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UK news

"I'm so happy I don't know what to say," he said. "My life has just begun again. Before I didn't have hope, but now by God's grace I can move forward with my life."

The government has given the airport the go ahead on plans that have been in the works since 2021. The airport's planning application was initially rejected but it was told that the project would be approved the project if the changes addressing noise mitigation and public transport to and from the airport were addressed. A government source told the PA news agency: 'The Transport Secretary has cleared Gatwick expansion for take-off. With capacity constraints holding back business, trade and tourism, this is a no-brainer for growth.'

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has apologised after investigations by an independent reviewer, Angus McCullough KC, revealed that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) retained copies of the data on its computer system more than six years after it should have been deleted under a court agreement. Boutcher commissioned McCullough to carry out an independent review - which is due to report this week - into allegations that the PSNI had placed journalists, lawyers and non-government organisations under unlawful surveillance.

Surrey have added India spinner Rahul Chahar to their squad for the last County Championship game of the season with the league title going down to the wire.

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) recently reported that the UK has lost three venues a week in the past three months, seven in 10 venues are failing to make a profit and a quarter of towns and cities that had nightclubs in 2020 now have none. Alcohol duties are going up, bills are going up, yet drinking habits and attendances have dropped, he says.

Vodafone was warned by its franchisees four years ago that commission cuts were having a "massive impact" on their mental health, long before dozens of small business owners launched a £120 million High Court case against the company. In a 2020 survey conducted weeks after Vodafone reduced fees paid to franchisees for selling its products and services, participants reported suffering stress, anxiety and depression. The cut followed months of uncertainty caused by the Covid pandemic.

The move underscores the growing cost of the industry-wide scandal as regulators prepare a formal redress scheme. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expected to outline shortly how it will compensate millions of consumers caught up in the mis-selling of discretionary commission arrangements - deals that rewarded car dealers with higher commissions if customers paid higher interest rates on finance. The practice, banned in 2021, has been under investigation since January 2024.

Alexander Loxton, who played the character of the older Billy in the hit West End musical as well as dancing with the Royal Ballet and performing at Buckingham Palace for the late Queen's 80th birthday, says he suffered a career-wrecking ankle ligament injury during an unjustified stop-and-search by Met Police in September 2016. The 36-year-old has now ditched his dreams of reaching the top as a dancer and told a judge he is currently working in security

I recognise that, one, I'd like to see the number of prison officers increase, and we're only going to achieve that if prison officers feel secure, and there is a cohort of violent, pernicious prisoners with malevolent intent," he said. "I think I'm hoping, under my watch, we'll see stability in the system, so we won't need emergency measures.

Artists in Britain have customised St George's flags with messages celebrating diversity, in response to a campaign in which national banners have been flown from lamp-posts, outside homes and painted on roundabouts. While for many, flying the flag is a genuine expression of national pride, some flags have been graffitied on businesses and places of worship belonging to minority ethnic Britons, in some cases with slurs, after the launch of the operation raise the colours.

And after England bowled first in the final Twenty20 international against Ireland, he jarred a knee while taking a catch in the deep, forcing him off the field and bringing into question what role he would play in the chase. But a grimacing knock was also a welcome one: Cox struck his first international half-century in a successful chase of 155, securing England a comfy six-wicket victory and a 2-0 series win.

I've always said my superpower is not being part of that [2022] because it means I don't carry that on my shoulders and that gives a different perspective on this tournament. It doesn't matter who we are playing, it will be the exact same energy, the exact same emphasis. We just have to remember it's 80 minutes of rugby, it's what we love, so let's go out there and give it everything. We've got one last chance to change the game in England.

Yet perhaps it's time we ask not only why aren't women having babies?, but also why aren't men? Men are largely invisible in the birthrate debate. It's ironic that amid all the pontificating and the policy ideas for encouraging more women to have babies a conversation often being had by men the other half of humanity is strikingly underexamined. Part of the problem is an absence of data: like many European countries, we don't really have any on male fertility.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US

She was loved and admired across the globe for her steadfast devotion to duty, borne with grace, decency and restraint.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

In a statement relating to the latest incident, a Metropolitan police spokesperson said: On Friday 29 August an officer reported seeing racist graffiti inside Charing Cross police station. Specifically, the graffiti was in a toilet area accessible to officers, staff and other people with access to that part of the building. An investigation was immediately opened into a hate crime and is being carried out in liaison with the directorate of professional standards.

Confidence among Millennials (28-43) fell dramatically this month, as their expectations for both the economy and their own finances fell by double digits. The same generation also cut spending expectations for the months ahead, though this was largely offset by improvements for Gen Z, who remain the most optimistic. Worries about the Budget, combined with the increase in the cost of living, have eroded confidence, with little sign that inflation will come down soon.

A Blackburn tour operator has been jailed for more than two years after fraudulently securing two £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loans, despite companies only being entitled to one. Raja Imtiaz, 52, of London Road, Blackburn, dishonestly obtained the loans in June and July 2020 on behalf of his company, Al Fayroz Travel & Tourism Limited. Investigations by the Insolvency Service found he had falsely declared on his second application that it was the firm's only request, even though he had already received the first payment.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has had its busiest summer since the extreme heat of 2022, with 83 wildfires in the capital between June and August. This was more than the summers of 2023 and 2024 combined, although was much lower than the 161 wildfires recorded in summer 2022. The most significant fire saw 25 fire engines and about 125 firefighters called to a grass fire in Dagenham on 14 July, at the height of the third heatwave of the year.

"We probably got what we deserved last season. We weren't the team we wanted to be and there's a lot of promising signs so far,"

The restoration of Richmond station to its early Art Deco grandeur has been completed, with original features repaired and lost features replicated in modern materials. The Art Deco gem first opened in 1937, designed by the Southern Railway team led by chief architect James Robb Scott. In the decades since, alterations and weathering had degraded its elegant appearance and distinctive architectural details.

A senior detective said cracking the covert messaging platform EncroChat was pivotal in securing convictions against members of an organised crime group who planned to smuggle 48m worth of cocaine into Europe. The gang was involved in the plot to smuggle 600kg (94st 6lb) of the Class A drug on a yacht that was being used in a transatlantic sailing race. The ringleaders - Lee McClenaghan and Lea Talbot, both from Essex - admitted their involvement and were imprisoned for 30 and 23 years respectively.

I'm so touched and grateful to receive this prize. I truly loved writing Intermezzo and it means the world to me to think that it has found some small place in the lives of its readers. Thank you. I wish that I could be with you this evening to accept the honour in person, but because of my support for non-violent anti-war protest, I'm advised that I can no longer safely enter the UK without potentially facing arrest.

Through our recent national security casework, we're seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as 'proxies' being recruited by foreign intelligence services. Indeed, two young British men are awaiting sentencing after they were recruited by the Wagner Group - effectively the Russian state - to carry out an arson at Ukrainian-linked warehouse. They are facing potentially lengthy custodial sentences, although, to be clear, today's arrests are in no way connected to that investigation.

Two suspected members of the Scattered Spider cybercrime collective have been arrested and charged in the United Kingdom following an investigation into the hack of Transport for London (TfL) last year. The National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Thursday that Thalha Jubair, 19, from East London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, had been arrested at their homes at lunchtime on Tuesday.

Both Flowers and Jubair were arrested at their homes at around lunchtime, in quick succession, on September 16, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said, which worked to secure charges against the pair on Wednesday, alongside City of London Police. From there, they were held in different custody blocks and interviewed, including questioning related to offences separate from the TfL attack.