Britain

Many industries and transport networks are struggling with staff shortages as sick workers self-isolate, while hospitals in Britain have warned of the risk of an impact on patient safety.

Omicron's rapid advance has driven a surge in cases in Britain over the last seven days, with the total rising by 678,165, government data showed.

As the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson struggles to limit the economic impact of the latest Covid-19 outbreak it said on Wednesday it was reducing the legal self-isolation period in England to seven days from 10.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a four-part plan to lift the coronavirus lockdown.

Outdoor sports including football, golf and tennis will be allowed to resume in England from 29 March.

The plan to ease lockdown requires four tests on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants to be met.

"The turnstiles of our sports stadia will once again rotate," said Johnson.

Leisure centres, gyms and swimming pools can open from 12 April.

Reynhard Sinaga was found guilty of luring 48 men from outside Manchester clubs to his flat, where he drugged and assaulted them - filming the attacks.

Police say they have evidence Sinaga, 36, who is being named for the first time, targeted at least 190 victims.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Sinaga was "the most prolific rapist in British legal history".

The judge ruled his life sentence must include a minimum of 30 years in jail.

The New Zealand Herald reports the Foreign Minister Winston Peters welcomed the pledge on closer co-operation in the Pacific made by his British counterpart Boris Johnson following talks between the pair in London.

The two foreign ministers discussed a range of issues including future negotiations on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement post-Brexit in March 2019, and Peters reiterated New Zealand's support for the UK following the attack in Salisbury.

The social network said it was "very cautious" about removing political speech.

The details emerged as the Home Affairs Committee grilled Facebook, Google and Twitter on what they were doing to combat hate speech.

MPs said the firms had made progress but were still not doing enough.

Google promised an annual transparency report on the issue. Facebook and Twitter said they were looking at a similar course of action but did not commit to it.

On Britain First, a far-right group, Facebook's director of public policy Simon Milner said it was reviewing its future.

More than 46 million people are eligible to vote in what is the fourth major UK poll in three years, following the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the 2015 general election, and the 2016 Brexit vote (to say nothing of local elections in 2014, 2015 and 2017).

Polls close at 10 p.m. UK time (5 p.m. ET), with results expected to begin rolling in within an hour or so after voting finishes.

May called the election three years earlier than scheduled ahead of what are expected to be tough negotiations with the European Union over Britain's exit from the bloc.

The tie is scheduled for April 7-9 at the 5,000-capacity Palais des Sports de Rouen, known as the Kindarena, which previously hosted France's win against Israel in 2013.

World No 1 Andy Murray sat out Britain's 3-2 victory over Canada in the last round but has said that he expects to return to the side for the clash with France, who advanced by beating Japan 4-1 in Tokyo.

Britain last faced France in the 2015 quarter-finals and went on to lift the cup after winning that match on grass at Queen's Club.

He was right: the same upsurge of populist support he enjoyed to win the presidency was reminiscent of the way millions of working-class voters in the UK ignored the warnings of the Westminster establishment and voted for Britain to leave the EU.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper published Tuesday, Andrew Parker, director-general of MI5, said that the covert threat from foreign countries, most notably Russia, was rising at a time when the threat of radical Islam drew the most attention.

Leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson said he was "humbled" having been named new foreign secretary, in one of Mrs May's first cabinet appointments.

Philip Hammond became chancellor, Amber Rudd is home secretary, and Eurosceptic David Davis is new Brexit secretary.

Mrs May later told European leaders she was committed to the UK leaving the EU.