Author: LoveWorld UK

Boris Johnson, the front-runner in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, increased his support among lawmakers in the fourth round of the Conservative Party leadership contest. Johnson got 157 out of 313 votes. Environment minister Michael Gove came second with 61 votes, overtaking Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who got 59 votes. Interior minister Sajid Javid was fourth with 34 votes and was eliminated from the contest. Oddly two votes were declared invalid. A fifth ballot later on today will determine the final two candidates. Then Conservative Party grassroots members will decide who will become leader, and Britain’s next…

Iran has shot down a U.S. drone which the elite Revolutionary Guards said was flying over southern Iran, raising fears that a major military confrontation could erupt between Tehran and Washington. Guards website Sepah News said the “spy” drone was brought down over the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, which is on the Gulf. While Iran’s state news agency IRNA carried the same report, identifying the drone as an RQ-4 Global Hawk, a U.S. official said a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton had been shot down in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. The MQ-4C Triton’s manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, says…

The United States will maintain its pressure campaign on Iran and continue to deter aggression in the region but does not want the conflict with Tehran to escalate, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted since Washington blamed longtime foe Iran for Thursday’s attacks on two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping lane. “President Trump does not want war and we will continue to communicate that message while doing the things that are necessary to protect American interests in the region,” Pompeo said.

President Donald Trump formally launched his 2020 re-election campaign by presenting himself as the same political insurgent who shook up the Washington establishment four years ago and who is now a victim of an attempted ouster by Democrats. At a packed rally at an arena in Orlando, Florida, Trump made clear he would run for re-election as an outsider, just as he did in 2016. He revisited campaign themes from four years ago, decrying illegal immigration, the news media and his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump said his Democratic challengers would radically change the United States and seek to…

International investigators are set to launch criminal proceedings against suspects in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine nearly five years ago. MH17 was shot out of the sky on July 17, 2014 over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine as it was flying from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board were killed. Most victims were Dutch. A joint investigation team formed in 2014 by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine found that the plane was shot down by a Russian missile. The governments of the Netherlands…

British prime ministerial hopefuls Michael Gove and Rory Stewart appeared confident ahead of Tuesday’s (June 18) second round in the Conservative Party leadership contest. Gove leaving his house on the morning six contenders are whittled down by the party’s lawmakers, told reporters he is looking forward to ”making the case for a positive Conservative vision.” On Monday Gove said if he became prime minister he would try to win changes to a Brexit deal by opening talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. Stewart, leaving 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, said he still has a…

Several hopefuls vying to replace British Prime Minister Theresa May turned their fire on favourite Boris Johnson, questioning his pledge to leave the European Union by the end of October no matter what. With former London mayor and foreign minister Johnson keeping a low profile, the other candidates have targeted the air waves to present their cases to lead the governing Conservative Party.  His absence was marked by an empty lectern. That left the five other candidates to argue over which man was best placed to deliver Brexit in testy exchanges International Development Minister Rory Stewart described as a competition…

Troubled construction and services firm Kier has said it will cut 1,200 jobs as it seeks to make cost savings of £55m a year by 2021. The cuts came as the firm’s boss announced a plan to simplify Kier’s business and reduce its debt. The company will sell its homebuilding business, Kier Living, and will shut or sell other interests, including its recycling and rubbish processing units. Kier will now focus on activities such as construction and road maintenance. Shares in the company have fallen by more than 85% in the past year, and they fell a further 9% in…

Members of Mexico’s National Guard began patrolling an area along the country’s southern border, as Mexico stepped up efforts to reduce a surge of migrants toward the U.S. under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has vowed to hit Mexican goods with tariffs if Mexico does not do more to stem illegal immigration. As part of those efforts, Mexico has pledged to deploy 6,000 National Guard members along its border with Guatemala. Mexico made a deal on June 7 with the United States to avert the tariffs, setting the clock ticking on a 45-day period for the Mexican government…

Activist Joshua Wong, who has become the face of Hong Kong’s push for full democracy, walked free from prison on Monday and vowed to join a mass protest movement demanding that the city’s Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, steps down. His release comes as a political crisis in the Chinese-ruled city enters its second week, amid growing uncertainty over the fate of current Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and a controversial extradition bill she postponed at the weekend. Protest organizers said almost 2 million people turned out on Sunday (June 16) to demand that Lam resign, in what is becoming the…