Summary
- Updates on the Rwanda Bill with a vote expected today.
- The dangers of Smart Motorways will be the focus of tonight’s Panorama on BBC1.
- South Yorkshire Police officer to appear in court charged with common assault.
- Police Appeal for indecent exposure in Endcliffe Park.
- Rishi Sunak calling on more effort to rebuild the trust among Jewish community.
- Margaret McKeich saying that justice has finally been made after the murderer of her child has been jailed.
- UK is about to become the first country to ban extreme right-wing online terror group
- A Sheffield teacher heard for exchanging over 1,000 chats with student.
- The Crucible theatre selling iconic outfits in order to raise money for their costume department.
- Updates on Doncaster Rovers and Sheffield United
- Guinness World Records for Lloyd Martin at the London Marathon.
- Train strikes expected during May.
- Newsreader Huw Edwards resign from BBC.
Live Reporting
Edited by Esme Kenney and Marie Koehl
Aggressive lithium-ion fires are increasing, leaving fire fighters struggling to tackle fatal blazes, reports Alycia McNamara.
The number of fires from e-bike and e-scooter explosions has more than doubled between 2022 and 2023, with 17 fires in 2023 alone.
“There has been an increase in the amount of fires we have attended in South Yorkshire,” said South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.
Advice from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service includes:
- Do not leave your device charging unattended or when you’re asleep
- Do not charge or store your battery in the hallway or where it could block your escape
- Only use the correct charger for your battery
- It is recommended that only a professional carries out an e-bike conversion
- Only buy e-bikes, e-scooters and batteries from trusted retailers and manufacturers, cheap and second-hand batteries bought online are much more dangerous
Fires from explosive e-bikes and e-scooters increasing in South Yorkshire
Players and staff from Liverpool FC paid respects to those who died 35 years ago in the Hillsborough disaster by laying wreaths at the Hillsborough Memorial.
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the disaster, in which ninety-seven people died in a crowd crush at Hillsborough stadium during an FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.
“Always in our hearts, the 97 will never be forgotten,” said one card signed “From Matt, Niamh, and the LFCW team” that was laid alongside the wreaths.
Hillsborough Disaster 35th anniversary: Liverpool FC players and staff lay wreaths to remember those who died
The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance has marked the 35th anniversary of the Hillborough Disaster by vowing to “never forget” the memory of the victims.
During an FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989, 97 people died in a crowd crush at Hillsborough stadium.
On social media, the group posted: “35 years ago we all went to a football match, full of hope, on the sunniest of days. Us, the survivors returned, our lives changed forever, we lost the person that left home on that sunny morning. Today we remember the 97 and those we have lost along the way.”
An inquest in 2016 determined that the disaster, which took place during a game between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest, was caused by “gross negligence” from the game’s match commander, who should be held “responsible for manslaughter.”
Hillsborough Disaster: Survivors group vows to “never forget” the unlawful killing of victims
To mark the 35th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, Nottingham Forest FC has made a statement to honour the 97 victims of the crowd crush.
This afternoon, Liverpool with mark a minute’s silence in memory of those who died at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
“The thoughts of everyone at Nottingham Forest are with all those who have been affected,” wrote the sports team on social media.
An inquest in 2016 determined that the disaster, which took place during a game between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest, was caused by “gross negligence” from the game’s match commander, who should be held “responsible for manslaughter.”
Hillsborough Disaster: Nottingham Forest FC remembers those who lost their lives
Barry Hearn and Ronnie O’Sullivan are among those who are calling for the World Snooker Championships to change location, after being held at Sheffield’s Crucible for 48 consecutive years, reports Esmé Kenney.
The tournament will take place between 20 April and 6 May, and the winner will receive £500,000, out of a total prize fund of £2,395,000.
Sports promoter Barry Hearn has argued to City Council that a larger venue should be built to ensure the event stays in the city.
Shabnam Younus-Jewell, the BBC’s Snooker Correspondent, said: “As soon as you think you mention the World Championship you think of Sheffield, and you think of that iconic Crucible Theatre. It’s got a wonderful history and there are so many people who think it’s the whole home of snooker. People come from all around the world to come to the Crucible.
“From a business point of view. it doesn’t really make sense to have the world championship of a sport in a venue that has less than a thousand seats.”
World Snooker Championships return to Sheffield Crucible despite calls for a venue change
Rob Freeman, PA Media
Sir Salman Rushdie has said he did not want to attend the talk where he was attacked in 2022 after having a premonition of the incident.
The author suffered life-changing injuries in the knife attack, including the loss of his right eye, while preparing to deliver a speech on free speech in upstate New York.
In his first major television interview since the attack, Mr Rushdie, 76, told Anderson Cooper on CBS programme 60 minutes he had dreamed of a man bearing down on him with a spear in an “amphitheatre” in the days before the event.
“I woke up and I was quite shaken,” he said. “I said to my wife, Eliza, ‘You know I don’t want to go’. Because of the dream. And then I thought, ‘Don’t be silly. It’s a dream’.”
His 1988 book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since it was published as many Muslims view it as blasphemous and its publication prompted Iran’s then-leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his death. The Iranian government withdrew support for the death sentence in 1998.
The Indian-born author, who said he had about “half a dozen serious assassination attempts” on his life, was due to speak about safe places for writers at the event in the small town of Chautauqua.
“It felt like something coming out of the distant past and trying to drag me back in time, if you like, back into that distant past, in order to kill me,” he said.
On April 21, he will discuss his book and the attack that left him blind in one eye and with a damaged hand as part of a series of events for the Southbank Centre’s Spring Literature and Spoken Word Season.
Sir Salman Rushdie says he had a dream about being attacked
Laura Harding, PA Media
Steve Coogan has accused United Utilities of “greenwashing” and “PR spin” as he criticised the company for putting sewage into Lake Windermere.
The I’m Alan Partridge star joined a protest outside the North West water company’s offices near the lake as he called on the Government to compel them to clean up England’s largest lake rather than pay huge dividends to shareholders.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “United Utilities have a big PR machine and they put nice fancy offices up like this and say we’re working together with the people of Windermere but it’s all a smokescreen to distract attention from what they’ve been doing over the last 30 years, which is putting treated and untreated sewage into Lake Windermere.
“It’s to such an extent that there are toxic levels of algae, there are algae blooms that show the nitrate levels are like through the roof. And they’ve been doing this year on year.”
He added: “They have been paying out record dividends to shareholders, there’s no excuse for this. We’re telling them to stop putting sewage in the lake and take out what they put in.”
Steve Coogan blasts water company ‘greenwashing’ over Lake Windermere pollution
A Sheffield man has been inspired to create his own mental health charity after losing his close friend to suicide, Amy Britton reports.
After struggling throughout lockdown with his own mental health and dealing with the loss of his friend, Jake Cook, Jojo Quattrocchi decided to quit his job and dedicate all of his time to helping others.
Mr Quattrocchi realised that many of his friends did not know about the help available in the local area. He said: “That really stood out to me and showed me that there is a really big problem in this area. The suicide rates in the UK are quite staggering.”
During a trip to Brazil while dealing with his own recovery, Mr Quattrocchi came across a yellow flower that changed his perspective on the world. Inspired by this moment, he decided to name his charity Amarelo.
He said: “It became such a huge moment of hope and I had it in my mind for a while that I could use my experience and suffering to try and help other people.”
Mr Quattrocchi plans to launch Amarelo in May during National Mental Health Week.
Sheffield man hopes to create a “community of sharing” to open up conversations about mental health
A new club in Sheffield is helping to tackle loneliness by hosting events for women to watch films together and meet new people, reports Tabitha Wilson.
The group, Film Girls Galore, have already gone to see Lady of a Portrait on Fire and Dune: Part 2 at Showroom Cinema in Sheffield.
Their next screening will be on 28 April.
Tasha Jagger, who started the group, described the club as a “safe space for all of us to still have our alone time but also be able to talk about these films with others.”
A new female film club in Sheffield is tackling loneliness one movie at a time
Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund has been granted to the Sheffield Eagles Foundation to provide SEND-inclusive youth engagement in rugby league, Alycia McNamara reports.
Jack Pemberton, 26, Inclusion Officer at The Eagles Foundation, said: “The funding will be an absolute game changer for The Eagles Foundation and our youth engagement provision.
“We’ll be able to meet the needs of the community, work more closely with local partners and schools, and provide more activity and opportunity for disabled and non-disabled young people.
“We can now provide regular, free, inclusive rugby league, wheelchair rugby league, and multisport sessions in the area each week, as well as increasing our half term and school holiday provision.”
The Eagles will be opening their doors on matchdays for the Sheffield Eagles Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair teams and allowing young people to watch professional rugby for free.
‘Game-changing’ funding granted to Sheffield Eagles Foundation
Nottingham Forest will discuss building a Hillsborough disaster memorial at the City Ground after calls from supporters, Huzaifah Khan reports.
Nottingham Forest chairman, Tom Cartledge, spoke about the prospect of a memorial 35 years on from the crush that resulted in the death of 97 fans at an FA Cup game between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
Cartledge said: “I’m aware that there are memorials at Anfield and Hillsborough and it is one of those that we should reflect on, and if people want to make that idea to me they should do.
“I’d be delighted to sit down with those individuals and understand what that should mean and what could look like”.
Hillsborough memorial plans set to be discussed by Nottingham Forest
Nina Lloyd, Flora Thompson and Ian Jones, PA Media
Rishi Sunak is braced for a fresh round of parliamentary wrangling over his Bill to save the Government’s stalled Rwanda deportation scheme, as MPs and peers head back to Westminster this week.
The Commons returns from Easter recess on Monday with the legislation high on the agenda after a minister insisted flights carrying asylum seekers to Kigali should be taking off “within weeks”.
It comes as Sunday became the busiest day yet for Channel crossings so far this year after more than 500 migrants arrived in the UK in a single day.
It means some 6,000 people have made the journey in 2024 to date, with more than 75,000 arrivals recorded two years on from the Rwanda deal being signed.
The Government will seek to strip out changes made by peers who want extra legal safeguards, including a provision to ensure “due regard” for domestic and international law.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins suggested on Sunday the Home Office is “ready to go” in implementing the plan when the Bill gets on to the statute books.
The Home Office said 534 migrants were recorded crossing the Channel on Sunday in 10 boats. This is the highest daily total on record since the start of the year and suggests there was an average of around 53 people on each boat.
The policy is expected to be put to a free vote when it comes to the Commons for a debate on Tuesday.