Tanya Roberts is still alive
Former Bond Girl and Charlies Angels actress Tanya Roberts is still alive, after her death was mistakenly announced on Sunday night.
Back in March, the University of Oxford was on the brink of signing a deal with the German drugs giant Merck to research and develop a coronavirus vaccine. The Government stepped in and helped steer Oxford towards a partnership with British-based AstraZeneca instead, taking a huge gamble by helping to fund the research and development of a vaccine that might have proved useless. Instead, the Oxford vaccine became only the second in the Western world to be approved for use, and both the UK and AstraZeneca are now reaping the benefits of the deal that was struck last April. AstraZeneca has, so far, remained fiercely loyal to the Government, resolutely refusing to give in to EU demands that it should redirect supplies of its UK-made vaccine to the bloc. But that close relationship has come under unprecedented strain as the company found itself under huge pressure from Brussels.
A senior Conservative MP has been accused of spreading “dangerous misinformation” after reportedly suggesting that the scale of the coronavirus pandemic was being exaggerated. Sir Desmond Swayne urged anti-vaccination campaigners to continue fighting against restrictions and told them NHS capacity figures were being “manipulated.” Labour has accused the former minister of spreading “dangerous misinformation” about coronavirus and has called for the Tories to take action.
‘I am a conservative. You come after us, you come after our Capitol, we gonna come after you’
Tracy Latham's partner, his parents and his uncle all passed away after catching the disease.
Police have not released a motive in the attack
Europe's fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies sharpened on Thursday when Britain demanded that it receive all the shots it paid for after the European Union asked AstraZeneca to divert supplies from the UK. The EU, whose member states are far behind Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States in rolling out vaccines, is scrambling to get supplies just as the West's biggest drugmakers slow deliveries to the bloc due to production problems.
Former minister reportedly suggested official Covid figures have been ‘manipulated’
Rishi Sunak has told Tory MPs that implementing tax rises soon will hand the Government greater leverage to slash them ahead of the next election in 2024. The Chancellor made his pre-budget appearance at the powerful 1922 committee of backbench Conservatives on Wednesday evening to take soundings before the fiscal event on March 3. He told MPs that honesty and fairness were his guiding principles, as he signalled that difficult decisions lie ahead on raising revenue and reducing the deficit, according to several sources present on the call. Laying the groundwork for potential tax rises in the coming budget and the next one, Mr Sunak argued that the public would respect candour about what is to come. Such moves will also burnish the Conservatives’ reputation for responsible management of the public finances, and are essential to differentiate the party from the opposition, he added. One MP summarised Mr Sunak’s argument: “He basically said we can’t be Labour lite.” The budget can be the Government’s “signature moment” in the fight against coronavirus, the Chancellor is understood to have declared. After a series of piecemeal bailout packages responding to the pandemic over the past year, he signalled he wants to set out a broader, philosophical approach to the economy. MPs said they now expect him to set out a detailed roadmap on his strategy for spending, tax rises, the deficit and other economic levers at the budget. He urged his backbench colleagues to judge him over the “arc of the parliament”, not just on the coming budget alone. One MP said: “People asked, ‘Why can't you cut taxes now?’ His point was that we have to look at this over three to four years. “He [Mr Sunak] said he wants to be tax cutting towards the end of the parliament, that there will probably be some rises in the middle, and that we’re going to be frank with people about the tough choices ahead.
The Labour leader said the prime minister angered mourning relatives with a gag about 'Calvin Klein briefs'.
Mike Pence has been residing in public housing for the past eight years
If the Valneva jab gets full authorisation, it will mean the UK has hopes for an astonishing 200 million jabs
Cases of Covid likely to have been caught in hospital have halved in three weeks, bringing hope that the rollout of vaccines to staff is beginning to slow transmission. NHS data shows the number of cases has fallen from a high of 635 a day at the start of this month to 367 last week. The trend came despite a rise in the total numbers of Covid sufferers in hospital from around 25,000 to 37,000 over the period. On Wednesday night, Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said early findings from Israel – which has already given first jabs to almost a third of its population – suggested they could cut rates of transmission by around 60 per cent. However, Sir Patrick told a Downing Street briefing that he would be "extremely cautious" about making an assessment of the impact of the vaccines on transmission until there was "proper data" to assess. Boris Johnson said proof about the impact of vaccines should emerge by the middle of February. A study by Public Health England (PHE), tracking 40,000 health workers – including those given jabs early in the vaccination programme – is expected to report its findings next month. NHS staff were among those offered Covid jabs when the vaccination programme began in December, with a concerted push at the start of this month after the AstraZeneca jab became available.
New first lady signals she will be an active and constant presence in the White House - drawing stark contrasts to her predecessor
The Walking Dead has firmly shut down homophobia in the fandom after trolls were whipped into a frenzy by a queer storyline.
Ghost actress opened Fendi’s Spring-Summer 2021 show in a design by artistic director Kim Jones
The leader of the Proud Boys extremist group has been unmasked as a "prolific" former FBI informant. Enrique Tarrio, 36, worked undercover exposing a human trafficking ring, and helped with drug and gambling cases, according to court documents. Tarrio's documented involvement with law enforcement related to the period 2012 -2014. There was no evidence of him cooperating after that. But the revelation raised further questions over why police did not take further steps to secure the US Capitol ahead of the riots on Jan 6. At least half a dozen members of the Proud Boys were arrested over involvement in the riots. Tarrio denied ever being an informer, telling Reuters: "I don’t know any of this. I don’t recall any of this."
CCTV footage released by police in Wales shows people fleeing from a beauty salon that was open against lockdown rules in Cwmbran on January 16.Gwent Police said the owner of Euphoria Tanning Hair and Beauty was fined £1,000 for remaining open during the nationwide lockdown, with three customers also receiving fixed penalty notices.Under the lockdown imposed by the Welsh government, people may not leave home “without a reasonable excuse”, such as to buy groceries. Most retailers must stay closed, including salons. Credit: Gwent Police via Storyful
Around one in 16 local areas are currently recording a week-on-week rise.
Eva Gicain had an emergency Caesarean section at 35 weeks pregnant.
Boris Johnson has told Scots tempted by independence the pandemic has demonstrated "the great benefits of cooperation" across the UK - after Nicola Sturgeon urged him to cancel his trip north of the Border. Speaking ahead of a visit to Scotland, the Prime Minister highlighted how the home nations have "pulled together to defeat the virus" and argued the benefits of cooperation had "never been clearer." He said the UK Government was helping Scotland prepare for the "strongest possible recovery from the virus" by providing furlough, huge supplies of vaccines and support from the Armed Forces. In a coded criticism of Nicola Sturgeon's continued demands for an independence referendum, Mr Johnson said that "mutual cooperation across the UK throughout this pandemic is exactly what the people of Scotland expect and it is what I have been focussed on." But his call for cross-Border unity came only hours after Ms Sturgeon urged him to reconsider his visit, saying the journey was not "essential" and could encourage people to break Covid travel restrictions. She insisted the Prime Minister was "not unwelcome" and she was not telling him to "stay away", before arguing his visit could be justified within coronavirus travel rules. While she said she was sure he would not break any laws, she said "Boris Johnson travelling from London to wherever in Scotland" did not meet the "essential" benchmark needed to carry out such a journey.