United Kingdom

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Two More Discs Missing in UK Data Fiasco

Brown apologizes as criticism of government grows louder

(Newser) - The fallout from the lost data fiasco in Britain continues, as the Times of London reveals that two more unencrypted discs containing sensitive personal information have been reported missing from the nation's tax agency. Gordon Brown faced down a furious opposition in Prime Minister's Questions yesterday. The PM has employed...

UK Teens Guilty of Cocaine Smuggling in Ghana

16-year-olds may spend three years in detention

(Newser) - Two 16-year-olds were found guilty today of attempting to sneak $600,000 of cocaine from Ghana to Britain, the Times reports. The conviction could mean up to three years in a Ghanaian juvenile detention center for the British girls, who claimed they had been set up when they were arrested...

UK Chancellor Fights for Job After Data Loss

25M missing records spell trouble for already shaky Labour

(Newser) - A day after Alistair Darling was forced to admit that the tax department had lost the personal data of 25 million citizens, the British chancellor was fighting to keep his job in the face of a hostile and incredulous press. "Beyond farce, past comprehension, criminally irresponsible and beneath contempt"...

UK Bird Flu Cull Widens to 22K
UK Bird Flu Cull Widens to 22K 

UK Bird Flu Cull Widens to 22K

Culling seen as precautionary; no sign of disease spreading

(Newser) - Some 22,000 more birds are being killed in Britain after an outbreak of bird flu on a turkey farm in Suffolk, northeast of London. The cull has been extended to four nearby sites, although the disease has only been detected at the first farm. "This is a precautionary...

UK to Pay Opium Producers
UK to Pay Opium Producers

UK to Pay Opium Producers

Britain wants to pay Afghan farmers to ditch heroin production

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s opium biz is booming, but British PM Gordon Brown says the almighty pound can squash it, the Guardian reports. He now wants to revive the UK's failed anti-opium program by paying Afghan farmers to produce crops other than poppy. So far, the UK has invested $20 million in...

Writerless Studios May Turn to UK
Writerless Studios May Turn to UK

Writerless Studios May Turn to UK

Transatlantic talent search a possibility; strike marches on

(Newser) - Five days into the Writers Guild strike, studios are looking across the Atlantic to UK screenwriters who don't fall under American union jurisdiction. So far, they're just looking, Variety reports, and the jury's still out on the ethics of the situation. One studio exec says it presents "an extraordinary...

Britain Braces for Huge Storm in North Sea

(Newser) - Britain and the Netherlands are bracing  for massive flooding tomorrow as a huge storm in the North Sea churns its way to the coast, BBC reports. The entire coast is under alert for the first time in three decades, says the Dutch Transport Ministry. The storm surge is expected to...

Onion Atlas Redraws the World
Onion Atlas Redraws
the World

Onion Atlas Redraws the World

No corner of the globe is safe from the masters of satire

(Newser) - You may never look at the world in quite the same way after reading the new atlas from the Onion, says a Newsweek reviewer. Our Dumb World is the best parody in 30 years, writes Malcolm Jones, with its mix of laugh-out-loud goofball humor and darker satire. The Iraq map,...

Britain to Fight Fat in 'Fit Towns'

Government would broaden eco-friendly schemes to address health concerns

(Newser) - In light of dire predictions about the cost of the obesity crisis, England wants 10 previously planned eco-friendly towns to also combat obesity by promoting healthy lifestyles, the Guardian reported today. Among the proposals: more bike lanes; safe walking routes to school and the downtown area; larger and more modern...

UK Is Ready for Its Closeup
UK Is Ready
for Its Closeup

UK Is Ready for Its Closeup

With 1 surveillance camera for every 15 Britons, unexamined life is nonexistent

(Newser) - The nation that embraced the "Big Brother" TV show is becoming eerily like the society George Orwell envisioned, reports the LA Times. Litterers under closed-circuit surveillance respond to commands to pick up trash they drop, and errant cyclists are ordered to dismount in pedestrian-only areas. Britons increasingly are trading...

UK Probes Charges That CIA Used Brit Prison for Torture

(Newser) - British officials will investigate persistent claims that the CIA secretly interrogated terrorism suspects at a UK prison in the Indian Ocean, the Guardian reports. Authorities have repeatedly questioned American officials, who deny the reports. But an organization representing detainees insists the claims are true, adding that the British may be...

Britain to Claim Antarctic Seabed
Britain to Claim Antarctic Seabed

Britain to Claim Antarctic Seabed

Bid follows this summer's Arctic territory scramble

(Newser) - Britain will submit a claim to the UN for 386,000 square miles of Antarctica, its foreign office said today, joining the international race to grab a piece of the mineral- and oil-rich territory as global warming makes it more accessible. The move violates a 1959 treaty, which Britain signed,...

UK Liberal Chief Forced Out In 'Brutal' Purge

As 66-year-old leader goes, British pols face accusations of ageism

(Newser) - British politics got a jolt yesterday with the sudden resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats. The 66-year-old leader of the UK's third party, languishing in the polls, was forced out by party apparatchiks in what other politicians are calling a brutal, ageist coup. "Merciless,"...

UK Opposition Leader Calls On Governator

Tory challenger visits Schwarzenegger, Google heads, maybe Bush

(Newser) - David Cameron, the UK Tory leader, is in California to meet with politicians and tech gurus and to pitch himself, rather than Gordon Brown, as the future of Britain. Only two weeks ago Cameron's career was in free fall, but after a stellar performance at the Conservative Party's conference and...

Brits Plotting Our Destruction: Russia Spy Chief

In latest clash, official claims evidence of plan to 'dismember' Russia

(Newser) - Marking the latest low in British-Russian relations, the head of Russian intelligence claims to have uncovered evidence of a plot by Britain to "dismember" his country. The charge, in an interview with a Russian journal, raised fears of  a new wave of expulsions of British diplomats, reports the Telegraph.

White House Switches Plans on Iran
White House Switches
Plans on Iran

White House Switches Plans on Iran

Seymour Hersh on the 'reconceived' campaign to provoke Tehran

(Newser) - Having failed to convince Americans of an imminent nuclear threat from Iran, the White House “has reconceived” its campaign, writes the New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh, targeting Tehran instead as an exporter of terrorism, especially of weapons and insurgents to Iraq. By recasting Iran as an aggressor in Iraq,...

Study: Dark Chocolate Aids Chronic Fatigue

Treat may work by boosting brain's serotonin levels

(Newser) - A daily dose of dark chocolate noticeably improves symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers have discovered. Scientists speculate that the chocolate may boost brain serotonin levels in sufferers, who reported significantly less fatigue when they ate 45 grams a day of chocolate high in cocoa content.

Lack of Sleep Doubles Risk of Heart Disease

Researchers suspect link between blood pressure, fewer Zs

(Newser) - Getting 7 hours of sleep a night is best, and people who consistently sleep less are risking their lives, a new study says. Researchers followed 10,000 civil servants for 17 years and found that those who reduced their sleep from 7 hours a night to 5 or less doubled...

iPhone Flies 1st Class to Europe
iPhone Flies 1st Class to Europe

iPhone Flies 1st Class to Europe

Rollout starts tomorrow; UK deal a bonanza for Apple

(Newser) - European technophiles are about to get their fingers on the iPhone’s touchpad, and thanks to some 11th-hour bargaining, O2, the UK’s largest mobile operator, will have the franchise there. But O2’s deal is “madly money-losing,” a competitor tells the Guardian, because Apple reaps as much...

Poisoning Suspect Runs for Parliament to Dodge Jail

He could win immunity for radiation death

(Newser) - The Russian businessman accused of using radioactive polonium-210 to poison a critic of controversial President Vladimir Putin is trying to dodge prosecution by running for parliament, the London Times reports. The Kremlin has already refused to hand Andrei Lugovoi over to British officials, saying it would violate the Russian constitution....

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