Babak Belurs

Jumat, 05 Maret 2021

Two men arrested with serious injuries after 16-year-old girl's unexplained death in South Wales - Sky News

Two men have been arrested after the unexplained death of a teenager in South Wales.

The 16-year-old girl died after an incident in Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on Friday afternoon.

South Wales Police described her death as "sudden", adding that the cause had not been confirmed.

The two men arrested are in hospital being treated for serious injuries and police said they are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.

Those involved appear to have been known to each other and police said what happened is not being treated as a terrorist attack.

At about midday, officers had been called to a premises in Baglan Street, in the village of Ynyswen, after reports of a stabbing.

The street was still closed on Friday evening and a cordon had been erected around a takeaway restaurant, the Blue Sky.

John Belgrove, a builder who lives on the street, said he was in his shed when his barking dogs alerted him to emergency services.

He told the PA news agency: "I came out and I counted over the next half an hour about 31 different emergency vehicles.

"I saw what looked like a Chinese lady, probably in her 20s, crying uncontrollably and she had blood on her front.

"There was one elderly Chinese man who was walking wounded with his head all bandaged up and they put him in the back of an ambulance."

Another younger man was seen being treated by paramedics, he said.

Superintendent Rich Jones, from South Wales Police, said: "This is clearly a very serious incident which has caused significant shock and concern for both the local and wider community.

"We have a dedicated team of detectives working hard to establish the exact circumstances that have led to the tragic death of this young girl.

"While the investigation is still in its early stages, we can confirm that those involved are understood to know each other and we are currently not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

"There will be a significant police presence in Baglan Street over the weekend but we will reopen the road at the earliest opportunity.

"In the meantime, the support and understanding of the local community is very much appreciated."

Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda, said he was aware of "disturbing events on Baglan Street" and said his thoughts go out to all those affected.

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford tweeted that news of the incident was "deeply concerning", adding: "I'm being kept informed of developments and my thoughts are with everyone in the community during this worrying time."

Police said anyone with information about the incident should call 101 and give reference *077519.

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2021-03-05 21:33:45Z
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NHS pay: Hancock defends 1% pay rise after union strike threats - BBC News

The health secretary has defended a proposed 1% pay increase for NHS workers in England this year, amid a backlash from unions.

Matt Hancock said the proposal was "what we think is affordable" given financial pressures caused by the Covid pandemic.

He added staff had been exempted from the wider freeze on public sector pay to reward their "incredible" work.

A nurses' union has set up a fund to prepare for possible strike action.

And Unite - the third largest union in the NHS - said it is considering a strike ballot.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called the recommended 1% pay rise "pitiful", arguing that its members should get 12.5% instead.

It would have to hold a ballot before strikes could go ahead.

Speaking at Friday's Downing Street briefing, Mr Hancock said the pay award reflected the "difficult financial circumstances the country is in".

"One of the challenges we've faced as a country is in terms of the financial consequences of the pandemic," he told reporters.

"We've proposed what we think is affordable to make sure in the NHS people do get a pay rise," he said.

The health department recommended the 1% pay award to the independent panel that advises the government on NHS salaries. It would cover nearly all hospital staff, but not GPs and dentists.

In addition, some staff whose pay band is being changed will get more than a 1% increase as a result of a previously agreed three-year pay deal.

The government says newly-qualified nurses got a 12% pay rise over the course of that three-year agreement.

What do NHS workers in England earn?

The lowest minimum full-time salary - for newly employed drivers, housekeeping assistants, nursery assistants and domestic support workers - is £18,005 per year
The starting salary for most newly qualified nurses is £24,907
Staff in "high-cost areas", such as London, get extra payments

In its submission to the panel, officials at the department argued the 1% rise would strike the "right balance between pay and staff numbers".

The panel is due make its own pay recommendations in early May, when ministers will make their final decision.

Some 1.3 million public sector workers will see a pay freeze next year, with those earning less than £24,000 guaranteed a pay rise of at least £250.

'Out of touch'

A government spokesperson said 1% was a "real-terms increase", as the latest official inflation figure was 0.9%.

But Unite's national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said it would turn into a "pay cut in real terms" if inflation rises over this year.

RCN Chief Executive Dame Donna Kinnair has said the award shows ministers are "dangerously out of touch with nursing staff, NHS workers and the public".

Labour's shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan said the recommended 1% pay increase was "nothing short of an insult".

The NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is run by the devolved administrations.

The Scottish government has announced that 2021-22 pay negotiations will be delayed until the summer because of the disruption caused by Covid. Staff have been given an "interim" pay rise of 1%, which will form part of the new settlement.

NHS workers in Northern Ireland were promised a one-off £500 "special recognition" payment in January, following a similar announcement in Scotland.

The Welsh government has said it will not set a "ceiling" of 1% on NHS pay rises for 2021-22.

If you are an NHS worker, what are your views about your pay? Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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2021-03-05 19:09:44Z
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Why is Harry and Meghan's TV interview so controversial? - BBC News

More than a year has passed since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would "step back" from being senior members of the Royal Family.

Now living in the US, Prince Harry and Meghan have officially stepped down from their roles, and have recorded an extended interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

Why has the interview become controversial, and are they still members of the Royal Family?

What is Harry and Meghan's interview about?

Chat show host Oprah Winfrey attended the Duke and Duchess's wedding in 2018 and is thought to live near them in California.

Her interview with the couple will air in the US on Sunday, and in the UK on ITV on Monday at 21:00 GMT.

It is likely to contain details about their experiences of life as working royals together, before they stepped down and moved to live in the US.

Members of the Royal Family at an event to mark the centenary of the RAF, 2018

"I don't know how they could expect that, after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us," Meghan tells Oprah in an advance clip of the interview, released by broadcaster CBS.

"The Firm" is a term which the Royal Family is said to use about themselves.

Why is it controversial?

The timing of the broadcast has come in a tumultuous period for the Royal Family.

Prince Philip, Harry's grandfather and the Queen's husband, remains in hospital, where he has been undergoing a procedure for a heart condition.

Days before the interview was due to air, the Times newspaper published a report saying that Meghan faced a bullying complaint when she was a working royal. The complainant says she drove two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third staff member.

Her spokesman said the duchess was "saddened" by the "latest attack on her character".

The palace says it is investigating the claims.

The Queen rarely speaks about personal topics herself, and previous occasions when royals have publicly spoken about their private lives and family relationships have rarely gone down well with the palace.

Prince Harry and Meghan have had an antagonistic relationship with the British press since the start of their relationship. Meghan recently won a privacy case against the Mail on Sunday newspaper over its publication of extracts from a handwritten letter to her father.

Are Prince Harry and Meghan still part of the Royal Family?

Yes, but they are not working royals.

Senior members of the Royal Family are expected to undertake official duties on behalf of the Queen, such as representing the Crown on tours overseas, spearheading national events and supporting charities and organisations.

At the beginning of 2020, the couple announced that they intended to "step back" from these duties alongside their move to North America, with plans to review the arrangement after 12 months.

Meghan and Harry at an event during their tour of Australia

In February this year it was confirmed the Duke and Duchess would step down permanently, with the Queen issuing a statement to say they would no longer "continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service".

This means they must return their honorary military appointments and royal patronages, which will be shared out among working members of the Royal Family.

They will keep the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex - bestowed on them by the Queen - but no longer be addressed as His/Her Royal Highness.

Harry is still a prince as he was born into the title, and he remains sixth in line to the throne behind his father, older brother and nephews and niece.

How did Prince Harry and Meghan's relationship develop?

When Prince Harry met Meghan in 2016, she was an actress in the successful US drama Suits. They are thought to have been introduced by a mutual friend, and to have bonded over their philanthropic work.

They announced their engagement in 2017, and married at Windsor Castle the following year in a televised ceremony watched by 18 million UK viewers, and many millions more around the world.

After stepping down from royal duties, the couple briefly moved to Canada, before settling in California, where Meghan is from and where her mother still lives.

Their son Archie was born in 2019 and Meghan is expecting their second child.

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2021-03-05 17:17:13Z
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COVID-19: Mystery sixth person in UK with Brazilian COVID-19 'variant of concern' is found - Sky News

A sixth person in the UK who tested positive for a Brazilian coronavirus "variant of concern" has been found.

The COVID-19 variant, first seen in the city of Manaus, is thought to spread more rapidly than the original virus and to be more capable of evading existing vaccines.

In total, six cases of the P1 coronavirus variant have been confirmed - three in England and three in Scotland.

All five of the previously identified cases are linked to travel from Brazil to the UK.

Earlier this week, the health secretary told MPs that "five of these six people quarantined at home as they were legally required to do".

Matt Hancock added: "Unfortunately one of these six cases completed a test but didn't successfully complete the contact details."

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2021-03-05 16:07:30Z
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COVID-19: Public urged to join slow handclap protest as nursing unions being strike discussions over pay row - Sky News

The public are being urged to join a mass slow handclap in protest at a government recommendation for a 1% pay rise for NHS workers - as unions warn of possible strike action.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has set up a £35m strike fund that can be used to provide compensation for loss of earnings and campaigning should members decide to down tools.

RCN chief executive and general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair condemned health minster Nadine Dorries' claim that 1% was "the most" the government could afford, calling it "pitiful and bitterly disappointing".

Live COVID updates from the UK and across the world

And Unite, which also represents tens of thousands of health service staff, has warned it too is considering industrial action amid growing anger at the pay proposals they branded an "insult" and "hypocrisy in its greatest form".

Some health care workers have said the proposal would see them take home about £3.50 extra per week.

Ameera Sheikh, an intensive care nurse and Unite representative, said increasing living costs had left people struggling on stagnant wages - and that the government's support earlier in the pandemic now felt "fake".

Referring to the prime minister's battle with coronavirus, she said: "We have treated people from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds to quite literally the leader of the country.

"We have sacrificed so much since the start of the pandemic, and that includes moving out of our family homes to live close to the hospital and protect our families and live in complete isolation, which is something that I've actually had to do.

"We are facing an increasingly dangerous workload in the intensive care unit, and a lot of staff being redeployed to ICU without basic intensive care training.

"Also, the lack of PPE and having to reuse PPE or wear expired PPE and risking our lives."

Labour has also hit out at the government's proposal, with shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth labelling it "disgusting" and party leader Sir Keir Starmer saying ministers must recognise the UK's "COVID heroes".

The RCN Council said it had quickly set up its strike fund in order to have the finances available to its members should they wish to take action.

"In setting up this fund, the RCN will create the UK's largest union strike fund overnight," it said in a statement.

Dame Donna also warned the government to expect a "backlash" from up to a million NHS employees over its announcement on pay.

She said: "The government is dangerously out of touch with nursing staff, NHS workers, and the public. It is not a done deal but the government has revealed its hand for the first time.

"With the time remaining before the Pay Review Body recommendation, the government can expect a backlash from a million NHS workers."

The RCN had been campaigning for a 12.5% pay rise, but on Friday Ms Dorries - a former nurse - told Sky News that the government's recommendation for 1% was appropriate.

She said: "We did not want nurses to go unrecognised - or doctors - and no other public sector employee is receiving a pay rise, there has been a pay freeze.

"But the 1% offer is the most we think we can afford, which we have put forward to the pay review body."

Boris Johnson personally thanked NHS when he was discharged from hospital last spring, saying in a video message that those who looked after him had "saved my life, no question".

He said during PMQs not long after, on 20 May: "We will want to see our fantastic frontline workers paid properly.

"That is, I think, the best way forward. I want to see our NHS staff paid properly, our NHS supported."

A government spokesman said earlier: "Over one million NHS staff continue to benefit from multi-year pay deals agreed with trade unions, which have delivered a pay rise of over 12% for newly-qualified nurses and will increase junior doctors' pay scales by 8.2%.

"Pay rises in the rest of the public sector will be paused this year due to the challenging economic environment, but we will continue to provide pay rises for NHS workers, on top of a £513 million investment in professional development and increased recruitment.

"That's with record numbers of doctors and 10,600 more nurses working in our NHS, and with nursing university applications up by over a third.

"The independent pay review bodies will report in late spring and we will consider their recommendations carefully when we receive them."

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2021-03-05 15:42:54Z
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Oprah interview: Meghan says it is 'liberating' to be able to speak - BBC News

The Duchess of Sussex has said being a royal was "different than I think what people imagine it to be".

In a clip from the couple's interview with Oprah Winfrey, due to air in the US on Sunday, Meghan was asked why she has decided to give an interview now.

"We have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn't have said yes to then," she said. "That wasn't my choice to make."

She said it was "really liberating" to now feel "able to speak for yourself".

It comes as Buckingham Palace is investigating claims the duchess bullied royal staff.

The report about the allegations of bullying levelled at Meghan were first published in the Times after the interview with Oprah was recorded. Meghan has called it the "latest attack on her character".

The interview with Oprah, which will air in the US on CBS on Sunday and in the UK on ITV at 21:00 GMT on Monday, is expected to hear details about Meghan and Prince Harry's short period as working royals together before they stepped down for a life in the US.

In the latest clip, shown on CBS's This Morning show, Oprah said to Meghan: "So I just want to say, I called you either February or March 2018 before the wedding asking, would you please give me an interview. And you said 'I'm sorry, it's not the right time'. Finally we get to sit down and have this conversation."

Meghan replied: "I remember that conversation very well. I wasn't even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right? There had to be people [from the communications team] sitting there."

Asked why now was the right time, Meghan said: "Well, so many things. That we're on the other side of a lot of life experience that's happened and also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn't have said yes to then. That wasn't my choice to make.

"So, as an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is different than I think what people imagine it to be, it's really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say, yes, I'm ready to talk, to say it to yourself.

"To be able to just make a choice on your own and to be able to speak for yourself."

#EXCLUSIVE: In this extended first clip from @Oprah's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex says what it means to be able to speak for herself.
It comes one year after the couple left England and stepped back from full-time royal life.#OprahMeghanHarry pic.twitter.com/o3AdxpmLrh
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 5, 2021

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit their roles as senior working royals in March 2020, and now live in California.

Prince Harry recently said he had to step back from royal duties to protect himself and his family from the "toxic" situation created by the UK press, as it was "destroying my mental health".

Deals have been struck in more than 17 countries across the world for the rights to screen Oprah's interview.

The chat show host has promised it will be "shocking" with "nothing off limits".

Meghan will be interviewed about marriage, motherhood, life as a royal and "how she is handling life under intense public pressure", CBS has said. The couple will also discuss their move to the US and their future plans.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the Duchess of Sussex in the Ascot Landau carriage during the procession after getting married

Several clips have already been released by CBS and have racked up millions of views.

After the first two clips were released, the Times published its report saying Meghan faced a complaint of bullying from her staff while she was a working royal at Kensington Palace.

The palace said it was "concerned" about the accusations and an HR team would look at the circumstances outlined in the article.

On the reported allegations of bullying, the duchess has said in a statement through her spokesman she was "saddened" by the "attack on her character".

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2021-03-05 14:43:17Z
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