Michael Gove
People sit at outdoor tables at a restaurant in Soho, in London, Monday, June 14, 2021. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm Monday that the next planned relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in England will be delayed as a result of the spread of the delta variant first identified in India. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
UK fends off demands to give workers more virus support help

By Pan Pylas Jun. 15, 2021 05:20 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2020 file photo, Dominic Cummings Chief Adviser to Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives in Downing Street in London. Britain’s High Court has ruled that the U.K. government acted unlawfully in awarding a contract to a company run by friends of the former top adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A judge ruled Wednesday, June 9, 2021 that a June 2020 decision by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to pay more than 500,000 pounds ($700,000) to market research firm Public First “gave rise to apparent bias and was unlawful.”(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, file)
UK court rules government acted unlawfully in contract award

By Pan Pylas Jun. 09, 2021 07:36 AM EDT

Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte, center, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup final soccer match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
British government in talks over venue switch for CL final

May. 09, 2021 12:11 PM EDT

Scotland's First Minister and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon poses for photographers, at Bute House in Edinburgh, Scotland. Sunday, May 9, 2021. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited the leaders of the U.K.’s devolved nations for crisis talks on the union after Scotland’s pro-independence party won its fourth straight parliamentary election. Sturgeon said the election results proved a second independence vote for Scotland was “the will of the country." She said any London politician who stood in the way would be “picking a fight with the democratic wishes of the Scottish people.” (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Sturgeon: Scotland independence vote matter of when, not if

By Sylvia Hui May. 09, 2021 06:12 AM EDT

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a farm as he campaigns on behalf of the Conservative Party for local elections, at Moreton farm near Wrexham, north Wales, Monday, April 26, 2021. (Paul Ellis/Pool Photo via AP)
UK leader denies saying 1000s of bodies better than lockdown

By Jill Lawless Apr. 26, 2021 09:17 AM EDT

A close up of the hearts on the 'The National COVID Memorial Wall' on the south bank of the Thames in front of St. Thomas' hospital and opposite the House of Parliament in London, Sunday April 4, 2021. Hearts are being drawn onto the wall in memory of the many thousands of people who have died in the UK from coronavirus, with organizers hoping to reach their target of 150,000 hearts by the middle of next week. (AP Photo/Tony Hicks)
UK eyes testing COVID-19 passports at mass gatherings

By Sylvia Hui Apr. 04, 2021 10:07 AM EDT

The Head of the Task Force for Relations with the UK Michel Barnier waits for the arrival of European Council President Charles Michel ahead of a meeting at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool via AP)
UK, EU meeting in bid to calm post-Brexit trade turbulence

By Jill Lawless Feb. 11, 2021 09:12 AM EST

A woman walks past past graffiti with the words 'No Irish Sea Border' in Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. Politicians from Britain, Northern Ireland and the European Union are meeting to defuse post-Brexit trade tensions that have shaken Northern Ireland’s delicate political balance. British Cabinet minister Michael Gove, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic and the leaders of Northern Ireland’s Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government will hold a video conference to discuss problems that have erupted barely a month after the U.K. made an economic split from the 27-nation EU. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
UK-EU talks aim to defuse Brexit tensions over N Ireland

By Jill Lawless Feb. 03, 2021 05:12 AM EST

Vehicles at the port of Larne, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Authorities in Northern Ireland have suspended post-Brexit border checks on animal products and withdrawn workers after threats against border staff. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Border checks stopped at N Ireland ports after threats

By Jill Lawless Feb. 02, 2021 07:46 AM EST

A passenger is checked on his entry into Germany at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Jan.39, 2021. The Federal Police checked passengers of a flight coming from Manchester (Great Britain) at the Rhine-Main Airport. A decree from the Federal Ministry of the Interior provides for a far-reaching entry ban for countries in which particularly contagious variants of the coronavirus have spread widely. The entry ban to Germany will be in effect from Saturday. (Andreas Arnold/dpa via AP)
UK sees smooth vaccine supplies after EU addresses 'mistake'

By Pan Pylas And Frank Jordans Jan. 30, 2021 02:15 PM EST

A security guard talks to people at the entrance of Novasep factory in Seneffe, Belgium, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Belgian health authorities said Thursday they have inspected a pharmaceutical factory located in Belgium to find out whether the expected delays in the deliveries of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccines are due to production issues. The Novasep factory in the town of Seneffe is part of the European production chain for AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine. (AP Photo/Mark Carlson)
In virus-struck Europe, jabs trigger intense political fight

By Raf Casert Jan. 28, 2021 01:08 PM EST

A homeless person sleeps in the doorway of a closed shop on Oxford Street in London, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. London is currently in Tier 4 with all non essential retail closed and people have been asked to stay at home, on what is usually one of the busiest retail days of the year with the traditional Boxing Day sales in shops. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
British hospitals scramble for space as virus cases soar

By Jill Lawless Dec. 28, 2020 08:26 AM EST

People wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus as they walk past a pub in Soho, London, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. London and its surrounding areas will be placed under Britain's highest level of coronavirus restrictions beginning Wednesday as infections rise rapidly in the capital, the health secretary said Monday, adding that a new variant of the virus may be to blame for the spread. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
UK urged to ax 'rash' easing of restrictions over Christmas

By Pan Pylas Dec. 15, 2020 05:32 AM EST

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street to attend Parliament in London, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Members of Parliament will vote later Tuesday on the proposed tier system as the country prepares to come out of lockdown. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
UK leader touts local virus rules but pubs are in distress

By Jill Lawless Dec. 01, 2020 10:39 AM EST

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, wearing a mask because of the coronavirus, has a close look at a sample at the Lateral Flow Testing Laboratory during a visit to the Public Health England site at Porton Down science park near Salisbury, southern England, on Friday Nov. 27, 2020. (Adrian Dennis/Pool via AP)
UK appoints vaccines minister to oversee COVID inoculations

By Jill Lawless Nov. 28, 2020 08:20 AM EST

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 23, 2020 file photo, a man wearing face mask and gloves to protect against coronavirus carries purchases among as the GUM State Department store is decorated for Christmas and New Year celebrations in Moscow, Russia. Nations are struggling to reconcile cold medical advice with a holiday tradition that calls for big gatherings in often poorly ventilated rooms, where people chat, shout and sing together, providing an ideal conduit for a virus that has killed over 350,000 people in Europe so far. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
Europe's Christmas dilemma: risk empty chairs next year?

By Raf Casert Nov. 28, 2020 02:30 AM EST

Zulu traditional men, sing and dance during a community and a local government campaign against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and education on COVID-19, at a hostel in Katlehong, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
The Latest: Researchers urge Arizona shutdown, mask mandate

By The Associated Press Nov. 28, 2020 12:56 AM EST

A woman sits amid Christmas trees in Covent Garden, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. Haircuts, shopping trips and visits to the pub will be back on the agenda for millions of people when a four-week lockdown in England comes to an end next week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
UK eases restrictions so families can gather over Christmas

By Pan Pylas Nov. 24, 2020 05:38 AM EST

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Germany starts 'wave-breaker' shutdown as Europe locks down

By Geir Moulson Nov. 02, 2020 07:14 AM EST

A few people sit in an outdoor area of a pub in Covent Garden in central London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Earlier Saturday British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced England will start a monthlong lockdown next week. Johnson says the new measures will begin Thursday and last until Dec. 2. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)
UK says 4-week coronavirus lockdown may have to last longer

By Jill Lawless Nov. 01, 2020 07:47 AM EST