UK

A Metropolitan Police officer has been charged over the death of a woman who was hit by a motorcycle escorting the Duchess of Edinburgh through London. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had authorised a charge of causing death by careless driving against 67-year-old Christopher Harrison. Helen Holland, 81, suffered serious injuries in the

Tech tycoon Mike Lynch died by drowning after the Bayesian superyacht sunk off the coast of Sicily, an inquest has heard. The 59-year-old billionaire, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was one of seven people who died in the disaster off the coast of Sicily in August. An inquest into his death, as well

Residents who escaped a fire in a “deathtrap” block of flats have told Sky News they feel abandoned after both the management firm and owner of the building have failed to meet them. The response has been branded “woeful” by the local council – who have had to pay £500,000 to support residents who have

The UK will hand over sovereignty of the remote Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a decades-long dispute. The deal to transfer the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius includes the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, home to a military base used by the UK and the US that plays a crucial role in the region’s stability

Police Scotland considered recording notorious double rapist Isla Bryson as a female on the sex offenders’ register, Sky News can reveal. Bryson, who changed gender while waiting to stand trial, was last year jailed for eight years for raping two women in West Dunbartonshire and Glasgow while known as Adam Graham. Scottish Prison Service (SPS)

One of the UK’s most wanted men has been jailed for 20 years after masterminding a plot to smuggle nearly a tonne of cocaine from South America to Scotland hidden in a cargo of bananas. Jamie Stevenson, known as “Iceman”, pleaded guilty to directing the importation of the drug, which was seized by Border Force

The father of a six-year-old girl who was operated on by former surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar multiple times over 15 months is among the first to be told she suffered harm during her care. Dean Stalham’s daughter Bunty was born with the rare bone condition neurofibromatosis. It means she has been in and out of

Princess Beatrice has revealed she is expecting her second child. The 36-year-old princess, the late Queen’s granddaughter, and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 40, are expected to welcome their new baby in early spring. The couple have a three-year-old daughter named Sienna and Mr Maplli Mozzi has an eight-year-old son named Wolfie. Image: Mr Mapelli

“If it gets much colder, I am thinking of doing something, just to go back to prison,” says Leon Lear, 43, as he sits next to the remnants of his failed fire on the edge of a playground in Bridgend, South Wales. The wood was too damp to burn; the only ash is from cardboard

A 96-year-old has been given a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to causing the death of a woman by dangerous driving. June Mills, from Ainsdale on Merseyside was handed an 18-month suspended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday. She pleaded guilty to causing the death of Brenda Joyce, 76, in Formby in August

Thousands of staff who risked their lives working in hospitals during the pandemic still haven’t been given the COVID bonus awarded to NHS staff last year. Generally, it is lower-paid staff who have missed out, and campaigners say a high proportion are female and from ethnic minorities. Sky News has surveyed outsourcing companies which employ

Robert Jenrick has defended being handed a £75,000 donation from a company which had received money from a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), despite criticising Labour over the freebies row. The Tory leadership contender told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the firm “as I understand it… is a fitness company that

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party. The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts. She told Sir Keir the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you

When 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai was beaten and hacked to death in a savage machete attack in a Wolverhampton park, detectives were shocked to discover his killers were just 12 years old. Days earlier, in another part of the country, Alfie Lewis, 15, was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old boy outside a primary school in

Boris Johnson claims he considered authorising a raid on a warehouse in the Netherlands during the pandemic to retrieve COVID-19 vaccines. In his upcoming memoir, he described meeting senior military officials in March 2021 to discuss the plans, which he admitted were “nuts”. Another extract from his upcoming book, released by the Daily Mail, describes

Maggie Smith, known for her roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, has died at the age of 89, her sons have said. The actress died in hospital, her children Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens said. In a statement, they said: “An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She

Sir Keir Starmer has called for Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire, saying “escalation serves no one”. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister implored the two sides to “step back from the brink”. It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation’s troops would keep “fighting at

An amber warning for heavy rain has been issued by the Met Office – warning of further flooding and travel disruption across large swathes of the UK. The new weather alert covers central England from 6pm on Thursday until 6am on Friday. Nearly three inches of rain could fall over several hours in the worst-affected

Sir Keir Starmer accepted a £20,000 donation for the use of a flat during the election after promising his family he would protect them. The prime minister‘s register of interests shows a declaration for accommodation provided by Lord Waheed Alli to the value of £20,437.28 from 29 May to 13 July this year. The election

A new weather warning for heavy rain has been issued by the Met Office which could cause further widespread flooding and travel disruption. The yellow warning has been issued for much of England and Wales, apart from North Wales, parts of the West Midlands and the North West, between 5pm on Thursday and 10am on

Around 700 UK troops are deploying to Cyprus to be ready to help evacuate British nationals from Lebanon as fears grow of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. Defence Secretary John Healey – who chaired a meeting of the UK’s emergency Cobra committee earlier – has urged all Britons to leave the crisis-torn country “now”.

A fresh weather warning has been issued – bringing the potential for heavy rain, strong winds and the risk of yet more flooding. Some areas have been struck by more than a month’s worth of rain in the past 24 hours – with rising waters damaging homes and making roads impassable. Earlier on Tuesday commuters

Nurses have rejected the government’s offer of a 5.5% pay rise, the Royal College of Nursing has said. Two thirds of nursing staff voted against the current year’s pay award, with a record high 145,000 members of the union casting a vote. In a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP, RCN general secretary Professor

An amber warning for heavy rain is in force for millions of people in England until 9pm tonight. Many places could see between 60mm and 80m (2.36in and 3.15in) – with up to 120mm (4.72in) possible in a few locations, said the Met Office. A broad area from Gloucester through the Midlands and up to

Sir Keir Starmer will defend focusing on “short-term pain” for “long-term gain” as he reiterates the need for “tough decisions” during his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference. Speaking on Tuesday, the prime minister will again point to the £22bn “black hole” in public finances he claims was left by the Conservatives, saying there

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has acknowledged it had twice failed to bring charges against Mohamed al Fayed for sexual abuse. The former Harrods owner, who died last year at the age of 94, was described as a “monster” earlier this week by lawyers representing alleged sexual abuse victims. Women say he raped and sexually

The former head of royal protection says he warned the Royal Family about Mohamed al Fayed’s reputation before Princess Diana took her sons on holiday with him. The former Harrods owner, who died last year at the age of 94, was described as a “monster” earlier this week by lawyers representing 37 alleged sexual abuse

Fewer police officers are working on unsolved murder cases amid warnings the Metropolitan Police is dangerously stretched. Five officers from the force are moving from a specialist cold case department investigating the 30-year-old murder of Atek Hussain to instead bolster basic command units. Mr Hussain, 32, was stabbed in the heart as he returned from

A former member of the Harrods management team has told how Mohamed al Fayed would “cherry pick” women from the shop floor. Speaking to Sky News anonymously, the woman described the billionaire, who died last year aged 94, as “demonic” and said he “controlled everything with fear”. Lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse

The family of an NHS pharmacist who took his own life after suffering paralysing complications from a COVID jab are calling for urgent reform of the government’s compensation scheme for vaccine damage. John Cross was told by the official medical assessor for the scheme that the jab had caused his rare neurological effects, but that

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted it would “cost the taxpayer a fortune” if he were to watch Arsenal from the stands after it emerged he had accepted thousands of pounds worth of free football tickets. The prime minister has faced criticism after Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project revealed he had received two-and-a-half times more gifts

A serving prison governor from one of the country’s crowded jails has spoken anonymously to Sky News about conditions inside, the reality of early release and why we should rethink who is sent to jail. Here is what he told us. There is a smell you always associate with prison – the smell of unwashed

Police have dropped the case against a woman arrested for sharing false information about the identity of the Southport stabbing suspect. Bernadette Spofforth was arrested at her Chester home in August on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications. In the hours after the killing of the three children,