United Kingdom

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The poster child of China's property crisis China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) was officially declared in default by credit rating agency S&P Global on Friday after the sprawling firm missed a bond payment earlier this month.

"We assess that China Evergrande Group and its offshore financing arm Tianji Holding Ltd. have failed to make coupon payments for their outstanding U.S.-dollar senior notes," S&P said in a statement.

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc was marketing a collection of President Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on its Chinese website about two years ago, when Beijing delivered an edict, according to two people familiar with the incident. The American e-commerce giant must stop allowing any customer ratings and reviews in China.

A negative review of Xi's book prompted the demand, one of the people said. "I think the issue was anything under five stars," the highest rating in Amazon's five-point system, said the other person.

LONDON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a major upset in his premiership on Friday when his ruling Conservative Party lost a "safe" seat in a by-election.

The minority Liberal Democrats won the North Shropshire parliamentary seat with a margin of 5,925 votes, overturning a 23,000 majority the Conservatives gained in the 2019 general election.

17 Dec 2021; MEMO: UK MP Robert Jenrick said that legislation would be passed to outlaw Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The comments were made at the Leadership Dialogue Institute (LDI), described on its website as a 'private diplomatic channel' to strengthen ties between the UK, Israel and Australia.

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said on Wednesday that the Omicron coronavirus variant posed a really serious threat and that what health officials already knew about was "bad".

"This is a really serious threat at the moment. The how big a threat - there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad," Whitty told a news conference.

"And the principle one being the speed at which this is moving, it is moving at an absolutely phenomenal pace."

LONDON (AP) — An independent, unofficial body set up by a prominent British barrister to assess evidence on China’s alleged rights abuses against the Uyghur people concluded Thursday that the Chinese government committed genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Uyghur Tribunal, made up of lawyers, academics and businesspeople, doesn’t have any government backing or powers to sanction or punish China. But organizers hope the process of publicly laying out evidence will compel international action to tackle Beijing’s policies against the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group.

LONDON (AP) — Spiraling infections in Britain driven in part by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus sent shockwaves Thursday into the rest of Europe, fueling a familiar dread that tighter restrictions will scuttle holiday plans again this year.

LONDON, December 15. /TASS/: Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexey Danilov said that there was no evidence that Russia was preparing an imminent invasion of Ukrainian territory.

LONDON (AP) — A public inquiry into Britain’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic will be led by a retired judge and start next year, the U.K. government announced Wednesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said former Court of Appeal judge Heather Hallett will chair the COVID-19 inquiry, which is due to begin in spring 2022.

“She brings a wealth of experience to the role and I know shares my determination that the inquiry examines in a forensic and thoroughgoing way the government’s response to the pandemic,” Johnson said.

LONDON (AP) — Behind a heavy oak door in Parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson implored Conservative lawmakers to back him by voting for new restrictions to help slow the fast-spreading omicron variant.