England

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III has asked that annual profits from a 1 billion-pound ($1.2 billion) Crown Estate windfarm deal be used for the public good rather than the royal family.

The Crown Estate confirmed Thursday that it had signed lease agreements for six offshore wind projects. Such a windfall would normally lead to a jump in funding for the royals under complex arrangements that support the activities of the monarchy in the U.K.

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The British government will block a bill passed by the Scottish parliament that makes it easier for people to change their legal gender, its Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said on Monday, the first time it has invoked the power to veto a Scottish law.

The move sparked a fresh argument with the devolved Scottish government, which has also been thwarted in its attempts to hold a new independence referendum.

LONDON, January 16./TASS/:  British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced on Monday that the UK would supply Ukraine with Bulldog personnel carriers, as well as additional drones and Starstreak air defense systems as part of the military aid package.

LONDON (AP) — British judges gave the go-ahead on Monday for the Court of Appeal to consider challenges to the U.K. government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda.

Two High Court judges ruled in December that the controversial policy is legal, rejecting a lawsuit from several asylum-seekers, aid groups and a border officials’ union. The same judges said Monday that the claimants can challenge that decision on issues including whether the plan is “systemically unfair” and whether asylum-seekers would be safe in Rwanda.

A drive-by shooting in central London wounded two children and four women, police said Sunday.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called Saturday afternoon to a church in the Euston area where a private memorial service was taking place. Police believe gunmen fired shotgun pellets from a moving car outside the church.

“People came here to attend a funeral, to be with friends and loved ones and mourn together. Instead, they were the victims of a senseless act of violence,” police superintendent Jack Rowlands said.

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Britain on Saturday called the execution by Iran of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari a barbaric act, and imposed sanctions on Iran's prosecutor general in response.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency had earlier reported the execution of the former Iranian deputy defence minister who had been sentenced to death on charges of spying for Britain.

Britain had said it should not follow through with the death penalty.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday promised to provide tanks and artillery systems to Ukraine, amid renewed missile attacks by Moscow targeting the Ukrainian capital and other cities.

Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement that he made the pledge to provide Challenger 2 tanks and other artillery systems after speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Friday to work constructively with Scotland’s leader despite tensions over her administration’s wish for a new independence referendum.

Sunak held private talks with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during his first visit to Scotland since taking power, saying that while they are “not going to agree on everything,” he believes there is scope for cooperation. Sturgeon’s relationship with Sunak’s two predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, had been frosty in light of Sturgeon’s demand for Scottish independence.

LONDON, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The British and Japanese prime ministers signed what Downing Street called a “hugely significant” new defence deal allowing UK troops to deploy in Japan as the pair met in London on Wednesday.

Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida signed the agreement at the Tower of London, with the UK leader telling his guest “the relationship between our two countries is stronger than ever, not just across trade and security but also our values”.

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The publisher of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper is applying to dismiss lawsuits brought by Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other individuals alleging phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy.

Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, has applied to London's High Court for the lawsuits – which were launched in October – to be thrown out without a trial, according to court documents.