UK

A close friend of Liam Payne has told Sky News that “nothing seemed out of the ordinary” in messages he sent to her just hours before his death on Wednesday. Jodie Richards, who taught the former One Direction star at her performing arts company, Pink Productions in Wolverhampton, said she thought the news that he’d

When Simon Cowell and his fellow X Factor judges were choosing the young singers to form One Direction, it was Liam Payne he was certain of. “He was the stand-out audition,” the music mogul said, as a Polaroid of the then 16-year-old was placed on top of the smiling, fresh faces of Harry Styles, Niall

Former One Direction star Liam Payne has died at the age of 31. The singer was in Argentina when he was found dead by police. How did Payne die? Local police said Payne had fallen from the third floor of a hotel in the capital Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening. He is said to have

Five people, including two children, have been killed in a crash on the M6. The two-car collision involved a Toyota and a Skoda and happened on the motorway northbound, past Tebay services in Cumbria, at around 4.04pm on Tuesday. Four people – a man, a woman and two children from Glasgow – who were travelling

The former head of the British Army, General Sir Mike Jackson has died aged 80. Sir Mike, known as ‘Jacko’, died on Tuesday surrounded by his family, the Army said. The father-of-three led the Army during the allied invasion of Iraq in 2003 after serving in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. Image: General Sir Mike Jackson

A neighbour heard a “single high-pitched scream” of someone in pain two days before Sara Sharif was allegedly murdered, a court has been told. Warning: This story contains details readers may find distressing The 10-year-old was beaten with objects, strangled, tied up, burnt with an iron and bitten in the weeks before her death, the

Gregg Wallace says he did not say “anything sexual” while appearing on a BBC game show more than half a decade ago. The 59-year-old MasterChef UK judge was responding to reports that there was an alleged incident in 2018 when he appeared on Impossible Celebrities, which was investigated by the BBC. Image: Wallace and Anne-Marie

Sara Sharif’s father told police “I’ve killed my daughter”, claiming “I legally punished her, and she died,” after fleeing to Pakistan, a court has heard. Urfan Sharif dialled 999 in the early hours of 10 August last year, when he and the rest of his family were already thousands of miles away. Sara Sharif, 10,

The government had to “have a conversation” in order to secure the landmark DP World investment announcement that was reportedly derailed by comments from the transport secretary. Appearing on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was asked how close the government came to losing the £1bn commitment in the London

Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has died aged 69. Salmond, who led the Scottish Nationalist Party between 1990 and 2000 and then again between 2004 and 2014, was a prominent figure in the country’s nationalist movement. The second time around he used his mandate as first minister to hold a referendum on Scottish

A man has been shot dead in east London, police have said. A murder investigation has been launched after the victim – believed to be aged in his 30s – was found with a gunshot wound in Barking shortly after 4.30am. He was treated by emergency workers but died at the scene. Police were called

Sir Keir Starmer will mark his first 100 days in office this Sunday. When his press spokesperson was asked ahead of the big day if the prime minister thought it had been a successful start, he simply said: “It’s up to the public to decide that.” The verdict is in, and it isn’t good: Sir

A woman has been jailed after murdering both her parents and living with their bodies in the family home for four years. Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John, 70, with prescription medication, before stabbing her mother Lois, 71, in the chest at their home in Chelmsford, Essex. Their deaths happened sometime in June 2019

Ian Harrison watches a film in which, 16 years ago, he is on the streets begging for money in Covent Garden. Recorded in 2008, we see a fresh-faced 19-year-old Ian, who has been evicted from his flat, telling the camera he is going to take as many drugs as he can get. “I want to

The Princess of Wales has made a surprise visit to Southport with the Prince of Wales to meet the families of the three girls who died following the knife attack this summer. It is a rare public appearance by the princess – her first community visit since the end of last year, her first since

The boy who stabbed 15-year-old Holly Newton to death in a frenzied attack in Northumberland has been named as Logan MacPhail. The 17-year-old followed Holly through Hexham town centre before stabbing her 12 times and slashing her 19 times in just over a minute. A boy who was with Holly at the time tried to