〔編譯羅彥傑／美聯社倫敦二十八日電〕人口高達八百萬的英國首都倫敦，自有人居住以來歷經二千年，因此地底下還有更多數以百萬計的先人骸骨長眠地底，而倫敦現在就快要沒有墓地可用了。如今，倫敦市最大的公墓只好試圖說服市民與陌生人共用墳墓。
共有約將近一百萬倫敦人安息的「倫敦市立公墓」管理官員柏克斯說：「很多人說，『我不要把我的父親葬在二手墳墓』。你必須處理這種心態。」
許多其他歐洲國家定期在數十年後重新使用舊墳墓，但英國受限傳統與政府很少管制，這變成是英國特有問題，對許多人來說，英格蘭人的墓穴就像是家，是自己的城堡。
這項觀點在美國也很普遍，美國就像英國一樣，傾向於視墳墓為不朽且不能受到打擾。不過美國比起英國還有很多空間，所以下葬危機沒有這麼嚴重。
在 英國許多地區，重新使用舊墳墓依然不合法，但倫敦市立公墓打算鑽法律漏洞，讓凡是在首都尚有剩餘空間的墳墓在七十五年後得以重新收回使用。自從去年修法 後，公墓工作人員展開更敏感的工作，包括挖掘舊骸骨、重新安葬到更深的地底，之後安置新屍骨於頂端，形成所謂的「雙層墳墓」。
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| 劍橋網路版校園刊物「The Tab」版面猶如八卦報翻版，內容也以八卦新聞為主，女學生清涼照讓這本刊物成為眾矢之的。 （取自每日郵報網站） |
〔編譯鄭寺音／綜合報導〕著名學府英國劍橋大學總是給人治學嚴謹、學生認真向學的印象，但如果你看過該校的網路校刊「The Tab」，保證對劍橋既有的印象會大幅改觀。
「The Tab」以顛覆紙版校刊的風格創站以來，吸引眾多校友嚐鮮，首週瀏覽率堂堂突破八萬人次，傳統校刊龍頭地位不保；不過「The Tab」內容低俗、讓人噴鼻血的清涼美女版，乍看有如直接取自八卦小報，無怪乎創刊後在保守的劍橋校園掀軒然大波。
打出清涼牌 招徠廣告
「The Tab」以報導名人八卦與體育新聞為主，最近該報最夯的新聞，包括慶祝劍橋女生胸部尺寸榮登英國第九的新聞「波很大」（Bravo），新鮮趣味的風格，轟動劍橋校園，該報向廣告主招攬生意時，甚至以劍橋最多人看的學生刊物為號召。
儘 管如此，「The Tab」猶如八卦報翻版的風格，還是無可避免地引來紙版校園刊物撻伐，劍橋學生會的女性幹部也對清涼照很有意見。學生會幹部絲札蕾克表示，女學生的清涼內 衣照，會讓越來越多人對女性有不當想法；連為了幫朋友忙而拍攝清涼照的女學生，最後也因為實在太尷尬，要求網站移除照片。
創辦「The Tab」的三名男學生對這些批評嗤之以鼻，直說學生會是「可悲的恐龍，不是該死了，就是會漸漸滅種」；創辦人之一的三年級學生阿提格其表示，「我們不是性 別歧視……網站只是小報的玩笑版而已」，他說，「The Tab」讓紙版校刊「Varsity」、「the Cambridge Student」讀者群大幅流失，是因為「學生想迅速取得新聞，而且是要有趣的新聞，他們已經讀太多論文了」。阿提格其也說，該報將延續風格，不會因為有 人抗議而有所改變。
All operational units across the country are working today, Tuesday 27th October and all deliveries and collections should be made as normal today. We’re doing everything possible to deliver all mail delayed by last week’s industrial action during the next few days.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has chosen to call further national strike action this week, plus specific action affecting collections in many parts of London on Friday. The details are as follows:
| Date | Functions striking | General service impact |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 29th October | Mail Centres & Network Distribution Units | Limited processing, movement and collection of ordinary mail (if local collections performed by a Mail Centre). |
| Friday 30th October | Manual Data Entry Centres (coding of poorly addressed mail) | No direct impact on collections or deliveries. |
| London Collections Hubs | Limited collections in all parts of the SE, N, NW and WC postal districts. Limited collections in the E1, E2, E4, E5, E8 to E11, E17, E18, SW11 to SW20 postcode areas and all parts of the W district (except W5, W7, W13). Collections in most other areas of London, including the EC district, as normal on Friday. | |
| Saturday 31st October | Delivery Offices | Limited delivery and collection of ordinary mail (if local collections performed by a Delivery Office) |
We are really sorry for the significant disruption and inconvenience industrial action being taken by the CWU is having on customers and for the uncertainty further strike announcements will cause. We are continuing to urge the CWU to call off all strike action and concentrate with us on supporting customers during the Autumn and Christmas peak mail period.
In the event this planned strike action takes place, national mail services on Thursday and Saturday will be very limited and delay to the collection, sorting, distribution and delivery of mail will be inevitable. Collections in many parts of London will be disrupted on Friday 30th October.
If the industrial action goes ahead, Royal Mail has strong contingency plans to do all we can to keep mail moving and minimise disruption for our customers:
More information about services in your area, plus answers to your most frequently asked questions relating to the industrial action, are available via the following links:
Sign up for free email service updates at www.royalmail.com/myserviceupdates
You can also check our most frequently asked questions for information relating to industrial action. Simply click on the link that best describes the type of customer you are:
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| Chaucerian Figures |
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Legislators have been asked to hand back some of the money they've claimed from public funds over the past five years. And as Stephen Beard tells us in this Postcard from London, the House of Commons is not happy.
A nine-year-old child, in fact. The new look is by Florence Jackson, who is the first child to design a British coin.
Her sketch of a London 2012 high jump athlete mid-Fosbury Flop beat 17,000 other entries in a Blue Peter competition to give her the chance to work with the Royal Mint on her design.
'I am so excited. I love drawing and I chose the high jump because I'd watched it on TV before and thought it looked fun,' said the youngster from Bristol.
(Investment Management industry)
Currently holds this position
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擁有倫敦新興金融區金絲雀碼頭（Canary Wharf）逾半數大樓產權的Songbird地產公司最大股東易主，恐將由卡達主權財富基金掌握董事會，反映波灣國家重燃對已開發市場的野心。 卡達控股公司10日說，卡達控股已提高在Songbird地產的持股至24%，總投資金額逾3.5億英鎊（5.55億美元），成為Songbird最大股東，未來還可認購優先股與債券。這是Songbird債務重整計畫的一部份。卡達控股原先持股比率為15%。 卡達控股執行長阿薩伊（Ahmadal-Sayed）在聲明中說：「我們相信發行新股獲得正面回應，代表英國商用不動產回溫，及交易深具吸引力。」 卡達控股是卡達主權財富基金，卡達投資局的投資部門，其持有的歐洲企業股權包括：巴克萊銀行、瑞士信貸集團、德國福斯汽車、英國超市業者聖伯利（Sainsbury），以及倫敦證券交易所等。卡達看好福斯合併保時捷的利益，也準備提高在福斯的持股。 卡達控股除將取得Songbird三席董事，還會取得金絲雀碼頭集團（CanaryWharfGroup）一席董事。Songbird持有後者近七成股權。 英國商用不動產市場降至冰點，導致多家不動產公司財務吃緊。8月底Sonbird表示，將售股予卡達控股與中國投資公司，以應付即將到期的8.8億英鎊花旗集團貸款。 金絲雀碼頭是英國政府在1980年代產業與都市再造計畫的重點計畫，成功將破敗的東倫敦碼頭區改造為全球新興金融中心，被稱為「倫敦金融城第二」。 但金絲雀碼頭的興起也帶動倫敦金融城大興土木，造成倫敦商用辦公室供給暴增，今年6月金融城的商辦租金已掉回到1991年的水準，金絲雀碼頭只有更慘。 這使得自2004年起即為金絲雀碼頭大股東的Songbird遭受重創，8月時幾乎破產。Songbird的現有股東，包括英國房地產信託投資公司British Land等，都不肯伸出援手，銀行也拒絕提供再融資。不過，這卻給了卡達控股與中投公司機會。 |
 Boris Johnson said it was an honour to step inside the Queen Vic |
Mayor of London Boris Johnson is to make a guest appearance on the BBC soap EastEnders later this year.
He will appear in a scene set in the show's Queen Vic pub where he has an argument with landlady Peggy Mitchell, who is played by Barbara Windsor.
The scene will be in an episode showing Peggy, who recently became involved in local politics, enduring a frustrating time trying to track him down.
The scene with Mr Johnson was filmed last Friday and will air this autumn.
Mr Johnson said: "It was, of course, a tremendous honour to step inside that most venerable of London landmarks, the Queen Vic, and share a scene with another of the capital's icons, the fabulous Barbara Windsor."
EastEnders executive producer Diederick Santer said: "EastEnders does its best to reflect contemporary London, and we hope that meeting the mayor will help us stay ahead with the latest London stories, policies and developments.
"We couldn't let the visit pass without the mayor entering London's most famous pub, the Queen Vic, and meeting its formidable and politically-active landlady Peggy Mitchell."
Spotlight:
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| 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' |
Quote:
已有182年歷史的倫敦老牌報章《標準晚報》（Evening Standard），不敵免費報紙的競爭，銷量急跌，其俄羅斯老闆為了在艱難經營環境下提高發行量，以增加廣告收入，決定自本月12日起改為免費派發。 《標準晚報》8個月前由俄國富豪列別杰夫（Alexander Lebedev）收購，過去3年來一直受到免費報章挑戰，銷量由5年前的每天45萬分，急跌至現時的每日僅11萬6192分，每年虧損1500萬英鎊。銷 量急跌導致列別杰夫決定把報章改為免費派發，希望吸引廣告商，把廣告收入增加四成，而每日發行量將由目前的25萬分增至60萬分。事緣傳統報紙的收益是依 靠廣告和發行兩大因素，發行量愈大，報紙吸附廣告的能力也就愈強，廣告的收入就會隨之增加。列別杰夫說，《標準晚報》改為免費報，不會涉及裁減新聞工作人 員，並會繼續為讀者提供高質責的新聞報道。
