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23 June

In the headlines

Face masks, social distancing and all other coronavirus restrictions in England could be lifted on 19 July. “It’s all over… The link between cases and deaths is broken,” a Cabinet source tells the Daily Mail. After beating the Czech Republic last night, England will face Germany, France, Portugal or Hungary in the next round of the Euro 2020 tournament – “Easy queasy,” says the Sun. Michael Gove “can’t see” an independence referendum happening in Scotland before the next general election in 2024, the Telegraph reports. More than five million people across the world became dollar millionaires last year – the pandemic has been “a boon for the rich”, says the FT.

Comment of the day

 

Noted

“Pacifically”, “probly” and “expresso” top a new list of the most irritating mispronounced words, says the Telegraph. They should be pronounced “specifically”, “probably” and “espresso”. Other annoying mispronunciations include “specially” (especially) and “Artick” (Arctic). Two-thirds of those surveyed said they would be too embarrassed to correct mispronounced words – but 10% would be happy to point out an error to strangers.

On the way out

More than 100,000 people have signed petitions to stop Jeff Bezos returning from space after he blasts off in his New Shepard rocket next month. The one with the most signatures is simply titled: “Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth.” 

Tomorrow’s world

Spiders are escaping floods in Victoria, southeast Australia, by creating billowing webs that cover swathes of countryside. Sheet web spiders use their silk like a grappling hook to hoist themselves away from the water: “The silk snakes up and catches on to vegetation,” insect specialist Dr Ken Walker tells The Age. Millions of them combine to produce the vast webs. The plague of webs has followed a mouse infestation in Victoria, but it could be worse, says Walker: “Without spiders, we’d have plagues of insects.”

Quoted 23-06

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard

Snapshot answer

It’s Alan Turing. The mathematician, who cracked the Enigma code and pioneered computer science, is on the face of a new £50 note that goes into circulation today. Even the note is techy – the Snapchat app has created an augmented-reality camera lens that transforms it into a moving image.