Britain

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Raven's Disappearance Raises an Old Legend in London

Merlina was queen of the roost at city's famed tower

(Newser) - It's not like Britain didn't have enough to worry about, given the surging pandemic and Brexit , but a missing raven has been added to the mix. The Tower of London announced the "really unhappy news" Wednesday that a beloved raven named Merlina hasn't been around for...

Life in UK: Case Surge, Lockdown, Repeat
Case Surges,
Lockdowns 
Wear UK Out
photos

Case Surges, Lockdowns Wear UK Out

Nation again questions how the situation got this bad

(Newser) - The crisis facing Britain this winter is depressingly familiar: stay-at-home orders and empty streets, hospitals overflowing, a daily toll of many hundreds of coronavirus deaths. The UK is the epicenter of Europe's COVID-19 outbreak once more, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government is facing questions, and anger,...

WikiLeaks Founder Gets More Bad News

UK judge denies bail to Julian Assange, saying he's a flight risk

(Newser) - A UK judge on Wednesday denied bail to WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, who has been jailed in Britain since 2019 as he fights extradition to the US. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ordered Assange to remain in prison while the courts consider an appeal by US authorities against a decision not...

UK Takes Another 'Giant Step' on Vaccine Front

Britain is now administering the world's first AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID vaccinations

(Newser) - Britain on Monday took another giant step in the fight against COVID-19, ramping up its immunization program by giving the first shots in the world from the vaccine created by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, was the first to get the new vaccine, administered...

2nd Vaccine OK'd in UK Is Cheaper, Easier to Store

AstraZeneca/Oxford shots will start to be administered in Britain next week

(Newser) - A big update in vaccination efforts from across the pond: In what Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling a "triumph for British science," regulators in the United Kingdom have given the green light to a second vaccine there, this time for one from AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Why...

At Ski Resort, Untouched Food Trays Were a Clue

Hundreds of British skiers fled Swiss facility despite quarantine

(Newser) - Hundreds of British skiers appear to have ignored orders to quarantine at a Swiss ski resort and instead snuck out at night for home, reports Reuters . The unusual situation unfolded at the Swiss resort of Verbier, where more than 420 British guests were staying before Christmas, per the BBC . By...

AstraZeneca Has Confidence About New Strain

CEO says his vaccine will be as good as the others

(Newser) - The head of drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine widely expected to be approved by UK authorities this week, said Sunday that researchers believe the shot will be effective against a new variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in Britain. Partial results suggest that...

France Reports First Case of New Strain
New Virus Strain
Is in France, Too

New Virus Strain Is in France, Too

The infected man, who'd just come home from London, shows no symptoms

(Newser) - The first case of the new coronavirus strain discovered in Britain now has been confirmed in France. It was detected in a resident of Tours, a city in central France, who traveled home from London last Saturday, the BBC reports. The man, who was not identified, was treated at a...

British Troops Work to Clear 4K Trucks

Drivers have been living in their cabs since France briefly shut its border over new virus strain

(Newser) - Around 1,000 British soldiers were spending Christmas Day trying to clear a huge backlog of truck drivers stuck in southeast England after France briefly closed its border to the UK, then demanded coronavirus tests from all amid fears of a new coronavirus variant. Even though an estimated 4,000...

Right Before UK's Final Split From EU, 'the Deal Is Done'

Britain, European Union come to post-Brexit trade agreement, though how this will play out is unclear

(Newser) - After months of talks and at almost the last minute, Britain and the European Union struck a provisional free-trade agreement Thursday that should avert New Year chaos for cross-border traders and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. With just over a week until the...

Frustration Grows for Truckers Trying to Get Home for Holiday

Drivers scuffle with cops in Dover as France keeps them out due to COVID variant

(Newser) - In an attempt to slow down the "out of control" spread of a new coronavirus variant in the UK, various EU nations had banned travel from the island nation. That's now led to a backlog of truckers in the port city of Dover who want to get to...

EU Nations Act to Limit Spread of New Virus Strain

Flights from UK are cut as governments await answers

(Newser) - Several European Union nations on Sunday banned flights from the UK, and Germany was considering limiting such flights to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England does not establish a strong foothold on the continent. The Netherlands banned flights from the UK for at least...

Johnson Gives Bad News 'With a Very Heavy Heart'

Britain's PM tells many people to cancel Christmas

(Newser) - Families must cancel their Christmas gatherings and most shops have to close in London and much of southern England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday as he imposed a new, stricter level of coronavirus restrictions on the region to curb rapidly spreading infections, the AP reports. Johnson said Saturday that...

John Le Carre Dead at 89
'We Will Not See His Like Again'
obituary

'We Will Not See His Like Again'

John Le Carré has died at age 89

(Newser) - John Le Carré, perhaps the greatest living spy novelist, died Saturday in England. The 89-year-old lost his life to pneumonia, his family said. Le Carré was "an undisputed giant of English literature," his longtime agent told the Guardian . "He defined the Cold War era and fearlessly spoke...

Tuesday Is 'V Day' for the UK on COVID

First vaccinations will take place

(Newser) - It’s been dubbed “V-Day” in Britain, recalling the D-Day landings in France that marked the start of the final push in World War II to defeat Nazi Germany, per the AP . A week after the UK became the first Western country to authorize widespread use of a vaccine...

Got Monolith Fatigue Yet? Because Here Are 2 More

Latest structures popped up in England and Pittsburgh, the latter an admitted publicity stunt

(Newser) - Monoliths in Utah , Romania , and Atascadero, Calif. , as well as one discovered over the weekend in a Dutch nature preserve and one shown outside Joshua Tree National Park, have conspiracy theorists buzzing and everyone else scratching their heads. Now, two more to add into the mix. The first of the...

British Doctors, Nurses Lose Spots in Line

Many had already made appointments for vaccinations, but fears build about the supply

(Newser) - Britain took delivery of its first shipment of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday night, and all systems are go for the two-shot vaccinations to begin Tuesday. Many doctors and nurses, having been told they'd be in the first group to get the shots, had made their appointments. Then...

Fauci: Britain Was a Little Too Quick With Vaccine

Approval was based on company data and rushed, expert says

(Newser) - We need coronavirus vaccines quickly, but not before their time. Dr. Anthony Fauci was critical Thursday of Britain's quick green light for a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, Politico reports. "They really rushed through that approval," Fauci said. Britain became the first Western nation to OK...

Spike Seen in Those Rebuffing Queen's Honors

Number of people who've rejected UK honors has doubled over past decade

(Newser) - Turning down a British honor isn't uncommon. In fact, it's enough of a thing that Wikipedia has an entire page dedicated to it, and several notable names who've done it, including Roald Dahl and Aldous Huxley . But the number of those who've rebuffed the queen is...

First Country Approves Pfizer Vaccine

UK to begin vaccinations 'within days'

(Newser) - British officials authorized a COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Wednesday, greenlighting the world's first shot against the virus that's backed by rigorous science and taking a major step toward eventually ending the pandemic. The go-ahead for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech comes as the virus...

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