Cabinet Office

Japan has slipped to the world's fourth-largest economy, as government data released Thursday showed it fell behind Germany's in 2023.

The numbers highlight how the Japanese economy has gradually lost its competitiveness and productivity while the population shrinks as Japanese people age and have fewer children, analysts say.

The "partygate" scandal that threatens to derail U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's administration deepened Tuesday as police opened an investigation into gatherings at government offices that allegedly violated COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Glasgow – Prime Minister Janez Janša took part in Glasgow on Tuesday in the launch of an initiative to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, proposed by the US and EU, the prime minister’s office said, noting that Slovenia was among the supporters of the initiative.

Covid-status certificates being considered by ministers to help open up society could amount to unlawful indirect discrimination, the government's independent equalities watchdog has advised.

The UK and EU have reached agreement on how rules in the Brexit divorce deal relating to Northern Ireland's borders will work in practice.

 This is a Brexit breakthrough.

 The two sides have reached an "agreement in principle" on issues including border control posts and the supply of medicines.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fighting worsening coronavirus symptoms in an intensive care unit on April 7, leaving his foreign minister to lead the government's response to the accelerating outbreak.

UK Minister Michael Gove has accused China of concealing real data regarding the spread of coronavirus, Sputnik reports.
"The first case of the virus was registered in China in December last year, but reports from China were incomplete even then, with no clear indication of the origin and how contagious it was", Gove said.

 Theresa May will carry out a reshuffle of her cabinet and junior ministers this week, Downing Street has confirmed. The jobs of the education secretary, Justine Greening, and the party chairman, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, are particularly vulnerable, it is believed, The Guardian writes. 

Japan's economy grew 1 percent in the April-June period, notching up its sixth straight quarter of growth and its longest economic expansion in over a decade, government data showed on Aug. 14.

Theresa May cancelled her campaigning this morning and instead chaired a COBRA meeting, as Prime Ministers do at times of attack or emergency.

She will chair another one later on Tuesday after visiting Manchester.