Orkney and Shetland internet cable to be fixed by next weekend, say owners
Shefa spokesman Pall Vesterbu told BBC Radio Orkney a repair vessel would be at the site of the break around 5.5 miles (99km) from Orkney this week to assess the damage and and fix the cable.Mr Vesterbu said it was probably a fishing boat which caused the damage but the company could not be sure until inspections have been carried out.He is calling on fishing boats to avoid fishing directly over the cables and to keep their Automatic Identification System (AIS) indicators on at all times so they can be warned if they are fishing too close to the cable network.Internet provider OpenReach initially said 10,000 customers had been affected but then scaled that back to "hundreds".The Balfour Hospital's switchboard and phone system has been restored after it went down on Saturday, with patients asked to call a mobile number while it was being fixed.The Shefa-2 cable provides a wholesale link which is used by telecoms companies to deliver services to their customers.This is used by OpenReach to deliver the broadband network to the islands, which is then sold on by individual companies like EE, Vodaphone, Sky and PlusNet in different packages.That is one reason why customers and businesses have had different experiences this weekend - with some experiencing no interruption, others coming back on overnight, and some taking longer to be restored.
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Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Telegraph
My five days on the road with Trump revealed a man in complete control
When President Donald Trump flies aboard Air Force One he is accompanied at all times by a travelling press pool. A TV crew, plus a handful of print reporters, photographers and a radio broadcaster have the responsibility of filing details of the president's day to the thousands of journalists who cover the White House. It is their job to grill Mr Trump when he pauses under the wing to take questions or when he sits down with a foreign leader. Last Friday, The Telegraph joined the travel pool for the first time, accompanying the president on his working trip to Scotland, where he visited his two golf courses, negotiated a major trade deal and met Sir Keir Starmer. This is what it is like to ride on Air Force One and travel in Mr Trump's whirlwind. If you have the stamina for it, there is no better way to understand his administration. Friday Trump M&M's and Fox News 7.50am Air Force One glistens in the morning sun as the 13 members of the travelling press pool walk across the apron. We climb the rear stairs and find our places in the rear cabin, which is reserved for journalists. Think basic business class. Decent sized seats, but they only recline so far. The two TVs are on the wall at the front of the cabin. They are tuned to Fox News. Newbies scramble for the boxes of Air Force One M&Ms, embossed with the presidential seal and the president's signature. They replaced presidential packs of cigarettes years ago. 'Is there wifi?' asked one new member of the pool. Not for us. That is just for the security-screened officials in the rest of the plane. We have access to a phone that connects to the White House switch board and is for emergencies only – to alert the world that we are diverting to Ukraine, for example, or there's some kind of urgent health issue. Air Force One waits for no-one 9.36am We are already more than an hour late by the time Marine One, the presidential helicopter lands. President Donald Trump has already spoken to journalists before boarding – and he makes a beeline for the Air Force One steps. Air Force One is wheels up 11 minutes later. Once Potus is on board, this plane waits for no one. We are quickly served breakfast. Tacos filled with chorizo, avocado and cheese with salsa on the side. Strict Air Force One rules preclude members of the press from taking photos on board unless they are of a president during a briefing meaning no photograph of the aforementioned meal is forthcoming. The food is good, but the pooler's worst fear is that the president decides this is the right time to appear in the press cabin for a chat. He does not. Touchdown: A tricky balance 8.27am The plane touches down beneath grey skies at Glasgow, Prestwick, airport. The 13 journalists of the pool pile out of the rear doors to wait beneath the wing for Mr Trump to exit down the front steps. We wait under the wing – and Trump wants to talk. It's a tricky balance. We'll be with Mr Trump for the next five days and don't want to infuriate him to the point where he stops talking to us, but nor can we lob softballs his way. In eight minutes, he covers Gaza, recognising the Palestinian state, his relationship with Sir Keir Starmer, The Open returning to Turnberry, the Epstein files and Ghislaine Maxwell, immigration, and 'windmills.' And we are just getting started. Motorcade rolling 8.52am Our motorcade rolls out of Prestwick for the drive to Turnberry. The visit is a big deal in these parts. People stand by the side of the road almost all the way along the route. 'Trump is a legend,' reads one banner. The number of well-wishers seems, by my amateur count, to outnumber detractors. Other people are just there to take video and catch a glimpse of the Beast. Saturday That's a lid 9.05am The White House calls a 'lid'. That means the president has no more public events for the day. That doesn't mean we won't be seeing him at all. Photographers in the dunes outside Turnberry spot him on the fourth hole, driving his own golf cart. He gives them a wave, as he plays past with his son Eric and his ambassador to London. Sunday 'Where we off tae?' 12.02pm The burly Glaswegian driver hops into 'press bus three' with a cheery: 'Where we off tae then?' His breezy greeting sparks anxious grimes among my American colleagues in the White House pool waiting to depart the Glasgow hotel where we are spending the weekend. And with that, our convoy pulls out into the drizzle for the one-hour journey down to Turnberry, where Mr Trump is due to meet Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, for trade talks. Golf first, diplomacy second 2.45pm An hour and a half later we pull up to the golf club. The Beast is moving through the car park near the club house, and 20 or so golf carts are drawn up around the 18th green. We drive past in a flash, but I'd say the president was finishing up his round. Unusually for a foreign trip, Mr Trump is without his secretary of state, chief of staff and other heavy hitters, reinforcing the idea that this is a golfing break first, diplomatic visit second. Oval Office 2.0 4.54pm The meeting takes place in the Donald J Trump ballroom, a cavernous space edged with huge windows looking down across the golf course, and with ceiling space for eight glittering chandeliers. At its centre, staff have recreated the Oval Office. After 24 minutes of questions we are ushered out by White House press assistants (known to all as 'wranglers') and back to our holding room, wondering what would come next. 'We're going back in!' 6.31pm 'We're going back in!' came the shout. The unlucky European press pack have already been bussed back to their hotel. 'We have reached a deal,' Mr Trump declares , back in the green velvet armchair. He spells out how the EU will buy $700bn of energy, invest an extra $600bn in the US and buy military equipment, in return for tariffs going down to 15 per cent. Monday Cursing the bagpipes 12.18pm Sir Keir Starmer's Range Rover scrunches up the red gravel drive way to the Turnberry hotel entrance. He hops out with his wife Lady Starmer who is making a rare public appearance. Mr Trump is at the top of the steps to greet them while a bagpiper fills the air with a Highland skirl. The three of them make small talk and Mr Trump can be heard talking about Ailsa Craig. Members of the media are crammed together by the flower beds. I am ready with a question. Does the president agree with the Prime Minister that recognition of a Palestinian state would be a concrete step to lasting peace in the Middle East? 'I'm not going to take a position. I don't mind him taking a position,' he said. 'I'm looking to getting people fed right now. That's the number one position, because you have a lot of starving people.' That's news. Has Mr Trump just given Sir Keir a tacit green light to go ahead and recognise Palestine? We can hear it loud and clear but newsdesks around the world are cursing the bagpipes, which have overpowered the television audio feeds. Trump being drowned out by bagpipes. — Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) July 28, 2025 The thousand-yard stare 1.52pm We hurry into the ballroom, where Mr Trump and Sir Keir are already seated. After 24 minutes or so we know we are in for the long haul. Mr Trump is happy and rested after two days of golf and the success of a big trade deal. He takes questions on everything while Sir Keir almost disappears for minutes at a time. For once his expressionless face serves him well, although after an hour and 12 minutes his poker face has become a thousand-yard stare. Air Force One (again) 5.09pm We run to get under the wing of Air Force One. Mr Trump and Sir Keir have already climbed the steps and are waving goodbye to the west coast of Scotland. We scurry to the steps at the back of the plane and are barely in our seats when the presidential plane starts rolling up the runway. A gift for Sir Keir 6.01pm We land at Lossiemouth, the Royal Air Force base in the North East of Scotland, and are back under the wing by the time the two leaders descend the steps. Behind them Don Jr's kids come racing down, followed by the president's eldest sons, Eric and Don Jr, accompanied by their wife and partner. Marine One is waiting, its engines whirring. The two leaders chat amiably as they walk across to it and climb aboard. The pool is riding in one of four Chinook helicopters, which carry other staff and Secret Service agents. I take my seat – an uncomfortable canvas platform – opposite Varun Chandra, Sir Keir's business adviser. He has a huge gold parcel on his lap, wrapped in purple ribbon with the presidential seal – a gift from the president to the Prime Minister. At his feet is a paper bag crammed with boxes of M&Ms from Air Force One, which also carry the seal. I balance my laptop on my knees and try to write my second story of the day. Air and wind 6.46pm Marine One comes into view over the trees of Mr Trump's Menie estate. We landed minutes earlier, swooping in low with a clear view of the huge array of wind turbines just off the Aberdeenshire coast. This is the development that Mr Trump fought and lost, igniting his hatred of wind power. Tuesday Words of wisdom 10.35am Mr Trump is late for his own opening. The introductory speeches ended 30 minutes ago. The reason, we learn, is that the president is hitting a few balls on the driving range. Who can blame him? No one wants to fluff their drive from the first tee with the world's media watching. He is in fine form when he arrives. Even the towering wind turbines out to sea cannot kill the spring in his step, as he thanks his family, staff and local dignitaries. He even, remarkably, has warm words for us. 'Thank you everybody, and thank you to the media,' he said in one of the shortest speeches I've ever seen him deliver. 'The media has been terrific, believe it or not! Fake news not one time today. 'Today, they're wonderful news.' He cuts a ribbon and then, with a smark of his driver, sends his ball sailing down the centre of the fairway. That's our cue to leave. One last gaggle 6.20pm The TVs at the front of the cabin of Air Force One switch to show the presidential seal with a red, white and blue background. Mr Trump is coming to talk to us on the flight back to Washington. A sound man sits on the floor with his microphone in the air; photographers stand on seats or an upturned bin; and I tuck into a cramped position just under where I imagine the president's nose will be. After an agonising wait he appears. He describes how he spent yesterday having good discussions with Sir Keir, 'although I see something came up today which is interesting.' That is trademark Trump understatement. As Mr Trump left his new golf course in the North East of Scotland, Sir Keir announced his government would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel announced a ceasefire in Gaza and committed to long-term peace talks that would deliver a two-state solution. Did he know this was coming, I asked. What was his reaction? 'We never discussed it surprisingly,' said Mr Trump. 'It was never discussed, maybe a little in the news conference but he was sort of discussing it with you.' It went on like this for 32 minutes, and more than 37 questions. Somewhere in the galley our lamb chop and asparagus dinner was being kept warm by the patient cabin crew. In four years travelling with Joe Biden, I was never once lucky enough to see him in the press cabin. We could nap over the Atlantic, confident that we would not be missing anything. Over five days, Mr Trump had turned six events into press conferences, taking questions for 162 minutes - just short of three hours. For those travelling with him, it offered an extraordinary insight into the mind of the most powerful man in the world. It is a highly effective media strategy. We can ask whatever we want but it also ensures the president retains a lot of control. The Wall Street Journal had been kicked off the trip days earlier, as Mr Trump went to war with Rupert Murdoch, its proprietor, for the way it had covered his relationship with Epstein. Travelling with Mr Trump is a test of stamina and ingenuity. If he had stuck around any longer I might have run out of questions.
Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Telegraph
Scottish hotels have moved on from whisky and tartan – and become cool as a result
Blame it on tartan and whisky if you will. For decades, hotels in Scotland were a hum-drum (hum-dram?) affair of brown furniture, weathered Black Watch and Royal Stewart upholstery, creaking floorboards and lacklustre breakfasts with naff toast racks and Nescafé. Golfing resorts brought in the Succession bros by default, while Asian and American tourists armed with maps of island distilleries kept the majority of hotel rooms occupied year-round. But in under a decade there's been a radical shift. And it's still shifting, attracting a whole new kind of visitor. Internationally, it's Gleneagles that is the best-known luxury hotel in Scotland. It marked a century in business last year and has always retained its 1920s glamour. There have been huge refurbs, but it still represents a somewhat old-school approach to what a luxury hotel should be. It's a serious golfing hotel, where the clientele expects a certain kind of stasis of style. Not so elsewhere. I remember going to the Fife Arms the year it opened in Braemar in 2018. I'd been to Inverlochy Castle a few months before. The experiences were a world apart. Inverlochy is grand in one way but depressing in many others. It feels like a 1970s version of Victorian luxe. The Fife Arms, I knew instantly on arrival, was going to be a game changer for the whole country. Artfarm, the hospitality offshoot of the wildly glamorous Hauser & Wirth international art galleries empire, had a new vision about how to repurpose Victorian architecture. It was bold and experimental and like nothing anyone had seen before. Designer Russell Sage, along with a group of major artists, created a fever dream of the Highlands. Today, it's up there with Naoshima Island in Japan as a place for aesthetes who want to be wowed in style. It's been such a success that Sage is currently in the process of upgrading the hardware of some of the already superb suites to up the luxury factory even more. Bookings drastically exceeded the business plan's targets. No matter that it's a minimum 90-minute drive from Dundee, people can't get enough of it. Alongside Artfarm, the Danish-owned WildLand company has been continuing to expand its portfolio north of the border. Lundies House was the best, most stylish hotel I visited last year. This year, work is underway by WildLand to turn the old Jenners department store in Edinburgh into a mega hotel under the design direction of David Chipperfield. At the same time, there's talk of them turning the Dores Inn on Loch Ness into something chic for 2026. All these things will be magical when they come to fruition because WildLand is owned by Anders Holch Povlsen, a Danish aesthete who loves the Scottish landscape and also happens to be the richest man in the country. This isn't a chap who'll scrimp on flower budgets in the lobby. 'I'm currently finishing work on Ardbeg House on Islay for LVMH, which will open with 12 bedrooms in September,' says Russell Sage. 'We have been creating bespoke furniture for it, including wardrobes customised with graffiti in Gaelic. We worked with lots of local craftspeople on the design, as well as Edinburgh-based blacksmith Jack Waygood. It's been a knock-out project [and] it's like nothing else you've seen.' Ardbeg would still probably be a success with a more low-key approach. But with Sage allowed to run wild, it's going to be one of the most talked-about openings of the year. Some Scottish hoteliers have gone mod but prefer to keep the visual noise down. Gordon Campbell Gray changed the design pace of the London hotel scene when he opened One Aldwych in 1998, a year before Ian Schrager's first opening in the capital. It was cool but grown-up. Today Campbell Gray has downsized somewhat and runs the Wee Hotel Company in Scotland, incorporating the Three Chimneys on Skye and the Pierhouse in Argyll. 'As a Scot I can admit that, historically, when it came to design, we did good really well and bad really badly,' he tells me. 'Happily, things have changed. We want to have a sense of place wherever we travel in the world and historically Scotland has perhaps leant too heavily on the traditional designs associated with it. I do worry that design can become too much of a statement, but then there is the generic bland design of the major brand hotels. There is a balance to be struck between comfort and excitement.' The balance is just right at Gairnshiel Lodge and its nearby cottages, not far from the Fife Arms. It was first put on my radar by a friend who asked if I'd been 'to the place in the wilds of Aberdeenshire that looks like Rick Owens designed it'. Each of its rooms has been limewashed in a different blend of dark colours, accenting whatever that room looks out onto – the passing river, moss or heather of the landscape. There's furniture by Apparatus, Charlotte Perriand and Dirk Van Sliedrecht. It makes most of what's in World of Interiors look like Ikea and it's indicative of the Scandi sensibilities that have influenced so many new places in Scotland. Another low key, super-chic gem is Folingall Hotel that reopened in Glen Lyon this summer, after being bought and transformed by interior designer Annabelle Holland. As with Belgian designer Nathalie Van Reeth who reimagined Gairnshiel, Holland has let the landscape take the lead. There's no chintz. The interior is easy on the eye. The hotel scene in Scottish cities is also catching up, but faster in Edinburgh than Glasgow, which really deserves some Artfarm or WildLand love. When Blythswood Square opened in 2009, its use of more modern types of Harris Tweed and the architecture of the old Royal Scottish Automobile Club made for something impressive. But today Glasgow needs to up its game. Plans for a Soho House were shelved and it's been too long since something truly remarkable opened in one of the most fun cities in Europe. House of Gods opened another of its maximalist steam punk-meets-Cecil B. Demille hotels here last year, giving it 28 bedrooms in town along with 22 over in the capital. Perhaps more hotels will follow suit and open up in both cities. It seems like a new hotel opens every week within 20 minutes' walk of the Royal Mile. There is so much more than the Witchery in 2025. A swanky new Hoxton opened this summer and Gleneagles Townhouse (a younger, cooler urban sister of the original) still has a lot of buzz after opening in 2022. Its members bar feels like a scene on the rooftop and the main restaurant in the dining hall is as glam as anything else carved out of an old banking hall anywhere in the world. While it's a local sport to mock the architecture of the new W Hotel, there's no denying that its interior and rooms are impressive. And, most importantly, if you do want to sink into a retro fantasia of rococo Scottish glam, there are places doing it better than they ever did before. Go to Prestonfield House, half an hour outside of the city, and you can drown yourself in all the velvet, leopard-print and tapestries you could ever hope for. Sometimes you want Scandinavian form and function, sometimes you want to wake up hungover somewhere so camp and opulent that it forced you to misbehave. And if it's been done well, that's still as cool as anywhere else.
The Sun
14 hours ago
- The Sun
Huge movie star reveals low-key trips to Butlins and Legoland with Hollywood royalty husband – despite being worth £260m
A HUGE Hollywood power couple have revealed their low-key UK staycations in contrast to their lavish lifestyles. The screen stars have been determined to keep their kids grounded and leading an ordinary life away from the spotlight - even making sure they spend at least two weeks a year with their grandparents in Wales. 6 6 6 Now Wednesday actress Catherine Zeta Jones, 55, has revealed the very normal destinations she and hubby Michael Douglas, 80, enjoy their downtime. Catherine married Basic Instinct star Michael at the Plaza Hotel in New York on November 18, 2000, in a high-profile ceremony cost an estimated £1.5million. The couple share two children, a son Dylan Michael (born August 2000) and a daughter Carys Zeta (born April 2003). Welsh screen star Catherine, who shot to fame in 1991 when she starred in The Darling Buds Of May alongside David Jason, recently told of their family summer holidays. She said of her brood: "They've been to Butlin's, Legoland, seen the sights in London, up to Scotland, over to Ireland." She added to Radio Times: "They've even been to the Isle of Man, I think." Catherine told the publication her kids also spend two weeks a year in her home country, Wales, with her parents David James Jones and Patricia Fair. Previously, the Mask of Zorro actress spoke about their Swansea trips after being given the Freedom of the City. In a speech at the coastal area's Guildhall, Catherine said: 'My children have been coming back to Swansea all their life. "Usually for two weeks without Michael and I and they have nana and bampi's rules which means no rules. Catherine Zeta Jones joined by Bono to celebrate husband's Dublin birthday "It used to take us about two weeks to get them back on track but what it's done is it's instilled in our children their sense of belonging and where they come from." She added: "They'd be up at the crack of dawn down the beach, come rain or shine, digging and making castles so it was important for me that they have roots and know where they come from. "It's very grounding for the kids and they often love coming here and they come back every year to Wales." Aside from the staycations, the family have also ventured further overseas, with trips to Disneyland and Dubai to name a few. Legoland Windsor Factbox Here's everything you need to know about visiting Legoland Windsor in 2024: Legoland Windsor will be officially open from March 15, 2024, to September 25, 2024 Located in Windsor, just west of London, the theme park's full address is Winkfield Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 4AY Trains take half an hour from London Paddington to Windsor via Slough Trains from London Waterloo take around an hour and go directly to Windsor Tickets should be booked in advance online An online saver ticket costs £35 per adult, saving you £33 if you purchased the same ticket at the gate Parking is not included in the ticket, and you'll need to pay £8 for a ticket, although booking in advance will save you £1 MUM TAKE Catherine has candidly spoken out about her parenting role ahead of the new Wednesday series, to be aired on Netflix. She said: "Wednesday Addams and Morticia Addams' relationship is beautiful, it's encouraging, it's contentious, it's fraught. "It's all those things a mother-daughter relationship goes through, which is a wonderful experience as a mother and not so much as a daughter. I speak from experience." The star, who plays Morticia Addams, added: "To be able to play those in Wednesday is something that's very important and something that's very real." The star is known for her roles in The Mask Of Zorro and Entrapment. She also played the title character in the 1996 historical biopic Catherine The Great. Catherine then won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago. 6 6 6
