British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday confirmed the UK's first death from the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the first known fatality from the highly transmissible variant of Covid-19 in the world.
Long queues were seen outside walk-in vaccination centres across the UK on Monday as people queued for their booster vaccine doses, even as the government's work from home guidance came in force as part of measures to tackle the "tidal wave" of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
There are around 7.5 million people aged 30 to 39, and 3.5 million of those are eligible for boosters from Monday, NHS England said.
'This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods'
The UK's medicines regulator on Thursday approved a new antibody treatment against COVID-19, which it believes will also be effective against new variants such as Omicron.
China, Russia, Iran and international terrorism form the 'big four' set of security threats in an era of dramatic change, Britain's chief spy said in a rare public speech on Tuesday.
Six cases of the new COVID-19 Omicron variant have been identified in Scotland on Monday, taking the UK's total to nine following three cases detected in England earlier.
The move came soon after Belgium confirmed a case of the B.1.1.529 variant in someone who had travelled back from Egypt earlier this month, with the European Union (EU) member states agreeing to a snap travel ban on seven African nations.
The UK's health authorities have confirmed that a new and "most significant" variant of COVID-19 is officially under investigation in the country as the government on Friday added six countries to its travel ban red list from southern Africa, where B.1.1.529 strain was first identified.
The South African authorities said the detected cases and percentage of people testing positive are both increasing quickly, particularly in particularly in most populated province of Gauteng, North West and Limpopo regions of the country.
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries have accepted a new climate agreement after the COP26 summit in Glasgow concluded its extra time plenary on Saturday with a deal, which recognises India's intervention for the world to 'phase down' rather than "phase out" fossil fuels.
The move follows the World Health Organisation's Emergency Use Listing for Covaxin, which is the second most used formulation in India.
Available in a range of standards, including gold and silver, the special collectors' coin is designed by Heena Glover and features an image of a lotus, India's national flower, alongside one of Gandhi's most famous quotes -- "My life is my message".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit here and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas like green hydrogen, renewables and clean technology, economy and defence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with a cross-section of members of the Indian diaspora in Scotland who gathered here to felicitate him and also unveil his bust.
During his three-day UK visit until Tuesday, Modi is listed to address the COP26 summit with a national statement about India's climate action plan in the afternoon session on Monday, ahead of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to face charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, has lodged his appeal against extradition from the UK and the case will be heard at the high court in London on December 14. The 50-year-old jeweller, who remains behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March 2019, was granted permission to appeal against the Westminster Magistrates' Court extradition order on mental health and human rights grounds. High court judge Martin Chamberlain had ruled on August 9 that arguments presented by Modi's legal team concerning his "severe depression" and "high risk of suicide" were arguable at a substantial hearing.
The Indian team was among only three out of 96 participating teams in the Exercise Cambrian Patrol 2021 at Brecon in Wales to win the Gold medal at the conclusion of phase six of the exercises, held between October 13 and 15.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi spoke over phone on Monday during which they took stock of India-UK trade and defence talks, opening up of international travel between the two countries and climate action targets in the lead up to the COP26 summit, Downing Street said.
Putting an end to the vaccine certification row, the UK on Thursday announced that Indians, fully vaccinated with Covishield vaccine, will no longer require to undergo quarantine on their arrival in Britain from October 11.
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