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☆ UK budget: Britain targets the wealthy as it hikes taxes by $52 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“Today, I am restoring stability to our public finances and rebuilding our public services,” Reeves said, arguing that the now-opposition Conservative Party had “failed” Britain, including by inadequately budgeting for required government spending. A black hole in the public finances. Public services on their knees. The government will instead introduce a new tax system for such individuals, raising £12.7 billion ($16.5 billion) over the next five years. The tax hike will eventually raise £25 billion ($33 billion) per year.

Persons: Rachel Reeves, ” Reeves, “, Reeves, Jeremy Hunt’s, Hunt Organizations: London CNN, Labour, Conservative Party, National Health Service, Labour Party, ’ National Insurance Locations: United Kingdom, “, Britain

☆ Starmer is selling Britain on gloom, and patience is wearing thin
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-25 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Protesters demonstrate outside the Labour Party conference venue in Liverpool against the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance, on September 23, 2024. “It has felt a bit blunt,” a Labour Member of Parliament admitted after Starmer’s speech Tuesday, summing up the sentiment across much of conference. Unfortunately, the realities of governing are beginning to bite the Labour Party – and it is likely he will need to show some returns far sooner. Starmer’s speech was was light on fresh content but a heckler was calmly removed and the key messages were confidently delivered. But a premiership can only survive on doom and gloom for so long, and patience is already wearing thin among much of the wider party.

Persons: Keir Starmer, –, Ian Forsyth, Starmer, Taylor, “, Rachael Maskell, Sir Keir Starmer, Peter Byrne, Maskell, ”, Boris Johnson’s, ” –, Patience, Opinium, Sunak, ” James Crouch ,, Reeves, Rachel Reeves, heckler Organizations: Liverpool, England CNN —, Labour, Protesters, Labour Party, Labour Party –, Conservative, Public, Arsenal soccer, Wembley, CNN, ”, London, Tory, National Health Service, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, United Nations General Assembly Locations: England, Liverpool, Starmer’s, Opinium, Britain, New York, July’s

☆ Biden signals openness to using Western long-range missiles inside Russia as he meets Britain’s leader to discuss
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The president has long resisted calls from Ukrainian officials to ease restrictions on the weapons. “We’re working that out right now,” Biden said when questioned this week whether he would permit Western-provided long-range missiles to target military sites like airfields, missile launchers, fuel tanks and ammunition depots inside Russia. Still, that the conversation over long-range weapons is happening at all is an indication of how stalled battlefield dynamics are causing western leaders to rethink their approach. The revelation that Iran has been providing Russia with ballistic missiles has changed the debate over Ukraine’s capabilities, Lammy said. Earlier in the week, the bipartisan congressional Ukraine caucus called on Biden to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with the long-range weapons.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, ” Biden, Friday’s Biden, Starmer, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Antony Blinken, “, it’s, we’ll, ” Blinken, Andrii Sybiha, David Lammy, Lammy, Defense Lloyd Austin, ” Austin, Ukraine’s, Sen, Ben Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen of, ” Shaheen, ” Organizations: Washington CNN, British, White, US, Army Tactical Missile Systems, Ukrainian, National Security, Labour Party’s, NATO, Defense, Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Defense Department, Ukraine “, Senior, Senate Foreign Relations, Biden, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, United Kingdom, Kyiv, France, Iran, Western, Kursk, Washington, Russian, United States, British, Germany, Crimea, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire

☆ Labour Wins Back Trust of British Jews Who Turned From the Party
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From the day that Keir Starmer became the head of the Labour Party in 2020, he made repairing ties with British Jews a priority, calling antisemitism a “stain” on the party. On Thursday, many British Jews who had turned away from Labour in the 2019 general election gave the party another chance. Labour won back several North London constituencies with significant Jewish populations. Nearly half of Jewish voters planned to support the Labour Party in Thursday’s election, according to a poll of 2,717 Jewish adults who responded to the Jewish Current Affairs Survey taken in June, before the election. Jewish support for the party under Mr. Corbyn reached a low of 11 percent in the 2019 general election, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, which focuses on Jewish life in Europe.

Persons: Keir Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn Organizations: Labour Party, Labour, Jewish Current Affairs, Institute for Jewish, Research Locations: London, Thursday’s, Europe

☆ Gaza: The Labour party’s position on the conflict appears to have cost it votes in the UK election
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Corbyn won 49.2% of the vote, while the Labour candidate came in second with 34.4%. Many of these seats where Labour appears to have lost votes over its position on Gaza have sizable Muslim populations. She said, after Streeting abstained from a vote on a Gaza ceasefire, she decided to enter politics and abdicate from Labour. “As a Palestinian, that place is no longer for me… The Labour party does not represent us,” she told CNN. Meanwhile Jess Phillips, also a prominent Labour figure, won her Birmingham Yardley seat by just 693 votes.

Persons: Keir Starmer, Jonathan Ashworth, Shockat Adam, ” Adam, Jeremy Corbyn, Ashworth, Corbyn, ”, Kate Hollern –, –, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed, Heather Iqbal, Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, Khalid Mahmood, Faiza Shaheen –, Iain Duncan Smith, “, ” Shaheen, Starmer, Israel’s, Starmer –, Israel “, Wes Streeting, Leanne Mohamad, Mohamad, Streeting, Jess Phillips, Jody McIntyre Organizations: London CNN, Gaza, Labour, Leicester South, Islington, Blackburn, Dewsbury, Batley, Conservative, Hamas, LBC, Scottish National Party, CNN, Birmingham, Workers Party of Britain Locations: Gaza, English Midlands, Birmingham, Chingford, Woodford, London, Israel, Leicester, Ilford, Blackburn, Starmer’s, Ilford North, Palestine, Birmingham Yardley

☆ Labour’s landslide victory is a personal triumph for Keir Starmer that once seemed impossible
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —The Labour Party’s projected victory in the UK general election marks a historic moment in modern British political history and a huge personal triumph for Keir Starmer, the Labour leader who is set to become the country’s next prime minister. Starmer’s victory is all the more remarkable considering the journey that Labour has been on since the last general election in 2019. It was in this context that Starmer took control of a broken Labour Party on April 4, 2020. On that day, David Lammy, one of his Labour colleagues, took him to one side and warned Starmer: “Set yourself a 10-year cycle. There has for months been a working assumption that a Starmer victory would be in part thanks to a general disdain for the Conservatives after 14 years in power.

Persons: Keir Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson, Johnson, David Lammy, Starmer, ”, Lammy, “, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Critics, Donald Trump, Nigel Farage Organizations: London CNN, Labour, ’, Conservatives, Labour Party, Downing Street, Conservative Party, spook Conservative, Reform

☆ ‘Just Disillusioned’: How U.K. Conservatives Lost a New Heartland
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Amid the drab parkas and pullovers was a figure in a striking red coat: Natalie Fleet, the Labour Party’s candidate for Parliament, wearing her party’s campaign color. She turned up late, having hiked up in heels. But she mixed easily, chatting with a 17-year-old high school student, Georgia Haslam, about her desire to get more young women engaged in politics. “It was reassuring to hear someone like her say, ‘I understand you,’” Ms. Haslam said afterward. “If you’re not from a city, if you’re not wealthy, it’s not clear that these politicians really care about you.”Ms. Fleet is on track to win back the parliamentary district of Bolsover for Labour, which in 2019 it lost to the Conservatives for the first time in almost 70 years.

Persons: pullovers, Natalie Fleet, Georgia Haslam, ’, Ms, Haslam, you’re, it’s, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Labour, Conservatives, Conservative Locations: England’s East Midlands, Bolsover, France, London

☆ Opinion: Alito’s second red flag
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Kirsi Goldynia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

This is not the first time Alito has found himself in hot water over displaying a controversial flag on his property. The upside-down flag, a signal of distress, was adopted by Trump supporters who believed the false claim that the election had been stolen. (Alito said his wife had raised the upside-down flag in response to a disagreement with a neighbor. The discovery also comes at a time when the Supreme Court will be making a decision about Trump’s claims of sweeping presidential immunity, his get-out-of-jail-free card for the federal cases he faces. “The notion that the Supreme Court can be trusted to be an arbiter above partisan politics has suffered major blows in recent years.

Persons: ”, Scott Peck, Samuel Alito, “, Alito, Joe Biden’s, Trump, Julian Zelizer, Walt Handelsman, Michael J, Broyde, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Donald Trump, ‘, ’, ” Nikki Haley’s, Nikki Haley’s, Nikki Haley, Haley, Nancy Pelosi, She’s, Joe Biden ‘, I’ve, ” Clay Jones, Drew Sheneman, Judge Juan Merchan, Robert Costello, Michael Cohen, Norm Eisen, Costello, ’ Merchan, cautioning, …, Eisen, Sunak, Rishi Sunak, Henry Nicholls, Holly Thomas, Sunak —, Thomas, Joel Pett, Adolf Hitler, Ruth Ben, Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Said Ben, Anna Sauerbrey, Sauerbrey, Biden, America —, Richard Curtis ’, Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Laura Beers, it’s, —, Ebrahim Raisi, Frida Ghitis, Ali Khamenei, Peter Kuper, Cagle, “ I’m, What’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al, Masri, Ismail Haniyeh, Peter Bergen, ” Netanyahu, Israel’s, Netanyahu, Kerri Kennedy, Biden “, Israel, ” Don’t, Agency Carrie Sheffield, Noah Berlatsky, Singleton, Biden’s Morehouse, Jill Filipovic, Diddy, Cassie Ventura, Catherine Tan, Shanahan, Brian Castrucci, Frank Luntz, Mark Zandi, Trump Will Cathcart, Joyce M, Davis, Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel, Randy Holmes, Bill, ” Nicole Hemmer, Said Will, Maher, Hemmer, ” “ Maher, It’s Organizations: CNN, New York Times, Agency, Trump, South Carolina Gov, Republican, NHS, Labour, Tory, Social, Italiana, European Union, ”, Islamic, Education, Workforce, Harvard, University of California, Columbia University, Columbia, Criminal Court, ICC, Israeli, International Court of Justice, United Nations Security, American Friends Service Committee, RFK, Disney, Entertainment, Democrats Locations: Alito’s Virginia, New Zealand, AFP, ”, England, Trump’s America, America, Italian, Germany, Poland, France, Berlin, Hill, American, British, London, Notting Hill, Iran, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic, University of California Los Angeles, Gaza, United Kingdom, Rafah, Georgia’s, Moscow, Africa

☆ 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

☆ The U.K. Labour Party’s Worst Enemy Might Be Itself
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Mark Landler | Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

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. “The question is, can he come back next week fighting?”Labour still holds a double-digit lead over the Conservatives in polls. It could swiftly regain its stride with victories in two parliamentary by-elections on Thursday, both of which it is expected to win. But Labour’s setbacks are a reminder that with a general election still at least a few months away, Mr. Starmer cannot take anything for granted.

Persons: Britain’s, Keir Starmer, Starmer, “ Keir, ”, John McTernan, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Labour Party, Conservative Party, Manchester soccer, Britain’s Premier League, Labour, Conservative Locations: Israel, Man

☆ New Zealand election campaign winds down with Labour facing defeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Prime Minister and Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins speaks at the New Zealand Labour Party’s election campaign launch event in Auckland, New Zealand, September 2, 2023. However, Hipkins, 45 said Labour was starting to see momentum build in the final hours of campaigning. “We are expecting a really huge turnout ... and we’re expecting a really strong result tomorrow night," Hipkins, 45, told reporters. Polls predict that the nationalist New Zealand First Party will hold the balance of power. The party was Labour’s coalition partner in 2017 but has said it will not work with Labour again.

Persons: Chris Hipkins, David Rowland, Hipkins, Jacinda Ardern, we’re, Christopher Luxon, you've, ” Luxon, walkabouts, ”, Kelly Eckhold, Lucy Craymer, Stephen Coates Organizations: Labour Party, New Zealand Labour, REUTERS, Rights, Zealand, Labour, ACT Party, New Zealand First Party, National Party, MMP, Zealanders, “, Westpac, Thomson Locations: Auckland , New Zealand, Hipkins

☆ The UK is delaying the switch to electric cars. Automakers are furious
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three,” Ford (F) UK chair Lisa Brankin said in a statement. “We and the whole automotive industry [need] clarity on the [EV] topic,” the German carmaker said in a statement shared with CNN. ‘Confusion’ will delay switch to EVsThe UK auto industry has been clawing its way back from rock bottom after car manufacturing hit a 66-year low in 2022. Reducing emissions from road transport “is the only way that you will achieve net zero,” Hawes told the BBC. The government’s own independent adviser on climate policy, the Climate Change Committee shares that view.

Persons: carmakers, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, “, ”, Sunak’s, ” Ford, Lisa Brankin, Brankin, carmaker, Mike Hawes, ” Hawes, Jobs, Sadiq Khan, ” Sunak, “ We’re, Alok Sharma, Simon Clarke, EVs, — Gemma Blundell, Doyle, Anna Cooban, Laura Paddison, Rob Picheta Organizations: London CNN, BMW, Oxford, Swindon, CNN, Fiat, Peugeot, Fiat Chrysler, France’s, India’s Tata Group, Society of Motor Manufacturers, Traders, BBC, Conservative Party, Labour Party’s London, Conservative Locations: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Ellesmere Port, Liverpool, Britain, London, Glasgow

☆ Britain’s Rishi Sunak has a month to shake his party from its slumber. If he fails, the next election could already be over
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

London CNN —Rishi Sunak has just under a month to answer the most critical question he faces as British Prime Minister: why does his Conservative Party deserve another five years in power at the next election? They trail the opposition Labour Party in the polls and there is a distinct stench of a party nearing the end of its time in office lingering in the air. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gives an update on the progress made since he introduced the Illegal Migration Bill, under his plans to "stop the boats," on June 5, 2023 in Dover, England. Unfortunately for the prime minister, his own MPs are divided on even that question. As the UK’s finance minister, Sunak won praise for the financial support he offered people who could not work during lockdowns.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Yui Mok, Ben Stansall, ”, Labour Party’s Keir Starmer, Starmer, “, Chris J Ratcliffe, Covid, Rob Ford, ” Ford Organizations: London CNN, Conservative Party, Conservative, Labour Party, Police, Bibby, Getty, Labour, Commons, Conservatives, CNN, That’s, University of Manchester Locations: Manchester, England, United Kingdom, Dover , England, Britain’s, Birmingham, Bibby Stockholm, AFP, London

☆ Eddie Izzard, comedian and activist, is planning to stand for UK parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Comedian and activist Eddie Izzard has announced on social media that she is hoping to stand as a member of parliament at the UK’s next general election. Izzard has long been a public supporter and member of the Labour Party, alongside her decades-long career in film and television. She is best known for her appearances in the “Ocean’s 11” films and NBC’s “Hannibal” series, in addition to her stand-up comedy work. Last year, she reached the shortlist to be nominated as the Labour candidate for the northern English constituency of Sheffield Central but ultimately lost out to Abtisam Mohamed. On her website, Izzard said that, if elected, she would increase funding and resources for schools, promote eco-friendly transportation, work to secure more funding in housing infrastructure, champion mental health services and build stronger ties between law enforcement and local communities.

Persons: Eddie Izzard, Izzard, Suzy Eddie Izzard, Caroline Lucas, NBC’s, Hannibal ”, Abtisam Mohamed, Sian Berry, Lucas Organizations: CNN, Labour, Brighton, Labour Party, Sheffield Central, Green Party Locations: England, English

☆ Fact Check-Video shows Labour Party’s Lamidi Apapa, not former bank governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video of Lamidi Apapa, factional chairman of Nigeria’s Labour Party (LP), being jeered outside court has been miscaptioned on social media, with posts falsely claiming the clip The video shows Lamidi Apapa, factional chairman of the Labour Party, leaving court and being jeered, not suspended central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. One post here has the caption: “End Of The Wicked, Emefiele In The Court.”Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele on June 9, citing an ongoing investigation of his office and planned financial sector reforms (here). However, the video was posted by TikTok account @Nationwide380 on May 17, 2023, before Emefiele was suspended as bank governor (here). It in fact appears to show Lamidi Apapa, the Labour Party’s factional chairman, leaving the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on May 17 over a battle for control of the party with National Chairman Julius Abure. The video shows Lamidi Apapa, factional chairman of the Labour Party, leaving court and being jeered, not suspended central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele.

Persons: Apapa, Lamidi Apapa, Godwin Emefiele, They’re, ”, Bola Tinubu, Emefiele, Julius Abure, Abure’s, Read Organizations: Nigeria’s Labour Party, Labour Party, Social, Labour, Reuters Locations: Nigeria

☆ Securonomics is fuzzy new lodestar for investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Felix Martin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

During the era of free trade and financial liberalisation, the politicians danced to the economists’ tune. President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor explained that the era of unqualified support for free markets is over. The state will explicitly subsidise “specific sectors that are foundational to economic growth (or) strategic from a national security perspective,” Sullivan explained. Internationally, meanwhile, free trade is no longer the pole star. Sullivan’s 5,000-word speech devoted just three sentences to the World Trade Organization.

Persons: Rachel Reeves, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s, ” Sullivan, Jacob Soll, Jean, Baptiste Colbert, Alexander Hamilton, Adam Smith, securonomics, Colbert, Hamilton, Christine Lagarde, Lagarde, ”, Soll, Peter Thal Larsen, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, Labour, Bank of England, White, U.S . Treasury, U.S . Trade Representative, Joe Biden’s National, Biden, offshoring, World Trade Organization, Industries, BAE Systems, Dow, Aerospace, Defense, U.S, Treasury, University of Southern, European Central Bank, Soviet, Russia, Thomson Locations: Washington, Tellingly, States, French, Scottish, University of Southern California, China, United States, Europe, Saudi Arabia

☆ Fact Check-Photo of Nigeria’s Obi visiting president-elect Tinubu is digitally altered
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

“Obi visited Tinubu. The Labor Party Presidential candidate H.E Peter Obi visited the President Elect Tinubu. Obi denied visiting Tinubu during an interview on Arise News on May 1 (here ), time stamp 30:00. A photo said to show Peter Obi standing next to president-elect Bola Tinubu has been digitally altered. The original version does not feature Obi, who denied visiting Tinubu during an interview on May 1.

☆ US imposes election-related visa restrictions on Nigerians
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —The United States has imposed entry restrictions on more Nigerians for undermining the democratic process during the African nation’s 2023 election cycle, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. The action is the latest in a series of visa restrictions imposed on Nigerian individuals in recent years. Nigeria’s election tribunal this month was to begin hearing opposition petitions challenging president-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory in the disputed February presidential vote, court records showed. Tinubu, from the ruling All Progressives Congress party, defeated his closest rivals Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who have alleged fraud and have launched a court challenge. Atiku and Obi want the tribunal to invalidate Tinubu’s victory, arguing that the vote was fraught with irregularities, among other criticisms.

☆ Nigeria’s Ruling Party Candidate Takes Early Lead in Slow Vote Count
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Gabriele Steinhauser | Gbenga Akingbule | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LAGOS, Nigeria—Early results from Nigeria’s presidential election showed a healthy lead for the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu , as the electoral commission said technical glitches were slowing down the vote count in Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation. By early afternoon Monday, results from just under a third of polling units had been loaded onto the electoral commission’s website following Saturday’s election. Parallel vote counts by civil-society organizations based on results uploaded so far showed Mr. Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress ahead of Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party, followed by the Labour Party’s Peter Obi .

☆ Police fine U.K. PM Rishi Sunak for failing to wear a seatbelt in Instagram video
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON — Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was fined by police Friday, for failing to wear a seatbelt whilst filming a clip for social media in a moving vehicle. It is also the second fixed penalty notice Sunak has received in less a year. His lack of seatbelt was quickly spotted by eagle-eyed viewers and Lancashire Constabulary said Friday it was fining Sunak. A spokesperson for Sunak described this as a “a brief error of judgment,” according to Reuters. “Of course it shouldn’t have happened,” Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told British broadcaster Sky News Saturday.

☆ New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Announces Resignation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Mike Cherney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SYDNEY—New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would step down by Feb. 7 after over five years as leader, as the country grapples with the prospect of a recession stemming partly from its strict response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Ardern, 42 years old, has struggled to reverse her Labour Party’s slide in the polls ahead of an election due later this year, and said on Thursday that she lacked the energy to do the job. It marks a turnaround for a leader whose pandemic policies, including lengthy border closures, helped her party to a landslide win in the last election in 2020.

☆ BP’s profit more than doubles as calls for windfall taxes grow louder
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The UK-based energy company posted underlying profit of $8.15 billion in the July to September period, compared with $3.3 billion a year ago. BP (BP)’s earnings were boosted by “exceptional” results in its gas trading business, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Also last week, America’s largest oil company, ExxonMobil set a profit record for the second straight quarter, while Chevron (CVX) and French oil company Total (TOT)Energies posted similarly huge increases. The unprecedented set of earnings is fueling renewed calls in Britain and the United States for windfall taxes on energy companies to help households that are struggling to pay rising bills. EU governments, on the other hand, agreed a windfall tax in September that they hope will raise $140 billion.

☆ Shell announces $4 billion share buyback as profits double
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The UK company posted net income of $9.45 billion in the third quarter, more than double the $4.1 billion it recorded a year ago. The result was driven by a strong performance in its oil exploration and production business, Shell said. The additional buybacks will increase total share purchases for the year to $18.5 billion, some 10% of the company’s share capital. It posted a record $11.5 billion profit in the second quarter, when oil prices were above $100 a barrel. “We are delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in global energy markets,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement.

☆ Hong Kong protester assaulted at Chinese consulate in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — British police said Monday they were investigating the assault of a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester who was beaten up on the grounds of the Chinese consulate in the city of Manchester. The man, who is in his 30s, told the BBC that unidentified Chinese men from the consulate building dragged him inside the consulate and assaulted him during a protest Sunday. The protesters had gathered as the Chinese Communist Party opened its weeklong congress in Beijing. The Chinese consulate in Manchester did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The protesters had gathered as the Chinese Communist Party opened its weeklong congress in Beijing on Sunday.

☆ Nigeria's Abubakar launches bid to succeed Buhari as president
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Abuja, Nigeria Reuters —Nigeria’s main opposition leader Atiku Abubakar launched his presidential election campaign on Wednesday calling for a sweeping victory to save the country from a “frightening descent” into anarchy. Official election campaigning started on Wednesday, ahead of a February presidential vote to choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is serving a final second term. Abubakar, 75, and a former vice president between 1999-2007 is running for the third time. “We have a plan to address these issues,” Abubakar said at a ceremony to start his campaign. Polls in Nigeria are unreliable, but Tinubu and Abubakar - both septuagenarian political veterans - lead the two biggest political parties that have ruled Nigeria since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

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