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John Crace's big bank holiday quiz

Have you been keeping up with the news?

What reason did the government give for not joining the EU procurement scheme on four separate occasions?

Brussels had the wrong address so we never got the email

We weren’t allowed to because we had left the EU.

All the European ventilators had the wrong plugs.

In her evidence to the home affairs select committee, did Priti Patel say that the reason passengers weren’t tested on arrival at airports was because...

The UK had too many international air passengers

The UK had too few international air passengers

The UK had both too many and too few international air passengers

The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, owns three homes, two of which are in London. Where is the third which he visited in contravention of lockdown rules?

Exmoor

His constituency of Newark

Herefordshire

What did the Daily Mail think VE Day stood for in its readers’ offer for a 75th Anniversary Celebration coin?

Victory in Europe

Victory for Europe

Victory over Europe

Who was visited by the police after breaking lockdown to go to Dover to make a video about his failure to find any illegal immigrants?

Richard Tice

John Redwood

Nigel Farage

How many people in South Korea (population 52 million) have died from the coronavirus?

256

2,560

25,600

What did Donald Trump suggest people should think about using to help them beat coronavirus?

Sunbed courses

Dettol

Chloroquine

What is France selling to help pay for the coronavirus crisis?

The Arc de Triomphe

The wine cellar of the Elysee Palace

Its national collection of antique furniture

How long do you get on a free Zoom conference call?

30 minutes

40 minutes

60 minutes

What was Boris Johnson doing when he took 10 days off in Chequers in February during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic?

Recovering from his 10-day break to Mustique at the New Year.

Sorting out his complicated private life.

Helping Carrie Symonds arrange a baby shower for her friends.

What was the name of the two doctors who cared for Boris Johnson in St Thomas’ after whom he named his son?

Imran

Ranjit

Nicholas

What aliases did the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, use for his second job as an internet marketeer when first elected as an MP?

Maurice Blue and Archie Stoat

Mostyn Orange and Torquil Beaver

Michael Green and Sebastian Fox

How many coronavirus tests did Priti Patel tell a Downing Street press conference had been carried out?

300,034,974,000

3,000,349,740,000

30,034,974,000

Who is being lined up to take the blame for the inevitable public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic?

The EU

Matt Hancock

Meghan and Harry

How much will a mug of coronavirus breakout star, Chris Whitty, cost you from the ‘Chris Whitty Appreciation Society’?

£8

£10

£12

What did deputy chief medical officer, Jenny Harries, tell a Downing Street press conference in March that couples should do?

Separate

Stop being so needy

Move in together

Banksy has donated a new artwork to Southampton general hospital. It depicts a boy holding up

A testing kit

A Boris Action man

A nurse doll

Where is Tom Cruise’s new film set to be shot?

The International Space Station

Richard Branson’s Necker Island

The Nightingale Hospital in London

What was Meghan reading to her son Archie in his first birthday video

Lights! Camera! Action!

Duck! Rabbit!

Duck! Never!

15 and above.

Excellent: give yourself a round of applause

11 and above.

Well done: you seem to have been paying attention to the news

7 and above.

Not bad: you appear to have been trying to keep with events

0 and above.

Risible: were you trying to get the answers wrong?

3 and above.

Very poor: do you follow the news at all?

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‘Anyone popular at school has muscles’: the rise of the ripped teen

Charlie, 13, starts his morning with 40 press-ups; William, 15, spends an hour a day working out. But when does a healthy interest become a dangerous obsession?

Charlie is working on two things in lockdown. First, his studies: at 13, he’s the first to admit his focus is patchy. “I don’t do a lot of homework,” he says. “My mum complains about that all the time.” That isn’t to say he hasn’t thought about a career. “I wanted to be a game designer, but now I think the future’s in diseases, in microbiology, so I am also interested in that. A bit.”

His other work requires hours of dedication and is something Charlie has genuine enthusiasm for: working on his body. His daily routine starts with 40 press-ups while his shower is running. He eats five eggs and four pieces of toast for breakfast. His ideal lunch would be grilled fish and rice, but when he is at school he typically has to eat pasta with tuna sauce, since the canteen’s focus is feeding children, not lean body sculpting. “He won’t eat sausages or any processed stuff,” says his mother, Helen. She is married and lives in Liverpool with the couple’s three children, aged five to 13.

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'I feel I've come home': can forest schools help heal refugee children?

They have a middle-class reputation, but one outdoor school near Nottingham is reconnecting disadvantaged 10-year-olds with nature and a sense of freedom

When Kate Milman was 21, she paused her English degree at the University of East Anglia to join protests against the Newbury bypass. It was 1996, and the road was being carved out through idyllic wooded countryside in Berkshire. She took up residence in a treehouse, in the path of the bulldozers, and lived there for months. It was a revelation. She lived intimately with the catkins, the calling birds, the slow-slow-fast change in the seasons. Despite being in a precarious position as a protester, she felt completely safe and her brain was calmed.

“You know when you go camping and go back to your house, and everything feels wrong? The lighting is harsh and everything seems complicated indoors. It just got under my skin, this feeling – that [living in the woods] is like being at home.”

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From stage star to Vogue cover: Why age cannot wither Judi Dench

She is the oldest person to grace the fashion bible’s cover – and she’s a hit on social media. Who says that getting older signals an end to vitality?


You can’t call Judi Dench lazy when it comes to contributing to society, but she’s been particularly dedicated to boosting morale of late. Who knows, perhaps she felt pressured to make up for her turn in the unhinged Cats film, where her feline character horrified viewers by appearing to wear a coat made of its own fur. Dench has provided vital comic relief during this time of crisis, predominantly with silly social media clips – a Twitter video of her wearing a novelty dog hat with pop-up ears in which she instructs us to “keep laughing” racked up 5.4 million views. Now she has supplied a far meatier pick-me-up by becoming, at 85, British Vogue’s oldest cover star.

Related: Judi Dench becomes British Vogue's oldest cover star

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'Colour allows us to understand in a deeper sense': Hitler, Churchill and others in a new light

The story of global conflict is all the more powerful when it isn’t seen in black and white. Artist Marina Amaral explains her latest work

On a stretcher lies a patient; his ashen face protrudes from under a green blanket, eyes closed. Two uniformed women carry the stretcher, wearing face masks. It looks as if it’s a lovely day: the sun is shining, the shadows dark, the sky blue. But this is not a happy picture. Is the casualty even alive, or has he already been taken by the killer virus that has wrapped itself around our planet like a python, squeezing the life from it?

The photograph was taken at an ambulance station in Washington DC. Within the past couple of months? It could have been, if it weren’t for the uniforms (I don’t think today’s nurses wear lace-up leather boots) and the stretcher. In fact, it was taken more than a century ago, in 1918, during the Spanish flu epidemic, which killed so many millions. The photographer is unknown, forgotten. But the black and white picture was recently “colourised” by Marina Amaral.

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'I'm losing my teenage years': young contend with life in lockdown

Teenagers affirm evidence that suggests they are particularly struggling with coronavirus crisis

When, in late February, Betsy Sheil turned 16, she thought she was staring down the end of secondary school, not the beginning of global pandemic.

“I was going to finish year 11 and do my GCSEs, then I was going to have a really long summer with my friends, hopefully go abroad – have that summer that everyone has.”

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The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months

When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman

For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. That cynical image of humanity has been proclaimed in films and novels, history books and scientific research. But in the last 20 years, something extraordinary has happened. Scientists from all over the world have switched to a more hopeful view of mankind. This development is still so young that researchers in different fields often don’t even know about each other.

When I started writing a book about this more hopeful view, I knew there was one story I would have to address. It takes place on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. A plane has just gone down. The only survivors are some British schoolboys, who can’t believe their good fortune. Nothing but beach, shells and water for miles. And better yet: no grownups.

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Labour urges extended eviction ban amid risk of huge job losses

Five-point plan to protect renters comes as poll shows 1.7 million people fear unemployment

Labour is calling on the government to draw up emergency measures to protect renters beyond June as polling shows up to 1.7 million people in the private sector fear that they will lose their jobs this summer.

Dire economic forecasts released this week, including a Bank of England warning that the country faces its worst recession in 300 years, has prompted Labour to rapidly escalate its call for current protections for the rented sector, like the three-month ban on evictions in England and Wales, to be extended.

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Plan to open schools on 1 June in doubt as unions air safety fears

Joint statement insists return will not happen until stringent ‘test and trace’ regime in place

Ministers’ plans to reopen schools as early as 1 June are in serious doubt after unions representing teachers and school staff insisted that they would not consider a return without a stringent coronavirus “test and trace” regime.

In an unusual joint statement, which one senior union official said indicated that an early return to a normal school timetable was “off the menu”, the Trades Union Congress said that there should be “no increase in pupil numbers until full rollout of a national test and trace scheme”, and called for the establishment of a Covid-19 taskforce with government, unions and others to agree on the safe reopening of schools.

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Roy Horn of Las Vegas's famous Siegfried and Roy act dies from Covid-19

Horn was famed for introducing a pet cheetah to the magic show and was mauled on stage by a tiger in 2003

Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers, has died from coronavirus complications. He was 75.

Horn died of on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital, according to a statement released by his publicist Dave Kirvin.

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US blocks vote on UN's bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO

Security council had spent weeks seeking resolution but Trump administration opposed mention of organization

The US has blocked a vote on a UN security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization.

The security council has been wrangling for more than six weeks over the resolution, which was intended to demonstrate global support for the call for a ceasefire by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. The main source for the delay was the US refusal to endorse a resolution that urged support for the WHO’s operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Cyclist, 16, critically injured after being hit by two cars in south London

Teenager remains in hospital as two men are arrested after collision on Streatham High Road

A 16-year-old cyclist is in a life-threatening condition after being hit by two cars in south London.

The boy was critically injured in the collision in Streatham High Road shortly before 11.20pm on Friday.

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Aberfan teacher Rennie Williams dies aged 86

Williams was recognised for her bravery after 1966 school disaster in which 144 people died

A teacher who led pupils to safety during the Aberfan school disaster has died aged 86.

Rennie Williams, from Merthyr Tydfil, was recognised for her bravery when a colliery spoil tip collapsed on to Pantglas primary school and a number of surrounding buildings on 21 October 1966. A total of 116 children and 28 adults were killed in the disaster.

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Could a 12-year-old Australian-Chinese violinist be the next child prodigy?

Decca Classics’ youngest-ever signing, Christian Li, has been hailed a ‘superstar’ who is already up there with the greats

The classical music world is no stranger to young talent. The 19th century virtuoso Niccolò Paganini started playing aged seven, while Yehudi Menuhin caused a sensation with his performance, at the same age, of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

Now, however, there’s a new kid on the block, whose backers say transforms from “normal child” to “absolute superstar” the moment the lights dim. Christian Li, a 12-year-old schoolboy violinist from Melbourne, recently became the youngest-ever artist signed by the Decca Classics record label. He will release a new recording later this month, a contemporary adaptation of a traditional Chinese folk tune.

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‘Every stone will be uncovered’: how Georgia officials failed the Ahmaud Arbery case

Systemic flaws within Glynn county’s district attorney offices led to a lack of action against the men involved in this ‘modern lynching’

In the days and weeks after Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed, multiple Glynn county law enforcement officials failed to thoroughly investigate his death and, in one case, refused to allow police officers to make arrests, the Guardian has learned.

Related: Ahmaud Arbery is dead because Americans think black men are criminals | Benjamin Dixon

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Little Richard, rock'n'roll pioneer, dies aged 87

His 1955 song Tutti Frutti, with the lyric ‘awopbopaloobop alopbamboom’, and a series of follow-up records helped establish the genre and influence a multitude of other musicians

Little Richard, one of the pioneers of the first wave of rock’n’roll, has died. He was 87.

Richard – whose real name was Richard Penniman – had been in poor health for several years, suffering hip problems, a stroke and a heart attack.

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Police watchdog investigates London stun gun shooting

Concerns raised about ‘disproportionate’ use of force after young black man is seriously injured

The police watchdog has launched an investigation after a black man in his 20s was left with a life-changing injury after he was shot with a stun gun by officers in north London.

Police on patrol in Haringey chased the man on Monday after he ran away from them following an approach, it is understood. They used the stun gun as he jumped over a wall and he fell, suffering serious back injuries, which his family fear could leave him at least partially paralysed.

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Photography project: have you recently lost a loved one to coronavirus?

If you would like to take part in a project about love and loss, we’d like to hear from you

After losing his father and younger sister in recent years, photographer Simon Bray has an appreciation of what it feels like to lose someone close to you, and through his photography project Loved&Lost, he offers the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate those who are no longer with us.

If you have lost someone through coronavirus and would like to take part, we’d like to hear from you.

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Life in lockdown: how to keep a city alive – video

Six weeks into Britain's Covid-19 crisis, Anywhere but Westminster asks how a city keeps going when everything has ground to a halt. The team virtually visits Plymouth, population 250,000, to see how the services that are vital to a city and its inhabitants are scrabbling to stay afloat. The fishing industry is in meltdown, temporary housing is oversubscribed and nurses facilitate goodbyes over Zoom. Most of all, people are asking: what on earth happens after this?



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VE Day: coronavirus lessons from 75 years ago

This week the Upside reflects on the community spirit felt in our current crisis and the one that ended in 1945

Guardian colleagues have been up to all sorts during lockdown – when they’ve not been working hard that is. At least three have acquired pets and many are digging up the garden or allotment. Potato printing, street chalk drawing, spring cleaning, DIY, it’s all going on. One particularly ingenious staffer is knitting woollen hats for boiled eggs.

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Coronavirus app has changed the way the Isle of Wight sees itself

Islanders are coming to terms with unexpected publicity from the contact-tracing pilot project


Last Sunday, we woke to the news that the Isle of Wight really had been chosen as the pilot location for the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app, the idea having been floated by the leader of the council at the start of the previous week.

Thus a manic week began here at News OnTheWight, where we’ve been pumping out stories as usual, taking part in national media briefings, delving into details of the app and exploring privacy issues while dealing with queries from media outlets from around the world. All sorts of organisations started pushing press releases supporting the app – the most unexpected being the Church of England.

When Matt Hancock, the health secretary, announced at last Monday’s press conference, “Where the Isle of Wight goes, Britain follows”, there was a collective spitting out of tea on the island and beyond. Of course there were the predictable jibes – “How do I install the app on my fax machine?” was one of the best we heard, and once again, creativity was ignited with memes and T-shirts.

With such attention, locally it felt like little else but the app was discussed.

How has the app gone down? Lots of people seem to be jumping on board, claiming any perceived privacy downsides as a small price to pay. Others, with earlier smartphones, were excluded. Older residents overheard in the post office said they really wanted to use the app but their steam-powered mobile phones weren’t capable.

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'Harvesting' is a terrible word – but it's what has happened in Britain's care homes | Richard Coker

Epidemiologists use the term to describe tragic excess deaths – but for Covid-19 it seems to be the de facto government policy

There’s a term we use in epidemiology to capture the essence of increases in deaths, or excess mortality, above and beyond normal expectations: “harvesting”. During heatwaves, or a bad season of influenza, additional deaths above what would be normally seen in the population fit this description. Harvesting usually affects older people and those who are already sick. Generally, it is viewed as a tragic, unfortunate, but largely unpreventable consequence of natural events. It carries with it connotations of an acceptable loss of life. It is, in a sense, what happens as part of a normal life in normal times. But the word also has darker connotations: those of sacrifice, reaping, culling. As such, while it may appear in textbooks of epidemiology, it doesn’t occur in national influenza strategic plans or national discourse. The concept of harvesting is restricted to epidemiological circles.

But what if politicians promote the notion of harvesting (while declining to use the term) where it is not a “natural” consequence of events but a direct consequence of government policy? What if the medical and nursing world do not accept harvesting in these circumstances? What if a policy that results in harvesting cannot be articulated because it is unacceptable to the broader population? This is where we have got to with the coronavirus pandemic. Nowhere better exemplifies this tension between a policy and its popular acceptance than the effects of coronavirus in nursing homes.

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Stephen Collins on baking bread during lockdown – cartoon

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  • Life and style

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Imagine the UK getting rid of road rage, congestion and exhaust fumes for ever | Susanna Rustin

Britain is a latecomer to decarbonising transport but changes under lockdown and initiatives abroad could spark a revolution

  • Coronavirus – latest updates
  • See all our coronavirus coverage
  • It was a grim irony that the best transport news in ages was buried in the first few days of the coronavirus lockdown. On 26 March, the government published a document, Decarbonising Transport, which went further in facing up to the problem of emissions from air and vehicle traffic than most campaigners had dared to hope for.

    The challenge is enormous. In 2016, transport overtook energy to become the single biggest source of domestic emissions. Motor vehicles on their own are responsible for around a fifth of the total. On aviation, the UK is the world’s third-worst polluter, behind China and the US.

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    Lockdown has made us see the natural world anew – let's not waste it | Gaby Hinsliff

    The pandemic is giving us a lesson in life, hope and death. It’s one we should never forget

    Back in the days when we all still hurried oblivious through crowded city streets, the names chalked on the pavement must have been easily missed. But now a long-running campaign by rebel botanists across Europe to highlight overlooked nature in the city, scribbling names and plant details alongside a pretty weed growing through a wall or a tree spreading overhead, has unexpectedly found its niche.

    Going for a walk is the only real freedom many have had for weeks, and with no particular place to go but out, there is finally time to notice nature creeping through the cracks: the birdsong no longer drowned out by traffic; the daffodils in front gardens giving way to frothy peonies; a fat supermoon hanging heavy on the night horizon.

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    Irish support for Native American Covid-19 relief highlights historic bond

    • GoFundMe page for Navajo and Hopi aid lists many Irish names
    • Choctaw Nation sent donation in 1847 for potato famine victims

    The list of recent donors reads like an Irish phone book. Aisling Ní Chuimín, Shane Ó Leary, Sean Gibbons, Kevin Boyle, Kevin Keane, Clare Quinn, Eamonn McDonald, on and on down a GoFundMe page that by Friday had raised $3.15m of a $5m goal.

    The individual amounts are not remarkable – $10, $20, $30, some exceeding $100 – but the story behind the donations stretches back two centuries and encompasses a singular act of generosity that forged a bond between Native Americans and Ireland, a bond now renewed in the coronavirus era.

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    First Indians arrive home after weeks stranded abroad

    Repatriation flights and naval warships help return some citizens after long delays

    Relieved Indians are arriving at airports across the country on the first flights to bring home those stranded abroad, and others are en route on naval warships, in an extensive repatriation effort labelled the vande mataram (long live the motherland) mission.

    Photos from inside a plane landing at Chennai airport showed the flight crew, who were tested for Covid-19 beforehand, wearing protective suits and smiling behind masks and visors.

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    Thousands turn out for VE Day parade in Belarus despite Covid-19 concerns

    Country’s leader Alexander Lukashenko boasts of holding only parade in former Soviet Union

    Thousands of people, including elderly veterans of the second world war, turned out for Belarus’s Victory Day military parade despite the coronavirus pandemic.

    Images from the parade showed crowds packed on to parade bleachers as the country’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko, boasted of holding the only parade in the former Soviet Union to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany.

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    Gangs take bigger risks to smuggle drugs into lockdown Britain

    Consignments are being moved in bulk across borders as Covid-19 cuts off normal routes, say police

    Organised crime groups are taking increasingly audacious risks as they attempt to smuggle large quantities of drugs into lockdown Britain, senior police figures say.

    Analysing the latest operations of transnational criminal networks, the National Crime Agency’s head of drug threat said that police were making more significant seizures during the pandemic than normal.

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    Weddings and coronavirus: couples forced to cancel but face massive bills

    They believed insurance would cover the pandemic but have received demands for thousands

    Couples who have been unable to get married because of the coronavirus lockdown have had their wedding insurance claims rejected – in some cases despite being assured they were covered before buying their policy.

    The Guardian has heard from people who have lost thousands when claims were turned down by provider WeddingPlan Insurance.

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    Coronavirus cycling boom makes a good bike hard to find

    Would-be cyclists keen to exercise during the lockdown have cleared stores of their stock

    Isabel had not ridden a bike since university 10 years ago when lockdown motivated her to seek out two wheels. But half a dozen cycle shops in south London gave her the same answer: no chance. We’re out of stock.

    One or two said they could sell her a high-spec racing bike for a price in the region of £1,000. The others advised her to place an order, wait a couple of weeks for the bicycle to be delivered from the manufacturer, then another week or so for it to be built by the store. And there was no option to try before buying.

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    Young men more likely than women to break lockdown rules – UK survey

    Researchers call on government to do more to explain need for physical distancing

    Young men are more likely than young women to break lockdown rules, research suggests.

    A team of psychologists led by Dr Liat Levita from the University of Sheffield surveyed 2,000 13- to 24-year-olds in the UK to examine the impact of the pandemic on young people.

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    What kind of face mask will best protect you against coronavirus?

    Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of getting Covid-19

    Yes. Different types of mask offer different levels of protection. Surgical grade N95 respirators offer the highest level of protection, preventing the user from becoming infected with Covid-19, followed by surgical grade masks. However, these masks are costly, in limited supply, contribute to landfill waste and are uncomfortable to wear for long periods. So even countries that have required the public to wear face masks have generally suggested such masks should be reserved for health workers or those at particularly high risk.

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    How to understand Covid-19 antibody testing in 10 steps

    Inaccuracies in the testing, such as false negatives and false positives, are potentially harmful

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    Coronavirus UK: latest deaths, confirmed cases – and which regions are hardest hit?

    Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many confirmed cases have been reported in each of England’s local authorities

    Please note: these are government figures on numbers of confirmed cases – some people who report symptoms are not being tested, and are not included in these counts.

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    Coronavirus live news: thousands turn out for Belarus VE Day parade, as Russia infections near 200,000

    Belarus leader holds parade prompting safety concerns as other nations curb WW2 events; Russia records 10,000 new Covid-19 cases; Spain’s daily death toll continues to fall. Follow the latest updates

    A child was among sixteen migrants rescued four miles off the coast of France when their makeshift vessel bound for Britain ran into difficulties in the middle of the night, authorities said.

    The group was picked up 3.8 miles off the French port of Calais after calling for help, French maritime authorities confirmed to AFP. A French maritime surveillance vessel rescued the migrants at around 5am and transported them to the Channel port of Dunkirk, where they were handed over to border police.

    Vladimir Putin has told Russians they are invincible when they stand together, as he sought to send a message of unity after the country’s tally of Covid-19 cases reached the fifth highest in the world.

    Addressing the nation in a speech as he presided over Victory Day celebrations, a sombre Putin invoked the memory of the country’s veterans who fought in the second world war.

    We are united by our shared memory, hopes and aspirations, as well as a sense of shared responsibility for the present and the future. We know and strongly believe that when we stand together, we are invincible.”

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    Global report: Trump says Covid-19 will 'go away without vaccine', expects US death toll to top 95,000

    Mike Pence’s press secretary tests positive to coronavirus; China reports one new case; Russia reports 10,000 new cases for sixth day in a row

    Donald Trump has said coronavirus will “go away without a vaccine” and is expecting 95,000 or more deaths in the US, as Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for coronavirus.

    The president’s comments, at an event with Republican lawmakers, capped a horror week in the US, in which it was revealed unemployment had risen to 14.7%, up from 3.5% in February, with 20 million people losing their jobs in April.

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    UK plans £250m boost for cycle lanes and fast-track e-scooter trials

    Campaigners call for redesign of transport system to help prevent bounce-back in air pollution

    The government is expected to unveil a £250m investment in UK cycle lanes to encourage commuters to ride to work instead of using public transport, as part of the effort to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus.

    Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is expected to make the funding announcement during his appearance at the Downing Street coronavirus briefing on Saturday.

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    UK coronavirus live: Grant Shapps to lead daily press conference - latest updates

    Travellers into UK will be quarantined for two weeks when they arrive as part of measures to prevent a second peak, Boris Johnson is expected to say. Follow the latest updates

    The transport secretary Grant Shapps will lead the government’s daily coronavirus press conference, which is due to begin shortly.

    He will be joined by the deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam.

    Tributes have been paid to a learning disabilities nurse who died after testing positive for the coronavirus.

    Augustine Agyei-Mensah, known to his colleagues as Gus, was a highly regarded team member at Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

    Our hearts break today for Augustine’s wife and young family. We remain committed to supporting them through this time.

    Augustine epitomised what we stand for here at NHFT. He was committed to making a difference and giving people a second chance.

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    Multiplex 10 is two years old! Help us make more!

    I got my dates mixed up earlier in the week, but today (1/29/20) is the second anniversary of Multiplex 10, marking two years since both Multiplex 10: The Animated Short and our first web series episode debuted! We’ve been a little quiet lately (sorry about that) but we want to make at least one more episode of Multiplex … Continue reading Multiplex 10 is two years old! Help us make more!



    • News and Updates

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    Multiplex 10: The Web Series is FUNDED on Indiegogo!

    We’ve passed our goal and greenlit one more episode of Multiplex 10: The Web Series, so we’ll get back into production as soon as the Indiegogo campaign ends. But we’re not done yet! We have exactly one stretch goal: for every $2,500 over the base goal, we will produce at least two more minutes of … Continue reading Multiplex 10: The Web Series is FUNDED on Indiegogo!



    • News and Updates

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    YNDX Q1 2020: замедление роста и отказ от прогноза эффективности Яндекса на дальнейший год

    У группы компаний Яндекса нет проблем с ростом, но поддерживавшие рост: рекламный рынок, Такси и некоторые другие сегменты замедляются и продолжат замедляться на фоне неопределённости и проблем в экономике, вызванных эпидемией коронавируса..




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    Навальный помог Яндексу закрыть промо-блок собственных yandex-сервисов

    Блок был призван переделать Яндекс в "гибрид" из принадлежащих ему соцсетей, медиа-архивов, новостей — который не делится трафиком со сторонними качественными сайтами, а замыкает посетителей на платформе Яндекса, где к контенту есть вопросы..




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    Amsterdam's "Cat Boat" Is A Floating Cat Sanctuary

    Welcome to the one and only cat sanctuary that floats! A true hidden gem in Amsterdam. 

    De Poezenboot (translated in English to 'The Cat Boat') first began not on a boat at all. In 1966, a woman in Amsterdam, known as v. Weddle, found a stray mother cat with kittens and took on the task of caring for them. Soon enough, more and more cats began to come and be taken under her wing. 

    Fast forward to two years later in 1968 and the first boat was born! V. Weedle had a large house with a terrace but was soon becoming too small for the cats so she bought a boat on the canal! The boat was named 'The Tjalk' and was completely furnished and made suitable for all the cats. And as soon as the floating santuary was open people came to help care for all those stray cats -- the first volunteers. 

    Written in the history of De Poezenboot, "The Tjalk has served faithfully for about 10 years and was replaced by an Ark at the end of 1979. And because the Ark was specially built on the yard for the shelter of cats, this boat met all the requirements we set for it. "

    And in 1987, the foundation was founded, "Stichting de Poezenboot."

    De Poezenboot is home to so many beautiful cats but is also working to help cats find a forever home with a family. You can donate to their cause here. 

    Follow 'The Cat Boat' on Instagram




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    Trees Cocooned in Spiders Webs Were Spotted After The Massive Floods In Pakistan

    The floods that submerged one-fifth of Pakistan's territory took more than six months to recede.

    One of the most affected regions was the Sindh region, located in the western corner of South Asia. 

    At their peak, the floodwaters were up to 20 feet deep. About 20 million people were displaced.

    But apparently, people were not the only ones seeking shelter from the devastating floods. 

    One of the unexpected side-effects of the flooding has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising floodwaters, turning them into futuristic-looking trees cocooned in spiders' webs.

    The people living in that area claimed they have never seen this phenomenon before but were glad to discover that those cocooned trees were actually significantly reducing the numbers of mosquitos and thereby, the risk of malaria. 

    It is thought that the mosquitoes were getting caught in the spiders' webs which would be one blessing for the people of the area, facing so many other hardships after the floods. 

    Check out some of the stunning photos, released by the department of international development.




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    Fifteen Cats From Tech Support Who Are Busy Making An Update To Your PC (Memes)

    "Don't worry, I'm from tech support...Just lemme get a closer look."

    Well...it seems like these cats are more interested in all those mouses and cookies hiding in your computer.  




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    Time To Take In The Weekly Dose Of Cute (#81)

    Once a week, your cuteness prescription will always be automatically refilled for your viewing pleasure!

    Nothing -- and we mean nothing brings on those warm mushy feeling like a huge dose of animal cuteness! We scoured the internet to bring you the cutest animal pictures of the week! Bringing you cuteness every week - stay tuned for next week's dose! If you missed last week's dose, and you need a cuteness overload, check out last week's here.




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    Stunning Winning Photos From The GDT's Nature Photographer Of The Year 2020

    The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) has announced its Nature Photographer of the Year 2020. 

    This year, for the first time in the GDT's history, voting was carried out online, due to the pandemic. 




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    Disney Launches a Collection Of Cloth Face Masks Featuring Her Beloved Animal Characters

    People all over the world are now being advised to wear face masks to slow the spread of coronavirus. 

    Luckily, Disney is here to bring a spark to this new corona fashion wear, especially for kids who are more frightened these days. 

    In a statement on its home page, the company expressed its commitment to serving the communities during these challenging times by creating a new line of family-friendly reusable cloth face masks featuring its timeless stories and beloved characters.  

    Disney announced it will donate one million cloth face masks for children and families in underserved and vulnerable communities across the U.S. and pledged to donate all the profits to the non-profit organization, Medshare, which specializes in redistributing medical supplies to hospitals in need. 

    From Baby Yoda to Winnie The Pooh and Mickie Mouse, the masks are aimed at kids and kids at heart who can finally have a chance to let out their inner character. 

    You can purchase a four-pack of face masks for $19.99 in small, medium, and large sizes. 

    Check out some of the cool designs.