Rhondda MP Chris Bryant has called for people to pay tribute to a elderly man who died in a knife attack in a south Wales valleys village.

He has been named locally as John Rees, an 88-year-old church warden.

Three other people were injured in the incident at the Co-op in Penygraig.

A 29-year-old woman from Porth has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Mr Bryant said Mr Rees had rung bells on Thursday nights during the coronavirus crisis as part of the weekly "clap for carers".

The MP said his team was trying to arrange for the church bells "to ring this Thursday, in his memory".

Image source, St David's Hospice

North Wales charity St David’s Hospice has announced it will face a total financial loss of over £1m this year, even with government help.

The charity says it will not recover these losses in 2020 having been forced to cancel all its summer events and close 26 charity shops and two cafes in Llandudno and Llangefni.

Trystan Pritchard, chief executive, said: “Our much-loved local hospice is in a fight for its survival.

"We have faced difficult financial challenges in the past, but nothing as extensive as the losses we face due to Covid-19.

"At the very start of the pandemic, we had no choice but to send our income generation and volunteer workforce home. This means that 90% of our income will be lost in the months of May, June and July and there is no telling how long it might take to get back to where need to be.

"I know now that we will be £1 million short of what we need to run the hospice this year, even after the government’s announcement of help.”

Last month, the Welsh Government announced a specific fund of £6.3m to help UK hospices to keep clinical services running throughout the pandemic.

Of this, £600,000 has been allocated to St David’s Hospice to support its clinical provision costs for the months of April, May and June.

Beyond that, the hospice says it must "rely on the communities it serves to keep its doors open in the future".

Labour's former shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant has accused Boris Johnson of attempting to avoid Parliament, ahead of the prime minister's statement on Sunday.

Earlier today, Mr Johnson confirmed he would make more announcements on the easing of the lockdown on Sunday, with some changes coming into play on Monday.

Mr Bryant, the Rhondda MP, told the Commons: "The reason the prime minister is making the statement on Sunday is because he wants to avoid the House of Commons."

He said he was "begging" the leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg, to make sure MPs had more time to ask questions of government ministers.

Image source, PA Media

"At the moment, we end the day early, we're not sitting on Thursdays and ministers aren't coming enough to the chamber to answer questions which we have in our bucket-loads in our constituency," he said.

"We want to talk about the issues that are happening in our constituencies, we need to challenge the government on these issues and we can't if the prime minister won't even come to the House."

Mr Rees-Mogg responded: "The prime minister was in the House earlier on, but I accept what [Mr Bryant] is saying that a virtual Parliament is not a substitute for the real Parliament.

"Apart from anything else, we are missing the constant chirruping from [Mr Bryant]."

An 88 year-old man who died in a knife attack in a Rhondda shop has been named locally as John Rees.

Mr Rees was queuing to go into the Co-op in Tylacelyn Road, Penygraig on Monday afternoon when he and three other shoppers were attacked.

He had left his wife Eunice in the car outside.

A family friend said: "He was known to everyone around here as Uncle John - he was that sort of man. He was very smart and always wore a shirt even though he was long retired.

"He was a church warden and never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was the perfect gentleman."

A 29-year-old woman from Porth has been arrested on suspicion of murder. She is in custody for questioning.

South Wales Police Det Ch Insp Mark O'Shea said: "This is a very tragic incident.

"Our thoughts and condolences remain with the victim's family at this very sad time.

"This incident will have understandably caused a lot of shock in the local community and I want to reassure residents that a full investigation has been launched. However, we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident."

The first Covid-19 patient in Wales has described the speed with which his condition deteriorated.

Mark Hosking, 53, of Mumbles, Swansea, spent four days on a ventilator in an induced coma at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

He fell ill on returning from a skiing holiday to Italy in February.

He said the health authorities succeeded in "isolating" him and members of the trip through rigorous contact tracing - and no outbreak took place.

Mr Hosking, who has no underlying health conditions, is still struggling with fatigue and breathing difficulties six weeks after leaving hospital.

However, he has urged others facing a similar ordeal to "stay positive".

"If you're that severe that you have to go on to intensive care then the care they give you is fantastic.

"I was very, very pleased that the attention I got felt so personal, as much as it could with the PPE.

"It's a fact that you can come through it and I've done that, so just remain positive - really, there's no alternative, you have to remain positive.

"If you can take your time and build up your strength you can become the person you were before. "

People have been urged to continue to follow coronavirus restrictions over the bank holiday weekend.

Giri Shankar, of Public Health Wales, said: "With the upcoming May Day bank holiday, Public Health Wales reminds the public to continue to adhere to Welsh Government's restrictions on non-essential travel, caravan and campsites, hotels, B&Bs and holiday accommodations, as well as the limited access to our national parks.

"We also remind owners of second homes in Wales to act responsibly and to avoid travelling to these homes until restrictions have been lifted."

Earlier, PHW said a further 95 people had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 10,764.

Image source, G

Ending the UK government's jobs furlough scheme "too early" would be a "disaster", the Welsh Liberal Democrats have said.

The job retention scheme, which allows companies to keep staff at home with the government paying 80% of normal wages, is due to expire at the end of June.

It funds 80% of workers' wages, up to £2,500 a month.

About 2.5 million people across the UK registered last week for the scheme, bringing the total claims to 6.3 million - 23% of the employed workforce.

The Welsh Lib Dems are campaigning to protect furlough workers.

"Ending or cutting it too early would be a disaster for millions of families and our economy," the party tweeted.

Looking for something to read to pass the time during lockdown?

Need books to fill those shelves for that important Zoom interview coming up?

Somebody in the Roath area of Cardiff has filled a phone box with books, seemingly free for anyone to pick up.

As this post on Facebook, external points out, it's a creative way of filling the void left by charity second-hand bookshops during the coronavirus pandemic.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned the Senedd the coronavirus "crisis is certainly not over, even as some signs improve".

He says the number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus reported every day by Public Health Wales is now consistently less than 200.

The number of people in hospital with coronavirus has fallen to just over 900 on 5 May.

He adds that there are now fewer than 70 people in critical care with coronavirus, down from more than 100 in mid-April.

He concludes that "taken together, this body of evidence shows that everything we are doing as a community is helping us move past the peak of the virus.

"But this week we note that the number of deaths in Wales has exceeded 1,000.

"This sombre milestone underlines the need for great caution as we approach the end of the second review period this week."

Visitors and second home owners are being urged to continue to stay away from Pembrokeshire this bank holiday weekend.

“Pembrokeshire is a beautiful place and when the time is right, we will welcome you. But that time is not now,” said councillor David Simpson, leader of the county council.

A further 21 people have died with Covid-19 in Wales, bringing the total to 1,044.

Public Health Wales also said there had been 95 new confirmed cases in Wales, taking the total to 10,764.

The true number is likely to be higher as many with symptoms are not tested.

Staff at one branch of KFC found themselves working as traffic wardens as customers queued to visit in their cars.

The Morfa, Swansea, branch of the fried chicken chain reopened for drive-through yesterday.

The coronavirus pandemic is costing a council £3.5m a month in lost income, a report has said.

By June, Powys council will be more than £10m out of pocket and tax receipts are down £600,000 since the start of the new financial year.

The authority's finance chairman Aled Davies told cabinet the figures were "quite frightening".

The Welsh Local Government Association said budgets were being strained which will threaten local services.

Powys council wants to see a change in legislation, so all local authorities can borrow more money during the pandemic.

Image source, DAVID DIXON/GEOGRAPH

Today is the first day of the Welsh Parliament, also known as Senedd Cymru.

It has changed its name from the National Assembly for Wales.

The names of the politicians have also changed - from Assembly Members (AMs) to Members of the Senedd (MSs).

Today's plenary meeting gets underway at 13.30 BST and includes statements on coronavirus from the first minister, and from the economy and international relations ministers.

To watch the meeting live, please click on Senedd Live at the top of the page.

Wales’ finance minister has called for a “tapered approach” when the furlough scheme “inevitably” comes to an end.

Rebecca Evans said there should not be a “an abrupt and sharp end” to the end of the scheme, where the UK government steps in to pay part of people’s wages.

“Furlough has to be extended but then when it does finally come to an end, as it will inevitably have to do, I think a more tapered approach would be the way to do that," she told the daily Welsh Government news conference.

She said she supports what TUC Wales “has been saying about exploring a way that we can make furlough more flexible. I think that's important."

The scheme is due to run until at least the end of June.

The Welsh Government is asking to increase its borrowing to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans says.

She told the daily news conference Welsh ministers can only currently borrow a "small amount each year" up to a maximum of £1bn.

Ms Evans said: "We're going to have to act pretty rapidly as we move out of recovery, and so we need more flexibility in terms of how much we can borrow and when."

She said she was also having discussions with the UK Treasury about "switching capital and revenue" spending.

This would "help us make more immediate responses to the needs of people in Wales as a result of the crisis," the minister added.

A "careful and cautious approach" to lifting the lockdown is required, says the Welsh Government's finance minister.

Following the prime minister's announcement he will be setting out plans to begin lifting the coronavirus lockdown on Sunday, Rebecca Evans said Welsh ministers were "exploring whether we can lend our support to that".

She said: "We're keen to move as closely as we can with England at the moment because in Wales we have so many people living on the Wales-England border and it's important we move in step when we can.

"What I expect to see from the prime minister at the weekend is a careful and cautious approach to lifting the lockdown."

The Welsh Government has announced a £26m support package for charities.

Speaking at the Welsh Government's daily coronavirus press briefing, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said "thousands of small charities within the retail, leisure and hospitality sector will receive a £10,000 business support grant to help them respond to the financial challenges of Covid-19".

Image source, Welsh Government

Police officers have re-entered a supermarket following a fatal "stabbing" there yesterday afternoon.

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after one man died and three others were hurt at the Co-op in Penygraig, Rhondda valleys.

The Co-op said the store remained closed, and in a statement said it was "shocked by the tragic incident".

A spokesman said: "We would like to thank the emergency services for their response, and we are working to support our colleagues and customers.

"Our thoughts are with those affected at this difficult time."

BBC Wales reporter Stephen Fairclough has posted this video from the scene today.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans will be giving the Welsh Government's daily coronavirus briefing at 12:30 BST.

We'll be updating you with the main points - you can also watch the proceedings live on BBC One Wales or via the Coronavirus Daily Update video link above.

Image source, Senedd