UK

Trump brought his chaotic style of governing to the NATO summit
2018-07-12 18:00:08 UTC
U.S. President Donald Trump brought his chaotic style of governing to the NATO summit in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, irritating and befuddling allies with charges and jibes before declaring success for convincing his counterparts to pay more for their mutual defense. It was a classic performance for the one-time reality television star, whose “America first” mantra has translated into a sometimes-bullying style on the world stage, particularly with countries traditionally considered to be U.S. friends. Even before the NATO summit was underway, he kicked off the summit with a broadside against Germany over plans for a natural ...
Jeremy Hunt replaces Boris Johnson as UK foreign secretary
2018-07-09 20:36:14 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May’s foreign minister and Brexit negotiator quit on Monday in protest at her plans to keep close trade ties with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc, stirring rebellion in her party’s ranks. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been named as the new foreign secretary. Culture Secretary Matt Hancock replaces Mr Hunt as health secretary. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, the face of Brexit for many, resigned just hours after Brexit minister David Davis, emboldening some in her Conservative Party to mull a plot to unseat her less than nine months before Britain exits in March next year....
Brexit: Pro European Union Protesters March in London
2018-06-23 22:01:31 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Around 100,000 supporters of the European Union marched through central London on Saturday to demand that the British government hold a final public vote on the terms of Brexit, organizers said. Protesters packed the main arteries of the capital, waving British, Irish and European flags and colorful banners to call for a “People’s Vote” on the eventual deal in which Britain leaves the world’s biggest trading bloc. On the second anniversary of the 52 to 48 percent Brexit vote, polls show political divisions are entrenched. Despite some confusion over what Brexit will actually mean there has been no clear change of h...
Victory for women: Ireland ends abortion ban
2018-05-26 17:40:06 UTC
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has voted by a landslide to liberalize its highly restrictive abortion laws in a referendum that its prime minister called the culmination of a “quiet revolution” in what was one of Europe’s most socially conservative countries. Voters in the once deeply Catholic nation were estimated to have backed the change by more than two-to-one, according to two exit polls released on Friday evening, and the government plans to bring in legislation by the end of the year. “It’s incredible. For all the years and years and years we’ve been trying to look after women and not been able to look after women, this means ever...
With life-saving vaccines, deadly diseases can be wiped out
2018-05-07 07:05:08 UTC
Reaching every child: Wiping out polio in Mumbai — By Amitabh Bachchan For 10 years, I have been telling India the life-saving message that every child should take two drops of oral polio vaccine every time it is offered. And it is working. Today, India stands on the brink of eradicating polio – arguably the greatest public health achievement in its history. When the polio eradication campaign started, India was reporting around 500 polio cases per day. Since then, more than 4 million children have been saved from paralysis or death. All our hard work is paying off. But the simple truth is that as long as polio exists anywhere in ...
UK lawmakers, celebrities demanding 'people's vote' referendum on Brexit
2018-04-15 17:35:39 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Lawmakers, celebrities and business leaders launched a campaign on Sunday to call for a vote on any final Brexit deal, stepping up a campaign to try to stop what they describe as Britain’s damaging departure from the European Union. At a launch in north London, lawmakers from both the governing Conservative Party and opposition Labour joined with hundreds of others to press for what they described as a “people’s vote” on Brexit. Both Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party have ruled out a second referendum after Britons voted 52-48 percent to leave the bloc almost two years ...
Many Britons applying for citizenship in another EU states
2018-04-09 11:08:16 UTC
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The number of Britons becoming citizens of another EU country more than doubled in 2016, data showed, and more than quadrupled in Germany in a development Berlin put down to Brexit. In the year Britons voted to quit the European Union, 6,555 of them acquired citizenship in another of the bloc’s states, up 165 percent from 2,478 in 2015, statistics office Eurostat said on Monday. Of those, 2,702 became German, up 355 percent. Officials said at the time the German data were released that it seemed to be linked to Brexit. Eurostat officials declined comment on the trend and it was unclear how many Britons acqui...
UK: EU to take possible further measures against Russia
2018-03-26 16:42:13 UTC
EU foreign ministers report back on possible further measures against Russia LONDON (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will consider what possible further measures could be taken against Russia by June, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said on Monday following the expulsion of Russian diplomats from 14 other EU states. “The foreign ministers were tasked with going away and looking at if there were any further measures, more broadly, which might need to be taken and they were asked to report back in time for the June European Council,” May’s spokesman told reporters. <blockquote><h3>Germany expels four Rus...
Brexit: EU leaders warn UK on Irish border and Gibraltar
2018-03-21 18:48:03 UTC
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders will issue a warning to Britain on Friday that it will only finally secure a Brexit transition period if it stands by its commitments on the Irish border and Gibraltar, a draft statement showed on Wednesday. The 27 leaders, who will meet Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday, will endorse an interim deal struck by EU negotiators on Monday to grant London a 21-month, status quo transition period to help businesses adjust to Brexit, due in March, 2019. A written declaration reflecting that was held up for redrafting after Spain sought a reiteration of its interests being protected over Gibraltar, the Br...
Russian foreign ministry to expel 23 British diplomats
2018-03-17 16:34:25 UTC
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England. Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and Britain’s consulate-general in St. Petersburg. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the 23 British diplomats had one week to leave the country. The move followed Britain’s decision on Wednesday to expel 2...
Stephen Hawking Biography
2018-03-14 09:29:46 UTC
Stephen William Hawking was born on 8th January 1942 (exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. His parents' house was in north London but during the second world war Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight his family moved to St. Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At the age of eleven, Stephen went to St. Albans School and then on to University College, Oxford (1952); his father's old college. Stephen wanted to study mathematics although his father would have preferred medicine. <blockquote><img alt="Stephen_hawking_biography" src="/system/images/15503/original/Stephe...
A Loss for All Humanity: Physicist Stephen Hawking Died
2018-03-14 08:27:15 UTC
British physicist Stephen Hawking has died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 76, according to a family spokesperson. Known around the globe, he worked to make complicated scientific fields accessible to the public. Stephen Hawking, a renowned mathematician and physicist has died at the age of 76. "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humor inspired people across the world," his three children said in a statement. <blockquote> Hawking died in his sle...
UK Says Russia 'Highly Likely' Behind Agent Poisoning
2018-03-13 03:53:14 UTC
LONDON (AP) — The use of Russian-developed nerve agent Novichok to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter makes it “highly likely” that Russia was involved, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday. Novichok refers to a class of nerve agents developed in the Soviet Union near the end of the Cold War. The agents were ostensibly created in an attempt to avoid the international chemical weapons treaty that had just been signed; any new substances wouldn’t be subject to past treaties. Novichok behaves slightly differently than other nerve agents, with some reports that the class of substances is deadlier than similar chemica...
UK troops to remove contaminated objects from where russians were poisoned
2018-03-09 19:37:40 UTC
SALISBURY, England (Reuters) - Britain deployed specialist troops on Friday to remove potentially contaminated objects from the English city where a Russian former double agent and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. Sergei Skripal, 66, who passed Russian secrets to Britain, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in intensive care since they were found slumped unconscious on a bench on Sunday afternoon in the quiet cathedral city of Salisbury. Britain’s interior minister Amber Rudd, who visited Salisbury on Friday, said they were both still in a very serious condition, five days after collapsing. About 180 troops includi...
Poison attack: Britain will respond if Moscow role proved
2018-03-08 18:59:13 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will respond appropriately if evidence shows Moscow sponsored a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in southern England, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday, in the highest-level warning of action to date. Former double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital since they were found unconscious on Sunday on a bench outside a shopping center in the quiet cathedral city of Salisbury. British media and some politicians have speculated that the Russian state could be behind the attack - suggestions dismissed by Moscow as knee-jerk, anti-Russian propa...
Russian ex-agent & his daughter poisoned with nerve agent
2018-03-07 21:34:21 UTC
SALISBURY, England (Reuters) - A nerve agent was used to deliberately poison a former Russian double agent and his daughter, Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer said on Wednesday, in a case that threatens to further damage London’s ties with Moscow. Sergei Skripal, once a colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the southern English city of Salisbury on Sunday afternoon. Both remain critically ill and a police officer who attended the scene is also in a serious condition in hospital. “This is being treated ...
US cable provider 'Comcast' offers $31 billion for 'Sky'
2018-02-27 08:46:42 UTC
LONDON - Comcast Corp, the biggest cable operator in the United States, offered to pay $31 billion to buy Sky, the European pay-TV group that has agreed to be sold to Rupert Murdoch's Fox. Comcast, which owns NBC and Universal Pictures, said it was offering 12.50 pounds per share, significantly higher than the 10.75 pounds per share agreed by Fox. The proposed offer pits Comcast against Murdoch, the 86-year-old media tycoon who helped to launch Sky in Britain, and also against Walt Disney which has agreed to buy a string of assets from Fox once the deal is done, including Sky. Comcast said it had not yet engaged with Sky over the ...
Police: UK faces significant threat from far-right terrorism
2018-02-27 01:16:50 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain faces a new and significant threat from organized far-right terrorism, the UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer said on Monday as he revealed police had foiled four plots by right-wing extremists in the last year. “The right-wing terrorist threat is more significant and more challenging than perhaps public debate gives it credit for,” Mark Rowley, London’s Assistant Commissioner, told reporters. Britain has been a prime target for homegrown and foreign Islamist militants since the 2001 attacks on the United States. But Rowley said until the last two years, far-right activity was limited to unpleasant ...
Germany calls on UK to offer more 'concrete' Brexit plans
2018-02-16 17:47:12 UTC
BERLIN (Reuters) - A Brexit deal should strike a balance to ensure Britain clearly diverges from the European Union’s single market but keeps close economic ties with the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after meeting British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday. Merkel struck an upbeat tone after the talks, which she described as “a very constructive, friendly meeting”. Both leaders said they wanted close economic ties after Brexit. “In the end, there needs to be a fair balance of divergence, from the single market for example, and on the other hand a partnership that is not too close,” Merkel told a joint news confere...
U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in January
2018-02-14 18:37:38 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in January, with a measure of underlying inflation posting its biggest gain in a year, strengthening expectations the Federal Reserve will have to quicken the pace of interest rate increases this year. The fairly strong inflation report from the Labor Department on Wednesday put more pressure on U.S. financial markets, which were spooked by a surge in annual wage growth in January. Prices of U.S. Treasuries fell on the inflation data. The dollar .DXY initially rose against a basket of currencies but later surrendered the gains. Stocks on Wall Street opened lower befo...
Dow Jones falls again, sending investors into a panicked frenzy
2018-02-08 17:53:50 UTC
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks turned lower in early trading on Thursday, with investors still on edge as volatility in financial markets persisted following the worst declines in more than two-and-a-half years earlier in the week. Wall Street ran out of steam on Wednesday after an early surge as investors were still cautious after a bruising sell-off that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average post its biggest intraday drop on record this Monday. The market’s main gauge of volatility, the CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, fell to 26.18 on Thursday, still more than twice the level it held over the past few months. The index hit its highest level si...
Britain's Hope For New Vote On Brexit
2018-02-06 21:00:28 UTC
LONDON — Brexit opponents have begun pushing for a new referendum in the hopes that British voters will have had a change of heart about leaving the European Union. That may just be so, reports Samira Shackle from London. At the end of December, former Labour minister Andrew Adonis resigned from his position as chair of the government-backed National Infrastructure Commission. His strongly worded resignation letter made his reasons clear: "The European Union withdrawal bill is the worst legislation of my lifetime," he wrote. "It arrives soon in the House of Lords and I feel duty bound to oppose it relentlessly from the Labour benches." ...
British government forecast predicts UK will suffer in every Brexit scenario
2018-01-30 18:34:42 UTC
A confidential report prepared for the British government and leaked on Monday suggests all UK industries will be hurt by leaving the European Union, Buzzfeed News reported. The findings are the latest embarrassment for British Prime Minister Theresa May's government, which has faced renewed criticism from other EU leaders about the lack of a coherent Brexit strategy. <blockquote><h3>What the report says</h3><blockquote>• Buzzfeed News reported that the analysis, dated January 2018 and titled "EU Exit Analysis — Cross Whitehall Briefing," looks at three probable Brexit scenarios. • Calculations suggest UK economic growth could fal...
Queen Elizabeth II Seeks to Reconcile Britain with Zimbabwe
2018-01-23 02:41:44 UTC
LONDON — The Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, is seeking to reconcile Britain with Zimbabwe and is pinning hopes on the latter rejoining the Commonwealth. There are indications Zimbabwe and Britain will soon engage in high-level diplomatic engagements in Harare and London with the latter having despatched two emissaries to Harare since President Mnangagwa’s inauguration. First on the scene was Britain’s Africa minister Rory Stewart who attended the inauguration on November 24 last year, followed by permanent under-secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Simon McDonald. Zimbabwe and its former coloniser fell out...
Far-Right Leader Farage 'Handed Data to Assange' to Favor Trump
2018-01-19 20:44:53 UTC
Nigel Farage ‘handed data to Julian Assange during a secret meeting at the embassy where WikiLeaks boss is hiding.’ Private investigator tells House panel Farage gave thumb drive to Assange, who officials view as a conduit for the Russian government. The former Ukip boss allegedly held a series of secret meetings with the WikiLeaks founder at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he's been hiding for more than five years. U.S. congressmen were told Mr Farage handed Mr Assange a "thumb drive" containing unknown material. The claim came from Glenn Simpson, head of the company which compiled a controversial dossier claiming Russ...