Daily News Briefing
Brief. Me - December 16, 2025 7:58 pm
Sarah Everard case: Met police faces watchdog investigation
BBC News says Scotland Yard is to be investigated over its handling of an allegation of indecent exposure against the officer suspected of murdering Sarah Everard.
The police watchdog will consider if Metropolitan Police officers “responded appropriately” to the alleged incident.
Ms Everard, 33, was last seen in Clapham, south London, on 3 March.
The Met officer arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of her kidnap and murder is back in a police station after being treated in hospital for a head injury.
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Homeless and rough sleepers in England prioritised for vaccine
The Guardian says the government has taken up official advice that homeless people and those sleeping rough should be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccines, given they are more likely to have undiagnosed conditions and have less regular access to healthcare.
In a letter to the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, (JCVI), which has set out the timetable for the vaccination programme, Matt Hancock agreed that homeless people should be put in group six, designated as people with underlying health conditions that place them at greater risk of Covid.
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‘Worrying’ Covid-19 situation in Paris could warrant new restrictions, health minister says
France24 says the COVID-19 situation in greater Paris is “especially worrying” and the government will take extra restrictive measures there if the pandemic continues at its current pace, France’s health minister said on Thursday.
While new infections are not growing exponentially, the numbers taken into intensive care have reached a new 3-1/2-months high nationally, close to 4,000, as France faces more dangerous variants.
“At this moment we can say that the variants are more contagious and more dangerous and they now represent more than two thirds of infections in France”, Olivier Veran said.
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Lebanon’s energy minister sounds alarm over power supply
Arab News says there will be “disastrous consequences” for Lebanon if a crucial fuel subsidy is not approved, the country’s energy minister warned on Thursday.
Lawmakers are meeting on Friday for a parliamentary session and one of the agenda items is to agree on subsidizing the national electricity company, Electricite du Liban (EDL), in order to buy fuel and provide electricity.
After meeting with President Michel Aoun on Thursday, the energy minister sounded the alarm.
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Fears grow for hundreds of students arrested in Myanmar protests
Aljazeera says Muhammed Salim’s friend is well-known at school for being a passionate football player and a strong public speaker. The 20-year-old often channelled his oratorical gifts into activism, even before the Myanmar military seized power on February 1.
Like many other young, politically active Yangon residents, Salim’s friend threw himself more fully into activism after the coup. But on March 3, he was among some 400 student protesters rounded up by police in Tamwe township in the largest mass arrest incident since the military takeover.
There has been no word from the students since then. Salim does not want to name his friend for fear it will worsen his situation.
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Biden signs $1.9T relief bill ahead of coronavirus speech
TRT World says Joe Biden has signed into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help the US defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health. Some checks to Americans could begin arriving this weekend.
The signing came hours before Biden delivered his first prime-time address since taking office. He’s aiming to steer the nation toward a hungered-for sentiment, as he marks one year since the onset of the pandemic that has killed more than 529,000 Americans.
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3rd Degree Murder Charge Added in George Floyd Trial
VOA says a judge in the U.S. state of Minnesota allowed prosecutors Thursday to add third-degree murder to the charges former police officer Derek Chauvin is facing in the death of George Floyd.
Judge Peter Cahill granted a request from prosecutors to add the charge after the Minnesota Court of Appeals, in an unrelated case, established new grounds for the charge to be reconsidered. The state’s Supreme Court subsequently rejected efforts by Chauvin’s defense team to block it.
The 44-year-old Chauvin was already facing second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
UK WEATHER FORECAST
SUNRISE 06:21
SUNSET 18:03
TODAY
Today, showers will continue over western areas, spreading further east at times earlier on. Showers occasionally heavy with hail, and wintry over northern upland areas. Sunshine at times in the east.
TONIGHT
Tonight, more persistent rain will push in from the west, spreading further east later. This turning to snow on higher ground in the north, and heavy in places with a risk of gales in the south.
Tweets
https://twitter.com/raceyamanda/status/1370069128229310464
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FROM WTX NEWS
https://wtxnews.com/uk/british-tabloids-harry-meghan-oprah/
https://wtxnews.com/uk/piers-morgan-pushed-sacked-from-gmtv/
RENAISSANCE
May the Force be with you
The lowdown on the Papers
Most of the papers are leading with the inquiry into whether Scotland Yard responded properly to an allegation of indecent exposure involving the Metropolitan Police officer being held on suspicion of the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard.
Sharing the front splash is Prince William, who spoke for the first time since the interview in which allegations were made that a member of the royal family had questioned Archie’s skin colour.
DID COPS FAIL TO ACT?
The Times reports the revelation places renewed pressure on the Met Police over its handling of the case. The disappearance of Ms Everard – and the discovery of human remains in woodland in Kent – has brought forward the issue of violence against women and girls.
More than 200 women have signed an open letter to the i calling on the government and the police to take more action on the issue. They include MPs, campaigners, charity workers, and council and parliamentary staff.
The Guardian has pictures of some of the 118 women killed by men in the UK in the last year – and named by the Labour MP, Jess Phillips, in the House of Commons yesterday. It is, the paper says, a horrifying toll.
The Sun asks “Did cops fail to act?”
William: Royals not racist
Sharing the front page is Prince William who said the royals are “very much not a racist family” when asked by a journalist.
The Daily Mail says his reaction laid bare his clear hurt over the claims made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their TV interview.
The Daily Express says he defended the Royal Family’s honour. “Haunted by race slur, William strikes back”, is the headline.
Women disproportionately suffering under furlough, study finds
Women are disproportionately suffering under the government’s furlough scheme due to being over-represented in low-paid precarious jobs, according to a new study.
Research, carried out by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, found women were more likely to be furloughed for longer stretches of time than men.
Campaigners called for the government to implement policies that acknowledge the Covid crisis is worsening gender inequality and stop women bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s economic fallout. – The Independent
UK sees record fall in trade with EU after end of Brexit transition period
The UK has recorded a record fall in trade with the EU in the first month since the end of the Brexit transition period.
With the UK out of the single market, January of this year saw exports to the EU fall £5.6 billion and imports fall £6.6 billion, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In percentage terms, exports of goods to the EU plummeted by almost 41% and imports of goods from the union by 29%.
In prices and volumes, it is “the biggest drop in a month since these figures started to be measured in January 1997”, the ONS noted. – Euronews
Uber, Lyft Team Up on Database to Expose Abusive Drivers
Uber and Lyft have teamed up to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints about sexual assault and other crimes that have raised passenger-safety concerns for years.
The clearinghouse unveiled Thursday will initially list drivers expelled by the ride-hailing rivals in the U.S. But it will also be open to other companies that deploy workers to perform services such as delivering groceries or takeout orders from restaurants. – VOA
Turkey says it plans to host Afghan peace talks in April
Thai PM, Cabinet cancel scheduled AstraZeneca vaccinations
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and members of his Cabinet cancelled on Friday (Mar 12) plans to receive AstraZeneca vaccine shots after the country delayed use of the vaccines over reports of blood clots in some European nations, a health official said. – CNA
EU declared ‘LGBT freedom zone’ in response to Poland’s ‘LGBT-free zones’
The European Parliament has declared that the whole of the European Union is an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone”.
The symbolic resolution was passed in response to local authorities in Poland labelling themselves “LGBT ideology-free zones” in recent years.
Poland also plans to close a loophole that allowed same-sex couples to adopt.
The Polish government announced its proposal for the adoption ban just hours before the European Parliament’s declaration in support of LGBT rights. – BBC World
Business news
Royal Mail to pilot Sunday parcel delivery – BBC Business
Bad news for people who share a Netflix account with another household as clampdown begins – Sky News
Ransom-seeking hackers are taking advantage of Microsoft flaw – Reuters
Sports News
Cultura
YOUR QUESTIONS answered
what happened at the capitol?
On January 6, 2021, a mob of rioters supporting United States President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election stormed the U.S. Capitol, breaching security and occupying parts of the building for several hours.
After attending a rally organized by Trump, thousands of his supporters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue before many stormed the United States Capitol in an effort to disrupt the electoral college vote count during a joint session of Congress and prevent the formalization of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.
After breaching police perimeters, they occupied, vandalized, and ransacked parts of the building for several hours. The insurrection led to the evacuation and lockdown of the Capitol building and five deaths. – Read on
what does brexit mean?
Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) at the end of 31 January 2020 CET.
To date, the UK is the first and only country formally to leave the EU, after 47 years of membership within the bloc, after having first joined its predecessor, the European Communities (EC), on 1 January 1973.
It continued to participate in the European Union Customs Union and European Single Market during a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020 at 23:00 GMT. – Read on
covid-19 meaning
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020.
As of 11 January 2021, more than 90.3 million cases have been confirmed, with more than 1.93 million deaths attributed to COVID-19.
coronavirus definition
Meaning of “coronavirus” and related terminology “coronavirus” means severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
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Get the latest NHS information and advice about coronavirus (COVID-19)