FoundFlight News

https://foundflight.com/cities/london/ LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's fishing industry is disappointed that a Brexit trade deal struck with the European Union does not represent more of a reduction in the access that the bloc currently has to British waters, an industry representative said. "The industry will be bitterly disappointed that there is not more of definitive break," Barrie Deas, chief executive of The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, told Reuters. "It's a bit of a fudge." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier on Thursday that Britain had agreed a "reasonable" five-and-half-year transition period with the EU over fisheries, longer than the three years it wanted but shorter than the 14 years the EU had originally asked for. Deas said the biggest concern for the industry was likely to be a decision to allow EU fishing boats to continue to operate up to six miles from the coasts of the United K

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - At Chile's Santiago International Airport, the task of sniffing out passengers contaminated with COVID-19 falls to the dogs. When they smell the infection, a team of Golden Retrievers and Labradors sit down to get a treat. The canines wear green jackets "biodetector" with a red cross. Passengers clean their necks and wrists at an airport health checkpoint with gauze pads that are then placed in glass containers and sent to the dogs to see if they detect COVID-19. Sniffer dogs are best known for detecting drugs and bombs, but they have also been trained to detect malaria, cancer and Parkinson's disease beforehand. In the United Arab Emirates and Finland, dogs qualified to detect the novel coronavirus have already begun sniffing passenger samples at airports. A research recently discovered dogs with 85 percent to 100 percent accuracy can identify infected individuals and rule out infection with 92 percent to 99 percent accuracy. The dogs were

LONDON (Reuters) - This weekend, wide areas of England will be added to the 'extremely high warning' category COVID-19, bringing people under the strictest collection of restrictions to combat an increasing number of infections. Britain, like other nations, is struggling to tame a second wave of novel cases of coronavirus and deaths, and over Christmas, the government has to justify a decision to loosen communication restrictions for five days. The government said most secondary school students will have a week of remote learning before returning to classrooms in January in a sign of mounting concern over the possible effects of Christmas socializing. In the southeast of England, Health Minister Matt Hancock said cases have risen by 46 percent in the past week while hospital admissions have increased by more than a third. Cases were up by two-thirds in eastern England, and hospital admissions by nearly half. "Therefore, Tier 3 measures need to be applied across a much

LONDON (Reuters) - British legislators could be reminded of legislating for a Brexit trade agreement early next week if one is negotiated with the European Union, with negotiations set to begin "in the coming days," the office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. Parliament will start its annual Christmas break on Thursday, the statement said, having completed all the requisite legislation for the end of the current Brexit transition phase. "The time for an agreement with the EU is now short, and we expect discussions to continue in the coming days," the statement said. "If one is obtained, we will recall MPs (Members of Parliament) and Peers to legislate for an agreement. The reminder could be as early as next week. Parliament will need to send 48 hours' notice to lawmakers for any recall.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Regulators, insurers and experts advise airlines to take special caution during the COVID-19 pandemic to reactivate aircraft left in extended storage, citing possible pilot rustiness, maintenance failures and even insect nests blocking key sensors. The unprecedented number of aircraft grounded as blocked air travel by coronavirus lockdowns - approaching two-thirds of the global fleet at one point - has created an increase in the number of problems reported as airlines return them to service. According to the International Air Transport Organization, the number of "unstabilised" or badly handled approaches has increased dramatically this year (IATA). Such mishaps can lead to difficult landings, overshoots of the runway or even crashes. Gary Moran, head of Asian aviation at insurance broker Aon PLC, said that, worried by IATA's numbers, insurers are asking airlines about whether they are doing extra pilot training to concentrate on landings. "The

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Britain's AstraZeneca has agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals in the biggest transaction ever for $39 billion, diversifying its fast-growing cancer sector in a gamble on medicines for rare diseases and immunology. The deal comes a week after AstraZeneca said it was undertaking more testing to confirm whether its COVID-19 vaccine could be 90% successful, potentially delaying its introduction, and was introduced in Britain as a competing shot from Pfizer and approved for use in the United States . On Saturday, the British company said Alexion shareholders will receive $60 in cash and around $115 worth of equity per share - either in ordinary shares exchanged in the UK by AstraZeneca or in American Depositary Shares denominated in dollars. That implies a total price of $175 per share based on a reference average ADR price of $54.14. Alexion shares closed on Friday at about $121 apiece. "It's a tremendous opportunity for us to accelera

LONDON (Reuters) - In the event that the Brexit transition phase ends on Dec. 31 without an agreement on future relations with the European Union, four Royal Navy patrol ships are on standby to defend Britain's fishing waters, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said. The step attracted criticism from lawmakers within the Conservative Party of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but was brushed off by the French government. "Keep calm and carry on," said an Elysée official, using a British wartime slogan. Where no trade agreement is reached, questions are raised about potential skirmishes between British and international fishing vessels, with current transitional rules allowing EU boats access to British waters set to expire by the end of the year. "An MOD spokesman said The MOD has carried out comprehensive training and preparation to ensure that Defence is ready at the end of the Transition Phase for a variety of scenarios. The 80-meter-long navy vessels would h

https://foundflight.com/cities/london/ LONDON (Reuters) -The Bank of England took steps on Friday to keep banks lending through 2021 as Britain deals with the COVID pandemic and a big change in its trading relationship with the European Union. The central bank said the counter-cyclical capital buffer will be kept at zero until at least the last quarter of 2021 - extra money banks must set aside during economic good times. There is no need for banks to introduce any potential changes before the end of 2022. "Some headwinds to the capital ratios of banks are... The BoE said in a half-yearly assessment of the health of the financial system that it anticipated that unemployment will rise over the coming quarters, business insolvencies will rise from current low levels, and risk weights will increase on bank exposures. "The United Kingdom's major banks, however can absorb credit losses in the order of 200 billion pounds, much more than would be implied if the econ

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - On the day Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was detained two years ago, a police officer stationed at Vancouver airport testified on Monday that he found himself in a very uncomfortable position" as the U.S. point of contact. Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI). As part of her U.S. extradition case, Meng, 48, returned to the British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday for the final week of witness cross examinations, in the wake of reports last week that her lawyers and the U.S. prosecutors held talks to negotiate an arrangement that could see her release and return to China. I'm not there at the end of the day to provide information and act on behalf of the FBI. I'm employed as an RCMP officer there,' testified Sergeant Ross Lundie of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). "Given my background, assisting the FBI - this is a very uncomfortable position to be in," he said. On a warrant from the United States, Meng was arrest

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors’ clinics, the government said on Sunday. The first doses are set to be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to vaccinating the over-80s, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents. Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech last week - jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history. In total, Britain has ordered 40 million doses - enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million. About 800,000 doses are expected to be available within the first week. Initial doses that have arrived from Belgium are being stored in secure locations across the country, where they will be quality checked, the health

LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit trade negotiations are in a difficult process, and only if the European Union understands that Britain is a sovereign nation will an agreement be reached, said Business Secretary Alok Sharma. "We're at a critical stage," Sky TV told Sharma. "It is fair to say that we are in a difficult phase, that there are still some difficult problems to solve." "We have always said right from the beginning of this process that only if the EU recognizes that the UK is a sovereign independent nation can an agreement be reached," Sharma said. "It is on the basis of that a deal will be done."

(Reuters) - On Wednesday, Britain became the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and said it would be launched early next week. IMMUNOLOGY PROFESSOR AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON , DANNY ALTMANN: Exciting news continues to arrive, but it's very momentous. Nobody knew how the war would pan out to find productive vaccines. Now, less than 11 months after the first virus sequence characterization, we have obtained our first emergency approval for the use of a vaccine that is genuinely safe. Heroic indeed. I don't think we're supposed to get too hung up on the 'race' as the 1st approval. We will likely see a variety of licenses issued over the next few weeks, and we need them all to get out of this mess quickly.

LONDON (Reuters) - UK airline EasyJet said it would partner with COVID-19 research firms to deliver discounted tests to passengers to try to promote further travel, following similar steps by Wizz Air and Gatwick Airport in London. Travel laws in England will adjust from Dec. 15 so that they can reduce their quarantine from 14 to 5 days if a traveller receives a negative test result from a self-funded test. Airlines and airports are teaming up with research companies to make it simpler and cheaper to get a test, desperate to boost the travel market after months of restrictions. EasyJet, whose finances came under extreme strain during the pandemic, said on Monday that with Confirm Testing or with CityDoc, passengers would receive a discounted rate of 75 pounds per home test, 100 pounds per home test, or 150 pounds per clinic test. The 75 pound rate is cheaper than the 85 pound rate that Wizz Air passengers have available. Both are more costly than the offer of 60 pounds per test fro

GATWICK AIRPORT, England (Reuters) - Gatwick Airport, Britain’s second-biggest aviation hub, wants to see normal airport slot rules restored by next summer, Chief Executive Stewart Wingate said on Friday. Global aviation heavyweights led by airline body IATA are pushing for airport slot relief to continue until October 2021. Under their proposal the “use it or lose it” principle would be restored for airport slots, but the utilisation rate required to keep them would be set at 50%, compared to the 80% threshold that governed slot use before the pandemic. Gatwick’s CEO called the IATA proposal “a step in the right direction” but said he wanted a return to normal rules so that competition can resume and consumers benefit from a greater choice of flights. “From a slot waiver perspective, what normally happens is that airlines are expected to fly their slots 80% of the time or lose them,” Wingate told Reuters in an interview. “So at the earliest opportunity, preferably next summer, ce

(Reuters) - An additional global trial to test the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine using a lower dose is likely to be conducted by AstraZeneca, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Thursday amid concerns about the outcome of its late-stage review. AstraZeneca could start a new study to test a lower dose of its vaccine that worked better than a full dosage, Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg News, instead of adding the trial to an existing U.S. phase. "We have to validate this now that we have discovered what looks like a better efficacy, so we need to do an additional study," he said, adding that the latest, likely global, study could be quicker because it would require less subjects as the effectiveness was already established to be high. The news comes as AstraZeneca faces concerns about its success rate that some analysts claim could impede its chances of securing rapid regulatory approval from the U.S. and EU. Several scientists have raised concerns about the r

(Reuters) - The baseless attacks by President Donald Trump on the U.S. election may jeopardize Republican hopes of retaining Senate control, as Republican candidates in Georgia's twin January runoffs try to push voters to the polls while amplifying Trump's argument that the system is rigged. At Trump's order, the state on Tuesday began tallying its 5 million ballots for a third time, which officials believe would once again validate the statewide win of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. That has threaded the needle on the campaign trail with Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, labeling themselves a last bastion against Democratic priorities without directly acknowledging that Trump lost the Nov. 3 election. For each party, the Jan. 5 runoffs are critical; while Biden carried the state narrowly, Georgia hasn't elected a Democratic senator in two decades. Losses by both Perdue and Loeffler would make the Senate deadlock, giving the tie-breaking vote to Vice Pr

https://foundflight.com/cities/shanghai/ SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - City officials said on Monday that the first of Shanghai's new coronavirus infections appeared in airport cargo handlers who cleaned a container that arrived on a flight from North America, as it fights a rise in cases among airport staff. The news comes as Variflight aviation data provider flagged cancellation of more than 40 percent of Monday's flights at Pudong airport, one of the world's busiest and a key gateway for international flights during the pandemic, at the Chinese business hub. Sun Xiaodong, an official of Shanghai's disease control center, said that an airport cargo handler figured in a case reported on Nov. 9, and a colleague in another case reported on Nov. 10, after both entered and cleaned the container on Oct. 30 together. Sun told a news conference, 'Research at home and abroad has shown that coronavirus could live in sealed, damp environments. The container was moist and

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia/U M RAKUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Government forces captured two towns from rebel forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, the government said on Friday, and Tigrayan fighters fired rockets at an airport in a neighbouring region. The rocket attack on Bahir Dar, capital of Asmara region, raised concerns that the two-week-old conflict between the Tigrayan rebels and the central government could spiral into a wider war. The United Nations meanwhile said it was making plans for as many as 200,000 refugees fleeing into neighbouring Sudan. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have been killed and tens of thousands of refugees have already fled from fighting in Tigray as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tries to hold his ethnically diverse nation together. Ethiopian government forces are fighting their way towards Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, from several directions. In the north, Ethiopian troops took the towns of Axum and Adwa, a government statement said. They are n

LONDON (Reuters) - British inflation picked up by a little more than expected in October, pushed higher by prices for clothing and footwear and food as coronavirus restrictions tightened in much of the country, official data showed on Wednesday. Consumer prices rose 0.7% in annual terms, after a 0.5% rise in September, the Office for National Statistics said. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of 0.6%. Unlike last year, food prices rose in October and people stocked up on potatoes and fruit. Some surveys of consumers had pointed to renewed stockpiling as health restrictions spread through Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in October. A one-month lockdown was announced for England at the end of the month and started on Nov. 5. “The rate of inflation increased slightly as clothing prices grew, returning to their normal seasonal pattern after the disruption this year,” said ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The leader of Ethiopia’s rebellious Tigray region confirmed on Sunday that his forces had fired rockets at the airport in Eritrea’s capital, a major escalation that raises fears of a wider war in the Horn of Africa region. Accusing neighbouring Eritrea of sending tanks and thousands of troops into Tigray in support of an Ethiopian government offensive, Debretsion Gebremichael said his forces were under attack “on several fronts.” “Our country is attacking us with a foreign country, Eritrea. Treason!,” Debretsion said in text messages to Reuters, without providing further details or evidence of his claims. With access restricted and most communications down in Tigray, Reuters could not independently verify assertions made by all sides about the 12-day conflict. Government officials in Eritrea and the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa could not be reached for comment. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted Sunday that Ethiopia was more than capable of achieving its ob