It's been a less than stellar year for London as far as knife crime is concerned and yesterday was particularly upsetting as four fatal stabbings took place in different parts of the city. A 19-year-old was stabbed in Edmonton, becoming the 20th teenager to die as a result of stabbing this year. Two arrests have been made in connection with the murder. In Leyton, a man who crashed his car had first been stabbed.......

Tell us something we didn’t know: London is the most expensive city to live in worldwide, according to UBS research. Pro-Tibet protesters target British Museum’s First Emperor exhibit. Heathrow to charge drivers £20 to drop off passengers if sixth terminal proposal is approved. In other Heathrow news, super jumbo jet completes inaugural flight to London, with 470 passengers aboard. Mohammed Fayed fails in his bid to make the Queen and Prince Philip testify at......

The London Zoological Society have managed some more ground breaking footage with a film of these pygmy hippos in the wild. Londonist wants one of these. At least someone’s happy about the rain: the freesheet house will apparently be all the stronger for it. Football’s coming home. Well, Becks is, anyway. And Posh. Better to be a big fish in a small sea ‘n’ all that. Life is boring without the booze: a sober......

Talia has already covered the more common places to go dancing tomorrow night, but for a more alternative music New Years Eve, then wander over to Kings Cross’ Monto Water Rats to catch Brighton rockers Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster play a special New Years gig with support from Gingerbread Men, The Foxes and a few others. Alternatively, there are still a few tickets available for Super Fury Animals at Royal Festival Hall. The fun starts......

Trying to end the year on a positive, if unglamorous note: Olympic demolition complete and Games declared on track West Ham United get behind campaign to stop young people killing each other, Home Office campaign criticised for not being strategic enough Winehouse arrested, bailed and declared biggest selling artist of the year while Dad slags off Doherty in the press Look out for Lily blooming in the spring Sobering image of Plaistow Fire Station......

The fashion world has been in a glitzy hooha this week as Karl Lagerfeld, AKA The Count (cue: one, one supermodel; AH HA HA HA HA!") jetted in to much celebrity fawning for a posh nosh ding dong at Nobu and the first ever Chanel show in London. Those who know are hailing the Brit chic collection as beautiful, sumptuous and decadent and intimating design influences from the original Duke of Westminster, the Tudor......

Lily Allen’s bouncy song "Smile" has obviously had no effect on the meanest people on the planet: US Immigration Officials. The pop star, aged 22, was detained at Los Angeles International Airport for five hours while questioned about the caution she received in June for an alleged assault she committed in London. The bad news is that her work visa was revoked. The good news is that she was not strip searched, nor did......

Monday night sees Tom “Squarepusher” Jenkinson bring his experimental drum'n'bass with a heavy jazz fusion influence to Queen Elizabeth Hall in the Southbank Centre. Evan Parker supports, and this is sold out unfortunately, though be sure to check back for last minute availability or other sources. Lily Allen places her summer session at Somerset house, with support from Mark Ronson. Tickets are long gone, though Scarlet Mist may be useful for some. The Dykeenies bring......

One club event we've neglected to mention really (and we really should have) is the birth of the amazing Modular Weekly parties at Ditch in Shoreditch. Modular is the label home of some of our favourite electronic artists including The Presets, MSTRKFFT, Klaxons and Cut Copy, as well as looking after Jack Johnson & Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And when they put on a party, they rock it! Sure if you're not wearing skinny jeans,......

Before you carry on reading, please note that this particular Londonista was not one of the 63,000 at Diana's memorial at Wembley Stadium. This is more of an armchair review, but hopefully one that is relevant enough for you to forgive us just this once. Today, two young men mourned the ten year anniversary of the death of their mother. On what would have been her 46th birthday. This isn't particularly unusual, but when......

It's British tennis's worst Wimbledon since 1990 and Henman's not happy. Lily Allen has been questioned by police after an alleged assault incident involving a photographer outside a central London nightclub. Buckingham palace is crumbling and there isn't enough money to pay for repairs. Funny that, considering the Royals' history of free masonry. On the final day of his 30 year career, a bus driver has been run over by a bus. Isn't it......

What's the skinny? Remi Nicole is the latest London based singer-songwriter to get a buzz going about her. Signed to Island Records late last year, Remi is 23 and a veritable London melting pot of Austrian, English, Trinidadian and Jewish backgrounds. But she's a North London girl through and through having lived in Holloway, Islington, Highgate, Tufnell Park and Highbury. She might be young, female and sassy, but Remi Nicole isn't just the "new......

Last night was the first of three nights at the Islington Academy that sees 3 unsigned bands fight it out for the chance to open V Festival in August as part of the 'Road to V' competition. First up last night was Amy Bullman who is the reserve choice should any band be unable to make it through the contest, with a simply amazing voice. Combining streaks of Lily Allen and KT Tunstall, Bullman......

Listening to the radio on St. George's Day (last Monday in case you missed it) we heard various proposals for a national anthem for England, something that could be sung at Twickenham to counter the emotion of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" or played at the unveiling of a putative English Parliament. This set us wondering if, given the prominence of London in international affairs and the prospect of the 2012 Olympics in particular, our......

This year's not terribly inspiring Somerset House Summer Sessions have been announced and are as follows: Thursday 12 July - Mogwai [in surround sound] Friday 13 July – Kasabian Saturday 14th July - Bert Jansch with Beth Orton and Bernard Butler Sunday 15th July – Guillemots Monday 16th July – Lily Allen Tuesday 17th July – Mika Wednesday 18th July – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Thursday 19th July – The Roots Friday 20th July......

Like The Sims? Like Lily Allen? Here you go then... Read exactly what that was all about here.......

Book signings are not one of our favourite things. Queue for half an hour – bored – considering what you’ll say to the author; panic, say something platitudinous, receive a banal reply, gratefully accept a misspelled dedication in an illegible hand; go home and gloat to unimpressed flat mates. On Thursday, this lethargic PR-as-event format gets a novel respray. Freedom Press, Whitechapel, plays host to Hugo Martinez, compiler of Graffiti NYC. You won’t have......

The new video by Lily Allen. Thanks to Samuel for letting us know it was on YouTube and for pointing out that She's from London. So is Londonist. We particularly enjoyed the use of the word 'twat'. American readers will probably think the puppet is cute. Try sitting next to one on the night bus home is all we have to say.......

We introduced Charlotte Hatherley's new EP a few weeks ago and since then have been dancing round London listening to her 2nd album The Deep Blue. Lead single I Want You To Know is out in late February but until then myspace has a couple of things to keep you going. A Chiswick girl, we spoke to Charlotte about her music and good ol' London. You quit Ash last year, why did you want......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

Remember how last week we told you of the awful news about Lily Allen's dog, Maggie May being stolen? Well, Maggie May is back home! On Wednesday, she received a call from a man claiming to have bought the dog as a present for his sister, her friends went to meet the man and handed over the cash reward in return for the dog. However, it may not have been as innocent as it......

We're not afraid to say it. We still really really like Lily Allen and Alright Still is up there in our albums of the year list. Yesterday instead of posting about how much she hates The Kooks (you go girl), she posted this message on her blog I am beside myself with worry because someone has stolen my dog Maggie May this morning. I am in Jamacia, while i am here Maggie has been......

Ken is blogging again. That's his sixth entry on The Guardian's Comment is Free blogging network this year. Maybe he's hinting at wanting a MovableType paid account for Christmas - he's given all the kids free bus rides so maybe we should have a whip round to get him online a bit more. Thinking about it Ken would have the best Flickr stream... Anyway, today he's responding to Conservative member of the London assembly......

Last time we wrote about a list the NME had published, they tried to sue us. This time we're actually impressed by what they've written. Yes, it's time for that all important 'how cool am i today list' aka the NME 2006 Cool List. Instead of people like Pete Doherty and Alex Turner, who ruled the roost last year, this years list is surprising. It's topped by a woman: a woman who is not......

As far as comebacks go All Saints making their mark back on the pop scene is our favourite. Yeah sure, we were there at Milton Keynes screaming along to Take That back in the summer, but when we're talking new material our favourite fighting girl group have taken the edge with Rocksteady. After our Lily Allen giveaway last month, our friends at 3FrontRoom have offered us tickets to their next special event, and yup......

Despite the backlash already having begun, here at Londonist, we still love Lily Allen and put her debut album Alright Still right up there in our albums of the year so far. So today we're delighted to offer you the chance to see her live at an intimate venue in West London. As part of mobile media company 3's plans to launch 3FrontRoom: a series of gigs where people can become a part of......

A jumbo jet was forced into a series of steep dives over London earlier today due to instrument failure. The Standard screams: "The aircraft dropped to its minimum permitted altitude of 1,200 feet meaning it was seconds from a major disaster." Mayor Ken is being urged not to block the expansion of London City Airport after he claimed recently that there would be no need for the airstrip once Crossrail is built. Good reviews......

More acts have been confirmed for the inaugural BBC Electric Proms, taking place 25th-29th October this year. The Electric Proms is looking to create "new moments in music" (there should probably be a trademark symbol there) so needs to be something other than just being another set of gigs. To this end each of the artists appearing has been challenged to come up with something innovative for their performance that reflects the ambition of......

If you're not going away for the weekend, and the Notting Hill Carnival just doesn't tickle your fancy, then there are two more big festivals going on in London town this weekend and it's tough to decide between the two. Fortunately you can buy day tickets, so be a daredevil and do both. The Metro Weekender Meanwhile over in South London, the Metro weekender will be taking up residence on Clapham Common. Saturday is......

Friday, Friday Fabric Live: Tonight dear old Fabbers is taken over by riotous Liverpool club Chibuku programming all three rooms. If the likes of Pendulum, London Elektricity and the Scratch Perverts isn't enough, then prepare to join a very long queue of people, upon realising producer-god Mark Ronson is playing live. Having recently worked on Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera and Amy Winehouse's new albums, you never know who could show up as a guest......