Local News

Audrey Hepburn and glam rock musician Marc Bolan are among the stars being honoured with blue plaques celebrating their "profound impact".Plaques will also honour novelist Barbara Pym, artist Graham Sutherland, ballerina Alicia Markova and Jamaican writer and campaigner Una Marson. The blue plaque scheme has been running since 1866.Hepburn's plaque will go up in Mayfair, a high-end neighbourhood of London where the actress landed her Oscar-winning role as Princess Anne […]

A "loophole" that allowed a Palestinian family to be granted the right to come to the UK under a Ukrainian resettlement scheme was the subject of a lot of debate in the House of Commons today.Both the prime minister and leader of the opposition criticised a decision by a judge to allow the family of six the right to enter the UK. Sir Keir pledged to close the "loophole" after […]

World leaders and tech bros descended on Paris this week, with some determined to show a united stance on artificial intelligence. But at the end of the two-day summit, the UK and the US walked away empty-handed, having refused to sign a global declaration on AI. Earlier on Tuesday, US vice president JD Vance told his audience in Paris that too much regulation could "kill a transformative industry just as it's […]

A Wrexham AFC footballer has been involved in a car crash after his side's cup game against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday.Midfielder Elliot Lee was rushed to hospital after the incident, which took place when he was driving home, his club said in a statement. The crash happened after the 30-year-old featured in Wrexham's 1-0 quarter-final win over Bolton in the EFL Trophy - known as the Vertu Trophy.The crash involved […]

The Metropolitan Police cannot dismiss officers by removing their vetting clearance, the High Court has ruled.It comes after the court ruled against the force in what has been described as a "test case" that could have implications for the sacking of police officers accused of misconduct. Sergeant Lino Di Maria, who had his vetting removed because of sexual assault allegations, brought a legal challenge to the court claiming the process […]

Even after half a century, she's still adored and revered by Tories, grudgingly respected by present and former Labour prime ministers and yet despised and reviled on the left and in many working class communities.It was 50 years ago this week that Margaret Thatcher became Conservative Party leader and began to change the course of political history, winning three general elections in the UK and becoming a major figure on […]

Parliament's most famous bar, Strangers, is to re-open after being closed last month following a drink-spiking allegation.The bar, used by MPs and their guests, peers, parliamentary staff and political journalists, was closed on Monday 20 January. Sky News understands it is now likely to re-open after Parliament's half-term recess, on Monday 24 February, meaning it will have been shut for five weeks.The decision to re-open was taken at a secret […]

Neighbours have been left in "shock" and fear after the sudden deaths of a popular British couple found dead at their home in rural France.Dawn and Andrew Searle, who have not yet been officially named by French authorities, moved to the hamlet of Les Pesquies, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, in southern France, around a decade ago. The couple, who are in their 60s, are believed to have been found dead by […]

A father has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 15 years for murdering his 14-year-old daughter.Simon Vickers was found guilty last month of killing his daughter Scarlett Vickers after stabbing her in the heart at their home in Darlington, County Durham, in July 2024. The 50-year-old, who denied charges of manslaughter and murder, gave different accounts of what happened in the seconds before he plunged […]