United Kingdom

LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Liz Truss will accompany King Charles on a tour of Britain's four nations to lead days of national mourning for his mother, Queen Elizabeth, her spokesman said on Saturday.

Truss, who was appointed prime minister by Elizabeth on Tuesday in her last public act, was one of several senior lawmakers who swore a new oath of allegiance to the new king in a special session in parliament earlier on Saturday following the queen's death.

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Just before boarding a flight at Aberdeen on Friday, the morning after the death of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry put his arm around the shoulder of an airport worker who had expressed her sympathy while accompanying him across the tarmac.

It was a moment of warmth and informality characteristic of Harry, whose approachable persona long made him one of the most popular royals - until his decision to step back from royal duties caused a breach in the family that is far from resolved.

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III says he feels “profound sorrow” over the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and is vowing to carry on her “lifelong service” to the nation.

Charles is making his first address to the nation as monarch Friday. He became king on Thursday after the queen’s death.

“That promise of lifelong service I renew to all today,” he said. He delivered the address with a framed photo on the queen on a desk.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has been placed under medical supervision because doctors are “concerned for Her Majesty’s health,” Buckingham Palace said Thursday, as members of the royal family traveled to Scotland to be at the bedside of the 96-year-old monarch.

LONDON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Liz Truss said on Wednesday that she hopes to find a "negotiated solution" to the row between Britain and the European Union (EU) over post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland.

"My preference is for a negotiated solution, but it has to deliver all of the things we set out in the Northern Ireland protocol bill, what we cannot allow is this situation to drift," said Truss in her first Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons since taking over from Boris Johnson as the country's leader.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Liz Truss told Parliament on Wednesday that she would tackle Britain’s “very serious” energy crisis while still slashing taxes, ruling out imposing a windfall levy on oil companies to pay for her plans to offset the soaring cost of heating and electricity.

Truss rebuffed opposition calls for a new windfall tax, even as she refrained from explaining how she would fund a plan meant to help the public pay energy bills skyrocketing because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the economic aftershocks of COVID-19 and Brexit.

LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown in an awkward encounter with his military chief of staff on Tuesday as he inspected war games in Russia's Far East, thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine.

The Zvezda military news service published video of Putin and chief of staff General Valery Gerasimov entering an observation booth, sitting down with a wide space between them and maintaining an uncomfortable silence while waiting for Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to arrive.

LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Britain's new Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng as the new finance minister, her office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kwarteng, an ideological ally of Truss, has said that her government can afford to borrow more to fund support to households and businesses on their energy bills, but it will remain responsible with the public finances. 

He had been business and energy minister since January 2021, previously holding a junior role in the department, and he also worked in the Brexit ministry.

LONDON (AP) — Liz Truss became U.K. prime minister on Tuesday and immediately faced up to the enormous tasks ahead of her: curbing soaring prices, boosting the economy, easing labor unrest and fixing a national health care system burdened by long waiting lists and staff shortages.

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Monday blamed the West for triggering the worst European gas supply crisis ever and warned the Group of Seven advanced economies that Moscow would retaliate over its plan to impose a price cap on Russian oil.

Since he ordered the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin says the United States and its allies have embarked on economic war on Russia with the most severe sanctions in modern history, warning that they will face a energy crisis as a result.