England

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hit an 11-month high on Wednesday, boosted by a draw in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks, which fuelled demand recovery hopes as OPEC+ has forecast that the market will be in deficit in 2021.

Brent crude futures were up 48 cents, or 0.8%, to $57.94 a barrel at 0839 GMT, their highest since late February 2020.

The contract’s “backwardation” structure, where oil for nearby delivery is more expensive than further forward, was near a one-year high at more than $2, indicating expectations of tighter supply.

LONDON (AP) — Senior politicians from Britain, Northern Ireland and the European Union are meeting Wednesday in a bid to defuse post-Brexit trade tensions that have shaken Northern Ireland’s delicate political balance.

British Cabinet minister Michael Gove, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic and the leaders of Northern Ireland’s Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government will hold a video conference to discuss problems that have erupted barely a month after the U.K. made an economic split from the 27-nation EU.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s health chief says a new study showing that a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca provides a high level of protection for 12 weeks supports the government’s strategy of delaying the second shot so more doses can be delivered to more people.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2% on Tuesday after major crude producers showed they were reining in output roughly in line with their commitments, extending gains in a market thrown out of kilter by weak demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude was up $1.30, or 2.3%, at $57.65 a barrel by 1150 GMT, its third straight day of gains. U.S. oil gained $1.25, also 2.3%, to $54.80. Both contracts rose more than 2% in the previous session.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain made a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, seeking membership of the 11-country deal to open new avenues for post-Brexit trade.

Announcing the move, trade minister Liz Truss said it would position Britain “at the heart of some of the world’s fastest-growing economies”.

The request comes on the first anniversary of Britain’s formal departure from the European Union before a transition period that ended at the end of 2020.

LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of the Scottish Conservative Party accused Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on Monday of putting her “party before pandemic”, saying the timing of her plans to hold a second independence vote was reckless.

Sturgeon said this month she was hoping a strong performance by her Scottish National Party (SNP) in an election to the Scottish parliament in May would give her a mandate to hold a second referendum on independence from the United Kingdom.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not approve a second referendum.

LONDON, Jan 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) – British police launched an investigation into a fire, which broke out on Friday afternoon, at a barracks in Kent in south-eastern England, where the British government is holding hundreds of asylum seekers, local media reported yesterday.

Asylum seekers have been temporarily moved from the barracks, which was also recently the site of a major outbreak of coronavirus, the London-based Evening Standard newspaper reported.

British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, issued a statement to slam the “appalling” damage.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will next week formally apply to join a trans-Pacific trading bloc of 11 countries, with negotiations set to start later this year, the government said on Saturday.

Since leaving the European Union, Britain has made clear its desire to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which removes most tariffs between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

LONDON (AP) — Cindy had a comfortable lifestyle in Hong Kong: she owned several properties with her husband, they had a good business going. But last year she made up her mind to leave it all behind and move her family to Britain, and not even a global pandemic was going to sway her decision.

LONDON (Reuters) - A man has been charged after a suspicious package was sent to a factory in Wales that produces AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine resulting in a temporary suspension of manufacturing, British police said on Saturday.

The Wockhardt plant in Wrexham provides so-called fill-and-finish capacity for AstraZeneca’s British supply chain, which is the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging them.