UK

Police have seized up to £130m worth of cannabis as part of a nationwide crackdown, described as the “most significant” operation of its kind in UK law enforcement history. Officers discovered more than 180,000 cannabis plants during the series of co-ordinated raids, aimed at unearthing and disrupting organised crime groups (OCGs) across England and Wales.

A former supermarket worker was encouraged by an AI “chat bot” in a “Star Wars-inspired” plot to kill the Queen, a court has heard. Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, was wearing a handmade metal mask and armed with a loaded crossbow when he scaled the perimeter of the Windsor Castle grounds on Christmas Day 2021. He

The energy regulator has threatened action against household suppliers if they put investors before hard-pressed households. Ofgem’s chief executive Jonathan Brearley warned that financial practices seen before the energy crisis would not be tolerated. New rules were brought in last November to bolster the resilience of business models after the collapse of more than 20

Climate change meant last month was the hottest June on record, according to the Met Office. June’s average mean temperature of 15.8C beats the previous record of 14.9C (set in both 1940 and 1976) by 0.9C. It was the hottest June since records began in 1884. The Met Office’s Mark McCarthy, who works in the

Almost half of people in Britain (47%) think that NHS care will get worse in the coming years, according to a new international poll by Ipsos for Sky News. Just one in ten of those surveyed in the UK said they expect the quality of their healthcare to improve (10%), compared to 15% of Swedes

A man has been found guilty of murdering his neighbours, a mother and her two daughters, who died after a flat fire. Jamie Barrow admitted starting the fire which killed Fatimah Drammeh, three, Naeemah Drammeh, one, and their mother Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, but denied murder by claiming he was unaware they were home at the

Lord’s bosses have apologised after England cricket fans clashed with Australia players during the second Ashes Test. As Australia players walked through the Long Room of the stadium during lunch, they appeared to exchange heated words with several Lord’s members. Australia’s Usman Khawaja and David Warner both stopped to hit back at criticism the team

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has criticised junior doctors, accusing them of “walking away” from talks over pay and conditions. The British Medical Association – the union representing many from the profession – has called a five-day strike in July and is demanding a rise of 35% to restore their wages to 2008 levels. It has

Labour frontbencher Jess Phillips has been accused of “racist and bullying behaviour” after getting into a row on social media with high-profile headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh. Ms Birbalsingh, former chairwoman of the Social Mobility Commission and once dubbed “Britain’s strictest headteacher”, accused the Birmingham Yardley MP of seeking to “whip up a social media mob” against

Two children and a woman have died in a “devastating” flat fire in Cambridge. A man managed to escape the flames, which engulfed a maisonette, and is in a critical condition in hospital. More than 30 firefighters rushed to attend the blaze in Sackville Close, King’s Hedges, in the early hours of Saturday morning. Firefighters

The leader of the team which found the remains of the Titan submersible became emotional as he described how a rescue effort turned into a recovery operation. Pelagic Research Services set out a timeline of its response to the Titan emergency in a news conference this evening. “We were always conscious of the crew of

A double murder investigation has been launched after a man and a teenager were stabbed to death in London. Emergency services were called at 11.33pm on Thursday to Elthorne Road, Islington, north London, after a boy was found with stab wounds. The teenager, believed to be 15, was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man,

Shorter medical degrees, apprenticeships, and £2.4bn in funding are among the radical plans being put forward to solve NHS England’s severe staffing crisis. The long-awaited NHS workforce plan is due to be published in full on Friday, outlining how the service will address existing vacancies and meet the challenges of a growing and ageing population.

Environmental teams have been put on stand-by to oxygenate England’s rivers in a bid to protect fish in the event of a heatwave. The Environment Agency (EA) says it has recorded “hundreds of fish kill incidents” already this year – with drops in oxygen levels in rivers and canals blamed. The Angling Trust claims it

Presumed human remains have been recovered from the wreckage of the Titan submersible, the US Coast Guard have said. It comes after debris from the craft was brought ashore earlier on Wednesday. Five men died, including three British citizens, when the submersible is believed to have suffered a catastrophic implosion while attempting to view the

The government said it is prepared for a range of scenarios amid fears Britain’s biggest water company could collapse. Sky News has learnt that ministers and Ofwat, the industry regulator, have started to hold discussions about the possibility of placing indebted Thames Water into temporary public ownership. Contingency plans are being drawn up amid growing

Human remains found in a California mountain area are those of British actor Julian Sands, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed. It is five months since the 65-year-old was reported missing in the Mount Baldy region of the San Gabriel mountains. Hikers found the remains on Saturday morning, with officials now positively identifying them

Nurses’ strikes are set to end in England after the profession’s largest union failed to secure enough votes to carry out further action. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had planned to stage more walk-outs after its members rejected a pay offer from the government last month. However, unions have to hold ballots every six

A man running to be the Conservative candidate for London mayor has denied allegations that he groped a woman “in the strongest possible terms”. Daniel Korski is one of three people hoping to run against Sadiq Khan in next year’s election. In an article for The Times, TV producer Daisy Goodwin alleged she was “groped”

There is no evidence Nicola Bulley was harmed before she drowned in the River Wyre, a Home Office pathologist has said. Dr Alison Armour, giving evidence at an inquest at County Hall in Preston, said watery fluid and fragments of dirt found inside Ms Bulley’s body were “typical features we see in cases of drowning”.