England

LONDON, Apr 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is facing a new investigation into the cost of redecoration of his Downing Street apartment, British media reported yesterday.

Britain’s electoral watchdog, Electoral Commission, opened a probe into whether an alleged donation to Conservative party funds, intended to pay for the revamp of Johnson’s flat, should have been declared.

The watchdog said, the probe would find out how the cost of the work was paid for and suspected that an offence may have occurred.

(Reuters) --- Britain's medicine regulator on Thursday said there had been a further 41 reports of rare blood clots after doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, but that the benefits of the shot continued to outweigh the risks for the majority of people.

In a weekly update on side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there were a total of 209 clots with low platelet counts following vaccination with AstraZeneca's shot, compared to a total of 168 reported last week.

LONDON (AP) — Uber plans to recruit 20,000 more drivers in the United Kingdom to help fill swelling demand for rides as the country’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions ease.

The San Francisco-based ride hailing company said Thursday it aims to sign up the additional drivers by the end of the year, adding to the 70,000 it already has in the U.K.

(Reuters) --- Britain's Electoral Commission has opened an investigation into the financing of the refurbishment of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's apartment, saying there were grounds to suspect an offence may have been committed.

Eight days before local elections across England and for the election of the Welsh and Scottish regional assemblies, Johnson is facing a stream of allegations about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions about who leaked what from his office.

(Reuters) --- A British minister on Monday flatly denied a report that Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would rather bodies piled “high in their thousands” than order a third social and economic lockdown to stem coronavirus infections.

Johnson is facing a stream of allegations in newspapers about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions over who financed the redecoration of his official apartment.

LONDON, April 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in London said they arrested five people, and eight officers were injured, after disorder at large-scale protests against England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions, the mandatory use of masks and possible introduction of so-called vaccine passports.

Demonstrators had gathered early Saturday afternoon and marched along several major arteries, including the main shopping district Oxford Street, with videos and photos showing thousands in attendance.

LONDON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 12 million people in Britain are fully vaccinated by Saturday, the official figures said.

The British government said that 12,071, 810 people are fully vaccinated, having had their second dose.

The total number of people who have had a first dose is 33,508,590. More than half Britain's population has had one jab, according to the official figures.

(Reuters) --- Britain's opposition Labour Party on Saturday called for an independent commission on ethics and standards in government after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former top adviser criticised the UK leader's integrity.

On Friday Dominic Cummings, who left Johnson's staff suddenly late last year having previously been his most influential adviser over Brexit and the 2019 election campaign, denied reports he leaked Johnson's private communications over the sourcing of COVID-19 ventilators. 

(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.