National & International News Stories from 2019 to date

[muzzy]

Latest post of the previous page:

Southwark: Rare Roman mausoleum unearthed in London

A "completely unique" Roman mausoleum has been discovered by archaeologists in south London. The remains of the structure at the Liberty of Southwark site in Borough have been described as "extremely rare" and feature preserved floors and walls. Archaeologists think the site was used as some form of burial ground or tomb for wealthier members of Roman society. Work on creating a permanent display is planned, says the team behind the find.

The dig was led by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) on behalf of Landsec and Transport for London (TfL). MOLA believes the quality of preservation makes it the most intact Roman mausoleum ever to be discovered in Britain. Alongside the central mosaic, raised platforms were found and steps on the lowest side were still intact. Excavators were surprised to find two layers to the site, with another similarly designed mosaic found beneath the first floor. They believe that the building was modified at some point, with the floor raised. "All signs indicate this was a substantial building," says MOLA, "perhaps two storeys high."

While the site is believed to be a burial location, no coffins were found. However, more than 100 coins, fragments of pottery, roofing tiles and pieces of metal were discovered. There has been a sustained period of excavation at the site, where the largest Roman mosaic found in London for over 50 years was uncovered in 2022.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-65890080

[muzzy]

Mobility scooter rider packs on 20ft wooden beams and drives down a main road

Areckless old bloke has been called a ‘plank’ by people because he was caught driving along a main road with wood tied to his mobility scooter. The unknown driver was spotted in Boston, Lincolnshire, where the planks could be seen trapped precariously to the seat and across the wheel arches. He was also spotted with another bundle of panels secured with string underneath the vehicle and he had several shorter planks on the back of his chair.

Tomasz Tomczuk spotted the driver on May 29 at 8pm in the town and said: ‘The scooter suddenly pulled out onto the road and was driving very slowly along with the wooden planks sticking out in front of him. ‘First thing it made me laugh, but it was very dangerous, he was moving on a very busy road for cars.’ Another resident, who spotted the man riding past his friend’s home, added: ‘I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. It certainly didn’t look very safe.’ Another surprised local quipped: ‘It looked like he was transporting his garden decking across town.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/mo ... r-AA1cDNMN

[muzzy]

Three more East Anglian MPs in radical shake-up of political map of the East of England

Widespread boundary changes to most of the parliamentary constituencies in the ITV Anglia region will see three additional MPs sent to Westminster at the next election, which will probably be held in the spring or autumn of 2024. Population movements across the UK mean the political map of the country has been re-drawn in an attempt to equalise the number of voters in each seat. The East of England will get three extra Members of Parliament including an additional MP in Cambridgeshire where population growth has been the fastest.

For the first time in parliamentary history, two of new constituencies will cross county borders as Suffolk and Norfolk share one extra MP between them with a similar cross-border arrangement in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. A new seat has been created in the Waveney Valley taking in the Norfolk towns of Diss and Harleston along with the Suffolk communities of Halesworth, Bungay and Eye. The existing constituency of Waveney will be made smaller and re-named Lowestoft.

There had been earlier plans to create a constituency called Haverhill & Halsted which crossed the Suffolk-Essex boundary but it was scrapped after local objections. There has been an MP for Saffron Walden in Essex since 1885 but that name will disappear from the next House of Commons to be replaced by an honourable member from North West Essex. The city of Ely in Cambridgeshire gets its name back in a constituency for the first time since the Isle of Ely seat was abolished in 1983.

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-06 ... ry-changes

[muzzy]

World’s largest video screen transforms the Las Vegas skyline

As part of a special show to celebrate the Fourth of July, the world's largest LED was completely illuminated in Las Vegas, creating a new landmark on the Las Vegas skyline. The sphere is made up of approximately 1.2 million LED pucks. Each puck contains 48 individual LED diodes, with each diode capable of displaying 256 million different colours.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-66114544

I didn't realise until watching the video that this was actually a building with a screen on the outside walls. Makes much more sense now.

[muzzy]

Colosseum: Tourist who carved on wall 'unaware of arena's age'

A tourist filmed carving names on to an inner wall at Rome's ancient Colosseum says he did not realise how old the monument was when he acted. Bristol-based Ivan Dimitrov made the comment in a letter of apology to Rome's mayor, saying he understood "the seriousness of the deed". He etched "Ivan + Hayley 23" - his and his girlfriend's names - on the 2,000-year-old amphitheatre with a key. His actions were filmed by a bystander in June and sparked condemnation. A five-day police search followed and he now reportedly faces legal proceedings.

In the letter, seen by BBC News West, Mr Dimitrov offered his "heartfelt and honest apologies to the Italians and to the whole world". He continued: "I admit with profound embarrassment that only after what regretfully happened did I learn of the antiquity of the monument." He said that he praised those who "guard the inestimable historical and artistic value of the Colosseum with dedication, care and sacrifice". He added: "I am also aware of the fact that a similar conduct, in my country, would result in far more serious consequences. "For this reason I assume all responsibility and I will sincerely and concretely commit myself to redeem and remedy the mistake I made. "The incivility, superficiality and thoughtlessness with which I acted, damaging the Colosseum to the detriment of anyone who legitimately wishes to admire and enjoy it, have no justification."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66121000

I am attempting to give this person the benefit of the doubt. However, everyone I know or have ever known has, I'm sure, heard of the Colosseum, and knows it is old. Even if by some chance he hadn't heard of it, surely it would be obvious just by looking at it?!

[muzzy]

Forgotten Jack Hilton book to be republished after bartender's discovery

A 1930s novel that was acclaimed by George Orwell and WH Auden before being forgotten for decades is to be republished after a Manchester bartender rediscovered it and solved a mystery about the author's last wishes. Jack Chadwick chanced upon an old copy of Jack Hilton's semi-autobiographical Caliban Shrieks in 2021. Academics had previously failed to find who inherited the rights to the book after Hilton died in 1983. But Chadwick succeeded by appealing for information in pubs near the writer's last home.

He put up posters asking "Do you remember Jack Hilton?", which eventually led him to track down the widow of a friend, who was unaware she had inherited the author's estate. Chadwick then launched a campaign to get the book back into print, and it has now been signed by Vintage, an imprint of Penguin, the UK's largest publishing house. "To use an appropriately northern expression, I'm chuffed to bits," Chadwick, 29, told BBC News. "It feels like a victory not just for Jack, who struggled so much in his own time to get the recognition he deserved, but also for working-class people in the here and now, facing the same class ceilings."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66131911

[muzzy]

DVLA services no longer available Suffolk's post offices

Suffolk's elderly and disabled drivers may soon face difficulties with taxing their vehicles and renewing driving licences at post offices, as the service will be scrapped from branches next year. The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will end its contract with the Post Office on March 31, 2024, which will affect millions of UK residents, including those in Suffolk. Currently, the Post Office handles more than 6million DVLA transactions annually, which costs the government about £3.2million per year.

From April 2024, elderly and disabled motorists will be forced to renew their driving licences and pay vehicle tax online. It can cause trouble for many people, especially residents over 70 who are not experienced with technology and have to renew their driving licences every three years. County councillor Christopher Hudson said he is "shocked and appalled" by the changes, and added the effect of stopping the service at post offices will be "devastating" for the residents.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23624715.dv ... t-offices/

[muzzy]

Eurostar: Facial verification system to reduce queues at St Pancras

Some Eurostar passengers travelling from London can now avoid manual ticket and passport checks by UK officials due to a new facial verification system. The technology at St Pancras International station is aimed at reducing congestion and queues. Enhanced post-Brexit checks by French border staff have increased the time it takes to process passengers at the station, the company said. Business Premier and Carte Blanche passengers can use the system. Passengers will need to use an app before travel to scan their identity document and verify their face and ticket.

Eurostar said it would like to make the new technology - a first for UK rail travel - available to more customers in future, if it proves successful. Heathrow Airport began trialling facial biometric scanners in 2019 but the project was dropped when passenger numbers collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company also said that while the system, called SmartCheck, is only in use at St Pancras, it could be introduced more widely across the Eurostar network in mainland Europe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66226469

I actually attempted to use this during its test phase whilst travelling to/from Paris back in March. Failed to recognise me 4 separate times, and in the end had to go back to manual checks. I won't hold my breath...

[muzzy]

Israel condemns EU envoy's Gaza paragliding flight

Israel has condemned the EU's outgoing envoy to the Palestinians after he paraglided over Gaza's coast to draw attention to the blockade of the strip. A video showed Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff declaring he had carried out "the first Gaza paragliding flight in history". "Once you have a free Palestine, a free Gaza, you can do exactly the same thing," the German diplomat adds. Israel's foreign ministry said it was a "provocative action" that served as propaganda for militant groups in Gaza.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-66244718

I think Israel appears to have forgotten the basic premise that Gaza is part of the State of Palestine - despite successive right-wing Israeli governments wishing otherwise. As such, and in spite of this, it is completely the personal choice of and upto each individual person what they do, and should not be controlled by a different country such as Israel. Imagine if another country tried to tell people they shouldn't paraglide in England?!

[muzzy]

Florida girl awarded $800,000 for McDonald's Chicken McNugget burn

A Florida jury has awarded an eight-year-old girl $800,000 (£622,000) in damages after she was severely burnt when a McDonald's Chicken McNugget fell on her leg. The "dangerously hot" McNugget burnt Olivia Caraballo in 2019, then four, as she opened her Happy Meal in the car at a McDonald's drive-thru in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Her family had sought $15m in damages. A jury in May found McDonald's and its franchise liable for the injury.

A different jury in Broward County, Florida deliberated for less than two hours on Wednesday before reaching its verdict about damages, according to the Sun Sentinel newspaper. Ms Caraballo was awarded the $800,000 in damages from McDonald's and franchise owner Upchurch Foods for pain and suffering and mental anguish, including $400,000 for the past four years as well as $400,000 for the future. In a statement, the family's legal team called the decision "momentous". "I'm actually just happy that they listened to Olivia's voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgment," the girl's mother, Philana Holmes, told US media outside court. "I'm happy with that. I honestly had no expectations, so this is more than fair for me."

The BBC has contacted McDonald's for comment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66260956

Maybe I'm just becoming a grumpy old man, but I'm sure in my day my parents would have told me not to make such a fuss about it!

[boatbuilder]

And if they served them up cold(er) people would complain that maybe they aren't cooked properly.

If she was only four at the time then her parents should have had more sense letting her deal with the meal herself, knowing the contents of the container would likely have been hot. Of course, that is typical USA - screw 'em for all you can get!!! They've had that culture for years and to a certain extent, it's spread to over here.

[muzzy]

Virgin Money to shut third of UK branches including Norwich

A branch of a major bank is set to close Norwich amid national cuts. Virgin Money has announced it will close 39 sites across the UK, with 255 workers facing potential redundancy. The company revealed its plans today, in which other sites include Belfast, Chelmsford, St Albans, Bournemouth and Exeter. The high street banking business said it will shut local banks due to changing customer demand, which has seen fewer people go into banks in favour of online services. The sites affected by the closures have seen the number of customer transactions fall by an average of 43pc since the pandemic hit in March 2020.

Sarah Wilkinson, chief operating officer at Virgin Money, said: “The decision to close a store is never taken lightly. But as our customers continue to change the way they want to bank with us, by conducting fewer transactions in-store and adopting the convenience of digital banking, we must respond to that evolving demand. For our colleagues, we will pursue all options to retain as many as possible within alternative roles, and have had great success previously with store colleagues moving to other customer operations roles, as their skills are highly transferable.”

https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/23 ... g-norwich/

As a long-standing customer, I am dismayed and rather angry at this. When Branson still owned the business, they did it the Virgin way, putting the customer first. Then Clydesdale bought them out. First they shut the lounges, claiming it was only temporary due to Covid - except they never reopened. Now, they're closing the only branch in East Anglia; the closest one now will be in Cambridge. The customer has lost out to the almighty pound. It's all about the money, the profit, nowadays.

[muzzy]

National Express owner holds talks over launching Eurostar rival ‘Evolyn’ - which could run as early as 2025

Companies including the UK coach and train service Mobico, formerly known as National Express, have been holding talks over launching a cross-Channel railway service to rival Eurostar. The new rail service would be called Evolyn and could start running between London and Paris “as early as 2025”. According to the Financial Times, parties also involved in detailed talks include Spain’s Cosmen family, which is an investor in Mobico, and France-based manufacturer Alstom. The discussions are understood to be at an early stage, but come as the travel industry bets on a rise in the usage of rail across Europe.

As much of the grid that powers the network is wind or nuclear-based, getting around by train in Europe is seen as a good way to decarbonise short-distance travel. Sleeper trains between cities have steadily been growing in popularity, posing a challenge to short-haul air travel. The talks also come at a challenging time for Eurostar, which is struggling to recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The service stopped running trains between London and Disneyland Paris last month, which it blamed on the pandemic and additional checks being brought in by Brexit. Eurostar has set targets of doubling passenger numbers to 30 million by 2030 but border checks have slowed down growth. The future of its ski train to the Alps is also under review. A spokesperson for Channel Tunnel owner Getlink, which reportedly considered launching its own Eurostar rival in 2018, said: “Getlink welcomes any initiative to increase high speed passenger traffic through the Tunnel – from the current operator or potential new entrants.”

Mobico and Eurostar both declined to comment.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technol ... r-AA1euLGB

[muzzy]

Thousands flock to Helmingham Hall for classic car festival

"Thank goodness we're a Sunday, not a Saturday show!" That was the universal comment from organisers as thousands of car enthusiasts flocked to Helmingham Hall at the weekend. The Festival of Classic and Sports cars is always a highlight of the stately home's calendar - and with more than 1,000 vehicles booked and thousands more visitors expected good weather is a necessity. On Saturday organisers were really concerned as the rain hammered down - but their faith in the weather forecast and in the ability of the ground to drain quickly paid off. One organiser said: "On Saturday we were all really, really worried but today everything seems fine. Thank goodness we're a Sunday show!" There were threatening clouds at times - but little more than a drop or two of rain fell at Helmingham.

The number of visitors to the show might be slightly down from the 8,000 who turned up last year - but many of those who did risk the threat of showers said the weather was better for an event like this than last year when a roasting sun sapped the energy. What makes the festival so special is that almost all visitors can find a vehicle they recognise.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23704560.th ... -festival/

I went here today along with a friend. I do take some issue with the comment about the weather. There was slightly more than a drop or two of rain - and we were glad we had brought umbrellas, unlike most of the people huddling under the nearby trees! Thankfully, this did only last around 10 minutes before the sun came out. Photos taken are below...

[muzzy]

Fining motorists using CCTV evidence ruled 'illegal'

Fining motorists by post using CCTV camera evidence has been ruled “illegal”, The Telegraph can reveal. Drivers may be entitled to refunds for millions of pounds of penalty charge notices (PCNs) after a ruling by a panel of lawyers that hears appeals against motoring fines. A special test case found that Transport for London (TfL) had “illegally” fined motorists who had stopped on parking bays on red routes in the capital. The transport authority, acting on behalf of Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, breached government guidance by using CCTV rather than traffic wardens to enforce road rules. Laws limiting the use of CCTV to issue fines were introduced in 2015 because of what ministers described as “overzealous enforcement by local authorities”.

The judgment by London Tribunals has implications for drivers across the country and could be relied upon in appeals where a CCTV motoring fine has been issued. A London Tribunals spokesman said while its rulings do not set a legal precedent, “adjudicators may take previous decisions into consideration before reaching a conclusion”. The ruling, on eight red route fine appeals, has emerged just one week after Rishi Sunak declared he was on “the motorists’ side” and ordered a review of low traffic neighbourhoods. Analysis of TfL data suggests it issues about 435,000 PCNs of all types a year, which if paid in full at £160 would net £69 million. Three adjudicators accused the authority of a “procedural impropriety” by issuing fines through CCTV rather than “civil enforcement officers” – or traffic wardens.

The ruling says the “most recent version” of Department for Transport guidance states that “approved devices” – or CCTV – should only be used “where enforcement is difficult or sensitive and enforcement by a civil enforcement officer is not practicable”. Explaining how many motorists may have legitimate reasons for stopping, such as loading or unloading, they “may find it impossible to obtain the necessary evidence after the event” when the £160 fine arrives by post. “A motorist parked in such a bay who encounters a civil enforcement officer may, there and then, be able to show that he or she is loading or unloading … or can readily obtain the evidence … to substantiate that claim,” the adjudicators said, scrapping all eight fines.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/f ... r-AA1eQ7vo

[muzzy]

Huge cardboard building pops up in Newcastle city centre

A huge building made entirely from cardboard boxes has popped up in Newcastle city centre. The structure, which towers above trees and street lights and is 45ft (14m) tall, has been built outside the Civic Centre. It is an art installation and is part of the Novum Summer Festival, which is making its debut in the city. Hundreds of volunteers, including children, have helped to make more than 1,500 parts over several days. Designed by French visual artist Olivier Grossetête, the towering building was erected without any machinery on Friday. However, it will not last long as it is designed to be toppled by hand on Sunday, when the festival ends.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66480319