UK government

The Swedish climate activist was arrested amid a crackdown by the UK government on ‘disruptive’ protests.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has escalated his war of words with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing the Greek premier of trying to "grandstand" over the disputed Parthenon Marbles and breaking a promise to the UK government ahead of a planned meeting between the two leaders.

Greece's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday he would push for the return of the Parthenon Marbles when he meets U.K. leader Rishi Sunak in Britain this week.

The sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin.

Two Just Stop Oil protesters in their twenties attacked the painting that suffragette Mary Richardson slashed in 1914, the group said in a statement.

"At around 10:45 a.m. Hanan, 22, and Harrison, 20, used safety hammers to smash the glass covering the Rokeby Venus," said the group, which is demanding a halt to all new oil and gas projects in the U.K.

BELGRADE - British MP Jackie Doyle-Price, who is heading a UK parliamentary delegation visiting Serbia, said on Tuesday statements by British MP Alicia Kearnes, who has accused the Serbian Orthodox Church of weapons smuggling from central Serbia to Kosovo-Metohija, did not reflect the official position of the UK government and parliament but a personal view.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt is today due to announce new measures to support Britain's powerful financial sector, seeking to make the U.K. the "most innovative and competitive" financial centre in the world.

Border Force and the military escort migrants ashore at Dover after they crossed the English Channel in Dover, Britain, 27 August 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/STUART BROCK

"Designating a state as a 'safe country' necessitates the confirmation that 'there is … no serious risk of persecution of nationals of that State'. Unfortunately, Albania does not meet this criterion," the letter reads.

Either way, however, the strategy of integrating the north into the rest of Kosovo is in disarray; the question now is whether Kosovo can hang on to anything more than nominal sovereignty over its rebellious municipalities.

The Albanian and British authorities said on Tuesday in a joint statement that since December last year, 1,000 Albanian nationals have been returned to their home country - "a combination of failed asylum seekers, foreign national offenders and voluntary returns".

Albanian PM Edi Rama and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak pledged that their two countries will cooperate on the migration issue during the framework of Rama's two-day visit to London.

The UK has complained that the number of Albanians arriving illegally in the UK has increased, and since then the country has taken several steps to tackle it.