Of the anywhere from 25,000 to 100,000 people who apply for asylum in the UK each year, Amnesty International estimates that approximately two-thirds are turned away. Once rejected, applicants are given 21 days to leave the country, at which point those without children are cut off from financial support and accommodation provided by the National Asylum Support Service. Many, for reasons as complex as those that brought them to the UK in the first......

Well known architectural pundit Prince ‘Chuckles’ Charles gives the London skyline a right royal disapproval: Not just one carbuncle on the face of a much loved old friend, but a positive rash of them that will disfigure precious views and disinherit future generations of Londoners. Says the grey heir. Charles was born in 1948, so the lamented ‘old friend’ he loves so much must be the shabby, bombed-out city of the 1950s. And those......

Earlier this week, the Trinity project got the go-ahead from the City of London. You might not have heard of Trinity. It’s a cosy threesome of office buildings set for construction in that obscure corner of the City known as Minories. Just shy of 100 m tall, its loftiest section will stand taller than the Westminster Clock Tower. Not so exciting in its own right. But when you look at some of the other......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 7th January 1927: The first commercial transatlantic telephone service is launched, connecting London and New York. Tuesday – 8th January 1991: A packed rush hour train carrying over one thousand commuters collides with the buffers at Cannon Street station, killing one person and injuring hundreds more. Wednesday – 9th January 1806: Following a grand state funeral, the body of Lord Nelson is buried beneath the dome of......

So, back to our Christmas theme today, with this mouthwatering picture of St Paul's standing atop Pudgate Hill. The dripping roof no doubt tastes a lot better than its counterpart of 1666. During the Great Fire, the lead roof of Old St Paul's melted, and a plumbate river oozed through the burning town. We'll be featuring a festive 'Touch Up' every day until Christmas, so please send entries to Londonist - at -gmail -......

Last full week before Christmas, we expect your bank account's feeling the strain. All that Christmas shopping and partying taking its toll? If you want to make the most of being out and about before Christmas cabin fever and complete exhaustion set in then we're here to help. Monday: Keep the braincells going through silly season. Go to the free lecture at Gresham College about why our society rewards celebrities, fads and fashions and......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Members Room at Tate Modern Sixth Floor, Tate Modern, Bankside SE1 9TG Nearest Tube: Southwark and Blackfriars 0207 887 8888 10am-6pm (Sunday-Thursday) 10am-10pm (Friday-Saturday) Map Expect to Pay: £5-10 Rating: 8 out of 10 Not as exclusive as some of our readers might think (Tate membership joining fees start at under £50 per year and include all sorts of......

Thanks to a new grant, previously unseen areas of St Paul’s may be opened to the public. The £250,000 pot from the World Monument’s Fund, could see a new ‘exploration centre’ in the crypt, and access to the Trophy Room, containing Wren’s original model. But what else might we find when they open up more of St Paul’s? 1. God. 2. Thousands of tourists 3. A couple of Londoners 4. Lara Croft’s entombed remains......

Every now and then, a bit of London-centric news drifts around the Londonist newsroom (which doesn't exist but imagine a bunch of emails flying around in lieu of an actual office) and is not paid that much attention. However, there comes a time when something requires a closer look for what it is really saying, such as this report on a poll for the top ten London film locations. Commissioned by cinema advertising company......

Today, a very marvellous structure opens to the public in Kensington Gardens. The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, designed by the Tate Modern sun maker, Olafur Eliasson, and award winning architect, Kjetil Thorsen has been described as a spinning top with mind-bogglingly complex geometries and a dark, spiralling ramp twisting around a shell-like auditorium, containing it within taut, twisting strings Our first impression is that is looks like a helter skelter, urban, park shark about to......

What a start to the week! After such miserable weather this weekend DeVotchKa have arrived to add some flavour to our weeks at the very purple 93 Feet East in the heart of Brick Lane. The venue was packed out early on and we even spotted Justin Hawkins hiding amongst the crowd with long haired friends. Opening for DeVotchKa was an unusual surprise for the crowd, not the cabaret or burlesque that we're used......

London Grand Prix ruled out. Civil servant seduced by slick oil giant at Wimbledon. Spit 'n' polish on St Paul's revealed. Green experts ban cycling to work. Image of last night's queue-heavy, rainsoaked Chinwag event courtesy of renaissancechambara's Flickr Photostream.......

We've seen plenty of boastful stats about the reinvigorated Dome — apparently, it could swallow 13 Albert Halls or 10 St Paul's Cathedrals. (Scenarios not all that far fetched, considering nearly a billion quid and numerous reputations have already disappeared into its maw.) But here's a way to judge its size for yourself. Using Google Maps, it is possible to compare London's landmarks from an aerial perspective. The shots are all from the same......

This is Londonist's favourite time of year for comedy in London, because from now until the end of July, the capital is awash with big name comedians playing small and intimate venues for super-cheap prices, while they test out ideas for their forthcoming Edinburgh shows. Here's our recommendations for the best shows in the next week. THURSDAY 28th: Head to The 99 Club in Covent Garden to watch the skilled, offbeat Andrew Lawrence in......

We considered saying it was 'a sweet idea' with reckless use of sugar-related terms like 'raw' and 'unrefined' - but then realised how inappropriate these terms are for new art work that is none of the above. Powerful, considered and carefully constructed are more apt words. London-born, New York based artist Satch Hoyt has created several sculptures using only sugar for the City of London Festival. Two sugar slave ships are on display in......

Can you imagine the floorspace of 13 Royal Albert Halls or 10 St Paul’s Cathedrals? We are boggled by it. But that’s what’s beneath the dome (and that’s the last time we’ll mention that word…) of The O2, London’s latest flagship entertainment venue rising like a massive, hi-tech media phoenix from the ashes of its sorry millennial baggage. The Guardian was granted an exclusive scout about this week reporting on the 23,000 seater arena,......

Back to St Paul’s again this week. The modern image was taken by Joao Mario along Bankside last week; the other is 100 years old. The foreground is utterly recast. This area took one hell of a blitzing, while the cathedral, symbolically, remained seemingly unscathed. Look closely at the City of London School for Boys (the brown foreground building in the 2007 shot). Its contours, to the left of the sloping roof, loosely mimic......

London's running schedule is hotting up next month. Alongside the capital's tussle with Liverpool and Glasgow on the morning of Sunday 3 June, workers in The City and Docklands have their own chances to nip out, buy some emergency trainers and get some kilometres under their belts (which might be straining if they've been investing their inflated xmas bonuses in too much rich food and Krug). First up we have the Canary Wharf Jog......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

One can still descry the ancient outline of Old St Paul's Cathedral. If you stand in the right spot, at a certain time in September and squint your eyes just so, the ill-fated building will appear before you. Background image borrowed from tim166's Flickr photostream. Keep sending in your distorted images of the capital to londonist - at - gmail - dot - com......

Battersea Power Station’s future remains in doubt as the fantastic hulk of the art-deco building itself remains in sorry dereliction. Yesterday, the Guardian reported that the new owners of the £400m prime 36+ acre riverside site, Treasury Holdings, had scrapped development plans approved by Wandsworth Council in November last year and speculated whether London might be about to lose the four iconic chimneys altogether to yet another bland, luxury, residential development if the Power......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways. 27. Cobb's Court Where? Northern strand in a City cavalcade of passages. This one's located in the snickety heaven south-west of St Paul's. What? Cobb's Court was a new, if modest, addition to the City after the Great Fire, built on ground formerly occupied by St Anne, Blackfriars. Passage-master Ivor Hoole suggests the name may come from Paul Cobb, Mayor of Bedford, who had documented liason's......

We were going to write a long detailed explanation of why we're once again doing a weekly blog roundup and then realised that only a few days (and a few centuries) ago Samuel Pepys had done the job for us: (Lord’s day). Lay long in bed, and then up, and being desirous to perform my vowes that I lately made, among others, to be performed this month, I did go to my office, and......

A scene that changed forever 66 years ago today... Imagine that you're standing in St Paul's Churchyard, across the road from Peter's Hill - the somehow unsatisfying approach route to the no-longer-wobbly bridge. Looking East along Cannon Street there's little to see these days. Modern buildings line that most soul-less of City roads, while a windswept coach park takes up the foreground. The older shot, from 1908, contains a rather special, drum-shaped building, which was......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways 13. Pilgrim Street Where? That set of steps you see leads up from New Bridge Street into a small lane known as Pilgrim Street. The view from the other end is equally impressive, with the wedding-cake tower of St Brides framed by office buildings. What? Because much of its course is open to vehicles, this narrow route behind the CityThameslink building only partly qualifies for......

Blimey, we're up to number 20 already. Thanks to everyone who's sent in all these absurdly doctored images of London. Check out the archives if you haven't already. Some corkers in there. This week's image is another play on the 'make our old buildings taller' theme. It's particularly pertinent this week, given the latest cultural cri de coeur from the United Nations. Londonist regular James submits a vision of St Paul's that looks strangely......

Colin Gregory Palmer is the top contributor to the Londonist Flickr Pool and uploads consistently splendid photographs. He seems to be off cataloging America at the moment which gives the rest of us a slim chance to catch him up. Be sure to check out his stream and website for great stuff like today's shot of friends chatting as St Paul's continues to do its own thing in the background.......

1940 St. Paul's is hit by bombs. One myth of the Battle of Britain was that St Paul's Cathedral remained untouched (Churchill had insisted on it). However, the cathedral was hit on this day in 1940 (and again on April 17th 1941) and the Choir Stalls and Altar were badly damaged. On September 12th 1940, a time-delayed bomb which had struck the Cathedral was successfully defused and removed by a Bomb Disposal detachment of......

Godspeed, St Paul's. It seems you can't keep space travel out of the London news at the moment. So it's very apt that James B should send us this 'rocket from the crypt'. We think the space tourists might have to speak up a bit in the Whispering Gallery, though. Keep sending in your photoshopped images of our city to Londonist - at - gmail - dot - com......

Some of you might recall that a few years ago the Central Line was suspended for almost three months, following a derailment at Chancery Lane. At that time, this meant that this Londonista’s daily commute often involved walking from Bank to Holborn, past St Paul’s and across Holborn Viaduct – a part of our journey that soon got annoying, but was still quicker than taking the overwhelmed bus services. (London Underground never did cough......