Britain

Reuters reports: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told bereaved families at an official inquiry into the UK’s handling of COVID on Monday that he was “deeply sorry” and he hoped the country could learn lessons from the pandemic. “I just wanted to start by saying how deeply sorry I am to all of those who lost loved ones, family members …

Reuters reports: Britain announced plans to slash the number of migrants arriving by legal routes on Monday, raising the minimum salary they must earn in a skilled job by a third, amid pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tackle record net migration figures. High levels of legal migration have dominated Britain’s political landscape for more than a decade and …

Nate White writes for the London Daily: A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, …

The Daily Beast reports: A British lawmaker was criticized after bizarrely likening gray squirrels to Hamas during a debate Tuesday. Jim Shannon, a member of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, spoke in Westminster about a debate over controlling the U.K.’s gray squirrel population. After praising a local group working to protect red squirrels in his constituency, Shannon said: “Gray squirrels …

The Daily Mail reports: Nigel Farage’s team fired off a legal letter to ITV bosses for showing him naked in the I’m A Celebrity jungle shower. His furious aides claim there is an ‘indecency’ clause in his contract which bans the channel from showing footage of him nude. But after scenes on Monday night’s show, when Mr Farage’s bottom was …

The Christian Post reports: A bill aimed at officially severing the Church of England from the British government is set to be introduced in Parliament next month. The “Disestablishment of the Church of England” bill, scheduled to be introduced by Liberal Democrat lawmaker Paul Scriven on Dec. 6, was selected earlier in November from a bill ballot from private members …

The BBC reports: Rishi Sunak’s spokesman has said there is “no doubt” the Falkland Islands are British after Argentina’s new president said it was time to “get them back”. Javier Milei, elected as Argentina’s president on Sunday, said Buenos Aires had “non-negotiable sovereignty” over the islands. And he vowed to get the islands back through “diplomatic channels”. But the UK …

The BBC reports: Suella Braverman has been sacked as home secretary, after she defied No 10 over an article accusing the Metropolitan Police of bias in the policing of protests. Mrs Braverman was accused of stoking tension ahead of protests in London. James Cleverly has been announced as her replacement, with former prime minister David Cameron unexpectedly replacing him as …

The Washington Post reports: King Charles III wore a very heavy crown. Someone called Black Rod had a door slammed in her face. A lawmaker was held “hostage” by Buckingham Palace. It was the state opening of Parliament, that time of year when the British monarch announces the new laws on the government’s agenda, but because this is Britain, there …

The Associated Press reports: Four men were charged Monday over the theft of an 18-carat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace, the sprawling English mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born. The toilet, valued at 4.8 million pounds ($5.95 million), was the work of Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan. It was part of an art installation at Blenheim Palace, …

The BBC reports: Boris Johnson asked government scientists whether people could kill Covid by using a “special hair dryer” up their nose, his former aide has claimed. Dominic Cummings said the former prime minister shared a video of a man using such a device with his top advisers. He then asked the medical experts what they thought about the clip, …

The Telegraph reports: Conservative MP Crispin Blunt has been arrested in connection with an allegation of rape and possession of a controlled substance. Mr Blunt, MP for Reigate since 1997 and a former justice minister, outed himself on social media after reports emerged that a senior politician had been arrested in connection with drug and sex offences. Mr Blunt claimed …

The Evening Standard reports: GB News has suspended presenter Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox about a female journalist. The suspension of Wootton follows the earlier suspension of actor-turned politician Fox following his “misogynistic” rant live on air about Ava Evans. Ms Evans, the political correspondent for online news site Joe, said she was “really …

EuroNews reports: Suella Braverman questioned the United Nations Refugee Convention in a speech in Washington, arguing that “simply being gay, or a woman” should not be by itself grounds for international protection. The British government has made the fight against illegal immigration a priority. With a general election due next year, which the opposition party Labour is widely tipped to …

The Times Of London reports: The “free speech” website that hosts Russell Brand could be forced out of the UK under new online safety laws, experts have said. Rumble, a video-sharing platform based in North America, has become home to Brand and other figures with extreme views, including Andrew Tate and Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist. It also hosts extreme …

The BBC reports: The boss of Iceland [supermarket chain] has been forced to apologise and retract a claim that three staff contracted HIV as a result of needle attacks. Richard Walker said he made comments in “error” in a “draft article” about threats of violence against store workers by shoplifters for Mail Online. Politicians and charities had called for him …

Britain’s Sunday Times reports: The comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse during a seven-year period at the height of his fame. Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, while he was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and then an actor in Hollywood films. Others …

The BBC reports: Former Tory whip Chris Pincher has resigned his seat after losing his appeal against a proposed Commons suspension for drunkenly groping two men. It means the government will face another by-election. The Parliament’s standards committee found the Tamworth MP groped two men at London’s Carlton Club. It described his “completely inappropriate” behaviour as an “abuse of power”. …

CBS News reports: American Kevin Spacey was found not guilty Wednesday of all the sexual assault charges he was facing in a U.K. trial. The actor had faced nine sexual offense charges related to incidents reported by four men that allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013. The Academy Award-winning actor had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. …

The Daily Beast reports: Dan Wootton, a former star reporter at Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper, has been accused of creating bogus online identities to trick and bribe men into sending him sexually compromising images. Byline News first reported Wootton had targeted media colleagues, friends, and members of the public for more than a decade, posing as a fictitious celebrity agent …