Global Trade

Library to temporarily move during £4m revamp

by Emma
written by Emma

A town's library will be moved temporarily while the building its based in is refurbished this summer.

Leek Library in Leek, Staffordshire, will relocate to Moorlands House from its current base in the Grade II-listed Nicholson Institute.

It was scheduled to move towards the end of May, but the relocation was delayed after revisions were made to the programme of works on the Nicholson Institute's £4m revamp.

Catherine Mann, of Staffordshire County Council, said the authority was "delighted" to be refurbishing the library, one of 43 it currently runs.

An exact date for the library's relocation has not been confirmed but the council said it would be "later this summer".

The refurbishment has been funded through a £17.1m government grant, awarded in 2023, for town centre improvements.

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Economy

Pie created for King as part of ancient tradition

by Lily
written by Lily

A sculptor has carved a lamprey pie out of stone for King Charles as part of a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages.

Since before the 1200s, the city of Gloucester traditionally sent a lamprey pie to the reigning monarch each Christmas – a custom that faded in the 19th Century. Now, the pie is baked only for special royal occasions.

Deborah Harrison, 58, was tasked with creating the pie to mark King Charles' Coronation in May 2023.

She said: "I am part of history going back before 1200s. How crazy is that? What an honour."

Deborah Harrison
The tradition, which previously involves edible pies, dates back centuries

Ms Harrison told BBC Radio Gloucestershire the pie's stones had come from 12th Century Llanthony Secunda Priory and it had taken her 64 hours to sculpt.

"The King likes upcycled things," she said. "I recycled the stone into a lamprey pie."

She added that Llanthony Priory had sent King Henry VIII a pie to Windsor Castle in 1530.

Getty
The pie will go on display at the King's gardens at his Highgrove residence

She has yet to hear from the King about what he thinks of her design.

It will now go on display in the gardens of the King's residents in Highgrove, Tetbury.

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Market

The concrete reminders of five years of occupation

by Samantha
written by Samantha

When the Germans occupied the Channel Islands in World War Two, they set about turning them into impregnable fortresses.

Hitler imagined that the British would want to retake them as soon as possible, so he ordered the construction of hundreds of bunkers, walls, tunnels and other defences.

Some of those were destroyed after the war, but many remain and are still being used today.

The Germans realised that the sandy beaches on Jersey's south and west coasts were perfect for landing an invasion force with landing ships able to carry tanks and other vehicles right up to the shore.

Slave workers built the sea defences

While there were already some barriers – built against the sea – the Germans wanted a continuous wall all along St Aubin's Bay and St Ouen's Bay that would be proof against tanks and turn the beaches into killing zones raked by gunfire from their bunkers.

In 1942, they brought hundreds of slave and forced workers to the island to expand the defences – many which dated to the Napoleonic Wars.

All along the coast they laboured with concrete and steel to form walls that, 80 years later, protect Jersey from the storms that batter the island every year.

The height and solidity of the wall in St Aubin's Bay in particular has stood up to all but the worst of them, albeit with regular repairs.

It means islanders can have the cycle track and the dual carriageway and secure homes along the south coast.

Sea defences built in World War Two have protected the island

"There's no doubt that the island would have had to have spent tens of millions of pounds on putting up these kinds of defences, particularly with the rise in sea levels," said Constable Simon Crowcroft, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure.

Beyond the walls are other structures that have been repurposed – such as the Gunsite Cafe, Faulkner's Fisheries, the car repair garage at Sandybrook, and the restored German bakery at Beaumont which is now The Pavilions block of flats.

Many bunkers are used for storage and recreation across the island.

Of course all of these structures came at a terrible cost in human suffering.

The workers who built them had been transported hundreds of miles from home in awful conditions.

They were worked hard, to the point of exhaustion, and faced beatings and other punishments for even minor offences.

"It involved unknown number of forced labourers and we remember their sacrifice on Liberation Day itself in the afternoon when we go to the Slave Workers Memorial," said Crowcroft.

A lookout tower and gun emplacement have been converted into accommodation

"We're stuck with these things, it's a legacy," said Matthew Costard, of the Channel Islands Occupation Society.

"And I think that if they can find a new lease of life, in a useful role, then it preserves those buildings and helps to tell the story.

"And it gives something back to the infrastructure of the island."

The work on the observation tower means it is now providing income for Jersey Heritage

And there is one place in the island which has been turned from an ugly blot on the landscape into one of its most desirable locations for a scenic break for islanders and visitors.

The former German observation tower and gun emplacement at Corbiere is a grey anomaly against the blue sky and green cliffs, but Jersey Heritage has spent thousands transforming its interior into accommodation that sleeps six people.

The tower, at the south-western point of Jersey, has a 90% occupancy rate, making it one of the island's most successful overnight spots.

"I think this is one of the best examples of a building in Jersey that has been repurposed from its original intended use to a really popular destination for locals and tourists," said Michael Bee of Jersey Heritage.

The view from the lookout tower and gun emplacement at Corbiere
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Global Trade

Roads closed for 8 days after burst water main

by Jacob
written by Jacob

Road closures have been put in place for eight days due to a burst water main in Hull.

Hull City Council said on Friday that there was currently no access to Princes Avenue from Spring Bank, or Spring Bank West.

They added that a diversion was currently in place.

Yorkshire Water has apologised for the inconvenience and said it was working as quickly as it could to fix the issue.

'Nightmare'

One commuter said on Facebook that she had been stuck in traffic queues because of the closures, adding it had been a "nightmare".

Another person said he had struggled to find alternative routes to drive along, as he said that "there's no access to anywhere".

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "Yesterday afternoon (22 May) we completed a repair to a burst main on Princes Avenue in Hull. Unfortunately, the burst caused damage to the road, and we will need to reinstate it before we are able to open it.

"For the safety of our colleagues and of those living and working in the area, there is a one-way road closure and no access to Princes Avenue from Spring Bank or Spring Bank West, whilst we complete the work. There is a diversion in place.

"We apologise to those in the area for the inconvenience and would like to assure everyone that we are working as quickly as we can.

"We are working closely with Hull City Council to ensure that we keep disruption to a minimum, and will open the road as soon as it is safe to do so."

Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Soundslatest episode of Look North here.

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Industry

Stop feeding seagull 'muggers', beachgoers told

by Luna
written by Luna

New signs warning people not to feed seagulls have been put up in towns on the East Yorkshire coast.

More than 30 have been put up in car parks, bus stations and around sea fronts in Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council said feeding the birds turned them into pests and there were "many reports of gulls 'mugging' people for their food".

Councillor Barbara Jefferson, the cabinet member for the coast, said: "We want to make our seaside towns much more pleasant places and encourage people not to turn these wonderful birds into a nuisance."

Posters will be handed out in takeaways asking people to dispose of food properly in bins.

The council wants to encourage seagulls to return to their natural habitat and diet.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council
More than 30 signs have been put up in Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea

A study in 2020 found that seagulls favour human food, which could partly explain why they have been successful in colonising urban areas.

The council said giving the gulls food encouraged scavenging and aggressive behaviour.

Their droppings could also be harmful to human health, the authority added.

The warning comes after a study found seabird droppings to be the "main contributor" to pollution on Bridlington South Beach.

Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Soundslatest episode of Look North here.

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Business

Rowing doctors bid to set world record for charity

by Linda
written by Linda

A rowing team including several doctors from Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey will attempt to set a new world record from Monday.

The group of 12 will try to row 1,000,000 metres non-stop on a pair of rowing machines in less than 62 hours at London's Paddington Station.

They are also hoping to raise £169,000 for a Hampshire charity that provides exercise therapy for children.

The team is led by anaesthetist Gihan Ganesh, whose daughter received treatment for a rare tumour when she was a year old.

He said he took up rowing as the only brief exercise he had time for during her treatment.

He has set the target of £169,000, as it will be £1,000 for every day she was treated.

The money will be used to help the Momentum in Fitness charity provide exercise therapy at the Piam Brown children's cancer ward of Southampton General Hospital.

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Global Trade

ICC prosecutor steps aside until sexual misconduct probe ends

by Ian
written by Ian

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has temporarily stepped aside until a sexual misconduct probe against him is concluded.

Karim Khan will take leave until the end of the external investigation, which began late last year, and his deputy prosecutors will run the office in his absence, the ICC said in a statement.

Previous media reports cited a document outlining accusations against Mr Khan, understood to include unwanted sexual touching and "abuse".

Mr Khan has denied the allegations, which were reported to the court's governing body in October. His lawyers said he had no intention of stepping down.

  • ICC announces investigation into chief prosecutor
  • ICC prosecutor denies sexual misconduct allegations

Several organisations and ICC staff members had previously called for Mr Khan to step down during the investigation.

It is unknown when the external investigation – led by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services – will come to an end.

An anonymous source told Reuters news agency that Mr Khan spoke to UN investigators last week for a final interview as part of the process.

Reuters reported that it had seen a letter Mr Khan sent to his staff confirming his temporary leave, and in which the prosecutor said his position had been kept under constant review.

"My decision is driven by deep and unwavering commitment to the credibility of our Office and the Court, and to safeguard the integrity of the process and fairness to all involved," he reportedly said in the letter.

In a written statement, Mr Khan's lawyers rejected all allegations of wrongdoing, saying he had taken leave because media attention on the matter affected his ability to properly focus on his job.

They added: "Our client remains the prosecutor, has not stepped down and has no intention of doing."

Shortly after the allegations came to light last year, Mr Khan asked the ICC's watchdog, the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM), to conduct an internal investigation into the claims.

The court's governing body later decided to pursue it externally to "ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process," its president said.

The investigation comes during intense scrutiny of the ICC and Mr Khan after his request for arrest warrants linked to the Israel-Hamas war – including for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Israel is not an ICC member and its government, along with Netanyahu, strongly rejected the accusations.

In February this year, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials while Netanyahu visited Washington DC.

The ICC said the US sanctions have put the court itself at risk and called on its member states and global civil society to "stand united for justice and fundamental human rights".

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Tech

Torbay Stagecoach fleet to become 100% electric

by Robert
written by Robert

A new fleet of all-electric buses will be deployed in Torquay this winter, thanks to a funding boost from the Department for Transport (DfT), Torbay Council has said.

A cash injection of £361,000 from the DfT means more than £7.4m is available to purchase a fleet of 55 new all electric, zero-emission vehicles, the council said.

It said it would make Stagecoach's Torquay depot the company's first fully-electric depot in the South West.

Funding for the fleet comes from the DfT's Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 2 scheme – created to help transport authorities and operators to make the transition to zero-emission fleets.

'An excellent result'

Torbay Council said over the course of the buses' lifespans, they would result in carbon dioxide savings equal to taking about 2,000 diesel cars off the road, as well as improving air quality in the area.

Peter Knight, managing director at Stagecoach South West, said this was "an important milestone" on the road to net zero.

Councillor Adam Billings, cabinet member for pride in place and parking, said the new fleet was "an excellent result" for the people of Torbay.

He said: "The new buses will be better to travel in and their lack of tailpipe emissions will contribute to improving air quality.

"This will particularly benefit our town centres as well as cyclists and pedestrians generally."

Billings said the fleet would provide an "improved public transport travel option", adding he was confident it would result in more people choosing to travel by bus.

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