Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. CAMBRIDGE, England — This city wears many crowns: the fastest growing in Britain, the world’s most intensive research cluster and the university with the highest number of tech founders. It also has Britain’s second highest level of inequality and one of the lowest amounts … Read more
LONDON — Dominic Cummings — adviser-turned-nemesis of Boris Johnson — claimed Saturday he held talks with Rishi Sunak about a “secret deal” to help the prime minister win the next election. The bombshell revelation is likely to anger Tory MPs who see the mastermind of the Vote Leave campaign for Brexit as a divisive figure, … Read more
2023 was marked by crisis, transition and conflict. As the war in Ukraine dragged into its second year, the EU was confronted with yet another conflict on its doorstep: The Israel-Hamas war, which brought fresh instability to the Middle East and exacerbated divisions between EU countries. Europe now heads into a big election year and … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. LONDON — What’s in a word? Turns out, quite a bit. Westminster’s finest politicos found themselves frantically Googling this year as they tried to get their heads around a whole bunch of words they had never heard before. No, not “integrity,” “honesty” and “compassion” — … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. LONDON — It was meant to be the year two quiet technocrats, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, brought calm to the fevered Westminster swamp. Unfortunately SW1 didn’t get the memo. Politics remained pretty much as wild in 2023 as it has been since David Cameron — back in action as U.K. foreign secretary … Read more
Greece’s fury over Rishi Sunak’s snub of its prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has upset tour companies and one or two locals who escort millions of British visitors to the bleached Acropolis. ‘The Acropolis is our most important monument; just imagine if someone removed the clock from Big Ben, or sold the Eiffel Tower?’ says the founder … Read more
LONDON — Britain’s honors system will be back in the spotlight Saturday as another procession of celebrities, government cronies and community heroes are handed New Year’s gongs. Up for grabs will be the usual mix of archaic titles, royal-approved medals and — best of all — jobs for life as lawmakers in the House of … Read more
Storm Gerrit unleashed chaos across the United Kingdom, leaving a trail of severe damage in its wake. The storm, characterised by high winds, heavy snow, and relentless rain, struck with unparalleled force, resulting in damaged homes, cancelled transportation services and widespread power outages. The Liberal Democrats, in the wake of the devastation caused by a … Read more
LONDON — Britain’s chief finance minister Jeremy Hunt will unveil his next budget on March 6, the U.K. government said Wednesday. The U.K. Treasury said in a statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer had commissioned the budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, to prepare economic and fiscal forecasts for the budget on the March … Read more
LONDON — Britons will be able to buy pints of wine for the first time in decades in a move hailed by U.K. ministers as a benefit of Brexit. An overhaul of U.K. measurement laws announced for 2024 means wine producers will be able to sell still and sparkling wines in the pint-sized bottles once … Read more
