Vladimir (5 March)

The Dinosaurs (6 March)

Boyfriend On Demand (6 March)

War Machine (6 March)

One Piece (10 March)

Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere (11 March)

The Plastic Detox (16 March)

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (20 March)

Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen (26 March)

A selling point of hotels has traditionally been the standardised service offered by their trained staff. In contrast, “peer-to-peer” accommodation – of which Airbnb is the most popular host platform – is usually run more informally by individual hosts who have little if any formal hospitality training.

What they offer instead is personal interaction, a sense of authenticity, and local knowledge about the area. And our multi-year research shows that this is often rated much more highly by visiting guests.

Our study (with colleagues), recently published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, investigates the key reasons international guests staying all over India – one of the world’s fastest growing tourist markets – give their Airbnb accommodation a five-star review, or rather less.

One clear pattern was how guests talked about their relationship with hosts. Many appreciated meeting friendly, helpful hosts – but only when contact felt optional. Our survey and interview findings showed around one-third of guests said they were uncomfortable when communication felt too frequent or too personal.

This points to an important tension in Airbnb stays. Guests often want reassurance without intrusion. A takeaway recommendation was the importance of short, polite messages that reassure guests help is available if needed – but not excessive contact. Feeling welcome is less about ongoing interaction and more about responsiveness, clarity and respect for boundaries.

Our study began in 2019 by developing a new way of analysing thousands of Airbnb guest reviews in India to understand the key indicators of satisfaction (and dissatisfaction). After being interrupted by COVID, we followed this up with surveys and in-depth interviews in the same country to establish the priorities guests give to different aspects of how they were hosted.

Some guests also talked about experiences that stood out for the wrong reasons. These were not “horror stories”, but moments where boundaries felt unclear – such as hosts dropping by unexpectedly, asking too many personal questions, or being slow to respond when something went wrong.

Expectations also played a big role in how stays were judged. Guests who felt well-informed before arrival – about the space, the rules and the neighbourhood – tended to be more relaxed and forgiving of small issues. By contrast, even minor surprises could negatively affect how the entire experience was remembered.

These patterns became stronger after COVID. Guests became more sensitive to cleanliness, safety and communication, and many preferred less face-to-face contact than before.

With all this in mind, here are five practical ways our research suggests hosts can increase their prospects of a five-star rating – and a return stay.

1. Tell guests what to expect – truthfully

Frustrations sometimes start building before they have even arrived. Many guests, particularly from other countries, rely on clear, practical information to feel confident about their choice.

Hosts should make sure their listing answers all common questions upfront and truthfully: how check-in works, what the neighbourhood is like, whether the space suits families or remote work, and what amenities are (and are not!) available.

Small gaps between what guests expect and what they find can shape how they judge their entire stay. Guests who feel well informed are less likely to focus on minor issues.

2. Comfort counts, not just appearance

Good photos matter, but guests judge accommodation on how it feels to actually stay there. We found features such as comfortable furniture, a calm atmosphere and a sense of privacy strongly influence how enjoyable a stay feels.

Hosts do not need to make expensive upgrades. But paying attention to lighting, noise, clutter and basic comfort is non-negotiable.

3. Be responsive, but don’t overdo it

Guests value personal interaction in different ways, but they consistently appreciate hosts who are reliable and easy to reach. Yet feeling welcome does not require constant communication.

Simple actions matter: replying promptly to messages, giving clear instructions, and dealing calmly with problems when they arise. We found this sense of feeling “looked after” is closely linked to whether guests want to return.

4. Anticipate small issues before they snowball

It’s notable how often small problems can snowball during a stay. Issues such as non-working equipment are usually forgotten if clearly explained and calmly dealt with. But slow responses to concerns – or worse, displays of frustration or anger from hosts – can quickly affect how a stay is judged.

Anticipating common issues and dealing with them early can prevent small problems from overshadowing the guest experience. Clear house information, well-maintained facilities and simple backup plans all help.

5. Focus on return visits, not ratings

Positive reviews matter, but they do not tell the whole story. In our research, the most important indicator of guest satisfaction was whether they said they wanted to return.

While enjoyment and value are closely linked with recommendations, feeling comfortable and welcome plays a stronger role in repeat bookings. Creating a space that is easy to use, pleasant to stay in and welcoming will encourage guests to come back, even in a crowded market.

Small, thoughtful choices in these areas shape how guests remember their visit. Hosts who want long-term success should think beyond ratings and consider whether guests will genuinely want to return.

It’s 2028 and you’re getting a taxi home from a night out. So far, so normal, the only difference is that this one is flying.

Sounds futuristic but it’s far from unrealistic according to Vertical Aerospace, which is aiming to have its taxis soaring across London’s skyline within two years.

The Bristol-based firm successfully tested its electric flying taxi above the Cotswolds last year.

Uber has slightly tempered its ambitions to 2030, although its partnership with Joby Aviation is set to bring flying taxis to Dubai already later this year.

It joins cities in China and the United Arab Emirates which harbour similar ambitions.

Uber’s chief product officer Sachin Kansal revealed he would be ‘very disappointed’ if the 2030 milestone wasn’t hit.

‘London is going to be a very high priority market,’ he said.

‘We know our users (there) would love a feature like this, which will help them escape a lot of the traffic and be able to get from their home to the airport within a few minutes rather than hours.’

How fast would a flying taxi journey be?

To put that in perspective, a 10-mile journey across central London could take as little as 10 minutes in a flying taxi – compared to in excess of 90 minutes during peak times.

‘To me, the number one advantage of being able to take that ride is time,’ Sachin explained.

‘Of course the aircraft itself is going to be an amazing experience, but being able to save an hour is going to be amazing.’

Joby’s electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) will launch like a helicopter before tilting forward to cruise like a plane to travel at speeds of up to 200mph.

It will carry a pilot and four passengers, cover up to 100 miles on full battery, which takes up to 10 minutes to charge from empty.

And it won’t be priced beyond the means of ordinary Londoners.

How much would flying Uber trip cost?

Fares would be comparable to Uber Exec, the premium tier of the Uber app. In central London, a 10-mile Uber Exec journey typically costs between £50 and £70 depending on traffic and demand.

Like with Uber, customers will be able to book shared trips or an entire aircraft. They will travel via ‘vertiports’ — landing pads on rooftops, car parks, or repurposed helipads.

Under Uber’s model, passengers can take ‘stitched’ journeys where a car takes them to the ‘vertiports’ and another picks them up when they land for the final leg of their journey.

On top of this, they are significantly quieter than conventional aircraft. Joby claims their eVTOLs are around 55 decibels when flying overhead, roughly equivalent to a loud conversation in a restaurant.

So far, no infrastructure exists to accommodate eVTOLs – although not many ‘vertiports’ would be needed to serve London, according to Sachin.

‘My expectation would be that we would pick a few spots that give us enough coverage in the city as well as on the outskirts … which could be starting points,’ he said.

‘You just need a clearing to get enough angle to come in, you need enough space, and you need charging infrastructure. And all of that is very creative.’

What happens next with flying taxis in UK?

Joby is currently testing the taxis out in Dubai – which promises to be the guinea pig before the models expand to the US and then London.

Despite the ambitions, significant hurdles remain.

Before any commercial service can begin, aircraft must receive certification from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The regulator must approve their safety, and operators must secure licences covering pilot training, routes, and maintenance.

Local authorities could also block the building of ‘vertiports’, especially if locals raise concerns about issues like noise.

Jonathan Nicholson, from the CAA, said we were ‘very close’ to seeing flying taxis ‘as long as it is safe we will seek to enable it’.

But there are also broader concerns over public confidence.

Autonomous cars have yet to be rolled out on a large scale in the UK. Until this is normalised, it remains to be seen how popular self-flying taxis will be.

Until these hurdles are overcome, the dream of beating London traffic by air remains just that.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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The number of potholes reported this year to date has more than tripled compared to the number reported this time last year

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Pothole reports in Peterborough have increased significantly since last year, according to Peterborough City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment & Transport.

Speaking at the Full Council Budget meeting on Wednesday (February 25), Councillor Angus Ellis (Lab) said 2026 has already been a bad year for drivers across the city.

He said: “This year is worse than last year; up from January last year to where we are today, there were 231 reports. This year, so far, there are 787.”

Cllr Ellis suggested recent harsh weather conditions had been the driving force behind the exponential increase in road surface damage. “The cold weather followed by the extremely wet weather has created perfect conditions for potholes to form,” he said.

The councillor said road maintenance teams were working hard to get on top of the situation. “We have already fixed 2,431 by the end of January,” he said, “but there is more to do.”

Cllr Ellis highlighted how highways maintenance company M Group have deployed their specialist pothole-fixing utility vehicles – known as ‘Dragon Masters’ – to help resolve the issue.

“Since Monday, they have been fixing potholes,” he said, “and they’ve put an extra crew out there to fix potholes during the night.”

Semenyo’s winner silenced a raucous and rowdy crowd with a real poacher’s finish, reacting quickest to latch on to Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross and converting with aplomb.

“We made a lot of passes that we needed to do to survive without much intention to attack,” said Guardiola.

“The reaction was amazing – unbelievable with the goal we scored. A complete game in a tough, tough place, and 10 games left in the Premier League. Time to be decisive.

“Now we are building these players and they have a long, long time here. It is important for the future for the club.”

Semenyo is taking the goalscoring burden off Haaland’s shoulders – only his team-mate with 29 and Brentford‘s Igor Thiago (19) have been involved in more Premier League goals than Semenyo’s 18.

Since signing for City, Semenyo has scored four league goals and provided one assist, a goal contributions record which is bettered only by Chelsea pair Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, who have six apiece.

In late November Haaland had scored 58% of City’s goals, taken 30% of their shots and had 57% of their expected goals (xG).

He had scored 19 goals in all competitions. Burnley‘s Maxime Esteve was City’s second highest scorer in the league thanks to his two own goals in the game at Etihad Stadium.

Now, while Haaland’s impressive haul of 29 goals for the campaign still leads the way, Semenyo – and others – are silencing those who feared City were too reliant on the Norwegian’s goals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, whose fierce denunciation of military adventurism abroad fueled his unlikely rise to the top of the Republican Party, risks becoming ensnared by that very type of conflict.

The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday cemented Trump’s decade-long transformation from a candidate who in 2016 called the Iraq War a “big, fat mistake” to a president warning Americans to prepare for potential casualties overseas and encouraging Iranians to “seize control of your destiny.” The strikes were also at odds with Trump’s warnings during the 2024 campaign that his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, was surrounded by “war hawks” eager to send troops overseas.

Trump justified the action as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons or developing missiles capable of reaching the US, less than a year after he said airstrikes “obliterated” their capability. US intelligence has also said Iran’s weapons capability was substantially degraded.

For Trump, memories of the false pretenses underlying the Iraq War could lead to pressure to prove his assertion that Iran’s weapons production posed an imminent threat to Americans. And for Republicans already facing a challenging election year weighed down by economic anxiety, the shift could force a reassessment of how the attacks fit into the “America First,” isolationist-leaning movement the party has embraced during the Trump era.

While Trump might benefit from an early rally-around-the-flag effect, that could be hard to sustain for weeks and months, if not longer, a far different scenario from the swift effort to remove Nicolás Maduro from power earlier this year in Venezuela.

Success on day one is one thing. The days after are inherently unpredictable.

“The question is whether Iran’s goal is simply to outlast America and whether Trump has strategic attention deficit disorder, which will allow the Iranians to rise from the ashes and claim victory,” said Michael Rubin, a historian at the American Enterprise Institute who worked as a staff adviser on Iran and Iraq at the Pentagon from 2002 to 2004.

Many Republicans get behind Trump

Many Republicans were quick to line up behind the president, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn and state attorney general Ken Paxton, who are fighting a competitive Senate primary election on Tuesday.

“Hopefully lives will not be lost needlessly, but this always entails risk,” Cornyn said Saturday at a campaign stop near Houston. “But we know that Iran will not stop unless the United States and our allies stop them.”

Others, like Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, praised the military and were critical of Iran while noting that Americans will have questions that “must be answered.”

And there was outright opposition from some who have long criticized overseas entanglements, including Sen. Rand Paul, the Republican of Kentucky, who lamented the start of “another preemptive war.” Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who was once a close Trump ally, rejected the president’s warning of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“It’s always a lie and it’s always America Last,” she wrote online. “But it feels like the worst betrayal this time because it comes from the very man and the admin who we all believed was different.”

Little advance preparation for Americans

The administration did little in advance to prepare Americans for such a dramatic action.

Vice President JD Vance told The Washington Post this week there was “no chance” that the U.S. would become involved in a drawn-out war as it did in Iraq. During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Trump dedicated just a few lines to Iran, arguing the country and its proxies have “spread nothing but terrorism, death and hate.”

That stands in stark contrast to the lengthy runup to the Iraq War.

President George W. Bush, for example, named Iraq as a member of the so-called axis of evil in January 2002. Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a now-infamous speech to the United Nations in February 2003, making the case for war based on the inaccurate assertion that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The invasion, which ultimately dominated Bush’s second term, didn’t begin until March 2003.

“We just have to be honest that there is a sense that this was not sold to the American public sufficiently,” Andrew Kolvet said Saturday on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” an online program founded by the late conservative activist who was close to Trump. “Perhaps there will be an opportunity on the backend of this.”

Kolvet was willing, however, to give Trump leeway, noting these are the types of challenging decisions presidents are entrusted with.

“President Trump has earned a big, long leash,” he said. “Not an unlimited one. But a very long one to make tough decisions.”

Polling suggests that many Americans share Trump’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, even if they’re less confident in the president’s response. About half of U.S. adults were “extremely” or “very” concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the U.S., according to a poll this month from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Most Americans, 61%, said Iran is an “enemy” of the U.S., which is up slightly from a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023. But their confidence in the president’s judgment when it comes to relationships with adversaries and the use of military force abroad is low, the new poll shows, with only about 3 in 10 Americans saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump.

Democrats sense an opening

Democrats sense a political opening on the issue. In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner are competing for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in the fall. They both issued statements on Saturday pressing Collins, the only Republican on the ballot this year in a state won by Harris, to step up her oversight of the administration.

Collins was one of three Senate Republicans who backed an unsuccessful push last month for a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela. Democrats said Saturday they would quickly seek a vote on a similar proposal for Iran.

“If we’ve started a war where we begin to lose American lives, that starts changing the political calculus,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.

But he noted that Democrats have vulnerabilities of their own, particularly if there’s a domestic terror attack while the Department of Homeland Security is closed as they demand changes to how immigration operations are conducted.

For now, Trump isn’t offering much of a detailed strategy on what comes next. In a social media post Saturday evening, he said bombings could continue “as long as necessary.”

___

Associated Press writer Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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In its cold open, Saturday Night Live skewered President Donald Trump over his surprise attack on Iran — portraying it as both a blatant violation of his campaign promise and a desperate attempt to distract from the Epstein files.

The latest episode began with Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, played by Colin Jost, appearing at a press conference to address the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which began during the early morning hours on Saturday.

“I launched this attack after me and my Board of Peace decided we were bored of peace,” Johnson’s Trump told the audience, referencing the committee of world leaders established by the president last month.

“As we all know, Iran has been two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon for like the last 15 years or something, so we had to act now,” Johnson’s Trump continued, adding, “War, what is it good for? Distracting from the Epstein files!”

The SNL star then mocked the Republican president for seemingly abandoning his campaign-trail stance, where he had vowed to end “forever wars” and claimed former Vice President Kamala Harris was “guaranteed” to start World War III.

“A year ago on the campaign trail I promised no new foreign wars,” Johnson’s Trump said. “But listen, wars [is] plural, right. I’m allowed to do one. [I] can do one foreign war, and possibly one civil…”

Soon after, Jost’s Hegseth took the stage, carrying an energy drink, which he promised was non-alcoholic.

“They asked for someone to volunteer to oversee this half baked operation, and I didn’t walk. I ran,” he said, sparking laughter from the audience.

He then addressed the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died following the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes.

“Bottom line, all of you should be thanking us we took out a horrendous horrible leader who was oppressing his own people,” Jost’s Hegseth said. Johnson’s Trump quickly chimed in: “Don’t get any ideas!”

The hastily assembled cold open came just hours after Trump announced a major military operation in Iran. U.S. and Israeli forces bombarded government and military sites across the Middle Eastern nation, killing hundreds of people, according to state media. In response, Iran launched retaliatory strikes across the region, sparking fears of a broader war.

Trump has vowed to continue the strikes for weeks — if not longer.

President Donald Trump has said the US believes reports that the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in a US and Israeli missile strike

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Reports emerging this evening (Saturday) suggest that Iran’s Supreme Leader has died following missile strikes launched across the Middle East.

On Saturday (February 28), President Donald Trump stated that the administration considers reports regarding the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be “a correct story”. This evening, Number 10 has announced that Britain will convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council.

The session has been requested by France, Colombia, Russia and Bahrain following Saturday morning’s strikes by the US and Israel on Iran. The operations, which targeted locations in Tehran and elsewhere across the nation, triggered Iranian retaliation with strikes reported across multiple Gulf states including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Saturday marks the final day of the UK’s rotating presidency of the Security Council before the position transfers to the United States. The session is anticipated to commence at approximately 9pm UK time, reports the Irish Mirror.

Imagery circulated after the US-Israeli operations included photographs depicting significant damage to Khamenei’s Tehran compound. The US and Israel characterised the operations as “pre-emptive” action against a Tehran administration pursuing nuclear weapons development.

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Negotiations between the US and Iran focused on addressing Tehran’s nuclear programme concluded on Thursday without reaching agreement, though talks were scheduled to continue at a future date. In response to the strikes, Sir Keir Starmer assembled the Government’s emergency Cobra committee on Saturday morning, followed by consultations with European and Gulf partners.

In a unified declaration alongside the leaders of France and Germany, the Prime Minister criticised Iran’s response and called upon Tehran to “refrain from indiscriminate military strikes” and “seek a negotiated solution”. Addressing the nation from Downing Street, Sir Keir clarified that the UK had not participated in the strikes, but had later deployed aircraft “as part of co-ordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies”.

He noted that security measures had been enhanced for British installations across the Middle East and the Government was “reaching out to UK nationals in the region and doing everything we can to support them”. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has instructed UK citizens in certain Middle Eastern areas to “shelter in place”.

This guidance applies to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where a blaze has erupted at the upmarket Fairmont Hotel in Dubai’s Palm district – an incident Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper denounced during a conversation with her Emirati counterpart. Several hundred thousand British citizens are presently believed to be in the Gulf region.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch voiced her backing for the strikes on Iran, branding the Tehran administration a “vile regime” that “carries out attacks on the UK and on our citizens”, has attempted to develop nuclear weapons and “brutally repressed pro-democracy protests only months ago and murdered thousands of its own people”. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called on the Prime Minister to dismiss the possibility of permitting British bases to be utilised for “future unilateral US strikes”.

He stated: “The Iranian people deserve to live free from a brutal regime. Donald Trump’s unilateral and illegal military action won’t deliver freedom, peace and security. It will only unleash more bloodshed.”

However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage suggested Sir Keir ought to “change his mind” and permit the US to conduct attacks from British bases, including Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands. The Government has reportedly previously declined American requests to utilise the Diego Garcia base for strikes against Iran amid fears it would violate international law.

Senior Labour MP Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Press Association there was “no legal basis for this attack”.