UK

The NHS is going to use drones to fly blood samples across London to avoid the traffic. Drone flights will mean the samples can be transported in a fraction of the time it currently takes couriers via road, officials said. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has launched a pilot scheme that intends to

A search has been launched for a missing 18-year-old in the Scottish Borders. Kamile Gimbutyte, also known as Rhian, was last seen in the Melrose area at around 2pm on Sunday and is believed to have been going for a walk in the Eildon Hills. Inspector David Robertson said: “We are becoming increasingly concerned for

The foreign secretary has said the UK and allies will not be “bullied by Putin’s shameless grandstanding” as the prime minister faces pressure to allow Ukraine to fire British long-range missiles into Russia. David Lammy told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the Russian president’s threats to use nuclear weapons if the West sends

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a tax on the wealthiest instead of cutting support for “struggling pensioners”. Speaking after arriving at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton on a jet ski, Sir Ed said his party is the only one offering up a solution on how to “plug the awful financial

BBC presenter Jay Blades – who appears on The Repair Shop – has been charged with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife, police have said. The 54-year-old appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court earlier today and was bailed to appear again at Worcester Crown Court on 11 October. The alleged coercive behaviour

A proposal to build a new 50-mile railway line as a cheaper but slower alternative to a scrapped section of HS2 has been unveiled. A report has said journeys between London and Manchester on the line would only be 15 minutes longer than they would have been under the original HS2 plans. The journey time

The NHS will not get any more funding without reforming, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he laid out a 10-year plan to fix the health service. The prime minister stressed his plans to build an NHS fit for the future “do not just mean putting more money in”, and will take a decade to

The King found himself in the middle of a group hug from a rugby team. During a reception at Buckingham Palace, New Zealand player Winger Ayesha Leti-I’iga asked to hug the monarch, to which the King replied: “A hug, why not?” That was enough of a greenlight for the multiple Black Ferns players, who are

Buckingham Palace has released details of King and Queen’s tour of Australia and Samoa, but the trip will not include New Zealand. An earlier plan to include a visit to New Zealand had to be cancelled “on doctor’s advice”, with “tough decisions” taken on the remainder of the programme for the trip, which will take

MPs have voted to cut the winter fuel payment for all but the country’s poorest pensioners. A Tory move to block the measure was defeated by 348 to 228 votes – a majority of 120. Labour has a working majority in the Commons of 167. The division list showed Labour MP Jon Trickett supported the

A police officer has been found guilty of sexually abusing a girl under the age of 13. John Stringer was on trial at Cardiff Crown Court where a jury returned its verdict on Monday. The 42-year-old from Cardiff had been suspended from duty by Gwent Police when the force first became aware of the allegations

A loud crash jolts Paul Wheeler into waking up in the middle of the night. As he peers out of his bedroom window, which overlooks the park at the back of his home in a quiet, suburban part of Kent, he sees a shadowy figure setting fire to something. It’s a warm summer night, Labour

The body of a woman has been found in water off a beach on the Isle of Wight, police have said. Officers were called to the seaside resort town of Shanklin on Sunday morning following a report that the body of a woman had been spotted in the water, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary

A body of a woman has been found in the search for the wife of a former Scotland rugby player who went missing following a swim, police have said. The woman’s body was discovered near Hound Point, South Queensferry, at around 3.20pm on Saturday, Police Scotland said. Officers say the body has not been formally

More than 100 Body Shop stores have been saved from closure after a deal was struck to rescue one of Britain’s best known high street chains. The well-known retailer was bought out of administration by a consortium led by “Cosmetics King” Mike Jatania. The millionaire tycoon’s investment firm Aurea announced the completion of the acquisition

England interim manager Lee Carsley has said he will not be singing the British national anthem before his side take on the Republic of Ireland on Saturday. The 50-year-old was born in Birmingham in the UK but represented Ireland during his playing career through his grandmother, who is from County Cork. Speaking in a news

The home secretary will meet with ministers and members of law enforcement for an operational summit that will set out the government’s plan to tackle small boats in the Channel. Yvette Cooper will be joined by at the headquarters of the National Crime Agency in London by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood,

A massive rise in bag and phone “snatch thefts” has prompted the government to promise a crack down on street crime. An estimated 78,000 people, or more than 200 a day, had their phones or bags stolen in the year leading up to March 2024, according to Home Office analysis of data from the Crime

A long-time member of British band The Cure says he has been undergoing treatment for nearly a year after being diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of blood cancer. Keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, 68, revealed on Instagram that he “ignored the symptoms for a few months” before having a scan and then surgery. A subsequent biopsy showed

Police investigating a rape in central London have released CCTV footage of a man they want to speak to. A woman was walking near Tottenham Court Road underground station when an unknown man picked her up in a car between 9pm and 11.30pm on 19 December 2023, the Metropolitan Police said. She was driven around