to move up and down
London’s leaning: Big Ben tilting, British parliament slipping into River Thames, reports say
The landmark clock tower containing Big Ben at Britain’s Palace of Westminster, is tilting, while media reports Monday said the mother of all parliaments was slipping into the River Thames, raising fears over its future.
The House of Commons commission, which is responsible for the upkeep of the 19th century neo-Gothic parliamentary estate popular with tourist photographs, was due to meet Monday.
Media reports said it would discuss a surveyor’s report which could recommend lawmakers move out for repairs costing up to one billion pounds, while the Daily Telegraph said another proposal might be to sell to Russian or Chinese developers for about 500-million pounds (£779.7 million). (Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
Obama calls for renewal in transatlantic relationship
U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a powerful exaltation on the past and the future of the transatlantic alliance Wednesday, anchoring a European tour by decrying the notion of inevitable Western decline.
But the gap between soaring oratory and the intractable nature of modern challenges was laid bare as Obama admitted the current NATO operation in Libya had “limitations” and was able to offer little new hope for Middle East peace.
Photo gallery: A woman takes her dog for a bathroom break in the benching area at the 135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York, February 15, 2011. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters)
