PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Aug. 19

- Public Health England will be scrapped as an independent agency under plans to create a new body responsible for dealing with pandemics and infectious diseases, health secretary Matt Hancock has announced. - UK universities have demanded the government provide "significant financial support" to those institutions that look set to lose students as a result of the government's U-turn over A-level grades.

The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines

- Brexit trade talks set to stall again over British truckers' EU access https://on.ft.com/3h8pLdO - Investigation into Alex Salmond was 'the right thing to do' https://on.ft.com/3haBLLY

- Public Health England rolled into new agency to tackle pandemics https://on.ft.com/3hlOsU4 - Universities demand financial support over A-level U-turn https://on.ft.com/322znR7

Overview - Brussels has rejected the UK's opening demands for continued wide-ranging access to the EU for British truckers, setting the stage for a clash when Brexit trade negotiations resume on Wednesday.

-Scotland's top civil servant on Tuesday defended a botched investigation by the Scottish government into harassment complaints against former first minister Alex Salmond, saying it was "the right thing to do". - Public Health England will be scrapped as an independent agency under plans to create a new body responsible for dealing with pandemics and infectious diseases, health secretary Matt Hancock has announced.

- UK universities have demanded the government provide "significant financial support" to those institutions that look set to lose students as a result of the government's U-turn over A-level grades. (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)