QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“We are fed up and feel trapped, we have been here since February 13, and were due to go back on April 30. We have had three flight cancellations. We both have underlying health issues and, fortunately, we have a very good local pharmacist who has helped us, but we have had to pay for a lot of medications. There is no end in sight which is all the more upsetting.”
Elderly Irish tourists Gabrielle Judge and her husband, who is 80, remain stranded in the Algarve and could be stuck there for months.
“I think the really tricky area will be around customs and I think there will be a lot of sceptical people in the EU, when they hear the British government saying there will be no new physical infrastructure around customs.”
Tanaiste Simon Coveney on the British government’s suggestion that there is no need for new customs infrastructure on either side of the Irish Sea after Brexit.
“I’m learning to be a mum fast. Kids gravitate towards me through my music, so I am used to them, but I am not used to being woken up really early in the morning by them staring at me from the side of my bed.”
Katy Perry tells the BBC’s Graham Norton Show that living with some of her young relatives during lockdown is helping her prepare for her impending motherhood.
“The pandemic has hastened structural changes to the retail sector that were in motion before the pandemic, in particular the increase in online shopping which has soared to the highest on record. Department stores, malls, and fast fashion were already in decline, giving way to online shopping and the less-is-more attitude of millennial shoppers.”
Dr Kerstin Braun, president of trade finance provider Stenn Group, predicts the coronavirus pandemic will change the retail landscape forever as April saw record-breaking falls in retail sales
“While there was no evidence that Mr Johnson influenced the payment of sponsorship monies or participation in trade missions, there was evidence to suggest that those officers making decisions about sponsorship monies and attendance on trade missions thought that there was a close relationship between Mr Johnson and Ms Arcuri, and this influenced their decision-making.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct director general Michael Lockwood speaking as British prime minister Boris Johnson avoided a criminal investigation over allegations he used his position while London mayor to get favourable treatment for businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri.
“I want to thank the doctors and nurses who were so good and basically saved my life! I would like to say to all the people who cared for me and thought of me, who sent me love, people I know, people I have never met, thank you for helping me get better.”
Singer Marianne Faithfull, after three weeks in hospital being treated for Covid-19.