The Princess Royal reminisced about sailing in her younger years as she made her first in-person appearance at an official event since her father's death. Anne appeared in good spirits as she met with members of the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) on the Isle of Wight on Wednesday – the prestigious club Prince Philip was once admiral of. The Princess, 70, spoke fondly of her "links" and "early memories of sailing" at the west Cowes-based club, and took time to speak to senior members and a group of aspiring young sailors. Asked by club commodore Jamie Sheldon about the vessels she had sailed on, Anne said: "I started really with Bloodhound (a yacht). I then regressed to dinghy sailing for a bit." Anne – the only daughter of the Queen and the Duke – wore sunglasses, a navy blue jacket, black trousers, shoes, gloves and carried a black handbag for the occasion. She smiled as she spoke with some of the younger sailors and asked about their sailing experience. The princess, pictured below, left the RYS on a boat called "Warrior", before arriving at Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Fishbourne around 1.15pm.
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.
Infections have fallen so far in one borough that the rate was equivalent to less than one confirmed case a day per 100,000 people
The world’s biggest and most successful budget airlines, Ryanair and Southwest, fly 737s exclusively
The company’s revenue has tripled since the change was implemented
The Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier strike group will take a controversial route to avoid provoking China on her first major voyage, The Telegraph can reveal. Although HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail through the South China Sea, a vital shipping route which Beijing has become increasingly assertive over in recent years, she will not sail through the Taiwan Strait, instead going east as she makes her way up to Japan for the final section of the trip. However, the decision not to sail the £3 billion warship through the strait on a voyage that will focus on freedom of navigation operations, has raised eyebrows due to Beijing’s vow to annex Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said the Government and Royal Navy “need to rethink this journey”. He said: “I'm pleased the Aircraft Carrier is deploying in the South China Sea but they need to complete this process by letting the Chinese know that they disapprove of their very aggressive actions against their neighbours by sailing through the Taiwan Strait. I hope they will revisit their schedule, and ensure that this happens.” Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Defence Select Committee, said the carrier strike group’s maiden voyage had been “rolled out as such an important statement of intent” and worried it could be “diminished” over “fear of offence”. Mr Ellwood said the “purpose” of the journey, pictured below, to the Indo Pacific “is to stand up to the authoritarianism of China”.
Boris Johnson raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he suggested that the reduction in Covid infections, hospitalisations and deaths has 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 situation at the border is becoming ‘untenable’, an executive at the west London airport said.
‘Clear pattern’ between Covid vaccinations and antibody positivity across UK, says Office for National Statistics
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.
A gold nose pin, boxes of eggs, or a tax rebate: Covid vaccine incentives around the worldMembers of the public are being offered gifts and discounts to encourage vaccine take-upSee all our coronavirus coverage A man receives a dose of Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in Dhaka Photograph: Suvra Kanti Das/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock
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.
The 35-year-old TV presenter used a 'Countdown' conundrum to reveal her happy news.
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.
Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, people with close knowledge of the matter told Reuters in Delhi. Ties between the nuclear-armed rivals have been on ice since a suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir in 2019 traced to Pakistan-based militants that led to India sending warplanes to Pakistan. Later that year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Indian-ruled Kashmir's autonomy in order to tighten his grip over the territory, provoking outrage in Pakistan and the downgrading of diplomatic ties and suspension of bilateral trade.
"We're just getting on with it the best we can."
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
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.
The UK jobless rate for young black people rose by more than a third to 35 per cent during the pandemic
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