News – World and UK

The ban is set to come into force on 1st June 2025 The sale of disposable vapes will be banned by next summer, the Government has said. New legislation to ban the sale of single-use vapes from June 1, 2025 has been laid out in Parliament, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed on Wednesday. It added that businesses will have until the deadline “to sell any remaining stock they hold […]

Rachel Reeves has promised her first Budget will be an economic “reset” for the UK. The Chancellor said her statement on October 30 will invest in the “foundations of future growth”. Ms Reeves was speaking before talks with finance ministers from around the world in Washington DC at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meeting. She said: “A Britain built on the rock of economic stability is a Britain that is a […]

Venom: The Last Dance star Tom Hardy has said he is “very proud” of director Kelly Marcel who he has been friends with for “decades”. Speaking at the film’s premiere in London on Wednesday, Hardy told the PA news agency he was “loving every moment” and said the film is “monumentally brilliant”. The film, which will be released in the UK on Friday, will see the 47-year-old return to play […]

Geoff Capes, twice the world’s strongest man and a three-time Olympian, has died aged 75, British Athletics has announced. The Lincolnshire-born athlete won Commonwealth shot put gold in 1974 and 1978 and was crowned World’s Strongest Man in 1983 and 1985. He set the British record with a 21.68m throw in 1980, which remains the best ever ratified, and also enjoyed success at the European indoor athletics championships the decade […]

Police investigating the deaths of three people at a care home in Swanage are pursuing potential carbon monoxide poisoning as their “primary line of inquiry”. Dorset Police Chief Superintendent Heather Dixey told the press that seven people were also in hospital as a result of the incident at Gainsborough Care Home in Ulwell Road on Wednesday. However, she said there was “nothing to indicate” danger to the wider community. “The […]

Households in England dumped 5.6 million tonnes of packaging last year, according to an analysis by councils as they called for changes to Government waste reforms. Findings from the study – commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), County Councils Network (CCN) and District Councils Network (DCN) – prompted calls for ministers to ensure that upcoming reforms focus on making recycling easier and reducing unnecessary waste created in the first […]

German planes will operate from a base in the UK under a defence pact with Berlin being signed on Wednesday. The submarine-hunting planes will fly from Scotland, patrolling the North Atlantic as the allies respond to the growing threat from Russia. And German arms giant Rheinmetall is set to open a factory producing artillery gun barrels using British steel. The UK-Germany Trinity House Agreement is a sign of the Government’s […]

A world-first vaccine for the vomiting bug norovirus is being trialled in the UK, with the hope it could cut the “burden on the NHS”, the Health Secretary has said. The new mRNA vaccine from Moderna will enter final stages of testing within the next two weeks, with results so far showing it creates a “strong immune response”. Experts believe the vaccine could stop people developing the vomiting and diarrhoea […]

Charities have called for LGBT veterans who suffered historical mistreatment in the armed forces to receive adequate compensation, in an open letter to the Prime Minister. This comes after veterans minister Al Carns vowed that a financial redress scheme for those who suffered under the “gay ban” would be launched at the start of next year. Survivors of the scandal suffered days of sometimes brutal interrogation when it was discovered […]