Happy Hogs Rescue

US President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and Jordan on Wednesday as concerns increase that the Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict. Mr Biden will discuss humanitarian aid with Arab leaders in Jordan after meeting with officials in Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the trip to Israel as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire and as Israel prepares for a possible ground attack on the 141-square-mile territory to root out Hamas militants. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced Mr Biden would also go to Jordan to meet King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “We’ve been crystal clear about the need for humanitarian aid to be able to continue to flow into Gaza,” Mr Kirby said. “That has been a consistent call by President Biden and certainly by this entire administration.” The president spoke by phone with Mr Fattah el-Sissi, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday. The US has pledged military support, sending carriers and aid to the region. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upwards of 2 billion dollars (£1.63 billion) in additional aid for both Israel and Ukraine, which is fighting Russia’s invasion. Mr Blinken made the announcement after more than seven hours of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials. He said the US and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to enable humanitarian aid from donor nations to reach civilians in Gaza “including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way”. “We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise prevent it from reaching the people who need it,” he said. Iran’s foreign minister has warned that “pre-emptive action is possible” if Israel moves closer to its looming ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Hossein Amirabdollahian, whose theocracy provides support to Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, told state television Israel cannot “do whatever it wants in Gaza and then go after other resistance groups after it’s done with Gaza”. “Therefore any pre-emptive action is possible in the coming hours,” he said. “If the limited and extremely tight windows of opportunity available to the United Nations and political actors are not used over the coming hours, opening new fronts against the Zionist regime is inevitable.” The UN Security Council rejected a Russian resolution on Monday that condemned violence and terrorism against civilians but made no mention of Hamas. Only four countries joined Russia in voting for the resolution. Four countries voted against it: the UK, US, France and Japan. Six countries abstained. Britain’s UN ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward said it would be “unconscionable for this council to ignore the largest terror attack in Israel’s history”. Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had urged support for the resolution to respond to the “unprecedented exacerbation” of the situation, citing the council’s inaction since the October 7 attack by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The UN’s most powerful body, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has not taken a position on the Hamas assault or on Israel’s response. The Russian draft resolution would have called for “an immediate, durable and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire ” and “strongly condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism”. Published: 17/10/2023 by Radio NewsHub

Kyle Walker is eyeing European Championship qualification and “a little bit of payback” when England host Italy. Tuesday’s sold-out qualifier will be the first time these sides have met at Wembley since the Azzurri pipped Gareth Southgate’s men on penalties in the Euro 2020 final. The nations have met in Wolverhampton, Milan and Naples in the intervening 27 months but their reunion under the arch naturally brings memories flooding back from England’s agonising near-miss. Walker admits the chance to put that ghost to bed adds a little extra, but the main focus is getting the point they need to seal Euro 2024 qualification with two games to spare. “Listen, we fell short on that night,” the long-serving England right-back said. “This is the first time they’re coming back to Wembley, so hopefully we can go out there and put a good performance on and maybe get a little bit of payback. “I think you learn from occasions where you’ve been in finals and lose finals and setbacks, and you go on and achieve something great. “We get a draw and we go through, so it’s about managing the game. “Obviously, first and foremost, it’s about going out and putting a performance on and winning. “But I won’t be ashamed if it’s 0-0 and we’re in the Euros and we’re going to represent my country at the finals.” Walker was sat next to Southgate at the pre-match press conference and echoed the England manager’s sentiments as they look to reach a fourth major tournament under him. “Ultimately, the first objective is always to qualify for the tournaments,” Southgate said. “Our performances earlier in the group have put us in a really strong position. “The first thing we want to do is to play well and win the game, but we know if it’s the 87th minute and we’re level then we don’t need to lob the goalkeeper into the box at the end of the game.” Southgate says they have learned from what happened in the Euros final and their moments since, with all eyes now on the kind of “nights you want to be involved in”. “Experience,” the 57-cap former defender said of the difference in his side. “Experience of winning big matches, consistent performances. “We’ve been ranked in the top five in the world now since 2018, so I don’t think there’s been any other period over the last 30-40 years where that’s been the case. “These boys are consistently producing big nights, memorable nights, good performances, exciting performances in general and we want to keep doing that.” Southgate has a full 25-man squad to select from on Tuesday evening as England look to seal progress from Group C ahead of November’s matches against Malta and North Macedonia. Decisions over players struggling for club game-time like Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips have been mulled over before facing Italy, so too how best to use John Stones. The Manchester City centre-back made his first league appearance after a hip injury off the bench before this camp and was then brought on in Friday’s 1-0 friendly win over Australia. Marc Guehi deputised alongside under-fire Maguire in England’s last qualifier against Ukraine and the Crystal Palace centre-back offers a strong alternative if Stones is unable to start. “John, we’re working closely with his club in terms of his recovery,” Southgate added. “He’s been out a long time, so we’ve got to keep assessing him. “Marc is doing really, really well. He’s played with great maturity in the two games last month. “He’s a very calm player, positionally excellent. “At times he might not catch the eye in the way that some other players do because he’s in the right place, so he’s not having to tear around and cover for something that he’s got wrong. “He’s composed with the ball, very good mentality, so we think he’s developing really well.” Published: 17/10/2023 by Radio NewsHub

Kyle Walker is eyeing European Championship qualification and “a little bit of payback” when England host Italy. Tuesday’s sold-out qualifier will be the first time these sides have met at Wembley since the Azzurri pipped Gareth Southgate’s men on penalties in the Euro 2020 final. The nations have met in Wolverhampton, Milan and Naples in the intervening 27 months but their reunion under the arch naturally brings memories flooding back from England’s agonising near-miss. Walker admits the chance to put that ghost to bed adds a little extra, but the main focus is getting the point they need to seal Euro 2024 qualification with two games to spare. “Listen, we fell short on that night,” the long-serving England right-back said. “This is the first time they’re coming back to Wembley, so hopefully we can go out there and put a good performance on and maybe get a little bit of payback. “I think you learn from occasions where you’ve been in finals and lose finals and setbacks, and you go on and achieve something great. “We get a draw and we go through, so it’s about managing the game. “Obviously, first and foremost, it’s about going out and putting a performance on and winning. “But I won’t be ashamed if it’s 0-0 and we’re in the Euros and we’re going to represent my country at the finals.” Walker was sat next to Southgate at the pre-match press conference and echoed the England manager’s sentiments as they look to reach a fourth major tournament under him. “Ultimately, the first objective is always to qualify for the tournaments,” Southgate said. “Our performances earlier in the group have put us in a really strong position. “The first thing we want to do is to play well and win the game, but we know if it’s the 87th minute and we’re level then we don’t need to lob the goalkeeper into the box at the end of the game.” Southgate says they have learned from what happened in the Euros final and their moments since, with all eyes now on the kind of “nights you want to be involved in”. “Experience,” the 57-cap former defender said of the difference in his side. “Experience of winning big matches, consistent performances. “We’ve been ranked in the top five in the world now since 2018, so I don’t think there’s been any other period over the last 30-40 years where that’s been the case. “These boys are consistently producing big nights, memorable nights, good performances, exciting performances in general and we want to keep doing that.” Southgate has a full 25-man squad to select from on Tuesday evening as England look to seal progress from Group C ahead of November’s matches against Malta and North Macedonia. Decisions over players struggling for club game-time like Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips have been mulled over before facing Italy, so too how best to use John Stones. The Manchester City centre-back made his first league appearance after a hip injury off the bench before this camp and was then brought on in Friday’s 1-0 friendly win over Australia. Marc Guehi deputised alongside under-fire Maguire in England’s last qualifier against Ukraine and the Crystal Palace centre-back offers a strong alternative if Stones is unable to start. “John, we’re working closely with his club in terms of his recovery,” Southgate added. “He’s been out a long time, so we’ve got to keep assessing him. “Marc is doing really, really well. He’s played with great maturity in the two games last month. “He’s a very calm player, positionally excellent. “At times he might not catch the eye in the way that some other players do because he’s in the right place, so he’s not having to tear around and cover for something that he’s got wrong. “He’s composed with the ball, very good mentality, so we think he’s developing really well.” Published: 17/10/2023 by Radio NewsHub

An artist has made ink from a clone of Newton’s apple tree that was blown down by Storm Eunice in Cambridge last year. The fallen tree was a scion of the original apple tree which was said to have inspired Sir Isaac Newton to formulate his theory of gravity by watching an apple fall from it in the 1660s. The clone was planted at Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden in 1954 and fell in high winds in February 2022. The original tree, grown in the garden of Newton’s childhood home of Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham in Lincolnshire, was said to have fallen in a gale in the early half of the 19th century. The Cambridge tree was stored away ready for creative ideas on what to do with the timber after it fell. A year later, the botanic garden’s artist-in-residence Nabil Ali has extracted ink from its bark, and used the resulting ink to create an artwork of 68 apples – to mark the age of the tree before it fell. To make the ink, he peeled away some of the bark and soaked it for a day-and-a-half in his workshop before grinding it, boiling it to release the tannin and adding the chemical compound alum. “To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has discovered the colours hidden with a descendent of Newton’s inspiring tree,” he said. “I thought I’d end up with black pigment but it’s a dark golden yellow. “I’m calling it ‘Newton’s Gold’.” Dr Samuel Brockington, curator of Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden, said the genome of the Cambridge tree was sequenced by the Darwin Tree of Life project. “From this analysis, our tree seems identical to other descendants, and so we can say with confidence that ours is a direct clone of the original tree in Grantham, which also fell in a gale in the 19th century,” he said. In anticipation of the demise of the tree, the team at the botanic garden had been grafting the tree over the past three years and now have relatives of Newton’s apple tree in their reserves. These will be planted in a different part of the garden to avoid the honey fungus, that probably was responsible for the tree weakening and dying before falling in the storm. Dr Brockington added: “The tree was held in great affection by staff and visitors to the garden and we’ve been hoping for innovative and creative uses of the timber. “We’re so pleased that Nabil has managed to sample its colour in this way. “His work is an inspiring way of engaging people in the natural world through art and performance and we look forward to seeing how Newton’s Gold will be used!” The installation of 68 apples, which are replicas of a cast made from an apple taken from the tree in 2016, will go on display for the first time at Apple Day at Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden on October 22. Published: 16/10/2023 by Radio NewsHub