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Thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare evasion brought by train companies are set to be declared void after a judge’s ruling. Four train companies including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure (SJP), despite not being permitted to do so. At a hearing in June, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Westminster Magistrates’ Court he believed the prosecutions were “void” and “probably […]

The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and remains above pre-pandemic levels, national figures show. Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their exam results on Thursday in a year when grading was expected to be restored to 2019 levels in all three nations. More than a quarter (27.8%) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, […]

School leavers are waking up to their A-level results in a year when young people had their education disrupted by the concrete crisis. Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving grades to help them progress on to university, an apprenticeship or employment. Last year, more than a quarter (27.2%) of UK A-level entries were awarded A or A* grades, down on 36.4% in 2022. […]

Health leaders have sounded the alarm over a rise in cases of drug-resistant gonorrhoea. Cases of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) have soared and are now at their highest level since records began in 1918. The latest figures for England show there were 85,223 cases of gonorrhoea diagnosed in 2023. As well as a rise in cases of the STI, health officials have also found an increase in treatment-resistant gonorrhoea. While […]

The Metropolitan Police is not managing the risks posed by registered sex offenders and online child abusers “effectively”, a report from the police inspectorate has found. The force’s crime investigations also suffer from “inconsistent decision-making” and arguments, with inexperienced officers trying to manage more than 25 crimes at once, according to the report. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services shared the findings from its 2023-25 inspection […]

Giving women in Africa a malaria vaccine before they get pregnant could protect them against infection for almost two years without the need for a booster, according to scientists. The findings are a “tremendous advance” in protecting women against the potentially deadly disease, researchers said. They estimate severe malaria infection – or plasmodium falciparum – during pregnancy leads to 50,000 deaths and 200,000 stillbirths in Africa every year. For the […]

Train drivers are to vote on a multi-year pay offer aimed at ending their long-running dispute, it has been announced. Their union Aslef said the offer was made in talks at the Department for Transport, which started after Labour won the General Election following months of stalemate under the Conservatives. The offer is for 5% for 2019 to 2022, 4.75% for 2022 to 2024 and a further 4.5% for 2024 […]

The World Health Organisation has declared the mpox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent. Earlier this week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the mpox outbreaks were a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths, and […]

The Tory leadership hopeful says 'deep, hard work' is needed to change the situation Tory Party leadership hopeful Mel Stride has said it is “completely untenable” that the average Conservative voter is 63 years old. According to a YouGov poll, the only age groups in which the Conservatives outperformed Labour in the General Election were in the 60-69, and 70 plus age groups. Mr Stride is one of six candidates in the running to become […]