United Kingdom

UK getting positive sausage signals from EU, minister says

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Britain is getting some positive indications from the European Union that they accept the need for a compromise over the import of British sausages to the British province of Northern Ireland, Environment Secretary George Eustice said on Thursday.

"I think we're getting some positive indications and it's always our view that it's better if we can reach agreement with the European Union on these things," Eustice said when asked about the so called "sausage war".

Britain wants to allow travel again but is wary -minister

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Britain wants to allow people to have holidays abroad again but the government is wary of the risks, a minister said on Thursday ahead of an announcement on whether a narrow list of quarantine-free travel destinations would be expanded.

Anger is growing at Britain's onerous restrictions on foreign travel: pilots, cabin crew, travel agents and other workers from the travel industry held protests on Wednesday, begging the government to open up more routes. 

UK urged to deliver on policies to deal with climate change

LONDON (AP) — The British government is being urged by its own climate advisers to deliver on its promises to deal with climate change or risk undermining a key environmental summit that it is hosting at the end of the year.

Among some 200 recommendations in a report published Thursday, the advisory Climate Change Committee said policies are urgently need to make homes more energy-efficient, accelerate the shift to electric cars and encourage people to eat less meat.

5 years after Brexit vote, divided UK still feels shockwaves

London, Jun 23 (AP-PTI) Five years ago Wednesday, Britons voted in a referendum that was meant to bring certainty to the UK's unsettled relationship with its European neighbors.

Fat chance.

Voters' decision on June 23, 2016 was narrow but clear: By 52% to 48%, they chose to leave the European Union. It took over four years to actually make the break and the former partners are still bickering, like many divorced couples, over money and trust.

U.K.’s newest carrier joins IS fight, stirs Russian interest

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA (AP) — Britain’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is helping to take on the “lion’s share” of operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq, U.K. naval commanders said. It has also piqued the interest of Russian warplanes, who try to keep tabs on its cutting-edge F-35 jet in a “cat-and-mouse” game with British and U.S. pilots.

UK: Liverpool pleads with UNESCO to let it keep World Heritage status

LONDON, June 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — Civic leaders in Liverpool Saturday pleaded with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage Committee to keep the city’s World Heritage status.

A letter, signed by City Mayor Joanne Anderson, Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and the CEOs of English Premier League clubs Everton FC and Liverpool FC, has been sent to the committee ahead of a critical decision over the city’s World Heritage status to be made in July.

Rights groups call for probe into Iran's Raisi for crimes against humanity

20 June 2021; MEMO: Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Ebrahim Raisi's election as Iran's new president was a blow for human rights and called for him to be investigated over his role in what Washington and rights groups have called the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, reports Reuters.

UK reports over 10,000 COVID cases for third consecutive day on Saturday

LONDON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Britain reported more than 10,000 coronavirus cases for a third consecutive day on Saturday as there has been a 79 percent rise in the highly contagious Delta variant in the country in the past week.

Britain has reported another 10,321 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,620,968, according to official figures released Saturday.

Ex-UK Speaker Bercow, scourge of Brexiteers, joins Labour

LONDON (AP) — Former U.K. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, a longtime Conservative lawmaker who gained international fame refereeing the country’s bruising political drama over Brexit, said Sunday he has switched allegiances and joined the opposition Labour Party.

Bercow was a Conservative member of Parliament for 12 years until being elected in 2009 to the neutral role of Speaker, responsible for running House of Commons business and interpreting its rules of procedure.

Covid-19: Global death toll exceeds 4 million

LONDON, June 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide passed a grim milestone of 4 million on Thursday as many countries struggle to procure enough vaccines to inoculate their populations.

While the number of new cases and deaths have abated in countries like the United States and Britain, several nations have vaccine shortages as the Delta variant becomes the dominant strain around the world.

It took more than a year for the COVID-19 death toll to hit 2 million, while the next 2 million were recorded in just 166 days.

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