Southend plane crash: Everything we know as victims named and airport closed
Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz, 31, a German citizen born in Chile, was reportedly on her first day as a flight nurse on board the small aircraft when it came down in an explosion after take-off on Sunday afternoon (13 July).
A Dutch pilot and co-pilot, along with one other person, were also on the Beech B200 Super King Air, operated by Zeusch Aviation, which specialises in medical evacuations.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Clean energy should be a priority, not wuthering 'Brontë country' nostalgia
Re Simon Jenkins' article (Ed Miliband would let a turbine farm destroy Brontë country. We need net zero, but at what cost?, 14 July), there might be good reasons for opposing a windfarm on the Yorkshire moors, but Emily Brontë isn't one of them. Nor is the 'turbulent romance' of Wuthering Heights an appropriate filter through which to view the Pennines. The Brontës' local landscape would have changed considerably in their lifetime. They would have seen the rapid industrialisation of nearby towns such as Bradford and Halifax, and the mills that sprang up along the river in Haworth. They would have recognised the benefits of the expansion of the railways despite the impact on the countryside (their brother, Branwell, worked as a railway clerk). The 'historic Brontë village of Haworth' where they grew up was not a rural idyll, but a breeding ground for cholera and typhoid. The Brontë sisters must have applauded the campaign by their father, Patrick, for improved sanitation there, leading to the creation of a local reservoir that doubtless affected the countryside but also saved lives. We cannot afford to cordon off parts of the UK as a nostalgic theme park ('Brontë country'). Nor should we romanticise the lives of a family who grew up in an unimaginably unhealthy environment and died young as a result. The clean energy produced by windfarms is vastly preferable to the polluted environment that Emily Brontë endured, and it is likely that she of all people would have understood why a clean environment should be our first priority. Jane MiddletonBath Some of what Simon Jenkins writes about windfarms in beauty spots, on the necessity to protect the scientific importance of such areas, is unlikely to ruffle many feathers, but much of it sounds more like the Miliband neighbours he references. Only a day tripper wanting to see the moors and dropped off for 20 minutes on a pleasant spring day 'strolls' on the Pennine Way. If you haven't walked to Top Withens on a raw winter day, with sleet biting your cheeks, the wind wuthering, and water being blown uphill instead of flowing down, you cannot understand why the Pennines is such a great place for a windfarm. My great-grandchildren will still be able to walk the Pennine Way, with or without BoddenWakefield, West Yorkshire Simon Jenkins misunderstands what net zero is when he labels it 'a political ambition rather than a plausible target'. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says clearly: 'From a physical science perspective, limiting human-caused global warming to a specific level requires limiting cumulative CO2 emissions, reaching at least net zero CO2 emissions'. And both the IPCC and the UK's Climate Change Committee are clear that it is not just plausible but achievable, with the latter's recent seventh carbon budget providing 'an ambitious, deliverable pathway for the UK to reach net zero by 2050'. So net zero is a scientific concept that is required to stop climate change. Indeed, net zero not only can but must be met if we are to avoid ever more dangerous impacts long into the Redmond-King Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit Simon Jenkins asks what landscapes we will lose in the bid to achieve net zero. He ought, rather, to ponder what will be left of them if we don't achieve this CaplanOxford Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Airline Jet2 announces cuts to Bournemouth 2026 summer flights
An airline and tour operator says six routes that were due to launch from Bournemouth for summer 2026 have been began flying from Bournemouth Airport in February, basing two aircraft there, and had announced it was adding a third aircraft and more destinations in the company said, following a review, it had "taken the decision to withdraw services to Malaga, Dubrovnik, Jersey, Reus and Verona for summer '26".It said affected customers would be contacted and receive a full refund. Last year, the airline announced it would launch in Bournemouth in 2025, with 16 routes serving destinations in Turkey, Spain, Portugal and Greece. This was followed by plans to base a third aircraft at the south coast airport from 2026 to accommodate new summer flights to Malaga, Dubrovnik, Reus, Verona and April it announced the launch of a twice-weekly route to Jersey.A spokesperson said: "As a successful business, we are continually reviewing our flying programme and will adjust where required. "This gives us the ability to add flights and holidays in response to demand, and very occasionally we may withdraw flights too."Following this latest review, we have taken the decision to withdraw services to Malaga, Dubrovnik, Jersey, Reus and Verona for summer '26 from Bournemouth Airport. "Where customers are affected, we will contact them, and they will receive a full refund."The company said it still had a "fantastic programme of services on sale from Bournemouth Airport" and looked forward to welcoming customers. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Tourism chief hopes hosting Open will create investment boost for golf courses
A tourism chief has expressed hope that the hosting of the Open in Northern Ireland can spark an investment boon in golf course building in the region. John McGrillen, the chief executive of Tourism NI, said the revenue generated by golf tourism in Northern Ireland has already grown by 66% to £86 million per annum since Northern Ireland last staged the sporting showpiece in 2019. But Mr McGrillen, who is stepping down from his post after this week's tournament, said the rate of future growth is somewhat limited by how many golfers the region's top seaside links course can accommodate at any one time. The tourism boss said that the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club prompted several US investments in golf-linked tourism in Northern Ireland, even despite the disruptive impact of the pandemic the following year. Mr McGrillen believes the potential for overseas investment in golf courses is even greater this time round, and he even raised the possibility of a new links course being built on the region's scenic coastlines. He said growth of golf tourism was an integral part of Tourism NI's strategy to increase the value of the local sector to £2 billion a year by 2035, from its current level of £1.1 billion. 'We're looking to almost double that number over that period of time,' he said. 'And there's the potential to substantially grow golf tourism in the meantime. I think that one of our key challenges is everybody wants to play the same trophy golf courses, and there are only so many tee times available there. 'So, you know, hopefully we might see some investment in new golfing facilities over the next decade. 'If we could see some investment in maybe upgrading some of our existing links courses or, if ever possible, the development of a new links course, that would certainly help.' Mr McGrillen said it was also important to point visitors towards the region's top level parkland and resort courses. He said examples of golf's growth close to home showed what could potentially be achieved in Northern Ireland. 'In the Republic of Ireland golf tourism is probably worth 300 million euro, in Scotland it's worth £1 billion, so there is a market,' he said. 'I think it's got significant potential going forward if those constraints and those investment opportunities are taken up.' The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush is set to become the second best attended in history, with almost 280,000 fans having snapped up tickets for the final major of the year. Almost 1.1 million people applied in the public ticket ballot last year, with 278,000 securing tickets across the practice days and four tournament days. That is around 41,000 more than attended the Open when Shane Lowry triumphed at Royal Portrush in 2019. That year marked the first time the Open had been played in Northern Ireland since 1951. The record attendance at an Open came in 2022 at St Andrews when 290,000 attended the 150th staging of the tournament. Mr McGrillen believes Northern Ireland has now firmly established itself as a regular fixture on the rota of courses that hosts the Open. 'The reason it is back is because it was a huge success last time around,' he said. 'There's clearly a huge market and demand for the Open on the island of Ireland. There are going to be 278,000 people here, which is the second biggest open ever, after St Andrews, so I think it will continue to be a regular fixture on the circuit.'
