LONDON: Thousands of doctors in England are staging their 11th walkout on Thursday in a long-running dispute with the government over pay and working conditions, disrupting hospital services just days before the UK general election.
The five-day strike by junior doctors — those in the early years of their careers — shines a spotlight on the troubles besetting the chronically underfunded National Health Service, Britain’s state-funded public health system, a topic that is a a top concern for voters going to the polls on July 4.
Junior doctors, who form the backbone of hospital and clinic care, have been locked in the pay dispute with the government since late 2022. They went on strike for six days in January — the longest in NHS history — and hospitals had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments and operations.
The latest strike begins Thursday and ends on Tuesday, just two days before voters cast their ballots to choose a new House of Commons.
The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, say their pay has dropped by a quarter over the last 15 years and have called for a 35 percent pay uplift. The union says newly qualified doctors earn about 15 pounds ($19) an hour — the UK minimum wage is just over 10 pounds an hour — though salaries rise rapidly after the first year.
Dr. Sumi Manirajan, deputy chair of the junior doctors committee at the union, said that years of underinvestment has resulted in young doctors leaving in droves to countries that offer better pay, with those left behind seriously overworked and underpaid.
“Doctors that I trained with in London, some of the best in the country, have left to go to New Zealand. And actually what it makes me think of is why am I not doing the same? I want to be valued for the work that I do,” she said.
Manirajan, who recently graduated and works in obstetrics and gynecology, added that she sees many women waiting for more than a year for routine procedures.
“These patients are in pain, and it hurts us to see us see these patients come in again and again with the same problem that we know we could treat if we had enough doctors,” she said.
The Conservative government says it gave the doctors pay raises of between 8.1 percent to 10.3 percent last year and said that it was a generous settlement. It maintained that authorities can’t make a pay offer during the preelection period but the union refused to call off the strikes.
Manirajan said that it was unfortunate that the government chose to call an election while knowing that the dispute was unresolved.
The medics’ union said it was ready to talk, and it has already had some discussions with the opposition Labour Party, which has a considerable lead in polls.
“It is difficult to comprehend how either the Conservative Party or the Labour Party can deliver on their manifesto commitment to recover NHS performance over the next Parliament without first ending the dispute,” said Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund think tank.
Thousands of doctors go on strike in England a week before the UK general election
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Thousands of doctors go on strike in England a week before the UK general election
- The five-day strike by junior doctors in the early years of their careers comes just a week before the UK general election
- Junior doctors have been locked in the pay dispute with the government since late 2022
Russia says Ukraine shells Kursk region after deadly drone attack
- A video posted on Smirnov’s Telegram channel showed him at a destroyed house amid piles of rubble and building materials
KYIV: The governor of southern Russia’s Kursk region said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had shelled parts of the region throughout the day after an overnight drone attack on a village killed five people, including two children.
Governor Alexei Smirnov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the five fatalities occurred in a house in the village of Gorodishche, east of the regional center of Kursk. Two family members were being treated in hospital.
A video posted on Smirnov’s Telegram channel showed him at a destroyed house amid piles of rubble and building materials.
Smirnov said Ukrainian forces had shelled eight villages near the border intermittently throughout the day. Two residents from the village of Guyevo were reported to have been injured.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported shelling of the region.
North Korea blames South Korea, US and Japan ties as Asian version of NATO
- On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale joint military drills involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defenses against missiles, submarines and air attacks
SEOUL: North Korea criticized the trilateral “Freedom Edge” military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the United States held this month, state media said on Sunday, saying such drills show the relationship among three countries has developed into “the Asian version of NATO.”
On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale joint military drills involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defenses against missiles, submarines and air attacks.
The “Freedom Edge” exercise was devised at the three-way summit at Camp David last year to strengthen military cooperation amid tensions on the Korean peninsula stemming from North Korea’s weapons testing.
Pyongyang will not ignore the strengthening of a military bloc led by the US and its allies and will protect regional peace with an aggressive and overwhelming response, North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement, according to KCNA news agency.
The ministry also said Washington was continuing its effort to link up South Korea and Japan to NATO, adding South Korea’s attempts to supply weapons to Ukraine is one example of that effort.
South Korea said it would review the possibility of supplying arms directly to Ukraine, in protest against a recent mutual defense pact signed between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
South Korea and the United States have accused the North of supplying weapons to Russia that are being used in the Ukraine war. Both Russia and North Korea deny any such transactions.
North Korea has long condemned joint drills between the United States and South Korea as a rehearsal for invasion and proof of hostile policies by Washington and Seoul.
Last year, the three countries staged joint naval missile defense and anti-submarine exercises to improve responses to North Korean threats.
Afghan women’s rights an internal issue, Taliban government says before talks in Qatar
- The Taliban government imposed restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021, prompting the UN to call it ‘gender apartheid’
- The UN launched the talks in Qatar in May 2023 to increase international coordination on engagement with the Taliban authorities
KABUL: Taliban authorities said on Saturday that demands over women’s rights were “Afghanistan’s issues” to solve, ahead of United Nations-led engagement talks where the exclusion of Afghan women has sparked outcry.
The Taliban government, which has imposed restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021 that the UN has described as “gender apartheid,” will send its first delegation to the third round of talks starting in Qatar on Sunday.
Civil society representatives, including from women’s rights groups, will attend meetings with the international envoys and UN officials on Tuesday, after the official talks.
Rights groups have condemned the exclusion of Afghan women from the main meetings and the lack of human rights issues on the agenda.
The Taliban authorities “acknowledge the issues about women,” government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in Kabul on the eve of the latest talks.
“But these issues are Afghanistan’s issues,” said Mujahid, who will lead the delegation.
“We are working to find a logical path toward solutions inside Afghanistan so that, God forbid, our country doesn’t again fall into conflict and discord.”
He said the Taliban government would represent all of Afghanistan at the meetings and, given their authority, should be the only Afghans at the table.
“If Afghans participate through several channels, it means we are still scattered, our nation is still not unified,” he said.
The talks were launched by the UN in May 2023 and aim to increase international coordination on engagement with the Taliban authorities, who ousted a Western-backed government when they swept to power.
The Taliban government has not been officially recognized by any state and the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers, with women’s rights issues a sticking point for many countries.
Taliban authorities were not invited to the first talks in Doha last year and refused to attend the second conference, demanding that they be the sole Afghan representatives to the exclusion of invited civil society groups.
That condition has been met for the third round.
Mujahid reiterated that the Taliban government sought positive relations with all countries.
However, he added that “no major or key discussions” would take place in Doha and that the meeting was an opportunity to exchange views, particularly with Western countries.
The agenda will include combating narcotics and economic issues, key topics for authorities in the impoverished country.
“We have hurdles blocking economic development, which should be removed,” Mujahid said.
“If the economy were fine, then all other issues could be solved.”
Russian attack on southeastern Ukrainian town kills seven, officials say
- President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and enhanced air defenses
- Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired on the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings
KYIV: Russian forces on Saturday fired missiles at the town of Vilniansk, outside the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing seven people, including two children, and injuring up to 18 others, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and enhanced air defenses to stop what he said were daily attacks.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired on the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko put the death toll at seven, including two children, with 18 others injured, including four children. “Today the enemy carried out yet another dreadful terrorist act against the civilian population,” Zaporizhzhia Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The attack occurred in “the middle of the day, a non-working day, in the town center, where people were out relaxing, where there were no military targets,” Fedorov said.
Zelensky posted photos from the site showing a large crater, downed trees and a pair of tarpaulins spread out on the ground of what looked like a park.
“Our cities and communities suffer daily from such Russian strikes. But there are ways to overcome this,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
“Destroying terrorists where they are. Destroying Russian missile launchers, striking with real long-range capability and increasing the number of modern air defense systems in Ukraine” were ways to defend the country from such attacks, Zelensky said.
Australian PM distances government from King Charles’ decision to award medal to soldier accused of Afghanistan war crimes
- Ben Roberts-Smith among those handed commemorative medals marking British monarch's coronation
- Australian Federal Court judge last year dismissed defamation case brought by Roberts-Smith over unlawful killing claims
LONDON: The Australian government has distanced itself from the awarding of an honor from the UK’s King Charles III to a former special forces soldier accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan.
Buckingham Palace decided to present commemorative medals to all living Victoria Cross recipients, which includes Ben Roberts-Smith, who attended a ceremony at Western Australia’s Government House this week to receive the honor.
Last year an Australian Federal Court judge concluded that Roberts-Smith was involved in the unlawful killings of four Afghan prisoners. The ruling came after a lengthy trial brought about when the former soldier sued three newspapers for defamation.
Roberts-Smith brought a case against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times, as well as two journalists, over reports that alleged he had committed war crimes while deployed in Afghanistan. Last June, the judge dismissed the case.
Roberts-Smith, who has faced no criminal charges, has appealed the verdict and has maintained his innocence.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday it would be wrong for his government to get involved.
“Well, this isn’t a decision of the government, this was a decision of (Buckingham Palace) to give all VC recipients a further award,” he said.
“There’s ongoing legal action potentially on these issues, so given the government’s engagement, it’s important that there not be interference in that. But it certainly wasn’t a government decision,” he added.
