UK

Leaders of major cities in northern England on Saturday asked for more generous economic support for workers and businesses facing local lockdown, saying the government's current proposals would wreak economic hardship on their citizens.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak took fresh steps on Friday to try to stave off a surge in unemployment, offering extra help for businesses and people who are forced to stop work during local coronavirus lockdowns.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a statement to parliament on Monday about potential new lockdown restrictions, as the government seeks to tackle a rapidly accelerating second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

Footballer Marcus Rashford is among those to receive awards in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours, an annual list dominated this year by frontline workers against the COVID-19 pandemic and community champions.

The United Kingdom recorded 13,864 new daily cases of COVID-19 on Friday, down from the 17,540 it reported the day before, government data showed.

The spread of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland is getting more grave by the hour and further restrictions will likely be imposed soon, the British-run region's health minister said on Friday after another daily record number of cases.

English doctors are to be given extra supplies of this winter's flu vaccine in a bid to reduce the pressure on the health service amid rising numbers of coronavirus cases.

European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier wants a few more concessions from Britain before entering the last intense phase of negotiations on a trade deal, an EU diplomat said on Friday, as an Oct. 15 deadline looms.

The average daily number of COVID-19 cases in England has doubled in a week, a survey showed on Friday, as scientists warned that action was needed to avert a calamitous and unnecessary spike in deaths.