United Kingdom

    North Korea has received more than £4 million in foreign aid from the UK in just six years despite the country’s status as an international pariah, according to reports. Tensions with the communist regime ruled by dictator Kim Jong-un have escalated after it said it would conduct weekly missile tests and warned that all-out war would result from US military action. Meanwhile, Mike Pence, the US vice-president, told Pyongyang not to test Donald Trump’s resolve as fears of a military conflict continue to grow over North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons . But despite the country’s status as a rogue state official statistics cited by the Daily Mail show that £740,000 was sent to North Korea by the UK to fund aid projects in 2015 with the Foreign Office reportedly committed t...

    Theresa May is seeking to hold a General Election on 8 June arguing it is the only way to secure stability ahead of Brexit. The shock move follows speculation the Prime Minister would call a poll to shore up her parliamentary position as Britain leaves the EU and given Labour's dire position in the polls. Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, introduced under the last coalition government, the next election was not due until 2020. However, a poll can be called before then if backed by two thirds of MPs or if there is a no confidence vote in the Government. The PM is to table a motion in the House of Commons on Wednesday and has called on MPs to back an election. PM Theresa May Jeremy Corbyn has previously said Labour was ready to take its case to the country, but many MPs ...

    Thousands of asylum seekers and migrants have been wrongly denied NHS healthcare, in some cases being refused treatment despite suffering from life-threatening conditions such as cancer and heart disease, doctors have warned. Undocumented migrants with urgent care needs have been refused treatment by hospitals, despite NHS guidelines that state no one should be refused urgent or immediately necessary treatment because they cannot pay, The Independent has learned. A large number of migrants have also been wrongly turned away from registering at GP surgeries on the grounds that they did not provide identification documents. In other cases, The Independent has seen emails showing asylum seekers who have the right to free healthcare have been wrongly charged for hospital treat...

    European Council president Donald Tusk will help determine where the two agencies leaving Britain will relocate. The EU is set to inflict a double humiliation on Theresa May, stripping Britain of its European agencies within weeks, while formally rejecting the prime minister’s calls for early trade talks. The Observer has learned that EU diplomats agreed their uncompromising position at a crunch meeting on Tuesday, held to set out the union’s strategy in the talks due to start next month. A beauty contest between member states who want the European banking and medicine agencies, currently located in London, will begin within two weeks, with selection criteria to be unveiled by the president of the European council, Donald Tusk. The European Banking Authority and the Europe...

    Always fancied working in a real-life palace? Well, now's your chance. If you dream of a lavish office with long hallways, hundreds of beautifully-decorated rooms and an actual Queen for a boss, then you might want to consider one of the latest vacancies at Buckingham Palace. Even better, there's a 'live-in' option where you get to make the palace your home and have all your meals included. Imagine telling your mates that down the pub. So how much does a job like this pay? Working in a royal household must see you rolling in it, right? Not so much. This particular role is for a trainee butler and will see you earning £18,850 per annum. It's not bad, but not exactly what you'd associate with a royal pay packet. According to the Office for National Statistics, a Brit's avera...

    Theresa May is facing a damaging Commons revolt next week by Conservative MPs who are pressing her to remove foreign students from the immigration figures. Rebel Tories claim they have enough support to inflict a humiliating defeat on Ms May, who is also under pressure from several cabinet ministers to stop counting overseas students as long-term migrants. The issue will come to a head on Wednesday when MPs debate an amendment to the Higher Education and Research Bill passed by the House of Lords last month. By 313 votes to 219, peers agreed that no student should be treated for public policy purposes as a long-term migrant to the UK for the duration of their studies. Tory whips are trying to contain the revolt, pleading with the party’s MPs not to “rock the boat now” and ...

    Police have warned shoppers to lookout for counterfeit versions of the polymer £5 note just six months after the new fivers entered circulation. Officers warned the public to be on the lookout for fake banknotes after they were spotted in Wadebridge, Cornwall. Dorset Police had issued a similar warning in February saying counterfeit notes were found in circulation near Poole. The new warning comes just six months after the new £5 note was launched by the Bank of England. It is stronger than its predecessor and boasts new security features which the Bank of England said makes it harder to counterfeit. PCSO Pete Sobye, of Wadebridge police, said: "If you find yourself in possession of a fake £5 note, contact your bank. Or if you have been given a number of these as payment, ...

    Wage growth has slipped below the rate of inflation, a development that threatens damage to living standards and the wider economy through an erosion of household spending power. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that average wages, when the effects of bonuses were excluded, grew by 2.2% in the three months to February. While that was slightly better than economists had predicted, it still marked a 0.1% fall on the previous month's figure, which meant salaries failed to keep pace with the rate of inflation for the first time since the summer of 2014. The Consumer Price Index measure stood at 2.3% in February and remained steady in figures for the following month, released on Tuesday. The development adds further pressure to family budgets already being sque...

    Cricket umpires have been given the power to eject disobedient players while tethered bails will be permitted to protect wicketkeepers from eye injuries as part of a series of law changes coming into effect from Oct. 1. The new Players conduct rule will allow on-field officials to remove a misbehaving competitor temporarily or permanently and award five penalty runs to the opposition, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has said. If a captain refuses to remove his offending player, the umpire can award the match to the opposition. If both captains refuse to comply, the contest can be abandoned. The MCC, the custodians of the game’s laws, also merged ‘handled the ball’ offence with ‘obstructing the field’, thus reducing the number of possible dismissals from 10 to nine. It al...