United Kingdom

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Commuters Down the Tube as Strike Hits London

Underground out of service, but strikers have little support

(Newser) - London commuters faced a trial to get to work today as a subway strike pushed millions onto buses, bikes, and boats. The 48-hour strike began last night after talks broke down with one of the Tube's unions over disciplinary measures against two train drivers. Some lines are running irregularly, however,...

Michelle, Daughters Slip Into London

First family visits parliament, then hits the pub

(Newser) - Barack Obama flew back to the US Sunday, but Michelle, Malia, and Sasha began a secret trip to London yesterday, reports the Daily Mail, visiting Big Ben and Parliament before tucking in for fish and chips at a traditional pub near the American embassy. Michelle also made an unofficial visit...

Brown Survives Party Revolt
 Brown Survives Party Revolt 
Jun 8, 2009 4:12 PM CDT

Brown Survives Party Revolt

(Newser) - British PM Gordon Brown survived a rowdy party meeting today despite Labour’s dismal election results and a backbencher uprising, the Guardian reports. 16 Labour parliamentarians spoke in defense of Brown and five called for his resignation in the wake of a high-profile financial scandal. “You solve the problem...

Brown's Woes Offers Obama Reality Check
Brown's Woes Offers Obama Reality Check
OPINION
Jun 8, 2009 8:50 AM CDT

Brown's Woes Offers Obama Reality Check

Voters don't reward economic competence after crisis: Krugman

(Newser) - The Bush administration has taken much of the blame for the American recession, but a "huge housing bubble and a financial crisis" were always on the cards, as Paul Krugman writes for the New York Times. Writing from London, where voters gave Gordon Brown a pummeling in Thursday's elections,...

Brown Likely to Hang On to Power
Brown Likely to Hang On to Power
Jun 5, 2009 8:18 AM CDT

Brown Likely to Hang On to Power

In reshuffle, British PM invites Apprentice host to join government

(Newser) - Gordon Brown looked set to hang on to power this morning, despite the shock resignation of yet another minister who called on him to step down. James Purnell, a young Blairite, quit the Cabinet seconds after polls closed in last night's election, forcing Brown to bring forward a planned government...

As 4th Minister Quits, Brown's Outlook Bleak

Blears resigns in potentially fatal blow to PM's authority

(Newser) - With one day to go before clutch British elections, another minister resigned from Gordon Brown's Cabinet today, dealing the beleaguered PM another devastating blow. Hazel Blears, an arch-Blairite who was exposed for avoiding $21,000 in capital gains tax, refused to praise Brown in her resignation statement. She is the...

EU Sold Millions in Weapons to Sri Lankan Army

European arms may have been used in civil war atrocities

(Newser) - European Union nations sold millions of dollars worth of arms and military equipment to the Sri Lankan army in the final stages of its 26-year civil war, in which the army has been accused of atrocities. The UK sold the country $22.3 million in armored vehicles and weapons, though...

UK Expenses Scandal Hits Alistair Darling

Govt's No. 2 claimed 2 houses at same time, may be demoted

(Newser) - Britain's ongoing political expenses scandal reached all the way to the second-highest post in government today, after the Telegraph broke news that Chancellor Alistair Darling reportedly expensed the service charge on a South London apartment he was renting out while also claiming allowances on his Downing Street house. Though he...

Only Trade Can Rescue World Economy: Brown
Only Trade Can Rescue World Economy: Brown
OPINION
May 28, 2009 8:35 AM CDT

Only Trade Can Rescue World Economy: Brown

'A banking crisis has become a trade crisis,' writes British PM

(Newser) - The banking crisis has stabilized, according to Gordon Brown, but a new calamity has replaced it: "a trade crisis" that is killing jobs in industrialized nations and exacerbating poverty in developing ones. Globalization has compounded the downturn, but it can also accelerate the pickup, the British PM writes in...

British MP Billed Taxpayers for 'Servants' Wing'

Tory then sold house and evaded capital gains tax

(Newser) - Just when the scandal over British MPs' expenses seemed to be petering out comes news that a Conservative legislator charged taxpayers $27,000 to build servants' quarters at his second home, the Times of London reports. Sir John Butterfill told the BBC the suggestion he had servants was a "...

Stocks Plummet on UK's Credit Woes
 Stocks Plummet on 
 UK's Credit Woes 
MARKET open
May 21, 2009 8:49 AM CDT

Stocks Plummet on UK's Credit Woes

(Newser) - Stocks plummeted at today’s open after Standard & Poor’s warned it might downgrade the UK’s credit rating, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow tumbled 126 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P each fell more than 1%. Investors now fear other major economies, including the US,...

Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK
Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK
investigation
May 21, 2009 8:47 AM CDT

Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK

Alleged al-Qaeda members enrolled in ring of fake schools

(Newser) - Thousands of young Pakistanis have entered Britain by applying for visas to study at sham colleges that issue fake diplomas and attendance records, the Times of London reports. Ten of the 12 men arrested last month when police busted an alleged al-Qaeda plot were enrolled at a bogus college; other...

Brown to Purge Cabinet After Expenses Flap

Scandal-hit ministers face axe as PM plans government overhaul

(Newser) - Gordon Brown has been dropping hints of a major reshuffle and possible constitutional reform as the crisis over British MPs' expenses continues. The Telegraph alleged today that two ministers fiddled with the rules to avoid paying capital gains tax after selling their homes. The PM is said to be preparing...

UK Expenses Scandal Claims House Speaker

House of Commons speaker Michael Martin steps down

(Newser) - The ongoing controversy surrounding British MPs' lavish expenses has claimed its biggest victim: the speaker of the House of Commons. Michael Martin, who presides over the country's main legislative body, will announce his resignation today after losing the support of party leaders, including Gordon Brown—not for cheating on his...

Branson's Next Launch: Virgin Internet Bank

Exploiting the public's discontent with banks, Virgin could bid for Northern Rock

(Newser) - Capitalizing on public disgust with Britain’s big banks, Richard Branson plans to launch an Internet bank through subsidiary Virgin Money that will take deposits and offer mortgages, the Guardian reports. Branson is talking to investors and some US banks about financial backing and could set in motion more ambitious...

English Pub Gets Around Smoking Ban
English Pub Gets Around Smoking Ban
May 13, 2009 12:26 PM CDT

English Pub Gets Around Smoking Ban

Turning bar into 'smoking research facility' makes it legal

(Newser) - One British pub has found a way around the country’s smoking ban, one that could send the entire law up in smoke. Owner Kerry Fenton has turned her bar’s tap room into a “Smoking Research Center.” Would-be puffers need only fill out a questionnaire asking how...

US Threatens to Limit Intel Sharing With UK

... if British courts release details on Guantanamo abuse

(Newser) - The Obama administration says it will cut down on intelligence sharing with the UK if British courts reveal details on the treatment of a former Guantanamo detainee, the Washington Times reports. In a letter to the British Foreign Office, the administration says that releasing a report on the treatment of...

Giant Jelly Storms UK Beach
 Giant Jelly Storms UK Beach 
May 12, 2009 1:22 AM CDT

Giant Jelly Storms UK Beach

(Newser) - Bathers at a British beach were flummoxed today by the sight of a 4-foot jellyfish that washed up on the shore near Devon, the Telegraph reports. It’s one of the biggest jellies to be found in the UK and unusually large for the Rootmouth species, which experts say usually...

Media Playing Dirty in Brown Expenses Flap
Media Playing Dirty in Brown Expenses Flap
OPINION
May 11, 2009 11:39 AM CDT

Media Playing Dirty in Brown Expenses Flap

PM's sister-in-law hits back after fiasco over housekeeping

(Newser) - British politicians have endured four days' worth of brutal press coverage after a newspaper published leaked parliamentary expense accounts, which include claims for everything from major home renovations to a Kit Kat bar. Gordon Brown, normally thought of as a frugal preacher's son, expensed $10,000 for cleaning—made payable...

Bulletproof Turban in Development for UK's Sikh Cops

(Newser) - Scientists are developing a bulletproof turban that would allow Britain’s Sikh police officers to handle firearms and become riot cops, the Telegraph reports. The religion requires men keep their turbans on at all times, barring them from wearing helmets required in certain high-risk scenarios. “There needs to be...

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