LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s outgoing ambassador to Afghanistan said on Friday there was “some credibility” to reports that an Afghan governor plotted to kill the U.S., French and British envoys to Kabul in 2009, but that there was not enough evidence for a trial.

U.S. investigators allege former governor Ghulam Qawis Abu Bakr ordered a 2009 suicide bombing that killed two U.S. soldiers, and that he plotted to kill the U.S., French and British ambassadors in November 2009, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – Britons take a dim view of the
billions it cost taxpayers to rescue the banks four years ago,
so they will take some convincing if the government sells a
stake in bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland at a loss.

Britain and Abu Dhabi are holding talks on the sale of
shares in the troubled bank, which required a 45.5 billion
pounds ($72.4 billion) taxpayer lifeline during the 2008
financial crash, leaving the state with an 83 percent
stake.

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron disclosed on Monday that a handful of British financiers and hedge fund bosses have dined at his private apartment in Downing Street and his official country house as he tried to subdue a “cash for access” party funding scandal.

The premier announced an internal party inquiry after the resignation of a top Conservative fundraiser caught in a Sunday newspaper sting telling potential donors they could expect meetings with Cameron and possible influence over policy.

LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron
disclosed on Monday that a handful of British financiers and
hedge fund bosses dined at his private apartment in Downing
Street in recent months as he tried to subdue a “cash for
access” party funding scandal.

Following the resignation of a top Conservative fundraiser
caught in a Sunday newspaper sting telling potential donors they
could expect meetings with Cameron and possible influence over
policy, the premier announced an internal party inquiry and, to
show he had nothing to hide, published details of major donors
whom he invited to private dinners in Downing Street.

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron bowed to pressure on Monday to disclose his own contacts with wealthy donors after a newspaper sting caught a top fundraiser for his party offering meetings with the premier in return for big contributions.

Conservative party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas resigned after The Sunday Times filmed him telling reporters posing as financiers that, for 250,000 pounds ($400,000), they could dine with Cameron and might possibly influence government policy.

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) – Britain said on Wednesday it
would use money once earmarked for its military mission in
Afghanistan to fund tax cuts, a move that underlines a 2015
withdrawal date and that hints at significant troop drawdowns
soon.

British finance minister George Osborne said spending on the
Afghan conflict would be 2.4 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) less
than expected in the years up to 2015.

NEWCASTLE (Reuters) – Liberal Democrats proposed targeting the rich with a “tycoon tax” only days before they and their Conservative Party coalition partner present an annual budget, in a high stakes gamble to revive the party’s flatlining poll ratings.

The last-minute proposal is one of several levies on the rich the Lib Dems want included in the budget to pay for the party’s key policy of additional tax cuts for the lower paid.

BEIRUT, March 5 (Reuters) – The Red Cross managed to
get aid to Syrians fleeing fighting in the battered Baba Amro
district of Homs, but was blocked for a third day from entering
the former rebel bastion amid reports of bloody reprisals by
state forces.

Activists reported shelling and other violence across Syria
on Sunday, sending one of the biggest surges of refugees across
the border into Lebanon in a single day since a revolt against
President Bashar al-Assad began a year ago.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Red Cross delivered emergency aid to areas around the battered Baba Amro district of the Syrian city of Homs Sunday, but was blocked for a third day from entering the former rebel bastion amid reports of bloody reprisals by state forces.

Activists reported shelling and other violence across Syria, sending one of the biggest surges of refugees across the border into Lebanon in a single day since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began a year ago.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Red Cross delivered emergency aid to areas around the battered Baba Amro district of the Syrian city of Homs on Sunday, but was blocked for a third day from entering the former rebel bastion amid reports of bloody reprisals by state forces.

Activists reported shelling and other violence across Syria, sending one of the biggest surges of refugees across the border into Lebanon in a single day since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began a year ago.