6:36 am, July 22, 2024
Joe Biden withdraws from White House race and endorses Kamala Harris
US president Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for re-election to the White House yesterday, following the disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office.
The decision came after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside in the wake of the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to criticise Trump’s many falsehoods.
After announcing his decision on X, formerly Twitter, Biden threw his support behind vice-president Kamala Harris, the party’s instant favourite for the nomination at its August convention in Chicago. He plans to serve out the rest of his term in office, which ends on January 20.
NHS warns of delays as services recover from global IT collapse
NHS England has warned of delays as services recover from Friday’s global IT failure.
The health service said patients with appointments this week ‘should continue to attend unless told not to’.
It comes after the British Medical Association warned yesterday that normal GP service ‘cannot be resumed immediately’ after the systems collapse caused a ‘considerable backlog’.
PM launching Skills England to tackle ‘fragmented and broken’ training system
The prime minister is to launch a new body today to deal with Britain’s ‘fragmented and broken’ skills training system.
To be called Skills England, the plan was included in Labour’s manifesto and is intended to ensure training provision is aligned with the needs of the economy.
It’ll bring together central and local government, businesses, trade unions and training providers to better understand the nation’s skills gap.
Nature recovery projects to receive £150m National Lottery funding
Projects that aim to boost nature recovery and ‘back the people who make landscapes thrive’ will receive a share of £150m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The organisation said the money will reach about 20 large-scale projects across the UK as part of a new decade-long initiative, called Landscape Connections.
The funding will focus on Britain’s protected landscapes, including national parks and national landscapes in England and Wales, areas of outstanding natural beauty in Northern Ireland, and national parks and other areas in Scotland.
Man, 80, to appear in court charged with wife’s murder
An 80-year-old man will appear in court today charged with the murder of his wife.
Alan Sharp, of Raeburn Avenue, Tolworth, south-west London, will appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on a charge of killing his 80-year-old wife, Jenny, at the address they shared.
Police were called to their home about 9.30am on Friday after Mrs Sharp was found unresponsive, the Metropolitan Police said. She was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Abortion site buffer zones ‘matter of urgency’, campaigners tell home secretary
Buffer zones outside abortion clinics must come into force as ‘a matter of urgency’, campaigners have said in a letter to the new home secretary.
The groups, including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, have appealed to Yvette Cooper to meet them to discuss their concerns about delays to implementation.
It has been more than a year since royal assent was granted for the Public Order Act, as part of which MPs voted to bring in legislation prohibiting protests within 150 metres of clinics or hospitals providing abortion services in England and Wales.
Dementia diagnoses in England at record high
The number of people in England being diagnosed with dementia is at a record high, according to new figures from the NHS.
The latest data shows a record 487,432 people had a diagnosis in June.
A timely diagnosis is vital to ensure more people get the support and care they need to live with the illness.
Weekend headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Used car dealer avoids jail after stuffing cocaine worth nearly £500 down his underpants
- Mon Motors acquires seven West Country car dealerships from Heritage Automotive
- Vertu Motors sponsors Special Recognition trophy in Community Champion event
- Big Mike: A little ‘expert’ knowledge can prove to be a buyer’s loss and a dealer’s gain
Weather outlook
Today will start rather cloudy but sunny spells will break through later with showers for most, says BBC Weather. Showery rain will linger in places, mainly in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland, and it’ll be breezy in the south.
Tuesday will see plenty of cloud and a few remaining light showers in the first half of the day in the south and east. It’ll be largely sunny in the north-west but cloudier in Northern Ireland later.
