United Kingdom

15 July 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian affairs specialist for BBC Monitoring, Tala Halawa, was fired last month over a tweet criticising the Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2014, three years before being hired by the British news outlet.

LONDON (AP) — Here’s some of what happened while the world was distracted by the coronavirus: Hungary banned the public depiction of homosexuality. China shut Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy newspaper. Brazil’s government extolled dictatorship. And Belarus hijacked a passenger plane to arrest a journalist.

COVID-19 has absorbed the world’s energies and isolated countries from one another, which may have accelerated the creep of authoritarianism and extremism across the globe, some researchers and activists believe.

LONDON (AP) — Official figures show inflation in the U.K. rising to its highest level in nearly three years because of increases in the prices of food and motor fuel.

The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that the annual rate of inflation rose to 2.5% in June from 2.1% the previous month. June’s rate is the highest August 2018 when inflation hit 2.7%.

LONDON (AP) — After Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor and his wife received two doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in Nigeria, they assumed they would be free to travel this summer to a European destination of their choice. They were wrong.

The couple — and millions of other people who have been vaccinated through a U.N.-backed effort — could find themselves barred from entering many European and other countries because those nations don’t recognize the Indian-made version of the vaccine for travel.

12 July 2021; MEMO: The size of England's growing problem with racism came to light once again following its defeat against Italy in the finals of the Euro 2020. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, three of the country's promising players of black heritage, all missed from the penalty spot last night, triggering a torrent of racial abuse.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to confirm Monday that all remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week’s time while urging people to remain cautious amid a huge resurgence of the coronavirus.

Johnson is expected to say at a news conference that face masks and all social distancing measures will be lifted in England on July 19. However, given the sharp rise in new cases, he is also likely to downplay talk of “Freedom Day.”

LONDON (AP) — Facebook’s WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service has been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update in what it calls a breach of the bloc’s regulations.

The European Consumer Organisation, or BEUC, filed a complaint Monday over the way WhatsApp has brought in changes to its terms of service and privacy policy, saying they aren’t transparent or easily understood by users.

LONDON (AP) — Italian soccer’s redemption story is complete. England’s painful half-century wait for a major title goes on.

And it just had to be because of a penalty shootout.

Italy won the European Championship for the second time by beating England 3-2 on penalties on Sunday. The match finished 1-1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium, which was filled mostly with English fans hoping to celebrate the team’s first international trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - The UK government is confident that plans to lift a range of COVID-19 restrictions will go ahead on July 19 in England but mask-wearing in indoor enclosed places will be expected, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson detailed proposals earlier this week to eliminate a series of rules on mask-wearing, social contact and the instruction to work from home. He is expected to give the final go-ahead on Monday.

LONDON, July 10 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Britain on Saturday expressed outrage and firm opposition to a report published by a committee of the lower house of British parliament.

The report, which is "full of lies" about China's Xinjiang, represents a blatant interference in China's internal affairs, according to the spokesperson.