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☆ Sudan fighting resurges as UN envoy says ceasefire partly holding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire beginning on Tuesday after negotiations mediated by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. U.N. special envoy on Sudan Volker Perthes told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the ceasefire "seems to be holding in some parts so far." The fighting has paralysed hospitals and other essential services, and left many people stranded in their homes with dwindling supplies of food and water. The U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel were becoming "extremely acute", prices were surging and it had cut back operations for safety reasons. Since the fighting erupted, tens of thousands have left for neighbouring Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

☆ UK parliament's standards watchdog expands PM Sunak investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The British parliament's standards commissioner has expanded his investigation into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to the latest list of open inquiries published on the parliament website on Monday. The investigation, over whether Sunak properly declared his wife's shareholding in a childcare company which stands to benefit from new government policy, was first opened on April 13. The commissioner is responsible for the House of Commons code of conduct and investigates any alleged breaches. At the time the investigation was made public, the prime minister's spokesperson confirmed it was linked to the childcare firm and said Sunak's wife's shareholding in Koru Kids had been transparently declared. "I am not going to speculate on what the commissioner is or isn't looking into," Sunak's spokesman said on Monday when asked about the extension to the investigation.

☆ Britain sets up $125 mln taskforce to drive AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Britain on Monday announced 100 million pounds ($124.5 million) in initial funding for a taskforce to help develop foundation models - a type of artificial intelligence used by chatbots like ChatGPT - for use in fields like healthcare and education. "Harnessing the potential of AI provides enormous opportunities to grow our economy, create better-paid jobs, and build a better future through advances in healthcare and security," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. "By investing in emerging technologies through our new expert taskforce, we can continue to lead the way in developing safe and trustworthy AI as part of shaping a more innovative UK economy." ($1 = 0.8035 pounds)Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by Paul SandleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK house prices show weak rise in April, Rightmove says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Asking prices for property being put on sale in Britain over the past month rose less than normal for the time of year, figures from property website Rightmove showed on Monday, adding to signs of more subdued momentum in the property market. Rightmove said that average asking prices were up by 0.2% over the month, less than the average 1.2% gain seen at this time of year. Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were 1.7% higher, down from a 3.0% annual increase a month earlier. Rightmove said transaction volumes were now back to around the level they were before the start of the pandemic. ($1 = 0.8045 pounds)Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: What is embattled British business group the CBI?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Below is some information about the CBI and its role:WHAT IS THE CBI? Founded in 1965, the CBI is Britain's top business lobby group. A not-for-profit organisation, the CBI says it represents 190,000 businesses employing nearly 7 million people, including many of Britain's biggest companies. In his speech, Sunak called the CBI "a valued institution in this country and a powerful voice for business". A spokesperson for NatWest said the bank had no confidence in the CBI's capacity to be a strong representative voice for British business at present.

☆ Meghan hits out at UK media over King Charles letters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Daily Telegraph reported Meghan had written to the now king to express her concerns about unconscious bias in the royal family. It reported the Duchess of Sussex did not feel she had received a satisfactory response to her concerns. We encourage tabloid media and various royal correspondents to stop the exhausting circus that they alone are creating." Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in March 2020, saying they wanted to make new lives in the United States away from media harassment. Reporting by Michael Holden; Writing by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Jonathan Oatisditing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ British royals release new photos of Prince Louis to mark fifth birthday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Prince and Princess of Wales/Millie Pilkington/Handout via REUTERSLONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate have published two new photographs of their youngest son Louis to mark his fifth birthday on Sunday. The photographs of Louis were taken by Millie Pilkington earlier this month in Windsor. In one, he is seen being pushed in a wheelbarrow by his mother, while the second is a close-up of a smiling Louis looking off to the side of the camera. Louis is a grandson of King Charles and is fourth in line to the throne, behind his father William and siblings George and Charlotte. Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Serving member of UK armed forces charged under Officials Secrets Act
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - A serving member of Britain's armed forces has been charged with offences under the Official Secrets Act after an investigation by counter-terrorism police, London's Metropolitan police said on Saturday. The Met said 36-year-old Thomas Newsome was initially arrested on April 18 and was charged late on Friday. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later on Saturday. Newsome was charged with offences contrary to the Official Secrets Act 1989, which covers the unauthorised disclosure of information by government employees. Reporting by Kylie MacLellan Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ British PM Sunak chairs emergency meeting on Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chaired a meeting of the government's emergency response committee on Saturday to discuss the situation in Sudan, with defence minister Ben Wallace among those attending. The army said the United States, Britain, France and China would evacuate diplomats and other nationals from Khartoum "in the coming hours". "We recognise that the situation is extremely concerning for British nationals trapped by the fighting in Sudan," a government spokesperson said when asked about the comments. "We are doing everything possible to support British nationals and diplomatic staff in Khartoum, and the Ministry of Defence is working with the Foreign Office to prepare for a number of contingencies." On Saturday, Britain's Foreign Office updated its travel advice for Sudan to warn that "in the event of a ceasefire, any decision to move must be taken at individual risk".

☆ Scotland's SNP appoints Stuart McDonald as new treasurer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - The Scottish National Party said on Saturday it had appointed Stuart McDonald as its national treasurer, after Colin Beattie stepped back from the role earlier this week while police investigate the party's finances. Beattie was arrested and questioned by Police Scotland on Tuesday as part of the investigation into what happened to more than 600,000 pounds ($745,800) raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017. He was released without charge pending further investigation but said he would step back from the role. Scotland's governing party said its National Executive Committee had appointed former lawyer McDonald, a member of the Westminster parliament since 2015, as the party's Treasurer until the SNP's next Annual Conference. ($1 = 0.8045 pounds)Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Clelia OzielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ By royal appointment: Prince William takes booking for restaurant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William helped out an Indian restaurant during a royal visit on Thursday by taking a phone reservation from an unsuspecting customer. The heir to the British throne and his wife Kate were visiting the family-run restaurant Indian Streatery during their trip to Birmingham in central England, when he took the call from someone seeking a booking for two people. the prince said as he concluded the conversation, without revealing his own name to the caller. William's office later said on Twitter: "Hope we told this customer to come to the right place...!" As well as taking the booking, the royals also helped out preparing dishes in the restaurant's kitchen before continuing their visit in the city with a game of darts at an underground bar.

☆ Tech protectionism would risk new Dark Age, says UK's Hunt
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"The strategic choice the world faces is now do we all say 'we're going to do this on our own,' and go back to protectionism, which would bring global growth back into the Dark Ages?," Hunt told an event hosted by Politico. Hunt said Britain would remain competitive on innovation. "In the end, the thing that makes you competitive is the quality of your ideas not the amount of your subsidies," he said. Hunt also said it was not possible for countries to opt out of the race to develop artificial intelligence. Reporting by William Schomberg, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New Zealand ex-PM Ardern becomes trustee of Prince William's Earthshot Prize
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William has named Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, as a new trustee for his multi-million pound environmental award, the Earthshot Prize. William, heir to throne, set up the prize in 2020 with the mission of finding solutions to the planet's biggest environmental problems through new technologies and ideas. Ardern joins Earthshot's board of trustees as it gears up to select finalists for the 2023 award. Last year, five winners were each awarded 1 million pounds ($1.24 million) at a ceremony in Boston, United States. Prince William said he was grateful that Ardern, who unexpectedly stepped down as New Zealand's leader earlier this year, was joining the team.

☆ UK telecoms firm Virgin Media suffers widespread outages
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - British telecoms firm Virgin Media said on Tuesday there was an issue impacting its broadband services, after thousands of customers reported widespread problems with internet access and the group's website also appeared to be down. There were more than 28,000 reports of Virgin Media outages on the Downdetector website as of Tuesday morning, beginning in the early hours, with most users reporting that their internet was not working. "We're aware of an issue that is affecting broadband services for Virgin Media customers as well as our contact centres," Virgin Media said on Twitter. Virgin Media O2 is owned by Liberty Global (LBTYA.O) and Spain's Telefonica (TEF.MC). Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, Andy Bruce and Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK watchdog fines TikTok $16 mln for 'misusing children's data'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Britain's data watchdog said on Tuesday it had fined TikTok 12.7 million pounds ($15.9 million) for breaching data protection law including by using the personal data of children aged under 13 without parental consent. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) estimated that TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use its platform in 2020, even though it sets 13 as the minimum age to create an account. TikTok did not abide by those laws," UK Information Commissioner John Edwards said. Children's data may have been used to track and profile them, potentially presenting them with harmful or inappropriate content, he added. ($1 = 0.7996 pounds)Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Muvija M, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Teachers in England reject pay offer, announce further strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Teachers in England have overwhelmingly rejected a pay offer from the British government aimed at ending a series of disruptive strikes, their trade union said on Monday, announcing two further days of walkouts. The National Education Union, Britain's largest education union, said 98% of teachers who voted in the ballot followed its advice to reject the offer of a one-off payment this year of 1,000 pounds and an average pay rise of 4.5% in the next financial year. The union said teachers would take two further days of strike action, on April 27 and May 2. Teachers in Wales have ended their strike action after voting to accept a pay offer comprising an additional 3% pay award for 2022/23 alongside a 1.5% one-off payment, and a government-funded 5% rise for the following year. Scotland's largest teaching union has also accepted a pay deal to end long-running strikes, which it said would amount to a 14.6% increase in pay for most teachers by January 2024.

☆ Apple wins appeal against UK's decision to investigate its mobile browser
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) won its appeal against the decision by Britain's antitrust regulator to launch an investigation into its mobile browser and cloud gaming services, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled on Friday. Regulator the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) opened a full investigation in November into the dominance of Apple and Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) in mobile browsers, and the possibility of the iPhone maker restricting the cloud gaming market through its app store. Apple argued that the CMA had "no power" to launch such a probe because it did so too late. "This risks substantially undermining the CMA's ability to efficiently and effectively investigate and intervene in markets where competition is not working well. "Given the importance of today's judgment," it added, "we will be considering our options including seeking permission to appeal."

☆ UK sets out energy plans, critics bemoan lack of clean tech boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A survey vessel sails past wind turbines at the Burbo Bank offshore wind farm near New Brighton, Britain, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Phil NobleLONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Britain set out plans to boost energy security and tackle emissions on Thursday, but critics said a lack of new investment and incentives meant it failed to provide any new boost for the country's green energy sector. Energy security minister Grant Shapps said the 1,000 pages of documents published on Thursday were focused on energy security, a major focus since the war in Ukraine. There were also further details on a raft of previously announced schemes such as funding for offshore wind, carbon capture, speeding up planning processes for solar and offshore wind projects, rolling out more electric vehicle charging points and encouraging heat pumps in homes. Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said the government's energy plans were not going far or fast enough to tackle climate change.

☆ UK, Poland to build new temporary villages in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Britain and Poland will build two temporary villages in western and central Ukraine to provide housing for those forced from their homes by Russia's invasion, London said on Tuesday, pledging 10 million pounds ($12.3 million) in funding. Almost 118,000 Ukrainians have been hosted by British families as part of the government's response to Russia's February 2022 invasion, but some are finding it increasingly difficult to get permanent housing. Britain's government said the villages in Lviv in western Ukraine and Poltava in central Ukraine would be able to house more than 700 people, a fraction of the millions either displaced in Ukraine or who have fled the country. "This new UK-Poland partnership will help bring light, heat and homes to those most in need." ($1 = 0.8149 pounds)Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK's William Hill fined $24 million for widespread gambling failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Gambling Commission has slapped a 19.2 million pound ($23.7 million) fine on companies owned by betting shop group William Hill for failing to protect consumers and weak anti-money laundering controls, it said on Tuesday. Instead the regulator opted to hand William Hill the largest penalty in UK gambling history. "We found serious non-compliance issues around safer gambling measures ... and also anti-money laundering control failings across the company," Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission told BBC Radio. It completed its takeover of William Hill and related companies last year. "After William Hill was acquired, the company quickly addressed the identified issues with the implementation of a rigorous action plan," an 888 spokesperson said.

☆ Council of Europe urges UK lawmakers to stop new migration law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A RNLI boat, with migrants onboard, is met by Border Force Officers and Police at the harbour in Dungeness, Britain, September 13, 2021. Sunak has said he believes Britain could introduce the new legislation while remaining compliant with the ECHR and international obligations. "It is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we've never seen," he told reporters on Monday. "It's important that it's effective, which it will be, but it's also important that we abide by our international obligations. Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan; editing by William JamesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] Demonstrators protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Britain, in London, Britain March 24, 2023. Netanyahu invited Sunak for an official visit to Israel, the Israeli statement said. 'WE'RE HERE TO PROTEST'In London protesters wanted to talk about Netanyahu's move on the judiciary, which has caused fear at home and abroad for the country's democratic checks and balances. "We're here to protest against Netanyahu, to protest against his attacks on democracy," said Amnon Cohn, who described himself as an Israeli living in London since 2005. "We are more determined than Bibi is," said Liron Rosiner Reshef, an Israeli-born protester in London, using a popular nickname for Netanyahu.

Sunak has tried to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations - to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a hard border with Britain or with European Union-member Ireland. "I welcome parliament voting today to support the Windsor Framework," Britain's Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris said on Twitter. "This measure lies at the very heart of the Windsor Framework which offers the best deal for Northern Ireland, safeguarding its place in the Union and addressing the democratic deficit." Sunak hailed securing the deal last month as a "decisive breakthrough" but by alienating the DUP he has failed in restoring the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told parliament his party could not return to Northern Ireland's power-sharing government "at this stage".

"We have found widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism," the report said, adding "women and children do not get the protection and support they deserve". [1/4] A Metropolitan Police officer stands on duty in Westminster, London, Britain, October 1, 2021. The review said the biggest barrier was the Met's culture of defensiveness and denial about the scale of its problems. Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, Britain's most senior police officer, told reporters: "We've let Londoners down and we've let our own frontline down ... The 360-page report listed strong leadership, a women's protection service, and a new children's strategy as some of its recommendations.

"It is clear from that investigation that there is no evidence at all that supports an allegation that I intentionally or recklessly misled the House," said Johnson. The committee is due to question Johnson in person when he provides oral evidence in a televised session on Wednesday. At the centre of the inquiry into his actions are statements Johnson made to parliament in December 2021 when he said no rules were broken. In an interim report published this month, the committee said Johnson might have misled parliament on four occasions and said the rule-breaking should have been "obvious" to him. Conservative lawmaker James Duddridge, a Johnson supporter, said on Twitter he believed the former premier's submission showed he had not intentionally misled parliament.

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