Page 5 - Britain

Starmer moves to quell Labour mutiny ahead of key welfare policy vote

After a U-turn on disability benefit cuts, Starmer will spend Monday urging Labour MPs to support a revised plan ahead of a crucial vote that could test his authority within the party

Getty drops copyright allegations in UK lawsuit against Stability AI

Getty Images dropped copyright infringement allegations from its lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Stability AI as closing arguments began Wednesday in the landmark case at Britain's High Court. Seattle-based Getty's decision to abandon the copyright claim removes a key part of its lawsuit against Stability AI, which owns a popular AI image-making tool called Stable Diffusion. The two have been facing off in a widely watched court case that could have implications for the creative and technology industries. Tech companies have been training their AI systems on vast troves of writings and images available online. Getty was among the first to challenge those practices with copyright infringement lawsuits in the United States and the United Kingdom in early 2023. Getty's trial evidence sought to show the painstaking creative work of professional photographers who made the images found in Getty's collection, from a Caribbean beach scene to celebrity shots of actor Donald .

UK to buy F-35 jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs: PM Keir Starmer

The United Kingdom will buy 12 US-made F-35 fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs and will join NATO's shared airborne nuclear mission, in a major expansion of its nuclear deterrent, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Wednesday. The government called it the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation. Starmer made the announcement while attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte welcomed the decision, calling it yet another robust British contribution to NATO. The UK phased out air-dropped atomic weapons in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War. Its nuclear arsenal now consists of submarine-based missiles. Only three NATO members the US, Britain and France are nuclear powers, while seven nations contribute to the alliance's nuclear mission by contributing jets that can carry either conventional weapons or American B61 bombs stockpiled in Europe. The use of nuclear weapons by the UK as part of the mission woul

UK heat wave could claim nearly 600 lives this week, scientists warn

Saturday is expected to be the deadliest day, with an estimate of 266 heat-related deaths, nearly half of which could be recorded in London, according to the researchers

UK car theft crisis near 15-year high as manufacturers face high-tech gangs

Car theft is a growing problem in the UK, as almost 130,000 vehicles were stolen in the year ending March 2024-near a 15-year high-costing insurers $867 million

UK govt to inject $1.2 bn for hosting sports events, upgrading facilities

British sport is getting a cash injection of more than 900 million pounds ($1.2 billion) from the government to help with the staging of big events such as the men's European Championship soccer tournament and Grand Departs in the Tour de France. The money will also be used to help deliver a bid by soccer federations in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to host the Women's World Cup in 2035, the government said Thursday in announcing the funding commitment. While more than 400 million pounds ($540 million) will go toward investment in new and upgraded grassroots facilities around Britain, the rest of the money will be spent on what the government described as major sporting events. They include the men's Euros in 2028, staged alongside Ireland, as well as the Grand Departs of the Tour de France in men's and women's cycling in 2027 and the European Athletics Championships in 2026. Together, this strategic investment in sport will help to deliver on the government's missi

We grieve together: UK dy PM at vigil for Ahmedabad plane crash victims

The UK and India are united in their grief for all those impacted by the Ahmedabad-London Air India plane crash last week, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said. At a multi-faith memorial service organised by India House in London on Monday evening, Rayner was joined by fellow parliamentarians, Foreign Office officials and members of the Indian community as they paid solemn tributes to the lives lost and efforts of rapid deployment teams on the ground. The event was marked by spiritual reflections from all major faiths as well as floral tributes by the diverse congregation. What struck me over the last few days is that the UK and India may be two countries separated by a vast distance, but in the ways that really count we are so very, very close, Rayner said in her address at the High Commission of India. We mark our bond today in a simple and profound way. We grieve together. I'd like to extend my condolences to everybody who's here today, and beyond the High ...

UK walks tightrope on Israel amid Iran conflict and Gaza pressure

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with fellow world leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday and continue his calls for de-escalation between Israel and Iran

'Working to establish facts': British envoy meets PM Modi over plane crash

British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron said she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad on Friday and shared condolences on behalf of her country in the face of the tragic plane crash a day ago and underlined that the UK and India are "working together" to establish facts linked with the accident. The London-bound Air India flight, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad and burst into a ball of fire on Thursday moments after takeoff. Air India has confirmed that 241 people, including 52 British nationals who were on board the AI171 flight, were killed in the crash. One person, a British citizen, has survived and is currently undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the accident. Overall, at least 265 people, including some on the ground, were killed in the tragedy after the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College complex in Ahmedabad's Meghaninagar area. Talking to PTI in Ahmedabad, Cameron said, "We have ..

Ahmedabad crash: EAM in touch with UK, Portuguese, Canadian counterparts

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said he was in touch with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and also with his Canadian and Portuguese counterparts in connection with the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Besides 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals were on board the flight that crashed on Thursday. Air India has confirmed that 241 people, who were on board were killed in the crash. One person has survived and is currently undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the accident. "In touch with FS @DavidLammy of UK, FM @PauloRangel_pt of Portugal and FM @AnitaAnandMP of Canada regarding the Ahmedabad plane crash. Expressed our profound condolences and offered fullest support in this hour of grief," Jaishankar said in a post on X. At least 265 people were killed on Thursday when the London-bound Air India plane crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad and burst into a ball of fire less than a minute after takeof

UK employment plunges most in 5 yrs, 276K jobs lost since Reeves budget

Tax data showed the number of employees on payroll tumbled 109,000 in May, the biggest decline since May 2020, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday

Frederick Forsyth, author of book 'Day of the Jackal', passes away at 86

Frederick Forsyth, the British author of The Day of the Jackal" and other bestselling thrillers, has died after a brief illness, his literary agent said Monday. He was 86. Jonathan Lloyd, his agent, said Forsyth died at home early Monday surrounded by his family. We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers," Lloyd said. Born in Kent, in southern England, in 1938, Forsyth served as a Royal Air Force pilot before becoming a foreign correspondent. He covered the attempted assassination of French President Charles de Gaulle in 1962, which provided inspiration for The Day of the Jackal, his bestselling political thriller about a professional assassin. Published in 1971, the book propelled him into global fame. It was made into a film in 1973 starring Edward Fox as the Jackal and more recently a television series starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. In 2015, Forsyth told the BBC that he had also worked for the British intelligence agency MI6 for many years

UK PM Keir Starmer calls on Nvidia's Huang to train up Britons on AI

The Labour leader will hold an in-conversation event in London with tech billionaire Huang to mark an agreement in which Nvidia helps the UK train more people in AI

Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning identification technology expands to UK

Starting this week, people in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow will be able to scan their eyes using Tools for Humanity's proprietary orb device

Amazon to intensify fake review crackdown after UK watchdog investigation

Amazon has pledged to beef up fight against fake reviews, Britain's competition regulator said Friday after an investigation into whether big online platforms are doing enough to crack down on phony online ratings for products and services. The Competition and Markets Authority said it secured the undertakings from Amazon, after getting a similar agreement earlier this year from Google to clamp down on rogue reviews plaguing the internet. The company promised to strengthen its existing systems for fighting fake reviews. It will also tackle catalog abuse, which involves sellers boosting star ratings for a product by hijacking good reviews from a completely different one. As an example, a shopper might come across a pair of headphones with a five-star rating. But, after looking closer, most of the reviews are for a mobile phone charger, the watchdog said. As part of its commitments, Amazon has agreed to sanction anyone caught using these tactics. Businesses could be banned from selli

Data error may have pushed up UK inflation, rate cut bets in April: ONS

The data error means the inflation rate would have been closer to the 3.3 per cent consensus forecast and 3.4 per cent predicted by the central bank

Number of migrants reaching UK in small boats hits a single-day high

UK government figures Sunday showed nearly 1,200 migrants arrived in the country Saturday in small boats from France across the English Channel, the highest number recorded on a single day so far this year. The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats Saturday in what were settled weather conditions, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811. That's 42% higher than the same point last year, an increase that has piled pressure on the Labour government, which returned to power nearly a year ago partly on disillusionment with the previous Conservative administration's efforts to get a grip on the numbers making the crossing. Having ditched the Conservative government's plan to send migrants who arrived in the UK by unauthorised means to Rwanda, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government would get control by smashing the gangs and the business models that sustain their smuggling operations. Since gaining power, Starmer's government has .

A 355-year-old company that once owned one-third of Canada shutting down

While she was pleased that her swimwear had been discounted by 70 per cent, she was not happy about the reason

UK taps Ukraine lessons to invest GBP 1 billion into warfare systems

In its strategic defense review, expected to be published in full next week, the UK will also set up a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command to protect military networks

Shravin Bharti Mittal joins wealthy exodus as UK tax reforms bite

Shravin Mittal's relocation to UAE highlights the impact of Britain's crackdown on non-dom tax perks; analysts warn of broader economic fallout