Author: LoveWorld UK

Real Madrid outplayed Barcelona for large parts of Wednesday’s top-of-the-table La Liga clash but were unable to make their dominance count and the ‘Clasico’ ended goalless to leave the Catalans top of the standings on goal difference. Both sides had shots cleared off the goalline while Real’s Gareth Bale did manage to put the ball in the net after the interval but his strike was narrowly ruled out for offside and the fixture ended scoreless for the first time since November 2002. The match was rescheduled from Oct. 26 due to the political turmoil that gripped Catalonia after separatist leaders…

Hong Kong protesters rallied outside diplomatic missions on Thursday (December 19) to urge foreign governments to follow the United States in passing human rights bills to raise pressure on Beijing and support their pro-democracy campaign. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed congressional legislation requiring the State Department to certify, at least once a year, that Hong Kong retains enough autonomy from Beijing to justify favourable U.S. trading terms. About 1,000 people, most of them dressed in black and wearing face masks, marched on a route that took them by the consulates of Australia, Britain, the European Union, the United…

The Queen has set out the Conservative government’s agenda for the year ahead, following last week’s decisive election win. Legislation to take the UK out of the EU on 31 January was among more than 30 bills being announced during Thursday’s State Opening of Parliament. Other measures included guarantees on extra health service funding and longer sentences for violent criminals. PM Boris Johnson says he wants to unite the UK and “level up” opportunity. But Labour said the government would be judged on how far it made up for “years of underfunding” of the health service and, so far, its…

President Donald Trump has become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, setting up a trial in the Senate that will decide whether he remains in office. The House voted on two charges – that the president had abused his power and that he had obstructed Congress. Nearly all Democrats voted for the charges and every Republican against. President Trump’s Republicans control the Senate, so it is highly unlikely he will be removed from power. Democrats are already unhappy at the way the trial could be held. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has now…

Representatives of Allies countries and Germany gathered in Bastogne – a small town in the Belgian Ardennes – on Monday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the bloodiest single engagement for U.S. forces in World War Two. On December 16, 1944, the Germans used the bad weather and forested hills to launch a surprise attack on the lightly defended 140 km (90 mile) front. The six-week battle was dubbed the Battle of the Bulge because of the large dent German forces made in the front line as they pushed towards the northern Belgian port of…

Conservative MP and Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, when asked about his expectations of a future position in the PMs Cabinet, told a journalist it was “not up to me”.  Soon after the UK election was called in November, Rees-Mogg apologised after he suggested victims of the 2017 blaze at London’s Grenfell Tower should have used “common sense” to ignore firefighters’ instructions to stay in the burning building. Rees-Mogg retained his seat in North East Somerset but was noticeably absent outside of his constituency during the election campaign. For now, the prime minister will appoint three new…

The government is to add a new clause to the Brexit bill to rule out any extension to the transition period beyond the end of next year. The post-Brexit transition period – due to conclude in December 2020 –  can currently be extended by mutual agreement for up to two years. But an amended Withdrawal Agreement Bill the Commons is set to vote on this week would rule out any extension. Critics say this raises the chance of leaving the EU without a trade deal. But senior Cabinet Minister Michael Gove insisted both the UK and the EU had “committed…

Water firms in England and Wales will have to cut the average bill by £50 over the next five years, under plans published by the industry regulator. Water regulator Ofwat is also forcing firms to invest millions of pounds, aimed at improving their performance. The regulator also wants water firms to cut water lost to leaks by 16%. Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher said its plan was “firing the starting gun on the transformation of the water industry”. “Now water companies need to crack on, turn this into a reality and transform their performance for everyone,” she added. There has…

Protests over a new Indian citizenship law based on religion spread to student campuses as critics said the Hindu nationalist government was pushing a partisan agenda in conflict with the country’s founding as a secular republic. Students pelted stones at police who locked up the gates of a college in the northern city of Lucknow to prevent them from taking to the streets. About two dozen students at another college in the city sneaked out to protest. Anger with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was fueled by allegations of police brutality at Jamia Millia Islamia university on Sunday, when officers…

A backburning operation intended to contain a massive wildfire in eastern Australia sparked out of control, damaging dozens of buildings and cutting off major roads, authorities said, warning an impending heatwave may overwrite temperature records. The accident took place about 155 miles northwest of Sydney, where firefighters were trying to stop a blaze of some 934,000 acres, reaching communities by carrying out pre-emptive controlled burning.  Wildfires have killed at least four people, destroyed more than 680 homes and burned nearly 3 million acres of bushland across eastern Australia since the start of November. The Bureau of Meteorology meanwhile warned of…