United Kingdom

LONDON, Aug 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled plans for a new fast-track visa route for “the brightest and best”, in a bid to attract the world’s top scientists to Britain after Brexit.

The “shake-up” of immigration rules is aimed at encouraging elite researchers and specialists in science, engineering and technology to immigrate, the premier’s Downing Street office said in a statement.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s main opposition leader is seeking a guarantee that Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t let the U.K. tumble out of the European Union during an election campaign.

Johnson says Britain will leave the EU as scheduled on Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Thursday accused him of planning “anti-democratic” maneuvers to get his way.

8 Aug 2019; MEMO: Israel must halt settlement expansion in contravention of international law, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said yesterday.

The British Foreign minister attacked Israel’s decision to build 2,304 new settlement-housing units on occupied West Bank lands.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. food industry is asking the government to set aside competition rules so companies can coordinate supply decisions to combat shortages in the event Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement on future trade relations.

The Food and Drink Federation said Wednesday it has asked the government to direct the Competition and Markets Authority to relax rules that prevent such coordination. It hasn’t yet received a response.

07 August 2019; AFP: Britain was seeking to fast-track a crucial post-Brexit trade deal with the United States on Wednesday after new Prime Minister Boris Johnson dispatched his top diplomat and foreign trade minister to Washington.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was due to hold talks with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo at the State Department while the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has lined up meetings with top American trade officials.

LONDON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Two British pilots set off Monday on a pioneering quest to circumnavigate the globe in an original WWII fighter aircraft.

The two intrepid aviators -- Matt Jones and Steve Brooks -- have left Goodwood Aerodrome in order to attempt to fly a Silver Spitfire around the world to cover a distance of 27,000 miles (about 43,500 km), taking in some of the most famous landmarks on the planet from the Grand Canyon in the West to the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji in the East.

WHALEY BRIDGE, United Kingdom, Aug 5 (NNN-BSS) – Another 55 homes have been evacuated from an English town threatened by a collapsing dam, emergency services said Sunday as they raced to reduce the water levels ahead of fresh storms.

Around 1,500 people had already been moved out of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire after part of the dam wall holding back the Toddbrook Reservoir above the town fell away on Thursday following heavy rain.

5 Aug 2019; MEMO: London Borough of Tower Hamlets refused to host the closing rally of the annual bike ride raising money for Palestinian children in the besieged Gaza over claims it would breach the IHRA’s anti-Semitism criteria, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

LONDON, August 3. /TASS/: The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office welcomes Washington’s second round of sanctions imposed on Russia over the Skripal case, new UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"We welcome unwavering US support today, with the introduction of Chemical & Biological Weapons Sanctions in response to Russia’s use of a deadly nerve agent in Salisbury. Continued global response shows we will not stand & watch these horrific weapons be used without consequences," Raab wrote.

04 August 2019; AFP: With its main rival hobbled by the worldwide grounding of a top-selling jet, Europe's Airbus could seem poised to emerge as the undisputed global aerospace leader.

Airbus has overtaken the American giant Boeing in some key benchmarks in 2019. And the company is now better positioned to move quickly on a new jet product.

Meanwhile, the American company is mired in efforts to get its crisis-stricken 737 MAX planes back in the sky after two deadly crashes.