United Kingdom

27 June 2022; MEMO: The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, accepted three lots of cash, totalling just over $3 million during meetings with Qatari billionaire and politician Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani.

June 27 (Reuters) - Russia sanctioned 43 Canadian citizens on Monday, barring them from entering the country in a tit-for-tat response to Western sanctions on Moscow.

The list, published by the foreign ministry, included the chairperson of Canada's governing Liberal Party, Suzanne Cowan, and the former governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, Mark Carney.

In April, Moscow sanctioned 61 Canadian officials and journalists. It has barred dozens of other Western politicians, journalists and business figures from entering Russia.

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, Russian state television reported on Sunday, in what would be the Russian leader's first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and led to severe financial sanctions from the West, which Putin says are a reason to build stronger trade ties with other powers such as China, India and Iran.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has traveled to Scotland and attended a ceremony Monday as part of a week of events.

The 96-year-old monarch, who has curtailed her public appearances in recent months because of ongoing problems in moving around, took part in the Ceremony of the Keys at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

The tradition sees the monarch handed the keys to the city and welcomed to her “ancient and hereditary kingdom of Scotland.”

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency.

In a statement Saturday, a WHO emergency committee said many aspects of the outbreak were “unusual” and acknowledged that monkeypox — which is endemic in some African countries — has been neglected for years.

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Information reviewed by the U.N. human rights office suggests Israeli security forces fired the shot that killed Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in May, not indiscriminate firing from Palestinians, a spokesperson said on Friday.

"It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation," Ravina Shamdasani told a briefing in Geneva.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a double blow as voters rejected his Conservative Party in two special elections dominated by questions about his leadership and ethics.

The party’s chairman quit after the results early Friday, saying the party “cannot carry on with business as usual.”

The centrist Liberal Democrats overturned a big Conservative majority to win the rural southwest England seat of Tiverton and Honiton, while the main opposition Labour Party reclaimed Wakefield in northern England from Johnson’s Tories.

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday criticised "the abuse" of international sanctions, while Russian President Vladimir Putin scolded the West for fomenting global crisis, with both leaders calling for greater BRICS cooperation.

Xi called on Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) to take up the responsibility conferred by their economic clout, and said they should stand up for a truly multinational international system based on the United Nations.

LONDON (AP) — As the World Health Organization convenes its emergency committee Thursday to consider if the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency, some experts say WHO’s decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the grotesque inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

LONDON (AP) — Millions of people in Britain faced disruption Thursday as railway staff staged their second national walkout this week.

The 24-hour strike by 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff canceled about four-fifths of passenger services across the country. A third walkout is planned for Saturday as part of Britain’s biggest and most disruptive railway strike in 30 years.