October 31, 2020
Authorities say Full House actress Lori Loughlin has reported to a federal prison in California to begin serving her two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal.
The US Attorney’s office in Boston said that Loughlin was being processed at the federal lock-up in Dublin, California.
“The parties recently agreed that the defendant can report to prison on October 30, 2020, instead of on November 19, 2020. The defendant has further agreed that, during her two month sentence, she will not seek an early release from prison on Covid-related grounds,” prosecutor said in a statement.
Under the Bureau of Prisons’ coronavirus protocols, Loughlin will be screened and tested for Covid-19 and will be placed in quarantine for 14 days.
October 31, 2020
The death toll has risen after a strong earthquake struck in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, with officials saying least 26 people are dead and more than 800 have been injured.
The earthquake, which the Istanbul-based Kandilli Institute said had a magnitude of 6.9, was centred in the Aegean north-east of Samos, while Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said it measured 6.6 and hit at a depth of some 10 miles.
The quake toppled buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, and triggered a small tsunami in the district of Seferihisar and on Samos before being followed by hundreds of aftershocks.
October 31, 2020
The government is close to giving the green light to a new nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk.
The BBC has learned that talks with the Sizewell contractor, EDF, have intensified in recent weeks.
This comes after the collapse of projects in Anglesey and Cumbria when Japanese firms Hitachi and Toshiba pulled out.
Government officials are insisting that it "remains committed to new nuclear".
This commitment to new nuclear may be included as part of a 10-point government plan to be published in early November.
That plan is expected ahead of a detailed government white paper in late November which will attempt to set out the course of UK energy policy for decades to come.
October 31, 2020
President Donald Trump has dangled a promise to get a weary nation “back to normal” as he looked to campaign past the political damage of the devastating coronavirus pandemic.
It was a rose-tinted pitch in sharp contrast to Democratic rival Joe Biden, who pledged to level with America about tough days still ahead after Tuesday’s election.
In a campaign that has been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed more than 227,000 Americans and staggered the economy, the candidates’ clashing messages stood as a reflection of their leadership styles and policy prescriptions for a suffering nation.
October 31, 2020
A 17-year-old accused in the fatal shooting of two demonstrators has been extradited to Wisconsin just hours after an Illinois court judge ordered he should face homicide charges across the state border.
Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for Illinois’ Lake County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday told the Associated Press that deputies picked up Kyle Rittenhouse immediately after Judge Paul Novak issued the ruling at the courthouse in Waukegan.
The deputies then drove him five miles to the Illinois-Wisconsin border, where Mr Covelli said Rittenhouse was turned over to Kenosha County sheriff deputies at the state line.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys argued he acted in self-defence on August 25 when he opened fire during unrest after the shooting of a black man by a white police officer in Kenosha.
October 31, 2020
Australia has announced it will spend 500 million Australian dollars (£270 million) to secure coronavirus vaccines for the Pacific and south-east Asia “as part of a shared recovery for our region from the pandemic”.
The country’s government said it would use a range of advance purchase agreements with manufacturers via the global COVAX Facility plan, which aims to ensure virus vaccines are shared with all nations.
“We are committing an additional 500 million Australian dollars over three years towards this effort,” it said in a statement.
October 31, 2020
The end of a range of government support schemes could leave millions of people facing hardship, think tanks and political groups have warned.
Mortgage holidays and jobs furloughing are to end on Saturday, with other other support measures starting.
But there are still gaps in support that need filling, some organisations have said.
The Treasury said it had put in place a number of generous support schemes for individuals and businesses.
The mortgage holiday scheme introduced at the start of the Covid-19 crisis ends on Saturday as does the job furlough scheme, which is being replaced by the Job Support Scheme.
October 31, 2020
Cyberbullying and online harassment from pupils could have a “hugely detrimental” effect on school staff’s mental health, a support helpline has warned.
The UK Safer Internet Centre (UK SIC) helpline, designed to assist those working with children, said it has dealt with 844 unique cases in the last year, totalling 1895 contacts.
The majority of complaints (67%) came from teachers.
Almost half of the cases related to issues directly affecting professionals (47%). These largely concerned incidents of bullying and harassment perpetrated by students or reputational issues arising as a result of allegations, reviews or complaints made online.
October 31, 2020
Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper has said his first word since being admitted to hospital with coronavirus seven months ago.
According to The Sun, the former lobbyist and political adviser mouthed the word “pain” as doctors moved his body and TV presenter Garraway watched over video call.
Draper’s tracheotomy tube has been removed and he is now able to breathe without a ventilator, she said.
October 31, 2020
The New York Post is back on Twitter.
The move comes after Twitter updated its policy on policy changes.
On October 14th, The New York Post published a story about Hunter Biden, the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden. Twitter alleges some of the contents of that story, seem to be the result of hacking.
Twitter suspended The New York Post’s account for six tweets that linked to the story and blocked links to the story in question, citing its hacked materials policy, as well as a policy about private information.
On October 15th, Twitter’s trust and safety lead, Vijaya Gadde, tweeted that Twitter’s hacked materials policy would change, and the company would “no longer remove hacked content unless it is directly shared by hackers or those acting in concert with them.”
