United Kingdom

LONDON (AP) — This was the week British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hoped to get a grip on his government after weeks of scandal. By Friday, he was struggling to hang on after a scathing report on lockdown-breaching parties and the departure of several top aides.

 LONDON, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain, France and Germany condemned a battery of “provocative” missile tests by North Korea and urged it to comply with UN resolutions ahead of Security Council talks.

  “We strongly condemn these provocative actions, which undermine regional as well as international peace and security and are in clear violation of multiple unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolutions,” the European powers said in a joint statement.

LONDON, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Top oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia announced another modest increase in output on Wednesday despite soaring crude prices and geopolitical tensions rattling the markets.

   The 23-nation OPEC+ group said in a statement that it will increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in March, the same amount as in previous months.

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Scotland will need checkpoints along its border with England for the first time in more than three centuries if it votes for independence and rejoins the European Union, according to a think tank report published on Thursday.

The pro-independence Scottish National Party, which heads the Scottish government, wants to hold a second referendum on breaking away from the United Kingdom by the end of next year.

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - One of the world's leading infectious disease experts said on Thursday the collapse of global collaboration during COVID-19 made the pandemic "far worse" and continues to put the world at greater pandemic risk than at any point in his working life.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust who quit as a UK government adviser in November, has previously bemoaned failures in international cooperation on COVID-19 but his new remarks amount to his strongest criticism yet of world leaders.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England raised interest rates for the second time in three months on Thursday, putting the United Kingdom far ahead of the rest of Europe and the U.S. in moving to tame surging inflation that is squeezing consumers and businesses.

The bank’s monetary policy committee boosted its key rate 0.5% from 0.25%. It also said it would stop reinvesting the proceeds from maturing securities in the 875 billion pounds ($1.19 trillion) of U.K. government bonds it has purchased to bolster the economy since the global financial crisis more than 10 years ago.

LONDON, Feb 2 (APP): Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Moazzam Ahmad Khan has stated that as the United Kingdom was Pakistan’s strategic partner, this partnership was deepening through growing linkages in diverse fields.

UK, being the 3rd largest export market for Pakistani products, accounted for approximately 8% of Pakistan’s global exports, he added.

LONDON, Feb 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The 23 members of the OPEC+ oil cartel, who meet on Wednesday, are expected to stick to their guns and increase output modestly as the price of crude surges.

  As in January, analysts expect the taps to be opened slightly, to the tune of an additional 400,000 barrels per day, Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Energy, said.

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Russia could use cyberattacks as part of its efforts to destabilise and further invade Ukraine, a White House cyber official visiting her European counterparts said on Wednesday.

Anne Neuberger, U.S. deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, was meeting European Union and NATO officials in Brussels to discuss the threat of cyber attacks against Ukraine by Russia.

"We've been warning for weeks and months, both publicly and privately" of potential attacks, Neuberger told a virtual news conference.

LONDON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- London has some of the most deprived communities in Britain, the capital's mayor said Wednesday as the British government unveiled the long-awaited plan to level up the country.