Britain – News Stories About Britain - Page 87

Aug 1, 2007 6:38 AM CDT

UK Weighs Revolution in IVF Rules

Bill would require birth certificates to note donor involvement

(Newser) - Legislation pending in Britain proposes sweeping changes to fertility laws, including requiring birth certificates to note whether a baby was conceived through in vitro fertilization and an easing of restrictions on so-called "savior siblings." Parents choose to have such children in part because their blood or bone marrow...

Britain's Longest Campaign Ends

Jul 30, 2007 5:27 AM CDT

Britain's Longest Campaign Ends

Brit Army campaign in Northern Ireland shuts down

(Newser) - The British Army's military campaign in Northern Ireland comes to an end at midnight tomorrow—after 38 years of bloodshed. It's the longest conflict in the army's history. Some 300,000 military personnel served; casualties included 763 soldiers, and 309 civilians and members of paramilitary groups.

Brown Visits US Amid Talk of Cooling Ties

Jul 29, 2007 5:56 PM CDT

Brown Visits US Amid Talk of Cooling Ties

New PM walks political tightrope over relations with White House

(Newser) - Gordon Brown embarked today for his first call on President Bush, while the press at home speculated on whether the green PM's relationship with his counterpart was cooling or too warm. Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, had a close relationship with Bush—too close for some UK observers. Iraq, a potential...

UK Restores Water to Flooded Areas

Jul 29, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

UK Restores Water to Flooded Areas

Supply turned back on for 54K homes; still not safe to drink or cook

(Newser) - Water supplies are returning to thousands of homes in England after torrential rain flooded the area in an and around Gloucester and knocked out a water treatment plant. Reinstated water will not be potable, warn officials, and should not be used to cook, make ice, or brush teeth.

British Doc Prescribes Statins to All Men Over 50

Jul 28, 2007 8:06 AM CDT

British Doc Prescribes Statins to All Men Over 50

Mass anti-cholesterol dosing proposed

(Newser) - All men aged 50 and over should forestall heart disease with daily doses of cholesterol-reducing statins, a leading health figure in British government has proposed. The so-called “heart czar” acknowledged he might provoke “nanny state” accusations, but said the process of identifying at-risk men is too cumbersome,...

Brown Downplays
US Fissure

Jul 27, 2007 1:13 PM CDT

Brown Downplays US Fissure

New PM will visit Camp David, insists he isn't 'America's poodle'

(Newser) - Britain's new Prime Minister is set to meet with President Bush at Camp David next week amid rumors that relations between the two nations have cooled since Tony Blair's departure. Brown is walking a tightrope between rebuffing this speculation and being seen as "America's poodle," an epithet Blair...

Aussies Drop Terror Charge Against Doc

Jul 27, 2007 4:48 AM CDT

Aussies Drop Terror Charge Against Doc

"No prospect of conviction' for man who loaned out SIM card

(Newser) - The Australian government today dropped a terrorism charge against an Indian doctor who had been linked to a series of attempted car bomb attacks in Britain. The top prosecutor said the charges against Mohammed Haneef, 27, had been withdrawn because there "was no reasonable prospect of conviction."

Oxford Evacuates as Water Rises

Jul 25, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

Oxford Evacuates as Water Rises

UK flood disaster continues

(Newser) - Hundreds of residents were evacuated from their Oxford homes today as water levels along the Thames neared their height. In the worst flooding the UK has seen in 60 years, hundreds of thousands are without drinking water, and power plants supplying many more are threatened.

UK Floods Linked to Warming

Jul 24, 2007 4:43 AM CDT

UK Floods Linked to Warming

(Newser) - Central Britain is under water after record rains, and scientists are now saying that the heavy downfall is caused by man-made global warming. Britain's sodden summer, with swollen rivers, thousand homeless and water plants failing, has been caused by a southward shift of the jet stream. Not unprecedented, the Independent...

Russia Expels UK Diplomats

Jul 19, 2007 6:47 PM CDT

Russia Expels UK Diplomats

Tensions rise amid tit-for-tat retaliation

(Newser) - Russia has expelled four British diplomats in what the Kremlin called a "proportionate response" to the expulsion of four Russian diplomats from Britain earlier this week. Russia says it will stop cooperating with British counterterror efforts as well. Relations between London and Moscow have been strained since Russia denied...

Two More Docs Charged in UK Bomb Plot

Jul 14, 2007 2:00 PM CDT

Two More Docs Charged in UK Bomb Plot

Australia, Britain formally launch terrorism-related cases

(Newser) - Two more Indian-born doctors have been formally charged with contributing to last month's UK car-bomb plot. A doctor living in Australia appeared in a Brisbane court today, accused of providing “reckless” support to the suspected terrorists, hours before British police charged a Liverpool resident with failing to alert authorities...

Brits Fight Genital Mutilation

Jul 11, 2007 12:21 PM CDT

Brits Fight Genital Mutilation

Outlawed practice persists; offer reward for info

(Newser) - Britain is cracking down on female genital mutilation, banned in 2003 but still prevalent among immigrants from Africa and the Mideast. A campaign that begins today aims to raise awareness and enlist help in tracking down those who arrange or carry out the procedure, done on an estimated 400 to...

Face Transplant Surgeons Plead For Privacy

Jul 8, 2007 3:56 PM CDT

Face Transplant Surgeons Plead For Privacy

British 'chequebook journalism' could jeopardize procedure

(Newser) - Doctors are preparing to execute Britain's first face transplant, but first they must face off with relatives of potential patients and the media eager to buy their stories, the Guardian reports. The press has fixed it eyes and nose on the upcoming operation, but surgeons say publicity for patients seeking...

UK Security Chief Warns of Long Haul Against Terror

Jul 8, 2007 11:40 AM CDT

UK Security Chief Warns of Long Haul Against Terror

Britain should expect '10 to 15 year' struggle

(Newser) - Saying that fighting terrorists is "a daunting task," England's new security minister urged Britons to be "un-British" and "snitch" to the authorities if they suspect something, the BBC reports. Sir Alan West, a former Navy admiral, said "we're talking about such a big change" ...

British Firm
Bags Samsonite for $1.7B

Jul 5, 2007 4:57 PM CDT

British Firm Bags Samsonite for $1.7B

Private equity group gets in on American buyout frenzy

(Newser) - CVC Capital, a British private equity firm, has bought out Samsonite, the American luggage line, in an all-cash deal worth $1.7B, BBC reports. CVC will pay $1.49 a share--12% more than the stock was worth Tuesday. Samonsite has had five owners in the last 21 years, as luggage...

UK Tightens Screening of Foreign Docs

Jul 4, 2007 3:13 PM CDT

UK Tightens Screening of Foreign Docs

PM orders review of recruiting in wake of attempted bombings

(Newser) - The UK is scaling up background checks on foreign doctors and other health workers in response to the revelation that eight suspects in the attempted London and Glasgow car bombings last weekend worked for the National Health Service, the Telegraph reports. PM Gordon Brown, in his first Question Time in...

Johnston Release Boosts Hamas

Jul 4, 2007 8:40 AM CDT

Johnston Release Boosts Hamas

Freeing BBC reporter is attempt to send message

(Newser) - Alan Johnston's release after 12 weeks in captivity was used by Hamas today to separate itself from the al-Qaeda-inspired kidnappers, and to assert its ability to secure order in Gaza, the BBC reports. The freed reporter was taken to the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who was outsted as...

BBC Reporter Freed in Gaza

Jul 4, 2007 4:28 AM CDT

BBC Reporter Freed in Gaza

Alan Johnston handed over to Hamas after 114 days in captivity

(Newser) - Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter held by an Islamist faction in Gaza for 114 days, was released early today, saying it was "fantastic" to be free. The reporter was handed over to officials of Hamas, now in control of the Gaza Strip, by his captors, a militant splinter group...

Same 2 Men Suspected in Airport, Car Bombings

Jul 2, 2007 8:53 AM CDT

Same 2 Men Suspected in Airport, Car Bombings

Officials were on trail before Glasgow attack

(Newser) - The two men who rammed a flaming Jeep into a Glasgow airport terminal Saturday are suspected of being the same people who parked two explosives-packed cars in London the day before, sources tell CNN. One is a doctor who is being treated for severe burns in the hospital where he...

London Security Crackdown Targets Transit

Jul 2, 2007 4:55 AM CDT

London Security Crackdown Targets Transit

Travelers in for increased delays

(Newser) - British police are cracking down on security at rail services and airports to thwart terror attacks in the wake of a trio of car bomb attempts over the weekend. No specific intelligence warns of an attack on the subway system or the rail network, but the increased patrols and security...