Biggest Repair Project Paralyzes UK’s Railway

A Southern train and Gatwick Express train (l-r) pull into
Victoria Station. The company says it will challenge the strike action
in the high court (file photo) PA
A Southern train and Gatwick Express train (l-r) pull into Victoria Station. The company says it will challenge the strike action in the high court (file photo) PA
TT

Biggest Repair Project Paralyzes UK’s Railway

A Southern train and Gatwick Express train (l-r) pull into
Victoria Station. The company says it will challenge the strike action
in the high court (file photo) PA
A Southern train and Gatwick Express train (l-r) pull into Victoria Station. The company says it will challenge the strike action in the high court (file photo) PA

Britain's railway networks will witness the biggest repair project in their history, which will suspend the activity in most of the country’s train stations; only three of the 29 rail network in Britain will be functioning.

The repair workshop, which will run until January 2 in some areas, includes 260 projects in 3400 sites, according to the National Rail, reported AFP.

The repairs are expected to cost 160.4 million pounds (214 million dollars), said the association, which is responsible for overseeing passenger train operating companies.

The Guardian newspaper said that only Chiltern Railways, Merseyrail and ScotRail would be operating only on Tuesday, at a limited capacity.

A Department of Transport spokeswoman told the Guardian that train services generally do not operate on Boxing Day in England and Wales due to lack of demand, but a survey cited by the Express newspaper found that three out of 10 Britons would take to the roads on Tuesday to visit loved ones.

Speaking Monday to the Express, British Transport Secretary Chris Grayling urged the public to be forgiving about the rail closures because the maintenance work was vital to expand and improve services.

"There are a lot of people who waived their Christmas to improve the railways," he told the paper. "I just ask people not to forget them."



Japan Govt Admits Doctoring ‘Untidy’ Cabinet Photo

This picture taken on October 1, 2024 shows Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front C) posing during a photo session with the members of his cabinet at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo. (JIJI PRESS / AFP)
This picture taken on October 1, 2024 shows Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front C) posing during a photo session with the members of his cabinet at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo. (JIJI PRESS / AFP)
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Japan Govt Admits Doctoring ‘Untidy’ Cabinet Photo

This picture taken on October 1, 2024 shows Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front C) posing during a photo session with the members of his cabinet at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo. (JIJI PRESS / AFP)
This picture taken on October 1, 2024 shows Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front C) posing during a photo session with the members of his cabinet at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo. (JIJI PRESS / AFP)

Japan's government admitted Monday manipulating an official photo of the new cabinet to make its members look less unkempt, after online mockery of their sagging trousers.

Images taken by local media showed what appeared to be an untidy patch of white shirt under the morning suits of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani.

In the official photo issued by Ishiba's office, these blemishes had mysteriously disappeared, but not quickly enough to stop a barrage of mockery of the "untidy cabinet" on social media.

"This is more hideous than a group picture of some kind of a seniors' club during a trip to a hot spring. It's utterly embarrassing", one user wrote on X.

"Minor editing was made," top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Monday, while seeking to deflect criticism of the manipulation.

"Group photos during official events of the prime minister's office, such as the cabinet reshuffle, will be preserved forever as memorabilia, so minor editing is customarily performed on these photos," he said.

In March, Catherine, Britain's Princess of Wales, apologized and said she had edited a photo with her children released by the palace.

The Mother's Day portrait of a smiling Kate included several inconsistencies and sparked a storm after major news agencies including AFP withdrew the photo saying it had been manipulated.

"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," Kate said in a statement.

"I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."