Britons are set to enjoy another day of sunshine and soaring temperatures before the mercury begins to drop at the weekend, with cloudy skies bringing a chance of rain for some.

The success of the Government's shutdown measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 may hamper the process of gathering data to develop a vaccine, a scientist leading clinical trials has said.

Comedian Jack Whitehall has endorsed the Evening Standard's Food for London Now campaign and launched a competition to encourage his followers to donate.

Lockdown is going well. I made a BLT the other day where I decided to deep fry the tomato in cornmeal and cooked the bacon in maple syrup.

Coronavirus testing will be expanded to all care home residents and staff, regardless of whether they have Covid-19 symptoms, and all people aged 65 and over with symptoms and their households, Matt Hancock has said.

Britain's weather woes are set to continue with wet and windy conditions expected to last all week.

Rain will batter all four corners of the country for periods on both Saturday and Sunday and temperatures will plummet following the sunniest ever April.

The UK is braced for a wet weekend with sunny spells as temperatures drop ahead of the May Bank Holiday.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed that the US has "a significant amount of evidence" that the new coronavirus emerged from a Chinese laboratory.

Thousands of firms today rushed to get "bounce back" loans of up to £50,000 to avoid going bust within weeks as the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc in the economy.

There are "questions to be asked" about where coronavirus came from, Boris Johnson's spokesperson has said.

The sister of a man whose body was found dumped in woodland launched an appeal today on the first anniversary of his disappearance to catch the "monsters" who killed him.

Brits have been urged to stick to the coronavirus lockdown rules over the Bank Holiday weekend as temperatures are set to soar.

The UK is set to bask in glorious sunshine on Saturday with temperatures forecast to hit 26C (78.8F).

Britain is set for another day of sunshine, with temperatures expected to soar to 26C before cooler weather tomorrow.

The ancient Roman city’s House of the Lovers has reopened to the public 40 years after it was severely damaged in 1980 by an earthquake

• Pompeii’s House of Lovers reopens to public

Airport’s boss says global standard for screening is crucial to restoring confidence

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Heathrow will start using thermal cameras to carry out temperature checks on passengers within the next fortnight, as it called for common health screening standards around the world for air travellers.

The UK’s busiest airport said it would trial thermal cameras capable of monitoring the temperature of people in the immigration halls, initially in Terminal 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Israel next week for a brief visit amid the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, a trip that’s expected to focus on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex portions of the West Bank, the State Department said Friday. Pompeo will make the lightning trip to Jerusalem to see Netanyahu and his new coalition partner Benny Gantz on Wednesday as the Trump administration tries to return to business as normal by resuming governmental travel and reopening an economy devastated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Canada's chief public health officer Theresa Tam was quick to shut down the approach during the daily ministerial update on Monday.

Sasha Abramsky

The post Why Are Republicans Stampeding to Reopen? appeared first on The Nation.

Derek Herbert had been due to appear at Hever Castle in Kent but will instead perform on social media.

Steve Inskeep talks to Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the coronavirus threat within the ranks of the military, and guarding against a power competition with China.

A three-year old girl is an internet sensation for her expert sheep wrangling.

Darragh Ennis appeared on the show in 2017

'I truly do wonder what's going on inside of her brain,' one outraged tweeter wrote

'For years before Time's Up women had to put up with harassment and still do on a regular basis'

Fauci has been a leading member of Trump's coronavirus task force

Lion says she meant it as 'light entertainment for fans during these difficult times'

Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shift

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“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.

The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average.

Laurence Fox was dumped by his mixed-race girlfriend after his rant about racism on BBC Question earlier this year.

Apple will reopen stores in four states next week with precautions such as temperature checks, face masks and social distancing.

100% of the proceeds will go towards the NHS

Comfort (food) is key

Long weekend breakfast, sorted

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia believes that Mikel Arteta can help re-establish the Gunners as one of the best teams in the Premier League.

Manchester United must target signing all three of Harry Kane, Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish in order to compete for silverware, says Alan Shearer.

EXCLUSIVE

The UK Government will this week begin a series of meetings with leading sports organisations with the hope of resuming competitions 'within weeks' after action was suspended by the coronavirus pandemic.

A trumpet-playing Real Madrid fan has won applause in the street and now online with his rendition of the club's La Decima song during lockdown in the Spanish capital.

LaLiga clubs will return to training this week amid plans to restart the competition in June, it has been announced.

LaLiga have insisted there is no official date set for a return to action after Leganes coach Javier Aguirre claimed he was told the competition would restart on June 20.

Bill Maher’s final “New Rule” on Friday’s Real Time With Bill Maher was, as usual, a doozie. “The liberal media and liberal party,” said Maher, “is doing…exactly what Republicans want: for us to go down the rabbit hole of ‘Joe Biden, sex monster.'” Maher was of course referring to allegations made by Tara Reade, who […]

Gladys Berejiklian has again ruled out the prospect of pill testing at music festivals despite a leaked draft coroner's report recommending the move.

Game fishers are predicting one of the best seasons in 30 years, but are wary about publicising their big catches online due to growing criticism about the sport.

The Workers Compensation Commission finds in favour of a former House Rules contestant who claimed she was now unemployable because of the negative way she was portrayed on the Channel Seven show.

MORNING BRIEFING: Total fire bans are in place as temperatures are set to rise beyond the mid-30s on Friday, and a man in a wheelchair has fallen down 100 stairs at Macquarie Park Station.