The busy A3 used to skirt the edge of the Devil’s Punch Bowl, near Hindhead in Surrey Road has now gone, moved deep underground, where over 1,000 vehicles an hour pass through £371m, 1.25-mile Hindhead Tunnel They look worlds apart – a trunk road buzzing with traffic and the stunning beauty of remote heathland. Yet these astonishing photographs show how what was once a notorious traffic bottleneck has been returned […]

Humankind has always been impressed by really, really large things. Whether natural (like the Grand Canyon, which hosts around five million visitors per year) or man-made (like, say, the world’s largest fire hydrant in Beaumont, Texas, which draws considerably fewer), we seem to be inexorably drawn to things that make us feel tiny. It seems that in our never-ending quest to list interesting things, though, some of the largest have […]

STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: “People were petrified, crying, praying,” witness says NEW: Police vet those rescued from the building to ensure they are not attackers “We’re doing our job to ensure that everyone is evacuated to safety,” interior ministry says Gunmen attacked an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital on Saturday, leading to a fierce gunbattle with police and leaving at least 20 people dead, the Kenyan Red Cross said. […]

A four-megaton nuclear bomb was one switch away from exploding over the US in 1961, a newly declassified US document confirms. Two bombs were on board a B-52 plane that went into an uncontrolled spin over North Carolina – both bombs fell and one began the detonation process. The document was first published in the UK’s Guardian newspaper. The US government has acknowledged the accident before, but never made public […]

Labrador Jet pushed one-year-old Jacob’s pram out of the path of the car Jessica Crowley has hailed her guide dog as a hero after the incident Hero: Jessica Cowley has hailed her guide dog Jet a hero a hero after he pushed her son Jacob’s pram out of the path of an out of control car A guide dog saved the life of a baby after running free of its […]

The international chemical weapons watchdog has said that it is studying details submitted by Syria about its arsenal of poison gas and nerve agents. But a spokesman for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was expecting more details from Damascus ahead of deadline for submissions by the end of Saturday. Syria has agreed to provide a full list of its chemical arms by then. It […]

STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: In Post op-ed, Iran’s president says failing to engage “leads to everyone’s loss” NEW: Iran’s nuclear program is solely for energy, a matter of national pride, he says John Kerry praises Iranian president’s comments on talks, nuclear program Yet the top U.S. diplomat adds: “Everything needs to be put to the test” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made his case Thursday to the American people and the world […]

Mexican authorities say 97 people have been killed by storms that hit the country earlier in the week. In the village of La Pintada, near the Pacific coast, a landslide partially engulfed the town. At least 15 bodies have been recovered and almost 70 residents are missing, the authorities said. A helicopter involved in the rescue effort in the area has disappeared with three crew on board, according to Mexican […]

Apple’s iOS 7 has been slammed on social media for being difficult to use Users complained about Android-style menus and updated app problems Many of the iOS 7 features are completely new, with some hidden away After thousands of Apple users struggled to download the latest iOS 7 operating system yesterday, conversation on social media has turned to how difficult the software is to use once it is successfully installed. […]

JPMorgan Chase agreed Thursday to pay about $920 million in fines to U.S. and U.K. regulators to settle charges related to the “London Whale” trading debacle. With the penalty, the bank is acknowledging that it violated banking rules by not properly overseeing its trading operations. In legal language, regulators said that the bank engaged in “unsafe and unsound practices.” As a result of those inadequate risk controls, a team of […]