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If you’ve been dreaming of a Scotland trip but haven’t had the budget for it, this cheap new route operated by the ‘Ryanair of trains’ might make your plans a reality

You could soon find yourself on a train from London to Scotland for a complete bargain.

Budget-friendly rail company Lumo has just announced a new line going straight from London King’s Cross to Glasgow Queen Street, which promises to be “fantastic value” for customers.

Lumo has previously been dubbed the ‘Ryanair of trains’, drawing comparison to several budget carriers due to its cheaper tickets, baggage limits and lack of first class.

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The all-electric company already runs a direct line between Edinburgh and King’s Cross with one-way tickets costing as little as £49 if you book in advance (which can be even cheaper with a railcard).

The extension of the existing service, which has been approved by the ORR, will see Lumo provide two northbound services and one southbound service between London King’s Cross and Glasgow Queen Street on weekdays. They will also provide one in each direction on Sundays.

At present, the only direct rail service between London King’s Cross and Glasgow is by Avanti’s West Coast line, where an off-peak single ticket can cost as much £133, while passengers can see themselves paying out £208 in peak times.

Meanwhile, Lumo’s current Edinburgh-London service hovers just under or over the £50 mark for single tickets, depending on when you travel. While they haven’t set an exact fare for the Glasgow-London tickets, Lumo’s website promises passengers “fantastic value tickets, that don’t cost the earth or your wallet”.

Richard Salkeld, head of communications and partnerships at Lumo told Metro that most of its customers are travellers who want to journey between London and Glasgow but can’t afford extortionate rail prices.

He explained: “Lumo is an open-access operator, which means we take full commercial risk for running the services. We don’t get government or public subsidiary — we take on the risk and have to be confident that we can make it work, all while complementing the existing services that already run.

“Glasgow is somewhere we’re looking forward to serving, and we’re confident we can make it as successful as our London to Edinburgh route.”

Given that Lumo’s route between London and Edinburgh comes in at £49, with Glasgow’s stop coming after, customers can likely expect the tickets to be somewhat more expensive.

While Lumo does not call itself as a budget service, Consumer site Which? claims that the company’s prices and services can be compared to low cost airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet, due to the cheaper tickets, lack of first class carriages, no buffet cart, and baggage limits.

Match Of The Day pundit Danny Murphy believes Manchester United do not have the personnel needed to play Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 system, highlighting the performances of Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw in their 3-0 loss to rivals Manchester City.

MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United

Available to UK users only.

U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC) on Monday released the findings of investigations into three mishaps involving the troubled KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tanker that cost the service nearly $23 million. The incidents all involved nozzle binding, a situation in which the tanker’s refueling boom nozzle gets stuck or binds with the receiving aircraft’s receptacle. 

Two of the incidents occurred in 2022 and a third in 2024. A fourth mishap took place July 8, 2025 and is still being investigated, AMC stated. There were no fatalities, injuries, or civilian property damage in any of these mishaps.

The first of these nozzle binding mishaps took place on Oct. 15, 2022. A KC-46A Pegasus assigned to the 305th Air Mobility Wing and operated by the 2nd Air Refueling Squadron, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey and an F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 4th Fighter Wing and operated by the 335th Fighting Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, were conducting routine air refueling operations. 

“During the mishap, a nozzle binding accident occurred during a breakaway which resulted in the air-refueling boom (ARB) striking the tail section of the KC-46A,” AMC said in a statement.

The Accident Investigation Board (AIB) found that a “preponderance of the evidence” showed one cause for the mishap. 

“Due to a limitation of the Air Refueling Boom (ARB) control system,” the KC-46 boom operator “inadvertently placed a radial force on the ARB that caused the nozzle to become bound in the receiver’s receptacle,” according to the AIB. “As a result, the bound forces exceeded the structural limitations of the ARB and caused a rapid upward movement of the ARB when released, striking the tail cone” of the Pegasus.

In addition, two other factors “substantially contributed” to this incident.

The Pegasus pilot failed to notify either the plane’s boom operator or the Strike Eagle’s pilot about an “engine power reduction” on the refueler. 

“This action, combined with the known ARB stiffness limitation and the resulting high engine power setting on [the F-15E], resulted in “a rapid forward movement” of that jet relative to the Pegasus.

In addition, “due to a limitation of the automated boom control system, the ARB entered an uncontrollable state during its upward motion toward the aircraft tail, disabling the boom control laws which could have slowed the rate at which the ARB struck the tail cone, substantially contributing to the mishap,” according to Col. Chad Cisewski, who led this AIB.

The estimated damages to the aircraft were $8,307,257.93, according to AMC.

Less than a month later, on Nov. 7 2022, there was another nozzle binding incident while a KC-46A Pegasus assigned to the 305th Air Mobility Wing and operated by the 2nd Air Refueling Squadron was refueling a F-22A Raptor assigned to the 94th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. The flight was in support of a joint-force training exercise from Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.

“During the second air refueling attempt of the sortie, the KC-46A experienced a nozzle binding event during a breakaway with the F-22A, which resulted in damage to the ARB nozzle,” AMC said in its statement. “The bound forces exceeded the structural limitations of the ARB nozzle, damaging the nozzle beyond repair.”

The AIB determined “by a preponderance of the evidence, one cause for this mishap,” the report stated. The boom operator “made manual control inputs to the ARB which caused a radial force to be applied to the ARB nozzle, causing it to become bound inside the receiver’s air refueling receptacle.”

As a result, “the bound forces exceeded the structural limitations of the ARB nozzle, damaging the nozzle beyond repair.”

Two other factors “substantially contributed to the mishap,” according to the AIB. The first was “the failure” of the Raptor’s pilot “to account for the KC-46A Stiff Boom characteristics, causing a rapid forward movement” of the fighter relative to the refueler. The stiff boom probem is a long-standing issue, which you can read more about here.

In addition, the boom operator was “unable to verify that the ARB nozzle was clear of [the Raptor’s] air refueling receptacle prior to making ARB control inputs, substantially contributing to the mishap.”

The mishap caused an estimated $103,295.12 in damages, AMC noted.

A third nozzle binding incident took place Aug. 21, 2024, when a KC-46A Pegasus assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and operated by the 931st Air Refueling Wing was refueling an F-15E assigned to the 366th Fighter Wing in support Operation Nobel Eagle, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) aerospace warning, control, and defense missions in North America. The aircraft were helping to enforce a temporary flight restriction related to a presidential visit. Then-President Joe Biden was reportedly vacationing in Santa Ynez, California at the time. The tanker and one of the fighters were forced to make emergency landings — the F-15E twice having to abort those recoveries before finally touching down at an alternative location. You can read more about that in our initial report here and listen to the audio below.

During the fourth air refueling attempt of the sortie, “the KC-46A experienced nozzle binding of the boom in the F-15E receptacle,” AMC explained. “Upon release, the boom rapidly flew upward, striking the bottom aft portion of the KC-46A, and violently oscillated left and right.”

The boom striking the aircraft and “ensuing forceful oscillations resulted in critical failure of the boom shaft structure, portions of which detached from the KC-46A in flight,” the command continued. “The KC-46A crew declared an in-flight emergency and returned to Travis AFB. Emergency response personnel met the crew upon arrival.”

The boom fell in an open field about 13 miles northeast of Santa Maria, California, with no injuries or fatalities reported, the AIB explained.

The AIB found, “by a preponderance of the evidence, that the cause of the mishap was the [boom operator’s] control inputs to the air refueling flight control system, resulting in an excessive fly-up rate of the boom, which struck the aircraft empennage and caused a critical failure of the boom shaft structure,” according to the report.

There were four other factors that “substantially contributed to the mishap,” the AIB board president ruled. 

• Excessive closure rate and instability of the Strike Eagle.
• The boom operator’s “attempted contact outside the standard [aerial refueling] envelope for the F-15E.
• The F-15E pilot’s “failure to recognize and initiate immediate breakaway procedures, which further delayed positive separation from the KC-46A,” and
• The boom operator’s “lack of knowledge on boom flight control logic and its effects on the boom flight control surfaces prevented the [boom operator] from recognizing the influence of Flight Control Stick (FCS) inputs and programmed boom limit functions during operations, especially during nozzle binding situations.”

The estimated damages to the aircraft were $14,381,303, according to AMC.

The Air Force did not release details about the July 9, 2025 incident. However, at the time, 2nd Lt. Samantha Bostick, Deputy Chief of Public Affairs for the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, told us what happened.

“A KC-46A Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base declared an In-flight Emergency July 8, while operating over the eastern United States, refueling F-22s,” she said. “The crew had to make the decision to land at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and has landed safely there. The aircraft will remain there for the time being.”

You can listen below as the crew of the KC-46, callsign FELL 81 and serial number 17-46033, alerts the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility at Virginia Capes (FACSFAC VACAPES) about losing the boom. FACSFAC VACAPES is better known by its callsign, Giant Killer, and helps monitor for threats and otherwise manage the airspace off the east coast of the United States.

In general, KC-46s are no stranger to issues with their booms. The boom and the control system for it have been a source of serious and persistent technical issues for the Pegasus fleet for years now. A fix for the KC-46’s particularly troublesome remote vision system (RVS), which boom operators in the tanker’s main cabin use to perform their work, is now unlikely to be finished before summer 2027, roughly three years behind schedule, according to Defense News.

The nozzle binding issue is clearly a problem in many respects, not just in terms of the dangers posed by booms breaking away or impacting the receiver or the tanker’s airframe, but it also poses a real danger to those on the ground. Beyond that, the reliability of any type during critical missions is always a concern, as such a mishap could curtail a high-priority mission or the risk of it occurring requires extra increasingly precious tankers being assigned to those operations as a contingency. What we don’t know is how common this is in comparison to the KC-135 or the recently retired KC-10. Hopefully, we can get more clarity in this regard now that the findings of these mishaps are published.

We will update you when we find out more.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Those headed to this popular European beach destination this summer need to be careful as social media users warn of an unexpected phone charge which could set you back hundreds of pounds

Brits heading to Corfu have been warned to be the lookout this summer for a hidden network charge – which could hit them before they’ve even left the airport. Worse still, it could even cost them hundreds. Instead of unwinding, tourists have been left confused after receiving a ‘Welcome to Albania’ text message upon arrival at their island destination – despite Corfu being a part of Greece.

As reported by the Daily Mail, an employee from MailOnline recently holidayed at the popular holiday destination. He shared a text he received upon landing, which came from a service named ‘Rate Advice.’

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It reads: “Welcome to Albania! Calls, texts and data in Albania are chargeable and do not come out of your standard allowances or UK data add-ons. Roam Beyond data add-ons for this destination are available in the iD Mobile app for as little as GBP5.00.

“If you haven’t already purchased a Roam Beyond data add-on, it will cost GBP1.50 per MB. Minutes and texts are not included , and will cost GBP0.60 per text to roam. To protect you from excessive charges, a GBP45.00 roaming data cap is in place.”

The issue arises from Corfu’s proximity to Albania. Despite being located in Greece, it lies relatively close (30 miles) to Ksamil, a small beachside village in the Albanian Riviera.

Due to its location, the strength of Albanian mobile phone signals from the coast can cause phones to connect to them automatically. This can occur even when the user is in a completely different country.

Aside from causing confusion, this mix-up can end up costing tourists – which is why unfortunate holidaymakers jumped on social media over the summer to warn others of unexpected charges.

Steve Moore, from Chesterfield, came on to the popular Facebook group, We Love Sidari, to complain about his experience. He wrote: “I arrived Sunday, usual welcome text to Corfu charges just the same as UK – 2 days later message welcome to Albania this is your charges.”

He continued: “Wow what a rip off, phoned company and after 45 mins of conversation was told the network must of changed to a different mast. You need to keep an eye on it otherwise it will cost you a lot.”

A second Facebook user also chimed in, pointing out that appears to happen in specific parts of the island. “Only if you go to the east of the island,” they wrote. “I did that mistake while on a quad. Using google maps. £128 to drive up road lol.” A third added, ‘We got caught out £298 bill when we got home.’

So, how do you avoid these charges? Travellers are urged to either contact their provider regarding the situation, switch off ‘roaming’ or manually select a Greek network in their phone’s settings – rather than relying on automatic network selection.

As one Facebook commenter advised: “All you do is let your phone set it’s paired Greek network automatically when you arrive on the island at the airport. Once it’s selected the correct Greek network, go into your settings and turn OFF ‘automatically select network’.”

They added: “This means your phone will not hunt for or connect to anything else other than your correct Greek network.” Although, they warned users to remember to switch it back once they return to the UK.

To avoid these charges, Georgia Brivida, from the international SIM provider Sim Local, has urged Brits to switch off the ‘autoplay’ feature on their phones before boarding their next flight.

She revealed that the setting could quietly drain data and lead to a significant phone bill, in many cases without users even noticing. She explained: “Autoplay is a feature that automatically plays videos as you scroll through apps like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, often without you even tapping play.”

On May 25, Olorato Mongale, a 30-year-old woman from South Africa, went on a date with a man she had recently met.

Less than two hours later, she was dead.

Her half-naked body was found by the roadside in Lombardy West, a suburb north of Johannesburg. It showed signs of severe trauma and bruising. Investigators concluded that she had been murdered elsewhere and dumped at the scene.

Her brutal and senseless killing led to a wave of grief and outrage on social media. Days later, a family spokesperson revealed that Mongale – a master’s student at the University of the Witwatersrand – had once worked as a journalist. She left the profession seven years ago due to the emotional toll of reporting on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

Her family said Mongale had grown increasingly anxious about her own vulnerability to male violence. In particular, the 2017 murder of 22-year-old Karabo Mokoena haunted her. Mokoena was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend, Sandile Mantsoe, who then burned her body beyond recognition and buried the remains in open grassland in Lyndhurst – a suburb just kilometres from where Mongale’s body was found.

Despite her conscious efforts to avoid Mokoena’s fate, Mongale ultimately became what she had feared most: another name added to the long and growing list of South African women murdered by men.

At her funeral on June 1, her mother, Keabetswe Mongale, said her daughter had tried desperately to fight off her attacker.

“When I saw her at the government mortuary, I could see that my daughter fought. She fought until her nails broke,” she said.

Her devastating death serves as a stark reminder that women and girls across South Africa continue to face an existential threat from gender-based violence, despite years of government promises and reforms.

On May 24, 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill establishing the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. The body is mandated to provide leadership and coordination in the fight against GBVF. While it appeared to be a step forward, it did not represent a transformative policy shift.

This is not the first such initiative. In 2012, then-Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe launched the National Council Against Gender-Based Violence, with a similar mandate to coordinate national anti-GBV efforts.

More than a decade later, with yet another council in place, GBVF crimes continue.

In November 2023, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa released the country’s first national study on GBVF. It found that the persistence of gender-based violence is rooted in “deeply ingrained societal norms and structures that perpetuate male dominance and reinforce gender hierarchies … leading to female subordination, systemic inequalities, and violence against women”.

The destructive effect of entrenched patriarchy is undeniable. In South Africa, a woman is murdered every three hours. That is approximately 8 women a day. One study estimates that around 7.8 million women in the country have experienced physical or sexual violence.

While women of all races and backgrounds are affected, Black women face higher rates of GBVF – an enduring legacy of apartheid and its structural inequalities.

This crisis is not unique to South Africa. The terror faced by women and girls is a continent-wide phenomenon.

In November 2024, the United Nations published its report Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides, revealing that Africa had the world’s highest rate of partner-related femicide that year.

Kenya stands out for its staggering figures.

Between September 2023 and December 2024, the country recorded more than 7,100 cases of sexual and gender-based violence. These included the murders of at least 100 women by male acquaintances, relatives, or intimate partners in just four months.

Among the victims was Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan Olympian and mother of two, who competed in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Games. On September 5, 2024, she died in Eldoret, Kenya, from severe burns after her former partner doused her in petrol and set her alight during a domestic dispute. He himself later died in a hospital from his injuries.

The Kenyan government later recognised GBVF as the most pressing security challenge facing the country — a belated but crucial move.

On May 26, Kenya’s National Gender and Equality Commission noted that the surge in GBVF crimes was driven by “a complex interplay of cultural, social, economic, and legal factors”. Patriarchal traditions continue to fuel inequality and legitimise violence, while harmful practices such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), and dowry-related violence further endanger women’s lives. Economic hardship and women’s financial dependence only deepen their vulnerability.

Across the continent, we are witnessing a dangerous resurgence of archaic patriarchal norms.

The COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 further exposed the scale of the crisis. Since then, countless behavioural change campaigns have been launched, but they have largely failed.

This is no surprise.

According to Afrobarometer data from November 2023, nearly 48 percent of all Africans believe domestic violence is a private matter, not a criminal offence.

The uncomfortable truth is that many African men, regardless of education or economic status, do not prioritise the safety or rights of women and girls.

On International Women’s Day last year, South African rugby captain Siya Kolisi said it plainly: “Men are not doing enough.”

Indeed, many continue to uphold harmful customs such as child marriage and remain disengaged from efforts to protect women. Years of empty rhetoric have led to a growing body count.

It is time for African men to take full ownership of this crisis and commit to radical change.

They must reject cultural practices and ideals of manhood that dehumanise women. African cultures are not unchangeable, and patriarchy is not destiny. A new, egalitarian model of African masculinity must be nurtured — one based on dignity, equality, and nonviolence.

This cultural reorientation must begin in families and be sustained through schools, religious and traditional forums, and community life.

It must happen for Olarato Mongale. For Rebecca Cheptegei. For the thousands of others whose lives were stolen.

And most urgently, it must happen for the women and girls across Africa who live each day knowing that their greatest threat may come from the men closest to them.

There can be no just African future unless African manhood is transformed.