Official icarly revival

In a sign that many people are heeding officials' request to stay home for Thanksgiving, airplane travel in the days leading up to Thanksgiving is down about 60 percent from the same time last year. Cases of a new coronavirus in the United States have now surpassed 12 million. With spikes in cases occurring across the country, deaths on Tuesday were higher than they've been in six months. Officials urged people to stay home and imposed quarantine requirements for out-of-state visitors. While more people are traveling than health experts would like, there's been a significant decrease from the usual holiday influx via plane travel. Historically, more people travel around Thanksgiving than any other time of the year, and the Wednesday before the turkey-centric holiday is the busiest travel day of the year. However, as has been the case since the pandemic started, the outbreak stunted travel around the holiday. About 1.52 million fewer people traveled on Tuesday than on the Tuesday … [Read more...] about Thanksgiving air travel down 60 percent from last year, as officials tell people to stay home

Today was officially the UK’s hottest day of the year so far, after temperatures peaked at 27.5C. The highest temperature was recorded at Heathrow near London this afternoon, the Met Office said. It beats the previous highest temperature recorded this year, which was 23.6C in Faversham, Kent, on May 6. The figure means that the UK was warmer than some popular holiday destinations like Santorini which only saw 26C today. But clouds and heavy rain in the west are expected to spread into central areas of the UK soon, the Met Office said. The hot weather was due to an air mass from the south bringing up mild air, particularly impacting areas in the South East. But temperatures are forecast to slowly decline as the week goes on and the air mass moves, bringing in fresher air and temperatures closer to the average for this time of year. The Met Office warned that ‘low pressure out to the west is driving some heavy rain across the UK in the next 24 hours’. They said … [Read more...] about Today officially the hottest day of the year as temperatures reach 27.5°C

A newborn baby died after a senior doctor failed to see his mother face-to-face, an investigation has found. Officials found that maternity staff repeatedly missed chances to save the life of Giles Cooper-Hall, who died following a catalogue of errors in the maternity care of his mother at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust. The failings emerged just weeks after the Ockenden Report found that more than 200 babies died as a result of failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. The latest report highlighted how similar issues at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust meant staff missed multiple opportunities to save Giles. It revealed how his mother Ruth Cooper-Hall, then aged 37, was not seen face-to-face by a consultant when she went into labour in October last year, despite recommendations made in an interim Ockenden Report published nearly two years earlier. A Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) report into the incident, published on … [Read more...] about Baby died after senior doctor failed to see mother face-to-face amid ‘catalogue of errors’

The "brutal" Russian military spy unit that tried to assassinate Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018 has been handed command of Russia's intelligence operations in Ukraine. The GRU is taking over from the FSB , the intelligence service Vladimir Putin has blamed for failings that contributed to his army's humiliating retreat from Kyiv . It came as US officials suggested Russian officers in Ukraine were refusing to obey their superiors. A senior US defence official said officers as high as battalion commanders were not obeying orders. Other officers in Donbas were not functioning with the "alacrity" that might be expected, the US official said. Analysts have said that, with US help, Ukraine has had access to far better intelligence than Russia. Attacks against the West Several Russian generals have been killed in the war and other high-value targets, such as the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet , have been destroyed. The GRU's appointment in Ukraine should … [Read more...] about Putin puts ‘brutal’ GRU spy unit behind Skripal poisoning in charge of intel

A senior Chernobyl manager has been arrested after Ukrainian forces accused him of collaborating with the Russians attempting to seize the nuclear power plant . Ukraine’s police and intelligence services detained the unnamed deputy head of the plant but have only announced the arrest now. “The serviceman fled the station and did not provide physical protection for the facility, which was part of his functional responsibilities,” the DBR, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement. “DBR officers are also investigating the possible involvement of the official in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine. In particular ... whether he assisted the Russian military in capturing Chernobyl in late February.” Seizing Chernobyl, a three-hour drive north of Kyiv, was one of the Russian army’s key objectives when it invaded Ukraine on February 24. Russian soldiers gained control of the site , which gained global infamy after its 1986 nuclear disaster, … [Read more...] about Chernobyl manager who fled nuclear plant arrested for colluding with Russians

The United States is considering sending Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to sink Russian war vessels in the Black Sea and end the Kremlin’s naval food blockade . US officials said sea-skimming Harpoon and Naval Strike Missiles [NSMs] could be dispatched, either directly, or by European allies equipped with them. A handful of nations were said to be open to sending Harpoons, which have a range of up to almost 300km, but there was hesitation over being the first to do so amid concerns over escalation. Vladimir Putin has been blocking Ukrainian ports to stop grain and other produce leaving the so-called “breadbasket of Europe”, triggering a global food crisis . The UN urged Russia to end the blockade and warned rising global food prices could lead to “mass hunger and famine”. Officials in the key Ukrainian port of Odesa told The Telegraph Putin was trying to starve the world’s poorest people. 'Craven and reckless' Ala Stoyanova, the deputy governor of the city, said: … [Read more...] about US missiles could end Putin’s food blockade

Turkey on Wednesday vetoed a Nato decision on whether to accept Finland and Sweden into the military alliance in the first official vote on membership. At a “classified” meeting of Nato ambassadors in Brussels, the Turkish representative stopped a vote on their applications , which had been officially submitted earlier in the day, according to sources with knowledge of the discussion. The meeting was called in the hope of agreeing an accelerated accession process in order to head off Russian threats of aggression aimed at the Nordic nations. But the delay has thrown into doubt whether Nato will be able to approve the first stage of Finland and Sweden’s applications before a meeting of its leaders in Madrid on June 28. A source told The Telegraph that Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, has taken wider talks “offline” and will instead focus on smaller meetings in order to overcome Ankara’s opposition. The Turkish veto came hours after Mr Stoltenberg … [Read more...] about Turkey blocks Sweden and Finland’s bids to join Nato

There have long been concerns that Turkey is moving away from the democratic values that underpin the Nato alliance. Accusations of authoritarianism have plagued President Erdoğan since he assumed office. This week, Turkey broke Nato unity by holding up applications by Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. At a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday, representatives of the Turkish President stopped a vote on the applications, dashing the hopes of officials that the two Nordic nations could undergo an accelerated accession process. This has inevitably raised questions about how sustainable Turkey’s Nato membership really is. On the one hand, Ankara has done much to support Kyiv since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. It closed the Bosphorus and the Dardanelle straits to warships, preventing Russia from replacing lost ships. Turkish drones sold to the Ukrainians have also proved highly effective. More generally, Ankara is an important strategic ally, with a … [Read more...] about President Erdogan knows how to secure a high price from the West

The renaming of the world's largest cricket stadium after India's prime minister, has renewed accusations of narcissism and a growing personality cult around the nationalist leader, in the latest row over politically-driven name changes in the country. The announcement that the 132,000-seat venue formerly known as Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad would be become the Narendra Modi Stadium sparked delight in his supporters and scorn from political opponents. Mr Modi's gift for oratory and keen populist instincts have made him by far the most popular politician in India, and in 2019 won his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a second term. Yet he has also attracted accusations of vanity and attempting to glorify himself as the founder of a new Hindu India. Critics last week asked whether the stadium's new name was an attempt to bolster his legacy with a relabelling spree. Dedicating sports stadiums to former prime ministers is common in India, but renaming such a high-profile venue for … [Read more...] about Modi accused of remaking India in his image after renaming world’s largest stadium after himself

Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, suffered a major blow on Sunday after his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost a key regional election amid mounting criticism of his response to the country's catastrophic outbrea k of the coronavirus. As the votes were counted for the state elections in West Bengal, a new daily record of 3,689 deaths from Covid was recorded on the day, along with 390,000 new infections. Britain announced on Sunday night that it was sending 1,000 ventilators to India. It comes on top of 200 ventilators, 495 oxygen concentrators and 3 oxygen generation units dispatched last week to Indian hospitals. Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, have also spoken to their Indian counterparts to provide advice and insight. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The terrible images we have seen in India in recent weeks are all the more powerful because of the close and enduring … [Read more...] about Narendra Modi pays price at the polls as India suffers another day of record deaths