Shoppers defy economic gloom in September

British retail sales have continued to increase for the fifth consecutive month, boosted by non-food items including DIY and garden supplies, according to official figures.more

Scotland is to enter a new five-level system of coronavirus alert levels, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.more

McDonald’s is selling thousands of meal items past their "best before" dates after the chain was forced to close due to the pandemic.more

The end of cheaper restaurant meals pushed UK prices up last month after the Eat Out to Help Out scheme expired.more

The UK has announced it will enforce asset freezes and travel bans against two Russian GRU officers and the GRU’s military intelligence unit 26165 – codenamed APT28 and Fancy Bear – which were responsible for the 2015 cyber attacks on Germany’s Parliament.more

Britain has announced details of a new visa for Hong Kong people who hold British National (Overseas) passports and close family members, confirming their right to work or study in the UK for up to five years as a pathway to full citizenship.more

Liz Truss, the UK's international trade secretary, signed the agreement with Toshimitsu Motegi, the Japanese foreign minister, in Tokyo on Friday.more

The UK has recorded another 21,242 COVID-19 cases, government figures show. It's a drop from Wednesday's record number of 26,688.more

One of the oldest mansions in Mayfair is up for sale for £54.5 million making it the most expensive property to come on the open market in London since lockdown.more

After the end of the post-Brexit transition period, European Union citizens with a criminal record will not be able to enter the UK, the British government announced today. The head of the Home Office - Priti Patel - called them "a threat to our lifestyle". The changes will also include people who already have the so-called settled status.more

The British government has today significantly expanded financial aid to companies suffering from the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak, especially in areas with additional restrictions.more

Some 12 million people in Britain are likely to struggle with bills and loan repayments as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak economic havoc, a Financial Conduct Authority survey tracking consumer financial resilience showed on Thursday.more

One in 10 people had experienced suicidal thoughts by the end of the first six weeks of lockdown, according to new research.more

The United Kingdom has notified the European Union of its intention to withdraw from all EU joint military operations by the end of this year, the Reuters agency informed, citing diplomatic sources.more

The UK Home Office's practice of giving unsuccessful migrants 72 hours to appeal is against the law, the appeal court said today.more

The UK is "ready to welcome the EU team" to continue negotiations over a post-Brexit trade deal, says No 10. The two sides' chief negotiators, Lord David Frost and Michel Barnier, spoke on the phone earlier after talks stalled last week. Following the conversation, Downing Street said the pair had "jointly agreed a set of principles for handling this intensified phase of talks".more

A sex attacker has been jailed for subjecting a lone woman to a terrifying alleyway ordeal after shadowing her through the streets of Torquay at night. Lukasz Dach spotted the 25-year-old stranger as she walked home through the centre of Torquay at around 1.45am and tried to drag her off the well-lit street into a dark alley.more

Another 26,688 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK - the highest daily figure to date.more

UK government borrowing hit £36.1bn in September as the UK continued its heavy spending to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the Treasury scrapped a three-year spending review. The figure was £28.4bn more than last year and the third highest in any month since records began in 1993, the Office for National Statistics said.more

Brushing your teeth whenever you leave your home may help ward off Covid-19, a dentistry professor has claimed.more

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Boris Johnson to drop his “corrosive” Covid-19 strategy pitting regions against each other and implement a circuit-breaker lockdown from Friday.more

Boris Johnson came under growing pressure to end the 10pm curfew on restaurants in London today, as business leaders and Mayor Sadiq Khan branded it “nonsensical” following the ban on household mixing in hospitality settings.more

Royal Mail postal workers will for the first time collect parcels on the doorstep, in one of the biggest changes to the service as it adapts to the decline in letters and rapid growth in online shopping.more

The health costs of air pollution from roads are higher in London than any other city in Europe, a study has found.more

Waitrose and the Co-op are cutting prices on hundreds of essential goods this week as supermarkets prepare to battle it out for customers ahead of a budget Christmas season. more

Growing numbers of cities are cancelling their Christmas markets. One of the most recent cities to abandon its plans is Manchester. more

South Yorkshire will face the toughest Covid rules from Saturday, the mayor for the Sheffield City Region has said. Labour Mayor Dan Jarvis said the move to tier three followed "extensive discussions" with ministers. The new restrictions will apply to all four local authority areas in South Yorkshire - Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.more

Campaigners say sale of drugs should be nationalised to undermine organised crimemore

The Royal Mint has no plans to make new 2p or £2 coins for the next 10 years. A coin mountain lies in storage as demand has dropped, in contrast to banknotes.more

The UK death toll from coronavirus rose by 241 on Tuesday – the highest daily reported rise since the first wave of the pandemic.more

A coronavirus vaccine is "unlikely" to completely stop infections and the disease might never fully disappear, the government's chief scientific adviser has said.more

Greater Manchester will move to England's highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from Friday at 00:01 BST, the prime minister has announced. Speaking at No 10, Boris Johnson said "not to act now" would put the lives of Manchester's residents "at risk".more

Boris Johnson is reportedly intending to resign next spring because he thinks his salary is too low, Tory MPs have claimed.more

Passengers flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong on Tuesday will be the first to have the option of paying for a rapid Covid test before checking in.more

There aren’t enough consultants in hospitals across England, a report has warned.more

Energy regulator Ofgem is introducing new rules from 15 December to help vulnerable customers who struggle to pay their energy bills this winter.more

British scientists are preparing to launch a study in which healthy volunteers will be deliberately infected with the coronavirus, which is expected to speed up vaccine development, said Tuesday.more

Almost half of secondary schools in England sent home one or more pupils because of Covid incidents last week, the latest attendance figures show.more

Collapsed regional airline Flybe could restart operations as soon as next year, after a former shareholder stepped in to buy its remaining assets.more

Patients hospitalized for COVID-19 are now more likely to survive than they were a few months ago, a UK study found. First of all, the percentage of deaths in intensive care units decreased.more

Downing Street has refused to restart Brexit deal negotiations despite Michael Gove performing a U-turn at the dispatch box in which he praised a “constructive move” by the EU minutes after declaring the talks “effectively ended”.more

London police arrested a man who climbed the facade of one of the churches in the eastern part of the British capital on Sunday early afternoon, and then tore off the 2.5-meter cross above the entrance, the media reported on Monday.more

A further 18,804 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK, and 80 new deaths have been reported. It takes the total case numbers to 741,212 and the total number of deaths, according to the government, to 43,726.more

A London law firm is looking to recruit a dog walker on a salary of up to £30,000 a year. The somewhat unusual ‘Private Assistant and Dog Walker’ role is currently being advertised on behalf of Joseph Hage Aaronson, a litigation specialist with offices in Holborn.more

Heavy wind and rain is set to batter parts of the UK on Monday, as the whole country braces for what Met Office forecasters called a “turbulent” week of weather. more