“Pinging” has dominated the news agenda this week with news that Boris Johnson would spend “freedom day” in self-isolation representing a growing concern about the number of people being forced into quarantine.
Supply chains have come under threat, while businesses have been forced to close their doors or reduce production due to the ongoing “pingdemic”. This has led to suggestions that the NHS Test and Trace app should be adjusted in light of the mass vaccination rollout.
Post-Brexit tensions continued to rise as clashes between the UK and the EU over Gibraltar’s border arrangements prompted further uncertainty over the future of the long-disputed territory. And the government stopped short of threatening to pull out of parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol as it called for “significant changes” to the post-Brexit trading arrangement.
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Need a reminder of some of the other headlines over the past seven days?
Germany sidelined eastern European fears to strike a deal with the US over the ongoing Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline construction project. German Chancellor Angela Merkel completed the agreement as rural areas of her country began picking up the pieces after a series of devastating floods.
Extreme weather also struck China, where central provinces were overwhelmed by once-in-a-millennium rainfall that flooded underground metro systems and triggered the mass evacuation of people living in Zhengzhou.
Haiti swore in a new prime minister following the assassination of Jovenel Moise two weeks ago, while a series of disclosures in The Guardian revealed the widespread use of spyware software by authoritarian governments targeting their opponents.
The Tokyo Olympic Games, an event labelled the “strangest” in the competition’s history, kicked off in Japan. And Spain took a step towards healing divisions dating back to its 1930s civil war.
