United Kingdom

    Home Secretary Amber Rudd condemned US officials for risking the operational integrity of the ongoing investigation into the Manchester terror attack, after they leaked confidential details to the US media before they had been confirmed by British police. Business Insider reported on Tuesday how several key details on the attacker's identity had made their way onto US news channels potentially compromising the ongoing investigation. American news outlets confirmed that the information on Salman Abedi had been passed to them by US officials. The Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the Today programme that she was irritated by the leaks. The British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect the operational integrity, the ele...

    Police say a lone male attacker carrying an improvised explosive device was responsible for the bombing at Manchester Arena. The explosion at the end of a sold-out Ariana Grande concert has killed 22 people and injured 59 others. Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins has confirmed that children are among those who died. Investigators are trying to establish whether the attacker, who also died at the scene, was part of a wider network. A detailed forensic search is under way at the arena, and nearby Manchester Victoria train station remains closed. Several young people have been reported missing following the explosion with concerned friends and relatives appealing for information on Twitter. A hotline has been set up for those with concerns over loved ones ...

    Party leaders rounded on Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn for shunning the first TV leaders’ debate of the election campaign, though Ukip’s leader, Paul Nuttall, was widely derided by other parties as the prime minister’s spokesman. Despite their absence from the stage at the ITV debate, the Labour and Conservative leaders cast long shadows over the procedure as the main targets of attacks from the Liberal Democrat, Scottish National party, Green and Plaid Cymru leaders. In her opening statement Plaid’s leader, Leanne Wood, said the prime minister was too scared to come here tonight for your U-turns to be highlighted, for your cruel policies to be exposed. Subverting May’s Conservative campaign slogan, Wood said it was weak and unstable leadership not to appear. I hope all of...

    The U.K. will quit talks on leaving the European Union unless the bloc drops its demands for a divorce payment as high as 100 billion euros ($112 billion), Brexit Secretary David Davis said. Britain’s negotiations would otherwise be plunged into “chaos,” and even a 1 billion-pound settlement would be a lot of money, Davis said in an interview published in the Sunday Times. The size of Britain’s exit bill, and which types of negotiations can begin before it has been agreed, has been a source of debate for weeks. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said the U.K. will have to pay about 50 billion pounds, while Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has signaled a figure between 40 billion euros and 60 billion euros. The Financial Times estimated the cost ...

    The weather Gods are smiling upon us, for Britons should be able to bask in the hottest temperatures since September this week. A band of warm air will be moving across the country starting on Monday where highs of up to 25C are expected in some parts of the country. Come Friday, the mercury could rise even further to a sizzling 27C – which would make it the hottest day this year so far. Much of England and Wales will enjoy temperatures in the 20s throughout the week, with only the odd shower predicted in the west of the country. UK set for a heatwave, says Met Office Scotland and northern Ireland will also see higher than average temperatures, although cloud coverage is expected to keep things slightly cooler. Alex Burkill, meteorologist at the Exeter-based Met Office, sa...

    Almost one million children from poor backgrounds will lose the right to free school meals if lunch snatcher Theresa May pushes through cuts in the Conservative manifesto, an educational think tank has warned. The Prime Minister announced last week that universal free lunches for infants will be stopped if the Tories win the June 8 General Election, with free breakfasts on offer instead. The move will cost families around £440 a year for each child affected and is thought likely to save around £650 million a year, according to the research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI). In analysis conducted for The Observer, the EPI found that those losing hot lunches would include 100,000 from families living in relative poverty and 667,000 which it defined as coming from ordin...

    Britains's Prime Minister Theresa May gestures as she gives a speech at the launch of the Scottish manifesto on May 19, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Brussels must pay its own Brexit bill of billions of pounds for Britain's share of the European Investment Bank and other joint projects, Theresa May has indicated. The Prime Minister says in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that money paid in the past by the UK must be taken into account in the final divorce bill. She insisted that the UK has financial rights that must be respected during discussions about payments as well as obligations to the body it is leaving. The intervention is a clear rejection of hardline EU countries who have argued that the UK should not get back its proportion of EU assets. Reports from Bruss...

    Middleton in her Giles Deacon dress. Six years after being maid of honour for her older sister, Pippa Middleton is to marry James Matthews. Saturday’s ceremony was to be a little less grand in scale. While Kate and Prince William married in Westminster Abbey, the new couple were tying the knot at St Mark’s church in the village of Englefield, near Reading in Berkshire. Middleton arrived at the church shortly before midday, accompanied by her father, Michael, and wearing a bespoke Giles Deacon dress. Designed to create the impression of being seamless, the dress was teamed with a Stephen Jones veil, a Maidenhair Fern tiara, and Manolo Blahnik ivory satin shoes. There was plenty of royalty attending what was being called the society wedding of the year. The congregation incl...

    Supporters of the Labour leader say his willingness to enter dialogue with the Republicans shows he was ahead of his time when viewed through the prism of histor Jeremy Corbyn was reportedly monitored by MI5 because of his willingness to talk to members of the IRA Getty MI5 reportedly opened a file on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn amid concerns over his willingness to enter into dialogue with members of the IRA. The security agency is believed to routinely keep files on people of interest, including political activists and campaigners. Archived documents have revealed Mr Corbyn attended several events supporting the militant Republicans during the 1980s and 1990s. An unnamed source reportedly told The Telegraph: If there was a file on someone, it meant they had come to notic...

    A 12-year-old girl was allegedly abducted by a gang of four men as she walked home from school in the West Midlands. The youngster told police she was forced into a black taxi in Teasdale Way, a suburban street in the Pedmore area of Stourbridge at 3.15pm on Thursday. The girl said she was driven around for 90 minutes before the car stopped in nearby Clent and she was able to get out and escape. A member of the public found her and helped to call the police, West Midlands Police said. Local schools have warned parents and pupils to be vigilant following the alleged abduction. The girl was allegedly approached by a white male who had a foreign accent and appeared to know the girl, even though the girl did not know who he was". Appealing for information about the incident, p...