Latest news with #Topping
Daily Record
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Record
Traffic wardens 'might not be the most popular people' when they start Dumfries and Galloway patrols
Dumfries and Galloway Council is set to take over responsibility for enforcing parking regulations from Police Scotland. Officials admit traffic wardens 'might not be the most popular people' when they start patrolling the Stewartry. The council is set to take over responsibility for enforcing parking regulations from Police Scotland. A draft of how the local authority will deliver decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) was presented at Stewartry area committee on Wednesday. To ensure parking rules are followed, there are plans to hire six traffic wardens to work across the region. Network strategy and road safety team leader, Tony Topping, said: 'They'll be very much a front line service. 'We'll need to train them in things like conflict management, they'll need body cams. 'They might not be the most popular people when they start out issuing tickets so we will need people with certain characteristics that will be able to deliver on that.' It could take another year for DPE to be confirmed and Mr Topping added: 'Once we start to roll it out, maybe the first month we'll take a softer approach, we won't go out heavy handed and start fining people from day one.' He warned that DPE was for the whole region, meaning rules can be enforced in any town, village, road and street across the region. And some areas may see more wardens during busy periods, such as tourist season.
Belfast Telegraph
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Waringstown savour double glory as men and women's sides both seal victories
Chasing 126, the pair shared a second wicket partnership of 118 in 69 balls with Topping clearing the ropes five times in an unbeaten 60 from only 32 balls, while McCollum's 57 from 40 deliveries included nine fours and one maximum. Irish international McCollum and Saturday's centurion Adam Dennison fell in the space of four balls to Carl Robinson (two for 12), but Topping finished with a six in the 14th over to move his side to third in the table. Harry Warke top-scored for Woodvale with a hard-hit 44 (eight fours, one six) before falling to Daniel van der Merwe (three for 19), while Tom Mayes (two for 18) claimed the big wicket of Ruhan Pretorius. That completed a fine day for Waringstown as their Women's side went top of the Premiership with a six-wicket win over Lisburn. Rebecca Lowe made 44 for Lisburn as she and Sarah McCallan (29) shared a second wicket stand of 83. But Penny Speer took four wickets as they collapsed to 105 all out, with Naomi Matthews claiming three scalps and Irish international Cara Murray two. The chase was a routine one with Amy Caulfield and Abbi Harrison each making 37 as they added 60 in seven overs to win in the 12th over. Holywood proved too strong for Muckamore as Eva Cupitt made 31 in the home side's 101 for six, and that was 61 too many for the Moylena team as three wickets apiece for Madison Landman and Nina Kerr bundled them out for 40. CSNI made it a three-way tie at the top as they beat North Down by 32 runs thanks to 34 from Sarah Rountree and two wickets apiece from Eva Wilson and Emily Calvert.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Operation Babylift: A humanitarian mission for Vietnamese orphans
GARDEN CITY, LONG ISLAND (PIX11)– The Cradle of Aviation Museum hosted a special event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Operation Babylift, a humanitarian effort to evacuate thousands of Vietnamese orphans in the final days of the Vietnam War. The children who survived were later relocated and adopted by American families. More Local News The adoptees, now adults, and those involved in this extraordinary moment in history reunited five decades later. In the Pan Am museum within the Cradle of Aviation, a poignant exhibit provides a dramatic account of Operation Babylift. Harrowing images of young children lie side by side on airplane seats, some in tears, some visibly afraid and in distress. It was a dangerous operation in April 1975. Saigon was falling, and as the North Vietnamese military advanced, President Gerald Ford ordered the evacuation of South Vietnamese orphans. About 3,300 children left their war-torn nation in the daring mission. Carol Mason was one of the youngest orphans. 'This is me when I was five and a half months old with my airlift mother, Karen,' said Mason, as she pointed to a photo of herself as an infant. Her 'airlift mother' was a Pan Am flight attendant who cared for the children onboard. 'Operation Babylift has given me a chance I would've never had in life.' Another crew member, Ingrid Templeton, says she thinks about the children almost every day and keeps a memento she looks at all the time—a photo of herself on the plane with an infant in her arms. More Local News 'They were so tiny, and they almost stuck to your chest because it was so humid and hot,' said Templeton, getting emotional. 'You could just feel their heartbeat.' The mission actually began with a tragedy. On April 4th, a C-5A military cargo plane, the mission's first flight, crash-landed shortly after takeoff. A door malfunctioned and blew open, leading to mass structural failure. One hundred thirty-eight souls perished, 78 of them children. But more than 170 survived, including dozens of children. Steve Mark was one of those children. 'My parents thought I was on the April 4th C-5A that crashed, but then my mom got a call on April 28th that I'd landed in San Francisco,' said Mark. Mark was one of four children on the last Pan Am flight out of Saigon on April 24th, 1975. He's thankful to all who gave him a chance at life, including Pan Am. 'I just want awareness of the efforts made by Pan Am to get all of these orphans out of Vietnam,' adds Mark. The now-defunct airline played a critical role when it provided the jumbo jets for the evacuation after the military plane crashed. On board were the orphans, government and airline employees, and their families. Al Topping was Pan Am's director of Operations in South Vietnam and Cambodia. 'I was walking through the cabin and people were crying,' said Topping. 'They're leaving behind their home country forever, probably, and they don't know what lies ahead .' Topping helped organize the flights as the North Vietnamese troops were closing in. More Local News 'My heart was pounding,' said Topping. 'I was just so worried that something bad was going to happen.' He describes the thousands of desperate South Vietnamese people at the airport, desperate to leave the country. 'A North Vietnamese soldier could be out there in the rice paddy somewhere with a shoulder rocket missile who could just shoot that plane down,' said Topping. 'We had no more protection, the South Vietnamese Army had dissolved into the woods, they had taken off the uniform, and on our final departure, when we were boarding, I saw some South Vietnamese soldiers now in civilian clothes trying to get on the plane with everyone else. Their plane made it safely back to the States. Thuy Williams, who was five then, was one of the older children. Years later, she was able to find her Vietnamese birth mother, who told her she gave her up because she feared for her daughter's safety, as a biracial child fathered by an American soldier. The emotional scars have endured. 'I remember a lot of war, I was in an area that I saw people get killed, and I heard the guns going off and the bombs,' said Williams. 'I have had a good life, and I had a good adoptive family.' The survivors and all involved in Operation Babylift say they want what happened to be more widely taught in schools as part of American history. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ed Miliband adviser who backed levy on frequent fliers racked up 40,000 air miles in a year by travelling to 'environmental' conferences
One of the Government's climate advisers has been accused of 'rank hypocrisy' after they racked up 40,000 air miles in a year by jetting to environmental conferences. Nigel Topping is one of six members of the Climate Change Committee, which advises Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In February, the committee backed a 'frequent flier levy' to help reach Net Zero. This would see Britons who take the most flights, or fly the furthest distances, taxed more. According to The Telegraph, Mr Topping attended conferences in Barbados, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Netherlands and the US in the last 12 months. An analysis by the newspaper showed he accrued 11 times more air miles in the last year than the average Briton. It also found that Mr Topping's carbon footprint from flights alone was about 40 per cent more than the average Briton produces in total in a year. Mr Miliband himself was recently criticised after it was revealed he had notched up at least 44,600 air miles since he became Energy Secretary last July. It meant he was responsible for at least 54.2 tons of carbon emissions in nine months – more than 12 times the annual emissions of the average Briton. Mr Topping was revealed to have attended the International Mangrove Conservation and Restoration Conference in December in Abu Dhabi. This was held at the five-star Bab al-Qasr hotel, which boasts a private beach, infinity pool and chauffeur service. The climate adviser was also said to have attended the UN's desertification conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier the same month. Mr Topping, who was the UK's high-level climate action champion for the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, attended the Sustainable Energy For All Global Forum in Barbados last month. Tory MP Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, said: 'This is rank hypocrisy. 'Once again we see those preaching this Mr Miliband-driven Net Zero zealotry are all too happy to impose significant burdens on others, but won't practise what they preach. 'It's one rule for them and another for everyone else. Kemi Badenoch and I have been clear that Net Zero by 2050 would involve significant cost to the country and to the consumer and it is simply not sustainable. 'It is a shame this Labour Government is still not prepared to do the same.' The Climate Change Committee did not comment as Mr Topping's travel was not part of his work as a committee member.
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Climate adviser racks up 40,000 air miles – while backing tax on frequent flyers
A government climate adviser who backed a tax on frequent flyers racked up 40,000 air miles in a year by jetting to environmental conferences. Nigel Topping is one of the six members of Ed Miliband's climate change committee, which in February recommended that ministers consider a new ' frequent flyer levy ' to cut emissions from flights. The committee also suggested ministers could increase airfares for holidaymakers by raising flight taxes and ban airline reward schemes. Its members, who report to the Government, have called for policies to 'manage demand' among air passengers to cut carbon emissions. But Telegraph analysis shows Mr Topping himself accrued 11 times more air miles in the last year than the average Briton, with travel to summits in high-end hotels on three continents. A former business champion for Glasgow's Cop26 summit, Mr Topping now holds a variety of climate advisory roles. In the last 12 months, he has attended conferences in Barbados, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Netherlands and the United States. One summit, the International Mangrove Conservation and Restoration Conference in December, was held in the five-star Bab al-Qasr hotel in Dubai, with a private beach, infinity pool and chauffeur service. It came days after his trip to the UN's desertification conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – which is 3,000 miles from London. Last month, Mr Topping attended another summit in Barbados, which involved an 8,400-mile round trip. Speaking at the event, he revealed he had bought an electric car, and was building a 'zero carbon house' with insulation, solar panels and a heat pump. But according to modelling by the Department for Transport, which estimates that each kilometre of air travel emits 158g of carbon dioxide per passenger, Mr Topping's carbon footprint from flights alone is around 40 per cent more than the average British person produces in total in a year. An environmental double standard Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, said: 'This is rank hypocrisy. Once again we see those preaching this Mr Miliband driven net zero zealotry are all too happy to impose significant burdens on others, but won't practise what they preach. 'It's one rule for them and another for everyone else. Kemi Badenoch and I have been clear that net zero by 2050 would involve significant cost to the country and to the consumer and it is simply not sustainable. It is a shame this Labour government is still not prepared to do the same.' Mr Topping's other trips included a visit to New York, for the city's Climate Change Week in September last year, and Washington DC for the Global Inclusive Growth Summit last April. In August, he travelled to the Future of Food conference in the Netherlands and joined delegates at the Cop29 UN climate change summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. Mr Miliband has opposed the expansion of Heathrow Airport, which was signed off by Sir Keir Starmer, on the grounds that it would lead to an increase in carbon emissions. He has also been criticised for his flights, after it was revealed he travelled 44,600 air miles in a year. Mr Topping and the climate change committee declined to comment. It is understood the committee did not pay for the cost of his travel.
