UK officials have downplayed the prospect of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imminent release from Iran after state TV suggested Britain would pay a £400 million debt to secure her release.
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of the British-Iranian charity worker, said the family had not been updated but welcomed the signals from Tehran over the long-running dispute as “a good sign”.
The Foreign Office said “legal discussions are ongoing” over the debt despite the claim made on Iranian state TV, which cited an anonymous official.
It was said that the UK Government’s position had not changed over the weekend and that Iran had made the claim before without the mother of one being released.
U.S. Seeks Expanded Access in Global Vaccine Talks: Virus Update Bloomberg 1 hr ago
(Bloomberg)
Talks starting this week between the U.S. and World Trade Organization over expanding access to vaccines will focus on how to get them “widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared,” according to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. U.S. cases dropped to 45,236, the fewest on a Saturday since late September.
India’s deepening Covid-19 crisis cost Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a key election, as the ruling BJP party conceded West Bengal’s state poll. Modi had been widely criticized for continuing to hold mass rallies in the state in as infections rose.
People will be able to go on holidays “within limits” this summer, a leading expert has claimed, while ministers said the travel green list will be coming soon.
However, Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, said it was vital people do not drop their guard because there are likely to be further outbreaks of coronavirus.
Prof Openshaw, who is also a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nertag), told the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday the UK needed to be cautious and prepare.
When asked if people will be able to start going on holiday, he said: “Yes, within limits.
Climate finance targets top agenda for this week s G7 meetings
05/01/2021 23:29
LONDON (Reuters) - Targets for climate finance and girls education will top the agenda at a meeting this week of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies, this year s chair Britain said on Sunday.
The London summit will be the first attended in person by G7 foreign ministers for two years. Britain has also invited representatives from Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa as guests for some of the meetings. We ll be taking action to ensure fair access to vaccines around the world, setting global girls education targets, agreeing ambitious action on climate change and developing new measures to prevent famine, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.