Latest news with #SouthernEngland
Arab News
a day ago
- Sport
- Arab News
Fritz wins twice in one day to step up Eastbourne title defense
EASTBOURNE, southern England: Taylor Fritz enjoyed two wins in one day as the world NO. 5 beat Joao Fonseca and Marcos Giron on Thursday to move closer to a fourth Eastbourne title. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Fritz's second round clash with rising Brazilian star Fonseca was suspended at one set all due to bad light on Wednesday. Defending champion Fritz took the first set 6-3, but the 18-year-old Fonseca, ranked 57th, hit back to win the second 7-6 (7/5). When play resumed on Thursday morning, Fritz won the deciding set 7-5 to reach the last eight. The 27-year-old, who won the grass-court tournament in Stuttgart earlier in June, returned to court just hours later and was pushed to the brink by fellow American Giron. Top seeded Fritz eventually prevailed against the world No. 46, winning 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 to book a semifinal date with Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Friday. Davidovich Fokina, ranked 28th, beat Czech third seed Jakub Mensik 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter-finals. The other semifinal pits French fourth seed Ugo Humbert against American world No. 149 Jenson Brooksby. Humbert beat Billy Harris 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, while Brooksby, who entered the tournament as a 'lucky loser' after a withdrawal, defeated Dan Evans 6-2, 6-3. In the women's event at Devonshire Park, Australian teenager Maya Joint followed her shock second round victory over former US Open champion Emma Raducanu by reaching the semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Russian Anna Blinkova. Joint, 19, will face 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 2-6, 6-0. Alexandra Eala, a 20-year-old Filipino qualifier, won 6-1, 6-2 against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska to earn a semifinal against Varvara Gracheva. World No. 74 Eala is an emerging talent on the WTA Tour, having made her breakthrough with a surprise run to the Miami Masters semifinals in March. French qualifier Gracheva was given a walkover into the last four when Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova pulled out of their quarterfinal with a thigh injury. Krejcikova, the world No. 17, is awaiting the outcome of a scan before deciding if she can defend her Wimbledon title next week. 'I'm very sorry to have to withdraw from my quarter-final today in Eastbourne as I'm having some soreness in my right thigh,' she said. 'Overnight it just didn't get any better; it actually got worse. I think it's better with Wimbledon in the next couple of days just to rest it and to see what's going on and to resolve that.'
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Washington Post
Double-decker bus carrying students plunges into river in England in 'terrifying' crash
LONDON — A double-decker bus carrying high school students plunged into a river in southern England on Thursday, sending the driver and four teens to the hospital and leaving more than a dozen others with minor injures, officials said. The bus was bound for Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, a school for 16- to 18-year-olds, when it went off a road in Eastleigh and plunged into the River Itchen. The cause of the crash was being investigated by police and the bus company. 'It must have been terrifying,' said Inspector Andy Tester of the Hampshire Constabulary. All 19 passengers on board were either able to get off the bus or were rescued, police said. The bus driver and one student had serious injuries but were expected to survive. Police said there was no indication as to why the bus veered off the road. But a woman who said she heard a screeching sound and saw the crash said the driver told her he couldn't stop. 'I heard some noise, I looked out of the window and he just came careening into the river,' Kelly West said. 'It felt very fast and obviously he just went straight through the barriers and into the river.' West rushed to the scene and found the driver trapped and panicking. She reassured him that help was on the way. 'He said the brakes failed and the accelerator was jammed and that he was trying to avoid cars,' West said. The bus was sitting upright in the river, next to a bridge, water up to its axels. Its front windows were smashed and mud was splattered on its side. A large section of bridge railing was missing. West said she helped some of the shaken students get off the bus and to her garden. About 14 students were treated at the scene by paramedics, the South Central Ambulance Service said. Two helicopters, five ambulances and fire crews responded to the crash. The Bluestar Bus said it did not immediately know the circumstances of the crash.
CTV News
7 days ago
- CTV News
Sunrise at Stonehenge draws druids, pagans and revellers to celebrate the summer solstice
People gather at Stonehenge, England, during sunrise on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Zhanna Manukyan/PA via AP) LONDON — As the sun rose on the longest day of the year Saturday, a crowd erupted in cheers at Stonehenge where the ancient monument in southern England has clocked the summer solstice over thousands of years. The orange ball crested the northeast horizon behind the Heel Stone, the entrance to the stone circle, and shone its beam of light into the center of one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments. The solstice is one of the few occasions each year when visitors are allowed to walk among the stones, which are otherwise fenced off. The crowd gathered before dawn at the World Heritage Site to mark the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, beating the heat during the U.K.'s first amber heat-health alert issued since September 2023. Temperatures later topped 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Surrey, 80 miles (128 kilometres) east of Stonehenge, the hottest temperature recorded in the U.K. this year. About 25,000 sun devotees and other revelers, including druids, pagans, hippies, locals and tourists, showed up, according to English Heritage which operates the site. More than 400,000 others around the world watched a livestream. 'This morning was a joyous and peaceful occasion with the most beautiful sunrise,' said Richard Dewdney, head of operations at Stonehenge. 'It is fantastic to see Stonehenge continuing to enchant and connect people.' Stonehenge was built in stages 5,000 years ago on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain approximately 75 miles (120 kilometres) southwest of London. The unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C. Some of the so-called bluestones are known to have come from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles (240 kilometres) away, and the altar stone was recently discovered to have come from northern Scotland, some 460 miles (740 kilometres) away. The site's meaning has been vigorously debated. Theories range from it being a coronation place for Danish kings, a druid temple, a cult center for healing, or an astronomical computer for predicting eclipses and solar events. The most generally accepted interpretation is that it was a temple aligned with movements of the sun — lining up perfectly with the summer and winter solstices. Brian Melley, The Associated Press
Washington Post
7 days ago
- Washington Post
Sunrise at Stonehenge draws druids, pagans and revelers to celebrate the summer solstice
LONDON — As the sun rose Saturday on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a crowd erupted in cheers at Stonehenge where the ancient monument in southern England has clocked the summer solstice over thousands of years. The orange ball crested the northeast horizon behind the Heel Stone, the entrance to the stone circle, and shone its beam of light into the center of one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments. The solstice is one of the few occasions each year when visitors are allowed to walk among the stones, which are otherwise fenced off.
Telegraph
20-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Will you pay more council tax to fund the North? Use our tool to find out
Households across southern England that pay less than £2,000 a year in council tax are facing an increase in their bills to fund the North. Angela Rayner is cutting the amount of central government funding that local authorities which set low bills will receive. The Tories accused the Deputy Prime Minister of 'punishing' these councils and putting them under pressure to either cut services or increase council tax to cover the funding shortfall. The changes could lead to bills rising across southern England to enable more money to be sent to northern cities. About half of council income comes from central government, and Labour claims that the way it is shared between councils is unfair. There are 13 councils that charge less than £2,000 a year in council tax, all of them in London. However, town halls can only put up council tax by a maximum of 5 per cent unless a local referendum approves a higher rate, or the Government gives them permission to do so. The plans for what Ms Rayner believes is a 'progressive' redistribution were unveiled in a consultation document published on Friday. It will change the way that central government grants are shared out, based on calculations of what local authorities could raise if all areas charged the same rates of council tax based on their housing mix. The document states: 'The Government is proposing to set a notional council tax level that achieves the objective of full equalisation. 'To fully equalise against the council tax base, we set the notional council tax level at the average Band D level of council tax in England in scope of these reforms (c£2,000 in 2026-27).' The Government will also introduce a new formula for accounting central government funding based on local needs, including population, poverty and age. Ms Rayner believes it is unfair that people living in the North often pay hundreds of pounds more in council tax than those in southern areas. For example, a three-bedroom semi-detached home in Hartlepool generates a council tax bill higher than a 10-bedroom home in Westminster valued at £80 million. The combination of the two changes will mean steep falls in grant income for wealthier councils, mainly in London and the South East, forcing them to either raise council tax rates to make up the shortfall or cut public services. Ms Rayner also unveiled changes to council tax collection to stamp out 'unacceptable, aggressive' practices. To help households manage their finances, she proposes to change council tax billing from 10 months to 12 months. Council tax bills tend to be paid through 10 instalments (from April to January) and the majority of the 25 million council tax bills issued each year in England are paid by this method. But 12 month instalments could help households to spread the cost of their bills over a longer period. The Government is also looking at enforcement processes, including 'a more appropriate and proportionate time frame' before councils can demand a full bill from households. When someone fails to pay council tax, a reminder can be sent seven days after a missed payment. Following that, if the bill remains unpaid seven days after the reminder notice has been issued, the full amount due for the year becomes payable.
