Touchdown: NASA's Perseverance rover ready to search for life on Mars

A full scale model of the experimental Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will be carried under the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, is displayed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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  • Prince Harry and William to reunite at unveiling of Diana statue as they move past rift

    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.”

  • Police officer accused of killing George Floyd faces extra charge, trial set to begin Monday

    The trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused of killing George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, is set to begin on Monday despite a late court ruling which added another charge to the indictment. On Friday the Minnesota Appeals Court decreed that the jury must also consider whether Chauvin should be convicted of third-degree murder, which carries a maximum 25-year jail term. Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder, but following a public outcry, prosecutors substituted the more serious offence of second-degree murder, which carries a 40-year maximum jail term, and second-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors' decision to reinstate the third-degree murder charge was to ensure jurors had "every option" to hold Chauvin liable for Mr Floyd's death, said Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who has been advising Mr Floyd's family, Chauvin is one of four officers facing trial in connection with Mr Floyd's death. Three others are accused of aiding and abetting Chauvin.

  • Over-56s are invited for Covid vaccine jabs as July target date on track

    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."

  • Austria suspends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch after death

    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.

  • Coronavirus deaths continue to fall as 82 further fatalities are recorded in the UK

    Coronavirus deaths continued to fall in the UK as a further 82 fatalaties were recorded in the UK on Sunday. The latest Government data on vaccines shows that up to March 6, of the 23,335,514 jabs given in the UK so far, 22,213,112 were first doses – a rise of 416,834 on the previous day. Boris Johnson said he is “very hopeful” the return of pupils will go to plan as he warned the risk of keeping classrooms locked outweighed a school-led spike in Covid cases.

  • Piers Morgan claims he was ‘scolded’ in the street by an elderly woman for Meghan Markle criticism

    Morgan has criticised the duke and duchess of Sussex multiple times in recent weeks

  • Boris Johnson news: PM ‘misled parliament’ over Covid contracts as strike fund launched over 1% NHS pay rise

    Follow the day’s events as they happened

  • Our Girl's Michelle Keegan responds to rumours of marriage problems with TOWIE's Mark Wright

    "I find it ridiculous."

  • Queen wears honeymoon brooch as husband Philip spends another weekend in hospital

    The Queen's husband is spending another weekend in hospital.

  • PM vows to stick with cautious lockdown approach as schools prepare to return

    It comes as those aged 56-59 are being invited to join the cohort of the population being offered a Covid-19 vaccine.

  • ‘Keep Meghan Markle’s name out of your damn mouth’: Kamala Harris’ niece defends the Duchess ahead of interview

    She accused critics of the Duchess of being racist

  • Six million ‘hidden’ patients could flood NHS waiting lists this year

    Exclusive: Chancellor has only done ‘half the job’, warn NHS bosses as they call for waiting time targets to be suspended

  • Pope Francis Holds First-Ever Papal Mass in Iraq

    Pope Francis held the first ever papal mass in Iraq on Saturday, March 6, at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.Earlier on Saturday, Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shia cleric, in the city of Najaf.The Vatican went ahead with the historic visit — the first ever by a pope to Iraq — despite concerns over security and the spread of coronavirus in the country.This footage, taken from video shared by the Vatican’s media arm, shows the service at Saint Joseph’s Chaldean Cathedral on Saturday evening. Credit: Vatican News via Storyful

  • Italy has largest EU AstraZeneca stock but lowest vaccination rate

    No European Union country has a bigger stock of AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines or has used a smaller percentage of its stock than Italy. Rome, with European Commission permission, stopped a shipment of 250,000 of the Oxford University jabs leaving the EU for Australia. The ban was a rebuke to the British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm, which Brussels accuses of breaking its contractual obligations, which AZ denies. In January it cut supplies to the EU in the first quarter to 40 million doses from the 90 million in the deal, and said it would cut deliveries by another 50 per cent in the second quarter. The EU has lagged far behind the UK, US and Israel in rollout, which it blames on supply shortfalls. Italian prime minister Mario Draghi aims to use AZ to speed up vaccinations as his country gears to face a third wave. He is expected to lift age restrictions and follow Britain's lead in having a longer gap between first and second jabs to increase the number having at least one shot. But a new YouGov survey of 1,029 Italians found that almost a quarter (23 per cent) would refuse the AZ jab and demand an alternative.

  • Nicola Sturgeon's deputy to face vote of no confidence for 'blatantly witholding' Salmond legal advice

    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."

  • Exodus of foreign workers ‘a threat to UK recovery’

    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

  • Hope for summer holidays but Britons should prepare for hard winter, Dr Susan Hopkins says

    ‘Population immunity’ to flu and other viruses may have been impacted by Covid health measures, government adviser says

  • School Holidays Could Be Cut After Covid, Gavin Williamson Confirms

    Education secretary said teachers were among public sector workers set to face "pay restraint".

  • What time is Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah on TV?

    Everything you need to know about the high-profile televised event

  • COVID-19: UK should prepare now for 'difficult autumn' and 'hard winter', warns Public Health England official

    The UK should prepare for a "difficult autumn" due to the threat of new coronavirus variants emerging and a potential surge in other respiratory viruses, a senior health official has warned.