Release of 20 lynx over several years into Kielder Forest area would create population of about 50 animals
Releasing just 20 lynx in Northumberland would be enough to create a healthy wild population, research has found, and most people in the area would support the practice.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust has been working to see if the wild cats, which became extinct in Britain about 1,300 years ago as a result of hunting and habitat loss, could be returned to the area.
Continue reading...All flights temporarily grounded as three people are treated at the scene, one with minor injuries
Birmingham airport has temporarily closed its runway and grounded all flights after a light aircraft made an emergency landing.
Three people from the aircraft were treated at the scene, one of whom suffered minor injuries in the incident, which occurred at about 1.40pm on Wednesday, West Midlands police said. West Midlands ambulance service also attended the scene.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer says £88m package will help tackle trend of young people becoming ‘disconnected from their communities’
Youth clubs and after-school activities in England will receive a funding injection of £88m as ministers try to get more children away from smartphones and computer screens.
The package, which Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday, is intended to give pupils access to sport, outdoor activities, art, music, debating and volunteering.
Continue reading...Emergency measures bailed out jails at last minute as No 10 refused to cut prisoner numbers until ‘cliff edge’ reached, former watchdog reports
The criminal justice system was within days of collapse on three occasions before being bailed out by “last-minute emergency measures”, an independent review by a former prisons watchdog has found.
Dame Anne Owers said the prison system, under pressure from overcrowding, was “in crisis” between autumn 2023 and the summer of 2024, but No 10 under Rishi Sunak refused to cut the numbers in jail until “the next predictable cliff edge”.
Continue reading...Rodent said to be 22in (56cm) long from nose to tail found in Normanby, where rat problem is said to be worsening
Cuts to council pest control services are being blamed for a town’s rodent problem, which includes the discovery of a supersize rat said to be 22in (56cm) from nose to tail.
The giant rat, about the length of the carry-on luggage people might be wheeling on to a flight – or, if not on holiday, a desktop monitor – was found inside a person’s home in Normanby, Teesside.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Data reveals ‘invisible crisis’ with millions yet to have first specialist appointment or diagnostic test
Almost half of the 6 million people needing treatment from the NHS in England have had no further care at all since joining a hospital waiting list, new data reveals.
Previously unseen NHS England figures show that 2.99 million of the 6.23 million patients (48%) awaiting care have not had either their first appointment with a specialist or a diagnostic test since being referred by a GP.
Continue reading...Jon Ruben charged with three counts of wilful ill treatment of a child after illnesses at camp in Stathern
A 76-year-old man has been charged after a number of children became unwell at a summer camp in Leicestershire.
Jon Ruben, of Ruddington, Nottingham, has been charged with three counts of wilful ill treatment of a child. The charges relate to three children at the rural camp in the village of Stathern, Leicestershire police said on Friday.
Continue reading...Yellow weather warning for wind in Scotland, Northern Ireland, north Wales and north of England from 6am
Storm Floris is forecast to bring unseasonably strong winds to the UK on Monday, the Met Office has said.
The strongest winds are expected during the afternoon and night across Scotland, with gusts of up to 85mph possible on exposed coasts and hills.
Continue reading...Royal College of Nursing urges ministers to improve 3.6% offer to avoid industrial action ballot later this year
Nine out of 10 nurses have rejected a 3.6% pay award for this year and warned they could strike later this year unless their salaries are improved.
In an indicative vote among members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 91% said the 3.6% rise was not enough.
Continue reading...Technology will now be used up to 10 times a week across five days, up from four times a week across two days
Britain’s biggest police force is to more than double its use of live facial recognition to up to 10 deployments a week.
The move by the Metropolitan police comes as it restructures to cover the loss of 1,400 officers and 300 staff amid budget shortages.
Continue reading...Test is one of only about 200 chalk streams in the world and councillors says biodiversity in and around it has declined
The right of a famous chalk stream, the Test in Hampshire, to flow freely and unpolluted has been officially recognised by politicians.
Councillors on Test Valley borough council voted unanimously to acknowledge “the intrinsic rights” of the rivers within its boundaries including the Test, which is renowned for its trout and fly fishing.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns say party could slide into irrelevance if it chooses new leader with ‘polarising’ approach
The Green party risks going into reverse if they elect Zack Polanski as leader, his two opponents have said, arguing that his promised brand of “eco-populism” would prove polarising, divisive and likely to put off more moderate voters.
Speaking to the Guardian before the opening of the month-long leadership vote, which begins on Friday, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns said the party in England and Wales was at “a crossroads”, and could miss the chance to hold the balance of power at the next election.
Continue reading...Total remuneration at companies in England and Wales – many of them under scrutiny for sewage discharge – was £15m in 2024-25
The pay of water company chief executives in England and Wales rose by 5% in the last financial year to an average of £1.1m, despite a ban on bonuses for several companies and widespread outrage over the sector’s poor performance.
Total pay reported by water companies reached £15m in 2024-25, up 5% on £13.8m the previous year, according to Guardian analysis of 14 companies’ annual reports.
Continue reading...Ollie Holman created kits that mimicked charity and bank webpages so criminals could harvest victims’ personal details
A 21-year-old student who designed and distributed online kits linked to £100m worth of fraud has been jailed for seven years.
Ollie Holman created phishing kits that mimicked government, bank and charity websites so that criminals could harvest victims’ personal information to defraud them.
Continue reading...Dudderhouse Hill in dales is thought to be one of first structures in UK to be communally constructed by humans
A rare and remarkable 5,000-year-old monument that is an example of one of the earliest visible structures in England is to receive extra protection because walkers, sometimes innocently, have been removing and moving stones.
The Dudderhouse Hill long cairn in the Yorkshire Dales has been granted “scheduled monument” status by the government, making it a site of national importance with greater legal protection.
Continue reading...Jon Farley arrested under Terrorism Act at Leeds demonstration for holding sign making joke about Palestine Action ban
The terrorism arrest of a man for holding up a Private Eye cartoon during a protest at the weekend was “mind-boggling”, the magazine’s editor, Ian Hislop, has said, as the retired teacher called for an apology from police.
Jon Farley was picked up by police at a silent demonstration in Leeds on Saturday, which he described as a “pretty terrifying and upsetting experience”, for holding a sign that made a joke about the government’s proscription of the group Palestine Action from the last issue of the fortnightly satirical magazine.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: A year into opposition, Kemi Badenoch’s party is still searching for its place in UK politics
Good morning. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party (remember them?), has announced a reshuffle of her top team a year into her leadership.
The reshuffle itself has not come as a surprise – it was rumoured for months. Badenoch has kept much of her team in place, including the shadow home secretary, Robert Jenrick, shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, and the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel.
Israel-Gaza war | Israel’s government is pursuing an “unacceptable and morally unjustifiable” policy in Gaza, the Catholic Latin patriarch of Jerusalem has said after visiting a church in the territory that was attacked by Israeli forces and meeting survivors.
Environment | The world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road, the UN chief said on Tuesday, as he urged countries to funnel support into low-carbon energy.
Immigration | Officials are to start using artificial intelligence to help estimate the age of asylum seekers who say they are children, Angela Eagle, the immigration minister, said on Tuesday.
UK news | A man has been found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service after handing over personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to two British undercover officers he believed to be Russian agents.
Music | Ozzy Osbourne, whose gleeful “Prince of Darkness” image made him one of the most iconic rock frontmen of all time, has died aged 76. His death comes less than three weeks after his retirement from performance.
Continue reading...Deputy PM says government must show it is helping people amid concerns about potential for more riots in England
Immigration and deprivation are the main factors causing public disenchantment with politicians and the government that has led to social unrest and rioting, Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has warned.
According to an official summary of Tuesday’s meeting of the cabinet, Rayner, who is leading a wider government project on improving social cohesion, also highlighted the increasing amount of people spending time alone and online as a driver of disturbances.
Continue reading...Managers described as ‘reckless’ over supervision of Melissa Mathieson’s killer, who had history of sexual violence
A “catalogue of failures” resulted in the murder of a vulnerable young woman who was strangled to death in a care home by a fellow resident with a history of sexual violence, a coroner has concluded.
Senior managers at the care home in Bristol where Melissa Mathieson, 18, died were described as “reckless” by the coroner for not effectively supervising her killer, Jason Conroy.
Continue reading...Twenty-one passengers were taken to hospital after coach overturned on way back from trip to zoo
Flowers have been left outside a school attended by a 10-year-old boy who died in a coach crash in Somerset on the way home from a trip to the zoo.
Twenty-one passengers were taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, when the coach flipped on to its roof and plunged 20ft down an embankment in Exmoor on Thursday afternoon on its way back to Minehead middle school.
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