On 11 May 2024, UK Day will focus on:
● Rare tri-color aurora appeared across the UK, and a particularly large magnetic storm hit
● Scotland's new First Minister says Scotland is on track to become independent in the next five years
● The final verdict of the main culprit in the UK's largest money laundering case has been postponed to May 24
● According to the latest rankings, London is the 5th most millionaire city in the world
● The number of new students in private schools in the UK fell by 2.7%, the largest decline in a decade
● The London Eye receives a permanent licence to operate as a permanent facility on the South Bank
Rare tri-coloured aurora lights have appeared across the UK, and a particularly geomagnetic storm has hit
The most powerful geomagnetic storm in more than 20 years hit the Earth this week, and when it happens, it usually brings a "beautiful encounter" – the aurora.
Due to geomagnetic storms, rare tricolor aurora occurred in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England from the evening of May 10 to the early hours of May 11.
Edinburgh, Liverpool, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Berkshire, Suffolk and even London have all seen extraordinary sights. Auroras are also expected on the night of May 11 (where the sky is clear and there are no thunderstorms).
Scotland's new First Minister said Scotland is on track to become independent within the next five years
On May 10, local time, John Swinney, the new First Minister of Scotland, who had just taken office, accepted an exclusive interview with Sky News, saying that Scotland is expected to achieve independence in the next five years.
Asked if it could be achieved in five years, Swinney said: "I think it can be achieved within this time frame because the arguments in favor of it are compelling. Scotland now faces two of the biggest problems: the cost of living impact and the impact of Brexit, both of which are due to poor decisions made by the UK central government, and independence is the answer. ”
However, he also admitted that the support rating of the Soviet independence has not yet reached a "convincing" level. He added: "We need to work to increase people's support for the Soviet Union, and this will be what I will do during my tenure." ”
The final verdict of the main culprit in Britain's largest money laundering case has been postponed to May 24
In an article published in February this year, we introduced a major money laundering case involving tens of billions of bitcoins involving Chinese people in the UK. Prosecutors have charged Jian Wen, a 42-year-old British-Chinese woman, with money laundering in amounts of up to £5 billion.
On March 18, local time, Jian Wen was found guilty of "participating in arranging money laundering" by a British court and could be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.
According to the latest news on May 10, Jian Wen's defense lawyer, Mark Harries, said that due to the busy work of judges, the British court has postponed the final sentence of Jian Wen, originally scheduled for May 10, to May 24.
Her "boss" and accomplice, Zhimin Qian, is a wanted criminal by the Chinese authorities for allegedly stealing the wealth of more than 128,000 Chinese investors between 2014 and 2017 through financial fraud.
In order to escape Chinese law, Zhimin Qian came to the UK in 2017 under a fake identity, subsequently assumed the alias Zhang Yadi, and used the money obtained from the fraud to buy 61,000 bitcoins, among other assets.
The Bitcoin, worth up to £1.4 billion, has now been confiscated by the British police.
According to the latest rankings, London is the 5th most millionaire city in the world
According to the latest ranking by consulting firm Henley & Partners, London ranks fifth in the list of cities with the most millionaires in the world.
London currently has 227,000 millionaires, 370 billionaires and 35 billionaires, behind New York, the Bay Area, Tokyo and Singapore, according to the data.
In this regard, Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, said that the strong performance of financial markets in recent years has driven the growth of the wealth of the above-mentioned cities.
The number of private school students in the UK fell by 2.7%, the largest decline in a decade
According to The Times, the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents nearly 1,400 private schools, published a new report stating that new student enrolments in private schools in the UK fell by 2.7% in the 2023-2024 school year, the largest annual decline since 2011.
The previous biggest drop was during the pandemic (2020-2021 school year), when the number of new entrants fell by 2.1% from the previous year, but then surged by 4.5% in the 2021-2022 school year.
The ISC's annual figures also show that the overall number of students enrolled in private schools in the UK also fell by 0.1%, the first decline since 2013 (except during the pandemic).
Julie Robinson, chief executive of the ISC, said many parents were concerned that the opposition Labour Party would impose a value-added tax (VAT) on private school fees when it came to power, further increasing their financial burden.
The London Eye is granted a permanent licence to operate as a permanent facility on the South Bank
According to British media reports, the councillors of the local government of Lambeth in London unanimously voted to retain the famous landmark building in London, the "London Eye" (London Eye) as a permanent facility in the South Bank area.
In addition, the local government of Lambeth has added an additional condition to retain the London Eye, i.e. 1% of the London Eye's turnover will be used for the construction of surrounding public areas, with an official notice expected to be issued next week.
Officially opened to the public on 31 December 1999, the London Eye attracts more than 3 million visitors a year, and has become an important part of the London skyline along with St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
What is not well known is that the planning permission for the London Eye is temporary and needs to be renewed every few years. It is understood that the planning permission initially granted to the London Eye was conditional on a decision by the Lambeth local government whether it could be retained after 2028.