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BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Herefordshire trains 'unreliable and filthy', meeting told
Concerns about unreliable train services and cleanliness on board have been raised at a meeting between rail passengers and operator West Midlands Railway (WMR).Issues raised by Leominister Rail User Group secretary Jim Scott, and also Herefordshire councillor Jenny Bartlett, included complaints of just a two-minute window to change trains at Hereford for Birmingham passengers reported a lack of replacement bus services and filthy toilets with no head of performance Kelly Henshall said she would take the concerns back to colleagues after the meeting in Leominster, which was organised by the Green Party. 'Got worse' Mr Scott said trains from Leominster arrived at Hereford two minutes before outgoing Birmingham trains, which meant "you either run across the bridge, or you have a 59-minute wait".Another rail user said it would be "nice to go out for an evening and not worry about getting back home", but they said there was "very rarely a bus replacement".Rail & Bus for Herefordshire representative Jago Frost said there had been recent improvements in service reliability, but the cleanliness of Birmingham-Hereford trains "had got worse"."They start the day with no soap in the toilets, and by the end of the day they are filthy," he said. Ms Henshall said service improvement was headed in the right direction said WMR wanted "to keep our new trains nice and clean – and we get audited on this".The company had gone from 20% of services cancelled last summer to 4% currently, she said, adding: "Having sufficient train crews has been part of that."Asked whether the recent crash between a Transport for Wales express train and a farm vehicle at a rail crossing near Leominster had caused WMR to look at how it operated services in rural areas, Ms Henshall said: "Safety is at the heart of everything we do." This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Guardian
24-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Norfolk bird charity finds Britain's oldest known oystercatchers
If your ears are assaulted by the shrill piping calls of an excitable bird on the east coast of England, fear not: it's probably an oystercatcher experiencing a midlife crisis. Two of the handsome black and white birds with bright red-orange bills have been found to be the oldest known oystercatchers ever recorded in Britain, clocking up at least 41 and 43 years on the mudflats of the Wash. The venerable birds were spotted alive and well this winter by volunteer bird surveyors at RSPB Snettisham in Norfolk. Investigations of the data noted down from their leg rings found that one, 41 years and eight months old, had been ringed as a chick in 1983, probably at the same nature reserve. The elder bird was discovered a few weeks later and was already at least three years old when fitted with a leg ring in 1982, which could make it as much as 46 years old. Like many sea and shore birds, oystercatchers can be long-livedand reach their 20s or 30s, but on average survive for just 12 years. Jacquie Clark, from the Wash Wader Research Group, a conservation charity which rings birds around the Wash, said: 'It was amazing to find the first oystercatcher and confirm it was the UK's oldest, but we're even more stunned that it's all happened again within just a few weeks. To find an even older bird on the Wash is astounding, it just shows how crucial this huge coastal wetland is for these birds.' These oystercatchers do not live on the Wash all year round but migrate to the region every winter to find safety and reliable food – invertebrates such as ragworms, snails and shellfish – on the mudflats. Wintering sites are likely to have been passed down through generations of oystercatchers. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Jim Scott, the RSPB estate operations manager for the Titchwell Marsh and Snettisham reserves, said: 'The Wash is the single most important coastal wetland in the UK for migrating and over-wintering wading birds, ducks and geese, supporting up to 400,000 water birds each year. Up to 26,000 of these are oystercatchers, making the Wash a site of international importance for this species, as it is for many others. The records of these two birds illustrate just how important it is to protect England's east coast wetlands.'
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How bad is Newcastle's trophy drought according to the numbers? (Very bad)
Newcastle United play in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, hoping to end a trophy drought that has lasted almost 56 years. The most recent piece of major silverware the north-east club won was the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the predecessor of the UEFA Cup/Europa League). That long wait is why it feels like there is so much at stake when they face Liverpool — who have won 38 major trophies in that time — at Wembley Stadium. Here, The Athletic digs into the numbers and moments behind this barren run, and our Newcastle correspondent George Caulkin offers his thoughts on the wait to celebrate success and how he is feeling ahead of the club's date with destiny. First, let's classify what a major trophy means. The accepted definition in English football is: winning the top flight, the FA Cup, League Cup (currently sponsored by Carabao), European Cup/Champions League, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup/Europa League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (now defunct) or the UEFA Conference League. Advertisement Now, the numbers. It was June 11, 1969 when Newcastle won their last major trophy, defeating Hungarian side Ujpest in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final over two legs. Humans walking on the Moon for the first time was still more than a month away and Newcastle's oldest player in the final (Jim Scott) was born in 1940. Since that second leg in Budapest, where a 3-2 Newcastle win secured a 6-2 victory on aggregate, the club have played 2,758 competitive matches — the equivalent of around 173 days of continuous football — all without a major trophy. Goalkeeper Shay Given, who was at Newcastle from 1997 to 2009, has played in the highest number of these games with 463. They have scored 3,934 goals in this period (1.43 per game), with Alan Shearer — who was born the year after Newcastle beat Ujpest — scoring more of them than anyone else (206). Newcastle have come close to securing silverware since that night in the Hungarian capital, which is closer in time to the outbreak of the First World War than it is to the present day. They have lost five major finals and come second in the top flight twice since 1969, registering a total of seven second-placed finishes in major competitions. Here are the five major finals Newcastle have lost in this period. And here are the club's second-placed finishes in the top division of English football over that time. Four of these seven instances came in consecutive seasons (1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99). Thirty 'English' clubs (the total includes Swansea City, a Welsh side who play in the English League system) have lifted a major trophy, by the definition listed above, since Newcastle's triumph in 1969. Fourteen of these teams play in the Premier League right now, meaning just five clubs in England's 2024-25 top flight are on a longer run without winning a trophy than Newcastle: Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Fulham. None of these teams have ever won major silverware (though all of them except Brentford are in the quarter-finals of this season's FA Cup). Advertisement Newcastle's two second-placed finishes since 1969 are the joint most by any club not to have won the league in this period. Here are the six sides to have come second in the English top division in this period and not been crowned champions. The most goals Newcastle have scored in a top-flight season since 1969 is the 85 of 2023-24. Despite that total, head coach Eddie Howe's team finished seventh in the Premier League. This is the highest number of goals a team has scored in a season and not finished in the top three during Newcastle's 56-year trophy drought. West Bromwich Albion, who scored 91 goals and came sixth in 1965-66, were the previous team to do it (and that was in a 42-game league season). Newcastle have been managed by 31 different men in this time (including caretaker spells), with Joe Harvey, who was in charge when they won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 and continued in the role until 1975, the first. Three Newcastle players have finished as the leading goalscorer in a top-tier season in England during the trophy drought: Malcolm Macdonald in 1974-75 (21 goals), Andy Cole in 1993-94 (34) and Shearer in 1996-97 (25). Cole's total is the most goals any player has scored in an English top-flight campaign in this period when not playing for the team who won the league (Newcastle came third). Here are the club's three biggest wins in all competitions since the summer of 1969, with all of them coming in the month of September. The victories over Sheffield United and Morecambe were both away from home. Eight different Newcastle players scored in that thrashing of Sheffield United in 2023 — the only time since 1969 an away team have had this many scorers in an English top-flight game. It was also the first 8-0 away win in the country's top division since West Brom did the same to Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 1893. As for Newcastle's last major domestic (ie, non-European) trophy, that came almost 70 years ago when they won the 1954-55 FA Cup. They have won the second tier title three times since 1969 (1992-93, 2009-10 and 2016-17) but that, of course, is not considered major silverware. George Caulkin: Two years ago, when Newcastle reached the same stage of the Carabao Cup, they won the weekend but lost the match. After a generation without a final of any sort, after the love-sapping Mike Ashley era when it was stated publicly that cups were not 'a priority' for Newcastle, after the rush and push of the takeover, supporters — the whole club — needed a blowout moment. Advertisement Fans gathered in Trafalgar Square and marvelled at their own recovery. Having given up on seeing their team compete for major honours, friends and families laughed and wept, celebrating this transformation. They drank central London dry (and then tidied up afterwards). By the time the game at Wembley came around on the Sunday afternoon, hangovers were kicking in. In the stands, Newcastle's supporters had little left to give and, on the pitch, Howe's brilliant team looked drained by the magnitude of the occasion. That long wait for a meaningful trophy was too big a bridge to cross and they lost 2-0 to Manchester United, a familiar nemesis. It is this experience — both beautiful and disappointing — which guides Newcastle's approach now. Nobody who sits in the Newcastle dugout or pulls on the black-and-white shirt is unaware of the club's history of failure, glorious or otherwise, and the fierce yearning to change it. Winning something — winning anything — means entering legend, but the pressure that brings isn't particularly helpful. The date Newcastle are focusing on now is not 1969 or 1955, but 2023, and Howe's messaging around this cup run has been to learn those lessons, to drain emotion and difference from the build-up. Having played in last season's Champions League and also reached the quarter-finals of both domestic cups, they stand on more familiar ground. The success of this has been mixed. Form has not been an ally in the month since their excellent, two-legged semi-final victory against Arsenal, while their preparations have been hit hard by forward Anthony Gordon's suspension and the loss of defenders Lewis Hall and Sven Botman to injury. In this context, it is little wonder that Howe described Monday's ugly, narrow 1-0 Premier League away win against West Ham United as one of Newcastle's best this season. They scrapped at the London Stadium and they found a way. Advertisement Misfortune has brought clarity to this team. They have aspirations to win everything but are not there yet — and if they are to have a hope of beating Premier League champions-elect Liverpool without some of their better players, they must be at 100 per cent, 100 per cent of the time on Sunday. They must scrap and find a way. This theme of confronting adversity is one which Howe has drawn from regularly both at Newcastle and his previous employers Bournemouth. It suits the team and the club. Whatever happens, save the tears for afterwards and let the hangovers kick in on Monday morning.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UltiSat Signs Agreement to Become a Reseller of Rivada Space Network's LEO Constellation
Rivada Outernet CHANTILLY, Va., March 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UltiSat, a leading provider of satellite communication solutions, announces the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rivada Space Networks, a revolutionary company aiming to provide secure, high-bandwidth, global connectivity for enterprise and government customers. This agreement will allow UltiSat to become one of the select few resellers of Rivada Space Network's forthcoming Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The partnership signifies a pivotal milestone for UltiSat. By incorporating Rivada's capabilities into UltiSat's Unified Multi-path Connectivity™ (UMC) offering, UltiSat will expand its extensive range of secure and resilient networks and value-added services for its government, humanitarian aid, and critical infrastructure markets. This includes 24x7x365 Network Operations Center (NOC) services, billing, network management, and installation, ensuring seamless and reliable communication solutions. 'We are excited to collaborate with Rivada Space Networks and to be among the exclusive group of partners authorized to deliver and support this cutting-edge capability,' said Jim Scott, President and CEO of UltiSat. 'Our commitment to providing exceptional solutions like this to solve complex challenges will further empower our customers with unparalleled connectivity in the ever-evolving multi-orbit SATCOM landscape.' Declan Ganley, CEO, Rivada Space Networks, said: 'We are delighted to be working with UltiSat to enhance their portfolio of services for government communications, humanitarian aid and resilient connectivity. Unlike traditional LEO systems, which bridge the last mile between the satellite and the nearest gateway, Rivada's game-changing Outernet is a self-contained and inter-connected private space network that re-defines connectivity in terms of security, latency, capacity, efficiency, and coverage. It is fast becoming the system of choice for secure data communications.' The Rivada Space Network's LEO constellation is poised to revolutionize satellite communication by providing global, high-speed, low-latency connectivity, while also meeting the US DoD's Zero Trust Architecture requirements. UltiSat's inclusion as an authorized partner underscores its dedication to advancing the field of satellite communication and meeting the evolving needs of its customers. UltiSat will be at Satellite 2025 from March 11-13 in meeting space #2955, demonstrating the Unified Multi-path Connectivity Expeditionary Kit (UEK). Rivada Space Networks will be in the West Overlook Room, 2nd Floor. Stop by to learn more about how UltiSat and Rivada can help provide reliable and secure connectivity to government and commercial organization for their missions of high consequence. About Rivada Space NetworksRivada is building The Outernet - the first unified, self-contained global communications network. Rivada's global low-latency point-to-point network of 600 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites is a unique next-generation constellation combining inter-satellite laser links with advanced onboard processing and routing to create a ubiquitous MEF-compliant optical mesh network in space. This 'orbital network,' in which data stays in space from origin to destination, creates an ultra-secure satellite network with pole-to-pole coverage, offering end-to-end latencies much lower than terrestrial fiber over long distances. And by routing traffic on a physically separated network, it provides a layer of defense for any organization that needs to securely share data between widely distributed sites. For more Information, visit: LinkedIn: Twitter: @rivadaspace Rivada Media Contacts: Melanie Dickie, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Email: mdickie@ Brian Carney, SVP Corporate CommunicationsEmail: bcarney@ About UltiSatUltiSat provides global end-to-end connectivity solutions and managed network services for land mobile, maritime, and airborne operations, serving customers in government, humanitarian-aid, and critical infrastructure markets with unique communications requirements and greater resiliency demands. UltiSat continues to make substantial investments in global logistics, security provisions, systems, and processes necessary to provide 24 x 7 support for customers with high consequence missions. Our portfolio includes a range of solutions leveraging satellite, terrestrial, wireless and cloud technologies, combined with in-house systems engineering and global field service. UltiSat leverages a 25+ year heritage deploying solutions in over 120 countries, serving those who serve others in challenging environments. UltiSat is a wholly owned subsidiary and separate operating company of Speedcast. For more information visit For more information contact: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Radar plans 'allow Trump to dominate space'
Plans to build a space radar station could allow US President Donald Trump to dominate space from Wales, campaigners have said. More than 15,000 people have signed an online petition opposing Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to build 27 radar dishes at Cawdor Barracks in Brawdy, Pembrokeshire. Jim Scott, a spokesman for the People Against Radar Campaign (PARC), said "provoking China" by supporting US military aims "where there is no rational imperative to do so" would be a bad idea. The UK government said Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) was vital to track objects in deep space and protect satellite and communication and navigation networks. Mr Scott said: "Would you trust Donald Trump, who in recent weeks has switched sides in a global proxy war, to militarily dominate all of space using Pembrokeshire as a foothold to do so? "If not, we very strongly urge you to consider ways you can help to stop DARC." The asteroid hits and near-misses you never hear about Seven planets to be visible in night sky for last time until 2040 Katy Perry to head to space on Blue Origin all-women flight Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales, has tabled a statement in the Senedd opposing DARC, supported by 11 other politicians. PARC, along with groups including CND Cymru, Stop the War and Peace Action Wales (Heddwch ar Waith), will take the campaign to Senedd politicians on Wednesday, with an event planned at the Pierhead building in Cardiff Bay. Their concerns also include possible effects on tourism, residents' health, pressures on infrastructure and the geopolitical implications. "There is a mainstream consensus emerging that where once the UK could go on under the assumption that if there was a major war, that the US could be relied upon to be fighting on the same side as the UK, this is no longer the case," PARC said in a statement. The DARC dishes would be 66ft (20m) high and 49ft (15m) wide and built very close to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The programme is part of the trilateral AUKUS security partnership with the US and Australian governments. Those countries are also building similar sites to DARC, in response to possible threats from countries such as Russia and China. When it was announced in December 2023, then-defence secretary Grant Shapps said tracking activity in "deep space" would help the UK protect itself from "space warfare". The MoD said radars would enable nations to identify objects in deep space, up to 22,000 miles (36,000 km) from Earth. Cawdor Barracks was set to close by 2028, but the redevelopment of the site for DARC will keep it open with 100 jobs expected to be created. Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, said the development would "secure jobs in the area" and was an "important project for Pembrokeshire". A planning application is likely to be submitted this year and building work could start late in 2026 if permission is granted by Pembrokeshire council. Previous plans to build a radar installation at St Davids Airfield were thrown out in 1991 following a campaign. The MoD said: "DARC will be operated by UK personnel and the proposal to invest in the disused airfield site at Cawdor Barracks will provide employment and upskilling opportunities within the local community across all sectors. "The programme follows a strict planning and environmental assurance process, agreed with Pembrokeshire county council." It said DARC would meet or exceed international environmental and health standards. Space radar site opponents challenge politicians Space radar plan near national park 'unacceptable' Protest against space radar dishes plan
