Nearly two-thirds of workers living in private rented housing struggle to pay their rent, according to a poll that shows how England’s housing crisis is causing financial hardship even for those with jobs.more

A drugs smuggler caught trying to bring almost £100,000 of cannabis into the UK at Newcastle Airport said he had been pressured by an organised crime group. On August 30 this year, Border Force were monitoring passengers arriving at Newcastle Airport. Newcastle Crown Court heard they stopped and quizzed Arkadiusz Golab, a Polish national arriving on a flight from Dubai.more

The United Cup mixed team tennis tournament begins today in Australia. The Polish team includes Iga Świątek and Hubert Hurkacz, which makes them one of the favorites. The Polish team will play Norway in Group B on Monday and the Czech Republic on Wednesday.more

Family and friends hold grave fears for an Australian man captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region. Australian officials have urged Russian counterparts to adhere to humanitarian obligations in their treatment of 32-year-old Melburnian Oscar Jenkins.more

A burial plot and a toilet seat top the list of the nation’s all-time worst Christmas gifts, according to research that suggests one in five Britons receive an unwanted present in their annual haul. More than 2,000 members of the public were polled by Which? about what they were given at Christmas last year, with 21% saying they had received an unwanted or unsuitable gift.more

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier today dissolved the Bundestag and called early parliamentary elections for 23 February 2025. He thereby acceded to the request of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose minority government did not receive a vote of confidence on 16 December.more

English Premier League leaders Liverpool beat Leicester City 3-1 at home in Matchday 18 to extend their lead over second-place Chelsea to seven points. The visiting goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk made his Premier League debut.more

Homebase is to live on as a brand online and within up to 70 former stores reopened next year as branches of the Range, its new owner has announced. CDS said it would open the first three converted outlets from the collapsed DIY retailer in January under the Range Superstores name, and then 10 a month from February.more

Belgium has recorded its first case of the new, more contagious monkeypox virus, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Belgian national health institute Sciensano reported.more

A pistol, rifle and deactivated World War One machine gun were among the items lost or stolen from Ministry of Defence facilities over the past two years. Figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show more than 700 phones, laptops, computers and USB sticks also went missing over the period.more

Yesterday, 104 yachts set off on the 79th edition of the famous Sydney to Hobart regatta. Organizers reported that two participants died in the storm. The victims were crew members of two different boats: the Flying Fish Arctos and the Bowline.more

Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday. more

More than 450 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats on Christmas Day - the first arrivals for more than a week. A total of 11 boats made the journey to the UK from France on Wednesday morning, with more expected to follow in the coming days.more

Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres intends to sign a contract with FC Barcelona to become Lewandowski's successor when the Catalan club's contract with Robert Lewandowski expires in 2026, according to Portuguese and Spanish media.more

China has approved a project to build the world's largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River on the Tibetan Plateau, Reuters reported. Concerns about the project's environmental impact have been raised by downstream countries like India and Bangladesh.more

A cultural melting pot, London is a city home to millions of people who speak over 100 different languages. From Pakistan to Colombia, Iran to France, we've got every corner of the globe covered. more

65 per cent of Poles think about other people's needs in December, according to a survey conducted by the Father Christmas Foundation and research agency IMAS International. Perhaps this is why many of the charitable campaigns carried out before Christmas find donors.more

Millions of vulnerable UK households on prepayment meters could see their energy bills consume almost a third of their incomes this winter. As temperatures drop across the country, the Resolution Foundation said a combination of higher gas and electricity prices and the typical seasonal increase in energy usage over the colder months would hit poorer families most.more

During his Christmas holiday in Finnish Lapland, Cristiano Ronaldo took a bath in an ice break in 20-degree frost. He lasted about a minute in the icy water, and could have lasted longer. According to the Finnish walrus association, the Portuguese footballer was ‘perfectly prepared’ for such a challenge.more

Thursday is a day of national mourning in Azerbaijan following the crash of a passenger plane in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. State flags were lowered to half mast and at midday, traffic was halted across the country and a moment of silence was observed to honour the victims.more

In his Christmas address yesterday, Britain's King Charles III thanked the doctors and nurses who treated him and the royal family this year. The monarch and his daughter-in-law Duchess Kate were undergoing cancer treatment in 2024.more

From delight to a series of setbacks - that's how the first part of the Spanish Premier League season played out for Barcelona's players. They ended the year with a painful defeat against Atletico Madrid (1:2), after which coach Hansi Flick admitted that a Christmas break would do everyone good.more

US President-elect Donald Trump plans to restore the former name of Mount McKinley to Alaska's Denali, the highest peak in North America, Fox News reported.more

This footage shows cleaners targeting seats on a London red bus - revealing just how much dirt passengers take home. Cleaner Steve James, 55, started posting cleaning videos from “high traffic areas” on his Instagram in 2020 - including a viral video on a London tube.more

"When I was young I was really into death metal music and I think that's something that's similar to my preferred style of football," said new Southampton manager Ivan Juric, who has signed an 18-month contract with the Premier League relegation zone club.more