The Lord Mayor of London is the City's mayor and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City of London, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powers and privileges, including the title and style The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London. One of the world's oldest continuously elected civic offices, it is separate from the directly-elected Mayor of London, a political office controlling a budget which covers the much larger area of Greater London; the Corporation of London changed its name to the City of London Corporation in 2006, accordingly the title Lord Mayor of the City of London was introduced, so as to avoid confusion with the Mayor of London. However, the legal and used title remains Lord Mayor of London; the Lord Mayor is elected at Common Hall each year on Michaelmas, takes office on the Friday before the second Saturday in November, at The Silent Ceremony. The Lord Mayor's Show is held on the day after taking office.

The Lord Mayor's main role nowadays is to represent and promote the businesses and residents in the City of London. Today these businesses are in the financial sector, the Lord Mayor is regarded as the champion of the entire UK-based financial sector regardless of ownership or location throughout the country; as leader of the Corporation of the City of London, the Lord Mayor serves as the key spokesman for the local authority and has important ceremonial and social responsibilities. The Lord Mayor is non-affiliated politically delivering many hundreds of speeches and addresses per year and attending many receptions and other events in London and beyond. Most incumbents make overseas visits while Lord Mayor of London under the auspices of the FCO; the Lord Mayor, ex-officio Rector of City, University of London and Admiral of the Port of London, is assisted in day-to-day administration by the Mansion House'Esquires' and whose titles include the City Marshal, Sword Bearer and Common Crier. William Russell serves as the 692nd Lord Mayor, assisted as ADC by Major Dionne Konstantinious, Army Cadet Force, as Lord Mayor's Chaplain by the Revd James Power.

Of the 69 cities in the United Kingdom, the City of London is among the 30. The Lord Mayor is entitled to the prefix The Right Honourable; the style, however, is used. The latter prefix applies only to Privy Counsellors. A woman who holds the office is known as a Lord Mayor; the wife of a male Lord Mayor is styled as Lady Mayoress, but no equivalent title exists for the husband of a female or male Lord Mayor. A female Lord Mayor or an unmarried male Lord Mayor may appoint a female consort a fellow member of the corporation, to the role of Lady Mayoress. In speech, a Lord Mayor is referred to as "My Lord Mayor", a Lady Mayoress as "My Lady Mayoress", it was once customary for Lord Mayors to be appointed knights upon taking office and baronets upon retirement, unless they held such a title. This custom was followed with a few inconsistencies from the 16th until the 19th centuries. However, from 1964 onwards, the regular creation of hereditary titles such as baronetcies was phased out, so subsequent Lord Mayors were offered knighthoods.

Since 1993, Lord Mayors have not automatically received any national honour upon appointment. Furthermore, foreign Heads of State visiting the City of London on a UK State Visit, diplomatically bestow upon the Lord Mayor one of their suitable national honours. For example, in 2001, Sir David Howard was created a Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence of Jordan by King Abdullah II. Lord Mayors have been appointed at the beginning of their term of office Knights or Dames of St John, as a mark of respect, by HM The Queen, Sovereign Head of the Order of St John; the office of Mayor was instituted in 1189, the first holder of the office being Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone. The Mayor of the City of London has been elected by the City, rather than appointed by the Sovereign since a Royal Charter providing for a Mayor was issued by King John in 1215; the title "Lord Mayor" came to be used after 1354, when it was granted to Thomas Legge by King Edward III. Lord Mayors are elected for one-year terms.

Numerous individuals have served multiple terms in office, including: As Mayor 24 terms: Sir Henry FitzAlan 9 terms: Ralph de Sandwich 8 terms: Gregory de Rokesley 7 terms: Andrew Buckerel.

The Sasson Expressway is a 4-laned national expressway in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is operated by the East Nippon Expressway Company; the name Sasson is a kanji acronym of two characters. The first character represents Sapporo and the second represents Otaru, which are the two cities connected by the expressway; the expressway is a part of the Hokkaidō Ōdan Expressway Nemuro Route and Abashiri Route. The first section of the expressway opened in 1971 with two lanes ahead of the 1972 Winter Olympics. Expansion to four lanes was completed in 1974; the entire route was completed in 1992 with a connection to the Dō-Ō Expressway. The speed limit is 80 km/h along the entire route; the section from Sapporo-nishi Interchange through Sapporo Junction to Sapporo-minami Interchange on the Dō-Ō Expressway is built to an urban expressway standard and tolls are charged at a flat rate. As of March 2008 the toll on this section is 400 yen for regular passenger cars. Tolls on all other sections of the expressway are assessed according to distance travelled in the same manner as most other national expressways.

IC - interchange, JCT - junction, PA - parking area, BS - bus stop, TN - tunnel, BR - bridge, TB - toll gate East Nippon Expressway Company

Humayra Abedin is a Bangladeshi doctor of medicine who worked for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom and became a cause célèbre after her parents tried to force her into marriage and held her captive until she was freed by court order. Abedin was brought up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she is the only child of her parents, Mohammad Joynal Abedin, a retired businessman who at that time owned a clothing factory and several shops, Begum Sofia Kamal, a housewife. She studied at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Dhaka before training as a doctor at Dhaka Medical College. In September 2002, she came to England to study for a master's degree in public health at the University of Leeds. In 2008, she was training to become a general practitioner at Whipps Cross Hospital in East London, she was training to become a registrar at a GP surgery in east London. Abedin's Muslim family became angry after they learned she had a long-term relationship with a Bangladeshi man she met in London, who works as a software engineer.

Since May 2008, her family made several attempts to keep her away from him and to force her into marriage. At the end of June 2008, the Metropolitan Police launched an inquiry, after she was held captive in her flat by her mother and uncle, who visited for several days, her case had been taken up by Interpol. In August 2008, her family convinced her to return to Bangladesh by claiming her mother was ill, they hid her passport and plane ticket, held her captive since 5 August. On 13 August 2008, Abedin was taken from the family home to an ambulance, taken to a private clinic, given drugs and kept there until 5 November 2008. After succeeding in getting messages to her friends to say that she was being held against her will, a series of legal moves were instituted on her behalf. Abedin instructed her lawyers to annul the marriage on her behalf. In December 2008, after her family ignored orders from the Bangladeshi high court to bring Abedin to court. On 5 December 2008, The high court issued an order under the Forced Marriage Act, which makes it illegal to force someone into a marriage against their will.

It is thought to be the first time the legislation has been used to help a foreign national, living abroad. In what is believed to be the first use of the act relating to a foreign national. On 14 December 2008, two judges ruled that she must remain in custody in a court in Dhaka until she returned to Britain. Abedin flew from Dhaka to London. On 16 December 2008, she arrived in the UK. On 19 December 2008, she won high court protection today from any renewed attempts to remove her from the UK. Injunctions were issued against Abedin's parents, a paternal uncle and the man she was forced to marry. Further orders were granted to prevent Abedin from being removed this the UK again. Abedin refused to press charges against her parents. British Bangladeshi List of British Bangladeshis Statement from Humayra Abedin, NHS doctor forced into marriage in Bangladesh; the Guardian. 19 December 2008 Forced marriage:'I can't forgive or forget what they did to me'. The Independent. 5 July 2009