Gourt > Regional > Europe > United Kingdom (26538)
- ''For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK”, see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation).
- For an explanation of these and terms such as Great Britain, British, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, see British Isles (terminology).''
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom, the UK and Britain) is a country Countries within a country, Number 10. Accessed May 29 2006 Member States: United Kingdom, UK Presidency of the EU 2005. Accessed May 29 2006. "United Kingdom", Encyclopædia Britannica Accessed May 29 2006 and sovereign stateUK or GB?, Directgov (UK government website); accessed May 29 2006 occupying Great Britain and the northeast of Ireland off the northwest coast of mainland Europe. Its territory and population are primarily situated on the island of Great Britain, but it also shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland on the island of Ireland. The United Kingdom is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and its ancillary bodies of water- the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a political union made up of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, and Wales on the island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom also has several overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. The Crown has a relationship with the dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands; they are part of the British Islands but not part of the United Kingdom. A constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom has close relationships with fifteen other Commonwealth Realms that share the same monarch — Queen Elizabeth II — as head of state.
More on [ United Kingdom ]
BBC News | UK | World Edition
Brown warns Karzai on corruption
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:57:33 -0000
Gordon Brown warns the Afghan president he will not put British troops "in harm's way" to defend a corrupt administration.
BA to cut 1,200 jobs amid losses
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:55:04 -0000
British Airways says it will cut its global workforce by an extra 1,200 as it reports a first-half loss for the first time.
Praying murderer jailed for life
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:17:03 -0000
A man overheard praying for forgiveness after murdering his pregnant girlfriend's mother receives a life sentence.
Personal insolvency rises by 28%
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:58:19 -0000
Personal insolvencies hit a record in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2009, with the total up 28% on a year ago.
Student dies in 60ft cliff plunge
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:12:18 -0000
A first-year student plunges 60ft to his death from a cliff close to his university in Fife.
Wedding guest admits manslaughter
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:06:26 -0000
A man admits killing his partner's brother who died after a row during a wedding reception.
The Economist: Britain
New banking measures: Chipped, not broken
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
The latest chapter in the banking rescue is less novel than it seemsJUST over a year ago, as Britain’s banking system suffered a near-death experience, the government resuscitated it with an emergency infusion of capital. This week Alistair Darling pumped in yet more money, leading to accusations that policy failures had brought about another big bail-out. The chancellor of the exchequer, for his part, made much of moves to create a more competitive banking market, forcing the two big banks that have gobbled up state aid—Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG)—to pay for it by shedding branches and customers. In fact, this latest chapter in the banking rescue is neither a new bail-out nor the dawn of a new competitive era. The government’s sudden interest in opening up the market was in any case the result of pressure from Europe (see article). And despite much hoopla before this week’s announcement about breaking up the banks, it amounted to precious little. ...
Dating in the downturn: Well met by clublight
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
What online-dating sites are learning from pick-up artistsIN A dark underground room in central London, a group of men scribble intently in notebooks. They are in a class on “how to be funny” and they want to get it right. It has been a long day; they have already attended classes on teeth-whitening, self-esteem and personal finance as part of an intensive course on how to attract women. This evening they will put their work into practice as tutors assess their attempts to score dates in some of the city’s leading clubs.The programme is run by Love Systems, an American firm that charges up to GBP3,000 ($5,000) for three-day boot camps. Other outfits offer similar “pick-up” courses, though they remain relatively small and almost clandestine. The real money in the “dating industry” is online. ...
Drugs policy: Blinded by science
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
An outspoken scientist is dumped, leaving the government in a mess“THE Nutty Professor”, as David Nutt is known in the Sun and other newspapers, has never been far from controversy. As chairman of the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), Dr Nutt, who heads Bristol University’s psychopharmacology unit, issued reports on narcotics and recommended where each should be placed on Britain’s three-point scale of harmfulness. Such is the seething state of the drugs debate that more or less anything he said was guaranteed to enrage somebody.Most recently he managed to upset Alan Johnson, the home secretary, who promptly sacked him on October 30th. His offence was to have repeated his view that cannabis and ecstasy are both less harmful than the government implies in its classification of them. Cannabis, currently class B, and ecstasy, class A, should both be demoted to class C, he said, adding for good measure that both were less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. ...
Reforming parliamentary expenses: The never-ending story
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
Those charged with fixing a discredited system are taking their timeIF THE next general election takes place in May, as is expected, a year will have elapsed since MPs were shamed by revelations of their systematically fiddled expenses and allowances. It looks increasingly possible, however, that the broken system will have been fixed only partially by the time voters go to the polls. Gordon Brown asked the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life to propose reforms to the expenses regime soon after the scandal broke, thanks to the Daily Telegraph. Despite the prime minister’s pleas for a speedy inquiry, Sir Christopher Kelly, the committee’s chairman, reported only on November 4th. His main recommendation concerns the so-called second-homes allowance, which MPs can claim to maintain separate homes in their constituencies and in London. He wants it confined to the cost of renting a place or staying in a hotel. Those who currently claim for mortgage payments can do so for the duration of the next parliament, but any capital gains made over that time must be returned to the taxpayer. ...
Teaching at universities: A sense of entitlement
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
When demanding students meet reluctant lecturersA COMIC novel, “Lucky Jim”, published by Kingsley Amis in 1954, portrayed life as a university lecturer as a grubby, tiresome slog, for all that it was shot through with humour. A somewhat drier study of university life has now found that academics no longer devote as much time to teaching as they did because of the bureaucratic burdens they are now forced to carry.The study, by Malcolm Tight of Lancaster University, examined surveys of academic workloads since 1945. He found that university staff have worked long hours, typically 50 hours a week, since the late 1960s. Academics fiercely protect the time they spend on research. They also do more administrative work than in the past. As a result, he concludes, “the balance of the average academic’s workload has changed in an undesirable way… [making] it more difficult to pay as much attention to teaching as most academics would like to do.” ...
Policing Northern Ireland: New cop in town
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
A tough task awaits the new chief constableJUST when the finishing line was in sight, a stumble. Last month, after long talks with Northern Ireland’s ruling politicians, Gordon Brown agreed to hand over GBP800m-1 billion ($1.7 billion) to the Stormont government to finance the final stage of devolution—giving Belfast responsibility for policing and justice. The self-congratulatory announcement to Parliament was barely out of the prime minister’s mouth when Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland’s first minister, called a halt. Members of his Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) needed to see more “confidence-building measures” on issues such as Orange Order parades before he could give his final approval. Even the promise of a further GBP20m for mainly Protestant police reservists has not moved matters forward. For all their irritation over unionist foot-dragging, however, mainstream republicans are playing a full part in transforming how Northern Ireland is policed. This has changed radically over the past decade, as the old Protestant-dominated Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) has given way to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Thanks to 50-50 hiring of Protestants and Catholics, the proportion of the latter in the ranks has risen from 8% to 28%, and it is growing (in senior ranks the Catholic proportion has doubled to 16%). Women now make up a quarter of a force that has lost much of its former laddish complexion. ...
Subscribe to United_Kingdom RSS feed 
Brown warns Karzai on corruption
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:57:33 -0000
Gordon Brown warns the Afghan president he will not put British troops "in harm's way" to defend a corrupt administration.
BA to cut 1,200 jobs amid losses
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:55:04 -0000
British Airways says it will cut its global workforce by an extra 1,200 as it reports a first-half loss for the first time.
Praying murderer jailed for life
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:17:03 -0000
A man overheard praying for forgiveness after murdering his pregnant girlfriend's mother receives a life sentence.
Personal insolvency rises by 28%
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:58:19 -0000
Personal insolvencies hit a record in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2009, with the total up 28% on a year ago.
Student dies in 60ft cliff plunge
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:12:18 -0000
A first-year student plunges 60ft to his death from a cliff close to his university in Fife.
Wedding guest admits manslaughter
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:06:26 -0000
A man admits killing his partner's brother who died after a row during a wedding reception.
The Economist: Britain
New banking measures: Chipped, not broken
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
The latest chapter in the banking rescue is less novel than it seemsJUST over a year ago, as Britain’s banking system suffered a near-death experience, the government resuscitated it with an emergency infusion of capital. This week Alistair Darling pumped in yet more money, leading to accusations that policy failures had brought about another big bail-out. The chancellor of the exchequer, for his part, made much of moves to create a more competitive banking market, forcing the two big banks that have gobbled up state aid—Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG)—to pay for it by shedding branches and customers. In fact, this latest chapter in the banking rescue is neither a new bail-out nor the dawn of a new competitive era. The government’s sudden interest in opening up the market was in any case the result of pressure from Europe (see article). And despite much hoopla before this week’s announcement about breaking up the banks, it amounted to precious little. ...
Dating in the downturn: Well met by clublight
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
What online-dating sites are learning from pick-up artistsIN A dark underground room in central London, a group of men scribble intently in notebooks. They are in a class on “how to be funny” and they want to get it right. It has been a long day; they have already attended classes on teeth-whitening, self-esteem and personal finance as part of an intensive course on how to attract women. This evening they will put their work into practice as tutors assess their attempts to score dates in some of the city’s leading clubs.The programme is run by Love Systems, an American firm that charges up to GBP3,000 ($5,000) for three-day boot camps. Other outfits offer similar “pick-up” courses, though they remain relatively small and almost clandestine. The real money in the “dating industry” is online. ...
Drugs policy: Blinded by science
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
An outspoken scientist is dumped, leaving the government in a mess“THE Nutty Professor”, as David Nutt is known in the Sun and other newspapers, has never been far from controversy. As chairman of the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), Dr Nutt, who heads Bristol University’s psychopharmacology unit, issued reports on narcotics and recommended where each should be placed on Britain’s three-point scale of harmfulness. Such is the seething state of the drugs debate that more or less anything he said was guaranteed to enrage somebody.Most recently he managed to upset Alan Johnson, the home secretary, who promptly sacked him on October 30th. His offence was to have repeated his view that cannabis and ecstasy are both less harmful than the government implies in its classification of them. Cannabis, currently class B, and ecstasy, class A, should both be demoted to class C, he said, adding for good measure that both were less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. ...
Reforming parliamentary expenses: The never-ending story
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
Those charged with fixing a discredited system are taking their timeIF THE next general election takes place in May, as is expected, a year will have elapsed since MPs were shamed by revelations of their systematically fiddled expenses and allowances. It looks increasingly possible, however, that the broken system will have been fixed only partially by the time voters go to the polls. Gordon Brown asked the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life to propose reforms to the expenses regime soon after the scandal broke, thanks to the Daily Telegraph. Despite the prime minister’s pleas for a speedy inquiry, Sir Christopher Kelly, the committee’s chairman, reported only on November 4th. His main recommendation concerns the so-called second-homes allowance, which MPs can claim to maintain separate homes in their constituencies and in London. He wants it confined to the cost of renting a place or staying in a hotel. Those who currently claim for mortgage payments can do so for the duration of the next parliament, but any capital gains made over that time must be returned to the taxpayer. ...
Teaching at universities: A sense of entitlement
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
When demanding students meet reluctant lecturersA COMIC novel, “Lucky Jim”, published by Kingsley Amis in 1954, portrayed life as a university lecturer as a grubby, tiresome slog, for all that it was shot through with humour. A somewhat drier study of university life has now found that academics no longer devote as much time to teaching as they did because of the bureaucratic burdens they are now forced to carry.The study, by Malcolm Tight of Lancaster University, examined surveys of academic workloads since 1945. He found that university staff have worked long hours, typically 50 hours a week, since the late 1960s. Academics fiercely protect the time they spend on research. They also do more administrative work than in the past. As a result, he concludes, “the balance of the average academic’s workload has changed in an undesirable way… [making] it more difficult to pay as much attention to teaching as most academics would like to do.” ...
Policing Northern Ireland: New cop in town
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:13 -0000
A tough task awaits the new chief constableJUST when the finishing line was in sight, a stumble. Last month, after long talks with Northern Ireland’s ruling politicians, Gordon Brown agreed to hand over GBP800m-1 billion ($1.7 billion) to the Stormont government to finance the final stage of devolution—giving Belfast responsibility for policing and justice. The self-congratulatory announcement to Parliament was barely out of the prime minister’s mouth when Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland’s first minister, called a halt. Members of his Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) needed to see more “confidence-building measures” on issues such as Orange Order parades before he could give his final approval. Even the promise of a further GBP20m for mainly Protestant police reservists has not moved matters forward. For all their irritation over unionist foot-dragging, however, mainstream republicans are playing a full part in transforming how Northern Ireland is policed. This has changed radically over the past decade, as the old Protestant-dominated Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) has given way to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Thanks to 50-50 hiring of Protestants and Catholics, the proportion of the latter in the ranks has risen from 8% to 28%, and it is growing (in senior ranks the Catholic proportion has doubled to 16%). Women now make up a quarter of a force that has lost much of its former laddish complexion. ...
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