Page 8 - Uk

UK Opposition leader Badenoch picks Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary

Former British Indian home secretary Priti Patel has been chosen by the newly elected Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch as her shadow foreign secretary to join her top team on the Opposition benches in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Gujarati-origin Patel, 52, was one of the early contenders who went head-to-head in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory chief and Leader of the Opposition. With two other opponents in the election, Robert Jenrick and Mel Stride appointed shadow justice secretary and shadow chancellor respectively, Badenoch's picks for her frontbench is being seen as an attempt to unite a divided Conservative Party. Congratulations to Kemi Badenoch on her election as leader of our great Party, posted Patel on X over the weekend after the election result was declared. Let's all unite behind her to renew and earn back the trust of the British people. I look forward to supporting her in holding this dishonest and self-serving Labour government to account and in

UK may revive China trade talks. What caused the years-long freeze?

The UK froze ministerial-level dialogues, including the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) meetings, over human rights and security concerns

UK commercial property biz reviving, property sales to test market appetite

New office buildings are seeing robust demand, with investor M&G's new office towers at 40 Leadenhall in the City of London more than 80 per cent let

'Not my king': Indigenous Australian senator yells at visiting King Charles

An Indigenous senator told King Charles III that Australia is not his land as the British royal visited Australia's parliament on Monday. Sen. Lidia Thorpe was escorted out of a parliamentary reception for the royal couple after shouting that British colonisers have taken Indigenous land and bones. You committed genocide against our people," she shouted. Give us what you stole from us our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty. No treaty was ever struck between between British colonisers and Australia's Indigenous peoples. Charles spoke quietly with Albanese while security officials stopped Thorpe from approaching. This is not your land. You are not my king, Thorpe yelled as she was ushered from the hall. Thorpe is renowned for high-profile protest action. When she was affirmed as a senator in 2022, she wasn't allowed to describe the then-monarch as the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She briefly blocked

Will engage with China on matters of global interest: UK foreign secretary

The Foreign Secretary set out that as fellow Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, it is a necessity that the UK and China increase bilateral engagement

Zelenskyy to meet UK, Nato leaders as he seeks support for peace plan

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at 10 Downing St in London on Thursday for talks with the leaders of Britain and NATO on his victory plan for the war against Russia. Zelenskyy is meeting Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, before traveling to Paris for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. Zelenskyy says he will also meet the leaders of Germany and Italy this week to discuss the plan. He had been due to present his blueprint at a weekend meeting of Western leaders and defense ministers in Germany, but it has been postponed because U.S. President Joe Biden said he had to stay home to respond to Hurricane Milton' s landfall in Florida. Zelenskyy said Wednesday he hoped the meeting could be rescheduled soon. The details of Zelenskyy's plan have been kept quiet but contours have emerged, including the need for fast action on decisions Western allies have been mulling since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Zelenskyy said Wednesday at

British Foreign Secretary Lammy likely to visit China in bid to reset ties

Lammy, who has vowed to overhaul Britain's ties with China, will meet Chinese officials in Beijing and representatives of British firms in Shanghai

Following internal complaints in administration, Starmer replaces top aide

In an attempt to end the turbulence engulfing Britain's first Labour administration in 14 years, the prime minister on Sunday moved his chief of staff Sue Gray out of her role

Why India is still dependent on coal as UK shovels fossil fuel out

South Asian nation is shifting to clean energy but it is not phasing out the fossil fuel yet

Boris Johnson alleges Israel's Netanyahu spied on UK during his 2017 visit

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson said that his security team discovered a 'bug' in his personal bathroom after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used it during a 2017 meeting

Majority of Indian businesses view UK as key market for expansion

The UK is seen as a preferred international destination for expansion by a majority of Indian businesses, according to a new analysis by business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK released here on Wednesday. Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR), which surveys the expectations of around 3,500 senior executives in 31 economies every quarter, found that 89 per cent of mid-market Indian businesses referred to the UK in their growth preferences and 61 per cent of UK businesses had a similar view of India as a market for expansion. A proposed India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), currently in the fourteenth round of negotiations, is seen as holding out great potential to further boost this two-way business attraction. Businesses in both India and UK markets are setting their sights on the other as a key destination for global expansion, drawn by the two markets' strategic advantages and strong cultural connections, said Anuj Chande, Head of South Asia Business Group a

Hero MotoCorp's e-scooters to debut in the UK and EU markets in 2025

Indian automaker Hero MotoCorp will be entering the UK, France, and Spain markets with its Vida e-scooters

Export bans to subsidies: WTO nations inquire about India's agri policies

Nations including the US, UK, Japan, and Canada have sought answers from India about its continued export bans and other agricultural policies at the World Trade Organization (WTO)

First Budget won't undermine growth goal, says UK PM Keir Starmer

Unfunded commitments for spending are just as bad (as unfunded tax cuts) and likely to have the same impact on the economy.

UK's CMA clears Microsoft's staff hiring, partnership with Inflection AI

The CMA said that even before being bought, Inflection had a small portion of UK visits for chatbots and AI tools and, unlike its rivals, couldn't significantly grow or maintain its chatbot users

UK halts 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel amid Gaza conflict

Lammy clarified that it is not a complete ban on arms exports to Israel and that it continues to support Israel's right to self-defence, as per Al Jazeera

Content moderator sues TikTok in UK alleging toxic work environment

"I felt offended, harassed and degraded in a toxic work environment," Altamirano alleged. The stress allegedly lead to anxiety, depression and complications in her pregnancy

Visa figures reveal Indian students being put off applying to UK varsities

Indians may continue to top the tally of student visa grants but they are beginning to show signs of being put off applying to UK universities amid greater migration curbs, the latest Home Office statistics revealed on Thursday. The Home Office data for the past year until June 2024 shows a 23 per cent fall in Indian students coming to the UK for higher studies, even as they continue to represent the largest group granted leave to remain on the Graduate Route visa which allows foreign students to work in Britain for two years after their degree. This fall in Indian student numbers is the first indication of the impact of tighter curbs on the right of most student visa holders to bring along dependent family members, which came into effect earlier this year. There were 110,006 sponsored study visa grants to main applicants who were Indian nationals in the year ending June 2024 (25 per cent of the total), 32,687 fewer than the previous year, the Home Office statistics reveal. Most of

UK borrows more than expected in July, underlining challenge for FM Reeves

The figures did not include recent pay deals struck between the new Labour government, elected last month in a landslide victory, and public sector workers including junior doctors

Ship not under command after attacks target it in Red Sea: British military

A commercial ship travelling through the Red Sea came under repeated attack Wednesday, leaving the vessel not under command in an assault suspected to have been carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels, the British military said. Details remained few about the attack, though it comes during the Houthis' monthslong campaign targeting ships over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The attack saw men on small boats first open fire with small arms, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The ship also was hit by three projectiles, it added. The vessel reports being not under command, the UKMTO said, likely meaning it lost all power. No casualties reported. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take them hours or even days before their acknowledge one of their assaults. The Houthis have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sunk t