United Kingdom

(Reuters) --- London's police corruptly concealed failings in the investigation of the 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, an 8-year inquiry into the handling of the case has found.

Morgan was found murdered in a pub car park in south-east London on March 10 1987, though no one has been brought to justice for the killing.

London, Jun 15 (PTI) The Delta variant of coronavirus, first identified in India, doubles the risk of hospitalisation compared with the Alpha variant first found in the UK, but Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines provide good protection against the strain, says a study published in The Lancet journal.

Researchers at Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, UK, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered better protection against the Delta variant compared to the Oxford-AstraZeneca preventive, known as Covishield in India.

London, Jun 14 (PTI) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a four-week delay to an end to all legal lockdown restrictions in the country when he makes a statement later on Monday in relation to so-called Freedom Day , which was set for June 21.

The last and fourth stage of the lockdown roadmap is now expected around July 19 instead amid a worrying spike in cases of the Delta variant, which experts fear will result in greater hospitalisations in the coming weeks.

LONDON, June 13. /TASS/: G7 leaders have urged Belarusian authorities to hold "new free and fair elections," according to the final communique approved on Sunday after the three-day summit of leaders of the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, France and Japan in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall, UK.

(Reuters) --- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she hoped that a new Group of Seven task force can present first infrastructure projects in developing countries in 2022.

The world's seven most advanced economies signalled during the summit a desire to build a rival to China's multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative.

(Reuters) --- Western democracies are in a race to compete with autocratic governments, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

"We're in a contest, not with China per se, ... with autocrats, autocratic governments around the world, as to whether or not democracies can compete with them in a rapidly changing 21st century," Biden told a news conference at the conclusion of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Britain.

On China specifically, Biden said: "I think you're gonna see just straightforward dealing with China.

(Reuters) --- U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was correct to say that relations between their two nations were at their lowest point in years.

"Let me make it clear I think he's right it's a low point, and it depends on how he responds to acting consistent with international norms, which in many cases he has not," Biden told reporters at the conclusion of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Britain.

(Reuters) --- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the Group of Seven countries to help finance the World Health Organization’s programme to boost COVID-19 testing, diagnostics and vaccines, the presidency said on Sunday.

Ramaphosa, who has joined a summit of the club of rich democracies in England and addressed them on Saturday, said the G7 countries, which together account for more than half of global output, should support the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator to plug the $16.8 billion funding gap for this year.

FALMOUTH, England (AP) — Britain accused European Union leaders on Sunday of holding the “offensive” view that Northern Ireland is not fully part of the United Kingdom, as Brexit cast a shadow over the Group of Seven summit.

Britain and the EU are in a spat over post-Brexit trade arrangements that could see British sausages banned from entering Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that borders the 27-nation bloc. The dispute is raising political tensions in Northern Ireland, where some people identify as British and some as Irish.

(Reuters) --- French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Saturday to reset relations with Britain as long as Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands by the Brexit divorce deal he signed with the European Union.

Since Britain completed its exit from the EU late last year, relations with the bloc and particularly France have soured, with Macron becoming the most vocal critic of London's refusal to honour the terms of part of its Brexit deal.