Pause will allow 500,000 more vaccine doses to be given to curtail spread of Delta variantCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThere is to be a four-week pause in the relaxing of Covid restrictions in Wales, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, will confirm on Friday.More than half a million doses of vaccine are to be deployed over the coming month in an attempt to head off...

Scientists from agency and Noaa say Earth’s ‘energy imbalance’ roughly doubled from 2005 to 2019 in ‘alarming’ wayThe Earth is trapping nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, according to new research. One scientist involved in this research described this as an “unprecedented” increase, amid the climate crisis.Scientists from Nasa, the US space agency, and the National Oceanic...

Whitty says a Covid surge is under way and that cases would continue to rise for the next few weeks; UK records 11,007 new cases. This live blog is now closed – please follow the global coronavirus live blog for updatesCovid cases in England doubling every 11 daysGovernment could make working from home ‘default’ optionScotland was eight hours from running out of PPE in first waveWind...

Research found marked differences in immune response of medical staff six months after contracting virusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePrevious infection with coronavirus does not necessarily protect against Covid in the longer term, especially when caused by new variants of concern, a study on healthcare workers suggests.Researchers at Oxford University found marked...

Scientists find although longevity rises with medical advances, humans have not found way to slow rate of ageingImmortality and everlasting youth are the stuff of myths, according to new research which may finally end the eternal debate about whether we can live for ever.Backed by governments, business, academics and investors in an industry worth $110bn (£82.5bn) – and estimated to be worth...

We must develop a common plan to produce and distribute vaccines for all. That’s the only way to end this pandemicWe have the power to end this pandemic. We have the technology, materials and productive capacity to vaccinate the world against Covid-19 this year. We can save millions of lives, protect billions of livelihoods and reclaim trillions of dollars worth of economic activity along the...

Lockdown extension brings questions on when and how UK can draw a line under social distancingThe Commons vote to delay step four of England’s roadmap out of lockdown has focused attention on when and how the country can draw a line under social distancing and, in the words of the prime minister, “learn to live with the virus”.While the surge in cases in Blackburn – one of the original...

China has launched three astronauts into orbit ahead of their arrival to the country's partially-constructed space station. The trio will spend three months in low Earth orbit in what is China's first crewed mission in nearly five years and will dock with the main section of the Tianhe space station that was launched in late-April. The astronauts' stay will coincide with marking the 100th...

In the second part of our look at wildlife crime, Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield from the Guardian’s age of extinction project look at another victim: orchids. Why are they valued so highly? And how are they being protected? Continue...

Hugely prestigious event for China as Beijing prepares to mark 100th anniversary of ruling Communist partyThe first astronauts for China’s new space station are due to blast off for the country’s longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power.The trio will launch on a Long March-2F rocket for the Tiangong station, where they will spend three...