When Catherine, Princess of Wales, confessed last week to digitally altering a photo of her with her children, news agencies began examining Catherine’s gallery of royal family photos for other examples of doctoring. It didn’t take long: On Monday, Getty Images placed an editorial advisory on a second photo taken by Catherine, of Queen Elizabeth […]
Read MoreTag: Great Britain
Steve Harley, ‘Make Me Smile’ Singer, Dies at 73
Steve Harley, the 1970s British rock star who topped U.K. music charts with the single “Make Me Smile,” died on Sunday. He was 73. He died at his home, his family said on Facebook. No cause was given but Mr. Harley had announced last month that he would step away from the stage to undergo […]
Read MoreBernie Sanders Proposes Reducing Americans’ Workweek to 32 Hours
Senator Bernie Sanders this week unveiled legislation to reduce the standard workweek in the United States from 40 hours to 32, without a reduction in pay, saying Americans are working longer hours for less pay despite advances in technology and productivity. The law, if passed, would pare down the workweek over a four-year period, lowering […]
Read MoreNew U.K. Extremism Policy Raises Concerns Over Free Speech
Britain’s government published a new definition of extremism on Thursday that it intends to use to cut ties or funding to groups deemed to have crossed the line, but which critics fear could curtail campaigners’ rights and curb free speech. Michael Gove, a senior cabinet minister, said in a statement that the move was intended […]
Read MoreU.K. Moves to Bar Foreign State Ownership of Newspapers, a Blow to Telegraph Bid
An audacious effort by the American media executive Jeff Zucker and his Emirati backers to acquire London’s Daily Telegraph appeared to be on life support on Wednesday after the British government advanced legislation that would bar foreign state ownership of newspapers and newsmagazines. The move by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would torpedo Mr. Zucker’s bid […]
Read MoreKate Middleton’s Story Is About More Than Kate Middleton
“Where Is Kate Middleton?” yet another headline blared on Monday. The public speculation following her unspecified abdominal surgery, long withdrawal from appearances and dubious publicity photo has gotten so intense that reasonable people may want to roll their eyes and tune it out. Can’t we just wish her well and leave her alone? But the […]
Read MorePrincess Kate’s Photo, The Royal Family, and a Conspiracy Obsessed Internet
Trace back the digitally altered photograph of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and its roots lie in a tragedy of another Princess of Wales, Diana, whose death in 1997 predated the creation of Facebook by nearly seven years. Diana’s fatal car accident, after a high-speed pursuit by photographers in Paris, left a lasting imprint on her […]
Read MorePrincess Kate Apologizes For Editing Photo
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, apologized on Monday for doctoring a photo of her with her three children, which was recalled by several news agencies on Sunday after they determined the image had been manipulated. The decision to recall the photo reignited a storm of speculation about Catherine, who has not been seen in public […]
Read MorePhoto of Catherine, Prince of Wales, Manipulated, News Agencies Say
A photograph of Catherine, Princess of Wales, with her three children, released by Kensington Palace and meant to showcase her recovery from surgery, has come under scrutiny after news agencies advised news organizations on Sunday evening to withdraw it, saying the image had been manipulated by the palace. The Associated Press and Reuters both issued […]
Read MoreFirst Official Photo of Princess Catherine Since Surgery Is Released by Royal Palace
Nearly two months after undergoing abdominal surgery, Catherine, the princess of Wales, appeared in an official photograph, released on Sunday by Kensington Palace to mark Mother’s Day in Britain. Catherine, who posed with her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, has not been seen in public since before she entered the hospital on Jan. 16, […]
Read MoreTheresa May, Former U.K. Prime Minister, Won’t Stand in Next Election
Theresa May, the former British prime minister whose time in Downing Street was scarred by a protracted battle over Brexit, is to leave Parliament at the next general election after 27 years as a lawmaker. With the Conservative Party trailing badly in opinion polls before an election that many analysts expect it to lose, Mrs. […]
Read MoreSurviving the Ugliness of It All
I’ve been crisscrossing the country almost constantly over the last five months. When I ask people about politics, the feeling I hear most often is exhaustion. People are just tired out from the endless national crises, their dread of the 2024 presidential campaign, the ugliness of it all. Many people I talk with seem passive, […]
Read MoreZelensky Names Ukraine’s Ex-Top General Ambassador to U.K.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Thursday appointed Valery Zaluzhny as his new ambassador to Britain, just a month after he removed him from his post as the country’s top general amid tensions between the military and civilian leadership. “Gen. Valery Zaluzhny told me that this is the direction he would like to take — […]
Read MoreA Popular Israeli Minister’s Meeting in London Sends a Message to Netanyahu
When Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, met David Cameron, Britain’s foreign secretary, in London on Wednesday, he got a sharp message that Israel must do more to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. It was the kind of minister-level meeting that would normally draw modest attention amid the flurry of high-level […]
Read MoreU.K. to Cut Taxes Again as Election Nears
Amid lackluster prospects for economic growth, the British government announced it would cut taxes for workers ahead of a general election this year. Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s top financial official, told lawmakers on Wednesday that he would cut National Insurance, a payroll tax paid by workers and employers that funds state pensions and some benefits, by […]
Read MoreHow U.K. Media Is Covering Kate, Princess of Wales, After Her Abdominal Surgery
After a week of often hysterical speculation about her well-being, there were suddenly two plausible pieces of evidence that Catherine, Princess of Wales, was on the mend: a photo of her in a car driven by her mother and a confirmation by the British Army that she would attend a military ceremony in June. But […]
Read MoreHow Regulations Fractured Apple’s App Store
Since introducing the App Store in 2008, Apple has run it largely the same way across 175 countries, right down to the 30 percent commission it has collected on every app sold. The company calls the result an economic miracle. The store has generated more than $1 trillion in sales, helped create more than seven […]
Read MoreVaccination Rates Dipped for Years. Now, There’s a Measles Outbreak in Britain.
The 5-year-old looked nervously at her older brothers, scanning their faces for any sign of distress as needles were swiftly stuck into their upper arms, the syringe plungers pushed in and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine administered. Whether it was for her benefit or not, they barely flinched. Then it was her turn. The […]
Read MoreAlderney Is a Small Island With a Dark History
Look closely at this tiny, idyllic island: Victorian-era fortifications dot the windswept coastline. A concrete anti-tank wall disrupts a quiet beach. Overgrown greenery covers bunkers and tunnels. This is Alderney, where the 2,100 people who call the island home do not lock their cars. Where the streets are quiet and the pubs (nine of them) […]
Read MoreIn Britain, Shockwaves From Israel-Hamas War Are Jolting Domestic Politics
Inside Britain’s Parliament, lawmakers jeered, booed, and stormed out of the House of Commons to protest the speaker’s handling of a vote calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Outside, a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators projected the slogan, “From the river to the sea,” on to the facade of Big Ben, drawing denunciations from those who […]
Read MoreRishi Sunak Back in Hot Seat After Parliamentary Election Losses
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain could find himself in a familiar predicament after his Conservative Party went down to defeat in parliamentary elections in two districts on Thursday: isolated, embattled and the subject of whispered plotting by restive Tories bent on pushing him out for a new leader. The crushing loss of two seats […]
Read MoreConservatives Suffer Setback in Parliamentary Election in Britain
Britain’s governing Conservative Party has lost the first of two parliamentary elections in a new blow to its embattled leader, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose future has been questioned by critics within his fractious political party. The Conservatives were defeated in Kingswood, near Bristol, by 8,675 to 11,176 votes, losing a seat that the party […]
Read MoreThe U.K. Labour Party’s Worst Enemy Might Be Itself
These days, the only thing that can stop the Labour Party, it seems, is the Labour Party. For more than a year, the leader of Britain’s main opposition party, Keir Starmer, has sat on a double-digit lead in the polls over the Conservative Party. But a pair of embarrassing suspensions of Labour parliamentary candidates for […]
Read MoreU.K. Economy Shrank as 2023 Ended, Tipping Into Recession
The News Britain’s economy sunk into a recession at the end of last year, capping off a year of economic strain in which interest rates were pushed to their highest level in a decade and a half to stamp out high inflation. Gross domestic product contracted 0.3 percent in October to December from the previous […]
Read MoreBritain Confronts Fears of a (Gasp!) Tea Shortage
For a country of morning-and-night tea drinkers, even the suggestion of a shortage of the household staple can elicit a nervous gulp. So there might have been more than a few people spooked when signs in some Sainsbury’s grocery stores this week warned customers that supply issues had affected the “nationwide” availability of black tea, […]
Read MoreKing Charles Appears in Public for First Time Since Cancer Announcement
King Charles III on Sunday was seen publicly for the first time since Buckingham Palace announced last week that he was being treated for cancer, strolling into a church on the royal Sandringham estate where he has his residence. Charles, 74, waved and smiled at well-wishers who had gathered nearby to capture a glimpse of […]
Read MoreHow TikTok Took The Pink Stuff, a Cleaning Paste, From Obscurity to Viral Sensation
In 2018, The Pink Stuff was little more than a home cleaning product with a cute name. “The miracle cleaning paste,” as it said on every container, was sold by just two retail chains in Britain. At a factory near Birmingham, The Pink Stuff line operated for about two hours every month. That was plenty. […]
Read MoreQueen Mary’s Dolls’ House: A Glimpse Into Royal Life 100 Years Ago
The silver crown is set with diamonds. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and seed pearls are peppered through the design. And the red velvet cap inside would be fit to cushion the head of a monarch. Except that the whole thing is only an inch tall. The jeweled miniature, a copy of Britain’s Imperial State Crown, is […]
Read MoreJohn Bruton Dies at 76; Negotiated for Peace as Irish Prime Minister
John Bruton, a former Irish prime minister who led an alliance known as the Rainbow Coalition and played a central role with Britain in an effort to secure peace in Northern Ireland after decades of strife, died on Tuesday in Dublin. He was 76. His family said his death, in a hospital, followed a long […]
Read MorePrince Harry Gets Damages in Hacking Case and Calls Out Piers Morgan
Prince Harry has settled his privacy claims against a British tabloid publisher, his lawyer told a London court on Friday, two months after a judge found the publisher guilty of “widespread and habitual” hacking of the prince’s cellphone. The settlement with Mirror Group Newspapers — which his lawyer said would amount to at least 400,000 […]
Read MorePrince Harry Ends U.K. Trip Without Meeting Prince William
Prince Harry did not meet with his brother, Prince William, during a roughly 24-hour trip to Britain after Buckingham Palace announced that their father had cancer, an indication that relations between the siblings remain tense. Harry, 39, flew to London on Tuesday and visited his father, King Charles III, for a short time, but did […]
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