THE controversial pound;455million Thames Gateway Bridge is to be subject of a public inquiry. - News

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CAMPAIGNERS against the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge are celebrating after the Secretary of State called in the application and is to set up a full public inquiry. - Greenwich

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One of the largest brownfield development sites in Europe could be regenerated by a local firm, Barking Riverside Limited, English Partnerships has announced.

The UK government remains inactive over the 60-year-old wreck of the Richard Montgomery, with its massive payload of unstable bombs

Khaleej Times, the No.1 English language daily newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates

A new portrait of Dame Judi Dench goes on display at London's National Portrait Gallery on Wednesday.

ST. PETERSBURG - What's left to discuss about Claude Monet that hasn't already been said for about 100 years? Nothing, really, except to acknowledge in the presence of a dozen of his works the greatness of his painting.

They range along the yellow gallery walls of the Museum of Fine Arts, part of the magnificent “Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames, 1859-1914,” take after take of three scenes we've seen before, like big snapshots from a tourist who can't get enough of sightseeing.

But Monet in London was no ordinary tourist, and these paintings are so much more than images recorded to recall a memorable trip. He had, simply, one of the greatest eyes for color of any artist who has ever put pigment to canvas. Compositionally, he was only very good. The bridges - Waterloo and Charing Cross - and the  Houses of Parliament by the time he made them in his 60s were props to further his real interest: the play of light and shadow on a surface.

A MASSIVE GBP1billion property scheme could see a soulless Thames-side site transformed into the new Mayfair. - South London headlines

It's lucky for us Claude Monet didn't want to fight in the Franco-Prussian War. To dodge the French draft (in his defense, he had already served a stint in Algeria), he made his first trip to London in 1870, when he was 30.

The term “impressionism” had not yet been coined. But the trip marked a seminal moment for the artist, who would return to London much later to create a great opus that is the centerpiece of “Monet's London: Artists' Visions of the Thames, 1859-1914,” opening today at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg.

Though Monet is its star, the exhibition is not solely about impressionism. Of the 150 works in it, 30 of them paintings, 12 are by Monet; others are by artists who were fellow impressionists, such as Camille Pissaro, along with earlier artists whose styles were more realistic and later ones who were more modern, such as Andre Derain. Along with paintings are vintage photographs, prints and drawings. All take the Thames as their inspiration.

Daily news from the UK, business news, countryside news, UK technology news, obituaries and UK education news - telegraph.co.uk, UK online newspaper.

THE Liberal Democrats have cast doubt over Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's claims that he is building `sustainable communities' within the Thames Gateway. - News

PROPOSALS for a ten-mile barrier across the River Thames to prevent it flooding were unveiled yesterday.

A man who pretended he was a senior police officer to get into Windsor Castle pleads guilty to nuisance charges.

Plans to build a 10-mile flood barrier across the River Thames are being considered.

Responding to plans to erect a new 10-mile flood barrier across the Thames, the Liberal Democrats reveal Government figures that predict the threat of flooding to be so severe that the current barrier may have to be raised up to 325 times a year by 2100.

A record crowd was on  London Bridge for the annual Blessing the Waters at lunchtime on Sunday.