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London  – Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group is planning a new wave of job cuts by closing nearly 200 branches of a former building society with up to 1,500 jobs at risk, the BBC reported Tuesday.

London  – Britain’s ruling Labour Party appeared Sunday to be heading for a mauling in the elections for the European Parliament as first results showed a sharp fall in support compared with 2004.

London – The future of Tom Hicks and George Gillett as owners of Liverpool was plunged into doubt on Friday as the parent company they use to run the club, Kop Football (Holdings) Limited, announced losses of 42.6 million pounds (68.4 million dollars) for last year.

London – A third British minister resigned from Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government late Thursday and called on the leader to step down.

London  – Britain’s left-liberal Guardian newspaper, which has traditionally backed the Labour party, Wednesday called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to step down because he had failed in government.

London  – The British government said Wednesday that it believed that a British citizen kidnapped in Mali had been executed by al-Qaeda militants.

London  – Sunderland will confirm Steve Bruce as their new manager on Wednesday after agreeing personal terms with the former Wigan Athletic boss.

London  – Blackburn Rovers confirmed on Tuesday that they have signed South Africa midfielder Elrio van Heerden from Belgium’s Club Brugge.

London  – Leading budget airline Ryanair reported its first annual pre-tax loss Tuesday, saying it had gone into the red by 169 million euros (239 million dollars) last year following a fuel bill increase of 59 per cent.

London  – A British man who claims that he was tortured in Bangladesh on suspicion of terrorism is taking legal action against the government over its alleged collusion with the intelligence service MI5, the government confirmed Wednesday.