England

LONDON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- British Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace said on Monday that British forces going back to Afghanistan is "not on the cards", after the Taliban entered the Afghan capital city of Kabul.

Asked by Sky News if Britain and NATO forces would return to Afghanistan, Wallace said: "That's not on the cards that we're going to go back."

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The British parliament will be recalled from its summer recess next week to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, a source at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street office said on Sunday, as Taliban insurgents entered Kabul.

The entry into the capital caps a lightning advance by the Islamist militants, who were ousted 20 years ago by the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Britain's interior ministry said earlier that it was working to protect its citizens and help other eligible former UK staff to leave Afghanistan.

LONDON, August 14. /TASS/: Moscow will issue a working visa to BBC journalist in Russia, Sarah Rainsford, if London does the same for the Russian correspondent, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Saturday.

"Once the Russian correspondent is given a visa, Sarah will be given it, too. That is exactly what we suggested when calling on London to unblock the visa impasse for journalists," Zakharova said.

LONDON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- British Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace on Friday said the U.S. decision to pull its troops out of Afghanistan was a "mistake," which has handed the Taliban "momentum" in the country.

Speaking to Sky News, Wallace said the withdrawal agreement negotiated in Doha, Qatar, by the Trump administration was a "rotten deal."

"At the time of the Trump deal with, obviously the Taliban, I felt that was a mistake to have done it that way. We will all, in the international community probably pay the consequences of that," Wallace said.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s police watchdog says it has launched an investigation into why a 22-year-old man who fatally shot five people in southwestern England on Thursday was given back his confiscated gun and gun license last month.

Police have said Jake Davison killed his mother and four other people, including a 3-year-old girl, before taking his own life in the port city of Plymouth. It was Britain’s first mass shooting in over a decade. Firearm crimes are rare in Britain, which has strict gun control laws and regulations.

LONDON (AP) — An international system to share coronavirus vaccines was supposed to guarantee that low and middle-income countries could get doses without being last in line and at the mercy of unreliable donations.

It hasn’t worked out that way. In late June alone, the initiative known as COVAX sent some 530,000 doses to Britain – more than double the amount sent that month to the entire continent of Africa.

LONDON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Six people, including the suspect, were killed in a shooting on Thursday evening in Plymouth, a port city in Devon in southwest England, local police confirmed.

Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted that police were called to "a serious firearms incident" in the Keyham area of Plymouth at around 6:10 p.m. (1710 GMT).

"Following attendance at the scene, two females and two males were deceased at the scene. A further male, believed to be the offender, was also deceased at the scene. All are believed to have died from gunshot wounds," it said.

LONDON (AP) — The British economy grew by 4.8% in the second quarter of 2021 as lockdown restrictions were lifted but remains 4.4% below the level it was just before the start of coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed Thursday.

The Office for National Statistics also said the British economy grew by 1% in June alone, the fifth straight month of growth. June was the first full month that many sectors of the economy such as pubs and restaurants were fully open inside and out, following the lifting of restrictions.

LONDON, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- China is leading the world in transitioning to a clean energy future and its manufacturing of green technology is why, said an article published Monday by the BBC.

China generates more solar power than any other country, which is "a sign of where the country is heading," and its wind power installations were more than triple those of any other country in 2020, according to the article.

LONDON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Many of the top universities in Britian have refused to bring back full face-to-face teaching in the autumn, despite government advice that they can lift all COVID-19 restrictions, local media reported Sunday.

According to The Sunday Times report, 20 of the leading 24 Russell Group universities said a proportion of undergraduate teaching will continue to be held online, which means they will offer blended learning to mix the online and face-to-face teaching for classes, seminars and lectures.