Consulting giant McKinsey has attracted criticism over France‘s slow vaccine rollout after Emmanuel Macron gave the firm £2.83 million to handle logistics. The president signed contracts totalling £9.46 million with four large consulting firms, despite France’s traditional pride for the quality of its vast civil service. Within weeks of those deals, Mr Macron was receiving flak … Read more
German prosecutors are investigating footballer Jerome Boateng for allegedly tearing the ear of his girlfriend Kasia Lenhardt a year before her death. The case against Boateng, which was first opened in 2019 before being shelved last year, has now been re-opened by prosecutors after new information emerged from the Berlin police inquiries that followed Lenhardt’s … Read more
Britain and the US may be on the cusp of herd immunity by the end of 2021 thanks to their speedy Covid vaccine roll-outs, data suggested today. But forecasters analysing the current pace of the global inoculation drive have warned Germany, France and Italy must rapidly speed up to reach the same threshold. Herd immunity … Read more
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is ruled out of probe into missing ‘German Maddie’ who vanished aged five during family picnic in 2015 Inga Gehricke – dubbed Germany ‘s Madeleine McCann – vanished in 2015 Despite five years of police appeals and a reward, she has still yet to be found Brueckner – prime suspect … Read more
Consulting giant McKinsey has been blamed for France‘s slow vaccine rollout after Emmanuel Macron gave the firm £2.83 million to handle logistics. The president signed contracts totalling £9.46 million with four large consulting firms, despite France’s traditional pride for the quality of its vast civil service. Within weeks of those deals, Macron was receiving flak … Read more
Germany‘s biggest-selling newspaper has praised Britain’s vaccine success and Boris Johnson‘s plans to lift the lockdown, with a front-page headline saying: ‘Dear Brits, we envy you!’. The article in Bild said the UK’s ‘successful’ vaccine programme had allowed the PM to promise a brighter future while Germany is ‘stuck in lockdown’ and Angela Merkel‘s government … Read more
Europe’s vaccine chaos is set to continue into the spring with as many as 90million doses missing from AstraZeneca shipments in the second quarter of 2021. An EU official involved in talks with the firm says the company has warned that it may deliver only half of its promised 180million doses from April to June. … Read more
German health minister Jens Spahn is said to be ‘fighting for his career’ after overseeing a shambolic vaccine roll-out, clashing with Angela Merkel and failing to deliver on a promised rapid-testing scheme. Spahn, who only months ago was being feted by those marvelling at Germany‘s early success against the pandemic, has seen his approval rating … Read more
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Germany is now in the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, two sources told Reuters news agency. ‘We are now in the third wave,’ Merkel told lawmakers in her conservative party on Wednesday, according to two sources who attended the meeting. The chancellor is also said to have warned … Read more
The Widow and children of World Cup 1966 winner Nobby Stiles have donated his brain to science – to research crippling sports-related dementia. Ex-Manchester United star Stiles, who won 28 England caps, died aged 78 last October after being stricken with Alzheimer’s. Stiles played a key role in neutralising Portugal star Eusebio in the ’66 … Read more