International News

Tens of thousands of trees are to be planted each year across the North East by 2050 as it becomes England's latest community forest. The equivalent of almost 6,000 rugby pitches of new canopy cover will be created as part of the 30-year project. Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and urban parts of County Durham are taking part. There are 11 further forests in England which are part of government plans to tackle the effects of climate change. The scheme, ...

Average UK house prices hit a new high in June and are now 30% higher than the pre-2008 financial crisis, meaning Generation Rent face an even greater uphill struggle on their way to homeownership, according to the latest market analysis from Zoopla. This morning's data revealed that the average price of a home in June stood at £230,700 - up 5.4% year on year. However, Zoopla believes that prices will start to fall in the near term. Low stock levels continue to be a serious probl...

Major plans to introduce the UK’s largest Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester and map out thousands of new homes in the region have been backed by Manchester councillors. Town halls have been asked to support the Clean Air Plan and Places for Everyone, the jobs and housing masterplan which could succeed the ill-fated spatial framework. The former would see drivers of heavily-polluting vehicles hit with a daily charge from May 30, 2022 in a bid to improve poor air quality and reduce ...

U.S. and EU travelers who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will soon be allowed to visit England without having to quarantine, the U.K. government announced Wednesday. The measure comes after the U.K. government on July 19 also removed quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated English residents if they had visited so-called amber list countries with less severe Covid-19 situations. Both announcements provide fresh relief to airlines and the wider tourism sector, which ...

The long-awaited over budget Crossrail project is set to have "dress rehearsals" and could open in the winter, MPs have been told. The high-speed link, which will see Reading, Slough and Maidenhead, as well as the village of Twyford, connected to central London, could now open in February. The Transport for London project has had massive delays, and has been financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic to the tune of £230 million. Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild told the P...

London has been hit with serious flooding after a deluge of rain fell yesterday. Streets, homes and even stations have felt the affects of the rainfall on Sunday evening (July 25), with hospitals declaring major incidents. Today (Monday, July 26), Whipps Cross Hospital in East London has been forced to cancel all planned surgery due to the flooding causing operational difficulties. East London has been one of the hardest hit areas, with homes in Walthamstow seeing "knee deep" water pour...

Tencent will buy British video game developer Sumo in a $1.27 billion deal as people lodged at home during the pandemic crowd online to try for new high scores. Sumo and Sixjoy Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Tencent, announced the deal earlier this week. Mount Emei Investment, another subsidiary of Chinese billionaire Ma Huateng’s Tencent, already owns about 8.75% of Sumo. Lockdowns and social distancing accelerated a global market jump in gaming. According to market research firm Strate...

PEOPLE buying homes in the Reading postcode area have been knocking an average of more than two per cent off the asking price over the past year, according to a 'we buy any house' firm. But recent activity in the property market suggests some sellers are actually getting more than the asking price. Property Solvers has looked into 1,972 property transactions in and around the RG postcode area, comparing asking prices on Rightmove with the actual sold prices lodged at the Land Regis...