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Many on social media have welcomed the North Gauteng High Court's ruling against lobby group AfriForum's request to have the Covid-19 regulations regarding beach closures declared unconstitutional.

The group submitted the motion after President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent announcement that beaches in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route would be closed from December 16 to January 3. Ramaphosa said this would help arrest the spread of Covid-19 as SA is experiencing a second wave of infections.

Ramaphosa also said beaches in KwaZulu-Natal would be closed on peak days - December 16, 25, 26 and 31 and from January 1-3.

After lodging its court papers last week, AfriForum said the move to close beaches was unconstitutional and discriminatory. The group said the restrictions on access to beaches amounted to the restriction of basic human rights.

Original post:
'These beaches will be the end of us!' - Mzansi responds to court ruling against AfriForum - TimesLIVE

We can never stress enough the need for citizens to take every precaution necessary as we celebrate the festive season and look for a reprieve from a tough year. Unfortunately, Covid-19 is unrelenting and we therefore can't afford to be complacent at this stage.

We urge all South Africans to adhere to the regulations and recommendations pertaining to the national state of disaster, avoid large gatherings and congested environments, ensure adequate ventilation in venues where they gather and vigilantly adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions, said the minister in a statement.

Social media was abuzz with reaction to the latest virus figures, with some users predicting that if South Africans don't do more to try to curb the spread of Covid-19, 2021 might be even worse.

Here are some of the reactions:

Excerpt from:
'The second wave is going to be a tsunami': Mzansi reacts to SA's highest daily hike in Covid infections - TimesLIVE

Airline staff who test positive are required to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine and their fellow crew members also face a stint in isolation. Airlines fear the rules could result in pilots and cabin crew being stranded in Australia leaving nobody to fly their aircraft out of the country.

One senior source at an international airline, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorised to speak to the media and feared jeopardising negotiations with the Victorian government, said the company was considering suspending flights to Victoria.

International airline crew face 14 days in quarantine if they test positive for COVID-19. Credit:Getty

Another airline industry source with knowledge of the threats, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said three other airlines were also contemplating changes as a result of the testing policy.

"We could be leaving a very expensive piece of metal on the ground," said the airline source. "We are seriously questioning if we continue operating to Melbourne."

US carrier United Airlines, Japan Airlines and Royal Brunei have made the loudest protests against the new policy, according to one government source with knowledge of the discussions. Other carriers currently flying to Melbourne include Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qatar.

It is not clear how serious the threats to suspend passenger services are or whether they are an attempt to have the government roll back an inconvenient policy.

Victoria's testing commander Jeroen Weimar said the government's position was non-negotiable.Credit:Jason South

Mr Weimar said that while he understood the new program was a "logistical challenge" for airlines and that some might suspend flights to Melbourne, "our position is non-negotiable".

"As weve seen in very recent developments both here and in Sydney, the air crew represents significant risk," he said.

"While were doing the right thing in terms of managing our international returning Australians in a very secure way, its important we also manage our international air crew in a similar way."

Mr Weimar said Victoria considered anyone part of a crew in which one member tests positive as a close contact and the "preferred position" was they would also isolate in a quarantine hotel, but that would be negotiated individually with each airline.

He also expressed frustration that travellers from NSW's "red zones" continued to arrive in Melbourne without a permit, with 48 people set to spend Christmas Day in hotel quarantine as a result.

"Regrettably I think another 11 or 12 turned up yesterday despite our fairly extensive communication program to encourage people not to return to Victoria from [the red zone areas] but nevertheless they're doing their 14 days of isolation in our hotel quarantine program," he said.

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"Clearly that's not a foolproof system. We understand that in this environment of contactless boarding that may be difficult to achieve but it is a bit frustrating."

Mr Weimar said he "implored" airlines to do better after the rules had been in place for many days now, saying the government expected them to "do their part of this job to ensure that the people who are travelling are eligible".

The COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney's northern beaches has hit air traffic at what is normally the busiest time of year, with 190 flights between Sydney and Melbourne cancelled over the past three days.

Meanwhile 25 international travellers have been granted exemption from Victoria's hotel quarantine program since it restarted on December 7. A DHHS spokeswoman said six exemptions were granted on medical and compassionate grounds, five were given to foreign diplomats and their family and one was granted to an unaccompanied minor.

The remaining 13 were approved for "international transit, interstate travel for medical or compassionate reasons and maritime crew members".

"These people all undertook the mandatory 14-day quarantine in an alternate location," said the spokeswoman. Mr Weimar said authorised officers regularly checked in on people allowed to self-isolate at home with fines up to about $5000 if they were caught out.

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Business reporter at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

Michael is a state political reporter for The Age.

Rachael Dexter is a breaking news reporter at The Age.

View post:
Airlines threaten to abandon Melbourne over COVID-19 test requirement - Sydney Morning Herald

The Telegraph

After almost four years of Brexit negotiations, Michel Barniers famous clock was still ticking. On Wednesday night, expectation was high that the EU and UK would finally strike the trade deal both sides have been waiting for. All seemed set fair for the white smoke on the agreement to be sent up but a last-minute hitch stalled progress. Negotiators were locked in a final push to get the deal over the line, determined not to add another missed deadline to a pile of discarded Brexit deadlines. The finger of blame in Brussels was pointed in the direction of an anonymous French official who had boasted to a news agency that Boris Johnson had made massive last-minute concessions. After that was flashed on the wires, progress ground to a halt. Cant they just shut up as long as there isnt a deal? It only provokes a reaction, an EU diplomat raged. The chances are that it wasn't entirely the fault of a blabbermouth official. A more likely culprit was a discussion on what the trading rules for electric car parts would be from January 1. But a deal is still tantalisingly close and real progress towards a final agreement on fishing, the level playing field and the deals enforcement was made on Wednesday. Mr Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, haggled furiously over fishing rights as the two leaders took control of the trade talks, speaking at least five times over the course of the day. It was only after being told no by the EU three times in one week that Boris Johnson started saying yes to Brussels. The road to the deal was paved after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, rejected the Prime Ministers pleas for direct talks in early December. UK-EU trade negotiations had been deadlocked since March over the issues of fishing, the level playing field guarantees and the deals enforcement. Mrs von der Leyen informed Mr Johnson that his request for direct intervention to find a breakthrough in the talks was denied for the second time. He was welcome to ask again, she told him over a fish supper on the 13th floor of commission headquarters on Wednesday, but the answer would still be no. But the December 9 dinner was also the beginning of an understanding between Mr Johnson and the president of the European Commission.

See the rest here:
Matt Hancock: The new variant is out of control - Yahoo News UK

The Deebot N79S is just $100 right now. Who cares if it's refurbished? It's backed by a 2-year Ecovacs warranty.

Farewell, 2020! (And good riddance, duh.) This is my last daily-deal post of the year. I'll be on vacation the remainder of this week and all through the next. Newsletters will keep coming, though, mostly consisting of content from other writers and some evergreen favorites.

Here's wishing you a safe, happy and healthy holiday and new year. I'm so thankful to have you as a reader and look forward to sharing more deal goodness with you in 2021.

Before I go, one last little roundup. As always, everything here is available for a limited time and while supplies last. Below all that, I've shared some of my favorite things of 2020. (Who doesn't love a good "best list"?)

Read more: CNET's 2020 Innovation Award winners made things better during a difficult year

Ay, yo: Own Creed for just $1.

Get all the latest deals delivered to your inbox. It's FREE!

You might think this is a year best forgotten, but amidall the conflict and heartache, some good stood out. Read on for the most notable deals and some of my favorite media of the year.

This thing again? Yeah, it's that good.

Best deal of 2020: Wyze introduced a bunch of impressive new products this year, but my nod goes to the one that started it all: the Wyze Cam. The new v3 model can work both indoors and out, plus it adds a wider field of view and improved low-light visibility. You still get 14 days of free cloud storage and support for dirt-cheap microSD storage. All that and the thing is still just $20. Read CNET's Wyze Cam v3 review to learn more.

Honorable mention: The Amazfit Bip S smartwatch did the impossible: Improved on the original but arrived with a lower price. For just $70 you get a feature-packed watch with an always-on display and amazing battery life. Ironically, it may soon get eclipsed by the Bip U Pro, which adds more features and an even better screen to the mix (though shorter battery life) for the same $70. Read CNET's Amazfit Bip S review to learn more.

The best game console, period. And $100 less than last year's model. Wait, what?

Honorable mention: Another incredibly pleasant surprise: The new Oculus Quest 2 VR headset also improved on the original and also arrived with a lower price. At $299, it's $100 less than the original, but it provides higher-resolution optics and a lighter, more streamlined design. Honestly, I can't get excited by new game consoles when the Quest lets me step inside games -- and gets me off the couch in the process. Read CNET's Oculus Quest 2 review to learn more.

Honorable mention: In a year positively packed with AirPods alternatives, one that really stood out for me was the Mpow X3 (currently $50 when you clip the on-page $10-off coupon). Touch controls, active noise-canceling, 4-mic call-noise reduction, USB-C case charging and more, all for one-fifth the cost of AirPods Pro. Sound quality: "Shockingly good" for the price, according to CNET's David Carnoy.

Best book: American Dirt, which I finished just last night. Wow. Ignore the utterly ridiculous (IMHO) controversy and dive into this riveting, heartbreaking, beautifully told story of a mother and son on the run. Want to see if it's available at your local library? Use the indispensable Library Extension.

All by itself, Hamilton is worth the price of a Disney Plus subscription. (And, hey, you get Baby Yoda, too.)

Best movie: Does the filmed version of a stage musical count as movie? If so, then Hamilton wins hands-down. I was already a fan, but getting to see the original cast was a genuine thrill. I also thoroughly enjoyed Palm Springs on Hulu and Molly's Game (not a new release, but new to me) on Netflix.

Best TV series:It's impossible to pick just one, so I'm calling it a multi-way tie between The Queen's Gambit, Mrs. America, Ozark, The Crown, Unorthodox, The Last Dance and Devs.

Best podcast: SmartLess, hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. The gimmick is that each week, one of the hosts brings on a guest to surprise the other two. And what amazing guests they've had: Jennifer Aniston, Paul McCartney and Conan O'Brien, to name just a few. But the real fun is listening to these three rip on each other the way guy-friends do.

Best app: TikTok. Yep, I said it. On any given day, when I allow myself down the just-five-minutes-oh-wait-it's-been-an-hour? rabbit hole of user-created content, I find myself alternately educated, informed and entertained. I've discovered genuinely useful products, learned great cooking tips and laughed out loud -- occasionally all at the same time.

Best thing on YouTube: Ryan George's Pitch Meeting series, bar none.

OK, everyone -- those are my picks. Let's hear yours!

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CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow himon FacebookandTwitter. You can also sign up for deal texts delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on theCNET Deals pageand check out ourCNET Coupons pagefor the latestWalmart discount codes,eBay coupons,Samsung promo codesand even more fromhundreds of other online stores. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.

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The Cheapskate's 2020 wrap-up: Final deals and top picks of the year - CNET