10 Important Things to Know Before Visiting London Image copyright Fiona Gillies Image caption Southern warned of disruption in the area until 18:00 BST
A hole has opened under a railway line causing major travel disruption for a second time in just weeks.
Lines running into London Bridge station were shut "as a safety measure" and services cancelled, following the discovery of the 50cm-wide hole at Forest Hill in the south-east London.
It comes after 13ft-deep hole opened in the same area on 18 July, also forcing lines into London Bridge to be shut.
Rail operator Southern warned of disruption until 18:00 BST.
Image copyright Twitter Image copyright Network Rail Image caption A 13ft-deep hole causing widespread disruption in July
A Network Rail spokesman said: "Our engineers have been monitoring the site of the previous hole under the railway at Forest Hill since that incident occurred in mid-July.
"We spotted a small hole at 3am today and closed the two lines above it to trains.
"This new hole is about just over half a metre deep and we are working to open it out to investigate the scale of repairs we need to make today.
"Our aim is to get the railway open to trains today, however we won"t know for certain until we have completed our investigations."
Southern Services running towards London Bridge are unable to stop at Norwood Junction, Anerley, Penge West, Sydenham, Forest Hill, Honor Oak Park, Brockley, and New Cross Gate. London Overground services were also affected between New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace/West Croydon.
Thameslink trains from Brighton into London were only able to run as far as Gatwick Airport.
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Ozzy Osbourne"s Ex-Mistress Michelle Pugh Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Kelly Osbourne
Michelle Pugh is not taking Kelly Osbourne"s comments lightly.
The 45-year-old hairstylist -- whose affair with Ozzy Osbourne rocked the singer"s relationship with his wife of 33 years, Sharon Osbourne, earlier this year -- has filed a lawsuit against the couple"s daughter after tweets she sent in May includedPugh"s phone number and suggested the relationship with Ozzy, 67, amounted to "elder abuse."
According to court documents obtained by ET, Pugh is alleging Kelly"s comments were defamatory, and that she has been "s**t-shamed, bullied and harassed" by the Black Sabbath singer"s daughter, adding the claim that Kelly "harnessed her celebrity and notoriety to incite her followers as well as the media machine."
WATCH: Ozzy Osbourne Reveals Struggle With s*x Addiction as His Alleged Mistress Speaks Out
Additionally, Pugh alleges that it was Ozzy who initiated their romantic involvement, and that the two dated in secrecy from 2013 until May of this year, while claiming that financial problems, and not the affair, drove Ozzy and Sharon apart.
The news comes after Ozzy revealed a years-long struggle with s*x addiction.
EXCLUSIVE: Ozzy Osbourne Says Sharon Is "Everything for Me" in First Icy Reunion Since Cheating Scandal
Over the last six years, I have been dealing with a s*x addiction," Ozzy told ET in a statement on Wednesday. "I am mortified at what my behavior has done to my family. I thank G*d that my incredible wife is at my side to support me."
Ozzy also apologized "if Ms. Pugh took our sexual relationship out of context" after she called him the "greatest love of my life" in a recent interview with People.
WATCH: Sharon Osbourne Laughs Off Daughter Kelly Tweeting Ozzy"s Alleged Mistress" Phone Number
"He made me feel like the most beautiful and worshiped woman in the world," she shared with the publication. "What attracted me to him? Chemistry. We just had it. It"s that indescribable thing in life, and you can"t deny it. And he didn"t."
"Out of bad comes good," Ozzy added in his statement, in which he admitted to having multiple sexual partners during his marriage. "Since the press exposed this, I have gone into intense therapy."
WATCH: Sharon Osbourne Thanks Fans for Support After Split From Ozzy, Says She"s "Overwhelmed by the Reaction"
Meanwhile, Ozzy said on Good Morning America last week that his marriage is "back on track," despite Pugh"s claims that the couple had been unhappy.
Watch the video below for more on the infidelity drama.
Get ready for your heart to swell. One hardworking woman possibly Keith Urbans biggest fan got the surprise of her life when her son and daughter gave her VIP tickets to Urbans show, and her reaction is worth the price of admission 10 times over.
Herson, Jonathan, posted a video on Facebook of her opening the gift, writing in the caption that he and his sister Monique teamed up to get their 69-year-old mom who works two jobs the VIP package for the concert, which includes a photo with Urban himself.
The woman is beside herself as she opens the present, at first not even understanding what the piece of paper represents.
What does this mean? she asks repeatedly, nearly hyperventilating from thejoy.
Her son urges her to just read it, and after frantically getting her reading glasses, she reads out loud all of the perks and unique experiences she will get to have as a VIP at Urbans show. Her excitement is off the charts as she reads and responds to each individual item until she ends up in happy tears. She kisses her son over and over, and the person behind the camera jokes that they may need to warn Urban that shes coming ahead of time.
The adorable video is a testament not only to the siblings love, but to this woman and what an impact shes had on the lives of her family that they would go above and beyond to make this dream a reality for her.
Urban is currently on his RipcordTour with Maren Morris and Brett Eldredge through November. He hits a few dates Down Under and in New Zealand with Carrie Underwood in December.
Law enforcement officers are seen outside the home of Nicholas Young, a Washington Metro Transit Officer, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016, in Fairfax, Va., Young was arrested at Metro"s headquarters in Washington and charged with a single count of attempting to provided material support to a terrorist group. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) syndication.ap.org
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) Prosecutors brought the first-ever federal terrorism charges against a law enforcement officer in the U.S., alleging Wednesday that a patrol officer with the D.C. region"s transit police bought about $250 worth of gift cards for someone he thought was working with the Islamic State group.
Nicholas Young, 36, of Fairfax, was arrested Wednesday at Metro Transit Police headquarters in Washington and charged with a single count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group. According to an FBI affidavit , Young bought the gift cards last month that he intended for the Islamic State to use to purchase mobile messaging apps. Young actually gave the codes for the gift cards to an undercover FBI officer, the affidavit said.
He made a brief court appearance Wednesday afternoon, wearing a T-shirt and what appeared to be his uniform slacks.
David Smith, who was appointed to represent Young after the hearing, said he could not comment because he had not yet been able to research the details of the case.
If convicted, Young could face up to 20 years in prison.
Young had been under surveillance since 2010, and he traveled to Libya at least once in 2011, where he said he joined rebel forces seeking to oust dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the affidavit said. He traveled with body armor, a Kevlar helmet and other military-style items.
Young was deeply paranoid about law enforcement spying on him, often taking out the battery of his cellphone when he wanted to go somewhere and talk, the document said. Young frequently told one undercover source to be wary of potential informants, according to the affidavit.
On Jan. 24, 2011, an undercover officer said Young told the officer he once aimed an AK-47-style rifle out of a window at his residence, scanning for law enforcement he believed was watching him. On another occasion, he grew angry that the FBI talked to his family and co-workers and said he wanted to find the FBI agent and kidnap and torture her.
The undercover officer said he "doubted that Young seriously intended to act upon those words," according to the affidavit.
As police searched Young"s townhome in Fairfax, neighbor Dina Ahmad described him as standoffish and said he had occasional run-ins with the homeowners" association over his cluttered front lawn.
He often worked on his car at late hours, and the car was adorned with anti-Israel bumper stickers, she said.
"We knew something was weird about him," Ahmad said. "You just kind of got that creepy vibe off of him."
Joshua Stueve, spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Young posed no threat to the Metro system, and nowhere in the affidavit does it mention the subway and bus system for the nation"s capital.
Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said Young, who had been employed since 2003, was fired.
"Obviously, the allegations in this case are profoundly disturbing. They"re disturbing to me, and they"re disturbing to everyone who wears the uniform," Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in a statement.
FBI spokesman Andrew Ames confirmed that Young is the first law enforcement officer to be charged under the federal government"s terrorism law.
Young was an associate of two other people charged with terror-related crimes. In 2010, law enforcement interviewed Young because of his links to Zachary Chesser, who eventually pleaded guilty to trying to join the militant group al-Shabab and to issuing threats to the makers of the "South Park" cartoon series after they penned an episode he found insulting to Islam.
Young also met regularly with Amine El Khalifi, who pleaded guilty in a sting operation in which he planned to attempt a suicide bombing at the U.S. Capitol in 2012.
Authorities said that in their years of monitoring Young, his purchase of the gift cards was the first action that crossed the line to where he could be charged with a crime, and they moved to arrest him as soon as it occurred.
As he was under surveillance, though, Young frequently made alarming comments, according to the affidavit. During one conversation with an undercover officer, Young said if he was ever betrayed by someone, "that person"s head would be in a cinder block at the bottom of" a lake.
In March 2015, he raised suspicion when he brought a large amount of ammunition, AK-47s and a pistol to an off-duty weapons training event provided by another Metro officer. Young said he owned even more weapons, according to the affidavit.
He praised the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks at the Bataclan music hall and elsewhere, as well as the earlier Charlie Hebdo attacks, the document said.
According to George Washington University"s Program on Extremism, Young is the 100th person since March 2014 to be charged with an offense related to support for the Islamic State.
Seamus Hughes, the program"s deputy director, said Young"s case is an outlier not just because it involves a police officer. Hughes said Young is significantly older than the average age of 26 associated with these charges. In addition, he said, court documents show that Young embraced radical ideology for six years or more; the typical radicalization occurs more quickly.
"The radicalization here did not occur overnight," Hughes said.
Keith Urban - The Fighter (Audio) ft. Carrie Underwood
Maren Morris has been sharing the stage, along with Brett Eldredge, on Keith Urban"s Ripcord World Tour since June, and the experience seems to have had a positive influence on both the "My Church" singer and her tour boss. On Tuesday, Morris posted a brief black-and-white clip of herself rehearsing with guitarist Bennett Dean Lewis and delivering a sultry take on "Blue Ain"t Your Color," Urban"s current single from the Ripcord LP.
Not to be outdone, within a couple of hours Urban was hanging out at home and shot a home movie in color of himself performing a souped-up snippet of Morris"s chart-climbing single ""80s Mercedes." The videographer was Urban and wife Nicole Kidman"s 5-year-old daughter, Faith, whose cinema-verit style opted for artsy close-ups of Urban"s guitar along with his bare feet. See it below.
Before her breakout hits from the recently released LP Hero, Morris had a connection with the superstar performer outside of country music. While Urban served as a judge during the final seasons of the TV singing competition, American Idol, Morris was once an aspiring contestant on that series, as well as on NBC"s The Voice.
"I think about all of the freaking talent shows I"ve tried out for in my life and I"m so glad I didn"t make any of them," Morris tells Rolling Stone Country. "It"s full circle, because I was rejected from The Voice. I was rejected from American Idol and I"m happier for it now."
Urban, Morris and Eldredge have upcoming Ripcord World Tour shows this weekend in Bozeman, Montana, and Pocatello, Idaho.
A firefighter has died while battling a blaze that broke out after an Emirates passenger plane crash landed at Dubai International Airport.
Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoumannounced the death of the unnamed firefighter at a press conference in the city.
All 300 people on board theflight from the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuramwere rescued after plane crashed landed on the runway and burst into flames at 12:45pm (8:45am UK time) on Wednesday.
Around10 passengers required hospital treatment.The cause of the crash has not yet been confirmed.
Mr al Maktoum said: "We pay tribute to the firefighter who lost his life fighting the blaze.
"We thank all teams that dealt with the incident".
The director of the United Arab Emirates" General Civil Aviation Authority, Said Al Suwaidi, said:"I salute his ultimate sacrifice that kept many from harms way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family".
Video shows explosion on Dubai jet that crash landed
During the press conference Mr al Maktoumrefused to say what the cause of the crash was but said the airport opened againby 6:30pm local time (3:30pm UK time).
He added that the pilot was a "well experienced"Emirati national with more than 7,000 flight hours.
The incidenthad forced thousands of planes to be delayed, canceled or diverted - wreaking havoc on thousands of people"s holiday plans.
Those on board included 226 Indians, 24 Britons and 11 Emiratis. Other nationalities on board included people from the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, Croatia, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, ThePhilippines, South Africa, Switzerland and Tunisia.
By the time firefighters reached the blaze the roof of the plane had collapsed(Reuters)
Passengers escaped the burning plane using inflatable slides. At one point after coming to a stop, part of the plane exploded into a bright orange fireball.
Iype Vallikadan, a reporter from Indian newspaper Mathrubhumi News,said passengers reported thatthe pilot spoke to them as the plane neared Dubai on Wednesday, saying there was a problem with the landing gear and that he would make an emergency landing.
Video shot by a passenger on another flight showed the plane tilted to its right side and careening on its belly as thick smoke poured out. The right wing appeared to have been torn off the fuselage during the crash.
By the time firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze on the ground, the fire had consumed the roof of the plane and it was scorched from the cockpit all the way to the tail.
The airport is the biggest air hub in the world in terms of passenger traffic. It handled some 78 million passengers last year.
The state-owned Emirates Airlines is the airport"s flagship carrier. It has a good safety record with no other major incidents recorded since its founding in 1985.
What do you recommend to see in London in the fall? We do like to go to London theaters that are Off Broadway such as the Almeida, but we are not familiar with any others. And, no, Harry Potter doesnt whet my whistle. Jean Conlon, New York
Of course I wont have seen much of what will be running this fall (theres a quick turnover on British stages, especially among the institutional theaters). But I would think that the aforementioned Entertainer might be a good bet. (It will be on until Nov. 12 at the Garrick.) Theres a new Amadeus opening at the National Theater, if youre a fan of that play, and Im intrigued by a generations-sweeping work at the Almeida, Oil, written by Ella Hickson, directed by Carrie Cracknell and starring Anne-Marie Duff, all women of formidable talent.
The seasons big-event play bids fair to be a new King Lear at the Old Vic, starring Glenda Jackson, a two-time Oscar winner and fierce stage performer who retired from acting in the early 1990s to become a member of Parliament. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, two titans always worth seeing, will be reprising their roles in Harold Pinters No Mans Land. A new revival of Tom Stoppards intellectually antic Travesties will be on at the Menier, directed by the playwright Patrick Marber. If your tastes run to charismatic young leading men, Dominic Cooper will be portraying the decadent Earl of Rochester in The Libertine.
One of the highlights of the National Theaters season was a magnificent production of Lorraine Hansberrys final (unfinished) play, Les Blancs. Will New York get to see this definitive version of a very important American play? It raises the interesting question of why so many key American plays and musicals have received fine even revelatory productions in London. Howard Schuman, London
Im sick I missed that production, Mr. Schuman. However, Stateside, this summer the Goodman Theater presented a much-praised and by all accounts illuminating revival of Hansberrys The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window, which many theatergoers are hoping will be reincarnated elsewhere. Its true that many neglected or seemingly worn-out American classics have been reborn in London. Sometimes it takes an outsiders eye to see beyond a familiar or frayed surface.
What small theater company do you always check up on? Im a fan of Menier Chocolate Factory and Hampstead Theater, but know theres more out there. Mary Crowley, London
I, too, love intimate theaters, and London has a lively selection. The Finborough Theater, a tiny space above a pub not far from Earls Court, always has a tantalizingly adventurous schedule, often featuring plays (old and new) youd never get to see otherwise. The Southwark Playhouse is another theater that does wonders in transforming a small space, and even dares to reimagine big musicals (like Grand Hotel) within its confines. And every fan of classical theater should experience, at least once, the candle-lighted Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the magical winter home of Shakespeares Globe, where you can pretend youre a Renaissance audience member, though without the attendant discomfort.
What is the general feeling about the regime of Rufus Norris at the National compared to the over all financially and (at least in my opinion) artistically successful Hytner years? David Perkovich, Oak Park, Ill.
Its still early days, having only been 18 months since Mr. Norriss ascension. I cant say Ive seen anything that I felt I unconditionally had to have seen at the National in that period. But, yes, Mr. Hytner is indeed a hard act to follow, especially given his history of breakout blockbuster productions like One Man, Two Guvnors and the enduring cash cow (you should pardon the description) War Horse. Its refreshing to have a non-Oxbridge boy in the job, and Mr. Norris seems to have honorable and admirable intentions as a custodian of new and diverse talents. He has said he is not a visionary. I say lets give him another year to find his feet. Heres a link to a recent and revealing Guardian interview with Mr. Norris.
Photo Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet. Credit Johan Persson
Who are the best directors of the moment? Pablo Halpern, Bethesda, Md.
Among the mainstream establishment, Id single out Michael Grandage and Mr. Hytner (who both now run their own theater companies) for combining original theatrical wit and resourcefulness with commercial instincts. (Mr. Branaghs new company, in its first year, has been a bit disappointing.) Ive loved what Josie Rourke, the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, has done with her all-female interpretations of Shakespeare. Lyndsey Turner has a vital imagination (the Benedict Cumberbatch Hamlet, the current revival of The Faith Healer) and a macro vision to match. John Tiffany (the Harry Potter wizard) combines poetry and razzmatazz like no one else. And Ms. Cracknell (whose Dolls House for the Young Vic was a wonder) is someone whose work Id always want to see.
I have not read any Harry Potter books and I am a senior citizen. Would I understand what is going on in the play? Joan Kiernan, Longboat Key, Fla.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has a highly elaborate plot, which is complicated by its involving time travel and the ability of its magical characters to assume other forms. It also has such blazing theatrical imagery and visual style that you often dont care whether youre following every story twist or not. The program for the show has a helpful glossary and summary of J.K. Rowlings novels, and the script is available to buy. If youre seeing the show, you might want to be your own spoiler and take a look at that first. Also, there are plenty of websites that could bring you up-to-date synoptically on the events and singular vocabulary of Harry Potters world in Ms. Rowlings novels.
There is no one theater critic in London who has the power that you have as the critic for The Times. Why do you think that is and what effect do you think it has on the London theater scene vs. the New York scene? Barbara Weber, New York
Even though newspapers are an endangered species in Britain as in the United States, London still has a broad and lively selection of them, and each of those has a theater critic. In other words, there are a variety of sources for theatergoers to consult, according to what papers they read and how those papers align with their tastes. In New York, sad to say, there are fewer and fewer drama critics. But in both cities, its possible for audiences who mistrust the journalist-critic to seek out other opinion sites on the web.
