Category Archives: London

BLM activist Sasha Johnson in critical condition after gunshot to the head

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Shooting in Southwark, London came after numerous death threats, says her Taking the Initiative party

The Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson is in a critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound to her head in an incident in south London, her affiliated group, Taking the Initiative party, has announced on social media.

In a statement on the group’s Facebook page, the party said that the incident happened in the early hours of Sunday and followed “numerous death threats”.

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Police step in as ‘free Palestine’ chanters approach pro-Israel rally in London

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Small group of men tried to enter protest area in Kensington waving Palestinian flags

Police officers stepped in after a small group of people chanting “free Palestine” approached a gathering of pro-Israel protesters in London.

The large crowd, which gathered in Kensington High Street on Sunday afternoon, waved Israeli flags and banners and chanted loudly, while speeches were made. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show the English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, among the attenders.

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Far-right attack inevitable, warns informant who identified London nail bomber

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Undercover agent who identified 1999 attacker says police are failing to keep pace with online spread of extreme ideology

An undercover informant who identified the man behind Britain’s deadliest far-right attack has warned that a similar atrocity is inevitable due to the spread of extreme ideology online.

The mole, codenamed “Arthur”, told his handler, who then informed the police, that David Copeland was behind a series of attacks that killed three and injured more than 100 over a bombing campaign lasting less than two weeks in 1999.

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Thousands march in London pro-Palestine demonstration – video

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Thousands of people have gathered in central London in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Organisers estimated that more than 180,000 joined the protest on Saturday, and that it could be one of the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations in British history. The protest went ahead despite the announcement of a ceasefire on Friday morning after a 11-day Israeli bombing campaign, with organisers saying they wanted to demand that the UK government implement sanctions on Israel

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US journalist Barrett Brown arrested in the UK on incitement offences

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He had been in Britain since November and intended to claim asylum on the basis that he had been persecuted in the US for his journalism

The American journalist Barrett Brown has been arrested and detained in the UK for allegedly overstaying his visa and for alleged public order and incitement offences relating to his role in holding a protest banner which said: “Kill Cops.”

Police arrested Brown on Monday at a canal boat moored in east London, where he had been living for several months with a British woman. He was interviewed and released on bail the following day, but immediately detained by immigration authorities.

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Irene Owens obituary

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My friend Irene Owens, who has died aged 102, was a typist, switch-board operator, air-raid warden, nursery nurse and one-woman aid provider to Zimbabwe after she befriended Sally Mugabe, the president’s wife.

Irene, known as Renie to her friends, first visited Zimbabwe in 1980 for a conference with the Moral Re-Armament movement (MRA), of which she was a member.

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Charles to open up palaces to the public when he becomes king – reports

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Prince of Wales is said to want Buckingham Palace, Sandringham and other royal homes to go from ‘private spaces to public places’

The Prince of Wales reportedly plans to give people greater access to the royal palaces when he becomes king.

Charles wants Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, Windsor Castle, Sandringham and Balmoral to be transformed from “private spaces to public places”, according to the Sunday Times.

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Thirteen arrested in London protest against violence in Gaza

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The Met said nine of its officers were injured while dispersing crowds outside the Israeli embassy

Thirteen people have been arrested after a day of largely peaceful protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine outside the Israel embassy on Saturday.

The Metropolitan police said nine of its officers were injured while dispersing crowds outside the embassy in west London. The force said missiles were thrown at officers during “small pockets of disorder”.

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Police hunt man who tried to frame person for Westminster terror attack

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Gerald Banyard found guilty of perverting course of justice over attack by Khalid Masood in 2017

A police hunt is under way for a man who “looked to exploit an extremely tragic and serious situation” by framing an innocent person for the Westminster terror attack.

Gerald Banyard, 67, of Whalley, Lancashire, sent two handwritten notes to police in the days after the Westminster Bridge attack by Khalid Masood in March 2017, claiming that his landlord’s partner had been involved in the atrocity, in which five people were killed including PC Keith Palmer.

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Leonardo da Vinci bear drawing expected to fetch £12m at auction

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Head of a Bear is to be sold in London in July by Christie’s auction house

A drawing of a bear by Leonardo da Vinci is expected to fetch up to £12m at auction.

The picture, titled Head of a Bear, is being sold in London by Christie’s. It will go on display in New York and Hong Kong before being auctioned and is expected to fetch between £8m and £12m, according to the auction house.

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Sadiq Khan pledges to explore new London Olympic bid if re-elected

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Mayor will say city could look at bidding for 2036 or 2040 Games as post-Covid morale boost for nation

Sadiq Khan is pledging to look at bringing the Olympics back to London within 20 years if he is re-elected as mayor on Thursday.

In a speech at an amateur boxing club in Earlsfield, south-west London, on Tuesday, Khan will set out the prospect of another London Olympics as a post-Covid morale boost that he argues would extend beyond the capital.

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Risk of pubs running dry as drinkers wrap up for outdoor pint

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Breweries have been cheering as demand has gone through the roof, even before pubs can reopen their bars and snugs

Glasses were raised in pub gardens across the country on Saturday as revellers wrapped in thick jackets and jumpers made the most of the spring sunshine – and the beer.

Publicans and brewery owners are quietly worried about how to keep up with customers’ overwhelming thirst for beer, wine and spirits in the face of supply chain issues and staff recruitment problems.

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London killings: ‘It’s like a war zone. How did it come to this?’

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The shooting and stabbing of a teenager in broad daylight on a street in Canning Town is just the latest chapter of what has become Britain’s most violent gangland feud

Rachid has no idea what the future holds, apart from the certainty that he’ll never visit east London’s Canning Town. “If I set foot there, I’ll get stabbed.” He has just turned 19, and two of his friends have already been murdered on the streets.

A trip to the nearest corner shop has become a daunting ordeal. “You’re constantly looking around, at the same time making sure you avoid looking at people. You don’t know what can happen. Anything can,” says the teenager, a former well-known gang affiliate who lives a seven-minute walk from Canning Town.

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Boris Johnson’s night-time visit to memorial angers Covid bereaved

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PM makes solo visit to memorial wall despite families asking him for weeks to meet them there

Boris Johnson has made a solo visit under cover of darkness to the National Covid Memorial Wall, infuriating bereaved families who have been asking for weeks for him to “walk the wall” and meet them there.

Johnson was spotted at the wall on Tuesday night, a day after allegations – which he denies – that he made remarks to the effect he would rather let “bodies pile high” than announce another lockdown.

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UK to come under scrutiny in Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades

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Witnesses will be asked to respond to claims the ’Ndrangheta has laundered billions of euros in City of London

In a high-security, 1,000-capacity courtroom converted from a call centre, Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades is under way in Lamezia Terme, Calabria. About 900 witnesses are set to testify against more than 350 defendants, including politicians and officials charged with being members of the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful criminal group.

Several of the defendants will be asked to respond to charges of money laundering over establishing companies in the UK with the alleged purpose of simulating legitimate economic activity.

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Grenfell landlord didn’t take ‘risk of another fire seriously’, inquiry told

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Landlord took five years to replace ventilation system after 2010 fire spread smoke across 11 storeys

The landlord of Grenfell Tower took five years to replace a smoke ventilation system that the London fire brigade said had suffered “catastrophic failure” in a fire in 2010 that spread smoke across 11 storeys and injured three people, the inquiry into the disaster has heard.

The Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) was told by the LFB that the system needed a full test after it failed causing injuries to residents, including Sayeda Ahmed who lived in flat 156. She received an admission of liability from the council landlord after she inhaled heavy smoke that had spread from the fire on the sixth-floor landing, the inquiry heard.

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Fourth officer allegedly fathered child after meeting woman undercover

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Officer used alias Alan Bond while infiltrating the Socialist Workers party between 1981 and 1986, inquiry hears

A fourth undercover officer who spied on political campaigners is alleged to have fathered a child with a woman he met while using a fake identity, a public inquiry has heard.

The officer used the alias Alan Bond while infiltrating the Socialist Workers party between 1981 and 1986.

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Was Nero cruel? British Museum offers hidden depths to Roman emperor

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Nero: the man behind the myth brings together more than 200 artefacts from across Europe

Nero, one of the most notorious Roman emperors of them all, murdered his mother and two wives, ruthlessly persecuted early Christians, including Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and even set fire to Rome itself – famously fiddling amid the flames – to make room to build himself a vast, luxurious palace.

Or did he? That is the question posed by an exhibition opening at the British Museum next month which seeks, if not to rehabilitate Nero’s reputation, at least to challenge some of history’s assumptions about him.

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Eager Londoners queue up to be tested in race to find Covid variants

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Officials ‘astonished’ at level of public engagement a year into the pandemic

The steady stream of people at the two surge testing units in Finchley, north London, last week suggests that, more than a year after the pandemic hit, the public spirit to do something about Covid is still strong.

The effectiveness of surge testing is a more open question, however. The rapid testing of 5,000 households last week was an attempt to isolate the South African variant and others of concern. Yet although standard PCR tests come back within 24 hours, genomic sequencing tests to identify a Covid variant take 14 days – by which time the period of infectiousness is usually over.

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Harrods stops selling Ganesha handbag after backlash from Hindus

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US label Judith Leiber’s depiction of the god on £6,340 leather clutch criticised as ‘demeaning’

Harrods has stopped selling a luxury handbag after the accessory caused offence among the Hindu community.

The bag, from the New York label Judith Leiber favoured by Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez, sculptures the Hindu god Ganesha into a leather clutch. Many Hindus saw the image of the god on a handbag as demeaning and commodifying their religion. They believe in non-violence against animals, so the use of leather is considered insensitive, especially in this context.

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