British annual inflation surged to a near two-year high of 1.0 percent in September, official data showed Tuesday, as a tumbling pound raised prices of imported goods and attracted tourists.

Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday that Britain would start the formal process for leaving the European Union by the end of March 2017.

Britain's departure from the EU could be delayed until late 2019 as civil servants struggle with the task and French and German elections may hold up the start of exit negotiations, a report said Sunday.

Theresa May was in Scotland on Friday on her first visit as Britain's new prime minister, bidding to maintain unity after a Brexit vote that revived Scottish independence ambitions.

European leaders on Wednesday heaped pressure on Britain's new Prime Minister Theresa May to launch the country's divorce proceedings from the EU, while Russia's Vladimir Putin said he was ready for "constructive dialogue" with David Cameron's successor.

French President Francois Hollande congratulated Britain's new Prime Minister Theresa May on her appointment Wednesday and urged her to quickly begin talks on the country's divorce from the EU, the Elysee Palace said.

Theresa May came under immediate pressure Thursday on her first full day as Britain's new prime minister after a series of surprise appointments to her cabinet, including the gaffe-prone Boris Johnson as foreign minister.

On a sunny afternoon near Big Ben, two weeks since Britain's historic decision to leave the European Union, little has changed for visitors to the capital London except that their visits are now cheaper.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair took his country into a badly planned, woefully executed and legally questionable war in Iraq in 2003, according to the findings of a long-delayed inquiry into Britain's role in the conflict.

The Chilcot report found the decision to join the US-led invasion was taken before all other options had been exhausted and on the basis of false intelligence.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker sharply criticized politicians Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson as the "sad heroes" of Brexit who backed out of leading Britain through the EU exit they had campaigned for.