Tag: Britain

Pair freed without charge in London airport drones probe

A man and a woman arrested over the drone disruption that brought Christmas getaway flights to a standstill at London’s Gatwick Airport were released without charge on Sunday, police said. A 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman from the town of Crawley, near Britain’s second-busiest airport, were arrested on Saturday. The police swooped after three days of disruption from Wednesday to Friday, affecting 140,000 passengers. “Both people have fully co-operated with our enquiries and I […]

Five foreigners arrested in Bali drug sweep

  DENPASAR, Indonesia (AFP) — Five foreigners have been arrested in Bali for drug trafficking, authorities said Thursday, with a German and Peruvian possibly facing execution if convicted under Indonesia’s strict drug laws. The accused smugglers — also including a Chinese, a Malaysian and a Briton — were arrested separately over the past two weeks, Bali police said. The arrests come less than a month after the first member of the Bali Nine heroin-trafficking gang […]

Wounded May seeks EU compromise to save Brexit deal

https://youtu.be/m3w_BgzdK_8   by Dave Clark Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Bloodied but not yet beaten, Prime Minister Theresa May comes to Brussels for the second time in three days on Thursday, battling to save her Brexit deal and her career. The British leader, who survived a confidence vote staged by her own party’s MPs late on Wednesday, now needs to turn a narrow victory on home turf into an unlikely away win. May’s […]

Pound solidifies gains after British PM May wins confidence vote

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The British currency sustained gains won late Wednesday after Prime Minister Theresa May survived a bid by her own MPs to unseat her through a no-confidence vote. The pound had gained nearly a full percentage point to $1.2597 around 2100 GMT, just after the vote maintaining the steady upward march after it became clear May was likely to win. © Agence France-Presse

May faces angry MPs with Brexit deal in limbo

by Dario THUBURN Agence France Presse LONDON, United States (AFP) — Prime Minister Theresa May faces an angry parliament Wednesday after delaying a key vote on her Brexit deal in a desperate move that leaves the agreement and her own future in limbo. The British leader toured European capitals on Tuesday in an attempt to salvage the deal, after MPs savaged its provisions on the issue of the Irish border. May said she wanted “assurances” […]

Zuckerberg defends Facebook in new data breach controversy

by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg pushed back Wednesday against emails showing the social media giant offering Netflix and other popular apps preferential access to people’s data even after it had tightened its privacy rules. A British parliamentary committee investigating whether the social media behemoth was being used to manipulate the results of elections published 250 pages of internal Facebook documents earlier Wednesday. They show executives holding […]

Another UK govt minister quits over Brexit deal

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British government minister Sam Gyimah quit late Friday over Prime Minister Theresa May’s “naive” Brexit plan, dealing her another blow in her fight to pass it through parliament. The universities and science minister is the seventh member of May’s government to quit since she brought back the draft Withdrawal Agreement from Brussels. Gyimah, who voted to remain in the EU, said the deal was “not in the British national […]

Unilever boss steps down after HQ move fiasco

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Unilever chief Paul Polman is “retiring” from the consumer giant, the firm said Thursday, a month after it was forced to ditch a controversial post-Brexit plan to move its headquarters from London to the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch group, maker of iconic brands like Marmite and Dove soap, will be headed from January by Alan Jope, the current chief of its huge beauty and personal care department. “Unilever today announced that […]

In sadness, EU leaders approve Brexit deal

by Alice Ritchie and Dave Clark Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — European Union leaders on Sunday approved a historic Brexit deal with British Prime Minister Theresa May, and together warned rebellious MPs in London this was the best and only option available. Leaders meeting at a special Brussels summit expressed sadness at the “tragic” end of four decades of British EU membership, but said the terms of the withdrawal were now set. “This […]

May heads to Brussels as Spain threatens Brexit summit

  by Alex PIGMAN and Toni CERDÀ Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May was headed back to Brussels on Saturday to defend the planned Brexit divorce deal even as Spain threatened to boycott an EU summit meant to endorse it. May has final day talks scheduled with EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, although diplomats said the withdrawal agreement is finished and ready for EU leaders to approve […]

British PM fights rebellion over Brexit deal

by James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May battled to salvage a draft Brexit deal and her political future on Thursday, as ministers resigned and members of her own party plotted to oust her. The Conservative leader said she believed with “every fibre of my being” in the Brexit course she had set, hours after facing a hostile parliament and seeing four ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic […]

Royals Harry and Meghan go barefoot on Bondi

  by Andrew BEATTY Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — British royals Harry and Meghan kicked off their shoes and donned tropical garlands Friday as they hit Sydney’s famed Bondi beach for the latest stop on their Australian tour. Expectant Meghan put on a summer dress and set aside her high heels, while Harry ditched his usual suit for chinos as the couple lapped up cheers from Australian fans and enjoyed Bondi’s surf. Despite […]