News – World and UK

Train drivers on LNER are to stage a series of strikes, claiming a breakdown in industrial relations and breaking of agreements. Hundreds of members of Aslef will walk out every Saturday between August 31 and November 9 and every Sunday from September 1 to November 10, a total of 22 days. The dispute is separate from the long-running row over pay, which is set to be resolved after a new […]

Pakistan’s Health Ministry said it has identified the first case of a new mpox variant that might be more easily transmitted, days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the spread of mpox a global health emergency. The case, in a man who had recently returned from a Middle Eastern country, is only the second confirmed case of the new variant outside of Africa. The first case was reported on […]

A £15,000 payout for former pupils who were infected with HIV and other viruses while being unwittingly experimented on by clinicians at a specialist school is “derisory and insulting,” a victim has said. Richard Warwick described the figure as a “kick in the teeth” and, along with other survivors of the trials, is considering taking legal advice on whether to seek a review. Victims of the contaminated blood scandal, which […]

A lion with “psychological issues” is to travel 1,400 miles from Ukraine to an animal sanctuary in the UK as part of a project rescuing the animal from the war-torn country. African lioness Yuna suffered “shell shock”, “psychological issues” and lost her sense of co-ordination, according to The Big Cat Sanctuary, a Kent-based charity behind the Big Cats in Crisis campaign raising funds to rescue the lions from Ukraine. Yuna […]

Swedish health officials have identified the first case of a person with the more infectious form of mpox first seen in eastern Congo, a day after the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak to be a global emergency. The Swedish public health agency said in a statement the patient recently sought healthcare in Stockholm. “In this case a person has been infected during a stay in the part of Africa […]

Victims of the infected blood scandal can receive support scheme payments for life, while those who were subjected to unethical research will get up to £15,000 extra under changes to a multibillion-pound compensation plan. Some affected people will also be given an increased “social impact” award recognising of the consequences of stigma surrounding the disaster. Support scheme payments – including for bereaved partners – will continue for life as part […]

Foreign Secretary David Lammy is to visit Israel with his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne to advocate for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. They said they will use the visit to stress “there is no time for delays or excuses from all parties on a ceasefire deal”. The pair will meet Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz and the minister of strategic affairs of Israel, Ron Dermer. This week, officials […]

Matthew Perry’s live-in assistant has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine connected to the death of the US actor. Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, of Toluca Lake, admitted to “repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training”, including performing multiple injections on October 28 2023 – the day he died, the Department of Justice said. He previously pleaded guilty on August 7 “to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing […]

Donald Trump has said that Americans are struggling with massive price hikes that he blamed on vice president Kamala Harris, looking to saddle his new Democratic rival with the unpopular economic record of President Joe Biden. Mr Trump stuck close to his scripted economic message, reading from a binder in front of him in a news conference at his New Jersey golf club. A day earlier, he struggled to make […]