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Most have no jobs to go to or exams they might pass. They know no family role models, for most live in homes in which the father is unemployed, or from which he has decamped They are illiterate and innumerate, beyond maybe some dexterity with computer games and BlackBerries. They are essentially wild beasts. I use that phrase advisedly, because it seems appropriate to young people bereft of the discipline that might make them employable; of the conscience that distinguishes between right and wrong. They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or...

You can’t help but be aware of the ongoing riots over the last few nights in London and some other major cities. Scenes over the news of young people looting and destroying shops and warehouses have been shocking, and it appears Sony are another one of the many businesses that have been affected. A Sony warehouse in north London, where CDs, DVDs and most likely games are stored, is reported to be collapsing with fires engulfing the whole building. A gang of 20 looters have reportedly left the warehouse taking electrical goods with them. Fire fighters are currently tackling the...

Shops and homes in an upmarket area of south London were protected from rioters by a human barricade as residents and workers across the capital were forced to defend themselves. Locals in Clapham Junction, Dalston and Whitechapel took to the streets and faced down the mob on Monday night after realising that police were too over-stretched to help. In south London, officers were nowhere to be seen as shopfronts were smashed in St John’s Road, Clapham Junction. But the gangs of youths were prevented from carrying on their rampage south into Northcote Road, site of restaurants - specialist food stores...

London is burning. Following the shooting death (by police) of a young black man suspected of being a gang member, thugs and looters have taken to the streets en masse, baring the ugly side of humanity by employing random violence throughout the Tottenham area in North London. On some streets, not a single business has been left un-looted. In some ways, it’s not unlike similar riots we have seen here in America: A police action against a minority that is seen as questionable (or, in the eyes of the minority community, racially motivated). And before all the facts are uncovered,...

Police cars have been set on fire during a demonstration outside a police station in north London, according to witnesses. Tottenham resident, Maria Robinson, says the disturbance is linked to the fatal shooting of a man during a Scotland Yard operation on Thursday. Dozens of protesters have been gathering on the High Road in Tottenham.

LONDON (CNS) -- The Jesuits have sold the historic St. Cuthbert Gospel -- believed the oldest intact book produced in Europe -- to the British Library for $14.7 million. The British Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell the late 7th-century Anglo-Saxon manuscript to raise funds to restore a historic church and pay for educational work in London and Glasgow, Scotland. The book, a pocket-size Latin translation of the Gospel of St. John, was found inside the coffin of St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, when the saint's grave was opened in 1104. Experts believe the manuscript was placed...

Two Muslim teenagers have admitted defacing advertising hoardings featuring scantily-clad models and painting a 'burka' over them because they offended their religious views. Mohammed Hasnath and Muhammed Tahir, both 18, used black paint to cover up the picture of a female model on a hoarding advertising Lynx deodorant. The duo proceeded to paint over the faces on several other advertisements around London's East End, claiming it was a 'sin' for them to be uncovered.

A gay Bath resident has said a letter claiming that homosexuality can be "cured" is "absolutely disgraceful".Baz Harding said he was "shocked and dismayed" after the letter, titled 'It is still a sinful act', appeared in the Bath Chronicle earlier in July. It was written by Julie Trollope in response to a letter by gay church leaders claiming the Church of England was failing to embrace diversity. The newspaper said she had a right to have her views aired. Ms Trollope, who signs off the letter with Bath Christian, said she wrote it in response to an open letter to...

WASHINGTON: Federal authorities on Monday arrested a prominent US-based pro-Pakistan activist associated with the Kashmiri separatist movement, accusing him of funneling money from the Pakistani spy agency ISI to lobby US decision-makers. In the process, the Obama administration's law enforcement brigade also blew open the Pakistan and its spy agency's two-decade long subversion of the so-called Kashmir cause. The FBI swooped down on the Virginia residence of Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, a well-known representative of Kashmiri separatists in the US and detained him on charges of ''participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as agents of the Pakistani government in...

A dog owner has been fined £2,000 after becoming the first to be prosecuted in Britain for using an illegal electric shock collar. Wales banned the devices last year. Phillip Pook, 48, from Ogmore-by-Sea, Vale of Glamorgan, admitted using the collar, to stop his border collie jumping over a wall. But he had denied he had been warned the collar was illegal. It was discovered on his dog, found roaming on a beach in December 2010. Pook was also ordered to pay £1,000 in costs, when he was sentenced. He used the collar to try to stop the collie jumping...

John Yates, the under-fire assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tendered his resignation on Monday afternoon amid reports he was about to be suspended pending ongoing investigations into the phone-hacking investigation. The move follows the resignation of his boss Sir Paul Stephenson, who quit as Met commissioner on Sunday evening. MPs said they were seeking to ask Mr Yates further questions on the relationship between police and News International. Boris Johnson, mayor of London, later held a press conference at which he said “both decisions [to resign] were regrettable but in both cases, the right choice has been made.” He...

The Church of England will no longer be “functionally extant” in 20 years time according to some projections, a member of the General Synod has warned. The Rev Dr Patrick Richmond, from Norwich, told members of the Church’s national assembly that they were facing a “perfect storm” of ageing congregations and falling clergy numbers. The average age of congregations was 61, with many above that, he said. “These congregations will be led by fewer and fewer stipendiary clergy ... 2020 apparently is when our congregations start falling through the floor because of just natural wastage, that is people dying. “Another...

The Rt Rev Nick Baines, the Bishop of Bradford, said some parishes in his diocese were 95% Muslim but that this should not be seen as “a problem”.“This is a fantastic opportunity,” he told the General Synod, the Church of England’s national assembly, in York. “It is a challenge, yes, but it’s an opportunity to rethink what it means to be a Christian community. We often ask Muslims to learn what it is to be a Muslim as a minority culture....They voted overwhelmingly in favour of a plan to tackle the Church’s “pale, male and stale” image by using methods...

Display pilot's incredible escape from World War Two fighter as he bails out after mid-air collision at airshow A pilot had a miracle escape yesterday when he bailed out of his Second World War plane after a mid-air collision at an airshow. Thousands of people watched as the P-51 Mustang plane clipped wings at the annual display show and plummeted to the ground south-west of the former World War Two RAF Duxford base in Cambridgeshire, yesterday. Pilot Rob Davies parachuted to safety following the mid-air accident at the Flying Legends show which happened after three planes had formed a triangle...

A murder mystery dating back to 1879 has been finally resolved aftera skull unearthed in BBC legend David Attenborough's garden was formally recognised as that of a woman murdered by her maid 132 years ago. Julia Martha Thomas, a wealthy widow aged 55, was killed by her 29-year-old housekeeper Kate Webster very close to Park Road in well-to-do Richmond, but her head was never found. The case became known as the 'Barnes Mystery', which gripped London at the time.

Heard of bobowler, baffies, bishybarnabee, tittermatorter? Well, these are some of the weirdest words used in Britain. For the first time, the British Library is keeping track of the nation's regional words and has developed a word bank of around 4,000 entries. The words were submitted by visitors to the British Library in central London or to a series of events at provincial libraries as part of its Evolving English exhibition. According to experts, many local dialects died off in recent decades, squeezed out by the increasing standardisation of the language thanks to population mobility as well as the influence...

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived for an official welcoming ceremony at Prince Edward Island today - the setting for the novel Anne of Green Gables. They arrived in a horse-drawn coach to the delight of thousands more fans who waited patiently for hours for a chance of a glance of the newly-weds. Kate was seen wearing a cream pencil dress by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen - who designed her wedding dress. She teamed the outfit with navy blue heels for a visit close to her heart - Anne of Green Gables is one of her favourite books....

....Uniformed officers from Fortune Green have been quick to respond, identifying vulnerable and insecure addresses and, where it appears there is nobody home, climbing inside and securing the address - prominently leaving a calling card to notify residents that they could have been burgled. On one occasion, a lone female was startled when a uniformed officer walked into her living room having climbed in through an open bedroom window. After the initial surprise, she was very grateful when officers gave her some crime prevention advice and some cheap tips on how to make her home safer.

While trying to enjoy a romantic dinner date, Clive Merrifield and his companion had spent half an hour disturbed by a crying baby at the next table. The company director suggested to the child’s parents that given it was after 10pm, the seven-month-old might be tired. The baby’s father’s reaction was to pull a bottle of wine from Mr Merrifield’s ice bucket and smash it over his head. Mr Merrifield, 44, who was having a meal at an Indian restaurant in Islington, North London, with girlfriend Idalina Lucas, was left with a deep four-inch gash on his scalp which required...

17 Jews whose bodies were found at the bottom of a medieval well in England were likely victims of persecution, the BBC reported. According to the report, the Jews were probably murdered or had been forced to commit suicide. The skeletons date back to the 12th or 13th Centuries, at a time when Jewish people faced murder, banishment and other forms of persecution throughout Europe. Although the most famous expulsion and persecution was in Spain, England was not far behind. In 1190, the 150 Jews of York, then a center of Torah learning, were burned to death by a church...