United Kingdom

LONDON, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Despite legal action from the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) said on Thursday that it will continue with its pause on border checks on goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"I can confirm we have received a reply from the UK. We will now analyze the reply before deciding on the next steps," European Commission spokesperson for EU-UK affairs Daniel Ferrie said on Thursday.

LONDON (AP) — The flood of grief from the death of Queen Elizabeth II forced the British government to call a temporarily halt to people joining a miles-long line to file past her coffin as it lay in state Friday, hours before King Charles III and his siblings were to stand vigil in the historic Westminster Hall.

A live tracker of the queue said it was “at capacity” and entry was being “paused” for six hours as waiting times reached 14 hours and the line stretched 5 miles (8km) from Parliament to Southwark Park in south London and then around the park.

LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament will consider summoning Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to face questioning in a closed session, senior lawmaker Sergei Mironov was cited as saying by Kommersant newspaper on Thursday.

It is virtually unknown for the State Duma to summon a defence minister to account for himself. However, Russia's armed forces have been openly criticised by military commentators this week after losing control of large parts of Ukraine's Kharkiv region to a lightning advance by Ukrainian forces. 

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of mourners waited for hours Thursday in a line that stretched for nearly 4 1/2 miles (7 kilometers) across London for the chance to spend a few minutes filing past Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin while she lays in state at Britain’s Parliament. King Charles III spent the day in private to reflect on his first week on the throne.

LONDON, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom (UK)'s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 9.9 percent in the 12 months to August 2022, a slight easing of the inflation rate and the first decline in nearly a year, official statistics showed Wednesday.

The inflation rate fell from the 40-year high of 10.1 percent in July, the first drop since September last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

HOVERING INFLATION

LONDON (AP) — Reports that up to 100 staff at King Charles III’s former residence could lose their jobs have drawn criticism of the British monarchy, within days of his accession to the throne.

The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday that dozens of staff at Clarence House, Charles’ former official residence, were given notice that their jobs were on the line. The report said the notices came in the midst of a busy period of transition as Charles and his wife Camilla, the queen consort, move to Buckingham Palace after Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin will leave Buckingham Palace for the last time Wednesday as it is taken amid somber pageantry on a horse-drawn gun carriage past crowds of mourners to the Houses of Parliament, where the late monarch will lie in state for four days.

Crowds began massing early along the flag-lined road outside the palace for the procession from the monarch’s official London residence to the historic Westminster Hall at Parliament. King Charles III and other members of the royal family will walk behind the coffin.

LONDON (AP) — A plane carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II landed in London, where crowds have gathered along a route to Buckingham Palace.

The military C-17 Globemaster touched down Tuesday evening at RAF Northolt, an air force base in the west of the city, about an hour after it left Edinburgh in Scotland. U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and a military honor guard were among those awaiting the arrival of the coffin at the base.

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — King Charles arrived in Edinburgh on Monday to accompany his late mother’s coffin on an emotion-charged procession through the historic heart of the Scottish capital to a cathedral where it will lie for 24 hours to allow the public to pay their last respects.

Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, were driven from the airport to the royal family’s official residence in Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin lay overnight in the Throne Room.

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — In a somber, regal procession, Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin was driven slowly through the Scottish countryside Sunday from her beloved Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Mourners packed city streets and highway bridges or lined rural roads with cars and tractors to take part in a historic goodbye to the monarch who had reigned for 70 years.