England

LONDON/MOSCOW, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Europe needs to diversify its energy supplies, the head of NATO said on Sunday, as Britain warned it was "highly likely" that Russia, the continent's biggest natural gas supplier, was looking to invade Ukraine.

Russia has massed some 120,000 troops near its neighbour and demanded the western defence alliance pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the Western defence alliance.

LONDON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of black women killed in gun violence in the United States has been rising sharply, but no one seems to care, The Guardian said in a recent report.

While the killing of Brianna Kupfer, a white woman, in Los Angeles this month garnered national attention, the death of Tioni Theus, Breahna Stines and Marneysha Hamilton, all Black women, in two other separate killings in Los Angeles, received scant attention and were largely treated as local news, said the report released on Thursday.

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not been interviewed by the police about their investigation into alleged parties in his Downing Street residence during coronavirus lockdowns, his spokesman said on Thursday.

Asked if Johnson had been interviewed, the spokesman said: "No."

Johnson's office has not yet received civil servant Sue Gray's report into the possible lockdown breaches, he added.

LONDON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The British business community hopes that Britain and China will continue efforts to strengthen trade ties to benefit the peoples of both countries, as the two mark the 50th anniversary of ambassadorial diplomatic relations this year.

The remarks were made Wednesday during the "Icebreakers" 2022 Chinese New Year celebration jointly hosted online by the 48 Group Club, China Chamber of Commerce in the UK and China-Britain Business Council.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson was braced for the conclusions of an investigation into allegations of lockdown-breaching parties, a document that could help him end weeks of scandal and discontent, or bring his time in office to an abrupt close.

Senior civil servant Sue Gray could turn in her report to the government as soon as Wednesday. Johnson has previously promised to publish it in full and to address Parliament about its findings.

LONDON, January 25./TASS/: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that he was prepared to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin once again to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

"The truth is that if Russia’s goal is to keep NATO forces away from her borders, then if that is Russia’s goal, then invading Ukraine could scarcely be more counter-productive," the prime minister said as he gave a statement on the situation in Ukraine to the House of Commons.

LONDON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- British police said Tuesday they are investigating alleged parties held at Downing Street and Whitehall over the past two years during the country's lockdown, citing "deep public concern."

"I can confirm that the Met (Metropolitan Police) is now investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations," London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said.

LONDON (AP) — London police said Tuesday they were investigating Downing Street lockdown parties in 2020 to determine if U.K. government officials violated coronavirus restrictions, putting further pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Metropolitan Police Service has launched an inquiry into “a number of events” at Downing Street because they met the force’s criteria for investigating the “most serious and flagrant” breaches of COVID-19 rules, Commissioner Cressida Dick told the London Assembly, the capital’s local government council.

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fighting to shore up his premiership on Monday as he faced the publication later this week of an investigation into boozy parties at the heart of the British state during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority in more than 30 years, is now assailed by scandal, facing accusations that he and his staff partied during the worst pandemic for a century and a new accusation of racist discrimination in his party. 

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday was given the chance to challenge at Britain's highest court a decision allowing him to be extradited to the United States to face 18 criminal charges including breaking a spying law.

U.S. authorities want Australian-born Assange, 50, currently in jail in London as he awaits a ruling on his extradition, to face trial on 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables which they said had put lives in danger.