Category: World News

Woman, 24, arrested on suspicion of murder after 13-week-old baby girl dies at Gosport home – The Sun

A MURDER probe has been launched after a 13-week-old baby girl was found dead at a home in Gosport.

A 24-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murder after the horror but has since been released under investigation.

Police were scrambled to the home in Hampshire where they discovered the tot seriously unwell.

Paramedics desperately tried to save the girl but she tragically died before being taken to hospital.

The death took place on March 10 but has only just come to light.

A Hampshire Police spokesperson said: "Enquiries into the exact circumstances and the cause of death are ongoing.

"A 24-year-old woman from Gosport was arrested on suspicion of murder.

"She has been released under investigation."

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No queues at giant testing site near Manchester airport

So where are all the sick people? Coronavirus testing centres stand deserted as Government urges more people with symptoms to apply for one under new ‘Test and Trace’ regime

  • Government has announced test and trace scheme will begin from May 28 without NHS coronavirus app
  • Testing capacity is at 161,000 a day but latest numbers show that only 117,000 were carried out today
  • Regional testing centres at Glasgow and Manchester Airports and in Weston-super-Mare stood empty today
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced the introduction of the new Test and Trace programme to bring the coronavirus under control, as concerns were raised over the Government’s testing regime.

At the Downing Street briefing today, Mr Hancock said the new system would be up and running by 9am tomorrow without the NHS’ coronavirus app that records close contacts as the Government attempt to push ahead with its plan to bring an end to the nationwide lockdown.

It was also revealed that coronavirus tests will be made available to everyone with symptoms in a bid to reach Boris Johnson’s target of 200,000 tests a day.

But it was a different story at several drive-in testing sites across the country, with airport and outlet store car parks almost deserted in the middle of the day.

Testing capacity now stands at 161,000 a day, but the latest numbers showed that only 117,000 were carried out. 

Photographs taken at Glasgow and Manchester Airports’ testing centres showed only one or two cars at clinical tents while soldiers were left waiting for vehicles to arrive at a car park in Weston-super-Mare.

The lack of upscaling in tests being carried out, despite pledges by Government ministers of ‘ramping up’, has led to criticism that more should be done to encourage key workers and others to get tested.

Figures for yesterday showed that 84 per cent of all tests taken at drive-in centres were returned within 24 hours, and 95 per cent of all tests within 48 hours.

Drive-in testing centres across the country were today left empty as the Government announced the start of the Test and Trace programme to help bring coronavirus under control. Pictured: Manchester Airport

Soldiers were left waiting for vehicles to arrive at a newly opened mobile test centre staffed by the army in Locking Road car park in Weston-super-Mare

Photographs taken at Glasgow Airport’s car park test centre showed the national picture of unfilled testing centres

Testing capacity now stands at 161,000 a day, but the latest numbers showed that only 117,000 were carried out

Baroness Dido Harding, who has been appointed chair of the NHS Test and Trace programme, said of the figures: ‘I still don’t think that’s good enough. It’s got to get better and better.’ 

The Government is pinning its hopes of ending the nationwide lockdown on the success of the test and trace scheme.

But it will go live tomorrow, earlier than the June 1 launch date which had been anticipated, without the NHSX coronavirus app which digitally records close contacts and will massively speed up the contact tracing process.

Baroness Harding claimed the app is just the ‘cherry on the cake, not the cake itself’ but ministers had wanted the technology, currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight, to roll out nationwide in the middle of this month.

But problems with its development have seen it delayed which means the new scheme will initially be entirely reliant on an army of 25,000 contact tracers to track people down and prevent a second wave of infections.

Ms Harding did concede that the rollout of the massive new system is unlikely to be straightforward as she said: ‘There will be some kinks, for sure.’

There remain major question marks over how the system will work in practice with ministers not intending to fine people who refuse to self-isolate. 

The lack of upscaling in tests being carried out, despite pledges by Government ministers of ‘ramping up’, has led to criticism that more should be done to encourage key workers and others to get tested.

Figures for yesterday showed that 84 per cent of all tests taken at drive-in centres were returned within 24 hours, and 95 per cent of all tests within 48 hours

Baroness Dido Harding, who has been appointed chair of the NHS Test and Trace programme, said of the figures: ‘ I still don’t think that’s good enough. It’s got to get better and better’

Meanwhile, councils and public health officials will be tasked with containing any localised outbreaks of the disease in the future, with local authorities warning they must be given the required powers to act.

Experts said there could be ‘several points of failure’ with the test and trace scheme.

Prof Linda Bauld, Professor of Public Health, University of Edinburgh, said for it to work there would need to be sufficient testing capacity, fast results, confidence in the data handling and a willingness from people to self-isolate.

She said: ‘This is going to be very challenging for some and that means that the “support” element of test and trace (statutory sick pay and access to food and medicines if needed) will have to work well, and be put in place quickly. Given all these steps, we shouldn’t expect that this will work perfectly and there could be several points of failure.’

Jonathan Ashworth, shadow health secretary, said the Government should never have ‘abandoned contact tracing in mid-March’ and and that decision had left a ‘huge gap in our defences against the virus’.

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What is the NHS Test and Trace strategy and how does it work? – The Sun

THE UK'S NHS Test and Trace strategy launches TODAY (May 28, 2020), with hopes that it will pave the way to lifting the coronavirus lockdown.

It is hoped that the pioneering system will help the UK overcome the deadly virus. Here's how it works.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

What is the test, track and trace strategy?

The test, track and trace strategy is one of the key ways in which the UK can exit lockdown and avoid a second wave of coronavirus.

Different to the contract tracing app which is being trialled on the Isle of Wight, the NHS Test and Trace Service will launch with a team of 25,000 contact tracers on May 28.

Anyone who has come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the deadly bug will be told to self-isolate.

It is hoped the test, track and trace system will reduce the spread of the virus by identifying and containing the bug.

Testing

Health Secretary Matt Hancock committed to providing 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

That target was met, although the figure included kits sent out in the post which had not yet been returned.

However, it dropped back to 85,000 on Sunday, May 3.

Currently, NHS coronavirus tests are available to:

  • Frontline health and social care workers, with or without symptoms
  • Hospital patients and care home residents, with or without symptoms
  • All other essential workers with symptoms
  • Anyone over 65 with symptoms
  • Anyone who goes out to work because they can't work from home and who has symptoms
  • Anyone who has symptoms and lives with someone who meets the above criteria

 

In total, some 25 million people are now eligible for coronavirus testing in the UK.

People can also get tested through the NHS, at temporary drive-through centres, or via satellite testing centres which will be established where there is an urgent need.

Three "mega-labs" have also been set up in Glasgow, Milton Keynes and Cheshire, to boost capacity.

Tracking

To understand how coronavirus spreads through the population, 20,000 households will be recruited and routinely tested over 12 months.

Ultimately, 300,000 participants will be involved in the study.

"High accuracy" antibody tests will be used to understand how immunity could work in those recovering from the disease.

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Those taking part will be swab-tested and asked questions by a health worker during a home visit.

The tests will be repeated every week for five weeks, and then monthly for a year.

In addition, millions of Brits could find out if they've had coronavirus as 100 per cent accurate antibody tests are set to be rolled out this month.

Testing giant Roche Diagnostics has finally created a kit accurate enough to be used at scale – and the firm says it has enough to provide the NHS with hundreds of thousands every week.

Trace

The NHS' digital research division NHSX is developing a smartphone app which will alert people that they have been exposed to someone with coronavirus.

People living on the Isle of Wight are among the first to test out the service – provisionally called “NHS – Covid-19”.

NHS staff on the island will be able to use it before being rolled out to its citizens.

The app will work by using Bluetooth to log when another user’s smartphone has been in close proximity.

If a person develops Covid-19 symptoms, they can report their symptoms to the app and immediately organise a test.

The tech automatically sends out an anonymous alert to other users they may have infected, urging them to self-isolate if necessary – thus stopping further spread.

They will then have the ability to book a coronavirus test.

Experts estimate if 60 per cent of Brits used the app on their phone, then future outbreaks could be prevented.

Contract tracers will interview people who test positive, to find out where they have been and who they have been in contact with.

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Twitter’s ‘Head of Integrity’ called Trump team ‘ACTUAL NAZIS’ and donated to Hillary Clinton – The Sun

TWITTER's head of site integrity called the President Donald Trump's team "actual nazis" in a newly resurfaced tweet.

Yoel Roth also once referred to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as "bag of farts" and donated to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, according to FOX News.


On January 22, 2017 Roth tweeted: "The 'you are not the right kind of feminist' backlash to yesterday’s marches has begun. Did we learn nothing from this election?"

That same day, Roth also wrote to Twitter: "Yes, that person in the pink hat is clearly a bigger threat to your brand of feminism than ACTUAL NAZIS IN THE WHITE HOUSE."

Roth's anti-Trump posts resurfaced Wednesday and prompted many to question the Twitter employee's personal integrity.

In July 2017, Roth tweeted: "How does a personality-free bag of farts like Mitch McConnell actually win elections?"

A year before that he wrote: "I'm just saying, we fly over those states that voted for a racist tangerine for a reason."

In September 2016, Roth admitted he donated $100 "to Hillary for America" – adding in his tweet: "We can't f*** around anymore."

"Twitter has now shown that everything we have been saying about them (and their other compatriots) is correct. Big action to follow," Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

In response the Roth's Twitter history, House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also blasted Roth's actions

He said: “I think if you run a company like Twitter you’d probably first look at what that individual would put out on Twitter themselves," according to the New York Post.

McCarthy slammed the Twitter employee for thinking Republicans are racist and connecting the Nazi Party to the Republican Party.

He added: "I’m not quite sure that’s the person I would have being the individual in charge of Twitter determining whether the facts are correct or not, because I think he already is biased in that opinion."

According to Fox News, a Twitter spokesperson told the news outlet: "No one person at Twitter is responsible for our policies or enforcement actions, and it's unfortunate to see individual employees targeted for company decisions."

The controversy comes just one day after Trump slammed Twitter for labelling his tweets with "fact-checks" for the first time after he posted about "rigged" mail-in votes.

He said Twitter was "interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election" and insisted he would not tolerate it.

Twitter on Tuesday for the first time prompted readers to check facts in tweets sent by Trump, warning his claims about mail-in ballots were false and had been debunked by fact checkers.

The blue exclamation mark notification prompted readers to “get the facts about mail-in ballots."

People were then directed them to a page with news articles and information about the claims aggregated by Twitter staffers.

Trump later tweeted: "Twitter is completely stifling free speech, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!"

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Just hours after NYC crackdown, Borough Park businesses are packed again

The crackdown didn’t even last a day!

Just hours after City Hall sent in the Sheriff’s Office, at least four Borough Park stores exposed by The Post for operating in violation of emergency coronavirus orders were back open — and, again, packed with mask-less customers.

“Maybe it’s illegal to open it, but you have to understand, these stores are living things,” said Chaim Fogel, who stood outside of Tip Top, a crowded clothing store on 13th Avenue. “The economy is a living thing. If you see you’re going to die if you don’t do something, you do it, because what’s the alternative?”

Fogel conceded the shop needed to do a better job of managing the crowds and forcing people to wear masks.

The shop was one of at least four a reporter spotted Wednesday afternoon doing brisk business while staff and most customers failed to take protective measures, like maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.

The roster of open 13th Avenue storefronts also included party supply retailer ‘Party Shop,’ kids clothier ‘Pastel’ and womenswear shop ‘Miller’s Family Wear.’

Nor did the crackdown on businesses appear to deter large groups from gathering on the avenue or encourage those out to wear masks, which remained virtually unseen when The Post returned to the street after the crackdown.

Only one shop identified in the initial story, Toys4U, appeared to have heeded the knuckle rap from officials and sharply limited access to customers.

The toy store has remained open during the pandemic by getting into the bike repair business, one of the categories of work deemed essential by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order.

“We’re a bike shop. A bike shop is allowed to be open. We’re not looking for a fight with the city,” owner Joseph Itzkowitz said Wednesday. “At least let us be open. We have to make a living.”

That’s a different tack for the retailer, which Post reporters spotted packed with customers buying toys and other non-essential goods on Monday and Tuesday.

City, state and federal health officials say that observing social distancing measures and wearing masks is essential to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 21,000 people in New York City alone.

Borough Park has been hit particularly hard.

City Health Department data shows that more than 200 people who live in the 11219 zip code have died from the pandemic and the area is suffering from one of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases in Brooklyn.

Outraged city officials promised they would be back to shut the businesses down again when The Post contacted them about the reopenings.

“This behavior is absolutely unacceptable and we will be taking further enforcement action,” said City Hall spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie.

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Ex jockey and TalkTalk CEO who will lead UK's test and trace scheme

Ex jockey and TalkTalk CEO during £80m cyber attack who will lead UK’s test and trace scheme: Mother-of two Baroness Dido Harding, 53, was raised on a Somerset pig farm, is the wife of a Tory MP (and thinks there is too much maternity leave)

  • Baroness Dido Harding of Winscombe is leading the UK’s test and trace scheme
  • Former TalkTalk CEO was at the helm when the company was hit by cyber attack 
  • She was subjected to several blackmail attempts after hack of customer details
  • The ex-jockey is married to a Tory MP and studied at Oxford with David Cameron 
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

The former chief executive of TalkTalk, who was at the helm of the company when it was hit by an £80 million cyber attack in 2015, will lead the UK’s test and trace scheme to tackle the coronavirus, set to launch tomorrow. 

Baroness Dido Harding, 53, was raised on a Somerset pig farm and is the granddaughter of Field Marshall Lord Harding, the commander of the Desert Rats who became the most senior soldier in the British army. 

A former jockey, she studied Policy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, alongside David Cameron, and is the wife of John Penrose, the Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare.

Upon graduating, she held a slew of roles at Thomas Cook, Woolworths, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. 

Baroness Harding was appointed CEO of TalkTalk in 2010, serving in the role for seven years, during which the company was the victim of a cyber attack that saw the personal and banking details of 157,000 customers accessed by hackers. 

She was subjected to repeated blackmail attempts after the hack, with demands for Bitcoins in exchange for stolen data, which included customers’ names, email addresses, mobile numbers, home addresses and dates of birth. 

Former TalkTalk CEO Baroness Dido Harding will lead the UK’s test and trace scheme to tackle the coronavirus, set to launch tomorrow

Baroness Harding is a former jockey, though she quit racing after hitting 40 and promising her husband she’d stop

In the aftermath, TalkTalk was fined a record £400,000 for security failings which allowed the data to be accessed ‘with ease’ in one of the biggest data breaches in history. 

TalkTalk is thought to have lost £60million from the fallout with an estimated 100,000 angry customers leaving, mainly to BT, while 2015 profits halved to £14million and shares lost nearly two-thirds of their value.

Baroness Harding faced repeated calls to step down over the breach, but stayed on until 2017. 

Later that year, she was appointed chair of NHS Improvement, responsible for overseeing all NHS hospitals. 

A powerful figure,  she refuses to believe her gender has ever held her back, nor will she endorse female quotas on company boards, which she sees as political meddling. 

She also thinks that workers have too much maternity leave, despite admitting being the boss has allowed her to successfully juggle her career with spending time with the two daughters she has with her husband. 

She studied Policy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, alongside David Cameron, and is married to John Penrose, Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare

Baroness Harding has also packed in a career has a jockey, which saw her appear at Cheltenham, Ascot and even the towering Grand National jumps at Aintree.

One particularly nasty crash over the sticks at Larkhill left her strapped to a spinal board – though she still managed to catch a flight to a conference in Thailand the next day.

Now, she is the leader of the government’s coronavirus tracing programme.

As TalkTalk CEO, she was presented with the Daily Mail wooden spoon award for ‘Worst Customer Service’

The NHS Test and Trace system for England will see anyone who develops symptoms told to self-isolate and get tested, with the close contacts of those who are found to be positive for the disease then told to quarantine for 14 days even if they test negative and are not sick.

The system is being launched without its NHS contact tracing app centrepiece prompting concerns that without the new technology the Government could struggle to tackle the spread of the disease.  

Experts immediately said the complexity of the programme meant there could be ‘several points of failure’ while the Government’s political opponents said ministers should never have largely ditched contact tracing in the first place. 

Mr Hancock said that adhering to self-isolation would be ‘voluntary at first’ but that he could ‘quickly make it mandatory if that is what it takes’.

He told the daily Downing Street press conference: ‘If you are contacted by NHS Test and Trace instructing you to isolate, you must. It is your civic duty, so you avoid unknowingly spreading the virus and you help to break the chain of transmission.’    

The launch of the programme was announced by Boris Johnson during an appearance in front of the Liaison Committee this afternoon as he admitted the UK’s testing capability was underpowered at the start of the outbreak because the ‘brutal reality’ was Britain did not ‘learn the lessons’ of previous pandemics.  

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Chilling moment Jeffrey Epstein victim’s step-mum calls cops to reveal 14-year-old had been paid $300 to massage paedo – The Sun

A CHILLING phone call to cops revealed how a parent discovered her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been paid $300 to massage Epstein at his Florida home.

A worried step mum made the call to the Palm Beach Police department in 2005 after questioning how the teen had come across the cash, which has now been released as part of a four-part Netflix documentary, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.



The disturbing phone call begins with the woman explaining that her stepdaughter had been involved in a fight at school and that the young girl was found to be carrying $300 in cash.

After pressuring the teen to explain why she was carrying so much money, she admits that her and a friend had visited a 'gentleman's house' which was later found to be Epstein's Palm beach residence.

The girl goes onto to tell her that she was paid by the tycoon to massage him and that if he 'likes them [girls] and thinks they are pretty enough, he keeps them around to do other things'.

During the call, the concerned parent tells the operator: "It was an incident that occurred maybe three and a half weeks ago with one of my stepdaughters.

"One day at school she got into a fight and she had $300 on her.

"So after asking her and asking her what was going on, I found out that it ended up being that they went to Palm Beach to a gentleman's house.

"And they started off by giving this gentleman a massage and he pays them.

"And if he likes them and thinks they're pretty enough he keeps them around to do other things."

Details later emerged that the young girl is just 14 as police chief Micheal Rieter explains how the call sparked their investigation into the Epstein scandal.



'SEXUAL ABUSE PYRAMID SCHEME'

More horrific details of the disgraced financiers' sordid life have been revealed in the documentary, telling how he ran a 'sexual abuse pyramid scheme'.

It is claimed that Epstein encouraged his young victims to recruit more girls into his pedophile ring over years of carrying out the sick abuse.

Sisters, Maria and Annie Farmers, also said during the doc that the abuse they faced at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell on separate occasions at his New Mexico Ranch and his property in Ohio, failed to be investigated by cops.

The tycoon was facing life behind bars for carrying out the sexual assaults on women and underage girls, helped by his network of enablers, who turned a blind eye to his crimes.

He was found dead in his cell back in August last year before he could stand trial and questions were raised over how he had managed to take his own life in the high-security prison.

Documentary makers also spoke to witness, Steve Scully, 70, who says he saw Prince Andrew kissing Virginia Roberts and grabbing her bottom on paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island home.

Virginia Roberts claims she was a victim after being bought into the sex trafficking ring by Epstein and forced to have sex with the royal – a claim that has been strongly denied by the Duke of York.

The Prince was linked to Epstein after visiting him several times in New York at this Caribbean Island but has since acknowledged that friendship was a 'mistake' and an 'error of judgement'.

Amongst these other allegations there have also been claims that Bill Clinton was spotted on Epstein's island.

Prince Andrew has emphatically denied a relationship with Ms Roberts and has said he cannot recall a 2001 picture of them together.

The Duke, who has now been stripped of all this royal duties, also took part in a car crash TV interview where he denied meeting the Roberts at a London nightclub.





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UK coronavirus death toll hits 37,460 after 412 more die of bug – The Sun

THE UK coronavirus death toll has risen to 37,460 after 412 more fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours.

A total of 267,240 are now infected with the bug across Britain – up 2,013 from yesterday.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

Today's spike in deaths is more than three times greater than yesterday's, when 134 fatalities were logged.

This is likely to be due to a lag in reporting over the long weekend – figures are generally expected to be low after the bank holiday Monday before catching up again on Wednesday.

Today's jump is bigger than the rise recorded last Wednesday (363) – however it remains smaller than every jump recorded on a Wednesday since lockdown began.

It comes as

  • Britain could be "'back to normal by August"
  • Local lockdowns could be thrown in place from Thursday
  • Dentists could treat patients in next three weeks
  • Ebola drug given green light to treat coronavirus
  • Bojo to announce new track and trace programme
  • The government has revealed the full list of retailers that can reopen on June 15
  • Barbecues and garden parties could be allowed by the end of June
  • Small numbers of children will head back to class when schools reopen from next week

In England, 26,049 hospital patients have died from the virus – up 183 from yesterday’s tally.

The rise, recorded by NHS England, is larger than any daily jump recorded in England since last Thursday, when 187 deaths were logged.

Again, this is likely to be due to a lag in reporting over the long weekend.

Patients were aged between 43 and 101 years old – and all but two of them had underlying health conditions.

It compares to figures recorded at the peak of the virus (April 10) when 56 out of 866 patients who died in England were healthy.

Although today's rise in England is greater than the rise recorded last Wednesday (166), it is significantly smaller than every daily rise recorded on a Wednesday throughout April and the rest of May, suggesting the coronavirus death rate is continuing to make a steady decline.

TRUE TALLY

In Scotland, a further 13 deaths were recorded today, bringing the coronavirus death toll in Scotland to 2,304.

In Wales, 11 deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total there to 1,293.

Northern Ireland announced two deaths from the bug today – having reported no new coronavirus fatalities for the first time since March 18, yesterday.

The numbers come after the Office for National Statistics yesterday revealed 47,000 people could have been killed by the deadly bug in Britain already.

The ONS figures show that 42,173 died from the virus in England and Wales up to May 15.

Combined with the latest ONS stats for Scotland and Northern Ireland, it means a total of 46,383 have died across the UK.

A further 964 hospital patients in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between May 16 and May 24 meaning that the overall UK death toll is just above 47,300.

The figure is 10,000 more than the official Department of Health stats.

'SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS'

Last night the Health Secretary suggested Britain has met four out of five tests for lifting the lockdown after sealing a huge PPE deal.

Speaking during the Government's daily coronavirus briefing, Matt Hancock revealed "significant progress" had been made on securing enough vital equipment to help protect those working on the front line in hospitals and care homes.

The Government did not outline specify, however, whether the new PPE supplies would cover dentists.

MPs have been pushing for dental surgeries to reopen, telling dentists to prepare to treat patients in the next three weeks.

Plans announced in Scotland stated that urgent care centres will be opened first followed by dental practices – England is set to follow these plans.

DRUG HOPE

Meanwhile the antiviral drug remdesivir – originally developed to tackle Ebola – was given the green light for the NHS today.

Mr Hancock hailed the drug the "biggest step forward" in treating coronavirus since the crisis began, after trials found it helped hospitalised patients recover almost a third faster.

The good news comes as extreme lockdown measures are expected to be lifted soon, with barbecues and garden parties for ten person 'bubbles' expected to be allowed from the end of June.

An ex World Health Organisation expert has even said Britain could be "back to normal" by August.

The new plans would allow different households to meet for the first time in months, although they would be capped at two households at a time.

Tough local lockdowns could, however, be thrown in place from Thursday to rapidly isolate new coronavirus sufferers.

Boris Johnson is set to announce the Government’s crucial new ‘track and trace’ programme, which will go live either on Thursday or Friday, when an army of 25,000 contact tracers will begin work hunting down new cases.

It will mean whole towns could face their own lockdowns – with schools, businesses or workplaces closed – if there are regional flare-ups.

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'Bullied' civil servant wins £250,000 payout

‘Bullied’ civil servant wins £250,000 payout after she was taunted by colleagues and branded racist for saying it always rains in Wales

  • Anne Giwa-Amu was an admin officer at the Department for Work and Pensions
  • She was mocked for her ‘weather reports’ and was accused of stealing ice cream
  • Ms Giwa-Amu was the only non-white recruit in her DWP office in Caerphilly
  • Employment tribunal found she suffered ‘deliberate and humiliating harassment’

A civil servant who was called ‘racist’ by colleagues for saying it always rains in Wales amid a ‘lengthy campaign of harassment’ has been awarded £250,000 by a tribunal. 

Anne Giwa-Amu won her race discrimination case after being mocked for her daily ‘weather reports’, accused of stealing ice cream and criticised for complaining about the cold, wet weather – in behaviour which she said may have started out as a joke, but quickly became ‘bullying’. 

Ms Giwa-Amu, who is mixed Nigerian and Welsh, joined the Department for Work and Pensions as a full-time administrative officer in 2017.

Anne Giwa-Amu, pictured, won her race discrimination case after being mocked for her daily ‘weather reports’, accused of stealing ice cream and criticised by colleagues for complaining about the cold, wet weather

During her time at the DWP office in Caerphilly, the 59-year-old, a qualified solicitor, was the only non-white recruit and the only trainee over the age of 50 in her team.

An employment tribunal held in Cardiff found she suffered ‘deliberate and humiliating harassment’ and that other staff had deliberately created a ‘hostile environment’.

Daisy Cartwright, who was also a newly appointed administrative officer, told Ms Giwa-Amu – who graduated from the London School of Economics – that it was ‘racist’ to say it always rained in Wales.

She attacked Ms Giwa-Amu for always moaning about the weather and whenever she mentioned it would mock her by saying ‘[Anne] is giving her usual weather report.’

The tribunal heard Ms Giwa-Amu felt Ms Cartwright was trivialising discrimination by calling her ‘racist’ for moaning about the weather.

In front of colleagues, Ms Cartwright also repeatedly accused the poor trainee of stealing ice-cream.

The tribunal found that while this might have started as a joke, Ms Cartwright carried on ‘bullying’ Ms Giwa-Amu even after others asked her to stop.

In other peculiar antics, Ms Cartwright sprayed deodorant near Ms Giwa-Amu, knowing she hated it, and span around on a chair while sat next to her to try to make her feel sick.

Another co-worker, Robert Lewis, ‘humiliated’ Ms Giwa-Amu, described as a ‘quiet individual’, after he accidentally touched her bottom.

During her time at the DWP office in Caerphilly, pictured, the 59-year-old, a qualified solicitor, was the only non-white recruit and the only trainee over the age of 50 in her team

He said, in front of a large group: ‘I touched [Anne]’s bum. I touched her bum.’

Ms Giwa-Amu said the experience was ‘horrible’ and felt Mr Lewis was laughing about how ‘unpleasant’ it was to have touched her.

The tribunal found senior staff breached her confidence after she reported feeling ‘bullied’ by Ms Cartwright over her appearance.

Ms Giwa-Amu went on sick leave in March 2017 and was unlawfully dismissed in October that year for being unable to return to work.

She had been living on just £55 a week and had no money for food after her final pay cheque from the DWP was withheld.

Mr Lewis continues to be employed as an administrative officer at the Caerphilly Office while Ms Cartwright was promoted to a job in another part of the civil service.

Judge Howden-Evans ordered the DWP to pay more than £243,635 in compensation.

This included £42,800 for injury to feelings – such a high amount is only awarded when there has been a lengthy campaign of harassment.

The tribunal concluded: ‘Ms Cartwright’s and Mr Lewis’s acts were undertaken in an insulting way deliberately intended to humiliate the claimant and create a hostile environment for her.’

It found the DWP’s actions following Ms Giwa-Amu’s dismissal and the delay in providing her wages ‘rubbed salt into her wounds’.

It also decided the DWP should approach the Equality and Human Rights Commission and seek their help in implementing better diversity awareness training before the end of the year.

The DWP has been contacted for comment. 

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France bans hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 patients

France bans hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 patients

  • France has revoked a decree allowing hydroxy to be used as a COVID treatment 
  • Comes after health minister ordered a review in to the unproven medication 
  • Large studies have shown it actually increases death rates among patients 
  • Donald Trump previously claimed to be taking the drug to prevent the disease 
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

France has cancelled a decree allowing hydroxychloroquine to be used as a treatment for coronavirus after studies showed it increased death rates in patients.

It comes after the country’s health minister Olivier Véran ordered a review into the drug in light of the new studies.

On Tuesday doctors were told not to use the drug outside of clinical trials, shortly before its use was suspended even within trials.

France has revoked a decree allowing hydroxychloroquine to be used as a treatment for coronavirus after several studies showed it increased death rates in patients (file image)

Now, the country has formally withdrawn a decree allowing its use on coronavirus patients in any setting.

It also comes after Donald Trump claimed to be taking the drug in order to stop himself catching the disease.

The US President said he had been taking it for around two weeks after having a conversation about the risks with his doctor.

On Wednesday last week he said he would finish taking the medication in ‘a couple of days’.

He had previously encouraged people to take the unproven remedy, saying ‘what do you have to lose?’

The medication is typically used to treat malaria and lupus and accumulates in the lungs, leading medics to suspect it could be used for coronavirus.


Donald Trump (left) and Nayib Bukele (right), the president of El Salvador, have both claimed to be taking the drug in order to protect against the disease

However, a study in the British medical journey The Lancet published last week found patients taking the drug had increased mortality rates and higher frequency of irregular heartbeats. 

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization said it was pausing a large trial of the malaria drug due to safety concerns. 

Worldwide studies into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine began after French medic Professor Didier Raoult claimed to have seen success while giving patients hydroxychloroquine and antibiotic azithromycin.

However, doctors have questioned the value of Professor Raoult’s study, saying it was poorly designed and based on too small a sample to offer evidence of benefit. 

The move comes on the same day that the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, revealed he is taking the drug and claimed ‘most’ world leaders are also using it as a preventative measure. 

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