Children are not legally required to wear face masks in schools and should not be sent home if they refuse to wear one, government officials said last night. This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that secondary school pupils will have to wear masks if they cannot maintain social distancing in No10’s ultra-cautious ‘roadmap’ out … Read more
A Georgia clinic that flouted the state’s rules for who is eligible to get COVID-19 vaccins and gave teachers shots ahead of their turn has been barred from giving any vaccines for six months. State health officials seized about 470 doses of Pfizer vaccine from the Medical Center of Elberton on Friday, after discovering it … Read more
Army unit faces gender row as officials consider changing ‘craftsman’ rank to ‘private’ to avoid it being too gender-specific Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers considering changing craftsman rank A memo headed REME gender-free nomenculture says to ‘refresh terminology’ Consultation now being held could mean other ranks are renamed in the future By David Wilkes for … Read more
Alex Salmond Inquiry orders key evidence including WhatsApp messages from SNP officials are released in unprecedented move Linda Fabiani wrote to former first minister after he refused to come to Holyrood He was needed to speak on February 2 but citing health concerns over Covid-19 It comes as MSPs issued notice to Crown Office calling … Read more
Two rail lines shut in 1960s will reopen as transport officials put £800million towards Bicester-Bletchley and Newcastle-Ashington projects Department for Transport said £760m will support next phase of East West Rail Reinstates services between Bicester, Oxfordshire and Bletchley shut in 1968 £34m boost is also going to old line between Newcastle and Ashington By Daily Mail … Read more
For four tempestuous days and nights the trawler Sam of Ladram had been scooping up cuttlefish, 20 miles off our South-West coast. By Thursday morning the storm had abated, and I watched its five crew offload the inky catch — known as ‘black gold’ in these parts — in their home port of Brixham, Devon. … Read more
Air passengers are willingly taking a £500 fine at UK airports for not having a Covid test so they do not have to give over their personal details – in a trend that damages efforts to keep the UK’s borders firm. A union chief revealed yesterday the worrying cases as over 30 travellers were fined at … Read more
New cover-up fears as Chinese officials delete critical data about the Wuhan lab with details of 300 studies vanishing – including all those carried out by virologist dubbed Batwoman Chinese government facing fresh accusations of cover-up after data is deleted Deletion of evidence reignited fears China is trying to whitewash investigation China has been accused … Read more
Spain became the latest EU country to ban flights from the EU today, with every member of the bloc now having slammed their doors shut to British travellers apart from Greece and Cyprus. Urgent talks are underway in Brussels this morning to agree a EU-wide response to contain the new mutant strain of the virus … Read more
In the words of one negotiator, it is the ‘Lutheran’s distaste for the libertine’ that has pushed Britain to the brink of a No Deal Brexit. Diplomats say the ‘trust issue’ between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson came to a head during last week’s fraught talks, when British negotiators tried to break the … Read more