News
Live news stream
Gifts given to royals as children go on display
Gifts given to royals when they were children, including the youngest Prince George, go on display today at Buckingham Palace.
Read the full storyReasons for buying London home 'starting to change'
The rush to buy property in the capital is slowing because pent-up demand caused by the 2008 crash has started to slow, a housing expert said.
Richard Donnell, director of research at property analysts Hometrack explained:
– Richard DonnellOverall, market conditions have been strong since early 2013, as a result of pent-up demand returning to the market outside London and with buyers encouraged by low mortgage rates and the launch of Help to Buy, but it now appears that market sentiment is starting to change.
"House prices were unchanged in London over the month, the lowest monthly change for 19 months.
Advertisement
Where house prices rose and fell around UK in July
- House prices were unchanged month-on-month in London, Wales and the North East, while they increased by 0.1% in Yorkshire and Humberside.
- They increased by 0.2% in the East, West Midlands and the North West.
- And by 0.3% in the South East and the South West.
- East Anglia recorded the strongest month-on-month uplift in property values at 0.5%.
- Across England and Wales, around one quarter (24%) of postcode districts saw prices increase over the month, falling back strongly from the spring, when around 50% of postcodes were recording price gains.
- Around 1.5% of postcodes across the country saw prices fall month-on-month in July.
London house price rise 'slowed to lowest rate' in July
London house prices slowed to their lowest rate last month, making July the weakest growth in the capital's property market in 18 months, experts said.
Read: Housing prices: National average up 11.8%
Momentum slowed to just 0.1% month-on-month, property analysts Hometrack found.
The rise in house prices "slowed dramatically" with just 12% of London postcodes registering price gains in July and a further 11% reporting a drop.
Hometrack said this marked the first time in four years that London has had a smaller proportion of markets registering price gains than regions across England and Wales.
Read: Record level gap between house prices in London & rest of UK
Two hundred wounded in clashes in the West Bank
Three protesters are in a critical condition and 200 more have been wounded during clashes in the West Bank, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli military confirmed troops had used "riot dispersal means" against protesters who threw rocks and firebombs at them and blocked a road with burning tyres.
Protests erupted over Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza where the Palestinian death toll has now neared 800.
Reuters reported the protest involving 10,000 people was the largest since the end of the Palestinian uprising between 2000 and 2005.
'No survivors' of Algerian plane crash, officials say
There are not thought to be any survivors of Air Algerie flight AH5017, officials who have found the wreckage say.
General Gilbert Diendere, a member of the crisis unit in West Africa's Burkina Faso where the plane set off from, said his team of investigators had already inspected the crash site.
He added: "This team has confirmed that it has seen the remains of the plane, totally burned out and scattered on the ground. Sadly, the team saw saw no survivors."
Regional aviation officials said they had lost contact with the plane less than an hour after takeoff following a request by the pilot to change course due to bad weather.
Burkina Faso authorities said the passenger list included 51 French, 27 Burkinabe, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, five Canadians, four Germans, two from Luxembourg, one Cameroonian, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukranian, one Swiss, one Nigerian and one Malian.
Advertisement
Shift workers run 'higher diabetes risk'
Employees working varied hours over a shift pattern run a higher risk of developing diabetes, according to experts.
Read: One in five feel they have diabetes 'under control'
Medics, police officers and fire fighters are among workers who are 9% more likely to develop diabetes, a study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine said.
Men working working on a shift pattern emerged as the most at risk candidates for developing diabetes - their chances rose by 37%.
Previous research has linked shift work to weight gain and increased appetite - both of which are risk factors for diabetes, the authors said.
Researchers examined 12 studies involving more than 225,000 people, of whom almost 15,000 had diabetes.
Read: NHS 'to pay extra £4bn a year' for long-term conditions
One Palestinian shot dead in West Bank protests
A Palestinian man has been shot dead by Israeli security forces during massive protests in the West Bank, AFP news agency has reported.
Palestinian security and medical officials named the man as 25-year-old Mohammed Al-Aaraj.
He was among at least 10,000 people clashing with soldiers and border police in Qalandiya, between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
'Rainstorm could have caused Air Algerie plane crash'
Air Algerie flight AH5017, which had 116 on board, could have crashed as a result of a rainstorm, officials said.
The wreckage has now been found in a remote part of Mali and human remains have been spotted among scattered plane parts.
General Gilbert Diendere, an official from Burkina Faso where the plane took off, said it was located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border of Burkina Faso near the village of Boulikessi in Mali.
Wreckage of Air Algerie flight carrying 116 is located
The wreckage of Air Algerie flight AH5017 which was carrying 110 passengers and six crew has been found, Malian state television said.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is due to visit the crash site, which is south of the Malian town of Gao, on Friday.
