London - Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy from China is being "eroded", an influential committee of British MPs warned Friday, voicing concern about the former colony's "direction of travel".

Stanstead Abbots - Stanstead Abbotts is a small village located in the English county of Hertfordshire. The village typifies the region, with a picturesque river, old pubs, and interesting shops.

New York City public school officials announced on Wednesday their school district will begin observing two Muslim holidays. There will be no school on the two holidays to be observed, starting in the 2015-16 school year.

Researchers in Massachusetts released a study in which they found gout, an inflammatory arthritic condition, lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease by 24 percent. Gout is caused by rich diets leading to a build-up of uric acid.

London - British lawmakers gave their backing to a new anti-slavery law that forces businesses to be more transparent about their supply chains, the first piece of legislation of its kind in Europe.

A team of researchers has looked at 31-years of data on 475,000 people and found that men are more narcissistic than are women. They found men more likely to have a greater sense of entitlement and less likely to feel badly about it.

Floyd Mayweather has hired a former southpaw world welterweight champion to be his sparring partner as he begins training for his May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is a lefty so Mayweather sparring with a lefty was a given.

Farringdon - A man, who was filmed swallowing a live goldfish in England has been told that he is banned from owning or handling fish.

An amateur photographer in the U.K. was delighted when his nature photo went viral Tuesday. Spreading across the Internet is his shot of a weasel riding atop a flying woodpecker.

The Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Spain published results from their new study Tuesday and they are disturbing. They found that the brains of kids who go to school in heavy-traffic areas are being damaged.

There are of course a lot of haters out there who say mean things about the embattled Justin Bieber. But he's shown he can be a rather cheerful fellow who can make sport of himself. For example, his recent attempts to lure Seth Rogen into roasting him.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) released a major report Tuesday slamming the continent's slow movement on air pollution and predicting thousands more premature deaths in Europe as a result. The report also said many positive steps have been taken.

In a study released today, researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois found traces of the protein amyloid in patients as young as 20. The abnormal protein is a cause of Alzheimer's Disease and other dementia.

A new stem cell therapy, being described as nothing short of "miraculous," will bring hope and comfort to sufferers of multiple sclerosis and their close ones.

The endangered southern resident killer whale population has grown again with the birth of the third orca calf in the past two months. This calf was born to the 'L' pod, the other two were born to the 'J' pod.

Manny Pacquiao touched down in L.A. on Sunday morning and was whisked away in a Cadillac Escalade while waving to scores of fans who met him at the airport. Meanwhile, Floyd Mayweather Jr., his opponent on May 2, has already began taking shots at him.

WBO International Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury knocked down Romanian heavyweight contender Christian Hammer in the fifth round of their fight at the O2 Arena in London Saturday night.

Kirkoswald - Deprived of tourists by the advent of cheap foreign holidays, many of Britain's faded seaside towns have become pockets of deprivation -- and fertile territory for the populist, anti-European UK Independence Party (UKIP).

While Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the early betting favorite to beat Manny Pacquiao on May 2 and keep his unblemished record it is not by much. And more pundits and former fighters seem to feel Mayweather has the edge, but again not by much.

London - The London man believed to be Islamic State executioner "Jihadi John" told a journalist four years ago that surveillance by British security services had left him contemplating suicide, it emerged Saturday.