United Kingdom

17 May 2021; MEMO: As Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Britain, I was proud to work with our partners to organise the estimated 150,000-strong march from London's Marble Arch to the Israeli Embassy in Kensington on Saturday. Our partners were the Palestinian Forum in Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, CND, and the Muslim Association of Britain.

(Reuters) --- Ministers will make a decision on June 14 about whether or not to proceed with the final phase of lockdown easing in England, health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday, describing the pandemic as "under control".

On Friday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Britain would accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination programme to try to contain a fast-spreading variant first identified in India, warning that Britain's reopening could be knocked off track by the Indian variant. 

LONDON (AP) — Britain deployed public health officials, supported by the army, to distribute coronavirus tests door-to-door in two northern England towns on Saturday in an effort to contain a fast-spreading variant that threatens plans to lift all lockdown restrictions next month.

LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s health service shut down its IT systems on Friday after being targeted in what it called a “significant ransomware attack.”

The Health Service Executive said the move was a precaution, and appointments for coronavirus vaccinations were not affected.

“We’ve taken a precautionary measure to shut down a lot of our major systems to protect them,” chief executive Paul Reid told broadcaster RTE.

“We are at the very early stages of fully understanding the threats, the impact and trying to contain it.”

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. official leading preparations for the COP26 climate conference reiterated Thursday the intention to hold the delayed summit in person despite the continuing problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Alok Sharma, the U.K.’s president-designate of COP26, said “every possible” measure was being explored, including around COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, to ensure the talks could be held safely.

In less than six months’ time delegates from across the world are due to arrive in Glasgow for the United Nations’ annual conference.

LONDON (AP) — When London’s Science Museum reopens next week, it will have some new artifacts: empty vaccine vials, testing kits and other items collected during the pandemic, to be featured in a new COVID-19 exhibition.

Britain isn’t quite ready to consign the coronavirus to a museum — the outbreak is far from over here. But there is a definite feeling that the U.K. has turned a corner, and the mood in the country is jubilant. “The end is in sight,” one newspaper front page claimed recently. “Free at last!” read another.

(Reuters) --- Britain's independent adviser on ministers' behaviour said on Thursday he would publish any advice he gives to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the refurbishment of his Downing Street apartment and declarations of his own interests.

Britain's Electoral Commission has launched an investigation into the funding of work on the prime minister's apartment in Downing Street, saying there were grounds to suspect an offence had been committed. Johnson says he has followed the rules and covered the costs of the refurbishment.

(Reuters) --- Former British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that it was "painful" for him to have to face parliamentary scrutiny over the collapse of Greensill Capital, for which he had acted as an advisor and lobbyist.

"This is a painful day coming back to a place that I love and respect so much, albeit virtually, but in these circumstances," he said in an opening statement to the House of Commons' Treasury Committee.

13 May 2021; MEMO: British lawmaker Layla Moran, who is of Palestinian descent, made an impassioned plea in parliament Wednesday for the UK to support every effort to stop the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine, especially in Jerusalem, Anadolu Agency reported.

(Reuters) --- Britain said on Wednesday it would invest 22 million pounds ($31 million) to help vulnerable countries in Africa and the Indo-Pacific build up their cyber defences to prevent China, Russia and others from filling a cyberspace vacuum.

British foreign minister Dominic Raab said Britain and its partners needed to take action to ensure there was a cyberspace that was free, open and peaceful in the face of hostile states seeking to undermine democratic elections and turn the internet into a lawless space.