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Apr 10 2024
Pouria Zeraati: Iranian journalist ‘lost a lot of blood’ in stabbing outside home in suspected ‘state-sponsored attack’ | UK News

An Iranian journalist has described the moment he was stabbed outside his home in what he believes was a state-sponsored attack.

Pouria Zeraati, a 36-year-old presenter at London-based broadcaster Iran International, was attacked by three unknown assailants in Wimbledon on 29 March.

In his first live interview, Mr Zeraati told Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim he “lost a lot of blood” in the stabbing.

Pouria Zeraati shares photo of himself from hospital bed after being stabbed. Pic: X / @pouriazeraati
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Pouria Zeraati shared photo of himself from his hospital bed after being stabbed. Pic: X/ @pouriazeraati

He said he was walking towards his car when a man came up to him and asked for £3 in cash.

When Mr Zeraati replied that he did not have any change a second man approached and “grabbed me from the front very firmly”.

At that point, he said the first person “stabbed me in the leg, the back side of my leg in my thigh, and very fast they ran away”.

The journalist said at first he thought he had been robbed, but then realised he still had his phone, watch and wallet – and instead believed the attack may have been something to do with his job.

Mr Zeraati said he thought the men were trying to harm rather than kill him.

He said: “Because [of] the way they were holding me, and then they stabbed me in my leg – they could stab anywhere in my body. They could stab in my neck, they could stab in my heart. There are places specifically that people [aim for to] make sure the target is dead.”

Pouria Zeraati. Pic: Iran International
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Pic: Iran International

The Metropolitan Police said no arrests have yet been made.

The force said it is confident the three suspects “do not present a risk to communities of London or the UK,” as detectives believe they fled the country via Heathrow Airport within hours of the stabbing.

Mr Zeraati said: “It looks like a state-sponsored attack, but we need to wait for more investigation results to come out”.

‘Situation is concerning’

Mr Zeraati, who returned to TV a week after the attack, said he was recovering and “feeling much better physically”.

But he added: “Mentally it definitely takes some time to get over it”.

Asked about his safety, he said: “Of course I am worried and I am concerned. We are under protection right now. I am not even allowed to visit my friends. The whole situation is concerning.

“But if it was done to scare me and silence me, then definitely it’s not working. This was an attack on the job I do, this was an attack against the platform I have.”

When asked about the attack, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, the Iranian charge d’affaires in the UK, said: “We deny any link”.

‘State-backed threats’

Iran International editor Niusha Boghrati previously told Sky News that the station was guarded by armed police, and said threats had “turned into a reality of terrorism”.

The broadcaster temporarily shut down its operations in London early last year and moved to studios in Washington after what it described as an escalation of “state-backed threats from Iran”.

The station resumed broadcasting from a new location in London last September.

A Chechen-born man was jailed in December after being found guilty of spying on Iran International to help terror plotters.

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Feb 18 2024
Neil Kinnock: Labour leader who lost ‘unlosable’ election predicts Starmer will end up in No 10 | Politics News

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has cautiously predicted a victory for Sir Keir Starmer at the next general election – but refused to speculate on whether he will win a majority.

Lord Kinnock famously lost the 1992 election despite the polls being stacked firmly in his favour as the country, then under its 13th consecutive year of a Conservative government, battled a recession and declining living standards.

His rival John Major clinched a victory in a shock outcome that resulted in five more years of the Tories in power, before being wiped out by Labour’s Tony Blair.

Given Sir Keir’s 20 point lead in the polls, pundits are questioning whether the next election could be a repeat of the party’s 1997 landslide victory, or a 1992 false dawn.

But Lord Kinnock told Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips (SMTP) that it will be “neither 92 or 97”.

“It’s going to be 24 because every single election is different.”

Pressed if he thought Labour will win, he said: “I’m convinced now that we’re not going to lose… I will go no further than that.”

He said he thought Sir Keir would end up in Downing Street, but that the UK’s First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system made it too difficult to guess by how much anybody could win or lose by.

On criticism that Sir Keir is too cautious, he said the Labour leader is taking a sensible approach to win broad support for his party.

Neil Kinnock in 1985
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Neil Kinnock in 1985 (Pic: PA)

“Caution is fine. To be reserved, to not disclose full plans, to accept convections before the election to give the reassurance which is crucial to getting a breadth of support without which you can’t win… that is just sensible.”

The next election is expected to take place in the second half of this year.

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Labour needs a historic 12.7 percentage point swing to win a majority – larger than the 10.2% swing former prime minister Tony Blair achieved.

Labour has been buoyed by a series of by-election victories this parliament, including two on Friday, but Sir Keir has insisted he is not complacent – telling reporters this week: “You don’t win the league by a good result in February. So we’ve got to fight like we’re five points behind in the polls.”

It followed what was considered to be the biggest crisis of his leadership so far as the party became embroiled in another antisemitism row, which resulted in them withdrawing support for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali.

Lord Kinnock said he believed Sir Keir “acted with courage and correctly” over the issue.

Pressed on whether Sir Keir would end up in 10 Downing Street, he said: “Yes. And I look forward to that very much because I think he would be a mature, honest, dependable leader of a party. And by God, we need all that now.”

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Feb 8 2024
Sarah de Lagarde, who lost arm and leg in Tube accident, sues TfL | UK News

A mother of two, who lost an arm and a leg when she was hit by two London Underground trains, says she is suing Transport for London (TfL).

Sarah de Lagarde suffered the horrific injuries after she fell into the gap between a stationary train and the platform at High Barnet station in north London in September 2022.

The 46-year-old said she slipped on a wet and uneven platform and “fell into the darkness”.

The fall initially left her with a broken nose and two broken front teeth.

However she then lost her right arm when the train left the platform and despite shouting for help, nobody heard her, so when the next train came into the station, she lost her right leg.

She now uses two prosthetic limbs, including a bionic arm.

Speaking on The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jane Mee, Ms de Lagarde said she has launched legal action against TfL, which she says, has not accepted responsibility for what happened.

More on London Underground

Pic: Sarah de Lagarde
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Pic: Sarah de Lagarde


Pic: Sarah de Lagarde
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Pic: Sarah de Lagarde

Ms de Lagarde said that since the accident, “I’ve been trying to engage with TFL” to discuss “mapping out the learnings because acceptance of failures leads to innovation.

“I have had no response, no engagement, no apology, and now a formal denying of liability of responsibility. For me, that leaves me no other option… and legal action is what I now have to resort to, not what I wanted to do.”

She said: “I am calling on Sadiq Khan again to meet me and other victims of the London Transport Network to discuss these issues urgently before anyone else gets hurt or killed in this way.”

Ms de Lagarde, who works in communications, claims the Mayor of London’s office has turned down her requests for a meeting with Mr Khan, despite an intervention from Sir Keir Starmer – the Labour leader is Ms de Lagarde’s MP.

Mr Khan is chairman of the TfL board.

Pic: Sarah de Lagarde
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Pic: Sarah de Lagarde

“We need there to be an independent and comprehensive review of TfL’s safety procedures so that meaningful lessons can be learned,” she said.

Accidents are still happening on the capital’s transport network, she claimed.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London on Wednesday, she said: “There were no staff on that platform, and no one was watching CCTV. No one had responded to my screams for help.

“Twenty-two tonnes of steel crushed my limbs, and, if that wasn’t bad enough, I remained on the tracks undetected until the second train came into the station, crushing me for a second time.

“A few weeks before I was hit by the two Tube trains, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with my husband, which was a lifelong dream of mine.

“I felt on top of the world, and overnight all that changed. I am now severely disabled for life.”

Sarah Delagarde
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Pic: Sarah de Lagarde


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Nick Dent, director of customer operations at London Underground, said: “TfL is responding to a legal claim which has been brought by solicitors on behalf of Sarah De Lagarde and I am not in a position to comment publicly further.

“However, our thoughts continue to be with Sarah and her family following the devastating incident at High Barnet station and we have offered her direct support.

“Safety is our top priority and we continue to take every possible measure to learn from any incident and put in place appropriate improvements.”

A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: “The mayor’s thoughts remain with Sarah and her loved ones. He has asked to be kept updated and is very keen to meet with Sarah once the claim is resolved.”

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Jun 6 2023
COVID-19: Government ‘too slow’ to recover taxpayer money lost to fraud | Politics News

The government is still being “too slow” to recover taxpayer money lost to fraud and error over the pandemic, MPs have said.

The cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also said Whitehall needs a “step change” in its approach to risk in order to prevent a similar “panic response” in the future.

In a wide-ranging report, the group laid bare a number of “repeated problems”.

Total fraud and error across COVID employment schemes delivered by HMRC was an estimated £4.5bn, of which the department expects to recoup just £1.1bn, PAC said.

“Some increase in fraud and error was an inevitable short-term consequence of providing support quickly, but government is being too slow to recover taxpayer pounds lost,” the report said.

“Whitehall departments have an opportunity to do better by the taxpayer by prioritising work to tackle current levels of fraud and error; improving how they measure fraud and error so we can be clearer about the extent of the problem and measures to tackle it; and planning and implementing better fraud and error safeguards.”

And the committee also found the Department of Health and Social Care wasted an “extraordinary” £14.9bn on PPE and related COVID expenditure across the last two years.

“No-one could predict the COVID-19 pandemic, but we could have been better prepared,” the report added.

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“The scale of the losses incurred in a panic response on issues such as PPE procurement are documented in this report. We need to learn the lesson that there is always unpredictability.”

A Government spokesperson said: “In the last two years, we have recovered more than £3.1bn of fraud losses, including within COVID-19 schemes, and as the report acknowledges, we have already made significant progress by establishing the Public Sector Fraud Authority.

“However, we are not complacent, which is why we are expanding the Government’s Counter-Fraud Profession, developing new technologies and boosting skills and training to further protect the public purse.”

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‘A scandal of a huge proportion’ (12 Dec, 2022)

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “This is a damning indictment of eye-watering Tory waste, with Rishi Sunak writing off billions in taxpayers’ money lost to COVID fraud after ignoring basic checks and warnings.”

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Mar 21 2023
Hundreds of people have lost sight due to NHS treatment delays | UK News

Hundreds of people have lost their sight due to treatment delays caused by NHS backlogs, it has been revealed.

NHS England figures, released after a Freedom of Information request by the Association of Optometrists (AOP), showed that more than 200 eye care patients had suffered because of long waits for care since 2019.

Of those, 99 incidents involved “severe harm” and 120 “moderate harm” – including one patient who went blind in their left eye after going three months without what should have been a monthly injection.

Hundreds more people are suspected to have been affected by what the AOP described as a “health emergency”.

The backlog for ophthalmology appointments in England is the second-largest in the NHS, standing at 628,502 – with 27,260 waiting a year or more.

Nearly half of UK optometrists are now seriously concerned about the number of patients who could lose sight unnecessarily because of NHS backlogs, the AOP warned.

People ‘terrified’ of going blind

It comes after a poll revealed more than half of Britons who have needed treatment for macular eye conditions in the past two years have experienced a delay waiting for an appointment or care.

Nearly half of the 498 people surveyed have experienced a loss or decline in vision during this time.

Cathy Yelf, chief executive of eye charity Macular Society, said people are “terrified” at the prospect of going blind.

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The AOP is calling on the government to adopt a “national strategy for eye care” to tackle the issue, including allowing more community optometrists to provide care and follow-up services to reduce pressure on the NHS.

AOP chief Adam Sampson said: “There are good treatments available for common age-related eye conditions like macular degeneration, but many hospital trusts simply do not have the capacity to deliver services.”

“It’s incomprehensible and absolutely tragic that patients are waiting, losing their vision, in many parts of the country because of the way eye healthcare is commissioned,” he added.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the NHS was making good progress in reducing wait times and is working towards eliminating delays of a year or more for elective care by March 2025.

The government plans to spend more than £8bn between 2022 and 2025 to support elective recovery.

“No one should have to suffer avoidable sight loss, and we are taking action to improve access to services, including appointing a national clinical director for eye care to oversee the recovery and transformation of services, so patients receive the care they need,” said a spokesperson.

“We are also investing in the ophthalmology workforce, with more training places provided in 2022 – and even more planned for 2023 – alongside improved training for existing staff.”

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Oct 23 2022
Salman Rushdie has lost sight in one eye and use of hand after stabbing, says agent | World News

Author Sir Salman Rushdie has lost the sight in an eye and the use of a hand after he was stabbed on stage, his agent has revealed.

The Indian-born British writer, who faced death threats for his novel The Satanic Verses, was attacked in August as he was about to deliver a lecture in New York state.

He was stabbed around 12 times, including in his face and neck, but the full extent of his injuries had been unclear until now.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Sir Salman’s literary agent Andrew Wyle said the 75-year-old’s injuries were “profound” and he had “lost the sight of one eye”.

“He had three serious wounds in his neck,” Mr Wylie said.

“One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack.”

Mr Wylie refused to reveal if Sir Salman remained in hospital, saying he could not give any information about his whereabouts.

“He’s going to live… that’s the more important thing,” he added.

Sir Salman spent nearly a decade in hiding after the publication in 1988 of his work The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims consider to be blasphemous.

Novelist Salman Rushdie holds paperback copy of his controversial novel. "The Satanic Verses" March 4, 1992. Pic: AP
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Salman Rushdie holds a copy of his novel
The Satanic Verses in 1992. Pic: AP

A fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to kill him was issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian leader, a year later.

Mr Wylie said an attack “was probably something that Salman and I have discussed in the past”.

“The principal danger that he faced so many years after the fatwa was imposed is from a random person coming out of nowhere and attacking [him],” the agent said.

“So, you can’t protect against that because it’s totally unexpected and illogical. It was like John Lennon’s murder.”

Read more:
Why is Salman Rushdie so controversial?

Hadi Matar. Pic: Chautauqua County Jail
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Hadi Matar is accused of stabbing Sir Salman. Pic: Chautauqua County Jail

Following the attack on Sir Salman, Iran’s foreign ministry said the author “and his supporters are to blame for what happened to him”.

The man accused of stabbing Sir Salman has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges.

Hadi Matar, 24, is being held in custody as he awaits trial.

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Sep 13 2022
Prepared for a life in service by the parents they loved – but still just siblings lost in grief | UK News

They’ve all talked about how the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh taught them well to cope with a public life of service – being involved in military processions has been such a regular part of all their lives.

But even the King, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward must have had to find composure amidst their personal grief and rally themselves for what was to come.

Firstly we saw it as the new King was reunited with the Queen outside Holyroodhouse, the moment his mother’s coffin left her official residence in Scotland for one final time.

King Charles paused before beginning the slow march behind her, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his siblings.

He may carry the heaviest burden of responsibility, but they all share the sense of sadness.

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A family in silent remembrance

And then the vigil: Heads bowed around the coffin. A time for the four to quietly remember.

They appeared lost in thought, as members of the public were still allowed to stream past to pay their own respects inside St Giles’ Cathedral.

While it was another day with moments to pause, it was also a reminder of the relentless schedule the new King is keeping.

On Tuesday, he moves to Northern Ireland, the cameras moving with him, as he hopes to carry the largely positive public response with him every step of the way.

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