Volunteers from Hull have kept a promise to return to a Polish orphanage to help more than 60 disabled children who were evacuated from Ukraine.
Fundraiser Lee Ellerker made the pledge when he visited the orphanage in the northern city of Torun in June.
At the time he highlighted a need for sensory equipment which had been left behind when the children left Ukraine.
After a fundraising effort, volunteers have now installed a special sensory room with soft flooring and lighting.
Mr Ellerker said the children were delighted and the donation had “changed their lives”.
The equipment was among more than £10,000 worth of aid which filled two vans driven to Poland by the Hull volunteers.
As well as the special room the team from Hull also delivered medical equipment, clothing and food.
Mr Ellerker said the sensory equipment was vital to help the children’s development.
“It’s a really good bit of kit we’ve installed there,” he said. “Anything to do with sense, touch, feel, aromatherapy.
“It was brilliant to just see the laughs on their faces and smiling and giggling, from what they did have in the first place to that.”
He said their original orphanage in Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine had been destroyed in the war “so they will not be going back to Ukraine, they’ll be staying here in Poland”.
The Nigerian military says security forces have made arrests in connection with a deadly attack on a Roman Catholic Church in the south-western city of Owo two months ago.
The suspects have not been named - and it's not clear how many have been arrested - but an army officer said they would be paraded before the public after investigations.
Forty worshippers were killed when gunmen stormed the St Francis Catholic Church in Ondo State in June.
Nigeria's government blamed the attack on a local branch of the Islamic State group.
Sky Sports News revealed Manchester United’s interest in Marko Arnautovic last week; United saw a £7.6m bid for the former West Ham and Stoke forward rejected last week; Former United players privately expressed concerns about the potential transfer which led to the club backing out
Manchester United will not be pursuing a deal for Bologna striker Marko Arnautovic after former United players privately expressed concerns about the potential transfer.
Several United supporters also contacted the club to complain about the prospect of Arnautovic playing for United.
United were expected to go back in with an improved offer, but have decided to move on to other targets.
Bologna’s asking price for the forward was believed to be more than what United were prepared to pay.
Bologna sporting director Marco Di Vaio looked to close the door on United’s attempts to sign Arnautovic, claiming the forward is “priceless”.
Sky in Italy reported on Sunday that United had a bid of approximately £7.6m turned down by Bologna for the 33-year-old, but were expected to return with an improved offer.
“We want to keep going with Arnautovic and keep him, he’s at the centre of our project,” Di Vaio told Italia 1.
“Bologna’s wish now is to keep our current team and strengthen it in order to have an important season. Money is not the issue, Marko is priceless for us.”
United have done their best to sign the players Ten Hag wants – such as Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Frenkie de Jong, Antony, Marko Arnautovic and Adrien Rabiot.
Ten Hag turned down the chance to sign former PSG and Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum before he moved to Roma last week. The former Liverpool midfielder was keen to move to United.
Meanwhile, former United forward Memphis Depay wants to return to the Premier League from Barcelona.
United’s move for Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot is “progressing well”.
Talks continue with Rabiot’s mother over personal terms as United remain in discussions with Juventus over the final details of the deal, which is thought to be worth £15m plus add-ons.
Sky Sports News has been told Erik ten Hag is very keen on the player and that there is “full alignment” between the manager and the recruitment department over the signing.
United have not given up on signing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong but are growing increasingly frustrated with the hold up at the Barcelona end. They continue to look at other targets.
However, while De Jong’s deal has proven to be a complicated one to do, but they have not given up on the Netherlands international, and there is still a belief there is a deal to be done.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has reiterated there have been offers but has indicated that De Jong wants to stay, and that the club want him to stay. However, economic issues have not gone away and the matter of De Jong’s deferred wages remains unresolved.
Central midfield has been a priority position all summer for United and signing both Rabiot and De Jong has not been ruled out.
A more generous approach to grading has been adopted this year compared to before the pandemic and a free appeals service is available.
The pass rate for Scotland’s Higher qualifications has dropped from last year – after a full timetable of exams returned for the first time since before the pandemic.
More than 100,000 pupils across Scotland began to receive their results on Tuesday.
Attainment of A to C grades was 78.9%, according to figures from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
That is down from 87.3% last year, and from 89.3% in 2020, when teacher judgments were used instead of exams.
However, it is slightly up from 2019 – the last time there was a full exam timetable – when it was 74.8%.
There was a similar picture at Advanced Higher level, with those attaining A to C grades coming in at 81.3% – down from 90.2% in 2021 and 93.1% in 2020. In 2019, the pass rate was 79.4%.
For National 5 qualifications, the pass rate was 80.8%, down from 85.8% in 2021 and up from 78.2% in 2019.
The percentage of A grades at Higher level was 34.8% this year – down 12.8 percentage points from last year.
There has been extra support to acknowledge the continuing influence of COVID-19.
More than two million exam papers have been marked by almost 6,000 teachers and lecturers.
A more generous approach to grading has been adopted this year compared to before the pandemic and a free appeals service is available.
“This is one of the strongest-ever sets of results for any exam year, which is particularly impressive given the significant challenges learners have faced as a result of the pandemic,” said Shirley-Anne Somerville, Scotland’s education secretary.
“It is important to note, though, that although 2022 saw a return to exams, it was not a return to normality.
“The approach to exams reflected the disruption to teaching and learning that young people faced and a wide-ranging package of support and modifications was put in place.”
Although the recent spike in cases has been less severe than those seen previously, the relentless pressure is taking its toll on emergency departments.
The number of people in the UK infected with COVID-19 has fallen for the second week in a row, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), although levels remain high.
The ONS estimated that a total of 2.6 million people in private households had coronavirus in the week ending 26 July, based on self-reports from a representative sample.
Every patient in hospital with the virus means another bed is taken up, meaning longer waits for other patients.
Dr Mohammed Munavvar told Sky News that his hospital’s work to tackle NHS waiting lists had been making a dent, but now that has been disrupted.
He said: “Other patients cannot be admitted and treated, and patients have been waiting for a long time already for their procedures and their treatment is once again getting delayed.
“That is putting a lot of pressure on the system and on the restorative work, which had started very well.”
Professor Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, UEA, said: “Up to about 2 weeks ago the proportion of people testing positive for covid was continuing to fall in all four nations.
“More recent data from the DHSC dashboard published on Wednesday, the ZOE app (published today) and NHS England hospital activity figures (published yesterday) show that infections and hospital admissions are continuing to fall in the time period since the most recent data included in today’s ONS bulletin.
“Even deaths within 28 days of a positive test are now falling. At present there are no variants that I can see in the COG UK data that are bucking the trend. Even the BA.2.75 “Centaurus” lineage is not increasing, so hopefully this decline will be sustained for several weeks yet.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury has used his keynote speech at the Lambeth Conference to dampen reports of division within the Anglican Communion claiming those gathered had “disagreed without hatred”.
Hundreds of bishops from across the world have gathered in Canterbury this week to pray and worship together but also to discuss the big issues facing the global Church.
While topics such as the environment saw widespread agreement, discussions around sexuality have continued to split opinion.
Earlier in the week, Justin Welby reaffirmed a commitment made in 1998 to reject same-sex marriage, but conservatives fear not enough is being done to prevent more liberal wings of the Church moving away from traditional Church teaching on the subject.
Speaking on Friday, he claimed the division wasn’t that bad.
“We do not hate as our enemies want us to,” he said. “And may I say, by God’s grace, this week we have disagreed without hatred, not as many in the press want us to.”
Referencing a conversation between one of his sons and a journalist friend, he suggested one editor was disappointed that the disagreement had been so civil.
“A friend of one of our children, one of our sons, a reporter who is a Christian said ‘I rejoice and I am sad, I rejoice because this week I have seen something new, people who disagree loving each other, but my news editor is very sad because there is nothing to say about that’.”
His comments came after TV star Sandi Toksvig wrote an open letter criticising the Church’s stance on sexuality, saying that the lives of LGBTQ+ people were “at stake”.
In a letter of response, the archbishop offered to meet with Toksvig for a coffee and added that the discrimination LGBTQ+ people “have experienced in the name of Jesus Christ are a sin”.
The UK is set for another heatwave this week with highs of up to 35C (95F) in some parts, forecasters have said.
The Met Office said while conditions would be below the 40.3C recorded last month, the hot weather could last for a longer period.
More parts of England are also facing hosepipe bans amid very dry conditions, as fire crews warn of wildfires.
A heat health-alert has been put in place for England by the UK Health Security Agency.
The warning, designed to help healthcare professionals manage periods of extreme heat, comes into force from midday on Tuesday until 18:00 BST on Saturday, the UKHSA said.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said a “fairly widespread heatwave” was developing across the UK this week with the peak of the temperatures likely to be on Friday or Saturday.
“It does look like a prolonged period of dry weather and obviously that’s bad news for southern England where some rain would really be useful now,” he said.
Temperatures will build from 28C or 29C on Tuesday and reach the low to mid-30s from Thursday, Mr Morgan said.
He said the West Midlands and West Country could see with highest temperatures with a maximum of around 35C, but this is uncertain.
A heatwave is defined as above average temperatures seen for three days or more.
England had its driest July since 1935, said the Met Office. For some parts – south-east and central southern England – last month was the driest since records began in 1836.
There have also been calls for more hosepipe bans to be brought in ,including from Environment Secretary George Eustice.
Southern Water already has in place a hosepipe ban for customers in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, and from Friday South East Water will do the same in Kent and Sussex.
Welsh Water will bring in a ban for Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire later this month.
Last month’s record temperatures saw a series of wildfires across the country and Riccardo la Torre, from the Fire Brigades Union, described them as “brutal”.
“They burn at extremely high temperatures, they spread faster than firefighters can move and they are very labour intensive,” he said.
He said fire services were under strain and claimed the reason blazes “spread with regularity is because we do not have resources to get there quickly enough”.
The government said spending for fire services had been increased by around £141m to £1.37bn over the last six years, “demonstrating our commitment to ensuring fire services have the resources they need”.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has urged people not to light bonfires or barbecues, or let off fireworks or sky lanterns, after a large blaze which damaged gardens, sheds and trees was started by a chiminea.
Mark Hardingham, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council said: “I have not seen a distinction between the two heatwaves – it has remained hot between then and now and equally there’s been no rainfall.”
He said crews were expecting the busiest time of day to be between 13:00 and 19:00 BST every day and said fire chiefs would aim to maximise on-call firefighters in rural areas to help cope with demand.
‘Relieve pressure on rivers’
Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said water companies who have not called for a hosepipe ban “will be keeping it under constant review”.
“The advantage of doing it [a hosepipe ban] right now would be that it relieves pressure on their rivers,” he said.
Speaking on the BBC’s The World at One programme he said there were simple steps people could take to help such as “reducing the number of minutes we spend in the shower”.
He said there was no doubt climate change was affecting our infrastructure and said water was something we took for granted.
‘Agriculture will be hit’
The National Farmers Union warned the heatwave was compounding problems already caused by months of dry weather – grass not growing and irrigation water running out are two.
Deputy president Tom Bradshaw told the BBC: “The biggest concern is always animal health and welfare and trying to make sure the animals are well looked after.
“There’s also an impact on crops, particularly some vegetable crops – once they get over the mid-20s in temperature they stop growing”.
Keith Stones, who farms in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, has been struggling to find grass to feed his livestock.
He told the BBC: “The ewes producing the milk for the lambs are thin because they’re not picking up enough nutrition from the forage.
“The lambs are becoming pot-bellied and thin because they’re not getting nutrition from the grass or from the milk because the mums aren’t supplying.”
The dry weather has also caused staff at Kew Gardens, in south-west London, to prioritise which plants that have high conservation value, historic importance or which are extinct in the wild.
Director of gardens Richard Barley said this included not irrigating wider lawns and natural habitats.
The heat-health alert also means care homes will be monitoring residents closely.
David Lewis, manager of Cwmbran House Care Home in Cwmbran, Wales, said they were encouraging drinking as “much as possible” and offering ice creams and lollies if residents get warm.
“We’re ventilating the rooms and have got fans in the lounges”, he said.
By Andre Rhoden-Paul & James Gregory
SOURCE: BBC News
The International Paralympic Committee says Paralympic growth could be “jeopardised” if the Games was to be merged with the Olympics.
The Para-sport programme at the 2022 Commonwealth Games has been a big success and led to calls for greater integration.
But while the sports and athletes involved in Birmingham have benefited from the increased profile, IPC spokesman Craig Spence told the BBC’s Access All podcast that the current agreement for separate Olympics and Paralympics “serves us well”.
The current deal for the same city to host both Games was signed in 2018 and runs until the 2032 Games in Brisbane.
“Since 1988, we have seen exponential growth in Paralympic sport,” said Spence, the IPC’s chief brand and communications officer.
“We are on a strong ascendancy and growing the Games so combining both events would potentially stunt and jeopardise that growth, and we could potentially go backwards.
“This is a conversation that crops up regularly, but you have to look to see if it makes sense to bring both Games together and at the moment we believe it doesn’t.
“The current agreement works for us at the moment. It serves us well and we like it and are keen to keep it.”
Birmingham has featured a record 42 Para-sport events across eight sports, with over 350 athletes taking part in a fully-integrated programme.
Huge crowds cheered on the likes of swimmers Maisie Summers-Newton and Bethany Firth, athletes Hannah Cockroft and Olivia Breen and cyclists Neil Fachie and James Ball to gold medal glory as they represented the home nations.
However, the 2024 Paris Paralympics will have 549 medal events with around 4,400 athletes plus support staff in attendance.
And while Paralympic legend Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson backs greater integration at Commonwealth as well as at European and world level, she told the podcast that the logistics of a combined Olympics and Paralympics were challenging
“On a practical level I don’t think there is a city in the world that could hold a combined Games,” she said.
“There are 10,000 athletes at an Olympics and about 4,500 at a Paralympics, and as well as the increased cost it would end up being a programme of about a month.
“So in reality, you would have to cut events and what would you cut?
“It would have to be a smaller Games and spectators wouldn’t be able to watch as many disabled people take part.
“People in Birmingham have loved watching disabled people competing [at the Commonwealth Games], so we have to keep building the profile of the Paralympics to get people coming and watching Para-athletes.”
Spence is also concerned that any merger could dilute the impact of the Paralympics.
“Britain leads the way when it comes to Paralympic sport and coverage but that’s not the same around the world,” he said.
“Maybe the equality we want is the same level of coverage from broadcasters around the world for Olympics and Paralympics – not just in Britain.
“Our fear is if you were to bring both events together you would hear much less about Paralympic performances and you would jeopardise the impact of the Games being the most transformational sporting event on earth.
“Our ambition is to continue growing the Paralympics and there is so much more potential there to make the Games even better.”
The music star took to her Instagram page on Thursday, June 23, 2022, where she shared the big news.
The music star’s soon-to-be husband, Blessed, also shared the big news via his Instagram page.
“I’M THE MAN THE LORD SHOWED MERCY! @mercychinwo thanks for saying YES! I LOVE YOU DEARLY !?????????? Ecclesiastical 9:9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your REWARD for all your earthly toil. #Mercyisblessed,” he captioned their pre-wedding photos.
Blessed is a pastor at the WaterBrook Church and The Upperroom. He is also an IT professional.
Chinwo is a Nigerian gospel musician, singer and songwriter.
She won the Nigerian Idol Season 2 in 2012.
Chinwo released her first single, “Testimony”, in 2015, and “Igwe” a year later.
She has also had a stint in acting.
She landed her first film role in Yvonne Nelson’s film, House of Gold where she acted as Lucia, starring alongside Yvonne Nelson, Majid Michel and Omawumi among others.
OWOLABI OWONIYI OLUWAFEMI aka “O’FemiSmile” is gospel artiste born into a polygamous family though he had a Muslim background and answered the name “Abdulazeez”. He performed as a secular artiste before he encountered Christ hereby joining the faith of God's people to worship as a born- again Christian.
He has been doing music for more than a decade as he started from the children choir in his local church GOFAMINT and also has worked with the likes of other gospel artists like Adeyinka Alaseyori, Femi Stephen, Tosin Bee, Johnny Enah, Tosin Alao and a few others but has been able to carve out his own sound.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkyesPrivacy policy
You can revoke your consent any time using the Revoke consent button.Revoke cookies
