News

16-year-old Simon Shemetilo, from Tower Hamlets, will have VIP access to the launch of Inmarsat’s latest communications satellite from the SpaceX launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, this February. Simon was chosen as one of two winners against hundreds of entrants for his presentation answering the question ‘how do you think satellites in space will help improve life on Earth …

Aturas Kurpis, 39, of St. Anne’s Row, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years for the murder of Paulius Karalius. Kurpis was found guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon at the Old Bailey on Friday, 2 December. The incident occurred on 5 November 2021, when Paulius and his girlfriend were out at …

Warm hubs have been launched to help residents of Tower Hamlets, a borough in London, with the cost of living crisis. These warm hubs are community centers that provide affordable food, clothing, and household items to local residents who are struggling financially. The warm hubs also offer a range of services and activities, including advice on benefits and budgeting, as …

Residents of a block of flats in Bow are concerned about plans to build new homes on top of their building. The proposal, which was submitted to the council last week, includes the construction of two additional floors on the existing block. Many of the residents are worried about the potential impact the development could have on their quality of …

Tower Hamlets Mayor just announced that his Cabinet has agreed to reinstate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) grant and introduce a University Bursary for our young people, making the borough the only one in England to offer it. Mayor Rahman said “Education is something I’m passionate about, so when the government scrapped EMA in 2011, I immediately made it my …

With Christmas fast approaching, Mayor Lutfur Rahman is calling on talented young creatives in Tower Hamlets to come up with colourful designs for the borough’s annual corporate Christmas cards. Primary school age artists are invited to enter this year’s competition to design an exclusive Christmas card cover which may feature on cards sent out by the Mayor, Chief Executive or …

A murder investigation has been launched following the stabbing of a teenager in Mile End, E3. A second teenager remains critically ill in hospital. Police were called just after midnight today (4th September) to reports of a disturbance involving a large number of people in Lichfield Road, E3. Officers attended the scene and became aware of two males with stab …

Two Metropolitan Police officers have been sacked after sharing a racist joke about Meghan Markle in a WhatsApp group chat. PC Sukhdev Jeer and PC Paul Hefford, who worked in a unit at Bethnal Green police station in east London, posted inappropriate, highly offensive and discriminatory content on WhatsApp in 2018. It comes as the Met, the UK’s largest police …

Detectives investigating a robbery at a Subway restaurant in Commercial Road, E1, are releasing footage of a man they would like to identify. At 7.23pm on Monday, 7 March a man walked into a Subway store in Commercial Road, E1, near to the junction with Philpot Street. The man ordered a meal before threatening an employee with an item believed …

Lutfur Rahman, the new mayor of Tower Hamlets, invited members of his previous party, Labour, to join the cabinet so that it represents ‘all of Tower Hamlets’. The mayor wrote on Twitter “I want a cabinet that represents all of Tower Hamlets. That’s why today I wrote to my former party, @TH_Labour, inviting women councillors from the Labour group to …

Listen to Lutfur Rahman speak about his removal from office in 2015, claims of electoral fraud against him, how he won again and what he plans to do over the next few years. Mayor Rahman was found liable for electoral fraud in a civil case but was never found to have broken any criminal law. He was never tried by …

This message is from an email we recieved from Tower Hamlets Council. View the email here. It is my privilege to be writing to you as the new Mayor of Tower Hamlets. Last week, thousands of residents exercised their democratic right to vote for their Mayor and councillors. The result was 24 councillor seats for the Aspire Party I represent, 19 …

Tower Hamlets mayor, Lutfur Rahman, has called out mainstream media for the treatment of Black/Asian politicians after an article he wrote was cancelled. Mayor Rahman spent time drafting an article for The Independent after they agreed to run a piece, they also requested a profile picture ‘looking at the camera and down to his arms’. The mayor was later told …

Grime star Wiley, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie Jr, is wanted by police six months after failing to appear in court on assault and burglary charges. A warrant was issued for the 43-year-old musicians arrest in September after he failed to turn up in court to face allegations of assault and burglary at the home of a former …

Lutfur Rahman will be watched “like a hawk”, his defeated rival has said after his loss in the mayoral race. Mr Biggs told BBC London said: “I suggest people will be watching him like a hawk, but I don’t want his administration or the council to be totally dominated by that, though. “I think people need to assume he has …

Labour have lost control of Tower Hamlets Council in a big loss to the party’s ambition in London. Lutfur Rahman’s Aspire party won overall control to end Labour’s time in charge of the east London Council following his stunning re-election as Tower Hamlets mayor, seven years after being removed from office. Aspire shot up from just two seats to 24 …