London

TOKYO (AP) — For all the International Olympic Committee talks of staying neutral, its games have long proven to be essentially and sometimes overtly political — for the Games overall, and often for the athletes who are intended to entertain the world in a two-week global show.

LONDON (AP) — A 21-year-old free climber who was imprisoned two years ago for climbing the U.K.'s tallest skyscraper has scaled another building in London, this time to draw attention to climate change.

LONDON (AP) — Rapper Dizzee Rascal has been charged with assault after an incident in London that left a woman with minor injuries.

The Metropolitan Police said late Monday that the 36-year-old, whose real name is Dylan Kwabena Mills, was charged after the incident at a residential address in Streatham, southeast London, on June 8.

LONDON (AP) — Britain opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and the European Union on Monday as travel industry leaders urged the government to further ease restrictions and allow people to enjoy the benefits of a successful COVID-19 inoculation program.

LONDON (AP) — Black people whose right to live in the U.K. was illegally challenged by the government marked the anniversary Sunday of the act that freed slaves throughout the British Empire, drawing a direct link between slavery and the discrimination they suffered.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie, said Saturday that she is expecting the couple’s second child.

Carrie Johnson announced her pregnancy in a post on Instagram in which she also revealed that she suffered a miscarriage earlier this year.

LONDON (AP) — A man who accosted England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty in a London park pleaded guilty Friday to assault and was ordered to pay the scientist 100 pounds ($140).

Lewis Hughes, 24, and another man filmed themselves harassing Whitty, who has become a nationally recognized figure through appearances at televised coronavirus briefings.

LONDON (AP) — A former security guard who knifed nine cats to death in night-time attacks in the English seaside city of Brighton was sentenced Friday to more than five years in prison.

Steve Bouquet, 54, was convicted of attacking 16 cats, nine of them fatally, between late 2018 and mid-2019 in Brighton, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of London.

LONDON (AP) — International governments and companies have pledged more than $4 billion to educate 175 million children around the world and prevent a generation’s chances being blighted by the coronavirus pandemic.

MADRID (AP) — The former lover of Spain’s King Emeritus Juan Carlos has filed a lawsuit with a British court accusing him of spying on her, the latest twist in a financial scandal plaguing the ex-monarch.

LONDON (AP) — A British journalist and her publisher contested a defamation claim in a London court on Wednesday from billionaire Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich over a book about the rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

LONDON (AP) — London’s latest tourist attraction aimed for the heights. It has fallen a bit flat.

The Marble Arch Mound, an artificial hill beside one of the city’s busiest intersections, opened this week — and is already offering refunds to disappointed visitors and admitting “teething problems.”

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A fraud and embezzlement trial over alleged mismanagement of the Holy See’s investments began Tuesday in Vatican City, with a once-powerful cardinal among the 10 defendants saying he remains “obedient” to Pope Francis, who stripped his privileges to bring him before the tribunal.

LONDON (AP) — Londoners were cleaning up Monday after torrential rain left homes, roads and several subway stations flooded, the second unseasonal inundation in as many weeks.

The Met Office weather agency said 41.8 millimeters (1.65 inches) of rain — almost a month's worth — fell in central London on Sunday afternoon.

LONDON (AP) — Tottenham signed Spain winger Bryan Gil from Sevilla on Monday, with long-serving Argentine forward Erik Lamela moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal.

Media reports say the package has cost Tottenham around 21 million pounds ($29 million).

LONDON (AP) — After 16 months of solo jogging, Saturday's return of the weekly 5-kilometer mass runs in England's parks was met with widespread jubilation.

Days after all remaining lockdown restrictions were lifted in England, the organized 5K runs were allowed to resume for the first time since the pandemic struck in March 2020.

LONDON (AP) — At least one star forward wants to stay at Tottenham.

Son Heung-min signed a four-year contract extension Friday to keep him at the Premier League club through June 2025.

LONDON (AP) — London’s mayor on Thursday sent a message of support to Hong Kong residents fleeing China’s crackdown on democracy to seek new live in the United Kingdom, saying his office will spend 900,000 pounds ($1.2 million) to help new arrivals with housing, education and finding jobs.

LONDON (AP) — The head of the European Union's executive arm flatly refused Thursday to renegotiate post-Brexit trade rules with the U.K. after Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the bloc to work with his government to find “practical solutions” to red tape and inspections that are causing shortages of some goods in Northern Ireland.

LONDON (AP) — Families of people killed in a tram crash in south London five years ago have demanded a new inquest into the deaths after a jury concluded Thursday that the passengers were not unlawfully killed.

LONDON (AP) — Former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon said Wednesday that he’s “heart and soul” against letting the band’s songs be used in an upcoming television drama about the pioneering punk outfit, dismissing the TV series as “nonsense.”

LONDON (AP) — Civic leaders in Liverpool expressed outrage Wednesday after the English port city was stripped of its World Heritage status by the United Nations’ culture organization.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee voted in a secret ballot to remove the designation because of developments in the city center and on its historic River Mersey waterfront.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — How about this for an Olympic-scale list of world cities: Athens, Beijing, London, Rio, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and, wait for it, Brisbane.

Since the Summer Games were last hosted in Australia, at Sydney in 2000, and when they’ll return Down Under in 2032, the Olympics have been held in some of the world’s most famous cities.

LONDON (AP) — A disgruntled former top aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson claims the British leader was dismissive of the threat caused by surging coronavirus cases last year, saying he did not want to impose a lockdown because the disease was only killing the elderly.

LONDON (AP) — U.S. climate envoy John Kerry called on China to join America in urgently cutting greenhouse gas emissions and described the international alliances that rebuilt Europe after World War II as a model for fighting against climate change.

LONDON (AP) — Anthony Joshua will defend his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles against former undisputed world cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sept. 25.

The fight pits two 2012 London Olympic gold medallists against each other: Joshua topped the podium in the super-heavyweight division and Usyk reigned supreme in the heavyweight bracket.

LONDON (AP) — Britain's royal swan census is back a year after it was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the scorching July sun, several boatloads of “Swan Uppers” clad in red, white or blue jerseys emblazoned with British royal insignia returned on Tuesday to the banks of the River Thames near Queen Elizabeth II's Windsor Castle to count her swans.

LONDON (AP) — The British government sought Monday to prevent Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from gaining access to nearly $2 billion of gold held by the Bank of England as the U.K. Supreme Court started hearing a case that hinges on the question of who should be considered the Latin American nation’s president.

LONDON (AP) — Corks popped, beats boomed out and giddy revelers rushed onto dancefloors when England’s nightclubs reopened Monday as the country lifted most remaining coronavirus restrictions after more than a year of lockdowns, mask mandates and other pandemic-related curbs on freedom.

LONDON (AP) — Sparkling wine, confetti, a midnight countdown: It’s not New Year’s Eve, but it might as well be for England’s clubbers. After 17 months of empty dance floors, the country’s nightclubs are reopening with a bang.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will spend 10 days self-isolating after contact with a confirmed coronavirus case, his office said Sunday — reversing an earlier announcement that he would not have to quarantine after facing an uproar.

LONDON (AP) — Tourists and the travel industry vented frustration and anger on Saturday after Britain reversed a plan to ease travel restrictions on France just two days after they were due to start, citing concerns about a variant of the coronavirus.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in six months Friday amid a warning from the British government’s top medical adviser that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 could hit “quite scary” levels within weeks.

LONDON (AP) — Former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones said Friday that he dislikes former bandmate John Lydon and hasn’t spoken to him since 2008 but denied that a TV series about the band would make the singer once known as Johnny Rotten look bad.

LONDON (AP) — For many, it’s common courtesy or a sensible precaution. For others, it's an imposition, a daily irritation.

The face mask — a highly charged source of debate, confusion and anger around the world during the coronavirus pandemic — is now dividing people as the crisis eases.

The SailGP global road show touches down in Old Blighty this weekend, giving Britain’s Paul Goodison the opportunity to race in front of home crowds for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics.

LONDON (AP) — Two former members of the Sex Pistols are suing singer Johnny Rotten for the right to use the band’s songs in an upcoming television series about the anarchic punk rock icons.

Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook want the songs to appear in “Pistol,” a television series based on a memoir by Jones.

LONDON (AP) — Here’s some of what happened while the world was distracted by the coronavirus: Hungary banned the public depiction of homosexuality. China shut Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy newspaper.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the government plans to ban anyone guilty of online racist abuse from soccer matches as authorities continue to respond to the lawlessness connected to England’s loss in the final of the European soccer championship.

LONDON (AP) — Mask-wearing will be required on London's transport network even after the legal obligation to wear them in England is lifted on July 19, the city's mayor said Wednesday, as coronavirus cases across the whole of the U.K.

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers voted on Tuesday to support a contentious cut to the U.K.’s foreign aid budget, a move that has slashed billions from programs helping some of the world’s poorest people.

LONDON (AP) — All remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week despite a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday. He said it was “the right moment to proceed” as schools close for summer vacation but urged people to “proceed with caution.”