Mobile phone blackspots will be eliminated on several major railway lines and train tunnels by 2028, the body which runs Britain’s railway infrastructure has pledged.
Network Rail, which is owned by the government, has signed a deal with two private telecoms firms in a move it claims will see 4G and 5G connectivity boosted on trains and in stations.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said work was set to begin next year and claimed it would “transform” journeys for passengers who have experienced calls cutting out and weak internet connections.
The project is expected to take three years because works can only occur when trains are not running on tracks.
In the first instance, the deal called Project Reach will involve the installation of 1,000km of ultra-fast fibre optic cable along parts of the East Coast Main Line from London King’s Cross to Newcastle, and the West Coast Main Line, which stretches from the capital to Manchester.
Telecoms firm Neos Networks will also install cables along the Great Western Main Line running from London to Cardiff, and the Chiltern Main Line.
The plan is to expand that to more than 5,000km “in the near future”, the Dft said, but an exact year when this would occur has not been revealed.
Another telecoms company Freshwave has been handed the job eliminating blackspots in 57 tunnels covering a total of nearly 50km, including the 4km-long Chipping Sodbury tunnel near Bristol.
It will work with mobile network operators (MNOs) BT, O2 and VodafoneThree on upgrading mobile connectivity in tunnels of 250m and longer on the East Coast, West Coast, and Great Western lines.
Freshwave will also collaborate with the MNOs on new 4G and 5G infrastructure at 12 of the biggest Network Rail stations including Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads and Edinburgh Waverley.
‘Game-changer for passengers’
Network Rail claimed private investment in the project would save taxpayers about £300m as the two telecoms companies are funding it, rather than Network Rail having to renew its existing infrastructure.
Chief financial officer Jeremy Westlake the investment model would “deliver the necessary upgrades to our telecoms infrastructure faster whilst offering significant value-for-money for the taxpayer and stimulating wider economic benefits across the country”.
Bruce Williamson, spokesman for campaign group Rail Future, told the BBC better connectivity for passengers on the railways was “undoubtedly a good thing”.
“There is demand for connectivity. People live on their smart phones and people work on trains,” he added.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the roll-out would support the government’s “broader goals of economic growth and digital innovation”.
She said the deal was a “game-changer for passengers up and down the country”.
“By boosting connectivity and tackling signal blackspots, we are also ensuring a more reliable and efficient service,” she added.
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Anxieties converge over newly remade CDC advisory panel
Health and Health Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s remade vaccine advisory panel kicked off its two-day meeting Wednesday despite calls to delay the proceedings, including by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the HELP Committee chairman who cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy.
The meeting was marked by drama even before it started.
Kennedy gutted the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) less than two weeks ago and appointed eight new members just days later. Normally, panelists are vetted for months, if not years before joining. On Tuesday, one of the eight panelists resigned, leaving just seven remaining members to vote.
At the outset, the panel’s new chair Martin Kulldorff made clear the new priorities.
Kulldorff, formerly a professor of medicine at Harvard, said people should be free to share their skepticism of vaccines and “no questions should be off limits.”
He criticized “some media outlets” for labeling panel members as anti-vaccine, which he said “further feeds the flames of vaccine hesitancy.”
Wednesday’s portion of the meeting was marred by technical glitches and ran long, but the topics were relatively uncontroversial.
But panelists on Thursday will hear a presentation by Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded and chaired by Kennedy before he became HHS Secretary. Redwood will present recommendations on a version of the flu vaccine that contains thimerosal, a preservative long targeted by anti-vaccine activists.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also does not yet have a director to sign off on the panel’s recommendations. The Trump administration’s nominee to lead the agency, Susan Monarez, was testifying in Cassidy’s committee for her confirmation hearing.
Monarez said she supports vaccines and does not see a causal link between vaccines and autism.
“I think vaccines save lives. I think that we need to continue to support the promotion of utilization of vaccines,” Monarez said.
During the hearing, Cassidy lamented ACIP’s “rushed” meeting with a diminished panel.
“Given that there is no confirmed CDC director, along with an ACIP panel which has very few members, many of whom lack broad vaccine and … immunological expertise, there are concerns about the rushed nature of this process,” Cassidy said.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
Susan Monarez, a longtime federal health official nominated by President Trump to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), faced senators in a confirmation hearing Wednesday, providing a first glimpse at her personal views and any signs of daylight with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While Monarez said “vaccines save lives” and said there was no evidence of links between …
Senate Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) say a new proposal to create a $15 billion relief fund for rural hospitals is not adequate to make up for tens of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding cuts included in the Senate megabill to enact President Trump’s agenda. Collins told reporters Wednesday that the $15 billion relief fund floated by the Senate Finance Committee is likely not the final offer from …
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly remade federal vaccine advisory panel will examine the cumulative effect of the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule, the panel’s chair said Wednesday. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will also weigh recommendations for vaccines that have long been on the market, including those for measles and hepatitis B. Martin Kulldorff …
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices continues its meeting Thursday
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Agricultural contaminants in drinking water linked to higher preterm birth rates: Study
Exposure to a common agricultural contaminant in drinking water, even in small doses, may be linked to increased risks of preterm birth, a new study has found. The pollutant, called nitrate, is also associated with low birth weight in infants whose mothers consumed affected water during pregnancy, according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLOS Water. While nitrate is a naturally occurring compound that is necessary …
Questions swirling around the success of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites are raising fears on Capitol Hill that more could be coming. President … Read more
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There were winners and surprises, such as the Utah Jazz selecting Rutgers guard Ace Bailey with the No. 5 pick and the Phoenix Suns landing the top-ranked center in Duke’s Khaman Maluach at No. 10.
Which fan bases should be happy with what their favorite team did on Day 1, such as the Miami Heat landing a potential franchise point guard? Should Pelicans fans be wondering about the trade New Orleans made to move up and draft Derik Queen?
It’s time to break down what happened Wednesday night in New York’s Barclays Center. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Jeremy Woo and Kevin Pelton share their winners, surprises and biggest questions after 30 picks went off the board in Round 1.
The Suns’ trade for Kevin Durant looks much different after the fortunate fall of Khaman Maluach to No. 10, which helps them strengthen a crucial position at center while also adding one of the most talented long-term prospects in the draft.
Maluach will bring high-level intensity, rim-protection timing, rebounding ability and switchable defense — qualities the team lacked last season — injecting much-needed youth and energy into a roster overloaded at the backcourt.
Most importantly, he is one of this draft’s youngest prospects, with significant potential for growth both physically and skill-wise. He is highly regarded by coaches and teammates for his unique off-court intangibles and should be an excellent pick-and-roll partner for Devin Booker, thanks to his lob-catching ability.
It was surprising to see Jakucionis — the No. 11-ranked player on our top 100 big board — fall all the way to No. 20.
Any temporary disappointment over the money he lost was likely replaced by the realization he landed in arguably the most desirable situation of any guard prospect in this draft — a team desperate for shot creation and playmaking. He’ll also fit in perfectly from a culture and toughness perspective.
Jakucionis’ ability to play any of the backcourt positions gives the Heat significant lineup flexibility when operating alongside Tyler Herro in the backcourt.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see him eventually emerge as the franchise’s future point guard, thanks to the savvy he displays running pick-and-roll and his exceptional feel for the game.
Givony: Biggest surprises of Round 1
The pick: Yang Hansen, center (No. 16)
Hansen, the No. 35 player on the ESPN big board, made the biggest leap of any player in the first round when Portland selected him at No. 16.
The Trail Blazers have been intrigued with Yang since scouting him with the Chinese national team at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary in 2023, later traveling to watch him play in China, following him in scrimmages in Las Vegas last summer as a member of the Chinese senior national team and working him out privately this past month in Portland.
Despite selecting another 7-footer in Donovan Clingan last year, the Trail Blazers view the draft through a best-player-available lens and say they are very excited about his skill level and off-court intangibles. They plan on bringing him to the NBA immediately to develop him.
Ace Bailey looked surprised to see the Utah Jazz select him at No. 5, after clearly trying to maneuver his way further down the board to other destinations in Washington or Brooklyn. Bailey told Andscape’s Marc Spears he had “no idea” the Jazz were interested in him after the draft.
Bailey declined multiple invite requests to visit and workout privately with Utah throughout the predraft process, as well as the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3 and the Charlotte Hornets at No. 4, but the Jazz felt they knew enough about his game and profile to feel comfortable drafting him regardless.
New president of basketball operations Austin Ainge interviewed Bailey at the NBA draft combine as a member of the Boston Celtics‘ front office, and the rest of the Jazz also interviewed him separately. Ainge scouted him multiple times throughout the season at Rutgers.
Immediately after making the pick, Ainge told ESPN that: “We really like him [Bailey] as a player and a fit in our program.”
What was the best pick of the night?
Pelton:Carter Bryant to the Spurs at No. 14. Having spent most of his lone season at Arizona coming off the bench, he might not help the Spurs immediately. Down the road, however, Bryant has the kind of 3-and-D skill set that should ideally fit alongside San Antonio’s core of Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper.
Woo: Assuming Cooper Flagg to the Mavericks at No. 1 is ineligible for this designation, I’ll go with Khaman Maluach to the Suns at No. 10, a pick Givony explained above. It was a terrific outcome for Phoenix, and he might be the exact type of player they need to anchor whatever the team is going to look like moving forward.
To highlight a different selection, I’ll go with Thomas Sorber at No. 15, a fit that makes a ton of sense for the Thunder. They were tipped as a trade-up team but were able to simply wait for him to fall to them. Oklahoma City made this selection with the long term in mind, considering starting center Isaiah Hartenstein might be tricky to retain when Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren move onto their second contracts next year.
The Thunder snagged a prospect with the skill set to provide a similar dimension and someone who they can be patient with over the next season or two. This pick unsurprisingly spoke to the level of roster foresight with which the Thunder always approach the draft.
play1:18
What Thomas Sorber brings to the Thunder
Check out what makes Thomas Sorber special as the defending champs take him in the first round.
Pelton: Atlanta getting the better of Milwaukee’s and New Orleans’ first-round picks in 2026 to move back just 10 spots from No. 13 to No. 23 is something that could loom large this time a year from now. The Pelicans are going to be hard-pressed to make the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference, while the Bucks have downside risk with Damian Lillard sidelined by Achilles rehab.
The Hawks may end up with a better pick next year than they gave up this year. Merely getting a pick in the teens would be an enormous win value-wise.
Woo: As Kevin explained, the Atlanta-New Orleans trade was likely the most significant of the night from a value perspective, but it wouldn’t be my favorite, particularly from the Pelicans’ side of things.
We knew entering the night there was a real chance the Pelicans were after Derik Queen — and, presumably, the Hawks were too, something they arguably exploited by extracting serious value out of New Orleans with a 2026 first-round pick that was not only unprotected, but is the better of two different teams.
It’s hard to see an easy pathway for New Orleans as constituted to enter playoff territory, even more so if the team is planning to play Jeremiah Fears and Queen major minutes, which they’ll both need to maximize their development.
It was a confusing amount of risk for the Pelicans to take on, and if Atlanta lands a premium pick next year, it will sting no matter how well Queen adjusts to the NBA.
Which title contender helped itself the most?
Pelton: Do I get to count the Mavericks? To be clear, it’s unlikely any of the players drafted Wednesday will play an important role in the last two rounds of next season’s playoffs. I’d give that a better chance of happening on Thursday.
Based on that, the move that might have the most long-term impact on a 2026 title contender might be the Thunder pushing back the No. 24 pick by getting a 2026 first-round pick from the Kings.
Woo: I’ll preface this by noting that not all that many of the clear-cut contenders made draft picks — but I did like what the Magic did in this draft, including their aggressive-yet-measured trade for Desmond Bane (sending the 16th pick as part of a package to Memphis) and allowing the board to fall to them at No. 25, nabbing Jase Richardson.
Richardson might be able to pinch-hit for the Magic off the bench early in his career, and he gives them a potentially valuable (and inexpensive) depth player during a window in which they’re committed to competing at the highest level with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
Am I ready to call the Magic a bonafide contender? With the East as wide open as ever, they’d certainly like to be. They’ve certainly played the offseason well so far.
play0:40
Flagg: ‘Coach Kidd has a lot of confidence in me’
Cooper Flagg tells Kendrick Perkins how his workout with the Dallas Mavericks went.
What’s your favorite prospect-team fit outside of the lottery?
Pelton:Kasparas Jakucionis to the Heat at No. 20. Former Miami guard Goran Dragic has been my comparison for Jakucionis if things go right. They’re both physical guards with shooting ability. Dragic improved his high turnover rate that limited him as a young player, and Jakucionis will have to do the same.
Jakucionis’ size at 6-foot-6 will allow him to play alongside either Tyler Herro or Davion Mitchell, presuming the Heat retain Mitchell as a restricted free agent.
Woo: Joan Beringer to the Timberwolves at No. 18. I’m high on Beringer’s long-term outlook — it’s hard to find centers with his caliber of physical traits who can also run the floor and protect the rim. His age and relative inexperience leaves a ton of room for him to improve.
Getting to develop behind another Frenchman in Rudy Gobert, who could be a valuable mentor as Beringer makes a major leap to the NBA level, could be an ideal situation to help him tap into his significant ability.
This may take some time to pay off, but as Minnesota continues to try and build a winner with Anthony Edwards, landing a talent of this caliber and also addressing a long-term need could be a real coup.
True or false: Cooper Flagg will average 20 points per game as a rookie.
Pelton: False. I don’t think scoring will ever be the strength of Flagg’s game. But on a contending team with Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson, that might add a shot creator at point guard in Kyrie Irving‘s absence? I don’t think that’s realistic.
Woo: False, but I don’t view that as a concern — it depends more on how much usage the Mavs intend to hand him right away than anything else — but it’s the well-roundedness of Flagg’s game that should shine through and make him the Rookie of the Year frontrunner.
Dallas should be enthusiastic about his outlook without giving him more than he can handle right away.
Fill in the blank: New Orleans giving up its 2026 unprotected first-round pick is ___________.
Pelton: Jumping out of the plane without a parachute. The Pelicans saw this season what can go wrong when injuries strike in the West. They entered the lottery with a 12.5% chance at the No. 1 pick. Imagine the emotions in New Orleans if the Hawks are in a position to win the lottery with their pick.
Woo: A mistimed decision. It’s one thing to trade your pick a year out with a clear pathway to a playoff spot, or to add a player that can help get you there. It’s another to use it to gamble on a rookie — even one you love — without giving yourself any sort of safety net if things break bad.
I also question the fit of Queen alongside Zion Williamson long-term, two bigs who are best on the offensive end but offer limited rim protection and no floor-spacing component. I like some of the players on the Pelicans’ roster, but I’ve been confused with exactly what the overall plan is moving forward, and that was before they decided to take an enormous leap of faith.
play1:26
The plays that Derik Queen is bringing to the Pelicans
Check out some top highlights from Derik Queen as the Pelicans trade up to take him.
The Nets came into Round 1 with five picks and ended up using all five. How would you grade their night?
Pelton: Probably a C-plus. Brooklyn seemed to lean heavily in the project direction, taking a pair of one-and-done prospects (Egor Demin at No. 8 and Drake Powell at No. 22) in addition to two teenage international prospects (Nolan Traore at No. 19 and Ben Saraf at No. 26). Michigan center Danny Wolf, the last player taken out of the green room, was the only pick older than age 19.
I’d have preferred to see a little more proven production. Demin, who ranked eighth, was the only Nets pick to rank in the top 23 in my stats-based projections.
Woo: I’d give them a B. When you make five picks, your draft board is unlikely to ever align with consensus, but I can see the vision they seem to have for the roster and I’m fascinated by how it might work out for them.
The Nets are clearly committed to how coach Jordi Fernandez wants to play and loaded up on players with positional size and passing ability (Demin, Traore, Saraf, Wolf) and also took a flier on Powell, who was viewed as a potential lottery name entering the season and was arguably misused at North Carolina playing a lot of time at power forward.
I don’t know exactly how this works out for them, but I respect the way they approached it, and they’ll have plenty of time to evaluate all their guys next season and chart a course forward.
Who are you most surprised to see still on the board heading into Round 2?
Pelton:Rasheer Fleming (Saint Joseph’s). At No. 27, Fleming was the highest player in the final mock draft by Givony and Woo not to go in the first round. Fleming was even higher in my stats-based projections (18th).
It will be interesting to see whether teams spend Thursday jockeying to get into position to draft Fleming early in round 2.
Woo:Maxime Raynaud (Stanford). I thought he’d done enough to hear his name called in the 20s, but with all the big men that were ultimately selected in the first round, including Hansen Yang’s surprise jump, he was one of the players who ultimately slipped. I’d guess there will be a few teams trying to find a way to get him early in the 30s. Please, visit our Website Homepagesand Facebookpage for latest news update.
Jeremiah Reveals Love Island Bombshells: Huda Red Flags, Ace Ringleader Speculation, More
A hot new fan theory has entered the villa.
Following Jeremiah Brown’s shocking exit from Love Island USA during the June 22 episode of the Peacock reality series, some viewers have speculated that Jeremiah’s fellow islander Nic Vansteenberghe was behind the plot to vote him out, so that Nic could pursue bombshell Andreina Santos without competition from Jeremiah.
And as it turns out, that’s a hypothesis Jeremiah himself could also support.
“I get that, ‘cause every guy chose Andreina to kiss during the challenge,” the 25-year-old told E! News in an exclusive interview. “Once they saw us kissing, they were probably pissed, because Nic definitely told Cierra [Ortega] and me that he’s wanted to pursue that. He’s interested in her. I don’t know if she’s his type, but he definitely finds her attractive.”
Nonetheless, Jeremiah was understanding about Nic, 24, wanting a better chance at wooing Andreina.
“I know he did say after I left, ‘Now that Jeremiah’s gone, there’s less competition,’” he continued. “So I get it. That’s all I can say at this point.”
Please, our website Homepageand Facebookpage for latest news update.
Taylor Swift played to almost 1.2 million people in the UK in 2024 on her two-year, 152-show Eras tour
Ticket touts are employing teams of workers to bulk-buy tickets for the UK’s biggest concerts like Oasis and Taylor Swift so they can be resold for profit, a BBC investigation has found.
We uncovered some touts are making “millions” hiring people overseas, known as “ticket pullers”, with one telling an undercover journalist his team bought hundreds of tickets for Swift’s Eras tour last year.
Our reporter, posing as a would-be tout, secretly recorded the boss of a ticket pulling company in Pakistan who said they could set up a team for us and potentially buy hundreds of tickets.
Shortly after pre-sale, where a limited number of fans could buy Oasis tickets when they went on sale in August, tickets for their UK gigs were being listed on resale websites like StubHub and Viagogo for more than £6,000 – about 40 times the face value of a standing ticket.
We found genuine fans missed out or, in desperation, ended up paying way over the odds as touts have an army of people working for them to buy tickets for the most in-demand events as soon as they go on sale.
Ali, the boss of the ticket pulling company, boasted to our undercover reporter that he’d been successful at securing tickets for popular gigs.
“I think we had 300 Coldplay tickets and then we had Oasis in the same week – we did great,” he told us.
Ali claimed he knew of a UK tout who made more than £500,000 last year doing this and reckons others are “making millions”.
Getty Images
Tickets for Oasis’s reunion tour were being listed on resale websites for more than £6,000 – about 40 times the face value – when they went on sale in August
Our research found pullers buy tickets using illegal automated software and multiple identities which could amount to fraud.
Another ticket pulling boss, based in India, told BBC Wales Investigates’ undercover reporter: “If I’m sitting in your country and running my operations in your country, then it is completely illegal.
“We do not participate in illegal things because actually we are outside of the UK.”
A man who worked in the ticketing industry for almost 40 years showed us how he infiltrated a secret online group that claims to have secured thousands of tickets using underhand methods.
Reg Walker said members of the group could generate 100,000 “queue passes” – effectively allowing them to bypass the software that creates an online queue for gigs.
He told the BBC’s The Great Ticket Rip Off programme this was the equivalent of “100,000 people all of a sudden turning up and pushing in front of you in the queue”.
He added: “If you are a ticketing company and an authorised resale company, and someone decides to list hundreds of tickets for a high-demand event… my question would be, where did you get the tickets? There’s no due diligence.”
Fans are usually limited to a handful of tickets when buying from primary platforms such as Ticketmaster.
PA Media
More than 900,000 tickets were sold for Oasis’s long-awaited reunion tour in 2025, their first gigs since they split in 2009
Touts often list their tickets on resale websites and one former Viagogo employee alleged he had seen some profiles with thousands of tickets for sale.
“They [touts] buy in bulk most of the time in the hope of reselling and making a profit,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I don’t know how they get their hands on them but I know that at some point they would have bought tickets in bulk in serious numbers.
“You’re not allowing a lot of people to get access because you’re hoarding the tickets.”
A former Viagogo employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claims he had seen a vendor with a profile selling thousands of tickets, something Viagogo denies
Viagogo said it refutes this man’s claims, insisting 73% of sellers on its site sold fewer than five tickets each – and other sellers included sports clubs and promoters.
It is not just music concerts targeted by touts as the BBC found evidence of thousands of Premier League football tickets being advertised illegally.
Since 1994 it has been a criminal offence to resell tickets for football matches in the UK unless authorised, with the maximum penalty being a £1,000 fine.
But we found 8,000 tickets being advertised illegally online for more than face value for Arsenal’s Premier League game with Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on 16 March.
One of those sellers was a semi-professional footballer based in the UK.
Bogdan Stolboushkin has openly advertised tickets for football games totalling more than £60,000 on social media in the past year alone.
He sold our reporter a single ticket at double the face value.
Getty Images
The BBC’s investigation found thousands of tickets being advertised illegally online for more than face value for the Arsenal v Chelsea Premier League match in March
Mr Stolboushkin did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him about these allegations.
Another potentially illegal practice in the UK is “speculative selling”, where touts list tickets for resale without owning them.
There is no guarantee these touts will actually secure a ticket and “speculative selling” was one of the reasons two touts were jailed for fraud in 2020.
Our investigation found at least 104 seats being “speculatively” listed on Viagogo for Catfish and the Bottlemen’s August concert at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
The exact seats appeared to be for sale at the same time on both Ticketmaster, the original point of sale, and Viagogo.
Getty Images
Our investigation found touts selling tickets for the 2025 Six Nations title-decider between Ireland and France in Dublin in March for way above face value
After we presented our evidence to Viagogo, it said: “Listings suspected to be in contravention of our policy have been removed from the site.”
The UK government is looking at measures to try and tackle the issue, but evidence of the challenges faced can be seen in the Republic of Ireland.
In 2021, laws were introduced there to stop the resale of tickets above face value, but the BBC found this being flouted.
This included tickets to see the band Kneecap selling for four times their face value of €59 (£50), while tickets for the Six Nations Ireland v France rugby clash in Dublin were selling for £3,000.
One of Ireland’s biggest promoters, Peter Aiken, said he had never heard of the company selling the tickets and questioned if the tickets existed at all.
Many ticket companies selling in Ireland are based overseas, which the BBC has been told helps them avoid punishment under Irish law.
Now he is prime minister, the UK government has held a consultation with proposals including a price cap that ranges from the original price to 30% above face value, introducing larger fines and a new licensing regime.
The BBC investigation has found touts have an army of people working for them to secure tickets for the most in-demand concerts
But Dame Caroline Dinenage, chairwoman of the UK government’s cross-party Culture, Media and Sport committee said: “It’s a minefield for people who just want to buy tickets for an event they want to enjoy.
“This evidence proves that there is not enough activity going on either from the government, in some cases from the police and certainly from some of these really big online organisations to be able to clamp down on this sort of activity.”
The Conservative MP said this investigation highlighted “what a lot of consumers are already seeing that there is a whole world of, in some cases illegal, but it all cases immoral activity going on in the ticketing sphere”.
“People are having to pay over the odds because others quite often are operating outside of the UK to make an absolute killing on buying up tickets, selling them at a huge premium and in some cases selling tickets that don’t exist at all,” she added.
The UK government’s aim is to “strengthen consumer protections and stop fans getting ripped off”, according to the UK culture secretary.
Lisa Nandy added she wanted to “ensure money spent on tickets goes back into our incredible live events sector, instead of into the pockets of greedy touts”.
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Business & Economy
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The Big Story
US could default on its debt by August: analysis
The federal government risks defaulting on its debt sometime this summer or early fall without action to address its debt ceiling, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC).
BPC projected the “X-date” will “most likely occur between August 15 and October 3” if Congress fails to act.
“Congress must address the debt limit ahead of the August recess,” said Margaret Spellings, president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center, in a Wednesday statement. “With so many Americans worried about their own budgets and the state of the economy, Congress can’t afford to inject any additional uncertainty into the mix.”
“They need to act soon to prioritize our nation’s financial stability and reassure global markets that we take this responsibility seriously,” Spellings added.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint a hard X-date, projections become more precise the closer the government arrives to running out of cash.
The debt limit, which caps how much money the Treasury Department can owe to pay the country’s bills, was last suspended in 2023 as part of a bipartisan deal that staved off the threat of national default through early 2025.
The national debt stands at more than $36 trillion.
The Treasury Department has been implementing “extraordinary measures” to buy time for Congress to address the debt ceiling.
Attorney General Pam Bondi tussled with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Wednesday as he pressed the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ) over foreign influence concerns related to President Trump’s meme coin dinner.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday defended the central bank’s reluctance to cut interest rates amid questions from Senate Republicans and a barrage of insults from President Trump.
It’s crunch time for negotiations over the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
After a high-stakes meeting with Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday, House Republicans in the SALT Caucus and a key GOP senator reported “progress” but no deal, leaving one of the thorniest issues in the party’s tax and spending bill unresolved.
Stakeholders say talks have zeroed in on keeping in place the $40,000 deduction cap — which the SALT Caucus negotiated in the House — but lowering the $500,000 income threshold and adjusting the numbers for inflation, a compromise of sorts that would appease moderate House Republicans while also placating Senate conservatives.
The clock, however, is ticking: Senate GOP leaders are hoping to put their version of the “big, beautiful bill” on the floor by Friday — officially kicking off the consideration process — but can’t move forward without a SALT deal.
President Trump on Wednesday called for the firing of CNN correspondent Natasha Bertrand, who reported on air that an internal U.S. intelligence assessment found Saturday’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites set back Tehran’s nuclear program by only a few months. Read more
What People Think
Opinions related to business and economic issues submitted to The Hill:
Dbrand will send replacement Killswitch Joy-Con Grips for the Switch 2 to buyers after admitting it had a “spectacularly terrible response” to complaints that the controllers could detach from the console if held a certain way while the grips were on. The company is currently working on tweaks to the grips as well.
A few days ago, some owners of the case noticed that the Switch 2 Joy-Con controllers could pop off if you had the case and grips on and held the console primarily by a Joy-Con. This short video helps illustrate the issue.
On Sunday, Dbrand posted a more than 4,000-word response on Reddit titled “Killswitch Joy-Con Detachment Update” where it said that “nobody routinely holds their Switch 2 like this.” Dbrand argued that the detachment only happened when all three of the following conditions were met:
You are specifically holding onto the console from only the Joy-Cons, in such a way that your fingers are making no supportive contact with the main console, and
you are holding the Switch 2 with only one hand, and
your Switch 2 is held more parallel to the ground than not.
Part of the issue is that the Killswitch case’s Joy-Con grips wrap around the inner part of the Joy-Con, creating a small lip. “By adding those lips, particularly the ones on the interior face of the Joy-Cons, we filled the ‘air gap’ between the Joy-Cons and the Main Case,” Dbrand said. This means that it’s easier for the Joy-Con to create leverage against the main tablet part of the console so that detachment can occur “when held under a very specific set of conditions.”
In some “particularly severe instances of detachment” highlighted on Reddit by Dbrand, the company also believed the Joy-Con grips had “an inner attachment lip that’s a hair thicker than desired.” Dbrand said that it had adjusted its tolerance guidelines for mass production to “filter out any Joy-Cons that cross that ‘lip is 0.12mm too thick’ threshold.”
For users who were worried that they were having issues, Dbrand asked them to reach out to support and “describe the regular use scenario that is resulting in detachment” and the company would get them replacement grips in July.
Morethanonecommenter pointed out that Dbrand’s post echoed Steve Jobs and Apple’s famous response to iPhone 4 antenna issues caused by a way people could hold their phones. And yesterday, Dbrand published a new post where it said it would “try out a new communication strategy where we both say fewer words and devote less of them to blaming you” and offered to send everyone, “whether or not you’re experiencing this issue,” a replacement set of Joy-Con Grips.
“As easy as it is to boil our original post down to ‘you’re holding it wrong,’ what we’re sober to now is the point that you should be allowed to hold it however the fuck you want, without detachment occurring,” Dbrand said. “We get it. Please continue dunking on us for the next six to eight months for reincarnating Steve Jobs.”
Dbrand is working on two new versions of the grips: one with “an even thinner retaining lip compared to the ‘good’ stock we’ve already shipped” and one with a new retaining lip design that the company says “fully resolves the detachment issue.” However, that second option won’t be ready for a “mass production trial” until July 10th, and “at that point,” Dbrand will be able to tell if it will be using the first or second options for replacements.
Dbrand says to expect its next update on July 10th.
For the top picks of the 2025 NBA draft, what they wear could be just as memorable as where they land.
As the league’s next generation of stars arrived at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, they didn’t just bring game — they brought style. From custom suits to bold statement pieces, this year’s draft class made it clear they were ready for the spotlight long before their names were called.
But he wasn’t the only one to turn heads. A number of prospects used the big night to showcase their personalities through fashion, blending confidence, creativity and couture.
Here are some of the top looks from draft night in New York.
Asa Newell brought out all his best jewelry for Draft night 😮💨#NBADraft presented by State Farm, tonight at 8pm/et on ESPN & ABC pic.twitter.com/wtbLEhJhnK
— NBA Future Starts Now (@nbafuturenow) June 25, 2025
Getty Images
The pick: 
The pick: 
