England

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has pressed for an easing of travel restrictions to offer respite to the tourism sector amid concerns that the country is not reaping the benefit of its vaccination programme, the Sunday Times reported.

Sunak had written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning of the impact that Britain's strict border controls were having ahead a meeting of ministers on Thursday to consider changes, the newspaper said, citing a source familiar with the letter.

The Treasury declined to comment.

LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca said Thursday that it intends to seek U.S. authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of this year, offering a new timetable for the much-delayed application.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker announced the schedule as it released second-quarter financial results, which showed that the company and its sub-licensees delivered more than 700 million doses of the vaccine to over 170 countries in the first half of this year. That includes 80 million doses that went to the COVAX initiative for low- and middle-income countries.

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants U.S. citizens to come to England "freely" and is discussing a travel corridor with the United States, LBC radio said on Wednesday, before an expected easing of COVID-19 restrictions for visitors from abroad.

Airline and travel bosses have criticised Britain for sticking to strict COVID-19 travel rules which they say mean the country is falling behind the European Union in attracting tourists, but that looks set to change.

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that people should not get carried away by six days of better COVID-19 infection data, while one of the country's top epidemiologists said the end of the pandemic could be just months away.

Johnson has lifted restrictions in England and is betting he can get one of Europe's largest economies firing again because so many people are now vaccinated, a decision which marks a new chapter in the response to the novel coronavirus.

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will impose a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to countries on the kingdom's 'red list' under efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.

It cited an unnamed interior ministry official as saying some Saudi citizens, who in May were allowed to travel abroad without prior permission from authorities for the first time since March 2020, had violated travel regulations.

LONDON, Jul 26 (NNN-XINHUA) – Heavy downpours and thunderstorms have caused severe flash flooding in parts of London. The fire brigade said, it had taken about 300 calls – mostly about flooded basements or roads – yesterday afternoon. Officials have advised against travelling in the hazardous conditions.

An amber thunderstorm warning is in place for much of south-east England, with 75 to 100mm (3in to 4in) of rainfall forecast in some areas. The Environment Agency issued two flood warnings for areas in London, near Beverley Brook in Worcester Park and West Barnes.

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - British health minister Sajid Javid apologised for and deleted a tweet urging people to take a COVID-19 vaccine and not to "cower" from the virus, saying on Sunday he had made "a poor choice of word".

Javid, who replaced Matt Hancock as health minister last month after his predecessor stepped down for breaking COVID rules by kissing an aide in his office, had been criticised for using the word "cower" when tens of thousands in Britain have died from the virus and many are trying to keep safe.

LONDON (AP) — Chaos and confusion over travel rules and measures to contain new virus outbreaks are contributing to another cruel summer for Europe’s battered tourism industry.

Popular destination countries are grappling with surging COVID-19 variants, but the patchwork and last-minute nature of the efforts as the peak season gets underway threatens to derail another summer.

In France, the world’s most visited country, visitors to cultural and tourist sites were confronted this week with a new requirement for a special COVID-19 pass.

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday sanctioned the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president for misappropriating millions of dollars which London said was spent on luxury mansions, private jets and a $275,000 glove worn by Michael Jackson.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Teodoro Obiang Mangue, who is also vice president of Equatorial Guinea, had participated in "corrupt contracting arrangements and soliciting bribes, to fund a lavish lifestyle inconsistent with his official salary as a government minister".

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - A British court said on Thursday that Mike Lynch, the British tech billionaire who sold his company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard, can be extradited to the United States to face charges including securities fraud related to the $11 billion deal.

Lynch's lawyer said if Britain's Home Secretary now decides to allow the extradition, Lynch will appeal.