General news

• Tyson Fury will not face police action over hate crime claims

  10-12-2015 22:44
  
  World heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury will face no police action over allegations he committed a hate crime.
  
  Read more

• Simon Cowell delighted as Adele leads 'best of British' lineup on X Factor final

  10-12-2015 22:44
  
  Simon Cowell says Adele agreeing to perform during the X Factor final is "the best news I've had all year".
  
  Read more

• Government delays decision on airport expansion, again

  10-12-2015 22:17
  
  By Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - The government delayed on Thursday the politically-charged decision on where to build a new airport runway, prompting angry business leaders to accuse David Cameron's government of putting short-term politics over the long-term national interest. The Prime Minister had promised to say by the end of the year whether he backed a 23-billion-pound runway at Heathrow Airport after a 3-year independent review named the site in densely populated west London as the pref
  
  Read more

• Becky Watts Killer Appeals Against Convictions

  10-12-2015 22:15
  
  The woman who killed Bristol teenager Becky Watts is appealing against her convictions and sentence. Shauna Hoare, 21, is serving 17 years in prison for the manslaughter of 16-year-old Becky in February. Her boyfriend Nathan Matthews, 28, was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years for murdering Becky, who was his stepsister.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Corbyn Attacked By Member Of His Shadow Cabinet

  10-12-2015 21:43
  
  A leading Shadow Cabinet moderate has issued a "sack me if you dare" challenge to Jeremy Corbyn by attacking the Labour leader's support for Stop the War and demanding the sacking of Ken Livingstone as a defence policy adviser. Amid talk of a “revenge reshuffle” after the Syria vote revolt, shadow culture secretary Michael Dugher lashed out at the left-wing Labour leader’s anti-war views and bitterly attacked Mr Corbyn’s long-time ally, the former London mayor. In a highl
  
  Read more

• Heathrow third runway decision delayed until summer 2016

  10-12-2015 21:35
  
  A final decision on whether to build a new runway at Heathrow Airport has been put off until at least next summer, the Government has confirmed.
  
  Read more

• Britain secures backup electricity capacity for 2019/20

  10-12-2015 21:30
  
  (Reuters) - Britain secured backup electricity capacity for 2019/20 on Thursday, awarding contracts to power plants for 46.35 gigawatts (GW) at 18 pounds per kilowatt per year, according to the preliminary results of an auction. Details of successful bidders are expected to be published on Friday. The auction results are subject to verification. Britain's capacity market mechanism is designed to ensure backup power is available when intermittent renewable energy sources fail to produce electrici
  
  Read more

• Decision On Airport Expansion Delayed Again

  10-12-2015 20:30
  
  The Government has delayed making a decision on airport expansion until at least next summer. The announcement came after Prime Minister David Cameron discussed the controversial issue with senior Cabinet ministers. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said there was a "clear" case for airport expansion, "but it's vitally important we get the decision right so that it will benefit generations to come".
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Best Director Oscar would be wonderful says Tarantino at Hateful Eight premiere

  10-12-2015 20:22
  Quentin Tarantino has said he does not make the kind of film that sweeps the board at the Oscars - but a Best Director award would be "wonderful".
  
  Read more

• Government delays decision on airport expansion

  10-12-2015 20:20
  
  The government said on Thursday it needed to carry out a further environmental study before deciding where to build a new runway, further delaying the politically charged-decision. The government said in a statement it accepted the recommendation of an independent commission that Britain needed further airport capacity but added it wanted a further study into the environmental impact. Prime Minister David Cameron, who had promised a decision by the end of the year, will now make a decision next
  
  Read more

• Heathrow third runway decision postponed until summer 2016

  10-12-2015 20:18
  
  A final decision on whether to build a new runway at Heathrow Airport has been put off until at least next summer "subject to further consideration on environmental impacts and the best possible mitigation measures", the Government said.
  
  Read more

• Adele says Hello to BBC Music Awards double

  10-12-2015 19:55
  
  Adele's 2015 success streak shows no sign of slowing after she won two prestigious gongs at the BBC Music Awards.
  
  Read more

• Charity fundraiser Ted, 8, switches on Downing Street Christmas lights

  10-12-2015 19:31
  
  The Christmas tree lights outside 10 Downing Street have been switched on by an eight-year-old boy who raised £80,000 for charity after having open heart surgery.
  
  Read more

• BoE points to new oil price fall, slower wage growth

  10-12-2015 19:06
  
  By William Schomberg and David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England remains unhurried about raising interest rates, pointing on Thursday to a new fall in oil prices and slower wage growth as it kept borrowing costs at the record low where they have sat since 2009. In minutes of its latest policy meeting which ended on Wednesday, the Bank expected the softer public spending cuts announced last month by Chancellor George Osborne would give a boost to growth next year. "With inflation no
  
  Read more

• Big Tobacco takes government to court over plain packaging

  10-12-2015 19:05
  
  By Martinne Geller LONDON (Reuters) - Big Tobacco took the British government to court on Thursday, arguing that the UK's "plain packaging" law, which will take effect next May, unlawfully takes away its intellectual property. Companies including Philip Morris International , British American Tobacco , Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Tobacco Group are challenging the legislation because it will prohibit all forms of branding on tobacco packaging, including colours and logos. The rule, k
  
  Read more

• Second clean-up takes place as Cumbrian village flooded again

  10-12-2015 18:59
  
  A second clean-up operation has taken place in the Cumbrian village of Glenridding which was flooded again after the weekend deluge cut it off from the world for three days.
  
  Read more

• Petition to ban Donald Trump from UK over Muslim comments nears 500,000

  10-12-2015 18:58
  
  An online petition to ban US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has become the most popular on the Government's website as it soared towards half a million signatures.
  
  Read more

• Kate moved by ex-alcoholic mother's story on addiction counselling centre visit

  10-12-2015 18:58
  
  The Duchess of Cambridge has been moved by the story of a recovering alcoholic mother who has turned her life around with help from a charity of which Kate is patron.
  
  Read more

• Teachers and health workers among 682 arrested in online child abuse probe

  10-12-2015 18:02
  
  Teachers, medical staff and law enforcement officials are among hundreds of suspected paedophiles arrested in a nationwide crackdown on internet child abuse images, it has been revealed.
  
  Read more

• Girls raped and used as prostitutes, Rotherham abuse trial told

  10-12-2015 17:59
  
  Teenage girls in Rotherham were repeatedly raped, beaten, passed between abusers and used as prostitutes, a court has heard.
  
  Read more

• TV's Nicky Campbell and Yorkshire Tour de France chief honoured by Charles

  10-12-2015 17:54
  
  TV presenter Nicky Campbell and the man who brought the Tour De France to Yorkshire were among those who received honours from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.
  
  Read more

• US Embassy Worker Admits Hacking Women's Photos

  10-12-2015 17:41
  
  A former employee of the US embassy in London has admitted orchestrating an international cyber hacking operation to steal explicit images of women. The Justice Department said that Michael Ford, 36, from Atlanta admitted to using aliases for two years to "sextort" victims while he was based in London.
  
  Read more

• Two Men Charged Over Crash That Killed Four

  10-12-2015 17:33
  
  A man has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a crash in which four people were killed. Phillip John Potter, 19, of Dauntsey, Wiltshire, has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Matthew Gordon, 29, also of Dauntsey, has been charged with two counts of aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring/aiding and abetting cause death by dangerous driving.
  
  Read more

• What Are The Chances Of A White Christmas?

  10-12-2015 17:32
  
  A white Christmas is on the cards - if you live on northern hills. For the rest of the UK, rain and strong or even gale-force winds appears more likely over the holiday season than a festive dusting of snow. A longer-term forecast issued by the Met Office for the Christmas period and into the New Year said it "seems more likely than not" that the unsettled weather of November and early December would continue.
  
  Read more

• Becky Watts killer Shauna Hoare appeals against convictions and sentence

  10-12-2015 17:29
  
  The killer of teenager Becky Watts is appealing against her convictions and sentence.
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump: UK has a massive Muslim problem

  10-12-2015 17:28
  
  US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has claimed the UK has a "massive Muslim problem" as a petition to bar him from visiting Britain topped 400,000 signatures.
  
  Read more

• David Cameron and ministers to discuss third Heathrow runway

  10-12-2015 17:21
  
  Ministers will meet tonight to decide how to respond to recommendations that a third runway should be built at Heathrow.
  
  Read more

• Eddie Redmayne and Leonardo DiCaprio go head to head at Golden Globes

  10-12-2015 16:57
  
  Eddie Redmayne will go head to head with 10-times nominee Leonardo DiCaprio at the Golden Globes, just a year after his win for The Theory Of Everything.
  
  Read more

• 682 suspected paedophiles held in online child abuse probe in nine months

  10-12-2015 16:57
  
  Nearly 700 suspected paedophiles have been arrested in nationwide operations targeting online child abuse images.
  
  Read more

• Dinosaurs stirring - UK's hypermarkets show signs of life

  10-12-2015 16:55
  
  All of Britain's big four grocery chains – market leader Tesco , Sainsbury's , Wal-Mart's Asda and Morrisons – have seen sales, profits and asset values hammered by a price war, sparked by changing consumer habits. One of the biggest drags has been the mega stores of up to 120,000 square feet that sprung up in the 1990s but were deserted during the economic downturn as shoppers chose more regular visits to discounters, local shops and online sites. "They're not dinosaurs," Sainsbury'
  
  Read more

• Concerns For Wildlife Blamed For Flooding

  10-12-2015 16:36
  
  People in the Cumbrian village of Glenridding have blamed the Environment Agency for the flooding that devastated their homes - saying wildlife is being put before the lives of residents. Local river Glenridding Beck burst its banks again, as people were beginning to clean up after the floods and landslides caused by Storm Desmond at the weekend. Resident Carl Scrivens said he was "heartbroken" by the damage.
  
  Read more

• Teenage Cadet Keeps Tradition Alive By Recreating Dad And Grandad’s Fire Brigade Pictures

  10-12-2015 16:24
  
  Teenager Owen Gunn joined the London Fire Brigade as a cadet, following in the footsteps of the two generations that came before him in a journey that begun 50 years ago
  
  Read more

• Human Remains Identified As Missing Woman's

  10-12-2015 16:16
  
  Human remains found in a garden are those of a woman who disappeared more than 12 years ago, police have confirmed. Natalia Doherty, 50, was last seen in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on 15 April 2003. Officers discovered parts of a skeleton when they searched the garden of a house in Icknield Way in Luton, Bedfordshire.
  
  Read more

• Nearly 700 Suspected Paedophiles Arrested

  10-12-2015 15:49
  
  Nearly 700 suspected paedophiles have been arrested over the last nine months, the National Crime Agency has said. Around one in seven of those detained were held "positions of trust" - including people working in teaching, medical roles, law enforcement, criminal justice and government. The NCA said it had worked with 40 police forces to detain a total of 682 people on suspicion of accessing indecent images of children.
  
  Read more

• Missed NHS Targets Spark Winter Pressure Fears

  10-12-2015 15:49
  
  The NHS in England may struggle to cope this winter because of bed blockages and lengthy waiting times at A&E, it has been suggested. Around 92.3% of patients were seen at A&E within four hours of arrival in October, the lowest figure for the month since records started in 2010 and lower than a target of 95%, said the Nuffield Trust. In total, more than 1,923,000 attended A&E in October - that included more than 479,000 emergency admissions, a 2.1% increase on October last year.
  
  Read more

• Sunderland footballer Duncan Watmore picks up first class degree at Newcastle

  10-12-2015 15:43
  
  An England under 21 footballer who became only the second player in the Premier League to graduate with first class honours has thanked his "awesome" club and tutors.
  
  Read more

• Rotherham abuse trial told girls 'raped, beaten and passed between men'

  10-12-2015 15:24
  
  Teenage girls in Rotherham were repeatedly raped, beaten, passed between abusers and used as prostitutes, a court has heard.
  
  Read more

• Ashtead chief says 'Brexit' would damage UK talent pool

  10-12-2015 15:22
  
  By Li-mei Hoang LONDON (Reuters) - A British vote to leave the European Union would damage its ability to attract the best talent from around the world, the boss of industrial equipment hire group Ashtead said. Prime Minister David Cameron has promised a referendum by the end of 2017 on whether Britain should stay in the EU, whose policies in favour of the free movement of labour have allowed thousands of workers to come to Britain from less affluent countries such as Poland. Ashtead chief Geoff
  
  Read more

• Puppy Bought For Little Boy After Surviving Heart Attack Is Cruelly Snatched By Thief

  10-12-2015 15:12
  
  "He misses her a lot - every day he says to me, ‘can we go and catch the man? I want my baby back’.”
  
  Read more

• Viking Hoard Found By Man With Metal Detector

  10-12-2015 15:11
  
  A hoard of Viking jewellery and Saxon coins has been found in a field in Oxfordshire by a man with a metal detector. The Watlington hoard has been declared "nationally significant" because of the light it sheds on a period of Saxon history. Among the items found by James Mather in Watlington in October were Viking arm rings, silver ingots and coins from the Midland Saxon kingdom of Mercia.
  
  Read more

• Jail for detective who faked results of forensic tests in sex crime inquiries

  10-12-2015 15:08
  
  A disorganised and attention-seeking detective who faked forensic test results in sex crime investigations to reduce his workload has been jailed for two years.
  
  Read more

• PM Cameron to chair ministers' meeting on Heathrow expansion

  10-12-2015 15:07
  
  British Prime Minister David Cameron will chair a meeting of senior government ministers later on Thursday to discuss whether to back expanding Heathrow Airport, his spokesman said. Earlier this year, a government-appointed commission recommended the 23 billion pound plan for Heathrow, and while Cameron has promised a verdict by the end of the year, he is now expected to delay giving final approval. Cameron's spokesman said the British leader would hold a meeting of the government's airports com
  
  Read more

• Shia LaBeouf Takes Calls At Liverpool Gallery

  10-12-2015 14:25
  
  Shia LaBeouf has taken his form of art to Liverpool for a new project where he is taking calls from members of the public. The Hollywood star's project, #TOUCHMYSOUL, started at the Fact Gallery at 11am where he and two of his collaborators have set up their own call centre. LaBeouf, with Finnish artist Nastja Sade Ronkko and Briton Luke Turner, will be at their desks from 11am to 6pm for the next four days.
  
  Read more

• British terrorism arrests rise as more women held

  10-12-2015 14:22
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Arrests on suspicion of terror offences in Britain rose by a third in the year just ended, partly due to more women and girls being detained, official figures showed on Thursday.
  
  Read more

• Facebook vice-president gets 'like' from Charles as she picks up CBE

  10-12-2015 14:06
  
  Facebook's most powerful female executive in the UK used the opportunity of receiving a CBE to plan a future social media collaboration with the Prince of Wales.
  
  Read more

• Bank of England points to new oil price fall, slower wage growth

  10-12-2015 13:47
  
  By William Schomberg and David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England remains unhurried about raising interest rates, pointing on Thursday to a new fall in oil prices and slower wage growth as it kept borrowing costs at the record low where they have sat since 2009. In minutes of its latest policy meeting which ended on Wednesday, the Bank expected the softer public spending cuts announced last month by Chancellor George Osborne would give a boost to growth next year. "With inflation no
  
  Read more

• Man Dies After Being Hit By Police Van

  10-12-2015 13:25
  
  The pedestrian was hit in Isleworth, west London and taken to hospital suffering from critical injuries. Two police constables were in the van and its blue lights were on, but the siren was not in use. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Next of kin have been informed but the officers await formal identification.
  
  Read more

• Driver Killed After His Lorry Plunges 30ft Onto Pedestrian Subway

  10-12-2015 13:24
  
  The lorry had smashed through a barrier on Wakefield Road in Bradford, West Yorkshire, before falling and tragically killing the driver
  
  Read more

• Metal detectorist finds Viking treasure in Britain

  10-12-2015 13:21
  
  A hoard of Viking coins, silver and jewellery could shine new light on the history of how the Kingdom of England came to exist, after it was discovered by a British amateur metal detectorist. The 186 coins, seven pieces of jewellery and 15 silver ingots were buried around the end of the 870s AD as Anglo-Saxon kings, in what is today England, began to fight back against Viking expansion across Britain. "The hoard comes from a key moment in English history," said Gareth Williams, curator of Early
  
  Read more

• This Is What London Underground Stations Will Look Like In Future

  10-12-2015 13:14
  
  'Our stations are important public spaces; for our customers to enjoy, our staff to work in and as a defining part of what makes London great.'
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!