Latest United Kingdom government News

The UK's contentious plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda is close to clearing Parliament

Mar. 18, 2024 18:21 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The British government hopes one last push can revive its stalled plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A bill aimed at overcoming a U.K. Supreme Court block on deportation flights returns to the House of Commons on Monday and could be passed into law within...

Wales' first Black leader is a testament to Britain's political diversity, but racism persists

Mar. 17, 2024 10:06 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Vaughan Gething's election as the next leader of Wales marks a milestone: For the first time, none of the U.K.’s four main governments is led by a white man. It’s a striking moment in a country still grappling with racism and the legacy of empire. ...

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels has targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden

Mar. 16, 2024 22:27 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels saw an explosive detonate near a ship early Sunday in the Gulf of Aden, potentially marking their latest assault on shipping through the crucial waterway leading to the Red Sea. The British military's...

Wales will get its first Black leader after Vaughan Gething wins a Welsh Labour Party contest

Mar. 16, 2024 16:25 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Vaughan Gething won the Welsh Labour Party leadership contest on Saturday, and is set to become the first Black leader of Wales’ semi-autonomous government. Gething, the son of a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, will be the first Black leader of a government in...

Attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targets a ship in the Red Sea, though its crew is reportedly safe

Mar. 16, 2024 00:02 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a tanker in the Red Sea early Friday but the ship's crew was unharmed, authorities said. It was the latest in the rebels’ campaign against shipping over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. ...

The British government wants to define extremism. Critics say it risks creating more division

Mar. 14, 2024 09:15 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The British government published a new official definition of “extremism” on Thursday, and said groups that get the label will be barred from receiving government funding. The move is in response to a surge in reports of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate speech...

UK government says it will back legislation to ban foreign state ownership of British newspapers

Mar. 13, 2024 17:07 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government said Wednesday it will back legislation banning foreign state ownership of British newspapers and magazines, a move that could upend a planned takeover by a United Arab Emirates-led consortium of the Telegraph Media Group. The development comes...

EU maritime force says it is shadowing a Bangladesh-flagged ship seized by pirates off Somali coast

Mar. 13, 2024 15:47 PM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The 23 crew members of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship boarded by pirates off Somalia this week have been taken hostage, and a European Union vessel is tracking the ship as it heads toward the coast, the EU's maritime security force said Wednesday. The...

UK and Texas pledge closer trade ties. A wider deal with the US government has stalled

Mar. 13, 2024 12:22 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Britain signed a trade agreement with Texas on Wednesday, the eighth the U.K. has inked with a U.S. state in the absence of a wider free trade deal with the U.S. government. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the document in London alongside U.K. Trade Secretary Kemi...

UK Conservatives say their biggest donor made racist comments, but they're not giving back his money

Mar. 13, 2024 11:15 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government said Wednesday that the party does not plan to give back 10 million pounds ($12.8 million) it received in the past year from a donor who made comments about a Black lawmaker that have been condemned as racist. The government is...