News – World and UK

A painter and decorator who helped fuel a fire outside a hotel housing hundreds of asylum seekers and attacked police with missiles during rioting in Rotherham, has been jailed for nine years. The prison sentence handed down to Thomas Birley, 27, is the longest so far given to a defendant arrested following the violence which erupted in many towns and cities in early August. Sheffield Crown Court heard how Birley, of Rowms […]

A van driver has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling migrants in a hidden compartment who were discovered screaming for help as they were starved of oxygen. Anas Al Mustafa, 43, was convicted of assisting unlawful migration by trafficking the seven people in a specially adapted van via a ferry between Dieppe, in France, and Newhaven, East Sussex, on February 16. The discovery at the East Sussex […]

Indie band English Teacher said it is “insane” that they mark the first act from outside London to win the Mercury Prize in a decade. The four-piece group, who met while studying at the Leeds Conservatoire in 2020, won the prestigious award for their debut album This Could Be Texas. Judges said the album stood out for its “originality and character” and revealed “new depths on every listen; the mark […]

Fuel prices have fallen to their lowest levels in almost three years after a drop in wholesale costs. The RAC said the average price of fuel at UK forecourts on Thursday was 139.7p per litre for petrol and 144.4p per litre for diesel. The last time prices were that low was October 2021. Prices reached record highs in the summer of 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the previous February, […]

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met top United States military leaders and more than 50 partner nations in Germany on Friday to press for more weapons support as Washington announced it would provide another 250 million dollars (£190 million) in security assistance to Kyiv. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the meeting of the leaders was taking place during a dynamic moment in Ukraine’s fight against Russia, as it conducts its […]

Dame Sarah Storey wrote another chapter in the history books by winning the women’s C4-5 road race at Paris 2024 to collect her 19th Paralympic gold. Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian finished the 71 kilometre course in one hour, 54 minutes and 24 seconds, just ahead of French silver medallist Heidi Gaugain, while Colombian Paula Ossa took bronze. Success for the 46-year-old secured her 30th medal across nine Games, including […]

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 […]