UK

The cost of living crisis is responsible for a third more women reporting domestic abuse to charities, a Sky News investigation has found. Several victims and charities say the financial squeeze on families is leading to “unprecedented levels” of women coming forward. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is seeing record numbers, with one support worker

Millions of households will see their energy bills rocket as the price cap is hiked to £3,549 a year, plunging many into financial hardship. The record 80% October increase, announced by the regulator Ofgem, will see a typical default tariff customer paying an extra £1,578, laying bare the deepening cost of living crisis. The rise

CCTV footage capturing the sound of gunshots during the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool has emerged. The video does not show the attack itself but the audio clearly captures the sound of four gunshots. Olivia was killed shortly after 10pm on Monday night after a 35-year-old man, being chased by another man with a

Police are pursuing a “number of very positive lines of inquiry” as they hunt the gunman who killed a nine-year-old girl in Liverpool. Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead by a masked attacker while inside her home in Kingsheath Avenue, in the Dovecot area of the city, on Monday night. He was chasing 35-year-old convicted burglar

A man has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a nine-year-old girl at her home in Liverpool – as detectives said people were coming forward with names as they hunt the gunman who killed her. Merseyside Police said the 35-year-old man, suspected to have been the target of the shooting, has been

An 80% rise in the energy price cap is expected to be confirmed today, sending an average yearly bill from £1,971 to more than £3,500 from October. The cap has dominated the news in recent months, as consumers watch nervously to find out how much higher their bills can go, but many of the driving

A hosepipe ban for 15 million Thames Water customers has come into effect. The water company, which supplies Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, parts of Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wilshire and west Kent, announced the ban on 17 August due to the “unprecedented weather conditions”. The ban will mean people must not use a hosepipe

Police have described the moment a gunman shot into the house of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, injuring her mother and fatally wounding the child. The primary school pupil was killed shortly after 10pm on Monday night after a 35-year-old man, being chased by another man with a gun, forced his way into her house. Detective Chief

British Airways (BA) has announced it will be making “some further cancellations” up to the end of October, and cutting thousands of flights from its winter schedule. It follows the decision by Heathrow to continue its passenger cap, introduced in July because of staff shortages. More than 600 round trips will be cancelled up to

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted in favour of an escalation of strike action. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents lawyers prosecuting and defending those accused of crimes in England and Wales, said its members had backed a plan to go on strike “on an indefinite basis” from Monday 5 September. They

The RAF’s head of recruitment refused to follow an order to prioritise women and ethnic minority candidates over white men because she believed it was “unlawful”, defence sources have claimed and a leaked email has revealed. The group captain – whose subsequent resignation was revealed exclusively by Sky News – told her boss in the

Anthony Joshua has split the boxing community after delivering an impromptu outburst following his defeat to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk. After the split decision was announced in the ring, Joshua grabbed two of the heavyweight championship belts and dumped them over the side of the ropes, before storming off towards the changing room. However, he did

Almost 2,000 workers are walking out of their jobs at the UK’s largest container port for eight days from Sunday, in the latest round of industrial action hitting various sectors of the economy. The strike at Felixstowe port on the east coast rounds off a week that saw various strikes by thousands of transport workers

A 23-year-old man has been charged with the abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Greater Manchester. Lewis Jones, of Liverpool, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault by penetration and one count of abduction. He will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, Greater Manchester Police said. Police

The Royal Air Force took steps to “artificially inflate” its diversity numbers in a bid to hit a key government target for female and ethnic minority recruits, three defence sources have claimed and leaked documents have suggested. The RAF denied it had acted in any way illegally with its recruitment practices. James Heappey, the Armed

A man has been arrested on suspicion of the abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Greater Manchester on Wednesday afternoon. Police said the 23-year-old remains in custody for questioning. Officers believe the child was abducted in Warne Avenue in Droylsden, before being taken to a wooded area. She was reunited with her

Ryan Giggs has admitted trying to use his daughter as “a lever” to stop the police being called on the night he allegedly headbutted his ex-girlfriend – as an intimate love poem penned by the footballer was read at his trial. Giving evidence in court for a third day, the former Manchester United star denied

A-level grades received by UK students are lower this year than in 2021 and 2020 but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels – the last time students physically sat exams. Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be eagerly opening their results today – with teenagers in Scotland receiving theirs last

Rail, Tube and bus passengers are set to face four days of travel misery as tens of thousands of workers stage another round of strikes. In recent months, several strikes have been carried out as part of a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions. From Thursday, Network Rail, train companies, London Underground and

An elderly man riding a mobility scooter who was stabbed to death in a “shocking act” of “unprovoked violence” in west London has been named by police as Thomas O’Halloran. The attack on the 87-year-old happened on Cayton Road in Greenford, Ealing, just after 4pm on Tuesday. Police were called to reports of a man