Britain

The Associated Press reports: Labour politicians have begun jostling to become the next leader of the British opposition party in the wake of its crushing defeat in last week’s national election. Keir Starmer, the party’s spokesman on Brexit issues, and senior lawmaker Yvette Cooper were among those suggesting Wednesday they were considering a run to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the …

Reuters reports: Prime Minister Boris Johnson will welcome 109 new Conservative lawmakers to parliament on Monday, promising to honour his election pledges to get Brexit done as soon as possible and boost funding to the state health service. After winning a commanding majority in last week’s election, Johnson will seek to speed up the approval by parliament of his withdrawal …

The New York Times reports: Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. conjured the prospect of headlines like, “Look what happens when the Labour Party moves so, so far to the left.” Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that “Jeremy Corbyn’s catastrophic showing in the U.K. is a clear warning.” And Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke of the need to “build …

Reuters reports: Britain was speeding toward Brexit on Friday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a crushing election victory, ending three years of uncertainty since the country decided to leave the bloc. Johnson is now free to lead his country swiftly out of the vast trading bloc, but faces the daunting task of negotiating trade deals around the world, not …

NBC News reports: Jeremy Corbyn, the socialist leader of the opposition Labour Party, announced Friday he will step down after election results showed the party not only failed to oust the ruling Conservatives but also lost a swath of formerly dependable seats. Corbyn admitted it had been a “very disappointing” night as support crumbled in his party’s former heartlands, with …

The Guardian reports: Nicola Sturgeon has challenged Boris Johnson to give Scotland the powers to hold a second independence referendum after the Scottish National party won a landslide in the general election. The first minister said she had won “a renewed, refreshed and strengthened mandate” to call for a fresh independence vote after winning 47 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats, …

The Washington Post reports: Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears to have won a large, decisive and potentially powerful majority of parliamentary seats in Thursday’s election, according to the exit poll released minutes after the voting ended. The Conservatives are expected to win 368 seats, according to the national exit poll. The party needs 322 seats to control Parliament — and …

The Guardian reports: Boris Johnson retreated into a fridge to avoid a TV interview, amid rattled nerves at CCHQ over a narrowing in the opinion polls. The prime minister was ambushed by the Good Morning Britain producer, Jonathan Swain, during a pre-dawn visit to Modern Milkman, a business in the Tory-held constituency of Pudsey, in Yorkshire. When Swain first approached …

Business Insider reports: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has parodied the 2003 rom-com “Love Actually” in an ad asking people to vote Conservative in support of Brexit. In Johnson’s remake of the iconic Christmas-carol scene, the British prime minister imitates the character Mark (Andrew Lincoln), holding up cards telling a woman in the scene — mimicking the film’s Juliet (Keira …

The Associated Press reports: The prospect of Russian interference in Britain’s election flared anew Saturday after the social media platform Reddit concluded that people from Russia leaked confidential British government documents on Brexit trade talks just days before the general U.K. vote. Reddit said in a statement that it has banned 61 accounts suspected of violating policies against vote manipulation. …

Politico Europe reports: The British Conservative Party was given a huge boost on Wednesday when Donald Trump left the U.K. without smashing up its election strategy. The U.S. president was supposed to hold a press conference at the end of a gathering of NATO leaders but canceled it, saying he had answered enough questions. “We won’t be doing a press …

Courthouse News reports: Prince Andrew suffered fresh scrutiny Monday night when the woman who says she was a trafficking victim made to have sex with him when she was 17 asked the British public to support her quest for justice. Virginia Roberts Giuffre told BBC Panorama that people “should not accept this as being OK.” Giuffre’s first UK television interview …

Reuters reports: Donald Trump has denied knowing Prince Andrew, despite multiple photos of the two together, including several of them meeting in June this year. The president, who is in the United Kingdom for a NATO summit, took questions from the media Tuesday morning. Asked about his thoughts on the allegations against Prince Andrew and the royal’s decision to step …

The Independent reports: Google has banned eight different adverts paid for by the Conservatives over the last month because they broke its rules, The Independent can reveal. The move by the search giant comes amid mounting concerns about the Tories’ use of disinformation and fake news as campaigning tools at the general election. Transparency data released by the search giant …

NBC News reports: A number of people were injured in a stabbing near London Bridge in the center of the British capital on Friday afternoon, police said. One man has been arrested amid a major police incident that has cordoned off the busy surrounding area and closed local bus, subway stations and train stations. The incident on London Bridge was …

Reuters reports: Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it would be “best” if U.S. President Donald Trump does not get involved in Britain’s election when he visits London for a NATO summit next week. Trump waded into the election in October by saying opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would be “so bad” for Britain and that Johnson should …

Politico Europe reports: Boris Johnson is on course to win a 68-seat majority in the U.K. general election, according to a major new poll. The YouGov seat prediction survey — which accurately predicted that Theresa May would lose her majority in 2017 — said the Tories would win 359 seats (up 42) with Labour dropping to 211 (down 51) if …

The New York Times reports: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will promise to bring his Brexit deal back to parliament before Christmas when he launches his Conservative Party’s manifesto on Sunday, the cornerstone of his pitch to voters to “get Brexit done”. With less than three weeks before Britain heads to the polls on Dec. 12, the governing Conservatives and …

Reuters reports: Britain’s Prince Andrew stepped down from public duties on Wednesday, saying the controversy surrounding his ill-judged association with late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein had caused major disruption to the royal family’s work. Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, denies an allegation that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured for him by his friend Epstein, who killed himself …

Reuters reports: Twitter accused Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on Wednesday of misleading the public during a televised election debate, but Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said voters did not care about the cut and thrust of social media. Twitter spoke out after the Conservative Campaign Headquarters press office changed the name of its account from “CCHQPress” to “factcheckUK” while Prime Minister …