GLOBAL COVID-19 TODAY
CORONAVIRUS CASES: 20,525,620
DEATHS: 745,971
RECOVERED: 13,446,405
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UK in recession for first time in 11 years
BBC News says the UK has officially fallen into recession for the first time in 11 years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The economy shrank 20.4% between April and June compared with the first three months of the year.
Officials said the economy bounced back in June as government restrictions on movement started to ease.
Read the full story on BBC News
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Campsites and holiday cottage bookings for summer 2021 soar
The Guardian says holiday cottages and camping pitches are already getting snapped up for summer 2021 as ongoing uncertainty around foreign holidays and lack of availability this summer prompts British holidaymakers to book ahead.
UK accommodation providers are reporting a spike in bookings for next July and August, with camping particularly popular.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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Replacement A-level grades ‘no lower than mock exams’
BBC News says A-level students in England are being promised that their final results will be no lower than their mock exams.
The Department for Education announced a “triple lock” – which could boost the replacement grades for exams cancelled in the pandemic.
It means pupils getting A-level results this week can have whichever is highest from their estimated grades, their mocks and written exams in the autumn.
Read the full story on BBC News
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French PM warns Covid-19 infection rate headed in wrong direction, public becoming careless
France24 says the renewed spread of coronavirus in France could become harder to control without a collective effort to stop a rise in the infection rate, its PM has said.
The public was becoming careless, Jean Castex warned, after official data recorded nearly 5,000 new Covid-19 cases from Saturday to Monday. The epidemic has now killed more than 30,300 people in France.
Read the full story on France24
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‘I like him, but I don’t feel the same way now’: Trump claims Covid-19 pandemic spoiled ‘very good relationship’ with China’s Xi
RT News says Donald Trump has said that his feelings towards his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, have soured due to the coronavirus pandemic, adding that the pair used to enjoy amicable relations.
“I used to have a very good relationship with him,” Trump told Fox Sports Radio in an interview. “I had a great relationship with President Xi. I like him, but I don’t feel the same way now.”
He said that since the Covid-19 outbreak, which Trump called the “China Plague” in a recent tweet, the two haven’t communicated.
Read the full story on RT News
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Hagia Sophia prayers ‘sparked Turkey’s new Covid-19 cases’
Arab News says prayers at Hagia Sophia sparked new coronavirus cases in Turkey as preventive measures were not strictly followed during the congregational worship, according to health professionals.
Around 350,000 people swarmed the Hagia Sophia on July 24 and the area around it after the Byzantine-era landmark became a mosque again after functioning for decades as a museum.
Read the full story on Arab News
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Covid-19: New York’s true nursing home death toll is likely high
Aljazeera says coronavirus deaths in New York, already among the highest in the US, may actually be significantly undercounted.
Riverdale Nursing Home in the Bronx appears, on paper, to have escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with an official state count of just four deaths in its 146-bed facility. The truth, according to the home, is far worse: 21 dead, most transported to hospitals before they succumbed to COVID-19.
“It was a cascading effect,” administrator Emil Fuzayov recalled. “One after the other.”
Read the full story on Aljazeera
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ARTS & ENT
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air returning to our screens as a hard-hitting drama
Sky News says now this is a story all about how the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air is set to be rebooted as a hard-hitting drama.
The retelling of the classic 90s sitcom has been inspired by a four-minute mock trailer that went viral last year, according to US media reports.
Morgan Cooper’s video, which reimagined the show as a gritty and compelling drama, has amassed more than 7.5 million views in two separate YouTube posts.
Read the full story on Sky News
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SPORT
O’Sullivan fights back to beat Williams and set up semi-final with Selby
BBC Sport says Ronnie O’Sullivan says his performance was “embarrassing” as he reached the World Championship semi-finals with a 13-10 win over Mark Williams.
O’Sullivan, 44, now faces fellow Englishman Mark Selby, 37, in the last four in a repeat of the 2014 final.
Three-time champion Selby had earlier beaten Australia’s Neil Robertson 13-7 in their last-eight match.
Read the full story on BBC Sport
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