David Walliams has been dropped by his publisher HarperCollins UK.
A spokesperson said the company decided not to release any new titles by Walliams after careful consideration under the leadership of its new chief executive. HarperCollins said it takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes for reporting and investigating concerns, but would not comment on internal matters to respect privacy.
Kylie Minogue’s festive hit Xmas is this year’s Christmas number one.
The Australian pop star, aged fifty-seven, has become the first woman to have number one singles across four different decades. The track is her first Christmas number one in the UK. She is also the first solo female artist in twelve years to secure the Christmas top spot, after Sam Bailey achieved it in twenty-sixteen, according to the Official Charts Company.
Notorious conman Mark Acklom, who posed as a banker, has been ordered to pay the victim of a romance scam one hundred and twenty five thousand pounds in compensation after a five year court battle.
He was jailed for duping divorcee Carolyn Woods into handing over all her money after promising to marry her. Acklom left her penniless and suicidal when he fled abroad.
A woman and her lover who plotted to kill her husband so they could continue their affair have both been jailed for nineteen years.
Michelle Mills and Geraint Berry planned to murder Christopher Mills and make it appear a suicide. They were convicted of conspiracy to murder at Swansea Crown Court. Steven Thomas was cleared of that charge but admitted a firearms offence.
A mysterious object a controversial scientist claims could be an alien battleship reached its closest point to Earth on Friday.
Known as 3i slash ATLAS, it passed at one hundred and thirty thousand miles per hour, about one hundred and seventy million miles away. Most astronomers say it is a comet from beyond our solar system, though a Harvard astrophysicist says extraterrestrial origins cannot be ruled out.
A teenager has charged with the murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe and will stand trial in June next year.
The fifteen-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Friday. He appeared by video link from youth detention accommodation and spoke only to confirm his name. Judge Peter Blair KC set a provisional trial date for fifteen June twenty twenty six.
Foreign Office data has been compromised by hackers, a minister has confirmed, but the government says it is fairly confident no individual data has been accessed.
Trade minister Sir Chris Bryant told Sky News the breach was discovered in October and officials are now on top of it. The stolen material was on systems run for the Home Office by the Foreign Office, which detected the breach.
It is too late to investigate whether Nigel Farage broke election law on spending at the general election, according to Essex Police.
He was referred after claims by a former campaign member that his Clacton campaign overspent. Police say strict spending rules apply, but a one-year statutory limit to begin an investigation has now passed. Separately, a property in Cox Green, Maidenhead, has been partially sealed off following a recent incident.
The Thames Valley neighbourhood policing team in Maidenhead says a three-month partial closure order has been granted for a property in Cox Green.
The order restricts access for anyone not authorised by the occupier or police. Officers say the measure is intended to tackle anti-social behaviour and protect local residents and lawful occupants from harm.
TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors to operate its business in America, the company’s chief executive told staff on Thursday.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and Emirati firm MGX, according to a memo from Shou Zi Chew. The deal, due to close on 22 January, resolves years of Washington pressure to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns. It follows a September agreement when President Donald Trump delayed enforcing a law that would have banned the app unless sold.
The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence is likely to displace people from jobs in ways similar to the Industrial Revolution, according to the governor of the Bank of England.
Andrew Bailey said the UK must have training, education and skills in place so workers can move into roles using AI. He told BBC Radio Four people with those skills would find work easier, but warned younger and inexperienced workers may struggle to secure entry level jobs.
The suspect in the deadly shooting at Brown University in the United States has been found dead.
Two students, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook, were killed and nine were injured during the shooting inside a classroom building at the Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday. Police speaking at a news conference in Providence said the suspect was found dead.
European Union leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a £90bn euro interest free loan to support its war effort and economic needs for the next two years.
European Council President Antonio Costa announced the deal after an intensive day of talks in Brussels. Kirill Dmitriev, a key Kremlin envoy in recent negotiations with the Americans, described EU leaders as warmongers. He said voices of reason within the bloc had been ignored.
Millions of people will soon be able to set their own contactless card payment limits or remove limits entirely, according to the financial regulator.
From March, banks and card providers can set higher or unlimited single payment amounts without entering a four digit PIN. The Financial Conduct Authority is encouraging customers to choose personal limits or switch contactless off, despite limited demand to change the current one hundred pound cap.
Golfer Rory McIlroy has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year twenty twenty five after completing the career Grand Slam and helping Europe win the Ryder Cup.
The thirty six year old from Northern Ireland secured the feat in April by winning the Masters at Augusta National. He became the sixth man and first European to achieve the Slam.
Britain’s roads, railways and airports are expected to be extremely busy as festive travel reaches its peak.
The AA warns of gridlock on Friday with twenty four point four million cars due.
