Giulia Elia – Page 2 – L'ItaloEuropeo – Independent Magazine in London

London celebrates the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire

LONDON – It was almost 9 pm when a huge crowd gathered on the banks of the Thames, few metres away from the Blackfriars station, to watch the giant 120-metre-long wooden replica of 17th century London being set ablaze to celebrate the Great Fire which raged for four days in 1666, destroying most of London.

At that time, the whole city was mainly made of wood so it was almost completely destroyed. An estimated 70,000 of the 80,000 residents were left homeless by the disaster. The London we see today, with its English Baroque architecture, was built from what was left after the fire was estinguished.

The event was fascinating and unique: it was part of a festival held to commemorate the event, called London’s Burning. It went on from August 30th until September 4th and featured a series of installations, performances, talks and tour organized by the company Artichoke, including the projection of flames on to St Paul’s Cathedral – a monument which was destroyed during the Great Fire and was rebuilt and completed in the following 44 years.
The burning of the model was executed by US “burn artist” David Best and live streamed online.

BMA calls off junior doctors’ strike planned for next week

The BMA (British Medical Association) called off the strike that was supposed to take place next week due to several concerns expressed by patients and hospital managers regarding patients’ care. Still, the association made it clear that junior doctors won’t step back unless the government changes the agreement.

If we step back in time, we can understand where this debate between junior doctors and the government, embodied in this case by Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, comes from. Everything started in 2012, when the government announced the introduction of a new contract for doctors, in which terms and conditions agreed in the 1990s were being modified. Formal talks went on for many years, until the decision was taken this year, in February: the government announced that new contracts were going to be introduced starting this summer; some of the changes include more hours of work and, apparently, a discrimination against women. Strikes have been taking places since the beginning of the year: 58% of junior doctors do not accept this contract and planned more strikes for the end of the year.

Next week’s strike was called off by the BMA because there were many complaints made by medical leaders and hospital managers regarding the short notice with which said strike was announced. In the words of Dr Ellen McCourt, junior doctors’ leader: “While the BMA provided more than the required notice, we have taken this decision to ensure the NHS has the necessary time to prepare and to put in place contingency plans to protect patient safety“, she said. “Future action is still avoidable. The BMA has repeatedly said it will call off further action if the government puts a halt to plans to force junior doctors to work under a contract they have rejected because they don’t believe it is good for the future of patient care or the profession.”

The strike which had been arranged for next week was going to be the first of five, which will go on until the end of the year: the next ones will happen from Wednesday October 5th to Tuesday October 11th, from Monday November 14th to Friday November 18th and from Monday December 5th to Friday December 9th.

Love London Awards 2016 – Sadiq Khan shares his favourite locals

Time Out Love London Awards 2016 open for nominations throughout September

Awards celebrate the capital’s great independent businesses
The Mayor of London supports Time Out Love London Awards 2016

London, 5 September 2016: A big celebration of small businesses is coming to the capital as Time Out, the trusted global brand for inspiring and enabling people to make the most of their city, launches its Love London Awards 2016.

Whether it’s the tiny bar with the smoothest martinis, the cat café or the quirky shop with rare vintage dresses – Londoners have lots of love for those hidden gems in their city. They can now get behind them and nominate their favourite local, independent businesses to give them the recognition they deserve.

Ahead of Time Out’s Love London Awards 2016, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has revealed his favourite local haunts in the capital:

Tooting Lido – “It’s a grade II listed Art Deco lido, there’s freshwater in the swimming pool, it’s open 365 days a year. When the sun’s shining, it’s a wonderful place to go. My daughters love it.”
Tooting Arts Club – “They did a production of Sweeney Todd in Harrington’s Pie and Mash Shop which Stephen Sondheim attended – now they’ve taken it to Broadway! It’s a real example of the culture we’ve got in Tooting. I’m also patron of Polka Theatre in Wimbledon that does some great childrens’ productions.”
Battersea Park – “I’ve recently rediscovered Battersea Park. It’s a great park: you’ve got the Pagoda, the children’s zoo and they’ve just reinvigorated this lovely old display from the 1951 festival there. You can’t beat London for green space!”
Tooting’s restaurants – “It’s one of the big jokes in Tooting that I’ve never named my favourite restaurant so I don’t fall foul of the other owners. But our curry restaurants are great. Lahore Karahi, Spice Village, Masaledar are very good – great quality food, really reasonable prices, always a cheerful, smiley waiter serving you.”

Nominations for Love London Awards are open throughout September across five categories: bars & pubs, restaurants, cafés, shops and cultural venues. Voted for entirely by Londoners from October 6 to 31, the winners will be revealed at an Awards ceremony on November 14. Now in its third year, the Awards are part of Time Out’s commitment to support local, independent businesses. Over 20,000 nominations and almost 320,000 votes for local venues were generated across more than 90 London neighbourhoods since 2014.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “From Cricklewood to Croydon, Barnes to Barking, London’s local businesses are the beating heart of our city’s vibrant communities. I’m asking Londoners to get behind their neighbourhood favourites in the Time Out Love London Awards 2016. It’s an excellent way to show your appreciation of your favourite local shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs or cultural venues in each corner of the capital and tell the stories behind these hidden gems.”

Caroline McGinn, Editor in Chief at Time Out London, added: “Since 1968, Time Out has been dedicated to discovering and championing the best of the city. And best doesn’t always mean biggest. A genuinely brilliant neighbourhood pub, bar, café, shop, restaurant or cultural venue can make all the difference to your life in London. Londoners are always eager to tell us how much they cherish those unsung heroes. Our Awards are an opportunity to celebrate them and give some love back.”

Last year’s Time Out Love London Awards surfaced some unique small businesses that demonstrate the sheer creativity and boldness of the capital’s entrepreuneurs: from BOW WOW London dog boutique to Crouch End’s culturual hub, Art House Cinema. For food and drink, Vietnamese restaurant Cay Tre in Soho and Love & Scandal café in Waterloo came out top, with The Kenton in Hackney crowned best pub.

The Time Out Love London Awards 2016 is supported by the Mayor of London’s Office. Londoners can nominate between September 1 to 30 on timeout.com/lovelondon

The Mayor’s Office’s support for Time Out Love London Awards coincides with the #LondonIsOpen campaign which aims to show the world that London remains entrepreneurial, international, and full of creativity and possibility, while reassuring the more than one million foreign nationals who live in London that they will always be welcome. Supporting the Love London Awards demonstrates how every corner of #LondonIsOpen, to visitors, tourists and locals alike.

Pink Floyd: “The early years 1965-1972” box and V&A exhibition

LONDON – Pink Floyd have released a new video for their early track “Grantchester Meadows“, taken from their “The Early Years 1965-1972” box set, which will be released in full on November 11th. The audio track for this song was recorded at the BBC studios in 1969, while the original footage was shot in San Francisco one year later. As declared by Pink Floyd themselves, this song is Roger Water’s and was originally performed solo on the Ummagumma album. This box set will include 20 unheard tracks, seven hours of live material and three feature films. Furthermore, a double-disc highlights album entitled “The Early Years – Cre/Ation” will be released alongside the set.

This is not the only good news for Pink Floyd fans from all over the world and especially for those who live in London: starting from May 13th next year, which marks the 50th anniversary since the release of the band’s first single, the Victoria and Albert Museum will host “The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains” which will feature a laser light show and previously unseen concert footage as well as more than 350 objects and artefacts including instruments, handwritten lyrics, posters, architectural drawings and psychedelic prints, will lead visitors throughout a 50-year-long music journey.

The V&A opened ticket sales and announced the exhibition by flying a giant inflatable pink pig near the museum’s entrance, a clear reference to the event in Battersea which became the cover of the band’s album Animals, released in 1977. The exhibition will go on until October 2017.

Secret London Runs: an alternative way to discover London

Are you looking for an alternative way to better know London?

Then Secret London Runs could be the right choice for you.

Why secret? Because you can explore the city in depth, through places usually unknown to tourists, beyond the typical London attractions. So even the most hardened Londoners who think to know London like the back of their hand, will soon change their mind.

These are places we can see every day, but how much do you really know about them?

Think about The Shard for instance, the futuristic skyscraper by the Genoese architect Renzo Piano. Did you know that the entire area between London Bridge and Southwark was actually an independent state for 500 years? Indeed, there was a separate structure of laws for this area that was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester. Here, around the ‘500, a series of illegal activities took place thus to call Bankside with epithets such as “District of sin” or “pleasure gardens.” Just later on and only in this area, even before the jurisdiction of the City of London, activities such as prostitution, fight between animals and the theatre (the most famous is the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, of course) were regularized.

With Secret London Runs on Saturday 3 September, you will run for 10km through the city, searching of hidden clues among the streets of the capital to win the cryptic team challenge, the true highlight of the race.

Participants will in fact discover a hidden secret about the history of London after receiving a brief by a police agent from the 18th century. You will have to run the streets looking for witnesses, suspects and clues to solve the intricate puzzles in the shortest possible time.

Each team will be composed of up to four people. The location will be in EC1 area but will remain secret until the day before the competition, when experienced intelligence agents will receive a message stating the meeting place.

Obviously, the team that will unravel the mysterious secret will receive an award that will be announced the night of the competition and the following day via email.

All in the name of strict short secret.

For lazy ones, it is better to state that no one will be required to run! The race is much more based on mental agility than on the physical one and the winning team will simply be the one having the mystery solved faster.

So arm yourself with comfortable shoes and book your place on www.secretlondonruns.com.

The mystery is waiting to be unveiled.

ITALIANS CARD INITIATIVE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE EARTHQUAKE

TO SUPPORT VICTIMS OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN CENTRAL ITALY, ITALIANS CARD LAUNCHES THE SITE ITALIANS4ITALY. THE INITIATIVE WAS BORN THANKS TO THE COLLABORATION WITH SPONTANEOUS AND IMMEDIATE RESPONSE FROM NUMEROUS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS IN UK AND ITALY.

ITALIANS4ITALY (or ITALIANSFORITALY) was born as an immediate response to ITALIANS CARD initiative to support the Italian charity working within the territory during the crisis caused by the earthquake that hit central Italy – therefore the whole country – which is in a need of support that should not be limited to these emergency days.

The initiative is unstructured, free and as simple as possible. It aims to achieve its goal in disintermediated, transparent, free from political and religious prejudice, based on the need to maintain a constant support, and the use of technology to save donation fees (free of commissions from banks, credit cards, foreign exchange and fundraising sites – commissions which sometimes reach up to 20%) and where possible optimal tax for residents in the UK.

All donors will be able to monitor their contribution and receive certification regarding the use of the donation by a chosen charity.

Everyone can report new charities – strictly Italian – in addition to those already suggested on this site, as well as promoting initiatives or events taking place in the United Kingdom to support the emergency earthquake.

THE PROCESS OF DONATIONS IS EASY:

You choose the Charity for which you want to make a donation
By accessing the details of the Charity you will see two counters which respectively show the number of donations and the total amount. In addition, there is a counter that will mark the total amount of the donations i.e. those who have not yet donated, but who are committed to do so in the future – and another one that will show the total amount of the contributions already paid to various charities in the previous week.
When making a donation commitment you will have to provide your name, surname and e-mail.
When a charity is selected and reached total of £500, an e-mail will be sent to donors and the transfer will proceed from UK account to the Italian Charity.
The process will be activated within 7 days after the donation has taken place.

If the charity is registered in UK or the money is send from UK as a GIFT AID, the donor resident in the country will receive the certificate for tax purposes. The UK account controlled by a third party auditor

Once you r contributions will be send to the non-profit Italian organization, the acknowledgment of paymeny and confirmation of how the funds will be used will be send. Finally, followed by an email sent to each donor who wil provide feedback for the payment.

The co-founder, Mr Matteo Cerri, says:
“We just want to be a simple, effective and efficient to lend a hand in this time of need. A tool that we hope will also serve in the future and give continuity to that incredible stream of solidarity that quietly flowing between Italians in Italy and abroad. It is not for us to choose how and to whom to give, but we just want to provide a channel to help those who are in the field helping every day. We wanted to make transparent, trackable and optimal donations, using simple technologies that we are using for cards and accounts of Italians Card, and tried to make further contribution of our card holders that there are already more than a thousand in the UK. What surprised me is ‘a sense of belonging and genuine solidarity that, in this crisis, our people have been able to express, even from a distance. This project ‘started with a call to a friend; others, dozens of them, have suffered side by side and worked during the days off because ‘the site started its operation in less than two days! “

MEN B VACCINE – ONE YEAR ON AND MILLIONS STILL AT RISK

A YEAR after introducing the lifesaving Men B vaccine, millions of young children remain at risk from this devastating disease.

On Tuesday 1 September 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to introduce the revolutionary new meningococcal group B (Men B) vaccine, Bexsero to under 1s through the NHS.

Despite this, more than one child a month*¹ may have contracted the deadly Men B infection and up to five children may have needlessly died. Many of those who have contracted Men B will be living with life-changing after-effects.

Had the decision been made by the Government to vaccinate all under 5s, these tragedies could have been avoided.

Parents like Jenny Burdett, whose daughter Faye’s death sparked an unprecedented 823,346 signatures to a UK-wide petition, have renewed calls for the vaccine to be made available to all young children at risk.

Jenny said:

“As a family who has been through the devastation of meningitis, we feel that all children should be protected from this cruel disease that took our daughter. It’s not just about Faye’s death but also about the maiming of children that survive the disease; it is life changing for a child and their family. Prevention must be better.”

Until the decision is made to extend the age range of the vaccine, an estimated 2.1 million*² children under 5 remain at risk from Men B. Meningitis continues to kill more children under five than any other infectious disease.

Meningitis Now Chief Executive, Liz Brown, said:

“The introduction of the Men B vaccine was a milestone in the prevention of this killer disease – it’s such a shame that the Government didn’t have the courage to go that extra step and protect all children most at risk.

“The recent decision by the JCVI, not to vaccinate children up to the age of 2 years, due to vaccine shortages, exacerbates the need for the government to take action.

“We call upon Secretary of State for Health; Jeremy Hunt to mark today’s anniversary by taking that extra step now and introduce the vaccine for all of the nation’s children up to the age of 5.”

Meningitis Now is collecting signatures to add to a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, as part of its’ ‘Give Children A Voice’ campaign. The letter will be presented in Westminster by a child who has missed out on the vaccine in the coming weeks. To add your name visit:

https://www.meningitisnow.org/how-we-help/campaigns/give-children-voice/

For more information on the Men B vaccine, as well as the signs and symptoms of meningitis, visit www.meningitisnow.org

*¹ Public Health England Health Protection Report Vol 9 23 October 2015 shows 139 cases of Men B in infants aged 1-4 years. The incidence of death is in this group is 4%.

*² Based on an annual UK birth-rate of 700,000. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/birthsummarytables

350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London commemorated with spectacular city-wide festival of arts and ideas

Tuesday 30th August – Sunday 4th September 2016

This week marks 350 years since the start of the Great Fire in Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane
Spectacular art events are taking place at landmark locations across London including St Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern and National Theatre
The festival, London’s Burning, is produced by creative company Artichoke and will run from 30 August – 4 September
The events culminate in a weekend of activity including a giant dominoes run across 5km of the City tracing the multiple paths of the fire and a stunning ‘burn’ on the Thames, a 120-metre-long replica of the City of London as it looked in 1666 on Sunday 4^th September

The series of spectacular art events, which are all free to the public, will take place in key sites across London, the City, Southbank and Bankside from Tuesday 30th August to Sunday 4th September 2016, marking this momentous event in London’s history and addressing its contemporary resonance with themes including displacement, disaster and the resilience of the urban metropolis.

DOMINOES, Station House Opera, City of London. First commissioned by CreateLondon in 2009, DOMINOES s an extraordinary kinetic sculpture that has since travelled worldwide. This new version, specially created for LONDON’S BURNING by artistic director Julian Maynard Smith, will be its most ambitious yet, involving 600 volunteers, 23,000 breeze blocks and a 5.5km run through the city, tracing the paths of the Fire through its streets, buildings and public spaces, linking the past with the present in a symbolic and physical chain of cause and effect.

FIRES OF LONDON (FIRES ANCIENT – FIRES MODERN), Martin Firrell, St Paul’s Cathedral dome and fly tower of National Theatre. Two new commissions either side of the River Thames. Fires Ancient will light up the south and east sides of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral with a fiery projection echoing both the catastrophic impact of the Great Fire of London on the Cathedral itself and the birth of the building designed by Christopher Wren that emerged, phoenix like from the ashes. Fires Modern will be projected onto the fly tower of the National Theatre. The projection of Firrell’s text and flames will reveal stories of resurgence and change that have shaped the UK’s capital city and created the open and diverse metropolis that we enjoy today.

OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN ALL THE WORLD, Stan’s Cafe, Inner Temple. From the handful of recorded deaths to the tens of thousands made homeless in 1666, OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN ALL THE WORLD will count the cost of the Fire in grains of rice comparing historical facts with contemporary moments. Located in the Inner Temple and watched over by the stern portraits of four of the Fire Judges appointed by the King to adjudicate on compensation claims after the Fire, this installation offers a remarkably compelling way to experience the impact of these dramatic events.

HOLOSCENES, Early Morning Opera, Exchange Square, Broadgate Exchange Square. Broadgate will see the UK Premiere of HOLOSCENES, a mesmerising 6hour underwater performance installation by US based Early Morning Opera. The piece reminds us that today, it is flooding rather than fire is the contemporary threat in this and many contemporary cities, and one we are ignoring at our peril. Created by Artistic Director Lars Jan, the piece features individual performers going about mundane daily tasks as water levels rise around them. A MAPP International Project (Supported by British Land)

FIRE GARDEN, Compagnie Carabosse, Tate Modern riverside. With views across to the City and St Paul’s Cathedral, French fire alchemists will transform the riverside area in front of Tate Modern into a crackling, spitting, after-dark adventure.

LONDON 1666, David Best & Artichoke, River Thames. This spectacular finale will see an extraordinary 120metre long sculpture of 17th century London floated onto the River Thames and set alight in a dramatic retelling of the story of the Great Fire. Designed by American artist David Best, working in collaboration with Artichoke.

Laura Pausini – Simili European Tour 2016

After topping the charts with her new single “Lato destro del cuore” and only a few weeks before the new album release, Laura Pausini announces a European tour for 2016.

Having already announced #PAUSINISTADI, 3 exceptional dates scheduled for June in Italy. The next leg of the SIMILI TOUR will bring Laura Pausini to the most iconic venues across Europe, including the Eventim Apollo, London on Saturday 15 th October 2016.

The tour will see the most popular Italian artist in the world performing a new live show introducing songs from her brand new album SIMILI, in addition to performances of her fan favorite hits. SIMILI is out on November 6th, 2015 (Atlantic Warner Music).

This will be a unique opportunity for all Laura’s fans, who cannot wait to see her in London after her appearances in the USA on La Banda, the new Latin-American talent show conceived by Simon Cowell, where she is one of the judges alongside Ricky Martin and Alejandro Sanz.

Tickets are on sale NOW, from the venue box office, select authorised ticket agents, Ticketone and BookingsDirect.com.

GCSE result day 2016: an overview

UNITED KINGDOM – The long-awaited GCSE result day of the year is finally here and students all over the UK headed to their schools this morning to find out their grades. Unfortunately, the situation is not good.

As reported by the Guardian’s education editor, Richard Adams, “GCSE pass rates have fallen dramatically acroass the board“: the proportion of people getting a C or above has dropped by a 2.1% and the decline is even more dramatic if we only take English into account. Part of these falls are probably not casual: the new government policies force 17-year-olds who got a D or lower in English or Maths to resit those exams; this results in more people overall re-taking the tests. The rest of the falls remains unexplained, with a drop of 1.3 percentage points in the proportion of pupils gaining A*-C grades – compared to 2015 results.

English grades were so bad that they are being labeled as the worst results since 2004: this drop might be caused by different factors, including the big increase in the number of 17-year-olds resitting the exam and in the number of students swtiching from a classic GCSE qualification to the IGCSE one: the IGCSE (The International General Certificate of Secondary Education) is an English language curriculum offered to students, developed by University of Cambridge International Examinations, recognised as being equivalent to the GCSE though it looks like it is considered to be more similar to the so-called older O-Levels which are less in-depth and academically rigorous than A-levels.

Today’s results also marked another new record, with their falls of A*-C being the biggest since the creation of GCSEs in 1988, as reported by Press Association. Furthermore, this is the last year of the existing maths and English syllabuses, and some schools concentrating on the new syllabuses, which they are already teaching for next year’s exams, as told PA by Alan Smithers, director of Buckingham’s Centre for Education and Employment Research. Starting next year, pupils will sit new GCSE courses in English language, English literature and maths, marked from 1-9. The changes will be rolled out across another 17 subjects by summer 2018.

Moreover, what is worrying teachers unions is the alarming drop in the number of students sitting creative subjects at GCSE, as reported by PA: the importance given to English, Maths, History and Geography is undermining critical subjects such as design, technology, art and foreign languages even though they are perfectly linked to many careers and occupations in the UK.

Luckily, not everything was a complete mess: the overall GCSE pass rate in Wales and Northern Ireland increased since last year, as well as the percentage of A and A*. In addition to that, more than 14,000 learners were awarded a Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma
and almost 12,000 learners achieved the full Intermediate Diploma.