Browsing: expose

The fallout of the Downing Street party allegations has been dramatic, with Keir Starmer accusing the Prime Minister of “playing games” and many urging for Boris’ resignation. Do you think the Prime Minister should quit?

The Prime Minister has been rocked by a series of scandals and political fallouts over the past few months and now images of the PM attending what appears to be a wine and cheese party during the first lockdown have emerged. Is it the final straw? Many headlines are calling for the PM’s resignation but his loyal papers are remaining strong in their support. 

The emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in southern Africa last month is causing concern around the world, not least because it is thought to be highly transmissible and because the 32 mutations of its spike protein suggest it might be able to resist current vaccines.

On Monday, the UK confirmed the first death from the new variant globally while health secretary Sajid Javid estimated that the rate of omicron infections was already at around 200,000 per day, with the strain expected to become dominant in London within 48 hours.

NHS England meanwhile announced that it will return to its highest level of emergency preparedness, level four national incident, meaning that the NHS response to omicron will be coordinated as a national effort rather than led by individual trusts.

All of which came as 54,661 new Covid cases were recorded as part of the official figures, plus another 38 deaths.

Boris Johnson’s government has been relatively quick to act this time around and has imposed its first social restrictions on the public since his ill-conceived “Freedom Day” of 19 July. – (The Independent) 

Several papers are reporting Britain will not face another lockdown due to the success of the vaccine rollout whilst other headlines are stressing the importance of the booster to avoid restrictions. 

Most papers are discussing what a potential lockdown would look like this time around compared with the UK’s last lockdown – perhaps an indication the papers are fully aware a lockdown could happen.

Claims Boris Johnson and his staff hosted Christmas parties at No 10 whilst the rest of the country was in lockdown has been the latest scandal to rock the UK government. 

So far, denials from the government have sounded less than convincing and MPs have come out to confirm the stories. The press (both national and international) are having a great time with the latest f*ck up from the government. 

The Telegraph suggests “one moment, they insist that the parties never took place; the next, they insist that everyone present observed Covid regulations”. The headline takes a sarcastic tone with “There was no Christmas party in No10… and anyway, the guests followed all the rules”. 

The Metro reports “Journalists at No 10 Christmas party are trying to bury story” as it picks up on comments from former aide Dominic Cummings who says senior political journalists are trying to ‘bury’ the story of an alleged Christmas party in Downing Street – because they were there.

The Times’ headline reads: “Boris Johnson put under more pressure over No 10 Christmas party claims”. The article reports on comments from Kit Malthouse as it looks at the pressure on the prime minister. 

The Daily Mirror reports “Families’ fury at Boris Johnson’s ‘sickening’ boozy lockdown Christmas parties scandal” as it focuses on the grieving relatives of Covid victims.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex trafficking trial starts today in New York.

She is accused of sex trafficking several victims for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The papers and online news sites are reporting heavily on what has been dubbed ‘the trial of the century’. The papers have a fairly mixed reporting on Maxwell for the severity of accusations against her. Some of the papers have a more sympathetic tone and suggest she was a pawn in Jeffery Epstein’s game whilst others have already deemed her guilty.

The Sun isn’t mixing its words, with its headline stating the ways she could “escape justice”.  

The Guardian runs an interview with Maxwell’s brother who suggests the trial is ‘over-hyped’. 

The Independent’s headline reports Maxwell could ‘face decades in jail’ whilst the Daily Express suggests Maxwell will take to the stand to ‘save her life’. 

England boss Gareth Southgate has signed a new three-year contract to lead the England team through the World Cup and Euros 2024. 

Off the back of the Euro 2020 summer success and England qualifying for the World Cup, it comes as no surprise Southgate has extended his turn as manager. 

We look at how the national media have reacted to the news with many positive reports and several highlighting the challenges that face the boss – mainly he has too much talent to pick from. 

“It remains an incredible privilege to lead this team. We have a great opportunity in front of us,” he said.

Southgate will oversee England’s progress at next year’s World Cup, which runs from 21 November-18 December, and the qualification stages for Euro 2024, with the tournament taking place from 14 June-14 July.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial will start on Monday after a 15-month wait. The British socialite is on trial for sex trafficking children, perjury and the enticement of minors while she was a close associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Most national and international news sites are preparing for the trial and it will undoubtedly be heavily covered. For the start of the trial the papers are discussing whether her lawyers ‘fears’ over her lack of likeability, apparent evidence from the prosecution that links her to trafficking women ‘to more powerful men’ and the looming shadow of Jeffery Epstein.

Some of the papers are strangely taking a more sympathetic tone despite her serious charges, including reports on her ‘living hell’ that is her life in prison. 

Her appointment as America’s first female Vice President made headlines around the world but a year on from the election, many are asking; where is Kamala Harris?

Rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – recently highlighted the rarely seen VP in a recent interview, and quipped: “They got 94 of the Black female vote you would have thought Drake was running.”

The Los Angeles Times seeks to answer what Harris is doing with her time by explaining it’s not unusual for vice presidents to fade a little into the background after the hype of an election. The article explains Kamala Harris is spending less time with President Biden now Covid restrictions have been eased because they are “spreading their wings, reaching out to more people and places”. They add she gets less media coverage when she isn’t doing public events with the president and that may explain why people say they haven’t seen her.
Another story, from the Times, suggests President Biden and VP Harris are spending less time together following a ‘White House rift’. Kamala Harris is said to be eyeing the presidency but her approval rating has dropped to 49 per cent, the article adds.

USA Today believes progressives have been left disappointed by Kamala Harris. They say activists are frustrated that change has come slowly to their causes, many of which Harris oversees. “Much of the exasperation is trained squarely at President Joe Biden’s leadership. But some frustration spills over to Harris.”

Football icon David Beckham has caused a stir since it was announced he has signed a £150 million paycheque to be the face of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.’ The agreement has led to backlash from the public and human rights groups over the nation’s history of human rights abuses.

The Daily Star makes clear that Beckham doesn’t need the money and instead points to greed on the footballer’s part. The paper notes Beckham’s estimated net worth is £400 million. David Beckham’s reported contract is for £150 million and the Daily Star says he’ll have to work for it, but how he does it could go on to define his reputation.

The Guardian focuses on the migrant workers who built Qatar’s World Cup dream. The paper says the ex-England star’s deal for his ambassador role is in marked contrast to the wages of the host nation’s migrant workers. The article speaks to the wife of a worker who died while working on a stadium for the world cup.

The Daily Mirror does not mince its words, describing the deal as ‘unforgivable’. The paper says Qatar has a shameful human rights record.. “Seems that when it comes to ethics, UNICEF ambassador Beckham is happy to bend them too.”

However, The New Arab reports the £150 million deal ‘has been rubbished. The huge figure quoted by the British tabloid has been questioned by experts in Qatar. “As usual, tabloids like The Sun have opted for sensationalism rather than facts in a cheap attempt at clickbait.”

Though only a few details have been released about the shooting death on the film set Rust, the media and film fans around the world appear to be looking for someone to blame for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

US actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun whilst practising a scene on set.

Investigators said the gun used was a “prop firearm,” raising questions over what precautions were in place and how the weapon was loaded. “Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Some are blaming the film’s armourer who has been described as ‘inexperienced’ and reports have emerged she had been criticised over safety on her previous film.

There are reports that the film’s crew were playing with the gun and using it for live target practice, others have pointed the finger towards the assistant director and many more are having a conversation about the film industry as a whole and what precautions need to be taken going forward.

Harry Styles has long been accused of queerbaiting and whilst many have come to his defence, it appears American actor Billy Porter is not impressed. In a recent interview, he criticised Styles for being the first solo man to feature on US Vogue – a cover shoot that was all the more talked about as Harry Styles wore a dress.  

Porter criticised Styles’ historic cover saying “I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to,” he said. “I created the conversation (about non-binary fashion) and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time.”

“I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it,” he said. “I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but… He doesn’t care, he’s just doing it because it’s the thing to do. This is politics for me. This is my life.”

“I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars,” Porter continued. “All (Styles) has to do is be white and straight.”

Whist Billy Porter believes he ‘created the conversation about non-binary fashion’ it’s important to acknowledge plenty of musicians have famously worn dresses – David Bowie, Prince, Sir Elton and so on – long before Porter or Styles. 

A report by MPs says the UK’s failure to do more to stop Covid spreading early in the pandemic was one of the worst ever public health failures. 

The government approach – backed by government scientists – was to try to manage the situation and in effect achieve herd immunity. 

The 150-page report highlights successes too – including the vaccination rollout. 

However, most of the UK’s papers and news sites are reporting on the failures, with some papers asking whether resignations should start rolling in, the heroes and the shocking blunders. 

American comedian Dave Chappelle’s latest Comedy Special on Netflix has come under fire for his comments about trans people. The comedian has since doubled down on his comments, having performed to a sold-out celebrity-packed crowd in LA, he said he ‘loved being cancelled’. 

Netflix has been urged to pull the special from activists and people on social media, as they say Chappelle’s comments are transphobic and homophobic, and damaging, but some are arguing his comments aren’t offence and you shouldn’t police comedy. 

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has found herself caught in a scandal after she branded Tory ministers “a bunch of scum” at a Labour conference event.

Ms Rayner was reported to have made her remarks about Mr Johnson at a reception on Saturday evening. Asked on Sunday morning if she would retract the remarks, she said she believed the prime minister was a “racist, homophobic misogynist”.

“I think he needs to apologise for comments he has made in the past,” Ms Rayner told the BBC, adding: “I will apologise when Boris apologises for saying the comments he has made, I will retract that he is scum.”

The media coverage of Emmys 2021 appears to agree on one thing: the public doesn’t care about celebrity award shows anymore.

British tennis sensation Emma Raducanu accomplished one of the greatest sporting achievements of all time – winning the US Open at just 18 years old.