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Haunting pics of mass coronavirus funeral service in Spain as hundreds gather for eerie socially distanced ceremony – The Sun

HAUNTING pictures show a hundreds of people at a socially distanced coronavirus funeral mass held in Spain.

Mourners gathered in Seville Cathedral, wearing face masks and sitting on chairs two meters apart instead of in pews, for the emotional service.

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The 500 masked mourners clasped their hands and bowed their heads in prayer throughout the service, lef the archbishop of Seville, Juan Jose Asenjo.

Spain went into lockdown on March 14 and its coronavirus death toll 27,133 is among the world’s highest with 287 in the city.

But restrictions are slowly being eased in May, allowing the funeral mass to go ahead.

The ceremony in Seville was by strict invitation ensure social distancing measures were maintained and relatives had to email ahead to ensure a seat would be reserved, RTL.lu reports.

A choir and orchestra performed Mozart's Requiem as family members wiped away tears.

Some travelled hundreds of miles from other parts of Spain where ceremonies are not yet allowed.

Mourners were given clear instructions by a priest to remove their masks for a brief moment to take communion wafers safely.

Pews were removed and replaced them with individual seats while hand sanitiser dispensers were set up at the entrance to the Cathedral.

Coronavirus cases have been dropping and Spain’s health ministry announced at the beginning of this month no deaths over a 24 hour period for the first time since March.

The country reached a peak of 950 deaths on April 2, which was the biggest daily jump that any country had recorded at that point.

The mass was held as it emerged Spain is considering plans to reopen its land borders with France and Portugal from 22 June.

Foreign visitors arriving in Spain will no longer have to undergo a two week quarantine from the start of July.

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Madeleine McCann suspect had a relationship with a British woman

Madeleine McCann suspect had a year-long relationship with a British woman while living in Praia da Luz in 2004

Christian Brueckner, 43, was with English girlfriend from 2004 to 2005
43-year-old German paedophile had relationship with her in Praia da Luz
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from resort in same area in May 2007
Brueckner also had underage Kosovan girlfriend he lived with in Germany
** Do you know Brueckner’s English girlfriend? Email: [email protected] **

The new prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case had a year-long relationship with a British woman two years before the girl disappeared, it was claimed today.

German paedophile Christian Brueckner, 43, was together with his unidentified English girlfriend from 2004 to 2005 while living near Praia da Luz in Portugal.

Two years later three-year-old Madeleine vanished from a resort in the area in May 2007 – and Brueckner has now been identified as the main suspect 13 years later.

Christian Brueckner (left), 43, is now the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann (right), who vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3, 2007

This map shows where 43-year-old Brueckner lived on the Algarve in relation to Praia da Luz

Brueckner also had an underage Kosovan former girlfriend whom he lived with in Braunschweig after returning to Germany following Madeleine’s disappearance.

Police want to speak to this Kosovan woman whom police believe he may have returned to Portugal with on his most recent trip around five years ago.

The Kosovan is thought to have left the area before Madeleine vanished, while Brueckner is said to have stayed in Praia da Luz, possibly sleeping in a campervan.

One neighbour said Brueckner lived with a girlfriend at a farmhouse above Praia da Luz but ‘kept to himself’ and allowed the property to fall into disrepair.

When Brueckner lived in the farmhouse above Praia da Luz (pictured) on the Algarve in Portugal, he seldom mixed with his neighbours and allowed the property to fall into disrepair

Another neighbour told how he moved into the home in the mid-1990s with a German girlfriend who left around a year and a half later.

They said: ‘They seemed to have a tempestuous relationship. I would hear them arguing. I knew very little about his life but he seemed to me to be a choleric man.’

The German drifter spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle – but not long after Madeleine vanished in 2007, he left Portugal and returned to his homeland.

It was in a German bar exactly ten years later – on the anniversary of the three-year-old’s disappearance – that Becks-drinking Brueckner turned the spotlight on himself.

The Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared during a family holiday in 2007

As Madeleine’s face flashed up on the bar’s television screen, he reportedly turned to his drinking partner and claimed he ‘knew all about’ the case.

He is alleged to have said something to suggest he knew what had happened to Maddie, according to a report on Sky News.

Later, it is claimed, he showed his companion a video of himself raping an elderly American widow in Portugal in 2005. The friend contacted German police.

Brueckner swiftly became of interest to the detectives probing Madeleine’s disappearance. It was three more years before his name became public.

The last photograph taken of Madeleine shows her smiling next to her little sister Amelie and their father Gerry at 1.30pm on May 3, 2007 in Portugal, the day she went missing

One friend told the Mail that Brueckner’s ‘life situation’ was ‘a bit chaotic’, but added that ‘if everything is true then he was indeed a master of illusion’.

Born in 1976, Brueckner was said to have been raised ‘in a home’ and committed his first burglary in his home town of Wuerzburg in Bavaria when he was just 15.

Within two years, he was convicted of sexually abusing a child, earning him a two-year youth sentence in 1994. A report claimed he served only part of this term.

Brueckner went on to notch up convictions for drug dealing, driving under the influence and without a licence – before taking off to the Algarve after turning 18.

** Do you know Brueckner’s English girlfriend? Email: [email protected] **

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Greta Thunberg condemns 'police brutality escalating in the US'

Greta Thunberg condemns ‘police brutality and attacks on the free press escalating in the US’ during Black Lives Matter protests and calls on the EU to take action

Greta Thunberg, 17, responded to video of cops shoving a man, 75, to the ground
White-haired man cracks his head on sidewalk and immediately starts bleeding
Thunberg asked: ‘How long are we going to stand by, watch and say nothing?’

Greta Thunberg has called on EU leaders to condemn ‘police brutality and attacks on the free press’ in the US during the Black Lives Matter protests.

The 17-year-old climate change activist took to Twitter to respond to footage of two police officers shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground, causing him to crack his head on the sidewalk, in Buffalo, New York.

Miss Thunberg wrote: ‘Still waiting for the EU and individual democratic nations to officially condemn the police brutality and attacks on the free press escalating the USA.

Greta Thunberg has called on EU leaders to condemn ‘police brutality and attacks on the free press’ in the US during the Black Lives Matter protests

The 17-year-old climate change activist took to Twitter to respond to footage of two police officers shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground, causing him to crack his head on the sidewalk

‘For how long are we going to stand by, watch and say nothing?’

Her tweet comes in the second week of unrest in the US sparked by the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last Monday.

White police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds despite Floyd’s desperate repeated pleas for help. Floyd passed out and later died.

His death is seen as a symbol of systemic police brutality against African-Americans sparking outrage and protests country-wide.

Footage of the police shoving the protester in Buffalo was taken by a reporter from local radio station WBFO.

An elderly man was seen approaching Buffalo police officers in riot gear outside of City Hall on Thursday

Shocking video showed two officers inexplicably shoving him before he staggers and falls to the ground

Many of the officers continued marching, while two cops leaned over to check on the man

Governor Cuomo responded to the incident on Twitter calling it ‘utterly disgraceful’

The white-haired man could be seen approaching a line of officers in riot gear outside of Buffalo City Hall after the city’s 8pm curfew on Thursday.

As the man tries to speak to the officers, they immediately begin shouting at him to move along, before one of them pushes him with a baton and a second cop shoves him with his hand.

The elderly man is then seen staggering before falling back and hitting his head on the sidewalk. The sound of a crack is heard before blood trickles from his head.

The man, who was not identified, was taken to the hospital where he is now in serious condition, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.

Horrific footage released last week showed a little girl screaming for help after she was allegedly pepper-sprayed by cops in Seattle

Police initially released a statement saying a person ‘was injured when he tripped and fell.’ The two cops are now under investigation.

Police forces across the country have been widely criticised for their use of heavy-handed tactics on largely-peaceful protesters.

In Brooklyn, hundreds of people were seen in a video marching down the street around 9pm before cops suddenly charged toward protesters without warning, prompting hundreds to take off running and disperse.

In a shocking video uploaded by journalist John Knefel, an NYPD officer wearing a white shirt is seen beating a male cyclist with his baton, before two more cops come along and knock him to the ground and restrain him.

A protester is arrested on Fifth Avenue by NYPD officers as they cracked down on people violating the 8pm curfew

Police began to move in on crowds and carried out arrests after thousands remained on the streets

Thousands continued marching across the city following a George Floyd vigil in Brooklyn that drew a crowd of 10,000 people

The man, who had been walking along peacefully with his bike, is heard repeatedly shouting: ‘What did I do?’ as cops seize him.

Yesterday a protester who faced off with cops at a rally in California claimed one officer threatened to spray tear gas at his two-year-old son.

Dontae Parks, 29, was carrying his little boy on his shoulders at the demonstration in Long Beach on Sunday when the policeman allegedly made the threat.

Parks says he believes that the officer would not have threatened to spray tear gas at his son if they were white.

‘It would have been a whole different scenario and that’s one of the reasons I was there [at the protest]’ he stated.

Parks was captured in a dramatic photo which showed a different officer pointing a rubber bullet gun at his face while his young son watched on.

Horrific footage released last week showed a little girl screaming for help after she was allegedly pepper-sprayed by cops in Seattle.

The youngster screams and yells ‘I can’t see’ as frantic onlookers rush over to help her.

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Man is arrested over death of pregnant elephant

Man is arrested over death of pregnant elephant that was killed by feeding it a pineapple filled with firecrackers

Elephant walked into village near Silent Valley National Park, Palakkad, last week
She ate food – thought to be pineapple – intentionally stuffed with the explosives
It is technique used by locals to keep wild animals away from their crops in India
Rubber tapper in 40s was arrested for handling explosives and assisting others

A man has been arrested over the death of a pregnant elephant who was killed after eating food laced with firecrackers in India.

The elephant wandered into a village near Silent Valley National Park, Palakkad, last week.

There she unwittingly ate food – thought to be pineapple – intentionally stuffed with the explosives, a technique used by locals to keep wild animals away from their crops.

The device exploded in her mouth and she was left in excruciating pain for days before dying standing up in a river on May 27.

Today a rubber tapper in his 40s was arrested for handling explosives and assisting others, Chief Wildlife Warden Surendra Kumar said.

A man has been arrested over the death of a pregnant elephant (pictured) who was killed after eating food laced with firecrackers in India

Images of the elephant standing in the Velliyar River with her trunk and wounded mouth submerged under the surface prompted international outcry

It comes after three suspects were identified yesterday.

Palakkad district police chief G Siva Vikram told New Delhi Television: ‘The arrested man is a rubber tapper. A search is on for others.’

Images of the elephant standing in the Velliyar River with her trunk and wounded mouth submerged under the surface prompted international outcry.

A postmortem on the elephant showed that she was around 15 years old but days of starvation likely left her looking significantly smaller.

A postmortem on the elephant (pictured in the river) showed that she was around 15 years old but days of starvation likely left her looking significantly smaller

The creature ate the fire cracker-laced food and it exploded in her mouth causing ‘severe traumatic injury’.

She was unable to eat or drink for days and wandered – while incredibly weak – into a river, likely to stop flies and bugs from entering the cuts.

Her official cause of death was respiratory failure after inhaling water.

While local officials initially said the elephant ate pineapple, the post mortem was unable to confirm this.

Forest Officer of Mannarkkad, Aashique Ali U told the TV station: ‘We right now don’t know what the crackers were mixed with.

‘Locally crackers in this area are mixed with fruits or animal fat. But we haven’t been able to find anything conclusively.’

A ten-member Special Investigation Team will begin tracking the elephant’s movements on Friday.

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Progressives’ dreams will send New York right back to ‘70s blight

In 1974, a great movie called “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” featured the hijacking of a subway car. The crooks demand a million-dollar ransom from New York City. “Goddamit,” yells the mayor, “this city doesn’t have a million dollars!”

No one-liner was ever so prophetic. The following year, in mid-October 1975, New York City owed its creditors a payment of $453 million — and had exactly $34 million on hand the day before the bill came due.

Yes, this nation’s largest city had the equivalent of two quarters and some lint in its collective pocket when the bill collector came to call.

What I’m saying is we’ve seen this movie before. And we could be heading for a remake.

Before the riots and looting of the past week, New Yorkers were facing existential questions about their continued residence in the city going forward. Primarily this: How can we stay here when the compensating pleasures of a life lived in crowds might be putting us and our families in danger?

The economic crash caused by the coronavirus response also raised the prospect of an increasing tax burden in this very highly taxed city to deal with the inevitable budgetary shortfalls that will come in its wake — which will inevitably mean paying more for fewer services.

Now, however, there’s a third existential question: How can we stay here when we’ve seen mass lawlessness go unpunished and the authorities in charge entirely ineffectual (at best) when it comes to keeping the streets safe?

The dream vision of the newest generation of activist urban politicians — living in a world in which job-creating businesses like Amazon are treated like pariahs and the systems by which law is enforced are viewed as enforcers of inequality and injustice — is getting closer to reality.

And people who were already thinking of fleeing for their health are thinking even harder about hitting the road to protect their personal safety and long-term security.

Nationwide, nightmarish images of apparent police misconduct are fueling a radical movement against policing itself — the idea being that cops in the United States should be defined not by the protection they provide but by the exceptional monsters that arise occasionally in their midst.

No matter. Julia Salazar, a self-described socialist state senator representing Brooklyn, is thrilled by the prospect of slashing police budgets.

“To see legislators who aren’t even necessarily on the left supporting at least a significant decrease in New York Police Department funding is really very encouraging,” she told The Guardian.

It’s encouraging if you know nothing about history.

In the 1960s and 1970s, police officers in New York City lost the confidence of the public. To some degree, this was well-deserved, as investigations uncovered deep corruption and official policies (so-called “911 policing”) changed priorities from preventing crime to showing up on the scene after the crimes had been committed.

Just when cops were needed most, they were at their most ineffectual. And that may be the long-term consequence of the current sustained effort to delegitimize their profession.

It was surely not lost on anyone with eyes that adding an ideological and racial element to an act of raw economic criminality like looting immediately places the authorities in this city and elsewhere on the spiritual and actual defensive. And so a new tool has been added to the felon’s kit.

Add all of this together and you get a recipe for depopulation. In 1970, New York City had a population of 7.8 million. In 1980, New York City had a population of 7 million.

The fiscal crisis of 1975 was due in large part to those missing taxpayers, almost all of them middle class and almost all of them refugees to the suburbs.

The crime wave that began in 1964 haunted the lives of everyone in the city. And as the government’s bank account began to deplete itself, so did the city’s resources. Garbage pickup slowed. Street cleaning slowed. Grassy parkland became the exception rather than the rule.

It took 20 years, the end of the three-decade crime wave and the astonishing growth of the financial-services sector beginning in 1983 for the city’s numbers to return to those of 1970 — and grow beyond that in the next 20 to 8.5 million.

The flight to safety may be upon us again. And we’ll see how Julia Salazar, who’s 29 years old, likes living in and trying to govern a city with broken finances, a broken police department and the menace and despair that rose from the pavement like the intolerable, shimmering heat of a New York City summer.

[email protected]

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Destroying property is too violence — and it’s obscene to say otherwise

Breaking things and burning buildings is enjoying a vogue it hasn’t had since the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Arson and looting are a perennial feature of urban unrest, but they have been pretty universally condemned for decades now — until the last week or so.

Forced to choose between criticizing the George Floyd protests when they get out of hand and defending the indefensible, activists and writers on the left have been tempted into the latter.

Their inventive, if completely absurd, contention is that the destruction of property doesn’t qualify as violence and, at the end of the day, isn’t such a bad thing, maybe even a salutary thing.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning architect of The New York Times’ 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, argued in an interview: “Violence is when an agent of the state kneels on a man’s neck until all of the life is leached out of his body. Destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence. To use the same language to describe those two things is not moral.”

The editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, favorably quoted a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Global Network, who explained, “We don’t have time to finger-wag at protesters about property. That can be rebuilt. Target will reopen.”

An article in Current Affairs asserted that applying the word “violence” to the destruction of property risks “making the term conceptually incoherent and — much more important — conflating acts that do very serious physical harm to people with acts that have not physically harmed anyone.”

Now, it’s obviously true that what happened to George Floyd is sickening, and that harming a person is much worse than damaging property. But that doesn’t mean both aren’t acts of violence and both aren’t wrong.

Property is not an abstraction. It gives people shelter and a sense of protection and stability. If the property is a business, it often represents years of sweat, tears and dreams.

For someone to come and destroy it in a spasm of rage or gleeful looting is felt as a profound violation, and understandably so.

In Minneapolis, rioters ransacked the bar of an African-American former firefighter named Korboi Balla. He had invested his life savings in the place, which he’d planned to open any day.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Balla said. “We’ve been working so hard for this place. It’s not just for me, it’s for my family.”

But hey, it was just property.

Those who minimize looting often explain that businesses have insurance, so what’s the big deal? But Balla wasn’t insured, and neither are many small businesses.

How about chain stores like Target? They have more resources. But there’s still a cost. They may decide it’s too risky to open back up in a neighborhood where a store has been looted. And these businesses employ black people and have black customers.

It is ahistorical to assume that urban areas easily bounce back from the large-scale destruction of property. Cities like Newark, Detroit and Washington arguably never recovered, or took decades to fully recover, from the riots of the 1960s.

Finally, there isn’t such a clear distinction between harming property and people. Some shop owners will try to defend their livelihoods or hire security guards to do it. We’ve seen business owners beaten and a security guard at a St. Louis pawn shop shot and killed by people who, presumably, started out “only” wanting to destroy and steal property.

It’s easy to be cavalier about someone else’s property. The former ESPN NBA reporter Chris Martin Palmer celebrated an image of a building burning in Minneapolis, tweeting, “Burn that s - - - down. Burn it all down.”

Then, when rioters got close to where he lived, Palmer lashed out at them as “animals.”

He subsequently explained that he doesn’t endorse the destruction of property and supports peaceful protest. That’s the right position, although one that is now, incredibly enough, controversial.

Twitter: @RichLowry

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George Floyd’s brother tells Brooklyn protesters he is proud of them

The younger brother of George Floyd thanked a throng of demonstrators in his home borough of Brooklyn on Thursday, telling them he was proud of them and encouraging them to continue their fight — peacefully — for justice.

“I’m proud of your protest,” Terrence Floyd told some 5,000 protesters gathered at Cadman Plaza, after taking the podium to chants of “You are not alone!”

“Brooklyn, trouble don’t last always,” he said to cheers.

Floyd began his speech by telling the crowd of his own journey from anger to hope.

“I want to thank God,” he began.

“I was mad, I was upset, but it wasn’t his fault,” he said of his brother. “It was his purpose. It was his will.

“I want to thank God. At the end of the day, my brother is gone, but the Floyd name still lives on,” he said.

Floyd urged protesters to remain peaceful.

“I’m proud of the protest, but I’m not proud of the destruction ,” he said. “My brother wasn’t about that. The Floyds is a God-fearing family,” he said.

“I want to say this; power to the people,” he added, to more cheers.

“Not just some people. Not just the people they think is important … I’m talking about the people,” he said.

Local civil rights leaders and politicians are also speaking at the enthusiastic, peaceful rally — all of them received warmly with the exception of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was heckled off the stage.

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Chilling pic shows bloodsoaked middle aged woman, 45 enjoying coffee and cigarette after savagely butchering her friend – The Sun

A WOMAN has been accused of trying to SCALP a 60-year-old man while he was still alive after beating and torturing him through the night.

The blood-soaked woman, known only as "Natalia", has been accused of murder after the mutilated body of her friend was found near her porch.

Natalia, 45, allegedly attacked her friend, "Vasily", after an argument during her house party in the village of Loboikivka, central Ukraine on Monday.

Images too grim to publish show Vasily's head split wide open with a flap of skin hanging from his skull.

The savage incident unfolded over the course of the night in front of her 16-year-old daughter, who has since been placed in an orphanage and is receiving counselling.

Pictures taken by Ukrainian police show the entire front garden and yard splattered in blood.

According to local reports, Natalia stabbed her elderly victim with a kitchen knife multiple times before grabbing an axe handle and "beating him to a pulp" throughout the night until he stopped breathing.

The former director of the local post office then called the police on herself.

Officers found Natalia sitting on her porch, covered with blood, calmly enjoying her morning coffee and a cigarette.

Responders said they were sickened by the sight of Vasily’s mutilated body that was lying on the ground near the porch.

A neighbour, Diana, told local media: “She [Natalia] turned the man’s head and body into a bloody mess.

“His hairline was partially cut off because she had tried to scalp him. She also had stuffed his mouth with bread to muffle his screams.

“The courtyard of her house was drenched in blood.

“Speaking with policemen, she was calm, casually telling the details of the horrific night.”

Forensics found dozens of knife wounds on the victims head and body.

The forensics report said that Vasily was still alive when Natalia tried to scalp him and confirmed the woman was covered with the victim’s blood during her arrest.

Natalia is now being held in custody for murder after she confessed in full but could not remember what started the argument with her victim.

Police spokeswoman, Hanna Starchevska, said: “The suspect was drinking with a friend when a conflict erupted between them and she beat him to death.

“She will be sent to a mental hospital for examinations."

Natalia faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

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Crowd jeers as cop is kicked to the ground in ugly scenes after Black Lives Matter protest – The Sun

A CROWD of protesters cheered as a police officer was kicked to the ground after the Black Lives Matter demonstration yesterday in Westminster, London.

The cop and his partner were seen backing away from the jeering group as they had rubbish and offensive slurs hurled at them.

Shocking footage taken during yesterday's largely peaceful anti-racism protest shows the Metropolitan Police officers shouting into their radios as they were circled by protesters on bikes and scooters.

As they neared the Houses of Parliament, one of the crowd members ran towards one of the male officers before kicking him and knocking him to the pavement.

The man filming starts shouting "oh s**t, oh s**t!" as others are seen clapping and cheering.

As the officer fell to the ground, his hat falling off as he toppled over, his partner ran to his aid and gestured for the group to get back.

Throughout the entire video, one heroic man is seen to be walking alongside the cops, using his body as a shield.

The man, who held his arms outstretched to the crowd as he moved with the two men, appeared to be protecting the coppers from violent outbursts.

Most of yesterday's protests were peaceful after 15,000 anti-racism protesters met in Hyde Park at 1pm before marching to Westminster.

Some officers were seen "taking a knee" and shaking hands with marchers throughout the day.

The rallies began in reaction to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis, US, when a white police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes.

Floyd was heard desperately telling the arresting officers that he couldn't breathe repeatedly before he lost consciousness.

COP CLASHES

Star Wars star John Boyega made an impassioned speech to the crowd, which also included ex-One Direction Star Liam Payne.

Boyega told the protesters: "We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd.

"We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence.

"Every black person in here remembered when another person reminded you that you were black.

"So none of you out there, all those protesters on the other side, protesting against what we want to do, protesting against what we want to try and achieve, burn you, this is so vital."

We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence.

Police forces in the UK yesterday issued a joint statement saying they were" appalled and horrified" by Floyd's death.

Protesters were asked to maintain social distancing and wear protective masks to protect against coronavirus.

But by the time the protesters reached Downing Street, tensions were high – as crowd members began throwing bottles and objects at the police.

The Met Police confirmed 13 people were arrested following the disturbances near the PM's London residence.

And during yesterday evening, police in riot gear were called to Westminster after clashes broke out near to the Foreign Office and barriers were launched towards No10.

Footage from the scuffles near No10 shows objects including signs and a traffic cone being thrown at police while one protester is wrestled to the ground and restrained by officers.

Freelance journalist Mattha Busby filmed the moment and said it was "unclear exactly what started things".

"Police appeared to attempt to take a man from the crowd and pandemonium ensued," he said.

Another object, which appeared to be a plastic bottle, was also thrown at officers outside Downing Street.

One image appears to show a protester's hand coming into contact with a PC's face.

The incident sparked criticism from Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, who tweeted: "This is shameful.

"Protest in sympathy, sure, but don't attack our police who have done so much to protect all of us."

Another Conservative MP, Dehenna Davison, tweeted a photo of protesters surrounding a car and a bike and claimed they were "yelling abuse".

"Police came to intervene and formed a ring around the two vehicles. Booing and chants of 'f*** the police'. Disgusting," she said.

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‘Almost NINE MILLION people’ could still be waiting for their coronavirus stimulus check to arrive – The Sun

ALMOST nine million Americans could still be waiting for their stimulus check to arrive, despite more than $267 billion of financial aid having already been distributed.

The IRS has sent about 159 million stimulus payments as of Wednesday, a Treasury Department spokesperson said, but many Americans may still need to take steps to receive their payments.

The Treasury didn't have an estimate on the number of Americans yet to receive aid, but CBS calculated it could be as many as 9 million people.

Another round of stimulus checks has been touted by a new Heroes Act pushed forward by the Democrats.

Checks would come as part of a $3trillion package that was passed in the House last month.

The fourth coronavirus stimulus package is currently making its way through the Senate.

A summary of the HEROES Act funds notes under direct payments that "a second round of more substantial economic impact payments of $1,200 per family member" would be given.

In the first round of checks, single taxpayers that fell under a certain income bracket got $1,200, couples received $2,400, and an additional $500 per child was given amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This means the new wave of checks would see a $700 boost for depends and children.

Families could receive a max of $6,000 per household.

In the first wave of direct payments, no money was given for adults that could be claimed as dependents – including those with disabilities and college students.

The new act would close the loophole.

Other funds as part of the HEROES Act would give $1trillion to local, state, territorial and tribal governments, $200billion in hazard pay to essential workers, and $75 billion for COVID-19 testing, tracing and isolation.

It would also extend unemployment benefits, giving the $600 boost to Americans until January, the summary states.

Currently, the unemployment benefits are set to run out in July.

Unemployment rates in April hit 14.7 percent – the highest they've been since the Great Depression.

More than 40million people have filed jobless claims amid the pandemic.

The Heroes Act was passed in the House, where Democrats hold a majority.

It's expected to get shredded in the Senate, however, where Republicans hold a majority of seats.

Although the bill is backed by many Democrats, some have recently showed favor for other "targeted" relief first.

"I think the next round we’ve got to be more targeted to those who are really in need," Democratic Sen Ben Cardin of Maryland said, as reported by The Hill.

"So I hope we can target this a little bit better to those who have been hit hard because of COVID-19,” he added.

Republicans have favored re-opening the country amid virus lockdowns, as opposed to giving more checks.

President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to meet with advisors regarding the next COVID-19 relief package.

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