London

London

A 25-year-old man has appeared in court accused of chasing and fatally stabbing his mother in the back in front of bus passengers. Najiib Raytaan, 25, allegedly murdered 50-year-old Amaal Raytaan after she visited his home in Willesden, north-west London, on the afternoon of January 31. Soon after arriving, she allegedly ran out and banged on neighbours' doors, pursued by her son on an e-scooter and holding a large knife.

A shortlist of 24 images has been selected for the wildlife photographer of the year people's choice award. You can vote for your favourite image online. The winner will be announced on 25 March and shown from that date as part of the overall wildlife photographer of the year exhibition, which runs until 12 July at the Natural History Museum

The Saucony Run Shoreditch Half will debut on Sunday September 20, 2026 - and it's from the same people who're behind the Hackney Half. The event began last year as a 10k, with runners starting in Shoreditch Park, winding through the boroughs of Hackney and Islington, then crossing the finish line back at the park. We don't know exactly what the half marathon route will look like yet, but we do know that it'll also start and end at Shoreditch Park.

A litre of petrol in the UK now costs an average of 131.91p, according to The RAC. The last time the fuel dropped to these levels was in July 2021, when it averaged 131.81p per litre. The RAC said that the average price of petrol has fallen by more than 5p since the start of December, meaning drivers can save nearly 3 every time they fill up the average 55-litre family car compared to two months ago.

Treasures unearthed by hundreds of archaeologists so far during work on the controversial planned HS2 train line have been shown exclusively to the BBC. The 450,000 objects, which are being held in a secret warehouse, include a possible Roman gladiator's tag, a hand axe that may be more than 40,000 years old and 19th Century gold dentures. It is an "unprecedented" amount and array of items, which will yield new insights into Britain's past, says the Centre for British Archaeology.

She said people "just couldn't believe" cars were being broken into just for the shelves. The Met Police opened an investigation following a number of parcel shelves being stolen from cars in Hampstead and Highgate, the force said. Sam Phipps Phipps told BBC Radio London her car was targeted despite only having her gym bag, out of sight, in the boot.

A report from Centre for Cities, a thinktank, showed that between 2013 and 2023, disposable income for residents of these top performing towns and cities rose by an average of 5.2%, compared with an increase of 2.4% for urban areas in the UK overall. The report said that if all 63 of the UK's largest towns and cities had experienced the same rate of growth as the top 11 performers over this period, people would have pocketed an extra 3,200 on average in disposable income.

London is the only place in the UK where you can find scorpions, snakes, turtles, seals, peacocks, falcons all in one city and not London zoo. Step outside and you will encounter a patchwork of writhing, buzzing, bubbling urban microclimates. Sam Davenport, the director of nature recovery at the London Wildlife Trust, emphasises the sheer variation in habitats that you find in UK cities, which creates an amazing mosaic of wildlife.

The 24-year-old says she was travelling on the Elizabeth Line service from Liverpool Street station towards Essex when a man approached and attempted to speak to her while she had her earphones in. After trying to ignore him, Amber says the man 'grabbed her arm' and stood in front of her to 'cage her in'. Amber claims the man then placed his hand on her leg, before sexually assaulting her.

England have called up uncapped 20-year-old prop Vilikesa 'Billy' Sela for the Six Nations to cover a crop of tighthead injuries, while Exeter number eight Greg Fisilau is rewarded for his fine club form with a place in a competitive back row group. Elsewhere, Gloucester second row Arthur Clarke, who was ruled out of last year's Six Nations with injury, but won his first cap against the United States in the summer, is included among the second rows.

Low average speeds in London are often interpreted as extreme congestion but that misses the full picture.

The stunts and racing presents a real risk of injury and death to the people standing close to the vehicle. Many of these stunts are performed by inexperienced drivers, cheered on and encouraged by the crowd to go faster and faster. The disturbance caused to the local community is huge, the noise created by these stunts will travel considerable distances, over half a mile. The sound of the exhausts is comparable to a shotgun continuously firing in a built up area.

Early in my career, I was going through a difficult chapter in work and life. Having moved down to London from Glasgow, I felt socially untethered, unsure of where I belonged. I yearned to feel part of a gang like I'd done back home, but I had no clue about how to find one. A bruising experience of redundancy hadn't helped matters.

A decision on China's proposed mega embassy in London is expected on Monday or Tuesday, with Chinese officials and British diplomats in Beijing holding their breath in anticipation of the planning application finally being approved. The saga, which has been running since 2018, is widely expected to end with the British government giving the green light for construction. If it does, one group likely to be grateful is those who work in the British embassy's dilapidated building in Beijing.

LONDON -- Ja Morant had 24 points and 13 assists in his return to the lineup to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 126-109 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday in the first NBA regular-season game in London since 2019. Jock Landale added 21 points and 8 rebounds and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 17 points as Memphis avenged its 118-111 loss to Orlando in Berlin on Thursday in the first of their European doubleheader.

A man and woman, both aged 90, have died in a house fire in north London. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to a semi-detached house on Albemarle Road, Barnet where a fire had broken out on the ground floor shortly before 02:00 GMT. Their bodies were recovered from the house by firefighters and were later found to have died at the scene.

When I was growing up in Sunderland, the big round vegetable with orange flesh was a turnip and the small round purple and cream vegetable with white flesh was a swede (Letters, 14 January). When I moved to London, the big vegetable was called a swede and the small one a turnip. After 57 years of living in London, I'm still confused. Linda Seal Hammersmith, London

To celebrate its bicentenary, London Zoo is launching a programme of monthly history tours that delve into two centuries of animals, architecture and scientific discovery. The guided walks are included as a free extra with a paid Zoo visit and run on a rotating theme throughout the year, allowing visitors to choose tours that match their particular interests in the Zoo's long and varied past.

Quins now sit second in their pool and will seal a home knockout tie with a bonus-point win over La Rochelle next Sunday. Flanker Jack Kenningham, Cadan Murley and Alex Dombrandt all crossed in a dominant first quarter for the hosts. Stormers, who came into the game undefeated this season, opted against playing a large number of their star Springboks. Jason Gilmore's side ended their poor run of form by bagging five first-half tries, with Chandler Cunningham-South and David also getting over.

"In the end that falls on me, and we've got to do something about it. I don't want to tell you guys what's happened over the last 24, 36 hours, but rest assured that we've called a spade a spade and we've been honest with everybody and everyone's been honest with us. We've confronted what was wrong. There's not much to say really, so we've just got to go and do."

The Met Office has put two amber and seven yellow alerts in place for Thursday, with chief forecaster Neil Armstrong describing the system as a multi-hazard event combining heavy rain, powerful winds and snowfall. Storm Goretti, which was named by the French meteorological service, has also been labelled a weather bomb by the Met Office as it strengthens quickly over the Atlantic before tracking towards the UK and France.

A US citizen has been jailed for 12 months after a sustained bomb hoax campaign targeting venues and hospitals, including Guy's and St Thomas' in central London. David Hart, 22, made 95 bogus 999 calls from late October to mid November 2023. A court heard that Hart made multiple calls to UK telephone numbers with 66 directed to the capital. While not all connected successfully, a significant number did.

A man in his 30s has died after he was hit by a police car on an emergency call in south London. The pedestrian was struck by a marked vehicle at just after 12.30am on Wednesday. London Ambulance Service paramedics treated him, but he died at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, the force said.

He was in Westminster on Saturday, January 4, at around 10.50pm mid-livestream when police surrounded Krimoe and a group he was with and quickly detained him. In a video posted on Instagram, police sirens can be heard as Big Ben chimes. Someone shouts, oh my f***ing Jesus and the social media influencer Krimoe puts his hands in the air. An officer puts him in handcuffs.

London ushered in 2026 with a spectacular fireworks and strobe-light display that celebrated togetherness. As Big Ben struck midnight, crowds counted down in unison before erupting into cheers to welcome the New Year. The London Eye took centre stage in the incredible display, organised by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, with towering fireworks and dramatic strobe effects. More than 12,000 fireworks and over 400 lights were used, making it the largest annual firework display in Europe.

Like a pub roast or a needless apology, a car boot sale is a quintessential British pastime; a staple weekend activity for those willing to venture into a field at 6am to flog old DVDs from the boot of their car at 50p a pop. But the Balham organisers, like others across the country, have rebranded the British car boot to represent something slightly more en vogue.

The latest fatberg shows exactly what happens when fats, oils and wipes go down our drains they don't disappear, they build up and cause serious damage, said Tim Davies, the head of waste operations for north London at Thames Water. The cost of clearing blockages and repairing sewers runs into tens of millions of pounds every year, and that money ultimately comes from our customers.