United Kingdom

LONDON (AP) — Britain said Sunday it has secured 2 million more doses of a promising coronavirus vaccine as it gears up to launch within days the country’s most ambitious inoculation program in decades.

The U.K. has had Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with more than 58,000 confirmed virus-related deaths. It now hopes to hit a more positive milestone by becoming one of the first countries in the world to start vaccinating its population against COVID-19.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday he was concerned about the situation in Iran and wider region after the killing of a top Iranian nuclear scientist.

“We are concerned about the situation in Iran and the wider region we do want to see de-escalation of tensions,” Raab told Sky News, after Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit trade negotiations with the European Union are in a reasonable position, with some progress on competition issues but significant differences outstanding on fishing, British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday.

“I do think we’re in a reasonable position, there’s a deal to be done,” Raab told Sky News.

Asked about a final deadline for talks, he said negotiations were into the “last week or so” but said the EU had previously moved the goalposts on a final deadline.

LONDON, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 60 people were arrested as anti-lockdown protesters clashed with police in central London on Saturday, local media reported.

Clashes broke out between some demonstrators and police officers as they led dozens of people away in handcuffs, the Evening Standard newspaper said.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the city near Oxford Street chanting "freedom" on Saturday, with some carrying placards reading "Stop Controlling Us" and "No More Lockdowns", Sky News said.

London, Nov 28 (AP-PTI) The British government said Saturday that it had struck an agreement with France to double the number of French police patrolling beaches in the country's north in an attempt to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

LONDON (AP) — Teams from Britain and the European Union resumed face-to-face talks on a post-Brexit trade deal Saturday, with both sides sounding gloomy about striking an agreement in the little time that remains.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier returned to London to meet his U.K. counterpart David Frost. Talks have been held virtually for the past week as Barnier completed a spell of self-isolation after a member of his team tested positive for the coronavirus.

27 Nov 2020; MEMO: A British archaeologist from the University of Reading believes that a crypt under an ancient church in Nazareth could have been the childhood home of Jesus Christ, Al-Araby has reported. Professor Kent Dark is confident that the evidence for this belief is strong.

LONDON (Reuters) - Hospitals in England risk being overwhelmed if lawmakers do not support the government’s new plan for restrictions, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said on Saturday.

More than 20 million people across large swathes of England will be forced to live under the toughest category of COVID-19 restrictions when a national lockdown ends on Dec. 2. Lawmakers are due to vote on the restrictions the day before.

But a growing number of lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party have voiced opposition to the tiered restrictions plan.

LONDON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Britain and the European Union (EU) will resume face-to-face trade talks in London on Saturday, Britain's chief Brexit negotiator David Frost said Friday.

"I look forward to welcoming @michelbarnier (EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier) and his team to London and to resuming face-to-face talks tomorrow. We are glad all are safe and well," Frost wrote on Twitter.

His comment came as Britain and the EU suspended their talks in Brussels -- and later resumed virtually -- after an EU negotiator tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were mixed on Friday but remained on course for a fourth straight week of gains ahead of an OPEC+ meeting early next week.

Brent crude for January rose 28 cents, or 0.6%, to $48.08 a barrel by 0913 GMT and the more active February contract gained 32 cents to $48.11.

West Texas Intermediate, meanwhile, was down 40 cents, or 0.9%, at $45.31.