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The British General Election, on May 7th, was an epic in two respects. First, in spite of polls forecasting a hung parliament, David Cameron's Conservative Party was given unexpectedly large support, winning 331 seats, or 51 % for an overall majority of four, and showing once again the failure of left wing parties to make traction in Europe. Second, Nicola Sturgeon's Scottish Nationalists Party (SNP) swept the Labour Party aside in Scotland to achieve an unexpected landslide and rekindle Scottish pressure for independence and, with it, a threat to the continued cohesion of the United Kingdom. Likely there will be...

At 9:21 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday in America, former top Obama aide David Axelrod conceded the UK election. “Congratulations to my friend @Messina2012 on his role in the resounding Conservative victory in Britain,” Axelrod wrote on Twitter. The surprisingly decisive victory for Prime Minister David Cameron and his Tories also delivered a big win to Jim Messina, President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, who advised the Conservative Party and triumphed over his fellow Obama aide, Axelrod, who advised the Labour Party.

The Romans, Vikings and Normans may have ruled or invaded the British for hundreds of years, but they left barely a trace on our DNA, the first detailed study of the genetics of British people has revealed. The analysis shows that the Anglo-Saxons were the only conquering force, around 400-500 AD, to substantially alter the country’s genetic makeup, with most white British people now owing almost 30% of their DNA to the ancestors of modern-day Germans.

The UK government has issued a shortlist of aerodromes that could host a UK The UK government has issued a shortlist of aerodromes that could host a UK spaceport. The list reduces the number of runways first suggested as candidates when last year's consultation got under way. Still in are Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick, and Stornoway in Scotland; Newquay in England and Llanbedr in Wales. RAF Leuchars is confirmed as a potential temporary facility. Ministers are keen to see the spaceport established by 2018. . The list reduces the number of runways first suggested as candidates when last year's consultation got...

The United Kingdom stunned officials across Europe with a unilateral announcement that it would send 75 troops to Ukraine within the month to train the country's embattled forces in four skill sets – infantry, intelligence, logistics and medical. “Over the course of the next month we are going to be deploying British service personnel to provide advice and a range of training, from tactical intelligence to logistics to medical care, which is something else they have asked for," UK Prime Minister David Cameron said on “We will also be developing an infantry training programme with Ukraine to improve the durability...

Boris Johnson says he intends to renounce his American citizenship to prove his "commitment to Britain". He told the Sunday Times that his citizenship was "an accident of birth that has left me with this thing. I've got to find a way of sorting it out". The Mayor of London, who was born in New York, has in the past been forced to pay US tax because of his American citizenship. He has just completed a six-day tour of cities in the US. Mr Johnson said he would approach US ambassador Matthew Barzun to explore what steps he had to...

The name Dick Usher is familiar to regular readers: he was the head of spot foreign exchange for JPMorgan, and the bank's alleged chief FX market manipulator, who was promptly fired after it was revealed that JPM was the bank coordinating the biggest FX rigging scheme in history, as initially revealed in "Another JPMorganite Busted For "Bandits' Club" Market Manipulation." Subsequent revelations - which would have been impossible without the tremendous reporting of Bloomberg's Liam Vaughan - showed that JPM was not alone: as recent legal actions confirmed, virtually every single bank was also a keen FX rigging participant. However,...

From a British reporter who went undercover at an abortion clinic: “My first call was to Marie Stopes, a nationwide network of sexual health clinics that provide private and NHS abortions. They claim to allow women “access to comprehensive, impartial, and nonjudgmental information” and all counselors are members of B ACP. On the phone, the operator repeatedly tried to book me in for a medical assessment, the first step to getting an abortion – despite me stressing that I hadn’t yet made up my mind. I felt bulldozed into starting the termination process and had to insist on having counseling....

The British think Boston is full of “fake Irish people,” according to British staff of Buzzfeed. The website asked its employees in the UK for their stereotypes of every state in the U.S. and created a map of the results.

Mystery lovers will, well, love tonight's film. A vain and eccentric mystery novel writer (Lawrence Olivier) invites his wife's lover (Michael Caine) to participate in a game that will resolve the situation to both of their satisfaction. All is not what it seems, however, in this twist-filled tale that will keep you guessing right up to the last scene. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Barefoot Contessa, etc.) In English, with Greek subtitles.

The British parliament on Monday night officially voted in favor of recognizing the “state of Palestine”. The non-binding resolution was passed by 274 in favor to 12 votes against, to “recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel” as part of a “contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”, according to AFP. The motion, while non-binding, is heavy with symbolism but is unlikely to change government policy, the report noted. […] British Prime Minister David Cameron said prior to the vote that he would not take part in it. …

A British man suspected of being the first UK citizen to die of Ebola did not have the deadly virus, officials have confirmed today. Colin Jaffray, 58, from Royston, Cambridgeshire, was struck down with a fever, vomiting and internal bleeding during a business trip to Macedonia - and died in hospital on Thursday evening. Officials in Skopje say that although the cause of death was not known, it is thought that a drinking binge may have played a part in his death.

British man dies of suspected Ebola in Macedonia - first UK victim of virus that has killed thousands The unnamed man is the first UK victim of Ebola, if disease is confirmed The epidemic has killed 3,800 and infected at least 8,000 so far Macedonian authorities confirmed the dead man's nationality this evening Health officials have also quarantined his friend, who has symptoms The friend said the two travelled to Skopje directly from Britain This raises the terrifying prospect that they contracted it in the UK Paramedics and staff at Skopje hotel where men stayed also in quarantine A British...

TheBlaze TV The 100-Year-Old Agreement You Need to Know About to Understand What’s Driving the Islamic State Sep. 18, 2014 8:45pm Erica Ritz Glenn Beck broke down the history of the Middle East on his television program Thursday, focusing on a nearly 100-year-old agreement that he says is integral to understanding the motivations of the Islamic State: the Sykes-Picot Agreement. If you do not understand the Sykes-Picot Agreement, Beck said, you cannot fully understand the Islamic State, or why the Israelis and the Palestinians will never reach a two-state solution. Though many go back to 1948 and the creation of...

Moving from the Capitol, British Navy Rear Admiral George Cockburn, Army Major General Robert Ross, and 150 redcoats marched to the White House. Rocca asked Allman what the Britons' impression of the White House would have been as they walked in the door: "I think that it was a pretty good-sized house, but not a palatial one. No Buckingham Palace. No Versailles. That it was, you know, reasonably well decorated." The biggest surprise? A dinner set for 40. So the British feasted in the White House dining room before burning the mansion down. Here, too, the walls survived. But little...

British diplomats in the US have been forced to apologise after revealing they were hosting a party to celebrate the anniversary of the burning of the White House. The British Embassy in Washington held a ‘White House barbeque’ yesterday to mark the two hundredth anniversary of Britain capturing the US capital and setting fire to the President’s iconic address. The Embassy even sent a message on Twitter from its official account with a photograph of a White House cake, flanked by British and American flags and surrounded by sparkler fireworks.

Tyler Durden 08/25/2014 With all of England on edge because the ISIS executioner of James Foley, known as "Jihadi John" sported a British accent, and who may or may not have been identified as Abdel-Majed Bary, although UK government sources have not yet officially revealed his identity, one person has decided it is time to not waste yet another crisis. The person: London mayor Boris Johnson who as the Guardian reports, has called for the presumption of innocence to be reversed in cases where Britons travel to Iraq or Syria and said he wants the jihadist who beheaded an American...

Armed men attacked an Ebola isolation ward in the Liberian capital Monrovia overnight, prompting 29 patients to flee the facility, witnesses said Sunday. 'They broke down the doors and looted the place. The patients all fled,' said Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack and whose report was confirmed by residents and the head of Health Workers Association of Liberian, George Williams. Meanwhile, a Nigerian man was today at the centre of an Ebola health scare on the Spanish Costas, which contains an estimated British population of more than 82,000.

LONDON (Reuters) - British police raided an English country pub this week in search of a stolen wooden relic believed by some to be the Holy Grail - a cup from which, according to the Bible, Jesus is said to have drunk at his final meal before crucifixion.

The Ministry of Defence admits it does not label food as halal or kosher in its UK or overseas bases, with only soldiers who request these meals told what they are eatingSoldiers are unwittingly being fed halal meat in military bases , the Ministry of Defence has admitted. The MoD has confirmed that only troops who request specific meals are told the source of the meat they are eating. Food served in MoD canteens in both UK and permanent bases abroad is not routinely labelled to indicate it has been slaughtered using religious methods to ensure it is halal or...