Where's Gil Grissom when you need him? Before London gets their own version of the hot shot crime scene investigator TV series, the police will have to do. They've got a real nut to crack with the murder of 94-year-old Thea Zaudy. CCTV footage of the suspected murderers, including Mrs Zaudy's cleaner, show them carrying a large empty suitcase from Notting Hill station and later lugging the same suitcase, now full, back to the......

A four-storey housing association block in Harrow was rocked by a suspected gas explosion at around 8am today. One person was seriously injured in the blast and was treated for burns at the scene, but fortunately no fatalities were reported. Around 80 people were led to safety from the building which was partly gutted by fire. The explosion was powerful enough to blast part of the roof off the block of flats and to......

On rare occasions a live music show is so complete that it goes beyond mere listening to physically experiencing the music. Wolves in the Throne Room managed to achieve that in their set at the Camden Underworld on February 10th. Although it's hard to describe their sound, Wolves in the Throne Room play an atmospheric approximation of black metal that is simultaneously both minimal and majestic, arising from excruciatingly deep sorrow for the suffering of the Earth. (Well, it makes a change from the usual "HAIL SATAN" lyrics often found in the BM scene.)...

Ahead of the opening of Terminal 5, Heathrow is trialling biometric security checks with passengers who transfer onto domestic flights from Terminal 1. According to BAA, the airport operator, the added checks are needed because international and domestic transfer passengers go through the same areas. Should you happen to be transferring onto a domestic flight through Terminal 1 between now and March 27 when Terminal 5 opens, and agree to having your photograph and......

Intrepid zoo visitor Steve Lowe took his thermal imaging camera to London Zoo and came up with pictures that show interesting things about animals not revealed just by gawking at them in their enclosures. He has now donated the photos to the zoo, where they will be used in education and even in veterinary work. How cool is the fact that a zebra's stripes put out differing amounts of heat? Very! If you also......

It's only slightly further away from central London than Stansted. Plans exist to link it by rail to the Capital, and it could be a partial solution to the congestion problems caused by the continued rise in air passengers to and from London. All Southend Airport needs now is a new owner willing to take up this development challenge. The current owner, Regional Airports Ltd, says the site is ideal due to the government's......

Hammersmith & Fulham Council isn't joking with their latest measure to improve the welfare of residents. After petitioning, residents of Perham Road are going to get relief from a constant barrage of pigeon poo through the deployment of hawks in the area. It seems to be working, so far, and the council will continue hiring hawks to keep the peace for the foreseeable future. For those of you fearing for the lives of our......

It seems Ken Livingstone isn't content with the new, faster Eurostar, but wants to make London actually resemble Paris. He is proposing pedestrianised, tree-lined streets a la the French capital and even wants to get us our own version of the famous Paris Plage, the artificial beach that takes over the Right Bank of the Seine. For this, the Mayor wants to shut a section of the Victoria Embankment's four lanes from traffic. Other......

Ken Livingstone, bless him, has brought us six new buses that are more environmentally friendly than our existing red beasts. They'll soon be putting the green back into Greenwich on the 129 route, and chugging round the 360 route between E&C and Kensington. The new buses are to enter service alongside six that are already on the streets; but the Mayor isn't content yet. By 2012, he wants every new bus joining the fleet......

Hackney Council's Parks Services has urged dog owners to stop their pets from 'strengthening their jaws' on park trees. Apparently, some dog owners are too cheap to buy their pets toys to munch on, and encourage them to chew on bark or—get this—hang from the branches of live trees in several of the borough's parks. This has caused severe damage to some 100 trees in the past few years. The Parks Services have been......

Modernisation of the Thameslink railway route that runs North-South through central London has finally begun; this news today must come as a relief to anyone who has the displeasure to share packed morning trains with this Londonista. Supposedly, the £5.5 billion project will bring "more seats, less crowding, more direct services and better connections in London," according to Andrew Mitchell of Network Rail. Longer station platforms, more peak-time trains and new rolling stock are......

Unlocked safe, stack of explosives...not a scene from a Guy Ritchie heist movie, but Golders Green Tube station. It was revealed yesterday that rail union staff discovered maintenance detonators (along with what was thought to be petrol) in an open, unattended safe at the station. The explosives are normally used to alert track workers to oncoming trains during night work. After this security embarrassment, they're being used to illustrate "a worrying slip in safety standards......