NHS restructure is greatest danger to Streeting’s effort to revive service 29. March 2026 (20:45) Health secretary still confident of success but critics say scrapping of NHS England has been ‘a total car crash’NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in EnglandIn the Great Hall at the University of East London last Wednesday, the perennially upbeat Wes Streeting was exuding even greater positivity than usual. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, he said, the NHS was starting to revive thanks to Labour’s medicine.In a bravura performance in front of an audience of health service bosses, policy experts and student nurses in their blue and green uniforms, Streeting reeled off a long list of improvements in his 20-month tenure as health secretary. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
What the Houthis’ entry into the Iran war means for the conflict and the wider region 29. March 2026 (20:27) Fresh attacks on Red Sea shipping would be devastating – but the Iranian proxy has reasons to be cautiousThe true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz.The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iran accuses US of plotting ground assault while publicly seeking talks 29. March 2026 (20:03) Tehran says it will confront any land attack, as Houthi missiles fired at Israel signal further escalation in regionMiddle East crisis – live updatesIran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month.As efforts to find a negotiated conclusion to hostilities inched forward with a meeting of regional powers in Pakistan, there were signs of further escalation over the weekend as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the conflict for the first time, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country was widening its invasion of southern Lebanon. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Dozens of No Kings protesters arrested in Los Angeles after clash with police 29. March 2026 (20:02) Officers fired pepper balls and teargas into group of about 150 on Saturday night, arresting those who did not disperseThird No Kings protest draws 8 million worldwide to push back on Trump administrationPolice arrested dozens of protesters and shot teargas into a crowd on Saturday night at a No Kings protest in Los Angeles.The conflict is the latest of many that have taken place outside the Metropolitan detention center, which has become a focal point of protests since the Trump administration launched an immigration offense on Los Angeles last year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Lawmakers react to reports Pentagon preparing for ground operations in Iran 29. March 2026 (19:00) Conflict shows signs of entering new, more dangerous phase as additional 3,500 US troops arrive in the Middle EastUS lawmakers responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a new, more dangerous phase.Officials told the Washington Post that a ground operation in Iran could be limited to raids by Special Operations forces and infantry troops, but it was unclear whether Donald Trump would approve any of the Pentagon’s plans. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England 29. March 2026 (18:56) Exclusive: Health secretary’s pledges in doubt as analysis shows health service will not deliver key improvementsThe NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
