London

NEW YORK -- Delta Air Lines Inc. will begin a daily flight between New York and London after buying the route from United Airlines, leaving American Airlines as the only U.S. carrier that will fly from New York to London's Heathrow airport. Delta, which plans to pay as much as $21 million for the route, will begin trips between John F. Kennedy International Airport and London's Gatwick Airport as early as November, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said. The carrier has added flights from JFK to 11 new cities outside the U.S. this year, she said.

USAir has not escaped the merciless impact of the recession. But the Baltimore-Washington International Airport's dominant carrier made a decision recently that should position the airline for long-term growth and boost the Baltimore region's economy.Pending the approval of federal regulators, USAir has agreed to buy Trans World Airlines' routes to London from Baltimore-Washington International Airport and from Philadelphia. If the purchase is approved, the London route should strengthen Baltimore's position as one of USAir's key hubs.

USAir's inaugural flight from Baltimore to London took off last night from Baltimore-Washington International Airport, carrying with it the airport's hopes for continued growth in international traffic.In December, USAir reached a $50 million deal with TWA to buy two London routes, one from Philadelphia and the other from Baltimore. That sale assured the continuation of BWI's service to London.TWA carried about 30,000 passengers on its BWI-London route last year. "It's one of our most key markets," Linda Greene, a BWI spokeswoman said yesterday.

LONDON -- A massive power failure created chaos in London's Underground railway system at the height of the morning rush hour yesterday, stalling 26 trains and trapping thousands in blacked-out tunnels for up to three hours."

LONDON -- Scotland Yard rewrote yesterday the rules that have traditionally barred London's bobbies from openly carrying guns, and for the first time will send a few dozen specially trained police officers into the streets this summer, wearing sidearms in hip holsters.The change in policy -- provoked by a growing number of violent assaults on police officers -- will go unnoticed by the public. All but a handful of London's uniformed bobbies will continue to walk their beats and ride patrols cars without weapons, as they have done since the capital's police force was established more than a century ago.But while the new policy affects, in practice, only a few patrol officers, police officials said it had a much larger symbolic importance, as one more step toward providing police officers with the kinds of weapons they need to defend themselves.

A friend of mine recently complained that he spent an hour and a quarter on the phone dickering with a sales agent to get a good seat to the New York production of "Angels in America," the Pulitizer-prize winning play.The seat cost $69.75. I smiled. I saw the same play in London, where a fine seat goes for $20.25.London theater remains an outstanding value in terms of high standards of acting, variety and choice of material, ease of getting seats and a setting in a civilized city filled with museums, lush gardens and delightful architecture.

LONDON -- Four of six men accused in a failed attempt to blow up parts of London's public transit system in 2005 were convicted yesterday of conspiracy to commit murder. The jury will continue deliberations on the fate of the other two defendants today. The panel unanimously rejected the defense contention that the bombs, which failed to explode, were meant to merely scare the public and prompt government officials to reconsider British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The failure of those bombs to explode owed nothing to the intention of these defendants.

LONDON -- An Indian doctor in Australia was freed yesterday after the government dropped a terrorism charge against him arising from the botched bombing plot here last month. The doctor, Mohammed Haneef, had been in custody since July 2. He had been charged with giving the subscriber identity module, or SIM card, from his cell phone to a "terrorist organization." Australian police said that organization consisted of Kafeel and Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, brothers who are prime suspects in the failed bombings in London and Glasgow.

All those parades, guest performances at National Football League games and public concerts have contributed to the Baltimore Colts' Band creating a reputation as a remarkable unit, a force for entertainment. Also possessing an unchallenged distinction.This is the only band in history that marches in behalf of a nonexistent team. It's also why the band, like no other, holds such a revered place in the character of Baltimore.The presence of the Colts band brings happiness and applause when it comes into view along a parade route.

LIKE MANY FAMILIES on vacation, mine spent much of our recent two weeks in London debating how we would spend our holiday. My wife, the culture vulture, was fond of touring museums. My younger son, 18, preferred visiting castles and checking out nightspots with his older brother, 22, who has been studying in London this summer. Meanwhile, I kept slipping away to the pubs, learning the beer-drinking habits of Londoners. Of the half-dozen London pubs I visited, my favorite was the Nags Head at 53 Kinnerton St. in the Knightsbridge area just south of Hyde Park.