LaNUBlog™

There are more complaints about used cars than any other purchase - 84,000 in the past year according to Citizens Advice. Usually the problem is a fault which needs essential repair. About 7% of the time the car needs to be scrapped. Here are some steps you can take to minimise the chances of nasty surprises down the line. 1. What to buy Review your budget and work out what you can afford and what you can get for that price. Do your research by checking adverts on websites and magazines to get an idea of the market. If you have a specific model in mind, you can estimate prices on websites like What Car?or Parkers. Cars with bigger engines may seem relatively cheap, but bear in mind the running costs (especially fuel, tax and insurance) may be higher. 2. Buying from a dealer Trade associations Check the dealer for a trade association sign. If the business is a member, they have to follow a code of practice. If you're not sure if the sign is genuine, you can check their m...

Buying a car can be exciting, but it can also be quite a headache. One of the big choices facing buyers is whether to get something new, or a used model with a few miles on the clock. But would you believe me if I told you that sometimes it is possible to get a new car for the price of a second-hand model?

The abductions have sparked worldwide protests, like here in South Africa US Secretary of State John Kerry says a specialist team is set to start work in Nigeria to help find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by militants. He said the US team, working with the Nigerian government, would do everything possible to free the girls.

President Putin led a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on Thursday Russia is poised to hold its annual Victory Day parade in Moscow's Red Square amid a surge of patriotism kindled by its annexation of Crimea.

The proposed demolition of a rusting Soviet radio tower in Moscow has ignited a passionate, international conservation campaign. Why? The slender, steel frame of the Shabolovka Tower rises above the rooftops of Moscow. At 160m (525ft) high, it is a single exclamation mark in an otherwise dense urban landscape.

The pro-Moscow supporters called for a referendum on independence Ukraine's acting president has called an emergency security meeting in response to pro-Russian protests in three eastern Ukrainian cities. Olexander Turchynov cancelled a visit to Lithuania to deal personally with the unfolding events, his office said.

The BBC tried to open a bureau in Russia during World War II but only succeeded some 20 years later - in 1963. In the last half century, much has changed for the BBC's Man in Moscow. It was the summer of 1942 and Winston Churchill had flown to Russia to cement his wartime alliance with Joseph Stalin. "We will continue hand in hand like comrades and brothers," Churchill declared on arrival, "until every vestige of the Nazi regime has been beaten into the ground." Talk like this gave BBC bosses an idea. If Blighty and the Bolsheviks were suddenly best buddies, perhaps now was the moment to have a BBC correspondent based full-time in Moscow? So they sounded out the Soviets. And the answer came back: "Nyet!" A memo from the Assistant Controller of News written at the time reads: "The DG and editor-in-chief went to see the Soviet ambassador the other day and got no change at all. The Ambassador was extremely chilly. DG was left with the impression ...