UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Wednesday questioned about his government’s approach to self-isolation when coming into contact with a positive coronavirus case.
On Sunday, Mr Johnson and other senior ministers abruptly reversed their involvement in a daily testing pilot scheme to avoid isolation after they had been notified.
As a result, he joined Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions session by video link from the Chequers estate.
Leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer said it had taken “public outcry” for Mr Johnson to reverse his decision to take part in the pilot scheme, and asked if people should still isolate themselves if “pinged” by the NHS app.
Mr Johnson apologised for those who had been forced to isolate themselves but said it was a “vital tool of our defence” against the virus.
Mr Starmer accused him of being a “super spreader” and for “creating confusion” after it emerged that the government was planning on introducing “vaccine ID cards” that would be used from September to gain access to businesses such as clubs and bars.
Under current rules, anyone in England can visit hospitality venues after the relaxation of all coronavirus measures this week.
But Mr Johnson said it was important to “wait until the end of end of September” so that younger people, who were last in line for a vaccine, would have the chance to receive both doses.
Mr Starmer criticised him for an alleged remark made in private to aides that virus measures should not have been imposed last year because Covid-19 only affected the elderly.
The remark came from a BBC interview with former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, which was broadcast on Tuesday.
In it, Mr Cummings claimed Mr Johnson said “lockdowns don’t work anyway” and that “the people who are dying are essentially all over 80. And we can’t kill the economy just because of people dying over 80".
While he did not directly address the accusations during questioning, Mr Johnson said the government had to “balance the catastrophe of the disease against the suffering that is caused by by lockdowns”, including “the impacts on mental health, the loss of life chances for young people".
Hours later, Mr Starmer announced he would also go into isolation after one of his children returned a positive virus test result.
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: JCW Clubman, Dh220,500; JCW Countryman, Dh225,500
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
