The Department of Health and Social Care said a total of 81,959,398 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered in the UK, with 46,227,101 people receiving a first dose (87.8 per cent) and 35,732,297 people receiving both doses (67.8 per cent).

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Opposition Leader Keir Starmer clashed in the House of Commons over a controversial by-election leaflet, which had been branded "divisive" and "anti-India" by Indian diaspora groups in Britain.

A total of 254 millionaires from India have used the so-called "golden visa" to settle down in the UK through a large investment into the country since the route opened in 2008, according to a new report released by a UK-based anti-corruption charity on Monday. Spotlight on Corruption said that Indians ranked as the seventh nationality of super-rich to have availed of the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa, adding up to 254 between 2008 and 2020. China topped the list at 4,106, followed by Russia (2,526), Hong Kong (692), the United States (685), Pakistan (283) and Kazakhstan (278) ahead of India.

Addressing a virtual Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson acknowledged the divided views on lifting all lockdown restrictions to declare that his update does not imply that the pandemic "is over".

Kate's last public event was a visit to Wimbledon on Friday in her role as patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and a keen tennis fan.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said there will be a move towards greater "personal responsibility" as the UK prepares to end lockdown restrictions from July 19.

Princes William and Harry on Thursday came together to unveil a new statue in memory of their late mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday, saying they remember her love, strength and character -- the qualities that made her a 'force for good' around the world.

The 50-year-old jeweller, who remains behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, had lost the first stage of the high court appeals process last week as a judge declined permission to appeal "on the papers". Modi's lawyers had five days to file a renewal application seeking an oral hearing to plead the case for permission to appeal against the extradition ordered by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel on April 16.

Wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi, whose extradition to India was ordered in April by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, has lost the first stage of his extradition appeal in the high court in London.

As many as 721,469 appointments were made through the national booking service on Friday -- the day of the announcement -- at an average of more than eight every second. To cope with demand, the NHS said it is using stadiums and football grounds as giant vaccination centres.

"Reaching an international agreement on how large digital companies are taxed has been a priority for the chancellor since he took office," said a spokesperson for his UK treasury office. "The chancellor's consistent position has been that it matters where tax is paid, and any agreement must ensure digital businesses pay tax in the UK that reflects their economic activities. That is what our taxpayers would expect and is the right thing," the spokesperson said.

World leaders gathered at the G7 Summit in Cornwall discussed the possibility that a laboratory leak in central China's Wuhan city may have a connection with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief saying all hypotheses behind the origins of the deadly disease remain in play.

The Delta variant of COVID-19, or the B1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC) first identified in India, is about 60 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha strain identified in the United Kingdom and also reduces the effectiveness of vaccines to some extent, UK health experts report.

Several major websites across the world, including the UK government's Gov.Uk website, crashed for some time on Tuesday due to an outage at global website hosting service Fastly.

Over 200 world leaders, including former presidents, prime ministers and ministers have backed a campaign urging the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to help vaccinate the world's poorest from low-income economies against COVID-19 by paying two-thirds of an estimated $66 billion required.

The UK's medicines regulator on Friday approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds.

British intelligence agencies now believe it is 'feasible' that the COVID-19 pandemic began with a coronavirus leak from a Chinese bio laboratory, a media report said here on Sunday, prompting Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi to demand that the World Health Organisation (WHO) must fully investigate the origins of the deadly virus.

Vijay Mallya on Wednesday lost an appeal to gain further access to court-held funds to cover his costs for legal proceedings in India, as a high court judge in London concluded that the 65-year-old businessman had failed to provide sufficient evidence in support of the over 750,000 pounds being sought. During a remote hearing of the Chancery Division, Justice Robert Miles handed down his judgment in favour of a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI). He also directed Mallya to cover 95 per cent of the costs of the appeal as the banks had been "very substantially successful" and the "overall winners" in fighting the case to prevent further sanctions from the court-held funds.

The UK government said on Tuesday that it has kicked off preparations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with India, launching a 14-week consultation to seek the views of the public and business before formal negotiations begin later this year. UK Trade Secretary Liz Truss said Britain wants a trade deal with India that pushes new frontiers and welcomes wide input from consumers and businesses across all sectors, which will help craft a deal that includes closer cooperation in "future-focused industries" such as science, technology and services, creating high-value jobs across the country. "We're firing the starting gun on a free trade deal with India - the world's largest democracy, fifth-biggest economy, a nation of 1.4 billion people and a huge market for British goods like whisky, cars and services," said Truss.

In separate statements following an independent inquiry's conclusion that the BBC "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark", her sons blamed the controversial 1995 interview for her "fear and paranoia" that damaged their parents' relationship.