Latest United Kingdom government News

Suspected Yemen Houthi attack targets vessel in waters further away than many previous assaults

Jun. 24, 2024 03:24 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A possible attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday targeted a ship further away from nearly all of the previous assaults they've launched in the Gulf of Aden, officials said, potentially part of a widening escalation by the group. The attack...

Aerial drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels hits ship in the Red Sea, causing damage and injuries

Jun. 23, 2024 23:04 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An aerial drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck and damaged a vessel in the Red Sea on Sunday, officials said, the latest attack by the group targeting shipping in the vital maritime corridor. The attack comes as the U.S. has sent the...

UK election betting scandal widens as a fourth Conservative Party official reportedly investigated

Jun. 23, 2024 09:43 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The chief data officer of Britain's Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported Sunday, following growing allegations that the governing party's members used inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election before it was...

Yemen's Houthi rebels target ship in the Gulf of Aden as the Eisenhower aircraft carrier heads home

Jun. 22, 2024 21:03 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden but apparently caused no damage, authorities said Saturday, in the latest strike on the shipping lane by the group. The Houthi attack comes after the...

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, criticized for saying West provoked Putin to invade Ukraine

Jun. 22, 2024 08:35 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform U.K party, is facing wide-ranging criticism across the political spectrum over his claim that the West provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, including of being an appeaser. In a BBC television...

Bather, beware: British beaches and rivers have a sewage problem. It has seeped into election talk

Jun. 21, 2024 17:29 PM EDT

HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England (AP) — Endurance swimmer Joan Fennelly is undaunted by frigid water and long distances, swimming year-round in the wild. But she takes extra precautions in her own backyard. The River Thames is one of Britain's many waterways contaminated with sewage and agricultural...

What happened this week in the UK election campaign, from a betting controversy to Farage's ambition

Jun. 21, 2024 10:54 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The U.K.'s general election campaign is less than two weeks away now, and the prevailing trends don't appear to have changed much. The left-of-center Labour Party is the clear favorite to defeat Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives, with Keir Starmer looking set...

British Prime Minister Sunak says he's 'incredibly' angry over election date betting accusations

Jun. 20, 2024 19:10 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday that anyone involved in using inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election should be expelled from his Conservative Party. Sunak said on the BBC that he was “incredibly angry,...

Bank of England keeps main interest rate at 16-year high of 5.25% despite inflation fall

Jun. 20, 2024 09:57 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England on Thursday kept its main interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% even though inflation has fallen to its target of 2%, with several policymakers warning that a premature cut could stoke another bout of price rises. For the second meeting in a...

Stock markets buckle from Paris to Mumbai under stress of election results: Will the US be next?

Jun. 20, 2024 08:11 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Elections have consequences for financial markets. But what that means for investors is often hard to predict. Just look at France, where the threat of electoral losses for the president’s centrist party recently sent the French stock market to its worst week in...