19 h. ago South London NHS trust told to improve after racism, bullying and harassment complaints

South London NHS trust told to improve after racism, bullying and harassment complaints  MyLondon

Events

28 h. ago ‘We stick two fingers up at Henry VIII’: can the riotous all

The Japanese version of the pop-rock phenomenon about the six ill-fated wives caused a sensation in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. As that production now hits the UK, we go behind the scenes (and thrones)A singer and dancer in Japan, Marie Sugaya first heard about a musical featuring King Henry VIII’s wives through a friend on a cultural exchange in London. “She spoke of Six so highly that I thought if it were ever to come to Japan, I’d love to be involved. But it was a faraway idea, just a dream.”Similarly, Airi Suzuki, an actor and “pop icon” famed across Japan, travelled to Britain to watch the show last year, purely as a punter. Neither Sugaya nor Suzuki imagined they would ever take to the same stage to perform the Tudor-era musical-cum-rock concert themselves. But they are part of an all-Japanese lineup of queens who are taking over Vaudeville theatre for a week-long run which producers think is the first of its kind: a West End show, translated into Japanese and performed in Tokyo,...

Politics

40 h. ago Britain would do well to remember where its power over China lies | Simon Jenkins

It’s ridiculous for the government to splurge on defence while it slashes spending on its most valuable asset: cultureThe US has backed down in its tariff war with China. Thanks to Donald Trump’s egotistical diplomacy, rare earths can again flow one way, soya beans the other, and less of the chemicals used to make fentanyl in between. No matter that the war was Trump’s own idea and seems to have been a stunt. The stunt is over. Trump has played his favourite game of dealmaker, much to the discomfort of millions.Meanwhile Britain still cannot make up its mind if China is its enemy. In 2008 British officials visited the Beijing Olympics authorities to discuss the next games in London in 2012. The government told them to “raise” human rights issues, about which the British government was most concerned. I am told the Chinese reacted with sympathy at the Britons’ embarrassment at broaching the matter, and then everyone got down to business. Soon China was a friend, certainly to David Ca...

Politics

47 h. ago Coat of arms of Henry VIII's condemned adviser found after 500 years: 'Victorian replica' hanging in Welsh home is Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's original, stunned experts find

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor failed to secure an annulment of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. His coat of arms has been found at Gwysaney Hall in Wales.

Politics

62 h. ago Will Reichard’s agent says someone at league office told him London kick hit wire

Will Reichard’s agent says someone at league office told him London kick hit wire  NBC Sports

Events

2 d. ago London struggling amid challenges with policing, transport and housing, assembly told

London struggling amid challenges with policing, transport and housing, assembly told  Waltham Forest Echo

Events

2 d. ago Twisting tale of ‘Henry VIII’s lost dagger’ to be told in London exhibition

Twisting tale of ‘Henry VIII’s lost dagger’ to be told in London exhibition  The Art Newspaper

Politics

4 d. ago Bag of wires sparked bomb alert at US Embassy in London, court told

Bag of wires sparked bomb alert at US Embassy in London, court told  Slough Observer

Events

5 d. ago 'Heartbreaking' Netflix crime thriller rockets up the charts with a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score

The release, a twisting tale based on the real-life history of a family of serial killers from the 1960s, has earned itself a perfect 100% approval rate on reviews site Rotten Tomatoes.

Events

5 d. ago Pensioner, 71, being evicted from estate where BBC hit Ghosts was filmed accuses owners of wanting to 'turn it into a holiday let for fans'

Baschea Walsh has lived for nearly two decades on the grounds of West Horsley Place, a 15th-century Grade I-listed manor once owned by Henry VIII in Surrey.

Events

7 d. ago British IT consultant who 'couldn't bear to live with non Muslims' so flew business class to Syria to fight for Islamist terrorists is jailed for nine years

Isa Giga (pictured), 32 from Hounslow in west London , devastated his family when he told them he was going to Birmingham but instead quit his job and travelled to Syria via Turkey in 2015.

Events

8 d. ago A rift that took 500 years to repair: King Charles prays with the pope

Joint prayer in Sistine Chapel is symbolic act of rapprochement between Catholic church and Church of England after centuries of divisionAlmost every British schoolchild is taught that Henry VIII, the swaggering Tudor king driven by lust and his quest for an heir, broke away from the Roman Catholic church in 1534 after the pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.Henry created the Church of England, appointed himself its supreme governor, divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn (who lasted just three years before she was beheaded for treason). Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago This is what it’s like to stay in one of King Henry VIII’s royal palaces

This is what it’s like to stay in one of King Henry VIII’s royal palaces  The Independent

Politics

1 week ago Welfare cuts have fuelled rise of far right and populism, top UN expert says

Exclusive: Special rapporteur for poverty cites mainstream parties’ ‘extremely dangerous’ them-or-us dialogue Decades of efforts by mainstream politicians to roll back welfare programmes have given rise to an “extremely dangerous” discourse that has helped fuel the rise of the far right and rightwing populists in countries around the world, a top UN expert has told the Guardian.From London to Lisbon, politicians from centre-right and centre-left parties alike have steadily eroded social programmes, fostering a sense of scarcity and creating fertile ground for the stirring up of anti-migrant sentiment, said Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago British families accuse Swiss euthanasia clinic Pegasos of killing their loved ones 'without medical justification'

Judith Hamilton, from London told how her son Alastair claimed to have been going on holiday to Paris before it was revealed he had actually flown to Switzerland to die, with the help of Pegasos.

Events

1 week ago Spirituality isn’t rigid dogma. It’s a living, breathing practice that helps make sense of an incomprehensible world | Shadi Khan Saif

I grew up in Kabul and Karachi. In both, I learned the value of the quiet rituals observed while no one is watchingWhen I was leaving London for Melbourne, my eldest sister-in-law told her kids not to forget the “tradition” – to throw a bowl of water behind me as I stepped out the door. Just a small splash on the ground, a gesture older than borders. “La har azaab po aman se,” she whispered in Pashto under her breath – may all hardship stay away from you. The little ones giggled and waved their goodbyes as they spilled the water, somewhere between shy and amused.My mother used to do this too, back in Afghanistan. Every time I left for a journey, especially international ones, she’d quietly follow me to the gate with a bowl of water, whispering prayers I couldn’t always hear. But this moment, between two western cities, with children growing up in a world so far from where that habit began, felt different. It was softer. Bittersweet. Like watching an old song being hummed in a new la...

Politics

2 w. ago Cost of living: Families are priced out of London, Assembly told

Cost of living: Families are priced out of London, Assembly told  BBC

Economics

2 w. ago Over 65 London employers including a council fined £1.6m after 7,400 workers paid less than minimum wage

London firms have been fined £1.6million and told to backpay thousands of workers after failing to pay the National Minimum Wage

Economics

2 w. ago I stayed in the grounds of King Henry VIII's palace and sipped cocktails in former prison cells

The Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars offers a premium and modern stay with a touch of fascinating history

Events

2 w. ago More than 65 London employers including a council fined £1.6m after 7,400 workers paid less than minimum wage

London firms have been fined £1.6million and told to backpay thousands of workers after failing to pay the National Minimum Wage

Economics