PM set to announce end to lockdown before trying to broker national agreement on family gatheringsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson will meet his cabinet remotely on Sunday to decide how people will be able to gather with loved ones at Christmas, before the announcement of a new Covid winter plan.The prime minister, who is self-isolating, will then confirm...

Doctors behind new Australian guidelines for treatment of the painful disease say they are hampered by a lack of quality scientific evidenceProf Jason Abbott’s interest in gynaecology was piqued in the early 1990s when he treated a significant number of women complaining of troubling symptoms including – but not limited to – pelvic pain, fatigue, heavy bleeding, painful sex and painful bowel...

The renowned fossil hunter on the anti-African prejudice in palaeontology, her dream discovery, and bathing her daughter beside a baby hippoFor over 50 years, British-born palaeoanthropologist Meave Leakey has been unearthing fossils of our early ancestors in Kenya’s Turkana Basin. Her discoveries have changed how we think about our origins. Instead of a tidy ape-to-human progression, her work...

For many, baking is therapeutic. But is cooking along with Bake Off really such a good idea?An acquaintance speculated recently that we would only realise after the fact what kind of mad we went during the pandemic, but I already know: I became Bake Off mad.I used to love baking, especially the showy kind where you produce something slightly flashy to a chorus of coos of admiration. Mine almost...

Sir David King’s temporary organisation, formed in response to government’s Covid policy failings, will fight onIt began in the summer when a group of scientists decided to give the government a short, sharp lesson on how to use scientific advice in a transparent manner when tackling Covid-19. Once they had done that, the men and women of the Independent Sage organisation intended to...

After living with Parkinson’s for 30 years, the actor still counts himself a lucky man. He reflects on what his diagnosis has taught him about hope, acting, family and medical breakthroughsThe last time I spoke to Michael J Fox, in 2013, in his office in New York, he was 90% optimistic and 10% pragmatic. The former I expected; the latter was a shock. Ever since 1998, when Fox went public with...

In 1978, a photographer at a Birmingham lab fell ill with smallpox, prompting a race against time to prevent an epidemic. Does the outbreak carry lessons for Covid-19? Sally Williams reportsOn Friday 11 August 1978, Janet Parker was getting ready for work when her head started to pound. She thought she was coming down with flu: she felt sore all over. But she had lots to do that day, so her...

Eva Green’s career-best performance as a single-mother astronaut is an ideal launchpad for a look at cosmic adventurers from Jane Fonda to Juliette BinocheFor too long in the movies – as in life – space exploration was presented as a boy’s realm: brave, lantern-jawed men soaring off to the final frontier while their wives waited and fretted on terra firma. A recent spate of films and TV...

Katalin Karikó’s mRNA research helped pave way for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s successful workCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Hungarian-born biochemist who helped pioneer the research behind the mRNA technology used in the two Covid-19 vaccines showing positive results believes it was always a no-brainer.“I never doubted it would work,” Katalin Karikó...

Donald Trump Jr tests positive for Covid; South Australia makes pizza worker scapegoat for failures; German doctor arrested on suspicion of killing two Covid patients. Follow latest updatesDonald Trump Jr tests positive for coronavirusUS records highest number of daily coronavirus deaths since MayNHS could start using vaccine next month, says HancockTrials to begin in UK for antibody cocktail drug...