大象传媒

  1. Transfer news: Howe wants Botman and Lingardpublished at 07:33 Greenwich Mean Time 14 December 2021

  2. Acting chief constable appointed at troubled forcepublished at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    Cleveland Police appoints a temporary boss as the search for a seventh chief constable since 2012 goes on.

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  3. England's Stokes signs new Durham dealpublished at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    England all-rounder Ben Stokes signs a new three-year deal with Durham, to run to the end of the 2024 season.

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  4. Businessman stuck in South Africa over quarantinepublished at 17:41 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    Tim Cantle-Jones does not know if he will be home for Christmas after a fortnight of frustration.

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  5. Bridge's state 'would have been fixed in London'published at 16:32 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    Councillors are fuming there is still no government funds to restore the rusting Tyne Bridge.

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  6. Family funds counsellor for grieving parentspublished at 14:46 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    The loss of a baby boy led a Middlesbrough family to fundraise to help support others.

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  7. Transfer news: Magpies turn to Cookpublished at 13:07 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

  8. Newcastle 'went to pieces' in Leicester routpublished at 11:36 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

  9. Boosters 'don't offer same protection against Omicron' - expertpublished at 11:16 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    A woman in South Africa receives a Covid vaccineImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    A woman in South Africa receiving a Covid vaccine

    Booster jabs do not increase the level of protection against the Omicron variant as much as the previously dominant Delta strain, says an expert on Covid.

    Dr Emma Hodcroft, an epidemiologist at the University of Bern who grew up in north-east England, told 大象传媒 Radio Newcastle that protection is 鈥渕aybe more around 70%鈥 against Omicron, compared to 90% against Delta".

    She said: 鈥淭his is particularly important if you鈥檙e someone who is vulnerable or elderly, because it is good to know you may not have complete protection.鈥

    Early data from South Africa suggests Omicron 鈥渋sn鈥檛 quite as bad as previous variants鈥, says Dr Hodcroft, but there are important caveats which mean the UK 鈥渘eeds to be really cautious鈥:

    1. South Africa鈥檚 population is much younger than the UK鈥檚 so the outcomes don鈥檛 tend to be so bad
    2. A lot of South Africans have been infected and recovered from Covid or been vaccinated, so are less likely to get bad symptoms
    3. Many infected with Omicron have not had it for very long, and it can take weeks before you end up with symptoms bad enough to go to hospital
    Quote Message

    Even if Omicron is less harmful, it seems to be moving so quickly that if a lot of people in the UK got it at the same time, we could still risk overwhelming the NHS which is already stressed from Delta."

    Dr Emma Hodcroft, Epidemiologist at the University of Bern

  10. Who's the best defender you've faced?published at 10:57 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

  11. Booster rollout achievable at expense of services, says GPpublished at 10:19 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    The NHS could be forced to make difficult decisions on prioritising care ahead of a "long winter" to stop the spread of the Omicron variant, a Teesside GP says.

    Dr David Hodges (pictured below), who works in Stockton-on-Tees, says meeting the prime minister's target of Covid-19 booster jabs for all adults before January is ambitious.

    Stockton GP, Dr David Hodges

    He said: "It's achievable but only if other services are paused or if we can release staff from somewhere else, but the NHS doesn't have staff sat around doing very little - our local services are running at 100mph to get as many vaccines done as possible.

    Boris Johnson announced this weekend booster jabs would be offered to everyone over 18 in England from this week, after declaring an "Omicron emergency".

    Dr Hodges said: "Unless Covid changes I can see booster vaccines becoming regular to keep our immunity primed."

  12. E-scooters banned from Metro and ferry after firespublished at 10:11 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2021

    Operators of the Tyne and Wear Metro and Shields Ferry are following the example of Transport for London.

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  13. Latest updates from North East England Livepublished at 13:15 Greenwich Mean Time 10 December 2021

    Bringing you the latest news from across the North East from Monday 13 December to Friday 17 December 2021

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  14. New calls for PCC to quit over sex assault inquirypublished at 13:55 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2021

    Cleveland police boss Steve Turner says the calls are "playing party politics" with his reputation.

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  15. No watchdog probe into PCC theft allegationspublished at 15:10 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2021

    The IOPC says there is not enough evidence of one theft and another has already been dealt with.

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  16. Police boss will not resign over sex assault claimpublished at 19:57 Greenwich Mean Time 9 November 2021

    The police watchdog is investigating an historical allegation against Cleveland PCC Steve Turner.

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  17. Watchdog probes PCC over 'sexual assault claim'published at 19:27 Greenwich Mean Time 4 November 2021

    The office of the Cleveland police and crime commissioner said it would co-operate with the inquiry.

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  18. Police and crime chief referred to watchdogpublished at 12:40 British Summer Time 2 October 2021

    The Independent Office for Police Conduct is considering whether to take action over Steve Turner.

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  19. Police and crime chief admits 1990s cautionpublished at 08:18 British Summer Time 22 September 2021

    Steve Turner says he accepted the police caution after "an event" at a supermarket where he worked.

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  20. Massive win for Tory Cleveland PCC candidatepublished at 14:35 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

    Former councillor Steve Turner wins with nearly double the number of votes of his nearest rival.

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