Month: January 2025

A man who was among four people hurt when a car hit pedestrians in London’s West End on Christmas Day has died. Aidan Chapman, 25, died in hospital on New Year’s Eve after sustaining life-threatening conditions. He was one of four pedestrian involved in the collision which saw a car drive on the wrong side of the road on Shaftesbury Avenue in the capital’s theatre district. Anthony Gilheaney, 30, of […]

Researchers have discovered nearly 200 dinosaur footprints dating back 166 million years buried under mud in an Oxfordshire quarry. The dig, carried out at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire by teams from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham, uncovered five extensive trackways, forming part of a ‘dinosaur highway’ – with evidence of more in the surrounding area. The longest continuous track of footprints measured more than 150 metres in length, […]

Kemi Badenoch has called for a national inquiry into the UK’s “rape gangs scandal”, after Elon Musk hit out at Sir Keir Starmer over the issue. The Conservative Party leader made the call in a post to X on Thursday, arguing that “2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice”. This comes after US billionaire Mr Musk appeared to place blame at the Prime Minister’s door, […]

An imminent cold snap could put the elderly at risk of death, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned as a charity criticised the Government’s decision to limit winter fuel payments. The UKHSA has issued cold weather health alerts for all of England ahead of a week of low temperatures. Amber alerts have been issued from 12pm on Thursday until January 8, meaning a rise in deaths, particularly among […]

An ice warning is in force for much of the UK as temperatures dropped after a major incident was declared due to flooding. The yellow Met Office warning indicates there could be some difficult travel conditions across Scotland, Northern Ireland and North Wales, stretching down to the Midlands until 10am on Thursday. A snow and ice warning is also in place covering northern Scotland until 10am, as rain turning to […]

It plans to use the cash to pay down its debt pile and complete a further share buyback Vodafone has completed the eight billion euro (£6.6 billion) sale of its Italian business to Switzerland’s Swisscom as a flurry of deals are sewn up for the start of the new year. The mobile phone giant – which last month saw its £15 billion tie-up with Three UK cleared by Britain’s competition […]

The number of first-time buyers with a mortgage is estimated to have rebounded in 2024 from a decade low, jumping by nearly 14% annually. Yorkshire Building Society estimated that across the UK there were 330,000 first-time buyer mortgage transactions during 2024, which would be a 13.8% increase compared with the previous year. The year 2023 marked a decade low for first-time buyer lending, amid pressures from the cost-of-living crisis and […]

The Co-op is planning to open 75 new stores across the UK this year and refurbish scores of existing sites, the company has announced. The new stores will be both Co-op and franchise-run, building on an increase in franchises in 2024, including on more university campus sites, a first Co-op in a hospital as well as on petrol forecourts. Matt Hood, Co-op’s managing director, said: “We want everyone to have […]

A US army veteran driving a pick-up truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group has killed at least 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into New Year’s Eve revellers in New Orleans before being shot dead by police. The FBI said it is investigating the attack early on Wednesday in the city’s French Quarter as a terrorist act and does not believe […]