United Kingdom

LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday met with more than a dozen mothers of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, telling those who had lost sons that he and the entire leadership shared their suffering.

The war in Ukraine has killed or wounded tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides, according to the United States, and the Russian invasion has triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis.

LONDON (AP) — Rishi Sunak has been Britain’s prime minister for a month. In the tumultuous world of U.K. politics in 2022, that’s an achievement.

Sunak, who took office a month ago Friday on Oct. 25, has steadied the nation after the brief term of predecessor Liz Truss. Britain’s first prime minister of color, Sunak has stabilized the economy, reassured allies from Washington to Kyiv and even soothed the European Union after years of sparring between Britain and the bloc.

24 Nov 2022; MEMO: Five pro-Palestine activists have been acquitted of the charge of "conspiracy to commit criminal damage" after a unanimous jury verdict in Southwark Crown Court in London. The defendants, who pleaded "not guilty" prior to the hearing, had to wait two years to be heard. They were acquitted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage for throwing red paint over the London HQ of an Israeli arms manufacturer.

LONDON, November 23. /TASS/: The UK Supreme Court denied Scotland the power to hold a new referendum on the region’s independence, Supreme Court President Robert Reed said on Wednesday.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Scotland does not have the power to hold a new referendum on independence without the consent of the British government. The judgment is a setback for the Scottish government’s campaign to break away from the United Kingdom.

The top court ruled that the Scottish Parliament “does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence.”

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - European traders are rushing to fill tanks in the region with Russian diesel before an EU ban begins in February, as alternative sources remain limited.

The European Union will ban Russian oil product imports, on which it relies heavily for its diesel, by Feb. 5. That will follow a ban on Russian crude taking effect in December.

19 Nov 2022; MEMO: A proposed visit by controversial Israeli politician Dan Meridor has provoked outrage at the University of Cambridge and the wider community. Meridor who served as deputy Israel prime minister to Benyamin Netanyahu during Israel's military assault on the Gaza Strip in 2012, is among a growing list of Israeli war crimes suspects who have, in the past, avoided visits to Britain for fear of arrest.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government on Friday defended its decision to hike taxes for millions of working people in the “squeezed middle” class as it tries to shore up an economy battered by double-digit inflation and the reckless tax-cutting of recently ousted Prime Minister Liz Truss.

LONDON, Nov 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The ball Argentine football star Diego Maradona punched through English keeper Peter Shilton’s fists to score the opening goal of the quarterfinal match the eventual champions went past during the Mexico 1986 World Cup sold Wednesday at auction for £2 million (US$2.4 million).

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has pledged help to the most vulnerable weather Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, even as he announced a raft of spending cuts and tax increases designed to mend the country’s battered finances.