British news stories on Newser

Mount Everest's Mystery: Should We Solve It?

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:10:47 CDT

A long-frozen roll of film may solve one of Mount Everest's most enduring mysteries. England has long been caught in the romance of two British adventurers who scaled the mountain with a team in 1924 and were last seen a few hundred yards from the peak. Did George Mallory and...

Constant Oil Leaks Killing Gibraltar Bay: Critics

Luke Kelly-Clyne — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 10:42:42 CDT

As blame spreads between Spain and the UK, so too does ecosystem-destroying oil in the Strait of Gibraltar. Europe's No. 1 transfer port, located between the towering Rock of Gibraltar and the Spanish fishing town of Algercias is, on any one day, home to tens of oil tankers and ocean...

Taliban Offer Kidnapped Doc for MIT Terrorist

Kevin Spak — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:25:00 CDT

The Taliban today admitted to kidnapping a female Scottish aid worker in Afghanistan, and offered to trade her for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani ex-MIT student sentenced to 86 years in prison last week for trying to kill FBI officers. Siddiqui’s sentence set off a wave of protests...

Dubai Upholds Month in Jail for Kissing Brits

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:05:15 CDT

A Dubai appeals court today upheld a one-month prison sentence for a British couple convicted of kissing in a restaurant. The pair landed in court after an Emirati woman complained about the public kiss, which the couple insisted was just a peck on the cheek. They were arrested in November...

9 Missing Foreigners Found Dead in Yemen

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:27:31 CDT

Nine missing foreigners, including three children, have been found dead in Yemen today, their bodies mutilated, a security official said. The foreigners, including seven Germans, a Briton, and a South Korean, disappeared Friday while on a picnic in the turbulent northern Saada region. Shepherds roaming the area found some remains...

World's Largest Cave Found

Jess Kilby — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:03:24 CDT

A British expedition team has discovered what they believe to be the world’s largest cave deep within the Vietnamese jungle, the Telegraph reports. At 650 feet high and nearly 500 feet wide, Hang Son Doong—or Mountain River Cave—is twice the size of current record holder Deer Cave in...

'Cult' Writer JG Ballard Dead at 78

Drew Nelles — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:30:11 CDT

British author JG Ballard died this morning "with great sadness" after many years of poor health, his agent said today. The 78-year-old novelist and short story writer was most famous for his semi-autobiographical book Empire of the Sun , later made into a film by Steven Spielberg, and his controversial novel...

Jargon Not a Best Practice, Brit Bureaucrats Told

Ambreen Ali — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:46:01 CDT

This recession requires the British government to drop its jargon and get consensually transparent, er, clear. A government agency frets that people are missing out on services because they don't understand bureaucratic lingo like the following phrases, per Reuters: Slippage: Why not just admit the delay? A menu of options...

Manners Killed Titanic's Brits as Yanks Fled: Study

Ambreen Ali — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:12:01 CST

British passengers aboard the Titanic were most likely to die because their sense of propriety inclined them to line up for lifeboats while Americans elbowed past to save themselves, claims an Australian researcher who is studying how people react in life-threatening disasters. Americans were 8.5% more likely than other...