Saturday, April 25, 2026

Big UK, Japan fears over China’s HK laws

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Big UK, Japan fears over China’s HK laws

Japan is seriously concerned about the move by China’s parliament to go forward with national security legislation for Hong Kong which observers fear might endanger its special autonomy and freedoms.

In a rare statement issued minutes after the security bill was approved, Japan’s foreign ministry on Thursday called Hong Kong an extremely important partner, underscoring close economic ties and people-to-people exchanges.

“Japan is seriously concerned about the (Chinese parliament’s) decision,” the ministry statement said.

“It is the long-standing policy of Japan to attach great importance to upholding a free and open system which Hong Kong has been enjoying and the democratic and stable development of Hong Kong under the ‘One Country Two System’ framework.”

Japan’s foreign ministry summoned Beijing’s ambassador to Tokyo to convey its concern over the situation and said it would carefully observe further developments in Hong Kong.

The Chinese government’s security law for the city is fuelling fears Beijing is imposing its authority and eroding the high degree of autonomy the former British colony has enjoyed under the framework since it returned in 1997 to Chinese rule.

China says the legislation is aimed at tackling secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in the city, but the plan – unveiled in Beijing last week – has triggered the first big protests for months in Hong Kong.

Tokyo says it has conveyed its views to Beijing and it will carefully observe further developments in Hong Kong.

In London, Britain’s government has also expressed extreme concerned about China’s legislation on national security for Hong Kong,, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday.

“We are deeply concerned about China’s legislation relating to national security … We have been very clear that the security legislation risks undermining the principle of one nation, two systems,” the spokesman said, adding that foreign minister Dominic Raab had spoken late on Wednesday to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“The steps taken by the Chinese government place the joint declaration under direct threat,” he added, referring to the 1984 agreement between the UK and China that Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy would remain unchanged for 50 years.

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George Floyd protests in Minneapolis turn violent as man shot dead, rioting and looting breaks out

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George Floyd protests in Minneapolis turn violent as man shot dead, rioting and looting breaks out

Minneapolis was rocked by a second night of violent protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was seen in a video struggling to breathe as a white police officer knelt on his neck.

Protesters clashed with riot police on Wednesday for a second consecutive day over the killing of 46-year-old Floyd, shortly after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for the officer involved to face criminal charges.

In a tweet early on Thursday, Frey called for calm after a man was shot dead during a night of rioting and looting.

“Please, Minneapolis, we cannot let tragedy beget more tragedy,” he said. “The area along Lake has become unsafe. We are asking for your help in keeping the peace tonight.”


A fire burns inside of an AutoZone store near the Third Police Precinct on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

A large crowd of protesters—some in masks—gathered on Wednesday outside the 3rd Precinct station, chanting Floyd’s name and slogans including “I can’t breathe.”

Riot police, including officers stationed on rooftops, used tear gas and rubber bullets in a bid to disperse protesters who smashed windows at the precinct and threw objects at police vehicles and officers.

In an interview with Fox9 as the protests raged on, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said some demonstrators had been peaceful, but others had thrown Molotov cocktails.

As night fell, a number of nearby stores were looted and large fires were set in the street.

News footage from the area showed people running out of a Target store with clothing and carts full of stolen goods while other businesses, including an auto parts store, were set ablaze.

Police said officers had responded to a reported stabbing in the vicinity of Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street shortly after 9 p.m. on Wednesday and found a wounded man lying on the sidewalk.

“Officers checked and found that the man had trauma present and he was not breathing, nor did he have a heartbeat,” Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said in a statement provided to Newsweek.

Officers began life-saving measures and the man was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, Elder said.

An examination of his body revealed he had actually been shot, not stabbed as originally thought, he said. One man has been taken into custody in connection with the incident.

“The circumstances surrounding this death are currently being looked into and the Minneapolis Police Department has initiated a death investigation,” Elder added.

The fatal shooting took place during the looting of a nearby pawn shop and the shots were fired by the store’s owner, according to the Star Tribune.

A Cub Foods and a Dollar Tree were also among the stores damaged by looters. Videos on social media showed the ransacked, smoky interior of the Target store, where people were seen trying to break into cash registers.

According to Reuters, a smaller, peaceful protest was held outside the home of one of the police officers who was present at the scene of Floyd’s death.

The anger over Floyd’s death also fueled a protest that turned violent in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon. A crowd marched onto a nearby freeway and blocked traffic, then attacked two California Highway Patrol cruisers and shattered their windows, according to local media reports.

The Minneapolis Police Department and Target have been contacted for additional comment.

Riot police
Police officers stand on the roof of the Third Police Precinct as one launches an explosive projectile down on the protesters below on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images



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The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week

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The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week

Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. Each week, we’re sharing things we’re eating, wearing, listening to or coveting now. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday. You can always reach us at tlist@nytimes.com.

Use This

In my never-ending quest to reduce the environmental impact of my own existence, I’ve spent countless afternoons assessing the shelves of my local grocery, asking myself which among the various household cleaners, from dish soap to laundry detergent, is the least bad. “‘Least bad’ is a term I use a lot myself,” the New York-based entrepreneur Amanda Weeks told me recently. Weeks is the founder of Ambrosia, a new company that aims to repurpose food waste into useful items — its debut product, an all-purpose surface cleaner called Veles, might even be considered, well, good. Made through a fermentation process that extracts the active ingredients (alcohol, acetic acid, lactic acid, water), each bottle diverts roughly two pounds of waste; for context, as of 2018, a single waste treatment plant in Brooklyn processed about 250 tons daily. In addition to its sustainable production, Veles, with its terra-cotta-hued aluminum bottle (aluminum can be recycled over and over without degrading) and scent of bergamot, peppermint and lavender, is made with the design-focused customer in mind. And it works. $20, veles.com.

Regard This

While quarantining in London, the artist and photographer Mert Alas started thinking about the parallels between this time and the trying period preceding the Renaissance. “We haven’t had hundreds of years of plague and war, but we’ve had four interesting, difficult and sad months,” he says. The spell made him consider what might come next, and whether we’ll land on a new way of approaching art and fashion. To explore those questions, Alas put out a call to his Instagram followers in April for self-created images celebrating the human form, a major point of focus for Renaissance artists. He then whittled down the 2,000-some submissions to 50 before editing them to reflect his own point of view, changing colors, adding backgrounds and collaging. The resulting images, in which a Michelangelo-like nude might wear contemporary kicks, are a timeless celebration of the individual. Alas was also struck by how many of the original pictures showed ingenious ways of finding light, which can be hard to come by in quarantine. Yet this was also very fitting: “It’s about the world coming from dark to light,” Alas says. “The Quarantine Days Renaissance Project” launches on @mertalas today.

The Los Angeles-based jewelry designer Anna Sheffield has been vegetarian ever since she was 16. Which means that over the years, she’s learned how to be as creative in the kitchen with her own meals as she is with her designs. “Your standard dragon bowl is such a classic vegetarian macrobiotic meal,” Sheffield says of her favorite dish, which combines vegetables, protein and sauce. But, she adds, “once you’ve eaten it for 20 years, you’re a little bored with the basic brown-rice version.” Recently, she transformed the healthy staple into one inspired by the juxtapositions often seen in her necklaces, rings or earrings — pieces in which she often mixes metals and stones in unusual ways, embracing imperfection or intentionally setting gems upside down. “I like playing with rule-breaking techniques,” she says. “It’s still beautiful. It’s still precious. It still makes sense. But you’ve done it in a way that no one else would.” Her dragon bowl follows the same conceit, except she combines ingredients in a spectrum of flavors and hues. “You have the sweetness of the orange-yellow squash. And then you have the herbaceousness of the jade rice and the fresh fennel; that’s green-tasting. And then you get a little bit of sour and funky with both the purple beet kraut and the cabbage slaw.” For the recipe, visit tmagazine.com.

Read This

There’s an added aura of intensity to images made by photographers who died young, as if their short lives were brewed stronger, as if there were more life in each frame. In the case of the photographer Andy Sweet, add to that the aura of his long-unresolved murder at the age of 28, of his contact sheets rediscovered in a storage unit decades later, and you might barely be able to see his pictures at all. But Sweet, whose talent was recognized even in his youth, never needed the trappings of tragedy to make visible his vibrancy. Born in 1953 to a prominent Miami Beach family, the photographer captured the community’s seniors, many of them Holocaust survivors, in all their colorful splendor. A book of those images, “Shtetl in the Sun” (2019), serves as a companion to a new one, out this month, called “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” in which the pendulum swings the other way, to the gawky angles of puberty. Taken over the course of the ’70s at Camp Mountain Lake in North Carolina, where Sweet was camper, then counselor, then photography teacher, the smell of sunscreen and wood cabins wafts from the pages. High socks and short shorts, amber sunglasses and halos of curly hair — the nostalgia is for all summers, including this one, the summer we may never have. $34.95, letter16press.com.

At a time when most of us are thinking about everything and anything but getting dressed, I’ve found myself wondering if clothing really matters to me at all anymore. If I’m being honest, I barely make it out of my (at this point threadbare) pajamas every day. What I’ve settled on, at least for now, is that wearing something soft, well-made and maybe a little bit indulgent is as good a way of lifting one’s spirits as a roughly shaken margarita, a pan of gooey brownies or a brisk walk outside. To that end, the Row has created a capsule collection with the German shopping website MyTheresa, which recently donated 10 percent of its profits from the month of March (350,000 euros) to the Red Cross’s Covid-19 relief efforts. As investment pieces that are made to offer comfort this summer and for many to come, the seven separates come in all shades of cream, and include a few shirt dresses, a cozy fishnet-knit sweater, some stretchy ’70s-style flared trousers and a really lovely silk and cashmere ribbed twin set. It will be available June 3, just after you’re officially allowed to wear white pants out (or in). mytheresa.com.

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Senate Democrats Call For Audit Of Trump Administration’s Lax Safety Enforcement

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Senate Democrats Call For Audit Of Trump Administration’s Lax Safety Enforcement

A group of Senate Democrats says the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has done so little to protect workers during the coronavirus pandemic that they want an audit of the agency’s enforcement efforts since March.

In a letter Wednesday, the lawmakers asked the Labor Department’s inspector general to investigate OSHA’s inspections and citations ever since workers began getting sick with COVID-19. They also asked the watchdog to probe the agency’s decision not to implement an emergency standard to deal with the virus.

Citing a drop in workplace investigations, the senators wrote that they have “grave concerns that OSHA is failing to meet its core mission of protecting worker health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and cosigned by fellow Democrats Tim Kaine (Va.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Bob Casey (Penn.) and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), as well as independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.). 

In a statement to HuffPost, Warren said OSHA has “let employers off the hook” and “refused to take even the most basic steps to protect workers during this crisis.”

Democrats and workplace safety advocates have been hammering OSHA, which is part of the Labor Department, for going easy on employers during the pandemic. The agency has issued a raft of new guidance in recent weeks, but it is merely advice for employers on how to keep workers safe ― not legally enforceable measures that come with citations.

Former OSHA officials from the Obama presidency have harshly criticized the agency’s leadership under Trump for not issuing an emergency standard that would require certain employers to follow clear protocols for the coronavirus.

Critics also say the agency should be using every tool it has ― from fines to the bully pulpit ― to pressure employers to follow social distancing measures and provide protective equipment for workers. 



Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats say OSHA has fallen down on the job.

The lawmakers said it was “beyond dispute” that the coronavirus “constitutes a new hazard” and therefore requires an emergency standard. They called OSHA’s rationale for not implementing one “plainly faulty,” pointing to COVID-19 outbreaks at a Walmart store in Massachusetts, a Smithfield meatpacking plant in South Dakota and an Amazon warehouse in Kentucky.  

Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia has defended the agency’s handling of the crisis, saying it is pursuing a “two-pronged approach” of guidelines and enforcement during the pandemic. But under the Trump presidency, the Labor Department has repealed a number of worker protections while scaling back enforcement efforts. The number of inspectors within OSHA has dropped to levels not seen in decades. 

As of last week, OSHA had opened just 310 inspections related to COVID-19 out of nearly 4,000 complaints received on the subject, Politico reported. The agency still had not issued a citation dealing with the coronavirus. 

In their letter, the lawmakers cited those figures and said OSHA has “largely abdicated its investigation and enforcement responsibilities for even existing standards.”

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus



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Hamburg: Wind, Water, and Wide Green Spaces

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Hamburg: Wind, Water, and Wide Green Spaces

Germany’s greenest city invites you to enjoy a city break in close touch with nature: with its countless Hamburg parks, nature reserves, beaches, open-air food stands and its unique urban shore, Hamburg ensures a relaxing and yet highly diverse holiday experience.

In Hamburg, inspiring urban environments and soothing greenery go hand in hand – sustainable hotels, retail shopping and gastronomic venues included.

No need for lengthy journeys, complex planning, or rushing. With its 31 nature reserves, Hamburg is one of the greenest cities in all of Europe, allowing visitors to enjoy urban flair combined with beautiful nature experiences.

So why not venture out for a hiking trip in the nearby Harburg Hills, followed by a refreshing shandy at the legendary Strandperle with a view of passing container ships. Or take a leisurely walk around the 200-year-old Planten un Blomen Hamburg park and pop over to the adjacent Karolinenviertel afterwards for fair fashion and natural cosmetics. Or how about an extended bike tour along Hamburg’s urban shore?

With a fresh tailwind, you can cycle alongside giant container ships, from the stairs quarter of Blankenese via the Oevelgönne beaches and past the St Pauli Fischmarkt all the way to the city centre. You can stop over at the Landungsbrücken for a fresh fish roll, or enjoy a cool drink on the Elbphilharmonie’s Plaza at sunset.

Hamburg is a thriving green pearl, with numerous bodies of water, a continuous fresh breeze, tree-lined streets, and residents who love their city just as much as Hamburg’s guests do. Hamburg offers an excellent climate especially in the summer months – and not just in terms of temperatures, but also in terms of street food locations, outdoor cafés, and lush green getaway destinations within easy reach.

 

Hamburg parks and outdoor spaces – a world of outdoor experiences

Hamburg has actually more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam. Little wonder though when you consider the countless canals and tributaries of the Alster Lake and the Elbe River. In Hamburg’s urban ecosystem, water and nature are embedded in a unique way. If you feel like discovering the city from an entirely new angle, you can rent a stand-up paddle board or a canoe at the Alster Lake in the city centre.

From there, you can make your way along the Alster canals that will take you to green residential areas and to Stadtpark Hamburg, the city’s green lung and a much-loved location for open-air events – and all this while enjoying summery temperatures and a refreshing breeze.

Hamburg provides a laid-back holiday experience – not only on the water, but also on land.

A relaxing summer in the city can also take the shape of browsing around the city centre, strolling through the countless inner-city parks, or chilling out on Hamburg’s waterfront. That’s because Hamburg’s retail opportunities go well beyond shopping centres, and because Hamburg parks includes Europe’s largest Japanese garden as well as Europe’s most extensive park cemetery. And because Hamburg is one of the few cities that has its very own urban beaches.

The city’s cultural life is being rebooted cautiously and, due to current circumstances, Hamburg’s cultural venues will not be overcrowded this summer.

But that’s just fine, because Hamburg’s locals have their own way of enjoying a long summer’s night: in the countless street cafés, or at one of the beach clubs, beer gardens and open-air restaurant terraces – some of these with a maritime view of the Elbe, and others with a view of lush greenery on the banks of the Alster.

 

Day trips from Hamburg

And all those wishing to get away from the urban environment can simply get a train from the central station to the countryside just on Hamburg’s doorstep.

In the matter of one hour, you can reach the seaside resorts on the Baltic Sea as well as the national parks and the Wadden Sea on the North Sea. The unspoilt nature around the Lauenburg Lakes to the east is also worth a day trip, as are the extensive hiking areas of the Lüneburg Heath in the south of Hamburg.

And even as a stopover on the way to the Baltic Sea, the North Sea or the route to Denmark, Hamburg is the ideal place to enjoy two or three days of urban flair combined with wind, water, and wide green spaces.

For all those who can’t wait to start planning their next Hamburg trip, we have compiled our very own…

 

Top 10 Hamburg tips revolving around water, wind, and wide green spaces

Süllberg (Blankenese)

With an altitude of 75 metres, the Süllberg hill in Blankenese arguably offers the best view over the Elbe River and the North German lowlands – including a star-studded terraced restaurant and a beer garden.

 

Falkenstein shore (Rissen)

A hearty beach walk within the city boundaries, with some of the world’s largest container ships passing you by.

 

Jenisch Park (Nienstedten)

On the slopes above the Elbe, Hamburg shows its somewhat stately face: just off the elegant Elbchaussee, this landscaped Hamburg park, which was designed as an English-style country estate, invites you to enjoy a picnic with a view of the Elbe – and to explore the art exhibits of the Jenisch Haus and the Ernst-Barlach-Haus on-site the premises.

 

Coast by east (HafenCity)

At a prime location in the HafenCity district and with an unobstructed view of the Elbphilharmonie, this restaurant offers Asian-inspired food, with a window front that can be opened and an eye-catching interior wall that is entirely covered by green plants.

 

Canoeing and kayaking on the Alster

Perhaps the best and most eco-friendly option are the GreenKayak boats as these combine paddling pleasure with environmental protection. Make sure to stop over at the Café Canale, where you can be served coffee and cake through a hatch while remaining in your vessel.

 

AlsterCliff (Harvestehude)

This prominent venue directly on the Alster Lake is all about seeing and being seen. Guests can choose between the indoor café and the wooden jetty.

 

Strandperle (Oevelgönne)

The ultimate Elbe experience. Look at the ships passing by, dig your feet into the sand and dream away the afternoon with a delicious fish roll in your hand.

 

Strand Pauli (St Pauli)

This beach club creates the perfect holiday atmosphere, including a St Pauli off-scene flair and a fabulous view of the shipyard on the other side of the Elbe.

 

A cycle tour along the Elbe and Hamburg’s urban shore

Enjoy the tailwind on your trip from Blankenese in the west to the Elbphilharmonie in the HafenCity, with plenty of opportunities for ­refreshment along the way. Join this bike tour.

 

Elbphilharmonie Plaza (HafenCity)

A must for all guests since 2017, the Plaza viewing platform provides a unique panoramic view of Hamburg – with a steady west wind and best enjoyed at sunset.

 

It’s more than parks – Hamburg is a sustainable city

What is one of the main components of a city break in close touch with nature?

Well, nature itself.

Today, metropolitan regions are increasingly taking steps to ensure that nature and natural resources are used in a responsible manner. In Hamburg, a fresh breeze can also be felt when it comes to sustainability, as the city’s ecosystem of fair fashion, regional and seasonal cuisine, as well as sustainable mobility and upcycling projects continues to grow and thrive.

Using the ICE, you can travel to Hamburg in a climate-friendly way, and thanks to Hamburg’s extensive and eco-friendly public transport network, including port ferries and the StadtRAD bike rental system, even families don’t need a car to get around. In fact, Hamburg’s local public transport system is entirely CO2 neutral.

Quite aptly, Hamburg Tourismus has launched the digital “Hamburg CARD Green”, which can be easily downloaded to your smartphone. The Hamburg CARD Green offers unlimited mobility, ensuring free travel by underground, suburban rail, buses and port ferries throughout your stay – in addition to countless opportunities to explore the real Hamburg. What is more, the card offers discounts at numerous (mostly sustainable) attractions across Hamburg.

For example, from the Steinstrasse bus stop in the old town, lovers of regional cuisine can walk over to the Hobenköök – a market hall with Hamburg delicacies and an adjacent restaurant.

Even sustainable overnight stays are easy in Hamburg: the Raphael Hotel Wälderhaus at Inselpark Wilhelmsburg, for instance, offers a holistic holiday experience amidst a forest atmosphere.

And all those who would like to spend the night in a super central location will find sustainable accommodation at the Scandic Hamburg Emporio. 

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NCC briefing: Provincial travel permitted for students and teachers

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NCC briefing: Provincial travel permitted for students and teachers

Students, teachers and other school staff who must travel to other provinces to get to their respective institutions of learning will be permitted to travel between provincial borders throughout the Level 3 lockdown alert phase. 

Speaking at the National Command Council (NCC) briefing on the afternoon of Thursday 28 May, days before the advent of the latest phase of restrictions, Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that some members of the academic community had to travel across borders on a day basis and would be permitted to do so. 

District, provincial travel permitted for schools

She said that given that many people have to make daily trips across borders to get to school, they would be given the green light to do so. 

“Given that schools will open in phased approach, we will also open travel in between provinces and districts for pupils, students and teaching staff.”

Dlamini-Zuma said that persons travelling for purposes of starting work; moving to a new residence; or caring for an immediate family member would also be permitted on the condition that those people have the relevant permits handy.

The reopening of schools will be done gradually, with other learning groups arriving back in the classroom in batches over the next six weeks.

Education minister under fire  

Students in Grades 7 and 12 are expected back in the classroom on 1 June, but many have said that it is too early for them to return. 

One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has led the charge for the decision to be reversed, but with days to go and Dlamini Zuma giving no indication of a U-turn, it seems like his petition has fallen on deaf ears. 

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga came under fire on Thursday after visiting a handful of schools in the Gauteng Province, with many saying that she has not sufficiently gauged the degree to which schools are unprepared for reopening. 

The majority of concerns surround rural and underprivileged schools where water security is scarce and students may not be able to adequately sanitise and wash their hands while at school. 



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Bar Bans Customers From Wearing Masks During Pandemic

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Bar Bans Customers From Wearing Masks During Pandemic

Mask-wearing customers have been banned from entering a bar in Texas amid the coronavirus pandemic, local news outlets reported this week.

A sign posted outside the Liberty Tree Tavern in Elgin, 25 miles east of Austin, reads:

Due to our concern for our customers, if they FEEL (not think), that they need to wear a mask, they should stay home until they FEEL that it’s safe to be in public without one. Sorry, No Mask Allowed.

Kevin Smith, the bar’s co-owner, said the anti-mask rule was “a pushback against the wannabe snitch patrols and the contact tracers they’re gonna hire.”

“This is still rural Texas,” Smith told NBC affiliate KXAN in an interview that aired Tuesday.

One local resident described the ban as “a risk” and “foolish.”

Countered another: “I’m a stage 4 cancer survivor. I’ve been through a lot worse.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear cloth face coverings “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” 

Smith said the bar was adhering to Texas social distancing guidelines, like limiting capacity to 25% and making customers maintain a distance of six feet.

Check out the segment here:

Elgin, with a population of 10,000, had 52 confirmed coronavirus cases. 

Most of the city lies in Bastrop County, where there have been around 190 cases and two deaths. Statewide, the virus has sickened more than 57,000 people and killed 1,562. 

The nationwide death toll from the pandemic topped 100,000 on Thursday. The U.S. has had more than 1.7 million confirmed cases, the most in the world.

The issue of wearing masks has become increasingly politicized in recent weeks, although a HuffPost/YouGov poll suggests most people do not have a problem with it.

President Donald Trump’s refusal to follow the CDC guidance has, for some, turned the face mask into a culture war symbol. Trump mocked Joe Biden for wearing a face mask over Memorial Day weekend and belittled a reporter for wearing one at a White House news conference. Biden was following Delaware’s state rules.



President Donald Trump has repeatedly refused to wear a face mask in public during the coronavirus pandemic.

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus



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Police conclude Dominic Cummings’ castle trip possible ‘minor breach’

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Police conclude Dominic Cummings’ castle trip possible ‘minor breach’

Number 10 special advisor Dominic Cummings | Niklas Halle’n/AFP via Getty Images

Police will not take further action against Boris Johnson aide over allegations he broke coronavirus lockdown rules.

LONDON — Boris Johnson’s top aide’s drive from his parents’ property in Durham to Barnard Castle might have constituted a “minor breach” of lockdown regulations “that would have warranted police intervention,” a police investigation concluded Thursday.

After examining the circumstances surrounding Dominic Cummings’ journey to the tourist spot on April 12 with his wife and son, Durham Constabulary said in a statement that police view this incident as minor since there was “no apparent breach of social distancing.”

The statement said police will not take retrospective action against him since this would amount to treating Cummings differently from other people.

At a press conference Monday, Cummings said he drove nearly 48 kilometers to Barnard Castle to test his eye sight after recovering from a suspected case of COVID-19 in order to ensure it was safe for him to drive back to London and return to work.

Cummings had driven to a property on his father’s farm in late March in order to self-isolate near family in case he and his wife needed childcare support after they both fell ill. This stay was not judged by police to have breached the law, though the statement makes clear police are not concerned with possible breaches of the government’s guidance to stay at home.

The police report said: “Had a Durham Constabulary police officer stopped Mr Cummings driving to or from Barnard Castle, the officer would have spoken to him, and, having established the facts, likely advised Mr Cummings to return to the address in Durham, providing advice on the dangers of traveling during the pandemic crisis. Had this advice been accepted by Mr Cummings, no enforcement action would have been taken.”

The statement added officers had not seen evidence suggesting the aide took an alleged second trip to Durham on April 19, something Cummings has denied.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The police have made clear they are taking no action against Mr Cummings over his self-isolation and that going to Durham did not breach the regulations. The prime minister has said he believes Mr Cummings behaved reasonably and legally given all the circumstances and he regards this issue as closed.”



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40.8 Million Out Of Work In The Past 10 Weeks, 26% Of Labor Force

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40.8 Million Out Of Work In The Past 10 Weeks, 26% Of Labor Force

A Seattle barber shop remains closed because of the coronavirus outbreak on May 19. Last week, an additional 2.1 million people filed for unemployment benefits around the country.

Elaine Thompson/AP


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Elaine Thompson/AP

A Seattle barber shop remains closed because of the coronavirus outbreak on May 19. Last week, an additional 2.1 million people filed for unemployment benefits around the country.

Elaine Thompson/AP

Updated at 8:37 a.m. ET

More than 1 in 4 U.S. workers have lost their jobs since the coronavirus crisis shut down much of the economy in March.

Just last week, another 2.1 million people filed for unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said Thursday. That brings the total for the past 10 weeks to 40.8 million, which represents 26% of the civilian labor force in April.

Employment dropped steeply in most areas of the country in recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. A Fed survey found that “employment continued to fall sharply in retail and in leisure and hospitality sectors.”

For Many, $600 Jobless Benefit Makes It Hard To Return To Work

“Contacts cited challenges in bringing employees back to work, including workers’ health concerns, limited access to childcare, and generous unemployment insurance benefits,” the Fed said in its Beige Book survey.

Signs of an ailing job market are everywhere:

  • Boeing is cutting more than 12,000 jobs after the sudden drop in air travel hit the airplane manufacturing giant hard.
  • A number of major retailers, including J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus and J. Crew, have filed for bankruptcy.
  • With tax revenues dwindling, cities large and small are facing deep budget deficits, forcing them to furlough municipal workers. Nearly 1 million government workers were laid off in April alone. 
Are You Ready To Go Back To Work? Share Your Story

But some workers around the country are also beginning to return to their jobs as many states move to reopen their economies. Disney World and other Florida theme parks have announced plans to reopen in the next few weeks. In California, stores ordered closed since March 19 have been cleared to reopen under guidelines that recommend employee screenings, face coverings and social distancing.

And Amazon announced Thursday that it’s offering full-time jobs to 125,000 of the 175,000 temporary employees it hired during the pandemic.

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More Than 40 Million Americans Have Sought Jobless Aid Amid Pandemic

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More Than 40 Million Americans Have Sought Jobless Aid Amid Pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more businesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees.

About 41 million people have now applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March, though not all of them are still unemployed. The Labor Department’s report Thursday includes a count of all the people now receiving unemployment aid: 21 million. That is a rough measure of the number of unemployed Americans.

The national jobless rate was 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression, and many economists expect it will near 20% in May.

States are gradually restarting their economies by letting some businesses — from gyms, retail shops and restaurants to hair and nail salons — reopen with some restrictions. As some of these employers, including automakers, have recalled a portion of their laid-off employees, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits has fallen.

First-time applications for unemployment aid, though still high by historical standards, have now fallen for eight straight weeks. In addition to those who applied last week, an additional 1.2 million applied under a new program for self-employed and gig workers, who are eligible for jobless aid for the first time. These figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations, so the government doesn’t include them in the overall data.

Analysts are monitoring incoming economic data to gauge how consumers are responding as many retail establishments gradually reopen. Jobs won’t return in any significant way as long as Americans remain slow to resume spending at their previous levels.

Data from Chase Bank credit and debit cards shows that consumers have slowly increased their spending since the government distributed stimulus checks in mid-April. Consumer spending had plunged 40% in March compared with a year earlier but has since rebounded to 20% below year-ago levels.

Most of that increase has occurred in online shopping, which has recovered to pre-virus levels after having tumbled about 20%. But offline spending, which makes up the vast majority of consumer spending, is still down 35% from a year ago, according to Chase, after having plummeted 50% at its lowest point.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below:

The U.S. government is set to sketch its latest picture Thursday of the layoffs that have left tens of millions of people unemployed but have slowed as states increasingly allow businesses to reopen.

Even with companies calling some laid-off employees back to work, millions more likely filed for unemployment benefits last week after nearly 39 million sought aid in the previous nine weeks as the coronavirus paralyzed the economy.

The pace of layoffs has declined for seven straight weeks, a sign that the cratering of the job market may have bottomed out. By historical standards, though, the number of weekly applications remains enormous.

The job cuts reflect an economy that was seized by the worst downturn since the Great Depression after the virus forced the widespread shutdown of businesses. The economy is thought to be shrinking in the April-June quarter at an annual rate approaching 40%. That would be, by far, the worst quarterly contraction on record.



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