England

LONDON (AP) — Two British opposition parties want to hold elections even earlier than Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed as they try to ensure the country doesn’t leave the European Union without an agreement.

The Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats say they will push for a Dec. 9 election, three days earlier than Johnson has proposed and years earlier than the next scheduled vote in 2022.

They also plan to ask EU leaders to extend the Brexit deadline to at least Jan. 31 to provide more time to debate Johnson’s withdrawal agreement.

LONDON (Reuters) - European Union leaders are willing to delay Brexit past next week’s Oct. 31 deadline, but have not agreed on how long the extension should be, Latvia’s foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, said on Saturday.

“There has been unanimous agreement that we need to extend the Brexit discussion. There is a big discussion of what is the best deadline, and I wouldn’t make drama out of it,” Rinkevics told the BBC in a radio interview.

LONDON, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- British police warned on Friday that press and social media speculation about the identities of the 39 people found dead in a lorry in Essex may hinder the investigation.

"This is a fast-moving investigation involving significant police resources dedicated to finding out the truth about what happened to the 39 people found dead in the lorry on Wednesday," said a statement by Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills of the Essex police on Friday evening.

LONDON (AP) — A fourth person was arrested in connection with the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a container truck in southeastern England, British police said Friday as the investigation into one of the country’s worst human smuggling cases geared up.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will push ahead with plans to leave the European Union and with the government’s domestic agenda even if lawmakers fail to back a snap election, his spokesman said on Friday.

However, the spokesman said the government may not bring any Brexit laws to parliament if he cannot agree with opposition parties a new timetable to pass the legislation.

On Thursday, a government spokesman said that if opposition parties do not agree to an election early next week then the government would do the “bare minimum”.

GRAYS, England (Reuters) - Police investigating the deaths of 39 people, believed to be Chinese nationals, found in a truck near London said they had arrested two people on Friday on suspicion of human trafficking and continued to quiz the driver as a murder suspect.

As China called on Britain to seek “severe punishment” for those involved in the deaths, police said they had detained a man and a woman, both aged 38, in Warrington, northwest England, on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and of 39 counts of manslaughter

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally abandoned his promise of an October Brexit and pinned his hopes on a December election.

Two days after lawmakers stymied Johnson’s latest attempt to pass his European Union divorce deal, he said Thursday that the only way to break Britain’s Brexit impasse was a general election. Johnson said he would ask lawmakers to vote Monday on a motion calling a national poll for Dec. 12.

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the death of 39 people found in a truck container in southeastern England (all times local):

3:30 a.m.

The Chinese Embassy in London says the nationalities of the 39 people found dead in a container truck in England have not been confirmed, appearing to contradict a police statement that they were Chinese.

A statement dated Friday on the embassy website said police are verifying the identity of the victims and their nationality still cannot be confirmed.

LONDON (AP) — British police expanded an investigation into one of the country’s deadliest cases of human smuggling after 39 people were found dead in a refrigerated container truck near an English port. Essex police said the victims were believed to be from China, though its embassy said their nationalities were still being verified.

The Essex Police force said 31 men and eight women were found dead in the truck early Wednesday at an industrial park in Grays, a town 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London.

LONDON (Reuters) - The 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London were Chinese, ITV News reported on Thursday, as police questioned the driver of the vehicle who was detained on suspicion of murder.

Paramedics and police found the bodies of 38 adults and one teenager early on Wednesday in a truck container on an industrial estate at Grays, about 20 miles (32 km) east of the British capital.