United Kingdom

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has presented awards to the pilots of two Su-27 fighter planes that intercepted a U.S. drone near the airspace around Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, his ministry said on Friday.

The drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after being intercepted by Russian jets, in the first known direct military encounter between Russia and the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Jim Ratcliffe toured Manchester United on Friday as part of his bid to buy the English soccer club.

The billionaire owner of INEOS jetted in for talks with club executives at Old Trafford, along with some of his closest advisors.

Ratcliffe was greeted by United chief executive Richard Arnold on Friday morning and will get a closer look at the club before submitting a formal offer to the Glazer family.

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) has been suspended from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for two years over what the ABPI on Thursday described as "serious breaches" of its code of practice.

ABPI's statement linked to a website of a self-regulatory body run by the association that pointed to a complaint alleging that Novo Nordisk had sponsored courses on weight management on LinkedIn for health professionals, without making clear the company's involvement.

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Binance is halting its sterling deposits and withdrawals, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday, a month after the world's largest crypto exchange ceased dollar transfers.

Binance has been informed by its partner for sterling transfers, Paysafe, that it would halt its services from May 22, the spokesperson said, impacting all Binance customers.

Sterling transfers for new users were stopped on Monday, it said.

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Global shares fell for a sixth day on Tuesday as a brewing U.S. banking crisis prompted investors to downgrade their expectations for interest rate hikes, even ahead of key inflation data later in the day.

As recently as a week ago, investors were just recovering from a reality-check that prompted many to assume that rates around the world were likely to head much higher and stay there for longer than previously expected.

BARNSLEY, England, March 14 (Reuters) - Frustrated with England's education system, Simon Biltcliffe spends a lot of time training new hires at his marketing firm in the "soft skills" he and many employers say the country's sluggish economy badly needs.

Finding that new starters often struggle to think on their feet, he sets them workplace challenges to learn to solve problems at pace and in teams. Many don't adapt, leading to high attrition after three- and six-month reviews.

LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- British stocks plunged on Monday, and the pound climbed against the U.S. dollar as the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse spooked financial markets and raised expectations that U.S. rate hikes would slow down.

The FTSE 100 index, the leading benchmark for blue chip companies listed in the United Kingdom (UK), ended the session down 2.58 percent, or 199.72 points, at 7,548.63. Standard Chartered and Barclays were among the worst performers.

13 Mar 2023; MEMO: Further pressure has been piled on former footballer and BBC Sports presenter, Gary Lineker, over a tweet last year in which he deplored the killing of a Palestinian footballer, with UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) slamming it as misleading.

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Britain approved a sharp increase in exports of submarine parts and technology last year to Taiwan as it upgrades its naval forces, a move that could impact British ties with China.

LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Had COVID-19 vaccines been shared equitably with the world, at least 1.3 million lives could have been saved in the first year of the rollout, or one preventable death every 24 seconds, an open letter said on Saturday.