Italy is not the best place to keep up with the subtleties of British social relations, but from here it really does look like the young rioters are hell-bent to have a pissing match with the police, and hell-bent too to prove that the police can't control the streets of London, perhaps taking deliberate aim at creating worries about the upcoming Olympics.

Needless to say, the pictures being shown around the world focus on the sensationalism, but there is also a fairly consistent theme that the police have faltered or bumbled, and that there are leadership problems there.

I'd be skeptical of people who think they can predict what's about to happen next in London (or in the global markets).

That attack of the fancy restaurant in Notting Hill last night will probably not reassure most tourists.

And of course, now that the young man from Croydon has died, I think that pretty much clinches the certainty of round 4 tonight.

It is interesting that special permission is required from the highest levesl to use rubber bullets and tear gas. Perhaps that point has been reached.

Peaceful wishes for our UK friends.

I think even the police knew Round 4 tonight was a certainty. What has been unclear in Round 2 and 3 in particular (as it appears from abraod) is whether most of the rioting kids are in it for the fun of stealing, or whether they are picking a fight with the police as a show of manhood. If it's the first, the consumerist thieves won't persist in getting their heads cracked just to have another TV. If it's to prove they can get their heads bloodied and be proud to come back for more and not flinch, the police will have a hard time outwitting them.

I would have thought British authorities had learned some lessons about what escalates this kind of outburst and what doesn't from many bitter experiences in Northern Ireland. But that's no guarantee they'll remember and have success here, and maybe the underlying conditions are so different, they will have to think anew.

Of course here in States, the news coverage amps up sensationalistic views ...... now have named the story "Britain Burning". Makes it difficult to really ascertain what's going on. Hope police are able to get control of hooligans.

"I'm among Cameron's greatest fans."

Why Dave & Boris used to be little thugs who thought nothing of trashing restaurants. How can they condemn the rioters when they did similar when young?

Has CNN cooked up one of its flashy theme titles yet? Are they the ones who came up with "Britain Burning"?

The first hand accounts by people living in London here on Fodors are frightening enough that the sensationalist headlines do not seem out of place.

I liked "Paris Burning" in 2005. I was living in Paris at the time, just off the Champs-Élysées - watching CNN and discovered that Paris was on fire. I looked out the window and except for the ususal hoards of tourists it seemed calm enough. I went back to the TV and CNN was still yammering on. It is frightening if you don't know the geography of a place.

Yeah, I think it was CNN that has named this news story (Britain Burning) ..... altho for several years now, I've noticed ALL news stations feel compelled to "name" big news events.

Can't wait to see what Fox News comes up with. I've already been enjoying the headlines on The Sun quite a lot.

Anyone who listens to "sensational" US media has themselves to blame for what they choose to ingest as a news source. All of the news I watched on TV covered it, as they should, and did nothing to "sensationalize" it at all, nor did the radio news I listen to. It was pretty matter-of-fact about these events occurring, factual, nd it wasn't that big a part of the news and had no flashy names. Anyone who watches CNN in the states deserves what they get IMO, it's not a good news channel, and if you don't like sensationalism I wonder why you watch that channel.

but there is also a fairly consistent theme that the police have faltered or bumbled, and that there are leadership problems there. >>

not surprising really given that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police [what the chief of police for London is call, the Met Pol Com for short] just had to resign over the phone hacking scandal.

Given the hot weather, wouldn't water cannon be a good idea? a nasty foreign idea, i know, but they get the job done.

[i can't believe i just wrote that, and me a namby pamby liberal lefty - perhaps the distance of the channel has affected me].

Would the water cannon be a good idea?

Who can be sure? The rioters have the advantage here.

Police leadership and police credibility were no doubt undermined by the phone hacking scandal. But there are other serious questions, I think, about the performance of the police and decision that have been made about when and where to deploy them, to what extent to arm them, etc. I don't think the police face an easy situation, but there is no alternative to examining whether their performance could have been improved.

As for CNN, it would have to work overtime to match the sensationalism of the British medi -- and truth be told, this simply is a sensational story. It is riot, for Pete's sake. People in Britain are appalled and sickened, I gather, by the pictures they've seen, and the pictures are not doctored or hyped.

I am still waiting for a chance to get a free new TV.

FWIW, yesterday I cycled from south of Canary Wharf, through Limehouse and Shadwell to the Tower, on through the City to St Pauls, crossed to the South Bank to Waterloo, then back along the main roads on the southern side to Tower Bridge and home again from there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

This is something the police haven't quiet met before. Public order policing has been about managing pre-arranged and planned political demonstrations, with a risk of troublemakers peeling off, like last autumn. Most of the people are in predictable places. This is about flash-mobbing, with people only out to make trouble melting away when the police arrive in force and regrouping elsewhere (which is why water cannon are irrelevant).

Well all was quiet in my neighbourhood last night and friends that went to work in the city yesterday said all was normal. There may have been some squirmishes around city centre (Oxford St) but nothing like what you see on TV or in the 'burbs'.

There was a heavy presence of police in our area and I am keeping my fingers crossed. I think the rioters have lost the element of surprise and most town centres are taking serious precautions and closing early and boarding up. Some areas have organized neighboughood watches and are patrolling with the police.

RIM have said they will cooperate with the police and give BBM messages and Greenwich Council where I live has said they will evict any tenants that have participated and get caught.

Lets all pray this is coming to an end...once that happens we can move onto solving the bigger issues.

As a tourist I think you will be fine and probably wont notice much (maybe extra sirens and helicopters overhead at night) and a much quieter central London as locals from outside London head home early to ensure they can get home.

I'm glad that things were quieter last night, jamikens.

let's hope that's a sign of things to come.

Social networking sites have become breeding grounds for grave crimes such as these. What has the world gone into?! And Have you guys read about the infamous set of hackers that is about to bring apocalyptic end to all social networking sites such as Facebook? They said that it's gonna end at November 5th. What do you think about all of this?! Everything on the world of Net has gone completely mad!

I'm very surprised Walkingaround hasn't popped up on this thread with one of his ridiculous "we Britons" posts.