News 16/04/26

Sir Keir Starmer is set to bring senior leaders from major social media companies into Downing Street as part of efforts to make online platforms safer for children.

Representatives from firms including Meta, Snap, Google, TikTok and X will meet the prime minister and technology secretary. The talks come after MPs rejected a ban on under sixteens using social media for a second time, although a government consultation on further measures remains open for six weeks.

Manufacturers are calling for urgent support with energy bills after the government confirmed an expansion of a key scheme, but said it would not begin until next April.

Ministers say around ten thousand businesses will benefit from the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, with reductions of between fifteen and twenty five percent. The support includes exemptions from policy costs such as the renewables obligation and feed in tariffs, as companies face rising energy prices linked to the Middle East conflict.

Russia has carried out a wave of drone and missile strikes across Ukraine, killing at least three people.

A twelve year old boy was among those killed in Kyiv, where at least eighteen others were injured. One person also died in Dnipro, with further attacks reported elsewhere. Meanwhile in Russia, officials say two children aged five and fourteen were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Krasnodar region.

An eyewitness has described scenes of carnage following a crash involving a police car in Slough.

The two vehicle collision happened on Windsor Road outside the police station on April thirteenth. Emergency services including fire and rescue crews and an ambulance attended. Derek Taylor said he came across the aftermath at around ten twenty in the morning and described extensive damage at the scene.