Boris Johnson on tier 4: ‘No one regrets these measures more than I do’ – video

The prime minister said now was a ‘critical moment’ to take action and ‘redouble efforts’ to contain the rapid spread of the new variant of coronavirus. Boris Johnson went on to explain that the restrictions would affect the return to schools for students in the worst affected areas, but expressed hope that the situation would be 'much better' in April, if vaccination programmes are successful in coming months * UK records its highest daily Covid death toll since April * Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine approved by UK regulator Continue reading...
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Couples who meet via dating apps keener to settle down, study suggests

Research finds those who couple up after swiping right have stronger long-term intentions With the Covid crisis putting paid to New Year’s Eve celebrations and many other opportunities to seek romance in person, dating apps have thrived. But while such tech has long been associated with hookups, a study suggests those who couple up after swiping right have as satisfying a relationship as those who met via traditional encounters – and might even be keener to settle down. Continue reading...
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Matt Hancock confirms tier 4 to cover most of England – video

Three-quarters of the country will be under tier 4 restrictions from 00:01 on Thursday. Following the announcement in the House of Commons, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said this was primarily due to the rapid spread of the new variant of coronavirus. The shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth,  said the virus was 'out of control' and that the situation his Leicester constituents were enduring  was 'horrific' * Coronavirus – latest updates * See all our Covid coverage Continue reading...
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Mitch McConnell blocks Senate Democrats' move to fast track $2000 Covid payments – video

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, blocked an effort by Democrats to quickly increase coronavirus relief payments to US citizens from $600 to $2,000. Donald Trump demanded the raise on Tuesday, tweeting that Americans had ‘suffered enough’ from the Covid pandemic. But amid mounting pressure from fellow Republicans,  McConnell objected to a move by Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, to swiftly pass the measure * McConnell blocks initial Democratic effort for $2,000 Covid stimulus checks Continue reading...
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Covid: UK woman who was first in world to receive vaccine has second dose

Margaret Keenan, 91, receives second injection three weeks later – having celebrated a birthday in between * Coronavirus – latest updates * See all our coronavirus coverage A woman who became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer vaccine this month following its clinical approval has been given her second dose. Margaret Keenan was given the follow-up injection at Coventry university hospital on Tuesday, three weeks after making history with the first jab. Continue reading...
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'That was easy': Kamala Harris receives Covid-19 vaccine – video

The US vice-president-elect received her first injected dose of the coronavirus vaccine live on television, one week after Joe Biden received his. Describing the process as 'relatively painless', Harris urged all Americans to get vaccinated. 'It's about saving your life, the life of your family members, and the life of your community,' she said *  Coronavirus live news * Joe Biden receives coronavirus vaccine  Continue reading...
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NHS hospitals facing ‘unprecedented’ levels of coronavirus cases

Figure rises to 20,426 as senior health official warns of ‘unprecedented’ level of cases * Coronavirus – latest updates * See all our coronavirus coverage Hospitals are facing “unprecedented” levels of coronavirus cases, a senior health official has warned, as it emerged that there are now more Covid-19 patients in hospital in England than at the peak of the first wave. NHS England said it now had 20,426 people being treated for the virus in hospital as of 8am on Monday, surpassing April’s high of 18,946 on 12 April. Health officials in Wales and Scotland have also said they fear becoming overwhelmed. Continue reading...
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'Cooking as therapy': California's top chefs on the recipes that got them through 2020

Like all of us, the Bay Area’s best chefs are cooking at home more than ever. Here, the minds behind Chez Panisse, Zuni Cafe and others share how lockdown shapes their meals, and the dishes that bring comfort California’s Bay Area is home to some of the country’s best restaurants, and many global food trends – from the sourdough craze to the farm-to-table movement – can trace their roots back here. But with the pandemic upending the restaurant world, Bay Area chefs have been doing what we’re all doing: cooking and eating more at home, and turning to food as a source of comfort, nostalgia and creative relief. Continue reading...
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Second Taiwan-born giant panda cub makes media debut

Around 150 journalists watched as Yuan Bao (Round Baby) clambered over climbing frame and played with sawdust A second Taiwan-born giant panda made her media debut on Monday, clambering over a wooden climbing frame and playing with sawdust to the sound of clicking cameras. The cub was born on 28 June to Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, who were gifted by China in 2008 to mark then warming relations between the two rivals. Continue reading...
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2020 visions: daily drawings of a very strange year – in pictures

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Since Boris Johnson won the general election in December 2019, London-based artist Jolie Goodman has been making a daily digital drawing for her series 1872 days of Tory Government (which would be the length of a full five-year term).

Depicting everything from Black Lives Matter protests to Prince Charles with the Covid-19 virus under his kilt, the images have been collected in a book to be published in January. Goodman creates the works either from memory or a photograph every morning. “Making these drawings has helped me process what is going on in the world with humour,” she says.

By Kadish Morris, THE GUARDIAN

Main image: A detail from Day 134 by artist Jolie Goodman.

Sat 26 Dec 2020 17.00 GMT

• Day 37

  Photograph: All artworks copyright of Jolie Goodman

  

• Day 44

  

• Day 97

  

• Day 101

  

• Day 106

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• Day 179

  

• Day 197

  

• Day 181

  

• Day 225

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• Day 271

  

• Day 299

  

• Day 338

  

Poems: The End of Poetry

By Ada Limón, THE NEW YORKER, May 4, 2020 Issue

April 27, 2020

Audio: Read by the author.

Enough of osseous and chickadee and sunflower
and snowshoes, maple and seeds, samara and shoot,
enough chiaroscuro, enough of thus and prophecy
and the stoic farmer and faith and our father and tis
of thee, enough of bosom and bud, skin and god
not forgetting and star bodies and frozen birds,
enough of the will to go on and not go on or how
a certain light does a certain thing, enough
of the kneeling and the rising and the looking
inward and the looking up, enough of the gun,
the drama, and the acquaintance’s suicide, the long-lost
letter on the dresser, enough of the longing and
the ego and the obliteration of ego, enough
of the mother and the child and the father and the child
and enough of the pointing to the world, weary
and desperate, enough of the brutal and the border,
enough of can you see me, can you hear me, enough
I am human, enough I am alone and I am desperate,
enough of the animal saving me, enough of the high
water, enough sorrow, enough of the air and its ease,
I am asking you to touch me.

Published in the print edition of the May 4, 2020, issue.

Ada Limón a current Guggenheim Fellow, is the author of five poetry collections, including “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry.