The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is facing widespread criticism this week after defending his chief advisor over a series of alleged breaches of lockdown restrictions.

A report by two British newspapers last week revealed that chief advisor Dominic Cummings had made a series of journeys between London and his family home in North East England despite showing symptoms of Covid-19.

According to the reports, Mr Cummings traveled twice between London and Durham in the North of England, as well as a further trip to a local beauty spot.

Mr Cummings has denied any wrongdoing and has said he acted „reasonably and lawfully”. He claims he was traveling to take his children to be cared for by relatives after both he and his wife fell sick with Covid-19.

Senior ministers have jumped to defend Mr Cummings, saying he was just following his fatherly instincts.

Critics have called for Mr Cummings to resigns, saying he ignored lockdown rules at a time when many families have been in difficult situations.

President Andrzej Duda Has named veteran judge Małgorzata Manowska as Poland’s new Chief Justice.

Justice Manowska, who was selected from a shortlist chosen by the Supreme Court, will serve a six year term.

She replaces Małgorzata Gersdorf who left office last month.

Health Minister: decision today on when and how facemask rules may be lifted. A decision is expected today on when and how the rules requiring facemasks to be worn in public might be lifted.

Appearing on Polsat News’s „Graffiti” programme, Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski said an announcement could be expected on Tuesday.

If approved, the the lifting of facemask rules is likely to take place on a province-by-province basis, since some voivodeships are worse affected than others.

In the same interview, the Health Minister also denied wrongdoing in a scandal about the health service spending 5 million złotych on uncertified masks, bought from a family friend of the minister. Mr Szumowski said neither he nor his wife or brother had done anything wrong and dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.

Polish supermarket chain Biedronka may have misled customers when it reportedly labelled imported fruits and vegetables as being Polish.

According to Poland’s competition regulator, the supermarket, which is owned by a Portuguese company, mis-labelled products such as Belgian carrots and Ukrainian cucumbers as Polish products.

The watchdog is understood to be launching an investigation into whether or not the mis-labelling was done to deceive customers, in which case the company could face fines of upto 10% of its annual turnover.

Speaking to Reuters news agency, a Biedronka spokesperson denied there had been any deliberate deception.

The first test trams are running this week on the new line 12 extension down Aleja Pawła Adamowicza.

Paweł Adamowicz Avenue, named after the murdered former mayor of Gdansk, opened to cars back in January.

If testing goes well, the tram route is expected to carry passengers from next month.

The line extension connects the districts of Jasień and Ujeścisko to the tram network.

It was a cloudy start this morning but clearing up as we go into the afternoon.

Temperatures around 13°C, 56°F, with no rain expected.

Radio Gdansk News/TAH/ako