In June of 2013, reports revealed contemplation by the United Kingdom to impose a £3000 (US $4,715.4) bond on visa applicants from some five countries; India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. According to the plan, this bond program and the visa applicants from the target countries will participate in a pilot scheme of a broad plan aimed at checking illegal immigration into the UK.

As news of the election of Tony Abbott spread around the world, many could not hold back their glee at being able to berate Australia. British comedian Bill Bailey was quick to jump on the bandwagon, tweeting "Abbott as PM, it MUST be TV reality show 'Faking It' where a hapless twonk passes himself off as a politician. Can't be real." Many others bandied around reworkings of the joke “And we thought America was stupid for electing George W Bush ... Australia was just 10 years behind as usual."

Where do the world's wealthiest people live? Well, it depends on whether you're deliberating over millionaires, multi-millionaires or billionaires. If you're on a “fat-cat” hunt, London is described by London-based wealth consultancy, WealthInsight, as the city with the highest number of multi-millionaires, defined as individuals with over $30 million each, according to the Daily Mail on Saturday.

As the new term starts across England, schools are chewing over this summer’s results in the 16-plus exams. One trend is clear—the coalition’s emphasis on pupils achieving five core academic subjects, including a language, in its new EBACC (English Baccalaureate) qualification has raised the number of candidates taking language exams.

Back in January, news spread that Britain was considering running an anti-immigration campaign in Romania and Bulgaria tagged, “You Won’t Like It Here”. People all over Europe were nonplussed by the lack of tact shown by The Brits. But Gândul, a daily Romanian newspaper, saw an opportunity where others saw only red. They launched a cheeky response campaign tagged, “We May Not Like Britain, But You’ll Love Romania.”

Yet Mr Carney’s more serious point was that UK productivity, which has been trailing other major advanced economies for decades, is no higher today than it was in 2005, when Mr Bugg got his first guitar. This appears to be the longest period of stagnation in UK productivity growth on record. Economists have widely described this phenomenon as a “puzzle”, a word they tend to use for any trend that breaks with past norms.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, and of Dr. King’s pivotal “I Have a Dream” speech, an event that will be commemorated later on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in the very same spot where Dr. King spoke. Staff at the British Embassy are honoured to join people from across the globe in marking the anniversary. As we reflect on this historic occasion, we look at some of the connections between Dr. King’s work and the UK

A Spanish mayor has sparked outrage by using his Facebook page to publish a picture of Gibraltar – as it would look if the Spanish army invaded. The image shows a Spanish flag flying high on the Rock, the silhouette of a bull on the lower slopes and triumphant marching Spanish troops in the foreground. The mock-up appeared on the page of Francisco Javier Pérez Trigueros, a nationalist whose previous posts include details on the history of the Spanish flag.