A fire engulfed a shopping centre in Ukraine’s Sumy after Russian drone strikes hit the building. Ukrainian authorities say emergency crews were forced to suspend their response because drones remained overhead, raising fears of further attacks.
Published On 21 Jul 202621 Jul 2026
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A MASSIVE inflatable obstacle course is set to open at a popular UK shopping centre this weekend.
Dubbed The Monster, the attraction has been described as “one of the world’s biggest inflatable obstacle courses”, with tickets previously selling out across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Abu Dhabi.
Now, the popular course is set to take up residence at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe, Kent for the rest of the summer.
The exciting attraction boasts 1,000 feet of fun, with 40 obstacles, including the 18-metre “Mega Slide”, the mind-blowing “Exterminator” and the terrifying “House of Hell”.
It is set to launch on Saturday (July 18) and will be open daily from 10am to 9pm, with guests able to complete as many laps as they’d like during a 60-minute time slot.
The Monster will be at Bluewater Shopping Centre until Monday, August 31.
During this time, there will be daily quiet sessions for people of all-ages, as well as adults-only slots.
There will also be foam parties with DJs and karaoke on select Saturdays during this time.
The area surrounding the obstacle course will also offer street food and drink vendors, as well as giant games such as Jenga and Connect 4, and Monster Ping-Pong.
Centre Director at Bluewater James Waugh described The Monster as “an incredible attraction”.
“We can’t wait to welcome guests throughout the summer to experience everything it has to offer — from the 300‑metre inflatable obstacle course to the full line‑up of entertainment in the event arena,” he said.
“Tickets are already selling fast, so we are urging people to book their visits sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.”
Admission costs £18 each, while spectator tickets will set you back just £3, with more information available here.
Participants must be at least five years old and one metre tall, while children under four can watch for free.
Walkout over late payments comes as public health officials confirm that the virus has reached two more provinces.
Published On 13 Jul 202613 Jul 2026
Staff at a hospital treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have gone on strike, alleging they have not been paid for months, bringing the facility to a standstill.
Dozens of employees at Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, walked off the job on Monday. The strike action came as authorities revealed that the virus has spread to two further provinces in northern DRC.
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The striking workers included epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and gravediggers.
“We don’t know how it is possible to not have been paid for two months,” Bahati Claude, a health worker at the centre, told The Associated Press.
The outbreak, concentrated in northern DRC, is the worst in Africa’s history and has already caused severe economic damage, pushing nearly one million people into poverty, according to the United Nations.
Efforts to hold back the spread of the virus have been complicated by the presence of paramilitary rebels, who control parts of the region in a bid to access its valuable mineral deposits.
The response to the outbreak has also been complicated by misinformation, deeply rooted burial practices and a lack of trust in health officials.
Health workers have been attacked by communities that believe the disease is a form of witchcraft, while bereaved families have ignored safety protocols by holding traditional burial ceremonies.
DRC’s National Public Health Institute confirmed on Sunday that the virus has spread to two new northeastern provinces: Haut-Uele and Tshopo.
The World Health Organization has warned that an accelerated response from local, national and international partners is urgently needed to bring the outbreak under control.
DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba said last week that the government was working to resolve the payroll issues and ensure employees were paid.
“We must ensure that these payments reach the right people,” Kamba said. “We have faced a few challenges, notably changes to the lists, which have led to complaints from people saying they are not being paid even though they are working. We have the means to sort this out.”
According to the latest figures, the number of Ebola cases in the DRC has risen to 1,926, with 702 deaths. The spread of the disease to Haut-Uele and Tshopo means five provinces now have confirmed Ebola cases.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned that the situation is worsening in areas already affected as transmission accelerates, while the risk of the disease spreading to neighbouring South Sudan is increasing as the outbreak expands into new areas.
Meanwhile, a second United States citizen infected with Ebola was admitted to a special isolation unit at Frankfurt University Hospital in Germany on Monday. Timo Wolf, head of the special isolation unit, said the patient’s condition was “currently stable”.
The man, who is in his 60s, was confirmed to have contracted the disease on Friday while working for a Christian aid group in the DRC.
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On Tuesday, two tankers were attacked as they transited the Strait of Hormuz via a passage in Omani waters. Gulf countries responded by sharply condemning the attacks and blaming Iran. The United States then launched attacks on Iranian territory, to which Tehran responded by striking Bahrain and Kuwait. US President Donald Trump has now said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that Iran and the US signed is void.
This latest escalation illustrates how the Strait of Hormuz has become the central issue in the US-Israel war with Iran that began on February 28. Disagreements over the strait’s future have proven to be the hardest to resolve in the US-Iranian negotiations, as questions about Iran’s nuclear programme have been put to the side.
The disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has an immediate and costly price tag attached, for Iran, for its Gulf neighbours, and for a global economy that has spent four and a half months absorbing the largest oil supply shock in the history of the modern market.
For Tehran, the strait is its strongest card – one that is also incredibly costly. Since the war began, Iranian forces have mined the strait, attacked vessels and cut traffic through the passage by roughly 95 percent. This has led to what the International Energy Agency’s Fatih Birol has called “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.
That leverage is real: about a fifth of the world’s oil and a fifth of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) normally move through Hormuz, and no amount of Gulf pipeline capacity can fully replace it.
But Iran has effectively been strangling its own lifeline along with everyone else’s. Iranian crude, once sold for $3 a barrel less than international benchmarks, is now selling at a 20 percent discount. The country’s oil exports collapsed by more than 90 percent in May as US naval enforcement squeezed its shadow fleet.
Even before the war, the World Bank projected that Iran’s economy would contract in 2026. The impact of the collapse of oil sales will be far-reaching because of the closure.
A 60-day US Treasury waiver issued on June 22, permitting Iran to sell oil at full market rates through August 21, but has now been renounced following the attacks on Tuesday.
This is the economic backdrop to Iran’s insistence on asserting joint authority over the strait and floating a system of transit fees or “service charges” for passing ships. Washington has made clear that Iran cannot charge tolls in international waters governed by the right of transit passage under the Law of the Sea.
For Tehran, the dispute is not really about toll revenue, which would be rather modest when compared to its oil income; it is about establishing precedent and sovereignty over a chokepoint that is its only real point of leverage once sanctions relief and frozen-asset release are negotiated.
The latter is itself contested: Iran wants half of an estimated $25bn in frozen assets released immediately, while the US has resisted. A separate $300bn reconstruction fund floated in the MoU has already become a political flashpoint in Washington.
For the Gulf states, the Strait of Hormuz crisis has meant improvising around geography. Saudi Arabia has redirected crude through its roughly 1,200km (746-mile) East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, and the UAE has leaned on the Habshan-to-Fujairah line to the Gulf of Oman.
Together, though, these pipelines carry a fraction of what Hormuz once did, at best 7 million barrels a day of design capacity for the Saudi line and under 1.8 million for the Emirati one, against roughly 20 million barrels a day that transited the strait before the war.
Both alternatives have themselves come under attack: Iranian strikes cut the East-West pipeline’s throughput by an estimated 700,000 barrels a day in April, and drone attacks disrupted loading at Fujairah. Seaborne crude exports from Gulf states excluding Iran fell by roughly half between February and March.
Qatar, host to the talks between Iran and the US, has its own acute stake: its entire LNG export industry depends on the Strait of Hormuz, and it has been pushing the hardest for a settlement.
Oman, drawn into Iran’s sovereignty claim as co-owner of the strait’s territorial waters, is caught between commercial interest in a resolution and a legal position, as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that publicly rejects Iranian tolls. Iraq, highly dependent on its Gulf terminals, has quietly explored an export route north through Turkiye.
None of these workarounds are cheap, and all of them are political as well as commercial, tying Gulf capitals’ economic fortunes to a settlement between the US and Iran.
Beyond the region, the crisis has been transmitted mainly through two channels: price and insurance. Higher oil prices are passed on to various consumer goods down supply chains and suppress growth. According to estimates, the global economy can slow down to 2.8 percent in 2026 from 3.4 percent last year due to the closure of the strait.
Insurance for Hormuz transit, which cost roughly 0.25 percent of a vessel’s value before the war, has spiked as high as 8 percent, turning a single large tanker’s coverage into a $3m-to-$8m expense. Shipping lines including CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have layered on conflict surcharges of $1,500 to $2,000 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU). Washington’s own International Development Finance Corporation has had to step in as, in effect, an insurer of last resort, offering up to $40bn in reinsurance capacity to keep vessels moving.
China has absorbed the largest share of this pain: It takes close to 40 percent of its crude imports through the Strait of Hormuz and buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s oil exports outright, making it simultaneously Tehran’s most important customer and one of the war’s most exposed bystanders. Japan, which sources 70 percent of its Middle Eastern crude via the strait, has already tapped strategic reserves.
For import-dependent economies across Asia and Europe, the strait’s fate is not an abstraction of Middle East diplomacy; it shows up directly in fuel, freight and fertiliser prices.
Oil and gas dominate the headlines, but roughly 30 percent of the world’s seaborne fertiliser trade also passes through Hormuz.
The World Bank’s fertiliser price index has risen more than 12 percent in the first quarter of 2026 and has since climbed to its highest level since October 2022, driven largely by the closure. The Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that the resulting scarcity of urea and other nitrogen products will show up as lower yields through the 2026–2027 growing season, hitting import-dependent and already food-insecure countries in Africa and Asia the hardest.
Unlike an oil-price spike, which mainly stings at the pump, a fertiliser shortfall reaches into next year’s harvest, meaning an unresolved Hormuz standoff carries a slower-moving but longer tail of economic damage than crude prices alone suggest.
That is the arithmetic weighing on both sides. A deal that reopens the Strait of Hormuz without resolving who controls it risks recreating the same instability that shut it in the first place; one that concedes Iranian toll authority risks a precedent Washington and shipping nations will not accept. Until that circle is squared, the global economy is left pricing in a chokepoint that neither side can fully afford to keep closed, nor fully agree how to reopen.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.
There is growing anxiety among residents after nine Ebola virus patients escaped from a treatment centre in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after a fire outbreak. Authorities and the local population are deeply concerned that these individuals could spread the Ebola disease to other provinces.
On June 30, nine patients suddenly vanished from the health facility after a group of hostile locals set the Nia-Nia Ebola treatment centre on fire. Among the missing patients are two confirmed cases of Ebola infection and seven suspected cases.
According to Joseph Pemanakue, the chief medical officer of the Nia-Nia treatment centre, the patients have still not been found several hours after fleeing the health facility.
“The burnt-down centre was housing two confirmed positive cases of Ebola as well as seven suspected cases. The nine patients fled from the structure and remain to be tracked down, causing fear of an increased propagation of the epidemic within the community,” Joseph said.
The attack on the treatment facility happened after some members of the community refused to surrender the body of a suspected Ebola patient to the medical team. This confrontation escalated quickly, resulting in the destruction of the treatment centre and the loss of a significant stock of medicine and medical equipment.
The local authorities consider the incident to have seriously compromised the efforts to contain the epidemic in Ituri province.
“Some opinion leaders manipulate the population by affirming that Ebola is a business, whereas the disease actually exists. In PK 51, we have recorded ten deaths. A corpse tested positive was removed from a coffin and transported by the population, an action which increases the risk of spreading the disease. The health facility responsible for taking charge of patients, which was created after several efforts, was unfortunately destroyed,” said Alexis Mungaki, a chief of the Ngayo tribal group.
The incident occurred amid heightened tensions between specific communities and the Ebola treatment teams. Health officials are concerned that the escape of confirmed and suspected patients may trigger new transmission chains, as Ituri province continues to be the focal point of the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC.
Nine Ebola patients have escaped from a treatment center in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, following a fire instigated by locals hostile to the medical team.
This incident has heightened concerns among the authorities and locals over the potential spread of Ebola to other regions, as these patients – two confirmed and seven suspected cases – have yet to be located.
The attack on the facility, which also resulted in considerable losses of medical supplies, was escalated by community members refusing to cooperate with health officials. Local leaders express that misinformation, suggesting Ebola as a business ploy rather than a real disease, exacerbates the issue and hinders containment efforts.
With Ituri province central to the ongoing Ebola outbreak, the incident threatens to worsen the epidemic’s impact.
US prosecutors have alleged those involved in the Prairieland Detention Center protest were linked to antifa.
Seven more people have been sentenced to prison over a protest that culminated in a police officer being shot outside an immigration detention centre last year.
A federal court in Fort Worth handed down the latest sentences on Wednesday. Critics, however, say the case could reshape how protest is prosecuted in the United States.
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The case centres on a shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center, near Dallas, Texas, that took place during an antigovernment protest.
Six of the defendants in Wednesday’s sentencing hearing had pleaded guilty to providing material support to “terrorism” and received prison terms ranging from nearly two to 15 years.
A seventh defendant, Ines Soto, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being convicted of “providing material support to terrorists”, as well as charges related to rioting and conspiracy to carry an explosive.
The protest in question took place on the night of July 4, 2025. Activists had gathered outside Prairieland to denounce President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportation. Some set off fireworks. Others have been accused of vandalism.
Prosecutors said that, during the demonstration, former US Marine reservist Benjamin Song shot and wounded a police officer who had just arrived at the centre. Song had reportedly shouted, “Get out the rifles,” prior to opening fire.
The Trump administration has described the protest as an act of “terrorism”, and 19 people were ultimately arrested.
Some of those detained were not present at the Prairieland protest. But the Trump administration has designated antifa — a loose-knit, left-wing antifascist movement — as a “domestic terrorist organisation”, and it accused the protest’s supporters of being part of an “antifa cell”.
Prosecutors for the US Department of Justice also argued that bringing firearms, first aid kits and body armour to the protest showed nefarious intent.
“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement last week.
But civil liberties advocates say the case could have broad implications for protesters nationwide.
It will also likely test the boundaries of the free speech rights protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The Justice Department touted last week’s initial round of sentencing as the first time alleged antifa members were sentenced on criminal charges since Trump issued his executive order designating the group a “domestic terrorist” body.
Lawyers for the defendants, however, have largely denied links to antifa and rejected the prosecution’s characterisation of the protest.
They argued there was no planned ambush and that those carrying firearms only did so for their own protection, as is allowed under the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The fireworks, they added, were meant as a show of support for immigrants detained inside Prairieland.
On June 23, the eight defendants who chose to stand trial were handed lengthy prison terms.
Song was sentenced to 100 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder in the shooting. The seven others received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years. They received a combined 450 years in prison.
One defendant, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, has argued his only crime was to move a box of belongings, including zines. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have characterised his actions as “transporting a box containing numerous Antifa materials” and attempting to conceal them.
Several of the defendants, including Song and Sanchez Estrada, have filed notices of appeal.
In handing down last week’s sentences, US District Judge Reed O’Connor said what happened was not a protest but an “assault on democracy” and that “the need to deter this type of conduct is high”.
Salzburg has begun enforcing a summer ban on visitors driving into its historic centre, picking up a policy modelled by other car-choked European cities plagued by overtourism.
Authorities in Austria’s fourth largest municipal area said they hoped the “less traffic, more city” restrictions in July and August would reduce the number of vehicle entries by 1,000 a day.
As part of the campaign against gridlock, park-and-ride facilities are offering a day ticket including travel on local public transport for five people for €7.50 (£6.45).
“We don’t want chaotic traffic situations like we saw last year,” said the mayor, Bernhard Auinger, when he announced the measure in May. “It is aimed at day trippers who travel by car from farther afield. It is important to me that residents of the central Salzburg area and business-related traffic are not affected by this.”
Auinger said tourists themselves, drawn to attractions such as Mozart’s birthplace and the baroque-style 17th-century cathedral, would also benefit from the policy. “It’s certainly much better than spending hours stuck in traffic. And it also makes life a lot easier for the people who live and work in the city of Salzburg.”
The mayor said mounting complaints by residents about traffic during the summer months had prompted the city to take action. “We basically allowed tourists to drive into our sitting room,” he told the news website Salzburg24.
Patrolling police officers will impose fines of up to €80 on any drivers with numberplates from outside the Salzburg region entering the old town in the radius around the Staatsbrücke (state bridge) spanning the Salzach River.
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Exceptions will be granted to commuters, delivery vehicles, taxis and rental cars, as well as disabled visitors and hotel guests with a reservation confirmation in the restricted zone. German motorists from the neighbouring Bavarian areas of Berchtesgaden and Bad Reichenhall are also exempted.
Heidi Strobl, of the local tourism board, said Salzburg’s policy, approved by the city council in May, had taken a page from the zona a traffico limitato (limited traffic zones) in Italian cities such as Rome, Florence and Pisa as well as a ban in Dubrovnik, Croatia, after they had become inundated with tourist vehicles during the summer months.
Salzburg, whose historic centre is a Unesco world heritage site, has just over 158,000 residents but records more than 3m overnight stays each year. Last year’s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music, the classic movie filmed in the Salzburg region, spurred an extra tourist boom.
Police say several people also injured while the suspected shooter has been arrested.
Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026
Five people have been killed and others wounded in a shooting at a youth welfare centre in the northern German city of Stade, according to police.
Two suspects were detained following the shooting on Monday, one of whom is believed to be the alleged attacker. The motive is not clear.
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“Homicides involving multiple victims occurred at a youth welfare facility,” police said. “Five people were fatally injured and additional individuals sustained injuries.”
Police in Stade said a major operation was being conducted on Dankersstrasse, a street south of the city centre. People were urged to avoid the area and follow the instructions of the emergency services.
Stade is about 40km (25 miles) from Hamburg with a population of half a million.
Former US President Barack Obama opened his presidential centre in Chicago, using the occasion to call for unity, urging Americans to reject division and invest in the next generation.
Published On 19 Jun 202619 Jun 2026
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A CENTRAL city hotel with fun rooms? We’ve got you covered.
Here’s everything you need to know about staying at Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly.
The Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly is set over eight floors, so it has great views over the city.
It looks swanky too – with a curvy glass exterior, a huge bar and Elemis spa. We loved the nods to Manchester bands throughout the hotel.
We had a lovely spacious family room on the eighth floor – with two double beds, lots of wardrobe space, big tv, table and chair AND, a big bathroom with separate bath and shower – which you hardly ever get in a city centre.
It was really clean, really fresh looking and had incredible views.
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We just missed out on staying at the new Banksy-style suites where the walls are adorned with some of their famous artwork, as well as each package including tickets to the exhibition.
A double room starts at £95 for one night. See marriott.com
There’s a decent restaurant serving classic fare such as Lancashire cheese and onion pie and ribeye steak, but we chose to go next door to Freight Island.
Tagged an “urban market and festival space” it’s a huge old warehouse filled with bars, food trucks, massive screens, restaurants, a sports bar and roller disco. Nice prices too.
There’s info about all the family-friendly activities in the area and a Banksy exhibition that opened on March 13 at Depot Mayfield. Families can explore more than 200 recreated works by the elusive street artist, including the shredding of Girl With Balloon.
Highlights include a fully “Banksified” London Underground carriage and interactive spaces perfect for visitors of all ages.
Some of the rooms sleep up to four people, with ajdoining rooms possible.
Kids can also eat for free at the breakfast buffet, and even get a free goodie bag with an activity book.
The hotel has step-free access to the lobby, with lift access to all floors.
There are also 17 accessible rooms with a range of adapted designs such as widened doorways, lower electric outlets, and bathrooms with bath seats and grab rails.
An overhead kick from Scott McTominay, a Lewis Ferguson corner that was going in until Lawrence Shankland helped it on its way, a curler to beat all curlers from Kieran Tierney and then a fourth from the other end of the earth – or the halfway line to be precise – from Kenny McLean.
It was the perfect night, a night that further reinforced the bond between these players, which is genuinely tight. That’s always said, but this group is extremely close, a club side in national team colours, a band of brothers who have each other’s back.
There was a collective swoon when news came through on Thursday that McTominay, the totem, had an iffy tummy, but he’s good now. The Napoli midfielder with the Midas Touch probably just waved his hand over his stomach and, hey presto, he was healed.
What’s absolutely fascinating about this game is the options that Clarke has and the way he’s talking about the utilisation of his bench, hinting that he might keep a heavy hitter in reserve.
On more than one occasion he’s suggested that the team that finishes the game might have to be as strong, or stronger, than the one that starts.
It’s inconceivable, for this game, that he’ll go away from his new approach of playing Shankland and Che Adams up front, so one of his star midfielders most probably won’t start.
Scotland are buoyed by the eight goals they scored in their last two games. There were caveats – Curacao had 10 men for much of it at Hampden and fell away to lose 4-1 and Bolivia were, well, not all that good.
But confidence is a valuable thing, no matter how you get it. Clarke, as is his wont, has been talking up the threat of Haiti, referring regularly to their size, their power and their athleticism.
In warm-up games, Haiti hammered New Zealand 4-0 before New Zealand lost just 1-0 to England soon after. That form line makes them a theat.
Haiti are a distant 83rd in the Fifa world rankings, but Clarke has been at pains to point out their strengths. One of those strengths is a mental fortitude that comes with representing a country that is riven by crisis and humanitarian disaster.
The capital, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by armed gangs – instability, hunger, killings, kidnappings and sexual violence is rife. Public services have collapsed. Thousands of schools have closed, 10% of the population have fled. The football team can’t play any games at home. Two years into his role as head coach, Sebastien Migne still hasn’t been able to set foot in Haiti.
That level of hardship could breed some amount of determination. Clarke knows it and you sense that his players know it, too.
Scotland have played 23 matches at World Cups and have won only four, a sobering stat when you set it alongside the memories of nightmares past, the loss to Costa Rica in 1990 chief among them.
So Clarke is taking nothing lightly. This is a must-win given the scale of what’s to come against Morocco and Brazil.
Nobody in Clarke’s camp is hiding from that. They have said repeatedly that they’re here to make history as the first Scotland team to make it through a group.
They have a vast travelling army with them and millions more at home, a strange amalgam of positivity and anxiety, belief and fear. All human emotion on the grandest stage.
Thrilling and terrifying. What a time to be alive.
Foketi, 31, was born in New Zealand before his family moved to Australia.
He played for Australia Under-20s and made his Super Rugby debut for Melbourne Rebels in 2014 before leaving to play for French side Bayonne later that year.
Foketi returned to New Zealand where he played a couple of seasons for Bay of Plenty in the Mitre 10 Cup competition before linking up with the NSW Waratahs from 2018 until 2025.
Foketi was given his first Australia cap as a replacement in the 29-28 defeat against Wales in Cardiff in November 2021, before appearing three times in the 2023 World Cup in France.
Foketi played for the First Nations and Pasifika XV against the British and Irish Lions on the 2025 summer tour of Australia before leaving Waratahs later that year.
He joined Hamilton-based Chiefs for the 2026 campaign and will be involved in the Super Rugby final next weekend.
Foketi was instrumental in the semi-final win against Crusaders with three try assists, the joint most of any centre in a Super Rugby game since 2020.
“This is another great bit of news for the club and our supporters,” said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones.
“Lalakai is an experienced international who can immediately make a real contribution for us on and off the field.
“He’s a real all-rounder at centre with what he can offer on the ball and in defence, and we feel he will add even further quality to our already talented group of centres.
“He’s got a few points of difference that will bring a new dimension to our attack, and we’re excited to utilise that.”
Having originally opened in 1903 as the Victoria Station Hotel, attached to the former train station, the Hilton Nottingham is bursting with character.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Slap bang in the centre of Nottingham, the Hilton hotel is just a 17-minute walk from the train station.
There is a small on-site car park, or guests can park in the multi-storey across the road, for which they will receive a discount through the hotel.
The hotel is a home away from home thanks to friendly staff and a warm lobby with cosy nooks where guests can sink into plush armchairs and natter about their weekend ahead.
Things have changed a fair bit since its early days as a station hotel, but a rather grand staircase in the lobby gives a nod to its heritage.
The calm atmosphere is not what you’d expect of a hotel slap bang in the centre of a busy city and every guest checking in at the weekend is treated to a complimentary glass of prosecco on arrival
Rooms are much more modern than the exterior of the building lets on – which is no surprise considering the property underwent a £6.5million renovation a few years back, with particular focus on the bedrooms.
Plump bedding (including one of the deepest, softest pillows I’ve ever slept on) and a stylish design of wooden cabinets and soft lighting are the highlights.
There’s all the usual expected amenities such as tea and coffee making facilities, TVs and bathrooms kitted out with fancy-smelling toiletries.
The hotel’s Bric Bar & Kitchen opens every morning for slap-up buffet breakfasts of eggs any way you like, hash browns and beans, as well as cereals, pastries and yoghurts with fresh fruit.
All of which is continually topped up, so you won’t have to miss out even if you do arrive just before closing time.
That’s a real perk when you’re visiting at the weekend and have perhaps had a heavy one the night before – there’s nothing like a well-cooked fry up to cure your hangover.
There’s also a small dinner menu of pub-style favourites – margherita pizza, smash burger and fish and chips – served Monday to Saturday from 5:30pm until 9:30pm.
If you don’t fancy staying in, you aren’t short of excellent dinner options nearby.
Less than a ten-minute walk away is Taquero which serves up plates of dressed ceviche and cheese-loaded tacos alongside margaritas that pack a punch.
There’s a small gym and indoor pool as well as pet-friendly rooms for a £25 per pet nightly surcharge.
But you’ll really want to take advantage of the city centre location that makes it great for stag and hen dos, with everything – clubs, restaurants, attractions – on your doorstep.
Double rooms cost from £118 with breakfast.
Very. Family rooms are spacious and come with a king sized bed alongside a sofa bed that’s easily large enough for two youngsters.
Anyone staying before December 31 can take advantage of the Perfect Family Package that really does put little ones at the forefront, meaning the grown ups can properly kick back and relax.
Not only will kids be treated to their own in-room teepee, they’ll also receive an activity pack.
Yes, there are accessible rooms within the hotel and the restaurant is also accessible with downstairs accessible toilets.
Published On 9 Jun 20269 Jun 2026
Gunshots, water cannon and tear gas have been used by Kenya’s police in the central town of Nanyuki, where hundreds of protesters lit fires and hurled stones at law enforcement officers as they demonstrated against a quarantine centre for US citizens exposed to Ebola.
Tuesday’s violence came as the proposed quarantine centre at the town’s Laikipia Air Base has caused anger among Kenyans who accuse the United States of shifting the risks of caring for people exposed to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda onto Kenya.
Kenya has never recorded a case of Ebola, and many residents oppose bringing potential carriers of the virus into the country.
The centre is designed to have 50 isolation beds, run by US staff, and was nearing completion late last week.
Construction has continued despite a temporary halt order from Kenya’s High Court and vocal opposition from local politicians.
President William Ruto’s government has pledged to press ahead with the project, arguing that Kenya owes Washington for years of financial and technical support.
The US has committed $13.5m to support Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts.
Malak Mahmoud, the heavily pregnant woman filmed being thrown to the ground by a Dutch police officer as her Palestinian husband from Gaza was detained, has spoken to Al Jazeera.
Police in Zeist issued a statement saying they are reviewing the use of force and have opened an investigation, but have not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Published On 2 Jun 20262 Jun 2026
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Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark in New Jersey, has imposed a curfew on the area surrounding Delaney Hall, the immigration detention centre that has become a flashpoint in the debate over United States President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive.
The Sunday morning announcement came amid a flare-up in tensions outside the detention centre, which is run by the private contractor GEO Group, as part of a 15-year deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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“Due to the escalating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, immediate action is required to protect public safety,” Baraka wrote in a statement.
“Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat.”
As part of the curfew, movement will be restricted within half a mile (0.8km) of the detention centre between the hours of 9pm and 6am US Eastern time (1:00 to 10:00 GMT).
A nearby road, Doremus Avenue, will also be closed to pedestrians and vehicles that cannot verify their need to be in the area.
Since the reopening of Delaney Hall as an immigration detention facility last year, it has been the site of confrontations between law enforcement and protesters, including Mayor Baraka himself.
The month of May has seen more than a week of daily protests outside Delaney Hall, after lawyers for the detainees at Delaney Hall announced a hunger strike was unfolding inside.
Detainees have denounced the living conditions to human rights groups, reporting expired food, a lack of medical care and abuse at the hands of authorities.
The Trump administration has justified its mass deportation campaign as an effort to rid the US of “the worst of the worst”, framing undocumented immigrants as a criminal threat.
But critics point out that many of those detained have no criminal record, and some who do have only been cited for minor offences.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data-tracking service from Syracuse University, found that, as of April, roughly 71 percent of those in ICE detention had no criminal conviction.
To show solidarity with the hunger strike, protesters have been gathering outside Delaney Hall, locking arms to form human chains and creating barricades to prevent access.
But that has led to tense confrontations with law enforcement, who have used batons and pepper spray to try to clear roads to the facility.
Governor Mikie Sherrill called for the establishment of designated protest zones, to mitigate the likelihood of conflict between officers and demonstrators.
But clashes have continued. Overnight on Wednesday, six protesters were arrested.
Politicians themselves have encountered tense interactions at Delaney Hall.
A year ago, one protest resulted in trespassing charges against Mayor Baraka and assault charges against US Representative LaMonica McIver, after a disagreement over which officials could enter the facility for an inspection.
While the charges against Baraka were dropped, McIver continues to face legal proceedings. She has denied the charges and called the prosecution politically motivated.
“One year ago, the Trump administration threw baseless charges against me for conducting oversight to protect immigrants at Delaney Hall,” McIver wrote on social media on Saturday.
“Have they tried to silence me? Yes. Have the stakes risen? Yes. Am I backing down from speaking up for you? Never.”
This past week, Governor Sherrill was also denied access to the facility. She has since issued a statement calling for Delaney Hall to be shut down.
At a news conference on Saturday, she blamed “national extremist groups” for arriving from out of state and escalating tensions. She added that the current precautions were designed to protect the safety of peaceful protesters.
“I urge those protesting outside of Delaney Hall to bring the temperature down, so we can focus on the detainees and their families,” Sherrill said.
She suggested that the actions of state and local officials would help head off any expanded ICE operations in New Jersey.
“I will not give ICE a pretext to expand operations at Delaney Hall or across our state. I will not put lives at risk,” she said. “I’m grateful to the vast majority of protesters who have assembled peacefully and raised their voices about Delaney Hall’s conditions.”
Workers in eastern DR Congo are rebuilding an Ebola treatment centre that was burned by protesters earlier this month, as health officials warn misinformation is driving families to hide sick relatives. The Congolese government confirmed over 1,000 suspected cases and at least 220 deaths since the outbreak was declared.
Published On 29 May 202629 May 2026
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IF you’re looking for inspiration to entertain your kids during the half term, the UK’s biggest garden centre could be the solution.
The 25-acre site boasts numerous gardens, shops, a cafe and soft play area.
Bridgemere Garden Centre, in Nantwich, Cheshire, features more than enough to keep the family entertained the whole day.
Named Britain’s largest garden centre by The Guinness Book of Records, the massive space holds a restaurant and tearoom on site.
Visitors can feast on a range of deli goods and brunch specials, before retiring to the tearoom to indulge in a handmade patisserie – or two.
The area has more than six acres of gardens, including the Cottage Garden and Woodland Walk, where kids will have plenty of space to run around.
When you tire out from visiting any of the 13 show gardens, an open-air café is situated right in the centre – ideal for a quick coffee and cake.
The site even has a Hobbycraft, which sells everything from clothing and books to gardening supplies.
For those with younger children, the centre’s soft play area is the perfect place to keep them busy.
The gardens also have a number of rotating events, including an upcoming food festival on June 27 and 28.
General admission is free, meaning a visit won’t be a burden on your budget.
Pets are also welcome, so you don’t need to leave your furry friend at home.
During the summer, the centre operates between 9am and 6pm on Monday to Saturday, and from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sunday.
The US is set to shut down the federal migrant detention centre known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ with detainees expected to be transferred by early June. It comes after allegations of abuse, including migrant disappearances, and restricted medical access.
Published On 27 May 202627 May 2026
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A POPULAR aquapark is reopening for the summer – and it’s coming with a brand new attraction.
Families will be able to enjoy the thrill-seeking ride alongside other water activities
Hangloose Adventure Bluewater, based at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent, has reopened for the summer season with a new towering attraction – a six-meter mega slide.
Named ‘El Jefe’ – the boss in Spanish- the super slide marks the latest addition to the park’s floating inflatable course.
Families can now navigate over 15 obstacles, climb balance beams, and complete the course on ‘El Jefe’, which will see them soar into the water below.
Described as an ‘exhilarating experience’ by the park, children as young as seven will be able to take part – as long as they reach the minimum height requirement of 1.2 meters.
Alongside the relaunch of the aqua park, Hangloose Adventure is also introducing a Thursday-only zipline offer.
Those who book a zipline ride will be able to have a second ride for free on the same day, with the promotion running until June 25.
The water park operates for seven days a week during the summer season, from 10am to 5pm.
Located in The Domes, Greenhithe, the park has been highly rated online.
The area also features a host of big attractions, including England’s longest zipline, Europe’s biggest swing, and the UK’s only outdoor indoor skydive tunnel.
For your chance to try out ‘El Jefe’ in person, a day out at the waterpark costs just £67 for a family of four.
Dozens of ICE agents clashed with protesters using pepper spray to disperse crowds outside a detention centre in New Jersey. Demonstrations were held on the fourth day of a detainee’s hunger strike.
Published On 26 May 202626 May 2026
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