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Here is the last update on social media that the Metropolitan police in London gave, after a confirmed sighting of suspect Abdul Ezedi in a Tesco in north London’s Caledonian Road at 8.48pm Wednesday night.
The police have warned people not to approach him, but to call 999. There is a telephone number to give any information on 0207 175 2784.
Continue reading...Met had previously refused to allow expected 300,000 demonstrators to hold rally on Whitehall on Saturday
The latest pro-Palestine march of hundreds of thousands of protesters through central London will end with a rally near Downing Street after a climbdown from the Metropolitan police.
Following a meeting late on Thursday afternoon, organisers of the march said they had been given permission for the end stage of Saturday’s demonstration to take place on Whitehall.
Continue reading...Police share photo of suspect showing maimed right side of his face as they warn public not to approach him
Scotland Yard is hunting a “significantly injured” suspected chemical attacker who allegedly left a “vulnerable” young woman and her toddler with potentially life-changing wounds after throwing a corrosive substance over them.
Detectives shared a new photo of Abdul Ezedi on Thursday, calling him “dangerous” and highlighting the maimed right side of his face while appealing for witnesses to come forward. But they warned: “If you see him, do not approach him.”
Continue reading...Police searching for Abdul Ezedi after woman and her youngest daughter, 3, suffer possible life-changing injuries. This blog is now closed
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said last night’s chemical assault in Clapham is “truly shocking”.
He tweeted that his “thoughts are with all those who have been injured, especially the woman and two children who remain in hospital”.
The Met are doing all they can to urgently find the man seen fleeing the scene and have increased patrols in the local community. I urge anyone with any information to call the police on 101.
Continue reading...Assault with alkaline corrosive substance in Clapham also injured an eight-year-old girl, police say
A 31-year-old mother and a three-year-old girl have potentially life-changing injuries after an attack with an alkaline corrosive substance in south London.
The attack in Clapham on Wednesday evening also injured an eight-year-old girl, the Metropolitan police said. A hunt for the suspect is under way.
Continue reading...Incident occurred when officers called to reports of man with crossbow and other weapons trying to force entry to property
A man has died after being shot by police in south-east London, the Met has said.
Officers were called to reports of a man attempting to force entry to a residential property in Southwark while wielding a crossbow and other weapons.
Continue reading...Exclusive: EU states accuse TfL of huge data breach over clean air zone penalties, with many given to compliant vehicles
Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens were wrongly fined for driving in London’s Ulez clean air zone, according to European governments, in what has been described as “possibly one of the largest data breaches in EU history”.
The Guardian can reveal Transport for London (TfL) has been accused by five EU countries of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of their citizens in order to issue the fines, with more than 320,000 penalties, some totalling thousands of euros, sent out since 2021.
Continue reading...Driver was unaware he had to register French hire car with TfL’s collection agent even though it was emissions compliant
Christian Ducarre received three fines totalling nearly £11,000 after driving his French hire car to London to attend his son’s wedding. The car, which was fully compliant with ultra-low emission zone emissions rules, was mistakenly classed as a heavy goods vehicle and deemed to be in breach of the separate low emissions zone (Lez) and well as Ulez. Lez covers lorries, vans, buses and coaches, and fines are between £500 and £2,000 a day depending on the vehicle’s weight.
“I had checked that the car’s emissions standard was Euro 06 and so was not liable for the Ulez charge,” he said.
Continue reading...Rightmove says average advertised price outside London is up 9.2% on a year ago despite fall in some regions
Average private rents in Great Britain have climbed to new record highs, though in some regions there has been a small fall in the amount new tenants are being asked to pay, data shows.
The typical advertised private rent outside London for new properties coming on to the market rose to a record £1,280 a calendar month in the final quarter of 2023, according to the property website Rightmove. That is £2 higher than the £1,278 figure recorded in the third quarter – a sign that rental growth is slowing.
Continue reading...Behailu Kebede remains ‘broken inside’ despite bearing no responsibility, as company executives listen at testimony week
The minicab driver in whose flat the Grenfell Tower fire started has said his heart is “full of pain, grief and desolation” and he can “never forget that it was in my flat, in my kitchen that the fire started … and all those lives were lost”.
Behailu Kebede, who lived in Grenfell Tower for 25 years, told a highly charged hearing in central London – attended by 24 executives from companies accused of responsibility for the fire – that he remains “broken inside”.
Continue reading...Hundreds follow route to Parliament Square in solidarity with people affected by Israel-Gaza conflict
Without flags, placards or chants, hundreds of people joined a silent multi-faith peace walk in London on Sunday in response to the Israel-Gaza war.
Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists walked side-by-side from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square and back in solidarity with people affected by the conflict in the Middle East.
Continue reading...Mayor calls for ‘youth mobility agreement’ in one of the most pro-European interventions by a Labour politician since EU exit
London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for young people to be able to move freely to and from the EU for the first time since Brexit in order to lessen the economic and cultural damage caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
Speaking to the Observer in one of the most pro-European interventions by a senior Labour politician since the 2016 referendum, Khan said he backs either a bespoke “youth mobility” agreement with EU countries, or changes to post-Brexit visa rules that currently restrict travel and the ability to work in other European countries.
Continue reading...Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin’s convictions linked to British Transport Police officer Derek Ridgewell posthumously quashed
Two men who were jailed based on evidence from a racist and corrupt police officer have had their convictions posthumously overturned by the court of appeal.
Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin are the 10th and 11th people to have convictions relating to the British Transport Police (BTP) officer DS Derek Ridgewell quashed. Their appeals after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) were uncontested on Thursday.
Continue reading...Theatreland is taking a gamble on a wave of quirky little shows to challenge the big but tired box office beasts
A fresh kind of musical theatre show, set apart by having started life on the fringe or in a small-scale provincial production, is challenging the established order in London’s West End this season.
A wave of new, quirky productions will be taking their places alongside Phantom of the Opera-style classics and all those big, popular musicals that rework a familiar film title or milk a superstar legacy.
Continue reading...About 1,700 officers on duty in UK capital to police demonstration on day for action involving 30 countries
Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to show solidarity with Palestine and to reiterate calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Demonstrators met on Queen Victoria Street before making their way along Fleet Street towards Parliament Square. The protest, part of a global day of action, comes after the RAF and the US military carried out airstrikes against Houthi bases in Yemen.
Continue reading...TfL says GoAhead temporarily replacing route 200 fleet while investigating doubledecker fire on Wimbledon Hill Road
A fleet of electric buses has been taken out of service after a doubledecker caught fire in south London this week.
Transport for London (TfL) said the electric buses had been “temporarily withdrawn” by operator GoAhead.
Continue reading...Saturday’s march for Gaza ceasefire as part of global day of action will be followed by static rally for Israel on Sunday
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in London over the weekend in protest against the war in Gaza as the conflict widens to Yemen.
On Saturday, protesters are expected to gather at Bank Junction at midday as part of a global day of action involving 30 countries, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said.
Continue reading...Stephen Bradshaw, former Post Office investigator, tells Horizon IT inquiry this was ‘probably not’ appropriate
Back at the Post Office inquiry Julian Blake says Stephen Bradshaw, the Post Office investigator, seems to show a “lack of reflection” on his role in miscarriage of justice events in a witness statement he supplied.
Bradshaw says he has reflected on what he said in his statement, because some of what he said was “completely wrong”. But he says he was told what he should say by lawyers.
Stephen Bradshaw, who was an investigation manager for the Post Office, said a statement signed by him declaring the Post Office’s “absolute confidence” in the Horizon IT system was written by lawyers.
A statement signed by Bradshaw in November 2012 said: “The Post Office continues to have absolute confidence in the robustness and integrity of its Horizon system.”
The average response time in December for ambulances in England dealing with the most urgent incidents, defined as calls from people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, was 8min 44sec, PA says. This is up from 8min 32sec in November and is above the target standard response time of seven minutes.
Ambulances took an average of 45min 57sec last month to respond to emergency calls such as heart attacks, strokes and sepsis, PA says. This is up from 38min 30sec in November, while the target is 18min.
Response times for urgent calls, such as late stages of labour, non-severe burns and diabetes, averaged 2hr 37min 5sec in December, up from 2hr 16min 47secin November, PA says.
Some 13% of ambulance handovers in England last week, or 12,225 patients, were delayed by more than an hour, PA says. This was up from 12% a week earlier, but is below this winter’s current peak of 15%, recorded in the week to 10 December.
Nearly one in three patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited more than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams, PA says. Some 28,189 delays of half an hour or longer were recorded across all hospital trusts in the week to 7 January. This was 31% of the 91,234 arrivals by ambulance, where the handover time was known. The figure is up from 29% in the previous week, but is not the highest so far this winter, which was 34% in the week ending 10 December, PA says.
Continue reading...Company faced public backlash over scheme, which campaigners say threatens to increase river pollution
Thames Water is bypassing local democracy to attempt to push through a controversial water recycling project that campaigners say threatens to increase pollution in the river.
Steve Barclay, the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, has agreed to an application by the water company to consider its Teddington water recycling scheme under national infrastructure rules. The decision means local authorities will be bypassed, and the secretary of state will make the decision whether to grant a development consent order.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan says cardboard steering wheels could bring to life driverless train experience for children
It is already the most in-demand spot on the London transport network, but plans to install stickers and cardboard steering wheels in driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR) trains could intensify the scramble for its front seats.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has said the trains, in which tens of thousands of Londoners have sat pretending to be the driver, could now include a steering wheel and stickers mimicking control panels to make the experience more realistic.
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