United Kingdom

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization’s Europe chief warned Friday that monkeypox cases in the region have tripled in the last two weeks and urged countries to do more to ensure the previously rare disease does not become entrenched on the continent.

Dr. Hans Kluge said in a statement that increased efforts were needed despite the U.N. health agency’s decision last week that the escalating outbreak did not yet warrant being declared a global health emergency.

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appealed against the British’s government decision last month to order his extradition to the U.S.

The appeal was filed Friday at the High Court, the latest twist in a decade-long legal saga sparked by his website’s publication of classified U.S. documents. No further details about the appeal were immediately available.

Assange’s supporters staged protests before his 51st birthday this weekend, with his wife Stella Assange among people who gathered outside the Home Office on Friday to call for his release from prison.

30 June 2022; MEMO: Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to abolish "unfair" sentences issued on Tuesday against 163 people, including ten people who were handed the death penalty, saying the sentences were "unfair" while the procedure was "marred by cases of enforced disappearance and torture, including of children".

Commenting on the sentences, Amna Guellali, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "Today's verdict is an insult to justice."

30 June 2022; MEMO: The United Kingdom has fined a UAE-based subsidiary of a company for violating sanctions on the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad, as London grows stricter on enforcing measures and penalties for sanction violations.

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Russia’s top prosecutor will be empowered to shut down media from countries that ban or restrict Russian news organisations under a law passed by the lower house of parliament on Thursday.

The bill - following bans by some Western governments on Russian media they regard as mouthpieces for President Vladimir Putin and cheerleaders for his war in Ukraine - creates a legal basis for Moscow to retaliate against the media of any country that restricts the activity of Russian journalists.

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday it had summoned the British ambassador to voice a strong protest against "offensive" British statements, including about alleged Russian threats to use nuclear weapons.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it issued the rebuke to Ambassador Deborah Bronnert over "the frankly boorish statements of the British leadership regarding Russia, its leader and official representatives of the authorities, as well as the Russian people".

28 June 2022; MEMO: A service honouring the life of journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, took place at St Bride's Church, the Journalists' Church, in London today.

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced plans on Tuesday for a second referendum to be held on Scottish independence in October next year, vowing to take legal action to ensure a vote if the British government tried to block it.

Sturgeon spoke as the Scottish government, which is led by her pro-independence Scottish National Party, published a referendum bill outlining plans for the secession vote to take place on Oct. 19, 2023.

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday denied hitting a shopping mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk with missiles, saying that it had struck a nearby depot of U.S. and European arms triggering an explosion which ignited a fire in the mall.

Ukraine said at least 18 people were killed on Monday by an intentional Russian missile strike against the shopping centre in Kremenchuk. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said more than 1,000 people were inside when the missiles struck.

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Russia's space agency published the coordinates of Western defence headquarters including the U.S. Pentagon and the venue of NATO's summit on Tuesday, saying Western satellite operators were working for Russia's enemy - Ukraine.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, told the Russian RIA Novosti news agency: "The entire conglomerate of private and state orbital groupings is now working exclusively for our enemy."

Members of the U.S.-led NATO alliance make no secret of the fact that they are sending weapons to help Ukraine resist Russia's invasion.