It’s been a long, cold year for Queen Elizabeth II.
The British monarch has had to go cap-in-hand to the government she technically heads, asking Prime Minister Gordon Brown for extra cash to keep the royal palaces from crumbling, and public backlash over the royal family’s tax-payer-funded payroll and scandals involving questionable associations and real estate payments have added to her headache.
So, you might assume the Queen is looking forward to a bit of luxuriant rest and relaxation over the holidays – a time to kick back, enjoy good food and drink, and perhaps relish a nice gift or two. Think again.
The Queen, noting the mood of her many out-of-work subjects as Britain muddles through global economic malaise, has informed members of her family that this year is to be a “Credit Crunch Christmas”.
The Royals are not generally prone to extravagant Christmas gift-giving amongst themselves – often opting for “practical” items like bath soaps or a fancy face cloth for the Queen. Stocking contents have been known to include the traditional gift of fresh fruit.
For “Credit Crunch Christmas,” however, Her Majesty has made it known that she requires no gifts at all, and either does her husband, Prince Philip. Any gifts that her family may have had in mind, she asks they be donated to local charities and hospitals .
Last Wednesday was Armistice Day, when on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month", in 1918, the armistice was signed for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front at the end of World War I. The date is now observed by many of the allied nations from that era as Veterans Day, Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Poppy Day - a day set aside to commemorate the sacrifices made by those in the armed forces and their families. Collected here are photos of Veterans and Remembrance Day from the United States and several Commonwealth nations. (37 photos total)
As a response to Europe’s “Seven Wonders of the World” list, which didn’t include any Russian sights, Russia organized a national contest to select the seven most beautiful destinations the country has to offer. Almost 26 million people went online and voted for their favorites since the contest started in autumn 2007.
Click the picture to read the article and see other pictures.
This may be hard to explain to the insurance company. From the Associated Press:
A man blamed is blaming a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.
The Lufkin man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.
Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.
A 2006 Bugatti Veyron was recently offered for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., for $1.25 million.
Havana, the capital city of the island nation of Cuba is home to nearly 4 million people - 20% of the entire population of Cuba. On November 16th the city will celebrate its 490th anniversary, being founded by the Spanish in 1519. Havana is also the seat of the state-run economy, one that has been faltering more and more in recent years. President Raul Castro has even gone so far as to warn Cubans that their socialist system must change - and to invite (limited) criticism of the state. Cuba's economic woes are compounded by the 50-year-old trade embargo imposed by the United States, a practice recently condemned (again) by the United Nations with a vote of 187-3. Collected here are recent photos from in and around Havana, Cuba. (35 photos total)
