The drug – now a partisan wedge issue – has fueled hype and hope, but evidence of its effectiveness remains limited

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Emergency response body could have moved quicker at beginning of pandemic

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) is advising cabinet on coronavirus response

Europe is in the pandemic frontline but unity among the nations has been rare. That may be changing – not before timeAlmost seven weeks after the World Health Organization confirmed the pandemic, Europe remains in the frontline of the battle to contain the Covid-19 virus. Five of the six countries reporting most cases are in Europe. Seven of the 10 countries reporting most deaths are in our continent too. Yet Europe has struggled to make common cause against the virus. In particular, it has bickered over how to support the most affected European economies against the consequences of the lockdown. In spite of innumerable acts of cross-border solidarity on the medical front, the rich nations of Europe have proved reluctant backers of the continent’s embattled poorer economies.The good news, relatively speaking, is that this divide has not got worse and may, just possibly, have eased a little. This week, leaders of the 27 EU nations finally signed off on a €540bn rescue package. This gives countries such as Italy and Spain, which stand second and third to the United States in Covid-19 cases and deaths, the right to borrow from the eurozone’s bailout mechanism. The problem is that the EU’s southern member states are reluctant to borrow their way out of the problem, in part because they fear that to take on more debt would deepen the inequality between the EU’s south and north. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Leaked list reveals presence of Johnson adviser and Vote Leave ally on supposedly independent body

Video meeting seen as global endorsement of WHO and sign of Trump’s isolation on world stage

Engineering firm has been told by the government that their services are no longer required

Coronavirus has robbed us of life’s markers and left us like prisoners crossing off the days until we can live freely again

Unintentional injuries are the top cause of death for kids in the US and today’s forced confinement raises the riskAs an emergency department doctor in a busy children’s hospital, I am relieved not many children are becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus. However, as an injury prevention expert, I am worried about a hidden danger for America’s children. I am worried about this hidden danger for my now home-bound child.With millions of American children out of schools and daycares, this pandemic is likely to still harm children in a significant way: through injuries instead of infection. The number one killer of children in the United States is not infections like the flu. Year in and year out, it is quietly unintentional injuries, which are more likely to occur in the home, and more likely to arise when routines are interrupted and environments changed. While public health experts have rightfully recommended the closing of schools and daycares to stop the spread of the coronavirus, we must also bring public awareness to the principal danger in millions of children spending their days in homes – a potential rise in unintentional injuries. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Scientists examine whether this route enables infections at longer distances

The pressing need to find a solution to the pandemic means risks and shortcuts may have to be taken

The government’s objections to this seemingly effective measure appear more political and economic than scientific

Medical researchers have been studying everything we know about Covid-19. What have they learned – and is it enough to halt the pandemic?

Doctors warn US president’s musings on disinfectant as a cure for coronavirus could lead to death

Some people are angry at bats which is ridiculous. There are a lot more things to be angry at

24 April 1984: Researchers could be within two years of developing a cure for the ailmentWashington: The US Government announced yesterday that state-sponsored researchers have discovered the probable cause of the disease, Aids, which has caused panic among homosexuals in recent years.The researchers could be within two years of developing a cure for the ailment, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Margaret Heckler, said here. Continue reading...

Unemployment in US up by 4.4 million to a total of over 26 million; world has ‘a long way to go’, warns WHO chief; Iran reports lowest new daily infections for a month. This live blog is now closed –follow our new live blog below

Wildlife Trusts warn of effects from neglected reserves and species loss, to fly-tipping and illegal shooting

WHO draft put online states remdesivir does not benefit severe coronavirus patientsCoronavirus latest: at a glanceRemdesivir, a drug thought to be one of the best prospects for treating Covid-19, failed to have any effect in the first full trial, it has been revealed.The drug is in short supply globally because of the excitement it has generated. It is one of the drugs Donald Trump claimed was “promising”. Continue reading...

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Ministers accused of abdicating political duty to narrow field of opaque expertise on Covid-19

People are dying. It is time to give up on the fantasies of British exceptionalismIf there is a simple way of showing how out of step this government is with the rest of the world on coronavirus, it can be found in the gap last week between the five criteria that Dominic Raab said the country must fulfil before the lockdown was lifted and the six tests the World Health Organization set. Missing from Mr Raab’s list was that health system capacities ought to be “in place to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”.What divides these two approaches is the “science”, which is why claims of following it ring so empty. On one side we have those who believe that testing, tracing and the isolating of infected individuals is needed to defeat coronavirus. In this camp are public health experts such as Anthony Costello of University College London and Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary. Continue reading...

Scientists say insects are vital and the losses worrying, with accelerating declines in Europe called ‘shocking’The biggest assessment of global insect abundances to date shows a worrying drop of almost 25% in the last 30 years, with accelerating declines in Europe that shocked scientists.The analysis combined 166 long-term surveys from almost 1,700 sites and found that some species were bucking the overall downward trend. In particular, freshwater insects have been increasing by 11% each decade following action to clean up polluted rivers and lakes. However, this group represent only about 10% of insect species and do not pollinate crops. Continue reading...

Unmet coronavirus test promises have put the health secretary in the firing line. But scientists may be made the real scapegoats

Results from the study will be vital for planning an exit strategy from the Covid-19 pandemic

The tech giant’s pledge to go carbon negative by 2030 leans heavily on nascent technology such as machines that suck carbon out of the airMicrosoft drew widespread praise in January this year after Brad Smith, the company’s president, announced their climate “moonshot”.While other corporate giants, such as Amazon and Walmart, were pledging to go carbon neutral, Microsoft vowed to go carbon negative by 2030, meaning they would be removing more carbon from the atmosphere than they produced. Continue reading...

Since the coronavirus lockdown started, many have been having vivid dreams – but is there any point in analysing them?

How to search the sky and what to see, from moon and stars to planets and the International Space Station. Go on a journey of billions of miles … from your gardenTo begin looking for objects in the heavens, you’ll need to know where north, south, east and west are. Make a note of where the sun rises (east) and sets (west), use Google maps or use the compass on your phone. Now, download a free astronomy app to your phone AND computer. My favourite, for ease of use and features, is Stellarium .Once the app is installed, set your location. This ensures that, when opened, the app indicates what is in the sky above you – wherever you live in the world. Stellarium automatically sets the time and date but also has a function that speeds up time, so you can fast forward to night-time and explore the sky from your sofa. It’s even possible to set it to show the sky on the night you were born. Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: The bird’s song is sharp and yellow as celandines, soft and blue as violets“The sun never sets on the empire of the dandelion,” said Alfred Crosby, the historian of science and technology, talking about the biological expansion of Europe and the “portmanteau” of plants and animals carried by colonists to establish in new worlds.The vibrant solar voice of the dandelion speaks for the global flow of species but some remain particular and personal. There is a voice inside my head and it’s not mine. The voice belongs to a song thrush. He began singing at the waxing moon, a couple of days before it was full, and sang until it began to wane. He would start at dawn from the topmost branch of one tree, then move to the topmost branch of another in the afternoon until the moon rose. Each day he did the same and his song followed the same patterns but never exactly: each phrase repeated three or four times, some sharp and yellow as celandines, some soft and blue as violets. Continue reading...

Hannah Devlin speaks to Dr Miraz Rahman about how to find drugs to treat a new disease like Covid-19, and discusses repurposing old drugs such as the anti-malaria medicine hydroxychloroquine Continue reading...

Cats are believed to have contracted virus from local humans, adding to small number of confirmed cases in animals worldwide

Trump to halt immigration for 60 days initially; 256m people could starve, says UN; cases worldwide pass 2.5 million. This blog is now closed.

The Noor was launched by a three-stage rocket and, according to Iran officials, had reached a 425 km high orbitIran has claimed it has put its first military satellite into orbit, further raising tensions with the US at a time the two countries are already facing off in the Persian Gulf.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the satellite “Noor” (Light) was in a 425km (264 miles) high orbit, after a successful launch. Iran launched its first civilian satellite in 2009. Continue reading...

Fox News staffers also backed away from promoting drug after a recent US trial did not go well

Health secretary tells MPs social distancing is working but lockdown will remain

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Climate activist says Covid-19 outbreak shows change can happen when we listen to scientists

Richard Dreyfuss plays a retired engineer who wins a place on the first commercial space flight in an amiable, late-life adventureA likable performance by Richard Dreyfuss livens up this easygoing drama about second chances and late-life adventure from actor-turned-director Shelagh McLeod. Dreyfuss plays a retired civil engineer who, all his life, has dreamed of going to space and is now in with a chance of winning a golden ticket. The role is a nice mirror to Close Encounters, in which Dreyfuss ditched his wife and kids to fly off with the little green men.Here he is a family-oriented man who nursed his wife through dementia and is adored by his grownup daughter. He has lived a good life but perhaps stifles a pang of regret at the average-ness of it all. It’s a film of tender feelings, though perhaps a little predictable and bluntly sentimental. Continue reading...

Elena Manighetti, from Lombardy, and Ryan Osborne told families not to contact them with bad news during Atlantic crossing

Researchers - who stress serious health risks of smoking - plan to test nicotine patches on patients and health workers

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many confirmed cases have been reported near you

Helen Whately says shipment is being checked, but fails to explain why offers from British suppliers were ignored

Countries that are actively working to contain coronavirus are buying themselves time to deal with its uncertain outcomes

From the orangutans that lived undisturbed for 700,000 years to the frolicking rhesus macaques of Kathmandu, the BBC’s new nature blockbuster brings us closer than ever to the planet of the apesOne day 23 years ago, scientists were exploring a lost world called Batang Toru when they glimpsed something moving in the forest canopy. What they saw was a great ape that had lived in splendid isolation for 700,000 years. With its kindly black face, orange fur and vast proto-artisanal beard, it looked like the familiar Sumatran or Borneo orangutans, but was neither. In 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan was recognised as a new species. It is smaller, and has paler, thicker fur than its lowland cousins and lives in reproductive isolation on that remote plateau in the north Sumatran jungle 1,000m above sea level.The news about this addition to world species lists prompted producer Nikki Waldron to scramble to the Sumatran jungle, to film the Tapanuli orangutan for the first time. After a few weeks, she and her crew found a mother and daughter in their natural habitat. “When we first arrived, the cameraman sighed. The light levels were really low because of the density of the leaves, and the orangutans live 40m up in the trees.” Continue reading...

Sarah Boseley speaks to Dr Dipesh Patel about the effects of Covid-19 on people with diabetes, including the role that glucose levels and a high BMI might play Continue reading...

Labor and Jacqui Lambie ask for trials of anti-malarial drugs with known side-effects to be truly voluntary

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Other democracies have kept death tolls low by using a combination of social distancing, tight travel restrictions, mass testing and contact tracing. Why can’t the UK?

PM will have telephone audience with the Queen while he recovers from coronavirus