Migrants may have to learn a higher standard of English to work in the UK and wait for longer before they can settle permanently, reports have suggested. An immigration White Paper due to be published next week is expected to set out the reforms, as Sir Keir Starmer gets tougher on migration in the wake of Labour’s local election losses to Reform UK.more

Chelsea London, which won 1-0 against Swedish Djurgarden IF, and Betis Sevilla - tied 2-2 away after extra time with Fiorentina - advanced to the final of the Football Conference League. The decisive match will be played on May 28 in Wrocław.more

Eighteen-year-olds will be allowed to drive trains amid concerns over driver shortages. The minimum age to take on the role in Britain is to be lowered from 20, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.more

Prisons minister James Timpson has told the BBC more criminals could be tagged in future instead of being sent to prison - but insists he's not "soft on crime". More than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, will meet the government today to explore how technology could help monitor offenders in the community more effectively and tackle violence in prison.more

The Catholic Church has a new pope, the first from the United States. On the fourth ballot of the conclave, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected, who took the name Leo XIV. The new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics was prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Bishops until the death of Pope Francis.more

Bank of England policymakers have cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% to cushion the UK economy against the impact of rising economic uncertainty.more

The UK and US have agreed a “breakthrough” trade deal slashing some of Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel and that the prime minister said would save thousands of British jobs. Keir Starmer said it was a “fantastic, historic day” as he announced the agreement, the first by the White House since Trump announced sweeping global tariffs last month.more

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will play in the Europa League final. In the return semi-final matches, the "Red Devils" won at home against Athletic Bilbao 4-1, while the players from London defeated Bodoe/Glimt 2-0 away.more

WeightWatchers has filed for bankruptcy in the US as it struggles with debt and fierce competition from fat-loss jabs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. The legal process will see $1.15bn (£860mn) of the 60-year-old diet brand's debt written off while it agrees new terms for paying back its lenders.more

Since the beginning of the year, eight Poles have been expelled by the US services and another six are in the deportation process, according to data provided to ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’ by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.more

The root cause of a fire which led to the shutdown of Heathrow Airport and affected hundreds of thousands of journeys worldwide "remains unknown", an interim report says. Heathrow was closed to all flights for much of 21 March after a fire at a nearby electrical substation, which started the previous night, caused a power outage at the airport.more

Each year, Resonance Consultancy prepares a detailed ranking to identify Europe's best cities. Places that stand out for their high quality of life, attractiveness and prosperity. London tops the list in 2025. Poland is also strongly represented with five cities. Warsaw was ranked 19th on the list.more

Polish national team player Tymoteusz Puchacz is leaving Plymouth Argyle, to whom he has been on loan since January this year from Holstein Kiel, the English club announced yesterday. The team was recently relegated from the Championship, the second tier of the competition.more

England is heading towards a drought this summer unless there is significant rainfall soon, as reservoir water levels dwindle. The government will on Wednesday convene the National Drought Group of water companies, farming groups and other experts to prepare for what is expected to be a dry summer with potential water shortages.more

The new pope is Cardinal Robert Prevost from the United States, who took the name Leo XIV. The news of his election was announced on Thursday after 7 p.m. from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti.more

Britain is secretly preparing for a direct military attack by Russia amid fears that it is not ready for war. Officials have been asked to update 20-year-old contingency plans that would put the country on a war footing after threats of attack by the Kremlin.more

Rafał Trzaskowski would win 39% of the votes in the presidential elections if they were held next Sunday – according to an online survey conducted among Poles living in Great Britain by the portal MyPolska.UK. Second place went to Sławomir Mentzen with 15% support, and third to Grzegorz Braun with 9%. Karol Nawrocki was off the podium with 8%.more

Iga Swiatek defeated Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6:1, 6:0 to advance to the third round of the WTA 1000 ranked tennis tournament on courts in Rome. The match lasted 52 minutes.more

Visa applications from nationalities thought most likely to overstay and claim asylum in the UK could be restricted under a new government crackdown. Under Home Office plans, first reported in the Times, external, people from countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka may find it more difficult to come to the UK to work and study.more

Labour have raised concerns about the Ukrainian flag being banned from flying, while Conservatives have highlighted the initial announcement's exclusion of county flags. Reform says the latter will be allowed due to national heritage.more

Biologist and science populariser David Attenborough turns 99 today. His documentary ‘Ocean’ premiered two days ago. ‘After almost 100 years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but in the sea,’ said the British documentary maker.more

Rafal Trzaskowski would get 31 per cent of the vote in the election, Karol Nawrocki 25 per cent and Slawomir Mentzen 14 per cent. - according to an Opinia24 poll for TVN's ‘Facts’. According to the survey, Magdalena Biejat would be voted for by 6 per cent of respondents, while Szymon Hołownia and Adrian Zandberg would be voted for by 5 per cent of respondents each.more

An agreement with the UK will seal our friendship, US President Donald Trump declared today, declaring that the shape of the trade deal has been set. He also announced that a number of other agreements with the UK are close to being finalised.more

Interest in the return match in the Europa League football semi-final between Bodo/Glimt and Tottenham is so great that fans are offering fish and reindeer meat for tickets that are no longer available - circumventing the ban on reselling for cash at a profit.more

The Italian press today, in its summary of the first day of the conclave, which did not produce a result, points to the still existing divisions among the cardinals around the candidates to succeed Pope Francis. There is also the opinion that this is the first conclave of the era of the social media boom.more