United Kingdom

LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Merchant ships remained backed up in lanes around the Black Sea on Monday as ports struggled to clear backlogs amid growing unease among insurers and shipping companies a day after a Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo vessel.

Russia said its Vasily Bykov patrol ship on Sunday fired on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship's captain failed to respond to a request to halt for an inspection. After an inspection, the vessel continued its journey towards the Ukrainian port of Izmail along the Danube river, Russia said.

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Britain on Sunday warned citizens going to Sweden of possible terrorist attacks following Koran burnings by anti-Islam activists that have outraged Muslims.

In updated travel advice, Britain's foreign ministry said Swedish authorities had successfully disrupted some planned attacks and made arrests.

"You should be vigilant at this time," it said, adding that "terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden" with places visited by foreigners potential targets.

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Britain on Sunday warned citizens going to Sweden of possible terrorist attacks following Koran burnings by anti-Islam activists that have outraged Muslims.

In updated travel advice, Britain's foreign ministry said Swedish authorities had successfully disrupted some planned attacks and made arrests.

"You should be vigilant at this time," it said, adding that "terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden" with places visited by foreigners potential targets.

11 August 2023; MEMO: Britain has removed migrants from a residential barge less than a week after they moved in, after Legionella bacteria was found in the water supply, the government said on Friday, Reuters reports.

Britain had begun moving some migrants on to the large "Bibby Stockholm" barge on its southern coast at the beginning of the week as part of its high-profile strategy to deter asylum seekers from arriving in the country.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s plan to house asylum seekers on a barge moored off the south coast of England ran into another hurdle on Friday as authorities were forced to evacuate the first residents after legionella bacteria was found in the water system.

The move came just days after the first men were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm, a floating hostel that can accommodate up to 500 people, as part of a government effort to cut the cost of sheltering the growing number of people applying for asylum in Britain.

11 August 2023; AA: Thousands of junior doctors across England staged a walkout on Friday as part of their four-day strike due to an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) in England are staging a fifth round of strikes, walking out for a full 96 hours from 7:00 a.m. (0600GMT) on Friday until Tuesday morning.

The BMA members are also expected to hold a demonstration in central London later on Friday.

11 August 2023; AA: The British economy saw a 0.2% growth in the second quarter of the year, beating economists' expectations of zero growth, official figures showed on Friday.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), gross domestic product grew 0.5% in June, helped by the manufacturing sector, and 0.2% from April to June as a whole.

9 August 2023; MEMO: The UK and Turkiye have struck an agreement to "disrupt and dismantle" human smuggling and trafficking gangs across Europe, as well as the supply of small boat parts.

LONDON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Police officers in Northern Ireland have been left "incredibly vulnerable" after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) accidentally made public the private details of every staff member.

The surname, initial, rank or grade, work location and department of all PSNI staff, numbering around 10,000, were published online in error in response to a freedom of information request on Tuesday.

LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - "Hostile actors" targeted Britain's Electoral Commission in a complex cyber incident that involved hackers accessing internal emails and copies of voter data, the commission said on Tuesday.

The Electoral Commission, the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance, said the incident came to light last year.