COVID-19: Lockdown rules are easing in parts of the UK, but people are being told to 'act responsibly'

"Stay local" measures have been lifted in Wales - meaning there are no travel restrictions within the country for the first time since December.

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  • Soldier killed himself after lockdown 'took everything from him', inquest hears

    A former soldier with no history of mental illness killed himself after lockdown “took everything from him”, an inquest heard. Sean Bradley died by suicide on July 7 last year after becoming increasingly distressed that his business would fail because of a lack of financial support from the government, his sister told an inquest. After the hearing his sister, Angela Wray, said: "People need to realise just how many this pandemic has affected." Neighbours discovered the 53-year-old’s body with "catastrophic injuries" after hearing a loud noise at his home in Church, Accrington. Mr Bradley's medical records showed no evidence of self-harm, depression, anxiety or mental health issues, the inquest at Accrington Town Hall heard. Ms Wray, said her brother felt frustrated by the lack of Government support for businesses such as his and more understanding was needed. Mr Bradley, born in Bury, Greater Manchester, had served "with distinction" in the King's Hussars and the Royal Armoured Corps before studying with the Open University and becoming an IT consultant with blue-chip companies. Described as "a lad's lad" who also enjoyed camping and shooting, he missed his outdoor lifestyle and gave up his IT career to go travelling around the world for six years. Mr Bradley, who was not married and had no children, then studied the martial art form Krav Maga in Israel and returned to the UK to set up his own club in the north west of England. But it all went "out of the window" when the UK went into lockdown last March, the inquest heard. James Newman, area coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen said: "He can't go out, he can't do the things he loved, he can't do his job. It's all taken away from him. "It seems the effects of lockdown, certainly financially - Tony was a martial arts instructor training a lot of people, it was his life, his profession and that went out of the window in lockdown. "He had built up and started a business that had taken time to develop and grow and all of a sudden, as a new business, he didn't have any funding from the pandemic.” The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide, after Mr Bradley's "business and lifestyle was severely curtailed by the restrictions due to the Covid 19 pandemic".

  • Few tears likely to be shed as plan for No 10 TV press briefings dropped

    Few tears likely to be shed as plan for No 10 TV press briefings droppedAnalysis: Insiders say plan had been ‘kicked down the road for so long’ it was inevitable it would be dropped Allegra Stratton has been handed a new role as spokeswoman for this autumn’s Cop26 – the global climate change conference. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

  • Sacked minister launches astonishing attack on Boris Johnson's 'distrustful, awful' government

    Johnny Mercer's extraordinary attack also extended to the 'cesspit' of Westminster, which he said is populated by 'children' who are 'frankly unemployable elsewhere'.

  • Quiz: Can you complete the titles from these film trilogies?

    We all have our favourite movie trilogies, but can you remember the individual titles of the films?

  • Forger ran fake ID factory for European crime gangs from his Battersea loft

    Rodolfo Napoleon Carpio Gonzalez, 46, is believed to have converted his loft space into an illegal forgery den a decade ago, with space to produce hundreds of bogus documents. Officers from the National Crime Agency raided his home in a quiet Battersea cul-de-sac in April 2019, discovering printers and boxes of fake passports for French, Belgian, and Portuguese nationals. Carpio Gonzalez’s fingerprints were on a fake passport of a man suspected of illegally smuggling migrants into the UK, the NCA said.

  • Devastated mum found dead just weeks after daughter, 19, took her own life

    Jeanette Whittle, 44, and Rhianne Halton, 19, from Torquay, died within weeks of one another and were laid to rest at a joint funeral.

  • Daughter of Trevor Phillips dies after 22-year anorexia struggle

    Daughter of Trevor Phillips dies after 22-year anorexia struggleSister writes that Sushila, 36, a freelance journalist, was ‘a best friend and an inspiration’ Broadcaster and anti-racism campaigner Trevor Phillips with his daughter Sushila in 1999. Photograph: Nigel Howard/Evening Standard/Rex/Shutterstock

  • Tyson Fury tips Billy Joe Saunders to shock Canelo Alvarez and unify middleweight world titles

    The undisputed world heavyweight title fight is due to take place this summer but terms are yet to be finalised

  • Romanian lorry driver who killed RAF chef when he drove on the wrong side of the road is jailed

    An RAF chef, who should have been on his honeymoon, was killed in a head on smash when a Romanian lorry driver accidentally set off on the wrong side of the road. Corporal Chris Showell, 33, had been due to marry his fiance four days before the tragedy, but the ceremony had been cancelled due to the pandemic. He was on his way to work at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire just before 5am on April 16 last year when he was involved in a head on collision with a HGV driven by Tiberiu Dori. Lincoln Crown Court heard how Dori, 34, had been on his way to Wiltshire to deliver eggs to a supermarket when he pulled into a layby on the A15 for a break. After a 40 minute rest he continued his journey, but tragically is believed to have set off on the wrong side of the road. Just a minute later, Mr Showell, who had been coming in the other direction ploughed into the front of the lorry and suffered fatal injuries. Prosecutor, Andrew Scott said: “The collision occurred on Mr Showell’s side of the road. The Volvo lorry was completely on the wrong side of the road.” The court heard that Dori had been parked in a layby on the opposite side of the carriageway he was driving along and it was believed he had simply set off on the wrong side of the road. Mr Scott went on: “The defendant was perhaps operating on auto-pilot thinking he was driving on the continent. The court heard that tests showed Dori had not been drinking or taking alcohol and he was not speeding. His mobile phone was checked and he had not been using it at the time of the collision and the lorry tachograph records showed he had been driving within his permitted hours. Dori admitted causing death by dangerous driving as a result of the collision and was jailed for 20 months and banned from driving for two years and 10 months. He was also ordered to pass an extended retest before he can legally drive again. His barrister Christopher Martin said: “He genuinely cannot explain why the collision occurred. He was driving at 29 mph at the point of the collision. He had travelled 200 metres. The time taken to travel that distance was less than a minute.” Mr Martin said Dori drove 60,000 miles a year for work and had an exemplary driving record with a clean licence both in the UK and in his native country of Romania. Recorder Charles Falk, passing sentence, told him "Driving an HGV completely on the wrong side of a fast moving road is obviously going to have devastating consequences for anyone coming the other way. "All I can be sure about is that this was a few minutes of inattention but as a professional driver this was a serious lapse." "Christopher Showell never stood a chance. There was a head-on collision and in all likelihood he died instantly. His death is entirely your fault." Mr Showell's fiancee Annie Hickman, in a victim impact statement, said she has been left devastated by his death. "If it had not been for the Covid situation we would have been on our honeymoon. "I miss him every minute of every day. His laughter, his amazing food, his love and kindness. I will love and miss him every day for the rest of my life." Cpl Showell had worked at Waddington since January 2018, where he was the junior non-commissioned officer in command of in-flight catering. RAF Waddington Station Commander Group Captain Steve Kilvington, paid tribute to Cpl Showell describing him as a valuable member of the team. "Chris had been an important member of the catering squadron, working in most of the messes at RAF Waddington during the last two years," he said in 2020 "In every role, his professionalism and commitment helped improve working practices, delivery and teamwork. "A superb chef and a highly regarded member of each team he worked in, Chris will be profoundly missed." Colleagues added: "He will always be remembered for being a highly capable chef - someone who was always dependable, hard-working and honest in all his endeavours. "A quiet character, he nevertheless had a wicked sense of humour once you got to know him and he was hugely popular across the squadron. "Always having time for others, he will be greatly missed by us all."

  • Security forces break up sunflower protest in Myanmar

    Security forces broke up a protest in Myanmar’s southern city of Dawei, arresting four demonstrators and a reporter according to Dawei Watch media outlet, which also said live rounds were used.

  • Alexei Navalny supporters issue stark challenge to Putin as protests sweep across Russia

    Tens of thousands turn out in support of imprisoned Kremlin critic, who is currently on hunger strike

  • ‘You’re old, impotent and an embarrassment’: Lincoln Project targets Trump with Mar-a-Lago advert

    The ad will air starting on Thursday in Palm Beach, Florida – where Mar-a-Lago is based

  • Gangsters locked up for ‘brazen’ knife murder in front of child

    Joshua White, 29, was killed in an attack by three men in Hackney, north-east London, in April 2019.

  • Man United's Joel Glazer pens apology after Super League withdrawal

    United were among the six Premier League clubs who had signed up for the venture before withdrawing on Tuesday amid a storm of protests from fans, players and the British government. "We continue to believe that European football needs to become more sustainable throughout the pyramid for the long-term," Glazer said in an open letter https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/joel-glazer-writes-open-letter-to-man-utd-supporters-april-2021?utm_campaign=ManUtd&utm_medium=post&utm_source=twitter to the supporters on Wednesday.

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

    Doncaster, Luton and Leicester are currently recording the highest rates.

  • Pregnant women should not have to attend any appointments alone – NHS guidance

    Lateral flow tests for pregnant women and their partners are among measures ‘urgently’ recommended by NHS England.

  • Coronavirus contracts worth £3.7bn raise corruption concerns, report says

    Transparency International UK said those with political access appeared to be favoured.

  • Vladimir Putin says Russia could reach COVID herd immunity by autumn

    The Russian president has called for citizens to get vaccinated so the country can hit the target.

  • Black Army soldier responds to racist tirade at IHOP: ‘This is America’

    ‘This is the country we serve and defend. These are the people we fight for’

  • Derek Chauvin trial: Even the way George Floyd's killer was handcuffed and led away proved the inequality

    When George Floyd bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 note, it triggered the wretched sequence of events that led to the end of his life. The teenager who served Mr Floyd was a key prosecution witness in the trial of his killer, former police officer Derek Chauvin. Christopher Martin said he has felt too scared to work in the shop since Mr Floyd's death but that giving evidence in the trial had brought him a sense of relief.