News of the World

[kyonides]

UK Nurses Hold Historic Strike as Government Rejects Pay Demand

Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have walked out in a one-day work stoppage, the biggest-ever strike by nurses in the UK, after the government rejected their pay demand as unaffordable.

It’s the first time the RCN has taken action across the whole of the UK in its 106-year history. The move is affecting around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England, all trusts in Northern Ireland, and all but one health board in Wales. Scotland is currently unaffected, as the local government has reopened pay talks for the National Health Service (NHS).

Health minister Maria Caulfield told Sky News on Dec. 15 that 70,000 appointments, procedures, and surgeries will be lost in England because of the nursing strike.
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The RCN has been calling for a pay rise at 5 percent above inflation, though it has indicated it would accept a lower offer.

But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the government is sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review body, which said nurses should get a pay increase of about £1,400 ($1,730).
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She said nurses are asking for the “20 percent that has been eroded” from their pay over the past decade to be put back, but the health secretary had told her she could talk about “anything but pay.”

Downing Street has said a 1 percent pay boost for all NHS staff except doctors, dentists, and very senior managers would cost £700 million ($865 million).

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said that double-digit pay rises across the board for public sector workers would cost £28 billion ($35 billion), which he said “could be inflationary” and would have to come from higher taxation or borrowing.

“The government does not think those sorts of sums are affordable in the current circumstances,” he said.

Moscow Warns US Against Sending Patriot Missile Systems to Ukraine

“An information campaign has been launched in the United States about alleged preparations for sending cutting-edge air-defense systems to Kyiv,” the Russian Embassy in Washington said in a Dec. 15 statement.

“If this is confirmed, we will witness yet another provocative step by the [U.S.] administration that may lead to unpredictable consequences.”

Several Western media outlets recently have reported that Washington is poised to provide Kyiv with advanced Patriot air-defense missile batteries.

If the White House approves the move, it would be the most advanced U.S. surface-to-air missile system to be delivered to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in late February.
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On Dec. 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a meeting of G-7 leaders, during which he reiterated Kyiv’s longstanding request for longer-range missiles, artillery, and advanced air-defense systems.

Two days later, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to confirm whether a decision had been made regarding proposed Patriot deliveries to Ukraine.

FBI Arrests Chinese Music Student for Allegedly Threatening Pro-Democracy Activist

A Chinese student was charged with stalking for allegedly threatening and harassing a U.S. permanent resident who posted fliers in support of democracy in China, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said on Dec. 14.

Wu Xiaolei, a Chinese citizen studying at Berklee College of Music, Boston, allegedly threatened a person who posted a flier near the campus demanding democracy and freedom in communist China.

“Post more, I will chop your bastard hands off,” Wu told the activist in a group chat on WeChat, a Chinese social media app, according to the charging documents.
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Wu, 25, also said he had reported the activist to the public security agency in China and that the Chinese police would visit the activist’s family, according to the complaint.
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Federal prosecutors in Boston said Wu had been arrested on Dec. 14 on the charge of stalking.

Wu made his appearance in federal court in Boston later that afternoon.

Elon Musk Posts Video of Black-Masked Individual Who Allegedly Stalked Car With Son Inside

Twitter owner Elon Musk wrote on Wednesday that a car carrying his son in Los Angeles was allegedly followed by a “crazy stalker” before releasing a video of the alleged perpetrator and his vehicle.

The video posted by Musk showed a male wearing a black mask and hoodie, driving a white Hyundai sedan. The person did not say anything and held up a phone as if recording a video.
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Musk drew criticism, however, for posting a video of the man wearing a mask and his car—which included the license plate number—when it was not clear whether he was the individual who allegedly jumped on the car. Musk has about 120 million followers on the platform.

It came as Musk announced that he would be taking “legal action” against Jack Sweeney, who runs the “ElonJet” account that tracks the movement of his private jet. Also around the same time, he announced a new policy around “doxxing,” or the practice of revealing an individual’s location or real identity.

You can read more on Twitter's new policy on News of the Cyber World.

Washington Post Announces Layoffs
as Video Shows Publisher Fred Ryan Walking out of Tense Meeting

Publisher Fred Ryan appeared at a town hall event on Wednesday, according to an apparent staffer’s video footage that was published online.

According to The Washington Post, Ryan said that there will be a “single-digit percentage” worth of job cuts but did not detail the exact numbers. Currently, the newspaper employs around 2,500 people.
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Ryan told staffers in an email that the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper’s plans to slash jobs “in no way signals that we are scaling back our ambitions.” But, he stressed, “like any business, The Post cannot keep investing resources in initiatives that do not meet our customers’ needs.”

The video appeared to show Ryan walking out of the town hall event as dozens of Washington Post employees asked him questions about the job cuts. The Post’s report on the layoffs confirmed he walked out of the meeting.
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During the meeting, Ryan cited the U.S. economic situation and noted that firms dependent on advertising, such as newspapers and websites, are suffering, according to the Post’s report.
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Media and entertainment firms that recently started conducting layoffs include Facebook parent Meta, Twitter, Roku, Gannett, Disney, Warner Bros., Comcast, Paramount, CNN, ABC, and more, according to reports.