In regards to the North Wales rail delays, customers can use local bus services to complete journeys where possible at no extra cost:

• Route 4 and 4A between Holyhead and Bangor with Arriva Bus
• Route 5 and 5D between Bangor and Llandudno Junction with Arriva Bus

Find details of these services using the journey planner here.

Your ticket can also be used on the following alternative routes to help you complete your journey, with the Train Operating Companies listed below at no extra cost:

Between Bangor and Crewe with Avanti

These arrangements are in place on services until 6pm.

Chemicals used in a popular head-lice treatment used in children as young as six months could increase the risk of breast cancer, researchers say.

The warning comes after a wide-ranging study found that exposure to hundreds of chemicals in cosmetics and food packaging may begin years or even decades before the cancer develops.

Among the substances is malathion, the active ingredient in the head-lice treatment Derbac M.

Other potentially harmful chemicals highlighted in the study include bisphenol A (BPA), which is used in drinks cans and till receipts, and methylparaben, a preservative found in moisturisers, shampoos and deodorants.

Jennifer Kay, the lead author of the study, said: ‘People are exposed to hundreds of chemicals from multiple sources throughout their lives, and these exposures add up.

‘Breast cancer can take years to develop, so reducing exposure to potentially harmful chemicals early in life is an essential part of cancer prevention.’

The findings – published in Environmental Health Perspectives – come amid a rise in breast cancer among younger women, with cases among 20 to 49-year-olds increasing by almost 10 per cent over the past decade.

To identify the biggest sources of exposure, researchers analysed more than a dozen US government databases covering chemical use, pollution levels and human exposure.

They focused on more than 900 chemicals previously identified as potentially linked to breast cancer, including substances that can disrupt hormones or have been shown to cause mammary tumours in animals.

The researchers found hundreds are still used in everyday products, including building materials and medical equipment.

Among them was benzene, which people are commonly exposed to through exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke, and styrene, used in some takeaway coffee cups and food containers.

They also highlighted BPA, a chemical used in some reusable plastic food containers, the lining of drinks cans and till receipts. It was banned from baby bottles in Britain in 2011 amid concerns it could leach into their contents.

The European Commission went further in December 2024, banning BPA from materials that come into contact with food. The UK has yet to follow suit.

Researchers also highlighted DEHP, a chemical used to soften plastics that can still be found in some medical equipment, as well as methylparaben, a preservative used to extend the shelf life of moisturisers, shampoos and deodorants.

Parabens can mimic the effects of oestrogen in the body – significant because the hormone can fuel the growth of some breast cancers.

However, several of the pesticides highlighted in the study are no longer approved for agricultural use in Britain.

Scientists said the findings expose a potential regulatory ‘blind spot’, because safety assessments often consider individual chemicals rather than the mixture of substances people may be exposed to in everyday life.

‘Breast cancer can take years to develop, so tracking and reducing people’s exposure to pesticides from multiple sources is an essential part of cancer prevention,’ said Dr Kay.

Around 59,000 women and 420 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year.

There is no single cause of the disease, and the study does not prove that exposure to any one of the chemicals identified will lead to breast cancer.

However, a number of factors are already known to increase the risk, including getting older and having a family history of the disease.

Drinking alcohol, smoking, being overweight, having dense breasts and exposure to certain hormones, including through HRT, are also linked to breast cancer. 

Poison sellers will continue to take the lives of young people in the UK, the dad of a British victim has warned.

David Parfett’s son Tom was 22 when he died in a hotel in Surrey in October 2021 after buying a poison tablet online from Canadian Kenneth Law.

Law is due to be sentenced after he admitted 14 counts of aiding suicides in Canada after meeting people in online suicide forums, in a case also linked to 79 deaths in the UK.

He won’t face charges over any British deaths, but they will be considered in sentencing hearings, which began today, and the families of British victims will have their impact statements read in court.

David, who played a crucial role in bringing Law to justice, told Metro: ‘Without Law, Tom would still be here and would have got through the problems he was facing.

‘Tom was bright, entertaining to be around and had a wicked sense of humour. It is incredibly sad to lose somebody like that to the world.

‘But we still have people who promote suicide methods online and there are still active UK users on these forums.

Tom, an ‘academically brilliant’ A-star student who had struggled with his mental health throughout his childhood, had just moved to St Andrews to study philosophy at university.

Battling isolation during the Covid pandemic and dealing with the anxiety to succeed academically, Tom began to suffer with suicidal thoughts.

Just by searching online, Tom was able to come across a pro-suicide forum that promoted a deadly substance that he used to take his life.

He bought the poison from Kenneth Law’s website for around £50.

After taking the tablet, commentators on the platform egged him on as he died.

David said: ‘I still can’t believe that Tom was able to go onto the internet and just put in a fairly standard search, and from that he was able to understand exactly what he needed to do to kill himself.’

It was only after David looked into his son’s death – and successfully ordered the poison himself – did he eventually discover that Kenneth Law was his son’s killer.

Authorities said Law, a former chef, sold about 1,200 packages of toxic substances to recipients he met in online suicide forums in 40 countries, with roughly a quarter sent to the UK.

The first impact statements are due to be heard in court today as the judge weighs Law’s prison sentence.

Each count of aiding suicide carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, with experts predicting prosecutors could seek a 20-25 year sentence.

David’s main fear is that Law could reoffend when he leaves jail.

He said: ‘The man is callous. I fear what happens when he gets out.

‘There is very little that prevent him from doing something similar again and it would still be difficult to detect.’

Tom’s dad believes it was the ‘wrong decision’ for prosecutors to drop murder charges against Law, which would have carried a longer sentence.

‘Just because Law was not present when my son died, that does not mean he did not murder him,’ David continued.

While many impact statements will rightly be ’emotional and pretty aggressive towards Law,’ David said his is ‘pretty factual’.

His main concern is making sure that what happened to Tom and dozens others cannot happen again.

In August, Metro revealed that the suicide forum linked to Tom’s death was still easily accessible within seconds via a VPN in the UK, despite Ofcom saying it is blocked to UK users.

David says he still has an account on the site and that young people are still dying.

He warned: ‘I am a member of a group with the relatives of lost love ones and it has grown this year. There has been at least three new members since Ofcom began investigating the site.

‘There are other sellers like Kenneth Law who still continue to sell this stuff.’

Justice, for David, is not about Kenneth’s sentence but about ‘making sure there are no other deaths of vulnerable people like Tom’.

Earlier this month the bereaved families of young people whose deaths were linked to the suicide forum called on Andy Burnham to support their call for a public inquiry.

The site’s operator was fined £950,000 in May by online safety regulator Ofcom for failing to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act.

By July, Ofcom confirmed it could not pursue further legal action, adding that changes made by the US-based forum to block access to those in the UK represented “the fullest extent of what can be achieved” under the Act.

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

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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McDonald’s announced on Wednesday a plan to invest $8.5 billion across the next ten years to revamp its restaurant fleet worldwide.

In an effort to cater to health-conscious diners, the Chicago-based fast-food giant intends to roll out grilled chicken wraps and sandwiches, alongside trials for new menu items such as egg bowls and bites.

According to Sky Anderson, the president of McDonald’s USA, roughly 30 million people in the US are currently taking GLP-1 weight loss medications, driving demand for smaller portions with higher protein content. Furthermore, internal data shows that 60 million American consumers are consciously trying to add more protein to their meals.

“This is an opportunity. We need to keep giving them more reasons to make McDonald’s their first choice,” Anderson stated during the company’s investor day event.

As part of the overhaul, locations will feature dedicated pickup lockers for delivery drivers, open coffee stations to highlight beverage quality, enlarged play spaces, and redesigned kitchens. Additionally, order-checking scales currently installed in 10,000 locations worldwide will expand to 20,000 sites by 2028.

The fast-food chain is also speeding up the rollout of ArchIQ, an artificial intelligence platform created alongside Google to boost order precision and streamline operations such as scheduling and inventory control.

While franchise owners generally allocate up to $450,000 every ten years for mandatory renovations, the revised strategy will require an extra $800,000 per store, though McDonald’s noted it plans to cover part of these expenses.

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love‘s daughter Frances Bean Cobain launched her grand return to the red carpet in Los Angeles this week after an eight-year absence.

Frances, 34, was pictured at the premiere of the new crime comedy The Deputy, starring William H Macy alongside Kanye West‘s ex Julia Fox.

For her latest night on the town, she was accompanied by her husband and fellow ‘nepo baby‘ Riley Hawk, the son of skateboarding star Tony Hawk.

She withdrew from red carpet events after 2018, during which year she posed with her mother at the launch of Los Angeles boutique Other People’s Children.

Later in 2018, she could be seen mingling with Michael Jackson‘s daughter Paris Jackson at a Moschino x H&M runway show during New York Fashion Week.

After nearly a decade away, Frances made her triumphant comeback to the red carpet Tuesday, bearing a striking resemblance to her Nirvana frontman father, whose 1994 suicide has found itself at the center of a fresh mystery.

For her latest night on the town, she was accompanied by her husband and fellow ‘nepo baby’ Riley Hawk, the son of skateboarding star Tony Hawk

Frances Bean is pictured as a baby with her parents attending the 1993 MTV VIdeo Music Awards, the year before Kurt’s suicide

Frances attended her latest red carpet in an outfit that included a fashionably faded graphic t-shirt, evoking memories of her parents’ 1990s heyday.

Her curtains of straight, long blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders, amplifying her physical similarity between her and her father. 

Having retreated from the red carpet after 2018, she stopped appearing at public showbiz events altogether for years after sitting front row at a Moschino show held at Universal Studios Hollywood in June 2019.

As the mystique around her intensified, she struck up a romance with Riley in 2021 and married him at a secret ceremony in the San Diego area two years later.

Her clandestine wedding was officiated by her godfather, REM frontman Michael Stipe, who had been a close friend of Kurt’s.

Stipe had responded to Kurt’s suicide by writing an REM song called Let Me In about his attempts to help his friend overcome his demons. 

Kurt was found dead of a shotgun wound in April 1994 in Seattle, at the denouement of a long spiral from depression and heroin addiction. 

Frances, who was nearly two years old when she lost her father, welcomed a son with Riley in September 2024 called Ronin Walker Cobain Hawk.

Frances attended her latest red carpet in an outfit that included a fashionably faded graphic t-shirt, evoking memories of her parents’ 1990s heyday

She struck up a romance with Riley in 2021 and married him two years at a secret ceremony in the San Diego area officiated by her godfather, REM frontman Michael Stipe

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She withdrew from red carpet events after 2018, during which year she posed with her mother at the launch of Los Angeles boutique Other People’s Children (pictured)

Later in 2018, she could be seen mingling with Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson at a Moschino x H&M runway show during New York Fashion Week

She stopped appearing at showbiz events for years after the Moschino show at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2019; pictured there with Nikia Provenzano (left) and Eli Roth (right)

Riley raved last year about the life he and Frances lead as a ‘a very quiet stay-at-home family’ with a son who was ‘learning every day,’ via People.

He reflected that he and his wife ‘don’t really think too much about’ their parents’ legacy in entertainment and prefer to ‘just do our own thing.’

Meanwhile, Tony Hawk shared a heartrending Instagram caption in February 2025 on the subject of Kurt’s absence from his baby grandson’s life.

Posting a ticket stub of a Nirvana concert he attended in 1991, Tony wrote: ‘I wish Kurt were here so he could see the incredible woman his daughter has become, meet her devoted, caring husband, and hold our wondrous grandchild.’

The day before Valentine’s Day 2018 – the year of her final profusion of red carpet appearances before her eight-year hiatus – Frances made a rare disclosure about her personal life by marking two years of sobriety.

Frances, who was nearly two years old when she lost her father, welcomed a son with Riley in September 2024 called Ronin Walker Cobain Hawk

‘It’s an interesting and kaleidoscopic decision to share my feelings about something so intimate in a public forum. The fact that I’m sober isn’t really public knowledge, decidedly and deliberately,’ she wrote. ‘But I think it’s more important to put aside my fear about being judged or misunderstood or typecast as one specific thing.’

Without clarifying what she had been addicted to, she wrote: ‘It is an everyday battle to be in attendance for all the painful, bazaar, uncomfortable, tragic, f***ed up things that have ever happened or will ever happen.’ 

Frances’ mother also abused cocaine, heroin and pills before announcing in February 2020 that she had achieved 18 months of sobriety.

Love lost custody of her daughter from 2003 until 2005 after a painkiller overdose, and in 2009 court documents revealed that the then 17-year-old Frances had been placed in her grandmother’s guardianship.

A government spokesperson said: “Border Security Command officers alongside Kent Police have been responding to an incident in Dover.

“Twenty-one individuals have already been detained under a swift enforcement response.

“There is a thorough investigation ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Officials said those who had been detained had been taken to Western Jet Foil for processing.

The uncontrolled arrivals come after Border Security Command suggested they were a thing of the past, because of new surveillance technology and improved resources.

Earlier this year, Reform UK set out a proposal to call in the Royal Navy to help intercept migrants, but it was rejected.

Migrants crossing the Channel are usually brought to shore by Border Security Command or RNLI boats.

On Tuesday, 154 migrants arrived in three boats, of which one was an uncontrolled landing.

It takes the total of migrants to have arrived in the UK this year to 17,784.

The total so far this year is down 44.7% compared with figures for 22 September 2025, at which point 32,188 migrants had arrived that year.

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The Love Hypothesis, Prime Video’s latest release, is an enjoyable enough quirky rom-com – but it’s missing the spice its devoted fans will be hoping for.

Based on author Ali Hazelwood’s extremely popular STEM romance of the same name, the film is an adaptation of the original BookTok sensations during the Covid lockdowns.

The story began as ‘Reylo’ fanfiction about the relationship between Star Wars characters Rey and Kylo Ren (played by Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver) before Hazelwood reworked it into a novel.

The film’s casting then added another layer of excitement, with Hazelwood fans thrilled to see Lili Reinhart paired with Tom Bateman – who happens to be Daisy Ridley’s real-life husband.

Directed by Claire Scanlon (Set It Up) and written by Sarah Rothschild, it’s fair to say it arrives with plenty of hype.

In the film, PhD student Olive (Reinhart) invents a boyfriend to convince her best friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) to date their friend Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay).

But when Anh catches Olive working alone in the lab one Saturday night, Olive panics and kisses hotshot professor Dr Adam Carlsen (Bateman), who is nicknamed ‘Dr Evil’ by students for his intimidating reputation.

Olive then persuades Adam to fake a relationship with her to keep Anh convinced – while Adam hopes the arrangement will help him secure an extension to his university funding after being deemed a flight risk.

It’s an unrealistic and somewhat laughable premise, as the story touches on Adam’s entirely reasonable option of filing a sexual harassment claim.

However, fake dating is one of the most popular romance tropes, and this latest version does well to sell it without it being too cringey.

There’s also a sweet and easy chemistry between its leads, particularly in the clumsy initial interactions – there’s a mortifying hug and forehead kiss – but it’s one that could have burned a little hotter.

The Love Hypothesis’s famous climactic sex scene, for example, is a bit of a polite and rushed letdown. Of course, it was never going to match the book for on-page horniness, but it needed a fair bit more heat alongside the sweetness to match fans’ expectations, as well as offer something new and exciting to the genre.

The film also glosses over Olive being demisexual and the vulnerabilities that brings to exploring a relationship, especially when it turns physical, which is a big theme with Hazelwood’s characters.

However, while the central relationship struggles to translate all its elements well from page to screen, the acting is very good.

Reinhart makes for a convincingly awkward but also adorable Olive, entirely relatable as a heroine, while Bateman does well with Adam’s spikiness and as foil to Reinhart – although his interpretation is rather cooler than the Adam in the book.

The true revelation of the film though is the fabulous Marsh (The Morning Show) as Anh, who radiates a protective and understanding vibe as Olive’s BFF, projecting a meaningful friendship onscreen that you would entirely understand Olive – to whom she has become family, following her single mum’s death – risking everything for.

Jaboukie Young-White (Abbott Elementary, Companion) is also entertaining as the fun-loving, hard-partying Malcolm, another friend of Olive’s who has made Adam his nemesis.

In fact, in The Love Hypothesis the gentle comedy often outweighs the romance, which keeps things ticking along nicely even if it’s not quite the central relationship as portrayed in the book.

Prime Video has really hyped The Love Hypothesis as one of the biggest titles in its recent strategy of flinging itself headfirst into BookTok adaptations (Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus and the Your Fault series previously, as well as the upcoming romantasy adaptation Fourth Wing and Elsie Silver’s Rose Hill cowboy romances).

However, it does hint at the problems much-hyped adaptations of much-loved properties can face when it comes to meeting fans’ sky-high, often incredibly specific expectations.

The Love Hypothesis is streaming on Prime Video from today.

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The store shared the announcement on Facebook.

A popular vinyl store in Aberdeen has just announced it will be closing down. It has left loyal customers distraught at what they have called “gutting news.”

Maid in Vinyl took to Facebook earlier today (September 23) to share in a statement that it would be permanently shuttering. The move has been made due to “ongoing cost increases” that the business “can no longer sustain.”

At the moment, no official closure date has been confirmed by the second-hand record store. It has now launched a huge clearance sale, advising that “everything must go” and that there is a “huge stock clearance.”

Located on Rosemount Viaduct, Maid in Vinyl has become a popular haunt for music collectors. Officially opened in 2016, the independently run store stocks a large selection of pre-loved vinyl LPs, 45s and 12-inch records.

While mostly known for its second-hand vinyl’s, it can also stock newer titles. It has also previously taken part in ‘Record Store Day’, a semi-annual event that was launched in 2008 to “celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store.”

Following the store closing down, the business has confirmed that it will set up a shop on the online marketplace Discogs, while also setting up local delivery. No date has been set for either but they are confirmed for “the near future.”

The full post on Facebook read: “We have made a decision going forward to close the Aberdeen shop. This is due to ongoing cost increases which unfortunately the business can no longer sustain.

“We hope that you all will take advantage of some fantastic deals before we close and thank you all for your support over the years. We will offer a Discogs shop and delivery locally in the near future which will be extensive.”

Many local Aberdonians have been responding expressed their sadness over the news. The devoted fanbase has also confirmed they will be supporting the businesses up and coming ventures on Discogs.

One shopper commented: “Absolutely gutting news, it’s expensive to keep things running so I understand. We will miss you lots on our wee bit of Rosemount Viaduct.”

A second shopper responding to the news said: “I am so sorry to hear this. I know I only come in a couple of times a year but always go home with some bargains. You will be very much missed.”

Another upset customer wrote: “Sad to hear but understandable. Best wishes with the new adventure.”

It’s just the latest closure to hit the Scottish high street recently. The Titan hotel and restaurant in Clydebank is set to close down this month, although bosses at Greene King are yet to confirm the date.

The parent company has said the “difficult decision” was made as part of a strategy to “deliver sustainable and profitable growth for the future”. A sale of the venue has been agreed subject to contract, although Greene King said it was “unable to share further details on the future of the pub at this time.”

For more information on the Main in Vinyl closing down sale, follow the store’s Facebook page and website.

Royal Navy bomb disposal experts from HMNB Devonport have now been spotted at the scene in Falmouth.

Lt Cdr Ben Brown, commanding officer of the Royal Navy’s Bravo Squadron bomb disposal team, described the explosive device as a “general purpose bomb” that could have come “from any number of sources”.

He said: “It could have been an American bomber that’s come back from a mission, not successfully executed that, not dropped its payload and it needed to get rid of the bombs before it landed.

“It could have been an emergency and it needed to just ditch. You could put the same bomb in a slightly different location, on a different day, with different weather conditions, and have a completely different response required.”

He added: “This is on the larger side of ordnance that we would deal with, but the Plymouth team in particular have dealt with a lot of these recently, certainly this year to date, but it’s on the slightly larger side.”

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “Royal Navy bomb disposal experts from HMNB Devonport continue to support Devon and Cornwall Police following the discovery of an unexploded World War Two American air-dropped bomb near Falmouth Docks.

“Bravo Squadron’s vital role is to keep UK waters safe and free from unexploded wartime ordnance.

“With some of the most advanced equipment available, these highly trained Royal Navy divers work in challenging conditions to protect the public and keep our waters safe.”