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A “DOOMSDAY vault” has received a new delivery of crop seeds to preserve forever if the Earth is wiped out by a nuclear war.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located 430 feet down, deep inside a mountain on the remote Norwegian Arctic island.

AP:Associated Press

The vault is located deep inside a mountain in Svalbard, Norway[/caption]

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14,000 seed samples arrived at the vault today[/caption]

The vault was set up in 2008 as the ultimate backup plan for the world’s food, and protects plants from all external destruction, like war and disease.

It contains more than 1.3 million seeds from around the world, with 14,000 more samples arriving today.

Today’s delivery includes seeds of Nordic tree species from Sweden and rice from Thailand, according to the Crop Trust.

Executive Director of the Crop Trust Stefan Schmitz said: “The seeds deposited this week represent not just biodiversity, but also the knowledge, culture and resilience of the communities that steward them.”

The vault is not open to tourists and can only be visited as part of an organised trip to the entrance with guides.

The only exception to this is if you are bringing an offering.

The vault’s chambers are only opened three times a year to limit the seeds’ exposure to the outside world.

The seeds are stored in custom-made foil packages inside sealed boxes on the shelves inside the vault.

Temperatures inside the vault sit around -18 degrees Celsius which, alongside limited access to oxygen, can prevent the seeds from ageing.

Executive director of the Crop trust, Marie Haga, said in an interview with TIME magazine earlier this year: “There are big and small doomsdays going on around the world every day.

“Genetic material is being lost all over the globe.”

The vault played a critical role in restoring damaged seed collections in Syria between 2015 and 2019, when the country was ravaged by war.

But the vault’s purpose isn’t just to preserve old and contemporary strains of plants – but to give scientists the building blocks to create new ones, if necessary.

The vault contains enough genetic diversity and DNA to develop new strains that will grow in a future where Earth might be really hot, or really cold, or really dark.

AP:Associated Press

The vault is not open to tourists and can only be visited as part of an organised trip to the entrance with guides[/caption]

AP:Associated Press

The vault’s chambers are only opened three times a year to limit the seeds’ exposure to the outside world[/caption]

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Seeds are stored in custom-made foil packages inside sealed boxes on the shelves inside the vault[/caption]

RUBEN Amorim has warned his stumbling stars: You’re the engine of this club – so start driving us forward.

Amorim’s under-performers have picked up just 15 points from 15 games since he arrived in November, and Manchester United are heading for their worst since relegation in 1974.

Rex

Ruben Amorim has blamed his side’s results for the Man Utd’s latest cost-cutting measures[/caption]

PA

Their Old Trafford clash with Ipswich tomorrow is a repeat of the Portuguese gaffer’s first game in charge, in November, with United far closer to the drop zone than European one.

Morale was already plummeting as quickly as the team’s league position even before Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s initial round of 250 job cuts over the last 12 months.

And Monday’s news that minority investor Ratcliffe plans to axe another 200 at the end of the season has sent it sliding to rock bottom.

Amorim has already admitted the ultimate blame for any cost-cutting stems from a lack of success on the field.

Now he has hammered home the message to his red-faced Reds, as they go into a game they’d have once been expected to stroll, yet now cannot be tipped to win with any belief.

Amorim insisted: “It is that we have to address all the problems in the club but one important piece at this moment is to understand how we got to this situation.

“It’s a lot to do with the lack of success of the football team because we are the engine of the club… and I want to improve the players, the results and the team.

“It’s always hard for everybody, when they see their friend and team mates losing jobs, but we have to focus on what we can do in this moment.

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Manchester United are in dire form[/caption]

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“We as a club have to understand what we did wrong to get this this and think in terms of solutions.

“We are in a difficult situation and have to fight against those feeling and fight to perform better.”

United’s woeful season has seen them win just two Prem games at home – Everton and Southampton – and the seven defeats already is the same as the year they went down.

Amorim admits all the changes and cuts of Ratcliffe’s purse-tightening regime haven’t helped – yet stressed it all comes down to results.

He added: “This year was really hard for everybody, and we had a lot of changes. But if you have a team that is playing well and wining it is easier for people to understand them.

“But in this moment we are in a difficult period inside the club and on the pitch so we have to fight against this feeling, do our job and try our best to help the team to perform better

“I understand all the critics, you have to accept it and try to change it. But since I arrived I expect to win all the games at home.

“But I don’t feel the pressure because the supporters are amazing. We have to stop and think it is a new game, it can be a new story, so let’s go forward.”

On top of letting staff go, it was already revealed in the past week that United will be stopping free lunches for staff at Old Trafford, instead offering them fruit.

While those working at Carrington will lose access to the same menu as the players for their lunches from next season, instead being offered soup and sandwiches.

Financial results published last week showed the club owe £391m in transfer fees and have seen interest costs since the Glazer family took over in 2005 top £1billion.

While it was also revealed that United had spent a combined £14.5m to sack Erik ten Hag and his staff and let go of sporting director Dan Ashworth.

TWO huge car dealerships are closing sparking mass job losses.

Marshall Volkswagen Horsham and Aylesbury are expected to close at the end of March.

Google

The Horsham branch is set to close at the end of March[/caption]

Staff were said to be in “total shock” after they were told that they could be out of work as a result of the closures.

An insider told Car Dealer: “No one knew anything about it, not even the managers, so it did come as a total shock.”

“There’s not been any offers made for people to stay on with Marshalls elsewhere but we have been told that a consultation period is going on.

“The hardest bit for me is moving on from all the staff. I love it here, it’s a great bunch and now we’re all just expected to disperse,” they added.

After the bombshell, some of the sales executives from the branches have jumped on LinkedIn to find new work.

Adrian Nastase, a senior sales executive at the Horsham site, wrote: “I’m saddened to announce that I’m now open to new opportunities and seeking a position in the sales department within the motor trade.

“Working at Volkswagen Horsham has been an unforgettable experience – not just professionally, but personally.

“We truly were a family there, and I have loved every moment spent with my colleagues. It’s a tough goodbye, but I’m excited to see what the future holds.

“If anyone knows of any roles or opportunities, I’d appreciate the connection and support.”

The Sun has approached Volkswagen Group UK for comment.

A spokesperson told Car Dealer magazine: “As we’ve said previously, we, along with the whole motor industry, are moving through a period of unprecedented change, prompted by new technologies and changing customer expectations.

“The necessary evolution of the Volkswagen Group UK retailer network, to ensure that we have appropriate representation to meet our customers’ future needs, is a process that has been under way for a couple of years already and will continue into the future.

“We can confirm in this case that Marshall Motor Group’s sites in Horsham and Aylesbury will be closing from the end of next month.

“Marshall Motor Group will be writing to its customers to advise them of alternative sales, service and parts facilities. Due to legal requirements and confidentiality agreements, we cannot provide further details.”

This comes after BCA revealed it is shuttering it’s branch in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with hundreds now set to lose their jobs.

The company , which dubs itself “Britain’s biggest” used vehicle business, is closing their Chipping Warden site.

It will relocate business to existing Bedforshire and Northamptonshire operations.

Employees were told of the unexpected move late January, and given 45 days to prepare.

The final working day will be March 14 before shutters are pulled down permanently.

Staff claimed the news hit “out of the blue” leaving them “shocked and angered”, as reported by Banbury Guardian.

One said: “There are now a lot of people at BCA very upset about the decision.

“We had no notice, the announcement about 200 redundancies and the centre relocating to Bedford just came completely out of the blue.

“Just before Christmas we were getting told to up production and we were smashing a lot more cars out than normal and this is the thanks we get for it!”

The staff member, who is in their 60s, shared fears they will be “too old” to find another job while being too young to retire.

They added how they’ve been “thrown into limbo” over the move.

The Chipping Warden site has been running for nine years.

A spokesperson for BCA said: “BCA confirmed that the Chipping Warden Remarketing Centre is set to relocate to other sites it operates in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and has opened consultation with staff.

“Like all businesses, BCA needs to evolve its operational base in line with its growth journey and the changing external environment and needs of our customers to ensure we continue to provide market leading service and support.”

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Staff at the Aylesbury branch are devasted by the announcement[/caption]

Police discovered a plastic baggy filled white pills later determined to be oxycodone during a traffic stop.

"Let's find out."

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ONE of the UK’s biggest broadcasters has issued a huge update on when its shiny new streaming service will land.

The relaunch will see a brand new look, as well as even more binge-worthy box sets and streamed channels to watch.

Channel 5

All Creatures Great and Small are among the favourites on My5[/caption]

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My5 will be rebranded and refreshed across all platforms next month[/caption]

My5 has been the destination for Channel 5’s on-demand service since 2018, as well as its sister brands 5STAR, 5USA, 5SELECT and 5ACTION.

Previously, it was known as Demand 5 and before that the platform was called Five Download.

But next month, it’ll take on a simple unified name for both streaming and the broadcast channel: 5.

And the company has now confirmed to The Sun exactly when the relaunch is set to happen.

Viewers can expect to see the new 5 service hit screens on March 12.

It’s not clear whether the fresh app will be available across all platforms straight away.

Often there is a roll out – bear in mind, My5 is widely available on mobiles, tablets, laptops, Sky, Virgin Media, smart TVs and more, so the update may not appear on your device immediately on March 12.

Channel 5 has only recently launched My5 on Sky Q boxes, as The Sun exclusively revealed.

My5 grew at its fastest ever rate in 2024, with shock documentary My Wife, My Abuser its number one most watched single title.

Original dramas including All Creatures Great and Small, Blindspot, The Teacher and Ellis have also helped My5 grow.

The channel has just announced that it will air six new dramas with a twist.

Each one will be a standalone drama that runs for a single episode.

This way viewers will have little to no commitment to the programmes as well as the ability to watch and catch-up at their leisure – a game-changer in the streaming era.

The single drama strand will be known as Drama of the Week and is a nod to the iconic Play for Today series which ran on the BBC between 1970 and 1984.

AN Irish MEP was among a delegation refused entry to Israel and the West Bank on Monday.

Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan, who is chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Palestine, said she was detained on arrival at Ben Gurion Airport.

PA:Press Association

She said French MEP Rima Hassan and two senior civil servants travelling with the delegation were also detained and questioned before being returned to Brussels.

Ms Boylan said the incident was an “insult to all members of the EU”.

She said the four-person group was on an “official mission” to Palestine, where they were going to stay in East Jerusalem until Thursday evening.

Ms Boylan said: “We were due to meet with members of the Knesset, we were due to meet with Israeli politicians as well. It’s about strengthening dialogue. It’s about constructive engagement – and we were prevented from doing our job yesterday.”

She said the visit had been approved by the European Parliament and co-ordinated with Israeli authorities by the EU embassy in Palestine in advance.

The delegation monitors EU policies towards Palestine, the Middle East Peace Process and the establishment of the two state-solution. It also scrutinises the use of EU funds for Palestine, including to UNRWA.

Both Ms Boylan and Ms Hassan are members of the Left group in the European Parliament, however the delegation is a cross-political grouping.

They were met at the door of the plane in Tel Aviv by several security officials and taken to an interrogation room for around an hour and 40 minutes, Ms Boylan said.

The Dublin MEP said their bags were searched and their phones, tablets, and passports were taken from them. Their bags were also searched.

She told RTE radio on Tuesday they were later escorted to a return plane.

She said: “We were stood there with, again, security around us, so that everybody boarding the plane were aware that we were, I suppose, ‘persons of interest’. We were the reason why their flight had been delayed.

“So they started to film us. Some of them shouted abuse at us, and then we were put onto the plane and we were separated.

“Myself and the two officials were together, but they put Ms Hassan down the very back of the plane on her own, at which point I objected and said I didn’t think it was safe for her to be sitting on her own down the back, but they refused to change and said that they called security if we challenged it.”

Ms Boylan said photographs of her and the other three members of the group have been spread on social media.

She said: “Whatever about being a politician, that’s very unfair on civil servants. They’re just there to do their job.

‘DEEPLY CONCERNING’

“It’s unprecedented that civil servants wouldn’t be allowed to continue on the mission.”

She added: “To stop the civil servants traveling and meeting up with the rest of the delegation, and then for those civil servants to have their their faces put out into the public domain is deeply concerning.”

Ms Boylan said her diplomatic passport, provided by Ireland, was not returned until she arrived back in Belgium.

She said they had not been given any reason as to why they were refused entry.

She added: “The EU was completely blindsided by the fact that we were going to be treated in this way.”

Asked if she believed her support for BDS may be the reason she was refused entry, Ms Boylan said: “If that was the case, they had months to refuse my admission.”

She further raised concerns about Israel’s handling of her data and privacy following the seizure of her phone and tablet, as well as her Irish diplomatic passport being taken for hours.

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