Thai food has been rising in popularity over recent years with great spots popping up all over Cambridgeshire.

Celebrations for Thai New Year or Songkran are taking place from Monday, April 13, to Wednesday, April 15. Many people who celebrate will be getting involved in huge water fights, family gatherings, and cleansing rituals to mark a fresh start.

You might also want to celebrate the occasion by enjoying some traditional Thai food. From piles of noodles topped with a range of vegetables and meats to fragrant curries packed with herbs and spices, Thai cuisine is versatile and growing in popularity.

Luckily, Cambridgeshire has plenty of food spots to try out with Thai dishes available. You can find Thai food in traditional British pub settings or in a cosy restaurant for more special occasions.

If you are looking for somewhere for a quick lunch or want to enjoy a relaxing dinner with friends, you should be able to find a food spot that suits you.

CambridgeshireLive wants to know where we can find the best Thai food in the county. Whether you love a restaurant because of its wonderful staff or love the affordable prices, there are many reasons why you keep returning to a Thai restaurant.

You can tell us where your favourite Thai spot in Cambridgeshire is by using our survey below. If the survey does not appear for you, you can open it in a new tab here.

The leader of Taiwan’s largest opposition party arrived in China at the invitation of Xi Jinping on Tuesday for a “peace mission” at a time of increased military tensions between the self-governed island and the mainland.

Cheng Li-wun’s trip marks the first visit by a Kuomintang (KMT) leader ​to China in a decade, although Beijing is yet to confirm whether ‌the Chinese president will definitely meet her.

Cheng said at her party headquarters in Taipei she had embarked on a “historic journey for peace”, but added that some people feel uneasy about the visit. “If you truly love Taiwan, you will seize even the slightest chance, every possible opportunity, to keep Taiwan from being ravaged by war,” the KMT chief said in defence of her visit. China sees Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out reunification by force, if necessary.

The trip, which comes just weeks ahead of US president Donald Trump’s May visit to Beijing, has sparked concerns among the Taiwanese people who anticipate a territorial conquest by China sometime in the near future. The threat of invasion has been a major concern for Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te’s administration as well.

Lai, viewed as a separatist figure by Beijing, has called for ramping up Taiwan’s defence capabilities and bolstering the self-governed island’s defence budget, drawing lessons from multiple conflicts around the world, including the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Cheng-led opposition bloc, which dominates parliament, has also been accused of blocking a $40bn special defence budget since November 2025, which Lai has been pushing for to bolster Taiwan’s military muscle against China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Before leaving for China, Cheung said: “So I would rather believe that all Taiwanese people hope this trip will succeed, because we can transform the most dangerous place in the world into the safest place in the world.

“I believe that through this journey for peace, everyone is even more eager to see the sincerity and determination of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee to use peaceful dialogue and exchange to resolve all possible differences between the two sides,” she added.

The Taiwanese official took a train to Nanjing, which hosts the mausoleum of Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen. Sun, the father of the revolution that toppled China’s last emperor in 1911, died in 1925, and is a hero in China despite being the former leader of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, defeated by the Communists in 1949.

The head of China’s Taiwan Affairs office, Song Tao, and Cheng “chatted cordially like friends” on the train, with the KMT leader calling her trip “especially rare and precious”, the party said.

Cheng did not address the increasing military escalation from across the Taiwan Strait where China has been sending warplanes and naval vessels around the smaller island on a near-daily basis. China’s PLA forces have also recently staged two major military exercises around the island, with the most recent one in December, after the US announced arms sales to Taiwan and involved the deployment of air, naval and missile units for a joint live-fire drill.

The US State Department said PLA’s exercises “increase tensions unnecessarily” and called on Beijing to cease military pressure against Taiwan.

Late on Monday, Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, which runs the coast guard, posted a picture on her Facebook account of current Chinese warship deployments around the island – two off the east coast, and one each to the north, northwest and southwest.

“When you depart, you are doing so from within what they see as the ‘Taiwan cage’,” Kuan told reporters at parliament on Tuesday, referring to how China’s ​military has termed Taiwan’s planned T-Dome air defence ​system and talking about Cheng’s trip.

Lawmakers in Taiwan slammed the visit, saying that the opposition leader is following the steps China wants her to. “From the fact that the accompanying journalists were chosen by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, to the use of a Chinese aircraft, and even the uncertainty before departure over whether she would be able to meet president Xi, KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wen’s visit to China was, from the moment she boarded the plane, locked into the ‘One China’ framework,” said Fan Yun, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Cheng, she said, could very well be a model figure for Xi’s propaganda on “One China” policy.

The opposition, according to the lawmaker, is ignoring the obvious ground reality as public opinion polls in Taiwan show that support for unification has fallen below 10 per cent.

“The mainstream view in Taiwan is that Taiwan (Republic of China) and China (People’s Republic of China) are not subordinate to each other,” she tells The Independent, adding that while peace is “something all Taiwanese people support, but we learn from history that peace must be backed by strength”.

Regional experts say the trip serves Cheng little but benefits China more.

“Cheng’s visit won’t fundamentally change China’s calculation and preparation for a potential reunification with Taiwan. For Beijing, her trip primarily serves propaganda and diplomatic signalling purposes,” says William Yang, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst.

For Xi’s domestic audience, the visit will display the government’s progress on the mission of reunification with Taiwan, he says.

“Cheng’s remarks during the trip, which will focus on calling for peace and reiterating her opposition to Taiwan independence, will be amplified by Chinese state media to try to exacerbate division within Taiwan,” he says.

Some leading figures in her own party are also worried that her rhetoric during the trip could damage the party’s prospects in the local election in November. “Despite these criticisms and diverging views within her party, there are also some in Taiwan who view her trip as a necessary step to help reduce the level of tension across the Taiwan Strait,” Yang says.

China will use the trip to demonstrate to the US “that there are still political leaders in Taiwan who are willing to conduct cross-strait exchange and pursue peace across the Taiwan Strait”, he says.

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Few fashion trends in 2026 split opinion like trainer Mary Janes. A fusion of feminine ballet flats and sporty silhouettes, the hybrid shoe has been championed by the likes of Puma, Onitsuka and Nike. But it’s Adidas’s samba Mary Janes that have won favour with the fashion crowd.

The unexpected shoe launched in 2025, riding the wave of samba’s enduring popularity and the resurgence of Mary Jane flats. The reimagined shoe features the trainer’s signature low-profile, leather upper and suede overlays, with a single velcro strap replacing the traditional laces.

Love them or loathe them, they’ve dominated social media feeds, prompting Adidas to release new colourways earlier this year – think on-trend burgundy, metallic finishes and even a floral print style. The 2026 version of the “ugly” dad trainer trend, I’ve seen the Adidas Mary Jane sambas styled with everything from matching track tops and trousers, jeans and white poplin midi skirts to capri pants and cargo trousers.

True to form, the high street has been quick to catch on with affordable alternatives – including M&S, which is going from strength to strength with its new spring collection. Be it a bag that nods to Chanel, a perfume that riffs on Le Labo or basics that rival Skims, M&S is among the best destinations for designer dupes.

Now, it’s jumped on the controversial Mary Jane trainer trend with two suede shoe styles. Featuring the same streamlined silhouette and velcro strap as Adidas’s trainers, here’s everything you need to know.

Read more: Molly Mae’s Adidas line includes new samba and superstar trainers – here’s where to shop

M&S samba Mary Jane

If you’re after the OG Adidas samba Mary Jane shoes, the sports brand offers them in several colourways. The white is classic and easily styled, with the burgundy and floral print finishes adding intrigue to your everyday look.

Designed with all the samba signatures – including the three stripes, leather upper, suede panelling and T-toe – the trainers boast a slip-on design and velcro strap.

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These M&S perfumes rival Chanel, Jo Malone and more – and start at just £7

Ray Parlour doesn’t want to see Max Dowman in Arsenal’s starting lineup against Sporting CP despite the teenager’s impressive showing in the FA Cup at the weekend.

Dowman’s performance was perhaps the only positive for the Gunners on Saturday evening as Mike Arteta’s side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton.

The teenager pressed his case for more starts with a lively display in his first appearance since scoring his first Premier League goal against Everton last month.

Arteta has been careful to manage the 16-year-old’s minutes, especially with Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke ahead of him in the pecking order on the right wing.

And even with Saka set to miss Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with Sporting, ex-Arsenal midfielder Parlour believes Dowman isn’t quite ready to be starting regularly just yet.

Asked if Dowman should be starting over Saka, Parlour told talkSPORT: ‘No, because you don’t want to give him too much responsibility at 16 years old.

‘We’ve all been there. It’s amazing. I think the only thing we could be celebrating is his GCSE results.

‘He’s got them coming up, which is amazing, really, isn’t it? And you don’t want to be putting too much pressure on him as a youngster.

‘At the moment, he comes on, he’s been playing the FA Cup, he’s brilliant the other night. I mean, his balance he’s got when he goes past players, both feet, and he’s only 16. He’s just turned 16 in December.

‘So, what a career he’s going to have, but you’ve still got to have Saka in his team. I know he’s going through that indifferent form at the moment; he hasn’t been playing the way he can.

‘He’s not been up to his standards. We know that. He’s set the bar high, hasn’t he, with the performances, but every footballer that goes through it, he’s just got to try and work out how to get back to his best.

‘A little bit like Phil Foden, really. Phil Foden’s going through that spell at the moment as well, in his career. But at the moment, Dowman is such an important player going forward, but you can’t put too much pressure on him.

NEW YORK (AP) — Global leaders have been scrambling to contain the rising cost of oil and gasoline since the start of the Iran war, which took a record amount of oil off the market when tankers full of crude were stranded in the Persian Gulf and military strikes damaged refineries, pipelines and export terminals.

Hoping to ease some pain for consumers, President Donald Trump and other heads of state have been pulling on various levers, launching more oil on the market in a bid to calm the chaos.

A group of 32 nations that are members of the International Energy Agency began releasing the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history: 400 million barrels. Trump is tapping into oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while lifting sanctions on Russian and Iranian crude and temporarily waiving the Jones Act, a maritime law that requires ships carrying goods between U.S. ports to be U.S.-flagged.

But despite those maneuvers, crude oil has soared well past $100 a barrel and gasoline is selling for $4.14 a gallon on average in the U.S. While the stopgaps are helping, they’re not adding up to enough oil to replace what’s stranded, experts say.

“They’re all incremental,” said Mark Barteau, professor of chemical engineering and chemistry at Texas A&M University. “You’re talking about these different patches being at the level of maybe 1 to 2 million barrels a day each, and you’ve got to get to 20, so it’s hard to see those actually adding up to the numbers that are needed. And then the question is, how long can you sustain those?”

Trapped oil

Before the war began, roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil and 5 million barrels of oil products passed daily through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, amounting to about 20% of global oil consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.

In addition to that loss, some oil producing nations in the Middle East have halted oil production because they can’t ship fuel out of the Gulf and their storage tanks are full. That’s taken about 10 million barrels per day off the market, the IEA said.

Then there are the eight countries around the Persian Gulf that together hold about 50% of global oil reserves. Under normal circumstances, they coordinate closely to raise or lower their output to keep prices steady, said Jim Krane, energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute. Usually Saudi Arabia steps in to bring spare oil to market and calm things down, he said.

“But all of that spare capacity is also bottled up inside the Persian Gulf right now and it can’t get to market either,” Krane said. “So the main emergency response system that we have is also blocked.”

Trump also temporarily lifted sanctions on approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian oil that was already in transit. But that didn’t add oil to the market — it just widened the pool of potential buyers, said Daniel Sternoff, senior fellow at the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy.

Typically, most Iranian oil was bought by private refiners in China, who purchased it at a steep discount, Sternoff said. But with sanctions lifted, others could scramble to buy the oil, which in turn raises its price to the benefit of Iran, he said.

“As soon as you are moving to waive sanctions on your adversary with whom you’re fighting a military conflict, to do something in their benefit, it just shows you that you are running out of options to try to prevent a rise in the price of oil,” Sternoff said.

The decision to lift sanctions on Russian oil could have more impact, because Russia had been storing unpurchased oil in tankers, Sternoff said. “By waiving sanctions, it will allow those barrels to clear.”

Trump’s temporary waiver of the Jones Act to allow foreign ships to temporarily transport goods between U.S. ports could potentially help ease natural gas prices by enabling companies to more efficiently ship liquefied natural gas from the Gulf Coast to New England.

But experts don’t expect the waiver to significantly impact the price of oil or gasoline. “It’s helpful, but not a game changer,” Lynch said.

Why U.S. oil production can’t solve the problem

The U.S. is a major oil producer, and exports more oil than it imports. But like any other oil producing nation, it can’t just ramp up production instantly to fill the void.

“If the U.S. were to try to make up the global shortfall, we would need to nearly double our production,” Barteau said. “We couldn’t drill wells that fast even if we wanted to.”

Increasing domestic production by even 1 million barrels per day, a feat the U.S. accomplished during the shale boom, would be hard to duplicate, Lynch said.

“If we run every drilling rig right now, what happens a week from now when the war is over and the price goes back down $20?” Lynch asked. “People don’t want to develop long-term production based on a short-term price spike.”

Halting exports and using that oil within the U.S. wouldn’t bring down gasoline prices either, experts say.

For one, oil is traded on a global market, so events happening halfway around the globe impact prices for everyone.

In addition, the U.S. doesn’t produce enough of the type of oil its refineries process. It produced about 13.7 million barrels per day of oil at the end of 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration. And refineries processed about 16.3 million barrels per day that year, relying on imports to fill in the gaps, according to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), a trade association.

That’s because nearly 70% of U.S. refineries are set up to process heavy, sour crude, according to AFPM. But much of the oil produced in the U.S. is light, sweet crude, which was unlocked during the shale revolution.

“They need different crudes than the ones that are being produced right next to them now,” Krane said.

As a result, just 60% of the crude oil processed in U.S. refineries is extracted domestically, according to the AFPM. And retooling domestic refineries would cost billions of dollars, the group said. It also would require shutting down the refinery for a period of time, which generally raises gasoline prices.

“A lot of people like the IEA are making the point that this is the biggest oil crisis ever, which is partly true, partly an exaggeration, depending on how you count things,” Lynch said. “A lot of it has to do with how long does this last … if it goes on for another six weeks we get to be in some serious trouble.”

When a woman was doing some DIY in her home, she never expected to stumble across something explicit hiding on her walls. However, people are very amused by the find

You never know what treasures you might stumble across when you’re renovating your home. From items left behind in the loft to beautiful tiles that have been covered in carpet, the possibilities are endless.

However, no one would have guessed what one woman would find when carrying out some DIY. Em couldn’t believe her eyes when she took a peek behind the old paintwork.

That’s because she stumbled across a sex list scrawled directly onto the wall. A previous owner, who seems to have been an amorous Brit, wished to preserve details of the various women he’d be intimate with.

The jaw-dropping catalogue of romantic conquests included names, ages, locations and a general rating of each sexual encounter. He even included more explicit details – including the duration of each tryst.

The archive also recorded the year each tumble in the hay occurred, with the entire thing covering a span of 36 years, from 1961 to 1997.

The Casanova, believed to be from Leeds, apparently bedded women from Leeds to Nottingham to Colwyn Bay in Wales, a round journey of approximately 143 miles.

He seemed so proud of this achievement that he needed to archive it. So he referred to his conquests by a string of imaginative nicknames – including ‘horse girl’, ‘laundry woman’ and colourful monikers that draw attention to whichever physical attribute he was particularly taken with.

One of the 19 names is simply listed as ‘cousin’, which one would sincerely hope wasn’t meant literally! This was alongside the likes of ‘alchy woman’, ‘tall girl’ and ‘Lionel’s sister’.

Whether the Lionel — or Lional — in question was aware of the apparent liaison between his 18 year old sister and the mystery scribe remains unclear from the wall. Though one imagines he’d have been far from pleased to see it preserved for posterity!

The 65 year old occupying the number 17 spot on the list was evidently a particularly memorable encounter. The randy home owner described it has the “best s*** of [his] entire life”.

Elaborating on his romp with the widow, he later added: “Wow – every man should have one”.

Unsurprisingly, many people have been drawn in by the naughty sex list. Ever since @blondeEm83 posted a picture onto X, people have been leaving cheeky comments.

Many compared the Lothario to Jay Cartwright from The Inbetweeners because some of the sex sessions seemed to be very inplausible.

One asked: “Is that Jay off the inbetweeners’ wall?” A second commented: “That’s absolutely brilliant”.

A third admitted: “I can’t stop laughing at the names.” And a fourth added: “He’s got some age range going on there.”

Sean Wilson was known for his iconic role as Martin Platt in ITV soap Coronation Street, which he played for 20 years. However, the actor is living a very different life now

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Most people know Sean Wilson for his iconic role as Martin Platt in ITV soap Coronation Street, which he played for 20 years. However, the actor is living a very different life now.

Wilson joined Corrie at the age of 19 in his role of Martin Platt. His character was central to many major plots, most notably his marriage to Gail Tilsley (Helen Worth) and being father to David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd). However, he left the role back in 2005 after refusing to film a controversial storyline involving an underage girl. Wilson did however make a brief return in 2018 for David’s male rape storyline.

After leaving his Corrie role, he appeared in dramas such as Waterloo Road, Silent Witness, Casualty, and The Royal.

However, he later underwent a significant career change and became a chef and a professional cheesemaker, founding the Saddleworth Cheese Company.

He has also worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and written several cookbooks. In 2025, he launched a dedicated artist website too, to showcase and sell his artwork.

Wilson toured the UK with celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager in a live stage show called “Posh Teas & Artisan Cheese” in 2025. The show featured a mix of Q&A sessions and live “cook-offs” between the two experts.

Despite his new career, Wilson was scheduled to return to Corrie as part of Gail Platt’s exit storyline in 2024.

However, he was axed mid-filming following an unfounded historical allegation from 1997. Police confirmed in late 2024 that no further action would be taken, clearing his name, but his scenes had already been scrapped and rewritten.

Instead, John Thomson, who played Jesse Chadwick between 2008 and 2010, returned to play a romantic role in Gail Platt’s exit storyline.

Wilson said at the time his “whole world was blown apart” by the allegation, which “ruined” his life “in eight minutes”.

He told The Sun: “I had no idea who had made this complaint or anything about it but I lost my job. It’s been hell. I’ve been low all the way through.”

Wilson has stayed quiet on social media since his failed TV return, however he did take to Instagram in the last week to promote his art.

One fan was happy to see his return, as they wrote: “Great art brother.”

It seems like art is Wilson’s main focus as reports suggest Saddleworth Cheese Company is not actively trading.

Despite this, he still names himself as a cheese producer and actor on his Instagram page and says he’s available for cooking demos.

1. Stood Next To A Giant Rabbit While Talking About War

2. Used The Easter Egg Hunt To Attack Harris And Biden

3. Gave A Ridiculous Amount Of Information About A ‘Covert’ Operation

4. Threatened To Send A Reporter To Jail

5. Said He Was ‘Not At All’ Concerned About War Crimes

6. Laid Into Nato (Again)

7. Claimed Kim Jong Un Used A Slur To Talk About Biden