UK

A sexual predator has pleaded guilty to murdering law graduate Zara Aleena just days after being released from prison. Jordan McSweeney appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday where he admitted murdering Ms Aleena, who was brutally kicked and stamped on, then left for dead, in the early hours of 26 June this year. The

Multiple failures by West Midlands Police officers “materially contributed” to the deaths of a woman and her mother who were murdered by the daughter’s abusive estranged husband, an inquest has found. Raneem Oudeh, 22, and her mother, Khaola Saleem, were stabbed to death outside Mrs Saleem’s home in Solihull in August 2018. They were murdered

Jeremy Hunt will continue to defend his autumn statement today as experts warn of a record fall in living standards across the country. The chancellor presented his economic plan to parliament on Thursday, littered with stealth taxes and curbs on government spending amounting to £55bn in an attempt to plug the black hole in public

Here are all the main announcements from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement to MPs: • Energy bill aid for households extended beyond April for a further year through energy price guarantee, but average annual bill will be £3,000 from current £2,500. Amounts to around £500 support for households. • Additional cost of living payments next

Jeremy Hunt will promise to weather an economic “storm” by raising taxes, cutting public spending and scaling back energy support to fill a £54bn black hole in the nation’s finances. The chancellor will insist to MPs on Thursday that his autumn statement puts the UK on a “balanced path to stability” as he tackles the

There has been a higher than expected leap in the rate of inflation, to a 41-year high of 11.1% last month, led by the latest rise in energy bills. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the increase, from 10.1% in September, as the cost of light and heating for homes rose further despite help

Rishi Sunak will meet the Chinese president on Wednesday after declaring that his country poses a “systemic challenge” to the values and interests of the UK. Mr Sunak will become the first prime minister to meet Xi Jinping face to face in almost five years when he meets him at the G20 summit in Indonesia.

A two-year-old boy’s death was caused by “extensive” mould in his family’s flat, a coroner has concluded in a case that should be “a defining moment” for the housing sector. Awaab Ishak died shortly after his second birthday in December 2020. Joanne Kearsley, the coroner, found that he “died as a result of a severe

Rishi Sunak has avoided sticking to his predecessor’s pledge to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP ahead of the autumn budget, set to be unveiled on Thursday. During her campaign for Number 10, Liz Truss said the figure would be reached by the end of the decade. But asked if he would standby her

Members of a gang of armed robbers have been jailed for more than 100 years after a wave of violent attacks on security guards refilling cash machines. They used guns, knives, hammers and crowbars to terrorise staff before fleeing in a fleet of stolen vehicles and leaving few clues behind them. When banknotes got stained

Home Secretary Suella Braverman will travel to Paris to sign a new joint declaration with French officials to ramp up efforts to stop migrant crossings in the Channel. The home secretary will sign the agreement with French interior minister Gerald Darmanin on Monday morning. According to the Financial Times, the agreement will significantly increase the

Jeremy Hunt has said everyone is going to be paying higher taxes but those who earn the most will have to make larger sacrifices. The chancellor told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme during Thursday’s autumn statement he “will be asking everyone for sacrifices” but recognises there is “only so much we can ask” from

Thousands of migrants passing through the Manston processing centre will be vaccinated against diphtheria after dozens of cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed in England, health authorities have said. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it is moving with the Home Office to vaccinate migrants at the centre after it revealed on

Five days after being smuggled into the UK in a lorry, Albanian Iva Memaj dialled the Home Office’s freephone number to claim asylum. “I feel very excited for my future,” she told us. “I feel safe here.” Iva said she ran from the lorry when it got to England, hid and was then picked up

A court has ruled for the first time that a man arrested on a COVID ward in Scotland is an American rape suspect who faked his own death. The court sheriff decided that the man calling himself Arthur Knight is in fact Nicholas Rossi. Sheriff Norman McFadyen said: “I am ultimately satisfied on the balance

A Just Stop Oil campaigner has defended protests blocking the M25 for a fourth day, warning that “this is just the beginning”. In a fiery exchange with Sky News’ Mark Austin, Indigo Rumbelow insisted the climate crisis is set to get “worse and worse and worse unless we act.” Appearing on The News Hour With

The UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter, early official figures show – prompting the chancellor to warn that the “tough road ahead” will require “extremely difficult decisions”. The figure marked the first step towards recession. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a dip in output for September, leaving gross domestic product

A man has been sentenced to a further 15 years in prison – in addition to the 18 he has already served – for setting his partner on fire and causing her death 21 years later. Steven Craig, 58, covered Jacqueline Kirk in petrol and set her alight in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

A man has been detained by police after throwing eggs at the King and Queen Consort during a walkabout in York. The projectiles narrowly missed the King as the royals greeted people on the city’s Micklegate Bar. People in the crowd booed and shouted “God save the King” and “shame on you”. As the eggs

A nursing union representing hundreds of thousands of nurses has voted to hold the first nationwide strike in its 106-year history. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the strike will affect the majority of NHS employers in the UK as nurses take action against pay levels and patient safety concerns. The union said that