Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to call for “global action” to tackle supply chain issues on his first official visit to the United States.
Mr Sunak will encourage finance ministers from G20 nations to “work together” to ensure supply chains are more resilient in the future following the struggles in getting goods around the world during the pandemic due to driver shortages and container ships stacking up.
The chancellor will be in Washington DC to attend a meeting of G20 finance ministers and chair the final in-person meeting of the G7’s finance ministers before the UK’s presidency ends.
It is his first visit to the US since becoming chancellor in February 2020, just a month before the first COVID lockdown when the furlough scheme started.
His trip comes as the UK continues to struggle with an HGV driver shortage that is impacting supermarket and fuel deliveries amid warnings this week there could be a shortage of salt gritter drivers this winter.
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Mr Sunak will encourage further support for vulnerable countries that are also struggling with supply chain issues.
As he left for the US, Mr Sunak said: “Global cooperation is key to addressing our shared challenges as we emerge from the pandemic.
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“From global tax reform to global supply chains, we must work together to seek international solutions for the benefit of our citizens at home.”
He will call on G7 finance ministers to use the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), an international reserve asset issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
G7 and G20 ministers should contribute, he will say, towards the IMF’s poverty reduction and growth trust, which provides zero interest loans to vulnerable countries who need financial support.
Mr Sunak is expected to indicate strong support for a new IMF resilience and sustainability trust and encourage G7 and G20 minister to give their political and financial backing.
The trust would redirect new SDR reserves to low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries to help them address health and climate risks and support green and sustainable economic growth.
The chancellor will also use the meeting to reiterate the importance of continued vaccine rollouts around the world.
And Mr Sunak will urge finance ministers to coordinate action and “ambitious” emissions reduction targets from G20 nations to get towards net zero.
Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.
Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.
Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.
There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.
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On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.
Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.
That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.
But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.
Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.
Image: A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.
Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.
Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.
On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.
“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.
Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.
A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.
Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beachshortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.
The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.
Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.
Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.
Image: Pic: Sky News Australia
Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’
Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.
“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”
Image: Mark Morgenthal said it ‘looked like a six metre shark’ in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia
Victim was a father and experienced surfer
New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.
“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.
“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.
“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”
Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.
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Two of the three Britons killed in the Lisbon funicular crash have been named.
Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, were a couple and died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident.
Ms Smith graduated from the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, where Mr Nelson ran the master’s degree in directing.
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3:53
Lisbon crash: What happened?
The identity of the third British victim has not yet been confirmed.
MADS theatre in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said Ms Smith was a “valued member of our society” who will be “greatly missed”.
It said she was an award-winning director and actress, who had also done multiple crew and front-of-house roles.
Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.
Police said the other fatalities were two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French citizen, one Swiss and one Ukrainian.
All but one were declared dead at the scene – and 21 others in the packed carriage were injured.
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2:50
‘We felt no brakes anymore’
The yellow carriages of the Gloria funicular are a big draw for tourists, as well as a proud symbol of the Portuguese capital.
The journey is just 265m (870ft) up a steep hill and takes three minutes, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions on a linked cable.
Witnesses reported seeing one of the carriages hurtle down the hill before derailing and crashing 30m from the bottom.
The aftermath shows it crumpled and twisted against the side of a building.
People who were in the bottom carriage said they were a few metres into the climb when it started going backwards.
When they saw the other car speeding towards them, many jumped through the windows to escape.
Image: The crash happened around 6pm on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called the crash “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past” and authorities are under intense pressure to quickly identifying the cause.