UK | DD News

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 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...

December 9, 2025 3:02 PM

India welcomes UK sanctions on Khalistani terror group linked to Babbar Khalsa

India on Monday welcomed the United Kingdom government’s decision to impose sanctions on pro-Khalistan extremist entities linked to the banned terror outfit Babbar Khalsa, calling it a significant step toward strengthening global counter-terrorism efforts. During the weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi appreciates London’s action targeting individuals and organisations involved in anti-India extremist activities. He noted tha...

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...

November 2, 2025 12:09 PM

UK train stabbings injure nine, police arrest two suspects

Nine people were treated for life-threatening injuries after a series of stabbings on a train near Cambridge in eastern England on Saturday, and two men were arrested in what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called an "appalling incident." British Transport Police said counterterrorism police were supporting its investigation whilst it works to establish the full circumstances and motivation for the incident. “We’re conducting urgent enquiries to establish what has happened, and it could take s...

October 13, 2025 1:01 PM

UK pledges $27 million in latest aid package for Gaza

Britain will provide a 20 million pound ($27 million) aid package to deliver water, sanitation and hygiene services in Gaza, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday, as he arrived in Egypt for a world leaders' summit on ending the conflict. Britain said the funding would be delivered through UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the Norwegian Refugee Council and was designed to reach those facing famine, malnutrition and disease. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza ...

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 9, 2025 3:43 PM

India should get rightful place in UNSC: UK PM Keir Starmer

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday said that New Delhi should get its “rightful place” on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), citing India’s remarkable growth story and its expanding role in global affairs. In his remarks after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, Starmer made a strong case for India’s permanent membership in the UNSC. “We want to see India taking its rightful place in the UNSC,” he said. His stance aligns with ...