A British-Australian woman and her Australian boyfriend have been released from an Iranian jail, Australia's government has said.
Jolie King, who also holds a UK passport, and Mark Firkin were detained in Tehran earlier this year for reportedly flying a drone without a permit.
A second British-Australian, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, is still in prison.
Australia's foreign minister said talks to secure her release were ongoing.
Marise Payne told reporters that it was "with some enormous relief" that she could announce Jolie King and Mark Firkin "have been released and returned".
The pair were detained after entering Iran as part of a major trip across Asia to the UK - they were blogging about it for thousands of followers on social media.
Ms Payne confirmed Ms Moore-Gilbert remained in prison, where she has been for almost a year having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence.
"Very long-term negotiations" were taking place to secure the release of the Cambridge-educated academic, Ms Payne added.
Ms Moore-Gilbert was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University.
Earlier, Iran's semi-official news agency Fars reported that the Islamic Republic's judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmayeeli confirmed all three were detained for spying.
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The two British-Australian women were believed to be the first British passport holders without dual Iranian nationality to be held in the country in recent years.
Their detention echoes that of British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been imprisoned since 2016 after being convicted of spying, which she denies.
On Friday it was announced that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe would allow her daughter Gabriella, five, to return to the UK to begin schooling.
The mother and daughter were said by family to have travelled together to Iran to visit relatives before she was detained.
Who are the other Britons detained in Iran?
As well as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a number of other dual UK-Iranian citizens are also being detained in Iran.
Iran does not recognise dual nationality, and there are no exact figures on the numbers of dual nationals in custody.
But they do include Kamal Foroughi, a former oil and gas consultant, who has been held since 2011; businessman and wildlife conservationist Morad Tahbaz who also has US citizenship and was arrested in a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018, and Kameel Ahmady, a social anthropologist, who has been in custody since August.
Anousheh Ashouri, a British-Iranian dual national, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a court in Tehran after being convicted of spying for Israel.
Aras Amiri, 33, a UK resident who works for the British Council in London, was held in March 2018 on a visit to her unwell grandmother. This year Ms Amiri lost an appeal against a jail term for spying, and her British fiancé, James Tyson, told the BBC she was being used as a "bargaining chip" by Iran's government.
A British-Australian woman and her Australian boyfriend have been released from an Iranian jail, Australia's government has said.
Jolie King, who also holds a UK passport, and Mark Firkin were detained in Tehran earlier this year for reportedly flying a drone without a permit.
A second British-Australian, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, is still in prison.
Australia's foreign minister said talks to secure her release were ongoing.
Marise Payne told reporters that it was "with some enormous relief" that she could announce Jolie King and Mark Firkin "have been released and returned".
The pair were detained after entering Iran as part of a major trip across Asia to the UK - they were blogging about it for thousands of followers on social media.
Ms Payne confirmed Ms Moore-Gilbert remained in prison, where she has been for almost a year having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence.
"Very long-term negotiations" were taking place to secure the release of the Cambridge-educated academic, Ms Payne added.
Ms Moore-Gilbert was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University.
Earlier, Iran's semi-official news agency Fars reported that the Islamic Republic's judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmayeeli confirmed all three were detained for spying.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
The two British-Australian women were believed to be the first British passport holders without dual Iranian nationality to be held in the country in recent years.
Their detention echoes that of British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been imprisoned since 2016 after being convicted of spying, which she denies.
On Friday it was announced that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe would allow her daughter Gabriella, five, to return to the UK to begin schooling.
The mother and daughter were said by family to have travelled together to Iran to visit relatives before she was detained.
Who are the other Britons detained in Iran?
As well as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a number of other dual UK-Iranian citizens are also being detained in Iran.
Iran does not recognise dual nationality, and there are no exact figures on the numbers of dual nationals in custody.
But they do include Kamal Foroughi, a former oil and gas consultant, who has been held since 2011; businessman and wildlife conservationist Morad Tahbaz who also has US citizenship and was arrested in a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018, and Kameel Ahmady, a social anthropologist, who has been in custody since August.
Anousheh Ashouri, a British-Iranian dual national, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a court in Tehran after being convicted of spying for Israel.
Aras Amiri, 33, a UK resident who works for the British Council in London, was held in March 2018 on a visit to her unwell grandmother. This year Ms Amiri lost an appeal against a jail term for spying, and her British fiancé, James Tyson, told the BBC she was being used as a "bargaining chip" by Iran's government.
A British-Australian woman and her Australian boyfriend have been released from an Iranian jail, Australia's government has said.
Jolie King, who also holds a UK passport, and Mark Firkin were detained in Tehran earlier this year for reportedly flying a drone without a permit.
A second British-Australian, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, is still in prison.
Australia's foreign minister said talks to secure her release were ongoing.
Marise Payne told reporters that it was "with some enormous relief" that she could announce Jolie King and Mark Firkin "have been released and returned".
The pair were detained after entering Iran as part of a major trip across Asia to the UK - they were blogging about it for thousands of followers on social media.
Ms Payne confirmed Ms Moore-Gilbert remained in prison, where she has been for almost a year having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence.
"Very long-term negotiations" were taking place to secure the release of the Cambridge-educated academic, Ms Payne added.
Ms Moore-Gilbert was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University.
Earlier, Iran's semi-official news agency Fars reported that the Islamic Republic's judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmayeeli confirmed all three were detained for spying.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
The two British-Australian women were believed to be the first British passport holders without dual Iranian nationality to be held in the country in recent years.
Their detention echoes that of British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been imprisoned since 2016 after being convicted of spying, which she denies.
On Friday it was announced that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe would allow her daughter Gabriella, five, to return to the UK to begin schooling.
The mother and daughter were said by family to have travelled together to Iran to visit relatives before she was detained.
Who are the other Britons detained in Iran?
As well as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a number of other dual UK-Iranian citizens are also being detained in Iran.
Iran does not recognise dual nationality, and there are no exact figures on the numbers of dual nationals in custody.
But they do include Kamal Foroughi, a former oil and gas consultant, who has been held since 2011; businessman and wildlife conservationist Morad Tahbaz who also has US citizenship and was arrested in a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018, and Kameel Ahmady, a social anthropologist, who has been in custody since August.
Anousheh Ashouri, a British-Iranian dual national, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a court in Tehran after being convicted of spying for Israel.
Aras Amiri, 33, a UK resident who works for the British Council in London, was held in March 2018 on a visit to her unwell grandmother. This year Ms Amiri lost an appeal against a jail term for spying, and her British fiancé, James Tyson, told the BBC she was being used as a "bargaining chip" by Iran's government.
A British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran is to send her daughter home to the UK to start school, she has said in an open letter.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of spying, which she denies.
Her family insist she was in Iran to introduce her daughter to relatives.
Five-year-old Gabriella - who has been living with her grandparents in Tehran - has visited her mother at least once a week since her arrest.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the letter as "heart-breaking" and said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's detainment was "unjustifiable and unacceptable".
Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, confirmed that the couple have decided to bring Gabriella back to the UK to start school.
He added that his wife is hoping for a last minute release to enable her to come home with Gabriella. "I don't think she's expecting it though," he said.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family told the Times they had agreed Gabriella should return to the UK for the start of the school year in September but postponed the decision after Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken to a psychiatric hospital.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, was returned to prison after a week but not permitted phone calls with Mr Ratcliffe, who is in London.
In an open letter addressed to "the mothers of Iran", Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from West Hampstead, pleaded with the Iranian authorities to free her so she can return to London with Gabriella.
"I have no hope or motivation after my baby goes. There is no measure to my pain," she wrote in the letter, which was smuggled out of Tehran's Evin prison and published online in Farsi and English.
She said her daughter's journey back to the UK would be "a daunting trip for her travelling, and for me left behind".
"And the authorities who hold me will watch on, unmoved at the injustice of separation. That first day of school not for me," she added.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is giving up Gabriella's weekly visits to see her in prison so that she can live in Britain, where she was born.
"Those brief minutes might be the shortest of cuddles, but without doubt the most beautiful and uplifting cuddles in the whole world," she wrote.
She described the thought of not being able to hold her child as "the deepest torture of them all".
In her letter, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she was a "pawn in the hands of politicians - abroad and in Iran - to reach their goals in their games of chess".
Mr Raab said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's letter showed "the pain and suffering that she and her family are going through".
"Her callous and cruel detainment for political purposes by the government of Iran is wholly unjustifiable and unacceptable," he said.
"The government of Iran should, as a matter of international law and basic decency, release Nazanin immediately so she can be reunited with her loved ones."
In 2017, when he was foreign secretary, Mr Johnson apologised after saying she was in Iran "teaching people journalism" - despite her family's insistence she was there to visit relatives.
A report from The Guardian reveals that a British tax relief fun has paid the vast majority of its funds — which were originally intended to be earmarked for smaller developers based in the UK — to global game publishers such as Sony, Sega, and Warner.
Specifically, the report reveals that these companies have used this tax loophole to avoid paying tens of millions of pounds in taxes. Video Game Tax Relief (VGTR) allows game publishers to claim back up to 20 percent of some production costs. Each individual claim can amount up to £500,000, and the companies in question have, since VGTR has existed, claimed £20 million (Sega), £30 million (Sony), and £60 million (Warner) in tax breaks. According to The Guardian, the £500k claims are a small fraction of the total number made, and yet they account for 80 percent of the total tax relief — and almost all of those claims are made by big game publishers.
This is not an uncommon industry practice — in fact, this is the second time this year a major game company has reportedly used VGTR to get a tax break. The first one (or rather, the first to be reported on) was Rockstar. And several major game developers and publishers maintain branches in England and Ireland, so they do contribute to the industry’s economy over there in a material way.
Still, it’s a bit galling as VGTR was apparently approved by the European Commission under the presumption it would benefit “a small number of distinctive, culturally British games which have increasing difficulties to find private financing.” The Commission even investigated it to determine that specific fact.
To claim VGTR, companies even have to take a test to prove that their game is either overwhelmingly culturally European or was made primarily in Europe. I scoffed at that notion when I heard that Rockstar was doing it, given that every Rockstar game is somehow a satire of the American Dream. But since lots of these studios put work through their UK branches, they can scoot by on a technicality.
As much of an open secret as it is in the industry, it’s still kind of amusing to hear that the vast majority of games getting a “culturally British” tax break are some of the least British I’ve ever heard of.
The government has delivered its new Brexit proposals to the EU, including plans to replace the Irish backstop.
The plan, outlined in a seven-page document, would see Northern Ireland stay in the European single market for goods, but leave the customs union - resulting in new customs checks.
The Northern Ireland Assembly would get to approve the arrangements first and vote every four years on keeping them.
The European Commission said there had been progress but "problems" remained.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the new blueprint did not "fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop", in terms of upholding the EU's single market, protecting peace in Northern Ireland and supporting economic co-operation with the Republic of Ireland.
But he said he wanted an agreement and talks would continue.
The UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October and the government has insisted it will not negotiate a further delay beyond the Halloween deadline.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference earlier on Wednesday, Boris Johnson said the only alternative to his Brexit plan was no-deal.
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In a letter to European Commission's president, Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister said the new proposals "respect the decision taken by the people of the UK to leave the EU, while dealing pragmatically with that decision's consequences in Northern Ireland and in Ireland".
Government sources hoped the UK might be able to enter an intense 10-day period of negotiations with the EU almost immediately, with the aim of coming to a final agreement at an EU summit on 17 October.
Mr Juncker welcomed what he said were "positive advances" in some areas but he said the UK's proposed system of "governance" of the new arrangements was "problematic" - and customs rules remained a concern.
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Don't expect the EU to rush to reject the prime minister's proposals even though there are elements that clearly contravene EU red lines, such as the implementation of any kind of customs procedures between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Jean-Claude Juncker spoke today of "concerns" arising from the text but EU leaders won't want to be seen to be the ones closing the door to a deal.
Throughout the Brexit process they've repeatedly kicked the ball back into the UK government's court.
On cue, leaders are "welcoming the delivery of the proposals from the government" and inviting the prime minister to continue negotiations.
The fundamental questions for the EU remain: How much does does the prime minister really want a deal? Is he willing to move from his apparent "take it or leave it" position?
If he is, there will be something to talk about. If not, the EU will try its best to avoid being the ones to say "forget it".
But Mr Johnson should think again if he imagines his proposals, which do include concessions from his side, will prompt EU countries with a lot to lose in a no deal Brexit (like Germany) to try to force Ireland to accept his offer.
Angela Merkel today insisted EU leaders would stick together. With such an important EU member leaving, Mrs Merkel believes unity amongst those left behind is paramount.
Arlene Foster, leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, supported the plan, saying it would allow Northern Ireland to leave the customs union and single market at the same time as the rest of the UK.
Several Conservative MPs who opposed Theresa May's agreement also signalled their likely support, with leading Brexiteer Steve Baker saying he was "cautiously optimistic".
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But Sinn Fein said the plans were a "non-starter" and accused the DUP, their former power-sharing partners of "working against the interests of the people" of Northern Ireland.
And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the deal was "not acceptable" and "worse" than Theresa May's agreement, as it "undermined" the Good Friday Agreement that secured peace in Northern Ireland.
What is in the proposals?
The prime minister has set out details of his plan to replace the Irish border "backstop" in the current Brexit agreement.
The backstop is the controversial "insurance policy" that is meant to keep a free-flowing border on the island of Ireland but which critics - including the PM - fear could trap the UK in EU trading rules indefinitely.
Under Mr Johnson's proposals, which he calls a "broad landing zone" for a new deal with the EU:
Northern Ireland would leave the EU's customs union alongside the rest of the UK, at the start of 2021
But Northern Ireland would, with the consent of politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly, continue to apply EU legislation relating to agricultural and other products - what he calls an "all-island regulatory zone"
This arrangement could, in theory, continue indefinitely, but the consent of Northern Ireland's politicians would have to be sought every four years
Customs checks on goods traded between the UK and EU would be "decentralised", with paperwork submitted electronically and only a "very small number" of physical checks
These checks should take place away from the border itself, at business premises or at "other points in the supply chain"
The government is also promising a "New Deal for Northern Ireland", with financial commitments to help manage the changes.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spoken to Mr Johnson, said the EU would study the proposals carefully.
She said she "trusted" the bloc's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to maintain European unity.
But opponents of Brexit in Parliament indicated they would not support the proposals, unless they were accompanied by the promise of another referendum.
The Liberal Democrats, who want to stop Brexit, said the proposals would deal a "hammer blow" to the Northern Irish economy.
The Scottish National Party dismissed the proposals as "window dressing".
LONDON — When Boris Johnson took to the stage Wednesday at the Conservative Party Conference, an annual get-together at which activists and lawmakers debate policy, chitchat and buy memorabilia, he stood in front of banners proclaiming a three-word policy: “Get Brexit Done.”
He may wish it was that simple.
With the Brexit deadline set for Oct. 31, it’s still unclear whether the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on time, or at all. The seemingly never-ending divorce has become mired in furious debate and legal battles.
The U.K. is today expected to release plans for how it aims to solve the problem of the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Irish Republic, which isn't but will remain in the E.U. With 29 days to go until leave day, this knotty, fractious issue is still a major sticking point.
Oct. 2, 201900:35
All of which means the U.K. is highly likely to face an election, and soon.
U.K. elections are supposed to happen every five years but Johnson can call for one at any point — as long as two-thirds of lawmakers in the House of Commons vote in favor.
Johnson has already failed to trigger an election several times, but one could also take place if the prime minister loses a vote of confidence, which has long been threatened by opposition members of Parliament.
It’s set to be a turbulent and fractious occasion in which the prime minister pitches himself against Parliament and lawmakers who would “surrender” to the E.U. as U.K. politics continues to borrow tactics and tone from President Donald Trump.
The Brexit debate illustrates how U.K. politics continues to ape the partisan nature of U.S. politics and the aggressive sloganeering of President Donald Trump, according to Simon Usherwood, a politics professor at the University of Surrey.
Sept. 25, 201901:54
“It’s not just Trump, it feels a very American style, the way the debate has been over the past decade or more, with echoes of culture wars and people being entrenched deep in their bubbles and speaking to their base rather than reaching out,” he said.
“Trump’s willingness to shout down opponents and question their motives and accuracy and everything else about them — I don’t think we’ve quite got to that stage, but the happiness of No. 10 to just keep on arguing [with their rivals] I think is quite striking,” he said, using shorthand to describe the prime minister’s official residence.
At the moment, Johnson’s government is achieving very little.
The prime minister attempted to suspend Parliament for five weeks, only for the U.K.’s highest court to rule he had done so illegally, misleading the Queen in the process.
And he may not be able to make Brexit happen at all, at least not this year: Parliament has already passed a law forcing Johnson to ask the E.U. for a third extension to the Brexit process, keeping the U.K. inside the bloc until at least Jan. 31.
To the dismay of lawmakers who accuse him of using inflammatory language, Johnson calls the law a “surrender bill” as it removes the threat of a “no-deal” Brexit in which the country leaves without a divorce deal, something Brexiteers see as key to forcing concessions from the E.U.
In a fiery debate last week in the House of Commons, Johnson was condemned by lawmakers for his incendiary language, such as repeatedly accusing lawmakers of “sabotaging” the U.K.’s exit from the E.U.
A visibly upset Labour lawmaker, Paula Sherriff, told Johnson: "We're subject to death threats and abuse every single day. And let me tell the prime minister that they often quote his words: 'surrender act,' 'betrayal,' 'traitor.'"
Johnson dismissed her out of hand.
"I've never heard such humbug in all my life," he said, essentially accusing Sherriff of being deceptive.
Johnson also brushed away reminders that lawmaker Jo Cox was stabbed and shot to death a week before the 2016 Brexit referendum by a far-right attacker shouting "Death to traitors!"
“The people outside this house understand what is happening,” he said. “The leader of the opposition and his party don’t trust the people.”
The Scottish National Party legislator Joanna Cherry, whose legal challenge in the Supreme Court ended Johson’s suspension of Parliament, said the House of Commons had been “treated to the sort of populist rant one expects to hear from a tin-pot dictatorship.”
John Bercow, the Commons speaker, who will step down later this year, said the atmosphere during the debate was “worse than any I've known in my 22 years in the House.”
None of these admonitions appear to have had an effect on Johnson, who is intent on delivering Brexit to his Conservative Party base.
But as he has no majority in the House of Commons, meaning he can’t force through any new laws or change old ones — that also means he can’t currently get a Brexit bill through Parliament, a necessary step before the U.K. leaves.
A second Brexit referendum at this point seems unlikely, so the road ahead leads to an election. But it’s laden with risk.
“The danger in the Conservatives choosing that option [a people versus Parliament election] is it’s been flagged well in advance so it gives opponents more time to think of ways to counteract it or take the edge off,” Usherwood said.
“There’s this assumption there’s this big master plan, a big diagram somewhere in No. 10, but it doesn’t really have the feel of this is how it was supposed to be. That doesn’t look like a master plan. It looks a bit more improvised and panicky.”
A 1950 poster for the Ulster Unionist Party.The Conservative Party Archive / Getty Images file
In previous elections, Britain has seen the Conservative Party going head-to-head with the opposition Labour Party — a classic left-versus-right battle pitching a strong privately-owned economy against state intervention and higher spending.
Voters may next head to the polls with Johnson’s strident anti-establishment messaging about Brexit ringing loudest in their ears.
This isn’t the first time an election has been focused on the popular will versus elected officials.
“The language of the people against the government has quite a long history in our politics,” James Freeman, an expert in British political history, said.
“It’s not just the Labour Party attacking the government, or Johnson attacking Labour, it’s more about Parliament as an institution blocking Brexit,” he said.
“This idea that it’s a ‘Remainer Parliament,’ that’s new,” he added, referring to those who wanted to remain in the European Union.
As for the influence of Trump, Freeman pointed out that the phrase “Make Britain Great Again” was used by the Conservative Party as an election slogan more than once in the 20th century.
“Some of the people around [Johnson] are very familiar with why they think Trump has been successful, and probably there’s some crossover because Brexit happened before Trump got elected,” he said.
“National revival is a consistent theme in our politics, particularly on the Conservative side.”
It remains to be seen whether Johnson will find a way to make Brexit happen — but the effect of Brexit on any forthcoming election, and British politics and society at large, is inescapable.
