British MPs were not told Big Ben would be silenced for four years when they approved a £29 million renovation scheme, the Daily Telegraph reports. The chairmen of two parliamentary committees have complained that officials failed to disclose that the bell could not be rung to protect the hearing of builders on site. Parliamentary authorities have announced that Big Ben will chime for the last time at noon local time next Monday until the completion of the work on Elizabeth Tower in 2021.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery over the weekend after falling while on holiday on Long Island. Giuliani told the New York Post from his hospital bed following quadriceps tendon surgery that his "knee gave way" when he was walking.
A homeless man who was praised for helping victims of the Manchester concert bombing has been charged with stealing a bank card from someone caught up in the attack. Chris Parker made headlines around the world after describing how he helped comfort people wounded in the May 22 bombing. A fundraising page set up to help him raised more than £50,000. Greater Manchester Police say Parker was charged today with theft, relating to "a bank card being stolen from the Manchester Arena" on May 22.
Indian and Chinese soldiers have been involved in an altercation in the western Himalayas, further raising tensions between the two countries which are already locked in a two-month standoff in another part of the disputed border. A source in New Delhi, who had been briefed on the military situation on the border, said soldiers foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, near the Pangong lake. China's defence and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to request for comment.
An Australian dad and his 10-year-old son have been electrocuted while trying to repair a pool pump at their home in Thailand. Local media reports say police found the bodies of Andrew Fenwick, 66, and his son Jason, near the pump in a storage room at their home in the Muang district of Rayong province. Fenwick was still clutching a spanner while Jason was gripping an iron gate, police told the Chiangrai Times. The boy had burns on his hand, body and face. Fenwick's wife Somrudi Krailob Fenwick was not at home at the time and was alerted by neighbours.
