United Kingdom

12 July 2021; MEMO: The size of England's growing problem with racism came to light once again following its defeat against Italy in the finals of the Euro 2020. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, three of the country's promising players of black heritage, all missed from the penalty spot last night, triggering a torrent of racial abuse.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to confirm Monday that all remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week’s time while urging people to remain cautious amid a huge resurgence of the coronavirus.

Johnson is expected to say at a news conference that face masks and all social distancing measures will be lifted in England on July 19. However, given the sharp rise in new cases, he is also likely to downplay talk of “Freedom Day.”

LONDON (AP) — Facebook’s WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service has been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update in what it calls a breach of the bloc’s regulations.

The European Consumer Organisation, or BEUC, filed a complaint Monday over the way WhatsApp has brought in changes to its terms of service and privacy policy, saying they aren’t transparent or easily understood by users.

LONDON (AP) — Italian soccer’s redemption story is complete. England’s painful half-century wait for a major title goes on.

And it just had to be because of a penalty shootout.

Italy won the European Championship for the second time by beating England 3-2 on penalties on Sunday. The match finished 1-1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium, which was filled mostly with English fans hoping to celebrate the team’s first international trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - The UK government is confident that plans to lift a range of COVID-19 restrictions will go ahead on July 19 in England but mask-wearing in indoor enclosed places will be expected, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson detailed proposals earlier this week to eliminate a series of rules on mask-wearing, social contact and the instruction to work from home. He is expected to give the final go-ahead on Monday.

LONDON, July 10 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Britain on Saturday expressed outrage and firm opposition to a report published by a committee of the lower house of British parliament.

The report, which is "full of lies" about China's Xinjiang, represents a blatant interference in China's internal affairs, according to the spokesperson.

LONDON, Jul 8 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia’s Chief of General Staff, Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, met yesterday with the British Chief of Defence Staff, General, Nick Carter, during the inaugural meeting of the bilateral military cooperation committee.

During the meeting, strategic relations between the two friendly countries were reviewed. They also discussed bilateral military cooperation and common challenges facing Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

Earlier this week, military chiefs of the two countries met during an annual meeting of the Dragon Group.

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - A British police officer on Friday admitted murdering Sarah Everard, whose killing sparked anger, protests and soul-searching across the country about what the authorities and society could do to stop male violence against women.

Wayne Couzens, 48, a serving London officer who guarded diplomatic premises, had previously admitted rape and kidnap.

Cairo, Jul 9 (AP-PTI) The anti-poverty organisation Oxfam says 11 people die of hunger each minute and that the number facing famine-like conditions around the globe has increased six times over the last year.

In a report titled The Hunger Virus Multiplies," Oxfam said Thursday that the death toll from famine outpaces that of COVID-19, which kills around seven people per minute.

LONDON, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Interim analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial of the CoronaVac vaccine in more than 10,000 participants in Turkey suggests the efficacy of two doses of the vaccine is 83.5 percent against symptomatic cases of COVID-19, according to a study published on Thursday in The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal.