Daily News Channel
Was there a duet playing in the back of his mind, I wonder, when Sir Edward Downes, the former conductor of Britain’s Royal Opera, held hands with his wife of 54 years and drank the poison with her? Wagner maybe, or Verdi’s Aida, one lover condemned to die, the other choosing to follow rather than live half a life, all alone
Harry Patch — the last surviving British soldier from World War I — died Saturday at the age of 111, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said. Patch died peacefully at his care home in the southwestern English city of Wells, the ministry announced. His death came a week after fellow British World War I veteran Henry Allingham died at the age of 113
To say that Courtroom 76 is shabby doesn’t begin to convey its dilapidation: the walls are a mess of peeling paint, and a cascade of empty boxes partly blocks the entrance to this attic annex of London’s Royal Courts of Justice. It’s a far cry from the limestone and sandblasted glass interiors of the city’s designer shops that are such a magnet to Russia’s superrich.
At least 20 people were killed and 40 injured Friday as a result of a major road accident in southern Russia, officials said. Winehouse was accused of assaulting a woman at a London charity ball last year. She had pleaded not guilty to the charge of common assault
Singer Amy Winehouse went on trial Thursday on charges that she assaulted a woman at a London charity ball last year. Winehouse pleaded not guilty to the charge of common assault in March. The charge relates to a September incident in which Winehouse allegedly hit a fan after agreeing to pose for a photo at the ball, British media reported
The Church of England is offering unmarried parents who want to tie the knot the option of having baptisms for their children at the same time. The offer is a response to demand after church-sponsored research showed that 20 percent of couples getting married in a church already had children, whether together or from a previous relationship, the church said
Sales of the flu drug Relenza shot up 1,900 percent from a year ago as governments around the world stockpiled in preparation for a swine flu pandemic, drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday.
A UK government minister on Wednesday reopened the dispute over support for troops in Afghanistan by insisting they had insufficient helicopters. Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown, who is resigning from the government later this week, said: “We definitely don’t have enough helicopters,” adding that “mobility” was vital for operations in southern Afghanistan, where British troops are battling a resurgent Taliban. Malloch-Brown also questioned Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s claim that the war was being fought to prevent Afghan terrorists carrying out attacks on Britain
At least five Iranian pilgrims were killed and dozens more wounded Wednesday in an attack northeast of Baghdad, security officials said. Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown, who is resigning from the government later this week, said: “We definitely don’t have enough helicopters,” adding that “mobility” was vital for operations in southern Afghanistan, where British troops are battling a resurgent Taliban.
British airlines have put into effect measures to stop people with swine flu boarding flights in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further. British Airways said there had been a “very small number of cases” where people who had checked in with symptoms of H1N1 had been advised not to travel after having medical checks