UK

Virtually any child between the ages of 12 and 15 would get COVID-19 at some point without vaccination, England’s chief medical officer has said. Professor Chris Whitty said that the highest rate of coronavirus transmission is currently occurring in children of this age group. Approximately half of all children have already had coronavirus during the

A man has been charged with the murders of a mother, her two children and their friend, who were killed during a sleepover at a home in Killamarsh, Derbyshire. Police said Damien Bendall, 31, had been charged with the murders of Terri Harris, 35, her children John Paul Bennett, 13, and Lacey Bennett, 11, and

A man who was arrested after four people were found dead in a house in Killamarsh was taken to hospital with self-inflicted injuries. The 31-year-old was arrested with minor injuries after the bodies of John Paul Bennett, 13, Lacey Bennett, 11, their mother Terri Harris, 35, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11, were found in

A woman found dead near a community centre in southeast London has been named as a 28-year-old primary school teacher. Sabina Nessa’s body was found near the OneSpace venue in Kidbrooke Park Road, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said. The force said a post-mortem carried out on Monday was inconclusive,

Hundreds of people have attended a vigil in Killamarsh, near Sheffield, to remember a mother and three children who were found dead in the village. A crowd of around 300, including many children, turned up on Monday evening – a few hundred metres from where Terri Harris, 35, was found dead with her children, John

The coronavirus vaccine programme is stepping up with jabs being offered to children aged between 12 and 15 and booster invites sent to around 1.5 million people in England. Three million youngsters are eligible across the UK with vaccines being delivered primarily within schools. Children will be offered jabs at some schools in England from

John Challis, who played Boycie in Only Fools And Horses, has died at the age of 79. His family said in a statement that he died “peacefully in his sleep, after a long battle with cancer”. The actor, who was born in Bristol in 1942, had an extensive television career but was best known for

Gas supply this winter is “not a cause for immediate concern”, the UK’s business secretary has reassured, following reports that a spike in prices could threaten food production and other industries. Kwasi Kwarteng posted a series of tweets after holding meetings with senior executives from the energy industry to discuss the impact of high global

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

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