Evening briefing: Today's essential headlines

       HS2 route scrapped | Boris Johnson "betrayed the North" by scrapping the HS2 Eastern leg to Leeds and scaling down the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme between Manchester and Leeds, Sir Keir Starmer has said. Grant Shapps told MPs that the new ￡96 billion Integrated Rail Plan for the North and the Midlands will instead deliver "faster" train journeys both earlier and cheaper. This graphic shows the revised plan and Greg Smith MP sets out why HS2 is unviable, unaffordable and undeliverable. Meanwhile, the original architect of the Prime Minister's social care plan has criticised Government changes which could make poorer pensioners pay tens of thousands of pounds more towards the cost of their care.

       Azeem Rafiq | Cricketer apologises for sending anti-Semitic messages Macron blow | French told to work longer and cut public sector pay Warwick stabbing | Two arrested on suspicion of attempted murder City broker | Take as much holiday as you like, staff told Egypt tour | Prince Charles and Camilla visit pyramids - pictures The big story: Austria to reintroduce full lockdowns

       Is this the start of the nightmare before Christmas?

       Austria could become the first place in Europe to see full Covid lockdowns reintroduced since widespread vaccination campaigns were rolled out as the continent faces a wave of new restrictions amid a winter surge.

       The country's worst-hit provinces said they would adopt the measure for themselves since infections are still rising despite the current controversial lockdown for the unvaccinated.

       Nations around Europe are taking action, with the Netherlands considering extending holidays over Christmas to slow a surge in cases among children, a German state being forced to transfer coronavirus patients to Italy and Covid deaths in Russia hitting record highs for the second straight day.

       As Belgium also tightens restrictions, our coronavirus liveblog will keep you up to speed with developments.

       It comes as the cracks are beginning to show in the world’s last 'zero Covid' hold-outs.

       Taiwan's isolation and "enhanced self-health management" programme is among the strictest in the world but the sudden death of a pilot working for a Taiwanese airline has sent shock waves through one of its aircrew communities.

       Read how, alongside Hong Kong and China, the state is struggling to re-emerge from the trade-offs between public health and personal freedoms.

       Elsewhere, a new crackdown is gaining pace. It is not about mask wearing or universal restrictions.

       This is a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of what, in the developed world at least, is a minority: The unvaccinated.

       Paul Nuki analyses how an underclass is spreading around the world.

       Antibody treatment

       As Britons look on nervously at what is happening across the globe, trial results from AstraZeneca have brought some good news.

       They suggest a coronavirus drug derived from immune cells of Covid survivors gives better protection than vaccines after six months and could last for a year.

       The company today announced its antibody injection AZD7442 reduces the risk of symptomatic Covid by 83pc six months after a single dose.

       In contrast, vaccines can wane substantially in the months following an injection, even after two doses, with the AstraZeneca vaccine falling to around 40pc effectiveness, and Pfizer about 60pc.

       This graph shows the waning vaccine effectiveness against the delta variant in England.

       Read how the drug has the potential to make a "significant difference".

       Mixed messages on children

       Yet despite positive signs about this kind of treatment, the debates rumble on about who should get what and when.

       Health chiefs this week said children who have had Covid should wait three months to be vaccinated, despite concerns that the change in advice could cause public confusion.

       It follows the debate about whether 12- to 15-year-olds should be vaccinated, with the UK's chief medical officers approving the move after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation had ruled that the benefits were so marginal for schoolchildren that the jabs were not worth the risks.

       Read how more mixed messages on children's Covid vaccines is the last thing worried parents needed to hear.

       Comment and analysis Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | I'd rather be in Britain for energy crisis Robin Aitken | On climate change, the BBC is short-changing us Daniel Grote | Inflation is making you poorer – this is how to fight it Robert Taylor | Public will soon lose patience with navel-gazing MPs Daniel Schofield | The Springboks have treated rugby with contempt Around the world: Aid workers in smuggling trial

       A Syrian woman whose rescue of desperate migrants inspired an upcoming Netflix show has gone on trial for spying and allegedly smuggling refugees into Greece. Yusra Mardini is one of 24 aid workers facing the charges after helping migrants cross into the country from Turkey between 2016 and 2018. The espionage charges relate to allegations that some of the aid workers illegally intercepted radio channels used by the Greek Coast Guard and Frontex, the EU border force. Meanwhile, Albania's prime minister has denied that his country will take Channel migrants, saying he will "never receive refugees for richer countries". Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, opened talks on the proposal when she signed an agreement in July. Read on for details.

       Thursday long-read

       I was a chubby child – so I know what not to say to one

       With obesity in primary schools soaring, Eleanor Mills recalls how she was under constant pressure to be slim – and how it backfired

       Read the full article

       Sport briefing: Jones' faith - Verstappen faces penalty

       Eddie Jones kept his faith in rookies Bevan Rodd and Jamie Blamire as he announced England's team to face South Africa. Joe Marchant will make his first appearance of the autumn on the wing on Saturday but the away side will be fuelled with motivation from the ban handed to director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. Austin Healey ruminates on how England have three of the best looseheads in the world - but he cannot fathom Mako Vunipola's exile. Meanwhile, in Formula One, Max Verstappen may lose his second place finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after stewards approved Mercedes' request to review last Sunday's controversial flashpoint with Lewis Hamilton. Also, do not miss Thom Gibbs' Premier League manager rankings, unless you are Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

       Editor's choice Ellen DeGeneres is no David Frost | Why the Palace should not fear her Meghan interview The Power of the Dog, review | A blistering, career-best from Benedict Cumberbatch 'Beware the Soviet creature' | The 'inhumanity' of life in Nazi captivity Business briefing: Spotlight on Afiniti's famous names

       The ranks of world leaders and captains of industry on Afiniti's books were enough to make Davos look positively subdued. Among a phalanx of besuited advisers, the software company once boasted the former prime minister David Cameron, the one-time French presidential candidate Francois Fillon, and the former BP boss Lord Browne. Its executive ranks include Princess Beatrice. At the centre of the star-studded group sat Zia Chishti, Afiniti's millionaire founder, but some of those on his rolodex may be regretting their support for the entrepreneur, who is battling allegations of sexual assault on a former member of staff more than two decades his junior. Read how the sexual assault claims have put the spotlight on Afiniti's famous names.

       Tonight starts now

       Crime, Britbox | Irvine Welsh has not always been treated well by TV: Wedding Belles (Channel 4) and Good Arrows (ITV4) were magnificent curios perhaps a little too bizarre and uncategorisable to develop into full series. Not so Crime, which uses its accessible hook of Cop Chases Killer to dig into all sorts of associated issues of mental health, trauma, addiction, corruption and how those on the margins are so often ignored. Acting as a sort of prequel to Welsh's novel of the same name, it follows DI Ray Lennox (Dougray Scott) as he wrestles unsuccessfully with childhood demons awoken when a teenage girl is kidnapped from an Edinburgh estate. Read more on the show and tonight's TV listings.

       Three things for you Play | The Wife of Willesden, review: Zadie Smith's theatrical debut Podcast | Planet Normal: Dr Rakib Ehsan on lockdown radicalisation Fantasy Fund Manager | Sign up for 10 chances to win ￡15,000 And for this evening's downtime....

       'I'm looking forward to a different life' | Popular maestro Sir Roger Norrington, 87, tonight hangs up his baton. One of the founders of the "historically informed performance" movement, he tells Ivan Hewett about a life spent challenging musical norms.

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