Page 14 - Britain

JLR plugs $669 mn into retooling UK plant for production of electric SUVs

JLR cautioned last month that its push into EVs will cost more than initially planned, citing weak consumer demand

Britain Treasury chief seeks to boost economic optimism after failed talks

British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves will pledge Monday not to return to an era of public spending cuts despite the dire state of the UK's national finances. Reeves plans to stress optimism in a speech to the Labour Party's annual conference, aiming to reassure party members, jittery despite a recent landslide election victory, that her first budget next month won't be all doom and gloom. The party said Reeves, the UK's first female finance minister, will stress that my optimism for Britain burns as bright as it ever has done. The centre-left party is gathering in the northwest England port city of Liverpool three months after winning power in Britain's July 4 election. While Labour's return to office after 14 years in opposition has many delegates buzzing, some are anxious about the government's faltering start and downbeat economic messaging. Prime Minister Keir Starmer won the election on a promise to banish years of turmoil and scandal under the Conservatives, get Britain's ...

Google urges tribunal to scrap $9.3 bn UK lawsuit over search 'dominance'

The lawyers asked the Competition Appeal Tribunal to certify the case to proceed towards a trial, a very early step in any mass lawsuit. Google, however, says the case is seriously flawed

Ex-BBC news anchor gets suspended for indecent images of children on phone

Former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards, once one of the most prominent media figures in Britain, was given a suspended prison sentence on Monday for indecent images of children on his phone. Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates' Court in July to three counts of making indecent images of children, a charge related to photos sent to him on the WhatsApp messaging service by a convicted pedophile. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sentenced Edwards to a six-month prison term suspended for two years. It is not an exaggeration to say your long-earned reputation is in tatters, Goldspring said. Edwards' fall from grace over the past year has caused turmoil for the BBC after it was revealed the publicly funded broadcaster paid him about 200,000 pounds (USD 263,000) for five months of his salary after he had been arrested in November while on leave. The BBC has asked him to pay it back. Edwards had been one of the BBC's top earners when he was suspended in July 2023 over separa

Biden meets Britain's PM, brushes off Putin's threats about war with West

President Joe Biden brushed off a threat from Russian leader Vladimir Putin about war against the West if Ukraine's allies allow it to use weapons deeper inside Russia. It's a shift that Kyiv has pleaded for but does not appear likely to be announced following a meeting Friday between Biden and Britain's prime minister. Ukraine and many of its supporters in the US and Europe want Biden to lift restrictions on Western-provided long-range weapons, and there are signs Biden might shift the administration's policy. But the US, concerned about any step that could lead Russia to escalate the conflict, has moved cautiously before granting a series of earlier requests from Ukraine for specific arms, including advanced tanks, missiles and rocket systems, and F-16 fighter jets. Russian officials have issued similar threats before many of those past decisions. Ukraine was a key topic for Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer following this week's visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats, w

Russia to expel 6 British diplomats over spying, subversive activities

Russia's Federal Security Service on Friday accused six British diplomats of spying and said a decision has been made to withdraw their accreditation. Russian state TV quoted an official from the security service known as the FSB as saying that they will be expelled. The expulsions come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Washington for talks with President Joe Biden that will include Ukraine's request to use Western-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia. Starmer said on his way to the US that Britain does not seek any conflict with Russia. Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away, he told reporters. Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we've obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine's right to self-defense we're providing training capability, as you know. But we don't seek any conflict with Russia that's not our intention in the slightest, he said. The FSB said it received documents

Shahi Exports' Harish Ahuja pays $27 mn for home in London's Notting Hill

The property offering more than 20,000 square feet of space is a short walk from Kensington Gardens

Britain's Rightmove rejects $7.3 bn takeover offer from Murdoch's REA Group

REA, which is 62 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp , did not cite any reason for the offer's rejection by Rightmove

AppsForBharat raises $18 mn in series B funding from Nilekani's Fundamentum

Founded in November 2020 by Prashant Sachan, AppsForBharat operates the devotion platform Sri Mandir

UK authorities vow relentless search as manhunt for shooter enters Day 3

As a gruelling manhunt stretched into a third day Monday for a suspect in an interstate shooting that struck 12 vehicles and wounded five people, authorities vowed to keep up a relentless search as the stress level remained high for a rural area where some schools cancelled classes. Authorities have been searching a rugged, hilly area of southeastern Kentucky since Saturday evening, when a gunman began shooting at drivers on Interstate 75 near London, a small city of about 8,000 people located about 75 miles (120 kilometres) south of Lexington. The search was temporarily suspended once darkness fell Sunday night, but was set to resume Monday morning. We're not going to quit until we do lay hands on him, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Sunday night. Joseph A. Couch, 32, was named first as a person of interest and later as a suspect in the shooting after authorities said they recovered his SUV on a service road near the crime scene. They later found a semi-automatic weapon nearb

Biden to host British PM Keir Starmer next week for White House talks

President Joe Biden will host British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for talks in Washington next week that are expected to touch on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and other issues. Next Friday's meeting with the leader of one of America's closest allies comes as Biden looks to step up engagement on the international stage in his final months in office. US allies and adversaries are also intently watching how the race to succeed Biden between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump plays out. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the Oval Office visit, the second by Starmer since he was elected earlier this summer, will focus on continuing Western support for Ukraine as it tries to repel Russia's invasion, ongoing efforts to secure a hostage and cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea posed by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed group, as well as shared concerns about

UK watchdog accuses Google of anti-competitive behaviour in digital ads biz

Google was slammed on Friday by UK regulators who say it's taking advantage of its dominance in digital advertising to thwart competition in Britain, ratcheting up pressure that the tech giant is facing on both sides of the Atlantic over its ad tech business practices. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said that the US company gives preference to its own services to the detriment of online publishers and advertisers in Britain's 1.8 billion pound (USD 2.4 billion) digital ad market. Google is a major player throughout the digital ad ecosystem, providing servers for publishers to manage ad space on their websites and apps, tools for advertisers and media agencies to buy display ads, and an exchange where both sides come together to buy and sell ads in real time at auctions. We've provisionally found that Google is using its market power to hinder competition when it comes to the ads people see on websites, the watchdog's interim executive director of enforcement, Juliette .

US, Britain, EU to sign first legally binding international AI treaty

The AI Convention, which has been in the works for years and was adopted in May after discussions between 57 countries, addresses the risks AI may pose, while promoting responsible innovation

Projectiles strike ship in Red Sea in suspected Yemen rebel attack

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said. Two projectiles hit the vessel, and a third explosion occurred near the ship, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Damage control is underway, UKMTO said. There are no casualties onboard and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a United States-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel's campaign against H

10,000 US hotel workers strike as contract talks with operators break down

The strike is taking place with the industry facing a 9% increase in Labor Day weekend domestic travel compared to last year, according to AAA booking data

Britain may lose $16 bn with North Sea tax changes, says industry body

The changes will also include scrapping the levy's 29% investment allowance, which lets companies offset tax from capital that is re-invested

British film investors aim to revive studio plan amid push for growth

Marlow Film Studios said it would appeal to a national planning body after the proposed new studio complex was rejected

British PM Keir Starmer in Berlin for talks to reset ties with Europe

Military support for Ukraine if former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House early next year.

Proposed UN resolution on Myanmar condemns military attacks on civilians

Britain circulated a wide-ranging United Nations resolution on Myanmar urging renewed peace efforts, condemning attacks on civilians especially by the Myanmar military and calling for a halt to illicit arms transfers. The draft resolution obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press expresses alarm at the increased violence across Myanmar, which is engulfed in civil war between the military-led regime and resistance forces. It calls for safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian access at scale," expressing grave concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation and restrictions on humanitarian access in the country that led to rising food insecurity and hunger. The proposed resolution warns that the current situation has the potential to further exacerbate discrimination, ethnically motivated violence, violations of international humanitarian law, human rights abuses, and conflict-related sexual violence. Myanmar's military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1

Thousands of workers at UK retailer Next win years long fight for equal pay

Workers in the claim would be entitled to back pay for up to six years before they brought the action