World
UK PM Sunak signals he is open to discussing pay rises for nurses
Rishi Sunak is beneath strain to enhance wage presents to healthcare employees amid a wave of public sector strikes over wages.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stated he’s prepared to debate pay rises for nurses forward of a gathering with public sector commerce union leaders in an effort to finish the most important wave of commercial disputes in many years.
The UK’s Nationwide Well being Service (NHS), lengthy treasured and funded by taxpayers, delivers free care to all, however is beneath pressure following years of relative underinvestment and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The strikes involving nurses and ambulance staff, employees shortages, and winter flu have led some hospitals to declare vital incidents. Sufferers are dealing with hours-long waits for ambulances, and a few are being handled in corridors.
Sunak, who’s beneath rising strain together with from members of his Conservative Occasion to enhance wage presents to healthcare employees, stated the federal government was prepared to have conversations with union leaders about pay, regardless of ministers beforehand refusing to reopen talks about this yr’s deal.
“We wish to have an inexpensive, trustworthy, two-way dialog about pay,” Sunak advised the BBC on Sunday. “The door has all the time been open to speak in regards to the issues that nurses wish to speak about, and the unions wish to speak about extra typically.”
Pat Cullen, the pinnacle of the Royal School of Nursing union, stated she had a “chink of optimism” after noticing a “little shift” within the prime minister’s stance.
The federal government will maintain a gathering on Monday with union officers representing public sector staff corresponding to nurses and prepare drivers.
The principle opposition Labour Occasion and the Unite union, which represents ambulance staff, accused Sunak of constructing deceptive statements over the provide to barter pay.
Labour stated the prime minister was taking nurses and ambulance staff “for fools” as a result of the federal government has made it clear it could solely negotiate pay rises for subsequent yr.
Unions have stated they’ll solely name off strikes within the subsequent few weeks if presents are made to resolve the disputes over this yr’s pay settlement.
1000’s of nurses in Britain will go on strike once more on January 18 and 19 after strolling out on two days in December. Ambulance staff are as a consequence of go on strike on January 23.
Sunak repeatedly refused to say throughout the interview on Sunday whether or not he makes use of personal healthcare, insisting the problem is a “distraction from the issues that actually matter”.
“As a normal coverage I wouldn’t ever speak about me or my household’s healthcare scenario,” he stated. “It’s probably not related.”
Sunak additionally stated it’s “not a given” that inflation will sluggish this yr amid ongoing wage negotiations.
Decreasing inflation “is a perform of getting a accountable financial coverage with regards to issues like pay”, he famous.
“It’s not a on condition that it simply occurs,” Sunak stated. “It’s important to proceed to be disciplined and make the appropriate, accountable selections.”
World
US military conducts successful airstrikes on Houthi rebel forces in Yemen
The U.S. military confirmed it conducted airstrikes in Yemen, saying it targeted a missile storage site and a command-and-control center operated by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the successful strikes in a release Saturday, saying they were meant to “disrupt and degrade” Houthi operations.
“CENTCOM forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM said in a news release.
DISAPPROVAL MOUNTS BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD AS US AVOIDS DIRECT ACTION AGAINST HOUTHI REBELS
Footage from CENTCOM showed F/A-18’s taking off. The agency said it also used assets from the Navy and the Air Force.
US NAVY SHIPS REPEL ATTACK FROM HOUTHIS IN GULF OF ADEN
“The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners and international shipping,” it said.
The attacks against shipping are ongoing, and Houthi militants have vowed to continue until Israel ends its campaign in Gaza.
The terrorist group has targeted more than 100 merchant vessels since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
World
Fact check: How deadly was 2024 for journalists?
An estimated 104 journalists lost their lives in 2024, with Palestine the most dangerous territory.
An estimated 104 journalists were killed worldwide over the past year, according to data shared earlier this month by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Another report by NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the figure at 54, but its methodology means it only includes killings that are considered “directly related” to journalists’ professional activity.
Both organisations say that Palestine is the deadliest place on earth for journalists. More than half (55) of the 104 killings reported by IFJ were Palestinian media professionals in Gaza, while a further six were killed in Lebanon.
At least 138 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on 7 October 2023, making the country one of the “most dangerous in the history of modern journalism, behind Iraq, the Philippines and Mexico,” according to the IFJ.
Reporters without Borders has described the number of killings in Gaza as “an unprecedented bloodbath”.
Israel firmly denies it has intentionally targeted any journalists, but has recognised some that have been killed in its airstrikes on Gaza.
The 104 total killings reported by the IFJ is a slight decrease on the 129 they reported on in 2023, which is considered the bloodiest year for journalists since 1990.
How do other world regions fare?
Asia Pacific is the world’s second most dangerous region for journalists, after the Middle East, according to the IFJ.
It recorded 20 deaths in the region in 2024, of which 70% happened in the southern Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
The region has seen an “upsurge” in violence, according to the IFJ, with deaths increasing sharply from the 12 recorded in 2023.
Africa was the third most dangerous region for journalists at eight deaths, five of them in war-torn Sudan.
The number of journalists killed in south, central and north America has dropped sharply over the past two years, from 30 in 2022 to six in 2023, and another six in 2024. Mexico, considered to be one of the deadliest places in the world to do journalism, continues to see “threats, intimidation, kidnappings and murders” against journalists, particularly due to reporting on drug trafficking.
Number of journalists behind bars on the rise
According to IFJ estimates on 10 December, there were 520 journalists in prison across the world, considerably more than in 2023 (427) and 2022 (375).
China, including Hong Kong, accounts for most of journalists behind bars, followed by Israel and Myanmar.
The IFJ says the figures show how “fragile” the independent press is and how “risky and dangerous” the profession of journalism has become.
World
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