UK News
Man arrested in connection with fire at LGBTQ+ nightclub near Milton Keynes | UK news
A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after a fire at an LGBTQ+ nightclub, police have said.
Officers have called on people not to speculate about why the fire may have been set at Pink Punters in Fenny Stratford, near Milton Keynes, saying it is too early to tell. Following the fire, the club’s owner said he was relieved no one was hurt – and vowed the club would reopen.
“Whilst I am devastated to say that the building itself has been completely destroyed, I am deeply relieved, grateful and proud to confirm that no staff or customers were harmed, and everybody went home safely,” said Frank McMahon, whose family has run Pink Punters for more than 25 years.
He said he was heartbroken, adding: “Pink Punters has always been about people, not just bricks and mortar. The building may be gone, but the family, the memories, the spirit and the love remain. And let me say this clearly: Pink Punters will be back.”
Thames Valley police received reports of the fire at 2am on Sunday. A large number of partygoers and residents in the Watling Street area were safely evacuated by staff, officers said.
Footage appears to show flames inside the top floor of the building and towering above its roof. Officers and Buckinghamshire fire and rescue crews attended, and some roads nearby were closed. There were 12 fire crews on site at the blaze’s peak, the fire service said.
A 51-year-old man from the Buckinghamshire city was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and remains in custody, police said.
Pink Punters has been running for more than two decades and has dancefloors, an outdoor bar and offers karaoke.
The Milton Keynes commander, Ch Supt Emma Baillie, said: “This was a significant fire in which a large number of people had to be evacuated. Thankfully no one was injured and staff at the venue worked quickly and effectively to safely evacuate everyone. At this time, it would be too early to comment on any particular motivation for this incident and we would respectfully ask for people not to speculate.”
UK News
David Guetta and Sia’s song Titanium got me through my fertility treatment | Dance music
At the end of 2011, party season was under way but I was in no mood for festivities. Two years into fertility treatment, my body was pumped full of synthetic hormones and felt like a pin cushion, while my head was filled with both the fragile hope of having a baby, and the exhaustion of failed clinical attempts to do so.
I was in my late 20s. I met my husband when I was 22; we got married when I was 25. “I want to have kids young,” I’d told him. It was a feeling I’d harboured since my teenage years. But I’d also had the nagging sense that it might not come easily to me. As it turned out, my intuition was right. Approaching 28, I was a regular on the infertility merry-go-round.
I was recovering from my second miscarriage that year when I heard Sia’s raspy voice on the car radio belting out words that sounded emotionally weighty for an electronic dance number – her David Guetta collaboration, Titanium.
It’s not a song I would have necessarily rated or listened to again – I’m more likely to play 00s R&B and hip-hop – but it came at the perfect time in my life. I had forgotten how days felt before fertility drugs and the diarised cycles of administering them. I’d been constantly wearing a brave face and cramming in hospital appointments before and after work, going about my job through a fog of longing and hormones. It had left me in a “cry on the bedroom floor” kind of a heap. I needed something to drag the hope back into me.
I turned the radio up and listened to the lyrics: “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose / Fire away, fire away.” It felt as if it was talking to and about me, issuing a riposte to all those shots of disappointment that had been fired our way. As Sia’s vocals ascended through the chorus with Guetta’s soaring synths – “Ricochet, you take your aim” – I cried, but I felt myself gaining power with her, too. “You shoot me down, but I won’t fall / I am titanium.” Those were the words I needed to hear.
I felt like a puppet pulled upright again. I streamed it on repeat in the days that followed. I might not have been able to face the work Christmas party but I wasn’t going to languish on the bedroom floor any more.
Over the next months, I spent a lot of time in my car, travelling to work and to fertility appointments to get my blood tested, hormones measured or insides scanned. Listening to Titanium became routine. Each time, its cinematic surge had the same empowering effect and I’d turn up the volume, wind down the windows and defiantly sing along in my terrible voice so it could wash over me.
The following May, when my husband and I headed to the clinic for another IVF embryo transfer, I let it motivate me; when we drove back from scans confirming we were six weeks, then 12 weeks pregnant, I celebrated with it. As I nervously made my way through my pregnancy, I turned to it when I needed the boost.
In January 2013, our first son was born. Today, he is the eldest of three: his brother arrived 15 months later, via IVF too (the last of our fertilised embryos) and four years later, another brother, without fertility treatment. We consider ourselves unspeakably lucky; for many, the outcome is not the same.
In our family, everyone knows Titanium is my fight song. It’s the only big commercial dance hit on my playlists, and a marker of something I overcame.
My kids call me in whenever it streams or plays on TV. When I made my husband a playlist for our 15th wedding anniversary, it’s the song that represented our 2011. And the other week, when he was out with friends, he sent me a voice note from the bar: he’d recorded it playing in the background.
There’s something all-consuming about fertility treatment: you view life only through the filter of your efforts to get pregnant. If you’re lucky, the filter lifts. It did for me, but the fight song remained. So, now, elsewhere in life, when I need a shot of strength and find myself alone in the car, down goes the window and on it goes.
UK News
Parents 'facing uncertainty' as SEN children left without school places
Amy Gibney says she is one of eight families at her child’s school to find out that they don’t have a place for next year.
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UK News
Edinburgh airport reopens after security alert but passengers warned of ‘knock on’ effect | Scotland
Edinburgh airport reopened on Saturday morning after parts of the terminal building were evacuated on Friday night because of a security alert.
An explosive ordnance disposal team was sent to the airport to investigate what Police Scotland described as a “potentially suspicious package” discovered at about 6.50pm on Friday.
An evacuation was ordered and a police cordon was set up, with roads closed.
Passengers faced disruption as result of the operation and the airport warned that schedules would continue to be affected on Saturday.
In a statement at about 3am on Saturday, the airport confirmed it had reopened and would work to restore normal services as quickly as possible.
“Following investigations by specialist teams, the airport has now reopened.
“This incident will have knock-on impacts throughout today and staff are working hard to address these and support passengers.
“Operational teams are continuing to work to restore normal services as quickly as possible.
“Please check with your airline for the latest information on your flight.”
The statement did not provide an update about the examination of the suspicious package.
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