Tag: UK

  • COVID-19: Air France re-introduces transit visa for Nigerians, Others travelling to the UK

    COVID-19: Air France re-introduces transit visa for Nigerians, Others travelling to the UK

    Air France-KLM has reintroduced an Airport Transit Visa for citizens of some countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, travelling to the United Kingdom after Brexit.

    The airline said this in a statement titled, ‘Travel on Air France or KLM to and from the United Kingdom after Brexit – January 1, 2020’.

    According to the statement, it is compulsory for citizens of some African and Asian countries to have ATV before they pass through France or the Netherlands.

    It also noted that citizens of the affected countries with British Visa, long-stay visa or British residence permit citizens must still have ATV to pass through France to the United Kingdom.

    “As of January 1, 2021, citizens of the following countries who are holders of a British visa, long-stay visa or a residence permit issued by the British authorities will need to be in possession of an airport transit visa (ATV) if they transit through France and or the Netherlands,” part of the statement read.

    The countries affected are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Ghana.

    Others are Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, Syria, Palestinians, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka.

    Air France said exception to the ATV requirements are “Citizens of the above-named countries holding a visa or residence permit in addition to the UK visa/residence permit from Canada, Japan, the USA or European countries are allowed to transit through France or the Netherlands without an ATV.”

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday signed a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, acclaiming it as the start of a “wonderful relationship” across the Channel.

    “It’s an excellent deal for this country but also for our friends and partners,” he said at the signing in Downing Street, after EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel earlier had themselves ink the 1,246-page Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

  • COVID-19: Over 40 Countries Ban UK Arrivals

    COVID-19: Over 40 Countries Ban UK Arrivals

    More than 40 countries have suspended travel from Britain in a bid to contain a fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus.

    Scotland had already closed its border with the rest of the United Kingdom.

    Here are some of the travel bans announced so far.

    – France –

    France has halted all travel from Britain for 48 hours, including anyone transporting goods by road, air, sea or rail.

    Paris and London are in talks over testing at ports to reopen the border, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said.

    – Germany –

    Germany is extending a ban on all arrivals from the UK and South Africa — where the new strain has also appeared — until January 6.

    – Spain and Portugal –

    Spain and Portugal are suspending flights, with Madrid only allowing its nationals or residents to enter from Britain.

    – India –

    India has suspended all flights until December 31, with anyone arriving from Britain on transit flights to be tested.

    Its financial capital Mumbai is being put under curfew over fears of the British strain.

    – Poland –

    Poland — which has a large ex-pat community in Britain — has banned all incoming UK flights.

    – Hong Kong –

    The former British colony has banned all incoming UK flights, and extended the quarantine of passengers who arrived from Britain in the last fortnight.

    – Netherlands –

    Passenger flights from Britain have been banned until January 1. One case of the new strain has been found in the country.

    – Ireland –

    Flights from Britain from Monday have been banned for at least 48 hours.

    – Italy –

    Italy has blocked flights from Britain and prohibited entry of people who have stayed there during the last 14 days.

    The new strain has been found in one person who recently returned from the UK.

    – Russia –

    Moscow is suspending British flights for a week.

    – Rest of Europe –

    Finland and Austria are suspending flights for two weeks and Switzerland until further notice, with travellers who have arrived from Britain or South Africa ordered into quarantine.

    Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as well as Hungary and Luxembourg have also halted flights, while in the Balkans, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania followed suit with Bulgaria and suspended them until January 31.

    Romania has banned all flights to and from the UK for two weeks, as has the Czech Republic.

    Norway, Sweden, and Denmark suspended flights for 48 hours.

    Denmark has detected nine cases of the new strain on its soil.

    Belgium has suspended both flights and Eurostar rail services.

    – Canada –

    Canada has banned all UK flights for 72 hours, with those who had already arrived from Britain subject to screenings.

    – Turkey –

    Turkey has suspended flights from Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and South Africa.

    – Middle East –

    Saudi Arabia and Oman said they were closing their borders entirely for at least a week.

    Israel said it was barring entry to foreign citizens travelling from Britain, Denmark and South Africa, while Jordan is banning UK flights for a fortnight, as is Iran.

    Kuwait has added Britain to a list of “high-risk” nations and banned flights.

    – Africa –

    Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia have all banned flights from Britain, with Algeria deciding to stop repatriating its nationals.

    Mauritius, a former British colony, has also barred travel from the UK and South Africa.

    – Latin America –

    Anyone who had been in Britain or South Africa in the past 30 days will not be allowed to enter El Salvador. The same goes for Panama and Paraguay.

    Peru has gone further, banning all flights from Europe and any foreigner who had been in Britain in the last fortnight.

    Chile and Argentina have banned flights from the UK, with anyone without a Chilean residence permit who had been in Britain in the past two weeks barred

  • UK To Impose Tougher Rules On Google, Facebook

    UK To Impose Tougher Rules On Google, Facebook

    Britain announced Friday it will set up a watchdog to regulate tech giants such as Facebook and Google and improve their transparency on using people’s data and personalised advertising.

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement that the new regulator, the Digital Markets Unit, will “govern the behaviour of platforms that currently dominate the market, such as Google and Facebook”.

    The aim is “to ensure consumers and small businesses aren’t disadvantaged”, it said.

    The unit is being created after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in July that existing laws were not effective and a new regulatory regime was needed to control internet giants that earn from digital advertising.

    The CMA has backed the new rules while it has not taken direct action against Facebook and Google.

    “Our new, pro-competition regime for digital markets will ensure consumers have choice and mean smaller firms aren’t pushed out,” said Business Secretary Alok Sharma.

    Britain acknowledged the online platforms bring “huge benefits for businesses and society” but said the “concentration of power amongst a small number of tech companies” was curbing growth and innovation in the industry, which could have “negative impacts” for the public.

    A new statutory code will aim to make the tech giants “more transparent about the services they provide and how they are using consumers’ data”, it said.

    Consumers will be able to choose whether to see personalised advertising, the government said.

    The new regulator will be launched in April and could have powers to “suspend, block and reverse decisions of tech giants”, order them to take actions and impose fines.

    The new code could also mean online platforms have to offer fairer terms to news publications.

    There have been calls for Facebook and Google to give a larger share of their advertising revenue to media organisations whose content they use.

    According to the CMA, last year around 80 percent of the £14 billion ($18.7 billion, 15.7 billion euros) spent on digital advertising went to Google and Facebook.

    Newspapers are dependent on the online giants for traffic, with around 40 percent of visits to their sites coming via Facebook and Google.

    Google reacted by saying it wants to “work constructively” with the new regulator.

    Facebook is preparing to launch its Facebook News service in the UK, which works with news media and includes original reporting.

    It said it remains “committed to working with our UK industry partners to find ways to support journalism and help the long-term sustainability of news organisations”

    RELATED POSTS:

    UK announces closure of visa application centres in Nigeria

    #EndSARS: UK Parliament to consider petition demanding sanctions on Nigerian govt

    BREAKING: US, UK envoys meets FG over nationwide #EndSARS protests

  • #EndSARS: UK govt reacts to protests in Nigeria, Calls For Accountability In Police

    #EndSARS: UK govt reacts to protests in Nigeria, Calls For Accountability In Police

    The United Kingdom has reacted to the ongoing #ENDSARS protest across states in Nigeria.

    The UK urged the Nigerian Government to create accountability within the police.

    The protest, which has entered the third day, has drawn both local and international attention to the extrajudicial activities by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police.

    The aggrieved youth are demanding the immediate disbandment of the dreadful unit that has become notorious for unlawful activities including indiscriminate arrests, extortion and killings of youths incessantly.

    Reacting to the protest, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, acknowledged the desire of the people calling for the scrapping of SARS.

    She urged President Muhammadu Buhari to build more accountability in the police.

    “Significant protests over #SARS demonstrating Nigerian people’s desire for police reform. Peaceful protests are powerful.

    “The Police Act recently passed by @MBuhari provides a good foundation to build a more accountable community police force,” Laing wrote.
    The police, however, have begun to clampdown on the protesters.

    Demonstrators were violently dispersed in Abuja, Osun and Delta states.

  • BBNaija ex-housemate, Mike Edwards set to lead #EndSARS protest in U.K.

    BBNaija ex-housemate, Mike Edwards set to lead #EndSARS protest in U.K.

    BBNaija ex housemate, Mike Edwards has revealed his plan to lead a peaceful #EndSars protest in United Kingdom where he resides.

    Taking to twitter to make this known, the athelet mentioned that Nigerians in diaspora need to speak out and lend their voices too.

    Read also: #EndSARS protest: Tacha, Falz set to join Runtown

    His tweet reads;

    ” I want to lead the #EndSARS protest here in London, who will join me? Nigerians in the Diaspora let’s not be silent”

    Recall that that Tiwa Savage, Runtown, Falz, Mr Macaroni and other Nigerian celebrities are also doing their parts by leading some peaceful protests in Lagos against the brutality and extra-judicial killings by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

  • UK fans set to return to stadium despite coronavirus case surge

    The UK government is set to allow fans return to watch live sport next month amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to a letter written to a Conservative MP from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the number permitted now is set to be heavily reduced to around 1,000 – 2,500 instead of the initial plans for up to 30 percent of a venue. 

    Nigel Huddleston of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport wrote to fellow Conservative MP and former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to underline the plan to continue to open sporting events for a small number of spectators from October 1.

    ‘I know how important this is for sports clubs for whom paying spectators are vital,’ Huddleston wrote to Crouch. ‘Subject to public health conditions, we hope to open elite sport fixtures including the National League for socially distanced spectators under covid-secure conditions from October 1.’

  • UK monitoring Nigeria over blasphemy case

    UK monitoring Nigeria over blasphemy case

    The United Kingdom has opposed the death sentence passed on a Kano musician, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, by a Shari’a court.

    The UK said individuals had the right to freely express opinions and peacefully challenge authorities, noting that this was essential to a free and open society.

    The Shari’a court had on Monday imposed the death sentence on Sharif-Aminu, aged 22, for committing blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed in a song he circulated via WhatsApp.

    The decision had sparked nationwide outrage, with different civil society groups condemning the court’s decision.

    The Shari’a Council, however, urged Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State to sign the death warrant.

    But commenting on the sentence in response to an inquiry from our correspondent on Wednesday, the British High Commission in Nigeria said it would continue to monitor the situation.

    In an emailed response by the Senior Press and Public Affairs Officer, British High Commission, Christopher Ogunmodede, the Mission said the UK Government opposes death penalty in all circumstances.

    It read, “The United Kingdom is firmly committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right.

  • UK adds loss of taste and smell to coronavirus symptoms

    UK adds loss of taste and smell to coronavirus symptoms

    British health officials added loss of taste and smell to their coronavirus symptoms list on Monday after experts warned cases were being missed.

    “From today, all individuals should self-isolate if they develop a new continuous cough or fever or anosmia,” Britain’s chief medical officers said in a statement.

    “Anosmia is the loss or a change in your normal sense of smell. It can also affect your sense of taste as the two are closely linked.”

    Anyone noticing a distinct change in their sense of taste or smell should now self-isolate for seven days to reduce the spread of infection, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam told reporters.

    The symptoms will now feature with fever and cough as main indicators of the virus, with Van-Tam saying it would mean a two percent rise in picking up cases.

    A major study by King’s College London last week found that people with a positive test result were three times more likely to report loss of smell and taste than those returned a negative test.

    Report author Tim Spector said that Public Health England’s (PHE) previous insistence on only including fever and cough as major symptoms meant thousands of cases were missed.

    The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group concluded last month that loss of smell or taste should not be added to the symptom list, although The World Health Organisation and other countries including the United States now count it as a symptom.

  • COVID-19: Daily deaths in UK drops to lowest since March

    COVID-19: Daily deaths in UK drops to lowest since March

    The UK’s daily figure for coronavirus deaths has dropped to 170 – the lowest since the day after lockdown began.

    This comes a week after the first easing of restrictions in England.

    Sunday’s figure is the lowest since 24 March, when 149 deaths were reported.

    But the overall death toll remains the highest in Europe, which is now more than 34,000.

    The UK death numbers announced on Sundays and Mondays are typically lower than the other five days of the week, due to fluctuations in how quickly deaths are reported by hospitals and care homes.

  • UK Unlikely To Relax Coronavirus Lockdown Until End Of May

    UK Unlikely To Relax Coronavirus Lockdown Until End Of May

    Britain will not be able to relax its stringent lockdown rules until the end of May, a leading government adviser said on Saturday, warning that first the spread of coronavirus must slow and intense testing must be introduced.

    Neil Ferguson, a leading professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, said work was underway to establish how more relaxed rules could be introduced in time.

    “We want to move to a situation where at least by the end of May that we’re able to substitute some less intensive measures, more based on technology and testing, for the complete lockdown we have now,” he told BBC Radio.

    “There is a great deal of work underway to look at how we can substitute some of the very intense social distancing currently in place with a regime more based on intensive testing, very rapid access to testing, contact tracing of contracts.

    ALSO READ: FCT designates Asokoro District Hospital quarintine facility

    “But in order to substitute that regime for what we’re doing now, we need to get case numbers down.”

    The government has put Britain into a widespread lockdown, closing pubs, restaurants and nearly all shops, while banning social gatherings and ordering people to stay at home unless it is absolutely essential to venture out.

    By Friday, Britain’s death toll from the global pandemic had risen to 3,605, among 38,168 people who have tested positive for the highly infectious respiratory illness known as COVID-19.

    A second senior government adviser, the chief pandemic modeller Graham Medley, told The Times newspaper on Saturday he feared Britain had painted itself in a corner with no clear exit from a strategy that will damage the economic and mental well-being of much of the population.