UK govt orders three-week lockdown to tackle virus

LONDON, United Kingdom — Britain on Monday ordered a three-week lockdown to tackle the spread of coronavirus, shutting "non-essential" shops and services, and banning gatherings of more than two people.

"Stay at home," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures after the country's death toll climbed to 335.


The announcement came after outrage in government that recommendations about reducing social contact to minimise close-contact transmission of the virus were being ignored.

Crowds of people were seen enjoying weekend spring sunshine in parks and countryside across the country, prompting calls for tougher action to be imposed.

"From this evening (Monday) I must give the British people a very simple instruction — you must stay at home," Johnson said.

"Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households."

Under the new measures, Johnson said going out to shop for basic necessities was still allowed, as was exercise, medical needs, and travel to and from work.

But shops selling items such as clothes or electronics as well as libraries, playgrounds and places of worship would be shut, with the ban also extending to weddings and baptisms but not funerals.

Parks will remain open but Johnson warned: "If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings."

He called the pandemic "the biggest threat this country has faced for decades" and said the already overstretched state-run National Health Service (NHS) would be unable to cope if the pace of transmission continues.

"I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives," he said.

The restrictions will be "under constant review", he added.

"We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to," he said. 

"But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost."

'War-footing'

Britain recorded its first death in the outbreak on March 5 but has been criticised for its light-touch approach to containing the spread compared to more stringent measures elsewhere.

Latest figures show Britain now has 6,650 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with warnings the virus is taking hold quicker than in Italy at the same point.

Italy has suffered the most coronavirus deaths worldwide, with 6,077 fatalities out of 63,927 declared infections.

Johnson had previously resisted mounting public concern that hand-washing was not enough to reduce the impact of COVID-19.

As the numbers of cases and deaths climbed, employees were laid off, and sporting and other events cancelled, he moved to try to limit the social and economic fall-out.

The Bank of England slashed interest rates to record lows, while finance minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a series of multi-billion-pound packages to help those affected.

Notably, the government has stepped in to back up employee wages up to 80 percent, give tax holidays to businesses and boost welfare payments.

But Johnson was forced to go further, and put the government on what he said was a war footing, after dire warnings from scientists that its social distancing strategy was not working.

The government's chief scientific adviser has said it was a "reasonable" estimate that 55,000 people now have the virus in Britain.

'Turn the tide'

The prime minister has promised to "turn the tide" of the outbreak within 12 weeks, urging individuals displaying symptoms to stay at home for seven days.

Schools have been closed, as have pubs, bars, nightclubs, theatres, cafes, and leisure centres, and mass gatherings have been banned.

Foreign minister Dominic Raab on Monday told British travellers overseas to return home "while you still can".

Last week, the elderly and people with underlying serious health conditions were told to self-isolate for 12 weeks.

Meanwhile, continued stockpiling that has stripped supermarket shelves prompted a fresh warning about panic-buying.

Agence France-Presse

Facebook to boost site safety with 1,000 more UK staff

Facebook on Tuesday said it plans to create 1,000 more London-based jobs this year to improve safety on the social network with the aid of artificial intelligence.

The announcement came as Facebook’s head of global affairs and communications Nick Clegg, a former United Kingdom deputy prime minister, again urged action on setting new rules for the internet.


“Last spring, Facebook’s chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg outlined four areas where he believes smart regulation can make a real difference: harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability,” Clegg said in a speech delivered in Rome.

“In these areas and others we are keen to engage constructively with policymakers. We have not only long accepted the need for new regulation, we are impatient to get going.”

And in a message directed at European policymakers, Clegg added: “Everyone agrees the internet needs new rules. We want them, just as you do. So let’s get to work.”

Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg meanwhile noted that increasing the company’s London workforce by around one third would help to “address the challenges of an open internet and develop artificial intelligence to find and remove harmful content more quickly.

“They will also help us build the tools that help small businesses grow, compete with larger companies and create new jobs,” she added.

Facebook said that it was increasing the number of staff at its largest engineering hub outside the United States to more than 4,000.

“The U.K. is a world leader in both innovation and creativity. That’s why I’m excited that we plan to hire an additional 1,000 people in London this year alone,” Sandberg said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the move, saying that “the U.K. is successfully creating both homegrown firms at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, whilst attracting established global tech giants like Facebook.” RGA

source: technology.inquirer.net

British PM sends unsigned letter seeking Brexit delay

LONDON, United Kingdom — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reluctantly wrote to Brussels late Saturday asking for a Brexit extension after MPs voted to force him into seeking a delay beyond October 31.

But Johnson, who has pinned his premiership on getting Britain out of the European Union on time, refused to sign the letter he sent to European Council President Donald Tusk.


The Conservative leader also sent a second signed letter insisting he was not seeking an extension to the Brexit deadline, which has already been postponed twice.

In a day of high drama in the House of Commons, MPs declined to give their backing to the revised withdrawal agreement Johnson struck with the EU this week until the legislation needed to ratify it has passed.

Having failed to back a divorce deal, they triggered a law requiring Johnson to write to EU leaders by the end of the day asking to delay Brexit, to avoid the risk that Britain crashes out in less than a fortnight.

Johnson sent a photocopy of the letter that was contained in the law requiring him to ask for the delay, but did not sign it, showed a copy released by his Downing Street office early Sunday.

He wrote and signed another letter which made clear he does not want to delay Brexit beyond the end of this month.

“Regrettably, parliament missed the opportunity to inject momentum into the ratification process,” Johnson wrote in the signed letter, regretting that EU leaders would now have to spend yet more time on Brexit.

“A further extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners, and the relationship between us. We must bring this process to a conclusion.”

Johnson nonetheless said he remained “confident” of completing the ratification process by October 31.

A third cover letter written by Britain’s EU ambassador Tim Barrow made clear that the Brexit delay request letter was only being sent to comply with the law.


Tusk consults EU chiefs

“I will now start consulting EU leaders on how to react,” Tusk said on Twitter.

An EU source told AFP that the process “may take a few days” and declined to comment on the non-signature.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said the prime minister had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Tusk.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he had discussed the situation with Johnson and “wished him success in the next stages” in the Commons.

Being forced to send the letter after Saturday’s defeat was a blow to Johnson, who has previously said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than prolong the tortuous process of ending Britain’s 46-year-old membership of the EU.

Brussels urged Britain to explain its plan as soon as possible, while Macron’s office said a new delay to Brexit was “in nobody’s interest”.

Johnson beaten 322-306

Securing the new divorce treaty at Thursday’s EU summit had been a personal victory for the prime minister, a figurehead in the Leave campaign in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum.

He had spent 48 hours frantically trying to persuade MPs to back it, and won support from many of the eurosceptic Conservatives who had three times rejected a previous divorce agreement secured by his predecessor Theresa May.


But parliament — like the frustrated public — is still bitterly divided over how and even whether Britain should end decades of integration with its closest trading partner.

MPs voted by 322 to 306 to back a motion by former Conservative minister Oliver Letwin that “withholds approval (of the deal) unless and until implementing legislation is passed”.

They were meeting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War.

While MPs voted inside parliament, outside, more than 100,000 people marched to demand a new referendum that could reverse Brexit.

Demonstrators erupted into cheers at the news from inside the Commons.

“That’s really good, that’s one step away from Brexit,” demonstrator Philip Dobson told AFP.

“Reject Brexit”, “Put It To The People” and “Stop This Madness” read some of the placards at the mass march, where many protesters also waved EU flags.

Legislation next week

The British government will introduce legislation next week to implement the divorce deal, with a first vote as soon as Tuesday.

The government also wants another vote on the deal on Monday, which may not be possible.


There is a chance the deal could pass, and Britain could still leave the EU on October 31, but there remains strong opposition to the agreement among MPs.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

UK’s reputation takes global hit with Parliament shutdown

LONDON — It’s long been known that Britain’s Parliament building must be vacated for urgent repairs that will take years and cost billions, but the problem now goes beyond the water leaks and vermin infestation to Britain’s global reputation as a model of democracy-in-action.

In parts of the world where Britain’s parliamentary system and adherence to the rule of law provided a model to emerging nations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s brusque decision to shut down Parliament for crucial weeks ahead of the looming Brexit deadline is seen by some as proof that Britain, too, can be subject to a power grab.


Johnson’s gambit may pay off if he is able to make Brexit a reality on Oct. 31 without doing grave damage to Britain’s economy, but the widely held perception that he is shuttering Parliament to squelch debate (despite his claims to the contrary) has been roundly condemned in key parts of the former British Empire, including some where Queen Elizabeth II is still accorded the status of head of state.

Many Britons — politicians and the public alike — have a lofty view of the country’s role in world affairs, emphasizing its seat on the United Nations Security Council, its nuclear arsenal, and its traditional influence in trouble spots like the Middle East. But the prolonged impasse over Brexit, which was approved more than three years ago but still hasn’t taken place, has taken a toll on how much of the world views Britain’s vaunted political institutions.

Nicholas Sengoba, a columnist in the former British colony of Uganda, said Johnson’s action shows that Britain is not immune to the abuse of power that has plagued some African nations. “The whole notion that a British prime minister cannot be as powerful as an African dictator has been stripped off,” he said.

The prolonged Brexit stalemate in Britain has made the former colonial power “look extremely bad” because there is no clear leadership and no consensus on what the actual consequences of a “no deal” Brexit might be, he said.

Britain’s longstanding reputation for openness and fair play has been tarnished by a years-long rift in the opposition Labour Party over whether party chief Jeremy Corbyn and his top advisers tolerate anti-Semitism — there has even been a police investigation of some party members — and a desire to keep foreigners from settling in Britain under liberal European Union regulations was at least in part responsible for the 2016 Brexit vote in favor of leaving the 28-nation bloc.


Many academics warn that the loss of EU funding, and a stiffening of rules that made it easy for Europeans to study, research and teach in Britain, will lower the standards of Britain’s world-class scientific and medical institutions, and perhaps even dim the quality of the country’s brilliant arts scene. Even the respected royal family is not untouched, with new photographs and stories that document Prince Andrew’s association with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison in August.

Some have also been surprised by the queen’s role in the shutdown of Parliament. As head of state in a constitutional monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II is required to maintain strict neutrality on all political issues, which left her little choice but to approve Johnson’s request to shutter Parliament for a longer-than-usual time period.

No one outside her closest family members and inner circle of advisers is likely to ever know whether she felt Johnson’s request was appropriate or gave the executive branch too much power by limiting debate in the legislature, just as no one in the media or public can say with certainty how the queen feels on the underlying question of whether it is wise for Britain to leave the EU.

Britain’s tortured path toward Brexit — perhaps now nearing its climax — has exacted a price. In New Zealand, another former colony, the latest moves by Johnson have provoked some talk about whether it’s time to change its status as a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth as a figurehead head of state (she does, after all, reside nearly 12,000 miles away) and instead transform into a republic.



In a satirical tweet, newspaper columnist Dave Armstrong wrote that it would be dangerous for New Zealand to become a republic “as it would sever our ties with the UK — a stable parliamentary democracy where coups, dictatorships and tyranny by the minority simply doesn’t occur. Discuss.”

University of Otago professor Robert Patman told a New Zealand newspaper that other countries are suspicious that Britain, which he described as gripped by its worst economic and diplomatic crisis since World War II, is behaving like a banana republic, and those suspicions have been deepened by Johnson’s latest actions.

“At the moment there’s a very dangerous situation in the U.K.,” he said.

Johnson’s suspension spawned protests in many British cities Saturday, a phenomenon familiar in Canada, where the queen is still the head of state. Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sparked major protests after he suspended Parliament in 2008 and 2009, but the protests eventually dwindled and he managed to remain in power despite a no-confidence vote accusing his government of contempt of Parliament.

The influential Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail said in an editorial that Johnson’s suspension of Parliament must be reversed: “It’s wrong. It’s undemocratic. It certainly isn’t British,” the newspaper said.

A cartoon in the Toronto Star newspaper showed Johnson with the queen on a boat that’s about to go over a waterfall. Johnson says: “Hold on to your knickers, not even democracy can stop me now!”

The spectacle of Britain’s prolonged political impasse over Brexit, and now the decision to shutter Parliament at a key time, is contributing to a sense in Canada that the old colonial power is in decline.

Robert Bothwell, a University of Toronto professor of Canadian history, said Britain has been receding in the Canadian consciousness since the 1960s.

“There is about a 150-degree change in the way Canadians see Britain since the 1960s,” he said. “It’s not gone but it doesn’t exercise the same political economic draw as it did fifty years ago.”

/atm

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

UK plan to control online porn is watched as test case

LONDON — The global push to more tightly regulate the internet and big tech firms is spreading to one of the web’s biggest and least visible corners: porn.

The British government wants to require porn websites to verify their users are adults. The effort is being watched by other countries hoping to better regulate pornographic content but has raised concerns about privacy, censorship and competition. It has run into multiple delays that reflect the confusion surrounding it.

“It’s a mess,” said Jim Killock, of the London-based Open Rights Group, a digital civil liberties group.

Killock says the government’s blueprints for its online “porn block” don’t do enough to protect personal data. Others believe the plan amounts to economic censorship. And many fear the rules would effectively give more power to a little known company that dominates the internet porn industry.

Under the plan, which is now expected to come into force late this year, British porn site visitors will be asked to prove they are 18 or older. Options to do so would include buying a card with an access code in a shop, where they will have to show photo ID, or going online to submit a copy of a passport or driver’s license or use a credit card.

The British government isn’t operating the system itself. Instead, it’s being outsourced to private companies, which can sell their own age verification technology to porn sites. Oversight, meanwhile, has been handed to the British Board of Film Classification, a film ratings and censorship body akin to the Motion Picture Association of America.


Privacy campaigners worry that handing over personal information to access adult sites means a person’s porn viewing habits can be tracked. Those fears are compounded by the lack of privacy and security standards for age verification providers. Instead, there’s a voluntary certification with vague and imprecise requirements.

One age verification provider, 18+, has said it won’t apply for the certificate because its digital wallet system wouldn’t be recognized.

“There are huge privacy concerns with how the data will be held, because the sort of information that people will have to be giving up is highly personal,” said Myles Jackman, a London-based lawyer. Also, “there is a risk that that data will be hacked, breached, stolen or published in the public domain.”

Critics point to data breaches at adult-oriented websites, notably a high-profile hack at infidelity site Ashley Madison that exposed personal details of millions of users.

They note that tech-savvy youngsters will figure out how to how to evade restriction by using, for example, virtual private networks. And there’s a loophole exempting social media sites such as Twitter, where plenty of smutty content is now found.

The film board acknowledges that “age-verification is not a silver bullet,” but it will stop kids inadvertently coming across inappropriate material. “Determined teenagers will find ways to access pornography.”

There’s also the question of how the new rules would be enforced on the many porn sites based outside the U.K. The film board says it could ask payment providers to withdraw their services and U.K. internet service providers to block them.

Jackman said the result could be “economic censorship,” because smaller, independent British porn producers that can’t afford to comply would simply shut down.

Online porn is a huge industry, but estimates of its size are notoriously hard to come by and there’s no official data. Pornhub, the world’s most popular adult site, is the 16th most visited in the U.K., according to Amazon’s Alexa web analytics .

Further raising concerns about the new system, one of the first age verification systems, AgeID, is owned by a multinational, MindGeek, which is widely recognized as the owner also of some of the most popular adult websites, including YouTube-like portals such as Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube.

In response to a consultation by the film board, numerous people and groups said they were concerned that a company responsible for providing so much pornography online would also become a gatekeeper that potentially allows it access to reams of user data.

“There’s a clear conflict of interest,” said Killock. “The fact is they’re effectively creating the Facebook login of porn,” and will get “vast market intelligence” on their rivals and users on competing websites, said Killock, whose group in 2017 unearthed emails from MindGeek executives lobbying British officials to block rival porn sites.

Angie Rowntree, a director and founder of U.S. erotic site Sssh.com, said her company no longer uploads promo clips to Pornhub but many others continue to do business with MindGeek because its sites get an enormous amount of traffic.

“There’s a real risk of MindGeek monopolizing the U.K. segment of adult traffic to an even greater extent than they already do, by virtue of having some of the world’s best known and most popular free porn sites,” she said.

MindGeek spokesman Jim Clark says the company is merely responding to a market opening. 



“AgeID is not responsible for the creation of the law, nor is AgeID endorsed by the U.K. government. We have simply developed a product in response to the law,” Clark said by email.

Clark said AgeID doesn’t track users, has “data minimization, security, and privacy at its core,” and is designed not to see or store data, making it less tempting for hackers. And, he says, it won’t be the only choice of age verification on MindGeek websites.

Other countries mulling regulation are watching Britain amid concerns that easy access to porn can warp children’s view of sex.

Lawmakers in Ireland say they’ll examine the British model, after two teenage boys were convicted last week of the murder of 14-year-old Ana Kriegel in a case that shocked the country. One boy was also convicted of violently sexually assaulting her and was found to have thousands of pornographic images on two mobile phones, news reports said.

Britain’s porn firewall was set to take effect on July 15 but an administrative error delayed it by six months. The digital secretary, Jeremy Wright, vows it will eventually come into force.

“There are also those who do not want those measures to be brought in at all,” Wright told lawmakers. “Age verification for online porn needs to happen.”

source: technology.inquirer.net

Christmas aid as UK homelessness becomes ‘national crisis’

Volunteers at a drop-in center in north London hand out food, healthcare and advice to homeless people as they do every Christmas – except that this year, the numbers needing help have reached crisis point.

At a school emptied of children for the holidays, visitors are offered a hot meal and a chat, dental and medical check-ups, and even a sewing repair service for damaged sleeping bags.

The pop-up center is among 13 set up across Britain by homelessness charity, Crisis, to provide some festive cheer to an estimated 4,500 people, who might otherwise be on the streets.

Among those stopping by for a cup of tea before Christmas was Paula, a 48-year-old former care worker who spent three months living in her car after being evicted following problems with her landlord.

“My car was my safest bet because I could lock the doors, but it wasn’t warm – luckily it was summer,” she told AFP.

It was also deeply uncomfortable and exacerbated an existing back problem, to the point that she collapsed and had to be taken to hospital.

She has since found a new place to live, but Crisis warned that cases like hers are increasingly common, estimating that thousands of people across Britain are forced to sleep in cars, trains, buses, and tents.

These “hidden” homeless are in addition to the more than 9,000 people living on the streets in England at any one time, up 134 percent since 2011, according to a scathing report by lawmakers published this week.

The MPs said the growth was “appalling”, adding: “The extent of homelessness across England is a national crisis.”

Housing shortages 

Opposition Labor lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn highlighted the plight of rough sleepers in his Christmas message on Sunday, as well as that of an estimated 78,000 households who are living in temporary, often sub-standard accommodation.

He has previously described it as a “national disgrace”.

Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes said there were numerous reasons why people lost their homes, including the breakdown of relationships, but the biggest recent factor has been the ending of a private sector tenancy.

“What’s becoming really clear to us is that the impact of not building social houses, the impact of spiraling cost of housing, the impact of welfare reform and cuts to benefits is creating and driving a really worrying growth in rough sleeping and broader homelessness,” he told AFP.

The MPs said the government’s attitude in the face of a growing problem had been “unacceptable complacent”.

They also warned about the impact of a lack of affordable, decent homes, calling for a “renewed focus” on housing policy.

Challenged on the subject earlier this month, Prime Minister Theresa May said the government was investing £500 million (563 million euros, $668 million) in tackling homelessness.

Speaking in the House of Commons, she also noted measures announced in November’s annual budget to increase the supply of affordable housing.

“We are going to be a government who put a clear focus on housing, on building the homes that people need, on ensuring that people are given help to get into those homes, and on acting to prevent homelessness before it happens,” she said.

At the drop-in center, volunteer Mhari Colvin, who has worked with Crisis for 13 years now, reflected on “just how easy it is for people to become homeless”.

“They are just you and me, they’re the same people, they’ve just had one or two runs of bad luck and it can be just one thing and their whole world falls apart,” she said. /kga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

UK to offer at least 10 mbps internet access to all residents by 2020

The government of the United Kingdom plans to provide all its citizens with no less than a 10 megabytes per second of internet access within the next couple of years.

In a statement, the U.K. government announced plans to make access to high speed broadband internet a legal right. Implementation of this by independent regulator Ofcom will take two years from the laying down of secondary legislation in 2018.

By 2020, if plans push through, every home and business within the U.K. would have at least 10 mbps internet access. The speed will be increased over time as connectivity requirements evolve. Anyone will have a legal right to request for internet connectivity but will have to shoulder costs, in the same way that people pay for utilities, like with having a landline phone.

Culture secretary Karen Bradley said, “This is all part of our work on ensuring that Britain’s telecoms infrastructure is fit for the future and will continue to deliver the connectivity that consumers need in the digital age.”

Making internet access a legal right also helps in bringing connectivity to hard-to-reach areas. JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

British cheesemakers win big at World Cheese Awards 2017

Cheesemakers from the United Kingdom have cemented their reputation as champion artisans after taking top honors at the World Cheese Awards 2017 for a dark-rinded hard cheese with “savory meaty notes.”

At the 30th edition of the World Cheese Awards which were held at London’s Tobacco Dock over the weekend, Lynher Dairies from West Cornwall beat out 3,000 other submissions from 35 countries for their Cornish Kern, an alpine, Gouda-style cow’s milk cheese.

More than 250 judges from 29 nationalities gave the cheese a top score of 75 out of a possible 80, for what they called a visually stunning, richly layered and complex cheese.

“There are sweet notes but what I really liked was the right hand turn it made into savory meaty notes,” said jury member Jason Hinds of Neal’s Yard Dairy in a press release.

Judges hailed from the U.K., Japan, South Africa, Mexico, France, Italy and Sweden and were tasked with tasting and scoring the cheeses in front of a live audience.

Rounding out the podium is Blu di Bufala from Italy and Capellaro from Austria.

The list is evenly represented by European cheesemakers, led by the U.K. and Austria, but also includes standout performances from South Africa and Mexico.

Aged over 16 months, protected within a shell of black wax coating, Lynher Dairies describes their Cornish Kern as “firm to the cut, but slightly flaky in the middle” with “buttery, caramel notes and a deep, savory aroma.”

To mimic Dutch, French and Swiss-style texture, Alpine starter cultures are also added to the cheese.

Here are the Super Gold winners of the World Cheese Awards 2017:

1. Cornish Kern, Lynher Dairies Cheese Company, U.K.
2. Blu Di Bufala, Quattro Portoni Caseificio, Italy
3. Capellaro Almenland Stollenkaese GmbH Austria
4. Dalewood Huguenot, Dalewood Fromage, South Africa
5. De Graafstroom – Oud 30+, De Graafstroom, Netherlands
6. Miniretorta, Quesería Finca Pascualete, Spain
7. Parmigiano Reggiano, Italy Nazionale PR San Pietro (Valestra), Italy
8. S’ Würzige Schaf, Weizer Schafbauern eGen m.b.H., Austria
9. Montgomery’s Extra mature cheddar, J. A. & E., Montgomery Ltd, U.K.
10. Reblochon PDO, Entremont, France
11. Harrogate Blue, Shepherds Purse Cheeses, U.K.
12. Panela Navarro, Grupo Industrial y Comercial Navarro SA de CV, Mexico
13. Rachel, White Lake Cheese Ltd, U.K.
14. Pago Valle de los Molinos matured with Rosemary, Agroalimentaria Valle de los Molinos S.L., Spain
15. Alma Vorarlberger Bergkäse mindestens 10, Monate gereift g.U. Rupp AG, Austria
16. Montagnolo Affine, Elite Imports Ltd, Germany
JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Before Parliament violence, other attacks on Britain

LONDON — Britain has been targeted anew by what authorities are calling a terrorist incident.

Here’s a look at other attacks on the country in recent years:

March 22, 2017

An attacker stabbed a police officer at Britain’s Parliament before being shot by police, while a vehicle ran over pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge at around the same time. One woman was killed, others injured.

June 16, 2016

Far-right supporter Thomas Mair shot and killed British lawmaker Jo Cox who had campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union, one week before Britain’s referendum on its EU membership. The attack shocked the country and focused attention on home-grown far-right extremism in Britain.

Dec. 5, 2015

An Islamic State-inspired taxi driver tried to behead a passenger in the east London Underground station of Leytonstone. Somali-born Muhiddin Mire was sent to a high-security mental hospital to serve a life sentence. The judge ruled that Mire had been motivated by events in Syria. The incident came days after Parliament approved British airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in Syria.

May 22, 2013

Two British-born, al-Qaida-inspired extremists stabbed off-duty soldier Lee Rigby to death on a busy south London street. The men ran Rigby down with their vehicle and then used a cleaver to hack him to death. Images of attacker Michael Adebolajo holding a butcher knife and cleaver with bloodied hands in the moments after killing shocked people around the world and sparked fears of Islamist extremism in Britain. Adebolajo and his accomplice were sentenced to life in prison.

June 30, 2007

Two men were arrested after they drove a Jeep Cherokee into Glasgow Airport’s terminal in Scotland and set it ablaze. Authorities said the attack was linked to a failed car bombing a day before in London’s West End, where an ambulance crew outside a nightclub spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes that turned out to be rigged with explosives. A second Mercedes also filled with explosives was found hours later in an impound lot.

July 7, 2005

In the worst peacetime attack on Britain this century, four Al-Qaida-inspired bombers blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus in London, killing 52. Three of the bombers were British-born, all of Pakistani descent; the other emigrated from Jamaica.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

WWE: Tyler Bate crowned new UK champ

Tyler Bate defied the odds was crowned as the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion on Monday (Manila time) at Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England.

The 19-year-old bucked an injured shoulder and topped Pete Dunne in the Finals of the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament, putting an exciting end to the two-day affair.

Bate used a pair of wheel house kicks to the back of the head of Dunne before nailing him with Tyler Driver 97 for the pinfall win.

Dunne earlier looked poised to snare the crown after attacking Bate before their duel, slamming him to the ring posts which led to the kid from Dudley, England to separate his AC joint on his left shoulder.

But Bate wagered on to the championship match, as he showed his wares and nailed a Flosbery flop to the outside before setting Dunne for the 450 double foot stomp.

The “Bruiserweight,” though, continued to punish his former protege, connecting with the Bitter End and set him up for the Kimura Lock after kicking out. But the young technician just had enough in him, reversing the hold to a brainbuster before ending the match with the wheel house kicks and his finisher.

It was the two’s fourth match in two days, as 16 of the best British wrestlers battled for supremacy.

Bate first topped Tucker in the first round, before beating Jordan Devlin in the quarterfinals, and Wolfgang in the semis.

Dunne, meanwhile, beat Roy Johnson in the first round, before running roughshod of Sam Gradwell in the quarterfinals, and Mark Andrews in the semifinals.

The title is expected to remain in the UK, to be defended across different independent promotions in the country.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Justin Bieber drops mic, walks out at UK gig

This year is indeed an “annoying” time for Justin Bieber and his “Beliebers.”

Bieber stormed out of the stage in a Sunday concert in Manchester, England, after asking fans to “shut up” and not scream during gaps in his songs.

“I appreciate all the support, I appreciate the love, I appreciate the kind things. But the screaming in these breaks has got to stop. Please, and thank you,” the “Sorry” singer, 22, warned his vivacious audience, according to BBC.

“I don’t think it’s necessary when I’m trying to say something and you guys are screaming,” he concluded with an epic mic drop, which was filmed by several Beliebers.

As expected, his mid-concert tantrum didn’t stop the cheerful crowd’s screaming, which was replaced with emphatic boos later on.

 

 The moment @justinbieber dropped-mic and stormed offstage in #Manchester pic.twitter.com/xAY0GQUMRV

 

— Capital Liverpool (@capliverpool) October 24, 2016

Justin bieber Manchester the mic was dropped pic.twitter.com/WRx89ySCLp

 — cara marie (@caramhx) October 23, 2016

After several minutes, Bieber resumed his gig and explained his actions. “I feel like I wanna connect with you. The point of the no screaming thing is that when I’m looking at you in the eyes you know that we’re actually having a moment and having a connection,” he elaborated.

Realizing that he could not simmer down his English fans, he went through with his concert. “We’re just going to do the music. Obviously, Manchester just can’t handle it, so let’s do the music.”

Bieber has been exhibiting lukewarm relations with his global fanbase during his “Purpose” world tour this year. In his recent show in Birmingham and during the first night in Manchester, he pleaded with the audiences to stay silent and listen to him. Also, he received backlash from his fans due to his vulgar words, chiefly when he hit Norwegian fans with his “You suck” comment.  Gianna Francesca Catolico/rga

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Tourists stranded as London Eye ferris wheel stops

LONDON, United Kingdom — Visitors to the iconic London Eye attraction were stranded for more than three hours when the ferris wheel unexpectedly stopped, the company said on Sunday.

A trip in one of the wheel’s glass capsules usually takes 30 minutes, but passengers on Saturday had far longer to take in the views of nighttime London owing to a technical fault.

“Yesterday evening the London Eye was temporarily stopped to investigate a technical issue at 7:21 pm. Our technical team was immediately on scene to assess the problem and assist in exiting guests from the London Eye.

“All guests were safely disembarked by 10:40 pm and attended to by London Eye staff,” a company spokeswoman told AFP.

The company said visitors were not at risk and they would receive a refund.

One passenger told the Evening Standard newspaper he was in a capsule at the top of the ferris wheel when it came to a stop.

“At first everyone was laughing about it but as time went on people started to become anxious,” Adil Raja was quoted by the Standard as saying.

“There was 22 people in our pod but only five or six emergency blankets, bottles of water and glucose tablets. I was furious we had no food and it was very cold. I was at the top for three hours,” he added.

The London Eye reopened on Sunday an hour later than usual.

The attraction opened to the public on March 9, 2000, and swiftly became one of London’s most recognisable landmarks.

Built on the banks of the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament, the ferris wheel stands at 135 meters (440 feet) tall and has 32 capsules, each carrying up to 28 passengers.

It was designed by architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, who were also behind the i360 moving observation tower which opened in August with views over Brighton, the southern English seaside resort.

The i360 was brought to a standstill for around two hours in September, reportedly after the passengers rushed across the observation pod towards the bar. CBB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

iPhone 7 to cost more in India and UK

The much-awaited Apple iPhone 7 was just introduced on Wednesday with pre-orders becoming available Sept. 9. However, there is some bad news for fans of the iPhone from the UK and India as the devices will cost a lot more than the US release.

The iPhone 7 has been given a a suggested retail price of $649 for the 32GB basic model while the Plus will start at $769. Unfortunately, The Next Web reports that there will be a significant markup for the Indian market which will raise the price to around $903 (Rs60,000). UK buyers will have it easier with just a $60 increase from the base US price, or £599 on the Apple website.

The higher prices can be attributed to the Brexit side effects where many economists already predicted that prices would increase during the run-up to the vote.

The Indian market, however, is a bit more complicated. The higher price is a result of Apple taking into account the sales tax for selling the product. They also sell through third-party partners and that requires a margin for them to make a profit. Lastly is a price buffer to compensate for fluctuations in value of the Indian rupee.

India’s woes may not last long as a recent foreign direct investment ruling in the country will allow Apple to open its own local retail stores, thereby eliminating the middleman.

Apple is currently considering opening up shops in major cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi by the end of 2017.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Quiet battle for the sound of silence in UK shops

LONDON, United Kingdom — Nigel Rodgers is in hell. A campaigner against piped music for decades, he stands in a shoe shop on London’s Oxford Street which is blaring out loud pop music, wincing visibly.

“It’s just as bad as passive smoking,” said the 63-year-old, sporting a blue blazer with a red handkerchief in the top pocket and eagerly eyeing the exit.

“It really is enough to drive most people bonkers if they have got any sensitivity at all.”

Rodgers has campaigned against the canned music which is common in British shops and other public spaces for 24 years but his group Pipedown recently scored its biggest success yet.

One of the country’s top department stores, Marks and Spencer, said it would stop playing music after a letter writing campaign by hundreds of Pipedown’s 2,000 members.

Now the group hopes to persuade other major retailers to follow suit as sister organisations take off around the world, including in Germany and the United States.

Rodgers is far more comfortable sipping a cup of tea in the relative calm of the Marks and Spencer cafe a few doors down on London’s busiest shopping street.

Masking other noise?

Here, he gently explained how he believes the mechanization of society has turned up the volume on the modern world, causing health problems like hearing damage and raised blood pressure.

“We live in a continuously noisy environment,” he said. “We’re being artificially stimulated all the time in a way we’re not designed to.”

Rodgers, who also writes books on art history and philosophy, founded Pipedown aged 38 after becoming frustrated by piped music in a restaurant where he was dining with a girlfriend.

The group kept growing and, as well as letter writing campaigns, many supporters now go shopping armed with cards complaining — politely of course — about piped music which they hand to shop workers.

“It’s not just a matter of one or two neurotics — it’s a much bigger problem,” Rodgers said.

“Attitudes can change very fast — I’m hoping the M and S decision may mark a tipping point,” he added, blinking slightly as plates clattered in the background.

By contrast, industry figures argue piped music can make shops a more, not less, pleasant environment to be in.

Adrian England of PEL Services, which provides music for a string of big name British retailers, said silence makes some people uncomfortable.

“If there’s no music, you’ll hear arguments, noisy children — all sorts of noise which is present but you don’t hear because music masks it,” he told AFP.

England said shops like to play a mix of two or three musical genres to appeal to their customers, varying the tempo throughout the day — mellow in the mornings, energetic in the evenings.

The biggest sign of success can be if shoppers do not even realize the music is there, he said.

“There certainly is a paradox. If you’re doing it well then the customers won’t notice — they won’t compliment you, they just won’t complain,” England added.

‘Helps me buy quicker’

Professor Adrian North of Australia’s Curtin University researches the impact of music on consumer behavior and believes few businesses are using it properly to communicate with customers.

Studies he has worked on suggest that playing the “right” kind of music in commercial environments could boost sales by as much as 20 percent.

The wrong music “would usually have effects that were worse than playing no music at all.”

Back on Oxford Street, thronged with tourists visiting London over the summer holiday period, shoppers were split on whether they loved or loathed loud music in shops.

“It takes a lot more energy walking into this kind of store — I tend to avoid them,” said Martin Persson, a 34-year-old visiting from Sweden, outside the shoe shop which Rodgers found so noisy.

But Zyad al-Shoeeb, a 22-year-old from Saudi Arabia, loved what for him was the novelty of thumping beats as he picked out his latest designer footwear.

“The music fits with the shoes — it helps me buy quicker,” he added./rga

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Pound slumps against euro, dollar

NEW YORK, United States — The British pound slumped to a fresh three-year low against the euro Monday and edged lower on the dollar, as signs of weakness mounted in the British economy.

At 86.80 pence on the euro, the pound was at its weakest level since August 2013.

Meanwhile sterling fell to $1.2883, just barely above its $1.2798 post-Brexit vote level that marked a three-decade low against the US greenback.

The currency’s fall came as data from Britain showed London residential rents fell for the first time in six years in July, amid worries the June 23 vote to exit the European Union was already having an impact on the economy.

The rental data came on the heels of numbers showing home prices fell for the second straight month.

“In the month of August, the British pound has been the weakest currency and the trend continued today,” said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

“The main reason why the currency is weak is because investors are worried about this week’s UK economic reports.”

Even if the formal moves to leave the European Union will not be taken by the government until next year, Lien said, “the damage has been done and consequences are just beginning to appear.”

source: business.inquirer.net

G20 nations warn of Brexit risk to global growth

CHENGDU, China — Britain’s vote to leave the European Union heightens risks for the world economy, finance chiefs from the G20 group of leading countries said Sunday at a meeting in China.

The outcome of last month’s referendum “adds to the uncertainty in the global economy,” the meeting’s host, Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei, said after it concluded.

But he added that EU member countries were “well positioned to proactively address the potential economic and financial consequences stemming from the UK referendum.”

The issue has come to the forefront of the G20’s concerns at the meeting in Chengdu, the last before the grouping’s annual summit, to be held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September.

Ahead of the meeting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecast for global growth this year, and officials in Chengdu said protracted talks between the EU and Britain over the departure could heighten risks.

“It won’t mean that they’ll get there in a week or a month. It’s a process that could take longer,” a senior US Treasury official told journalists on Saturday.

“The thing that would be very disruptive to confidence is if this becomes a highly confrontational process,” he said.

Britain’s new finance minister Philip Hammond on Saturday met his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble and tweeted: “We agree we need a deal that works for the people of Britain & Germany.”

At a family photo on Sunday, Hammond was seated in the front row, but spent most of the event conversing only with one of his neighbors, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

‘More negative outcomes’

The IMF has expressed alarm over Britain’s looming departure from the EU.

“‘Brexit’ marks the materialization of an important downside risk to global growth,” IMF staff said in a report ahead of the meeting.

The IMF recently lowered its forecasts for global growth this year and next by 0.1 percentage point, to 3.1 percent and 3.4 percent respectively.

“But with ‘Brexit’ still very much unfolding, more negative outcomes are a distinct possibility,” the report said.

Other challenges threaten: a slowdown in the Chinese economy, as well as terrorist attacks and the failed coup in Turkey — which have rattled financial markets.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is caught in a fundamental transition to making domestic consumption the key driver instead of massive public spending and cheap exports.

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who attended the meeting, said on Twitter that the attempted putsch against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would not merit mention in the final communique.

At an earlier meeting in Chinese commercial hub Shanghai in February, the G20 finance chiefs agreed to use “all policy tools” including monetary easing, fiscal spending and structural change to boost growth.

The IMF has called on some countries, notably Germany and the United States, to boost spending on infrastructure, which has been opposed by Berlin.

“The world economy is beleaguered with many serious problems,” China’s Lou said on Saturday.

“We should make monetary policy more forward-looking and transparent, enhance the effectiveness of fiscal policy… so as to support stronger recovery of the world economy.”/rga

source: business.inquirer.net

Pound sinks below $1.30 on Brexit jitters

NEW YORK, United States — The pound sank below $1.30 on Wednesday as growing worries about Britain’s vote to leave the European Union pushed investors toward safe haven assets.

“Sterling hit fresh lows against all of the major currencies and while there was no news to explain the move, the sharp sell-off sent fresh jitters across the financial markets, driving investors into the safety of the US dollar, Japanese yen and gold,” said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

The pound sank to $1.2798 at one point, its lowest level since June 1985, before recovering somewhat. The British currency dropped 1.0 percent against the euro at 85.88 pence.

The euro strengthened slightly against the dollar, up 0.2 percent at $1.1097.

“The eurozone is hardly sheltered from the UK’s troubles and there could be a banking sector crisis brewing in Italy but for now, the greater concern is clearly Britain,” Lien said in a client note.

The dollar was little moved by the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June 14-15 policy meeting, which showed Fed officials divided over US growth prospects as they kept rates on hold.

Omer Esiner of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange said the dollar stands to benefit from continued aversion to risk, but that the outlook for the Fed leaving rates unchanged through 2016 was likely to keep its upside limited.

“Even upcoming economic data, like the all-important payrolls report for June this Friday, may have a limited impact on the dollar as the Brexit story continues to dominate market focus,” he said.

source: business.inquirer.net

Britain’s EU workers gripped by fear, confusion, heartache

LONDON — A tsunami of uncertainty has engulfed Anna Woydyla, a Polish restaurant worker in London, since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Would her two teenage children, who grew up in the United Kingdom, still qualify for loans to study at British universities? Would she and her husband, after 11 years of working here, have to sell the home they just bought? Leave their jobs? Leave their new country? Try to apply for citizenship?

The 41-year-old is among hundreds of thousands of European Union workers in Britain who are fearful and confused over what happens next as their adoptive country begins the long process of unwinding its many ties to continental Europe.

“If it were just me, I could even return to Poland,” a visibly tense Woydyla said as she stocked a bar in an Italian restaurant in London’s Camden district. “But my kids are more English than Polish. They don’t even want to go to Poland for their holidays anymore. They even speak to each other in English.”

An entire class of cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, workers, students and strivers who have made the U.K. their home since Britain opened its borders to its EU neighbors now see their futures in limbo. The immigrants changed the face of Britain, turning London’s Kensington neighborhood into a suburb of Paris, changing sleepy English towns like Boston into Baltic enclaves, filling supermarket shelves across the nation with Polish lager and Wiejska sausage.

“I personally cannot tell what’s going to change for me,” said Andrea Cordaro, a 21-year-old Italian student who compared the shock of hearing the referendum’s result to the punch-in-the-gut feeling of flunking an exam. “I’ll just have to keep my head up and hope for the best.”

Laurence Borel, a 36-year-old digital marketing consultant from France, isn’t waiting to find out what’s coming next. She asked for her British passport in May after more than 15 years living in the country.

“I’ll bet a lot of people are applying,” she said, explaining that she’d been mulling the idea of a passport for years but the referendum prompted her to act.

“I don’t want to go back to France,” she said. “My life is here.”

At workplaces and schools across the country, managers have sent out emails to worried foreign staffers and students, assuring them that — for now — nothing has changed.

“The formal process for leaving the European Union will take at least two years,” Oxford University said in one such statement. “Our staff and students can be assured that in the short term, we anticipate no disruption to employment or study.”

Over the long term though, the lives of the estimated 3 million EU citizens living in Britain may change in ways big and small. A survey commissioned by the Financial Times found that if Britain’s current immigration rules were applied to EU nationals, the overwhelming majority would lose their jobs and be forced to leave the country — catastrophic news for Spanish barristas, Romanian strawberry pickers, German investment bankers and the industries that rely on them.

The biggest impact may be on the Poles, the largest group of foreign EU workers in the U.K. An estimated 850,000 people from Poland are now in the U.K., seeking wages and opportunities far beyond what they could ever expect in their ex-communist homeland, a flow so dramatic that Polish is now England’s second-most-spoken language.

The fate of the Poles in Britain is such an important domestic issue in Poland that President Andrzej Duda vowed after the British referendum that Polish leaders will “do everything to keep the rights unchanged” in upcoming negotiations with British leaders.

“I trust that the British government will appreciate the contribution the Poles are bringing into the development of the British Islands, into their social and cultural life,” Duda said.

Under British law, EU immigrants who have resided in the U.K. for more than five years can apply for permanent residency. In practice, however, few EU citizens have bothered as their passports already allow them to travel freely and easily access education, health care, pensions and other services in Britain.

The Polish Institute of International Affairs, a Warsaw-based think tank, has estimated that still leaves up to 400,000 Poles who arrived in Britain after 2012. Though the path forward is still unclear, it’s possible that they — along with hundreds of thousands more from elsewhere in Europe — may have to apply for work visas and, if rejected, have to leave the country.

Aware of the EU workers’ anxiety, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who had backed the failed “remain” side, issued a special message Friday to the nearly one million European citizens living in London alone.

“As a city, we are grateful for the enormous contribution you make, and that will not change as a result of this referendum,” he said. “You are very welcome here.”

To be sure, not all European workers in Britain are panicking or fearful.

“I feel good. Leaving the EU is a good idea,” said Gabriel Ionut, a 24-year-old from Bucharest, Romania, who works as a traffic marshal at a construction site in London. He has worked in the U.K. for four years and, with a residency permit, is confident about his chances of staying.

He says he fully understands native British concerns that their island has been forced to absorb too many immigrants in recent years, with too little control over who can come in due to the EU rules ensuring the free movement of people and labor.

“Now they will have more control over allowing in only the really good people,” he said. “And they will also be able stop more refugees from the Middle East. I am afraid there could be terrorists with them.”

Another Romanian construction worker said he was mostly confused. Iosif Achim, a 32-year-old from Satu Mare, Romania, has been in Britain for six years but never bothered to apply for a residency permit.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” said Achim. “But in my opinion this is going to be bad.”

The concern was mirrored across the Channel by the estimated 1.2 million U.K. citizens living in Europe.

The referendum “shouldn’t affect me too much. But it could,” said Herman Martin, a British composer who has lived in Brussels for the past 24 years. Overall, he said, the British vote to leave the EU would be a disaster for both parties.

“I find it quite disturbing,” he said.

Everyone with foreign ties appears shaken.

“We’re all in shock and deeply saddened,” said Christine Ullmann, a German who works in digital marketing in London, including on the “Hug a Brit” campaign that pleaded with the British to remain in the EU. Ullmann said she cried on the train Friday morning.

Borel, the French consultant, agreed that emotions were still raw.

“I love London. I love the English. I’m heartbroken,” she said.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

UK’s Prince William to appear in gay mag; first in family

United Kingdom’s Prince William will be the next face of a gay magazine, the first in the British Royal Family to do so.

According to reports by the Telegraph and Daily Mail, The Duke of Cambridge revealed to a staff member at the United States Embassy in London on Tuesday that he would be interviewed in UK’s leading gay magazine, Attitude. It is noted that even his mother, the late Princess Diana, a well-respected advocate of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights, never granted any interviews to a gay magazine or publication.

After signing the condolence book TRH spoke to reps from the US embassy’s LGBT network GLIFAA pic.twitter.com/8ZSIQJ9p8J

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) June 14, 2016

Craig Petty, president of LGBT association Glifaa, affirmed the Duke’s appearance at Attitude.

“I told him what I do and he said he’s going to be in Attitude magazine,” he detailed to the British press. “I was really nervous about meeting the royal couple, but they are both great at putting you at ease.”

He, together with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, were present for a book signing in memory of the 49 people massacred at Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. He will utilize his magazine spread exposure as an integral tool to campaign against LGBT bullying, which is one of his main platforms.

Other high-profile cover stars of the gay mag, which was established in 1994, include Gary Barlow, Daniel Radcliffe, David Beckham, and Liam Payne. Most of the magazine’s articles tackle contemporary LGBT issues such as male rape and discrimination.

The issue featuring the Duke will be released on June 22. Gianna Francesca Catolico

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Zayn tops charts in post-One Direction debut

NEW YORK — One Direction star Zayn Malik is finding renewed success in his own right, with his solo debut album opening at number one in both the United States and Britain.

The 23-year-old, who now simply calls himself Zayn, has gone racier as a solo artist with a sexual image that would have been out of the question for his former boy band.

His album “Mind of Mine,” sold 157,000 copies or the equivalent in downloads or streaming in its first week in the United States, Nielsen Music said late Sunday.

Zayn becomes the first British male solo artist to debut at number one on the benchmark US Billboard chart with his first album.

George Michael went to number one in 1988 with “Faith,” his blockbuster solo debut after disbanding the pop duo Wham!, but he did not do so in his first week.

“Mind of Mine” also debuted at number one in Britain, where Zayn edged out fellow homegrown star Adele on the Official Albums Chart released Friday.

Zayn released “Mind of Mine” on March 25, the anniversary of his abrupt and at time acrimonious departure from One Direction amid a global tour.

The boy band later released an album without Zayn before declaring an indefinite hiatus.

Zayn goes for a more R&B sound on “Mind of Mine” and offers plenty of sexuality, with an alternative cover of the album depicting him topless showing off his muscular, tattooed body.

The first track, “Pillowtalk,” is an ode to passionate lovemaking, with Zayn in the song promising to take a partner to “a place that is so pure, so dirty and raw.”

Zayn has said he was unhappy with the artistic constraints of One Direction, a group that emerged from Britain’s “The X Factor” television contest in 2010.

The band quickly became one of the world’s top-selling acts, packing arenas full of young girls with its squeaky clean pop songs.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net