Party drugs like cocaine and heroine have long since been the fancy of wealthy party goers but as the drugs get cheaper more people are finding themselves not just using the drugs, but abusing them and developing addictions.
Bare-knuckle fighting, probably one of the oldest combat sports out there, is on the rise in the United Kingdom. Vice.com has documented the fighters and rise of the gritty sport.
Here is the new £1 coin for numismatists, a big word for coin collectors, to drool over. The new 12-sided design, similar to the three pence piece currently in circulation, is said to be the hardest in the world to fake.
A man from Afghanistan has been granted religious asylum in the United Kingdom, because he’s an atheist.
In 2010, Amazon set up a call centre in Cape Town to service British, American and German clients. It was quite cool, you know, being an essential part of an international, first-world-run industry. That is, until you learn the real reason they came here.
The British have become known as quite a polite group of people, well, some of them anyway. Their sometimes too-polite phrases give the illusion of class and a well established set of manners. However, a translation table that has been making the rounds on the internet recently, might change the way you listen to them.
If you’ve ever been to Scotland, or seen Braveheart, you’ll know that the Scots and the English aren’t the best of friends. Scotland currently operates under its own set of laws, and has a devolved government in Edinburgh, but it is now looking at making things a little more permanent.
When the Suzhou Chinaing Real Estate Company commissioned British architecture practice RMJM to design The Gate to the East, they were hoping for the Eastern answer to Paris’s Arc de Triomphe. Instead, they found the £445 million skyscraper more closely resembled a pair of “giant underpants”.
With the London Olympics a mere ten days away, this is a bit of an embarrassment for Boris Johnson to admit. With the decision to outsource security of the games to private security firm G4S, their last-minute withdrawal has left politicians with no choice but to call up members of the military. Many have just returned from deployment in Afghanistan.
Pandas have been on the endangered species list for some time now, so to promote their plight 108 performing pandas took to the streets of London to entertain commuters and passers-by. Click through for the video.
This past weekend marked the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, 60 years of politely smiling, waving and occupying an ultimately powerless position. In celebration, renowned street artist, Banksy, created an exclusive piece, which can be yours for free! Click through for cultural enrichment.
So! The British Home Office announced yesterday that new legislation will soon allow the government to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of every single person in the UK. The Home Office then had to clarify that, no, this was not some sort of elaborate April Fools prank.
A UK judge ruled this week that Richard O’Dwyer, an English university student, can be extradited to the United States to face charges of copyright infringement – O’Dwyer being the former administrator of TVShack, a website that linked to pirated content. This sets a dangerous legal precedent for anybody who does anything fun on the internet.
Philip Hammond, Liam Fox’s replacement as the UK’s Defence Secretary, announced to MPs that ground-to-air missiles would be deployed “to protect” the 2012 Olympic Games in London if deemed operationally necessary. This follows shortly after America announced intentions to send up to 1 000 security agents to provide protection for US contestants and diplomats.
UK teacher, Mohamed Ibrahim, unexpectedly received an email from Somalia asking him to visit his former homeland over the UK summer holidays. When he returned to war-torn Mogadishu, he was unexpectedly appointed the Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country.