United Kingdom

LONDON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain on Friday labelled the U.S. refusal to send a diplomat's wife back to Britain for trial a "denial of justice" over the death of 19-year-old Briton in a car crash.

In a statement, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government is disappointed about the U.S. decision not to extradite the car crash suspect Anne Sacoolas to Britain.

London, Jan 24 (AFP/PTI) Britain on Friday rebuked the United States for refusing to extradite a diplomat's wife charged over a car crash that killed a British teenager, calling it a "denial of justice".

The case of Anne Sacoolas has been a thorn in London's close relations with Washington, stirring up debates over the limits of diplomatic immunity in cases unrelated to national security.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Friday scolded the United States for refusing to extradite a U.S. diplomat’s wife who was involved in a car crash that killed a British teenager.

“I called the U.S. Ambassador earlier to express the government’s disappointment about this decision,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

“We feel this amounts to a denial of justice, and we believe Anne Sacoolas should return to the UK,” Raab said. “We are now urgently considering our options.”

LONDON (Reuters) - The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this year is likely to show one of the largest annual rises since measurements began in 1958, partly fueled by Australian bushfires, according to research by Britain’s Met Office.

The concentration of CO2 is expected to peak above 417 parts per million (ppm) this May, while the year’s average is expected to be around 414 ppm, up to nearly 3 ppm above the average for last year.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s tax policy is a matter for the British government, not the United States or the European Union, trade minister Liz Truss said on Thursday when asked about pressure from the U.S. administration over a planned digital tax.

“Let me be absolutely clear, UK tax policy is a matter for the UK Chancellor, it’s not a matter for the U.S. it’s not a matter for the EU, it’s not a matter for anybody else, and we will make the decisions that are right for Britain,” Truss said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Financial firms in Britain should be ready in case no trade agreement is struck with the European Union by December, a senior UK regulator said on Thursday.

Britain leaves the EU next week, followed by a “business as usual” transition that ends in December. Britain and the EU will formally begin trade talks in coming weeks.

“Firms still need to ensure they are prepared for a range of scenarios that may happen at the end of 2020,” said Nausicaa Delfas, executive director of international at the Financial Conduct Authority.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday on concern that the spread of a respiratory virus from China could lower fuel demand if it stunts economic growth in an echo of the SARS epidemic nearly 20 years ago.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 76 cents, or 1.2%, at $62.45 a barrel by 0950 GMT, having earlier touched their lowest since Dec. 4 after losing 2.1% in the previous session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 fell 85 cents, or 1.5%, to $55.89 a barrel after earlier falling to the lowest since Dec. 3. The contract declined 2.7% on Wednesday.

LONDON, Jan 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — After years of acrimonious debate, British lawmakers on Wednesday finally approved the terms of their country’s historic departure from the European Union — due in just nine days time.

MPs in the lower House of Commons had already backed the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which ratifies the divorce deal that Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck with Brussels last year.

But the unelected upper House of Lords made some changes this week, including on the rights of EU citizens and child refugees after Brexit.

London, Jan 19 (PTI) Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have signed up to a formal exit deal from the royal family, which will see them forsake their His and Her Royal Highness (HRH) titles and will no longer receive UK taxpayers' funding for their duties.

The deal, which comes into effect by spring in a few weeks' time, means the couple will no longer be representing the Queen in an official capacity.

LONDON (Reuters) - Move over revenue growth and dividend payouts: it’s time to take your portfolio’s temperature.

Policymakers are pushing investors to do more to ensure their portfolio choices help to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change by limiting planetary warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably to 1.5C.