A rare public health alert has been issued after a fast-moving meningitis outbreak in Kent that has so far left two young people dead and prompted targeted vaccinations at local universities.Health authorities say there have been around 20 confirmed or suspected cases linked to an incident that appears to have originated at a nightclub in Canterbury.Officials describe the cluster’s rapid spread...

A sudden cluster of meningitis cases in a small area of Kent has left health officials searching for answers.Around 20 people fell ill over a single weekend, an unusually rapid spike for a disease that normally appears as isolated cases.Meningitis in the UK is rare and usually scattered. Past notable outbreaks, such as a 1980s MenB episode in Gloucestershire, unfolded over years rather than...

Jerry Leach, a 32-year-old country musician, has died after being trapped beneath a vehicle outside his New Jersey home.According to authorities, Leach was found on March 10 pinned under the rear tire of the car.Police and nearby residents attempted to lift the vehicle to free him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Leach's band announced his death on Instagram, sharing photos and a...

Seven people have gone on trial in Dresden accused of belonging to Antifa Ost, a militant left-wing group sometimes referred to as the "hammer gang." German prosecutors say the defendants are charged with a string of violent attacks against people they identified as part of the right-wing scene.The accused — named only by initials under German privacy rules as Henry A, Tobias E, Johann G,...

Survivors who fled northern Mali say Russian-linked mercenaries carried out summary killings, brutal interrogations and other abuses as part of counter-insurgency operations, forcing thousands to escape across the border.One man, who is now in a refugee camp in Mauritania, described being seized in the town of Nampala last August and subjected to repeated water torture and threats after fighters...

Italy’s parliament has approved a new law that treats the gender-motivated killing of women as a separate offence punishable by life imprisonment.The vote, held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, passed unanimously with all 237 deputies backing the measure.The bill was proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and received support from both the government...

The government has announced a rise in the national minimum pay that will take effect from April, with adults aged over 21 set to receive an extra 50p an hour, lifting the rate to £12.71.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said around 2.7 million workers will benefit from the increases.Younger workers will also see larger percentage gains. Pay for 18 to 20-year-olds will increase by 85p to £10.85 an...

Rachel Reeves arrives at today's Budget under intense scrutiny, aiming to steady a struggling government and buy a little breathing room for Labour.She will frame the package as a set of difficult but necessary trade-offs, focused on three headline goals: easing pressure on household budgets, shortening NHS waiting lists and beginning to bring public debt under control.Delivering on those aims...

Four more people from the Paris region have been taken into custody as investigators widen their probe into the October theft of high-value jewellery at the Louvre.Authorities said the detainees — two men aged 38 and 39 and two women aged 31 and 40 — were arrested on Tuesday.Investigators believe one of them may be the remaining member of the four-person team that carried out the daylight...

Seven suspects have appeared in a Dresden court accused of belonging to a militant far-left cell dubbed Antifa Ost, or the "hammer gang." Prosecutors say the group carried out a string of brutal assaults in Germany and in Budapest.The defendants — six men and one woman — face serious counts including attempted murder, aggravated assault and damage to property.German privacy rules mean they...