UK

The King has used his first Christmas Day broadcast to pay tribute to those trying to “pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm” amid the cost of living crisis. It is a historic first address – both for King Charles personally, and the UK, as it marks the first time a male

A murder investigation is under way after a woman was fatally shot at a Merseyside pub on Christmas Eve. She and three men were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after the incident at the Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey Village on the Wirral shortly after 11.50pm. The woman was later pronounced dead, and her family

A four-year-old boy has died after an incident at a Center Parcs resort. The emergency services were called to the resort at Longleat in Wiltshire after a “serious medical incident” at a swimming pool at around 11am this morning. Wiltshire Police said: “Our thoughts are with the boy’s family at this difficult time.” The death

The Scottish Highlands can expect to see a white Christmas this year, while flood warnings are in place for several parts of England. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice across the Scottish region, as well as some lowland areas, from 9pm on Christmas Day to 6pm on Boxing Day.

Families driving home for the festive period face travel misery with further rail strikes set to take place from 6pm on Christmas Eve. Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union at National Rail walk out on Saturday evening, causing train services to finish at 3pm. An overtime ban is also causing

Thousands of nurses in England will go on strike again next month in a dispute over pay. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced that nurses would strike on 18 and 19 January and said further dates would be confirmed in the new year. Pat Cullen, head of the union, said: “The government had the

Ambulance workers will stage two further strikes in January amid a dispute over pay and staffing. The Unison union says the industrial action will take place in England on 11 and 23 January. The strike action will involve staff employed by London, Yorkshire, North West, North East and South West ambulance services. It comes after

Two days of strikes by nurses and paramedics will have a knock-on effect on appointments with a return to “very high numbers” of emergency calls in the coming days, NHS Providers has warned. Historic strike action saw thousands of nurses picket on Tuesday and ambulance staff stage their biggest strike in 30 years yesterday. Saffron

The number of people phoning 999 appears to have dropped in parts of England as thousands of ambulance staff and paramedics strike until midnight. The West Midlands Ambulance Trust thanked people for heeding their advice to only call in an emergency as ambulance trusts reported receiving fewer calls. The drop in calls comes as health

A man has pleaded guilty to the murders of a “defenceless” pregnant woman and three young children who were found dead at a house in Derbyshire. Damien Bendall, 32, had previously denied murdering his then partner Terri Harris, 35, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett, her 13-year-old son John Paul Bennett, and Lacey’s 11-year-old friend Connie

Jeremy Clarkson’s column about the Duchess of Sussex has become the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most complained about article ever. The regulator said the piece, which has since been removed from The Sun’s website at Clarkson‘s request, had received more than 17,500 complaints as of 9am on Tuesday. “We will follow our usual processes to

Ambulance and hospital trusts across the country have declared critical incidents as a result of “sustained” and “unprecedented” pressure on services. Declaring a critical incident allows trusts to prioritise the patients most in need and to instigate additional measures to protect patient safety, trusts said. It comes as nurses were striking for a second day

Thirty new patients have contacted Sky News following our investigation into the treatment of teenagers in mental health units run by a single provider. They include a 16-year-old boy whose mother told us her son’s self-harming increased. Rachel Vickers said of her son Tyson: “He looked like he’d been in a car crash”, and Tyson

A government plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful, the High Court has ruled. Lord Justice Lewis said the controversial policy, introduced under Boris Johnson, was “consistent with the refugee convention”. However, he said the home secretary should look at people’s “particular circumstances” before deporting them to the central African country. Politics live:

A teenager has been charged with a people-smuggling offence after four people died while attempting to cross the Channel. Ibrahima Bah, 19, of no fixed address, was arrested by police after the incident on Wednesday. Four people died and 39 were rescued when a migrant boat capsized in the Channel. Bah was charged with “knowingly

Gareth Southgate will stay on as England manager and will lead the Three Lions at the 2024 Euros, the Football Association has confirmed. The 52-year-old had been mulling his future following the national side’s 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France at the World Cup. Southgate had a contract until the 2024 European Championship, but admitted to

Police have released the first picture of a woman who died after being injured in a crush at a concert at Brixton Academy. Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, from Newham, east London, died on Saturday morning, while two other women – aged 21 and 23 – remain in a critical condition in hospital. Eight people were taken

Hospitals should free up beds by safely discharging patients in advance of “extensive disruption” caused by industrial action by ambulance crews, health chiefs have said. They warned of “a very challenging period” when ambulance crews in England and Wales are due to walk out for two days on 21 and 28 December in a dispute

An investigation has been launched into the deaths of two children after their bodies were found at a residential address in Dagenham, in east London. Emergency services were called at around 2pm on Friday to the property in Cornwallis Road, where the bodies of a two-year-old boy and a five-year-old boy were discovered. Metropolitan Police

Four people are in a critical condition after crowd trouble at a concert in south London. People at the O2 Academy in Brixton were said to have been locked outside the venue in freezing temperatures, prompting some to try to force their way inside for the Asake gig. The concert was eventually cancelled part-way through,