The paper also includes musing that SARS -- which hit China in 2003 -- could have been a man-made bioweapon deliberately unleashed by "terrorists".

The Pakistani-origin former Labour member of Parliament was the first Muslim mayor of a European capital city when he was first elected in 2016. The mayoral poll was due last year but was postponed by a year at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar left London at the end of a four-day visit to the United Kingdom on Friday with a message of convergence as the two countries agreed on an ambitious '2030 Roadmap' towards a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Two members of the small delegation accompanying External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him to rework his official schedule in London.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Wednesday described the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as an "all consuming" challenge posed by a virulent strain of coronavirus and welcomed the enormous goodwill from countries around the world as a sense of solidarity in diplomacy.

Britain has finalised 1 billion pounds worth of new trade and investment with India, creating over 6,500 jobs in the UK, to be signed off at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The investments confirmed by Downing Street on Monday evening form part of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which will set the ambition to double the value of UK-India trade by 2030 and declare a shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA). "Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer," Johnson said.

CEO of Serum Institute of India hints that he may start producing in Britain and speaks about threatening calls from the rich and powerful

David Quarrey, 55, a 10 Downing Street aide, had tested negative in his pre-travel test but tested positive a week after his return when the National Health Service flagged that someone on his flight had been traced as COVID-positive, The Sunday Times reports.

Johnson will instead speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month to launch their plans for the future UK-India partnership, with their physical meeting expected later in the year.

The funeral incorporated hymns and readings chosen by the late royal himself and focussed on the "unwavering loyalty" of the longest-serving consort in British history to his wife, the monarch, and service to Britain and the Commonwealth.

The ceremony, which officially begins at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle with a national minute's silence at 1500 local time on Saturday, will be a religious one though without any sermons, as planned by the Duke, who passed away aged 99 last week on Friday.

Johnson was to spend a few days in India starting April 26 as part of a planned itinerary, which is expected to include finalising a UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership.

While the UK's national mourning after the passing of Prince Philip last Friday will run until the morning after his funeral at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle on Saturday, the royal family is observing two weeks of mourning.

Both brothers, reportedly estranged in recent months since Harry stepped back as a frontline royal after his wedding to Meghan Markle, make references to the late Duke's sense of humour and describe him as a man of service.

The coffin of the senior royal will be loaded into the Land Rover for an eight-minute procession to the gates of St George's Chapel, where the funeral is to begin with a national minute's silence at 1500 local time on April 17.

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle," the Buckingham Palace tweeted.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said in its latest Yellow Card monitoring of the coronavirus vaccine programme this week that of the 18.1 million people who had the Oxford vaccine in the UK, 30 people developed blood clots and seven had died as of March 24.

A diamond bracelet and jewelled decorative elephants from Jaipur are some of the Indian heirlooms that made up a collection of 350 personal items belonging to Patricia Mountbatten, Lord Louis Mountbatten's eldest daughter, which fetched over £5.6 million (Rs 56 crore) at an auction in London.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is also being produced as part of a tie-up by the Serum Institute of India.

The British-Swedish pharmaceutical major and the UK's medicines regulator said that the vaccines produced by Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca to protect against COVID-19 are safe.