“Heading to Europe? We’ve got you.” That was the initial response when I asked Trainline about a journey from Leicester to Paris on 1 June.

Logistically, the trip is simple. A one-hour East Midlands Railway nonstop to London St Pancras International. On arrival, through the ticket gates, down the escalator and straight into the Eurostar check-in area. So, Trainline, what timings and fares can you offer?

Not so fast, says the normally cooperative app. “You have to split your booking into two parts.”

The Trainline instructions are:

Yes: in the year 2026, Europe’s leading rail retailer cannot sell tickets from British cities outside London to Paris. Not only that, but the prospective passenger must work counter-intuitively. They are supposed to commit to a Eurostar train for the second half of the journey before organising the first leg – with no coherent picture of costs and connections from their starting point.

Until three decades ago, life was much easier for the international rail passenger starting in the UK. So says “The Man in Seat 61”: international rail guru, Mark Smith.

“It was simple, but not necessarily competitively priced,” he has been telling The Independent’s daily travel podcast.

“For almost the whole of the 20th century, right up until the 1990s, you had a kilometric tariff – a very simple mileage, kilometre-based tariff in every country.

“Every national rail operator gave every other national rail operator two things: a table of distances between all their border points and stations, and a set of tariffs for how much dosh they wanted for 100, 200, 300 kilometres.

“Using this, every national rail operator, including British Rail, could compile a set of through fares from, in our case, London, to any major cities they liked: Rome, Seville, Moscow, Helsinki, Stockholm.”

The fare was simply calculated by adding together the legs of the journey: the British Rail price for the boat train to Dover, the Sealink ferry crossing to Calais, the fare across France to the Swiss border, and so on.

Tickets were valid for two months, and fully flexible. You could break your journey anywhere during the ticket’s validity.

“If you wanted a reservation, that was separate – you had to call on the French or German computer based in British Rail at Victoria,” recalls Mark – who, in a previous life, actually ran that London terminus for BR.

There was just one price – which was fine while airlines were charging ridiculous prices, such as £200 one way from London to Nice.

But then along came easyJet and dynamic pricing, with fares as low as £39 from Luton to the French RIviera. (Today the same journey can be made for £1 less if you are flexible about departure dates.) By controlling costs and adjusting prices according to demand, the airline could make a profit and entice passengers away from trains to planes.

“Those fully flexible fixed-price tickets were dinosaurs,” says Mark. “The railways had to adopt their own yield-managed dynamic pricing. So you need to book each train in that train company’s ticketing system to find whatever the price is for that train.”

“That’s how we’ve got the fragmentation today. There are no through tickets from London to Rome. It’s a Eurostar ticket to Paris, an Italian or French ticket from Paris to Milan, then a Trenitalia ticket or Italo ticket from Milan to Rome.

Starting this summer, EU President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking to make seamless international rail travel a reality.

“One journey, one ticket, full rights”, is the headline from Brussels. “To create a smoother travel experience for passengers and advance the EU’s climate objectives, the Commission proposes measures enabling single-ticket bookings across multiple rail operators.

“In the event of missed connections during multi-operator rail journeys, passengers with a single ticket will benefit from new, full passenger rights protection, including assistance, rerouting, reimbursement and compensation.”

In other words: if you buy multiple tickets together in a single transaction – for example through Trainline – you would be considered from a passenger rights’ point of view to have a through ticket. Were you miss to a connection because of delays earlier in the journey, you could switch without penalty to the next available service.

The Man in Seat 61 cautions: “Before we get a bit carried away and thinking there’s someone who is going to set a through ticket and through price from Stockholm to Barcelona, that’s not going to happen.

“A journey from Stockholm to Barcelona will still be composed of the price from Stockholm to Copenhagen, the price from Copenhagen to, Cologne, the price from Cologne to Paris, and the price from Paris to Barcelona. But the idea is twofold. First of all, there will be a better exchange of information allowing you to book this series of tickets seamlessly.

“Secondly, it’ll be a sort-of-virtual through ticket. At the moment, if you buy three tickets to get from A to B to C to D, you are protected for a missed connection and a delay within each ticket, but not where tickets change over – which is, of course, precisely where you need the protection.”

Mark has concerns that these virtual through tickets will be primarily sold through independent rail retailers such as Trainline and Rail Europe, which may not be able to include all the options the operators offer – such as reserving a space for a dog or a bike, or choosing a specific seat. But he deems the concept “undoubtedly a good thing”.

Due to our bold decision to leave the European Union, the new rules will not apply to journeys starting in the UK. So, back to that Leicester to Paris ticket.

I carried on to see what the fares would be. The good news: one Eurostar train from London to Paris is available for £114. The bad news: it’s the final departure, arriving in the French capital barely half an hour before midnight. Want to arrive in Paris before 9pm? Cheapest ticket, £180. Yes, one way, and that’s without the ticket from Leicester.

At this point a rational traveller from the “City of Kings” to the “City of Light” will probably opt to hop off a southbound stopping train at Luton Airport Parkway and fly instead. EasyJet has a choice of two flights Paris under £50: one at lunchtime, one early evening.

Airlines must be constantly grateful to face such lacklustre competition from European rail operators.

Read more: Does the HS2 reset mean anything new for the railways?

Coronation Street’s Paula Wilcox has made it clear she’d be up for returning to the ITV soap.

The actress, who is 76, joined the cast in 2020 as Tim Metcalfe’s (Joe Duttine) mum Elaine Jones.

Shortly after Tim was born, Elaine left the family home because of the abuse Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew) was inflicting on her.

Previously called Phillipa, Elaine was prevented from leaving and taking Tim with her. She divorced Geoff, changed her name, and eventually settled in Bolton.

Elaine made her way to Weatherfield after reading the article about Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King) attacking Geoff and being imprisoned afterwards.

With time, Elaine connected with Yasmeen, who was also being abused by Geoff. Elaine gave evidence against their abuser in court, helping to exonerate Yasmeen.

After Geoff’s death, Elaine spent a great deal of time rebuilding her relationship with Tim. She chose to leave the cobbles in 2023 for Scarborough, after discovering partner Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) had taken out a life insurance policy in her name.

Due to the fact Elaine hasn’t been killed off, it gives her the opportunity to pop back to Weatherfield to see Tim and Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor) at any time.

And it’s something star Paula Wilcox would definitely be up for doing!

‘If there’s a terrific storyline, I’d love to go back. I loved working with Joe and Sally’, the actress told the Mirror.

‘They were so good, so much fun and so clever. There’s no reason why Elaine couldn’t come back. She’s still Tim’s mother after all. He can’t get rid of her!’.

Tim and Sally may need all the support they can get soon, as a new storyline will begin for them.

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Producer of the show Kate Brooks recently teased the drama that lies ahead for the beloved characters.

‘There’s a massive story for Sally and Tim that comes to the to the fore, and it’s a story that tests them as people, test them as a couple, but tests them as foster parents as well’, she explained.

‘It’s a bit of a curveball, and it comes from slightly left field, but absolutely upends their lives. It’s how they navigate that situation going forward. Sally and Tim are so beloved, and I just adore them. And it’s seeing them in a slightly different position than what we’ve seen them in before. 

Kate also revealed: ‘That story will also dovetail further down the line with a Christina story. Christina and George are a really great, strong couple in the show. It’s those friendships alive. There’s a connection there as well.’

With fans speculating that the plot may involve Tim discovering that he’s the father of a child his abuser Trisha gave birth to, could Elaine make a return in an attempt to support her son?

MORE: Coronation Street’s Olivia Frances Brown ‘splits’ from TV star fiancé

MORE: EastEnders serial killer starring in ‘whodunnit’ before soap return

MORE: ‘Absolutely devastated’ Antony Cotton pays tribute after friend dies

A teenage boy was arrested but has been bailed pending further enquiries

A teenage boy suffered a head injury during a fight in a town on the Cambridgeshire border. Hertfordshire Police were called to High Street in Royston at around 9.40pm on Sunday, May 24, following reports that a teenager had been hit with an object described as a hammer during an altercation.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of GBH and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. He has now been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The police are now investigating the incident and are asking for anyone with information to come forward. You can report anything through the force website by quoting 41/48085/26.

You can also call 101 if you do not have access to the internet. You can report anything anonymously through Crimestoppers by calling 0800555111.

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The creators of Hitman bring James Bond back to the world of video games, with a wholly original story starring a younger version of the world’s most famous superspy.

At time of writing there’s still no real clue as to who is going to be the new cinematic James Bond. Dune director Denis Villeneuve will helm the next film but we’re worried that he’s not the right man for the job. He’s an exceptionally skilled director but there are many facets to Bond and we’re not sure there’s a single joke in any of Villeneuve’s films – unless you count unironically paraphrasing Life of Brian in Dune: Part Two.

There have been so many clones and parodies over the years it’s easy to lose track of what makes the Bond film series work, with Hollywood increasingly pushing it into being a straight action franchise. But developer IO Interactive, best known for the Hitman series, clearly know exactly what makes Bond tick, with 007 First Light proving to be considerably more entertaining and authentic than many of the recent movies.

It’s pointless to say that Patrick Gibson, who portrays Bond in the game, should also be the new movie version of the character, because he’s too young, but his performance, and that of the rest of the cast, is superb and the centrepiece of what is one of the best licensed video games of all time.

The premise of First Light is that it’s not in continuity with the movie series, but it does take considerable influence from it, and to a lesser degree the original novels, including the music, the traditional intro sequence, and the relationship between Bond, M, Q, and Moneypenny. Although the latter is actually Bond’s superior, since he starts the game as a twentysomething naval recruit, before fate brings him to the attention of MI6.

As has been clear since the game was first unveiled, this has nothing whatsoever in common with the classic GoldenEye 007, but shares quite a bit of DNA with Hitman. It’s a third person action game where the majority of levels take place in small open world areas, where you have an objective but are rarely given any specific instructions on how to achieve it. Although there’re also shorter, linear action sequences and some that are a mixture of the two, where you’re spoon-fed instructions in a more Red Dead Redemption 2 style fashion or engage in some Uncharted style platforming.

As an example of a more open-ended section, at one point you’re trying to get into the VIP room at a club, which has several solutions, including sneaking around in the vents, picking up an unattended tray of drinks and pretending you’re a waiter, or eavesdropping on a conversation that gives you a clue as to how to bluff your way in. Sometimes you can just punch or shoot your way through but not usually, and certainly not in this case.

There are no side quests as such but you can find and do other things not directly connected to your mission, which can open up new dialogue options or, for example, an extra way to sneak up on enemies when a fight breaks out.

The game makes a clear distinction between areas where you’re free to do whatever you want and those that are restricted, and you’ll get thrown out if you’re discovered or attacked if it’s somewhere you really shouldn’t be. In most cases you don’t have authority to use your gun unless the enemy opens fire first, so while there are plenty of more linear action sequences a lot of the time you’re relying on your wits and not your Walther PPK (which is never referred to as such, despite a lot of licensing for other products, including a pleasing variety of classic British cars).

Surprisingly, you can’t move bodies, but otherwise the stealth is slick and enjoyable, as you use a Q-watch to hack machinery and CCTV cameras, as well as temporarily disorientate people or laser open padlocks. There’re a few other gadgets too, but you can only bring a set number with you at a time, and there’s generally less reliance on them than you might think.

Despite being a relatively minor part of the game, the melee combat and gunplay are very good, with the former based on a simple colour-coded system of dodging and countering incoming attacks. It feels very physical and all the levels are impressively destructible, as you electrocute goons by slamming them into servers or smash them into mirrors and see the picture frame next to it sway in sympathy.

One shoot-out in a museum gallery, dominated by blood red lighting and the shadows of ancient statues, is so visually impressive it’d be a shame if they didn’t copy it for a future movie. While a later boss fight, where you’re trapped in a shed filled with fireworks, is also visually clever in a very cinematic way.

We didn’t expect much from the car sections, since that’s one thing IO has no experience in at all, but they’re actually good fun – especially when you commandeer a bin lorry and smash it through the heart of Kensington, Blues Brothers style. There’s a wide variety of different vehicles too, including an escalation of the bin lorry concept later in the game that comes with a wonderful musical moment.

It’s relatively uncommon, but you’ll also get into full-blown gun battles and over-the-top Bond set pieces, filled with explosions and implausible plans, like chasing a cargo plane in an airport ladder truck. That’s a chase that ends up with you climbing aboard and fighting on the wings… before you use your watch to hack the aircraft controls, allowing you to bank it left and right – crushing enemies beneath boxes – while you’re still fighting.

Despite how well everything works this is not a pure action title. Instead, it’s a game that takes its time with everything, leaving you plenty of opportunity to experiment with level solutions, but also to talk to other characters and soak in the ambience. Gibson’s performance is praiseworthy on several levels, not least because his Bond walks around with a permanent smirk on his face. He’s a cocky, overconfident smartass (just as Bond always is) and yet you still like him and actually feel sympathy for him.

The game keeps the background lore of him being an orphan but it’s vague when it comes to exactly how posh he’s meant to be – although his irresistibility to women is as strong as ever and while the game isn’t sexually explicit it doesn’t shy away from Bond’s womanising. He goes through a lot in the story and it’s impressive that IO takes the time to show his reaction to things like his first kill and how he’s affected by the deaths of his allies (including a line about preferring to repress his emotions rather than cry, which clearly isn’t just a joke).

Bond feels more like a real person than he does in most films and it’s encouraging that the game understands that it’s the dialogue and character interactions that are the most important element in a movie, even an action orientated one. However, at times it does feel like it’s going a bit too far and the pacing can be very languid. Video game Bond already does a lot more actual spy work than his movie counterpart but there’s a surprising amount of casually wandering around and solving puzzles, even at very late points in the story.

First Light is absolutely not a reskinned Hitman and one of its many qualities is how unpredictable and varied it is. One level involves almost Zelda-esque puzzle-solving, while one-off set pieces and action scenes can come out of nowhere at any moment. It’s all done so impressively cinematically too, with a fantastically well-coordinated training sequence that may count as the best training level ever seen in a video game, as it builds up the characters as well as your understanding of the game mechanics.

The game in general is very good at slowly building up the tension, as missions segue from banter and observation to increasingly tense exploration and infiltration, before inevitably ending in violence. Although it is surprising that there’s no sort of score or rating after completing a level, as there would be in Hitman, so while there are achievements for things like not being spotted, the game doesn’t judge you for cheesing it through a level or being a terrible spy.

On a technical level the facial animation is very good and while we did experience two crashes there were no graphical bugs at all, just a few questionable actions from patrolling enemies. Instead, the only real technical problem is the mammoth load times after you die, which feels like you’re back in the PS1 era, reading the data off a CD.

We don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but while you perhaps don’t see quite enough of the main villain he is good. The game is also agreeably unflinching in its criticism of AI, which becomes a major plot point. On a pedantic note, we were also pleased to see the game avoided too many Americanisms, although we’re not quite sure how IO (who are Danish) managed to use the word trainers instead of sneakers but couldn’t stop themselves from labelling a toilet as a ‘restroom’ – in a building purposefully filled with jingoistic British iconography.

Overall, the script is good, although trying to give Bond a one-liner for almost every situation means the hit rate is predictably low. There are some good one though, such as when he’s asked over his earpiece for his status and he replies ‘Happily single.’ There’s also some clever playing around with the classic ‘Bond. James Bond’ quote. The music throughout is excellent too, keenly aware of the expectations of the franchise but sensibly holding back on both the theme tune and the title song by Lana Del Rey, until just the right moment.

If you’re a Bond fan then this is a dream come true, with endless subtle references to the movies and lore, but it’s significant for more than just being a good licensed game. It’s one of the most ambitious and cinematic action adventures of the generation; one that manages to combine dialogue, exploration, and action seamlessly and with only minimal cut scenes (which is a purposeful dig at Metal Gear, because in some ways First Light is reminiscent of a less pretentious Hideo Kojima production).

All of a sudden, it feels like IO Interactive may have been selling themselves short for only focusing on Hitman in the last few decades, because 007 First Light is an exceptional piece of interactive entertainment, that deserves to have a significant influence on the industry at large.

Formats: PC (previewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC
Price: £59.99
Publisher: IO Interactive
Developer: IO Interactive
Release Date: 26th May 2026 (Q3 2006 for Switch 2)
Age Rating: 16

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Two teenage boys spared jail for raping two girls will have their sentences reviewed by the Court of Appeal after the attorney general said they were too lenient, Sir Keir Starmer has announced.

The two 15-year-olds were convicted of raping two girls in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, but were given non-custodial sentences by a judge at Southampton Crown Court, who said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”.

The boys were instead given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS) – a decision slammed by the victims, politicians from across the political spectrum and campaigners.

The prime minister, who said he found the case “distressing as a father”, said attorney general Richard Hermer had examined the case and was referring it to the Court of Appeal for review – a decision he said was “clearly the right outcome”.

“There are questions about the sentence. The attorney general has power to refer a case to a court of appeal if the attorney general thinks that the sentence is too lenient. The attorney general has now exercised that power,” he said.

“So I can announce that the case will go to a Court of Appeal… and that is clearly the right outcome.”

Sir Keir said the case was “really distressing” and the courage of the girls who came forward to expose the teenagers’ crimes was “humbling”.

“I think it’s a really distressing case. I think it’s distressing for everybody to see, to hear about.

“The courage, frankly, of the girls to come forward is humbling, but it is distressing. I find it distressing as a politician. I find it distressing as a father.”

His comments come after government minister Darren Jones teared up over the weekend as he argued the two girls “deserve justice”.

The chief secretary to the prime minister became emotional as he heard testimony from one of the victims on Sunday, in which she said the judge’s decision not to hand down a prison sentence to her attackers was like a “rock straight in my face”.

Asked for his thoughts on the case, Mr Jones told the BBC: “As a minister, what I can’t do is get ahead of the attorney general’s decision, but look, as a parent and as a member of the public, you can imagine what my personal view is on the situation.”

Pushed on what his view was, a visibly emotional Mr Jones said: “Those girls deserve justice, as do their families, both for them but also for other girls that are put in that position.

“And quite frankly, other boys need to know that they can’t behave in that way and get away with it.”

Meanwhile, rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot said she was “deeply shocked” that the teenage boys had avoided jail sentences.

The 73-year-old French woman testified against her husband, Dominique Pelicot, who repeatedly drugged her and invited dozens of men to rape her in a case that shocked the world.

Having waived her own right to anonymity, Ms Pelicot “saluted the strength” of one of the girls for speaking out after the attack.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Ms Pelicot said she was “deeply shocked that these individuals were in fact able to gain their freedom again when in fact the victims are suffering so hard they will never be able to heal”.

She added she hoped her own story “was useful for her to make that decision” to come forward.

On Tuesday, Sarah Owen MP, chair of the women and equalities committee, told The Independent that the “harrowing case not only needs to be reviewed as soon as possible, but also the process that has allowed boys found guilty of rape, videoing and sharing that rape being allowed off with a non-custodial sentence”.

“To victims of rape and sexual assault, this is not what justice looks like. With so few reports of rape even making it to court, this leniency also sends a very dangerous message to perpetrators of sexual violence”, she added.

She said it was “heartbreaking” that the girls have suffered only to have a judge “who appeared more concerned with the future of the rapists than they did the victims”.

Meanwhile, Jess Phillips – the former victims’ minister – said she thinks it’s right the case is being reviewed, adding: “It’s important not just for justice in these cases but also for the message it sends to both boys and girls more broadly.

“I also think the case highlights how important early intervention with kids who go on to perpetrate these crimes and the need for regulation on social media and safety of the devices every parent gets their kid age 10.”

Telegraph Fantasy Football Team of the Season

To find the most up-to-date numbers you can see the full Telegraph Fantasy Football player list in the Stats Centre.

1. David Raya (182) – Arsenal

2. Marc Guehi (191) – Manchester City

3. Gabriel Magalhaes (185) – Arsenal

4. William Saliba (163) – Arsenal

5. Jurrien Timber (160) – Arsenal

6. Antoine Semenyo (225) – Manchester City

7. Bruno Fernandes (206) – Manchester United

8. Jarrod Bowen (198) – West Ham United

9. Enzo Fernandez (172) – Chelsea

10. Erling Haaland (254) – Manchester City

11. Igor Thiago (196) – Brentford

You can follow the latest Telegraph Fantasy Football news and discussions throughout the year on Facebook, Twitter and Fantasy Football Content Hub.

The staff want the NHS high cost area supplement to be introduced to Cambridge

Staff at a busy hospital in Cambridge will be holding a rally tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27) calling for fairer pay. Medical workers and striking Unite members at Addenbrooke’s Hospital are calling for an NHS high cost area supplement (HCAS) to combat the high cost of living in the city.

Medical staff at the hospital receive no extra pay for working in Cambridge. A recent travel survey commissioned by the hospital trust revealed that over 50 percent of staff from Addenbrooke’s Hospital are having to travel over 10 miles from outside of the city to get to work.

Unite has said high costs are “driving” workers away from the city, which means they are further away from their patients that need their support. Unite is asking that the NHS HCAS payment, which is already given to NHS workers in Oxford and London, is given to workers in Cambridge so that they can afford to live in the city.

The petition launched by Unite about the issue has already reached over 1,600 signatures. Addenbrookes staff involved in the strikes including those who work as porters, clinical engineering technicians, and genomics scientists.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Cambridge is a very expensive city to live in but while the cost of living has risen, workers’ wages have stagnated.

“Our hardworking members who do demanding, important jobs should not be struggling to afford the basics and should be able to live near where they work. Unite completely supports them in their campaign for fair pay.”

This is part of the wider campaign for fairer pay for Unite members in Cambridge. Workers at Cambridge University have also been involved in strikes and are calling for a “Cambridge weighting” supplement.

Over 500 members of the union from Cambridge University including workers from estates management, finance, and student services, are in dispute over another below-inflation pay increase. Staff will now strike until May 29 with picket lines across the university.

Unite regional officer Richard Gates said: “It is becoming increasingly more expensive to live and work in Cambridge and our members deserve better than the way they are being treated.”

Emergency officials lifted an evacuation order for some of the people who live near a damaged tank containing a hazardous chemical in Southern California after temperatures inside the tank fell enough to eliminate the risk of a catastrophic explosion.

While there’s no longer a risk of a major explosion at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plant in Garden Grove, there’s still a chance for a smaller blast or a fire, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said during a news conference on Monday.

An overnight evaluation of the tank containing 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable, showed a reduction of pressure inside the tank thanks to a crack that was discovered Sunday. About two-thirds — roughly 34,000 — of the evacuated residents can go home as a result, Covey said.

“It’s not over yet. We still have work to do,” Covey said. “We still have to mitigate a fire and very small explosion concern, and also a spill potential.”

Officials began ordering residents of Garden Grove, near Los Angeles, to evacuate their homes on Thursday after the tank overheated, and by the weekend about 50,000 residents had been told to leave.

Officials said they needed to cool the tank to prevent a toxic leak or explosion. The tank’s interior had cooled to 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C), Covey said Monday, down from 100 degrees (37.7 degrees C) a day earlier.

Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong said she wanted to reassure everyone who is returning home that they can feel safe. Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological problems and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

“There was no contamination. There were no fumes. There were not vapors that came from this incident,” she said at the news conference. “There was not a leak. So it should be, you should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”

Environmental risks remain

The tank might eventually cool enough for crews to safely stabilize and drain the remaining material without triggering a spark or ignition, said Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University engineering professor who has studied environmental contamination.

Whelton cautioned there is still some risk of an explosion while the chemical inside the tank remains hot and reactive. He said temperatures need to fall closer to ambient levels — roughly 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 21.1 degrees C) — before conditions are considered significantly safer.

As the interior temperature of the tank increased, methyl methacrylate — which is used to make plastics — converted from liquid to gas, ramping up the pressure and risk of explosion, Whelton said.

Some of the methyl methacrylate may already have hardened into a stable plastic similar to plexiglass, reducing the risk inside the tank, he said.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said the South Coast Air Quality Management District will be monitoring the air for several months and the EPA will be checking the sewer and storm drains.

County health officials have said the chemical is easy to smell and people may notice it over a large area without being harmed.

Relief among residents after hearing the latest update

Authorities have not defined what a catastrophic explosion might mean, but said Monday the worst-case scenario is off the table.

Kim Yen, a retiree who had to evacuate her Garden Grove home, said she has been closely following the news and is relieved to learn that the worst has passed.

“I am happy and many of us are happy but, still, we are still on our evacuation,” she said.

Yen, who lives two blocks from the plant, said she’s ready to return home but first wants to be sure it’s safe. And, she said, she’s been worried about the emergency crews.

“They are really our heroes,” Yen said.

The parking lot was full Monday at a large park in Fountain Valley, just southwest of Garden Grove, as people sought refuge in an ad hoc shelter there or pitched tents outside. Other people gathered in the park to enjoy Memorial Day.

GKN is a British company that supplies aircraft manufacturers

GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which owns the plant, is a British company that makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields for military and commercial aircraft.

GKN Aerospace technical specialists and the Orange County Fire Authority removed external insulation material from the tank to help cool its contents, according to a GKN Aerospace statement released Monday.

“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution, so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

GKN Aerospace says on its website that it employs about 16,000 people across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries and supplies technologies and components used by major commercial and military aircraft manufacturers worldwide.

It remained unknown when the operation would reopen.

GKN Aerospace agreed in 2025 to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

Aircraft manufacturing vulnerable to supply chain disruptions

Disruptions at facilities producing specialized aircraft components can be difficult for the global aerospace industry to absorb because supply chains are highly concentrated and already strained, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of the aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory.

Aboulafia said aerospace manufacturing differs from many other industries because aircraft production rates are relatively low, leaving only a small number of suppliers for many specialized parts and systems.

“There’s just not a lot of margin in the system,” he said.

___

Willingham reported from Boston. Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalist Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.

Let’s take a closer look at the life of footballer, actor, and all-round hardman Vinnie Jones as his new documentary drops on Netflix

The Hollywood hardman reflects on his early football career on Netflix.

Untold UK: Vinnie Jones has just dropped on Netflix and lifts the lid on the 61 year old’s rollercoaster life and career.

From his beginnings as a star defensive midfielder for the likes of Wimbledon FC and Leeds United to his iconic roles in TV and film, the famous Londoner has been a well-known hardman for decades.

The new Netflix documentary puts his career under the microscope and features exclusive interviews with Vinnie himself, as he looks back on his career including his key role in leading Wimbledon to victory at the 1988 FA Cup final and his controversially aggressive playstyle.

He has since become known for his roles in major British and Hollywood films and series, including his collaborations with Guy Ritchie in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Netflix’s The Gentlemen.

However, there’s one question fans will be asking that the Netflix series doesn’t cover: just how much as Vinnie earned over the course of his five-decade career?

What is Vinnie Jones’ net worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Vinnie is worth an impressive $10 million (£8 million) as of this year.

This is thanks to his combined earnings firstly as a midfielder for various football clubs, including Wimbledon, Leeds, Sheffield United, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers. He also played for and captained the Wales national team, before his stardom was catapulted with roles in several popular films and TV shows.

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This includes the brand new UK drama Unchosen, starring Asa Butterfield and Christopher Eccleston.

At one point, he was rumoured to have been paid £505,000 a week and was quoted by The Sun as blasting the backlash to footballers’ salaries as “nonsense”.

“You don’t say that Rod Stewart is getting paid too much at 75, 80, do you?” he said. “Madonna, is she being overpaid? She’s out there for an hour and gets X amount of millions.”

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However, in his later football career playing for QPR he was reportedly earning around £10,000 per week.

His acting roles have been even more lucrative for the Watford-born hardman, as Vinnie’s sporting career took place in the 1980s and 90s before the huge boom in footballers’ wages.

For instance, for his supporting role in the John Travolta and Hugh Jackman-led gangster film Swordfish, he was paid £2 million for just 49 words of dialogue – a tidy £40,816 per word.

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Vinnie was also reportedly paid £300,000 for sitting down with Netflix for his new Untold UK doc.

He currently resides on a 2,000-acre countryside estate in Petworth, West Sussex, half of which he leases. Fans can discover more about his impressive home in the Discovery+ series Vinnie Jones in the Country.

While details about the property’s worth is currently unknown, it’s estimated that the estate’s worth is also in the multi-millions.

Untold UK: Vinnie Jones is available to stream on Netflix.

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