World News
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Virgin Atlantic permanently ends Tel Aviv route, maintains ties through EL AL partnership
Virgin Atlantic has officially confirmed it will no longer operate its direct route between London Heathrow and Tel Aviv, permanently ending the service after previously suspending it in OctoberRead More... -
India signs $7.4 billion deal to acquire 26 Rafale fighter jets for navy
India has finalized a $7.41 billion agreement with France to purchase 26 Rafale fighter jets for its navy, a senior official from the Indian Defence Ministry confirmed to Reuters on Monday.Read More... -
UK Foreign Secretary visits Gulf to strengthen security and drive economic growth
The Foreign Secretary is visiting Oman and Qatar this week to deepen the UK’s cooperation with Gulf partners on trade, defence, and regional security.Read More... -
India orders all Pakistani nationals to leave amid soaring tensions after Kashmir attack
India has given all Pakistani nationals 72 hours to leave the country following a deadly militant attack in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. The move, announced by India’s Foreign SecretaryRead More... -
UK’s Reeves optimistic about trade deal with U.S.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves expressed confidence on Thursday that Britain and the United States can reach a trade agreement aimed at easing the impact of U.S. importRead More...
Culture
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Harrogate’s cherry blossoms rival Japan’s sakura season
While Japan’s iconic cherry blossom season draws millions each year, a town in North Yorkshire is proving you don’t need to fly 6,000 miles to experience the magic.Read More... -
British Library set for £1.1 billion expansion
The British Library, the largest in the UK, is set for a major transformation with a £1.1 billion expansion project now approved.Read More... -
Export bars placed on two 18th century Agostino Brunias paintings
Two paintings by the 18th-century Italian artist Agostino Brunias, both depicting scenes from the Caribbean island of St Vincent, have been placed under temporary export bars to give UKRead More... -
Pope recognizes Antoni Gaudí's "heroic virtues," puts him on path to sainthood
The Vatican has taken a significant step toward making renowned Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí a saint, officially recognizing his "heroic virtues." Often referred to as "God's architect,"Read More... -
Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant faces closure amid Central London lease dispute
Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant, is facing the threat of closure just before reaching its centenary, due to a lease disagreement with the Crown Estate.Read More... -
Communities invited to nominate beloved UK traditions for National Heritage List
This summer, communities across the UK will be able to nominate their favourite traditions—from iconic celebrations like Notting Hill Carnival and Hogmanay to time-honoured crafts likeRead More... -
£20m museum renewal fund opens for England’s civic museums
Civic museums across England can now apply for a share of the new £20 million Museum Renewal Fund, aimed at boosting access to collections, enhancing educational programmes, andRead More... -
The underrated UK city that was England’s first capital — 1,000 years before London
Tucked away in Essex lies a city that predates London as England's capital by over a millennium. Rich in Roman and medieval history, Colchester only officially became a city in 2022 as part ofRead More... -
Universal Studios to open first UK theme park in Bedford by 2031, creating 28,000 jobs
The UK is officially getting its first Universal Studios theme park, with a grand opening set for 2031. The landmark project, backed by the UK government, is expected to bring in a staggeringRead More... -
MI5 lifts the veil on 115 years of secrets in new exhibition
For the first time in its 115-year history, MI5 is pulling back the curtain on its shadowy past. A new exhibition at the National Archives in London, MI5: Official Secrets, offers the public anRead More... -
Tourist tax could help revive London’s arts and culture scene
A growing number of voices are calling on the government to allow London to introduce a tourist tax, similar to those already in place in many popular European cities. The Centre for LondonRead More... -
£1bn Chinese ceramics gift to British Museum approved
The Charity Commission has officially approved the largest donation in the British Museum’s history—a collection of Chinese ceramics valued at around £1 billion.Read More... -
UK to return Nazi-looted painting to Jewish family
A 17th-century painting stolen by the Nazis in 1940 from a Jewish art collector in Belgium is set to be returned to the collector’s descendants, the British government announced on Saturday,Read More...
British Queen celebrates
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Comment
Two brothers could have made more than £1 million by misleading thousands of customers into visiting a Lapland-style theme park, a court has heard.
Visitors to Lapland New Forest were offered a winter wonderland with snow-covered log cabins, a nativity scene, husky dogs, polar bears and other animals, as well as a bustling Christmas market.
Instead of the promised magical festive treat, visitors experienced fairy lights hung from trees and a broken ice rink.
Within days of the attraction opening in November 2008, hundreds of disgruntled visitors to the park on the Hampshire-Dorset border complained to trading standards they had been ripped off, Bristol Crown Court heard.
Less than a week later the attraction closed, with the theme park's owners blaming the media and sabotage from "New Forest villains" for the decision.
With visitors charged £30 a ticket and with up to 10,000 advance bookings online, the owners were set to make £1.2 million, prosecutor Malcolm Gibney told the court.
The two men behind Lapland New Forest, brothers Victor and Henry Mears, faced a jury accused of eight charges of selling misleading advertising.
The brothers face five charges of engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading action and three charges of engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission.
Victor Mears, 67, of Selsfield Drive, and Henry Mears, 60, of Coombe Road, both of Brighton, deny all the charges.
The court heard that Victor Mears was the company's sole director but was being assisted by his younger brother, who was managing Lapland, and was responsible for the promotion of the event.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved
Drilling company Transocean had an incident on one of its North Sea rigs similar to the problem which caused the biggest oil spill in US history earlier this year, it has emerged.
Transocean was operating BP's Deepwater Horizon rig when it suffered a blow-out, killing 11 workers and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
An internal company report obtained by the BBC shows that four months before the US disaster the Sedco 711 rig in the North Sea, which is leased by Shell and operated by Transocean, experienced similar problems.
In this case, however, the blow-out preventer - which is believed to have failed on the Deepwater Horizon - worked effectively, preventing oil and gas from spurting uncontrolled up the rig's pipe.
The incident on December 23 2009 was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and Transocean drew up an internal report.
Oil expert Dr Greville Williams of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, who has seen the report, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is the story of a blow-out occurring during a completion exercise. They had drilled the well, they had got the end of the pipe sorted out.
"What's happened is that the flow valve at the bottom looks like it has been unseated during operations. When they started to displace the mud which is holding the reservoir back, the pressure started to move that mud and sea-water back up the column. That's the blow-out starting to happen."
Dr Williams said the report showed that key indicators that something was going wrong were misinterpreted or discounted, while undue weight was given to a positive pressure test at the base of the well.
"It seems to me from this that they were accepting that they didn't do enough pressure testing of the flow control valve and probably didn't allow for more than one barrier to prevent the reservoir from communicating," he said. "Normally, you would like to have at least two, but they were relying at this point on one barrier."
In a statement, Transocean told the BBC: "Any (safety-) related events that occur on a rig anywhere in the world, including the one on December 23 2009, are immediately reported to management, fully investigated and the valuable information gleaned from that investigation is used to improve existing safety systems across the fleet."
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved
The RSPCA has challenged a ruling which overturned a will leaving it a £2 million estate.
University lecturer Christine Gill, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, won a High Court battle last year to overturn the will which left her parents' 287-acre farm to the charity.
In a ruling given in Leeds, a judge found that Dr Gill's "domineering" father had coerced her mother into making the will.
But the findings of Judge James Allen QC have been appealed against by the RSPCA during proceedings before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, sitting with Lord Justice Lloyd and Lord Justice Jackson in London.
Elspeth Talbot Rice QC, for the RSPCA, told the court that one of the issues for decision was whether the judge was "wrong to find that Mr Gill unduly influenced Mrs Gill into executing her will". Another question was whether the judge was "wrong to find that Mrs Gill knew and approved of her will".
Judge Allen said it would be "unconscionable" if Dr Gill did not inherit Potto Carr Farm, near Northallerton, where she voluntarily helped out during her spare time over a period of more than 30 years.
Mr Gill died in 1999, aged 82. It was only when her mother died in 2006, also aged 82, that Dr Gill saw the will, in which her parents had left the farm to each other and then to the RSPCA when both died.
The judge found that Dr Gill's mother had wanted her daughter to inherit the farm but Mr Gill - who he described as a "bully" - had exerted pressure over his wife to favour the RSPCA.
The appeal is being closely watched by other charities who say they are "very concerned at its possible implications for the charity sector".
The RSPCA said in a statement: "The Gills had already provided substantially for their daughter during their lifetime, which included a large contribution towards the purchase of the farmhouse in which she now lives. The RSPCA carefully considered the merits of its action before taking the decision to defend Dr Gill's claims and subsequently to appeal in order to honour Mrs Gill's wishes."
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved.
The new head of the country's biggest trade union has launched an angry attack against the Government for "dismantling the very fabric of society" and pledged to lead a resistance to the massive spending cuts now costing thousands of jobs.
Len McCluskey, who was elected general secretary of Unite, said he also wanted to make his union more effective and united after years of having two leaders and suggestions that the organisation had been "divided".
He told the Press Association that Unite would play a central role in fighting the spending cuts, but he added that this was a "watershed moment" for the TUC.
"Union membership has fallen from 13 million to 6.5 million over the past 20 years and if the TUC does not demonstrate its importance to ordinary members, people will start to question its relevance.
"The TUC has to make certain that we co-ordinate the anger that is now building up against what the Government is doing. The very fabric of our society is being dismantled before our very eyes and we have a duty to lead a resistance against this attack. It is slaughter by stealth."
I recently did an article on the phenomenal rate at which the London property market is growing. It seems this latest trend of growth just continues to gain more and more momentum as the months pass by and London properties for sale are now on average more expensive than properties in Monte Carlo, making prime property the most expensive of its kind in the world!
The study carried out by a London estate agent has revealed that a London property that costs around the £5 million mark is currently being sold at a rate of about £4000 per square foot of property. This is significantly more than Monaco which is second on the list and selling property at an average of £2190 per square foot of property. To give you an idea of how expensive this is, picture a normal sized walk-in closet in central London. At a price tag of £4000 per square foot of property, you could by a 3 bedroom house in the North of England for the same price as a walk in closet in central London.
A house in Belgravia was recently sold for a phenomenal London property sale of £30 million. If that sounds like a lot, it's still nothing in comparison to a London property which is owned by steel tycoon, Lakshmi Mittal. The 12 bedroom property situated in Kensington Palace Gardens is rumoured to be worth more than £100 million.
The current rate at which the property market is growing is the fastest in 30 years. Estate Agent Clapham North has been part of the research which has revealed that people who live in prime areas such as Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Hampstead are currently earning more than £4000 per day on their London properties.
The current growth in the London property market is expected to stabilize in the middle parts of the year and then regaining pace again towards the end of the year. This is all good and well for the London market, however there are still serious concerns about the rest of the country's property as there is not much growth showing in other parts of England. The average price for a property for sale in London is about £350,000 whereas the average price of property in the North East is less than half of that at £129,000. Let's hope the London property industry is able to carry the weight of the entire country!
I heard a rumour that the global recession is slowly becoming less of an issue as the world economic climate seems to be recovering ever so slightly form a terrible year in 2009. The London property market was one of the worst hit areas in the UK and now I'm wondering whether or not the property market will be recovering with the rest of the world's financial situation. I did some research and found that the influencing factors sway from negative to positive in a seesaw kind of pattern, each positive balanced out by a negative. Take a look:
The UK as a whole is definitely recovering from a tough 2009. Most businesses around the country are starting to recover and their employees are starting to have a little bit more money to spend each month due to a general drop in retail prices. However the unemployment rate in the UK is still continuing to rise which means just because companies and their employees have a little more money, jobs are still scarce as companies are hesitant to start hiring too soon. Unemployment rate is one of the major factors that affect London property prices will have a slight negative effect on London property prices.
The guttering on a property is actually an integral part of a building and should be well looked after. Of all of the elements, water is the most detrimental to any building, whether it be a home or business and guttering helps keep the property protected. Investing in a proper set of guttering will stand you and your building in good stead. It is not always easy to know what is available and which types of gutters commonly found in the UK are the best choice for you or your property.
Manufacturing output in the UK declined for the 11th straight month in January, official figures have shown.