01/04/2017 London News

Good evening. I'm Asad Ahmad.

Thousands of refugees who came to London from Belgium

during the First World War have been remembered in the place where many

It was in Richmond and Twickenham, close to a Belgian munitions

factory, where a memorial, paid for partly by proud local

Those who settled here 100 years ago during World War I may have passed

on, but the spirit of affection between Belgium and London

was very much alive by the river in Twickenham.

The monument stood where the munitions factory set up

by Guy Pelabon's grandfather and great uncle once was.

6000 Belgian refugees joining the war effort with their hard work.

These refugees, the Belgian refugees, were very much welcomed

by the London community here, the London people, very warmly.

They were able to start their business going, you know.

I think more broadly, they were all part of the same

project, which was resilience, survival, and eventually, victory.

The German invasion of Belgium led to a mass exodus.

As many as 250,000 fled across the Channel.

Many ended up in camps south of the River Thames.

It became a story about two different communities

So, you know, there are parallels with the flow of refugees

today and with, sort of, intercommunity tensions.

The owner of the factory was a Frenchman.

The people receiving them both were British and all of this

As Belgian ambassador, we try to multiply these,

I would say, bilateral gatherings, to show that we are in

And local schoolchildren reinforced that message.

Whatever the political changes in the future,

there will always be a special bond between London and

A teenager in south London has been critically injured

-- is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after he was

set upon by a gang when they discovered he was an asylum seeker.

Police say the 17-year-old Iranian-Kurd was waiting at a bus

stop with two friends in Croydon, when he was attacked

It's being treated as a "hate crime".

It was, I would say, a frenzied attack by a large number

of people of a young person on the floor, kicking this

individual repeatedly and by all accounts,

members of the public asking them to stop.

They continued and it is only with the sound of police

sirens did this frenzied, horrendous attack actually stop.

More than a dozen people have been arrested for "various offences"

as far-right groups and anti-fascist protestors clashed

A march and rally planned by Britain First and

the English Defence League, described as a "march

against terrorism", took place near a counter-demonstration

Frantic scenes unfolded when ex-EDL leader Tommy Robinson

arrived and police moved to contain potential trouble.

An unexploded World War II bomb is believed to have been discovered

on the banks of the River Thames in Putney, just a day before

Scotland Yard said it was called to an area of the Chelsea

A decision on the Boat Race going ahead will be made

The Metropolitan Police say all those who were arrested

in connection with the attack in Westminster ten days

ago have been released, and no further action will be

A dozen people have been questioned about possible

links to Khalid Masood, who killed three people

on Westminster Bridge before fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer

Digital signs are being installed this weekend at the site of Croydon

Seven people died and more than 50 were injured

The signs will show drivers the speed limit

After a cool start, it should be dry for the rest of the day.

And if you're interested in the Boat Race, if it goes ahead,

I'll be back tomorrow at the slightly earlier time of 6:40pm.

Good evening. It is the 1st of April today and appropriately enough, we

had a day of sunny spells and showers. We saw some rainbows, this

lovely double rainbow captured by one of -- one of our Weather

Watchers in Leicestershire. Some showers still dotted around but the

trend is they will become fewer and further between and most fading away

overnight and it will turn a bit chilly. The next few hours, some

showers dotted around but as we go through the small hours of the

morning, it becomes dry virtually everywhere and with clearing skies

and light wind, temperatures will