The World Briefly

May 05, 2023

Long Live the King

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is finalizing the preparations for the coronation of King Charles III Saturday, a major event marked with pomp, tradition, and religiosity that comes amid questions about the future of the centuries-old British monarchy, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Charles automatically ascended to the...

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The World Briefly

March 09, 2023

The Legal Walls

United Kingdom

The British government on Wednesday defended a new bill aimed at stopping asylum seekers from illegally entering the country. against fierce criticism from human rights campaigners and the United Nations’ refugee agency that it violates both British and international law, Politico reported Wednesday. “We are confident...

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The World Briefly

February 27, 2023

Less for More

United Kingdom

The trial of a four-day workweek in Britain found that employees working shorter hours were more productive and less stressed, while a company’s revenue remained largely unchanged, the Associated Press reported this week. Billed as the largest experiment of its kind in the world, the pilot...

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The World Briefly

February 23, 2023

Scrubbing the Past

United Kingdom

Critics and authors are accusing a British publisher of Roald Dahl’s children’s books of censorship after it removed colorful language and phrases from some of the author’s classic works to make them more acceptable to modern young readers, the Associated Press reported. New editions of Dahl’s...

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Need to Know

February 21, 2023

Winter of Discontent

United Kingdom

The British press is invoking memories of Margaret Thatcher, the arch-conservative prime minister who fought coal mining unions and other workers’ groups in the 1980s, to describe the current labor unrest that is crippling the United Kingdom. British workers left their jobs for a total...

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The World Briefly

February 02, 2023

Walking Out

United Kingdom

More than half a million British workers went on strike across the country Wednesday over pay disputes and working conditions, the biggest walkout in the United Kingdom in more than a decade, CNBC reported. The strikes included hundreds of thousands of teachers, along with civil servants,...

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The World Briefly

January 19, 2023

Pre-emptive Strikes

United Kingdom

The British government is planning to give police more powers to shut down protests that are deemed disruptive, a move that human rights groups have criticized as an attack on the right to protest, the Evening Standard reported. The amended Public Order Bill will give officers...

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The World Briefly

December 21, 2022

Cleared for Take-off

United Kingdom

The UK’s High Court ruled this week that the government’s controversial immigration plan to deport potential asylum-seekers to Rwanda was lawful, a verdict that came just months after the policy’s introduction, NPR reported. The court found that the immigration plan did not violate the UK’s legal...

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The World Briefly

December 13, 2022

Slow, Steady Wheels

United Kingdom

US authorities apprehended a Libyan man accused of making the bomb that destroyed a passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, a major milestone in a decades-long investigation into the deadliest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom, NPR reported. Scottish officials confirmed that the US took...

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The World Briefly

December 12, 2022

Safe Spaces

United Kingdom

The UK is planning a bill to criminalize sexual harassment in public, which would make certain offenses such as catcalling punishable by law, the Washington Post reported. The Conservative government, which dominates parliament, said it would back a bill to introduce harsher penalties for individuals who...

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The World Briefly

November 29, 2022

Only The Best

United Kingdom

Foreign students may be barred from studying in the United Kingdom unless they have secured a spot at a “top university,” a move observers say is part of the Conservative government’s efforts to curb migration to the country, CNBC reported. A report by the Times newspaper...

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The World Briefly

November 24, 2022

Should We Stay Or Should We Go

ScotlandUnited Kingdom

The UK’s Supreme Court in London ruled Wednesday that Scotland needs consent from the UK Parliament to hold a new independence referendum, throwing cold water on the nation’s prospects of leaving the United Kingdom, CNBC reported. The top court said that the Scottish legislature did not...

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The World Briefly

November 15, 2022

Bailing Water

FranceUnited Kingdom

France and the United Kingdom signed an agreement Monday that aims to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel to the UK, a deadly pathway that has also become a source of friction between the neighboring countries, the Associated Press reported. The accord, which was signed...

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Need to Know

November 04, 2022

The Empire Strikes Back

United Kingdom

Until 1947, the UK lorded over the Indian subcontinent, stealing its wealth and subjugating its people as the oh-so-superior colonial master. No one even a decade ago would have ever thought that a man whose ancestors were part of that all-but-enslaved history would one day hold...

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Need to Know

October 25, 2022

Soft Upper Lip

United Kingdom

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Liz Truss declared that she was not a quitter. The next day, she quit. And four days later, a new prime minister was announced. Truss is leaving after only 45 days in office, the shortest tenure of any British leader in history....

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The World Briefly

October 21, 2022

Unwanted Record

United Kingdom

The UK’s Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday after just six weeks in office, plunging the United Kingdom into further uncertainty amid skyrocketing energy prices and high inflation, NBC News reported. Truss’ resignation came as the prime minister’s approval rating and support within her ruling Conservative...

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The World Briefly

October 18, 2022

A Disruptive Problem

United Kingdom

The British government unveiled a draft law that aims to crack down on so-called disruptive protests carried out by environmental groups, a move critics say is aimed at “silencing non-violent people,” the BBC reported. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the new Public Order Bill will empower...

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The World Briefly

October 17, 2022

Playing the Part

United Kingdom

A female-featured robot spoke in front of Britain’s upper house of parliament this week, marking the first time in the country’s history that an android testified in front of baronesses and lords, the Washington Post reported. Named Ai-Da, the android appeared in the House of Lords...

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Need to Know

September 21, 2022

A New, Cloudy Day

United Kingdom

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Britons lined up and millions more tuned in to say farewell to their queen. It was a spectacle full of pageantry befitting the reverence reserved for this beloved monarch who died this month aged 96 after serving for 70...

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The World Briefly

September 19, 2022

The Queen and the Paupers

United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral is becoming a diplomatic nightmare for British officials, as they try to accommodate the many requests by hundreds of world leaders and foreign dignitaries attending Monday’s ceremony, the Washington Post reported Saturday. The queen, the longest-serving monarch in the United Kingdom, passed...

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