London

LONDON: Europe's financial capital is feeling the cold of Brexit but UK officials insist London is suffering a temporary blip and is well-positioned to profit from new trading horizons. For the first time last month, as Britain's withdrawal from the EU took full effect, London's financial district lost its European share trading crown to Amsterdam. Researchers at IHS Markit attributed the decline to a "relatively hard Brexit", and the UK government's failure so far to persuade Brussels to grant full trading rights to City-based firms under a regime known as "equivalence". London's daily trading volumes in other areas such as derivatives and foreign exchange still vastly outweigh its European neighbours, and Catherine McGuinness, policy chair at the City of London Corporation, played down the development. "We've always known that some EU-facing business would have to leave the City of London following Brexit, whatever the shape of the deal," she told AFP. "However, … [Read more...] about City of London pays early price of hard Brexit

LONDON: London was never on Hong Konger Aragorn's wish list of places to visit, but now the 36-year-old is trying to build a new life in the British capital after fleeing a security clampdown in his birthplace. Aragorn, who did not want to give his full name and said his safety would have been at risk at home due to his pro-democracy activism, is one of the first Hong Kongers eligible to set out on a new path to becoming a British citizen. "Of course, no one wants to leave their home country and I literally miss the milk tea in Hong Kong," he said in an interview by the River Thames, in the financial heart of the capital. "I can't say we are either betraying or not betraying the cause of fighting for our own rights and fighting for democracy (by leaving). But I think you have to keep living. I mean you have to stay alive for any cause." READ: 'Not the city I used to know': Why some Hong Kongers are leaving London launched the scheme for holders of a British … [Read more...] about Alone in locked down London, fleeing Hong Kongers seek new life

LONDON: Blink and you could easily miss it. Wedged between a doctor's surgery and a hairdressing salon, London's thinnest house is only identified by a streak of dark blue paint. But the five-floor house in Shepherd's Bush - which is just 1.6m at its narrowest point - is currently on the market for £950,000 (US$1.3 million). The unusual property, originally a Victorian hat shop with storage for merchandise and living quarters on its upper floors, was built sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. In a nod to its past, the house still has an old-fashioned glass shopfront with a lamp in the shape of a bowler hat. David Myers, an assistant sales manager at Winkworth estate agents which is selling the property, said the house was worth its price tag because it's "a unique part of London history". "It's a bit of London magic," he told AFP. DIFFERENT SIZES The dimensions of the house differ throughout. While the kitchen at the end of the lower ground floor … [Read more...] about For sale: London’s thinnest house

REUTERS: The SLT Arena Games will make a return this year with two events, in London and Rotterdam, that will combine both real life and virtual racing, Super League Triathlon announced on Wednesday. Powered by Zwift, an online racing platform where cyclists and runners can compete on an exercise bike or a treadmill, the events will take place on March 27 in London and April 18 in Rotterdam where it made its debut in August last year. Athletes will swim 200 metres in an Olympic-sized swimming pool before cycling four kilometres and finally running one kilometre on the virtual platform. "We are continuing to grow the SLT Arena Games... and make it part of Super League's yearly offering of exciting professional triathlon," Super League Triathlon CEO Michael D'hulst said in a statement. "We will make a few small tweaks to the format to improve the events further and have put together some fantastic line-ups. I can't wait to see so many Olympic hopefuls racing at full … [Read more...] about Triathlon-Arena Games returns with events in London and Rotterdam

LONDON: A statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill opposite parliament and the Cenotaph war memorial in central London were boarded up on Friday (Jun 12) for protection, with three days of demonstrations are set to take place in the English capital. The World War Two leader's statue on Parliament Square was sprayed with graffiti declaring Churchill a racist during a fractious end to a mostly peaceful demonstration on Sunday over the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis. Boarding has also been placed around the foot of the Cenotaph on Whitehall, where the government and royal family attend Remembrance Sunday events each year commemorating those killed in World War One and conflicts since then. In response to the boarding up, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was "absurd and shameful" that a statue of Winston Churchill was at risk of attack by protesters. READ: UK slave trader's statue toppled in anti-racism protests "It … [Read more...] about Churchill statue and war memorial boarded up before London protests