England

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been shadowed by career-threatening scandal for months — but so far he has escaped unscathed.

This week he faces one more threat to his political future: a comprehensive report into lockdown-breaching parties in government offices that is expected to be published within days.

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Britain's Conservative government needs to take measures now to help those most effected by a worsening cost-of-living crunch, former party leader and senior lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith said on Saturday.

British inflation surged last month to its highest annual rate since 1982, with consumer price inflation hitting 9% in April, putting finance minister Rishi Sunak under pressure to do more to help those struggling to pay rising food, fuel and energy bills. 

LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not intervened in an internal investigation into breaches of COVID-19 rules at his Downing Street office and residence, education minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Sunday.

Britain's opposition Labour Party has called on Johnson to explain why he met senior civil servant Sue Gray to discuss publication of her final report into parties held at Johnson's Downing Street office during COVID-19 lockdowns, which is expected next week.

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Britain there could be no U.S.-UK trade deal if it proceeds with plans to unilaterally scrap some of the rules governing trade with Northern Ireland.

Britain warned European Union authorities this week that it could discard post-Brexit regulations painstakingly negotiated with Brussels including border checks on some goods shipped from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - In a sign of Russia's urgent need to bolster its war effort in Ukraine, parliament said on Friday it would consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military.

The website of the State Duma, parliament's lower house, said the move would enable the military to utilise the skills of older professionals.

"For the use of high-precision weapons, the operation of weapons and military equipment, highly professional specialists are needed. Experience shows that they become such by the age of 40–45," it said.

LONDON (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing criticism from the leader of Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist party after saying Congress won’t approve a trade deal with the U.K. if Britain scraps the agreement governing post-Brexit trade on the Irish island.

The trans-Atlantic sparring follows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government announcing its intention to introduce legislation that would allow it to unilaterally suspend the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, an international agreement between Britain and the European Union.

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - British police ended their investigation on Thursday into COVID-19 lockdown parties held at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street office, having handed out 126 fines in a scandal that had called into question his leadership.

Johnson has faced widespread calls from opposition politicians and some in his own party for him to resign over the "partygate" scandal after it was revealed both he and officials had broken stringent laws his government had made.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that there was no threat to Russia if Sweden and Finland joined NATO but cautioned that Moscow would respond if the U.S.-led alliance bolstered military infrastructure in the new Nordic members.

Putin, Russia's paramount leader since 1999, has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastwards toward Russia's borders as a reason for the conflict of Ukraine.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that reported attempts by the U.S. FBI and CIA to recruit embassy staff in Washington were unacceptable.

Russia's ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, told state media that embassy employees had been threatened with physical violence, and were frequently badgered in the vicinity of the Embassy to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Central Intelligence Agency.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that Russia would respond if NATO began to bolster the military infrastructure of Sweden and Finland which have both decided to join the U.S. military alliance after the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin, Russia's paramount leader since the last day of 1999, has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastwards towards Russia's borders as a reason for the conflict of Ukraine.