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Parliament’s Defence Committee says there is “clear evidence of collusion” between Huawei and the Chinese state in a new report on 5G security.
It cites claims which have previously been made about Huawei’s ownership model and receipt of state subsidies, but does not include new evidence.

In response a Huawei spokesperson said: “This report lacks credibility, as it is built on opinion rather than fact.
“We’re sure people will see through these accusations of collusion and remember instead what Huawei has delivered for Britain over the past 20 years,” they added.

Huawei: The company and the security risks explained

Tobias Ellwood MP, the chair of the defence committee, unveiled the report stating: “Protecting the public and preserving our nation’s security are amongst the principle responsibilities of government.

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“The decision to embed a technology that compromises this would constitute a gross dereliction of these duties,” Mr Ellwood added, before stating: “The West must urgently unite to advance a counterweight to China’s tech dominance.”

Among the committee’s recommendations are proposals to form “a D10 alliance of democracies to provide alternatives to Chinese technology”.

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The committee also warned that current regulations were “porous” and that “legislation lacks teeth, continuing to allow telecoms companies to prioritise profit over the public and the nation’s security”.
It described as “imperative” the enacting of the Telecoms Security Bill, which will make the prohibition on purchasing new Huawei equipment from the end of this year a legal obligation.

Image: Huawei’s networking kit is set to be banned by the end of this year
The report follows the government ordering that all Huawei equipment must be stripped out of the UK’s telecommunication networks by 2027, as a result of US trade restrictions.
Mobile network operators will also be banned from purchasing new Huawei equipment by the end of this year. This ban impacts networking equipment and not consumer devices such as Huawei’s phones and laptops.
During the witness hearings for the committee’s inquiry, the culture secretary said that the government was aware “large private companies in China often have links to the Chinese Communist Party, and this was one of the factors that led to Huawei being designated as a high-risk vendor”.
Guidance issued by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre states that Huawei “has always been considered higher risk by the UK government”. Reasons include China’s National Intelligence Law which could compel the company’s employees to “act in a way that is harmful to the UK”.
New American restrictions on Huawei will prohibit US firms from providing computer chips to the company.
These sanctions have been criticised as “arbitrary and pernicious” by Huawei, which has confirmed that 40% of the roles within its enterprise business group in the UK are being made redundant as a result.

A US congressional report has accused Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google of monopolising the digital market and recommended antitrust laws be used to break up these companies.
The 449-page report criticises how the technology giants have purchased competitors to retain their market dominance and for designing services in preference of their own revenues rather than in consumers’ interest.

Written by the House Judiciary Committee, the report recommends Congress introduces new laws which would ban platform operators from competing with businesses on their platforms, where they have an advantage.
“To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog start-ups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons,” the report warned.

Image: The report from Congress warns about digital monopolies
“Although these firms have delivered clear benefits to society, the dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google has come at a price,” it added.

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“These firms typically run the marketplace while also competing in it – a position that enables them to write one set of rules for others, while they play by another.”

The report warned that although the four companies “differ in important ways”, their business practices revealed common problems, citing “nearly 1.3 million documents” as extensive evidence collected over the course of the investigation.

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“Each platform now serves as a gatekeeper over a key channel of distribution. By controlling access to markets, these giants can pick winners and losers throughout our economy,” the report stated.
“They not only wield tremendous power, but they also abuse it by charging exorbitant fees, imposing oppressive contract terms, and extracting valuable data from the people and businesses that rely on them.”

July: Tech bosses grilled over having ‘too much power’

It added: “By controlling the infrastructure of the digital age, they have surveilled other businesses to identify potential rivals, and have ultimately bought out, copied, or cut off their competitive threats.”
Among the recommendations are increased oversight and stricter rules regarding the acquisition of technology companies by the largest platforms – an issue which has regularly been cited as allowing the giants to become monopolistic over their slices of internet commerce.

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July: Insurance giant joins list of companies boycotting Facebook

Finally, according to the report, “these firms have abused their role as intermediaries to further entrench and expand their dominance,” in classical monopolistic behaviour.
“Whether through self-preferencing, predatory pricing, or exclusionary conduct, the dominant platforms have exploited their power in order to become even more dominant,” it stated, calling for Congress to introduce new laws to tackle these issues.
According to The New York Times, the report was delayed due to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, with the former upset that the report didn’t go into more detail on technology companies’ perceived bias against conservative views.
An alternative report drafted by the Republicans and obtained and published by Politico described some of the recommendations as “non-starters for conservatives”, particularly the calls to enforce a structural break-up of platforms such as Amazon so they are not directly competing with companies using their platform.

The world’s richest countries could be back “close to normal” by late 2021 if a coronavirus vaccine is found, Bill Gates has said.
But the Microsoft co-founder warned that this is the “best case” scenario, as it still remains uncertain whether any vaccines will work.

The 64-year-old, who in April stepped down from the board of the Redmond-based tech giant he founded in 1975, told The Wall Street Journal there were still some hurdles to clear in the race for a vaccine for COVID-19.

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‘Follow the rules until the vaccine cavalry comes’

“Now the capacity will take time to ramp up,” said Mr Gates.
“And so the allocation within the US, and between the US and other countries, will be a very top point of contention.”

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The race for a vaccine is being led by AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University, while another promising effort is being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Both are hoping to be the first to gain regulatory approval in the West.

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The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Tuesday a vaccine may be ready by the end of the year – earlier than suggested by the UK’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
In the UK, any vaccine is expected to be rolled out based on who is most vulnerable to coronavirus and it has been suggested that less than half of the population will be vaccinated.

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Vaccine could be available in first half of 2021

Mr Gates’ charity – the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – has recently signed an agreement with 16 pharmaceutical companies to speed up the process of manufacturing and distributing a vaccine.
The bid to find, approve and deliver a vaccine has been moving at unprecedented speed.
Russia is pushing ahead with its COVID-19 vaccine, with mass public vaccinations taking place alongside the main human trials – prompting concerns the country is prioritising national prestige over health and safety.
Mr Gates has said his foundation – to which he has donated $36bn of his own personal fortune – is “talking with Russia and China” about their respective vaccination programmes.
But he is concerned that that their lack of a well-respected Phase 3 study – covering thousands of people to look at the level of protection a vaccine would provide for society in general – could limit their appeal internationally.

Image: Bill and Melinda Gates run a foundation dedicated to tackling poverty and disease
“None of their vaccines are in a Phase 3 trial with a highly-regarded regulator overseeing that trial,” said Mr Gates.
He added: “The Western companies are further ahead on doing these Phase 3 studies. So if those come out well and they’re offered at low cost, I doubt there’ll be a lot of Russian or Chinese vaccines going outside of those countries.”
Mr Gates also paid tribute to the countries he thought had best balanced the health and economic challenges posed by the pandemic, citing South Korea and Australia.
He has not previously offered direct criticism of any one country’s response, but did hit out at Donald Trump over his decision to withdraw US funding for the WHO.

Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier and Professor Jennifer Doudna have won the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work developing a method for genome editing.
The award takes the number of women who have ever won the Nobel Prize in chemistry from five to seven.

Both scientists will equally share 10 million Swedish kronor (£866,000) for their discovery of “one of gene technology’s sharpest tools” – the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique, or “genetic scissors” as the committee described it.

Image: How do the genetic scissors work? Pic: Nobel Committee
“Using these [scissors], researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision,” said the Nobel committee.
“This technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences, is contributing to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true.”

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It is the first time the Nobel Prize for chemistry has been awarded to two women in the same year in its 119-year history.

The genome editing technique they developed is based on creating proteins which match the DNA code where a “cut” is going to be made.
This effectively allows researchers to insert, repair or edit a gene in such a way that the DNA doesn’t see the change as damage, but as a legitimate edit to be replicated by the cell.
“There is enormous power in this genetic tool, which affects us all,” said Claes Gustafsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for chemistry.
“It has not only revolutionised basic science, but also resulted in innovative crops and will lead to ground-breaking new medical treatments,”

“My wish is that this will provide a positive message to the young girls who would like to follow the path of science, and to show them that women in science can also have an impact through the research that they are performing.”- 2020 Chemistry Laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier. pic.twitter.com/0yWdih3hpl
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2020

The discovery was described as an unexpected result of Professor Charpentier studying the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes.
She discovered a previously unknown molecule, tracrRNA, in the bacteria and found that this molecule was part of an ancient immune system, CRISPR/Cas, that disarms viruses by cleaving their DNA.
“Charpentier published her discovery in 2011. The same year, she initiated a collaboration with Jennifer Doudna, an experienced biochemist with vast knowledge of RNA,” the committee reported.
“Together, they succeeded in recreating the bacteria’s genetic scissors in a test tube and simplifying the scissors’ molecular components so they were easier to use,” it added.

When #NobelPrize laureates Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna investigated the immune system of a Streptococcus bacterium they discovered a molecular tool that can be used to make precise incisions in genetic material, making it possible to easily change the code of life. pic.twitter.com/LU0JEYqLNW
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2020

“In an epoch-making experiment, they then reprogrammed the genetic scissors.
“In their natural form, the scissors recognise DNA from viruses, but Charpentier and Doudna proved that they could be controlled so that they can cut any DNA molecule at a predetermined site.
“Where the DNA is cut it is then easy to rewrite the code of life,” the Nobel committee added.
Since the scientists discovered these genetic scissors in 2012, the tool has contributed to an enormous range of research, including developing crops that can withstand mould, pests and drought.
In medicine, clinical trials of new cancer therapies are under way, and the dream of being able to “cure inherited diseases is about to come true” the citation concluded.

Apple has announced a special event on 13 October at which it is expected to launch the iPhone 12 and a handful of other products.
The company unveiled a range of new products including Apple Watches and iPads in its September event last month, but for the first time in years it did not released a new iPhone.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the iPhone launch event in October is being held online – like the September one and Apple’s developer conference in June – and will broadcast at 6pm UK time.

Image: Apple’s September event focused mainly on the Apple Watch
You can follow it live on Tuesday with Sky News, but here’s what to expect ahead of time:
The main invite that has been sent out has the title “Hi, Speed”, suggesting the company is going to be making a big deal out of the inclusion of Apple Silicon – or its in-house developed computer chips – as it did in September for the A14 Bionic, available in the new iPad Air 4.

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The chip was described as “by far the most advanced we’ve ever made” with transistors so small they “challenge the laws of physics” with about 11.8 billion packed into a single chip.

“We’re talking about a scale so small, they’re measured in atoms,” Apple said.

More from Apple

It is the first time such a chip has been announced in any product line other than the iPhone, potentially due to the delayed release date which the company warned investors about earlier this year.
According to Apple, the iPad Air 4 is three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet, and six times faster than the top-selling Chromebook. We’ll have to wait and see what comparisons Apple makes with the iPhone 12.
Apple is expected to unveil four devices in three different sizes in the iPhone 12 range.
They are rumoured to include super-fast 5G wireless connectivity for the first time, with the models going on sale to consumers on 23 October.
The smallest device will have a 5.4-inch screen from corner to corner, two will measure 6.1 inches, and the biggest one will have a mammoth 6.7-inch display.
The 6.7-inch version and one of the 6.1-inch models are expected to be Apple’s higher-end devices, potentially called the iPhone 12 Pro range, and feature the latest technology that the company has developed.
These Pro models are expected to retain the triple-lens housing which debuted with the iPhone 11 Pro, while the regular and smaller iPhone 12 models will have a dual-lens set-up for its rear cameras.
It isn’t clear what the smaller iPhone 12 will be called, but there have been some suggestions it might be named the iPhone 12 mini.

Image: Apple could be set to drop the iPhone charger from its next device
Apple is rumoured to have added a new distinctive metal frame reminiscent of that used for the iPhone 4 and the newest iPad Pro models too to differentiate the devices from the iPhone 11 range.
The design is expected to align with that of the iPad Pro, with the stainless steel frame giving the device a square-edged look – although for most consumers these design features tend to be hidden by protective casings.
For months it has been rumoured that the iPhone 12 will be sold without headphones, a charger or a plug adaptor in the box.
The best features are rumoured to be packed into the 6.7-inch device, including a rear camera system which will use lasers to calculate depth information for the immediate environment – opening up a range of new photography and augmented reality features.
Apple is also rumoured to be working on over-the-ear headphones to add to the AirPods family, potentially called AirPods Studio.

Image: Apple will reportedly launch bluetooth-tracker tags
Perhaps the most novel new addition will be the Apple AirTags – similar to the Tile Bluetooth trackers, which can be added to a keyring or other physical items and located using an iPhone app.
Particularly exciting is the idea of an augmented reality tracker, which would enable users to pull up the app on their iPhone and get an overlay of where the tag is located in the immediate environment.
It could be particularly handy if you don’t know which room you left your keys in. But even if the tag has been left further afield, there are suggestions it could be located by other iPhones through Apple’s “Find My” app mesh network.

Apple is holding special event on 13 October at which it is expected to launch the iPhone 12 and a handful of other products.
The company unveiled a range of new products including Apple Watches and iPads in its September event last month, but for the first time in years it did not released a new iPhone.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the iPhone launch event in October is being held online – like the September one and Apple’s developer conference in June – and will broadcast at 6pm UK time.
You can follow it live with Sky News, but here’s what to expect ahead of time:

Image: Apple’s September event focused mainly on the Apple Watch
The main invite that has been sent out has the title “Hi, Speed”, suggesting the company is going to be making a big deal out of the inclusion of Apple Silicon – or its in-house developed computer chips – as it did in September for the A14 Bionic, available in the new iPad Air 4.

Advertisement

The chip was described as “by far the most advanced we’ve ever made” with transistors so small they “challenge the laws of physics” with about 11.8 billion packed into a single chip.

“We’re talking about a scale so small, they’re measured in atoms,” Apple said.

More from Apple

It is the first time such a chip has been announced in any product line other than the iPhone, potentially due to the delayed release date which the company warned investors about earlier this year.
According to Apple, the iPad Air 4 is three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet, and six times faster than the top-selling Chromebook. We’ll have to wait and see what comparisons Apple makes with the iPhone 12.
Apple is expected to unveil four devices in three different sizes in the iPhone 12 range.
They are rumoured to include super-fast 5G wireless connectivity for the first time, with the models going on sale to consumers on 23 October.
The smallest device will have a 5.4-inch screen from corner to corner, two will measure 6.1 inches, and the biggest one will have a mammoth 6.7-inch display.
The 6.7-inch version and one of the 6.1-inch models are expected to be Apple’s higher-end devices, potentially called the iPhone 12 Pro range, and feature the latest technology that the company has developed.
These Pro models are expected to retain the triple-lens housing which debuted with the iPhone 11 Pro, while the regular and smaller iPhone 12 models will have a dual-lens set-up for its rear cameras.
It isn’t clear what the smaller iPhone 12 will be called, but there have been some suggestions it might be named the iPhone 12 mini.

Image: Apple could be set to drop the iPhone charger from its next device
Apple is rumoured to have added a new distinctive metal frame reminiscent of that used for the iPhone 4 and the newest iPad Pro models too to differentiate the devices from the iPhone 11 range.
The design is expected to align with that of the iPad Pro, with the stainless steel frame giving the device a square-edged look – although for most consumers these design features tend to be hidden by protective casings.
For months it has been rumoured that the iPhone 12 will be sold without headphones, a charger or a plug adaptor in the box.
The best features are rumoured to be packed into the 6.7-inch device, including a rear camera system which will use lasers to calculate depth information for the immediate environment – opening up a range of new photography and augmented reality features.
Apple is also rumoured to be working on over-the-ear headphones to add to the AirPods family, potentially called AirPods Studio – although leaks on Chinese social media claim these headphones won’t feature in the event.

Image: Apple will reportedly launch bluetooth-tracker tags
Perhaps the most novel new addition will be the Apple AirTags – similar to the Tile Bluetooth trackers, which can be added to a keyring or other physical items and located using an iPhone app.
Particularly exciting is the idea of an augmented reality tracker, which would enable users to pull up the app on their iPhone and get an overlay of where the tag is located in the immediate environment.
It could be particularly handy if you don’t know which room you left your keys in. But even if the tag has been left further afield, there are suggestions it could be located by other iPhones through Apple’s “Find My” app mesh network.

A team of palaeontologists headed by experts from the University of Edinburgh has discovered a new species of toothless, two-fingered dinosaur.
Multiple complete skeletons of the feathered species – named Oksoko avarsan – have been unearthed in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, providing critical clues about evolution.

The dinosaurs, which were omnivorous and grew to about two-metres long, thrived more than 68 million years ago.
They had two functional digits on the end of each forearm and had a large toothless beak similar to modern parrots.

Image: Several complete fossils were unearthed in the Gobi desert
According to the team, the fossils provide the first evidence of digit loss in the three-fingered dinosaur family known as oviraptors.

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The new species had one less finger than its close relatives, suggesting an adaptability which enabled the animals to spread during the late Cretaceous period, researchers said.

The discovery that they could evolve forelimb adaptations suggests the group could alter their diets and lifestyles, and enabled them to diversify and multiply, the team claimed.

More from Science & Tech

Dr Gregory Funston of the University of Edinburgh said: “Oksoko avarsan is interesting because the skeletons are very complete and the way they were preserved resting together shows that juveniles roamed together in groups.
“But more importantly, its two-fingered hand prompted us to look at the way the hand and forelimb changed throughout the evolution of oviraptors, which hadn’t been studied before.
“This revealed some unexpected trends that are a key piece in the puzzle of why oviraptors were so diverse before the extinction that killed the dinosaurs.”
According to the researchers, oviraptors gradually lost their third finger over the course of their evolutionary history as it first reduced in size and then disappeared altogether.

Image: The skeletons reveal interesting clues about dinosaur evoluton
The changes to the creatures’ arms and hands took place as they migrated to new geographic areas, specifically to what is now North America and the Gobi Desert.
Oksoko avarsan, like many other prehistoric species, also appeared to be very social as juveniles – with the remains of four young dinosaurs preserved resting together.
The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, was funded by The Royal Society and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.
It also involved researchers from the University of Alberta and Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum in Canada, Hokkaido University in Japan, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

This September was the hottest on record across the globe, scientists have found.
Surface temperatures worldwide were 0.05C higher than 2019, making it the hottest September since records began, according to the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

Europe also experienced its hottest September ever – beating the previous record set in 2018 by around 0.2C, the service said.

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Wildfires tear through Argentina countryside

The overall increase saw warmer temperatures in the Siberian Arctic, where this year the ice extent melted faster than normal due to forest fires in the wider region.
September is the month when the ice extent is at its lowest – following the summer melt and before it freezes again for winter, the scientists said.

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Heatwave in Siberia ‘man-made’

There were also well-above average temperatures in the Middle East, South America and Australia, they added.
The C3S, which is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), monitors the global and European climate using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.

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‘We’re at the last hour’: Charles’ climate warning

The findings are a clear reminder of climate change worldwide, which this year has resulted in devastating wildfires burning large parts of the US states of California and Oregon.
But the Arctic is where temperatures are rising “faster than anywhere else in the world”, the C3S said.

Image: Last month saw warmer-than-usual weather for the UK and beyond
Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S at the ECMWF, added: “In 2020, there was an unusually rapid decline in Arctic sea ice extent during June and July, in the same region where above average temperatures were recorded, preconditioning the sea ice minimum to be particularly low this year.
“The combination of record temperatures and low Arctic sea ice in 2020 highlight the importance of improved and more comprehensive monitoring in a region warming faster than anywhere else in the world.”

Senior politicians from four major northern councils have warned the government that existing coronavirus restrictions are “not working”, describing some as confusing and others as counter-productive.
Their intervention reflects growing divisions in politics and in the scientific community over how to tackle the growing number of infections.

The letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock was signed by Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake, Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese, Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes, and Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson.
The four centres are among the worst-affected areas as the pandemic worsens – the UK reported 14,542 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, almost 2,000 more than the previous day. Hospital admissions in England also hit a four-month high.
It comes as a new declaration, signed by thousands of scientists, calls for a herd immunity approach while protecting the most vulnerable populations.

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In the letter, the four leaders said they were “extremely concerned” about the sharp increase and the “national responses”.

“The existing restrictions are not working, confusing for the public and some, like the 10pm (curfew) rule, are counter-productive,” they said.

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Insisting they do not support further economic lockdowns, they instead called for additional powers to punish those who break rules and for any further restrictions to be developed by police, council, and public health experts.
They also called for a locally controlled test and trace system and financial support for those who needed to isolate with a payment that recognises additional needs in areas of deprivation.
“It is critical to the future of our local – and therefore the nation’s – economic wellbeing that we look to work together to deliver a joined up and effective response for our cities and the country in the coming days,” the letter said.

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Also mentioned was the need for improved support for businesses, something Liverpool’s mayor emphasised in an interview with Sky News.
Joe Anderson said: “When we had the national lockdown, we had a furlough scheme that was national.
“It seems to me to be common sense and also consistent that if we’re having a local lockdown that impacts on businesses, we should have a local scheme that supports those very businesses. Because otherwise they won’t come back.
“It’s alright the government talking about putting money into retraining packages but we’ve got to stop the jobs from being lost and that will then stop people needing training packages because we’ve prevented those jobs from going.”
He added: “I think the government are in a halfway house here. I don’t think they’ve done enough and they hope it will go away. The bottom line is you have to make a choice – there has to be stricter measures that actually bring the virus to a halt…and that’s why there has to be an economic package of support where that is happening.”

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PM promises a new post-COVID Britain

Meanwhile, Professor John Edmunds, who sits on the scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage), also criticised local measures and said new national restrictions were needed immediately.
Professor Edmunds said the government’s current “light touch” measures are just “delaying the inevitable”.
“We will at some point put very stringent measures in place because we will have to when hospitals start to really fill up,” he told the BBC.
“Frankly, the better strategy is to put them in place now.”
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News that the government didn’t want to “have to go back to a national lockdown, where we effectively end up closing down the economy as well as severely restricting people’s lives”.
“So that is why we are having these different series of local lockdowns or local restrictions to make sure that we are tailoring the restrictions to the specific circumstances of each area,” she said.
“Of course that introduces an element of complexity… but these restrictions are based on the best scientific and medical advice.
“We do work with the local mayors – keeping them involved in that process.”
The views of scientists such as Professor Edmunds who support stricter measures are at odds with other academics.
The new declaration, signed by top scientists from the universities of Oxford, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Cambridge, Sussex and York, suggests herd immunity as a way forward.
The so-called Great Barrington declaration states: “The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk.
“We call this Focused Protection.”
Ms Truss said the government was striving to “keep the balance” between those wanting tougher restrictions and those wanting looser measures.
“I think we’ve got the balance right,” she told Sky News.
“Of course we need to be constantly reviewing it as time goes on, making sure the policies are right for each local part of the country.”
“But the fact is, if somebody younger catches coronavirus, then the danger is, of course, them passing it onto somebody else.
“This is a societal disease, this is not something that only affects individuals.”
But the government’s own MPs are also divided over the coronavirus rules.
Fourteen Conservative backbenchers were joined by five DUP MPs in voting against the government over its “rule of six”, which limits social gatherings.
They were outnumbered, but a bigger challenge is expected next week over the government’s 10pm curfew for pubs, bars, and restaurants, after MPs demanded more say over the emergency measures.

Facebook is banning all QAnon conspiracy theory groups after classifying them as dangerous due to a surge of online misinformation.
QAnon – a far-right conspiracy theory – alleges that President Donald Trump is a secret warrior against a supposed child-trafficking ring run by celebrities and government officials. No part of the theory is based on fact.

In a blog post, Facebook said it is removing QAnon groups and pages on the platform as well as Instagram accounts that claim to be representatives.

What is QAnon? The bizarre pro-Trump conspiracy theory growing ahead of the US election

Image: Facebook has begun removing QAnon pages and groups
The move escalates a policy from August which removed nearly 800 QAnon groups for promoting violence, showing intent to use weapons, or attracting followers with patterns of violent behaviour.
However, it allowed the majority of QAnon groups to stay, albeit with content appearing less often in news feeds.

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Twitter also banned thousands of QAnon-affiliated accounts in July and changed its algorithms to reduce the theory’s spread.

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Facebook staff will now find and delete the groups and pages themselves instead of relying on user reports, the company said.
The company said it is starting to enforce the policy as of Tuesday but added it “will take time and will continue in the coming days and weeks”.