Tag: Britain

US Justice Department, FBI probing Cambridge Analytica: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Justice Department and the FBI are investigating Cambridge Analytica, the British marketing analytics firm embroiled in the Facebook data scandal, and have questioned potential witnesses, The New York Times reported Tuesday. CA has vehemently denied exploiting data obtained from up to 87 million Facebook users for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, claiming it deleted data obtained in breach of the social network’s terms of service. The company announced early this […]

Britain to Trump: don’t ditch Iran nuclear deal

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Britain has appealed to US President Donald Trump not to abandon the Iran nuclear deal as a key deadline approaches, saying that while it is not perfect there is no better alternative. The call came in an op-ed piece in The New York Times that was signed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, ahead of a meeting with officials from the US administration in Washington on Monday. Trump has threatened to […]

UK, US launch biggest-ever study of Antarctic glacier

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain and the United States on Monday launched a research program billed “the most detailed and extensive examinations of a massive Antarctic glacier ever undertaken” to gauge how quickly it could collapse. Teams from Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) will visit the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica to assess if its cave-in could begin in the next few decades or centuries. […]

Prince Harry asks brother William to be best man

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s Prince Harry has asked his brother Prince William to be his best man when he marries US former actress Meghan Markle next month, Kensington Palace announced Thursday. “Prince Harry has asked his brother the Duke of Cambridge to be his best man at his wedding to Ms Meghan Markle,” the London royal residence said in a statement. “The Duke of Cambridge is honored to have been asked, and […]

Britain’s Charles voices ‘great joy’ at new royal baby

by Robin Millard Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Prince Charles voiced his joy Tuesday at the arrival of his third grandchild, as Britain waited to discover what Prince William and his wife Kate will call their new baby son. Cannons were fired in London to mark the arrival of the little prince, who is fifth in line to the throne, and the bells of Westminster Abbey rang out in celebration. The boy, […]

May, Macron face lawmakers angry over Syria strikes

  By Dario Thuburn with Fabien Zamora in Paris Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday faced anger from lawmakers for conducting air strikes with the United States in Syria in both leaders’ first major military actions since coming to power. May said lawmakers were right to hold her to account for her actions, after the premier proceeded with the strikes without […]

US, Britain warn of Russian campaign to hack networks

by Rosie Scammell Agence France Presse BRITAIN, United Kingdom (AFP) — Russian government-sponsored hackers are compromising the key hardware of government and business computer networks like routers and firewalls, giving them virtual control of data flows, Britain and the United States warned Monday. The operation was “to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations,” Washington and London said in a joint statement. […]

US, Britain warn of Russian campaign to hack networks

  by Rosie Scammell © Agence France-Presse UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) — Russian government-sponsored hackers are compromising the key hardware of government and business computer networks like routers and firewalls, giving them virtual control of data flows, Britain and the United States warned Monday. The operation was “to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations,” Washington and London said in a joint statement. […]

G7 calls on Russia to answer for Salisbury nerve agent attack

  CANADA (AFP) — Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Monday called on Russia to come clean about a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain, calling it “a threat to us all.” “We call on Russia to urgently address all questions related to the incident in Salisbury,” they said in a joint statement. The G7 nations urged Russia to provide a “full and complete disclosure of its previously […]

Syrian war will go on despite Western strikes: British FM

  UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) — British foreign minister Boris Johnson on Sunday said the Syrian war will inevitably continue after unprecedented Western strikes, which were limited to targeting the country’s alleged chemical weapons facilities. Britain and France on Saturday joined the US-led missile strikes, which came a week after a deadly attack on the town of Douma where civilians were hit with chlorine and sarin according to the Western powers. Despite describing the intervention as […]

NATO chief ‘supports’ Syria strikes: statement

  BELGIUM (AFP) — The head of NATO expressed his support for Western strikes in Syria on Saturday after bombings targeting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack. “I support the actions taken by the United States, the United Kingdom and France… This will reduce the regime’s ability to further attack the people of Syria with chemical weapons,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. Explosions were heard in the Syrian […]

Syria strikes hit Syrian chemical program: Mattis

  UNITED STATES (AFP) — A quick series of US, French and British air strikes in Syria were designed to send a “clear message” to President Bashar al-Assad and stop his chemical weapons program, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday. The Pentagon chief stressed the strikes were carefully calibrated to provide a strong response to a suspected chemical attack, but avoid pulling the West into Syria’s civil war. “The targets tonight again were specifically […]