England

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices touched multi-month highs on Monday on expectations OPEC and allied producers may cap output at current levels in February and on hopes that coronavirus vaccines may help curb the spread of the virus and drive a strong economic rebound in the new year.

Prices rose in line with broader financial markets with Brent crude futures reaching $53.33 a barrel, the highest since March 2020. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude touched $49.83 a barrel, the highest since February 2020.

LONDON (AP) — Britain on Monday was taking another giant step in the fight against COVID-19, ramping up its immunization program by giving shots from the vaccine created by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will have 530,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine ready to administer on Monday and hopes to provide “tens of millions” of vaccinations over the next three months, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

“We do hope that ... we’ll be able to do tens of millions in the course of the next three months,” he told the BBC.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Boris Johnson said on Sunday he intended to carry on as prime minister after Brexit.

Asked in a BBC interview if he intended to continue in the role, Johnson said: “Yes.”

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said referendums should only happen once in a generation, when asked about the possibility of a fresh vote on Scottish independence.

“The only point I would make is that referendums, (in) my ... direct experience in this country, are not particularly jolly events,” Johnson told the BBC.

“They don’t have a, notably unifying force on the national mood, they should be only once in a generation.”

LONDON (AP) — With daily coronavirus infections surging as a result of a new virus variant, the British government faced mounting pressure Saturday from teachers’ unions to keep schools in England closed for at least another two weeks.

The government, which oversees schools in England, has already decided to keep all schools in London closed next week to try to stem new infections. Unions want the policy extended across the whole of England, expressing fears about the health of both teachers and children.

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser is due to deliver her decision at London’s Old Bailey courthouse at 10 a.m. Monday. If she grants the request, then Britain’s home secretary, Priti Patel, would make the final decision.

Whichever side loses is expected to appeal, which could lead to years more legal wrangling.

LONDON, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Roads around Britain's port of Dover remained quiet Friday and largely avoided the previously anticipated confusion and congestion, even though Britain has kicked off a new era outside the European Union (EU).

Without signs of delays on surrounding roads, the first drivers that entered Dover from France found themselves at the center of attention as Brexit transition period ended at 2300 GMT on New Year's Eve.

LONDON, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain became the first nation to approve a lower-cost vaccine partially developed by Oxford University as the Covid-19 pandemic raged worldwide.

New Year’s Eve marks one year since the World Health Organization first mentioned a mysterious pneumonia in China later identified as Covid-19, which went on in 2020 to kill more than 1.79 million people and devastate the global economy in unprecedented ways.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday its decision to suspend retaliatory tariffs against the United States was already bearing fruit after it was spared in a new round of U.S. tariff increases which hit French and German produce.

Britain said earlier this month it would use its new-found freedom outside the European Union to diverge from common EU trade policy towards the United States, deciding to unilaterally suspend tariffs relating to a 16-year dispute on aircraft subsidies.