MOSCOW (Sputnik) - France has seen three times more cases of the new coronavirus strain originating in the United Kingdom within less than a month, the French government's spokesman Gabriel Attal told the France Inter broadcaster on Thursday.

The EU and the UK have locked horns over coronavirus vaccine supplies as Brussels has demanded that AstraZeneca hand over some 75 million doses of its vaccine, manufactured at its British plant.

At a time when America stands divided and is engaged in what is being described as an "uncivil war", Joe Biden has declared that the impeachment of Donald Trump is the trial that "has to happen". The president has preached the importance of unity, but the scene has now been set for the most divisive political battle in a generation.

Earlier this month, the UK’s Home Office touted Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) as something that plays an important role in “preventing and safeguarding victims from many serious crimes”, such as terrorism, drugs and child sexual exploitation.

The Scottish National Party has previously unveiled what it described as a "roadmap to a referendum" with an 11-point plan to pursue a second vote on independence from the UK.

Previously, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon admitted that at least one percent of the coronavirus vaccine supply has been wasted amid a mass rollout.

Earlier this week, Scottish National Party member Neale Hanvey described UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s upcoming trip to Scotland as a "futile" attempt to strengthen the Union as a spate of polls suggest more Scots support a second independence referendum.

The UK and the EU have crossed swords over coronavirus vaccine supplies as Brussels warned it could restrict exports of the Belgian-made Pfizer jab to Britain, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to accuse the union of “protectionism”. British observers have weighed up whether the bloc's restrictions may hurt Britain's inoculation plans.

The UK's coronavirus vaccination programme is five times more advanced than the EU's, with 10 per cent of the British population inoculated versus just two per cent across the 27-member bloc. The European Commission's response has been to restrict exports of jabs to non-EU countries.

The former UK ambassador turned whistleblower found himself charged with contempt of court after publishing his observations of ex- Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond's prosecution. Evidence has been unveiled suggesting that Salmond, who was found not guilty on all of the charges, may have been victim of a conspiracy to undermine him politically

Campaigners for living conditions for EU migrants in the UK have deemed the initiative as controversial, saying the financial incentives are in direct contradiction with the government’s assurances that they are set to help vulnerable EU nationals on British soil.

The first case of COVID-19 was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 but the virus rapidly spread around the world in the early part of 2020. In August last year a Singaporean student in London bore the brunt of coronavirus-inspired xenophobia.

High Speed 2 (HS2) is a proposed railway linking London to Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds and Manchester, with two phases of its construction to be completed by 2026 and 2033. The system is meant to "heal the north-south" economic divide in Britain.

London introduced a number of sanctions and other punitive measures against Russia over the last several years, accusing it of purported meddling in its elections and being responsible for the alleged poisoning of the former GRU spy Sergei Skripal in March 2018. The UK, however, never presented solid evidence supporting these claims.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a massive backlog of criminal trials in Britain, with some defendants told they will have to wait until 2023. But the opposition Labour Party’s suggestion for reducing the size of juries has been criticised.

The UK may become a "failed state" unless it carries out meaningful reforms of governing bodies, argues former prime minister Gordon Brown in his opinion piece for The Telegraph, warning that it is Scotland "where dissatisfaction is so deep that it threatens the end of the United Kingdom".

The European Union's policy of centralised approval and procurement of COVID-19 vaccines has seen the UK, which left the bloc last year, race ahead with its own immunisation programme using a mix of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs.

Anthony Joshua beat Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev last month to retain his WBA, IBF and WBO titles to set up the prospect of a heavyweight unification clash with another Englishman, Tyson Fury, who holds the WBC belt. But where will this epic battle take place?

UK immigration minister Chris Philip has argued that allowing refugees from safe European countries to resettle in Britain created a “pull factor” for them to travel to Europe.

In mid-December, the UK government hinted it expected the country's unemployment rate to increase by 7.5% in the next few months, meaning that 2.6 million people could lose their job amid Brexit and a growing spike in coronavirus cases.