The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is set to meet with the UK Health Secretary in an effort to finalise the pay deal for nurses. In June 2021, RCN members rejected an offer which enabled a 5% consolidated pay increase for 2023-24, as well as two one-off payments that amounted to £3,789. A majority of the 14 unions that comprise the NHS Staff Council supported the offer. The RCN will establish a further six-month mandate for strike action next week. The RCN is believed to be seeking a double-digit pay increase from the government.
A sign language interpreter's enthusiastic performance while signing to Finland's Eurovision entry, "Cha Cha Cha", has gone viral on social media. The BBC presenter, Adrian Bailey, was just one of several interpreters who worked at the event, but his over-the-top performance saw him gain praise and compliments from Eurovision fans. Despite Bailey's interpretation of "Cha Cha Cha," Sweden's Loreen ultimately won the competition.
The article lists the top 10 new shows in the US, including podcasts and TV shows, as voted by readers. These include "Pod Save the UK," "The Official Love & Death Podcast," "Rise N' Crime," "Drama, Darling with Amy Phillips," "Childproof," "Codependents," "Believe in Magic," "Turtle Time with Ramona & Avery," "Over 50 & Flourishing with Dominique Sachse," and "You Need to Hear This with Nedra Tawwab."
An 80-year-old man has died after mistakenly being refused an ambulance by care home staff following a misunderstanding regarding his medical file's "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order. Robert Murray choked to death on a piece of fruit in the Avalon Nursing Home in Eastbourne and no resuscitation was attempted because of the DNR document. However, an inquest found that the DNR was only supposed to be used if Mr Murray had a heart attack, so the call should not have been interrupted. The care home has since clarified the rules on the documents on all of its care plans.
Former MEP Ann Widdecombe has said that people should not make cheese sandwiches if they cannot afford the ingredients. The ex-Brexit Party MEP, now with Reform UK, said there was no “given right” to low food prices in the current environment of double-digit inflation. Widdecombe was contributing to a debate about BBC research revealing that the cost of a homemade cheese sandwich has rocketed by a third in the past year to 40p. She told the Politics Live programme quite a few farmers had “constantly” complained to her about rising supermarket pricing. As she represented the rural constituency of Maidstone as a Conservative MP, Widdecombe insisted inflation must be tackled, but warned against inflationary wage rises. In a recently separate panel appearance, Widdecombe said thousands of people claiming unemployment benefits should be made to pick fruit to fill current shortages.
President Biden is to cut short his trip to Asia to focus on debt ceiling negotiations, with the US again facing the risk of default on its $31.4tn debt if talks fail. Biden, initially due to fly to the G7 meeting in Japan and then to Papua New Guinea and Australia, is expected to return after the summit and meet congressional leaders in Washington, according to CBS. Republican leaders are demanding budget cuts in exchange for supporting the raising of the debt ceiling. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has previously warned that the US could run out of cash by 1 June if the ceiling is not lifted.
An op-ed has criticized the Eurovision Song Contest for its lack of racial diversity. Suzanne Moore, writing for the Spectator, called out the lack of representation among acts at the contest, with just a few of the 26 performers featuring a visible ethnic minority. Despite this, Moore questioned why left-wing activists did not voice criticism of Eurovision, compared to how they respond to events in the UK. She speculated that such activists remain silent due to not wanting to acknowledge that the UK is not as racist as it is often accused of being. Moore went on to accuse the Conservative government of “selling out to hyper-liberal globalists”, and for failing to take steps toward cutting immigration rates. Moore also criticized universities that she claims “discriminate against our own young people”.
Reports suggest that Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, stars of the daytime television show This Morning, have fallen out and that Schofield may be departing the show. The rumoured reasons for the rift range from a perceived declining on-screen chemistry, to Schofield becoming overly demanding of Willoughby's time. One This Morning insider claimed that Schofield had become "needy," as he has no family responsibilities. Schofield announced that he was gay in 2020 and subsequently moved out of the home he shared with his wife and daughters of 27 years. Despite this, he has not pursued a serious relationship leaving sources to argue that he has "become unmoored." Schofield hired a lawyer to combat allegations and is desperate to hang onto his job. Willoughby, however, has built her own career and brand, suggesting that the partnership may be coming to an end.
Weibo Wang, a former Apple engineer, has been charged with stealing proprietary self-driving car technology from the tech company. The Department of Justice has accused him of taking thousands of confidential files while secretly working for a Chinese company. He allegedly stole hardware components and Apple's entire autonomous source code. Wang had signed a confidentiality agreement about the project and left Apple in April 2018, but he had already accepted a job at another company developing self-driving cars in China five months earlier. Two other ex-Apple employees have been charged with stealing trade secrets in similar cases involving China.
The UK government has failed to begin building work on 33 of the 40 new hospitals it promised to construct in England, according to the BBC. Budgets for most of the projects, which have a 2030 deadline, are yet to be agreed, while none of the six facilities originally earmarked for completion by 2025 have been fully funded or granted planning permission. The government said that it was still on track to reach its targets but NHS leaders have urged clarity. The exact definition of a new hospital has been disputed, with the NHS saying that it can include upgrades to existing sites. The initial budget for the scheme was £3.7bn. Backlog-maintenance costs in NHS England have more than doubled since 2011-12, reaching £10.2bn in 2021-22.
Stellantis, which makes cars under brands including Vauxhall, Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot, has warned that Brexit trade rules threaten the UK's automotive sector. The company said it had invested in the UK because it was meeting the strict criteria of the post-Brexit trade deal. However, it is no longer able to meet new rules on where parts are sourced, causing costs to rocket. To cut costs, the firm plans to move production out of the UK unless rules are revised by December. In 2024, 45% of EV components must come from either the UK or the EU to qualify.
A 15-year-old student has been suspended from Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri, after she recorded a teacher using the n-word. Mary Walton had filmed the unidentified individual saying the word, which he uttered repeatedly during a discussion with students about it. The teacher has since resigned. Walton’s family is seeking a public apology and is also requesting that the suspension be removed from her academic record. Lawyers have claimed the punishment sends a negative message to other students. Walton’s mother also stated that school policy should more clearly cover whistleblowing.
The UK Treasury Select Committee has said that retail investment in unbacked cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin should be treated as a form of gambling. The Treasury disagreed, saying that no gambling regulation was required and that traditional financial services regulation had a "track record" in staving off risk. The committee said such cryptocurrencies served no "useful social purpose" and posed the potential of endangering market users' wealth, citing findings that 40% of new Bitcoin users were men under the age of 35, the most risk-seeking demographic. The committee also criticised Royal Mint plans to create non-fungible tokens.
Apple TV+ has launched its own comedy-drama-thriller, High Desert, which is set in the sun-baked plains of southern California. The series stars Patricia Arquette as a woman with a troubled past who becomes a private investigator, while overcoming an addiction as she tries to reconcile with her history and her sister. Though likely designed to appeal to a broad audience, Apple could struggle to stand out in the genre, given the success of Bill Hader's Barry on Sky Comedy.
BBC Radio 4 aired “21st Century Relaxation Tape” on Sunday, exploring the growing industry of detailed, relaxing sounds which have become increasingly popular in recording format and on open-source media platforms such as Spotify and YouTube. The team behind the programme argued that as technology and urbanisation make the world increasingly loud and chaotic, sound artists are helping listeners to calm themselves and enhance their concentration.
Manchester United's stadium, Old Trafford, is in need of immediate investment. Though the stadium was once envied by the footballing world, it has not undergone redevelopment since the Glazer family leveraged their buyout of Manchester United in 2005. Although Old Trafford remains the largest club football stadium in the UK and generated €126m in match-day revenue last year, Tottenham Hotspur’s new ground, which has a lower capacity, generated €125m in match-day revenue and increased its commercial earnings by 21% via non-football events such as concerts and NFL games. Manchester United’s European rivals are also revamping their stadiums at a faster pace. Real Madrid is due to complete a €900m overhaul of its 80,000-capacity Santiago Bernabéu stadium this year and has secured €360m from US investment firm Sixth Street to partner on non-football-related events. Meanwhile, Barcelona has secured €1.45bn in financing for its own stadium revamp.
Millennial and Gen Z voters have been instrumental in putting Thailand's opposition parties in the lead in their general elections, helping the progressive Move Forward Party gain 152 seats, with the main opposition party, Pheu Thai, gaining 141 seats. Both secured far greater vote shares than the 36 seats projected to be won by the party of Prime Minister and former military leader, Prayuth Chan-ocha. An alliance between the opposing parties and a number of smaller parties could command up to 60% of Thailand’s lower house, but this may not be enough to oust the ruling party. The country's upper and lower houses have different responsibilities in appointing a prime minister, and under rules established by the military-backed government, the prime minister must have 376 members backing him, combining both the lower and unelected upper house. Analysts suggest it may prove complex for the new factions to fulfil their ambitions for political reform with the establishment opposing them, and call on the upper house to respect the wishes of the voters.
The majority of Albanians deported from the UK had been convicted of crimes there, according to Albanian authorities. The numbers of those forced to return to their home country have increased since December 2020 after it signed a co-operation agreement with the UK to reduce illegal migration. Some of those deported had agreed to leave in exchange for £1,500 and a reduction in their sentence under a programme called the Facilitated Return Scheme. Other foreign prisoners could also have their prison sentence reduced after serving a minimum of two-thirds of it under the Early Release Scheme. The UK has not released deportation statistics for the Early Release Scheme. Despite Albanian authorities’ efforts to stop them, those deported said they would try to return to the UK.
Many Albanians are drawn to the UK for economic opportunities. Krumë, a small town in northern Albania, has seen 60% of its population move to the UK, and its local politicians claim that more of the town’s voters live in east London than its home streets. The UK is investing over £8m into training projects and businesses in Kukës, of which Krumë is located in, to change the cultural norm of illegal migration to the UK. The Albanian government is investing in infrastructure in the region, including a new airport. Local mayoral candidate Miftar Dauti has promised to stop young voters leaving for the UK, but many want to return to the UK and find that Albania has little to offer them.
Stellantis, which makes models including Citroen, Vauxhall and Peugeot, has urged the UK government to renegotiate its current Brexit deal with the EU threatening the sustainability of its UK manufacturing plants. The carmaker warned that its UK manufacturing operations are under threat from the strict terms of the post-Brexit free trade deal. Stellantis has committed to making electric vehicles at its plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton, which employ around 2,000 people combined. If its electric vehicle manufacturing becomes "uncompetitive and unsustainable," the company warned it would have to close British operations.
Experts have used more than 70,000 images to create the first full-size 3D reconstruction of the Titanic wreck in order to determine the exact point where the doomed ship struck the iceberg which sank it. The bow section remains well preserved, but the stern, 800 metres away, has collapsed. Academics hope that the new scan will offer insight into why the ship, which was travelling between Southampton and New York, could not be saved, leading to the deaths of 1,500 people in April 1912.
