PEOPLE who are fully jabbed and identified as a contact of someone with Covid-19, whether Omicron or not, will have to take an NHS rapid lateral flow test for the next seven days from Tuesday (14).
The move comes in order to slow the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK as it is expected to become the most dominant strain in the country by mid-December.
It aims to reduce pressure on people’s every day lives by replacing the requirement for Omicron contacts to isolate for 10 days, while protecting the public by identifying asymptomatic cases and stopping the chain of transmission. Moreover, daily testing will also help understand how and where the virus is spreading.
As of now, anyone whose rapid test comes back positive or who develops Covid-19 symptoms should self-isolate and take a confirmatory PCR test to verify the result. If the PCR result comes back positive, contacts must self-isolate for 10 days from the day they took the positive rapid test or developed symptoms. They do not need to continue taking rapid tests during that 10-day isolation period. If the PCR result comes back negative, contacts can leave self-isolation but should continue to take rapid tests for the remainder of the seven days.
Health secretary Sajid Javid said: “The Omicron variant is quickly gaining ground in the UK and is expected to become the dominant strain by mid-December.
“We are taking this proportionate and more practical measure to limit the impact on people’s day-to-day lives while helping to reduce the spread of Omicron.
“Vaccines remain our best defence and I urge anyone yet to get a first and second jab to come forward and those eligible for a booster to get boosted as soon as possible.”
People will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace by phone, email or text or they will receive a notification from the NHS Covid-19 app to tell them they are a contact of someone who tested positive and what action they need to take.
NAGA MUNCHETTY is reportedly preparing to leave BBC Breakfast, with her representatives in talks with LBC for potential new opportunities, according to reports.
The development comes a day after Munchetty was named the fourth highest-paid woman at the BBC. The broadcaster’s annual pay disclosure showed her salary in the £355,000 to £359,000 range, which includes her work on Radio 5, reported Express Online.
Reports suggest Munchetty is considering leaving following a bullying probe involving BBC Breakfast. While show director Richard Frediani was investigated for his “draconian” management style and alleged misconduct, the fallout also brought attention to Munchetty’s conduct.
A source told The Sun: “The fallout of Frediani’s investigation created a stark ‘him or her’ narrative on Breakfast with Naga flung to the front line. The fact is she loves the BBC and her job but there’s only so much external noise anyone is prepared to take.”
The source added that Munchetty’s team recently resumed discussions with LBC: “LBC would suit her well as the focus remains on news-led broadcasting... Her team last week renewed historic talks with the Global radio station.”
Frediani has returned to work following a period of leave. The BBC told Express.co.uk: “While we do not comment on individual cases, we take all complaints about conduct at work extremely seriously.”
Munchetty currently co-hosts three days a week with Charlie, who is reportedly on £190,000, while Sally Nugent earns £200,000 and Jon Kay £240,000.
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A view of a flooded water after the heavy monsoon rain in Hyderabad city, 50 millimeter rain recorded here in Pakistan's Hyderabad on 14 July 2025 (Photo: Getty Images)
AT LEAST 54 people have died in the last 24 hours due to heavy monsoon rain in Pakistan, the country’s disaster management agency said on Thursday. The latest fatalities have pushed the overall death toll since the start of the monsoon season in late June to around 180.
Heavy rain has continued almost non-stop across parts of Punjab province since Wednesday morning, leading to urban flooding and house collapses.
Authorities have ordered residents living in low-lying areas near the Nullah Lai river in Rawalpindi, adjacent to Islamabad, to evacuate due to a sudden rise in water levels.
Some evacuations have already been carried out in areas close to the river, while rescue teams are on standby for further evacuations, a spokesperson for the disaster agency said.
“Residents of vulnerable areas should prepare emergency kits with food, water, and essential medicines for three to five days in case of an emergency,” the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in an alert.
The Rawalpindi administration announced a public holiday on Thursday to keep people indoors. The national meteorological department has forecast heavy rainfall to continue until Friday.
“In the last 24 hours, 54 people were killed and 227 injured across Pakistan, with the majority of fatalities reported from Punjab,” the NDMA spokeswoman told AFP, adding that the numbers were compiled at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) on Thursday.
According to NDMA, nearly 180 people have been killed and around 500 injured since the monsoon began on 26 June. Among the dead are 70 children.
Most of the deaths have resulted from house collapses and sudden flash floods. Several people were also electrocuted.
The monsoon brings 70 to 80 per cent of South Asia’s annual rainfall and typically runs from June to September across India and Pakistan.
The rains are crucial for farming and food security and support the livelihoods of millions of farmers, but they also cause widespread damage every year.
South Asia is witnessing rising temperatures and changing weather patterns, though scientists remain uncertain about how exactly climate change is affecting the region’s complex monsoon system.
Pakistan, with a population of 255 million, is considered one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world and is facing extreme weather events more frequently.
In 2022, floods caused by monsoon rains submerged one-third of the country and killed 1,700 people.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Air India’s inspection of fuel switch locking mechanisms found no issues.
DGCA and global airlines, including Singapore Airlines, also conducted similar checks.
Voice recordings suggest pilot actions are under investigation.
Preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults.
AIR INDIA’s inspection of the locking mechanism on the fuel control switches of its Boeing 787 fleet has found no issues, according to an internal communication circulated within the airline.
The checks were carried out following last month’s crash of an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London that killed 260 people, including 19 on the ground. A preliminary report by Indian investigators found that both fuel control switches had moved from the run to cutoff position shortly after take-off.
Earlier this week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed Indian airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking feature on certain Boeing models. The regulator’s directive followed Boeing’s internal communication to operators that the fuel switch locks on its aircraft were safe.
The checks were also in line with a 2018 Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which recommended inspection of the locking mechanisms to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
‘No issues found’, says Air India internal note
"Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft," Air India’s flight operations department wrote in a message to its pilots. "The inspections have been completed and no issues were found," the communication added, noting that the airline had complied with the regulator’s directive.
It further stated that all Boeing 787-8 aircraft had already undergone “Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule,” adding that the FCS was part of this module.
Other countries have also taken similar steps. Singapore Airlines and Scoot inspected their Boeing 787 aircraft and found the fuel switches to be working properly. "Our checks confirmed that all fuel switches on SIA and Scoot’s Boeing 787 aircraft are functioning properly and comply with regulatory requirements," a Singapore Airlines spokesperson told AFP.
Cockpit voice recorder draws focus to pilot actions
Meanwhile, a report by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday cited people familiar with the US officials’ early assessment of the crash investigation. It said cockpit voice recordings from the flight suggested that the captain may have cut the flow of fuel to the engines.
The Journal reported that First Officer Clive Kunder, who was flying the plane, asked Captain Sumeet Sabharwal why he moved the fuel switches to cutoff seconds after take-off. One pilot was heard asking the other why the fuel was cut off, and the other replied that he had not done so, according to India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The AAIB did not identify which pilot made which statement. Kunder had 3,403 flying hours, and Sabharwal had 15,638 hours of total flying experience.
The Wall Street Journal said it was not clear if there was any evidence beyond the recorded conversation to indicate that Sabharwal moved the switches. It cited US pilots who had read the Indian report saying that Kunder would have been fully engaged in flying the plane at that stage and unlikely to have reached for the fuel switches.
Preliminary findings and aftermath
The AAIB's preliminary report said both fuel switches were flipped from run to cutoff one second apart after take-off, but it did not specify how they were moved. Almost immediately after take-off, the ram air turbine deployed, indicating an engine power loss.
The plane began losing thrust after reaching 650 feet and then started to descend. The report said the switches were turned back to run and the aeroplane attempted to restart the engines automatically, but it was too low and slow to recover.
The aircraft hit trees and a chimney before crashing into a building at a nearby medical college, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground.
No mechanical faults, says Air India CEO
In an internal memo, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults. He said, “All required maintenance had been carried out.”
The report did not issue any safety recommendations for Boeing or engine manufacturer GE. Following its release, both the US FAA and Boeing reiterated that the fuel switch locks on Boeing aircraft were safe, according to a document seen by Reuters and sources familiar with the matter.
Aviation safety expert John Nance told Reuters that circumstantial evidence pointed to a crew member having moved the fuel switches. “There is no other rational explanation” consistent with the available information, he said, although he added that investigators still needed to examine all possible contributing factors.
Under international regulations, a final report is expected within a year of the crash.
Calls for cockpit video recorders and other investigations
The incident has revived calls for adding flight deck cameras, also known as cockpit image recorders, on commercial aircraft. Nance said investigators would have benefited from having video footage of the cockpit.
Separately, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it would investigate Air India Express, the airline’s budget arm, after a Reuters report said it failed to replace engine parts of an Airbus A320 on time and falsified records to show compliance.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Southport murder suspect Axel Rudakubana appears via video link at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Britain, October 30, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. Courtesy of Julia Quenzler/Handout via REUTERS.
BRITAIN's counter-radicalisation scheme Prevent needs to rapidly adapt to avoid mistakes which saw two men who had been referred to the programme go on to commit deadly knife attacks, a review concluded on Wednesday (16).
Prevent has been a key strand of Britain’s security apparatus since the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001, with the aim of stopping radicalisation and preventing people from going on to commit acts of violence.
But since its inception it has faced criticism from some Muslims who argue it has been used to spy on their communities, while some referrals have gone on to commit acts of terrorism.
The government commissioned a report into the scheme after it emerged that teenager Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport last year, had previously been referred by his school, but concerns about his violent tendencies were not acted upon.
David Anderson, the Interim Independent Prevent Commissioner, looked at the case of Ali Harbi Ali, who was inspired by the Daesh (Islamic State group) to stab to death veteran lawmaker David Amess in 2021.
Ali too had previously been referred to Prevent by his school, and Anderson said both cases involved a long string of mistakes and poor judgments.
He concluded that the scheme, while it worked sometimes, had to improve and adapt, applying to those who were simply obsessed with violence, such as Rudakubana. In the longer term, it should become part of a broader safeguarding and violence protection system, he said.
"More needs to be done," Anderson said. "Prevent needs to up its game in the online world, where most radicalisation now takes place."
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government would immediately act on his findings.
The most recent figures showed in the year to the end of March 2024, 6,922 people had been referred to Prevent, an increase of 1.5 per cent on the previous 12 months.
Of those, 36 per cent were related to vulnerable individuals with no clear ideology or counter terrorism risk, 19 per cent over extreme right-wing concerns, and 13 per cent regarding Islamist radicalisation.
Only two years ago, another independent review concluded that Prevent should refocus its efforts more on the threat posed by militant Islamism after becoming too concerned with extreme right-wing ideologies.
(Reuters)
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Singh did not possess a birth certificate, but his family said he was born on April 1, 1911. (Photo: Getty Images)
A CANADA-based man accused of fatally hitting 114-year-old marathoner Fauja Singh with an SUV in Punjab has been arrested and sent to judicial custody. Officials said the accused had returned to India just three weeks ago.
Jalandhar rural senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harvinder Singh told a press conference that 26-year-old Amritpal Singh Dhillon was arrested on Tuesday night and his vehicle was seized. He said police treated the case as a challenge and solved it within 30 hours.
Later, Dhillon was produced before a court in Jalandhar and remanded to judicial custody for two weeks.
Dhillon, a native of Kartarpur, had gone to Canada on a tourist visa and later received a work permit valid till 2027. He returned to India late last month and was arrested from his home in Kartarpur.
During preliminary questioning, Dhillon told police he was in a hurry and driving at high speed when the accident happened. “At that time, he was not aware of the identity of the man hit by the car. He told us that he got scared (after the accident) and that is why he did not stop his vehicle there,” the SSP said.
He added that Dhillon was headed towards Jalandhar but returned home through nearby villages after the accident. Dhillon also said he had one of the car’s tyres changed that same day.
The SSP said it was Dhillon’s responsibility to stop the vehicle and take Fauja Singh to a hospital.
Fauja Singh was walking down the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway in his native village Bias when he was hit while crossing the road. He succumbed to his injuries on Monday evening. Villagers said the impact threw Singh five to seven feet into the air.
His son Harvinder Singh told reporters in Jalandhar on Wednesday that Dhillon could have taken his father to hospital immediately. “Maybe that could have saved his life. Had he not fled, we were anyway not going to have taken any action against him (the erring driver),” he said.
The SSP said Dhillon had no previous criminal record. He added that it was possible Dhillon was not accustomed to Indian driving conditions. “It is possible that since in India there is left-hand drive (rule) while in Canada it is right-hand, one could not get a grip on the driving (conditions) here,” he said. Dhillon was alone in the car at the time of the incident.
The police said Dhillon is on a work permit in Canada and works as a labourer. His mother and three sisters also live in Canada.
The vehicle, a Punjab-registered Toyota Fortuner, was identified using CCTV footage, headlight fragments and other parts recovered from the spot. “In one of the CCTV footage, the registration number of the vehicle was readable, and we tracked that. The vehicle's owners changed more than once (due to resale),” SSP Singh said.
On the timeline of events, the SSP said Fauja Singh had gone out for a walk after lunch. “Around 3.08 pm, when he reached the main road, the vehicle hit him. Some passers-by and some of his family members took him to a hospital in Jalandhar, where he succumbed to injuries.”
Expressing grief over Singh’s death, the SSP said he should not have died in this manner. “Fauja Singh earned his name worldwide, and we all are very proud of it.”
Political leaders across parties expressed condolences. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Singh was extraordinary for his unique persona and for inspiring Indian youth on fitness.
Fauja Singh began his marathon career at 89 and gained worldwide recognition for his endurance and achievements, earning the nickname 'Turbaned Tornado'. Born in 1911 into a farming family, he was the youngest of four siblings and became the first centenarian to complete a marathon. He ran in events in London, New York, and Hong Kong.
In 2011, at the age of 100, he took part in an invitational meet in Toronto named in his honour, where he broke several world records for his age group. Singh returned to India around three years ago after spending much of his running career in Britain. Last year, he joined Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria in a walkathon to raise awareness against drug abuse.