London First created a working group in October 2011 to examine the case for the new rail link beneath central London.

BBC: Crossrail 2 stations proposed by London business leaders

However, if some of these athletes break through and become part of the elite group that heads for London, suddenly their new personal best becomes their new standard, and the pressure is on them to continue to perform at that new level.

FORBES: Connect

In that spirit, in a new report by Conciliation Resources, a London-based organisation, a group of mainly leftish authors argues for local peace initiatives and more civic participation in peace talks.

ECONOMIST: Colombia's paramilitaries: Disarming, bit by bit | The

In one year, the group has set up branches in London, Frankfurt, New York and Singapore.

FORBES: The Growing Financial Sorority

An off-shoot of the 215-year-old Glasgow-based Herald, now owned by the Scottish Media Group, the new five-section broadsheet aims to kick the London-based media into touch, and poach some readers from Edinburgh rival Scotland on Sunday along the way.

BBC: News | UK | Scotland heralds a new Sunday paper

Citing international data, the Clean Air Network, another local green group, argues that local air is often three times as foul as in New York and London.

ECONOMIST: An encouraging appointment addresses an enduring problem

The answer may not be in the concept itself iced caramel macchiato crosses the counter as briskly in Cologne as it does in London or New York but in the deal that KarstadtQuelle, the German department store and tourism group, cut with Seattle-based Starbucks.

ECONOMIST: Karstadt's coffee loses flavour

Earlier on Friday Channel Five announced a number of new shows, among them a programme about gadgets and a reality show featuring a group of young lesbians in London.

BBC: Denise Van Outen pulls out of new Channel Five show