United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is worried about the safety of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after he was detained on return to Moscow, British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Monday.

Russian police detained Navalny on arrival in Moscow on Sunday after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer.

LONDON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Another 38,598 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, the lowest daily increase since the start of the year, according to official figures released Sunday.

The daily figure, down from 41,346 reported on Saturday, brought the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,395,959, the data showed.

Another 671 have died within 28 days of a positive test. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 89,261.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should not engage in free trade with countries that abuse human rights, but proposals that the country’s courts should decide whether genocide has been committed by trade partners is flawed, foreign minister Dominic Raab said.

Last week, Raab said Britain would introduce new rules for its companies to try to prevent goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region entering their supply chains.

LONDON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Britain will host the first in-person Group of Seven (G7) summit in almost two years in June this year, according to a statement released late Saturday by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use Britain's G7 Presidency "to help the world build back better from coronavirus and create a greener, more prosperous future," said the statement.

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak has proposed giving a one-off 500 pound ($679) grant to recipients of the country’s main unemployment and wage support benefit instead of extending a temporary increase on the welfare payments, The Times reported on Saturday.

British welfare benefits for working-age adults are low compared with elsewhere in Europe, and the government temporarily increased them by 20 pounds per week last year at the start of the coronavirus pandemic as job openings dried up.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday as concerns about Chinese cities in lockdown due to coronavirus outbreaks tempered a rally driven by strong import data from the world’s biggest crude importer and U.S. plans for a large stimulus package.

Brent was down 93 cents, or 1.7%, at $55.49 by 0950 GMT, after gaining 0.6% on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 71 cents, or 1.3%, at $52.86 a barrel, having risen more than 1% the previous session.

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Friday it had no plans to lower standards on workers’ rights, rejecting a Financial Times report that a shake-up of EU labour regulations as part of a post-Brexit overhaul was in the works.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Thursday as bullish signals from Chinese import data and U.S. crude oil stocks draws were outweighed by surging coronavirus cases in Europe and new lockdowns in China.

Brent crude oil futures fell 36 cents to $55.70 a barrel by 0917 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 26 cents to $52.65.

Brent’s six-month backwardation, whereby contracts for later delivery are cheaper, fell to its lowest since Jan. 5, indicating bullish sentiment easing.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said a lot of nice things about Donald Trump over the years, from expressing admiration for the U.S. president to suggesting he might be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

But after a mob of Trump supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Johnson has changed his tune.

Trump, he said, had encouraged the violent insurrection, had disputed the result of a “free and fair election,” and was “completely wrong.”

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell after earlier gains on Wednesday as rising global COVID-19 cases took the shine off a rally spurred by a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories.

Brent crude prices were down 34 cents, or 0.6%, at $56.24 a barrel by 1512 GMT. Prices rose as far as $57.42 a barrel earlier in the session, the highest since Feb. 24.

The next milestone for Brent prices is a rise above $60, a level not seen since late January 2020.