Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, has to be one of the most impressive buildings on the planet and nothing prepares you for the mystical splendour of this monument built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz. It is many years since I stood before this marble wonder but just seeing photos of it brings back all the …

Hop to it laddy

After a disappointing Open, Rory McIlroy said: “It was a tough week, I shot myself in the foot yesterday and could never really get it back today”. And with that, 6 helicopters, 14 SWAT teams and 134 otherwise ‘unavailable’ police officers arrived on the scene within minutes, along with Katie Price, whose media antenna went into overdrive, and Tony Blair …

Box Office record for the Hairy Porter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final Harry Potter film, has broken the record for the biggest first day box office sales in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates.

Wear the right stuff

Given that most low cost airlines charge quite a bit for checking in baggage and some, like Ryanair, now not only have a smaller sized hand luggage specification but a weight limit of 10 kilos, here’s a Wacky way to beat airline baggage charges

Murdoch’s what?

Good to see that the Daily Mail online, recently very quick to mock the Duchess of Cambridge for a spelling mistake in a private letter, continues to lead by example. This from yesterday’s edition…CLICK HERE

London Tube map

Here is a test site for a London Tube map which is purported to be more geographically correct. You can pan, zoom etc on this test map. Does a tube map really need to be geographically accurate as the main thing is to list the stops? Tube Map

Core blimey

Charlie Lindoe, a 13 year old schoolboy, allegedly hurled an apple at a classmate and, although he denied the assault, he quite expected a stern telling off. Five days passed and then suddenly, two police constables appeared at his home at 11pm.

Big Brother was watching

According to newly released MI5 files, many more British and Irish set off to join the International Brigades in Spain to fight against Franco than has generally been cited by historians.

Only known photo of Billy the Kid sold at auction

The only known authenticated portrait of the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid has sold for $2.3m, six times the estimated amount, at auction in Denver, Colorado. The tintype, an early form of photo using metal plates, is believed to have been taken in 1879 or 1880 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

US crime figures continue to fall

For the past 20 years, and despite general perceptions, crime in the USA has apparently actually been falling and new figures from the FBI show a sharp drop in the last two years, despite the recession. US crime figures: Why the drop?