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Mutated COVID-19: Over 40 Countries Ban Travel From UK
Wednesday, 23 December 2020 04:35 Written by toriPrince Harry breaks his silence on probe into late mother Princess Diana’s Panorama interview
Saturday, 28 November 2020 13:24 Written by iol.co.zaLONDON - Britain's Prince Harry has joined his brother William in welcoming a new investigation into how the BBC secured a famous and controversial 1995 interview with their mother Princess Diana, with a source describing it as a "drive for truth".
A former Supreme Court justice is leading a new inquiry into how the broadcaster obtained the interview and whether executives covered up any wrongdoing after accusations that the late princess was tricked into taking part.
Prince William, the second in line to the throne, said earlier this week that the investigation was a step in the right direction and a source close to Harry said on Saturday that the prince was getting regular updates.
The person familiar with the situation also questioned some British media reports which asked why Harry, living in California with his wife Meghan and son Archie, had not joined his brother in welcoming the investigation earlier.
"Sadly, some people are not just seeing this as a drive for truth, but also trying to use this as an opportunity to try to drive a wedge between the brothers," the person said.
Diana's Panorama interview with Martin Bashir was watched by more than 20 million viewers in Britain and became one of the defining moments of her failed marriage to Prince Charles.
It included an admission of an affair and the line that there "were three of us in this marriage", referring to Charles'relationship with his now second wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles.
This month, Diana's brother Charles Spencer said the BBC had failed to apologise for what he said were forged documents and"other deceit" which led him to introduce Diana to Bashir.
The BBC has said the broadcaster is determined to get to the truth about Spencer's assertions and has appointed John Dyson,one of the country's most senior retired judges, to lead the inquiry.
Bashir has made no public comment on the situation and the corporation says the journalist, who gained global renown from the interview, is currently on sick leave, recovering from heart surgery and from contracting Covid-19.
Harry and Meghan moved to California after stepping back from royal duties in January and have signed a multi-year production deal with Netflix as part of their plans to be more financially independent.
The source added that the couple had decided to share their property in England, Frogmore Cottage, with his cousin Eugenie but would stay there when they visit the UK.
Lekki Shootings: We Must Stop Funding Corrupt Nigerian Security Agencies - UK Lawmaker Says (Video)
Wednesday, 25 November 2020 04:19 Written by tori"Those Who Have Murdered Nigerians Will Not Trade Or Travel To The UK" - UK Lawmaker, Brown
Wednesday, 25 November 2020 03:43 Written by toriPopular News
COVID-19: Britain Announces New National Lockdown
Sunday, 01 November 2020 11:36 Written by withinnigeriaBoris Johnson, the British Prime Minister has announced a new month-long lockdown for England after being warned that a resurgent coronavirus outbreak will overwhelm hospitals in weeks without tough action.
This announcement was made by Boris Johnson in a televised news conference on Saturday.
According to Boris Johnson, the new measures will begin Thursday and last until December 2.
He said without them, “we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day.”
Bars and restaurants can only offer takeout, non-essential shops must close and people will only be able to leave home for a short list of reasons, including exercise.
Unlike during the UK’s first lockdown earlier this year, schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open.
Foreign media report monitored on Saturday said the measures apply to England.Johnson had hoped a set of regional restrictions would be enough to contain the virus, but government scientific advisers predict that on the outbreak’s current trajectory, demand for hospital beds will soon exceed capacity.
Other parts of the U.K. set their own public health measures, with Wales and Northern Ireland already effectively in lockdown and Scotland under a set of tough regional restrictions.
London School of Hygiene epidemiologist, John Edmunds, a member of the government’s scientific advisory group, said yesterday that cases were running “significantly above” a reasonable worst-case scenario drawn up by modelers.
“It is really unthinkable now, unfortunately, that we don’t count our deaths in tens of thousands from this wave,” Edmunds told the BBC.
“The issue is, is that going to be low tens of thousands if we take radical action now or is that going to be the high tens of thousands if we don’t?”
Official figures announced yesterday recorded 21,915 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing Britain’s total since the start of the pandemic to 1,011,660. Britain’s official death toll from the coronavirus is 46,555, the highest in Europe, with 326 new deaths announced Saturday.
The United States, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina and Colombia have also recorded more than 1 million cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Scientists say the true number of cases is much higher because not everyone with the virus is tested.
A new portrait of an enslaved Yoruba girl who became a gift to the Queen of England is on display
Thursday, 15 October 2020 01:00 Written by face2faceafricaBefore becoming known as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria, Sarah Forbes Bonetta had a royal life of her own. She was the daughter of an African chief before being captured and presented to the Queen of England as a gift in 1850. Her story is presently being told by English Heritage, a charity that manages over 400 historical sites in England.
As part of its new project to highlight forgotten Black stories and figures in British history, English Heritage has unveiled a portrait of Bonetta, originally named Aina. The portrait, created by artist Hannah Uzor, was commissioned on Wednesday and is based on a photograph of Bonetta in her wedding dress, which is housed in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The painting will hang throughout October (Black History Month) in Osborne House — Queen Victoria’s home — where Bonetta spent some time with the monarch before her death.
“To see Sarah return to Osborne, her godmother’s home, is very satisfying, and I hope my portrait will mean more people discover her story,” Uzor said in a statement.
“What I find interesting about Sarah is that she challenges our assumptions about the status of Black women in Victorian Britain. I was also drawn to her because of the parallels with my own family and my children, who share Sarah’s Nigerian heritage.”
Born into a royal West African dynasty, Bonetta was captured by King Gezo of Dahomey during a slave-hunt war in 1848. Her parents were killed in the war, and as a daughter of an African chief, Bonetta was kept in captivity as a state prisoner.
Being the princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people, she was to be presented to an important visitor or sacrificed after the death of a minister or official to become their attendant in the outside world. In June 1850, when she was around eight years old, Bonetta was rescued by Captain Frederick E. Forbes of the Royal Navy whilst he was visiting Dahomey as an emissary of the British Government. Forbes asked the king for the little girl to be given to Queen Victoria as a gift.
“She would be a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites,” Forbes said. The king granted his request and she was brought to England. She was given the names Forbes Bonetta, after the Captain and the ship.
Bonetta initially stayed with Forbes’s family, before being taken to Windsor Castle on November 9, 1850. She was received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Queen handed Bonetta over to the Church Missionary Society and paid for her education.
Bonetta, a year after, developed a cough believed to be caused by the climate of Britain. The Queen made arrangements for her to be sent to Sierra Leone for a better climate. There, Bonetta attended the Female Institution in Freetown. But at the age of 12, the Queen ordered Sarah to return to England, where she was placed under the charge of the Scheon family at Chatham.
Bonetta grew to be very intelligent and developed a particular talent for music. Her academic prowess won the Queen’s admiration to the extent that she gave her welfare allowance and allowed her to pay regular visits to Windsor Castle.
In 1862, Bonetta married James Pinson Labulo Davies, a 31-year-old Yoruba businessman who was living in Britain. The two came back to West Africa and settled in Lagos, where her husband became a member of the Legislative Council from 1872-74. Sarah also began teaching in a school in Freetown. She gave birth to a daughter and was granted permission by the Queen to name her Victoria. The Queen also became her Godmother.
In 1867, Sarah visited the Queen with her daughter and returned to Lagos, where she had two more children. Following the climate change between Africa and Britain, Sarah’s cough returned. She passed away in her 40s in 1880 after suffering from tuberculosis and was buried in Funchal, Madiera.
Her daughter, who was equally brilliant, was taken care of by the Queen and was still allowed to visit the royal household throughout her life.
In her lifetime, Bonetta was described by Captain Forbes as “far in advance of any white child of her age in aptness of learning, and strength of mind and affection.”
English Heritage’s project, apart from featuring Bonetta’s story, will also spotlight other Black figures who have been overlooked including Rome’s African-born emperor, Septimius Severus, and Dido Belle, the biracial great-niece of Lord Mansfield.
Most haunted village in Britain where 15 ghosts roam and chilling screams can be heard
Thursday, 08 October 2020 01:36 Written by dailystar.co.uk/In honour of Halloween, we wanted to share with you Britain’s most haunted village, where 15 ghosts wander the streets, and chilling screams can be heard