Donald Trump has criticised the UK’s Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius, saying Sir Keir Starmer is making a big mistake.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president warned against the potential loss of the joint US UK military base on Diego Garcia. Under the agreement, the UK would retain the base through a 99 year lease. Mr Trump described the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom as strong and powerful, but claimed the Prime Minister was losing control of the island over claims by entities never known of before.
Eight skiers have been found dead and one remains missing after an avalanche in northern California.
The avalanche struck the Castle Peak area of Truckee, about ten miles north of Lake Tahoe, at around 11.30am local time on Tuesday. A group of backcountry skiers were caught in the cascade, with six people rescued after becoming trapped. Authorities searched for nine missing people on Wednesday morning local time, but have now confirmed eight fatalities, with one person still unaccounted for.
CCTV has shown the moments before a Saudi student was fatally stabbed as he sat with friends outside university accommodation.
Mohammed Algasim, aged 20, died from a single stab wound across his jugular vein after an altercation on the evening of 1 August last year. Chas Corrigan, 22, who denies murder, is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court. Footage shows him approaching Mr Algasim and his friends as they sat on a low wall. Fellow student Abdullah Bin Shuail told the court he heard words exchanged but could not make out what was said.
An inquest has heard that a Britain’s Got Talent dancer found dead at home had been arrested days earlier over an alleged child sex offence.
Kerri Anne Donaldson, 38, was discovered at her home in Farnborough, Hampshire, on 7 June 2023, the day after she was discharged from hospital. She had been arrested on 4 June and questioned on suspicion of child sex offending, which she denied. Ms Donaldson reached the semi final of the television talent show in 2014 as part of dance group Kings and Queens.
A masseuse has been charged with multiple sexual offences following an investigation in Northumberland.
Terence McBrien, who is 72 and from the Alnwick area, is due to appear at Berwick Magistrates’ Court on March 19. He is currently on bail. He faces 55 charges, including one count of attempted rape, seven counts of sexual assault by penetration, 34 counts of sexual assault by touching and 13 counts of voyeurism. Police say the charges relate to 14 women.
Six people have been taken to hospital after two double decker buses collided in south London.
Emergency services say the crash happened at 8.05am on Wednesday. Transport for London says a route 35 bus collided with a route 333 bus which was not in service at the time. Pictures from the scene show one bus very close to the window frontage of Southwark Playhouse Borough in Newington Causeway, Southwark. The other bus appeared to have smashed into the back of the vehicle.
Ukrainian officials will boycott next month’s Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics over the participation of a handful of Russian and Belarusian athletes cleared to compete under their national flags.
Russia and Belarus will have a combined 10 athletes at the Games following a decision by the International Paralympic Committee. Ukrainian athletes will still take part in the March 6 to 15 Paralympics, but the country’s sports minister, Matviy Bidnyi, says no Ukraine official will attend the opening ceremony or any event. He described the decision to allow them to compete under their flags as outrageous.
UEFA has appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector after allegations that a racist slur was directed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during last night’s Champions League match against Benfica.
The game in Lisbon was halted five minutes into the second half, shortly after Vinicius put the away side one nil up in the first leg of the knockout playoffs. Cameras showed the 25 year old speaking to French referee Francois Letexier, saying he had been targeted by a comment made by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.
Images from inside Octopus Energy’s Slough warehouse show homes from the 1970s to 1990s built indoors to test new technology and train workers.
During a visit, Energy Minister Martin McCluskey heard from engineers about developments in home heating alongside chief executive Greg Jackson. The site also has weather chambers creating snowy, freezing or hotter conditions to test heat pumps. The visit came amid concerns the government’s warm homes plan over emphasises heat pumps, batteries and solar panels while poorly insulated homes need fixing first.
Ministers are considering slowing plans to introduce a single minimum wage for all adults.
Labour pledged to scrap age bands and raise 18 to 20 year olds to the over 21 rate. Sources say the rise could be delayed as businesses warn higher costs may deter hiring and unions argue lower youth pay is unfair.
Six Palestine Action activists face a retrial after a break in at a UK defence firm linked to Israel.
Samuel Corner, Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin were cleared of aggravated burglary over a raid at Elbit Systems in Bristol on 6 August 2024. Jurors could not reach verdicts on criminal damage and violent disorder charges.
Nearly £50m of taxpayers’ money has been paid by the NHS to an outsourced firm assessing claims of medical harm caused by vaccines, the BBC has found.
The figure is eight times the amount originally estimated for the assessment work carried out by Crawford & Company Adjusters – and almost £20m more than the total so far awarded to those injured or bereaved as a result of Covid vaccines.
The firm’s five-year contract, initially estimated to be worth £6m, has more than a year left to run – however a new company will start taking over the work in the coming months.
Official figures show the rate of price rises has fallen sharply.
Data from the Office for National Statistics reveals inflation dropped to 3% in the year to January, down from 3.4% the previous month. It is the lowest level recorded since March last year, highlighting a significant easing in the pace of price growth.
Research into AI-generated passwords has raised concerns about their security.
According to AI cybersecurity firm Irregular, verified by Sky News, all three major models – ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini – produced highly predictable passwords despite presenting them as strong. Dan Lahav, co-founder of Irregular, has urged caution when relying on AI to generate passwords, warning that users may be left vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Real Madrid’s Champions League match against Benfica was halted after an alleged racist slur was directed at Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior by an opposition player.
The game in Lisbon was stopped early in the second half after he put visitors 1-0 ahead. Vinicius told referee Francois Letexier he believed a comment came from Gianluca Prestianni, who denies racist remark.
The National Crime Agency says police are arresting 1,000 suspected paedophiles every month as the threat of child sex abuse worsens.
Director of operations Rob Jones said online groups let offenders rationalise behaviour, bringing like-minded abusers together through algorithms. He warned they use dark web and mainstream social media to identify and abuse vulnerable children, leaving youngsters at risk.
The Conservatives are calling for plans to renovate Houses of Parliament to be paused and refocused over concerns costs could reach tens of billions.
MPs are considering options to refurbish Palace of Westminster, including a scheme estimated at £40bn and lasting 61 years. The project team warns delay would mean expensive managed decline. Badenoch says it is out of control.
A £5 rise in council tax for Band D households has been recommended to support Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service next year.
The Fire Authority’s Management Committee agreed the proposal during budget talks and it will go to the full Authority for approval. The increase, just under 10p a week, aims to maintain essential frontline services amid financial pressures.
