The Latest Breaking News from Thames

From eye-boggling balloon rooms, to historical Easter egg hunts in palace grounds, there’s tonnes of brilliant London activities for children over the break

In his bestselling book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell repeatedly referenced the '10,000-Hour Rule', based on research by Swedish psychologist Anders Ericsson. Despite its subsequent controversy, the rule's premise is in someways fairly pedestrian: achieving greatness in any skill requires time and effort.

Participants in Oxford v Cambridge competition were warned to cover wounds due to risks from E coli-polluted waterway

Research earlier this week found high levels of E. coli were in the part of the river used for the annual race

The formation of a company solely dedicated to providing cheap, clean water is the best way out of this debacle

Cambridge dominate both races to claim victory as the light blues win the Boat Race double for a second year in a row

Sewage scandal has brought extra focus on the race and forced more caution from the rowers but enthusiasm is undimmed with Oxford favourites this year

Brief letters: Bletchley Park’s Fusion Room | Queen’s Park Rangers | A new Boat Race tradition | Thames Water | One-way ticket to Rwanda

Thames Water, like other water companies, had no debt at the time of privatisation. But since 1989, these utility firms have borrowed vast sums to pay out more than £65 billion in dividends. Privatisation was of course supposed to drive investment. Instead it has fallen. Taxpayers and bill payers have been…