National News

Girls Aloud will reunite for a 2024 arena tour in memory of their late bandmate Sarah Harding. The band announced the tour with a video which saw Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh reunite at a drive-in cinema where clips of the band performing their hit tracks including Sound Of The Underground, Love Machine, Call The Shots and Biology were played. The tour will be a “celebration of

Stephen Kenny is confident he leaves behind a “great job” for someone else after his contract as Republic of Ireland manager was not renewed. Kenny’s side finished fourth in their Euro 2024 qualifying group, winning just two of eight matches, and after Tuesday’s 1-1 friendly draw with New Zealand the Football Association of Ireland made the swift announcement it would not be extending his stay. The 52-year-old’s three-and-a-half-year reign brought

A vehicle speeding toward a US-Canada bridge from the American side crashed and exploded at a checkpoint in Niagara Falls, killing two people and prompting the closing of multiple border crossings for hours. Authorities were not sure what spurred the wreck but said there were no signs it was a terror attack. The FBI’s Buffalo office said late on Wednesday that it had concluded its investigation: “A search of the scene

Travel company Jet2 has said it took a £14 million hit from the summer’s air traffic control chaos and wildfires and flooding on Greek islands. But the business said it had seen a major jump in profit nonetheless, in part because of the higher amount it was able to make per customer. It said on Thursday that the average price of a Jet2holiday package rose 11% to £855 in the

The average household energy bill will rise by £94 a year from January after Ofgem increased its price cap in response to rising wholesale prices. The regulator announced it is raising its price cap from the current £1,834 for a typical dual fuel household to £1,928 from January 1, driven almost entirely by rising costs in the international wholesale energy market due to market instability and global events, particularly the

Jeremy Hunt has promised a package of measures to boost growth and cut taxes in a highly political autumn statement. The Chancellor’s speech on Wednesday, delivered with an eye on a general election expected next year, said his plan will “raise business investment, get more people into work, reduce inflation” and increase the size of the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has upgraded its growth forecast for gross

The economy is “back on track”, Jeremy Hunt will declare as he starts cutting taxes and pushes for business growth ahead of next year’s election. The Chancellor will reportedly use his autumn statement to reduce headline rates of national insurance and make permanent a £10 billion-a-year tax break for companies that invest in new machinery and equipment. His deputy Laura Trott had already indicated that individuals would benefit from a

A third of British employees have admitted to working in their pyjamas, a survey has found. Employment firm Indeed surveyed over 1,000 employees and 500 employers in the UK, discovering 33% of workers wear pyjamas during shift hours. Employees don nightwear 46 working days a year on average, with one in 12 wearing pyjamas every day. Nearly half of the bosses surveyed said staff have become too casual since the