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There have been outbreaks of COVID-19 in more than half of UK prisons and many are running on skeleton staff. The pandemic has forced the prison estate to move to ‘an exceptional delivery mode’.

One prisoner claimed they were kept in their cells for more than 23 hours a day with limited access to hygiene facilities, forcing them to dispose of human waste in plastic bags and bottles.

There are signs that prisons could be epicentres for infection with small, enclosed areas and a lack of social distancing with staff potentially bringing the virus in and out.

In this episode of the Sky News Daily podcast, host Noel Phillips speaks to Juliet Lyon, chair of the government's independent panel on deaths in custody, Andrea Albutt, president of the Prison Governors Association, Lucy Martindale, youth worker and anti-violence campaigner and John Drake, an ex-inmate at HMP Coldingley Prison.

The country's recent election saw President Yoweri Museveni extend his 35-year grip on power, winning a sixth term in office.

Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world.

There is frustration over the economy and a lack of future prospects, particularly among the under 30s.

So is a shift in power coming?

On this edition of the Sky News Daily podcast we hear from challenger Bobi Wine about the intimidation he and his team faced during the election campaign.

Plus, host Dermot Murnaghan talks to our Africa correspondent John Sparks about the country's political history and current situation, and shares his own experience of reporting in the country after running for cover when soldiers pointed guns at him.

Daily podcast team:
Podcast producer - Annie Joyce
Podcast producer - Nicola Eyers
Assistant podcast producer – Lauren Pinkney
Interviews producer - Tatiana Alderson
Archive - Simon Windsor
Archive - Rob Fellowes
Music - Steven Wheeler

For years, America has been well known for its gun violence, but last year, the statistics were off the scale. There has been a rise in shootings, but also a rise in the number of people going to buy guns.

In the US, on average, there is a mass shooting every single day. But what in the last 12 months has driven people to buy and use firearms more than ever before?

In this episode of the Sky News Daily podcast, host Noel Phillips speaks to Lucinda Roy, professor at Virginia Tech and former teacher of the man responsible for the killings in 2007; Kareem Shiya, co-founder of Open Source Defense - an online group, campaigning for gun rights, and Craig Jackson, Professor of occupational health psychology at Birmingham City University.

There have been three new variants of COVID that have had a startling impact on the number of cases. They have been detected thousands of miles apart, one in Brazil, one in South Africa, and one in the UK.

This came as no surprise to scientists. Since the virus was first detected, it has mutated approximately 4,000 times. However, if the virus keeps mutating, will we ever end the pandemic?

In this episode, host Jayne Secker is joined by Sir Mark Walport, previous government chief scientific adviser to explain what we know so far about the new variants and Sky News correspondent, Ashna Hurynag, tells us what the situation is like in the city of Manaus.

On this bonus episode of the Sky News Daily podcast, Niall Paterson puts questions from the public to the Government's chief scientific adviser as the UK remains under lockdown due to the COVID pandemic.

Joe Biden’s swearing in as the 46th president of the United States marks the start of a new era in US politics. But will it lead to a more "united" America?

His administration takes over at a time when the country is still very much divided and grappling with the COVID pandemic.

As well as the House of Representatives, the Democrats now control the White House and the Senate on Capitol hill – the scene of recent rioting that resulted in security being bolstered for the inauguration.

On this edition of the Sky News Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan, former Democrat Ohio State Senator Capri Cafaro shares her experience of working inside the Capitol and what it means to Americans.

We are also joined by Sky’s diplomatic editor Dominic Waghorn and former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman as we discuss the Senate’s power and prestige.

Daily podcast team:
Podcast producer - Annie Joyce
Podcast producer - Nicola Eyers
Assistant podcast producer – Lauren Pinkney
Interviews producer - Tatiana Alderson
Archive - Simon Windsor
Archive - Rob Fellowes
Music - Steven Wheeler