United Kingdom

    The marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has received formal consent from the Queen. Her Majesty's declaration, given at a meeting of the Privy Council on Wednesday, refers to her "most dearly beloved grandson Prince Henry" and "Rachel Meghan Markle". Henry is actually Harry's first name. If Harry had failed to get the Queen's approval, he and his future descendants would have been disqualified from succeeding to the Crown. Interviewed by Newsweek magazine last June, he said: "Is there any one of the Royal Family who wants to be king or queen? I don't think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time." Under the Act, the first six people in line to the throne require the Sovereign's approval to marry. The other five are Prince Charles, Prince Wi...

    Jeremy Corbyn has again refused to directly blame Russia for the Salisbury nerve agent attack, urging the Government not to rush ahead of the evidence. In an article for The Guardian, he says Theresa May must remain calm and measured in what is, he says, a fevered parliamentary atmosphere. Mr Corbyn writes: Labour is of course no supporter of the Putin regime, its conservative authoritarianism, abuse of human rights or political and economic corruption. But he adds: That does not mean we should resign ourselves to a new cold war of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent. His words will spark further fury among some of his backbenchers who openly disagreed with their leader after his comments in the Commo...

    Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman: Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has set out plans for Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear weapons if Tehran makes the same move in the event of a collapse of the international nuclear deal signed in 2015. The prospect of a Middle East nuclear arms race will unnerve European leaders who are urging Donald Trump to retain the Iran nuclear deal which imposed strict curbs on the Iranian nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. The Saudi crown prince is due in Washington on Monday, and is pressing the US to give it the reserved right to enrich uranium in return for Saudi Arab...

    Earlier this month, Egyptian student Maryam Mustafa Abdel Salam was beaten, dragged 20 meters in public, and severely assaulted by 10 British girls in Nottingham, UK. Managing to escape, Maryam was helped on a bus by a young man, but was tracked down by the girls and beaten again until she lost consciousness. Maryam was rushed to the hospital and remained in a coma for a week. After brutal abuse, Maryam did not survive the attack and sadly died. We offer severe condolences to Maryam’s family back in Cairo, may she rest in peace. We still await a response from the Egyptian Embassy in London.

    Dreams of a spaceport for Britain will be a step closer to reality with new laws to cash in on the commercial opportunities of outer space. The Space Industry Bill, due to be given Royal Assent later, will enable launches from UK spaceports to help British companies enjoy quicker and cheaper access to outer space. Currently, satellites must be launched into orbit from spaceports abroad, exposing British firms to substantial cost, delay and bureaucracy. The legislation aims to present new opportunities in the commercial space race, increasing Britain's share of the global space economy from 6.5% to 10% by 2030. The Government predicts it will create hundreds of jobs, bring in billions of pounds and increase the scope for scientific research. The creation of spacep...

    A Canadian woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by British sailors has filed a lawsuit against the UK government, arguing that it is vicariously liable for any harm caused by its employees. The lawsuit stems from a 2015 incident in Shearwater, Nova Scotia, in which four members of the British Navy were charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm. Charges were later dropped against one of the men, due to a lack of sufficient evidence. In 2017 charges were withdrawn against another of the accused after a judge ruled that his nearly one and half hour wait to see a lawyer had violated his rights. The two remaining men, Darren Smalley, 37, and Simon Radford,33, will face a criminal trial in Nova Scotia in September. None of the allegations have been proven i...

    That was the scene I encountered when I was sent into the blazing inferno of the Grenfell Tower fire. Outside it had been loud and chaotic like a war zone, but inside it was quiet. And the reason soon became apparent our radios weren't working and we had lost all communication. It felt like we were very much alone. We couldn't radio back to let our crews know where we were, what we were doing, if we had done the job we had been sent up there to do. So if any of us were in trouble, we had no way of communicating that back. We couldn't see much. Everywhere we went it was filled with smoke you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. Everything about our training is teamwork and communications. We talk to each other, we talk to the outside, communicatio...

    Theresa May today plunged into the gravest battle with Russia since the Cold War as she unveiled a hardline response to the reckless and despicable attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal. The Prime Minister announced 23 diplomats would be expelled as she condemned the nerve agent poisoning in a damning House of Commons statement. Her move is set to prompt furious retaliation by the Kremlin. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared today: Britain has continued to stage a political performance. Without concrete facts, it is a flagrant attempt to mislead the international community to which we will have to respond. Moscow flagrantly ignored a deadline of midnight last night to explain how Skripal, 66, his daughter Yulia, 33, and bystanders including DS Nick Bailey were hit ...

    Rushanara Ali MP Four Labour MPs have now received suspect packages or anti-Muslim letters in Parliament within 48 hours, as police investigate a potential link. Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq and Manchester Gorton MP Afzhal Khan were both sent suspicious items on Tuesday. Ms Huq revealed one of her staff members was sent to hospital after handling an irritant substance but was later discharged. Meanwhile, Mr Khan's parliamentary office was evacuated due to an unopened suspicious package that was later found to pose no risk. Both MPs spoke of a pattern of Islamophobic behaviour behind the incidents. It comes after two people were sent to hospital as a precaution on Monday as police assessed a package sent to the office of their Labour colleague Mohammad Yas...

    Scientist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76, a spokesman for his family has said. Professor Hawking's children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement that he had died at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday. They said: We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love. We will miss him forever. They asked for privacy but added their thanks to everyone who has been by Professor Hawking's side and supported him throughout his life. The world ...