It seems China may be about to offer a more assertive response to the protests in Hong Kong. Prominent activists have been arrested in recent days and they join the 900 arrested since protests began in June.

The UK’s new prime minister seems intent on refashioning his party in the image of the majority that voted for Brexit. First, he needs to win an election, says

If, as is expected, Boris Johnson becomes the new Prime Minister this week, he will find himself engaged in a political fire-fight almost before he has even got his feet under the desk at 10 Downing Street.

Latest: Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the backstop needs to "come out" of Thresea May's Withdrawal Agreement with the EU in order to allow Brexit.

A House of Commons vote this week on a bill that aims to lift the total ban on abortion in the North will have encouraged, but probably not surprised, campaigners who want to see the province’s Victorian-era prohibition abolished. The bill, supported by four Conservative government ministers, was backed by 208 MPs and opposed by 123.

Even though growth in the UK economy has slowed a lot since the Brexit referendum vote in June 2016, the Bank of England pushed ahead with a rate increase at last week’s meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee.

Just when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse for the pound, political risks are back on the

The Northern Ireland Secretary has defended the British Prime Minister's intervention in ill-fated talks to save powersharing after criticism that her arrival proved a distraction.

Britain told US planemaker Boeing it could lose out on British defence contracts because of its dispute with Canadian rival Bombardier which has put 4,200 jobs at risk in the North.

Jeremy Corbyn is hitting the Home Counties with a promise to tackle the housing crisis as he continues his blitz of marginal parliamentary seats.

The huge run up for shares of US giants, such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and the Alphabet-owned Google, as well as semiconductor stocks, may have peaked, according to the latest global outlook from Merrion Capital.

Donald Trump has called the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to congratulate him on his "great victory".

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin

Markets had been expecting that Britain’s Conservative government would be returned with an increased majority in last week’s UK general election, with both UK stock and bond markets making gains over the course of the campaign.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster is set to hold talks with Theresa May in Downing Street to finalise an agreement on propping up her minority government.

Theresa May's grip on power appears far from secure despite a potential deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to support her in Parliament.

The 10 MPs from the party could prove crucial in supporting the Conservatives.

Scotland's First Minister has ruled out holding a second referendum on independence this year.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said her proposals for protecting Scotland's place in Europe are a "serious and genuine attempt" to "unify the country around a clear plan".

British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday assured her German counterpart that preparations for Britain’s exit from the EU were on schedule, and that the legal process would begin by the end of next March.

The number of workers in Britain looking for jobs in Ireland has soared by a fifth since the Brexit referendum result, a major recruitment website has said.

The UK should review its decision to ban onshore wind subsidies, a move that could cost Scotland as much as £3bn (€3.58bn) and torpedo its clean energy targets, MPs have said.

David Cameron and George Osborne have issued an impassioned appeal for a vote for Remain, warning that leaving the EU would be the "big mistake" putting Britain's prosperity at risk.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned that the border of the European Union would run from Dundalk to Derry if Britain votes to leave the EU on June 23.

Growth in construction of new homes in Britain ebbed to its lowest level in three years in March, according to a survey yesterday that showed the overall expansion in the building trade held at its weakest in nearly a year.

€1.64b of cuts abandoned as public spending ‘under control’

The UK Treasury yesterday announced its intention to sell at least £2bn worth of shares in Lloyds Banking Group to private retail investors in spring 2016 to return the bank to full private ownership.

Jeremy Corbyn used his first conference speech as Labour leader to send a message to voters: “You don’t have to take what you are given.”

Jeremy Corbyn has come under fire for saying it was a “tragedy” that Osama bin Laden was killed by the United States rather than being put on trial.

Jeremy Hutchinson is one of those people who changed the world they were born into. Dan Buckley on a sparkling career and a wonderful man still going strong at 100.

Waning demand in Britain for TVs and computers drove a second straight quarterly sales decline at Home Retail’s Argos, but the chain said it was still winning market share and forecast an improved performance in its second half.

Britain is prepared to review a tax on banks to head off the threat that large multinational banks like HSBC could leave London’s financial centre and shift their operations overseas, the Sunday Times reported, citing industry sources.

Britain’s largest banks are urging the UK Treasury to start a formal review of taxes on the industry, amid concern HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered could move overseas to avoid a levy on balance sheets.

Britain will launch a sale of shares in Lloyds to private retail investors in the next 12 months in what is expected to be the biggest privatisation since Margaret Thatcher’s government sold off assets in the 1980s.

Vladimir Katriuk, the man who held the second spot on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of most wanted Nazi war criminals, has died, his lawyer said. He was 93.

Nicola Sturgeon has said the Scottish Government will make a “strong and positive” case for the UK to remain in the EU to prevent Scotland being forced out against its will.

The return of British prime Minister David Cameron to Downing Street following a surprisingly straightforward general election victory will add at least £2bn (€2.7bn) to the UK economy, a leading research centre has said.

The neck-and-neck battle to be British prime minister turned increasingly nasty as both main party leaders seized on slip-ups by the other.

With only a week to go until a wide-open general election, Britain is about to become the European Union’s most politically unpredictable member, writes Anatole Kaletsky

UK jobless-benefit claims fell to the lowest level in four decades and pay growth accelerated in an electoral boost for prime minister David Cameron.