Britain: Latest News

Thirty-one states, as well as Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, are reporting decreasing or plateauing new COVID-19 case averages, ABC News reports, signaling that the massive surge caused by the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant may be receding.

Omicron strains circulating around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.Most of the strains are very similar to the original Covid variant – which first emerged in November last year – meaning they make no extra impact on severity or immunity.This was also the case for Delta which split into more than 200 sub-variants before Omicron overtook it as the most dominant variant. The first known version of Omicron is B.1.1.529 – which is what was dubbed a variant of concern by WHO.

“Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour.“It is with great regret that the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates in Dallas set for Tuesday, January 25 and Wednesday, January 26 must be postponed due to Elton recently testing positive for COVID-19,” the center posted on its website. The statement continued, “Fortunately, Elton is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is experiencing only mild symptoms. Fans should hold on to their tickets as they will be honored at the rescheduled dates to be announced soon. Elton and the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour look forward to returning to the stage shortly.“There is no word yet on when the dates will be rescheduled. His next tour stops include Little Rock, Arkansas, and Oklahoma City on Saturday and Sunday.The “Tiny Dancer” singer posted on his Instagram Stories Tuesday and broke the news to his fans.

Elton John has tested positive for COVID-19. The singer took to social media on Tuesday to share the news. "Hi everyone, wanted to send a message to let you know that I have contracted COVID and so have had to reschedule my shows in Dallas," the 74-year-old wrote on Instagram Story.

Coronavirus rates among young children in Greater Manchester have reached record levels.

Elton John has tested positive for COVID-19.The legendary singer, 74, has been forced to cancel two shows in Dallas, Texas, as a result, it was announced Tuesday.'It is with great regret that the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates in Dallas set for Tuesday, January 25 and Wednesday, January 26 must be postponed due to Elton recently testing positive for COVID-19,' a statement confirmed.'Fortunately, Elton is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is experiencing only mild symptoms. Fans should hold on to their tickets as they will be honored at the rescheduled dates to be announced soon.' Canceled:Elton John, 74, tests positive for COVID and is forced to cancel concerts in Dallas: 'He is fully vaccinated and is experiencing mild symptoms' (Pictured, January in New Orleans)'Elton and the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour look forward to returning to the stage shortly.' The flamboyant British rocker had only just resumed his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour on Jan 20., when he returned to the stage in New Orleans after a nearly two-year hiatus.Fans who purchased tickets have been told that they will be honored at a rescheduled date that will be announced in due course.Elton has been keeping busy during the pandemic, releasing a collaboration album aptly-titled The Lockdown Sessions, which he made during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

With a new Omicron sub-variant being identified across the world, concerns are growing over Covid cases rising again.

Plan B measures put in place to slow the spread of Omicron will be lifted completely this week.

Ukraine to leave the country as concerns continue to mount about the threat of a Russian incursion.That comes after Global Affairs Canada had on Monday declined to say whether such an order was coming, just hours before officials there updated the language in the advisory notice for Canadians still in Ukraine to “evaluate if (their) presence is essential.”“The safety and security of Canadians, our personnel and their families at our missions abroad is our top priority. Due to the ongoing Russian military buildup and destabilizing activities in and around Ukraine, we have decided to temporarily withdraw Canadian embassy staff’s children under 18 years of age and family members accompanying them,” said Global Affairs Canada in a statement.“Officials at Global Affairs Canada and at the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine in Kyiv will continue to closely monitor the situation.” Non-essential Canadians advised to leave Ukraine amid growing tensions with Russia The United States and United Kingdom both pulled the families of their diplomats in Ukraine out of the country earlier in the week, citing concerns about the potential for a Russian invasion.

a feared invasion from neighboring Russia was not imminent, even as they acknowledged the threat is real and prepared to accept a shipment of American military equipment Tuesday to shore up their defenses.Russia has denied it is planning an assault, but it has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks, leading the United States and its NATO allies to rush to prepare for a possible war.Several rounds of high stakes diplomacy have failed to yield any breakthroughs, and this week tensions escalated further. NATO said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S.

Coronavirus variant of Omicron could be set to destroy its current version, just weeks after 400 cases were diagnosed in the UK.The new Omicron BA.2 strain has been in the UK since November but has also made appearances in Europe and India.And last week, it was classed as a “variant under investigation” by the UK Health Security Agency.The current variant, which outpaced Delta in a matter of days at the end of 2021, is known as Omicron BA 1.More than 6,400 confirmed cases of the new strain have been found in Denmark, which is now believed to be the epicentre, The Mirror reports.However, Anders Fomsgaard, chief physician and virus researcher at the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), told Danish media: “We cannot see any difference in hospitalization numbers, death rates with BA.2, so it is not something that worries us yet.“It is still a new piece in the Covid game.“Right now we should just treat it as yet another variant until new data should eventually show other results.”And virologist Dr Tom Peacock said that he is confident that the new strain is “not a Delta to Omicron change”.He claimed that this will be a “slower and more subtle” switch.He added: “That said, I would not be surprised if BA.2 slowly replaces it over the coming months with a slightly more 'optimised' mutations.”Let us know your thoughts on the changes in restrictions in the UK in the comments below“Very early observations from India and Denmark suggest there is no dramatic difference in severity.”England will be virtually restriction-free on Thursday, despite 94,397 cases of the Covid being reported in the 24-period from January 23 to 24.The UK overall has reported more than 154k deaths since the pandemic began, with 16 million cases since March 2020,

Nicola Sturgeon will make her weekly statement on coronavirus today as Omicron restrictions in Scotland are finally scrapped.

Nicola Sturgeon will make her weekly statement on coronavirus today as Omicron restrictions in Scotland are finally scrapped.

Canadians in Ukraine should “evaluate if (their) presence is essential” as tensions with Russia continue to rise, according to an updated travel advisory issued Monday evening.

Legislative bureau chief Keith Baldrey has more on the numbers potentially showing the COVID1-19 situation in British Columbia is stabilizing.

LONDON - Scientists believe they have detected a sub-variant of the omicron variant, which has already been blamed for the latest wave of COVID-19 cases across the globe. The UK Health Security Agency announced Friday that it was investigating an omicron sub-lineage known as BA.2. "There is still uncertainty around the significance of the changes to the viral genome, and further analyses will now be undertaken," the agency said in a news release. RELATED: US COVID-19 cases dropping despite spikes in some regions, CDC data showsScientists said early analysis seems to show that BA.2 is more transmissible than the first omicron strain, but they haven’t been able to spot any meaningful difference between the two strains. They add, as of Friday, there have been more than 400 confirmed cases of BA.

Airlines and holiday companies are celebrating the 'game changing' lifting of coronavirus testing rules for travellers arriving in the UK.

Måneskin have been forced to postpone their upcoming European tour dates due to venue capacity issues amid the ongoing COVID pandemic.The Italian rockers, who were due to kick off the tour at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on February 6, said they are “extremely sorry” to cancel the shows, promising to announce rescheduled shows by March 1.All of the band’s outdoor gigs including festival appearances and shows at the Circo Massimo, Arena di Verona and Lignano Sabbiadoro venues in Italy are still going ahead. The “ArenasTour” in Italy, however, has been postponed with the other European dates.“We are extremely sorry,” the band wrote in an Instagram post alongside a video announcing the news.

went on the Real Music Observer YouTube channel to discuss how his life has changed since reluctantly taking AstraZeneca’s therapy in 2021. Clapton has since become outspoken about his anti-vaccination stance. He claimed that he’d been duped into getting the COVID-19 jab by subliminal messaging in pharmaceutical advertising — and urged others not to fall for it.“Whatever the memo was, it hadn’t reached me,” he said, referring to the “mass formation hypnosis” conspiracy theory, which gained traction in 2021 as part of anti-vaccine propaganda.

A federation representing truckers across Canada has denounced a series of planned protests against the federal government’s cross-border travel vaccine mandate, arguing such demonstrations aren’t a safe or effective way of resisting the policy.

LONDON :

COVID-19 and concerns around the Omicron variant wave rising in the country, a majority of Canadians are in favour of imposing more restrictions on those who have not gotten the shots yet, according to new polling.An Ipsos poll published Monday and conducted exclusively for Global News showed that 67 per cent want the government to impose further measures on the unvaccinated population, with nearly half (49 per cent) of the respondents blaming the unvaccinated for prolonging the pandemic – now entering its third year. Canadians’ support for lockdowns, government dips amid Omicron COVID-19 wave, poll finds This comes as some provinces in the country, like Ontario and British Columbia, are already moving ahead with easing restrictions based on key metrics such as hospitalizations and intensive care admissions.Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos public affairs, said Canadians have become increasingly polarized when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, lockdowns and the pandemic in general.“What we’ve seen over the space of, particularly Omicron, is that people are becoming more divided,” he told Global News.Those divisions were made further evident in this latest poll, as 52 per cent said they were in favour of putting a tax on the unvaccinated, while 48 per cent opposed that measure.Earlier this month, Quebec became the first province in Canada to announce its plan to impose a tax on adults who choose to remain unvaccinated.

The Scottish Government have confirmed no people have died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

Omicron has been found to have some unusual symptoms that differ to previous strains of coronavirus.

Boris Johnson has confirmed that fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in England will no longer have to take a coronavirus test.

Police were called after a group of anti-vaxxers tried to present a 'cease and desist notice' at a pop-up Covid-19 jab clinic and falsely claimed police were investigating 'crimes' being committed.

Boris Johnson has scrapped covid tests for vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK signalling a move towards a return to more normal summer holidays.

Covid travel tests for those who have been double jabbed have been scrapped by the government.Although Boris Johnson did not confirm the exact date when these new rules will come into place, it is expected to be before the half-term break next month – saving holidaymakers an extra cost.This news comes as the Prime Minister announced that the UK is "moving through the Omicron wave".Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to the Academic Centre, Milton Keynes Hospital, he said: “We have, thanks to the tough decisions, the big calls that we made… the most open economy and society in Europe.“And although we have to be cautious, we are now moving through the Omicron wave, and you can see the figures are starting to get better.“So what we’re doing on travel, to show that this country is open for business, open for travellers, you will see changes so that people arriving no longer have to take tests if they have been vaccinated, if they have been double vaccinated.”To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.Double-jabbed travellers currently have to pre-book a Day 2 antigen test from a private supplier to take on their second day of arrival into the country.Non-vaccinated arrivals must take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival PCR tests – Day 2 and Day 8 – as well as having to self-isolate for 10 days.It is still unclear if new rules will come into place for unvaccinated passengers.The new announcement comes after the chief executives of the UK's largest airlines urged the government to end coronavirus-related travel restrictions.The bosses pointed to evidence that the Omicron variant is in retreat, and argued that current measures have a "limited effect" in preventing

head of the World Health Organization urged countries to work together to bring the acute phase of the pandemic to an end, saying that they now have all the tools available to do so.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Julian Assange speaks to the media from the balcony of the Embassy Of Ecuador on May 19, 2017 in London, England. Julian Assange, founder of the Wikileaks website that published US Government secrets, has been wanted in Swed LONDON (AP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s battle to avoid extradition to the U.S. will go to Britain’s Supreme Court after he was granted the right Monday to appeal a lower court ruling.The High Court in London allowed Assange to appeal its decision that he could be sent to the U.S to stand trial on espionage charges.The decision is the latest step in Assange’s long battle to avoid trial on a series of charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified documents more than a decade ago.Just over a year ago, a district court judge in London rejected a U.S.

Unlike other forms of coronavirus, Omicron has some unique symptoms that might not be typical of standard Covid signs.

The final restrictions put in place in response to the Omicron variant sweeping across Scotland will be eased from Monday.

some food items and increased prices as the Omicron COVID-19 variant snags supply chains and a vaccine mandate takes effect for cross-border truckers, according to industry experts.However, they say that Canadians should not worry about food availability and that no one needs to panic buy.“There is food on the grocery shelves,” said Michelle Wasylyshen, spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada, which represents big-box grocery stores in the country.She said, though, that there could be shortages of certain products, such as soups, cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, and meats. Grocery stores could close if labour, product shortages worsen: experts Some Canadians may have noticed empty shelves recently, but Wasylyshen said that is a result of the winter storm that hit Canada over the previous week.While weather plays a role in shipment delays, other, long-term issues still persist that has the retail council “concerned,” Wasylyshen said.These include labour shortages from absenteeism and the Omicron COVID-19 wave, which has caused workers to have to isolate and impacted operations.Fortunately, both British Columbia and Ontario have said that it appears the peak of the fifth wave of the pandemic has been reached, so more workers are expected to return, Wasylyshen said.Another hit likely to impact supply is the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for truckers on both sides of the border.Canada’s mandate came into effect on Jan.

The British government is accusing Russia of plotting to install a pro-Russian government in Ukraine, and say Moscow has already chosen a candidate. Mike Le Couteur follows the developments in the story.

The United States on Sunday said it was ordering the departure of eligible family members of staff from its embassy in Ukraine and that all citizens should consider leaving due to the threat of military action from Russia.

Mission: Impossible 7 has been delayed once again due to continuing concerns around COVID.Last September, the seventh film in Tom Cruise’s franchise was pushed back to September 30, 2022, four months after its original slated release on May 27, 2022. Before that, its original date for release was first set for July 2021.Paramount Pictures and Skydance have now announced that the movie will now come out on July 14, 2023 after COVID continued to impact production on the film, which has taken place in the UK.The eighth film in the series, being filmed concurrently with the seventh, will now not come out until July 28, 2024, a year later than most recently planned.“After thoughtful consideration, Paramount Pictures and Skydance have decided to postpone the release dates for Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 in response to delays due to the ongoing pandemic,” the studios said in a joint statement.“We look forward to providing moviegoers with an unparalleled theatrical experience.”Tom Cruise has been filming Mission: Impossible 7 throughout the UK, popping up in Birmingham restaurants and a Warwickshire family’s garden via helicopter.Most recently, the actor’s bodyguard had his car stolen while filming in Birmingham, which was believed to have contained thousands of pounds worth of goods belonging to Cruise.Last year, Cruise explained how he kept the set of Mission: Impossible 7 running during the pandemic.The actor, who both produces and stars in the action movie, told Empire about the protocols put in place to keep filming safely.

Saint Basil's Cathedral on Red Square at night in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021.

Around one in seven adults now believe life will never return to normal again following the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study.

Red wine is among the alcoholic drinks said to reduce the risk of Covid infection, a new study has found - but experts have warned against drinking to excess.

Covid tests for fully vaccinated holidaymakers jetting into the UK could be scrapped, it has been reported.

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted Scotland is in a better place in the fight against coronavirus thanks to the emergency Omicron restrictions brought in over the festive season.

Hundreds of British Columbia truckers took to the roads in Metro Vancouver on Saturday to protest what they claim are poor highway maintenance and dangerous driving conditions across the province. Paul Johnson has more.

Coronavirus infection rates have fallen again in all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester while hospital admissions have also gone down.

Weakest Link appearance, we look back at her life - including a very famous relative. READ MORE: Coleen Nolan 'mortified' and 'sick' at new man's 'first TV interview' Soap fans will recognise Rita as the feisty Roxy Mitchell. The star brought a number of iconic story-lines to life during her years on the show, with her character ultimately drowning in a swimming pool alongside her on-screen sister Ronnie, My London reports.

COLOMBO (News 1st); According to the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant report issued by the Allergy Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, 75 new cases of Omicron and 3 new cases of Delta were detected from 78 samples.“These 78 samples were sequenced from the 1st 2nd and 3rd weeks of January from the community.” said Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Director of the Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of the Faculty of Medicine.The 78 Omicron cases include a mix of the two main Omicron lineages BA.1 and BA.2.Omicron sublineages were detected in the following locations.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that 30 people have died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

re-infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Boris Johnson has announced that Plan B restrictions put in place to tackle Omicron are coming to an end.