centre

BRITAIN’S first flying taxi centre has opened and flights could be taking off soon.

The facility has been hailed a “once-in-a-generation milestone” in the development of new aircraft.

Pioneering tech firm Vertical Aerospace has debuted a new first-of-its-kind facility at its Cotswold Airport site in Gloucestershire.

The team based at the assembly centre are currently working on the development and testing of a new form of air taxi called the Valo aircraft.

The electric vehicle seats up to four passengers and can fly up to 160km without any operating emissions.

Construction on the new Valo aircraft is set to begin in late 2027.

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Initially, the tech firm has said it will build 25 aircraft a year but will grow this number to 900 a year by 2035.

Vertical revealed they have already received 1,500 orders, largely from airlines, but is also planning on getting its planes accredited for commercial use by 2029.

The new facilities form part of Vertical’s larger existing flight test centre located at the airport, increasing the site by a further 60,000 sq ft.

Vertical Aerospace’s CEO, Stuart Simpson, told the BBC that we are “getting really close to this idea of flying cars, flying taxis”.

“Opening our aircraft assembly centre is an important step in Vertical’s transition from prototype developer to aircraft manufacturer,” added Simpson.

“Bringing a new category of aircraft to market is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and it is especially rewarding to do that here in Great Britain, drawing on the country’s proud aviation heritage.”

Later this year, plans for a separate full-scale production site are expected to be revealed with the aim of supporting a much larger volume of vehicle manufacturing.

Iran accuses the French language centre of conducting ‘illegal acts that violated diplomatic conventions’.

France will summon Iran’s ambassador and take “appropriate measures” after Iranian authorities closed a French-language centre linked to its embassy in Tehran, according to the French Foreign Ministry.

“This new attack against France’s cultural presence in Iran, following the assault on two staff members of the French embassy last July, is unjustifiable and unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said in a statement on Sunday.

Iran announced on Sunday the closure of the centre it accused of conducting “illegal acts that violated diplomatic conventions”.

“Based on the Tehran prosecutor’s office, the illegal centre affiliated with the French embassy in Tehran, which has operated for years under the guise of language instruction, was closed,” the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news website said, referring to the French Language Centre (CLF).

It said the centre “abused its status as a language training facility” and sought to “identify and build networks among the country’s elite figures while facilitating their departure”.

The French Foreign Ministry said it would “take appropriate measures to respond” and would summon Iran’s ambassador in Paris at the request of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

Relations between Tehran and Paris have been strained in recent months.

In August, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said it detained two French diplomats over alleged foreign interference during a national security investigation before handing them over to the French ambassador.

A HUGE estate with beautiful grounds, tea room and even a museum could be set to completely transform.

Waterperry Gardens in Oxford has submitted plans for a complete change-up including the building of a brand-new tea room additions to the courtyard.

Waterperry Gardens is a popular spot thanks to its beautiful ornamental gardens, award-winning tea rooms, garden shop, gift barn, gallery and museum.

It even has an outdoor amphitheatre for opera, theatre and music with performances through the summer months.

It’s visited year-round thanks to its various flower and plant displays with lots saying it’s still worth a trip out of season in autumn.

One visitor said: “We have visited Waterperry several times and in the early autumn the aster borders are at their best.”

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Another added: “Lovely little place. Great gardens (even in late October there was still plenty of colour). Nice cafe. Good shop and gallery.”

A third wrote: “This is difficult to describe how wonderful these gardens are. Even at the beginning of September they were full of bloom.”

But the Waterperry Gardens could well transform as it submits plans to build a brand new home for its tea room – and reconfigure the site.

The plans say “there is an urgent need to replace the existing catering building with a new facility that serves both the current and future needs of the site“.

The building which houses the tearooms was a former laboratory which has “exceeded its lifespan.”

A new design by Cowper Griffith Architects revealed a much brighter building with large windows.

Other plans include relocating the car park to the west of the picnic lawn and seating on a courtyard between the museum and the new building.

These proposals are currently in its consultation period – so there’s plenty of time to see Waterperry Gardens as it is now.

Anyone visiting will definitely want to pop into its award-winning tea room.

Last year it won Afternoon Tea of the Year 2025 by the Garden Centre Catering Awards.

At lunchtimes it serves up jacket potatoes , soups, salads and homemade cakes.

It also has two afternoon tea options; Waterperry Tea or Celebration Tea.

Each comes with a selection of cakes, homemade jam, scones and clotted cream, sandwiches and mini vegetarian quiche tart, along with loose leaf tea, coffee or Prosecco.

Visitors can also pop into its on-site museum which reveals what rural life was like 100 years ago, and kids can enjoy the play outdoor play area too.

KYIV: A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed three people and ‌injured two, Regional ‌Governor Oleh ‌Hryhorov said.

Hryhorov, writing on Telegram, said a fire had broken out, and a photo posted online by the governor showed ‌a ‌badly damaged building and ‌rubble strewn on ‌the ground.

He said rescue teams were tackling the aftermath of ‌the strike.

Sumy and the surrounding region along the Russian border have long been subject to heavy attacks and Moscow has said it wants to establish a buffer zone in the area.