United Kingdom

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of train workers in Britain began a fresh round of strikes Thursday, paralyzing rail service across the country in an ongoing dispute over pay and work conditions exacerbated by a deepening cost-of-living crisis.

LONDON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Consumer Prices Index (CPI) surged by 10.1 percent in the 12 months to July, the highest level in 40 years, official statistics showed on Wednesday.

The latest inflation rate was a further increase from 9.4 percent in June and beat economists' forecast of 9.8 percent.

On a monthly basis, CPI also rose by 0.6 percent in July, compared with no change in July 2021, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk caused a stir by tweeting that he was buying the English soccer team Manchester United — whose current owners are opposed by many fans — then saying several hours later that it was a joke.

It comes as the billionaire Tesla CEO faces a legal battle in the U.S. after backing out of a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. He is a prolific user of the platform, often musing about social issues or joking with his 103 million followers and occasionally getting into trouble with U.S. regulators.

LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday blamed saboteurs for orchestrating a series of explosions at an ammunition depot in Russian-annexed Crimea, a rare admission that armed groups loyal to Ukraine are damaging military logistics and supply lines on territory it controls.

The incident follows a series of explosions last week at a Russian-operated air base in Crimea which Ukrainian officials hinted were part of some kind of special operation but which Moscow said at the time was an accident.

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Britain, the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine in late 2020, has now also given the first green light to a variant-adapted shot that targets both the original and Omicron version of the virus.

The UK medicines regulator (MHRA) gave the so-called bivalent vaccine made by U.S. drug company Moderna (MRNA.O) conditional approval as a booster for adults on Monday.

Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is now expected to issue a recommendation soon on how the vaccine should be deployed in the country.

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia was ready to sell advanced weapons to allies globally and cooperate in developing military technology, nearly six months into the Ukraine war in which his army has performed worse than expected.

With its forces beaten back from Ukraine's two biggest cities and making slow headway at heavy cost in eastern provinces, the war has so far proved an unconvincing showcase for Russia's arms industry.

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will visit the U.K. next month for the first time since they returned for Queen Elizabeth II ’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

A spokesperson for the couple said Monday that they will “visit with several charities close to their hearts” in the U.K. and Germany.

LONDON (AP) — British drug regulators have become the first in the world to authorize an updated version of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine that aims to protect against the original virus and the omicron variant.

In a statement on Monday, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency said it had given the green light to Moderna’s combination “bivalent” vaccine, which will be used as an adult booster shot.

LONDON (AP) — British health officials say the monkeypox outbreak across the country “shows signs of slowing” but that it’s still too soon to know if the decline will be maintained.

In a statement on Monday, the Health Security Agency said authorities are reporting about 29 new monkeypox infections every day, compared to about 52 cases a day during the last week in June. In July, officials estimated the outbreak was doubling in size about every two weeks. To date, the U.K. has recorded more than 3,000 cases of monkeypox, with more than 70% of cases in London.

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Rishi Sunak, one of two candidates seeking to become Britain's next prime minister, said Friday's attack on author Salman Rushdie should serve as a wake-up call to the West over Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Indian-born author Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him over his novel "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed in the neck and torso on stage at a lecture in New York state. After hours of surgery, Rushdie was on a ventilator and unable to speak as of Friday evening.