Customer incident and signal failure causing severe delays on Piccadilly Line December 21, 2015 There was no service on parts of the Piccadilly Line line this morning, with severe delays throughout, because of an earlier customer incident and signal failure. The line between Arnos Grove and King's Cross was shut off early this morning, because of a person on the track. By the start of rush hour, the line was [...]
Countdown to Christmas: From Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and Ed Ball’s surprise defeat at the General Election to the Paris terror attacks, these are the most surprising news stories of 2015 December 20, 2015 Some news you register with perhaps a shrug of the shoulder, while other stories might prompt an arched eyebrow. There are some events, however, that make you sit up and pay attention. This year was not without a few of those key moments – good and bad – that gripped us. Here are the most [...]
From Star Wars and the Fed rate rise and UK housing crisis to Chelsea’s crisis and Sports Direct’s working practices: Here’s what got us talking this week December 19, 2015 There were some outrageous predictions for 2016. Our homes got a bit smarter. And somewhere, floating over our heads, there was a British man in space. Here's what got us talking this week 1) We learned where you can buy a home And for those on less than £43,000, London is out of bounds. And things are [...]
Xbox down: Hacker group Phantom Squad takes responsibility for attack December 18, 2015 A group of hackers known as the Phantom Squad have claimed responsibility for taking Xbox Live down earlier today. The Microsoft gaming network suffered an outage early Friday morning, which the group said it was behind, claiming that the gaming giant doesn't "bother working on security", according to ZDNet. Xbox services were running normally within a [...]
Two carriages of Alton Towers rollercoaster Smiler collide December 18, 2015 Update: Four people have been seriously injured after two carriages of a roller-coaster at theme park Alton Towers collided this afternoon. There were 16 people in one carriage of the Smiler ride, and the other carriage was empty and stationary. A 999 call was made just after 2pm today, and four ambulances arrived on [...]
Bank Tube station gets green light for major upgrade December 18, 2015 Transport for London has been given the green light to "dramatically transform" Bank Tube station, with work beginning in the new year. But before you groan and start planning your alternative route, there is good news: the station will remain open throughout the work, which is expected to be completed in 2021. That's not to [...]
Run, hide and tell: Counter-terrorism police issue new advice for what to do in a firearms attack December 18, 2015 Run, hide, tell: That's the new advice issued today by the UK's National Counter Terrorism police chiefs in the event of a firearms or weapons attack. With the UK's threat level still at severe following the terror attack on Paris last month, the National Police Chiefs' Council and the government's National Counter Terrorism Security Office have published [...]
Four million of us now have a “smart” home – but that could more than double according to new research December 18, 2015 Four million UK households now have "some form of smart home", after a 30 per cent increase in adopting new technologies over 2015. Figures from Strategy Analytics show that 14 per cent of homes in the UK now use smart technology – such as controlling your thermostat or setting to record something on TV with your mobile phone while you're [...]
Christmas travel: Engineering works to disrupt train services including Gatwick Express, Heathrow Express, Thameslink, Southern, Southeastern and many, many more December 18, 2015 Hoping to get away this Christmas? Well, start working on plan B because Network Rail has other ideas. This Christmas and New Year, one of the biggest-ever investment programmes is being carried out on the country's train infrastructure. New station facilities, longer platforms, extra tracks, new junctions and thousands of pieces of new equipment will be installed [...]
Sports Direct breaks silence on working practices, says Mike Ashley will carry out review of terms and conditions in new year December 18, 2015 Sports Direct has issued an unprecedented statement, rebutting claims made about its working practices as putting forward "an unfair portrayal" and said it will carry out a review of staff terms and conditions. The retailer, which has come under fire for many months because of its widespread use of zero-hour contracts, has issued a lengthy statement to [...]
