Babak Belurs

Sabtu, 20 Mei 2023

Northern Ireland Local Elections 2023: Results day two - 100 seats to go as Sinn Fein charge continues - Belfast Telegraph

UUP leader Doug Beattie admits election has been ‘brutal at times' for his party, while SDLP leader Colum Eastwood vows to battle on

At 2.20pm on Saturday they had 128 seats, well ahead of the DUP (109) and on track to be the biggest party.

Ms O’Neill said Sinn Fein were on course for a "momentous result" that reflects a "positive campaign" by its candidates and activists.

Speaking at the Foyle Arena, she told the BBC: "We have work to do but it's been a very positive result for the party so far.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says his party’s vote has held up “extremely well” throughout Northern Ireland, adding: “It’s a strong performance, in very difficult and challenging circumstances.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says his party’s vote has held up “extremely well” throughout Northern Ireland

Speaking in Belfast, Sir Jeffrey said unionism had to take a “long, hard look” at how it manages elections, citing the “splintering” of the unionist vote and turnout in some unionist heartlands.

“These are issues that we do need to address and I am happy to sit down with my fellow unionists and examine these issues and look at how greater cooperation can beat a pathway towards more success for unionism in general,” he said.

'It was brutal at times' - Doug Beattie reflects on the election results for the UUP

It came as UUP leader Doug Beattie admitted the election had been “brutal” for his party at times.

Mr Beattie and the SDLP’s Colum Eastwood have been reacting to a series of losses, but both said they remain optimistic that they can turn things around going forward.

Speaking to this newspaper in Bangor, Mr Beattie admitted the election has been difficult, and some “truly outstanding” councillors have lost their seats.

“You can see it within that difficult result that we’ve got - and I’ve said this is brutal at times - but within that difficult result you can see where we need to go.

“One of the key things I wanted to do in this election was to get some new faces back into the Ulster Unionist Party as councillors and we are getting it now.”

He said the UUP had to be “representative of the society that we want to vote for us” – which meant more female, younger members.

Meanwhile, Mr Eastwood conceded the SDLP is having a "difficult" election and says he takes "responsibility" – but stressed he has no plans to leave his position as leader.

Counting is entering its final stages at the various count centres as the make-up of Northern Ireland’s council chambers takes shape.

The UUP’s Alan Barr was the first to claim a seat for Braid in Mid and East Antrim on Saturday, followed by independent candidate Gary Donnelly and Sinn Féin’s Aisling Hutton in The Moor in Derry & Strabane.

Three of the 11 councils finished counting overnight. Lisburn and Castlereagh was first to finish, followed by Mid Ulster. Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon went on to 4.30am with a nail-biting finish between Sinn Fein and Alliance for the last seat in Portadown.

Voter turnout was up slightly on 2019’s local election, with 755,263 people placing their vote compared to 687,734. It appears that share is up in areas which would be regarded as predominantly nationalist/republican and down slightly in areas viewed as unionist majority.

It is the first electoral test for the parties since last year's Assembly election and takes place against the backdrop of the Stormont stalemate, with the powersharing institutions not operating as part of a DUP protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements.

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2023-05-20 12:50:00Z
2024037729

Jumat, 19 Mei 2023

Cost of living: This mum used to travel the world for work - now she even needs to get soap from a foodbank - Sky News

Chantel Graham never thought she would need to rely on donated toothpaste and soap to keep her two daughters and her house clean.

But when the pandemic grounded her job as cabin crew for a major airline, she went from a comfortable existence to barely making rent.

"My life changed drastically," the 39-year-old told Sky News. "I went from flying around the world and visiting different countries to being at home with two kids, alone, with little income.

"I was trying to make things, make cleaning products myself, my toothpaste myself, make baking soda.

"And I've got two children, at the time they were two and seven.

"But it wasn't going very well. The smell of white vinegar as a cleaning product wasn't something they enjoyed, and baking soda wasn't something they could tolerate."

Eventually, she sought help from a foodbank, where she could get soap, toothpaste and washing-up liquid.

'You don't want to admit you've failed'

But it was a difficult step for someone who had earned a living since she was 16.

"You don't want to admit you've failed, you don't want your children to know how bad things are," Ms Graham said.

The experience was isolating and lonely, but she is far from unique in her struggle.

Nine million people in the UK live in hygiene poverty, according to research by In Kind Direct charity, which says that number tripled on last year.

Among them, 56% are in work, and 38% live with children.

Paul Buchanan, the charity's interim CEO, added: "We hear examples of families using washing up liquid as shampoo and shower gel, children sharing toothbrushes.

"It feels like a pretty basic human right that people should have access to those things."

'It was shocking to me'

Many families have little choice but to turn to foodbanks, some of which have seen a huge increase in demand for toiletries.

Marie Henry, a volunteer for Breadline London foodbank, said: "In the last two months we've seen more than, almost an 100% increase in demand for hygiene products.

"Hygiene products are the first thing that goes when families are struggling, especially parents when they're struggling, because it's easier to use washing up liquid for everything, for your hair, for your clothes, everything."

Her foodbank tries to ration supplies so everyone who needs them gets them - but when they run out, people resort to desperate measures.

"It was shocking to me, when they come to an organisation like Breadline London, they're asking for period products especially, because they are using newspaper," Ms Henry said.

"Ladies have got newspaper that they've stacked up just in case they can't have anything.

"I just feel so, so sad."

For Chantel Graham, the end of pandemic restrictions meant she could go back to her job as cabin crew, slowly rebuilding her life.

But for so many others, campaigners say choosing between keeping clean and eating remains a daily struggle.

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2023-05-20 03:56:46Z
2049326623

Kamis, 18 Mei 2023

First picture of Scots boy, 4, murdered by dad in Paisley flat - Daily Record

A four-year-old boy murdered by his dad at a property in Paisley can be named as Kayden Frank. Officers rushed to an address on Argyle Street in the Renfrewshire town at around 8pm on Monday, May 15, following a report of concern from a member of the public.

Kayden was found dead at the scene and following a post mortem examination, his death is being treated as murder.

A 38-year-old man, named locally as Kayden's dad Steven Frank, was also found dead at the scene. His death is not being treated as suspicious, and police say they have no information to suggest anyone else has been involved.

Enquiries are ongoing into the full circumstances of the incident, which has shocked local residents. A report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal and police have vowed to "get answers" for his grieving family.

Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Thomson, of the Major Investigation Team, said: “Our thoughts are with Kayden’s family and friends, along with everyone affected by this tragedy.

“We are providing his family with specialist support at this incredibly difficult time and officers are continuing enquiries to try and get some answers for them. Kayden’s family have requested that their privacy is respected at this time.”

Steven Frank has been named locally as the man who died (Image: Facebook)

Locals reported hearing "screaming and shouting" in the minutes before emergency services arrived on Argyle Street on Monday evening. Police rapidly erected a cordon and a forensics tent to screen the investigation from public view.

One neighbour told the Record: "We heard shouting and screaming, like a domestic. We never thought anything of it. But then it went quiet for a bit, about half an hour.

"Then suddenly there were police and ambulances and a forensic tent. There was a private ambulance and we saw the bodies being taken out to it.”

Police at the scene on Argyle Street, Paisley (Image: Garry F McHarg/Daily Record)

Police maintained a visible presence on the street on Wednesday. Plainclothes CID officers wearing Police Scotland lanyards were seen entering multiple closes throughout Wednesday, questioning locals.

Uniformed officers were understood to be guarding the top floor of the building where the tragedy occurred. Family members have paid tribute on Facebook, asking people not to speculate over the deaths.

English water companies offer apology and £10bn investment for sewage spills - The Guardian

Water companies in England have apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers.

The companies will triple their existing investment plans to plough funds into the biggest modernisation of sewers “since the Victorian era” to reduce spills of overflowing sewage into England’s waterways.

Industry body Water UK said the plans will cut the number of overflow incidents by up to 140,000 each year by 2030, compared with 2020.

Environment Agency figures earlier this year showed there were a total of 301,091 sewage spills in 2022, an average of 824 a day.

The spending on more than 350,000 miles of sewer comes on top of the current £3.1bn being spent between 2020 and 2025.

Shareholders in water companies will initially fund the investments. However, the costs will be recouped from customers through unspecified increases in their bills determined by regulators, in a move which threatens to add further pressure to household costs.

The investment will see new facilities built to hold surges in rainwater, increased capacity for sewage treatment works, measures to reduce rainfall entering sewers and fixing misconnected pipes from properties.

An online hub will launch next year, giving the public almost live information on overflows and the state of rivers and coastal waters. The companies also pledged to support up to 100 communities in creating new protected water for swimming.

The move comes after intense criticism of water companies from politicians and campaigners.

Water UK, which represents 25 companies across the UK, issued an apology on behalf of its English companies and said the public was “right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches”.

There have been calls for greater fines for breaching environmental laws and The Environment Agency has even suggested that water company bosses should be jailed for serious pollution.

Ruth Kelly, the chair of Water UK, said: “The message from the water and sewage industry today is clear: we are sorry. More should have been done to address the issue of spillages sooner and the public is right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches.

“We have listened and have an unprecedented plan to start to put it right. This problem cannot be fixed overnight, but we are determined to do everything we can to transform our rivers and seas in the way we all want to see.”

Privatised water and sewage companies in the UK paid £1.4bn in dividends in 2022, up from £540m the previous year. Annual bonuses paid to water company executives rose by 20% in 2021, as water bosses paid themselves £24.8m, including £14.7m in bonuses, benefits and incentives, in 2021-2022.

Last week the chief executives of Yorkshire Water and Thames Water and owner of South West Water declined their bonuses in an acknowledgment of the public anger over companies’ dumping of sewage in Britain’s rivers.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, said: “This apology and plan just don’t go far enough. For years water companies have arrogantly dismissed the public’s fears of rivers, lakes and coastlines being damaged by sewage discharges.

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“This announcement does nothing to match the billions water firms have paid out in dividends to overseas investors, or stop their CEOs being handed multimillion pound bonuses.”

Davey also called on the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, to apologise.

In a letter apologising to its customers, Yorkshire Water said it is investing £180m in reducing discharges from storm overflows over the next two years.

Its chief executive, Nicola Shaw, said: “Tackling overflows, which were designed into the system as a relief valve, is a priority for us, but it is also a significant task … further investment from our shareholders is helping us tackle this issue.”

Last month, Coffey said the government would introduce legislation to put plans to reduce storm overflows on a “new legal footing”.

Stuart Singleton-White, head of campaigns at the Angling Trust, said, “This must be only the beginning. The problems our rivers face will not be solved by sorting out overflow spills, chucking in some money for swimming, and putting nature-based solutions on the end of pipes.”

A spokesperson for Ofwat, the water regulator, said: “We welcome the apology from water companies and this now needs to be turned into action.

“We have been pushing water companies to do more, faster, for their customers and for our waterways and beaches. We look forward to seeing the plans and how companies will step up performance.”

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2023-05-18 09:12:00Z
2017006550

English water companies offer apology and £10bn investment for sewage spills - The Guardian

Water companies in England have apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers.

Industry body Water UK said the plans will cut the number of overflow incidents by up to 140,000 each year by 2030, compared with 2020.

Environment Agency figures earlier this year showed there were a total of 301,091 sewage spills in 2022, an average of 824 a day.

The spending on more than 350,000 miles of sewer comes on top of the current £3.1bn being spent between 2020 and 2025.

The move comes after intense criticism of water companies from politicians and campaigners.

There have been calls for greater fines for breaching environmental laws and The Environment Agency has even suggested that water company bosses should be jailed for serious pollution.

skip past newsletter promotion

“This announcement does nothing to match the billions water firms have paid out in dividends to overseas investors, or stop their CEOs being handed multimillion pound bonuses.”

Davey also called on the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, to apologise.

In a letter apologising to its customers, Yorkshire Water said it is investing £180m in reducing discharges from storm overflows over the next two years.

Last month, Coffey said the government would introduce legislation to put plans to reduce storm overflows on a “new legal footing”.

A spokesperson for Ofwat, the water regulator, said: “We welcome the apology from water companies and this now needs to be turned into action.

“We have been pushing water companies to do more, faster, for their customers and for our waterways and beaches. We look forward to seeing the plans and how companies will step up performance.”

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Rabu, 17 Mei 2023

Dramatic footage shows e-scooter battery catch fire in kitchen - as owner says he 'cheated death' - Sky News

Dramatic footage of an e-scooter explosion has been released to highlight the risks around charging the vehicles indoors.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) published the video showing the moment an e-scooter catches fire while plugged in at a house in Brent, northwest London, on Saturday.

It takes just seconds for the room to be engulfed in flames and smoke.

Security guard Dell Williams, 37, was charging the e-scooter that he bought a fortnight earlier after seeing a listing on Gumtree.

Neither he nor the other tenants living in the property were near the kitchen when the fire broke out.

He said: "I just want to thank the Lord that we managed to get out of there in one piece. I am so grateful to be alive.

"I spent eight hours in hospital due to inhaling smoke from the fire.

"When I went back to the house, it was such an eye-opener.

"I was shocked, I am shocked now. I am so grateful that no one else was hurt. I cheated death."

He added: "Don't have e-scooters in the house. Charge outside."

LFB deputy commissioner Dom Ellis said this type of fire is becoming more and more common.

He said: "As the video shows, once a battery starts to go into thermal runaway, a fire develops very quickly and can block escape routes.

"Thermal runaway can lead to the destruction of the battery and a ferocious fire.

"We know prior to ignition, thermal runaway can lead to the ejection of a range of gases. The white and grey coloured smoke is not harmless, and the speed at which these incidents develop shouldn't be ignored."

Users of e-scooters and e-bikes are advised to allow their batteries to cool down before recharging them, and to buy chargers and batteries from reputable sellers.

LFB also urged people to fit smoke alarms in areas where charging happens indoors.

The brigade has been called to 48 e-bike fires and 12 e-scooter fires in the capital so far this year.

Private e-scooters cannot be legally ridden on roads or pavements in the UK but have become a common sight, particularly in urban areas.

On Wednesday, transport minister Jesse Norman told the Commons' Transport Select Committee that e-scooter and e-bike fires are "an issue of serious concern" and the Government is "working hard on it".

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2023-05-18 03:23:38Z
2019050533

Water firms apologise for sewage spills and splash £10bn to clean up their act - Sky News

Water and sewage firms in England have issued a public apology for "not acting quickly enough" on spills - and vowed to spend £10bn to clean up their act.

Industry body Water UK said campaigners were "right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches" as it announced the package of investment on Thursday - which it claimed would be "the biggest modernisation of sewers since the Victorian era".

Untreated sewage was pumped into England's rivers and seas at least 301,091 times last year - an average of 824 a day - according to Environment Agency (EA) data.

That represented a fall of almost a fifth on 2021's 372,533 spills, although the EA said that had been "largely down to dry weather, not water company action".

A string of recent high-profile incidents, including a sewage discharge at a picturesque beach in Cornwall, have fuelled disgust over the issue.

It comes after the government unveiled plans last year requiring firms to invest £56bn in infrastructure to tackle spills by 2050.

'We are sorry'

Water UK's chair Ruth Kelly said: "The message from the water and sewage industry today is clear - we are sorry.

"More should have been done to address the issue of spillages sooner and the public is right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches."

She added: "We have listened and have an unprecedented plan to start to put it right. This problem cannot be fixed overnight, but we are determined to do everything we can to transform our rivers and seas in the way we all want to see."

The industry body, which represents all of Britain's water and wastewater companies, said the cash was in addition to a previous commitment to invest £3.1bn between 2020 and 2025.

It said the extra £10bn will be spent this decade, with details published later this summer.

Water UK said the measures would include enlarging and improving pipes, as well as increasing the capacity of sewage treatment works, so that infrastructure can better cope with higher volumes of excess water.

Firms will further install the equivalent of thousands of Olympic-sized swimming pools to hold surges in rainwater - that would otherwise overload the system - and promised to treat overflow spills so that they have less impact on the environment.

A new National Environment Data Hub will also provide the public with near real-time information on all of England's 15,000 sewage overflows for the first time, in order to "strengthen accountability, help the public to track progress and empower swimmers".

Apology 'needs to be turned into action'

Water UK said it hoped that the package, if approved by regulators, would cut sewage overflows by up to 140,000 each year, compared to 2020 levels.

It comes amid growing pressure on firms and the government to address pollution in rivers and seas.

In April Environment Secretary Therese Coffey announced proposals for firms to face unlimited fines for sewage dumping and for efforts to reduce storm overflows to be enshrined in law.

But the government rejected a Commons vote pushed by Labour, supported by the Liberal Democrats, calling for automatic fines for polluting firms.

Under current rules, water companies can discharge sewage from storm overflows, but only during periods of heavy rain and under strictly permitted conditions.

However, campaigners have accused firms of discharging much more often than they should - including when there has been no rain.

A spokesperson for Ofwat, the water regulator, said: "We welcome the apology from water companies and this now needs to be turned into action.

"We have been pushing water companies to do more, faster, for their customers and for our waterways and beaches.

"We look forward to seeing the plans and how companies will step up performance."

Water minister Rebecca Pow said: "This apology by the water industry is not before time and I welcome it.

"The government has put the strictest targets ever on water companies to reduce sewage pollution and demanded that water companies deliver their largest ever infrastructure investment - £56bn.

"I am pleased that they are now taking action to deliver on this, but there is still a great deal more to do."

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2023-05-18 05:05:36Z
2017006550

Babak Belurs

Sabtu, 20 Mei 2023

Northern Ireland Local Elections 2023: Results day two - 100 seats to go as Sinn Fein charge continues - Belfast Telegraph

Jumat, 19 Mei 2023

Cost of living: This mum used to travel the world for work - now she even needs to get soap from a foodbank - Sky News

Kamis, 18 Mei 2023

First picture of Scots boy, 4, murdered by dad in Paisley flat - Daily Record

Top news stories today

Read next:

English water companies offer apology and £10bn investment for sewage spills - The Guardian

English water companies offer apology and £10bn investment for sewage spills - The Guardian

Rabu, 17 Mei 2023

Dramatic footage shows e-scooter battery catch fire in kitchen - as owner says he 'cheated death' - Sky News

Water firms apologise for sewage spills and splash £10bn to clean up their act - Sky News

Sabtu, 20 Mei 2023

Jumat, 19 Mei 2023

More on Cost Of Living

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Kamis, 18 Mei 2023

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Rabu, 17 Mei 2023

More on E-scooters

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