6:52 am, August 13, 2021
Six dead in Plymouth shooting, including suspect
Six people have died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident in Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall Police have said.
Two females and two males died at the scene in the Keyham area of the city, the force said, along with another male who is believed to be the offender. Another female was treated at the scene for gunshot wounds and later died in hospital.
The force said next of kin have been informed and it is not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. It confirmed the incident was not terror-related.
Afghanistan deployment to assist evacuation is ‘sign of failure’
Sending troops into Afghanistan ‘to keep the door open as you leave is a sure sign of failure’, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee has said.
On Thursday, the UK and US said that they would deploy 600 and 3,000 troops respectively to Afghanistan to support their diplomatic presence, help their citizens leaving the country and support the relocation of former Afghan staff, as the Taliban continue to make gains.
Retweeting news of the American deployment, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Conservative Tom Tugendhat MP, said: ‘A hasty exit is not a sign of success. Needing reinforcements to keep the door open as you leave is a sure sign of failure.’
Two-thirds feel ‘left in the dark’ about impact of post-Brexit trade deals
More than two-thirds of the UK public feel ‘left in the dark’ about the impact that post-Brexit trade deals struck by the government will have.
While a host of rollover deals with countries have been secured, a survey has found that Britons feel the government has not been open about what the bilateral treaties entail.
A Which? survey of more than 3,000 UK adults found that 67 per cent felt the public receives too little information from ministers about trade deals, with only seven per cent recording they knew that the UK had a deal in place with Japan. A quarter said they felt the government was ‘not at all open’ about the impact new trade deals will have.
Updated Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace goes on sale from £32,135
The updated Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace has gone on sale, with the seven-seat SUV getting an updated appearance and improved equipment.
Changes include a new front-end and the addition of Travel Assist driver aid – which is essentially an advanced cruise control that can maintain speed with traffic and keep the car within its lane – and LED Matrix headlights.
Entry-level Life models start from £32,125 and include adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, three-zone climate control, parking sensors and an eight-inch infotainment system with built-in sat nav and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration. The new Allspace tops out at £43,165 for the R-Line fitted with a 197bhp diesel engine and four-wheel drive.
Thursday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Working in disguise was ‘eye-opener’ says Bristol Street Motors CEO Robert Forrester
- ‘Unscrupulous’ car dealers fined after trading standards probes into vehicles they sold
- UK’s first research project into autonomous vehicles to end with passenger rides in London
- Car dealer hospitalised after being held against his will in test drive that ended in flames
- Cornwall electric van designer announces up to 5,000 vehicles will be built a year from new Midlands factory
1.3m new drivers set to get behind the wheel in year ahead, research finds
As many as 1.3m new drivers could take to Britain’s roads in the coming year as a tests backlog caused by the coronavirus pandemic is cleared, an insurer predicts.
Direct Line, which analysed pass rates, estimates around 520,000 motorists would have passed their test in the past year if they had been able to take it.
It said that when these are added to 750,000 learner drivers typically passing their test annually, it means nearly 1.3m people could pass their test this coming year.
Deputy council leader resigns after Marble Arch Mound cost blows out to £6m
The deputy leader of a London council has resigned after the total costs for a 25-metre man-made mountain in the middle of one of the capital’s busiest tourist areas nearly doubled to £6m.
Refunds were offered to the Marble Arch Mound, created by Westminster City Council, the day after it opened to members of the public on July 26 following what the authority called ‘teething problems’ with the attraction amid complaints it was still being constructed.
The council’s leader, Rachael Robathan, said in a statement on Friday her deputy Melvyn Caplan had resigned with immediate effect after a ‘totally unacceptable’ rise in costs.
A mixed picture
A dry day for most of the UK with sunny spells disrupted by bands of drifting cloud, reports BBC weather. The exception will be parts of the north-west which will see outbreaks of rain and remain windy.
Tonight, showers in the north-west will ease and elsewhere it’ll remain dry. Cloud will build in Wales and western England.
