Firefighters battle blaze in London tower block 'covered in Grenfell-style cladding'


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Two people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a riverside tower block in east London thought to be covered in flammable cladding.

More than 100 firefighters spent three hours tackling the blaze at New Providence Wharf in Canary Wharf.

London Fire Brigade said the eighth, ninth and 10th floors of the 19-storey building were alight when crews arrived about 9am local time.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus carried out multiple rescues. Two men were taken to hospital suffering [from the effects of] smoke inhalation," firefighters said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

London Ambulance Service said several people were treated at the scene.

It is understood that part of the building’s exterior is made from ACM cladding, the same material used in Grenfell Tower, north-west London, in which 72 people died when it caught fire in 2017.

Ministers pledged £200 million ($278.4m) to remove similar cladding from 170 privately owned high-rise buildings across the country.

But the programme was plagued by delays, with some buildings still on the waiting list for cladding to be removed.

Mark Cowan, who lives in the New Providence Wharf development, said he witnessed flames climbing up the building after evacuating with his ill wife. He is unsure when he will be able to return to his flat.

Mr Cowan said he felt unsafe living in the block, and that residents have been waiting to get the cladding removed for two and half years.

"We've had meetings with the mayor and Tower Hamlets council, who passed a motion two years ago trying to get the cladding removed from the building, but no one has done anything about it," he told LBC News.

He said Ballymore, the building management company, told him it had not removed the cladding because it was waiting for new government regulations to come into force.

Mr Cowan also claimed representatives of the company "giggled and laughed" at residents when they brought up their concerns during a recent Zoom meeting.

"The mental stresses and physical distress is immense, and they're not taking that into consideration", he said.

In a statement, Ballymore said: “Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this morning’s fire at New Providence Wharf. The safety of our residents is paramount and we are working closely with the London Fire Brigade.

“We can confirm that the fire was quickly brought under control by the Fire Brigade and is now extinguished. Our response team are on-site to support residents and assist with alternative accommodation where necessary.”

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Strait of Hormuz

Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.

The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.

Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.

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AGL AWARDS

Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
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Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.

Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.

The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?

My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.

The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.

So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.

 

 

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Bundesliga fixtures

Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm) 

RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm) 

Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm) 

Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn  (4.30pm) 

Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm) 

Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)

Sunday, May 17

Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),

Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)

Monday, May 18

Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)

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