British authorities on Friday charged the wife of a US diplomat who left the country after being involved in a traffic accident that killed a teenager.
The case of Anna Sacoolas has been a thorn in London’s close relations with Washington, stirring up debates over the limits of diplomatic immunity in cases unrelated to national security.
It has been a political headache for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is cultivating trade relations with Washington in a bid to offset the potential damage of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
The US Department of State said it was “disappointed” by Friday’s development, reasserting that in Washington’s view Sacoolas enjoys diplomatic immunity in the case.
Briton Harry Dunn, 19, died on Aug. 27 when his motorbike and a car driving on the wrong side of the road collided near an airbase in Northamptonshire, England, which is used by the US military as a communications hub.
Sacoolas in October admitted to being the driver, but has cited immunity while refusing to return to the UK to face justice, as Dunn’s parents demand.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it has authorized police in Northamptonshire to charge Sacoolas in absentia with causing death by dangerous driving.
“The criminal proceedings against Anne Sacoolas are now active and ... she has a right to a fair trial,” Chief Prosecutor Janine Smith said in a statement.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab called the charges “an important step” that should prompt Sacoolas to return to the UK.
“I hope that Anne Sacoolas will now realize the right thing to do is to come back to the UK and cooperate with the criminal justice process,” Raab said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump has called the crash a “terrible accident,” saying it was common for Americans in the UK to have a hard time driving on the left side of the road.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
RSS