UK

A top travel boss has told Sky News he is “confident” Britons will be allowed to holiday abroad again from 17 May – while most of the Mediterranean hotspots “will be open” when schools break up for summer. Under prime minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions, international travel without one of the current

A huge wildfire on Northern Ireland’s Mourne Mountains, declared a major incident by the Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS), is causing “incredible” damage to the environment. Seventy firefighters and 10 fire appliances, deployed from stations across Northern Ireland, are continuing to battle the inferno on the country’s highest peak, Slieve Donard. Firefighters on the front

More than half the UK’s total population has now had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The number of initial inoculations stands at 33,508,590, while the population is estimated to be 66,796,807. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world A further 119,953 first doses were given on Friday, while 448,139 people

A woman who lost her job after expressing views that sex cannot be changed and transgender women are “not women” has told Sky News she doesn’t regret anything she has done or said. Maya Forstater lost a test case at an employment tribunal in 2019, arguing that her belief should have legal protection. The judge

Former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs has been charged with assaulting two women and controlling or coercive behaviour, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. Wales manager Giggs 47, will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court next Wednesday 28 April, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said. He is accused of causing actual bodily harm at

Vaccines – not lockdowns – should be able to control the coronavirus pandemic, experts have said, as they released major new research showing that jabs cut infection and are likely to reduce transmission. So far, more than 33 million people have had at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK, while 11 million have

More than 11 million people in the UK have now had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine, new figures show. Some 416,784 had their second jab yesterday, meaning 11,192,601 have received both shots. 117,909 people had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, taking the UK’s total to 33,257,651. It comes as the

Up to 350,000 predominantly black and Asian service personnel have not been formally remembered in the same way as their white comrades. An investigation has blamed “pervasive racism” for the failure to properly commemorate at least 116,000 but up to 350,000 people who died fighting for the British Empire. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has

The chairman of one of the founding clubs of the breakaway European Super League has said the project can no longer go ahead. Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus, said that the league was no longer viable following the withdrawal of the six English clubs involved on Tuesday evening. Shortly after Agnelli’s statement, another club has

All English clubs have now pulled out of the European Super League. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed they will follow Manchester City and Chelsea in withdrawing from the planned tournament. United said: “We will not be participating in the European Super League”. Chelsea, faced with an angry protest from their fans,

Three men have gone on trial accused of deliberately altering police statements after the Hillsborough disaster to “mask the failings” of South Yorkshire Police. A total of 96 Liverpool fans died as a result of the crush at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield on 15 April 1989 as their club played an FA Cup semi-final against

Coronavirus restrictions in Wales are to be further relaxed from Saturday with six people from different households able to meet outdoors. First Minister Mark Drakeford also announced that outdoor hospitality would open up again from Monday, but warned that although new coronavirus infections continued to fall, people making use of the eased restrictions would still

Millions of children will be able to voice their hopes for a post-COVID world in a landmark review backed by footballer Marcus Rashford. The Big Ask, launched by new children’s commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza, is the biggest ever survey of children conducted in the UK. The results of the online review, titled

Young people who have previously had COVID-19 are going to be deliberately exposed to the virus for a second time – in a new study that aims to see how their immune systems react. The University of Oxford’s “human challenge” trial also hopes to discover what dose of coronavirus is needed to cause a reinfection,

Thousands of fans will return to Wembley Stadium for the first time in more than a year on Sunday as part of a coronavirus trial. The FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton will see 4,000 supporters in the stands – a fraction of Wembley’s 90,000 capacity. Sunday’s game, alongside the World Snooker Championship

Inside the castle grounds – as I watched Prince Philip’s coffin move past our studio on the back of the Land Rover – it was a poignant yet quirky reminder that at the heart of the ceremony were the ideas of a man who didn’t always like to conform.  A chance to say a final