The HS2 project has come under fire after new estimates revised the costs up by billions, while the opening of the route has been delayed.

The troubled HS2 has raised concerns that Britain is becoming a laughing stock after years of delays and ballooning costs, while passengers wait for rail improvements.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said yesterday that the project, which she inherited from the previous government, would be finished sometime between 2036 and 2039, while the initial estimated opening had been 2033.

Meanwhile, trains from Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street might not be running until 2043.

The estimated HS2 cost

HS2 Ltd, the government-owned company building the railway, estimated in June last year that the project would cost between £54 billion and £66 billion.

But the latest figures have put this between £87.7 billion and £102.7 billion in 2025 prices.

The Transport Secretary has previously confirmed that the cancelled northern legs will not be reinstated because ‘we can’t afford [it].’

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, she also levelled questions about scrapping the project altogether, saying that a cancellation would now cost nearly as much as completing it, and leave the UK dotted with abandoned relics.

Last year, she launched an investigation into the project as part of the HS2 ‘reset,’ with HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild and chair Mike Brown tasked to comb through the spending and contracts, which was described as ‘like changing the engine of the aeroplane mid-flight.’

Following the review, the HS2 organisation has been trimmed down, leading to the removal of 300 back-office roles, while supply chain contracts are being reassessed in a bid to cut any hidden costs.

The HS2 route: Where will it stop?

HS2 will run from Euston through Old Oak Common in west London to West Midlands.

New stations will be built in Solihull, near Birmingham International Airport, and at Birmingham Curzon Street.

HS2 was meant to run to Manchester and Leeds, but in 2023 the Conservative government axed the northern leg due to spiralling costs, much to the the dismay of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham who called the move ‘profoundly depressing.’

For years, uncertainty surrounded the extension of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston.

But in October 2024, the extension was confirmed in the autumn budget, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves committing money for the Euston tunnelling works.

Plans are also being drawn up for the future of the Euston station complex, suggesting that the high-speed trains would be based in a separate station but with a link to the existing station and national rail services.

When will HS2 open?

The first phase was initially due to launch by the end of 2026, but the estimate was pushed back several times.

Now the new target opening date is between May 2036 and October 2039.

HS2’s Wild said he is confident that ‘these bookends of time and cost are robust.’

When did HS2 construction start?

The HS2 was given the green light in 2012, but construction did not begin until 2020.

HS2 has purchased more than 1,000 homes, farms and land along the route to make way for the tracks.

Residents living next to one of the construction sites told Metro previously that they were surprised at the speed at which the steel frames just yards from their homes were put up.

The National Audit Office warned in 2016 that the project was at risk of delays and exceeding its budget.

But former Prime Minister Boris Johnson recommitted to the project in 2020 following another review.

How much will HS2 tickets cost?

The ticket costs could change by the time the HS2 opens, but they are expected to be pricier than a standard rail fare.

HS2 tickets could cost up to 30% more than standard rail travel, previous estimates show, but there are no official figures yet.

The higher cost is likely to absorb some of the construction costs and factor in faster journey times.

Inflation at the time of opening will also affect prices and whether the HS2 accepts railcards and other discounts.

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The plans include a time capsule ceremony with local primary school pupils, the launch of a ‘blether bench’ to encourage visitors to share their memories and an event with Go Radio presenter Gina McKie, who’ll be giving away 50 Gift Cards, worth £2,000.

The Centre, Livingston has unveiled plans to mark its 50th anniversary this year.

The plans include a time capsule ceremony with local primary school pupils, the launch of a ‘blether bench’ to encourage visitors to share their memories and an event with Go Radio presenter Gina McKie, who’ll be giving away 50 Gift Cards, worth £2,000.

The time capsule ceremony follows a project which the shopping centre has been working on with P7 pupils in nine local primary schools who were invited to create a contribution that reflects their experiences of life today and their sense of community and hopes for the future.

Formats include artwork, books and letters, which will be lowered into the ground at a private event attended by pupil representatives from each school and the management team, who will be adding a staff photobook and shopping centre map.

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To encourage people to take some time out and enjoy a chat or reminisce about years gone by, a ‘blether bench’ will be located next to Primark with a QR code which links to The Centre, Livingston website to find out more about the 50th anniversary and how to share their stories.

Additionally, the ‘Through the Ages’ timeline, which was installed in 2023 to showcase the history of the shopping centre, will also be refreshed and updated, and three scale models will be on display for shoppers to get an insight into how it’s evolved over the years.

The ’50 for 50’ event, hosted by Go Radio presenter Gina McKie, will take place on Saturday, May 30, from 1pm to 4pm, next to Pandora, where she’ll be giving shoppers the chance to take part in a Plinko competition to be in with a chance of winning a shopping centre Gift Card, with denominations ranging from £10 to £500.

There will also be free face painting on the day, located next to Build-A-Bear.

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Donations are optional for The Centre, Livingston charity partner, Firefly Arts, who will be hosting a pop-up in the shopping centre on Sunday, May 31, and June 14, with mini workshops to help raise awareness of the work they do with young people to help build confidence and life skills through the arts.

The shopping centre, which has a wide mix of over 150 stores and restaurants spanning over 1m sq. ft and welcomes 15.4m visitors a year, has seen many changes over the past five decades, dating back to the opening of Woolco in 1976, when it was known as Almondvale Shopping Centre.

These include a refurbishment project in 1988 and two extensions, one in 1995 and the other in 2008, when the M&S flagship store opened and the shopping centre was rebranded as The Centre, Livingston.

Since acquiring the shopping centre in 2024, the owners, LCP UK, part of M Core, one of Europe’s leading privately owned commercial property development and management companies, has continued to make ongoing improvements, including the investment of £5m in new flooring, lighting and energy-efficient roofing.

This has resulted in the arrival of many global brands, including Wingstop, Starbucks, Sostrene Grene, MINISO, Flying Tiger and the opening of Hollywood Bowl later this year.

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Patrick Robbertze, Centre Director at The Centre, Livingston, said: “This year is a very exciting time for The Centre, Livingston as we celebrate 50 years of being at the heart of the community and also branch into the leisure sector with the opening of Hollywood Bowl, which is a great way to mark our special milestone.

“We have lots of exciting plans to celebrate the occasion, including our time capsule ceremony with local primary schools, the launch of our ‘blether bench’ to encourage people to share their memories with us and our Gift Card giveaway event, which will give us the opportunity to thank our visitors for being part of our incredible journey over the past five decades.”

Simon Eatough, Director at LCP UK, part of M Core and Asset Manager of The Centre, Livingston, added: “Celebrating 50 years in the community is such a major milestone for us, especially as it ties in perfectly with our move into the leisure sector with the opening of Hollywood Bowl.

“Our aim is to focus on attracting more global brands through continued investment, with major announcements coming soon.”

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‘With Kerry having so many injuries at the moment, it gives Donegal a bit of license to go all-in on their plan to neutralise David Clifford’

The tweaked format of the All-Ireland series could see things play out a little differently in Killarney as Donegal take on Kerry in Killarney.

In the old group format, especially in the first game, I think Jim McGuinness and Jack O’Connor would have been keeping something in their back pocket in case they meet again further down the road.

While it is not a do-or-die game, it does present for Donegal a serious opportunity to put the All-Ireland Kerry the last chance-saloon (also known as Round 2B).

This opportunity cannot be turned down and I’m expecting Jim to throw all his cards on the table. That includes whatever plan he’s concocted to deal with the biggest challenge in Gaelic football right now- stopping David Clifford.

Of course, one of the main problems of devising and executing a “stop David Clifford” plan is, as Donegal found to their demise last year, the damage his supporting cast will do if they are not properly accounted for.

However with Paudie Clifford, Joe O’Connor and others highly doubtful for Saturday’s game it gives Donegal a bit of license to go all-in on their plan to neutralise the best player in the game.

The reality is, marking Clifford is a damage limitation exercise, no single defender can stop him in a one-v-one situation consistently, especially in the modern game with the amount of space that now exists.

If I was setting up against him, I wouldn’t even be looking at this as a question of getting match-ups right.

There are great athletes in the GAA right now, but I don’t see many 6″3 corner-backs with great speed and change of direction. The best approach therefore has been and will continue to be devising a full defensive strategy.

So what should this entail? Well, firstly your team must know how to react once he’s in possession and for me the default response for a team when he gets the ball is for a second defender to immediately engage and support. That will mean leaving a Kerry shirt free somewhere on the pitch, but that is a risk that must be accepted.

Secondly there would need to be a very clear understanding for any player zonally defending or “sweeping” in that left sided area of the defence. You cannot have players conservatively defending space in this area as would have been done in years gone by.

If Clifford is not getting space inside he will move out, where he arguably poses more danger. There is a sweet spot around the outside of the arc where he is extremely comfortable kicking from.

It may have been sensible to let him try that when a shot from distance was worth one point, but not now.

As a defensive unit, your aim is to stay as compact as possible through the middle and force him into lower-percentage shots from wider or more awkward angles. That is a huge task for any team with the new rules.

There’s more space than before, more frequent isolation situations, and if the top forwards get even half a yard on the loop, you are suddenly on the back foot.

The two-point reward is encouraging these super-talented forwards to roll the dice, as we witnessed again last Sunday.

Armagh for example at one point pushed out aggressively to Jack McCarron in the second half of the Ulster final. His response was to motion backwards a few steps in the direction of his own goals and then proceed to kick the most outrageous shot over his shoulder to nail a two-pointer.

It will be interesting to see who McGuinness wants to have man-marking Clifford. Caolan McColgan received plaudits for the job he did in the League final, but I think Donegal will rotate a bit more with regards to who is tagging him at different stages of the match.

Individually, his marker has to be touch-tight, aggressive and physically committed from the first minute. Clifford is so composed and so complete as a footballer that he generally handles that attention very well, but my approach here would be to get under someone’s skin anyway you legally can.

Collectively and tactically the focus for me would be defensive rotations and double-ups which I would be drilling in the weeks prior in training.

Your defenders need to trust the chain completely, knowing if one player steps out aggressively, somebody else has to seamlessly fill the space behind him. Communication in-play and collective defending become absolutely critical.

What does a good job look like here then Donegal? I’d have three targets, which would be, one, stop Clifford scoring a goal or slicing through your defence to set up a goal.

Two, limit him to one two-pointer and, three, aim to keep him under 0-8 in total.

If that can be achieved it would give Donegal the platform to go and put Kerry to the sword.

They are a wounded animal and I think they can go down to Killarney and put two goals and 20-plus points on the board. That might ultimately be enough if they can contain the GOAT. A big if.

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BBC Sport asked Enhanced’s Australian swimmer James Magnussen, whose remarkably bulked up physique after taking PEDs last year went viral, if he had concerns about the effect on his long-term health.

“I believe that were there to be long-term implications for my health, there surely would have been some short- to medium-term indicators that say ‘hey, this isn’t tracking properly, you are seeing side effects’. To this point we haven’t seen those,” the three-time Olympic medallist said.

“As professional athletes, we take risks with our health innately by what we do. There’s nothing healthy about training at the peak of your physical ability for 30 hours a week.”

Some think the former world champion has a point.

Byron Hyde, an honorary research associate at Bangor University, says, external critics “overlook the fact that the Enhanced Games is making obvious what society has always quietly accepted – that most people are willing to watch athletes risk harm when the entertainment is good enough.

“That’s something that all sporting bodies should spend more time considering.

“If brain trauma is the potential price of boxing entertainment, why the outrage about pharmaceutical enhancement risks? The Olympics already celebrates athletes who push their bodies to extremes.

“Research has documented serious physical and psychological harms in many sports. The Enhanced Games just moves the risk threshold further along a spectrum society has already accepted.”

Such an argument holds little sway with UK Sport director Kate Baker.

“We are committed to winning well,” she tells BBC Sport. “We know that we’ve had some things in the past that we haven’t necessarily been proud of, but we’ve moved so far away from that.

“And so to even acknowledge the Enhanced Games as a real thing feels quite difficult for us. It’s absolutely something that we would stand in total opposition to.

“If you’re high potential in our system, you will be supported to achieve your potential, and you will do it in a way which is healthy and not damaging to you.

“We’ve recently re-communicated with all of our athletes to confirm that you will potentially be in breach of our eligibility policy should you choose to engage with these events. They would not be eligible for any UK Sport funding, but also their ability to access our coaching and medical support.”

“A lot of people, frankly, a lot of people in the media, have tried to persuade all of those people that it’s somehow racist to want to protect your borders, even though very often the very people who are most affected by low-wage immigration are lower-income black and Hispanic Americans right here in the United States of America, and I guarantee that’s true in the UK.

Even advanced technology can struggle when the real world becomes unpredictable. In April 2026, a Waymo robotaxi in San Antonio, Texas, drove into a flooded lane during severe weather, prompting the company to recall about 3,800 vehicles for a software fix.

No one was injured, but the incident exposed a deeper challenge: intelligence is not just about processing data. It is about knowing where to look, what to notice, when to act and how to use previous experience when conditions change.

AI researchers are now looking at bees and other insects to help them design machines and robots that can make better decisions.

My research explores how bees learn, from identifying simple visual patterns to mastering high-level concepts, and how they adapt their behaviour when conditions change.

By combining behavioural experiments, neural recording (for example, measuring signals from the brain) and neuromorphic computing (an approach to computing inspired by the animal brain), my goal is to uncover the biological code that allows tiny brains to navigate a complex world and make efficient decisions. I have also worked in industry to translate these biological discoveries into robotic applications – bringing the intelligence of the hive to machine intelligence.

Research on honeybee decision making has shown that bees make rapid and accurate choices about whether to accept or reject flowers. They do not need perfect information. Instead, they combine sensory evidence, past experience and the likely value of a reward (for example, how much nectar they might gather).

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Many autonomous systems need to be able to do this. A robot exploring a greenhouse, warehouse or disaster zone cannot wait for perfect data. Bees offer a model based on flexible decisions and useful shortcuts rather than huge computation.

With brains smaller than a sesame seed, bees navigate long distances, move through cluttered landscapes, identify rewarding flowers, avoid danger, communicate with nestmates and make rapid decisions. They achieve this with a tiny fraction of the energy used by modern computers, and can learn after only a few experiences that a new colour, scent or pattern predicts food.

This makes the bee an unlikely blueprint for low-power, robust AI and autonomous systems that can cope with the real world.

Bees can multitask

Many AI systems are designed to do one task well, such as recognising an image, following a route or detecting an object. Robotics has a harder ambition: compact machines that handle many tasks in unpredictable environments while using little power.

Bees offer a working example. During one foraging trip, a bee must find food, stay orientated, avoid danger and update its choices from experience, all with a brain containing around one million neurons. They do this by combining vision, smell, touch, vibration and airflow. Rather than processing every detail, they fuse information streams and extract what matters for survival.

Bees are valuable for robotics because they show how a small system can coordinate many tasks without huge computing power. That principle could guide low-power autonomous systems for agriculture, search and rescue, environmental monitoring and planetary exploration.

Bees also show that intelligence depends not only on what an animal senses, but also on how it moves to gather and shape information. This idea, known as active sensing, could transform robotics. When a bee approaches a flower, it does not take a still image like a camera. It moves its head and body; changes angle and creates patterns of visual motion across its eyes. These movements help useful information stand out, allowing the bee to ignore irrelevant details. This is why bees do not need to remember a flower as a detailed image. They only need to learn the key cues that help them recognise it again. Movement becomes part of sensing.

That is different from many machine-vision systems, which passively analyse images. A small robot using the bee’s strategy would not need to process every pixel. It could move to make the scene easier to understand, shifting position to judge distance, turning to improve contrast or using motion to detect obstacles.

The lesson is simple: intelligence is less about processing everything and more about using the right strategy to find the right information at the right time.

For a foraging bee, a bad decision can be costly. Visiting the wrong flower after a long journey wastes time and energy. Taking too long can mean losing an opportunity or being exposed to danger. To solve this, bees use relatively simple neural circuits to make rapid, accurate and risk-aware decisions. They do not need a huge brain or vast computing power. Instead, this minimal circuit helps them quickly decide whether to reject a flower or land on it safely.

Navigation without a map

Navigation is another area where bees inspire engineers. Bees can travel several kilometres from the hive to food sources and return home using visual landmarks, distance estimates and memory. New research inspired by honeybee flights has shown how tiny drones could navigate using very small neural networks. In the study, a bee-inspired system called Bee-Nav allowed small robots to travel away from home and return using only a compact neural memory. Therefore, future drones may not need GPS, detailed maps or large onboard computers.

Instead, they may use compact memories of important views and simple movement rules. Such systems could be useful where GPS is unreliable, such as in forests, tunnels, greenhouses or collapsed buildings.

Many future machines, from small drones to farm robots and environmental sensors, will need to act without heavy batteries or constant cloud computing. Like bees, they will need simple navigation strategies that work with limited energy, memory and information.

The real lesson is broader: intelligence does not always require scale. As AI becomes more common in daily life, the bee offers an elegant answer to rising energy demands. For decades, the ambition of AI was to build systems that match the human mind, but the bee shows that smart does not have to mean big.

By mimicking the bee’s ability to learn fast, navigate without maps and integrate multiple sources of information, we may build technology that is more efficient, flexible and resilient.

43% say they’d pay extra for destinations or accommodation with limited or no connectivity

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Two-fifths of people say their screen time increases on holiday despite 88% actively trying to disconnect. 41%, equivalent to 16.7million people, said they spend longer glued to devices while out of office even when trying to be offline.

More than half say social media makes holidays feel like work, while the same proportion admit their phones have compromised key travel moments – through distraction, pressure to post or an inability to fully switch off.

The research from Tourism Tasmania suggests disconnection has become a new status symbol. Nearly six in ten British holidaymakers describe being able to switch off completely as the ‘new luxury’ and a status symbol in itself.

Peace and quiet has overtaken traditional hotel perks, with 83% naming it the most luxurious part of a getaway, while 51% believe a proper holiday is one where they can’t be contacted at all.

More than a third (37%) of holidaymakers said they’d forgo Wi-Fi altogether over room service.

This shift is also reshaping how travellers plan to splash the cash when travelling.

Two-fifths (43%) of British holidaymakers say they’d pay extra for destinations or accommodation with limited or no connectivity.

Those actively seeking a tech-free escape admitted they’re willing to spend up to £32.50 more per night for this.

The same proportion (42%) rank remote, nature-led destinations as the most appealing option for a true digital reset.

Tasmania, Australia’s only island state, is emerging as a restorative haven. Recent high-profile visitors, including Gordon Ramsay and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, have praised the island’s world-class culinary offerings and pristine environment.

More than half of Tasmania’s land is protected in national parks and reserves and more than 20% of the island is a World Heritage wilderness. It offers a concentration of nature – from glacial lakes and ancient rainforests to rugged coastlines, iconic walks and more than 1,500 beaches.

Across parts of Tasmania limited coverage and low-population density means switching off isn’t something visitors necessarily need to plan for.

Tourism Tasmania CEO Sarah Kingston Clark said: “British travellers are telling us that holidays don’t feel like a proper break when the pressure to be online follows them everywhere.

“When people say social media is making holidays feel like work, and that being unreachable is now the marker of a ‘real’ escape, it points to a deeper shift in how many are wanting to travel.

“What’s changing for many is the role holidays play. For a long time, they’ve been about seeing more, doing more, sharing more.

“But that constant layer of connectivity means many travellers never truly switch off.

“What we’re seeing now is a growing desire to step out of that cycle altogether and spend time in places where there’s less connectivity, less noise and fewer expectations.

“That’s why Tasmania is resonating with so many people right now.

“Being an island set apart from mainland Australia, there’s a natural sense of distance from the noise and pace of the rest of the world – and with it a very different kind of holiday experience.

“Travellers can step away from devices, avoid large crows and queues and immerse themselves in remarkably pristine nature, while still enjoying easy access to world-class food and drink, arts and culture and a vibrant calendar of events – often all within close reach.

“If travellers want to stay connected they absolutely can, but if they’re looking to switch off, it tends to happen quite naturally here.

“For many people it’s not about disconnecting for the sake of it, it’s about slowing down, feeling present and reconnecting with what matters.

“For British travellers in particular, that’s increasingly what they’re looking to get out of a holiday.”

The World Health Organisation has acknowledged that the Ebola outbreak started “a couple of months ago” after criticism from the US – this is a breaking story

The World Health Organisation has acknowledged that the Ebola outbreak started “a couple of months ago” after facing sharp criticism from the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the United Nations’ health agency had been “a little late” in identifying the disease. Rubio told reporters: “The lead is obviously going to be CDC [Centers for Disease Control] and the World Health Organisation [WHO], which was a little late to identify this thing unfortunately.”

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, a reporter asked how long Ebola had been spreading before it was detected and whether the WHO had any response to criticism from Rubio.

Anais Legand, an Academic Researcher from WHO, replied: “Surveillance starts within the communities and starts with the health organisations in every single country.”

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Deep in the forests of Sweden lies a haunting graveyard where hundreds of classic cars have been left to rot among the trees.

The eerie Båstnäs Car Cemetery has become an unlikely attraction for photographers and urban explorers thanks to its rusting collection of abandoned motors slowly being reclaimed by nature.

Hidden close to the Norwegian border, the site is littered with decaying Volvos, Saabs and American cars dating back to the 1940s and 50s – many now covered in moss, swallowed by vegetation and sinking into the woodland floor.

The remarkable collection began decades ago when brothers Rune and Tore Ivansson used the remote forest clearing as a scrapyard for unwanted vehicles.

At its peak, thousands of cars passed through the site, with usable parts stripped and sold on while the remaining shells were simply left where they stood.

Over time, the scrapyard was abandoned and nature gradually took over – transforming the forgotten vehicles into a striking post-apocalyptic landscape.

Today the site has become world famous among photographers, who travel from across Europe to capture the surreal sight of classic cars frozen in time beneath towering pine trees.

Some appear almost untouched apart from thick blankets of moss crawling across their bonnets and roofs.

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Others have collapsed completely into the undergrowth after decades exposed to harsh Scandinavian winters.

Many of the vehicles still contain original details, from cracked steering wheels and faded dashboards to rusted chrome grilles and shattered headlights.

Despite its decaying appearance, the car cemetery has become an atmospheric symbol of nature reclaiming the man-made world.

The haunting woodland graveyard now offers a rare glimpse into motoring history – with each rusting vehicle telling its own silent story.

Photographer Tim Brakemeier captured the striking images while exploring the abandoned site, documenting the beauty hidden within the rusting wrecks.

The stunning series highlights the strange contrast between industrial decay and the peaceful Swedish wilderness surrounding it.

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An hour after the BBC’s announcement, Rylan posted on Instagram: “Just wanted to say as it was reported I was in ‘the race’ for Strictly, the biggest congrats to my Emma and equal congrats to Johannes and Josh. You’re all going to have the best time. Made up for yous.

“This wasn’t my time sadly but [I’m] extremely grateful to even have been considered.”

“I’m taking the news really well (see next slide) but genuinely looking forward to the new series with you three,” he added, before reposting an iconic clip of himself crying during his early days as a contestant on the talent search The X Factor.

Rylan isn’t the only It Takes Two alum to have spoken about missing out on the role hosting the main show.

Fleur East also admitted she’s been feeling “bothered” about being overlooked for the hosting job, having fronted the spin-off series since 2023.