BRITAIN

With a month until split, Brexit trade deal hangs in balance

6:24 pm December 1, 2020

London: The British government told businesses on Tuesday to make sure they are ready for big changes when the UK makes its final Brexit break from the European Union in exactly a month. But with negotiations on a free-trade deal with the bloc stuck, firms say they still don’t know key details of what those changes will be. Michael Gove, the […]

British PM forced to defend India travel ban timing over Delta variant in Parliament

UK PM Johnson speaks with PM Modi on COVID-19 vaccines, climate change and trade

10:29 pm November 27, 2020

London: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss a wide range of global and bilateral issues, including collaboration on COVID-19 vaccine, climate change, and trade and investment flows. Downing Street said Johnson reiterated the year 2021 as an important one for UK-India ties and also re-emphasised the UK’s commitment to the wider Indo-Pacific region, ahead of […]

UK’s Johnson appoints new chief of staff after aides’ exit

11:18 pm November 26, 2020

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed a former Treasury official and management consultant as his chief of staff, as he tries to restore calm after a tumultuous period for Downing Street. Johnson’s office said Thursday that Dan Rosenfield will take up the post Dec. 7. Rosenfield most recently worked at business consultancy Hakluyt, and formerly at Bank of […]

EU plans new rules giving Europeans more control of data

11:59 pm November 25, 2020

London: The European Union is laying out new standards for data giving Europeans more control over their personal information as it seeks to counter the power of US and Chinese tech companies. The EU’s executive Commission on Wednesday proposed new rules on the handling of data that would aim to give people, businesses and government bodies the confidence to share their […]

UK regulator reviews Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine

8:30 pm November 23, 2020

London: The UK government on Monday said that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) is reviewing data from Pfizer/BioNTech to determine whether its COVID-19 vaccine meets “robust” standards of quality, safety, and effectiveness. The joint vaccine, produced by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech, had recently claimed to be 94 per cent effective in […]