Author: LoveWorld UK

Christmas train travel is already being badly disrupted by Omicron – and is only going to get worse – with almost one in ten staff now off sick or isolating and Britons now being urged to travel as soon as possible over the festive period because of cancellations, it was revealed today. Britain’s Rail Delivery Group has said that around one in 20 services were cancelled in the past week – up from an average of one in 40 – with passengers urged to check their train is running before they travel. Passengers face being crammed into carriages in the coming days…

Attorneys general (AG) from 24 states have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates for early education staff, and mask mandates for young children. Led by Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, the lawsuit (pdf) argues that the mandates involving Head Start, the country’s largest early education program, are unlawful, and exceed President Joe Biden’s statutory authority. Biden’s mandate, issued last month, applies to all preschool programs funded by the federal Head Start program, and affects hundreds of thousands of staff, volunteers, and preschool students across the country. It mandates vaccinations for staff, volunteers, and others in contact with students by…

Sources point out that picture of staff enjoying cheese and wine was taken from Chancellor’s complex overlooking the No 10 garden. Downing Street insiders are pointing the finger of suspicion at Treasury officials for the damaging leak of a photograph showing Boris Johnson, his wife, and No 10 advisers enjoying cheese and wine during lockdown. Sources inside No 10 have pointed out that the photograph was taken from a veranda reached from a first floor function room, which was being used by Rishi Sunak’s team and overlooks the Downing Street garden. A well-placed source said: “It has to be taken by…

Boris Johnson is desperately trying to manage splits in his Cabinet and among top scientists today after holding off imposing more Covid curbs before Christmas. The PM declared there will be no more restrictions yet despite massive pressure from scientists and medics who warn the NHS is at risk of being overwhelmed by the Omicron strain. The intervention last night came after a long and ‘fractious’ Cabinet meeting, where ministers including Rishi Sunak demanded more ‘evidence’ on the Omicron variant before signing off on further measures. Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg is understood to have urged the government to ‘trust people’ to respond to the alarm…

A federal judge in Missouri has issued a temporary hold on the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors in 10 U.S. states while litigation plays out. “We just beat the Biden Administration in court again,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced on Twitter late Monday. “This afternoon, we obtained a preliminary injunction against the vaccine mandate on federal contractors, halting enforcement of that mandate in Missouri and the other states in our coalition.” The preliminary injunction, issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Noce, applies to Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Schmitt and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, both Republicans, on Oct. 29 co-led the…

The former chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry Department accused of hiding Chinese ties had admitted to taking tens of thousands of dollars from China, video footage presented in federal court on Dec. 17 shows. The footage, shot during an interrogation by federal investigators of nanoscientist Charles Lieber, was played for jurors on the fourth day of the trial regarding Lieber’s alleged false statements about China funding. The 62-year-old Harvard professor had maintained that he didn’t take payments from a Chinese university, except for compensation of his travel costs to China. But he shifted his story quickly after FBI agents Robert Plumb and…

Nadine Dorries was removed from a Tory WhatsApp group after Brexiteers spectacularly fell out after Lord Frost’s dramatic resignation. The Culture Secretary was deleted from the group by former minister Steve Baker last night after she defended Boris Johnson, calling him a ‘hero’. Mr Baker sent the message ‘Enough is enough’ after removing her – and went on to suggest that Mr Johnson’s 2019 election victory was down to him rather than the PM. The explosive row, which highlights deep divisions in the Tory pro-Brexit camp, began on Saturday night after news broke of Brexit minister Lord Frost’s shock resignation. Messages leaked from the WhatsApp group,…

Entire hospital units could be forced to shut because of staff quitting in protest at the government’s order that they must all be vaccinated against Covid-19, a senior NHS leader has warned. Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said that at one hospital trust in England, 40 midwives were refusing to get jabbed, raising fears that the maternity unit may have to close. “Trust leaders are acutely aware that, from April onwards, when Covid vaccinations will become mandatory, decisions by staff to remain unvaccinated could – in extreme circumstances – lead to patient services being put at risk,” said Hopson.…

Tottenham have been knocked out of the Europa Conference League after being made to forfeit their final group phase tie at home to Rennes 3-0, despite the manager, Antonio Conte, feeling that the process has been unfair. The game was scheduled to be played on Thursday 9 December, with Spurs most likely needing a win to finish above Vitesse Arnhem in second place and qualify for a two-leg play-off to reach the last 16. But Spurs announced the night before that the tie would not take place owing to a Covid outbreak at the club, which had seen them temporarily close the first-team area…

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Europe over the weekend to demonstrate against their respective governments’ recent decisions to reimplement COVID-19 rules and mandates following reported increases in cases. Thousands of peaceful protesters demonstrated in central Brussels on Dec. 19 for the third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the government. The marchers—some with placards reading “Free Zone,” “I’ve had my fair dose,” and “Enough is enough”—turned out to protest the government’s recent mandates. The Belgian protest came a day after similar protests in other capitals including Paris and London; nations across Europe have moved to reimpose tougher measures to…