commons: “Today there has been an admission, for the first time, that there will be additional checks, that there will be tariffs on goods at risk of entering the single market.
“Even now, many fear that the government are not willing to admit the full extent of those. We have seven months to get this right and we must.”
Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Layla Moran accused the government of using “double speak”, adding: “The government has admitted that some additional infrastructure will be needed, while traders will face checks on goods crossing the Irish sea.”
So, what exactly is outlined in “the UK’s approach to the Northern Ireland protocol” published on Wednesday?
Advertisement
GB to Northern Ireland trade
A Stena Line ferry in Belfast port Niall Carson - PA Images via Getty Images
Johnson’s deal means the UK applies EU customs rules to goods entering Northern Ireland, in case they are going to be sent on to the Republic and enter the single market, where tariffs may need to be paid.
“This entails some new administrative process for traders, notably new electronic import declaration requirements, and safety and security information, for goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK,” the government states in the command paper.
The UK promises “streamlined” and “simplified” electronic processes but in reality there will need to be physical checks to stop businesses exploiting the arrangements to smuggle.
The government believes it will only have to check 1% of consignments and currently checks only 4% of imports into the UK notified by customs declarations.
Advertisement
These checks are understood to be envisaged “on the market”, for example through visits to shops to see what is being sold.
Northern Ireland to GB trade
The government has promised “unfettered access” for Northern Irish businesses sending goods to the rest of the UK.
But in reality this will only apply for “qualifying” Northern Irish firms to be determined by the UK government.
This is designed to stop someone taking, for example, a car over the invisible border between the Republic and Northern Ireland and then into the UK.
There will have to be checks at some stage in this process to apply tariffs and regulations where appropriate, subject to the trade deal the UK signs with Brussels.
Advertisement
Agri-food
PA
The government insists there will be “no new customs infrastructure”, that is border checks or posts, in Northern Ireland.
It is a hot-button issue as border posts on the Northern Ireland-Republic border were frequently targeted by republican dissidents.
But a few paragraphs later it admits there will need to be “expanded infrastructure” at some existing sites where food and agricultural products are checked as they enter Northern Ireland.
This is because Northern Ireland will need to align with EU rules to maintain the “single epidemiological unit” it currently has with the Republic, which makes sense given animals like cows do not respect land borders.
Advertisement
The government will hope that the expanded checking at existing sites – Belfast port, Belfast’s two airports and Warrenpoint port – will not create new targets for dissidents.
So what now?
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove stressed to the Commons that Northern Ireland can reject the arrangements in a vote in 2024.
Responding to Theresa May, who said the arrangements mean Northern Ireland following EU rules until at least 2024 and potentially indefinitely, Gove said: “If the workings of the protocol are viewed by the people and the parties of Northern Ireland as onerous, too much, intrusive and unacceptable, then they have the opportunity to vote them down in 2024, which is why it is so important that we design an approach which can continue to command consent.”
The European Commission meanwhile pledged to “study in detail” the plans.
“We will share our assessment with the European Parliament and member states and look forward to detailed discussions with the UK at technical level,” a spokesperson said.
“The detailed legal commitments set out in the (Northern Ireland) protocol must now be implemented precisely to give full effect to this solution.
Advertisement
“The time to implement the protocol is short, and practical implementation measures must start immediately so that the protocol can be operational by 1 January 2021.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--This Is What Going To A Pub Or Restaurant Could Look Like On July 4

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
A trade group has compiled a list of proposals aimed at reopening Britain’s pubs and restaurants as early as July 4 while complying with social distancing guidelines.
Advertisement
Customers could be stopped from drinking at the bar at pubs and, in restaurants, condiments and cutlery could be policed by staff.
Restrictions on the number of children in outdoor playing areas and patrols of smoking areas have also been put forward among potential measures touted to help sites meet coronavirus guidelines.
Trade group UKHospitality (UKH) has put forward the initial proposals, alongside other industry leaders, in a document submitted to ministers, PA Media reports.
Earlier this month, Boris Johnson said that some hospitality firms could be able to reopen from July 4 at the earliest in the government’s third phase of the lockdown.
Advertisement
Pubs, restaurants and hotels have remained closed since shutting their doors in March, with vast numbers of staff supported by the government’s furlough scheme.
In the guidance, hospitality businesses clarified that they “do not wish to move ahead with reopening before the time is right” and support a phased reopening approach.
The proposals for restaurants suggest that condiments would not be left on tables, with individually wrapped sauces and condiments handed out by staff on request.
Restaurants would also need to bring cutlery with customers’ food, rather than leave them on tables or allow customers to help themselves.
Tables would also be spaced in the restaurant to meet social distancing guidelines.
But whether or not pubs and restaurants would be viable if their capacity is restricted is a major concern. The British pub faces one of the most difficult logistical challenges when it comes to enforcing social distancing, particularly smaller venues.
Advertisement
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sam McMeekin, co-founder of The Gipsy Hill Brewing Company, told HuffPost UK last month: “They survive by packing people in, and people are happy to be packed in because there’s a great atmosphere and great quality food and drink being served.”
Meanwhile, the guidance suggests that “restrictions on customers remaining at the bar after ordering and getting their drink” should be considered.
It also proposed that customers are “discouraged” from returning empty glasses, customers are told to keep a safe distance away from bar staff and they will have to form a socially-distanced queue for orders.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive officer of UKH, said: “UKH is working hard with our members and alongside other industry bodies to develop practical and effective guidelines to enable businesses to begin to reopen safely when the time is right.
Advertisement
“These are draft guidelines that have been shared with governments in England, Scotland and Wales, to help inform their thinking around reopening.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Britain First Leader Paul Golding Convicted Of Terrorism Act Offence

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The leader of far-right political group Britain First has been found guilty of an offence under the Terrorism Act after refusing to give police access to his mobile phone on his return from a political trip to Russia.
Paul Golding, 38, was stopped at Heathrow Airport on October 23 last year on his way back from Moscow by officers from the Metropolitan Police.
Advertisement
He refused to give them the pin for an iPhone and Apple computer and was later charged with wilfully refusing to comply with a duty under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act.
Golding denied the charge but was found guilty of the offence following a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Wednesday.
Chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ruled there was “no doubt” that Golding had failed to comply with requests for information, despite his obligations being explained to him and being warned “over and over” that if he did not he risked arrest.
Paul Golding. PA
Advertisement
She handed Golding a conditional discharge for nine months and ordered him to pay a £21 surcharge and £750 in costs.
Giving evidence earlier, Pc Rory O’Connor, a borders officer with the Met who questioned Golding, told the court that Schedule 7 enables accredited officers to “speak to people in order to make a determination of whether they are or have been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”.
The officer explained that it also permitted police to interrogate, search and detain anyone for up to six hours at UK ports.
He said he had cause to examine Golding under the legislation and recalled him being initially “agitated” and “clearly angry” at being stopped, with him shouting at officers.
Prosecutor Samuel Main said that for nearly three hours Golding was questioned about his activities in Russia after flying out with two others on October 20.
Advertisement
The court heard that Golding said he was on a “purely political trip” after establishing friendships in Russia during an international congress on an earlier date.
He told officers that he had returned to the country under the invitation of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), which he described as a “right wing, conservative, patriotic group” who were not “extreme”.
Golding said they were a “political party not a mob” and “if they incited violence then Britain First wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole”.
He said he had not met any representative of the Russian government, the court heard.
Golding, of Hodder Bank, Stockport, appeared in the dock wearing a grey suit, white shirt and red tie, and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, address and nationality.
English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, watched the proceedings in the court’s socially distanced public gallery.
Advertisement
Over the course of his three-day trip, Golding gave interviews to the media, met members of the LDPR and visited the Russian parliament, Main said.
He also visited Moscow’s Red Square and laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Golding was quizzed on the LDPR’s policies which he said covered the issues of terrorism, Islamic extremism, immigration and family values.
He described Britain First as a “patriotic, right-wing, conservative” group who considered themselves as “loyalist”.
In clips of an audio recording of the interview played in court, Golding said the request for his pin codes was “wildly inappropriate”, “completely unjustified”, represented an “abuse of police powers” and was a “political witch hunt”.
Main said he told officers they “hadn’t asked him about terrorism or criminality and he was simply a politician”.
Advertisement
Golding added: “I don’t think think you have any grounds to suspect me of terrorism in any way shape or form”.
Representing Golding, Abigail Bright said Britain First had never been a banned organisation.
She said Golding had been “calm, compliant and respectful” during questioning under what she claimed was a “predetermined operation”.
Bright said he was “tired” and had not wilfully disobeyed a lawful instruction and that evidence from officers left the court “none too wiser” as to whether they had “screened against” Schedule 7 being used “in an arbitrary way”.
She highlighted that she had put to Pc O’Connor that as a political leader there was a “real possibility” Golding’s devices held sensitive information, for example membership lists.
As a politician, she said he was “entitled to expect enhanced protection for his rights of speech, assembly, association”.
Advertisement
Main said that at “no point” had Golding mentioned there being “sensitive material” on his devices, which might have offered him some protection.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Jacob Rees-Mogg Told ‘Not All Of Us Have Nannies’ As He Orders MPs To Return To Work

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has faced a backlash from MPs with young children and those with health conditions after he ordered the end of parliament’s remote working.
Advertisement
Labour MP Stella Creasy told the cabinet minister “not all of us have nannies” as he announced that MPs would be expected to attend Westminster in person from next month.
The Commons leader confirmed that he would not renew temporary rules that have allowed “hybrid” proceedings since the Covid-19 lockdown, including online voting and the use of Zoom video calls for questions and debates.
Both Tory and Labour MPs expressed concerns that those with caring responsibilities would be effectively disenfranchised by the return to a physical parliament, as the lockdown means they have lost childcare.
Creasy said that provision had to be made for MPs and their staff who have to care for others. “I know he’s not a fan of the nanny state, but not all of us have nannies,” she said.
Advertisement
The remark was a reference tor Rees-Mogg’s own childhood nanny, who has helped care for each of his own six children.
The Tory minister - who famously admitted he had never changed a nappy - replied: “Not all have six children either, which I’m very lucky and fortunate to have, and I actually understand therefore the child caring responsibilities - all my children are quite young.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The nursery in the House of Commons is open, and members of parliament are key workers and therefore schools are available in England for their children.”
Rees-Mogg has in the past admitted he has “made no pretence to be a modern man”. When asked in 2017 how his nappy-changing was going following the birth of his sixth child, he replied: “The nanny does it brilliantly.”
Advertisement
Tory MP Rachel Griffiths pointed out that several MPs “rely on grandparents who might be in the vulnerable category to supplement their childcare, and therefore cannot travel to Westminster”.
Rees-Mogg said he was listening to MPs. “But the reality is parliament is most effective when it meets physically, hybrid parliamentary proceedings have only allowed a small proportion of parliament’s functionality to take place”.
Former cabinet minister and Commons procedure committee chair Karen Bradley urged him to allow MPs to vote on the plan. She pointed out that MPs had passed a motion supporting the hybrid working and “parity of treatment of all members”.
Rees-Mogg suggested no vote was needed because the hybrid working was temporary and the orders enacting them would lapse. Remote video calls for select committees will be allowed to continue until June 30.
He stressed that the restrictions imposed by video calls had dramatically cut the amount of time which could be spent debating legislation, and effectively ordered all MPs to return to London on June 2, after the Whitsun recess starts tomorrow.
Advertisement
The Commons will not be the “crowded, bustling chamber of old”, he insisted, because MPs would have to remain six feet apart even when voting in the division lobbies.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has privately warned that he expects Mps with health conditions to be catered for during the pandemic, to ensure they do not lose out from being away from the chamber.
Rees-Mogg said MPs’ staff will be strongly advised to continue working from home and hinted that compromise arrangements for MPs with underlying health conditions would be worked on over the coming break. Any exemptions would need to be approved next month, however.
But he faced anger from MPs who said that many were in groups vulnerable to Covid-19 or had family members who were in that category.
Former Tory minister Rob Halfon, who has cerebral palsy, warned that plans for a blanket return for all MPs would create a “Euthanasia parliament”.
Advertisement
“Is it really morally just to say in effect to MPs, because you are not Tarzan-like and able to swing through the Chamber, beating your chest shouting to your constituents, ‘Look I am here!’ that you are effectively euthanised from the Commons?” he asked.
Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael, who represents Orkney and Shetland, said the Government wants MPs to undertake “non-essential journeys” to return to parliament.
“In my case, [that means travelling] almost the entire length of this country, to stay in second homes – something which when done by leading Government advisers led to their resignation.
If ever there was a case of do as I say, not as I do, then this is it.”
Shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz added: “He keeps saying if others are going to work, the Government expects us to go to work – we are at work, we are at work at all times and the government’s own advice is if you can work from home then do so.”
Rees-Mogg said he “was reassured yesterday by the progress being made in making the parliamentary estate a Covid-19-secure workplace”.
Advertisement
But MPs and trade unions representing staff in the Commons pointed out that a full risk assessment by Public Health England and House authorities had not yet been completed.
Garry Graham, Prospect deputy general secretary, said: “Trade unions representing staff in parliament offered yesterday to work with the government on a phased return to a physical parliament between now and the summer.
“It is incredibly disappointing that the government have chosen to ignore the voice of staff and impose a full return to parliament in two weeks, including physical voting, that will mean hundreds of people packed into parliament’s narrow corridors putting MPs and staff at risk.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Amazon Slammed For Sale Of 'Collectible' Racist Literature Containing N-Word

Ten Little N- Boys cover Supplied
Amazon has been widely condemned by dozens of anti-racist campaigners over the listing on its website of racist literature under the label of “collectible”.
Various editions of Ten Little N*ggers by English writer Agatha Christie are currently available for purchase, through third parties, via the online retailer.
Advertisement
The use of the racist slur in the title has sparked concern from a number of Black writers and public figures.
Award-winning author Alex Wheatle told HuffPost UK: “I object to any books of racist content being sold on Amazon. The company needs to tighten up its checks and procedures so these bigoted titles are not available on their platforms.”
Lawyer and media commentator Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu also tweeted: “This RACIST/OFFENSIVE title of Agatha Christie book is labelled rare & collectable by @AmazonUK.”
She added: “Profiting on oppression of Black people & enabling racism is REPREHENSIBLE. Remove NOW and apologize promptly!”
Advertisement
This RACIST/OFFENSIVE title of Agatha Christie book is labelled Rare & Collectible by @AmazonUK. If it were as blatantly #Antisemitic it won't be on its lists
Profiting on oppression of Black people & enabling racism is REPREHENSIBLE
Remove NOW & apologize promptly! @AmazonHelp pic.twitter.com/7326COmTyS — Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (@SholaMos1) May 20, 2020
Just weeks ago, Amazon banned the sale of most editions of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other Nazi propaganda books from its store following decades of campaigning by Holocaust charities.
Evadney Campbell, founder of Shiloh PR – a marketing company aimed at amplifying Black businesses, echoed Mos-Shogbamimu’s sentiments.
“Our pain, as Black people, is not recognised – and seen as if it can be used for marketing,” she told HuffPost UK. “I think Amazon should remove this immediately and it should be condemned because in this day and age there is just no room for such words any more.”
Speaking from an entrepreneurial perspective, Campbell questioned whether organisations profit from outrage created by racism scandals.
Advertisement
“I was so appalled and disheartened to see the book being sold,” she told HuffPost UK.
“From a PR point of view, I think sometimes these things are deliberately placed to stoke controversy among Black people. Black people are a powerful group in terms of Black Twitter and how we will get onto something and cause it to go viral.
“Sometimes I think this is part of these companies’ marketing and PR strategy.
“It is as though this is free publicity from us and the more we share and show our anger and disgust at these things, the more publicity these companies get and sadly the more they sell – because there are people out there who want to buy these products, who don’t care, who want to see us arguing over things that we find offensive.”
Evadney Campbell, co-founder of Shiloh PR Supplied
Tweeting directly to Amazon, one user, Lisa Elliott, said: ”@AmazonUK @amazon how can you have this disgusting book on sale in your site? How very dare you sell this open display of racism in this day and age – awful!!!!!!! #racism #racist”.
Another person wrote: “Wtf @amazon how is this available on your website/app? In this day and age you sell racist items? I don’t care if it’s a collectible, this needs to be removed and the seller banned!”
Advertisement
Another user, with the handle @BlackBoysCan1, tweeted: “Why is @Amazon & @AmazonUK still selling these books? It’s 2020 FFS. It was racist then. It’s racist now! Amazon remove these from sale and prevent sellers being able to sell products with n*gger in the title!”
Why is @amazon & @AmazonUK still selling these books? It’s 2020 FFS. It was a racist then. It’s racist now!
Amazon remove these from sale and prevent sellers being able to sell products with n*gger in the title!https://t.co/KkBTDFBzC6 pic.twitter.com/iB2xf2UAr2 — Black boys Can (@BlackBoysCan1) May 19, 2020
Cairo Aibangbee, author of Searching for Rainbows, described the revelation as “exhausting”.
“Visibility of derogatory work such as this is harmful. It perpetrates the false narrative that Black people are lesser, it reinforces old tropes and harmful stereotypes. It is violent – why should I or anyone be exposed to such harmful and aggressive language?” she said to HuffPost UK.
“The fact that this is still a public listing on Amazon illustrates a total lack of regard from the company and an arrogance or dangerous indifference rooted in white privilege and institutionalised racism. Racist products should have no shelf space on Amazon’s virtual marketplace.”
Cairo Aibangbee Supplied
Advertisement
Like many others, Patrick Vernon – community activist and founder of the 100 Great Black Britons campaign – has also called for the retailer to remove the book from circulation and instead focus on promoting Black history resources on its platform.
He told HuffPost UK: “Amazon as a leading online global brand should have clear policies which support equality and diversity of all its customers and retailers. If the company really values its customers, especially from those around the world of African descent, it should stop selling and promoting this and other similar publications immediately.
“This publication and many others are part of this history and context which still influence everyday racism and the portrayal of Black people in the media, and the rise in online racism and AfrIphobia on social media platforms, which many people in public life are experiencing on a daily basis.
“The diffusion of negative racist and stereotype images was based on the perception, experiences and value judgements of colonial expatriates based in Africa – teachers, administrators, soldiers, missionaries, entrepreneurs, settlers, explorers, and anthropologists – and the legacy of slavery and plantation societies in North America, the Caribbean and South America.”
He added: “Amazon should focus on selling and promotion Black British history instead.”
In the light of the Covid-19 crisis and with school closures, Vernon has collaborated with the National Educational Union (NEU) to launch a unique home school competition for children and young people to explore Black British history and multicultural Britain.
Advertisement
This competition is part of the relaunch of the 100 Great Black Britons campaign to celebrate the continued legacy and achievements of Black people in Britain.
Devonyu via Getty Images
The controversial novel by Christie was published in the UK in November 1939 and is among the best-selling books of all time.
It is named after a racist 1869 nursery rhyme for children which would later become a standard musical number featured in blackface minstrel shows over the years.
The US edition of Christie’s novel was later released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None, which is taken from the last five words of the song.
Advertisement
“One little n*gger boy living all alone/ He went and hanged himself and then there were none,” the line goes.
HuffPost UK has identified at least half a dozen books, all penned by white authors, containing the N-word in the title, with listings on Amazon.
An Amazon spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “As a bookseller, we believe that providing access to the written word is important. We are mindful of the global history of censorship and do not take such decisions lightly.
“Our store maintains content guidelines, which address content that is illegal or infringing. We remove products that do not adhere to our guidelines and when a concern is raised we promptly investigate it.”
It comes weeks after a new report by the Centre for Media and Democracy (CMD) revealed that dozens of hate groups and racist media outlets are receiving income via mainstream payment processors including Amazon.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Ryan Thomas And Lucy Mecklenburgh's Baby Has A Smelly Surprise For Lorraine Kelly

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Make the most of your time in lockdown with a daily dose of celebrity news and guides to the best shows. Sign up to the entertainment newsletter.
You can always trust your kids to show you up on live telly, even very, very small ones – something new parents Lucy Mecklenburgh and Ryan Thomas have just learned.
Advertisement
The couple made an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday to discuss Ryan’s ITV travel series with his dad and two brothers.
But when the proud parents showed off their 10-week-old son to the cameras, it seems little Roman had wanted to give host Lorraine Kelly an extra special present.
Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh with son Roman on Good Morning Britain ITV
Former Coronation Street star Ryan lifted the baby up to reveal there had been an almighty nappy explosion all over his white baby grow.
Advertisement
Speaking to Lorraine, Ryan said: “He’s got his best outfit today, and just for you on camera – pooped himself.”
Well baby Roman's first appearance on live TV was certainly memorable... 😳😂@ryanjamesthomas | @lucy_meck pic.twitter.com/fuEUyb1pmg — Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 20, 2020
“Well that’s what they do! And it’s fine, and he’s allowed” Lorraine said.
Ryan and Lucy welcomed their first child together just before the UK entered lockdown, and the former Only Way Is Essex star admitted it had been “really rough” not having the support of family and friends.
Roman is Lucy’s first child, while Ryan has a daughter, Scarlett, with former Corrie co-star Tina O’Brien, who plays Sarah Platt.
Advertisement
The engaged couple got together in 2017 after Lucy broke up with Olympian Louis Smith.
Ryan, who won the last series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 after fellow housemate Roxanne Pallett falsely accused him of punching her in the stomach, is currently appearing in Absolutely India: Mancs in Mumbai.
Ryan Thomas, Adam Thomas and Scott Thomas with dad Dougie ITV/Shutterstock
The documentary series sees Ryan and his two brothers – former Emmerdale and I’m A Celebrity star Adam, and Love Island series two contestant Scott – travelling to India with their father to learn more about their heritage.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--This Morning's Barging Segment Is Far From Plain Sailing As Nicola Thorp Crashes Canal Boat

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Make the most of your time in lockdown with a daily dose of celebrity news and guides to the best shows. Sign up to the entertainment newsletter.
This Morning contributor Nicola Throp gave hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield a reason to laugh as she appeared on the show from her canal boat on Wednesday.
Advertisement
The former Coronation Street star came a cropper while getting ready to appear on the ITV daytime show, crashing her boat into a bush.
And while the accident didn’t take place live on air, Phil and Holly had great pleasure in playing it after the camera had captured the moment.
Nicola Thorp crashed her canal boat on This Morning ITV
Nicola could be seen scrambling back on deck as trees and bushes brushed over the top of the boat, knocking the camera in the process.
Advertisement
“Oh my god I’m so sorry! We’re going to crash!” Nicola shouted.
Living on a houseboat is all fun and games... until you crash into a bush, right @nicolathorp_? 😂
Watch the moment again on ITV Hub 👉https://t.co/Q7IV485mUn pic.twitter.com/59V6QzEunv — This Morning (@thismorning) May 20, 2020
She later joked with Holly and Phil that she’d “nearly killed” Steve the camera man – but admitted that isn’t the only incident she’s had with her boat, which she lives in on the London canals.
She said: “As you can tell I’m not very good at it three years in. I had a half an hour lesson with the guy who sold the boat, and then it was a case of YouTube tutorials.
“Yes I’ve fallen in once, I’ve jumped in twice to save two iPhones. But it’s all part of the fun.”
Nicola, who played Nicola Rubinstein on Corrie until 2019, also revealed she bought the canal boat while drunk.
“I always wanted to live on a canal boat and one night I made a bid on eBay after a bottle of wine,” she told the presenters. “I woke up with a hangover and a six foot narrow boat! So that’s it. I live on a boat now.”
Advertisement
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Ex-Corbyn Aide Anneliese Midgley Appointed To Keir Starmer’s Team

LOADING ERROR LOADING
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Advertisement
One of the contenders to become Labour’s next general secretary has instead been given a senior post with Keir Starmer’s team, HuffPost UK can reveal.
Anneliese Midgley has been appointed as a senior special adviser to the Labour leader, with key responsibilities for developing engagement with party and trade union members.
Midgley is currently the political director of Unite the union and is a former key aide to both Ken Livingstone when he was Mayor of London and Jeremy Corbyn when he first became leader.
Considered a front runner in the race to become the party’s next general secretary, she opted not to apply for the post in recent days but won widespread praise from Labour MPs including former leader Ed Miliband.
Advertisement
Anneliese Midgley HuffPost UK
Following the resignation of Jennie Formby earlier this month, Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) is set to appoint a successor next week, with former party official David Evans considered the favourite for the role.
Midgley’s responsibilities will include working with Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner to develop a new strategy for the party’s engagement with CLPs, the membership and grassroots union membership, insiders said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--UK Records 363 More Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has risen to 35,704 – an increase of 363 over 24 hours.
Advertisement
Since the end of April, the government’s daily announcement has included people in care homes and the community, rather than just in hospital, who have died.
But only those who had tested positive for Covid-19 are included, meaning anyone who died with a suspected case won’t be recorded.
The figures cover the period up to 5pm on Tuesday.
It comes after the number of people who have died in hospitals across the UK, as well as care homes in Wales, after contracting the virus rose by 235 in 24 hours.
That increase consisted of 166 in England, 50 in Scotland, 14 in Wales and five in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, as of 9am on Wednesday, 248,293 people have been tested for coronavirus, with 2,472 in the last day coming back positive out of 177,216 tests.
Advertisement
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Keir Starmer Has Been Preparing For PMQs All His Life – And Boris Johnson Is Paying The Price

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Well at least we know Boris Johnson is still with us. It has been quite extraordinary how low profile he has been since last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions. Even at the best of times, the country expects to see its prime minister pop up on the news from time to time, and these are not the best of times, they are among the worst.
Advertisement
Accepted, he has recently been ill, and he has also added to his child tally, both events that will have taken something out of him, and will tap into his normally quite formidable levels of energy. But he is also the leader of the country’s government as it faces what the cliché-mongers all agree is the greatest challenge since the Second World War.
Boris Johnson speaks at Prime Minister's Questions PA
This morning, Johnson having persuaded the Queen to grant a knighthood to Captain/Colonel Tom Moore, was the first time since last week’s PMQs that he had made news on his own account, as it were. And let’s be frank, installing yourself at the head of a campaign to get an honour for a centenarian who has raised forty million quid walking round his garden, and won over the hearts of people around the world, goes down on the “not very difficult” side of the prime ministerial ledger.
PMQs goes down on the harder side of things. I can remember Tony Blair’s first PMQs, and he was nervous. Even after a decade of experience, he was still nervous the last time. It was perhaps part of the nervousness that he wore the same pair of shoes every time he stood up to answer questions from MPs.
Advertisement
Whether Johnson gets nervous or not, I have no idea. But he should do – for two reasons. First, because he has thus far shown himself not to be very adept at the Despatch Box, and advance anxiety is an important factor in getting the work done to help him make a success of it; and second, because his new Labour opponent looks like he has been preparing for it all his life.
Even Johnson’s best friends and media cronies (some of them are the same people) would recognise that last week Keir Starmer got the better of Johnson who was making one of his rare trips to the Commons chamber, preferring as he does scripted addresses from behind a mahogany desk.
With all the time he has had to prepare in the intervening period, one might have imagined that Johnson would have been better prepared this week. He wasn’t. Instead, it would seem he has decided that attack is the best form of defence, and the goal he set for himself seemed to be to raise doubts about the legitimacy of critical questioning from the Opposition. We even had the use of the T-word – tone – which Health Secretary Matt Hancock had also used in exchanges with Labour frontbencher Rosena Allin-Khan. And he couldn’t resist joining forces with the ultra-Corbynites who have decided that the best criticism to make of Starmer is that he is “forensic”. It looked to me like Johnson trying to turn a strength into a weakness, as we did when William Hague was Tory leader, and in reminding him constantly how good at jokes he was (and how bad at judgement) we managed to get him to stop being so funny. I don’t think Starmer will so easily be pushed off the forensic approach, not least as he seems to be framing some of the key questions for the independent public inquiry Johnson will do everything he can to avoid having.
What tone, one wonders, does Johnson expect of a Labour leader? “May I begin by congratulating the Prime Minister on leading the UK into one of the top three positions, alongside the US and Brazil, in the world death league tables; and can I encourage him on behalf of the Opposition to join with Messrs Trump and Bolsonaro, his fellow populists, in continuing to ignore those who pretend their handling of the crisis has been anything but perfect?” He gets enough toadying questions from his own backbenchers without expecting Labour to have to join in.
Advertisement
Added to which, Starmer appears to have settled on a tactic of divorcing his own opinions from the subject matter, and relying instead on what one might term witnesses for the prosecution. Better to have a doctor condemning the continuing charging of immigrant frontline care and NHS workers for the privilege of looking after our elderly. Better to have the chief executive of Care England quoted as saying, on testing and tracing: “We have had the announcements; what we have not had is the delivery.”
That one line encapsulated the approach of the Johnson government. At heart a journalist, Johnson is more interested in the next story than seeing whether the first one turned out to be right or not. He seemed annoyed that Starmer asked him twice to state whether a proper testing and tracing system would be in place by early June, and Johnson did that old dismissal tactic – “He has stuck to the question he had planned rather than listen to the answers.” But no. I think Starmer has already shown that he does listen to answers, and he was making sure that one was very firmly on the record.
Both in the Commons, and at the ministerial briefings in Number 10 (hard to work out these days why they are held there given the PM has decided no longer to attend) ministers appear to want a round of applause for all their hard work. They appear, as Johnson did yesterday, puzzled and irritated that anyone could think they had at any stage done anything wrong in their handling.
Johnson had more energy than last week, and had decided to play to the gallery even though it was necessarily small. I sense he is also starting to notice that Starmer doesn’t give much away when he is sitting there, doesn’t easily rise to baits, and certainly holds people’s attention as he speaks.
Johnson is missing the full benches and the cheering and the yah-booing. He needs to get them back soon. Because Starmer is showing a different way of doing things, and in a crisis as grave as this, it might catch on … detail mattering, past statements checked and challenged, serious and sober rather than blustering and flamboyant. Johnson tried a fair bit of bluster, but I’m not sure it was as effective as it once might have been.
Advertisement
One thing is for sure – PMQs really matters again.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--Overseas Carers Should Not Pay £624 NHS 'Immigration Surcharge', Says Labour

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Boris Johnson should scrap a hefty NHS fee for immigrants who work as carers in the UK, Labour has said.
Advertisement
Keir Starmer challenged the prime minister over the government’s “health immigration surcharge”, which is set to rise from £400 to £624 in October, saying overseas NHS workers and carers should be exempt.
The rise in the surcharge, announced at the budget, has been controversial, and comes as the UK continues to rely heavily on migrant workers during the Covid-19 crisis.
Speaking during prime minister’s questions in the Commons, Starmer said it would take a care worker being paid the National Living Wage – currently £8.21 an hour – about 70 hours, which is nearly two working weeks, to pay off that fee.
But Johnson said the charge was “the right way forward” in order to raise funds for the health service.
Advertisement
Starmer said: “Every Thursday we go out and clap for our carers. Many of them are risking their lives for the sake of all of us.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London. (Photo by House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images) House of Commons - PA Images via Getty Images
“Does the prime minister think it’s right that care workers coming from abroad and working on our frontline should have to pay a surcharge of hundreds – sometimes thousands – of pounds to use the NHS themselves?”
Labour has said its MPs will now try to amend the government’s immigration bill to exempt NHS staff and care professionals from this charge.
Johnson, who has recently recovered from a stint in intensive care after he was struck with coronavirus, said he had “thought a great deal” about the surcharge, adding: “I’ve been a personal beneficiary of carers who have come from abroad and, frankly, saved my life.”
Advertisement
But he went on: “On the other hand we must look at the realities – this is a great national service, it’s a national institution, it needs funding and those contributions actually help us to raise about £900m, and it’s very difficult in the current circumstances to find alternative sources.
“So with great respect to the point [Starmer] makes, I do think that is the right way forward.”
Starmer replied he was “disappointed” as the PM knows “how raw” the issue is, underlining the huge rise planned for October.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-20--These Back-To-Work Models Might Sound Strange But They Could Become The New Normal

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
Until a vaccine is readily available, countries around the world will have to adopt ways of managing Covid-19 as they attempt to re-accommodate workforces and restart their economies. There are currently no effective treatments for coronavirus and a vaccine that is widely available is likely to be at least a year away.
Advertisement
Various different scientific models for doing this have been suggested – with the common thread that the return to work is going to be anything but typical. Here are some of them that could be instated in the UK.
50 days’ strict lockdown, 30 days’ eased restrictions, and repeat
An 18-month rolling cycle of 50 days of strict lockdown measures followed by 30 days of easing of restrictions could be an “effective” approach that would keep intensive care demand within capacity and “may allow populations and their national economies to ‘breathe’ at intervals”, according to a study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
That’s in contrast to a continuous, three-month strategy of suppression measures, such as strict physical distancing and lockdown, which would reduce new coronavirus cases to near zero in most countries, the study suggested.
Looser mitigation strategies such as hygiene rules and shielding of vulnerable groups might require approximately six-and-a-half months to reach the same point, according to the research.
Advertisement
PA
But the study suggested that such prolonged lockdowns would be unsustainable in most countries due to the potential knock-on effects on the economy and livelihoods.
An international team of researchers from the Global Dynamic Interventions Strategies for Covid-19 Collaborative Group modelled three alternative scenarios across 16 countries, from Belgium to India, that vary in setting and income.
They did not model the scenarios in the UK but said they expect the situation to be “very similar to that in other high-income countries”.
Dr Rajiv Chowdhury, a global health epidemiologist at Cambridge University and the paper’s lead author, said: “Our models predict that dynamic cycles of 50-day suppression followed by a 30-day relaxation are effective at lowering the number of deaths significantly for all countries throughout the 18-month period.”
Advertisement
He said the intermittent relaxation of measures “might make this solution more sustainable, especially in resource-poor regions”.
This 18-month period of 50 days on and 30 days off could still see 130,000 deaths across the 16 countries, it is forecast.
Professor Oscar Franco, from the University of Bern in Switzerland, said: “Our study provides a strategic option that countries can use to help control Covid-19 and delay the peak rate of infections.
“This should allow them to buy valuable time to shore up their health systems and increase efforts to develop new treatments or vaccines.
“There’s no simple answer to the question of which strategy to choose.
“Countries – particularly low-income countries – will have to weigh up the dilemma of preventing Covid-19-related deaths and public health system failure with the long-term economic collapse and hardship.”
Advertisement
The study indicated that two other scenarios which were modelled would result in intensive care units being overwhelmed.
A road in north London is narrowed to aid social distancing while shoppers queue for a supermarket Barcroft Media via Getty Images
No lockdown restrictions
The first scenario modelled the impact of imposing no measures.
It indicated a total of 7.8m deaths across the 16 countries with the epidemic lasting nearly 200 days in most countries.
50 days’ ‘loose’ lockdown and 30 days without restrictions
The second scenario modelled a rolling cycle of looser 50-day mitigation measures followed by a 30-day relaxing.
It indicated 3.5m deaths and a longer pandemic of around 12 months in high-income countries and 18 months or longer in other settings.
Advertisement
Four days on, 10 days off
A further model by Imperial College London chemical biologist Professor Keith Willison for the Adam Smith Institute suggests a four days on, 10 days off cyclical strategy be implemented for both workers and school-goers.
It would see populations divided into two groups, with one group working or attending school for four days from, say, Monday to Thursday, and then entering a 10-day isolation period where individuals work from home in lockdown. This would see the workforce divided into distinct groups who do not overlap when in the office.
. .
. .
The model – devised by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel – would see an end to the standard seven-day week and two-day weekend structure as we know it, with workers taking their time off at varying times during their lockdown periods.
Advertisement
While the initial group is in lockdown, the second group would attend work and school. Since the number of people going to work and school would be much smaller than usual, physical distancing would be more easily observed and fewer people would be using public transport.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Deaf Couple Modify Face Masks To Help The Hearing-Impaired

Deaf Couple Modify Face Masks To Help The Hearing-Impaired
52-year-old Faizah Badaruddin, suddenly had a hard time communicating with people, when she could no longer read lips due to face masks. Alongside her husband Imam, who is also deaf, They came up with a design that includes a clear plastic window over the mouth area, so people can see the wearer's lips move. The couple can make up to 20 masks each day, and largely receives orders through word-of-mouth.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Boris Johnson Cleared Of Jennifer Arcuri Criminal Probe Despite ‘Intimate Relationship’

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Boris Johnson will not face a criminal investigation into his links with Jennifer Arcuri while he was mayor of London a police watchdog has decided, but the prime minister was found to have had a “close association” and possibly “intimate relationship” with the American businesswoman.
Advertisement
But the PM now faces a different probe by the London Assembly Oversight Committee, which had suspended its own inquiries pending the police watchdog’s decision.
Eight months after it was asked to look into links between Johnson and Arcuri, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it would not take any further action.
The IOPC found that Johnson did not commit the criminal offence of misconduct in public office while in his role as mayor of London.
As mayor, Johnson was also head of the Office for Policing and Crime.
YouTube
Advertisement
Johnson was formally referred to the IOPC last September over claims that Arcuri received public money and access to trade trips at the same time that he was responsible for policing and crime in the capital.
He has been accused of failing to declare a possible conflict of interest as Arcuri was awarded various sums in public cash, including £11,500 by the mayor’s promotional agency, London & Partners.
The Sunday Times reported the potential conflicts arose through Johnson’s association with the technology entrepreneur, who moved to London eight years ago. It claimed that she had received up to £126,000 in public money and was afforded privileged access to three foreign trade missions Johnson led.
Arcuri has repeatedly refused to say whether she had had an affair with Johnson. She told the BBC last year that whenever he texted her “it was not just a sexual intention”.
“He actually was very intrigued by my energy, my ability to get things done. He loved my events and he saw the way I could work a room, the way I met everybody.”
Advertisement
In another interview she said he “cast me aside like some Gremlin”.
But she has insisted there was “no interest” to declare in their relationship, adding: “He didn’t do me any favours.”
Focus will now shift to the London Assembly Oversight Committee, which is looking at whether Johnson broke the City Hall code of conduct.
Its own inquiry, which is expected to take into account the current coronavirus pandemic in its timetable, will now be able to start assessing all the paperwork in the case.
Chair Len Duvall said: “The IOPC was looking specifically at whether he committed a criminal offence. That’s not our remit and their decision doesn’t have any real bearing on our investigation, which will focus on his conduct as Mayor of London.
“Everyone who holds public office whether you’re the Mayor of London, or indeed the Prime Minister, is expected to adhere to the principles of public life – including integrity, selflessness, openness and honesty, to name a few.
Advertisement
“Our investigation will consider whether Boris Johnson conducted himself in a way that’s expected from anyone in that position. It’s important we get those answers, because Londoners deserve to have their politicians held accountable.
“The Oversight Committee will take into account the current emergency when looking at the timetable for the investigation.”
HuffPost revealed last year that Johnson’s lawyers had written to the Assembly body to challenge its demands for “extensive” details of his links to Arcuri.
They also suggested that it is not in “the public interest” for an Assembly investigation to take place as it “risked becoming politicised”.
A spokesperson for the prime minister said: “We welcome the fact that this politically motivated complaint has been thrown out.
Advertisement
“Such vexatious claims of impropriety in office were untrue and unfounded.
“An independent review by the Government Internal Audit Agency similarly showed the claims made by the Labour Party were false.
“This was not a policing matter, and we consider this was a waste of police time.”
Tory MP Gareth Bacon hit out at the London Assembly for the new probe.
“Labour politicians in City Hall have wasted police time with malicious complaints. They now want to waste taxpayers’ money with more petty and partisan point scoring,” he said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Emmerdale Resumes Filming With Six Special Lockdown Episodes

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Make the most of your time in lockdown with a daily dose of celebrity news and guides to the best shows. Sign up to the entertainment newsletter.
Emmerdale bosses have announced the show will resume filming next month, with six special episodes focussing on the characters in lockdown.
Advertisement
Fortunately, it has now been revealed that filming began at the show’s studios in Leeds earlier this week, on six episodes that will be recorded in the next two weeks.
The cast and crew of Emmerdale have begun a phased return to work ITV
Each episode will focus on a different Emmerdale household, showing how the characters within it have been getting on in lockdown.
Advertisement
An ITV press release teased: “We’ll see resentments and past feuds resurface, old wounds further exposed, relationships scrutinised, with doubts and insecurities laid bare. Some seize the opportunity lockdown presents to heal divisions, whilst others get some sizzle back into their lives!
“With the backdrop of the pandemic, the characters also reflect the nation’s immense gratitude and thanks for the NHS with the weekly clap for carers and the people working on the frontline keeping our country safe.”
The cast of Emmerdale who will appear in the special lockdown episodes ITV
To adhere to social distancing guidelines, special measures have been introduced for the actors and production team.
These include filming units staying together to work in designated studios – and crew members using their own sanitised equipment – while scriptwriters have been urged to include only a small number of actors with fewer scenes, to limit the number of people required to be on set.
Advertisement
Jane Hudson, Emmerdale’s executive producer, said: “Lockdown has created an opportunity for us to focus on what is important in our lives. When we first discussed commissioning these episodes back in March the writers instantly rose to the challenge.
“Seven weeks into lockdown and the scripts have an added poignancy and meaning. The response from everyone at Emmerdale to filming these episodes has been fantastic and we’re really grateful for their support.”
ITV has outlined how the show's cast and crew will adhere to social distancing guidelines ITV
Emmerdale’s lockdown specials will air in June, beginning with Cain and Aaron (Jeff Hordley and Danny Miller) and Chas and Paddy (Lucy Pargeter and Dominic Brunt).
Subsequent episodes will feature Sam and Lydia (James Hooton and Karen Blick), Marlon, Al and Ellis (Mark Charnock, Michael Wildman, Aaron Anthony), Mandy and Vinny (Lisa Riley and Bradley Johnson) and Jimmy and Nicola (Nick Miles and Nicola Wheeler).


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Race Hate Crimes Against East And Southeast Asian People Have Quadrupled In Wake Of Coronavirus

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Racist abuse towards Asian communities in Britain has rocketed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic figures obtained by HuffPost UK reveal.
Racially-aggravated assault, harassment and robbery are among the huge rises in hate crime against Southeast and East Asians recorded by the British Transport Police (BTP) and the Metropolitan Police, according to data gathered by freedom of information requests.
Advertisement
In February, 64 race hate crimes were recorded in London by the Met, up from 20 in January and the highest number since 2018.
In the first three month of 2020, BTP registered 42 race hate crimes even with the reduced use of transport stipulated by government advice, more than 400% of the levels recorded last year when there were nine.
Mike Ainsworth, of charity Stop Hate UK, said: “The figures are very alarming and quite clearly linked to Covid-19.”
Advertisement
He added that hate crime is “very susceptible” to political rhetoric and that a number of attacks the charity had heard of involved attackers citing Donald Trump’s “Chinese virus” phrase.
“It’s regrettable the UK government hasn’t shown moral leadership in condemning this racist abuse,” said Ainsworth.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said the government had “consistently condemned” racist hate crime directed at the Chinese community, and has been asked to provide examples.
Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.
Sarah Owen, Labour MP and chair of Chinese for Labour, said: “We need to make it unequivocally clear that no ethnicity or nationality is responsible for, or is the source of, the virus.”
She warned that with the softening of lockdown racist attacks could rise again and that the government “should have had a plan in place”.
Advertisement
Dr Yinxuan Huang, a sociology researcher at the University of Manchester, who has been researching how the Chinese Christian community in Britain reacts to the pandemic, suggested the real figures were likely to be far higher.
“The community is probably suffering more than the numbers could tell because there are many invisible, unreported cases,” said Huang. “In all the stories I’ve heard, the victims did not report it to the police.”
Binna Kandola, a professor at Leeds University who researches cases involving spitting, death threats and violent assault, said: “There is a perception that things that happen to Chinese communities don’t really matter and it’s not worth bothering about.”
A survey by Prof Kandola found that half of more than 400 people surveyed, mostly British-born Chinese, had experienced or witnessed discrimination since coronavirus emerged.
Advertisement
“It could have quite a profound effect on their identity,” he added. “These are feelings that can’t be forgotten. Some people said they might leave the UK.”
Southeast and East Asian communities represent less than 1% of the UK population, according to census data.
Jenny Pattinson, 41, who works in banking, said she was spat on when getting off a bus at Waterloo Station in late February.
Jenny Pattinson Jenny Pattinson
“I felt something hit my head and I turned around and saw two men there,” she said. “I’m a woman, and I was on my own so I couldn’t do anything about it.”
Advertisement
Pattinson, who was born in Luton to parents from Malaysia and Scotland, added: “I feel alien. I feel more aware that I look different and that I’m not accepted by other people. I don’t feel safe in the streets anymore.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Your Face Mask Actually Needs To Fit Properly To Work

LOADING ERROR LOADING
If there are gaps either side of your face mask when you’re wearing one, it’s probably not doing an awful lot to keep your germs under wraps.
That’s according to a preprint study from University of Edinburgh which tested the effectiveness of seven types of mask – including medical-grade masks, homemade masks and face shields – to see how well they stopped the wearer’s germs from escaping.
Advertisement
Wearing a face mask or other covering over the mouth and nose was found to reduce the forward distance of your breath – which can carry the virus – by more than 90%. All seven mask types could potentially help limit the spread of Covid-19, researchers said.
However strong jets of air can escape from the back and sides of some masks if they are ill-fitting – so wearers (and those around them) need to be cautious.
Engineers at the University of Edinburgh assessed different face coverings using an imaging technique, which enabled them to measure the distance and direction of air that is expelled when a person breathes or coughs.
Measurements were taken from people wearing different face coverings while standing or lying down, and from a mannequin connected to a cough-simulating machine. Here’s what researchers found.
Advertisement
Surgical and handmade masks
Surgical masks and the handmade masks tested in the study were found to limit the forward flow of a breath out, but also generate “far-reaching leakage jets” out of the sides of ill-fitting masks, which could travel several metres.
Heavy breathing and coughing, in particular, were shown to generate intense backward jets, which isn’t great news for the person stood behind the mask wearer – proving why social distancing is also very important.
Only masks that form a tight seal with the face were found to prevent the escape of virus-laden fluid particles, the team said.
Respirator masks
A type of mask commonly worn by workers exposed to fine dust – called a respirator mask – was shown to provide protection to the wearer. But it does not provide protection to others.
This is because the respirator has a valve system that filters the inhaled air but does not filter the exhaled air.
Advertisement
The valves on these masks that made breathing easier could potentially allow infectious air to spread considerable forward distances, the study suggested.
Face shields
Researchers also found that full-face shields – the kind worn as personal protective equipment (PPE) by NHS workers – worn without face masks underneath them enabled the release of a strong downward jet of air.
Adrian Seliga via Getty Images
How to wear your face mask safely
The University of Edinburgh research echoes other studies which found that in order for masks to work properly, they need to fit snugly to the face – one study in the journal ACS Nano suggested that a 1% gap between mask and face reduced the filtering efficiency of all the masks they tested by half or more.
Lead researcher Dr Ignazio Maria Viola, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, said: “I have generally been impressed by the effectiveness of all the face coverings we tested. However, we discovered that some face coverings allow the emergence of downward or backward jets that people are not aware of and that could be a major hazard to others around them.”
Advertisement
Dr Felicity Mehendale, a surgeon at the Centre for Global Health at the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute, said it was “reassuring” to see the handmade mask worked just as well as the surgical mask to stop the wearer’s breath flowing directly forwards.
“This suggests that some handmade masks can help to prevent the wearer from infecting the public,” she said. “But, the strong backward jets mean you need to think twice before turning your head if you cough while wearing a mask; and be careful if you stand behind or beside someone wearing a mask.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--'Stinking Hypocrisy': Piers Morgan Blasts Steve Coogan For Reportedly Furloughing House Staff

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Piers Morgan has blasted Steve Coogan after the actor reportedly furloughed his house staff.
The Good Morning Britain host branded the Alan Partridge star a “hypocrite” after The Sun published a story claiming he had taken advantage of the UK government’s scheme to pay his gardener and housekeeper.
During Thursday’s edition of GMB, Piers accused the comic of being “worse than Victoria Beckham”, after the former Spice Girls singer furloughed staff at her fashion label – before doing a u-turn.
Advertisement
(l-r) Piers Morgan and Steve Coogan Rex
Piers said: “He’s the great man of the people... the man who said ’I don’t get anything for free, I pay for everything’, yet he’s furloughing the gardener and housekeeper. Two people he’s furloughing.”
He added: “This is stinking hypocrisy from Coogan.”
In response to The Sun’s original story, the 54-year-old Greed star issued a statement.
“This non-story has more to do with my legal actions against the publishers of The Sun and campaign for press reform than anything else,” it read.
After reading the actor’s statement, Piers continued: “I think what we need is Steve Coogan reform. And to instil in him what being a good socialist boy actually means.
Advertisement
“I pay mine [staff], it’s called doing the right thing. This now wins the Victoria Beckham award for tone deafness when you use government money to pay the staff.”
Reps for Steve Coogan provided no further comment when contacted by HuffPost UK.
Earlier this month, Victoria Beckham reversed her decision to furlough staff at her fashion label during the coronavirus pandemic.
Victoria Beckham ASSOCIATED PRESS
The company had been planning to make use of government assistance to furlough a small number of employees, however it is now proceeding without state help, according to their spokeswoman.
Despite the u-turn the spokeswoman maintained that the company’s original decision “was made in the best interests of trying to protect our staff, and that is still our absolute focus”.
Advertisement
Piers also blasted Victoria’s initial decision to furlough staff during a heated debate with his Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid.
“Talking about altruism and generosity, how nice it was to read over the weekend that Victoria Beckham has decided to furlough thirty of the staff of her failing fashion business,” Piers said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--The Chase's Paul Sinha Declares 'F**k Parkinson's' In Defiant Hula-Hooping Video

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Make the most of your time in lockdown with a daily dose of celebrity news and guides to the best shows. Sign up to the entertainment newsletter.
The Chase star Paul Sinha has declared “f**k Parkinson’s” in a video showing himself hula-hooping for an impressive 30 seconds.
Advertisement
Paul was diagnosed with Parkinson’s just under a year ago, describing the moment his condition was confirmed by doctors as the “devastating denouement to a medical odyssey”, which began when he experienced a frozen shoulder two years earlier.
The disease is a disorder of the nervous system which can cause physical tremors, but in a defiant video he shared on Wednesday evening, Paul revealed that he could still hula-hoop with the best of them – for a full 30 seconds, in fact.
Paul went public with his condition in June last year, insisting: “I have an amazing family, no strangers to serious medical illness, I’m blessed to have a fiancé who is there for me, and I have a multitude of friends and colleagues whom I consider to be exceptional human beings.
Advertisement
“I don’t consider myself unlucky, and whatever the next stage of my life holds for me, many others have it far worse.”
As well as appearing as one of five (soon to be six) quizzing experts on the ITV game show The Chase, Paul is also a qualified doctor, stand-up comedian and contestant on the panel show Taskmaster.
Paul Sinha on The Chase ITV
“In the time since my Parkinson’s started I have been ludicrously busy, and fully intend to keep Chasing, keep writing and performing comedy, keep quizzing and keep being hopeless at Tasks,” he insisted at the time, before adding: “Dancing on Ice is, I suspect, out of the question.”
Last month, Paul revealed that he suspected he had coronavirus, having – in his words – “started social distancing a few days too late”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Game Of Thrones' Peter Dinklage And Jason Momoa Reunite For New Supernatural Thriller

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Make the most of your time in lockdown with a daily dose of celebrity news and guides to the best shows. Sign up to the entertainment newsletter.
Former Game Of Thrones stars Jason Momoa and Peter Dinklage are to reunite for a new acting project.
Jason and Peter are teaming up for the new supernatural thriller Good, Bad & Undead, which sees the former Tyrion Lannister actor playing the vampire hunter, and enemy to Count Dracula, Van Helsing.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Jason – who played warlord Khal Drogo in the first two series of Game Of Thrones – will be playing a vampire who pledges to change his way.
Jason Momoa at the premiere for the Game Of Thrones finale ANGELA WEISS via Getty Images
In the film, the two characters team up and go town-to-town running a scam which sees Van Helsing pretending to kill off Jason’s undead character for money.
According to Deadline, things then take a turn when a “massive bounty is put on the vampire’s head” and they find themselves on the end of a hunt from “everything in this dangerous world full of monsters and magic”.
Advertisement
Good, Bad & Undead will be helmed by screenwriter Max Barbakow, who recently directed Andy Samberg and Camila Mendes in the upcoming film Palm Springs.
In addition to their Game Of Thrones roles, both Jason and Peter already have some impressive film credits to their names.
Peter Dinklage Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images
While Jason is probably now best known as Aquaman – appearing in the DC Justice League films, as well as his own spin-off – Peter had a role in the critically-acclaimed Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Misourri, for which he won a Screen Actors’ Guild award.
He was also one of the few actors to appear in all eight seasons of Game Of Thrones, during which time he was awarded four Emmys.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Hydroxychloroquine: Trump's Taking It, Now We're Trialling It, And Four Other Things You Need To Kno

Hydroxychloroquine: Trump's Taking It, Now We're Trialling It, And Four Other Things You Need To Know About Covid-19

Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
A clinical trial of a controversial anti-malaria drug is to begin in the UK, just days after the US president’s decision to take hydroxychloroquine was described as “a staggering, irresponsible act”.
Advertisement
At the same time, the UK government has been warned it is running out of time to launch its testing and tracing system and may risk a second wave of coronavirus cases arising.
As of 2pm Tuesday, the UK death toll was 35,704.
Here’s the latest on Covid-19:
Hydroxychloroquine trial begins in the UK
Frontline health workers in the UK will be able to participate in a clinical trial to test if the malaria drug touted by Donald Trump prevents coronavirus, the study’s organisers said.
Testing to see if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine can prevent Covid-19 is open to staff in Brighton and Oxford as part of an investigation led by the Bangkok-based Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), which is supported by the University of Oxford and charity Wellcome.
“We really do not know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are beneficial or harmful against Covid-19,” MORU co-principal investigator Professor Nicholas White said.
“The best way to find out if they are effective in preventing Covid-19 is in a randomised clinical trial.”
Advertisement
Scientists say the drug has some “very serious” side-effects and there is no evidence that it prevents or treats the disease.
But those running the MORU trial have said chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine “could reduce the chances” of catching coronavirus amid fears of a second wave of infections.
The team aims to deliver results by the end of 2020.
The latest comes just days after the US president’s decision to take hydroxychloroquine was described as “a staggering, irresponsible act that could very well also amount to self-harm” and there are fears his actions risk running down supplies of the drug for people with other conditions who need it.
Trump has said he will stop taking the medication “in the next day or two” when his course runs out.
Time is running out for track and trace, NHS leaders warn
LeoPatrizi via Getty Images
The health secretary has been told “time is running out” for the government to launch its testing and tracing system if a possible second wave of coronavirus is to be avoided.
Advertisement
Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a testing and tracing system considered essential for easing the current coronavirus lockdown will be up and running by June 1.
But Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation – which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, wrote to health secretary Matt Hancock because his members were “concerned” over an apparent lack of a clear strategy.
“We would therefore urge you to produce such a strategy with a clear implementation plan ahead of any further easing of the lockdown,” Mr Dickson said in his letter.
He said Johnson’s plan to launch the system by June 1 was “very much welcome”.
“But delivery and implementation will be critical, and we await further details,” he added.
New antibody test to be available in next fortnight
solarseven via Getty Images
A new antibody test for coronavirus will be launched in the UK in the next two week, Sky News reports.The pioneering test takes a blood sample from a patient and examines it for antibodies that will show if someone has had the virus.
Advertisement
If the antibodies show up as positive it will be the first clue in establishing if an individual can develop immunity to Covid-19.
Trials are beginning at four hospitals across England including the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire where staff are expected to conducts thousands of the antibody tests every day from 1 June.
Highest daily increase in global cases
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the largest daily rise in global cases.
Some 106,000 new cases had been reported to them in the last 24 hours, the WHO confirmed.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed particular concern about rising infections in low and middle-income nations.
The warning comes as the total number of worldwide cases approach five million.
Lockdown wedding ban leaves couples in legal limbo
Vera Fedorova via Getty Images
Advertisement
Since the government announced the lockdown on March 23, all social gatherings such as weddings and baptisms have been put on hold. And while lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease in England, there has been no news on when weddings will be allowed again.
On May 11, justice secretary Robert Buckland told the BBC he was giving “anxious consideration to the effect of the potential changes” to rules on marriage ceremonies, telling people to “watch this space – we’re working on it”.
HuffPost UK spoke to some engaged couples who are in long-distance relationships about why this state of limbo has been particularly excruciating.
Geraldine Calog and Darrel Wilson met via Facebook last year; their wedding was booked for April 17. It was going to be a simple ceremony in Dumfries and Galloway, with a bigger celebration planned in Geraldine’s home town in the Philippines for later this year.
The couple now worry they won’t be able to reschedule their wedding before Geraldine’s fiancée visa runs out at the end of August, and hope the government will allow small weddings so she can have her spouse visa processed.
Advertisement
“We feel so down,” the couple told HuffPost UK. “We’ve been through a lot just to have Geraldine come over and get married.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Trump Warns Farmers That Gun Control Will Leave Their Potatoes Defenceless

Dearest-
It's off to another long night guarding the potatoes. I am weary and long to close my eyes and dream of you. Alas, our governor is a wretched enemy of liberty and I must take up arms to protect the root vegetables. I miss you so.
Your loving wife#GuardYourPotatoes


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Brazil Is The New Epicentre Of The Global Coronavirus Pandemic

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Brazil’s novel coronavirus outbreak surged to cataclysmic levels on Tuesday afternoon when the country recorded 1,179 deaths from Covid-19 ― a record daily high for a nation that now has more than 270,000 confirmed cases overall.
Brazil passed Italy and Spain on the list of countries with the most coronavirus cases last weekend, then passed the United Kingdom on Monday afternoon. Only Russia and the United States have more ― although researchers have said that a lack of testing means Brazil’s count is likely far higher than official figures suggest.
Advertisement
There are many factors that determine how bad a country’s outbreak becomes, but one unmistakable commonality between the three countries at the top is that their hard-right leaders have downplayed the severity of the crisis and embraced outlandish conspiracy theories, ensuring the outbreaks would be worse than they should have been.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro’s lax response to the coronavirus made his country’s emergence as the world’s newest coronavirus hot spot tragically inevitable.
“Everyone who’s been watching Brazil, who’s been seeing the numbers increase day after day, week after week, knew that it was headed in this direction,” said Anya Prusa, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Brazil Institute in Washington. “It’s not a surprise, but it is a real humanitarian tragedy.”
People mourn during a mass burial of coronavirus pandemic victims on May 19, 2020, in Manaus, Brazil. Brazil has over 270,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 17,000 deaths caused by the virus. Andre Coelho via Getty Images
Advertisement
Deep social inequality and large populations already vulnerable to infectious diseases meant that limiting the spread of the coronavirus in Brazil required an aggressive response. Instead, Bolsonaro dismissed the pandemic as a media conspiracy and the disease as a “tiny flu,” fought with governors and state officials over social distancing measures, fired one health minister and drove another to quit, and largely left Brazilians ― especially the poorest and most vulnerable ― to fend for themselves.
“Brazil went into this with a number of challenges that have been exacerbated by the government response at the very top,” Prusa said. “It is a disaster. And it didn’t need to be a disaster of this size.”
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's lax response to the coronavirus outbreak ensured his country's crisis would be worse than it should have been. Andressa Anholete via Getty Images
The disaster will likely only worsen in the coming weeks as Bolsonaro continues to downplay the pandemic. Brazil’s state public health systems are reaching their breaking points. Its Indigenous populations have warned that a slow government response has put them further at risk as the virus spreads. Outbreaks in some of Brazil’s poorest communities have been met by aggressive and deadly police crackdowns rather than a robust public health response.
And as Brazil reaches the heights of its pandemic, it has no health minister ― the oncologist who previously held the position quit last Friday, just 28 days into his tenure, after refusing to endorse Bolsonaro’s efforts to expand the use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that is not proven to work against the coronavirus, to treat infected patients.
Advertisement
The most dire predictions from the outset of Brazil’s pandemic have come true, including one from the prior former health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who forecast that the virus could quickly inundate hospitals and state public health systems.
Photos of mass graves in the Amazon region have spread globally as the virus overwhelmed public health systems in poorer and financially strapped states. On Monday, São Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas warned that the public hospitals in his city ― the largest and wealthiest in Brazil ― could reach their capacity by the end of May.
For the 1st time, Brazil adds more than a thousand deaths to the daily balance and now has 17,971 victims of Covid-19. Aerial view of Vila Formosa Cemetery
By @reuters / @benassatto #videojournalism #brazil #covid19 #coronavirus #saopaulo pic.twitter.com/VnMaym70JE — Leonardo Benassatto (@leobenassatto) May 19, 2020
Joenia Wapichana, the first Indigenous woman elected to Brazil’s national Congress, told HuffPost in April that the virus would spread rapidly once it reached Indigenous lands. But despite those warnings, government agencies were slow to deliver aid to Indigenous groups or to protect their lands, The Associated Press reported this week.
Illegal raids from miners, loggers and agribusiness interests have increased, despite government guidance to avoid Indigenous lands, as the pandemic and Bolsonaro’s opposition to regulatory enforcement conspired to limit oversight from environmental agencies.
Advertisement
At least 38 Indigenous tribes now have confirmed Covid-19 cases, according to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, the country’s largest tribal organization. The virus has killed 89 Indigenous Brazilians in the Amazon region, the group said in a statement this week that argued the actual number of infections and deaths among tribes is likely far higher than documented.
Indigenous leaders also worry that the pandemic could soon reach Brazil’s isolated groups ― those that have no known contact with outside communities ― after a member of the isolated Awá Guajá people attacked a hunter from another tribe last week, according to the Forest Guardians, a group of tribal leaders that protects the Amazon rainforest from illegal incursions. The attack was likely the result of the Awá Guajá feeling increasingly threatened by outside invaders and accidentally targeting a member of a friendly tribe, the Forest Guardians said in a statement circulated by the nonprofit Survival International.
“If you don’t put an end to the invasions of our territory, the uncontacted Awá Guajá people will die,” the statement said. “Once again, we are warning the Brazilian government and the international community that the Awá Guajá people are currently suffering a genocide.”
People gather next to ambulances on March 29, 2020, after residents of São Paulo's biggest favela, Paraisópolis, hired an around-the-clock private medical service to fight COVID-19. Amanda Perobelli / Reuters
Brazil’s other potential hot spots were its dense pockets of poverty ― the informal favelas of cities like Rio de Janeiro and the suburban periphery neighbourhoods of São Paulo and other metropolitan regions. Long victims of government neglect and stigma, many of those communities lack access to basic sanitation and health care, which, along with their small and tightly packed houses, leave them vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks.
Advertisement
But favela residents have seen little help from the government as the pandemic worsens.
“The word ‘favela’ has not been heard from any government official,” Gilson Rodrigues, a favela leader in São Paulo, said in a Facebook Live broadcast in March, Americas Quarterly reported. “We need to organize and protect ourselves.”
Favela residents across Brazil have organised to manufacture their own hand sanitizer, monitor residents’ health, and create news apps to combat the spread of misinformation about the virus.
But the government’s response, at least in some parts of the country, has been to continue ramping up a deadly drug war.
In Rio de Janeiro, where Governor Wilson Witzel, like Bolsonaro, is a supporter of hard-line public security tactics, police have continued to stage raids into favela neighbourhoods to root out the drug gangs that operate within them. Rio’s police, who are among the deadliest in the world and regularly wield extrajudicial force, killed at least 10 people in one such operation this week, according to community activists. During a Tuesday operation, police shot and killed a 14-year-old boy.
“The world needs to know what is happening in Rio de Janeiro. The state of Rio de Janeiro, governed by [Witzel], is using pandemic isolation as a strategy for violent police actions,” Raull Santiago, a community activist in Rio’s Complexo do Alemão favela, tweeted Tuesday. “The [World Health Organization] says that to beat the coronavirus, we need to do social isolation. But police have been carrying out violent operations in the slums and putting us at risk of violent death.”
Advertisement
The operations have also drawn out crowds of angry and scared residents who oppose the tactics of a police force that killed nearly five people per day a year ago.
“In Brazil, the pandemic brought deaths, thirst, hunger, extreme difficulties,” Santiago said in a follow-up tweet. “And our leaders still incite violent actions by the police. It is a lot of human rights violations.”
“Bolsonaro dismissed the pandemic as a media conspiracy and the disease as a “tiny flu,” fought with governors and state officials over social distancing measures, fired one health minister and drove another to quit, and largely left Brazilians ― especially the poorest and most vulnerable ― to fend for themselves.”
Bolsonaro has pushed states and cities to abandon social isolation measures and business closures in favor of kickstarting the economy, especially as the pandemic has left many Brazilians facing food shortages and little choice but to continue working, even as the pandemic worsens.
But if Brazil doesn’t curb its outbreak, that will do little to boost economic growth.
“If you don’t contain the spread of the virus, then it doesn’t matter what economic measures you use,” Prusa said.
Advertisement
Leaders in neighboring countries like Argentina and Paraguay have openly worried about how Bolsonaro’s refusal to respond will affect their countries, where aggressive measures have limited outbreaks. Rates of deforestation, meanwhile, have continued to skyrocket in the Amazon during the pandemic, sparking fears that Brazil could experience an even worse fire season than it did in 2019 when record blazes and Bolsonaro’s environmentally destructive policies made him a pariah on the world stage.
Bolsonaro has continued to ignore the devastation. On Tuesday, he met with the heads of two major Rio de Janeiro soccer clubs about efforts to restart Brazil’s professional league.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-21--Gogglebox Star Tom Malone Jr Looks Unrecognisable In Brilliant Throwback Photo

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Gogglebox fans have been comparing show regular Tom Malone to Clark Kent after he shared a brilliant throwback snap of himself on Twitter.
By his own admission, the dancer looks unrecognsiable in the photo, which shows a clean shaven and baby-faced Tom.
Advertisement
“Do these two pictures even look like the same person?” he captioned the photo.
Do these two pictures even look like the same person? 😂 pic.twitter.com/ml8un4ROPb — Gogglebox Tom Jr (@TomMaloneJr) May 16, 2020
Tom’s longer hair - complete with a Superman-style quiff - didn’t go unnoticed by fans of the Channel 4 show.
Clark kent and superman — ste* (@stekay9) May 16, 2020
Advertisement
It’s like the good twin and the bad twin — Gemma_Llama 🦙 (@GemmaLarbey) May 16, 2020
Post lockdown > Pre Lockdown — Georgie Green (@georgie__green) May 16, 2020
When he’s not busy raiding the family photo album, Tom has been keeping himself - and the rest of us - entertained by sharing TikTok videos featuring his mum and dad.
The latest sees him accompanied by dad Tom Senior and mum Julie for a Men In Black-inspired dance routine.