Biggest offenders will pay $50 a day to enter city
Times (UK) Feb 12, 08 5:10 PM CST
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London will charge the biggest gas guzzlers on the road $50 a day to enter the city, the Times of London reports. The greenest cars, meanwhile, will pay nothing. Mayor Ken Livingstone revised his car-congestion charge to punish SUVs and sports cars by tripling the cost for them, beginning in the fall. Most cars will continue to pay $16 a day, but hybrids and others that meet strict emissions guidelines get in free.
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Camden Town is a big draw for tourists, celebrities
Guardian (UK) Feb 9, 08 4:45 PM CST
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A huge fire has devastated the popular market area of Camden Town, a tourist attraction in north London that was filled with weekend revelers when the blaze broke out, the Guardian reports. No casualties were reported; the fire took 3-plus hours to put down. The site, which mixes open-air markets, wooden stalls, bars, and restaurants, generally draws some 300,000 people on weekends.
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Top aide accused of funneling millions in city money to friends
Financial Times (UK) Feb 8, 08 11:20 AM CST
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London's left-wing mayor Ken Livingstone faced a harsh 3-hour grilling last night over a deepening scandal that has seen the city's equality adviser accused of nepotism and corruption. Hundreds of e-mails and memos released yesterday cast new light on at least $6.6 million in contracts allegedly awarded to friends of Lee Jasper, writes the Financial Times .
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'Hook' linked to 1998 Yemen attacks; preached martyrdom
ABC News Feb 7, 08 5:47 PM CST
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Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza, known to FBI agents as “hook” because of his metal hand, will be sent to New York to face terrorism charges, ABC News reports. British officials said today they plan to extradite within 28 days the former leader of a London mosque, who faces 100 years in prison for his involvement in a 1998 terror attack in Yemen.
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Thrust failure began at 600 feet, 2 miles out, initial reports finds
Guardian (UK) Jan 18, 08 4:12 PM CST
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Engine failure caused the crash landing of a British Airways Boeing 777 just off the runways at Heathrow Airport yesterday. An initial investigation into the crash revealed that the plane's twin engines "didn't respond" to demands for thrust "at approximately 600 feet and two miles from touchdown," reports the Guardian . A second report is due within 30 days.
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British Airways 777 buckles after hitting grass short of runway
Associated Press Jan 17, 08 1:15 PM CST
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A British Airways passenger jet slammed into the ground at London's Heathrow Airport today, causing eight injuries but no deaths, the AP reports. The crash landing damaged the plane's underbelly and wings. The cause is still unknown; the 6-year-old Boeing 777 had never previously crashed, and was flown by "one of our most experienced" pilots, said BA's CEO.
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Moscow allows paintings to travel after diplomatic spat, fears of seizure
Times (UK) Jan 10, 08 1:40 PM CST
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The Royal Academy in London will scramble to open a major exhibition of Russian-owned art after Russian officials finally granted permission to send the works to the UK, the Times of London reports. The show faced cancellation over Russian concerns that the works would be subject to seizure, a dispute seen as fallout from the Alexander Litvinenko affair.
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He turned on them during joint patrol;
3 others wounded
BBC Jan 5, 08 8:22 AM CST
(Newser)
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An Iraqi insurgent who joined the country’s military force shot and killed two American troops, the BBC reports. Three other US soldiers were injured in the Dec. 26 shooting, which happened during a joint patrol in northern Iraq. After the patrol was besieged by gunmen, the Iraqi soldier “abused” the situation and fired at the Americans, an Iraqi general said.
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Sales swelled 36% in 2007; some fear houses too invested in the new
Bloomberg Dec 27, 07 11:39 AM CST
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Contemporary art has been very good to Sotheby’s, fueling a 46% boost in sales for the world’s second-largest auctioneer this year over last, Bloomberg says. A crop of new collectors from the US, Russia and Asia brought new records for artists like Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons, for a total take of $5.33 billion. But some dealers fear the craze could be headed for a crash.
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Brown to announce major revision of Afghan strategy, rankling Washington
Independent (UK) Dec 12, 07 8:13 AM CST
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Just back from Kabul, Gordon Brown is poised to announce a major strategic revision in Afghanistan that will involve dialogue with the Taliban. Senior British officials believe that treating the loose-knit organization as a unified terrorist actor is counterproductive, the Independent reports, and they want to move from fighting militants to talking to them. But the new strategy might cause tension between the UK and Washington hawks.
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Scientists film endangered critter for the first time
BBC Dec 10, 07 6:10 PM CST
(Newser)
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A rare rodent with jumbo ears and a kangaroo hop has been nabbed on video for possibly the first time, the BBC reports. Scientists who braved the Gobi desert recently observed the jerboa as part of a plan to help the endangered and extremely rare mammal. The critter amazed them with its snow-shoe like feet and "one of the biggest ear-to-body ratios out there," as one scientist put it.
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Singer's spotted roaming streets in bra
New York Post Dec 10, 07 3:04 AM CST
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Troubled singer Amy Winehouse's mother has written an open letter to her hot mess of a daughter begging her to come home and get well. The letter, which appears in the London tabloid News of the World , was written shortly after Winehouse was photographed recently wandering the streets before dawn in jeans and a bra, mumbling incoherently.
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Warned victim of plot before tea poisoning
Times (UK) Dec 9, 07 12:03 PM CST
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Onetime KGB agent Mikhail Trepashkin has said that a former colleague attempted to recruit him for a state-sponsored plot to kill Kremlin foe Alexander Litvinenko, who died of poisoning in London last year. Trepashkin will detail his allegations before the European human rights court, supporting the case that the Russian government killed Litvinenko, the Times of London reports.
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