Argentina and Chile announced late Sunday that they are suspending flights from the UK after health officials in Britain confirmed that a new variant of the coronavirus was rapidly spreading in the country.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned the new mutant strain of the coronavirus is “out of control” and suggested parts of England will be stuck in the new highest tier of restrictions until a vaccine is rolled out.
Following are details of a new coronavirus variant that has been identified in the United Kingdom, given at a news conference by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Patrick Vallance, Britain's chief scientific adviser, and Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser:
British lorry drivers crossing the Channel next month will face a new regulation that may be hard to swallow: a ban on ham-and-cheese sandwiches, the UK government has warned.
Some thirty countries have now joined the Global Ocean Alliance championing an international commitment for a minimum 30% of the global ocean to be protected through Marine Protected Areas by 2030.
Britain's biggest business lobby group called on the European Union to delay introducing new customs checks after Brexit because firms haven't had enough time to prepare amid the coronavirus pandemic.
UNICEF has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK for the first time in its more than 70-year history to help feed children amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outgoing US administration is in talks with the UK to try to seal a mini-deal to reduce trade tariffs, Trump's trade chief has told the BBC. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he was hopeful for a deal that could see punitive tariffs on Scottish whisky lowered.
The UK signed on Tuesday 15 December a trade deal with Mexico, locking in tariff-free trade and other benefits for British businesses and consumers. The UK-Mexico Trade Continuity Agreement will particularly benefit the automotive, pharmaceutical, textiles, agriculture, food and drink industries and other manufacturing industries, the sectors where the UK has the highest amount of trade with Mexico.
British scientists are trying to establish whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday.