Traffic delays on M5 as lorry bursts into flames near Bridgwater
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BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
M5 roadworks on track as Wellington businesses impacted
Major resurfacing work that left some business owners "petrified" is causing less disruption than expected, says the local weeks into the M5 Junction 26 closure at Wellington, Somerset Council said it was on track and on budget to complete the £5.7m upgrade project work by locals and businesses were not happy with the closure of the junction and the A38 link road when it was announced. One trader since says it has been a "nightmare" to travel up and down the councillor Richard Wilkins, lead member for transport and waste at Somerset Council, said: "Of course, people were extremely worried but the roads have coped really well." Mr Wilkins added: "We're still on track, the work is progressing. We should be finished on time. About 8,000 tonnes of asphalt have already gone down and that's of a total of about 16,000."We'll get this done, get it finished and have a fantastic new road at the end of it." Seb Toon, owner of TLC Garage Services, said the closure had had "quite a bit of an impact"."Jobs we normally do on the motorway that were previously a 19-mile (31km) round-trip are now more like 40 miles (64km)," he added."It's taking us an hour sometimes to get back from Taunton to here, which has been a bit of a nightmare." Meanwhile, Emma Slocom, director of Apple Campers at Foxmoor Business Park in Wellington, said it had been "harder" for some of their customers who come from Bristol and Cornwall."We're based at Foxmore business park which is just off junction 26 so it's been a big disruption but it's not been as bad as we expected," Ms Slocom added.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Two of Barbie's leading designers are killed in horrific head-on road smash in Italy after 82-year-old drove the wrong way down motorway
Two of Barbie's leading designers were killed in a horrific head-on collision on an Italian motorway after an 82-year-old made a U-turn and travelled seven kilometres down the wrong lane. Artistic duo Mario Paglino, 52, and Gianni Grossi, 48, were travelling in an SUV on the Turin-Milan highway near Mesero when the elderly man driving a Peugeot 207 collided into them, with both vehicles travelling at approximately 130 km/h. Four people were killed in the incident including the 82-year-old driver, Egidio Ceriani, designers Paglino and Grossi, as well as a 38-year-old banker who the pair were travelling with, Amodio Giurni. Giurni's wife, Silvia Moramarco, 37, who was also a passenger in the SUV, was the sole survivor and was airlifted to Niguarda Hospital in Milan in critical condition. The elderly man realised he missed the toll booth on the Turin-Milan highway, so turned around and re-entered the motorway in the wrong lane, before colliding with the SUV at high speed, according to traffic police officers. Barbie's official Instagram account paid tribute to the visionary designers, who in 1999 founded the Magia2000 company that creates custom Barbie dolls inspired by art and pop culture and often collaborates with Mattel. 'The Barbie team is heartbroken by the loss of Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, two treasured creators and Mattel collaborators who brought joy and artistry to the world of Barbie as Magia 2000,' the tribute said. 'As passionate and talented designers and lifelong collectors, their spirit and love for the brand turned every creation they touched into a masterpiece. Beyond their remarkable talent, they shared an energy that lit up every space they entered.' Both residents of Novara, northwest Italy, Paglino and Grossi were the first ever non-American artist duo to ever design a souvenir Barbie doll manufactured by Mattel USA - the 2006 Barbie Film Noir doll - produced for the National Barbie Convention that same year. At the 2015 National Barbie Convention, one of their creations was sold for charity for €15,000 (£13,000). The pair design one-of-a-kind dolls inspired by famous paintings, from Van Gogh's Irises and Piet Mondrian's Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow to Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas. In 2016, they were honoured with the prestigious Barbie Best Friend Award by American fashion designer Carol Spencer, for their dedication to the promotion of Barbie culture throughout the world. In 2011, Magia2000 founded the Italian Doll Convention, which the designers described as 'the largest fashion dolls event in Europe, promoting the passion for Barbie and all fashion dolls'. This year in June, to mark the brand's 25th anniversary, the duo unveiled the centerpiece for the National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention: the ICON Barbie, complete with a pink sequined dress, and 25 'special dolls' available only at the annual event for doll enthusiasts. Paglino and Grossi revealed the playful meaning behind their brand name in a interview with gtGdollwear, saying: 'It's quite simple, Magia means 'Magic' in Italian and we built it with our names. 'It's the anagram of the initials of our two names. MA-rio and GIA-nni, MA+GIA and the game is done, MAGIA.' Paying tribute to the dollmakers, the mournful post on Barbie's Instagram account continued: 'Whether leading the Italian Doll Convention in Milan or showcasing their talents and love for Barbie at doll shows all over the world, their presence brought warmth, laughter and a sense of belonging.' Following the horrific head-on car crash on Sunday at 11:08 am on the border between Lombardy and Piedmont, the Highway Police investigation lasted approximately six hours, with the motorway closed and long queues for members of the public heading to Milan and Malpensa Airport, reported La Repubblica. Firefighters, ambulances and an air rescue arrived at the scene to extract the bodies from the vehicles, but 37-year-old Moramarco was the sole survivor. The designers were travelling with friends and were reportedly on their way to the Lombardy capital or to the lakes for a day trip, the newspaper added.
Top Gear
9 hours ago
- Top Gear
BMW USA: the E39 M5 nearly had a turbocharged straight-six instead of a V8
Retro More tales from BMW's crypt: how the Best M5 Of All Time got an eight-pot Skip 7 photos in the image carousel and continue reading More fascinating tales from BMW North America's crypt, and this one's a (literal) biggie. Development of the E39-generation M5 kicked off in earnest in 1993, and faced with outfitting its new super-saloon with a turbocharged straight-six or V8, BMW was strongly considering bolting in the former. But BMW was also strongly considering the very future of the M division. The 'mechanically complex' 3.8-litre six-pot heart of the E34 M5 meant that car found just 1,476 homes in the USA. Just 13 per cent of global production run. Advertisement - Page continues below The E30 M3 – kneel before thine mighty arches! – struggled too, and BMW North America not only rejected the 'expensive and too high-maintenance' E36 M3, but considered canning M cars altogether. This, plainly, was an issue. BMW M needed the US onside. When a simpler, slightly-less technical and more affordable E36 M3 arrived Stateside and sold more than expected, discussions about the E39's powerplant were increasingly viewed through the lens of what US customers liked. You might like Karlheinz Kalbfell, then BMW M boss, continued to campaign for the six-pot, believing it to be 'the heart and soul of BMW'. They even mooted a V6 – 'which would have been a total outlier within the BMW engine universe'. That would have cost too much money, and by this point BMW had 'wasted' years figuring out how to make it work. So it went for the V8. And because BMW didn't have a racing V8 already in action, it took the M62 that saw service in the 530i, 540i, and 740i. Advertisement - Page continues below In doing so, M had to give up one of its most cherished values: mad revs. 'M's philosophy at the time was high-revving engines, which we couldn't achieve with the V8 concept we had,' said Alex Hildebrandt, who at the time was the E39 M5's project leader and head of product management. The rev limiter was still raised from 5,700rpm in the cooking cars, to 6,600rpm in the M5, while the displacement jumped from 4.4 to 5.0-litres. It of course got individual throttle bodies, and a few 'maintenance-reducing' internal tweaks that'd appeal to US buyers. The result was a cool 400bhp and 368lb ft of torque, helped along to the rear axle via a six-speed manual gearbox and limited slip diff. Elsewhere, you know the story: stiffer springs and dampers, stronger componentry and bigger brakes versus a 540i. A supremely sensible aero-honed body. Gorgeous wheels. And a wide suite of additional extras – like sat nav and leather and Xenons – thrown in for free. Well, not free, but $69,700. 'It hadn't been deliberately designed for the US,' said BMW, 'indeed its 'American' V8 had come about organically, as the answer to a technical problem rather than marketing concern, but the E39 M5 seemed tailor-made for the US market.' Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. When production of the E39 M5 stopped in June 2003, the US had bought 9,198 cars – just under half of the 20,482 E39 M5s built in total. It helped, of course, that the base E39 was such a wonderful, wonderful car. 'Along with the E36 M3, the E39 M5 turned the US into the world's largest market for M cars worldwide, helping to ensure the M brand's future within BMW. Moreover, the V8 engine helped catapult the E39 M5 into a higher echelon of performance,' said BMW. And to think, it very nearly had a turbocharged straight-six…
