Cross

The 8-kilometre bridge is crossed by about 70,000 people each day

For more than 24 years, the 8-kilometre Øresund Bridge has served as a crucial link between Sweden and Denmark, providing a combined railway and motorway connection across the Øresund strait.

The bridge, a joint venture between Swedish firm Svedab and Danish company A/S Øresundsforbindelsen, makes up half of the journey from Sweden to the Danish Island of Amager.

Beginning near the city of Malmo on the Swedish coast, it extends to the man-made Danish Island of Peberholm, situated in the middle of the strait.

From Peberholm, a tunnel completes the remaining journey to the island of Amager, where Copenhagen airport is located, bringing the total distance travelled to around 16 km.

Construction on the bridge began in 1995, and it officially opened its lanes to traffic in July 2000. Just two years later, it was recognised with the IABSE Outstanding Structure Award, reports the Mirror.

Peberholm acts as a junction between the tunnel and the bridge.

It’s fitted with a motorway exit, restricted to authorised vehicles only, and a helicopter pad for use in emergencies.

The bridge, which sees an average daily footfall of 70,000 people, came with a hefty price tag of around £3.4 billion. The cost is expected to be recouped by 2037.

Crossing fees vary depending on the type of vehicle. Motorcyclists are charged £25.68, passenger cars £50.77, and vans, motorhomes or passenger cars with a trailer pay a staggering £178.55.

The Øresund Bridge claims the second spot as the longest bridge in Europe, only outdone by the 18.1km Kerch Bridge.

The latter spans the Kerch Strait, linking the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in Russia and the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea.

This film explores how the Spanish empire built its global dominance by fusing military conquest, religious conversion and imperial wealth.

At the heart of the Spanish expansion was the close alliance between crown, church and conquest. Military campaigns were inseparable from missionary efforts as conversion to Christianity became both a justification for empire and a tool of control. Faith and force advanced together, reshaping societies across the Americas.

Through the conquests of the Aztec and Incan empires, the documentary shows how Spanish power was established through violence, alliances and religious authority. The mission system spread across the Americas, reorganising Indigenous life around churches, labour regimes and colonial administration. Conversion promised salvation but enforced obedience and cultural destruction.

The film also examines the economic foundations of Spanish imperial power. Vast quantities of gold and silver were extracted from the Americas alongside the exploitation of Indigenous and enslaved labour. These resources fuelled European economies, financed global trade and helped integrate the Americas into an emerging world system built on extraction and inequality.

By tracing how faith, conquest and wealth operated together, the documentary reveals how Spanish colonialism shaped global capitalism, religious power and imperial governance. It shows how the legacies of conquest, forced conversion and resource extraction continue to influence social inequality, cultural identity and economic structures in the modern world and how current global superpowers like the United States and China adopt this model to their benefit. It also draws on the parallels between the erasure of cultural artefacts then and today’s “algorithmic colonisation”.

The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge is a 102-mile railway viaduct in China, connecting two of the country’s largest cities, and is the longest bridge in the world

The world’s longest bridge spans over 100 miles and takes travellers two hours to traverse. The colossal Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge is a railway viaduct in China and links two of the nation’s major cities.

Situated between Shanghai and Nanjing, the bridge forms part of the bustling Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway route. Work on the bridge commenced in 2006 and was completed five years later at a staggering cost of $8.5 billion (£6.4billion).

This translates to an approximate expenditure of $51 million (£38.6million) per mile of the route.

Not only is the bridge a national icon, but it was also constructed to safeguard the land beneath it, a region abundant with rivers and rice fields. For most of its length, the renowned bridge runs parallel to China’s Yangtze River.

Due to its proximity to the river, the bridge was designed to mimic its natural curvature, resulting in an unusual shape. The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge also spans the breathtaking waters of Yangcheng lake for just over five miles, reports the Express.

Prior to the bridge’s construction, train journeys between Ningbo and Jiaxing would take four and a half hours. However, thanks to this new architectural marvel, the journey now takes merely two hours, offering passengers spectacular views along the way.

The bridge has now revolutionised travel, making it possible to cover the 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) between Beijing and Shanghai in just 4 hours and 48 minutes. Despite China’s susceptibility to severe weather events, a number of safety measures were incorporated into the bridge during its construction.

Experts have confirmed that the bridge was constructed to the highest anti-seismic standards, ensuring it can withstand earthquakes. Moreover, the viaduct is also designed to endure collisions from the numerous ships that traverse beneath the bridge daily.

Not only has this new transport link significantly boosted the area’s productivity, but it has also become somewhat of a landmark. Thanks to the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge’s status as a record-breaking structure, tourists often seek out the bridge as an attraction.

The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge isn’t the only incredible architectural feat produced by China in recent years.

The world’s highest bridge was recently opened in Guizhou province. The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge has slashed journey times from two hours down to just two minutes, according to local state media.

It boasts an incredible deck-to-surface measurement of 625 metres – more than half a kilometre – making it tower above the previous record holder.

Former winner Rob Cross cruised through at the PDC World Championship and set up a last-16 tie against defending champion Luke Littler.

Cross, who won the event in 2018, brushed aside Australian and 16th seed Damon Heta in a comfortable 4-0 win.

The 17th seed was joined in round four by two-time winner Gary Anderson, who edged a final-set thriller against Dutchman Gary Wattimena.

Scot Anderson went 3-1 up in a game played at a ferocious pace, and was impressive in averaging 121 in set three.

He missed three match darts in the fourth set, hitting double eight with his first dart with 32 required, before missing the same target twice.

Wattimena powered back and forced a final set, despite Anderson missing more match darts at tops in set four.

Anderson went eight darts into the nine-darter in the final set, before going high on the double 12, and eventually claimed the set 5-3 to continue his quest to be the tournament’s oldest winner at 55.

He averaged 102.24 – the eighth-highest average in this year’s tournament – and was at 37.5% on the checkouts.

“It’s no good for my age. It’s hard, especially with Jermaine on you. What a game,” Anderson told Sky Sports.

“The last two games, 4-0, 4-0. I hope that’s made up for it. I’m going to lie down now.

“I bottled the nine-darter, like I bottled a lot of doubles. I was getting excited, I don’t often do that up there. But I got it done.”

Sunday’s action began with 20th seed Ryan Searle reaching the fourth round for the first time since 2021 with a 4-0 demolition of Germany’s Martin Schindler.