Covid infections are up 43% across the UK, following the Jubilee weekend of partying and two new fast-spreading subvariants of Omicron, BA4 and BA5. People can catch them even if they have recently had other types of Covid. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which compiles the data, says it is too early to say if this is the start of another wave. Millions celebrated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee between 2 and 5 June, giving Covid many opportunities to spread. It usually takes a few days for people to show symptoms or test positive after catching it, so the latest data covers some of that Jubilee mixing. There were 11,778 new confirmed positive test result on 17 June 2022, and 80,128 people in the last 7 days. An increase of 17,771 compared to the previous 7 days. Data is being monitored closely: see

The Aurora, a former RNLI lifeboat, was sold to the British charity Search and Rescue Relief. After they had rescued 85 people in a sinking skiff off the north African coast on 29 May, Italian authorities gave them permission to land on Lampedusa Island. Two days later, the UK’s maritime and coastguard agency gave the charity notice that prevented Aurora going back to sea, claiming it was operating ‘beyond the geographical limitations’ of the Rescue Boat Code under which it is certified. The Aurora, which is operated by the international non-governmental rescue body Sea Watch, has been stranded at the island for nearly a month. 45 people have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean in that time. The ban comes after the European Court of Human Rights stopped asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East in the UK being sent to Rwanda. Migrants from these countries hoping to reach the UK via the English Channel must first cross the Mediterranean.

From the romantic poets to Sir David Attenborough’s research, Britain has a reputation for being a nation of nature lovers. But citizens of this green and pleasant land are ranked bottom of fourteen European nations measured for their ‘nature connectedness’, according to a new study. This is a psychological concept which measures the closeness of an individual’s relationship with other species and the wild world. Studies have found that people with a high level of nature connectedness enjoy better mental health and are more likely to act in environmentally friendly ways. Britain. which has lost more wildlife than any other G7 country, has been shown to be one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet. Professor Miles Richardson, the lead author of the study, is asking the UN to adopt the concept of nature connectedness as a sustainable target, with 17 sustainable development goals focused on issues for people or for nature.

France is in uncharted waters after President Emmanuel Macron lost his majority, with a large, shaky opposition bloc on the left and many more far-right lawmakers surging into the National Assembly. Just two months into his second five-year term, Macron has the narrowest majority in French political history and must govern through coalition-building. Marine Le Pen's strategy to turn her far-right party mainstream has succeeded, increasing its lawmakers almost tenfold and cementing the party's rise from fringe status to mainstream opposition. The largest opposition group can claim the privilege of chairing the National Assembly's finance committee - a strategic role because the committee's president sets the agenda, giving any opposition lawmaker determined to hamstring the majority a tool to do so. It also confers powers of inquiry, with access to tax and public spending documents usually off-limits. Marine Le Pen says she intends to lobby for this highly strategic post.