1. Troops tire of ‘bailing out’ ministers
There are warnings that over-stretched troops are being used repeatedly to bail out ministers unable to solve industrial disputes. Around 1,000 military personnel are due to miss Christmas breaks as they fill in for ambulance crews and border staff, and military sources warned this could dent morale among troops whose real-terms pay has also fallen. “Soldiers might decide they’ve had enough of bailing the government out of the muddles it gets itself into,” Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the army, told Mail Online.
Who is going on strike this winter – and when
2. Search continues at icy lake
Four children were hospitalised in a critical condition after being rescued from an icy lake near Birmingham. They are believed to have fallen into the water after playing on ice in Babbs Mill Park, Kingshurst. A search and rescue operation is under way and police have not confirmed if any children were still missing. However, initial reports suggested there were up to six children in the frozen lake. “Under no circumstances venture on to ice regardless,” said Richard Stanton, area commander for West Midlands Fire Service.
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3. £5K paid for agency doctor
Hospitals have paid out as much as £5,200 for a shift by a doctor through an agency, according to data obtained by Labour. The shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said that “desperate hospitals are forced to pay rip-off fees to agencies”, because the Conservatives have “failed to train enough doctors and nurses over the past 12 years”. However, claimed a Conservative spokesperson, “record numbers” have been recruited.
Can the NHS’s ‘worst ever crisis’ actually be fixed?
4. ‘Poor outlook’ for manufacturing
The manufacturing sector shrank by about 4% this year and is expected to decline by a further 3.2% in 2023. The Guardian said a “perfect storm” of increasing raw material costs, sagging consumer demand, staff shortages and higher borrowing costs have hit the sector hard, raising fears about the state of the UK economy. Industry body Make UK said there is “no sugar-coating” the “poor outlook” for the next year and “possibly beyond”.
Is the UK the ‘sick man of Europe’ once again?
5. Airport disruption amid cold warning
There is disruption at airports after snow, ice and freezing fog hit the UK. All flights have been suspended at Stansted Airport after it was forced to close its runway due to bad weather, and Heathrow and Gatwick have cancelled or delayed flights. Forecasters have told the BBC that the snow, ice and freezing fog that is sweeping across parts of the UK will continue for days. Temperatures could drop as low as -15C (5F) in northeast Scotland.
6. Three dead in Italian shooting
Three women were killed when a man opened fire at a cafe in Rome, injuring four other people. Roberto Gualtieri, mayor of Rome, described the shooting as a “grave episode of violence” and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said one of the women killed was her friend. A 57-year-old suspect is in custody. He has a backstory of disputes with some of a local block’s residents’ committee, which was meeting in the café at the time of the shooting.
Giorgia Meloni: who is Italy’s new prime minister?
7. Calls for calm in Kosovo
The Serbian president has met his national security council amid soaring tensions in Kosovo between the authorities and ethnic Serbs. A stun grenade was thrown at EU police in north Kosovo and local police exchanged fire with unknown groups. The latest unrest was sparked by the arrest of a Serb former police officer on Saturday. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. The EU, the US, and NATO have all called for restraint by both parties.
Is a fresh conflict flaring up in Kosovo?
8. Lockerbie suspect in US custody
A man suspected of making the bomb that brought down a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 was taken into US custody yesterday. Abu Agilah Mohammad Masud, a former Libyan intelligence official was a “shadowy figure” in the Gaddafi regime, said The Times. He was confirmed by Washington as a suspect in 2020, after authorities studied reports that he was regarded as Colonel Gaddafi’s chief bomb-maker, implicated in a string of terrorist attacks.
9. Lawrence killer moves jails
One of the men who murdered Stephen Lawrence has been moved to a tougher jail after he was caught in possession of a mobile phone on two occasions. David Norris, 46, has been switched from Category C Dartmoor to Category B Exeter following the incidents, which “made a mockery of his status as one of Britain’s most notorious inmates” said the Daily Mail. At his new prison he will have fewer privileges and has “lost all hope” of being moved to an open jail, added the paper.
10. Yoga ‘colonised’ by the West
Indian yoga instructors said the practice has been whitewashed by the West. Vikram Jeet Singh, a yoga instructor in Goa, told the South China Morning Post that “his own culture” of true yoga had been replaced by a “workout session stripped of any kind of cultural background, where you have to show up with $100 Lululemon leggings and an equally expensive mat”. Meanwhile, teachers of South Asian heritage in the UK, said that yoga has become “colonised”, with its spiritual roots cast aside.
