Commander Helen Flanagan, of CTP London, said earlier on Saturday: “At this stage last night’s arson is not being linked to other incidents in the north-west London area over the last week or last month’s arson in Golders Green, but counter-terrorism officers are leading due to the similarities of each attack.

Heaton’s Kim Tserkezie will once again play Penny Pocket in the much-loved CBeebies series, which originally aired more than 20 years ago and was inspired by the real-life town of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.

Julie Wilson Nimmo will return as Miss Hoolie, Andrew Agnew as PC Plum, and Juliet Cadzow as Edie McCredie.

The BBC said viewers can expect a “joyful mix of stories, comedy, songs and adventures,” combining returning cast members with new characters.

The official trailer has been released for all new #Balamory, with the first episode airing 5pm next Monday on @CBeebiesHQ and iPlayer.

Will you be watching? ✨ pic.twitter.com/vsBGesav25

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— Balamory Updates (@BalamoryUpdates) April 13, 2026

Ms Tserkezie said: “So many brilliant memories, we just had an absolute blast working on that show.

“The scripts were great, they were so funny, to get to work and act with those other brilliant cast members and crew, all the hard work that went into creating the magic that is Balamory.

“Penny Pocket was so important to me because it was great to play a character and have fun with everyone else.”

Other returning cast members have also spoken fondly about the show’s comeback.

Julie Wilson Nimmo told the BBC she was especially excited by “new stories in Balamory”, while Andrew Agnew said “it’s such an honour to be back doing something that we love so much.”

New faces joining the cast include scientist and inventor Ava Potts (Danielle Jam), local vet Dr Ollie (Carl Spencer), and the harbour master (William Andrews).

All 10 episodes of the new series will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from Monday, April 20, with episodes also airing on CBeebies on the same day.

For Michael Carrick’s United, there are no such worries. This was a welcome return to form after one victory in four matches, and though they offered little of their own threat besides the goal and Chelsea hitting the crossbar twice, they were sufficiently organised and determined to frustrate their hosts.

Delap and Fofana’s chances were identical: Pedro Neto’s crosses from the right met in the air but the underside of the crossbar keeping both players’ headers out. Cole Palmer, anonymous for so much of the game, fashioned a volley out of a Malo Gusto delivery, but that stayed out too.

As the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran squeezes global oil supplies, travelers have valid reasons to worry about the cost and availability of flights as they plan their late spring and summer trips.

The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that European countries could run low on jet fuel within weeks, forcing the continent’s airlines and carriers that fly to Europe to significantly reduce flights. Many airlines have already raised checked bag fees or added fuel surcharges as the global price of jet fuel increased from about $99 per barrel at the end of February to as high as $209 a barrel at the beginning of April.

In a sign of the conflict’s ongoing repercussions for travel, Air Canada said Friday it planned to suspend its service to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport from June 1 until Oct. 25 to lower its fuel costs. Other airlines, ranging from U.S. carriers like United and Delta to Air France-KLM, SAS, Philippine Airlines and and Cathay Pacific in Europe and Asia, have reduced routes and either increased ticket prices or said they would hike them if the war keeps oil from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“It’s very hard for the airlines to make predictions in this environment, so they’re going to be conservative, and that’s why it’s likely that their prices will remain elevated for some time until things really stabilize,” said Shye Gilad, a former airline captain who now teaches at Georgetown University’s business school.

With airfares and fees on the rise, consumers still can make choices that determine how much of their travel budgets will get taken up by paying to get to and from their destinations.

Act quickly

While consumers may be tempted to see if the war ends before buying airline tickets, the “wait-and-see” approach to booking flights is riskier this year, travel experts say, especially the longer the war goes on and the closer to summer and other peak travel periods it gets.

“Presuming there is a lasting ceasefire — or better yet, peace agreement — it will take a few months for normal levels of jet fuel production and delivery to resume,” airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, said.

Iran’s reversal on Saturday of its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and President Donald Trump’s insistence on maintaining a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports illustrated the shakiness of prospects for oil flowing reliably again from the Persian Gulf and with it, an easing of the price pressure on airlines and their customers.

“My advice to travelers is this: If you find a flight whose schedule fits yours, with a fare you can afford, and on an airline you can at least tolerate, book it,” Harteveldt said. “But — and I cannot emphasize this enough —do not book a Basic Economy fare,” the cheapest but also the most restrictive airline ticket class.

Along with charging for checked bags and seat selection, most North American airlines do not give refunds or travel credits to passengers with Basic Economy tickets if they don’t cancel their trips within 24 hours of purchase. Policies may vary, but spending more for a Standard Economy ticket provides more flexibility, according to Harteveldt.

Sticking to a carry-on bag, when possible, can help avoid the higher fees for checking luggage that many major U.S. airlines introduced recently, including Delta, American, United, Southwest and JetBlue.

If packing light is not an option, plan ahead because airlines typically charge more to add bags closer to departure, especially within 24 hours of a flight.

Redeem your points

While fares are going up, the number of airline points needed for many flights has not increased at the same pace, said Adam Morvitz, CEO of points.me, a loyalty rewards redemption search platform.

Airlines still need to fill seats, Morvitz said, and offering more of them for fewer points is one way to do it.

Customers without enough frequent-flyer miles or credit card points for a round-trip ticket still can redeem their travel rewards for one leg of a journey and free up cash for other travel expenses.

Many travelers redeem points directly through their credit card’s booking portal, where they’re typically worth about 1 cent each, Morvitz said. Transferring points to airline loyalty programs often unlocks significantly better value because most major credit card issuers partner with a range of airlines.

Take American Express, whose points can be transferred to Air France’s Flying Blue program. Travelers who don’t want to book with Air France still can use those points with the airline’s partner carriers, such as Delta, Morvitz said.

“Points are a form of wealth, and consumers should recognize that those points increase spending power,” he said.

Explore travel credit cards

For those new to travel credit cards, sign-up bonuses may yield benefits that can be put to use as soon as this summer. Some bonuses are large enough to cover a flight after meeting a minimum spending requirement.

“Even if you were to travel the entire year, taking one trip per month, you would still earn more points simply by signing up for the card than actually sitting on a seat and flying,” Morvitz said.

Points and rewards can add up through everyday spending on groceries, dining and gas. Some cards include perks like free or discounted checked bags.

___

AP writers Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Mae Anderson in New York and Lisa Leff in London contributed to this story.

Hampton’s performance was not a clean one as she fumbled several crosses and was not convincing on set-pieces.

She almost dropped the ball into the path of Sveindis Jonsdottir late on too, but rescued it just in time to spare her blushes.

Hampton’s has been patchy of late for Chelsea, but like all world-class players she delivers when it really matters.

She did it against Spain on Tuesday, as England held on to a significant 1-0 win in part thanks to her acrobatic save, denying Edna Imade late on.

At Wembley, her predecessor Mary Earps was being celebrated for her Lionesses career before kick-off, but Hampton has taken her gloves seamlessly, shining at Euro 2025 and now impressing as England look to seal their spot in next year’s World Cup.

Despite the spotlight, Hampton was humble at full-time in Iceland, joking about the simplicity of the game and her role within it.

“Alessia [Russo] puts the ball in one end and I stop it going in at the other. It’s a simple game when you break it down,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I am just glad I get to be involved. It means I don’t freeze to death! I’m always willing to put my body on the line.”

But there was no downplaying by England manager Sarina Wiegman, who said Hampton’s saves against Iceland were “crucial” to securing the victory.

“It is always a team effort and a team performance but it’s really nice to have a goalkeeper that stops the ball going in – especially when it’s really hard for the team and they are struggling,” added Wiegman.

“That’s called teamwork. She showed again that she is a world-class goalkeeper.”

Arsenal striker Russo added: “She was amazing. Big moments kept us in it and she showed up three or four times to get us the three points.

“Sometimes you need someone to step up like that.”

With the wedding of their dreams just around the corner, Carla Connor (Alison King) and Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) are forced to bid a heartbreaking farewell to a beloved family member.

Damn you, Corrie. Swarla was in a good place. Carla had forgiven Lisa for being seduced her Fatal Attraction On A Budget ex-wife Becky Swain (Amy Cudden). She got over the whole being locked in an airing cupboard’ debacle and accepted Lisa’s romantic proposal in the Rovers.

They were happy! Us viewers were happy! We had a wedding to look forward to. Okay, said wedding was somewhat overshadowed by the grim portent of a flashforward where Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) discovers a body at said wedding, but hey. A wedding is a wedding.

Then, back in late February, the Corrie writers threw Swarla another curve ball when they found an unexpected delivery on their doorstep – a baby.

This wasn’t a case of the stork making a stop at the wrong house. This was Connie, the daughter of the daughter of Carla’s murdering brother Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis).

Rob made a name for himself in the Corrie Villain Hall Of Fame by murdering Weatherfield icon Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan)to protect Carla from the fallout of Peter Barlow’s (Chris Gascoyne) affair. 

Although Carla initially promised to keep his secret, she couldn’t live with the guilt and ultimately called the police on her own brother, leading to his 25-year prison sentence.

However, Rob managed to cause even more chaos from inside by fathering a child with prison guard Mandy Waring (Rebecca Atkinson), then pretending to be Carla’s kidney donor only to use the surgery as an opportunity to bust out of jail. Cue a violent hostage situation ending in the tragic accidental shooting of Betsy Swain, leading to Rob’s recapture and return to the nick where he belongs.

However, it turns out that Mandy was pregnant and gave birth to Baby Connie. This was a surprise to viewers as much as it was to Carla and Lisa, who discovered that Connie’s grandmother had left them to care for the infant while she was in hospital.

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Initially, Carla was not too keen on the idea of taking Connie in. Not just because the little mite was the daughter of her psycho baby bro, but due to own trauma from a tragic miscarriage in 2014. But Lisa pointed out that without their help, the poor kid would have ended up in care. So with Lisa’s help, Carl agreed to take on the baby.

Caring for a little girl was the perfect bit of sweet comic relief audiences needed after an unhinged ex spent months trying to split up their favourite soap couple – even if it was slightly spoiled by bunny-boiling baddie Jodie Ramsey taking a weird interest in bonding with the baby and randomly stealing Lisa’s police badge.

But all good things must come to an end – on Corrie, anyways. Upcoming episodes will see Carla get some heartbreaking news about the newest addition to their family.

As Ryan (Ryan Prescott) shows Carla around the hotel while they discuss wedding plans, she suddenly gets a call from a social worker… and her face falls.

Soon enough, there’s long faces all around at No.6 as Carla and Lisa pack up Connie’s things and explain to Betsy that the social worker has been in touch and Connie will be returning to her grandmother’s. Sob!

Poor Carla and Lisa! Why Corrie? Why torment them like that?

Oh well. At least the girls have a wedding to look forward to. Surely nothing could go wrong there. Right? Right?!

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On a chilly yet beautifully clear evening last November, I sat on a video call with colleagues and happened to mention the live feed from the International Space Station – a real-time broadcast from onboard cameras as the station orbits earth.

Several people hadn’t heard of it, and so I dug out the link and sent it over. We then turned to Nasa’s spot the station smartphone app, which shows you the ageing satellite’s orbital track and provides a countdown to when you can next see it. Again, I found the link and shared it on the chat.

I suddenly realised the station was going to pass directly overhead – in just a few minutes. Video beamed from the station as it advanced over the Atlantic, crossed the terminator (the line that separates day from night), and hurtled towards the southwestern tip of the UK, where I live.

Running outside, I took my phone and the live feed with me. And as I looked up at the bright, impossibly fast-moving smudge traversing the sky above, the feed showed the station’s birdseye view – and perhaps the view of the astronauts aboard – looking down on me, too.

Just 25 years ago, this kind of experience would have been hard to imagine. Yet as our lives have become increasingly interwoven with technology, so too have our encounters with the world around us. And nowhere is this more true than when it comes to viewing the night sky.

Smartphone apps now help us to identify planets, catch views of satellite clusters (for better and worse), and plan how to view supermoons. These experiences could be crucial in helping to reconnect people with the night sky and preserve a darkness that is increasingly under threat.

Simulations that allow people to view the Earth from afar, via apps or computer games, could even recreate a fascinating phenomenon reported by astronauts: the overview effect. Recently referred to by the Artemis II crew, the overview effect is described as a “a profound reaction to viewing the Earth from outside its atmosphere”. It represents a powerful form of awe and wonder and digital tools might help us unlock similar feelings from Earth too.

On May 11 2024, residents marvelled at the aurora borealis (northern lights) across parts of the UK including in southern England where they are rarely seen. The sightings made headlines across Europe, an excitement that was made possible by digital technology and heightened by digital shares and updates.

Public interest began with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Deep Space Climate satellite picking up particularly strong solar winds. This triggered an alert to users of Lancaster University’s Aurorawatch app. These stargazers started taking photos of the northern lights, which they promptly shared via social media.

The display happened close to midnight when most people in the UK were in bed – but still scrolling. And as real-time images of the aurora quickly circulated online, masses of people went outside to see it for themselves. But, as one witness reported, many people struggled to make out the display: “I could see nothing by eye, but it was there on the camera screen, and on my phone camera too.” And so images of the sky were captured through ultra-sensitive smartphones.

From webcams in bird boxes to big-budget nature documentaries, these digital connections have come to define modern interactions with the natural world. They are now interwoven into everyday routines.

Ten million people watched the first episode of BBC’s Planet Earth III in 2023 – the same number who visit the Peak District in a year. Nature-based “relaxation” videos have achieved viral status on YouTube, amassing hundreds of millions of views each. Spotify, Audible and Netflix have made nature content a core offering to their combined half a billion subscribers. Instagram is home to pictures of 346 million sunsets – and counting.

Online relationships

Being online can also have serious consequences for mental health, but when it comes to the natural world, digital connections could also provide exciting opportunities to bolster wellbeing. Growing research has shown that engaging with digital forms of nature can lead to improvements in emotion regulation, stress reduction and attention restoration – a pathway that is already being explored by apps hoping to boost wellbeing for people who spend large amounts of time online.

These digital encounters also have the potential to affect how people behave towards the environment.

Some academics are worried that these trends might be degrading our relationship with nature, but there is substantial nuance to be found here. The real value in these experiences may lie not in their ability to simulate natural worlds, but in their capacity to stimulate interest in nature.

Harnessing technology to “rewild” our digital lives could be especially relevant when it comes to an emerging generation of young people. Take for example, the perspectives of generation alpha, the first wave of which are entering their late teens, and who, after gen Z, represent the second cohort of digital natives – hyper-connected visual learners who have never known a world without smartphones, social media, instant access to information, and for some, artificial intelligence.

Perhaps, as some have suggested, modern and digital tools could even mean that young people’s opportunities to connect with nature are unprecedented.

And so, as with some other innovations, these technological connections might enhance human experience, understanding and capability.

It could be time to recognise and embrace digital tools as part of the dynamic, evolving, and exciting way we interact with the natural world – approaches that might bring us closer to nature at a time when its future hangs in the balance.

Racing driver Juha Miettinen has died after a seven-car crash during the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) qualifiers in Germany on Saturday.

The race was initially halted by a red flag before it was eventually suspended an hour later once the severity of the the multi-car collision became apparent.

Organisers said the race, which had earned extra attention due to the participation of Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen, would not resume on Saturday evening.

“Following the collision between several vehicles, race control immediately halted the race to allow for extensive recovery and rescue operations,” the race organiser said in a statement.

“Despite the immediate arrival of emergency services, the emergency medics were unable to save the driver involved after he had been extracted from the vehicle. The driver died at the medical centre after all attempts at resuscitation proved unsuccessful.”

The statement added that six other drivers were taken to hospital for examination but none of the injured were in a life-threatening condition.

Four-time Formula 1 champion Verstappen, who is due to participate in the 24-hour endurance race in May, sent his condolences on social media.

“Shocked by what’s happened today,” Verstappen wrote on social media.

“Motorsport is something we all love, but in times like this it is a reminder of how dangerous it can be.

“Sending my heartfelt condolences to Juha’s family and loved ones.”

A minute’s silence will be held in memory of Miettinen during the grid formation for Sunday’s race.

The Kinahan organised crime group is said to have links to the recently arrested Scottish gangland figure Steven Lyons.

A brazen crime boss who had been living ‘openly’ in the United Arab Emirates for years was arrested after a two days of surveillance, it has been reported.

Pictures understood to have been taken in June last year and published by the Sunday Times earlier this year showed Daniel Kinahan attending an MMA event in Dubai and living ‘openly’ there.

But the 48-year-old leader of the infamous Kinahan crime clan could spend the rest of his life behind bars for his alleged role in the gang, following a surveillance operation in Dubai that led to his arrest on Friday. The Irish Daily Mail reported that a senior police source told the outlet that Kinahan had been under close surveillance for 48-hours by Dubai police before they moved in.

The Mail reports that a local shopping mall and nearby Indian restaurant close to the Burj Khalifa were the main hubs for police surveillance on the kingpin.

Irish police also reportedly have encrypted messages linking him to murders and plots to murder rivals in the Hutch clan. According to sources who spoke to the Irish Sun, messages from Estonian hitman Imre Arakas, also referred to be The Butcher, are included.

In April 2017 Arakas took a plane to Ireland to murder Hutch thug James Gately in a failed assasination attempt. Incriminating messages were photographed by Arakas’ arresting officer before they disappeared after he seized the hired killer’s Blackberry mobile.

The force are said to believe Kinahan was communicating with Arakas about the assassination attempt, under the names ‘Bon’ and ‘Bon new’ on the hitman’s phone.

The Kinahan cartel is also believed to have an alliance with Scots drug kingpin Jamie “Iceman” Stevenson and Steven Lyons. In February 2025, Stevenson was arrested for 20 years for his hand in a £100 million cocaine smuggling plot.

The arrest of Kinahan ‘key member’ Johnny Morrissey was key to the takedown of the ruthless Lyons gang. Morrissey was held in September 2022 on suspicion of money laundering and membership of a criminal gang.

His Glasgow-born wife Nicola was also arrested in the Spanish Civil Guard operation. Four years later, Steven Lyons was arrested in Bali on March 28, 2026, a day after organised crime raids across Scotland and Spain.

Lyons, 46, was detained in Bali Airport on an Interpol Red Notice – his partner Amanda Lyons was also arrested in Dubai. He was extradited to Amsterdam last week and will face a surrender hearing on June 4.

Daniel Kinahan in 2016, he left Ireland in 2016- first going to the Costa Del Sol and later settling in Dubai.

He was identified in the High Court in Dublin as a senior figure who “controlled and managed” the operations of the Kinahan organised crime group. The international crime syndicate was alleged to have been involved in the smuggling of drugs and guns into Ireland, the UK and Europe.

The US Treasury department imposed sanctions against senior members of the Kinahan crime gang, including Christy Kinahan Snr and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jnr. While Kinahan left Ireland years ago, the investigation by gardai continued.

They recently secured a warrant for his arrest in the High Court in Dublin. This was sent to the Dubai police as part of a bilateral agreement.

Officers there launched “intensive search and surveillance operations”, which led to Kinahan’s arrest this week. A spokesperson said: “Dubai Public Prosecution issued an arrest warrant to initiate legal procedures ahead of his extradition.”

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