d Close your eyes and imagine seeing the art world's treasures as if for the first time | Laura Cumming By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T18:00:03Z The museums of Europe have begun reopening their doors to art lovers desperate to see old favourites and new worksI am cursing my bad luck not to be stuck in lockdown in the Prado. A friend wishes she had stowed away in a closet before they bolted the doors of the National Gallery. Others would give anything for a week in the Rijksmuseum, a day in the Uffizi, an hour with Rembrandt or Vermeer, even just a few minutes with a Samuel Palmer moonscape in the Ashmolean or a Turner sunrise at Tate Britain. Museums are places of the heart.We see art in time and place; we cannot see it otherwise. Of course there are other whereabouts of the works we most long to set eyes on again, during this evil pandemic: the cave paintings at Chaumet in France, Fra Angelico’s Annunciation in a Florentine monastery, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty coiled in the glistening waters of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. These were all chosen in an unofficial and entirely self-selecting Twitter survey (mine), along with Leonardo’s The Last Supper and James Turrell’s Deer Shelter Skyspace, framing the blue heavens above Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Continue reading... Full Article Museums Coronavirus outbreak Culture Art UK news Art and design Europe Germany World news
d Soaring government debt is now inevitable. It’s nothing to fear By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T16:00:00Z Thatcher’s simplistic aversion to borrowing still haunts fiscal policy, but interest rates have been falling for many yearsIt is clear Boris Johnson has favoured his health advisers as he looks to ease the lockdown. Worries about a second coronavirus outbreak have clinched victory over concerns about keeping much of industry and commerce in a state of suspended animation.After weeks of pleading by the Treasury to get the nation back to work, No 10 has opted to play it safe with people’s health, and particularly older people. And no wonder, after a hapless first few months in which the UK leapt to fourth place in probably the most ignominious league table in modern history – that of Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 population – behind Belgium, Spain and Italy. Continue reading... Full Article Government borrowing Bonds Economics Coronavirus outbreak Business
d How did we end up turning our care homes into jails of enforced loneliness? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:30:19Z The rights of the most vulnerable, including those with dementia, should not be violatedCoronavirus - latest updatesCoronavirus - see all our coverageLast week, driving to the shops, I passed a care home and saw a figure standing at an upstairs window: an old woman looking out at a world she could not enter. She looked like a prisoner. And in a way, that’s probably what she was.Let’s talk about old people. Let’s talk about people in care homes, about people living with dementia and dying with dementia, out of sight and out of mind, and what the lockdown means for them. Let’s talk about what we are not talking about enough, not thinking about enough, not caring about enough. Continue reading... Full Article Dementia Coronavirus outbreak Social care NHS Care workers Hospitals Health Mental health UK news Society World news Older people
d The VE Day speeches that moved beyond words | Vanessa Thorpe By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:30:17Z Sincerity is an increasingly rare commodity among our leaders, but sombre addresses by the Queen and Germany’s president had it in spadesPublic suspicion is often aroused by the neat use of rhetoric, or by hearing a clever trick of speech. It is understandable that a stylish phrase or a persuasive analogy from the mouth of an authority figure should be met with caution.Many are now also wary of the comparisons with the Second World War that are lobbed at the population each week by politicians, for the globe is not waging a military campaign or fighting a battle, there is no violent human enemy to defeat. Instead, we are all engaged in a unique and sustained mass experiment in protection and survival. Continue reading... Full Article VE Day UK news The Queen Germany Second world war Europe Monarchy World news Language
d Working with women makes the world a better place | Torsten Bell By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T05:30:16Z Research finds that both male and female judges are more likely to employ female clerks if they have worked with womenDiscrimination over jobs is bad. Bad for those discriminated against, and bad for society, as talent is wasted and divisions sown. Women reaching senior leadership positions in organisations is generally a sign of success for gender equality – but it can also lead to increased equality elsewhere. That is the important finding from new research on the (not famously diverse) world of judges. The study looks at the hiring of law clerks by senior judges in the US. Continue reading... Full Article Women Law US news Women in the boardroom Gender Business Life and style World news Inequality
d Itoje and Mako Vunipola will stay at Saracens, believes England coach Mitchell By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T21:00:06Z Sarries players urged to focus on international future‘I’m quite confident that they will make good decisions’Maro Itoje and Mako Vunipola have been urged to make “good decisions” for their international careers by the England defence coach, John Mitchell, with both players yet to commit to Saracens next season.Itoje had hoped to receive dispensation to continue his England career while spending next season on loan in France at Racing 92 rather than in the Championship with relegated Saracens. However, that move was blocked by the other Premiership clubs since it did not meet “exceptional circumstances”, the loophole that allows England’s head coach, Eddie Jones, to select overseas-based players in the event of an injury crisis. Continue reading... Full Article Saracens England rugby union team Maro Itoje Rugby union Sport
d 'There was a lot of swearing': the night West Ham played behind closed doors | Jacob Steinberg By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:00:18Z Two players and a photographer remember what it was like to face Castilla at an empty Upton Park in 1980 At half-time West Ham’s former chairman Len Cearns was sent on a futile mission by his fellow directors. They wanted him to go down to the home dressing room to ask John Lyall if there was any way his team could possibly remember that the foul language being used in the heat of battle was floating away from the pitch, rattling around the empty terraces and causing some discomfort for the people sitting in the posh seats.“There was a lot of swearing going on in the game,” Alvin Martin says as he recalls West Ham hosting a European tie behind closed doors in the autumn of 1980. “You don’t realise it. You’re communicating in a factory way.” Continue reading... Full Article West Ham United European club football Football Sport
d PSG's record £198m splurge on Neymar will stand for years as symbol of crisis | Jonathan Wilson By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T19:00:04Z Elite clubs will prey on desperate ones in the hunt for bargains as the game reels from its biggest financial hit since the 1930sEven at the time – in 2017 – the fee Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Neymar was extraordinary: £198m was 125% more than the previous record, set a year earlier when Manchester United had signed Paul Pogba from Juventus. Transfer records simply aren’t broken by that amount in the usual run of things. It was a statement signing, a deal designed not only to land the player, but to emphasise PSG’s financial power, to highlight their status as a super-club while inflating the market to a level at which only the mega-rich could compete.Three years on, with football suspended across the globe and major leagues desperately seeking ways to get games on to stave off financial apocalypse, the world looks very different. A model predicated on constant growth has received an abrupt shock. Continue reading... Full Article Neymar Football Sport Transfer window Paris Saint-Germain
d Silverstone marshals wary of extra risks to F1 going behind closed doors By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:00:18Z Volunteers who help the British Grand Prix run smoothly want to get back trackside but questions remain on safety and testing“We are like one big family,” says Carolyn Doyle of the bond between the marshals of the British Grand Prix. “We are there because we love it and we want to achieve the same thing – that’s what makes it really special.”Much as it does bring great pleasure to this selfless collective, the sport knows their presence is invaluable. As Silverstone considers hosting two consecutive races behind closed doors in July, the volunteer marshals are having to consider the new realities imposed on Formula One by the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading... Full Article British Grand Prix Silverstone Formula One Motor sport Sport
d 'They lynched him': Ahmaud Arbery's father on the killing of his son By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:00:17Z Marcus Arbery Sr says Ahmaud’s death at the hands of two white men, while he was out for a run, was an act of racismMarcus Arbery Sr says his son was just like him, fit and athletic. Related: ‘Every stone will be uncovered’: how Georgia officials failed the Ahmaud Arbery case Continue reading... Full Article Ahmaud Arbery Georgia Gun crime US crime Race US news
d Who is Kayleigh McEnany – and why is she saying nice things about Donald Trump? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T05:00:16Z The White House press secretary has made a confident start in a notoriously difficult role. Those who know her say the media and opponents underestimate her at their perilIt was a mic drop designed to thrill conservatives and infuriate liberals and the media. Related: 'You can't ask the virus for a truce': reopening America is Trump's biggest gamble Continue reading... Full Article Donald Trump Trump administration US politics US news Republicans Christianity Religion Fox News CNN US press and publishing US television industry Media World news
d Sunday with La Roux: ‘I miss my family, but daily walks help’ By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T05:45:17Z The singer and songwriter on dealing with solitude, her favourite cafe and why she’s hooked on FrasierHow does Sunday start? With disappointment – Frasier isn’t on TV at the weekend. The show is perfection. I watch it every morning. Whatever time I go to bed I sleep for eight hours. Once I’m up I call a friend and put them on loudspeaker while I have breakfast in the garden and take a bath.Recovering from a big night? Not since I stopped partying 10 years ago. Back then I’d still be going on Sunday morning, inviting people round. Drugs make you into a dickhead. The happier I’ve become, the less I’ve wanted to be destructive, transported somewhere else. But it took a few years to no longer feel I was missing out. Continue reading... Full Article Sunday with… Life and style La Roux Music Culture
d Through my lockdown lens: 11 leading photographers capture their confinement By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:00:17Z Acclaimed photographers from around the world share a single image reflecting on their experience of the coronavirus outbreakMinneapolis, Minnesota Continue reading... Full Article Photography Art and design Coronavirus outbreak Culture
d Hebridean island divided after memoir explores darker fringe of Highland life By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:23:17Z Neighbours of Tamsin Calidas, who moved to Scotland from London, are keen to put their side as her book I am an Island looks set for successTamsin Calidas’s memoir about swapping Notting Hill for a croft on a small Hebridean island luxuriates in its landscape. The heather and the Munros, the raw skies and the wild tides of the Atlantic are lavishly described. The islanders, by contrast, are largely anonymous, thoughtless and cruel. Continue reading... Full Article Scotland Rural affairs Autobiography and memoir Books Culture UK news
d What does it take to get really great service in restaurants? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T05:00:16Z The first rule is, don’t be a complete schmuck...In the opening chapter of Wine Girl, the hugely entertaining memoir by Victoria James, once America’s youngest sommelier, the author describes a blood-boiling encounter with the kind of customer for whom involuntary euthanasia should be devised. It is a Monday lunch at the glossy Aureole in New York and the host of a testicle-heavy table of four has ordered a $650 bottle of a serious white burgundy (a 2009 Chevalier-Montrachet from Domaine Ramonet).Having checked at her serving station that the wine isn’t tainted, James returns to the table and pours a small measure for the customer to taste. He declares it corked. “I think she has too much perfume in her nose, this girl…” he says, as if competing for a gold in the misogyny Olympics. There are only two bottles of the wine in the restaurant’s cellar. James does not want to waste a big-bucks bottle when she knows it is perfectly fine. Instead, she presents the unopened second bottle, takes it away, then returns and gets him to taste the original bottle again. And between racist epithets, he declares it perfect, with a fat top note of triumph in his voice. Witness: small penis energy. Continue reading... Full Article Food Restaurants Restaurants Life and style Travel
d Rosena Allin-Khan: 'If Matt Hancock found my tone difficult, that's on him' By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:33:17Z The Labour MP and A&E doctor on her run-in with the health secretary and her shifts on the hospital frontline Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhen Rosena Allin-Khan stood up in the House of Commons last Tuesday to address the health secretary, Matt Hancock, she anticipated being stonewalled. She didn’t expect to become the story.In her other life, the MP for Tooting is an A&E doctor and intensive care specialist and has been working 12-hour hospital shifts throughout the pandemic. Allin-Khan reported that the government’s failures were contributing to a greater loss of life and she wanted answers on its testing strategy. The health secretary awkwardly responded by suggesting that Allin-Khan’s testimony was untrue and moreover, that she “might do well to take a leaf out of the shadow secretary of state’s book in terms of tone”. Continue reading... Full Article Labour Coronavirus outbreak Health policy Politics Doctors Hospitals Matt Hancock UK news Medical research Health Society
d I’ve craved a slower pace of life – and want to make it permanent | Dear Mariella By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T05:00:16Z When lockdown has ended, we must continue to live simpler lives to benefit both us and the planet, says Mariella FrostrupThe dilemma I know we’re in the middle of a global pandemic with the economy knackered and the free world led by a man like Trump. I know our freedom has been temporarily taken away from us. But I’m dreading the end of lockdown.For years I’ve craved a slower pace of life. Lockdown has allowed me to spend time with my family – and not on the relentless promise of success in my career. It has allowed me to play and learn with my child, rather than rush to drop-off or pick-up at wraparound care. It has allowed me to walk in woodland rather than standing on a crowded commuter train. In many ways it has been idyllic. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Life and style Parents and parenting Family
d Israel threatens to pull evangelical Christian TV station aimed at Jews By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:02:17Z State forbids preaching to under-18s without parents’ permissionThe Israeli government is threatening to take off air a Christian television channel that launched in the country to preach to Jews, warning that it will be barred if it breaks strict rules around proselytising.GOD TV, an evangelical media network that broadcasts across the world, signed a seven-year deal with a major Israeli cable television provider, HOT, to host its new Hebrew-language channel that began airing last month. Continue reading... Full Article Israel Evangelical Christianity Middle East and North Africa World news Religion Christianity
d The 'United States of Europe' speech that Winston Churchill so nearly made By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:12:17Z A recently discovered document sheds new light on the wartime leader’s ‘iron curtain’ addressIt was a speech that electrified the world, one that coined a phrase that was to characterise the political era that followed the second world war. But its content could have been very different, reveals a document freshly unearthed by a historian researching the life of Winston Churchill.On 5 March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri, before a huge crowd which included the US president, Harry Truman, Britain’s wartime leader issued a famous description of the political division that was opening across Europe between the Soviet-dominated Communist east and the western democracies. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,” Churchill declared, “an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” Continue reading... Full Article Winston Churchill Second world war European Union US news Communism Europe UK news
d Conservation society clashes with Disney over missing historic letters By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:39:18Z Campaigners call for return of 1930s wording to Twentieth Century Fox Film Co former officesDisney, titan of the media and entertainment world, has enraged a group of Londoners attempting to preserve one of Soho’s best-known squares. And the battle is over one word: “Fox”.In the south-west corner of Soho Square stands Twentieth Century House, a grand emblem of the American film industry’s key role in this part of the city since 1937. It is now in the hands of Disney. Continue reading... Full Article Film Heritage Culture Disney Channel Television industry Media UK news London
d Harry Dunn's family call for parliamentary inquiry into death By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T19:35:56Z Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn ‘uplifted’ after meeting with shadow foreign secretary, Lisa NandyThe family of Harry Dunn have urged the shadow foreign secretary to call for a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of their son’s death.Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn said they felt “uplifted” and believed Lisa Nandy would “take things forward on our and the nation’s behalf” after a virtual meeting with her on Friday. Continue reading... Full Article UK news Yvette Cooper Lisa Nandy Charles Falconer Lord Falconer of Thoroton Home Office Politics US news
d Venezuela seizes empty Colombian combat boats days after failed invasion plot By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T04:50:53Z Caracas has accused Colombia and US of plotting to overthrow president Maduro; says military found abandoned vessels in Orinoco riverVenezuela’s military says it has seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found while patrolling the Orinoco river on Saturday, several days after the government accused its neighbour of aiding a failed invasion plot.In a statement, the defence ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela’s “freedom and sovereignty”. Continue reading... Full Article Venezuela Colombia Americas US news Nicolás Maduro
d Oligarch's wife brings son into high-stakes divorce case By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:15:17Z Tatiana Akhmedova wants high court to have access to son’s papers in her fight for £453m – but he says her claim is unlawfulIt is proving to be a very modern divorce. Armies of lawyers and advisers; hundreds of millions of pounds at stake; priceless art; a superyacht; a key lieutenant switching sides; the son dragged into the proceedings by his mother. No wonder some involved have likened it to The War of the Roses, the dark Hollywood comedy about a feuding couple starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas.But now attempts to secure the assets awarded following Britain’s biggest, bitterest marital breakup may hinge on how the high court views an arcane financial practice dating back to feudal times. Continue reading... Full Article UK news Russia Divorce Divorce Europe
d UK councils to enforce temporary road closures for safer school runs By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T18:40:52Z London and Manchester already have measures to restrict traffic, encourage walking and cycling, and cut air pollutionRoads are to be temporarily closed near schools when parents drop off and pick up their children, in order to deter people from driving on the school run – and to encourage more walking, cycling and scooting.The plans to shut off roads at school rush hours, using barriers, cones and other measures, are already far advanced in London and Manchester and are expected to be followed in other cities and towns. Continue reading... Full Article Schools Road safety Air pollution Cycling Health Coronavirus outbreak Sadiq Khan Andy Burnham UK news
d As Germans prepare for foreign holidays, I console myself with travel books By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:00:17Z We might have to watch the rest of Europe return to the beaches while we’re still stuck at homeIn the past month some mundane words seem to have regained their old mystery. “Travel” is one. In my dutiful daily hour on the rusting exercise bike in the garden I’ve been listening to favourite audiobooks of the remarkable far away: Jan Morris in Venice, Peter Matthiesson in the Himalayas, Bruce Chatwin in Patagonia. In the absence of the possibility of any kind of abroad the great descriptive passages seem doubly evocative. Continue reading... Full Article Travel Coronavirus outbreak VE Day London Bars pubs and clubs UK news Restaurants Food and drink
d The new rules to living in lockdown By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:00:19Z Follow the science, they say… So here are 12 new ‘observations’ about life in a post-pandemic worldApologies in advance: this column will be distressing to scientists (including those in my own family, but thankfully none of them read what I write).The rules of the physical world seem to be abandoning us. The virus acts like no other pathogen. Two metres is entirely subjective now, expanding and contracting to meet our needs. Time is non-Newtonian, like the cornflour you’ve probably resorted to if you have small children to entertain, stiff and fluid at once. Numbers are basically meaningless: in pandemic maths, a figure such as 413 deaths – the one released on the day I am writing, an unthinkable catastrophe at another time – is encouraging, a cause for some optimism. Continue reading... Full Article Life and style Science Coronavirus outbreak
d The Observer view on the government's lack of a proper lockdown plan | Observer editorial By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T05:00:16Z Ministers’ shambolic briefings expose a terrifying lack of competence• Coronavirus latest updates• See all our coronavirus coverage‘In spite of the sunny bank holiday, it is vitally important that we continue to abide by the current restrictions: stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.” That was the message delivered by the environment secretary, George Eustice, at Friday afternoon’s press conference. Yet just the day before, most newspapers were emblazoned with excited headlines foretelling a significant relaxation of social distancing restrictions, based on briefing from government sources: “Lockdown freedom beckons”, “First steps to freedom from Monday” and “Stay home advice to be scrapped”.Despite the critical importance of clear public messaging to any public health strategy, the government’s communications have been marred by mixed messages throughout this deadly pandemic. Its core message, asking the public to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives, has been very effective, but this has consistently been undermined by ministers and advisers inaccurately briefing the press that there is about to be a shift in policy. Before the Easter weekend, reports appeared that ministers thought that the public had been too obedient in following the lockdown, and that a relaxation was imminent. The same happened before this bank holiday weekend, forcing the government to clarify that there was no change in restrictions and that people must continue to abide by the law. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak World news Health policy Health Politics UK news Society Conservatives Boris Johnson
d Johnson Starmer both know true exit plan means reducing our freedoms By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:00:18Z Taking Britain safely out of lockdown will necessitate unpopular policies of more spending and surveillanceA commonplace criticism of political parties is that they have drifted “into their comfort zone”, which mostly means that Labour talks a lot about raising spending, while the Conservatives talk about cutting taxes. But politicians have comfort zones that are operational as well as ideological: ways of working that they find more attractive than others.In late 2014, one ambitious young shadow cabinet minister asked his aides to draw up a 14-point plan to help him become leader of the Labour party. Step two involved an itemised list of Labour MPs, each of whom, he was told, he needed to wine and dine if he was to have any hope of making a successful bid at the job. The frontbencher in question contemplated evening after evening spent in conversation with his colleagues versus time spent with his wife and children. Surely, he reasoned, he could achieve the same end by writing thoughtful columns in the newspapers and delivering wide-ranging speeches? His leadership bid never recovered. Continue reading... Full Article Surveillance Coronavirus outbreak Apps NHS Office for National Statistics Boris Johnson Keir Starmer Politics Society Identity cards UK news World news Health Infectious diseases Technology
d New York warns of children's illness linked to Covid-19 after three deaths By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T20:24:53Z State reports 73 cases of children falling severely ill with toxic shock-like reaction that has symptoms similar to Kawasaki diseaseCoronavirus – latest US updatesCoronavirus – latest global updatesThe deaths of three children in New York of inflammatory complications possibly linked to Covid-19 has prompted Andrew Cuomo, the state’s governor, to warn of “an entirely different chapter” of a disease that had been believed to cause only mild symptoms in children.The governor reported the first death, of a five-year old boy, on Friday. At his morning press conference on Saturday, Cuomo raised the number of fatalities to three, after the death of a seven-year-old and a teenager. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Children US news Infectious diseases Society Medical research New York
d Bundesliga restart blow after entire Dynamo Dresden team quarantined By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T20:49:37Z Two-week isolation means Dresden cannot play next weekTwo players from Bundesliga 2 side test positive for Covid-19Germany’s plans to restart competitive football next Saturday suffered an early setback after the entire Dynamo Dresden team were placed in a two-week quarantine following two positive coronavirus tests among the players.The Bundesliga 2 club announced on their website that tests taken on Friday had revealed two new positive cases and local health authorities had ordered the team into quarantine. Dresden were scheduled to play Hannover 96 next Sunday in their first game back following the stoppage caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading... Full Article Bundesliga European club football Football Sport
d 'It isn't over': South Korea records 34 new Covid-19 cases, the highest in a month By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T04:43:18Z Twenty-six of the new coronavirus cases were domestically transmitted, including 14 in SeoulCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSouth Korea has reported 34 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily number in a month, after a small outbreak emerged around a slew of nightclubs that a confirmed patient had visited.Of the new cases announced on Sunday, 26 were domestically transmitted infections and eight were imported cases, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak South Korea World news
d Greeks marvel at Britain's Covid chaos as their lockdown lifts after 150 deaths By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:05:18Z Still resilient after taking tough and early action, Greece can now look forward to a summer tourist season beginning in JulyCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhen Pavlos Pandelides realised the coronavirus pandemic was moving west, he bought a plane ticket and flew from Athens to London. He then drove north to Nottingham to collect his daughter, a student at the city’s university, before returning with her the next day to Greece. An ardent admirer of all things British, the businessman had absolutely no doubt that what he was doing was right. “The British are fighters but I could see they were underestimating this,” he said.While Covid-19 was tearing through northern Italy, Boris Johnson was still faltering, with his government showing worrying signs of complacency. There was, said Pandelides, no time to waste. “It was more than a protective father thing. It was clear they were about to really mess up.” Continue reading... Full Article Greece Coronavirus outbreak Kyriakos Mitsotakis World news Europe Boris Johnson
d Return to work: ‘We won't force anyone to come in and take a risk if they are uncomfortable with it’ By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:15:18Z One boss, Dale Vince of the green energy firm Ecotricity, explains how he will get his 700 staff back to workCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAlmost all the desks at Ecotricity’s headquarters in Stroud are empty. Pot plants, cards and personal photos are the only signs of the hundreds of employees at the green-energy firm who used to file in and out of the building in the Cotswold town every day.Like most office-based employers, the firm’s founder, Dale Vince, sent virtually all of his 700-strong workforce home at the start of the lockdown in March. Now he is considering how to bring some of them back in anticipation of government guidance for reopening non-essential businesses. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Work & careers Health
d London police body criticises government's 'wishy-washy' coronavirus response By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:00:15Z Metropolitan Police Federation says No 10 is sending mixed messages and authorities needed to be ‘firmer right from the beginning’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA body representing police officers in London has criticised the government’s pandemic response as “wishy-washy” amid concerns that the public has begun ignoring lockdown restrictions.The Metropolitan Police Federation (MPF) said that, despite its assertions to the contrary, the government is sending out mixed messages. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak UK news Metropolitan police London Police
d Diary entries will chart the mood of Britain in coronavirus quarantine By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:11:18Z People can contribute to projects that aim to leave a map of the national mood and allow future historians a glimpse of 24 hours in a pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage“I have underlying health conditions, including asthma,” writes a frightened 40-year-old woman , shortly before Sunday’s news of whether the lockdown will be eased. “I’m terrified to leave the house, even for exercise, but I’m not sick enough to be ‘extremely vulnerable’. Covid-19 could quite probably kill me.”The anonymous contributor is part of a project called Covid-19 and Me, run jointly by the Young Foundation and the Open University, two of a number of organisations which are asking thousands of men and women of all ages, ethnicities, incomes, beliefs and backgrounds across Britain to keep diaries, complete questionnaires and be interviewed by their peers. They want to know what it is like, at an everyday level, to live through a global pandemic, to create an ongoing “weather map of public feeling”. Continue reading... Full Article Social trends Coronavirus outbreak Health & wellbeing Society UK news Poverty Life and style
d ‘Keep children in nursery longer’ to help with social distancing at UK schools By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:31:17Z Pre-school providers tell ministers they can take the strain from crowded primary classes when the lockdown easesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageLeading nurseries are urging the government to let them help primary schools cope with social distancing rules by allowing children to stay in their pre-school classes for months longer than planned.Primary schools are expected to be the first to reopen, but many are concerned about the basic practicalities of doing so. A group of 70 prominent providers has written to ministers, setting out how the nurseries can help. It says that encouraging more children to start school in January or April next year, rather than this September, could ease the problems and help children cope with life after lockdown. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Early years education Education Schools Primary schools UK news
d A return to work is on the cards. What are the fears and legal pitfalls? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T16:26:00Z Employers face a logistical nightmare as staff returnCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTemperature tests, taped-off lifts and potential spikes in harassment complaints are all being examined by British businesses as they prepare for a slow and staggered return to work.Companies have already been scrambling for legal and practical advice as they prepare for the realities of managing workplaces during the Covid-19 crisis. However, there are already major concerns that workers are unclear about what to do if they are being put at risk, while industry figures also warn that the mental health impacts of returning to a new “alien environment” are not being prioritised. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Science Infectious diseases World news Employment law Health Law Society Work & careers UK news
d Can antibody testing deliver on promises to lift the lockdown? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T06:00:18Z As hundreds of test kits claim to offer accurate results on previous Covid-19 infection, scientists around the world are working hard to assess their accuracyCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAt the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Marion Koopmans and a team of scientists are going throught the laborious process of verifying antibody tests for Covid-19. Over the last two months, dozens of prospective tests have hit the market, and with many governments wanting to feed the results of large-scale testing into their decisions whether to end lockdowns, biological tests have rarely carried such weight.Most of the tests are enthusiastically marketed, boasting of their ability to accurately detect whether someone has previously been infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus. The painstaking job of proving whether the tests do what they say has fallen to a worldwide network of 12 independent centres, of which Koopmans’s team is one. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Biology Science World news Aids and HIV Society
d 100 days later: How did Britain fail so badly in dealing with Covid-19? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:17:18Z Since the UK confirmed its first case, its response has proved one of the least effective Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt is 100 days since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the UK on 31 January. The official death toll so far from the epidemic has topped 33,000 and is still rising fast. The actual total could be far higher, many analysts say – leaving Britain among the countries hit hardest by Covid-19.The government has struggled to get on top of the crisis, facing growing criticism for its lack of early preparation to tackle the virus, its abrupt shifts in strategy, its failure to provide adequate protective equipment for its medical staff and other key workers, and its inability to organise testing on the scale that many say is vital. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Boris Johnson Keir Starmer UK news Politics Health Society Infectious diseases Science
d More people think UK has handled coronavirus worse than Spain and Italy, poll shows By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T21:32:07Z Only US is judged to have dealt with it worse, after it was reported the UK has the highest death toll of any country in EuropeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore people in this country now believe the UK has performed worse than Italy, Spain and France in the Covid-19 crisis than say it has done better than its European neighbours, according the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.The data shows that only the United States is judged by a majority of people in the UK to have fared worse. While two weeks ago more people thought that the UK had done better than Italy and Spain, now the reverse is the case. Continue reading... Full Article Opinion polls Coronavirus outbreak UK news Health Science
d Trades unions tell Johnson: no return to work until we feel safe By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T21:32:07Z Leaders of Unison, Unite, the GMB and Usdaw join TUC in calling for radical overhaul of health and safety in the workplace• Coronavirus – latest updates• See all our coronavirus coverageBritain’s biggest trades unions have warned Boris Johnson that they will not recommend a return to work for their three million members until the government and employers agree a nationwide health and safety revolution as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.In a letter to the Observer, leaders of the “big four” – Unison, Unite, the GMB and Usdaw – together with the Trades Union Congress, say many of their members have already lost their lives “transporting people and goods, protecting the public and caring for the vulnerable”. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Trade unions TUC Health Society Work & careers Money UK news Science Infectious diseases
d Johnson to announce coronavirus warning system for England By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T22:02:05Z Prime minister expected to outline ‘roadmap’ to new normality in address on Sunday Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson is expected to unveil a coronavirus warning system for England when he outlines his plans to gradually ease the lockdown.The prime minister will drop the “stay home” slogan and instead tell the country to “stay alert, control the virus and save lives” when he outlines his “roadmap” to a new normality during an address to the nation on Sunday. Johnson is planning to tell workers who cannot do their jobs from home to begin returning to their workplaces while following social distancing rules. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak UK news Boris Johnson Health
d Coronavirus live news: three White House Covid-19 taskforce members go into self-quarantine By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-10T07:42:07Z Anthony Fauci and top advisers from CDC and FDA to work remotely because of potential exposure to Covid-19; global cases pass 4 million; Russia cases approach 200,000. Follow the latest updatesThree White House Covid-19 taskforce members to self-quarantineNew York warns of children’s illness linked to Covid-19 Hundreds queue for food parcels in wealthy GenevaCoronavirus at a glanceAustralia – live news 8.42am BST A navy ship carrying evacuees from the Maldives arrived in India today as part of an effort to bring home hundreds of thousands of nationals stranded overseas due to the coronavirus lockdown.Workers and students were unable to return home after India banned all incoming international flights in late March as part of the world’s biggest lockdown to combat the spread of the deadly infectious disease. 8.32am BST Malaysia’s government extended the time frame for movement and business curbs by another four weeks to 9 June, amid a gradual reopening of economic activity stunted by the coronavirus pandemic.Earlier this week, businesses were allowed to resume business as usual, albeit under strict health guidelines, after having to close shop for two months as health authorities worked to contain the pandemic. Malaysia has so far reported 6,589 cases with 108 deaths. Continue reading... Full Article World news Obama administration Trump administration Donald Trump Germany Russia South Korea US politics
d Drunk Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro Chugs Bleach on SNL By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sun, 10 May 2020 00:56:15 -0400 Saturday Night Live’s Cecily Strong was portraying Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as an out-of-control drunk long before the real Jeanine Pirro appeared to actually be drunk during a live broadcast from home during the coronavirus pandemic. So the season finale of SNL at Home was the perfect time for Strong’s Pirro to join “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost from her home to talk about the lockdown protests happening across America. “Good evening, Colin, I hope you’ll forgive me,” Pirro began. “I had to do my own makeup while looking into a spoon.” Asked how she’s holding up under quarantine, she said, “I’m perfectly fine. Although I’ll admit that it’s been tough for all of us. For what seems like forever, I’ve been sitting at home, drinking and complaining to whoever would listen. Then this whole coronavirus thing happened!” Alec Baldwin Plays Donald Trump ‘One Last Time’ on SNLAfter Pirro suggested that if the sun or the “miracle drug hydroxychloro-queef” don’t work, perhaps we can just shoot the virus with AR-15s, Jost had to ask if she had been drinking. “Not much,” she said. “I’m just having a little of this boxed wine.” Pirro, who repeatedly called the anchor “Ainsley,” went on to praise the “magnificent” president for the way he’s been leading during the crisis. “Have you seen him up there during these press conferences?” she asked. “Oh, mama, I just want to hide inside a 12-piece bucket of chicken and let him eat me alive.” By the end of their interview, Pirro was broadcasting from the woods covered in war paint. When Jost asked her what she was drinking now, she answered. “Oh this? It’s called a piña cloroxa. It’s pineapple juice, coconut milk, and a half cup of bleach.” For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Full Article
d Mike Huckabee: No elected official who orders a lockdown should get a paycheck as long we're shut down By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 22:47:15 -0400 Reaction from Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and Republican presidential candidate. Full Article
d Vaccine orders plummet amid coronavirus outbreak: CDC By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 15:51:35 -0400 Washington (AFP) - Orders for vaccines against diseases such as measles have declined since a national emergency was declared in the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Full Article
d People are speaking out in support of Costco after customers threatened to boycott the warehouse chain for requiring shoppers to wear masks By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:11:54 -0400 "I totally support your mask policy," a comment on Costco's Facebook said. "It is small minded individuals who don't understand the reason for it." Full Article
d Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 14:04:25 -0400 Full Article
d House Democrats ask 5 companies to return coronavirus aid By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 18:30:41 -0400 A Democratic-led subcommittee overseeing federal coronavirus aid is demanding that five companies return loans the panel says should have gone to smaller businesses. The subcommittee led by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., sent letters Friday to the companies as its first official action. The House voted last month to create the panel over the objections of Republicans who say it is partisan and duplicative of other oversight efforts around the federal government. Full Article
d Fauci joins CDC chief on growing White House quarantine list By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 21:58:00 -0400 The head of the Food and Drug Administration will also self-quarantine; all three are on the coronavirus task force. Full Article