Bristol's Pride festival and march has been cancelled for a second year due to a "significant" rise in Covid-19 cases.

It had been set to take place in July in a smaller format than previous years but the delay in easing restrictions and the city experiencing a "tipping point" has forced a postponement.

With a limit of only 30 people able to attend an outside gathering and nightclubs not yet able to open, organisers say they have no choice but to postpone.

Festival director Eve Russell says: "We had robustly planned all our events to ensure they could go ahead had the rules not been relaxed, but sadly Covid-19 cases are rising significantly in Bristol, particularly among young people, and it just won't be possible to deliver the day in a way that is safe at this time."

You can read more here.

If you're just joining us, here's a round-up of your main coronavirus headlines in the UK this lunch time.

• The Covid-19 epidemic in England is growing, scientists tracking it say - with much of it being driven by younger people who are not yet vaccinated
• People who test positive for coronavirus after vaccination are less likely to show symptoms and they have less virus in their body according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics
• Covid restrictions in Wales are unlikely to be significantly relaxed until July because of concern about the Delta variant, BBC Wales has been told
• New figures show more than one in five children in England are now eligible for free school meals - an increase of 420,000 children since the start of the pandemic in March 2020
• The government must not "under any circumstances" order civil servants in England to return to the office until Covid rates are cut, a union has said
• A leukaemia patient is urging people not to assume their symptoms are coronavirus after he mistook his cancer for long Covid
• Halfords says sales of bikes rose by 54.1% in the year to 2 April as the pandemic limited local travel and overseas holidays

We've just got some more information on international travel, amid reports that double vaccinated people may be able to travel without quarantining.

The prime minister's official spokesman has told a Westminster briefing: "As we have always set out, we want people to be able to travel abroad as soon as it is safe to do so.

"Currently we have set out a traffic light system for international travel. We are always learning more about the virus and its variants."

The spokesman says the government's current approach "is the right one" but measures are kept under review.

"On the point about double vaccinations, absolutely no decisions have been made on that," he adds.

The next review of the UK's travel list of countries is due at the end of this month.

Here are the rules as they stand now

Image source, Getty Images

Australia has been one of the world's success stories in its fight against Covid-19, but frustration surrounds its delayed vaccination rollout.

The country has been slower than most others to immunise its population, with some high-risk groups crying out for protection.

While progress has recently accelerated, less than 3% of the population has been vaccinated so far.

So what exactly is beind the slow progress? You can read our analysis here.

Image source, Getty Images

Ryanair and Manchester Airport Group have now filed papers with the high court in regard to its legal challenge of the government’s managing of the travel traffic light system, we understand.

Ryanair and the owner of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports are calling for more transparency about how the government decides which countries qualify for the green list of safe places to visit amid the pandemic.

The system currently rates countries green, amber or red based on their Covid risk, which ministers say "cautiously manages the risk of new variants".

The move comes as some papers report that officials are analysing whether travellers who have had both coronavirus vaccine doses could avoid having to quarantine when they return from amber countries.

However, a senior government source has told the BBC there are "no plans" to allow double vaccinated travellers to avoid quarantine on their return to the UK and there is "nothing round the corner" on this.

You can read the full story here.

If you're having trouble seeing your friends, family and colleagues all wearing face masks, spare a thought for those in central Japan who will need to get used to the sight of a giant Buddhist statue wearing one too.

Dedicated to the goddess of mercy, Kannon, it has been draped with a giant face covering, and the plan is to keep the figure masked until the pandemic is brought under control.

Image source, PA Media

Still on travel, the first cruise ship to visit Belfast since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic has arrived at Belfast Harbour.

MSC Virtuosa, which has just under 1,000 on board, is on a one-day visit, and passengers are able to visit the city in controlled bubbles.

Crew members are not permitted ashore in ports, unless they are involved in operational duties such as tour dispatch or check in.

The MSC Virtuosa was not permitted to dock in Scotland due to the country's health regulations.

Belfast Harbour expects 70 cruise ships this year, which is down on a record 145 in 2019.

The Visual and Data Journalism Team

The UK now has the highest coronavirus case rate - 82.7 cases per 100,000 people - in Europe.

One month ago the picture looked rather different. Other European countries were reporting many more cases per day than the UK.

But with the spread of the Delta variant, UK case numbers are rising again and as we all know, the government has delayed the lifting of restrictions by a further four weeks.

Portugal is also seeing a rise in cases, but in many of our neighbouring countries cases continue to fall.

France's daily figures were recently revised, but its case rate is still below the UK's and trending downward.

It's hard to rank countries precisely because they count cases differently and so some countries might look slightly higher or lower if they used the UK's counting rules.

Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

Image source, Reuters

The number of children in England who are entitled to free school meals has risen significantly during the pandemic.

New figures from data in January show more than 420,000 pupils have become eligible for the food support since the first national lockdown in March 2020, taking the total to 1.74 million.

As a result, more than one in five children (20.8%) in England are now poor enough to qualify, up from 17.3% in 2020.

The January statistics are the most up to date, but school pupil premium funding for schools which is linked to free school meals, is for the first time being based on statistics gathered last October.

Wayne Norrie is chief executive officer of Greenwood Academies Trust, which runs 37 schools in the East Midlands and East of England. The majority of its children come from economically disadvantaged families with almost 50% being eligible for free school meals.

He says that over the past three years he has noticed "the children getting poorer in front of our eyes", with families more dependent on the school for help with food.

Norrie says parents at his school have really struggled and he is increasingly worried about the impact the pandemic has had on his pupils' language and basic skills.

You can read more on this story here.

Image source, Halfords

Bicycle retailer Halfords says it is facing "acute" challenges with supplies as lockdowns in Asia hit manufacturers of components.

Sales of bikes rose by 54.1% in the year to 2 April as the pandemic limited local travel and overseas holidays.

Halford says "pent-up" demand for bikes and continuing restrictions on foreign trips will support future sales.

However, it adds: "Supply challenges for cycling products remain acute."

As well as strong demand for conventional bikes, Halfords says it has seen a 94% rise in demand for e-bikes, e-scooters and accessories during its financial year to 2 April.

However, global bike supplies have been hampered by shortages of components such as brakes, as well as raw materials.

You can read more on this story here.

Covid restrictions in Wales are unlikely to be significantly relaxed until July because of concern about the Delta variant, BBC Wales understands.

Welsh government sources are downplaying expectations ahead of a scheduled announcement by First Minister Mark Drakeford on Friday.

Ministers have been looking at permitting more people to meet indoors.

But, as cases rise, sources say there will not be big changes in the rules for the next four weeks.

Read more on this story here.

Image source, PA Media

Last night, MPs in the Commons voted to extend coronavirus restrictions in England by a further four weeks, allowing the end of lockdown measures to be pushed back from 21 June to 19 July.

However, it has now emerged that the result of that vote was wrongly announced.

It was initially said that the motion had been supported by 461 votes to 60 - making a majority of 401.

But today, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle says there was a larger majority in favour of the extension - it was in fact 429.

He explains: "(Conservative whip Maria Caulfield) has informed me that the number of aye votes was erroneously reported as 461 rather than 489.

"I will direct the clerk to correct the numbers in the journal accordingly.

"The ayes were 489, the noes were 60. The ayes have it. The names were correctly recorded in Hansard."

Image source, Reuters

As we reported earlier, it is no longer compulsory in France to wear masks outdoors except in crowded areas, while a nationwide curfew is due to end on Sunday.

On Thursday, Health Minister Olivier Véran also said nightclubs would be able to reopen in July, external, but that people would have to wait till 21 June to find out exactly under what conditions; the possibility of using a health pass or a test to gain entry are being discussed.

"The health situation of our country is improving faster than we expected," Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Wednesday.

"The numbers are there. Last night, we had 3,200 [daily] positive cases on average over the past seven days. We have not seen such a low level of viral transmission since last August.

"We are thus below the threshold of 5,000 daily [new] cases, which as you know corresponds to the threshold under which the epidemic is under control, and which allows precise and exhaustive tracing of all new cases."

Navin Singh Khadka
Environment reporter, BBC World Service

Image source, gett

Many African countries are facing a "growing crisis" of severe oxygen shortages which is leading to preventable deaths, international health agencies have warned.

A doctor in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland tells the BBC that between five and 10 of his Covid patients are dying because of a lack of oxygen almost every day.

"These would all be preventable deaths if we had adequate oxygen," says Dr Jama Abdi Mahamud at the government-run Gardo General Hospital.

There are no official figures available showing a rise in preventable deaths, but many low-income countries are struggling to access oxygen supplies amid surging cases, and limited or no access to vaccines.

Every Breath Counts, a coalition of global health campaigners, says 18 low-income countries are currently dealing with oxygen shortages or are at risk of facing the crisis, with most of those being in Africa.

You can read the full story here.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

New figures published by the Office for National Statistics , externalthis morning suggest people who test positive after vaccination are less likely to show symptoms and they also have less virus in their body.

We already know that people can be infected after vaccination, since vaccination only reduces your chance of catching coronavirus rather than preventing it completely.

This analysis swabbed people chosen at random, and so catches asymptomatic infections as well as the cases that show up in the daily case numbers.

The analysis shows that the risk of getting infected is highest in the first three weeks after vaccination and falls after a second vaccination.

Just under 40% of people who did get infected after vaccination showed symptoms, according to the study.

Previous analyses from the ONS have suggested that about half of people show symptoms within five weeks of testing positive for the first time.

Back to UK politics, and yesterday, the PM's former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, published a series of WhatsApp messages he said were between himself and the PM.

In one of those exchanges, which focuses on the government's handling of the pandemic, Boris Johnson appears to call Health Secretary Matt Hancock "hopeless".

Downing Street has so far refused to deny the texts are real, but Treasury minister Jesse Norman tells the BBC he believes Johnson is a "massive supporter" of Hancock.

Norman says on the Today programme: "I think this is some of the biggest nonsense I've heard.

"The prime minister obviously, as anybody would detect, is a massive supporter of the health secretary, he's coming firmly behind him. There can be no question of loss of confidence."

He adds: "What you're alluding to is a tiny snapshot of one side of the story without any context or without hearing from the other side."

Asked yesterday if he thought he was hopeless, Hancock replied: "I don't think so."

You can watch that exchange below:

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

As we mentioned in our Europe round-up earlier, vaccination has been made mandatory in Moscow and its surrounding region for people working in public-facing roles.

Now another two of the country's regions have followed suit - the Siberian coal-mining region of Kemerovo and the Pacific island Sakhalin.

Employers in service industries such as entertainment, hospitality, transport, healthcare and education will have to ensure the vaccination of at least 60% of staff.

In Sakhalin, employees have been threatened with suspension from their jobs until they get jabbed.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has also urged people to get vaccinated, warning that authorities in the North Caucasus republic will be “forced to turn to harsh restrictive measures” unless take-up improves.

Efforts to contain the virus in Russia have been hampered by an unsuccessful vaccination campaign, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitting on 17 June that the rollout was going “badly”.

According to statistika-vakcinacii.ru, a website which collates vaccination figures from regional health authorities, only 12.8% of Russians had had at least one jab by 16 June, with 9.9% of the population fully vaccinated.

Image source, Getty Images

Sticking with sporting events, and Japan is to lift the state of emergency in several prefectures on 20 June, one month before the Olympic Games are due to start, the government has said.

It is also expected to cap the number of spectators allowed at events to 10,000 people, or 50% of the venue’s capacity. Foreign spectators have already been barred from attending for the first time in the Games’ history.

Tokyo, where the Olympics will be held, is one of the regions to have lockdown restrictions eased, however Okinawa will remain under the current curbs.

The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to start on 23 July. There is still public opposition to the event taking place at all (you can read more about why it is going ahead here), with fears it will spark another wave of coronavirus cases – however polls show that that resistance has lessened, Japan Today is reporting.

New rules released this week warn athletes they could be expelled if they violate rules like mask-wearing and daily Covid testing.

More than 80% of the Olympians will be vaccinated, and they are not allowed to interact with the Japanese public, organisers have said.

Image source, Reuters

England and Scotland play each other at Wembley tomorrow evening for the second of their three Euro 2020 group games.

But a senior police officer is warning fans who do not have tickets for the game not to travel to London.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor tells LBC radio: "We're asking people to work with us.

"We know people want to come and enjoy it, but all the events in London are ticketed only and, with the current Covid restrictions, spaces in pubs and bars will be limited."

Asked about fans potentially gathering in the capital, such as in Trafalgar Square in previous years, he adds: "The fan zone is a ticketed event only and is only available for a small number of people to ensure that it is Covid-compliant and works within its risk assessment.

"People gathering around in larger groups outside of Covid restrictions can expect to be policed."