A farewell event for commuter trains which are being phased out in Surrey is taking place to benefit three charities.
South West Railway’s (SWR) red Class 455 fleet has been in service for 42 years and is being replaced by new Arterio trains.
Tickets for Sunday’s event, which passes through places including Epsom, Guildford and Haslemere, sold out in 15 seconds, the company said.
In response to the “unprecedented demand”, SWR and the Branch Line Society said they would run a second train.
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Christmastime’s a-comin’, which means a slew of changes to shops, services and more.
This is a broad overview and it rarely hurts to check specific hours beforehand.
There will be a separate guide to changes around New Year’s Day.
Shopping and attractions
Many grocery stores, pharmacies and alcohol outlets close early.
The Bayshore, Place d’Orléans, Rideau Centre, St. Laurent and Tanger malls each close at 5 p.m. Bayshore opens early at 8 a.m.
The science museum is open on regular hours.
The national gallery and agriculture, aviation, history and war museums close at 2 p.m., while the Ottawa Art Gallery closes at 4 p.m. until Jan. 2.
The nature museum is closed.
Services
Waste collection is on a normal schedule.
OC Transpo is on a “reduced weekday schedule” starting Monday, Dec. 22, until Friday, Jan. 2, with further changes on holidays. School routes won’t be running.
Its winter schedule also begins Sunday Dec. 21.
Bank branches across the city are generally open with regular hours.
Free parking will be available at Ottawa city hall starting at 4 p.m. on Dec. 24 and running until 7 a.m. on Dec. 26.
The ByWard Market garage will offer free parking over the same time period.
The city’s sexual health clinic and dental clinics will work modified holiday hours.
All Ottawa Public Library branches that do not normally close on Wednesdays are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Businesses, attractions, banks and services are generally closed. Some pharmacies, grocery stores and restaurants are open.
OC Transpo is on a Sunday schedule. Para Transpo is offering holiday service.
The city will not offer curbside or multi-residential garbage, green bin, recycling or bulky item collection on Christmas. Pick-up will take place the following day. The Trail Waste Facility will also be closed.
The Site program mobile van will work from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
The city’s sexual health clinic and dental clinics will be closed, as will all four of the city’s employment and social services offices.
All Ottawa Public Library branches are closed.
Shopping and attractions
Some grocery stores may tweak their hours, but many are back to normal.
Pharmacies and alcohol outlets may be closed or open under different hours. Check with specific locations.
The Bayshore, Rideau Centre and St. Laurent malls each open early: Bayshore and St. Laurent at 8 a.m. and the Rideau Centre at 9 a.m.
Place d’Orléans is keeping its regular hours.
The aviation, history, science and war museums are open on regular hours, as is the national gallery.
The agriculture museum and Ottawa Art Gallery are closed. The nature museum is open an hour later until 5 p.m.
Services
OC Transpo is on a Saturday schedule. Para Transpo is offering holiday service.
Bank hours may vary. Royal Bank says all branches are closed, for example.
The Trail Waste Facility is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Site program mobile van will work from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
The city’s sexual health clinic and dental clinics will be closed, as will all four of the city’s employment and social services offices.
All Ottawa Public Library branches are closed.
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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A public health nutritionist at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is encouraging people who can afford to entertain this holiday season to invite people over for dinner who might otherwise miss out.
Food insecurity can cause social isolation, Karen Bellmore said.
And that leads to worsening physical and mental health.
“Many individuals who have full-time jobs who are minimum wage earners are still struggling with food insecurity,” Bellemore said.
“Usually people withdraw, and there’s a lot of shame and embarrassment with not being able to feed yourself. But this is really a system-level problem.”
Statistics Canada reported on Dec. 15 that grocery inflation in November had reached its highest point since the end of December: 4.7 per cent year over year.
The health unit released its own annual food affordability report in late November, documenting the cost of 61 food items that are essential to helping people at different ages and stages of life meet their nutritional needs.
It found that a family of four would spend about $1,181.08 per month on those food items, while a single person would spend $413.18.
When combining those numbers with average rents in the region, it estimated that a family of four on Ontario Works would have just $546 leftover for additional expenses after paying for food and housing, while a single person would be in the hole by an estimated $420.
Those additional expenses include utilities, insurance, laundry, vehicle expenses, child care, school supplies and other essentials, including other groceries.
“Even in our nutritious food basket cost, we aren’t really looking at those extra hygiene items like toilet paper,” Bellmore said.
It doesn’t even track the cost of coffee.
Hunger tends to be hard to see, Bellmore said, because nobody gets evicted from their home or has their utilities cut off when they don’t feed themselves.
Food tends to be seen as a “flexible expense” that people will sacrifice in order to avoid losing those other essentials, she said.
“But it really isn’t,” she said, “because it harms our physical and mental health when we’re not able to nourish ourselves.”
One man who launched an annual community Christmas dinner four years ago says people have been struggling more with their mental health for the past several years, and the holiday season just makes things worse for some people.
“Being around people helps that person out, even if it’s just sitting there talking to somebody for five minutes,” John Hanchar said.
Hanchar launched Not Alone for Christmas during his first year of recovery from addiction by bringing together six people from Narcotics Anonymous.
“I know what it’s like to be alone ’cause I’ve been there before, and I just thought, ‘You know, let’s just do it,” he said.
“The first one was just a simple thing. … I just went and bought … some food and some games and played cards, and we had some snacks.”
The following year he made posters for the event and got media coverage, and it blew up.
“People were telling me, like, no one does a Christmas dinner on Christmas Day,” he said.
Last year, he served 180 people, thanks to donations from people and businesses in the community.
The event is now listed in 211 Windsor’s Holiday Sharing Guide, and Hanchar said his phone has been ringing off the hook.
“What I get out of this is gratitude,” he said.
Everyone is welcome to the free event. And Hanchar tries to provide a present for everyone.
The event is alcohol free, and the leftover food and gifts are donated to other charities.
This year’s event takes place Christmas Day at Peace Lutheran Church. Doors open at 1 p.m., and dinner starts at 2:30.
The Ministry of Energy has approved a major revision to Pakistan’s net metering policy, significantly altering the framework for solar power consumers across the country.
Sources in the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) said the decision was finalised after months of consultations with key stakeholders, including power distribution companies (Discos) and regulatory bodies. Under the revised net billing mechanism, solar consumers will now be compensated at a fixed rate of Rs11 per unit for electricity exported to the national grid.
Officials said the duration of solar power agreements has also been reduced to five years. Unlike the previous net metering regime — under which excess electricity generated by consumers was adjusted against their total consumption — the new system introduces a fixed per-unit compensation rate to be determined by Nepra. Electricity drawn from the grid will continue to be billed at the prevailing Nepra-approved tariff.
Under the earlier policy, solar consumers received a much higher buyback rate of Rs25.98 per unit. However, officials said the revised framework aims to align solar incentives with evolving market conditions and ensure long-term grid sustainability.
Sources further said that all solar installations with a load of up to 25 kilowatts will now require a licence from Nepra. Previously, domestic, commercial and industrial consumers installing systems within this capacity were exempt from licensing requirements.
The Ministry of Energy has informed the federal government that continuation of the old net metering policy was no longer viable due to mounting financial and operational pressures on the power sector.
Ministry officials maintained that the determination of solar tariffs falls under Nepra’s mandate and that tariff structures and regulatory frameworks are periodically revised in line with sectoral needs. They also sought to reassure consumers, saying the revised policy is unlikely to have a significant impact on the majority of solar users.
December 21, 2025. MAHIA, New Zealand: Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched its 21st Electron rocket of the year to deploy the latest satellite to space for multi-launch customer Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS), a Japan-based Earth imaging company.
‘The Wisdom God Guides’ mission launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on December 21 at 7:36 p.m. (06:36 UTC) to deploy the QPS-SAR-15 to space for iQPS. The spacecraft will join the company’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation providing near-real time imagery across twelve different orbits for iQPS’ global customers. Rocket Lab first launched for iQPS in 2023 and has gone on to deploy seven satellites to the iQPS constellation, making Electron the primary launcher for iQPS. A further five launches on Electron for iQPS are planned from 2026.
Today’s mission has set a new annual launch record for Electron: 21 launches in one year with 100% mission success. The record cements Electron as both America’s preeminent small launch provider and the world’s most frequently-launched small-lift orbital rocket.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: “Congratulations to iQPS on this latest successful mission for their constellation, and to the Rocket Lab team on a fantastic record-setting year of Electron launches. Electron makes frequent and reliable launch look easy as it outpaces all other American small-lift orbital rockets, year after year. In 2026 we’re expanding Electron’s global reach with more multi-launch constellation deployments, dedicated missions for domestic civil space and international space agencies in Japan and Europe, and both suborbital and orbital launches with defense applications for hypersonic technology and national security. Our new record of annual launches and the breadth of upcoming missions goes to show how much of a global impact Electron continues to have on the space industry, and we’re looking forward to another year of continued execution in 2026.”
‘The Wisdom God Guides’ mission was Rocket Lab’s 79th overall Electron mission and final scheduled launch for 2025. The next Electron launch is slated to take place in early Q1 2026.
‘The Wisdom God Guides’ launch images: F79 | The Wisdom God Guides
‘The Wisdom God Guides’ launch broadcast: Rocket Lab – ‘The Wisdom God Guides’ Launch
ENDS
Rocket Lab Media Contact
Murielle Baker
media@rocketlabusa.com
About Rocket Lab
About Rocket Lab Rocket Lab is a leading space company that provides launch services, spacecraft, payloads and satellite components serving commercial, government, and national security markets. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is the world’s most frequently launched orbital small rocket; its HASTE rocket provides hypersonic test launch capability for the U.S. government and allied nations; and its Neutron launch vehicle in development will unlock medium launch for constellation deployment, national security and exploration missions. Rocket Lab’s spacecraft and satellite components have enabled more than 1,700 missions spanning commercial, defense and national security missions including GPS, constellations, and exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus. Rocket Lab is a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq stock exchange (RKLB). Learn more at www.rocketlabcorp.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding our launch and space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and repeatable access to space, Neutron development, operational expansion and business strategy, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at https://investors.rocketlabcorp.com which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
The proposal to the authority, by applicant Rachel Coe, said: “The proposal introduces a small-scale, modern feature into the green.
“The introduction of a catering trailer will deliver a clear community facility, enhancing the social and economic vitality of Oxenhope, increasing local activity and visitor engagement with the Millennium Green and thereby outweighing any limited adverse impact.
“The applicants intend this to be a short-term measure to start their business. The long-term goal is to find premises within the village and have a cafe.”
Mr Hague, from Hertfordshire, has worked in the vintage clothing business on and off since the 90s, and took on the store in 2023 as he “couldn’t bear” to see it close.
He added: “I have been aware of Nottingham coming up here in the 90s to get stock from Robin. I sort of got to love the city through that.
“Clothes and music have always been part of my life, it was very much led by the heart.
“Robin and Mary worked really hard for 37 years. They rarely took holidays and dedicated their lives to it.
“When it became available I did not think it was going to be the best idea financially, but I really wanted to give it a go.
“We have always had a great team. That is the saddest thing, that we have had to give notice [to staff] and that is a real tragedy.”
The last day of trading is set to be New Year’s Eve.
Helen Davies, Babergh councillor for Sproughton & Pinewood, which encompasses the site, told the meeting that ever since she had moved to the ward in 2011, the site had always been “a little bit run down”.
“It’s lain derelict for ages, and I think we are all well aware that the nature of shopping has changed,” she said.
“I try and make an effort to do my shopping physically, but I fail dismally at times, especially now, and it is a lot easier for us to go to an outside retail area because generally you can park pretty easily, so you can do your bigger purchases there.
“The site is rundown, it’s fenced off, it would be great to have it back into use, but I also feel we need to make certain that the Ipswich store is protected to a degree.”
She said she had felt some promise of this from M&S, but said there was still a risk.
Ipswich Borough Council, prior to the decision, said it was in support of the proposal.
In a letter within the planning documents, its head of planning and development acknowledged that while the new store would have an impact on the town centre, “there are reasons to be optimistic about the direct of travel in the town centre that will keep footfall and investor sentiment high”.