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French study is believed to be first such confirmed case but doctors say infant has made good recovery

Hong Kong, California and Manila tighten rules; WHO warns there are no shortcuts out of a pandemic; Australia passes 10,000 cases

With antibodies having implications for both our understanding of previous coronavirus infections and potential future immunity, Nicola Davis talks to Prof Eleanor Riley about how best to test for them and asks whether antibodies are the only thing we should be looking for Continue reading...

Cases rise by over 230,000 worldwide in 24 hours; EU summit ‘may not agree Covid-19 recovery fund’; 130m ‘may go hungry in 2020 because of virus’. This blog is now closed

Preparations to avoid second wave worst-case scenario in NHS hospitals ‘must start now’

While the government offers only mixed messages on face coverings, a ridiculous outlaw machismo has been on the rise

The solution to today’s puzzle.Earlier today I set you the following puzzle.Place a different letter in each of the 26 empty white cells of the grid below to make ten common English words. Each letter of the alphabet is used exactly once. The words read along the horizontal lines. Continue reading...

Tests of pupils and teachers in Saxony suggest children may act as brake on infection

PM says government will issue fresh guidance this week on the wearing of face coverings

More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccineResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

Exclusive: best analysis to date indicates significant increases in infections, hospital admissions and deaths

Record of 230,000 reported just days after previous global high; South Africa reinstates alcohol ban; Mexico overtakes Italy death toll

More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccineResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

A bowl of food for the brainUPDATE: Solution is now up here.Today, for a change, a word puzzle. Place a different letter in each of the 26 empty white cells of the grid below to make ten common English words. Each letter of the alphabet is used exactly once. The words read along the horizontal lines. Continue reading...

Edinburgh University team find heart damage in 55% of ultrasounds from 69 countries

In the 1990s, a troupe of hippies spent two years sealed inside a dome called Biosphere 2. They ended up starving and gasping for breath. As a new documentary Spaceship Earth tells their story, we meet the ‘biospherians’It sounds like a sci-fi movie, or the weirdest series of Big Brother ever. Eight volunteers wearing snazzy red jumpsuits seal themselves into a hi-tech glasshouse that’s meant to perfectly replicate Earth’s ecosystems. They end up starving, gasping for air and at each other’s throats – while the world’s media looks on.But the Biosphere 2 experiment really did happen. Running from 1991 to 1993, it is remembered as a failure, if it is remembered at all – a hubristic, pseudo-scientific experiment that was never going to accomplish its mission. However, as the new documentary Spaceship Earth shows, the escapade is a cautionary tale, now that the outside world – Biosphere 1, if you prefer – is itself coming to resemble an apocalyptic sci-fi world. Looking back, it’s amazing that Biosphere 2 even happened at all, not least because the people behind it started out as a hippy theatre group. Continue reading...

Jupiter is at its closest to Earth and directly opposite the sun – so will be conspicuous for its brightnessOn 14 July at 09:00 BST, Jupiter will be directly opposite the sun in the sky. Known as opposition, it marks the middle of the weeks when the planet is at its best for observing because it is closest to Earth. From Jupiter’s perspective, our world will be at inferior conjunction, meaning that it will be directly in-line with the sun. The chart shows the view looking south at midnight tonight from London. Jupiter will be quite low in the night sky, close to the main body of Sagittarius, the archer. It will be conspicuous because of its brightness and its proximity to another bright planet, Saturn. Continue reading...

There are worrying trends about long-term damage, even in those with milder symptoms

Exclusive: King’s College London team found steep drops in patients’ antibody levels three months after infection

The market is flooded with books and classes claiming ‘breathwork’ can help with mental health, sleep and even Covid-19. But are experts convinced?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage

Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of contracting coronavirus

Unconscious bias training is a lucrative industry, but it won’t change consciously hostile policiesAre you racist? And, if so, how would I know? I used to think that a good gauge may be whether you call me a “Paki”, or assault me because of my skin colour, or deny me a job after seeing my name. But, no, these are just overt expressions of racism. Even if you show no hostility, or seek to discriminate, you’re probably still racist. You just don’t know it. Especially if you’re white. And if you protest about being labelled a racist, you are merely revealing what the US academic and diversity trainer Robin DiAngelo describes in the title of her bestselling book as your “white fragility”.You either accept your racism, or reveal your racism by not accepting it. Indeed, as DiAngelo explains, it’s “progressives” confronting racism who “cause the most damage to people of colour” because they imagine that they are anti-racist. Racism is, as she puts it, “unavoidable”. Continue reading...

The chancellor missed an opportunity to deliver a life-saving message along with Wagamama’s chicken

Communities secretary announces new planning rules forcing councils to take impact of Covid-19 into account

Mental health issues among teenagers and young adults are on the rise since start of pandemic

With the red planet’s launch window about to open, the US, China and the UAE are all sending craft to look for answersIn the next few weeks, a flotilla of probes will be blasted into space from launch pads round the world and propelled towards one of the solar system’s most mysterious objects: the planet Mars. Within days of each other, spacecraft built by the USA, by China and by the United Arab Emirates will be sent on separate, seven-month voyages to investigate the red planet.Never has so much interplanetary traffic been put en route to Mars at one time - and all of it is intended to help answer a question that has nagged scientists for decades: is there, or was there ever, life on Mars? Continue reading...

New research from Sweden reveals that good genes don’t make you a success but family money, or marrying into it, does

This blog has closed – please keep following our live coverage here12.50am BSTThis blog has closed – thanks for following. Coverage continues at our latest coronavirus live blog.12.27am BSTGood morning, good evening, hello, wherever you might be. This is Helen Davidson taking the reins of the blog for the next few hours. Thanks to my colleagues for their coverage.We’ll be starting a new blog shortly, but in the meantime here is some more news on the vaccine front. Continue reading...

Scientists still divided on the issue as PM hints he will make face coverings mandatory for shoppers

The vaginal mesh scandal betrayed the intimate trust that should exist between doctor and patient, whatever their sex

Job losses, homelessness, school closures and acute hunger set to rise dramatically without urgent support, Christian Aid warns

I looked forward to spending more time with my wife – but it took a while before romance found its way back inIt felt like we were embarking on a new adventure. It was late March and Boris Johnson had announced that Britain would, in response to the threat of Covid-19, be going into lockdown. Life as we knew it was about to grind to a halt. I would be working from home as the British Library was closing its doors. My wife Bridget, a speech and language therapist specialising in autism, would also no longer be able to work in schools and have to work from home. Our children – Laila, eight, and Ezra, three – would not be attending school or playgroup.Lockdown was potentially terrifying – no one knew then what the impact of the pandemic was going to be – but my initial response was that it could perhaps be good for our family. There would be a pause in the daily struggle of trying to wake the children, get them dressed and fed in time to run to the bus stop so they were not late for school. Working from home and the shops being closed meant we might save some money. The biggest upside without doubt, however, was that the lockdown would give me the chance to spend more time with my wife. Continue reading...

Other finds include lead lined Roman coffin and Stonehenge-like wooden structure

Daniel Andrews says effects of lockdown won’t be reflected for weeks as NSW cases linked to Casula pub

WHO reports worrying rise; second Venezuelan minister tests positive; Brazil records 1,200 more deaths

Experts say programme could follow participants for decades to look at long-term effects

Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of getting Covid-19

WHO says pandemic is still accelerating; Hundreds of Romanians check themselves out of hospital; Serbia considers new lockdown. This blog is now closed

Design review stage passed for craft intended to visit iron-and-nickel mini-world in 2026

Cases make it ‘harder to imagine bringing our campus community back’ as planned, university saysPlans for the fall semester at the University of California, Berkeley, are in question after 47 new Covid-19 cases tied to fraternity parties emerged in the past week. University officials warn the outbreak could jeopardize the ability to move forward with in-person classes in the months ahead.“We have seen the number of University Health Services positive cases increase from a running total of 23 since the start of the pandemic, to 47 new cases in just one week,” university officials wrote in a letter. Continue reading...

Inquiry to examine claims remains were found strewn around and dismembered

An estimated 14,000 people had infection over past two weeks, according to ONS data

Windows can stay open say scientists behind speaker array that emits opposing pressure sound waves to counteract dinIf the hum of passing cars and the clatter of trains drives you to slam windows shut on a hot day, a new noise cancelling system could be music to your ears.Scientists have developed a sound control system that can be fitted on to an open window, allowing a breeze to waft in while sounds from outside are quietened. Continue reading...

The government’s preference for centralisation and the private sector has undermined England’s response to the pandemic

Melbourne is undergoing a suburban testing blitz after Victorian premier Daniel Andrews revealed hotspots in suburbs were largely caused by extended families

How often should you wash a cloth mask? And how effective are the disposable ones? The expert guide to choosing, wearing and caring for your face coveringThe British have been slow to embrace face masks, despite calls from public health experts. Uptake has been just 25% in the UK, compared with 83.4% in Italy and 65.8% in the US. The president of the Royal Society, Venki Ramakrishnan, said this week that wearing one “is the right thing to do” and that a refusal to do so should be seen as socially unacceptable as drink-driving or not wearing a seatbelt.Perhaps one of the problems has been the changing advice as new evidence emerges. The World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends people wear cloth masks. Ramakrishnan said that in the UK, “the message has not been clear enough, so perhaps people do not really understand the benefits or are not convinced”. It also doesn’t help that the guidance across the UK is different. Continue reading...

Could there really be other civilisations out there in the Milky Way? Nicola Davis talks to Prof Chris Conselice, whose recent work revises the decades-old Drake equation to throw new light on the possibility of contactable alien life existing in our galaxy Continue reading...

Move comes after two people absconded from quarantine, including a man later found to have Covid-19Police officers will patrol New Zealand’s quarantine hotels around-the-clock after a number of people – including a man who tested positive for coronavirus – escaped the managed isolation facilities.In two separate incidents in Auckland hotels guests in isolation left their quarantine hotels, with one woman escaping over a hedge, and another man over a small fence. Continue reading...

Experts say new climate data shows how close world already is to breaching 1.5C Paris agreement pledgeThere is a one-in-five chance annual global temperatures will be at least 1.5C warmer than in pre-industrial times in the next five years, experts have said.Annual global temperatures are likely to be at least 1C above the levels they were before the industrial era in each year between 2020 and 2024, a long-range forecast by experts led by the UK Met Office shows. Continue reading...

Gathering ‘likely contributed’ to surge; Bolsonaro vetoes measures to help indigenous people; Melbourne goes into full lockdown after rises in cases. This blog is now closed