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Forty firefighters tackle blaze at 20-storey tower block in west London

Forty firefighters tackled a blaze on the 17th floor of a block of flats in west London on Thursday morning.




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What time is the Government's coronavirus press conference today? Daily updates on the briefings

Coronavirus: The symptoms




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Sadiq Khan urges Londoners not to relax 'monumental effort' to beat coronavirus over Bank Holiday weekend

Mayor Sadiq Khan today made an urgent appeal to Londoners not to relax their "monumental effort" to beat coronavirus as the death toll in the capital's hospitals rose to 5,414.




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Government demands Turkey refund or replace 'unusable' PPE after 400,000 gowns impounded

The Government is requesting a refund or replacement for 400,000 medical gowns flown over from Turkey which were later deemed "unusable".




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Coronavirus lockdown changes 'will be small and carefully monitored' as Boris Johnson prepares to set out roadmap

The first changes to the UK's coronavirus lockdown will be "small" and "very carefully monitored" when the Prime Minister reveals his "roadmap" on Sunday.




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Food For London Now: Chefs stage a big Wembley takeover

You can donate at virginmoneygiving.com/fund/FoodforLondonNOW




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Rail chiefs 'plan to hike rail services to 70 per cent of normal timetable' in days




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Queen recalls being 'swept along on a tide of happiness and relief' during VE Day celebrations

The Queen's memories of her VE Day celebrations have been shared by Buckingham Palace to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe.




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Coronavirus pandemic leading to a 'tsunami of hate' and 'contemptible memes', UN chief says

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called for an "all-out effort to end hate speech globally" amid what he called a "tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering" unleashed during the coronavirus pandemic.




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Downing Street says JustGiving will want to 'reflect' on '£300K fee' for Captain Tom Moore's fundraiser

Downing Street has said JustGiving will want to "reflect" on fees taken for processing Captain Tom Moore's £32 million fundraiser for NHS charities.




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Indo-American Sister Duo LULLANAS Drop Debut EP ‘Before Everything Got Real’

Twin sisters Nishita and Atisha Lulla talk about recording a previous single in Mumbai, the country-folk influence and more

The post Indo-American Sister Duo LULLANAS Drop Debut EP ‘Before Everything Got Real’ appeared first on My Site.





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'It is fantastic, better than travelling to the moon' – David Attenborough returns to the Great Barrier Reef

The 89-year-old naturalist and broadcaster is brimming with enthusiasm for his latest TV series, Great Barrier Reef, and the wonder of filming underwater in a submarine. The first of three shows starts on BBC1 on 30 December

The first time I visited the Great Barrier Reef was in 1957 when I was on my way to New Guinea. In those days, television didn’t have a lot of money so, when you got to the other side of the world, you took advantage of it as you never knew when you were going to get back again, and so I took in the Barrier Reef on the way.

It was right at the beginning of the era of underwater swimming. There had been a Viennese pair, Han and Lotte Hass, who had a show underwater called Diving to Adventure. Those of us who had television sets – our jaws dropped! This wonderful girl in this white costume just knocking sharks on the head with the camera. Amazing!

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‘In lockdown, spring is unfolding before my eyes’

With no alternative but to explore the nature on their doorstep, three writers describe the joy of enforced slow travel

It is a place I’d discovered before the virus: a left-hand bend in a narrow stream, a couple of steps off the footpath. There is nothing remarkable there, or not at first glance. There are breeze blocks in the stream bed and plastic bags deeply embedded in the roots of an alder tree. With a few variations, it could be anywhere in Britain: the neglected corner of a city park, the back of a private garden, behind a national park cafe. It’s just one of those spots that no one ever thinks to stop at and, if not for Covid-19, I would not have begun visiting daily, pausing for a few breaths before continuing. I saw the first snowdrops appear there, followed by primroses; then they were swamped by wild garlic and wood anemone. One morning a weasel shot out of a hole under a root and sprinted up the opposite bank. It was the first of several surprises.

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Spaceflight signs up as anchor customer for Firefly Aerospace launch in 2021

Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. has signed an agreement to secure most of the payload mass on a Firefly Aerospace rocket that's due to lift off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2021. The agreement, announced today, establishes Spaceflight as the mission's anchor customer and commits the company to managing the logistics for multiple payloads on the Firefly Alpha rocket. That should help Firefly maximize use of the rocket's 630-kilogram (1,389-pound) capacity for a launch to sun-synchronous orbit. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is planning to launch the Alpha on its maiden flight from Vandenberg later this year. The company suffered a setback in… Read More





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NASA and SpaceX get set to make history with landmark spaceflight during pandemic

Everything is in readiness for the first mission to send humans into orbit from U.S. soil since NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011 – from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that will take two astronauts to the International Space Station, to the parachutes that will bring them back down gently to an Atlantic Ocean splashdown, to the masks that NASA's ground team will wear in Mission Control. The fact that the launch is coming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has added a weird and somewhat wistful twist to the history-making event. "That certainly is disappointing," NASA… Read More





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Study spotlights the Allen Institute’s latest 3-D reference atlas of the mouse brain

The third time's the charm for the Allen Institute for Brain Science's 3-D atlas of the mouse brain. Version 3 of the atlas, known as the Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinate Framework or CCFv3, is the subject of a research paper published today in the journal Cell. It builds on a partial brain map that focused on the mouse cortex and was released in 2016. Previous versions of the atlas were rendered with lower-resolution 3-D maps. The latest high-resolution maps are fine enough to pinpoint the locations of individual brain cells — which is crucial for interpreting datasets that contain thousands… Read More





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Robert May, former UK chief scientist and chaos theory pioneer, dies aged 84

Friends and colleagues pay tribute to gifted polymath whose achievements spanned biology, physics and public policy

Pioneering Australian scientist Robert May, whose work in biology led to the development of chaos theory, has died at age 84.

Known as one of Australia’s most accomplished scientists, he served as the chief scientific adviser to the United Kingdom, was president of the Royal Society, and was made a lord in 2001.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford briefly visited cottage after asking residents not to

Ontario Premier Doug Ford dropped by his cottage last month, days after asking the province’s residents to stay away from theirs. His office says Ford "drove alone" and was there for less than an hour to check on construction.



  • News/Canada/Toronto

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Toronto landlord forced to refinance condo as COVID-19 stalls eviction of lawyer owing $16K in rent

Danish Chagani was excited when the lawyer who lived down the hall from his Toronto condo wanted to rent his unit after he bought a house for his young family. But the first-time landlord says the feeling was short-lived.



  • News/Canada/Toronto

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US blocks vote on UN's bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO

Security council had spent weeks seeking resolution but Trump administration opposed mention of organizationThe US has blocked a vote on a UN security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization.The security council has been wrangling for more than six weeks over the resolution, which was intended to demonstrate global support for the call for a ceasefire by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. The main source for the delay was the US refusal to endorse a resolution that urged support for the WHO’s operations during the coronavirus pandemic.Donald Trump has blamed the WHO for the pandemic, claiming (without any supporting evidence) that it withheld information in the early days of the outbreak.China insisted that the resolution should include mention and endorsement of the WHO.On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN “specialized health agencies” (an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO).The Russian mission signaled that it wanted a clause calling for the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain in a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto on the ceasefire resolution.On Thursday night, it appeared that the compromise resolution had the support of the US mission, but on Friday morning, that position switched and the US “broke silence” on the resolution, raising objection to the phrase “specialist health agencies”, and blocking movement towards a vote.“We understood that there was an agreement on this thing but it seems that they changed their mind,” a western security council diplomat said.“Obviously they have changed their mind within the American system so that wording is still not good enough for them,” another diplomat close to the discussions said. “It might be that they just need a bit more time to settle it amongst themselves, or it might be that someone very high up has made a decision they don’t want it, and therefore it won’t happen. It is unclear at this moment, which one it is.”A spokesperson for the US mission at the UN suggested that if the resolution was to mention the work of the WHO, it would have to include critical language about how China and the WHO have handled the pandemic.“In our view, the council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. Transparency and reliable data are essential to helping the world combat this ongoing pandemic, and the next one,” the spokesperson said.While the force of the resolution would be primarily symbolic, it would have been symbolism at a crucial moment. Since Guterres made his call for a global ceasefire, armed factions in more than a dozen countries had observed a temporary truce. The absence of a resolution from the world’s most powerful nations, however, undermines the secretary general’s clout in his efforts to maintain those fragile ceasefires.Talks will continue next week at the security council to explore whether some other way around the impasse can be found.





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Germany sees increased risk of hard Brexit if Britain refuses to extend deadline




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Comcast overcharged elderly couple $600, denied refund until contacted by Ars

Auto-pay compounded Comcast error, leading to a year of $50 monthly overcharges.





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Science news in brief: from making blue dye with red beetroot, to giant plasma bubbles

And other stories from around the world.




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Science news in brief: From mating flies frozen in time to butterflies in captivity

And other stories from around the world




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Unearthed Ancient British chieftain and probable shaman reveal secrets about old burial rituals

Exclusive: The key evidence for his high status is the unusually fine material buried with him for his journey to the next life, writes David Keys




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Science news in brief: From a deep-space mystery to the longest creature in the ocean

And other stories from around the world




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From new ultraviolet wavelengths to virucidal face masks: Could these new technologies help defeat coronavirus?

David Keys speaks to scientists and health experts about the new tools that could help in the fight against Covid-19 and future coronavirus outbreaks




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'Tug of war' effect could explain why North Magnetic Pole has moved from Canada towards Siberia, scientists say

Researchers suggest unusual rapid shift is due to competing patches of magnetic field





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What One Needs To Know Before Starting Gardening

While staying at home during the pandemic, people are now trying gardening to find out if they have a green thumb. But gardening is not an easy hobby and requires some research.




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Chief Medical Officer's Handling Of Coronavirus Inspires Alaskans To #ThinkLikeZink

Dr. Anne Zink works from a yurt 40 miles north of Anchorage. She has the ear of the Republican governor and has helped keep the state's COVID-19 deaths the lowest in the nation.




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A Realtor Reflects On The Impact Of Lockdown On Her Business

Marilyn Rivera Torres, a realtor in Puerto Rico, says the lockdown has dried up her finances. Confusion over the governor's executive orders also make it unclear how to resume her business.








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Canada backs U.S.-led effort for Taiwan at WHO over China's objections

OTTAWA - Canada has backed an American-led effort to allow Taiwan to be granted observer status at the World Health Organization because of its early success in containing COVID-19. The move is politically sensitive because China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and views any overture of




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Every decision of government needn’t be a big reform: Anand Mahindra

"The fact that we are the world’s largest democracy and we are all aware that power and a role in global affairs for a nation comes from economic strength."




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Wait for more signals before turning positive

At the recent low of 12514 points, the Sensex has tested the 12800-12000-pts support zone and has since then attempted a corrective rally.




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Inflation reflects growth dynamics in India: Christopher Wood

India has inflation and it reflects the fundamental growth, Christopher Wood, equity strategist, CLSA, said at ET Now Mkt Summit-2010.




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Outlook: Nifty upside capped; stay defensive, protect profits

The upside potential will remain capped, and the index will turn vulnerable again.




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Kylie Jenner Split Her 2018 Met Gala Dress Moments Before The Red-Carpet

The wardrobe malfunction could've ruined her night




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Bella Hadid Unfollows Selena Gomez Just One Day After Refollowing Her

Fans celebrated their friendship too soon




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Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, seconded by Elizabeth May, to allow members of the public access to question the expert witnesses before the committee in real time via email or twitter [...]




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The Half-Life effect on PC-VR is the biggest Steam has ever seen

A big jump, but if you were expecting a jolt that would “save” the PC-VR space, well...




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Beyond emulation: The massive effort to reverse-engineer N64 source code

It's about much more than just enabling PC ports.



  • Gaming & Culture

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The incredible comeback you probably didn't hear about: Phil Galfond talks overcoming €900,000 deficit

Professional poker player Phil Galfond overcame a €900,000 deficit in a 25,000-hand head-to-head challenge against a pot-limit Omaha regular known as "VeniVidi1993" online.




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Poorer expectant mums lose over £4,000 through ‘unfair’ anomaly in benefits

System treats maternity allowance as unpaid income, skewing the amount of universal credit paid out

Pregnant women on the lowest incomes are being denied vital financial support during the Covid-19 crisis, according to unions and women’s support groups, who are calling for urgent reforms to universal credit.

An anomaly in the way universal credit differentiates between pregnant earners has created an unfair system, it is argued. Universal credit treats maternity allowance, which is paid to the lowest-earning women and those who are self-employed, as “unearned income”, which means it is deducted from their benefit payments.

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