Category Archives: London

Senegal or England to win? Parents v children in London’s west African community

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In Deptford, south-east London, support for Senegal is high among the older generation, while their offspring opt for the country of their birth in the World Cup showdown

Football’s capacity to unite is routinely lauded, but Sunday’s World Cup match between England and Senegal has already divided many west African families in London.

The split is generational. Parents say they tend to support Senegal, the country of their birth, while their children opt to support the state they were raised in: England.

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Census says 39% of Muslims live in most deprived areas of England and Wales

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Campaigners urge policymakers to act on ‘cycle of poverty’ entrapping generations of British muslims

Campaigners have urged policymakers to act on the “cycle of poverty” entrapping generations of British Muslims, as the latest census shows that 39% of Muslims are now living in the most deprived areas of England and Wales.

The proportion of people who identify as Muslim has risen by 1.2 million in 10 years, bringing the Muslim population to 3.9 million in 2021, the census shows. Overall, Muslims now make up 6.5% of the population in England and Wales, up from 4.9% in 2011.

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French regulator called on to withdraw licence allowing CGTN to broadcast from London

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Chinese state broadcaster transmits from Chiswick studio despite Ofcom revoking UK licence last year

France’s media regulator is under pressure to withdraw a licence that allows the Chinese state broadcaster to beam its programmes across Europe from a studio in west London.

Ofcom revoked the organisation’s licence to transmit in the UK last year but the China Global Television Network (CGTN) was able to continue broadcasting following authorisation from the French authority.

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Native mussel numbers down almost 95% since 1960s, Thames survey finds

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Scientists trying to replicate 1964 study say results reveal alarming deterioration in river’s ecosystem

A survey of mussels has revealed an alarming deterioration in the River Thames ecosystem since the 1960s, according to a study.

Scientists attempting to replicate a 1964 survey of freshwater bivalves in a stretch of the Thames near Reading found striking results, as native mussel populations had crashed by almost 95%. One native species, the depressed river mussel, had vanished completely, and the remaining species were much smaller for their age, reflecting slower growth.

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Mother of London firefighter who killed himself welcomes damning report

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Exclusive: Linda Francois, whose son Jaden Francois-Esprit was bullied in Wembley, says culture must change

The mother of a firefighter whose death triggered a review into the culture at the London fire brigade, has welcomed the findings of a damning report.

However, Linda Francois, whose son Jaden Francois-Esprit killed himself in August 2020, said that much remained to be done and making real changes in the workplace for people like her son was what really mattered.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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London marchers to call for safe asylum route for Afghan women

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Thousands expected to demonstrate on Sunday to urge UK government to help those fleeing Taliban

Thousands of people are expected to take to London’s streets on Sunday calling on the UK government to create a safe asylum route for Afghan women and girls at risk.

Sunday’s march for freedom for Afghan women and girls in London, organised by the campaign group Action for Afghanistan, comes weeks after MPs appealed to the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, for a renewed focus on women and girls at risk after Britain’s 20-year campaign in the country.

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Qatar reviewing London investments after TfL bans its adverts – report

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Ban linked to World Cup hosts’ human rights record taken as message ‘Qatari business not welcome in London’, source tells FT

Qatar is reviewing its investments in London after the city’s transport authority banned the country’s adverts on buses, taxis and underground trains, it was reported.

The move by Transport for London (TfL) is understood to be linked to concerns about the World Cup hosts’ human rights record, stance on homosexuality and treatment of migrant workers.

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Report finds misogyny, racism and bullying at London fire brigade

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Author Nazir Afzal labelled the service ‘institutionally misogynist and racist’ and hoped the review would be a ‘turning point’

Incidents of misogyny, racism and bullying have been exposed by an independent report on the culture at the UK’s largest firefighting and rescue organisation.

Female firefighters have been groped, beaten and had their helmets filled with urine, a review of the London fire brigade has found.

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Armed police guard Iranian TV studios in London after Tehran threats

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Persian language channel said threats to journalists had escalated in response to coverage of protests

Armed vehicles have been deployed outside the Iran International television studios in London after two of its journalists were threatened by Tehran, the channel said.

There were about seven vehicles outside the studio in Chiswick Park, west London, after “severe and credible” threats were recently made against two of the UK-based channel’s journalists, one of its spokesmen told AFP.

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‘No way I’d take on Corbyn’: Labour safe seat turns toxic over MP’s whip removal

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Former party leader’s Islington North constituency riven by tensions over whether to support incumbent or find new candidate

It is hard to find a more Labour-dominated part of the country than the London seat of Islington North. Yet should you ask Labour members which candidate they will be backing at the next election, there is nervousness, hesitation and hushed tones.

Jeremy Corbyn, the local MP in the seat for the last 39 years, is currently an independent MP having been stripped of the Labour party whip. He retains significant local support, but should he decide to run as an independent candidate at the next election, every Labour member in the seat will face a choice – campaign for the party’s candidate, or campaign for Corbyn and risk expulsion.

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London Underground strike will halt nearly all tube services on Thursday

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RMT’s 24-hour walkout will slow capital to a crawl, with buses expected to be extremely busy and roads congested

A strike on London Underground will halt virtually all tube services and slow much of the capital to a crawl on Thursday, in the ongoing dispute over jobs and pensions.

Some London Overground and Docklands Light Railway services may also be affected by the 24-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union, while buses are expected to be extremely busy and roads congested. Elizabeth Line trains will run as normal.

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More black people than white find stop and search humiliating, UK survey finds

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Poll shows levels of trust in the police markedly lower among black people than white people

More than half of black people stopped and searched by the police say they were left with feelings of humiliation or embarrassment, according to a survey.

It also shows levels of trust in the police are markedly lower among black people (46%) than white people (64%), with barely a third (35%) of black Caribbean people saying they had confidence.

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‘We were left by the road’: asylum seekers stranded in London describe experience

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Two Afghans tell of how they were taken from Manston centre and left without accommodation or money

People taken from Manston immigration holding centre have described their dismay at being deposited late at night in central London, without accommodation, appropriate clothing or money.

Amid growing controversy over the circumstances in which large numbers of people were bussed out of the acutely overcrowded camp, the Home Office has insisted that it only released asylum seekers who told staff that they had family or friends they could stay with.

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Sadiq Khan calls for urgent review after asylum seekers stranded in London

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Mayor tells Suella Braverman of his shock at people from Manston facility being left cold and hungry in capital

Suella Braverman is facing demands from Sadiq Khan to launch an urgent review of how dozens of people once held in Manston holding centre were abandoned without food or accommodation in the capital.

The mayor of London has also raised concerns with the home secretary that overcrowding and poor safeguarding in hotels housing people seeking asylum has led to reports of sexual assaults against children.

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Big Ben clock to be turned back to GMT for first time in five years

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London landmark to signal end of daylight saving after major repair and conservation project

All four faces of Big Ben will be put back to Greenwich mean time (GMT) this weekend for the first time in five years.

British summer time (BST) officially ends at 2am on Sunday, and the clocks go back an hour, giving people an extra hour in bed – or an extra hour partying.

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Hospital patient challenges Rishi Sunak over nurses’ pay

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Catherine Poole tells prime minister to pay staff more, raising a finger and saying: ‘You need to try harder’

Rishi Sunak got a tase of how the “difficult decisions” he has said will guide spending cuts may go down with the public, when he was challenged by a hospital patient about nurses’ pay.

During a tour of Croydon University Hospital in south London, Sunak met NHS workers and posed for smiling selfies with them, but was confronted by 77-year old Catherine Poole.

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Police launch appeal after man pushed on to tube tracks in London

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British Transport Police are hunting a man who assaulted one man at a tube station and then pushed another on to the tracks at a different stop

British Transport Police are hunting a suspect who assaulted one man at a tube station and then pushed another on to the tracks at a different stop.

At 11.50am on Thursday, the first victim was assaulted by the man at Baker Street station.

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Griff Rhys Jones criticises M&S plan to raze and rebuild Oxford Street store

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Comedian and campaigner tells planning inquiry retailer is failing to use landmark building imaginatively

The comedian Griff Rhys Jones is the latest high-profile name to weigh in against Marks & Spencer’s plan to raze and redevelop its main London store, accusing the retailer of not making the most of its landmark building.

Jones, who presented the BBC TV series Restoration in the 2000s, which identified significant buildings in need of repair, told an inquiry into the development of the store on Oxford Street near Marble Arch that, having shopped there, he “would venture that M&S are not using the space in a very imaginative way compared to the possibilities old buildings offer. I wonder if the ‘unsuitability’ has more to do with the desire to create a much bigger floor space and offices.”

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Network Rail workers to strike again in November

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Action is planned for 3, 5 and 7 November; London Overground and tube staff will strike on 3 November

Network Rail workers are to stage fresh strikes in the bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions, threatening fresh disruption to services.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will strike on 3, 5 and 7 November.

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Met chief tells officers who joke about attacks on women to expect sack

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Sir Mark Rowley says humour cannot be ‘used as an excuse’ after Casey review highlights misogyny and racism

The Metropolitan police commissioner has issued direct orders to officers and staff, saying those who make jokes about violent attacks on women or who fail to stand up to hate speech should expect to be sacked.

Sir Mark Rowley issued the instructions, seen by the Guardian, after a review by Louise Casey found racists and misogynists had been left in the ranks of Britain’s biggest police force by a hugely flawed disciplinary system.

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