UK

Pensioners have until the end of Saturday to apply for benefits which could unlock access to the winter fuel payment, or risk missing out on up to £300. It has been switched to a means-tested benefit including for those on pension credit, but official estimates suggest there are 760,000 households who do not claim pension

The Prince and Princess of Wales are set to work with a local charity to launch a mental health programme to support those living on the Sandringham Estate and in the surrounding areas. The royals are partly funding the new pilot programme with Norfolk and Waveney Mind. It will provide additional mental health support for

The co-manager for Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign has called Lord Peter Mandelson an “absolute moron” – as the peer was officially announced as the next UK ambassador to the US. The Labour grandee, who served in Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s cabinets, will become the UK’s top diplomat in Washington as president-elect Donald

Children with special educational needs are being “segregated” and left to struggle in the wrong schools because councils are trying to “save on costs”, parents have told Sky News.  Maire Leigh Wilson, whose four-year-old son has Down’s syndrome, says she “shudders to think” where he would be now had she not been in a “constant

The King’s cancer treatment will continue into the New Year, Sky News understands. Palace sources have said “his treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year”. The source added there is a sense of optimism, which can be seen in the King’s

Social media companies must face tough sanctions if they fail to keep children safe from harmful content, the technology secretary has said. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Peter Kyle said age verification for adult material would have to be “watertight”, and that apps which do not protect children will face heavy fines and even jail

There’s been a huge increase in animal neglect and abandonment in England and Wales and the RSPCA’s rescue centres are “absolutely full”, according to the charity. New figures show there were 38,977 incidents of neglect reported to the RSPCA’s emergency cruelty line between January and September 2023. But for the same period in 2024, there

Four teenagers who murdered two boys in Bristol in a case of mistaken identity have been detained for life. Riley Tolliver, 18, a 16-year-old boy, a 17-year-old boy, and getaway driver Antony Snook, 45, were convicted of the murders of Mason Rist, 15, and 16-year-old Max Dixon in November. A 15-year-old boy was also found

Average water bills in England and Wales will increase by 36% over the next five years, water regulator Ofwat has said. The rise is equivalent to an average extra of £31 per year. Water companies had asked for an average rise of 40%. The regulator’s draft determinations issued in July said the bills would rise

A criminology student has been found guilty of the murder and attempted murder of two women on a beach in Bournemouth. Nasen Saadi, 20, from Croydon, fatally stabbed personal trainer Amie Gray, 34, ten times as she sat beside a fire on Durley Chine Beach in Dorset on the evening of 24 May. Her friend

Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother have been handed life sentences for murdering the 10-year-old after she suffered years of abuse. Warning this story contains distressing details. Urfan Sharif, 42, will serve at least 40 years in prison and Beinash Batool, 30, a minimum of 33 years. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was also sentenced to

The government and the water regulator broke the law by allowing sewage to be discharged outside of “exceptional circumstances”, according to the green watchdog. Outlets called combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are only meant to be opened on rare occasions, such as during very heavy rain to stop sewage flooding back into homes and businesses. But

The alleged Chinese spy with links to Prince Andrew has said he did “nothing wrong or unlawful” – as he was named publicly for the first time. In a statement, Yang Tengbo added that the “widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue”. It comes after the High Court lifted restrictions on naming

Children in some parts of England are spending more than five and a half years in temporary accommodation, a Sky News investigation has found. Data from Freedom of Information requests shows London and the South East are the regions seeing the longest stays for homeless households. More than two-thirds of local authorities saw households with

The sale of Royal Mail to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky will be approved this morning, Sky News understands. Mr Kretinsky‘s company EP Group will buy the postal service’s parent company International Distribution Services (IDS). The £5.3bn takeover deal had been agreed in May but was subject to a review under national security laws as Royal

A murder investigation is under way after a woman was killed and two men injured in a triple shooting in northwest London. Metropolitan Police officers were called to reports of a shooting at around 9.15pm on Saturday in Gifford Road in Harlesden. The woman, believed to be in her 40s, was found injured but despite

Eight people are injured in Glasgow after a double decker bus hit a railway bridge. One person is in a critical condition, according to the police, and five people were taken by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for treatment. Footage posted online shows a First Bus wedged under the bridge on Cook Street on

Government departments are doing “anything to avoid” sharing information about Prince Andrew’s past business dealings. The claim comes from author Andrew Lownie who’s been working for four years on a new book about the Duke of York. He has submitted over a hundred requests to Whitehall departments only to find that information “has vanished”. Speaking

Construction workers are four times more likely to die by suicide than the national average, making it one of the deadliest professions for mental health problems in the UK, according to a new report. Social media company On The Tools, the UK’s largest community of tradespeople, has found that 73% of the country’s 2.1 million

Prince Andrew says he “ceased all contact” with a businessman accused of being a Chinese spy after concerns were raised with him by the government. In a statement from his office, the Duke of York said he had cut ties following “advice” from officials but insisted the pair had never discussed anything of a “sensitive