United Kingdom

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Britain's easyJet (EZJ.L) said on Sunday it was operating flights as normal to Rhodes but was closely monitoring the wildfires on the Greek island.

"We advise customers travelling to and from Rhodes to check the status of their flights on Flight Tracker," it said in a statement.

It said it was working to comply with the requests of the local authorities and is in contact with its customers there.

LONDON (AP) — Environmentalists cautioned Britain’s main political parties on Sunday not to water down their climate change promises after a special election result widely seen as a thumbs-down from voters to a tax on polluting cars.

The governing Conservatives suffered two heavy defeats in a trio of by-elections for House of Commons seats on Thursday. But they managed to win the third contest, for a suburban London district, by focusing on a divisive green levy imposed by London’s Labour Party mayor.

LONDON (AP) — Russia has repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Ukrainian ports key to sending grain to the world. Moscow has declared large swaths of the Black Sea dangerous for shipping. Even the U.S. said ships are at risk of being targeted.

There is still interest from ship owners in carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea — if they can mitigate the risk, according to a major shipping group. And that’s a big if.

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's governing Conservatives lost two strategically important parliamentary seats on Friday but unexpectedly retained former leader Boris Johnson's old constituency in a setback for the opposition Labour Party.

The Conservatives' narrow victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip gave Sunak some breathing space to try to narrow Labour's large lead in the polls by tackling inflation and a cost-of-living crisis before a national vote expected next year.

LONDON (AP) — Voters weary of economic pain and political turmoil handed Britain’s governing Conservatives two thumping defeats Friday in a trio of special elections that point toward likely defeat for the party in the next national election.

The Conservatives avoided a wipeout by holding onto former premier Boris Johnson ‘s seat in suburban London — a sliver of comfort for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s party.

Sunak said the results showed that the next general election, due by the end of 2024, was not “a done deal.”

19 July 2023; MEMO: British Conservative MP, Tobias Ellwood, has praised the Taliban government in Afghanistan for "totally transforming" the country, calling for the United Kingdom to establish relations with and recognise the new Afghan authorities.

LONDON/GAYDON, England, July 19 (Reuters) - India's Tata Group will build an electric vehicle battery plant in Britain to supply its Jaguar Land Rover factories, delivering a major boost for a UK car industry in need of domestic battery production to help secure its future.

The announcement marks Britain's biggest move in the car gigafactory space as it seeks to keep up with the United States and European Union in the race to develop green industries.

LEEDS, Britain, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The China-Northern England Cooperation Forum was held here Monday, bringing together business representatives from China and Britain to explore new opportunities for cooperation in investment and trade.

At the forum themed "Partnership for a Prosperous Future," Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang noted that trade and investment relationship between China and Britain serves the fundamental interests of both sides.

He pointed out that thanks to the measures China has put in place more growth opportunities will be generated.

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's highly contested plan to make it easier to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is set to become law after the government defeated attempts by parliament's upper house to make changes to the legislation.

The Illegal Migration Bill had been stuck in a battle between parliament's House of Commons and the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper chamber, which had repeatedly made changes to the legislation to water it down.

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Singer Elton John appeared by videolink in a London court on Monday to give evidence at Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial.

Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court to 12 charges of sexual offences allegedly committed against four men in Britain between 2001 and 2013.

The offences allegedly took place at a time when he was mainly living and working in Britain, including from 2003 as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.