International News

People using self-driving cars will be allowed to watch television on built-in screens under proposed updates to the Highway Code. The changes will say drivers must be ready to take back control of vehicles when prompted, the government said. The first use of self-driving technology is likely to be when travelling at slow speeds on motorways, such as in congested traffic. However, using mobile phones while driving will remain illegal. No self-driving cars are currently allowed on UK roads,...

Homebuyers and those looking to remortgage were this week being urged to act fast if they want to lock in a competitive home loan deal. Many banks and building societies have been pulling their mortgage deals or repricing them upwards, often at very short notice, as they grapple with rising interest rates and inflation, and the wider economic volatility. Many economists reckon the news this week that inflation has hit 7% puts more pressure on the Bank of England to hike interest rates rapi...

A veteran quizzer became the oldest female BBC Mastermind champion when she triumphed in the show at the age of 66. Alice Walker, from Derbyshire, scored a perfect 14 out of 14 in her specialist subject, the Peak District. Ms Walker - who won by six points in the grand final - was cheered on by a performance from the Morris dancing troupe she belongs to during the show, which aired on BBC Two on Monday. The now 67-year-old said it was a "shock" to win. "I applied for Mastermind after...

The “self-contained apartment” overlooks Harrods in London’s most exclusive postcode but at 88sq ft is smaller than the average car parking space A flat opposite Harrods department store in the heart of Knightsbridge has come on the market for just £175,000 — but there is a catch. The ‘self-contained flat’ is in actual fact a single 88sq ft (8.1m2) room which, according to a floor plan posted alongside the listing, has no bathroom, toilet, or kitch...

Halifax has released its latest House Price Index (HPI), which tells us how the property market performed in March 2022. As one of the earliest reports to come out, it’s an excited read – and we’ve digested it all for you, so you can sort the good from the bad and get your head around the numbers. This month is another record-breaker. Wait! What’s a House Price Index? It’s not as complicated as it looks at first glance! A ‘House Price Index’ (or HP...

The price of the average home in the UK has risen by £43,577 since the start of the first lockdown two years ago, the Halifax has said. The lender, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said the 18.2% rise took the cost of a typical home to £282,753. The race for space from buyers was clear with a 21% rise in the price of detached homes compared with a 11% rise in flat prices over the same period. A lack of homes on the market has helped to push up prices. "The story behind such ...

David and Jasmine Pringle had woken up at 4am to travel to Manchester airport from County Durham after Qatar Airways told them to expect huge delays for their flight to Doha. “Leaving the house at 5am for a 3pm flight isn’t ideal,” David said. “But it’s been over two years since we last saw Jasmine’s family in the Philippines and we’ve been desperate to make the journey to see her elderly parents. We’ve paid the best part of £3k for the fl...

The Environment Agency is running a pilot scheme in Preston to see how video games can help raise awareness and find solutions to problem flooding. Pupils at Archbishop Temple Church of England High School have been testing specially-themed Minecraft mini-games built to replicate their local flood defences. If the scheme is successful then other similar projects could be rolled out in other parts of England. Retrieved from：https://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-60987029 (5 April...