The US owner of the Boots pharmacy chain is being taken over by a private equity firm in a $10bn (£7.8bn) deal. The price being paid for Walgreens Boots Alliance is a fraction of what the company was worth a decade ago, reflecting its struggles with growing debt and shoppers going online for cheaper products. more

London has been named the most expensive place to use public transport in the world following a hike in Transport for London prices last week (Sunday, March 2).more

Steep declines in housebuilding and engineering work have led to the biggest plunge in UK construction activity since May 2020, according to a survey of building companies.more

Doctors in London have successfully restored a sense of smell and taste in patients who lost it due to long Covid with pioneering surgery that expands their nasal airways to kickstart their recovery. Most patients diagnosed with Covid-19 recover fully. more

Polish volunteer Mateusz Wodziński, nicknamed "Exen", who delivered 309 cars to the front during the three years of war, received thanks from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleksandr Mishchenko.more

Criminals could be banned from pubs, sports grounds and social events under proposals being considered as alternatives to prison, a minister has said. Sarah Sackman, the courts minister, told the Guardian that such exclusions, as well as mandatory work for offenders, were “very much part of the mix” under a review of sentencing being conducted by the former Conservative Lord Chancellor David Gaukemore

Trains to and from Paris have been cancelled, an area evacuated and part of the main ring road temporarily closed after an unexploded World War Two bomb was found on tracks leading to Gare du Nord station. Eurostar services at Gare du Nord were scrapped for the day, after the bomb was found on tracks in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis during overnight work.more

King Charles III is launching a personal playlist of music that lifts his spirits and brings back important memories, including Bob Marley, Kylie Minogue and Grace Jones.more

Hubert Hurkacz, seeded 21st, had a bye in the first round of the ATP 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, California. Hugo Gaston, ranked 93rd in the world tennis rankings, will be his opponent in the second round. Meanwhile, Magdalena Fręch, who also had a bye in the first round, will now play Lucia Bronzetti.more

Polish volunteer from Great Britain Karol Świacki was at the epicenter of the explosion after a Russian missile hit a hotel in Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday evening. Four people died and 32 were injured. "I don't know how we survived, we escaped from the rubble," he confessed.more

A new swab test could help hundreds of thousands of women a year in the UK who may have womb cancer avoid having an often painful invasive procedure to detect the disease.more

The European Union has remained united on Ukraine, Hungary is alone - informed the President of the European Council Antonio Costa in Brussels after an extraordinary summit, at which the provisions in this matter were adopted by 26 countries. The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen recognized that in order to achieve lasting peace, the USA needs Europe.more

The UK yesterday lifted sanctions imposed on 24 Syrian institutions, including the central bank and oil companies, Reuters reported.more

Three mathematics and physics students from the south of Italy have won around €50,000 thanks to an artificial intelligence mechanism that analyses the probability of drawing specific numbers. ‘They took my advice and combined it with their knowledge’. - announced the owner of the collector's office where the winnings were made.more

FC Barcelona intends to offer goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny a one-year extension to his contract expiring at the end of the season, Spanish daily Marca reported.more

The election of Donald Trump as US president and changes to the UK tax system have resulted in a 40 per cent increase in the number of applications by Americans for UK citizenship, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.more

Three major energy suppliers Octopus Energy, E.ON Next i EDF issue urgent smart meter warning to 185,000 customers who risk being cut off. Those needing to act are households with electricity meters that rely on the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) to set the rate of energy. This service charges them cheaper rates depending on the time of day. more

Listed 16th in the world rankings, Great Britain will be the opponent of the White and Red tennis players in the competition to advance to the Davis Cup elite. The match will take place on 12-13 or 13-14 September in Poland.more

More than 900,000 Londoners say they are unable to work full-time because of a long-term health condition – including a rising number of younger adult Londoners blaming mental health issues. A City Hall report has revealed that, over the last decade, there has been a 62 per cent increase in the number of Londoners reporting a work-limiting mental health condition.more

Poundland's owner has said it is considering putting the chain up for sale after warning tax changes coming in April will put more pressure on the business. The discount chain has 825 UK stores but sales were down this January and February, its Polish owner Pepco Group said.more

British military experts have developed an air defence plan over Ukraine independently of NATO; it envisages the use of 120 fighter jets, ‘Guradian’ reported today. Among the 74 signatories of the Sky Shield plan are former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Deputy Senate Speaker Michał Kaminski.more

If President Donald Trump withdraws the US from NATO, European allies will stop following Washington in foreign policy, wrote Admiral James Stavridis, former Commander-in-Chief of NATO's Combined Forces in Europe, in a text published today by Bloomberg.more

The Home Office is launching an advertising campaign in Iraq to try to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats. Similar campaigns were launched in Albania and Vietnam by the previous Conservative government in 2023 and 2024.more

Magda Linette won against American Peyton Stearns 6:3, 4:6, 6:3 in the first round of the WTA rank 1000 tennis tournament in Indian Wells. Her next opponent will be number four seeded American Jessica Pegula.more

Passengers travelling on Irish Ryanair from November 2025 will no longer be able to download and print traditional paper boarding passes. They will have to use digital boarding passes generated on the ‘myRyanair’ app, the carrier announced yesterday.more