UK

A wealthy tech entrepreneur who got an MBE for his work has been jailed for 15 years for two rapes and a sexual assault. Lawrence Jones, 55, was convicted in January of assaulting an employee on a 2013 business trip. Last month he was found guilty in another trial of drugging and raping two women

King Charles has urged world leaders assembled in Dubai to make the COP28 climate summit a “critical turning point” in the fight to tackle global warming. “Real action” is needed to tackle the climate crisis and steer people and nations “away from practices that make our world more dangerous”, he told global leaders. He said

A doctor left paralysed from the waist down after his bike’s front forks “sheared in two” is seeking £10m in compensation. Dr Daniel Gordon, a junior doctor in Scotland, was riding down a grassy slope when his new bike’s carbon forks broke and caused him to crash in August 2020. Dr Gordon suffered life-changing spinal

England captain Owen Farrell has announced he is taking a break from international rugby. His club side Saracens said the 32-year-old was stepping back from the national side to “prioritise his and his family’s mental well-being”. It means the fly-half will not be available for selection for the 2024 Six Nations. He will continue to

Rwanda may be getting more than the £140m it has already been paid under the controversial deportation deal, despite no flights taking off, MPs have been told. Sir Matthew Rycroft, the top civil servant at the Home Office, hinted more money would be spent but repeatedly refused to disclose the sum – saying ministers had

The BBC’s current affairs programme Newsnight will be cut to 30 minutes and lose more than half its staff, the broadcaster has announced. The long-running show will continue to run on weeknights on BBC Two, but more than 30 jobs will go – including reporters, producers and operational staff. The decision means the show will

Traces of cocaine were found by police in a baby changing area during spot checks of pubs and bars. Checks were carried out by North Wales Police over the weekend at 15 premises in the lead up to the Christmas period. The tests involved using specialist drug swipe kits on surfaces in toilet areas. Ten

Patients are at risk of being under-diagnosed by GPs during consultations over the phone or online, a new study has found Researchers said mistakes via remote consultations are rare – but there is a risk GPs could miss serious conditions or that doctors are swayed by what has been said previously. They also pointed at

People in London will be able to order black cabs through Uber from early next year, the company has announced. A spokesman for the firm said a “small number” of taxi drivers have already signed up to the service and it hopes to recruit “several hundred” by January. Senior figures in the black cab industry

The UK’s largest nursing union is calling for the government to reopen pay negotiations after an offer was made to consultant doctors, in a move that has angered other health unions. The Royal College of Nursing – RCN – has suggested new strikes are “more likely in the future” as a result of yesterday’s announcement.

Spain says it’s “very close” to agreeing a deal on the post-Brexit status of Gibraltar. The country’s foreign minister made the statement after meeting Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron in Brussels at a NATO meeting. “Today we have made progress, because David Cameron has shown a willingness to reach an agreement,” Jose Manuel Albares told reporters.

A person has been taken to hospital after a crane collapsed and smashed into a building at a construction site in Edinburgh. The arm of the crane crashed into the under-construction building in Steads Place, Leith, at around 9.30am on Tuesday. The Scottish Ambulance Service sent two ambulances and its special operations teams (SORT) to

The author of Booker-Prize-winning Prophet Song, a dystopian novel about the rise of a fascist regime in Dublin, has said the energy that fuelled last week’s riots in the city “is always there”. But Paul Lynch, who was awarded the prestigious Booker Prize on Sunday, said he wasn’t trying to make predictions about the rise

Police are treating the disappearance of a golden eagle as suspicious and believe the bird has come to harm. The bird of prey, named Merrick, was last seen in the Fountainhall area of the Scottish Borders, between Heriot and Stow, on 12 October. The disappearance was reported a few days later to Police Scotland, which

Motorists are being urged to avoid puddles after a record number of breakdowns caused by potholes. The AA said it received 52,541 callouts in October for vehicles damaged by road defects, which is costing drivers an average of more than £400 in repair bills. This is the most for any October on record and represents

More wintry weather – including snow in places – is forecast for the UK later this week after temperatures dropped below freezing two nights in a row. Thermometers plunged as low as -7.7C in Shap, Cumbria, on Friday night and -5C in parts of Scotland on Saturday night. Many other parts of northern England and

Police are searching for an ex-bus driver who killed a man in a high-speed car crash after taking cocaine. Gerald Cotter was driving his Vauxhall Meriva at more than 50mph in a 30mph zone when he hit Kieron Fevrier near London‘s Olympic Park in November 2016. The 23-year-old victim was a motorcycle display team instructor.

Boris Johnson has heaped further pressure on Rishi Sunak over the UK’s “all-time high” net migration figures, as he suggested “demographic change” had led to “race riots” in Dublin. The former prime minister criticised net migration numbers released this week as “way too big” and suggested imposing a minimum income of £40,000 for those who

A secondary school teacher was forced to stop working after developing an incurable ear condition he believes was caused by surfing in sewage-polluted water. Reuben Santer told Sky News he has had “an awful nine months” after contracting Meniere’s disease, which has caused him to have severe dizzy spells and hearing loss. Politics Live: Migration

West Midlands Police will be put into special measures, inspectors have said, following a series of failings including poor investigations. His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) said the force has been moved into an enhanced level of monitoring. The force is not carrying out investigations “which lead to satisfactory results for victims”, or effectively