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Labour leader Corbyn agrees to December election

Britain was on course for a December election on Tuesday (29) after the Labour party said it would support prime minister Boris Johnson's plan, although a date has not yet been fixed.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "I have consistently said that we are ready for an election and our support is subject to a 'no deal' Brexit being off the table."


He said the decision by EU leaders on Monday to delay Brexit to January 31 meant that "for the next three months, our condition of taking No Deal off the table has now been met.

"We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen," he said in a statement.

Johnson has called for an election on December 12 but Labour and other opposition parties are pushing for a date nearer to December 9.

"It will be a December election," a Labour party source said.

The prime minister will on Tuesday bring forward a bill to legislate for the snap poll, which is expected to pass parliament in the next few days.

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Trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said, 'Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation and anything we can do to support that, we are here and willing to do.'

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THE UK is ready to support both India and Pakistan in de-escalating tensions following deadly clashes between the two countries, trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on Wednesday.

“Our message would be that we are a friend, a partner to both countries. We stand ready to support them. Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation and anything we can do to support that, we are here and willing to do,” Reynolds told BBC radio.

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The process to elect the Catholic Church’s next leader formally begins on Wednesday evening, as 133 cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel to choose the 267th pope. This ancient and secretive tradition, known as the papal conclave, is taking place following the funeral of Pope Francis.

The day’s events will start at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) with a televised mass held in St Peter’s Basilica. The mass will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old Dean of the College of Cardinals, who also presided over the funeral of the late Pope Francis.

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INDIA launched air and artillery strikes on Pakistani territory and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, in response to an attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people. Pakistan called the strikes a “blatant act of war” as tensions rose between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

India said its military action, named Operation Sindoor, targeted nine sites used for what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” where attacks were planned.

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INDIA and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire across their disputed border on Wednesday, after India carried out missile strikes targeting camps it said were linked to an earlier attack in Kashmir. The violence marked the worst confrontation between the two countries in two decades.

At least 36 people were reported killed. Pakistan said 26 civilians died in the Indian strikes and border firing. India said at least eight people were killed in shelling by Pakistan.

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The restrictions will apply to work and study visa applicants and are expected to be outlined in a policy paper next week.

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UK to tighten visas for Pakistan, Sri Lanka over asylum concerns

THE UK government plans to restrict visa applications from nationalities deemed more likely to overstay or claim asylum, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria.

The restrictions will apply to work and study visa applicants and are expected to be outlined in a policy paper next week. The paper will set out the Labour government's approach to reducing net migration, which reached 728,000 last year, according to a report in The Times and confirmed to AFP by a government official on Tuesday.

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