Thursday briefing: Junior doctors strike to ‘save’ NHS
In today’s newsletter: Patients across the UK have been warned of serious disruption as junior doctors begin one of the most devastating strikes in NHS history
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Good morning.
The colder months are always more challenging for the NHS. More people get sick, there are fewer staff over the Christmas holiday period and many NHS services such as GP surgeries are shut, piling the pressure on A&Es and hospital wards. This year the annual crisis is, for the first time, coinciding with a junior doctor strike.
Israel-Gaza war | The US said “very serious” negotiations were taking place in Egypt on a new Gaza ceasefire and release of more Israeli hostages, but prospects for a deal remained uncertain as Hamas reportedly insisted it would not discuss anything less than a complete end to Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.
UK news | Two 16-year-olds have been found guilty of murdering Brianna Ghey, a “unique, and truly unforgettable” transgender girl who was stabbed 28 times in a Warrington park this year.
Immigration and asylum | A total of 23 asylum seekers are thought to have killed themselves in Home Office accommodation between 2020 and so far in 2023, more than double the total in the previous four years, the Guardian has learned.
Privacy | The police will be able to run facial recognition searches on a database containing images of Britain’s 50 million driving licence holders under a law change being quietly introduced by the government. Privacy campaigners have warned that the move, contained in a single clause in a new criminal justice bill, could put every driver in the country in a permanent police lineup.
Covid inquiry | Boris Johnson’s Downing Street was so “macho and egotistical” that women’s voices were heard for as little as 10 minutes in five hours of meetings during a key week of coronavirus policy, the Covid inquiry has heard.
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