Celine Dion 'so proud' as son Rene-Charles drops new music
Celine Dion struggled to contain her pride as she promoted her son Rene-Charles' new music on Instagram on Thursday.
European Union leaders challenged Emmanuel Macron over his inaccurate claims that the AstraZeneca vaccine was “quasi-ineffectual”, it emerged on Wednesday. The French president said the jab did not appear to work on the over 65s in late January just hours before the EU’s medicines regulator approved it for use on all adults. A senior EU official revealed that Mr Macron was asked about his comments, which have been linked to a reluctance in some European countries to take the AstraZeneca jab. EU leaders have held regular video summits, including one on Thursday where they will call for coronavirus restrictions to continue, since the pandemic. “The point was raised by some leaders indeed. I cannot say who and when it was raised,” the official said. “There are in some countries some doubts and I think that the question was more to get clarification on if it was true or not and since then I think the commission has reacted to this."
The BBC will not be “pulling out its cheque book” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Telegraph can reveal. The Duchess, 39, is understood to have wanted the highly anticipated tete-a-tete to be broadcast on the most prestigious British channel. But as the corporation ruled itself out, ITV became the frontrunner to win the UK rights. The 90-minute special - the couple’s first sit-down interview since they got engaged in November 2017 - is expected to attract huge viewing figures. It will begin with a no-holds barred, “intimate” chat between Ms Winfrey and the Duchess, in which the pregnant 39-year-old will spill the beans about everything from stepping into life as a royal to how she is handling “life under intense pressure”. They will then be joined by the Duke as they speak about “their move to the United States and their future hopes and dreams for their expanding family.”
Summer holidays face a new threat after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that Covid vaccinations should not be used to determine whether people can enter a country. The WHO said there were still "critical unknowns" about the efficacy of vaccinations in reducing transmission and preventing the virus even as governments work on vaccine certificates as a way to kickstart travel. It said that, as a result, national authorities, airlines and travel operators "should not introduce requirements of proof of Covid-19 vaccination for international travel as a condition for departure or entry". Vaccination should not exempt travellers from having to undergo other "travel risk-reduction measures", such as testing or quarantine, it added. Vaccination documents are seen as critical to enable holidaymakers to travel abroad this summer. In his roadmap out of lockdown, announced on Monday, Boris Johnson signalled that international travel could restart as early as May 17.
People of all ages who have had two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine produce high numbers of antibodies, new research suggests. More than 154,000 participants tested themselves at home using a finger prick test between January 26 and February 8, showing 13.9 per cent of the population had antibodies either from infection or vaccination. The data indicates that 87.9 per cent of people over the age of 80 tested positive for antibodies after two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
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Advice will reportedly be updated to tell people to use their best judgement.
The European Union is catching up with Britain on coronavirus vaccinations, Ursula von der Leyen said as she called the British strategy of delaying the second dose too risky. The European Commission president responded to criticism that the EU vaccination rollout was too slow by pointing out that 130 countries in the world had had no jabs at all. Mrs von der Leyen said more than twice the number of Italians than Britons had had both jabs, and the EU as a whole had given out more first doses. "We're catching up. Britain has administered 17 million first doses. There are 27 million in the EU. In Italy, with a population similar to that of Great Britain, twice as many citizens received full vaccination protection with the second dose as in the UK," she said. She told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper: "I think it's risky to simply postpone the second vaccination. We should adhere to the specifications that the manufacturers determined in their extensive clinical tests." In the UK, 27.47 doses per 100 people have been administered compared to just 6.12 across the EU. In France, 5.7 jabs per 100 people have been given, with the figure 6.1 in Germany.
A fire at a factory in Tuas, Singapore injured at least eight people on Wednesday (February 24). Flames ripped through the Platinum Pioneer building in Tuas shortly before midday. Several workers who had suffered from burns were taken to hospital. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said firemen used breathing apparatus to enter the factory and extinguish the fire coming from an industrial mixer. Officials said eight people were taken to hospital and 65 people from neighbouring buildings were evacuated. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Nicola Sturgeon has backtracked over her controversial lockdown plan by conceding that parts of Scotland could move in April to a lower tier of restrictions that allows domestic travel and pubs to serve alcohol. The First Minister faced a barrage of criticism over her blueprint after stating that the entire mainland would initially move to Level 3 of her five-tier system when full lockdown formally ends on April 26. The beleaguered tourism and hospitality industries said many of their businesses would have to remain shut, with alcohol and travel outside council areas banned under the Level 3 restrictions that operated last year. Ms Sturgeon has conceded that parts or all of the country could instead speedily move to Level 2, which previously allowed restaurants and pubs to serve alcohol and open later. In a second about-turn, she said she hoped that travel restrictions within Scotland could be lifted from the end of April. The previous day she said they needed to continue "for some time yet" and her blueprint gave no indication of when they would be eased. Adopting a markedly more optimistic tone, after she was accused of failing to give people hope, she predicted that Scotland "could move to lower levels of restrictions fairly quickly over May and June."
The couple had a visit from the police and have beefed up their home security.
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Parents of Gigi Morse, 6, say she seemed fine except for a few unusual ailments.
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Dr Jenny Harries said children hugging grandparents should be avoided 'until we’re absolutely sure' about the effectiveness of COVID vaccines.
India warned on Wednesday that a breach of guidelines on testing and other measures to contain the coronavirus could worsen a recent spurt in infections in many states, particularly after it detected several variants. Nearly a month after the health minister declared that COVID-19 had been contained, states such as Maharashtra in the west and Kerala in the south have reported a surge in cases, as reluctance grows over mask-wearing and social distancing norms. India's tally of infections stands at 11.03 million, swelled in the past 24 hours by 13,742, health ministry data shows, while deaths rose by a two-week high of 104 to 156,567.
Corby, Peterborough and Leicester are recording the highest rates.