PROUD MEDIA NEWS CENTRE

  A £500 million five-year deal has been struck between Network Rail and British Steel to help save the Scunthorpe steelworks, the Government has announced. A £500 million five-year deal has been struck between Network Rail and British Steel to help save the Scunthorpe steelworks, the Government has announced. British Steel is to supply 337,000 tonnes of rail track, which will secure thousands of manufacturing jobs, in an agreement which comes two months after the Government used emergency powers to prevent the blast furnaces from immediate closure. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who is visiting the site in North Lincolnshire to finalise the deal, said it “truly transforms the outlook for British Steel and its dedicated workforce in Scunthorpe”. British Steel is to supply a minimum of 337,000 tonnes of long and short rail. A further 80-90,000 tonnes is to be provided by other European manufacturers and deals are expected to be announced shortly, the Department for Transport (...

The UK-US trade deal has been signed and is “done”, US President Donald Trump said as he met with Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit. The UK-US trade deal has been signed and is “done”, US President Donald Trump said as he met with Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit. The Prime Minister said the completed deal “implements on car tariffs and aerospace”, and described the agreement as a “sign of strength” between Britain and America. However, as the two leaders met at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, there was a signal from the President that agreement about tariffs on British steel exports to the US could take longer to finalise. “We’re gonna let you have that information in little while,” he said when asked by reporters about steel tariffs. In recent months, the UK has held a series of engagements aimed at securing a reduction in the tariffs Mr Trump imposed on Britain and the rest of the world on April 2. Along with 10% tariffs on all British goods, the President imposed 25% levies ...

  Salvador Plasencia, who gave Friends star the drug in month leading to overdose, to plead guilty to four counts A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the month leading up to the Friends star’s overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, authorities said Monday. Dr Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They said the plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Plasencia is expected to enter the plea in the coming weeks. Plasencia and a woman accused of being a ketamine dealer had been the primary targets of the prosecution, after three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation. Plasencia had been scheduled to start trial in August. An email to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered. Perry was found dead by his assistant on 28 October 2023. The medical examiner ruled that ke...

  Vapes and solar panels have driven a 75% surge in electrical device sales over the last five years, according to an e-waste recycling body. A total of 93 million household electronic items were purchased in 2024 – almost three times the volume sold in 2006, according to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland. Launching its 2024 annual report on Monday, WEEE said electronic items sold per year increased by 75% between 2019 and 2024. Vaping devices alone accounted for a third of all units sold last year, an estimated 31 million units, while 2.5 million solar PV panels have been installed in the last five years. The country’s biggest e-waste recycling scheme is calling for Ireland’s “e-waste intelligence” to develop as consumption reaches record levels, putting pressure on EU recycling targets. “Each one of those 93 million devices contains valuable materials like aluminium, copper, lithium, cobalt,” said WEEE Ireland chief executive Leo Donovan. “We’re using these...

  The greater Glasgow region needs a directly-elected mayor and a devolution deal to avoid falling behind other large UK cities, a think tank has recommended. The Centre for Cities said Glasgow could be missing out on billions in funding without the changes. A report, The Missing Piece In The Big Cities’ Jigsaw, claimed Scotland’s GDP would be 4.6% larger than it is now if Glasgow’s economy performed in line with the average for cities its size. In England there are 10 combined local authorities which have a metro mayor. The process of local devolution began a decade ago with Greater Manchester. Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “The UK is taking a city-region led approach to economic growth because cities are at the frontier of innovation and economic growth. “Glasgow has an important role in this, with the potential to make an added economic contribution the size of Scotland’s oil and gas sector if it harnesses its size to generate more cutting-edge activ...