Rebel sticker craze hits the Tube

"No eye contact. Penalty £200."

"We apologise for any incontinence caused during these engineering works."

"Peak hours may necessitate you let other people sit on your lap."

These are just a few examples of guerilla stickers that have appeared on London's Tube network in recent months.

Here's my BBC News feature on the latest craze that's brightening up commuters' journeys.

Real ale renaissance

In the cramped kitchen of an east London bar and restaurant, Logan Plant is brewing.

He holds a tube in both hands, from which hot water is pouring into a stainless steel grain-filled vat and there is a sweet smell in the air.

"We've blown a few things up," he quips. "There have been a lot of angry chefs."

You may have heard of his dad - Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. 

Here's the story behind a surge in London brewery numbers.

Cross Bones

It is a crisp winter's night on an old, narrow London street and though some of the capital's top attractions are just a few hundred metres away, all is eerily quiet.

Half way along the dimly lit road, rusty iron gates stand, covered in hundreds of brightly coloured feathers, flowers and faded photos.

There is movement in the distance. Figures young and old descend upon the street, a few at a time. They carry candles, musical instruments and flasks of tea.

Redcross Way, near London Bridge, in south London, is a place of pilgrimage and this is the night of its monthly vigil.

On the other side of the gates lies a once-forgotten graveyard for the outcasts of society - called Cross Bones.
 

Read about my visit to the vigil.

Faith leaders across England in 'HIV healing' claims

Dangerous cases of faith leaders who tell people with HIV to stop taking their life-saving drugs have been identified by African-led community groups in a number of locations across England.

Seven groups said there were instances of people being told by faith leaders they had been "healed" through prayer - and then pressured to stop taking antiretroviral medication, according to the charity African Health Policy Network (AHPN).

Here's my article on the disturbing findings.

Tube map plots life expectancy

It is an iconic design and has been used by Londoners and tourists alike to navigate their way around the capital for more than 80 years.

But now a version of the Tube map has been put to a very different use - to show how life expectancy varies from station to station. 

Read my BBC News article on the map's findings.

Team GB gymnast becomes stuntman

He has fallen off glaciers, jumped out of speeding cars and leapt from a 10-storey building to avoid a flurry of gunfire.

 

It might sound like Nicholas Daines has had an extraordinary run of bad luck.

But no... he is in fact a former Team GB gymnast who, after hanging up his tracksuit, chose the rather unconventional career path of training to become a Hollywood stuntman.

Here's my BBC News feature on his tale.

Heygate Estate’s last stand

"Unpopular social housing." 

"An arrangement of monolithic land uses."

"Out of place in a city fringe location."

These are just a few of the phrases Southwark Council uses to justify its plans to knock down the Heygate Estate, a sprawling 1970s housing labyrinth in south-east London's Elephant and Castle.

Yet, on the estate, resides an 82-year-old woman who shares her flat with her husband, who is 83.

Here is my BBC News feature on why she and a handful of other residents have vowed to fight the council's compulsory purchase order of their homes.

The River Thames’ remarkable tale

If you are on the banks of the Thames, enjoying one of the many extraordinary events London has to offer this summer, spare a thought for the river itself, which was once the capital's principal transport artery.

The Thames was once the "noblest river in Europe", according to The Spectator's Joseph Addison in 1712.

Yet by 1858 it had become "a Stygian pool reeking with ineffable and unbearable horror", as described by former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in 1858.

Here's my BBC News feature on the remarkable history of a river.

Luol Deng success is 'a miracle'

He is the first British basketball player to have appeared in the NBA's annual All-Star Game.

He is one of Britain's highest paid international sportsmen. 

He has been invited to the White House by Barack Obama, who called him "an inspiration".

Yet when 27-year-old Chicago Bulls star and Team GB player Luol Deng walks down his local high street in Brixton, he is barely recognised - despite his 6ft 9ins frame.

Here’s my BBC News feature on his unlikely rise to success.

More police complain of racism

I discovered that allegations of racism made within the Metropolitan Police have nearly trebled over five years.

In this article I investigate potential reasons behind this alarming rise.

London 2012 Festival on a shoestring

A virtual orchestra. A literature labyrinth. A water-bound opera. A pop-up puppet workshop.

Just a few of the events offered by London 2012 Festival organisers.

But how much culture can a person soak up in the city in a single day, for nothing?

Wearing my most sturdy footwear, I armed myself with an umbrella for that unpredictable British summer and traversed the capital from the west to east to find out.

Shard skyscraper rises above its critics

It has been turning heads all over London.

Walking down streets, in parks, even stuck in traffic jams on the M25, people have been watching the steady ascent of a towering landmark on the capital's skyline.

I interviewed the architect and the developer behind the EU's new tallest building. Here's the article I wrote.

Green-fingered squatters' eviction fight

Squatters are rarely the most popular residents in a neighbourhood.

But on Vineries Close in Sipson, west London, resides a group of squatters many of the local people are keen to see stay.

Residents say they like the occupants because they have turned what was once a "derelict mess", into a thriving market garden.

The squatters have renovated greenhouses and grow lettuces, courgettes and squashes that would raise the eyebrow of many an organic greengrocer.

Here's my BBC News feature.

Diving suit man denied London Marathon farewell

What do Indiana Jones, St George and Brian the Snail from the Magic Roundabout have in common?

They are just a few of the characters Lloyd Scott has adopted as his guise to complete the London Marathon over the years.

This year, the 50-year-old extreme charity fund-raiser planned to repeat the feat he is most famous for - walking the course wearing a 1940s deep-sea diving suit.

But marathon organisers have rejected his plans because a rule-change has meant competitors must complete the course within a day.

Here's my BBC News article.

Tube ghost station resurrected

"When we first went in with torches, the place was crackling with atmosphere," said entrepreneur Ajit Chambers. 

"We are holding this feeling, bottling it and showing the world's tourists just how amazing the history of London is."

Then Prime Minister Winston Churchill watched over the Royal Artillery's anti-aircraft operations during World War II from a secret command centre at Brompton Road Underground station.
 
Now I report on plans to develop the abandoned Tube station into a tourist attraction some say will be "comparable" to the London Eye and Madame Tussauds.

The riots factor

It was "the worst disorder in current memory" according to Scotland Yard while London Fire Brigade said fires had spread "almost pan-London" as it faced its busiest night in recent history.

The riots in the capital between 6 and 9 August have led to more than 1,000 people being sentenced for crimes including 591 burglaries, 199 instances of theft and 150 cases of violent disorder.

I interviewed London's mayoral election candidates Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, Jenny Jones and Brian Paddick, and asked them how the riots had affected their manifestos.

Here's my BBC News article published before the mayoral election.

Mayoral rivals talk tough on crime

"London is one of the safest capitals in the world."

It is a claim that might surprise some of the city's residents, but one that has been made by the current and former London mayors, as well as Scotland Yard.

By comparing London's crime and murder rates with the likes of Washington DC, Bangkok and Guatemala City, the claim rings true. London had the 21st lowest homicide rate out of 112 of the biggest cities surveyed by the United Nations in 2009 - that is 1.6 murders per 100,000 people.

Nevertheless, crime remains a concern for many Londoners and a key battleground in the mayoral election.

Here's my BBC News article written before London's 2012 mayoral election.

Calls to end ‘witch’ child abuse

"We're quite happy to talk about what is inappropriate belief when it comes to terrorism or paedophilia," said African studies expert Dr Richard Hoskins.

"But when it comes to fundamentalist religious belief affecting child protection, we don't seem to want to talk about it."

Dr Hoskins, who gave evidence at the trial of a couple who have been convicted for brutally torturing and killing a teenager in their east London flat, is among experts and charities calling for more to be done to tackle the problem of child abuse linked to witchcraft.

Here's my BBC News article.

Killers' witchcraft 'obsession'

It was the 2010 Christmas holidays and teenager Kristy Bamu and his siblings were staying with their sister in east London during a visit from Paris.

But this was no happy family gathering.

When paramedics entered the eighth floor apartment on Christmas Day they found the walls, ceiling and furniture spattered with blood.

Kristy, 15, had died from drowning and being beaten with a metal bar in the Forest Gate flat.

Here's my report for BBC News.

London HIV prevention 'failing'

Charities have criticised the way HIV services in London are commissioned following the release of a report which highlights "significant management failings".

HIV treatment in London costs £247m per year, according to NHS London, with almost 30,000 people accessing care and that number rising by 5% annually.

But the new report says there is a "lack of strategy" and an "urgent need" to address HIV prevention in London.

Charities responded to these alarming findings in my BBC News article.

Calls to protect gay strip night

For the East End's gay community, the White Swan pub is something of a local legend.

Comedian Michael Barrymore has performed on stage there, Sir Ian McKellen and Graham Norton are among celebrities who stop by from time to time and for 26 years it has hosted a weekly amateur comedy strip contest.

That night, compered by a cast of east London's most flamboyant drag queens, sees volunteers from the audience take part in the show.

But it faces being banned following Labour-led Tower Hamlet council's recent sex establishment consultation.

Here's my BBC News report.