DAVID STRINGER

Associated Press
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Life's a beach for civil servants at London Games

Tanned and toned Olympic athletes in skimpy outfits will be serving and spiking outside the prime minister's Downing Street home — but it's lower-ranked civil servants who will have the best view of beach volleyball at the London Games.

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UK govt to focus on economy, reform House of Lords

Wearing a crown studded with glittering jewels, Queen Elizabeth II set out Britain's new legislative agenda in opulent style Wednesday — but announced a frugal program aimed at boosting economic growth and overhauling the unelected House of Lords after decades of delays.

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Britain's Cameron: UK must stand by spending cuts

Britain must stick to its tough austerity measures despite doubts elsewhere in Europe over the best remedy to fix the continent's stalled economies, Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Tuesday.

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UK raises Briton's murky death in China talks

Britain's senior politicians urged China on Tuesday to ensure that an investigation into the suspicious murder of a British businessman is free from political meddling and quickly uncovers the facts.

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Critics blast UK plans for more snooping, secrecy

British plans to expand the use of secret court hearings to protect intelligence shared by the United States and other allies and to extend state snooping on the Internet are vital to protect the public, Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday, after a blitz of criticism from campaigners, lawmakers and even his own deputy.

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UK aims to halt trafficking of nuclear material

Britain plans to share previously secret expertise on detecting the illegal trafficking of radiological material and halting potential nuclear terrorism, the country's deputy prime minister told a security summit Tuesday.

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Waving flags or farewell? Outposts mull ties to UK

From sun-kissed Caribbean beaches to icy north Atlantic tundra, Queen Elizabeth II's family has begun a celebratory tour to mark her 60th year on the throne — just as questions are raised about dumping the monarchy in the far-flung outposts of Britain's faded empire.

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UK warns Argentina regarding the Falklands

The British government summoned Argentina's top diplomat to the Foreign Office on Wednesday to explain his country's decision to ask 20 leading companies to stop importing British products and supplies because of the dispute over the Falkland Islands.

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Nations hunt for info on Italy cruise accident

Language barriers, overwhelmed local authorities, squads of foreign diplomats with lists of awkward questions — the international mix of passengers and crew aboard the stricken Costa Concordia cruise liner added to the complications Saturday for Italian officials handling the emergency.

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UK's Hague visits Myanmar to urge reforms

Britain's William Hague was arriving in Myanmar on Thursday for the first visit by a U.K. foreign secretary since 1955 — a new sign of the Southeast Asian nation's warming relations with the West.

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Newly released files detail Thatcher's 1981 crisis

Rioting on Britain's streets and criticism from colleagues during an economic crisis tested the mettle of Margaret Thatcher. Government documents released Friday detail how early challenges shaped the woman who dominated the country's political life for 11 years.

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UK mulls changes to terrorism threat scale

Britain has announced in advance it will raise its terrorism threat level during the London Olympics next summer, but that could be the last time the five-point scale is used amid mounting evidence such systems are often misunderstood and do little to generate crucial tips about terror plots.

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Journalist: Morgan must have known about hacking

CNN celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan was an extremely hands-on tabloid editor who must have known that phone hacking was rife at his paper, a former employee claimed Wednesday.

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UK urges Bahrain to embrace reform after protests

British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Bahrain's king on Monday to quickly implement reforms recommended in a scathing report into human rights abuses during the Arab nation's uprising.

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Blair regrets passing freedom of information law

Poised on the brink of power, Tony Blair made an impassioned vow: Britain's jealously-held culture of official secrecy would be dramatically swept away.

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Britain to roll out US-style anti-gang programs

Britain will roll out programs pioneered in the United States to tackle gang violence as part of the country's response to summer riots in which hundreds of young people committed arson, looting and attacks on police officers, the government said Tuesday.

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UK inquiry finds former minister broke rules

Britain's departed defense minister Liam Fox breached rules by allowing a personal friend access to meetings and overseas visits — including discussions with a U.S. military commander and senior Israeli officials, a report by the country's top civil servant ruled Tuesday.

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Obama blames plot to kill Saudi diplomat on Iran

President Barack Obama said Thursday that officials at the "highest levels" of the Iranian government must be held accountable for a brazen and bizarre plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on American soil, insisting leaders of the world will believe the U.S. case without dispute once they absorb the details.

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UK opposition promotes young lawmakers to top team

Britain's main opposition party promoted a host of new and mostly young lawmakers into senior roles Friday in an overhaul of its senior team of legislators.

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Amid Europe's crisis, UK skeptics seek looser ties

It shunned the euro to keep its cherished pound. Now could Europe's deepening debt crisis see Britain turn its back entirely on its struggling neighbors?

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Doubts grow, not economy, under UK austerity drive

Jobs have been lost, libraries shuttered, sailors sacked and street lights dimmed — Britain is beginning to taste the bitter medicine David Cameron warned was necessary to fix its wounded economy. It's left some wondering: Is the remedy worse than the symptoms?

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UK military think tank: Libya campaign needed luck

The NATO-led air campaign in Libya needed luck to overcome its initially haphazard command, complex new international partnerships and the withdrawal of the United States from a leading role, a top military think tank says.

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British judges hear riot sentencing appeals

Judges in London are hearing appeals from 10 individuals jailed for involvement in the rioting and looting that hit Britain in August.

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UK might withhold aid in global transparency push

Britain might withhold future aid from countries that fail to detail how they spend international funds, a senior minister said ahead of talks Tuesday aimed at promoting government transparency.

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Alleged renegade UBS trader had luxury lifestyle

Educated at an exclusive school in a picturesque patch of English countryside, Ghana-born trader Kweku Adoboli was known to neighbors as a polite and well dressed young man who mixed grueling hours in London's financial district with a lavish social life in the capital's nightspots.

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