Six In The Morning Monday 3 January 2022

 

Hospitals under pressure but Covid plans unchanged - PM

Summary

1. Boris Johnson says the NHS and hospitals are going to face "considerable pressure" in coming weeks due to the Covid surge
2. The government will stick to current Plan B measures in England while keeping everything under review
3. Although Omicron is clearly milder than other variants, it would be "folly" to think the pandemic is over, he adds
4. He also says the majority of people in intensive care have not been vaccinated or boosted
5. There are nearly 12,000 people in UK hospitals with Covid but that is far below the highest levels reached last winter
6. Hospital admissions in London may also have peaked, NHS bosses suggest
7. But a hospital trust in Lincolnshire has declared a critical incident due to Covid-related staff absences
8. All secondary school pupils in England will be tested for Covid before returning to classrooms, where they will have to wear masks

Abducted son finds family by drawing map of village he last saw aged four

Li Jingwei still recalled key features of his home village 30 years later and made successful appeal for help

Peter Beaumont

Mon 3 Jan 2022 12.46 GMT

Thirty years ago, when Li Jingwei was four years old, a neighbour abducted him from his home village in China’s Yunnan province and sold him to a child trafficking ring.

Now he has been reunited with his mother after drawing a map of his home village from his memories of three decades ago and sharing it on a popular video-sharing app in the hope that someone might be able to identify it.

“I’m a child who’s looking for his home,” Li said in the video. Unable to recall the name of his village or his address, Li’s recollection and reconstruction of the village’s key features – including a school, a bamboo forest and a pond – proved crucial.

Five world powers issue pledge to prevent nuclear war

China, France, Russia, the UK and the US have agreed that a nuclear war "cannot be won and must never be fought."

Five of the world's nuclear powers on Monday pledged to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms and have also said that nuclear war is not an option.

In a rare statement issued jointly, China, France, Russia, the UK and the US said: "We believe strongly that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented."

The statement went on to say: "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."

French police face disciplinary hearings amid high numbers of femicide

Six French police officers will appear in disciplinary hearings January 4 accused of “administrative failings” in the gruesome case of Chahinez Daoud, who was killed by her husband last May. Daoud was one of 113 femicides in France in 2021, a number that continues to climb despite high-profile campaigns and government measures aimed at combating the violence. 

Late in the afternoon of May 4, 2021, Chahinez Daoud stumbled out of her home on Avenue Carnot in the well-heeled Merignac neighbourhood near Bordeaux in southwestern France. The 31-year-old mother of three was being pursued by her estranged husband. He shot her in the legs a number of times and she fell to the ground. He took a can of flammable liquid from a van parked in front of their house, doused her with it and set her on fire. The fire brigade arrived shortly after 6.30pm but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her 44-year-old ex-husband fled before the authorities arrived. He was arrested half an hour later, almost 5 kilometres away in the neighbouring district of Pessac. At the time of his arrest he was in possession of a 12-gauge shotgun, a pellet gun and a cartridge belt. 

Writing on the wall: Why Hamdok exit was only a ‘matter of time’

Experts say Sudan’s prime minister found himself lacking in public and political support after signing unpopular deal with military.

By Arwa Ibrahim

Published On 3 Jan 20223 Jan 2022

On November 21, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok appeared alongside General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief who in October had deposed him and put him under house arrest, during a televised ceremony at Sudan’s presidential palace in Khartoum to mark the signing of a new power-sharing agreement.

Shortly afterwards, Hamdok said he had signed the 14-point political deal that restored him to power to “avoid further bloodshed” after dozens of civilians were killed by security forces during protests against the October 25 coup.

Tensions are high on Ukraine's border with Russia. Here's what you need to know

By Matthew Chance and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

Updated 1221 GMT (2021 HKT) January 3, 2022

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia are at their highest in years, with a Russian troop build-up near the two nations' borders spurring fears that Moscow could launch an invasion in the coming weeks or months.

Ukraine has warned that Russia is trying to destabilize the country ahead of any planned military invasion. Western powers have repeatedly warned Russia in recent weeks against further aggressive moves against Ukraine.

The Kremlin denies it is planning to attack and argues that NATO support for Ukraine -- including increased weapons supplies and military training -- constitutes a growing threat on Russia's western flank.

The picture is complicated -- but here's a breakdown of what we know.