England

LONDON, Oct 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The United Kingdom’s Departments for Transport and of Health and Social Care issued a joint press release announcing that the seven countries still on the travel red list, all of them from Latin America, would be removed from it shortly.

Effective Nov 1, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela will be moved up to the group of other nations from where travelers returning to England no longer need to go through a hotel quarantine.

LONDON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- England could become the first in the world to prescribe medicinally licensed e-cigarettes to help reduce smoking rates, Britain's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced Friday.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is publishing updated guidance that paves the way for medicinally licensed e-cigarette products to be prescribed for tobacco smokers who wish to quit smoking, said the department.

E-cigarettes are currently available commercially and are popular as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes.

LONDON (AP) — Protesters started gathering Friday in the heart of London’s historic financial district to lobby against the use of fossil fuels ahead of the start of the U.N. climate summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

The protests in London, which were to be joined by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, are part of a worldwide day of action before leaders head to Glasgow for the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26. Many environmentalists are calling the Oct. 31-Nov. 12 gathering the world’s last chance to turn the tide in the battle against climate change.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s environment minister pledged Friday to retaliate if France carries through on threats to block U.K. fishing ships from French ports, warning that “two can play at that game” in the worsening dispute rooted in Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Britain summoned the French ambassador for a dressing-down after French authorities fined two British fishing vessels and kept one in port overnight Thursday.

LONDON, Oct 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — From Death Valley to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent to sub-Saharan Africa, global warming has already made daily life unbearable for millions of people.

  And if nothing is done to slow climate change, the record temperatures and deadly heatwaves it brings will only get worse, experts warn.

  “Climate (change) is sort of steroids for the weather. It’s loading the dice to make these sort of extreme events be more common,” said Zeke Hausfather, a climate expert at the Breakthrough Institute in California.

LONDON (AP) — The U.S. government is scheduled to ask Britain’s High Court on Wednesday to overturn a judge’s decision that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.

In January, a lower court judge refused an American request to extradite Assange on spying charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret military documents a decade ago.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s parliamentary standards watchdog said Tuesday that a Conservative lawmaker should be suspended from the House of Commons for breaking lobbying rules.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone said Owen Paterson lobbied the government in 2016 and 2017 on behalf of two companies that were paying him — the clinical diagnostics company Randox and the meat-processing firm Lynn’s Country Foods.

LONDON (AP) — Former Facebook data scientist turned whistleblower Frances Haugen plans to answer questions Monday from lawmakers in the United Kingdom who are working on legislation to rein in the power of social media companies.

WHITEHAVEN, England (AP) — In the patchwork of hills, lakes and sea that makes up England’s northwest corner, most people see beauty. Dave Cradduck sees broken dreams.

The coal mine where Cradduck once worked has long closed. The chemical factory that employed thousands is gone. The nuclear power plant is being decommissioned.

For the 74-year-old Cradduck, a plan for a new coal mine that could bring hundreds of jobs is cause for hope.

LONDON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain and the European Union held "constructive" technical discussions on the Northern Ireland Protocol, but substantial gaps remain on the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), according to a British government source.

"The talks this week were constructive and we've heard some things from the EU that we can work with - but the reality is that we are still far apart on the big issues, especially governance," the source said on Saturday night.