Global Media Post » Great Britain

“[UK] Prime Minister Gordon Brown will hold talks with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen over the peace process in Northern Ireland, where a power-sharing agreement is under strain, the British government said. The government said the two men will meet at Brown’s Downing Street office. They have already met this month to discuss the peace deal”

“The Catholic Sinn Fein party and Protestant Democratic Unionist party have been unable to agree on how government in Northern Ireland should take over policing and justice from the government in London, a key part of the peace deal that ended decades of violence in the region. Both sides accuse each other of being unreasonable.

Sinn Fein’s leader Gerry Adams warned over the weekend that if an agreement cannot be reached, then the power-sharing system set up under the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s peace deal, cannot continue.

The talks between the two parties were destabilised earlier this month after First Minister and Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson said he was stepping down temporarily to answer questions about whether he knew about – and should have reported – financing his wife obtained for her teenage lover. Robinson insisted on Saturday that all sides are making progress and that Sinn Fein is trying to generate a political crisis unnecessarily.

Sinn Fein wants the Assembly to take charge of policing and justice as soon as possible, while parts of the Democratic Unionist Party want to wait until finances are in place for the move and the communities involved feel comfortable

Analysts suggest the Democratic Unionist Party is unlikely to strike a deal until after Britain’s general election, which will be held by June 2010, as they want to know which British political party they are dealing with”

“London draft sees 2011 start to Afghan handover”

Editor — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:18:19 +0000

“Afghan forces should begin to take “security primacy” in some provinces by early 2011, according to a draft communique on the future of Afghanistan due to be unveiled at an international conference in London this week. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, says Afghanistan and the international community will agree to a ‘framework’ for turning the country’s security over to Afghan forces, with the process to begin this year. It commits to ‘an agreement that transition will begin in 2010 and that a number of provinces may transition to Afghan security primacy, with ISAF moving to a supporting role within them, by early 2011,’ referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force”

UK: “Conservatives on track for clear majority – poll”

Editor — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:11:05 +0000

“Conservatives are on track for a comfortable election victory over Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party, according to an opinion poll published in Sunday’s News of the World. The poll conducted by ICM showed the Conservatives winning a 38-seat majority in the lower house of parliament, and suggested that Chancellor Alistair Darling might lose his seat. Britain must hold a national election by June, and some other polls have suggested the Conservatives may fail to win an overall majority”

“Britain raises terror threat level to ’severe’ “

Editor — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:52:13 +0000

“Britain raised its terrorism threat level to ’severe’ — the second highest level, days before London hosts major international meetings on how to deal with militancy in Afghanistan and Yemen. The decision to raise the level from ’substantial’ means security services now consider an attack in Britain, a key US ally, to be “highly likely” but the government said it had no information to suggest an attack was imminent. Britain gave no reason for the move by its Joint Terrorism Analysis Center (JTAC) which comes as Britain and other countries step up precautions in the wake of the failed Christmas Day attack on an airliner in Detroit. Raising the threat level is expected to lead to tighter security at airports and public buildings”

“Six major powers… considering more Iran sanctions”

Editor — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:07:54 +0000

‘Six major powers [have] agreed that the Iranian response to proposals to altering its nuclear development program had been inadequate and that it warranted consideration of further measures by the United Nations Security Council. China, however, which sent a low-level diplomat to the meeting, maintained its position that it opposed new sanctions now. The five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France — along with Germany have been pursuing a ‘dual track’ policy under which they would seek a negotiated settlement, but if that effort stalled, further sanctions would be imposed’

UK MP “Galloway thrown out of Egypt”

Editor — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:25:41 +0000

Senior Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniya (R) greets George Galloway (L) during a rally honouring international peace activists in Gaza
UK MP “Galloway has been bundled into a police van and thrown out of Egypt two days after a policeman was killed during clashes involving his mission to deliver aid to Gaza. The MP for Bow and Bethnal Green and an aide were detained by security guards as soon as they stepped on to Egyptian soil”

UK: National Grid issues gas warning

Editor — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:25:52 +0000

UK: Blizzards cost ‘600 million pounds per day’

Editor — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:14:22 +0000

“Blizzards swept across central and southern England, bringing more road and rail chaos, forcing airlines to suspend flights and hundreds of schools to close. The Met Office issued severe weather warnings across the entire country, predicting that up to 40 cm of snow could fall in the home counties, parts of the south and greater London. If, as forecast, the extreme weather conditions continue until Saturday the disruption could cost the UK economy up to 2 billion pounds”

“EU considers using airport body scanners”

Editor — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:08:57 +0000

“European Union countries are considering new measures to boost airport security, including the use of a body scanner that has raised privacy concerns. EU experts are to discuss the issue in Brussels. The British government has called for the quick deployment of full body scanners that can detect security threats by showing what is concealed under people’s clothing”

Nigerian-UK student in al-Qaeda airline bomb attempt

Journalist — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:34:29 +0000

“A Nigerian engineering student at a British university, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, tried to blow up a transatlantic aircraft in a suspected al-Qaeda plot, it is claimed. The would-be bomber began his trip in Nigeria and connected in Amsterdam en route to Detroit” Related posts:Obama’s ‘nice guy act’ not working on the ‘world stage’“Al-Qaeda member denies [...] Related posts:

“Britain’s queen calls 2009 ‘difficult year’ “

Journalist — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:21:22 +0000

“Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to the armed forces and referred to the recession in her annual Christmas Day message”

“Eurostar trains resume after winter travel chaos”

Journalist — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:28:44 +0000

“Eurostar trains between Britain and France resumed on Tuesday after three-days of cancellations because of heavy snow, but severe weather conditions continued to cause travel chaos in Britain”

“UK ponders law change after Tzipi Livni arrest warrant”

Editor — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:09:32 +0000

“Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis: ‘This can never ever happen again’. The [British] government is ‘urgently’ looking into reforming the law after a UK court issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni. The warrant was granted by a London court at the request of Palestinian plaintiffs, provoking Israeli anger”

“UK’s Blair says Saddam ouster right”

Editor — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:01:05 +0000

“Former British prime minister Tony Blair believes it was right to oust [the executed] Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power even though no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. ‘I would still have thought it right to remove him,’ Blair told an interviewer for the BBC, when asked if he would have joined in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 if he’d known Saddam had no such weapons”

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“Britain, long a libel Mecca, reviews laws”

Editor — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:01:28 +0000

“ England has long been a mecca for aggrieved people from around the world who want to sue for libel… Embarrassed by London’s reputation as ‘a town called sue’ and by unusually stinging criticisms in American courts and legislatures, British lawmakers are seriously considering rewriting England’s 19th-century libel laws”

‘”Iraq inquiry hears about Blair shift on regime change”

Editor — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:43:36 +0000

“George W. Bush and Tony Blair appeared to have ‘converged’ on regime change in Iraq after talks at the US president’s Texas ranch in April 2002, a former British ambassador to Washington said” Related posts:Washington, Moscow: Advancing step by step“UK’s Blair says Saddam ouster right”Tony Blair: “No regrets over toppling Saddam Hussein” Related posts:

Iran: “Revolutionary Guards vow revenge”

Journalist — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:17:20 +0000

“The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards [Mohammad Ali Jafari] vowed to take revenge against Britain and the United States whom he claims backed the group that killed six commanders” Related posts:Iran: Six revolutionary commanders killed“Three Iranians arrested over Guards bombing”“Iran sentences former vice-president to six years” Related posts:

Iraqi asylum seekers returned to UK

Journalist — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:12:29 +0000

“Iraqi asylum seekers sent back to Baghdad by the UK government have been refused re-entry to their homeland, and flown back to Britain. The flight, carrying about 40 asylum seekers, landed in Baghdad. Ten were admitted but the rest were turned away and have now arrived back” Related posts:“Maliki vows punishment for Blackwater guards”“Scores killed in powerful blasts in [...] Related posts:

Allies regroup for D-Day anniversary

Journalist — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:11:58 +0000

“World leaders and royalty joined veterans to mark the 65th Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy. [British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown, the Prince of Wales, [American President] Barack Obama and [French President] Nicolas Sarkozy attended the remembrance service at a cemetery for US servicemen in Colleville-sur-Mer. Paying his respects to the thousands of allied troops who died during the invasion, Brown said: ‘There is an unbroken line from the Normandy landings to the fall of Berlin to the end of the Second World War and then to creation of a post-war society’ “

Sordid backdrop to G8 summit

Journalist — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:02:47 +0000

“Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister and billionaire media mogul, lashed out… at Rupert Murdoch, accusing his business rival of using The Times of London to launch a series of personal attacks. In an interview on Canale 5, one of the Mediaset channels he owns, the Italian prime minister was clearly stung by an editorial and articles in The Times on his relationship with an 18-year-old would-be model. Mr Berlusconi’s government is fighting back against a flood of disparaging articles published in several major European publications which it sees as seriously damaging to Italy ahead of the G8 summit of major industrialised nations it will host next month”