United Kingdom

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Chris Brown Enters Not Guilty Plea in UK Assault Case

Singer, who faces London trial next year over 2023 nightclub incident, has pleaded not guilty

(Newser) - Chris Brown pleaded not guilty in a London court on Friday to charges of assaulting a man at a nightclub, reports the New York Times , allowing the singer to continue his world tour, including shows in North America later this summer. Brown, 36, is accused of attacking music producer...

Assisted Suicide to Become Law in the UK

Measure clears Parliament

(Newser) - UK lawmakers on Friday approved a bill to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives in a historic vote. Members of Parliament voted 314-291 to back the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill following an impassioned debate, per the AP . The measure...

'Vile and Depraved' UK Serial Rapist Sentenced

More than 20 other women came forward after Zhenhao Zou's conviction

(Newser) - A man believed to be one of the worst serial rapists in British history has been given a life sentence for crimes that police say were "vile and depraved." Zhenhao Zou, a 28-year-old former PhD student from China, was convicted earlier this year of raping 10 women—seven...

Harry Dunn's Mom 'Bewildered' by Report's Finds on His Death

Independent review finds that UK police force bungled case of UK teen killed by American woman

(Newser) - It's been 2 1/2 years since a sentence was handed down in the case of Harry Dunn, the UK teen on a motorcycle who was killed by an American diplomat's wife in a 2019 road accident; now a new independent review is slamming local authorities for their handling...

Reax to London's Washington Statue: 'What Is He Doing Here?'

Not everyone was happy to see restored statue returned to Trafalgar Square

(Newser) - George Washington turned plenty of heads as he rolled across London's Trafalgar Square earlier this month. More than a few locals were flummoxed to see a life-size bronze statue of the first US president, who led a rebellion against British rule, taking a place among statues of British kings...

Trump on US-UK Trade Deal: 'It's Done'

Though steel imports are still being negotiated

(Newser) - US President Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that they had signed a trade deal that will slash tariffs on UK auto and aerospace industry imports—but they are still discussing how to handle steel production, the AP reports. The pair spoke to reporters at the Group...

MI6 Gets Its First Female Chief
MI6 Gets Its First
Female Chief
Jun 16, 2025 9:16 AM CDT

MI6 Gets Its First Female Chief

Veteran intelligence officer Blaise Metreweli steps in amid rising global threats

(Newser) - For the first time in its 116-year history, Britain's storied MI6 intelligence service will be led by a woman. Blaise Metreweli, currently the agency's director general for technology and innovation, will take over as chief later this year, succeeding Sir Richard Moore, the BBC reports. Metreweli, 47,...

UK Declares Jolly Ranchers Unsafe
UK Declares
Jolly Ranchers Unsafe
Jun 12, 2025 12:23 PM CDT

UK Declares Jolly Ranchers Unsafe

Food safety agency says candy is 'unsafe to eat and not compliant with UK laws'

(Newser) - The UK's equivalent of the FDA has warned the British public against eating several kinds of Jolly Rancher products. In an alert issued Wednesday, the Food Standards Agency said the products "contain Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOAH) and Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons (MOSH), making them unsafe to eat...

Smoke From Canada Wildfires Has Crossed the Atlantic

The UK's skies are painted orange

(Newser) - One small benefit to the devastating wildfires ripping through Canada? "Captivating sunset and sunrise" some 4,000 miles away. As the BBC reports, smoke from the Canadian wildfires made its way to the UK over the weekend, scattering the blue wavelengths of sunlight in the atmosphere to give the...

'Murder Maps' Highlight Medieval England's Bloody Past

Cities boasted 'spectacularly high' homicide rates as gangs operated with impunity

(Newser) - Violent crime looks quite a bit different today than it did in medieval times, when educated men were most likely to commit murder, usually in affluent areas, and often proceeded with impunity, according to new research. For decades, University of Cambridge criminologist Manuel Eisner has been creating "murder maps,...

Inside the UK's Plan to Pump Up Its Military
Inside the UK's Plan
to Pump Up Its Military
the rundown
Jun 4, 2025 1:51 PM CDT

Inside the UK's Plan to Pump Up Its Military

PM Keir Starmer announced planned increase in defense spending

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday advocated for a plan that would see the UK make its biggest increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War, build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, and become "a battle-ready, armor-clad nation." Starmer was blunt about the main instigator...

Dog Rescued From Ocean After 100-Mile Adventure

Amber, a retriever cross, swam to island during her 36 days on the lam in southern England

(Newser) - An adventurous dog was rescued in the nick of time on Saturday after covering 100 miles during five weeks on the run, including doggy-paddling to an island a mile off of England's southern coast. Amber, a five-year-old retriever cross, was initially rescued as a street pup in Qatar and...

'UK's Poshest Thief' Avoids Jail Time

Criminologist fined for stealing wine, steaks, Le Creuset cookware

(Newser) - A criminologist dubbed "the UK's poshest thief" by tabloids has avoided jail time for a shopping spree that included stealing wine, steaks, and Le Creuset cookware. Pauline Al Said, a 35-year-old former criminology lecturer at the University of Bath, was fined just over $2,000 for the thefts...

Tiny Home Where Brontes Were Born Is Now Open to Public

Newly refurbished Bronte Birthplace in Thornton, England, is where literary sisters lived until 1820

(Newser) - What inspired not one, not two, but a total of three young women in the Bronte family to write literary masterpieces? If the answers can be found within the walls of where they grew up, fans may soon find what they're looking for: The Bronte Birthplace , a tiny cottage...

UK Lawmaker Confronts Alleged Fare-Dodgers

'Do you want to go back and pay like everybody else?' he asks man at London Underground station

(Newser) - By day, he is Robert Jenrick, a senior Conservative Party lawmaker in the UK. Also by day, he is Robert Jenrick, subway vigilante. In a video posted on X, Jenrick, the opposition party's shadow justice secretary, confronted fare-dodgers at a London Underground station. In the footage, Jenrick questions...

Pushing for Son's Freedom, Mom Ends Up in Hospital Again

'We're losing her,' daughter says of Laila Soueif, on a hunger strike for activist son imprisoned in Egypt

(Newser) - The mother of a pro-democracy activist imprisoned in Egypt is seriously ill in a London hospital after resuming a monthslong hunger strike aimed at pressing for her son's release, her family said Friday. Laila Soueif was admitted to St. Thomas' Hospital on Thursday night with dangerously low blood-sugar levels,...

'Exceptional' Toddler Named Youngest Mensa Member

2-year-old Joseph Harris-Birtill already knows the Greek alphabet, is learning morse code

(Newser) - It can take babies months to learn how to roll over. Joseph Harris-Birtill of the UK mastered the skill in just five weeks, according to his mother. At seven months, around the time many babies become experts at rolling over, Joseph was speaking his first word. And just over a...

Car Plows Into Liverpool Fans After Victory Parade

It was 'clearly deliberate,' witness reports, though police say it's not being investigated as terrorism

(Newser) - In what a witness says appeared to be a "clearly deliberate" act—though police said they don't suspect terrorism—a driver plowed into a crowd of people celebrating Liverpool's English Premier League title on Monday. First responders said 27 injured people were taken to hospitals and another...

UK Might Make Chemical Castration Mandatory

Justice secretary says treatment reduces reoffending among sex offenders by 60%

(Newser) - The UK is planning to expand its voluntary chemical castration program for sex offenders to 20 prisons—and officials are considering making it mandatory. "I'm not squeamish about taking these further measures," Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Thursday, per the BBC . "It is vital that this...

Done Deal: Chagos Islands Handed Back to Mauritius

Injunction was lifted to allow UK to pass sovereignty of archipelago over

(Newser) - A deal was signed Thursday after a British court said the UK can transfer sovereignty over the contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius, overturning a block that was imposed hours before the agreement was due to be signed. The UK agreed to hand over to Mauritius the Indian Ocean archipelago, which...

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