Reminder – A1079 road from York to Hull to close for resurfacing works

A road roller is behind cones on the eastbound lane of the A1079 outside Dunnington, close to the layby where The Scrap Box fish and chip shop is located.

Temporary traffic lights were controlling the flow of traffic, according to eyewitnesses and York-bound traffic was queueing as far back as Dunnington village, before the morning rush hour.

Overnight resurfacing work is running from York Road in Dunnington along a three-mile stretch to Kexby.

This includes a scheduled closing of the A1079 in the area from 8pm to 6am, until the morning of Saturday, September 19.

Women now have the Right to Ask police if a new boyfriend has a history of abuse after a young mum was murdered and set on fire.

The numbers of women being warned by police that their partner has a violent past has almost doubled in the last five years.

The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland – also known as Clare’s Law – allows people to find out if a new or existing partner has previously been abusive to others, called the Right to Ask.

Figures released by Police Scotland under Freedom of Information show that the number of disclosures made by them about violent partners has risen steadily since 2021.

That year there were 2305 disclosures rising to 4082 in 2025 – an increase of almost 80 percent.

Claire’s Law also enables anyone with concerns about the partner of someone they know, to apply for a disclosure.

Eve Graham, from Nairn, who suffered more than 40 years of abuse at the hands of her husband, said: “Anything that allows women to find out if their partner has previous is to be welcomed.

“In the past women were reluctant to believe that the new man in their life was violent. The last thing you would think then would be to check them out.

“However domestic violence is so prevalent now a lot of younger women are thinking:’ I’ll just check this guy out.’”

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Eve, 68, also welcomes the fact that families and friends can apply to the police for a disclosure about a loved one’s new partner.

She added: “It is great idea. Often love is blind.

“You might get a new boyfriend and think he is the nicest guy on earth but your family think there is something about this guy which is not right and they can now contact the police about their suspicions.

“My husband’s persona to the public was different from the one that I experienced. People said he wouldn’t hurt a fly, may be not, but he would certainly hurt his wife.”

Eve was pushed into the sea from a pier, bitten on the nose and smashed over the head with a bucket in a series of brutal attacks by her husband William McDonald.

McDonald, 77, from Ardersier, Inverness-shire, was jailed for two years last year at the High Court in Glasgow but released in June released after serving just 12 months. He also received a 10-year non-harassment order from the court.

Clare’s Law was named after mum Clare Wood, 36, who was murdered and set on fire in Salford in 2009 by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton who had a history of violence against women.

Clare’s dad Michael Brown, who is originally from Aberdeen, campaigned to allow people to check with police whether their partner had a record of abusive behaviour.

Both women and men can apply for information about a partner. However the vast majority of cases involve women who are at risk.

Dr Marsha Scott, CEO of Scottish Women’s Aid said: “We should be cautious about reading too much into the numbers alone. They don’t tell us whether more men are perpetrating domestic abuse or whether more women are aware of the scheme.

“What they do tell us is that too many women continue to have good reason to question whether they are safe. As we’ve said before, the Disclosure Scheme is a sticking plaster, not a cure.

“It can be an important tool for some women, but it should never be seen as the solution to men’s violence against women.

“We cannot continue to place the burden on women to identify and manage the risk posed by abusive men.”

Earlier this week it was revealed that attacks in Scotland by a spouse or a partner at an 11 year high.

Prosecutors at the Crown Office received 34,586 reports from Police Scotland with domestic abuse charges in 2025-26, up 14 per cent on the previous 12 months.

The figures also include 11 charges of murder or culpable homicide – up from six the previous year.

Detective Superintendent Adam Brown of Police Scotland’s Domestic Abuse Coordination Unit said: “The Domestic Abuse Disclosure Scheme (DSDAS) continues to be an important preventative tool in tackling domestic abuse.

“We actively promote the scheme and are encouraged by the steady increase in applications to the scheme from people who are concerned about their relationship, or that of a friend or loved one.

“Receiving a disclosure can help people make a decision about the future of their relationship and make decisions about how best to keep themselves safe.

“The application form can be accessed on our website and I would urge anyone with concerns, either for themselves or someone they know, to submit a DSDAS application.”

It was closed for a redesign

A McDonald’s branch on a busy Cambridge road has now reopened after a transformation. The popular restaurant in Newmarket Road underwent a redesign which will reportedly deliver a better customer experience.

McDonald’s reimaging programme combines a new restaurant layout with the latest technology to create a more seamless and enjoyable experience for customers. The Newmarket Road restaurant reopened on Wednesday, September 9.

Improvements have been made for restaurant crew with a redesign of the crew room which will create a more relaxing and comfortable space for them to take a break. While the traditional walk-in remains core to how customers order, the McDonald’s kitchen and dining areas have seen changes.

This redesign will aim to better integrate digital sales channels, the McDonald’s App and make smarter use of internal space to enhance the dine-in experience, according to the fast food chain. With dedicated areas for the different ways to order, the revamp will offer a more efficient way to order and will leave customers with more space to enjoy their meal.

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Local McDonald’s Franchisee, Richard Cross, who owns and operates two McDonald’s in the Cambridgeshire area, said he is “proud” to reinvest in the busy Cambridge restaurant. He added: “The dining area is more contemporary, and we now have separate facilities for our dine-in customers leading to a better experience for everyone.

“It’s exciting to see the fresh new look and feel of our Newmarket Road restaurant and I’m confident the changes will not only benefit our customers but also our restaurant team as these will help make their jobs a little easier.”

In a tragic final few days a man saw as a trial from God, he sat chronicalling his dying thoughts, as he ran out of water with hos dog by his side and a glittering lake just a few steps away from him.

An experienced hiker embarking on a solo trek across Wyoming left behind an eerie and tragic diary detailing how a freak accident led to his tragic death.

Presbyterian minister Mike Turner had left to go on a religious journey, and hike, in an effort to reconnect with God, along with his beloved black Labrador, Andy.

It was due to Andy that Mike made a last-minute change to his plans. As podcaster Mr Ballen explains: “He and Andy had been up at an elevation of about 13,000 ft, walking on some icy parts of the mountain and Andy’s paws were getting really raw from walking on the jagged ice.

“On the fourth day Mike had noticed Andy was whimpering and struggling to keep up, when normally he was super-energetic.”

Mike decided to take a different route around the mountain rather than over it. This decision ultimately cost Mike his life. Shortly after leaving his planned route, Mike was giving Andy some water when the dog made a break for some nearby trees.

Following him, Mike walked through the patch of woodland only to discover a vast lake surrounded by a mass of boulders.

Andy climbed over the rocks and was happily lapping water from the lake. Mike began navigating his way across the rocky terrain to reach his dog.

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But then catastrophe struck. One of the boulders began shifting as he stood on it, and as the 48-year-old attempted to steady himself, he tumbled between two of the rocks. Before he could escape his predicament, the unstable boulder toppled over entirely, leaving him trapped.

The way he was trapped meant that Mike wasn’t harmed but could not escape. Mr Ballen said: “After two hours of trying in vain to free himself it dawned on Mike that he was not going to be able to free himself. The only way he was getting out of here is if somebody found him and rescued him.”

Mike had some food and water and he chose to keep a diary until help arrived. However, as the days dragged on, his entries gradually transformed from hopeful to a kind of dark humour.

He wrote: “I am concerned about first losing my legs, second running out of snow to melt for water, and fuel, third hypothermia. My biggest concern is water. I have only 2 quarts left. The irony is that the lake is only 30 feet away…I am drinking 1 quart today, saving a quart for tomorrow. I am also saving my urine. I wonder how it will taste with Crystal Light?”.

Temperatures soared to 37ºC during daylight hours, but dropped to nearly freezing overnight. Mike said initially believed God was putting him through this trial as a lesson.

Later, he wrote that God must be punishing him, before ultimately accepting that he was going to die.

Andy never left his master’s side, spending days on end lying on a ledge above him. On 5 August, after four days trapped between the stones, Mike wrote: “I feel so foolish taking this longer pass. So lonely, more than I imagined. Who would have guessed that four days would have gone by and no one has come this way?”.

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Meanwhile, Mike’s wife was growing worried as he hadn’t met her at the end of the trail as planned. She alerted the authorities and a search was launched – but since no-one knew about Mike’s change in route, the searchers were looking in entirely the wrong part of the vast wilderness.

It wasn’t until 28 August, nearly a full month after Mike had embarked on his trek and a week after the search had been called off, that two hikers found a dishevelled-looking black Labrador wandering miles away from the search area. After Andy had been examined by a vet, a new search was launched – this time in the correct area.

But by then Mike had been found. Another solo hiker, Jeff Stewart, was walking near the unnamed lake in the Wyoming wilderness when he spotted a man, seemingly sitting on a rock.

He said: “I had seen the posters at the trailhead and knew they were looking for someone,” he told Backpacker magazine. “So I called out, ‘Hey, are you all right?’ There was no answer. I knew there wouldn’t be.”

A final message, intended for Mike’s wife, states: “Thank you for letting me live this adventure. Know wherever I am and whatever I’m doing, I am thinking of you.”

Mike had died of exposure, hypothermia, and dehydration approximately nine days following his accident. His journal was found near his body, thoughtfully placed in a plastic bag to shield it from the weather.

On a nearby stone, Mike had positioned his wedding ring: “He knew once he died and decomposed the ring would fall off his bones and be lost in the rocks below,” Mr Ballen explains.

“He clearly wanted his family to have that wedding ring, so he placed it on the Rock and then he prepared to die.”

Edna Cintrón’s life was almost predictable – and she couldn’t have asked for more.

Neither she nor her husband, William, was interested in the martinis and Broadway shows synonymous with life in New York City.

Instead, the pair enjoyed casino buffets at Atlantic City, collected porcelain figurines of angels and ate ice cream on the sofa.

William, who was 44 at the time, said: ‘She was also my backbone. She made me strong. She made me who I am today.’

But one day Edna, 46, went to work as an administrative assistant for insurance firm Marsh & McLennan – and never came home.

On September 11, 2001, a United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, tearing through the 93rd and 99th floors.

The impact destroyed all escape routes, and worried loved ones and emergency workers alike assumed the worst.

But as people watched in disbelief as office supplies, twisted metal and concrete fell from the skies, they realised that some people had survived.

New Yorkers 400 miles below photographed and filmed a woman, believed to be Edna, standing at the edge of the flaming hole left by the jet and waving through it.

The Marsh & McLennan’s offices were on the 93rd floor, and Edna gestured for help for about 20 minutes, near another man doing the same.

She quickly became known as the ‘waving woman’

At 10.28am, the impact site collapsed, and Edna became one of the nearly 3,000 people who died that day.

In the wake of the disaster, William wandered around Manhattan carrying a photograph of his wife, asking panicked office workers and emergency responders if they’d seen her.

He tried St Vincent’s, a nearby hospital, but staff had no record of her. At the disaster site, he was turned away.

William told The Independent at the time: ‘They said we’d interfere. We can’t just be in the way.’

By September 12, he was at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue asking how to file a missing person’s report.

Edna’s body was never recovered, although William ‘tentatively identified’ her as the woman waving in video footage, according to a memorial page.

Her gold engagement ring, however, was found in the rubble and donated to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Who was Edna Cintrón?

Edna was born in Puerto Rico on October 14, 1954, and her family moved to Delancey Street in Lower Manhattan when she was five.

They weren’t the richest – Edna’s mum gave her a few cents a week as pocket money. She didn’t graduate high school.

‘She experienced a lot of stuff,’ William said. 

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Edna met her future husband in 1987. She was chatting with her friend at her home in Upper Manhattan when William walked into the kitchen.

He recalled: ‘I was charming at that time; I wore cashmere.’

The couple managed a flower shop in Harlem that they jointly owned, Sweet William’s Florist, while living in East Elmhurst, Queens.

For a spell, they were briefly homeless, and Edna supported William as he recovered from alcoholism, her obituary states. He stayed sober thanks to her support.

William said: ‘Fourteen years with her, that was my life, my world. I knew when I went home I was in the best of hands, loved, cared for.’

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9/11: 25 years later

It has been 25 years since the horrific 9/11 attacks that brought down the Twin Towers in New York City, claiming the lives of thousands.

Follow Metro’s coverage of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 as we look back on the tragic attack, those who died, survived, and those who helped:

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Willian remembered his wife not as the ‘waving woman’, but as a ‘strong’ person who always had dinner on the table when he came home.

He died on September 24, 2021, after moving to Kissimmee, Osceola County, Florida. He was 64.

Marsh & McLennan told Metro that it hosted a public, digital memorial that honours the 358 workers and friends who died in 9/11.

One friend wrote on a tribute page to Edna: ‘I will never forget when I first saw Edna. An amazing woman who should never be forgotten or ignored.’

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

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For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Full list of all the victims who died on 9/11

MORE: 9/11 didn’t end in 2001 – ‘forgotten’ victims are still suffering and dying daily

MORE: Harry Styles sparks backlash over NYC concert ticket’s unfortunate 9/11 blunder

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Coco Gauff was cheered on by Michelle Obama at the US Open, but it will be Elena Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka who will become the first lady of Flushing Meadows.

American hearts were broken for a second time when Rybakina came from a set down to sink Gauff 3-6 6-4 6-4, a couple of hours after Sabalenka had sent Jessica Pegula packing in her home city.

Rybakina, the 27-year-old from Kazakhstan, stole the world number one spot from Sabalenka by reaching the semi-finals, and on Saturday she will attempt to prise the US Open title from her grasp as well.

“I feel like it was a great match, and of course, a lot of people wanted Coco to win. It’s normal. I think everyone understands,” she said.

“In the beginning I felt like it was a very nice atmosphere, and only in the end when I was up in the third set crowd really supported a lot Coco. But I tried to focus on myself and tried to not listen.”

A break of serve for 4-2 and a commanding hold to love put Gauff on the way to taking the first set, but her serve and forehand wobbles returned at precisely the wrong time to gift Rybakina the second

As the tension rose deep in the decider, a wide Gauff forehand gave Rybakina break point, which she took for 5-3, but a stunning backhand on the run, accompanied by a scream of defiance, kept the home favourite afloat.

However, a Rybakina volley in the next brought up two match points and she took the first when Gauff’s desperate overhead flew long.

Gauff, who won the title in 2023, said: “It hurts. Yeah, it’s all great, but I think the competitor in me, this is the tournament I want to perform at.

“I mean, I did perform, but it’s the one that you want to come out with a win.”

Sabalenka had earlier overpowered Pegula 7-5 6-2 to reach her fourth successive final here.

The two-time defending champion took her winning streak in New York to 19 matches and is now one victory away from the ‘three-peat’.

Third seed Pegula, beaten by Sabalenka in the 2024 final, had served superbly during the first set, winning 18 out of 20 points behind her first serve.

That was until 5-6, when Sabalenka suddenly unleashed three blistering returns to bring up three set points, taking the second when Pegula’s forehand fell into the net.

More break points arrived in the fourth game of the second set and a 91mph return put the top seed in total control.

A business-like victory was wrapped up in an hour and 20 minutes and celebrated with a simple clenched fist.

“No complaints, I’m super happy to be able to play such tennis,” said Sabalenka. “I was so desperate to win, I wanted it badly.”

Pegula, 32, is still looking for a maiden grand slam title and admitted she faced an almost impossible task with Sabalenka in that mood.

She said: “I don’t know who p****d her off today – hopefully it wasn’t me totally, but it might have been – I don’t know. She played insane. She played a super-high level.

“Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today.”

Fire officers were called at around 7.30pm on Wednesday, September 9, following reports of a man in the River Croal near Hacken Bridge in Darcy Lever.

Crews from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service attended the area around Smiths Road and Hacken Bridge Road.

However, no person was located during the response.

GMFRS confirmed its services had been called out following the reports, but agencies were quickly stood down after searches failed to locate anyone in the water.

The incident came after residents reported seeing a man enter the river, prompting the emergency response.

No further details about the reported sighting have been released.

The extreme right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has won a decisive victory in a regional election in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, gaining nearly 44% of the vote. However, it fell just short of the outright majority needed to govern alone, so negotiations are underway to determine who will run the state.

One small party, the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), stands as possible kingmaker. Formed in 2024 by high-profile figures who broke away from the radical left-wing Die Linke, the BSW won five seats in Saxony-Anhalt’s parliament. During the election campaigns, BSW founder and eponymy Sahra Wagenknecht signalled an openness to work with the AfD in the state.

She remarked in August that the BSW’s election goal was “to remove the incumbent Christian Democratic Union minister [Sven Schulze]” and “end this firewall idiocy”. Germany’s mainstream political parties have long refused to work or form coalitions with the radical right. This is known as the “firewall”.

On election night itself, the lead candidate for the BSW in Saxony-Anhalt, Claudia Wittig, stopped short of endorsing the AfD’s Ulrich Siegmund as minister president. But she said: “there are, of course, projects that we can very well imagine doing with the AfD”. She made these remarks in a television broadcast while stood beside the AfD’s leader, Alice Weidel.

The BSW and AfD sit on different ends of the traditional left-right political spectrum. But they share more common ground than you might imagine. Both parties are anti-establishment and firmly against immigration, making the argument that immigration numbers need to be reduced.

This is despite Germany already widening deportations as part of a nationwide shift towards stricter migration controls. Germany resumed deportation flights to Afghanistan in 2024, for example, initially focusing only on people with criminal records before widening the policy.

Despite a significant overlap, their anti-immigration stances are not entirely aligned. While the AfD has proposed mass deportations and ending the right to asylum entirely, the BSW is less extreme. It does not propose ending the right to asylum or deporting people solely due to their ethnic background.

Instead, it argues that restricting immigration numbers is important in order to keep the welfare state alive. This is a core principle in the party’s ideology, which experts call “left-conservative”.

Another area of common ground is Russia. Both parties demand a stop to Germany’s weapon deliveries to Ukraine. They argue that military support is prolonging the war there, draining domestic economic resources and escalating the risk that Germany is dragged into direct conflict with Russia.

The AfD and BSW are also closely aligned on proposals to end Russian sanctions, which have been in place since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They want to resume energy imports from Russia and begin receiving Russian gas again via the Nord Stream pipelines. These proposals are also related to both parties’ scepticism of renewable energy.

Not a straightfoward relationship

There are similarities between the two parties at the state level, too. But these are less clear cut. The AfD has announced that, if it does lead the next government in Saxony-Anhalt, it intends to terminate the public broadcasting arrangements. It claims public broadcasters are government mouthpieces biased towards mainstream parties.

The BSW similarly argues that public broadcasting is part of a “cancel culture” and should inform, rather than try to push an agenda. However, the BSW advocates for reform rather than the outright abolition of public broadcasting.

Other AfD proposals include changes to the school curriculum to end “inclusion” in mainstream education, where children with special needs currently learn alongside other students. Its manifesto in Saxony-Anhalt also included plans to place refugees in separate classes at school rather than teaching students together.

The BSW, on the other hand, advocates greater inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms and calls for funding specialised classroom support. And while the AfD advocates for culture war projects like banning LGBTQ+ flags, the BSW does not explicitly support a ban or mention LGBTQ+ issues in their Saxony-Anhalt manifesto.

The BSW’s national party platform has, however, adopted positions that critics characterise as transphobic.

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Saxony-Anhalt may well become the first German state to be led by a radical right government since the second world war. But the context is important. Saxony-Anhalt is a small state made up of 1.7 million voters, just 2.5% of the German electorate. As such, its political landscape should not be taken as representative of the country as a whole.

The conditions for an absolute AfD majority in Saxony-Anhalt were also favourable. The east German state has a higher unemployment rate than the national average and there is widespread dissatisfaction there with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Many voters in the state blame the federal government for feeling left behind and unrepresented.

Yet the AfD did not succeed in securing their electoral goal, an outright majority, leaving it reliant on other parties to form a government. All eyes should thus be on the BSW, its most likely partner – not only in Saxony-Anhalt but also in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, where voters head to the polls later in September.

Neighbours also fear the development could cause parking issues

New homes are set to built at a warehouse site despite sewage fears after a nearby pumping station “flowed for a month”. Plans for two one-bed bungalows and five three-bed homes in Fulbourn were brought to South Cambridgeshire District Council’s planning committee on Wednesday (September 9).

A new office would also replace an old one, offering a greater number of jobs than before. David Chaplin, the applicant, said he’d worked “positively” with council officers to address concerns and “significantly amended” the plans such as by reducing the number of homes from nine.

He added that the local highways authority did not object on parking grounds, even with the narrowing of Rushden Close from 7.2m to 5m. But a written statement on behalf of neighbours asked the number of homes to be further reduced to five, arguing that drivers will “invariably park on the pavement”, blocking the footpath.

David Cottee, secretary of the Fulbourn Forum, said the plans would lead to more parking on adjoining road Home End which has a “blind corner” with Manor Walk. He said: “Any on-road parking outside the proposed offices will force vehicles and cyclists into the middle of the road just before the blind corner. Fulbourn deserves better – a less dense scheme for both housing and offices would enable a more appropriate and better quality development.”

David Smith, chair of Fulbourn Parish Council, said sewage overflow had been a problem before on nearby Stonebridge Lane where the pumping station is. He said: “At the beginning of the year, that road was absolutely covered in raw sewage.

“That backs onto the side of the recreation ground – we had to stop the under 15s playing football there in case the ball went into the raw sewage. It’s a really, really, serious concern because it literally flowed for a month before they got the problem sorted.”

He questioned whether the pumping station would be able to cope with the extra sewage from another seven properties. Council officers clarified that, although Anglian Water objected to the plans, the developer has a legal right to connect to the sewer system. They also said they were unable to add any conditions relating to streets outside the application site.

Cllr Anna Bradnam, chair of the planning committee, said parking was a “major concern” but could be dealt with by a management plan. The Liberal Democrat councillor said: “So the residents are going to have to understand there are sometimes days of the week when the refuse vehicle is coming, and they don’t park on the street otherwise they’ll cause confusion.

“But actually I think this is an improvement on the previous application – it has reduced in size.” The application was granted with nine votes in favour and one against.