Health officials have reported the UK’s first case of mpox caused by a new strain that is driving an ongoing surge in infections in Africa. The UK Health Security Agency said the individual tested positive for clade Ib mpox after travelling to countries affected by the outbreak and had been transferred to the high-consequence infectious diseases unit at London’s Royal Free hospital.more

Liverpool Street mainline station will be closed from Christmas Day, with services not resuming until Thursday, January 2.more

Chancellor Rachel Reeves tells the BBC it's likely her tax-raising Budget may affect pay for workers, as businesses will have to absorb the costs of paying more National Insurance or give out smaller pay rises. more

Regulated train fares in England are to increase by 4.6% next year, while the price of most railcards will rise by £5, the government has announced. The increases were not mentioned by the chancellor in her Budget speech to the House of Commons earlier on Wednesday, but it was instead noted in the Treasury's budget document. more

Royal Mail is changing the way you track your packages. The company will launch smart stickers to digitally track its containers as part of a scheme to improve efficiency and give insights into how to cut carbon by optimising vehicle use.more

A new Transport for London (TfL) map details which London Underground stations anyone can now use to go to the loo should they be caught short. Officials say it’s part of a push to be more accessible, fair, and inclusive. more

Santander is cutting more than 1,400 jobs across its UK business this year as part of its efforts to reduce costs. The Spanish bank’s chief executive officer, Hector Grisi, confirmed the cuts as its UK division delayed publication of its latest financial results to consider the impact of an influential court ruling linked to commission on car finance.more

More than two-thirds of people (67%) say "free heating" is encouraging them back to the office during the winter months, new data has found. Nearly half of workers (48%) commute to their office five days a week, according to the Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index.more

Buffer zones will come into force on Thursday around all clinics and hospitals providing abortions in England and Wales, making it a crime to "intentionally or recklessly" influence a person's decision and obstruct access to those services.more

The 'Luther' star, who in recent years has been vocal about his stance as an anti-knife crime activist, will meet with U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer and King Charles in the documentary.more

Hedgehogs are now listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list after a decline in numbers of at least 30% over the past decade across much of their range.more

Minimum wages will rise in April, with hourly rates for over-21s set to go up to £12.21 an hour, the chancellor has confirmed ahead of Wednesday's Budget. Rachel Reeves said the pay boost marked a "significant step" towards achieving Labour’s promise of a "genuine living wage" for workers.more

M&S is adding self-checkouts to its changing rooms across 180 clothing stores. The company is hoping to have the new self-service checkouts installed in more than 100 stores by early 2028.more

UK businesses are losing staff working time because of waits for healthcare or caring duties due to underfunded public services, according to a poll of managers before Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget. More than half of 500 UK business leaders polled for the TUC said workers had to take time off in the last year because of problems accessing public services.more

New Brexit border checks are reducing consumer choice and compromising Britain’s food security, according to fresh produce sellers and plant growers.more

Organisers of next year's Oasis concerts have decided to cancel more than 50,000 tickets for the band's UK shows. The tickets in question are those that were resold online at inflated prices. The cancelled tickets will go on sale again.more

Evri and Yodel are the worst parcel firms at helping their customers, according to an Ofcom report. Two-thirds of people (67%) say they have had an issue in the last two months with a delivery firm, the annual Post Monitoring Report found.more

A fire broke out Tuesday night into Wednesday at a shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in northwestern Britain, where nuclear-powered submarines are being built, local police said. Two workers were taken to the hospital with suspected smoke poisoning.more

The bus fare cap in England will be raised to £3 in the upcoming Budget, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced. It is an increase on the current limit of £2 which was introduced under the previous Conservative government to help with the cost of living. The existing cap was due to expire at the end of December.more

Food firms should be forced to reveal how healthy or unhealthy their products are, to help people consume a better diet, an industry boss has said. Ministers should compel companies to publish an annual report so consumers can see how much of their sales is made up of dishes that contain too much fat, salt and sugar, Stéfan Descheemaeker also said.more

Rent in London is consuming between one and two-thirds of tenants incomes, significantly more than the rest of England and Wales.more

The chances of a fresh cut in interest rates from the Bank of England next week have been boosted by a report that shows shop prices falling at their fastest pace in more than three years.more

The Budget will embrace the "harsh light of fiscal reality" but "better days are ahead", Sir Keir Starmer has said in a speech ahead of Wednesday's announcement. Speaking in Birmingham, the prime minister said his government would take "tough decisions", opting to raise taxes in order "to prevent austerity and rebuild public services".more

British Airways has cancelled all flights between London Gatwick and New York until next year, it has emerged. Around 103 transatlantic trips are scrapped due to delays in Rolls-Royce delivering their Trent 1000 engines fitted to BA’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft.more

Britain targeted a Russian disinformation network with sanctions against six entities and individuals involved in creating fake news websites targeting Ukraine.more