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Key upgrades to busy transport hotspots in Oadby, including The Parade and Brabazon Road junctions with the A6, are set to begin this August as part of a £1.9m investment to improve safety and traffic flow.

Phase one of the project begins on 3 August and will include new and upgraded signal-controlled pedestrian and cycle crossings, improvements to footways including resurfacing, renewal of traffic signals and more. Speed limits will not be changed.

Benefits include safer crossings and reduced risk of vehicle collisions, better visibility between drivers and pedestrians and shorter, safer crossings.

The Pacific Island country of Nauru has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, its president said, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language.

The country’s international code will change from NRU to NRO and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero.

A Brazilian woman has received a suspended prison term for going to BTS K-pop star Jungkook's house repeatedly despite warnings to stay away - even ringing the doorbell 133 times on one such visit.

The woman, who has not been identified, first started stalking Jungkook in December last year. She also tried to leave letters and photographs at his doorstep in what she said was "out of love" for the 28-year-old singer.

A famous floating restaurant off Hong Kong has sunk, days after it was towed away from the harbour where it had operated for nearly 50 years. The Jumbo Floating Restaurant capsized in the South China Sea while on its way to an undisclosed location. According to the restaurant’s owner, it encountered “adverse conditions” as it was passing the Xisha Islands, also known as the Paracel Islands. Over the past four decades, Jumbo has served Cantonese cuisine to more than a million guests, including the Queen and Tom Cruise.

With his signature bleach-blond hair, round, thick-rimmed spectacles and cigarette dangling from his lip, Hockney became a figure on the 60s party circuit in London and the US. He partied with Andy Warhol, Ossie Clark and Dennis Hopper, earning himself a reputation as a playboy and a flâneur. Yet while he indulged in the pleasure-filled life of a drug-taking bohemian, he never lost sight of his strong Yorkshire work ethic.

El Niño - the natural Pacific weather pattern that pushes up global temperatures - has officially begun, US scientists say.

FaSTest

The fireball that lit up the sky over Florida's Kennedy Space Centre last night has put a big question mark over whether Blue Origin can deliver on a string of commitments to Nasa in its efforts to send astronauts to the lunar surface and build a Moon base.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded at about 21:00 local time during a routine test of its engines.

The 98m (322ft) rocket had been due to launch 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband network, as early as 4 June.

Another Austrian glacier ski area ended its 25-26 season last weekend after eight months, but a second Norwegian summer ski glacier opened for its 2026 season in Scandinavia, so Europe remains on seven areas open. That should be the case after the weekend too, as although another glacier is set to close, another summer ski destination opening will again cancel that out. With the start of meteorological summer time next week, temperatures continue to rise, with the freezing point starting to move above most alpine peaks in the afternoons now.

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Rested but famished bears emerging from hibernation in Japan are already coming into contact with humans, with the pace of sightings outstripping that seen in 2025, a record year for bear attacks.

According to media reports, the animals have been spotted with surprising frequency in urban areas in the country’s north-east, with authorities urging caution among people planning to spend the coming Golden Week public holidays in the countryside.

In 2026 there has already been one possible fatal mauling after the body of a woman was found last week in the prefecture (county) of Iwate, soon after a police officer was injured in a bear attack nearby.