United Kingdom

24 Mar 2021; MEMO: Britain's reliance on Moroccan fruit and vegetable has grown rapidly following its withdrawal from the EU at the end of last year, prompting it to establish alternative trading partners.

LONDON (Reuters) - Capitalism and greed gave Britain its success in vaccinating its population, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers in a closed meeting, praising pharmaceutical companies for developing a shot in record time.

The comments, reported by The Sun newspaper, were made by Johnson during a Zoom meeting and could inflame a row with the European Union which is considering a ban on vaccine exports to Britain.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 1% on Wednesday after a ship ran aground in the Suez Canal raising supply concerns, although fears of a slow recovery in demand due to European lockdowns limited gains.

Ships in the Suez Canal were being diverted to an older channel on Wednesday after a large container ship ran aground, blocking vessels passing through one of the world’s most important waterways.

LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca’s repeated missteps in reporting vaccine data coupled with a blood clot scare could do lasting damage to the credibility of a shot that is the linchpin in the global strategy to stop the coronavirus pandemic, potentially even undermining vaccine confidence more broadly, experts say.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 3% on Tuesday, hit by concerns that new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe will hold back a recovery in demand, while a stronger dollar also weighed.

Brent crude futures dropped by $2.20, or 3.4%, to $62.42 a barrel by 0948 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by $2.10, or %3.4, to $59.46 a barrel.

The market structure was also pointing to weakness, with the front-month Brent spread flipping into a small contango for the first time since January.

LONDON (Reuters) - A Scottish parliamentary committee said on Tuesday First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had misled it over evidence she gave on her handling of sexual harassment complaints, the latest twist in a row that could sink her hopes for an independent Scotland.

Sturgeon has been under intense scrutiny over what she did and did not do when she learnt of complaints by several women against her predecessor Alex Salmond - once her close friend and ally in the independence cause, now an implacable enemy.

23 Mar 2021; MEMO: Britain will reduce the size of the army from 76,500 to 72,500 by 2025, defence minister Ben Wallace said on Monday, unveiling plans for what he described as a more active force to better tackle the "threats of the future", Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, the government published its integrated review, a document laying out its post-Brexit foreign and defence policy priorities which said Britain had to be "better-equipped for a more competitive world".

BRISTOL (England), March 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two police officers were seriously injured and at least two police vehicles were set on fire in the city of Bristol in southwest England during violent scenes after a peaceful protest, police said.

Thousands of demonstrators had converged on the city centre, ignoring COVID-19 restrictions, to protest against a government bill going through parliament that would give police new powers to restrict street protests.

LONDON, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Demonstrators in Britain on Sunday clashed with police over a bill that will give the police more powers to deal with non-violent demonstrations.

Thousands of people turned up in Bristol, a city in western England, for the "Kill the Bill" demonstration against the government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Officers have suffered suspected broken bones as violent scenes unfolded in Bristol city center, according to the BBC.

LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday.

AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding no increased risk of rare blood clots identified in Europe.