Sam Smith reportedly signs up to Tinder
Sam Smith has reportedly signed up to Tinder in a bid to find love.
The Duke of Sussex is determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with his brother at the unveiling of a statue of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whatever the fallout from his interview with Oprah Winfrey. Prince Harry hopes that the brothers can present a united front at Kensington Palace on July 1, which would have been the Princess’s 60th birthday, in an attempt to move past their rift. A source close to Prince Harry insisted that whatever had been said and done, he desperately hoped to attend the event and considered it a priority. There is more uncertainty about whether the Duke might make it back to the UK for earlier events, such as Trooping the Colour on June 12 or the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday on June 10, partly due to the impending birth of his second child, thought to be due around that time. Despite the explosive nature of the revelations made to Ms Winfrey, the Sussexes consider the interview their last word on the subject and want to move on. They felt they needed to have their say and explain to the public why they turned their backs on royal life, but now consider the matter closed, sources said. One friend said: “It was something they felt they wanted and needed to do but now they have done it, they feel a line has been drawn under that chapter of their lives and they want to move on.”
Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday. "The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with a vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl" in Lower Austria province, it said.
First time daily deaths below 100 since 19 October
Everyone aged 56 and over will be invited for jabs this week, NHS England has announced. Hundreds of thousands of letters for those aged between 56 and 59 began landing on doorsteps on Saturday. The latest round of invitations comes after eight in 10 people aged 65 to 69 took up the offer of inoculation. More than 18 million people in England - more than a third of the adult population - have already received a vaccine. Across the UK, more than a million people have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while almost 21.4 million people have had one dose. Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS England national medical director for primary care, said: "It is testament to our incredible staff that we can now move on to the next age group. The vaccines are both safe and effective, so if anybody who is eligible hasn't been vaccinated yet, I'd urge them to go online or call 119 and get themselves booked in."
"I find it ridiculous."
Morgan has criticised the duke and duchess of Sussex multiple times in recent weeks
Follow the day’s events as they happened
Hospitals offer holiday and bonuses to Covid-weary staff in England. Food, drama and poetry also part of efforts to reward NHS workers and improve conditions
‘Population immunity’ to flu and other viruses may have been impacted by Covid health measures, government adviser says
It comes as those aged 56-59 are being invited to join the cohort of the population being offered a Covid-19 vaccine.
She accused critics of the Duchess of being racist
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reviews his side's 1-0 loss to league trailers Fulham. Klopp said the Reds "conceded a goal, didn't score and lost the game, not good enough".
This is the first time that fewer than 100 deaths have been reported since October 19
More than third of Scottish voters less likely to vote for cutting ties with rest of UK after events of recent days
Education secretary said teachers were among public sector workers set to face "pay restraint".
Exodus of foreign workers ‘a threat to UK recovery’Construction, care and hospitality industries all at risk from major shortage of employees, say business leaders The government could fail to meet its target to build 300,000 homes a year because of a potential shortage of workers in the construction industry. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
The Queen will increase her official engagements this week as the Royal family responds to the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ Oprah Winfrey interview with a clear message about where the “focus” lies. Her Majesty, 94, is expected to be seen at least once this week as she carries out official duties via Zoom from Windsor Castle. All other senior members of the Royal family will also be highly visible as they conduct a raft of engagements, including marking International Women’s Day. A senior Buckingham Palace aide said: “We will see them getting on with the day job. “There are several engagements in the diary – they’ve been there for a while.” The volley of royal engagements will leave the public in no doubt about “where the focus is,” one source said. No members of the Royal family were expected to stay up into the early hours of this morning to watch the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ explosive Oprah Winfrey interview. But they were each expected to receive a detailed breakfast briefing from aides, highlighting the main allegations and topics of discussion. A palace aide said they would not “rush to respond” to the issues raised by the Sussexes and reserved the right not to comment at all. One source told a newspaper that the couple were “playing with fire”, adding: “It's very high stakes because there's a lot that could come out in the wash that hasn't been told." While they were braced for damaging revelations about racism and the perceived failure to protect and guide the Sussexes, they were also hoping not to be drawn into the fray. Aides said the mood at Buckingham Palace ahead of the interview was calm, as courtiers maintained the view that “this, too, will pass.” One signalled the belief that the Sussexes were unlikely to win the PR battle as they said: “History teaches us that only the interviewer wins from these programmes.” The Palace has repeatedly insisted that the focus should be on children’s return to school and the vaccination programme, rather than the “media circus” surrounding the Sussexes. The family also remains concerned about the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, who has spent almost three weeks in hospital and remains at the King Edward VII hospital in central London, where he is recovering from a heart procedure. The Cambridges are understood to have been focused on Prince George and Princess Charlotte's return to school this week and have relocated from Anmer Hall, in Norfolk, where they spent lockdown, to Kensington Palace. Prince Louis, who turns three in April, is also expected to start nursery soon. The contrast between the Sussexes’ litany of complaints and the Queen’s own attitude to self-sacrifice was highlighted on Sunday as the monarch released her annual Commonwealth Day message just hours ahead of the Oprah interview. In it, she has stressed the importance of keeping in touch with family to “transcend boundaries or division,” focusing on a message of unity.
Exclusive: Chancellor has only done ‘half the job’, warn NHS bosses as they call for waiting time targets to be suspended
Nicola Sturgeon's deputy is to face a vote of no confidence at Holyrood this week after he was accused of "blatantly" withholding the publication of damning legal advice until two days after she appeared at the Alex Salmond inquiry. The Scottish Tories said they would press the vote after alleging John Swinney failed to hand over all the advice requested by the inquiry and made inaccurate statements about its release. On the eve of Ms Sturgeon's appearance before the inquiry last Wednesday, Mr Swinney published what he described as "the key legal advice" and claimed "all of this material is now in the public domain." The disclosure was made after it became clear there was a Holyrood majority for a Tory no confidence motion that would have forced his resignation. He had previously ignored two parliamentary votes for the documents to be released. But Mr Swinney published a further tranche of documents on Friday afternoon that showed the Scottish Government lawyers fighting Mr Salmond's judicial review had challenged Ms Sturgeon whether she wanted to "plough on" regardless of their warnings he would win. A note written on Dec 17, 2018 showed Roddy Dunlop QC and Christine O'Neill said they were "perilously close" to being unable to mount a defence and were "firmly of the view" Mr Salmond would succeed on at least one of his challenges. Despite this, two days later the Scottish Government started an expensive 'Commission and Diligence' process in the court fight. The Sunday Mail reported yesterday that ministers spent a further £135,000 of taxpayers' money before the case was conceded in early January. In another note published last Friday, and dated Dec 7, 2018, Mr Dunlop said there were now only two possible counter-arguments against Mr Salmond's action and "I doubt either will work."
Yemen's Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry on Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura vital to petroleum exports, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security. Announcing the attacks, the Houthis, who have been battling a Saudi-led coalition for six years, also said they attacked military targets in the Saudi cities of Dammam, Asir and Jazan.