• EU5 incumbents: How they stack up after Q1

    With Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica publishing their quarterlies this week, now is the perfect time to check the headline figures of Europe's big five players to see how they fared during the first three months of 2017, and how their performance compares to this time last year.Deutsche TelekomRevenue: +5.8%Q1 2017: €18.65 billionQ1 2016: €17.63 billionAdjusted EBITDA: +7.8%Q1 2017: €5.56 billionQ1 2016…read more on TotalTele.com »
  • BT replaces Openreach boss in latest top-level reshuffle

    Deputy chief Katie Milligan must now decide whether to expand fibre coverage to millions more homes
  • Several weekend closures of Liverpool Street station through March

    Passengers are being warned that several weekend closures of London Liverpool Street station will take place in March due to Network Rail engineering works.
    Liverpool Street station during the Christmas 2025 closure (c) ianVisits
    This work will affect weekend passengers on Greater Anglia, some c2c services, London Overground’s Weaver line and some Elizabeth line services.
    During the closures, Network Rail will be carrying out track renewals near Ilford station and Gidea Park.
    There will al
  • Seahorses, seals and sharks spotted in Thames as conservation boosts Thames habitats

    Conservation efforts along the 153 miles of the River Thames have delivered mixed results for wildlife, according to a new report that finds improvements in some species and habitats alongside emerging threats from climate change and pollution.
    Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
    Researchers recorded increases in several wading bird species, marine mammals and restored natural habitats, including intertidal areas that act as nurseries for many fish. The river continues to support a surprising r
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  • A medieval Persian allegory takes flight in a London gallery

    A King’s Cross gallery is currently alive with birdsong, reimagining the 12th-century Persian poem The Conference of the Birds as a gently immersive exhibition.The poem itself is an allegory: a gathering of birds set out on a spiritual quest, each one embodying a particular human flaw or attachment. Passing through seven symbolic valleys, they face trials and moments of revelation, before realising that the divine presence they seek lies within themselves.
    That sense of pilgrimage carries
  • Warning of four day closure on parts of the Metropolitan and Chiltern Railway next week

    There’s going to be a four-day closure of part of the Metropolitan line and Chiltern Railways next week, affecting services north of Harrow on the Hill.
    Affected area on TfL map
    The closure is due to London Underground signalling works between Harrow on the Hill and Amersham, and it means no trains on either the tube or the mainline can run along the line.
    From Thursday 19th to Sunday 22nd February, there will be no service on the Metropolitan line between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham,
  • TfL testing a new modular design bus shelter for London

    A new design of sheltered bus stop could be coming to a street near you, as Transport for London (TfL) is starting tests of the new design.
    New bus shelter on Blackfriars Road near Southwark tube station (c) TfL
    Superficially, it doesn’t look radically different, but TfL says the new design incorporates better seating, lighting, and, in places, CCTV for the police – and is also easier to install at bus stops.
    Diamond Geezer has a more in-depth review.
    The trial of the first 27 bus sh
  • London’s Alleys: Alderman Stairs, Wapping, E1

    Tucked away just east of the Tower of London, a narrow alley slips quietly between buildings and down towards the Thames. Today it’s easy to miss, but Alderman Stairs has been guiding people to and from the river for centuries.The story of this corner of London runs deep. The roots of settlement here stretch back to the 10th century, when King Edgar granted 13 acres of riverside land to 13 knights (yes, an acre per knight), with permission to use it for trading along the river. By 1125, th
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  • ‘Hermès orange’ iPhone sparks Apple comeback in China 

    Vivid redesign and social media buzz lure Chinese buyers back after a prolonged slump
  • Photos from NASA’s manned space missions go on display in London

    For just three days, visitors will be able to relive the thrilling dawn of the space age, stepping into the era when humanity first dared to leave Earth behind.
    Buzz Aldrin is seen clinging to the spacecraft during his spacewalk as he orbits Earth at over 17,000mph on Gemini 12 – 13th November 1966. Image Credit: NASA / ASU / Andy Saunders
    All because an exhibition of newly restored photographs from NASA’s Mercury and Gemini missions goes on display, revealing the moment when our blu
  • Japan’s KDDI finds up to $1.5bn in fictitious revenues

    Telecoms group postpones third-quarter results amid probe into ‘suspicions regarding inappropriate transactions’
  • Discount sale on tickets to see I’m Sorry, Prime Minister

    Fans of the 1980s political satire, Yes Minister, will probably know there’s a stage version at the moment – but not that there’s a sale on tickets.
    From Yes Minister co-writer Jonathan Lynn comes I’m Sorry, Prime Minister – the final act between Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey.Jim Hacker (Griff Rhys Jones) is back — older, no wiser, and still gloriously out of his depth. Dreaming of a peaceful retirement at Hacker College, Oxford, Jim instead collides with a very
  • Arch over the trainshed: A different way to fund Liverpool Street station’s upgrade

    A rival design to Network Rail’s plans to build offices above Liverpool Street station has been submitted to the City of London, days ahead of a meeting to decide if the Network Rail scheme will go ahead.
    Liverpool Street station during the Christmas 2025 closure (c) ianVisits
    The station does need a revamp, mainly to fix a number of problems that weren’t really thought about during the last rebuild 40 years ago – mostly to do with surging passenger traffic and accessibility.
    T
  • Why the Mendini exhibition made me feel like I shouldn’t be there

    Sometimes you can walk into an exhibition and think, it’s all very good, but still walk out with a bit of an uncomfortable shrug about what you’ve seen.
    Possibly because a designer who was at the cutting edge of design when he was active has now been copied so often that the radical is now familiar. If you lived through those early years, the work is exciting. If not, it can feel a bit like walking into the shop that furnished my teenage bedroom – Habitat.That’s the chall
  • London Museum staff vote for strike action in pay dispute

    Staff at the London Museum could go on strike in a pay dispute, according to the Prospect Union.The union says a pay claim was submitted in March 2025, but an employer offer was not made until September 2025. This and two other subsequent offers were rejected by members, with the final offer, £420 consolidated +1%, then another £150 consolidated being imposed.
    The union said this led to the industrial action ballot.
    In the ballot, 88% of votes were in favour of taking strike action,
  • Euston station rail passengers facing delays on Avanti and LNR services today

    Rail passengers travelling in and out of Euston station face disruption today after a fault on the West Coast Main Line caused delays and cancellations between London Euston and Watford Junction.
    Euston station
    Network Rail has reported a failure of the overhead line equipment on the busy stretch of railway, meaning fewer trains than normal are able to run between the two stations.
    As a result, Network Rail expects to run a reduced service for the rest of the day.
    The disruption is affecting lon
  • With tunnels under way, attention turns back to HS2’s missing Euston station

    Now that HS2 has started digging tunnels to Euston station, thoughts are returning to building the station, and the government is now looking for developers to do just that.
    Euston station site Oct 2021 (c) ianVisits
    In an early market engagement document, the Department for Transport (DfT) says that it is exploring a public-private partnership model to deliver the HS2 Euston Station with private finance.
    The DfT’s proposal is to appoint a private company under a design, build, finance and
  • Balham rail bridge gets deep clean and new lighting scheme

    The national rail bridge that spans Balham High Road, next to Balham station, has been given a deep clean and a new lighting scheme to improve its appearance.
    Balham High Road bridge (c) Wandsworth Council
    The bridge is the latest to benefit from Wandsworth Council’s £2m schedule of improvements to rail bridges and underpasses, which is being funded by its contributions from local property developers.
    The rail underpass on Balham High Road was deep‑cleaned before better pigeon&
  • Paddington could host TfL’s first sensory-friendly “quiet space” for travellers

    Transport for London (TfL) is exploring how it can make journeys easier for passengers who find the city’s transport system overwhelming — by trialling a calm, quiet space for neurodivergent customers inside one of its busiest stations.
    Paddington Elizabeth line platforms
    In a preliminary engagement notice, Transport for London said it wants to hear from the market about possible off-the-shelf solutions that could provide a low-stimulus refuge for people who struggle with noise, crow
  • BT stems customer losses as broadband competition abates

    Chief executive Allison Kirkby says she tends to ignore ‘noise’ of short sellers betting against company
  • Patrick Drahi shifts assets worth billions away from creditors

    New filings reveal the full extent to which the tycoon has weakened the position of lenders to his telecoms business
  • London Cable Car isn’t always expensive – here’s how to ride for under £2

    The London Cable Car, often derided for the high cost of using it, does have a rather cheap way of crossing the Thames by dangleway if you want.Ordinarily, a single ticket costs £7, and a return costs £13 (soon to rise to £13.50).
    However, if you don’t mind buying a pack of 10 tickets in one go, then they will cost you just £19 for ten trips across the river.
    So, instead of paying £7, you can pay just £1.90 per trip.
    So long as you make at least three tr
  • West End streets could become a vast new public plaza under latest plans

    The wide road between Piccadilly Circus and St James Park could be turned into a pedestrian plaza after Westminster Council and the Crown Estate decided to proceed with previously announced plans.
    Early concept from 2025 (c) Westminster Council
    The proposals include making Regent Street St James’s, Waterloo Place and the south side of Piccadilly Circus traffic-free, creating more than 35,000 square metres of new public space in the heart of the capital.
    There would also be wider improvemen
  • From cassocks to coins: A brief history of Archbishops in Lambeth Palace’s library

    The Archbishop of Canterbury has regenerated into – gasp – a woman, and now her library has an exhibition about some of the past Archbishops.The exhibition, in the Lambeth Palace Library, is mainly a collection of objects relating to a range of Archbishops, with documents and drawings in one room, and, in a second, more secure room, the gold and silver that the church uses to remind people of the virtues of charity.
    In a darkened space, the cabinets open to display an archbishop&rsqu
  • The year Hyde Park was sold to propety developers for housing

    Did you know that Hyde Park shouldn’t exist as a large park, because it was once sold for development into housing plots?Had that been carried out, the Serpentine wouldn’t exist, Kensington Palace would be surrounded by houses, and the Winter Wonderland would have its funfair somewhere else.
    To explain, it helps to know how Hyde Park (originally Hide Park) came to be.
    Hyde Park owes its origins to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when King Henry VIII seized open land on the outski
  • See the shortlist for the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

    The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026 has opened for online voting, with 24 shortlisted images selected for the public to choose from.
    The shortlist was drawn from over 60,000 entries submitted by photographers in 113 countries and territories, alongside the 100 winning images announced in October 2025.
    The images range from large marine gatherings to intimate wildlife behaviour and also address environmental pressures such as shrinking sea ice, human&ndas
  • Russian spy spacecraft have intercepted Europe’s key satellites, officials believe

    Unencrypted European communications are being targeted by Moscow
  • RNIB urges accessibility overhaul as Great British Railways is developed

    For many people with vision impairments, Britain’s railways remain a place of stress, uncertainty and missed journeys, says a report from the Royal National Institute of Blind People. (RNIB)
    (c) RNIB
    According to a survey by the RNIB, more than one in three respondents said they cannot make the train journeys they want or need to make.
    Every stage of the journey can become a barrier. From planning a trip and buying a ticket to finding the right platform or boarding a train, inconsistency i
  • Watford is getting its own localised Monopoly board game

    Watford is getting its own locally themed Monopoly board game, and the public are being asked to suggest locations for the game spaces and community chest.The new game will see the town’s landmarks replacing the likes of Mayfair and Park Lane from the original classic London Monopoly board.
    The decision to make a local game for Watford followed an open competition that reduced the shortlist to 20 towns across the UK, before the manufacturer settled on Watford.
    They already make local varia
  • Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth to turn blue with bronze sculpture by Tschabalala Self

    The date has been set for the next Fourth Plinth art commission to go on display in Trafalgar Square.
    Lady in Blue by Tschabalala Self – photo: James O’Jenkins
    In September, New York based artist Tschabalala Self’s sculpture of a young woman in blue will go on display, replacing Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) by Teresa Margolles, which is currently in situ.
    Made of bronze, the new work will be patinated in Lapis Lazuli blue, a rare and refined pigment us

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