United Kingdom

15 May 2022; MEMO: In response to Shireen Abu Aqleh's murder by Israeli sniper, protesters today held 55 paper press jackets outside the BBC headquarters in London to represent the 55 journalists killed by Israel since 2000.

This was just one of several powerful visual representations of the ongoing Nakba in today's march for Palestine in London, attended by 15,000 people.

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that the West had announced a "total hybrid war" against Russia and it was hard to predict how long it would last.

In a speech on the 80th day since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lavrov pointed to the barrage of sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow and attempted to portray Russia as the target, not the perpetrator, of aggression.

13 May 2022; MEMO: Former British-Israeli treasurer of the UK's Conservative Party has been reported to authorities over suspicions of money laundering after a six-figure donation towards the prime minister's election campaign was apparently sourced from a Russian bank account.

LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it had imposed its latest round of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin's financial network, including his ex-wife and cousins.

"We are exposing and targeting the shady network propping up Putin's luxury lifestyle and tightening the vice on his inner circle," foreign minister Liz Truss said in a statement.

"We will keep going with sanctions on all those aiding and abetting Putin's aggression until Ukraine prevails."

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that Finland's bid to join NATO was a hostile move that "definitely" posed a threat to its security.

The Kremlin said it would respond but declined to spell out how, saying this would depend on how close NATO moves military assets towards the 1,300 km (800-mile) Finnish-Russian frontier.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia would need to take "retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop threats to its national security arising".

12 May 2022; MEMO: Voters in the UK will be lobbying parliament today, a day after Israel targeted Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, calling on MPs to end their complicity in Israeli apartheid and for sanctions on the occupation state.

11 May 2022; MEMO: British Home Secretary Priti Patel has served the first group of refugees crossing the English Channel with an official notice that they are "under consideration" for relocation to Rwanda to claim asylum.

The Home Office has said that any migrants arriving in Britain after Monday will be prioritised for the scheme.

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Asked if Russia would rule out a preemptive tactical nuclear strike on Ukraine, Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday that a decision on the possible use of nuclear weapons was clearly set out in Russia's military doctrine, RIA reported.

"We have a military doctrine - everything is written there," Alexander Grushko was quoted by state news agency RIA as saying.

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told regional officials on Tuesday to deal with forest fires in Siberia and said there could be no repeat of last year's fire season, the worst on record.

In an online meeting shown on state TV, Putin said the blazes were causing significant material damage and posing a threat to life, the environment and the economy.

Putin said: "We cannot allow a repeat of last year's situation, when forest fires were the most long-lasting and intensive of recent years."

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk, who is offering to buy Twitter, has given his support to a new European Union law aimed at protecting social media users from harmful content after he met with the bloc’s single market chief.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he outlined to Musk how the bloc’s online regulations aim to uphold free speech while also making sure whatever is illegal “will be forbidden in the digital space,” which Musk “fully agreed with.”