Britain’s new left-leaning government says the nation is “broke and broken,” blaming the situation on its predecessors ahead of a major speech on the state of the public finances that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.

Britain’s new justice secretary has outlined emergency plans to relieve prison overcrowding, including the early release of thousands of prisoners.

British officials say the names and bank details of thousands of serving British soldiers, sailors and air force members have been exposed in a data breach at a payroll system.

British Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt is seeking to bolster spirits within his Conservative Party with a series of tax cuts that he hopes can turn the political tide ahead of a general election this year.

U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt says the government can afford to lower some taxes now that inflation is falling.

One of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s staunchest Cabinet allies has been named defense U.K. secretary.

New Zealand has removed the last of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions, marking the end of a government response to the pandemic that was watched closely around the world.

The United States has Air Force One.

The British government has hailed an era of cheaper Australian wine and New Zealand kiwi fruit as free-trade agreements with the two southern hemisphere nations took effect.

A man was arrested after a car collided with the gates of Downing Street in central London, where the British prime minister’s home and offices are located.

The International Monetary Fund says the British economy will avoid falling into recession this year.

The U.K. government has scrapped plan to remove all remaining EU laws from British statute books by the end of this year.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he wants to reverse an anti-math mindset and require the subject for students until they are 18.

A civil rights group is urging U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to follow through on promises made to thousands of people of Caribbean descent who were wrongly targeted as illegal migrants in the so-called Windrush scandal.

Britain’s former health minister is denying wrongdoing after a newspaper published extracts of private messages he sent in the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee has pushed back against the mayor of Paris by insisting there are no plans for "a Russian or Belarusian delegation” at the 2024 Games while also acknowledging that some athletes from those countries could be welcomed.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss says her failure wasn’t her fault.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss will join the former leaders of Australia and Belgium at a conference in Tokyo later this month to call for a tougher international approach to China.

The U.K. government says it will hold a public inquiry into whether the deadliest bombing in Northern Ireland’s decades of violence could have been prevented.

Up to half a million workers are estimated to be on strike across the U.K. in the biggest day of industrial action Britain has seen in more than a decade.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reversed an earlier decision not to attend the U.N. climate summit in Egypt.

Britain has sent a Royal Navy ship to patrol the North Sea, as Western allies try to increase protection for undersea pipelines and cables after blasts ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

EU lawmakers have a new reason to be annoyed with Britain: British sewage overflows seeping into the English Channel and North Sea.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior ministers have held inconclusive talks with energy companies amid mounting pressure to help people cope with soaring gas and electricity prices.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to resign after being fined for breaking his government's pandemic lockdown rules.

Britain’s treasury chief is defending his spending priorities after critics attacked him for not doing enough to help families struggling with the biggest cut in living standards on record.

Britain’s Treasury chief has announced a package of tax cuts and support payments that fell far short of what consumer advocates had demanded to shield working families from the soaring cost of living.

All government-mandated coronavirus restrictions have ended in England, including the legal requirement for people who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate at home.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received a questionnaire from London’s Metropolitan Police as part of the investigation into parties in Downing Street during COVID lockdowns.

Britain’s energy regulator says a cap on energy prices is going up by a record 54% because of soaring costs of wholesale natural gas.

Boris Johnson’s office has apologized to the royal family for a lockdown-breaching staff parties in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philips funeral.

A senior member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet has resigned, adding to a sense of disarray within a government that has faced rebellion from his own lawmakers and voters this week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that Britain faces a “tidal wave” of infections from the omicron coronavirus variant and he has announced a huge increase in booster vaccinations to strengthen defenses against it.

Climate protesters have chained themselves to an oil-spattered effigy of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urge him to block plans to drill for oil west of the Shetland Islands.

A man who accosted England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty in a London park has pleaded guilty to assault.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will spend 10 days self-isolating after contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that all remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week despite a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.

The British government plans to give itself powers to turn asylum-seekers back at sea or send them abroad while their applications for protection are processed.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies have a lot to talk about when they gather in London starting Friday.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has urged global cooperation to combat cyberattacks by “hostile state actors" and criminal gangs.

The Biden administration is asserting that the fate of indirect nuclear talks with Iran is now solely up to Tehran.

A flurry of diplomatic activity and reports of major progress suggest indirect talks between the United States and Iran may be nearing a conclusion.

The commission behind a report that concluded that Britain does not have a systemic problem with racism has defended itself against critics, some of whom have argued that it downplayed the country’s historic role in slavery.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, FILE)LONDON – The most senior Black adviser to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned, the government said Thursday, the day after a report on racial disparities concluded that Britain does not have a systemic problem with racism. But Simon Woolley, a former government equalities adviser and a member of the U.K. House of Lords, said Kasumu’s exit was connected to the “grubby” and “divisive” report. The Conservative government launched the inquiry into racial disparities in the wake of anti-racism protests last year. The panel of experts concluded that while “outright racism” exists in Britain, the country is not “institutionally racist” or “rigged” against ethnic minorities. “There are very serious issues that our society faces to do with racism that we need to address,” he said.

The British government has announced plans to toughen immigration rules to make it harder for people who arrive by unauthorized routes such as small boats and truck stowaways to be given asylum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool, File)LONDON – The British government said Wednesday it will toughen immigration rules to make it harder for people who arrive by unauthorized routes such as small boats and truck stowaways to be given asylum. In 2020, about 8,500 people arrived in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats, and several died trying to make the journey. The U.K. government says 35,099 people made asylum applications in Britain in the year to March 2020. Since leaving the European Union, the U.K. no longer has a deal with its European neighbors to return people who have snuck across the Channel.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a televised press conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Johnson said the government's plan would move the country “cautiously but irreversibly” out of lockdown. “We are now traveling on a one-way road to freedom,” he said at a televised news conference. Three weeks later, people will be able to meet in small groups outdoors for sports or relaxation. “I can’t guarantee that it is going to be irreversible, but the intention is that it should be" he said.

The U.K. government said Monday Feb. 8, 2021, that Britains official terrorism threat level has been lowered, to reflect the decreased threat of attacks in Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, pool)LONDON – Britain’s official terrorism threat level has been lowered from “severe” to “substantial” because the tempo of attacks in Europe has lessened. In November, the threat level was raised to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, after deadly attacks in Austria and France. She said that despite the lowered level, “terrorism remains one of the most direct and immediate risks to our national security.”The center, which was established in 2003, sets the threat level based on intelligence about international terrorism at home and overseas. AdThe U.K. level has been at severe most of the time since 2014, briefly rising to “critical” amid violent attacks in 2017.

Treasury chief Sunak has committed to ending the widely unpopular tax on womens sanitary products, but the change could only take effect Friday Jan 1, 2021, after Britain had finally left the economic orbit of the EU. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, FILE)LONDON – Britain on Friday became the latest country to abolish the so-called "tampon tax,” eliminating sales taxes on women's sanitary products. “Sanitary products are essential, so it’s right that we do not charge VAT,” said Sunak. They pointed to the abolition of the tampon tax as an early positive change from Brexit. Many other countries have also eliminated the tampon tax, including Australia, Canada and India.

On fisheries, the EU has repeatedly said it wants an agreement that guarantees a reciprocal access to markets and waters. EU fishermen are keen to keep working in British waters and the U.K. seafood industry is extremely dependent on exports to the 27-nation bloc. Johnson has made fisheries and U.K. control over its waters a key demand in the long saga of Britain’s departure from the EU. “We give until Sunday to Boris Johnson to make a decision,” said Dacian Ciolos, president of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament. “He said that, if no agreement could be reached, the UK and the EU would part as friends, with the UK trading with the EU on Australian-style terms.”Australia does not have a free trade deal with the EU.

U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Wednesday thanked scientists from Pfizer and BioNTech after the approval of their COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use by the country's drugs regulator. Here's a look at what is known about Britain's vaccination plan:___HOW MUCH OF THE VACCINE DOES THE U.K. HAVE? The plan is to start a phased rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine early next week across the U.K., including from 50 “hospital hubs” in England. The National Health Service will take the lead in the rollout of the vaccine, which eventually will expand to pharmacies and specially built vaccination centers. The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, which advises the British government, said those most at risk of dying from COVID-19 should be top of the priority list.

Members of Parliament will vote later Tuesday on the proposed tier system as the country prepares to come out of lockdown. Critics say the measures will devastate businesses, especially pubs, which face some of the tightest restrictions. Johnson urged legislators to back the measures, saying the country must “hold our nerve” until vaccines are approved and distributed. But pubs and restaurants face strict limits in Tier 2 and closure in the topmost Tier 3. Other parts of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are all following their own local restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

Dominic Cummings was pictured exiting the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street office through the front door. British media reported he had left for good rather than staying on as Johnson’s adviser until the end of the year, when he was expected to give up his post. The prime minister's office hasn't confirmed Cummings' departure. Nicknamed “Boris' brain,'' Cummings has also been the target of complaints from senior members of Johnson’s Conservative Party, who say that unelected advisers in the prime minister’s Downing Street office were effectively running the government, sidelining ministers and Parliament. Cummings’ departure is an opportunity to reshuffle the government and bring in more experienced ministers, Jenkin said.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)LONDON – The British government on Wednesday put another 1.4 million people into England’s tightest coronavirus restrictions, but faced growing criticism that its piecemeal approach to curbing the outbreak is sowing division and confusion. Jarvis said local authorities had struck a deal with the British government on financial support to accompany the area measures. Instead, it has adopted a three-tier system for England, with areas classed as medium, high or very high virus risk. The measures have caused tension between Johnson’s Conservative government and local authorities in northern England, which has the country’s highest infection rates. Wednesday’s announcement about South Yorkshire means 7.3 million people, or 13% of England’s population, have been placed under the toughest restrictions — all of them in the north.

He was moved to intensive care in April after his virus symptoms dramatically worsened a day after he was hospitalized for what were called routine tests. (Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street via AP, File)JOHANNESBURG – President Donald Trump has joined a growing group of world leaders who have been infected with the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. GAMBIAVice President Isatou Touray tested positive in July along with the ministers of finance, energy and agriculture.

The number of new hospitalizations for COVID-19 and virus deaths in Britain are rising again, although both remain far below their springtime peak. Dr. David Strain of the British Medical Association urged caution, as infection rates remain high among certain groups. Their study noted that rates of infection are increasing among all age groups in England, with the highest prevalence among 18 to 24-year-olds. Meanwhile, authorities tightened restrictions on people arriving in England from Turkey and Poland, ordering them to quarantine for 14 days because of a rise in coronavirus infection rates in those countries. Britain requires people to self-isolate for two weeks if arriving from anywhere except a list of “travel corridor” nations that have low infection rates.

Britain's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced that pubs and restaurants closing at 10pm, due to the spike of cases of coronavirus across the United Kingdom. The most high-profile change centered on pubs, restaurants and other entertainment venues in England, which from Thursday must close at 10 p.m. In a change of emphasis, Johnson urged people to work from home where possible. “If we follow these simple rules together, we will get through this winter together,” Johnson said in a prime-time televised address. “In essence, the government is saying, ‘Stay sober, stay sensible and the venues can stay open.’ It’s a carrot to encourage responsible behavior,” she said.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament in London. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has strongly defended his controversial plan to override sections of the Brexit deal that he negotiated with the European Union, arguing that the bloc has an extreme interpretation of the treaty that could jeopardize the future of the U.K. With the government showing no sign of changing course, there are real concerns that ongoing talks on a future trade deal between the U.K. and the EU could collapse within weeks. If that happens, tariffs and other impediments to trade will be imposed by both sides at the start of 2021. As a result, the two sides agreed there would be some kind of regulatory border between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

The change in England will come into force on Monday as the Government seeks to curb the rise in coronavirus cases. Johnson made the comments as he announced strict new measures to try to curb a sharp recent rise in COVID-19 cases across Britain. Existing technology has been demonstrated to miss up to one-third of people who have COVID-19 in early disease. After a second test 48 hours later, we still miss over a quarter of people, he said. The U.K. has Europes worst death toll from the virus, with nearly 41,600 deaths within 28 days of testing positive.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a virtual press conference at Downing Street, London, Wednesday Sept. 9, 2020, following the announcement that the legal limit on social gatherings is set to be reduced from 30 people to six. The change in England will come into force on Monday as the Government seeks to curb the rise in coronavirus cases. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)