Bells ring across the UK to help combat loneliness

Thousands of people across the UK have rung bells in the hopes of combatting loneliness this Christmas.

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  • UK to quarantine visitors from nations with high COVID-19 risk, Daily Mail says

    Travelers from Brazil and South Africa, and neighbouring countries, will be met on arrival and escorted to hotels to quarantine, under plans being discussed by UK ministers, the Daily Mail said. Johnson favoured a more targeted approach than making all air passengers go into quarantine, said the report, which added that the quarantine decision would be taken on Monday.

  • SNP plan to deliver referendum without UK consent is 'deluded and pointless', experts say

    An SNP plan to hold an independence referendum without the consent of Westminster has been branded “deluded” and “pointless” by constitutional experts. At an internal SNP online assembly on Sunday, party activists and politicians discussed a new “roadmap” to independence, published at the weekend, which raises the prospect of a court battle with UK ministers if they resist an attempt to hold a new vote. The 11-point plan states that if a majority of pro-independence MSPs are elected after May’s election, an SNP government would once again request a Section 30 order from the UK Government allowing it to organise a new referendum. However, should the request be refused - as Boris Johnson has repeatedly insisted it would be - SNP ministers would seek to legislate for one anyway. The strategy, written by SNP minister Mike Russell, acknowledges that the UK Government could seek to block a referendum on the grounds that it is outwith Holyrood’s powers, but adds that such court action would be “vigorously opposed by an SNP Scottish Government”.

  • Rudy Giuliani ‘admits his associate sought to bill Trump campaign $20,000 per day to overturn election result’

    Former NYC mayor laments being ‘portrayed as some kind of money-grubbing ambulance chaser’

  • Tougher travel restrictions on the way, Matt Hancock warns

    ‘The new variant I really worry about is the one that’s out there but hasn’t been spotted’

  • Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 'besotted' with new puppy that has helped them get over death of Lupo

    When their beloved cocker spaniel, Lupo, died last month, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were heartbroken. But their grief was tempered by the arrival of a new puppy, with whom the whole family is said to be “besotted.” The new cocker spaniel, whose name has not yet been revealed, was given to the family by the Duchess’s brother, James Middleton, before Lupo died. And ensuring it remains a family affair, the puppy is Lupo’s niece. Mr Middleton, 33, bred his first litter of puppies from his dog Ella in 2011. He kept one, called Luna, but gave her brother Lupo to the Duchess in early 2012 after the Duke deployed for six weeks to the Falkland Islands while serving as an RAF search and rescue pilot. Last summer, Mr Middleton, who at the time was staying with his parents at their Berkshire home, bred another litter of six puppies with Luna as their mother. The Cambridges, along with their children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, are said to have had the pick of the litter.

  • Vaccinated people could still spread virus, warns Van-Tam

    The number receiving the first dose of the vaccine across the UK has passed 5.8 million.

  • Nicola Sturgeon taunts Boris Johnson as row blows up over SNP ‘roadmap’ to new Scottish independence vote

    A new poll says 49 per cent of people in Scotland back independence compared with 44 per cent against

  • Coronavirus in numbers: UK death toll at 97,939

    The Government said a further 610 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday, bringing the UK total to 97,939. There had been a further 30,004 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 3,647,463.

  • Biden news: Experts find major ‘gaps’ in Trump pardons as White House scrambles to rollout vaccine plan

    Latest developments from Washington DC and beyond

  • Global report: France warned of third lockdown, as Dutch protests turn violent

    Global report: France warned of third lockdown, as Dutch protests turn violent. Italy threatens legal action against Pfizer over vaccine supply; Israel to close all airports to most flights

  • Thug coughed and spat at police officers after positive coronavirus test, telling them, 'You've got COVID now'

    Patrick James Lee, 38, from York, coughed and spat at the officers as they guarded him in hospital following his arrest for domestic violence.

  • UAE cabinet approves establishment of embassy in Tel Aviv in further sting to Palestinians

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the establishment of its embassy in Tel Aviv as the US national security advisor announced that America hopes to build “on the success of Israel’s normalisation agreements” under the Biden administration. The UAE cabinet decision to approve establishing the embassy comes after they signed the Abraham Accords in September, becoming the first Gulf state to establish a full diplomatic relationship with Israel. No further details about the embassy were given in UAE media. While Israel’s government recognises Jerusalem as its capital, the international community does not, with Palestinians claiming East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Most countries base their embassies in Tel Aviv. Before the deal, Israel only had peace deals with only two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan - where it has fortified embassies. Most Arab countries had previously refrained from recognising Israel, believing that recognition should only be granted if serious concessions are made in the Palestinian peace process. Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco later agreed to follow in the UAE’s footsteps and normalise ties with Israel under US-brokered deals.

  • Matt Hancock says 'we're a long, long, long way' from lockdown measures easing

    The health secretary warned the NHS is still under pressure from high COVID infection rates.

  • Trump wants to set up ‘MAGA party’ to challenge Republicans who voted to impeach him, says report

    Fight likely to consume GOP’s energies for months – if not years

  • Dustin Poirier stuns Conor McGregor with emphatic UFC 257 stoppage win

    ‘The Diamond’ gained revenge for his brutal defeat by the same opponent in 2014, producing a barrage of heavy punches to force a surprise stoppage in round two of the eagerly-anticipated rematch on the UFC’s Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. With nearly 2,000 socially-distanced fans watching on at the brand new Etihad Arena, Poirier wore down McGregor with some painful calf kicks and absorbed everything the powerful Irishman had to throw at him before unleashing a volley of thundering strikes. McGregor was initially disorientated by a stunning right hook from his lightweight rival, who did not let up as he forced ‘The Notorious’ - fighting for the first time since destroying veteran Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone inside 40 seconds 12 months ago - to the mat and the referee rightly intervened with just over two-and-a-half minutes on the clock in round two.

  • Coronavirus news - live: Second jab delay may boost protection, vaccine chief says, as UK records 610 more deaths

    Follow for the latest developments

  • Alexei Navalny’s home makeover show exposes Vladimir Putin on every front

    Alexei Navalny’s home makeover show exposes Vladimir Putin on every front. The video of the Russian leader’s $1bn secret palace reveals his terrible taste as well as his corruption

  • UK detects 77 cases of South African COVID variant, nine of Brazilian

    Britain has detected 77 cases of the South African variant of COVID-19, the health minister said on Sunday, also urging people to strictly follow lockdown rules as the best precaution against Britain's own potentially more deadly variant. Matt Hancock said all 77 cases were connected to travel from South Africa and were under close observation, as were nine identified cases of a Brazilian variant.

  • Tory who likened violent attack on US Capitol to second Brexit referendum campaign is new Welsh leader

    Andrew RT Davies faced calls to quit Senedd altogether just weeks ago - after widely-condemned tweet

  • 'Mrs Brown's Boys' star Brendan O'Carroll used own savings to pay cast after tour postponement

    The 65-year-old has given the cast members an advance on the wages they would've had from the tour.