London
- Daniel Kaluuya to be honored with statue in central London (EXCLUSIVE)variety.com Daniel Kaluuya to Be Honored With Statue in Central London (EXCLUSIVE)
Daniel Kaluuya is be honored with a statue in central London celebrating an iconic scene from his breakout movie 'Get Out'
> Daniel Kaluuya will be honored with a statue in his home city of London celebrating the actor’s breakout role in 2017 hit “Get Out.” > >The Oscar-winning star, now considered one of the U.K.’s finest on-screen talents, was chosen from a poll of 5,000 British film fans as the actor people would most like to see as part of the “Scenes in the Square” trail in Leicester Square, landing one fifth of the vote. His statue — depicting the famed ‘Sunken Place’ scene in “Get Out” in which Kaluuya’s character falls into a hypnosis-induced suppressed metaphysical abyss — will be unveiled in October. > >Kaluuya joins an eclectic array of statues on the trail from the past century of cinema, including Harry Potter, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mary Poppins and Gene Kelly. These figures were unveiled 4 years ago and have since seen additions such as the “Game of Thrones” iron throne, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Indiana Jones temporarily gracing the Square. Kaluuya’s statue will reportedly represent modern cinematic success and homegrown talent.
- Jail terms and a repeatwww.theguardian.com Just Stop Oil activists throw soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers after fellow protesters jailed
Three individuals targeted National Gallery paintings an hour after Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland were jailed for similar attack in 2022
The jail sentences handed out today seem completely insane to me, not least considering the overcrowding of jails that's been reported. Even if they had tons of space it seems like madness.
I can well understand people's reservations about JSO's general tactics but at the same time, what alternative is offered by their detractors?
Personally I don't feel as though Labour or the Democrats stateside are doing, or planning on doing, anything close to enough to tackle our impact on the climate.
What do you think?
- Victoria tube station’s Edwardian shopping arcade restored to its original appearancewww.ianvisits.co.uk Victoria tube station’s Edwardian shopping arcade restored to its original appearance
An Edwardian shopping arcade above Victoria tube station is reopening after being restored to its early 1900s appearance.
- Paddington tube station’s new step-free entrance has openedwww.ianvisits.co.uk Paddington tube station’s new step-free entrance has opened
The Bakerloo line platforms at Paddington Station have some new signs today, pointing to something they've not had before - lifts to the surface ticket hall.
- Stop press: it’s the very last Evening Standard in London today. And that tells us a lot about Britain in 2024www.theguardian.com Stop press: it’s the very last Evening Standard in London today. And that tells us a lot about Britain in 2024 | James Hanning
Local, national, international – the weekday paper was a brilliant one-stop shop. But information, and how we get it, is more atomised now, says journalist and author James Hanning
> Local daily to close.” Ultimately, that is the truth. From today, London’s Evening Standard is indeed ceasing to appear every weekday, as it has for almost 200 years. Yet you don’t have to have worked there for more than 15 years, as I did, to regard it as so much more than just a local rag. > >It will live as a website, with a once a week print edition, the London Standard. But it’s certainly a moment. The reach of the Standard as we have known it was huge, if implicit. Though its print edition was largely restricted to the capital, it used to be referred to, without irony, as “the influential London Evening Standard”. How long ago that seems. > > ... > > The web indulges everyone. They don’t need to buy a paper and skip the pages they don’t like. If they don’t like grazing, they can go straight to the horoscope, or whatever. That atomisation may be a good thing but, just as we don’t all watch the same TV any more, it does mean we’re all getting further and further apart. > > Whether you liked it or not, the Standard, like the church, the pub and the library, connoted community. The new weekly version will be a London version of the New Yorker. It has illustrious shoes to fill.
- London's DLR trains too speedy so engineers slow them downwww.bbc.com London's DLR trains too speedy so engineers slow them down
Engineers slow down DLR trains by 5kmph across most track sections after reviewing the network.
- Traffic to be banned from London’s Oxford Street under Sadiq Khan planwww.theguardian.com Traffic to be banned from London’s Oxford Street under Sadiq Khan plan
Mayor to be given power to overrule Westminster council, which blocked previous plan amid concerns over rerouting buses
- ‘I want them all crushed’: the council poised to ban ‘dangerous’ Lime bikeswww.theguardian.com ‘I want them all crushed’: the council poised to ban ‘dangerous’ Lime bikes
In Brent, local people are upset with abandoned green bikes creating a hazard and teenagers speeding along pavements
- Crystal Palace Subway restored: First images revealed ahead of public Open Daywww.ianvisits.co.uk Crystal Palace Subway restored: First images revealed ahead of public Open Day
The first images of the restored Crystal Palace Subway have been revealed ahead of a public open day next weekend.
- 17-year-old arrested in connection with cyber attack on TfLnews.sky.com 17-year-old arrested in connection with cyber attack on TfL
TfL has said some customer data was compromised in the cyber attack, including customer names and contact details. Some Oyster card data, which could include bank account details, may also have been accessed.
- Van Gogh National Gallery exhibition receives starry reviews - BBC Newswww.bbc.co.uk Van Gogh National Gallery exhibition receives starry reviews
The exhibition opens on Saturday, featuring more than 60 artworks including two sunflower paintings.
- A cooler London Underground: TfL eyes more stations for its new cooling technologywww.ianvisits.co.uk A cooler London Underground: TfL eyes more stations for its new cooling technology
Trials of a new cooling system for the London Underground stations have proven sufficiently successful that Transport for London (TfL) is already considering where it could be deployed.
- E-bike rage in Brent, the borough that's had enough - and how it might be solved - BBC Newswww.bbc.co.uk E-bike rage in Brent, the borough that's had enough - and how it might be solved
Brent Council has threatened to ban them as residents complain of impassable pavements and bad driving.
- London landlords sell up properties at record rates ahead of anticipated tax hikeswww.cnbc.com London landlords sell up properties at record rates ahead of anticipated tax hikes
London landlords are selling up their buy-to-let properties at record rates as anticipated tax hikes add further pressure to the once lucrative investment sector.
> London landlords are selling up their buy-to-let properties at record rates as anticipated tax hikes from the U.K. Labour government add further pressure to the once lucrative investment sector. > >Almost one-third (29%) of homes currently for sale in the capital were previously rented out, data published on Thursday by property portal Rightmove showed. > > The spike mirrors a wider uptick in rental property sales across the U.K., where 18% of all nationwide listings were previously tenanted, according to Rightmove. > >Rightmove said it was not yet clear that the figures pointed to a "mass exodus" by landlords, but rather to a gradual decline in the appeal of the buy-to-let sector. The previous five-year average of former rental listings for sale was 14%, while the proportion of ex-rental properties on the market in 2010 was 8%, Rightmove said. > >It highlighted that it expected tax hikes in Finance Minister Rachel Reeve's forthcoming Oct. 30 Autumn Statement — including a possible increase in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) — to become a "potential driver" of the increased sales.
- Huge explosion near O2 Arena 'staged by child abuser for naked film shoot'metro.co.uk Huge explosion near O2 Arena 'staged by child abuser for naked film shoot'
Jacky Jhaj, 38, has been linked to a string of bizarre film-related stunts which put him in contact with children since his release from prison.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17062102
> > An explosion near the O2 Arena which sparked bomb fears was staged by a convicted child abuser for a bizarre film stunt, it has been claimed. > > > >Dozens of calls to 999 were made after a fireball blast at a construction yard across the river from the East London venue sent smoke billowing into the sky and was heard from miles away on Saturday. > > > >People nearby said it sounded like a ‘bomb going off’ or an ‘earthquake’, and those looking from a distance could see vehicles and a shipping container on fire. > > > > ... > > > > A video shared on social media suggests sex offender Jacky Jhaj, 38, was heavily involved in the shoot. > > > >He was jailed for four years for sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls he groomed while posing as a film producer. > > > >The footage appears to show him completely naked walking in front of a lorry trailer bearing BBC branding and a prop police van, which suddenly explodes. > > > > ... > > > > It’s thought the fire got out of control, forcing the crew to call emergency services. > > > > Jhaj had hired the crew under the name ‘Toby’, wearing a prosthetic ‘villain mask’ on set which concealed his identity, according to a MailOnline report. > > > > One of the cast was said to have recognised him when he removed his mask, prompting the crew to pull out. > > > > In addition to being pictured in media reports of his conviction, Jhaj has repeatedly made headlines since his release for staging bizarre scenes which put him in close contact with children. > > > >In November last year, some 200 children and young women were reportedly hired to play fans at a fake film premiere in London’s Leicester Square where Jhaj appeared on a red carpet to greet them. > > > >In April it emerged he was behind a £10,000 fake funeral at a west London church and used a well-known casting website to hire child actors to play some of the mourners. > > > > Although the funeral was staged, it was held in the name of a real drowning victim and the presiding priest was led to believe it was real – only halting proceedings after realising it was being filmed mid-way through.
- Cockfosters tube station housing plans gets final approval to go aheadwww.ianvisits.co.uk Cockfosters tube station housing plans gets final approval to go ahead
The stalled plans to build some 350 new homes next to Cockfosters tube station on the Piccadilly line are to go ahead after the government reversed a block on the development passed by the previous government.
- Catford: Crews bring high-rise flats fire in London under controlwww.bbc.com Catford: Crews bring high-rise flats fire in London under control
All residents evacuated safely and there are no reported injuries, London Fire Brigade says.
- Baby Elsa: Abandoned baby 'doing well' but parents still unknownwww.bbc.com Baby Elsa: Abandoned baby 'doing well' but parents still unknown
Baby Elsa was less than an hour old when she was discovered by a dog walker wrapped in a towel in London.
This is a really disturbing story. Baby Elsa is one of three full siblings who were all abandoned shortly after birth in a time span from 2017 to 2023.
- It's official, Lime bikes are Awesome!
So I finally got to ride one and wow they can really go. My favourite feature is probably the worst feature and that's that you can leave them anywhere. However what I didn't realise until actually riding one, is that the app asks you to take a picture of where and how you parked the bike when you're finished and then potentially punishes people who don't park the bikes properly. They can clearly enforce that more. But now I'm of the opinion that the local councils need to provide more bike parking. One or two parking spots at the end of every road would be enough. Being someone that lives in a hilly area, I don't really bother with bikes, but with the electric motors on the Lime bikes, I would ride everywhere and happily switch from Ubers if they were officially operating in my borough. Anyway, they're really really fun and I'm really looking forward to them redressing the balance of cars in London. For short journeys, they're perfect and the more people that access them, the fitter the city will be.
- Salvador Dali prints found 'tucked away' in London garage after 50 yearsnews.sky.com Salvador Dali prints found 'tucked away' in London garage after 50 years
The haul also includes five lithographs by French painter, engraver, illustrator and sculptor Theo Tobiasse and was discovered "because the seller has been having a clear out" at his Mayfair home.
> A treasure trove of prints signed by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali which had been "tucked away and forgotten" for 50 years have been found in a garage. > >The lithographs cost £500 when they were bought in the 1970s and could now fetch around £5,000 when they are put up for auction. > >The haul, which also includes five lithographs by French painter, engraver, illustrator and sculptor Theo Tobiasse, was discovered at a home in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London, during a clear out. > >Antiques expert Chris Kirkham, who is associate director of London's Hansons Richmond auction house, called the find "amazing" and "surreal".
- Sealed off section of Thames Path in west London has opened to the publicwww.ianvisits.co.uk Sealed off section of Thames Path in west London has opened to the public
A section of the Thames riverside path that has never been open to the public has finally opened, providing an uninterrupted riverside walking route between Hammersmith and Putney.
- AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door officially coming to London in Summer 2025
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16650231
> > Ahead of AEW All In in London, several fans noticed that local advertisements had also circled the city of London as the destination for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025. This was later confirmed to be the case on the All In pre-show, with a commercial outlining August 24 as the date for the next year's Forbidden Door pay-per-view, and London as the host location. > > > > The specific venue from which Forbidden Door 2025 will emanate was not disclosed, although a few possibilities have emerged. Such possibilities include the O2 Arena, Wembley Arena, and Craven Cottage, home to the Fulham Football Club. The latter building is notably owned by Shahid Khan, the father of AEW President Tony Khan. Ahead of All In, several AEW representatives, including Tony Khan, made a visit to Craven Cottage for Fulham's game against Leicester City. > > > > ... > > > > With London hosting Forbidden Door next year, the All In pay-per-view series will be momentarily moving away from the United Kingdom and to the city of Arlington, Texas on July 12, 2025. AEW All In 2026 will then return to London.
- Londoners warned against scanning QR codes advertising cannabiswww.standard.co.uk Londoners warned against scanning QR codes advertising cannabis
Capital police wary of growing number of codes advertising class B drug and delivery
> Londoners have been told to not scan QR codes on the growing number of stickers advertising illicit cannabis websites. > >Police are wary of the growing number of ads springing up on lamp posts, bus stops and in toilets around the capital which advertise the drug and its delivery. > > Inspector Kerry Goodwin, of City of London Police, said that the ads had been found in Soho and around the Leicester Square area, reports My London. > >"Investigations are on-going and we’re working with the City of London Corporation to get the stickers removed as soon as we become aware of them,” he said. > >“We'd urge members of the public to alert police if they see any of these stickers and to not scan the QR code." > > Scanning the codes is said to send the user onto a website where it appears that cannabis can be bought and delivered. > > The sites are also said to advertise CBD and other associated products, such as oils and edibles, with a number of made-up reviews attached to give the essence of authenticity. > >A spokesperson for the Met said: "We do not believe cannabis, in any form, is benign."
- Woman in life-threatening condition after stabbing at Notting Hill carnivalwww.theguardian.com Woman in life-threatening condition after stabbing at Notting Hill carnival
Metropolitan police say 32-year-old woman is in hospital after stabbing on Sunday
- More than 200 firefighters respond to blaze at east London tower blocknews.sky.com More than 200 firefighters respond to blaze at east London tower block
A tower block in east London caught fire in the early hours of bank holiday Monday. It was covered in "non-compliant cladding" and more than 100 people, including children, have been evacuated.
- AEW All In 2024: Live results, match grades, card, highlights for London PPVeu.usatoday.com AEW All In 2024: Live results, match grades, card, highlights for London PPV
AEW jumps the pond once again to London for All In. Gold is up for grabs at Wembley Stadium. Who will emerge victorious?
- 'Time bomb WW2 wreck in Thames Estuary could cause five-metre tsunami'www.standard.co.uk 'Time bomb WW2 wreck in Thames Estuary could cause five-metre tsunami'
Experts have warned that there is a tsunami risk if the SS Richard Montgomery explodes
> A World War Two wreck in the Thames estuary is a ticking time bomb, an expert has warned, as it has not been dealt with 80 years after the vessel first sunk. > >The SS Richard Montgomery was carrying 7,000 tonnes of explosives and weapons when it grounded on the sandbank close to the Isle of Grain in August 1944. > > A rescue effort took place to try and unload the ship’s cargo but a crack appeared in its hull and only half of the explosives were salvaged. > >Professor David Alexander of University College London told the Standard the ship remains a “serious threat” and in a worse case scenario it could explode creating a five-metre tsunami up the Thames.
- German Navy ship blasts out Darth Vader theme on Thameswww.bbc.co.uk German Navy ship blasts out Darth Vader theme on Thames
Londoners are surprised when a German Navy ship blasts out the music from the Star Wars trilogies.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16468336
> >Londoners spotted this ship on the Thames near Tower Bridge, playing the iconic Imperial March theme from the Star Wars trilogies, otherwise recognisable as the Darth Vader music. > > > >But it wasn’t coming from a galaxy far, far away - it was a German Navy ship, in London for training and a supply stop. > > > >A spokesperson from the German Navy told the BBC the music had "no deeper message" and "the commander can choose the music freely".
- Vaults of ambition: shock find under London Museum enchants its builderswww.theguardian.com Vaults of ambition: shock find under London Museum enchants its builders
Discovery of Victorian network hiding under some of city’s busiest streets set ‘magical’ new challenge for multimillion pound project
- Nine days of Banksy, but what do the works mean?www.bbc.com Banksy in London: Nine days of works but what do they mean?
What do Banksy's latest works mean, and how have they been received by the art and graffiti worlds?
> World-famous graffiti artist Banksy has concluded his animal trail, after nine days of pop-up artworks dotted around the capital ended with a piece on the shutters of London Zoo. > >Although all the surprise pieces have now been unveiled, speculation over the inspiration behind them persists. What do they mean, and how have they been received by the art and graffiti worlds? > >Banksy's final piece, outside London Zoo in Camden, north London, shows a gorilla lifting the shutter to release a sea lion and birds, while other animals appear to look on from the inside.
- Ealing: First baby beavers born in urban London for 400 yearswww.bbc.co.uk Ealing: First baby beavers born in urban London for 400 years
Ealing Beaver Project says it shows the beavers are "happy" with the habitat.
Baby beavers have been born in urban London for the first time in more than 400 years, a conservation project said.
- Banksy cat removed from billboard as meaning of his London animals revealedwww.theguardian.com Banksy cat removed from billboard as meaning of his London animals revealed
Exclusive: secretive artist trying to cheer up people with pelicans, goat, elephants, monkeys and cat
> A big cat by Banksy appeared briefly, -stretching in the morning sun, on a bare advertising hoarding on Edgware Road in Cricklewood, north-west London, on Saturday. A few hours later it had gone, removed by contractors who feared it would be ripped down. > >The anonymous artist known as Banksy, who confirmed the image was his at lunchtime on Saturday, also promised a little more summer fun to come. > >A seventh image may shortly materialise in another surprising location, the Observer has learned. London residents should then keep their eyes peeled, a spokesperson suggested, for a few days longer. > > For a week now, the streets of the capital have been populated by a string of unusual animal sightings, courtesy of Banksy, including pelicans, a goat and a trio of monkeys. > >The artist’s vision is simple: the latest street art has been designed to cheer up the public during a period when the news headlines have been bleak, and light has often been harder to spot than shade. > >Banksy’s hope, it is understood, is that the uplifting works cheer people with a moment of unexpected amusement, as well as to gently underline the human capacity for creative play, rather than for destruction and negativity. > >Some recent theorising about the deeper significance of each new image has been way too involved, Banksy’s support organisation, Pest Control Office, has indicated.
- Speculation rife about Banksy’s London murals after five appear in a weekwww.theguardian.com Speculation rife about Banksy’s London murals after five appear in a week
Whether comment on far-right rioters, Gaza or the climate crisis, one expert suspects a grand reveal is imminent
> It began with the silhouette of a goat perched atop a narrow wall near Kew Bridge in London, with tumbling rocks signifying the animal’s perilous position. > >Over the course of the week, more silhouettes began popping up around the capital: two elephants with their trunks reaching towards each other from blocked-out windows on the side of a house in Chelsea; three monkeys swinging across a bridge on Brick Lane; and a wolf howling towards the sky, painted on to the face of a satellite dish on Rye Lane in Peckham. > > On Friday, a fifth silhouette, of two pelicans eating fish, appeared on the wall of a Walthamstow fish and chip shop. > >The cryptic murals are the work of Banksy. The Bristol-based street artist, whose identity is unknown, confirmed the pieces as genuine on his Instagram but he did not caption any of them – fuelling fierce speculation over their meaning. > > Gough, an artist himself who was the subject of Tik Tok rumours that he was Banksy, posited that he could be aiming to release an image a day with a grand reveal sometime around the weekend. > > ... > > Gough, an artist himself who was the subject of Tik Tok rumours that he was Banksy, posited that he could be aiming to release an image a day with a grand reveal sometime around the weekend.