Author: Fatimah Idera

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has rejected plans for a major hydrogen plant on Teesside, dealing a blow to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s net zero strategy. Instead, the Government has thrown its support behind proposals for Europe’s largest data centre on the same site, designating it an “AI growth zone” central to Britain’s artificial intelligence ambitions. The hydrogen scheme, known as H2Teesside and proposed by BP, aimed to produce blue hydrogen that could supply up to 10% of Britain’s needs by 2030. But the site overlaps with land earmarked for the Teesworks data centre, backed by Tees Valley mayor Lord…

Musician and songwriter Phil Coulter has called on the UK to withdraw from the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to take part. Coulter, who co-wrote the UK’s 1967 winning entry Puppet on a String, said he was 100% behind Ireland’s state broadcaster RTÉ, which has already threatened to pull out of Eurovision over the war in Gaza. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, Coulter said musicians and performers are human beings with consciences and argued that allowing Israel to compete while Russia was banned in 2022 for invading Ukraine was a double standard. “What’s the difference between that…

Police have launched a manhunt after a series of suspected anti-Semitic attacks targeting Jewish premises in Barnet, north London.

A 16-year-old boy has died after being stabbed at Seaford train station in East Sussex. British Transport Police (BTP) said officers were called to the station following reports of a stabbing. Emergency services, including Sussex Police and paramedics, attended the scene where the teenager was found with serious injuries consistent with being stabbed. Despite efforts by passers-by and medics to save him, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Another teenage boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody. Witnesses described distressing scenes, with groups of shocked and upset people gathering near the police cordon as…

Engineers have finished construction of Britain’s longest railway bridge, the Colne Valley Viaduct, built for the controversial HS2 high-speed rail line. The viaduct stretches 2.1 miles between Harefield in north-west London and Denham in Buckinghamshire, making it 450 feet longer than the Tay Bridge in Scotland, which has held the record since 1887. Designed and built over a decade, the structure crosses the River Colne, Grand Union Canal, lakes, and several roads, using 1,000 specially shaped deck segments. Trains are expected to reach speeds of up to 200mph on the bridge, which is one of more than 50 major structures…

Dame Emily Thornberry has pulled out of the race to become Labour’s next deputy leader after failing to secure enough support from fellow MPs. The senior Labour MP and chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee announced her withdrawal on Thursday, saying it had been a privilege to take part in the contest but that she had decided to withdraw. As of Wednesday evening, Dame Emily had secured backing from just 13 MPs, far short of the 80 nominations required to progress to the next round. By contrast, frontrunner and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has 114 supporters, followed by Lucy…

Pensions Minister Torsten Bell has refused to rule out possible new taxes on pensioners in the upcoming Budget, despite growing concerns that the Government may cut the tax-free lump sum retirees can withdraw. Speaking at an event in London, Bell praised last year’s tax rises on wealth and the middle class as difficult but fair choices, arguing they were needed to fix what he described as Britain’s economic doom loop. When asked directly about potential new taxes on pension income, he said: “I am not going to start commenting on budgets.” Bell, a former head of the Resolution Foundation think…

Following the high rate of banditry and killings in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has  recently directed a review of Nigeria’s security architecture to create state police that will address and defeat escalating waves of insecurity, particularly in the North-West. This policy direction signals a shift away from the centralised policing system that has exposed deep flaws of the country’s while the proponents of state policing argue that it would improve local intelligence gathering and response times by aiding security. Former Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, had alleged that the federal government is paying bandits to stop killings, a claim…

Contactless card payments in the UK could soon go above the current £100 limit and may even become unlimited under new plans from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). If approved, shoppers could pay for bigger purchases, such as a weekly supermarket shop or a large family meal, with just a tap of their card instead of entering a PIN. The changes could be introduced as early as next year. When contactless payments were launched in 2007, the limit was just £10. It has gradually increased over the years  to £30 in 2015, then £45 in 2020 during the pandemic, and…

Four people, including two children, have died in separate attempts to cross the Channel to the UK in the past 24 hours, while three others remain missing. On Tuesday night, three people died off the coast of Sangatte, France, after a dinghy carrying 38 passengers ran into trouble. In another incident near Neufchâtel-Hardelot, three people went missing from a boat carrying 115 people. Earlier on Tuesday, a woman was airlifted to Dover from UK waters but could not be saved. French officials said attempts to cross have surged in recent days, with more than 1,000 people reaching the UK on…