Financial lifeline could alleviate fears end-of-life services are at risk of closure from tax hike and higher wage bills
The government is likely to offer a financial lifeline to the hospice sector amid fears end-of-life care providers are at risk of closure due to the double blow of the employers’ national insurance rise and higher wage bills, the Guardian understands.
Officials have been looking at the options for providing more funding to hospices and other end-of-life care through the NHS partly to offset the impact of the national insurance rise, which the sector believes could cost it £30m a year.
Continue reading...Ukrainian strike on Moscow is biggest since full-scale invasion while Russia sends wave of record 145 drones
Ukraine has carried out its biggest drone strike on Moscow since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian media said on Sunday, as the Kremlin launched its own record air attack over Ukraine.
Three airports in the Russian capital were temporarily closed and flights were diverted. At least one person was injured. Russia said its air defences shot down 70 drones, nearly half of them in the skies above Moscow and the rest in western Russia.
Continue reading...Multiple conservatives, including Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck and Robert Kennedy Jr have endorsed the Florida senator as the next leader
Here is a video report on the protests against Donald Trump in New York and Washington DC mentioned earlier:
Protests against Donald Trump erupted in the US on Saturday as people on both coasts took to the streets in frustration about his re-election.
Continue reading...An unprecedented eight former prime ministers stand together in Whitehall, while 10,000 veterans march
Crowds fell silent at war memorials in villages, towns and cities across the country on Remembrance Sunday as generations gathered to commemorate lives lost in conflicts.
In Whitehall, the Princess of Wales joined King Charles to honour the fallen, after a year in which they both revealed they had been diagnosed with cancer. A two-minute silence was led by the king, who was the first to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph.
Continue reading...Total number of arrivals by small boats reaches 32,691 this year, up 22% on same time last year but fewer than in 2022
Nine boats carrying 572 people have been intercepted while attempting to cross the Channel, according to the Home Office.
The latest crossings come after Keir Starmer announced plans to tackle what he described as the “national security threat” of people smugglers, pledging an extra £75m and a new team of detectives.
Continue reading...Grey and misty weather has been a mainstay this month – but brighter skies should arrive soon
If things have felt especially gloomy this week, it is not just the politics.
The grey mist that seems to have descended is down to an outlier weather event that has been under way since the start of November, with some regions of England recording just a few minutes of sunshine this month.
Continue reading...Two people also injured in shooting in Sydenham, while a man and a woman were injured in Walworth stabbing
A man has died and two people were injured after a shooting in a residential area of south-east London, while another man died in a separate knife attack a few miles away.
Police appealed for witnesses to come forward after what was described as a “senseless act of violence” in the area of Wells Park Road, Sydenham.
Continue reading...More than 200 leading restaurant, pub and hotel companies say tax rises will cause ‘unprecedented damage’
Hospitality businesses will be forced to close while others will have to slash jobs and investment as a result of changes to national insurance announced in the budget, according to a letter to the chancellor signed by the bosses of more than 200 of the UK’s largest restaurant, pub and hotel businesses.
The letter – with signatories including the Premier Inn owner Whitbread and pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers – comes as reports suggested Tesco would face an additional £1bn in costs over the course of the current parliament as the result of the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs).
Continue reading...City’s police chief says ‘incidents on both sides’ led to violent unrest as ‘around 40’ fined and released
Authorities have released details of the 62 people arrested after violent attacks took place around the football match between Amsterdam’s Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
Violence after the game – described by the Amsterdam mayor, Femke Halsema, as “hit and run attacks” on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters by “boys on scooters” – provoked international horror.
Continue reading...BBC presenter says unrest over the summer has made her question her beliefs about British tolerance
The BBC presenter Mishal Husain has said her experience of racism in Britain over the last year has been more pronounced than at any other time in her career.
The presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme said that she had been left “shaken” at times and the summer riots had made her question her beliefs about British tolerance.
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