PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Dec. 8

Headlines - UK network operators under scrutiny over Storm Arwen outages https://on.ft.com/3EzzSEl - US overtakes EU as biggest financial services export market for Britain https://on.ft.com/3y5Gjwl - Johnson under fire for aides' jokes about 'party' that broke COVID-19 rules https://on.ft.com/3oxt0Sg - Top UK Foreign Office official regrets holiday during Afghan crisis https://on.ft.com/3y2xnbc Overview - British electricity network companies came under further political pressure on Tuesday over the widespread power outages caused by Storm Arwen.

The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines

- UK network operators under scrutiny over Storm Arwen outages https://on.ft.com/3EzzSEl - US overtakes EU as biggest financial services export market for Britain https://on.ft.com/3y5Gjwl

- Johnson under fire for aides' jokes about 'party' that broke COVID-19 rules https://on.ft.com/3oxt0Sg - Top UK Foreign Office official regrets holiday during Afghan crisis https://on.ft.com/3y2xnbc

Overview - British electricity network companies came under further political pressure on Tuesday over the widespread power outages caused by Storm Arwen. UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told five companies whose networks were damaged by Arwen in a letter on Tuesday that their recovery operation was "simply unacceptable".

- The United States has overtaken the European Union as the leading destination for British financial services exports after trade with the bloc dropped last year following Brexit, according to a report from sector lobby group TheCityUK. - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused by opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Tuesday of showing contempt for voters after the PM's advisers were caught on video laughing about a Downing Street Christmas party — or "business meeting" — at a mock press conference.

- Philip Barton, a top civil servant at the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has admitted he stayed on holiday 11 days after Kabul fell to the Taliban, after a whistleblower told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee that Britain's evacuation effort from Afghanistan was "chaotic" and "dysfunctional". (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)