By CONNIE RUSK, ASSOCIATE SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR and LAURA FOX, ASSOCIATE SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR

Published: 08:00 BST, 7 September 2026 | Updated: 08:48 BST, 7 September 2026

Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks put on a very affectionate display in new sizzling pictures after they enjoyed a date together.

Last week the Love Island star, 35, ‘hard launched’ her relationship with the former TOWIE personality, 37, two weeks after he first shared photographs of her on his own social media.

And Olivia sent fans wild as she shared another series of photographs on Instagram on Sunday night – just days after admitting she was trying to get better at ‘not oversharing’. 

The reality stars packed on the PDA, with Olivia seductively leaning over Pete’s knees in one snap, while in another he wrapped his arms around her.

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She captioned the post: ‘Went on a date with Pete Wicks from Towie can’t believe it he’s so hot in real life too xxxx.’ 

A number of the couple’s showbiz pals took to the comment section to gush over the romance. 

Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks put on a very affectionate display in new sizzling pictures after they enjoyed a date together

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Late last month the Love Island star, 35, ‘hard launched’ her relationship with the former TOWIE star, 37, weeks after he first shared photographs of her on his own social media

She captioned the post: ‘Went on a date with Pete Wicks from Towie can’t believe it he’s so hot in real life too xxxx.’

Chloe Lewis, who is dating TOWIE’s Dan Edgar, said: ‘They’re not bad those ones from TOWIE.’ Lisa Snowdon added: ‘So here for this’.

Love Island’s Kaz Crossley added: ‘Are you guys looking for a third x,’ while Georgia Harrison said: ‘Now that’s the hard launch.’  

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The couple first met in 2017 and became firm friends, but things turned romantic this year following the breakdown of Olivia’s marriage to Bradley Dack.

After months of fan speculation and candid moments caught on camera, Olivia finally confirmed the romance with a series of loved-up Instagram snaps, joking in the caption that fans ‘bullied me into hard launching’. 

Now Olivia has confessed she genuinely has been struggling with how much to share about their romance, exclusively telling the Daily Mail: ‘We’re in the infancy of navigating it. So I guess we’re kind of working as it goes.

‘I understand the interest. For a lot of people it’s a crossover of two people that they’ve followed in different ways for a long time. So I understand and I have a very open dialogue with my audience. 

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‘Now that people know we’re together we’re working out not shutting people out who have been so lovely and happy for us and excited to watch our relationship grow, but also making sure that we keep enough back like that’s just for us.’

Olivia sent fans wild as she shared a series of photographs on Instagram on Sunday night – just days after admitting she was trying to get better at ‘not oversharing’

The reality stars packed on the PDA in the photographs, with Olivia seductively leaning over Pete’s knees in one snap

Olivia looked stylish in a black minidress, tights and heels for her date night with Pete 

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She styled her blonde hair up in a high bun and cut a glamorous figure 

The couple packed on the PDA 

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A number of the couple’s showbiz pals took to the comment section to gush over the romance

Olivia, known for her straight-talking, no-nonsense attitude, added she’s trying to work on scaling back what she shares with fans, to ensure she keeps some semblance of privacy.  

The TV presenter mused: ‘I never feel like I’ve said something I shouldn’t. It’s always the opposite. 

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‘I come from a reality background and I’ve had cameras in my home and I think that when I don’t share everything, I get a guilt complex!

‘I am reminded by people around me I don’t have to explain everything, but I guess I’m still trying to tell myself that.

‘I sometimes put too much pressure on myself to share more than I need to, which is weird because I think everyone else in this industry is the opposite.’ 

Greenbox Darlington, a three-unit industrial and logistics scheme off Tornado Way near the A66, has become the latest member of the Darlington Employers Environmental Partnership (DEEP).

The development, created through a joint venture between Citivale and Partners Group, has already welcomed plumbing, heating and infrastructure merchant Wolseley as its first occupier.

Two further units remain available. Unit 1 measures 215,362 sq ft, while Unit 3 provides 84,947 sq ft of space.

DEEP was launched in 2023 and brings together businesses, education providers and public-sector organisations to share ideas and support efforts to reduce carbon emissions across the town.

Its members include Amazon, Cummins, Darlington College, Teesside International Airport, Teesside University and Darlington Borough Council, alongside smaller local firms.

Greenbox Darlington was built to net zero carbon standards, according to its developers.

Features include steel frames made from 99 per cent recycled material, low-carbon concrete, air source heat pumps and roofs designed to accommodate solar panels.

The scheme was constructed by Winvic, which is also a DEEP member.

James Appleton-Metcalfe, chief executive of Citivale, said joining the partnership would allow the development’s team to share what it had learned during the build while learning from other Darlington organisations.

He said: “We set out to prove that a net zero carbon business park could be commercially credible as well as genuinely sustainable.

“DEEP gives us a platform to share what we’ve learned with other businesses while continuing to learn from their achievements.

“Sustainability only takes big steps forward when it’s a collective effort, and we’re very pleased to be part of that conversation in Darlington.”

Seth Pearson, director of Darlington Cares, which oversees DEEP, said Greenbox Darlington was an “important addition” to the partnership.

He added: “We continue to be delighted by the growth in DEEP’s membership, and welcome Greenbox Darlington as an important addition to the partnership.”

The group holds networking and knowledge-sharing events, publishes updates on members’ sustainability work and has recently launched a podcast series featuring environmental projects across Darlington.

Mr Appleton-Metcalfe said new commercial developments needed to anticipate future environmental requirements rather than only meeting current minimum standards.

He said: “The regulations that commercial buildings will be judged against in the future are already being written.

“A building specified to today’s minimum standards is a building that starts falling behind the moment it’s occupied.

“Greenbox Darlington was built to a specification for where the market is heading, not where it currently sits.”

The alerts are also disrupting the start of the new academic year and forcing school children to leave their classrooms throughout the day.

When another air raid began, some students at the Drahomanov Ukrainian State University in central Kyiv headed underground; others stayed chatting on the street, such is the normality of these alerts.

Diana, a student teacher, said she did not sleep well at night and her schedule was disrupted during the day. “Sometimes it is hard because most of the day I need to go to safe places, like the metro or somewhere underground,” she said. “It’s a terrible time, but thank God we are alive. We go day by day.”

Ihor, studying to become a chemistry teacher, said he was used to the alerts after many years of war but life was still hard. “We are annoyed by the sirens because they are constant,” he said. “It destroys the quality of our education… We cannot study normally.”

After a drone attack in a residential part of central Kyiv, students from a nearby school were evacuated for fear of explosions or a secondary, so-called “double-tap” attack.

Sophia, 17, told us it was very sad but this is what life was like now. “It’s a little bit scary to live here in Kyiv,” she said. “It’s very difficult.” The interview was then interrupted by another siren. “We need to go,” she said. “It is very dangerous for you to stand in the streets. Maybe we can have a second detonation.”

West Park Care Home, on Glasgow Road, was subject to a core assurance inspection by the Care Inspectorate in August with the findings now published.

A nursing home near Galston has undergone a spot check on its care delivery.

West Park Care Home, on Glasgow Road, was subject to a core assurance inspection by the Care Inspectorate in August with the findings now published.

Core assurance inspections are only carried out at what is termed as ‘better performing services.’ As such, no fresh gradings were applicable to the latest inspection.

Among the key messages, the Care Inspectorate said the service was operating “in line” with its conditions of registration and had “appropriate insurance arrangements in place.”

In addition, people experienced care in an environment that promoted their “safety, wellbeing and rights.”

The positives continued; infection prevention and control arrangements were said to be “effective” and the home was “clean, tidy and free from unpleasant odours.”

And medication systems supported people to receive their medicines “safely,” while medication administration records that were reviewed had been completed “correctly.”

In addition, the service benefited from “stable and effective leadership,” according to the report.

West Park Care Home provides a care service to a maximum of 15 older people who may have dementia. The service provider is West Park Care Home Limited.

An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said: “People remained connected to family, friends and their local community. Visiting was unrestricted and there was evidence of community involvement and outings. People told us they were happy living in the home.

“One person described staff as lovely and helpful, while another told us they had no complaints and spoke positively about the food and staff team.”

The report continues: “During our visit staff were visible, responsive and attentive. We saw warm, respectful and person-centred interactions throughout the home. People appeared comfortable in the presence of staff and engaged positively with them. These observations demonstrated that people were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their individual needs.”

Back in January, one area of improvement related to the implementation of a “clear, person‑centred planning structure” covering “assessed needs, aims, personal outcomes, actions/interventions, and regular meaningful evaluations.”

The Care Inspectorate confirmed this requirement has been ‘met.’

The report adds: “We found that the service had made good progress in implementing a more person-centred approach to care planning. Newly developed care plans followed a clear structure, setting out people’s needs, actions, goals and personal outcomes. The plans contained meaningful and well-formulated personal outcomes that demonstrated a good understanding of outcome-focused practice. Information was relevant to the person, specific to their circumstances and supported a consistent approach to delivering care.”

Marcus Rashford impressed on the left wing during Manchester United’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday

Marcus Rashford believes results will come for his Manchester United side after they were left stunned by Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ equaliser in added time against Everton. Despite twice taking the lead through Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, United were pegged back by the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

First, Tyrique George fired the home side level after Mbeumo’s fine individual opener before Maitland-Niles left Senne Lammens rooted to the spot in the sixth minute of added time when he curled an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

Reds boss Michael Carrick shot down the suggestion post-match that it has been a poor start to the campaign from his side, and Rashford believes not only were the Reds unlucky not to come away with all three points on Sunday afternoon, but results will come.

Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “So unlucky not to come away with all the points today! The results will come. Big week coming up, starting with Thursday’s game.”

Rashford’s message came after he was withdrawn 20 minutes from time with Carrick later revealing the reason behind the change was that the forward was ‘feeling a bit of something’.

“He was just feeling a bit of something,” the United boss said. “He’s done very well. As I said during the week, he’s done really well since he came back. He looked really sharp today and dangerous.

“That final moment didn’t quite drop for him but nevertheless he created really good opportunities and gave us a big threat throughout the game.”

Reflecting on the result and his side’s start to the season, Carrick said: “We haven’t started the season that bad. It’s not that bad, we’ve got that close to coming away with three points today; that’s football.

“There are moments we can deal with a bit better, but we’ll be fine. We’re bitterly disappointed to be up in the position we were in the game twice, so close to the end.

“All the work that went into putting us in that position at different stages to then come away like that – it’s not a great feeling. It feels like a defeat.

“It’s a bit of a cliche to say at this stage but we have taken the point and we can’t ignore that but it feels like we should have had a lot more.

“The mentality is there. I think there’s obviously things we need to get better at as a team.

“There’s been two strikes from distance really, two really good strikes from their point of view, so sometimes they fly in the top corner and more often than not they probably don’t.

“Obviously we can’t ignore it, we need to concede less goals to give us a better chance of winning games, but we’ll certainly look at that and keep improving.”

Hundreds of demonstrators descended on Portsmouth after migrants heading towards the Hampshire coast on a small boat were intercepted and brought ashore.

Around 140 migrants are believed to have disembarked near Eastney in Portsmouth, and will be taken to Manston immigration centre in Kent for processing.

Demonstrators blocked roads for hours and vowed to stay all night in the second major anti-migrant protest of the weekend. Video footage showed protesters facing up to police and shouting “stop the boats” on Sunday evening.

Treasury minister Emma Reynolds condemned the demonstration, saying it had “crossed the line” of peaceful protest.

“As a politician, I absolutely support the right to peaceful protest,” she told Sky News. “But this has crossed the line. This is thuggish and intimidating behaviour.”

Far-right agitator Daniel Thomas, an associate of Tommy Robinson, was live-streaming from a beach in Eastney and encouraged his supporters: “Roads are all blocked, they are never going to be able to leave here.”

He added: “It was only yesterday (at the protests in Dover) when we warned them that we will not accept this any more, and that this is no longer an option to tell us that the boat numbers are down.”

Many of those at Portsmouth were dressed in all black and wore face masks, similar to those who attended the Dover rally.

Police asked people to avoid the area and said a dispersal order was in place until Monday evening.

The protest in put pressure on the emergency services and required support from forces across the country, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) said.

Donna Jones said the Government needed to act to counter changing patterns from people traffickers shifting away from crossings at the Strait of Dover.

The Conservative PCC said: “Last night we had mutual aid, public order police officers sent from police forces across the country including the Metropolitan Police Service.

“We also had a number of our own police officers, obviously, from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary trying to take back control of the roads, forming a line and holding a few hundred protesters back.

Emergency services rushed to intercept the small boat on Sunday evening, with two RNLI lifeboats called out and a HM coastguard helicopter and plane also deployed.

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “In response to a report on 6 September of a small boat heading towards the Hampshire coast, HM Coastguard sent lifeboats, an HM Coastguard helicopter, an HM Coastguard aeroplane and HM Coastguard Rescue Teams.

“Border Force, Border Security Command, Hampshire Police and South Central Ambulance Service were also sent.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed that the boat had launched from Baie de Seine, near Caen, saying: “Today a boat launched from Baie de Seine, 170 miles from Calais, arriving on the beaches of Hampshire for the very first time. This is a joke”.

The French maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said on Sunday that around 140 migrants had set out on a small boat from the west of the Baie de Seine overnight on Saturday. The departure was “unusual for the area”, with small boats usually launched from further up the French coast near Dunkirk.

The French maritime prefecture said on Sunday that the “migrant boat is currently continuing its journey towards the United Kingdom”, after people on board refused assistance.

Footage taken from the scene near Eastney showed a large emergency presence, and men wrapped in blankets were seen being taken ashore on RNLI boats.

Christine Martin, who was on a boat on the Eastney Cruising Association pontoon, told Portsmouth’s The News that she was unable to leave due to the incident. She said: “Being on my own in the boat, I am a little bit worried. The coastguard has been here sometime not letting anyone in or out. I just don’t know what to do.

“There have been lots of ambulances turning up. There is maybe 50 or 60 police and ambulance officers down near the Hayling Ferry pontoon.”

Conservative MP for MP for Isle of Wight East, Joe Robertson, posted on social media on Sunday: “Extremely concerning to see an illegal migrant crossing this far west.

“We don’t know if this migrant boat was headed for the Isle of Wight but I’ll be contacting the Home Office first thing. We need to know exactly what happened and if new routes are being used for mega-dinghies by people smugglers.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: “This evening, we have been working alongside and assisting our partners from Border Force, Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Portsmouth City Council at Eastney Marina following the arrival of a boat crossing the Channel.

“We have officers in the area to ensure the prevention of any disorder. We ask that people please avoid the area. A dispersal order is in place until tomorrow evening. Anyone who refuses to comply with the direction to leave the area is liable for arrest.

“We can also confirm that Border Force has advised us that individuals will be transported outside of Hampshire for processing in the normal way after they have been safely disembarked.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government is bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and restoring control at our border. Joint efforts have seen over 48,000 crossing attempts prevented and 1,100 boats and engines seized since the election.

“We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.

“But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Steel drums, flag-draped floats, and the smell of jerk chicken will fill Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway on Monday, as hundreds of thousands turn out for the West Indian Day Parade, one of the largest celebrations of Caribbean culture in the country.

This year, Haitians are marching under more solemn circumstances than in prior years. Federal immigration enforcement has intensified against Caribbean and other Black immigrant communities over the past year, and Haitians have lost a key protection — temporary protected status. Known as TPS, it let hundreds of thousands remain in the U.S. legally.

Organizers say the parade has become both a defiant assertion of pride and a rare bright spot in a traumatic year.

“There’s a somber cloud over it with everything that has happened from last year to this year with TPS … what’s happening in detention centers, and those who are being sent back with no valid way of living or supporting themselves,” said Natalie Lafontant, a Brooklyn native who organizes Lespri Ayiti, or “Spirit of Haiti,” the largest Haitian “mas” — short for masquerade — or marching community in Monday’s parade.

Still, she said, the response to hardship is not surrender.

“But if you know anything about the Caribbean, especially about Haiti, we use music, dance, art, to continue to strive and push through,” Lafontant said while taking stock of parade costumes at a community center.

Keeping parade plans alive amid anti-immigrant policies

In June, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe that federal courts cannot review the Trump administration’s decision to end temporary protected status for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, clearing the way for roughly 350,000 Haitians to lose the protection. A federal judge finalized the order in early August, and work permits tied to Haitian TPS expired July 27.

Lafontant’s group, comprising about 180 artists, designers, musicians and residents, is marching in the parade for the second year. The group struggled to find float sponsors this year.

“All the insurances that we’ve got to cover, the people who walk, you’ve got to take care of them, the costumes, the designers. You add that all up, it’s a very hefty bill. But we continue to do it because we love our country,” said Lafontant.

Haitians’ history with New York goes back decades

Lafontant is part of a Haitian community that numbers roughly 163,000 in the New York metropolitan area, according to the Migration Policy Institute — the second-largest Haitian population in the U.S. after the Miami metropolitan area.

Most Haitian migrants settled in Brooklyn neighborhoods including Flatbush, East Flatbush and Crown Heights.

Haitians arrived in New York in waves beginning under the dictatorship of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, whose regime’s repression and economic collapse drove many to leave the island in the 1970s and 1980s. The migration continued after his 1986 ouster.

Haiti’s history of resistance runs deeper still, back to the Haitian Revolution, when enslaved and free Black people overthrew French colonial rule in what is widely regarded as the only successful slave revolt in modern history, culminating in the 1803 Battle of Vertières. The victory paved the way for Haiti’s independence the following year.

That history of resistance remains a source of pride for Haitians far beyond the country’s shores, even among generations who have built new lives abroad.

Edwina Paul, founder of SPM, or “Fanm Se Poto Mitan” — “Women Are the Pillar of Society” — left Haiti in 1993 to start a new life with her husband in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie. Paul, whose coalition of Haitian women leaders and organizers is marching Monday, said conditions in Haiti are what pushed people to leave.

“It’s not safe there. Coming here is like an umbrella for us to be safe from that,” she said of those fleeing the country’s gang violence and instability. “We don’t come here to sin, we don’t come here to kill. We come here to work, to have a better education.”

Anticipation for electrifying lineup of Haitian pop, fashion

SPM’s resilience is stitched into its costumes this year. Clara Poteau, a fashion designer and an alumna of the Fashion Institute of Technology, designed royal blue emperor robes in the image of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a lieutenant and leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first leader of an independent Haiti.

A total of six designers and one painter spent a month hand-painting costumes that commemorate Haitian achievements, working through the weekend before the parade: dresses covered in miniature Haitian flags, skirts bearing the faces of Duckens Nazon and Emmanuel Sanon, the national football players who hold Haiti’s international scoring records, at 44 and 47 goals, respectively.

One orange T-shirt, dubbed the “Freedom” tee, carries the flags of nations Haitian revolutionary leaders helped liberate with shelter, money, weapons, and troops, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Panama, Mexico and Greece.

The sound of the mas, the first taste of Haitian energy parade attendees will experience before seeing the group, is carried forward by Jesus Luc, a Harlem native and Lespri Ayiti’s band manager. Luc coordinated a lineup built around “Raboday,” a popular genre of contemporary Haitian and Caribbean sounds, and Kompa, Haiti’s signature native dance music.

Headlining is DJ Comix of the band Team Madada, dubbed by Luc as “probably the most popular group in Haiti,” part of a new generation of sound defining the country’s youth.

“It’s electrifying. It’s music that will touch your soul. Between the music and the costumes… it’s the heart of the people that’s going to be there.”

Anyone who abuses NHS staff should be under no illusion that such behaviour is somehow part of the rough and tumble of a busy hospital. It is unacceptable.

Violence is disturbing

There is something deeply disturbing about people turning their fury on the doctors, nurses and A&E staff trying to help them. To kick a medic, threaten a nurse or racially abuse someone providing emergency care is disgraceful. It is bullying, cowardly, and should carry serious consequences. Such workers are already battling overcrowding, long waits, staff shortages and corridor care. They did not create those pressures and they should not be used as human punchbags by people who cannot control themselves.

Fear, frustration and anger may be understandable in an emergency. Violence, intimidation and racism are not. Anyone who abuses NHS staff should be under no illusion that such behaviour is somehow part of the rough and tumble of a busy hospital. It is unacceptable. Hospitals must back staff robustly, police must act where crimes are committed, and offenders must be held accountable. Those who care for us deserve protection, respect and the basic right to go to work without fear.

Jenrick a joke

Reform UK never tires of claiming free speech is under attack. It invoked that cause over Lucy Connolly and presents itself as the fearless defender of unpopular views. Then somebody heckled Nigel Farage. Footage from Reform’s conference appeared to show a woman being hit with a crutch, dragged by her hair and restrained.

Robert Jenrick’s response was: “Oh boohoo.” There was no concern, no condemnation, no recognition of the gravity of what he was being shown. Instead, Jenrick sneered at a woman who appeared to have been assaulted and treated it as a joke. That exposes the hollowness of Reform’s free-speech crusade. Freedom cannot mean protection for your supporters and contempt for your critics. Jenrick’s response was disgraceful and unworthy of public office he so desperately craves.

Ooh ooh are ya

It turns out chimps have accents too. Youngsters apparently pick up their local dialect as they grow, meaning even the jungle has its own version of regional pronunciation. Scientists say it shows chimp calls are shaped by those around them. So somewhere out there, one chimp is probably being judged for sounding a bit posh.

I AM hoping your readers might be able to help me fill a deeply important gap in my family’s history.

I am searching for anyone who remembers my grandad, Melvyn Roy Medd, or his family.

Melvyn was a 24-year-old labourer living at 24 Morrison Road, Acomb (or perhaps Stuart Road), when he tragically lost his life following a road-works accident on Acomb Road (near the junction with Ridgeway) on March 21, 1969.

At the time of the accident, he was working on a North Gas conversion project, and he left behind his young widow, my grandmother Jane Medd.

Because he passed away so young, our family has very few personal memories, stories, or photographs of him from his time living and working in York.

I am appealing to your older readership – perhaps former neighbours from Morrison Road, old school friends, or former work colleagues from the regional gas board – to see if anyone remembers Melvyn or my family.

If anyone has any memories or photos they would be willing to share, it would mean the world to me.

I can be contacted at the details below.

Kellyann Dawn Medd

(kellyannbiggs43@gmail.com)

—

York meeting planned to support food security

WITH the government planning a new campaign to improve the nation’s resilience to extreme weather events and hostile attacks, we need to talk about food security.

The advice to stock up on tinned food is all well and good for those that can afford it, and have space for storage, but many people don’t have those kinds of resources.

Could York do more to support local people and produce its own food?

Planet South Bank and Clements Hall surveyed passers by on Bishopthorpe Road for an hour on a Sunday afternoon recently, and the overwhelming response was ‘yes’.

In contrast, when asked if the UK government is able to respond adequately to protect us from food shortages, or willing to act as needed, a majority of people said ‘no’.

Almost everyone wanted to know more about what is being done locally, and the response unanimously positive to the suggestion to come together and create a plan for South Bank.

The work begins to make that happen now, with a meeting at Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York on Monday, October 5 at 7.30pm.

If you’ve got skills, ideas, energy, or time to give, please join us. Email enquiries@clementshall.org.uk to get involved.

Kate Lock,

Address supplied

—

‘Come on Andy, we all know you want to rejoin the EU’

OUR new Prime Minister eyes EU deals on farming and steel, the only problem being everyone is aware he is an ardent European whose ultimate aim through subterfuge is for us to rejoin this uneconomic, bureaucratic controlled cartel known as “the single market” but lacks the guts to ask the population if they wish to do the same.

Peter Rickaby,

Moat Way,

Brayton

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Snaking queues formed at the departure halls in Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday as stranded passengers sought refunds and tried to get updates on when they would be able to fly.

Finna, who was supposed to fly home to Jakarta from Malang, a city in East Java, on Sunday morning, described the frezny at the airport as flights got repeatedly rescheduled.

“It was very crowded because passengers from the morning flights had piled up, while those scheduled for later departures still didn’t know what would happen,” the 46-year-old told BBC Indonesian.

“We were all glued to the flight information screens.”

Not wanting to deal with the uncertainty, Finna eventually spent the night on two intercity trains before arriving in Jakarta at 03:00 on Monday.

“Everyone seems to be racking their brains [figuring alternative transportation options]”, said Jo Shaw, who was visiting Indonesia with members of her conservation charity Save the Rhino International.

Shaw’s team had axed their plans to camp out at Java’s Ujung Kulon National Park after authorities raised its alert level for the Anak Krakatau volcano.

“Being stranded in an airport hotel is a relatively minor inconvenience to be resolved in a few days hopefully,” Shaw said, adding that she was more concerned about the teams working on the ground with the rhinos under such environmental conditions.

A newly wed Malaysian couple who had just spent a week in Bali said they were told that the next flight back to Kuala Lumpur wouldn’t be until 11 September.

“What are we going to do here for another five days? We only prepared enough money for our honeymoon and [were supposed] to go home yesterday,” Amir Hamzah told Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama.

“We thought we would just sleep at the airport for a few hours and then take the morning flight home [on Monday]. We never thought we would end up being stuck here for days,” the 29-year-old said.

On Monday, Indonesia’s Geological Agency warned that “the probability of further eruptions in the coming periods remains high”.

Volcanic ash reached as high as 6,000m on the Java side of the volcano and 15,000m on the Sumatra side and in some parts of Java’s westernmost province Banten, the meteorological agency BMKG said.

Anak Krakatau sits on the Sunda Strait about midway between the islands of Java and Sumatra.

The most recent eruption occurred at 20:23 on Sunday, according to the agency.

“We ‌cannot ascertain when this ‌will end due to the dynamic weather,” Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said in relation to the temporary closures of the affected airports.

Dudy said on Sunday that authorities across the airports have been conducting tests every 30 minutes “to anticipate whether the ash spread is widening or subsiding”.