UK

Labour’s shadow education secretary has called for the government to publish a full list of schools being forced to close because of fears over the safety of their buildings. It comes after the government announced school buildings in England made with a certain type of concrete prone to collapse will be closed immediately. Around 104

A new law will force criminals to attend their sentencings in court, with the offenders facing longer behind bars if they still refuse to sit in the dock. The government confirmed its plans to introduce the reform on Wednesday, promising to create a new power for judges to make the order. The change will also

The chief executive of National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has said he cannot reveal the cause of the glitch which has affected thousands of passengers but is “not ruling out anything at this stage”. Martin Rolfe said on Tuesday evening that an initial investigation had found that the air traffic control failure was caused by

Sara Sharif’s cause of death is yet to be determined – but an inquest has heard it is “likely to be unnatural”. The 10-year-old was found dead at her home in Woking on 10 August, with Surrey County Council confirming she was previously known to authorities. Earlier this month, a post-mortem revealed Sara had “suffered

Heathrow Airport has said its services will “remain significantly disrupted” on Tuesday after air traffic controllers across the UK experienced a technical fault. In a statement about the “technical issues” that affected the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), Britain’s busiest airport urged passengers to contact their airline before travelling to the airport. “The issue has

Passengers have been told to expect “significant delays” of up to 12 hours as air traffic controllers across the UK are experiencing a technical fault. One airline reported a “network-wide failure” but NATS, the national air traffic controllers, said UK airspace was not closed but restrictions were in place on one of the busiest travel

Jolene Russell was 15 years old when a boy in her class sat next to her and took photographs under her skirt. She had become suspicious when the boy started fidgeting with his phone in a lesson, even though they were banned at the school. Then he made a bizarre request. Image: Jolene waived her

Police forces must investigate every theft, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said. Ms Braverman said it was “unacceptable” crimes such as shoplifting, criminal damage and phone or car theft have been treated as “less important”. Forces have committed to follow all “reasonable lines of enquiry” in an effort to improve investigations and drive down crime

The grandfather of Sara Sharif has urged his son to hand himself over to police as part of the investigation into the 10-year-old’s death. Pakistani police are seeking to arrest Urfan Sharif, who travelled from the UK to Islamabad the day before Sara was found dead on 10 August. Urfan Sharif along with his partner

Whole-life prison sentences will become the “default” punishment for “sexual or sadistic” murders, the prime minister has said. Former NHS neo-natal nurse Lucy Letby was told she will never be released on Monday after being convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others on 18 August. She is only the fourth woman

A man has been charged with murder after police in Bury found a body while responding to reports of a white labradoodle being stolen. Ian Gary Connell, 39, of Duke Street, Bolton, was due to appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court today. Donald ‘Prentice’ Patience, 45, was discovered by officers at a house on Ainsworth

A police officer is in a serious condition after being hit by a train while saving a “distressed man” who was on the tracks. Nottinghamshire Police said they were called to a residential area in Balderton, near Newark-on-Trent, over concerns for a man’s safety just before 7pm on Thursday. The officer was taken to Queen’s

A man has been charged with murder following the fatal shooting of council worker Ashley Dale in Liverpool. Ms Dale, 28, was found with a gunshot wound in her garden in the Old Swan area on 21 August last year. Ian Fitzgibbon, also 28, has been charged with murder after being arrested by the Spanish

A drug dealer and his former girlfriend have been jailed for murdering a father-of-two who was shot in the face and had acid poured on his body. Michael Hillier tracked down Liam Smith and waited outside his home in Wigan for nearly 10 hours before the attack. The 39-year-old plotted the assault over a 10-month

A former teacher has been found not guilty of animal cruelty after video footage showed her kicking and slapping a horse. Sarah Moulds, 39, had been accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal – a grey pony she owned called Bruce Almighty. The 39-year-old, who said she lost her job as a teacher

Energy bills are to rise higher than last year for millions this winter, despite the energy price cap falling, a think tank has said. Withdrawn energy supports and a rise in the daily standing charge will mean winter bill costs going up for one in three English households, the Resolution Foundation said. That’s despite the

The mother of a teenage boy who died from meningitis has urged students setting off for college and university to get vaccinated to “protect yourself against this horrible, horrible disease”. Michelle Bresnahan told Sky News how her 16-year-old son Ryan woke up feeling poorly in March 2010 – and how by lunchtime she was phoning

The brother of a man wanted over the death of his 10-year-old daughter told officers Sara Sharif “fell down the stairs and broke her neck”, according to police in Pakistan. Sara’s uncle, Imran Sharif, is currently held in police custody for questioning, Jhelum police have exclusively told Sky News. He has not been charged and

The Lionesses landed at Heathrow this morning after their World Cup defeat – but left waiting fans disappointed after leaving through a private exit. England’s players left Sydney more than 24 hours before landing at Heathrow at around 6.20am on Tuesday morning. Waiting fans had carried signs and gathered in the airport to greet the

The mother of the murdered schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel has spoken of the pain of her loss on the first anniversary of her daughter’s killing. Nine-year-old Olivia died after a gunman forced his way into the family’s home in Liverpool in search of his intended target. A memorial garden for Olivia, planted and tended by children