Good evening, these are the latest ECHO headlines on Monday, February 28.
'Scared' dad quits job and flies to Ukraine to be with wife and son
A scared dad has quit his job and travelled to the Ukraine to reunite with his wife and son.
Ian Umney, 28, from St Helens, quit his job as a courier and English teacher to travel to Nikopol in south-eastern Ukraine to be with his Ukrainian wife Nelia and two-year-old son Jonathan.
On the day Russia began invading Ukraine, Thursday, February 24, Ian spoke to his wife who was "very upset" as they started bombing the country.
He said: "I just feel an overwhelming need to be with my family.
"I woke up on Thursday and spoke to my wife, she was very upset and had told me they started the bombing campaign.
"It all went downhill emotionally over the next few days, I was angry, scared and just wanted to get here as quickly as I could.
"The only thing I have to do is go and be with them and make sure they're safe."
Ian made the decision to fly from Manchester to Krakow, Poland, on Sunday before travelling to the Ukrainian border - crossing into the country in the early hours of Monday morning.
Merseyrail and Metro Mayor respond over ticket criticisms
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has said things must change on the city region's 'broken, fragmented transport network', while Merseyrail said it is 'working hard' to modernise its ticket systems.
The city region mayor and rail network were responding to social media discussions about the ticketing system currently in use on the Merseyrail the wider public transport network.
The discussion was started by ECHO reporter - and regular Merseyrail user - Liam Thorp, who posted an image of a long queue outside St Michaels station this morning.
The image highlighted issues that have been regularly raised about the complicated and outdated ticketing system used across much of our region's public transport network.
Unlike in other cities, passengers do not have the option of simply tapping their debit/credit cards to pay for journeys - and only a select number of ticket types can be used to tap and go.
It means that for many people, the only option is to queue at the station - and potentially miss your train.
A large number of people joined in the discussion with their own frustrations at the system in place and hopes for improvements.
Bold Street restaurant named among best in the world
A Liverpool restaurant has been named in The Observer Magazine's top 50 “best things in the world of food and drink” list.
Vegetarian and vegan street food giant Bundobust, which has a branch in Bold Street, has been included in the prestigious Observer Food Monthly list which is released annually.
The restaurant, which started in Leeds and also has a branch in Manchester, has come in at number 20 on the list overall, impressing with its drinks choices.
Bundobust has its own brewery which offers a range of drinks, including classic IPAs and lager. The venue recently launched a new limited-edition cask beer, Dark Mild, and Manak, a “light cream ale” - an American style that’s between a blonde ale and a lager.
The restaurant was also recently named as one of the most “Instagrammable” vegan restaurants in the UK. Myvegan analysed Instagram hashtag data for more than 170 popular plant-based food haunts to see which ones are appearing most on people's feeds, with Bundobust coming in at number three.
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