British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday during a conversation between the two politicians, the British head of government's office said in a statement.more

UK households who've financially supported family members with a large cash gift in the past seven years could be hit with an inheritance tax bill. The warning has come as HMRC reveals inheritance tax receipts soared to £5 billion from April to October 2024.more

Number two seed Iga Swiatek won against Ukraine's Dajana Yastremska 7:5, 6:0 in the 1/8 final of the WTA 1000 tennis tournament on hard courts in Dubai. The match lasted one hour and 32 minutes. The Pole's rival in the quarter-finals will be Russia's Mirra Andreyeva.more

UK inflation jumped sharply in the year to January, driven by rising food prices, air fares and an increase in private school fees. The higher-than-expected jump to 3% from 2.5% in December, means prices rose at the fastest pace for 10 months.more

Sir Sadiq Khan has given the green light for parking fines in London to increase to up to £160. The mayor has approved a request from the capital’s 33 boroughs to hike the cost of penalty charge notices (PCNs) in a bid to create more of a deterrent to “anti-social and obstructive parking”.more

If Europe wants to send troops to Ukraine, I'm for it, but we won't do it because we are very far away, US President Donald Trump declared yesterday. He also praised the outcome of the Riyadh talks, supported the Russian demand for elections in Ukraine and announced a meeting with Putin later in February.more

The end of the war could lead to the departure of Ukrainian women, hitting the care business, hotels and catering, among others, but also to an influx of demobilised men, today's ‘Rzeczpospolita’ points out.more

Atalanta Bergamo and AC Milan crashed out of the play-offs for the 1/8 finals of the football Champions League, after clashes with - respectively - Club Brugge and Jakub Moder's Feyenoord. Bayern Munich won promotion in a last-minute clash with Celtic, while Benfica eliminated Radoslaw Majecki's Monaco.more

A landlord has been ordered by a court to pay £37,000 after 18 people were found living in a terraced house in north London. Charles Egbiremolen, 57, was operating eight bedsits without a licence in a converted three-bedroom terraced house in Fairmead Crescent, Edgware.more

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed he will hold another meeting on Ukraine today with leaders from Europe and beyond, and announced he will talk to political forces in the country about the situation related to the threat from Russia.more

Millions of households face a greater than expected increase to their energy bills of about 5% from April after a slump in Europe’s gas storage levels caused market prices to climb, according to analysts.more

At the end of 2024, the U.S. population reached 340.1 million, an increase of about 8.5 million people from 2020. The largest number of new residents were added by Texas, Florida, and South Carolina, while the largest losses were recorded by New York, California, and Illinois.more

Iga Świątek advanced to the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai. The world number two tennis player defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6:0, 6:2. The match started with a delay of several hours due to rain. In the 1/8 finals, the Pole will play Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.more

Plans have been revealed that could see Slough borough becoming part of London under the Government's devolution scheme. Options for the borough include Slough merging with a West London council or joining the Greater London Authority.more

Sadiq Khan will tell EU diplomats “Brexit was a mistake” and renew his backing for a youth mobility scheme as he argues strengthened ties with the bloc would help offset Donald Trump’s threatened tariff regime.more

Barcelona player Robert Lewandowski, with 20 goals and 40 points, is third in the Golden Boot rankings - an award for the best scorer in European leagues in a given season. The leader is Egyptian Mohamed Salah from Liverpool with 23 goals.more

London household face an average increase in council tax bills of almost £100 from April, according to research by The Standard. Total bills will range from almost £2,500 for a benchmark band D bill in Kingston, which will remain the capital’s most expensive borough for council tax, to just £990 in Wandsworth and just over £1,000 in Westminster.more

Companies are planning to cut jobs or recruit fewer people ahead of rises to National Insurance payments and wages, according to a survey of UK employers. Businesses questioned by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also said they would raise their prices to cover increasing employment costs.more

Iranian authorities have charged a British tourist couple with espionage, the Iranian judicial portal Mizan reported today. The couple, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, were said to have ‘collected information in several provinces of Iran’ - the portal reported.more

Talks between US and Russian delegations took place today in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. This is the first such meeting since the beginning of the Russian assault on Ukraine. The main topic was Russia's war against Ukraine. The meeting lasted 4.5 hours.more

Merton now has the worst roads in London, with four in 10 'unclassified' roads rated as 'poor' according to the borough's MP. This marks a dramatic increase from last year, when just 23% of roads were in poor condition, according to a study by the Liberal Democrats locally.more

The leader of the presidential poll by Opinii24 for RMF FM is Rafał Trzaskowski (30.9 percent support). Sławomir Mentzen won 16.8 percent of votes, thus recording the largest increase in support - compared to the previous, January poll for this radio station.more

Victoria Azarenka will be Iga Świątek's first opponent in the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai. The Belarusian eliminated Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina in the opening round 2:6, 7:6 (7-4), 6:4.more

The first of up to 390 prisoners are being released early in the latest attempt to ease overcrowding in Scotland's jails. Emergency legislation was passed last year which allows eligible inmates sentenced to less than four years to be freed after 40% of their term, rather than 50%.more

All passengers and crew on a flight which crashed and overturned while landing at Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada have survived, the airport's chief executive said. "We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries," said Deborah Flint of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.more