Boulder mass shooting suspect makes first court appearance
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, the suspect in the Boulder, Colo., massacre, made his initial appearance in court on Thursday.
Boris Johnson raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he suggested that the reduction in Covid infections, hospital admissions and deaths had not been achieved by the vaccination programme, with the lockdown doing "the bulk of the work". Thankfully, less than 24 hours later, science had proved the Prime Minister wrong. New research from NHS England and the University of Manchester showed the stark difference in cases, admissions and deaths for elderly people who had been vaccinated compared to those who had not. In a large study involving more than 170,000 people, researchers had scrupulously case-matched participants to make sure the results were not skewed by underlying conditions, sex or geographical location. The results show that far from having little impact, the rate of Covid-related hospital admissions fell by 75 per cent in vaccinated 80 to 83-year-olds within 35 to 41 days of their first dose of the Pfizer jab. The rate of people getting Covid dropped by 70 per cent, with the number of positive tests falling from 15.3 per 100,000 people to 4.6. The authors conclude: "The nationwide vaccination of older adults in England with the [Pfizer] vaccine reduced the burden of Covid-19."
The actor and comedian plays Bryn West in the hit series.
‘Clear pattern’ between Covid vaccinations and antibody positivity across UK, says Office for National Statistics
The company’s revenue has tripled since the change was implemented
The situation at the border is becoming ‘untenable’, an executive at the west London airport said.
UK ‘mix and match’ study aims to find out how vaccines can be used more flexibly
DUBLIN (Reuters) -Britain has asked for more time to respond to legal action taken by the European Union over its unilateral decision to ease requirements of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ireland's RTE television reported on Wednesday. The European Union launched legal action against Britain last month for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland that Brussels says breach the Brexit divorce deal agreed with London last year. Brussels gave London, which has said it has not violated the agreement, a month to respond to the legal action, but the British government has requested an extension of one month, RTE reported.
The last time the entire country recorded rates below 100 was at the start of September.
Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine research ‘was 97% publicly funded’. Analysis rebuts claim by Boris Johnson that jab was developed ‘because of greed’
Nicola Sturgeon should thank Boris Johnson for ignoring SNP demands to sign up to the EU's disastrous vaccine programme when she gets her first Covid jab on Thursday, the Scottish Tory leader has said. Douglas Ross said the First Minister would have faced a much longer wait to be vaccinated if Mr Johnson had heeded her party's demands for the UK to join the European scheme last year. The SNP confirmed that Ms Sturgeon, 50, is scheduled to receive her first jab after she launches her party's election manifesto on Thursday morning. A spokesman said: "These remarks from Douglas Ross are utterly pathetic but entirely in keeping with his petulant, puerile tone." A series of Ms Sturgeon's ministers demanded that the UK sign up to the EU's vaccine procurement plan last year and expressed outrage when Mr Johnson refused. Mike Russell, the Constitution Secretary, warned at the time: "This idiotic refusal is all about Brexit and nothing to do with the pandemic. It will cost lives." The decision was publicly opposed by a series of SNP MPs.
"We're just getting on with it the best we can."
Israel became the first country in the world to test vaccine passports when it announced the 'green pass' scheme in February. The passes allow people who have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine to return to restaurants, theatres and sport events. With many countries planning to reopen after their vaccination campaigns, the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, Oliver Holmes, examines the lessons that could be learned from Israel's rollout.
Britain has agreed with the European Union that it will respond to the bloc's legal action over how it has introduced new trading rules for Northern Ireland by mid-May, a spokeswoman for the government said on Wednesday. The EU launched legal action against Britain in March for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland that Brussels says are in breach of the Brexit divorce deal agreed with London last year. Britain has denied that the move undermines the part of the Brexit deal that governs trade to the British province, saying it extended the grace period for checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland to ease their passage.
One of Sweden's most populous regions has declared a "personal lockdown", as the country reported the highest daily rate of daily coronavirus cases in Europe, and more being treated in intensive care for the virus than at its second wave peak. In posters and an online campaign, the region centred on Uppsala, Sweden's fourth biggest city, called on everyone to "consider all human contacts as a potential risk" and avoid contact with anyone they do not live with, in the closest the country has come to a lockdown since the pandemic began. "We are reaching the point of the maximum capacity of what we can handle," Mikael Köhler, the region's health chief told Sweden's TT newswire. "It seems like the British variant has taken over and there's evidence that people are spreading the disease before they have any symptoms." Sweden on Tuesday had the highest rate of new coronavirus cases in Europe, with a seven-day average of 587 new infections per million people on Monday, more than France on 556 and Poland on 540, according to the latest figures on Our World in Data.
Moderna’s early trials of a vaccine targeting the South African Covid variant has produced antibodies in mice, raising hopes of its effectiveness for humans. The company is the first to produce a vaccine designed specifically for the variant and last night said its pre-clinical trials for both jabs “improved neutralising titers”, meaning that antibodies detected in the blood increased. Moderna is also developing a multivalent vaccine that combines its original vaccination with the South Africa-specific jab, which the firm says will provide the broadest level of immunity, The Times reported.
Madonna has clapped back at a pro-gun ‘Karen’ activist after the singer called for increased gun control in the US.
The 35-year-old TV presenter used a 'Countdown' conundrum to reveal her happy news.
Apparently just by talking about it, I’m super-spreading long Covid. A professor has suggested that press coverage could make people believe they have the condition
A truck driver who was under the influence of drugs and sleep deprived when he drove into four police officers has been sentenced to 22 years in prison. The traffic officers - three policemen and a policewoman - had pulled over a speeding car when Mohinder Singh ploughed into them. Officers Lynette Taylor, Kevin King, Glen Humphris and Joshua Prestney all died at the scene.
Oliver Carroll travelled towards the Russian-Ukrainian border to assess claims Moscow is readying itself for a major surge in fighting