Iranian Gang Tried to Sell Teen Girls in UK Sex Ring

Oil ministry issues ultimatums to European refineries to sign long-term contracts

(AP) - Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said today, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union's sanctions on Iran's oil exports. The EU imposed tough sanctions against Iran last month, which included a freeze of the country's central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July. Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had warned earlier this month that Tehran could cut off oil exports to "hostile" European nations. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18% of Iran's oil exports. More»

Foreign buyers are pouring in money to escape volatility at home

(NEWSER) - The market for London's most luxurious homes is skyrocketing as foreign buyers, seeking safe investments, swoop in to purchase the city's priciest residences. Sales of properties worth more than $8 million spiked 31% to a record 262 in the past year, reports Businessweek . House-hunters hailing from the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia are investing upward of $1,900 per square foot in posh London neighborhoods as a way to escape volatility in their home countries. More»

Unrest hits Manchester, Nottingham

(NEWSER) - Looting and arson spread to several cities in central and northern England today but calm prevailed in London, where thousands of extra police officers patrolled the streets. The most serious unrest was in Manchester, which had sent 100 officers to assist in London, the Guardian reports. Hundreds of young people went on the rampage in the city center, looting stores and hurling missiles at police. More»

And other updates from the chaos

(NEWSER) - Police are struggling to restore order on the streets of London after three days of rioting and looting. Here are some updates from the Telegraph's exhaustive coverage:

• David Cameron seemed to criticized the police effort , saying it needed to be “more robust,” and saying that the number of officers on the street tonight would swell from 6,000 to 16,000, with all police leave canceled.
• In an ironic turn, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has urged the British police to “show restraint” and said it would ask human rights organizations to investigate the fatal shooting that precipitated the riots.

No one knows exactly why population exploded

(NEWSER) - The parakeet population in Britain has exploded in recent years, up from 1,500 in 1995 to 30,000 a few years ago. The result? Scenes that could be straight out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, like one recent evening at a suburban park that saw hundreds of parakeets whizzing by in formations of 10, 20, or even 30. “I was delighted when I first saw one in my yard, but when you have a flock of 300, it’s a different matter,” a local tells the New York Times . “They eat all the berries. They ate all the food from my feeder in one day; it was ludicrous. I had to stop putting it out because it got too expensive." More»