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LONDON (AP) — A senior British politician on Monday urged police to investigate sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand, as entertainment industry figures faced questions about whether the comedian’s bad behavior went unchallenged because of his fame. Brand denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. The allegations reported by the newspapers and Channel 4 cover the period between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was a major star in Britain with a growing U.S. profile. Brand was suspended by the BBC in 2008 for making lewd prank calls to “Fawlty Towers” actor Andrew Sachs in which he boasted about having sex with Sachs’ granddaughter. The BBC, Channel 4 and the production company behind the “Big Brother” reality series – spinoffs of which were hosted by Brand -- all say they have launched investigations into Brand’s behavior and how complaints were handled.

Persons: —, Russell Brand, Brand, Caroline Nokes, ”, Katy Perry, “, Towers, Andrew Sachs, Sachs, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan Organizations: Monday, The Times, Sunday Times, Times, Conservative, of Commons, Equalities, BBC, London’s Metropolitan Police, Brand, YouTube Locations: British, Los Angeles, Britain, United States, London

Five judges from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal handed down their decision on Tuesday, following years of legal battles challenging the government’s refusal to let gay people get married or form a civil union partnership. Hong Kong does not allow or grant same-sex marriage or unions, even though homosexuality has been decriminalized in the city since 1991. Jerome Yau, co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said he is “cautiously optimistic” as he awaits further details to be hammered out. Polls in Hong Kong have shown growing support for same-sex equality among the public, especially younger people. Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, the first member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to come out as gay, is a co-defendant in Sham’s case.

Persons: ”, Kin Cheung, Hong, Jerome Yau, “, Jimmy Sham, Felix Wong, Sham, ” Sham, Hong Kong –, Raymond Chan Chi, Xi Jinping Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Hong, Appeal, CNN, Parade, Civil, Prosecutors, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council Locations: Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s, Asia, Taiwan, Nepal, Beijing, New York, China, Shanghai

☆ Sportswear brands seek retail space for their women's boots
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Lori Ewing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A recent report coordinated by soccer's European Club Association found as many as 82% of female players in Europe experience discomfort wearing boots. "Football brands are making welcome progress on supporting the needs of female football players," said Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, chair of British Parliament's Women and Equalities Committee. "(But) major retailers give limited recognition to women and girls when it comes to football boots. "It is no good investing in research and making boots for female football players if women are unaware of those products or unable to buy them." The smaller IDA Sports offers a wide range of women's boots, saying they have done extensive research into the biomechanical difference between men and women.

Persons: Carl Recine, England's Lionesses, Caroline Nokes, Puma, Kathryn Swarbrick, Luna, Laura Youngson, Youngson, Lori Ewing, William Maclean Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, REUTERS, soccer's European Club Association, Conservative, Equalities, Adidas, Nike, Puma, Umbro, North, Manufacturers, Elite, IDA Sports, Sports, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, France, Morocco, Adelaide, Australia, Europe, North Europe

☆ Britain signs deal to join £12 trillion Indo-Pacific trade bloc
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Matt Clinch | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch leaves 10 Downing Street. LONDON — Britain's Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, formally signed a treaty confirming accession to the vast Indo-Pacific CPTPP bloc, the country's largest post-Brexit trade deal to date. The U.K. would be the first European nation to join the bloc, which the government says would unlock trade to a region with a total GDP of £12 trillion ($15.7 trillion). Badenoch said Sunday that Britain was using its status as an independent trading nation to join an "exciting, growing, forward-looking trade bloc." One in every 100 workers in Britain was employed by a business headquartered in a CPTPP nation, according to the government citing 2019 data.

Persons: Badenoch, Kemi Organizations: State for International Trade, of Trade, Women, Equalities, CPTPP, Trans, Pacific Partnership Locations: Kemi Badenoch, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain

☆ The trans soccer team that’s making history
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Hannah Ryan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

On the rainy evening of March 31, 2023, he captained what he says is the first ever all trans masculine soccer team in Europe in a match. “I was quite nervous before the match,” Webber told CNN. They now also aim to make soccer a more inclusive sport and connect the trans community. “After the all trans feminine team played their game and once I’d played with the all-gender team, she took me aside and said she’d been thinking about what we could do next and asked if I’d be interested in captaining an all trans masc team,” Webber said. “One day, there’ll be hundreds of trans people playing football all over the country at all levels.”

☆ UK's Labour suspends Diane Abbott for saying Jews experience prejudice, not racism
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The equalities watchdog found in 2020 Labour had serious failings in the party’s handling of persistent antisemitism complaints. Abbott, 69, was responding to a writer's claims that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people suffered racism. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable," she wrote. A spokesperson for Labour party said she had been suspended pending an investigation. Britain's equalities watchdog said earlier this year the Labour Party had made sufficient changes over the last two years to tackle antisemitism.

☆ UK considering new definition of sex in equality laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Britain is considering plans to create a distinction in equality laws between a person who was born a particular sex and someone who has transitioned to become that sex. Britain's minister for women and equalities, Kemi Badenoch, wrote to the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equalities watchdog, to say she wanted her to consider the "benefits or otherwise" of changing the legal definition of sex. "Among these is the consideration about whether the definition of 'sex' is sufficiently clear and strikes the appropriate balance of interests between different protected characteristics," Badenoch wrote. The move comes after Britain's government earlier this year blocked gender reform laws passed by Scotland's devolved parliament. She also said further consideration of human rights implications would be needed.

☆ UK PM Rishi Sunak overhauls government departments after bumpy 100 days in power
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.K. Prime Minister has announced a mini overhaul of his government as he seeks to reassert his authority after a shaky first 100 days in office. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday unveiled a new government department focused on energy security and announced a mini reshuffle of his cabinet as he seeks to reassert his authority after a shaky first 100 days in office. Sunak named former business minister Grant Shapps as head of the newly launched Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, whose focus will be on securing "long-term energy supply, bringing down bills and halving inflation." The prime minister also appointed former Trade Minister Greg Hands as his new party chairman, replacing sacked Nadhim Zahawi, in a mini-reshuffle of his top leadership team. The U.K. previously had a Department of Energy and Climate Change, but it was merged with the business department in 2016.

☆ U.K. government to veto Scotland’s gender self-recognition law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The Scottish government is likely to challenge the decision at the U.K. Supreme Court. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government “a full-frontal attack” on the Scottish parliament, which approved the bill last month. “The Scottish Government will defend the legislation and stand up for Scotland’s Parliament,” she said on Twitter. This is the first time a U.K. government has blocked a Scottish law since the Scottish government and parliament were established a quarter century ago. The move will provide fodder for nationalists who want Scotland to break away from the U.K. and become an independent country.

☆ Scottish Law on Gender Recognition Blocked by U.K. Government
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Max Colchester | David Luhnow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack said the law ‘would have a significant impact’ on equalities rules in other parts of the U.K. The U.K. government on Monday blocked a law voted by Scotland’s parliament on gender recognition, the first time that the London-based government has stopped a Scottish law from passing, in a move that will deepen divisions between Scottish nationalists and the U.K. The controversial Scottish law, passed in November, makes it easier for transgender people to get official government recognition of their acquired gender by removing any need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and lowering the age from 18 to 16.

Summary UK uses power to block Scottish bill for the first timeSturgeon: decision is an attack on devolved powersUnclear how issue may impact support for independenceLONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The British government will block a bill passed by the Scottish parliament that makes it easier for people to change their legal gender, its Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said on Monday, the first time it has invoked the power to veto a Scottish law. The move sparked a fresh argument with the devolved Scottish government, which has also been thwarted in its attempts to hold a new independence referendum. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, in charge of the devolved nationalist government, said she would defend the legislation and "stand up for Scotland's parliament." "This is a full-frontal attack on our democratically elected Scottish Parliament and its ability to make its own decisions on devolved matters," Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party's (SNP), said on Twitter. But it is unclear whether the move by Britain to overrule Scotland's gender bill will fuel appetite for independence, as the SNP's own leadership is divided on the issue.

☆ Harry and Meghan dismiss Sun apology for offending column as 'PR stunt'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan on Saturday dismissed an apology by the tabloid Sun newspaper for publishing a column highly critical of Meghan as a "PR stunt" and said the newspaper had not contacted her to say sorry. "A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all. loadingThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as Harry and Meghan are officially known, stepped down from royal duties in March 2020, saying they wanted to make new lives in the United States away from media harassment. In a Netflix documentary series, Meghan spoke about how her treatment by the media had left her feeling suicidal as well as concern over whether she and her children were safe. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar: Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK's Sun apologizes for Jeremy Clarkson's Meghan column
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Britain's Sun newspaper on Friday apologized for publishing a column by British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson about Prince Harry's wife Meghan, days after it became the UK press standards regulator's most complained about article. "We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry," the newspaper said in a statement, adding that the article had been removed from its website and archives. Britain's Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) regulator said on Tuesday that it had received more than 17,500 complaints, the most about any article since it was established in 2014. In a statement posted on Twitter on Monday, Clarkson said he was "horrified to have caused so much hurt" and would be "more careful in future". loadingReporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jeremy Clarkson's Meghan column most complained about ever - UK press regulator
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A Sun newspaper column by British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson about Prince Harry's wife Meghan has become the press standards regulator's most complained about article, it said on Tuesday, with more than 17,500 complaints received. In a column published on Friday, Clarkson, who gained worldwide fame as presenter of motoring show "Top Gear", wrote of Meghan: "I hate her. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) said it had received more than 17,500 complaints so far, the most about any article since it was established in 2014. We cannot allow this type of behaviour to go unchecked any longer," said the letter, which was posted on Twitter by Nokes. Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; additional reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jeremy Clarkson: UK lawmakers call on Sun newspaper to sanction columnist over 'violent misogynistic' language
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Jeremy Clarkson tweeted that he was 'horrified' at the hurt his article caused. “This sort of language has no place in our country, and it is unacceptable that it was allowed to be published in a mainstream newspaper,” it reads. This was the highest circulation of any UK national newspaper at the time. “In light of Jeremy Clarkson’s tweet he has asked us to take last week’s column down,” the page now reads. Meghan recalled how she was stressed by UK newspaper the Mail on Sunday publishing a private letter she had written to her father, Thomas Markle.

☆ The UK has a new prime minister — meet Liz Truss, the tax-cutting Brexit convert taking over from Boris Johnson
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-05 | by ( Bethany Dawson | Catherine Neilan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Liz Truss has been named the new prime minister of the UK in the wake of Boris Johnson quitting. The victory also makes her the new prime minister, due to take over Tuesday. An ally of Johnson, Truss has often been described as the continuity candidate — but who is she, and what can we expect from her premiership? While Truss has been named as the Conservative Party leader, she must wait another day before officially becoming prime minister. Truss is set to become prime minister Tuesday after traveling to meet the Queen at Balmoral in Scotland.

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