England

LONDON, May 13 (APP): Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, President Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations ( MAPIM) expressing his deep concern on the current blackout of the internet in India Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and gross violations of human rights by the Indian authorities called upon the United Nations (UN) to play its vital role for the implementation of right of self determination to the people of the occupied valley.

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Kingdom is on a similar level to France, Italy and Spain on COVID-19 deaths per million but Belgium is worse, a junior British health minister said on Thursday.

“If you look at the death rate per 100,000 or per million, actually we are on a similar level to France, Italy, Spain, Belgium is above us, the United States is below,” Edward Argar, a junior health minister, told Sky News.

“Different statistics can be portrayed in different ways,” he said.

LONDON (Reuters) - British researchers will study the genes of thousands of ill COVID-19 patients to try to crack one of the most puzzling riddles of the novel coronavirus: why does it kill some people but give others not even a mild headache?

Researchers from across the United Kingdom will sequence the genetic code of people who fell critically ill with COVID-19 and compare their genomes with those who were mildly ill or not ill at all.

LONDON (Reuters) - A total of 33,186 people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in the United Kingdom, a rise of 494 in a 24-hour period, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The figures are as of 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on May 12. Including deaths due to suspected cases, Britain’s toll is over 40,000.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government warned Wednesday of a “significant” recession after official figures showed the economy shrank 2% in the first quarter of the year even though it included just one week of the coronavirus lockdown.

LONDON (Reuters) - Global commercial fishing activity for 2020 fell by around 1 million hours as of end-April, a 6.5% decline over the two previous years, the result of plummeting demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns, according to Global Fishing Watch.

Fishing fleets spent 14.4 million hours on the water for the year so far to April 28, a decline from an average of 15.4 million hours for the same year-to-date periods of 2018 and 2019, according to the nonprofit organization that tracks fishing operation worldwide.

LONDON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on Monday issued a Red Notice for the arrest of a U.S. diplomat's wife named Anne Sacoolas, who was charged over a car crash killing a young man in Britain last year.

Harry Dunn was killed when his motorbike and a car collided outside a U.S. military base in Northamptonshire on Aug. 27 last year. The driver of the car, Sacoolas, returned to the United States, claiming diplomatic immunity and was subsequently charged by Britain's Crown Prosecution Service with causing death by dangerous driving.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday outlined a “conditional plan” for reopening British society in the coming months, including the possible return to school for some young children at the start of June, as well as some easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England.

In a televised address to the nation, Johnson said this is “not the time, simply, to end the lockdown this week,” but that it was appropriate to make some changes, including encouraging people with jobs that cannot be done from home to return to work.

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said non-essential retailers would not go back to work until June at the earliest while other sectors will not go back to work until July at the earliest, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday.

“There’s the other changes for things like non essential retail and people going back to school, particularly primary school, which won’t start until the earliest on the first of June, subject to conditions,” Raab said.

LONDON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed his government's approach to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in the next phase in his address to the nation Sunday evening.

The prime minister said that the government has a plan to ease lockdown, but "it is a conditional plan," and since "our priority is to protect the public and save lives, we cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests."

This is "not the time simply to end the lockdown this week," instead " we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures," said Johnson.