Month: September 2024

The Israeli military launched small ground raids against Hezbollah and sealed off communities along its northern border as artillery pounded southern Lebanon and signals grew that more forces could soon be sent across the border to fight the Iran-backed militants State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Israel informed the US about the raids, which he said were described as “limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border”. There were […]

There is still “much to do” to improve gender diversity among England and Wales’ top barristers, despite recent progress, the nations’ leading judge has said. The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, who became the first woman to hold the office last year, said on Monday that a “modern judiciary should reflect the society it serves” as it improves confidence in the court system and is “just the right thing to […]

Members of the largest education union in the UK have voted to accept the Government’s 5.5% pay rise for teachers in England. Members of the largest education union in the UK have voted to accept the Government’s 5.5% pay rise for teachers in England. In a National Education Union (NEU) snap poll, 95% of members who responded voted to accept the 2024/25 pay offer. Schools will receive £1.2 billion of […]

It is a “difficult” day for steel workers in Wales, the chief executive of Tata Steel acknowledged as the shutdown of the last blast furnace in Port Talbot began. The company started winding up operations at blast furnace number four at the UK’s largest steel plant on Monday, bringing an end to ironmaking on the site. The move will see nearly 2,000 jobs lost at the plant, which will transition […]

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Amanda Abbington says she feels “vindicated” by the BBC assessing and upholding “some, but not all” of her complaints about Giovanni Pernice’s behaviour during her time on the show. Sherlock actress Abbington, who pulled out of the BBC One show last year citing “personal reasons”, later claimed she was subject to a “toxic environment” and “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying”. There were no findings relating to physical […]

A bullet-proof vest emblazoned with a Union flag by Banksy has been put up for sale with an estimate of £200,000 to £300,000. Sotheby’s said it is the “first” Banksy vest to be auctioned from the collection, which the anonymous Bristol street artist began displaying in a shop window in Croydon in south London in 2019. Five years ago, Stormzy wore a similar stab-proof vest, made by Banksy, to draw […]

The housing market is reviving and the more positive outlook will continue in the months ahead, some finance experts have suggested, following the release of new figures indicating a pick-up. Nationwide Building Society reported on Monday that annual house price growth accelerated in September to the fastest rate seen in around two years. The Society said that property values are sitting just 2% below the all-time highs recorded in summer […]

The UK’s last remaining coal-fired power station will shut down on Monday, drawing to a close Britain’s 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel to produce electricity. Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station has been generating electricity since 1968 via its four coal-fired boilers, eight vast cooling towers and 199-metre tall chimney, which occupies a prominent spot in the East Midlands skyline. It is able to power about two million homes and has been the […]

Hollywood star Damian Lewis has been photographed driving sheep over the River Thames in an “eccentric” tradition dating back hundreds of years. More than a thousand Freemen of the City ushered their sheep along a historic trading route on Sunday, to celebrate their medieval right to bring produce to market over the Thames without paying tolls. Shepherd-for-the-day Mr Lewis, 53, wore his grandfather’s wool coat and carried a crook as […]