COVID-19: New Philippines-linked coronavirus variant investigated in England after two cases found

Public Health England (PHE) is investigating a new COVID variant - previously reported in the Philippines - after two cases were found.

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  • Promising change, Germany's Greens make first bid for chancellery

    The co-leader of Germany's Greens, Annalena Baerbock, said on Monday she would run to become chancellor in September's elections, the first time the left-leaning party has sought the top job in its 40-year history. Analysts said the chance of an outright win for the ecologist party was still a long shot - though the Greens have become a formidable force that has profited from voters' fatigue with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives. Baerbock's group still trails the conservatives by around five points in the polls, despite signs of divisions in the conservative camp that has ruled Germany for 16 years.

  • Anthony Joshua could fight Tyson Fury without favoured trainer in his corner, Eddie Hearn reveals

    Eddie Hearn insists the world heavyweight unification will not be dictated by Rob McCracken’s potential involvement at the Olympics in Tokyo

  • Damian Lewis explains wife Helen McCrory's last request to him

    The actress sadly passed away last week.

  • ‘I don’t need lectures from you’, Keir Starmer tells anti-lockdown landlord sharing misinformation

    Pub owner tells Labour leader he has ‘failed to be the opposition’ on Covid-19

  • Pyres built on pavements as Covid overwhelms India’s hospitals and crematoriums

    The anguished voice at the end of the line quickly apologised for waking me at 1.30am, but was desperate and insistent. The caller explained that his 54-year-old aunt’s blood oxygen levels had plummeted and asked if I might know a doctor in New Delhi who could help. He explained he had been ringing hospitals for hours and no one was picking up. In recent days I have received a seemingly endless succession of such calls, as health systems around India have buckled under a tsunami of Covid-19 cases. The daily tally of cases has accelerated terrifyingly in recent weeks, hitting a record 273,810 infections on Monday, up ten-fold in little over a month. The country’s overstretched hospitals have quickly been overwhelmed under such an onslaught. Beds are nowhere to be found in the biggest cities of Delhi and Mumbai and trying to find treatment for a coughing, gasping relative has become a panicked quest for thousands of families.

  • Boris Johnson says vaccine passports will ‘definitely’ be used when international travel resumes

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given his clearest hint yet that vaccine passports are likely to be required for international travel - while suggesting they will have a role to play at home as well. When asked if vaccine passports were un-British, Mr Johnson said that they would definitely have a role to play when international travel resumes. “On the issue of vaccine certification, there’s definitely going to be a world in which international travel will use vaccine passports", he said.

  • Mourning Queen to mark birthday without Philip for first time during reign

    The Queen is to mark the first birthday of her reign without her husband, as the royal family observes another week of mourning following the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. The Queen will turn 95 on Wednesday, four days after Philip’s funeral service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

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

    More than a third of local areas have seen a week-on-week rise in rates.

  • Prince Harry ‘wants to stay in Britain for Queen’s 95th birthday and has not booked flight’

    Prince Harry has not booked his return flight to the United States but will return as soon as his pregnant wife Meghan needs him, a source close to the couple said today. The Duke of Sussex is believed to want to remain in Britain to mark the Queen’s 95th birthday this week if possible. Prince Philip’s funeral was the first time Prince Harry had met his relatives since the couple’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast last month.

  • Why do Covid-19 variants cause so much concern?

    Variants of concern with the E484K mutation seem to spread more easily and quickly than others.

  • Quiz: Can you match the joke to the famous comedian?

    Can you tell which famous gag-merchants were behind these hilarious jokes?

  • India's worrying COVID surge could be 20 times worse than feared

    More than 220,000 new daily cases were reported in India on Sunday.

  • Matthew McConaughey is a viable candidate for Texas governor, poll reveals

    Hollywood actor has support of 45 per cent of Texans against incumbent governor’s 33 per cent

  • Factbox-Who are the Skripal poisoning suspects allegedly behind deadly Czech blast?

    The Czech Republic has identified the same alleged Russian military intelligence officers wanted by Britain for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal as suspects in a deadly 2014 blast at an ammunition depot. The men, known under the aliases Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, are reportedly part of the elite Unit 29155 of Russia's GRU military intelligence service. The unit, according to a 2019 report by The New York Times, is focused on subversion, sabotage and assassination outside Russia.

  • Reunited in grief: How Prince Harry spent a golden hour talking with his family

    They gamely presented a united front in the aftermath of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, strolling side by side and chatting amiably as they emerged from St George’s Chapel into the sunshine. But the Duke of Sussex, 36, was afforded a rare opportunity to have a proper heart to heart with his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, his father and his grandmother on Saturday, as they returned to the confines of Windsor Castle. There, a couple of hours after the ceremony, when most other guests had melted away, senior members of the Royal family spent around an hour together, face to face for the first time in more than a year. There, reunited in grief and in their support for the Queen, Prince Harry is understood to have spent valuable time with Her Majesty, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It was the first time they had been together under one roof since the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey last March, when the frostiness and the tension was palpable. The group remained locked in conversation, no doubt comforting the Queen in her darkest moment. But it would have been odd had they not also addressed the elephant in the room, the Duke’s televised interview with Oprah Winfrey and the hugely damaging allegations made by both him and the Duchess. Aside from suggesting members of the family were racist and had ignored the Duchess’s pleas for help with she felt suicidal, the Duke accused his brother of being “trapped” within the monarchy and said he felt “really let down” by his father. In response, the Queen said the "serious allegations" would be addressed privately, but added that "recollections may vary". The Duke of Cambridge was understood to have been furious by the turn of events, while Prince Charles, 72, was said to feel “let down” by his son and daughter-in-law, whom he had supported “more than he would care to say.” But on Saturday, they were there to support the Queen and it was she, more than anyone, who has been desperate for her family to get together and resolve their differences. If anyone is the driving force behind a reconciliation, it will be the sovereign, sources insist. But while conversations may have begun, they were brief. The group are thought to have had around an hour together. Most of the 30 mourners are thought to have left Windsor Castle shortly after the service. Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall have newborn babies, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex were there with their two children. The Duke of York left shortly before 5pm, while Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Cambridges, all left at around 6pm.

  • Have your say: Should England's European Super League teams be expelled from the Premier League?

    Six English clubs have been condemned for joining the new European breakaway league.

  • COVID-19: Young people who have had coronavirus will get £5,000 for being deliberately re-exposed to the virus

    Young people who have previously had COVID-19 are going to be deliberately exposed to the virus for a second time - in a new study that aims to see how their immune systems react. The University of Oxford's "human challenge" trial also hopes to discover what dose of coronavirus is needed to cause a reinfection, and what this may mean for developing protective immunity against the disease. People aged 18 to 30 who have previously been naturally infected with COVID will be recruited and re-exposed to the virus in a safe, controlled environment.

  • Russian ballet dancer blames 'cancel culture' for the death of British choreographer Liam Scarlett

    A Russian ballet dancer has blamed cancel culture for the death of British choreographer, Liam Scarlett, who was facing new allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”. Scarlett died at the age of 35 on Saturday. His position with The Royal Ballet ended last year, when the Royal Opera House, which is home to the Royal Ballet Company, said that an independent investigation into Scarlett had concluded. There "were no matters to pursue in relation to alleged contact with students of The Royal Ballet School", it said. But further performances of Scarlett's production of Frankenstein were axed by the Royal Danish Theatre on Saturday over alleged misconduct towards several members of staff during rehearsals in 2018 and 2019, The Times reported. Now Russian ballet star Alexei Ratmansky, American Ballet Theatre's artist in residence, has claimed directors feared reprisals for running Scarlett's shows.

  • BMW reveals new all-wheel-drive versions of the M3 and M4

    This is the first time BMW’s super saloon has had anything other than rear-wheel-drive.

  • Beyoncé brings back the Nineties nameplate necklace – here’s where to buy your own

    We’ve found the Bey-approved personalised styles you’re bound to fall ‘Crazy in Love’ with