Tag: News Story

STORY

Sainsbury’s is to provide around 10,000 work experience and employability opportunities for young people during the next year as part of a Government backed effort to reduce youth unemployment. The Modern Work Experience Programme will begin in October and operate across England, Scotland and Wales.

The programme will give participants access to workplace visits, careers sessions, practical experience and help with CVs, interviews and job applications. It will cover careers in areas including retail, logistics, food, technology and business, with different forms of support available to young people aged between 14 and 24. Schools will be able to register their interest from September.

The scheme will concentrate on communities with high levels of free school meal eligibility and areas where young people face significant barriers to employment. The Government said more than one million people aged between 16 and 24 were not in education, employment or training. Prime Minister Andy Burnham called on other businesses to provide similar opportunities, arguing that access to work experience should not depend on personal contacts.

STORY

A 19-year-old man has died and a woman has been critically injured following a police pursuit near Stratford upon Avon. Warwickshire Police said officers attempted to stop a black Audi on Birmingham Road at around 5.23pm on Monday 24 August, but its driver failed to stop and travelled towards the A46 before returning towards Stratford on the A439 Warwick Road.

At approximately 5.44pm, the Audi is understood to have collided with a white Ford Puma. The 19-year-old driver of the Audi was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, while the driver of the Ford was taken to hospital and remained in a critical condition when police issued their statement. Several other vehicles were also damaged during the pursuit.

The families of those involved have been informed and are receiving specialist support. Warwickshire Police has made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because the death followed police contact. The IOPC has declared an independent investigation and the force said it would cooperate fully.

STORY

Chancellor John Healey has said the Government will continue working with the United States and other international partners to apply economic pressure on Iran. He said more than 240 sanctions had been imposed by the Government since it took office, targeting Iranian individuals and organisations whose activities were considered a threat to British people and national security.

Healey said the measures were intended to prevent the Iranian regime from using the global economy and British financial system to support its nuclear programme and other activities the Government regards as destabilising. He also welcomed US efforts to increase pressure through Operation Economic Outcast, although his statement did not identify any additional UK sanctions being imposed as part of the announcement.

The Chancellor said Britain supported American efforts to secure a diplomatic settlement and would continue working with international partners to protect UK interests and restore access through the Strait of Hormuz. He called on Iran to end what he described as destabilising activity across the region and to participate in diplomatic discussions in good faith.

STORY

British businesses are to be given greater access to the expertise of UK diplomats as part of a new Government programme intended to help companies expand into international markets. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has launched the Global Network Programme, which will bring together business leaders, diplomats and international partners to help firms identify overseas opportunities and understand the risks associated with operating in different markets.

Participants will receive advice from ambassadors, senior policymakers and academics on subjects including international trade, geopolitics, security and emerging technology. Overseas officials, businesses and civil society organisations will also participate, with the Government saying the programme should help British companies build international networks and make better informed investment decisions. UK diplomats will meanwhile gain greater insight into the challenges faced by businesses seeking to expand abroad.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said stronger international networks and a better understanding of economic and geopolitical developments would be increasingly important for British businesses. Sessions will be held at FCDO venues including King Charles Street, Wilton Park and Lancaster House, with the scheme forming part of the department’s Diplomatic College and its wider FCDO2030 modernisation programme.

STORY

Donald Trump has been mocked after suggesting that the United States could rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, as criticism grows that the President’s increasingly confrontational approach towards traditional allies is damaging America’s international reputation. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US was giving “serious consideration” to changing the lake’s name because he did not expect the country to be doing much business with Ontario in future. The proposal was quickly met with ridicule and bemusement online, with critics describing it as childish and absurd.

The intervention came during a rapidly escalating trade dispute between the United States and Canada, after talks collapsed and Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50% on billions of dollars of Canadian goods. Canada has responded with retaliatory tariffs, while Prime Minister Mark Carney has accused the Trump administration of attempting to subordinate his country and interfere with Canadian protections for French language and culture. Lake Ontario itself crosses the US Canadian border and is jointly managed by the two countries, meaning Trump could change the name used by US federal agencies but could not compel Canada or international organisations to adopt it.

The episode has also fed a wider debate in the United States about the reputational and strategic damage caused by Washington’s increasingly hostile rhetoric towards allies. Republican politicians and former senior US military figures have criticised recent attacks on Canada as embarrassing and harmful to American interests, pointing to Canada’s long standing role as a NATO ally, NORAD partner and military partner in conflicts including Afghanistan. The dispute now extends well beyond a row about the name of a lake, with critics arguing that repeated threats and insults risk weakening trust in the United States among countries which have traditionally regarded Washington as their closest ally.

STORY

The UK has called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Sudan followed by a permanent ceasefire and an inclusive civilian led political process, warning that the conflict has created what it described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Britain told the UN Security Council that 33 million people now require humanitarian assistance, while civilians continue to face attacks, torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and the loss of essential services.

UK Permanent Representative to the UN Dame Sarah MacIntosh said responsibility for ending the conflict ultimately rested with Sudan’s military leaders, fighters and those financing and supplying the war. She said Britain supported efforts by the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to broker a humanitarian truce, alongside wider international attempts to establish an inclusive Sudanese political dialogue. The UK also called for restrictions on the flow of weapons, stronger sanctions and greater pressure on those responsible for attacks on civilians.

The Government said Britain was providing $200 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan this year, intended to reach more than 1.8 million people with food, healthcare, clean water, nutrition and protection services. MacIntosh also called on all parties to allow rapid and unrestricted humanitarian access, saying families were starving and aid workers remained under attack. She said the UK would continue supporting mediation efforts, sanctions against those responsible for atrocities and work to gather evidence for potential accountability through international bodies including the International Criminal Court.

STORY

UK Minister for the Indo Pacific Rosie Winterton has called for continued peaceful dialogue between Cambodia and Thailand during her first overseas visit in the role, as Britain reiterated its support for the December 2025 ceasefire between the two countries.

Winterton is visiting Siem Reap, Oddar Meanchey and Phnom Penh, where she is expected to meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. The visit will include discussions on trade and investment, development and human rights, as well as the UK’s support for communities affected by the recent border conflict. In Oddar Meanchey, the minister will visit an education programme supporting children displaced by the fighting and meet organisations involved in humanitarian mine clearance.

The Government said the UK has supported demining work in Cambodia for more than three decades and announced a further £1.6 million for mine clearance and risk education in May. Winterton said Cambodia was important to UK security and prosperity and that Britain remained committed to stability, long term development and a peaceful region. She is also expected to sign an education agreement intended to strengthen links between British and Cambodian institutions.

STORY

The UK is to allow classified information about British missile components to be released to help Ukraine establish production lines for long range weapons, following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first overseas visit since taking office.

The Government said defence company MBDA would be permitted to share information relating to British components used in the SCALP long range cruise missile. The agreement is intended to allow more of the weapons to be assembled in Ukraine and strengthen the country’s ability to maintain its own missile supply.

Burnham announced the move during a visit to Kyiv for Ukrainian Independence Day, where he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and chaired a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. Russia criticised the decision and warned that missile production facilities would be considered military targets, while Burnham said Britain would continue supporting Ukraine despite what he described as threats from Moscow.

STORY

The Government has called on social media companies to remove material which glorifies dangerous driving following the A66 collision near Middlesbrough in which seven people died.

Two police officers and five occupants of another vehicle were killed when a car travelling on the wrong side of the dual carriageway collided with a police vehicle. Police have subsequently made 12 arrests as part of an investigation into suspected organised crime connected with events surrounding the collision.

Downing Street described the online glorification of dangerous driving for entertainment as disgraceful, while ministers said platforms should enforce their existing rules against harmful content. There is no evidence that the fatal collision itself was being filmed for social media, but the incident has renewed concern about videos showing high speed driving, police pursuits and other dangerous behaviour being circulated online.

STORY

The Treasury has launched an independent review of the way pubs and hotels are valued for business rates following concerns from businesses about sharp increases in rateable values.

Business rates specialist Jerry Schurder will lead the review, which will examine whether the existing valuation methodology remains appropriate and how the system could be made clearer and fairer. Publicans, brewers, hotel operators and other interested groups have been invited to submit evidence before the consultation closes on 16 October.

The review will report by the end of March 2027, although any accepted changes would not affect current business rates bills and would instead be introduced at the next revaluation. The Government has said pubs, social clubs and live music venues will separately receive a 20% reduction in business rates bills from April 2027.