Connect with us

Published

on

The government is doing “everything possible” to increase the number of hospital beds available, Downing Street has said, as winter pressures continue to bite.

Concerns are mounting about the current state of public healthcare, with well over a dozen NHS trusts and ambulance services having declared critical incidents over the festive period.

While the British Medical Association (BMA) has accused the government’s “political choices” of leading to patients “dying unnecessarily”.

Transport secretary tells striking workers to get off the picket line – politics latest

Issuing a stark warning, Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, said in a statement: “The current situation in the NHS is intolerable and unsustainable, both for our patients and the hard-working staff desperately trying to keep up with incredibly high levels of demand.

“The BMA has repeatedly invited the government to sit down and talk about the pressures on our health service, but their silence is deafening.

“It is disingenuous for the prime minister to talk about ‘backing the NHS’ in his New Year message, when his own health secretary is failing to discuss how this crisis can be fixed.”

More from Politics

Professor Banfield also called on the government to “step up and take immediate action” to solve the crisis.

“The government should deliver on its obligations to the public. It is just not true that the cost of resolving this mess cannot be afforded by this country,” he said.

“This is a political choice and patients are dying unnecessarily because of that choice.”

But the PM’s official spokesman said on Tuesday that ministers had been “up front” with the public about the pressures the NHS would face this winter, partly due to the backlog created by the pandemic.

He also acknowledged that the current pressure on the health service was an “unprecedented challenge”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

NHS winter pressure explained

The spokesman told reporters: “I think we have been up front with the public long in advance of this winter that because of the pandemic and the pressures it’s placed in the backlog of cases that this would be an extremely challenging winter, and that is what we are seeing.”

He continued: “The NHS is already maximising its number of beds, so the equivalent of 7,000 additional beds, plus funding for discharges and increasing virtual wards. That’s all to free up capacity.

“Again, that’s all thanks to the extra funding, the billions of extra pounds we’ve put in.

“We are doing everything possible to increase the number of beds.”

Opposition parties have criticised the government for inaction over recent days, with the Liberal Democrats calling for parliament to be recalled to discuss the situation.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting accused the Conservatives of “mismanagement” of the NHS.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Streeting said it was “inexplicable” that neither Rishi Sunak nor any of his ministers had offered solutions to the pressures hospitals are facing.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Doctor describes ‘bleak’ NHS

Meanwhile, continuing to be probed on the NHS, Mr Sunak’s spokesperson said the PM’s own healthcare arrangements are not in the public interest.

Mr Sunak has previously refused to say if he has private healthcare.

The PM’s spokesperson added that it was “wholly wrong” to suggest that Mr Sunak was not aware of the challenges facing the health service.

Continue Reading

World

Donald Trump says tariffs will be cut after ‘amazing’ meeting with Xi Jinping

Published

on

By

Donald Trump says tariffs will be cut after 'amazing' meeting with Xi Jinping

Donald Trump has described crucial trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping as “amazing” – and says he will visit Beijing in April.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies met in South Korea as they tried to defuse growing tensions – with both countries imposing aggressive tariffs on exports since the president’s second term began.

Catch up on Trump-Xi meeting

Aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump confirmed tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US will be reduced, which could prove much-needed relief to consumers.

It was also agreed that Beijing will work “hard” to stop fentanyl flowing into the US.

Semiconductor chips were another issue raised during their 100-minute meeting, but the president admitted certain issues weren’t discussed.

“On a scale of one to 10, the meeting with Xi was 12,” he told reporters en route back to the US.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Their handshake was almost a bit awkward’

Xi a ‘tough negotiator’, says Trump

The talks conclude a whirlwind visit across Asia – with Mr Trump saying he was “too busy” to see Kim Jong Un.

However, the president said he would be willing to fly back to see the North Korean leader, with a view to discussing denuclearisation.

Mr Trump had predicted negotiations with his Chinese counterpart would last for three or four hours – but their meeting ended in less than two.

The pair shook hands before the summit, with the US president quipping: “He’s a tough negotiator – and that’s not good!”

It marks the first face-to-face meeting between both men since 2019 – back in Mr Trump’s first term.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Pic: AP
Image:
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Pic: AP

There were signs that Beijing had extended an olive branch to Washington ahead of the talks, with confirmation China will start buying US soybeans again.

American farmers have been feeling the pinch since China stopped making purchases earlier this year – not least because the country was their biggest overseas market.

Chinese stocks reached a 10-year high early on Thursday as investors digested their meeting, with the yuan rallying to a one-year high against the US dollar.

Analysis: A fascinating power play

Sky News Asia correspondent Helen-Ann Smith – who is in Busan where the talks took place – said it was fascinating to see the power play between both world leaders.

She said: “Trump moved quickly to dominate the space – leaning in, doing all the talking, even responding very briefly to a few thrown questions.

“That didn’t draw so much as an eyebrow raise from his counterpart, who was totally inscrutable. Xi does not like or respond well to unscripted moments, Trump lives for them.”

Read more from Sky News:
US cuts interest rates as inflation fears ease
Is Trump preparing for war with Venezuela?

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Will Trump really run for a third term?

On Truth Social, Mr Trump had described the summit as a gathering of the “G2” – a nod to America and China’s status as the world’s two biggest economies.

While en route to see President Xi, he also revealed that the US “Department of War” has now been ordered to start testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992.

Continue Reading

World

Tens of thousands killed in two days in Sudan city, analysts believe

Published

on

By

Tens of thousands killed in two days in Sudan city, analysts believe

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the Sudanese city of Al Fashir by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a two-day window after the paramilitary group captured the regional capital, analysts believe.

Sky News is not able to independently verify the claim by Yale Humanitarian Labs, as the city remains under a telecommunications blackout.

Stains and shapes resembling blood and corpses can be seen from space in satellite images analysed by the research lab.

Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025
Image:
Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025

Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025
Image:
Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025

Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale Humanitarian Labs, said: “In the past 48 hours since we’ve had [satellite] imagery over Al Fashir, we see a proliferation of objects that weren’t there before RSF took control of Al Fashir – they are approximately 1.3m to 2m long which is critical because in satellite imagery at very high resolution, that’s the average length of a human body lying vertical.”

Mini Minawi, the governor of North Darfur, said on X that 460 civilians have been killed in the last functioning hospital in the city.

The Sudan Doctors Network has also shared that the RSF “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside Al Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards”.

World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “appalled and deeply shocked” by the reports.

Satellite images support the claims of a massacre at Al Saudi Hospital, according to Mr Raymond, who said YHL’s report detailed “a large pile of them [objects believed to be bodies] against a wall at one building at Saudi hospital. And we believe that’s consistent with reports that patients and staff were executed en masse”.

In a video message released on Wednesday, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged “violations in Al Fashir” and claimed “an investigation committee should start to hold any soldier or officer accountable”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Army soldiers ‘fled key Sudan city’ before capture

The Saudi Maternity Hospital in Al Fashir. Pic: Airbus DS /2025 via AP
Image:
The Saudi Maternity Hospital in Al Fashir. Pic: Airbus DS /2025 via AP

The commander is known for committing atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s as a Janjaweed militia leader, and the RSF has been accused of carrying out genocide in Darfur 20 years on.

Sources have told Sky News the RSF is holding doctors, journalists and politicians captive, demanding ransoms from some families to release their loved ones.

One video shows a man from Al Fashir with an armed man kneeling on the ground, telling his family to pay 15,000. The currency was not made clear.

In some cases, ransoms have been paid, but then more messages come demanding that more money be transferred to secure release.

Muammer Ibrahim, a journalist based in the city, is currently being held by the RSF, who initially shared videos of him crouched on the ground, surrounded by fighters, announcing his hometown had been captured under duress.

Read more:
Key Sudan city falls – what does this mean for the war?
‘Massacre’ kills more than 50, including children

200,000 trapped after army flees

He is being held incommunicado as his family scrambles to negotiate his release. Muammer courageously covered the siege of Al Fashir for months, enduring starvation and shelling.

The Committee to Protect Journalists regional director Sara Qudah said the abduction of Muammar Ibrahim “is a grave and alarming reminder that journalists in Al Fashir are being targeted simply for telling the truth”.

Continue Reading

World

At least 30 killed after ‘unprecedented’ Hurricane Melissa ravages through Caribbean

Published

on

By

At least 30 killed after 'unprecedented' Hurricane Melissa ravages through Caribbean

At least 30 people have died after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean on Wednesday.

The Red Cross said early indications show the storm has been a “disaster of unprecedented catastrophe”.

Storm Melissa has so far ravaged through Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

At least 34 are estimated to be dead in the Caribbean, with eight of those in Jamaica, one in the Dominican Republic and 25 in Haiti.

This was down from a previously reported 40.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Unimaginable’ destruction of Hurricane Melissa

‘Heartbreaking’ aerial footage reveals scale of destruction

Later on Wednesday, the Jamaican government confirmed four people – three men and one woman – had been killed. This figure later rose to eight.

Local government minister, Desmond McKenzie, said: “They were discovered after being washed up by the flood waters generated by the hurricane.”

Devastating aerial footage shows towns destroyed by the storm.

The Jamaican prime minister, Andrew Holness, travelled to St Elizabeth, where the first deaths were reported, to inspect the storm’s impact.

Read more:
Do we need new ‘category 6’ for most extreme storms?

Sharing aerial footage of battered homes, he wrote: “The damage is great, but we are going to devote all our energy to mount a strong recovery.”

The storm made landfall in Cuba in the early hours of Wednesday morning before leaving mid-afternoon, heading towards the Bahamas.

Hurricane Melissa has ravaged through the Caribbean. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Hurricane Melissa has ravaged through the Caribbean. Pic: Reuters

‘Whole communities are underwater’

Alexander Pendry, British Red Cross global response manager, said: “News is already coming through that whole communities are underwater and that the damage left by the strong winds has been devastating.

“The Jamaica Red Cross has been proactively supporting communities by preparing essential supplies and managing shelters. Their priority now is to reach people with aid as soon as possible.

“Across the Caribbean, Red Cross teams have been mobilising as Melissa continues its trajectory across Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti.”

He added: “Tragically, experience tells us that the impact on communities and individuals will be shattering and long lasting.

“We will be here for as long as people need us.”

Continue Reading

Trending