'Pioneering' rescue vehicle and bakery closes after 55 years
Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media.
Our pick of local website stories
After 55 years, The Crusty Cob has ceased trading as of yesterday, according to Burnham-on-Sea.com. They also have bakeries in Tiverton and Exmouth, among others.A Ukrainian florist in Bristol provided the flowers at 10 Downing Street, as the Prime Minister's office marked three years since the start of the war in Ukraine.Thousands of homes could be built near the River Severn "to create a new community", according to Gloucestershire Live. Some 2,750 houses would make up Sharpness Vale.And people living next to a nursery in St Andrew's in Bristol have complained about the noise from children playing in the garden, says Bristol Live. It's come about as Zebedees Nursery looks to expand its provision by a third.
Our top three from yesterday
What to watch on social media
A new tube feeding system at RUH Bath means families can go home earlier, according to the hospital. This post shows the first couple to use this method.Avon Fire & Rescue are trialling a "cutting-edge underwater Remote Operating Vehicle", which will be based at Temple Fire Station. It uses sonar and a mechanical arm to find and help people in the water.Bristol Rovers says it will be hosting a Grand Iftar event next week at the Memorial Stadium, which will be the first of its kind there.There is a public consultation in Calne on plans to build 180 new homes and a medical centre.And an open letter from Roelof van der Merwe has had a lot of love on the Somerset County Cricket Club pages – as he sets to leave the club before the start of the 2025 season.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Baby among 5 dead as Putin unleashes strikes on Ukraine hours after revenge vow to ‘show middle finger to world'
Pictures show the devastation from Putin's strikes BLOODY VLAD Baby among 5 dead as Putin unleashes strikes on Ukraine hours after revenge vow to 'show middle finger to world' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) VLADIMIR Putin has killed five Ukrainian civilians in his latest overnight attacks just hours after labelling Kyiv as "terrorists". A one-year-old child, their mum and grandma were among those killed in Chernihiv with another 17 seriously wounded in Kharkiv after relentless Russian drone strikes. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Russia killed five civilians in Pryluky, Chernihiv region overnight Credit: East2West 4 A emergency officer watches on as fires burned overnight in the town Credit: East2West 4 Fire crews continued to work on the residential town into the early hours of Thursday morning Credit: AFP At least six drones were used in the attack with residential homes left severely damaged, the regional governor of Chernihiv said on Telegram. Another six were injured and rushed to hospital, he added. The three generations of Ukrainians who died were reportedly crushed underneath their own home after a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone onslaught. The attacks were seen as revenge from Putin after Ukrainian strikes destroyed his strategic bomber aircraft over the weekend. The Kremlin dictator held a 75 minute phone call with Donald Trump on Wednesday as they discussed rising tensions in Ukraine. Trump revealed that Putin feels he 'will have to respond' to the audacious drone assault on his strike planes which disabled 30 per cent of his nuclear attack aviation. The daring Operation Spiderweb saw a fierce Ukrainian drone blitz wreck 41 Russian planes across four strategic airfields, in a coordinated assault likened to WWII's most audacious missions. A humiliated Putin accused Ukraine of being 'terrorists' and citing civilian deaths in the strikes. But Volodymyr Zelensky hit back at the tyrant's comments and warned Putin 'feels impunity' and 'is showing the middle finger to the entire world'. The Ukrainian leader also appeared to blame Trump for failing to pressure Putin.
Powys County Times
2 days ago
- Powys County Times
Zelensky calls Russia peace proposal an ‘ultimatum' and demands talks with Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday dismissed Russia's ceasefire proposal as 'an ultimatum' and renewed his call for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock over the three-year war. Both sides exchanged memorandums setting out their conditions for a ceasefire for discussion at Monday's direct peace talks between delegations in Istanbul, their second meeting in just over two weeks. Both sides have established red lines that make any quick deal unlikely. Mr Zelensky said that the second round of talks in Istanbul were no different from the first meeting on May 16. He described the latest negotiations in Istanbul as 'a political performance' and 'artificial diplomacy' designed to stall for time, delay sanctions and convince the United States that Russia is engaged in dialogue. 'The same ultimatums they voiced back then – now they just put them on paper … Honestly, this document looks like spam. It's spam meant to flood us and create the impression that they're doing something,' Mr Zelensky said in his first reaction to the Russian document. He added that the 2025 talks in Istanbul carry 'the same content and spirit' as the fruitless negotiations held in the Turkish city in the early days of the war. The Ukrainian leader said that he sees little value in continuing talks at the current level of delegations. Defence minister Rustem Umerov led the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul, while Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Mr Putin, headed the Russian team. Mr Zelensky said he wants a ceasefire with Russia before a possible summit meeting with Mr Putin, possibly also including US President Donald Trump, in an effort to remove obstacles to a peace settlement. The US has led a recent diplomatic push to stop the full-scale invasion, which began on February 24 2022. 'We are proposing … a ceasefire before a leaders' summit,' with the US acting as a mediator, Mr Zelensky told a media briefing in Kyiv. 'Why a ceasefire before the leaders' meeting? Because if we meet and there is no mutual understanding, no willingness or vision on how to end this, then the ceasefire would end that same day. But if we see readiness to continue the dialogue and take real steps toward de-escalation, then the ceasefire would be extended with US mediation guarantees,' he said. Ukraine is ready to meet at any time from next Monday at a venue such as Istanbul, the Vatican or Switzerland, Mr Zelensky said. A second round of peace talks on Monday between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul lasted just over an hour and made no progress on ending the war. They agreed only to swap thousands of their dead and seriously wounded troops. Also, a new prisoner exchange with Russia could take place over the weekend, Mr Zelensky said. Also on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky also urged Western backers to speed up deliveries of air defence systems to counter Russian missile strikes and to help boost weapons production. The emphasis should be on US-made Patriot systems, he told a Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting at Nato headquarters in Brussels. 'These are the most effective way to force Russia to stop its missile strikes and terror,' he said via video link, urging representatives of around 50 countries to make good on past pledges. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not attend, the first time a Pentagon chief has been absent since the forum for organising Ukraine's military aid was set up three years ago. Mr Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, created the group after Russia launched its all-out war on Ukraine. His absence is the latest step that the Trump administration has taken to distance itself from Ukraine's efforts to repel Russia. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to UN estimates, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Mr Zelensky also appealed to the participants to buy weapons direct from Ukraine. 'Ukrainian industry still has significant untapped capacity, it just needs financing,' he said, underlining that a funding gap for weapons procurement amounts to about 18 billion dollars (£13 billion). The UK, which chaired the meeting along with Germany, said it plans a tenfold increase in drone production to help Ukraine. Drones have become a decisive factor in the war, now in its fourth year. Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said that 'you recognise true friends not during a party, but when you do have difficult times. So therefore, our continuation of support for Ukraine and increasing it is of utmost importance'. Since the contact group was formed, Ukraine's backers have collectively provided around 126 billion dollars (£93 billion) in weapons and military assistance, including more than 66.5 billion dollars (£49 billion) from the US. The US has not chaired a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group since the Trump administration took office in January. European Nato allies are concerned that the US might withdraw troops from Europe to focus on the Indo-Pacific.
New Statesman
2 days ago
- New Statesman
I am once again woken up by the unpleasant buzzing of Russian drones
Photo by Sergey Bobok / AFP via Getty Images W hen I am staying at our house in the country, the feel of each day depends on the first sound I hear – the sound that wakes me up. Two turtle doves are nesting in our garden and the most beautiful thing is to wake up to their gentle call. Sometimes other birds beat the doves and it is their songs which greet my ears as I open my eyes. They also reassure me that the new day will be calm, not dangerous. Too often, however, the morning begins with other sounds. Two days ago I woke up at 3am and listened. I always follow the same procedure when I find myself awake in the middle of the night. First, I check the time, then look on the internet to see what is happening in the sky above Ukraine. Each night sees an invasion of Russian drones and I was not surprised to learn that five minutes prior one had flown over our house, moving in the direction of Korostyshiv, a town located 30km from our village. That night, Russia launched more than 400 drones at Ukraine. They all fell somewhere – either hitting their target or tumbling out of the sky having been shot down by air-defence systems. But as the one that woke me up flew on towards Korostyshiv, I fell asleep again. After all, it was still dark outside and the birds in my garden were silent. I was woken up again by another drone at around 7am. I heard the familiar, unpleasant buzzing of an engine in the sky and I went out into the yard. The drone had already flown on. I could not see it, but the noise of its engine was still audible. Twenty minutes later I took a cup of coffee out into the yard and heard and saw the next one flying over our village school towards the nearest town. Strangely, visual contact with it calmed me. I saw it, but it did not see me. At that moment it was not moving towards me but flying away. The anti-tyranny playbook On Friday I went to Kyiv's largest literary festival, Book Arsenal. Security guards carefully checked the contents of bags and made everyone walk through metal detectors. No one was indignant. It's wartime. Every now and then, in cities far from the front line, grenades explode – often thoughtlessly brought home by soldiers on leave. Later it became clear that the thorough security check at the festival entrance was prompted by the visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife. Surrounded by numerous security guards, they walked around the publishers' stands and picked up the book To Kill a Tyrant by the Italian writer and lawyer Aldo Andrea Cassi, which had just been released in Ukrainian. Publisher Anetta Antonenko, an old friend of mine, experienced one of the best moments of her professional life. No, I'm not talking about meeting Zelensky – his purchasing the book instantly turned it into a festival bestseller, and Antonenko twice had to order urgent deliveries of additional copies from the warehouse. The next day, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, attended Book Arsenal. In his comments to journalists he said he bought 50 books, but did not mention any titles so that his visit did not affect the commercial success of the Ukrainian publishers present. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe The hive mind On Sunday, I read the news about the operation against Russian strategic aviation in which Ukraine secretly planted a swarm of drones in Russia before unleashing them in a surprise attack on airfields across the country. I could not help thinking that beekeepers must have had something to do with the development of this plan! The comings and goings involved reminded me of how beekeepers move their hives, seeking territories for them to collect pollen that are remote from civilisation. Darkest before dawn This year, Ukrainian school graduates were again unable to experience the most romantic part of the traditional graduation celebration: greeting the dawn. Before the war, having received their school leaving certificates, graduates would dance a farewell waltz with their classmates and enjoy raucous parties until the small hours. They would then walk around their cities and towns waiting for daybreak, which they would greet at a location chosen for its beauty. This 'graduation dawn' witnessed in the company of classmates was the starting point of a new, already adult and independent life. Dawn at the end of May begins around 4am, but curfew is lifted only at five. So, for the fourth year running, there is no dawn for Ukrainian graduates. Alas. 'The Stolen Heart' by Andrey Kurkov is out now (Quercus) [See also: It's the nuance, stupid] Related This article appears in the 04 Jun 2025 issue of the New Statesman, The Housing Trap
