United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s main opposition Labour Party will support a proposal made by a former Conservative lawmaker to withhold support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on Saturday until the formal ratification legislation has been passed by parliament.

A Labour spokeswoman said the party was backing the amendment to “stop Boris Johnson from sneaking through a no deal crash out ... and to stop a blackmail vote between his sell out deal and no deal.”

LONDON (Reuters) - The battle over Brexit spilled onto the streets of London on Saturday when tens of thousands of people gathered to demand a new referendum while lawmakers decided the fate of Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Protesters waving EU flags and carrying signs calling for Brexit to be halted gathered at London’s Park Lane before a march through the center of the capital to parliament.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed to lawmakers to back his last-minute Brexit deal in an extraordinary sitting of the British parliament on Saturday after his plans were plunged into chaos by his opponents’ moves to derail the legislation.

More than three years since the United Kingdom voted 52-48% to leave the European project, Johnson sought parliament’s approval for the divorce treaty he struck in Brussels on Thursday.

He said he was confident he had secured the best possible deal and there was little appetite for further delay.

LONDON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- London police officers do not sit on their hands in the face of hardened environmental protesters who reportedly had an intention to cause serious disruption over the past 10 days in the center of the British capital.

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Hundreds of protesters, organized by Extinction Rebellion, descended on Trafalgar Square again on Wednesday afternoon in defiance of a police "ban" on their "autumn uprising" protests in London.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Kate Nash says the time known as “The Troubles” never really ended in Northern Ireland.

While the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought an era of relative peace and prosperity to the U.K. region, paramilitary groups still exist and lower levels of violence continue to plague the community, says the 70-year-old grandmother who lost a brother in the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre.

LONDON, Oct 16 (APP): The speakers including High Commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom Mohammad Nafees Zakari and members of the British Parliament at a conference on Kashmir have called upon the international community and peace-loving nations, to put diplomatic pressure on India to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions on Kashmir for ensuring lasting peace and prosperity in the region.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged further below $59 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by concerns about weaker demand for fuel due to slower economic growth and forecasts of a further rise in U.S. crude inventories.

Prices gained some support due to signs from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that further curbs to oil supply could come in December. OPEC and its allies meet on Dec. 5-6 in Vienna to review output policy.

Brent crude LCOc1, the global benchmark, slipped 11 cents to $58.63 a barrel by 1045 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 gained 9 cents to $52.90.

LONDON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- British Royal Mail is facing the first national postal strike in a decade after its workers voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favor of industrial action in a dispute over job security and terms and conditions of employment.

Over 97 percent of votes from members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) backed action. The turnout was 76 percent. Most of the staff agreed to walk out in what they said a "fight of our lives".

LONDON (Reuters) - British police have ordered a halt to Extinction Rebellion protests in London after a week of civil disobedience by climate change activists who have targeted government building and major financial institutions.

“Any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion ‘Autumn Uprising’... must now cease their protest(s) within London,” the police said in a statement late on Monday.

Police said 1,445 people had been arrested in the protests so far.

LONDON, Oct 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A man described as one of Britain’s worst pedophiles has been found dead in jail.

Richard Huckle, 33, who claimed to have abused almost 200 Malaysian children, died at Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire, England on Sunday, the UK’s Ministry of Justice confirmed in a statement. UK media reported that Huckle had been stabbed to death.

Huckle received 22 life sentences at the Old Bailey in 2016 for offenses against children aged between six months and 12 years.