BAD news for Ryanair travellers – starting tomorrow, you’ll need to get to the airport earlier under strict new rules.
From November 10, the airline is closing its bag drop off service one hour before departure.
Ryanair is introducing new rules for passengers tomorrowSource: Alamy
Currently, passengers are allowed to drop their bags up until 40 minutes before departure.
This means that with the new rules passengers will lose 20 minutes.
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The change was announced back in April with the airline claiming that it will give passengers 20 per cent more time to get through security and passport control.
However, it means that for passengers who like to arrive at the airport at the last minute, will now need to be there earlier.
The rule change will only impact passengers who are checking in bags though.
So if you pack light with just hand luggage, you can still arrive at the airport closer to your flight departure time.
Travellers will have to check in their luggage 60 minutes before departure instead of 40 minutesSource: Alamy
Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady, said: “From Tue, 10 Nov, bag drop services at all Ryanair airports will close 60 minutes before scheduled departure, instead of the current 40 minutes.
“This small change will give the 20 per cent of Ryanair passengers who check in a bag, more time to clear airport security and passport control queues and get to their departure gate before boarding begins, particularly during busy travel periods when airport queues can be longer.
“We remind passengers using airport bag drop services to arrive at the airport in good time and ensure they have checked in and dropped their bags before check-in and bag drop closes 60 minutes before departure.
“The remaining 80 per cent of passengers who check in online and do not check in a bag are unaffected by this change.”
The previous limit was 15 people and now groups of more than 10 will have to split into smaller groups and be at least 50 metres apart.
The new rule applies to both bikes and e-scooters.
If caught breaking the rules you could be fined up to £2,500Source: Getty
Other new rules crackdown on stag and hen parties as well, where if thy take place on public streets between 10pm and 8am from Sunday to Friday – and Saturday until 9:30am – groups could be faced with a fine between €750 (£625.64) and €1,500 (£1,251.29).
There are also new limits on wearing items representing human genitalia, and carrying inflatable dolls and other sexual props through public spaces.
These offences could be fined up to €750 (£625.64).
Authorities have said that the new rules are not meant to limit tourism, just to “better manage its activities and ensure that we can all share the streets in appropriate conditions”, reports Olive Press.
WASHINGTON — In its latest chapter on religion in schools, the Supreme Court debated Tuesday whether Colorado may fund private preschools for 4-year-olds but exclude Catholic schools that refuse to serve same-sex parents and their children.
The court’s six conservatives, all of whom were raised Catholic, leaned in favor of ruling the state was discriminating based on religion.
The state offered funding to all preschools but said they must abide by an “equal opportunity” rule that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett said state officials “chose to impose a condition” they knew those Catholic schools “will be unable to agree to.”
In contrast, the court’s three liberals said the Catholic schools were not seeking equal treatment but a new right to discriminate.
“You are asking for a special rule for religious schools,” said Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the state opened the funding program to all schools, including church-related schools. “The Catholic schools are not being excluded. They’re choosing not to participate because they won’t get an exemption,” she said.
In the last decade, the court’s conservative majority has strengthened the 1st Amendment’s protection for the “free exercise of religion.”
States and local governments need not offer public funds to private groups and entities, the justices said. But if they do so, they may not single out religious schools or people and deny them public funding that is open to all.
They struck down laws in Minnesota and Maine that denied scholarships or school funds to students who enrolled in a religious school. And they ruled the city of Philadelphia could not bar Catholic social services from providing foster care because they did not work with same-sex couples.
Despite that history, Colorado adopted a strong “equal opportunity” law in 2022 to go with its new state funding for preschools.
The state voters had approved a ballot measure in 2020 to provide public funding for a year of preschool prior to kindergarten. Both public and private schools were encouraged to participate.
The state pays for 15 hours per week and provides parents about $6,000 in tuition.
Lawmakers said eligible schools must provide children “an equal opportunity to enroll regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level or disability.”
The Archdiocese of Denver oversees 34 Catholic preschools. Parents were told they must support and affirm the teachings of the church, including on matters of gender and marriage.
In light of the new funding law, the church asked for an accommodation that would allow “faith based providers to participate in the program without compromising their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The state refused. It said “no provider may discriminate against children or families in violation of the state statute.”
St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton, Colo., and two of its parents sued, alleging a violation of the 1st Amendment.
Their attorneys — the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty — argued that no LGBTQ+ family has been harmed or claimed discrimination under the preschool funding law, while “thousands of Catholic families have zero Catholic preschools available to them.”
They lost before a federal judge and the 10th Circuit Court. Those judges said the state did not target the Catholic schools or treat them differently from others because of their religious beliefs.
During Tuesday’s argument, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh voiced dismay over how this case arose.
“This seems like a would-be solution in search of a problem. Why are we here?” he asked a state attorney.
He and Barrett said same-sex couples did not seek to have their children enrolled in Catholic preschools. Meanwhile, other parents were denied state funds because of the marriage and family policies of the Catholic parishes.
The court is likely to hand down a decision in several months.
Any Brits flying to the US will need to sign a new waiverCredit: GettyIt comes after a huge outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the CongoCredit: Reuters
Brits travelling to or through the States will have to sign a waiver to confirm they have not recently been to the Congo as a form of prevention.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said anyone ‘willfully providing false or misleading information may lead to criminal fines and imprisonment’.
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Brits need to either physically or digitally sign a statement stating that they have not been in the Congo within 21 days of flying into the US.
Taking a connecting flight through an airport in the Congo still counts as being present in the country.
Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady, said: “From Tue, 10 Nov, bag drop services at all Ryanair airports will close 60 minutes before scheduled departure, instead of the current 40 minutes.
“This small change will give the 20 per cent of Ryanair passengers who check in a bag, more time to clear airport security and passport control queues and get to their departure gate before boarding begins, particularly during busy travel periods when airport queues can be longer.
“We remind passengers using airport bag drop services to arrive at the airport in good time and ensure they have checked in and dropped their bags before check-in and bag drop closes 60 minutes before departure.
“The remaining 80 per cent of passengers who check in online and do not check in a bag are unaffected by this change.”
The airline said it will help passengers clear queues at security and passport controlCredit: Alamy
It comes after Ryanair has dropped its hidden charges for families in June.
For adults travelling with children who choose this new seating option, they will be told of their seat allocation after they have checked in for their flight.
TV Licensing guidance offers details on how people could be entitled to a refund on their £180 TV Licence
TV Licence holders may be entitled to a refund payment depending on their circumstances, TV Licensing rules show(Image: Getty)
Paying for a TV Licence is one of those things in life few people enjoy but must accept as just a rule you have to follow. A standard TV Licence will set you back £180.
But what not everyone realises that there are circumstances where that sum you’ve forked out can be refunded. If that happens, there is a process to go through, TV Licensing explains – and how much you might get in a repayment depends on certain factors.
Why would you be able to claim a refund, you might wonder. Well, if you do not need a licence any more before the one you have runs out, you can make a request for a refund – as long as there is at least 1 full month left on it.
Furthermore, if you meet the criteria for an over-75 concession, or for a blind concession, you can make a claim for a refund. And in those circumstances, you can do so at any point, regardless if how long you have left on your licence.
The TV Licensing website says: “Working out precise refund amounts can be complicated. But we will do it for you. We’ll look carefully at the information you give us and let you know if we can offer you a refund, and how much it will be.”
If you do not any longer need your licence, and it is found that you are eligible for a refund payment, the TV Licensing officials will make a calculation based on when the licence you have was issued, and when it expires.
Refunds are calculated in unused months. The rules say you could get a refund for anywhere between one and 11 months, depending on your situation.
If you want to sit down and look into when your licence expiry date is, it’s pretty simple to do so. Just sign to the TV Licensing website with your licence number, name and postcode.
If they decide that your claim is valid, and a refund payment is agreed, your licence ends at once.
Here is the full list of people who may be entitled to a refund on their TV Licence:
The address is covered by another licence
refunds for those who qualify for a blind concession
TV receiving equipment is no longer in use
Refunds in consequence of a free TV Licence application – payments are made for each complete month remaining on the current licence.
TV Licence is bought in error
refunds for those who do not need it before it runs out and there is at least one month left on it
Refunds due to the death of the licence holder
A replacement TV Licence has been bought
refunds for those who qualify for over-75 concession
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is “open” to the possibility of the UK issuing a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, but has ruled out considering financial reparations.
Burham said he wanted a “dialogue with those affected by the slave trade” and was open to “calls for an apology”.
He dismissed the idea of paying financial reparations, saying they were “not the right answer”.
The comments come ahead of a Commonwealth leaders summit in the Caribbean next week, which Burnham will attend. Caribbean nations have renewed calls for the UK to apologise for its role in the slave trade, and for reparations, as King Charles III tours the region.
Burham described the transatlantic slave trade, when Africans were trafficked to the Americas, as a “brutal and barbaric violation” and said Britain must “face up to the past”.
The British government has never formally apologised for slavery or offered to pay reparations. Burnham has stuck with the policy of his predecessors, and has stopped short of offering any consideration of reparation payments.
“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” Burnham wrote in his piece for the Guardian, external.
He said Commonwealth countries had for years been asking for an “honest conversation”. Burnham said he wanted to offer a “structured dialogue” adding: “Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process. I am open to them.”
A government source told the BBC this was “morally the right thing to do”.
Downing Street believes it is in the UK’s interest to strengthen the Commonwealth, in a world where China and Russia are seeking to exert influence.
Only this week, President Vladimir Putin hosted a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow.
A federal judge in California on Friday barred the Justice Department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots.
The order issued by U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson in the Northern District of California was in response to a suit filed earlier Friday by labor unions seeking to bar the Justice Department from intimidating election workers.
Notably, the emergency order was issued without the Department of Justice weighing in on the case.
“Election Day is around the corner,” wrote Thompson, who was nominated by former President Biden. “Ballots have already been issued. Americans have already begun voting. Workers have already begun processing ballots. Given the consequences of inaction, the Court sees no reason to delay its ruling.”
It also bars the Justice Department from demanding local election officials segregate or not count ballots that the federal government deems may have been cast by ineligible voters.
“This ruling is a victory for the workers who make our elections possible and the communities they serve,” April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, said in a statement Friday night.
The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has warned that “any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”
On Thursday, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to election officials in Los Angeles County. The subpoenas request any documents and communications related to letters sent in July and October by federal officials to state election officials outlining the allegations about noncitizen voters. They also seek any information about efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted. At least three L.A. County election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury the day after the election.
It is unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges against anyone. The department does not typically subpoena people whom it regards as targets of a criminal investigation to appear before a grand jury.
Outside groups win access to the disputed list
In another Friday ruling, another federal judge ordered the Trump administration to share the disputed list of names with lawyers for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. They want to examine who is on the list and assess its impact on eligible voters.
It will be the first time that a nongovernmental organization will have the opportunity to evaluate the merits of the list of some 20,000 names. The federal government promptly appealed the decision on Friday evening.
The Democratic candidate for California governor, Xavier Becerra, is an advisor to the UCLA Voting Rights Project.
The two groups sued the Homeland Security Department in early October to prevent it from using federal immigration data to challenge state voter rolls. The lawsuit cited examples in other states where the federal government’s data have been proven to mistakenly include thousands of citizens. It argued that the data-matching methods risk disenfranchising or deterring citizens from voting. On top of that, plaintiffs argued, the lists could disproportionately target naturalized citizens who are legally entitled to vote.
The Justice Department argues that there is just as much to lose if the ballots aren’t separated.
“Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an American citizen,” Kiersten V. Pels, a spokesperson for the department, wrote in an email. “The Department makes no apology for protecting those votes.”
In a separate but related 9th Circuit Court decision on Friday, a panel of judges ruled that federal investigations into illegal voting by noncitizens will remain on hold in nine states until after election day.
The judges, all nominated by Democratic presidents, found that the aggressive and public investigations led some citizens to decide not to engage in election-related activities out of fear of being wrongly targeted.
The judges said the investigations, which are looking into alleged illegal voting in past elections, can resume after the midterms wrap up Tuesday.
Riddle, Mulvihill and Swenson write for the Associated Press. AP writer Swenson reported from New York; Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, N.J.
“The idea of doing that got me through the whole experience because you feel as a Traitor sometimes, when you see people have real life reactions that are bigger than the game, you feel bad, and I would have to remind myself they don’t have a game without you, literally, if no one’s doing this stuff, they can’t play, and they all want to play,” he said. “So you are doing an important job here, so they all have something to do, and when they catch you, they’ll be really happy and they’ll like it, and it will feel good to just tell them and see that reaction.”
FOR eight years, Sara Cox was forever the bridesmaid, never the bride.
At long last, then, on a bright, sunny Monday morning in July, the broadcaster got her big day, becoming the long-overdue host of Radio 2’s Breakfast Show.
Sara Cox now hosts Radio 2’s Breakfast ShowCredit: BBCSara tells her Drivetime listenters of her move to the channel’s Breakfast ShowCredit: BBC radio 2
Which tells you all you need to know about this brilliantly witty DJ: She says it as she sees it, and has fun along the way.
“Was it deliberate?”, she says, smiling. “Of course — I was being cheeky.
“On the day itself though, I actually felt fine, not that nervous. It was a job I’ve wanted for so long that it just felt like . . . finally.
“And when I thought about About Damn Time, it did make me smile.
“I thought, ‘Start as you mean to go on’. I just wanted to be me, which essentially is a little bit cheeky.
“Luckily, the reaction’s been great. We have the best listeners in the world and I have the best job in the world. I’ve got an incredible team, a brilliant bunch of people like me who are massive radio geeks, and I love it.”
While some may have crumpled under the pressure of hosting the biggest gig on the airwaves, the unflappable former model has taken it all in her leggy stride.
An instant hit with listeners — she was also a long-time favourite with devotees of her former gig, the Drivetime show — Sara has introduced new games and interactive formats to keep things fresh.
Lucky listeners can win a pair of branded “Sara Sox” socks (clean) should they triumph in games such as Let’s Hear It For The Noise, a fiendishly difficult memory challenge.
(Behind the scenes, she is incredibly hands-on, WhatsApping her team with ideas around the clock, I’m told.)
Having been relentlessly badgering Sara’s team for an interview, today, then, is my Big Day. Finally.
Invited to spend a morning in the life of the Bolton-born 51-year-old, things kick off, rather unpleasantly, with a 4.50am alarm call.
Entering the BBC’s flagship London building in the dark, I am tired and grumpy. Sara is not.
In the studio, she dances to tracks, chats to her listeners before and after they call (apparently, many DJs don’t bother with such niceties), and cheerfully munches on an avocado wrap she brought in from home.
The super-fit mum of three — who last year smashed a gruelling 135- mile run across five consecutive days, raising £11.7million for Children In Need — also stands up for the entirety of her three-hour show.
I am exhausted just watching her.
I used to sit down doing the radio but not any more,” she says.
“I like to move around. But it’s also for the leg region. the late (TV health expert) Michael Mosley did a podcast on inflammation — if you sit down for too long, your cells start making the inflammation. So, sadly, it’s not for a rock ’n’ roll reason.”
Sara leaves the studio in July clutching flowers after her first Breakfast ShowCredit: Simon JonesSara with husband Ben at an album launch in London in 2015Credit: Getty
On the subject of rock ’n’ roll, to a legion of geriatric millennials like me, and Gen Xers, Sara came to the fore as a “ladette”.
With a motto of “work hard, play hard”, Sara and her pals were endlessly papped hanging out at celebrity hotspots such as London’s Met Bar.
Yet those days are long gone — so much so, the charismatic star is now teetotal. Plus, constant cameras — filmed clips of the show are put out on the station’s official Instagram page — mean it would be nigh-on impossible to hide a hangover.
She says with a laugh: “I mean, you saw the Radio 1 pap shots of me leaving the building — I literally look like I’d slept in a skip. It was great.
“But yeah, it’s all visualised now, and I get it, we are evolving. I can get away with putting my make-up on during a record. A bit of mazzie (mascara) and I’m good to go.
“Today, though, I don’t drink. I’ve not drank since February after my last pina colada in half-term.
“I do feel better for it. To be fair, I was drinking so little, maybe one unit a week, that when I did drink, it was making me feel dizzy and weird.
Sara during her gruelling five-day Children In Need fundraising run last NovemberCredit: UnknownSara with Meg Mathews in the ’90sCredit: PA:Press Association
“Plus, my husband Ben hasn’t drunk for four or five years so that makes it easier/wears you down.
“I mean, you feel a complete lush having half a glass of malbec of an evening otherwise.”
She has been married to marketing executive Ben Cyzer, who she met at Glastonbury Festival, since 2013. They are blissfully happy. Presumably, though, Ben was less thrilled with his wife’s career reawakening and the unsociable hours?
Sharing her new routine, she says: “I am in bed by 9pm. When I started the job, I was setting my alarm at five, but then I was really rushing about and I thought, ‘No, Sara, make it a tiny bit earlier’. So, at 4.50am off goes the first one.
“Then Alexa is on stand-by at 4.55, and if things have gone really wrong, 5.05am and 5.06am are also set on my phone.
“And my husband, bless him, checks the doorbell sometimes to make sure I’ve actually gone.
“I am a light sleeper, so a lot of the time I take myself off to the spare room, because I’m getting up so early and need to sleep well.
“And also because he doesn’t want to go to bed at 9.15pm, because he’s an adult male. He’s a normal person.
Sara said: ‘I used to sit down doing the radio but not any more. If you sit down for too long, your cells start making the legs inflamed. So, sadly, it’s not for a rock ’n’ roll reason’Credit: Guy Levy/BBCFormer Breakfast Show host Scott Mills was axed by BBC bosses in MarchCredit: PA
“Then Friday and Saturday, it feels like quite a treat and it’s quite nice to be back together.”
After feeding the couple’s three cats, Watson, Peggy and Miso, she takes a home-made breakfast to eat in the studio and glugs a coffee in the car on the way in. (“I eat very quickly, like a seabird”).
So who would her dream guests be? “Daniel Craig — we’ve just had M, Dame Judi Dench, so we should have Bond too. Tom Cruise would be wild — we’ve had The Hanks, and I’d love to work towards completing the Hollywood set.”
“Also on the list is Beyonce — “I interviewed her when I was pregnant with my son and he’s 18 now, so we’re well overdue a catch-up.” And Madonna — “I interviewed her at Radio 1 and offered her my spare room ’cos she was house-hunting in the UK . . . The offer’s still on.”
Sara got the Breakfast Show gig at a challenging time for the BBC.
Previous host Scott Mills was fired over a historical allegation of a sexual offence.
It has since emerged the axed DJ has enlisted lawyers and is planning to sue the corporation.
Not surprisingly, questions about him are off the table. And 72 hours after my visit, a story comes out in the Press, with insiders claiming to have felt “uncomfortable” due to her habit of calling mistakes out on air.
Well, having chatted to four of her team, including her producer, and seen Sara mucking about with colleagues, I can testify it appears to be a very happy ship indeed.
A perfectionist she may be, but a tyrant she ain’t.
And listener figures for the show in the last few years have stayed solid at around 6.37million weekly.
Elsewhere, though, it is a challenging time generally for legacy media, as audiences consume their content largely online, on streaming services and platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
So does Sara, who has written four Sunday Times best- selling novels, think radio will still be around in a decade? Yes.
“I think it’ll always be there because people will always want that connection and that friendship that they have with their DJ,” she says.
“There’s a lot of people who listen who won’t speak to anybody else for the rest of the day, so it’s important.
“But at the same time, we’ve just got to keep being innovative. And for younger audiences as well, we film everything. We’ve got a brilliant young socials team who are constantly coming up with great ideas for TikTok and Instagram.
“I really enjoy it, I love being silly and having fun. You can’t take yourself too seriously, can you?
“I do feel lucky. I really do have ‘pinch me’ moments in this job. I love it, and I really hope it shows.”
ByMichael R. Sisak, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Larry Neumeister
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Trump administration last year illegally fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, from her job as a federal prosecutor in New York, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Maurene Comey, who was an assistant U.S. attorney for a decade, was illegally fired in July 2025 despite her work on some of the nation’s highest-profile cases and consistently receiving “the highest accolades from supervisors and peers alike,” Judge Jesse M. Furman found.
After her firing, Comey sued the Justice Department and others, saying her termination violated the constitutional separation of powers, the 1st Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment.
She asserted that she was fired because she was the daughter of James Comey, whom President Trump has long viewed as an enemy, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, the judge noted.
Furman rejected the government’s claim that Comey could be fired because federal prosecutors exercise the president’s “conclusive and preclusive” powers.
He said the government’s claim that Congress is barred from regulating the removal of federal prosecutors “flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent.”
Furman added: “Indeed, to accept Defendants’ argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.”
The firing violated the separation of powers, the Administrative Procedure Act and her 5th Amendment due process and statutory rights, the judge ruled.
Furman reserved judgment on Comey’s 1st Amendment claim pending further arguments to be submitted by each side, though he said he was inclined to dismiss the claim because it was largely moot since she is now in private practice and no longer seeks actual reinstatement.
The judge granted Comey retroactive reinstatement and back pay from the date of her firing through Dec. 20 to “make her whole” and ensure that she doesn’t suffer adverse employment consequences for the “unlawful termination.”
Comey’s lawyers, Ellen Blain, Nicole Gueron, Deepa Vanamali and Margaret Donovan, lauded the ruling.
“This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law,” they said in a statement. “As the Court correctly held, to accept the government’s argument about unlimited executive power ‘would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.’ This decision reaffirms our bedrock system of checks and balances: the President is not above the law.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The Justice Department during the Trump administration has fired scores of career employees, including prosecutors and FBI agents, who participated in investigations of President Trump or who were perceived as opposed to the administration’s agenda. Some of those firings have also resulted in federal lawsuits.
The firing of Maurene Comey was seen as particularly personal, given her father’s longtime adversarial relationship with Trump.
The president fired James Comey as FBI director in May 2017 as the bureau was investigating ties between Russia and the Republican’s successful 2016 campaign for the White House. Trump in the years since has repeatedly called for Comey to be jailed, and his Justice Department has worked with mixed success to make that happen.
An earlier criminal case accusing James Comey of having lied to Congress in 2020 was dismissed by a judge who concluded that the prosecutor who filed the charges was illegally appointed. A separate pending indictment charges the former FBI director with threatening Trump through an Instagram photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47,” a case he has sought to dismiss that some legal experts have greeted with skepticism.
Sisak, Tucker, Durkin Richer and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. Tucker and Durkin Richer reported from Washington.
Even as recently as a decade ago, Las Vegas hotel concierges and plenty of locals would have described the gap between the Strip and Fremont Street as something of a dead zone. This was a ragged corridor of old warehouses and auto shops, with more boarded-up storefronts than open doors.
“You couldn’t park your car and not worry,” remembers artist Gem Jaxx, who moved to Vegas in 2006 from Monterey County, Calif. “You couldn’t even walk the streets.”
Yet the idea of an arts district had been taking shape since the early ’90s, when the city identified an 18-block area south of downtown as ripe for creative development. Loosely framed by Hoover Avenue to the north and Colorado Avenue to the south, with Commerce Street and Fourth Street marking its west and east edges, this region became known as the 18b Arts District. First Friday, launched by a small group of artists and gallery owners in 2002, started pulling crowds into the neighborhood. Sometimes tens of thousands at a time, if only once a month.
The regular influx of visitors (combined with cheap rents and plenty of retail space) drew a wave of interesting tenants: antique dealers, secondhand clothing boutiques, microbreweries, cocktail bars. As the mix of businesses grew, 18b began to matter less as a set of boundaries and more as an identity.
“Very quickly it changed,” says Josh Kellman, president of the Arts District board. “Businesses here were saying, ‘Hey, I want to be in 18b.’ No one wants to feel like they’re outside the neighborhood.”
Today, the Las Vegas Arts District is a low-key alternative to the Strip for dining, drinks, art, shopping and beyond. Centered on Main Street, but with plenty to explore on neighboring Commerce Street and Casino Center Boulevard, it’s easy to spend an afternoon browsing vintage shops and gallery spaces, catch live music or a stage show, grab dinner, coffee and craft beer — and still have money left for tomorrow.
But the neighborhood is at a crossroads. After a tragic shooting happened earlier this month during First Friday, the monthly arts festival is now on hold as organizers and city officials consider how to move forward. Meanwhile, a proposed Business Improvement District intended to fund additional safety measures and neighborhood services has stirred debate over how to improve the area while preserving the independent spirit that made it a destination in the first place.
As questions swirl, fans of the Arts District hope it holds on to what makes it such a distinctive place. At a time when Las Vegas can feel increasingly engineered around sky-high bottle service, celebrity-chef tasting menus and cocktails edging toward $30, the neighborhood remains one of the places locals actually hang out and where tourists can experience Sin City beyond the slot machines. Here are 11 worthwhile stops on a visit to the creative hub.
HM Passport Office has issued an alert to anyone applying for a new or replacement child passport in the UK
Children need a valid passport to travel abroad, just like adults do(Image: Images By Tang Ming Tung via Getty Images)
All you need to know as HM Passport Office issues alert over children’s passports:
HM Passport Office has issued a new alert for parents applying for a new or replacement passport for a child.
All children must hold their own passport to travel internationally – a rule that has been in place since October 1998. The sole issuer of UK passports shared the alert on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
It stated: “A child’s application must be completed by a person with parental responsibility. You’ll also need to provide documentation to confirm this.”
Parental responsibility is automatically granted to those who give birth to the child. Fathers or second female parents may also have automatic parental responsibility depending on their circumstances.
For example, parental responsibility is also automatically granted if you are married to or in a civil partnership with the birth mother at the time of the child’s birth.
Should the biological father wed or enter into a civil partnership with the child’s birth mother following the birth, he will automatically obtain parental responsibility.
A standard child’s passport costs £66.50 online or £80 by paper form, rising to £80.50 or £94 for a 54-page frequent-traveller passport.
Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan has been named among 147 football club officials to receive 45-day bans from the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) for breaching betting rules.
In September, it was announced 448 people had been provisionally suspended and referred to the TFF’s professional football disciplinary board over allegations they had placed bets while in office.
Like players and coaches, match officials are forbidden from participating in betting activities by TFF regulations, as well as those of Fifa and Uefa.
The TFF said the people involved had held posts at clubs in the top two divisions in Turkish football over the previous five years.
Of those, some 147 were found to have breached betting rules and will be barred from carrying out duties within football during the suspension period.
There were insufficient grounds for disciplinary action in the other 301 cases.
The Turkish football authorities have clamped down on betting in the sport over the last year.
A British Airways flight from a tourist hotspot was forced to divert in the early hours to land at Gatwick rather than Heathrow
A British Airways jet was forced to land at Gatwick(Image: Ceri Breeze via Getty Images)
A British Airways flight has been forced to divert from Heathrow to Gatwick after falling foul of strict rules over its landing time.
The BA707 flight from holiday hotspot Larnaca was diverted to the London airport after the four hour journey, according to AirNav Radar.
The flight had to be diverted to Gatwick after missing the curfew at Heathrow.
The plane left the Cyprus airport at 9.32pm, over three hours after scheduled take off.
It then landed at Gatwick at 12.12am on Tuesday.
Flights heading to Heathrow are often diverted to Gatwick or other regional hubs if they miss Heathrow’s strict nighttime curfew.
Heathrow enforces rigorous restrictions on movements late at night in order to reduce noice pollution for the millions of residents that live under its flight paths.
The core curfew means that scheduled flights are heavily restricted to land and take off between 11pm and 6am.
The airport operates under a strict ‘night quota’ system between 11pm and 6am which limits both the absolute number of flights allowed to land and the total amount of aircraft noise allowed.
Unless an official emergency is declared then air traffic control will deny landing rights past the curfew, forcing a diversion.
United States President Donald Trump has for the first time explicitly ruled out the use of a nuclear weapon against Iran, but has not denied US media reports that his administration is considering deploying the US’s most lethal non-nuclear munition, nicknamed the “mother of all bombs” in the near future.
In an interview published on Thursday by right-wing American news site Newsmax, Trump suggested he does not plan to use nuclear weapons, but also clarified that the devastating aerial weapon, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB – ‘mother of all bombs ) “is not nuclear”.
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“I wouldn’t use nuclear. We don’t have to. We’re the greatest nuclear power in the world,” he told Newsmax.
The comments marked Trump’s first definitive statement on the nuclear topic following speculation about a possible atomic conflict earlier in the US and Israel’s war on Iran. They also appeared to confirm speculation that another phase of the war is imminent, likely after the US midterm elections on November 3.
Here’s what we know:
A satellite view of tunnel entrances on Pickaxe Mountain at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran, June 30, 2026 [Vantor/via Reuters]
What did Trump say?
Trump told Newsmax that the US might indeed launch another strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, particularly on Pickaxe Mountain, where Tehran is believed to be hiding a nuclear facility deep under layers of granite.
He ruled out using a nuclear weapon or a tactical nuclear weapon.
“I wouldn’t use nuclear. We don’t have to. We’re the greatest nuclear power in the world,” he said.
He also clarified that the MOAB, which CNN reported the US government is considering using, “is not nuclear”.
Responding to a question about whether the MOAB is “tactical nuclear” – meaning smaller nuclear munitions – Trump reiterated that it is not.
“Well, the mother of all bombs is not nuclear,” Trump said. “It’s not nuclear at all. This is just an extremely large bomb.”
Trump declined to say whether he had authorised its use in Iran.
Trump also suggested renewed attacks are likely in the near future. The US cannot end the war now because it has to ensure Iran cannot produce a nuclear weapon, he argued, saying he believes that “if they had it, they would use it, in my opinion, instantaneously”.
Trump also reiterated that the war would end “very soon” whether by force or diplomacy and that oil prices would then drop.
When asked if he would put “troops on the ground”, Trump said: “No, I don’t see that, I don’t see it.” Earlier in the war, Trump had made comments regarding sending in troops, a move analysts said would be devastating for US soldiers because of Iran’s mountainous territory.
What is the ‘mother of all bombs’?
The MOAB carries a massive payload of about 8,500kg (18,000 pounds or 8.5 tonnes) of high explosives. It weighs 9,800kg (21,605 pounds or nearly 10 tonnes) – about the same as four cars – and is just over nine metres (about 30 feet) long. Stealth bombers are too small to carry it, so it has to be deployed by larger, Lockheed C-130 Hercules transporters.
It is designed to explode a few metres above the ground, sending out intense fireballs that can blast buildings and other hard-surface structures within a 1km radius, experts have told Al Jazeera. It is so powerful that a mushroom cloud from its blast has been seen 32km (20 miles) away in tests, the US Air Force has said.
“Its large explosive charge can produce devastating blast effects against exposed personnel, equipment and vulnerable structures,” Brussels-based military and weapons analyst Elijah Magnier said. “Its purpose is to generate an exceptionally powerful blast across a surface area.”
However, Magnier said there is doubt about whether using the massive surface explosive would be effective against deeply buried nuclear installations in Iran. He added that the terrain in Iran could be difficult for larger cargo aircraft to access.
What has Trump previously said about nuclear weapons?
Trump has never explicitly mentioned using a nuclear weapon, but he has also never ruled it out.
Speculation regarding whether Washington might use nuclear weapons was rife in the early days of the conflict, largely because of the extreme nature of Trump’s numerous threats against Tehran.
In April, for example, as Iran enforced a blockade on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump posted on his Truth Social site that “…a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, if Iran did not agree to a peace deal and reopen the strait.
He also threatened to destroy Iran’s infrastructure, saying a bombing campaign “will be Power Plant Day and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one”, in Iran.
Experts widely interpreted his statements as a threat of nuclear destruction, but one that still failed to force Iran to the table.
Although Trump largely moved away from his sabre-rattling rhetoric in the following weeks, he reiterated at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month that he could “annihilate” Iran. He also told the assembly that he believed a deal would emerge after the midterms.
What is a ‘tactical’ nuclear weapon?
“Tactical” nuclear weapons (TNW) are smaller nuclear munitions designed for the battlefield as opposed to strategic nuclear munitions designed for mass destruction.
Some perceive TNWs as having a lesser impact than an atomic bomb, but experts warn that their names are misleading and they can nevertheless be devastating. Their explosive yield, between 0.3 and 50 kilotons, can impact areas within a 500-600km radius.
The US dropped a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, meaning that weapon would today be considered a TNW. The US, North Korea and Russia have TNWs in their arsenals, although no country has ever used them. TNWs are not subject to any international treaties and are largely unregulated.
What might another US attack on Iran look like?
With Trump failing to rule out dropping the MOAB, analysts speculate that the US might launch another – perhaps final – intensive bombing campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear and defence sites, particularly Pickaxe Mountain.
The US could also continue its naval blockade on Iranian ports, while providing escorts for commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has vowed to respond to escalatory strikes by targeting oil and digital infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states.
Senior defence officials have also warned that Iran will invade its neighbours if the US launches a ground operation, although Trump appears to have ruled that out.
Earlier in the war, he hinted at the possibility of sending ground forces to retrieve some 400kg of “yellowcake” – highly enriched uranium that Washington and Israel claim Tehran has hidden underground.
Trump’s phone calls in March to Kurdish militia groups fighting Iran provoked speculation that Washington could coordinate with them for an invasion, although that did not happen.
IT SEEMS rules on passports are everchanging with one new system currently being rolled out across the country.
Here is everything you need to know about travelling in the next few months.
New ‘contactless’ e-gates is set to be 25 per cent quicker than the already existing onesCredit: AFPBrits should be aware of the expiry date on their passportsCredit: Getty
New ‘contactless’ e-gates
New ‘contactless’ e-gates are being rolled out across 13 UK airports with the system set to be up to 25 per cent faster than current e-gates.
Once in place, passengers will have their photo taken at an e-gate which will be checked by the system, verified against immigration, travel and passport information.
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Essentially it takes away the need to both have a picture taken and scan the passport.
Once the checks are complete, the e-gates will open automatically.
If there is a need for further checks, then passengers will need to place their passport on the reader – or they could be asked to see a Border Force officer.
Passengers are still being told to keep their passport with them at all times.
As of October 6, East Midlands Airport was the first to introduce the new system.
It will then be followed by Birmingham Airport and later, London Gatwick.
At the moment, the contactless system will be for British citizens returning to the UK, but eventually could be used by other nationalities.
The other airports which will have the new e-gate system are Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted.
One of the first major UK airports to get the new e-gates will be GatwickCredit: Alamy
Expiry date rules
Before heading on holiday, it’s essential to check the expiry date on your passport.
To be valid for travel, British passports must have been issued within the last 10 years.
While the rules have been in place for years, figures have shown up to 100,000 holidaymakers a year face being turned away at airports if their passport is more than a decade old.
So, before you travel, check the start date, not the expiry. For example, if a passport has July 2016 start date but a December 2026 expiry, it has technically expired.
If it has run out then you will need to renew your passport which could take up to three weeks.
Dual national rule
In February 2026, the rules for dual national citizens mean they are no longer able to use their foreign passport to enter the UK.
No British passport can be older than 10 yearsCredit: AlamyDual national citizens must use their British passport to enter the UKCredit: Alamy
When entering the country now, they must use their British passport.
For those without, an alternative is a ‘certificate of entitlement’ which costs £589 and is attached to the passport.
Passengers trying to enter without either could face being banned from their flight and prevented from returning to the UK.
A Home Office spokesperson previously explained: “From February 25, 2026, all dual British citizens will need to present either a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement to avoid delays at the border.”
It is thought as many as 1.2million people across England and Wales currently hold more than one passport which is just over two per cent of the population.
Price says her focus is simply on Kotaskova, who took Cameron the distance in London in April.
Her loss on the scorecards at light-middleweight is her only defeat in a 15-fight career and will present a tough challenge for Price in her 11th fight since giving up her amateur status.
At one stage it had seemed as though all roads led to a showdown with Shields, with the two facing off after Price’s win over Pineiro earlier this year.
Shields called out Price as recently as August having reclaimed titles at middleweight.
A two-fight deal had been speculated but, when pressed on what happened, Price told BBC Sport Wales: “There was nothing on my side. The money wasn’t great, I wanted to fight in America and in Wales, but she wouldn’t come here, and there was no rematch clause.
“Everything basically was stacked against me and it just didn’t make sense.
“I have to stand on my own two feet and think: ‘I’m Lauren Price, I’m unified champion, Olympic gold medallist.’
“If I was towards the end of my career or if I had a few losses, absolutely you jump on it.
“But there’s no rush and there’s equally exciting fights out there.
“That fight will definitely happen, but only when it’s the right time and it makes sense.”
President Trump has pushed Congress to pass a proof-of-citizenship law, signed an executive order seeking a national voter ID requirement and tried to limit mail voting through U.S. Postal Service changes.
None of those moves succeeded in time to affect this year’s midterm elections. It’s a different matter in the states.
More than three dozen voting laws passed in Republican-controlled states are taking effect for the first time this year, many of them containing elements of Trump’s stalled proposals. They include changes to what IDs are acceptable to register for the first time and requirements to show proof of citizenship, an issue the Republican president has tried but failed to get through Congress.
“Trump’s attacks on our elections are deeply damaging, but they are not happening in isolation,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project. ”Across the country, states are also advancing restrictions that make it harder for eligible voters to cast a ballot.”
Republican lawmakers who support the tighter voting laws, especially around voter ID, describe them as common sense changes that help build trust in elections.
Trump and other Republicans have been pushing for more restrictive rules since the president’s false claims of widespread fraud in his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s false claims have resonated with Republican voters, a majority of whom believe Biden was not legitimately elected despite all evidence to the contrary. Trump lost dozens of court challenges, his own attorney general found no evidence of widespread fraud, and reviews, audits and recounts in the battleground states where he contested his loss all affirmed Biden’s victory.
Among the changes confronting voters as early voting gets underway: Students in New Hampshire can no longer use student IDs; Utah voters returning mail ballots must include more information on the envelope; and some voters in Mississippi might need birth certificates or passports to verify their identities.
Changes to voter ID requirements are challenged
New Hampshire state Rep. Donald McFarlane said he sponsored the bill to eliminate student IDs as acceptable for voting because colleges don’t have the same controls when issuing those cards as government agencies.
“The change removes a special exception and applies the same government-issued ID standard to all voters,” he said, adding that his bill had bipartisan support.
Students, he said, can still get state IDs free of charge.
The new requirements have not gone unchallenged.
In South Dakota, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt a new law that includes requiring voters registering for the first time to present the most common forms of ID — driver’s licenses, Tribal IDs and non-driver state IDs. They must be presented in person at places that accept registration.
“Proof of citizenship in itself is not terrible,” said Kathryn Johnson, president of the League of Women Voters of South Dakota.
Her concern is the requirement to present the IDs in person.
“We’re kind of a remote state, so sometimes it takes a drive, and you have to coordinate, you have to take off work, and all of these kinds of things,” she said.
Some Democrats also have expressed support for voter ID during recent debates. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he was open to the idea as long as it wasn’t based on “conspiracy theories.” When legislatures change their state’s voting laws, they typically give election offices and voters time to adjust. Trump wanted federal voter ID and proof-of-citizenship legislation to take effect immediately, forcing election officials and voters to comply in the middle of the midterms.
Ohio seeks to scrub voter rolls
Ohio has a proof of citizenship requirement in effect for the first time this year for those registering to vote or updating their voter registration information at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles location. The state also eliminated its four-day grace period for mail ballots, which now must be received at local election offices by Election Day.
Yet the biggest concern for voting rights groups is an ongoing purge of the state’s voter rolls. The databases used to check citizenship against voter registration lists can be outdated, said Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, which has sued to overturn the law.
“Vast numbers of perfectly eligible voters are vulnerable to being disenfranchised,” she said.
Republican state Sen. Theresa Gavarone, one of the primary sponsors of the bill, challenged the ACLU’s legal action and said the problem it addresses is a real one.
“In the past two years, hundreds of noncitizens have been removed from Ohio’s voter rolls,” she said in an email. “Every single vote cast by a noncitizen disenfranchises a lawful Ohio voter.”
Voters have mixed views on the changes
Outside an early voting center in Wayne County, Ohio, retired steel worker Dan Walter, an independent voter, said he opposes requiring documentary proof of citizenship to vote.
“It’s to keep people from voting, it sounds to me like,” he said.
His wife, Jody, a retired aerospace executive and a Democrat, said she felt the same way about Ohio’s new requirement for registering to vote.
“A driver’s license doesn’t prove citizenship, and that’s all they ask for now,” she said. “It’s going to be an obstacle for so many people.”
Genia Fortune had a different view. A nurse, the Millersburg resident described herself as an independent and said she voted for President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and later for Trump. She believes Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and sees requiring documentary proof of citizenship as a necessary precaution.
“I just feel like you need to be a citizen and show proof of ID,” she said.
Voting and election laws have become a regular target for legislatures
The Trump administration has pushed multiple strategies to influence this year’s midterm elections, most of them stymied by Congress or the courts.
Chris Diaz, director of legislative tracking at the Voting Rights Lab, said the group has seen several versions of the Republican president’s proposals passed by his allies in the states.
A recently released report by the group highlighted some of the key areas drawing Republican lawmakers’ attention, including mail balloting, voter ID and the hunt for noncitizens on voter rolls.
Noncitizen voting has been a focus of the Trump administration despite it being a rare problem. The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced it had brought charges in roughly 90 cases for various types of election misconduct, including 50 against people who are alleged to have voted as noncitizens. The U.S. had 227 million registered voters for the 2024 presidential election.
The Brennan Center for Justice has identified nearly 40 laws in 21 states taking effect this election season that will make it harder for eligible voters to register, stay on the rolls or cast ballots.
The report from the center, part of the New York University School of Law, found that many of the new laws target subsets of voters.
“What I want voters to take away from this is that elections are still run by the states and there are still people in many states who are trying to make it harder for you to vote,” said Sean Morales-Doyle, senior director of the center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program. “But that’s all the more reason to go make a plan to vote and participate.”
Fields and Smyth write for the Associated Press. Fields reported from Washington and Smyth reported from Wooster and Millersburg, Ohio.
