Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Friday evening addressed the nation on Victory in Europe (VE) Day, marking 75 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, with the message: "Never give up, never despair", news wires reported.

The coronavirus pandemic has made an already difficult timeline for a British-European Union trade deal “virtually impossible”, Ireland’s foreign minister said, cautioning that he did wish to raise expectations of London seeking more time.

Britain has overtaken Italy to report the highest official death toll from coronavirus in Europe with more than 32,000 deaths, figures released on Tuesday showed. The high death toll could increase political pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who waited longer than other European leaders to order a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in March.

In an interview with the Sun on Sunday British PM Boris Johnson has revealed that the UK government had a "contingency plan" for his death as he fought Covid-19 in intensive care last month.

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his government's response to the novel coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, after a poll suggested two-thirds of British people thought strict social distancing measures were introduced too late, news wires reported.

The Swiss government is pressing ahead with re-opening measures including for sporting events, shops, restaurants and museums, it said on Wednesday, even as it bans events with more than 1,000 people through August to curb spread of the coronavirus.

Negotiations between the European Union and Britain over new trade arrangements from next year are at an impasse due to disagreements and the coronavirus crisis, diplomats and officials in Brussels told Reuters. Halted when the epidemic started, the EU’s tortuous Brexit talks with PM Boris Johnson’s government were renewed a week ago but have quickly hit snags, the sources said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to Downing Street in London late on Sunday, following his recovery from Covid-19, a government spokesperson confirmed to dpa. Johnson will resume work at the official London residence of the premier on Monday. He had been recuperating at Chequers, the prime minister's residence outside London, after being released from hospital on 12 April.

Pope Francis on Wednesday prayed for European unity ahead of a big EU summit on the bloc's response to the economic earthquake caused by the coronavirus emergency, ANSA reported.

Britain extended its nationwide lockdown on Thursday as stand-in leader Dominic Raab ordered Britons to stay at home for at least another three weeks to prevent the spread of a coronavirus outbreak which has already claimed over 138,000 lives globally. “We have just come too far, we’ve lost too many loved ones, we’ve already sacrificed far too much to ease up now, especially when we are beginning to see the evidence that our efforts are starting to pay off,” he told reporters.