Boris Johnson pressed to drop Cairns after he quit as Welsh secretary over rape trial claims
Boris Johnson is facing calls to remove Alun Cairns as a Conservative candidate after the Welsh secretary resigned over allegations that a former aide sabotaged a rape trial.
Cairns stepped down following huge pressure in recent days over the actions of his former adviser Ross England, with the furore threatening to derail the Tory campaign in Wales.
Continue reading...Zorba fined £93,000 in Wales for supplying egg-free branded tzatziki dip containing egg
The food company at the centre of a hummus salmonella scare received a substantial fine less than a month ago for food standard offences involving another dip, it has emerged.
Zorba Delicacies, which has been forced to extend a recall of 80 types of hummus products supplied to various supermarkets, was found to have supplied an egg-free branded tzatziki dip which contained egg protein.
Continue reading...Mocked-up ‘boarding pass’ for the late footballer distributed on social media
Police are investigating after an image of a mocked-up “boarding pass” for the late Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala was distributed on social media.
The 28-year-old Argentinian player died in a plane crash in the Channel two days after the Welsh club announced his signing on 19 January.
Continue reading...Report calls for higher age of criminal responsibility and warns of legal aid ‘deserts’
Powers to control justice, policing and prisons should be devolved to the Welsh assembly as they are in Scotland and Northern Ireland, a commission led by the former lord chief justice of England and Wales has recommended.
In a strongly worded report on the justice system in Wales, a review chaired by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd calls for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to at least 12 years, says “advice deserts” are appearing due to cuts in legal aid, and condemns high imprisonment rates as unsustainable.
Continue reading...Police and Health and Safety Executive launch investigation into man’s death in south Wales
Police and health and safety experts are investigating after a worker died in an incident involving machinery at the Tata steelworks in Port Talbot.
Emergency services including a hazardous area response team were called to the site in south Wales shortly before 2pm on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Ex-British Lions captain believed to be first UK sportsman to go public about living with virus
Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas has revealed that he is HIV positive.
Mr Thomas, who came out as gay in 2009, is thought to be the first UK sportsman to go public about living with the virus, and has revealed that he was driven to suicidal thoughts as a result of his diagnosis.
Continue reading...Lledr valley, Snowdonia: Birdsong scatters like elegies here where once an old woman screamed her curses
This split rock with the wizened rowan growing from its cleft – I was first made aware of it by the old butcher from Dolwyddelan who gave me a lift along the valley one wet day when I was a young teenager on my first walking tour through Wales. He drew his Morris van to a halt, gestured towards it and gave me its name: Maen yr hen wraig sy’n melltithio – the stone of the old cursing woman.
In some earlier time, he told me, a woman would stand on top of it and scream imprecations at passersby. He showed me a kind of cave behind it. “Some say she used to live in there,” he added. He knew no more than those folk memories, which have hovered in my mind for 60 years.
Continue reading...Dr Tim Manfield tells inquest he has ‘beaten himself up’ for diagnosing Sarah-Jayne Roche with pulled hamstring
A doctor has expressed his regret at failing to spot that a runner diagnosed with a pulled hamstring had actually suffered a broken leg, telling her inquest he wished he could go back in time and order an x-ray.
Sarah-Jayne Roche, 39, pulled up while running the Cardiff half-marathon but went to hospital three times before it was realised that her femur was fractured.
Continue reading...Loos in Porthcawl, south Wales, will feature weight sensors and sound alarms to stop anti-social use
The Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl is planning to install anti-sex public toilets that would spray occupants with water and sound an alarm.
Violent movement sensors would automatically open the doors and sound high-pitched alarms, with fine water jets soaking the interior. Weight-sensitive floors would ensure only one user could be in a cubicle at a time, to safeguard against “inappropriate sexual activity and vandalism”.
Continue reading...Outage caused travel chaos and cut electricity to almost 1m people in England and Wales
The energy watchdog, Ofgem, is demanding answers from the National Grid after a power cut left people stuck in trains for up to nine hours and cut electricity to almost 1 million people in England and Wales.
The biggest power outage in a decade caused widespread disruption on the rail network during the evening rush hour on Friday. Traffic light systems stopped working, causing gridlock in some areas, and Newcastle airport was left in darkness. Power had been restored to 900,000 customers by Saturday, but the rail network was struggling to get services back to normal.
Continue reading...Sherry Bray and Christopher Ashford admit accessing CCTV of postmortem examination
Two people are facing prison sentences after they admitted accessing footage of the footballer Emiliano Sala’s postmortem examination.
The Argentinian’s body was recovered from a plane wreck on 6 February, two weeks after it crashed into the Channel.
Continue reading...Jane Dodds beats Tory incumbent Chris Davies, and says her first act will be to tell prime minister to rule out no-deal Brexit
Boris Johnson has suffered a major blow after the Tories were beaten by the Liberal Democrats in the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection.
The victory by Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds means the new prime minister’s working majority in the House of Commons has been cut to just one and will be seized on as a sign voters are concerned by Borish Johnson’s pledge to leave the EU without a deal if necessary.
Continue reading...PM set out to prove his pledge to the ‘awesome foursome’ but not everything went to plan
Boris Johnson pledged his commitment to the “awesome foursome” of the UK when he was elected Conservative leader, and has since embarked on a whistlestop tour taking in the north of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But how successful were the trips? Visits that involved keeping the prime minister away from booing protesters and, in some cases, journalists? Have they allayed fears that Johnson’s hardline Brexit strategy and the continuation of the union could be mutually exclusive?
Continue reading...Families wanted bust of Prof Arthur Bloom removed from haemophilia centre in Cardiff
A hospital trust has removed a bust of a haemophilia expert who is at the centre of the contaminated blood scandal.
The bust of the late Prof Arthur Bloom was removed from the haemophilia centre at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff after a campaign by families of some of those who were infected and requests from current patients.
Continue reading...Roads closed in north-west after Manchester area gets two weeks’ worth of rain in 24 hours
Thunderstorms are expected to hit parts of the UK this week with a risk of more flooding following a weekend of heavy downpours.
Commuters woke up to road closures and diverted trains after parts of Greater Manchester were hit with two weeks’ worth of rain in 24 hours.
Continue reading...Met Office issues yellow warning for Scotland before sunshine breaks through later in week
Britain will experience a brief heatwave this week, but not before a storm brings torrential rain and strong gales to some areas.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for western parts of Scotland on Sunday and Monday, with thunderstorms, heavy rain and a risk of flooding. Rain and strong winds were also forecast to hit parts of Northern Ireland, north-west England and Wales on Sunday.
Continue reading...Mayor of New Zealand city says a tweak to signage might be all that’s needed, while some living on Baldwin Street are relieved
The New Zealand city of Dunedin has sought to look on the bright side after losing its claim to have the world’s steepest street to a town in Wales, with its mayor saying: “The street certainly hasn’t got any less steep as a result of the decision.”
This week, Guinness World Records officially stripped Dunedin’s Baldwin Street of the title and instead awarded it to Harlech in Wales. Its street, Ffordd Pen Llech, has a gradient of 37.45% at its steepest point – 2.5% steeper than Baldwin Street.
Continue reading...Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech beats renowned Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand
A meandering street in north-west Wales that challenges the fittest of walkers and cyclists has been confirmed as the steepest in the world.
Ffordd Pen Llech in the historic town of Harlech – better known for its castle and rousing song, Men of Harlech – has been judged steeper than Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Continue reading...Carwyn Jones insists he made mistake in telling court he had given Ann Jones formal care role
The former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones has been accused of lying under oath over the support measures put in place to protect a colleague who was found dead after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Carl Sargeant died four days after being sacked by Jones from his post in the Welsh government. Family and friends strongly believe the way the dismissal was handled left him in despair.
Continue reading...A Guardian/ITV News undercover investigation raises concerns about Gavin Woodhouse, who is behind project endorsed by Bear Grylls
A new £200m outdoor adventure park, which is being launched with the support of the celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls, is being fronted by a financier who has raised millions of pounds from private investors and whose businesses have a multimillion-pound “black hole”.
Related: How Gavin Woodhouse raised millions for a string of stalled projects
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