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☆ Ian McKellen Is in ‘Good Spirits’ After Falling Off the Stage During a Play
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Claire Moses | More About Claire Moses | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The actor Ian McKellen was hospitalized but expected to recover quickly after falling off the stage during a performance of “Player Kings” at a theater in the West End in London on Monday night, the producers of the play said. After a scan, doctors at Britain’s National Health Service said that McKellen would “make a speedy and full recovery, and Ian is in good spirits,” according to a statement by the producers. McKellen, 85, who has been nominated for two Academy Awards and has won a Tony, a Golden Globe and multiple Olivier Awards, is starring in the play, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s two “Henry IV” plays, directed by Robert Icke. McKellen plays John Falstaff, a fictional character who appears in three Shakespeare plays. The fall took place during a battle scene, according to Aleks Phillips, a BBC journalist who was in the audience on Monday night and described what he saw in an article.

Persons: Ian McKellen, McKellen, “, Ian, Tony, Olivier, William Shakespeare’s, Henry IV ”, Robert Icke, John Falstaff, Shakespeare, Aleks Phillips Organizations: “, National Health Service, Globe, BBC Locations: London

☆ London Hospitals Face Major Disruptions After Cyberattack
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Several major hospitals in London have been crippled by a cyberattack, Britain’s National Health Service said, causing surgical procedures to be canceled, disrupting blood transfusions and forcing patients to be diverted. A ransomware cyberattack on Synnovis, an organization that manages blood transfusions and other services, on Monday had significantly disrupted the delivery of services at King’s College and Guy’s and St. Thomas’ hospital trusts, which run several major hospitals. The attack has also caused disruptions to primary care offices in southeast London. Mark Dollar, the chief executive of Synnovis, said on Tuesday that the company was working to understand the impact of the attack on its pathology services and to minimize disruption. “It is still early days and we are trying to understand exactly what has happened,” he said in a statement.

Persons: Thomas ’, Mark Dollar, ” Organizations: National Health Service, King’s College, Guy’s Locations: London, St

☆ Briton Charged With Aiding Hong Kong’s Intelligence Service Is Found Dead
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former British marine charged with spying for Hong Kong’s intelligence service has died, according to a police statement released on Tuesday evening. The man, who was named by the Thames Valley Police as Matthew Trickett, was found dead in a park in Maidenhead, a town west of London, on Sunday. Mr. Trickett was one of three men charged last week under Britain’s National Security Act with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service, and their case was expected to return to court on Friday. In the wake of the charges last week, Britain summoned the Chinese ambassador for a reprimand. Mr. Trickett, 37, who was a British immigration enforcement officer and a former Royal Marine, was also the director of a private security firm, MTR Consultancy.

Persons: Hong, Matthew Trickett, Trickett Organizations: Thames, Police, Britain’s National, Hong, Royal, MTR Consultancy Locations: British, Maidenhead, London, Hong Kong, China, Beijing

☆ U.K. Police Charge 3 Men With Aiding Hong Kong Intelligence Service
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Stephen Castle | More About Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Three men have been charged with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service, the London Metropolitan Police said on Monday, following an investigation in which arrests and searches were carried out across England. The three people charged under Britain’s National Security Act were identified as Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, of Staines-upon-Thames, Matthew Trickett, 37, of Maidenhead, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, of Hackney, East London. “The foreign intelligence service to which the above charges relate is that of Hong Kong,” the police said in a statement. All three men were to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday. As court proceedings are now active, Britain’s reporting restrictions apply, preventing speculation about the case.

Persons: Chi Leung, Peter, Wai, Matthew Trickett, Chung Biu Yuen Organizations: Hong, London Metropolitan Police, Britain’s National Security, ’ Locations: Hong Kong, England, Staines, Maidenhead, Hackney, East London, Westminster

☆ Rishi Sunak’s Dismal Task: Leading U.K. Conservatives to Likely Defeat
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A few days before Britain’s Conservative Party suffered a stinging setback in local elections on Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recorded a short video to promote some good news from his government. In the eight-second clip, Mr. Sunak poured milk from a pint bottle into a tall glass, filled with a steaming dark beverage and bearing the scribbled figure of 900 pounds on the side. “Pay day is coming,” Mr. Sunak posted, referring to the savings that an average wage earner would supposedly reap from a cut in mandatory contributions to Britain’s national insurance system. However partisan her jab, loser is a label that Mr. Sunak is finding increasingly hard to shake, even among his members of his own party. In the 18 months since he replaced his failed predecessor, Liz Truss, Mr. Sunak, 43, has lost seven special parliamentary elections and back-to-back local elections.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, ” Mr, Sunak, He’d, Angela Rayner, Liz Truss Organizations: Britain’s Conservative Party, Labour

☆ A US scientist outrages the British with advice about adding salt to tea – and the American embassy stirs it up
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Britain’s media has reacted with fury and bewilderment after a US scientist claimed the perfect cup of tea is made with a pinch of added salt. “I guess we are going to war again?” legal journalist Molly Quell wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We cannot stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our Special Relationship,” the embassy wrote in a viral X post. Francl also found little sympathy in the British press, which took her suggestion with more than a pinch of salt. In the meantime, the embassy said it “will continue to make tea in the proper way – by microwaving it.”

Persons: Michelle Francl, Molly, ”, Matt Green, Francl, “ Organizations: London CNN —, Bryn Mawr College, CNN, ITV News, Embassy, Guardian, Daily Mail Locations: Boston, Britain, United States, British, Pennsylvania

LONDON (AP) — An American scientist has sparked a trans-Atlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite hot beverage. Bryn Mawr College chemistry professor Michelle Francl says one of the keys to a perfect cup of tea is a pinch of salt. The tip is included in Francl’s book “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea,” published Wednesday by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Not since the Boston Tea Party has mixing tea with salt water roiled the Anglo-American relationship so much. On the Chemistry World site, Francl said writing the book had “enhanced my enjoyment of a cup of tea” but noted “there were several disquieting discoveries along the way."

Persons: Michelle Francl, ”, boors, Debrett’s, “, Francl, – Organizations: Bryn Mawr College, Royal Society of Chemistry, Boston Tea Party, Twitter, Embassy Locations: An American, Britain, London, States, U.S

☆ A Bundle of 18th-Century Love Letters Is Unsealed at Last
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For nearly 250 years, the letters, more than 100 of them, sat sealed in Britain’s National Archives, unopened and unexamined until a history professor stumbled upon them. He found, to his delight, a treasure trove bearing intimate details about romance and daily life in mid-18th-century France. Inside the box, Dr. Morieux found three bundles of letters. Only three of the letters had been opened, most likely by a low-level clerk shortly after the British Navy had received them from France. The clerk may have deemed them not worthy of further inspection and put them into storage, where they were forgotten about.

Persons: fiancées, pining, Renaud Morieux, Morieux Organizations: National Archives, British Navy, University of Cambridge Locations: France, London

The storm system is helping usher in traditional autumn weather across Britain this week with cool, wind-swept rains on Tuesday and Wednesday. Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Met Office, Britain’s national weather service, said on Tuesday that it was not unusual for former hurricanes to enter this part of the world. He said this particular system would bring a significant amount of rainfall to parts of Britain, but no hurricane conditions. The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain for much of Wales and northwest England. “Be aware of the possibility of flooding and travel disruption in these areas” on Tuesday and Wednesday, forecasters said.

Persons: Hurricane Lee, Grahame Madge, “ Organizations: Met Office, Met Locations: New England, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Wales, England

☆ ‘Infinite Life’ Review: Is There a Cure for Pain and Desire?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Jesse Green | More About Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But if you think you see where that’s going, you will be both right and wrong; Baker’s structures are so strong and yet open that, within them, anything or its opposite may happen at any moment. “Infinite Life” (a co-production with Britain’s National Theater) gets that and more from James Macdonald, who has notably staged plays by Baker in London and by the British playwright Caryl Churchill here in New York. Indeed, “Infinite Life” most closely reminded me of Churchill’s great “Escaped Alone,” in which four women sit in a garden chatting into the apocalypse. They are all expressions of Baker’s refusal to reduce the world to a unitary lesson; “Infinite Life” offers moral philosophy but no moral. Which, by the way, is what “Daniel Deronda,” past page 152, is about — and “Infinite Life” is always.

Persons: James Macdonald, Baker, Caryl Churchill, “, Macdonald, Tennessee Williams, Albee, Nielsen, Ásta Bennie Hostetter, Birdsong, Bray, Isabella Byrd’s, ” Sofi, Daniel Deronda, Linda Gross Organizations: Britain’s, New York, Linda, Linda Gross Theater Locations: London, British, New York, Tennessee, Manhattan

☆ U.K. Flight Chaos Was a ‘One in 15 Million’ Problem, Controllers Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Emma Bubola | More About Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The technical failure that led to hundreds of flight cancellations and severe disruptions for thousands of people traveling in and out of Britain last week resulted from a “one in 15 million chance,” the country’s air traffic control service said on Wednesday. “We have processed 15 million flight plans with this system,” Martin Rolfe, the chief executive of Britain’s National Air Traffic Service, told the BBC’s “Today” program. And the service, he said, had “never seen this before.”On Wednesday, the service published a report based on an internal investigation of the event, detailing what Mr. Rolfe described as “an incredibly rare set of circumstances.”According to the report, the air traffic control system encountered two separate pieces of navigational data in one aircraft’s flight plan that had the same name. As a result, the system’s primary and backup computer systems both shut down to avoid passing incorrect information to the controllers.

Persons: “, ” Martin Rolfe, Rolfe Organizations: Britain’s National Air Traffic Service, ” Locations: Britain

☆ UK air traffic control failure: Disruption to last for ‘days’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Travelers have been warned that the chaos brought about by a UK air traffic control failure earlier this week will continue for days. After waiting at the airport for an update, Palladino, who lives in the UK, was informed that the flight was canceled. “Due to yesterday’s technical issues suffered by UK Air Traffic Control, there may be some continuing disruption on some routes, including flight cancellations,” reads a statement from London’s Heathrow Airport on Tuesday. Passengers are however advised to check the status of their flight with the airline before travelling to the airport. “Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing.

Persons: Mark Harper, ” Harper, NATS, Rosa Palladino, Palladino, ”, Lee Vanstone, “ Organizations: CNN — Travelers, Transport, BBC, Air Traffic Services, CNN Travel, Gatwick Airport, Pisa Airport, UK Air Traffic Control, Gatwick, Gatwick LGW, British Airways Locations: Naples, Italy, Pisa

London CNN —Air passengers across Europe faced delays on Monday on one of the summer’s busiest travel days after the UK’s air traffic control system suffered a “technical issue” resulting in restrictions on flights. “Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing. A spokesperson for Manchester Airport, in northern England, told CNN: “We are aware of a nationwide air traffic control issue that is affecting flights in and out of airports across the country. Ireland’s air traffic control service provider AirNav had said that there were “significant delays” to flights traveling within UK airspace on Monday. “Flights between Ireland and UK airports, and flights traveling to or from Ireland that travel through UK airspace are experiencing significant delays,” it said.

Persons: NATS, Lee Vanstone, ike W, ingle Organizations: London CNN — Air, Air Traffic Services, ”, Pisa Airport Locations: Europe, Pisa, Pisa Airport

☆ Lucy Letby: British nurse refuses to appear to be sentenced for murdering seven babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Sana Noor Haq | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —A British nurse refused to appear in court on Monday to be sentenced for the murders of seven babies and attempted murders of six others at the UK hospital where she worked. It emerged during the trial that police had found a series of handwritten notes by Letby, including one that read: "I am evil I did this." It emerged that before Letby murdered Child E, he started bleeding when she tried to assault him. But the hospital’s management initially dismissed concerns raised by clinicians over the increased mortality rate of patients under Letby’s care, PA reported. In 2016, Letby won a grievance complaint that she had filed against her employers after learning of their initial allegations.

Persons: London CNN —, Lucy Letby, Rishi Sunak, Letby, ”, ” Letby, Countess, Chester, duping, ‘, Child, F, “, E Organizations: London CNN, Manchester Crown Court, Media, Prosecution Service, Prosecutors, Cheshire Constabulary, Authorities, National Health Service Locations: England, Manchester

France has used an anti-terrorism unit to question some climate activists, the police confirmed to Reuters. Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment and its interior ministry did not comment. Germany does not have a national policy targeting climate activists, who the government considers mainly non-extremist, a spokesperson for the country’s interior ministry said. "Climate protesters can perhaps be locked away, but the climate catastrophe will come anyway," Lachner said after being convicted in Berlin in July for glueing incidents last year and fined 2,700 euros. In the January newspaper interview, the local office of the interior ministry confirmed both devices had been installed.

Persons: Yves Herman, Simon Lachner, he'd, “ radicalisation ”, Lachner’s, Lachner, Regensberg, Lafarge Holcim, SLT, Julien Le Guet, Le Guet, Pascale Leglise, Riham Alkousaa, Juliette Jabkhiro, Andrew MacAskill, William James, Katy Daigle, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, GPS, Bavaria, Reuters, Britain’s National Police Chiefs ’, Los, Prosecutors, Bavarian, Berlin, Military, National Commission, Control, Thomson Locations: France, Sainte, Soline, BERLIN, Lachner, Britain, Germany, Berlin, Europe, Los Angeles, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Bavarian, Regensberg, French, Deux, Sevres, Nouvelle Aquitaine, SLT, Paris, London

☆ Over 100 people trapped for several hours in mystery writer Agatha Christie’s former home
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Over 100 people were trapped for several hours in Greenway, the former home of famed British mystery writer Agatha Christie, in the English countryside on Friday. Caroline Heaven, a tourist who was visiting Greenway, contacted local news outlet Devon Live to spread the word that roughly 100 tourists were trapped in the grounds of Christie’s former holiday home. Britain’s National Trust which manages the historic site quickly put a message on its website, announcing that a large tree had fallen on the single-track road leading into Greenway. A spokesperson for the National Trust said it was aware that there were “visitors, staff and volunteers still at Greenway unable to leave,” adding that the National Trust was “doing everything” to ensure their comfort whilst they waited. Christie herself was known to while away the hours on Greenway’s lawns, playing clock golf and croquet and entertaining guests with snippets from her latest mystery novels, according to the National Trust website.

Persons: Agatha Christie, Caroline Heaven, Christie Organizations: London CNN, Greenway, Devon, National Trust Locations: Greenway, Devon, England, Britain’s

☆ Fact Check-Met Office says UK temperature data shows increase in last two decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The average temperature has increased over the last two decades, the Met Office said, countering misleading claims circulating online. According to the Met Office, however, its data show a long-term trend of rising temperatures, including an increase in UK temperature over the last two decades. “The Met Office’s preferred smoothing pattern for the UK temperature series clearly shows warming over the last two decades,” he said. In comparison to the 30-year period 1961-1990, the average UK temperature increased by 0.8°C between 1991 and 2020 (here). The average temperature has increased over the last two decades in the UK, according to the Met Office, Britain’s national weather service.

Persons: “, Grahame Madge, ”, Madge, ” Will Jones, Read Organizations: Met Office, Daily, Reuters, UK Met Office Locations: Lincolnshire

☆ Andy Murray Returns to Wimbledon a Man in Full and on a Mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Matthew Futterman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In late May, with most of the world’s best tennis players focused on the red clay at the French Open, Sir Andy Murray was 300 miles away on the other side of the English Channel, dialed in on preparations for the grass at Wimbledon. But then his wife, Kim Sears, had to head up to Scotland for a few days to handle some business at the hotel she and Murray own. It’s all part of the next phase of Murray’s quixotic, late-career quest to finish his journey on his terms, metal hip and all. Maybe that means somehow recapturing the magic of 10 years ago, when he became the first British man in 77 years to win the most important title in his sport. Maybe it’s simply cracking the top 30 or 20 once more, proving wrong all the doctors and doubters who called him foolish for entertaining a future in professional tennis after hip resurfacing surgery in 2019.

Persons: Sir Andy Murray, Kim Sears, Murray, quixotic, doubters Locations: Scotland, Roehampton

☆ Britain puts coal plant on standby as warm temperatures ramp up demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Steam and smoke billow from the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station near Nottingham, Britain, December 1, 2017. Britain has a target to close its coal-fired power plants by October 2024 as part of efforts to cut fossil fuel emissions and meet its 2050 net-zero target. A market notice, published by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) showed it has asked for the unit to be ready on Monday afternoon. National Grid ESO did not comment on why the notification had been issued. Gas-fired power plants were providing around 41% of the country’s electricity on Monday, with wind power lower than usual, providing just 7%.

Persons: Ratcliffe, Hannah McKay, Uniper, Ami McCarthy, Statnett, Susanna Twidale, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, National Grid Electricity, Grid ESO, country's Met, Grid, Greenpeace, Thomson Locations: Nottingham, Britain, Ratcliffe, Norway, Norwegian

☆ Prince Harry Is a More Interesting Prince Than We Deserved - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Tanya Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Like his mother, Princess Diana, Harry has been an instrument all his life. They filmed Harry as he, aged 12, walked behind her coffin at her funeral, his presence necessary to protect his father’s reputation. Even the British media wouldn’t heckle a faithless husband in front of his son. I read “Spare” as a portrait of an abusive childhood and an act of whistle-blowing, but most of the British media did not. — and for his affinity for Stewie, the infant prodigy in “Family Guy,” whom he described as “a prophet without honor.”

Persons: Princess Diana, Harry, William, heckle, Meghan Markle, Oprah Winfrey, “, Stewie, Guy, ” Organizations: Netflix Locations: Windsor, Paris, Britain

☆ Merch Fit for a King
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Chris Mandle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON — When Dr. Imran Haq was a medical student in 2014, he had a chance encounter with King Charles III at an event. “I was struck by how normal he was,” said Dr. Haq, a surgeon for Britain’s National Health Service in Sheffield, England. About a decade later, the monarch became Dr. Haq’s muse. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year, Dr. Haq said his fondness for the British royal family inspired him to take up a hobby: designing cereal boxes as merchandise to commemorate Charles’s coronation on May 6. The boxes of his “Coronation Flakes” feature a cartoon rendering of the king on the front, along with the tagline: “They taste royally good.” On the back, there are puzzles and a cutout mask of Charles’s face.

☆ UK inflation stays at 10% as bread rises at record clip. Here’s why it’s proving hard to beat
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

London CNN —UK inflation remained above 10% in March, far higher than in the United States and Europe, as bread prices rose at a record pace. Energy an ‘Achilles’ heel’The United Kingdom is a net importer of energy, unlike the United States. UK inflation to fall sharplyThe good news is that UK inflation is expected to fall rapidly through the remainder of the year, as lower wholesale gas prices feed through to household energy bills. From April, “UK inflation might start to drop faster than in Europe,” he said. But core inflation could take longer to fall in the United Kingdom, according to Gregory of Capital Economics.

☆ Twitter brands BBC a ‘government funded media’ organization
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The label has not been given to the BBC’s other accounts, including BBC News (World) and BBC Breaking News. Twitter has not given a definition for what it considers “government funded media” to constitute. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.”The BBC received the label after a similar one was given to America’s National Public Radio (NPR). Twitter initially designated the US broadcaster as “state-affiliated media,” putting it on a par with Russian propaganda network RT and China’s Xinhua News Agency. Twitter defines state-affiliated media outlets as outlets “where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”

☆ Fact Check-Dinosaurs existed and were documented before the term ‘dinosauria’ was coined in the early 1840s
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dinosaurs existed long before the word ‘dinosauria’ was coined by paleontologist Sir Richard Owen in the 19th century, paleontology experts and a spokesperson for Britain’s Royal Society told Reuters, rejecting a claim to the contrary spreading online. They were invented by the Royal Society in 1841,” the individual says, referring to the academic organisation which is Britain’s national academy of sciences. However, three experts and a spokesperson for the Royal Society told Reuters separately that these claims are false. They say Sir Richard Owen first used the term ‘Dinosauria’ in the early 1840s but that dinosaurs and their fossils existed and were documented long before. Dinosaurs existed and were documented long before they were given a universal name in 1841, paleontologists and Britain’s Royal Society say.

☆ BBC engulfed in an impartiality storm of its own making
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that if you’re an entertainment presenter or you’re a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules” on impartiality, former director-general Greg Dyke told BBC Radio 4 over the weekend. BBC Director General Tim Davie has made protecting impartiality one of his major priorities. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesMore problematic still is that the same thorny questions about impartiality extend to the BBC’s leadership. “It’s a mess, isn’t it?” former BBC executive Peter Salmon told the cooperation’s flagship political presenter Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. “He’s got views, he’s got passions … it may be that Gary has outgrown the job, and his role in the BBC.”

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