Category Archives: Wales

New rose named after one of UK’s first documented black gardeners

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John Ystumllyn was abducted from west Africa in 1746 and taken to Gwynedd, north Wales

One of Britain’s first known black gardeners has been honoured with a rose named after him in celebration of his life.

John Ystumllyn, whose original name is unknown, was abducted as an eight-year-old boy in west Africa around 1746 and taken to Gwynedd, north Wales. There he became a servant in the household of the Wynn family of Ystumllyn, whose estate he was named after, and learned horticulture in the gardens.

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Queen ‘irritated’ by world leaders talking not doing on climate crisis

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Overheard comment suggests anger at possible no-shows at Cop26 by leaders of countries with worst CO2 emissions

The Queen has criticised world leaders’ inaction on addressing the climate crisis, admitting she is “irritated” by individuals who “talk but don’t do”.

She made the remarks, which were picked up on a livestream, at the opening of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff on Thursday.

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No Covid pass, no entry: Cardiff clubbers divided on new Welsh rules

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As mandatory checks began, not everyone in the queue for the Pryzm club was prepared

There was an extra thing for the hundreds of young people waiting in the queue outside Pryzm nightclub in Cardiff to worry about.

As usual, they needed to show ID, undergo a search and make sure they still had their phone, keys and friends with them – but for the first time they also had to produce a Covid pass, showing they were fully vaccinated or had tested negative.

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Tunji Fahm obituary

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My friend the pioneering British-Nigerian lawyer and activist Tunji Fahm, who has died aged 88, was the first black minority-ethnic lawyer to be appointed as a chief officer of a local authority legal department in the UK, in 1974 at Islwyn (borough) district council, south Wales. He became the council’s chief monitoring officer in 1978 and, later, founder of the first legal practice led by black lawyers in Wales.

When Tunji arrived in the UK in 1954 to study law in Cardiff, he was one of the few African students in the university’s law school.

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Male life expectancy in UK drops for first time in 40 years as Covid takes toll

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Estimates for women broadly unchanged, with a girl born in 2018-20 likely to live for 82.9 years

Life expectancy for men in the UK has fallen for the first time since current records began 40 years ago because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, figures show.

A boy born between 2018 and 2020 is expected to live until he is 79 years old, down from 79.2 for the period of 2015-17, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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Concerns over plan to disinfect classrooms in Wales with ozone

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Machines to be used to clean up after Covid outbreaks part of £5.9m initiative to improve air quality

A £3.3m scheme to provide schools in Wales with machines that disinfect classrooms after a Covid outbreak has prompted calls for reassurance over their safety.

The Welsh education ministry said on Monday that all schools, universities and colleges in Wales would be supplied with ozone disinfecting machines for cleaning up Covid-hit classrooms.

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Menopause at centre of increasing number of UK employment tribunals

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Rise in women taking employers to court citing event as proof of unfair dismissal and discrimination

Growing numbers of women are taking their employers to court citing the menopause as proof of unfair dismissal and direct sex discrimination, researchers have said.

According to the latest UK data, there were five employment tribunals referencing the claimant’s menopause in 2018, six in 2019 and 16 in 2020. There have been 10 in the first six months of 2021 alone.

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Drug poisoning deaths in England and Wales reach record high

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Charities warn of a public health emergency after data shows 4,561 deaths in 2020 – up 3.8% on previous year

Deaths due to drug poisoning in England and Wales have reached a record high, with a growing number of people dying after using cocaine and opiates, data shows.

Charities warned the figures showed there was a public health emergency, with the pandemic negatively affecting those with addiction problems. In 2020, 4,561 died from drug poisoning– the equivalent of 79.5 deaths per million people. This is 3.8% higher than figures for 2019 and the highest number since records began in 1993.

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Police review teen killings in search of catalyst for spike in murders

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Pilot scheme hopes to discover patterns that will help prevent more deaths

Measures are being introduced to try to identify what is driving rising murder rates in the wake of a spike in teenage deaths in some of the UK’s homicide hotspots.

All homicides in London, Birmingham and south Wales will be reviewed by the authorities in an attempt to learn from the chaotic sequences of events that often preempt a death.

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UK weather: flood warnings as Storm Evert moves eastwards

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Unsettled weather forecast across England and Wales with ‘torrential thundery downpours’ in the east

The Met Office has issued weather and flood warnings as Storm Evert moved eastwards across Britain with thunderstorms forecast for the weekend.

Yellow wind warnings are in place for coastal areas in south-east England and East Anglia, and thunderstorm warnings for a swath of England from Nottingham to Norwich and north as far as Hull.

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Thunderstorms leave roads and tube stations flooded in London

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Environment Agency issues five flood warnings across southern England and 19 flood alerts including parts of Wales

Torrential rain has flooded roads and tube stations in London after thunderstorms hit the south of England on Sunday.

Barts Health NHS trust declared a major incident after the flooding led to problems at Whipps Cross hospital and Newham Hospital in the east of the city.

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Chinese-owned firm acquires UK’s largest semiconductor manufacturer

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Tory MP Tom Tugendhat raises concerns about deal in light of global computer chip shortage

The UK’s largest producer of semiconductors has been acquired by the Chinese-owned manufacturer Nexperia, prompting a senior Tory MP to call for the government to review the sale to a foreign owner during an increasingly severe global shortage of computer chips.

Nexperia, a Dutch firm owned by China’s Wingtech, said on Monday that it had taken full control of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), the UK’s largest producer of silicon chips, which are vital in products from TVs and mobile phones to cars and games consoles.

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Welsh government to suspend all future road-building plans

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Deputy minister for climate change will announce move as part of plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050

The Labour-led Welsh government is to freeze new road-building projects as part of its plans to tackle the climate emergency, and an external panel will review all proposed schemes.

The deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters, is to tell the Welsh parliament on Tuesday afternoon: “Since 1990, Welsh emissions have fallen by 31%. But to reach our statutory target of net zero emissions by 2050, we need to do much more.

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House asking prices hit record levels across Great Britain

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Rightmove data shows largest June increase since 2015 but economists suggest Covid boom may be fading

House asking prices have hit record levels across every region of Great Britain, according to latest figures, although some experts have questioned whether the pandemic boom is finally starting to wane.

The price of properties coming to market rose by 0.8% month on month in June to a third consecutive record of £336,073, according to data from Rightmove, a property listings website.

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Solar eclipse 2021: spectacle to be visible across UK and Ireland

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Skygazers – with appropriate eye protection – will be able to see much of sun being obscured from 10.08am

Views of a partial solar eclipse will be “somewhat fleeting” across certain parts of the UK due to cloudy skies, forecasters have said.

But those in central and south-east England will have clear spells to witness the spectacle, according to the Met Office. On Thursday morning, skygazers will be able to see nearly a third of the sun being blocked out by the moon in what is known as an annular eclipse.

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Wales to allow outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people from Monday

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Up to three households can now mingle, and review ahead of 21 June will determine whether indoor activities can restart

Up to 30 people will be able to meet outdoors and large outdoor activities can resume in Wales from Monday, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.

The size of extended households can be increased to up to three households and a further household with a single adult or single adult with caring responsibilities will also be able to join.

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Woman hit by branch when leaning out train window near Bath, inquest hears

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Bethan Roper, 28, of south Wales, was killed travelling home from Christmas shopping trip in 2018

A woman died after she was struck by an overhanging tree branch when she leant out of a train window as she travelled home after a Christmas shopping trip, an inquest has heard.

Bethan Roper, 28, who worked for the Welsh Refugee Council, sustained fatal head injuries while a passenger on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train travelling at about 75mph.

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Children’s commissioners urge UK government to scrap two-child limit for benefits

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Children’s commissioners of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland say policy breaches human rights

The children’s commissioners of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have written to the UK government calling on it to scrap the controversial two-child limit restricting the amount that larger families can receive in social security benefits.

In the joint letter to the work and pensions secretary, Thérèse Coffey, the three commissioners – respectively Sally Holland, Bruce Adamson and Koulla Yiasouma – argue the policy is a “clear breach of children’s human rights”.

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