England

LONDON (AP) — A senior British official was meeting with rival Northern Ireland party leaders Monday to press them to re-establish a power-sharing government amid uncertainty after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory in local elections.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis was holding talks with leaders of the five parties that formed the last Executive, or devolved government, before it collapsed in February.

LONDON (AP) — Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the country defend against Russian forces, officials said Sunday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries are expected to hold online talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later Sunday to discuss the further support.

The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germany’s surrender in 1945.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K., U.S. and Irish governments have urged rival parties in Northern Ireland to come together to resurrect its power-sharing government after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory to become the biggest party in Northern Ireland’s Assembly.

Sinn Fein, which seeks union with Ireland, won 27 seats in the 90-seat legislature, beating the Democratic Unionist Party, which secured 25 seats. It’s the first time in Northern Ireland’s history that an Irish nationalist party has topped the voting.

LONDON, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of England (BoE), the central bank of the United Kingdom (UK), on Thursday once again raised its benchmark interest rate to 1 percent, the highest level since 2009, to curb surging inflation.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on Wednesday and voted by a majority of 6-3 to increase the Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, the BoE said in a statement.

"Those members in the minority preferred to increase Bank Rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 1.25 percent," according to the statement.

LONDON (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries decided Thursday to gradually increase the flows they send to the world, even as Europe’s plan to sanction Russian oil threatens to yank millions of barrels off a global market already thirsty for crude.

LONDON (AP) — The militaries of Britain and Japan will “work more closely together” under a defense deal that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced during talks with his Japanese counterpart Thursday.

Johnson hosted Premier Fumio Kishida at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence. He noted the “strong stance” Japan has taken “against the Russian aggression in Ukraine” and he drew a parallel with the security situation in Asia.

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 15 million people were killed either by coronavirus or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems in the past two years, more than double the official death toll of 6 million. Most of the fatalities were in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas.

In a report Thursday, the U.N. agency’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the figure as “sobering,” saying it should prompt countries to invest more in their capacities to quell future health emergencies.

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed speculation that President Vladimir Putin planned to declare war against Ukraine and declare a national mobilisation on May 9 when Russia commemorates the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two.

LONDON (AP) — A British parliamentary committee scrutinizing draft online safety legislation has invited Elon Musk to discuss his plans to buy Twitter and the changes he’s proposing for the social media platform.

Parliament’s digital committee asked the Tesla CEO on Wednesday to give evidence about his proposals “in more depth.”

Musk said it’s too early to give an answer.

LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin put the West on notice on Tuesday that he could terminate exports and deals, the Kremlin's toughest response yet to the sanctions burden imposed by the United States and allies over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin, Russia's paramount leader since 1999, signed a broad decree on Tuesday which forbade the export of products and raw materials to people and entities on a sanctions list that he instructed the government to draw up within 10 days.