The Great Era of Metro Railways Is Just Beginning
The Metropolitan Railway, which you can still ride today as part of the London Underground, was the first to put regular trains on dedicated tracks, cutting through the gridlock that would otherwise plague modern cities. Over the years, networks sprouted in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Moscow, Hong Kong, Cairo, and elsewhere. By 2013, they encompassed more than 130 cities, stretching 10,922 kilometers (6,787 miles) — sufficient to get you from the equator to the North Pole.
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Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
UK foreign minister faces fine after JD Vance fishing trip licence error
UK foreign minister faces fine after JD Vance fishing trip licence error LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's foreign minister David Lammy could be on the hook for a 2,500 pounds ($3,394) fine following his fishing trip last week with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, after admitting he didn't have the required licence. Vance and Lammy were pictured by invited media as they fished in the lake at the foreign minister's Chevening country residence in southeast England before a bilateral meeting as part of the vice president's working holiday to Britain. The vice president later joked on camera that the only strain on the U.S.-British special relationship was that while his three children had caught fish, the British foreign minister had not. All anglers are required by law to have a valid rod licence while they are fishing, regardless of whether they catch anything and whether they are on private land. Breaches can be punished with a fine of up to 2,500 pounds ($3,394). Lammy's office on Wednesday said he had not purchased the licence before the trip and had since sought to rectify the mistake. "The Foreign Secretary has written to the Environment Agency over an administrative oversight that meant the appropriate licences had not been acquired for fishing on a private lake as part of a diplomatic engagement at Chevening House last week," a spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement. "As soon as the Foreign Secretary was made aware of the administrative error, he successfully purchased the relevant rod fishing licences." The spokesperson had no immediate comment on whether a licence had been purchased for Vance too. Vance is in England with his wife Usha and their children, who are spending this week in the hamlet of Dean in the picturesque Cotswolds, following their stay at Chevening. ($1 = 0.7367 pounds)
News24
3 minutes ago
- News24
Greece fights massive wildfire crisis as heatwave devastates southern Europe
Greece struggled to control over 20 wildfires, including one near its third-largest city, Patras, fueled by a severe heatwave affecting southern Europe. Fires led to widespread evacuations, hospitalisations for respiratory problems and burns, and damage to tourist locations. The heatwave affecting Greece, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and other nations has been linked to climate change. Greece on Wednesday battled to contain more than 20 wildfires including one menacing its third-largest city Patras as a heatwave stoked blazes and forced the evacuation of thousands in southern Europe. Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Balkans and Britain have this week wilted in high temperatures that fuel wildfires and which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying. Since dawn on Wednesday, 4 850 firefighters and 33 planes were mobilised across Greece on what promised to be 'a very difficult day', fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. A fire near the ancient Mycenaean archaeological site of Voudeni, just 7km from Patras, threatened forested zones and homes, and the area was covered by a thick cloud of smoke, an AFP journalist reported. Fierce wind 'is hampering the task of water bombers, and is making collecting water at sea more difficult', the president of the firefighter officers' union, Kostas Tsigkas, told public broadcaster ERT. READ | 3 dead, thousands evacuate as huge wildfires, heatwave hit Europe In the western Achaia region in the Peloponnese, to which the coastal city of Patras belongs, around 20 villages were evacuated on Tuesday. Other fronts were burning on the popular tourist island of Zante and the Aegean island of Chios, scarred by a huge wildfire in June that ravaged more than 4 000 hectares. The Greek coastguard said it had helped evacuate nearly 80 people from Chios and near Patras. The national ambulance service reported 52 hospitalisations from Achaia, Chios and the western town of Preveza, including 'a small number of firefighters', mostly for respiratory problems and minor burns. Temperatures are due to come close to 40°C in parts of western Greece on Wednesday, including the northwest Peloponnese, national weather service EMY forecast. After Greece requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to bolster its resources, leftist opposition party Syriza criticised the conservative government's preparation for the fires that hit every year. Greece needed 'a bold redistribution of resources in favour of civil protection', an 'emphasis on prevention', better coordination and new technologies in its civil protection system, Syriza said. 'Worst breeding ground' At the other end of the Mediterranean, wildfires continued to dominate the news in Spain, where cooler temperatures and greater humidity were expected to help control blazes in which two people have died. Authorities in the northwestern region of Castile and Leon, where flames have threatened a world heritage Roman mining site, said almost 6 000 people from 26 localities had been evacuated from their homes. Bushy undergrowth and searing temperatures that have baked Spain for almost two weeks had created 'the worst possible breeding ground for this situation', Castile and Leon's civil protection head Irene Cortes said. Costas Baltas/Anadolu via Getty Images A total of 199 wildfires have scorched nearly 98 784 hectares across Spain this year, more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024. Neighbouring Portugal deployed more than 1 800 firefighters and around 20 aircraft against five major blazes, with efforts focused on a blaze in the central municipality of Trancoso that has raged since Saturday. Strong gusts of wind had rekindled flames overnight and threatened nearby villages, where television images showed locals volunteering to help the firefighters under a thick cloud of smoke. 'It's scary... but we are always ready to help each other,' a mask-wearing farmer told Sic Noticias television, holding a spade in his hand. Italian firefighters had extinguished a blaze that burned for five days on the famed Mount Vesuvius and spewed plumes of smoke over the Naples area. In Britain, temperatures were expected to peak at 34°C in the country's fourth heatwave of the summer. The UK Health Security Agency warned of 'significant impacts' on health and social care services for the parts of central and southeastern England where the harshest heat was forecast.
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
JD Vance's English Countryside Vacation: Rolling Hills, Armored SUVs and Cranky Locals
CHARLBURY, England—People in this bucolic corner of England were already a bit testy about hordes of visiting Americans in recent years. Then the most high-profile one so far arrived for a family holiday: Vice President JD Vance.
