The state visit by King Charles III of Britain to France that was scheduled for next week has been postponed because of strikes and protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension overhaul, the French presidency announced on Friday. “This decision was taken by the French and British governments, after a telephone exchange between the President of […]
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The strikes trickled in at first and then came like a flood. As labor disputes gained momentum in Britain last year, postal workers, train drivers, nurses, teachers and others walked out, some for the first time ever, as they demanded higher pay or better working conditions. The strikes — concentrated, like the strength of Britain’s […]
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The Bank of England is set to announce its latest interest rate decision on Thursday, with investors expecting a quarter-point raise, just a day after data showed that Britain’s inflation rate unexpectedly increased last month. Consumer prices rose 10.4 percent in February from a year earlier, up from 10.1 percent the month before, ending a […]
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LONDON — British lawmakers on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a key component of a long-awaited deal on Northern Ireland trade rules, an emphatic victory for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he tries to resolve one of the most vexing legacies of Britain’s exit from the European Union. Despite the strong backing of the […]
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The “partygate” scandal that rocked Boris Johnson’s term as prime minister did not end when he left 10 Downing Street last summer. On Wednesday, fellow lawmakers opened a hearing that could see Mr. Johnson suspended — or even ejected — from Parliament as they investigate whether he lied to them about the lockdown-busting parties his […]
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Britain’s inflation rate unexpectedly rose last month, reversing its recent downward trend and potentially undermining expectations that the Bank of England was close to halting interest rate increases. Consumer prices in Britain rose 10.4 percent in February compared with a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. The rate had slowed for […]
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A day before he was to face a potentially make-or-break hearing, Boris Johnson conceded that he had misled the British Parliament about lockdown-breaking parties at 10 Downing Street while he was prime minister. But he insisted that he “did not intentionally or recklessly mislead” the House of Commons. Mr. Johnson will testify on Wednesday before […]
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When Sarah Merker sat down one day in 2013 to snack on a scone at one of Britain’s many, many historic sites, she had no idea that she was embarking upon a quest that would take her a decade to complete and transform her into a kind of national celebrity. She and her husband had […]
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London’s police force is institutionally sexist, racist and homophobic, according to a new independent report investigating the culture and behavior within the department. While the force has been under intense scrutiny for months, the report, released on Tuesday, offers a damning new assessment of the police department and perhaps the strongest condemnation yet of its […]
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain has mothballed his predecessors’ projects, large and small, from Liz Truss’s trickle-down tax cuts to Boris Johnson’s revamped royal yacht. But one of Mr. Sunak’s most symbolic changes since taking over as prime minister five months ago has received less attention: retiring the slogan “Global Britain.” No longer does […]
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On Dec. 15, nurses walked out and began the largest nurses’ strike in the history of Britain’s National Health Service. They were protesting working conditions that have left them burned out and stretched thin — and compromised patient safety — and wages that fell in the last decade in real terms. Ambulance workers joined them. […]
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Britain on Thursday became the latest Western country to prohibit the use of TikTok on “government devices,” citing security fears linked to the video-sharing app’s ownership by a Chinese company. Speaking in Parliament, Oliver Dowden, a senior cabinet minister, announced the ban with immediate effect, describing it as “precautionary,” even though the United States, the […]
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Britain’s top financial official started the year with a plea. To those who retired early in the pandemic or have not found the right job after furlough, Jeremy Hunt said, “Britain needs you.” Many analysts have concluded the British economy is stumbling partly because it doesn’t have enough workers. The Bank of England has slashed […]
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Australia gains submarines, more patrols to counter China in deal with US, UK | The Hill Skip to content The White House on Monday announced a highly anticipated agreement to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and increase submarine patrols in an effort to bolster the defense capabilities of a major ally in the Indo-Pacific region […]
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“We have the Anglesey tiara in our stock at the moment,” he added, “which was worn by the Marchioness of Anglesey to Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, and by her mother to King Edward’s coronation.” (The price is available on request.) And while the coronation preparations are centered in London, some jewelers on the Continent — particularly […]
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The BBC announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement with Gary Lineker, a star sports personality, that will allow him to return to hosting its flagship soccer program, “Match of the Day.” The move defuses a crisis that began with a politically charged post that Mr. Lineker posted on Twitter last week about […]
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Silicon Valley Bank’s British subsidiary will be acquired by the banking giant HSBC, the Bank of England announced on Monday as it emphasized the stability of the nation’s banking system. “This action has been taken to stabilize SVBUK, ensuring the continuity of banking services, minimizing disruption to the U.K. technology sector and supporting confidence in […]
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As an English soccer star, Gary Lineker was renowned for never having been penalized with a yellow or red card in his 16-year career. As a politically opinionated sports broadcaster for the BBC, Mr. Lineker has tangled regularly with the officials, and his suspension over a Twitter post on immigration this week escalated into a […]
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I’m trying something a little different in today’s newsletter. A big part of what I try to do is to look for insights that explain the patterns and trends in world events, in ways that go beyond any single news story. Reading this newsletter should help you understand not just the latest development, but the […]
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In 1979, as Margaret Thatcher came to power, a collective of young Black artists based in the British West Midlands founded the Blk Art Group. Their goal was to amplify Black voices, critique their exclusion from art history and draw attention to the racism they experienced as children of Caribbean migrants in conservative Britain. Claudette […]
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In a love letter from 1745 decorated with a doodle of a heart shot through with arrows, María Clara de Aialde wrote to her husband, Sebastian, a Spanish sailor working in the colonial trade with Venezuela, that she could “no longer wait” to be with him. Later that same year, an amorous French seaman who […]
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SYDNEY — Australia will buy up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the United States to be delivered in the 2030s, according to people briefed on the deal, which accelerates and deepens an ambitious defense agreement aimed at reinforcing American-led military dominance of the Asia-Pacific region to counter China’s military growth. Australia would then buy […]
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Mr. Hancock’s messages show an on-the-make politician who once hoped that the pandemic could vault his career to the next level. When a London paper published a plan to cut the approval time for a vaccine, he texted an aide, “I CALLED FOR THIS TWO MONTHS AGO. This is a Hancock triumph!” Yet at other […]
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LONDON — President Biden heaped praise on it, as did the prime minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar. Britain’s Labour Party threw its support behind it. Even hard-line Brexiteers in the British Conservative Party, who were expected to revolt against the agreement, swiftly fell into line. Only one group has so far refused to support the […]
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It remains to be seen whether the agreement, known as the Windsor Framework, will clear the way for Northern Ireland to form a government after months of paralysis in Belfast. That will depend on whether the Democratic Unionists can be coaxed back into a power-sharing arrangement with the Irish nationalist party, Sinn Fein. Still, the […]
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LONDON — Britain and the European Union struck a landmark agreement on Monday to end a festering dispute over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, potentially resolving one of the most poisonous legacies of Britain’s exit from Europe’s trade bloc in 2020. The agreement, concluded after weeks of confidential talks and multiple false starts, could […]
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LONDON — Boris Johnson’s victory in the 2019 race to become prime minister was attributed in part to his campaign slogan: “Get Brexit done.” More than three years later, one of his successors, Rishi Sunak, took a significant step toward making good on that pledge. The British government and the European Commission, the European Union’s […]
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The skies of Britain and Ireland were painted in green, purple and deep red Sunday night, as the spectacular auroras, typical of remote latitudes, became visible as south as Kent or Cornwall. Some Britons managed to get a glimpse of the colorful glow of the northern lights from their homes, something that usually requires long […]
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LONDON — Boris Johnson’s victory in the 2019 race to become prime minister was attributed in part to his campaign slogan: “Get Brexit done.” More than three years later, one of his successors, Rishi Sunak, appears to be preparing a significant step toward making good on that pledge. The president of the European Union’s executive […]
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LONDON — Britain and the European Union neared a landmark agreement on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, announcing on Sunday that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, would travel to Britain on Monday to work out the final details with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. After two weeks of false starts, […]
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The pandemic changed how (and where) many people work. It has also given momentum to the question of whether the five-day week is standard because it’s best — or whether it’s just the way things have long been done. A new report offers one answer. In the second half of last year, 61 businesses in […]
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