Coronavirus pandemic MPs will vote on new Covid rules for England later with around 70 Conservatives expected to rebel against Boris Johnson. The prime minister has defended his plans as a “proportionate” response to rising cases of the Omicron variant. However, his proposal to make Covid passes a requirement of entering large venues such […]
By Doug Faulkner BBC News The first people in the UK are in hospital with Omicron infections, Nadhim Zahawi has said. The new variant of coronavirus now accounts for a third of cases in London, the education secretary said. With two doses of a vaccine “not enough” Mr Zahawi encouraged people to get a booster […]
By Becky Morton BBC News Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited from the UK to the US, the High Court has ruled. The US won its appeal against a January UK court ruling that he could not be extradited due to concerns over his mental health. Judges were reassured by US promises to reduce […]
By James Landale & Joseph Lee BBC News The UK Foreign Office’s handling of the Afghan evacuation after the Taliban seized Kabul was dysfunctional and chaotic, a whistleblower has said. Raphael Marshall said the process of choosing who could get a flight out was arbitrary and thousands of emails with pleas for help went unread. […]
By Alex Kleiderman BBC News Coronavirus pandemic Face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on public transport in England from next week as part of measures to target the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, the PM has said. PCR tests for everyone entering the UK will be introduced and all contacts of new variant […]
Coronavirus pandemic Travellers arriving in England from several southern African countries will have to quarantine amid warnings over a new coronavirus variant. UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said from 12:00 GMT on Friday six countries would be added to the red list, with flights being temporarily banned. One expert described the variant, known as […]
Nick Triggle Health correspondent @nicktriggleon Twitter Coronavirus pandemic Covid infection rates have started rising sharply in parts of Western Europe, prompting the introduction of fresh restrictions and lockdowns. It has triggered fears the UK could follow suit. But there are plenty of reasons to believe Britain will escape the worst of what is being […]
Rolls-Royce believes its Spirit of Innovation plane could be the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft. The firm – whose aerospace headquarters are based in Derby – said the plane reached a top speed of 387.4 mph (623 km/h) during test runs at an experimental aircraft testing site. It is thought to have set new World Records […]
By Doug Faulkner BBC News Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case The husband of British-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has ended his hunger strike after 21 days. Richard Ratcliffe has been protesting outside the Foreign Office, demanding the government does more to secure his wife’s release from Iran. He said he had promised her he would end the protest, […]
By James Gallagher & Michelle Roberts BBC News Coronavirus pandemicWhile many European countries are seeing steep rises in coronavirus cases and preparing to step up Covid restrictions, the UK has been going in the other direction. Experts say differences in levels of immunity and people’s behaviour are the likely explanations. The UK had been seeing […]
