News – World and UK

Actress and model Cara Delevingne plays Sir Elton John in a new video for his classic festive song Step Into Christmas. The video is a reimagining of behind the scenes of the original version, which was released more than 50 years ago, with Delevingne 32, sporting an identical-looking suit and glasses as worn by Sir Elton. On its initial release in November 1973, Step Into Christmas reached number 24 in […]

Tyson Fury has vowed to “annihilate” Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on Saturday as the first step towards ruling the heavyweight division. Fury was considered the standout fighter in his weight class until he lost his WBC belt on a split-decision to WBA, IBF and WBO king Usyk when they clashed for the first time in May. The IBF title is no longer at stake after it was stripped from the […]

Practice trenches from the First World War, a “bungalow maternity ward” and the tomb of a woman believed to have lived to 119 years old are among the places that have been added to the National Heritage List for England. Some 256 locations have been added to the list this year, including 17 “remarkable and unusual” structures such as an electricity junction in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, only three years after […]

Funding of almost a billion pounds next year marks a “turning point” in Government efforts to tackle and prevent homelessness, the Housing Secretary said. Angela Rayner, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, described it as the “largest-ever investment” and said it would help “break the cycle of spiralling homelessness”. Homelessness, which includes people living in temporary accommodation, is at record levels. The latest official figures, published earlier this month by […]

A bottle of wine a week, combined with a Mediterranean diet, could be as good as statins for heart health, academics have suggested. While some research has shown wine can benefit heart health, other studies have suggested that too much can be damaging. And most studies examining the health ties to wine have relied on people self-reporting how much alcohol they drink, which may be “prone to measurement errors”, researchers […]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared a rare picture of their two children as part of a series of images for their official Christmas card. Meghan and Harry are shown in the outdoors about to hug Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as their son and daughter run into their arms. The couple have rarely exposed their children to the limelight and in the image their faces are not […]

Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother have been jailed for life for years of horrific “torture” and “despicable” abuse culminating in her murder. The 10-year-old suffered “unimaginable pain, misery and anxiety” as she was repeatedly beaten, burned, bitten and restrained at the family home in Woking, Surrey, the court heard. Urfan Sharif, 42, and Beinash Batool, 30, had tried to cover up the abuse, twice taking her out of school, and then […]

About one in five homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk of river, sea and flash flooding, analysis from the Environment Agency has warned. A major new update from the agency, which comes after widespread disruption and floods from storms Bert and Darragh, shows 6.3 million properties in England are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface flooding, or a combination of […]

Liverpool has been named by GoFundMe as the UK’s most generous city in 2024 after its response to the Southport stabbings and subsequent disorder. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in the Merseyside seaside town in July. When violent disorder broke out in the wake of the incident, around £1.3 million was raised via […]