Global Trade

A city's free bus service that has been taking people on short journeys since 2023 is to be axed next year, amid concerns over costs.

Hereford City Council has said its three green, electric Zipper buses, named Handsome Norman, Pilot and Green Horse, will stop running in 2026 when the contract expires.

Last month, the council said the buses were averaging almost 500 passenger journeys per day, describing the figures as "incredible" and proof of the increasing popularity of the service.

Mayor of Hereford Kevin Tillett said it had been a tough decision. "The bottom line is it is costing us a huge amount of money to run this free bus service," he stated.

He added an estimate given before the service started had proved "a bit unrealistic".

"We are only a parish council and we have a very, very modest budget," he said.

Passenger Alison Walker said she used the service "all the time" to pick up her granddaughter on Thursdays and to get to work on Saturdays and Sundays, describing the provision as "great".

But she complained: "Everything we have for free is taken away from us."

She said a lot of older people used the service and said charging passengers fares would be better than losing it. "I'd pay a pound to go on it," she said.

Brian Howarth, who uses the Zipper nearly every day for shopping, visiting town, and "just to get out", said: "If you want to do any shopping in Asda, it's a long walk from the bus station."

He said losing the Zippers "impacted everything", adding: "You'll just have to walk."

The mayor said each journey was currently costing £1.80 per passenger.

He said if journeys were paid for, people would not use the buses.

"We would have to be charging well in excess of £2 a journey to even make it slightly pay its way. We'd probably still end up having to subsidise it," he said.

An RAF veteran who damaged his neck while playing rugby is appealing for people to volunteer for an armed forces charity that helped him when he "most needed it".

Dave Anderson, 54, who lives in Somerset, served for nine years as an RAF technician, and was supported by Help For Heroes following the accident to get into wheelchair rugby, which he said has improved his physical and mental health.

Now he is helping the charity appeal for more volunteers.

Mr Anderson said: "Help for Heroes was there for me when I most needed it. It's really been a lifeline for me… but it needs to recruit more volunteers so it can support more men and women who have served."

A food waste charity has celebrated one year of operations from its Surrey warehouse.

FareShare Sussex & Surrey (FSSS), which collects and distributes surplus food to charities and community groups, marked the first delivery from its Guildford facility in June 2024.

It comes amid Volunteers' Week, an annual UK-wide campaign to recognise the contribution of volunteers to the country.

FSSS, which started operations 23 years ago, says each year it delivers 2.14 million meals, supporting around 17,000 people a week at risk of food poverty.

It expanded by opening its Guildford depot last year.

Carolyn Turner, one of FSSS' 170 volunteers, told the BBC she wanted to join the charity to fight against food waste and poverty.

"I had seen quite a lot in the news about people not having a lot to eat and food just rotting and thought – how do you help that," she added.

Ms Turner, who works as an assistant in the Guildford warehouse six hours a week, said her job involves "helping with whatever needs doing on a given day".

This could involve allocating food into 10kg trays or sorting through "huge amounts of apples or carrots", she added.

But Ms Turner added there was "lots of time for laughing and chatting" with her colleagues.

FSSS chief executive Dan Slatter previously said the charity was opening the Surrey facility to "meet growing demand" in the county.

Infrastructure investment can offer the government the "strong northern story" it needs after recent election losses, the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has said.

He spoke after calling on ministers to back a new Liverpool to Manchester railway line in a meeting at Westminster on Wednesday alongside Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram.

Burnham said the railway line had been promised ten years ago, so it was no surprise that many voters in the North of England "feel so alienated from the system".

The mayor's comments come after he was asked about Labour's disappointing performance in the local elections and the rise of Reform UK.

The northern mayors have asked the government to commit to the new railway in its June spending review, with the aim of work starting in the 2030s.

A report commissioned by the Liverpool-Manchester Railway Board found its construction would deliver an estimated £15 billion boost to the economy and create 22,000 jobs.

Burnham said he recognised the financial pressures facing Chancellor Rachel Reeves, but added "significant resource" was going into the construction of HS2.

He said: "Put in place the development funding to help us work with our private sector partners to put in place the designs and the plans to make this real.

"We believe it's the right ask."

He said it made "complete sense" for the government to back the project while the "world rail industry" was already in the UK working on the high-speed line.

The scheme is part of the mayors' "Northern Arc" project, which aims to create an economic corridor that stretches from the Mersey to the Pennines and beyond.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said the government was "reviewing the position we inherited on HS2 and will set out next steps in due course".

They said transport was "essential" to government plans to boost the economy, adding "that's why we're backing better rail connectivity across the north and working closely with local leaders".

"In the meantime, we're pressing ahead with the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which will transform northern rail connectivity", the spokesman added.

Reform UK has backed one of its county council election candidates in Leicestershire after local Conservatives called for him to be suspended over a racist comment he posted on Facebook in 2013.

The remark, by Coalville North candidate Elliott Allman, accused black drivers of tailgating on the M1 and was re-posted by the X account Reform Party UK Exposed on 2 April.

Mr Allman responded on the same platform, saying: "Fail to see your point. What it shows is a fantastic maturing and development stage. I'm glad you've highlighted this to me. It reminds me of how far I've come."

Reform UK said it was confident Mr Allman's views had matured since the post.

Last week WhatsApp messages – labelled as being from the Reform UK North West Leicestershire branch's group chat – were posted by the same X account.

In them, one contributor suggested Mr Allman could respond to the social media reaction by having his photo taken with a black friend.

"I always have a black mate to pull out my back pocket," the comment said.

It led to a statement from Leicestershire Conservatives, saying they had submitted a formal complaint to Reform UK.

They called on the party to "suspend the member involved while they carry out a full investigation into the apparent widespread racism within their North West Leicestershire branch".

In response, in a statement, Reform UK said: "Mr Allman's comments were made over 12 years ago. We are confident that he and his views have matured and changed since."

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage previously said in September candidates for the 2025 local elections would be "vetted" following a number of controversies during the general election.

The BBC has also contacted Mr Allman for comment. He continues his election campaigning.

The five candidates standing in the Coalville North division of Leicestershire County Council in the election on 1 May are:

• Elliott Allman – Reform UK
• Amanda Briers – Liberal Democrats
• David Kellock – Green Party
• Rebecca Pawley – Labour
• Craig Smith – Conservative Party

Manchester Airport has unveiled plans for a multimillion-pound revamp of Terminal 3.

The plans to update the entrance, security hall and the departure lounge include a 500-seat bar, new shops and security equipment.

The Manchester Airport Group launched its transformation programme in 2015 to double the size of Terminal 2 and close Terminal 1 but the airport has now set out its plans to utilise some of the space in Terminal 1 to expand the adjoining Terminal 3.

Manchester Airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said it was "another exciting step" towards enhancing the experience of passengers.

Bigger footprint

Initial work has already begun on Terminal 3 with the work due for completion next year.

The airport said that Terminal 1 as it currently exists would close but that parts of the building would be retained to give Terminal 3 a bigger footprint.

"Moving to a two-terminal airport is giving us a great opportunity to use some of the existing Terminal 1 space to increase the footprint of Terminal 3," said Mr Woodroofe.

"We're doing that as well as making some all-round improvements to Terminal 3 so passengers will enjoy new security technology, more space, more seats, new retail and food and drink, and more."

Award for architecture

The key part of the airport's decade-long £1.3bn transformation programme is the brand new Terminal 2.

The first phase of the project saw an extension added to the existing Terminal 2 building which opened in 2021.

The airport said it had now served more than 30m passengers and won the Unesco-backed Prix Versailles award for architecture and design.

The second phase of the work, due to be completed later this year, would include a revamp of the existing part of the building with the addition of more than 20 new retailers, bars and restaurants.

Once complete, the airport said the new terminal was set to become the "beating heart" of the airport, with more than 70% of all passengers eventually using it.

The Wagner Group has announced it is withdrawing from Mali following what it called "the completion of its main mission" in the West African country.

The Russian mercenary group has been operating there since 2021, working with the military to challenge Islamist militants.

In a message on its Telegram channel, Wagner said it had "fought terrorism side-by-side with the people of Mali", killing "thousands of militants and their commanders, who terrorised civilians for years".

The withdrawal announcement comes the same day as reports that Malian soldiers had pulled out from a major base in the centre of the country, after it came under a second deadly attack in less than a week.

Mali has been grappling with a militant Islamist insurgency for more than a decade.

Following accusations that the government had been failing to deal with this insecurity, the military seized power a few years ago.

French troops, which were originally deployed to help the civilian government, left the country in 2022. By then, the junta in charge of Mali had already begun working with the Russian mercenaries to combat the insurgents.

There has been a resurgence in jihadist attacks on military bases in the Sahel state in recent weeks.

Last Sunday, an al-Qaeda linked group said it had carried out a major attack on the town of Boulikessi and the army base there.

More than 30 soldiers were killed, according to sources quoted by the news agency Reuters.

Then on Monday, the same group – Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) – said it targeted the military in the historic city of Timbuktu, with residents reporting hearing gunfire and explosions.

Insurgents also attacked an army post in the village of Mahou in the southeastern Sikasso region, killing five.

Locals told the news agency AFP that soldiers withdrew from the Boulkessi base on after a new assault on Thursday led to multiple deaths.

A military source said the departure was "strategic" and "at the request of the hierarchy", the news agency reported.

The increased assaults in the Sahel region have raised concerns about the efficacy of Wagner in the region.

Although the paramilitary group has announced its exit from Mali, Russian forces will still play an active role in the country's security landscape.

Fighters from Africa Corps – a rival Russian mercenary force intended to absorb Wagner's activities on the continent – will remain in Mali.

Russia has an increasing military, political and economic influence in West and Central Africa.

Friday's announcement did not state whether Wagner would be leaving the Central African Republic, where its African headquarters are located.

You may also be interested in:

• Wagner in Africa: How the Russian mercenary group has rebranded
• Was Ukraine's role in big Wagner defeat an own goal in Africa?
• Why Wagner is winning hearts in the Central African Republic

Dance artist Ian Van Dahl and M People singer Heather Small are due to headline a festival in memory of a man who took his own life aged 25.

Organisers of Laybo's Fest in Gainsborough on 17 and 18 May said it aims to "make memories and generate positivity while remembering loved ones we have lost".

The festival, now in its fifth year, is in memory of Leighton Hall who died in May 2019.

The festival launched online during the Covid-19 pandemic but has quickly grown to become one of Gainsborough's biggest annual events and this year, for the first time, it is being held on the pitch at Gainsborough Trinity FC.

The year after he died, Mr Hall's family asked his close friend Matthew Hill to create something to remember him by.

"Leighton was a great friend," Mr Hill said.

"He was such a social character and obviously we miss him very very much.

"The festival itself is our testament to Leighton, our tribute to Leighton and also a show of strength and comfort to anybody that's found themselves in our position of them losing their own Leighton."

Mr Hill said the football pitch would be transformed with pop icons, local acts and workshops.

Another friend of Mr Hall, Emily Kitchener, has organised children from 16 schools to come together to form one large choir on Sunday.

One of the schools taking part is Benjamin Adlard Primary, which Mr Hall attended as a child.

"There are teachers here whose children were in Leighton's class," Ms Kitchener said.

"So it feels really nice to be part of this in somewhere where he will have spent a lot of time being cheeky, I'm sure.

"He was the life and soul of the party and, once he had a microphone in his hand, there was no getting it off him so we bonded over that, doing lots of singing together."

The festival raises money for the charity Laybo's Legacy which helps families with financial aid towards funeral costs of loved ones lost to suicide.

Mr Hall's mother, Niki Hall, said: "It just makes me so proud and it's keeping Leighton's memory alive."

Ms Hall has attended help groups since her son's death and said she took comfort from the fact the festival raises money to help others.

"It needed a person like Leighton," she said.

"That's what keeps me going, because of the person he was. It needed someone like him to make people aware it can happen to anyone.

"Just talk. Even if you're not going for help, just talk."

Ms Kitchener said Mr Hall would have "absolutely loved" the festival.

"I think he'd be so shocked at how big it's got, but he'd be so proud of what everyone's doing as well," she said.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

Plans to build new homes on the outskirts of a village would "harm" the rural character of the area, a planning inspector has said.

Fieldgate Nurseries Ltd wants to build seven new homes, a replacement farm shop and new commercial units at Station Road, Meldreth, Cambridgeshire.

Its initial application was rejected by South Cambridgeshire District Council last year, after it raised concerns about the development's "unsustainable location".

The company appealed against the decision, saying the site was close to existing infrastructure, but the planning inspector dismissed its appeal.

The district council concerns included a lack of "safe pedestrian crossings to the villages and public transport modes", as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In Fieldgate Nurseries Ltd's appeal, it argued the site was well connected to Meldreth and Melbourn, two villages just north of Royston, Hertfordshire.

It also argued there were established paths and transport links, including bus and train travel, which connected the site "to local facilities, as well as larger neighbouring settlements, such as Cambridge and Royston".

"Furthermore, the development aligns with the broader objectives of the local plan to promote sustainable growth by enhancing underutilised sites and improving infrastructure where necessary," it said.

The planning inspector rejected its arguments, saying the proposed homes would still "rely heavily on private motor vehicles to access employment, retail and other necessary day-to-day services and facilities further afield".

It would also cause "harm to the character and appearance of the area" and was at "odds with the site's rural low-key character and appearance", as well as being in conflict with planning policies, according to the inspector.

Germany's Foreign Office has defended a decision to classify the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as right-wing extremist, after sharp criticism from the White House.

US Vice-President JD Vance accused "bureaucrats" of rebuilding the Berlin Wall, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the designation as "tyranny in disguise".

In an unusual move, the foreign office directly replied to Rubio on X, writing: "We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped."

The intelligence agency that made the classification found AfD's "prevailing understanding of people based on ethnicity and descent" goes against Germany's "free democratic order".

The AfD came second in federal elections in February, winning a record 152 seats in the 630-seat parliament with 20.8% of the vote.

The agency, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), had already classed the AfD as right-wing extremist in three eastern states where its popularity is highest. Now, that designation has been extended to the entire party.

The AfD "aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society", it said in a statement. The agency said specifically that the party did not consider citizens "from predominantly Muslim countries" as equal members of the German people.

Joint party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said the decision was "clearly politically motivated" and a "severe blow to German democracy".

Beatrix von Storch, the party's deputy parliamentary leader, told the BBC's Newshour programme that the designation was "the way an authoritarian state, a dictatorship, would treat their parties".

• AfD classified as extreme-right by German intelligence

The new classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the AfD using tactics like phone interception and undercover agents.

"That's not democracy – it's tyranny in disguise," wrote Marco Rubio on X.

But the German Foreign Office hit back.

"This is democracy," it wrote, directly replying to the politician's X account.

The post said the decision had been made after a "thorough and independent investigation" and could be appealed.

"We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped," the statement concluded – a reference to Hitler's Nazi party and the Holocaust.

JD Vance, who met Weidel in Munich nine days before the election and used a speech to the Munich Security Conference to show support for the AfD, said that "bureaucrats" were trying to destroy the party.

"The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt – not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment," he wrote on X.

The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, separated East and West Berlin for nearly 30 years during the Cold War.

The new designation has reignited calls to ban the AfD ahead of a vote next week in the parliament, or Bundestag, to confirm conservative leader Friedrich Merz as chancellor. He will be leading a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

Lars Klingbeil, the SPD leader who is expected to become vice-chancellor and finance minister, said that while no hasty decision would be made, the government would consider banning the AfD.

"They want a different country, they want to destroy our democracy. And we must take that very seriously," he told Bild newspaper.