Category Archives: London

Heathrow boss: better power supply to avoid outage repeat could cost £1bn

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Airlines could face higher charges to help fund new system at airport, which was shut down by substation fire

The chief executive of Heathrow has said it could cost about £1bn to install a more resilient power supply system to prevent a repeat of the outage that shut Europe’s busiest airport last week, and that airlines could pay higher charges to help fund it.

Thomas Woldbye, who has been criticised for going to bed on the night of the crisis so he could be “better rested” to handle the fallout the following day, has said he was frustrated the incident occurred and would like to have handled it better.

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German blacklisted and unable to get job after London criminal steals ID

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Rami Battikh, 24, got caught up in five-year nightmare after stolen ID card was used in string of crimes

A young German citizen has told how his life has been destroyed after a London criminal used his ID to rack up a string of convictions that now appear on the German database against his name.

The phantom record has left the 24-year-old in despair, effectively blacklisted and unable to get a job for the past four years in his native Bonn, stymying a budding career and the start of his adult life.

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Service at Heathrow airport returns to normal two days after forced closure

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More than a thousand flights were cancelled on Friday after a fire at an electrical substation caused a power cut

Heathrow airport has returned to normal business two days after it was forced to close when a fire at an electrical substation caused a power cut.

Europe’s busiest airport had more than 1,000 flights cancelled on Friday after the fire at the substation in Hayes, west London.

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The Sex Pistols rock London with first gig at 100 Club in 50 years

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Band members were joined on stage by former Gallows frontman Frank Carter as stars and fans welcomed their return

There was anticipation on Oxford Street in London as the Sex Pistols rocked the 100 Club for the first time in more than half a century, playing classic tunes for a crowd of creaking punks.

In a hot and sweaty venue, which harkened back to the band’s glory days, they darted on stage like squaddies on a march, to roars from the audience. They were celebrated by stars and superfans such as Noel Gallagher, Bobby Gillespie and the Jam frontman, Paul Weller.

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Ikea to open Oxford Street store in May after 18-month delay

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Swedish furniture retailer’s arrival is seen as crucial to hopes of reviving the London shopping street

Ikea will be bringing its mix of meatballs, lampshades and kitchen planning to London’s Oxford Street from 1 May, when the world’s largest furniture retailer finally opens its store 18 months late.

The company said its three-floor outlet, in the former Topshop base, would house a 130-seat Swedish deli and showrooms, as well as offering one-to-one design consultations.

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Labour-run Enfield council left 100 families homeless after they refused to relocate

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London council’s policy of offering people homes far from the area led to England’s highest number of refusals

A Labour-run London council left more than 100 families homeless without support last year after they refused to be relocated outside the borough, the Observer can reveal.

Freedom of information data from about 80% of English councils shows that they ended their legal duties to 615 households who refused offers of housing outside the local authority area in 2024 – but this national total is heavily skewed.

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Actor said to have been groped by Noel Clarke tells court it did not happen

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Louise Dylan speaks at Clarke’s libel case against Guardian about wrap party for 2012 film The Knot

An actor who was said to have been groped by Noel Clarke has told the high court that the incident never happened.

In a witness statement for Guardian News and Media (GNM), which is being sued for libel by Clarke, his former creative partner Davie Fairbanks said he saw the former Doctor Who star inappropriately touch Louise Dylan at the wrap party for the 2012 film, The Knot.

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Area around Big Ben closed as man with Palestinian flag climbs Elizabeth Tower

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Pro-Palestine protesters also spray-painted clubhouse at Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland overnight

Westminster Bridge remains closed to traffic after a six-hour standoff between emergency services and a protester who has scaled a building in the Houses of Parliament carrying the flag of Palestine.

A large crowd gathered in Parliament Square to show their support for the man who climbed the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, on Saturday morning.

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Three UK-based Bulgarians found guilty of spying for Russia

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Jury convicts Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev over alleged plots around Europe

Three Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia have been found guilty of espionage charges in a trial that heard how they were involved in a string of plots around Europe directed by a fugitive based in Moscow.

After more than 32 hours of deliberations, a jury at the Old Bailey reached unanimous verdicts on Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab technician, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator, all of whom were living in London before their arrest.

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Dramatic fall in London’s levels of deadly pollutants after Ulez expansion

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People in capital breathing much cleaner air, with significant improvements in capital’s most deprived areas

People in London have been breathing significantly cleaner air since the expansion of the ultra low emission zone (Ulez), a study has found.

Levels of deadly pollutants that are linked to a wide range of health problems – from cancer to impaired lung development, heart attacks to premature births – have dropped, with some of the biggest improvements coming in the capital’s most deprived areas.

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London ebike fire: landlords of ‘grossly overcrowded’ flat fined almost £100,000

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Sofina Begum and Aminur Rahman had ‘blatant disregard’ for tenants of property where man was killed, says judge

The landlords of a “grossly overcrowded” east London flat where a man died after an ebike battery started a fire have been fined almost £100,000 after pleading guilty to nine housing law breaches.

The judge, the recorder Emma Smith, said the landlords showed “blatant disregard for the law and for the occupants” of the property, when she sentenced them at Snaresbrook crown court on Thursday.

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VE Day 2025: Tower of London poppies to return to mark 80th anniversary

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Four days of events planned in Britain to commemorate eight decades since end of second world war in Europe

For the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day the Cenotaph will be draped in union flags and there will be a military procession and flypast as well as a new installation of about 30,000 ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, it has been announced.

Four days of commemorations will begin on the bank holiday Monday of 5 May in tribute to the millions of people across the UK and Commonwealth who served in the second world war.

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Boy, 16, dies after being shot in south London

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Metropolitan police officers working to identify teenager and contact next of kin after killing in Stockwell

A 16-year-old boy has died after being shot in south London on Tuesday afternoon, the Metropolitan police have said.

Police were called at 3.21pm to reports of a shooting on Paradise Road near Stockwell tube station. Paramedics from the London ambulance service and the air ambulance travelled to the scene but the boy was pronounced dead.

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Leader of UK’s black police officers under investigation over tweet

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Exclusive: Andy George says misconduct inquiry over tweet about Chris Kaba case officer ‘stifles free speech’

The leader of Britain’s black and Asian police officers has been placed under investigation over a tweet.

Ch Insp Andy George, the president of the National Black Police Association, said the decision to place him under a misconduct investigation “sends a chilling message” and “stifles free speech”.

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Oscar winner’s shoutout for London music venue Cafe Oto stuns owner

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The Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg mentioned the experimental music space in his acceptance speech

The co-owner of a cafe in east London that doubles up as a venue for creative new music in the evenings said he was stunned that an Oscar winner mentioned it during his acceptance speech.

Hamish Dunbar, of Cafe Oto in Dalston, woke up on Monday to find the 150-capacity venue had received the shoutout at the Oscars from Daniel Blumberg, the composer of The Brutalist score.

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Three teenage girls charged with manslaughter over death of man, 75, in London

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Fredi Reviro was attacked in Islington on Thursday night, and died in hospital the following day

Three teenage girls, aged 14, 16 and 17, have been charged with manslaughter after a 75-year-old man died in north London.

The Metropolitan police said the man, named as Fredi Reviro, was attacked on Seven Sisters Road in Islington at about 11.35pm on Thursday, and died in hospital the following day.

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Sadiq Khan aims to add £100bn to London’s economy by 2035

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Capital’s mayor wants return to productivity growth, which has struggled to recover from 2008 financial crisis

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has announced an ambitious plan to add more than £100bn to the capital’s economy within a decade.

Unveiling what he is calling the London growth plan, Khan said he was allocating hundreds of millions of pounds in devolved funding in an attempt to return the annual productivity growth of the London economy to the levels seen before the 2008 financial crisis.

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Nearly 500 cat figurines stolen from Gordon Ramsay’s London restaurant

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By Ramsay’s own estimate, he has lost more than £2,000 during one week in stolen maneki-neko cat models

Nearly 500 cat figurines were stolen in one week from Gordon Ramsay’s new London restaurant, the TV chef has said.

The restaurateur, 58, recently launched Lucky Cat 22 Bishopsgate by Gordon Ramsay in one of London’s tallest buildings, which features the beckoning Japanese cat models called maneki-neko.

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Miner Glencore considers ditching London Stock Exchange listing

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Group may move primary listing to New York or elsewhere – to get ‘optimal valuation’ – in fresh blow to UK market

Glencore is considering moving its primary share listing away from London, in what would be a fresh blow to the UK’s blue-chip stock exchange following a series of departures.

The chief executive of the mining group said it was studying whether a move would boost its shares – with New York top of the list of potential destinations.

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