United Kingdom

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Television personality Jerry Springer, known for a long-running talk show that featured raucous audiences, controversial topics and fist-fighting guests and who briefly served as Cincinnati mayor, died at age 79 on Thursday, his family said.

Springer died peacefully after a brief illness at his home in suburban Chicago, his family said in a statement. The cause of death was not specified.

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Microsoft's (MSFT.O) president Brad Smith said the UK regulator's decision to prevent its acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard "had shaken confidence" in Britain as a destination for tech businesses.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which operates independently from government, blocked the deal on Wednesday, saying it could hit competition in the nascent cloud gaming market.

April 25 (Reuters) - Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to make a deal with the European Union to make it easier for Britons to travel to the bloc, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Sunak is hoping to build on improved relations with the EU to reach an agreement to let Britons use EU e-gates for passport checks, which would speed up border crossings, the report said.

Sunak's spokesman, however, said he did not recognise the reporting that the prime minister was pushing for greater access.

LONDON (AP) — Kelly Curto is taking her first trip outside the U.S., and the die-hard fan of the British royal family is making it the one at the top of her bucket list — heading to London for King Charles III’s coronation.

After arriving on May 5, the 44-year-old school bus driver from Long Island and a friend will head to the Mall, the ceremonial avenue to Buckingham Palace where the monarch’s pomp-filled procession will pass by the following day.

London, Apr 24 (PTI) An inquiry by the UK’s parliamentary standards watchdog into the process followed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when declaring wife Akshata Murty’s business interests was extended in its scope on Monday.

The UK’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had opened the inquiry under Paragraph 6 of the ‘Code of Conduct’ last week, in relation to Sunak declaring Murty’s shares in a childcare firm which stood to benefit from a Spring Budget announcement last month.

23 Apr 2023; MEMO: The UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff, said the country's premier on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

The move followed similar evacuations of US government personnel and Iraqi diplomats from the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday the country's armed forces evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members from Sudan.

Sunak paid tribute to what he called a "complex and rapid" evacuation after he said there had been a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff. But British nationals living in Sudan were not rescued.

"I pay tribute to the commitment of our diplomats and bravery of the military personnel who carried out this difficult operation," Sunak said on Twitter.

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Britain's main opposition Labour Party has suspended high-profile lawmaker Diane Abbott over a letter she wrote in which she said the prejudice experienced by Jewish people was similar to, but not the same as, racism.

Labour, which polls indicate is likely to form Britain's next government after an election expected next year, faced accusations of discrimination and harassment against Jews under its former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: Since 2019, more than 4,000 people have died while homeless across the UK, with someone now dying every six-and-a-half hours on average, said the Museum of Homelessness.

Fatalities increased more than 20% in England and Wales versus 2021. Some 85% were under the age of 65. The reliance on dangerous unregulated temporary accommodation is contributing to deaths, alongside a broken system for mental health and addiction support, said the museum.

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chaired a meeting of the government's emergency response committee on Saturday to discuss the situation in Sudan, with defence minister Ben Wallace among those attending.

Sudan's army said on Saturday it had agreed to help evacuate foreign nationals, as gunfire and air strikes echoed across Khartoum despite promises by warring sides to cease fire for three days after a week of strife that has killed hundreds.