6:54 am, August 23, 2023
Shapps visits Kyiv as UK announces support for Ukraine’s nuclear energy supply
UK government support for Ukraine’s nuclear fuel supply will help end the country’s reliance on Russian supplies, Grant Shapps said after a trip to a Ukrainian power station.
The government has announced its intention to provide a £192m loan guarantee through UK Export Finance (UKEF) – the UK’s export credit agency – enabling UK-headquartered Urenco to supply Ukraine’s national nuclear company, Energoatom, with uranium enrichment services, which are vital for nuclear fuel.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that, once provided, the support will bring the UK’s non-military financial assistance to Ukraine close to £5 billion.
UK’s first womb transplant a ‘massive success’ after sister’s donation
A woman has been given a womb by her older sister in the UK’s first womb transplant.
The 34-year-old married woman received the organ – also called the uterus – during an operation lasting nine hours and 20 minutes at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, which is part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Her sister, 40, has completed her own family by giving birth to two children, and was willing to donate her womb.
Sir Ed Davey calls for more action on food inflation with visit to Dorries’ seat
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey will use a visit to Nadine Dorries’ constituency to demand greater action on food price inflation as analysis from his party claims the cost of a typical weekly shop has risen 37 per cent in two years.
Sir Ed said people in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency struggling with the cost of living are being ‘badly let down’ by Ms Dorries, who announced in June that she would give up the seat but has yet to formally resign.
The Liberal Democrat leader accused the Conservative former minister and prime minister Rishi Sunak of being ‘missing in action’ while people suffer with ‘soaring’ food prices. Analysis by the Lib Dems shows the price of what the party describes as a typical weekly shop has increased by 37 per cent in two years, which they said would add around £870 a year to a family’s food bill.
Rescuers save eight people trapped in cable car above canyon in Pakistan
Army commandos using helicopters and a makeshift chairlift have rescued eight people from a broken cable car dangling hundreds of feet above a canyon in a remote part of Pakistan.
The six children and two adults became trapped earlier in the day when one of the cables snapped while the passengers were crossing a river canyon in the Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The children had been on their way to school.
Caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar congratulated the military and other rescuers for the success.
Lucy Letby’s former boss referred to nursing regulator
The nursing regulator for the UK has confirmed it is looking into claims against Lucy Letby’s former boss, Alison Kelly.
Kelly, who was director of nursing at the Countess of Chester Hospital before leaving in 2021, has been suspended from her current role, nursing director at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in Salford, after she was accused of ignoring concerns about Letby.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said she has now been referred to the fitness to practise process.
Agreement reached to keep bricks and foundations on Crooked House pub site
South Staffordshire Council has said it will closely monitor work at the Crooked House pub after securing an agreement that bricks and foundations will be kept at the site.
The local authority said the ‘positive step’ at the fire-hit and now demolished structure in Himley, near Dudley, followed ongoing engagement with the site’s owners, a contractor, the Health and Safety Executive, and police.
Campaigners took direct action, including a sit-down protest, on Monday, after heavy machinery and staff moved on to the site, amid claims that checks for the presence of asbestos were taking place.
Channel crossings top 18,000 for the year so far
More than 18,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year.
Home Office data shows 661 people made the journey in 15 boats on Monday, the third highest daily total for 2023 to date.
This takes the provisional total for the year so far to 18,618, according to PA news agency analysis of the government figures. This is about 13 per cent below the equivalent number at this point last year, when there had been more than 21,300 arrivals.
Shell and BP among firms accused of greenwashing over renewable energy
Shell and BP are among 12 oil firms who have been accused of greenwashing over the amount of renewable and low-carbon energy they produce.
Research commissioned by Greenpeace analysed the annual reports of the British fossil fuel giants for 2022, alongside 10 other European companies. The report compared the amount of renewable electricity generated by the companies (wind, solar, geothermal and hydro) with the amount of energy they provide through their own oil and gas production.
Shell and BP generated just 0.02 per cent and 0.17 per cent of energy from renewable sources in 2022 respectively, the analysis claimed. Meanwhile, the companies’ investment in green energy was a fraction of that in fossil fuels over the year, it found.
Weather
A sunny day in the south, reports BBC Weather, while other areas will see sunny spells later on after showers have cleared. Rain will return to the west in the evening, however. Another pleasant day in areas with sunshine as temperatures will climb to 25 degrees.
Tonight, rain in the west will blow through to the east, clearing overnight. The south will have sharp showers from the south-west towards dawn.
