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Summer holiday car hire: drive a great deal and avoid hidden fees
Holidaymakers can still find better car-hire prices by comparing providers, choosing flexible bookings and rebooking if rates fall, but unclear terms and costly extras can make an apparently cheap rental expensive. The advice matters because Which? found that one in eight recent car-hire customers paid more than their original quote. Travellers should compare direct bookings…
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US man’s Tramlines tattoo for ‘special time’
An American visitor has tattooed the logo of Sheffield’s Tramlines festival on his wrist after repeatedly attending the event with a friend he met in New York. Chad Hefty said the festival and the community around it had become personally significant, while his Sheffield friend Mark Morgan described Tramlines as an important part of the…
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The perfect books for the beach … picked by Freida McFadden, Mick Herron, Robert Harris and more
Leading thriller, historical-fiction and literary writers have shared their preferred holiday reads in a Guardian summer-book feature, introduced by Jenny Colgan. The selections promote variety over a single “must-read”, ranging from light comic fiction and romance to immersive historical novels and sharp domestic dramas. Colgan recommends titles for different holiday moods, including Kathy Burke’s autobiography…
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British families are evacuated from Bordeaux hotel at 3.30am as wildfires sweep across France and Spain
British holidaymakers staying at a hotel near Bordeaux were woken and evacuated in the early hours of the morning as wildfires spread across parts of France and Spain, forcing guests out at around 3.30am. The incident highlights how the fires, which have affected multiple areas across both countries, are disrupting tourism during the peak summer…
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What really happened when Vietnam vet ‘shot dead’ traveller builder at his home in the US: TOM LEONARD reveals tensions before shooting and how victim was part of ‘conman fraud group’ now being targeted by the FBI
A retired Philadelphia fireman and Vietnam veteran, George Barr, 75, is facing a murder charge after allegedly shooting dead his builder, Salis Hanrahan, a British national of Irish traveller descent, following a dispute over money at Barr’s home. The shooting on 8 July 2026 came after tensions escalated between the two men, leaving building work…
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SpaceX launches new V3 Starlink satellites but suffers another booster failure
SpaceX’s 13th Starship test flight successfully deployed its first third-generation Starlink satellites and completed a simulated landing of the upper stage, but its Super Heavy booster failed during a planned landing burn and exploded on impact with the Gulf of Mexico. The mixed result matters because Starship is intended to make Starlink launches far more…
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Starship’s 13th test deploys 20 V3 Starlink satellites
SpaceX completed the 13th test flight of its Starship rocket, deploying 20 next-generation V3 Starlink satellites for the first time. The mission was a technology demonstration rather than an expansion of customer service, testing both the satellites’ higher-capacity systems and Starship’s development towards a rapidly reusable launch vehicle. The V3 satellites were designed for up…
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Millions of British holidaymakers facing nightmare at airports and Channel ports due to new EU checks
British holidaymakers could face longer waits at airports, Eurostar terminals and Channel ports when the EU introduces its new Entry/Exit System (EES). The scheme will require many non-EU travellers, including UK citizens, to provide biometric data on their first trip, raising concerns that border infrastructure may struggle during busy travel periods. The EES is intended…
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‘Wouldn’t It Be Fun If There Were a Coachella for Broadway?’ Now There Is
The Festival is a new three-day event designed to bring the immersive, communal feel of major music festivals to Broadway fans. Its founders, Joshua Saltman and David Schwartz, believe there is an audience for a smaller-scale “Coachella for Broadway”, combining concerts and theatre-star appearances in a destination setting. The inaugural Festival will take place from…