United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has now given around 2 million people a COVID-19 vaccination, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday ahead of a ramp-up in the roll-out of the shots on Monday.

“Over the last week we’ve vaccinated more people than in the entirety of December, so we’re accelerating the roll-out,” he told BBC TV.

Asked how many people had been vaccinated, Hancock said: “It’s around the 2 million mark, but we’re going to publish the exact figures tomorrow and then henceforth on a daily basis.”

LONDON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The British government on Saturday urged Britons to "stay at home" in a major advertising campaign to help protect Britain's national health system and save lives as surging coronavirus cases are threatening to overwhelm hospitals in the country.

Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said in a advert rolled out on radio, TV and social media: "COVID-19, especially the new variant, is spreading quickly across the country. This puts many people at risk of serious disease and is placing a lot of pressure on our NHS (National Health Service)."

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices hit their highest since late February on Thursday after a fall in U.S. stockpiles added further support following the unilateral decision by Saudi Arabia to cut output.

Brent crude was up 18 cents, or 0.3%, at $54.48 a barrel at 1015 GMT after earlier touching $54.90, levels not seen since before the the first COVID-19 lockdowns in the West.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose as far as $51.28 and was last up 33 cents, or 0.7% at $50.96.

LONDON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Britain reported a further 1,041 coronavirus-related deaths in the latest 24-hour period, the highest since April, official figures showed Wednesday.

This brought the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain to 77,346, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the number of daily confirmed cases of coronavirus in Britain hit 62,322 on Wednesday, the highest since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

LONDON (Reuters) -British new car sales fell nearly 30% last year in their biggest annual drop since 1943 as lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus hit the sector, an industry body said on Wednesday.

Demand stood at 1.63 million cars in 2020, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). It was particularly hard hit by a 97% fall in April, the first full month of a national lockdown.

Dealerships gradually reopened in June on differing dates across the United Kingdom’s four nations.

LONDON (Reuters) -WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange will discover on Wednesday if he will be allowed to taste freedom after years of self-incarceration and jail time, following victory in his battle to avoid extradition from Britain to the United States.

A British judge on Monday rejected a request from U.S. authorities for Assange, 49, to be sent across the Atlantic to face 18 criminal charges of breaking an espionage law and conspiring to hack government computers.

LONDON (AP) — Despite growing vaccine access, January is looking grim around the globe as the coronavirus resurges and reshapes itself from Britain to Japan to California, filling hospitals and threatening livelihoods anew as governments lock down businesses and race to find solutions.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices inched up on Tuesday as tension around Iran’s seizure of a South Korean vessel simmered and after it emerged that the OPEC+ group is studying a possible production cut in February, according to a document.

Brent crude futures for March rose 35 cents to $51.44 a barrel by 0947 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for February was at $48.04 a barrel, up 42 cents.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will set out plans for the next package of COVID-19 economic support at the time of its March budget, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday in response to suggestions businesses faced a “cliff edge” when current measures ended.

“I think the budget in early March is an excellent opportunity to take stock of the range of support that we’ve put in place, and to set out the next stage of our economic response to coronavirus at that particular time,” he told reporters.

LONDON (AP) — England is facing a third national lockdown that will last at least six weeks, as authorities struggle to stem a surge in COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals around the U.K.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a tough new stay-at-home order for England that won’t be reviewed until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus. It takes effect at midnight Tuesday. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon imposed a lockdown that began Tuesday.