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  • Paul Danan, Hollyoaks and Love Island star, dies aged 46

    Hollyoaks actor and Love Island star Paul Danan has died aged 46.

  • Last week was the ‘busiest yet’ for the NHS this winter

    NHS England said almost one in seven occupied hospital beds (13,585) were taken up patients who were medically fit to be discharged.

  • Airlines including Lufthansa cautiously plan to resume some Middle East flights

    Germany's Lufthansa Group is set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel from Feb. 1 and Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route on Thursday, the companies said following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Many Western carriers cancelled flights to swaths of the Middle East in recent months, including Beirut and Tel Aviv, as conflict tore across the region. Airlines also avoided Iraqi and Iranian airspace out of fear of getting accidentally caught in drone or missile warfare.

  • London stocks extend gains as markets eye Fed rate path

    Aerospace and defence gained 2.1%, with Roll-Royce up 2.5% after Morgan Stanley increased its price target on the engineering firm. Thursday's gains added to the main indexes' more than 1% jump in the previous session, when official data showed British inflation slowing unexpectedly last month and core measures of price growth - tracked by the Bank of England - falling more sharply. This development is likely to be welcomed by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves after a market sell-off earlier in the month in response to the announcement of significant tax increases for businesses.

  • Middle East latest: Netanyahu says Cabinet won't meet over ceasefire until Hamas drops new demands

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages until Hamas backs down from what it called a “last minute crisis.” Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt “to extort last minute concessions.” The Israeli Cabinet was set to ratify the deal Thursday.

  • Suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury pleads guilty to assault by beating after punching man

    Suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury has pleaded guilty to assault by beating after punching a man in Cheshire. The Runcorn and Helsby MP appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court on Thursday morning accused of attacking 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Main Street, Frodsham, Cheshire, in October. CCTV footage showed Amesbury, who has been an MP since 2017, punching Mr Fellows on the ground.

  • Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launches New Glenn into orbit on first test flight

    Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin has successfully launched its rocket into orbit on its first test flight. New Glenn - described by Blue Origin as a "giant, reusable rocket" and designed for a minimum of 25 flights - was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early on Thursday morning. Coming after a planned launch on Monday was delayed over a build-up of ice on the spacecraft, all seven of the rocket's main engines successfully fired at lift-off at 2.03am (7.03am in the UK).

  • UK gives the go-ahead for vertical rocket launch

    Britain gave the green light to Rocket Factory Augsburg to launch satellites from a site in northern Scotland on Thursday, potentially paving the way for regular commercial space missions from European soil. Following the granting of the licence, German company RFA's 30 metre tall rocket has permission to take satellites into orbit. Britain has for years been looking to add launch capabilities to its booming space industry which employs over 45,000 and builds more satellites than anywhere outside the United States.

  • PM warns it will take time to revive economy after weaker-than-expected growth

    The Office for National Statistics estimated the UK economy grew in November by 0.1% after falling by 0.1% in both September and October.

  • Kyrgyz lender Keremet Bank to appeal after being hit with US sanctions

    Kyrgyz lender Keremet Bank on Thursday said it would challenge a decision by the U.S. Treasury to impose sanctions on it for allegedly creating a hub for trade payments and helping Russia to evade restrictions. The United States on Wednesday imposed hundreds of sanctions targeting Russia, seeking to increase pressure on Moscow to halt its military action in Ukraine in the Biden administration's final days, including on firms such as Keremet in Kyrgyzstan and others in China it accused of helping Moscow evade sanctions. "The bank will apply to OFAC (U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control) to appeal," Keremet Bank said in a statement.

  • Investigation into killer over reported murder rap

    Reports in the Sun suggest the murder of schoolboy Jimmy Mizen was referenced in rap lyrics.

  • P.E.I. gas, heating oil, diesel prices jumps up in unscheduled change

    P.E.I.'s Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission announced an increase in the prices of gas, heating oil, and diesel overnight, one day ahead of the regular weekly price review.The minimum price at the pump for regular gasoline rose by 4.5 cents per litre to $1.75. The minimum price of diesel at the pump increased by 9 cents per litre to $2.03. The maximum price for heating oil went up by 7 cents per litre to $1.42.The prices for all three have been rising since the start of the year.Compared t

  • Man tempts fate by walking on thin ice

    This is the hilarious moment a man bets his brother that he won't be able to stand on a frozen river in Ireland on January 10, because the ice is too thin. As it turns out, it was.

  • Who are the Gladiators? Line-up in full as two new stars join cast

    Gladiators is welcoming two new stars, Cyclone and Hammer, to the series two cast.

  • MP Mike Amesbury admits assaulting a man in late-night street altercation

    Mike Amesbury pleaded guilty to assault from the dock at Chester magistrates court

  • Paul Danan dies aged 46: Tributes pour in for Love Island and Hollyoaks star

    The Hollyoaks star appeared in the original series of Celebrity Love Island in 2005, as well as Celebrity Big Brother in 2017

  • Wife Finds Dead Husband Buried Under 3 Feet of Snow After He Failed to Check-In Following Colo. Avalanche

    The man "may have been buried for more than four hours," an official report stated on Wednesday, Jan. 15

  • Global unemployment set to hold near historical low of 5%, ILO says

    Global unemployment remained steady last year at an historical low of 5%, where it is set to stay in 2025, the International Labour Organization said in a report on Thursday. However, the Geneva-based body said that a global economic slowdown from 3.3% to around 3.2% last year, and a gradual deceleration over the medium term, will limit job creation. "The global economy continues to expand at a moderate rate, but it is projected to gradually lose steam, preventing a stronger and more durable labour market recovery," the ILO flagship report on global employment and social trends said.

  • Oil retreats slightly after boost from US crude draw, Russia sanctions

    LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell back slightly on Thursday, a day after settling at multi-month highs on the latest U.S. sanctions on Russia and a larger-than-forecast fall in U.S. crude stocks. Brent crude futures were down 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.66 per barrel by 1042 GMT, after rising 2.6% in the previous session to their highest since July 26 last year. U.S. crude oil stocks fell last week to their lowest since April 2022 as exports rose and imports fell, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

  • Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC posts 57% surge in profit thanks to the AI boom

    HONG KONG (AP) — Taiwan computer chip maker TSMC reported Thursday that its profit in the last quarter rose 57%, buoyed by the artificial intelligence boom.