Mitt Romney Receives John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award

The Republican senator is receiving the award for "his consistent and courageous defense of democracy"

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  • How Prince Philip tackled conservation and climate change

    Late Duke of Edinburgh helped found WWF and championed environmental causes throughout his life but provoked controversy with views on hunting and refusal to identify as ‘a bunny-hugger’

  • SNP’s flagship housing fund runs out of cash in days

    The Scottish Government’s flagship First Home Fund has run out of money in just eight days, in what opposition parties have branded a “spectacular misjudgement”. The £60m fund, which lends people up to £25,000 towards their deposit, was launched on April 1 but was closed on Thursday afternoon after being inundated with applications. The initiative is now “fully committed” for 2021/22. The news has been described as “devastating” for thousands of Scots hoping to get onto the property ladder, with the lack of availability of 95 per cent LTV mortgages making it “incredibly difficult” for first time buyers to access mortgage finance - despite “strong evidence” showing that owning a home is cheaper than renting. Funding for the scheme was slashed by 66.5 per cent from £200m last year, with SNP ministers blaming the UK Treasury for the cuts. “We anticipated that there would be huge demand given the success of the pilot scheme run last year,” said Nicola Barclay, chief executive of industry body Homes for Scotland. “Despite this, the Scottish Government allocated just 30 per cent of the levels spent in 2020, citing budget cuts from Westminster for the reduction.”

  • White House says China's moves around Taiwan 'potentially destabilizing'

    The White House on Friday said it was keeping a close watch on increased Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait, and called Beijing's recent actions potentially destabilizing. "We have ... clearly - publicly, privately - expressed our concerns, our growing concerns, about China's aggression toward Taiwan," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. "We've seen a concerning increase in PRC military activity in the Taiwan Strait, which we believe is potentially destabilizing," she said, when asked if Washington was concerned about a possible Chinese invasion.

  • Twin sisters Poppy and Lily Myers found after going missing for more than five days

    The desperate search for twin sisters, Poppy and Lily Myers, has come to an end after they were found on Friday morning. The pair, both aged 13, had vanished from Egerton Road, Twickenham on April 3 prompting a hunt for the schoolgirls led by the Met police. Officers had also requested people share the appeal widely on social media in a bid to track them down.

  • Covid jabs produced in EU states to stay in Europe, says Brussels vaccine tsar

    Rapid increase in EU production means continent heading for ‘almost normal’ summer, says Thierry Breton

  • Deputy Has Encounter With Rare and Endangered Florida Panther

    A deputy had a close encounter with an endangered and rarely seen Florida panther in Naples, quickly rolling up her window as it approached her.Footage captured by the deputy, identified by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) as Community Service Deputy (CSD) Brandi Ahrens, shows the panther running towards the vehicle.“CSD Ahrens was typing a report in her work vehicle along the CREW Bird Rookery Swamp public hiking trail off Shady Hollow Boulevard around 8.30 am when she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye,” wrote the Collier County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook. “It was a Florida panther, and it was heading her way.”According to the National Wildlife Federation" (NWF), there are only 120 to 130 Florida panthers left in the wild. “The subspecies is so critically endangered that it is vulnerable to just about every major threat,” including habitat-loss due to construction, pollution, and busy roadways. Credit: Collier County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful

  • Drag Race UK star Baga Chipz told to ‘burn in hell with Thatcher’ after sending condolences to the Queen

    Drag Race UK star Baga Chipz has been told to ‘burn in hell’ for sending her condolences to the Queen after the death of Prince Philip.

  • Iran starts up advanced centrifuges in nuclear deal breach

    Iran announced Saturday it has started up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges in a breach of its undertakings under a troubled 2015 nuclear deal, days after talks on rescuing it got underway. President Hassan Rouhani officially inaugurated the cascades of 164 IR-6 centrifuges and 30 IR-5 devices at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant in a ceremony broadcast by state television.The television aired no images of the cascades but broadcast a link with engineers at the plant who said they had introduced uranium hexafluoride gas to the cascades after receiving the order from Rouhani.Iran's latest move to step up uranium enrichment follows an opening round of talks Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the nuclear deal on bringing the United States back into the deal.Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.The Vienna talks are focused not only on lifting crippling economic sanctions Trump reimposed, but also on bringing Iran back into compliance after it responded by suspending several of its own commitments.All sides said the talks, in which Washington is not participating directly but has the European Union as intermediary, had got off to a good start.The IR-5 and IR-6 centrifuges allow uranium to be enriched more quickly and in greater amounts than the Iran's first generation devices, which are the only ones that the 2015 deal allows it to use.Rouhani again underlined at the ceremony, which coincided with Iran's National Nuclear Technology Day, that Tehran's nuclear programme is solely for "peaceful" purposes.(AFP)

  • Coronavirus latest news: Johnson & Johnson blood clots 'extraordinarily rare', says Government adviser

    Drinkers told they must wear masks in pub beer gardens 'Light at end of tunnel' for summer holidays Prince Philip's funeral will be 'family affair' due to Covid restrictions Ben Marlow: Monday's grand reopening is a moment of truth Subscribe to The Telegraph for a month-long free trial Blood clots associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are "extraordinarily rare", a scientist advising the Government on its coronavirus response has said. The UK has ordered 30 million doses of the vaccine, which is also known as Janssen, although it is yet to be approved for use by regulators. "We still don't know whether they are directly related and caused by the vaccine but it seems possible that they could be," Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the Covid-19 clinical information network, told the Today programme. "It wouldn't be surprising to find the J&J, the Janssen vaccine, also causes rare blood clots because it's based on an adenovirus technology which is not that far away from the technology being used in the AstraZeneca vaccine." Prof Openshaw said any blood clots were "extraordinarily rare events" and likened the risk level to "if you [were to] get into a car and drive 250 miles". It comes a day after the European Medicines Agency said that it has started a review to assess blood clots in people who have been given the Johnson & Johnson jab. Follow the latest updates below.

  • Kim Jong-un raises fears of food shortages in North Korea

    It was second time in a week Kim Jong Un raised a clarion call over deepening crisis

  • I grew up in Belfast’s Sandy Row, the rioters don’t speak for my community – we denounce these violent thugs

    Nothing good can come from throwing petrol bombs. Our families and children want to live peacefully, without the terror our relatives experienced

  • Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged 99

    The Duke ‘passed away peacefully’ at Windsor Castle this morning

  • Debenhams is soon to shut up shop for good: Here’s what to buy in the department store’s closing-down sale

    Bag a bargain across skincare, make-up, fashion, electricals and kitchen appliances while you still can

  • Teenage twins from London missing for nearly a week found ‘safe and well’, police say

    Both 13-year-olds had been last seen in Twickenham on Saturday, police say

  • Analysis: Russian military buildup raises stakes as fighting in Ukraine intensifies

    Dozens of troop carriers and missile launchers sit on flatbed wagons lining up along tracks running through southern Russia, in a region bordering Ukraine. Ukraine and Western countries accuse Russia of sending troops and heavy weapons to support proxy fighters who seized a swathe of the eastern Donbass region in 2014. Moscow denies it is part of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and says it provides only humanitarian and political support to the separatists.

  • A&E ‘swamped’ with patients seeking help for mild Covid jab side-effects

    A&E ‘swamped’ with patients seeking help for mild Covid jab side-effects. Emergency departments report surge in cases of headaches linked to AstraZeneca jab amid concerns of blood clots

  • Prince Harry expected to return to UK for Duke of Edinburgh's funeral – but not Meghan

    The Duke of Sussex is expected to return to the UK from the USA for the funeral of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, despite widespread travel restrictions. However, it is thought unlikely that the Duchess, heavily pregnant with their second child, will join him. Prince Harry, 36, was extremely close to Prince Philip, although he is not thought to have seen him in person since the autumn of 2019. A royal source told the New York Post: "He will, of course, be there, no matter how difficult relations are between the Sussexes and the family." Current rules state that the majority of people attempting to travel to the UK must test negative for Covid within 72 hours of their flight and then quarantine for 10 days on arrival. There is an exemption for people attending the funeral of a close family member, although Prince Harry would have to self-isolate at all other times. He spoke of his grandfather during a recent television interview with James Corden, fondly describing how he conducted Zoom calls. "We've Zoomed them a few times. They've seen Archie running around," he said, laughing as he recalled how the Duke had slammed his laptop shut to end a call.

  • Eamonn Holmes says dislocated pelvis started his pain battle

    The presenter has been documenting his struggle with pain on social media.

  • Derek Chauvin trial: Police restraint was more than George Floyd 'could take' given his condition, says medical examiner

    The police's restraint of George Floyd was more than he "could take" given the condition of his heart, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy of the 46-year-old said on Friday. Dr Andrew Baker was testifying in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on Mr Floyd for more than nine minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis last May. Dr Baker, who has served as the chief medical examiner of Hennepin County, Minnesota, since 2004, said the police officers' compression of Mr Floyd's neck and the restraint of his body were the primary causes of his death. Dr Baker was one of the most heavily anticipated witnesses to take to the stand in the closely-watched trial. His testimony added significant heft to the prosecution's case that Mr Chauvin killed Mr Floyd when he pinned the unarmed and handcuffed black man to the ground until he could no longer beg for air.

  • Northern Ireland is back as the most dangerous open wound in British political life

    There is more to the escalating conflict than the failings of the DUP – unionists determined to keep Northern Ireland part of the UK are facing a more general crisis