UK

After the illegal parties at 10 Downing Street, the seat of the British government, during the corona pandemic, the serving of alcohol is now banned. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new rules on Thursday, a spokesman said.   10 Downing Street employees will only be allowed to consume alcohol at formal meetings and events, such as visits by leading international politicians. “Social events” are still possible, but only under the new rules. The long-awaited investigative report by top British civil servant Sue Gray on Wednesday revealed that during the corona lockdowns, parties were repeatedly held in the British Prime Minister's residence, with alcohol flowing freely. Authorized officials instigated the parties, but they were also kept hidden. According to the Johnso...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in parliament on Wednesday that he would take "full responsibility" for his involvement in the illegal lockdown parties that took place at his official residence. The prime minister was responding to a long-awaited critical report by top official Sue Gray, who scrutinized sixteen illegal government parties between May 2020 and November 2021. Top civil servant Sue Gray was asked by Johnson to investigate 'party gate', as the scandal is called. This shows, among other things, that there were several parties with excessive drinking and partying until well after midnight. Employees who had objections would not always have dared to raise this. "I take full responsibility for everything that happened under my view," Johnson said in parliament of the...

An employee of a hospital in Birmingham, England has been arrested on suspicion of deliberately poisoning a baby. The young patient, who was in intensive care, has died, according to British media.   Various media report that the 27-year-old suspect worked as a nurse at the children's hospital in Birmingham. The woman was suspended after the child's death. What exactly the care worker did with the child and why has not been disclosed. The police report that the suspect was arrested on Thursday, a few hours after the death, on suspicion of administering poison to endanger someone's life. She has since been released pending the investigation and forensic testing, British media report. The family of the deceased baby will receive special support, police said. Children up to the age o...

Ali Harbi Ali, 26, has been sentenced to life in prison. Ali stabbed British Member of Parliament Sir David Amess on 15 October 2021 in Leigh-on-Sea more than 20.   He denies killing Amess but was found guilty on Monday. That writes the British broadcaster BBC. The Conservative MP was in Leigh-on-Sea to meet with voters from his constituency. Ali was arrested in a church shortly after the stabbing. During the trial, it was revealed that he was preparing attacks on even more politicians. Ali denies that. Amess has sat in the British Parliament on behalf of the Conservative Party since 1983. In five years, he was the second MP to be killed in his own constituency after Labour's Jo Cox in 2016.

Prince Andrew is embroiled in a fraud case currently before the courts, according to documents released by the press on Friday. The prince has received large amounts of money from a Turkish business person.   The Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson are discredited in a dispute between Nebahat Isbilen, a Turkish woman in her 70s, and Selman Turk, a Turkish businessman based in London. The woman allegedly asked the businessman to remove her assets from Turkey, where her husband was imprisoned. The dispute is being heard before the High Court in London. According to documents from the trial to which the British press refers, the prince and his ex-wife received "significant sums" from the former banker accused of embezzling some 40 million pounds from Isbilen. "The money was us...

In Wales, it is now illegal to physically punish children. Any form of corporal punishment, such as hitting, slapping and shaking, is illegal in the country from today/Monday.   The so-called "smacking ban" has been introduced in the Children Act 2020 and means the end of the "reasonable punishment". It means that children receive the same protection against abuse. The law also applies to everyone, including people visiting Wales. Parents or adults responsible for children face criminal charges if they physically punish the children in any way. Critics say the law will criminalize parents, but the Welsh government insists the law will just protect children. "The UN Convention on the Child's Rights makes clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and injury, inclu...

British police are investigating whether specific donations to Prince Charles' foundation were rewarded with royal honours and support for a Saudi businessman's naturalization application.   "The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into possible breaches of the Honors Act 1925," Scotland Yard said on Wednesday. No arrests have been made, according to the service. The investigation comes after the police received a letter with incriminating elements in September 2021. For example, Prince Charles' former adviser and right-hand man, Michael Fawcett, is suspected of using his influence to help Saudi businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz win an award. According to the Sunday Times, 51-year-old Mahfouz was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Prince C...

Top civil servant Susan "Sue" Gray has handed over her report on the alleged parties in the garden of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's residence to Downing Street. The report was also published online Monday afternoon.   The report states that "there was a failure in leadership and judgment." Johnson will respond to the report Monday afternoon. Sue Gray had been ordered to investigate the parties allegedly held in the garden of Johnson's official residence during the lockdown. The prime minister himself has discussed the incidents several times and said he was not convinced that they were "parties". He said that these were work-related meetings and that no rules were broken as a result. Gray's report was published online Monday afternoon. It contains some 'general findings'. For exa...