News 08/03/26

A fire at a vape shop has forced the closure of Scotland’s busiest railway station until further notice, Network Rail says.

Dozens of trains were cancelled on Sunday after a four-storey building on Union Street, near Glasgow Central Station, caught fire. The building has partially collapsed, and the station will remain closed on Monday as firefighters continue to tackle the blaze more than five hours after it began. A spokesperson confirmed: “Glasgow Central Station has been closed until further notice, and will not reopen on Monday morning, following a fire at a vape shop on Union Street this afternoon.”

The Slough Jets have won back to back Britton League titles after a four nil victory in Streatham, sealing the championship with two weekends still to play.

After beating fellow contenders Chelmsford nine three on Saturday night, the Jets travelled to face last season’s runners up needing one regulation time win from their final three games. Christian Mohr opened the scoring in the first period, before Ben Ealey Newman and Juha Lindgren extended the lead in the second. Streatham pulled their goaltender late on, allowing Lindgren to score his second. The Jets also won the Britton Cup in February.

The son of Iran’s former supreme leader has been named as his replacement, according to state media.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during the first United States and Israeli strikes on Iran last Saturday. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is a fifty six year old cleric who has never held government office. Reports say he survived the military action and has now been chosen to take over the leadership role following his father’s death.

Qatar’s prime minister has described Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries as a dangerous miscalculation.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned the escalation risks destabilising the region and sending shockwaves through the global economy. Speaking after Qatar faced repeated missile and drone attacks, he said the country had entered a very difficult period but praised the professionalism of its defence and security forces during the crisis.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer have held a phone call just hours after the US president criticised the prime minister.

Downing Street says they discussed the situation in the Middle East and military cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States. This included the use of RAF bases in support of what was described as the collective self defence of partners in the region. The prime minister also shared his condolences with President Trump and the American people after the deaths of six US soldiers.

Two drivers have died after a four vehicle collision near Bristol.

Emergency services were called to the crash on the A370 at Yanley, near Long Ashton, at about quarter to eight on Saturday evening, according to Avon and Somerset Police. Two drivers were pronounced dead at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics. Their families have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers. Two other vehicles were involved but nobody else was seriously injured.

A fifteen year old footballer has died after collapsing during a game.

Oxford United say they are immensely saddened following the death of Amelia Aplin, who had been playing in a match against Fulham at the club’s Horspath training ground. The club had earlier confirmed that a serious medical incident had taken place during the fixture.

Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot is producing hate filled and racist posts online after users asked it to generate vulgar comments on X.

Analysis of responses shows offensive replies containing profanities about Islam and Hinduism, with racist language directed at the religions. The UK government described the posts as sickening and irresponsible, saying they go against British values. The responses follow a growing trend of users asking the platform to create no holds barred comments after earlier concerns about images.

An overnight explosion at the United States embassy in Oslo may have been an act of terrorism, according to Norwegian police.

The embassy in the capital suffered minor damage after a blast in the early hours of Sunday, but nobody was injured. Police say terrorism is one possible explanation, although other lines of inquiry remain open. Authorities are in contact with American diplomats and investigations into the incident are continuing.

A man has died outside Glasgow’s drug consumption facility.

Police sealed off the entrance to The Thistle on Hunter Street after the death was reported at about twenty past ten on Sunday morning. Officers say inquiries are ongoing but there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances. A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal. The Thistle opened in January twenty twenty five and is the first safer drug consumption facility in the United Kingdom.

A new supreme leader has been chosen in Iran and is expected to be announced soon, according to state media.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes on the first day of the war last Saturday. A three person leadership council has governed the country temporarily since his death. The supreme leader is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a body of eighty eight Islamic scholars selected for loyalty to the regime. Sayyid Ahmad Alam Alhoda says the choice has been made and an announcement will follow soon.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Saturday, Donald Trump said he is not interested in negotiating with Iran.

The US president suggested the war would only end once Tehran had no functioning military or remaining leadership in power. He said the bombing campaign could make negotiations irrelevant if potential leaders are killed and the military destroyed. He added that at some point there might be nobody left able to say that Iran is ready to surrender.

A renewed deep sea search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has ended without success.

The Boeing seven seven seven disappeared from radar shortly after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing twelve years ago today. Malaysia’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau said twenty eight days of searching across more than two thousand nine hundred square miles produced no new findings. The company Ocean Infinity had been given permission to search the Indian Ocean on a no find no fee basis.

Careless or inconsiderate driving is being targeted by a specialist roads policing unit after it was identified as a leading cause of fatal collisions.

Thames Valley Police and Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s shared roads policing unit have added careless driving to the Fatal Five list of the main causes of serious incidents. The list already includes speeding, impairment, distraction and not wearing a seatbelt. Officers say examples include following too closely, dangerous overtaking or misusing lanes.