News

The Mayor of London has called for the ‘true spirit of London shine through’ during the
Notting Hill Carnival this Bank Holiday weekend, to help heal the bad memories caused by
the riots earlier this month.

Boris Johnson has reached out to Londoners to ‘celebrate our vibrant, diverse and
historical culture’ during Europe’s biggest street festival. The Major has warned that
anyone suspected of inciting violence this weekend will be seized by police.

The streets of the capital will be patrolled by over 10,000 officers to prevent the civil
disorder that destroyed homes and businesses 2 weeks ago.

Organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival today said that the festival was an opportunity
to ‘heal a nation’ after the worst street violence in living memory. Mr Johnson added that
London needs to prove that it can stage large events peacefully ahead of the Olympics in
2012.

The Mayor told The Evening Standard: ‘It’s right that carnival goes ahead so we can show
the world that the overwhelming majority of London’s people are decent, law-abiding
citizens who respect the law, love their city and want to celebrate our vibrant, diverse and
historical culture.

‘The police will be out in force all weekend and their intention, quite rightly, is to be robust
with anyone who does not appreciate that this great event and annual celebration of our
city is a chance to let the true spirit of London shine through. They will not be able to sour
the end of our summer.’

22 boroughs across the capital were affected during the four days of rioting earlier this
month, leaving repair bills totalling tens of millions of pounds.

A cancer sufferer and father-of-three has been fired by Argos after his employers saw complaints about his job on Facebook.

David Rowat was sacked for gross misconduct after posting moans about returning to work following a holiday. Although he didn’t actually mention the store name, his employers were still alerted to the comments.

Mr Rowat intends to appeal against his dismissal and couldn’t believe his treatment after being frogmarch from the Romford store on Tuesday after 13 years of loyal service.

The comments read: “Had a great day back at work after my hols who am I kidding!!” and “Back to the shambles that is work.”

H was informed by his employers that the comments breach the Argos “social networking policy” and that they could “damage the reputation of the company”.

Mr Rowat said: “The store manager told me to be honest and apologise. He said I’d get a telling off but I was sacked and run off the premises like a criminal.”

He added: “I’m the sole breadwinner in my house ¬- my wife had to take early retirement because of ill-health.”

His daughter Tina Jackson said: “He is a sick man and this stress is not going to make him any better – he has served that company loyally and this is how they repay him.”

A spokesman for Argos said: “We take matters of this nature extremely seriously and have arrived at this course of action after an extensive internal investigation that involved multiple factors and events.”

Free Libya supporters gathered outside the Libyan Embassy in Knightsbridge today
following news that Gaddafi’s regime has been ousted from power.

The celebrating Libyans arrived throughout the day to show their support for the rebels by
waving flags and shouting chants such as ‘Freedom’.

Basma El Mesmari, the niece of the head of Libya’s transition government, used to work
for the Libyan Embassy in Lebanon and now works at the embassy in Knightsbridge. The
29 year-old spoke of her joy at the end of Gaddafi’s regime, revealing that last night was
the first time she was able to speak to her family without fear of being monitored. Miss
Mesmari added that she was looking forward to joining her family in her home country as
soon as possible.

She said: ‘I’m so happy because all my family are there and in Libya where there has been
no international calls, no internet, people from my family have died. For six months until
yesterday there has been lots of things happening in Libya.

‘People have been killed and their homes taken.

‘It was the first time in my life I could speak to my family freely. Before if they said
something wrong about Gaddafi someone from Gaddafi’s regime would come to their
house.’

Political leaders and Libyan exiles celebrated across the world as rebel forces made
ground in Tripoli.

Dozens of Libyan residents stormed their country’s embassy in the Turkish capital of
Ankara to set fire to posters of the Gaddafi.

In Malta, around 200 Libyans entered their embassy to fly the tricolour flag of the rebel
forces, after setting fire to pictures of the Libyan leader.

Police were called to Sarajevo, Bosnia, after a group of Libyans forced their way into the
embassy and demanded the resignation of the ambassador. The protestors then threw
Gaddafi’s pictures out of the windows and raised the rebels’ flag.

Despite restaurants prices increasing by 11.1 per cent, London restaurants still offer more for your pound.
Harden’s London Restaurants 2012 guide announced that the cost of an average dinner for two now “bursts the £90 barrier’.

The Harden’s average is hardly the average of the high street consumer but high prices for eating out will not come as a surprise to anyone who’s eaten out in London over the last year. It’s not just restaurants that have felt the effect of increased VAT, consumers would have noticed the increases in utilities bills and general food prices.

There is however a persistent argument of why the prices of dishes served at restaurants seems to be so dramatically higher than the cost of the ingredients. Furthermore, why do guides like Harden’s pander to it?
The reality is that with a little research, cheap eats in London are not hard to find. Guides can not factor in bookings sites that offer substantial discounts and 2-for1 offers that allow the average consumer to eat out more than occasionally.

In their section that looks at notable restaurant openings for the year Harden’s feature Brawn in Bethnal Green, where the average bill will come to a lot less than £45 a head and the Pollen Street Social in Mayfair where the cost is likely to be significantly higher than that. Compared to other parts of the UK and other countries, the sheer choice on offer and unassertive hours means that London still offers plenty of pleasure for your pound.

Students across the UK were left scrambling for university places as the admission
website crashed.

Although the A-level pass rate hit a record high, the number of university courses was
significantly reduced, leading to a rush for places before the hike in tuition fees in 2012.

Today’s A-level results showed a rise in the pass rate for the 29th year in a row to a record
97.8 per cent, in comparison to the 97.6 per cent in 2010.

As huge numbers of students logged on to the Ucas website to find courses via clearing,
the system failed under the unprecedented traffic. Around 200,000 people battled for
29,400 clearing courses, compared to 33,205 last year.

Keith Hudson, deputy head at Mill Hill County High School, said: ‘I have seen more
distress here than I have ever seen in my life.’

Yet the proportion of students gaining A and A* grades stayed at 27 per cent, with boys
closing the gap with girls on A grades.

Universities Minister Mr Willetts, who spent this morning at the head office of Ucas, said: ‘It
is emotional. I feel for people who haven’t got their predicted grades and are worried that
they haven’t got the place on the course they want, but clearing can help.’

But Keith Hudson believes that this yer’s A-Level students are under immense
pressure: ‘Because the results are better, some of our students could have really gone for
more prestigious universities next year, but rather than doing that they will take what they
can get this year. They have got no choice. They have got to go this year and if they have
dropped a grade their chances of getting in through clearing are very slim.’

A British national has been fatally attacked by a shark while honeymooning in the Seychelles.

Police named the victim as Martin Redmond, 30, from Lancashire. A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing consular assistance to the next of kin.”

Mr Redmond was attacked off Anse Lazio beach on the Praslin Island. He was staying with his new wife at the four-star La Reserve hotel.

Chantal Andre, an employee at the Anse Lazio’s beach restaurant, witnessed the attack and told the Daily that Mr Redmond’s wife was in total shock after the attack, she didn’t even cry. Chantal travelled with her to the hospital.

Alain St Ange, director for tourism, told the Daily Mail: “We are taking this very seriously. If there is a rogue shark out there we will try to catch it.”

The owner of the Le Chevalier restaurant on the beach, Jeanne Bargiolu told police that the man has lost an arm, had the flesh torn from one leg and had several puncture wounds to the chest and stomach.
She added: “I saw his wife talking to about five people, I think one was English, that she still had hope he was still alive.”

She also stated that the recent two shark attacks were the first she had seen on the beach for 36 years.

A Mayfair art gallery and a Norwegian tycoon are locked in a High Court battle worth £2 
million over a Andy Warhol painting.

The 1978 piece is from Warhol’s Shadows series, which marked a departure from the pop
art that made him famous.

The painting was due to be sold by the Hay Hill Gallery off Berkeley Square, with three
collectors already reported to have shown an interest. Hay Hill’s director, Mikhail Zaitsev,
now claims that the artwork has gone missing and has accused the owner, Tor Uppstrom,
of attempting to avoid paying commission on the sale.

The painting, which went on display in London last summer, has been described as
a ‘beautiful example of compelling, almost hypnotic power’. Warhol named his Shadows
series as ‘disco décor’ because ‘the opening party had a disco.’

Speaking on behalf of Hay Hill gallery, Mr Zaitsev said: ‘Our reputation has been damaged
by this as buyers will think we cannot deliver on what we promise. We had a legal
agreement with Mr Uppstrom and we expect him to honour the contract or pay us what we
are owed.’

Mr Uppstrom initially loaned the painting to the gallery as part of a 40-strong Warhol
collection, at a cost of £184,000. The gallery argues that it paid for the loan under the
agreement that if it sold any of the pieces, it would earn commission on the sale.

The gallery is claiming that a collector agreed to pay £3.5  million for the Shadows as
part of a collection with other artworks. Before the sale could be completed however, Mr
Uppstrom reportedly asked for the painting to be sent to Switzerland and back to avoid
customs duties.

Mr Zaitsev said: ‘We had a client ready. We had an agreement it would be sent back within
a few weeks. It never returned.’

Hay Hill is seeking £2.1  million in damages after the £3.5 million deal fell through, as the
collector would not buy the other paintings without the Shadows.

Mr Uppstrom could not be reached for comment.

Scotland Yard confirmed the death of a man who was attacked while he tried to put out a fire during the riots on Monday night.

Richard Mannington Bowes, 68, succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Thursday. A murder investigation has been launched by the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Bowes was placed on a life-support machine after suffering severe head injuries during the attack which took place around 10.45pm on Monday. He passed away shortly before midnight on Thursday.

Met’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command Detective Chief Inspector John McFarlane said: “This was a brutal incident that resulted in the senseless killing of an innocent man. I still need the assistance of the community who may have witnessed the attack on Richard, to come forward and provide information or images they may have recorded on mobile devices. This information could be crucial in catching his killer.”

The police have released two CCTV images of a suspect and reported that he was involved in the criminality that affected the area. He is described as black, heavily built and was wearing a dark coloured jumper and a white t-shirt. Detectives said he was with a large group that were seen in the Ealing Broadway area from 8pm onwards.

An green clothing and lifestyle store run by Colin Firth’s wife Livia has confused locals after
appearing to close down.

The shop in Chiswick High Road closed its doors for more than a month without warning.
New frosted glass windows have now been installed to block the view from the street and
half of the store has been converted into office space.

Livia, who is the creative director of Eco Age, opened the store with investors Firth, her
brother Nicola Giuggioli and Ivo Coulson.

Giuggioli made the following announcement at the store’s launch: ‘We want this to be a
good place to meet, and enjoy, as well as learn how to improve the planet. And to do that it

has to be fashionable …it can’t be an eco-nutter place or it won’t work.’

Karen Hargreaves, 36, a neighbour of the green store said: ‘It’s all a bit strange, and
everyone around here has been talking about it. Everyone assumed it had closed, but then
all of a sudden it reopened without giving anyone notice, which seems an odd way to run
a business. The frosted glass seems to shut the place off from the pavement. Why would
you block the view of your stock for potential customers? If the business was doing well
then why would you make the shop smaller?’

A spokeswoman for Eco Age said the changes are part of a plan to steer the company
towards online sales, with the retail space to be used as an office and showroom. She
continued: ‘Livia decided to change it into a retail showroom as it was obvious the direction
that Eco Age was going was online. Livia has picked out her favourite pieces to remain.
We alerted customers with a newsletter.’

A riot suspect caught grinning on CCTV will not have the last laugh as police vow to sift through all relevant CCTV footage to ensure all rioters are brought to justice.

The man posted the picture of himself on Twitter – it joins thousands of other mugshot style images caught on CCTV of rioters being hunted by police in Manchester and London.

Greater Manchester Police and Scotland Yard have released the images.

A fresh batch of pictures released by the Metropolitan police relate to the criminality in Wood Green, Tottenham and Haringey on Saturday. Nine other suspects are pictured in the latest batch of images
Peter Fahy, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable said the images were “just a few” of the numerous pictures gathered from CCTV footage.

“We have a huge amount of other material, we already are at this very moment preparing to go out and arrest individuals,” Mr Fahy said.

“We have had at least one individual give himself up because his picture is on Facebook committing crime.”