- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
UK acted unlawfully in Covid care home discharges: judges
The UK government acted unlawfully by discharging elderly hospital patients into care homes in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, where many died, two judges ruled on Wednesday.
Policies in place as the virus took hold in Britain in early 2020 failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from asymptomatic transmission, said the High Court judges.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has been repeatedly criticised for its initial response to the global health crisis.
In October last year, lawmakers concluded that "many thousands of deaths" could have been avoided had elderly patients been tested before they were discharged into care homes.
Johnson's former chief aide, Dominic Cummings, has even accused the then health secretary Matt Hancock of having lied to colleagues that patients were tested.
Wednesday's ruling at the High Court in London came in a case brought against Hancock and Public Health England by two women whose fathers died from Covid-19.
Evidence from policy documents in March and early April 2020 showed that the government "simply failed to take into account the highly relevant consideration of the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from asymptomatic transmission", said the judges.
Despite "growing awareness", the issue was not addressed until the middle of the following month, when testing was made a requirement, they added.
A spokesman for Hancock said in response that the public health body had "failed to tell ministers what they knew about asymptomatic transmission".
"Mr Hancock has frequently stated how he wished this had been brought to his attention earlier," the spokesman added.
- Abandoned -
One of the claimants, Fay Harris, said outside court that Johnson should resign because of the government's "reckless and unlawful" policies.
"Their actions exposed many vulnerable people to a greater risk of death -- and many thousands did die," she told reporters.
"It has only increased the distress to me and many others that the government have not been honest and owned up to their mistakes."
Helen Wildbore, director of the Relatives and Residents Association, a charity for older people needing care, said the ruling confirmed that the government's claim it had thrown up a "protective ring" around care homes was "non-existent".
"Older people were abandoned at the outset of the pandemic," she added.
In parliament, Johnson said the government would study the ruling and respond in due course.
But he added that the early stage of the pandemic was "an incredibly difficult time... and we didn't know very much about the disease.
"The thing that we didn't know in particular was that Covid could be transmitted asymptomatically in the way that it was, and that was something that I wish we had known more about other time," he added.
Britain has had one of the highest death tolls in the pandemic: more than 174,000 people have died within 28 days of a positive test.
In the last seven days, nearly 2,300 people have died, according to the latest government data.
F.Dubois--AMWN