The specialist repairs will take around four weeks

A famous bridge will close for repairs amid concerns about its condition. Godmanchester’s Chinese Bridge is a Grade II listed building and landmark.

The pedestrian bridge spans a mill stream on the River Great Ouse., and its name comes from the style in which it was built. Concerns have been raised about the condition of the bridge, which is managed by Cambridgeshire County Council.

A spokesperson for the county council said: “We received reports of concern from the town council regarding the condition of a small section of the bridge deck and the parapet. Engineers at the council inspected the bridge on multiple occasions to run tests and a decision was made to re-deck the bridge.”

Re-decking works were due to begin in the week commencing Monday (August 24), depending on weather conditions. The bridge will remain open during this part of the work.

The original structure was built in 1827 but the wooden span later fell into a bad condition and was replaced with a replica by the local council in 1960. According to Cambridgeshire County Council, specialist heritage parapet repairs are expected to commence on October 5 and will take around four weeks to complete.

The spokesperson for the council added: “The specialist heritage parapet repairs are expected to commence on 5th October, under a 4 week footpath closure and subject to Environment Agency approval.”

A short pedestrian diversion will be in place through the car park to the north and the bridge is expected to reopen at the end of each working shift, according to Godmanchester Town Council.

Floods have battered parts of the UK as lightning and hail are expected across England and Wales.

West Midlands Fire Service confirmed it had been called out to ‘significant flooding’ in Birmingham after a flood warning was issued for Perry Barr due to rising river levels.

The fire service urged residents to avoid the area if possible as it also responded to three incidents in the suburb.

Birmingham City Council has warned locals to ‘take care’ and to ‘avoid walking, cycling or driving through flood water’.

Images have emerged of flooded streets in England’s second city with people seen wading through water reaching above their knees.

One car was partly submerged with murky floodwater rising above its number plate.

It comes after an exceptionally hot and dry summer for the UK, which has seen three-quarters of England and all of Wales plunge into a drought as 28million people were hit with hosepipe bans.

Rivers and reservoirs are running low in some areas of the country after experiencing two months of no rain, with the latest bout of thundery weather set to bring more downpour than the last two months combined. 

Floods often occur after a drought because parched soil repels the water instead of absorbing it. 

A woman leaving a property in Perry Bar. West Midlands Fire Service confirmed it had been called out to ‘significant flooding’ in the city

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Britons are set to be further hit with bouts of bad weather over the next couple of days, with two thunderstorm warnings issued for Thursday.

London and the South East of England experienced heavy rain and thunderstorms between 2am and 8am today, the Met Office said. Meanwhile, Wales and much of England will experience the downpour and storms from 5am until 10pm tonight.

It comes as the Environment Agency issued 22 flooding alerts across the Midlands and the South East.

Today some areas will see between 50-75mm (2 to 3in) of rainfall as well as lightning and hail. Warm temperatures with highs of 27C or 28C (82F) are also expected, the Met Office said.

In the South East, around 30 to 40mm (1 to 1.5in) of rainfall is anticipated, with ‘fairly large hail between 1-2cm’, the forecaster added.

However, parts of the larger warning area could have more than 75mm of rain in just 12 hours, Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said. Temperatures will drop closer to average for this time of year over the weekend, with highs of 25C (77F) on Friday, before lowering to 22C (72F) or 23C (73F) until Monday.

Britons are only set to be further hit by bouts of bad weather, with two thunderstorm warnings issued for Thursday

Two cars have partly submerged in Birmingham. Several others were also swamped in their driveways 

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Some cars have been party-submerged with water reaching the number plates 

West Midlands Fire Service had six crews dealing with a significant flooding 

The forecaster has warned of travel disruption, with bus and train cancellations as well as some road closures due to flooding.

Some homes may experience damage and power cuts from quick flooding while some communities may be cut off entirely due to road closures.

Mr Snell said: ‘We’re watching the risk of some heavy rain and thunderstorms moving up from the south. On Thursday as we wake up there will be a band of potentially heavy rain and thundery rain stretching across parts of the UK.

‘For parts of the Midlands and Wales it’s going to be quite a wet day really. We could see some further thunderstorms move into the south east around Thursday evening.’

Friday will see further heavy rain and thunderstorms across the UK, before further rain moves in on Saturday. A mixture of sunshine and showers is expected this upcoming Sunday and Monday.

Mr Snell said: ‘To sum up the bank holiday weekend, it’s going to be pretty unsettled; there will be some sunny moments in between if you can dodge the downpours.

‘It’s not going to be a complete washout; if you’ve got outdoor plans over the weekend, keep a close eye as there will be rain moving in across most parts.’

It comes as the UK entered its final week of an exceptionally hot and dry summer, which has plunged nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales into drought, with 28million people under hosepipe bans.

Rivers and reservoirs are running low after some areas went two months without rain. Wisley in Surrey had 62 consecutive dry days until last week, while London Heathrow had 56 dry days.

Last month was the driest July on record for England, with the south-east left severely parched. Met Office data showed East Anglia had just 2mm (0.1in) of rainfall in July, and 56.3mm (2.2in) in June.

That means the rainfall forecast this week could be more than the past two months combined.

The Environment Agency said last Friday that south-east England had received just 3mm of rain so far in August – with rainfall totals for the month still below average across all regions of England, despite wetter weather in some areas.

The average rainfall for south-east England in August – using the Heathrow weather station as an example – is 53mm.

The Environment Agency added that seven reservoirs in England are now classed as having ‘exceptionally low’ storage levels, up from five a week ago.

Forecasters have also warned Britain faces more storms and rain this autumn and winter caused by an ‘unprecedented’ El Niño event.

El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5C above the long-term average, affecting global rainfall patterns and temperatures.

The natural warming of sea temperatures is forecast to reach more than 3C (37F) in the coming months, according to Met Office calculations – while other climate groups have projected something even stronger, perhaps even 4C above average.

The Met Office said this year’s event will be ‘the largest since the 19th century’ – with one expert even claiming it could be the strongest ‘in 500 or even 1,000 years’.

A glacier collapse in Tibet caused catastrophic flash flooding Wednesday in a border area of China and Nepal. Authorities in both countries have reported more than 160 deaths and over 1,300 people missing as of Thursday. Many were foreigners in the area for trekking or a pilgrimage to a sacred Hindu site.

The number of missing may vary across agencies due to differences in how they collected data, when it was reported and how it was verified, as well as gaps in coordination between those assembling data and those conducting rescue efforts in the affected area.

Nepal

Police reported at least 165 dead and 826 missing. Local reports cited the National Emergency Operation Center as saying Thursday the missing included 113 Nepali tourists, 85 security personnel from the army and police as well as 161 residents from the Rasuwa district and one from the Nuwakot district.

The National Tourism Board later Thursday said 517 foreigners were missing.

China

State media reported at least three people died and 558 were missing in Gyirong County, Tibet. CCTV reported that 260 of the 558 missing people were foreigners. In addition, nearly 100 Chinese citizens were missing on the Nepal side, China’s foreign ministry said.

India

Nepal’s tourism board said 179 of those missing were from India. Officials said most were on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.

United States

The board said 65 of the missing were from the United States.

Malaysia

The board said 51 Malaysians were missing.

Ukraine

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the 53 Ukrainians considered missing include 46 tourists with whom Nepalese authorities have lost contact.

Australia

The board said 35 Australians were missing.

Britain

The board said 33 of the missing were from Britain.

Canada

Nepal’s tourism board said 25 of the missing were from Canada.

South Korea

South Korean government officials said nine citizens working on building a hydropower plant in Nepal were missing.

Singapore

Eight Singaporeans were missing, according to Nepal tourism board.

Germany

Nepal’s tourism board said eight tourists from Germany were missing.

He was found ‘unresponsive’ by his family at home

An investigation has been launched into Professor Jason Arday’s “unnatural death” at his home in south London, an inquest opening has heard.

Prof Arday was found was found “unresponsive” by family members at his home in Battersea, south London, on the afternoon of August 14, London Inner South Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday (August 26).

The 41-year-old resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge earlier this month after he faced intense scrutiny over accusations of plagiarism. When announcing his resignation Prof Arday said “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary” had taken a “profound toll” on him.

Senior coroner Dr Julian Morris said: “The various reports have given me reason to suspect that Professor Arday died an unnatural death 12 days ago.

“It therefore follows that I must open an investigation. I will be setting out further directions for the coroner officer.”

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) which awarded his PhD in 2015 concluded Prof Arday had not plagiarised work. The University Cambridge announced an independent investigation into his appointment.

A double deal stack is available on the Adidas-branded Manchester United gloves, which are currently on sale at Fanatics and can be reduced to 83p via a TopCashback new member offer

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With autumn and winter rapidly approaching, matchdays are about to become considerably colder. For Manchester United supporters planning trips to Old Trafford throughout the current Premier League season, the impending chilly conditions might dampen your experience.

However, there’s an opportunity to secure a pair of Adidas-branded Manchester United gloves while saving more than £17. This substantial saving comes courtesy of a combined offer that incorporates a cashback arrangement available to shoppers.

Fanatics is currently selling the Manchester United Adidas Gloves at a reduced price, falling from £23 to £16.10, but buyers can reduce this expenditure even more. TopCashback is providing United supporters with the chance to obtain the gloves for £5.78 (or 83p excluding the £4.95 postage charge) provided they’re new members registering with the cashback site.

Meanwhile, existing TopCashback members can purchase the gloves for £20.78 (£15.83 without the £4.95 delivery fee) once cashback has been deducted. While purchasers will initially need to pay the £16.10 cost, this sum will be refunded as cashback into your TopCashback account, where it can subsequently be transferred to any bank or PayPal account.

It’s important to remember that cashback isn’t credited immediately and may take up to seven days to appear in your account. The Manchester United Adidas Gloves feature a black design with the club’s iconic red devil crest displayed on the back of the hand, complemented by discreet Adidas branding.

These gloves feature conductive fingertips, enabling you to use your smartphone or other touchscreen devices to film matches while keeping your hands warm. Constructed from 99% recycled polyester and 1% elastane, the gloves should provide adequate comfort for the majority of wearers.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for something different to stay warm during match days, the Undercover Thermal Magic Stretch Grip Gloves are on offer for £4.99. These gloves are engineered to stretch easily and accommodate most hand sizes, featuring a variety of football motifs.

Another option is the Manchester United Home Fieldplayer Gloves, priced at £23 on Amazon. These showcase the iconic Manchester United red devil logo and sport a striking red motif to show off on match days.

At present, no customer reviews are available for the discounted Manchester United Gloves, but buyers should note they aren’t waterproof. Consequently, if you intend to wear them during wet winter conditions, they won’t prevent your hands from getting damp.

Additionally, the gloves aren’t designed for exceptionally cold conditions and might not provide adequate warmth when the mercury falls below freezing.

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PARIS (AP) — A driver deliberately rammed their car into a group of people in northern France, killing at least one person and injuring 10 others, authorities said.

The incident late Wednesday night in Caen isn’t being treated by officials as a terrorist attack. Caen Mayor Aristide Olivier told local radio ICI Normandie that it seemed to be the result of “a fight that turned bad.”

The top regional official, Calvados Prefect David Clavière, said overnight that one person was killed and seven of the 10 injured were critical.

ICI Normandie reported the death toll subsequently rose to two overnight but there was no immediate official confirmation.

The suspected driver has been arrested, according to Clavière, who said the man was born in Russia. A police investigation is underway.

“A car deliberately drove into pedestrians who were in the street opposite the train station,” Clavière said.

Huntingdon Town Council said they’ve been “kept in the dark and treated like mushrooms” over Capital and Centric’s controversial plans

A town council has accused a developer of leaving them in the dark over controversial proposals to build on a bus station and car park.

Capital and Centric has proposed to turn Huntingdon bus station and Princes Street car park into 78 new homes and a “centralised hub” for businesses with green spaces. They have released similar proposals for St Neots and St Ives, sparking controversy across Huntingdonshire.

Huntingdonshire District Council’s Liberal Democrat-led coalition even collapsed over the plans when two Green councillors left due to the council’s handling of the proposals.

A special meeting of Huntingdon Town Council’s planning committee was held on Tuesday (August 25) after the developer held their first public consultations last week and residents shared their concerns.

Pam Hunt said she thought the plans were “unacceptable” and Princes Street car park is very “well used”.

Peter Snow said: “Capital and Centric are trying to propose taking things away from the community but I don’t see what they are trying to give back – that’s why they are getting a lot of bad feelings.” He asked how much research the firm had done to suggest taking away a “well-used” car park.

Angela Makey, owner of Niche Comic Book Shop, raised concerns over the impact of the loss of so many parking spaces.

She said: “At the moment we’re a very short walk from Princes Street car park and losing a lot of those parking spaces will have a huge impact, not just on us. We have a sustainable model because we’ve been going for such a long time, no new business will have that level of loyalty.”

Guy Makey said that a lot of acts use the car park for carrying equipment to the Commemoration Hall and, without it, they could “simply move to a different venue”.

He said: “As mentioned earlier, we lost Shakespeare at the George – which was very much the jewel in the crown of Huntingdon. It would be heart-breaking if the same happened to the Commemoration Hall.”

Concerns were also raised about the proposal’s impact on the Cromwell Museum – both for those driving and those travelling by bus.

Councillor David Landon Cole, chair of the planning committee, said: “I wish it was in our power to make a decision on this – it isn’t – but we do hear you.”

The town council can only advise on planning applications, which are decided at the district level. A formal application to the district council has not yet been made.

Cllr Phil Pearce said it was an “absolute disgrace” they were not made aware of the plans while six members of Huntingdonshire District Council sat on the town council.

He said: “We hear your objections, we have the same concerns as yourself – we have been kept in the dark as much as you have. There are other sites in Huntingdon which haven’t been considered and I think us as taxpayers really ought to be asking for our money back. We’ve been let down – we’ve been kept in the dark and treated like mushrooms.”

Cllr Alan Brugnoli said that during the consultation in Market Square the developer said it was “just a proposal – something ethereal”. He said: “They have been given this money and produced nothing at the minute.

“They want high end properties with what they consider no parking, I just disagree. Anyone that can afford to commute to London and back again, first is not spending money in the local community, but also they are going to have a car.”

Cllr Pearce said that the bus station plans did not have enough bus stops to replace those lost which shows “an absolute lack of research”.

Questions were raised around the three bus stops proposed to replace the station, which currently has 10 bays, and the lack of consultation with bus operators.

Cllr Landon Cole said: “I don’t understand how you can design a bus station without talking to the bus operator, it’s very weird.”

Cllr Pearce said: “I think Capital and Centric have lost the trust of the public and it’s going to take a lot to get that back.”

Cllr Landon Cole said: “The lack of communication between Capital and Centric, HDC and the public is a real problem. We [Huntingdon Town Council] hope this doesn’t damage support for redevelopment, but understand if it has. If Capital and Centric are to remain in Huntingdon, they have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust – they didn’t offer anything to the people of Huntingdon, but tried to take things away.”

The council agreed to co-sign a letter with the Commemoration Hall objecting to the plans, agreeing with one already submitted by the Cromwell Museum.

One man died in the incident, while several others suffered injuries

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One person has died and 10 others were injured after a car was allegedly driven into a crowd of people outside a French railway station.

The incident took place on Wednesday in northwestern France after a fight allegedly took place at around 10.30pm local time, at a bar near the train station in the town of Caen. Initial reports suggested two people had been killed, with firefighters and police later stating there had been at least one death.

A police source said the ramming is thought to have occurred after a fight, with one of the men allegedly involved in the earlier scuffle returning to his parked vehicle afterwards. He is understood to have gotten behind the wheel before he “deliberately drove into pedestrians in the street opposite the train station”, as per police, reports the Mirror.

Seven people were admitted in critical conditions to nearby hospitals. According to local politician David Claviere, another three suffered from minor injuries.

The driver allegedly fled the scene, but was arrested shortly afterwards about 12.5 miles from the scene, a police source told France 24.

A 26-year-old Russian national remains in police custody. It is understood that he is known to the police “only for traffic offences”, and not known to intelligence services.

READ MORE: Steven ‘Bonzo’ Daniel charged after organised crime sting at Glasgow home

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All the victims hurt in the attack appear to be men, between 17 and 40 years of age, France24 reports. City security officials have also confirmed a formal investigation now under way regarding possible charges of murder and aggravated assault.

Claviere, the local prefect for Caen, told the French press the attack does not appear to be motivated by terrorism.

Declining to provide further details, he said: “for the moment, we are not dealing with a terrorist motive, but the investigation is only just beginning.”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — In her 1994 memoir, Dolly Parton recounts in vivid detail the place where she found God.

It was an abandoned church, in rural Tennessee where she grew up, that had become known as a haven for sex, drugs and violence. Rather than see the used condoms on the floor, the out-of-tune piano left behind or the explicit drawings on the walls as a hindrance to her religious encounter, Parton spoke fondly of the setting where she went to pray as a young girl.

“I would sing hymns to God for a while and look at dirty pictures for a while and pray for a while, and one day as I prayed in earnest, I broke through some sort of spirit wall and found God,” she wrote.

“Here in one place was God, music and sex.”

The country music icon was known for blurring the line between Sunday morning and Saturday night, a window into her theology that captivated people across political and denominational lines.

As news broke this week that the 80-year-old country music icon died of cancer, social media was flooded with quotes and interview clips of Parton proclaiming her Christian faith, something she wore on her sleeve even when her relationship to church was complicated.

But for many Christian members of the LGBTQ+ community who struggled to reconcile their sexuality and gender identity with the intolerant beliefs they were taught, Parton’s public support helped them keep their faith in some cases, and transformed their understanding of how God sees them in others.

“Her approach to solidarity was inspiring for me as a young, queer Christian girl realizing I was gay,” said Ciarra Jones, a 32-year-old workplace consultant from Oakland, California. “For queer Christians, experiencing another queer Christian — or another queer-affirming person that is Christian — is important to your journey. Dolly, for me, was one of those lights.”

Parton was a trailblazer in LGBTQ+ acceptance

Long before same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, Parton made acceptance a recurring theme of both her music and public persona, which has contributed to long-running support from the LGBTQ+ community.

“I got a huge gay following and some really macho-looking women,” Parton told Andy Warhol for a 1984 cover story for Interview Magazine.

When Warhol told her she would make a great preacher, Parton responded: “What do you mean? I am a great preacher.”

American Christianity spans the theological spectrum on sexuality and gender identity, with some remaining firmly committed to a conservative view. As society has shifted, so have some Christians’ beliefs on things like same-sex marriage, though there is a widening partisan divide on certain issues, particularly regarding transgender people.

Parton, whose grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher, said her support for LGBTQ+ people was rooted in her Christian faith. “We are all God’s children,” she told Larry King in 2016. But she also did not try to convince others of her beliefs, sometimes to the frustration of fans who thought she ought to be more vocal.

“Some are preachers, some are gay / Some are addicts, drunks and strays / But not a one is turned away / When it’s family,” Parton sings on the song, “Family,” from her 1991 album “Eagle When She Flies.”

“I don’t condemn nor condone anything,” Parton once told The Associated Press regarding the song. “I just love and accept people where they are for who they are.”

Some queer people who were raised in religiously conservative homes push back against the notion that Parton was not political enough.

“It’s very, very hard to grow up and know who you are and have that be described as deviant and to be afraid that what you are is totally wrong,” said Duncan Teater, a film student at the University of Southern California, as his voice broke.

Teater, who is gay and grew up in Kentucky, was raised as a conservative Christian and has a complicated relationship to the faith as an adult. But, he said, Parton’s support was meaningful and he appreciated how she thinks about religiosity.

“For someone with the credibility and respect that Dolly Parton had, to be confident about the worth of every human being and to say that out loud and without hesitation and in such simple and loving words was a pretty radical act and a pretty political act,” he said.

Parton was vocal about faith in unexpected places

Parton’s faith, and her relationship with the gay community, spread beyond her music and interviews.

On the website for Dollywood, the East Tennessee theme park Parton opened decades ago after seeing families like hers unable to afford to go to Disneyland, there is a mission and values statement, which includes a commitment to live them out “in a manner consistent with Christian values and ethics.”

The park has a chaplain and a chapel — the Robert F. Thomas Chapel, named after the doctor who delivered Parton — that hosts weekly Sunday services.

Patrick Burrows, a 38-year-old scholar of theology and ethics, grew up going to Dollywood and has been more than 100 times.

“Any time there was a church outing in the Southern Baptist church that I grew up in or a day off from school or needing a mental health break in high school,” said Burrows, who grew up outside of Asheville, North Carolina.

The theme park was so formative for him that he wrote a chapter about it in his dissertation while studying theology at Harvard Divinity School.

“You should not see gay and lesbian couples standing next to people with ‘Jesus saved me from my sin’ shirts. And yet you see it” in what Burrows refers to as the “Dollyverse.”

“Dolly created this space for people who are very different from one another to be different from another,” he said.

Burrows recalled writing dozens of pages before one line sparked an epiphany, prompting him to rewrite his entire thesis chapter: “Though I only know it in retrospect, Dolly Parton, through Dollywood, taught me how to be gay and how to be a Christian.”

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.