National News

Shoppers, diners and pub-goers are being urged to be kind and considerate to staff this Christmas amid concern for their welfare at their busiest time. The plea comes as violence and abuse against those in customer-facing roles continues to climb, with a recent union survey showing 65% of retail staff experienced verbal abuse and 42% have been threatened by a customer in the last 12 months. Trade bodies are reminding

Police officers seized more than £4.5 million worth of drugs in Scotland over a period of three months earlier this year, according to a new report. The figure was contained in Police Scotland’s latest performance report covering the second quarter of 2023/24 detailing drug discoveries between July and September. It said activity over the period included two men being arrested and charged after a pill press and nearly one million

Strikes by train drivers will continue on Sunday, leading to the cancellation of services, with more disruption set to hit passengers for the rest of the week. Members of the drivers’ union Aslef are staging a series of walkouts in the coming days in a long-running dispute over pay. They are also banning overtime until next weekend which will lead to disruption and cancellations. Drivers on East Midlands Trains and

Cumbria Police has urged people not to travel to the county on Sunday after it declared a major incident because of heavy snowfall on the county’s roads. The force said a multi-agency response was ongoing on Saturday evening to “minimise the challenges that heavy snowfall is continuing to have on the county’s road network”. It has urged people not to travel to the county on Sunday unless necessary, adding that

Shane MacGowan’s wife says his song Fairytale Of New York “absolutely should” be the Christmas number one. Shane MacGowan’s wife says his song Fairytale Of New York “absolutely should” be the Christmas number one. The Pogues’ frontman died “peacefully” at 3am on Thursday with his wife Victoria Mary Clarke and family by his side, weeks before his 66th birthday on Christmas Day. Originally released in 1987, the band’s gritty festive

Fifty oil companies representing nearly half of global production have pledged to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring in their operations by 2030, the president of the United Nations climate talks said. The announcement by Sultan al-Jaber, president of the Cop28 summit and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, came as he and others have insisted his background would allow him to bring oil companies to

An 84-year-old man has died after an explosion at a house in Edinburgh, Police Scotland said. Officers were called to the Baberton area of the city at 10.25pm on Friday after “multiple reports” about the blast. A 43-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man were taken to hospital but their condition is unknown. The man who died was in a neighbouring property, the PA news agency understands. Police said there are

Russian security forces have raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow, less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organisation. Police searched venues across the Russian capital, including a nightclub, a male sauna and a bar that hosted LGBT+ parties, under the pretext of a drug raid, local media reported. Witnesses told journalists that clubgoers’ documents were checked

Leaders of developing nations have used the second day of the UN climate summit to press rich industrial countries to share their knowhow to fight global warming and ease the financial burdens they face. The annual United Nations Conference of the Parties, known as Cop28, in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates featured about 150 presidents, prime ministers, royals and other leaders who are presenting plans to cut heat-trapping emissions and