Author: UK News

Summary of the Metro Newspaper Metro front page this morning – summarisedThe front page of the Metro leads with the accused killer of US healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Luigi Nicholas Mangione made his first court appearance yesterday – and had a fiery exchange with reporters. Luigi Nicholas Mangione arrived yelling in court for a hearing on the murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson and left pouting.Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, Mangione, 26, shouted and struggled with police officers who led him to the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon for his extradition hearing.One photo showed two cops restraining Mangione against a brick…

England’s new towns must be walkable and green, say campaigners Thinktank founder says recent attempts to build new towns are ‘depressing, unsustainable and stupid’Labour should build 12 new towns in England that are not car-dependent or built on flood plains, a former government adviser has said in a report.A detailed plan for a dozen new towns, proposed by thinktanks Britain Remade and Create Streets, would mean 550,000 well-designed and appropriately located homes. The new homes would boost the economy by £13-28bn annually by improving access to high-paying jobs in well-connected cities, according to the report. Continue reading… England’s new towns…

International news continues to dominate the UK newspaper front pages this morning as events across the Middle East continue to unfold as do updates into the shooting death of American healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In domestic news, the government has plans to open 14,000 more prison places and government departments have recommended a pay rise of 2.8% for millions of public sector workers including teachers, NHS staff and senior civil servants next year.

Last night’s Champions League matches make the back pages with Liverpool’s 1-0 win – continuing their perfect start to the campaign – leading most sports pages.

The Independent Front Page 11/12/2024 

Shelter condemns ‘shocking’ 14% rise in homelessness across England Charity says soaring private rents, rising evictions and lack of affordable social housing are to blame Soaring private rents, rising evictions and a chronic lack of affordable social housing have led to homelessness in England increasing by 14%, research from Shelter reveals. The charity described its latest figures as “shocking” and “astounding”. They are contained in a report that estimates that on any given night more than 354,000 people in England are homeless, which is one in 160 people. That includes 161,500 children. An estimated 326,000 people, most of them families…

A white Christmas could be on the cards for some people across the UK this year, as the Met Office forecasts snow over the festive period.

Hundreds of thousands hit by ruinous carer’s allowance penalties, audit shows Campaigners say NAO report shows the impact of DWP staffing decisions and failure to address flaws in the benefit’s design Hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers were hit with ruinous penalties for minor breaches of carer’s allowance rules in the five years after senior welfare officials promised to fix the scandal-hit benefit, an official audit has revealed. Campaigners said the National Audit Office (NAO) report highlighted the scale of the misery and hardship inflicted on carers over the period as well as the extent of the failure by the…

The Department for Infrastructure has said using public transport is “not usually a viable option” for minister John O’Dowd, despite urging members of the public to use buses and trains in a bid to prevent traffic congestion in Belfast.Mr O’Dowd and spokespeople for his department have made several statements in recent weeks encouraging people to use public transport as complaints around city centre traffic become louder.Belfast city centre has seen significant periods of traffic congestion since the opening of the new £340m Grand Central Station in October.The Stormont department has outlined a number of measures it is taking to address…

A federal judge has rejected the sale of the conspiracy platform Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet.The ruling comes after Infowars’ Alex Jones claimed a recent bankruptcy auction was fraught with illegal collusion.The Onion was named the winning bidder on November 14 over a company affiliated with Jones, but Judge Christopher Lopez’s decision means Mr Jones can stay at Infowars in Austin, Texas.You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them.The Onion had planned to kick him out and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody.At the end of a lengthy two-day hearing in a…

The Government has said it will build four new prisons within the next seven years in a bid to grip the overcrowding crisis. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) promised to find a total of 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031. Some 6,400 of these will be at newly built prisons, with £2.3 billion towards the cost over the next two years. The remaining places will be found by measures including building new wings at existing jails, or by refurbishing cells currently out of action, and an extra £500 million will go towards “vital building maintenance”, the department said on…

An official says South Korea’s former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun attempted to kill himself but failed to do so. Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told politicians on Wednesday that Mr Kim tried to kill himself at a detention centre in Seoul. He said his suicide attempt failed after centre officials stepped in and he is in a stable condition. At the same parliament committee meeting, justice minister Park Sung Jae confirmed the failed suicide attempt Mr Kim was arrested earlier on Wednesday after a Seoul court approved a warrant for him on allegations of…

Anglesey campaigners hail victory in long-running footpath access row Planning and Environment Decisions Wales allowed an appeal over the route said to have been ‘used for decades’ Anglesey campaigners who fought to get a popular footpath officially recognised have won their appeal for public access. Dr Nick Stuart and Gareth Phillips claimed that the Llangoed route had been used for generations before gates on the path were padlocked. The pair, from Llangoed, had battled for years to win back use of the path, which runs across land near Lleiniog beach to the back of the 11th century castle, Castell Aberlleiniog.…

A London bus had a lucky miss when a gas explosion destroyed a house just as it approached this afternoon. The blast blew off the roof and sent glass and bricks flying across Ley Street in Ilford, east London, as a bus and cars were driving down. In footage posted on the Instagram page ‘ig1ig3’, one pedestrian was seen running to avoid the spray of debris from shattered windows. Firefighters rescued two people from a first floor window before they were taken to hospital. Five others escaped neighbouring properties. The entire ground floor, first floor and loft conversion of the…

UK politics live: Farage denies Reform UK now party for millionaires, as Nick Candy pledges at least £1m Billionaire property developer appointed treasurer after defecting to party from the ToriesRachel Reeves has rejected Lib Dem criticism (see 10.33am) that she is neglecting social care. She told broadcasters:For our NHS to work effectively we need a social care system that works.That’s why, at the budget, I put £600m into investment in social care.High quality early education is the cornerstone of our promise to ensure tens of thousands of children are school ready every year, as part of the government’s plan for…

UK would like to facilitate return of refugees to Syria, says minister The Home Office would like to facilitate the return of refugees to Syria, a minister has said, saying about 6,500 asylum claims had been suspended as the government waited to assess the fallout from the end of the Assad regime. The immigration minister Angela Eagle said many refugees had been fleeing from the persecution and torture inflicted by Bashar al-Assad’s regime and said that if people wished to return to Syria from the UK “we’d certainly like to facilitate that”. Asked whether leave to remain would continue for…

Referee David Coote sacked after Klopp comments and second video allegations David Coote has had his contract as a Premier League referee terminated after an investigation into his off-field behaviour. The refereeing body PGMOL said Coote had been found to be “in serious breach” of his terms of employment and had been removed from his position with immediate effect. The investigation found against Coote on two key claims that emerged in November, part of a series of leaks that claimed to involve the 42-year-old. The first related to a video leaked online that showed Coote making foul-mouthed comments about the…

The UK – along with other European countries – has announced they will pause asylum applications from Syria after the country’s President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the situation was “moving extremely fast after the fall of the Assad regime” and some people were returning to Syria following recent developments.

Germany will tighten its law to make it easier to prosecute those helping to smuggle migrants to the UK, as part of a new plan agreed between the two countries.

Several new photos from Gavin and Stacey have been released ahead of the sitcom’s upcoming final episode. A new promo image features James Corden as Smithy, alongside Ruth Jones as Nessa, Mathew Horne as Gavin, and Joanna Page as Stacey on Trinity Street in Barry. The final episode will air on BBC One on Christmas Day.

Summary of Western Mail Newspaper Western Mail front page this morning – summarisedThe front page of Western Mail reports the upcoming Gavin & Stacey Christmas special has been labelled a ‘masterpiece’. Gavin And Stacey star Mathew Horne has said the show’s Christmas special will be “nothing short of a masterpiece”.The 46-year-old, who plays Gavin Shipman in the series, said the script for the sitcom’s final episode made him laugh and cry, and said the finished product “hasn’t disappointed”.A woman was attacked by two XL Bully dogs after they ran up to her in the street and tried to grab hold of…

Remaining cloudy in England and Wales, with showers becoming confined to the south coast. Drier with sunny spells for Northern Ireland and Scotland, though frost and fog persisting through the morning. Feeling chilly with lighter winds than recent days. Tonight: Largely cloudy across England, Wales and Shetland with a few scattered showers. Patchy freezing fog redeveloping for Scotland and Northern Ireland with a widespread frost under prolonged cloud breaks.

Summary of The National Newspaper The National front page this morning – summarisedThe front page of The National reports McFadden says seizure of Golan Heights buffer zone is defensive move SNP demand Lammy explain how he can ‘legally justify’ strikes.ISRAEL has the right to bomb Syria in the wake of the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to the UK Government.Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has backed Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s bombing campaign in the Middle Eastern country, which has been captured by rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).Syria finds itself in an…

Hundreds of trials derailed by failure to get defendants to court on time Number of trials in England and Wales declared ‘ineffective’ because of delays has almost trebled under contracts Serco and GeoAmey Hundreds of trials are being derailed because prison vans fail to transport the defendant to court on time, figures show. A Guardian analysis found 207 crown court trials in England and Wales were declared “ineffective” in 2023 – meaning they were postponed on the day – because the prison escort and custody service (Pecs) failed to produce the accused. That figure was up 44% on the year…

Tuesday’s front pages continue coverage of the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad including the UK suspending Syrian asylum claims.

In domestic news, the stabbing death of a young London girl features on several tabloid front pages, as well as the sacking of a Premier League referee. 

The back pages continue Premier League coverage.

Summary of The Irish News Newspaper The Irish News front page this morning – summarisedThe front page of The Irish News front page reports on housing fraud. The latest report from Northern Ireland’s Comptroller and Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville, examined central government accounts for 2023-24. It found that the NI Housing Executive estimated a total of £21.1m of fraud and error for housing benefit expenditure – up from £12.7m in 2022-23.Michelle O’Neill has defended the executive’s record on bringing forth legislation since February’s restoration of the institutions but conceded that “some slippage” will occur with certain bills.The death has been announced of former Tyrone GAA…

Summary of The Guardian Newspaper The Guardian front page this morning – summarisedExclusive: The Guardian gains access to Sednaya jail, where prisoners are rumoured to be trapped underground – as desperate relatives wait for news.The celebrations in Damascus were interrupted by a whisper.On the outskirts of the city, a door had been found. Beyond it lay a vast underground complex, five storeys deep, containing the last prisoners of the Assad regime, who were gasping for air.The UK and other European countries have said they will suspend the processing of asylum applications from Syrians after the fall of the Assad regime…

Summary of Metro Newspaper Metro front page this morning – summarisedThe Metro front page leads on the stabbing death of a London girl.Elianne Andam was killed by Hassan Sentamu, 18, who lashed out in a fit of ‘white-hot anger’ in Croydon Town Centre in September 2023, the Old Bailey was told. He was meeting Elianne’s friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to hand over belongings following a break-up. But jurors heard Sentamu stabbed Elianne in the neck after she went with her friend and tried to take back a bag he had been given.  Latest News updated every…