Top story: Staying at home inflates energy bills
Hello, it’s Warren Murray disseminating Monday’s news by various electronic means.
More than a million renters in Britain risk losing their jobs in the coronavirus pandemic and should be protected from severe financial hardship by an immediate rent freeze, the New Economic Foundation thinktank is arguing. It identified the tenants as among 5.6 million who will miss out on the government’s Covid-19 job retention scheme, due to having their hours cut, being made redundant rather than furloughed, or being ineligible for self-employed income protection. British households’ energy bills are set to rise by a third – £32 per month on average – because of people staying in lockdown and working from home. Usage of home appliances has soared, according to research from comparethemarket.com.
Donald Trump has told Fox News he feels confident there will be a vaccine by the end of the year. His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has, meanwhile, made confusing and muddled comments in which he said there was “enormous evidence” the virus came from a Chinese laboratory. “Look, the best experts so far seem to think it was manmade,” he said. But when reminded that US intelligence had issued a formal statement noting the scientific consensus – that the virus was not manmade or genetically modified – Pompeo replied: “That’s right. I agree with that.”
The governments of Australia and New Zealand are in the early stages of considering allowing unquarantined travel between the two countries as they continue a staged relaxation of social distancing. New Zealand has recorded its first day without recording a new case since before it entered lockdown. In Britain the death toll has risen to 28,446, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker. This puts the UK just behind Italy on 28,884 and the US, which has reported 67,680 deaths. Stay close to our live blog for developments.
There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to factchecks and advice.
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Pair on murder charge – Two teenagers have been charged with the murder of David Gomoh, 24, the NHS worker killed outside his home in east London a few days before he was due to attend the funeral of his father. Muhammad Jalloh, 18, from Stratford, in Newham, and a 16-year-old boy, from Telford, in Shropshire, were both charged with murder on Sunday. They were also charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm in connection with an alleged incident against a different person shortly before Gomoh was found stabbed on 26 April. Both will appear at Thames magistrates court on Monday.
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Limited help for universities – The government has refused a long-term government bailout of universities in England, though £2.6bn in tuition fees will be paid early and ministers have pledged to allow full fees to be charged as long as high standards of online teaching are maintained during coronavirus restrictions. University leaders had asked the government for billions of pounds to make up for lost international student and research revenue.
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Shots over the DMZ – North and South Korea briefly exchanged gunfire across the demilitarised zone on Sunday, officials from the South have said. South Korea’s military confirmed it found four bullets lodged in the outer wall of a guard post and that its forces fired 10 warning shots towards North Korea, as well as broadcasting a warning about breaching the two countries’ 2018 agreement to cease hostile activities at the DMZ. Speaking to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, a South Korean military official said the shots did not seem to have been intentional and were fired in thick fog, possibly during a weapons check on the North’s side. The exchange came a day after North Korea broadcast images of Kim Jong-un in public after a 20-day absence amid intense speculation about his health.
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Not just old hat – A battered bowler hat from the James Bond film Goldfinger has been valued at up to £30,000 on the TV show Antiques Roadshow. The steel-rimmed hat and weapon belonged to hitman Oddjob, played by Harold Sakata, in the 1964 film.
The owner said he was a big 007 fan as a child and his brother-in-law, a driver for Aston Martin during the filming of Goldfinger, asked Pinewood Studios if they had any memorabilia. The studio gave him Oddjob’s bowler hat – but removed the metal rim.
Coronavirus Extra
From Colonel Tom Moore knitted dolls, VE Day bunting and amigurumi knitting projects to “scrub” bags and face mask adapters, Britain is in the thrall of a crafting revolution, the likes of which has not been seen since the second world war, writes Zoe Wood.
In Australia, global ground zero of toilet-roll panic buying, attention is turning to a rethinking of public lavatories – from sensor taps and handle-free doors to completely self-sanitising cubicles – to minimise the spreading of germs.
Jeffrey Frankel of Project Syndicate warns of the “devastating scenario” of a W-shaped recession-recovery economic cycle, and explains two mistakes that could bring it about: declaring victory over Covid-19 too quickly and abandoning fiscal stimulus too soon.
Today in Focus podcast: Global race for face masks
The world economy may have dramatically dipped and the price of oil crashed, but one commodity is seeing an unprecedented boom: the face mask. Samanth Subramanian explores the newly distorted marketplace for masks and what some will do to get them.
Lunchtime read: 50 Cent on ‘setbacks and getbacks’
Curtis Jackson was shot nine times before becoming one of the world’s biggest rappers. He discusses growing up, getting rich and the art of the hustle.
Sport
Club safety officers fear a lack of consultation over the Premier League’s Project Restart could leave players and officials at risk. The Netherlands manager, Ronald Koeman, has undergone a heart procedure in Amsterdam after experiencing chest pain. The former England cricket captain Charlotte Edwards has voiced her fears about the potential impact on the women’s game of the postponement of the Hundred. The British Horseracing Authority has said it had been subjected to an “unfounded smear” after the trainer Ralph Beckett said he suspected the authority had been responsible for the leak of an email in which Beckett called for the resignation of chief executive Nick Rust. And Chris Froome has said the Tour de France can work without spectators but questioned how organisers can prevent crowds converging along the course.
Business
The dollar inched higher, stock markets struggled for traction and oil has fallen so far on Monday. In reduced trade, with China and Japan on holiday, US stock futures fell 1.7% and US crude tumbled 7%. The US dollar has rallied to one-week highs against the risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars, while gold has fallen. Sterling is worth $1.245 and €1.138 at time of writing while the FTSE is trending around half a per cent lower.
The papers
“Ministers in talks over immunity passports to get UK back to work” – the Guardian’s splash this morning, and our picture lead concerns the Hardmans of Cheadle Hulme, whose baby Rae is one of 50,000 born under lockdown in Britain so far. “Britain to get back to work”, says the i; staggered working hours are among proposals, says the Financial Times.
“Johnson – vaccine is endeavour of our lives” says the Telegraph, while as customary the Express elevates the PM’s role to messianic proportions: “Boris leads £6bn global race for vaccine”. The Metro has Boris Johnson saying “The world must work together” and the Times goes with “Vaccine is only way to beat virus, says PM”.
“Baby gave me will to live” – the Sun’s front-page write-off from its interview. “Lockdown OAPs’ revolt” – the Mirror says “millions” of older people might refuse to stay home. The Daily Mail has another “Mail force” headline, saying its readers’ generosity helped provide PPE for carers so veterans could commemorate VE Day.
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