Author: Loveworld UK

Angela Merkel is set for a fourth term as German Chancellor, according to exit polls. However, the poll suggests the anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party will enter the national parliament for the first time. Mrs Merkel’s CDU/CSU alliance took 33% of the vote, well ahead of the second placed Social Democratic Party with 20.5%, which would be its worst result since World War Two. But in a major shock, the AfD took 12.6% support in Sunday’s vote, making it the country’s third biggest political force. It is now heading for the opposition benches of the Bundestag lower house -…

Toys R Us has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada as the chain grapples huge debts, tough competition and pressure from suppliers. The company, which has 1,600 stores worldwide employing more than 60,000 staff, said its operations outside the US and Canada did not come under the so-called Chapter 11 filing in Virginia and its Canadian equivalent. The announcement suggested there was no prospect of an immediate knock-on effect for its 110 stores, 2,500 staff or website in the UK. The chain is trading as normal worldwide. The proceedings across the Atlantic are designed to give loss-making…

At least 20 children have died as their school collapse in an earthquake in central Mexico that has killed more than 200 people. Two adults were also killed when the primary school Colegio Enrique Rebsamen collapsed in Mexico City, said the country’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, who visited the scene. Thirty of their classmates and eight adults are still missing in the rubble of the building. The 7.1 magnitude quake hit central Mexico hours after preparation drills were held on the anniversary of a devastating 1985 earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people in Mexico City. At least 248 people…

Donald Trump has said the United States will “totally destroy” North Korea if it is threatened by the regime. The US President described Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un as a “rocket man on a suicide mission for himself and his regime” in his sternest warning yet to North Korea. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York for the first time, Mr Trump said: “The United States is ready, willing and able (to act), but hopefully this will not be necessary.” The President also called on member states to work together to isolate Mr Kim until he stops his…

Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Canada on Monday to discuss plans for a post-Brexit trade deal. She said the two countries held “shared values” ahead of meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The trip comes ahead of a deal between Canada and the EU, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta), coming into force on 21 September. Mrs May hopes to use Ceta as the model for a bilateral trade deal for when the UK is excluded from Ceta after Brexit. Under the EU-Canada agreement, which took seven years to negotiate, Canada agreed to eliminate 98% of its import…

These are the first pictures of a suspect being held by police investigating the Parsons Green bombing. Yahyah Farroukh, 21, is listed as living at an address in Stanwell, Surrey, which was searched by officers on Sunday. He was arrested at a fried chicken shop in Hounslow on Saturday night. Another 18-year-old was detained at Dover ferry port on Saturday morning. The younger man is suspected of planting the device, which exploded on a District Line train on Friday morning, injuring 30 people. Police said the two men are being questioned by police on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act. Both men…

The UK’s plan to leave the Customs Union has fuelled fears of an upsurge in smuggling on the Irish border. Different tax regimes on either side of it for the first time could increase the opportunity for illegal profit-making. It is a serious concern for Fianna Fail’s Brendan Smith, a member of the Irish parliament from a border constituency. He said: “Criminal gangs have become big smugglers. What I fear is border checkpoints and different pricing and different trading conditions both sides of the border. “That will give, unfortunately, an impetus to those criminal gangs in their smuggling behaviour.” Ireland…

The UK’s terror threat level has been lowered from ‘critical’ to ‘severe’, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has announced. It means an attack is considered highly likely rather than imminent. The level had been raised on Friday to the highest – critical – following the bucket bomb blast at Parsons Green Tube station that left 30 passengers injured. Troops were deployed to key locations so armed police were freed up to patrol the streets. Two people have been arrested in connection with the west London bombing, and Ms Rudd has announced the UK threat level was being downgraded. “I would urge everybody to…

The Brexit-battered pound hit a 14-month high against the dollar on Friday as a Bank of England policymaker reiterated the possibility of a looming interest rate rise. Gertjan Vlieghe supported the view, expressed by a majority of the nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) at Thursday’s meeting, that rates could rise in the “coming months” to help keep a lid on inflation should it continue to grow as expected. In a speech to a conference in London, the economist said: “There remains a risk that, at some stage, the uncertainty surrounding the Brexit process has a larger impact on the economy than we…

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan, the Japanese government has said, as it condemned the latest “reckless act”. The missile was launched eastwards from Pyongyang, reaching an altitude of around 770km and flying for about 19 minutes over a distance of around 3,700km, South Korea’s military said. It flew over Hokkaido in northern Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean, sparking a nationwide alert. US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis said the launch “put millions of Japanese into duck and cover”, although residents in northern Japan appeared to remain calm. US Pacific Command said an initial assessment…