Call for earlier start to UK car sale ban
LONDON • Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and other city leaders from across Britain said yesterday a government plan to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars should be brought forward by 10 years to 2030, in the latest push to improve air quality.
Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative government said last year it would ban the sale of such cars from 2040, although it is unclear whether that includes hybrid vehicles, which have both an electric and combustion engine.
The government is due to detail the proposals in a "Road to Zero" plan shortly, but yesterday, Mr Khan joined mayors and city leaders from Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Sheffield and Bristol to call for the measures to be implemented quicker.
REUTERS
Van slams into music fans, 1 killed and 3 hurt
THE HAGUE • A van slammed into music fans near a Dutch campsite at a huge music festival early yesterday, killing one person and seriously injuring three others just hours after headline act Bruno Mars wowed tens of thousands of fans.
The four people were hit around 4am yesterday by the van, which then fled the scene only hours after the end of the three-day Pinkpop Festival in the southern town of Landgraaf, near the German border.
A 34-year-old man from Heerlen later gave himself up, phoning the police to say he was the driver. He was arrested in Amsterdam, police told reporters, adding that the white van had also been found.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Spanish king's brother-in-law in jail
MADRID • The Spanish king's brother-in-law began a six-year jail sentence yesterday, drawing a line under a long-running corruption scandal that enraged the public and brought shame on the royal family.
Inaki Urdangarin, the husband of King Felipe's sister Cristina, arrived at a prison north of Madrid early yesterday after losing an appeal at the Supreme Court last week.
The former Olympic handball player was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison for embezzling millions of euros in a case which caused an uproar and even contributed to the abdication of King Felipe's father.
Urdangarin, 50, turned himself in at a facility near Brieva, about 100km north of Madrid, at 8am.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
