UK | DD News

August 14, 2025 2:02 PM

UK economy slows less than expected in second quarter

Britain's economy slowed less than expected in the second quarter of 2025 after a strong start to the year, despite the shock of U.S. trade tariffs and a weaker jobs market, offering some relief to finance minister Rachel Reeves. Official figures published on Thursday showed gross domestic product grew 0.3% in the second quarter after growth of 0.7% in the first three months of 2025, above the 0.1% forecast by the Bank of England and a Reuters poll of economists. Sterling rose slightly against...

August 7, 2025 10:22 AM

UK scientists find genes linked with chronic fatigue syndrome

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh said on Wednesday they have discovered differences in the DNA of people with chronic fatigue syndrome that should help dispel the notion that the debilitating condition is psychological or driven by laziness. Their study found eight areas of genetic code that are different in people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) than in healthy volunteers. The finding provides “the first robust evidence that genes contribute to a p...

July 25, 2025 4:45 PM

India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement: A Diplomatic Win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his visit to the United Kingdom, signing the Free Trade Agreement with the island nation. The FTA was being negotiated for a few years now, and the signing marks an important diplomatic win for the Modi Government. As the world finds itself engulfed in tariff wars, initiated by the White House under Donald Trump, the FTA comes across as a sign of economic trust between two critical economies. While global trade is now plagued with an air of uncertainty and...

July 16, 2025 10:24 AM

Thousands of Afghans secretly moved to Britain after data leak

Britain set up a secret scheme to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK after their personal details were disclosed in one of the country's worst ever data breaches, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after their return to power. Concerns that individuals could be targeted by the Taliban led the previous Conservative government to set up the relocation scheme, involving thousands of people and estimated to cost the government about 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion). The leak by th...

July 14, 2025 11:55 AM

Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari dies in London, PM Modi offers condolences

Nigeria's former president, Muhammadu Buhari, who led Africa's most populous country from 2015 to 2023 and was the first Nigerian president to oust an incumbent through the ballot box, died in London on Sunday, a presidential spokesperson said. "President Buhari died today in London at about 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), following a prolonged illness," President Bola Tinubu's spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson said Tinubu had directed Vice President Kashim Shettima and his chief of sta...

July 9, 2025 9:31 AM

UK and France must end dependency on US and China, Macron warns

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday Britain and France must work together to counter the world's many destabilising threats and protect Europe from "excessive dependencies" on the United States and China. Macron, in a rare address to both houses of the British parliament, celebrated the return of closer ties between the two countries as he became the first European leader to be invited for a British state visit since Brexit. Having been greeted earlier by the British royal family,...

June 30, 2025 6:37 PM

Britain, France and Germany condemn ‘threats’ against head of IAEA watchdog

Britain, France and Germany denounced threats against the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday, after a hardline Iranian newspaper said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent. "France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the Agency and the DG in carrying out their mandate," said a statement from the three countries' foreign ministries. "We call on Iranian...

June 18, 2025 1:22 PM

Piyush Goyal visits UK to boost economic ties, fast-track India–UK FTA implementation

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal is on a two-day official visit to the United Kingdom from June 18 to 19, aimed at strengthening India–UK economic relations and expediting the implementation of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The visit follows the announcement of the successful conclusion of the India–UK FTA by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on May 6. “Goyal’s visit aims to accelerate bilateral engagements, harness emerging...

June 16, 2025 11:42 AM

Britain appoints first female head of MI6 spy agency

Britain on Sunday named Blaise Metreweli, a career intelligence officer, as the first female head of the Secret Intelligence Service, the foreign spy service known as MI6. Metreweli, 47, who is currently MI6's head of technology, known as "Q", joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, and has spent most of her career in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe, the government said in a statement. Richard Moore, the current chief of MI6, will step down in the autumn after a five-ye...