Tue, 21-Oct-2025

In ‘rhubarb triangle’, spring arrives in January

In ‘rhubarb triangle’, spring arrives in January

Robert Tomlinson picks rhubarb stalks by candlelight in the dark, carrying on a century-old family tradition that survives today despite the challenges posed to his business by Brexit and climate change. For four generations, Tomlinson’s family have been cultivating “forced rhubarb” in the winter months at their farm in Pudsey, northern England, and are profiting … Read more

UK regulator fines Mastercard, others for prepaid cards cartel

Mastercard

LONDON: Britain’s payments regulator on Tuesday fined five payments companies including Mastercard a total of 33 million pounds ($45.01 million) for cartel behaviour involving prepaid cards issued to vulnerable people on welfare benefits, Reuters reported. Mastercard received the largest fine of 31.56 million pounds ($43.04 million). The other companies fined were allpay, Advanced Payment Solution, Prepaid Financial … Read more

UK jobs picture robust as Omicron struck

UK jobs

LONDON: Britain’s unemployment rate dropped and payrolls recovered further at the end of last year despite the onset of the Omicron variant, official data showed on Tuesday. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1 per cent in the three months to the end of November, from 4.2 per cent in the quarter ending in October, the … Read more

Iran reaches agreement in Vienna

iran vienna

TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that agreements have been reached to a large extent in the talks in Vienna on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, and what remains are key issues that require political decisions by the United States. Many of the tables and their columns have been prepared … Read more

Watch: 180 million-year-old “sea dragon” fossil discovered by scientists

sea dragon

Scientists find a 180 million-year-old ‘sea dragon’ dinosaur fossil in Leicestershire. They were amazed to witness an ancient ‘sea dragon,‘ as the Ichthyosaurus is known, that had been found by Mary Anning in the nineteenth century. Ancient animals roamed the earth around 250 million years ago before being wiped out 90 million years ago. Read … Read more

‘Ghost kitchens’ Asia’s trending siesta

Ghost kitchens

In an industrial unit on the outskirts of Taipei chefs are plating meals that will never be served in a restaurant: welcome to the world of “ghost kitchens”. Even before the pandemic sent an earthquake through the global restaurant trade, the ‘Amazonification’ of commercial kitchens was well underway, but coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions have fuelled … Read more

Omicron slams UK retail recovery

UK retail

LONDON: Restrictions imposed in the wake of the Omicron coronavirus variant have “wiped out” much of a recent recovery enjoyed by UK bricks-and-mortar stores, the British Retail Consortium revealed Friday. Much of the progress made in late 2021 “was wiped out in December as surging Omicron cases and new work-from-home advice deterred many from shopping in-store, … Read more

One in 20 people in UK have Covid: official data

20 people

LONDON, Jan 5, 2022 (AFP) – More than one in 20 people in Britain had Covid-19 in the last week of 2021, the highest infection rate recorded during the pandemic, official data showed Wednesday. An estimated 3.7 million people in the UK had the virus, up from 2.3 million the previous week, as the Omicron variant … Read more

Britons warned of hospital crisis over Omicron surge

Omicron

LONDON, Jan 4, 2022 (AFP) – Britain on Tuesday faced warnings of an impending hospital crisis due to staff shortages caused by a wave of Omicron infections, as the country returned to work after Christmas. Daily case numbers chalked up multiple records in the run-up to New Year, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson promising action to … Read more

WHO warns of Covid ‘tsunami’ as Omicron fuels record surges

WHO

PARIS: A Covid “tsunami” threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the WHO said Wednesday, as record surges fuelled by the Omicron variant dampened New Year celebrations around the world once again. Governments are walking a tightrope between anti-virus restrictions and the need to keep societies and economies open, as the highly transmissible variant drove cases to levels never … Read more

Vietnam detects 1st COVID-19 case of Omicron variant

Vietnam

HANOI, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — Vietnam has detected its first COVID-19 case of Omicron variant in a quarantine facility in the capital Hanoi, the country’s Ministry of Health confirmed on Tuesday. The patient arrived in Hanoi on Dec. 19 from Britain and tested positive for COVID-19. He was immediately transferred to a quarantine center under … Read more

Biden says govt averted US holiday supply chain ‘crisis’

Joe Biden

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden argued on Wednesday that by working with shipping firms and unions, his administration helped prevent a feared shortage of gifts for the holidays. Reeling from a fresh political wound, that his signature social spending and climate bill was potentially dead in the water, the US leader also touted the economic recovery and … Read more

Britain, Australia conclude free trade deal

Britain and Australia

LONDON: Britain and Australia finalised in a virtual ceremony on Thursday a free trade deal that is expected to unlock more than £10 billion in trade annually. The deal, which was agreed in principle in June, is the first free trade deal that Britain negotiated from scratch since its EU exit earlier this year to have … Read more

UK unemployment dips despite end of virus jobs scheme

UK unemployment

LONDON: Unemployment in Britain has fallen again, despite the end of a government scheme to keep millions of private-sector workers in their roles during the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday. The jobless rate, which measures the number of people out of work as a proportion of the working population as a whole, slipped to … Read more

UK records highest daily coronavirus cases since early January

covid

LONDON, (Xinhua) — Britain reports 58,194 new coronavirus cases, reaching levels not seen since early January, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,719,165, according to official figures released Friday. The country also reported a further 120 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 146,255, … Read more

Queen Elizabeth to carry on with Christmas tradition at Sandringham

Queen gives a Commonwealth statement about her lifelong 'commitment'

Britain’s Queen Elizbath is planning to spend the holiday with her family at Sandringham after the family was forced to spend all the other holidays apart because of COVID-19. According to a British tabloid, the longest reigning monarch will be heading towards Sandringham Estate in Norfolk with her close family members if no new COVID … Read more

Instagram tightens teen defenses as US hearing looms

Instagram tightens teen defenses as US hearing looms

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 7, 2021 (AFP) – Instagram announced new protections on Tuesday for young users, a day before the photo-sharing app’s CEO faces a grilling from US lawmakers on whether the platform is “toxic” for children. The app will be stricter about what it recommends to teen users and will suggest a break if they … Read more

Franco-Austrian firm Valneva’s Covid jab under EU review

Franco-Austrian

THE HAGUE: Europe’s drug watchdog launched an accelerated review Thursday of a Covid-19 vaccine by Franco-Austrian biotech firm Valneva, for which the EU has already signed a deal for up to 60 million doses. The jab — which uses “inactivated” viruses rather than the new mRNA technology of the Pfizer or Moderna shots — showed … Read more

UK to make electric car charging points compulsory in new buildings

UK to make electric car charging points compulsory in new buildings

LONDON: Britain will make electric car chargers compulsory for new buildings in England from 2022, as it switches away from high-polluting vehicles, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. Johnson, fresh from hosting the COP26 climate change summit, told business leaders that he will legislate to compel charging points in new homes, supermarkets and workplaces in … Read more

UK records another 40,004 new coronavirus cases

UK records another 40,004 new coronavirus cases

LONDON: Britain registered 40,004 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 9,845,492, according to official figures released Sunday. The country also reported a further 61 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 143,927, with 8,079 COVID-19 patients still in hospital. The latest … Read more

UK urges China to provide ‘verifiable evidence’ about tennis star

UK urges China to provide 'verifiable evidence' about tennis star

LONDON: Britain on Saturday urged China to provide “verifiable evidence” about the “safety and whereabouts” of tennis star Peng Shuai, whose whereabouts are unclear after making sexual assault allegations against a top Communist Party official. “We are extremely concerned at the apparent disappearance of Peng Shuai, and are following the case closely,” the foreign office said in … Read more

UK records another 44,242 new coronavirus cases

UK records another 40,004 new coronavirus cases

LONDON: Britain registered 44,242 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 9,766,153, according to official figures released Friday.

The country also reported a further 157 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 143,716. These death toll only includes people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

There are currently 8,079 patients in hospital with COVID-19.

The latest data came as the Office for National Statistics said in total, the country recorded 965,000 coronavirus cases in the week to Nov. 13. This is the first time the number has fallen under a million since October.

The ONS said cases continued to decrease in England and Wales, remained uncertain in Northern Ireland and did not change in Scotland.

Meanwhile, England’s coronavirus reproduction value, also known as the R number, is estimated between 0.8 to one, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

An R value between 0.8 and one means, on average, every 10 people infected will go on to infect between eight and 10 other people.

More than 88 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 80 percent have received both doses, the latest figures indicate. More than 24 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

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UK man jailed for life after deadly knife rampage

UK man jailed for life after deadly knife rampage

LONDON: A man with paranoid schizophrenia was jailed for life on Thursday for killing a university worker during a random knife rampage in Britain’s second city of Birmingham. Zephaniah McLeod’s motiveless stabbing and slashing spree early on September 6 last year initially raised fears of a copycat of Islamist-inspired attacks in London in 2019 and 2020. … Read more

Aussies skirt vaccine rules with black market certificates

Vaccine

MELBOURNE: A ban on unvaccinated Australians entering bars and restaurants nudged thousands to get jabbed — but it has also seen the rise of a thriving black market in fake Covid-19 vaccine certificates online. Twenty-four-year-old Molly — who asked to conceal her real name — is hitting the town. When Melbourne last month clambered out … Read more

‘It kills me inside’: Activists sound alarm on climate anxiety

HONG KONG: From Bangladesh to Britain to Nigeria, many young campaigners on the frontlines of the global fight for climate justice now face a new problem: the impact the crisis is having on their mental health. As thousands of delegates converged at the COP26 summit in Glasgow to discuss ways to tackle the environmental emergency, … Read more

British minister in France for talks on fishing row

PARIS: Britain’s Brexit minister is due in Paris on Thursday for talks on the fishing rights crisis that has further strained already tense relations between the two countries. The meeting comes a day after a French court released a British trawler impounded for a week as part of the deepening dispute. David Frost will sit down with French … Read more

UK announces $68 million for Mideast green projects

LONDON: Britain has announced $68 million in funding to support energy transition and green infrastructure and growth in the Middle East and North Africa, Arab News reported. The announcement was made by UK Minister for the Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly during an event on the second day of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) … Read more

China eases power crunch with boost to coal production

BEIJING: China said it has increased daily coal production by over one million tonnes, easing its energy shortage as world leaders gather in Britain for climate talks billed as one of the last chances to avert catastrophic global warming. The world’s biggest coal importer has battled widespread power cuts in recent months that have disrupted supply chains, … Read more