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‘I’m here baby, I’m here’: Husband reunited with pregnant wife in UK after fleeing Sudan | World News

Nagi held his wife Reem in a tight embrace for more than 40 seconds.

They were reunited at a hotel near Stansted Airport after he escaped violence in Sudan on one of the last evacuation flights out of the country.

Tears turned to chuckles when Nagi cradled Reem’s belly to talk to their unborn child.

“I’m here baby, I’m here,” he said.

Naji kisses his wife's belly
Image:
Nagi kisses his wife’s belly

The couple have been married for three years and had applied to the UK government for Nagi to move to live with Reem in Newcastle.

His passport and identity documents were with the British Embassy in Sudan when the war started.

“To be honest, I thought I’m doing my best but I don’t think this is going to work,” Reem told Sky News.

“They’ve been turning away people who are on work permits and who have biometric ID cards. So I thought they’re never going to accept my husband.”

Nagi and Reem embrace at a hotel near Stansted Airport
Image:
Nagi and Reem embrace at a hotel near Stansted Airport

Reem, a radiology registrar in Newcastle, turned to help from the British charity Goodwill Caravan.

“I received an email at 3am saying he could board the last plane,” she said.

“Nagi was, at the time, 10 hours from the airfield. By the time he got there the area was being bombed and I felt like I’d dragged him from safety right into war.”

Read more on Sudan:
Mayhem is unfolding on the docks of Port Sudan
Why evacuating civilians is different to diplomats

What’s happening in Sudan?

Nagi travelled 800km, spent $700 (£557) and went through six or seven checkpoints to arrive at Wadi Saeedna airfield near Khartoum.

“When I arrived at the airfield they put an X on my hand. That signals that a person can’t leave the country,” Nagi said.

The red stain was still on his hand as he told Sky News how his country descended into chaos.

There is a food shortage in the capital, he said.

There is also no electricity, confusion over fighters using fake uniforms, and dead bodies lying in the streets.

“There are witness reports of dogs ripping at corpses of people whose numbers may not have been included in the 500 reported to have died,” he said.

He added: “I would call it a ghost town.

“Nobody knows who is fighting who because there are reports that fighters swap uniforms.

“Businesses have closed, large populations are running away, and the worst thing is not knowing where we were running to and not knowing who we could run to.”

It comes as the last flight from Khartoum arrived at Stansted Airport this evening.

Liz Truss contests ‘£12,000’ bill relating to her use of grace-and-favour home | Politics News

Liz Truss is disputing a bill she has been asked to pay relating to a country house which she had use of as foreign secretary.

The bill is reportedly for £12,000 but the former prime minister’s spokesman claims the actual figure is lower.

The invoice, first reported in The Mail on Sunday, covers the period in August 2022 when she used Chevening House in Kent, during the time she was running to be Conservative leader before being elected to No 10 the following month.

Ms Truss claims most of the invoice relates to using the grace-and-favour home for government business and she maintains she should not be liable for the majority of it.

The then foreign secretary Liz Truss met three Baltic foreign ministers at Chevening House in Kent
Image:
The then foreign secretary met three Baltic foreign ministers at Chevening House in October 2021

The official business included meetings with cabinet secretary Simon Case when they were planning a transition to a Truss government.

If she did pay, there would have been a breach of civil service protocol because civil servants are not allowed to accept hospitality from a political candidate, her team argues.

Ms Truss has asked for this part to be billed separately.

She will pay for personal costs relating to guests. The bill reportedly includes missing items including bathrobes, which she is happy to replace.

A spokesman for Ms Truss said: “Liz always paid for the costs of her personal guests at Chevening.

“The latest invoice contains a mixture of costs for her personally and costs for official government business with civil servants including Simon Case and senior officials from other departments who met at Chevening during the transition preparations.

“The latter constitutes the majority of the bill. It would be inappropriate for her to pay the costs for officials as it would have breached the civil service code for civil servants to accept hospitality during the leadership campaign.

“She has therefore asked for this to be billed separately.”

Chevening House, which has 115 rooms and is Grade 1 listed, was left to the nation by the 7th Earl Stanhope after he died in 1967.

Since then, the prime minister of the day has decided who uses it, with that person usually being the foreign secretary.

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Liz Truss’s rise and fall

Ms Truss was the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history, resigning last October, just 44 days after taking over from Boris Johnson.

It came after her tax-cutting mini-budget spooked financial markets.

She has said she was never given a “realistic chance” to implement her radical tax-cutting agenda and blamed what she called a “powerful economic establishment” for removing her from Downing Street.

Nurses’ strike: Critical care exemptions in place for 28-hour walkout, RCN chief insists, ahead of industrial action | Politics News

National exemptions are in place to provide critical care during strike action by nurses, a union leader has insisted, telling Sky News staff would never leave patients unsafe or create more risk.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen was speaking to Sophy Ridge On Sunday ahead of a 28-hour walkout by members over pay.

The government has warned strike action without mitigations “clearly does put patients at risk”.

The industrial action will run from 8pm on Sunday until 11.59pm on Monday night after voting to reject the latest government offer.

Politics latest: Union leader says nurses are pushed to the brink

The union initially said it would not agree to derogations – broad areas of care where staffing is guaranteed despite industrial action – fuelling concerns about patients being put at risk.

It led Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) among other organisations to declare a “business continuity incident” until it was confident it could staff its services over the strike.

The RCN subsequently offered assurances after the hospital raised “serious concerns”.

But Ms Cullen told Ridge wider, national exemptions were in place.

According to the RCN website, limited safety critical mitigations would include allowing some staff “to preserve life-and-limb” care in emergency departments and intensive care units.

Ms Cullen said: “Our nurses, as I’ve said time and time again, will never leave their patients unsafe or create more risk that’s already in the system at this point in time.”

Read more:
Health secretary ‘treating nurses as criminals’

GMB votes to accept NHS pay offer after Unite rejection

Ms Cullen added: “There are national exemptions in place for a range of services, for emergency departments, for intensive care units, for neonatal units, paediatric intensive care units, those really acute services.

“In fact, it was the Royal College of Nursing contacted NHS England to ask for a process to be put in place so that we could make sure that the strike was safe for our patients.”

‘Lives are being put at risk every single day’

Defending the latest walkout she added: “They’re going on strike because patients’ lives are being put at risk every single day, and why? Because we have tens of thousands of vacant nursing posts.”

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NHS executive: ‘Strikes are disruptive’

Health workers across the NHS have gone on strike several times in past months in disputes over pay and conditions.

Unions including Unison and the GMB have voted in favour of a government pay offer to end the strikes, while Unite and the RCN have voted against.

Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and are the biggest proportion of the health service workforce.

NHS England warned staffing levels for some areas of the country will be “exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days”.

Pay offer ‘fair and reasonable’

Warning of the danger of strike action without exemptions for emergency care, cabinet minister Mark Harper told Ridge: “It clearly does put patients at risk, which is why we urge the unions not to go ahead and do the strike.”

Appealing to the RCN, the transport secretary added: “I would urge them to think again and to do what the other trade unions in the health service have done, which is to accept what I think is fair and reasonable pay offer, reflecting the value that we do place on hardworking NHS staff.”

‘I don’t want to see strikes go ahead’

Speaking on the same programme, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer refused to say whether he supported nurses going on strike without exemptions.

He said: “I don’t want to see strikes go ahead.

“The way to avoid strikes is to get in the room with the nurses and resolve these issues.”

A High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the RCN strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned, meaning it will now end just before midnight on Monday.

Hospitals brace for large-scale disruption as nurses prepare to start 28-hour walkout | UK News

NHS services across England are bracing for more disruption, as nurses get ready to stage a 28-hour walkout over pay.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will begin their latest strike action at 8pm today, and will end it at 11.59pm on Monday evening, after voting to reject the government’s latest pay offer.

The union had earlier refused to agree to derogations (a level of essential care during industrial action), but later said it would grant some exemptions.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has called the latest walkout “disappointing” and accused the RCN of risking patient safety.

He said: “It is hugely disappointing some unions are escalating strike action this week – including the RCN, despite only a third of its members rejecting the government’s fair and reasonable offer on pay, which other unions accepted.

“The RCN’s decision not to provide any national exemptions from strike action including for emergency and cancer care, also risks patient safety, though I welcome the fact a number of local mitigations have been agreed for critical services.

“These strikes will put more pressure on the NHS and will be incredibly disruptive for patients.

“People should attend appointments unless told otherwise by the NHS, continue to call 999 in a life-threatening emergency and use NHS 111 online services for non-urgent health needs.”

General secretary of the RCN Pat Cullen said: “After a three-month pause, strike action by nursing staff regrettably recommences tonight.

“The government wants to bring NHS strike action to a close this coming week, but with several big unions – and nursing as the largest part of the NHS workforce – still in dispute, it has to do better.

“Only negotiations can resolve this, and I urge ministers to reopen formal discussions with the college over pay specifically. Nursing staff are looking for a fair settlement that shows the government values and understands their profession.

“We appear a long way from that currently, but I remind ministers it is entirely in their gift.”

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Exceptionally low staff numbers

Read more:
More teacher strikes loom
GMB votes to accept NHS pay offer after Unite rejection
Hundreds of Heathrow staff to strike in May

Original strike plan deemed unlawful

Nurses are set to strike this weekend after a High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the industrial action to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay secured the court’s interim declaration after bringing legal action against part of the trade union’s proposed walkout.

It was deemed unlawful due to the initial mandate to strike, which lasts six months, expiring, meaning any action after 2 May could not go ahead.

NHS England warned that staffing levels for some areas of the country will be “exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days”.

It is urging the public to use the health service wisely as hospitals prepare to cope with the bank holiday weekend, and said emergency and urgent care would remain the priority.

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NHS executive: ‘Strikes are disruptive’

Unions encouraged to accept pay offer

The latest action comes as health unions are split over whether to accept a 5% pay offer from the government.

The NHS Staff Council – made up of health unions, employers and government representatives – is meeting on Tuesday to discuss the offer.

However, the offer from the government has been described as “final”.

Unison and the GMB have both accepted pay offers from the government, with the RCN and Unite having refused.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen will be on Sophy Ridge On Sunday from 8.30am.

Coronation robes revealed along with changes to languages and faiths involved in ceremony | UK News

A lavish new Robe of Estate, decorated with bees, a beetle and flowers, has been made for the Queen Consort to wear after her coronation.

Only small glimpses have been released, ensuring the whole ensemble remains under wraps until the big day.

Announcements have also been made about traditional languages forming part of the coronation service, and multi-faith elements, too.

A Robe of Estate is a long velvet garment worn by a British monarch after their coronation.

Camilla’s is embroidered in goldwork threads, drawing on themes of nature and the environment.

It has been hand embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework, of which the Queen Consort is patron.

Incorporating delphiniums, it pays tribute to one of the King’s favourite flowers. It is also Camilla’s birth month flower.

It references the late Queen, too, by including her favourite bloom, the lily of the valley.

Camilla will wear the grand garment, which also includes her cypher, for her departure from Westminster Abbey.

Work being carried out on King Charles's Robe of State
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Work being carried out on King Charles’s Robe of State

King Charles will wear his grandfather George VI’s Robes of State and Estate from the coronation in 1937, which are almost 90 years old.

They have been conserved and prepared for the occasion.

A Robe of State is worn by a British monarch on state occasions, such as during the State Opening of Parliament.

Robes of State are crimson while Robes of Estate are purple.

Camilla’s Robe of State, to be worn on her arrival at Westminster Abbey, is the one made for the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

It has been conserved – with adjustments – and has a 5.5 metre train.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “For the first time, insects including bees and a beetle feature on the Coronation Robe, drawing on the themes of nature and the environment and reflecting their Majesties’ affection for the natural world.”

There are also national emblems – the rose, thistle and shamrock.

Read more from Sky News:
Stone of Destiny arrives in London for King’s coronation
The weird and wonderful products used to mark the crowning of Charles

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth after their coronation in May 1937
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King George VI and Queen Elizabeth after their coronation in May 1937

Changes to languages and faiths involved

Organisers have also announced changes to the languages being used at the coronation ceremony, as well as the faiths involved.

The coronation congregation will hear three Celtic languages – Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic – alongside English.

As a young man, the King travelled to Aberystwyth University to learn the Welsh language from Welsh nationalist Dr Edward Millward.

That was prior to his investiture as the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in 1969.

There will also be a multi-faith element, visible from the opening moments, with representatives taking part in a series of processions into Westminster Abbey that will culminate with the entrance of the King and Queen Consort.

Among them will be leaders and others from the Jewish, Sunni and Shia Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Bahai and Zoroastrian communities.

When the regalia is presented to the King, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish peers will take part, handing over items which do not have Christian meaning or symbolism.

The following religious leaders will take part in a greeting to the King at the end of the coronation service:

• Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, KBE (Judaism)

• The Most Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala (Buddhism)

• The Rt. Hon. The Lord Singh of Wimbledon, CBE (Sikhism)

• Radha Mohan das (Hinduism)

• Aliya Azam, MBE (Islam)

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Coronation flypast rehearsal

The leaders will tell the newly crowned King: “Your Majesty, as neighbours in faith, we acknowledge the value of public service.

“We unite with people of all faiths and beliefs in thanksgiving, and in service with you for the common good.”

The King will acknowledge the greeting.

The Guardian pulls cartoon of outgoing BBC boss Richard Sharp after antisemitism backlash | Politics News

A controversial cartoon of outgoing BBC chairman Richard Sharp has been taken down by a national newspaper after being widely condemned as antisemitic.

In the face of a fierce backlash, The Guardian has apologised and removed Martin Rowson’s drawing posted on its website as it “did not meet our editorial standards”.

Also apologising, Mr Rowson said through “carelessness and thoughtlessness I screwed up pretty badly”.

Critics argued the depiction of Mr Sharp, who is Jewish, would not have looked out of place in Nazi-era propaganda sheets.

There has been condemnation of the caricature
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There has been condemnation of the ‘deeply depressing’ caricature. Pic: Guardian

The row comes after Mr Sharp resigned from the top BBC job on Friday after being found to have broken the rules by failing to disclose he played a role in getting the then prime minister Boris Johnson an £800,000 loan guarantee.

The cartoon showed a heavily-featured Mr Sharp departing with a box marked Goldman Sachs, the investment bank where he used to work, containing a squid and what appears to be a puppet of Rishi Sunak.

The Jewish “puppet master”, secretly controlling the economic and political world order, has been a long-standing narrative and antisemitic trope used by conspiracy theorists.

Next to Mr Sharp, sitting on a pile of dung is a naked Mr Johnson, shouting to him: “Cheer up matey. I put you down for a peerage in my resignation honours list.”

Author Dave Rich, who has written on antisemitism, wrote on Twitter the cartoon “falls squarely into an antisemitic tradition of depicting Jews with outsized, grotesque features, often in conjunction with money and power”.

He pointed out such caricatures had been used by both the Nazis and in the Soviet Union.

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Richard Sharp’s resignation in full

Highlighting the symbolism within the cartoon, on the squid, Mr Rich said: “Yes, Sharp worked for Goldman Sachs, which was famously described in @RollingStone as ‘a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money'”.

But he added: “The problem is that a squid or octopus is also a common antisemitic motif, used to depict a supposed Jewish conspiracy with its tentacles wrapped around whatever parts of society the Jews supposedly control. Especially money. Are those gold coins in the box with Sharp’s squid?”

He added: “Is it possible that a cartoonist as experienced as @MartinRowson is unaware of these common antisemitic traditions (plus whoever else at the Guardian saw it)?

“Or perhaps this just another case of assumptions about Jews, money and power that are so familiar, people don’t notice them.”

He went on: “The physical characteristics given to Sharp in the cartoon – the nose, lips etc – are racial characteristics. Antisemitism can be racism. Just in case anyone was still unsure about that.”

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Johnson has nothing to say on Sharp

Read more:
Analysis: Damage to the BBC has already been done

Diane Abbott suspended as Labour MP after suggesting Jews don’t face racism

Former Labour MP Ian Austin, who quit the party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership over antisemitism and now sits in the Lords, wrote on Twitter: “What an utterly revolting cartoon, full of disgusting antisemitic imagery.

“It looks like something from a far-right Nazi publication but is in fact in @guardian and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

Fellow former Labour MP John Mann, who is also now a peer, said: “Haven’t bought this paper for many years. This is why.

“My parents who bought it every day would be so saddened and angry with those who own and edit it. A paper that chooses not to sort itself out.”

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Richard Sharp scandal explained

Stephen Pollard, editor-at-large of the Jewish Chronicle, tweeted: “It takes a lot to shock me. And I am well aware of the Guardian’s and especially Rowson’s form. But I still find it genuinely shocking that not a single person looked at this and said, no, we can’t run this. To me that’s the real issue.”

‘Antisemitism should be relentlessly challenged’

Tory former cabinet minister Sajid Javid also wrote on Twitter: “Disappointed to see these tropes in today’s Guardian.

“Disturbing theme – or at best, lessons not learned?”

He linked to a previous Guardian cartoon by Steve Bell 2020, which drew accusations of racism, after depicting then home secretary Priti Patel, who is of Hindu heritage, as a huge bull with horns and a ring through her nose.

Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith said: “The depiction of Richard Sharp in @guardian is deeply depressing.

“Antisemitism should be relentlessly challenged, day in day out. Lots to write about re the report this week, but why this?”

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore branded it a “repellent explicitly racist cartoon”.

Responding to criticism, The Guardian said in a statement: “We understand the concerns that have been raised.

“This cartoon does not meet our editorial standards, and we have decided to remove it from our website.

“The Guardian apologises to Mr Sharp, to the Jewish community and to anyone offended.”

‘Things go horribly wrong’

Mr Rowson apologised on Twitter. He said: “Through carelessness and thoughtlessness I screwed up pretty badly with a Graun toon today & many people are understandably very upset.

“I genuinely apologise, unconditionally.”

In a longer statement on his website, he added: “Sometimes, like in this case, in the mad rush to cram as much in as possible in the five or so hours available to me to produce the artwork by deadline, things go horribly wrong.”

He continued: “I know Richard Sharp is Jewish; actually, while we’re collecting networks of croneyism, I was at school with him, though I doubt he remembers me.

“His Jewishness never crossed my mind as I drew him as it’s wholly irrelevant to the story or his actions, and it played no conscious role in how I twisted his features according to the standard cartooning playbook.

“Likewise, the cute squid and the little Rishi were no more than that, a cartoon squid and a short Prime Minister, it never occurring to me that some might see them as puppets of Sharp, this being another notorious antisemitic trope.”

Sudan: Last minute call for Britons hoping to escape as UK rescue flights open up to foreign NHS doctors | UK News

British nationals seeking to flee Sudan had only until midday local time if they want to be evacuated from the war-torn country as NHS doctors without UK passports were told they can now catch final rescue flights.

The Foreign Office had urged those still in the African nation to travel to the Wadi Saeedna airfield near Khartoum by 12pm local time (11am UK time) in order to be processed.

The last flight is due to leave at 7pm local time (6pm UK time).

Image:
More than 1,500 British nationals have so far been flown out. Pic: MoD

It is understood the number of Britons arriving at the airport had dropped dramatically ahead of the deadline with a “trickle” of people now turning up over several hours.

In pictures supplied by the Ministry of Defence yesterday, children were seen among those being helped by British forces.

More than 1,500 people on 13 flights have so far been flown out of Sudan.

Read more:
‘Death will come to you anywhere’ – mayhem at Port Sudan
Traumatised Sudan evacuees describe ‘horrendous’ scenes
Explainer: What’s behind the Sudan fighting?

A Whitehall source has also confirmed NHS medics and eligible dependents would also now be evacuated because there was spare capacity on the final flights.

Denying this was a U-turn, they said it was always the plan to prioritise British citizens before moving onto other groups when space opened up.

It follows criticism of the speed of the British evacuation, which was bought more time after a 72-hour extension to the ceasefire between the two warring factions was agreed on Thursday.

Despite the truce agreement, heavy fighting has continued between the army and a rival paramilitary force in the capital and surrounding areas, including strikes by air, tanks and artillery.

Tens of thousands have fled the violence between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has derailed an internationally-backed transition towards democratic elections.

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Sudan: ‘It’s sheer chaos’

The deadly power struggle has also rekindled a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region and threatens to trigger instability across the volatile wider region.

The fighting has led to food shortages, power cuts and forced many hospitals to close.

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At least 512 people have been killed and close to 4,200 injured, according to the United Nations, which believes the number of casualties is much higher.

The latest ceasefire, brokered by foreign powers, is supposed to last until Sunday at midnight, but both sides are accusing the other of violations.

Teacher strikes: More walkouts loom as unions vow to coordinate action in autumn | UK News

Every state school in England could face more strikes in the autumn, after teaching unions vowed to coordinate walkouts if they go ahead.

The move means 400,000 members from the National Education Union (NEU), Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), NASUWT and Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) could trigger widespread disruption as part of the long-running dispute over pay.

However, only the NEU currently holds a mandate to strike, with members set to take action on Tuesday. It will re-ballot its members over summer over whether to continue walkouts.

NAHT and the NASUWT teaching union both failed to make the 50% threshold in its latest balloting, and will ask members again ahead of the autumn term.

The ASCL will also ballot its members – the first time in its history.

Asked about the impact of possible co-ordinated strike action at the NAHT’s annual conference in Telford, Mr Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “I think with our four unions you would find that every state school in England would be affected by the dispute and that would put you up at 300,000-400,000 teachers… involved in taking the action, I would have thought.

“We don’t want to take it. We want to find a solution. But with all four of us acting together I think we will all pass the government’s undemocratic thresholds and so it would be an enormous response from our members.

“We would sincerely apologise to parents for disrupting their children’s education if we’re pushed to that. And we would sincerely apologise to them for disrupting their home and their working lives. However, what we are seeing is disruption in children’s education every week of the school year.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, told the conference: “I have been around a decade and I have never seen the co-ordination that we are seeing here.”

The latest move from teaching unions comes after the government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for this year, as well as a 4.5% pay rise for next year.

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Schools to face co-ordinated strikes

Read more:
When and why NEU members are striking, school closures and how your child is affected
GMB union votes to accept NHS pay offer after Unite rejects government deal

All four unions rejected the offer.

A decision on pay for education staff has been given to the independent School Teachers’ Review Body.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “For unions to co-ordinate strike action with the aim of causing maximum disruption to schools is unreasonable and disproportionate, especially given the impact the pandemic has already had on their learning.

“Children’s education has always been our absolute priority, and they should be in classrooms where they belong.

“We have made a fair and reasonable teacher pay offer to the unions, which recognises teachers’ hard work and commitment as well as delivering an additional £2bn in funding for schools, which they asked for.”

Pilot who joked ‘I normally get arrested for drugs’ jailed for his part in Albanian people smuggling plot | UK News

A career criminal has been jailed for his role in a plot to smuggle four Albanians into the UK by flying them to a small airfield in Northamptonshire.

Richard Styles, 53, was sentenced alongside two other men after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation foiled their plot in March last year.

Styles, a qualified pilot, had arranged with fellow aviation buff Silvano Turchet, 68, to rent a six-seater Piper Seneca for £1,500 from an airfield in Lincolnshire.

A surveillance image of the aircraft shortly after its arrival at Deenethrorpe Airfield with Styles at the helm
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A surveillance image of the aircraft shortly after its arrival at Deenethorpe Airfield with Styles at the helm

The plane was flown to Deenethorpe Airfield near Corby, where it was stored in a hanger which Turchet had paid for.

On 23 March, Styles flew to Belgium, where the four passengers were waiting. It is believed that he had been in contact with an Albanian known as ‘Tim K’ who arranged the Belgian end of the deal.

When the plane returned to the UK the next day, an NCA surveillance team was waiting and swooped on Styles, who joked to them: “I normally get arrested for drugs, so it’s a bit strange.”

Vijayakumar Sivakumar was sentenced to four and a half years
Image:
Vijayakumar Sivakumar, who drove a taxi, was sentenced to four and a half years

The Albanian group was swiftly detained by Northants Police, who were working with the NCA, in a taxi which was being driven by Vijayakumar Sivakumar, who was also arrested.

The migrants were handed over to immigration authorities.

Sivakumar, 43, had prior convictions for trying to smuggle people into the UK in the boot of his car. Phone records showed he had been in contact with Tim K in the run-up to the flight.

Read more:
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Styles had previously been convicted for using a plane to smuggle ecstasy tablets out of Belgium and drop cannabis into Jersey in 2003 while on the run from Belgian authorities.

He was sentenced to 12 years in jail in 2006, and it is believed that he met Turchet while imprisoned.

The pair were also arrested by Dutch authorities in 2017 in connection with another people smuggling enterprise, for which Styles would be convicted in his absence.

Turchet was arrested at his home in Nottingham in July 2022 by NCA investigators. He denied knowledge of the plot, but phone data put him near Deenethorpe Airfield on 24 March and showed he’d called Styles nine times.

All three were charged with facilitating a breach of immigration law, which Styles admitted to at a hearing on 8 August 2022.

Turchet pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial, while Sivakumar was found guilty by a jury after a five-day trial at Leicester Crown Court in February 2023.

Inside the Piper Seneca
Image:
Inside the Piper Seneca

On 28 April, a judge at Leicester sentenced Styles to seven years in prison, Turchet to seven-and-a-half years, and Sivakumar to four-and-a-half years.

NCA Regional Head of Investigations Jacque Beer said: “Styles was a career criminal who previously used his piloting skills to move consignments of drugs around Europe. On this occasion he was offering a luxury end to end service, bringing people into the UK using a private plane.

“His comments to my officers show that he considered getting arrested nothing more than an occupational hazard.

“People smugglers use a range of methods to try and breach UK border controls, and we are determined to do all we can to stop them. Tackling organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA.”

Marelle Sturrock: Body recovered from Mugdock Reservoir formally identified as David Yates | UK News

The body of a man recovered by officers investigating the death of a pregnant teacher has been formally identified as her partner David Yates.

Police Scotland officers made the discovery at Mugdock Reservoir on Thursday.

The search was under way for Yates, 36, after Marelle Sturrock, 35, was found dead in a property in Glasgow’s Jura Street on Tuesday morning.

A murder investigation was opened into her death and officers have said there is nothing to suggest anyone else was involved. Ms Sturrock was 29 weeks pregnant and her unborn baby did not survive.

On Friday afternoon, a force spokesperson said: “The body of a man recovered yesterday following searches of Mugdock Reservoir has now been formally identified as 36-year-old David Yates.

“His death is not being treated as suspicious.”

Marelle Sturrock. Pic: Facebook
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Ms Sturrock was from the Scottish Highlands but moved to Glasgow when she was 17. Pic: Facebook

Yates’s white Seat Ateca was discovered at Mugdock Country Park nine miles away on Tuesday, sparking a major police search.

Police divers were spotted at the East Dunbartonshire park and parts of the reservoir was taped off, with officers standing guard.

Police divers at the scene at Mugdock Country Park, East Dunbartonshire, as police continue their search for the fiancé of pregnant teacher Marelle Sturrock, 35, who was found dead in suspicious circumstances in Glasgow on Tuesday. Picture date: Thursday April 27, 2023.
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Police divers at Mugdock Country Park on Thursday

A Police Scotland spokesperson added: “An investigation remains ongoing, however, there is nothing to suggest anyone else was involved in her death.

“Reports will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due course.

“Officers continue to provide specialist support to both families at this incredibly difficult time.”

Police continue to search Mugdock Country Park, East Dunbartonshire, for the fiancé of pregnant teacher Marelle Sturrock, 35, who was found dead in suspicious circumstances in Glasgow on Tuesday. Picture date: Thursday April 27, 2023.
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Police combed Mugdock Country Park in the search for Yates

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Ms Sturrock was from the Scottish Highlands but moved to Glasgow when she was 17 to pursue a career in the performing arts.

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Police have confirmed the body recovered is that of Yates

She later became a primary school teacher after completing her postgraduate diploma in education.

Parents and carers of pupils at Sandwood Primary School in Glasgow, where Ms Sturrock worked, were told of her death in a letter on Wednesday.

Marelle Sturrock was found dead in a property in Glasgow's Jura Street on Tuesday 25 April.
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Police pictured outside the Jura Street property

Paying tribute later, headteacher Fiona Donnelly described Ms Sturrock as a “lovely, kind, diligent and considerate person who loved and made time for everyone”.

She added: “We are a school community in mourning and are devastated by the tragic news of her death and pass on our deepest condolences to her family and friends as we all come to terms with our loss.”