United Kingdom

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday was given the chance to challenge at Britain's highest court a decision allowing him to be extradited to the United States to face 18 criminal charges including breaking a spying law.

U.S. authorities want Australian-born Assange, 50, currently in jail in London as he awaits a ruling on his extradition, to face trial on 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables which they said had put lives in danger.

LONDON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain has begun to withdraw staff from its embassy in Kiev, the country's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said Monday.

Some embassy staff and dependents are being withdrawn from Ukraine, but the embassy remains open and will continue to carry out essential work, it said.

"The FCDO advise against all travel to Donetsk oblast, Luhansk oblast and Crimea. The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the rest of Ukraine," it said.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered an investigation into a Conservative lawmaker’s claim that she was fired from a government job in part because of her Muslim faith — the latest allegation of wrongdoing that is shaking the Conservative government and Johnson’s grip on power.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday his government will remove coronavirus testing requirements for vaccinated people arriving in England, news hailed by the travel industry as a big step back to normality.

Johnson said that “to show that this country is open for business, open for travelers, you will see changes so that people arriving no longer have to take tests if they have been vaccinated, if they have been double vaccinated.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is due to give details of the rule change later.

24 Jan 2022; MEMO: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a formal inquiry into Conservative lawmaker and former minister Nusrat Ghani's allegations that she was dismissed as minister because of her Islamic faith.

"The prime minister has asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by Nusrat Ghani MP," a statement from Downing Street said this morning.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there was a "deal to be done" on the Northern Ireland protocol that protects peace and works for all sides, ahead of a meeting with European Union Vice President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Monday.

Sefcovic told European lawmakers on Thursday that the bloc wanted to resolve the impasse with Britain over Northern Ireland's trading arrangements by the end of February before campaigning begins for elections in the province. 

LONDON (AP) — The British government on Saturday accused Russia of seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration, and said former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is being considered as a potential candidate.

Murayev is head of the small pro-Russian party Nashi, which currently has no seats in Ukraine’s parliament.

Britain’s Foreign Office named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services.

It’s unclear what means Britain believes Russia might use to install a friendly government in Kyiv.

22 Jan 2022; MEMO: Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in front of the Israeli embassy in London yesterday calling for an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. The protest in solidarity with residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood was organised by the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), Friends of al Aqsa (FOA), Muslim Association in Britain (MAB), CND, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Stop the War coalition.

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A British Conservative lawmaker said he would meet police to discuss his accusations that Boris Johnson's government had attempted to "blackmail" parliamentarians who were suspected of trying to force the prime minister from office.

William Wragg, chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and a member of Johnson's ruling party, said on Thursday some Conservatives had faced intimidation and blackmail from government representatives because of their desire to topple Johnson. 

LONDON (AP) — Revelations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff partied while Britain was in a coronavirus lockdown have provoked public outrage and led some members of his Conservative Party to consider ousting their leader.

If they manage to push Johnson out — or if he resigns — the party would hold a leadership contest to choose his replacement.

Here’s a look at who could rise if Johnson falls:

RISHI SUNAK, TREASURY CHIEF