BBC: Cumbria’s M6: Photo archive shows motorway at 50. “It is one of the highest stretches of motorway in the country, covering 36 miles (57.9km) between Lancaster and Penrith. The road, which incorporates the Lune Gorge, was opened on 23 October 1970. Photographs of the construction of the motorway, by John Laing Construction Ltd, have been preserved in a special Historic England archive.”
UK
Sydney Morning Herald: Archives’ legal bill for Palace Papers case could top $2 million
Sydney Morning Herald: Archives’ legal bill for Palace Papers case could top $2 million. “The National Archives spent $1 million fighting to stop Australians seeing the Palace Papers and faces spending that amount again on the legal costs of the historian who battled to get the documents released. Meanwhile, thousands of secret foreign policy files gather dust in public service store rooms waiting for declassification as the archives complains of funding shortfalls.” I only vaguely knew of the Palace Papers. ABC News Australia filled me in.
Covid-19: First UK airport coronavirus testing begins (BBC)
BBC: Covid-19: First UK airport coronavirus testing begins. “Passengers flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong and Italy on Tuesday will be the first to have the option of paying for a rapid Covid test before checking in. The test will cost £80 and a result can take a mere 20 minutes. The aim is to help people travelling to destinations where proof of a negative result is required on arrival.”
Heritage Made Digital: Tudor and Stuart manuscripts go online (British Library)
From last month and I missed it. Apologies to the British Library: Heritage Made Digital: Tudor and Stuart manuscripts go online. “The British Library is home to a world-class collection of manuscripts dating from the time of the Tudors and Stuarts. Over the past few years, we have been undertaking a major programme, known as Heritage Made Digital, with the intention of publishing online more treasures from the Library’s collections. This includes approximately 600 of these Tudor and Stuart manuscripts. Today, we’re very pleased to let you know that the first batch are available to view on our Digitised Manuscripts site — a list is published below.”
Covid: Sage scientists called for short lockdown weeks ago (BBC)
BBC: Covid: Sage scientists called for short lockdown weeks ago. “The government’s scientific advisers called for a short lockdown in England to halt the spread of Covid-19 last month, newly released documents show. The experts said an immediate ‘circuit breaker’ was the best way to control cases, at a meeting on 21 September.”
Radio New Zealand: New Zealand joins call for access to social media encrypted data
Radio New Zealand: New Zealand joins call for access to social media encrypted data. “Andrew Little, Justice Minister and minister responsible for this country’s intelligence agencies, issued the statement alongside Five Eyes partners Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, as well as India and Japan. They say they support strong encryption that protects privacy, trade secrets and cyber security, but the technology also poses significant risks to public safety.”
Government in a pandemic: How coronavirus caused a dramatic shift in our relationship with the state (Phys .org)
Phys .org: Government in a pandemic: How coronavirus caused a dramatic shift in our relationship with the state. “As we head into the colder months, the increased threat of a second spike in the pandemic has forced the UK government to reintroduce new restrictive measures, including targeted local lockdowns, new rules (‘of six’) and early pub closures. At the same time, compliance is fraying. One of the deeper issues with the government restrictions, which has less often been discussed, is a moral one. It concerns the level of control we grant to the government over our individual healthcare decisions.”
Covid-19: New restrictions to be announced for parts of England ‘within days’ – Jenrick (BBC)
BBC: Covid-19: New restrictions to be announced for parts of England ‘within days’ – Jenrick. “New measures to tackle coronavirus are to be announced ‘in the coming days’, a minister says, after the BBC was told pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst-affected areas of England. There could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home in the locations – which include the North and Midlands.”
Business Insider: The Houses of Parliament’s bars will no longer be exempt from the UK’s 10pm coronavirus drinking curfew following public outcry
Business Insider: The Houses of Parliament’s bars will no longer be exempt from the UK’s 10pm coronavirus drinking curfew following public outcry. “Bars inside the UK’s Houses of Parliament will no longer be exempted from strict new coronavirus restrictions requiring licensed premises to close at 10pm, following public outcry about the decision. Boris Johnson announced earlier this month that all bars and restaurants in England would have to close their doors at 10pm in a bid to halt the current second wave of infections spreading across the country.”
Southern Daily Echo: New website pays tribute to Far East prisoners of war
Southern Daily Echo: New website pays tribute to Far East prisoners of war. “THANKS to the untiring efforts of Earl Mountbatten and the 14th Army, the P&O steamship Corfu left Rangoon, in what was Burma, in September 1945 carrying over a thousand former Far East Prisoners of War. On the wet and dreary morning of October 7, 1945, she docked in Southampton, the first of a small armada of 28 assorted passenger ships that brought more than 20,000 released captives back to Southampton from South-East Asia over the winter of 1945/46, whilst 24 ships docked in Liverpool between October 8 and mid-December.”
Coronavirus: ‘Rolling lockdowns’ will become norm in Wales (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: ‘Rolling lockdowns’ will become norm in Wales. “People in Wales should “get ready” for rolling lockdowns over the winter months, Wales’ chief medical officer has said. Dr Frank Atherton said Wales could be ‘going in and out of those restrictions over the next few months’. Local lockdown areas now cover 2.3 million people living in Wales.”
Coronavirus: New restrictions for swathes of northern England (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: New restrictions for swathes of northern England. “Tighter restrictions have come into force in parts of northern England after a spike in coronavirus cases. It is now illegal to meet people indoors from other households in the Liverpool City Region, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Warrington. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was ‘necessary’ to bring the new measures, which includes places like pubs and restaurants, into force.”
Coronavirus: Fans may not be able to return to sporting events until at least end of March (BBC)
BBC Sport: Coronavirus: Fans may not be able to return to sporting events until at least end of March. “Fans may not to be able to return to watch live sporting events in England until the end of March at the earliest. At a meeting on Tuesday, sports governing bodies – including those from football, rugby, cricket, Formula 1 and horse racing – were told to prepare for no spectators throughout the winter. Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) told the meeting, which was attended by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, that the ban on fans will be kept under review.”
Lockdown air pollution: Nitrogen dioxide halved, but sulphur dioxide doubled (Phys .org)
Phys .org: Lockdown air pollution: Nitrogen dioxide halved, but sulphur dioxide doubled. “A University of Liverpool study of air pollution in the UK during the first 100 days of lockdown has revealed that whilst nitrogen oxide levels were cut by half, levels of sulfur dioxide increased by over 100%.”
Coronavirus: ‘We’ve reached a perilous turning point’, says Boris Johnson (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: ‘We’ve reached a perilous turning point’, says Boris Johnson. “The UK has reached ‘a perilous turning point’, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, as he set out a raft of new coronavirus restrictions for England which could last for up to six months. Shop staff will have to wear face masks and weddings will be limited to a maximum of 15 people, under the rules. Fines for breaking laws on gatherings and not wearing a mask will increase to £200 for a first offence.”