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  Published Date: 2020-08-05 

 22% of more than 500,000 business websites contain some form of racial and gender bias, according to UserWay. Getty Images/iStockphoto Website accessibility tech provider UserWay has released an AI-powered tool designed to help organizations ensure their websites are free from discriminatory, biased, and racially charged language. The tool, Content Moderator, flags content for review, and nothing is deleted or removed without approval from site administrators, according to UserWay. UserWay's customers are using its AI-powered accessibility widget, an advanced AI-based compliance-as-a-service (CaaS) technology that ensures brands provide an accessible digital experience that meets strict governmental and ADA regulations, the company said. "Focusing on digital racism and bias is long past due, and our team is eager to contribute to the conversation positively," UserWay founder and CEO Allon Mason said in a statement. In June, Google announced that it would be reevaluating what it considers acceptable language, Mason noted. So far, Google has changed terms including "blacklist" to "blocked list," "whitelist" to "allowed list," and "master-slave" to "primary/secondary," among others, he said. "That was the spark that triggered us to build this tool. At the time, we were enhancing our AI-powered capabilities that supply [alternate] text descriptions of images for screen readers," Mason said. "We realized that if word choices can make our customers' digital content inaccessible even without intending to, UserWay should help." The goal of the Content Moderator isn't to censor or silence, he added, but to make web teams aware of problematic language in user-generated content or in content they may have overlooked. SEE: Robotic process automation: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic) Discriminatory language on websites is pervasive Before launching Content Moderator, UserWay ran its rule engine across more than 500,000 websites. The findings were concerning, the company said. Some 22% of the sites scanned contained some form of biased, racially charged, or offensive language, UserWay said. Of those: 52% were sites with instances of racial bias 24% were sites with instances of gender bias 12% were sites with instances of age bias 5% were sites with racial slurs 3% were sites with disability bias Words that the tool most often flagged for gender bias included "chairman," "fireman," "mankind," "forefather," and "man-made," UserWay said. Many of these terms have only recently been understood to be divisive and prejudicial. It is an enormous task for most site owners to keep track of the latest consensus around culturally sensitive terms, the company noted. The tool aims to make this task simple, centralized, and scalable, UserWay said. SEE: Gender Decoder and blind resumes: How to remove bias in your hiring process (TechRepublic) How Content Moderator works Historically, content moderation software using AI to detect racial bias and divisive speech has been site-specific, expensive, and available only within large social media platforms, the company maintained. A website owner can drop in the UserWay widget and will be alerted to divisive or offensive language as it appears, in real time. The widget works in three steps: Scan: Content Moderator scans all the content on a website, both static and dynamic. Content Moderator scans all the content on a website, both static and dynamic. Flag: The tool then flags words and phrases that may inadvertently promote stereotypes or prejudice, including text that could be considered racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, xenophobic, violent, intolerant, or otherwise offensive. The tool then flags words and phrases that may inadvertently promote stereotypes or prejudice, including text that could be considered racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, xenophobic, violent, intolerant, or otherwise offensive. Review: Site administrators review the suggestions and choose the ones they would like to accept. They can also edit the suggestions to flow with the site's content or recommend alternative replacements that are then fed back into UserWay's AI. More inclusive speech is needed now In the past few weeks, many legacy brands such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben's, and Eskimo Pie, among others have yielded to mounting pressure from consumers to rid products of racial and ethnic stereotypes. Technology companies have likewise been reevaluating the usage of racialized words like "blacklist" and "whitelist" in favor of more inclusive language But brand integrity isn't the sole issue. Civil rights advocates, led by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have increased pressure to ensure websites are carefully moderated, and recent calls for repeal of Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act may expose online publishers to future legal action for defamation based on opinions or reviews created by platform users, according to UserWay. In tandem with UserWay's Accessibility Widget, Content Moderator helps organizations mitigate the legal risk of both ADA- and ADL-related violations, the company said "We all know a list of words that are mocking (to put it mildly) of a variety of racial groups, or a variety of religious groups, or other political or gender persuasions," UserWay quoted Israel W. Charny, Israeli psychologist, genocide scholar, and executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, as saying. "UserWay's … tool flags these words and allows you to change them, an act of voluntary editing with cultural sensitivity. Giving options for improvement reduces the onus of the coerciveness that some people are feeling." In the same way that HTML code is remediated, Content Moderator can help users pinpoint and update word choices on their site, Mason said. "While Google and Apple are approaching the issue as a simple search-and-replace, UserWay looks deeper into the problem of bias," he said. The tool looks to detect verbalization patterns that consistently and routinely marginalize and disempower specific cohorts, he said. Its dictionary is frequently updated to align with cultural and social changes. A content owner can choose to agree, modify, or ignore the Content Moderator's suggestions, Mason added. "We intend to empower users by making them aware of the content that exists on their site–especially legacy and user-generated text that may not reflect their brand values,'' he said. "More importantly, we hope that by removing blatantly and subtly offensive content, we can help these sites become barrier-free and inviting for all users." Tech News You Can Use Newsletter We deliver the top business tech news stories about the companies, the people, and the products revolutionizing the planet. Delivered Daily Sign up today Also see 

  Published Date: 2020-08-05 

 Artificial intelligence is now mission-critical in most large organizations. Creating a Center of Excellence helps centralize the process and keep the focus on the business. Image: ShadeON, Getty Images/iStockphoto A Center of Excellence is "a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support, and training for a focus area," and they are commonly used in healthcare to focus on specific problems or disciplines. I advocate that they can be used in organizations for artificial intelligence (AI) as well. What makes AI a strong candidate for a dedicated Center of Excellence is its rapidly expanding role as mission-critical technology in enterprises. Companies are finding that people in many different business units—not just data science or IT—want to be or are already involved with AI. SEE: Natural language processing: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic) In some cases, people are bringing in their own AI tools and solutions, but there is a need to orchestrate this buying to avoid waste. In other cases, people are independently developing their own AI and AI budgets, so there is no assurance that accountability for total AI spend or deployment exists. Together, these factors make a strong argument for an AI Center of Excellence. Such a center would include people from multiple business units, as well as from data science and IT. The goal would be to combine efforts, ideas, and budgets for an integrated and well-orchestrated approach to AI. Here are six tips for building a strong AI Center of Excellence: 1. A multi-disciplinary staff Many enterprises have "citizen" scientists in end-user departments. They also have a separate data science or IT staff performing AI work. The Center of Excellence would bring all of these people together into a single, cooperative AI unit. SEE: Hiring Kit: Computer Research Scientist (TechRepublic Premium) 2. Standardized tools and methods One of the downsides that occurs when individual business units and IT go off on their own to purchased AI solutions and tools is that the solutions and tools don't interoperate well with each other. This creates AI silos with data that is very difficult to leverage throughout the company. A central mission of the AI Center of Excellence should be standard solutions and tools so that every project uses a uniform methodology. 3. An IT life cycle approach for AI AI and big data are now mainstream and mission-critical. The era of pure experimentation is over, and it's time to get AI projects into useful production. A good way to do this is to borrow a page from traditional IT by using a project life cycle methodology. The methodology could even be the standard: Define, develop, test, stage, and deploy-and-maintain methods for applications. SEE: Robotic process automation: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic) One problem with many of today's AI projects is that they get stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of develop-test-retest, so they never make it into production. There should be more pressure for AI apps to make it into production so the apps can pay off for the company. 4. A user and IT outreach strategy for the CoE Because of its focus, a Center of Excellence can quickly become cloistered from the rest of the company. This can create a "silo." To avoid this, analysts from the Center should be assigned as liaisons to end business units and to IT. Continuous communications between the Center and the rest of the company assure that the Center stays in everyone's minds, which enables it to become integral to the company. SEE: 85% of organizations are using AI in deployed applications (TechRepublic) 5. An RTB goal A Center of Excellence should include some experimentation, but the end goal is always getting a return back to the business (RTB). To accomplish this, AI applications must be deployed in production where they deliver measurable value to operations, revenues, product development, and strategy. SEE: How to govern AI in your organization: 6 tips (TechRepublic) 6. Operational reviews every six months When you set up a new function, there are bound to be things that go well and others that need to be further tuned. Initially, the Center of AI Excellence should be reviewed every six months in order to effect tuneups based upon what has been learned. Data, Analytics and AI Newsletter Learn the latest news and best practices about data science, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Delivered Mondays Sign up today Also see 

  Published Date: 2020-08-05 

 Natural language processing is still being refined, but its popularity continues to rise. This new, better version is likely to help. Image: chepkoelena, Getty Images/iStockphoto When you speak to a computer, whether on the phone, in a chat box, or in your living room, and it understands you, that's because of natural language processing. The computer voice can listen and respond accurately (most of the time), thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). SEE: Hiring kit: Data Scientist (TechRepublic Premium) Natural language processing (NLP) is the language used in AI voice questions and responses. The processing of language has improved multi-fold over the past few years, although there are still issues in creating and linking different elements of vocabulary and in understanding semantic and contextual relationships. Despite these continued efforts to improve NLP, companies are actively using it. NLP has been a hit in automated call software and in human-staffed call centers because it can deliver both process automation and contextual assistance such as human sentiment analysis when a call center agent is working with a customer. NLP has also been used in HR employee recruitment to identify keywords in applications that trigger a close match between a job application or resume and the requirements of an open position. SEE: An IT pro's guide to robotic process automation (free PDF) (TechRepublic) In our homes, we use NLP when we give a verbal command to Alexa to play some jazz. So there's no surprise that NLP is on nearly every organization's IT road map as a technology that has the potential to add business value to a broad array of applications. This is precisely why the recent breakthrough of a new AI natural language model known as GPT-3. is significant. What is GPT-3? With GPT-3, 175 billion parameters of language can now be processed, compared with predecessor GPT-2, which processes 1.5 billion parameters. This new GPT-3 natural language model was first announced in June by OpenAI, an AI development and deployment company, although the model has not yet been released for general use due to "concerns about malicious applications of the technology." SEE: IBM highlights new approach to infuse knowledge into NLP models (TechRepublic) "GPT-3 takes the natural language Transformer architecture to a new level," said Suraj Amonkar, fellow AI@scale at Fractal Analytics, an AI solutions provider. "It's built for all of the world's languages, and has machine translation." The possibilities with GPT-3 are enticing. For a government or a multinational corporation , the ability to rapidly localize text and voice-based messages or translate them into virtually any world language—and to do it with automation—opens access to new customers and better support for field offices in foreign countries that are supporting company products or operations. , the ability to rapidly localize text and voice-based messages or translate them into virtually any world language—and to do it with automation—opens access to new customers and better support for field offices in foreign countries that are supporting company products or operations. For research institutions and for medical and life sciences researchers , the ability to easily translate a paper that is written in a foreign language can be done rapidly. , the ability to easily translate a paper that is written in a foreign language can be done rapidly. For media, publishing, and entertainment companies, there can be a fast way to translate the spoken and written word into many different languages. How GPT-3 can help an organization If you're looking at the IT strategic road map, the likelihood of using or being granted permission to use GPT-3 is well into the future unless you are a very large company or a government that has been cleared to use it, but you should still have GPT-3 on your IT road map. There is also a strong argument that if you are the CIO of a smaller organization, that the evolution of NLP language modeling into GPT-3 capabilities should not be ignored because natural language processing and the exponential processing capabilities that GPT-3 language modeling endows AI with are going to transform what we can do with processing and automating language translations and analytics that operate on the written and spoken word. If you're doing business in a global economy, as almost everyone is, that capability will be invaluable. Data, Analytics and AI Newsletter Learn the latest news and best practices about data science, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Delivered Mondays Sign up today Also see 

  Published Date: 2020-08-05 

 A new Harris Poll finds that Americans looking to gain an edge are trying to bolster their CV credentials with the most in-demand skills. Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto There are 30 million unemployed Americans. A new Harris Poll commissioned by Zapier found that two out of five workers say they were let go by their employer due to COVID-19. At least 70% of current job seekers—those unemployed or employed and looking—believe the key to landing a new job is automation. The number is even higher (86%) among those with a college degree or higher. According to the survey, "The Job Seekers Report," 30% have added automation to their resumes, while 31% said they planned to do so. With so many job-seekers adding to their skill set with the key word "automation," the Zapier survey queried, "is it possible employers will notice the omission?" SEE: Managing AI and ML in the enterprise 2020: Tech leaders increase project development and implementation (TechRepublic Premium) It makes sense that many Americans are looking to develop new skills or hone-in on existing ones—they're competing with the 41% who lost jobs due to the pandemic, and those also unemployed, as well as those who have jobs but need or want to make a change. A majority (83%) either have learned automation skills or planned to do so in the near future. The need and desire for efficiency could be from the need to maximize crucial, available time. Work hours invariably come at the expense of those in the home who are remote-learning or those tasked with helping or even teaching those remote learners. Many are still working remotely, with offices closed, and are burdened with the uncertainty of when and if they'll return to their offices. Many businesses have already declared a switch to all remote, a virtual office. Those surveyed find the biggest benefits of automation are: Makes you more efficient—42% Helps you save time—42% Allows you to get more done in a day—37% Helps you be a better employee—35% Saves you frustration on tedious tasks—29% Helps you concentrate on important tasks—26% Saves you from having to learn technical skills—24% Automation skills are valued across a swath of industries and projects, including the obvious (and popular) robotics, mobile phones, healthcare, entertainment, manufacturing, education, product delivery, transportation, DevOps, IT Ops, software testing, home-help products, and more. It's not only Zapier finding the rise of automation. As TechRepublic reported in May, automation could lead to another jobless recovery, according to Forrester. The firm's report, "The COVID-19 Crisis Will Accelerate Enterprise Automation Plans," indicated how critical automation will be to companies looking to "lower their exposure to future business disruption." Leslie Joseph, author of the Forrester report, said: "[A]utomation is a very big motion within most of the large SI's and consulting firms, who are aggressively upskilling their manpower. In fact, many SI's with large automation practices began with aggressively applying automation to their own internal delivery and back-office function, at significant scale." The article in TechRepublic noted, "Another caveat that may lead to fewer job losses is the expectation that large-scale automation of business processes and routine, repetitive tasks will not necessarily lead to large-scale job replacement." Joseph told TechRepublic: "Automation is not just like any standard technology implementation. It requires significant participation and support from the existing workforce. Successful automation leaders will bring their people along on the journey. This will include elements of reskilling of people whose jobs are sidelined by bots, to bring them back into helping run and manage the automation program itself." Methodology: Harris conducted the poll of 2,069 US adults, 18 or older, online between July 14 to July 16. Data, Analytics and AI Newsletter Learn the latest news and best practices about data science, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Delivered Mondays Sign up today Also see 

  Published Date: 2020-08-05 

 OptiVax tests potential vaccines for efficacy and population coverage, then designs vaccines for testing, all with artificial intelligence. Image: Shutterstock Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a new combinatorial machine learning system that could both decrease research time needed for a COVID-19 vaccine and make it more effective, researchers said. The platform, called OptiVax, focuses on developing peptide vaccines, which are a different approach from common whole virus, DNA, and RNA vaccines currently among the more than 100 vaccines in development. Peptide vaccines are a relatively recent development in the vaccination game that are designed around one specific short amino acid string, called a peptide, that can be found in the target disease. Peptide vaccines use a synthetic version of the peptide that is created in a laboratory and not harvested from the disease itself. Traditional vaccines have a larger amount of genetic information in them that isn't useful in developing resistance and can lead to unwanted immune responses and dangerous reactions—it's these genetic elements that peptide vaccines are designed to eliminate, MIT said. The peptides included in a peptide vaccine are, ideally, the most effective at building an immune response without unnecessary material, and are effective across a wider range of individuals. SEE: The new normal: What work will look like post-pandemic (TechRepublic Premium) In the case of COVID-19, MIT researchers aren't trying to develop a pure peptide vaccine, but are trying to create a complementary peptide that can improve traditional vaccines targeting the spike proteins that cover the virus. ""Based on our analysis [of a common COVID-19 vaccine], we developed an augmentation to improve its population coverage by adding peptides. If this works in animal models, the design could move to human clinical trials," said CSAIL researchers Ge Liu and Brandon Carter. OptiVax works by first testing a wide variety of peptide fragments to figure out which would be the best candidates for a vaccine. The data gathered by those machine learning-powered tests are scored on a wide range of criteria, including how the peptides react to various human genetic samples that are sorted by geographic location. SEE: Return to work: What the new normal will look like post-pandemic (free PDF) (TechRepublic) A completed OptiVax test would end with a vaccine designed by the machine learning model that would "maximize population coverage in different geographical regions, and from the number of peptides displayed per individual to improve the chances the person will become immune," the researchers said. The MIT researchers behind OptiVax said that the next step after finding a proper peptide vaccine is animal testing, after which they would move on to human tests if a clinical trial is warranted. OptiVax isn't limited to usefulness in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, either: The CSAIL team said that it could be used as a model for developing and testing vaccines for a variety of diseases using machine learning. Data, Analytics and AI Newsletter Learn the latest news and best practices about data science, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Delivered Mondays Sign up today Also see 

  Published Date: 2020-08-02 

 Image copyright EPA Image caption Melbourne's normally bustling city centre is now deserted The Australian state of Victoria has declared a state of disaster and imposed new lockdown measures after a surge in coronavirus infections. Under the new rules, which came into effect at 18:00 (08:00 GMT), residents of the state capital Melbourne are subject to a night-time curfew. There will be further restrictions on residents' ability to leave home. Australia has been more successful than many other countries in tackling Covid-19, but cases are rising in Victoria. The state - Australia's second most populous state - now accounts for many of the country's new infections in recent weeks, prompting the return of lockdown restrictions in early July. But on Sunday Premier Daniel Andrews said the measures were working but too slowly. "We must go harder. It's the only way we'll get to the other side of this," he told reporters. The new rules will remain in place until at least 13 September, Mr Andrews added. On Sunday, Victoria reported 671 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths. Those increases brought the totals to 11,557 infections and 123 deaths. What are the new restrictions? The night-time curfew is being implemented across Melbourne from 20:00 to 05:00. The only valid reasons for leaving home during these hours will be work, medical care or care-giving. Melbourne residents will only be allowed to shop and exercise within 5km (three miles) of their home. Exercise outside of the home will only be allowed for one hour at a time. Only one person per household is allowed to shop for essentials at a time. All students across the state are returning to home-based learning and childcare centres are closed. Restrictions will also be tightened across regional Victoria from Thursday, with restaurants, cafes, bars and gyms closing from 23:59 on Wednesday. Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Andrews said the new lockdown rules were necessary to curb the spread of the virus To ensure these rules are observed, police will be given additional powers, Mr Andrews said. "We have got to limit the amount of movement, therefore limiting the amount of transmission of this virus. We have to clamp down on this," Mr Andrews said. Why did Victoria become the epicentre of Australia's outbreak? The country has recorded about 17,000 infections and 200 deaths so far - with the majority of these in Victoria. Initially officials felt optimistic about containing Covid-19, with lockdowns and mandatory quarantines for people entering the country. For months, most cases were coming from travellers returning from overseas, but the spike in Melbourne has proved to be a major setback. Local transmissions have become a key source of infections, putting authorities on the back foot. In early July about 300,000 people were ordered back into lockdown amid a military-assisted operation to "ring-fence" 10 areas at the centre of the outbreak. Then, about five million residents of Melbourne were told to stay at home for six weeks. Image copyright EPA Image caption Health experts say the relaxation of lockdown rules contributed to the rise in cases in Melbourne Initially, Mr Andrews pinpointed the origin of many infections to security guards who reportedly broke lockdown rules while overseeing hotel quarantines. Health experts say the relaxation of rules, complacency on social distancing and sheer bad luck have all contributed to Victoria's rise in cases. Now Mr Andrews says the current rate of community transmission - including "mystery cases" that cannot be traced back to work or home - is far too high. "And they tell us, based on the current number, cases might begin to drop off, not in days or weeks, but months," Mr Andrews said. "That's not something I'm willing to accept." More on Melbourne's lockdown: 

  Published Date: 2020-08-02 

 Image copyright PA Media A Conservative MP has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of rape. The Sunday Times reported that the allegations against the former minister were made by an ex-parliamentary employee. The Met Police said the allegations relate to four separate incidents alleged to have taken place between July 2019 and January 2020. The Conservative Party said it takes such allegations "extremely seriously". The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said the complainant alleges that the MP assaulted her, forced her to have sex and left her so traumatised that she had to go to hospital. The Metropolitan Police said it had launched an investigation into the allegations. "On Friday, 31 July, the Metropolitan Police Service received allegations relating to four separate incidents involving allegations of sexual offences and assault," the force said in a statement. "These offences are alleged to have occurred at addresses in Westminster, Lambeth and Hackney between July 2019 and January 2020. "A man in his 50s was arrested on Saturday 1 August on suspicion of rape. He has been released on bail to return on a date in mid-August." A Conservative Party spokesman said: "We take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously. As this matter is now in the hands of the police it would be inappropriate to comment further." There are also reports that the Conservative Party's chief whip, Mark Spencer, had been aware of allegations - and previously spoke with the alleged victim. According to sources, Mr Spencer had not known the "magnitude" of the allegations. A spokesman for the chief whip said that he took all allegations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and had strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-02 

 Image copyright PA Media Image caption Mr Jenrick said parents would know that home-schooling is no substitute for the classroom Reopening schools in September is an "absolute priority" for the government and it will be safe, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said. It comes after teaching unions called for clarity amid a rise in the number of coronavirus cases and the decision to pause lockdown easing in England. "We have to get children back to school in September," said Mr Jenrick. Schools are due to open in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to all pupils at the start of next term. They closed in March, except to the children of key workers, but some reopened to certain year groups before the summer holiday. However, unions have raised questions over the plans to reopen schools, after England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned the country is "near the limit" for opening up society. And earlier this weekend, two scientists advising the government said there may need to be trade-offs around lockdown easing - for example some restrictions may need to come back into force so that it is safe to allow pupils back into the classroom. Asked about the issue by the BBC, Mr Jenrick said: "We have to get children back to school in September. "It's so important for the future for our children and for our whole country that they have face to face contact with their teachers in the classroom "We're working very closely with headteachers and the teaching unions to make sure that all the steps necessary are put in place over the summer so that the children can go back in September and it is an absolute priority for the government." Image copyright Reuters Image caption Schools in England began reopening to some year groups in June He said he believes that schools "will be safe in September". "We published very detailed guidelines and of course we're going to keep working with headteachers over the course of August as they finalise their own plans as to how their schools can operate safely in accordance with the guidelines. "This is a really important issue for the country. Everyone who is a parent knows that however much work has been put into remote learning over the course of recent months it isn't a substitute for getting children back into the classroom." 'Be transparent' On Sunday, Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union, told the Observer ministers will have to convince staff and parents that it is still safe to reopen schools next month. "The warning from the chief medical officer that a fine balance has to be struck in ensuring public health at this stage of the pandemic, and that the country may have reached the limits to the easing of lockdown, will no doubt prompt questions for many parents as well as for those working in schools," he said. Mr Roach warned that, if schools are to reopen safely, the government needed to give teachers clarification around the latest scientific advice "as well as sufficient time to review and, if necessary, adjust their reopening plans". The National Education Union also issued a statement, saying the government needs "to monitor the situation nationally and in each region" and "be transparent about what the picture means for schools". "It is clear, however, that [the] government needs a plan B in the event that restrictions have to be increased in or before September," said the union's deputy general secretary Avis Gilmore. Boris Johnson has previously pledged that both primary and secondary schools in England will return in September "with full attendance". Prof Graham Medley, a scientist advising the government, told the BBC on Saturday that pubs or "other activities" in England may need to close to allow schools to reopen next month. He said he believed most people "think that opening schools is a priority for the health and wellbeing of children and that when we do that we are going to reconnect lots of households". "And so actually, closing some of the other networks, some of the other activities may well be required to enable us to open schools," he added. "It might come down to a question of which do you trade-off against each other, and then that's a matter of prioritising. Do we think pubs are more important than schools?" A Department for Education spokesman said: "We have set out the controls schools should use, including cleaning and hygiene measures, to substantially reduce the risk of transmission of the virus when they open to all children from September." Mr Jenrick also dismissed newspaper reports that there were plans to introduce shielding for people above a certain age as "speculation". "You would expect the government to be considering all of the range of options that might be available," he told Times Radio. "That's not something that is being actively considered." On Friday, the PM said further easing of the lockdown would be delayed. Measures due to come in this weekend, including the reopening of casinos, bowling alleys, skating rinks and some close-contact services, as well as the return of indoor performances and pilots of large gatherings in sports venues and conference centres, have been postponed for at least a fortnight. Mr Johnson said on Friday he needed to "squeeze the brake pedal" on easing restrictions following a rise in coronavirus cases. Latest figures showed a further 74 deaths were reported in the UK on Saturday, taking the total number of people who have died after testing positive for the virus to 46,193. The latest government statistics also showed 771 new cases had been confirmed. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-02 

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Schools in England began reopening to some year groups in June Teachers and parents need "greater clarity" on the reopening of schools amid a rise in coronavirus cases, the head of a leading teachers' union says. Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said teachers need extra details to prepare for pupils' return. Schools in England are due to reopen in September. There are separate plans for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The government said it has set out the measures that schools in England should follow to reduce the transmission risk. It comes as two scientists advising the government said some restrictions may need to come back into force to allow pupils back into the classroom. And England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned the country is "near the limit" for opening up society. 'Be transparent' Mr Roach told the Observer ministers will have to convince staff and parents that it is still safe to reopen schools next month. "The warning from the chief medical officer that a fine balance has to be struck in ensuring public health at this stage of the pandemic, and that the country may have reached the limits to the easing of lockdown, will no doubt prompt questions for many parents as well as for those working in schools," he said. Boris Johnson has previously pledged that both primary and secondary schools in England will return in September "with full attendance". Mr Roach warned that, if schools are to reopen safely, the government needed to give teachers clarification around the latest scientific advice "as well as sufficient time to review and, if necessary, adjust their reopening plans". The National Education Union also issued a statement, saying the government needs "to monitor the situation nationally and in each region" and "be transparent about what the picture means for schools". "It is clear, however, that [the] government needs a plan B in the event that restrictions have to be increased in or before September," said the union's deputy general secretary Avis Gilmore. On Sunday, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told Times Radio that schools would definitely return to full capacity in September. "I think you're right to say that reopening schools and getting our children back into the classroom with that direct face-to-face contact with their teachers will be a priority for the government when we have to make those tough choices," he said. Prof Graham Medley, a scientist advising the government, told the BBC on Saturday that pubs or "other activities" in England may need to close to allow schools to reopen next month. Prof Medley, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) sub-group on pandemic modelling, said he believed most people "think that opening schools is a priority for the health and wellbeing of children and that when we do that we are going to reconnect lots of households". "And so actually, closing some of the other networks, some of the other activities may well be required to enable us to open schools," he added. "It might come down to a question of which do you trade off against each other, and then that's a matter of prioritising. Do we think pubs are more important than schools?" Another Sage member, Prof Calum Semple, from the University of Liverpool, said there would probably be a second wave of the virus in October and "some hard decisions will need to be made about what restrictions need to be reintroduced". A Department for Education spokesman said: "We have set out the controls schools should use, including cleaning and hygiene measures, to substantially reduce the risk of transmission of the virus when they open to all children from September." On Friday, the PM said further easing of the lockdown would be delayed. Measures due to come in this weekend, including the reopening of casinos, bowling alleys, skating rinks and some close-contact services, as well as the return of indoor performances and pilots of large gatherings in sports venues and conference centres, have been postponed for at least a fortnight. The expansion of wedding receptions to allow up to 30 people is also on hold. Mr Johnson said on Friday he needed to "squeeze the brake pedal" on easing restrictions following a rise in coronavirus cases. Latest figures showed a further 74 deaths were reported in the UK on Saturday, taking the total number of people who have died after testing positive for the virus to 46,193. The latest government statistics also showed 771 new cases had been confirmed. 

  Published Date: 2020-08-02 

 Image copyright PA Media A Conservative MP has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of rape. The Sunday Times reported the allegations against the former minister had been made by an ex-parliamentary employee. The Metropolitan Police said the allegations related to four separate incidents claimed to have taken place between July 2019 and January 2020. The Conservative Party called the allegations "serious". But it said the MP would not have the party whip withdrawn while the police investigation continued, meaning he can continue to sit in the House of Commons as a Conservative. Labour said this decision was "shocking" and sent a "terrible message from Westminster". The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said the complainant alleges that the MP had assaulted her, forced her to have sex and left her so traumatised that she had to go to hospital. The Metropolitan Police said it had launched an investigation into the allegations. "On Friday, 31 July, the Metropolitan Police Service received allegations relating to four separate incidents involving allegations of sexual offences and assault," the force said in a statement. "These offences are alleged to have occurred at addresses in Westminster, Lambeth and Hackney between July 2019 and January 2020. "A man in his 50s was arrested on Saturday 1 August on suspicion of rape. He has been released on bail to return on a date in mid-August." A spokesman for the Conservative Party whips' office said: "These are serious allegations and it is right that they are investigated fully. "The whip has not been suspended. This decision will be reviewed once the police investigation has been concluded." For Labour, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding Jess Phillips told Times Radio the MP accused of rape should have the party whip withdrawn while investigations continued. She said that not doing so was "sending a terrible message from Westminster". Ms Phillips also said: "I find it shocking… that the Conservative Party has decided not to withdraw the whip in this case." There are also reports that the Conservative Party's chief whip, Mark Spencer, had been aware of allegations - and previously spoke with the alleged victim. According to sources, Mr Spencer had not known the "magnitude" of the allegations. A spokesman for the chief whip said that he took all allegations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and had strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities.