Britain | DD News

January 30, 2026 10:19 AM

Trump warns Britain on China ties as Starmer hails reset

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Britain against getting into business with Beijing as Prime Minister Keir Starmer lauded the economic benefits of resetting relations with China during a visit there on Friday. As Western leaders reel from Trump's unpredictability, Starmer is the latest to head to China. In three-hour talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday, the British leader called for a "more sophisticated relationship" with improved market access, lower tariffs and investment ...

January 21, 2026 4:44 PM

UK sets out $20 billion plan to cut energy bills, heat homes

Britain on Tuesday set out a 15-billion-pound ($20 billion) plan to cut energy bills through home upgrades and other efficiency measures, forming part of its wider decarbonisation efforts. Here are some details: • New homes will be built cheaper to run, with solar panels as the standard from early 2026, the government said • Homeowners will be able to apply for government-backed, low- and zero-interest loans for solar panels, batteries and heat pumps • The move will triple the number o...

January 20, 2026 8:55 PM

Environmental campaigners begin legal challenge against expansion of UK airport

A legal challenge to Britain's plan to expand Gatwick Airport, the country's second largest, began on Tuesday, as campaigners sought to block the project on climate change grounds. Britain's transport minister Heidi Alexander approved the opening of a second runway in September, hoping that converting a back-up runway into one that is fully operational will allow thousands of extra flights and drive economic growth. But campaign group Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions, or CAGNE, said...

January 20, 2026 10:58 PM

UK weighs Australia-style social media ban for children under 16

Britain is considering an Australian-style ban on social media for children under 16, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning on Tuesday they risk being pulled into "a world of endless scrolling, anxiety and comparison". Starmer said the government was prepared to take robust action, a day after it announced it would examine whether features such as infinite scrolling and the age at which children can access platforms should be restricted and how such measures could be imposed. "This is a hug...

January 19, 2026 9:39 AM

EU scrambles to avert Trump Greenland tariffs, prepares retaliation

European Union ambassadors reached broad agreement on Sunday to intensify efforts to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on European allies, while also preparing retaliatory measures should the duties go ahead, EU diplomats said. Trump vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland, a step major...

January 4, 2026 11:11 AM

Britain says it and France bombed suspected Islamic State arms dump in Syria

Britain's and France's air forces conducted a joint operation on Saturday evening to bomb a suspected underground arms cache previously used by the Islamic State group in Syria, Britain's defence ministry said. Western aircraft have been conducting patrols to stop a resurgence of the Islamist militant group that ruled parts of Syria until 2019. Intelligence analysis identified an underground facility believed to be used to store weapons and explosives in mountains north of Palmyra, Britain said...

November 16, 2025 3:49 PM

Britain to make refugee status temporary under asylum overhaul

Britain said it would make refugee status temporary and the wait for permanent settlement would be quadrupled to 20 years under the country's most sweeping overhaul of policy on asylum seekers in modern times. The Labour government has been hardening its immigration policies, above all on illegal small-boat crossings from France, in efforts to stem the soaring popularity of the populist Reform UK party, which has driven the immigration agenda. The government said it would take inspiration from...

November 16, 2025 3:25 PM

Storm Claudia kills three in Portugal, causes flooding in Britain

Violent weather brought on by Storm Claudia killed three people and injured dozens in Portugal, authorities there said on Saturday, while in Britain rescue workers were organising evacuations due to heavy flooding in Wales and England. Portugal and parts of neighbouring Spain have faced days of extreme conditions brought on by Storm Claudia, which had reached parts of Britain and Ireland by Saturday. Rescue workers found the bodies of an elderly couple inside their flooded home in Fernao Ferro...

October 10, 2025 10:39 PM

Google faces stricter regulation in UK over search dominance

Google could be forced to change its search operations in the UK after it became the first company subject to new powers from Britain's competition regulator to tackle the dominance of Big Tech. Competition regulators have long had Alphabet-owned Google in their sights and Britain's landmark ruling on Friday designating Google as having strategic market status in online search, gives the UK's regulator more power to step in. "We have found that Google maintains a strategic position in the sear...

October 8, 2025 8:50 PM

India-UK chart new course for trade partnership with high-level meeting in Mumbai

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Peter Kyle held a bilateral meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday, reaffirming their commitment to deepen trade and investment ties between India and the United Kingdom. The meeting marked a major step towards operationalising the India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Both Ministers agreed to reposition the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to oversee the agreement’s implemen...