News – World and UK

School absence rates in the UK doubled from pre-pandemic levels as a “knock-on” effect of lockdown restrictions and school closures caused by Covid-19, a new report has found. Lower rates of attendance will remain until the generation of pupils impacted directly by the pandemic lockdowns leaves secondary school, the research from the London School of Economics (LSE) suggests. The average rate of school absences not caused by self-isolation increased from […]

Yvette Cooper will chair a summit aimed at destroying the criminal gangs involved in smuggling people over the English Channel in small boats. The Home Secretary will lead the meeting of senior ministers and figures from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and intelligence services on Friday. It follows the deaths of at least 12 people who attempted to cross the channel on Tuesday, in what has been described as the […]

ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office is to receive the National Television Awards (NTA) Impact Award for creating a “huge cultural shift”. Toby Jones, Monica Dolan and other cast members are to collect the award on Wednesday September 11 after the four-part series was credited for getting “politicians talking and changed legislation”. The show drew renewed public attention to the subpostmasters who were wrongly prosecuted during the Horizon […]

Researchers hope a trial of a new drug for the treatment of ectopic pregnancy could help hundreds of women every year avoid emergency surgery. About one in 80 pregnancies is ectopic, which means the embryo starts to grow in the wrong place, often outside the uterus and usually in one of the Fallopian tubes. As it grows, there is a risk that the Fallopian tube can burst which can lead […]

An investigation will continue into what caused a Royal Navy helicopter to ditch in the Channel during a night-flying exercise, resulting in the death of a member of Navy personnel. There were three crew members on board at the time of the incident and two of them were rescued and taken to hospital, the Ministry of Defence said. The Merlin helicopter crashed off the coast of Dorset on Wednesday night […]

Four-piece indie band English Teacher have won the 2024 Mercury Prize for their debut album This Could Be Texas. The announcement was made by DJ Jamz Supernova during the award ceremony, which recognises the best British or Irish album of the year, at the Abbey Road Studios on Thursday evening. They beat competition from the likes of pop singer Charli XCX, Irish singer CMAT, rising star Cat Burns, and indie […]

A former music teacher at Eton College has been banned indefinitely from teaching in England after he was found to have searched for indecent images of children on a school-issued laptop. David Goode, 52, conducted the internet searches between March 10 and December 7 2021 and his actions were sexually motivated, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found. He was an organist and music teacher at Eton College, Windsor, for almost 17 […]

A senior Army officer who drunkenly touched and tried to kiss a woman in a karaoke bar while leading an overseas military delegation has received a six-month suspended prison sentence. Major General James Roddis’s career lies in tatters after being dismissed from the Army by the court martial board. The 53-year-old married father-of-three had been drinking for several hours when he started touching the hair of the woman before kissing […]

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has said the show’s upcoming series will be “brilliant” despite controversy over allegations of abuse. The 58-year-old was asked about whether the furore would overshadow the BBC dancing show’s 20th anniversary series on ITV’s Loose Women, when he said the programme “won’t feel different at all”. It comes after an investigation was launched by the BBC following allegations made about professional dancer Giovanni […]