Buckingham Palace and the Vatican said Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla had an unannounced meeting with Pope Francis during their state visit to Italy. Recall that Charles and Camilla had been due to make a formal state visit to the Vatican, but postponed their plans after doctors prescribed Francis two months of rest following the pontiff experienced a serious bout of double pneumonia. In a statement by the Vatican,…

UK markets have begun to rebound after Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause in his sweeping tariffs, though ministers insisted they would remain cautious in the face of instability. The FTSE 100 rose by more than 6% after stock markets opened in London on Thursday. Following a significant rally for markets in the US and Asia, after President Trump said he would be delaying tariffs on most nations for 90…

On his third day of a state visit to Italy, King Charles hailed Rome’s steadfastness in supporting Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion. The state visit has been seen as part of an ongoing effort by London to strengthen ties with its European allies amid global turbulence and rising instability. “Our countries have both stood by Ukraine in her hour of need and welcomed many thousands of Ukrainians requiring shelter,” he told…

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that his country is ready to temporarily shelter Palestinians hit by the war in Gaza, estimating there could be 1,000 in the first wave. Prabowo said he has instructed his foreign minister to quickly discuss with the Palestinian side and other parties about how to evacuate impacted Palestinians to Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country. “We are ready to evacuate the wounded, the traumatised, the…

The British retail tycoon Philip Green on Tuesday lost a legal case against the United Kingdom over the use of parliamentary privilege by facing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations. The case, which was said to be a test of the concept of parliamentary privilege, was launched after Lord Hain announced in the House of Lords in 2018 that Green had used the courts to obtain an interim injunction…

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with multiple sex offences including rape. Pc Dion Arnold was charged with four counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault following an investigation by Surrey Police. The charges relate to a report made earlier this year and to offences that allegedly happened while Arnold, who is attached to South West Command Unit, was…

UK-based kitchen and joinery supplier Howden Joinery said on Tuesday that Jackie Callaway will succeed Paul Hayes as the company’s new chief financial officer. Callaway, currently serving as the CFO of British thread manufacturer Coats Group is also set to join Howden as its board director on June 2. Hayes, who took on the role of Howden’s finance chief in late December 2020, will step down from both his position…

On Tuesday, April 8, the Duke of Sussex, 40, was seen arriving at the Royals Courts of Justice in central London for a two-day hearing as he appeals a High Court ruling regarding his security arrangements in the U.K. — a long-running legal battle that has contributed to ongoing tensions with his father, King Charles. Prince Harry, King Charles’ younger son, arrived at the Court of Appeal around an hour…

In a historic medical breakthrough, a baby girl named Amy has become the first child in the UK to be born from a womb transplant, after her mother received a donated uterus from her sister. Amy was delivered on February 27 at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London, two years after her mother, Grace Davidson, underwent a successful womb transplant. The life-changing procedure was made possible through the selfless…

Donald Trump imposed tariffs on islands mostly inhabited by penguins so that countries could not use them as loopholes, an official revealed. Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff for all countries and reciprocal tariffs against approximately 60 countries that he says contribute most to the U.S. trade deficit. The decision to place levies on the Heard and McDonald Island, which have no human inhabitants, raised eyebrows last week as countries…

Britain said it could consider closing hundreds of arms-length government agencies, as it looks to reform the state to cut costs and improve productivity in what it called “a new era of global instability”. Britain has over 300 hundreds of quangos, or quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations which are taxpayer-funded but not controlled by ministers, and include public bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive, Network Rail and the Migration Advisory…

UK house prices have suffered their steepest decline in a year as the market cools after a buyer rush to beat changes to stamp duty changes in England and Northern Ireland. The average price of a property fell by 0.5% last month to £296,699, the steepest decline in value since March last year, according to Halifax. It is the second consecutive month that house prices have fallen, as Britain’s biggest…