What Britain Talks About This Week – France Travel Restrictions | Star Hobson Murder | Lewis Hamilton | Spiderman: No Way Home | Premier League

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France Tightens COVID Restrictions – Banning UK Travellers in response to Omicron Surge

France is witnessing a rise in Omicron cases, albeit the number of confirmed Covid cases in the UK is higher. To curb the virus spread, France has banned all non-essential travel from the UK until further notice, starting Friday 17th December (11 pm UK time).

The decision comes quite close to Christmas, dampening holidays for the UK citizens who will have to cancel their visit to friends and family in France. However, French citizens, their partners and children, some lorry drivers, and students will be allowed to travel to France.

This also means that many ski travel plans are out of the window as the Alpine destinations go out of reach for Brits. Ski operators and resorts in France are preparing for huge losses and refunds while trying to convince travellers to postpone rather than cancel.

Twitter was filled with controversy and differing views on the travel ban, questioning the efficacy of such Covid measures.

 

Star Hobson Murder: Savannah Brockhill Sentenced to Minimum 25 years in Jail for Toddler Death

Savannah Brockhill, a 28-year-old woman who murdered her partner Frankie Smith’s 16-month-old daughter with a ‘fatal punch or kick’ on 22nd September 2020, has been given life imprisonment. The mother Smith, 20, was also handed an 8-year prison sentence for causing or allowing the toddler’s death.

The judge, Mrs. Justice Lambert, said the pair treated Star with ‘’cruelty, neglect and callous indifference”.
The 7-week trial brought to light, shocking facts about months of physical and mental abuse Star Hobson was subjected to amidst the crossfire of a toxic relationship. After her death, “Numerous other injuries were identified on Star’s body including two brain injuries and various fractures to her skull, ribs, and leg”.

Former Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Northwest, Nazir Afzal, reacted to the couple filming their acts of cruelty on the toddler.

A startling revelation of the trial was that despite five referrals from concerned family members and friends in the 8 months before Star’s death, social services and police failed to act.

One of those who raised a flag was Star’s former babysitter who believes that had the authorities interfered, Star would be alive today.

After the sentencing, David Fawcett, Star Hobson’s great step-grandfather called the verdict a “relief” and spoke about how he will remember the 16-month-old baby girl.

Amidst a nationwide outcry, PM Boris Johnson called the tragedy shocking and heart-breaking while some members in the parliament demanded widespread reforms to protect the children.

After a Controversial F1 Title Showdown, Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff Is Unsure Lewis Hamilton will Continue Racing

Addressing the media, Toto Wolff said, “Lewis and I are disillusioned at the moment” as he confirmed that they will not be present at FIA’s prize-giving gala.
Wolff said that while this has “nothing to do with Max”, he does not think Hamilton “will ever overcome the pain and distress caused on Sunday” and it is not certain he will be back for the race next January.

New F1 World Champion Max Verstappen said Lewis Hamilton had no reason not to return and challenge for an eighth title next year.

The seven-time champion, Lewis Hamilton hinted he could retire after he was denied an eight-championship title on the final lap of the race amidst a controversial finish in Abu Dhabi. If won, it would have broken Michael Schumacher’s record of 7 titles.

Max Verstappen was able to put Hamilton in a significantly disadvantaged position with fresh tires in the last lap, eventually winning the title.

Toto Wolff’s wife Susie Wolff tweeted a strong statement about the controversial decision of the race being sickly and hard to comprehend.

Among the millions showing their support for Hamilton was former Formula One World Champion, Mario Andretti.

Mercedes launched protests after the race but were dismissed by the stewards. Earlier on Thursday, they announced their intention to appeal but later decided otherwise as FIA has resolved to set up a commission to investigate the events of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

However, Hamilton experienced a victory off the racing track!

Sir Lewis Hamilton was awarded his knighthood at Windsor Castle on Wednesday 15th December 2021.

Premier League struggles to keep the Football Championship on track as Covid outbreaks rattle Clubs

All is not back to normal in the new normal! Due to a Covid outbreak in the Watford squad, a decision was announced to postpone the match against Burnley, just as spectators had started arriving.

This became the third topflight fixture called off this week, followed by five more games over the weekend in an accelerated crisis and uncertainty caused by Covid.

Manchester United presenter and YouTuber Mark Goldbridge tweeted that Premier League is heading for a shutdown.

Manchester United reported as many as 20 cases among players and staff. Since last week, Tottenham has been reeling from an outbreak that forced a cancellation of their matches against Rennes and Brighton.

Cases have also been reported at Liverpool, Burnley, and Chelsea.

However, taking each match on a case-by-case basis, the Premier League rejected requests for a “firebreak” suspension and insisted that the play must go on.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, asked about the clarity and fairness of the competition as some matches are being postponed while some are being forced to play despite many players in their club testing positive for Covid.

Clubs have ramped up their Covid protocols to ‘break the chain’ and are focusing on changing the minds of players who are refusing the vaccine.

Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp compared being unvaccinated to drinking and driving and urged to ignore lies and misinformation.

Marvel Hits Home with new Spiderman Film: No Way Home

The third film in the Spiderman series starring Tom Holland and Zendaya is being reviewed as an intricate weave of entertainment and nostalgia in an interdimensional multiverse.

The film was released on 15th December 2021 in the UK and social media is already full of spoilers as fans can’t wait to share their excitement about the twists in the movie.

Enhancing the earlier films – three starring Tobey Maguire, two starring Andrew Garfield, one animation, and two with Tom Holland, Spiderman: No Way Home is making the audience smile and get teary.

A film enthusiast’s reaction tweet that went viral reflects all of us in the movie theatres.

In an interview, Tom Holland told CinePop that No Way Home is a bigger movie than Avengers: Endgame as it is 20 years of work and three different universes. Endgame broke all-time records with $2.79 billion in ticket sales.

So, if what Holland says is true, the results will be a blockbuster!
And that’s a wrap of another week filled with controversy!

Post curated by Nidaa Koreishi & Manuela Willbold

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