Briefsfromshittu

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Doctors Responsible If Patients Die, Says Hunt

Junior doctors will be "responsible" if patients die because of the first all-out strike in NHS history because they made the decision to withdraw care, the Health Secretary has said.

As thousands of doctors walked out this morning, Jeremy Hunt said that the reaction to the new contract he seeks to impose to gear up to a seven-day NHS had not been "proportionate".

When asked on Sky News if would have to take some responsibility if a patient died because of industrial action he said: "The people who are responsible for what is happening are the people who chose to strike."

Mr Hunt said he had no regrets in taking on the junior doctors as part of the Government's manifesto pledge to deliver a seven-day NHS, but admitted on Radio 4's Today Programme that Health Secretary would likely be his "last big job" in politics.

However, he earlier insisted that the Prime Minister had not had any issues with the way he had handled the negotiations.

Medics have withdrawn emergency care from 8am until 5pm today and tomorrow, despite a last-minute plea from Mr Hunt for doctors not to withdraw emergency cover.

The industrial action will see junior doctors refusing A&E care for the first time, in a move Mr Hunt said puts "lives at risk".

:: Why Are The Junior Doctors Striking?

Junior doctors have been told by union leaders that NHS trusts and hospitals will be responsible for what happens to patients and not individual medics.

Hospitals across England have been finalising plans for dealing with the walkout and the NHS has cancelled 125,000 operations and appointments in preparation.

Junior doctors have accused Mr Hunt of being "afraid to debate in public" the issues raised by a new contract, which they say he is seeking to "force down their throats".

Medics are unhappy with Government proposals to impose the contract, which the Government says is designed to gear the NHS up for seven-day care.

Junior doctors say the Government is stretching resources too thinly and should invest in more staff - although the Government has pledged to train 11,000 more doctors by 2020.

Doctors are concerned they will be under pressure to work longer hours, although the contract reduces the working week, risking patient safety.

:: Public Support Slips For Junior Doctors: Sky Data

Mr Hunt said that no "trade union has the right to veto a manifesto promise (seven-day NHS) voted for by the British people".

The BMA has defended the walkout, arguing that it would have called off the strike if Mr Hunt agreed to lift his threat to impose the contract.

Mr Hunt's counterpart in the shadow cabinet, Heidi Alexander, accused him of "looking for a fight" and claimed the way the Government had handled the dispute was the political equivalent of "pouring oil on to a blazing fire".

Monday, April 25, 2016

Two Nagorno-Karabakh soldiers 'killed by Azeri gunfire'

Two soldiers from the Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh were killed by gunfire from Azerbaijan in the early hours of Tuesday, the defence ministry of the breakaway region said.

There was no immediate response from Azerbaijani authorities.

An earlier bout of violence erupted earlier this month - the worst since a war that ended in 1994, leaving the region under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military.

CCTV Shows Paris Bomber Detonating Suicide Belt

Footage has emerged showing one of the Paris attackers blowing himself up during last year's terror attacks on the French capital.

Brahim Abdeslam, 31, detonated his suicide belt inside the Comptoir Voltaire restaurant on 13 November.

The 31-year-old, who died in the attack, is the brother of Salah Abdeslam, who went on the run following the attacks and was captured in Brussels last month.

Paris suicide bomber Brahim Abdeslam inside Comtoir Voltaire restaurant

The footage was broadcast on the French television station M6, which aired it as part of the Zone Interdite programme on Sunday night.

The attacks across Paris were claimed by Islamic State and killed 130 people.

Several groups of terrorists carried out the series of shootings and suicide bombings that also injured more than 350 people.

The attacks began at the Stade de France, where suicide bombers detonated explosive belts as France played Germany in a friendly match.

Later, gunmen armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles shot customers at Le Carillon bar and Petit Cambodge restaurant.

Attackers also opened fire in front of A La Bonne Biere restaurant in the 11th district, and outside La Belle Equipe.

At the Bataclan Concert Hall, several gunmen also entered the venue and shot randomly at the crowd.

Salah Abdeslam was the only surviving suspect involved in the attacks.

He was arrested after a gun battle at an apartment in the Forest district of Brussels on 15 March.

Canadian Hostage Is Killed In Philippines

Islamist militants in the Philippines have killed hostage John Ridsdel, the Canadian government has confirmed.

The Philippine army said a severed head was found on a remote Philippine island on Monday, five hours after the expiry of a ransom deadline.

The army would not immediately comment on whether the head was that of Mr Ridsdel, but his death was later confirmed by Canadian government officials.

In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the killing, describing it as an act of "cold-blooded murder".

He said the Canadian government will work with the government of the Philippines to pursue those responsible for this "heinous act".

Mr Ridsdel, a former mining executive, was one of four hostages being held by militants from the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

The group had threatened to behead one of the four if a 300m peso ransom (£4.42m) for each of them was not paid by 3pm local time on Monday.

Mr Ridsdel, from Calgary Alberta, was kidnapped in September last year alongside Canadian national Robert Hall, as well as a Norwegian man and a Filipina woman.

They were all taken from an upscale resort on the southern Samal Island.

The four had appeared in a video appealing to their families and governments to aide their release.

Abu Sayyaf, a small but notoriously brutal militant group, is holding a number of other foreign hostages including one from the Netherlands, one from Japan, four Malaysians and 14 Indonesian tugboat crew.

It is known for its campaign of beheading, kidnapping, bombing and extortion in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

Lyft’s First National TV Ad Is a Cutesy Attack on Car Ownership

San Francisco-based ride app company Lyft will run its first national television spot Monday, a cute and hyperbolic appeal for you to stop owning a car and be a passenger instead.

The 60-second spot seeks to highlight all the obnoxious things that drivers do (e.g. putting on makeup, driving drunk), as well as all the obnoxious things that can happen when you’re the one with the car (e.g. getting in a wreck, having a ticket slapped under your windshield wiper). And, just in case you weren’t feeling their adorable-chaos vibe, the creative team threw in a few zoo animals for good measure.

And it is in line with the strategy that company executives have espoused since the beginning: that selling new users on peer-to-peer rides is really about getting more people into fewer cars and therefore lessening the transportation evils (congestion, emissions) that we’re all contributing to when we drive around alone.