6:52 am, April 13, 2023
Junior doctors go on strike for third day as government urged to enter talks
Doctors are waiting to hear whether the government will enter talks facilitated by the conciliation service Acas in a bid to end the bitter dispute over junior doctors’ pay.
Acas said it is ‘well prepared and ready to help’ as the British Medical Association (BMA) urged ministers to get round the table to try to break the deadlock between the parties. It comes as around 47,000 junior doctors enter the third day of strike action in England.
On Wednesday, prime minister Rishi Sunak told reporters in Belfast he wanted to find a ‘reasonable compromise’ with junior doctors.
Sunak hails US-UK relationship as Biden’s brief Belfast visit ends
Rishi Sunak has said the relationship between the UK and the US is in ‘great shape’, after meeting with US president Joe Biden during his brief visit to Northern Ireland.
The length of the visit, which saw Biden arrive late on Tuesday before departing on Wednesday afternoon for the Republic of Ireland, had been seen by some as low key, with the prime minister also not attending the president’s afternoon address at Ulster University.
The prime minister, who spoke to broadcasters after a 45-minute meeting with Biden at a hotel in Belfast city centre, stressed the closeness of the transatlantic relationship as he pointed to the shared vision for progress in Northern Ireland.
Man, 74, extradited from Pakistan over ‘murder’ of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky in 2005
A 74-year-old man has been extradited from Pakistan to be charged with the murder of police constable Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford 18 years ago.
Piran Ditta Khan was brought back to the UK on Tuesday and taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station where he was charged with killing the 38-year-old officer on November 18 2005.
He is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday April 13.
Joe Biden to address parliament as Ireland visit ramps up
US president Joe Biden will address the Irish parliament on Thursday as his visit to the island of Ireland continues with a series of official engagements in Dublin.
Before his address to both houses of the Oireachtas, Biden will visit president of Ireland Michael D Higgins at his official residence in Phoenix Park and will also have a meeting with Irish premier Leo Varadkar at nearby Farmleigh House. At Farmleigh, the president will be invited to watch a sports demonstration by young gaelic games players.
After his parliamentary address on Thursday afternoon, Biden will attend a banquet in his honour at Dublin Castle hosted by Taoiseach Varadkar.
Alleged leaks about UK special forces in Ukraine could ‘endanger lives’
The chair of the Commons defence select committee has warned allegedly leaked documents about UK special forces in Ukraine could “endanger lives”.
The Ministry of Defence warned against taking allegations contained in the reported leak of US classified information, which have been published online, at ‘face value’.
But the committee chair Tobias Ellwood told The Times: ‘Given our long-established lead in scale and capability when it comes to elite forces, it will come as no surprise that our special forces are doing much of the heavy lifting. But this deliberate, large-scale disclosure of sensitive material could easily endanger lives and should prompt an urgent review about who has access to sensitive information and how it is shared.’
Meghan to miss King’s coronation as Harry makes solo trip to see Charles crowned
The Duke of Sussex is to attend his father the King’s coronation, but the Duchess of Sussex will miss the historic occasion and stay in California with the couple’s children, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Harry, who laid bare his troubled relationship with the royal family in his Netflix documentary and autobiography Spare, will be there to witness Charles and stepmother the Queen Consort being crowned in Westminster Abbey on May 6.
Meghan will not travel to the UK and instead stay in the US with the couple’s children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Wednesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Google’s used car Vehicle Ads format could launch in the UK later this year
- Hendy Group expansion sees Moke moved to Southampton from Poole
- Nick’s a class act! Ex-teacher is named Hendy’s Sales Colleague of the Year
- Suzuki boss Dale Wyatt reaffirms commitment to dealers as he takes fresh swipe at agency sales
- Somerset Women’s County Cricket Club joins men’s side as part of Vertu’s growing sporting portfolio
- Eastern Western Motor Group confirms expansion with new sites in Dundee and Perth
Global economy not on the cusp of another 2008, says Bank governor Bailey
The world is not on the cusp of another banking crisis of the scale of the 2008 crash despite recent jitters in the market, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said.
Speaking in Washington DC, Bailey said the banks themselves are in a better position than they were, and that authorities also have better tools to deal with any potential problems.
‘I think the system is in a much more robust condition – that’s the first point of defence. The second point of defence is that we’ve got a lot more tools in our armoury to deal with these things than we had in 2007 and 2008 when we were somewhat making it up as we hit the crisis.’
BMW XM Red Label revealed as firm’s most powerful road car yet
BMW has announced a new high-performance ‘Red Label’ version of its large XM SUV, which arrives as the firm’s most powerful car to date.
The XM was revealed last year as BMW’s performance ‘M’ division’s flagship model, and is a particularly controversial model because of its size and brash looks. Pairing a 4.4-litre V8 engine with an electric motor, the standard car is hardly lacking in performance, putting out a combined 644bhp and 800Nm of torque.
But BMW has managed to build on that with its new ‘Red Label’ version, which gets a more powerful V8 engine that takes the combined outputs up to a monstrous 738bhp and 1,000Nm of torque. A Toronto Red colour scheme is widely used; 500 will be built.
Weather outlook
A day of variable cloud and scattered showers, reports BBC Weather. The south will see the driest conditions with the odd burst of sunshine. Highs of 14 degrees celsius.
Tonight will mostly dry with clear spells. Rain will linger in Scotland; a few showers will push into the south-west in the early hours.
