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Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will stage their second walkout across England, Wales and Northern Ireland today – as Health Secretary Steve Barclay is set to hold crisis talks with ambulance worker unions on emergency strike cover.

Tens of thousands of nurses took part in the first day of strike action last Thursday in their first mass walkout in a century.

The industrial action, a bid to secure above-inflation pay rises, will proceed again today after no breakthrough was found between the government and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Picket lines are expected to be in place at dozens of hospitals and thousands of NHS appointments and operations are set to be cancelled, with the health service running a bank holiday-style service in many areas.

The RCN has said it will still staff chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care.

When it comes to adult A&E and urgent care, nurses will work Christmas Day-style rotas.

Share your NHS experience – how are the strikes affecting you?

The government has accepted recommendations made by the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) to give nurses below inflation pay rises of around 4%.

The RCN has been calling for a pay rise of 19% – 5% above inflation – though it has indicated it would accept a lower offer.

Ahead of the second day of nursing strikes, RCN general secretary and chief executive, Pat Cullen warned Rishi Sunak to “listen to people around him” or face continued strikes next year.

“The prime minister should ask himself what is motivating nursing staff to stand outside their hospitals for a second day so close to Christmas,” she said.

“They are prepared to sacrifice a day’s pay to have their concerns heard. Their determination stems as much from worries over patient safety and the future of the NHS than personal hardship.

“Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure in Westminster following last Thursday’s strike and he should listen to people around him.

Read more: Health Secretary Steve Barclay challenged by mother during hospital visit

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Nurses striking with reluctance

“The public is increasingly with their local nursing staff and this government desperately needs to get on the right side of them. It is unprecedented for my members to strike.

“Let’s get this wrapped up by Christmas. I will negotiate with him at any point to stop nursing staff and patients going into the new year facing such uncertainty.

“But if this government isn’t prepared to do the right thing, we’ll have no choice but to continue in January and that will be deeply regrettable.”

Read More: How strike will impact A&E and other NHS services – and which hospitals are affected

When the RCN submitted the 5% figure to the independent pay review body in March, inflation was running at 7.5%.

But inflation has since soared, with RPI standing at 14.2% in September.

The health secretary reiterated that the RCN’s demands are “unaffordable”.

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PM urges nurses to rethink strikes

“I hugely value the work of our NHS staff and it is disappointing some union members are going ahead with further strike action when we know the impact this has on patients,” he said.

“My number one priority remains keeping patients as safe as possible and I’ve been working closely with the NHS and across government to protect safe staffing levels.

“The NHS remains open, patients should continue to come forward for emergency and urgent medical care. They should also continue to turn up to appointments unless they have been contacted by the NHS.

“The RCN’s demands are unaffordable during these challenging times and would take money away from frontline services while they are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic.

“I’m open to engaging with the unions on how to make the NHS a better place to work.”

Meanwhile, Mr Barclay is due to meet with members of Unite, Unison and GMB unions this afternoon to get assurances from union officials that Category 2 incidents – such as strokes or cases of serious chest pain – will be attended to during industrial action.

Sources say the health secretary will not discuss increasing wages during the fresh talks.

Ambulance workers are due to strike on 21 and 28 December.

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Nurses pay has ‘fallen off a cliff’

The UK is facing a wave of strikes this winter, with at least one walkout a day ahead of Christmas, as staff from different industries seek better pay.

Read more: Who are striking on what day?

From transport to the NHS, education to delivery drivers, tens of thousands of workers are taking action as recession grips the UK and the cost of living rises.

Mr Sunak will be probed on the continued strike chaos when he makes his debut appearance at the Liaison Committee on the last day of the parliamentary term this afternoon.

He will face questions from chairs of the parliamentary committees on global issues, the UK’s place in the world and economic issues – including the cost of living.

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‘People were crying, they were trapped’: Spain reels from deadly flash floods

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'People were crying, they were trapped': Spain reels from deadly flash floods

Emergency responders are searching for bodies inside stranded cars and buildings following deadly flash floods in Spain that have killed at least 158 people.

Scenes of destruction have been left in the wake of the powerful floodwaters which hit the east of the country late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, marking Spain‘s worst natural disaster this century.

Cars have been piled high on top of each other, homes and businesses have been swept away, trees have been uprooted, and roads and bridges have been left unrecognisable.

Spain flooding latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths rise

Damaged cars are seen along a road affected by torrential rains that caused flooding, on the outskirts of Valencia, Spain.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Damaged cars along a road on the outskirts of Valencia. Pic: Reuters

People work to clear a mud-covered street with piled up cars in the aftermath of torrential rains that caused flooding, in Paiporta, Spain, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Eva Manez
Image:
People work to clear a mud-covered street in Paiporta. Pic: Reuters

At least 92 people have died in the worst-hit region of Valencia, while deaths were also reported in Castilla La Mancha and southern Andalusia.

An unknown number of people remain missing.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente said.

In the Valencian district of La Torre, nine dead bodies were discovered inside a garage – with a local police officer among the victims.

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Man pulled from deadly floods

Luis Sanchez, a welder, said he saved several people from floodwaters rushing through the V-31 motorway south of Valencia city.

“I saw bodies floating past. I called out but nothing,” Mr Sanchez said.

“The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I am from nearby so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying all over, they were trapped.”

Read more on this story:
Lives have been ripped apart in Spain
Floods hit ‘like a tsunami’ – eyewitness

Satellite images from NASA show how severe flooding has impacted Valencia and its surrounding towns.

The images, captured on 30 October, show large areas to the south of the city covered in floodwater.

The Turia river, which runs through the city, can be seen at a much higher level.

The Pobles del Sud, a large lake nearby, overflowed. Much of the area surrounding the lake was covered in floodwater.

The worst of the destruction was concentrated in Paiporta, a municipality next to Valencia city, where 62 people have been reported dead.

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Spanish town ‘worst-hit’ by floods

Mayor Maribel Albalat told national broadcaster RTVE: “We found a lot of elderly people in the town centre. There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages… it was a real trap.”

What has caused the devastation?

The flooding events in Spain have been hard to witness. But the rainfall there could never have been anything but devastating.

Chiva, located just to the west of Valencia, received 491mm of rain in an eight-hour window.

Some 100-200mm fell in surrounding areas with the accumulation of running water producing apocalyptic scenes.

In addition there have been over 20,000 lightning strikes.

Whilst the rainfall totals are astounding in themselves, this part of the world is simply not accustomed to huge quantities of water falling from the sky.

In an average year, Spain would expect somewhere between 50 and 100 mm of rain throughout the entire month of October but Valencia and Andalusia would expect far less – just 60–70mm. 

So how did this happen? It’s attributable to a DANA, a “depresion aislada en niveles altos” or a “cut-off low”. 

This is a low pressure system which becomes slow moving or stationary, blocked by high pressure elsewhere, which can only keep shedding its rain over the same area for long periods of time.

These systems are not that unusual. They occur when cool air from the north is drawn across the Mediterranean in late summer and autumn when the waters are war. The temperature differential enhances storms and rainfall totals.

But whilst not uncommon, this one was certainly extreme. 

And it hasn’t gone yet. This same system has continued to bring further heavy rain and thunderstorms today, but it has now moved a little further north and east, heading toward the French border and currently remaining to the west of Barcelona. 

The rain and thunderstorms are likely to continue for a few days yet with the Tarragona and Castellon regions still under an amber warning while a yellow warning remains in force for both eastern and western Spain.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday morning that Valencia had been declared a disaster zone and that the priority was to find victims and missing people.

He also urged those affected to stay at home as more torrential rain was forecast.

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“The most important thing is that I know Spanish people are aware that this phenomenon has not finished,” he said.

Sky News’ Europe correspondent Adam Parsons, reporting from Valencia, said the devastation suffered in the region is “enormous”.

“What we’re witnessing now are the locals here who are waking up and seeing what’s happened to their town and what has happened is something almost apocalyptic,” he said.

A nearby shop was left “absolutely wrecked” and looked like a “bomb has gone off in there”, he added.

Three days of mourning has been declared in Spain, beginning on Thursday.

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory, and scientists have linked its strength to climate change.

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‘No one came to rescue us’: In this destroyed Spanish town, people are angry

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'No one came to rescue us': In this destroyed Spanish town, people are angry

In the Spanish town of Algemesi, people are angry.

The suburb of Raval was one of the worst hit by flash flooding but residents feel abandoned.

At least 158 people have been killed in the disaster in eastern Spain – with the worst of the flooding concentrated around the Valencia region.

Spain floods latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths surpass 150

“When the alert came the water was already two metres high,” Carolina shouts from her balcony. “There were no police, firefighters or the mayor. No one came to rescue us.”

The distress is echoed street after street.

Carmen puts her head in her hands and weeps.

“They have lost everything,” she says, pointing at her neighbours’ houses.

Read more:
‘People were crying, they were trapped’
Utterly random damage in town where 40 died

Every home is in ruins and their owners are heartbroken.

Dolores shows us inside her house. She says the flood was up to the ceiling but because no help came, they have had to hammer holes in the walls to clear the water.

“I feel awful. I’m terrified and very afraid. My husband is sick – we need more help,” she says.

Carmen says her neighbours have lost everything
Image:
Dolores says her family had to hammer holes into the walls of their home

The level of destruction is immense.

On the street, we meet Noel with his children. The youngest toddler barefoot in the mud.

Yesterday, Noel and his wife had nothing to eat. He feels helpless.

Noel says he doesn't have access to water, light or food
Image:
Noel says he doesn’t have access to water, light or food

“Right now, there are people who are trapped. The mud is up to their waists, so they can’t open their doors,” he says.

“I live on a high floor so I didn’t have problems with the flooding in my home, but I don’t have water, light, or food.”

There’s a growing feeling of desperation in this suburb.

At one point, someone shouts “food!” and people rush to grab what they can from a nearby shop.

It’s not clear if they have been let in by the owner or are looting.

The devastation is so great and at a time when people are at their most in need, they feel frustrated and alone.

In a nearby shelter we meet people from Algemesi who have been made homeless by the flood.

Carol says she has never felt so hopeless.

Carol says there is 'nothing left'
Image:
Carol says there is ‘nothing left’

“There was a tree trunk that came into the front of my house. There are no walls, no ceiling. I don’t have anything. There’s nothing left,” she explains, beginning to cry.

For many, the initial trauma of this natural disaster has been compounded in the aftermath by a feeling of loss and loneliness.

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Ukraine war: Thousands of North Korean troops near Ukraine border will enter battle ‘within days’, says Blinken

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Ukraine war: Thousands of North Korean troops near Ukraine border will enter battle 'within days', says Blinken

Thousands of North Korean soldiers are now positioned near Ukraine’s border and likely to enter combat in the coming days, the US says.

Russian troops have been training them in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing”, said US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

He said it strongly indicated they would be used on the front line and would therefore become legitimate targets for Ukraine.

Some 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, including up to 8,000 in the Kursk border region, Mr Blinken said.

The troops are wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian gear, according to US defence secretary Lloyd Austin.

Read more: Where have North Korea troops been seen in Russia?

“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the
coming days,” Mr Blinken said on Thursday.

More on Antony Blinken

America’s top diplomat said the recruitment of troops from North Korea to Russia’s “meat grinder” was a “clear sign of weakness”.

South Korea and the US discussed the issue in Washington on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A South Korean and US delegation met in Washington DC. Pic: Reuters

Mr Blinken made the assessment after he and Mr Austin met their South Korean counterparts in Washington DC.

Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia and condemned it “in the strongest possible terms”.

They also all agreed China should do more to rein in North Korea, Mr Blinken said, adding that he’d had a “robust conversation” with Beijing this week.

Image:
The Kursk region borders eastern Ukraine

Mr Austin also announced that – with the US election just days away – America would soon be announcing new security assistance for Ukraine.

The deployment of troops to Russia is down to the close relationship between President Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

The leaders last met in June when Mr Putin travelled to North Korea for the first time in 24 years.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un together in Pyongyang in June. Pic: Reuters
Image:
President Putin and Kim Jong Un went for a drive together in Pyongyang in June. Pic: Reuters

A mutual defence pact was agreed during their summit, meaning the countries will help each other if they are attacked.

The US says North Korea has also given munitions to Russia as it continues its grinding effort to take more territory in Ukraine’s east.

The White House published images earlier this month which it said showed 1,000 containers of equipment being sent to Russia by rail.

There are concerns about what military aid Russia will now provide in exchange.

North Korea test-fired an an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year on Thursday and there is speculation Russia may have provided technological help.

South Korean TV showed pictures of Thursday's launch by the North. Pic: AP
Image:
South Korean TV showed pictures of Thursday’s launch by the North. Pic: AP

In a statement, the US, Japan and South Korea condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions.

“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilising actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.

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