Day: March 15, 2018

    Dreams of a spaceport for Britain will be a step closer to reality with new laws to cash in on the commercial opportunities of outer space. The Space Industry Bill, due to be given Royal Assent later, will enable launches from UK spaceports to help British companies enjoy quicker and cheaper access to outer space. Currently, satellites must be launched into orbit from spaceports abroad, exposing British firms to substantial cost, delay and bureaucracy. The legislation aims to present new opportunities in the commercial space race, increasing Britain's share of the global space economy from 6.5% to 10% by 2030. The Government predicts it will create hundreds of jobs, bring in billions of pounds and increase the scope for scientific research. The creation of spacep...

    A Canadian woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by British sailors has filed a lawsuit against the UK government, arguing that it is vicariously liable for any harm caused by its employees. The lawsuit stems from a 2015 incident in Shearwater, Nova Scotia, in which four members of the British Navy were charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm. Charges were later dropped against one of the men, due to a lack of sufficient evidence. In 2017 charges were withdrawn against another of the accused after a judge ruled that his nearly one and half hour wait to see a lawyer had violated his rights. The two remaining men, Darren Smalley, 37, and Simon Radford,33, will face a criminal trial in Nova Scotia in September. None of the allegations have been proven i...

    That was the scene I encountered when I was sent into the blazing inferno of the Grenfell Tower fire. Outside it had been loud and chaotic like a war zone, but inside it was quiet. And the reason soon became apparent our radios weren't working and we had lost all communication. It felt like we were very much alone. We couldn't radio back to let our crews know where we were, what we were doing, if we had done the job we had been sent up there to do. So if any of us were in trouble, we had no way of communicating that back. We couldn't see much. Everywhere we went it was filled with smoke you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. Everything about our training is teamwork and communications. We talk to each other, we talk to the outside, communicatio...