United Kingdom

LONDON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Six people, including the suspect, were killed in a shooting on Thursday evening in Plymouth, a port city in Devon in southwest England, local police confirmed.

Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted that police were called to "a serious firearms incident" in the Keyham area of Plymouth at around 6:10 p.m. (1710 GMT).

"Following attendance at the scene, two females and two males were deceased at the scene. A further male, believed to be the offender, was also deceased at the scene. All are believed to have died from gunshot wounds," it said.

LONDON (AP) — The British economy grew by 4.8% in the second quarter of 2021 as lockdown restrictions were lifted but remains 4.4% below the level it was just before the start of coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed Thursday.

The Office for National Statistics also said the British economy grew by 1% in June alone, the fifth straight month of growth. June was the first full month that many sectors of the economy such as pubs and restaurants were fully open inside and out, following the lifting of restrictions.

LONDON, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- China is leading the world in transitioning to a clean energy future and its manufacturing of green technology is why, said an article published Monday by the BBC.

China generates more solar power than any other country, which is "a sign of where the country is heading," and its wind power installations were more than triple those of any other country in 2020, according to the article.

LONDON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Many of the top universities in Britian have refused to bring back full face-to-face teaching in the autumn, despite government advice that they can lift all COVID-19 restrictions, local media reported Sunday.

According to The Sunday Times report, 20 of the leading 24 Russell Group universities said a proportion of undergraduate teaching will continue to be held online, which means they will offer blended learning to mix the online and face-to-face teaching for classes, seminars and lectures.

LONDON, Aug 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — Britain has reported another 28,612 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 6,042,252, according to official figures released Saturday.

The country also recorded another 103 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 130,281. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

07 Aug 2021; MEMO: Iran is ready to defend the dignity of Iranians at any cost, Iran's embassy in London announced on Friday in response to remarks made by the UK's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab that the door to diplomacy is "half-open" with Iran.

"Iran reciprocates respect by deeds and words," the Iranian embassy in London tweeted on Friday. "But, the dignity of Iranians will be upheld at any cost."

The Iranian embassy added:

LONDON, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain has warned all UK nationals in Afghanistan to leave the country immediately due to the “worsening security situation” as fighting intensifies.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Friday updated its website to advise against all travel to Afghanistan.

“All British nationals in Afghanistan are advised to leave now by commercial means. If you are still in Afghanistan, you are advised to leave now by commercial means because of the worsening security situation,” it said.

07 Aug 2021; MEMO: Ben & Jerry's decision to stop business relationships with the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is "a legitimate and necessary response, in line with its responsibility to respect international law and human rights", Amnesty International said in a press

LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - There are early signs that people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 may be able to transmit the Delta variant of the virus as easily as those who have not, scientists at Public Health England (PHE) said on Friday.

The findings chime with those from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which last week raised concerns that vaccinated people infected with Delta could, unlike with other variants, readily transmit it. 

06 Aug 2021; MEMO: Amnesty International yesterday called on Egypt to investigate a propaganda video released by the Egyptian army showing people being shot dead during a security operation in North Sinai.

"The Egyptian Public Prosecutor must urgently investigate what appear to be extrajudicial executions by members of the military in North Sinai," Amnesty said in a statement.