Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his professional partner Lauren Oakley were eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night after losing the dance-off to Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin. Both couples performed their Icons Week routines from the previous night, with Hasselbaink dancing the American Smooth to Prince’s Purple Rain and Davies alongside Kuzmin performing a Cha Cha to Ariana Grande’s Break Free. The judging panel of Craig […]

More than 1,200 public health leaders have urged swift progress of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, arguing its measures are vital to protect future generations. In a cross-party letter, signatories said the provisions are transformative and should not be sidelined. Peers in the House of Lords are due to begin scrutiny on the first day of the bill’s committee stage. The document notes a six-month gap since the bill’s second […]

The NHS is piloting a rapid blood test in children to speed up the diagnosis of life‑threatening infections. The 15‑minute assay aims to distinguish between bacterial and viral illness, enabling faster treatment decisions than standard laboratory analyses. The trial is funded by NHS England and is being conducted in three emergency departments: Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, St Mary’s Hospital in London, and Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. […]

Supermarket bosses have urged the Chancellor to shield shops from a forthcoming business rates surtax, arguing that higher bills would be passed to shoppers. The appeal, organised by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and addressed to Rachel Reeves, contends that reducing the tax burden on grocers would help tackle food inflation. Signatories include executives from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, Iceland, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Waitrose. The BRC said […]

The number of NHS appointments, tests and operations carried out by private hospitals and clinics rose by almost 500,000 this year to about 6.15 million, according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting. He said the policy aims to tackle a two‑tier system by reducing waiting times and ensuring NHS patients in England are treated promptly. Private providers said they carry out around 10% of elective NHS activity. Between August 2024 and […]

The Conservatives have set out a policing plan that aims to reduce crimes by 35,000 by deploying more officers to violent hotspots, including recruiting 10,000 additional police and tripling the use of stop-and-search powers. The proposal would give the home secretary power to set binding operational priorities for forces, concentrating resources on what it regards as real crime rather than intervening only when a force is failing. Shadow home secretary […]

Officers from the MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit, supported by Northamptonshire Police, dismantled an illegal laboratory in Northampton and seized unlicensed weight-loss medicines valued at £250,000. The regulator said the site was the first illicit production facility for weight-loss drugs discovered in the UK and described the operation as the largest single seizure of trafficked weight-loss medicines by a law enforcement agency worldwide. The raid also uncovered tens of thousands of […]

An Ethiopian asylum seeker was accidentally released from prison and was last seen in the London area, police said. Hadush Kebatu, 38, had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping while serving a 12-month sentence imposed in September for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Officers urged anyone who spots him to call 999. Essex Police handed the manhunt to the Metropolitan Police after Kebatu was seen disembarking […]

John Swinney, the Scottish Government's deputy first minister, has accused Westminster of failing Scots as thousands prepare to join the Scotland Demands Better march in Edinburgh. The demonstration, organised by the Poverty Alliance and announced at the STUC congress earlier this year, will begin at Holyrood and move to the Meadows for a rally. Swinney offered best wishes to those taking part and argued that many people are living in […]