Plus, Valentine's Day and a village called Lover...
| Test 'blitz' under way for South African variant |
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| | | On Monday evening, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 105 cases of the South African Covid-19 variant had been found in the UK. Of those, 11 had no links to international travel. In response, the government is beginning mass, door-to-door testing in eight parts of England where the variant was found - they are in Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Southport and Walsall. Around 80,000 people over 16 will be tested, regardless of symptoms. Each positive case will be "sequenced", to learn more about where the case came from, and there will be "enhanced" contact tracing. Mr Hancock said he wanted to "find every case" of the variant to "break the chains of transmission". Mr Hancock said there was "no evidence" to suggest the South African variant was more severe - but it's thought it may be more contagious. Dr Susan Hopkins from Public Health England said vaccines "perhaps" could have "diminished effectiveness" on the variant, but would still be "very good". Learn more about the South African variant here - and find out how many Covid cases are in your area here. | |
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| Suspend student loan interest, say universities |
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| The interest on student loans in England should be scrapped for 15 months, a group of universities says. The vice-chancellors of seven universities say this would cover the period from the first national lockdown until summer 2021. In England, students are currently charged 5.6% on their student loans while they are studying - which is the retail price index plus 3%. But interest is not the only problem for students - many have also called for cuts to tuition fees and rent. | |
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| US threatens sanctions over Myanmar coup |
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| | | | | It was the Gypsy King himself who revealed it all in a near joyous social media post last June. “I’m just after getting off the phone with Daniel Kinahan. He’s just informed me that the biggest fight in British boxing history has just been agreed. Get in there my boy!” The big fight was on. Terms had been agreed for the contest boxing fans wanted more than any other - Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua. For British fight fans, it couldn’t have been better news. The two best heavyweight boxers in the world would fight it out to be the undisputed world champion. But Tyson Fury hadn’t just given boxing fans the news they wanted to hear. He had also given up one of boxing’s darkest secrets. | |
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| | Darragh MacIntyre | BBC News |
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| | | | Almost all the papers lead with the testing “blitz” to find the new South African variant in England. The Daily Mail calls it a “frantic bid to contain a mutant strain” while the Guardian says it’s a “two-week sprint”. Read all the front pages here. |
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| | | Brexit Food checks suspended in Northern Ireland |
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| If you watch one thing today |
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| If you listen to one thing today |
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| If you read one thing today |
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| Need something different? |
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| A village in Wiltshire is urging people to send a Valentine's Day card with its local postmark. The village's name? Lover. Meanwhile, a farm in Lancashire that rents out goats to appear in Zoom calls has - somehow - made £50,000. We're not kidding! | |
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