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British ticket holders share £90m lottery jackpot

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:10:32 GMT

Two British ticketholders shared a massive £90 million jackpot in last night's Euromillions draw, Camelot said.

Poppy sellers 'banned from Marks and Spencer'

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:06:58 GMT

Poppy sellers were banned from collecting outside a Marks and Spencer store because the Poppy Appeal was not one of the store's designated charities, they claimed today.

Abuser of suicide mum is given an Asbo

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Four boys who linger in the street where Fiona Pilkington and her daughter endured years of antisocial behaviour have been given Asbos, it emerged yesterday. The youths were handed interim Asbos by magistrates after the local council applied for the orders following complaints about the group over the past two months. The orders follow an inquest into the deaths of Fiona Pilkington, 38, and her disabled daughter Francecca Hardwick.

Casualties of war: how forces children bear scars of conflict

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Bullied, badly behaved, regularly uprooted and moved about the country – the children of British military personnel have become a "ticking time bomb", a major report warns today.

Drunk social worker offered detox patient a double whisky

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:37:51 GMT

A social worker who offered to buy a double whisky in a pub for a client he had helped through detox was struck off today.

Energy giants seen as profiteers, poll reveals

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Most of the public believe energy suppliers are profiteering by failing to pass on cuts in wholesale prices, according to a poll commissioned by The Independent.

Town falls silent as body of 'special soldier' comes home

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

In life, he was a Tigger-like extrovert, but his return home yesterday passed in respectful silence. Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid was the 224th British soldier to die in Afghanistan, killed by a roadside bomb he was trying to dismantle.

Chinese ambassador admits: I love X Factor

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

At first sight they would not seem to be ideal bedfellows: one is a respected international envoy, the other a reality TV show. But, despite reports of a "diplomatic row" over noise from X Factor fans, the Chinese ambassador has revealed that she is a big fan of the talent show.

65,000 towels... 8 trampolines... Olympic organisers go shopping

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It is the world's most demanding shopping list, containing requests for 1,100 shuttlecocks and 5,000 tons of sand, as well as three metal detectors. It is not an eccentric billionaire's attempt to lay on the world's biggest beach party – it is the list of things Britain needs to buy for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Christmas post strike lifted

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The threat of a Christmas postal strike was lifted last night following hours of talks between Royal Mail and the unions.

Victims' Champion seeks justice reform

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Crime victims suffering acute stress as a result of their ordeal are being "woefully" failed by the National Health Service, the Victims' Champion Sara Payne warned yesterday.

Tributes to soldiers shot by 'rogue' policeman

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:40:39 GMT

Tributes to the five British soldiers murdered by an Afghan police officer poured in today as the death of another UK serviceman was announced.

More cyclists killed or hurt on the roads

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:13:44 GMT

The number of people killed or seriously injured when cycling on Britain’s roads rose dramatically over the spring, new figures have revealed, with the demand for cheap transport during the recession likely to be a key factor.

Bomb disposal expert's body flown home

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:38:00 GMT

The body of an explosives expert killed while defusing a bomb in Afghanistan returned home today.

East Coast Main Line to come under public control

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:36:12 GMT

One of the UK's biggest rail franchises will come under public control next week, the Department for Transport announced today.

Freed mercenary calls for Mark Thatcher to 'face justice'

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:10:55 GMT

Simon Mann, the Eton-educated mercenary who was imprisoned for plotting a coup in west Africa, arrived back in Britain today and called for Mark Thatcher to “face justice” over his alleged involvement in the ill-fated conspiracy.

Freed mercenary lands back in the UK

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:06:28 GMT

Freed mercenary Simon Mann arrived back in the UK today for what he called the "most wonderful homecoming I could ever have imagined".

Town halls set to lose surveillance powers

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:46:51 GMT

Town halls could be stripped of their powers to use surveillance to tackle trivial offences such as dog fouling under plans published today.

Daughter dies on same rail track as father

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:13:22 GMT

A 39-year-old Poole woman has been found dead on a railway line just three days after her father was killed on the same stretch of track.

Yours for £1,000: a Caribbean cruise, or a return ticket to the Kyle of Lochalsh

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It is a sinking feeling familiar to thousands of rail passengers. Packed and ready to travel, their optimistic expectations of a trip on Britain's railways can be swiftly quashed by the eye-wateringly high fare prices demanded at the ticket office.

Yours for £1,000: a Caribbean cruise, or a return ticket to the Kyle of Lochalsh

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Saved from the death squads: Darfuris given asylum in UK

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Hundreds of Darfuris fleeing persecution in Sudan will be given protection in Britain after a government U-turn on its handling of asylum claims brought by refugees from the troubled African state.

The homecoming of Simon Mann

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With its sweeping views over the Solent, Palladian architecture and 20 acres of Hampshire pasture, Inchmery House stands in stark contrast to the concrete prison cell in Equatorial Guinea which Simon Mann had, until yesterday, called home.

Green beliefs win legal protection

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Employees who raise concerns about their company's environmental practices won the right to legal redress yesterday after a judge ruled that green beliefs deserved the same protection in the workplace as religious convictions.

Boris Johnson to the rescue as Mayor chases off 'oiks'

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:29:27 GMT

London's Mayor Boris Johnson went to the rescue of a woman being attacked by a group of young girls, chasing them down the street even though one had brandished an iron bar, it has been revealed.