Category: Britain

Woman Injured in London Concert Crowd Crush Dies in Hospital

LONDON—A woman injured in a crush outside a London concert venue has died, police said Saturday. London resident Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, was one of eight people hospitalized after being caught in mayhem outside the O2 Brixton Academy on Thursday night, where Nigerian singer Asake was due to perform. The Metropolitan Police force said she died…


Convicted Murderer’s Daughter Says He Has Shown ‘Utter Contempt’ and Should Stay in UK Jail

The daughter of a convicted killer who appeared before Britain’s first public parole hearing on Monday said he has treated her and her son with “utter contempt” and should stay behind bars for her mother’s murder. During Monday’s hearing Russell Causley, 79, gave a rambling and incoherent account about the events leading to the death of…


UK Man to Plead Guilty to Manslaughter in Wife’s Death

PAPHOS, Cyprus—Defense lawyers for a British man on trial for causing the death of his wife in Cyprus’ coastal resort town of Paphos said Monday they’re hopeful the court will suspend any sentence it hands down to their client after he pleads guilty to manslaughter next week. Briton David Hunter faced a charge of premeditated…


French Authorities Rescue 61 Migrants Including Children in Channel

BOULOGNE, France—French authorities rescued 61 migrants including small children in the English Channel on Tuesday in one of the largest emergency operations in recent months as calm seas drew a rush of migrants in small boats toward the coast of Britain. Rescue workers in the port of Boulogne, where the migrants were brought ashore, said…


Britain’s Annual House Price Growth Sees ‘Sharp Slowdown’

House prices in Britain are seeing a “sharp slowdown” according to one of the country’s biggest mortgage providers. In their latest report, Nationwide said that growth in annual house prices had shrunk in November to 4.4 percent compared to 7.2 percent in October. The data also showed that house prices have fallen 1.4 percent month…


Michael Taube: From Boris to Liz to Sunak: A Strange Tale of British Politics

Commentary If you ever thought British politics was boring, the Tory government’s recent trials and tribulations may have put that feeling permanently to rest. When the Boris Johnson-led Tories won a huge majority in Dec. 2019, it seemed like a euphoric moment for the party and movement. It was the party’s biggest margin of victory…


Britain, Now Switzerland—Something Is Going to Get Broken

Commentary  First Britain, now Switzerland. The United Kingdom’s massive fiscal mess has made all the news, capturing the world’s attention for its sudden descent into drama more typical of undeveloped countries. London hadn’t always been the clean money center it now projects in recent decades. The pound had experienced almost frequent problems under the previous…


UK to Examine Cloud Services Dominated by Amazon, Microsoft and Google

LONDON—Britain said it would investigate competition in cloud services, a market dominated by the “hyperscalers” Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google, which together account for around 81 percent of revenue. Communications regulator Ofcom also said on Thursday it would examine other digital markets over the next year, including messaging services such as WhatsApp, FaceTime and Zoom,…


Europe Burns Cash to Help Businesses in Deepening Energy Crisis

BERLIN/LONDON—Germany nationalized gas importer Uniper on Wednesday and Britain said it would halve energy bills for businesses in response to a deepening energy crisis that has exposed Europe’s reliance on Russian fuel. Russian President Vladimir Putin added to the upward pressure on energy prices by announcing a partial military mobilization, in the biggest escalation of…


Take a Tour of Agatha Christie’s Greenway Estate

By Carl Larsen You might call Agatha Christie’s Greenway Estate the scene of the crime — well, many crimes, that is. Acclaimed as the world’s best-selling author, Christie spent a large part of her career writing those spellbinding mysteries at her Greenway retreat overlooking the River Dart, a few miles from Torquay, where she was…