ReportWire

Tag: United Kingdom

  • Chloé Zhao on the “Superpower” of Being a Neurodivergent Director: “I Have an Extreme Sensitivity to Dissonance”

    [ad_1]

    Oscar winner Chloé Zhao reflected on her career as a neurodivergent filmmaker at a BFI London Film Festival session on Sunday morning.

    The Chinese director, who on Saturday premiered her long-awaited Hamnet alongside stars Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley and producers Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, spoke candidly to a small audience about crafting Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), The Rider (2017), Nomadland (2020) — the feature that brought her Academy Award acclaim — and Eternals (2021).

    “I’m neurodivergent, so I’ve always [been] quite confused why I don’t fit in, or why certain things are so easy for other people but so hard for me — like small talk,” Zhao began when asked about being an actor’s director. “It’s very easy for me to be overstimulated, because I take in a lot more information. I’m already assuming what you think of me,” she said, gesturing to an audience member. “What does your outfit mean? Where do you come from? I do these things all the time. I can’t shut it off.”

    “But later on, once I understood it and I could put language around it, I [realized] I have the ability to recognize patterns, maybe I’m just faster or more sensitive. So if that’s used in the right space, then I can almost predict certain situations. It’s helpful if you are on set and just feeling the dissonance [with actors]. Even off camera, you want to go, ‘What is it?’ And usually in that kind of setting, they will share, and then you go, ‘Okay, what’s underneath is actually interesting. This is not what we wrote for this character in this moment. But that’s where you are right now. So are you willing to take the mask right now and let the world see what’s underneath?’ It’s not always a yes — certainly with the professional actors… but if they do in that moment, it’s really special because that’s the kind of authenticity that I think is a performer’s greatest gift to the world.”

    Zhao joked about her extreme sensitivity to this dissonance: “So if you’re smiling and you’re actually sad, that’s why small talk is hard. I go: ‘What’s happened?’ What’s your childhood trauma?’ which is not always welcome,” she added as the crowd laughed.

    “I think it’s a superpower, I really do,” she continued. “And it’s a spectrum. So everyone is very different… I find that I question sometimes: am I not the typical one? Or has our world become a little bit too inhabitable? Is this too loud? Is it too bright? It’s too fast, you know? So I try to not think of it as less different,” she said. “If I tune into how I function then I’m going to create a world, not just on camera, but also off camera, that is going to be healthy for me.”

    Zhao is in London promoting her newest film Hamnet, starring Irish talent Mescal as William Shakespeare and Buckley as his wife, Agnes, who are thrown into contrasting experiences of grief following the death of their young son, Hamnet. The gut-wrenching drama had audiences reaching for the tissues at Saturday’s premiere.

    The filmmaker is also well known for making the MCU’s 2021 blockbuster Eternals, a departure from the realism of her previous films. Though Zhao said the feature’s sci-fi and fantasy elements were a huge draw for her. “My dream when I was a girl was to become a manga artist,” said the Beijing-born director. “I drew Japanese manga religiously every day, and I consumed everything there was at that time. So I have always loved telling stories through fantasy or mythology.”

    Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Barry Keoghan, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan, is still the only film of Zhao’s that she storyboarded. “Because my manga skills!” she giggled. “I really enjoyed them, [drawing] the big eyes.”

    On making the Marvel film, Zhao explained that she was at a moment in her life where “a lot of stuff was bubbling inside of me.”

    “I made three films, I traveled around, I met people, and I looked at the East and the West, I looked at different cultures I encountered,” she said. “It was like a volcano inside of me that wanted to examine the human condition so desperately. I’m still sort of working through the eruption and that eruption was Eternals.”

    Growing up in Beijing, she added, meant that Zhao and her family were able to watch one Western film a week. Her first ever? The Terminator (1984). “I know. It’s great,” she said. “The second one I saw was Ghost and then the third one was Sister Act.”

    The BFI London Film Festival 2025 runs Oct. 8-19.

    [ad_2]

    Lily Ford

    Source link

  • EU Begins Gradual Rollout of Digital Border System

    [ad_1]

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union member countries began rolling out a new entry and exit system on Sunday at the bloc’s external borders, electronically registering non-EU nationals’ data.

    The Entry/Exit System (EES), an automated system that requires travellers to register at the border by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken, will be introduced over six months.

    The move is aimed at detecting overstayers, tackling identity fraud and preventing illegal migration amid political pressure in some EU countries to take a tougher stance.

    “The Entry/Exit System is the digital backbone of our new common European migration and asylum framework,” European Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said in a statement.

    Non-EU citizens will have to register their personal details when they first enter the Schengen area – all EU member countries apart from Ireland and Cyprus, but including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Subsequent journeys will only require facial biometric verification.

    The system should be fully operational, with passport stamping replaced with electronic records, on April 10, 2026.

    “Every third country national who arrives at an external border will undergo identity verification, security screening, and registration in the EU databases,” Brunner said, adding that “the six-month rollout gives member states, travellers, and businesses time to transition smoothly to the new procedures”.

    For British travellers using the Port of Dover, the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone or Eurostar terminal at London’s St Pancras International, the process will take place at the border before they leave the UK. 

    At Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal, only freight and coach traffic will be subject to EES checks from Sunday.

    Passenger vehicle checks will follow in November at Dover and by the end of the year at Eurotunnel, while the Eurostar at St Pancras will gradually introduce the new process starting with some business travellers from Sunday.

    “We recognise that EES checks will be a significant change for British travellers, which is why we have worked closely with our European partners to ensure the rollout goes as smoothly as possible,” British Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said.

    “The UK and EU have a shared objective of securing our borders and these modernisation measures will help us protect our citizens and prevent illegal migration,” Norris said.  

    (Reporting by Lili Bayer, James Davey and Kate Holton. Editing by Mark Potter)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • British Parliament designates Palestine Action a terrorist organization

    [ad_1]

    Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters in London marked two years since the War in Gaza. However, the British government has seen enough. Haley Ott reports that police have been given sweeping powers to curb repeated demonstrations.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • UK PM Starmer to Attend Middle East Peace Summit in Egypt

    [ad_1]

    LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will travel to Egypt to attend the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit, where leaders are expected to sign a U.S.-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza, his office said on Saturday.

    The first phase of the plan is set to begin with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners by Monday, marking what Britain called a “historic turning point” after two years of war.

    The British leader would pay tribute to the role of U.S. President Donald Trump and the diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in brokering the deal, his office said.

    He is expected to call for continued international coordination to implement the next phase, which includes deploying a ceasefire monitoring mission and establishing transitional governance in Gaza.

    Starmer will reiterate Britain’s “steadfast support” to help secure the ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid.

    (Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Alex Richardson)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Yorgos Lanthimos Jokes He Needs an AI Avatar to Get Out of Promoting His Films: “Do I Have to Say the Same Thing a Thousand Times?”

    [ad_1]

    Yorgos Lanthimos might be on board with AI, after all.

    The Oscar-nominated filmmaker, director of movies The Favourite, Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness, jokingly told BFI London Film Festival attendees on Saturday that he’s willing to send out a computer-generated avatar of himself if it helps him get out of promotional duties.

    Lanthimos spoke with Succession creator Jesse Armstrong the day after the U.K. premiere of his latest thriller, Bugonia, starring Emma Stone as a powerful CEO who is kidnapped by two conspiracy-obsessed men, played by Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis, convinced she is an alien about to destroy Earth.

    “I have mixed feelings about… figuring out what the best way to do it is, because [producers] spend a lot of money and they do have to make it back,” Lanthimos began when asked if he cares about the commercial success of his features. “It’s not my passion to go around being photographed and tell people stuff. It’s almost the same amount of time as making a film — you spend four to six months filming, six months editing and then you have, like, six months going around promoting the film.”

    He continued about the repetitive nature of a film’s press run: “Isn’t there another way? You sit down with your people and they say, [You need to do] this interview, this interview. Can’t you just take out some of them? Do I have to do all of them and say the same thing a thousand times? By the middle of the day, I won’t remember the things I’ve said. I’m looking at people like, ‘Did I tell you this?’” It’s a big part of it, I understand… But especially now with technology, you capture something and everyone has it! Why do I have to do it a million times?”

    As audience members erupted with laughter, the director joked, “I mean, AI… I’ll make an avatar and send it out. That sounds really opposite to my beliefs [about AI]!”

    Armstrong quipped back: “First you want a dictatorship and now you want an AI version of yourself to talk about your films.” The award-winning Brit writer was referring to earlier in the session when Lanthimos told Armstrong he believes the world needs a benevolent dictator to combat the far-right dominating the world’s current political landscape. “The way things are going, [we have] ones that are doing the bad things, but [we need] a dictator who does good things for the people.”

    Lanthimos clarified: “Because it seems like, whatever you call it, maybe the left, they haven’t found a way to do this. You need someone who will take responsibility and go: ‘We’re going to do the good things.’”

    Across the session, the men covered a myriad of topics including how Lanthimos made films in the wake of the 2008 financial crash — which hit Lanthimos’ native Greece particularly hard — and finding creative freedom in moving to the U.K. to make English-language films.

    Stone, in particular, is already garnering more awards buzz for Bugonia only two years after her Oscar win for Poor Things.

    The BFI London Film Festival 2025 runs Oct. 8-19.

    [ad_2]

    Lily Ford

    Source link

  • Analysis-How Ukraine’s European Allies Fuel Russia’s War Economy

    [ad_1]

    By Marwa Rashad, Kate Abnett and Nerijus Adomaitis

    (Reuters) -European nations, including France, are among the staunchest supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Several have also stepped up their imports of Russian energy which pump billions of euros into Moscow’s wartime economy.

    Well into the fourth year of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the European Union remains in the precarious position of financing both sides in the conflict. Its large deliveries of military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv are countered by commercial payments to Moscow for oil and gas.

    The bloc has reduced its reliance on once-dominant supplier Russia by roughly 90% since 2022. It nonetheless imported more than 11 billion euros of Russian energy in the first eight months of this year, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent research organization based in Helsinki.

    Seven of the EU’s 27 member countries increased the value of their imports versus a year earlier, including five countries that support Ukraine in the war. France, for example, saw purchases of Russian energy rise 40% to 2.2 billion euros while the Netherlands jumped 72% to 498 million euros, the analysis shows.

    While LNG ports in countries like France and Spain serve as entry points for Russian supplies into Europe, the gas is often not consumed in those countries but instead sent onwards to buyers across the bloc.

    Vaibhav Raghunandan, EU-Russia specialist at CREA, described increased flows as “a form of self-sabotage” by some countries, given energy sales are the biggest source of revenue for Russia as it wages war against an European-backed Ukraine.

    “The Kremlin is quite literally getting funding to continue to deploy their armed forces in Ukraine,” he said.

    TRUMP SLAMMED EUROPE’S LEADERS

    EU energy payments to Moscow have come under renewed scrutiny after U.S. President Donald Trump dressed down European leaders in his speech to the U.N General Assembly last month, demanding they cease all such purchases immediately.

    “Europe has to step it up,” Trump said. “They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil and gas from Russia while they’re fighting Russia. It’s embarrassing to them, and it was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it.”

    The French energy ministry told Reuters that France’s value of Russian energy imports rose this year as it served customers in other countries, without naming countries or companies. Gas market data suggest part of France’s Russian imports are sent onwards to Germany, according to Kpler analysts.

    The Dutch government said while it supported EU plans to phase out Russian energy, until these proposals are fixed into EU law, it was powerless to block existing contracts between European energy companies and Russian suppliers.

    The EU, which has already barred most purchases of Russian crude oil and fuel, has announced plans to speed up a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 2027, from 2028. LNG now represents the biggest EU import of Russian energy, accounting for almost half the value of total purchases, the data shows.

    The European Commission declined to comment on the 2025 imports data. The bloc’s energy chief said last month the phased retreat from Russian fossil fuels was designed to ensure member countries don’t face energy price spikes or supply shortages.

    The proposals, which envisage a total ban on all Russian oil and gas from 2028, mean European cash could be supporting the Kremlin’s war effort for a year or more to come.

    Trump says U.S. oil and gas could replace lost Russian supplies, and many analysts say such a switch is possible, though it would boost Europe’s dependency on U.S. energy in an era when Washington is using tariffs as a policy tool.

    “The EU has agreed to buy more energy from the U.S to accommodate the very strong U.S. demands to stop Russian imports,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “However, it is an illusion to think that U.S. LNG would replace Russian LNG on a one-to-one basis. U.S. LNG is in the hands of private companies, which do not obey orders from the White House and the European Commission, they optimize their portfolios.”

    HUNGARY, BELGIUM AND OTHERS SEE BILLS RISE

    The EU has come a long way since 2021.

    In that year, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the bloc imported more than 133 billion euros of Russian energy, according to CREA data.

    In January-August this year, the EU’s bill amounted to 11.4 billion euros – a fraction of per-war levels and a decline of 21% from the same period of 2024, the figures show.

    Hungary and Slovakia – which maintain close ties with the Kremlin and reject any notion of renouncing Russian gas – remain major importers, together accounting for 5 billion euros of that total. They wouldn’t be affected by the planned EU sanctions on LNG, which requires the unanimous backing of member states, as they could still receive Russian pipeline gas until 2028.

    Hungary was among the seven countries to see the value of Russian energy imports rise this year, by 11%, according to the data. France and the Netherlands are joined by four other countries whose governments support Ukraine in the war: Belgium, which saw a 3% increase, Croatia (55%), Romania (57%) and Portugal (167%).

    Belgium’s energy ministry said the country’s increase was down to separate EU sanctions that took effect in March and banned “transshipments”, or re-exporting, of Russian LNG to outside the bloc, meaning arriving LNG had to be unloaded in Belgium – a global hub – rather than being transferred from ship to ship to be transported onwards to a final destination.

    Portugal’s energy ministry said the country only imported modest amounts of Russian gas and that flows over the course of the year would be lower than 2024. The Croatian and Romanian governments didn’t respond to requests for comment on the data.

    The European Union’s total imports of Russian energy since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, have amounted to more than 213 billion euros, the CREA data shows.

    That dwarfs the amount the EU has spent on aid to Ukraine in the same period, even though it has been the country’s biggest benefactor: the bloc has allocated 167 billion euros of financial, military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv, according to the Kiel Institute, a German economic think-tank.

    ENERGY FIRMS STICK TO LONG-TERM CONTRACTS

    France’s TotalEnergies is among the biggest importers of Russian LNG into Europe, with other major players including Shell, Spain’s Naturgy, Germany’s SEFE, and trading house Gunvor. They all operate long-term contracts that last into the 2030s or 2040s.

    TotalEnergies told Reuters it was continuing deliveries from Russia’s Yamal plant under contracts that could not be suspended without official EU sanctions in place. The company will maintain supplies as long as European governments deem Russian gas necessary for energy security, it added.

    Shell, Naturgy and Gunvor declined to comment on Russian imports.

    Ronald Pinto, gas research principal analyst at Kpler said companies were reluctant to risk incurring fines from breaching contractual commitments without the solid legal cover of an EU ban on Russian LNG.

    “In the end, market players are buying this LNG, not countries, and for the most part, they are sticking to their long-term contracts,” he added.

    Pinto said flow dynamics studies suggested French imports of Russian LNG often flowed via pipeline to Belgium to then reach Germany, where there’s strong demand from industrial users. He cautioned it was “impossible to track exactly the movement of gas molecules within the European gas grid”.

    A spokesperson for SEFE, which operates 10% of Germany’s gas transmission network, confirmed that the company imports Russian gas via France and Belgium.

    The German economy ministry told Reuters that it welcomed EU efforts to phase out imports of Russian fossil fuels, but that SEFE was bound by a long-standing contract to buy LNG from Russia’s Yamal plant with no option to terminate the agreement.

    “Under the contract’s take-or-pay terms, SEFE would have to pay for the agreed quantities, even if no delivery was taken,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Non-acceptance would enable Yamal to resell these quantities, which would then provide double support to the Russian economy.”

    (Reporting by Marwa Rashad in London, Kate Abnett in Brussels and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Additional reporting by America Hernandez in Paris, Francesca Landini in Milan, Christoph Steitz and Vera Eckert in Frankfurt, Shadia Nasralla in London, Pietro Lombardi in Madrid and Andrey Khalip in Lisbon; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Pravin Char)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • UK Synagogue Attacker Claimed Allegiance to Islamic State in Call to Police, Media Reports Say

    [ad_1]

    LONDON (Reuters) -The man whose attack on a synagogue in northern England last week resulted in the deaths of two Jewish worshippers phoned police to say he was acting for Islamic State, British media reported on Wednesday.

    Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, made the call after driving a car into pedestrians and attacking people with a knife the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall district, the reports said, citing police.

    (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by William James)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • U.K. Public Borrowing Estimate Cut by $4 Billion Over Tax Data Error

    [ad_1]

    The U.K.’s troubled statistics office cut its estimate for net government borrowing by 3 billion pounds ($4.03 billion), a further setback for the agency that has faced criticism from the Bank of England and lawmakers.

    The Office for National Statistics said the U.K. government’s tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs, informed it of an error in value-added tax receipts data it supplied to the data agency.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Ed Frankl

    Source link

  • Chad Ends Ties With Prince Harry Conservation Charity for Wildlife Failures

    [ad_1]

    LONDON (Reuters) -A conservation charity which has Britain’s Prince Harry as a board member has been kicked off its projects in Chad after the Chadian government accused it of failing to protect wildlife.

    Harry, King Charles’s younger son, was appointed to the governing board of African Parks (APN) in 2023 after seven years of involvement with the charity, which was set up to protect natural habits and wildlife.

    Chad’s environment minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous said the decision to cut ties came in response to “the resurgence of poaching and the severe lack of investment” including in infrastructure and anti-poaching efforts, “the failure of APN to respect key clauses of the agreements” and “recurring irreverence shown towards the government of Chad”.

    African Parks, which manages parks in 12 other countries including Angola, Malawi and Zambia, confirmed Chad had terminated its two management mandates there.

    “African Parks has initiated discussions with the ministry to understand the government’s position and to explore the best possible way forward in support of the continued protection of these critical conservation landscapes,” it said in a statement.

    It is the second time this year a charity linked to the prince Harry has attracted negative headlines.

    He stepped down from Sentebale, which he helped set up to help people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana, after a public row with its chair, Sophie Chandauka, who accused Harry and the trustees of bullying, misogyny and racism.

    Britain’s charity regulator said in August it had found no evidence of bullying.

    Harry, who lives in California with Meghan and their two children, stopped working as a member of the British royal family in 2020.

    (Reporting by Sarah Young, additional reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet; editing by Michael Holden)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • UK Prosecutor Says a Spying Case Collapsed Because the Government Wouldn’t Call China a Threat

    [ad_1]

    Former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry were charged in April 2024 with violating the Official Secrets Act by providing information or documents that could be “useful to an enemy” and “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the U.K. between late 2021 and February 2023.

    But Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said the case collapsed because no one from the government was willing to testify “that at the time of the offense China represented a threat to national security.”

    “When this became apparent, the case could not proceed,” he wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to lawmakers on Parliament’s home affairs and justice committees.

    Under the Official Secrets Act, a statute from 1911, prosecutors would have had to show the defendants were acting for an “enemy.”

    The two men deny wrongdoing, and the Chinese Embassy has called the allegations fabricated and dismissed them as “malicious slander.”

    The case was dropped last month, weeks before the trial was due to begin, with prosecutors saying there was not enough evidence to proceed. The collapse of the case sparked allegations of political interference, which the government denies.

    British intelligence authorities have ratcheted up their warnings about Beijing’s covert activities in recent years. The government has called Beijing a strategic challenge, but not an enemy.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the government couldn’t provide the testimony prosecutors wanted because his predecessor, who was in office at the time of the alleged spying, had not designated China a threat.

    He said evidence had to rely on the assessment of the previous Conservative government, which called China an “epoch-defining challenge.”

    “You can’t prosecute someone two years later in relation to a designation that wasn’t in place at the time,” Starmer said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Explainer-What the EU’s New Biometric Border Checks Mean for Non-EU Citizens

    [ad_1]

    LONDON (Reuters) -How all non-European Union citizens, including British visitors, travel to and from the bloc will start to change from Sunday when its long-delayed new biometric entry-check system starts operations.

    The Entry/Exit System (EES) will require all non-EU citizens to register their personal details, including fingerprints and facial images, when they first enter the Schengen area – all EU nations apart from Ireland and Cyprus, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

    Data collection will be gradually introduced at border crossings with full implementation by April 10, 2026, giving the EU confidence there will not be long queues at the border.

    WHY IS THE EU MAKING THE CHANGES?   

    The new electronic system will remove the requirement to manually stamp passports at the EU’s external border and instead create digital records that link a travel document to a person’s identity using biometrics.

    The EU wants to modernise the management of its external borders, prevent illegal migration, combat identity fraud, and identify overstayers.

    It will monitor whether people who are travelling to the bloc without a visa are sticking to its up-to-90 days stay within any 180-day period rule.

    Anyone arriving in the Schengen area for the first time will have to scan their passports, register their fingerprints and provide a facial scan.

    On departure, travellers’ details will be checked against the EES database to confirm compliance with existing rules on time limits of stay and register departure.

    Subsequent journeys will only require facial biometric verification.

    Children under 12 will need to be registered under EES but will just have their photograph taken. Travellers do not have to pay for EES.

    WHERE WILL THE CHECKS HAPPEN?

    On arrival at international airports, ports, train terminals and road border crossings in the Schengen area.

    But at the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone and Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras – EES registration will be required on departure from the UK, overseen by French border officials. Travellers arriving at their destination won’t need to do the check again until their departure.

    WILL EES’S INTRODUCTION MEAN DELAYS AT THE BORDER?

    Because EES is being gradually introduced, the EU is confident there will not be significant disruption.

    Border officials will be able to suspend checks for short periods if processing times become excessively long.

    At both the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone only freight and coach traffic will be subject to EES checks from October 12.

    Passenger vehicle checks will follow in November at Dover and by the end of the year at Eurotunnel. Eurostar has said it will gradually introduce the new border procedures.

    The British government has, however, advised travellers to allow more time for their journeys as the new EU systems bed in, while Britain’s Road Haulage Association has said there may be longer waits at busy times.

    The big test will be holiday traffic at Easter 2026 and the following summer when many families travel for the first time after EES’ introduction.

    MORE CHANGE COMING IN 2026   

    EES is a precursor to another system that is slated to become operational in late 2026 – the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).

    Non-Schengen area citizens will then need to apply for an ETIAS authorisation, provide personal information and details about their trip and pay a 20 euro fee before they travel.

    The authorisation will be valid for three years or until a passport expires, whichever comes first.

    Since April, European visitors to Britain have had to purchase an electronic permit in advance for trips.

    (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Britain Not Seeking Visa Deal With India, Starmer Says

    [ad_1]

    MUMBAI (Reuters) -Britain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as he aims to deepen economic ties with the country following this year’s trade agreement.

    Starmer begins a two-day trip to India on Wednesday, bringing a trade mission of businesses to promote the trade deal, which was agreed in May, signed in July and due to come into effect next year.

    Starmer said that visas had blocked up previous efforts to seal a trade deal, and that, having reached an agreement which had no visa implications, he didn’t wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday.

    “That isn’t part of the plans,” he told reporters en route to India when asked about visas, adding the visit was “to take advantage of the free trade agreement that we’ve already struck”.

    “Businesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas.”

    Starmer is trying to take a more restrictive stance on both immigration amid high public concern about the issue, as his Labour Party trails the populist Reform UK party in polls.

    He said visas would not be on the table in order to attract tech sector professionals from India, after U.S. President Donald Trump hiked fees on H-1B visas, though he said more broadly he wanted to have “top talent” in Britain.

    Asked if he would stop issuing visas to arrivals from countries who won’t take back foreign criminals or people wanted to deport, Starmer said it was a “non-issue” with India as there is a returns agreement, but it was something he would look at more broadly.

    “We are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,” he said.

    (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Catarina Demony)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • UK Police Arrest Two Over London Ransomware of Children’s Data

    [ad_1]

    LONDON (Reuters) -British police said on Tuesday that they had arrested two people on suspicion of computer misuse and blackmail following a cyberattack on a London childcare company in which data on more than 8,000 children was stolen.

    The hackers declined to say how much money they were demanding from Kido International, which operates 18 nurseries in Greater London that typically serve babies up to 5-year-olds.

    The gang, which identifies itself as Radiant, reported on the attack on its dark web portal last month. It evidenced its claim by publishing the names, photos, home addresses and family contact information of 10 children it said attended one of Kido’s centres.

    London’s Metropolitan Police said the two men, aged 17 and 22, were arrested and taken into custody, where they will remain for questioning. The arrests followed an operation at several residential properties in the town of Bishop’s Stortford.

    The hack, which raises serious concerns about child safeguarding and data privacy, was the latest in a string of serious ransomware incidents in Britain that have rocked businesses in Britain this year.

    (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • U.K. Government Asked Pro-Palestinian Supporters Not to March on Oct. 7. They Did Anyway.

    [ad_1]

    LONDON—After last week’s terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester, the U.K. government is struggling over how to manage near daily pro-Palestinian protests that officials say have fueled a rise in antisemitism and left many British Jews feeling alienated in their own country.

    On Tuesday—the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that marked the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust—pro-Palestinian protests were held in university campuses across the country, despite an unusual request from Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the protests to be called off given it was the anniversary of the attack.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Max Colchester

    Source link

  • Russia Says It Awaits Clarity on Possible US Supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Tuesday it was waiting for clarity from the United States about the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying such weapons could theoretically carry nuclear warheads.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would want to know what Ukraine planned to do with Tomahawks before agreeing to provide them because he did not want to escalate the war between Russia and Ukraine. He said, however, that he had “sort of made a decision” on the matter.

    Asked about the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We understand that we need to wait, probably, for clearer statements, if any come.”

    Peskov said that under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, U.S. practice had been to announce supplies of new weapons only once they had been delivered to Ukraine.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments published on Sunday that if Washington supplied Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for long-range strikes deep into Russia, it would lead to the destruction of Moscow’s relationship with the U.S.

    Peskov said it was important to realise that “if we abstract from various nuances, we’re talking about missiles that could also be nuclear-capable. Therefore, this is truly a serious round of escalation.”

    Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), so Ukraine would be able to use them to strike targets anywhere in European Russia, including Moscow, if Trump gave the go-ahead to supply them.

    (Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light and Mark Trevelyan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Victorian Terrace Garden in Herne Hill by O’Sullivan Skoufoglou

    [ad_1]

    At first glance, the Victorian terrace in Herne Hill looks like so many others on its South London street: stock brick, narrow footprint, and the familiar rhythm of windows and doors. Inside, however, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects have reimagined the house as a sequence of framed views of the garden—an architecture of light and green. The new lower level pivots around a clerestory lantern and an interior courtyard, spaces that pull daylight deep into the plan and dissolve the boundary between indoors and out.

    The garden, meanwhile, by designers Ann Ison and Colin Clark, is organized into three areas: a sunlit entrance of wild planting and shrubs, a central paved courtyard, and a shaded rear with mature trees beneath the Victorian arches.

    Designed for a creative young family, the 680-square-foot garden is shaped around their brief: a refuge close to nature with interest across all seasons. Last summer, the family harvested vine tomatoes and herbs; over time, fruit trees and additional edible plantings will extend the garden’s role as both retreat and resource.

    Join us for a tour, and be sure to scroll to the end for a comprehensive plant list.

    Photography courtesy of O’Sullivan Skoufoglou.

    The view from the kitchen out onto the garden. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen.
    Above: The view from the kitchen out onto the garden. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen.
    Above: “The planting was chosen to form an ensemble that offers both harmony and drama of contrast,” says architect Amalia Skoufoglou.
    The garden looking back into the lower floor. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen.
    Above: The garden looking back into the lower floor. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Opinion | Perilous Times for Optimistic Jews in the U.K.

    [ad_1]

    Gerry Baker is Editor at Large of The Wall Street Journal. His weekly column for the editorial page, “Free Expression,” appears in The Wall Street Journal each Tuesday. Mr. Baker is also host of “WSJ at Large with Gerry Baker,” a weekly news and current affairs interview show on the Fox Business Network, and the weekly WSJ Opinion podcast “Free Expression” where he speaks with some of the world’s leading writers, influencers and thinkers about a variety of subjects.

    Mr. Baker previously served as Editor in Chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones from 2013-2018. Prior to that, Mr. Baker was Deputy Editor in Chief of The Wall Street Journal from 2009-2013. He has been a journalist for more than 30 years, writing and broadcasting for some of the world’s most famous news organizations, including his tenure at The Financial Times, The Times of London, and The BBC.

    He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, where he graduated in 1983 with a 1st Class Honors Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

    [ad_2]

    Gerard Baker

    Source link

  • US Health Secretary Kennedy Speeds Autism Drug With GSK Help

    [ad_1]

    By Patrick Wingrove, Maggie Fick and Julie Steenhuysen

    (Reuters) -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. could deliver a policy win for the Trump administration in just a few months after the Food and Drug Administration enlisted GSK to help it fast-track approval of a decades-old drug to treat an autism-related disorder.

    The FDA’s unusual move will allow it to bypass a lengthy label update for generic versions of the drug, leucovorin, or new clinical trials, a tactic academics, lawyers and doctors questioned.

    A GSK spokesperson told Reuters it plans to complete the new use application for the branded version of leucovorin “as quickly as possible.”

    Once the British drugmaker does that work, the FDA would normally take about four to six months but could process the request even faster, said Giuseppe Randazzo of the Association for Accessible Medicines, a generic medicines lobby group.

    The accelerated process will give doctors additional justification to prescribe the drug for cerebral folate deficiency, a metabolic disorder that can lead to a range of neurological symptoms including some associated with autism, delivering on Kennedy’s promise to President Donald Trump and the “Make America Healthy Again” movement with which he is aligned.

    Without robust evidence, the label change represents at most a hollow bureaucratic victory, said Ameet Sarpatwari, a pharmaceutical policy researcher at Harvard Medical School.

    However, the drug, which is used to mitigate toxic effects of certain cancer treatments and sells for $34.14 for a bottle of 30 high-dose pills on Cost Plus Drugs, would more likely be covered for the condition by insurance plans with the label change. 

    An HHS spokesperson said the evidence clearly supports leucovorin’s ability to address the causes of cerebral folate deficiency and improve patient outcomes.

    DEMAND RISES AFTER TRUMP PROMOTES DRUG

    Demand for the drug has increased, first after a February CBS story about its use in a nonverbal five-year-old boy, and more recently after Trump promoted its use.

    “My nurses have been saying the phone is ringing off the hook,” said Dr. Larry Gray, an expert in developmental and behavioral pediatrics, who sees patients with autism at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

    Because the treatment is not approved for autism, the institution’s policy has been to only offer it in clinical trials, which are rare. The drug is FDA-approved, however, so doctors can prescribe it off-label.

    Kennedy has declared the rising rates of autism in the U.S., now estimated at 1 in 31 children by age 8, to be an epidemic and had pledged to find some answers behind its cause as well as cures by September.

    At a White House event on September 22, Kennedy, Trump and other health officials backed leucovorin as an autism treatment. They also warned against the use of Tylenol by pregnant women, saying studies suggested a link to autism. Health experts and medical groups called that warning dangerous and without sound scientific basis.

    The FDA was able to speed the process by using an obscure rule to reinstate GSK’s approval application and request a label update adding cerebral folate deficiency, based on the agency’s own analysis of 40 patient cases found in a review of literature from 2009 to 2024.

    GSK sold the drug as Wellcovorin until 1997. A generic version, which is also called folinic acid and is a form of folate or vitamin B9, is now made by U.K.-based Hikma.

    Once GSK’s application is approved, U.S. law requires generic drugmakers to match the change.

    The more commonly used label update process for generic drugs, which requires consultation with generic drugmakers, typically takes up to a year and a half, according to Skadden lawyer Rachel Turow. It is typically used for cancer drugs after new uses are proven in clinical trials, she and several other lawyers said.

    Aaron Kesselheim, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, described the process being used as “very atypical,” and said that without the FDA sharing its data or trials, it is hard to know if the agency is following the normal standard of evidence.

    LIMITED AVAILABLE EVIDENCE

    Dr. Andy Shih, chief science officer at the advocacy organization Autism Speaks, said the evidence for leucovorin’s use was limited and potentially suggestive of benefit for a small subgroup of autistic children. Larger trials are needed, he said.

    The evidence is based on four studies, each of which involved 50 to 60 patients, with three of them done by the same author, said Dr. Karam Radwan, director of the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Program at the University of Chicago, who uses the drug in his practice.

    “You want to replicate that with a different lab, in a different setting, to make sure we have enough support” for the change, he said.

    Three mid-stage trials are underway studying a new, liquid version of leucovorin as an early language impairment treatment for children with autism, according to the government clinical trials site. The earliest data is expected around December.

    The trials are being led by one autism researcher in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and Autism Speaks, and involve up to 80 children each.

    Larger, more conclusive trials would take years. The FDA’s approach does not require new trials.

    This change should be based on scientific evidence, and so far, studies supporting its use are not robust, Radwan said.

    (Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in New York, Maggie Fick in London and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Additional reporting by Robin Respaut in San Francisco; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • British police arrest 6 after deadly Manchester synagogue attack

    [ad_1]

    Police on Saturday were questioning six people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on a synagogue in northwest England that left two men dead and Britain’s Jewish community shocked and grieving.

    Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into pedestrians, attacked them with a knife and tried to force his way into the building.

    Three men and three women, aged between 18 and their 60s, were arrested in the greater Manchester area on suspicion of the “commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism,” as police work to determine whether the attacker acted alone.

    Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamie from entering. Three other men are hospitalized with serious injuries.

    Detectives say Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin who lived in Manchester, may have been influenced by “extreme Islamist ideology.” He wore what appeared to be an explosives belt, which was found to be fake.

    Police said Al-Shamie was out on bail over an alleged rape at the time of the attack but had not been charged.

    Forensic teams work at the scene of a stabbing incident that took place on Thursday, at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue, in Manchester, England, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.

    Ian Hodgson / AP


    The attack has devastated Britain’s Jewish community and intensified debate about the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism.

    Recorded antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have risen sharply since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, a charity that provides advice and protection for British Jews.

    Some politicians and religious leaders claimed pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which have been held regularly since the war in Gaza began, had played a role in spreading hatred of Jews. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some say chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” incite anti-Jewish hatred.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters have frequently accused critics of Israel for its conduct of the war of antisemitism. Critics see it as an attempt to stifle even legitimate criticism.

    Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said the attack was the result of “an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred” on the streets and online.

    Britain Synagogue Stabbing

    A woman brings flowers as she attends a vigil for the victims of the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.

    Ian Hodgson / AP


    Some also say the U.K.’s recognition of a Palestinian state last month has emboldened antisemitism — a claim the government rejects. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was interrupted by boos and shouts of “Shame on you” on Friday as he addressed a vigil for victims of the attack in Manchester.

    Police in London urged organizers to call off a protest planned for Saturday to oppose the banning of the group Palestine Action, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the government.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said protest organizers should “recognize and respect the grief of British Jews this week” and postpone the demonstration.

    The group Defend Our Juries said it would not cancel the protest, where hundreds of people are expected to risk arrest by holding signs supporting the banned group.

    Member Jonathon Porritt said protesters would “demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.”

    “But I don’t think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza,” he told the BBC.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Opinion | The Global Intifada Has Arrived in England

    [ad_1]

    London

    It was Yom Kippur when Jihad al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, attacked a synagogue in Manchester. According to the Guardian, al-Shamie was out on bail for an alleged rape and is believed to have a previous criminal history. Two Jews, Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed before police shot al-Shamie dead. Three other people are in serious condition. Al-Shamie’s method, car-ramming and a knife, is frequently used by Palestinian terrorists against Israelis. As the left-Islamist mobs say, “Globalize the intifada.”

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    [ad_2]

    Dominic Green

    Source link