Both a lab origin and natural origin remain plausible theories for the COVID-19 outbreak that caused a global pandemic but the lab is more likely, the CIA says.
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CIA leans towards lab theory for COVID outbreak origin
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Três dos nove membros do Conselho Superior da Defensoria Pública da União já votaram a favor da medida, que criaria despesa sem previsão no orçamento
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Marçal critica Jair Bolsonaro e Carlos sai em defesa do pai: ‘Farçal’
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Australia Day 2025: Protests, parties expected amid heatwave alert across country
Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets for ‘Invasion Day’ rallies.
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Man stabbed to death, another man arrested in Craigieburn home
A woman was also injured in the incident.
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Here’s why it’s not all doom and gloom for Postecoglou and Tottenham… fans certainly don’t need to panic
WITH an injury list in double figures and the team stuck in mid-table, these really are dark old days for Tottenham fans.
Points on the pitch are as rare as patience off it… there’s certainly no chance of being dazzled by smiles in this part of North London.
Never mind silverware, a silver lining will just do for now and with so many dark clouds above the place at the moment, there’s plenty to pick from.
Which in Tottenham’s case is the emergence of three of the brightest young stars anywhere in the Premier League — Mikey Moore, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall.
All of them chucked into the thick of it far sooner than boss Ange Postecoglou would have liked, for sure.
In an ideal world, I’m certain he would have far preferred to ease them in gently.
But needs must, of course, so it was a case of sink or swim instead and all three of them never for one second looked like going under.
They have been raving about Moore for ages, even though he’s still only 17, and it’s always great when a kid comes through the ranks and lives up to the billing.
Well, Mikey is definitely doing that and more — this kid is going to be a big star, believe me.
And before anyone jumps on my case, by the way, I know the other two were bought in.
But that doesn’t mean it’s any less exciting to see a young talent come through.
Bergvall is a “proper” player. I love the fact he’s got a bit of devilment about him already and there is no chance of him getting pushed around. More the opposite, to be honest.
As for Gray, he came at a price and it’s easy to see why.
Another teenager, but already a nailed-on Spurs captain of the future in my book.
Archie’s played for England at every level from Under-15 up and it’s only a matter of time before he’s got the full set.
So there HAS been some good from all the problems… not that it will keep anyone happy if results don’t improve, mind. And to be fair, nor should it.
Although I do think it’s a bit harsh for the fans to be having a pop at Daniel Levy as they are.
I’m not chairman of his fan club by any means, but I just don’t agree with it.
Let’s be honest, what can Daniel really do? And don’t say get out of the club, because that’s not going to happen any more than he’s about to sack Ange.
Levy’s given his manager a fortune for players, Spurs have the best stadium in the country and the training ground is second to none.
Even with all those injuries, the squad is big enough to cope far better than it is.
And with so many players, there is really no point in paying loads for even more.
Look at the centre-backs, for example. When Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are fit, they go straight in again. Spurs already have defenders coming out of their ears.
Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Richarlison, James Maddison … big-money buys everywhere. They ain’t going to sign guys to sit on the bench further down the line.
This is certainly no time to panic and, to be fair, there’s no chance of Daniel getting rid of Ange — whatever anyone says about him being under pressure.
Levy will realise this is a time for solidarity. Although if things don’t improve by the end of the season, I know better than most about how ruthless he can be.
If we get to May and they are still bobbing around in mid-table with no trophy on the table, that’s when Ange could find out, too.
But, don’t forget, they’re a goal up going into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final and the Europa League is hardly packed with the biggest names in football.
Let’s be honest, it’s a second-rate competition with a load of sides who are Championship standard at best.
That gives Tottenham every chance of going all the way.
If it all goes belly up then have a go, for sure, but for now just enjoy seeing those three young guns tearing it up.
More than 50 relatives of refugees are allowed to join them in Britain EVERY DAY – with the numbers trebling in a year
MORE than 50 relatives of refugees are allowed to join them in Britain every day.
The numbers have more than trebled to 19,154 in a year.
The statistics, obtained from the Home Office, related to those who can settle here after family members’ asylum claims were granted.
Immigration laws allow those granted asylum, including many who cross the Channel in small boats, to make a claim to let relatives travel legally to the UK.
Most granted a family reunion visa are children reunited with a parent.
But partners can also be allowed.
Those handed the visas do not need to meet any basic English language requirements or show they can support themselves.
And they can access the NHS for free.
People from Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, Iran and Afghanistan make up the bulk of them.
Migration Watch UK chairman Alp Mehmet said: “There are huge cost implications at play here, all paid for by the public, who are seldom kept in the picture. And it doesn’t end there.
“Those granted asylum and joined by family members, will be housed if they have children under 18 who live with them.
“Add to this access to benefits, schooling, medical and dental care, and we can begin to grasp the frustration and anger felt by people waiting for social housing and in long NHS queues?”
The Home Office said: “We have a long history of providing protection through various safe and legal routes for those in need.”
There are things Gen Z and X should be ashamed of from dieting to pouty lips – but there are Bridget Jones’s in both
JUST over two weeks to go until Bridget Jones hits UK cinemas and it is a date that has been in the diary for me and my friends for months.
But this time it won’t just be us Generation X mums going but some of our Gen Z daughters, too.
Some love Bridget, others think she is an out-of-date, shocking role model who had zero body confidence. They say she was neurotic and often awkward.
I agree.
But generations in glass houses really shouldn’t throw stones, should they?
Looking back at my 1997 diary I, like Bridget, kicked off with my resolutions — “Lose a stone, stop smoking, drink less, get a boyfriend.” Which is ridiculous, as I was barely 8st and just 24, so really not in spinster panic land.
Plus, by mid-January I attended a showbiz party and wrote: “17 cigs, five mini burgers, five chardonnay.” Goodbye resolutions.
Generation Z don’t have diaries, they “journal”.
They don’t want to be skinny, they are body confident.
But they do have their own obsessions — pouty lips, a curvy Kim Kardashian bottom and showing off gym routines on social media.
I can’t think of anything worse — but then they think we are idiots for our constant dieting.
Just like Bridget, Generation X loved going to the office. We shoved on heels and tight skirts and enjoyed banter — even the flirtatious kind.
Imagine Gen Z doing that. It is just gross, it is not the done thing, it is ridiculous.
And just as ridiculous as it would have been back then to imagine that one day you could swipe on a smartphone to find Mr Right.
But it worked for us. That is where we found our real-life Mark Darcys and our best friends.
After long days we would go to the pub. Dry January wasn’t a thing. Smoking inside was. We had little regard for our long-term health. On reflection, that aspect is terrifying.
There were no mobile phones on the bar. Nokia snakes weren’t worth scrolling through and there were no emails to deal with.
And if we wanted to take a photo we had to get it developed at Boots.
They talk about mental health – taboo for us
Now Gen Z can tinker with any selfie they like to make sure they look perfect.
And if they choose to put it on a dating app they will have the outer confidence to say exactly what they demand in a Mr Darcy before they even have the first date.
I admire that. And I admire their attitude and forthright opinion.
They have an ability to speak about their views and feelings in an in-depth way that is absolutely alien to many of the original Bridgets.
And they talk about their mental health — a subject that was taboo for us back then, and brushed under the carpet. It means they can talk about some of the challenges we luckily never faced.
They started on their careers in the pandemic and social media can be a double-edged sword.
There’s no chance of them getting 100 per cent mortgages to get on to the property ladder like we did.
When I meet at Cineworld on February 14 with my friends, many will head from home together with their daughters because they still live there.
Afterwards, we will undoubtedly drag the younger designated drivers to a bar so we can have a sauvignon blanc (chardonnay is so Nineties) and all discuss the film.
I hope we can agree that there are things both Generation Z and Generation X should be ashamed of.
But despite this we can all find elements of ourselves in Bridget.
LOVINGMAMA TO MIA
EMMERDALE star Sammy Winward’s daughter sounds like a horrible, entitled, selfish little brat.
Mia Winward-Dunn says her mum has fallen out with her because the actress is jealous of her huge OnlyFans career that saw her rake in £100k last month.
And the disrespectful 19-year-old says her mum is envious because she gave birth to her when she was just 18.
Mia says: “I think it’s crazy to have such anger towards me.”
No. It’s not crazy, Mia.
It proves Sammy is a loving parent who just wants the best for her daughter.
And the work Mia does is gross.
I applaud Sammy for standing up to her.
TALK about bad timing.
Gregg Wallace has unveiled a range of frozen microwave meals following his departure from the BBC over sex-pest claims.
After “stepping away” from MasterChef, he said he had time on his hands to develop the ready meals.
They’re available on his website.
Don’t all rush at once.
COFFEE POTTY
COFFEE on toast could become the new breakfast go-to.
A Swiss-based business, No Normal Coffee, has launched the spreadable “dark roast” paste made from arabica coffee beans which looks just like Marmite.
It can be also used the traditional way and added to water to make a cuppa.
You’re either going to love it or hate it.
You can’t buy class Lauren – even on Amazon
THE outfits at Donald Trump’s second inauguration were show- stopping.
Melania’s matching navy silk hat and coat, his pregnant daughter Tiffany’s 3in-heel Louboutin boots, and Ivanka wouldn’t have looked out of place at a royal wedding with her stylish Lady Dior bag.
And then you had the fiancée of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who had what can only be described as a wardrobe disaster.
Lauren Sanchez had her undies on display on purpose.
Some said she was wearing a corset, others a bralette, but whatever it was, it was skimpy, white, lacy and booby.
American critics have said that she “looked like a hooker”, which is harsh.
We’ve all worn the wrong thing to a bash before.
But it was actually her antics during the most important part of the proceedings when Trump had his hand in the air, that shocked me the most.
Every single guest was focused on the new President apart from Lauren, who was taking pictures as though she was at a Taylor Swift concert.
She may be with a man worth £200billion so can easily sack the stylist and get a new one without a care in the world.
But her camera-ready actions prove that even a heck of a lot of money obviously still can’t buy class.
GRACE NOT SO RASH
LOVE Island star Grace Jackson says one of the reasons she dumped Marcus Rashford was because they never went on dates.
She said: “It’s difficult because he can’t go out and just go on a normal date.
“He’d be like, ‘I wanna see you – just come to mine and chill with me’, but I’m like, ‘I don’t really wanna’.”
Good on her.
Dating when you’re that famous must be tricky but other players have managed to take their other half for a meal.
A relationship that only consists of endless booty calls isn’t a relationship at all.
JADE THIRLWALL may be a famous millionaire pop star but she’s still a Geordie lass at heart who clearly hasn’t forgotten her roots.
When she was feeling devastated over Jesy Nelson’s departure from Little Mix, her boyfriend bought her a Greggs pasty.
And in that moment she realised he was a keeper.
Greggs even did the catering for her birthday.
Now there’s an idea . . .
CRIME ONLINE
AFTER a local shop got burgled this week, it made me think about our online purchases.
The Good Life in Stockport is a small community store and the owner sobbed on Instagram and asked locals to check what they were buying because it may be from her store.
If we just presume the bargains we pick up online are unwanted gifts or surplus stock then maybe we should think again – because those purchases could be fuelled by theft.
And without knowing where they really came from, we could be just as guilty as the criminals doing the stealing.
Evil Southport killer showed no mercy and neither should we – his crimes deserve him being removed from Earth
AXEL Rudakubana, the Southport killer, avoided being told that he will die in jail because he was nine days short of his 18th birthday when he brought mass murder to a Taylor Swift dance class.
The 52-year sentence, the most the judge could impose, will now be reviewed.
But how could even a whole life sentence possibly feel like it was enough?
This country reels at a crime so unspeakably evil that it feels like no other in our history.
On a sunny morning in Southport, a classroom full of little girls making bracelets and singing songs rang with “laughter and excitement”.
And in that most innocent of places, children were slaughtered.
They were stabbed, terrorised and murdered.
The smiles on the faces of the three girls who were murdered will haunt us forever.
Bebe King, six years old — the little gap-toothed girl pointing proudly at her Wicked T-shirt.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, with her cheeky grin, posing proudly in her red and yellow school uniform.
And Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, in her white floral dress and matching flowers in her hair.
And the tiny survivors whose names we don’t know.
They will carry wounds, in body and mind, all their lives.
They could have been your child.
They could have been mine.
Families have been shattered.
Lives have been ravaged.
We will never know the full extent of the horror unleashed that day, and how it will echo through entire lifetimes.
But we know one thing. 52 years?
An entire life behind bars? It does not feel like justice.
I am no great proponent of capital punishment.
But I find it impossible to find a reason why Rudakubana should not be removed from the face of the Earth.
There are some crimes so horrible — so unforgivable, so reeking of unapologetic evil — that the perpetrator should forfeit their life.
How could this horror have happened in our country?
From the time he was expelled from school for carrying a knife, Rudakubana’s obsession with violence was well known.
Children’s services at Lancashire County Council and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services both had him on their radar.
He was referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme three times.
There were multiple interactions with the police.
His parents could not control him.
Rejoices in his crimes
There were red flags galore and they were all ignored.
Will it be different with the next monster?
Who knows? But I know this much.
Rudakubana was disruptive in the dock and was removed to see if he needed medical care. Medical care!
But of course, for the rest of his life, this evil bastard will be treated with kindness, compassion and dignity.
Rudakubana even avoided being in the dock when he was sentenced.
This is the man who stabbed one little girl 32 times. And she survived.
Enough.
Evil men see our compassion as weakness, our faith in civilisation as a soft touch, our respect for humanity as stupidity.
We hear of children being slaughtered and then we call for medical care for the man who killed them.
We will keep him at taxpayers’ expense — fed, clothed, entertained, protected.
Rudakubana rejoices in his crimes.
He showed no mercy to his innocent victims.
Our country should show no mercy to him.
Louise is marching in gran’s footsteps
LADY Louise Windsor, daughter of Prince Edward, is pictured in full combat gear as she receives basic Army officer training at her university in Edinburgh.
Louise looks the spitting image of her beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
When she was 18 years old and still a princess, Elizabeth served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War.
There is even talk that Louise, 16th in line to the throne, might be keen on a career in the Armed Forces.
And seeing her in her camo kit reminds us why we still have a Royal Family in this country.
Because they still understand the meaning of national service.
Moguls have a cheek
IT is ironic to see those powerhouse producers Stock Aitken Waterman clutching their pearls about the sexualisation of pop music.
“Pop music, and particularly pop videos, have become a lot more sexualised than back in the Eighties,” sighs Matt Aitken, 68.
“And that is incredibly strange, given that women’s rights are so protected now,” sniffs Pete Waterman, 78.
“Sabrina Carpenter has got great talent, and yet these girls come out in as little as possible because they know they’re driving young boys to their websites.
“So you go – hang on, we could never have done that 30 years ago.”
Hang on, lads – you did!
Stock Aitken Waterman wrote for Sinitta, who had more erotic charge in So Macho and Toy Boy than Sabrina Carpenter did in her entire Netflix Christmas special.
They turned Sam Fox from a Page Three legend into a pop star.
And have they forgotten Kylie Minogue’s gold shorts?
Some of us never will.
Pop music has always been sold with a side order of sex.
Next year it will be 50 years since I was standing in a bar in Bristol and became the envy of all my mates when a small American blonde said hello to me.
Her name was Debbie Harry.
Blondie sold sex appeal.
What has changed since the old days is that female pop stars no longer dress for the guys – whatever Stock Aitken Waterman believe.
How many males were at those Taylor Swift concerts last summer? Apart from Keir Starmer?
Taylor and Sabrina dress for their female fanbase – and themselves.
Increasingly, the lads just don’t come into it.
Gloves off for Wills?
BOXING gloves should usually not be worn for a photoshoot.
We cringe at the memory of Boris Johnson in his big blue gloves emblazoned with the message Get Brexit Done.
And the flesh crawls at the haunting image of Keir Starmer in red boxing gloves instructing us to Vote Labour.
But Prince William pulled on the gloves at a session organised by the BoxWise Foundation at Centrepoint, who offer sporting opportunities to disadvantaged kids.
And Wills looks the business. Nice high guard. Relaxed shoulders.
Turning his arm into that right cross, putting all his weight behind it.
Keeping his mouth firmly closed, making it harder for an opponent to break your jaw.
But then William has actually done a bit of boxing.
“I might get back into boxing,” he told trainer Charlie Beatt.
Would that be for fitness or family reunions?
THE Academy Award nominations have been announced, but they can give Timothee Chalamet the Best Actor Oscar now.
In A Complete Unknown, Chalamet does not play Bob Dylan so much as inhabit him.
We have seen some great performances of music legends. Austin Butler as Elvis Presley. Taron Egerton as Elton John. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury.
Chalamet as Dylan tops the lot. The voice, the singing and playing, the body language.
The transformation from down-at-heel hobo rocking up in Greenwich Village to Sixties rock star is brilliant.
A Complete Unknown is also an incredibly moving film.
There are two love stories – Dylan’s rocky relationship with first girlfriend Suze Rotolo (called Sylvie Russo in the movie), and his even rockier relationship with queen of folk, Joan Baez.
But the relationship that matters most is the one Dylan has with his hero, Woody Guthrie, struck dumb and lying on his death bed, ravaged with Huntington’s disease.
The scenes between Dylan and Woody will rip your heart out.
I have not cried that much at the pictures since Bambi lost his mother.
I WAS once on a plane from New York with the Village People.
This must have been a good few years after YMCA was a hit because we were all sitting in the cheap seats, lost in a cloud of cigarette smoke.
When we landed at Heathrow, the pilot wished the group good luck on their European tour and they all stood up to take a bow – the cop, the cowboy, the builder, the biker and the Native American.
The whole of economy class gave them a round of applause.
After playing two shows at this week’s Presidential Inauguration, that could never happen now.
These days, and forever more, the Village People will be sitting at the front of the plane.
DONALD TRUMP loves fast food and only gets exercise when he plays golf – riding a buggy between holes!
So how does this energetic 78- year-old stay fit?
He doesn’t!
It is following Joe Biden that makes Trump look like Joe Wicks.