Tag: United Kingdom

As Brexit looms, Britain forecasts strong economy

by Roland JACKSON Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom – Britain’s economy will grow far stronger than expected this year, finance minister Philip Hammond said in a budget update Wednesday, as the government prepares to trigger Brexit. Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to activate Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty in the next three weeks, sparking a painful two-year divorce process — and tense talks over the terms of Britain’s departure from the […]

Amazon to create 5,000 jobs in UK

LONDON, United States (AFP) — United States tech and retail giant Amazon on Monday said it would create 5,000 British jobs this year, in a show of confidence in the United Kingdom economy ahead of Brexit. “Amazon UK today announced plans to create more than 5,000 full-time jobs this year, taking the company’s total UK workforce to over 24,000,” a statement said. “These new job opportunities are for people with all types of experience, education and […]

Refugee children remain stranded in France as UK scraps resettlement scheme

CALAIS, France (Reuters) — Many unaccompanied children remain stranded in the northern French town of Calais, as the British government scraps its resettlement program. Even after the French authorities tore down the “Jungle” migrant camp last year, refugees continue heading to Calais hoping to cross over to the UK. French officials, however, are determined not to bring back such migrant camps to Calais. “It is not dignified for France. It is dangerous for the migrants and […]

Immigration agents nab UK’s most wanted con man in Pampanga

Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents have arrested a British con man who is on the top 10 list of the most wanted swindlers in the United Kingdom. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said operatives from the Bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) arrested on Friday Adam James Stagg, 30, at his home along Yellow Papua Street, Don Bosco Compound, Mabalacat City, Pampanga. Morente said Stagg, who is listed seventh in the UK’s ten most wanted list of […]

Britain’s EU ambassador quits before Brexit trigger

by Robin MILLARD with Danny KEMP in Brussels Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Britain’s ambassador to the European Union resigned on Tuesday, adding uncertainty to the Brexit process less than three months before the UK is due to trigger its departure negotiations. Ivan Rogers, a highly-regarded diplomat who had been due to end his four-year stint in October, stepped down as London prepares to invoke Article 50, which starts a two-year countdown to […]

Discontented British workers launch season of strikes

by Maureen COFFLARD Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – From trains and planes to parcels, British workers are gearing for the festive season with a string of strikes, rounding off a year of action that began with an unprecedented walkout by doctors. Hundreds of thousands of commuters were on Friday left stranded for the third day this week after staff on Southern Rail, which runs trains from southern England into London, stopped work. […]

Brexit deal needed by October 2018, says EU negotiator

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – by Danny KEMP Britain must broker its deal to leave the EU by October 2018, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday, warning that time for talks was running out. Frenchman Barnier added that an interim deal to soften the blow of Britain’s departure was “difficult to imagine” unless it quickly told Brussels what it wanted from a Brexit deal. Despite the tight new timeline Prime Minister Theresa […]

Brexit to spark UK slowdown, blow hole in public purse

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – by Roland JACKSON Ben PERRY Brexit will spark an economic slowdown and ravage public finances, forcing a multi-billion-pound spike in state borrowing over the next five years, a gloomy mini-budget revealed Wednesday. Britain is predicted to borrow an extra £122 billion ($152 billion, 143 billion euros) in the period to 2021, according to official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. About half of that budget black hole — or […]

Far-right loner jailed for life in murder of British MP

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – by Edouard GUIHAIRE James PHEBY A far-right extremist was sentenced on Wednesday to life imprisonment without the possibility of release for murdering British MP Jo Cox a week before Britain’s EU referendum in a “politically motivated” attack. “Because she was a member of parliament your crime has an additional dimension that calls for particular punishment,” judge Alan Wilkie told Thomas Mair, 53, as he issued the rare “whole life term” […]

RugbyU: Barrett leads New Zealand dominance of awards

by Pirate IRWIN London, United Kingdom  (AFP) — Fly-half Beauden Barrett led a hat-trick of titles for world champions New Zealand at the World Rugby awards on Sunday as he collected Player of the Year. The 25-year-old, who has filled the huge vacuum left by the international retirement of Dan Carter with aplomb, was joined on the podium by Steve Hansen, who won Coach of the Year, and the record-breaking All Blacks as Team of the […]

Football: Wales’s Evans cleared of rape at retrial

London, United Kingdom (AFP) -by Julian GUYER Wales international footballer Ched Evans was found not guilty of rape by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday following a retrial. Evans, who plays for English third-tier club Chesterfield, was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room near Rhyl, north Wales, in May 2011. The 27-year-old was previously found guilty of rape, but the jury was told that the Court of Appeal had […]