Just weeks after a major air traffic control issue caused widespread disruption to travellers in the UK, another issue has prompted delays and cancellations in Scotland, Ireland and northern England.

On 21 September, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said a technical issue at its Prestwick centre in Scotland was causing disruption.

NATS has since confirmed the issue has been fixed – yet some UK airports are experiencing knock-on delays and cancellations.

The new issue was unrelated to the technical problems experienced earlier this month, with a NATS spokesperson adding that air traffic regulations had been applied to manage traffic demand and maintain safety.

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) serves 15 UK airports including Heathrow, Newcastle, Manchester, Gatwick and Stansted.

NATS said airports south of Manchester had been “largely unaffected” by the issue.

However, flights heading north – and those departing Scottish airports – were subject to delays and cancellations.

• Manchester Airport said the technical issue was causing delays to flights and urged passengers to “keep an eye out for updates from their airlines”.
• At Belfast City Airport, several arrivals and departures had been cancelled.
• Belfast International Airport also reported delays. An update on its site reads: “Passengers who are due to travel should check with their airline for latest information on their flight status. If you do not have a confirmed flight please do not travel to the airport.”
• Edinburgh Airport has noted there are delays. Some flights have also been cancelled.
• Per the BBC, Highlands and Islands Airports said all 11 of its airports are affected and passengers should contact the airline they’re flying with for the latest updates.
• Glasgow Airport is also impacted with some flights delayed or cancelled. The airport said on its website that further disruption is expected due to the knock-on impact across the network and passengers should check with their airline for the latest flight information.
• Newcastle Airport is also experiencing a number of delays as well as a couple of cancellations.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander shared on X that engineers have now fixed the problem impacting NATS systems.

She said: “I know this will be deeply frustrating for passengers after the previous issue. There may be some delays as things reset. Please check with your airline for updates.”

A NATS spokesperson said: “We are working with airports and airlines to safely lift air traffic regulations as quickly as we can to minimise any further disruption.

“Passengers should still check the status of their flight with their airline. We apologise for the disruption.”

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, advised passengers who are due to travel today or tomorrow to “check the advice from your airport, tour operator, airline apps, or airport social media feeds for the most up to date advice”.

“If your flight is cancelled or delayed, you’re unlikely to be owed compensation by the airline as the technical issue is considered an ‘extraordinary circumstance’,” he said.

“However, your airline is still responsible for looking after you during a delay. This includes food and drink after two to four hours (depending on how far you are flying) and a hotel if you are stuck overnight.

“If you end up having to pay for these things yourself, be sure to keep the receipts as you will need to claim this back from the airline.”

The BBC has addressed its recent decision to remove controversial scenes from the sketch series That Mitchell And Webb Look on its iPlayer service.

In honour of the comedy show’s 20th anniversary, That Mitchell And Webb Look – starring the titular comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb, alongside cast members that included Sarah Hadland and future Oscar winners Olivia Colman and Daniel Kaluuya – was made available to stream on the BBC’s iPlayer platform.

However, fans of the duo quickly spotted that around 11 scenes had been pulled from this new edition of the series, including some that included the use of blackface.

One such sketch depicted Robert and Olivia as the hosts of a makeover show, introduced to a woman in a burkha. Later, in a faux behind-the-scenes cutaway, David takes off this garment to reveal that he is in blackface.

Another showed the Peep Show stars as Civil War re-enacters, who then use blackface as part of a re-staging of a conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the pair – again in a faux behind-the-scenes cutaway – debating whether or not what they’re doing is “racist”.

In a statement, the BBC said: “That Mitchell and Webb Look has been made available on BBC iPlayer.”

“This is a 20-year-old sketch show,” they continued. “In consultation with the programme makers, we have included the ones that still work today and not the ones that don’t.”

HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for David Mitchell and Robert Webb for comment.

Back in 2020, in light of the protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that came after the murder of George Floyd, the BBC announced it was removing sketches making use of blackface from the sketch shows Little Britain, Come Fly With Me and The Mighty Boosh.

“There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review,” a BBC spokesperson said at the time.

However, a key figure closely associated with the 007 franchise doesn’t exactly seem to have been won over by the latter’s credentials.

Charlie Higson – who took over at the helm of the James Bond book series from the late Ian Fleming in the 2020s – told The Times he’s “not sure” he can imagine the Slow Horses actor taking over from Daniel Craig.

“I like him, but it’s like when Tom Hiddleston was in the running – not a convincing hand-to-hand fighter,” the writer claimed.

“With Daniel Craig you can believe him kicking the shit out of someone. And you’ve got to believe that with Bond.”

As well as writing the 2023 book On His Majesty’s Secret Service, Charlie Higson has been closely associated with the James Bond franchise for some time, having penned a series of books dubbed Young Bond, about the iconic secret agent’s student days.

Rumours about who could pick up the mantle as 007 have been circulating for the better part of a decade now, with film studio Amazon MGM confirming earlier this year that the casting process was officially underway.

Producer Amy Pascal shared more recently that the team was looking for “something really different” when it comes to the next James Bond, and was keeping an eye out for someone “stirring and exciting and different”.

Besides Lowden and Barton (best known for his work in Heartstopper and SAS Rogue Heroes) other names still thought to be in the frame for the role of James Bond include Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Harris Dickinson and Paul Mescal.

In his Times interview, Higson ruled out Jacob Elordi for being “too tall” but said that Callum Turner’s “unconventional looks” could work in his favour. Unfortunately, he was not asked about Jack Barton, so didn’t offer his take on the other rumoured frontrunner.

Ever heard of “looksmaxxing”? If you haven’t, your child might have – it’s an online term referring to the sometimes extreme pursuit of physical perfection.

Maybe you’ve been “Rickrolled”, or sent a link to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up music video in disguise as a prank. To handle this humiliation, perhaps you’ll indulge in “copium”, or the “avoidance, denial, or minimisation” of a negative or embarrassing circumstance or situation.

These are all examples of the 1,400 new words and definitions recently added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. The additions “reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today,” the dictionary’s site reads.

Some of these fresh entries – AGI, short for “artificial general intelligence”, and “glow-up,” which means a “dramatic positive change in someone or something’s physical appearance” – feel quite zeitgeist-y.

But Merriam-Webster said that it’s trying to avoid entering “flash in the pan” trends into their centuries-old publication.

Instead, the dictionary looks for words which meet three criteria: frequent, widespread, and meaningful use.

That means additions have to be used often, over a sustained period of time. People from different industries and locations need to be able to recognise the word, and it has to have a useful meaning.

Still, there is “no committee, no advocacy, no meetings for new word inclusion” for this edition.

A suggestion can be denied but later admitted; time may prove or disprove its relevance.

Here are some of the new entries, as well as their meanings:

• Superfood – “a food…that is rich in nutrients”,
• Chili crisp – “a spicy, crunchy condiment made typically of oil, fried chili peppers, and often other aromatics”,
• Cake pop – “a lollipop… made usually of a compressed ball of cake crumbs and icing”,
• Cuffing season – “a time of the year when people who are not married or in a relationship begin looking for a short-term romantic partner to spend the colder months of the year with”,
• Crashout – “a mental or emotional breakdown”,
• Yacht rock – “a style of soft rock music originating in the 1970s and 1980s”,
• California sober – “recreational use of marijuana and/or alcohol combined with abstinence from other drugs”,
• Shapewear – “tight-fitting undergarments designed to shape and smooth the body”,
• Neckbeards – either “a socially awkward gamer or computer nerd” or “a misogynistic or ultraconservative Internet troll”,
• Trash panda – raccoons,
• Mandela effect – “the experience of many people having the same false memory”,
• Vibe coding – “using an artificial intelligence system to generate computer code”,
• AGI – stands for artificial general intelligence,
• Uncanny valley – “feelings of unease or revulsion in response to the nearly but imperfectly lifelike quality of something”,
• Promposal – “a creative and often elaborately or extravagantly staged request for someone to be one’s date for a prom”,
• Parasocial – “a one-sided emotional connection with someone… whom one does not know personally”,
• Meme coin – “an altcoin that is created typically as a humorous tribute to something… or someone… and that typically has no real utility”.

If you want to see how up-to-date your slang knowledge is, read our Gen Z guide.

Between Cheryl on The Voice UK panel, Jedward in the Big Brother house and whispers about a reboot currently flying around, it seems that many of us are feeling a bit of nostalgia for The X Factor’s glory days right now.

Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live UK tapped into this nostalgia with a sketch devoted to some of the long-running talent show’s most iconic faces.

Remember towards the end of the 2000s, as well as their usual performances, the remaining X Factor hopefuls would all have to take part in a weekly group number, which saw them tackling a big hit of the moment with usually-jarring results?

Well, that’s exactly the memory that SNL UK was giving us with their sketch, perfectly paying homage to everyone from Diana Vickers, Olly Murs and early-days Little Mix to the likes of Wagner and Honey G – while guest host Jamie Demetriou sent up the towering quiffs of the era.

Check out the skit for yourself below:

Since it aired live on Saturday, the sketch has already gone down a storm with viewers, racking up more than one million views on X alone.

Meanwhile, former X Factor viewers were absolutely loving all of the memories that the spot-on segment evoked:

This second run kicked off earlier this month, with the first two instalments fronted by Jeff Goldblum and Jamie Demetriou, with Amelia Dimoldenberg fronting the third later this week.

For its second outing, SNL UK has been bumped up to a 12-episode run, the first half of which will unfold over the coming weeks, with the additional six instalments debuting in early 2027.

SNL UK continues on Saturday night at 10pm on Sky and Now.

Zia Yusuf has been mocked at the Liberal Democrats’ autumn conference for supposedly being blocked from running for parliament by his own party.

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson is a prominent politician known for his divisive online presence, but he is not actually an MP.

However, Yusuf suggested to BBC Question Time earlier this year that he may have put himself forward as a party candidate in a recent by-election only to not be selected by Reform.

So the Lib Dems’ home affairs spokesperson, Max Wilkinson, took aim at the right-wing politician while speaking to his own party delegates on Monday.

He described Yusuf as the “angriest man on the internet”, adding: “Isn’t he just totally ridiculous?

“The wannabe MP who spends so much time on X posting increasingly extreme and offensive ideas that even the Reform Party now has to block his route to parliament.

“It’s no wonder he’s so angry.”

The Cheltenham MP then challenged Yusuf to a debate, adding: “You’re a self-style hardman of politics. You’re always up for a scrap. As you can probably tell, I’m not afraid to mix it either.

“So when are we going to debate, Zia? Or are you a big chicken?”

Reform UK has been approached for comment.

There have been seven by-elections since Reform’s surprising success in the July 2024 general election, but Yusuf has not been selected by his party in any of them.

Instead he has become a well-known name on X, having caused multiple controversies by attacking other politicians – including those in his own party.

At the weekend, he hit out at “deadbeat Tory ministers” who he claimed had failed to cut down on immigration – words which many took as a criticism of ex-Conservative MPs, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick.

He has been accused of racism after slamming a former child refugee and a Labour council leader because she was born in Somalia.

Yusuf also previously called former Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace – who served in the Army – a “traitor” to the UK.

His remarks have drawn criticism from within his own party, including from Farage who previously said he would give Yusuf a “ticking off” for his “over the top” language.

Former Tory cabinet minister and now Reform member Nadine Dorries also told Times Radio earlier this month: “I think Zia’s got a problem with Twitter. Someone needs to take his phone off him.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Dementia charity Alzheimer’s Society and think tank The King’s Fund have called for a “cancer-style revolution” in dementia care, which they currently describe as being “stuck in the 20th century”.

A report published last week suggested that cancer used to be as stigmatised as dementia is now, claiming that “dementia is where cancer was 50 years ago”.

But cancer care, and indeed cancer outcomes, have improved drastically over those decades, despite real concerns. In the ’70s, about 25% of those diagnosed with cancer survived for 10 years or more; now, that’s about 50%.

When people who had experienced both dementia and cancer care were asked to compare the two by Alzheimer’s Society, 51% said their cancer treatment was better, while only 11% were more satisfied with their dementia care.

The charity said the successes of the NHS’ cancer programs ought to give policymakers a “blueprint for tackling dementia”.

On average, dementia is diagnosed 3.5 years after symptoms begin.

Michelle Dyson, CEO of Alzheimer’s Society, said that in comparison, “if you have cancer, it is treated urgently, you get a specific diagnosis, and there is a clear pathway that takes you through your care and treatment”.

“With dementia, it can be years before you get a diagnosis and, all too often, people are sent home with a leaflet and little else,” she continued.

Alzheimer’s Society has pushed for an 18‑week referral‑to‑treatment window (unlike cancer referral pathways, there is currently no set waiting time for dementia in the UK).

The government has already committed to appointing a “dementia tsar” who would oversee “sustained change” in how dementia is treated. This comes after the success of 2000’s first “cancer tsar”, Sir Mike Richards, who ran multiple national initiatives to improve treatment.

And experts think we need to change how we think about dementia, too, much as we’ve transformed how we see cancers over the years.

For instance, the report states that most of us aren’t aware that 45% of dementia cases could be preventable.

The paper reads: “Fatalism has increasingly been replaced by hope. People living with dementia need similar hope.”

Sir Mike Richards, the UK’s first cancer tsar, said that when he first joined oncology, people said things like “don’t they all die?”.

But, he continued: “While there are still real challenges in cancer, the progress made shows what can be possible when investment, collaboration, leadership and hope combine.

“Today, what continues to make the difference are clear diagnosis and treatment pathways with timed targets, and a national registry that tracks progress.”

The report authors said dementia is “at a turning point, with scientific advances creating opportunities that did not exist even five years ago”.

That means that learning how best to create and implement treatment and support systems is becoming more “urgent” than ever.

Sir Mike Richards said: “The conditions are right for the incoming dementia tsar to lead a movement for change, but it will require everyone involved – patients, clinicians, health service managers, academics, charities, industry, together with ongoing political will – to deliver long-term change.”