United Kingdom

    Senior Conservative MPs are urging members of Theresa May’s cabinet to stop publicly setting out their demands for a transitional deal on Brexit, saying the move could make negotiations with the European Union more difficult. The warnings from senior leave campaigners and allies of the Brexit secretary, David Davis, come as ministers prepare to clash over issues of immigration and trade in a series of key meetings this autumn. Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd, Damian Green, David Gauke and Greg Clarke are among those likely to push the prime minister to accept that while free movement will officially end, there should be no immediate move to reduce immigration. Amber Rudd is among those likely to push the prime minister to accept that while free movement will officially end ther...

    Police have appealed for information after Nusrat Jahan, or Dow, was reported missing from her home in the Seaton area of Aberdeen at about 10.30pm on Thursday. A significant search operation remains under way in an effort to find a missing woman who left for a beach in the late evening. Nusrat Jahan, or Dow, was reported missing from her home in the Seaton area of Aberdeen at about 10.30pm on Thursday. The 34-year-old told a friend at around 9.30pm that she planned on heading to the beach area. A major land, sea and air search was launched when she did not return. Inspector Steve McEwan said: A significant amount of search activity has taken place as we try to trace Nusrat Jahan, or Dow. Other enquiries also remain ongoing as we try to piece together her movements since s...

    A San-Francisco based children's organisation, Having Kids, has written an open letter to Prince William and Kate, urging the royal couple not to have another baby. The company, which promotes smaller families, has posted the letter on their official website, "respectfully" asking the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to consider forgoing having a third child. The letter, signed by the company's president Carter Dillard and executive director Anne Green, noted the influence that Prince William and Kate have as public figures, and the power they have to model a sustainable small family. The letter cited environmental reasons like climate change, economic equality and the distribution of resources. It continued: Of course, we know that Prince George and Princess Charlotte are ce...

    The UK has stripped more than 150 suspected jihadists and other criminals of their citizenship to stop them returning, it has been reported. Ministers have issued the deprivation orders in case the collapse of the Islamic State in the Middle East leads to a sudden influx of militants from Syria, according to the Sunday Times. Quoting official figures and security sources, the paper said more than 40 suspects have had their right to a passport removed this year, with about 30 targeted since March. It added those who have had their citizenship removed include gunmen and "jihadi brides" who have travelled to Syria. The news comes as the Syrian army and its allies reported made gains in the last IS-held territories in Homs province. They are all dual nationals, including Briti...

    Prime Minister Theresa May is keeping Britain on track for a hard Brexit, but she wants the journey away from the European Union to be longer and smoother than initially planned. After weeks of wrangling since her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority, May’s government still seems determined to leave the single market and customs union that give Britain free, frictionless trade with the bloc. What’s changed is that, according to Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, there’s now a consensus among senior ministers that even if the U.K. will departs the EU in March 2019, nothing should change the next day. Instead, the cabinet wants the status quo to run for two or three years. We have to develop a plan that will deliver for the British people business as u...

    Detectives investigating two separate rapes of a teenager in Birmingham within just a few hours of each other, have released CCTV images of men they wish to speak with in connection with the attacks. Officers say if anyone has any information on who these men are then they are urging the public to contact them as soon as possible. Do you know this man? call police on 101. Detectives say they believe they may have vital information which will help with their enquiries. Do you know this man? call police on 101. The investigation continues into the circumstances which lead to the 14-year-old girl being assaulted. It had previously been reported that the victim was 15 but this age has now been amended by investigating officers. Can you help police identify this man? if so call...

    Britain’s relationship with the EU three years after Brexit may look similar to its current one, with free movement, access to the single market and an inability to strike trade deals with other countries, Philip Hammond has said. The chancellor confirmed multiple reports over the last week that the cabinet had agreed to seek a transitional period of around three years, ending before the next election due in 2022. He said there was broad consensus in the cabinet that such a period would be necessary to cushion the impact of leaving the EU. The agreement was made last week but not announced by Theresa May, who has left the UK for a three-week holiday. Instead, the news has seeped out from other cabinet ministers, and was confirmed by Hammond on Friday morning. Speaking on B...

    The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower block blaze. Dozens of tower blocks have failed a new safety test that was more thorough than previous checks in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze, it has been reported. Cladding and insulation used in at least 60 high-rises are said to have not passed the latest inspection, the BBC said. Fire safety at high-rise buildings has been thrust into the spotlight after at least 80 people died, many as they tried to escape, from the 24-storey Grenfell Tower last month. Previous fire safety checks have only examined cladding from towers . The new test checked the cladding along with the foam insulation used in Grenfell. Lord Porter, the Local Government Association chairman, told the BBC that housing associations and private sector landlords ...

    The brother of a female physics teacher who had drunken sex with a pupil has denied she did it and defended his sister. Eleanor Wilson engaged in sexual activity with the pupil in the toilet of a plane while returning home from a school trip to visit the Large Hadron Collider Geneva in 2015. The 28-year-old, who had trained as a Royal Navy Reservist and worked at a school in Bristol, engaged in oral sex with the pupil in the toilet cubicle and then had full sex with him, a disciplinary panel found earlier this week. Jethro Wilson, 26, told the Daily Mail that the incident never happened and for it to come out that it was on the plane was a bit bizarre really. He said that his sister was not sacked from her job, adding: She left because of all the hassle she was getting fro...

    A 15-year-old girl who flagged down a car for help after she was raped in Birmingham was raped again by the driver who pulled over. A double manhunt is now under way to find the attackers, both described as Asian men in their early 20s. Police said the first attack happened this week in an isolated part of Birmingham's Witton railway station, between 7pm on Tuesday and 2am on Wednesday. The girl had walked to the station with her friend before being led away by a man who then raped her. She left the station shortly after the attack and flagged down a passing vehicle to ask for help. She was then raped again after getting into the second man's car. Detectives from British Transport Police and West Midlands Police have launched a major investigation to try to identify both a...