Sir Elton John, Prince William nominated Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Pic:Kristin Scott Thomas, Prince William, Tom Hiddleston and Sir Elton John will attend the ES Theatre Awards
Entertainment reporter(wp/es):
 A host of stars including Sir Elton John, Tom Hiddleston and Kristin Scott Thomas will descend on the Old Vic for the most glamorous night in the theatre calendar.

The London Evening Standard Theatre Awards will bring together the great and the good of the theatre world on Sunday night to recognise this year’s most talented actors, playwrights and producers.

Presented by Rob Brydon and co-hosted by Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev and Sir Elton John, this year’s ceremony has the royal seal of approval as The Duke of Cambridge will be presenting the Beyond Theatre Award.
The red carpet will be a star-studded affair with famous faces including Orlando Bloom and Dame Maggie Smith set to make an appearance.

Last year’s Best Actor winner, James McAvoy, will be on hand to present the award for Best Actress, while Christian Louboutin will join Dame Kristin Scott Thomas to present the Best Actor award.

Hiddleston will be reunited with his Night Manager co-stars Elizabeth Debicki and Tom Hollander, who is also set to present a trophy on the night.

Other presenters at the ceremony, which is supported by Burberry and Hiscox Home Insurance, include Dame Eileen Atkins and Sir Michael Gambon.

This year’s shortlist highlights the best that theatre has to offer in categories including Best Musical Performance, the Milton Shulman Award for Best Director and the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Helen McCrory, Noma Dumezweni, Sophie Melville and Billie Piper are all contending for the Best Actress award while Sir Kenneth Branagh will compete against O-T Fagbenle, James McArdle, Ralph Fiennes and Sir Ian McKellen.

Musicals including Funny Girl and Groundhog Day are up for Best Musical while Dominic Cooke, John Tiffany and John Malkovich will go head-to-head in the Best Director category.

London-bound Thomas Cook flight makes emergency landing

Staff reporter(wp/es):

A London-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing after colliding with a flock of around 50 storks.

The 170-passenger Airbus A321 had just taken off from Banjul airport in Gambia when its engines and landing gear were damaged by the collision.

Thomas Cook flight attendant Kayleigh Loveridge described hearing loud bangs as the incident took place.

Writing about the November 8 incident on Facebook on Friday, she said: "We took off, and on our climb we went through a flock of approximately 50 storks, causing a bird strike to both engines.

"Both engines were damaged and not functioning in the way they should have.

"We heard big bangs, felt the entire aircraft shake, shortly followed by one of our emergency commands from the flight deck.

The plane was then forced to make an emergency landing, she claimed.

Miss Loveridge also posted a series of grim pictures of the blood-splattered plane.

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: "The pilots and cabin crew responded extremely professionally according to their training and the aircraft returned safely to Banjul.

"The customers were accommodated overnight in Banjul and flown home on a different plane the following morning, while the damaged aircraft was repaired and arrived back in the UK last night.

"We apologise for the unavoidable delay to their return journey.”

Banks could leave City unless there's a plan

Business reporter(wp/es):

The chairman of RBS has warned that banks could pull out of the City unless Theresa May secures a post-Brexit transition plan.

Sir Howard Davies said American and Japanese banks are very concerned at the prospect of a hard Brexit and are drawing up contingency plans.

He urged the Prime Minister to offer the City some reassurance and certainty by negotiating a transitional deal which will allow firms based in Britain to continue to be able to operate in the rest of the EU.

He told ITV's Peston On Sunday show that jobs could be lost to Europe and to Ireland.

He said: "I think it is damaging if we don't get a transitional deal because I think you will then see banks and financial institutions making decisions on the basis of uncertainty.

"They will not wait because they have to make a decision which will allow them to be, to continue to function in the event of a hard Brexit if that's a possibility.

"So they will not sit back, they are currently making contingency plans and once you've got a contingency plan - hey, there is a risk you might implement it one day.

"And therefore I think that it is quite urgent."

Financial firms fear they could lose membership of the single market and their passporting rights, which allow companies in the UK to operate across the European Economic Area.

Sir Howard said the Government does not need to detail its full negotiating position, but needs to reassure the City so Britain does not encounter a "jerky and sudden" departure from the EU.

He said: "What is really important is the transitional arrangements.

"So what we are particularly focused on in the City at the moment is to try to get an understanding that actually allowing a cliff edge departure from Brexit would be damaging for everybody.

“About three quarters of all European capital transactions take place in London - often by French banks or German banks etc - but they take place in London.

"If you suddenly broke that off it would be destabilising for the whole of the European financial markets.

"So what we need is a transitional arrangement, as the Article 50 process starts, so we can say 'look, here is the way in which things are going to work in the medium term'.

"In the long term, of course, I think there will be some movement of activity."

Sir Howard said he is optimistic transitional arrangements can be drawn up as it is in the interests of the remaining EU states as well as Britain.

His warning came as Boris Johnson snubbed an emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting called to discuss Donald Trump's shock US election victory.

Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson, who branded vocal European concern about the US election result as a "whinge-o-rama", was dismissive of the need for a special EU meeting.

Teenager killed and another injured in double stabbing after fast food brawl

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A teenage boy has died and another is in hospital after a double stabbing following a brawl outside an east London takeaway.

Police had been called to reports of the fight outside a fast food shop in Church Elm Lane, Dagenham, at 6.20pm on Saturday.

When officers arrived on the scene they found a 16-year-old suffering from stab wounds.

Police performed first aid on the youngster before he was rushed by ambulance to an east London hospital.

Just seven minutes later, police were called by paramedics to nearby Whyhill Walk where a 17-year-old had been found with knife wounds.

Despite efforts to save him, the boy was pronounced dead in hospital on Sunday morning at 3.25am.

Residents said the teenager had managed to get to the Cross Keys pub before he collapsed from his injuries.

The 16-year-old boy is currently in a stable condition in hospital.

Photos from the scene showed a string of police tape cordoning off the area around Church Elm Lane.

Neighbour Sidney McCallaghan said a huge swathe of the road had been cordoned off while police investigated.

He told the Standard: "There was a scuffle between some young boys and then they just started stabbing each other.

"One went down in Church Elm Lane.

"The one who was the most severely hurt, he came down Church Street and made it to the pub where he collapsed."

He said: "We don’t know if he was followed and was attacked as he walked, but it looks like he was trying to get away quite quickly."

Detectives from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command unit are now investigating and trying to discover if both teenagers were stabbed in the same incident.

No one has been arrested over the stabbings so far, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.

Anyone who has information is asked to contact police via 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.