Author: News Desk

Nat Sciver-Brunt has been appointed as the new captain of the England Women’s cricket team, succeeding Heather Knight after a disappointing Ashes series.

Huge power blackout plunges Spain and Portugal into chaos Travel chaos has continued into Tuesday in Spain and Portugal, after one of Europe’s most severe blackouts plunged the Iberian peninsula into darkness. Around 500 flights were cancelled due to the blackout, according to an estimate by The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder. Large crowds remained at Madrid’s main train station on Tuesday. The front page of The Independent this morning 29 April 2025:

A gas explosion in Yate near Bristol has destroyed a house, leaving three individuals hospitalised, though their injuries are not life-threatening.

Spain declares state of emergency after power blackout causes chaos Tens of millions of people across Spain and Portugal have been plunged into a huge power blackout blamed by the Portuguese operator on extreme temperature variations, leaving them without trains, metros, traffic lights, ATMs, phone connections and internet access. People were trapped in lifts, stuck on trains, stalled in traffic and abandoned in airports. The front page of The Guardian this morning 29 April 2025:

I will not let Labour destroy rural way of life Last year people voted for change, and they got change for the worse. They thought they might get Tony Blair or Gordon Brown’s Labour. Instead they got Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour with Keir Starmer at the helm. Starmer is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Says one thing to get elected, then does another. Labour promised to stand up for farmers when they wanted their votes, but as soon as they got in power, they let Whitehall bureaucrats convince them to tax family farms. The front page of the Daily Express today, 29 April…

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour commenced in Los Angeles, featuring emotional moments as her daughter Rumi, aged seven, joined her on stage, leaving fans in tears.

Net zero blamed for blackout chaos A reliance on net zero energy left Spain and Portugal vulnerable to the mass blackouts engulfing the region, experts said on Monday night. In what is believed to be Europe’s largest power cut, tens of millions of people were left without electricity, while flights were grounded, trains halted and whole cities were left without power, internet access or other vital services. The cause of the initial fault in the region’s electricity grid is still being investigated, and the EU has insisted that there were no indications that it was a cyber attack. The front page of…

FM calls on TRNSMT to axe band at centre of storm RAP trio Kneecap said condemnation from Downing Street and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is an “effort to derail the real conversation” about Gaza. Badenoch called for a member of the group to be prosecuted after a video emerged from a November 2023 gig, appearing to show him saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” The front page of The National this morning, 29 April 2025, reports:

Criticism of five-star Stormont swanning Stormont’s opposition leader has accused executive ministers of “swanning around the world and staying in opulent hotels” while the north’s pubic services “are in ruin”. SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said the executive “pleads poverty at every opportunity” but that certain ministers were, he claimed, “racking up tens of thousands of pounds in travel costs, including on five-star hotel stays”. The front page of The Irish News this morning, 29 April 2025, reports:

Tuesday’s newspaper front pages are heavily dominated by the Spain and Portugal power outages but there are some domestic stories too! Several papers report a milkshake tax looms as the PM tries to tackle UK obesity while a handful of headlines report that sex criminals will be banned from asylum in the UK. 

Calls for Kneecap to be dropped from an upcoming festival lead several of the Irish and Scottish front pages as the Belfast band faces backlash for chanting about killing MPs and supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.