UK records 532 Covid-19-related deaths – highest since mid-May

Sky News says another 532 people with coronavirus have died across the UK in the latest 24-hour period – compared to 194 a day earlier, government figures show.

It is the highest number recorded since 12 May and brings the total number of deaths in the UK to 49,770.

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Universities to oversee student exodus for Christmas

BBC News says an evacuation-style operation is to be mounted to get students home safely for Christmas, once the national lockdown in England ends.

Working with their local public health bodies, universities will allocate their students travel slots during the week of 3 to 9 December.

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UK to ban all online junk food advertising to tackle obesity

The Guardian says Downing Street has unveiled plans to implement a total ban on online junk food advertising – the toughest digital marketing restrictions in the world – in an attempt to tackle the growing obesity crisis.

While health campaigners have welcomed the proposed ban, which is now subject to a six-week consultation, it has stunned the advertising industry, which has called it indiscriminate and draconian.

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Saeb Erekat death: Palestinian chief negotiator dies after contracting coronavirus

The Independent says Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator and international spokesperson for over three decades, has died after battling the coronavirus.

Mr Erekat, 65, who had been involved in almost every round of peace talks since the 1990s, had been in a critical condition after being transferred for treatment at an Israeli hospital in west Jerusalem three and a half weeks ago.

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Twitter testing feature to make it harder for users to ‘like’ things it doesn’t

RT News says Twitter has secretly begun testing a new feature designed to slow users down before they can ‘like’ a post, adding to a slew of new prompts and prods before people can interact on the platform.

The feature was first reported on Monday by Jane Manchun Wong, a Hong Kong-based software expert who reverse-engineers big tech apps to discover upcoming new features still in the development or testing phase.

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Erdogan: Turkey, Russia to monitor Karabakh truce

TRT World says President Erdogan has said that Turkey and Russia would jointly supervise the implementation of a ceasefire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

“President Erdogan said Turkey will engage in supervising and monitoring activities together with Russia by means of a joint centre at a location to be designated by Azerbaijan in territories it saved from Armenia’s occupation,” the Turkish presidency said.

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Lebanon reinstates lockdown amid economic crisis

Arab News says Lebanon’s central bank governor, Riad Salameh, stressed: “Lebanon is not bankrupt.”

The governor continued: “However, the financial sector is suffering due to the repercussions of the regional crisis that Lebanon has not been able to break free from, organized smear campaigns that were used as instruments of pressure over the past 3 years, and the public losses due to the increasing current account and budget deficits over the past 5 years. These factors had an impact on the national exchange rate.”

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India’s ruling BJP, allies win regional polls in a boost to Modi

Aljazeera says India’s governing party and its allies have won key state election seen as a barometer of PM Narendra Modi government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and his regional ally Janata Dal-United (JDU) won 125 seats of Bihar state’s 243-seat legislature, India’s election commission website showed.

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Philippine authorities evacuate thousands as Typhoon Vamco approaches

Reuters says Philippine authorities have ordered thousands of residents in eastern coastal communities to evacuate ahead of the landfall of Typhoon Vamco on Wednesday, only weeks after the country was battered by the strongest cyclone so far this year.

Vamco, which carries sustained winds of 125 kph (78 mph) and gusts of up to 155 kph, is the 21st tropical storm to hit the Philippines this year.

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Postal worker recanted allegations of ballot tampering, officials say

The Washington Post says a Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to the U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three officials briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee.

Richard Hopkins’s claimed that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day. But on Monday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims.

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Biden Plans Sharp Change in Coronavirus Response

VOA says experts see a sharp change in strategy coming to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic with the election of former Vice President Joe Biden to the presidency. 

“It’s likely to be well organized, it’s likely to have clear communication, and it’s likely to be based on science. Those are three very important and very refreshing changes,” said Thomas Frieden.

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