Mystery after lambs are moved

POLICE are appealing for information after two lambs were moved from their field into someone’s garden in Gloucestershire.

Police have received a report that two lambs were moved over two miles from their field to a garden of an address in Minsterworth.

The two lambs were last seen with their mother on Thursday at 5pm.

Gloucestershire Constabulary asked residents of Minsterworth to get in touch if they’ve noticed anything suspicious.

It said: “The lambs could not have moved to the address of their own accord.”

SECONDARY school and college leaders in England are struggling to obtain parental consent for voluntary asymptomatic coronavirus tests ahead of the full return of pupils next week, a survey suggests.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has called on families to return their consent forms urgently, or speak to their school if they have concerns about testing. His comments came as a poll by the union revealed that 52% of school leaders said they have faced difficulties in securing parental consent for pupils to take part in regular rapid Covid-19 tests.

Over the first two weeks of term, secondary school and college pupils are being asked to take three Covid-19 tests on site and one at home. They will then be sent home-testing kits to do twiceweekly. But a survey from the Association of School and College Leaders suggests that obtaining parental consent has been the most common problem heads have faced during Covid-19 testing in schools.

FRANCE has backed Italy’s block on exports of coronavirus vaccines outside the European Union if necessary to enforce the bloc’s contracts with drugs manufacturers.

The EU defended Italian authorities’ decision to stop a large shipment of doses destined for Australia as part of a longstanding feud with drug manufacturer AstraZeneca.

The European Commission said the decision was not targeting Australia but had been taken to ensure AstraZeneca delivers the number of doses it committed to dispatch to EU countries.

Faced with a shortage of doses during the early stages of the vaccine campaign that started in late December, the EU announced the export control system for jabs in late January, in a bid to force companies to respect their contractual obligations to the bloc first.

Since the mechanism began on January 30, the commission said 174 authorisations of vaccine exports to 30 countries outside the EU have been approved. But the EU was upset by AstraZeneca as the company is delivering far fewer doses to the bloc than it promised. Of the initial order for 80 million doses first quarter this year, the company will be struggling to deliver half that quantity.

Italy’s decision to block the shipment of more than 250,000 AstraZeneca doses destined for Australia prompted member states to close ranks. French health minister Olivier Veran said he “understood” the Italian’s government decision and indicated France “could do the same”.