Get it White Jonson

Scammers took advantage after the government suspended face-to-face interviews with claimants A Hampshire woman, whose identity was used by fraudsters to apply for a £1,300 universal credit advance, has been told by investigators that they are dealing with thousands of similar cases, and that “it could have happened to anyone”. In March, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suspended face-to-face interviews for new applicants. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3prkySY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Research reveals how ground-nesting birds frequently scared from nest by off-lead canines There is only one thing more terrifying for a nesting bird than a person walking nearby: when that two-legged beast is joined by a four-legged companion. A study of how ground-nesting birds are disturbed on beaches in Spain has revealed how they are almost always scared from their nests by passing off-lead dogs, but seem unperturbed by motorbikes, helicopters and low-flying planes. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3pvDVds Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

New figures show only a few years out of the workforce can have a big effect on a retirement fund The rise in the youth unemployment rate caused by the coronavirus pandemic is terrible news for Britain’s young adults – and could have a lifelong impact on their financial security, wiping out a large portion of their pension benefits. Figures prepared exclusively for Guardian Money reveal how only a few years outside the workforce can have a dramatic effect on a person’s chances of building up a pension. Contributions in the early years of someone’s working life are crucial in generating a satisfactory sum to live on in retirement. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/38IlCMc Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Printed book sales plunge in first six months of 2020 on back of shop and school closures See all our coronavirus coverage Sales of digital books by British publishers are set to hit an all-time high this year as the public turns to reading to escape pandemic cabin fever. However, the ebook and audiobook boom comes at a high cost for the industry, with global sales of printed books by UK publishers plunging by 55m in the first six months of the year as high streets and schools closed during the first coronavirus lockdown. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/38CbLHY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Thought up by a tired new mother, and now backed by Bill Gates, manufactured human milk sounds like the stuff of science fiction. But just how liberating will it be? Dr Leila Strickland became a mother when she was a few months away from completing her postdoctorate fellowship in cell biology at Stanford University. She spent the first three months of her son’s life “at home on maternity leave, relentlessly struggling to breastfeed. I was having a hard time producing enough milk.” She never expected to find feeding her baby a greater challenge than advanced cytology. “My mom breastfed me and my sister until we were over two years old. All my life, I’d fully embraced the proposition that breast milk is the best nutrition for a baby, and that this is what I would feed my baby.” Lactation consultants, paediatricians and well-meaning friends told her to just keep trying. “Because I was so unprepared for it, I found it really isolating. I felt like there was something wrong with me.” Co...

You don’t have to be a polymath like Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit to improve your game The first thing to say about chess is that we are not all natural geniuses like Beth Harmon, the star of The Queen’s Gambit , who is taught the game by grumpy but lovable janitor Mr Shaibel at the age of nine and is very soon beating him. The daughter of a maths PhD, she sees the patterns and movement in chess immediately, can visualise effortlessly – being able to memorise moves and play without a board is the sign of chess mastery – and sees whole games on the ceiling of her orphanage dormitory. She is a prodigy, just like world champion Bobby Fischer, on whom Walter Tevis based the novel from which the TV series is drawn. We are mere mortals. So how do we get good? Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35uVYZp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Forecasts of gusty, onshore winds over Florida force reschedule to Sunday of first full mission carrying four astronauts Nasa and SpaceX have announced a 24-hour weather delay of their planned launch of four astronauts into orbit for America’s first fully fledged human mission using a privately owned spacecraft. The liftoff time slipped from Saturday to Sunday evening due to forecasts of gusty, onshore winds over Florida – remnants of storm Eta – that would have jeopardised a return landing for the Falcon 9 rocket’s reusable booster stage, Nasa officials said. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35wTJoF Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Durham town became synonymous with ‘eye tests’ after No 10 aide’s infamous drive in April The legacy of Dominic Cummings is clear to see in the town of Barnard Castle – if you have good eyesight – with locally branded eye test posters on sale in shops dotted along the pretty market square. The County Durham town found itself at the heart of the story when Boris Johnson’s senior adviser finally confessed to making a lockdown-busting trip there “to test his eyesight” after suffering from suspected Covid-19 in April. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lxf4Ui Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Junior, 35, international student recruiter, meets Lizzi, 29, lingerie buyer What were you hoping for? Love. Or, failing that, good conversation with someone outside my normal circle, tasty food and a break from the endless pile of washing-up that lockdown has created. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kvPdLp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Assessing the arrangement, he offers advice: never, ever light a fire in there A month ago I tried, and failed, to hire a chimney sweep. Then I tried, and failed, to get my wife to hire one. “I emailed four companies,” I said. “Most don’t even reply.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3pmTyEh Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Even a tired-looking apple can be turned into storable sauce, vinegar and any number of desserts, including this, winter’s answer to summer pudding Apples tend to be heavily sprayed and covered in wax to maintain appearance. Organic apples aren’t sprayed to the same degree, or with synthetic chemicals, and nor are they soaked in fungicides and wax, which is clearly better for us and the planet, but it can also shorten their shelf life. Apples with just a blemish or two are still fine to eat raw, but as they age and wither, it’s probably best to cook them. Plain apple sauce is the simplest option, and makes a sweet, fibrous, gut-healing breakfast. Crumbles, cobblers and bettys are all good ways to convert a tired apple into more than the sum of its parts. However, topping my current list of favourite puddings is the charlotte, which is like a warm winter version of summer pudding. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eWM9qc Check out https://ronaldstone...

The US election, lockdown in London, flooding in the Philippines, and rising cases of Covid-19: the most striking images from around the world Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2K7JNcV Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Abu Muhammad al-Masri was gunned down in Tehran more than three months ago, says New York Times Al-Qaida’s second-in-command was killed in Iran in August by Israeli operatives acting at the behest of the United States, the New York Times has reported, citing intelligence officials. Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who went by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle in Tehran, the NYT reported. He was accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kwF2G8 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Recent arrivals to New Zealand contacted after mystery case; Johns Hopkins records worst day of pandemic so far; state of Victoria still free of new cases 1.35am GMT Victoria has reported its 15th consecutive day with now new cases of coronavirus and no deaths. But it is always worth remembering just how bad things were in Victoria not too long ago. As case numbers have come down over the past few weeks, the DHHS... has created and tested an algorithm that has identified some additional 515 historical cases that are connected to close contacts, or established outbreak. It’s important to correct the record so that we can analyse the data correctly, and make sure we have learnings for next time. 12.42am GMT A little more on the update from NSW, where no new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours but four new cases have been recorded in people in hotel quarantine. Health authorities in the state test sewage outflows for virus traces, and tests from Wednesday turned out posi...

Five alleged sorcery-related deaths – including the hanging of a 13-year-old boy - in a single week in one Papua New Guinea province, has revived a nationwide angst over the persistent crime of alleged witchcraft killings. In the highland villages and the lowland towns of Papua New Guinea, it is the crime that everybody knows about, that many see, but that few can, or do, anything to stop. Those who survive it are left disfigured: limbs shattered and missing, faces scarred and swollen, souls forever damaged. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2Kac7vn Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

New report is latest sign that leadership is losing trust of ethnic minority supporters More than half of Muslim members of the Labour party do not trust Keir Starmer to tackle Islamophobia, with nearly the same proportion saying they do not have confidence in the party’s complaints process, a new poll has found. The report by the Labour Muslim Network (LMN) is the latest sign that the party’s new leadership is losing the trust of minority ethnic members and supporters, even as it struggles to recover from an antisemitism crisis that led to a collapse in support from Jewish voters. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2It4Gim Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Pilot scheme could put an end to distressing restrictions on access to loved ones, government says Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Family and friends of people living in care homes will get access to regular testing to allow them to visit their loved ones, the government has said. A pilot scheme launching on Monday will take place in 20 care homes across Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall. But the plan will be rolled out to other regions before Christmas, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lyLsWA Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Ernest Boateng’s wife, Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, died shortly after the birth of their second child Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Before the pandemic struck, Ernest Boateng and his wife, Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, were planning for the future. She was expecting their second child and – after her maternity leave – wanted to become a specialist diabetes nurse; he hoped to join the RAF. But as the coronavirus tore through the UK, Agyeiwaa Agyapong became ill. On 7 April she was admitted to Luton and Dunstable university hospital, where she had been working as a nurse until signed off with shortness of breath. She tested positive for coronavirus and was taken to theatre for an emergency caesarean. Her baby, five weeks early, was born alive. But after five days in intensive care, the 28-year-old died. Boateng was alone, with a premature daughter and two-year-old son to look after. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2UsfjnC Che...

Some trials of lateral flow test from US firm Innova found it was much less accurate than the government said it was The lateral flow test bought by the UK government for mass testing in Liverpool, and potentially the whole country, could miss up to half of those who have Covid-19, according to experts. The government has great expectations of the Innova test, having signed two contracts with the California-based company behind it. Innova told the Guardian it was now shipping more than one million tests a day to the UK. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2UkCErs Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Thousands of ordinary people around Britain volunteered to take part in the Imperial College London coronavirus vaccine trial. Who are they, what motivated them to take part, and what’s it been like? These portraits were taken for Team Halo , an initiative that goes behind the scenes with the scientists trying to develop a Covid vaccine Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3ngYbhh Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Apple’s big update adds colour, iPhone-like icons, settings and apps, ready for new and old Macs alike Apple has just released Big Sur as a free update, marking the biggest redesign for macOS in years. The core system of every Mac computer is now equal parts traditional desktop computer and features many will be used to seeing from the iPad and iPhone. Big Sur marks the end of an era for the Mac’s software in more ways than one. For years Apple has been slowly blending the design and operation of its desktop and mobile software, bringing features from the iPhone or iPad to the Mac and vice versa. With Big Sur comes a significant step toward the goal of merging the two. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3pjulKV Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

The London borough had financial problems for years, the pandemic just made them worse As beleaguered Croydon council declared effective bankruptcy on Wednesday afternoon its interim chief executive, Kathryn Kerswell, sent an ominous wake-up-call memo to staff: “Too many of us are still operating like business as usual,” she warned, “and are not facing up to our new reality that we are actually in a financial crisis.” The methodical drip-drip erosion of council budgets in recent years had maybe inured some to the scale of the challenge now facing the south London borough. Bankruptcy came suddenly, but the origins of the council’s woes go back years, driven by heady dreams of making Croydon a major housing developer, and hampered by a culture of lax financial controls and poor governance. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32Hk1T7 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

No 10 infighting reveals divergence of cultures, style and politics between PM’s top aide and fiancee The imminent departure of Downing Street’s head of communications, Lee Cain , has uncovered a clash of cultures, styles and politics, pitting two unelected officials vying for Boris Johnson’s attention against one another. In one corner is Dominic Cummings, the pugnacious chief adviser to the prime minister, seen by Tory MPs as the leader of a group of predominantly Vote Leave veterans who have dominated key positions within No 10 since December’s election. Under him, a macho culture is said to have developed. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32I8P8R Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Loyalty from president’s base remains undimmed, amid belief that political establishment is colluding to deny him victory The red and blue political bunting and yard signs planted on suburban lawns are mostly gone and with them the outward signs of America’s fiercely oppositional election. But in other respects, the tensions of the 2020 contest remain as acute as they were on polling day for many Trump supporters. “Not many care about people as much as Trump,” said tow-truck driver Vinny Nolan as he took a rest at a highway truck stop near Hackensack, New Jersey. “The [Russia] collusion bullshit was a set-up. He gave everyone money while we iron this virus situation then they announce a vaccine two days after the election. Why didn’t they do that a week ago? He would have won.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3poMwyO Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

PM’s top adviser poised to be next victim of No 10 purge, reports say … Met pledges 40% ethnic minority recruits … Scotland the brave Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this morning. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35nFhPE Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

London mayor Sadiq Khan and police force agree target as part of major race action plan Britain’s biggest police force must hire 40% of new recruits from ethnic minority backgrounds, while officers will have to justify stop and search to community panels under new plans designed to quell the race crisis engulfing Scotland Yard. The Guardian has learned details of the new initiative on race and policing hammered out by London’s mayor and the Metropolitan police after months of negotiations. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3nlq87u Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Presidential poll was the most secure ever, says statement from cybersecurity experts, in clearest repudiation yet of Donald Trump’s claims Follow all our US politics coverage A coalition of US federal and state officials have said they have no evidence that votes were compromised or altered in last week’s presidential election, rejecting unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud advanced by Donald Trump and many of his supporters. The statement from cybersecurity experts, which trumpeted the 3 November election as the most secure in American history, amounted to the most direct repudiation to date of the outgoing president’s efforts to undermine the integrity of the contest. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eRPPcY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

UK government says plans helping people to walk and cycle should not be derailed by minority of noisy dissidents The UK government is to push ahead with a new wave of traffic reduction schemes to help more people walk and cycle, telling councils that while they must properly consult on new projects, they should also not be derailed by a minority of noisy opponents. Announcing the new £175m tranche of money, part of wider plans to adapt travel to the impact of coronavirus, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, pointed to polling which shows significant support for such measures across England. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/36tVUsc Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Money frozen in accounts of people who were hoping to use it for treatment or to pay fines Authorities in Belarus have ordered banks to seize money raised in small donations and paid out as compensation to victims of a police crackdown on protesters. The funds were transferred to people who were beaten or fined after taking part in ongoing demonstrations against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eV1TtN Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

The bassist quit, the singer lost his hearing, the drummer was under house arrest and founder member Malcolm Young died from dementia. But somehow AC/DC are back (in black) At the end of an AC/DC show, Angus Young has a routine. After a couple of hours of perpetual motion in his schoolboy outfit, he heads straight for the shower and then, because he hasn’t been able to eat since noon – you can’t do an AC/DC show on a full stomach – he looks for food. “The first thing that enters my head is: I’m starving.” When he left the stage of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on 20 September 2016 – the last night of the Rock or Bust tour – he might have been running through that routine for the last time in the band’s then 43-year history. The final 23 shows had been completed with Axl Rose as singer (brilliantly, it must be said), after hearing problems had forced Brian Johnson to retire from the road; he could no longer find his pitch onstage, and every show made his hearing worse. That ...

President-elect Biden has decided not to give Trump ‘the attention that he craves’, although some have called for more of a response In the days since Joe Biden won the US presidential election, Donald Trump has rejected the results, spread lies about voter fraud, replaced key military leaders with loyalists , and encouraged Republicans at every level of the party to contest the vote counts showing that he lost. Americans are now debating how Biden should respond. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3nmXB1E Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Thousands rescued as Vamco hit on the heels of Typhoon Goni, one of the strongest storms in the world this year Thick mud and debris have coated many villages around the Philippine capital after a typhoon caused extensive flooding that sent people fleeing to their roofs and killed at least 39 people. Thousands of people have been rescued by Friday, though waters have mostly receded. The military was rescuing people in places where waters remained high. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/36qZljq Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Health body says countries’ names had been blocked on their Facebook page because of an ‘onslaught’ of cyber attacks The World Health Organisation has removed social media filters which were censoring the words “Taiwan” and “China” from its Facebook page after an online backlash, but said the blocks were because of an “onslaught” of cyber attacks. The about-face comes amid intense criticism over China’s continued blocking of Taiwan – which has gone more than 215 days without a local case of Covid-19 – from participation in meetings of the WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2K4ZNMM Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Exhibition explores how surrealist movement influenced culture and design in 20th century Anyone tiring of the many mundane strictures of the new normality can, in Madrid at least, escape temporarily into a world where hands serve as chairs, tables spin on bicycle wheels and horses obligingly proffer lamps from their heads. An exhibition in the Spanish capital examines the countless ways in which the surrealist movement has influenced culture and design over the past century, from the sofa Salvador Dalí modelled on Mae West’s lips , to the music videos of Björk. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/38AULlm Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

US dropped the environmental ball under Trump, but Biden victory means the two countries can work together for a green recovery, says campaigner Ma Jun experienced a strange role reversal during Donald Trump’s presidency. Over more than two decades as one of China’s top environmental campaigners, American encouragement for Beijing to cut carbon emissions and temper the damage of rapid industrialisation had been part of the background music. Ma never imagined he would see the US renege on environmental commitments while China began to face up to the challenge. “It’s been frustrating,” says Ma of the past four years as we speak on the phone, the bustle of Beijing audible in the background. “When it comes to environmental collaboration between the governments, it has been hard to do anything.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3nizW2b Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

President turns to right-wing network Newsmax for support after Fox warned viewers Trump’s election victory claims were false Donald Trump has unleashed a torrent of tweets denouncing Fox News, accusing the network of having forgotten “what made them successful, what got them there”. “They forgot the Golden Goose,” Trump wrote in a tweet posted at midday on Thursday: Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32G0iDp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

A year ago, the broadcaster Adrian Chiles opened a book on attention deficit disorder (ADD). Suddenly the good, the bad and the mad bits of his life started to make sense. He describes the impact the diagnosis has had on his life Four years ago, the broadcaster A drian Chiles went to see a psychiatrist specialising in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who concluded he probably had ADD – ADHD without the hyperactivity aspect. But it was only when he read a book about the condition three years later, and recognised so much of his behaviour on the pages - the inability to focus, the surges of adrenaline, the procrastination - that he went and got an official diagnosis. Chiles talks to Anushka Asthana about the impact the diagnosis has had on his life, and how it has made him reevaluate aspects of it. Asthana also talks to Prof Susan Young, an expert in ADHD, which is defined as a clinically distinct neurobiological condition that is caused by an imbalance of chem...

Covid edition of annual TV advert focuses on kindness rather than gift-giving Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A hedgehog who hopes to fly, a group of hip-hop pigeons and lots of love hearts are the stars of this year’s pandemic edition of the John Lewis Christmas TV adverts. Over the past decade the retailer’s festive ad has become a big annual TV moment that kicks off the Christmas shopping season. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2UnvaEk Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Proportion higher in north, with 82% of north-east care staff on less than £9.50 per hour Almost three-quarters of frontline care workers in England are earning below the “real” living wage, which experts say is the bare minimum to allow families basics such as a secondhand car and a week’s annual UK self-catering holiday, research has revealed. The proportion of care workers below the threshold is even higher in northern areas, where care homes have been hit hardest by Covid-19. In the north-east, 82% of care staff earned less than the England-wide real living wage of £9.50 per hour, while the proportion was 78% in the north-west. One care worker in Lancashire earning £8.72 per hour who recently had her pay cut told the Guardian some colleagues have been using food banks. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3pqFHwL Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Leaders say service needs cash to tackle surgery backlog and mental health demand NHS leaders are urging Rishi Sunak to fulfil his pledge to give the service “whatever it needs” to respond to the coronavirus crisis, by boosting its budget by £4bn next year. NHS services need the money to tackle the huge backlog of patients waiting for surgery and the sharp increase in people needing mental health care as a direct result of the pandemic. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/38Beotp Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

UK students could receive degree course offers based on exam results from 2023 Vice-chancellors have given their backing to a radical overhaul of higher education admissions, which would mean UK students will only be offered places at university once they have their A-level results. The long-awaited policy change is intended to make the system fairer by eliminating the use of predicted grades, which are often unreliable, and will bring the UK into line with other countries. Universities said it could be introduced as early as 2023/4. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lt5otY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including the latest GDP report for September UK GDP grew 15.5% in last quarter Record growth, after worst slump ever Growth slowed to 1.1% in September Introduction: It’s UK GDP Day 7.23am GMT Here’s another chart, showing how the UK’s record-breaking growth in July-September still leaves the economy much smaller than in January. 7.19am GMT This chart of monthly GDP shows the slowdown of growth in August and September as momentum eased through the quarter. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eQd7jn Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Exclusive: Chris Stark says cost is surprisingly low but criticises government for absence of a plan Reaching net zero carbon emissions in the UK is likely to be much easier and cheaper than previously thought, and can be designed in such a way as to quickly improve the lives of millions of people , a senior adviser to the government has said. Chris Stark, the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, the UK’s independent statutory adviser, said costs had come down rapidly in recent years, and past estimates that moving to a low-carbon economy would cut trillions from GDP were wrong. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3ljvMqd Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Texas becomes first to record a million cases as a state as experts warn White House appears to be doing little to control pandemic The US has recorded more than 1m new coronavirus cases in just the past 10 days as the national total soared past 10m cases amid a widespread surge – while Texas on Wednesday became the first to record a million cases as a state. The soaring figures came as the US also recorded its highest single-day total of new cases, and experts warned that even though successful vaccines are coming into view the White House appears to be doing little to contain a pandemic increasingly out of control. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kquMPD Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Milestone reached on Wednesday after a further 595 people died, bringing total to 50,365 Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The UK’s Covid-19 death toll has surpassed 50,000, government figures have revealed, as the nation struggles to deal with a deadly second wave. The news served as a sobering reminder of the severity of the crisis after hopes were raised on Monday that an end may be in sight with announcement that a vaccine had been shown to be effective. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2Uhhc6T Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Aberdeenshire family of 16-year-old climber Corey Liversedge who took his own life call for parents to look for early signs From his earliest years, Corey Liversedge came alive on the mountains. He bagged his first Munro, Ben Chonzie, with assistance from mum and dad, at the age of five, graduating to harder climbs like the South Glen Shiel Ridge as he entered his teens. His mother Kerry helped him to record his summits in a scrapbook: by the age of 16 he had a grand total of 40. Then came lockdown, and this active boy who swam in national competitions, found himself indoors and at bay, isolated from school friends, battling through exam coursework on a wonky internet connection at the home in rural Aberdeenshire he shared with Kerry, his father Adam, and younger brothers Torin, 13, and Glenn, 11. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32zgeHG Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

With Diwali about to burst into the night skies across the globe, our tipsters recommend other winter festivals that banish darkness On recent winter trips to Amsterdam, the sight of thousands of shimmering candle flames lighting up the city’s waterways has been really uplifting. The Amsterdam Festival of Lights (places on the light walk €12.50pp, 10-31 December must be booked online) has been dimmed down because of Covid, with just nine installations. . When we were there, the brilliant luminosity of the city centre came to life under bright moons or night skies. The Dutch tradition of showing paintings by masters of art old and new was also a feature, as famous and local artists had displays of their work out in the open. Nick Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eYJlco Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

A new book captures the most aspirational and enlightened architecture of the north’s postwar years – featuring competitive church building and an endless supply of reinforced concrete Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32TeoSb Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

The actor plays a Holocaust survivor and creche worker who takes in a troubled Senegalese boy in this solid if sentimental drama At 86, Sophia Loren returns to the screen for the first time in 10 years in this sentimental tale for Netflix, directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. It’s adapted from the novel The Life Before Us by Romain Gary, which was first filmed in 1977 as Madame Rosa with Simone Signoret in the title role. In truth, the part Loren plays here is not so very different in spirit from the “mother courage” roles which made her a star in the 1960s, only now it’s a matter of grandmother-courage (the scene in which she is heartrendingly stretchered out of her apartment building by medics is a weird echo of the beginning of Vittorio de Sica ’s Marriage Italian Style). There’s no doubt about it: Loren still has an imperious address to the camera. I spent much of this film wishing she were allowed to let rip with something more spirited, but it’s a heartfelt performance. Loren h...

Deutsche Bank report argues that the proceeds should help lower-paid workers Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Employees who continue working from home after the pandemic should be taxed for the privilege, with the proceeds used to help lower-paid workers, according to a new report. Related: Working from home ‘damaging Britain's creative potential and economic wellbeing’ Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eT9MQK Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Ministers also urged to explain disproportionate number of BAME children in custody Children in the dock Conservative and Labour MPs have asked the government to consider raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 in England and Wales and to explain why a disproportionate number of children in custody are from a minority ethnic (BAME) background. Child psychiatrists told the justice select committee that children’s brains are not fully formed by the age of 10, which is when they can be put on trial in England and Wales. Scotland recently increased its age limit to 12 and many other countries in the world only consider older teenagers culpable for crimes. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lpWQ74 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Workers in centre of city are asked to work from home on Friday after student with no obvious links to areas of risk, tests positive Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Health authorities in New Zealand are partially shutting down the central city of Auckland on Friday, asking workers in the city to stay home as they try to trace how a student became infected with Covid-19. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking people who work in downtown Auckland to work from home tomorrow where possible,” Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins said. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3n8r4fw Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

From police brutality to sexual harassment, the lawyer fights to ensure black women’s experiences are not ignored. So why are her ideas being denounced? It was October 1991 and Anita Hill was testifying against Clarence Thomas . At the judge’s US supreme court confirmation hearing, Hill, his former aide, claimed he had sexually harassed her. Kimberlé Crenshaw was assisting Hill’s legal team and felt dejected and exhausted. As she left the capitol building in Washington DC that day, she saw a group of African Americans, mostly women, gathered at the bottom of the steps in a prayer circle. She let out a sigh of relief and walked towards them. “I thought: ‘Oh, thank God, a place we can go and embrace each other, because this is a struggle,’” Crenshaw says. It was the day before Thomas’ confirmation, and she felt the future of the civil rights movement was on the line. But when she reached the group, she saw they were wearing T-shirts proclaiming their support for Thomas. She watched wit...

As he publishes a moving memoir, the comedian and Bake Off contestant tormentor talks about homophobic heckles, still living with his parents – and why he’s never been in love In a deserted office overlooking the Thames, Tom Allen is admiring the view. “They’re building some sort of sewage works down there,” he says brightly, gesturing at the churning machinery below. “How very Les Mis . Do enjoy!” Always dapper, the smooth-headed, neatly bearded standup comedian and panel-show regular is dressed today in a blue double-breasted flannel suit. “And look, this turns out to be a fox,” he gasps, whipping open his patterned pocket square to reveal its animal motif with all the élan of a magician performing a conjuring trick. Allen was born spiffy in the suburbs of south London. “I used to dress as some kind of millionaire yacht owner, when in fact I was a small child from Bromley,” he says. Evidence that he was different could be found far beyond his wardrobe, as he explains in No Shame, a...

Travel bloggers have flocked to Pakistan in recent years – but have some of them become too close to the authorities? Long before she became headline news in Pakistan, Cynthia Dawn Ritchie was simply a tourist. In 2009, Ritchie, an American woman living in Houston, Texas, took a trip to Karachi, the sprawling megacity in southern Pakistan. At the time, Pakistan was beset by terrorist violence, and the travel advice of most western countries could be summarised as “don’t go”. But Ritchie had been persuaded by friends who knew the city. “My Pakistani friends said: ‘Cynthia, you’ve travelled much of the world, but you haven’t been to Pakistan, why not come?’ I was like: ‘Sure, why not?’,” Ritchie told me. After a couple of weeks eating seafood and sightseeing, Ritchie went back to Houston, where she worked in communications and other roles for local government. The next year, she made a few more trips to Pakistan, funded by various Pakistani-American organisations. Houston is twinned w...

Washington accuses Beijing of ‘flagrant violation’ of commitments and says one party, two systems ideal is ‘now merely a fig leaf’ Hong Kong and Chinese officials could face further sanctions from the United States over a new law that disqualified four pro-democracy legislators as “unpatriotic” and prompted a declaration of mass resignation by the pro-democracy caucus. The measure, passed by China’s highest legislative body on Wednesday , barrs anyone from Hong Kong’s legislative council who supports independence, opposes the national security law , refuses to recognise Beijing’s sovereignty over Hong Kong , seeks help from “foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region” or commits “other acts that endanger national security”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lpKM5Q Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Klain, who first worked with Biden in the 1980s and served as Obama’s ‘Ebola tsar’, has been a vocal critic of Trump’s pandemic response Joe Biden has named Ron Klain, who served as the “Ebola tsar” during the Obama administration, as his chief of staff. Klain, 59, has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump’s pandemic response. He first worked with Biden in the 1980s. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2UlmbmN Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Exclusive: charity says families forced to cross war zones and pay smugglers to get paperwork Children and adults are being forced to navigate war zones, risk sexual violence or imprisonment, and pay smugglers to reach a place where UK visa paperwork can be processed by officials acting for the Home Office, a charity has said. When a person has successfully claimed asylum and been granted refugee status in the UK, they are legally entitled to be reunited with immediate relatives through a family reunion visa. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eRyxfX Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Nigerian author’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun, which won in 2007, named the best book in the prize’s 25-year history by the public Thirteen years after she won the Women’s prize for fiction, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel about the Biafran war, Half of a Yellow Sun, has been voted the “winner of winners” of the literary award in a public vote. The one-off prize, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the award, was judged by members of the public, who were asked to name their favourite of the 25 winners. Adichie’s novel, which follows the lives of several characters caught up in the civil war in Nigeria in the late 1960s, beat titles including Zadie Smith’s On Beauty and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin . More than 8,500 people voted, according to the prize. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/38yLJoV Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Fears failure to tackle cash crisis will force councils to cut libraries, bin collections and care Tory council leaders have delivered a stark warning to ministers that failure to tackle English local authorities’ cash crisis will force them to cut vital services, from social care to libraries and refuse collection. The County Councils Network (CCN), 32 of whose 36 members are Conservative-controlled said just a fifth of authorities were confident they could meet their legal duty to set a balanced budget next year and avoid effective bankruptcy. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2GSJzFb Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Household borrowing and arrears linked to pandemic have soared to £10.3bn Britain is “sleepwalking into a debt crisis” after a steep rise in emergency borrowing by low- and middle-income households to cope with the Covid-19 jobs crisis. Research by the debt charity Stepchange found that household borrowing and arrears linked to the coronavirus pandemic have soared 66% since May to £10.3bn. The number of people who are in severe debt has risen to 1.2 million – nearly doubling since March – with a further 3 million people at risk of falling into arrears after taking on extra short-term loans. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eRz01H Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Government confirms four-day weekend to mark the Queen’s 70-year reign It might be more than 18 months to wait, but the nation is set to be treated with an extra day off to mark the Queen reaching 70-years reign on the throne. As part of what is being billed as a “blockbuster” celebration for Her Majesty’s platinum jubilee in 2022, people will enjoy a UK-wide four-day weekend in recognition of the first time that a British monarch reaches the milestone. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kpnVWR Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Italy passes 1m cases while Spain says it will demand negative test for all visitors; Greece extends curfew. Follow updates live Italy passes 1m Covid cases as calls for national lockdown grow US records more than 1m new cases in 10 days European commission seeks greater public health powers Delhi Covid crisis made worse by soaring air pollution 12.24am GMT Mainland China reported 15 new Covid-19 cases for 11 November, down from 17 cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Thursday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that one of the new cases was a local infection in Tianjin. The remaining 14 cases were imported infections that originated from overseas, the commission said. The total number of new asymptomatic cases fell to six from 15 reported a day earlier. China does not count symptomless patients as confirmed Covid-19 cases. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China to date now stands at 86,299, while the...

Abingdon Health claimed test was 99% accurate but PHE puts its real-world accuracy at 84.7% Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A finger-prick test for Covid-19 antibodies being bought by the government is considerably less accurate than claimed by the company that makes it, a formal evaluation by Public Health England has found. On 6 October the health minister James Bethell announced the government had bought 1m of the tests , even though the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had by then seen the evaluation report from PHE. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3knXzEP Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Children’s commissioner says vulnerable young people are too often ‘dumped’ far from their families The children’s commissioner for England has accused the government of a “deep-rooted institutional ambivalence” to the plight of vulnerable children in care, who are too often “dumped” far from their families and moved repeatedly between different homes. According to the latest research by the children’s commissioner’s office (CCO), as many as 8,000 children in care in England had three different placements in the course of a year while 13,000 were accommodated in unregulated homes despite widespread concerns about their unsuitability. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/35jN01d Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Popa Langur, numbering only 200-250 in the wild and at risk of extinction, was genetically identified from London museum sample In a rare find, scientists have identified a new species of primate, a lithe tree-dweller living in the forests of central Myanmar with a mask-like face framed by a shock of unruly grey hair. The Popa langur – named for an extinct volcano home to its largest population, some 100 individuals – has been around for at least a million years, according to a study detailing the find, published on Wednesday in Zoological Research. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lqJV5a Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

What was once the president’s go-to insult now unequivocally applies to him, as his record of failure finally catches up with him In the Manichean world of Donald Trump, there is one epithet more pathetic than any other: loser. He has used the term when describing fellow Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain , critics such as Cher , his friend Roger Stone , and even American fallen heroes who died fighting for their country in France in 1918.Now he joins their ranks. He will forever carry around his neck the yoke of the one-term president, a burden shouldered in the last 40 years by just two other men – George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter. To make his humiliation complete, Trump lost to someone he denigrated as “the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics”. But in the end, after a nail-biting vote count, Joe Biden proved himself to be a more worthy opponent than that albeit by a thin margin than polls predicted. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B http...

Heavily subsidised domestic tourism campaign and colder weather being blamed for rise in cases Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Officials in Japan have warned of an impending third wave of coronavirus infections amid a rise in cases blamed on colder weather and a government campaign to encourage domestic tourism. As the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, vowed to secure enough vaccines to cover Japan’s entire population, the number of daily cases continued to rise after several weeks of staying relatively stable. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3nfISFI Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Suspicion in Devon town of 5G and face masks means take-up of vaccine may face resistance Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Like many people living in or around Totnes in Devon, David, who is in his 70s, has his own theories about coronavirus and its origins. Sitting in the armchair of his house, he says the pandemic is a secret plot to impose a totalitarian world government and a nefarious effort to crush freedom. He scrolls through Facebook, which he recently signed up to, to show many with similar beliefs. David came to many of these ideas recently. When the pandemic hit, he started looking for answers. “I’m friends with a few people who are active in researching what is going on. I quickly made contact with others putting posts on the internet.” Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kjHa4e Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

England began its second nationwide lockdown on 5 November. Before-and-after photographs reveal the impact of the first days of the four-week stay-at-home order in which all non-essential shops and venues have to close. The Shambles in York city centre. Photographs by Richard Saker Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kma2IO Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Family doctors will be redeployed to more than 1,200 new seven-day-a-week clinics Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage GP services will be cut back well into 2021 so family doctors can immunise millions of people against coronavirus at new seven-day-a-week clinics, NHS England has said. Health leaders warned that surgeries will not be able to offer their full range of care for patients from next month as doctors and nurses will be immersed in administering jabs at more than 1,200 mass vaccination centres across England, potentially including sports halls, conference centres and open air venues. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3liOcrh Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

From historic canals to stunning viaducts and marvels of modern engineering, get up close to Britain’s industrial heritage With a back catalogue stretching deep into the past, Britain has a wealth of riveting walks (sometimes literally) through its industrial and engineering past. We’ve put together a selection, but look around for others: transporter bridges (Newport and Middlesbrough) and disused railway viaducts (lots). And don’t miss spectacular new constructions, such as the Rolling Bridge in London’s Paddington Basin. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/32tDN4z Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

The 18-year-old autism campaigner and international children’s peace prize finalist on why diagnosis of the condition for girls urgently needs improving Each morning Siena Castellon synchronises her morning routine to music with the same 30-minute playlist. Different songs act as time markers. “The trick is to choose music you love and to listen to the same playlist every day,” explains the teenager. When Wonderwall by Oasis comes on she knows she should be brushing her teeth. By the time Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey is playing she is walking out the door. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eKcEPK Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Mass testing will be carried out on campus before students will be allowed to leave between 3 and 9 December Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Students in England will be given a six-day window next month in which to travel home before Christmas, with mass testing carried out on campus before they are allowed to leave. A mass exodus will take place on staggered departure dates set by universities from 3 December to 9 December after England’s four-week lockdown, under plans announced by the Department for Education (DfE)on Tuesday night. Students testing positive would need to remain in self-isolation for 10 days. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2GNxh0M Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Patricia Hodges, 75, wanted to move Graham, 83, to another home after being denied visits Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A care home called the police when a woman who had been denied visits to her 83-year-old husband for eight months amid the Covid pandemic sneaked in to get him out. Patricia Hodges, 75, used to visit her husband, Graham, daily at Wayside House in Bromsgrove, where he was being cared for with Lewy Body dementia. But her anguish at being prevented from seeing him from March to October, and a row over fees, sparked an attempt to move him to another home, she said. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2GPVCDl Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

One of the sanctioned opposition LegCo members warned the move signalled the end of ‘one country, two systems’ China has passed legislation that allows for the immediate disqualification of lawmakers in Hong Kong deemed as unpatriotic and dangerous to national security, in a move widely seen as heralding the end of political opposition in the city. The measure, passed by China’s highest legislative body on Wednesday, bars anyone from Hong Kong’s legislative council who supports independence, refuses to recognise Beijing’s sovereignty over Hong Kong or seeks help from “foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region” as well as “other acts that endanger national security”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2JWSwP3 Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Philip Davies and Laurence Robertson paid tens of thousands for advising sector Two Conservative MPs have accepted jobs with the gambling industry worth tens of thousands of pounds before a government review of betting laws , the Guardian can reveal. The Ladbrokes owner, GVC, paid Philip Davies £33,320, or £396 an hour, for “providing advice on responsible gambling and customer service”, according to parliamentary disclosures . Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/36o9nBU Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Outrage after members the band were shown holding Fu Bao, the first panda to be born in South Korea, as part of a trailer for their online reality show Another K-pop act has sparked outrage in China after members of the globally popular girl band Blackpink were shown holding a baby panda – drawing accusations that they had risked harming the health of a national treasure. Last month, the K-pop phenomenon BTS were criticised in China after the band’s leader, RM, cited the “history of pain” shared between South Korea and the US, who fought alongside each other in the Korean war . China came to the aid of North Korean forces during the 1950-53 conflict and suffered significant losses. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eLslpI Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Joe Biden has vowed to return US to Paris agreement and result brightens prospects for Cop26 Preparations for the next vital UN summit on the climate – one of the last chances to set the world on track to meet the Paris agreement – have been given a boost by the election of Joe Biden as president. The election caps a remarkable few weeks on international climate action, which have seen China, the EU, Japan and others commit to long-term targets on greenhouse gas emissions to fulfil the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3kjsi5P Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

At the age of seven, she flew to Birmingham from Saint Kitts on her own – and became the first globally successful female songwriter. As she wins the award she once gave to Margaret Thatcher, Joan Armatrading looks back ‘It’s very nice to be honoured,” says Joan Armatrading, down the phone from her home in Surrey. The 69-year-old is talking about receiving this year’s Women of the Year lifetime achievement award, which sees her honoured alongside the likes of child burns survivor Sylvia Mac and Adwoa Dickson, who set up a community choir for young women who survived trafficking . “Whether I measure up is another question.” She’s joking, of course, but what does the continued existence of the award tell us about where the struggle for equality is in 2020? “It’s maybe not as relevant as it was in 1955,” she says, “when Tony Lothian set it up after being denied admission to a men-only meeting. But women are still doing incredible things in this society, so reward them.” Continue readi...

The coronavirus pandemic has left us living more and more of our lives online. But the place where we chat with friends, get our news and form our opinions is full of vile and dangerous conspiracy theories. Is the world’s biggest social network doing enough to combat them? As with many others in Britain, lockdown hit Rachel and her husband, Philip, hard. Almost overnight, the couple, both in their early 50s, found themselves cut off from friends, family and colleagues. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, they had both been working every day; now Philip found himself furloughed, while Rachel was put on rotation with other essential staff, working fewer shifts at odd hours. They were unable to meet up with their four adult sons and daughters. They had to attend a family funeral while remaining socially distanced. Initially, Rachel coped in the way many others did. She played more video games than normal, and felt stressed at work, but as far as possible she managed. Her husband didn’t. For h...

Exclusive: Figures obtained by the Guardian show Fiji police officers charged with 400 serious offences in five years, including murder, manslaughter, rape, and abduction Witnesses have rejected police claims a Fijian man who died in police custody jumped from a two-storey building to his death, instead alleging he was beaten by officers, reigniting debate across Fiji over the use of force by police officers and allegations of systematic brutality. The death in violent circumstances of Mesake Sinu, a 46-year-old indigenous Fijian man from Nadi, prompted Rusiate Tudravu, the acting commissioner of Fiji’s police force, to condemn indiscipline among his own officers and order an investigation into Sinu’s death. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/36kHx9H Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

LA judge Brenda Penny declines to suspend James Spears from his role in the court conservatorship that has controlled his daughter’s life for 12 years Britney Spears is afraid of her father and will not resume her career so long as he has power over it, her attorney said in court on Tuesday. Los Angeles superior court judge Brenda Penny declined to suspend James Spears from his central role in the court conservatorship that has controlled his daughter’s life and career for 12 years, as Britney Spears’ attorney Samuel D Ingham III requested at the contentious hearing. But the judge said she would consider future petitions for his suspension or outright removal, which Ingham plans to file. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2IrlINa Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

Watchdog says process was ‘not impartial’ and decisions were ‘politically motivated’ An inquiry by parliament’s spending watchdog into how ministers distributed £3.6bn to help deprived towns has raised serious concerns that funding decisions were politically biased. The cross-party public accounts committee said it was “not convinced by the rationales for selecting some towns and not others” when the towns fund was distributed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, (MHCLG) last year. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3pjZtcY Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

President-elect says Trump’s denial of the result would ‘not help his legacy’ but says lack of cooperation is not slowing transition US politics live – follow the latest developments Joe Biden said Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election was “an embarrassment”, vowing to move forward with the presidential transition despite resistance from the White House and Republican leaders. Biden, answering questions for the first time since he was declared the winner of the 2020 election, intensified his criticism of the president, who continued to baselessly allege voter fraud, and said Trump’s denial would “not help his legacy”. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3lkkDWd Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

According to UK study, just 5% of children’s books have black, Asian or minority ethnic protagonists – a small improvement from 1% in 2017 Two years after the stark revelation that only 1% of British children’s books featured a main character who was black, Asian or minority ethnic, the proportion has increased to 5%, according to new analysis. But a child from an ethnic minority background is far more likely to encounter an animal protagonist when reading a book than a main character sharing their ethnicity. Two new reports into representation in children’s books are published on Wednesday, with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) finding that 5% of children’s books published in the UK last year had an ethnic minority main character, compared to 4% in 2018 and just 1% in 2017 . Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2IgppWB Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com

UK reports highest deaths since May ; Brazil cases pass 5.7m ; US sees record hospitalisations Governments scramble to secure vaccine doses Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine poses huge global logistics challenge Six key questions about Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine Jair Bolsonaro claims ‘victory’ after Chinese vaccine trial suspended Denmark’s mass mink cull illegal, PM admits 12.19am GMT The Unites States has confirmed more than 100,000 cases per day – a 24 hour total not seen by any other country – every day for the last week, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. A tenth of the country’s 10m case total were added since the start of November, alone. 12.15am GMT The Covid-Tracking project reports that the US on Tuesday saw its highest number of people hospitalises with coronavirus of the pandemic so far – a day after braking the record on Monday. The number of hospitalisations currently stands at 61,964. Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/3eYmP...

This month marks 20 years of continuous human habitation of space on the ISS. A new set of images by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli and photographer Roland Miller captures the station’s interiors through an artistic, minimalist eye Continue reading... from https://ift.tt/1Zwy43B https://ift.tt/2IpbOeV Check out https://ronaldstoner.weebly.com