Potholes, Free Energy, Pokemon

Available for over a year

Simon Lightwood, the Minister for Roads and Buses, discusses the government’s new plans to improve the state of the country’s roads. Analysis by the RAC shows that drivers encounter roughly six potholes per mile in England and Wales, and its getting worse. As a result, the government will withhold funding from councils if they don’t do enough to improve the quality of roads. A new scheme has been launched by the National Energy System Operator that will reward households and businesses if they increase their electricity use when there is an oversupply of energy this summer. The scheme will incentivise households with cheap - and even free - energy at certain times of the day. They hope it will entice people to use energy intensive devices like washing machines, dishwashers and EV chargers at night or on sunny weekends when there is a glut of energy in the system. The price of rare Pokemon cards has been growing steadily in recent years and surged in February as Pokemon reached its 30th birthday. Some cards are now so valuable that collectors are even having to think about security. Our reporter, Ethan Simpkin, meets collectors at a convention in Derby. Kindles are a hugely popular device for reading on the go. However, its manufacturer Amazon has announced that from the 20th of May it is ending support for some of the oldest Kindles, despite many still working perfectly well. Models released in or before 2012, will be obsolete for new content, including buying, borrowing or downloading books. Many users are angry that these devices will be destined for the scrap heap sooner than needed.