Britain

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UK Begins Massive HPV Vaccine Campaign

12- and 13-year-old girls first targeted by program that could reach 2M by 2011

(Newser) - The UK kicked off a campaign to give 12- and 13-year-old girls the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, the Times of London reports. Schools will begin offering the shot, which is not mandatory, this week. The government estimates that it will vaccinate over 2 million girls by 2011. Beside official programs,...

UK Millionaire Set Fire After Killing Family

Footage shows Foster blocking exits before murder/suicide

(Newser) - Police have found the body of a UK millionaire inside the charred remains of his mansion, the Guardian reports. Authorities now believe Christopher Foster fatally shot his wife and teenage daughter, along with three family horses and four dogs, early on Aug. 26 before setting the house ablaze and turning...

London's Stodgy Cabs Get Overhaul

Classic black taxis could be phased out for minivans

(Newser) - London's black cabs, with their jump seats and garrulous drivers, are one of the emblems of the city. But they're also gas-guzzling polluters, reports the New York Times, so this month the eco-conscious British capital is introducing a new taxi to its streets: a minivan designed by Mercedes that bears...

Gadhafi Son: Lockerbie Kin 'Greedy'
Gadhafi Son: Lockerbie Kin 'Greedy'
Aug 29, 2008 10:16 AM CDT

Gadhafi Son: Lockerbie Kin 'Greedy'

Likely Libya successor rips families of victims of 1988 attack

(Newser) - Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi’s son called the families of Lockerbie victims “very greedy” in their negotiations for compensation, the Independent reports. They leveraged “the blood of their sons and daughters” for “more money and more money" after the 1988 airline attack, said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, seen...

BBC Denies Spouting Government's Qaeda Line

(Newser) - Similarities between a leaked British government document and a recent BBC report on al-Qaeda’s waning support are just that, the broadcaster said today in denying its editorial independence had been dented. A report leaked to the Guardian talked of pushing material through UK media channels to suggest al-Qaeda is...

Queen's Guards Fired for Drugs
 Queen's Guards Fired for Drugs
Aug 26, 2008 12:57 PM CDT

Queen's Guards Fired for Drugs

Five members of a ceremonial unit test positive

(Newser) - Five soldiers from the Queen of England's ceremonial guard unit have been fired after testing positive for Class A drugs, reports the Times of London. A failed test is virtually a guaranteed career-ender in the British Army, and only a slim 0.8% of personnel have tested positive in the...

Water-Neutral Campaign Is Nothing but Eco-Guilt
Water-Neutral Campaign
Is Nothing but Eco-Guilt
OPINION
Aug 24, 2008 3:07 PM CDT

Water-Neutral Campaign Is Nothing but Eco-Guilt

If rich countries were really water-neutral, we'd all be dead

(Newser) - A new UK campaign urging people to be more “water wise” lays bare a flaw in the environmental movement, Brendan O’Neill writes in Spiked. The campaign urges people to be conscious of the “virtual water” used on their behalf to carry out tasks like growing coffee beans...

UK Banks 'Milk Borrowers' to Pay for Credit Crunch

Banks hike mortgage payments despite interest rate cuts

(Newser) - Britain's big banks are being accused of hoisting nearly £3 billion in interest payments on customers to make up for bad bank investments, the Daily Mail reports. Seeking to recoup huge losses from assets linked to subprime US mortgages, the banks have hiked mortgage rates and fees despite interest...

Caroline: UK Ambassador?
 Caroline: UK Ambassador?
Aug 22, 2008 12:20 PM CDT

Caroline: UK Ambassador?

If Obama wins, Kennedy gets Ambassadorship in London

(Newser) - Should Barack Obama win the presidency, he will reward Caroline Kennedy’s efforts by appointing her ambassador to Great Britain, predicts the Mandrake gossip column in London's Daily Telegraph. The payback would place JFK’s only surviving child in the position once held by her grandfather, patriarch Joe. He shot...

British Game Companies Target 25K Downloaders

Alleged pirates told to pay $550 or face court

(Newser) - A group of five of the world’s top computer-game makers are getting tough on illegal downloaders, the Times of London reports, demanding settlements of about $555 from 25,000 people across Britain. Those who refuse to settle will be taken to court, the companies—Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump,...

Britain to Test Car Satellite Toll

Controversial plan will charge up to $2.40 per mile for British autos

(Newser) - Britain plans to test a toll system that tracks drivers by satellite and charges them by the mile, the Daily Telegraph reports. Dubbed "spy in the sky," the controversial plan was floated by the Labour government and was considered dead under PM Gordon Brown. "It seems that...

UK Weighs Taking Fat Kids From Parents

Dangerously chubby children may end up in social service system

(Newser) - Local government leaders in Britain warn that they may need to take drastic action to protect the health of dangerously overweight children—including taking them away from their parents, the Independent reports. They predict that a million British children will be clinically obese within four years, and that the social...

Gnome Tours World, Returns
 Gnome Tours World, Returns
Aug 11, 2008 12:55 PM CDT

Gnome Tours World, Returns

Cliché comes to life for one British woman

(Newser) - Months after her lawn gnome went missing, a woman in England got a huge surprise when it returned, accompanied by a photo album and immigration stamps from all over the world, the Gloucestershire Echo reports. Accompanying the prodigal lawn ornament was a note describing his adventures "across three continents,...

Leaked Blair Memo Blasts Brown 'Vacuity'

Leadership challenge gains steam as ex-PM slams successor

(Newser) - Gordon Brown took further lashed from his own party over the weekend as allies of Tony Blair leaked an old memo from the former prime minister bashing Brown's tenure. In the memo, written last year after Brown called off a mooted snap election, Blair accuses his successor of "hubris...

Doctors Fume Over Website Selling Fake Sick Notes

Australian physicians want it shut down

(Newser) - In an Internet version of a classic schoolboy trick, a website is peddling fake doctors' notes to Australians looking to get some paid time off, reports news.com.au. The $40 certificates have infuriated the medical community, which wants the police to step in. Two backpackers reportedly set up the...

Queen Victoria's Giant Knickers Fetch $9K

1890s bloomers with 50-inch waist auctioned for princely sum

(Newser) - A pair of bloomers that belonged to Queen Victoria were auctioned off yesterday for $9,000, almost ten times the expected price, the BBC reports. The royal knickers, which sport a 50-inch waist and a "VR" monogram, date from the 1890s. The queen was apparently "a very big...

Facebook Pulls Stabbing App Amid UK Knife Deaths

Britain concerned about spate of knife violence

(Newser) - A surge in knife crime has shaken Britain, ABC News reports. Twelve people—six of them teenagers—were stabbed to death in a single week this month. Public concern has caused Facebook to yank a third-party application where users could send each other "virtual stabs," and Nike has...

Obama Wraps Up Tour in London, Defends Trip

Candidate meets with Brown to close international tour

(Newser) - Barack Obama wrapped up his international tour today in London, chatting for two hours with PM Gordon Brown on Iraq, the economy, and the "special relationship" between the US and Britain. Obama, preparing to head home to Chicago, defended his trip to Europe and the Mideast as polls in...

Obama Brother Surfaces in Britain
Obama Brother Surfaces
in Britain
Jul 26, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

Obama Brother Surfaces in Britain

Kenyan Bernard 'so proud' of candidate

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s Kenyan half-brother Bernard has emerged in England after a British tabloid tracked him down. Bernard Obama told the Sun he was “proud of my brother” and said he was sure Barack would win the White House. “He will be a breath of fresh air for...

Barack: Don't Tell Europe What It Wants to Hear

Careful change is what Europe wants to believe in

(Newser) - The vast majority of Europeans are hoping Barack Obama will be elected president, according to polls that give him as much as 86% support among voters in France, Britain, and Germany. The overwhelming support reflects a hope for a new era of unity with the US, writes Roger Cohen in...

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