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☆ Black and Tans: Biden confuses All Blacks rugby team with brutal police force
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —President Joe Biden made a gaffe during his visit to Ireland on Wednesday as he confused a rugby team with a controversial 1920s-era British police force. Biden was speaking at the Windsor Bar in Dundalk, Ireland, when he appeared to mistake New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team with the Black and Tans, a brutal force deployed against rebels during the Irish War of Independence. He received the Irish team tie after they won against New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago in November 2016. “See this tie I have, this shamrock tie?” Biden said. He personally called the Irish rugby union team to congratulate them when they defeated New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium in 2021.

☆ India has not suspended trade talks with UK, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - Trade talks between India and Britain have not been suspended and will continue this year, three officials said on Monday, responding to a British newspaper report that said India had "disengaged" from the talks after London failed to condemn Sikh separatists. An official in India's foreign ministry said progress in the trade talks and New Delhi's concerns around Sikh separatist activities in Britain should not be interlinked. A diplomatic official in the British High Commission in New Delhi said trade talks will continue in a scheduled manner and security officials in London were addressing India's concerns about Sikh separatist activities in Britain. "Both the UK and India are committed to delivering an ambitious and mutually beneficial FTA and concluded the latest round of trade talks last month," a spokesperson for Britain's Department for Business and Trade said. A second Indian foreign ministry source said that trade talks with Britain had not been suspended, and described the media report to be "baseless".

☆ Israel's Netanyahu met by protests on London visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Muvija M | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Demonstrators protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Britain, in London, Britain March 24, 2023. Netanyahu shook hands with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the steps of Downing Street while nearby protesters held up Israeli flags and shouted "Netanyahu go to jail, you can't speak for Israel". "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. Outside Downing Street protesters, surrounded by British police and restricted by metal barricades, waved signs saying "You can't enjoy a weekend in London when you're bringing down a democracy!". "We are more determined than Bibi is," said Liron Rosiner Reshef, an Israeli-born protester in London using a popular nickname for Netanyahu.

[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.

☆ Indian police open investigation into London embassy protest - media
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, March 24 (Reuters) - Indian police have opened an investigation into a protest this week outside its High Commission in London, Reuters partner ANI reported on Friday, pursuing action on an incident that has raised tension in relations with Britain. Protesters with "Khalistan" banners took an Indian flag down from a first-floor balcony of the High Commission in the British capital on Sunday to denounce recent police action in India's Punjab state, British and Indian media reported. Khalistan is the name of an independent Sikh homeland that some members of that community aspire to, both at home in India and in countries where Sikhs have settled. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said acts of violence towards staff at the High Commission in London were unacceptable and British police were investigating. Police officials and the British embassy in New Delhi did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

☆ British police face struggle to clean up sexist culture after scandals
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

London's Metropolitan Police has been hardest hit: After years of saying serious misconduct cases were isolated incidents, it now says it must change its culture. "We have failed and I'm sorry," Mark Rowley, the Met's new chief and Britain's most senior officer, said in January. According to an official report, officers had passed off the conversations as 'banter'. RISING CRIMESome officers officers think the government needs to look at itself. Braverman was reported last year as having told police chiefs to prioritise "common-sense policing" over diversity efforts and virtue-signalling "woke" messaging.

☆ Iranian foundation offers land to Salman Rushdie's attacker - state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - An Iranian foundation has praised the man who attacked novelist Salman Rushdie last year, leaving him severely injured, and said it will reward him with 1,000 square metres of agricultural land, state TV reported on Tuesday through its Telegram channel. Some Muslims saw passages in the novel about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Khomeini's successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was suspended from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was "irrevocable." The man accused of attacking the novelist has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges. Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Michael Georgy and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK police identify body found in river as Nicola Bulley
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - British police on Monday identified a body found in the River Wyre in northern England as Nicola Bulley, a mother of two who went missing last month sparking a large search that captured media and public attention. "Sadly we are now able to confirm that yesterday we recovered Nicola Bulley from the River Wyre," Lancashire Police Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson told a news conference. Bulley, 45, was last seen walking her dog near the river in Lancashire on Jan. 27. Lancashire Police said an underwater search team and specialist officers had recovered a body from the water on Sunday. The family statement went on to heavily criticise media intrusion during the search.

☆ Not so quiet on the BAFTA front as anti-war remake tops the billing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Marie-Louise Gumuchian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Albrecht Schuch, Edward Berger, and Malte Grunert arrive at the world premiere of "All Quiet on the Western Front" at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File PhotoLONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A German remake of anti-war classic "All Quiet on the Western Front" leads the contenders at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, the country's highest accolade for the industry. "Banshees", about two feuding friends on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, and "Everything Everywhere" each have received 10 nominations. Bill Nighy ("Living"), Paul Mescal (Aftersun") and Daryl McCormack ("Good Luck to You, Leo Grande") complete the leading actor nominees list. BAFTA Chief Executive Jane Millichip said while Grozev would not attend the ceremony, the film's nominated producers would.

☆ British police investigate whether murder of trans girl was a hate crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LIVERPOOL, England, Feb 14 (Reuters) - British police on Tuesday said they were investigating whether the murder of a transgender teenage girl in north-west England at the weekend was a hate crime, ahead of a planned vigil in her memory. Police arrested two teenagers on Saturday on suspicion of murder after the body of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey was found on a path in a village near Warrington, 200 miles north-west of London. Police initially said there was no evidence to suggest the circumstance's around Ghey's death were hate related. "All lines of enquiry are being explored, including whether this was a hate crime," Cheshire Police said. LGBTQ campaign group Stonewall UK said "our thoughts are with Brianna Ghey, a young trans woman, and her loved ones, following her tragic murder in Cheshire."

☆ Fact Check-Vehicle set alight outside British hotel was a police van and therefore exempt from MOT testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The MOT status of a police van that was set alight outside a British hotel housing asylum seekers has been baselessly used by social media users to imply the violence was staged. The vehicle, with registration PO15 AEC, was set on fire during a protest outside Suites Hotel in Knowsley near Liverpool on Feb. 10. An MOT refers to an annual test of cars in Britain to ensure safety, roadworthiness, and to check emissions (here and here). The status of a vehicle’s MOT certificate can be checked online via its registration number www.check-mot.service.gov.uk . Under Regulation 6 (1) (xiv) of The Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations 1981, vehicles maintained in a government-approved workshop are exempt from MOT testing (here).

☆ Three arrested after violence outside British asylum seeker hotel
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - British police arrested three people late on Friday after a protest outside a hotel providing refuge to asylum seekers turned violent. Demonstrators threw missiles towards police officers and damaged a police vehicle following an initially peaceful protest and counter-protest in Knowsley near Liverpool in north-west England, police said. Footage from social media showed a police van set on fire and hundreds gathered at the site of the protests. Knowsley Council, the local government authority in the area, said the protests happened outside a hotel housing asylum seekers since January last year. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ David Carrick, Former London Police Officer, Gets At Least 30 Years in Prison for Rape
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Max Colchester | David Luhnow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protesters gathered earlier this week outside Southwark Crown Court in London during the sentencing of former police officer David Carrick. LONDON—Former British police officer David Carrick on Tuesday was sentenced to at least 30 years in jail after he was found guilty of committing a series of rapes over the last two decades as an active policeman, raising difficult questions over how London’s Metropolitan Police force vets its officers. Mr. Carrick pleaded guilty to 49 charges relating to 12 victims between 2003 and 2020. The admissions made him one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders. Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said during sentencing that Mr. Carrick, 48, felt untouchable because of his job and had caused “irretrievable devastation” in the lives of the women he raped and abused.

☆ Salman Rushdie releases new novel six months after stabbing attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Since the attack, Rushdie has struggled to write and has suffered nightmares, he told the New Yorker magazine in an interview published this week. "All I've seen is his idiotic interview in the New York Post," said Rushdie, who was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, and raised in a Muslim family. Matar, 25, told the Post in a jailhouse interview shortly after the stabbing that he thought Rushdie had insulted Islam. Rushdie spent six weeks recuperating in hospital and still requires regular medical visits, he told the New Yorker. He said he hoped the attack would not overshadow the novel.

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - British police fined Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday for travelling in the back seat of a car without wearing his seat belt while filming a social media clip, a potentially embarrassing blow as he tries to revive his party's fortunes. Sunak, who apologised on Thursday for a "brief error of judgement", filmed a video in the back seat of his car while travelling in the north of England, without wearing a seat belt. "The prime minister fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised. It is the second penalty Sunak has received from police after last year they found he broke COVID-19 lockdown rules, along with then-prime minister Boris Johnson. Sunak becomes the second prime minister after Johnson to have been fined in such a manner.

☆ British police officer pleads guilty to 49 counts of rape, sexual assault, and other crimes, as head of London's Metropolitan Police says: 'We've let women and girls down'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

David Carrick, a former British police officer, pled guilty to dozens of counts of rape and sexual assault. By failing to stop Carrick sooner, the head of the Metropolitan Police said the agency "let women and girls down." David Carrick, 47, a former armed officer with the Metropolitan Police, pled guilty to six counts, including rape and sexual assault, at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday. He previously pled guilty to committing 43 offenses — including 20 counts of rape and several counts of sexual assault as well as controlling or coercive behavior — in December, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service said. Metropolitan Police/Media UseGoing forward, the Metropolitan Police said, Carrick's crimes have laid the foundation for new protocols to deal with offenders within law enforcement's own ranks.

☆ Girl, 7, seriously hurt and others injured in shooting near London church
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Forensics officers work at the scene of a shooting, the attack reportedly happened during a funeral at St Aloysius Church, in London, Britain, January 14, 2023. REUTERS/Henry NichollsLONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - A seven-year-old girl was left with life-threatening injuries after she and five others, including another child, were hurt in a drive-by shooting on Saturday near a church in London where a funeral was taking place, British police said. Detectives said the girl had been taken to hospital and remained in a life-threatening condition after the shooting not far from Euston train station in north London. A 12-year-old girl was also among those injured and had been taken to hospital with a minor leg injury but later discharged. "The incident took place in the vicinity of a church where a funeral was taking place," a police statement said.

☆ Here’s a list of Putin critics who've ended up dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jeremy Wilson | Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here's a list of people who have been critical of Putin and the Russian president is suspected of assassinating:Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Anna PolitkovskayaAnna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist who was critical of Putin. In her book "Putin's Russia," she accused Putin of turning his country into a police state. She specialised in uncovering human-rights abuses carried out by the Russian state in Chechnya. Sergei YushenkovSergei Yushenkov was a Russian politician who was attempting to prove the Russian state was behind the bombing of an apartment block.

☆ China vows 'strong' counter-measures over Manchester incident
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday that "strong and forceful counter-measures" will be taken after accusing Britain of failing to protect Chinese staff at the Chinese consulate in Manchester during a protest in October. General view of the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester, Britain, October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File PhotoPolice had also wanted to question six officials at the consulate including the consul general, but China had since removed them from Britain. read more"We urge the U.K. to ... stop political manipulation and ensure the normal functioning of our consulate-general in the U.K.," Wang Wenbin, spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a regular media briefing. Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; writing by Ryan WooOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Prince Harry and Meghan faced 'very real' threats while living in the U.K., former top police official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced "very real" threats to their safety, including threats emanating from the far-right, while in the U.K., an outgoing top British police official has said. Harry and Meghan moved to Los Angeles in 2020 after spending time in Canada. They initially announced in January 2020 that they would take a “step back” as senior members of the royal family. “In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home,” it said. The statement said Harry had “inherited a security risk at birth,” and asserted that his family has been subjected to “well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats."

☆ Crypto exchanges enabled online child sex-abuse profiteer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +22 min

These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. “For those people looking to make money from child sexual abuse, crypto has lowered the barrier,” said Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer. The Dark Scandals website, owned by Michael Mohammad, instructs users to send tokens to a Dark Scandals digital wallet to purchase content. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

The U.S. Justice Department, in a report this September, said many crypto exchanges still "make little or no effort to comply" with know-your-customer requirements. These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. Asked at his trial for his opinion of crypto, Mohammad noted, "Privacy is something that a lot of users value." The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

☆ Actor Kevin Spacey faces more sexual assault charges in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised seven additional charges against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey for a number of sexual assaults against one man between 2001 and 2004, it said on Wednesday. The new CPS charges include one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and others of indecent and sexual assault. Spacey, 63, was previously accused of five offences in Britain - four counts of sexual assault by touching, and a more serious charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. 71st Tony Awards – Arrivals – New York City, U.S., 11/06/2017 - Actor Kevin Spacey. Spacey's defence lawyer in Britain, Patrick Gibbs, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest charges.

☆ British police say immigration centre attack was terrorist incident
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - British police said on Saturday evidence showed an extreme right-wing terrorist ideology had motivated a petrol bomb attack on an immigration centre in the southern English port town of Dover on Oct. 30. Nobody was seriously hurt in the incident, and police said 66-year-old Andrew Leak - who was found dead at a nearby service station soon after the attack - had apparently acted alone. This meets the threshold for a terrorist incident," said Tim Jacques, senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said Britain is a compassionate and welcoming place for asylum seekers, but this depends on the country being able to effectively police its borders. Sunak's interior minister, Suella Braverman, is facing heavy criticism for describing the arrival of asylum seekers as an invasion.

☆ British Police say Dover attack was motivated by terrorist ideology
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - British police said evidence showed that an attack in Dover on Oct. 30, when petrol bombs were thrown at an immigration centre, was motivated by a terrorist ideology, specifically "an extreme right wing" ideology. "I am satisfied that the suspect's actions were primarily driven by an extremist ideology. This meets the threshold for a terrorist incident," said Tim Jacques, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing in a statement on Saturday. Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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