Britain

July 7, 2024 3:55 PM

Britain prioritising jobs in Tata Steel talks – minister

Britain's new government is prioritising avoiding job losses in talks with Tata Steel over government backing for a transition to lower-carbon technologies, business minister Jonathan Reynolds said on Sunday. Tata, Britain's biggest steel producer, started closing one of its carbon-intensive blast furnaces on Thursday while the shutdown of its other one is slated for September, resulting in the loss of up to 2,800 jobs at Port Talbot in South Wales. The new government will need to sign the 500...

July 6, 2024 10:57 AM

Know the team set to govern Britain under new PM Starmer

Keir Starmer led Britain's Labour Party to a landslide victory in the 2024 parliamentary election, taking over from the Conservatives after 14 years in opposition. Below are details on new Prime Minister Starmer and his freshly appointed team of senior ministers: KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER Starmer, 61, took charge of Labour in 2020 following its worst electoral defeat in 84 years in 2019 under left-wing veteran Jeremy Corbyn. He has sought to develop Labour as a party of competence and prag...

June 25, 2024 5:18 PM

Landmark trial for 47 Hong Kong democrats enters final stretch before sentencing

Mitigation pleas for Hong Kong's biggest ever national security trial against the city's democratic opposition kicked off on Tuesday, in what is expected to be the final stage before sentencing that could see some defendants jailed for life. The 47 democrats were among those arrested in early 2021 for taking part in an unofficial, non-binding poll to select candidates for a legislative election. They were charged with "conspiracy to commit subversion" under a China-imposed national security law...

June 14, 2024 10:53 AM

Chinese #MeToo activist sentenced to five years in prison, supporters say

A Chinese court sentenced leading #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin to five years' imprisonment on subversion charges on Friday, supporters told Reuters. The co-accused labour activist Wang Jianbing was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, supporters said. Huang, a 35-year-old independent journalist, has been imprisoned since 2021. She was put on trial with labour activist Wang Jianbing, 40, last year, accused of "inciting subversion of state power", her supporters said, citing people...

June 10, 2024 12:31 PM

US military confirms Houthi missile strikes on two ships in Gulf of Aden

Yemen's Houthi damaged two commercial vessels in missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden in the last 24 hours as part of the militia group's ongoing campaign against international ocean shipping, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday. The Iran-backed Houthis hit the Tavvishi, a Liberian-flagged and Swiss-owned container ship with an anti-ship ballistic missile, CENTCOM said. The vessel was damaged, but no crew were injured, according to CENTCOM. Two missiles fired by the Houthis struck the...

June 5, 2024 12:52 PM

In heated debate, Britain’s Sunak, Starmer go head-to-head on the economy

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour challenger Keir Starmer went head-to-head on Tuesday over how to boost Britain's economy, with the PM accusing the opposition party of wanting to increase taxes if it wins power at a July 4 election. Both Sunak, a Conservative, and Starmer stuck to their campaign lines in their first debate just weeks before a general election opinion polls suggest Labour is set to win, with Sunak saying only he had a plan to spur Britain's paltry economic growth and Starme...

September 16, 2024 5:56 PM

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange wins right to appeal extradition from Britain to US

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was given permission on Monday to appeal against extradition to the United States after arguing at London's High Court that he might not be able to rely on his right to free speech in a U.S. court. The Australian-born Assange, 52, is wanted in the U.S. on 18 charges, nearly all under the Espionage Act, relating to WikiLeaks' mass release of secret U.S. documents - the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history. The High Court had in March ...

May 20, 2024 7:19 PM

UK’s infected blood scandal could and should have been avoided, inquiry finds

Britain's infected blood scandal that has killed 3,000 people and left thousands more suffering with hepatitis or HIV was no accident, a public inquiry found on Monday, blaming a catalogue of failures by government and doctors. Inquiry chair Brian Langstaff said more than 30,000 people received infected blood and blood products in the 1970s and 1980s from Britain's state-funded National Health Service, destroying lives, dreams and families. The use of infected blood, despite the known risks, h...

May 1, 2024 11:24 AM

South Korea discusses joining part of AUKUS pact with US, UK and Australia

South Korea has held talks about joining part of the AUKUS defence deal between the U.S., Britain and Australia, Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said on Wednesday, only weeks after the pact said it would consider including Japan. Formed in 2021, AUKUS is a two-stage security pact to counteract China's growing power in the Asia Pacific region. While a first stage to give Australia nuclear submarine technology is limited to the core trio, they have raised the possibility of other countries j...

April 23, 2024 4:52 PM

Migrants drown in Channel, Sunak says nothing will stop Rwanda policy

At least five people, including a child, died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France, hours after Britain passed a bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to try to deter the dangerous crossings. The deaths of one child, a woman and three men occurred on an overcrowded small boat carrying around 110 people attempting to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The French coastguard was still searching for survivors. "After becoming initially stranded on the shore, ...