A top doctor is urging unvaccinated students to get their COVID-19 jabs during freshers week, to protect themselves and their new peers against the virus. Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England said: “Starting university is a really exciting time and getting your COVID vaccine means you will be armed with maximum protection
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A man who was subjected to two years of exorcisms after being accused of witchcraft believes victims are going undetected in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic. Mardoche Yembi told Sky News his relatives believed he was possessed by an “evil spirit” as a child and blamed him for his mother’s death after moving to
A major relaxing of travel rules for people coming in and out of England have been announced by the transport secretary. From 4 October, the current traffic light system of red, amber and green countries will be scrapped and replaced with one red list only. Travel traffic light system scrapped – follow live updates Anywhere
Major changes to the rules for international travel are expected to be announced tomorrow, according to reports. The green and amber lists will be merged into one category of low-risk nations and the number of places on the red list will be reduced, some reports say. Live updates ahead of latest travel announcement Please use
The NHS has started rolling out COVID-19 booster jabs. Over 50s, people in care homes, frontline health and social care workers and vulnerable people between 16 and 49 are among those who will be offered a third dose. At least six months must have passed since the second jab. Hospital hubs began giving third doses
Care homes could face “catastrophic shortages” unless the government scraps its vaccination deadline for the sector’s workers, a union has warned. Care workers in England must get their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by today and be double-jabbed by 11 November to keep their jobs. Unison said the policy was partly to blame for the “severe
Police will not launch a criminal investigation into BBC journalist Martin Bashir’s Panorama interview with Princess Diana. The decision comes after the Metropolitan Police assessed the Lord Dyson report into the 1995 documentary, which saw the journalist do a sit-down with the royal. Scotland Yard had already said in March it would not launch a
The health secretary has defended the Cabinet not wearing face coverings after Boris Johnson advised people to wear masks, saying they are “not strangers”. A photo of the crowded Cabinet meeting yesterday showed none of them wearing masks ahead of the prime minister laying out his winter plan, in which he said people should wear
The prime minister has warned coronavirus “is still out there” but vowed his new COVID winter plan “will give us the confidence” to avoid lockdowns. Speaking at a Downing Street briefing on the day the government set out its winter plan for managing COVID-19 in England, Boris Johnson said that higher case numbers than this
Lockdowns through the winter will be an “absolutely last resort”, the vaccines minister has told Sky News. Nadhim Zahawi said the government will instead rely on vaccines to shift COVID-19 from pandemic to endemic status. He told Sky News: “Lockdowns will be an absolutely last resort. “What we’re trying to do at the moment is
Prince Andrew plans to challenge a US court’s jurisdiction over a civil lawsuit by a woman who accused him of sexual assault, according to a court filing. In the filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, a lawyer for the Duke of York said the prince also plans to contest that he was properly
The prime minister is said to be “dead set” on avoiding another lockdown as he prepares to reveal his plan for managing COVID-19 over the autumn and winter. Boris Johnson is expected to address a news conference on Tuesday when he will outline how vaccinations will provide Britain’s main defence over the colder months. According
Sajid Javid has told Sky News he wants to remove the PCR test requirement for travellers returning from some foreign countries “as soon as I possibly can”. The health secretary said he was aware of the cost for families holidaying abroad and that the measure should not be in place “for a second longer than
Emma Raducanu has become the first British woman in 44 years to win a Grand Slam singles title. The 18-year-old from Bromley overpowered Leylah Fernandez, a 19-year-old from Canada – winning 6-4 6-3 in the US Open final. Their showdown lasted an hour and 51 minutes, and was the first major tennis final between two
The body of a man has been recovered by the Coastguard in the English Channel, after being spotted by another vessel. The body, which was lifted from the water this afternoon, has been taken to Eastbourne, Sussex Police have said. Officers said the man had been seen in the water in the “mid-English Channel”. They
Emma Raducanu is one match away from winning the US Open after making history as the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final. Raducanu, 18, earned a place in the record books by defeating 17th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 in straight sets during a stunning semi-final on Thursday night. Now the British tennis sensation,
The Duchess of Cambridge and prime minister are among those to congratulate and send good luck wishes to young British tennis ace Emma Raducanu after she reached the US Open final. The high-profile praise came after the 18-year-old defied the odds to defeat Maria Sakkari of Greece in straight sets. In doing so, Raducanu became
Emma Raducanu is through to the final of the US Open after defeating Maria Sakkari of Greece in straight sets. The British 18-year-old has now become the first qualifier in history to ever reach a grand slam final – and the youngest since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 when she was 17. Thursday night’s
A knife attacker has forced staff at a petrol station in Bristol to hide inside a safe room after getting into the shop. One person has been taken to hospital after leaving the petrol station in Hengrove Way, Avon and Somerset Police said, adding armed officers and a negotiator were at the scene. The force
Growing numbers of children are at risk of being excluded and “falling off the radar” as schools return to normal following the pandemic, experts fear. Analysis of recent government data shows the problem was worsening before the pandemic but there was a lull while schools were closed because of the virus. Department of Education figures