Netherlands captain Georginio Wijnaldum says Dutch players will not take a knee in an anti-racism gesture before their opening European Championship match against Ukraine on Sunday.
Wijnaldum says the team already is involved in anti-racism initiatives…
ROME (AP) — For months, Italy’s players have been repeating the same mantra: “Our strength is in the group. We don’t have a single standout player.”The Azzurri do have a standout coach, though, and Roberto Mancini’s impact in turning around a team that…
Gaps are starting to appear on supermarket shelves because of a “desperate shortage” of lorry drivers – a problem that will likely lead stores to raise food prices.
Piles of fresh produce is going to landfill and some goods are starting to vanish from shops because of a shortfall of as many as 65,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.
The “escalating crisis” stands to affect supplies of goods from fruit and vegetables to milk and cheese, the boss of a leading produce company has warned.
News and analysis, direct from Westminster to your inbox
Brexit[1], which prompted thousands of EU lorry drivers to leave the UK, the introduction of IR35 tax changes in April[2], which has driven up costs, and a lack of driver training and tests during the pandemic has led to “a desperate shortage of lorry drivers”, said Tim O’Malley, managing director of Nationwide Produce.
One grocery chain begun notifying customers of shortages in an effort to prevent shoppers from erupting at staff.
A branch of Budgens, in Great Blackenham, Ipswich,[5] has informed locals: “Due to a national shortage of delivery drivers, we are experiencing cancellations in deliveries resulting in low stock around the store.”
Meanwhile, last weekend, a major milk supplier was unable to make around 100 deliveries – enough to serve 250,000 customers – to a separate supermarket chain, it is understood.
As well as struggling to find in-demand items, shoppers could also see their grocery bills rise as haulage firms increase wages in an effort to attract more drivers.
John Lucy, head of international transport at the Road Haulage Association, estimates the deficit of drivers is in the region of 65,000, and has appealed to the Home Office to add HGV drivers to its skilled worker shortage occupation list, making it easier for applicants to come to the UK for work.
“We need to access more drivers from all over the world,” Mr Lucy said.
“I’d expect prices in general will increase… all supply chain costs get passed on eventually to [the] end buyer.”
The Home Office said in a statement: “Employers should focus on investing in our domestic workforce, especially those needing to find new employment, rather than relying on labour from abroad.
“The Government is working with the haulage sector to promote jobs, training and a range of other initiatives to get more people into HGV driving.”
PARIS (Reuters) -The French army has killed an al Qaeda leader during an operation in the Sahel region who is believed to be responsible for the kidnapping and killing of two French journalists in 2013, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Friday.
Parly said in an address posted on Twitter that three Islamist militants were also killed during the operation in the West African region.
“On June 5, the Barkhane force detected a planned attack on an UN compound in Aguelhok in northern Mali”, the minister said.
She said that a military operation was launched as a group of armed terrorists was about to fire mortars.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France’s operation battling Islamist militants in Sahel would come to an end with troops now operating as part of broader international efforts in the region.
France, the former colonial power, has hailed some success against Sahel militants in recent months but the situation is extremely fragile and Paris has grown frustrated with no apparent end in sight to its operations and political turmoil, especially in Mali.
The decision came days after Malian army Colonel Assimi Goita took power following his overthrow of a second president in nine months and growing criticism about some governments negotiating with militants.
(Reporting by Sophie Louet; Writing by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Toby Chopra)
The hero parked his truck under the bridge and wouldn’t move it until the man was escorted off the bridge
A truck driver spotted a man sitting on the edge of a bridge overhanging the M62 and took immediate action to deter a potential suicide attempt and save his life. Not all heroes wear capes – some drive lorries.
Advertisement
The driver saw the distressed man hanging off the edge of the bridge and proceeded to park his lorry underneath so as to stop him from jumping. The trucker wouldn’t move the vehicle until others arrived to escort him from off the bridge. Fantastic teamwork.
The story was covered by Leeds Live[1], who were quoted onlookers as having said “Well done to that lorry driver. Hope the person on the bridge gets the help they need.”, while another said, simply: “Trucker is a good human and deserves the utmost respect.”
Like everyone else, we applaud this truck driver, whoever he is, for spotting the man and intervening when he did. There was no doubt any number of vehicles whizzing down that motorway who either didn’t see him or didn’t know what to do and kept driving. Thank you for being the one who did.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or any mental health issues, please use the following resources[6] to get the help you need right away:
Delays of around 50 minutes were reported at the time of publication – an increase of 20 minutes from a previous post.
Fire crews from Ringwood and Burley are currently at the scene.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service posted on Twitter: ‘We are currently dealing with a lorry fire on the A31 eastbound just prior to Stoney Cross – expect some travel disruption.’
Firefighters have attended
A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron
You can subscribe here[3] for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for 27p a day.
Ford Motor Co. hit another milestone with its all-electric 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning.
The company has confirmed reaching 100,000 reservations since its global debut three weeks ago at world headquarters in Dearborn.
“We’re super excited about the deman…
