LONDON (Reuters) - Smart meters to boost energy efficiency in homes do not automatically achieve a significant reduction in energy demand, research showed Wednesday.
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Smart meters alone may not save much energy - study
LONDON (Reuters) - Electronic band the xx have been named the winners of the 2010 Mercury Prize for their debut album, “The xx.”
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The XX win Mercury music prize for debut album
LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations should help investigate allegations that opposition figures in Bahrain have been tortured in prison in the run-up to next month’s elections, a British lawmaker said on Tuesday.
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U.N. must probe Bahrain torture allegations - UK lawmaker
BELFAST (Reuters) - The British government’s austerity measures could cut Northern Ireland’s power to spend by a quarter and plunge it into a prolonged recession, First Minister Peter Robinson said on Tuesday.
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Northern Irish "face recession" due to UK cuts
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain promoted one of its top financial crimebusters on Tuesday to help keep experienced staff on board at a watchdog set to be abolished in two years’ time.
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Government promotes financial crimebuster as shake-up looms
LONDON (Reuters) - The government launched an initiative on Tuesday to unlock new investment in low-carbon technologies and make London a global hub for green finance.
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UK launches investor forum to spur green finance
LONDON (Reuters) - Retail sales growth accelerated last month, helped by clothes sales, a survey showed on Tuesday, but discounting played a part in the improvement and consumers remain reluctant to splash out on expensive items.
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Retail sales growth picks up in August
LONDON (Reuters) - A floating duck house, which came to symbolise a scandal which erupted last year over British politicians’ expenses, has been sold and the money given to a cancer charity, the organisation said on Monday.
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Duck house, symbol of MPs’ expense scandal, sold
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. model and actress Jerry Hall is selling several works of art from her private collection, including a portrait by Lucian Freud, as a way of letting go of a past she shared with Rolling Stone Mick Jagger
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Jerry Hall to auction Freud portrait, Warhol
LONDON (Reuters) - A vicar who oversaw hundreds of sham marriages between African nationals and cash-strapped eastern Europeans to help migrants settle illegally in Britain was jailed for four years on Monday.
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Vicar jailed for sham marriage scam
LONDON (Reuters) - Maintenance workers on London’s underground rail network went out on strike on Monday at the start of a wave of industrial action which unions say will cripple the system, bringing misery to commuters.
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Tube commuters braced for travel chaos
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron’s communications chief denied on Monday that he encouraged reporters to illegally hack into phone messages in his previous role as a tabloid newspaper editor.
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Coulson "happy to speak to police"
LONDON (Reuters) - As commuters prepared for travel chaos on Monday at the start of a series of strikes on the London Underground, management and unions traded blows over new safety claims.
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London Tube commuters braced for travel chaos
CARDIFF (Reuters) - Pakistan test opener Yasir Hameed said Sunday he had been duped into making statements reported in the British newspaper The News of the World alleging widespread match-fixing by his team mates.
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Hameed says he was duped by newspaper
LONDON (Reuters) - Entrepreneur Richard Caring is considering a counter-bid for British cafe and restaurant chain Carluccio’s, British newspaper the Mail on Sunday reported.
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Caring mulls counter-bid for Carluccio’s - report
CARDIFF (Reuters) - The first Twenty20 international between England and Pakistan was set to go ahead as planned on Sunday despite the latest allegations in the fixing controversy, Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed said.
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England v Pakistan series to go ahead - team manager
CARDIFF (Reuters) - England play their first Twenty20 international on Sunday since claiming the World Cup in Barbados this year against a backdrop of suspicion and innuendo rather than celebration.
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England-Pakistan series opens with air of suspicion
LONDON (Reuters) - Two people died after a mid-air collision by two light planes during an air race over the Isle of Wight, police said on Saturday.
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Two die in mid-air light aircraft collision
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Three people were arrested after protesters threw eggs and shoes at former British Prime Minister Tony Blair when he arrived to sign copies of his memoir at a bookshop in Dublin on Saturday, national broadcaster RTE said.
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Blair pelted with eggs at Dublin book signing
LONDON (Reuters) - The cost of car insurance has risen by almost a third in the past year, its biggest ever increase, as insurers seek to offset a sharp rise in claims expenses driven in part by fraud, AA Insurance said.
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Car insurance premiums jump 31 percent - AA
LONDON (Reuters) - The cost of car insurance has risen by almost a third in the past year, its biggest ever increase, as insurers seek to offset a sharp rise in claims expenses driven in part by fraud, AA Insurance said.
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Car insurance premiums jump 31 percent
LONDON (Reuters) - Land Securities is set to bring in Songbird’s Canary Wharf Group (CWG) as a partner to build a new skyscraper in London’s City financial district, sources close to the deal said on Friday.
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LandSecs to partner with CWG on London office - sources
LONDON (Reuters) - British customers of France Telecom’s Orange and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile will be able to roam across each other’s UK networks from October, the new joint venture of the two companies said.
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Orange, T-Mobile UK roaming to start in October
LONDON (Reuters) - Liberal Democrat stalwart and former Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith has died aged 82, his party said on Friday.
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Larger than life Liberal Cyril Smith dies
LONDON (Reuters) - The marriage of “X Factor” judge and pop singer Cheryl Cole and her England soccer player husband Ashley ended in divorce after four years on Friday.
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Cheryl and Ashley Cole in "quickie" divorce
LONDON (Reuters) - Alcohol consumption in Britain saw its sharpest decline in more than 60 years in 2009 in contrast to the perception that the country has a growing drink problem, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said on Friday.
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Alcohol consumption suffers sharp slump
LONDON (Reuters) - People who take a commonly used class of osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates for more than five years may be doubling their risk of developing cancer of the gullet or oesophagus, a British study found on Friday.
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Common bone drugs linked to oesophageal cancer risk
LONDON (Reuters) - Pension obligations of British companies have grown to “unprecedented” levels due to falling yields on government bonds, consultancy Aon warned on Thursday.
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UK firms’ pension liabilities hit new high - Aon
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown will join efforts to improve access to education and the internet as part of pro bono work following Labour’s election loss in May, his spokesman said on Thursday.
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Gordon Brown begins charity work
LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland announced another wave of job cuts on Thursday as the part-nationalised bank continues with its drive to trim costs and improve its profitability.
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Royal Bank of Scotland to cut 3,500 jobs in UK
LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland’s government announced on Thursday that its planned minimum price for alcohol would be set at 45 pence per unit, meaning a bottle of wine would cost at least 4.23 pounds and a bottle of whisky 12.60 pounds.
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Scotland announces minimum price for alcohol
LONDON (Reuters) - God did not create the universe and the “Big Bang” was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.
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God did not create the universe, says Hawking
LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign Secretary William Hague has denied rumours he was gay and said one of his male aides had quit over untrue speculation they had been involved in a relationship.
LONDON (Reuters) - House prices fell much faster than expected last month but further declines are likely to be modest, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Thursday.
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House prices fall in August - Nationwide
LONDON (Reuters) - Staff at Britain’s BBC voted on Wednesday to strike in protest against the state-funded broadcaster’s plans to reduce a large pension deficit by capping the growth of pensionable pay, unions said.
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BBC staff vote for strike over pension overhaul
LONDON (Reuters) - A doctor who cut a rugby player’s lip to disguise a fake injury during a European cup game and then lied about the incident has received a formal warning, Britain’s medical regulator said on Wednesday.
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Doctor in fake blood scandal given formal warning
LONDON (Reuters) - Former prime minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday he could have not have imagined what he called the “nightmare” that unfolded in Iraq but still did not regret joining the U.S.-led invasion.
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Blair says did not foresee Iraq "nightmare"
LONDON (Reuters) - The identity of “The Stig,” the mystery test car driver on the popular BBC TV motoring show “Top Gear” was revealed on Wednesday after the broadcaster lost a legal battle to keep his name secret.
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Top Gear’s Stig finally unmasked
LONDON (Reuters) - British hedge fund company Man Group Plc named GLG head Emmanuel Roman as its chief operating officer on Wednesday, to help Man Group integrate its recent acquisition of the GLG business.
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GLG’s Roman named Man Group chief operating officer
LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in Spice Plc, Britain’s biggest installer of water meters, rose strongly on Wednesday in anticipation of a bidding war as the company revealed it was in talks with a second potential bidder.
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New bidder emerges for UK’s Spice
LONDON (Reuters) - Adam Sandler’s new comedy “Grown Ups” has knocked Sylvester Stallone’s latest mercenary action movie off the UK box office top spot after just one week, according to Screen International on Wednesday.
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Adam Sandler’s "Grown Ups" knocks Stallone off top spot
LONDON (Reuters) - An intact Roman lantern made of bronze, believed by experts to be the only one of its kind in Britain, has been unearthed in a field by a metal-detecting enthusiast.
LONDON (Reuters) - Protesters from environmental group Greenpeace boarded a drilling rig operated by UK oil explorer Cairn Energy on Monday to try to stall development of what the oil industry hopes will become a major new producing centre.
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Protesters board Cairn oil rig off Greenland
LONDON (Reuters) - A doctor who deliberately cut the lip of a Harlequins rugby player to cover up a fake injury can continue to practise medicine, the General Medical Council said on Tuesday.
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"Blood" doctor free to carry on working -GMC
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it would discuss closer military cooperation with France in talks this week, but played down a report that the two countries would share aircraft carriers to save costs.
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Government cool on mooted carrier sharing scheme
LONDON (Reuters) - The exceptionally dry early summer months in Britain have revealed the ghostly outlines of several hundred previously unknown ancient sites buried in fields across the English countryside.
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Parched English fields reveal ancient sites
LONDON (Reuters) - Mortgage approvals and consumer credit lending rose unexpectedly in July, but total net lending was its weakest since March, Bank of England figures showed on Tuesday.
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July mortgage approvals rise unexpectedly
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and France are getting ready to unveil plans to share aircraft carriers amid pressure on the British military to cut costs, the Times reported on Tuesday.
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Britain, France to share aircraft carriers - paper
LONDON (Reuters) - British consumer confidence unexpectedly improved in August for the first time since February thanks to a more positive view on the economic outlook, a survey showed on Tuesday.
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Consumer confidence improves in August
LONDON (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption unit has been asked to submit a report within the next three days on an investigation into alleged corruption within the Pakistan team.
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Corruption report expected in two to three days
LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly half of the public has little confidence in local authorities as they face massive budgetary cuts despite being sympathetic to their plight, a poll by Zurich Munich showed on Monday.
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Public has little confidence in budget-cutting councils
LONDON (Reuters) - Play will start as scheduled in the fourth test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s on Sunday after a man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
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Fourth test to start on time after corruption claims
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons can expect no cut in the overall tax burden for an extended period as the coalition government takes tough steps to narrow a gaping budget deficit, a Treasury minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.
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Minister sees no early cut in tax burden
LONDON (Reuters) - England coach Fabio Capello said he regretted the way he announced the end of David Beckham’s international career but added he still had a good relationship with the former captain who would make a top manager one day.
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England coach regrets way he handled Beckham decision
LONDON (Reuters) - The world-famous British Museum was evacuated on Saturday after visitors reported eye irritation from what they thought was a chemical leak, officials said.
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British Museum evacuated after visitors complain of smell
BRADFORD, England (Reuters) - Far-right protesters hurled bricks and smoke bombs on Saturday as riot police kept them apart from anti-racism demonstrators.
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Far-right protesters clash with police
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain’s top annual comedy prize, the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award, went to England’s Russell Kane at an Edinburgh Fringe festival ceremony on Saturday for his show “Smokescreens and Castles.”
LONDON (Reuters) - Theo Walcott’s sparkling early-season form continued on Saturday as he scored again in Arsenal’s 2-1 Premier League victory at Blackburn Rovers.
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Sparkling Walcott helps Arsenal win at Blackburn
LONDON (Reuters) - England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership on Saturday when they extended their stand to 332 on the third day of the fourth test against Pakistan at Lord’s.
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Trott and Broad set world record for eighth wicket
LONDON (Reuters) - Rates of oesophageal cancer in men have risen by 50 percent in Britain in a generation, an increase that is probably being driven in part by growing rates of obesity and poor diet, scientists said on Saturday.
LONDON (Reuters) - One in four women who works as a lap dancer in Britain has a university degree and the majority of those involved in the industry enjoy their work, earning up to 48,000 pounds a year, academic research has found.
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Study finds quarter of lap dancers have degrees
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Steelmaker Corus, owned by India’s Tata Steel, said it had reached an agreement with Thailand’s SSI over the potential $500 million sale of its mothballed Teesside plant.
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Corus and SSI agree scope of $500 million Teesside sale
LONDON (Reuters) - Planners have given London 2012 Olympic organisers permission to build a temporary water polo centre with an inflatable roof.
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Water polo venue for London 2012 to get inflatable roof
LONDON (Reuters) - House prices in England and Wales rose 0.4 percent on the month and 6.7 percent on the year in July, figures from the Land Registry showed on Friday.
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House prices up 6.7 percent year on year in July
LONDON (Reuters) - An intimate portrait of Queen Victoria with her hair down — belying her traditional frumpy image — and a painting she commissioned of an American lion tamer form part of an exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
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Queen Victoria’s artistic tastes go on show
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain faces a new wave of attacks from poorly trained but highly motivated homegrown militants, as the al Qaeda threat shifts from big, sophisticated bomb plots to acts by individuals, a report said on Friday.
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UK faces new wave of homegrown attacks - report
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s biggest defence industry trade body urged the government on Friday to clarify who will pay for a new nuclear deterrent, voicing fears that its high cost could hit orders for other military equipment.
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UK defence industry asks who will pay for nuclear deterrent
LONDON (Reuters) - Use of weight-loss surgery has increased 10-fold in hospitals in England since 2000 and those who have gastric bands fitted can reduce their risk of early death and cut health service costs, scientists said on Friday.
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Surgery for obesity increases 10-fold in England
LONDON (Reuters) - Robbie Williams and his old band Take That plan to tour together next summer after reconciling their differences, but the reunion is likely to be temporary, they said on Thursday.
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Robbie Williams and Take That plan reunion tour
LONDON (Reuters) - The government has declared war on the profusion of unnecessary road traffic signs, railings and advertising boards, saying they blight towns’ English character.
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Britain being "overrun" by street signs
LONDON (Reuters) - Net migration to Britain jumped 20 percent in 2009 but the increase was largely due to a fall in the number of UK citizens moving abroad, the Home Office said on Thursday.
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Net migration to Britain jumps 20 percent
LONDON (Reuters) - More tests will be carried out on Thursday on the body of a man who worked for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service MI6 found at a flat near the agency’s headquarters.
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More tests on MI6 worker’s body
LONDON (Reuters) - About 200 Alstom-Metro maintenance workers on London’s underground rail network will strike over pay, the Rail Maritime and Transport union said on Thursday, the second action announced this week by Tube workers.
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Alstom London tube staff to strike over pay - union
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ireland had a solid bank plan and was Europe’s leader in fiscal reform, warning not to take rating agency views such as S&P’s downgrade of Ireland this week too seriously.
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Canada finmin defends Irish policy after downgrade
LONDON (Reuters) - The deputy prime minister on Thursday rejected a report by an independent and influential think-tank that said the government’s fiscal new measures will hit the poor hardest.
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Clegg rejects budget criticism
LONDON (Reuters) - Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle said on Wednesday that performing for Pope Benedict during his visit to Britain next month was “her greatest dream come true.”
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Susan Boyle says singing for Pope is "dream come true"
LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have created liver cells in a lab for the first time by reprogramming stem cells taken from human skin, paving the way for potential new treatments for liver diseases that kill thousands each year.
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Scientists create liver cells from patients’ skin
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha have named their newborn daughter Florence Rose Endellion, Downing Street said on Wednesday.
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Cornwall features in name of new Cameron baby girl
LONDON (Reuters) - Pope Benedict will be confronted by posters on London’s famous red buses during his trip to the British capital next month which will call for the ordination of women priests.
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London bus ads to back women priests during pope’s visit
LONDON (Reuters) - The home of a woman filmed picking up a cat and throwing it into a rubbish bin is under police guard in Britain after her actions sparked outrage from animal lovers and even death threats.
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Police guard for woman who put cat in bin
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland’s financial headache worsened on Wednesday after Standard & Poor’s cut its credit rating in a move criticised by the country’s debt management agency.
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Ireland stung by S&P downgrade
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s coalition government’s June budget will hit the poor hardest, the Institute of Fiscal Studies said on Wednesday, directly contradicting finance minister George Osborne’s assertion that his plans are progressive.
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IFS says June budget will hit poor hardest
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife Samantha has given birth to a baby girl, his office said.
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Samantha Cameron gives birth to baby girl
KARACHI (Reuters) - Former captain Younus Khan was again ignored by Pakistani selectors but fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was recalled to the 16-man squad for next month’s one day series against England.
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Younus ignored but Akhtar recalled for England ODIs
LONDON (Reuters) - Singer George Michael admitted on Tuesday that he had been under the influence of cannabis when he crashed his car into a north London shop in July.
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George Michael admits drug-drive charge
BANGALORE (Reuters) - UK pawnbroker H&T Group posted a 71 percent jump in profit as it bought more gold from those who sold off the metal amid surging prices, and forecast full year above the top end of market expectations.
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H&T Group shines on gold buy, sees brighter days ahead
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s City regulator slapped a $3.51 million fine on the UK branch of Zurich Insurance for data security failings after the loss of a tape in South Africa containing details on 46,000 insurance customers.
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FSA fines Zurich UK $3.5 million over lost data tape
BANGALORE (Reuters) - British IT and communications firm Redstone Plc said it planned to raise 8.5 million pounds via a stock and notes issue, failing which it would be difficult for it to continue trading.
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Redstone seeks funding to continue trading
LONDON (Reuters) - UK housebuilder Persimmon unveiled a 70 million pound writeback and the resumption dividends as the chief executive said there may be a dent in the crucial autumn selling season until the government’s October spending review.
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Persimmon restores dividends, warns on early autumn sales
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s healthcare cost agency NICE rejected Roche’s drug Avastin for advanced bowel cancer again on Tuesday, saying it was too expensive, despite a fresh price deal offered by the manufacturer.
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Roche’s Avastin again spurned by cost body
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has been fined A$500 (287 pounds) but avoided conviction for reckless driving outside Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix circuit in March.
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"Hoon" Hamilton fined for Melbourne street spin
LONDON (Reuters) - The upcoming UK-Dutch electricity interconnector is expected to link Britain to European power markets, which could result in additional supply at the right, but sometimes wrong, times.
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UK-Dutch Britned cable may import power price shocks
LONDON (Reuters) - Healthcare cost agency NICE rejected Roche’s drug Avastin for advanced bowel cancer again on Tuesday, saying it was too expensive, despite a fresh price deal offered by the manufacturer.
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Roche’s Avastin again spurned by NICE
LONDON (Reuters) - Major oil and gas leaks offshore Britain grew 39 percent last year and serious injuries also rose sharply, the safety watchdog said on Tuesday, warning companies to improve their safety standards.
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Oil and gas industry warned over rising leaks
LONDON (Reuters) - England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup would be unbeatable, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told FIFA delegates assessing facilities on Monday.
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Clegg tells FIFA England’s 2018 bid will be unbeatable
BELFAST (Reuters) - One of the nationalist militant groups behind the recent upsurge of violence in Northern Ireland threatened on Monday to take the fight for Irish unity to the British mainland.
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Northern Irish militants threaten to take fight to Britain
Corrects Saturday story in last paragraph to remove reference to NCR.
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CORRECTED - Barclays’ network glitch causes nationwide chaos
LONDON (Reuters) - A new reality TV show, which will film two people — one disfigured, the other attractive — living together in a house full of mirrors, has been branded a “freak show” by critics.
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Channel 4 reality show branded "freak show"
LONDON (Reuters) - Pilgrims attending the large public events during Pope Benedict’s visit to England and Scotland next month have been issued a long list of do’s and don’ts including a ban on musical instruments and steel cutlery.
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No musical instruments please, Vatican asks Britons
LONDON (Reuters) - British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday it had started final trials of its new vaccine to prevent shingles, one of the most significant products in its pipeline.
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Glaxo starts final clinical trial of shingles vaccine