News in brief

● Star Wars actor Andrew Jack has died aged 76 as a result of coronavirus, according to his agent. Jack, who appeared in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi as General Ematt, and in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, died in hospital in Surrey yesterday.

● Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has made a fleet of vehicles available to the British Red Cross during the Covid-19 pandemic. The 57 vehicles will be used to deliver medicine and food to vulnerable people across the UK. They include 27 new Defenders, which had been set aside for use in a marketing campaign which has been put on hold. More than 160 JLR vehicles have been deployed around the world, including 65 vehicles supporting the Red Cross in Australia, Spain, South Africa and France.

● Russell Crowe has revealed comedian Johnny Vegas will be delivering food and medicine to people in need of help in his home town of St Helens during the coronavirus crisis. The bearded New Zealander shared a video on Twitter, relaying a message from his friend asking for people who need assistance to call a helpline.

● Sony has delayed a string of major film releases as the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the entertainment industry. Ghostbusters: Afterlife; Morbius; Greyhound; Fatherhood; Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and Uncharted are among the casualties. Other major releases to be delayed include No Time To Die, apparently Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond, Disney blockbusters Mulan and Black Widow and A Quiet Place II and Fast & Furious 9.

● A former international athlete will spend his birthday running a lockdown marathon – in his six-metre-long back garden in Cheltenham. James Campbell, 31, will run the 26-mile marathon course today and expects to take around six or seven hours to complete it. He has set up a fundraising page in aid of the NHS at justgiving. com/fundraising/jamescampbell0104

● The former Maze prison site could host Northern Ireland’s coronavirus field hospital, the first minister has said. Arlene Foster said the region will be following the Scottish approach to field hospitals as step-down facilities.