Page 8 - Britain

UK shadow ministers join protest against China's mega embassy plan

UK shadow ministers and fellow Opposition Conservative Party parliamentarians were among hundreds of protesters who descended upon the proposed site of China's so-called mega embassy in east London. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat and former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith joined groups representing Hong Kongers, Uyghurs and Tibetans at the site of the historic Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London on Saturday. Shadow ministers are members of the opposition who scrutinise the work of the government. According to UK media reports, the protesters wanted to register their opposition against a much-larger new embassy which they fear could be used as a spy hub if it is allowed permission to go ahead as one of China's largest diplomatic missions in Europe. We do not want this great historical building behind us in the shadow of the Tower of London to become a mega embassy of the Chinese Community Party, Jenrick told the gathering. This

UK navigates rough transatlantic waters as Trump shakes up special ties

Ever since Winston Churchill coined the phrase in the wake of World War II, politicians have extolled the special relationship between the United States and Britain. Under President Donald Trump's second administration, Britain will settle for a merely functional relationship with its former colony turned most important ally. As Trump threatens to slap tariffs on America's neighbors, mulls buying Greenland and suggests the US could take over and reconstruct Gaza. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government is racing to bolster its diplomatic and economic defences for a turbulent new transatlantic era. We're in such uncharted waters that anyone who claims to know what in the hell is going on is just lying, said Kathleen Burk, emeritus professor at University College London and an expert on US-UK relations. High stakes for Britain's Washington envoy British officials say Starmer hopes to visit Washington in the coming weeks, but he has yet to receive an invitation from Trump. In the .

Here's how to enable Apple's iCloud encryption at heart of UK privacy fight

The mechanism, called Advanced Data Protection, upgrades the standard security used for most iCloud features

Britain orders Apple to give it access to users' encrypted accounts

UK's office of the Home Secretary has served Apple with a document called a technical capability notice, ordering it to provide the access, as per Washington Post

Britain gives Rolls-Royce a $11 billion nuclear submarine contract

The eight-year deal will strengthen the Royal Navy's continuous at-sea deterrent - under which at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine patrols the seas at all times

Debt market trends hint at cracks in UK's reserve currency: Rating agency

The trouble this time was largely pinned on shifts in global interest rate expectations. But bond market watchers have pointed to a notable change in UK market dynamics that seems to have taken root

Prince Harry's lawsuit against The Sun underscores tabloid misbehaviour

Prince Harry's trial against the publisher of The Sun, which opens Tuesday, follows two decades of legal drama over the cutthroat practices of the British press in the days when newspapers sold millions of copies and shaped the popular conversation. The scandal destroyed a Rupert Murdoch -owned newspaper and cost Murdoch hundreds of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits from the targets of tabloid attention. And it fueled Harry's quest to tame the British press, which he blames for dividing his family, blighting his life and hounding both his late mother Princess Diana and his wife, Meghan Markle. Here are key moments in the saga: November 2005 Murdoch's Sunday tabloid the News of the World reports that Prince William has a knee injury. A Buckingham Palace complaint prompts a police inquiry that reveals information for the story came from a voicemail that was hacked. January 2007 Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the News of the World, is sentenced to six months

Richest 10% got over half of what UK took from India during its rule: Study

The UK extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over. This forms part of rights group Oxfam International's latest flagship global inequity report released every year on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The report, titled 'Takers, not Makers' and released here on Monday hours before the start of the annual meeting of the rich and powerful across the globe, cited several studies and research papers to claim that the modern multinational corporation is a creation of colonialism only. "Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives. This has created a deeply unequal world, a world torn apart by division based on racism, a world that continues to systematically extract wealth from the

UK facing threat of possible Trump tariffs braces for 'all scenarios'

Trump has repeatedly vowed to impose tariffs of as much as 20 per cent on imports to the US

UK home asking prices show biggest early-year rise since 2020: Rightmove

Britain's housing market gained some momentum last year on hopes that borrowing costs would continue their fall although slower-than-expected rate cuts sapped some demand

UK PM Starmer signs '100-year partnership' agreement with Ukraine

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a 100-year partnership agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, part of a European show of support and promises to keep helping Ukraine endure in its nearly three-year war with Russia. The announcement came days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president with scepticism of America's military burden in Europe and what he says is a plan to end the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. We are with you not just today or tomorrow, for this year or the next, but for 100 years long after this terrible war is over and Ukraine is free and thriving once again, Starmer told Zelenskyy during a visit to Kyiv, promising that the UK would "play our part" in guaranteeing Ukraine's post-war security. Starmer said the landmark century-long agreement commits the two sides to cooperate on defense especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov and on technology projects

UK's PM Starmer arrives in Ukraine for security talks with Zelenskyy

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine on Thursday, pledging to help guarantee the country's security for a century days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president. The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a 100-Year Partnership treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defence, science, energy and trade. Starmer's unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelenskyy in 10 Downing St. since becoming prime minister. One of Ukraine's biggest military backers, the U.K. has pledged 12.8 billion pounds (USD 16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds (USD 49 million) for Ukraine's post-war economic recovery.

Deal on Chagos Islands won't be finalised until Trump consulted, says UK

Britain's government confirmed on Wednesday that it will not finalize a deal to hand over sovereignty of the contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius until President-elect Donald Trump's administration is consulted. The governments of Britain and Mauritius have been negotiating in recent months to complete an agreement to settle the future of the disputed Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important UK-US naval and bomber base. But the agreement was opposed by Trump and his supporters. The president-elect's pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned last year that the deal posed a serious threat to US national security. The military base, located on Diego Garcia, the largest of the chain of tropical islands off the tip of India, has supported US military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US acknowledged it also had been used for clandestine rendition flights of terror suspects. The official spokesperson for British Prime Minis

UK watchdog to investigate Google search services to see consumer impact

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which gained a wider remit over big tech this month, said search was vital for economic growth and it was critical that competition was working

British Sikh brother-sister duo jailed for fraud in charity donations in UK

A Birmingham-based brother and sister duo associated with the Sikh Youth UK group have been sentenced by a UK court after being found guilty of fraud offences relating to charitable donations. Rajbinder Kaur, 55, was convicted for money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to GBP 50,000 and one count under Section 60 of the UK's Charities Act 2011, which covers knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission. Her brother Kaldip Singh Lehal, 43, was also convicted for the same charge under the Charities Act. Kaur and Lehal ran the Sikh Youth UK (SYUK) group. While Kaur was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment by Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, Lehal was given a four months' sentence suspended for 18 months and 80 hours of community service. Kaur tried to portray herself as someone naive about financial matters despite having worked in a bank, Superintendent Annie Miller from West Midlands Police said in a state

UK records highest deportations of illegal migrants, 'returns flights'

The UK government has claimed to have exceeded its target of deporting illegal migrants to countries of their origin, hitting the highest rate of removals since 2018 leading to 16,400 people with no right to be in the UK being removed. Home Office figures released on Thursday claim enforced returns were up 24 per cent compared to the same 12 months prior, including the removal of 2,580 foreign criminals marking a 23 per cent increase on last year. The government said bespoke charter flights have removed immigration offenders to countries around the world, including four of the biggest "returns flights" in the UK's history carrying more than 800 people. Individuals removed since the July 2024 election are said to include criminals convicted of drug offences, theft, rape and murder. This government was elected on a promise of change and within just six months we have redeployed resources for a scheme that returned just four volunteers and instead worked to remove 16,400 people with

UK lawmakers vote against new inquiry into 'grooming gangs' scandal

Grooming gangs scandal: The ruling Labour Party criticised the Conservatives for attempting to derail the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Asian bond selloff eases, stocks drop amid focus on UK gilts, US policy

Selling in stocks continued though, with most Asian share indexes ticking down in early trading

UK has strong belief in India's democratic values, growth story: Om Birla

There is a strong belief in India's democratic values and growth story here, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said in London during his ongoing visit to the UK. Addressing a community gathering at the High Commission of India in London on Wednesday evening, Birla shared insights from his dialogues with his UK counterpart House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and other members of Parliament. He noted that his interactions highlighted the strength of the India-UK parliamentary cooperation and the multifaceted nature of the bilateral partnership across multiple sectors. I had a good dialogue with leading UK parliamentarians and they displayed a strong belief in India's democratic values and growth story, Birla said. Our electoral process is transparent, which has helped reinforce a belief in democracy around the world. We take pride as the largest democracy of the world, dubbed the mother of democracy', and I extend an invitation to come visit India's new Parliament as we mark 75 year

UK Tories vie for Elon Musk's attention with grooming gangs probe vote

The Tory party, led by Kemi Badenoch, now spies a political opportunity by backing Musk's call for a full government-led investigation into the scandal