United Kingdom

    More than 2.5 million people have signed a petition calling for a second EU referendum, after the vote to leave. It has more signatures than any other on the parliamentary website and as it has passed 100,000, Parliament will consider it for a debate. The UK voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48% in Thursday's referendum but the majority of voters in London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed Remain. David Cameron has previously said there will be no second referendum. On Friday he said he would stand down as prime minister by October following the leave result.A House of Commons spokeswoman said the petition was created on 24 May. There were 22 signatures on it at the time the referendum result was announced. She said the petition site had temporarily gone down at one poin...

    As the result of the EU referendum became clear, the poll's divisive effects across generational lines became highly visible online. Some of the most visceral reaction to the Leave vote came under two related hashtags: "Not in my name" and "What have we done" shot into Twitter's top trends list on Friday morning and were used more than 20,000 times combined. Twitter does not reflect the general population's view. The social network's demographic skews much younger than the UK's population as a whole. Pre-vote polls indicated that young people were more likely to vote Remain, and thus many commenters using the hashtags were decrying the result. What does the term Brexit mean? It is a word that has become used as a shorthand way of saying the UK leaving the EU - merging the ...

    AP File pic of Prime Minister David Cameron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Stunned EU bosses ordered Britain: Pack your bags and get out now. The strongly worded message in the wake of Thursday’s Leave vote was designed to stop a domino effect of EU exits and calm the ¬frenzied money markets. Brexit reaction and in-depth analysis on our dedicated page Far-right groups in France and Holland seized on the result to demand their own exit referendums. In Brussels, EU chiefs said they regret but respect our decision and that the UK must remain a close partner. PA How Britain voted But in a clear sign of the battles ahead, a statement from bosses including European Council boss Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker called on th...

    The Queen has been canvassing opinion on the EU debate by asking dinner companions: Give me three good reasons why Britain should be part of Europe. Her Majesty's biographer, Robert Lacey, reported the Queen's comments and suggested they may mean the Queen favours withdrawal from the European Union. Full EU referendum coverage on our dedicated page Buckingham Palace would neither confirm nor deny that the Queen had been debating the merits of Brexit in private, but royal sources pointed out that the words attributed to the Queen were a question not a statement. However the leading nature of the alleged question adds weight to previous claims that the Queen would like Britain to pull out of the EU. Last month the press regulator found that the Sun newspaper had been guilty ...

    Boris Johnson was booed as an angry crowd gathered outside his home following this morning's Brexit vote. The Brexit backer was protected by police as he was bundled into a blacked-out people carrier. Reporters had been expecting some triumphant words from the Leave campaign's most high-profile figure but Boris dashed from his front door and into the car before driving off. A large crowd audibly booed before shouting "scum" and "traitor" at the former Mayor of London and banging on the windows of his car as he sped away. Just yards down the road his vehicle was then blocked in by dozens of cyclists who continued to taunt the 52-year-old. The nation is waking up to the shock Brexit vote after the Leave campaign secured as 52 per cent vote against the predictions of pollster...

    Britons voted in a referendum today to leave the European Union. Following are answers to key questions on what will happen next in Britain's relations with the bloc: 1. What does it all mean? The EU is in shock and entering uncharted territory. No member state has ever left and Article 50 of the EU treaty, which sets out how a state can exit the bloc, offers little detail. Although it provides a sketchy legal framework for a two-year period of withdrawal (see below), many fear the process can quickly become acrimonious, disrupting the economy and European affairs across the board. Cameron has said he will notify the Union "immediately" that Britain is leaving by invoking Article 50. But it is not clear how quickly Britain will set that two-year clock ticking and the EU it...

    Britain's break-up with Europe would be the culmination of decades of half-hearted and often hostile relations with neighbouring countries. The nation's rocky ties with the EU are rooted in its island history and defiant sense of independence. Some Britons still recall with pride that they were last successfully invaded in 1066. The nation's resistance to the Nazis in World War II is also central to British identity, particularly for older voters. "Britain has never really internalised the European project because of its very different history during the 20th century -- it is less frightened of the consequences of leaving," Robert Tombs, a history professor at Cambridge University, told AFP. Britain's resistance to the Nazis in World War II is also central to British ident...

    Britain has voted to leave the European Union, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and dealing the biggest blow to the European project of greater unity since World War II. Global financial markets plunged as results from Thursday's referendum showed a near 52-48 percent split for leaving. The pound fell more than 10 percent against the dollar to levels last seen in 1985, its biggest one-day fall in history, on fears the decision could hit investment in the world's fifth-largest economy, threaten London's role as a global financial capital and usher in months of political uncertainty. European shares plummeted more than 8 percent, headed for their biggest ever one-day fall. Billions of dollars were wiped off European banks' market value, with Britain's ...

    The population of the UK increased by more than half a million in a year, official estimates have revealed. Natural growth - more births than deaths - of 171,800 and net international migration of 335,600 helped push the number of people living in the country to 65.1 million as of the middle of 2015. This was an increase over the year of 513,000, or 0.8%. The Office for National Statistics said the rise was similar to the average annual increase seen over the last decade. Population change due to the difference between births and deaths is at its lowest level since the year to mid-2006. The ONS said: "The number of births has decreased on last year's figure and is below the average for the period, while there was an increase in the number of deaths since last year, partly ...

    Australian business leaders have offered their support to the Remain' campaign, warning that a Brexit would generate financial instability in global markets. As Britons head to the polls on Thursday (23 June) for a historic vote which will shape the UK's future in the European Union, David McCredie, the chief executive of the Australian British Chamber of Commerce, urged them to vote to remain in the union. "There's a great deal of uncertainty and in the business environment," he said, adding 54% of the Chamber's members support the UK remaining in the EU. "Businesses love certainty, markets love certainty, and that sort of instability [from a Brexit] would be damaging and possibly crippling to the UK economy." The vote could also have huge implications for many businesses...