Charity says rise ‘hugely concerning’ and calls for change in law in England and Northern Ireland in line with rest of UK.more

The UK has an island that resembles a tropical paradise similar to the Caribbean. The Isles of Scilly are home to around 2,100 people and is a place where the average home is flogged for £548,000.more

UK shop prices have dropped for the first time since the cost of living crisis began nearly three years ago, as food inflation eased and retailers offered discounts on clothes and household goods to shift unsold summer stock.more

Care homes struggling to find staff following changes to the immigration system that will not be reviewed by the new Labour Government.more

The prime minister has scrapped a government helicopter contract - thought to be worth £40m. Rishi Sunak was criticised for his use of helicopters during his time in No 10.more

More than 3,500 current and former workers at Next have won the final stage of a six-year legal battle for equal pay. An employment tribunal said store staff, who are predominantly women, should not have been paid at lower rates than employees in warehouses, who are typically male.more

Eight people were knifed at this year's Carnival in the London borough of Notting Hill and 334 people were arrested, London's Metropolitan Police said today. The festival is one of the world's largest outdoor events.more

People in crisis with mental health problems can now access services through NHS 111, giving them another way to get urgent help. It makes the NHS in England one of the first countries to offer such a support service for mental health issues, as well as for physical problems.more

A court in Pakistan yesterday cleared the administrator of the Channel3Now website of spreading false information by untruthfully claiming that the killer of three girls in the British town of Southport was a recent illegal immigrant Muslim. This information led to riots breaking out.more

The UK government has promised to enshrine the “right to switch off” from work in law, penalising employers for contacting workers outside an agreed set of hours.more

Many Western European countries still underestimate the scale of the Russian threat and are only branding efforts to rebuild their defence capabilities, although the example of Poland shows that rapid rebuilding is possible, says Keir Giles, an expert at London-based think tank Chatham House.more

Three people were injured with a knife, including one with life-threatening injuries, during the first day of a carnival in Notting Hill, west London, Reuters reported today, citing London police. Services said 90 people were arrested during the event.more

Flights between the UK and Israel have been cancelled following an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East overnight. British Airways has halted its flights between Heathrow and Tel Aviv in both directions between Sunday and Wednesday, the airline said. Wizz Air also said it is “temporarily suspending” flights to and from Israel “due to the escalating situation in the region”.more

The site of The Beatles first ever performance is set to be honoured with a commemorative plaque. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison played alongside Stuart Sutcliffe - the band's original bass guitarist - and Pete Best, the original drummer, at the Jacaranda on Slater Street in Liverpool in August 1960.more

The United Nations has urged the UK to take action to curb racist hate speech, including by politicians, in a report published on Friday. It noted the persistence of hate speech published in mainstream media, online, and spread by politicians and public figures.more

Councillors in Edinburgh have voted for the introduction of a tourist tax aimed at raising up to £50m a year. The city will become the first in Scotland to charge a transient visitor levy (TVL) on stays, with profits used to fund improvements to the capital.more

One of the rarest and largest species of spider in the UK is said to be making a comeback on nature reserves. cvAfter facing near extinction over the last century, the UK’s population of fen raft spiders is steadily increasing, and numbers are at a record high this year, according to the conservation charity RSPB.more

McDonald's plans to open over 200 restaurants across the UK and Ireland over the next four years in a £1bn expansion drive. "Drive to" restaurants - with a car park, a small seating area, and no drive-through - and "other smaller formats" will be tested as part of the new offer.more

Building society staff surprised to receive card believed to date back to 1903 and addressed to Lydia Davies. In the age of next-day deliveries and speedy shipping from all corners of the world, the days of waiting around for a letter or package were thought to be over. In Swansea, however, staff at a building society were taken aback after receiving a postcard that was delivered 121 years late.more

Beauty brand Avon Products, known for its door-to-door saleswomen, became the latest business to file for bankruptcy as a way to resolve mass lawsuits alleging that its talc products contained cancer-causing asbestos.more

Keir Starmer spoke to President Xi Jinping of China yesterday. The Prime Minister began by setting out his priorities for his government, including national security, secure borders and economic stability. The leaders discussed areas of shared collaboration, and potential areas of cooperation between the UK and China, including on trade, the economy and education.more

Voi, which already operates e-scooters in the capital, has said it wants to ‘generate as many rides as possible with as few vehicles as possible’.more

Notting Hill Carnival returns to west London this August bank holiday for the 56th year. Carnival is one of the longest running street parties in the world and the largest street party in Europe. Over two million people, including thousands of tourists, attend each year to follow the three-mile (5km) parade.more

A new Pet Abduction Act law is coming into effect from this Saturday, August 24. Under the Pet Abduction Act 2024, anyone found guilty of stealing a pet in England or Northern Ireland will face up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.more

Official statistics reveal fewer people are seeking to come from abroad to work in the NHS or in social care. The statistics reveal that the outgoing Conservative government granted some 286,382 work visas overall in the year to June 2024 - 11% down on the previous year.more