United Kingdom

LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will travel to Malaysia on Sunday as part of a week-long visit to southeast Asia aimed at deepening economic and security ties in the region, her office said.

Truss will also visit Thailand and Indonesia, chosen to reflect their "growing economic and diplomatic heft", as post-Brexit Britain looks to strengthen relations with nations and regions beyond Europe.

"I want to position Britain where the future growth is and to think about who our major partners will be in 2050 and beyond," Truss said in a statement.

LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government rejected fresh accusations of corruption on Sunday after a newspaper investigation found major donors to his Conservative Party were offered seats in parliament's upper chamber.

The government has been embroiled in a corruption row over the past week, with Johnson forced to abandoned plans pushed through parliament to protect one of his lawmakers who was found to have broken lobbying rules. 

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — As this year’s U.N. climate talks go into their second week, negotiations on key topics are inching forward. Boosted by a few high-profile announcements at the start of the meeting, delegates are upbeat about the prospects for tangible progress in the fight against global warming.

Laurent Fabius, the former French foreign minister who helped forge the Paris climate accord, said the general atmosphere had improved since the talks began Oct. 31 and “most negotiators want an agreement.”

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister John Major on Saturday attacked fellow Conservative Boris Johnson's handling of a corruption row, saying the government's behaviour was arrogant, broke the law and was "politically corrupt".

Johnson was forced to make a U-turn after he abandoned plans pushed through parliament to protect a lawmaker found to have broken lobbying rules.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — The public pressure that helped spur more world action on global warming is due to be on full display outside the U.N. climate summit Saturday, when thousands of demonstrators are expected to march through the rainy grey streets of Glasgow to demand leaders move faster to cut fossil fuels that are wrecking the climate.

LONDON/BRUSSELS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Friday that Britain had made no move to seek a compromise on post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland and cautioned London against triggering emergency unilateral provisions in the Brexit deal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit negotiator David Frost ruled out immediately triggering such provisions, a move that would sour ties with the EU, concern the United States and anger Ireland.

But Frost made clear he wanted Brussels to offer more.

GLASGOW, Britain, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The British capital welcomes Chinese investment, including in the city's infrastructure, Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn has said.

Asked about the concerns by some British politicians over Chinese investment, Kahn said Thursday that Chinese investment has been contributing to the growth of the city.

London has "invested hugely" in the expansion of its transportation system and "Chinese companies helped us with the electric buses, electric taxis. It is a working partnership", he told reporters in Glasgow, Scotland.

LONDON (AA) - The UK became the first country in the world to approve a COVID-19 treatment pill that can be taken at home when Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the treatment on Thursday.

The pill, taken orally, is called molnupiravir, and was developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck Sharp & Dohme.

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Today is a historic day for our country, as the UK is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for COVID-19.

LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The British lawmaker Owen Paterson, who was found guilty of breaking paid lobbying rules, has decided to resign from parliament, the BBC reported on Thursday.

"I maintain that I am totally innocent of what I have been accused of and I acted at all times in the interests of public health and safety," he said according to the BBC.

GLASGOW, Britain, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States continue their dialogue and exchanges on tackling climate change here at the ongoing 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

China is represented by Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, and Zhao Yingmin, head of the Chinese delegation to COP26 and vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the United States by John Kerry, U.S. special presidential envoy for climate.