England

LONDON (AP) — Northern Ireland’s biggest political parties appear set to agree on a new government Thursday after ending a standoff that threatened to scuttle the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing administration.

The pro-British Democratic Unionist Party has picked Northern Ireland Assembly member Paul Givan as its choice of first minister. But the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein had threatened not to fill the post of deputy because of a feud about protections for the Irish language.

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Britain is keeping all options on the table as a response in a dispute with the European Union over part of their Brexit deal covering Northern Ireland, Brexit minister David Frost said on Wednesday, adding that talks were not making much progress.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he could trigger emergency measures in the Northern Ireland protocol after its implementation at the beginning of this year has seen disruption to trade between Britain and its province.

(Reuters) --- London's police corruptly concealed failings in the investigation of the 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, an 8-year inquiry into the handling of the case has found.

Morgan was found murdered in a pub car park in south-east London on March 10 1987, though no one has been brought to justice for the killing.

LONDON, June 13. /TASS/: G7 leaders have urged Belarusian authorities to hold "new free and fair elections," according to the final communique approved on Sunday after the three-day summit of leaders of the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, France and Japan in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall, UK.

(Reuters) --- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she hoped that a new Group of Seven task force can present first infrastructure projects in developing countries in 2022.

The world's seven most advanced economies signalled during the summit a desire to build a rival to China's multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative.

(Reuters) --- Western democracies are in a race to compete with autocratic governments, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

"We're in a contest, not with China per se, ... with autocrats, autocratic governments around the world, as to whether or not democracies can compete with them in a rapidly changing 21st century," Biden told a news conference at the conclusion of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Britain.

On China specifically, Biden said: "I think you're gonna see just straightforward dealing with China.

(Reuters) --- U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was correct to say that relations between their two nations were at their lowest point in years.

"Let me make it clear I think he's right it's a low point, and it depends on how he responds to acting consistent with international norms, which in many cases he has not," Biden told reporters at the conclusion of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Britain.

(Reuters) --- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the Group of Seven countries to help finance the World Health Organization’s programme to boost COVID-19 testing, diagnostics and vaccines, the presidency said on Sunday.

Ramaphosa, who has joined a summit of the club of rich democracies in England and addressed them on Saturday, said the G7 countries, which together account for more than half of global output, should support the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator to plug the $16.8 billion funding gap for this year.

FALMOUTH, England (AP) — Britain accused European Union leaders on Sunday of holding the “offensive” view that Northern Ireland is not fully part of the United Kingdom, as Brexit cast a shadow over the Group of Seven summit.

Britain and the EU are in a spat over post-Brexit trade arrangements that could see British sausages banned from entering Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that borders the 27-nation bloc. The dispute is raising political tensions in Northern Ireland, where some people identify as British and some as Irish.

(Reuters) --- French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Saturday to reset relations with Britain as long as Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands by the Brexit divorce deal he signed with the European Union.

Since Britain completed its exit from the EU late last year, relations with the bloc and particularly France have soured, with Macron becoming the most vocal critic of London's refusal to honour the terms of part of its Brexit deal.