Author: News Desk

BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING In today’s briefing update, The headlines are – UK, schools and universities are calling for urgent clarity from the government after the announcement that GCSEs and A-Levels will be cancelled amid the coronavirus crisis.   India, poor testing rates in the world’s second-most populous country may have hidden the true number of coronavirus cases. India has said it will not expand its testing, despite the WHO calling on nations to test, test, test. Italy, despite a severe lockdown Italy is threatening to ban outdoor exercise as frustrations grow over the number of people ignoring the…

LIVE: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has begun the daily press conference on the coronavirus inside No 10 after the announcement that English schools will close to all but children of key workers and the most vulnerable. He is joined by two government scientific and medical advisers, Sir Patrick Vallance and Dr Jenny Harries. England’s schools to close ‘until further notice’ on Friday The benefits of schools remaining as open are changing swiftly, Williamson says. He says schools are finding it difficult to continue as normal, as staff levels drop. He says schools will shut their gates on Friday afternoon…

The death toll from the coronavirus in the UK rises to 104, an increase of 32, a rise of 30%. The number of confirmed cases of the virus has now surpassed 200,000 globally. There have been at least 8,000 deaths around the world and the vast majority of confirmed cases – 80% – have occurred in Europe and the Western Pacific region, which includes much of Asia. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to address the nation in a press conference at 17:15 GMT with the latest updates relating to the coronavirus outbreak. The UK’s Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson,…

Much to the dismay of the fans of the Royal family, it has been reported that the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry is the worst it has ever been. And it does not look like it is going to get better anytime soon. According to the Daily Mail, “Those close to the brothers say things between them are worse than ever.” The relationship has got to the point where they don’t communicate anymore. It appears as though the main reason behind Prince Willam’s anger is attributed to the fact that he feels “insulted by his brother’s recent comments, including…

No, Oprah was not arrested for sex trafficking. Barely a few days into global lockdown and everyone appears to have lost their minds. The bizarre – and completely untrue – posts about Winfrey appeared late Tuesday night on Twitter.  Blame it on Coronavirus-isolation cabin fever but the internet is keeping itself entertained by the rumour. The media mogul took to Twitter on Tuesday, saying the rumour was “an awful FAKE thing” and “NOT TRUE”.  https://twitter.com/Oprah/status/1240150930840051712 Trending  The conspiracy theory about Oprah being raided and arrested for sex trafficking sprung up from nowhere. And quickly became a worldwide trend.  The original claim…

Emergency fund for Saudi filmmakers The non-profit Red Sea International Film Festival Foundation announced a fund of SR220,000 on Tuesday. The emergency fund will provide grants to support Saudi filmmakers.  The fund aims to help Saudi filmmakers who have suffered a financial loss because of the coronavirus. Creative industries are facing cancellations or postponed events because of safety measures.  All Saudis working in the film industry are eligible for the one-time emergency grant of up to SR5,000. The grants are issued on a merit basis and applications will remain open until the fund is exhausted.  https://twitter.com/RedSeaFilm/status/1239956941826293760 The Red Sea Film…

BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING In today’s briefing update, The headlines are – UK, a headteachers’ leader has said many schools will not make it past Friday. Adding large schools would struggle to stay up and running as more and more staff get sick.  India, hundreds of women have ignored the government’s orders not to mass gather, as they took to the streets to protest the citizenship law. One woman said the virus was less of a threat than the Citizenship Amendment Act. EU, European leaders have agreed to close the external borders to limit the spread of the coronavirus.…

There’s a great deal of pompous invective in the literary world, especially when it comes to self-publishing but The Amber Tablets provides a great antidote to those snooty, high brow critics who refuse to read the work of authors who’ve done it for themselves. Author Andrea Kon had a great story to tell. Using authentic accounts from her own relatives she began to uncover details of a little known aspect of Jewish persecution in World War Two. After several rejection slips (JK Rowling’ Harry Potter accrued more than a dozen!) Kon decided to turn to self-publishing with her gripping work…

In an alarming statement from Germany’s foreign minister, he said that President Trump has tried to buy Vaccine cure for Coronavirus from the Germans. In a swift rebuttal by the German Minister, he said ‘the rights to coronavirus vaccine research were not for sale,’ Reports suggest that President Donald Trump wanted the US to buy exclusive access to a potential vaccine developed by a German biotech firm. The comments, made in an interview to media group Funke, come as scientists raced to develop a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 6,000 people and seen millions placed under…

UK to announce new financial measures to support the economy during Covid-19 after PM tells the public to avoid social contact. The government will announce more financial measures to help the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.  Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the public to avoid unnecessary travel, social contacts and if possible, work from home. And to stay clear of pubs and restaurants.  People in at-risk groups will be asked to self-isolate for 12 weeks – as the UK death toll hit 55.  There is an estimated 35,000 – 50,000 cases of Covid-19 in the UK.  Economic announcement Last…