It is suspected that the desire of the 7 July bombers was to create a "burning cross" across London. It is clear that London is now a major target for terrorism - and that the city's transport system makes it especially vulnerable. But it is a relief that London is not today mourning the loss of more innocent lives. Yet whatever the nature of the group that perpetrated yesterday's attacks, it makes the debate about security in the capital more urgent. But this does not mean the same hand lies behind yesterday's explosions. There are suggestions that it might have been a copy-cat attack. The small amount of damage done and the failure of the explosives to take any lives suggest that this may be the work of a group less well trained in the horrible techniques of mass murder This is far from comforting, of course.
And the fact that three Tube trains and a bus were targeted is a chilling echo of two weeks ago. At the moment, we do not know if the four small explosions were part of a follow-up to the atrocity. The great fear lurking at the back of the public consciousness after the London bombings of two weeks ago was that this would not prove a unique outrage, but the beginning of a campaign of terror. Were these four murderers working alone, people asked themselves? Or were they part of a wider network of bombers, primed to descend on the capital? Yesterday, while London was still mourning those who died on 7 July, a series of co-ordinated explosions on the city's transport system seemed to confirm our worst fears Terrorists had struck again. Much energy went into designing apparatus to enable handicapped children to run and play, and to help blind children to dance.
As Delmar grew old and increasingly frail Josefina spent more time in Cumbria to be with him. The taste of the art world was changing and increasingly she felt that her figurative and symbolic style was not recognised. Neither she nor her husband had ever been dependent on the art establishment, and she continued to sculpt for patrons who valued her own approach. When she was appointed MBE in 1985 it was for services to the community in Cumbria, not for her work as a sculptor.Then, at a time when many artists would have regarded their life's work as complete, de Vasconcellos began to receive international recognition for her moving work Reconciliation. This piece, which shows two figures kneeling and embracing, was first given to Bradford University to support the establishment of the Department of Peace Studies in 1973 It was later cast in bronze for Coventry Cathedral in 1995.
