UK

The next prime minister is facing calls to immediately increase Universal Credit payments to stop vulnerable people spiralling further into poverty when fuel bills increase again this winter. The poorest in society are suffering three major blows to their income in the year to October 2022, according to a report commissioned by former prime minister

Rail passengers are facing a fresh wave of disruption as train drivers from several companies have announced another strike over a long-running dispute about pay and working conditions. The 24-hour walkout on Saturday 13 August will coincide with a busy weekend of football, with Premier League games in Manchester, London, Birmingham and Brighton likely to

Archie Battersbee’s parents have been refused permission to appeal against the High Court’s decision which denied them the right to have their son moved from hospital to a hospice to die. The family had applied to the Court of Appeal on Friday, challenging a ruling that blocked their plans to move him to a hospice

Archie Battersbee cannot be moved from hospital to a hospice, the High Court has ruled, denying an application from his family. His mother, Hollie Dance, said she wanted her brain-damaged son to “spend his last moments” together with family privately, but the High Court ruled this was not in Archie’s best interests. The judge has

Liz Truss has refused a Conservative Party member’s request for her to apologise for proposing to link public sector pay to local living costs – reiterating that the policy was “misrepresented”. On Monday night, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership frontrunner said she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones

The Bank of England has hiked interest rates by half a percentage point – the sixth rise since December and the biggest rise since 1995. This means the bank rate now stands at 1.75% – its highest level since late 2008 at the beginning of the global financial crisis. It will increase borrowing costs for

Archie Battersbee’s life support will be withdrawn at 11am, unless his family launch a High Court bid by 9am to move him to a hospice. His parents plan to file the application by the deadline. They lost their latest legal appeal to stop doctors ending life-sustaining hospital treatment for their brain-damaged son after a European

South East Water has announced a ban on hosepipe and sprinkler use for its customers in Kent and Sussex. The ban will start on 12 August, with an end date that has yet to be decided. It comes just days after Southern Water announced the first hosepipe ban of the year for customers in Hampshire

Archie Battersbee’s life support is set to be switched off at 11am today, pending another last-ditch attempt by his family to postpone the move. The parents of the brain-damaged 12-year-old had said his treatment would be brought to an end on Wednesday morning after they lost a Supreme Court bid to keep it going. But

Moves to end Archie Battersbee’s life support have been delayed again as his parents appealed against the withdrawal of their brain-damaged son’s treatment. The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed it had received the application and would consider it as a matter of urgency. The hospital said it would not begin withdrawing any treatment until the

England’s newly crowned Euro 2022 champions have celebrated before thousands of fans after claiming the first major trophy in their history. “I think we’ve partied more than we’ve actually played football in the last 24 hours,” said the Lionesses’ captain Leah Williamson, to cheers from the crowd. On a more serious note, she said she

England are waking up as the champions of Europe after the Lionesses delivered the country’s first major trophy since 1966. There were euphoric scenes nationwide last night after the squad beat Germany 2-1 in extra time – with 87,000 supporters at a packed-out Wembley Stadium cheering them on, not to mention millions more at home.

England’s Lionesses have won Euro 2022 after beating Germany 2-1 in extra-time at Wembley. It is the country’s first major trophy since the men’s side won the World Cup in 1966. Ella Toone gave England the lead in the 62nd minute with a sublime lob after being sent through one-on-one with the German goalkeeper. The

The Duke of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte are among those cheering on England’s Lionesses as they aim to make football history when they take on Germany in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley later today. The home side, who could land their first major trophy, are underdogs – Germany has won the title eight times,

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering nine-year-old Lillia Valutyte in Lincolnshire. Police said the 22-year-old suspect was held in the “Boston Central Park area” at about 2.45pm on Saturday and is now in custody. Progress on the investigation into Lillia’s death was made through a “combination of intelligence and information supplied by

Police investigating the killing of a nine-year-old girl in Lincolnshire have released images of a new suspect. Lilia Valutyte, a Lithuanian national, was found dead after being stabbed in Fountain Lane in Boston at about 6.20pm on Thursday. Lincolnshire Police released four CCTV images of the man and warned anyone who sees him not to

A nine-year-old girl stabbed to death in Lincolnshire has been named by police as Lilia Valutyte. The girl, a Lithuanian national, was found dead in Fountain Lane in Boston at about 6.20pm yesterday. Two people have been arrested as part of a murder investigation, following what police are calling the “isolated incident”. Lincolnshire Police Chief

Rebekah Vardy has lost her Wagatha Christie libel trial against Coleen Rooney. In her judgment, Judge Justice Steyn said Rooney had succeeded in establishing that the essence of the libel was “substantially true” – that’s to say Vardy was responsible for leaking her private information to the press. In her conclusion, she said: “I have

Last week’s record-breaking heatwave in the UK was made at least 10 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study. Hundreds of people are expected to have died during the scorching weather, though official figures are yet to emerge, the rapid analysis by the World Weather Attribution group (WWA) said. There have

Veteran actor Bernard Cribbins, who narrated The Wombles and starred in the film adaptation of The Railway Children, has died aged 93. A statement from his agent, Gavin Barker Associates, said: “His career spanned seven decades with such diverse work ranging from films like The Railway Children and the Carry On series, hit 60s song