Tag: Britain

Australia to buy US nuclear subs in ambitious new pact

by Jim Watson with Sebastian Smith in Washington Agence France-Presse SAN DIEGO, United States (AFP) — Australia announced Monday it will buy as many as five US nuclear-powered submarines, then build a new model with US and British technology under an ambitious plan to bulk up Western muscle across the Asia-Pacific in the face of a rising China. The announcement came at an event at a San Diego, California, naval base where President Joe Biden […]

HSBC buys failed US bank SVB’s UK arm for £1

by Roland JACKSON The UK arm of failed US lender Silicon Valley Bank has been bought by HSBC for a nominal £1 ($1.2) in a rescue deal, the government and HSBC announced Monday. The sale, overseen by the Bank of England and the Treasury, comes after SVB collapsed Friday sparking panic in Britain over its key customers in the technology and life science sectors. “Silicon Valley Bank (UK) Ltd has today been sold to HSBC,” […]

Thousands of hospital doctors walk out in latest UK strike

by Helen ROWE UK hospital doctors on Monday began a three-day strike over pay at the start of a week that will also see teachers, train staff and civil servants walk out, in the latest wave of industrial action. The doctors say years of below-inflation pay increases mean they have effectively had a 26 percent pay cut since 2008. Ahead of the stoppage, the body that represents them, British Medical Association (BMA), launched an advertising […]

BBC sport output in chaos as Lineker taken off air in asylum row

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Saturday 3/11/2023 by James PHEBY The BBC’s sport service was in meltdown on Saturday after pundits and commentators refused to work in support of presenter Gary Lineker, who was forced to “step back” after accusing the government of using Nazi-era rhetoric. Match of the Day presenter Lineker, England’s fourth most prolific goalscorer, sparked an impartiality row by criticising the British government’s new policy on tackling illegal immigration. The 62-year-old […]

Queen’s corgis take centre stage at London exhibition

London, United Kingdom (AFP) — A new exhibition of photographs showing the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and her beloved corgis opens in London on Wednesday, celebrating her bond with the dogs. The exhibition, titled “The Queen and Her Corgis”, features images taken during the late sovereign’s life, showcasing her unique bond with her Pembroke Welsh Corgis. “We’ve got this very small but really exquisite exhibition that shows nine photographs taken of the queen and […]

Australia PM says to meet Biden in US, submarine deal expected

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday said he will soon meet President Joe Biden in the United States, where a massive nuclear-powered submarine deal is expected to be unveiled. After 18 months of deliberation, Australia is expected to reveal plans to obtain eight nuclear-powered submarines, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called “the single biggest leap” in defense capability in the country’s history. “I’ll be meeting with President Biden in the […]

Pincered at sea, lobsters get new hope on land in UK

by Sylvain PEUCHMAURD Agence France-Presse WHITBY, United Kingdom (AFP) — The tiny lobsters are safe from predators — including each other — as they eddy in large white plastic tanks swirling with artificial currents. In a few weeks’ time, as part of a conservation project, they will leave their small shed in the northeastern English port of Whitby for the open sea. Whitby, whose dramatic abbey ruins were an inspiration for “Dracula” author Bram Stoker, […]

Britain’s Prince Harry loses home on royal estate: reports

  Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are being evicted from their home on the British royal family’s Windsor estate, leaving them without a UK base, reports said on Wednesday. The use of Frogmore Cottage was a wedding present from the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2018, and they refurbished it at a reported cost of £2.4 million ($2.9 million). It has now been offered to Prince Andrew, King Charles III’s disgraced brother, reports in […]

Football captain from Thai cave rescue dies in UK

  London, United Kingdom | AFP | by Jitendra JOSHI One of 12 boys dramatically rescued from a Thai cave in 2018 has died in Britain while studying on a football scholarship, authorities said on Wednesday. Duangpetch Promthep, 17, who was captain of the football team that was stranded in floodwaters in the northern Thailand cave, died Tuesday at a hospital in England, Brooke House College confirmed. Ian Smith, the principal at the central English […]

Questions mount for Scotland’s SNP as Sturgeon quits

Edinburgh, United Kingdom | AFP | Calls mounted within the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Thursday to postpone a special conference aimed at reviving its push for independence, after the surprise resignation of leader Nicola Sturgeon. After more than eight eventful years as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, Sturgeon said on Wednesday she lacked the “energy” to carry on and would step down. The party’s executive was to meet late on Thursday to set the […]

Giving Ukraine jets would need ‘months if not years’ of training: UK PM

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday said sending fighter jets to Ukraine would require “months if not years” of training and that he was looking for the most effective way of helping Kyiv secure victory. In a pre-recorded television interview to mark his first 100 days as leader, Sunak told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored the UK was “always talking to the Ukrainians about the right support they need”. “The […]

Half a million strike in UK’s largest walkout in 12 years

Half a million workers went on strike in Britain on Wednesday, calling for higher wages in the largest such walkout in over a decade, closing schools and severely disrupting transport. As Europe battles a cost-of-living crisis, Britain’s umbrella labour organisation the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called it the “biggest day of strike action since 2011”. The latest strikes come a day after more than 1.27 million took to the streets in France, increasing pressure on […]