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Prime minister Boris Johnson has said he is cautious about rising cases of Covid in Europe, warning of gathering "storm clouds" of a new wave of coronavirus infections. He made the statement during a visit today (November 12) to a vaccination centre at a community pharmacy in Sidcup, London while encouraging people to come forward for Covid-19 boosters. The UK has had much higher rates of Covid-19 than the rest of Western Europe since the summer when Johnson scrapped coronavirus restrictions in England. However, rates in Britain are now coming down just as they are rising sharply in countries such as Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Parts of Eastern Europe have also seen a sharp rise in cases.

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak on Monday (October 24) won the battle for leader of Britain's Conservative party and will become the country's first prime minister of colour. Penny Mordaunt, the last rival left after Boris Johnson dramatically pulled out, failed to secure the necessary 100 nominations from her fellow MPs. "Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative party," senior backbencher Graham Brady said, as Mordaunt pledged her "full support" for Sunak. Sunak's triumph came after Johnson's decision late Sunday to abandon his political comeback bid. Just weeks after he lost out to Liz Truss to lead the ruling Tories, Sunak therefore pulled off a stunning reversal in fortunes. The contest, triggered by outgoing leader Truss's resignation on Thursday, had required candidates to secure the support of at least 100 Conservative MPs by 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Monday.