Weekend roundup for 6 November

Includes mass brawls, Turkish mezze and missing musicals

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News bits

😷 In the same week that an ‘expert’ from the Ministry of Defence noted that “there is not a lot of mask wearing, even in the Tube where it is obligatory,” it was revealed that just one in 66,000 “maskless passengers using TfL services have reportedly been stopped from continuing their journey.”

🏭 Sadiq Khan has been appointed the new chairman of the “C40 group of cities that have committed to curbing toxic air and leading the drive to zero emissions.” Former mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg immediately piled on the pressure, telling Khan, “You have a big challenge, Mr Mayor. We will hold your feet to the fire, you should know that.”

🏠 BBC London has made a video examining which buildings are bad for the environment? The answer seems to be old buildings, skyscrapers and houses. So… most of London then?

🚐 The Centre for London (whose Chief Exec we interviewed for Monday’s issue) has published its report into “how to create a greener and more efficient freight and logistics ecosystem in London”. Their recommendations include putting more Londoners “within 250 metres of a universal parcel pick-up/drop-off point,” government funding for the “installation of electric charging facilities at commercial properties like consolidation centres,” and “reactivating London’s piers, wharves and rail-road interchanges so that the river and railways are viable alternatives to road freight.”

🔋 In related news: starting this week, Tesla vehicles will be available for Uber drivers in London wanting to buy or lease a clean energy vehicle.

🏄 Meanwhile, a Croydon resident has made a video of himself windsurfing to work to protest against the ULEZ extension.

🥊 French news network France 24 has looked into the surge in women’s self-defence classes in London, “sparked by a series of high-profile murders of women”.

💰 The Times reported this week that public transport (including the London Underground) may have to be ‘subsided’ by the taxpayer in perpetuity. We’re pretty sure they mean ‘subsidised’. And we’re also pretty sure that as soon as we send this out someone will point out a mistake we’ve made and we’ll regret writing this.

🕒 If you’re not a paid subscriber you will have missed Wednesday’s look into the idea of the ‘fifteen minute city’. Click below for a preview and details of how to subscribe to receive every issue of London in Bits.

What is a 15 minute city anyway?

💎 Bond Street jewellers, Graff has reportedly been hit by a ransomware attack. The “infamous Russia-based ransomware group” Conti has leaked 69,000 documents on the dark web so far and they include details of past customers such as “David Beckham, former president Donald Trump, actors Tom Hanks and Samuel L Jackson, and disgraced businessman Sir Philip Green.”

🗺️ The Washington Post has picked up the story about the Taxi Brains project that’s underway at University College London. The idea is to study the brains of London cabbies as they map out taxi routes while undergoing MRI scans and then use that information to aid the “development of diagnostics to detect dementia earlier and treat patients sooner.”

🏗️ Over to Construction Enquirer now for a report into the “mass brawl” that broke out between members of a “concrete gang” on a London residential project last week. A source told the Enquirer, “It’s an ongoing issue with some lads working for JB Structures and it all kicked off this morning.” Yes, you could say that:

Arts and culture bits