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Seven men have been arrested after four men were stabbed during an altercation in Bromley town centre. Metropolitan Police officers were called to Bromley High Street at approximately 14:15 on Thursday 10 September and attended alongside the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance.

All four injured men were taken to hospital. Police said one remained in a critical condition, while the injuries sustained by the other three were not believed to be life threatening. A cordon was established on the High Street while forensic examinations and other inquiries were carried out.

The seven arrested men remained in police custody as the investigation continued. No charges have been announced and police have not confirmed the circumstances leading to the violence or the relationship between those involved. The Metropolitan Police said it did not believe there was a wider threat to the public and asked anyone with information to contact officers on 101.

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Mayors and other strategic authority leaders in England will be given the power to introduce a levy on stays in hotels, bed and breakfasts and short term rented accommodation. The charge will be optional and calculated as a percentage of the accommodation price, meaning that people choosing cheaper places to stay would pay less.

The money will be retained locally and could be invested in public transport, high streets, cultural attractions, events and other services used by visitors and residents. The Government said temporary accommodation, shelters and refuges would be exempt, while local leaders could create additional exemptions for places such as campsites. Accommodation providers will be responsible for paying the levy to the relevant strategic authority.

The Government intends to introduce legislation establishing the scheme, with local leaders expected to publish spending plans by early 2028. The proposal had been welcomed by mayors seeking additional investment but opposed by parts of the hospitality industry, which argue that higher accommodation costs could discourage visitors. No levy has yet been introduced under the new powers, and its rate and local application will depend upon decisions taken after the legislation is approved.

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Nearly 7.3 million people attended accident and emergency departments in England between June and August, making 2026 the busiest summer recorded by the NHS. The total was approximately 240,000 higher than during the same period last year and almost one million above the figure recorded in 2022.

Ambulance services responded to approximately 2.46 million incidents during the three months, while NHS 111 received more than three million calls. Despite the increased demand, hospitals treated more emergency patients within four hours than during any previous summer. The figures were published alongside NHS England’s regular emergency-care statistics.

NHS leaders said five periods of exceptionally hot weather contributed to admissions and argued that summer was increasingly becoming a second period of intense pressure alongside winter. The waiting list for planned hospital treatment also rose to approximately 7.3 million cases in July. Although extreme heat can worsen respiratory, cardiovascular and other medical conditions, the emergency-care figures alone cannot establish how many attendances were caused directly by the weather.

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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has strengthened security after volunteers and staff received threats and abuse connected with rescues of people attempting to cross the English Channel. Personnel have been advised to consider avoiding branded clothing in places where they feel it could place them at risk.

The charity has also told teams that shops or lifeboat stations may be closed when necessary and they have increased security at some locations. The RNLI said that it had issued precautionary advice following unacceptable abuse directed at its personnel. The guidance is not a nationwide prohibition on wearing RNLI uniforms.

Protests have taken place outside RNLI facilities, while individual volunteers have reportedly been identified and targeted online. The charity has also rejected false claims that it secretly provides accommodation for asylum seekers. It said its crews would continue assisting anyone in danger at sea irrespective of nationality or immigration status, in accordance with their longstanding lifesaving role.

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Israel has strongly criticised Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband after he accused the Israeli Government of allowing the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the accusation as an “outrageous lie” and called the British sanctions against settlement activity “morally distorted”. Miliband made the comments while announcing the measures in the House of Commons.

The UK measures include prohibiting imports from Israeli settlements and restricting services connected with their construction, infrastructure, financing and sale. Israel maintains that the sanctions unfairly target the country and amount to interference before its forthcoming general election. The UK regards Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as unlawful and says their continuing expansion threatens the possibility of a Palestinian state.

Israel has responded by ordering the closure of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, removing Britain from a United States led Gaza coordination mission and ending British involvement in training Palestinian security personnel. It has also announced entry bans against 12 British nationals, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Miliband said he regretted the Israeli response but defended the sanctions, arguing that the Government could not ignore rising settler violence and displacement.

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The BBC could face industrial action as staff consider their response to a proposed pay increase and plans for substantial job reductions. Director General Matt Brittin acknowledged that strikes were a genuine possibility during a call with employees.

The corporation has offered an average pay increase of 2.1 per cent while seeking approximately £500 million of savings by 2028. As many as 2,000 posts could be affected by the reductions, although the eventual number and location of compulsory redundancies have not been confirmed. Staff representatives argue that the pay proposal does not adequately reflect living costs or the pressure created by restructuring.

BBC management says its financial options are severely constrained after a prolonged decline in licence fee income and pressure upon its commercial revenue. Brittin reportedly told employees that every additional one per cent awarded in general pay would cost approximately the equivalent of 180 jobs. No strike has yet been called and any industrial action would require the relevant union procedures and ballots.

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The Government has announced more than £1.5 billion for over 950 projects intended to improve the safety and resilience of NHS buildings in England. The programme includes new operating theatres, wards and improvements to maternity and mental health facilities.

More than £200 million has been assigned to ten major schemes, including £41 million for operating theatres at Bristol Royal Infirmary, £26 million for a pathology building at Stepping Hill Hospital and £32 million for two operating theatres at the Royal Free Hospital. A further £1.3 billion will support maintenance, fire safety, electrical and resilience work across the NHS estate.

The allocation includes £32 million for cooling, ventilation and overheating projects following periods of extreme summer heat. The money comes from the previously established £6.75 billion Estates Safety Fund, so it should not be described as entirely new funding. The major schemes remain subject to detailed design work and final business case approval.

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The Metropolitan Police have widened an existing criminal investigation concerning Reform UK to include allegations made in an undercover documentary about possible breaches of electoral law. Detectives said reports concerning party donations and polling indicated that there were potential offences requiring further investigation.

The documentary showed former Reform officials James Orr and Dan Jukes discussing funding with people they believed represented an American businessman and his British based son. The conversations reportedly included possible payment for three opinion polls commissioned by Reform. Both officials subsequently left their positions with the party.

Reform UK denies wrongdoing and says it will cooperate fully with the police investigation. Nigel Farage has characterised some of the recorded remarks as loose conversation, while the party says it was targeted by a hoax. No charges have been brought and the allegations remain subject to investigation.

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Football pitches at The Avenue in Wingerworth have reportedly been left requiring repairs following an unauthorised Traveller encampment on the land. Photographs and accounts shared locally describe areas damaged by fires and tyre marks, prompting residents to begin raising money towards restoring the community facility.

North East Derbyshire District Council said it was aware of the encampment and was working with partner organisations to address the situation. Local organisers say the affected ground will require reseeding and aeration before it can recover, although the council has not yet published an official assessment of the damage or confirmed the likely repair cost.

The damage has caused understandable anger among residents because the pitches are intended for community recreation and their restoration may require both voluntary effort and public or donated money.

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to pursue what Downing Street described as pragmatic cooperation between Britain and China. Their telephone conversation on 8 September was the first publicly disclosed discussion between the two leaders since Burnham became Prime Minister in July.

Downing Street said the leaders discussed economic growth, living standards and the wider relationship between the two countries. Burnham also raised British concerns about domestic security, human rights, Hong Kong, Russia’s war in Ukraine and consular cases. No new trade agreement or individual commercial commitment was announced during the conversation.

China’s account said the countries had more common interests than differences and identified technology, education, healthcare and financial services as potential areas for cooperation. Xi also called for the rights of Chinese investors to be protected, in remarks interpreted by Reuters as a possible reference to the nationalisation of British Steel. The two Governments agreed to continue their dialogue, but neither side announced a date for an in person meeting.