5 news stories from around the UK that you need to know about today

Here are some of the biggest news stories in the UK from today, Thursday 23 February 2023.

Three men have been arrested over the attempted murder of a senior detective in Northern Ireland

Three men have been arrested in Northern Ireland in connection with the attempted murder of an off-duty police officer who was shot several times.

Gunmen shot Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in front of his young son in the attack at a sports complex in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on Wednesday evening.

Mr Caldwell ran a short distance and fell to the ground where the attackers continued to fire at him as children ran in terror to get to safety, police have said.

Mr Caldwell remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital after the attack at the Youth Sports Centre.

At a press conference in Belfast, PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne said: “This morning we have arrested three men aged 38, 45 and 47 in Omagh and Coalisland in connection with John’s attempted murder.

There’s been a huge increase in the number of young people not in education, employment or training

The number of young people not in education, employment or training has increased, new figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in the last three months of 2022 there were 788,000 so called NEETs, up from 724,000 in the quarter to September.

More than 25,000 children had decaying teeth removed in hospital last year

More than 25,000 children had decaying teeth removed in hospital last year, figures suggest.

Data from the Government’s Office for Health Improvement & Disparities shows that 42,180 operations for tooth extraction took place in NHS hospitals in England in 2021/22 for youngsters aged 19 and under.

Of these, 26,741 had a main diagnosis of tooth decay, representing 63% of tooth extractions for the age group.

Tooth decay is the most common reason for hospital admission in children aged six to 10.

BDA chairman Eddie Crouch said: “Tooth decay is still going unchallenged as the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children.

“Decay and deprivation are going hand in hand, and this inequality is set to widen.

“None of this is inevitable. This Government needs to be willing to take off the gloves when it comes to fighting a wholly preventable disease.”

Chris Kamara says pension rules should change so terminally ill don’t die in poverty

Football pundit Chris Kamara will deliver a petition calling for people dying of a terminal illness to be able to access their pension early following the death of his mother.

The 65-year-old presenter and representatives of Marie Curie will hand a petition containing 165,000 signatures to Downing Street on Thursday that asks for the system to allow for working-age people to claim their state pension if they are dying.

Kamara’s mother, Irene, was cared for by the charity’s nurses in her final days in 2003 after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and he has worked with Marie Curie previously on campaigns.

When asked about the petition on Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Thursday, he said: “People shouldn’t be allowed to die in poverty – 90,000 people die in poverty (every year), so that’s 10 an hour, the capacity of Wembley Stadium when you take it as a whole. So that’s got to stop.

More than £225m has been donated to help Ukrainians on GoFundMe since the war began

More than £225 million has been donated to Ukraine fundraisers on GoFundMe since the country was invaded last year, in one of the greatest “outpourings of generosity” ever seen on the platform.

The fundraising site confirmed to the PA news agency that more than £225,000,000 was contributed from countries around the world since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 2022, forcing millions to flee their homes.

The thousands of fundraisers on the site included large-scale projects and individual efforts including a convoy of London taxis sent to the Polish border and the supply of urgent diabetes medication to a young Ukrainian girl.

GoFundMe’s international vice-president John Coventry said: “The response we saw from around the world in the days and weeks after the invasion was remarkable.