It is hard for the public to trust a government that prioritises political messaging ahead of deliveryThere is no such thing as a total truce in Westminster, and a partial one rarely lasts long. The period when Labour felt obliged by a sense of duty in a national emergency to provide “constructive” opposition to the government is over. In parliament on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris...

Site at Aguada Fénix found using lidar aerial laser technologyVast earth platform exceeds volume of Great Pyramid of GizaScientists using an aerial remote-sensing method have discovered the largest and oldest-known structure built by the ancient Maya civilization – a colossal rectangular elevated platform built between 1000 and 800BC in Mexico’s Tabasco state. Related: Into the light: how...

Home secretary challenged over decision to introduce 14-day rule months into pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe UK home secretary is facing mounting calls to publish the scientific advice behind its controversial decision to enforce a 14-day quarantine period on all arrivals into the UK months after the pandemic began.In a statement to the Commons, Priti...

Research appears to back up stories of people who believe they got coronavirus at events UK government allowed to go aheadCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe last major football match played in England before all sport was suspended because of the coronavirus crisis was the European Champions League showpiece between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. It was a thrilling...

Risk is greater in rural areas, according to study of nearly 3 million births over 10 yearsLiving near active oil and gas wells during pregnancy increases the risk of low-birthweight babies, especially in rural areas, according to the largest study of its kind.Researchers analysed the records of nearly 3 million births in California to women living within 6.2 miles (10km) of at least one oil or...

Proposals suggest seeking volunteers to look after coronavirus patients without protective gearCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHealth and social care workers could be asked to volunteer to look after people with Covid-19 without wearing protective equipment in the event of extreme shortages, according to proposals seen by the Guardian.Councils oversee a range of...

Surgisphere, whose employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studiesThe World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company, also calling into...

Primatologist calls for overhaul of food habits to prevent a future pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHumanity will be “finished” if we fail to drastically change our food systems in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis, the prominent naturalist Jane Goodall has warned.She blamed the emergence of Covid-19 on the over-exploitation of...

Crook, County Durham: Today’s sweet briar could be the mongrel offspring of a dog rose – they hybridise so easilySpring, so eagerly anticipated, so riotous, has sashayed into summer. All that remains of crab apple, hawthorn and rowan blossom lies as petal confetti on the pavement. The blackcap in the copse I walk past daily is subdued, its melodious courtship tempered now by the caution of a...