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Monday briefing: Holidays on hold amid fear of disruption

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Monday briefing: Holidays on hold amid fear of disruption

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Top story: US records 1,000 daily deaths for five days running

Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the stories you need to know about today.

British holidaymakers face the prospect of more changes in the rules governing overseas travel after ministers defended the decision to impose quarantine restrictions on people returning from Spain. As thousands of stunned tourists grappled with the implications of the new rules, foreign secretary Dominic Raab apologised for the disruption but said it might be necessary to impose more sudden restrictions on other countries. A surge in new coronavirus cases in Spain prompted the UK decision to introduce the new restrictions, but the government in Madrid insisted yesterday that it was still safe to visit despite a newspaper investigation claiming the nation’s death toll is 60% higher than officially reported. Closer to home, 21 new cases have been confirmed at a caravan park in Shropshire. On a more positive travel note, fear of flying during the pandemic is leading to a revival in demand for sleeper train services across Europe.

The United States has recorded more than 1,000 deaths a day from Covid-19 for five days running, due largely to a huge rise in cases in southern and western states. There are now 4.2 million cases nationwide and almost 150,000 deaths. Senate Republicans are expected to unveil a $1tn stimulus package for the economy later today but the White House said the $600 unemployment payments would not be extended when they run out this week. Pacific islanders living in the US are 10 times more likely to contract Covid-19 than some other groups, according to analysis for the Guardian, while there is mounting concern about the outbreak in Papua New Guinea. In Australia, a record number of new cases was recorded in the past 24 hours, China reported its biggest number since April and new daily cases in India topped 50,000 for the first time. Catch up with all the overnight developments from around the world on our live blog.


‘Lose weight and save the NHS’ – Hancock has also been promoting the government’s new obesity strategy, calling on overweight people to lose 5lbs to save the NHS money. Boris Johnson will signal an end to confectionery displays at store checkouts and ban junk food adverts on TV before 9pm when he unveils the plans today. He will also begin a consultation on a total ban on junk food ads online.


Care costs – Ministers plan to solve Britain’s social care crisis by making everyone over 40 contribute to extra money to cover the costs when they are older. Matt Hancock, health secretary, is believed to be arguing for increased taxes or a compulsory insurance scheme for the over-40s as a way of heading off a potential collapse in the system as the population ages. it would be based on the widely admired Japanese system for covering aged care costs.


Chengdu closure – Crowds of people waving Chinese flags have gathered near the US consulate in Chengdu as officials prepared to remove its official plaque and lower the Stars and Stripes just days after Washington and Beijing each ordered the other to close a diplomatic mission. Police moved in to stop people making offensive gestures towards the consulate, which was one of seven dotted around China. One passerby launched into a nationalist chant and was quickly silenced.


‘Necessary evil’ – The rightwing US Republican senator Tom Cotton has called slavery “the necessary evil upon which the union was built”. A possible future presidential candidate, the senator made the comments in a newspaper interview as he tries to build support for legislation that aims to prohibit use of federal funds to teach the 1619 Project, an initiative from the New York Times that reframes US history around the arrival of the first slave ships in America.


Powering on – Britain could record negative carbon emissions from its electricity system as soon as 2033 if producers adopt carbon capture technology alongside more renewable energy to reach its climate targets. The possibility is revealed today by the network’s operator, National Grid, in a report that also foresees 30m electric vehicles, 8m heat pumps to replace household gas boilers and the rollout of more wind, solar and hydrogen energy.


Olivia De Havilland in Gone With the Wind.



Olivia De Havilland in Gone With the Wind. Photograph: Selznick/MGM/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Last of the line – Olivia de Havilland, the last remaining star from Hollywood’s golden age, has died at the age of 104. The actor, who won two Oscars in the 1940s, was best known for her role in Gone With the Wind. But her portrayal of demure women concealed a steely core that she employed to sue Warner Brothers and help break the notorious vassalage of the Hollywood studio system. Our film critic, Peter Bradshaw, has written a sparkling appreciation of her career, taking in her romance with Errol Flynn and her famous feud with her sister, Joan Fontaine. There is also a chance to see her life in pictures and read her obituary here.

Today in Focus podcast

Children as young as 11 are becoming problem gamblers as apps and websites make betting easier than ever. Jenny Kleeman investigates how it has been allowed to happen.

Today in Focus

Are we creating a generation of problem gamblers?

Lunchtime read: Rick Stein: ‘I still really doubt myself’

Rick Stein and his wife Sarah Burns at their home in Australia.



Rick Stein and his wife Sarah Burns at their home in Australia. Photograph: Cliff Kent/REX/Shutterstock

The celebrity chef Rick Stein talks about the difficult decision to close a restaurant and lay off staff during the pandemic, getting “stranded” in Australia for the lockdown, his two marriages and how his father’s bipolar disorder has affected his life (“I think he took it out on me”).

Sport

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has taken a swipe at his critics after leading Manchester United back into the Champions League, saying their gloomy forecasts had driven him on. An emotional Dean Smith paid tribute to his late father Ron, who died of Covid-19 at the end of May aged 79, after securing Aston Villa’s Premier League survival on a pulsating final day of the season. Stuart Broad put England into a dominant position in the third Test at Old Trafford and on course for a series victory over West Indies after a dominant third day. At the Oval, 1,000 club members trialled socially-distanced spectating at Surrey for the first time since the Covid-19 shutdown.

Andy Murray is still “apprehensive” about travelling to New York during the pandemic but says he has switched on “mentally” to playing in the US Open at the end of next month. Juventus won the Serie A title for the ninth successive season after goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Federico Bernardeschi earned a 2-0 win at home to Sampdoria. And Carol Glenn, the first black woman to become a UK race official, has told the Guardian of the years of discrimination she has endured in the motor sport industry.

Business

The UK’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis could take 18 months longer than expected with hopes of a V-shaped recovery fading fast, according to a leading economic forecaster. One business that was suffering even before lockdown, Debenhams, has been put up for sale in a last-ditch effort to avoid liquidation. The FTSE100 is on track for a very slight rise this morning while the pound has climbed to $1.282 and €1.097.

The papers

The sudden change of rules about overseas travel is the lead in most of the papers. The Guardian says “Tourists may face more ‘handbrake restrictions’” and the Times has “Holidays in turmoil as quarantine is imposed”. The i says “Government stands firm on changes to travel rules”, while the Express goes with “Millions facing holiday chaos” and the Mirror has “Holiday hell for millions of Brits”. It’s the same story in Scotland where the Scotsman has “Sturgeon under fire over Spain quarantine decision” and the Record reckons it’s a “Spain in the neck”.

Guardian front page, Monday 27 July 2020



Guardian front page, Monday 27 July 2020 Photograph: The Guardian

The Mail deviates with “‘No way back for Harry & Meghan’” and the Telegraph promotes the government’s obesity strategy with “Lose 5lbs and save the NHS £100m”. The FT’s main story is “Europe’s banks braced for more loan losses from Covid-19 crisis”.

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