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A lorry arrives to board the first ferry heading to Britain after Brexit, Friday Jan.1, 2021 in Calais, northern France. Britain left the European bloc's vast single market for people, goods and services at 11 p.m. London time, midnight in Brussels, completing the biggest single economic change the country has experienced since World War II. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

Quiet New Year gives breathing room after UK-EU Brexit split

Jan. 1, 2021 11:54 AM EST

LONDON (AP) — A steady trickle of trucks rolled off ferries and trains on both sides of the English Channel on Friday, a quiet New Year’s Day after a seismic overnight shift in relations between the European Union and Britain. The busy goods route between southeast England and northwest France is on...

People raise a glass and celebrate in Parliament Square as the bell known as Big Ben strikes 2300, and Britain ends its transition period and formally leaves the European Union in London, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions on gatherings people were moved on by police if they met in any number .(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Britain ends long Brexit journey with economic break from EU

Dec. 31, 2020 6:43 PM EST

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s long and sometimes acrimonious divorce from the European Union ended Thursday with an economic split that leaves the EU smaller and the U.K. freer but more isolated in a turbulent world. Britain left the European bloc’s vast single market for people, goods and services...

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 25, 2020 file photo, a colleague wears a Christmas hat as European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier, center, carries a binder of the Brexit trade deal during a special meeting of Coreper, at the European Council building in Brussels. The European Union and the United Kingdom made public Saturday the vast agreement that is likely to govern future trade and cooperation between them from Jan. 1, setting the 27-nation bloc's relations with its former member country and neighbor on a new but far more distant footing. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool via AP, File)

EU, UK unveil vast trade pact set to enter force on Jan 1

Dec. 26, 2020 8:51 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and the United Kingdom made public Saturday the vast agreement that is likely to govern future trade and cooperation between them from Jan. 1, setting the 27-nation bloc’s relations with its former member country and neighbor on a new but far more distant footing....

A mother and child look at the line of trucks parked up on the M20, part of Operation Stack in Ashford, Kent, England, Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. Thousands wait to resume their journey across The Channel after the borders with France reopened. Trucks inched slowly past checkpoints in Dover and headed across the Channel to Calais on Thursday after France partially reopened its borders following a scare over a rapidly spreading new virus variant. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

British army helps clear backlog of virus-stranded drivers

Dec. 25, 2020 12:09 PM EST

LONDON (AP) — Around 1,000 British soldiers were spending Christmas Day trying to clear a huge backlog of truck drivers stuck in southeast England after France briefly closed its border to the U.K., then demanded coronavirus tests from all amid fears of a new, apparently more contagious, virus variant....

FILE -In this Friday, Jan. 31, 2020 file photo, the Union flag is folded and removed after being lowered from outside of the European Parliament in Brussels. Britain and the European Union have struck a provisional free-trade agreement that should avert New Year chaos for cross-border traders and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

What now for British economy with UK-EU trade deal reached?

Dec. 24, 2020 2:23 PM EST

LONDON (AP) — The last-minute trade deal between the U.K. and the European Union means businesses will be spared new tariffs and border disruption at the start of the new year - an economic shock that would have compounded the employment and financial troubles inflicted by the pandemic. News of the...

A man conducts a COVID-19 test on a driver at the Port of Dover in Kent, England, Thursday Dec. 24, 2020 where thousands wait to resume their journey across The Channel after the borders with France reopened. Trucks inched slowly past checkpoints in Dover and headed across the Channel to Calais on Thursday after France partially reopened its borders following a scare over a rapidly spreading new virus variant.(Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

Truckers finally leave UK after days of virus gridlock

Dec. 24, 2020 12:34 PM EST

DOVER, England (AP) — Truckers and travelers stuck in a days-long gridlock at the English port of Dover started heading to France on Thursday after the country partially reopened its borders with Britain following international concern over a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant. However, thousands of...

Vehicles wait at the entrance to the Port of Dover, that is blocked by police, as they queue to be allowed to leave, in Dover, England, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. Freight from Britain and passengers with a negative coronavirus test have begun arriving on French shores, after France relaxed a two-day blockade over a new virus variant. The blockade had isolated Britain, stranded thousands of drivers and raised fears of shortages (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Virus-linked isolation of UK eases but backlog persists

Dec. 23, 2020 2:04 PM EST

DOVER, England (AP) — Gridlock at an English port kept thousands of truckers and travelers stranded Wednesday despite a deal with France to lift a two-day blockade imposed because of a new variant of the coronavirus that had isolated Britain and raised fears of food shortages. While some goods and...

Lorries are parked near the port, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, after the Port of Dover, England, was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal suspended following the French government's announcement. France banned all travel from the UK for 48 hours from midnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England's south coast. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Cut off: Britain hit with travel bans over new virus strain

Dec. 21, 2020 6:33 PM EST

LONDON (AP) — Trucks waiting to get out of Britain backed up for miles and people were left stranded at airports Monday as dozens of countries around the world slapped tough travel restrictions on the U.K. because of a new and seemingly more contagious strain of the coronavirus in England. From Canada to...

Lorries are parked on the M20 near Folkestone, Kent, England as part of Operation Stack after the Port of Dover was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal suspended following the French government's announcement, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. France banned all travel from the UK for 48 hours from midnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England's south coast. (Steve Parsons/PA via AP)

For UK exporters, post-Brexit border chaos arrives early

Dec. 21, 2020 10:48 AM EST

LONDON (AP) — For some British truckers, retailers and traders, a feared New Year's nightmare arrived early. “French borders closed,“ signs on roads approaching the English Channel port of Dover flashed Monday, steering truck drivers away as traffic backed up. British supermarkets warned that...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. Von der Leyen said Wednesday she saw clear progress in the trade talks with the UK, turning a post-Brexit deal from a fleeting possibility into an ever more realistic possibility. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

EU chief von der Leyen sees narrow path toward Brexit deal

Dec. 16, 2020 9:51 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — After weeks of relentless pessimism, the European Union said Wednesday there was now a clear, if narrow, path to reaching an agreement with the United Kingdom on a post-Brexit trade deal that should avoid costly chaos on the borders at the end of the year. EU Commission President Ursula von...

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