The announcement has prompted questions about whether the gesture will boost comparatively low immunisation rates in Russia.

The Prime Minister said he was encouraged by some of the things he has heard from the continent.

Boris Johnson said it was too soon to say whether foreign holidays will be allowed this summer.

The trio cited issues such as data and testing, spread of the virus from Europe and asymptomatic transmission.

Boris Johnson said around 90,000 school children will be behind in their basic literacy skills as a result of the pandemic.

People were encouraged to stand on their doorsteps to signify a ‘beacon of remembrance’.

GPs say people are not seeking help for their symptoms, while others do not want to go to hospitals for tests.

National service Action Fraud has received 6,073 reports of fraud and cybercrime related to the pandemic since March 1 2020

Staff have been ‘sprinting a marathon’ for the last year, the NHS Confederation warned.

The papers on Wednesday cover the lives lost in the past year as Britain reflected on the anniversary of the first national lockdown.

More than half of all study participants reported not being fully recovered three months after the onset of Covid-19 symptoms.

The cost of toys and second-hand cars also fell during the 12 months to February.

Frontline staff at the telecoms group will receive £1,000 in cash in June, with £500 to be awarded in shares after three years.

Around a third of adults said the past year has been similar to or better than average for them personally, according to research.

While children are unlikely to fall ill with Covid-19, they do play a role in transmitting the virus.

Boris Johnson conceded there were ‘many things that we wish we’d done differently’ at the outset of the pandemic.

A Bridgnorth youth club will be able to continue for the next year thanks to a community fundraiser.

Car dealership Pendragon said cost cuts helped it report a profit for 2020, compared with a loss a year earlier, despite a plunge in sales due to pandemic-driven lockdowns.

HS2's "lack of connectivity" will end up dissuading most people from using the line, an MP has claimed.

The region could be set for a third wave of coronavirus after cases began to rise in some areas, health chiefs today warned.

Four men who sped from police at 100mph and drove on the wrong side of a dual carriageway with goods they had stolen from a convenience store have been jailed for a combined eight years.

The death of a Black Country councillor who fell seriously ill with Covid has been described as a "shock to everyone".

Hospital admissions of heart failure patients in the West Midlands fell by a quarter during the first wave of the pandemic, new figures show.

Nearly half of staff at hospitals across the region felt ill due to work-related stress as the coronavirus pandemic took hold last year, according to a survey.

A Staffordshire animal rescue is reminding people that it is not just puppies and kittens who are victims of breeding for profit schemes.

West Midlands Police will receive £2 million a year to provide forensic services for a neighbouring force.

A holiday rep has penned her first book during lockdown.

HGVs travelling down a narrow country lane on the Shropshire/ Staffordshire border endanger public safety, it has been claimed.

West Midlands councils have been handed £20 million to help residents save on fuel bills.

A determined couple have taken to their garage to complete an exhausting challenge for the Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation.

Music teacher Alison Baldwin and members of Sedgley & Wombourne Inner Wheel have undoubtedly hit the right note with local charities.

A school is hoping its long-awaiting new sports pitch will become a community hub.

People who have not completed their census are being urged to as quickly as possible.

A make-shift vaccination hub launched at a leisure centre in December has now vaccinated 22,000 people.

People who are struggling to fill out their census forms are being told that help is available if needed.

Greg Clark raised concerns that the UK Research and Innovation’s science and research funding could be slashed by nearly a quarter

A minute’s silence was held to remember Covid-19 victims.

A teenager who was seriously injured on a motorbike in Birmingham on Monday has died from his injuries.

Detectives have released CCTV of a man they want to speak to as they continue to search for answers one year on from a brutal West Midlands killing.

A former teacher who groomed a 14-year-old girl and tricked her into thinking she'd married him has been locked up for more than three years.

A constable convicted of drunkenly assaulting a woman has resigned from West Midlands Police after being spared jail.

Wallwork pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man who trod on his trainers in a pub.

Staffordshire County Council is spending £5,000,000 to fix an estimated 11,000 potholes.

Market revamp and new benches included in project.

Council, university and NHS trust along those to back pledge.

Two temporary Jobcentres are being introduced in the Black Country as part of efforts to help people looking for work.

Boris Johnson said the country had been ‘fighting in the dark’ against coronavirus until scientific advances were made.

Care home workers in England could be legally required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 under plans being considered by the Government.

The UK’s biggest tour operator said the travel industry and the high street ‘are both facing unprecedented pressure’.

The First Minster spoke at Holyrood on the anniversary of the UK first going into lockdown.

On the one-year anniversary of the nation entering lockdown, the challenge #LastNormalPhoto has been trending.

Researchers scored patients on a scale from -0.6 to 1, where 1 is full health and 0 is considered death.

The first coronavirus press conference was held on March 16 2020 a week before the UK went into an official shutdown.

The streets of the UK were eerily quiet after the first UK-wide lockdown was announced – how do they look now, one year on?

Barnsley, Corby and North Lincolnshire are currently recording the highest rates.

An empty historic Walsall town centre shop could be converted into a restaurant and apartments, if a planned transformation goes ahead.

The duke and duchess visited Westminster Abbey to tour its vaccination centre.

Five flats can be built on the site of a former Stafford pub after plans were given the green light.

Plans for a four-storey sheltered apartment development rejected by Stafford Borough Council have also been thrown out at appeal.

New storage units will be placed on an “unsightly” parcel of land in a West Bromwich business park that has become targeted by fly-tippers.

Professor Chris Whitty said there will ‘definitely’ be another surge in cases at some point.

A 16-year-old boy has been left in a critical condition after a hit and run near Great Barr.

The nation observed a minute’s silence as part of a national day of reflection.

Several scientists have said the risks of importing variants that are resistant to vaccines affect the chances of holidaying overseas.

Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong was heavily pregnant but was still working at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital as the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

Thirteen more coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham.

See the latest figures for coronavirus cases and deaths in your area.

A new woodland in memory of those who died in service during the pandemic is planned for the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

People have come together on the anniversary of the first lockdown to reflect on the past year and remember those who have died from Covid-19.

‘In the darkest of times, we have come together as a country’, the Welsh First Minister said.

Covid-19 has accounted for only a minority of the excess deaths.

Millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been given to people across the UK.

Nearly 170,000 children were out of class and self-isolating last week due to potential contact with a Covid-19 case, figures suggest.

The latest CBI industrial trends survey signalled the strongest order book performance since April 2019 in March.

Tuesday marks a year after the first national lockdown was imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19.

The owner of a Wednesbury discount warehouse which has been targeted by burglars four times in five weeks was told by police to go inside and call back if he came across a burglar as there were no officers free.

The historic former Walsall Institute of Science and Art could be converted into more than 30 studio apartments.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits across the West Midlands has risen by 90.7 per cent in just one year.

Council bosses in Wolverhampton are holding talks this week over where a new government headquarters in the city will be based.

The public is also being urged to stand on their doorsteps at 8pm with a candle or light.

Businesses are being offered financial support of up to £10,000 to enable their workforce to access regular Covid-19 testing.

Deaths involving coronavirus have fallen by 28.7% over a week, the Office for National Statistics said.

Philip underwent a successful procedure at St Bartholomew’s Hospital at the start of the month.

The stamp duty holiday was originally due to end on March 31 but it was extended in early March.

One year ago, on March 23 2020, the death toll had just passed 1,000.

The Health Secretary said that ‘no final decision’ has been taken amid a review into vaccination passports.

Campaigner Dawn Astle has accused football’s authorities of shoving a study into head injuries “in a drawer”.

"I've been through the worst and now I want to make sure other people don't suffer in silence."

A book featuring stories from former Wolves stars and managers has raised more than £3,500 for an NHS charity.

From harrowing images to rays of hope.

The Prime Minister offered his ‘sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones’.

The cinema chain said it expects to reopen screens and has signed a deal with Warner Bros on streaming.

One of the UK’s leading suppliers of hoses and accessories has signed a strategic deal with MET Recruitment to help it meet growing customer demand as the economy emerges from the shackles of Covid-19.

A West Midlands car delivery specialist is motoring ahead after relocating to a larger headquarters.

The sister of nurse Areema Nasreen has described her as an ongoing inspiration almost a year after her death.

“It’s hard because the thing that got me hasn’t gone anywhere – it’s not like I’ve been run over and I’ve got over it. Covid is all anyone can talk about, it all feels a bit inescapable.”

A year on from the start of lockdown, everyone has been affected in their own way.

“It was harrowing to make those calls and hear your wife collapse and your parents beg to swap places with you.”

High numbers of students from across the Black Country have returned to the classroom in a "successful" step toward normality.

A prominent social justice campaigner has announced he is standing for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner in May's elections.