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Brexit Britain 'firing on all cylinders' says expert Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The EU is reportedly allocating fishing quotas over a region that they don't even own, the Svalbard Zone in the arctic circle. The bloc is even portioning cod quotas for the UK in this zone. Arne Byrkjeflot, a political adviser to No to the EU, an interest group against Norwegian membership of the European Union (EU) and a Trondheim regional politician said: "Norway Fisheries relies on the law of the sea and believes that either Svalbard has its own economic zone or the archipelago is an extension of Norway's shelf. "Svalbard is part of Norway and Norway decides." However, …

[Read more...] about Norway decides! Oslo furious at EU fishing power grab as 14k tonnes plundered

The Treasury will pay the wages of hundreds of workers building the £22.5bn Hinkley Point C nuclear power station as developer EDF and its contractors slash costs. Work is under way to furlough workers onto the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme where the Government will pay 80pc of their wages until the crisis recedes and they can return to work. French state-owned EDF said last week it was halving numbers at Hinkley, in Somerset, to around 2,000, to try and maintain social distancing. While some of those taken off site are continuing to work in back office roles, the burden of paying wages for hundreds of them will be transferred to the state. Workers at Hinkley include those directly employed by EDF as well as those employed by around 200 contractors and more subcontractors. It is understood those set to be furloughed initially are from the contractors rather than EDF directly. The aim is to bring them back into work as soon as possible. EDF and its partner China General …

[Read more...] about Hinkley power plant builders to be put on furlough

In the span of President Donald Trump 's term in office, the far-right fringe culture known as QAnon has made its way from cryptic posts on 4chan message boards to the White House press briefing room -- where on Wednesday the president of the United States made his most extensive comments to date in addressing a cartoonish but mutating conspiracy theory which features him as its crusading savior. Trump's remarks were vague, so it's unclear precisely how tuned in he is to the full scope of QAnon's worldview. He addressed the broad outlines of the theory and his perceived role in it. "Well I don't know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much -- which I appreciate," he said. He also said "I’ve heard these are people that love our country." A reporter asked him specifically about "this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. Does that sound like something you are behind or a believer in?" …

[Read more...] about QAnon: What is it and how did we get here?

Some 740 medical and support troops have put their usual work on hold to help COVID-19 patients at overburdened civilian hospitals in California and Texas over the last month. About 160 airmen based out of Travis Air Force Base in California are helping at eight hospitals across the state, and roughly 580 soldiers and sailors from across the country have transferred into 15 hospitals in Texas. Among the troops are doctors, nurses and support personnel, such as pharmacists, who are helping relieve some of the burden the pandemic has placed on hospital staff. U.S. Army North has employed the troops at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its countrywide COVID-19 response. Several of the military and civilian personnel battling the coronavirus in four community hospitals across southern Texas took a bit of their fleeting free time to share tales of grit, pride and perseverance from inside the COVID wards with ABC News. First boots on the ground: …

[Read more...] about COVID-19 Diaries: Military physicians share inside look at efforts to save civilian patients in overburdened hospitals

When a small cluster of houses appeared on the outskirts of the remote Serra da Moça in northernmost Brazil, Jabson Nagelo da Silva was alarmed. "They had just put themselves there," said Nagelo. "They were taking advantage of our lands." That land belongs to the Makuxi. Nagelo, the son of one of the tribe's leaders who passed away in recent years, sees the encroachment as an invasion — and a threat to them and their way of life. Although the intentions of the new arrivals remain unclear, Nagelo's concern was based on past experience. Ever since the Makuxi first came into contact with outsiders more than 200 years ago, they've fought to maintain their languages and customs — as well as the land they say their ancestors have lived on for centuries. Waves of mining prospectors, loggers and cattle ranchers have been moving in and around Indigenous lands for years, including Serra da Moça. In some cases, the Makuxi have faced threats and physical violence when they've pushed back …

[Read more...] about Brazil’s Indigenous groups go mobile to protect the forest