City of York Council data showed 195 out of more than 1,000 slots made available for traders in the four weeks since bookings went live were missed.

About nine tenths residents who booked one of the more than 12,000 10-minute slots available for them turned up for their appointments from Monday, March 2 to Sunday, March 29.

A spokesperson for Yorwaste, which runs the site on behalf of the council, said Towthorpe had not been any busier than usual since the new system was launched.

They added they had not experienced any unusual increases in traffic since the Click Before You Tip system launched at Hazel Court.

It follows the launch of the new booking system for Hazel Court on Monday, February 23 a week before time slots came into effect.

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It also comes as residents are encouraged to ensure they have booked a slot if they are planning on using the tip over the Easter bank holiday.

Households are currently limited to four 10-minute slots a week while businesses can book up to two 15-minute slots a day.

Cllr Jenny Kent, the council’s Labour environment spokesperson, said at the time the system was a sensible solution to tackle congestion and queues and improve air quality in the area.

A report ahead of the council’s executive’s approval of the new system in September stated residents had raised safety concerns over drivers attempting dangerous manoeuvres in the road.

Businesses based in and around Hazel Court have also claimed congestion caused by queues for the tip was making it harder for their customers to reach them.

But the council’s Liberal Democrat opposition raised concerns about the plans at the time, saying they followed a decision to close the site on Wednesdays and could cause more fly-tipping.

Rubbish removal business Waste Warriors told The Press the new system had resulted in them having to turn down jobs due to limits on trips to the tip.

Traffic blocking the road as drivers queue to turn into Hazel Court Recycling Centre (Image: Newsquest)

Feedback from Yorwaste suggested the day-to-day operations at the site remained stable since bookings launched.

Around 70 per cent of the more than 12,000 slots made available to residents have been booked, rising to 80 per cent in the last full week of March.

The council stated the system was being widely-used and well-adopted by residents and activity at the site was broadly in line with seasonal expectations.

But it added missed trader appointments were causing issues because they reduce availability and cannot be easily given to someone else at such short notice.

People are required to bring their booking confirmation with them to show to tip staff on arrival.

Slots can be booked online or over the phone up to two weeks in advance.

The Towthorpe site, in Moor Lane, remains available to use without having to book beforehand.

Arsenal lose the second leg of their quarter-final against Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, but win 3-2 on aggregate to reach the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League and move a step closer to successfully defending their title.

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A court has overturned a ban on people living on the outer Chagos Islands.

In February, nine people, including four Chagossians, landed on Ile Du Coin, an uninhabited outer island which is 135 south of Diego Garcia.

They were ordered to leave, and four members of the group took legal action against the commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

It was argued that a 2004 law removing the right of Chagossians to enter and remain on the outer islands was unlawful.

In a ruling on Tuesday, the BIOT Supreme Court quashed the rule and the commissioner’s order for the Chagossians to leave.

The UK has agreed to hand sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, and lease back a joined UK-US military base on Diego Garcia for 99 years.

US President Donald Trump was critical of the deal in February, describing it as an “act of great stupidity” and a “big mistake”.

James Lewis KC, the chief justice of the BIOT, said on Tuesday: “Any rational reason for passing the provision has now disappeared, if there ever was one.”

The Chagossians had initially claimed they were seeking to visit Ile Du Coin temporarily to visit graves, and did not mention they planned to establish a “permanent camp”, the judge said.

He continued: “A claimed power to exclude a whole population must be justified by legal source, not administrative necessity.”

The judge also said that the deal signed between the UK and Mauritius “removes any claimed reliance on defence or security issues in repopulating the outer islands, as well as rendering funding issues otiose [serving no practical purpose]”.

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The commissioner is challenging the decision, according to the Foreign Office.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We do not agree with this judgment, and we understand the BIOT administration have appealed it.”

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have accused Sir Keir Starmer of treating Chagossians as “an inconvenience”.

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel has called on the prime minister to abandon what she described as an “appalling” deal to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which she said was a “complete betrayal”.

Ms Patel said: “Throughout the process, he has sought to sideline the Chagossian people, treating them as nothing but an inconvenience.

“Chagossians, many of whom have no desire to see the islands handed over to an ally of China, ended up taking matters into their own hands. And now this latest humiliation has further undermined the Government’s case.”

Tiger Woods formally turned down the Ryder Cup captaincy Wednesday as he steps away from golf activities, and a Florida judge approved his motion to leave the country to seek treatment.

The developments come one day after Woods entered a not guilty plea to suspicion of driving under the influence when his SUV clipped the back of a trailer and flipped on its side last week on a residential road near his home on Jupiter Island, Florida.

Woods posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”

A motion filed Wednesday by his attorney, Douglas Duncan, asked a judge that Woods be allowed to travel outside the country to begin “comprehensive inpatient treatment.”

Duncan said the recommendation from Woods’ doctor was based on the golfer’s “complex clinical presentation and the urgent need for a level of care that cannot safely or effectively be done within the United States as his privacy has been repeatedly compromised.

“Ongoing medical scrutiny and public exposure create significant barriers to his care and would result in setbacks and an inability to fully engage in treatment.”

Martin County Court Judge Darren Steele approved the motion, which did not say where the inpatient treatment facility was located.

The Ryder Cup decision by the PGA of America was not a surprise during the last five, chaotic days involving Woods dating to his Friday arrest.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

In a statement, Mills said: “The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation.

“In response to this the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me.

“An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018.

“As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.

“Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed 7 years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.

“I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues, and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.”

The breakfast show host was abruptly taken off air by the BBC last week, before his sacking over allegations related to his “personal conduct” was announced on Monday.

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The 53-year-old last hosted his show on Tuesday, March 24 and signed off with: “See you tomorrow.”

He was questioned by police under caution in July 2018.

Mills was not charged with a criminal offence, and the case was closed due to a lack of evidence.

The Metropolitan Police does not identify people who are subject to an investigation before any charges are brought.

What was the Met Police statement?

A spokesperson said: “In December 2016, the Met began an investigation following a referral from another police force.

“The investigation related to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy. These were reported to have taken place between 1997 and 2000.

“As part of these inquiries, a man who was in his 40s at the time of the interview was questioned by police under caution in July 2018.

“A full file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges. Following this advice, the investigation was closed in May 2019.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists created virtual replicas of patients’ diseased hearts so precise that blocking a dangerous irregular heartbeat in these digital “twins” showed doctors how to better treat the real thing.

One of the first clinical trials of these custom models suggests it might improve care for ventricular tachycardia, a notoriously difficult-to-treat arrhythmia that is a major cause of sudden cardiac arrest, blamed for about 300,000 U.S. deaths a year.

The study, by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, was a small first step. The Food and Drug Administration allowed the digital twin technology to guide treatment for just 10 patients, and much larger studies will be needed.

But the results reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine come as doctors increasingly are exploring how a technology long used in aerospace and other industries might be harnessed for better health, too.

Dr. Jeffrey Goldberger, a heart specialist at the University of Miami who wasn’t involved with the study, experimented with more rudimentary iterations 15 years ago and praised the new findings. “This is what we envisioned,” he said.

Doctors have long used 3D models, both physical and computer-generated ones, to simulate disease and practice techniques. But Hopkins biomedical engineer Natalia Trayanova said true digital twins predict how a real organ can react to different treatments. Her lab is pioneering colorful interactive models developed with an advanced MRI scan and other data from each patient.

“We treat the twin before we treat the patient,” Trayanova said. “Did it work? And if it did, are there new things that arise” that will require more or different care?

The heart’s electrical system powers our heartbeat. Ventricular tachycardia is a super-fast heartbeat triggered when an electrical wave short-circuits in the organ’s bottom chambers, the ventricles, and prevents them from pumping blood out to the body.

“You see this heart that is basically quivering,” Trayanova said.

Medication can help but the main treatment is ablation, when doctors thread catheters to the heart to burn misfiring tissue. But it’s a bit trial-and-error, as patients spend hours under anesthesia while doctors determine where to aim. Repeat ablations are common, and many patients have an implanted defibrillator as backup.

Enter Trayanova’s digital twins of patients’ ventricles. Colors swirl on a computer screen – blue, green, yellow and orange – showing how the heart’s electrical wave moves across the chamber’s healthy areas before getting stuck on damaged tissue. It’s trapped in a circular motion that she compares to the swirl of a hurricane.

“It allows me to recreate the functioning of the patient’s organ and then predict what is the best way to ablate,” she said.

The technology locates a dysfunctional region where the electrical wave repeatedly hits. Virtually ablating it will show if that solves the problem or if another arrhythmia forms that also will need zapping. “Then we poke it again,” she explained.

Trayanova’s team created customized ablation targets for each of the 10 study participants. Cardiologists transferred them to a mapping system they use as a guide and aimed just at those targets instead of hunting their own.

More than a year later, eight patients had no arrhythmias while two experienced only a single brief episode while they were healing — better than the treatment’s typical 60% success rate, said Dr. Jonathan Chrispin, a Hopkins cardiologist and the study’s lead author. All but two also stopped their anti-arrhythmia medicine.

More importantly, cardiologists may burn away less tissue by targeting “specifically the areas that we think are critically important,” Chrispin said. “We could potentially make these procedures shorter, safer, more effective.”

The Hopkins team hopes to study the digital twin approach in a larger study with other hospitals, and has begun a trial using it to treat a more common type of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. Other researchers are studying digital twins for cancer care.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A system failure caused more than 100 driverless cars to suddenly stop mid-traffic in China.

Some passengers were left stranded in their vehicles after a “system malfunction” caused the driverless robotaxis to come to a halt in Wuhan on Tuesday.

No injuries were reported.

One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner.

An instruction on a screen then read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in five minutes.”

While some passengers were able to leave their cars, others were afraid to get out because they had stopped in a middle lane with traffic going by on either side, according to local reports.

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The taxis are operated by Baidu, a major Chinese internet and AI company firm that is set to bring its driverless taxis to the UK this year.

Baidu operates hundreds of robotaxis in Wuhan, which hosted an early pilot project for the company.

Uber and Lyft ‌are both planning to launch driverless taxi trials with the company.

It is the first time a mass shutdown of taxis has been reported in China.

In December, many self-driving cars in San Francisco operated by rival firm Waymo came to a sudden stop because of a power outage.

Baidu did not reply to a request from the Associated Press news agency for comment.

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of Chelsea v Arsenal in the Women’s Champions League. 

A thrilling all-English clash awaits as Chelsea look to use their home advantage to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Stamford Bridge in their second leg against the reigning European champions. 

Arsenal saw off their Women’s Super League rivals in a dramatic contest last week at the Emirates, where goals from Stina Blackstenius, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo helped the home side to a convincing win. 

Lauren James’s deft chip was the only positive for Chelsea on a night which left Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor fuming at the standard of refereeing after her side had two goals scratched off. 

Arsenal will fancy their chances after a resounding 5-2 North London derby win over Tottenham last weekend, although they can expect Chelsea to rouse a strong response as they bid to progress to a fourth consecutive European semi-final. “We know we can overturn this result,” were the confident words of Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze at full time.

The stats, though, are against Chelsea. Arsenal having progressed on all four previous occasions when they have gained a two-goal first-leg lead in a Uefa competition two-legged tie.

The Champions League is the one major honour missing from Chelsea’s trophy cabinet. While the club have dominated domestically, European success remains the ultimate goal – something they never managed to achieve under former manager Emma Hayes. 

Despite winning the League Cup last month, they have endured a sub-optimal season by their own lofty standards. They are nine points adrift of WSL leaders Manchester City and with three games of the league season remaining, their recent dominance in English women’s football looks set to come to a shuddering halt. 

Netflix has shared never-before-seen Age of Attraction footage exposing a love story that was completely cut from the reality series

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Netflix has released deleted scenes from Age of Attraction that unveil a hidden romance fans never got to witness. The reality programme brought together 40 singles ranging in age from 22 to 60, each given the opportunity to find love without ever discovering one another’s ages.

A Netflix synopsis teases: “Age is thrown out the window when singles search for their soulmates in this dating series. Is love truly ageless, or will the years come between them?”

The initial contestants were narrowed down to just five couples by the final commitment ceremony, where each pair decided whether they wished to continue their relationship outside of the experiment. Among them was Andrew Wheeler, 38, who departed the show with girlfriend Libby Vodicka, 22.

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However, it turns out Andrew had another significant connection that was cut entirely from the reality series. Tudum has unveiled previously unseen footage revealing Andrew’s romance with 39-year-old Ashley, whom he began pursuing a connection with during the retreat stage of the experiment, reports the Mirror.

The exclusive clips show Andrew and Ashley engaging in a flirtatious conversation as they reflect on their experiences in the show. Andrew is then heard drawing comparisons between his relationships with Libby and Ashley. He told Ashley: “Libby has been fun. I feel like my connection with her is a little bit different than, my connection with you. I feel like we have… it’s very calming, very chill.”

Business owner Ashley then opened up about her previous relationships, disclosing that she is a virgin and her ex “thought he could handle it but he couldn’t”.

She explained: “I haven’t told anyone else here this. I am a virgin that has been waiting for marriage. I get that’s different. I get that’s probably weird.

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“I understand it’s not for everyone. I don’t expect the person I’m with to have done that [abstinence] either. This is a very personal choice I made when I was younger, and it ties to the romantic side of me.” While Ashley was apprehensive about Andrew’s reaction, she visibly relaxed following his understanding response.

He said: “I don’t feel any type of way about that. I think if anything, it shows how strong of a person you are. And you should be proud of yourself. ” Despite their spark, Andrew subsequently ended things as he felt a stronger connection with Libby.

The new footage also uncovers little-known friendships and romances that were left on the cutting room floor. Fans will also be pleased to hear that Age of Attraction has already been commissioned for a second series, with hosts Natalie Joy and Nick Viall set to return.

Age of Attraction is streaming now on Netflix