Month: December 2024

Sea slugs making a home in the UK due to climate change are among the species spotted around the country’s coasts in 2024, The Wildlife Trusts said. Sea monitoring by volunteers and conservationists this year also revealed invasive species such as Pacific oysters and showed some wildlife making a comeback, including St Piran’s hermit crabs along the south coast – which were wiped out by the Torrey Canyon oil spill […]

Not guilty pleas have been entered on behalf of the teenager accused of killing three children at a dance class in Southport after he failed to speak in court. Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, appeared via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday and failed to reply when he was asked to enter pleas to 16 charges he faces. Judge Mr Justice Goose said he was satisfied the defendant could […]

A teenager has been jailed for killing three of his friends after inhaling laughing gas behind the wheel and speeding at more than 100mph. Thomas Johnson, 19, was driving a BMW when it crashed into a lamppost and a tree, killing three passengers, on the A415 in Oxfordshire, last year. He was jailed for nine years and four months at Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday for causing the deaths of […]

The wife of physical trainer Amie Gray who was “butchered” to death on Bournemouth beach has said she can now “rest in peace” after a student was convicted of her murder. Nasen Saadi, 20, of Croydon, south London, was also found guilty at Winchester Crown Court of the attempted murder of Ms Gray’s friend, 39-year-old Leanne Miles, as the pair were enjoying a late-night chat next to a small fire […]

Tyson Fury has vowed to “annihilate” Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on Saturday as the first step towards ruling the heavyweight division. Fury was considered the standout fighter in his weight class until he lost his WBC belt on a split-decision to WBA, IBF and WBO king Usyk when they clashed for the first time in May. The IBF title is no longer at stake after it was stripped from the […]

Actress and model Cara Delevingne plays Sir Elton John in a new video for his classic festive song Step Into Christmas. The video is a reimagining of behind the scenes of the original version, which was released more than 50 years ago, with Delevingne 32, sporting an identical-looking suit and glasses as worn by Sir Elton. On its initial release in November 1973, Step Into Christmas reached number 24 in […]

Practice trenches from the First World War, a “bungalow maternity ward” and the tomb of a woman believed to have lived to 119 years old are among the places that have been added to the National Heritage List for England. Some 256 locations have been added to the list this year, including 17 “remarkable and unusual” structures such as an electricity junction in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, only three years after […]

Funding of almost a billion pounds next year marks a “turning point” in Government efforts to tackle and prevent homelessness, the Housing Secretary said. Angela Rayner, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, described it as the “largest-ever investment” and said it would help “break the cycle of spiralling homelessness”. Homelessness, which includes people living in temporary accommodation, is at record levels. The latest official figures, published earlier this month by […]

A bottle of wine a week, combined with a Mediterranean diet, could be as good as statins for heart health, academics have suggested. While some research has shown wine can benefit heart health, other studies have suggested that too much can be damaging. And most studies examining the health ties to wine have relied on people self-reporting how much alcohol they drink, which may be “prone to measurement errors”, researchers […]