1. Bali volcano alert raised to highest level
The authorities in Indonesia have raised the alert over an erupting volcano to the highest level, closing Bali airport and stranding thousands of travellers. The evacuation zone around Mount Agung, which has been billowing smoke and ash for days, has been widened to six miles. Residents have been warned to stay away from debris.
2. Fox wants trade deal before NI border plan
Liam Fox yesterday told Sky News it is not possible to say how the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic will work post-Brexit until a trade deal with the EU has been struck. The International Trade Secretary is at odds with EU negotiators and the Irish PM Leo Varadkar, who say a border plan must be made before trade talks.
3. Patients at risk as junior doctors run A&E
The General Medical Council (GMC) is warning that patients are being put at risk by NHS staff shortages that mean junior doctors are too often being left in charge of A&E units. GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said: “In some cases, trainees are being left to fend for themselves when they clearly don’t have the competence.”
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4. Five killed as stolen car hits tree in Leeds
Five people, including three children, died in Leeds on Saturday night when a stolen car crashed into a tree in the city’s Meanwood area. Brothers Ellis and Elliott Thornton, aged 12 and 14 respectively, were among those killed, along with 15-year-old Darnell Harte and two men. Two 15-year-old boys were arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
5. Refuge funding change ‘puts women at risk’
Domestic violence charities are warning that little-publicised changes to the way refuges are funded will put women’s lives at risk. The Government is removing refuges and other short-term supported housing from the welfare system, says The Guardian. It would mean vulnerable women fleeing abusive partners will not be able to pay for their accommodation using housing benefit.
6. Tenerife dance floor collapse injures 40
A dance floor in a Tenerife nightclub collapsed in the early hours of Sunday, injuring 40 people. Several suffered broken bones when the floor of the Butterfly Disco Pub in Playa de las Americas caved in at 2.30am, dropping them into the basement underneath. The injured include people from the UK, Spain, France and Belgium.
7. Police release men after Oxford Circus panic
Two men aged 21 and 40 questioned by police over an “altercation” thought to have sparked the panic that led to armed police closing Oxford Circus tube station, in central London, were released without charge, police said yesterday. There were reports of gunfire on the platform but police said they found no evidence that shots were fired.
8. Relatives say Mugabe is ‘taking it very well’
Robert Mugabe, forced to resign last week after 37 years as president of Zimbabwe, is “taking things very well”, according to his relatives. The 93-year-old former autocrat is “quite jovial”, according to his nephew Leo, after he negotiated a $10m (£7.5m) cash pay-off, immunity from prosecution and a $150,000 (£112,000) annual salary.
9. Police warn of new ‘relay box’ car theft
Police have released CCTV footage showing a new type of car theft, in which thieves can take a vehicle without its digital key. The video shows a Mercedes being stolen from outside the owner’s home in Solihull in September. Thieves use two digital boxes to pick a signal from the car keys from inside the house and then transfer it to the car, tricking the vehicle into opening and starting.
10. Briefing: a catalyst for change in Africa?
Africa is a continent fused by coup d’etats - more than 200 since the post-independence era of the 1960s, many of which have led to seismic changes of government.
Nigeria alone has had at least eight attempted military takeovers. Burkina Faso has endured ten coups. But the military overthrow of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and the ousting of Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh in January, signal a shift in tactics that could have profound implications for Africa's lingering despots.
Zimbabwe coup: a catalyst for change in Africa?
