Britain

The Daily Beast reports: President Donald Trump has been invited to the U.K. by King Charles for a second state visit. A handwritten letter extending the invitation was in an envelope handed personally to Trump by U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who is visiting the White House Thursday. The invitation was accepted by Trump, who opened the letter on …

“When are we Europeans going to stop being scandalised about Donald Trump and start helping him to end this war? Of course Ukraine didn’t start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor. “Of course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections. There was no general election in the UK from …

Politico Europe reports: “It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday night. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Zelenskyy on Wednesday night and, according to a readout released by Downing Street, told the Ukrainian president that he supports him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader and said that it was …

The BBC reports: Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “ready and willing” to put UK troops on the ground in Ukraine to help guarantee its security as part of a peace deal. The UK prime minister said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was “essential if we are to deter Putin from further aggression in the future”. Ahead of …

Yahoo News reports: Boris Johnson joked before a conference Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate would be a “fantastic place” to resettle the Palestinians he has threatened to evict from their homeland. The former prime minister of the United Kingdom then used the comparison to shoot down Trump’s proposal to seize and take over Gaza and force its population …

The Guardian reports: Marianne Faithfull, whose six-decade career marked her out as one of the UK’s most versatile and characterful singer-songwriters, has died aged 78. A spokesperson said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull. “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. …

The Associated Press reports: Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids made a rare apology to Prince Harry in settling his privacy invasion lawsuit and will pay him a substantial sum, his lawyer announced Wednesday. News Group Newspapers offered a “full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private …

Politico Europe reports: Elon Musk has agreed to pay legal fees racked up by jailed British far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, Robinson’s representatives have claimed. In a message posted to supporters on Telegram Monday, Robinson’s team said it was “grateful to Elon Musk and his team at X for agreeing to provide support to Tommy Robinson for two specific legal cases.” …

Ars Technica reports: A British judge ruled against a man who wants to excavate a landfill where he says a hard drive with access to thousands of bitcoins was mistakenly dumped over 11 years ago. Since 2013, James Howells has been hoping to recover a laptop hard drive that he says contains the private key for cryptocurrency which he says …

The BBC reports: UK officials are monitoring social media posts by Elon Musk and others as a possible security risk. The monitoring is being carried out by a team in the Home Office’s Homeland Security group, which is responsible for reducing national security risks and, according to a government website, “focuses on the highest harm risks to the homeland”. They …

CNBC reports: Elon Musk has questioned whether the United States should “liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government” after hitting out at top U.K. lawmakers. In recent days, he has taken to social media to air his grievances with the British government, resulting in a war of words between the Tesla boss and a U.K. government official. Musk …

Bloomberg reports: Senior politicians on the UK right have privately contacted Donald Trump’s allies, urging the US President-elect’s team not to endorse British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, after billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk called for him to be released from prison. Several prominent Brexit-supporting politicians with links to Trump spent Thursday warning their Republican counterparts against following Musk’s endorsement of …

Axios reports: Elon Musk hijacked British politics this week with a stream of at least 60 X posts since Tuesday attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer, defending an anti-Islam campaigner and endorsing the far-right Reform Party. The right-hand man to America’s next president has gone after the leaders of several of its closest allies in recent months. But his fight with …

The New York Times reports: King Charles III on Wednesday thanked the medical workers in Britain who helped treat him and his daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, after their cancer diagnoses, and praised communities that came together after anti-immigrant riots gripped the country in the summer. In his annual Christmas message, the British monarch spoke from the chapel of a …

The Telegraph reports: The Government has opened the door to blocking Elon Musk from donating millions of pounds to Reform UK with new laws. Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons, suggested the reforms could form part of government plans to tighten up rules around political donations. Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, recently revealed that Mr Musk, a …

The Daily Beast reports: Chris LaCivita [photo], who helped lead Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, called Lord Peter Mandelson “an absolute moron” after learning that the incoming U.K. ambassador to the U.S. once said Trump was “little short of a white nationalist.” In a post on X, LaCivita condemned Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s choice to replace Dame Karen Pierce, which …

Ars Technica reports: Craig Wright, the man who claims he invented bitcoin and has been filing lawsuits asserting intellectual property rights, was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday for committing contempt of court. The sentence is suspended and can be enforced if Wright continues violating court rulings—but he may be able to avoid imprisonment by staying away from countries …

The BBC reports: LGBT veterans who were dismissed from the armed forces for being gay will be eligible to receive up to £70,000 in compensation, the government has said. The Ministry of Defence said the move followed extensive engagement with LGBT veterans and campaigners. Veterans can apply to have their rank restored and discharge reason amended. The total amount available …

The Christian Post reports: Boris Johnson, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, criticized church leaders, stating that an unaddressed spiritual void has contributed to rising obesity rates. Johnson suggested that religious leaders are too focused on issues like Brexit rather than addressing the deeper spiritual needs of their congregants. Speaking as part of a national report on obesity, Johnson …

The New York Times reports: British lawmakers on Friday voted to allow assisted dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales under strict conditions, opening the way to one of the most significant changes in the country in decades. After five hours of debate in the House of Commons, they voted by 330 to 275 to support a plan …