Latest weekly Covid-19 rates for local authority areas in England

More than half of local areas are now recording a week-on-week fall in rates.

Scientists considering 77 countries for move to travel green list

Seventy-seven countries are under review by government scientists for a possible move to the green list for quarantine-free foreign travel, it has emerged. The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) is understood to be reviewing the countries before ministers decide on a final list of new green destinations, due to be unveiled next week. Green list status means unvaccinated travellers do not have to quarantine on their return, while amber list countries allow double-jabbed holidaymakers to visit them wi

Civil servants to be asked to include pronouns in email sign-offs

Thousands of civil servants are to be encouraged to add pronouns to their email sign-offs under plans for a transgender inclusivity drive, despite a backlash from staff. The Scottish Government is backing proposals that would ask its 8,000 workers to take a “pronoun pledge” under which they would add terms reflecting their gender identity, such as she/her or he/him, to signatures at the bottom of every work email. Some people who class themselves as non-binary prefer pronouns such as they/them,

Labour MP on trial for housing fraud weeps as she describes fleeing family home

Apsana Begum is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Mandatory vaccines for students to attend lectures ‘hugely discriminatory’, universities union says

University and College Union accuses PM of ‘trying to pin blame on students for not yet taking up a vaccine they haven’t been prioritised to receive’

Woman caught smuggling £5.5m from UK to Dubai jailed

A recruitment manager who plotted to smuggle more than £5 million from the UK to Dubai when she was cash-strapped on furlough has been jailed. Tara Hanlon, 30, was stopped at Heathrow Airport as she attempted to board a flight with five suitcases filled with cash totaling £1.9 million. Hanlon, who was furloughed from her job as an operations manager at Leeds recruitment firm Goodall Brazier last March, had also discussed recruiting others to the scam, Isleworth crown court heard.

Number of Covid-19 hospital patients in England climbs above 5,000

The total has risen 33% in a week – but is still well below the peak of the second wave.

New Olympic champion Tom Pidcock remains on his bike as he prepares for Vuelta

Pidcock, who turns 22 on Friday, secured gold for Team GB on his mountain bike on Monday.

EU’s protocol proposals don’t go far enough, says UK

Britain has told the European Union that new proposals from Brussels aimed at resolving the standoff over the Northern Ireland Protocol do not go far enough. On Monday, the EU issued a paper which suggested that checks on over-the-counter medicines destined for Northern Ireland could be conducted by UK authorities. Brussels said this would require the UK to meet several conditions – including ensuring all drugs comply with European Medicines Agency standards and that all packets destined for Nor

France, UK sign new security deal to protect against Channel terror threat

Britain and France on Tuesday signed a new security deal aimed at protecting the public in the event of a terror attack in the Channel against a large vessel such as a passenger ferry, the British government said. The UK-France Maritime Security Treaty was signed in Paris as the defence and foreign ministers from both sides met for talks on shared security interests.The British government said in a statement that the treaty is the foundation for "seamless joint and coordinated action to be taken

Bones found in search for missing British hiker Esther Dingley ‘may have been moved by animals’

Body parts feared to be those of the missing British hiker Esther Dingley may have been dragged on to a walking path in the Pyrenees by animals, police have said. French police are in the process of analysing what is suspected to be a human skull and at least one bone after they were discovered by a runner last week. It is a potentially significant breakthrough in a case that has baffled investigators. Ms Dingley, 37, vanished during a solo trek in November. She had scaled Pico Salvaguardia, on

‘It’s our democracy, not yours’: Trump associate Thomas Barrack heckled as he pleads not guilty

Former inaugural committee chair accused of lobbying for a foreign government

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  Thomas Barrack pleads not guilty to being UAE agent and says he's '100% innocent'

  Washington Examiner
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  Former Trump Adviser Thomas Barrack Pleads Not Guilty to Illegal Foreign Lobbying Charges

  The Wrap

US will not be lifting any travel restrictions ‘in short term’ over Covid Delta variant

‘Given where we are today with the Delta variant, the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point,’ Press Secretary Jen Psaki says

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  Due to spread of Delta cariant, U.S. will not lift travel restrictions

  Yahoo News Video
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  US intends to keep travel restrictions in place against UK, European countries, others

  USA TODAY

Pentagon chief ‘deeply concerned’ by sharp rise in suicides among US troops

Pentagon chief ‘deeply concerned’ by sharp rise in suicides among US troopsDefense department promises improvements in quality of life and mental health help on army bases The brutal weather and isolation on Alaska army bases adds to the usual stresses of army life, possibly contributing to alcohol abuse and despair. Photograph: Bill Roth/AP

Three teens wanted for attack on firefighter out walking his labradoodle

Police have not made any arrests in the alleged attacks

Christian Coleman: Why is the Team USA 100m sprinter banned from Tokyo 2020?

Atlanta-born sprinter took over from Usain Bolt as the fastest man in the world

'She thinks COVID vaccines come from the devil': Son of anti-vaxxer calls for own mother to be prosecuted

Kate Shemirani's son has called for her to be prosecuted after she compared NHS staff to Nazi war criminals.

‘Confused messaging’ around Oxford vaccine helping fuel Covid spread, says scientist behind jab

<strong>Exclusive: </strong>Experts say vaccines remain key to fighting Covid despite concerns over variant protection

Who is Gwen Berry and why did she turn away from the US flag?

Hammer thrower attracted controversy over recent decision to shun the Stars-and-Stripes in protest at racial injustice but defended herself fearlessly from cynical political attacks

Libby Squire may have been flashed by her killer, mother claims

Libby Squire may have been flashed by her killer just weeks before her death, her mother has said as she called for victims of so-called “minor” sexual offences to report them. The 21-year-old university student was raped and murdered by a serial sex offender who targeted her while she was alone and vulnerable on a night out in Hull in 2019. It was the culmination of an 18-month crime spree which saw Pawel Relowicz sexually terrorise young women around the city’s student area. His previous offen

Why is Russia banned from the Olympics and what is ROC?

Russian athletes are still present at Tokyo 2020, despite a ban for the country over a state-sponsored doping scheme