Author: LoveWorld UK

U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul after having a meeting with his South Korean counterpart to discuss on North Korea. Biegun, urged Pyongyang on Monday to return offers of talks, dismissing leader Kim Jong Un’s year-end deadline while highlighting Washington’s willingness to discuss “all issues of interest.” Biegun arrived in Seoul on Sunday amid speculation he might try to salvage negotiations by reaching out to North Korea, which has vowed to take an unspecified “new path” if Washington fails to soften its stance before the end of the year. Tension…

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address his new intake of Conservative MPs later as they arrive in Westminster to take their seats in Parliament. Many of the 109 new MPs won in areas traditionally held by Labour in Thursday’s election, which saw the Conservatives gain an 80-seat majority. Their first job will be to vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill that the PM intends to bring back before Christmas. Mr Johnson is also expected to carry out a mini cabinet reshuffle and he needs to fill posts made vacant by those who stood down ahead of the general election, including…

The UK is going to the polls for the country’s third general election in less than five years. The contest, the first to be held in December in nearly 100 years, follows those in 2015 and the snap election in 2017. Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened at 07 am. After the polls close at 10 pm, counting will begin straight away. Most results are due to be announced in the early hours of Friday morning. Elections in the UK traditionally take place every four or five years. But, in October, MPs voted…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks on course to win Thursday’s election though the race has tightened markedly and he can no longer be sure of a majority, according to opinion polls published on the eve of the vote. The Dec. 12 election has been described by all parties as Britain’s most important in memory, with Johnson calling for a big majority so he can swiftly pull Britain out of the European Union next month. The main opposition Labour Party promises a new referendum on Brexit as well as a renationalisation of utilities and railroads in its most left-wing platform…

Just days before Britain votes in an election he called to try to break the deadlock over Brexit, Johnson will repeat his desire to “finally get Brexit done” on a tour of traditionally Labour-supporting areas he hopes to win over. He will also hope to get his campaign back on track after he was criticised on Monday for his response to being shown a photo of a sick child lying on a hospital floor and after being heckled by a voter over his election tactics. Johnson has put his oft-repeated pledge for a quick Brexit at the heart of his…

Whoever leaked UK-U.S. trade papers online ahead of Britain’s general election took extensive precautions to cover their tracks, which experts who suspect Russia was behind the effort say points to a professional and well-planned operation. The heightened security measures, including a web of disposable email addresses and virtual phone numbers, are not typical of ordinary internet users and draw further parallels with a previous Russian information operation, said outside researchers and government officials. British intelligence officials are now investigating whether the documents, which detail negotiations between Britain and the United States over a future trade deal, were part of a…

Britain is looking at whether or not to decriminalise the penalty for non-payment of the 154.50-pound ($198) annual BBC “licence fee” tax on all television-watching households, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday questioned why the BBC should continue to be supported by the annual fee, one of the biggest hints to date that the funding of Britain’s main news provider could be upended. “What we are talking about as a first step is the decriminalisation of failing to pay the TV licence,” Buckland told BBC radio. He said people during election campaigning…

World No. 1 shipbuilding group Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co Ltd’s (267250.KS) $1.8 billion merger with rival shipbuilder Daewoo is expected to face a full-scale investigation in Europe due to serious EU antitrust concerns, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday. In January, Hyundai announced the deal to create the world’s biggest shipbuilder with a 21 percent market share, in part a response to the over-capacity in the industry. The European Commission will launch an investigation into the deal next week, the people said. Source: Reuters

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he would try to find a way to honour his promise to oppose Heathrow airport expansion by lying down in front of bulldozers but that it might be difficult for him. The British parliament has approved an expansion plan for Heathrow, including building the first full-length new runway in the London area for 70 years, but the plans are being challenged in the courts. Before he won the top job, Johnson opposed Heathrow expansion and promised to lie down before bulldozers to stop it. “On Heathrow, it’s a private-sector project which is…

The proceeds from Saudi Aramco’s record initial public offering have risen to $29.4 billion after the oil company exercised an option to sell 15% more stock, an executive at one of the banks leading the deal told Al Arabiya news channel on Monday. Wassim Al-Khatib, head of investment banking at the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank, National Commercial Bank (1180.SE), said the state-controlled oil giant had exercised the so-called over-allotment option. Aramco’s main IPO raised $25.6 billion on Thursday. “The final number of shares sold is 3.450 billion shares, and the final value of the deal is $29.4…