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They are as much a part of the Blackpool seafront as the Tower. But the resort's vintage trams have been suspended indefinitely. For the time being you are more likely to be able to ride one of the town's old trams in Derbyshire or San Francisco where several have ended up. The company which runs Heritage Tram Tours, in Blackpool has announced that its fleets will be off the tracks for the forseeable future, citing safety complications as one of the main issues. There are also questions over how heritage trams can run alongside modern ones. Blackpool's famous vintage trams get ready for the big parade along Blackpool's Promenade to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. Photo by James Maloney/LancsLive (Image: James Maloney/Lancs Live) The news has been met with dismay by locals and visitors to the resort. Arlene Wilson posted: "I loved the old trams as it is part of Blackpool and should always be." Chris Callan commented: "The operation has basically run out of track and time to turn it around. All very sad. Some wonderful memories and lots to look back on. Hopefully some of the Heritage Trams are able to find new homes elsewhere where they can be cared for and enjoyed by future generations." Another person commented: "Typical of Blackpool transport , they won't do rural bus routes because they're not profitable and now proposing to stop heritage trams because they're not to modern requirements or standards. They are just cherry picking for profit. Blackpool Transport, your heritage got you where you are now ! Respect and support it. It's not all about profit. It's about a local transport SERVICE." Tram 5 on Blackpool sea front in May 2001. (Image: Birmingham Post and Mail) In a statement Blackpool Transport Ltd said: “Following a thorough review, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our Heritage Tram Tours. Operating the Heritage Trams alongside our modern fleet has become increasingly challenging, with issues such as depot space, tram movements, general safety and maintenance conflicts making it difficult to continue running the service effectively. "This decision was not taken lightly, but we believe it is the most practical step to support the evolving needs of our business and maintain the overall efficiency of our operations. As part of our efforts to future-proof and safely grow our core tram network following the North Station extension, we are introducing advanced safety systems, including the Obstacle Detection Assistance System (ODAS) and the Collision and Overspeed Monitoring and Prevention Assistance System (COMPASS). "These technologies are essential to maintaining safety, especially during busy times such as the summer, illuminations and festive seasons. The systems also allow us to improve operational efficiency, and ensure the sustainability of the network. "The Heritage Trams are a cherished part of Blackpool’s history, and we fully recognise their importance to the community, however, ensuring the ongoing safety and sustainability of the service has become increasingly complex. This pause provides an opportunity to reflect on the role of Heritage trams within a modernised and safe tramway network. Old Blackpool "boat" style trams on the streets of San Francisco "By reassessing their operation, we aim to explore new ways to honour Blackpool’s rich transport heritage while maintaining our commitment to a safe, efficient, and future-focused service. We are dedicated to finding innovative opportunities to honour and showcase Blackpool’s iconic tramway history, and we thank you for your understanding as we work towards this” San Francisco Municipal Railway recently acquired a third “Boat Tram” that once operated in Blackpool, England. The streetcar joins two others already in operation there. The three were among 12 open-top canoe-shaped trams which Blackpool acquired in the 1930s. Today, eight of the original 12 still exist. Three are in California, including Nos. 226, 228 and 233. Car 226 was the first to ever operate in San Francisco in 1983. The old Blackpool Corporation tram 166, pictured in its new home at Crich in Derbyshire. Three other vintage models from Blackpool are now at Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire. They include Blackpool Corporation 166 built in 1927. It operated at the resort until 1945 before being put in storage until 1953. It arrived at Crich in 1972 to be restored.A surging crowd pressed up against the high metal gate of a government compound, desperate for clues about disappeared loved ones. Politely but firmly, soldiers of the Islamist group now governing Damascus pushed back. “Give us time, just a little bit of time, to organize things,” one pleaded. For now, most seem ready to indulge Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which swept through Syria and seized the capital, Damascus, last weekend. The city is caught up in seemingly endless waves of celebrations. Small steps toward normality are still sufficient, after decades of despotic rule. “Our men can move freely again – what is more beautiful than that?” marvels Huda in central Damascus Thursday. Rebels handed out chocolates, and flower vendors sold pink Damascene roses at a discount. Yet citizens are watching carefully to see how HTS goes about creating order in a multifaith city where fear of security services has ruled everyday life. In Bab Touma, traditionally the Christian quarter of Damascus, bearded fighters clean up a destroyed police station and people line up for bread from a bakery, as church bells ring on Friday morning, the day of Muslim prayer. Says Hasan, a merchant selling flatbread: “The situation is slowly inching toward progress. We hope for safety.” A surging crowd pressed up against the high metal gate at the entrance to a government compound, desperate for clues about their disappeared loved ones. Politely but firmly, uniformed soldiers belonging to the victorious Islamist group now governing Damascus pushed them back. “Give us time, just a little bit of time, to organize things,” one fighter pleaded. For now, most Syrians seem ready to indulge Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), whose forces swept through the country almost unopposed and seized the capital, Damascus, last weekend from Bashar al-Assad. The deposed president fled to asylum in Moscow. The city is caught up in seemingly endless waves of celebrations. Small steps toward normality are still sufficient, after decades of despotic rule that brought suffering to almost every household. “Our men can move freely again – what is more beautiful than that?” marvels Huda, a woman joining the crowds in central Damascus Thursday. Like others interviewed for this story, she withheld her full name. As she spoke, rebels handed out chocolates, and flower vendors sold pink Damascene roses at a discount to celebrate the fall of “Assad, the donkey.” Not everyone trusts their new leaders, whose radical Islamist past gives many, inside and outside Syria, cause for concern. But the almost universal joy unleashed by the departure of Mr. Assad, bringing an end to 54 years of brutal family dictatorship, is overwhelming. “Whatever comes next cannot possibly be worse that what came before,” says Yasmine, a Damascene woman with long greying hair, soaking up the festive atmosphere. “We were petrified. Now, we just want to be out on the streets and keep celebrating.” Syrians are now faced with the huge challenge of emerging from half a century of dictatorship and more than a decade of civil war. Building a functional society here on the foundations of their unbridled joy and deep traumas will be especially hard. Syrians are still digesting the systemic brutality of the regime, now that prisons and torture chambers – chief among them Sednaya – have been opened. The suffering of disappeared families was one of many grievances that first sparked the 2011 anti-regime protests. Syria is a country where sectarian and social divides have been reinforced by war, and where the one common denominator was raw fear of a state whose suffocating security apparatus turned institutions into instruments of terror and abuse. In Damascus, citizens are watching carefully to see how HTS goes about creating a semblance of order in a multi-faith city where fear of militias and security services has long ruled everyday life. The group has limited resources to rise to the challenge and to cope with a traumatized population, but it is having some impact. In Bab Touma, traditionally the Christian quarter of Damascus, bearded fighters clean up a destroyed police station and people line up for bread from a bakery that never shut, as church bells ring on Friday morning, the day of Muslim prayer. “We were suffocating,” says Hasan, a merchant selling flatbread, dropping his dough for a moment and clutching his throat to indicate the mood in the neighborhood before it fell to HTS. He recounts how he paid $5,000 to evade mandatory military service. Now, he says, “the situation is slowly inching toward progress. We hope for safety.” As it took control of the capital, HTS swiftly fanned out fighters and officials to protect key installations. Some came from Idlib, a province in northern Syria where HTS has run a mini-state for several years. Their faces reflect the joy of victory but also the stress of navigating a massive city with which they are not familiar. As the new authorities in town, they are hounded at every turn by civilians airing grievances ranging from the price of bread to conflicts over property and thieves taking advantage of the security vacuum. Some hospital doctors and nurses are back at work, but they have had few casualties to care for. Instead, they are overwhelmed by relatives looking for traces of their loved ones who they hope may have emerged from the former regime’s notorious jails. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has now dropped his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has asked public services to resume, and many medical workers have heeded that call, says Dr. Mohammed Abdelkareem, a gastroenterologist. “We are not scared about the new rulers,” he says. “On the contrary, people are happy. If people don’t show up it is not out of fear, but lack of transport.” At the same time, the composition of the new government – comprising only bearded men – has sparked dissent online, expressed by the hashtag “this government does not represent me.” Voicing such discontent – felt not only by minorities but also by Sunni Muslims, from whose ranks HTS draws its fighters – marks a major break with the past, when a Facebook post could get you arrested. Whether such freedoms will take root is not yet clear. One son of former military officers who gave the name Nowar took his wife and daughter to enjoy fireworks and revolutionary singing at Ummayad Square in central Damascus Thursday evening. His parents are very happy, but also worried about Islamic governance, he says. “People can’t accept seeing (Islamist) flags on the streets.” Nowar himself is optimistic, despite contradictory signals. Syrian State TV, now under the control of HTS, puts the group’s black and white Islamist banner above the new three-starred Syrian national flag onscreen. But it has stopped playing the Islamist songs that were popularized by Sunni Islamist hard-liners. Outside the headquarters of the Baath Party, long the Assad family’s political machine, Yaman Mohamed sits in a chair he has salvaged and guards the entrance, dressed in black and sipping sweet tea to ward off exhaustion. His job is to prevent looting and destruction, but that task requires substantial human resources that are not always in sufficient supply. Many official buildings have been damaged, and fires were still burning Friday afternoon. Mr. Mohamed, who played the role of guard for two days in Aleppo and for another two days in Hama before reaching Damascus, is disciplined. He has stayed at his post even though he could be resting with family members he has not seen for eight years due to the war. He is also optimistic, believing that the mosaic of military groups that overthrew Mr. Assad can stick together, despite variations in their hard-line interpretations of Islam. “The difference now is that the factions understood that they have to stop fighting” among themselves, he says. “We had friction among factions and entities likes ISIS that brainwashed us. Fortunately, now we have clerics who are guiding us on a better path.” Which is not to say that there are no tensions among the various armed groups that have competed for power during Syria’s civil war. Outside Damascus stands the hilltop military base that houses the 4th Armored Division, commanded by former President Assad’s brother, Maher. On Wednesday, the body of the division’s chief of staff, Major General Ali Mahmoud, still lay in his office where, rebels said, they found him dead already. He had been killed by a grenade explosion that had also left its mark on a ceramic fruit bowl, charring apples and bananas. A fierce dispute broke out between armed men from different factions over who had the right to inspect General Mahmoud’s remains, a dispute that worsened when men sporting the armbands of a radical Islamist group arrived and tried to calm the argument. “If we don’t kill each other now, I am certain one day our children will be fighting each other in battle,” one Syrian man roared at another. HTS, considered a terrorist group by the United States and others, appears keen to stamp out such sentiment. The new authorities would rather point to Damascus Airport, southeast of the capital, as the right model for Syria. It remains untouched by recent events, even though looters have been active in other state facilities. Airport guards stick to a strict entrance policy, and rebels here suggest that domestic flights could resume soon, before international flights to Qatar and Libya. Syrian Air planes wait on the tarmac in the meantime, and a polished black Mercedes from the presidential fleet is parked in front of the ornate VIP lounge, although it is missing its tires. “We consider the international airport of Damascus as a gate to the world, which needs to see the new Syria, says a senior HTS security official at the airport, who asks not to give his name. The airport “is the political face of this country, this new country that we are trying to create.”Boston College falls 20-15 to Nebraska in bowl game

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Tharindu Ramanayake is an up and coming young film director who has taken a dramatic turn into a little-known venture in Sri Lanka, dance films. His cinematic creation merged contemporary dance and traditional dance forms to showcase the tragedy of a sea oyster following the aftermath of the Express Pearl disaster. The dance film has received many plaudits and has been showcased in many Film Festivals in Asia and Europe. ‘This is not a pearl’ won in the Experimental International Category at the 2024 Big Syn International Film Festival in London and has been nominated for various other Festivals including the South Asian Film Festival 2024 and in the Documentary Section at the prestigious 23rd Imagine India International Film Festival in Madrid, Spain among many others. Tharindu has a background in filmmaking and has made several short films, a full length film and music videos. This is the first dance film he has done and one of the first in Sri Lanka to have been acclaimed in the international circuit. Filmmaking His foray into filmmaking started when he began studying drama and theatre for his degree, later on he received a scholarship to study at the Rabindra bharati University, in Kolkata. He got another scholarship to study film direction and script writing at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and was the first Sri Lankan to achieve this accolade. Youth Observer sat with this talented filmmaker to delve deep into his artistic process and career in filmmaking. Dance films are a little known genre in Sri Lanka so what inspired Tharindu to make a dance film? “The main dancer in the film called me and said she would like to do a dance film” said Tharindu.” I have danced as a child, so I wanted to experiment because no one has attempted to do a dance film before. Once I researched the idea, I realised this genre was not popular in Sri Lanka and I was eager to try out this new concept”, he said. Tharindu was influenced by Maya Derrin who was the pioneer of this genre. “But the way I conceptualised the film, blending politics, dance and environmental issues is something new, I didn’t have anything to influence me. I wanted my dance film to have the vibe of a documentary; however, in Sri Lanka the documentary has a standard prototype. A narration plays in the background, with interviews. But, internationally documentaries have evolved. The lines are blurred between fiction films and documentaries, sometimes we can’t figure out whether it’s a film or a documentary. This is what I aspired to do with my work although it is a fictional story I take props from the real incident and work accordingly to bridge it closer to reality”, Tharindu said. Environmental catastrophe The Express Pearl disaster was one of the biggest environmental catastrophes that have occurred in Sri Lanka in recent years, a true environmentalist at heart the plight of the environment and the animals that lived in the sea touched Tharindu. As an aspiring film director he questioned why no one voiced this issue through cinematic mediums. “I believe the more we connect to nature our true selves emerge” said Tharindu. “When this catastrophe occurred in Sri Lanka I was in India. While I was going through the pictures I noticed a fish whose gills were embedded with plastic particles. In the article it said ‘these are not pearls’. That was my inspiration says Tharindu. “Three words came to my mind as I saw this, Sri Lanka is called Pearl of the Indian Ocean and the name of the ship was Express Pearl and the plastic that glistened looked like pearls. That’s how I turned the fish into an oyster and wondered instead of the pearl if a plastic particle entered the oyster what would be the outcome”, he said. In the film a pearl oyster living happily in the Indian Ocean encounters a ‘strange pearl’ the Pearl Express which completely changed the environment where it lived. The pearl that she had been protecting gets corrupt and turns black with oil and is destroyed. When the oyster floats away it tries to find its pearl only to encounter many little plastic pearls and it puts it inside only to find that these are plastic pearls and then it dies! Cinematic quality The cinematic quality of the dance film is highly captivating that one wonders whether the Film maker was trying to downplay the tragedy that befell our oceans. “Didn’t you feel sad at the plight of the oyster pearl?” asks Tharindu. “I wanted to evoke a sense of pity. I believe through this film I was able to summon these emotions rather than seeing the disaster. From smearing colour in the face to depict the contorted dancing, my intention was not to beautify the dancer, but rather to bring about the emotions of the pearl oyster” said Tharindu. The dance film has a documentary feel to it with the real footage capturing the disaster as it actually happened. Tharindu wants the audience to feel that it is a real situation without getting caught up in the cinematography and the aesthetics of his production. The film incorporates a range of dance genres, the dancer Ama Nethmi is a contemporary dancer. However, the production was not to restrict to one form of dance. The main purpose of the dance was to tell a story, animal movements and kathak dancing were acted out. Towards the end of the film, many viewers felt that they didn’t see a dancer there but an animal writhing in pain In one instance the oyster tries to fan out the engulfing flames, according to Tharindu this was inspired by the Jataka tale where a squirrel mother tried to empty the ocean with its tail to save her child, which is an impossible situation. The oyster in a similar fashion tries to save her precious pearl. “I don’t make films to give a message” quips Tharindu, “a message is naturally conveyed but that is not the sole purpose. I expressed what I felt, an environmental tragedy had befallen the country and action should be taken to rectify it”, he said. The long-term consequence of this tragedy is irreparable. To this very day we are probably eating salt, laden with micro plastics. So what does the future hold for this passionate young filmmaker? “I might do another dance film, purely based on dance because ‘This is not a Pearl’ falls into the category of an experimental documentary film more so than a dance film,” added Tharindu. “I am someone who likes to diversify my creations; I don’t like to stick to just one thing”, Tharindu says. The future looks bright for Tharindu as he gears up to dive into other unchartered territories in film while capturing the hearts and minds of his audience.Gophers football players are preparing to play Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe on Friday, but three key pieces peered beyond the blinders to shore up their commitment to Minnesota on Monday. Quarterback Max Brosmer and offensive lineman Quinn Carroll — two sixth-year seniors — said they will play in the Gophers’ to-be-determined bowl game, bucking a growing trend of players skipping postseason games to prepare for shots in the NFL. ADVERTISEMENT Brosmer, a transfer from FCS-level New Hampshire, said he will “definitely” suit up. “It’s another opportunity for us to play as a team,” said Brosmer, who threw for 2,426 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in 11 games this season. “It’s a compilation of what you have worked on all season.” Carroll said he respects higher-level prospects who might opt out and protect their draft stock, but he wants to get back to a “standard” of players not skipping the games. “My goal ever since I came here was to be the leader, be the standard all the time, and I don’t want it to become a standard that we don’t play in the bowl game if we have NFL aspirations,” said Carroll, who has played three seasons at Minnesota after three years at Notre Dame. “Obviously it’s different for guys who are maybe touted a little bit higher or think it will be better off for them to start working on the next step, whether that is combine training or what have you. But that is one opportunity that I’m blessed with to play with the guys and I’m going to take full advantage of it.” Left tackle Aireontae Ersery is a prime candidate of a Gophers player who might want to safeguard a higher draft stock and limit injury exposure by sitting out the bowl game. The possible first- or second-round pick has not said what he might do. For example, former U center, John Michael Schmitz opted out of the Pinstripe Bowl in 2022; he was drafted in the second round by the New York Giants. Meanwhile, Gophers fifth-year defensive lineman Jalen Logan-Redding said he will return to Minnesota for 2025, instead of trying his luck in the NFL. “Coming back next year is definitely going to be the best for me and being able to maximize all my opportunities and exhaust eligibility,” Logan-Redding said. Logan-Redding said he talked with fellow D-lineman Deven Eastern, who has one more year remaining, about pairing up in 2025. ADVERTISEMENT “We talk a lot about it,” Logan-Redding said. “... We are excited for it, honestly. Not only continuing to build the D-line, but just continuing to build on the experience that we already have. We’ve seen the amount of destruction that we can create when we are focused. Me, Dev and, of course, (Anthony Smith). He would be pissed if I didn’t shout him out.” Smith, who has two more years of eligibility, has been one of the U’s best players in the last month. He has 23 total pressures and five sacks, including one sack in each of the last three weeks. ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .

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