Two trusts and one children’s hospital to receive emergency nursing staff after RCN had said there would be no derogationsThe Royal College of Nurses appears to have U-turned on its decision to allow no exemptions to hospitals during this weekend’s strike action, with nurses now due to work in an emergency capacity in dozens of hospitals across England.Nurses will be working across several NHS trusts – including Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust, in London, and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation trust – in wards including intensive care and A&E. This is despite the RCN vowing when strike action was announced that exemptions would not be made for any hospitals. Continue reading...
Move is apparently designed to isolate the Royal College of Nursing, which is due to begin another strikeMinisters plan to impose a pay deal on NHS workers even as nurses continue to reject it, the Observer understands, as health service unions prepare to hold crunch talks on the package this week.Both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Unite unions continue to oppose the deal offered to NHS workers, after protracted negotiations that have led to strikes and hampered attempts to shorten waiting lists. All 12 unions involved in the talks will gather on Tuesday to vote on whether to accept an improved deal covering the last two years. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6B97Z)
Health service bosses say patient safety could be at risk when nurses in England stage 28-hour stoppage from Sunday eveningAn NHS leader has urged the Royal College of Nursing to let striking nurses leave picket lines and go back to work in their hospital if emergencies occur during their strike this weekend.Matthew Taylor made the appeal as the NHS braced itself for renewed disruption to services as a result of the first strike by nurses since they rejected the government’s improved pay offer. Continue reading...
Julia Waters criticises ‘fatally destructive’ inspections and calls on school leaders to refuse to cooperate with watchdogHeadteachers should undermine Ofsted’s “culture of fear” by refusing to cooperate with the schools inspectorate or work as inspectors, the sister of headteacher Ruth Perry has told a conference of school leaders.Prof Julia Waters said her sister had been “destroyed” by Ofsted’s critical inspection of her school late last year, which downgraded it from outstanding to inadequate, and that her family had been left with an “intense, painful, overwhelming” sense of loss after her death. Continue reading...
by Zeinab Mohammed Salih in Khartoum and Ruth Michael on (#6B9DD)
Hundreds of people told to make own way through ongoing fighting to airbase north of KhartoumNHS doctors and British nationals are facing a treacherous route to reach an airbase north of Khartoum before a deadline for evacuations, amid ongoing airstrikes and artillery fire in the Sudanese capital.Hundreds of people were told to find their own way to an evacuation centre at the Wadi Seidna airbase, about 14 miles (20km) north of Khartoum and its twin city, Omdurman. They had to navigate ongoing fighting as the Sudanese Armed Forces continued to attack positions across the two cities, while members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces hid among civilian buildings. Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas, Zeinab Mohammed Salih and agency on (#6B98J)
Deputy PM to chair Cobra meeting on security situation in Khartoum as UK government prepares to end flightsThe deadline for British nationals to reach the evacuation airfield in Sudan has passed as the government prepares to cease flights out of the country within hours.The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, will chair a Cobra meeting on Saturday afternoon to discuss the security situation in Khartoum in advance of the final flight taking off at 6pm UK time. Continue reading...
Current system gives too much power to prime ministers says broadcaster – but rules himself out of runningThe veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby has said a cross-party public commission should appoint the BBC chair, in the wake of Richard Sharp’s resignation after breaking rules over dealings with Boris Johnson – but ruled himself out of the running for the job.Sharp resigned after being found to have breached public appointment rules for failing to declare a connection to a secret £800,000 loan for the UK’s former prime minister. Continue reading...
Dismayed locals and Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson are calling on palace to reconsider large feesFor those living in south London, a stroll next to the colourful flowerbeds in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace was until recently a free weekend activity all could enjoy.But 18 months ago, locals were horrified to find the gates shut, as they were told they would have to pay up to £29 to visit the gardens in future. Continue reading...
Temperatures may reach 21C but heavy showers expected in Northern Ireland, Wales and central EnglandWarmer weather and sunshine are forecast across much of the UK for the bank holiday weekend, but the threat of rain remains in parts of the country.The Met Office said many people would experience dry, bright and warm conditions, with temperatures reaching 21C in southern areas. Continue reading...
Experts say it is vital to check you meet EU requirements, or you could risk losing your holidayTravellers who have not used their passport for a while were this week being urged to dig it out and check it conforms to the post-Brexit rules for entering the EU – because if it doesn’t, you will almost certainly be denied boarding this summer.Despite previous warnings in Guardian Money and some other publicity, UK travellers trying to enter the Schengen zone are being turned away on a daily basis by airline staff at boarding gates – in most cases because their UK passport was issued more than 10 years ago. Continue reading...
Food writer is backing the Big Help Out and says volunteering saved her in the past – see her quiche recipe hereRoyalists and republicans alike can enjoy a cut-price coronation quiche as the food writer and campaigner Jack Monroe has revealed her own twist on the official recipe served up by Buckingham Palace chefs.Monroe, the Boot Strap Cook, famous for her low-budget and store cupboard dishes, has dived into the Big Help Out, which is encouraging people to sign up for volunteering opportunities over the coronation weekend, to inspire the next generation of food bank, surplus food and community kitchen volunteers. Continue reading...
Brands jump on the coronation bandwagon to shower those who share a name with the royal couple with host of freebies and dealsWhat’s in a name? Well, if you’re called Charles or Camilla and you live in the UK, maybe a lot of tedious one-liners and questions about whether your parents were royalists.But with the official ascension of your namesakes to the role of king and queen comes some long overdue benefits, which may make up for the arched eyebrows when your present your ID. The boon is thanks to the opportunistic cynicism of marketing bigwigs who are trying everything in their power to cash in on next weekend’s festivities by doling out a string of freebies and deals to anyone who shares a name with the royal couple. Continue reading...
Kim Yo-jong’s broadside came after US and South Korea enhance nuclear cooperation and Biden warns Pyongyang an attack would end the regimeThe powerful sister of North Korea’s leader has said her country will stage more displays of military might in response to a new US-South Korean nuclear deterrence agreement and compared Joe Biden’s comments about it as a “nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage”.Kim Yo-jong’s broadside came after Biden attended a summit with the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, on Wednesday. The US president said later that any North Korean nuclear attack on the US or its allies would “result in the end of whatever regime” took such action. Continue reading...
Navy investigating after report emerges that documents about the workings of HMS Anson were found in a Wetherspoons pub in CumbriaThe Royal Navy is set to investigate after official documents about one of its £1.3bn “hunter killer” submarines were reportedly found in the toilets of a Wetherspoons pub.Files carrying details about the HMS Anson were left in the Furness Railway in Cumbria, the Sun reported. The documents showed the inner workings of the nuclear-powered submarine and were used by submariners learning how to isolate and depressurise elements of its system. Continue reading...
Advocates call for federal government to provide urgent funding for culturally safe legal services to prevent worsening Indigenous incarceration crisis
Colombian author’s En Agosto Now Vemos (We’ll See Each Other in August) had been just a rumour but now fans will get to read itRumours had long circulated that an entire literary masterpiece, never seen by the public, could still be lying in a dusty safe held by the late author’s family or under lock and key at his archive at the University of Texas.On Friday Penguin Random House confirmed that an unpublished Gabriel García Márquez novel – titled En Agosto Nos Vemos, (We’ll See Each Other in August) – not only exists, but will be on shelves across Latin America in 2024. Continue reading...
Tree design includes names of Commonwealth nations, and poles are made from tree from Windsor estateThe king and the queen consort will be anointed behind a specially created screen of fine embroidery, held by poles hewn from an ancient windblown Windsor oak and mounted with eagles cast in bronze and gilded in gold leaf, Buckingham Palace has announced.The anointing screen has been blessed at a special service at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, and will be used at what historically has been viewed as the most sacred moment of the coronation. Continue reading...
Different reports fly around while Fox News declines to comment on the cancellation of top TV host’s showThe exact reason behind the rightwing TV host Tucker Carlson’s abrupt firing from Fox News remains unclear, days after the star’s show was suddenly cancelled.The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported Carlson was fired after executives discovered vulgar text messages, including one in which he called a top executive the C-word. There were also concerns among Fox management that Carlson was acting as if he was above the network, the Journal reported. Continue reading...
Largest strike in decades enters 10th day with workers enjoying public support despite disruption to government servicesStriking federal workers in Canada are calling for the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to get involved in stalled negotiations, as the largest job action in decades enters its 10th day and key government services grind to a halt.More than 100,000 employees with Canada’s largest public sector union have been on strike since last week in a battle over wages and the ability to work remotely. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh and Helena Smith in Larnaca on (#6B8MK)
Government announces end to airlifts amid calls for NHS doctors without UK passports to be rescuedBritish nationals trapped in Sudan have until midday on Saturday local time to get on a flight before they stop, ministers have announced, as a doctors’ union called for NHS medics without UK passports to also be airlifted.Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, said on Friday night more than 1,500 people had been flown out, and there had been a “significant decline in British nationals coming forward”, meaning it was time to end the operation. Continue reading...
Conservative party accused of undermining broadcaster by flooding it with cronies after chair’s resignationRishi Sunak is under pressure to stop appointing Conservatives to key positions at the BBC after Richard Sharp’s resignation prompted criticism the party had undermined the broadcaster by flooding it with cronies.Sharp quit as BBC chair on Friday morning after an investigation concluded he had failed to disclose key information about his relationship with the former prime minister Boris Johnson when applying for the job in 2021. Sharp helped facilitate an £800,000 loan guarantee for Johnson when he was in the running to take over the broadcaster but did not tell the appointments panel. Continue reading...
The 1599 author on the difference between historians and novelists, looking at Shakespeare differently and hitchhiking to the Edinburgh festival to immerse himself in the bard’s work• James Shapiro wins Baillie Gifford anniversary prize with ‘extraordinary’ Shakespeare biography 1599Serendipity dictated that the American writer and academic James Shapiro received the Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction’s Winner of Winners award, given to celebrate its 25th year, at a ceremony in Edinburgh. In his teens and early 20s, Shapiro tells me as we talk over Zoom the morning after his victory, he would often hitchhike from London to the Edinburgh festival as part of his immersion in the plays of Shakespeare. This period in his life sowed the ground for his acclaimed book, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, first published in 2006. He was, he explains, recovering from the “awful experience” of studying the playwright in middle school; every summer for several years, he would save up enough money to come to the UK on a Freddie Laker plane, “where you could fly from New York to London for $100 round trip and sleep in church basements and for 50p see spectacular productions”.In London, Stratford and Edinburgh, he’d see 25 plays in as many days, “and they’re all tattooed inside my skull to this day. The greatest one I saw was Richard Eyre’s Hamlet at the Royal Court in 1980 or so. Richard wrote me a note this morning, and it was so moving to me because that’s where it came from, seeing productions like his.” Continue reading...
Decision welcomed by victim after judge decided not to jail Sean Hogg from South Lanarkshire for the offenceA man who was given a 270-hour community payback sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl in a park is to have his sentence appealed on the grounds it was “unduly lenient”, Scotland’s lord advocate has decided.There was widespread outrage expressed by campaigners and politicians when Sean Hogg was not given a jail sentence when he appeared at the high court in Glasgow earlier this month. Continue reading...
by Kevin Rawlinson (now) and Tobi Thomas (earlier) on (#6B85V)
Former commissioner for public appointments says ex-PM ‘was conflicted’ in the processHere’s Sharp’s full resignation statement:I would like to thank Adam Heppinstall and his team for the diligence and professionalism they have shown in compiling today’s report.Mr Heppinstall’s view is that while I did breach the governance code for public appointments, he states that a breach does not necessarily invalidate an appointment.The British people won’t stand for any more of this. Everything Conservative politicians touch turns into a mess. They are not fit to govern our great country.Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to appoint Richard Sharp in the first place and what’s worse is Rishi Sunak didn’t show leadership by sacking him. Continue reading...
Vaughn Dolphin, from Walsall, West Midlands, had spoken of his desire for ethnic minorities to be shotA far-right extremist who accidentally set off a “fireball” in his own kitchen while experimenting with explosives has been convicted of terrorism offences.Vaughn Dolphin, who had spoken of his desire for ethnic minorities to be shot, was found guilty on a series of charges after a jury viewed videos and incriminating conversations on social media. Continue reading...
Olabisi Abubakar was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and mind was ‘thrown off balance’ during Covid lockdownA mother who starved her three-year-old son to death by causing him to join her in a religious fast when she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia has been found not guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty by reason of insanity.Olabisi Abubakar’s mind was “thrown off balance” by the Covid lockdown and concerns about her immigration status and she began denying herself and her child, Taiwo, food, hoping fasting and prayers would save the world from coronavirus. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6B8HN)
Vote by members could lead to split among unions over whether to continue striking for better dealA major health union has accepted the government’s improved pay offer for NHS staff, in a move that could split unions over whether to keep on striking for more money.GMB members working in the NHS in England have voted by 56% to 44% to accept the deal that all 12 health unions hammered out last month with the health secretary, Steve Barclay. Continue reading...
PM tells Scottish Tory conference that Holyrood should instead be ‘held to account’ for not using existing powers enoughRishi Sunak has ruled out any further devolution of powers for Scotland after telling Conservative activists that Holyrood should be “held to account” more for underusing its existing powers.The prime minister claimed Holyrood already had significant powers, including over income tax rates, telling delegates at the Scottish Conservatives’ annual conference in Glasgow there was therefore no case for adding to them. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6B8F2)
New rail strike dates underline anger felt at lowball offers and the widening gulf between workers and ministersOf all the low moments in the long-running rail dispute, few have possibly been as dispiriting as the last 24 hours. After Network Rail and the RMT union reached agreement on a two-year deal in March, long-suffering passengers and workers might have assumed the truce was also leading to a wider settlement between train firms and their staff.The subsequent calm, with no further strikes on the horizon, abruptly ended on Thursday when first the train drivers union Aslef and then the RMT announced fresh action. Aslef’s move to three days of strikes and a week-long overtime ban is the union’s toughest single action yet, underlining the anger felt by drivers at a lowball offer with strings attached. Continue reading...
UN human rights commissioner intervenes; Turkey’s defence ministry says plane was shot at while landing at Wadi Seidna airstripThe US embassy in Khartoum has overnight reminded US citizens in Sudan to register in order to be informed of opportunities to evacuate when they arise. The US has previously evacuated its diplomatic staff from the country.The Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall has reported from Larnaca airport that the extended 72-hour ceasefire gives international partners a chance to press for a longer-lasting peace, and that the emphasis on aid efforts might switch from getting people out of Sudan to getting supplies in. He told viewers:I think, as many people predicted, it went quite close to the line before both sides came to an agreement that there should be a lull, or at least a lull of sorts, in the fighting. So that is good news.Now what needs to happen is that the evacuation flights need to continue apace to get as many people out as possible. But also, I think what you’ll find, is that the foreign diplomatic community tries to bring together the two factions, in order to find something more long lasting and stable, rather than these sort of multiple iterations of 72 hours that have got people living on edge. Continue reading...
The New York fashion spectacular is paying tribute to the flamboyant genius of the catwalkKarl Lagerfeld, fashion’s greatest showman, reinvented the catwalk as an entertainment channel. His Paris catwalks featured a supermarket selling Coco “Chanel” Pops, a replica Eiffel tower and a spaceship which blasted from the ground in a blaze of smoke.Likewise, the annual Met Gala has transformed the fusty tradition of black-tie museum fundraising dinners to become the most spectacular night of the fashion calendar. Forget little black dresses; think Rihanna as the pope, Kim Kardashian in a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe and Katy Perry wearing a cheeseburger. Continue reading...
Compared with other generations, members of Gen Z spend more time passively consuming social mediaNew data on the impact of social media use on mental health across the world shows just how damaging it is to Gen Zers.The study, conducted by the McKinsey Health Institute, reported: “Gen Zers, on average, are more likely than other generations to cite negative feelings about social media.” Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6B895)
NHS workers from Unite union vote to turn down latest government pay offerA leading health union has rejected the government’s improved pay offer to NHS staff, raising the prospect of prolonged strikes and disruption to health services.Members of Unite working in the NHS in England voted by 52% to 48% to turn down a deal that would have given them higher than originally expected pay rises for last year and this. Continue reading...
Large numbers march on Knesset in biggest rightwing protest in Israel in nearly two decadesMore than 150,000 Israelis in favour of the government’s divisive judicial overhaul have taken part in a demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, in the biggest rightwing protest in the country in nearly two decades.Protesters from all over Israel, as well as settlers who travelled in buses from the occupied West Bank, chanted “the people demand judicial reform” and danced and sang as the rally got under way at sunset on Thursday, sending a message before the beginning of the Knesset’s summer session next week. Exact numbers were hard to verify, but Israeli media reported between 150,000 – 200,000 people took part. Continue reading...
by Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture correspondent on (#6B8AW)
Karin Hindsbo vows to ‘continue the magnificent work being done’ at the landmark London venue as she prepares to replace Frances Morris in SeptemberThe head of Norway’s National Museum has been named as the new director of Tate Modern in London. Karin Hindsbo, who oversaw the consolidation of four Norwegian art institutions into the National Museum in Oslo, will take up her new post in September.She will succeed Frances Morris, the first female director of Tate Modern who announced last year that she was stepping down. Morris joined Tate as a curator in 1987. Continue reading...
Actor wins legal case against producers, with judge ruling she is entitled to million-dollar feeEva Green has welcomed her victory over what she described as a group of men who tried to use her as a scapegoat, after winning a bruising legal battle over the collapse of a sci-fi film.The actor had sued White Lantern Films and SMC Speciality finance for a $1m (£802,000) fee that she said she was owed. However, she faced a counter-claim alleging she pulled out of the making of A Patriot, which collapsed in 2019, and breached her contract. Continue reading...
Celebrities and TV characters are flexing their muscles in non-threatening cosy knitwearUntil recently, a man in a cardigan might typically have signalled “retiree”. But now the cosiest of knitwear items has been given a makeover.Fashion-friendly brands such as The Elder Statesman, Ami Paris and Studio Nicholson are pushing the cardigan. Marks & Spencer reports that sales of cardigans are performing well for spring – up 90% on 2022, possibly due to the current “inbetween” weather. A green “preppy” style is particularly popular. More styles will be launched by the retailer this autumn. Continue reading...
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