Yahoo Finance Tuesday briefing: School's back but proceed with caution – PM
Top story: Warning over potential infection spike
Hello, Warren Murray with news in the key of gee that’s interesting.
The reopening of schools could increase infection rates enough to delay the roadmap out of lockdown, Boris Johnson has warned. Speaking after millions of pupils returned to schools across England on Monday, the prime minister said the number of people being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 each day was eight times higher than “the lows of last summer” and reiterated that people must still follow the “stay at home” message. For schoolchildren, parents and teachers the return has been a mixture of nerves, relief and excitement. At Button Lane primary school, Wythenshawe, Manchester, the headteacher greeted many of the pupils by name, and asked after their parents. “Well, I’m much better now,” answered one mum, a detectable spring in her step.
This morning, Labour is calling for an audit of national preparedness for pandemics. The shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, said Labour would introduce statutory duties to plan, audit and invest in pandemic response. “We’ve seen Ebola emerge from bats, Nipah fever, which has a 70% death rate, from fruit bats, we’ve seen Zika emerge from mosquitos, and three coronavirus pandemics – Sars, Mers and Cov-2. The warnings were there.” In global coronavirus news, separate studies have indicated that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac vaccines are effective against the Brazil variant. More developments at our live blog.
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‘Nobody can take that sort of abuse’ – Buckingham Palace remains under pressure to respond to allegations of racism within the highest echelons of the royal family after Harry and Meghan described how someone within the household asked how dark their baby son Archie’s skin would be (Oprah Winfrey clarified later that neither the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh said it). David Olusoga writes this morning that the Sussexes’ wedding “projected to the world an image of Britain as effortlessly global, at ease with its multiculturalism, its institutions adapting to changing times. Take a look at the headlines from across the world today to see how others see us now.” The Labour MP Diane Abbott has spoken of her hope that the Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah interview encourages black and mixed-race women to be open about their mental health struggles. The trope of the “strong black woman” was deeply ingrained and discouraged them from getting help, said Abbott. “Nobody is that strong. Nobody can take the sort of abuse that Meghan had to take and that I’ve had to take.”
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Regional house prices growth to outstrip London – Property prices in Yorkshire and the north-west could rise by almost 30% over the next five years, more than double the rate of growth in London, a property firm has predicted. In the budget, Rushi Sunak extended stamp duty concessions and announced government support for 95% mortgages. House prices have also been lifted by a “race for space” as people have changed their lifestyles during the pandemic. Savills predicts prices rising an average of 4% this year, and 21.1% before the end of 2025, taking the average UK price to £279,644. Over the next five years the biggest increases are forecast to be in the north-west of England – up 28.8% to an average of £227,879 – and in Yorkshire and Humberside where Savills predicts a 28.2% rise to an average of £220,921. Prices in London are predicted to grow by 12.6% to an average of £547,868.
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Risk of China partnerships – The former universities minister Jo Johnson has warned of the “poorly understood” risks of increasingly close collaboration between UK universities and China. The Office for Students watchdog should explore ways to make UK universities less financially reliant on fees paid by Chinese students, says a study led by Johnson. King’s College London, Harvard Kennedy School and the analysts Clarivate identified increases in funding from China and collaboration in sensitive areas for national security and economic competition – such as automation, telecommunications and materials science – or in disciplines where collaboration may threaten freedom of speech. “The UK urgently needs to put in place a framework for this key relationship … [and] do a better job of measuring, managing and mitigating risks,” Johnson said.
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Violence against journalists – The UK’s first national action plan aimed at protecting journalists from abuse and harassment has been published by the government with the backing of police and union leaders. Reporters have told of suffering abuse and attacks such as being punched, threatened with knives, forcibly detained and subjected to rape and death threats, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said. The journalists’ union general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, said reported incidents were only the “tip of the iceberg”. As part of the national action plan, Facebook and Twitter have committed to respond promptly to complaints of threats to journalists’ safety online, according to DCMS.
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Whole again – Researchers have discovered that a sea slug can decapitate itself and then grow its body back.
The sacoglossan sea slug’s head moseys around quite happily on its own for the month or so it takes to grow the new body, complete with heart and internal organs.
Today in Focus podcast: Battle royal
Reporters Archie Bland and Aamna Mohdin discuss the impact of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which contained shocking revelations, including allegations of racism at the heart of the royal family.
Lunchtime read: Real toll of France’s nuclear tests
France has consistently underestimated the devastating impact of its nuclear tests in French Polynesia in the 1960s and 70s, according to groundbreaking research that could allow more than 100,000 people to claim compensation.
“The state has tried hard to bury the toxic heritage of these tests,” said Geoffrey Livolsi, editor-in-chief of Disclose, a Princeton university project. “This is the first truly independent scientific attempt to measure the scale of the damage and to acknowledge the thousands of victims of France’s nuclear experiment in the Pacific.” Jon Henley reports.
Sport
Chelsea are growing more accomplished with every outing under Thomas Tuchel, whose latest tactical tweak in attack worked perfectly as false nine Kai Havertz was involved in both goals of a commanding 2-0 win over passive Everton. West Ham are not going away just yet. This win was not remotely as comfortable as the margin might suggest but it means they are breathing down the necks of the top four, with a game in hand and a potentially defining trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.
The teenage middle-distance runner Keely Hodgkinson has been hailed as an outstanding talent with all the tools to be at the vanguard of a new wave of British track and field stars by Christian Malcolm, the head coach of UK Athletics. The British & Irish Lions have taken a first step towards setting up a women’s team after it was announced a feasibility study will be conducted to determine whether it is viable. Agreement on a new “ideal” Champions League is imminent, according to the man who represents Europe’s biggest clubs, which may put pressure on the Premier League to reduce its fixture list in future if it is to benefit. England and India are set to play a women’s Test match this summer as part of a multi-format series between the two countries.
Business
Asian shares have been mixed, with optimism about US stimulus tempered by worries about inflation, while technology companies have been heading lower as investors start to doubt whether their pandemic gains can continue. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.2% while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 1.2% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3%. The Hang Seng gained 1.3% while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.6%. This morning the FTSE looks like opening lower while the pound is worth $1.384 and €1.167 at time of writing.
The papers
You can see all the front pages in our roundup today from my colleague Helen Sullivan. The Guardian leads with “Palace in crisis following devastating racism claim”. Meghan said that Harry had been asked questions by family about how dark their son Archie’s skin might be. The Independent’s headline is similar: “Palace faces crisis over racism accusations”, while the Times says the palace is in “turmoil”.
The Financial Times includes just a small inset picture of Meghan and a paragraph in its Briefing panel on the “royal rift”. Its lead story is “Bailey warns of fresh BoE fears over post-pandemic inflation” – read this and you too shall be warned about those fresh fears. Tuesday’s i also has the palace in crisis. The Telegraph focuses on the US response, with President Joe Biden saying “The Duchess has shown courage” after Meghan spoke about her mental health.
The Daily Mail does not hold back, asking “What have they done?” with “they” referring to Meghan and Harry, rather than their relatives. The Mirror calls the crisis the worst in 85 years, since Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. The Metro has “Just the four of us now” and a picture of “Pregnant Meghan and Harry” hugging Archie that was released by the Sussexes after their Oprah interview. The Daily Express splashes on a photograph of the Queen with the headline: “So sad it has come to this”.
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