For a man who watched with incredulity and not a little disapproval when the personal and political fused into a crisis for Boris Johnson, the past week has been a difficult one for Rishi Sunak and his team.
When the news broke on Wednesday night that his wife, Akshata Murty, the daughter of a billionaire, was non-domiciled in Britain for tax purposes, the chancellor faced a choice: defend his family or put his political career first by getting her to pay tax in Britain on her foreign investments.
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“I want to protect my wife and I think her privacy matters,” Sunak told his team. They knew something would have to give, but as the pressure and the public criticism mounted, Sunak “dug in”, refusing to
For a man who watched with incredulity and not a little disapproval when the personal and political fused into a crisis for Boris Johnson, the past week has been a difficult one for Rishi Sunak and his team.
When the news broke on Wednesday night that his wife, Akshata Murty, the daughter of a billionaire, was non-domiciled in Britain for tax purposes, the chancellor faced a choice: defend his family or put his political career first by getting her to pay tax in Britain on her foreign investments.
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“I want to protect my wife and I think her privacy matters,” Sunak told his team. They knew something would have to give, but as the pressure and the public criticism mounted, Sunak “dug in”, refusing to
A British man and French woman who disappeared while diving off the coast of Malaysia have been found after drifting at sea for more than two days - but the man has told authorities his son died.
Fishermen spotted Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, and Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, at around 1am on Friday - a considerable distance south from where they had disappeared.
Image:A police chief holds photos of Mr Chesters and Alexia Alexandra Molina after they were found drifting at sea
"Both individuals… are reported to be in stable condition," said Mersing district police chief Cyril Edward Nuing.
Mr Chesters said his 14-year-old son, Nathan Renze Chesters, had died at sea "as he was too weak and could not survive", according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
His body has not yet been recovered and Indonesian authorities have now taken over the search.
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"We believe there is a high likelihood that he is no longer in Malaysian waters based on the movement of sea currents, as well as the time and location where the other victims were found," Mr Nuing said.
Mr Chesters, his son, and Ms Molina were among four people who went missing on Wednesday on a training dive near Tokong Sanggol, a small island off the southeastern town of Mersing.
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The group's instructor, Kristine Grodem, 35, from Norway, was rescued on Thursday.
Image:Kristine Grodem, 35, has been rescued. Pic: AP
Image:Boats taking part in the search and rescue operation. Pic: AP
Ms Grodem told officials the group surfaced about an hour into their dive, but could not find their boat.
She was later separated from the others after being caught in strong currents.
Ms Grodem, who was rescued by a tugboat and airlifted to hospital, said she was training the other three, who were hoping to obtain advanced diving licences.
The boat operator who took them to the dive site was held after testing positive for drugs and has been detained for further investigation.
Welcome to our live blog for Saturday, April 9, dedicated to helping your journey run smoothly. We will mostly focus on the traffic chaos continues across Kent due to the Operation Brock contraflow on the M20, the A20, and the A2.
These routes have been affected at the Port of Dover due to reduced ferry movement at the Eastern Docks. This is because P&O Ferries is not operating at the moment, as its vessels are undergoing safety reviews. It is not known when its vessels will be reinstated.
All non-freight traffic is being urged to use the A20 instead of the M20. On the other hand, freight traffic which comes off at J8 of the M20 is then sent back down into the holding areas as they await clearance to head to the Channel Crossings.
We will also be adding updates on Kent and Medway's roads and rail too and the very latest updates, pictures and video. If you have any pictures or information to share with us about this or any other story, you can email breakingsoutheast@reachplc.com
The parents of Angel Lynn have revealed that she has given her mum a hug for the very first time since she was left paralysed. It comes after the family were told to expect the worst on several occasions.
Angel, who had been described as a vivacious young woman, was left unable to walk, talk or eat following the horrific injuries she suffered in September 2020 at the hands of her boyfriend, Chay Bowskill. Angel, who was 19 at the time, was kidnapped as she walked near her Loughborough home in September 2020 and forced into a van which was driven by Bowskill’s friend, Rocco Sansome, reports the Mirror.
It was on the A6 that Angel fell from the van, suffering severe brain injuries that had left her paralysed, leaving her family shaken. Now, there appears to be some hope 18 months down the line.
The extent of Angel’s injuries was so severe following the accident that she needed emergency surgery for a bleed on the brain. Ever since, she’s been left to suffer from a series of debilitating seizures.
Doctors had feared the worst from the beginning with Angel. After she contracted Covid-19, she nearly died, leaving her family with the potential heartbreak that could come.
“They let us sleep with her all week because they said she wouldn’t make it,” revealed her mum Nikki.
She pulled through though and since the horrific incident, mum Nikki has held her daughter tightly every day, squeezing every ounce of love she could into her daughter’s motionless body. For months, Angel displayed no reaction, but that changed two weeks ago.
For the first time since her kidnapping, Angel reacted to Nikki’s hug, placing her right arm around her mum in return. With a hand lightly pressed on Nikki’s back, Angel then moved to stroke her hair.
It’s a moment that Nikki thought would never happen. She, husband Paddy and the rest of Angel’s family had been told on several occasions that Angel could die, making the hug all the more special.
Angel is now able to a TV remote - a major development in her recovery (Image: Jason Senior REDPIX)
“She just put her hand straight around my back and started tapping me,” Nikki said. “She didn’t hug much before, she was a typical teenager, but she would give you a hug if you were upset. It’s very special to have that hug now.”
Bowskill was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in January after being found guilty of kidnap, controlling and coercive behaviour and perverting the course of justice, while Sansome was jailed for 21-months for his part in the kidnap. It was a decision that angered the Lynn family, with the Court of Appeal increasing Bowskill’s jail term to 12 years two weeks ago.
As coincidence would have it, it was during this stressful time for the family that Angel make her incredible breakthrough. If a hug wasn’t a big enough achievement, Angel, who is now 21 and receives round-the-clock care, has smiled and even attempted to blow a kiss.
She has also waved, held the TV remote and written words in response to questions, all using her right hand. She’s also making noises too - a sign that could eventually lead to her to revealing exactly what happened to her on that fateful day.
“A doctor once rang me and said, ‘Nikki, you will have to accept Angel isn’t going to pull through this’,” recalled Nikki, aged 54. “His exact words were ‘miracles do happen, but in Angel’s case there is not going to be a miracle’. But there has been a miracle. That hug was a miracle. She used to look straight through you, there was nothing in her eyes at all. She can now smile spontaneously.
“When she started making the sounds we gave her a pen and paper and said ‘Are you ok? Are you in pain?’ And she wrote ‘No’. She can give you a thumbs up for yes. She can now press her nurse’s button to wind them up, she gets that humour.”
“She had a cheeky sense of humour. Bit by bit I feel we are starting to get her back.”
Dad Paddy is also overwhelmed by his daughter’s progress.
“She has blown me a kiss,” he said. “She has put her hand to her mouth and holds it there for at least a minute, and then tries to blow. She does try. It means a lot.”
The avalanche of small milestones have coincided with Angel being taken off anti-spasmodic medication, Baclofen. It’s a step they hope can be replicated with her medication for seizures in a bid to get her eating again. Currently Angel is currently fed through a tube to her stomach.
Angel with her mum Nikki prior to her prom (Image: Jason Senior REDPIX)
Despite these positive signs, the Lynns know that Angel is still at grave risk of pneumonia, and cannot lie flat. To make her feel like she’s home, the family have brought bedding and towels from home to her carers to aid her recovery. They also do her nails and hair.
Ultimately, the family want her home. However, that will require the construction of an extension to their home so they can have specialist facilities installed. The Lynns would also need to hire a carer - decisions that will cost a lot of money, with the family now doing all they can to fundraise for Angel’s long-term care.
After much hardship over the last 18 months, the family now dares to dream that Angel will get even better. With all the hugs and kisses they give, their belief grows stronger.
“She is locked in, but every time I see her I tell her ‘Don’t give up, keep trying, keep telling yourself you can do it’,” said Nikki.
To donate to the Angel Lynn fundraiser, click here.
People who contract the Omicron variant of COVID-19 are likely to experience less severe symptoms than those with Delta, a new study has found.
The research concluded that those with Omicron were less likely to be admitted to hospital and lose their sense of smell than people with Delta.
Symptoms do not tend to last as long in vaccinated individuals with the current dominant variant than in people with Delta, at 6.87 days versus 8.89 days.
The findings support earlier studies that suggest the incubation time and period of infectiousness for Omicron is shorter than for previous COVID strains.
Research showed that the loss of sense of smell appeared in 52.7% of Delta cases, while it showed up in less than 20% of Omicron cases - marking the biggest difference between the two.
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However, the two symptoms that were consistently noted in both variants, regardless of vaccination status, were a sore throat and hoarse voice.
Some of the more debilitating symptoms, including brain fog, eye burning, dizziness, fever and headaches were significantly less prevalent in Omicron cases, according to researchers.
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Dr Cristina Menni from King's College London said: "We observe a different clinical presentation of symptoms in those infected with Omicron compared to Delta.
"As we are moving even further away from the average patient having UK government 'core' symptoms ie fever, persistent cough, loss of smell, our results point to a different selection of symptoms that may indicate infection.
"To protect others, it is still important to self-isolate for five days as soon as you see any symptoms."
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COVID continues to cause chaos
Professor Ana Valdes, an honorary professor at King's College London, said: "Although there is still a wide range of duration and severity of symptoms with Omicron, for vaccinated individuals we find on average a shorter duration of symptoms.
"This suggests that the incubation time and period of infectiousness for Omicron may also be shorter."
For the study, researchers from King's College London and scientists from Zoe studied the symptoms of 62,002 vaccinated UK participants from the Zoe Covid Study App who tested positive between 1 June last year and 27 November, when Delta was dominant, and 22 December 2021 to January 17 this year when Omicron was dominant.
Findings from the research will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) this month in Lisbon.
University Hospital Southampton said it remained under "significant pressure" due to the mix of Covid and norovirus cases within the hospital along with staff sickness levels at double the expected rate.
Dr Derek Sandeman, chief medical officer for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System, told the BBC: "Managing the flows and providing the care for a number of people who need us at the moment feels more difficult than at any point over the last three years.
"I think most people who have worked in the health service have never found a moment quite as difficult at this."
Mr Vernon-Jackson said ambulances wasted 233 hours waiting to discharge patients into the QA hospital last weekend.
He said part of the problem was the government had recently abolished funding which allowed the health care sector to purchase places in nursing homes for hospital patients.
"We used to have convalescence homes in the old days but we don't have those now because the NHS has shut them down to concentrate on critical care," he said.
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The leader of the Liberal Democrat minority administration added the government could improve matters by making it easier for people to get GP appointments and use pharmacists.
Mr Vernon-Jackson also called for the rules around the recruiting of European care workers, affected by changes to the immigration system post-Brexit, to be relaxed.
The leaders of the Conservative and Labour groups have been contacted for comment.
Portsmouth University Hospitals posted on social media on Wednesday saying A&E would only take patients with urgent or life-threatening conditions.
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Many of those who commented blamed restrictions on face-to-face appointments at GP surgeries.
"Surgeries need to start opening their doors again and make it easier for patients", said one.
"People are going to A&E as it's almost impossible to see a doctor," said another.
More than 650 people with Covid are currently being treated in Hampshire hospitals, more than two-and-a-half times more than in early January during the peak of winter.
Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group said almost half of staff sicknesses were due to Covid.
