LONDON Islamic State militants are planning “indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians” in Britain on a scale similar to those staged by the Irish Republican Army 40 years ago, the head of the country’s new terrorism watchdog said. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph published on Sunday, Max Hill, the lawyer tasked with overseeing British laws on terrorism, said the militants were targeting cities and posed “an […]
Video Airstrikes in Syria More than 30 people were killed Saturday in attacks on two Syrian security offices in the central city of Homs. In Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Damascus, men evacuated children from the rubble of destroyed buildings after a reported government airstrike. By REUTERS and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. Watch in Times Video » […]
BEIRUT The Syrian army and its allies made a sudden advance on Saturday and Sunday into areas held by Islamic State in northwest Syria, a war monitor said, as the jihadist group retreated after losing the city of al-Bab to Turkey-backed rebels on Thursday. The eastwards advance in an area south of al-Bab has extended Syrian army control across 14 villages and brought it within 25km (15 […]
BEIRUT Militants attacked two Syrian security offices in the western city of Homs on Saturday with guns and suicide bombers, killing at least 42 people including a senior officer, a war monitor said. The attackers killed the head of military security and 29 others at one of its headquarters in the city and 12 more people at a branch of state security in attacks that began early […]
By Venus Wu and Greg Torode | HONG KONG HONG KONG Developments in Hong Kong have affected confidence in a system of government intended to ensure the Chinese-ruled city’s autonomy, though its rule of law remained robust “despite challenges”, former colonial power Britain said on Friday. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 with guarantees it would retain extensive autonomy, an independent legal system and […]
If you’ve read the latest headlines about Britain’s tech industry, you’d think the country hadn’t be rocked by the greatest political and economic uncertainty since the Second World War. Not only are UK startups raising record amounts of funding year on year, but tech giants like Amazon are investing and doubling down on the UK economy, as if the mood music was taken straight from a dance scene […]
TOKYO Asian shares took a breather on Friday, slipping from 1-1/2-year highs as material shares were hit by sudden falls in copper and other commodity prices while investors assessed Washington’s stance on tax and currency policies. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.5 percent, giving back part of this week’s gains, though it is likely to log its fifth straight weekly advance. […]
By Marja Novak | LJUBLJANA LJUBLJANA Slovenia permitted same-sex marriages for the first time from Friday under a law giving gay couples largely the same rights as heterosexuals though barring them from jointly adopting children. The head of the unit in charge of weddings in Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor, Ksenija Klampfer, told Reuters the first lesbian wedding would take place there on Saturday. “We are very […]
By Darren Staples and Phil Noble | STOKE-ON-TRENT/WHITEHAVEN, England STOKE-ON-TRENT/WHITEHAVEN, England Britain’s opposition Labour Party and the populist UK Independence Party suffered damaging defeats at separate parliamentary by-elections on Friday, raising serious questions about the long-term electoral prospects of both parties. Labour won the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat by a comfortable albeit reduced margin over the anti-European Union UKIP which had fielded its leader and had been hoping […]
LONDON Britain’s ruling Conservatives won a parliamentary by-election in the north-west English region of Copeland on Friday, taking control of a once safe seat held by the opposition Labour Party and the first such gain by a ruling party since 1982. The Conservatives, who had been bookmakers favourites ahead of the vote, won by a margin of more than 2,000 votes from Labour. The vote, which was […]
By James Pearson and Jack Kim | SEOUL SEOUL The bizarre assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother marks a departure from the isolated country’s repertoire of overseas operations, according to experts on its opaque ruling structures. Kim Jong Nam died last week after being assaulted at the airport in the Malaysian capital with what police believe was a fast-acting poison. The two women […]
By John Geddie and Elisabeth O’Leary | LONDON/EDINBURGH LONDON/EDINBURGH The Scottish government is increasingly convinced it can win a new independence referendum and is thinking seriously about calling one next year as Britain exits the European Union, sources close to the Scottish government said. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay inside the EU in last June’s referendum, but Britain as a whole voted to leave and British Prime […]
By Alan Baldwin | SILVERSTONE, England SILVERSTONE, England Vijay Mallya, the one-time billionaire who co-owns the Force India Formula One team, said on Wednesday Indian authorities had no grounds to extradite him from Britain and he would not be leaving. India wants Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon was charged with conspiracy and fraud over a loan to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. It […]
By Michael Holden | LONDON LONDON Britain has appointed experienced counter-terrorism officer Cressida Dick, best known for heading an operation which led to the killing of an innocent Brazilian, as the first woman to head London’s police force in its 188-year history. Dick, 56, becomes the most senior officer in the country, heading a force of some 43,000 officers and staff and controlling a budget of more […]
However, neither American nor British officials could say for certain that the militant was the same man as Jamal Malik al-Harith, the man who had been held at Guantánamo. Continue reading the main story The British government also said it could not confirm the Islamic State’s communiqué nor the reports in the British news media. “As all U.K. consular services are suspended in Syria and greatly limited […]
By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Michele Kambas | ANKARA/ATHENS ANKARA/ATHENS Cyprus reunification talks were in disarray on Wednesday after reports the Turkish Cypriot side would not join this week’s meeting in an escalating row that opened old wounds over past Greek Cypriot ambitions to unite with Greece. Talks between Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci were abruptly interrupted last week over a decision […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil traders from around the world, including the United States, Britain and Brazil, have tripled their sales to Asia as they take advantage of an emerging supply gap following OPEC-led production cuts announced late last year. Around 30 supertankers have this month made long-haul trips to ship crude oil from the Americas, the North Sea and the Mediterranean to refineries across […]
LONDON Britain will provide additional aid money to South Sudan, where famine has been declared in parts of the country, and to Somalia, where there is a credible risk of famine, the government said on Wednesday. Britain will provide 100 million pounds ($125 million) to each country in 2017/18 in addition to existing flows of aid. “The world faces a series of unprecedented humanitarian crises and the […]
LONDON Average life expectancy will rise in many countries by 2030, breaking through 90 years in some places, and policymakers need to make more efforts to plan for it, according to a large international study. South Koreans are likely to have the highest life expectancy in the world by 2030 and the United States one of the lowest among developed countries, the study showed. “The fact that […]
By Robin Emmott | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS U.S. President Donald Trump sent top U.S. officials to Europe with a familiar warning from Washington that allies must spend more on defence, this time with the ultimatum “or else”. But Europeans have tried to deflect the threats with the argument that a commitment to security is not just about spending targets, which diplomats said that U.S. officials did not challenge, […]
By Edward Taylor and Laurence Frost | FRANKFURT/PARIS FRANKFURT/PARIS PSA Group (PEUP.PA) has pledged to respect existing Opel and Vauxhall job guarantees if it buys the European arm of General Motors (GM.N), though some analysts say thousands of jobs are eventually likely to go for the deal to work. As part of a broader charm offensive, PSA Chief Executive Carlos Tavares met with representatives of powerful German […]
By Simon Carraud | BEIRUT BEIRUT French far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting on Tuesday with Lebanon’s grand mufti, its top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter. Le Pen, among the frontrunners for the presidency, is using a two-day visit to Lebanon to bolster her foreign policy credentials nine weeks from the April 23 first […]
By MacDonald Dzirutwe | HARARE HARARE As he celebrated his 93rd birthday on Tuesday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe brushed aside persistent allegations of corruption against senior officials, saying rumour-mongers were merely targeting “big fish” in his administration. In comments to be aired on state media on Tuesday, the world’s oldest leader said he would act if shown evidence – even though graft scandals involving ministers and even […]
By Sumeet Chatterjee and Lawrence White | HONG KONG/LONDON HONG KONG/LONDON HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) reported a 62 percent slump in annual pre-tax profit that fell way short of analysts’ estimates as the British bank took hefty writedowns from restructuring and pointed to brakes on revenue growth. HSBC shares slid more than 6 percent after the company reported revenues fell by a fifth from 2015, underscoring the challenge […]
