England

NEWQUAY, England, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Britain's hopes of becoming a prime launch site for small satellites remain intact despite the failure of what would have been the first launch into orbit from western Europe, business minister Grant Shapps said on Tuesday.

Hours after the groundbreaking mission to launch nine satellites ended when a Virgin Orbit rocket launched from a jumbo jet suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit, Shapps said another attempt would follow.

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Russia has appointed Colonel-General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of the country's ground forces, state-owned news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, despite fierce criticism from leading hawks over his performance in Ukraine.

Lapin, previously commander of Russia's central military district, was blasted last October by hawkish allies of President Vladimir Putin after Russian forces were driven out of the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, a key logistics hub.

LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time to help the country fight Russian forces, Sky News reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Discussions have been taking place "for a few weeks" about delivering the British Army's Challenger 2 main battle tank to Ukraine, Sky said, quoting a Western source with knowledge of the conversations.

Supplying tanks would represent a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine, but the British government has not yet taken a final decision on the matter, the report added.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. government ministers are meeting trade union leaders on Monday in a bid to end a wave of strikes that has hobbled the rail network and strained the overburdened health system.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is holding talks with health care unions, while other ministers are meeting with railway unions that have staged months of strikes, and teaching unions considering classroom walkouts.

LONDON, January 7. /TASS/: French President Emmanuel Macron, by agreeing to send AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks to Ukraine, has crossed a red line and broke a military taboo, becoming the first Western leader to make the step, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday.

The French president has beaten his counterparts in the US, UK and Germany in sending armored vehicles to Ukraine, according to the report. He has taken the initiative in helping Kiev from London, the newspaper said.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gathered government ministers, medics and health service managers in 10 Downing St. on Saturday for talks aimed at fixing a health care crisis that has seen thousands of patients stranded outside overflowing hospitals.

The government said it was “bringing together the best minds from the health and care sectors to help share knowledge and practical solutions.”

LONDON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have dismissed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to impose COVID-19 tests on travelers from China, calling it "a purely political manoeuvre," British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

Scientists said testing travelers from China will "make no difference to the rise or fall" of the number of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom (UK), according to the report published on Saturday.

LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The British arm of the Extinction Rebellion environmental group said on Sunday it would take a break from acts of public disruption in order to bring more people on board its campaign for urgent action to counter climate change.

The grassroots group's protests have previously included closing key roads and bridges in central London, blockading oil refineries, smashing windows at Barclays bank headquarters and spraying fake blood over the finance ministry building.

LONDON, Dec 27 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Sites in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay experienced record temperatures during two consecutive heat waves in late November and early December 2022, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on Monday.    

The areas in particular are north-central Argentina, southern Bolivia, central Chile and most of Paraguay and Uruguay, WMO detailed.

Yet 2022 did not break global temperature records, it surpassed many national heat records worldwide.

LONDON, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- From scorching sun and drying rivers to devastating floods, another year of extreme weather gripped Europe in 2022, warning about the impact of climate change and sending a cautionary note that more human efforts are needed for a greener future.

"LIVE PICTURE OF A WARMING WORLD"