UK

The national living wage could rise to £11.46 an hour last year – well above what the government has announced. The minimum rate for adults over 23 is pegged to median hourly pay – and stronger-than-expected wage growth means April’s increase could exceed the £11 an hour recently suggested by the chancellor. Average weekly earnings

Police have issued an appeal for help to identify a body washed up on a beach in Hampshire. The man was found dead near Eastern Parade in Southsea, Portsmouth, at 6.39am on Tuesday. Part of the beach and seafront were cordoned off for police to make inquiries. But they have been unable to identify him

The King and Queen have begun a four-day state visit to Kenya, which could be eclipsed by calls for an apology over abuses during British colonial rule. The royal couple were welcomed by President William Ruto and the first lady at the State House in Nairobi. The King will deliver a significant speech at a

Police in West Yorkshire say they are investigating a serving officer over allegations he shared racist and misogynistic content in a WhatsApp group with colleagues. Sky News has seen evidence of the content and messages on a device that was handed to the force 18 months ago. The officer’s ex-wife said she understood that West

A Metropolitan Police firearms officer charged with the murder of Chris Kaba will be named publicly, a judge has ruled. The marksman, who had previously been known only as NX121, is facing trial at the Old Bailey over the shooting of 24-year-old Mr Kaba in Streatham Hill, south London. In a ruling at the Old

Single-use plastics have been banned in Wales from today. Plastic plates, cutlery and drink stirrers which can only be used once will be included as part of the ban. The Welsh government says the move would further “embed [its] response to the climate and nature emergency in everything [it does]”. Other items covered by the

Police are being encouraged to double their use of retrospective facial recognition (RFR) software to track down offenders over the next six months. Policing minister Chris Philp has written to force chiefs suggesting the target of exceeding 200,000 searches of still images against the Police National Database using the technology by May. RFR allows authorities

Seasonal affective disorder – or SAD – is often dismissed as “winter blues” or “depression-lite” – actually it is a “major depressive disorder”. It is a nuanced and misunderstood mood disorder, Dr Laurence Wainwright, a psychiatry academic at Oxford University, tells Sky News. But because it comes and goes, it’s not taken seriously – even

A police officer was left with “serious bite injuries” after being attacked by a dog believed to be an XL bully. The Leicestershire Police officer was called to a property in Ibstock, near Coalville, in search of a wanted man at around 4.40pm on Thursday, the force said. He and another male officer attended the

UK carmakers have recorded their best September since 2020 – but warned growth is “under threat” from new Brexit export rules due to come into force within months. More than 88,200 vehicles rolled off factory lines in September, an increase of over 25,100 – almost 40% – compared to the same time last year, figures

Former police officer Lewis Edwards, who admitted more than 100 sexual offences against children, has been handed a life sentence. He will serve a minimum of 12 years behind bars. He was granted a reduction of one third to his sentence due to his entering a guilty plea. Sentences for other counts for which he

A police force was told an officer had “repeatedly asked a 15-year-old girl to send naked pictures of herself” before he went on to commit a child sexual offence, a new inspection has found. The incident was flagged as one of at least five opportunities lost by Thames Valley Police to take stricter action against

A speeding driver who was under the influence of cocaine when he caused the death of a 10-year-old girl in Dartford has been jailed for 12 years. Gavin Prodger, 50, had taken the class A drug before getting behind the wheel of his Audi in July 2021. Prodger has defective eyesight and was taking a

The body of a man has been recovered by officers after reports a vehicle was seen getting into difficulty in floodwater on Friday. Searches were carried out by police after the incident near Marykirk, Aberdeenshire, following disruption caused by Storm Babet. “Formal identification is still to take place, however next of kin have been informed,”

England flanker Tom Curry has said he was racially abused by a South Africa player during their Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris on Saturday night. While the alleged slur is not audible on the referee’s audio link, a subsequent conversation Curry had with referee Ben O’Keeffe is. The incident is said to have involved

The British Transport Police said it is investigating a video that appears to show a London Underground driver leading passengers in a chant of “free, free Palestine”. The video, posted on X – formerly known as Twitter, appears to show the driver chanting over the announcement system on the Central line. The driver says “free,

A police watchdog says it will investigate the Metropolitan Police after a 13-year-old black child with a water pistol was rammed off his bike and arrested. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had originally allowed the London force to launch its own probe, but has now reversed that decision after a statement by the

A major search is under way after reports of a man trapped in a vehicle in floodwater as Storm Babet batters large parts of the UK. Police Scotland said the alarm was raised at 3am on Friday near the village of Marykirk in Aberdeenshire. “Multi-agency searches are ongoing and the public are asked to avoid

Officers are looking for a masked man after more than 10 sexual assaults against Muslim women were reported on London buses. Between February 2022 and September 2023, a series of assaults took place around Ealing, Hammersmith, Westminster and Hounslow. Metropolitan Police officers investigating the crimes have now released images of a man they want to

Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi died from suicide “while undertaking a terror attack that murdered 22 innocent victims and injured many others”, an inquest has concluded. The medical cause of the 22-year-old’s death was blast injuries. Sir John Saunders, chairman of the public inquiry into the terror attack, was legally obliged to hold an inquest