United Kingdom

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. official leading preparations for the COP26 climate conference reiterated Thursday the intention to hold the delayed summit in person despite the continuing problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Alok Sharma, the U.K.’s president-designate of COP26, said “every possible” measure was being explored, including around COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, to ensure the talks could be held safely.

In less than six months’ time delegates from across the world are due to arrive in Glasgow for the United Nations’ annual conference.

LONDON (AP) — When London’s Science Museum reopens next week, it will have some new artifacts: empty vaccine vials, testing kits and other items collected during the pandemic, to be featured in a new COVID-19 exhibition.

Britain isn’t quite ready to consign the coronavirus to a museum — the outbreak is far from over here. But there is a definite feeling that the U.K. has turned a corner, and the mood in the country is jubilant. “The end is in sight,” one newspaper front page claimed recently. “Free at last!” read another.

(Reuters) --- Britain's independent adviser on ministers' behaviour said on Thursday he would publish any advice he gives to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the refurbishment of his Downing Street apartment and declarations of his own interests.

Britain's Electoral Commission has launched an investigation into the funding of work on the prime minister's apartment in Downing Street, saying there were grounds to suspect an offence had been committed. Johnson says he has followed the rules and covered the costs of the refurbishment.

(Reuters) --- Former British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that it was "painful" for him to have to face parliamentary scrutiny over the collapse of Greensill Capital, for which he had acted as an advisor and lobbyist.

"This is a painful day coming back to a place that I love and respect so much, albeit virtually, but in these circumstances," he said in an opening statement to the House of Commons' Treasury Committee.

13 May 2021; MEMO: British lawmaker Layla Moran, who is of Palestinian descent, made an impassioned plea in parliament Wednesday for the UK to support every effort to stop the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine, especially in Jerusalem, Anadolu Agency reported.

(Reuters) --- Britain said on Wednesday it would invest 22 million pounds ($31 million) to help vulnerable countries in Africa and the Indo-Pacific build up their cyber defences to prevent China, Russia and others from filling a cyberspace vacuum.

British foreign minister Dominic Raab said Britain and its partners needed to take action to ensure there was a cyberspace that was free, open and peaceful in the face of hostile states seeking to undermine democratic elections and turn the internet into a lawless space.

12 May 2021; MEMO: The UK government has announced measures to disrupt the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state of Israel by banning public bodies from launching their own boycotting campaigns.

(Reuters) --- British climate activist Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion group, was arrested at home on Tuesday for conspiracy to cause criminal damage and fraud after her group attacked banks such as HSBC (HSBA.L) and Barclays .

Activists from the group smashed the window frontage of HSBC and Barclays in Canary Wharf last month and have targeted Lloyd's of London as part of what the activists cast as a "Money Rebellion".

(Reuters) --- Britain set out plans to crack down on hostile activity by foreign states on Tuesday, introducing a proposed law to give security services and law enforcement new powers to tackle growing threats.

The bill will haul legislation into the modern age, updating archaic official secrets acts, some dating back more than hundred years, so that they are relevant to the threats posed in the age of cyber warfare, the government said.

10 May 2021; MEMO: In a remarkable admission, the Guardian has ranked its support for the Balfour Declaration promising a "homeland" for the Jewish people as one of its "worst errors of judgment over 200 years." The British newspaper made its startling announcement on Friday.