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Showing posts from October, 2020

Man in medieval clothing leaves 'multiple victims' in Quebec City stabbing attack

Police have made an arrest following Halloween attack near the provincial legislature Police in Quebec City have arrested a man over an attack that left two people dead and five others injured near the provincial legislature on Halloween night. The provincial police earlier said they were looking for a man dressed in medieval clothing and armed with a bladed weapon who had left “multiple victims”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jM2dfp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

UK industry chief says business needs more from 'thin' Brexit deal

Carolyn Fairbairn of CBI says her ‘really big disappointment’ was the lack of help for British services in the potential deal A business-led campaign to widen a “thin” Brexit deal struck between Britain and the European Union will begin immediately in the new year, it has emerged, amid concerns about the long-term effects on the UK’s economy. In an interview with the Observer , Carolyn Fairbairn, the outgoing director general of the CBI, said that securing a basic deal with the EU should be seen as a “starting point” for a deeper relationship. She warned of a serious effect on Britain’s large services sector, including financial and legal services, as well as engineering. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34Li8GH Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'The blue shift': why votes counted after election day skew Democrat

A record number of mail-in votes will likely delay counting. Trump could use that to claim the election is rigged. Americans are voting by mail in record numbers – and that could extend the counting process several days if not weeks. But Donald Trump says the winner should be decided quicker – on election day. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3mGnLfo Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Liberal Privilege review: Donald Trump Jr, Maga porn – and the future of the Republican party

Shamelessly attacking Joe Biden, feeding red meat to the base, the president’s son shows again he is one to watch for 2024 Donald Trump Jr will be a fixture in Republican politics in the years to come, regardless of whether his father wins re-election. Already, speculation runs rampant that the president’s oldest son will be on the presidential ballot in 2024. Related: Wicked Game review: a fascinating but flawed memoir by Trump's jailed associate Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2GfzcuL Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Macron criticises Turkey's 'imperial inclinations' as row between countries escalates

In an interview with al-Jazeera, the French president also tried to calm tensions with the Muslims world over caricatures of the prophet Muhammad The French president Emmanuel Macron has accused Turkey of adopting a “bellicose” stance towards its NATO allies, saying tensions could ease if his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan showed respect and did not tell lies. In an interview with al-Jazeera broadcast on Saturday,Macron condemned Turkey’s behaviour in Syria, Libya and the Mediterranean and said: “Turkey has a bellicose attitude towards its NATO allies.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37VMbgJ Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Typhoon Goni hits Philippines with nearly one million evacuated from its path

With winds of 225 km/h, authorities say storm surges could inundate coastal villages, including in Manila Bay Super typhoon Goni has hit the eastern Philippines with ferocious winds, with about one million people evacuated from its projected path, including in the capital, Manila, where the main international airport was ordered closed. “There are so many people who are really in vulnerable areas,” said Ricardo Jalad, who heads the government’s disaster-response agency. “We’re expecting major damage.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kNicv4 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Hong Kong: seven pro-democracy legislators arrested

The legislators were arrested over a May parliamentary hearing that saw lawmakers clash violently over control of a subcommittee Hong Kong police have arrested seven pro-democracy legislators over a parliamentary meeting which descended into violence in May, the legislators said on social media. The arrests on Sunday of lawmakers Wu Chi Wai, Andrew Wan, Helena Wong, Kwok Wing Kin, Eddie Chu, Raymond Chan and Fernando Cheung were announced on individual and party Facebook pages. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jJYJdh Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Papua New Guinea to give $3m to unknown firm for Covid treatment

Leaked document shows Niugini BioMed, established in August, will be funded by government to find a treatment from existing drugs Papua New Guinea has approved nearly $US3m from its threadbare budget for an as-yet-unidentified Covid-19 treatment – allocating the money to an unknown biomedical company that was formed in August. The prime minister, James Marape, has insisted the national executive council had not completed its approval process to engage a PNG company to find a treatment, but leaked cabinet documents appear to show 10.2m Kina (US$2.85m) being awarded to Niugini BioMed Ltd for research into discovering a new treatment for Covid-19 infections from existing drugs. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3mJMbVl Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'All cash': LeBron praises Obama's silky three-pointer on campaign trail

Obama casually drains three-pointer while in Flint for rally LeBron James praises former US president in viral video Barack Obama briefly showed off his silky left-handed shooting stroke on Saturday as he walked through the gymnasium at the old Flint Northwestern High School in Michigan, where he spoke at a drive-in rally with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. A video of the impromptu moment captures the former US president receiving a bounce pass, taking one dribble and lofting a step-back three-pointer that rips through the net amid cheers from onlookers. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34N7peS Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Coronavirus live news: England prepares for second lockdown; Victoria and New South Wales record no local cases

Boris Johnson announces lockdown from Thursday ; Italy records 31,000 new cases; Spanish PM condemns rallies against restrictions. Follow latest updates Johnson’s U-turn puts England under tough new lockdown US sets world record for coronavirus cases in 24 hours Add vitamin D to bread and milk to help fight Covid, urge scientists Australian wastewater provides a treasure trove for Covid-19 hunters See all coronavirus news 1.24am GMT In the Philippines , almost one million people have been evacuated from the projected path of super typhoon Goni, which slammed into the country this morning. 12.55am GMT The UK ’s culture secretary Oliver Dowden has provided more clarity on the lockdown measures due to be imposed in England from Thursday 5 November. Pubs and restaurants will shut unless serving takeaway food, and all leisure and entertainment venues and non-essential shops will close. However, Dowden said elite sport and film and TV productions will be allowed to continue behi...

Billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson splashes the cash in bid to help Trump

The magnate, 87, is expected to have spent $250m this election cycle to support conservative causes, fundraisers say The casino billionaire and ardent Israel backer Sheldon Adelson is expected to have written about $250m in checks to back Donald Trump, Republican Senate and House members and conservative causes, say two GOP fundraising sources familiar with the mega-donor’s spending plans. Related: US Senate elections: the key races that will determine power in Washington Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3oJygQY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Nightmare before Christmas: M&S set for big loss on Covid-hit high street

Its Ocado tie-up may bring Marks festive joy, but as restrictions and uncertainty bite, even Primark looks less than cheerful The next two months are supposed to be the most lucrative time of the year for the high street, but a grisly update from Marks & Spencer will this week provide a grim reality check as the pandemic sets up nightmarish trading conditions for the golden quarter. Analysts expect M&S to have made a loss of about £60m in the first six months of its financial year because of the huge sales hit suffered by its clothing arm during the three-month spring lockdown. This time last year, the UK’s biggest clothing retailer was reporting profits of £176m. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HILwoh Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

US election 2020: Trump criticised over false claim doctors profit from Covid deaths - live updates

Trump falsely says ‘doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid’ Final push to unleash power of poor and low-income voters ‘Red mirage’: the ‘insidious’ scenario if Trump declares an early victory Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter 9.21am GMT The US has suffered its worst week for new infections of the entire Covid-19 pandemic just days ahead of the election . Scientists have sounded alarms about unabated Covid-19 spread across the midwest, a spread that has the potential to create even more devastation this winter if nothing is done to control the virus. And political divisions are fueling the surge. Related: Americans go to the polls as US suffers worst week for coronavirus infections 9.08am GMT One of the medical professionals to respond was Dr. Ashish Jha , who was asked about Trump’s comments on MSNBC . After being played the clip of what the president had said, Dr. Jha replied. I don’t know where to begin. First of all it’s offensive....

Yitzhak Rabin: ‘He never knew it was one of his people who shot him in the back’

Twenty-five years after the death of the Israeli prime minister, those who were there recall the night two bullets altered the destiny of two nations They wanted him to wear a bulletproof vest, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Afterwards, they wished they’d pushed him harder – they should have insisted – but he was the prime minister and his mind was made up. He refused to believe a fellow citizen might pose a mortal threat. And so a quarter of a century ago, on the night of 4 November 1995, Yitzhak Rabin stood before a vast and grateful crowd in Tel Aviv at a peace rally, protected by nothing more than a jacket, tie and white cotton shirt. The size of the rally had surprised him: he was a shy man, awkward with attention, and he had doubted that thousands of Israelis would come out to show support for him and his attempt to make peace with the Palestinians. He told aides he feared the city’s central plaza – not yet called Rabin Square – would be empty. Continue reading... from https://...

Jonathan Coe: 'It’s the point in your life at which you start asking yourself, what next?'

The satirist who skewered the 1980s in What a Carve Up! is approaching elder statesman status. He talks about Brexit, prizes, cancel culture – and his Hollywood hero Billy Wilder One Sunday evening in 1975 in a leafy suburb of Birmingham, 14-year-old Jonathan Coe put off his school dread by switching on the telly. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was on BBC One, the beginning of the author’s lifelong fascination with director Billy Wilder, who was to become “a far more influential figure on the way that I write than any novelist,” he says, 45 years later. Such was the impact on the young Coe that he started recording the soundtracks of his favourite films from the TV so he could lie in bed listening to Wilder on his Walkman until “the rhythm to his dialogue kind of seeped into my subconscious”. That screening “set a lot of ripples in motion,” he says (young film buffs Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat also watched it that evening, leading to the hit TV series Sherlock ). Coe’s latest ...

The Powerful and the Damned by Lionel Barber review – cosying up to power?

All too revealing of how the system works ... how the talented former chief of the FT, capitalism’s house journal, was in thrall to ‘movers and shakers’ Even a brilliant newspaper editor can undersell a good story on the front page. At the start of Lionel Barber’s account of the world from his perspective as editor of the Financial Times between 2005 and 2020 , there is an extensive list of dramatis personae, almost all of them male. (“One day,” he writes later, “I will deal with the alpha male problem, but not today.”) The players are broken down into their categories: politics, business and finance, royalty, journalism and diplomacy. The heart sinks – if journalism sits so easily in such a cast list, how can it do its job of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable? When, in the preface, Barber writes of being “granted audiences with royalty such as Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Mohammed bin Salman ”, the sinking heart becomes the creeping flesh. The idea of an e...

Huge spider assumed extinct in Britain discovered on MoD training site

Described as ‘gorgeous’ by the man who found it, the great fox-spider has not been seen since 1993 One of Britain’s largest spiders has been discovered on a Ministry of Defence training ground in Surrey having not been seen in the country for 27 years. The great fox-spider is a night-time hunter, known for its speed and agility, as well as its eight black eyes which give it wraparound vision. The critically endangered spider was assumed extinct in Britain after last being spotted in 1993 on Hankley Common in Surrey. The two-inch-wide (5cm) arachnid had previously also been spotted at two sites in Morden Heath in Dorset. These are the only three areas in Britain, all in the comparatively warmer south, where it has been recorded. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34GNKgm Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Chocolate sales soar as UK shoppers comfort eat at home amid Covid

Annual spend up £50m driven by multipacks and ‘sharing bars’, but smaller bars decline Spending on chocolate has soared by £50m year on year, powered by sales of chocolate bars bought in supermarkets to eat at home. The increase in sales of multipacks and large “sharing bars” has offset a dip in sales of single bars, often impulse buys to eat on the go, from newsagents and other outlets. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TC0UFj Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'Universities have sidelined the science,' says academics' leader

The new president of the University and College Union, herself suffering from long Covid, says staff are increasingly angry, as branches ballot their members Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage One weekend in May, when Vicky Blake, the new president of the University and College Union, was supposed to be helping her father with some decorating, she realised she could not lift her arms. “I felt I’d dissolved from the inside out and there was just no power left in my body,” she says. It was the start of months of what her doctor thinks is long Covid, with symptoms including “brain fog” and total exhaustion. But with so many of her members terrified or angry about being expected to teach face to face on campuses where Covid is spreading, and her union fighting to force institutions to move courses online, this has not been a time to slacken off. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37XH67G Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly...

Americans go to the polls as US suffers worst week for coronavirus infections

Stakes at the polls are ‘life and death’, epidemiologists say, but responses to the pandemic divide sharply on political lines The US has suffered its worst week for new infections of the entire Covid-19 pandemic just days ahead of the election, underscoring what some epidemiologists described as “life and death” stakes as Americans head to the polls. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TJakP2 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'He just says it as it is': why many Nigerians support Donald Trump

His books were a hit long before he took office, and some Christians see his presidency as a blessing The pursed, stony expression is familiar in Peter Odoakang’s striking oil painting of Donald Trump, but not the outfit. The US president is portrayed wearing a wine- and peach-coloured agbada and cap, traditional Yoruba attire, fitting him into the mould of a south-western Nigerian leader or “big man”, as Odoakang says. “People see him in agbada and say wow, it fits him. People really laugh about it and react to it,” says Odoakang, 23, of the portrait commissioned by a company in Lagos, which he says brings Trump’s “personality into our setting”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35WkKkq Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Helena Bonham Carter: ‘Divorce is cruel. But some parts are to be recommended'

She doesn’t believe in a stiff upper lip, or pretending – unless it’s for work. The actor talks about her split with Tim Burton, friendship with Johnny Depp, and playing the Queen’s sister Ding-dong, it’s the doorbell. And look who’s standing on my rain-sodden doorstep, it’s Helena Bonham Carter . In her stompy, clumpy boots and dark floral ruffled dress, curls piled on top of her head, she looks so exactly herself – which is to say, like a Victorian goth drawn in charcoal – that she could be an actor playing a character playing Helena Bonham Carter. Which, to a certain degree, she is. “I love dressing up and creating myself, as it were, according to the day and the mood. But it’s an illusion, because then the Daily Mail photographs you, and you see it and think, that wasn’t what I meant at all,” she says as we walk into my kitchen and I compliment her outfit. Her fashion sense – invariably described as quirky (“God, quirky ,” she says, as if repeating a doctor’s fatal diagnosis) – h...

'Nightmare' of businesswoman accused of mortgage fraud

Santander accused a designer of supplying forged documents – but refused to explain its actions A businesswoman who found herself placed on the National Fraud Database after she applied to Santander for a mortgage, says she went through a “nightmare” after the bank refused to admit it had made a mistake. When Claire Foster* from Hertfordshire applied for a buy-to-let loan, staff reviewing her application placed a note on the database of the fraud prevention service Cifas warning that she had attempted a fraud. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kLCvsC Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'They give me the willies': scientist who vacuumed murder hornets braces for fight

Chris Looney helped dismantle the first nest of Asian giant hornets in the US. Now he’s preparing for the next step The eradication of the first nest of Asian giant hornets on US soil somewhat resembled a science fiction depiction of an alien landing site. A crew of government specialists in white, astronaut-like protective suits descended upon the hornet nexus to vanquish it with a futuristic-looking vacuum cleaner, to the relief of onlookers. The nest of the fearsome invasive insects, notoriously known as “murder hornets”, was found in a tree crevice near Blaine, in Washington state, via a tracking device attached to a previously captured worker hornet. The Washington state department of agriculture (WSDA) confirmed the nest had been successfully removed, with dozens of live captives taken back for inspection. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34Jj6Di Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

What links Nicola Adams and Darwin’s ship? The Weekend quiz

From a poet to a warrior, test your knowledge with the Weekend quiz 1 What was “catchier than IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence”? 2 Which rulers sat on the Peacock Throne? 3 The cat-like fossa is the largest carnivore on which island? 4 Where does A+B+C+D+E = Q? 5 Which poet was nicknamed after the jockey Steve Donoghue? 6 A serpent eats its own tail in which ancient symbol? 7 Which UK national park is a Unesco world heritage site? 8 What Japanese art form’s name means “pictures run riot”? What links: 9 Andoni Goikoetxea; Frank Rich; Douglas Haig? 10 Annabella Drummond (1394) and Mary Queen of Scots (1566)? 11 Mountain; tree; cobra; warrior; half lord of the fishes? 12 Banba’s Crown; Burr Point; Brow Head; Dunmore Head? 13 Nicola Adams; Split native; biggest Mexican state; Darwin’s ship? 14 NW8; SE11; B5; M16; LS6; NG2? 15 Chatterton (Wallis); Marat (David); Nelson and Wolfe (West); Gordon (Joy)? Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.t...

'Red mirage': the 'insidious' scenario if Trump declares an early victory

The situation could develop if the president appears to be leading on election night before all votes are counted – and for some officials, it’s too realistic for words Scenarios for how an election disaster could unfold in the United States next week involve lawsuits, lost ballots, armed insurrection and other potential crises in thousands of local jurisdictions on 3 November. But there is one much simpler scenario for election-night chaos, centering on a single address, that many analysts see as among the most plausible. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34Juxeg Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

We left the UK for Portland expecting a liberal dream. That wasn’t the reality

Five years ago, Candice Pires and her family moved to the ‘liberal, laid-back’ US city of Portland. Would the shockwaves of 2020 spell the end of their lives there? It was Labor Day. We were having a barbecue in our back garden when gale-force winds started out of nowhere. As we scrambled to hold down plates and glasses, our neighbour’s horse chestnut trees swayed menacingly, their leaves swirling around us. Over the next hour, smoke filled the air and the sky changed from bright blue to dirty grey. We moved everything inside and shut up the house. Soon after, the power went. We had no idea what was happening: rumours started online that protestors – some said Antifa , some said Proud Boys – were starting fires on the outskirts of the city. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TC98Ny Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Blind date: 'Things got a bit spicy around the main course'

Ruby, 24, senior account manager, meets Alex, 24, PR account manager What were you hoping for? A pleasant evening with a mystery suitor in a nice restaurant. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3oFMKkB Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Tim Dowling: what strange noises are waking me up in the night?

It is 3.27am and somewhere, intermittent and plaintive, a dog is barking. I pull on my trousers and creep downstairs I am woken by a dog barking. On the ceiling, the silhouette of a tree branch is waving in the light cast by next door’s security light. Having fallen asleep while checking the number of mail-in ballots received and accepted thus far in North Carolina and Wisconsin, I am still clutching my phone tightly in one cramped claw. It is 3.27am and somewhere, intermittent and plaintive, a dog is barking in the night. After some minutes it becomes clear that the barking dog is my dog. I listen to one more round to make sure, and then pull on my trousers and creep downstairs. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34GFWve Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Twitter lifts freeze from New York Post account after policy reversal

Latest move in an ongoing saga comes after CEO Jack Dorsey was grilled by Republican lawmakers during a Senate hearing on Wednesday Twitter said on Friday it had changed its policy and lifted a freeze it placed on the account of the New York Post after the newspaper published controversial articles about Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. It is the latest move in an ongoing saga that called into question the moderation policies of social media platforms. Both Twitter and Facebook took measures to limit the spread of an article published by the New York Post on 14 October, which claimed to be based on documents gleaned from an abandoned computer belonging to the Democratic candidate’s son. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TEOBrD Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Philippines orders thousands of evacuations ahead of 2020’s strongest storm

System with 265km/h winds is expected to make landfall on Sunday on main island of Luzon, home to Manila Philippine officials have ordered evacuation of thousands of residents in the southern part of the main Luzon island as a category-5 storm that is the world’s strongest this year approaches. Typhoon Goni, with 215km/h (133 mph) sustained winds and gusts of up to 265km/h (164 mph), will make landfall on Sunday as the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines since Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kOAlsk Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Anti-France protests draw tens of thousands across Muslim world

Demonstrations held in Pakistan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories and Afghanistan Tens of thousands of Muslims in Pakistan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and elsewhere joined protests on Friday over the French president Emmanuel Macron’s vow to protect the right to caricature the prophet Muhammad. Demonstrations in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, turned violent as 2,000 people who tried to march towards the French embassy were pushed back by police firing teargas and using batons. Crowds of Islamist activists hanged an effigy of Macron from an overpass after pounding it with their shoes. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/31Xl0hw Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Coronavirus live news: Europe passes 10m cases, Australian cases rise amid border fight

England lockdown expected early next week ; US passes 9m infections ; New South Wales records four new infections, Victoria one. Follow the latest: Belgium facing new lockdown as Germany takes in patients Europeans seek ways to ride out Covid winter ‘An operational tsunami’: preparing for a winter surge of Covid Paris sees record traffic jams before lockdown See all our coronavirus coverage 1.32am GMT Belgium will impose tighter lockdown rules from Monday, closing non-essential businesses and restricting household visits. “These are last-chance measures if we want to get the figures down,” said Prime Minister Alexander de Croo , warning that the new rules would stay in place for at least a month and a half. 1.29am GMT France reported 49,215 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours on Friday, compared with 47,637 on Thursday. The total number of infections rose to 1,331,984. The death tally went up by 256 over 24 hours to 36,565. Continue reading... from ...

One in eight UK renters unable to meet housing costs in full, says report

Action needed to help tenants in second wave, says Resolution Foundation UK house price boom will collapse once buyers lose their jobs UK house prices jump but slowdown is likely, says Nationwide Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Almost one in eight private renters are unable to meet their housing costs in full, according to a report warning that urgent steps are needed to protect households during the second wave of Covid-19. The Resolution Foundation said private and social renters are bearing the brunt of redundancies during the Covid recession and are more likely to have fallen behind with their housing costs than mortgagers. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eabGfp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Drive less or face post-lockdown gridlock, UK transport experts warn

Campaigners urge more walking and cycling schemes despite opposition from ‘vocal minority’ Many Britons will have to get used to driving less if the country is to avoid gridlock on the roads once coronavirus restrictions ease, and councils must provide better routes for cycling and walking, transport experts say. Government statistics show motor traffic is almost back at pre-lockdown levels , and only 59% of employees have returned to their workplaces. One study predict s that with health concerns reducing the use of public transport, up to 2.7 million more people could end up using cars for commuting trips alone. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TEqCc7 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Unions discussing general strike if Trump refuses to accept Biden victory

Union federations in Rochester, Seattle and Massachusetts approved resolutions should Trump seek to subvert outcome US unions have begun discussing the idea of a general strike if Donald Trump refuses to accept an election results showing a Joe Biden victory. Such a move would be unprecedented in the modern era. There has not been a general strike in the United States since 1946 – and that was restricted to Oakland , California. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HCXIqD Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'He's a salesman': why rallies are Trump's last best hope of clinging to presidency

The president has always been in his element campaigning rather than governing – now they’re a show of strength for him as election day looms For Donald Trump, surviving coronavirus has become just another punchline on the campaign trail. “I had so many doctors and each one of them studied different parts of the body,” the president told supporters in Waukesha, Wisconsin , last weekend. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32cM8JV Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

‘I feel free here’: how a miracle girls' school was built in India's 'golden city'

A strikingly-designed centre reminiscent of Rajasthan’s famous forts will soon be opening its doors in conservative Jaisalmer “Don’t even try,” friends told Michael Daube, when he said he wanted to coax women in Jaisalmer to embroider yoga bags to help them earn some income. For the most part, at least in rural areas, this is Federico García Lorca territory, where marriage for a woman, as a character in the Spanish poet’s play Blood Wedding describes it, is “a man, children, and as for the rest a wall that’s two feet thick”. Rajasthan is one of the most conservative states in India, where ancient customs circumscribe a woman’s freedom and in turn any chance of economic independence. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jEfZ3t Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

‘Un-managing the land’: sheep make way for trees in Cumbria's uplands

Sheep grazing has dominated the Howgill Fells for over a century, but with shifting agricultural subsidies and urgent calls to address biodiversity loss, change is coming For William Wordsworth the Howgill Fells was a romantic landscape, for rewilders they could be home to wolves, and for farmer John Pratt, these hills are home. “I was hoping this day would never come. I shan’t say it will break my heart, but it will,” says Pratt, who is selling his sheep and retiring after 55 years of uplands farming. “I’ve had a flock of sheep since I was 14, so I’m ready for a break,” he adds. The 69-year-old tenant farmer works seven days a week and takes six days of holiday a year. Since 1966 he has been renting Kilnmire Farm (with no heating in the house) on the edge of Ravenstonedale village in Cumbria with his wife, Hazel. He doesn’t drink alcohol (he’s Methodist) and doesn’t have a mobile phone because he “wouldn’t know how to use it”. He tried an olive for the first time in 2017. It’s a lif...

Friday briefing: Labour's day of shame and blame

Party in crisis after Corbyn suspended for rejecting antisemitism findings … Macron pleads for unity … New Zealand votes to legalise euthanasia Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this morning. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TAtyGy Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Covid-19 second wave pushing UK to brink of double-dip recession

Job losses at fastest rate on record as economic recovery from first lockdown loses steam The government will close the furlough scheme this weekend, with redundancies rising at the fastest rate on record and the second wave of Covid-19 pushing Britain’s economy to the brink of a double-dip recession, according to a Guardian analysis. As the chancellor, Rishi Sunak , prepares to end the multibillion-pound coronavirus job retention scheme and launch a less generous replacement programme, early warning indicators show business activity faltering as local lockdowns take effect. The number of people losing their jobs is rising much faster than during the 2008 financial crisis, while the economic fightback from the March lockdown is gradually fading. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37Tlid7 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

World leaders condemn Nice attack as France terror alert level raised to maximum

Leaders from the UK, US and Middle East express solidarity with France as soldiers are deployed to guard schools and churches Leaders from around the world have offered condolences and expressed their solidarity with the people of France after the nation suffered a second suspected Islamist extremist attack on its soil in a fortnight. President Emmanuel Macron said France was “ under attack ” in the wake of the killings inside the Notre-Dame basilica in the coastal city of Nice on Thursday which left three worshippers dead, but he vowed the French people would “not give in to any terror” in fighting intolerance. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2JbJ1uO Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

UN urges UK to restart resettlement of refugees after family drowns in Channel

Scheme designed to resettle about 5,000 refugees a year is currently suspended due to pandemic The UK government needs to urgently restart its resettlement scheme after two young children and their parents died while trying to cross the Channel, the UN refugee agency’s UK representative has said. Iranian Kurds Rasul Iran Nezhad and his wife, Shiva Mohammad Panahi, both 35, and two of their children, Anita, nine, and Armin, six, drowned on Tuesday as they tried to reach Britain by boat . The fate of the family’s third child, 15-month-old Artin, is unknown. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HLjJDq Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Calls to online child sexual abuse watchdog up 45% in September

Internet Watch Foundation says criminal content spotted by people spending time online during pandemic Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A hotline for reporting suspected child abuse material online had a record month in September, with calls increasing 45%, driven by the shift to working from home and more time spent online, an internet watchdog has said. The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which identifies child sexual abuse content online, said it processed 15,258 reports from the public in September 2020, a record for the charity and up from 10,514 in September 2019. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TDhwMQ Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Americans have bought record 17m guns in year of unrest, analysis finds

Sales surged in the spring amid coronavirus fears and climbed higher during protests for racial justice Americans have bought nearly 17m guns so far in 2020, more than in any other single year, according to estimates from a firearms analytics company. Gun sales across the United States first jumped in the spring, driven by fears about the coronavirus pandemic, and spiked even higher in the summer, during massive racial justice protests across the country, prompted by police killings of black Americans. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HO8c5W Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Get live US election results delivered to your phone with our cutting-edge alert

The Guardian’s live-updating app alert is one of the fastest ways to receive US election results. Sign up now On the night of the US election, the Guardian is offering readers a unique way to get live, up-to-the minute election results delivered to their mobile phones. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kTle0A Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Hidden horrors: our writers on the scariest movies you (probably) haven't seen

In time for Halloween, Guardian writers have picked out their favourite underseen scary movies, from Brazil’s first horror film to a found footage gem Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37SbyQm Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

‘Long johns with a bum hatch’: Guardian readers' secrets for staying warm outside this winter

Who better to ask how to handle the cold than people who work in the elements? Here, Guardian readers give their best advice – from the ideal breakfast to the perfect snood I was once working at a beer festival in -12C and high wind for 18 hours. It was so cold that beer brought outside would “steam” like a cup of tea. We kept warm by wearing about 10 layers (Scottish woolly jumpers and Norwegian merino thermals). Under-layers are much more important than jackets, but they must be breathable and not cotton. Old-fashioned all-in-one long johns with a vest suit (and a bum hatch) were the best thing I bought, as they keep your middle warm even if you move around a lot (regular vests come untucked). Wool is the best material, as it stays dry; damp is the real enemy. Your hands are the best indicator – they should stay warm without gloves and steam if cold water touches them. If your hands get cold, you need another layer. Kenn Flatt, market trader Take spare gloves for the afternoon. Th...

'There's something to scream about': Bring Me the Horizon's pandemic political awakening

The pop-metallers’ frontman Oli Sykes has gone from ‘school punching bag’ to chart-topping star – but coronavirus brought back his childhood anxieties In 2019, Oli Sykes foretold “some fuckin’ mental disaster in a couple of years … We’re literally at the end, doesn’t it feel like that to you?” He imagined a tsunami or volcano. His words are from Underground Big, a 24-minute track by his band Bring Me the Horizon , and the first of two prophecies from this Cassandra of stadium rock. He got closer the second time with Parasite Eve, a song about a pandemic. “I had read about this superbug in Japan that was killing loads of people, and the article was saying this is the next war mankind will face,” he says now. “I didn’t think it was going to come this year.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3oEwlwJ Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

US election 2020: signs of record turnout as candidates make final push through swing states – live

Trump and Biden scheduled to hold dueling events in Minnesota and Wisconsin Friday ‘Turning pain into purpose’: Covid is driving Arizonans to the polls The polls point to a Biden victory but can they be trusted this time? ‘It’s voter suppression’: the Republican fight to limit ballot boxes 4.35am GMT Hello and welcome to our round-the-clock coverage of the 2020 US elections. More than 80m Americans have already cast their ballots, according to the US Elections Project. Election day is on Tuesday. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are scheduled to hold dueling events in Minnesota and Wisconsin today, with Biden also traveling to Iowa. Both candidates were in Florida on Thursday, where a Biden event appeared to be cut short by a downpour, while 17 attendees at a Trump rally had to be taken to the hospital for intense heat, according to NBC News . Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37TYzxO Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Paris region sees record traffic jams ahead of lockdown

Thursday’s traffic was 30% higher than the previous record as people headed out to escape lockdown and others headed back from half-term holidays A dash by Parisians to either escape the new national lockdown or scramble back to the French capital to prepare for the restrictions caused record traffic jams in and out of the city on Thursday night. The exodus in and out of the city created a record 706km of traffic on roads in the region by 6pm, according to France’s traffic department. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HIbRCq Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

New Zealand votes to legalise euthanasia but against legalising cannabis in referendum

Results of the euthanasia vote are binding and must be enacted by the new Labour government by October 2021 New Zealanders have voted to legalise euthanasia for those with a terminal illness, in a landslide victory for campaigners who say anyone suffering extreme pain should be given a choice over how and when to bring their life to a close. The decision on whether to legalise euthanasia appeared as a referendum question on the 17 October general election ballot paper, alongside a second referendum question on whether to legalise cannabis – which did not succeed. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jGC95d Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Coronavirus live news: Europe leaders told to 'act urgently' as global daily case records tumble

Head of the European Commission warns EU hospitals ‘at risk of being overwhelmed’ by Covid; Greece brings in regional lockdowns; French PM lays out details of new France lockdown. White House taskforce warns of ‘unrelenting’ Covid spread Angela Merkel heckled by German MPs over lockdown France: children aged six and over to wear masks in school Taiwan marks 200 days without domestic infection Large China outbreak linked to Xinjiang forced labour 12.26am GMT A quarter of nurseries and childminders in deprived areas of England say they will not get by beyond Christmas without additional income, according to a survey. The poll by the Early Years Alliance (EYA) found that low demand for places and inadequate government support during the Covid pandemic could result in mass closures of childcare facilities. Related: One in six childcare providers in England may close by Christmas 12.15am GMT 23 October was the first time over the course of the pandemic that the world added ha...

One in six childcare providers in England may close by Christmas

Poll finds providers in deprived areas particularly vulnerable as a result of low demand A quarter of nurseries and childminders in deprived areas of England say they will not get by beyond Christmas without additional income, according to a survey. The poll by the Early Years Alliance (EYA) found that low demand for places and inadequate government support during the Covid pandemic could result in mass closures of childcare facilities. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37SefS1 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Seven men bailed following suspected hijack of oil tanker

Nigerians arrested after SBS stormed Nave Andromeda are still detained by Border Force Seven Nigerian men detained after British special services stormed an oil tanker off the Isle of Wight have been bailed, police have said. The raid was carried out by around 16 members of the Special Boat Service (SBS) , backed by airborne snipers, who secured the Nave Andromeda tanker in around nine minutes. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3ecy6N8 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Ecotricity founder to grow diamonds 'made entirely from the sky'

UK millionaire Dale Vince says lab-grown gems will be ‘world’s first zero-impact’ diamonds A British multi-millionaire and environmentalist has set out plans to create thousands of carats of carbon-negative, laboratory-grown diamonds every year “made entirely from the sky”. Dale Vince, the founder of green energy supplier Ecotricity , claims to have developed the world’s only diamonds to be made from carbon, water and energy sourced directly from the elements at a “sky mining facility” in Stroud. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34DAzN9 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

David Hockney painting valued at £27m goes on show ahead of auction

Nichols Canyon described as ‘most significant landscape by Hockney to ever appear at auction’ A David Hockney painting valued at £27m ($35m) and described as “the most significant landscape by Hockney to ever appear at auction” has gone on show in London. The 1980 piece, Nichols Canyon, depicts a winding road through hills in Los Angeles, and marks the beginning of Hockney’s exploration of panoramic landscapes. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35Q06SZ Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Cowboys, cats and Cruella: 20 years of celebrity halloween costumes

From Cindy Crawford as a Hell’s Angel to Rihanna as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, here are some of the stars’ most memorable fancy dress moments over the last two decades Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jFu2WJ Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

iPhone 12 review: Apple's best since the iPhone X

Fresh, iPhone 4-like redesign is slimmer with long battery life, good camera and smash-resistant screen The iPhone 12 combines the designs of the iPhone X and the legendary iPhone 4 and comes out looking and feeling fresh, with 5G, a better screen and improved cameras. The new iPhone costs from £799 and sits between the slightly smaller £699 iPhone 12 Mini and the £999 iPhone 12 Pro and £1,099 12 Pro Max. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jxHYSw Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'Ketamine is big here': why Bristol University is testing drugs for its students

Universities are waking up to the idea that it’s better to tackle student drug-taking through information, not punishment When Rahim*, a first-year university student, went to a festival last year, his friends bought some MDMA from a dealer they met at a party. He was apprehensive, since he usually only buys off contacts he trusts not to cut their substances with unwanted chemicals. So when his group stumbled across a harm reduction service, one friend decided to buy a testing kit. “Thank god he bought it, because one of the MDMA pills turned out to have meth in it,” says Rahim. “It was quite scary.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HJJDaw Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Covid has hit 'critical' stage in England, research finds

Dramatic increase in recorded cases across country, with infection rate rising fastest in south Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The Covid pandemic has reached a “critical” stage in England, with prevalence doubling since last month with the fastest increases in the south where the R number has risen above 2, research has found. While cases remain highest in northern England, a dramatic increase in infections has been recorded across all areas, according to the latest interim findings from the React-1 study from Imperial College London. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3oBqqbY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Almost 300 asylum seekers have died trying to cross the Channel since 1999

First research to collate figures documents the people who have lost their lives, with drownings during sea crossings on the rise Almost 300 asylum seekers including 36 children have died trying to cross the Channel to the UK in the past 20 years, according to the first analysis to collate deaths. The Institute of Race Relations research, due to be published next month and seen by the Guardian, details the cases of 292 people who have died trying to cross by vehicle, tunnel and over the water since 1999. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jE1ehp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Legal action taken against PM over refusal to investigate Kremlin meddling

Cross-party group files claim to force inquiry into Russian interference in UK elections A cross-party group of MPs and peers including a former national security adviser are taking legal action against Boris Johnson over his government’s refusal to order an inquiry into Russian interference in UK elections. The group filed a claim in the high court in an attempt to force the prime minister to carry out an independent investigation or public inquiry. It the first legal action of its kind over alleged national security failures. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37OSjqS Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

US election 2020: Trump and Biden camps rally in Arizona – live

Obama will campaign with Biden in Michigan on Saturday Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter 6.30am GMT The profile of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Vanity Fair is not paywalled, depending on how many free Vanity Fair articles you’ve clicked this month: . @AOC on the New York Times’s bombshell investigation of Trump’s taxes: https://t.co/xAbI0YRPca pic.twitter.com/zht1EH9ztA 6.27am GMT LeBron James’ mother has voted, he tells former president Barack Obama in this video, part of James’ get-out-the-vote effort. His mother, Gloria James, lives at least part-time in Ohio, where the presidential race looks tight. Proud of you Mama!!! ❤️✊ And proud of everyone who is getting out there and voting for the first time and early! I love it!! #MoreThanAVote #TheShopHBO pic.twitter.com/AjRTaqGnt0 Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2Jklt7n Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Sassoon family collection of Jewish artefacts to be sold at auction

Unparalleled collection of one of the greatest Jewish dynasties in the world to go on sale in New York An unparalleled collection of Judaica amassed by one of the greatest Jewish dynasties in the world and not seen in public for over a century is to be sold at auction. The trove of 68 items includes silver objects, Hebrew manuscripts and family artefacts collected by the Sassoon family. Some items date back to the 11th century, and they originate from countries from east Asia to western Europe. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kCReGt Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Man arrested after showering commuters with money from 30th-floor window

Police in Chongqing, south-western China, detain man on drugs charges after his benevolence caused traffic chaos Chinese police have arrested a man after he scattered a “heavenly rain of banknotes” on commuters from his apartment window while allegedly high on methamphetamine. Police said the 29-year-old was “in a trance” after taking drugs at his home on the 30th floor of a building in Chongqing, in south-western China, when he began throwing cash out of the window to the streets below. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/31Ohmqk Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Temporary, timely and targeted. Furlough has proved to be just one of these

As mark 1 gives way to mark 2, scheme has prevented return to dole queues of 1980s– for now Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Temporary, timely and targeted. That was how Rishi Sunak described the government’s strategy for coping with the impact of Covid-19 when he gave his budget speech on 11 March. Less than two weeks later the UK was in lockdown and the chancellor sought to deliver on his pledge with the Treasury’s job retention scheme, or the furlough as it has become known. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35IMDfp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

500 UK scout troops face closure after Covid hits fundraising

At least 7% of groups could close including many in deprived areas Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage More than 500 scout troops are facing closure after fundraising activities from jumble sales to supermarket bag packing were cancelled because of Covid, the movement has warned. It means the 113-year-old institution faces the possible loss of at least 7% of its 7,300 groups. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34zX0Tv Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

'Try again next time': my three visa rejections

After being offered a prestigious international literary residency, Nkiacha Atemnkeng was excited for his first visit to the US – until he turned up at the embassy for his interview I am a western visa rejection expert. Three times – even though I work at an airport. But I am mostly a literary reject, a reality which also, somehow, always presents itself in sets of threes. Like a trilogy. I am at the US embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, waiting outside the gate and the high fence. I admire the white tiled buildings and poles flaunting American flags. We stand in the morning sun. A Cameroonian security guard walks towards us. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kDlqRz Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Leroy Logan: the man who risked everything to fight racism in the police force - from within

His father was brutally beaten by police, but instead of hating the force, he became an officer himself. Now John Boyega is starring in a film about Leroy Logan’s life. So did the first chair of the National Black Police Association make the right choice? One day in 1983, while working in his research lab at the Royal Free hospital in north London, Leroy Logan received a phone call. The news was bad. It was about his father, Kenneth, a lorry driver. “Dad was parked up in north London,” he remembers. “Two police officers said he was blocking the highway. He didn’t believe he was and started to measure the distance. They took the view that – as some police officers say – he had ‘failed the attitude test’.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3mybdGU Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

The age of the elderly candidate: how two septuagenarians came to be running for president

Biden and Trump have been eager to prove their virility, calling into question what effect old age has on the leader of the US “I woke up and I felt good,” Donald Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Arizona, slamming the side of his lectern as he described hospitalisation with the coronavirus. “I said, ‘Get me out of here’. Boom! Superman!” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TMpXWl Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Girl, 14, arrested in West Sussex murder inquiry

Teenager arrested in south London after 24-year-old man found with serious injuries in Crawley A teenage girl has been arrested over the murder of a man in West Sussex. Emergency services were called to Russell Way in Three Bridges, Crawley, at 9pm on Tuesday where they found a 24-year-old man with serious injuries, Sussex police said in a statement. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2TAZZom Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Most black British children report experiencing racism at school

YMCA poll finds 70% feel under pressure over afro hair, 95% hear racist language and half think racism is biggest barrier to success Seven out of 10 young black people in the UK have felt under pressure to change their hair in order to appear more professional in school or at work, according to a new survey. Research by YMCA among young people of black and mixed ethnicity found many felt they had to change to be accepted in society, prompting warnings that rigid school and workplace policies could result in “cultural erasure”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/34Awb1u Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Britons' support for welfare benefits at highest level for 20 years – study

Annual survey finds ‘dramatic softening in attitudes’ even before Covid pandemic Public support for more generous welfare benefits is at its highest level for more than two decades, amid new evidence that societal views on social security and immigration are becoming significantly more liberal, according to the latest annual barometer of British social attitudes. The findings, which come as pressure rises on the government to retain the £20-a-week Covid-19 top-up of universal credit, indicate that seemingly entrenched popular views on benefits – that they create welfare dependency and encourage “shirking and skiving” – are melting away. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3oD1XmE Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Nigel Farage heaps praise on Donald Trump at Arizona rally

The US president calls former Ukip leader ‘one of the most powerful men in Europe’ Nigel Farage has spoken at a Donald Trump rally to lend support to the Republican’s re-election campaign, showering the US president with praise and describing him as the “most resilient and brave person” he had ever met. Related: US election roundup: Trump claims he ‘ended’ the pandemic as cases surge Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HKBPFe Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Global heating threatens UK wildlife’s ability to adapt and survive

Restoring and connecting habitat across Britain could save a fifth of species by 2030, says report by Rewilding Britain Global heating is shifting Britain’s climatic zones by up to 5km each year, outpacing wildlife’s ability to adapt and survive, according to a new report by Rewilding Britain. If species cannot adapt to higher temperatures or relocate elsewhere, they will be threatened with extinction. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jyE2AR Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Coronavirus live news: France second wave likely ‘harder and more deadly’ says Macron; global daily cases pass 500,000

France reimposes national lockdown; Germany imposes drastic curbs; Italy sets daily infection record. Follow latest updates Germany to bring in new rules after record surge in cases EU leaders urged to aid transfer of patients between countries US adds nearly 500,000 cases in a week; Europe faces more lockdowns 12.28am GMT One of the last coronavirus-free sanctuaries in the world has been breached, with the US military importing two cases of Covid-19 into the remote Marshall Islands . The Marshalls had been one of the last nations on Earth – most of which are in the Pacific – without a single confirmed case of Covid-19. Related: Remote Marshall Islands records its first coronavirus cases 12.19am GMT A generation of babies born during the Covid-19 pandemic may be at risk because they and their parents are not being fully supported by health visitors in the weeks and months after birth, a coalition of children’s charities has said. The NSPCC and nine other early-years charit...

Advertisers expected to spend almost £725m less than last Christmas

Industry forecasts record cuts to budgets for so-called ‘golden’ quarter amid pandemic Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Advertisers are cutting more than £700m from their marketing budgets in the run-up to Christmas, as the pandemic puts paid to the big budget extravaganzas that normally bombard the public over the festive season. While the annual Christmas advertising battle will be as fiercely fought as ever, with a total of £6.2bn spent across the fourth quarter, consumers are unlikely to see glitzy tie-ups such as Mariah Carey’s reportedly £9m deal to promote Walkers festive-themed crisps last year. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2HGcwEy Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Covid has devastated UK pub industry, says Camra

2021 Good Beer Guide, published by Camra, says restrictions could ‘make or break’ industry Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Coronavirus has had a “devastating” impact on the UK’s pubs and will exacerbate the decline in the number of independent breweries – for the first time in nearly two decades – an influential consumer guide has warned. Thousands of pubs and breweries that survived the first lockdown are now fighting to stay afloat amid a slump in business following ongoing restrictions and curfews that could “make or break” the industry, according to the 2021 Good Beer Guide, published on Thursday by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra). Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2Tvbjm6 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Covid pressure on health visitors puts generation of babies at risk, charities say

NSPCC and others urge government to fund rebuilding of struggling support service Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A generation of babies born during the Covid-19 pandemic may be at risk because they and their parents are not being fully supported by health visitors in the weeks and months after birth, a coalition of children’s charities has said. The NSPCC and nine other early-years charities say restrictions to the service and redeployment of health visitors could mean thousands of families do not receive checks they are entitled to. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/37QKOzG Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Wales qualifications body urges scrapping of next year's exams

Welsh government told there should be no GCSE and AS-level exams, and single paper for A-levels Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The independent regulator of qualifications in Wales has recommended that all timetabled exams should be scrapped next summer, apart from a single paper for each A-level subject, as schools continue to grapple with disruption due to Covid. Qualifications Wales (QW) told the Welsh government there should be no timetabled exams for GCSEs and AS-levels, and that grades should be awarded based on coursework and a set of external assessments taken during the year. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/328P5ev Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Heathrow overtaken as Europe's largest airport by Charles de Gaulle

London airport hits out over Covid testing, with passenger numbers below Paris rival Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Heathrow has lost its crown as Europe’s largest airport for the first time after being overtaken by Paris’s Charles de Gaulle, the London airport said. The number of passengers passing through Charles de Gaulle has surpassed Heathrow, and the UK airport heavily criticised the government for “slow progress” relative to its rivals in instituting a coronavirus testing regime for passengers. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3jBkjjW Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

No money to burn: how Bond crowdfunder could be the way forward

A new campaign to buy No Time to Die from MGM has been started on GoFundMe. Next step: nationalise 007 If Covid kills the cinema experience for good – a hypothetical that sounds less and less far-fetched by the day – then No Time to Die will forever be held up as a key co-conspirator. Although almost every other film set for release this year has been shunted off into the middle distance, there’s something about No Time to Die’s repositionings that seems to have drawn everyone’s wrath. First it was booted away from a spring release. And then again from an autumn release, which is when Cineworld decided to board itself up. This week it was reported that, in an act of increasingly characteristic jumpiness, No Time to Die tried to hawk itself around the streaming platforms for the tidy sum of $600m. Even that failed. At this rate it would take a miracle for anyone to see it. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35DWHq1 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly...

Rural homelessness in England rises by 115% in past two years

Deregulated planning system will worsen housing shortage and supply of affordable homes Homelessness in rural areas in England has more than doubled in the last two years, according to analysis published as campaigners warn of planning reforms likely to worsen the situation. The number of households categorised as homeless in rural local authorities in England rose to 19,975 – an increase of 115% from 2017-18 – according to the countryside charity CPRE , and the Rural Services Network, which represents many parish councils and other countryside organisations. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35VjZIn Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

South Korea vows to go carbon neutral by 2050 to fight climate emergency

South Korea relies on coal for about 40% of its electricity generation, with renewables making up less than 6% South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, has declared that the country will go carbon neutral by 2050, bringing it into line with other major economies. In a policy speech in the national assembly on Wednesday, Moon said South Korea, one of the world’s most fossil fuel-reliant economies, would “actively respond” to the climate emergency “with the international community and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/31OznF6 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

UK tourism venues embrace the great outdoors to survive the pandemic

Galleries, museums and cafes are shifting their focus to offer visitors Covid-safe experiences outside, even through winter In a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales, there’s an unusual sight among the farm animals this winter. On the terrace of the Courtyard Dairy cheese shop, next to a colourful cow sculpture, sit a pair of Alpine intruders. The interlopers are not of the four-legged variety; they are ski gondolas, once used to whisk holidaymakers up the pistes of Courchevel in the French Alps. Now, these snug pods offer visitors the chance to feast on Alpine specialities such as raclette and fondue. For owner Andy Swinscoe, bringing his cafe outside has been a lifeline in a bleak period. Around 75% of his business was lost during lockdown. Since then, the cafe and museum that had made the dairy a Dales’ destination for tourists have had to remain closed. Over summer, he introduced a cheese vending machine and started selling takeaway coffee and ice-cream, but says: “We felt like ...

No time for goodbyes: tributes to six people lost to coronavirus

Campaigners call for pandemic bereavement support for relatives as UK death toll surpasses 60,000 Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The sound of the phone ringing once filled 49-year-old Rivka Gottlieb with dread. Her father was admitted to hospital in late March after contracting coronavirus but, unable to be with him because of lockdown, she nervously awaited every piece of news on his condition. In mid-April, the phone rang and the news she feared came. She was devastated – but even then she couldn’t say goodbye in the way she wanted. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2G6RGxE Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com