Latest news with #crossing
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
New crossing work completed at busy city junction
A new pedestrian and cycle crossing has been installed at a junction on a busy road in Leicester. The £95,000 scheme has seen a new signal-controlled pedestrian and cycle crossing and a zebra crossing created at the traffic lights at the junction of Blackbird Road and Parker Drive. The crossing aims to improve safety for pedestrians after new homes were built in Somerset Avenue, with funding for the crossing from the developer, the city council said. Assistant mayor for transport Geoff Whittle said the installation has extended "safer routes for walkers, wheelers and cyclists" in the area. Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. More on this story New pedestrian crossing plan for busy road Revamp of city's 'most confusing junction' complete Related internet links Leicester City Council
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
New crossing work completed at busy Leicester junction
A new pedestrian and cycle crossing has been installed at a junction on a busy road in £95,000 scheme has seen a new signal-controlled pedestrian and cycle crossing and a zebra crossing created at the traffic lights at the junction of Blackbird Road and Parker crossing aims to improve safety for pedestrians after new homes were built in Somerset Avenue, with funding for the crossing from the developer, the city council mayor for transport Geoff Whittle said the installation has extended "safer routes for walkers, wheelers and cyclists" in the area.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Who is Borna Sosa and why have Crystal Palace signed him?
It didn't take Borna Sosa long to demonstrate why Crystal Palace have bought him. In the first half of Saturday's 1-0 win against Championship neighbours Millwall, Palace's opening pre-season friendly, his in-swinging corner was headed back to him. Sosa took a touch to pluck the ball out of the air and control it, adjusted his body and flicked in a dangerous cross with the outside of his boot, only for team-mate Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to guide it over the crossbar. Advertisement Later in the half, Adam Wharton received a pass in the middle, spotted a run Sosa was making into Millwall territory and played a ball ahead of a colleague so new he'd only signed the previous day, for just £2million ($2.7m), from leading Dutch club Ajax. Sosa quickly shifted it out of his feet and crossed again, this time wrapping his foot around the ball, and found Jean-Philippe Mateta, who glanced a header wide of the goal. It was an otherwise unremarkable start to Palace's programme of five warm-up games ahead of the coming season but those were two of the day's more notable moments and served as an excellent representation of the fact that crossing is such a staple of the 27-year-old's game. To be compared with David Beckham is to immediately prompt raised eyebrows. It is easy to see why the comparison was made by Stuttgart's then sporting director Sven Mislintat when speaking about Sosa, Palace's new left wing-back, during his five years with the German club; the flowing blond hair held back by an Alice band is a bit of a giveaway. Far more relevant, though, is the impeccable accuracy and danger levels of his crossing and set-piece deliveries. That, though, is where the similarities tend to end between Sosa, who is left-footed, and the right-footed former England, Real Madrid and Manchester United star — who, according to Mislintat, is the Croatia international's idol. For Palace, this transfer finally presents a possible solution to an issue that has nagged at them for the past four years. Tyrick Mitchell, so dependable as a left-back and a player who has adapted impressively to the wing-back role under manager Oliver Glasner since his appointment 18 months ago, has had no cover or competition for his place since Patrick van Aanholt left the south London side in July 2021. Advertisement It is testament to Mitchell's work rate, fitness and professionalism that he has held his own over that time as Palace prioritised other areas. But, until Ben Chilwell's loan from Chelsea in January, he was their only option at the position. Mitchell played 37 times in the Premier League last season and has missed just six games in total over the four seasons. There has been nobody to come in when he played through minor injury, nor to push him to be more confident in attacking situations. Now, that should change. Sosa's arrival represents good value for money as a squad player, which is how Palace view him. His reputation has diminished somewhat since the days he was attracting interest from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund while in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart, but he has 26 caps for Croatia. An underwhelming 2023-24 debut season in the Netherlands led to a season-long loan at Torino, but the Serie A side did not see enough to warrant exercising their option to make the move permanent this summer. He had joined Ajax in the same summer that Mislintat began work as their sporting director, but the Amsterdam club operated primarily in a 4-3-3 setup which did not suit Sosa, given it required him to take on considerably more defensive responsibilities. Going forward is where his talents lie. Excellent on the ball and capable of crossing high and wide or low and narrow, he offers plenty in such situations. He is able to get beyond defenders but tends to prefer to cross, and is excellent at finding space to enable him to do so, rather than attacking the penalty area and driving into space. His carry progression last season with Torino placed him in only the 13th percentile relative to other left-backs in Serie A (87 per cent of them did better), strongly highlighting his preference to move the ball out from his feet and cross or pass over progressing it up the pitch. On the ball he is strong, with passing accuracy and intelligence considered to be a key part of his game, alongside good set-piece ability. In 2022-23, his final season with Stuttgart, Sosa attempted (255) and completed (80) the most crosses, and created the most chances (25) from such deliveries, of any Bundesliga player. Only Bayern duo Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman accumulated more expected assists per 90 minutes. With Torino, though, his creative output was not especially high, putting him in the 16th percentile. Mitchell, in contrast, was in the 86th percentile, although that may be in part due to the respective styles and performances of the two clubs. Sosa's role in attack beyond crossing tends to be helping his team-mates by creating space off the ball. Defensively, there are question marks. Sosa struggles to prevent opposition attackers from progressing beyond him and can also find it difficult to recover quickly, therefore potentially exposing his team's defence — although last season he was above average with his one-v-one defending success rate. He is familiar with the high-pressing approach from his days in the Bundesliga and his ability to play higher up the pitch will suit Palace's system under Glasner. Advertisement The Dinamo Zagreb academy graduate is considered to be someone who is outstanding at the things he does well, but otherwise has limitations. Palace must keep an eye on the recruitment strategy that has served them well in recent seasons and identify younger talent to improve. They would argue, though, that bringing in such apparently reliable and cheap cover allows them to spend more lavishly elsewhere to attract those more youthful players. They consider Sosa to be sufficient backup for Mitchell and strong value for money. It is a signing in keeping with that of goalkeeper Walter Benitez, who joined on a free transfer after his contract with Dutch champions PSV expired this summer — opportunistic and a good-value way to provide cover in an area where it was required. Yet if Sosa can step up to the level of the Premier League and Glasner can bring the best out of him, Palace may have found a competitor for Mitchell at a bargain price.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- The Guardian
Dinghies at dawn and a determination to arrive: on the French coast waiting to cross to UK
It is 5.45am, the dawn light strengthening. A large inflatable dinghy carrying 20 or more has come discreetly to the east end of the beach at Gravelines. Though it looks packed from the shore, it is perhaps only two-thirds full, according to regular observers, each person wearing a fluorescent lifejacket, soon to embark on a risky crossing from France to the UK. For a few minutes the boat halts several metres from shore, probably waiting for others to run from the scrubland behind the beach where some have been hiding all night to try to get on. But the only people waiting are a small group of journalists. Once it becomes clear there is nobody else to pick up, the boat's engine fires up, heading north-west to England, while one person onboard waves back with the sign of peace. In London, where France's president, Emmanuel Macron, is visiting, further proposals are being discussed to stem the numbers of people coming to the UK in small boats. But on Thursday morning in northern France, the more significant variables are the strength of the wind and the height of the waves. It is calm, ideal for crossing after days of higher winds. As the dinghy sets off, it becomes clear that a small number of French police officers have been watching from the dunes, about a kilometre or so away. It is estimated that 1,800 officers patrol the coast, a security effort partly funded by Britain, which is paying France about £480m under a three-year deal ending in 2026. But the size of the beaches and the length of the coastline used by migrants and refugees – roughly 70 miles – makes stopping all the boats impossible. Even so, leaving is not simple. Another dinghy had got stuck in the mud as a group tried to embark from the canal that runs through the centre of Gravelines at about 5am. Though the people onboard were rescued by the fire brigade, according to aid workers at Utopia 56 the police then used teargas to break up a group that had collected. Others then tried to restart the boat's engine but, with the tide going out, the effort failed and for a time they were stuck in the thick canal mud before being rescued. The most significant factor, though, is the determination of those to arrive, the human spirit, so often driven by necessity, which overpowers the relentless political and security initiatives during 20 years of efforts to half irregular flows of people to the UK. It is an obvious point but, in debates about migrant numbers, essential to repeat. Two days earlier, in the makeshift camp near Grande-Synthe west of Dunkirk, where people typically have originally come from troublespots and war zones in Asia and Africa, Khaled, an Afghan, suggests that the Guardian search on ChatGPT on a mobile phone. This is unexpected, but he wants to show that his wife is a noted human rights activist – a picture produced in a search looks exactly like her. 'Please don't identify us,' adds Khaled (not his real name), because 'it is dangerous for my parents back home. We don't want the Taliban to know we have left the country.' The couple and their boy, now five, have been travelling overland for a year after initially fleeing to Iran, but such is his nervousness that he does not want their faces to be photographed as he talks, his son playing around him. People have made lengthy, dangerous journeys to get this far. One, Bashir, says he has already travelled 'nine days in a boat from Senegal from Spain' – and so the prospect of crossing the Channel does not appear to unduly worry a person like him, though 19 people have been reported to have died or disappeared trying to make the crossing so far this year. Like several others, he says French police slashed a dinghy he had got into with a knife, making it sink before it had left shallow water, a tactic exposing refugees and migrants to more danger and trauma. 'I will try again,' he says simply. The squalor in the camp remains profound and in many respects little has changed in the two-and-a-half years since this reporter previously visited. There is no sanitation, though one charity, Roots, provides basic showers. Charities distribute food and provide electricity for phone charging. People cook on open fires – and offer visiting reporters tea. Though it feels safe to walk around with a photographer and talk to the those at the camp, there are dangers. There were two non-fatal shootings on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, the police presence was nervy as the Guardian arrived just as the victim, who had been shot in the leg three times, was evacuated by ambulance. Two migrants were killed in separate incidents last month. Aid groups such as Utopia 56 argue that if the camps were 'more dignified' there would be less violence. This time, however, there is a growing minority of women and children. Next to the Afghans are camped a group of Somalis. Five women fleeing the violent, unstable country gather around to talk. Yasmiin acknowledges she tried and failed to obtain asylum in the Netherlands, and says because the UK is outside the EU's system she has a second chance in the UK, before she playfully suggests marriage. 'No, not you. Do you have a brother?' she says. Katie Sweetingham, a coordinator with Care4Calais, a charity that works with refugees and migrants, providing clothes, tents and other non-food items, says there has been a huge increase in families and that at a recent clothes distribution in Dunkirk 'we had about 100 women and about 30 children' turn up. For comparison, the charity budgets for handing out clothes or other items for up to 700 men, though it also admits that stockpiles of clothes and tents are not as high as it would like. Aid workers are not sure why the numbers of women and children have gone up but there is tentative evidence that the cause may be the people smugglers' new taxi boat model, where a large dinghy waits near the edge of a beach, allowing as many people as possible to pile on, creating a dangerous shallow-water scramble that is particularly difficult for children and family groups to navigate. Asmaan, 13, who is nominated by her mother as the family spokesperson because she speaks some English, says she and her family, from Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, were unable to get on a small boat five days earlier. 'We could not get on together, it was too difficult,' though the effort was moot because, she says, the boat was slashed by the French police. Yet, even allowing for the new emphasis on disabling the taxi boats, so far this year as of 6 July at least 21,117 people have made the crossing by a small boat, up 56% compared to the same period in 2024. The asylum claims made by those coming to the UK via small boats are successful 53% of the time. But people coming from certain countries have a very high rate of asylum claims accepted, such as 97% for Afghanistan. Organisations working with refugees and migrants estimate there are perhaps 2,500 in and around Calais and Dunkirk at the moment. Every two days, French police, partly funded by British taxpayers, clear out informal camps in Calais, taking or slashing tents and removing any possessions if their owners are not present. Afterwards, Care4Calais distributes replacements and the cycle repeats. In the rough, wooded open ground near Dunkirk, the clearouts typically take place on Wednesday mornings. However, this week the effort did not take place, prompting some charities to assume it was to avoid negative publicity while Macron was in London and while journalists were likely to be about. Instead, according to Thomas Gilbert, the founder of the refugee support charity Roots, French refuse workers quickly cleared away 'three or four skiploads of rubbish' on Wednesday morning that had been collected by volunteers. 'It's just really frustrating, especially today, it took us probably five or six days for three different groups to collect the rubbish, and they can just show up because of what is happening in the UK,' he says. A more humane approach to the migration crisis is possible, he argues, but it is not the path politicians choose. Names of refugees and migrants have been changed
CTV News
09-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Summer fun at Portage and Main
Summer fun at Portage and Main A coordinated pedestrian crossing at Portage and Main saw hundreds of people giving each other high fives as they crossed the intersection.
