Thursday evening UK news briefing: Up to 30 countries may get all clear for summer breaks

Chris Price
·5 min read
Your evening briefing from The Telegraph
Your evening briefing from The Telegraph

Up to 30 countries including Spain's Canary Islands, Portugal's Azores and Malta could make the UK's green list for summer holidays from May 17.

The 30 destinations which are dominated by islands have high vaccination rates and low prevalence of Covid putting them in a strong position to get the go-ahead, according to Government and industry sources.

Read which destinations have been put in the frame judging by their rates of vaccinating the adult population.

It follows The Telegraph’s disclosure that the Government is racing to ensure Covid passports are available to prove people have been vaccinated as early as next month.

Here are the countries accepting vaccine passports.

Destinations like the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores could make the 'green list' - iStockphoto
Destinations like the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores could make the 'green list' - iStockphoto

However, the US State Department has heightened its travel warning against the UK.

Meanwhile, the risk of a serious blood clot from the AstraZeneca jab has doubled in a fortnight, new data show, but the Government's regulatory agency has said the benefits still outweigh the risks.

That comes as new figures show coronavirus was no longer the leading cause of death in both England and Wales last month for the first time since October.

Read more on this and the UK's latest Covid statistics in our liveblog.

Cameron wrote to BoE repeatedly over Greensill

David Cameron wrote to the deputy governor of the Bank of England "to ask for your help" with Greensill Capital, after failing to get anywhere with the Treasury, documents released today show. The former prime minister made multiple representations to Sir Jon Cunliffe, beginning in March 2020, as part of his work for the now-collapsed financial firm, according to 24 pages of documents released by the BoE. As his efforts failed to make progress, Mr Cameron wrote on April 22 last year, telling Sir Jon it was "incredibly frustrating". Read on for details.

Scientists find that stress-related hair loss is real

In 1991 the writers of The Simpsons addressed the question of how their protagonist Homer had lost his hair. Pulling out a clump every time Marge tells him she is pregnant, it hints at a popular theory as to why some people lose their hair in middle age. Scientists have suspected for many years that stress plays a major role – and particularly the day-to-day hardships of work, marriage, and raising children experienced by many in midlife. However, the scientific mechanism has never been entirely clear - until scientists at Harvard University got involved.

At a glance: Coronavirus evening briefing

Also in the news: Today's other headlines

Climate change summit | Climate change policy is not an "expensive politically-correct green act of bunny-hugging", Boris Johnson has told a conference of world leaders convened by Joe Biden. See what has been said by leaders from Russia, Brazil, Japan, France and many others. It comes as the UN admitted world leaders have not started discussing how climate change targets will impact people's everyday lives.

Around the world: Russia orders troops back

Russia's defence minister has ordered the withdrawal of most of the troops that recently amassed at the border with Ukraine following nearly four weeks of a war scare. Kyiv accused Moscow of trying to provoke fighting in the long-simmering conflict. Read what Russia has said.

Thursday interview

'You definitely get looks when you're in a wheelchair with a baby'

Ade Adeptian - Andrew Crowley
Ade Adeptian - Andrew Crowley

From polio as a child to late fatherhood, Ade Adepitan has never dealt in despair. The TV presenter and former Paralympian talks to Guy Kelly about work, fatherhood – and the discrimination he still faces in Britain

Read the full interview

Comment and analysis

Editor's choice: Features and arts

  1. Mallory and Irvine | The Everest climber who risked his life to find out what really happened

  2. Meg Mathews | 'The menopause left me crippled with anxiety - here's what helped'

  3. Untold story of James Gibson | 'My uncle saved Man Utd - he'd have hated Super League'

Business and money briefing

Corporation tax | Ireland has vowed to resist Joe Biden's reforms to the global tax system, in a sign of a split over plans within the EU.

Sport briefing

Super League anger | Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had to calm angry fans this morning after they stormed the club’s Carrington training ground in protest at the club’s attempt to join the European Super League. Read how players and staff intervened.

Three things for tonight

And finally... for this evening's downtime

We're not in Westeros anymore | Set in a fantasy pre-Revolutionary Russia, Shadow and Bone features magic, monsters and guns. But the show's relevance for today is where it truly shines. Ed Power goes inside Netflix's Game of Thrones killer and watch the trailer.

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