London United Kingdom Travel News

London United Kingdom Travel News From AOL News

Queen Tried to Get UK Poverty Fund to Heat Palace

LONDON (Sept. 24) - Even a monarch needs a little help from time to time - especially when the cost of heating those drafty old palaces spirals past $1.5 million a year. But a request for assistance from a government fund that provides subsidized heating to low-income Britons has caused a spot of bother for Queen...

Pope Meets Abuse Victims As Thousands Protest London Visit

(Sept. 18) -- Pope Benedict XVI met with five victims of priestly child abuse as part of his official trip to Britain, while thousands marched the streets of London in protest against his visit. Benedict prayed with the victims and said that the Catholic Church is "continuing to implement effective measures to safeguard...

In UK Visit, Pope Admits Failures Over Sex Abuse

David Cheskin, Pool / AFP / Getty Images

(Sept. 16) -- Before he landed today in Britain for a historic first-ever state visit, Pope Benedict XVI delivered his harshest comments yet about the Catholic Church's response to sex abuse, admitting that the hierarchy failed to act decisively against priests who rape or molest children. The pope acknowledged that "the...

Next-Gen Taliban Less Strict, Increasingly Media-Savvy

(Sept. 13) -- Taliban leader Mullah Omar has yet to be captured and, in recent days, made a speech promising that an American defeat in Afghanistan is "imminent." But while the United States has not destroyed the Taliban, it has disrupted their operations, killing many senior leaders and driving others from traditional...

Forget About Snooki, Frank Kermode and Tony Judt Have Died

(Aug. 18) -- It's surely an indictment of Western culture that more people are familiar with Snooki of "Jersey Shore" than, say, novelist Jonathan Franzen, who isn't exactly obscure either, just having been featured on the cover of Time magazine. But for most scholars and writers, the only mainstream notice -- by which I...