United Kingdom

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - With virtually all the Kremlin's opponents already jailed or in exile, and liberal press outlets and human rights groups forced to shut down, it might have appeared that years of repression in Russia had achieved their objective.

But in the space of just three weeks, Russia's security services and courts have crossed several new thresholds in their campaign to destroy perceived enemies, spies and traitors.

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab resigned from the government on Friday following an independent investigation into complaints that he bullied colleagues, the latest scandal to force out one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's top ministers.

The loss of the third senior minister over their personal conduct in the last six months will damage Sunak's efforts to revive the governing Conservative Party's fortunes and is a major embarrassment as he had entered Downing Street in October promising a government of integrity.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Tuesday he was optimistic that one of Northern Ireland’s main political parties would soon end a boycott that has kept the regional government on ice for more than a year.

Clinton said he had met with Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson on Monday, and “I left that meeting more optimistic than I entered it.”

London, Apr 17 (PTI) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a watchdog inquiry under his parliamentary declaration of interest obligations related to a Budget policy that could benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interest in a childcare firm, it emerged on Monday.

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by parliament's standards watchdog over whether he properly declared his wife's shareholding in a childcare company which stands to benefit from new government policy.

Parliament's Commissioner for Standards began the investigation over a "declaration of interest" on April 13, according to a list of open inquiries on its website on Monday.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the U.K. and Ireland gathered in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord.

They met to remember a moment, said former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, “when history opened itself to hope,” in a Northern Ireland that has changed dramatically since 1998 — and where some wonder if the accord that created peace is still capable of sustaining it.

LONDON (AP) — Norwegian startup Freyr will first build batteries to power electric vehicles and store clean energy in a remote town near the Arctic Circle. Up next? An Atlanta suburb.

That’s because a new U.S. clean energy law offers generous tax credits — up to 40% of costs — in what is a “massive, massive incentive” for producing in America, CEO Tom Einar Jensen said.

LONDON (AP) — More than 6,000 British military personnel will take part in the coronation of King Charles III, the U.K. forces’ biggest ceremonial deployment in seven decades, the government said Sunday.

The Ministry of Defense said thousands of soldiers, sailors and aviators will escort the king and Camilla, the queen consort, between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey on their way to and from the May 6 ceremony.

London, Apr 15 (PTI) A jazzy toe-tapping composition entitled ‘Voices of the World’ will combine the diversity of tunes from across the Commonwealth as part of a range of special compositions chosen for King Charles III’s Coronation ceremony next month, Buckingham Palace revealed on Saturday.

Charles, 74, and Camilla, 75, are to be crowned Britain’s King and Queen at a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6.

LONDON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- During his visit to Belfast on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden called for the restoration of the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. However, analysts do not expect his plea to lead to significant change.

An effective devolved government reflects the people of Northern Ireland and is accountable to them, a government that works to find ways through hard problems together is going to draw even greater opportunity to this region, Biden said in a speech delivered at Ulster University.