United Kingdom

LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Atlantic Ocean's current system, an engine of the Northern Hemsiphere's climate, could be weakening to such an extent that it could soon bring big changes to the world's weather, a scientific study said on Thursday.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents which transports warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic.

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Britain will offer all 16- and 17-year-olds their first dose of Pfizer (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine, its vaccine advisers said on Wednesday, a move that will give more children protection against the disease before schools return in September.

Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) had initially advised less than two weeks ago that only medically vulnerable children would be offered the vaccine, saying it was taking a precautionary approach.

04 Aug 2021; MEMO: The advocacy organisation CAGE has launched a legal challenge claiming UK Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, discriminated against Muslim students and failed to protect freedom of expression in a letter to headteachers ordering them to clampdown on students who express solidarity with Palestine on school premises.

LONDON, August 3. /TASS/: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has had a meeting with leader of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in London. The PA agency reported on Tuesday that Johnson voiced support for "human rights and civil society" in Belarus during the meeting at 10 Downing Street. 

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Tuesday a non-violent transition to democracy from President Alexander Lukashenko's "hell" was possible in the former Soviet republic.

"I absolutely believe in a non-violent transition of power," Tsikhanouskaya, a 38-year-old former teacher and blogger, told Reuters. "What is going on in Belarus is our pain - we want this hell finished as soon as possible in our country."

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he wanted to get the travel industry moving again with a simple user-friendly system of rules to allow for trips abroad.

"We need to get people, get the travel industry moving again," Johnson told reporters.

"We want an approach that is as simple as we can possibly make it."

Britain reopened its borders to large parts of the world on Monday, scrapping quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals from the European Union, excluding France, and the United States. L8N2P923E

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - England's COVID-19 mobile phone app will be tweaked so that fewer contacts of asymptomatic people who test positive for the disease will need to self-isolate, Britain's health ministry said on Monday.

Business leaders have raised concerns about the numbers of staff who are having to self-isolate after being "pinged" by the app when they come into contact with someone who then tests positive for COVID-19.

02 Aug 2021; MEMO: Around 250 cyclists went to London yesterday as the Big Ride for Palestine completed the final stage of the journey from Bristol to the capital raising awareness of the Palestinian cause and funds for children in the Gaza Strip. Crowds welcomed the riders along the way in Swindon, Oxford and Luton, with receptions featuring local mayors, councillors and trade union officials.

LONDON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The work plan of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the second phase of investigation into the origins of COVID-19 is politicized and lacks a spirit of cooperation, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Britain said Sunday.

Responding to the question of why China rejected the WHO's work plan, the spokesperson said the plan "was heavily disrupted by politicization and was a document that lost scientific principles and lacked a spirit of cooperation."

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has pressed for an easing of travel restrictions to offer respite to the tourism sector amid concerns that the country is not reaping the benefit of its vaccination programme, the Sunday Times reported.

Sunak had written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning of the impact that Britain's strict border controls were having ahead a meeting of ministers on Thursday to consider changes, the newspaper said, citing a source familiar with the letter.

The Treasury declined to comment.