Soldiers will begin delivering fuel to petrol stations this morning as parts of the country continue to struggle with shortages. Around 200 military personnel are being deployed on Operation Escalin in an effort to increase the number of tanker drivers. Most of the troops, who have been on standby since last week, will work in
Month: October 2021
An emergency clean-up effort is under way in Huntington Beach, California, after a massive oil spill described by the city’s mayor as an “environmental catastrophe”. More than 572,000 litres – 3,000 barrels – of heavy crude spilled into the Pacific Ocean between Huntington Beach Pier and Newport Beach, a distance of more than five miles.
Gordon Brown has pleaded with the government not to go ahead with a £20-a-week cut to universal credit. The former prime minister said: “It is not too late for the government to spare millions of people the choice between heating and eating this winter.” He cited research showing that 3.4 million households – or 6.3
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £500m expansion of government action to tackle unemployment and support job seekers following the end of the furlough scheme. In a speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday, Mr Sunak will outline fresh funding for schemes designed to increase the chances of employment for
The new James Bond film, No Time to Die, is set to break a pandemic box office record and gross an estimated $119.1m (£87.9m) internationally. According to NBC Universal, No Time To Die – Daniel Craig‘s last outing as James Bond – is set to be the first title from a big studio to be
A Metropolitan Police officer will appear in court today after he was charged with rape, Hertfordshire Constabulary has said. PC David Carrick, 46, who is based within the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was charged on Sunday. He was off-duty in Hertfordshire at the time of his arrest on Saturday and was suspended on
The sister of a teenager who died from COVID-19 says she cries herself to sleep every night, as she described the shock of losing her older sibling. Jorja Halliday, 15, died last Tuesday, hours after being rushed to the Queen Alexandria Hospital in Portsmouth. Her sister Julie, 12, says she was it was a “complete
The fuel supply crisis is “virtually at an end” in parts of the UK, but problems persist in London and the South East, the Petrol Retailers Association has said. There has been no overall improvement in the crisis in the last 24 hours, the group added. However, issues with getting fuel were “virtually at an
Boris Johnson has not ruled out shortages continuing until Christmas, but said the festive period this year will be “considerably better” than last year. “I’m very confident this Christmas will be considerably better,” the prime minister said during a visit to a youth club in Manchester. Live updates from the Conservative Party conference When it
An erupting volcano in the Canary Islands has turned “much more aggressive”, officials have warned, after two further cracks blew open, spewing lava. Amid reports of “intense” activity on La Palma, the fresh fissures, some 25m (50ft) apart, sent scorching rivers of molten rock down towards the sea, parallel to an earlier flow that reached
A huge blaze has torn through a Caribbean island resort, ravaging more than 200 homes and businesses and forcing hundreds of residents to flee. Dramatic video shared on social media showed rows of seaside properties engulfed in flames and collapsing on Guanaja, which lies around 44 miles (70km) off the north coast of Honduras. Image:
The body of a missing student has been found just days after the prime suspect in her death killed himself. Miya Marcano, 19, was found in a wooded area near an apartment building in Orlando, Florida. She was reported missing on 24 September after she failed to catch a flight home to Fort Lauderdale and
The police officer who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard was deployed to the Parliamentary Estate five times on several occasions last year. Wayne Couzens, who was jailed for life last week, abducted Ms Everard, 33, as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on 3 March. The Old Bailey heard
A space mission jointly launched by the European and Japanese space agencies has captured its first views of the planet Mercury during a “flawless” flyby. The BepiColombo mission’s closest approach took place close to midnight on Friday when the spacecraft came within 200km (125 miles) of Mercury’s surface. The joint mission by the European Space
Boris Johnson has not ruled out a further relaxation of immigration rules to help ease the UK’s fuel and supply shortages – but the prime minister insisted he does not want to see a return to “a lot of low-wage immigration”. Amid the continuing queues at petrol stations across the country, the government has said
Boris Johnson has challenged Conservatives to take “big, bold decisions” as they gather for their party conference – but, ahead of the Manchester event, the prime minister is also being challenged over the fuel crisis, rising cost of living, supply issues and welfare cuts. More than 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the Tory conference