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Macron to block new Brexit talks on N Ireland
President Macron warned Boris Johnson last night that he would veto any attempt to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Brexit deal. In comments before meeting the prime minister today at the G7 summit in Cornwall, the French leader said it was “not serious” to reopen the agreement. Macron made it clear that he would block any attempt to revise arrangements in Northern Ireland or extend “grace periods”, including the trade in sausages, at the end of this month. “I think it’s not serious to want to review in July what we finalised after years of debate and work in December,” he said. “This is not an issue between the UK and France, it is an issue between Europeans and the UK.” The Times, June 11

Thousands Belfast protest against NI protocol
Warnings have been issued by police after thousands of people gathered in west Belfast to protest over the Northern Ireland protocol. Loyalists gathered in Woodvale on Thursday evening to stage a demonstration and a parade that took place along the Shankill Road. Footage on social media showed the burning of a united Ireland banner which was displayed on the nationalist side of the peace wall earlier this year. Police estimated that more than 3,000 people took part, in excess of the number allowed to gather in public currently under the coronavirus regulations. Under the protocol in the Brexit withdrawal agreement, designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, Northern Ireland in effect remains in the single market and EU customs policy is enforced on goods coming from mainland Britain. The Guardian, June 11

G7 leaders to pledge 1bn Covid-19 vaccine doses for poorer countries
Leaders of the G7 economies convening in the UK will announce a pledge to provide 1bn coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer countries as part of a plan to “vaccinate the world” by the end of 2022. The move, to be outlined at the start of the three-day summit on Friday, is designed to address criticism that western governments have secured the bulk of life-saving Covid-19 vaccines to immunise their own populations. The vow is also an attempt to counter “vaccine diplomacy” by Beijing and Moscow, which have been quick to sell their jabs to developing nations. Financial Times, June 10

UK economy grows in April as shops reopen
The UK economy grew 2.3% in April, its fastest monthly growth since July last year. Shoppers spent more on the High Street as non-essential shops reopened, and people bought more cars and caravans. There was also more spending in pubs, cafes and restaurants as restrictions eased the Office for National Statistics said. Despite the surge in activity, the UK economy is still 3.7% below its pre-pandemic peak. Construction fell in April, compared to strong growth the previous month, but the sector remains above its pre-pandemic peak. But Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that the figures were “a promising sign that our economy is beginning to recover”. BBC news, June 11

China’s law to counter US and EU sanctions
China has passed a law to counter foreign sanctions in response to US and EU pressure over trade, technology, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Individuals or entities involved in making or implementing discriminatory measures against Chinese citizens or entities could be put on an anti-sanctions list and may be denied entry into China or be expelled from the country. Their assets within China may be seized or frozen and they could be restricted from doing business there. China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress standing committee, passed the law on Thursday, according to state television CCTV. All 14 vice-chairpersons of the committee are under US sanctions for passing the Hong Kong national security law last year that critics say has crippled political freedoms. The Guardian, June 11

Famine hits 350,000 in Ethiopia
Famine has afflicted at least 350,000 people in northern Ethiopia’s conflict-ravaged Tigray region, according to the UN and international aid groups. The organisations had warned for weeks of an impending disaster related to the conflict. Of 5.5 million people facing food insecurity in Tigray and neighbouring zones during May and June, 350,000 were in the most severe phase of food security as laid out by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a system used to determine the scale of a hunger crisis. Mark Lowcock, a top UN official, said that the number of people affected by the famine was “higher than anywhere in the world” and the worst in any country since Somalia’s famine in 2011. New York Times, June 11

Hancock hits back at Cummings and denies lying to PM
Health secretary Matt Hancock on Thursday hit back at Dominic Cummings, denying he lied to Boris Johnson and saying the government had been better run since the departure of the prime minister’s former chief adviser. After trenchant criticism by Cummings, Hancock blamed “clinical advice” for his decision to authorise the discharge of people infected with coronavirus from hospitals to care homes. It served to spread Covid-19 in care homes, where tens of thousands died. And giving evidence to two House of Commons select committees investigating the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the health secretary defended the government against criticism that it had been late to introduce its first lockdown in March last year. Cummings claimed tens of thousands of people died unnecessarily because of multiple government failures during the Covid-19 crisis. Financial Times, June 10

US-UK talks undermined by N Ireland concerns
Joe Biden will meet Boris Johnson in person for the first time on Thursday, with hopes over a new US-UK ‘Atlantic Charter’ undermined by “deep” concerns in Washington over the post-Brexit situation in Northern Ireland. Biden’s anxiety was conveyed directly to London earlier this month by America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, who warned the UK to stop inflaming tensions in Northern Ireland over new Brexit trading rules. Yael Lempert is reported to have issued a démarche, a formal diplomatic reprimand, urging Britain to make “unpopular compromises” if necessary to ease tensions over the so-called Northern Ireland protocol. Downing Street did not comment but the incident confirms that the NI row is souring the lead-up to the G7 summit, which starts on Friday in Cornwall, and damaging relations with Britain’s main economic partners and allies. The EU is threatening trade sanctions if Johnson unilaterally breaks promises he made relating to Northern Ireland, and the G7 summit host will face awkward encounters in the coming days with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the EU itself. Financial Times, June 10

Call for fresh WHO inquiry into Covid origins
Leaders at the G7 summit will call for a new, transparent investigation by the World Health Organization into the origins of the coronavirus, according to a leaked draft communique for the meeting. The call was initiated by Joe Biden’s administration and follows the US president’s decision to expand the American investigation into the origins of the pandemic, with one intelligence agency leaning towards the theory that it escaped from a Wuhan laboratory. The broad consensus among scientific experts remains that the most likely explanation is that Covid-19 jumped to humans from an animal host in a natural event. An on-the-ground investigation by WHO experts earlier this year concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” the pandemic began in a laboratory. According to Bloomberg News, which said it had sight of the draft communique, the G7 will also commit to deliver 1bn extra doses of the Covid-19 vaccine over the next year to accelerate global protection against the disease. The Guardian, June 10

BioNTech to expand into Africa with EU
BioNTech is planning a push into Africa, aiming to establish mRNA vaccine production facilities on the continent as part of a long-term effort to tackle diseases beyond Covid-19. The German biotech’s plans come as the EU moves to bolster vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa, which imports more than 99 per cent of the jabs it uses. BioNTech co-founder and chief executive Ugur Sahin outlined the effort on a joint video call with Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall. “From the technology side, there is no reason why [vaccine production in Africa] should not be possible,” Sahin told the FT. “And because there’s no reason any more, we have to make it possible.” Von der Leyen said the EU wanted to help foster a “strong initiative to invest in mRNA, together with our African partners”, adding that it was important that the technology is brought to the continent. “We are joining forces in a way that everyone brings in the best competences they have.” Financial Times, June 10

Few businesses apply for complex Brexit grants
The government’s £20 million Brexit support fund for SMEs is in danger of missing its target to support at least 10,000 traders because businesses are being asked to jump through too many hoops. Fewer than 3,000 applications for the £2,000 grants have been received by HM Revenue & Customs since March, totalling £4.3 million. Yet more than 12,000 firms have indicated interest in applying for funding. Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, launched the scheme in February, saying that the government accepted that businesses needed support to “adjust” to the new import controls, which will be fully introduced on July 1. The Times, June 10

Number on NHS England waiting list tops 5m
The number of people waiting for hospital treatment in England has exceeded 5 million for the first time, highlighting the growing problem of long waits for NHS care. NHS England’s latest set of monthly performance figures, published on Thursday, show that the waiting list stood at 5,122,017 in April – up 171,720 in a month. The total has risen from the 4.95 million who were on it in March, which was itself almost 252,000 up on the 4.698m recorded in February – a month-on-month rise of 5.4 per cent. The number of people being forced to wait at least a year for treatment in hospital, especially surgery, has fallen for the first time in over a year but remains a serious problem. Thursday’s figures also show that 385,490 people have now been waiting more than 52 weeks, 50,637 down on the 436,127 who were in that position last month. The Guardian, June 10

Travellers at mercy of rogue testing firms
There are still “serious problems” among private Covid testing firms, with rogue operators making misleading claims, says consumer group Which?. Most travellers to the UK are required to pre-book tests for day two and day eight after their return. But several test providers on a government approved list are offering misleading information about pricing and availability, Which? found. The Department for Health said it was carefully monitoring test providers. Problems with private test providers first came to light in April when there was an increase in the number of people travelling. Several firms, listed by the government as approved providers, failed to deliver test kits on time, or failed to return results. Travellers were left quarantining at home unsure how to meet government testing requirements and in many cases unable to reach the testing companies online or by phone. Some didn’t receive test kits at all, despite having paid hundreds of pounds. A few received results for tests they hadn’t taken. BBC news, June 10

UK regulator to probe into Amazon’s use of data
The UK’s competition watchdog is planning a formal competition investigation into Amazon, mirroring a continuing investigation by the EU, according to three people familiar with the situation. The Competition and Markets Authority has been analysing Amazon’s business for months, focusing on how the online retailer uses the data it collects on its platform. It has also scrutinised how Amazon decides which merchants appear in the crucial “buy box” – the white panel to the right-hand side of a product where buyers click to add the item to their cart. An investigation into Amazon may focus on whether the company favours merchants that also use its logistics and delivery services when deciding who has access to the buy box and to its Prime customers, according to two individuals close to the situation. The timing and scope of the probe were still being worked on, people with direct knowledge of the plans said. Both the UK and the EU also recently announced probes into Facebook’s allegedly anti-competitive behaviour. Financial Times, June 10