Image source, West Suffolk Council

We're still seven months away from Christmas but one English council has already started cancelling its festive events for 2021.

Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fair usually attracts about 130,000 visitors to the bustling market town.

It was cancelled last year by West Suffolk Council, which has now announced it will not go ahead this winter either.

To make up for the loss of the fair for a second time, the council says it has launched a Christmas in Bury St Edmunds initiative, external, which will see a range of other events take place, although it has not given details of what they might be, other than switching on the Christmas lights.

The usual four-day fair, however, will not be one of them "due to the need to keep Covid-safe and be able to change as guidance does", the council says.

You can read the full story here.

Image source, EPA

India's capital Delhi is set to end its weeks-long lockdown gradually as the number of new Covid cases continues to drop.

From Monday, factories will be allowed to operate and construction activities will also resume.

The city saw peaks of 25,000 cases a day in April but it's been reporting fewer than 1,500 cases in the past few days.

But officials warned that the pandemic was not over yet and urged people to keep following safety protocols.

India's second wave has overwhelmed the healthcare system, leaving hospitals struggling to cope and critical drugs and oxygen in short supply.

The country has recorded 26 million cases - second only to the US.

Read more

We heard earlier from the Office for National Statistics that Covid cases are starting to rise slightly in parts of the UK.

Like many other European nations, however, new case numbers remain relatively low.

The same cannot be said for Latin American countries - a number of which are still experiencing high - and rising - daily case numbers.

Meanwhile, in Asia, some countries are experiencing a spike in cases for the first time during the pandemic.

As we've heard, a single-dose Covid vaccine made by Janssen has been approved for use in the UK by the medicines regulator.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says in a tweet that it is "very welcome news" and the jab will "play an important role in helping us protect people from the virus".

He adds that everyone is encouraged to get the jab when they are eligible.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), calls it "encouraging news", with four "safe and effective" vaccines now approved for use in the UK.

"Our work does not end here. We are continually monitoring all Covid-19 vaccines in use once they have been approved to ensure that the benefits in protecting people against the disease continue to outweigh any risks," she says.

Image source, Reuters

Here's what you need to know this afternoon:

• A single-dose Covid vaccine made by Janssen has been approved for use in the UK by the medicines regulator
• It will be the fourth vaccine to be used in the UK to protect against Covid-19
• Glasgow will continue to be the only part of Scotland under level three restrictions for at least another week
• The level three restrictions mean people are not allowed to meet in each other's homes, and pubs and restaurants are not able to sell alcohol indoor
• There is no data to suggest England's end to lockdown on 21 June might be delayed, the business secretary has said - but he cannot give a guarantee
• And surgeons are calling for specialist hubs in England to help tackle what they call a "colossal backlog" of non-urgent operations because of Covid-19

Image source, Getty Images

PM Boris Johnson has suggested the delayed 2020 Olympic Games "can take place safely" in Japan this summer - despite doubts over whether spectators can attend and protests in Japan.

Japan has extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas by 20 days, with infections still not slowing, as it prepares to host the Olympics in just over 50 days.

The state of emergency in the host capital was scheduled to end on Monday, but hospitals in some areas are still overflowing with Covid patients and serious cases have recently hit new highs.

Olympic organisers must decide at around the end of the 20 days whether to allow any domestic fans at all, after overseas spectators were banned months ago.

Despite the extended measures, Johnson today appeared to offer his Japanese counterpart a vote of confidence during a phone call.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The prime minister spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga this morning ahead of the UK's G7 summit next month.

"The prime minister expressed his support for the Tokyo Olympics, and noted Japan's efforts to ensure the games can take place safely."

At her press conference, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the Covid variant first discovered in India - believed to be more transmissible - probably accounts for "50% or even more of [Scotland's] daily cases".

She adds the increase in case numbers is concentrated in younger groups, which indicates vaccination is having a protective effect for older people.

Yesterday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this figure was about 75% UK-wide.

Sturgeon adds that while most of mainland Scotland is currently due to move from Level 2 to Level 1 rules on 7 June, that move is not certain.

Sturgeon says she is planning to confirm to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday "whether and to what extent that move will proceed".

"If we see a significant reduction in the health harms of Covid, even as case numbers rise, then hopefully that will allow us to change our approach because we will be able to rely then on other public health measures, rather than blanket restrictions, to keep the outbreaks under control," she says.

The approval of the Janssen single dose Covid jab in the UK is a "further boost" to the vaccine programme, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says.

In a statement, he says: "This is a further boost to the UK’s hugely successful vaccination programme, which has already saved over 13,000 lives, and means that we now have four safe and effective vaccines approved to help protect people from this awful virus.

“As Janssen is a single-dose vaccine, it will play an important role in the months to come as we redouble our efforts to encourage everyone to get their jabs and potentially begin a booster programme later this year.”

Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi says:“The Janssen vaccine will be another weapon in our arsenal to beat this pandemic.

“We are doing everything we can to vaccinate all adults as quickly as possible and I encourage everybody to come forward for a jab as soon as they are eligible.”

Nearly half UK cases look like Indian variant, figures suggestpublished at 13:10 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

13:10 BST 28 May 2021

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

Nearly half (46%) of the infections in the UK look like the variant first detected in India, according to figures released in the past hour by the Office for National Statistics.

The ONS infection survey suggests infections are rising in the UK for the second week in a row, with just over one-in-1,100 people testing positive for the virus.

The ONS survey swabs people at random and so is not affected by surge testing in virus hotspots.

It gives a clearer picture of the epidemic and its findings confirm the patterns seen in community testing in recent weeks.

Case numbers are rising, although still at low levels, and the variant first detected in India is well on its way to becoming the dominant strain in the UK.

Half of the cases detected in Scotland and England looked like the variant. There were no such cases in Wales or Northern Ireland, but the survey has very few infections to work with in those countries (only 5 in Northern Ireland in the last fortnight and 11 in the last six weeks in Wales).

Image source, PA Media

A bit more from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's press conference now.

She says, as of this morning, 3,196,051 people in Scotland have received a first dose of the Covid vaccine - an increase of 21,244 since yesterday.

Some 28,721 got a second dose of the vaccine yesterday, bringing the total number of those fully vaccinated to 1,971,006.

She adds, however, that an increasing number of people are not turning up to their vaccine appointments, and pleads with people to get a jab if they have booked to do so.

Janssen's single-dose Covid jab will be available later this year, after it was approved for use in the UK.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency says the vaccine meets the expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says it will "play an important role in the months to come as we redouble our efforts to encourage everyone to get their jabs and potentially begin a booster programme later this year".

The independent Commission on Human Medicines has reviewed the MHRA’s decision and endorsed it.

Earlier this year, the single-dose vaccine was shown to be 67% effective in preventing Covid infection and 85% effective in preventing severe disease or hospitalisation.

It can be stored at fridge temperatures, between 2 and 8C, meaning it can be distributed to care homes and other locations across the UK.

The government says the vaccination programme remains on track to offer a jab to all adults by the end of July.

Janssen’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use by the UK's medicines regulator.

The city of Glasgow, which has been locked down for almost nine months, will remain in Level 3 (Very High) restrictions for at least another week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

It was expected rules could ease, but cases have risen there by "about 30%" in the past week, Sturgeon says.

She adds, however, that public health measures are helping to stabilise the situation there.

She says it would be "premature" to ease restrictions at present, but she hopes that measures could ease by next Friday.

Level 3 rules mean:

• Six people from two households can gather at an indoor public place such as a cafe or restaurant
• Groups of up to six from six households can meet outdoors, but there are no indoor visits to private homes, external
• Going inside someone's living accommodation is only permitted for essential purposes or if you are in an extended household
• Shops and many leisure facilities can open, but cinemas, theatres, nightclubs, concert halls and stadiums cannot
• People should only travel in or out of the areas for permitted purposes.

Nationally, Sturgeon says the R number, which represents the average number of people each Covid positive individual goes on to infect, "could be as high as 1.3". That means cases are rising.

About 60,000 people in the UK would test positive for coronavirus in the week to 22 May, up from 54,000 people the previous week, the latest ONS estimates show, external.

This is 0.09% of the population – or one in 1,080 people.

The ONS says there are signs of increases in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But, in Wales, cases are stable and low.

In England, infections are little changed on last week but the ONS says there are “signs of an increase in the two weeks ending 22 May”.

The figures show:

• About one in 1,120 are estimated to be testing positive for coronavirus in England compared with one in 1,110 last week
• One in 3,850 compared with one in 4,340 last week in Wales
• One in 820 compared with one in 1,550 last week in Northern Ireland
• and one in 630 compared with one in 1,960 last week in Scotland

The ONS says that in the week ending 22 May "we have seen an increase in cases that are not compatible with the UK variant in England and Scotland; these are likely to be compatible with variant B.1.617.2, first identified in India".

Taiwan must choose between virus and politicspublished at 12:17 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

12:17 BST 28 May 2021

Michael Bristow
BBC World Service Asia Pacific editor

Image source, EPA

After successfully keeping coronavirus at bay, Taiwan is currently in the grip of its first serious outbreak.

The island is desperately seeking vaccines to protect its people, and Taiwan's giant neighbour China has offered to help.

But this puts Taiwanese leaders in a dilemma. Should they accept assistance from a country that wants to see Taiwan cease to exist as a self-governing entity?

Or, to put it another way, is the virus more important than politics?

So far, Taiwan has said no to Beijing.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

People and businesses in Glasgow will find out shortly whether the city will remain in level three of Scotland's restrictions.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to give a briefing at 12.15 BST, where she will set out the latest on Covid in Scotland, and reveal which areas - if any - will experience a change in rules.

Glasgow has been subject to strict measures for 270 days, while the rest of the country has seen restrictions ease in recent weeks.

We'll bring you the key updates from that briefing in this live page, while our colleagues in Scotland will bring you more in-depth coverage here.

And in the meantime, you can read more about what to expect from Ms Sturgeon here.

India has been battling a deadly second wave of the virus, leading to a severe shortage of resources such as hospital beds and oxygen cylinders.

Suhani and Prabhpreet are part of a team who find and verify what resources are available for families in need.

They spoke to BBC My World about how this has affected their mental health and why they keep going.

Image source, PA Media

Four Covid-19 related deaths were registered in Northern Ireland in the week up to Friday 21 May, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

The government agency says that figure represents a decrease of three on the previous week.

It brings Nisra's total recorded deaths to 2,971.

The NI Department of Health's total for the same date, based on a positive test result being recorded, is 2,152.

Nisra's figures are higher because it records mentions of the virus on death certificates when it may or may not have been confirmed by way of a test.

You can read more about the latest in Northern Ireland here.

Few vaccinated people turning up to A&E with Indian variantpublished at 11:35 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

11:35 BST 28 May 2021

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

Image source, Reuters

With the variant first detected in India becoming the main version of coronavirus in the UK, the next question is whether the vaccines will still prevent people getting sick.

There’s some good news from Public Health England, external on that front.

Overall, just over 200 people so far have turned up to A&E with Covid that turned out to be the Indian variant.

The really good news is that just over a quarter of those people had received the vaccine. And only five (or 2.5%) of them had received both jabs.

Far more than a quarter of us have been vaccinated and far, far more than 2.5% of people have had both jabs.

If the vaccine wasn’t working, you’d expect more than a quarter of people turning up to A&E with Covid to be people who were vaccinated.

While there are ifs and buts with every number that we use to try to make sense of the variant, there’s a clear picture emerging from many different jigsaw pieces.

Vaccines reduce the chances that people will get sick from either of the main types of coronavirus in the UK.

The second jab reduces those chances even further.

Image source, Getty Images

Many of the people who breached coronavirus-related travel restrictions in Scotland have been hillwalkers and campers, according to police reports obtained by the BBC.

The documents also reveal some offenders listed ghost-hunting, boredom and takeaways as excuses for why they were outside their council areas.

Police Scotland were given the power to fine people breaking strict travel rules on 20 November last year.

Officers have since issued more than 900 travel-related fines.

Fines start at £30, doubling to £60 if they are not paid within 28 days. Repeat offenders can face fines of up to £960.

Until this month most of the country had been in lockdown since Boxing Day with a "stay at home" message put down in law.

Read more here.