First Royal Mail drones take off for remote Orkney Islands to deliver letters and parcels October 6, 2021 Royal Mail has started a two-week trial of scheduled, autonomous flights between Kirkwall and North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands with Windracers to help better connect remote island communities. The mail giant is using drones to deliver the post. The mail is being carried by a large, twin-engine, UK-built unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) named Ultra [...]
Biden administration reveals the US has 3,750 nuclear weapons October 6, 2021 The number of US nuclear weapons, including those in active status as well as those in long-term storage, stood at 3,750 as of September last year, the State Department has revealed. That is down from 3,805 a year earlier and 3,785 in 2018. The Biden administration decided to disclose the number of nuclear weapons in [...]
Chinese airlines push back against IATA’s net-zero pledges October 5, 2021 Chinese carriers lobbied global airlines body IATA to push back its net-zero 2050 deadline but they were rejected by the organisation, which stressed its commitment to the Paris Agreement, according to reports. Chinese airlines have pushed back against the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) resolution to commit to net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Carriers reportedly [...]
Government launches competition to find office for Great British Railways outside London October 5, 2021 As Great British Railways is set to take the reins of the UK railway network, the Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a competition to find a new appropriate headquarters. UK transport secretary Grant Shapps has launched a competition to find the Great British Railways a head office, the new state-owned public body in charge [...]
Shortages: Boris Johnson denies crisis exists as he calls supply chain ‘fantastic’ October 5, 2021 The Prime Minister today he is “not worried” about the staffing shortages which have played a role in petrol pumps running dry and risk a mass pig cull and shortages this Christmas. Boris Johnson played down the prospect that rising inflation rates could cancel out wage growth as he pins his long-term hopes on transitioning [...]
Fuel crisis: Watch as British soldiers drive tanker trucks across southern England October 5, 2021 British military personnel were seen driving tanker trucks out of a depot in southern England on Tuesday, after the army was ordered to help tackle the gasoline shortages and chaotic panic buying that have gripped the country. Watch the full report.
Staycations are over: Uber trips to airports soar by 328 per cent after restrictions lift October 5, 2021 British holidaymakers have increased exponentially their trips to the airport after more than a year of ‘staycations’. Data from Uber showed today that in the UK, trips to the airport increased 328 per cent since the government lifted the Covid-19 travel restrictions on 17 May. The statistics showed that trips booked using the reserve feature [...]
Johnson: ‘Sadiq Khan has not handled the finances of TfL well’ October 5, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson has criticised London mayor Sadiq Khan’s handling of Transport for London (TfL) finances, snubbing Khan’s plan to impose a £5.50 levy for those driving into London. The charge is intended to fuel London’s transport system, which is looking for some £8bn to fund an extension of the Bakerloo line to Lewisham. [...]
Eurostar to hold on to its brand name in Thalys merger October 5, 2021 Eurostar will retain its brand name even after a planned merger with continental operator Thalys. The post-merger business will operate from Brussels but UK-bound services will be overseen by an operational centre in London. The news was first reported by the International Railway Journal. Speaking to the magazine, Belgian National Railways’ chief executive Sophie Dutordoir [...]
Tesla worker awarded £100m after facing ‘daily racist epithets’ at car giant’s factory October 5, 2021 A court has awarded a Tesla worker close to £100m after suffering racial abuse at the electric carmaker’s San Francisco Bay Area factory. The jury in San Francisco agreed that Owen Diaz was subjected to racial harassment and a hostile work environment. Diaz alleged in a lawsuit that he was harassed and faced “daily racist [...]