A lifeboat had to make four trips to recover seven people from Worms Head island due to very challenging conditions
It turned out to be a dangerous trip to a tidal island in Wales that, thanks to the RNLI, seven American students will never forget.
The group had to be rescued by the lifeboat service after the incoming tide cut Worms Head island off from the Gower coast on Saturday morning.
Continue reading...Chancellor expected to unveil new building projects and revise planning rules to stimulate UK economy
Rachel Reeves has given her strongest hint yet that she will back a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that she is willing to make difficult decisions while pursuing economic growth.
The chancellor is poised to make a significant speech this week where she will outline her plans to boost the British economy by radically altering planning rules and accelerating building projects.
Continue reading...Lack of knowledge about Holocaust identified as well as level of denial and disinformation seen on social media
A third of young adults in the UK are unable to name Auschwitz or any of the other concentration camps and ghettoes where the crimes of the Holocaust were committed, according to a study.
Other growing gaps in knowledge – especially among those aged 18-29 – were also identified, as part of a major international survey in countries including the US and UK.
Continue reading...Paul Butler, 53, charged over death of Claire Chick, 48, who was found seriously injured on Wednesday
A 53-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a nurse and university lecturer who was found injured in the street in Plymouth.
Officers were called to West Hoe Road at 8.55pm on Wednesday after reports that a woman had been seriously injured.
Continue reading...Labour’s James Frith and Conservative Caroline Nokes gifted tickets by Paddy Power worth up to £1,000 each
Two MPs received VIP tickets for the sold-out World Darts Championships courtesy of a betting company – weeks after a national outcry over politicians accepting freebies.
Labour MP James Frith, who has campaigned for safer gambling, and Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, the deputy speaker of the House of Commons, were gifted “platinum” hospitality tickets by Paddy Power worth up to £1,000 each.
Continue reading...Chancellor says runway would mean fewer planes circling London, and points to moves towards sustainable flying
Rachel Reeves has indicated her support for building a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that it would have environmental benefits such as fewer planes circling London.
Ahead of a major speech on economic growth this coming week, the chancellor made the case for Heathrow expansion and said there was “huge investment” in more sustainable aviation.
Continue reading...In two actions, migrant workers claim exploitation while farmers demonstrate against inheritance tax plan
This is a tale of two countrysides. One was featured prominently on Saturday by broadcasters as farmers held demonstrations throughout the UK against inheritance tax plans they believe will cripple family farms.
A smaller protest staged a day earlier outside the Home Office received almost no attention. A small band of fruit and vegetable pickers, mainly from Latin America, were highlighting their battle against what they call the exploitation of migrant workers.
Continue reading...Danish drug giant found to have failed to accurately report spending even after admitting to errors
The pharmaceutical watchdog has reprimanded Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk for failing to correctly disclose dozens of payments to the UK health sector as it sought to boost sales of its slimming drugs.
The Danish drug giant – Europe’s most valuable listed company – systematically misreported, under-reported or did not disclose funding given over seven years to pharmacy firms, obesity charities, training providers, professional bodies and patient groups.
Continue reading...David Armitage, resident in Thailand since 2004 death of Lamduan Armitage, detained by immigration officials
The British husband of Lamduan Armitage, a Thai woman whose body was found in a stream in the Yorkshire Dales in 2004, has been detained by police in Thailand.
David Armitage, a university lecturer, has been detained in Bangkok by immigration officials after an investigation into his visa.
According to the BBC, Armitage, who has a resident visa, was detained at his house in Kanchanaburi on Thursday before being transferred to the Bangkok immigration detention centre while the country’s authorities prepare to revoke his visa.
Lamduan, originally from Udon Thani province in north-east Thailand, was found by a group of walkers on the Pennine Way, between Pen-y-ghent and Horton in Ribblesdale, in September 2004.
Detectives initially believed she had died of natural causes but a cold case team announced in 2018 that Lamduan was murdered.
Armitage, who has been living in Thailand since her death, did not report his wife missing and has not managed to be interviewed by Thai or British police about her whereabouts.
The victim’s family in Thailand came forward to say they had not heard from her since 2004 after seeing an e-fit that resembled her issued by North Yorkshire police.
They said she had married a British man in 1991 and moved to north-west England four years later.
The investigation into Lamduan’s death is being conducted by North Yorkshire police.
A spokesperson for the force told the BBC it was aware of Armitage’s detention and added: “We understand it relates to his visa status and residence in Thailand and is entirely a matter for the immigration service of the Royal Thai police.
“Should Mr Armitage be deported, we understand that he will have a choice as to where he goes, which will include return to the UK.
“Should that occur, we will again make every effort to speak to him about the investigation.”
Armitage previously told the Sun newspaper he was not involved in his wife’s death.
Steve Reed says plans for 1km curved structure to protect bats from high-speed railway are ‘batshit crazy’
A bat shelter costing more than £100m near HS2 has been described by the environment secretary as “batshit crazy”.
HS2 Ltd is spending the sum on the protection structure in Buckinghamshire, it emerged last year. All bats are legally protected in the UK.
The curved structure, which has been described by the HS2 Ltd chair, Sir Jon Thompson, as a “shed”, will run for about 1km alongside Sheephouse Wood to create a barrier allowing the creatures to cross above the high-speed railway without being affected by passing trains.
But Steve Reed has criticised the plans and told the Fabian Society’s new year conference: “I mean, (to spend) that vast amount of money on a tunnel for bats when there were so many other public services crying out for funding – it’s batshit crazy.
“And it happened because the previous government didn’t have a grip on the public finances, didn’t have a grip on infrastructure projects, and didn’t really have a grip on what was happening to nature either.”
Asked about the potential for tension between prioritising wildlife and the environment and pushing through planning projects, as the government has promised to do to boost economic growth, Reed said both could be achieved.
“It’s not either or, it’s not growth or nature or the environment. We can do the two together,” he said.
Reed also suggested any plans to build a third runway at Heathrow airport would be subject to a “proper consultation” to ensure “mitigations” were in place to make it work.
Asked about the prospect of expanding the airport, which reports suggest the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will back, the MP for Streatham and Croydon North in London said: “Of course, it’s speculation that you’re talking about … but if there were any proposal like that, then there would be a proper consultation, hopefully not lasting decades as it has done previously, because you don’t have to take that amount of time to get to good decisions.
“But it would take into account all of those factors, mitigations, what we will need to do to make sure that it could work.
“Since you mentioned my voting record on that one, I voted against expanding Heathrow last time because I was in favour of expanding Gatwick because it would provide economic growth that would benefit south London, where my constituency is. So I see the link.”
Pressure growing on Labour to improve trade with EU as Rachel Reeves admits Brexit damaged UK
Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to forge closer economic links with Europe five years on from Brexit, as a major new poll shows voters clearly favour prioritising more trade with the EU over the US.
The MRP survey of almost 15,000 people by YouGov for the Best for Britain thinktank shows more people in every constituency in England, Scotland and Wales back closer arrangements with the EU rather than more transatlantic trade with Washington. MRP polls use large data samples to estimate opinion at a local level
Continue reading...Environmentalists say new course could be delayed until 2030 because it is viewed as Conservative party initiative
Leading environmentalists have called on the government to introduce a natural history GCSE immediately, amid fears it could be postponed until 2030.
The previous Conservative administration had supported creating the GCSE, which would teach pupils how to observe, identify and classify plants and animals.
Continue reading...As chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plan to expand London airports gains traction, the party is accused of back-pedalling on its green commitments
Labour is being warned it is hurtling towards a “powder keg” confrontation with environmentalists, green groups and a swathe of its own supporters in the next few weeks, amid its claims that “blockers” are standing in the way of economic growth.
A flurry of pro-growth measures have been announced by ministers in recent days as part of a government fightback against claims that the economy is stalling.
Continue reading...Leo, 12, was stabbed while walking home from school on Tuesday afternoon
A 14-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of Leo Ross, 12, who was stabbed in the stomach while walking home from school in Birmingham.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been remanded into custody to appear at Birmingham magistrates court on Monday having been charged on Saturday, West Midlands police said.
Continue reading...British retailer says it plans to explore strategic options for the future of its stores
WH Smith is exploring potential options for its high street business, including a sale, the British retailer said.
More details soon …
Continue reading...Greater mouse-eared bat was declared extinct in the UK but ecologists now believe population recovery is possible
For 21 long winters, Britain’s loneliest bat hibernated alone in a disused railway tunnel in Sussex.
The male greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) was the only known individual of his kind in the country after he was discovered in 2002 – a decade after the rare species was officially declared extinct.
Continue reading...The young man who died in Ireland after a tree fell during Storm Eowyn has been named as Kacper Dudek
Irish premier Micheál Martin said every effort is being made to restore power and water supplies following Storm Eowyn.
He described the destruction caused by some of the strongest winds on record as “unprecedented”.
Continue reading...Former Beatles member says government should protect creative workers as consultation on copyright continues
Sir Paul McCartney has warned artificial intelligence could “rip off” artists if a proposed overhaul of copyright law goes ahead.
The proposals could remove the incentive for writers and artists and result in a “loss of creativity”, he told the BBC.
Continue reading...After 12 episodes, eight ‘murders’ and 14 banishments, winner or winners revealed on BBC One show
Warning: this article contains spoilers
After 12 episodes, eight “murders” and 14 banishments, the winners of The Traitors were revealed after a nail-biting finale.
Project manager Jake Brown and former soldier Leanne Quigley will share a prize pot of £94,600.
Continue reading...Owners claim singer ‘blighted’ sale of property she once rented but Partridge Green has no shortage of ghostly tales
At first it was the strange rumblings that would wake her. Then bright lights would fill the bedroom as a face appeared, looking down on her. Her husband, who worked nights, never believed her until one day, he saw it too.
Shaken by the sightings, the couple sold the cottage and moved far away from Partridge Green, a quaint, isolated village in West Sussex. Thirty years later, a short distance away from where these night-time hauntings took place, the village welcomed a surprising new arrival.
Continue reading...