Forecast of high winds and rain leads to cancellation of event that was due to take place in Portsmouth on Sunday
High winds and rain expected from Storm Ashley have caused organisers to cancel the Great South Run, which was due to take place on Sunday.
Great Run, which organises the annual 10-mile race in Portsmouth, said it had been monitoring weather conditions and they “haven’t improved to a point where we can safely stage Sunday’s event”.
Continue reading...Queen Alexandra hospital had closed ward to new admissions and declared major incident after outage
A hospital has reopened its emergency department after closing it to new admissions and declaring a major incident after a power cut.
The outage on Monday morning at the Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, also affected phone lines. A small number of procedures had to be cancelled.
Continue reading...Labour leader accuses PM of ‘resorting to lies’ in TV debate, saying he ‘knew very well what he was doing’
Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of deliberately lying when he claimed Labour spending plans would increase taxes by £2,000, saying the prime minister’s tactics in Tuesday night’s TV debate showed he was dishonest when put under pressure.
Amid an increasingly bitter and personal war of words over the standout dispute in the debate between the prime minister and Labour leader, Starmer said be believed Sunak should be investigated for breaching the ministerial code.
Continue reading...Worlds Beneath the Waves at the National Museum of the Royal Navy marks 150 years since HMS Challenger expedition
From the early days of deepwater exploration when it took a crew of 250 to keep the ship steady enough to collect samples, to the modern-day era of hi-tech minisubs, a century and a half of oceanographic missions is being celebrated.
An exhibition at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth has been launched to mark 150 years since HMS Challenger’s remarkable circumnavigation of the world in search of the mysteries of the deep – a mission that led to the discovery of thousands of new species of sea creature and the Mariana Trench.
Continue reading...Standing With Giants, created for 40th anniversary, commemorates troops and islanders who died
Lifesize silhouetted figures representing the 255 British military personnel and three civilians who lost their lives in the Falklands war have been installed on the parade ground and ramparts at Fort Nelson in Portsmouth.
The art installation, Standing With Giants, was created to mark the 40th anniversary of the conflict and its arrival in the Hampshire port is regarded as particularly poignant as so many of the British ships left and returned there.
Continue reading...Dr Kajal Sharma was only one of 12 senior academics not to be reappointed to her post
A university has been found to have discriminated against an Indian lecturer on the grounds of race after it failed to reappoint her for a job she had been doing for five years, replacing her with a white candidate with no experience of the role.
Dr Kajal Sharma was one of only two senior lecturers at the University of Portsmouth who were not reappointed to their jobs when their contract came to an end, while 11 out of 12 white colleagues were successful, an employment tribunal heard.
Continue reading...HMS Prince of Wales retreats to Solent for repairs after propeller malfunction, risking cross-Atlantic date with allies
Britain’s biggest warship could miss important flight trials with jets off the US coast after it suffered a propeller shaft malfunction shortly after setting sail, the Royal Navy has said.
HMS Prince of Wales, a £3bn aircraft carrier, left Portsmouth naval base on Saturday and suffered an “emerging mechanical issue” off the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight.
Continue reading...After 119 years, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail has printed its last issue. A dedicated reader bids this singular British institution a fond farewell
It’s been the slowest of deaths, but yesterday the “Saturday final” edition of a singular British institution will be just that. While in the last 20 years beloved pink ’uns and green ’uns (and the occasional blue ’un and buff ’un) have disappeared from towns and cities across the country, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail, 119 years old, held out as the last remaining dedicated matchday newspaper. It was first closed down in 2012 but quickly resurrected at the impassioned demand of fans of Pompey, the island city’s club. This time, the obituary is to be believed.
With it goes a century of a particular collective memory: that Saturday evening ritual of heading up to the local newsagent at 5.30 or 5.45 to await the mundane miracle of a stack of fat papers slung from the back of a van reporting from all across the city what had ended only an hour before, ink still smudgeable on banner headlines.
Continue reading...Trial will take treatments from Portsmouth to St Mary’s hospital and health service plans similar drops elsewhere in England
The NHS plans to use drones to fly chemotherapy drugs to cancer patients in England to avoid the need for long journeys to collect them.
The devices will transport doses from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight in a trial that, if successful, will lead to drones being used for similar drops elsewhere.
Continue reading...Papa Bouba Diop, the former Senegal midfielder who scored the first goal of the 2002 World Cup against France, has died at the age of 42.
World football’s governing body posted a tribute to Diop on Twitter. “Fifa is saddened to learn of the passing of Senegal legend Papa Bouba Diop,” Sunday’s statement read. “Once a World Cup hero, always a World Cup hero.”
Continue reading...Deposed royal who fled to UK after 1964 revolution finally reunited with family in Oman
After more than half a century of living in Southsea, Portsmouth, with its unpredictable British weather, shingle beaches and Victorian pier, relocation to the Gulf state of Oman might take some adjustment.
But for Jamshid bin Abdullah al-Said the 91-year-old last sultan of Zanzibar, it was the next best thing to going home.
Continue reading...Alcohol is free of radioactivity and could help economic recovery in region
What do you call vodka produced from grain grown in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl, scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster 33 years ago?
Atomik, of course.
Continue reading...Veterans and world leaders took part in a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May gave speeches, and there were performances from singers and dancers. Speaking to crowds along Portsmouth seafront, the Queen said that 'the heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten'. The emotional ceremony finished with a sea and air display featuring a second world war Spitfire plane, the RAF red arrows and a warship
Continue reading...Queen and Donald Trump among those marking 75 years since Normandy landings
D-day veterans and world leaders have taken part in an emotional ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings, with a vast security operation safeguarding dignitaries including the Queen, Donald Trump and Theresa May.
Miles of fencing, roadblocks and checkpoints were in place and residents of nearby flats were told not to aim long-lens cameras at the national commemoration event on Southsea Common, or fly drones over the site.
Continue reading...Conservatives have launched inquiry into alleged racist incidents in local party
Portsmouth’s major political parties are struggling to contain claims they have racially discriminated against local minority ethnic council candidates.
The Conservatives have launched an inquiry into alleged racist incidents in the local party. A leaked letter shows a former council candidate for the party has claimed he was marginalised, bullied and racially abused.
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