Weather warnings have come into force across much of the UK as millions of people set off for their Christmas getaway. Wet and windy weather this weekend could cause roads and public transport to be disrupted by strong gusts. The AA predicted that 22 million drivers would hit the road on Saturday. Met Office yellow…
A 77-year-old environmental activist will spend Christmas in prison despite having been released on an electronic tag, because the authorities cannot find an electronic device small enough to fit her wrists. Gaie Delap, a retired teacher and a Quaker from Bristol, was jailed in August, along with four co-defendants, for her part in a campaign…
The BBC presenter Chris Packham and the former Green party leader Caroline Lucas have resigned from the RSPCA animal-welfare charity, accusing the organisation of “legitimising cruelty”. It comes after an undercover investigation from Animal Rising, which campaigns for a plant-based food system, used hidden cameras to reveal animal cruelty at RSPCA-approved abattoirs. Packham, who was…
A quarter of NHS trusts in England Hospital raised car parking fees during the cost of living crisis, data has revealed. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show parking charges rose for at least 37 trusts – 25% of England’s total – between April 2022 and March 2024. Requests were filed to the…
A rebel army in Myanmar said it had captured a major military headquarters in the country’s west, marking the fall of the junta’s second regional command as it faces mounting setbacks against a nationwide armed resistance movement. The Arakan Army (AA) said the western military command in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, fell on Friday…
Bee-killing pesticides are to be banned by the UK government, as ministers set out plans to outlaw the use of neonicotinoids. However, the highly toxic neonicotinoid Cruiser SB could be allowed for use next year, as ministers are considering applications from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar. This powerful pesticide poisons bees by destroying…
Sara Sharif told a social worker she felt safe living with her father and stepmother because “they don’t hit me”, four years before she died from their brutal campaign of torture. The schoolgirl’s haunting words are buried in hundreds of pages of private family court papers that were disclosed after an application by media organisations,…
The New South Wales transport minister is calling on rail unions to end industrial action amid hundreds of cancellations across the train network on Saturday, saying “no level of disturbance or disruption” over the new year period is “tolerable”. Close to 40% of train services were expected to be cancelled or delayed on Saturday, Jo…
A police officer who slapped a 16-year-old boy with mental health difficulties “multiple times in the face” as he was being transported to a hospital in London has been found guilty of assault. The judge, Briony Clarke, found Metropolitan police constable Sevda Gonen guilty of assault for striking the boy “multiple times in the face…
WhatsApp claimed legal victory over the maker of Pegasus spyware late on Friday. The Israeli company, NSO Group Technologies, was accused in a lawsuit by Meta’s messaging app of infecting and surveilling the phones of 1,400 people over a two-week period in May 2019 via its notorious Pegasus software. The judge in the case, Phyllis…
