England

LONDON (AP) — Oxford University announced Saturday it was resuming a trial for a coronavirus vaccine it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, a move that comes days after the study was suspended following a reported side-effect in a U.K. patient.

In a statement, the university confirmed the restart across all of its U.K. clinical trial sites after regulators gave the go-ahead following the pause on Sunday.

LONDON, Sept 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain announced a £23.8 million investment to triple the size of its base in an Omani port close to the sensitive waters of the Gulf.

The expansion of the “logistics hub” at Duqm will “facilitate Royal Navy deployments to the Indian Ocean” and “further support British Army training in Oman,” the Ministry of Defence said.

“The long-standing friendships between the UK and the Gulf states are more important than ever,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as he visited Oman and Qatar.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is not threatening to “tear up” the Withdrawal Agreement that it signed with the European Union in January said UK trade policy minister Greg Hands on Friday, as the row between the two sides continues.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has refused to revoke a plan that will break the divorce treaty even though Brussels says it could sink four years of talks.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union stepped up planning for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit on Friday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government refused to revoke an ultimatum on breaking the divorce treaty that Brussels says will sink four years of talks.

Britain said explicitly this week that it plans to break international law by breaching parts of the Withdrawal Agreement treaty that it signed in January, when it formally left the bloc.

LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Britain secured its first big post-Brexit trade deal on Friday, an agreement with Japan which it hailed as “historic” as it struggles to agree on trade with its closest trading partners in the European Union.

Since formally leaving the EU in January, Britain has focused on negotiating new trade deals with countries around the world although experts say they are unlikely to replace exports lost to the EU if a deal cannot be reached with Brussels.

LONDON (Reuters) - The London extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was postponed on Thursday because of concern that one of the lawyers involved might have been exposed to COVID-19.

Assange is fighting extradition to the United States where he is wanted for conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law over the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union will hold emergency talks on Thursday over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to undercut parts of the Brexit divorce treaty, with Brussels exploring possible legal action against London.

After Britain explicitly said it would act outside international law by breaching the divorce treaty, EU negotiators are trying to gauge how to deal with London.

Britain signed the treaty and formally left the EU in January, but remains a member in all but name until the end of this year under a status quo agreement.

LONDON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Banning and removing Huawei equipment from Britain's 5G networks by 2027 risks severely delaying operators' 5G roll-out plans, adversely affecting its economy by 18.2 billion pounds (around 23.7 billion U.S. dollars), according to an independent report released Wednesday by Assembly, a London-based analyst firm.

In July, the British government drastically reversed its policy on Huawei by announcing that buying new Huawei 5G equipment will be banned after Dec. 31, 2020 and all Huawei equipment will be removed from 5G networks by the end of 2027.

LONDON, Sept 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a ban on social gatherings of more than six people in England to curb the spread of COVID-19, local media reported Wednesday.

New measures reducing the maximum number of social gatherings from 30 to six — both indoors and outdoors, including private homes, parks, pubs and restaurants — are set to come into force from Monday, Sept. 14, according to reports.

BIRMINGHAM, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British police will charge Zephaniah McLeod, 27, with one count of murder and seven counts of attempted murder following a spate of stabbings in Birmingham City on Sunday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

“This decision was made following careful consideration of the evidence presented to us by West Midlands Police as a result of their ongoing investigation,” Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS West Midlands Suzanne Llewellyn said in a statement.

McLeod will appear in court on Wednesday over the attacks in the city centre.