A&Es And Hospitals Face Closure Amid NHS Funding Crisis

Experts have warned a 'glut' of hospital services could be shut down

The NHS is drawing up plans to close services including A&E departments and district hospitals.

Experts have warned there could be a "glut" of services shut down as providers face a £23bn national funding deficit.

Campaign group 38 Degrees has uncovered 44 Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) being drawn up across England.

The disclosure comes after Stafford County Hospital suspended its A&E service for children on Thursday after senior staff said it was not clinically safe.

38 Degrees said the analysis, carried out by health policy experts Incisive Health, "reveals far-reaching plans to close services, which appear to have had little input from patients and the public".

According to the analysis, there are plans to shut the A&E department at Midland Metropolitan Hospital and to close one of two district general hospitals as part of a planned merger.

In Leicestershire and Rutland, there are plans to reduce the number of hospitals in the area from three to two.

Meanwhile, in Suffolk and North East Essex there are plans to "reconfigure" acute services within Colchester Hospital University Trust and to close GP practices.

In Dorset, hospital beds are at risk, while there are also proposals to close the equivalent of five wards in the Leeds Teaching Hospital's Trust.

Laura Townshend, director at 38 Degrees, said the findings show the health service is "dangerously under-funded".

She said: "These proposed cuts aren't the fault of local NHS leaders. The health service is struggling to cope with growing black holes in NHS funding.

"These new revelations will be a test of Theresa May's commitment to a fully-funded National Health Service.

"The NHS belongs to all of us - so local people should get a say in any changes to their local services."

The warning comes as Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents frontline NHS leaders, said a "glut" of services could close.

Mr Hopson called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and NHS England boss Simon Stevens to admit there is a disparity between what the NHS is being asked to achieve and the money available.

Keith Strangwood, chairman of the campaign to save Horton Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire, told Sky News the plans were "madness".

He said: "They say it's not about money, but the sustainability project is about money.

"Why don't they just ask the people would you put another £10 in a month and we can keep the service we need and not the service we can currently afford?"

Shadow health secretary Diane Abbott said the analysis was a "damning indictment" of the Government's "underfunding and mismanagement" of the health service.

She said: "The Government needs to properly fund the NHS and cut out the waste of PFI, agency staffing and inflated drug prices. These resources should be ploughed back in to frontline services."

A spokesperson for NHS England said: "It is hardly a secret that the NHS is looking to make major efficiencies and the best way of doing so is for local doctors, hospitals and councils to work together to decide the way forward in consultation with local communities.

"Proposals are at a draft stage but we expect all local leaders to be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly - it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services.

"No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation."

The Department of Health said it had protected the NHS "by giving it an extra £10bn to fund its own plan to transform services".

A spokesman said: "Changes to local services will only go forward where they are designed by doctors and in the clear interests of local patients."

UK Tourism Boosted By Weak Pound After Brexit

The UK tourism industry has been enjoying an increase in people holidaying at home, as the Government unveils plans to make the UK the destination of the moment.

According to Barclays' research, 70% of UK adults have been on or are planning a 'staycation', with the seaside the most popular destination in the first half of the year.

The figures also show an increase in the amount people are spending, with the average for a stay-at-home holiday increasing from £575 last year to £613 in 2016.

Overall, Britons have spent £22.1bn on holidays at home following the drop in the pound's value against other currencies in the wake of Brexit.

A Tourism Action Plan published by the Government has suggested a number of new measures intended to push Britain further ahead in the race to attract visitors.

Ministers will be looking at relaxing licensing rules to allow bed and breakfast proprietors to offer guests a welcome drink without the need for a permit.

They will also be exploring changes to vehicle licensing regulations so guests can be picked up from the train station by their hosts.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the announcements would help to support the UK's "vitally import" tourist sector.

"The British people's decision to leave the European Union creates real opportunities for growth and we will work in close partnership with the tourism industry, to ensure it continues to thrive as negotiations on the UK's exit progress," she said.

"We are making it easier for visitors to travel beyond London and experience all of the world-class attractions the UK has to offer, to make sure the benefits of this thriving industry are felt by the many and not the few."

Amber Heard Calls On Johnny Depp To Double Charity Payout

Amber Heard has urged Johnny Depp to double the $7m (£5.3m) he plans to donate to charity to avoid claims his lawyers are seeking to reduce his divorce payment.

Depp agreed to pay his estranged wife the $7m sum as part of their divorce settlement, which she pledged to donate to a domestic violence charity and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star confirmed on Thursday that he had paid the first instalments to the charities himself "in the name of Amber Heard".

But Heard's legal team claims Depp's decision to pay the charities directly rather than give the payments to Heard means he will get a charitable tax deduction and should therefore donate $14m (£10.6m) to account for that.

A spokeswoman for Heard said: "Amber Heard appreciates Johnny Depp's novel interest in supporting two of her favourite charities, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) for domestic violence and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. This is great and unexpected news.

"However, if Johnny wishes to change the settlement agreement, we must insist that he honour the full amount by donating 14 million dollars to charity, which, after accounting for his tax deduction, is equal to his seven million-dollar payment obligation to Amber.

"We would also insist that the full amount be paid immediately and not drawn out over many years.

"Anything less would be a transparent attempt by Johnny's counsel, Laura Wasser and Patti Glaser, to reduce their client's true payment by half under the guise of new-found concern for charities that he has never previously supported."

In a statement, a spokesman for Depp said: "Following Amber Heard's announcement that her divorce settlement was to be divided equally and gifted to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union, two exceptionally deserving and important charities, Johnny Depp has sent the first of multiple instalments of those monies to each charity in the name of Amber Heard, which when completed will honour the full amount of Ms Heard's pledge.

"Ms Heard's generosity in giving to these wonderful causes is deeply respected."

Depp, 53, and Heard, 30, split in May and resolved their acrimonious divorce earlier this month, just a day before a high-profile court hearing was due to take place in Los Angeles.

Depp vehemently denied claims he abused Heard after she said he had a "history of drug and alcohol abuse" and been "verbally and physically abusive" for the entirety of their four-year-relationship.

Police Make Appeal After 'Boy Bundled Into Van' In Surrey

An urgent appeal has been launched following reports a boy was bundled into a van and abducted in Surrey.


The child, aged around six or seven, was seen being taken into the side of a black van in Redhill at 4.43pm on Thursday.

Police had released CCTV footage of a black Volkswagen transporter - which has now been traced and ruled out of the investigation.

However, they are still searching for a similar style black VW van with a sliding side door - but no writing on the side.


Police have ruled out this black VW Transporter, but are looking for a similar van

The boy is described as white and around 4ft tall, wearing a red T-shirt and navy blue jeans.

Superintendent Chris Edwards, of Surrey Police, said although no one has reported a child missing matching the description given, officers had no reason to doubt the witness that reported the apparent abduction.

He conceded these were "very unusual circumstances", but the force would continue to treat the matter with the "utmost seriousness".

Supt Edwards told Sky News: "So far we have had no reports of missing children that match that description in that location and we have extended the parameters of that search to the region, and nationally.

"No forces have had reports of missing children consistent with that set of circumstances.

"We will continue to treat this investigation with the utmost seriousness until such time that we can establish the full circumstances of what happened."

He added: "I have got no reason to doubt the veracity of the witness's account at this stage."


The Frantic Giant mountain bike was found at the scene

The youngster was seen "tampering" with the chain of a silver and yellow mountain bike, which was left behind at the scene of the feared abduction, though police have said they cannot categorically link the bike to the child.

They want to speak to anyone who was in Redstone Hill at around 4.30pm to 5pm, or in and around Redhill train station.

Anyone with any information can contact Surrey Police by calling 999 in an emergency or 101, or report it online at www.surrey.police.uk quoting Operation Bigfoot.

People can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Dwayne Johnson 'The Rock' Tops Forbes List Of Best Paid Actors

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been named the world's highest paid actor by Forbes, raking in $64.5m (£49m).

The 44-year-old former wrestler more than doubled his earnings from last year thanks to his role in the action comedy Central Intelligence, the eighth instalment of the Fast & Furious racing franchise and the forthcoming Baywatch.

Johnson was ranked number 11 last year, earning some $31m in the 12 months from June 2014 to June 2015.


Johnson was ranked number 11 last year

He snatched the title held for three consecutive years by Robert Downey Jr.

Johnson, who stars in the HBO series Ballers, expressed his delight at his new title.

He tweeted: "Want to say two things about this. I started w/$7 bucks. If I can overcome, so can you. Waffle House on me!!"

Jackie Chan came in second on the list ($61m) followed by Matt Damon ($55m), Tom Cruise ($53m) and Johnny Depp ($48m).


Jennifer Lawrence earned almost $20m less than Johnson

The world's 10 highest-paid actors made a combined $456.5m, according to Forbes, compared to the $205m earned by the top 10 actresses.

Topping the Forbes list released earlier this week for highest-paid actresses was Jennifer Lawrence, who earned $46m (£35m) - nearly $20m less than her male counterpart.

The disparity is expected to reignite the row in Hollywood about the industry's gender pay gap.

Lawrence wrote a blunt essay on the issue last year after a leak of stolen emails from Sony Pictures showed she was paid less than her male co-stars in the movie American Hustle.

Apple tackles iPhone one-tap spyware flaws

Flaws in Apple's iOS operating system have been discovered that made it possible to install spyware on a target's device merely by getting them to click on a link.

The discovery was made after a human rights lawyer alerted security researchers to unsolicited text messages he had received.

They discovered three previously unknown flaws within Apple's code.

Apple has since released a software update that addresses the problem.

The two security firms involved, Citizen Lab and Lookout, said they had held back details of the discovery until the fix had been issued.




Rare attack




The lawyer, Ahmed Mansoor, received the text messages on 10 and 11 August.

The texts promised to reveal "secrets" about people allegedly being tortured in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s jails if he tapped the links.

Had he done so, Citizen Lab says, his iPhone 6 would have been "jailbroken", meaning unauthorised software could have been installed.

"Once infected, Mansoor's phone would have become a digital spy in his pocket, capable of employing his iPhone's camera and microphone to snoop on activity in the vicinity of the device, recording his WhatsApp and Viber calls, logging messages sent in mobile chat apps, and tracking his movements," said Citizen Lab.

"We are not aware of any previous instance of an iPhone remote jailbreak used in the wild as part of a targeted attack campaign, making this a rare find."

The researchers say they believe the spyware involved was created by NSO Group, an Israeli "cyber-war" company.

Analysis: Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter

This is many ways a textbook case of the cybersecurity community acting precisely as it should. Researchers were alerted to a vulnerability, investigated it, and made Apple, the company responsible for fixing it, aware so it could issue a fix. Apple, to its credit, understood the severity and acted quickly - it took them just 10 days.

These types of vulnerabilities are rare and extremely lucrative. A genuine "zero day" - the name given to previously unknown security flaws - can be sold for upwards of $1m when it affects a major piece of software like Apple's iOS. In this case, it looks like several zero days were combined to make a hugely sophisticated attack package.

Now attention is shifting to the secretive organisation said to be behind the attack, the NSO Group, described by researchers as a cyber arms dealer, and described by itself as firm capable of being a "ghost" on victims' devices - working undetected but gathering enormous amounts of private data.

According to Privacy International, NSO Group has sold its products to clients in Mexico and in Panama - but little is known about other deals involving the company which is said to be worth more than $1bn.

Pressure is also being put on Francisco Partners Ltd, the San Francisco-based venture capital firm that has a controlling stake in NSO Group. It is yet to comment on the controversial attack.

"[It is] the most sophisticated spyware package we've seen," said Lookout.

"It takes advantage of how integrated mobile devices are in our lives and the combination of features only available on mobile - always connected (wi-fi, 3G/4G), voice communications, camera, email, messaging, GPS, passwords, and contact lists."

NSO has issued a statement acknowledging that it makes technology used to "combat terror and crime" but said it had no knowledge of any particular incidents and made no reference to the specific spyware involved.

"These are rather rare zero-day flaws," commented security expert Prof Alan Woodward, referring to the technical name for previously unknown vulnerabilities.

"To have several found at once is even rarer. As can be seen from how these have been exploited to date, it represents a serious threat to the security and privacy of iOS users.

"Apple has been remarkably responsive in providing fixes for these issues, so I would encourage any iOS users to update to the latest version of the operating system."

Truck bomb hits police building in southeast Turkey

At least eight police officers have been killed and 45 wounded in a truck bomb attack at a police headquarters in Cizre in southeastern Turkey, according to Turkish media.

The attack on Friday was followed by an armed battle between the police and attackers.

Ambulances, including helicopters, have been sent to the scene, television channels said. They also showed live footage of smokes rising from the building and rubbles left from the building.

Cizre is in Sirnak, a province that borders both Syria and Iraq and has a largely Kurdish population.