Barely a week after a vicious gang attacked police officers in Croydon, we bring you another sobering tale of needless violence from the blighted borough: an unruly mob has caused £10,000 worth of damage to a 150-year old church in Shirley. Before you get scribbling to the the papers with hand-wringing woes about the yoof of today, with their iPods and idiotic idioms and bulletproof hoodies, bear this in mind: the miscreants in this......

58. Doomsday! For centuries mankind has been superstitious about certain happenings and signs, perceiving such anomalous symbols and events as omens of doom, or forewarnings of death and destruction. Of course we'll never truly know if such fears are justified, but what we do know is that the end of the world has always been nigh... In our modern climate the dread of terrorist attacks is common, an inner fear that lurks, for although......

Oh come all ye faithful... if you can fit into the building, that is. It seems that London churches are experiencing a bit of a squish, and not in our grand cathedrals -- those are merely full of tourists -- but in Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, whose numbers have been growing quickly over the past decade. About 350 churches are asking for more elbow room for their Ave Marias, but planning authorities aren't green-lighting the......

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......

Fancy getting sporty next summer? Two day athletics beano planned. Thames Gateway staff turnaround. Don't suppose it will be the last. Peckham's Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is praying for a financial revelation. Daffy immigration rules hit football. 2012 budget in the news again: this time it's security issues. Image taken in St James' Park yesterday courtesy of daveograve@ via the Londonist flickr group.......

While most will undoubtedly be snuggling up on the sofa, warmed chocolate cupped in one palm, tv remote in the other, the residents of East Barnet will be endeavouring upon a very different xmas eve: as was the tradition back in 1932, those with a ghoulish disposition will be flocking to Church Hill Road, near Oak Hill Park, in the hope to catch a glimpse of the former Sir Geoffrey de Mandeville, a headless......

So this week, we spent all our money on cold remedies and extra balmy tissues for our beleaguered noses. The plan is to be back and fighting fit by Monday so here are some of the things we could all get up to this week for very little wonga. Monday: Call the BBC Ticket Line on 0870 901 1227 and get free tickets for the recording of Clare in the Community - the radio......

Dusting off the snow from last year, every day this month the Londonist team will be pointing you in the direction of a Christmas present that (with a bit of luck) you won't already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we'll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings... Look up when you're next out and about in London - you'll see things you hadn't noticed......

We were trying to wait till December but it's just no good. It's Christmas, folks and you'd better get your festive shopping pants on. What better way to start than at Old Spitalfields Market this Thursday evening for the launch of "A Merry Different Christmas". Firmly heathen and hedonistic there will be an alternative Christmas service with a helium choir and Reverend Duncan Pritchard, from the Big Love Inflatable Church will sermonise on the......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 26th November 1983: An armed robbery at the Brinks Mat warehouse near Heathrow Airport becomes the largest heist in British history, as £25 million worth of gold bullion is pinched. Tuesday – 27th November 2000: 10-year-old schoolboy Damilola Taylor is stabbed in the leg and dies in Peckham, south London. The following six years would see several trials and re-trials over the killing, finally culminating in the......

London and Delhi get in bed together. Small blast at Enfield pharma company causes injuries. Bus crime is down on last year. Put a less optimistic way, one crime is committed on London buses every 15 minutes. What price God? St Bartholomew the Great to charge entrance fees for services. Fifth would-be 21/7 bomber jailed for 33 years. Image courtesy of SooHK in lens via the Londonist flickr group.......

Ever stop to wonder about the legacy of romantic comedy ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’? Every other minute of your work week? Well, you’re in luck, as today’s the day that Londonist tackles this very question. Sort of. Mild-mannered examination of love and marriage in the 1990s? Check. Perpetuator of the stereotype of the fumbling, floppy-haired English male? Check. Beyond that, though, the movie’s legacy becomes a bit more jumbled, as evidenced by recent......

Residents of Stoke Newington, you should be proud. Local proprietor Kirit Ved is flying the Stokey flag all the way up in Birmingham where, at a glittering ceremony, he has just been named Independent Newsagent of the Year 2007. VED News, on Church Street in N16, was singled out by the judges for its impressive range of newspapers and magazines from around the globe. Reflecting Hackney's polyglot populace, Mr. Ved stocks titles from the......

The Stopped Clocks campaign aims to document all the stopped clocks in the UK and then do something about it. Explaining why he began to campaign, the webmaster Alfie writes, I once took a walk around a square mile in central London, I found 11 stopped clocks, either Municipal clocks, church clocks or otherwise public clocks. After poking about and doing some research, I discovered that it really does not cost much to fix......

In celebration of their 25th anniversary, avant-garde music magazine The Wire will be keeping the capital busy this month with a series of gigs under the banner Wire 25. Whilst many of the events are up our street, we were most excited to hear that two of the gigs were being organised by one of our favourite promoters, [no.signal]. Their evening with Tony Conrad this past June at St. Giles-in-the-Fields was the most fun......

Although not quite a snowy Sunday night in Prague as depicted in the above photograph by Touch co-founder Jon Wozencroft, last week was a substantially chilly one in South London. Thanks to the Atmospheres Festival, however, we were able to derive much warmth from the ambient music, field recordings and, well, ale present at the events. As we previewed recently, London-based audiovisual label Touch closed their year of 25th anniversary celebrations with a week......

We can't think of anything more scary for Hallowe'en than Hawksmoor's brooding masterpiece of Christ Church, Spitalfields, spreading out its talons, poised to strike. The church has often been linked to the occult and mysterious - most notably in Alan Moore's 'From Hell' and the work of Iain Sinclair. Keep sending in your own images of distorted London to londonist - at - gmail - dot - com......

Looks like HRH is having a bit of a Blair old time right now (either Blair will do). There's that pesky enquiry and now this latest plot to blackmail a minor member of the royal family over some man on man nightclub naughtiness, although thank goodness for the police who've now arrested two men. We* here at Londonist are deeply disappointed at the sad, sorry state of the proceedings. Firstly, it's a minor royal.......

Yup, they go back tonight. Londonist is ridiculously cheered by this thought. A whole extra hour, magically injected into the weekend (OK, so officially it’s at 2am, but who cares). Londonist actually likes the idea so much that we think that things should go back an hour every weekend. Anyway, it’s Saturday evening, and those sixty minutes are still dangling before you. So what to do with it, eh? What to do? What can you......

Londonist goes to church and gets stuck up a ladder covered in pigeon shit. Before we start, we’d just like to say something to the Russians. Oy! Stop nicking our church designs, and repurposing them into spacecraft. Only we’re allowed to do that. Thank you. Right, on with business. We’ve all seen St Anne’s, Soho. It’s pretty much the only tall churchy thing in Soho, sitting behind a junkie-proof fence to the South of Wardour......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

Pause for thought for the day. Has Russell T Davis been hanging out in Cookham church yard, scene of Stanley Spencer's resurrection painting? Gravestones commemorating the family of Blood and Dalek Sec not pictured.......

Reality TV has found a new audience with the broadcast of a splendid new show, Model Mosque. Shown on the Islam Channel, the programme sees mosques from around the UK (of which there are 1,500 official ones) going head to head to be awarded the title of Mosque with the mostest and to receive £35,000 worth of consultancy. Viewers vote by text on the weekly knockout rounds - the final is on 25th November. Londonist......

Those bloody Victorians could never build anything properly. The House of Commons chamber is leaking, and may have to be closed down for three years while the roof is repaired. This means one of four things: 1) The Lower House moves to a temporary venue suitable for debating matters of international importance. 2) Rather than closing the chamber, repair-work could be extended over a longer period, taking place during summer recess - this could......

Fight the temptation to sneak under the duvet tomorrow night - it may be getting dark ever earlier and there's a definite hiding-under-duvet chill in the crisp air but fight! Resist! Protest! Agitate! Agitate: Late at Tate Britain! The first Friday of every month is the special late opening of Tate Britain and there have been some very good themed nights to kick off the weekend in style - the burlesque evening, the village......

Of all the things Brits can be proud of - great roasts, telephones, Shakespeare - the African Slave Trade is most definitely not one of them. Fortunately, it was abolished 200 years ago, which for the record is 41 years up on our neighbours, the French (well, actually they abolished it before us, but then decided to re-instate it until 1848). To mark this momentious occasion and indeed achievements of the black community in general,......

A slap on the wrist for Londonist - we're three days late in previewing this year's Oxjam music festival, and we haven't even got a "dog ate our homework" excuse to cover our blushes. Must try harder next time. So what is Oxjam? It's only the most fun you're ever likely to have raising money for charity. Throughout October, thousands of budding Michael Eavis's are promoting gigs and club nights across the country. Working......

Yesterday saw St Martin-in-the-Fields reopen its revamped and expanded crypt cafe hot on the heels of Sunday's first church service for 90 weeks following a multi-million pound renewal and restoration project. The 18th century landmark church, which opens onto Trafalgar Square, is dearly loved in London not only for just being there but for its fantastic concert programme. This includes jazz nights, classical evenings, free lunchtime concerts and the famous and atmospheric Concerts by......

Ex Mouldy Peaches man, Adam Green, is defending his use of some particularly bad language in a church by claiming his Jewishness lets him off any divine retribution. He's casually sprawled in his chair, guitar balanced somewhat precariously on his lap; a sort of indie cool cross between Val Doonican and Michael Nesmith, with the faithful gathered round for a fireside sing-along. This is the last night of his European solo tour and our......

If you have ever longed to exorcise yourself of those dreary afternoons in chilly church halls and torturous tinned food stockpiling that seemed to be the sole remit of Harvest Festivals at primary schools two decades ago, then your chance to experience a very different kind of Harvest Festival is taking place in Camberwell this Sunday. Inspirational art organisations motiroti and home are both jumbles of creative, international, artistic energy and will be combining......