United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - A tug-of-war over $1 billion worth of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England took a fresh twist on Monday as the English Court of Appeal overturned an earlier High Court ruling on who the UK recognised as the South American country’s president.

The Court of Appeal granted the Nicolas Maduro-backed Banco Central de Venezuela’s appeal and set aside July’s High Court judgement which had found that the UK Government’s recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as “constitutional interim President of Venezuela” was conclusive.

London, Oct 5 (PTI) Indian ride-hailing company Ola has been refused a licence to continue operating in London over passenger safety failings by the British capital's transport authority, a decision the company said would appeal.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company, which had launched its services in London in February, has 21 days to appeal against the decision of Transport for London (TfL) and can continue to operate in the interim.

LONDON, Oct 04 (APP): Pakistan High Commission in London on Saturday announced that in order to facilitate the Pakistani Community for Consular Services, the High Commission has started a daily appointment system for Consular Services.

According to a statement of the High Commission issued here said that the appointments for Consular Services (Passport, NADRA, and attestation) could now be requested online from Monday, October 5, 2020 1200 hrs – 2400 hrs on a daily basis.

LONDON, Oct 4 (NNN-XINHUA) – 770 students tested positive for COVID-19 in a British university, in one of the major outbreaks in Britain, since the reopening of campuses in Sept, a university spokesperson said.

The spokesperson for Northumbria University, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, said, all of those students who tested positive are now self-isolating and 78 were displaying symptoms.

Meanwhile, flatmates and any close contacts are also going into isolation, the spokesperson added.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday he did not particularly wish for the Brexit transition period to end without a new trade deal being in place, but that Britain could live with such an outcome.

The transition period ends on Dec. 31 and intensive negotiations are ongoing between London and Brussels. Johnson said a deal was there to be done but there were still difficult issues that needed to be fixed.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday he expected the next few months of the COVID-19 pandemic to be bumpy, but that things would look radically different in the spring.

“I’ve got to tell you, in all candour, it’s going to continue to be bumpy through to Christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond,” Johnson said during an interview on BBC television.

LONDON (Reuters) - British foreign minister Dominic Raab said the European Union no longer has the power to treat Britain poorly, and any deal on its future relationship with the bloc must be fair.

“Yes, we want a Free Trade deal with the EU, but any deal must be fair. The days of being held over a barrel by Brussels are long gone,” Raab said in a speech broadcast on Saturday as part of the Conservative Party’s annual conference.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the head of the EU’s executive, Ursula von der Leyen, agreed in a phone call on Saturday to step up Brexit talks to close “significant gaps” barring a new trade partnership.

The two sides have said this week’s round of talks aimed at getting a new, post-Brexit trade agreement from 2021 made some progress but not a breakthrough.

The EU says a deal must be sealed by the end of the month to leave enough time for ratification by the end of this year.

02 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkey was added to the UK’s coronavirus quarantine list, meaning travellers will have to self-isolate for two weeks on their return to the kingdom, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced last night.

The new legislation comes into effect for people arriving in the UK after 4 am on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an estimated 10,000 British holidaymakers in Turkey face a choice between paying  for an immediate flight home, or spending two weeks in isolation upon their return.

LONDON (Reuters) - When Boris Johnson caught COVID-19 in March, the overweight British prime minister tried to work through the illness “in denial” - but ended up wearing an oxygen mask in an intensive care unit and was ultimately out of action for almost a month.

He later said he had fought for his life as the state prepared for the unthinkable: the possible death in office of a prime minister.