LONDON has risen five places to 15th in the global cost-of-living table because of Britain’s soaring inflation.
The capital leapt five places in a list headed by Tokyo, Oslo and Osaka to its highest ranking since the financial crisis began in 2008, overtaking Milan, Brussels, Madrid Barcelona and Vienna. Analysts said rising shop prices, higher taxes [...]
BRITONS are obsessed with the 1980s–recalling the decade as the best time of their lives.
Nearly 90 percent of people quizzed by a TV station preferred eighties fashions, which included Madonna style fingerless gloves.
Music also made them nostalgic, with 25 percent saying the 1982 hit Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners was their favourite.
Many saw [...]
NEARLY one in eight people who live in Britain was not born here, according to the Office of National Statistics. Rising immigration has meant that the number of people living in the UK but not born here has nearly doubled in past 20 years to just under 7 million. About 11 percent of residents are [...]
THE maximum fine for touts selling tickets to the London Olympics has been raised to £20,000 from £15,000. The increase follows criticism that the original fine was not high enough to deter networks of touts who, police say, can expect to make millions from the games. Many of the gangs are British and follow big [...]
SWAPPING homes is tipped to be this year’s top holiday trend.
Twice as many people are planning a property-exchange this year compared with last year, a poll found. About 1.6 million holidaymakers have already arranged a swap in 2011, with Cornwall, Scotland and the Lake District among the most popular destinations.
The survey also found that many [...]
LONDON has surpassed New York, Tokyo and Paris as the world’s highest-grossing shopping city.
The British capital, which boasts more big name stores than any other, scored retail sales of £62.4 billion in 2010. This compares with £61.4 billion for Tokyo, £47 billion for New York, and £46.6 billion for Paris. The figures were reported in [...]
STICK THESE FLOWERS WHERE?
WHEN a 79-year-old man arrived at a Duke, Dorchester-based auction house, experts were not overwhelmed by the cardboard box in his arms. But when the pensioner opened the box they were stunned. They were looking at a Chinese Ming Dynasty vase valued at more than £1 million.
The 11.5-inch vase, which dates from [...]
CHURCHILL’S LAST BITE
Sir Winston Churchill’s false teeth were sold for nearly £20,000 at auction last week–twice their estimated price. At the same auction, one of his half-smoked cigars from 1944 was sold for £1,320.
Six bidders competed for the wartime leader’s partial denture at Bonham’s in London, with an anonymous bid of £19,200 taking the dentures.
Churchill [...]
by Gerd Treuhaft
Author of ‘Goodbye Yesterday’
New Memory Pill
Scientists have developed a pill that helps stave off memory loss in middle and old age. Tests on mice have found it starts working in just ten days. The tablet contains a chemical that blocks production of a hormone which can damage brain cells. It slows the natural [...]
LEGALISING DRUGS?
One of Britain’s top doctors said, legalising drugs would cut crime and boost the Nation’s health.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, the outgoing President of the Royal College of Physicians, is the latest figure to say drug use should be decriminalised. He said, “This could dramatically reduce crime and improve health”
Last month, top lawyer Nicholas Green, [...]
