UK to face worst recession in 300 years as Covid crisis continues - BBC Newsnight
The "economic emergency" caused by Covid-19 has only just begun, according to the UK's Chancellor Rishi Sunak, as he warned the pandemic would deal lasting damage to growth and jobs. Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog
Official forecasts now predict the biggest economic decline in 300 years.
The UK economy is expected to shrink by 11.3% this year and not return to its pre-crisis size until the end of 2022.
Government borrowing will rise to its highest outside of wartime to deal with the economic impact.
The government's independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the number of unemployed people to surge to 2.6 million by the middle of next year.
It means the unemployment rate will hit 7.5%, its highest level since the financial crisis in 2009.
Newsnight’s Political Editor Nick Watt and Policy Editor Lewis Goodall report.
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November 25, 2020
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UK government cuts overseas aid - breaking election promise - BBC News
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that the UK is to cut the amount of money it gives in overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP.
The decision has been widely criticised and a Minister at the Foreign Office has resigned in protest.
Mr Sunak told MPs that to carry on spending abroad when there was a domestic emergency was difficult to justify.
Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by diplomatic correspondent James Landale.
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November 25, 2020
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UK Chancellor warns of “economic emergency” with worst downturn for 300 years - BBC News
The extent of the economic and financial crisis facing the UK has been spelled out by the chancellor Rishi Sunak.
He told MPs that the cost of fighting the pandemic has led to record government borrowing and the steepest economic decline in more than three centuries.
Next year more than 2.5m people could be out of work in the UK. This year the government will be borrowing nearly £400 billion, the highest ever in peacetime.
Most public sector workers will get a pay freeze — other than NHS staff and those earning less than £24,000 a year.
The UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility has calculated that the UK economy will shrink by more than 11% this year alone.
Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by political editor Laura Kuenssberg and economics editor Faisal Islam.
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November 25, 2020
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Diego Maradona: Argentina legend dies aged 60 - BBC News
Football legend Diego Maradona, one of the greatest players of all time, has died at the age of 60.
The former Argentina attacking midfielder and manager suffered a heart attack at his Buenos Aires home.
He had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November and was to be treated for alcohol dependency.
Maradona was captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, scoring the famous 'Hand of God' goal against England in the quarter-finals.
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November 25, 2020
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Meghan: Duchess of Sussex tells of miscarriage 'pain and grief' - BBC News
The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she had a miscarriage in July, writing in an article of feeling "an almost unbearable grief".
"I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second," Meghan said in a piece for the New York Times.
She went on to describe how she watched "my husband's heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine".
Meghan wrote that "loss and pain have plagued every one of us in 2020".
The 39-year-old shared her experience to urge people to "commit to asking others, 'are you OK?'" over the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.
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November 25, 2020
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Covid Lockdown: A generation of teenage girls and women subjected to domestic violence - BBC News
According to UN Women and UNICEF, for every three months of confinement, an estimated 15 million additional women around the world have suffered domestic violence.
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November 25, 2020
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Police probed after black woman punched during arrest - BBC Newsnight
** A warning – the report contains scenes which some may find distressing. ** Newsnight investigates the increase of Use of Force by the Metropolitan Police during lockdown, after a black woman was pinned to the ground and punched during an arrest. Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog
Eight officers are under investigation after a black woman was pinned to the ground and punched during an arrest, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed.
A young black woman has told Newsnight she feared for her life, and says police subjected her to further violence in custody.
Two of the officers under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have been placed on restricted duties.
Details into the probe have been made public after a Newsnight investigation.
In a statement the IOPC said: "Eight officers have been served with notices advising them they are subject to investigation, with six officers at misconduct level and two officers at gross misconduct level."
Caroline Turriff reports and this was produced by Scarlett Barter.
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November 25, 2020
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Biden: US doesn't want guarded border on Ireland - BBC News
President-elect Joe Biden has said America does not want a "guarded border" between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland following Brexit.
He said it had taken a lot of hard work to reach a settlement on the island of Ireland, ending decades of conflict.
The UK government has threatened to overrule the Brexit withdrawal agreement which committed it to keeping the border open.
Mr Biden has previously said Brexit must not endanger the peace process.
Speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, Mr Biden said: "We do not want a guarded border. We've worked too long to get Ireland worked out.
"The idea of having a border north and south once again being closed is just not right, we've just got to keep the border open."
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November 25, 2020
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Carrie Lam: HK has become a 'gaping hole' in China's National Security- BBC News
Hong Kong's chief Executive Carrie Lam delivered her delayed annual statement. She said the pro democracy protests and demonstrations of recent times has presented the most severe political challenge since Hong kong was returned to chinese rule in 1997, and she promised to restore order.
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November 25, 2020
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Scotland first in world to make period products free - BBC News
Scotland has become the first country in the world to make period products free for all.
MSPs unanimously approved the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill on Tuesday.
There is now a legal duty on local authorities to ensure that free items such as tampons and sanitary pads are available to "anyone who needs them".
The bill was introduced by Labour MSP Monica Lennon. She has been campaigning to end period poverty since 2016.
She said it was a "practical and progressive" piece of legislation made all the more vital because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Periods don't stop for pandemics and the work to improve access to essential tampons, pads and reusables has never been more important," she added.
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November 25, 2020
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1 in 5 secondary school pupils at home due to coronavirus in England - BBC News
More than one in 5 secondary school pupils in England is out of school due to coronavirus - the highest number since September.
Keeping children in the classroom has been one of the key goals for the government who say half a million laptops are going to schools to help pupils who are isolating.
But it's a policy which comes with enormous challenges for both pupils and staff. Before the pandemic - school attendance was generally around 95%. The latest figures show just 78% of teenagers are in the classroom.
Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by education Branwen Jeffreys in Knowsley on Merseyside.
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November 24, 2020
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5-day Christmas rules allow families and friends to celebrate across UK - BBC News
Families will be able to spend Christmas together after a plan for the whole of the UK was agreed.
Restrictions will be relaxed for just 5 days - from 23rd to 27th December.
Up to three households will be able to mix in each others homes - but not go to pubs or restaurants.
People will be allowed to travel to visit families anywhere in the UK
The Prime Minister stressed that Christmas would be different this year and he warned that families would need to make a personal judgement about visiting elderly relatives and the vulnerable.
The government’s scientific advisers are warning that transmission of the virus is most likely when people meet indoors - and the Christmas easing of the rules will lead to a rise in infections.
Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by deputy political editor Vicki Young and science editor David Shukman.
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November 24, 2020
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Afghanistan is 'becoming a significant producer' of Crystal Meth - BBC News
Afghanistan is becoming a significant producer of the dangerously addictive and illegal drug methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, a new report has warned.
The country is already the source of the majority of the world’s heroin. Now the European Union’s drug monitoring body believes meth production could become just as big an industry.
In recent months there have been multiple international seizures of vast quantities of the drug, worth tens of millions of dollars, suspected to originate from Afghanistan.
Secunder Kermani reports from Kabul.
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November 24, 2020
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When can I get a coronavirus vaccine in the UK? Your questions answered - BBC News
In recent days, three different vaccines against coronavirus infection have been unveiled — each appearing to show huge promise.
The latest, a vaccine developed by Astra Zeneca and scientists at Oxford University, is expected to be relatively cheap and easy to store.
The UK government has pre-ordered 100 million doses of this vaccine and their are hopes that it will quickly gain regulatory approval.
So how can medical experts be certain of the safety of a vaccine that has been developed so quickly? How soon can people in the UK expect to be vaccinated? And how will the government determine who gets priority?
Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by health correspondent Catherine Burns — with answers to some of the key questions about the UK’s vaccination plans.
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November 24, 2020
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Ethiopia human rights Commission: At least 600 killed in Tigray massacre - BBC News
Ethiopia's human rights Commission says at least 600 civilians were killed in a massacre in the northern Tigray state earlier this month.
United Nations aid workers have warned that emergency relief supplies are running out in the Ethiopian region of Tigray after weeks of fighting there.
A spokesman for the UN humanitarian affairs agency, Saviano Abreu, said it had been blocked from sending staff or supplies.
The UN refugee agency says the number of people who've crossed into Sudan has climbed to 40,000.
The UN Security Council is due to hold its first meeting later on Tuesday to discuss the fighting in Tigray.
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November 24, 2020
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Nagorno-Karabakh: 'We’ve lost an entire generation' - BBC News
The battle for Nagorno-Karabakh was not only for land, but also for a sense of national identity, and pride.
Something that generations of Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of this region have been willing to fight, and die for.
After six weeks of war, gains and losses are being counted. But it's the loss of life on both sides that leaves the most painful legacy of all.
Film by Daisy Walsh and Gabriel Chaim
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November 24, 2020
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Life after war: 'It's too painful to sleep' - BBC News
Fighting has ended in and around Nagorno-Karabakh but some civilians are still suffering.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have been accused of using banned cluster bombs. Both sides deny using them.
Human rights groups have verified their use and called their deployment a flagrant disregard for civilian life.
As part of the deal to stop the conflict, regions surrounding the disputed territory that were taken by Armenian forces in the 1990s are being returned to Azerbaijan.
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November 24, 2020
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Inside Finland’s female-led government - BBC News
Finland is led by a coalition of five female party leaders, and is home to the world’s youngest woman prime minister, Sanna Marin.
We meet them ahead of the launch of an ambitious new equality plan, and hear claims that more needs to be done to truly represent the Finnish population.
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November 24, 2020
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Coronavirus: Post-lockdown plans revealed as Oxford vaccine breakthrough announced - BBC Newsnight
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled a post-lockdown plan and a third breakthrough vaccine is announced. But is a return to normality really in sight? Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog
A large trial has shown that a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford is highly effective at stopping people developing Covid-19 symptoms.
It has also been announced that gyms and non-essential shops in all parts of England will be allowed to reopen when lockdown ends next month.
Boris Johnson told the Commons that the three-tiered regional measures will return from 2 December, but he added that each tier will be toughened.
Spectators will be allowed to return to some sporting events, and weddings and collective worship will resume.
Newsnight's Political Editor Nick Watt reports and in the studio Emily Maitlis is joined by University of Oxford’s Prof Sir John Bell, who sits on the vaccine taskforce, and Imperial College London's Prof Robert Winston.
Newsnight is the BBC's flagship news and current affairs TV programme - with analysis, debate, exclusives, and robust interviews.
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November 23, 2020
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England lockdown to end but with strict new rules for more areas - BBC News
The lockdown in England will end on 2nd December and there will be a return to the 3 Tier system of restrictions - but with tougher rules for many people.
Full details are to be announced soon but there's already a warning that more areas will find themselves in the highest tier.
The prime minister Boris Johnson said that in all parts of England the Rule of 6 will return, with up to 6 people able to meet outdoors. All shops, gyms, swimming pools and hairdressers will be able to reopen.
In Tiers 1 and 2 pubs and restaurants will have to shut by 11pm. But in Tier 3 all hospitality will remain closed, except for deliveries and takeaways.
Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by political editor Laura Kuenssberg.
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November 23, 2020
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