In a court session on Friday (09), witness testimonies shed light on a nurse who is presently undergoing trial for the alleged murder of seven babies at a UK hospital. The testimonies depicted her as a "very calculating woman" who was deemed responsible for the tragic deaths of "many children".
Lucy Letby, aged 33, faces additional charges of allegedly attempting to cause harm to 10 other babies in the neo-natal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital located in northwest England where she was employed.
However, Letby firmly refuted the accusations of harming any children.
"You are a murderer... You have murdered many children," prosecutor Nick Johnson said in an exchange with Letby on the final day of her cross-examination at the Manchester Crown Court.
"I have never murdered a child or harmed any of them," she replied.
Letby stands accused of deliberately harming newborns through various methods between June 2015 and June 2016, which allegedly included administering injections of insulin, air, or milk.
After being removed from the neo-natal unit in July 2016, she continued her employment at the hospital, albeit in clerical roles, until her arrest two years later.
During the court proceedings, Letby expressed a sense of "isolation" following her transfer from the unit and claimed that she was only permitted to communicate with a limited number of colleagues.
Prosecutor Johnson said Friday that Letby's social diary at the time was "peppered with you out socialising with lots of different people on that unit".
Letby agreed with his assertion that she had a "very active social life".
"You are a calculating woman aren't you Miss Letby? You tell lies deliberately, don't you?" Johnson continued.
He said Letby lied "to get sympathy from people" and "to get attention from people".
Letby replied to his questions with a simple "no".
During her testimony in the witness box last month, Letby revealed her longstanding desire to work with children and expressed deep distress upon learning that she was being accused of causing the deaths of the babies.
The charges against Letby include seven counts of murder and 15 counts of attempted murder, as she is alleged to have made multiple attempts to harm certain children.
The trial, which has been ongoing since October, will continue next week.
FILE PHOTO: Passengers board a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight at the airport in Kabul on September 13, 2021. (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images)
TWO of Pakistan's leading business groups and a company backed by the powerful military will bid for the country's ailing national carrier, a divestment the government hopes will kickstart the privatisations of state-owned enterprises.
The sale of Pakistan International Airlines will be the first major privatisation for around two decades, with the sale of loss-making state-owned enterprises a condition of last year's $7 billion (£5.5bn) bailout by the International Monetary Fund.
The government tried unsuccessfully to last year offload a stake in PIA, which is a major burden on its budget, but the sale was aborted because of the poor state of the airline and the conditions attached to any purchase.
Expressions of interest are due by Thursday (19) for an up to 100 per cent stake in the airline, with industry insiders expecting more bidders to emerge. They say the deal has been sweetened with a tax incentive and bolstered by signs of a turnaround in PIA's fortunes.
The Ministry of Privatisation did not respond to a request for comment.
Among those planning bids are the Yunus Brothers Group, owners of the Lucky Cement and energy companies; and a consortium led by Arif Habib Limited that includes Fatima Fertiliser, Lake City, and The City School, sources within the companies said.
Fauji Fertilizer Company, which is part-owned by the military, said it will be making an expression of interest, in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Fertiliser production is a lucrative sector in Pakistan.
A group of PIA employees has also come forward to bid.
"The employees will use their provident fund and pension, in addition to finding an investor to place a bid. We're doing this to save jobs and turn around the company," said Hidayatullah Khan, president of the airline's Senior Staff Association.
The airline was restructured last year, offloading approximately 80 per cent of its legacy debt to the government to make it more attractive to investors. But bidders remain concerned about overstaffing and the ability to fire employees.
Last year's sale effort failed when the sole bid of $36 million (£28m) fell far short of a $305m (£240m) floor price.
Interested parties walked away before bidding, partly because the government was not willing to give up 100 per cent of the company, with bidders saying they did not want the government to remain involved.
Since then, PIA has posted its first operating profit in 21 years, driven by cost-cutting reforms, after making cumulative losses of $2.5bn (£2bn).
This success of the current process will depend on whether the government is willing to give up a 100 per cent stake, industry insiders said.
They added that a government decision this month to remove the requirement of paying sales tax upfront on the lease of new aircraft, which had been an impediment, will make the deal more attractive.
PIA resumed flights to Europe in January after the European Union lifted a four-year safety ban. The airline has also approached UK authorities for permission to resume services to London and Manchester.
The restoration of international routes is vital to future growth opportunities and successful bidders are likely to bring in foreign airlines as operators.
By clicking the 'Subscribe’, you agree to receive our newsletter, marketing communications and industry
partners/sponsors sharing promotional product information via email and print communication from Garavi Gujarat
Publications Ltd and subsidiaries. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the
unsubscribe link in our emails. We will use your email address to personalize our communications and send you
relevant offers. Your data will be stored up to 30 days after unsubscribing.
Contact us at data@amg.biz to see how we manage and store your data.
Security personnel stand beside a poster of Pakistani Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, during a rally to express solidarity with Pakistan's armed forces, in Islamabad on May 14, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump will host Pakistan army chief Asim Munir for lunch at the White House on Wednesday.
“The president has lunch with the chief of army staff of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” an advisory issued by the White House said.
The lunch is scheduled for 1 pm (local time) in the Cabinet Room of the White House.
Trump had returned to Washington on Tuesday morning, cutting short his visit to Kananaskis, Canada, where the G7 leaders' summit is being held, due to growing tensions in the Middle East following the latest Israel-Iran conflict.
Officials in Islamabad are projecting the White House invitation to Munir as a major diplomatic success, according to Dawn.
Munir's remarks on India, Pahalgam attack
Field Marshal Munir, who was promoted to Pakistan's rare five-star rank last month — the first such promotion since Ayub Khan in 1959 — urged India to engage with Pakistan “as a civilised nation” instead of “attempting to impose regional hegemony”, Dawn reported.
Addressing members of the Pakistani American community on Monday evening, Munir rejected claims that Pakistan was behind the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
He accused India of trying to establish a dangerous “new normal” of "violating international borders", which he said Pakistan had “forcefully rejected”, according to the newspaper.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam attack, following which India carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7.
The four-day-long military actions from both sides ended after talks between the directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan on May 10, during which both agreed to halt further escalation.
Engagement with Pakistani American community
Munir’s interaction with the Pakistani American community was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington’s Georgetown area. The event reportedly drew a large gathering.
Protesters affiliated with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former prime minister Imran Khan, demonstrated outside the venue, demanding democratic reforms and the release of jailed PTI leaders.
Remarks on Israel-Iran war and US counterterrorism partnership
Speaking on the broader regional situation, Munir expressed Pakistan’s “clear and strong” support for Iran in its conflict with Israel, while also backing US efforts to de-escalate the crisis.
“We want this war to end immediately,” he said.
A key development during Munir's visit has been the strengthening of Pakistan's counterterrorism partnership with the US, particularly in operations targeting the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) group, Dawn reported.
Praise from US Central Command
Gen Michael Kurilla, chief of US Central Command, recently called Pakistan a “phenomenal partner” in the fight against IS-K, highlighting operations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Kurilla told the House Armed Services Committee that Pakistani operations, aided by US intelligence, had resulted in the deaths of dozens of IS-K militants and the capture of several high-value individuals, including Mohammad Sharifullah, who was one of the masterminds of the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul that killed 13 American soldiers.
“The first person Munir called was me,” Gen Kurilla said. “He said, ‘I've caught him — ready to extradite him back to the US. Please tell the secretary of defence and the president’.” Sharifullah was quickly extradited.
In a separate statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kurilla said Pakistan had carried out “dozens of operations” against IS-K and continued to play an important role in combating terrorism in Central and South Asia.
FOUR Indian schools were on Wednesday (18) named among the top 10 finalists across different categories for the annual world's best school prizes, organised in the UK to celebrate schools' enormous contribution to society's progress.
Schools from Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh were unveiled as contenders for membership of the Best School to Work programme to help schools attract and retain the best teachers. The worldwide winners across categories will be announced in October.
The five world's best school prizes – for community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity, and supporting healthy lives – were founded by UK-headquartered T4 Education in the wake of Covid to give a platform to schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and beyond.
"In a world being turned upside down by AI, as technology reshapes the way we learn and renders jobs that have existed for centuries obsolete, amid growing challenges of climate change, conflict, poverty and populism, the world our young people are entering has never felt more precarious. And a good education, with humans at its heart, has never been more important," said Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education and the world's best school prizes.
T4 Education calls itself a global platform bringing together a community of over 200,000 teachers from more than 100 countries to transform education.
Government Girls Senior Secondary School, NIT 5, a state secondary school in Faridabad, Haryana, has been selected for transforming the lives of at-risk girls by interlinking nutritional programmes, physical wellbeing, and mental health support with education to break down societal barriers and ensure no girl is left behind. It is on the list of 10 finalists for the world's best school prize for supporting healthy lives.
ZP School Jalindar Nagar, a public primary school in Khed taluka, near Pune, has been recognised for revolutionising public-school education by providing quality student-led learning with its subject friend system, a peer-learning model where students of different ages teach and learn from each other. This Maharashtra-based school is a finalist in community collaboration category.
Ekya School, J P Nagar, is an independent kindergarten, primary, and secondary school in Bengaluru which is empowering students to become innovative thinkers and proactive problem solvers through a design thinking curriculum that integrates human-centred design processes and skills development. It has been named a top 10 finalist for the innovation.
Delhi Public School, an independent kindergarten, primary and secondary school in Varanasi, is creating an environment where students are empowered to explore, grow and lead with compassion through its learner-centric educational model that embeds environmental stewardship and social responsibility into the learning experience. This UP school is in the running for environmental action category.
Congratulating the schools on becoming finalists for the World's Best School Prizes 2025, Pota said, "It is in schools like these that we find the innovations and expertise that give us hope for a better future. Leaders and schools around the world have so much to learn from these inspirational Indian institutions."
The winners will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy, with all 50 finalist schools across the five prizes also taking part in a public vote opened this week to determine the winner of the community choice award.
The worldwide winners across these categories will be announced in October, with all the finalists and winners invited to the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi on November 15-16.
The winning schools will share their best practices, unique expertise and experience with policymakers and leading figures in global education, according to a statement.
(PTI)
Keep ReadingShow less
Jason Isaacs confirms equal pay for all actors in The White Lotus
Jason Isaacs has revealed that every cast member of The White Lotus Season 3, regardless of experience or fame, earned the same salary: £32,000 (₹33,60,000) per episode. That totals around £256,000 (₹2,68,80,000) for the full eight-episode run. While that figure might seem significant, Isaacs called it “a very low price” for a hit HBO show, but said he had no complaints.
“We would’ve paid to be in it,” Isaacs said in an interview, adding, “We probably would’ve given a body part.”
Jason Isaacs opens up about financial regrets and career lowsGetty Images
Equal pay, no ego
The show’s ensemble approach meant that veterans like Isaacs and Parker Posey received the same as newer faces such as Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola. Asked if it bothered him to be paid the same as his younger co-stars, Isaacs shrugged it off: “I never work for money. I’ve done alright. People assume I have piles of cash, but I’ve basically matched my spending to my income and spent everything over the years.”
The pay structure, introduced from Season 1, was meant to ensure fairness and avoid ego clashes. “Everyone is treated the same,” said producer David Bernad in an earlier interview, explaining how the alphabetical billing and equal salaries were key to creating a drama-free, committed cast.
The White Lotus cast shares the screen and the paycheck equallyGetty Images
Isaacs admitted that while the rate was lower than typical network or streaming pay outs, the prestige of working on The White Lotus and with creator Mike White made it worthwhile.
Cautionary tales and career lows
Isaacs also took the opportunity to share hard-earned lessons with his younger co-stars, urging them not to get emotionally attached to the final product. “You don’t control how it’s received. That’s Mike’s job,” he said. Reflecting on his own past, he pointed to Peter Pan (2003), where he played Captain Hook, a big-budget project that tanked commercially and nearly derailed his career.
“It was the lowest I’ve ever felt professionally. I thought I’d never work again,” he confessed. Isaacs said it was his partner Emma Hewitt who helped him through that dark phase, crediting her support over their decades-long relationship.
Jason Isaacs says Emma Hewitt helped him through his dark phase in lifeGetty Images
The White Lotus Season 3 is now streaming on Max, and while the actors may not have earned big bucks, the series continues to score big on screen, with critics and fans alike.
Keep ReadingShow less
Scarlett Johansson kisses Jonathan Bailey and dazzles in couture at Jurassic World Rebirth premiere
Scarlett Johansson returned to the spotlight in a dazzling pink gown at the world premiere of Jurassic World Rebirth, held at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London. The event wasn’t just a celebration of the film’s release but also a major red carpet moment for the 39-year-old actress, who has been out of the public eye in recent months.
Wearing a custom Vivienne Westwood corset gown with sequins, Johansson lit up the green carpet with elegance and glamour. Her blush-toned dress featured a sculpted silhouette and soft draping that recalled golden-age Hollywood style, minus the fuss. The styling, handled by her long-time collaborator Kate Young, kept things minimal yet classy, letting the dress do all the talking.
Scarlett Johansson stuns in Vivienne Westwood gown at Jurassic World Rebirth London premiereGetty Images
All eyes on Scarlett, not the dinosaurs
Johansson’s outfit was a standout, softly shimmering, vintage-inspired, and unmistakably hers. The gown’s romantic structure paired beautifully with her classic Hollywood waves, styled by Renato Campora, and glowy makeup by Hung Vanngo, featuring soft pink tones and bold brows.
The green carpet itself mirrored the film’s jungle setting, with faux foliage and warning signs nodding to the franchise’s roots. Yet despite the dramatic décor and loud dinosaur displays, all attention shifted to Johansson’s presence and her surprise red carpet moment with co-star Jonathan Bailey.
Scarlett and Jonathan Bailey share a friendly kiss that gets fans buzzing on social mediaGetty Images
Fans went into a frenzy after the actress greeted Bailey with a quick, friendly kiss on the lips, sparking a flood of reactions online. The moment, caught on video, added a spark to an already buzzworthy evening. Bailey, dressed in a relaxed 1990s-inspired look with a cap and sunglasses, looked just as thrilled to reunite with his co-star.
A major comeback with a mega-franchise
Jurassic World Rebirth is Johansson’s first big-budget outing since stepping away from Marvel. She plays Zora Bennett, a covert operative sent on a high-stakes mission involving dinosaur DNA. She stars alongside Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, and Rupert Friend in this next chapter of the billion-pound (₹10,000 crore) franchise, directed by Gareth Edwards.
With the film expected to open strong, tracking at around £95 million (₹1,000 crore) globally, it’s a big summer bet for Universal. And for Scarlett Johansson, star power has never been in question, no theme costume required. Just a killer dress, a bold kiss, and a dash of old-school charm.