UK Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Pfizer Says Its Vaccine Significantly Halts COVID-19’s Spread, Effective Against UK Variant

March 13, 2021March 12, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Pfizer said Wednesday that real-world data suggests its coronavirus vaccine is 94% effective in halting asymptomatic infections and effective against a highly transmissible variant first discovered in the United Kingdom.

Israeli analysis of vaccine distribution shows the vaccine being over 97% effective in preventing symptomatic cases and death, higher than the 90% efficiency that was reported in the vaccine’s Phase III trials, Pfizer said in a press release Thursday. Over 80% of the tested specimens were against the UK variant known as B.1.1.7.

Atlantic Council Ignored Anti-Corruption Activist’s Warnings About Burisma, the Ukrainian Firm Linked to Hunter Biden

March 13, 2021March 12, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A top foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C. rejected warnings from a Ukrainian anti-corruption activist against forming a partnership with Burisma Holdings, the energy firm linked to Hunter Biden that has faced allegations of corruption.

Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of a Ukrainian group called the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC), contacted John Herbst, a director at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, on Jan. 20, 2017, and asked him to reconsider plans to work with Burisma, newly released State Department emails show.

U.K. Lockdown Could Last Nearly Three Months

January 11, 2021January 10, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the end of lockdown may be delayed beyond mid-February and would last until the end of March, telling MPs the government will be “extremely cautious” about lifting restrictions and reopening schools.

On Monday, Prime Minister Johnson plunged England into a third national coronavirus lockdown. The lockdown includes a strict stay at home orders and the closure of all schools. Mr Johnson resisted calls from Tory MPs to guarantee the rules will start to be eased after the first review on February 15, the prime minister made it clear that a successful roll-out of the vaccine programme to the most vulnerable will be key to determining when the lockdown measures can be lifted. Adding on a lag for achieving immunity after vaccination and relieving “the pressure on the NHS”, he then tacked on a further two or three weeks, saying “we should remain cautious of the timetable ahead”, Breitbart reported.

Coronavirus Vaccines Can Guard Against New, More Contagious UK Strain, Experts Say

December 22, 2020December 21, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The two coronavirus vaccines that have been approved for emergency use authorization in the U.S. will be able to combat a new, more contagious strain of the virus in the U.K., experts said Monday.

Vaccines made by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna will be effective against the new strain, which is “very similar” to previous strains at the genetic level, University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation affiliate assistant professor Vin Gupta told CNBC. The Food and Drug Administration has approved both vaccines for emergency use authorization after large-scale human trials showed efficacy of more than 90%.

UK, EU Leaders to Discuss Brexit, Free Trade Talks

October 3, 2020October 2, 2020 The Associated Press

The European Union and Britain said Friday that wide gaps remained in their fraught talks on a rudimentary trade agreement following the Brexit divorce and called for intensified negotiations before a deadline in a couple of weeks.

UK Backtracks on Giving Huawei Role in High-Speed Network

July 15, 2020July 14, 2020 The Associated Press

Britain on Tuesday backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network amid security concerns fueled by rising tensions between Beijing and Western powers.

Britain said it decided to prohibit Huawei from working on the so-called 5G system after U.S. sanctions made it impossible to ensure the security of equipment made by the Chinese company.

Commentary: Britain’s ‘Red Tory’ Future

December 15, 2019December 14, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

It appears that social media is not the real world. Indeed, contrary to the predictions I read there, the most seismic election in British history was not even close.

Boris Johnson on Friday morning returned as Great Britain’s prime minister atop a landslide of voters whom the progressive Left abandoned long ago.

Boris Johnson’s Conservatives Win in a Landslide, Labour and Liberal Democrats Crushed

December 14, 2019December 13, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

In the United Kingdom’s general election, the Conservative Party has reclaimed a working majority by an even larger margin than most predictions and opinion polls expected, as reported by The Guardian.

Britain Drafts Plans to Sanction Iran Over Tanker Heist

July 22, 2019July 21, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Jamie Dettmer British officials are drawing up plans to target Iran with sanctions for its seizing of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait off Hormuz, and it may urge European Union countries to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in 2016 as part of Tehran’s agreement to curb its…

While Know-It-Alls Lecture on Tariffs Against China, Trump Dials Up New Trade Deals with UK, Europe and Japan

October 19, 2018October 19, 2018 Admin

by Robert Romano While President Donald Trump continues to bring the pressure to China, so far with 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods shipped to the U.S., rising to 25 percent in Jan. 2019, which comes atop another 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods…

Media-Fueled Demonstrators Flood Streets to March Against Trump in London

July 14, 2018July 13, 2018 Admin

A giant balloon (pictured) depicting President Trump as a screaming orange baby flew over London Friday as tens of thousands marched through the streets to protest the American leader’s visit to the U.K. The diaper-clad infant, with a quiff of hair and a mobile phone for tweeting, was the centerpiece…