Sadiq Khan unveils ‘Superloop’ bus network for London suburbs

The Superloop is part of a £6m investment by the Mayor in outer London bus services alongside the expansion of Ulez

Anetwork of express buses that connect London’s suburbs was unveiled on Tuesday by Sadiq Khan.

The “Superloop” will draw together existing services, such as the X140 and X26 that serve Heathrow, with proposed new orbital routes linking town centres such as Harrow and North Finchley, and North Finchley with Walthamstow.

It is part of a £6m investment by the Mayor in outer London bus services alongside the expansion of the ultra-low emission zone to the Greater London boundary.

Few of the new services will be in place by the time the Ulez is due to expand on August 29. But the vision set out on Tuesday is for a network of limited-stop buses offering speedier connections between major suburban hubs.

Mr Khan said: “When I made the tough decision to expand the Ulez London-wide, one of my key commitments to Londoners was to improve transport links in outer London.

“Today I am delivering on that commitment as we announce the Superloop, the game-changing new network of express buses that will add over four million additional kilometres to our bus network in outer London, linking stations, town centres, hospitals and transport hubs.

“These new routes will make it much easier for Londoners to get around the capital, and help build a better, greener London for everyone.”

Just Stop Oil: Extra police in London to deal with protests

Extra police officers will be on the streets of London over the weekend to deal with renewed demonstrations by environmental campaign group Just Stop Oil.

The protesters have caused 32 days of disruption since the end of September.

The Met Police said the group's activities in that time had caused officers to work nearly 10,000 extra shifts.

More road-blocking demonstrations are expected on Saturday, the force said.

Met Commander Jon Savell asked the public to "bear with" police tackling any unlawful protests, and said there would be "up to 900" additional officers deployed in London this weekend.

"We will have hundreds of extra officers on duty this weekend in and around the areas where we believe that they will be, and we will be responding to them as and when they appear," he said.

He added that the force "will help facilitate them protesting lawfully, but where they cross the boundaries we will act quickly".

Some members of the Unison trade union are expected to stage a separate "Britain Is Broken" demonstration at Embankment in central London at noon on Saturday.

#London #News

Deaf #cat explores #London by bicycle

Sigrid wears sunscreen on her ears and has special goggles to protect her eyes from the wind
Many different types of Londoner can be spotted on bikes in the capital - but few of them as furry as Sigrid.

The long-haired Norwegian Forest cat is white with blue eyes, a combination that usually results in deafness.

Since she was small, a leashed Sigrid has been exploring the sights, if not the sounds, of London with her owner Travis Nelson.

He said it felt like a "natural next step" to put her in the basket of his bike to see if she enjoyed the ride.

China claims to know true motive behind UK ban on Huawei
A British ex-minister has claimed London went after the Chinese tech giant on Washington’s orders
Beijing has described claims made by a UK ex-minister last month, and unearthed recently by the media, as further proof that London’s 2020 ban on Huawei was not about national security.

Speaking on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin argued that the “national security” narrative was used as a mere pretext by Western nations when they imposed restrictions on the tech giant last year. The diplomat was quoted as saying that the pressure was motivated by America’s desire to hinder Chinese high-tech businesses. His comments followed claims that British ex-minister Vince Cable made last month, which were recently unearthed by the media.

Speaking during a discussion panel titled ‘China: a partner or adversary?’ in early December, Cable, who served as Britain’s secretary of state for business, innovation and skills from 2010 to 2015, said the “reason” the UK “disengaged from China and Huawei and 5G has got nothing to do with the British national security.” He added that London was simply “told by the Americans” that it had to do so.

Cable also insisted that during his five-year tenure as the minister, when he dealt with the issue, he had been “repeatedly reassured by the intelligence community, who should know, that our dealings were totally safe.” The short clip ends with Cable lamenting that the UK “would now be at the forefront of countries using the most advanced telecommunications technology” had London “kept with 5G.”

On July 14, 2020, the UK government ordered British telecom companies to stop purchasing Huawei 5G equipment and phase out existing kits by 2027. Commenting on the move against the Chinese tech giant, Oliver Dowden, Britain’s secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport at the time, admitted that the rollout of 5G networks could be delayed “two to three years” as a result. He added, however, that the decision was “the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run.” Several months prior, the US government imposed sweeping restrictions on Huawei citing national security concerns as well.

Washington began its crusade against Huawei under President Donald Trump – one policy that did not undergo significant change when the Biden administration took over. The American government suspects that the company’s 5G equipment could be used for spying by China’s intelligence services, pointing to Huawei’s close ties with the Chinese Communist Party. The tech giant has, however, vehemently denied those allegations all along.

"No Way To Censor": How Africa's WhatsApp-Only Newspaper Went Viral
Even though it's published as a PDF file and distributed on WhatsApp, The Continent feels like an old-fashioned newspaper: Catchy headlines, short stories, reported pieces and interviews.
Late one night, South African journalist Simon Allison woke up his wife with an idea: a weekly African newspaper for Africans, distributed via WhatsApp.

She told him to go back to sleep, and "keep it for the morning". But that was the birth of The Continent, in the middle of the pandemic.

Even though it's published as a PDF file and distributed on a messaging platform, The Continent feels like an old-fashioned newspaper: Catchy headlines, short stories, reported pieces and interviews.

Not to mention the eagerly awaited quiz, to test how much readers know their continent.

And it's free, available only via WhatsApp, the most widely used messaging system in Africa.

A Zimbabwean daily, 263Chat, was the trendsetter in sharing newspapers on WhatsApp, recalled Allison during an interview in the tranquil garden of his suburban Johannesburg house.

"We wanted to create a newspaper, not a website," he said, birds chirping away, while a cat roamed around and a lawnmower buzzed in the distance.

Kiri Rupiah, 34, the team's distributor and "geek" said the paper has helped to filter the deluge of information that came with the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Our families started using us as informal fact-checkers. 'Is this true about Covid?' And all these exchanges were happening on WhatsApp," said the Rupiah, with trendy glasses and a smile brightened by dimples.

"We are different than most newsrooms who want lots of subscribers," she said. "I want 10 people who are engaged, that are going to share with six or seven people they know."

"They also have access to us," she added. "It creates community and trust."

A university professor was one of their first fans.

"He shares the newspaper every week with 50 people," said Rupiah and because he recommends it, they are likely to read it.

She has cellphone numbers of all of the nearly 17,000 subscribers, even receiving "a nude by mistake" from one over-eager subscriber.

"He was super apologetic," said Rupiah.


No censorship

Barely two weeks passed from that first, late-night idea and the first issue in April 2020, said the bespectacled Allison, who converted his guest room into the newspaper office.

Things moved fast. He got help from three journalism students, who were happy to keep busy during the pandemic, and hired a few freelancers, paying them from his own pocket for the first few months.

The debut edition went out to friends and family, but "after 48 hours, we had 1,000 subscribers. We achieved virality in a week," said Allison.

At the time he was the Africa editor of the Mail and Guardian, a dynamic South African weekly.

With his co-founder Sipho Kings, they went fundraising, with pro-democracy charities chipping in.

"Funders see us as a weapon against disinformation, an innovative way to combat it," he said.

For now they have secured funding for their tightly budgeted operating costs over the next two years.

The energetic team of journalists in their 30s -- based mostly in South Africa, but also in Uganda and the UK -- is teeming with story ideas.

"If we had more funding we could do more fun things," said Allison, who has his eyes set on launching a French or even a Kiswahili edition.

Looking back, he's proud of some of their groundbreaking work so far.

One of their notable stories came in February 2021, under the headline: "The country where Covid doesn't exist". It looked at Tanzania, where the president had declared Covid did not exist -- even as hospitals and cemeteries were overflowing.

Distributing via WhatsApp is fast and convenient, but also protects against censorship.

"Governments can censor print, websites as well. That's pretty easy," said Allison.

"But WhatsApp messages encrypted and published from South Africa, which has strict media laws... there is no way to censor."