Category Archives: London

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performance in London interrupted by pro-Palestine protestors

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Jewish Artists for Palestine interrupted a BBC Proms performance at Royal Albert Hall on Friday, claiming the MSO ‘silenced artists’ and ‘silenced protest’

Pro-Palestine protesters have interrupted a performance by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the BBC Proms in London, accusing the organisation’s management of silencing artists who have criticised Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

The Jewish Artists for Palestine group interrupted the performance for more than 10 minutes on Friday night, with some members shouting from the upper stalls of Royal Albert Hall, including claims the MSO “silenced artists” and “silenced protest”.

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Man who hid cameras in London home pleads guilty to string of sexual offences

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Chao Xu, of Greenwich, admits 24 offences against six women and police say there could be many more victims

A businessman who concealed cameras in his home and drugged women has pleaded guilty to a string of sexual offences, and police fear the full scale of his crimes may be “vast”.

Chao Xu, 33, pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing on Friday to 24 offences against six young women in London over three years, including rape, digital penetration, sexual assault, administering a substance with intent and voyeurism.

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Tommy Robinson will not be charged over alleged St Pancras assault, police say

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British Transport Police say alleged victim ‘did not wish to provide a statement to the investigation’

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson will not face charges over allegations he punched a man to the ground at a London train station, police and prosecutors have announced.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after the incident on 28 July at St Pancras train station.

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Notting Hill carnival came ‘very close’ to not happening, says chair in funding appeal

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Ian Comfort calls for government to recognise cultural importance of event and guarantee its sustainable future

About 2 million people are expected to take to the streets this weekend at the annual Notting Hill carnival for its mix of music, food and Caribbean culture, but for the man who runs it, there is a sense of relief to see it taking place at all.

The chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, told the Guardian that the event needed to secure a sustainable future after a year of funding rows, public disagreements with the Met police, and negative press after violence last year.

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AI tool that speeds up patient discharges trialled by NHS

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Pilot at London trust aims to reduce paperwork and free up doctors, as UK brings AI to public services

An artificial intelligence tool designed to speed up the discharge of patients is being trialled at a hospital trust in London.

The platform completes documents needed to send fit patients home, potentially saving hours of delays and freeing up beds.

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Next UK protest over Palestine Action ban aims to sign up 1,000 people

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Defend Our Juries believes London protest in September could lead to ban being lifted, after 532 arrests on Saturday

The next mass protest in support of the banned group Palestine Action will aim to be twice the size of the last, organisers have said, as they increase pressure on the government to lift its proscription.

Last Saturday’s protest in Parliament Square was predicated on 500 people signing up but the next one, announced on Wednesday for 6 September in London, is conditional on 1,000 people agreeing to take part.

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Canadian who could not renew visa due to mental health crisis faces UK ban

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Academic Heather Scott has been told by Home Office that being ‘acutely ill’ is not an exceptional circumstance

The Home Office is threatening to ban a Canadian academic from the UK after she was unable to renew her visa in time during a mental health crisis.

Dr Heather Scott has lived in Britain since she came in 2011 on a study visa. The renowned academic, whose area of research relates to Victorian cemeteries including Highgate, Brompton and Abney Park, is required to be based in London.

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Police in England brace for disorder as far right promote anti-migrant protests

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Restrictions in place on Friday in areas including Norwich and officers will monitor at least 12 other towns and cities

Police are braced for potential disorder in towns across England this weekend amid the far right’s promotion of a range of protests against asylum seekers, with anti-racism activists planning counter-protests.

Restrictions will be in place on Friday at locations including Norwich while officers will police at least 12 other towns and cities that evening.

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Police plan to arrest anyone supporting Palestine Action at London protest

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Source says presence of large crowds would not prevent arrests under terrorism laws

Police are planning to arrest anyone demonstrating in support of Palestine Action this weekend.

The group has been banned under terrorism laws and this weekend a large event protesting against its proscription has been organised by the group Defend Our Juries.

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Oasis ‘shocked and saddened’ after fan dies in fall at Wembley concert

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Man understood to have been sitting in London stadium’s upper tier was pronounced dead at the scene

Oasis have said they are “shocked and saddened” after a man fell to his death at Wembley Stadium during the band’s Saturday concert.

The man was understood to be sitting in the upper tier of the 90,000-seat stadium – the highest stands of which are 50 metres above the ground – as the Gallagher brothers performed as part of their reunion tour.

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Pro- and anti-migrant prroters face off at London hotel housing asylum seekers

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Anti-racism campaigners outnumber those opposing hotel being used as Home Office accommodation

Anti-racism demonstrators turned out in large numbers on Saturday outside a London hotel where asylum seekers are being housed to counter-protest against those opposed to it being used as Home Office accommodation.

Both groups of protesters gathered near the Thistle City Barbican hotel in Islington, north London.

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Bishop who shut down London choir in his dressing gown issues apology

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Bishop of Fulham says sorry for offence caused when he told singers to leave for making ‘terrible racket’

A bishop who went on stage in a dressing gown and shut down a choir for making a “terrible racket” has apologised for the “distress and offence” he caused.

Last Friday, Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham, told a room of about 360 people, including the City Academy Voices choir, to leave St Andrew church in Holborn, central London, as they neared the end of their special summer concert.

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Met police to more than double use of live facial recognition

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Technology will now be used up to 10 times a week across five days, up from four times a week across two days

Britain’s biggest police force is to more than double its use of live facial recognition to up to 10 deployments a week.

The move by the Metropolitan police comes as it restructures to cover the loss of 1,400 officers and 300 staff amid budget shortages.

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Calls for UK air traffic control boss to resign as new glitch disrupts flights

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System restored after Nats limited flights due to technical problems that raised fears of repeat of chaos in August 2023

The head of the UK’s air traffic control company is facing calls to resign after the second disruption to flights in two years due to technical problems.

Hundreds of flights were delayed after the air traffic control (ATC) system went down for about 20 minutes on Wednesday.

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Delta Air Lines sued over man’s use of lost iPad to record explicit videos

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A South Carolina family had forgotten the device on a trip and later found the clips uploaded to their cloud account

A Delta Air Lines employee stole a computer tablet left behind on a plane by a South Carolina child, then used it to record sexually explicit videos of himself – which saved to cloud storage and were discovered by the minor’s parents, a recent federal lawsuit alleges.

The child’s parents, Tory and Brooke Brewer, sued Delta in US district court in Charleston on 16 July, saying their family is owed damages for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and harassment, among other causes.

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Tens of thousands of people take to streets for London Trans+ Pride 2025

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Event becomes biggest of its kind as more than 100,000 turn out to support its ‘existence and resistance’ theme

More than 100,000 people took to the streets for London Trans+ Pride 2025 on Saturday, making it the biggest such event in the world, organisers said.

The route wound through the centre of the capital’s most famous sites, taking in Regent’s Street, Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square. It concluded at Parliament Square with speakers including Heartstopper and Doctor Who actor Yasmin Finney.

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Bangladeshis linked to Hasina regime appear to have made UK property transactions in past year

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Call for asset freezes after figures under investigation in Dhaka employed services of UK law firms and consultants

By the time Bangladesh’s student-led revolution finally toppled Sheikh Hasina, her security forces had already spilled the blood of hundreds of protesters.

Now, almost a year after the country’s autocratic leader fled the former British colony into exile, an interim government is struggling to navigate bitter factional politics and economic turmoil.

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World Athletics Championships: London’s 2029 bid gets Starmer backing

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  • UK government will give £35m to help push for event

  • Previous successes leave city in strong position for bid

London is in prime position to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships after finally securing a substantial government funding commitment for the bid.

It is understood the UK government has agreed to give £35m to help bid for the championships, which would be the first to be staged in London since 2017, with the mayor’s office expected to commit about £10m.

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Fauja Singh, ‘world’s oldest marathon runner’, dies in road accident aged 114

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Singh’s east London running club confirms death in India of athlete thought to be first centenarian to run a marathon

The runner Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest person to complete a marathon, has died in a road accident in India aged 114.

The athlete, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to reports in India.

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Reeves to say cuts to City red tape will bring trickle-down benefits to households

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Chancellor to announce raft of deregulation changes as City regulators move to pare back transparency rules

Rachel Reeves will claim that cutting red tape for City firms will have trickle-down benefits for households across Britain, as she tries to drum up support for a new financial services strategy.

A raft of regulatory reforms are due to be announced by the chancellor on Tuesday, in what the Treasury says will be the “biggest financial regulation reforms in a decade”. It will come before her Mansion House address to City bosses during a dinner at Guildhall in London on Tuesday evening.

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