SAD state of affairs in the gloomy City

London

There is a trendy poster and T-shirt doing the rounds in London. Rekindling a mantra from the second world war's darkest days, it says: 'Keep calm and carry on.'

The mantra couldn't be more apt for Londoners now.

Although the capital had its first sunny weekend for months, the gloom descended again on Monday.

Another phrase sums up the problem - 'When New York sneezes, London catches a cold.' Some 5,000 jobs went after Lehman Brothers at Canary Wharf told staff to hop it. Its demise signals tougher times ahead for restaurants, high-end shops and the London real estate market, all driven by City earnings.

New York is irking the London fashion world, too, with news last weekend that the Big Apple wants to stretch its fashion week to eight days. London, sandwiched by New York and Milan, fears its shows may shrink to four days so as not to clash. Some fear the event may cease to exist, with press and buyers heading straight to Milan from Manhattan. Such a 'calamity', say some, would cost London GBP150 million (HK$2 billion).

Another teenager was stabbed to death last weekend, again in Croydon, south London. This time a 19-year-old football player with north London League Two side Barnet, Oliver Kingonzila, died. Community leaders warn that although he was the 26th teenage victim this year, the deadly trend is the start of a spiral, not the end.