UK

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 strongly denied it had acted in any way illegally with its recruitment practices. James Heappey, the

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

Floods have left homes, businesses and streets under water in parts of the UK, as thunderstorms continue to batter the country. Thunderstorms continue around the country, and downpours caused flooding inside London’s Victoria Station and outside King’s Cross Station, with videos showing cars and buses driving through huge puddles. Network Rail said: “Not long after

A 44-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was stabbed to death on his mobility scooter. The man was arrested at an address in Southall, west London, in the early hours of Thursday and remains in custody, police said. Thomas O’Halloran, 87, was attacked on a road in nearby Greenford on

A leaked audio recording has revealed Liz Truss said British workers needed “more graft” and lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals. The Tory leadership frontrunner was chief secretary to the Treasury when the conversation with officials was recorded five years ago. In the clip, leaked to The Guardian, Ms Truss said those outside

Britain’s rate of inflation has surged to a fresh 40-year high, heaping yet more pain on cash-strapped households as the cost of living crisis deepens. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 10.1% in the 12 months to July, up from 9.4% in June and remaining at the highest level since February 1982, the Office

Workers have suffered a record real-term pay slump in the face of soaring prices, official data reveals. Regular wages, excluding bonuses, plunged an average of 4.1% on the year in the three months to June when inflation is taken into account, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the highest fall since

Heavy rain and flooding have hit some parts of Devon and Cornwall as thunderstorms start to sweep across the South West and East of England. Videos shared on social media showed a roundabout near a river in Truro, Cornwall, quickly flooding as showers moved in. An amber thunderstorm warning has been issued by the Met

The UK is braced for several days of thunderstorms after a hot weekend which saw parts of the country grapple with wildfires – but the change in weather is likely to bring more danger rather than relief, meteorologists have warned. A lack of rain and high temperatures have caused drought conditions which have turned much

A teenage boy has died after going into the sea in Skegness, Lincolnshire. Police described him as “a child under the age of 16”, saying that he was in the water at around 6.15pm on Saturday. A search was carried out by officers and the coastguard, with the boy’s body found at around 11.30pm. No

More extreme heat and drought conditions, and the potential for wildfires, are expected in the southern half of the UK this weekend – while the northern half is set to be struck by thunderstorms and floods. The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning covering most of England and Wales, where temperatures of up

Droughts have been declared in parts of southwest, southern and central England and all of eastern England, as Britons continue to bake in the high temperatures. The affected areas are: • Devon and Cornwall• Solent and South Downs• Kent and South London• Herts and North London• East Anglia• Thames• Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire• East Midlands Wiggonholt

Droughts could be declared in “quite a few regions” of the country tomorrow, a source from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has told Sky News. The news contradicts earlier suggestions that a drought would only be declared in the South West. The drought declaration is not expected to cover the whole country,

A drought is expected to be declared tomorrow in the South West, Sky News understands. It follows the start of a four-day amber heat warning, below normal levels in waterways, and England’s driest July since 1935 during which the temperature rose above 40C for the first time. The declaration means people living across the South

The risk of fires from tinderbox dry conditions across parts of England and Wales has been raised to “exceptional” – the highest it can be – as a four-day amber weather warning comes into force. The top level on the Fire Severity Index applies to much of southern England, and reaches as far west as

All children aged one to nine in London are to be offered a dose of the polio vaccine, after more of the virus was found in the city’s sewers. Vaccine-derived poliovirus has been detected in sewage in Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest. The virus has also been found in lower

Millions of UK homes are already in debt over their energy bills – with £1.3 billion owed, even before bills are set to soar by more than 80%. The overall debt bill is already three times higher than it was a year ago, according to analysts at Uswitch, and it seems likely it will grow

Energy bills are expected to rise even further this winter than previously forecast, according to the latest from energy consultancy Cornwall Insight. Bills are now expected to reach approximately £3,582 a year for the average household from October – up from the £3,359 predicted earlier this month. From January, the amount is expected to rise