JCVI deputy chair defends extended gap between jabs as Hancock warns end of restrictions ‘long way off’
A representative of the UK’s vaccine advisory committee has defended its decision to delay a second dose, saying it will “save many lives”, as the health secretary, Matt Hancock, warned lifting restrictions was “a long, long way off”.
Prof Anthony Harnden of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said the evidence was still in favour of delaying the dose, after a small Israeli study of over-60s suggested a first dose gave just 33% protection from coronavirus.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 11:55:25 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Minister under fire for ‘shameful’ virus spread as staff told to work on with more than 500 cases at agency in Swansea
Ministers are at the centre of an explosive row over their failure to protect workers from Covid-19 as the Observer reveals the largest workplace outbreak of the virus has taken place at a top government organisation.
More than 500 cases have been recorded at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s offices in Swansea, where employees claim people with symptoms were encouraged to return to work while vulnerable workers have had requests to work from home turned down.
Continue reading...Sat, 23 Jan 2021 23:50:06 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Chinese rescuers pull 11 gold miners to safety, two weeks after they were trapped by an underground explosion. Crowds gather to watch the miners, one of whom shines a torch on his face and all of whom have been blindfolded to protect their eyes, being helped to waiting ambulances. Twenty-two workers were trapped in the Hushan mine by the blast on 10 January in Qixia, a gold-producing region under the administration of Yantai in coastal Shandong province
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 11:31:45 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Fresh misconduct proceedings will be held into senior officer cleared over death of Kevin Clarke in south London
A senior police officer cleared of misconduct over the high-profile death of a mentally ill black man is to face fresh disciplinary proceedings because of failings in the original case, the Observer can reveal.
After a misconduct meeting last year the officer – who has not been named – was told they had “no case to answer” over the death of Kevin Clarke, who was restrained by up to seven officers in south London in 2018.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 10:45:43 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Biden administration’s demand that travelers provide a negative test and self-quarantine could hit Mexico’s tourist industry hard
New US coronavirus travel restrictions are likely to have an outsized impact on Mexico, which is also struggling with an uncontrolled outbreak of the virus and record-breaking deaths.
Related: Covid fatalities soar in Mexico as president condemned for inaction
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 10:30:43 GMT
Source: The Guardian
A BBC educational programme aimed at children as young as nine years old features a scene where a teacher tells youngsters "there are over 100 if not more gender identities now".
Sun, 24 Jan 2021 10:05:00 +0000
Source: The Express
Tigray’s rich heritage is ‘highly endangered’, experts warn, as the conflict escalates near key cultural sites
It has been hidden from view for thousands of years, and its whereabouts never proved. But if the Ark of the Covenant indeed rests in a chapel in northern Ethiopia, this extraordinary religious treasure could be at grave risk from fighting in the area.
The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, which reputedly houses the ark – a casket of gilded wood containing stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, according to the Bible – was the scene of a recent massacre of 750 people, reports filtering out of the country say.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:45:42 GMT
Source: The Guardian
UK community speaks out in effort to pressure government to take stronger stance
Leading figures in the UK Jewish community are using Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January to focus on the persecution of Uighur Muslims, saying Jews have the “moral authority and moral duty” to speak out.
Rabbis, community leaders and Holocaust survivors have been at the forefront of efforts to put pressure on the UK government to take a stronger stance over China’s brutal treatment of the Uighurs.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:30:41 GMT
Source: The Guardian
The dreadful killing of her police officer husband, Andrew, led Lissie Harper to propose a new law to protect emergency workers. She explains why she had to take action
At first glance Lissie Harper’s artfully curated Instagram page reflects an idyllic life. Photographs of her cuddling her cat and walking in meadows sit alongside others featuring holidays abroad, her hen night and her wedding to her childhood sweetheart, Andrew. Yet, the words accompanying some of the posts reveal her true story, one of grief and loss which began 18 months ago when Andrew, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty.
Next to a picture of herself staring out to sea, Lissie notes: “Grief is like living two lives. One is where you pretend that everything is all right, and the other is where your heart silently screams in pain.” Accompanying a photo of her and Andrew kissing on their wedding day, posted on the anniversary of his funeral, she’s written: “‘I miss you’ doesn’t even come close to the hollowness that has encapsulated me these past 14 months. My life is missing its brightest spark.”
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:00:42 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Many thought the streaming service would come unstuck with its debt-fuelled growth, but the pandemic changed all that
Only Frank Underwood could amass as much power in such a short space of time. Nearly eight years after Netflix used House of Cards as the launch of its global empire, the streaming service announced last week that it now had more than 200 million subscribers. The pandemic has hastened the company’s transformation from a debt-laden digital upstart into an essential part of the TV landscape in homes across the world.
In 2013, when Netflix’s first original series made its debut, the company had 30 million (mostly US) subscribers. This was six years after it moved from being a DVD-by-post business to a streaming pioneer. Since then it has added 170 million subscribers in more than 190 countries and its pandemic-fuelled results last week sent Netflix’s market value to an all-time high of $259bn.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:00:41 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Community says boom in renewable energy means Bradwell B in Essex is not needed
For the 55 years that Tim Fox has worshipped at St Peter-on-the-Wall, his only neighbours have been a farm and a birdwatchers’ shelter.
Now, the tranquil surroundings of the salt marsh and the Essex sea wall at Bradwell-on-Sea are threatened by a new arrival: a sprawling nuclear power station, Bradwell B.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:00:41 GMT
Source: The Guardian
New guidelines say pictures posted on social media by primatologists and researchers can inadvertently damage conservation efforts
Celebrity primatologists and scientists have been urged not to post selfies with chimpanzees, orangutans and other primates on social media to help conservation efforts for threatened species.
Cuddling baby monkeys on camera and sharing Instagram posts interacting with primates at sanctuaries is strongly discouraged under new guidelines aimed at scientists, researchers and TV presenters from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on protecting the natural world.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 08:30:40 GMT
Source: The Guardian
The UK is set to reach a grim milestone by the end of January after a year of missed opportunities has led to one of the worst Covid-19 fatality rates in the world
The World Health Organization begins tracking the disease we now call Covid-19. On 14 January it finds its first case outside China, in Thailand. Human-to-human transmission seems likely, and on 30 January WHO warns this is a “public health emergency of international concern” – the highest level of alert that WHO can issue.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 08:17:41 GMT
Source: The Guardian
Women of colour included in press corps that seeks to rebalance the traditionally male preserve
US media organisations are taking steps to mirror Joe Biden’s gender-balanced cabinet appointments, with at least six major news networks assigning women to lead White House coverage.
Since Biden’s inauguration last week, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, the public television station PBS and the Washington Post have assigned chief reporting duties to women.
Continue reading...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 08:15:40 GMT
Source: The Guardian