UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps has blocked new Covid-19 awareness adverts from appearing on public transport over fears they will deter people from using buses and trains.
Those behind the "Stop Covid Hanging Around" campaign have accused Mr Shapps of undermining their message that good ventilation is essential in enclosed spaces to prevent the spread of the virus.
The "smoke campaign" adverts compare the build-up of Covid particles to cigarette smoke and were signed off by officials from Mr Shapps' own transport department, the health department and the Cabinet Office.
They had been set to be introduced across the public transport network, until Mr Shapps got wind of them.
It was suggested Mr Shapps' objections lay in the fact his department had spent billions of pounds keeping the public transport network open during the pandemic and the adverts could derail the investment.
Allies of the Transport Secretary hit back, however, arguing his concerns stemmed more from the analogy with black smoke than the ventilation theme.
"The instruction to open windows when many buses have sealed windows might confuse passengers. We just want a modification and a rethink," they told The Telegraph.
The dispute isn't the first time Mr Shapps has been at odds with the Department of Health in recent weeks. In October, he contested plans by Health Secretary Sajid Javid to require travellers to film their Covid-19 tests upon returning to the UK.
The latest wrangle came as UK Covid infections fell to their lowest level in five weeks on Sunday night, with 30,305 new cases reported.
Although a hallmark of recent new infections has been their been unpredictable fluctuations, the news provides temporary respite for the government, which has been criticised for the sluggish speed of its booster vaccination programme.
More than 10 million shots have been administered to date, and from Monday about 10 million people aged over 50 will be able to book theirs.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also expected to confirm this week that all NHS staff must be vaccinated against the virus, although the mandate isn't expected to be imposed until March to avoid a potential mass departure during the busy winter months.
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
More on animal trafficking
My Country: A Syrian Memoir
Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
CREW
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome