An investigation is under way into the death of an offshore worker on a drilling rig in the North Sea.
Thirty two year old Lee Hulse died while working on the Valaris 121 oil platform off the coast of Aberdeen. Police Scotland were called just before 4.40 in the morning on Friday and confirmed the death is not being treated as suspicious. The Health and Safety Executive is expected to carry out its own inquiries as colleagues and family await further details about what happened on board the rig.
MPs and bereaved families have launched a new push for Graduated Driving Licences as Road Safety Week begins.
The campaign urges the government to rethink its stance as it prepares to publish its first road safety strategy in ten years. Addressing a gathering in Parliament, Kim Leadbeater MP said tougher rules for new drivers “transcend party politics” and could save lives. The new website Protect Young Drivers: Time for Change sets out the case for stronger restrictions and is backed by fire services, police and crime commissioners, motoring bodies and road safety charities.
Ukraine is set to receive up to one hundred Rafale F4 fighter jets from France along with advanced air defence systems in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called a historic agreement.
He signed a letter of intent with President Emmanuel Macron at an air base near Paris. Deliveries of the aircraft are planned to be completed by 2035, while joint production of interceptor drones will begin this year. Funding arrangements remain under discussion, with France hoping to draw on EU support and frozen Russian assets, a proposal that has divided the bloc.
The government has released a 32-page dossier detailing its full plans to reform the asylum system.
The document opens with a foreword from the prime minister, who writes that “the world has changed” and that it is “our responsibility to renew the application of those values as new challenges arise.” Sir Keir Starmer added that the global situation has become “more volatile and insecure, with increased conflict driving a significant rise in the movement of people.” He said the UK’s asylum system was not designed to cope with asylum seekers travelling through multiple safe countries before attempting to cross the English Channel by boat.
The dossier outlines how new rules aim to manage arrivals, increase removals and streamline processing across the system.
A British man who hacked the X accounts of celebrities in an attempt to scam people out of cryptocurrency has been ordered to repay £4.1 million worth of Bitcoin.
Joseph James O’Connor, 26, was jailed in the United States for five years in 2023 after pleading guilty to computer intrusion, wire fraud and extortion. Arrested in Spain in 2021, he was extradited to the US after the country’s high court ruled it was best placed to prosecute. The Crown Prosecution Service said it has now obtained a civil recovery order to seize 42 Bitcoin and other crypto assets linked to the scheme, in which O’Connor used hijacked accounts to solicit digital currency and threaten celebrities.
Cold health alerts have been issued for large swathes of the UK from midday on Monday until Saturday morning.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued an amber cold health alert for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber on Monday. A yellow cold health alert affects the rest of England.
A man who killed a father and grandfather in what a court described as a brutal and sustained attack has been jailed for life.
Jakub Nowicki was sentenced at Reading Crown Court to a mandatory life term, with a minimum of nineteen years behind bars, after being convicted of murdering Tomasz Kopec. The 40-year-old from Ascot Road, Maidenhead, was found guilty after a jury heard how he attacked Tomasz and a woman at a property on Grant Avenue in Slough. Police were called at around 6.45 am on April 25 following reports of a domestic assault at the address.
BBC chair Samir Shah has insisted there is “no basis for a defamation case” against Donald Trump, after the US president threatened to sue for between one and five billion dollars.
In a message to staff, Mr Shah said there is a lot of speculation about potential costs or settlements, but stressed the BBC’s stance remains unchanged. He said the corporation values its funding model and its responsibility to licence-fee payers, and it is prepared to fight any legal challenge.
In Bangladesh, ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death following her conviction for crimes against humanity.
The ruling comes after a lengthy trial in which she was found guilty of ordering a ruthless crackdown on a student-led uprising. Tried in her absence while exiled in India, Hasina was accused of responsibility for widespread killings. The United Nations estimates that up to 1,400 people could have died, while officials under the interim government put the confirmed death toll at more than 800, with around 14,000 injured.
An inquest has opened into the death of a nine-month-old baby in southeast Wales, following an XL bully dog attack.
The infant, Jonte William Bluck, was staying at his father’s home in Crossway, Rogiet, Monmouthshire, on 2 November, when he was bitten by the family dog. A provisional cause of death has been recorded as compressive head injury, consistent with a dog bite. Area coroner Rose Farmer confirmed that Jonte passed away at his home address.
Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, has been convicted of crimes against humanity.
The ruling follows a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. Tried in absentia after fleeing to India, Hasina faces the charges amid UN estimates that up to 1,400 people were killed during the unrest. Officials from Bangladesh’s interim government report more than 800 confirmed deaths and around 14,000 injuries in the crackdown, which sparked international condemnation and widespread protests.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to impose Trump-style visa bans on three African nations if they fail to cooperate with the UK on returning illegal migrants.
Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo could see restrictions that prevent their tourists, business leaders, and VIPs from entering Britain. Mahmood told the Commons: “In Britain we play by the rules. When I said there would be penalties for countries that do not take back criminals and illegal immigrants, I meant it.
My message to foreign governments today is clear: accept the return of your citizens or lose the privilege of entering our country.” The move is part of a wider set of reforms aimed at tightening the immigration system.
Devices used by criminals to steal keyless cars are being sold online for more than twenty thousand pounds, the BBC has found.
Some gadgets can capture and relay a signal from a key inside a property, unlocking and starting vehicles remotely. A law banning ownership is imminent, but experts warn it may not stop organised gangs who lend or rent the devices. Listings seen by the BBC show tools claiming to target high-end models including Lamborghinis and Maseratis, with prices up to twenty-two thousand pounds. One victim, Abbie Brookes-Morris, described the theft of her car as an “invasion.”
In Newport, Middlesbrough, the city’s Victorian streets mask shocking levels of child poverty.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, six in every seven children here live in households earning less than sixty percent of the national average, leaving many families struggling to meet basic needs. Campaigners say the figures highlight a national inequality crisis that has persisted for decades.
The UK has recorded its coldest night since March, with temperatures dropping to minus seven degrees Celsius in Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands.
Storm Claudia brought heavy rain across southern England and Wales, with a major incident declared in Monmouth after severe flooding. Forecasters warn of snow, frost, and ice this week, with daytime temperatures in the South expected to be around ten degrees lower than in recent days.
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