Jill Lawless reporter the Associated Press posed photo at AP Europe in London, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

JILL LAWLESS

London correspondent

Lawless is an Associated Press reporter covering U.K. politics and more. She is based in London.
Soldiers carry the coffins of two Ukrainian army sergeants during their funeral in Lviv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukraine gets a big boost of US aid. It still faces a long slog to repel Russia
A new package of $61 billion in U.S. aid may prevent Ukraine from losing its war against Russia. But winning it will be a long slog.
 
The UK government finally passes bill to send migrants to Rwanda. What took so long?
The British Parliament has finally passed legislation to send some migrants to Rwanda under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s controversial plan aimed at deterring risky English Channel crossings by people desperate to reach the U.K.
 
FILE - Swedish pop group ABBA celebrate winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest on stage at the Brighton Dome in England with their song Waterloo, April 6, 1974. The 68th Eurovision Song Contest is taking place in May in Malmö, Sweden. It will see acts from 37 countries vie for the continent’s pop crown. Founded in 1956, Eurovision is a feelgood extravaganza that strives to banish international strife and division. It’s known for songs that range from anthemic to extremely silly, often with elaborate costumes and spectacular staging. (AP Photo/Robert Dear, File)
Excitement is building for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. Here’s everything you need to know
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest is taking place in May in Malmö, Sweden. It will see acts from 37 countries vie for the continent’s pop crown.
 
Undated handout photo issued by UK Parliament of Conservative MP Mark Menzies. Britain’s governing Conservative Party said Thursday, April 18, 2024, it has suspended a lawmaker who is alleged to have used campaign funds for personal medical expenses and to pay off someone who was threatening him. The Times of London reported Mark Menzies took thousands of pounds (dollars) given to the party by donors for medical costs and other personal expenses. (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament via AP)
UK Conservatives suspend lawmaker as sleaze allegations swirl over possible misuse of party funds
Britain’s governing Conservative Party suspended a lawmaker who is alleged to have misused campaign funds.
 
Britain's Prime Minster Rishi Sunak departs 10 Downing Street to go to the House of Commons for his weekly Prime Minister's Questions in London, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s contentious plan to send some migrants to Rwanda hits a hurdle in Parliament
A law that will enable Britain to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda has suffered a setback after Parliament’s upper chamber pressed its attempt to amend the contentious legislation.
 
FILE - Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, 2024 CPAC, at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. on Feb. 22, 2024. During her 49 days as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, Liz Truss sparked mayhem on the financial markets and turmoil within her Conservative Party. In interviews and a new book, Truss robustly defends her economic record, blaming the “deep state,” “technocrats,” “the establishment,” civil servants and the Bank of England for her downfall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Former UK leader Liz Truss backs Trump and blames others for her ouster after 49 days
Liz Truss sparked mayhem on the financial markets and turmoil within her Conservative Party during her 49 days as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister.
 
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, greets the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A key plank in Britain’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda is set to become law
A key plank in the British government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is expected to become law this week.
 
Nicole Scherzinger, winner of the best actress in a musical award for "Sunset Boulevard", poses for photographers in the winner's room during the Olivier Awards on Sunday, April 14, 2024, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Broadway-bound ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and star Nicole Scherzinger win big at London’s Olivier awards
A radical restaging of Hollywood film noir musical “Sunset Boulevard” was the big winner on Sunday at the London stage Olivier Awards.
 
FILE - People walk past a Brexit information office at the British territory of Gibraltar, on Jan. 31, 2020. British and Spanish foreign ministers are to meet in Brussels on Friday April 12, 2024 in a bid to take a giant leap forward on talks over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. All sides are eager to clinch a deal before European elections in June which could set the clock back. Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo, File)
EU, Britain and Spain say significant progress made in talks on post-Brexit status of Gibraltar
British and Spanish foreign ministers met in Brussels for a new round of talks over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain’s exit from the European Union.
 
A Protester stands in front of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Thursday, April 11, 2024, where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested five years ago. US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he is considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long U.S. push to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Wife of Julian Assange says Biden’s comments mean case could be moving in the right direction
The wife of Julian Assange says her husband’s legal case “could be moving in the right direction.” Stella Assnge spoke Thursday after President Joe Biden confirmed the U.S. may drop charges against the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder.
 
FILE - The rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, flies over a building next to Nelson's Column monument, right, in Trafalgar Square, central London, Britain, March 28, 2014. Children who question their gender identity are being let down by lack of evidence and a toxic political debate, according to a report Wednesday from a senior doctor in in England. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
A major UK report says trans children are being let down by toxic debate and lack of evidence
A report from a senior doctor in England says children who question their gender identity are being let down by lack of evidence and a toxic political debate. Dr.
 
FILE - Britain's Professor Peter Higgs smiles during a press conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Oct. 11, 2013. The University of Edinburgh says Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the Higgs boson particle, has died at 94. Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle — the so-called Higgs boson — in 1964. But it would be almost 50 years before the particle’s existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed the existence of the ‘God particle,’ dies at 94
The University of Edinburgh says Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of a sub-atomic particle that came to be known as the Higgs boson, has died at 94.
 
The new Prime Minister of Ireland, Simon Harris gestures as he is applauded by fellow lawmakers outside Leinster House, in Dublin, Ireland, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Harris was selected after the previous Prime Minister Leo Varadkar resigned, he is the youngest ever Prime Minister of Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Simon Harris is installed as Ireland’s new prime minister. He’s the country’s youngest leader
Irish lawmaker Simon Harris has been elected prime minister by a vote in parliament. At 37, he’s the country’s youngest-ever leader.
 
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, left, speaks during a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Blinken and Cameron urge Congress to approve aid for Ukraine, calling it critical for world security
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron are urging Congress to approve new military aid for Ukraine, saying the stalled funding is critical for U.S., European and world security.
 
FILE - Members of Swedish group ABBA and close associates celebrate the victory of their song "Waterloo" in the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England, April 6, 1974. Fans are celebrating 50 years since ABBA won its first big battle with “Waterloo.” A half century ago on Saturday, April 6, the Swedish quartet triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song. (AP Photo/File)
Happy ABBA-versary! Fans mark 50 years since ‘Waterloo’ took the world by storm
Fans are celebrating 50 years since ABBA won a major battle with “Waterloo.” A half-century ago on Saturday, the Swedish quartet triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song.
 
Undated handout file photo issued by UK Parliament of British Conservative MP William Wragg. British lawmakers were urged Friday to contact police if they are targeted in an alleged sexting scam, following revelations from a prominent Conservative member of parliament that he had handed over personal phone numbers of colleagues to a man he met on a gay dating app, after he had sent intimate pictures of himself. William Wragg, who chairs the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in Parliament, told The Times newspaper that he was “scared" and “manipulated” into giving his colleagues' phone numbers to the unknown individual he had met on Grindr because he had “compromising things" on Wragg. (UK Parliament via AP)
A second UK lawmaker says he was targeted in a sexting scam. Police are investigating
A second British lawmaker has acknowledged receiving explicit messages on his phone in an apparent “sexting” scam.
 
FILE - Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, transports the body of one of the six foreign aid workers who were killed in an Israeli strike, at a hospital morgue in Rafah, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. The Israeli military’s killing of seven aid workers in Gaza has triggered unprecedented criticism from European leaders, who are stepping up calls for a cease-fire and in some cases halting arms sales to Israel as the war’s toll mounts. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
Aid worker deaths have appalled Israel’s European allies. Some are considering a halt to arms sales
The Israeli military’s killing of seven aid workers in Gaza has triggered unprecedented criticism from European leaders.
 
People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Senior UK jurists have joined calls to stop arms sales to Israel. Other allies face similar pressure
More than 600 British jurists are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel. The move adds to pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three U.K. aid workers in an Israeli strike.
 
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses the media at Downing Street in London, on March 1, 2024. Britain’s main opposition parties are demanding that the Conservative government publish legal advice it has received on whether Israel has broken international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza. They say the U.K. should ban weapons sales to Israel if the law has been broken. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
The killing of aid workers adds to pressure on the UK government to halt arms sales to Israel
Britain’s main opposition parties are demanding that the Conservative government publish legal advice it has received on whether Israel has broken international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza.
 
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf speaks during First Minster's Questions (FMQ's) at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh, Scotland, Thursday March 28, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland’s government says a new law will tackle hate crime. Critics say it could hurt free speech
A contentious new law against hate speech has come into force in Scotland. It’s being praised by some but criticized by others who say its sweeping provisions could criminalize religious views or tasteless jokes.
 
Gillian Anderson poses for photographers upon arrival at the World premiere of the film 'Scoop' on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell recreate a royal media disaster in Prince Andrew drama ‘Scoop’
British royalty and the media can be an explosive mix, as recent weeks of speculation over the health of Kate, Princess of Wales, have shown.
 
FILE - Visitors walk outside the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London, Friday, June 26, 2015. The British Museum is suing a former curator alleged to have stolen almost 2,000 artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online. Peter Higgs was fired in July 2023 after more than 1,800 items were discovered to be missing. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)
The British Museum names Nicholas Cullinan its new director as it tries to get over a rocky patch
The British Museum has appointed Nicholas Cullinan as its new director. It comes as the 265-year-old institution grapples with the apparent theft of hundreds of artifacts and growing international scrutiny of its collection.
 
Boarding is put up next to the Banksy artwork on the side of a residential building in Hornsey Road, north London, Wednesday March 27, 2024 which has been covered in perspex sheeting for protection. An environmentally themed mural in London by street artist Banksy has been encased in plastic and surrounded by fencing after an apparent act of vandalism. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)
Banksy tree mural that sprouted in London is fenced off after apparent vandalism
An environmentally themed mural by elusive street artist Banksy that appeared last week on a London street has been encased in plastic and surrounded by fencing after an apparent act of vandalism.
 
FILE - Visitors walk outside the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London, Friday, June 26, 2015. The British Museum is suing a former curator alleged to have stolen almost 2,000 artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online. Peter Higgs was fired in July 2023 after more than 1,800 items were discovered to be missing. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)
The British Museum is suing a former curator it says stole 1,800 items and tried to sell them
The British Museum is suing a former curator alleged to have stolen hundreds of artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online.
 
Demonstrators hold placards after Stella Assange, wife of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, released a statement outside the Royal Courts of Justice, in London, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Two High Court judges said they would grant Assange a new appeal unless U.S. authorities give further assurances about what will happen to him. The case has been adjourned until May 20. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
UK court says Assange can’t be extradited on espionage charges until US rules out death penalty
A British court says Julian Assange can’t be extradited to the U.S. on espionage charges unless U.S. authorities guarantee he won’t get the death penalty.
 
Britain's Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, arrive at the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey, London, Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Phil Noble/Pool Photo via AP)
The double cancer blow to Kate and King Charles leaves Britain’s royal family depleted and strained
The Princess of Wales’ disclosure that she has cancer and will take time off to recover leaves the ranks of working royals depleted and strains a monarchy that King Charles III has sought to slim down.
 
This grab taken from a video released by the BBC Studios on Friday March 22, 2024, shows Britain's Kate, the Princess of Wales recording her message announcing that following her abdominal surgery in January "tests after the operation found cancer had been present." Kate, said Friday she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. (BBC Studios via AP)
Kate, Princess of Wales, reveals she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy
Kate, the Princess of Wales, reveals she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The stunning video announcement Friday came after weeks of speculation spread on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery.
 
Mark Gatiss poses for a photo during an interview with The Associated Press at a theater, in London, Thursday, March 14, 2024. The turbulent union of actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor that set gossip columns aflame are the subjects of “The Motive and the Cue,” a play that is being broadcast in cinemas in Britain and internationally starting Thursday as part of the National Theatre Live series. The play looks at a famous 1964 production of “Hamlet” that starred Burton and was directed by John Gielgud. Mark Gatiss plays Gielgud in the witty and moving look at fame’s fickleness and cost. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Stage hit ‘The Motive and the Cue’ depicts a Hollywood golden couple. Now moviegoers can see it too
The world has always loved a golden couple, especially when there are hints of trouble in paradise. Decades before millions tracked every move of Harry and Meghan, William and Kate or Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, it was the turbulent union of actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor that set gos
 
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, front, arrives for a statement in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says he will step down as leader of the country as soon as a successor is chosen. Varadkar announced Wednesday he is quitting immediately as head of the center-right Fine Gael party, part of Ireland’s coalition government. (Nick Bradshaw/PA via AP)
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says he’s quitting for personal and political reasons
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who made history as his country’s first gay and first biracial leader, says he’ll step down within weeks once a successor is chosen.
 
FILE - A general view of The London Clinic where Kate, Princess of Wales is recovering from surgery, in London, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. A British privacy watchdog said Wednesday, March 20, 2024, it is looking into a report that staff at a private London hospital tried to access the Princess of Wales’ medical records while she was a patient for abdominal surgery. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Did UK hospital staff try to snoop on Kate’s medical records? A privacy watchdog is investigating
A British privacy watchdog is investigating a report that staff at a private London hospital tried to snoop on the Princess of Wales’ medical records while she was a patient for abdominal surgery.
 
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