United Kingdom

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday promised to provide tanks and artillery systems to Ukraine, amid renewed missile attacks by Moscow targeting the Ukrainian capital and other cities.

Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement that he made the pledge to provide Challenger 2 tanks and other artillery systems after speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Friday to work constructively with Scotland’s leader despite tensions over her administration’s wish for a new independence referendum.

Sunak held private talks with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during his first visit to Scotland since taking power, saying that while they are “not going to agree on everything,” he believes there is scope for cooperation. Sturgeon’s relationship with Sunak’s two predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, had been frosty in light of Sturgeon’s demand for Scottish independence.

LONDON, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The British and Japanese prime ministers signed what Downing Street called a “hugely significant” new defence deal allowing UK troops to deploy in Japan as the pair met in London on Wednesday.

Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida signed the agreement at the Tower of London, with the UK leader telling his guest “the relationship between our two countries is stronger than ever, not just across trade and security but also our values”.

ABOYNE, Scotland, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles and Prince William made their first public appearances on Thursday since the release of the monarch's son Prince Harry's tell-all memoir and TV interviews in which he made accusations against them and other royals.

In his book "Spare", Harry divulges that he had begged his father not to marry his second wife Camilla, now the queen consort. The book also delivered numerous other revelations, including that elder brother and heir to the throne William had knocked him over during a heated argument.

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The publisher of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper is applying to dismiss lawsuits brought by Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other individuals alleging phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy.

Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, has applied to London's High Court for the lawsuits – which were launched in October – to be thrown out without a trial, according to court documents.

11 Jan 2023; MEMO: Britain's Minister for the Middle East, on Wednesday reiterated the UK's "continued support" for the Palestinian people and the commitment to two-state solution, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Minister Tariq Ahmad will visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories and have talks with the Palestinian Authority leadership, the Palestinian public, faith leaders and young people.

12 Jan 2023; MEMO: Amnesty International slammed Morocco, on Wednesday, for imprisoning migrants trying to cross into the Spanish exclave of Melilla, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights said, on Tuesday, that a Moroccan appellate court sentenced 13 migrants to three years in prison for storming the border fence of the Spanish-controlled city of Melilla in June 2022.

10 Jan 2023; MEMO: The British government has, so far, failed to deliver on its promise to resettle tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans in the United Kingdom over the coming years, a year after it made such guarantees following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

11 Jan 2023; MEMO: Amnesty International has criticised Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's "repressive" ban on raising the Palestinian flag in public places inside Israel as a "cowardly and expected attempt to obliterate the identity of the Palestinian people and a blatant violation of the United Nations charters and human rights."

NEWQUAY, England, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Britain's hopes of becoming a prime launch site for small satellites remain intact despite the failure of what would have been the first launch into orbit from western Europe, business minister Grant Shapps said on Tuesday.

Hours after the groundbreaking mission to launch nine satellites ended when a Virgin Orbit rocket launched from a jumbo jet suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit, Shapps said another attempt would follow.