Month: December 2024

A fire that broke out at the front of a shop in Birmingham is “under control”, emergency services said. West Midlands Fire Service said it responded to the incident at Stratford Road, Sparkhill, shortly before 4.55am on Monday. The fire service said the blaze at the front of a retail store spread to shop signage and the bay windows of flats above. It added that there were no casualties or […]

A victim of an alleged sex abuser priest has called for the Archbishop of York to step down over his “insulting and upsetting” response to his handling of the case. The anonymous woman questioned the “moral compass” of Stephen Cottrell, the Church of England’s second most senior bishop, saying the Church “deserves better”. Mr Cottrell is under increased pressure after new revelations that David Tudor was twice reappointed under him […]

The NHS has urged people to look out for symptoms of dementia as they gather with loved ones at Christmas as new data shows more people than ever before have been diagnosed with the condition in England. November figures from the health service revealed 499,068 people have received a dementia diagnosis – a jump of 19,416 in a year. Care minister Stephen Kinnock said a timely diagnosis is “vital” to […]

Belfast City Airport’s runway is “operating at normal” after it was forced to close following an emergency incident. A plane’s nose wheel collapsed as it landed in the airport amid adverse weather conditions on Sunday afternoon. There were four crew on board and no passengers when the hard landing occurred. The incident triggered emergency procedures at Belfast City Airport and forced the runway to close for the rest of the […]

TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp has said it was “really special” to visit The Repair Shop’s barn for its festive special. The 31-year-old, who is the son of Spandau Ballet bass player Martin Kemp and Pepsi And Shirlie singer Shirlie Holliman, has been involved in the show as part of a collaboration between the BBC programme and The One Show, which he co-presents. He said: “It’s really special – […]

The UK economy flatlined in the third quarter of the year, according to revised official figures. The Office for National Statistics said that UK gross domestic product (GDP) showed no growth between July and September, in the run up to the Autumn budget. Statisticians had previously estimated 0.1% growth for the quarter. The ONS also revised down its growth reading for the second quarter of 2024, to 0.4%. In September, […]

Shop staff are facing a “Christmas crime wave”, an MP has warned as new figures revealed an average of more than 650 shoplifting offences a day went unsolved in the past year. In the year to March 2024, 245,500 investigations were closed without a suspect being identified – an average of 672 a day – according to analysis from the House of Commons Library. This is a 38% increase from […]

A “sisterhood” of celebrities have voiced their support for US actress Blake Lively in the wake of her lawsuit and sexual harassment complaint against her co-star and director Justin Baldoni. Lively’s former cast members from the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, released a joint social media statement to defend their longtime friend. “As Blake’s friends and sisters for over 20 […]

Conditions are expected to improve this week after bad weather caused disruption during the Christmas getaway period. The Met Office has forecast a “grey Christmas” with some sunny spells and “extremely mild” temperatures. It comes after a “perfect storm” of adverse weather conditions and road congestion led to widespread disruption during the Christmas getaway. The Met Office issued yellow warnings for wind which remained in place until 9pm on Sunday. […]