Trafalgar Square

For years, my husband and I had wanted to take our children to London before the magic of "Peter Pan" and "Mary Poppins" wore off, before the older two became too jaded for the Changing of the Guard and double-decker buses, before they would rather hang out with their friends than go anywhere with their family. But the pound, at $2 a pop, was just too strong. Then last year the pound fell, our frequent-flier miles covered three of our five tickets, and we could proudly announce to our kids that we were going to London for Christmas.

The military turning point of World War II came in November 1942, 60 years ago, at three different places on the globe. At El Alamein in Egypt, the British 8th Army won a battle against the German-Italian African army and began its march westward. A week later, American and British forces landed in Morocco and Algeria, establishing a second front, eventually clearing all of Africa of German and Italian troops.

LONDON - Has anyone built a better "Mousetrap"? Britons just getting over celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee are now in the throes of another: the 60th anniversary of the world's longest-running play, "The Mousetrap" by Agatha Christie, England's "queen of crime" (or, with less royal pretension, "duchess of death"). What began as a BBC radio drama, at a time when postwar Brits carried around ration books and stared agog at television sets, has since become a West End phenomenon that shows no sign of stopping, though critics carp about signs of age. Sunday marks the official birthday, achieved after more than 25,000 performances, 400 actors and two dozen directors.

British police made more than 150 arrests Thursday as 50,000 revelers welcomed in the New Year with fireworks and singing in London's Trafalgar Square. But police said the traditional celebrations in central London were generally good-humored and passed without major incident.

The trustees of Britain's National Art Gallery said today they are scrapping a design for an extension that Prince Charles described as a "monstrous carbuncle." The $21.6-million scheme included building a glass tower topped by aluminum flagpoles facing Trafalgar Square. A gallery spokesman said six architects will be invited to submit a new design for the extension.

Daniel Radcliffe's Out magazine cover story teaches us a couple of very important things. One, he seems like a really decent guy who gets along with just about everybody when he's on a movie set. Two, he's circumcised.  Radcliffe, who plays Allen Ginsberg in the film "Kill Your Darlings" - it premiered at Sundance last month - was resolutely unfazed about playing a gay man, according to the mag . "You never see a gay actor getting asked...

There were pop stars, cameras and lights, but the excitement wasn't for a movie premiere. It was the world debut of a Pepsi commercial -- starring Britney Spears, Pink and Beyonce. The trio were at the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square on Monday for the first screening of the soft drink manufacturer's "New Gladiator" ad, in which they play gladiators and Enrique Iglesias plays an evil Roman emperor.

After the July 7 London subway and bus bombings, we aimed to be somber, angry and chilling, but our pens too often hit the banal and hackneyed. Amid the mourning lions of Trafalgar Square and Twin Towers of London was clever work linking London's happy Olympic news of 7/6 to the 7/7 attacks, and some perspective-providing reminders about past IRA terror and the World War II Blitz.

Tens of thousands of pro-Israel demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square on Monday, calling for peace in the Middle East and an end to Palestinian suicide attacks on Israelis. The square was awash with blue-and-white Israeli flags and banners proclaiming solidarity with Israel, as the crowd cheered the key speaker--former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Police estimated that 30,000 people attended.