United Kingdom

Germany’s Merkel makes last UK visit before leaving office

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to push Angela Merkel to drop her efforts to impose COVID-19 restrictions on British travelers as the German chancellor makes her final visit to Britain before stepping down in the coming months.

Johnson will hold talks with Merkel at his country residence on Friday. The German leader is also expected to speak to a meeting of the Cabinet, the first foreign leader to do so since Bill Clinton in 1997, although this time the address will be delivered by video link.

UK PM confident on travel for people with two COVID-19 vaccine shots

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was confident Britons fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would be able to travel abroad this year.

Britain permitted limited quarantine-free travel in May and June, and is trying to encourage other European countries to accept British travellers.

The British government has said it will this month set out details of plans to allow those who have had both COVID-19 vaccine shots to avoid self-isolation on return from top tourist destinations such as Spain and France.

Britain's parties fight for votes in northern England

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Voters in a northern English region were casting their ballots on Thursday in a new test of whether British Prime Minister Boris Johnson can extend his Conservative Party's control over traditionally opposition-supporting areas.

The constituency Batley and Spen, which has voted for the opposition Labour Party since 1997, could hand another victory to Johnson, whose pursuit of Brexit and promise to tackle inequality has won over many voters in northern England.

UK: England aims to lift restrictions in schools in final stage of lockdown easing, minister says

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - British education minister Gavin Williamson on Wednesday said he expects to be able to end the restrictions and bubble system in England's schools when other freedoms are regained in the last step out of lockdown, scheduled for July 19.

The current system can result in entire classes of pupils being asked to self isolate if one of their classmates tests positive for COVID-19.

"What I want to see is these restrictions, including bubbles removed as quickly as possible, along with wider restrictions in society," Williamson told lawmakers.

Britain to bring forward end of coal-fired power generation

LONDON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The coal used to generate electricity in Britain will be phased out by 2024, a year earlier than originally planned, the British government announced Wednesday.

In 2012, coal accounted for 40 percent of the British power generation, dropping to only 1.8 percent in 2020, the government said in a release.

The move, announced by Energy and Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, means that within just 10 years, Britain will have reduced the national power grid's reliance on coal from previously around a third to zero.

Thousands of EU citizens may lose legal status to live in UK

LONDON (AP) — Marlies Haselton has called Britain home for more than 30 years. The Dutch national married a Briton, had her children there, and considers herself “part and parcel” of the U.K. Until Britain’s divorce from the European Union, she had never given a thought to her immigration status in the U.K.

Britain looks to mobile-free school days for improved student behavior

LONDON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- British Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on Tuesday called for a ban on cellphones in school classrooms as part of a drive to improve student behavior.

The Department for Education (DfE) announced a plan to ask teachers and school leaders for views on managing good behavior, including on the use of cellphones in the school day.

Williamson's call came ahead of plans to update government guidance later this year on behavior and discipline in schools, as well as student suspensions and permanent exclusions.

UK government to probe leak of Hancock footage

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Britain's government will investigate how footage of former minister Matt Hancock kissing his aide found its way into the media and forced his resignation, in the latest scandal to hit Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government.

After first rejecting calls for Hancock to be sacked or resign as health minister after pictures were published of him embracing a woman he had appointed to a taxpayer-funded role, Johnson accepted his decision to step down on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia releases two women activists, says rights group

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has released two women's rights activists detained nearly three years ago after they had served their time, London-based Saudi rights group ALQST said on Sunday.

Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah were detained in July 2018, along with more than a dozen other activists, on suspicion of harming Saudi interests, a move that drew international condemnation.

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