United Kingdom

23 Apr 2021; MEMO: Human rights groups have accused Oxford University of "celebrating" a military occupation for politicising figures collated on its website tracking coronavirus vaccine delivery, which excludes Palestinians on Israel's vaccine rollout.

(Reuters) --- Britain’s parliament called on Wednesday for the government to take action to end what lawmakers described as genocide in China’s Xinjiang region, stepping up pressure on ministers to go further in their criticism of Beijing.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government again steered clear of declaring genocide over what it says are "industrial-scale" human rights abuses against the mainly Muslim Uighur community in Xinjiang. Ministers say any decision on declaring a genocide is up to the courts.

(Reuters) --- As many as 350,000 Black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for Britain might not have been properly commemorated because of "pervasive racism", a report concluded on Thursday.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) issued an apology after an inquiry it commissioned found hundreds of thousands of mostly African and Middle Eastern casualties from World War One were not commemorated by name, or at all.

LONDON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday announced a new taskforce to find "promising new medicines" to treat coronavirus.

Under the government plans, Britons who test positive for COVID-19 or are exposed to the virus could be sent antiviral tablets or capsules, to take at home as early as autumn this year.

"The success of our vaccination programme has demonstrated what the UK can achieve when we bring together our brightest minds," the prime minister said at a Downing Street press briefing.

LONDON (AP) — European Union officials unveiled proposals Wednesday for reining in high-risk uses of artificial intelligence such as live facial scanning that could threaten people’s safety or rights.

The draft regulations from the EU’s executive commission include rules on the use of the rapidly expanding technology in activities such as choosing school, job or loan applicants. They also would ban artificial intelligence outright in a few situations, such as “social scoring” and systems used to manipulate human behavior.

(Reuters) --- A British parliamentary committee will summon finance minister Rishi Sunak and former Prime Minister David Cameron to appear before it to answer questions about the ex-leader's lobbying for the now failed supply-chain finance firm Greensill Capital.

Greensill's founder, Lex Greensill, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, Nikhil Rathi, will also face questions about the collapse of the company and Cameron's actions.

LONDON (AP) — Experts at the European Medicines Agency are preparing to present the conclusions of their investigation later on Tuesday into possible links between the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and very rare cases of unusual clotting disorders detected in the U.S.

LONDON, April 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday cancelled a planned trip to India, scheduled to take place next week, due to the current coronavirus situation in India, Johnson’s office said.

Johnson had already postponed the trip once from January, when COVID-19 infections were high in Britain. Infections in India are currently surging as the country endures a second wave of the virus.

(Reuters) --- British warships will sail for the Black Sea in May amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Sunday Times newspaper reported, citing senior naval sources.

The deployment is aimed at showing solidarity with Ukraine and Britain's NATO allies, the newspaper reported.

One Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine Type 23 frigate will leave the Royal Navy's carrier task group in the Mediterranean and head through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea, according to the report.

15 Apr 2021; MEMO: The British government has suffered a major setback in its attempt to safeguard British soldiers from being prosecuted for crimes against humanity, genocide, torture and war crimes. The House of Lords — Britain's upper chamber — submitted an amendment to the proposed Overseas Operations Bill.