Fire cordon costs business ‘£10k a day’
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Belfast City Council said their officers are working with Destination CQ to help identify vacant buildings which could be used as temporary spaces for businesses. A businessman says he is losing £10,000 each day his shop has not been allowed to open due to a fire at a building […]
Lessons from livestream failure during Guernsey royal visit
The director of a software company has said the failure of the livestream during Guernsey’s royal visit could have been avoided. Viewers from the island, the UK and further afield had voiced their disappointment on social media after the stream crashed during the visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla last week. Guernsey software […]
Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen win big at country music awards
Singer Chris Stapleton won three prizes, including male vocalist of the year, at the annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards in Nashville on Wednesday. However, the biggest award of the night, entertainer of the year, went to fellow superstar Morgan Wallen. Country music has been enjoying a resurgence lately, with artists such as Beyoncé embracing […]
How Congo-Brazzaville’s shark population came under threat
Christopher Clark Shark fishermen from the central African country Congo-Brazzaville say they are catching fewer fish and an increasing number of juveniles in a sign that stocks are coming under pressure. The practice is largely unregulated contrary to a raft of international recommendations, and environmental groups are beginning to raise the alarm. In the 1980s […]
No hope of election win if inflation sticks
PA Media The Tories can “kiss goodbye” to winning the next election if inflation is not brought under control quickly, Rishi Sunak has said. Speaking at a leadership hustings in Eastbourne, the ex-chancellor, who wants to prioritise tackling rising prices before cutting taxes, seized on a warning by the Bank of England. Rival Liz Truss […]
West Sussex County Council cuts buildings’ carbon footprint
West Sussex County Council says it has significantly reduced the carbon footprint of some of its buildings. The authority has spent £8.2m on new heating and insulation systems at seven libraries, six fire stations and a day centre. It said this will prevent more than 200 tonnes of carbon being released into the atmosphere each […]
‘I’ve lost £20,000 in sales because of shipping delays’
AFP Toy store owner Hellen Stirling-Baker says container delays have cost her £20,000 in sales so far – 40% of her annual turnover Delays at UK ports mean a number of toy orders will now miss Christmas, according to the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA). The industry body has called on the government to […]
Suffolk’s roads require more than £50m a year in repairs
More than £50m a year is needed to keep all the roads in Suffolk at “optimal condition”, a council claims. A report from Suffolk County Council showed the £17.78m average investment into road surfacing over the last six years was only 35% of the £50.4m needed. However, it suggested that the number of roads in […]
Did ships really battle in the Colosseum? The bizarre true stories that inspired Gladiator II
Aidan Monaghan (Credit: Aidan Monaghan) Ridley Scott’s epic sequel starring Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington has been widely criticised for its historical inaccuracies. The BBC asks Roman history experts to separate fact from fiction. You might joke that for his work on Gladiator II, Alexander Mariotti had one of the hardest jobs in cinema. He […]
‘It used to be easy to get fruit pickers’
PA Media The seasonal fruit picking industry is struggling because of Brexit and the pandemic A recent government report warned that labour shortages “caused by Brexit and accentuated by the pandemic” were badly affecting our food and farming sector, with fruit suppliers often forced to leave produce rotting in the fields. One fruit farm in […]