NewsBeat
Storm Éowyn: Amber weather warning issued for UK amid threat of 90mph winds
Storm Éowyn – pronounced “ay-oh-win” – and the fifth named storm of the season will undergo rapid development during Thursday as it moves across the Atlantic. It will be fuelled by a very powerful jet stream which is fast moving air high in the atmosphere where wind speeds are around 260mph (418km/h).
The exact track that Éowyn takes as it approaches the UK and Ireland will determine where the strongest winds will be.
It’ll turn windy on Thursday, especially on coasts of west Wales and southern England where there is a yellow Met Office wind warning in force from 07:00 GMT to 18:00.
However, this spell of strong winds with gusts of 50-60mph (80-97km/h) is not connected to Storm Éowyn.
The strong winds associated with Éoywn will start on Friday morning.
Met Office amber severe weather warning covers Northern Ireland, southern Scotland, northern England and North Wales from 06:00 GMT to 21:00 on Friday.
Wind gusts of 60-70mph (97-113km/h) fairly widely inland and 80-90mph (129-145km/h) along more exposed coasts and hills.
The Met Office suggest that we could even perhaps see even higher gusts in a few locations.
Elsewhere, yellow warnings have been issued for most of the UK on Friday and continuing across much of Scotland into Saturday.
Across northern and western Scotland, parts of the Midlands and southern England, gusts of 50-65mph (80-105km/h) are expected but around coastal areas gusts up to 80mph (129km/h) are likely.
Met Office warnings could still be adjusted and possibly upgraded ahead of Friday.
These gales and severe gales are likely to bring travel disruption and some damage, which could include roof tiles being blown off and power cuts.
Large waves are also expected with coastal overtopping.
Heavy rain is also expected where there is a yellow Met Office rain warning for west Wales and south-west England from midnight to 09:00 GMT Friday.
While it will turn milder for some, especially in the south, it will remain cold enough for snow to fall over hills in Scotland and northern England.
With potentially 15-25cm (6-10 in) of snow to fall over the highest ground there is a separate yellow warning for snow from 03:00 GMT to 12:00 on Friday.
Politics
Scottish Labour MP Warns Oil Refinery Closure Under Starmer Risks Thatcher-Era Scale Devastation
Grangemouth petrochemical plant in Scotland is set to close this summer (Alamy)
4 min read
A Scottish Labour MP has compared the closure of Scotland’s only oil refinery to the “social devastation” caused by the closure of coal mines across the United Kingdom under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
Brian Leishman, Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, has been critical of the current government’s direction under Keir Starmer. He has recently urged ministers to step in and save Scotland’s sole oil refinery, which is expected to close by the summer at a cost of 400 jobs.
Petroineos, a joint venture between Ineos and PetroChina, has said the decision to discontinue Grangemouth was because of increased competition from industrial sites in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Leishman told PoliticsHome he believed the Government had not done enough to save an integral pillar of “national infrastructure”, which in turn would make the UK more reliant on hostile nations for oil and gas.
“The closing of the refinery is not just a constituency issue for Alloa and Grangemouth, it’s a Scotland-wide issue,” he said.
“This is a vital key piece of national infrastructure. The problem we’ve got as well is, it is not only in the hands of one foreign power, in the Chinese Communist Party, but also in the hands of a multi-billionaire private capital owner.
“It will decimate my community. There will be massive implications and knock-on effects for local businesses. The easy comparison is what happened to the mining communities; we have an unjust transition and it is a disaster for workers.”
The refinery was opened by BP in 1924 and is the United Kingdom’s oldest refinery. Petroineos claimed it had invested more than £900 million since 2011 and had recorded losses of £594 million over the last 14 years.
The Government, however, has previously said Petroineos “made it clear” to ministers that the site has no commercial future. Governments in Westminster and Holyrood have also promised to upskill the local workforce ahead of redundancies.
The Scottish Labour MP did not blame the UK Government’s mission of achieving Net Zero on the expected closure of Grangemouth. He said the UK was not cutting carbon emissions quickly enough, as the Government is obligated by law to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 100 per cent by 2050.
However, he also said the Government had not taken an environmental assessment and added that he believed removing the refinery would do nothing to reduce global emissions.
“There’s been no environmental impact assessment carried out by the UK government,” he said. “We’re basically going to be shifting emissions, because we’re going to have ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp) as European Cash and Carry in Mainland Europe, to provide oil to Scotland.”
He urged the Government to find his constituents suitable work in the future.
“The whole point of a transition is that it’s not a turn off the taps and that is it. That means let’s invest in Grangemouth.
“What we’ve got to do, whatever pace it happens, at the essential thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to take workers… and communities along for that ride,” he added.
Ministers have said the decision will not impact Scotland’s energy security, as Grangemouth imported more than 90 per cent of its crude oil in 2023.
Many Scottish MPs are already concerned they may not win their seats at the next election following unpopular decisions by Starmer’s government. Polling shows Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour has struggled to win support ahead of 2026 Holyrood election, with the SNP on track to win the next election by 10 percentage points.
“We’ve got central Scotland, but we’re in serious danger of giving it away. And I think that’s going to have a serious impact on Holyrood, but also… on future Westminster elections,” he said.
“Right-wing populism is seducing people, that’s why it’s so important as a Government we do improve living standards for people so we can show we have a credible left-wing solution to the societal problems which are really impacting the problem.
“When Reform moved to the right, they bring the Tories with them. We cannot as a Labour Party in government especially be dragged to the right. We’ve got to be bold and stick to our principles and our ethos as a party and say the left provide the solutions for the societal problems of inequality we have.”
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We took immediate action following Petroineos’ confirmation on the closure of Grangemouth.
“Before July, there was no overall plan for the future of the Grangemouth refinery. Within weeks, we worked with the Scottish Government to put together an unprecedented £100m package to support the community and invest in the local workforce, along with tailored support to help those affected find good, alternative jobs.
“We are also jointly funding Project Willow with £1.5m, which is urgently engaging with trade unions and developing options for a sustainable industrial future at the site.”
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The publisher of the Sun newspaper has agreed to pay “substantial damages” and apologised to the Duke of Sussex to settle a long-running legal battle over claims of unlawful intrusion into his life.
Prince Harry alleged journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) used unlawful techniques to pry on his private life – and executives then allegedly covered it up.
NGN apologised for “serious intrusion” by the Sun between 1996 and 2011, and admitted “incidents of unlawful activity” were carried out by private investigators working for the newspaper, in a statement read out in court.
It also apologised for distress it caused Harry through the “extensive coverage” and “serious intrusion” into the private life of his late mother, Princess Diana.
The BBC understands the settlements to both Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson have cost NGN more than £10m in pay outs and legal fees.
In total NGN has spent upwards of £1bn in damages and costs to those who claim their phones were hacked and their privacy invaded by the News of the World and the Sun.
When he launched his claim, the prince alleged that more than 200 articles published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 contained information gathered by illegal means.
He repeatedly said he wanted the case to go to trial so that he could get “accountability” for other alleged victims of unlawful newsgathering.
NGN was “surprised by the serious approach by Prince Harry for settlement in recent days”, a source told the BBC.
A source close to the Duke of Sussex responded that the apology “provides all the insight you need”.
Speaking outside court on behalf of Prince Harry, his barrister David Sherborne described the settlement as a “monumental victory”, and said NGN had been “finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law”.
Lord Watson, meanwhile, had alleged his phone was targeted around the time he was investigating newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch while an MP, at the height of the phone-hacking scandal almost 15 years ago.
NGN also issued an apology to Lord Watson for intrusion into his private life by those working for the News of the World, including “being placed under surveillance” by journalists and people instructed by them.
NGN said in a statement its settlement “draws a line under the past” and “brings an end to this litigation”.
It added: “Lord Watson’s phone was not hacked in 2009-11 and had this gone to trial, NGN would have called evidence from telecoms experts to demonstrate that hacking after 2007 was nigh on impossible due to security upgrades undertaken by telecoms companies.”
The apology also covers incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun newspaper from 1996-2011, the statement said – but “not by journalists”.
The references to the Sun in the apology were key, as without it the prince would not have settled.
NGN has already apologised for unlawful practices at the now-defunct News of the World, but previously denied similar claims against the Sun – as well as Prince Harry’s wider allegation of a corporate-wide cover-up.
While it admitted no illegality, NGN acknowledged in its apology that its response to the arrests in 2006 of News of the World staff who hacked royal phones and those of celebrities – and its subsequent actions – were “regrettable”.
Journalist Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, were later jailed for intercepting voicemails on phones belonging to the princes’ aides.
After the settlement was announced, Lord Watson told reporters: “I wish they had left my family alone. Today, I’m glad they have finally accepted responsibility.”
Describing the snooping by NGN staff as “industrial in scale”, he said its owner Rupert Murdoch should offer “a personal apology” to Prince Harry, as well as any others affected.
Lord Watson added that the legal team behind the case would pass a dossier to the Metropolitan Police.
A Met spokesperson said it noted the outcome of the case, adding that there were “no active police investigations into allegations of phone hacking or related matters”.
By agreeing to a settlement, NGN has avoided eight weeks of slowly revealed allegations.
Now the court will not test the claims that senior executives deliberately obstructed justice by deleting emails and taking part in a cover up of evidence. This is “strongly denied” by NGN.
And there will not be damaging headlines about press intrusion into the royal family and the heart of government.
Former editor of the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, said it would have been “massively damaging” had the company’s chief executive Rebekah Brooks been forced to give evidence at a trial.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme, he said he was “astonished” by NGN’s admissions in its statement.
“There was always going to come a day like this, and [Prince] Harry’s pursued it. [NGN] are on the back foot and there is probably nothing else they could do.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “a significant day and a big relief” for the two claimants.
She told The World At One she did not believe a second-stage Leveson inquiry into press practices was “fit for purpose”, but said families from the Hacked Off campaign group were preparing a “thorough briefing” about the changes they believe are required.
She said the government had to work with the families and the media to make sure “we strike that right balance and we protect a free and fair press”.
Ireland has delayed choosing its new prime minister after a row over speaking rights sparked angry scenes in the parliament.
The Irish Parliament, called the Dail, had this morning convened to nominate a new prime minister, with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin poised to take on the position.
However, the process was pushed back hours – and eventually adjourned until tomorrow – after a dispute over the new government led to widespread disorder and clashes.
Mr Martin had been due to take on the role of PM, called the taoiseach, after his party made an agreement with another, Fine Gael, and a selection of independents.
Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader, Michael Martin, whose parties are forming a coalition. Pic: Maxwells/PA
However, a disagreement over whether some of the independents would be given opposition speaking time led to today’s proceedings ending without the new Irish PM being officially chosen.
Five of the nine independents are due to given junior minister posts, while the remaining four are seeking to join a technical group – a mechanism designed to give opposition TDs (the Irish equivalent of MPs) speaking time.
This move has been widely rejected by opposition parties including Sinn Fein, Labour and the Social Democrats – who argue the independents supporting the incoming government should not be allowed to join technical groups.
When the Dail met to nominate a taoiseach at 11am, opposition members repeatedly interrupted proceedings.
Speaker Veronica Murphy suspended the Dail multiple times before it was agreed party whips would meet with the parliament’s clerk to seek a resolution – but the talks failed.
The Dail’s speaker Verona Murphy. Pic: Maxwells/PA
Addressing the chamber at 4.25pm, the government’s chief whip Hildegarde Naughton said the process should proceed and a Fianna Fail TD stood to begin the process of nominating Mr Martin as PM.
However, members of Sein Fein – including its leader Mary Lou McDonald – continued interrupting.
Ms Murphy then adjourned the Dail until 9am on Thursday.
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Politics
Lee Anderson demands legal action against Prevent bosses over Axel Rudakubana failings: ‘Morons!’
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has called for legal action against bosses of the government’s Prevent programme, branding them “morons” over their handling of Southport child-killer Axel Rudakubana.
Speaking on GB News, Anderson demanded that Prevent officials be “sacked, held to account, their pensions took off them and put in the dock and charged.”
“They are responsible. They are set up to prevent this sort of nonsense,” the MP said, following revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-terrorism programme three times before the attack.
Rudakubana was first referred to Prevent at age 13 in 2019 over concerns about his interest in US school massacres, which he researched using school computers.
Lee Anderson erupted over Prevent’s failings
GB NEWS / MERSEYSIDE POLICE
Two additional referrals followed in 2021 after he viewed material about Libya and past terrorist attacks, including those in London in 2017.
The material he accessed consisted mainly of news articles, and officials found no evidence he was viewing extremist content at the time of assessment.
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Lee Anderson spoke to Martin Daubney
GB NEWS
After one referral, it was recommended he be referred to other services, though it remains unclear if this occurred.
Despite extensive searches, police found no evidence of terrorist motivation for the Southport attack.
An emergency review following the stabbings found that Prevent’s policies, covering criteria for accepting individuals for de-radicalisation work, were correctly followed.
Sources told media there remains a “grey area” in cases where young people may pose a risk of violence without showing signs of terrorist ideology.
Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls in the Southport knife attack in July 2024PA
“There is a gap for those who are volatile, who need management, who may be dangerous. There is nothing for them,” one source said.
Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July.
He also admitted to 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
Additional charges he pleaded guilty to included producing ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual, described as information useful for terrorism purposes.
The Crown Prosecution Service called him “a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence.”
Anderson told GB News that he had questioned the Home Secretary about 162 people referred to Prevent last year over suspected interest in school massacres.
“I asked her how many of the 162 are still in detention. Want to know the answer? She couldn’t give me one. I will tell you what the answer is, it’s zero,” he said.
The MP also referenced the killing of Sir David Amess, noting that his killer had also been referred to Prevent before the attack.
NewsBeat
Police had previous ‘contact’ with family of dad and daughter found dead inside West Calder house | UK News
Police have revealed they had previous “contact” with the family of a father and his six-year-old daughter found dead inside a house in West Lothian – but a top officer has claimed there’s “nothing connected to this incident that causes any concern”.
The force said emergency crews attended at a property in Harburn Drive, West Calder, on Monday afternoon following a report of concern from a family member that the girl had failed to attend school.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was mobilised to help gain access to the house, where the bodies of a 36-year-old man and his six-year-old daughter were discovered within.
Mark Gordon
Hope Gordon. Pic: Police Scotland
Sky News understands their names were Mark and Hope Gordon.
The deaths are currently being treated as “unexplained”, with post-mortem examinations set to take place this week.
The property has been taped off by police
A forensics tent has been erected at the property
Chief Superintendent Gregg Banks told Sky News’ Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies that Hope’s mum was “understandably devastated”.
The divisional commander for the Lothians and Scottish Borders added: “It’s a particularly tragic set of circumstances. To lose any child has a significant impact.”
Police remain in the area as enquiries continue
Pic: PA
At a police news conference on Wednesday, Chief Supt Banks said he was unaware of any prior concerns in relation to the schoolgirl.
However, the force has had previous contact with the family.
He stated: “The police are aware of the family, we’ve engaged with them at various points, but there is nothing connected to this incident that causes any concern.”
When pressed to explain further, he added: “Well, family would come into contact with the police for a whole variety of reasons and to other agencies as well.
“So, we know who the individuals are that come into contact, but [as I said], nothing connected to this incident and nothing that causes any concern relating to this incident.”
Pic: PA
Chief Supt Banks said investigating officers will be reviewing all information at this “extremely difficult and extremely sad time” for the dad and daughter’s family.
He added: “Enquiries are clearly still at a relatively early stage, therefore I’m unable to go into any detail around the cause of death at this time.”
Chief Supt Banks said the force was “working tirelessly to understand exactly what happened within the property” and further details will be provided as soon as the team has them.
The officer, who is a local resident himself, added: “I would ask that people try and avoid speculation at this time.”
The incident appears to have been contained to the one property with “no wider risk” to the community.
Read more from Sky News:
Man admits murdering racing commentator’s wife and daughters
Teenager arrested after boy, 12, stabbed to death
While the house is located near to the village’s Parkhead Primary School, Hope was a pupil at Toronto Primary School in Livingston, around five miles away.
Headteacher Fiona Linfoot said: “Hope was a much-loved member of the Toronto Primary family, and will be hugely missed by all her friends and school staff.
“She was a bright, bubbly and affectionate girl who brought joy to everyone she met. We will really miss her infectious smile and kind heart.”
West Lothian Council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick said support was being offered to the local school community.
He said: “Understandably the local community will be in shock and this shock extends across West Lothian.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the family of those affected by this tragic incident.”
Detective Superintendent Grant Hendry said both the man and schoolgirl’s relatives are continuing to be supported by specialist officers.
He added: “They’re understandably devastated. It’s vital we get answers for them.
“At this time, we have no information to suggest anyone else is involved and enquiries remain ongoing.
“I would ask anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is, get in touch with us.”
NewsBeat
Two teenage girls plied with alcohol, drugs and repeatedly raped by ‘group of men in Rochdale’
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A group of men subjected two young girls to “appalling” sexual exploitation over the course of several years in Greater Manchester, which saw them plied with alcohol and drugs and repeatedly raped, a court has heard.
Both struggling with difficult upbringings, they were allegedly targeted by the group and became “beholden” to them, before being forced to carry out sex acts.
Jurors heard that the two girls had “deeply troubled home lives” and were known to the authorities, with poor school attendance and both regularly going missing from home.
As a result, the court was told the young teenagers, aged just 13 at the time, would often hang around with older Asian men at various parks, a snooker hall or at Rochdale market, where they first encountered one of the defendants, Mohammed Zahid, 64, who operated a stall.
Known as Bossman, he had been in his forties when jurors were told he started to give the girls free underwear and money for food before introducing them to his friends.
“Through no fault of their own, their troubled backgrounds made them susceptible to the advances of these men, and others who behaved just like them,” prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said.
Over time, jurors heard that they were made to feel “like grown-ups” and were allegedly plied with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and places to stay, with the defendants accused of providing them with attention “they so desperately craved”.
“These men preyed upon these vulnerabilities for their own perverted sexual gratification, in the most humiliating and degrading way imaginable,” the prosecutor said.
However, in return, the defendants allegedly forced the two girls to perform oral and penetrative sex with multiple men, often in cars, car parks, alleyways and disused warehouses.
The court heard that unprotected sex was routine, and the girls were told it was “forbidden for Muslim men to use protection”.
Mr Scamardella KC described them as “sex slaves”, and claimed they were threatened with humiliating footage, verbally abused and expected to answer calls at all times of the day from the men involved.
“Both girls were well known to social services and other agencies, and it was no secret that both girls were having sex with older Asian men,” he said.
“No reports were made to the police and nothing was done. No action was taken to stop what was happening to these two girls or to stop other similarly vulnerable girls suffering the same fate.”
After an investigation began into child sexual exploitation in the Rochdale area in 2010, one of the claimants was approached as a potential victim but declined to get involved. She later contacted Greater Manchester Police in 2015 with the second woman also agreeing to take part in the investigation.
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard child sexual exploitation is often underlined by an “imbalance of power”, with young vulnerable victims often feeling ashamed and embarrassed which leads them to continue visiting their abusers.
“These men often have apparent wealth, businesses, nice clothes and flashy cars, and when pitched against vulnerable young girls often starved of affection, money and nice things, that imbalance of power is ruthlessly exploited for depraved sexual gratification,” Mr Scamardella KC said.
He added that Rochdale and other areas of Greater Manchester had been “blighted” by this type of exploitation, with seven major police operations in recent years.
The alleged sexual offences, said to be committed between 2001 and 2006, include multiple counts of rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child.
The eight defendants have denied all the charges.
They are: Mohammed Zahid, 64, of Station Road, Crumpsall, Manchester; Naheem Akram, 48, of Manley, Road, Rochdale; Mohammed Shazad, 43, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Nisar Hussain, 43, of Newfield Close, Rochdale; Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale; Arfan Khan, 40, of Grouse Street, Rochdale; Mushtaq Ahmed, 66, of Corona Avenue, Oldham; and Kasir Bashir, 50, of Napier Street East, Oldham.
If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call Childline free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331.
BBC Turkish
The fire that killed at least 79 people at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the early hours of Monday is one of the deadliest disasters of its kind in Turkish history.
Some survivors have said they did not hear an alarm and experts have told the BBC they would not have expected such a high death toll in a hotel where fire protection systems were working properly.
What went wrong?
The 12-storey hotel at Turkey’s popular Kartalkaya ski resort hosts tens of thousands of visitors every year, so Turks understandably want to know how such a terrible tragedy could have happened at the start of a two-week school holiday.
The interior minister said the fire started at 03:27 (00:27 GMT) in the restaurant area on the fourth floor and firefighters arrived within 45 minutes.
Some survivors have described smelling smoke as much as an hour earlier.
Culture and Tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the hotel had a fire competence certificate “issued by the fire department”.
But that has been challenged by local mayor Tanju Ozcan, who said the fire department had not issued a positive report since 2007.
Some survivors say they heard no alarm, while there have been claims of inadequacies in the hotel’s fire extinguishing systems.
“My wife smelled the fire,” said Atakan Yelkovan, who said he was staying on the third floor of the hotel.
“We went down earlier than others. The alarm did not go off… It took about an hour to an hour-ad-a-half for the fire brigade to come. In the meantime, the fourth and fifth floors were burning. People on the upper floors were screaming.”
Some guests on higher floors tried to escape with their bedding and some jumped to their deaths.
REX/ShutterstockEylem Senturk said the fire alarm did not go off until she was out of the building. Her husband had to jump off the hotel porch because of the smoke: “We are very lucky to have survived.”
The BBC has tried to contact the hotel’s managers regarding these allegations but has so far received no response.
Eleven people, including the hotel owner, have been detained as part of the Turkish investigation.
Hotel managers have issued a statement saying they mourn the losses and are co-operating fully with the authorities.
What should have happened?
In such a big building where fire systems are fully operational, experts say fire detectors are expected to respond to a fire within seconds and send an alert to a fire control dashboard.
“In a good business, there should be someone in charge of this panel 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Kazim Beceren, president of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation, told the BBC.
The death toll is also extremely high, which raises further questions.
“There will always be fires, but we would not expect so many people to die in this type of building,” said Prof Sevket Ozgur Atayilmaz, head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Yildiz Technical University, who has worked on fire safety planning.
Evrim Aydin /Anadolu“If the structure is designed correctly for fire, if there are escape routes, and if the smoke is evacuated correctly, it is possible to overcome the fire without loss of life.”
The interior minister said there were two fire escapes, but there are indications they were not of a good standard.
Were fire safety measures in place?
An official from the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) in Bolu, Erol Percin, said the way the fire had spread suggested that fire warning, detection and extinguishing systems might not have been present.
He said the building’s exterior wooden facade should have been 100% fire-resistant, but that did not appear to be the case.
The head of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation told the BBC that the size of the fire suggested that “the fire system either does not exist or was not designed in accordance with the standards”.
There were 238 people staying in the Grand Kartal Hotel at the time.
Evrim Aydin/AnadoluKazim Beceren said fire safety systems were designed with the aim of taking three minutes to evacuate each floor – and a facility with more than 200 people could be evacuated in 15 to 30 minutes under ideal conditions.
When an alarm goes off, the person in charge of the fire control dashboard is expected to check the location, according to the head of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation.
If there is no indication of a false alarm or if a second detector sends a warning, fire alarms are then normally activated throughout the building.
In a properly installed system, people are then directed by announcement to the nearest fire exits, with flashing lights for people who are hearing-impaired or audible warnings for those sleeping.
As fires can spread very quickly, sprinkler systems are seen as highly important for intervention at an early stage.
So too is a back-up power source. According to fire protection regulations, signs pointing to emergency exits and lights showing the paths to these exits have to work for one to three hours, even if there is a power outage.
The engineers’ and architects’ union in Bolu said in a statement that “an automatic sprinkler system is mandatory” in buildings of this size.
“The photos on the hotel’s website show that the automatic sprinkler system, which was supposed to be installed in 2008, was not installed. Because of this failure, the fire spread rapidly and there were casualties.”
BBC Turkish has not been able to independently confirm the allegations about either the wooden cladding on the building or the hotel’s fire extinguishing system.
Who checked the hotel’s fire safety?
One of the big questions is whether the hotel’s fire systems were properly inspected.
Bolu Mayor Tanju Ozcan said the ministry of tourism was responsible as the hotel was beyond the boundary of his town. Erol Percin agreed.
The mayor said that the last time Bolu’s municipality had given a report stating the hotel was fireproof was in 2007, and there had been no such checks since then.
However, Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the hotel did have a fire competence certificate “issued by the fire department” and inspections were down to them.
There have also been calls for relatively old structures to come under scrutiny because of changing legislation.
“Places should stop operating if they do not comply with current standards, in crowded places such as hotels, residences, nursing homes or kindergartens,” says Prof Atayilmaz of Yildiz Technical University.
Politics
Joe Biden a ‘solitary figure’ as historian delivers withering verdict on ‘sad presidency with a sad end’
US historian Victor Davis Hanson has described Joe Biden’s departure from the presidency as that of a “solitary figure” with no defenders remaining, even within his own party.
Speaking to GBN America, Hanson painted a stark picture of Biden’s final moments in office, contrasting his exit with that of his successor Donald Trump.
“Biden has no base, no defenders, period. Not even in his own party,” Hanson said in his assessment of the former president’s departure.
The historian’s comments came as Biden, 82, handed over power to Trump at this week’s inauguration ceremony.
Joe Biden ended his presidency on Monday following Trump’s inaugration
Reuters
At Andrews Air Force Base, Biden delivered a defiant farewell speech following the inauguration ceremony.
In his final address before handing power to the Republicans, supporters hailed cheers of “thank you Joe” to Biden, before he and his wife Jill departed via their Nighthawk 46 helicopter.
Hanson highlighted Biden’s controversial timing of pardons, which occurred during Trump’s inaugural address.
“He waited until Trump was actually giving his address, right before he was going to be sworn in,” Hanson told GBN America.
As one of Biden’s final acts in office, he sought to protect those against “unjustified… politically motivated prosecutions”REUTERS
The historian noted this was only the second time in US history that preemptive pardons were issued for crimes not yet charged.
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“We’ve only done this once in our history, given a preemptive pardon for crimes not noticed or never charged. We only did that with Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon,” he said.
According to Hanson, this timing inadvertently validated Trump’s predictions about Biden’s final moments in office.
The move also left Biden’s critics “totally embarrassed, shocked” and exposed what Hanson called their hypocrisy regarding presidential pardons.
At Andrews Air Force Base, Biden delivered a defiant farewell speech following the inauguration ceremony.
Hanson told GBN America that Biden had a ‘sad presidency with a sad end’
GBNA
Outgoing president Joe Biden told supporters “we all have more to do” in his address to staff and supporters.
The former president was observed making the sign of the cross both during his farewell speech and at the inauguration itself, drawing laughter from his audience.
“My dad taught me the measure of a person is how quickly they get up when they get knocked down – and that’s what we have to do right now,” Biden told those assembled.
Lord Tom Watson described the Duke of Sussex as a “predator” in a statement after Prince Harry settled his legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), who offered a “full and unequivocal apology” for “serious intrusion” by The Sun and for phone hacking by private investigators working for the News of the World.
Harry, 40, alleged he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for NGN.
The duke’s barrister said parties had “reached an agreement” and NGN offered an “unequivocal apology” and would pay “substantial damages.”
NGN had denied unlawful activity took place at The Sun.
The former Labour deputy leader was also taking legal action against the publisher and settled his claim.
He was also offered a “full and unequivocal apology” by NGN “for the unwarranted intrusion carried out into his private life during his time in Government by the News of the World during the period 2009-2011.”
After his transformative impact on the Test side, McCullum’s arrival as white-ball coach has been highly anticipiated, with England hoping he can revitalise a team that has lost its way in giving up two world titles in the last two years.
The attacking approach instilled by the New Zealander has drawn criticism at times. This, though, was a result of England’s oldest weakness, rather than any tactical misstep.
While left-arm seamer Arshdeep struck twice early on, it was spin that brought their collapse from 65-2 in the eighth over.
Only Buttler, who was at his classy rather than inventive best in striking eight fours and two sixes, seemed able to pick Chakravarthy’s mystery.
Brook and Livingstone were bowled by his googlies and afterwards the only boundaries were hit by England’s skipper until one by Adil Rashid in the 19th over.
Bethell and Atkinson, in particular, chewed up deliveries and were unable to give Buttler the strike. Overton was caught and Atkinson stumped off left-arm spinner Axar, who backed up Chakravarthy with 2-22.
The ground fielding and catching was also high-class by a youthful India, without many of their big names from last year’s World Cup win.
Mark Wood was run out off the last ball of the innings and England were never going to have enough on a decent pitch.
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