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  • After Isha, Storm Jocelyn batters Britain

    After Isha, Storm Jocelyn batters Britain

    The storm follows Agnes, Babet, Ciarán, Debi, Elin, Fergus, Gerrit, Henk, and Isha, making it the tenth since the storm season began in late September…reports Asian Lite News

    The United Kingdom and Ireland are braced for more strong winds and heavy rainfall as Storm Jocelyn approaches, just hours after deadly storm Isha swept the region on Sunday and Monday, leaving tens of thousands without power and leading to at least four deaths.

    It follows storm Agnes, Babet, Ciarán, Debi, Elin, Fergus, Gerrit, Henk, and Isha, making it the tenth since the storm season began in late September.

    Jocelyn marks the first time on record that the UK and Ireland have reached “J” in the alphabet so early in the season, said Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society.

    Met Éireann, Ireland’s national meteorological service and the agency that named storm Jocelyn, has issued weather warnings for very strong winds with “severe and damaging gusts.”

    The UK’s Met Office has issued amber and yellow national severe weather warnings for wind covering much of the UK, and yellow warnings for heavy rain.

    “Wind gusts are expected to reach 55 to 65 mph across northwestern Scotland while there is potential for winds to gust to 75 to 80 mph in a few places,” said Steve Willington, chief meteorologist at the UK Met Office, predicting that rainfall accumulation could reach 40 to 50 millimeters over higher ground in southwest Scotland, the Scottish Highlands, and parts of northwest England.

    Storm Jocelyn is forecast to be less powerful than Isha, which reached wind speeds of more than 110 mph.

    Isha lead to the deaths of at least four people. An 84-year-old man died in Scotland on Sunday when a tree crushed the car he was traveling in. A 60-year-old man died on Sunday when his car collided with a fallen tree in Northern Ireland, and two people were killed in Ireland in separate storm-related road accidents on Sunday and early Monday morning.

    But while Jocelyn is expected to be less extreme, it comes as the UK is still grappling with the extensive damage Isha caused and as the ground in some places is already saturated from rainfall.

    “With the damage and clean up still underway, we could potentially see more impacts from Storm Jocelyn,” Willington said.

    Climate change, driven primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, is causing extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall, to become more frequent and more intense.

    While there is no evidence of changes in the frequency or intensity of windstorms in the last few decades in the UK, future climate projections suggest that winter windstorms will increase slightly in number and intensity, Bentley said.

    “There is more confidence though, that the storms will be more impactful,” she added. “We are seeing more rainfall associated with these storms – a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leads to heavier rainfall – climate projections indicate warmer, wetter winters in the future.”

    Climate change has also led to sea level rise, Bentley added, “so the impact of these storms is greater.”

    Jocelyn brought more travel disruption to parts of the country on Wednesday, after Isha caused chaos on the transport network earlier in the week.

    Trains to and from Scotland are suspended until at least Wednesday afternoon. Avanti West Coast said people should not try to go north of Preston until at least midday on Wednesday, and said journeys in the north-west could take longer because of speed restrictions. LNER also asked passengers not to go north of Newcastle.

    Martin Thomson, national operations manager for resilience at Transport Scotland, said: “Across the wider network, we can expect to see more delays and cancellations with ferries, flights and rail into Wednesday morning.”

    Network Rail Scotland said that it had dealt with flooding, downed trees and the roof of a shed roof blowing onto a wall above a track on Tuesday evening.

    A statement outlining the plan for morning route inspections said: “It’ll be done in many ways – teams on foot, in road-rail vehicles, freight locos and empty passenger trains.

    “Our helicopter will be out too, as soon as winds ease.” ScotRail said that “it will be later on in the day before any trains can run”.

    Jocelyn has brought travel chaos to the roads as well. The Queen Elizabeth II bridge at the Dartford Crossing, M48 Severn Bridge and A66 in County Durham and Cumbria were all closed amid high winds. The Humber Bridge, the A19 Tees Flyover and the Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire were closed to high-sided vehicles.

    The M1 was also closed in both directions to high-sided vehicles at Junction 34 for Sheffield. The A76 in Scotland was shut in both directions between Skelmorlie and Largs because water had come over the sea wall. The Forth Bridge was open to cars and single decker buses with restrictions on high-sided vehicles on several bridges.

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  • Britain retains metric system for selling

    Britain retains metric system for selling

    The department said the U.K. had “a long and proud history” of using imperial measures and that their use is “closely associated with our culture and language”…reports Asian Lite News

    The UK government has said that it had dropped its plan to start selling in imperial measures after a consultation revealed 99% support for keeping the metric system.

    Ministers had looked at changing the law after the U.K.’s departure from the European Union in 2020 to allow traders to use Britain’s traditional weighing system — which measures in pounds and pints — only alongside the metric one.

    But they decided against the move after 98.7% of the 1,00,938 respondents to an official consultation said they were happy using metric units when buying or selling a product.

    “The government has analysed all consultation responses received and reviewed the arguments for and against expanding the use of imperial units in domestic consumer transactions,” a statement from the department of business and trade said.

    “After careful consideration, the government has decided against any legislative changes at this time.”

    The department said the U.K. had “a long and proud history” of using imperial measures and that their use is “closely associated with our culture and language”.

    Distances in Britain are still measured in miles, while beers and milk are also sold in pints. The department also announced that rules would be altered to allow a 568 ml “pint” size of wine to be stocked on supermarkets, pubs, clubs and restaurant for the first time.

    ‘Brexit freedoms’

    The department said the reforms were thanks to “new Brexit freedoms” obtained via the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.

    During the U.K.’s 2019 general election campaign, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that he would bring back imperial units in shops. He claimed that measuring in pounds and ounces was an “ancient liberty” and promised a “new era of generosity and tolerance” towards traditional measurements. The U.S., Myanmar and Liberia are the only other countries that use the imperial system on a daily basis.

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  • Britain to be made AI-ready with £118 mn package

    Britain to be made AI-ready with £118 mn package

    These plans follow a previously-announced £8.1 million funding package for postgraduate scholarships in AI and data science…reports Asian Lite News

    The government has announced an effort to future-proof the nation’s artificial intelligence (AI) skills base with a £118 million funding boost.

    Aimed at ensuring the country becomes a center for AI innovation, the funding package will include naming 12 additional Centers for Doctoral Training in the development and application of AI.

    The training initiative will focus on developing responsible, trustworthy, and safe AI applications, with a strong emphasis on the use of responsible AI in areas such as healthcare.

    A new visa scheme will also be introduced that will enable businesses to bring talented AI practitioners to the UK earlier in their careers via internships and placements with domestic firms and universities.

    This will build on a pre-existing £1 million grant package to support AI researchers looking to relocate to the country.

    The government said the funding will add to previous investment for 15 science and technology scholarships at leading universities in the UK and the pilot of the new ‘Backing Invisible Geniuses’ (BIG) STEM Olympiad scholarship scheme.

    The scholarship scheme is being launched with a founding donation from XTX Markets in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT).

    “The plans we are announcing today will future-proof our nation’s skills base, meaning British people can reap the benefits of AI as it continues to develop,” said Secretary of State Michelle Donelan.

    “At the same time, we are moving further and faster to put the power of this technology to work for good across government and society.”

    These plans follow a previously-announced £8.1 million funding package for postgraduate scholarships in AI and data science.

    The government initiative recognizes a ‘change of pace’ in AI development is required nationally, and aims to ensure it fosters the required talent pool to capitalize on the technology.

    The total funding for such scholarships now stands at £26 million since 2020, which involves over 2,600 scholarships targeted at disadvantaged groups.

    In addition to financial backing for skills development, the government has also revealed a number of measures it hopes will leverage the potential of AI to boost productivity and quality of life.

    The letters “AI” on a purple square, formed from blue, white, and purple dots and lines of energy. It is set against a blue-purple background.

    A total of 64 NHS trusts will benefit from a £21 million rollout of AI technology that will improve procedures for diagnosing serious conditions using X-ray and CT scans.

    The NHS will also benefit from the launch of the ‘Airlock’ regulatory sandbox, which will allow AI innovators to safely test their technologies in healthcare applications earlier and should mean patients can benefit from such innovations even sooner.

    A partnership between the Met Office and the Alan Turing Institute will use AI to improve weather forecasting, aimed at bolstering the UK’s resilience to extreme weather events.

    The drive by the government includes considerations around the ethical rollout of AI technologies, and part of this effort involves the launch of internationally recognized standards for the use of AI in healthcare.

    “The UK is at the very forefront of the global race to turn AI’s enormous potential into a giant leap forward for people’s quality of life and productivity at work, all while ensuring this technology works safely, ethically and responsibly,” Donelan said.

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  • UK arranges flights for Britons stranded in Israel

    UK arranges flights for Britons stranded in Israel

    Those who will be travelling on the flight have been notified by text message. A number of countries have already completed flights to get people home from Israel, including Canada, France, Italy and Poland…reports Asian Lite News

    The UK is arranging flights to get stranded British nationals out of Israel, the Foreign Office has said. The first plane was expected to leave Tel Aviv on Thursday, with more flights planned “in the coming days, subject to security”.

    Those eligible to leave will be contacted directly and British nationals should not go to airports unless they are called to. A team of diplomats has been sent to Israel to help people flying to the UK.

    The Foreign Office said it is “working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible.” The UK government said earlier this week it would not arrange evacuation flights because commercial routes were still available. But British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates have all suspended flights in recent days.

    The government-arranged flights will be chartered by the Foreign Office but are commercial services. Each passenger will be charged £300. A statement said British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK, would be invited to take up seats.

    Those who will be travelling on the flight have been notified by text message. A number of countries have already completed flights to get people home from Israel, including Canada, France, Italy and Poland.

    Most airlines stopped flying direct between Israel and the UK earlier this week, and Virgin Atlantic and British Airways pulled their last remaining daily service on Thursday after a BA flight was forced to turn back over security concerns.

    Julius is eager to return to London as he is the primary carer of his 92-year-old mother, who has chronic health issues. His children in London have stepped in to help care for her while he is away. “It’s not optimal that we are stuck here, to put it mildly,” he said. After a BA flight was cancelled, he said the airline “tried to book us on every possible route” but all flights were “absolutely full”.

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  • 3 suspected Russian spies arrested in Britain

    3 suspected Russian spies arrested in Britain

    The three defendants are due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in London in January. They have yet to enter pleas to the charges…reports Asian Lite News

    Three suspected spies for Russia in the UK have been arrested and charged in a major national security investigation. The defendants, all Bulgarian nationals, were held in February and have been remanded in custody since.

    They are charged with possessing identity documents with “improper intention”, and are alleged to have had these knowing they were fake.

    It is alleged they were working for the Russian security services.

    The documents include passports, identity cards and other documents for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.

    The trio were among five people arrested in February on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act. They were held by counter-terrorism detectives from the Metropolitan Police, which has national policing responsibility for espionage, and are due to answer police bail in September.

    Three of them were charged later in February with an offence under the Identity Documents Act. They are, Orlin Roussev (45), Bizer Dzhambazov (41) and Katrin Ivanova (31).

    The trio have lived in the UK for years, working in a variety of jobs, and living in a series of suburban properties. Roussev has history of business dealings in Russia.

    He moved to the UK in 2009 and spent three years working in a technical role in financial services. His online LinkedIn profile states he later owned a business involved in signals intelligence, which involves the interception of communications or electronic signals.

    Roussev, whose most recent address is a seaside guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, also states he once acted as an adviser to the Bulgarian ministry of energy. In Harrow, former neighbours described Dzhambazov and Ivanova as a couple.

    Dzhambazov is described as a driver for hospitals, and Ivanova describes herself on her online LinkedIn profile as a laboratory assistant for a private health business.

    The pair, who moved to the UK around a decade ago, ran a community organisation providing services to Bulgarian people, including familiarising them with the “culture and norms of British society”.

    According to Bulgarian state documents online, they also worked for electoral commissions in London which facilitate voting in Bulgarian elections by citizens living abroad.

    Neighbours at two houses previously occupied by the couple said they brought round pies and cakes as gifts. At their most recent Harrow home, neighbours said detectives spent a significant amount of time searching it, with a visible police presence for over a week.

    The three defendants are due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in London in January. They have yet to enter pleas to the charges.

    Counter-terrorism police have spoken publicly about the increasing amount of time spent on suspected state threats and espionage, especially relating to Russia.

    Their concern follows notorious incidents from recent years involving Russian intelligence operations in the UK.

    In 2018, Russian operatives attempted to murder former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, Wiltshire, using the deadly nerve agent Novichok. The pair, as well as responding detective Nick Bailey, were treated in hospital and could have died.

    Later that year, local woman Dawn Sturgess – who was unconnected to the Skripals – died after being exposed to the nerve agent, which had been left in Wiltshire in a perfume bottle.

    In 2006, former Russian-intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London after being poisoned by assassins working for the Russian state.

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  • KSrelief and Britain join forces in $9.16m donation to aid Sudan

    KSrelief and Britain join forces in $9.16m donation to aid Sudan

    The financial contribution of the two sides to the ICRC in Sudan comes to provide life-saving support in the fields of health, protection and food security…reports Asian Lite News

    King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have supported the people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Sudan with an amount of $9.16 million.

    This has been announced during the signing of a joint agreement, remotely, between KSrelief and the and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

    The two sides agreed to support the regional emergency response for populations affected by humanitarian crisis in Sudan. It was also in response to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) humanitarian appeal for Sudan.

    The agreement was signed by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who is an adviser at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), and the British Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Andrew Mitchell.

    The two sides will contribute separately to the ICRC an amount of $4.58 million. The total contribution of KSrelief and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is $9.16 million.

    The financial contribution of the two sides to the ICRC in Sudan comes to provide life-saving support in the fields of health, protection and food security.

    It also comes to achieve the common goal that is represented by an effective humanitarian response, and to alleviate the urgent humanitarian needs for the affected people in Sudan.

    Dr. Al-Rabeeah said that the assistance provided by Saudi Arabia through the center to the Sudanese people confirms again the keenness of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salam, and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman, to stand by the Sudanese people, and alleviate the severe crisis’s impact that Sudan is witnessing currently.

    The contribution also comes as an extension of the humanitarian role of Saudi Arabia to stand with the afflicted and needy people from around the world in various crises and tribulations.

    From his side, Mitchell expressed his happiness with signing this joint project, which confirms the depth of the partnership between UK and Saudi Arabia in the humanitarian field, which helps in alleviating the humanitarian suffering in a number of countries.

    The two sides working together on a joint project will contribute to the assistance of the ICRC in alleviating the suffering of the displaced in Sudan, Mitchell said, expressing hope that the parties to the conflict would not prevent aid from reaching those who deserve it, and to facilitate its passage.

    ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, indicated that this funding will help the international committee to provide a neutral and impartial response to the victims of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, therefore, it will allow the Committee’s teams to respond quickly and effectively to the changing needs of the population.

    This generous donation comes at the right time, as the ICRC and many other humanitarian organizations are facing a restrictive financial environment amid growing humanitarian needs around the world, she said.

    It is noteworthy that this signing comes within the framework of the humanitarian and relief projects provided by Saudi Arabia through KSrelief, in cooperation with the international humanitarian agencies, in order to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.

    It also confirms Saudi Arabia’s role in assisting and extending a helping hand to friendly countries during various crises.

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  • Britain only G7 country where inflation is rising

    Britain only G7 country where inflation is rising

    The move, which exacerbated fears of a mortgage catastrophe, marked a divergence from other major central banks that have been able to either slow or pause interest rate hikes…reports Asian Lite News

    The U.K. is the only country among the Group of Seven wealthy nations where inflation is still rising, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

    The Paris-based organization said Tuesday that year-on-year inflation in the G7 fell to 4.6% in May, down from 5.4% in April, reaching its lowest level since Sept. 2021.

    The downward trend was observed across most advanced economies in May, with annualized inflation ticking lower in the U.S. Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Britain, however, was found to be an outlier.

    U.K. consumer prices across all items rose to 7.9% in May when compared to the previous year, the OECD said, up slightly from 7.8% in April. It comes as many major central banks start to consider bringing their aggressive interest rate hikes to an end as prices cool, even as inflation remains elevated.

    Last month, the Bank of England hiked interest rates by 50 basis points to 5%, a larger increase than many expected. The BOE’s 13th consecutive rate rise takes the base rate to the highest level since 2008.

    The move, which exacerbated fears of a mortgage catastrophe, marked a divergence from other major central banks that have been able to either slow or pause interest rate hikes.

    The OECD’s national consumer price index for the U.K. includes the costs of owning and living in a home and is its most comprehensive measure of inflation.

    A separate measure of CPI, based on a harmonized methodology developed by Eurostat, allows for international comparisons. In the U.K., for example, this measure of headline CPI came in at 8.7% in May, unchanged from the previous month.

    The OECD in early June forecast that the U.K. will post annual headline inflation of 6.9% this year, the highest level among all advanced economies.

    Year-on-year inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, slowed markedly to 6.5% in May, down from 7.4% in April. It means headline inflation in the OECD is now at its lowest level since Dec. 2021. Between April and May, the OECD said inflation dipped in all observed countries except in the Netherlands, Norway and the U.K.

    Across all OECD countries, the group said inflation rates ranged from less than 3% in Costa Rica, Greece and Denmark to more than 20% in Hungary and Turkey.

    Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and food prices, declined at a much slower rate across 33 OECD countries, however, continuing a recent trend. It reached 6.9% in May, down from 7.1% in April.

    Energy inflation, meanwhile, was found to have plunged to -5.1% in May when compared to the previous year, from 0.7% in April.

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  • Britain gets first ever woman Lord Chief Justice

    Britain gets first ever woman Lord Chief Justice

    Black judges make up just over one percent of the total in England and Wales, barely changed from 2014, according to a Law Society report last year…reports Asian Lite News

    Veteran lawyer Sue Carr was named Thursday as the first woman to serve as the most senior judge for England and Wales in the role of lord chief justice, which dates back to the 13th century.

    Carr, 58, was appointed to succeed current Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett, who is retiring at the end of September.

    The title-holder oversees the judiciary in England and Wales — Scotland has a separate legal system — although its pre-eminence was diluted by the creation of the UK Supreme Court in 2009.

    Carr qualified as a barrister — arguing cases in court — in 1987 and her roles have included work with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

    She became a criminal judge in 2009, and has served on the appeals court since 2020. Married with three children, the Cambridge graduate is a keen musician who sings in a lawyers’ choir and plays the piano.

    Carr’s appointment comes as the UK government seeks to improve the gender mix in senior legal roles — although men account for two-thirds of judges, and ethnic minorities are under-represented.

    Black judges make up just over one percent of the total in England and Wales, barely changed from 2014, according to a Law Society report last year.

    “At that rate of progress, it would take until 2149 for the proportion of the judiciary who are black to match the current estimate for the general population — 3.5 percent,” it said.

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  • 3 from Britain missing after boat catches fire in Red Sea

    3 from Britain missing after boat catches fire in Red Sea

    All of those who had been rescued were said to be well. The Hurricane is one of several operated by the Tornado Marine Fleet…reports Asian Lite News

    Three British tourists have been missing after a fire broke out on a dive boat in the Egyptian Red Sea, the media reported on Sunday.

    An official said that 26 other people, including 12 Britons, were rescued from the boat, called Hurricane, which was off the coast of Marsa Alam, the BBC reported.

    The boat had been on a dive cruise and had left Port Ghalib on June 6, and was due to return on Sunday. The boat’s operator, Tornado Marine Fleet, said 15 British passengers had been on board along with 12 crew members and two guides — a different figure to that given earlier by the local authority, the Red Sea Governorate, the BBC reported.

    The local authority said initial examinations had found an electrical short circuit in the engine room, while the public prosecution office had begun an investigation.

    All of those who had been rescued were said to be well. The Hurricane is one of several operated by the Tornado Marine Fleet.

    A spokesperson said the fire broke out while the crew were doing the diving briefing at Elphinstone Reef — a diving destination known for its wealth of marine life including colourful corals and sharks.

    Scuba Travel, which chartered the boat, said the group on board had been on a seven-day tour and the company was working with the local authorities and specialist advisers.

    “Our first priority is the safety of our guests,” a spokesperson said. The Red Sea is a popular resort for diving trips.

    Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said it was supporting British nationals involved. “We are in contact with local authorities following an incident aboard a dive boat near Marsa Alam, and are supporting British nationals involved,” a spokesman said.

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  • UK govt orders China to close ‘secret police stations’ in Britain

    UK govt orders China to close ‘secret police stations’ in Britain

    The British government has said it was aware of about 100 such stations around the world…reports Asian Lite News

    The government has ordered China to shut down secret police stations operating on British soil, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat says in a written statement to parliament.

    Britain has previously said reports of undeclared police stations in the country were “extremely concerning” and that any intimidation on British soil of foreign nationals by China or other states was unacceptable.

    British police have investigated claims made by the non-governmental human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders that such police stations were operating at three British sites, Tugendhat said on Tuesday.

    “I can confirm that they have not, to date, identified any evidence of illegal activity on behalf of the Chinese state across these sites,” he said.

    “We assess that police and public scrutiny have had a suppressive impact on any administrative functions these sites may have had.”

    US federal agents arrested two New York residents in April for allegedly operating a secret Chinese police station in the Chinatown district of Manhattan. China has said it firmly opposed what it called US “slanders and smears”.

    The British government has said it was aware of about 100 such stations around the world. The Chinese government has previously said there are centres outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, that aim to help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services.

    “The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office have told the Chinese Embassy that any functions related to such ‘police service stations’ in the UK are unacceptable and that they must not operate in any form,” Tugendhat said.

    “The Chinese Embassy have subsequently responded that all such stations have closed permanently. Any further allegations will be swiftly investigated in line with UK law,” he said.

    The Chinese government has previously said there are centres outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, that aim to help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services.

    U.S. federal agents arrested two New York residents in April for allegedly operating a Chinese “secret police station” in the Chinatown district of Manhattan. China had said it firmly opposed what it called “the US’s slanders and smears”.

    The British government has said it was aware of about 100 such stations around the world.

    Asked about Tugendhat’s statement, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London said in a statement translated from Mandarin by Reuters:

    “There is simply no existence of so-called ‘overseas police posts.’ The facts have proven that the so-called ‘overseas police posts’ is a complete political lie, and politicians who speculate on this topic are purely in political manipulations.

    “The Chinese government urges the UK government to stop spreading false information, to stop generating hype and slandering China.”

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