Big Ben Silenced for Repairs

(NEWSER) - London’s Big Ben will celebrate three 150th birthdays this year, starting with today’s anniversary of the first movement of the huge clock, the Evening Standard reports. July 11 marks the first ringing of “Big Ben,” the Great Bell that eventually gave its name to the tower, and September will see the anniversary of the first time all five bells rang at once. 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»

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»

Offered them to Dubai's ruling sheikh

(NEWSER) - British police have locked up an Iranian gang that they allege was prostituting teen girls to wealthy Arabs. Police got wind of the gang when it made the mistake of offering its services to Sheikh Mohammad al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, while he was staying in a London hotel. “I have 12 girls ready from age 14-20 years, who are living all over the UK,” they boasted in a note left at the hotel. More»