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Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 and passed on October 24, 2005

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  • Meghan, Duchess of Sussex saw red over blanket colour, claim palace aides

    The Duchess of Sussex “went mental” at her personal assistant for ordering blankets that were the wrong shade of red, it has been claimed. Meghan, 39, is said to have had “unattainably high demands” causing untold tensions with her Kensington Palace staff. When she hosted a shooting party at Sandringham for Prince Harry’s friends, shortly after their engagement, she allegedly told her PA, Melissa Touabti, to order red, personally embroidered blankets for each of the guests. A source told the Sunday Times: “When they arrived, they weren’t the right shade of red for Meghan and she went mental at Melissa.” Ms Toubati is said to have left “traumatised” by the Duchess’s alleged behaviour and left the Royal Household six months after the Sussexes’ wedding, amid claims she had been reduced to tears.

  • Exclusive: Nigel Farage quits politics - and this time he means it

    Brexit is done - and so is Nigel Farage. The former leader of the UK Independence Party and the Brexit Party, credited even by his sharpest critics as the most influential politician of the past two decades, has finally quit politics. And this time it is for good. In an interview with this weekend’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, which you can listen to on the audio player above, Mr Farage announces he is resigning as leader of the Reform Party and turning his back on politics after three decades of political street fighting. He says: “There is no going back - Brexit is done. That won’t be reversed. I know I’ve come back once or twice when people thought I’d gone, but this is it. It’s done. It’s over.” Mr Farage famously quit after the 2016 referendum, saying "I want my life back", but then reformed the Brexit Party two years later in 2018 to exploit disaffection with the way the Government was handling the Brexit negotiations. He adds: “Now's the moment for me to say I've knocked on my last door. I'm going to step down as the leader of Reform UK. I'll have no executive position at all. I'm quite happy to have an honorary one, but party politics, campaigning, being involved in elections, that is now over for me because I've achieved the one thing I set out to do: to achieve the independence of the UK.” The 56-year-old insists that he had no plans to retire, saying: “I'm not packing up. I'm not off to play golf four afternoons a week and have half a bitter afterwards. That's not happening.” Instead, he will be trying to influence the national debate on China’s influence in the UK and the battles over the so-called culture wars.

  • Over-56s are invited for Covid vaccine jabs as July target date on track

    Everyone aged 56 and over will be invited for jabs this week, NHS England has announced. Hundreds of thousands of letters for those aged between 56 and 59 began landing on doorsteps on Saturday. The latest round of invitations comes after eight in 10 people aged 65 to 69 took up the offer of inoculation. More than 18 million people in England - more than a third of the adult population - have already received a vaccine. Across the UK, more than a million people have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while almost 21.4 million people have had one dose. Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS England national medical director for primary care, said: "It is testament to our incredible staff that we can now move on to the next age group. The vaccines are both safe and effective, so if anybody who is eligible hasn't been vaccinated yet, I'd urge them to go online or call 119 and get themselves booked in."

  • Austria suspends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch after death

    Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday. "The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with a vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl" in Lower Austria province, it said.

  • Scots don’t support independence after Sturgeon inquiry, poll suggests

    More than third of Scottish voters less likely to vote for cutting ties with rest of UK after events of recent days

  • Shake off your ill will, Britain tells EU over post-Brexit trade

    The European Union should shake off its ill will and build a good relationship with Britain as sovereign equals, Britain's top EU adviser David Frost said on Sunday, promising to stand up for the country's interests. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Frost again defended Britain's unilateral move to smooth post-Brexit trade between Britain and Northern Ireland, over which the EU has promised to launch legal action for breaching the terms of the Brexit deal. Since Britain left the EU last year, relations between the two have soured, with both sides accusing the other of acting in bad faith in relation to part of their trade agreement that covers goods movements to Northern Ireland.

  • Biden fires Trump official at EEOC who refused to resign

    General counsel wrote a letter to the White House ‘respectfully’ declining to resign before she was eventually removed from her post

  • Myanmar military hires PR agent to explain 'real situation' to west

    Myanmar military hires PR agent to explain 'real situation' to west Former Israeli spy says generals have been ‘misunderstood’ as police continue to fire on protesters File picture of Ari Ben-Menashe arriving in Zimbabwe in 2002. The consultant say he is being paid a ‘big amount’ and will receive a bonus if western countries lift sanctions against Myanmar. Photograph: AP

  • Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 'called all the PR shots', say royal sources despite Oprah interview claims she was gagged

    The Duchess of Sussex “called all the shots” when it came to managing her own media, royal sources have said, casting doubt on her claim she could not be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey three years ago. Multiple royal sources have told The Telegraph the 39-year-old former actress “had full control” over her media interviews and had personally forged relationships not only with Ms Winfrey, but other powerful industry figures including Vogue editor Edward Enninful. In a teaser clip released from the Sussexes’s interview with the US chat show host, due to be aired in the US on Sunday, the Duchess said it felt “liberating” to be able to speak and accused the Royal family of effectively gagging her and taking away that choice. “It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes, I’m ready to talk, to be able to make a choice on your own and be able to speak for yourself,” the Duchess said. In the clip, the Duchess and Ms Winfrey reference the fact that a royal aide was listening in to their first phone call in February 2018, although it is understood the pair had spoken privately before then.

  • Rangers Fans Gather Outside Ibrox Stadium as Scottish Premiership Title Win Nears

    Rangers fans gathered outside the Ibrox stadium on Saturday, March 6, as their team edged closer to a Scottish Premiership title victory.The team remained four points away from securing the title but could win it over the weekend if Celtic loses to Dundee United on Sunday, local media reported.The celebrations took place as Glasgow remained under coronavirus restrictions that bans gatherings and urges residents to remain at home. Credit: Jamie Giles via Storyful

  • Wales stabbing: Girl, 16, dies after several wounded in suspected knife attack

    Two men arrested and being treated in hospital

  • Car insurance might be void if you have an accident caused by the side effects of a coronavirus vaccine, lawyers warn

    Drivers who get straight behind the wheel after having a Coronavirus vaccination could be at risk of invalidating their car insurance, a leading motoring lawyer has warned. Nick Freeman, who was dubbed Mr Loophole after getting a string of celebrities off motoring charges, said having a jab is classed as a medical procedure and therefore drivers are unlikely to be covered by their policy if they are involved in an accident on the way home. He said it could be a particular issue with drive through vaccination centres and he has recommended that people do not drive immediately after getting a coronavirus jab.

  • Biden news - live: President to mark ‘Bloody Sunday’ with voting order as Trump tells GOP to stop using name

    Follow the latest in US politics

  • Hope for summer holidays but Britons should prepare for hard winter, Dr Susan Hopkins says

    ‘Population immunity’ to flu and other viruses may have been impacted by Covid health measures, government adviser says

  • Prince Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview: Five thorny issues that could make for uncomfortable viewing

    The Royal family will assume the brace position as it awaits a stream of damaging revelations by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their Oprah Winfrey interview. The slickly produced, dramatic teasers quashed any lingering hopes that the couple might stick to more mundane and diplomatic subject matters. Instead, they will tell “their truth”, lifting the lid on life behind palace walls in a manner no member of the family has done for decades. The couple intend the interview to draw a line under their grievances and mark the end of that chapter of their lives, allowing them to finally look to the future. But in reality, the issues that they raise, the allegations they make, are expected to be explosive, with potentially serious and long-term implications for the monarchy.

  • ‘I’m so confused’: People baffled as Kevin McCarthy reads Green Eggs and Ham in protest at pulling of Seuss books

    ‘Democrats are passing Covid relief And Republicans are reading Dr Seuss’ says one reply

  • Covid roadmap out of lockdown: Everything you can and can’t do from March 8

    Last month Boris Johnson made his long-awaited speech to Parliament and announced a number of key dates for reopening Britain. The Government has always said that reopening schools would be the priority when lockdown is eased, with Monday previously set as the target date. According to a statement from the National Education Union, a full return would mean 10 million pupils and staff travelling to and from school each day.

  • Vaccine shortage to shut down some centres next week and delay second-dose jabs

    Exclusive: Appointments to be cancelled and new slots unavailable in east Midlands, ahead of significant supply boost in following week

  • UK aid: Massive cuts in funding to world’s poorest countries revealed in secret plan

    Seven nations all poised to lose more than half of funding – as MPs denied vote on controversy

  • ‘Keep Meghan Markle’s name out of your damn mouth’: Kamala Harris’ niece defends the Duchess ahead of interview

    She accused critics of the Duchess of being racist