GLOBAL COVID-19 TODAY
CORONAVIRUS CASES: 13,240,994
DEATHS: 575,627
RECOVERED: 7,707,396
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Face coverings in England’s shops to be compulsory from 24 July
BBC News says wearing a face-covering in shops and supermarkets in England is to become mandatory from 24 July.
Those who fail to follow the new rules will face a fine of up to £100, the government is to announce.
The new rule brings England into line with Scotland and other major European nations like Spain, Italy and Germany.
Since mid-May, the public has been encouraged to wear face-coverings in enclosed public spaces, where they may encounter people they would not usually meet.
Read the full story on BBC News
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UK experts fear up to 120,000 winter Covid-19 deaths
The Guardian says Britain must start “intense preparations” for a second-wave of coronavirus that could kill as many as 120.000 hospital patients in a worst-case scenario, experts have warned.
Senior doctors and scientists convened by the Academy of Medical Sciences said on Tuesday that, without urgent action, a resurgence of cases this winter could overwhelm the NHS when services are already stretched because of flu and other seasonal pressures.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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Macron to layout Covid-19 crisis response at downsized Bastille Day
France24 says president Emmanuel Macron will host Tuesday a Bastille Day ceremony scaled-down because of the pandemic and will also address the French in a rare-television interview as fears grow over a potential second-wave.
For the first time since 1945, authorities have called off the annual military parade along the Champs-Elysees in Paris that marks the storming of the Bastille fortress that launched the French revolution.
Read the full story on France24
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Coronavirus remains ‘public enemy number one’ & pandemic may get ‘worse and worse and worse’ – WHO
RT News says the coronavirus pandemic will get “worse and worse” if countries do not stick to strict healthcare guidelines, the WHO has warned. The disease has already killed more than half-a-million globally.
Speaking on Monday during a press briefing, WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus gave an alarming prognosis on the pandemic’s course.
“Let me be blunt. Too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one,” he said. “If basics are not followed, the only way this pandemic is going to go; it is going to get worse and worse and worse.”
Read the full story on RT News
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Saudi Arabia records lowest daily Covid-19 death rate for almost two weeks
Arab News says Saudi Arabia on Monday reported its lowest daily death toll from the coronavirus disease in two weeks, with 20 people dying from the virus in the past 24 hours.
The Kingdom’s daily new case figure also continued to drop from highs a fortnights ago, with 2,852 new infections reported on Monday.
The total number of cases in Saudi Arabia has reached 235,111 and the death toll is 2,243.
Read the full story on Arab News
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America shuts down again – choosing reality over Trump’s false claims
CNN says while President Trump obsesses about his reelection hopes in his White House bubble, state and local leaders are frantically reversing state reopenings that he demanded, which turned the US into the world’s biggest coronavirus hotspot.
As emergency rooms filled and the virus quickened its relentless march across southern and Western states, Trump stuck to the fiction that the worst is already over: “We had to close it down; now we’re opening it up,” the President said of the economy at the White House, patting himself on the back for saving “millions of lives.”
Read the full story on CNN
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ARTS & ENT
Johnny Depp v The Sun: Here’s who’s who in the High Court libel trial
Sky News says Johnny Depp’s libel trial against The Sun has been colourful – we’ve heard allegations of violence, drink and drug abuse and dirty protests.
And you’d be forgiven for forgetting that the actor is actually suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), rather than his ex-wife Amber Heard.
So, as the curtain is pulled back on the dysfunctional Hollywood relationship, here are the key players in the libel case of the decade.
Read the full story on Sky News
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SPORT
NFL’s Redskins to drop controversial name and logo
BBC Sport says The Washington Redskins American football team has said it will retire its name, long criticised as racist.
In a statement, the team said it would “be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of a review” demanded by its sponsors.
Its major sponsors recently threatened to pull funding from the NFL team unless it considered renaming itself.
The Washington DC-based team has faced years of pressure over a name seen as offensive to Native Americans.
Read the full story on BBC Sport
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