Local News

Showers are expected over the Easter bank holiday following a week of wet weather across parts of the country, forecasters have said.The Met Office has warned of "unsettled" weather over the long weekend with the potential for strong winds as a result of low pressure. The forecasted showers over the Easter bank holiday, which takes place between Friday 29 March and Monday 1 April, would follow one of the wettest […]

A man has been arrested after four people were injured in a suspected arson attack on a house in east London, that may have been a hate crime, police have said.A man in his 60s "made a number of threatening comments, some of which were allegedly antisemitic", when he was arrested near the scene, the Metropolitan Police said. Officers were called to reports of a fire at an address in […]

A former England youth football team player has been jailed for more than 13 years for his part in a huge drugs conspiracy.Ex-Liverpool prodigy Jamie Cassidy, 46, was "drawn in" to crime by his older brother Jonathan Cassidy, 50, who styled himself as being like Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, or El Chapo, one of the world's most infamous traffickers, Manchester Crown Court heard. The ex-footballer's brother took a leading […]

More than 500 migrants are believed to have crossed the English Channel on Wednesday, the highest number in one day so far this year.The Home Office said in provisional statistics that 514 migrants were detected crossing in small boats on 20 March. They added that 10 small boats were detected.The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 4,043, 10% higher than […]

A steam train made famous by Harry Potter has been suspended pending a safety ruling. The Jacobite train service through the Highlands has been suspended with immediate effect as it awaits a verdict on allowing it to continue operating in its current state. Its operator has warned the suspension could cost up to £50m in lost value.The Jacobite train featured in the 2002 film Harry Potter And The Chamber Of […]

The King's medical records were not accessed during an alleged data breach at the London Clinic, it is understood.As many as three staff members could have been involved in allegedly accessing the Princess of Wales's private records, according to The Mirror, after Kate was discharged from the exclusive hospital in central London in January. Charles, who is undergoing treatment for a form of cancer, was also treated at the London […]

Junior doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly to continue strikes over a further six months.Following on from the longest strike in NHS history in January, 98% of junior doctors who voted were in favour of further industrial action. The new mandate for strikes lasts from 3 April until 19 September and the ballot also approved the use of action short of strikes.Over 34,000 junior doctors voted in the re-ballot, which […]

Scotland's 2030 climate change target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is now out of reach, independent experts have concluded.A new report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said the measures needed to achieve the target were now "beyond what is credible". The CCC said in order for Scotland to achieve its goal of cutting harmful emissions by 75% by 2030, the rate of emission reduction in most sectors would […]

The army must "prepare genuinely for war" to credibly deter threats, a group of former defence and security chiefs have signalled.Offering advice to whoever is prime minister and defence secretary after the election, a report by the New Bletchley Network - which drew on ideas from a discussion between a panel of experts - said a "hollowing out" of the regular army and reserves over the years must be reversed, […]