19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on Buildings evacuated as cops swoop on major city centre to probe ‘suspicious package’ as shoppers urged to stay away
BUILDINGS near a city centre have been evacuated after a “suspicious package” was discovered.
Birmingham City Centre Police were alerted just before 3pm today.
GettyThe Centenary Square in Birmingham[/caption]
Cops shut down Centenary Square, near the busy Birmingham New Street station.
The force has urged the public to avoid the area.
A statement on social media read: “We’ve currently got a cordon in place around Centenary Square, Birmingham city centre, while we investigate a suspicious package.
“We were alerted just before 3pm, and a number of buildings have been evacuated as a precaution while it’s assessed.
19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on PNP launches ‘support network’ for women cops’ professional dev’t
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday launched the project team for its “women’s support network,” an initiative in a bid to boost female personnel’s professional development. This was done in a ceremony in Camp Crame, Quezon City to kick off the Police Community Relations Month. “Created under PNP Memorandum Circular 2025-015,
19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on The best horse in the world absolutely smashed in for £1million race as bookies fear gigantic payout
A MASSIVE gamble is building on the world’s best horse – as bookies fear a punter onslaught at Sandown on Saturday.
John & Thady Gosden’s outstanding four-year-old Ombudsman has an official rating of 128.
ReutersOmbudsman was crowned best horse in the world after his awesome Royal Ascot win – and is being backed to repeat the feat in the Coral-Eclipse[/caption]
And, worryingly for his rivals, Thady says the Godolphin-owned colt is getting even better.
Ombudsman left his rivals for dead with a devastating turn of foot in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.
And Paddy Power report it being one-way traffic in the betting ahead of the £1million Coral-Eclipse.
Ombudsman is all set to run – renewing his partnership with William Buick despite his 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court being among the list of potential runners too.
Victory for Ombudsman, who Paddy think could go off odds-on having been pumped in from 13-8 to 11-8 to evens, would be a killer for bookies.
They enjoyed a stellar Royal Ascot with a number of fancied runners getting turned over, memorably thanks to big-price winners such as 33-1 Cercene and 25-1 Time For Sandals.
But punters will be baying for blood in the 1m2f Group 1 at the Surrey track.
Paddy’s Paul Binfield said: “Ombudsman has really been the only horse that anyone has wanted since we adjusted the market at the five-day stage, arguably because of doubts about some of his possible rivals actually turning up on the Esher slopes and it’s now very possible that he’ll go off a shade of odds-on on the actual day.”
Race sponsors Coral currently hold the biggest price at 6-4 but that has been clipped in too.
The firm’s David Stevens said: “Although we don’t yet know the final line-up for Saturday’s first ever £1m Coral-Eclipse, we do know it’s all systems go with Ombudsman.
“And following his impressive Royal Ascot victory, he’s the clear pick with punters at this stage.”
Thady, who trains alongside his legendary dad John, was confident in the colt’s ability speaking on Tuesday.
He said: “He has come out of Royal Ascot in very good order and only had one run beforehand this season at Sandown in the Brigadier Gerard when he was second to Almaqam.
“He hasn’t had a hard season or really a hard career so far so we thought why not go for this?
“The Prince Of Wales’s was a very tough race with a lot of Group One horses in there.
“He is still relatively inexperienced and that was his first run in a Group One.
“We always thought he had the potential to be a horse of the class he has turned out to be and we found that out on the day at Ascot.
“He had a few traffic problems at Ascot but luckily has that turn of foot that Night Of Thunder seems to give them and he picked up really well.
“He has plenty of speed – he’s always had it. He has improved with every start and got the mile and a quarter well last time.”
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19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on Traditional English seaside town reveals huge £1.8million pier transformation
THE historic Great Yarmouth Pier is in the midst of a makeover.
Its pier along the Golden Mile seafront has been open since 1901, and thanks to new funding, it has undergone a major transformation with more to come.
Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth has undergone a transformationFacebook/National Piers SocietyAlamyIt’s ditched the bright orange lettering and big entertainment signs[/caption]
Britannia Pier was always recognisable from the huge advertisements of its upcoming shows and celebrity performers, to its orange 1970s style sign lettering.
After £1.8million worth of funding, it now has a new look.
The building is sleek and white with grey letters and detailing, looking worlds away from the facade it has had for a number of years.
The original wooden Britannia Pier was built in Great Yarmouth in 1858, but was demolished in 1899.
In 1901, a new steel and timber frame was constructed but was destroyed after a series of fires and rebuilt.
Then in 2022, the pier was bought by Triangle Amusements who applied for planning permission to upgrade the site.
Since then, there has been a new amusement arcade and a new front.
And a second phase of work is expected to start in October 2025, which will focus on the food stalls and cabin.
Despite the ongoing works, the pier is open during the summer and ready for business too.
Comedy acts including Jimmy Carr, top tribute acts including Abba, Whitney Houston, Queen and Elvis will be hitting the pier.
AlamyPhase two of the upgrade is set to go ahead in October[/caption]
There’s also a Summy Kids Party event (tickets £3) taking place every Wednesday from 6.30-9.30pm before the free fireworks display.
Great Yarmouth has everything you need for a classic British beach break.
Last year, Sun readers put together their favourite spots that you just cannot miss like the Joyland amusement park.
There you’ll find the Super Snails ride, Tubs, Jet Cars, Spook Express and Neptune’s Kingdom as well as slush drinks and ice-creams.
Another reader suggested the Breydon Water nature reserve.
When it comes to beaches, one of the favourites is the nearby Goreleston-on-Sea that they said is “considerably more quiet.”
They went on to add that it’s a “lovely sandy beach and has a nice restaurant called The Fig which is a pizzeria/Greek restaurant overlooking the beach.”
19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on Game is shutting down MORE stores in just weeks with 20% off ‘everything must go’ sale
BRITISH retailer GAME has announced the closure of yet another store as it dials back its presence on the highstreet.
The retailer’s long-standing Chatham store, inside the Pentagon Centre, will shut in September.
Google mapsThe video game retailer has undergone significant restructuring and downsizinG[/caption]
The GAME shop in Victoria Centre, Nottingham, is also set to close its doors next month.
Stock in all stores must go, with most items being flogged at 20 per cent off.
GAMEsells a variety of video games, consoles and pop culture merchandise.
Shoppers in the Chatham store can get 20 per cent off all full price toys, board games, LEGO, video games, plushies and gaming accessories like headphones.
The Chatham branch narrowly avoided closure in 2020 when 40 locations across the UK were axed.
The retailer has shut a number of its locations across the UK in recent months.
TheFrasers Group, which acquired GAME in 2019 as part of a £52million deal, has been converting stores into concessions withinSports Directand other stores owned by the group.
The video game retailer has undergone significant restructuring and downsizing.
While plans don’t indicate that the stores will disappear from the British high street completely many locations are expected to close.
GAME, in Festival Place, Basingstoke, will also be holding a 20 per cent off everything closing down sale before shutting up shop for good on August 10.
The retailer has given no reason for the abrupt departures from shopping centres in the UK.
However, the decline comes amid a significant drop in sales of physical video games, compared to Game’s heyday in the early 2000s.
The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) revealed that in 2022, nearly 90 per cent of all video games sold in the UK were digital downloads.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on Never buy deodorant again thanks to a 20p a go Boots buy that STOPS you sweating – yes even in this heat
A BEAUTY whizz has shared her top tip to put a stop to smelly pits this summer.
Elle McNamara (AKA Bambi Does Beauty) took to social media to share her summer hack just in time for the hot weather.
tiktok/@bambidoesbeautyElle shared her top beauty secret for summer[/caption]
GettyIt means you won’t have to worry about smelly pits[/caption]
The 34-year-old revealed that the buy stops your armpits from smelling, and it works even better than deodorant.
In the clip, she said: “You know when people say this beauty tip is going to change your life?
“Well this one actually will. Personal Hygiene Tip 101.
“If you use this face wash on your underarms, you won’t even need to wear deodorant.”
She recommended using a shower gel with 4% Benzoyl Peroxide.
She said the product, which is often used to treat bacterial acne, also kills the bacteria which causes your sweat to smell.
Instead of using it on your face, Elle recommended applying it to your underarms for a few minutes, like a face mask, before washing it off.
She added: “For my sweaty gals who want a non-stanky summer!
“Just make sure to use a separate washcloth to remove it cos benzoyl peroxide stains the life out of everything.”
It’s best to use a 4 or 5% product as any stronger may cause a rash under the arms.
TescoThe facewash kills bacteria on the skin[/caption]
She also recommended using it just once a week and it should be enough to keep the smell at bay.
You can buy the face wash Acnecide from Tesco for as little as £10 and it will cost less than 20p a go.
The clip went viral on her TikTok account @bambidoesbeauty with over 734k views and 31k likes.
People were quick to thank her in the comments.
One person wrote: “Yes, it definitely works but you need to wash it off super well otherwise it’s going to stain your clothes!”
How to keep cool in hot weather
Most of us welcome hot weather, but when it's too hot, there are health risks. Here are three ways to keep cool according to the NHS...
Keep out of the heat if you can.
If you have to go outside, stay in the shade especially between 11am and 3pm, wear sunscreen, a hat and light clothes, and avoid exercise or activity that makes you hotter.
Cool yourself down.
Have cold food and drinks, avoid alcohol, caffeine and hot drinks, and have a cool shower or put cool water on your skin or clothes.
Keep your living space cool.
Close windows during the day and open them at night when the temperature outside has gone down. Electric fans can help if the temperature is below 35 degrees. Check the temperature of rooms, especially where people at higher risk live and sleep.
Another commented: “They also have a spray that works well.”
“Tried it – works like charm! especially in the summer,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “It most definitely works 100%, I only use it like 2 times a week and it’s magic.”
“It’s amaaaaaaazing, hands down beats any product for sweat,” claimed a fifth
Someone else added: “I always love your hacks they always work so well for me.”
19 hours agoBlogsComments Off on Wimbledon hit by travel chaos with SEVERE DELAY warning after fire alert
WIMBLEDON fans face travel chaos after Transport for London issued a “severe” warning on Tuesday.
A fire alert at Southfields – the nearest Underground station to the All England Club grounds – saw the District Line grind to a halt.
The worrying update was shared midway through day two’s exciting action in SW19, as temperatures reached a staggering 34C.
And TFL warned fans should expect “severe delays” with “no service” on a huge chunk of Tube track.
A TFL statement read: “No service between Parsons Green and Wimbledon and SEVERE DELAYS between Edgware Road and Parsons Green while we respond to a fire alert at Southfields.”
There’s also an issue further up the District Line, which could prevent some fans getting to or leaving the grounds.
The update continued: “NO SERVICE between Turnham Green and Richmond while Network Rail fix a signal failure at Gunnersbury.”
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