United kingdom
UK PM heads to Belfast amid deepening EU row
In a historic development, the role of Northern Ireland's first minister is set to be taken by the pro-Irish party Sinn Fein, after it triumphed in elections to...
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UK asylum reform bill set to become law
The House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament, passed the bill and rejected a last-minute amendment to the text, meaning it will now become law once it has gained royal assent.
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UK approves Valneva's COVID-19 vaccine
Valneva is the sixth coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the UK, after AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), and Novavax.
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UK probing claims of Russian chemical attack in Ukraine
Western officials have previously expressed concerns that Russia, finding its 24 February invasion of its neighbour grinding into a protracted conflict, could resort to more extreme measures, including chemical weapons.
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UK police to issue 20 initial 'Partygate' fines
London's Metropolitan Police said it would not be disclosing the number or identities of those being fined, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly not among those hit in the first wave of sanctions.
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Queen Elizabeth II could miss opening of parliament
The monarch, who turns 96 next month, lays out her government's legislative programme in a speech from a gilded throne in the House of Lords, in a ceremony filled with pomp and pageantry.
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UK regulator revokes RT's broadcasting licence
The move follows a similar ban imposed by the European Union and RT's operations in the United States shutting down earlier this month, as Western nations seek to punish and isolate Russia for its actions.
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Putin book tops UK bestsellers after Abramovich sued author
Catherine Belton's "Putin's People", first published in 2020, "is the number one bestselling NF (non-fiction) paperback in the UK", William Collins Books publishing director Arabella Pike said in a tweet.
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UK's 'festival of Brexit' begins, without nationalism
The festival called "Unboxed: Creativity in the UK" draws inspiration from arts, science, engineering, technology and mathematics.
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UK warns Putin could be tried for war crimes
The International Criminal Court in The Hague said Monday it was investigating after finding a 'reasonable basis' to suspect alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine since Russia seized the Crimea peninsula in 2014.
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UK defence minister says Putin has 'gone full tonto'
Ben Wallace made the candid comments suggesting Vladimir Putin had lost his mind while also comparing the Russian leader to Tsar Nicholas I, who struggled for allies during the Crimean War in the mid-19th century.
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UK's Johnson to scrap all COVID legal curbs as criticism mounts
Under the 'living with COVID' plan, the government says it intends this week to end a legal requirement for people to self-isolate when infected with the coronavirus.
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UK's Johnson to hold fresh talks on Ukraine: spokesman
The statement came after his defence minister suggested some nations were not taking a strong enough stand against Moscow, as fears grows among some western the countries that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.
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US, UK ramp up sanctions pressure on Russia over Ukraine
Fears of an imminent invasion have grown in recent days, despite denials from Moscow and pleas from Ukraine's president to avoid stirring "panic" over the massive Russian military build-up on the border.
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Texas hostage-taker named as British citizen as UK police arrest 2
The captor, who died in the 10-hour siege in the small town of Colleyville on Saturday, was named by the FBI as 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram.
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One in 20 people in UK have COVID: official data
An estimated 3.7 million people in the UK had the virus, up from 2.3 million the previous week, as the Omicron variant surged nationwide, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
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World powers make rare pledge to prevent nuclear weapons spread
'We believe strongly that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented,' said permanent UN Security Council members China, France, Russia, the UK and United States, adding: 'A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.'
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UK hospitals face 'considerable pressure' - Johnson
The UK saw record numbers of cases in the last days of 2021 though it has not released figures for the whole country this year.
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England vaccinates on Christmas Day as Omicron cases soar
At Redbridge Town Hall east of London, National Health Service staff wore Santa hats as they welcomed queues of people and administered jabs, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
