Author: News Desk

Turkey is officially a candidate to join the EU but its accession talks have been frozen since 2018 over rule of law and democratic concerns.

Rail strikes: trains halted as passengers face weekend of disruption The Guardian says Rail services across Britain will be severely disrupted on Friday as train drivers stage the first of the latest wave of planned strikes in a long-running pay dispute. Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will strike for 24 hours across virtually all the big passenger operators in England, stopping some major intercity and commuter services entirely. Cross-border services to Wales and Scotland will also be affected, although the union is only in direct dispute with firms contracted to the Department for Transport in England. No trains will…

Rail passengers face summer of strife as national strikes resume The Independent says Forty-eight hours of rail chaos is about to get under way. Travellers trying to reach the Eurovision Song Contest this Saturday and, next month, the FA Cup Final by train could find their trains cancelled by a series of strikes. As the next round of national rail strikes begins, the dispute between rail unions, train operators and ministers appears deeper than ever. In June 2022, the first national rail strikes since the 1980s began across Britain in a tangle of disputes about pay, job security and working…

Northern to run ‘Eurovision express’ despite train strikes Railway Review says Northern – the second largest train operator in the UK – have said they will operate a ‘Eurovision express’ train service from Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street on Friday 12 May 2023 despite industrial action by ASLEF forcing all other services on its network to be cancelled. The hourly service, which will run from 7am until 7pm, has been chosen to help international visitors arriving at Manchester Airport get to the event in Liverpool. Tricia Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Northern, said: “As a Liverpudlian myself, I know…

Paris Mayo, who is now 19 but was 15 at the time, is accused of murdering her son Stanley Mayo at her parents’ home four years ago.

June has won the ‘biggest house prize draw to be given away in the UK’.

The note started with: ‘Parents of a maniac, take him to your place. He causes so much pain and trouble.’

Weak UK economy in Q1, contracts in March due to strikes The UK economy experienced weak growth in the first quarter of the year, with a contraction in March attributed to strike action, according to the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy saw a modest 0.1% growth between January and March. However, in March, it contracted by 0.3%, primarily due to poor car sales and a struggling retail sector. Sectors like IT and construction contributed to overall growth, while health, education, and public administration faced declines, with “these sectors affected by strikes.” Amidst concerns about…

Influencer boxing is now big, big business  - and that makes me feel uneasy. 

Elon Musk announces new CEO for Twitter | Tesla shares rise Billionaire Elon Musk has revealed that he has found a new chief executive to lead Twitter, the social media platform he bought in 2022 for $44 billion. Although the new boss’s name remains undisclosed, Musk stated that the transition would occur in six weeks, enabling him to assume the positions of executive chairman and chief technology officer. This move comes as Musk faces pressure to delegate Twitter’s leadership and focus on his other ventures. Following the announcement, Tesla shares experienced a notable rise, indicating positive investor sentiment. Speculation over…