International

• Monday, April 22nd 2019 - 08:25 UTC

  Easter Sunday with record temperature in the UK

  

  Three of the UK's nations have recorded their highest ever Easter Sunday temperatures, the Met Office has said. Scotland's peak was 23.4C (74F), in Edinburgh, while that same temperature was also the high point in Wales - coming in Cardiff. Northern Ireland beat a 95-year-old record when the mercury hit 21C at Helen's Bay near Bangor.

• Monday, April 22nd 2019 - 08:24 UTC

  Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 93rd birthday on Easter Sunday

  

  Britain's Queen Elizabeth, the world's oldest and longest reigning living monarch, celebrated her 93rd birthday on Sunday, Apr 21, by attending the traditional Easter service at Windsor Castle.

• Monday, April 22nd 2019 - 08:06 UTC

  UK pub numbers dropped from 54.000 to 43.000 in seven years

  

  Nearly 1,000 UK pubs shut last year, although the rate of closures is slowing, new research claims. About 76 pubs a month “vanished” from the communities they served in 2018, as people spent less on going out and pubs faced cost pressures, said property firm Altus Group.

• Sunday, April 21st 2019 - 11:45 UTC

  A Tiananmen Square publicity video triggers the fury of the Beijing government

  

  Germany's Leica Camera AG drew criticism on Chinese social media over a video depicting a news photographer covering the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square three decades ago. The five-minute dramatization, released this week, touches on a highly sensitive topic in China.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 11:40 UTC

  Emma Thompson joined climate change activists in central London

  

  Film star Emma Thompson joined climate change activists in a central London shopping district on Friday to read poetry praising Earth's bounties, part of five days of protests which clogged the British capital with transport snarl-ups.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 09:43 UTC

  England and France top bankers warn of financial risks associated to climate change

  

  The heads of two major central banks have written a stark warning about the financial risks of climate change. Bank of England governor Mark Carney and France's François Villeroy de Galhau set out the dangers to the global economy in an open letter.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 09:35 UTC

  Vatican denounces widespread inequality in the world during the Good Friday service

  

  Pope Francis listened as a preacher denounced the widespread inequality in the world at a Good Friday service on the day Christians recall Jesus' death by crucifixion. During the “Passion of the Lord” service in St Peter's Basilica, songs in Latin recounted the last hours in Jesus' life, from his arrest to his burial.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 09:21 UTC

  Argentina's think tank CARI underlines the significance of China's Belt and Road forum

  

  Argentine experts have expressed the belief that the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation can yield more concrete steps for collaboration between China and Latin America. Members of the Asian Affairs Committee at Argentina's Council on International Relations (CARI), a leading think tank, spoke to China's government news agency Xinhua in the lead-up to the forum.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 08:51 UTC

  China's Belt and Road forum becomes the main world event during three days in April

  

  Chinese President Xi Jinping will host nearly 40 heads of state next week at the second Belt and Road forum, which is expected to produce more deals for companies and banks that want in on the latter-day Silk Road mega-project. The strong showing is a testament to the project's standing despite its multiple criticisms, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.

• Saturday, April 20th 2019 - 08:45 UTC

  Japan joins the mid-sized commercial aircraft market: right plane at the right time

  

  A new, long-delayed 88-passenger jet from Japan may finally be the right airplane at the right time. More cities in Asia and Europe are seeking to link up with each other and the global air travel network. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), the first airliner built in Japan since the 1960s, began certification flights last month in Moses Lake, Washington, to satisfy that demand.