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France expecting to face another wave of UK variant of coronavirus

While France features a 6 am-6 pm curfew for the past few weeks to contain the widespread of the deadly coronavirus within the country, the cases have did not decrease.

Now, with the new variant of coronavirus from the united kingdom , the cases are being expected to ascertain another spike.

The scientific committee advising the govt of France has warned that another massive spike is predicted very soon, and therefore the experts believe the united kingdom variant cases can rise by 50 percent during a week.

Even though the proportion is low, as of now, the doctors expect the united kingdom variant to become more dominant and spread widely by the first weeks of March at max.

After this warning, the France government has, reportedly, also considered a 3rd lockdown within the country, almost like the united kingdom , Ireland, and Portugal.

This has also increased checking for coronavirus on travelers entering the country through international borders. There has been a rise within the elderly patients of COVID-19.

However, experts have also raised concern that there’s an enormous possibility that a lot of elderly are staying home and ying of coronavirus reception , instead of coming to hospitals, resulting in a discrepancy in official figures.

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Britain rejects ‘gross interference’ remark over Hong Kong by China

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab. Image source Wikipedia

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected on Tuesday China’s accusation that Britain had indulged in “gross interference” over Beijing’s imposition of latest security legislation in Hong Kong .

“This isn’t a gross interference in domestic affairs,” Raab told Reuters in an interview.

“It’s a matter of trust and much of nations round the world are asking this question: does China live up to its international obligations?”
Earlier on Monday, China’s ambassador to London accused Britain of creating unwarranted accusations about the new security legislation in Hong Kong which he said could damage future Chinese investment.

“The UK government keeps making irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs,” Ambassador Liu Xiaoming told reporters within the strongest rebuke Beijing has issued to London since Britain criticised the safety law.

On Britain’s offer to offer British National Overseas (BNO) passport-holders in Hong Kong a path to British citizenship, he said: “This move constitutes gross interference in China’s internal affairs.”
Britain has said that China’s imposition of a security law on Hong Kong was a “clear and serious” violation of the 1984 Joint Declaration which London would offer around 3 million residents of the previous colony a path to British citizenship.

Critics of the law have slammed the shortage of transparency around it before its publication and therefore the speed at which it had been pushed through. Beijing unveiled details of the legislation late on June 30 and therefore the law came into effect the subsequent day, sparking protests.

The new law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. it’ll also see mainland security agencies in Hong Kong for the primary time and allows extradition to the mainland for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party .

Hong Kong’s government has repeatedly said the safety law won’t affect freedom of speech and other rights within the city.

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Drunk people can’t socially distance, UK police

Drunk People for representation

Britain’s police said Sunday that revellers who packed London’s Soho district the night pubs finally reopened made it “crystal clear” that drunk people cannot socially distance.

England’s hospitality sector sprung back to life after a three-month coronavirus hiatus on what the media dubbed as either “Super Saturday” or “Independence Day”.

Pubs and restaurants were allowed to start out seating clients and barbers could get their clippers out for the primary time since March.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced queries about why he decided to schedule the grand reopening for a Saturday rather than a potentially less chaotic Monday.

Johnson said Friday that it might not have made much of a difference either way.

But the top of Britain’s police federation said he ended up handling “naked men, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights and more angry drunks” while on shift.

“What was crystal clear is that drunk people can’t/won’t socially distance,” John Apter told London radio.

He said his own local department within the southern city of Southampton “managed to cope”.

“I know other areas have had issues with officers being assaulted,” Apter said.

A scan of police reports from Saturday night showed an identical level of mischief-making across England.

Officers within the southwestern Devon and Cornwall region had logged up nearly 1,000 reports of “drink-related disorder and anti-social behaviour” by late Saturday.

There were also reports of illegal raves in London and therefore the northeast that resulted in mass arrests also as disorder within the north Midlands.

Pubs in Wales and Scotland will partially reopen by mid-July while those in Ireland have had service since Friday.

GOVERNMENT ON DEFENSIVE

Britain’s lockdown lasted longer and ended later than in most European countries due to a soaring price that’s now the world’s third highest.

The official fatality figure is around 44,000 and one during which COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate is above 50,000.

Either measure makes Britain’s toll Europe’s worst.

A safe reopening that averts the necessity for second lockdowns over large areas is seen as vital to Johnson’s long-term success.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the government’s decision-making and played down any immediate safety concerns.

“From what I’ve seen, although there’s some pictures to the contrary, very, very largely people have acted responsibly,” Hancock told Sky News.

“So overall I’m pleased with what happened yesterday. it had been specialized to ascertain people out and about and largely, very largely social distancing.”

Johnson’s government re-shuttered stores within the city center of Leicester last week due to an area infections spike.

The outbreak has been traced to local food and garment producers that reportedly did not observe social distancing measures and violated other rules.

The National Crime Agency launched an investigation after The Sunday Times reported one among the factories operated a sweatshop that paid illegally low wages.

The agency said officers had “attended variety of business premises in Leicester area to assess concerns of recent slavery and human trafficking”.

No charges are delivered to date.

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Clothing factory faces modern slavery probe in UK

Reference imge from the hindu

A clothing factory named Jaswal Fashions based within the eastern England city of Leicester faces a contemporary slavery investigation after an undercover reporter alleged sweatshop-like conditions and below wage payments to its workers, many of them from India.

According to ‘The Sunday Times’, its undercover reporter found that workers were being paid as little as 3.50 pounds an hour as against the UK’s legal wage of 8.72 pounds an hour and was also operating last week during the localised coronavirus lockdown imposed on the town .

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel described the allegations as “truly appalling” and commended the undercover investigation for its role in “uncovering such abhorrent practices”.

“I won’t tolerate sick criminals forcing innocent people into slave labour and a lifetime of exploitation,” said Patel.

“Let this be a warning to those that are exploiting people in sweatshops like these for his or her own commercial gain. this is often just the beginning . What you’re doing is against the law , it’ll not be tolerated and that we are coming after you,” she said.

Last week, the senior Cabinet minister had directed the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to research modern slavery allegations in Leicester’s clothing factories after alarm was raised that they were a key source of the spike in coronavirus infections within the region, which led to England’s first localised COVID-19 lockdown for the town .

“Within the previous couple of days NCA officers, along side Leicestershire police and other partner agencies, attended variety of business premises within the Leicester area to assess concerns of recent slavery and human trafficking,” the NCA said, which is looking into the undercover reports.

The UK’s Modern Slavery Act was passed in 2015, making it a criminal offense to take advantage of labour and not pay the wage .

The newspaper’s undercover reporter spent two days at Jaswal Fashions, a factory which supplies garments to at least one of Britain’s fastest-growing online retailer Boohoo, which owns labels like Nasty Gal, PrettyLittleThing, MissPap, BoohooMAN, Karen Millen and Coast.
A statement from Nasty Gal said the corporate would investigate the newspaper’s claims, but insisted that Jaswal Fashions wasn’t a “direct supplier”.

“Nasty Gal doesn’t allow any of its suppliers to pay but the wage and features a zero-tolerance approach to incidences of recent slavery,” said Nasty Gal during a statement.

“We have terminated relationships with suppliers where evidence of non-compliance with our strict code of conduct is found. we’ll take immediate steps to completely investigate the allegations raised and if the allegations are substantiated we’ll make sure that our suppliers immediately cease working with Jaswal Fashions,” it added.

The boxes packed at the factory displayed the name Morefray Limited, another Leicester-based clothing manufacturer. The newspaper said that the person who was identified because the boss of the factory refused to answer questions intimately , but said: “We have legit staff.”

The campaign group Labour Behind the Label alleged recently that factories in Leicester making Boohoo garments had put staff in danger of contracting COVID-19, by pressuring them to figure without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) or social distancing.

“Emerging evidence indicates that conditions in Leicester’s factories, primarily producing for Boohoo, are putting workers in danger of COVID-19 infections and fatalities as some factories have remained open for production during the lockdown, whilst others are now re-opening,” the group claimed in its report.

The allegations are denied by Boohoo, which said it uses about 150 factories in Leicester, employing 50 people each on the average . Company CEO John Lyttle told the newspaper that he had “personally written to all or any the factories”, outlining company standards and what they have to try to to in terms of following the “government guidelines”.

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Inquiry to be held into deaths of patients of jailed surgeon

Ian Paterson was jailed for 15 years, before the court of appeal increased his sentence to a 20-year term. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Inquests are to be held into the deaths of 4 former patients of a rogue breast surgeon who is serving a 20-year jail sentence.

Consultant Ian Paterson, who was employed by the guts of England NHS foundation trust and also practised within the independent sector, was convicted in 2017 of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding.

He was jailed at Nottingham crown court for 15 years, and therefore the court of appeal increased his sentence to a 20-year term.

A statement issued on behalf of the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, Louise Hunt, and therefore the area coroner, Emma Brown, said inquests into the deaths of 4 patients would open next Monday.

The statement said the coroners had been completing preliminary investigations under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 “to identify whether there’s reason to suspect that any former patients of Mr Paterson have died an unnatural death as a results of any of the care they received.

“Following preliminary investigations, the senior and area coroner believe there’s evidence to possess reason to suspect that a number of those deaths could also be unnatural.

“In accordance with the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, inquests will now be opened in reference to four former patients of Mr Paterson.”

Preliminary investigations also are ongoing into the deaths of other patients of Paterson, 62, and it’s anticipated that further inquests are going to be opened in due course.

West Midlands police asked Birmingham and Solihull coroner’s office to research variety of deaths of carcinoma patients Paterson had treated.

An independent inquiry which released its findings in February this year said Paterson was ready to continue performing unnecessary operations for years under a dysfunctional healthcare system that failed patients.

The Paterson inquiry, launched in May 2018, published 15 recommendations after hearing 177 first-hand accounts from the surgeon’s patients.

Among the recommendations, it urged the NHS trust that employed Paterson and personal health firm Spire Healthcare to see that each one of over 11,000 patients he treated had been recalled.

The inquiry chairman, the Rt Rev Graham James, a former Bishop of Norwich, said the NHS and independent providers had let patients down over a few years and there had been a culture of avoidance and denial.

He said there have been missed opportunities to prevent Paterson, and described the failure to suspend him in 2003, when an NHS colleague first raised concerns, as inexplicable.

Linda Millband, the national clinical negligence lead at Thompsons Solicitors who led the team taking action on behalf of 650 of Paterson’s former patients, said: “This is yet one more twist within the terrible story of Ian Paterson. This has been a horrific tale from start to end , and it seems as if, for the families, the nightmare isn’t over yet.

“It is completely essential that we get to the reality , so I welcome the coroner’s inquests into the deaths. My heart goes bent the families who are affected, and who now need to face yet more upheaval while they await answers.”

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We can’t wait for the next attack to do something about it-Russia’s grip on Europe is gradually tightening

President of Russia Putin

In recent days, the BBC’s retelling of the 2018 Salisbury poisoning has gripped many British viewers, reminding us of the continued threat from Russian state and non-state actors.

This despicable act undermined UK-Russia relations like no other event in recent history. Russia has continued to deny any culpability despite the overwhelming evidence. For me, this poisoning symbolises the ever-present threat of Russia’s efforts to destabilise the united kingdom and European Union .

As foreign secretary at the time of Vladimir Putin’s Delaware visit to the united kingdom in 2003, i used to be strongly in favour of introduction a replacement era of UK-Russia cooperation. Powell , former US secretary of state, wont to say that we must practice progressive realism when it involves handling Russia. that is still my view. Russia continues to be a crucial international player, within the UN Security Council et al. , and can’t be wished away. It feels burnt by its pre-invasion cooperation over Iraq, and in respect of the west’s air campaign against Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. It continues to cooperate with the united kingdom , France and Germany over the Iran nuclear deal. However, despite high spending on its military, it’s no match for the US, which spends 12 times the maximum amount , nor China, which spends fourfold its budget. Russia’s population is declining, and its GDP per head is simply 50th within the world. It feels isolated, surrounded by potentially hostile forces, and weak.

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Barrister says Home Office’s unwillingness to protect 11-year-old makes a mockery of FGM protection orders

Priti Patel, the home secretary, mounted a legal challenge around the family court’s role in risk assessing the girl. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Human rights lawyers have launched a scathing attack on the house Office for failing to grant asylum to an 11-year-old girl found by judges to be at high risk of female genital mutilation if faraway from Britain.

The girl, who is flourishing at college and only speaks English, was delivered to the united kingdom in 2012 by her mother, herself a victim of what’s referred to as type 3 FGM whose two sisters died after being cut in their native Sudan.

Charlotte Proudman, a barrister on the mother’s legal team, has accused the house Office of hypocrisy in digging its heels in over the case and says its unwillingness to guard the girl makes a mockery of FGM protection orders, designed to prevent those in danger being taken abroad.

Her comments come after Priti Patel, the house secretary, mounted a costly legal challenge round the family court’s role in risk assessing the girl, which was dismissed during a landmark case at the court of appeal on 15 June.

Proudman, who specialises in cases of gender-based violence, said: “It is appalling and shameful the house secretary is wasting taxpayers’ money to attain points around policy yet amid the political jostling is ready to risk the effective torture of this girl.
“With one hand the department is pursuing FGM prosecutions in Britain. With the opposite it’s sending girls abroad to urge cut, just because they’re not British.”

The mother’s claim for asylum was rejected after officials deemed she lacked credibility. But it later transpired through domestic relations court proceedings she was a reliable – albeit highly traumatised – witness.

Proudman said: “This woman is that the most vulnerable client I’ve seen during a decade. regardless of her assessment, her child shouldn’t be punished for her immigration status. I’m deeply concerned the house Office is making unsafe decisions leaving children in danger of harm or maybe death.”

The single mother, who brought her daughter to Britain to guard her from FGM, exhausted her appeal rights in 2018 and was given notice of the family’s removal to Bahrain where they lived before coming to the united kingdom .

The day before she was thanks to board a plane, Suffolk administration obtained an FGM protection order, preventing the girl’s departure.

Court documents explain the family were likely to be directed from Bahrain, where their citizenship has expired, back to Sudan. they’re from North Kordofan state where the prevalence of FGM is 97.7%. Three of the girl’s cousins are known to possess been cut.

After a series of hearings, Justice Newton concluded: “It is difficult to consider a more serious case where the danger to [the girl] of FGM is so high.”

Yet Patel launched an appeal claiming that the immigration court’s risk assessment of overseas FGM – “that there was no substantial grounds for believing there was a true risk” – should are the start line within the domestic relations court .

A court of appeal judge found the house secretary “misses the point” because assessing risk is different within the domestic relations court where the child’s welfare is central to inquiries – instead of simply being the dependent of an adult making a claim.

Proudman said: “They don’t have children’s guardians within the immigration courts and this girl’s vulnerabilities weren’t properly considered. If it weren’t for Suffolk administration she would are on a plane.”

She added: “I work on tons of those cases and not all local authorities are this proactive. This case shows how dangerous it’s counting on the immigration courts to try to made decisions about the danger of FGM.”

Nuala Mole, founding father of the AIRE Centre, a London-based legal charity, insists the govt features a duty to guard vulnerable children from FGM. She said the strain between the 2 legal orders highlighted the necessity for a fanatical service within the immigration courts.

She said: “For the family courts considering whether to form an FGM protection order, the child’s welfare is paramount. It trumps everything else. the kid is represented and has her own voice. In immigration proceedings the child’s interests don’t take precedence over other issues.

Mole added: “Most significantly, the kid isn’t normally represented or heard. that’s why we’ve been posing for years for a fanatical immigration court for youngsters to be established.”

The Home Office said it didn’t discuss specific cases. A government spokesperson said: “Female genital mutilation (FGM) is abuse which causes extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls and that we won’t tolerate it.

“We share the eagerness of these who want to finish FGM and can still work closely with them, and repose on what we’ve already done to eradicate this terrible practice once and for all.”

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Landmark High Court challenge to legally recognize Humanist marriages

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Currently, humanist ceremonies aren’t recognised in law, so couples must even have a civil ceremony.

Lawyers for the six couples say the present law discriminates against them due to their humanist beliefs.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland , the law is different and humanist ceremonies are legally recognised.

Humanist weddings are non-religious ceremonies which are conducted by a humanist celebrant.

Currently in England and Wales, non-religious weddings are only legal if they’re administered by a registrar.

But humanist weddings became legal in Scotland in 2005 and in Northern Ireland in 2018, and since then the amount of couples choosing such weddings in both nations has soared.

The legal challenge to ask the united kingdom government to vary the law was lodged at the supreme court last November, and can be heard on 7 and eight July.

It is being supported by the charity Humanists UK, which has campaigned on the difficulty for many years .

The organisation says a change in law could help affect “the huge backlog” of demand for marriage services thanks to the pandemic.

“Couples who have humanist weddings see that day because the epitome of their love and commitment to every other, and every one they need is that the same legal recognition for that as is given to each religionist in our country,” said the top of Humanists UK, Andrew Copson.

“We have tried for many years to deal with this glaring ethic . Government has dragged its heels and that is why it has been left to those couples to bring this case.”

The Ministry of Justice said it wants to “give couples more choice in how they celebrate their commitment to every other” and has asked for a review from the Law Commission to form recommendations “for an easy , fair and consistent system for all”.

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