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...

Labour has been plunged into fresh internal conflict after senior figures clashed over a proposed overhaul of settlement rules for migrants.Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner publicly attacked Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plans, arguing it would be unfair to change the conditions for people who have already built lives in Britain.More than 100 Labour MPs have privately warned Mahmood that...

Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to confirm whether he personally discussed Lord Peter Mandelson's ties to Jeffrey Epstein before naming him UK ambassador to the United States.During Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pressed Mr Starmer repeatedly on whether he had phoned or met Lord Mandelson to raise concerns about the convicted sex offender prior to the...

Prosecutors have asked a Norwegian court to hand Marius Borg Høiby a prison term of seven years and seven months, saying he should be convicted on 39 of 40 charges brought against him.Høiby, 29, faces four counts of rape and a charge of serious assault among a wider slate of accusations.He denies the most serious allegations, saying sexual encounters with the four women were consensual. The...

Health officials are investigating an outbreak of meningococcal disease in Kent after two young people died and others remain seriously ill.The issue was raised during Prime Minister's Questions, where Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer expressed sympathy for the families and said public health teams are tracing close contacts, distributing antibiotics and preparing a targeted vaccination...

A striking triangular formation spotted in a vast Martian canyon has reignited questions about whether the Red Planet might once have hosted built structures.Filmmaker Brian Dodds recently circulated images of the feature in Candor Chasma, part of the enormous Valles Marineris system, and suggested it rivals the size of Egypt’s Great Pyramid.He cautions that the photos are not proof of past...

Jeremy Clarkson brushed off a jibe about Ed Miliband after a social media user asked if he would follow advice to serve warmer beer.The former Top Gear presenter replied tersely on X, suggesting Miliband lacked common sense.The comment came as Clarkson posted a lighthearted video intended to cut through growing anxieties over the conflict in the Middle East and talk of a possible wider...

Russian sources say President Vladimir Putin has increasingly been spending nights inside the Kremlin amid heightened concerns for his personal security.The claims come from the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU and the Rucriminal website, both of which cover security-service developments in Russia.Those outlets report that mobile internet access has been restricted across Moscow amid fears that...

Islanders are up in arms after Rome ordered hundreds of high-security mafia prisoners to be moved to Sardinian jails.The measure, part of a wider plan to concentrate 750 of Italy’s most dangerous offenders in a small number of facilities, has sparked widespread protests.Under the proposal, roughly a third of those inmates would be transferred to three prisons on the island, including one in the...