Britain

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 …

Politico Europe reports: Elon Musk fired the latest shots in his war with the British government over the weekend, branding the U.K. a “tyrannical police state,” boosting a petition calling for a fresh general election, and sharing a documentary by a jailed far-right activist to his millions of X followers. The X owner and adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump …

The BBC reports: A woman who accused Conor McGregor of raping her has won her claim against him for damages in a civil case. A jury found that the Irish mixed martial arts fighter assaulted Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. He has been ordered to pay her more than €248,000 (£206,000) in damages. In a post …

Politico Europe reports: Elon Musk is beefing with British politicians again — and they’re not impressed. The X owner and Donald Trump ally brushed off a call from the House of Commons’ science and technology committee to answer questions on his role in riots that swept the U.K. this summer. Committee chair Chi Onwurah told POLITICO this week that she …

The Guardian reports: The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced that he will step down after facing mounting pressure to quit over his handling of an abuse scandal. Pressure on Welby has been intensifying since the publication last week of a damning report on the church’s cover-up of John Smyth’s abuse in the UK in the late 1970s and …

The Christian Post reports: Retail chain Debenhams has removed a controversial “Gay in a Manger” Christmas sweater following backlash from Christian groups in the United Kingdom. The retailer pulled the item, produced by alternative clothing brand Grindstore, after religious leaders and advocacy groups denounced it as disrespectful and called for a boycott. The purple sweater, adorned with an LGBT rainbow, …

The Telegraph reports: Donald Trump should accept the result of the US election if he loses decisively to Kamala Harris, Nigel Farage has said. In an interview with The Telegraph during a visit to the former president’s home in Palm Beach, Mr Farage said: “If it was clear and decisive then maybe it’s time [for Trump] to go and play …

CNN reports: British far-right political activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after he admitted to being in contempt of court by repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee, according to court documents. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted on Monday to breaching UK court rules 10 times. Robinson, the founder of the now-defunct anti-immigration English …

Politico Europe reports: Boris Johnson insisted Donald Trump wasn’t trying to “overthrow the constitution” after riots by his supporters against the 2020 U.S. presidential election result on Jan. 6, 2021. The former British prime minister, out plugging his new memoir, said the former U.S. president managed the successful transfer of power to President Joe Biden — despite contesting the result …

The Christian Post reports: The number of people in the United Kingdom who identify as atheist is greater than those who say they believe in God, according to a research project examining why people reject religion. Explaining Atheism, a three-year program overseen by Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with other academic institutions launched in 2022, presented interim findings earlier this …

ABC News reports: Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Monday it won’t drop its U.K. claim for damages against the estate of British tech mogul Mike Lynch, who was killed when his superyacht sank last month. Britain’s High Court in 2022 ruled mostly in favor of the U.S. technology company, which accused Lynch and his former finance director of fraud over its …

NBC News reports: The body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch was recovered from the wreck of a superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC Thursday. Rescuers were still searching for Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, the source said, the last person missing from the luxury boat that went down in what …

The Guardian reports: The tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is among those missing after a superyacht with 22 people onboard sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, the Guardian understands. Lynch, 59, known for being the founder of Autonomy Corporation, is understood to be one of four Britons reported missing while his wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued, …

The BBC reports: A man who posted material on social media to stir up racial hatred during recent unrest across the UK has been jailed for three years. Wayne O’Rourke, who had more than 106,000 followers to his X account, posted misinformation about the killing of three young girls in Southport on 29 July and praised the burning of a …

The Independent reports: Liz Truss stormed off stage at an event to promote her book after a banner featuring a lettuce was unfurled behind her as part of a stunt by a campaign group. The former prime minister, who lasted just 49 days in office, was addressing an audience in Suffolk on Tuesday when the banner, emblazoned with the vegetable …

The Sunday Mail reports: Humza Yousaf has issued a warning to tech billionaire Elon Musk after he called the ex-first minister a “super, super racist.” X owner Musk used his own social media site to brand the Glasgow-born politician a bigot for a speech Yousaf made in the Scottish Parliament about racial injustice and lack of diversity. The Tesla boss, …

The Guardian reports: Planned far-right rallies did not materialise over the weekend, amid a large turnout of anti-racist protesters and comments from the director of public prosecutions that rioters could end up with 10-year prison sentences. Planned far-right action in towns and cities such as Newcastle, Liverpool, Basildon, Wakefield and Shrewsbury did not happen, while a handful of small rallies …

Politico Europe reports: Elon Musk is at it again. Amid an ongoing feud with the British government about unrest on the country’s streets, the billionaire X owner boosted, and then deleted, an entirely-manufactured news headline Thursday pushed by a far-right political party. Musk shared a fake headline — purporting to be from the Telegraph newspaper — that said U.K. PM …