News

Actor Derek Fowlds left an estate worth more than £3million

Derek Fowlds, also known to TV viewers as private secretary Bernard Woolley in Yes, Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister, died aged 82 in hospital last January.

EastEnders fans 'work out' Chelsea's 'revenge' on killer dad Lucas after phone call

EastEnders dropped a major twist it seemed, regarding Chelsea Fox and her plans for her killer dad Lucas Johnson

Will the govt over-deliver on vaccine pledge?

There's suggestions the government could over-deliver on its pledge to vaccinate 15 million people by mid-February.

India kicks off 'world's largest' vaccination campaign

India kicks off 'world's largest' vaccination campaign

HHS's Azar tells Trump Capitol attack could tarnish legacy

HHS's Azar tells Trump Capitol attack could tarnish legacy

Officer injured and woman fined £10,000 after police shut down party of 150

A woman has been fined £10,000, and an officer left injured, after police were forced to close down an unlicensed music event which was attended by around 150 people. Hertfordshire Police became aware of the event following reports of an “unusually large number of vehicles” parked near a property in Blanche Lane, South Mimms at about 8pm on Wednesday. One person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer while 12 attendees were...

Coronavirus: India to launch massive vaccination drive

Mitch McConnell tells senators to ‘vote their conscience’ as impeachment trial looms

Following Donald Trump’s second impeachment in the House of Representatives, Mitch McConnell has told his senate colleagues to “vote their conscience” as the Senate determines whether to convict the president for his role inciting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol, fulled by false claims of voter fraud and a pervasive lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” from his supporters. The Senate Majority Leader, overseeing the remaining days of the...

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge warned of ‘broken’ emergency workers after Covid

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been warned that the UK faces a generation of “broken police officers and emergency services staff” after the Covid-19 pandemic. The comment came as William and Kate chatted with emergency responders and counsellors, and the duke shared his own experiences of seeing “death and so much bereavement” when an air ambulance pilot, and how it affected his world view. William also revealed his concern for those on...

Aftershock rocks Indonesia quake zone as search continues

Aftershock rocks Indonesia quake zone as search continues

Up to 10cm of snow for parts of England as Met Office issues amber warning

Large parts of the UK have also been issued with yellow warnings for snow and ice that stretch from Lincolnshire into Scotland.

NHS crisis in charts: how Covid has increased strain on health service

The NHS is in the grips of a winter crisis like no other. Friday was the ninth day in a row in which the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid hit a new high, with 32,975 patients now on wards across England. Seventeen NHS trusts are treating more coronavirus patients than non-Covid patients and six have more than 50% of beds taken up by Covid patients. One in five English trusts treated at least twice as many patients on at least...

Dangerous creatures found in water

Brazil airlifts emergency oxygen into pandemic-struck state, vaccine drive lags

Brazil airlifts emergency oxygen into pandemic-struck state, vaccine drive lags

New tougher coronavirus restrictions come into force in Scotland

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the country was in an ‘extremely serious’ place in the fight against Covid-19.

Afghan military translator trapped in Greek camp is coming to UK

Nesar, who worked for almost two years on the front lines in Helmand, said from the squalid Moria camp on Lesbos the news was 'a dream come true'.

William and Kate check in with emergency service workers

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge check in with emergency service workers, worried about how they are dealing with battling the pandemic at risk of their own mental health.

Suffolk Police officers accused of racial profiling cleared by watchdog

A police watchdog has cleared two officers of any wrongdoing following accusations of racial profiling, though it found there was “room for improvement” in the way officers communicated. It comes after footage of the Suffolk Constabulary officers’ encounter with a middle-aged black couple was viewed more than two million times on Twitter last year. In the video, taken on 9 June, Ingrid Antoine-Oniyoke and her husband Falil Oniyoke are seen being...

Brazilian prosecutors charge 11 over Flamengo soccer club fire

Brazilian prosecutors charge 11 over Flamengo soccer club fire

Family of Nora Quoirin still have ‘unanswered questions’ following inquest

Nora was reported missing the day after the family had arrived at the eco-resort.

Doctors and police forces issue joint warning over fake Covid-19 vaccine fraudsters

Doctors and police forces have issued a joint warning about fraudsters trying to sell fake Covid-19 jabs, saying: “The vaccine will also be free on the NHS.” Reports to Action Fraud have been rising in the last two months, particularly around scam text messages, as con artists seek to gain from the pandemic. Suspicious text messages reported by members of the public urge people to click a link to a bogus booking site which mimics an NHS page,...

More women ‘considering technology-aided methods of trying for baby’ since pandemic

More women are considering technology-aided methods of trying for a baby in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, a new study has found. A poll of 400 women, which Stowe Family Law shared with The Independent, found almost half of women are now contemplating technological conception procedures they would not have thought about before the public health emergency. Researchers at the UK’s largest family law firm found the most popular option is egg...

What the papers say – January 16

Many of Saturday’s papers lead with changes to travel from Monday.

Quarantine-free travel into UK to end in bid to keep out new coronavirus strains

Meanwhile, more than 3.2 million people have now received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the UK

Duke of Cambridge: Trauma makes the world seem a 'darker, blacker place'

The Duke of Cambridge has spoken of his concern about the pressure faced by emergency workers during the coronavirus pandemic, saying his work as an air ambulance pilot showed him that being surrounded by trauma and sadness can make you see the world as a "darker, blacker place".

Friends of Harris look forward to her history making VP inauguration

Friends of Kamala Harris said they looked forward to her history making VP inauguration.

Ice cream tests positive for coronavirus in China

Coronavirus has been detected on samples of ice cream in north China, prompting authorities to seize thousands of potentially contaminated products. People thought to have come into contact with the batches, produced by Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, are now being traced by authorities in the the northern Tianjin municipality. All of Tianjin Daqiaodao’s products have also been sealed and contained after the company sent three samples to the...

Federal prosecutors allege Capitol rioters sought to ‘capture and assassinate’ lawmakers

Federal prosecutors believe rioters involved with a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January intended to “capture and assassinate election officials” in Congress. The statement is included in court documents filed by US attorneys concerning Jacob Chansley, who was seen in widely shared images from the Capitol wearing face paint and fur clothing before reaching the dais where the vice president, Mike Pence, sat inside the Senate....

Mask-wearing hits an all-time high of 80% in the US

Abut 80% of Americans wear masks, up from about 50% in the spring, but the survey found small gatherings are more common as 200,000 COVID-19 cases are diagnosed a day.

School closures could wipe out a decade of progress for less privileged pupils

Closing schools has been one of the most painful consequences of the pandemic - the action Boris Johnson described as his "last resort".

Two in five Covid patients in Brazilian hospitals die, study finds

Two in five coronavirus patients die after being hospitalised in Brazil, a study has shown, underlining how the virus has overwhelmed the healthcare system in all of the country’s regions. Brazil’s in-hospital mortality rate was 38 per cent, rising to 60 per cent among those admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and to 80 per cent for those who were mechanically ventilated, the research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal...

'Patients are younger and sicker than in the first wave' - hospital COVID consultant

David Parrott is just 19 years old and he sits in isolation wearing an oxygen mask that help his COVID-ravaged lungs to breathe.

Trump’s Pentagon chief says he ‘cannot wait to leave’ his job

Donald Trump’s acting Pentagon chief says he “cannot wait” to leave his job in less than a week. Acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller made the surprising comments to press as he returned from a trip to Nebraska, Tennessee and Colorado. Mr Miller, who has only been in the job for two months, spoke out when he was asked about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive weapons system in history. "I so... I mean, I cannot wait to...

Coronavirus news live — Travel corridors axed in latest U-turn as Johnson says 3.2m now have vaccine

Travel corridors, which allowed transport between the UK and foreign countries without requiring any quarantine time, have been scrapped outright - the prime minister has announced. Unveiling the the policy shift in a press conference, Boris Johnson said it would be a temporary move, aligned with the delayed “test-before-travel” scheme. The PM also confirmed almost one in 20 of the UK population - more than 3.2 million people - have now been...

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell brings notes to White House that suggest calling for ‘martial law if necessary’

One of Donald Trump’s fiercest supporters, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, went to a meeting at the White House with notes suggesting “martial law if necessary”. The notes, captured by a photographer as Mr Lindell entered the Oval Office on Friday, come after Mr Lindell tweeted then deleted calls for the president to “impost martial law” in the seven battleground states that won the election for Joe Biden. The page is curved and not fully visible,...

‘Internexit’ for Leave.EU as domain name temporarily suspended

Leave.EU has been forced to “Internexit” after the group’s EU domain name was temporarily suspended. It comes after the Irish businessman in whose name the pro-Brexit campaign group’s domain name is registered denied having any involvement with the organisation. Now visitors to the site are greeted with an error message, and the EU’s online registry marks the domain as under a server hold, meaning it is “temporarily inactive and under...

Two U.S. military bases in South Korea shelter in place as coronavirus curbs extended nationwide

Two U.S. military bases in South Korea shelter in place as coronavirus curbs extended nationwide

'Covid patients getting younger and sicker'

Patients pay the price for mixing at Christmas as emergency departments are full of patients with coronavirus.

Public could force councils to sell off vacant land and buildings

The proposals, to be announced by the Housing Secretary today, would make it easier to challenge councils and other public organisations to release land for redevelopment.

Haiti braces for unrest as opposition demands new president

Opposition leaders are demanding President Jovenel Moise’s resignation and legislative elections to restart a Parliament dissolved a year ago.

Woodpeckers move their beaks 'like a drill bit'

Biologists at the University of Antwerp in Belgium found that the woodpecker gets its beak stuck in tree trunks and then detaches itself by flicking its head at breakneck speeds.

Illinois Governor confirms coronavirus variant found in state

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker confirmed a coronavirus variant that is more contagious was found in state.

Everyone paying for a coronavirus vaccine in Britain is being scammed

Anyone trying to skip the queue by paying for a private coronavirus vaccine is being scammed, with officials confirming that the only way you can get the jab in the UK is free from the NHS

Coronavirus: Toby Young’s ‘herd immunity’ Telegraph column ‘significantly misleading,’ says press regulator

An article by Toby Young which suggested that London was “probably approaching herd immunity” to Covid-19 last summer has been found to be “significantly misleading” by the press regulator. The Independent Press Standards Regulator (Ipso) ruled this week that The Daily Telegraph must publish a correction for the July 2020 opinion piece, which suggested that the common cold could provide “natural immunity” to Covid-19 and called for an end to...

Pfizer delay will not stop UK from vaccinating top priority groups by mid-February, government says

The government says that it is still planning to vaccinate the top four priority groups by mid-February, despite expected production delays for the Pfizer vaccine.

Peak of new Covid variant infection ‘passed’ in some parts but death toll spike ‘still to come,’ says Whitty

The new variant of coronavirus has had its peak of infection in some parts of England, Professor Chris Whitty has said – though he warned the number of deaths is likely to increase yet. The UK’s chief medical officer spoke at a Downing Street press conference on Friday, where he said areas that had seen “a really big surge of the new variant” had “we hope” seen the variant’s peak of infection “already”. “We expect that the peak of infection has...

Why Joe Biden may not be able to bring his Peloton to the White House

President-elect Joe Biden may have to leave behind his high-tech Peloton when he moves into the White House over concerns the exercise bike could pose a national security risk. Peloton, known for its cult-like following that has seen everyone from celebrities to elected officials shelling out thousands of dollars for a stationary bike, promises “game-changing cardio”. During an episode of Mr Biden’s podcast Here’s The Deal, he revealed that he...

Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, JLo, and more: the lineup for Biden’s inauguration

Ex-lover of Juan Carlos says king's spymaster 'frightened' her

This is the moment when a former lover of King Juan Carlos of Spain says she felt 'frightened' by the chief of state's former head of security services, General Felix Sanz Roldan. Corinna Larson gave testimony to the court in Madrid over video link.

Mexico president backs dropping of drug case against ex-defense minister

Mexico president backs dropping of drug case against ex-defense minister