People should not hug or kiss their grandparents at Christmas despite the loosening of coronavirus restrictions, one of the UK's top medical officers has warned.

In the strongest Christmas covid warning yet, Professor Chris Whitty said: "Would I encourage someone to hug and kiss their elderly relatives? No I would not, if you want them to survive to be hugged again."

He added: "Would I want someone to see their family? Of course, that's what Christmas is about, whether people celebrate Christmas as a festival themselves or from any other belief system. It is an opportunity for families.

"But would I encourage someone to hug and kiss their elderly relatives? No, I would not."

The warning came as the Prime Minister said further lockdowns in the new year might be necessary if people do not adhere to new tier system of lockdown rules unveiled for England on Thursday. Separate covid alert levels are in place already in Scotland.

Three French police officers have been suspended after they were filmed beating and allegedly racially abusing a music producer in his Paris studio.

An official inquiry has been opened - the third such investigation in a week - into the officers' behaviour. The latest incident comes after MPs in the French parliament voted to approve a new law increasing police powers.

The victim, identified only by his first name, Michel, was returning to his music studio in Paris's 17th arrondissement last Saturday evening when police spotted he was not wearing a mask. Three officers, two in uniform and one in plain clothes, allegedly jumped from their car and pushed Michel through the front door of his property.

A Central Intelligence Agency officer conducting counterterrorism operations in Somalia has reportedly been killed.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the officer, whose identify remains classified, was a member of the CIA's paramilitary division and was a former member of Navy's SEAL Team 6. The officer was likely killed in either a counterinsurgency raid or a direct enemy attack, but the CIA has declined inquiries into the death.

The Times claimed that the officer's death marks the 135th CIA casualty over the past 20 years.

No, thanks was the response many residents gave to the government's plan for compulsory contact tracing through a QR code system in Mexico City. Privacy is a concern in Mexico as the government does not have a good track record of respecting citizens' rights and citizens weren't going to put up with any contact tracing.

On November 13, the local government of Mexico City tweeted that contact tracing through a QR code system would be compulsory at public places such as restaurants.

"All persons entering a closed space must scan a QR code with their mobile device," the graphic stated, atop a list of steps spelling out how the program will work.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said a homeless man arrested in connection with a pair of fatal stabbings at a Northern California church is an illegal immigrant with an extensive criminal background.

32-year-old Fernando de Jesus Lopez-Garcia allegedly stabbed five people Sunday, including two who died, at the Grace Baptist Church in San Jose.

Authorities said his criminal history includes convictions for battery of an officer, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism. He was also previously deported three times, but protected by local sanctuary laws.

In a freshly-published book, Maria Butina has documented her time inside the American prison system, where she spent more than a year after being dubbed a foreign agent acting on behalf of Moscow's 'influence campaign.'

The book '#Prison diary' is based on the journal Butina kept chronicling her experiences behind bars, including the time she spent in solitary confinement.

The young gun rights activist from Siberia was in the US on a student visa when she was arrested in July 2018. It was the height of the Russiagate scandal surrounding allegations that Moscow actively meddled in American affairs to get Donald Trump elected president. Butina attended National Rifle Association events and met with several Republican politicians and conservative activists. The FBI said it was all part of a larger campaign by Moscow to infiltrate American political circles.

NY Times journalist-turned-Covid-19 skeptic Alex Berenson briefly had his latest anti-lockdown book pulled from Amazon along with its electronic version. By the time it returned, it was a top-10 bestseller on Apple Books.

First the paperback and then the electronic edition of 'Unreported Truths about Covid-19 and Lockdowns - Part 3: Masks' were removed from Amazon on Tuesday, Berenson revealed in a series of tweets that same day.


The book attempts to debunk the hypothesis, favored by most governments but apparently lacking convincing scientific proof, that wearing even non-medical masks stops the spread of Covid-19.

Shocking footage has emerged showing California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers forcibly removing families who were occupying vacant state-owned homes in LA. Crowds of activists showed up to defend the families on Thanksgiving eve.

The videos, reportedly captured Wednesday night in the El Sereno area, make for intense viewing; law enforcement agents are seen dragging people out of the homes, dressed in riot gear, armed with military-style guns and even using battering rams on doors.

"Be human again," one protester calls to the officers, adding that they are acting like "domestic terrorists." In one particularly disturbing video, a female who appears to be a teenager is carried out of a home by officers as activists scream at officers.

The parents of Seth Rich, a Democratic aide whose unsolved murder became fodder for right-wing conspiracy theories about the 2016 election, reached a settlement on Tuesday with Fox News, whose coverage linked Mr. Rich to email hacks that aided President Trump's 2016 presidential run.

Joel and Mary Rich, the parents of the murdered aide, had filed a lawsuit against Fox News in 2018, accusing the news organization of "extreme and outrageous" conduct in its coverage of their son's death, claiming that it had fueled damaging rumors about him.

Mr. and Mrs. Rich said in a statement on Tuesday that they could now move on.

"The settlement with Fox News closes another chapter in our efforts to mourn the murder of our beloved Seth, whom we miss every single day. We are pleased with the settlement of this matter and sincerely hope that the media will take genuine caution in the future."

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

We've all seen them: Hollywood superhero blockbusters where the protagonist is a two-dimensional cardboard cutout, a shallow reflection of what makes a real hero a model of inspiration to begin with. All too reliant on presenting a spectacle to dazzle the eyes and the ears, these productions bombard us with imagery, ideas, and mediocre writing - in lieu of a fully drawn character who embodies the virtues, behavior and soul of the archetypal hero. Quite often we don't know what we've been missing in these portrayals until we see one that satisfies on multiple levels. So when we come across such a champion as we have in the Turkish television show Dirilis: Ertugrul (Resurrection: Ertugrul), you know we're going to celebrate it.

In this week's MindMatters we discuss why the epic Resurrection: Ertugrul is not only one of the most successful foreign television shows ever made - but how its protagonist, 13th-century Turkish tribal leader Ertugrul, may be taken as a hero for people of all faiths. Wildly popular in the Muslim world, you don't need to be a Muslim to appreciate or enjoy this mythologized re-telling of the legends surrounding his life. Ertugrul embodies all the traits of a real hero: honor, integrity, justice, intelligence, devotion, compassion, mercy, humility, and overall epic badassery. The show itself portrays traditional values, spiritual realities, universal problems, individual and group strengths and weaknesses - and the ever-present cosmic battle of good and evil. At a time when truly good heroic stories are in short supply we look at why this 'non-Western' story fits the job description that we are looking for in works of fiction.


Running Time: 01:22:06

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