World News

UK’s Kanabo to buy Canadian cannabis producer Materia

Kanabo Group Plc said it would buy Canada-based cannabis producer and distributor Materia for an undisclosed sum, sending shares in the London-listed medical marijuana firm up 8%. The deal gives…

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Britain reports highest deaths from COVID-19 since March as Johnson urges caution

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Britain reported its highest number of deaths and people in hospital with coronavirus since March on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging caution despite…

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VIDEO: Five people missing after explosion in German chemicals site

Five people were missing and several injured after an explosion rocked an industrial park in the western German city of Leverkusen on Tuesday (July 27), sending up plumes of smoke…

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New COVID variants tops list of market concerns – Deutsche Bank sentiment survey

New COVID variants now tops the list of concerns for financial markets, followed by inflation and economic growth, according to Deutsche Bank's monthly market sentiment survey for July published on…

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Dutch ease EU COVID-19 travel restrictions, extend festival ban

The Netherlands on Monday said it would ease COVID-19 restrictions to allow travel to all European Union countries, including several that had been off limits to Dutch vacationers due to…

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Philip Morris to end Marlboro cigarette sales in UK within a decade

Tobacco group Philip Morris International will stop selling Marlboro cigarettes in Britain within a decade, its chief executive told the Daily Mail, in line with the country's wider ambition to…

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University students in the UK could need to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures and stay in halls

University students could need to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus to attend lectures and stay in halls this coming academic year. "We aren't ruling it out," a senior government source…

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Heathrow Airport calls for UK to open up to vaccinated travellers

Britain's Heathrow Airport called on the government to open up the country to vaccinated travellers from the European Union and United States from the end of this month to help…

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UK could end quarantine for travellers from France

Britain is expected to remove France from its "amber" category of coronavirus risk countries and could drop quarantine for travellers from France as soon as next week, The Times reported…

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Ryanair nudges up annual traffic forecast as summer bookings surge

Ryanair on Monday nudged up its forecast for full-year traffic on strong summer bookings but said fares remained well below pre-pandemic levels as it reported a first-quarter net loss of…

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UK financial watchdog warns consumers over CoinBurp crypto launch

Crypto broker CoinBurp is not fully authorised before Monday's planned launch of its $BURP token and initial exchange offering, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Sunday, in its latest…

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Cars, pavements washed away as Belgian town hit by worst floods in decades

The southern Belgian town of Dinant was hit by the heaviest floods in decades on Saturday after a two-hour thunderstorm turned streets into torrential streams that washed away cars and…

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Britain reports 29,173 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, lower than a day earlier

Britain reported 29,173 further cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, a fall from 31,795 a day earlier, Public Health England said. It said on Twitter that data for the number of…

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Merkel aide warns of COVID-19 surge in Germany over coming weeks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff fears the number of new coronavirus cases will soar in the next few weeks and could hit 100,000 a day by the end…

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From China to Germany, floods expose climate vulnerability

Deadly floods that have upended life in both China and Germany have sent a stark reminder that climate change is making weather more extreme across the globe. At least 25…

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Travellers complain of queues and ‘chaos’ at British airports as thousands jet off for summer

Travellers have complained about “total chaos” at airports with hundreds of thousands of people jetting off as schools close and summer holidays begin for millions. Airports and airlines are expecting…

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UK will be exposed to paying pandemic cost risks for decades-report

The British government will be exposed to financial risks from its 372 billion pound pandemic spending for decades, according to lawmakers' reports on Sunday that also said more than 2…

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Belgium hit with renewed flooding amid heavy rain

Belgium witnessed a new round of flooding on Saturday, as the country grappled with the impact of heavy rains and thunderstorms. The floods mostly impacted areas in the country's southern French-speaking region…

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Crowdfunding raises over 30,000 euros for German flood victims

ERFTSTADT, Germany, July 24 (Reuters) - A entrepreneur from eastern Germany who raised more than 30,000 euros to help victims of the catastrophic floods that hit western areas last week,…

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Northern Ireland set to lose access to 2,000 medicines – FT

About 2,000 medicines currently offered to patients in Northern Ireland and made in Great Britain are set to be withdrawn as drugs manufacturers grapple with onerous post-Brexit red tape, the…

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New coronavirus variant under investigation in UK – reports

A new coronavirus variant is under investigation in the UK, Public Health England has said, The Independent reports. The variant, known as B.1.621, was designated a variant under investigation on Wednesday. There is no evidence…

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UK needs 10 times as many EV charge-points by 2030 -regulator

Britain's competition regulator on Friday laid out guidelines to ensure a robust electric vehicle (EV) charging network to aid the country's net zero plans, as it also launched a probe…

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Deutsche Bahn estimates flood damage of 1.3 billion euro

Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said on Friday that the floods that hit western Germany last week caused an estimated 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) worth of damage to its network…

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Germany tightens rules for unvaccinated travellers from Spain, Netherlands

Germany is classifying Spain and the Netherlands as areas with a high incidence of coronavirus, which means that unvaccinated travellers returning from those countries will have to quarantine for at…

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Heavy rain forecast in Belgium for the weekend

The government of the Walloon region in Belgium has warned that vigilance is needed this weekend because of weather forecasts predicting potentially intense and stormy rainfall. “The Royal Meteorological Institute…

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UK to launch daily COVID tests in food sector to tackle ‘pingdemic’

Daily contact testing will be rolled out to workplaces in Britain's food sector so staff who have been 'pinged' by the COVID-19 app can keep working if they test negative…

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Rhine re-opens to shipping in south Germany as water drops

Germany's Rhine river has re-opened to shipping as water levels fell from recent highs in the last southern stretches blocked after last week's record rains, authorities said on Friday. Shipping…

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German pharmacies stop issuing COVID vaccine passes after security breach

German pharmacies have stopped issuing digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates after hackers created passes from fake outlets, the industry association announced, the latest blow to the inoculation drive. Germans who have…

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Belgium raises flood death toll to 37, further six missing

Belgian authorities raised the death toll from last week's burst rivers and flash floods to 37, with a further six people missing. Belgium's crisis centre, which is coordinating the rescue…

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Preparing to bow out, Merkel too busy to think about life after office

Germany's Angela Merkel made clear on Thursday she would keep working on issues such as climate change till her last day as chancellor but, inscrutable as ever, gave little away…

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Britain unveils plan to return NatWest to majority private control

Britain's government on Thursday unveiled a blueprint for returning NatWest to majority private ownership within a year, more than a decade since bailing out the lender at the height of…

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Merkel urges Germans to get vaccinated as coronavirus cases rise

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday the rise in coronavirus cases in Germany was worrying and she urged people to get vaccinated. "We all want our normality back," Merkel told…

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Germany to list Spain, Netherlands as COVID high incidence areas

Germany plans to declare Spain and the Netherlands COVID-19 high risk areas, meaning that incoming travellers who are not fully vaccinated must quarantine, the Funke group of newspapers reported on…

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Britain, free of COVID curbs, could see revival of local stores – Barclays

Britain's retailers could open thousands of local high street stores over the next 12 months as people start to step out again after months of coronavirus curbs, according to research…

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UK’s Johnson urges EU to consider post-Brexit proposals seriously

Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday to consider seriously Britain's proposals to change what he called the "unsustainable" way a Brexit deal…

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Merkel does not see Turkey joining EU

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday praised Turkey for hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees as part of an agreement with the European Union and said she wanted close relations…

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Thousands pay last respects to Dutch reporter Peter de Vries

Thousands of people queued for hours outside the Carre Theatre in Amsterdam to pay their last respects at the coffin of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries on Wednesday. Mourners shed…

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Photo to mark eighth birthday of Prince George

is pictured sitting on a Land Rover - the car closely associated with his great-grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh - in a new photograph to mark his eighth birthday. It…

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Merkel calls on EU to establish common asylum policy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on European Union states to establish a common asylum policy that focused on taking in people who face persecution at home, preferably in collaboration with…

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UK food supply chains ‘on the edge of failing’, meat industry warns

Britain’s food supply chains are “right on the edge of failing” as absence related to COVID-19 has aggravated a critical shortage of labour, a meat industry body said . The…

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UPDATED: ‘Pingdemic’ grips Britain as fears of food shortages grow

British supermarkets said on Thursday that some products were in short supply and petrol stations had been forced to close after the official health app told hundreds of thousands of…

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UPDATED: Britain tells EU on Brexit deal: it wasn’t going to last forever

British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said on Thursday the European Union had been inflexible over renegotiating the Northern Ireland part of the Brexit divorce accord and cautioned Brussels that it…

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German floods cause insured losses of over $1.2 bln

The record floods that have devastated parts of Germany and killed at least 170 in the country are estimated to have caused more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in…

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Royal Mail UK parcel volumes fall, outlook uncertain as COVID-19 curbs ease

Royal Mail Plc said Britons are having fewer parcels delivered to their homes as pandemic curbs are lifted and it withheld from offering an annual outlook for its UK business…

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Health service staff in England to get 3% pay rise

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Staff in England's National Health Service (NHS), who have been in the frontlines of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, will receive a 3% pay…

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COVID keeps Swiss gold exports to India subdued in June

Swiss exports of gold to India edged higher in June, although they remained far below levels earlier this year, and shipments to mainland China fell, Swiss customs data showed on…

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Germany commits to action if Russia uses energy as weapon -U.S.

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - Germany has committed to take steps to curb Russia's ability to export energy should Moscow pursue aggressive actions against Ukraine or use energy as a…

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Germany’s COVID incidence may surpass 400 per 100,000 people in September

The number of infections per 100,000 people over seven days in Germany will reach more than 400 in September if case numbers keep rising at their current pace, Health Minister…

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UK’s Next smashes sales forecast

British fashion retailer Next said it had soundly beaten its expectations for full-price sales, with a rise of 19% in the last 11 weeks compared with two years ago, and…

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Photo Story: Belgium celebrates National Day

King Philippe (2-R) and Queen Mathilde (L) of Belgium attend the National Day Ceremony in front of the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium, 21 July 2021. The Belgian National Day…

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What is Britain demanding on Brexit?

Britain is demanding the European Union agree to rework the post-Brexit rules governing trade with Northern Ireland, saying it had considered taking unilateral action but would try once more to…

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UK opposition leader Starmer is self-isolating

The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, is self-isolating after one of his children tested positive for COVID-19, his spokesperson said. "One of Keir’s children tested positive for…

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England may have to reimpose Covid rules in August, scientists warn

Face masks and other Covid restrictions could be reintroduced in England in as little as three weeks if hospital admissions rise above anticipated levels, scientists advising the government have warned.…

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UPDATED: UK demands new deal on post-Brexit trade for N.Ireland

Britain on Wednesday demanded a new deal from the European Union to govern post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, saying it already had cause to step away from parts of the…

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Photo Story: Birthday bouquet for Angela Merkel

German chancellor Angela Merkel receives a flower bouquet on the occasion of her 67th birthday prior to the weekly meeting of the German Federal Cabinet, Berlin, Germany, 21 Jul 2021.…

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Full Brexit checks risk becoming ‘incendiary’ in N.Ireland, M&S says

The introduction of full customs checks between Britain and Northern Ireland risks becoming "incendiary" when prices rise and favourite products fail to get through, one of the country's biggest retailers…

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UPDATED: Germany sets out flood relief funding, hopes of finding survivors fade

A relief official dampened hopes on Wednesday of finding more survivors in the rubble of villages devastated by floods in western Germany, as a poll showed many Germans felt policymakers…

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