Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched investigation into incident in Porthmadog
The police watchdog has launched an independent investigation after a police officer in Wales was filmed appearing to punch a man repeatedly in the head before arresting him.
Footage of the incident is circulating on social media and has caused considerable “public concern”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
Continue reading...Liz Saville Roberts denies party tried to put own interests before need to ‘detoxify’ internal culture
A senior Plaid Cymru figure has defended attempts by some in the party’s hierarchy to keep Adam Price in place as leader despite a damning review into the culture of the party, arguing that they did so because they believed stability was needed to bring about change.
Price announced his resignation as leader late on Wednesday – a week after a review said his party had failed to “detoxify” its culture and found evidence of misogyny, harassment and bullying.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 people gather at Caernarfon Castle to demand new law to regulate market and protect communities
More than 1,000 people gathered outside Caernarfon Castle in north Wales for a rally protesting against second homes, which they say are “destroying” Welsh language strongholds.
Members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith (the Welsh Language Society) are calling for a new Property Act to protect communities in language heartlands such as Gwynedd in the north and Pembrokeshire in the south-west.
Continue reading...Thousands line route as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney join men’s and women’s teams on open-top bus tour
Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Wrexham AFC’s staff and players celebrated the team’s promotion with an open-top bus parade on Tuesday evening.
Thousands of fans lined up along a 3.5-mile route in the north Wales city as three buses left from the club’s Racecourse ground carrying the team that won the National League title and promotion back to the English Football League after a 15-year absence. The women’s side also clinched promotion to the Genero Adran Premier by winning their playoff final.
Continue reading...New Zealand group Half/Time to perform alongside artists who sing in Cymraeg as part of musical cultural exchange
They will bring heavy riffs, pounding drums and lyrics delivered with a growl – but a punk band from New Zealand arriving in Wales this week is also hoping to spark important conversations about what it means to create pop songs in “minority” languages.
The band Half/Time, which perform in Māori as well as English, is to appear alongside artists and groups who sing in Cymraeg as part of a cultural exchange organised by the universities of Cardiff and Waikato in the south Island of New Zealand.
Continue reading...Kyle Bevan given life sentence for murder of stepdaughter, with girl’s mother Sinead James given six-year term
The stepfather and mother of a two-year-old girl who died after receiving more than 100 injuries in a six-and-a-half-hour attack at the family home have been jailed over her killing.
Kyle Bevan, 31, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Lola James, who died from the sort of injuries usually seen in car crash victims or people who have fallen from a significant height. He was told he would serve at least 28 years before he was considered for release.
Continue reading...Concerns raised after some brands sold in shops in England and Wales found to exceed legal limits
Some high street vapes claiming to be nicotine-free actually contain the same level of addictive substances as full-strength e-cigarettes, tests shows.
Data shared with the Guardian by Inter Scientific – which offers analytical testing of products to check whether they are following regulations – examined dozens of vape brands sold in shops across England and Wales.
Continue reading...Ausra Plungiene disappeared after leaving home in Prestatyn on Tuesday morning
A body has been found in the search for a woman who went missing while walking her dog, police have said.
Ausra Plungiene, 56, from Prestatyn, north Wales, was last seen on Tuesday when she is believed to have left for a walk with her dog, Eyora, at about 10.30am but failed to return home.
Continue reading...Nanuq, a one-year-old Australian shepherd, disappeared from a family trip and went on an adventure across the Bering Sea
A one-year-old Australian shepherd took an epic trek across 150 miles (241km) of frozen Bering Sea ice that included being bitten by a seal or polar bear before he was safely returned to his home in Alaska.
Mandy Iworrigan, Nanuq’s owner who lives in Gambell, Alaska, and her family were visiting Savoonga, another St Lawrence Island community in the Bering strait, last month when Nanuq disappeared with their other family dog, Starlight, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Continue reading...Underfunded services resulting in more women choosing cheaper at-home abortion pill, study finds
Overstretched and underfunded abortion services in England and Wales are leaving women feeling pressured into opting for the cheaper at-home pill rather than a surgical procedure, according to research.
The proportion of medical abortions – using pills – rose from 47% in 2011 to 87% in 2021, while very few abortions are now administered surgically, finds research from the London School of Economics.
Continue reading...Council tax and planning changes aim to make housing more affordable for those on local incomes
Radical measures giving councils in Wales a raft of extra powers designed to stop second homes hollowing out communities, especially in coastal and rural areas, have come into force.
Local authorities across Wales are using the powers to increase the amount of council tax that second home owners must pay and will also be able to bring in changes to planning rules to make it harder for houses and flats to be snapped up as holiday boltholes.
Continue reading...Scheduling makes Wales hearing look like ‘poorer relative’, say unions, while NI families say at least six weeks is needed
Bereaved families have strongly criticised proposals by the UK Covid-19 inquiry to set aside only three weeks each for its public hearings on the responses to the pandemic in Wales and Northern Ireland.
Members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru argued that the Labour-led Welsh government would escape proper scrutiny unless more time was allocated. Trade union leaders suggested there was a risk Wales could be seen as the “poorer relative” in the inquiry.
Continue reading...Number of buildings believed to have been destroyed as police say emergency services responding
A major incident has been declared after a suspected gas explosion destroyed a number of properties on a street in south Wales.
South Wales police said emergency services were responding to the incident on the junction of Field Close and Clydach Road in Morriston, a community in Swansea.
Continue reading...NEU members had been due to strike for two days next week but will now consider Welsh government’s proposal
Two days of strike action by teachers in Wales next week have been called off after the Welsh government proposed a revised pay offer.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) were due to stop work on 15-16 March in a dispute over pay.
Continue reading...Sleet and snow expected across southern England and south Wales as hail showers will affect Scotland’s northern coasts
Bristol airport has temporarily grounded all flights due to heavy snowfall in the area.
In a statement posted on social media, the airport said it was suspending flights until 11am.
Continue reading...Gwent and South Wales police also confirm more than 46 hours passed between last sighting and wreckage being found
Two police forces heavily criticised for their response to a crash that killed three young people and left two seriously injured have confirmed more than 46 hours passed between the group’s last sighting and their wrecked car being found and that four separate missing persons reports were made to them.
Gwent and South Wales police also confirmed that the last sighting of the car was only about 2.5 miles from where it was found, which will raise more questions over why it took so long for the five to be discovered.
The last confirmed sighting of the five people was at 2am on Saturday in Pentwyn, about 2.5 miles from where they were found.
The crash happened during the early hours of Saturday, with the exact time to be confirmed by the investigation, including by studying CCTV and automatic number plate recognition footage.
The first missing report was made to Gwent police at 7.34pm on Saturday; further missing person reports were made to Gwent police at 7.43pm and 9.32pm. Another missing person report was made to South Wales police at 5.37pm on Sunday.
At 11.50pm on Sunday the police helicopter was asked to search an area of Cardiff, which resulted in the vehicle being located in a wooded area off the A48.
Gwent police officers, who were in the area conducting inquiries, discovered the Volkswagen Tiguan vehicle at 12.15am on Monday.
Continue reading...Plans to film veteran broadcaster close to birds for Wild Isles series pulled over concerns about his health
Television producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming for his latest series – likely to be the veteran broadcaster’s last job on location.
Wild Isles, which premieres on Sunday, will be Attenborough’s first landmark series on the natural history of Britain and Ireland. Filmed over the course of three years, the five-part series aims to shine a light on the challenges affecting the British Isles and celebrate nature that exists on our doorsteps.
Continue reading...Police had called for information about two men and three women who had not been seen after a night out
Police searching for three women and two men reported missing after a night out in south Wales have found three of them dead following a car crash.
Two others have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after the crash in the St Mellons area of Cardiff.
Continue reading...Teachers in north of England to strike on Tuesday followed by members in other regions over course of three days
Tens of thousands of teachers will strike this week resulting in the closure of some schools as members of the National Education Union (NEU) take part in three days of industrial action.
With little sign of a solution to the dispute on the horizon, teachers in the north of England will strike on Tuesday, followed by members in the Midlands and eastern regions on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Bardsey Island is first site in Europe to receive certification, thanks to low light pollution and pristine night skies
The sunsets are wonderful but the night that follows even more spectacular. If it is clear, the moon and stars illuminate the tiny island vividly; when it is cloudy, the darkness is thick and unbroken, “bible black” to quote Dylan Thomas.
Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), two miles off the mainland of north-west Wales, has become the first site in Europe to receive international dark sky sanctuary certification, joining just 16 other spots in some of the most remote places in the world.
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