London underpass to hold flood water

A PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS is to be turned into an emergency pond to hold hundreds of thousands of litres of floodwater threatening homes and businesses in south London. The Purley Cross underpass will be used to hold water pumped from around 400 under-threat buildings in parts of Kenley and Purley and to stop a water treatment works which supplies tens of thousands of homes from flooding, Croydon Council said. The authority said the plan to use the underground footway to hold around 600,000 litres of water from tonight was approved after its "primary" pond at Purley Depot overflowed last night.

First look: 2014 BMW M3 and M4

The BMW M3 is back, faster and more powerful than ever before -- but only as a four-door sedan. For its iconic 3-series-based performance model, BMW will dispense with a 26-year tradition of high-revving naturally aspirated engines in lieu of turbocharged six-cylinder power. Revealed here in production-car guise for the first time, the new 425-hp M3 sedan will be joined at the outset by its sister model, the M4 -- a mechanically identical but stylistically sleeker two-door coupe previewed in lightly veiled concept-car form at the Pebble Beach concours in California last August.

Honda Civic (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the ninth generation of Honda’s small car star, which has gestated from trend setting (Civic Mk1 of 1972) to stylistically dull if technically advanced (most) to sci-fi-style wacko but technically mainstream (Civic Mk8). New Civics, over the years, have been about as easy to forecast as David Beckham’s next hairstyle as Honda engineers – never the most predictable bunch – veer from brave to bashful. The new Civic, unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, is eye-catching although less off-centre than generation eight, and is closed basely mechanically on its predecessor.