NHS chief earmarks summer for return to normality January 26, 2021 NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has signalled that the UK could begin to see a return to normality by the summer if plans to ramp up the nation’s vaccination programme go to plan. Teachers and police could be fast-tracked for the Covid vaccine as early as mid-February, the NHS boss said. Ministers have set [...]
Ex-EU commissioner says Brussels will not do City of London ‘any favours’ post-Brexit January 26, 2021 The UK’s former financial services commissioner to the EU has warned the City of London that Brussels is trying to overturn its status as a leading global financial centre. Lord Jonathan Hill, who also served as a minister under David Cameron, said the EU would “not do us any favours” and that it was certain [...]
US House Democrats deliver Trump impeachment charge to Senate January 26, 2021 The US House of Representatives yesterday delivered to the Senate a charge that former President Donald Trump incited insurrection in a speech to supporters before the deadly attack on the Capitol. The move set in motion Trump’s second impeachment trial. Nine Democrats who will serve as prosecutors in Trump’s trial, accompanied by the clerk of [...]
China ‘withheld information’ about coronavirus in outbreak of pandemic January 26, 2021 China “withheld crucial information” about coronavirus from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the early days of the pandemic, according to leaked audio recordings. George Gao, director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, held vital information about the novel virus for almost two weeks before China announced Covid-19’s genomic sequence, according to [...]
US Senate confirms Janet Yellen as the first female Treasury Secretary January 25, 2021 US Senate confirms Janet Yellen as the first female Treasury Secretary
Italy Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to resign tomorrow, as his coalition crumbles January 25, 2021 Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will hand in his resignation to the head of state tomorrow morning after a cabinet meeting to inform his ministers, Conte’s office said. The prime minister, who has been in office since June 2018, hopes President Sergio Mattarella will give him a mandate to form a new government with broader backing in parliament, [...]
Matt Hancock announces ‘enhanced contact tracing’ for Covid mutation infections January 25, 2021 The UK has launched an “enhanced” contact tracing system for people infected with any of the new coronavirus variants, Matt Hancock announced today. All those found infected with the South African coronavirus variant in UK have been subject to enhanced scrutiny, the health secretary announced, as Britain attempts to curb the spread of new mutations. [...]
Top official warns of ‘disturbing’ amount of Russian money laundering in UK January 25, 2021 One of the UK’s top officials in monitoring economic crime has today warned about the “disturbing” prevalence of Russian money laundering in London, claiming up to half of all money laundered from the country is done through the UK. Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Economic Crime Centre, told MPs today that it was [...]
PM’s plan to ‘level up’ UK made four-times harder by Covid, says think tank January 25, 2021 Boris Johnson’s plan to “level up” economically deprived areas of the country has been made four-times harder thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new think tank report. The Centre for Cities’ annual report also found the pandemic will have negative long-term economic effects for London and the South East, with a stark increase [...]
Xi Jinping warns against ‘new Cold War’ January 25, 2021 Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned against stoking a “new Cold War”, after Beijing and Washington last week launched tit-for-tat sanctions on each other’s top officials. Speaking at this year’s Digital Davos, Xi attacked both former US President Donald Trump and his White House successor, Joe Biden, warning that confrontation “will always end up harming [...]