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Cardinal Kevin Farrell among those securing Pope Francis' residence

Seals placed on Pope Francis' residence at the Vatican following his death - the traditional ritual was carried out by senior officials, including Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, the Camerlengo, who secured the suite at Santa Marta where the pontiff chose to live instead of the Apostolic Palace.


Scrap the GLA and abolish the Mayor of London

25 years after Tony Blair created them, it’s time to admit that the Mayor and the GLA have fundamentally failed to deliver better transport, better policing and a credible growth agenda for London, says Tony Lodge Londoners have spent the last month nervously opening their council tax bills. Readers will know it is a relatively [...]


Almost 600,000 council jobs lost in a decade – union

Birmingham was the worst hit council, losing almost 27,000 workers, the GMB figures suggest.


Pope Francis's many critics included a one-time aide and the Vatican's ex-ambassador to the US

Pope Francis's many critics included a one-time aide and the Vatican's ex-ambassador to the US - Every pope has his critics


Pope Francis was one of the oldest popes to hold office

In the history of the Catholic Church, there have been 266 popes of all ages. Some died in office while others resigned due to their age or other factors. The youngest pope to have ever taken office is reportedly Pope John XII. While his birthdate is uncertain, it is recorded that he began his papacy in 955 when he was between 18 and 25 years old. His youth is an anomaly in the otherwise mature history of the papacy, where many men of advanced age have taken over leadership of the Vatican. One of the oldest popes in history was Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025, on Easter Monday. Pope Francis was 88 years old. Want to know more about the oldest popes? Click through the gallery for more information.


Andrew Garfield teases return to Spider-Man but says there’s only one way it would work

Andrew Garfield teases return to Spider-Man but says there’s only one way it would work - Fans have been clamouring to see him reprise his role as the eponymous superhero again


South London bookshop owner issues heartfelt plea after break in

South London bookshop owner issues heartfelt plea after break in - Lala Books, in Camberwell, was left with a smashed window following the raid on Thursday night


Gary Lineker believes BBC wanted him to leave as he regrets tweets ‘damage’

Gary Lineker believes BBC wanted him to leave as he regrets tweets ‘damage’ - The ex-footballer, who has worked as a presenter on the highlights programme since 1999, will leave the BBC after hosting its 2026 World Cup coverage.


Dedham Vale: the Essex beauty spot offering picture perfect country homes for less than the Cotswolds

Dedham Vale: the Essex beauty spot offering picture perfect country homes for less than the Cotswolds - You can find your dream country home far more cheaply if you head east to this Essex beauty spot than west in more famous areas like the Cotswolds


70% of Jewish Holocaust survivors will be gone in the next 10 years, a report shows

70% of Jewish Holocaust survivors will be gone in the next 10 years, a report shows - Eighty years after the Holocaust, more than 200,000 Jewish survivors are still alive, but according to a study 70% of them will be gone within the next 10 years


Patient satisfaction with GP services in England has collapsed, research finds

Patients’ satisfaction with GP services has collapsed in recent years as family doctors have switched to providing far fewer face-to-face appointments, new research has revealed. The proportion of patients seeing a GP in person has plummeted from more than four-fifths (80.7%) in 2019 to just under two-thirds (66.2%) last year. Telephone appointments have almost doubled over the same period from 13.4% to 25.4%. Those undertaken by video or...


Teach young people about ransomware risks before they enter work, expert urges

Teach young people about ransomware risks before they enter work, expert urges - Cybersecurity can be improved by better preparing young people for the cyber threats they will face when they join the workforce, an expert has said.


When is Conclave and how will it work? Process to select new Pope to begin

When is Conclave and how will it work? Process to select new Pope to begin - The method the Catholic Church uses to select their leader has remained virtually unchanged for the last 800 years


Mum took her own life after mortgage payments went up £600

Kathleen Moore was not entitled to benefits and tried everything to raise the extra money


Pope Francis died from stroke followed by heart failure, Vatican says

The late pope's passing was announced earlier on Monday morning with bells tolling in Catholic churches from Latin America to Asia and across Rome as the news spread around the world. View on euronews


‘The people’s pope’: what the papers say about the death of Pope Francis

The death of Pope Francis has reverberated around the world, with the Catholic leader remembered by millions as a Jesuit pontiff who pushed for social and economic justice. Here is how the major British newspapers responded to the news. “Groundbreaking head of Catholic church, Pope Francis, dies at 88”, says the Guardian, featuring a picture of the late pontiff in a white soutane with his arm outstretched to the crowd. “People’s pope”, writes...


Brian Feeney: The unionist veto is gone but the DUP won’t admit it

Now that the DUP’s loss of domination at the executive has been exposed, how much mileage will the TUV be able to make of this ignominy?


Keir Starmer to seek to bolster defence ties as he hosts New Zealand PM

Keir Starmer will seek to strengthen the UK’s defence ties with New Zealand when he hosts the country’s prime minister on Tuesday. When he meets Christopher Luxon, Starmer will discuss extending a training programme for Ukrainian troops run by the two countries and agree a new £30m weapons deal. The meeting comes before a London gathering of British, French, German, Ukrainian and US officials on Wednesday. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio,...


Councils lose over half a million jobs in ten years as new research lays funding crisis bare

Councils lose over half a million jobs in ten years as new research lays funding crisis bare - As its funding crisis has deepened, Birmingham council has lost tens of thousands of workers


Free school breakfast clubs will give parents ‘breathing space’, says Starmer

The new clubs, providing 30 minutes of morning childcare, are part of a trial at 750 schools until July.


Oxford academics drank from cup made from human skull, book reveals

Oxford academics drank from a chalice made from a human skull for decades, a book that explores the violent colonial history of looted human remains has revealed. The skull-cup, fashioned from a sawn-off and polished braincase adorned with a silver rim and stand, was used regularly at formal dinners at Worcester College, Oxford, until 2015, according to Prof Dan Hicks, the curator of world archaeology at the university’s Pitt Rivers Museum....


'British man' dragged out of police station and burned to death in Ecuador - reports

'British man' dragged out of police station and burned to death in Ecuador - reports - The British man was ‘lynched and burned’ after being pulled from the police station, local reports said


Karen Read's second murder trial revives debate over who killed her Boston police officer boyfriend

Karen Read's second murder trial revives debate over who killed her Boston police officer boyfriend - The much-anticipated retrial of Karen Read is set to begin


Harvard sues Trump administration to stop the freeze of £1.6 billion in grants

The White House has argued that universities allowed antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year against Israel’s war in Gaza.


Irish-born cardinal entrusted as ‘camerlengo’ running Holy See between popes

Cardinal Kevin Farrell was asked in 2019 by Pope Francis to take on the role managing the Vatican during the ‘interregnum’ between papacies.


Who could be the next Pope? The cardinals who might succeed the head of the Catholic Church

Who could be the next Pope? The cardinals who might succeed the head of the Catholic Church - The late pontiff’s health concerns in recent years led to contenders to succeed him known a papabile emerging even before his death


UK sends 'powerful message' as Royal Navy's flagship begins eight-month deployment

The Royal Navy's flagship HMS Prince of Wales is to begin an eight-month deployment to send a "powerful message" of the UK's naval and air power.


Third of council staff cut in last decade, says union

Councils have cut 600,000 jobs since 2012, a union has revealed. Local authorities in England and Wales employed 1,894,700 workers 13 years ago, but that number had fallen to 1,295,300 by last year, according to the GMB. Birmingham was the worst-hit council, losing almost 27,000 workers, followed by Derbyshire and Staffordshire, according to the st...


HMS Prince of Wales to lead Carrier Strike Group in major 2025 Indo-Pacific deployment

HMS Prince of Wales will depart Portsmouth today for an eight-month mission across the Indo-Pacific. The deployment, known as Operation Highmast, is part of the Government's commitment to invest in British defence. As the warship departs, thousands are expected to line Portsmouth's historic waterfront to wave off their loved ones. The Carrier Strik...


Mother of Jean Charles de Menezes says ‘everyone should watch’ TV drama

Mother of Jean Charles de Menezes says ‘everyone should watch’ TV drama - Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was shot seven times by police in Stockwell underground station in July 2005.


Country diary: Watching bats until it’s too dark to see

We’ve sneaked back to the office after hours. My partner has been working late here recently and has promised me that if I sit by the window as the sun sets, I’ll see something special. Our office rental is on the top floor of an old Midlands shoe factory. From our window, we can see half a dozen other Victorian relics, some derelict, with buddleia growing through the broken glass. They squat over a maze of cramped terraces: warm red bricks,...


More British households struggling with bills will resort to energy theft, campaigners say

The number of British households stealing about £1.5bn of gas and electricity every year is expected to rise as energy bill bad debts continue to set new records, according to fuel poverty campaigners. The energy industry has warned that “desperate” households who are unable to pay their bills are increasingly resorting to tampering with their gas and electricity meters to avoid falling deeper into debt. The value of energy stolen from Great...


Chances of next Pope being English as officials start to prepare for life after Pope Francis

With the death of Pope Francis confirmed earlier this week, attention has turned to the future of the Catholic church as some wonder who the next pontiff could be


Can Rachel Reeves come up trumps in Washington?

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SNP acting as ‘recruiting sergeant’ for Farage, Scottish Labour leader says

The SNP has acted like a “recruiting sergeant” for Nigel Farage thanks to its failure to deliver good public services, the Scottish Labour leader has said. Anas Sarwar said the “root cause” of the surge in support for Mr Farage’s Reform UK party in Scotland was the SNP’s “political failure” to competently run the NHS and the education system. Befor...


UK weather today: Horror thunder and lightning heading straight for Britain on wet Tuesday

One region will bear the brunt of the upcoming rainstorm, which will bring intense downpours, thunder and lightning this afternoon - before spreading to other areas


From 'conclave' to 'white smoke,' a glossary of terms used in a papal transition

From 'conclave' to 'white smoke,' a glossary of terms used in a papal transition - A change in popes is a complicated process, with centuries-old rituals involving the transition in leadership for both the spiritual head of the global Catholic Church and the Vatican’s head of state


Cardinals meeting for first time since Pope’s death as funeral preparations begin

Cardinals meeting for first time since Pope’s death as funeral preparations begin - Pope Francis died on Easter Monday aged 88 following a cerebral stroke


Campaigners launch £31k legal challenge to stop festivals like Mighty Hoopla going ahead in Brockwell Park

Campaigners launch £31k legal challenge to stop festivals like Mighty Hoopla going ahead in Brockwell Park - A Crowdjustice page has been set up which has raised over £31,000 to cover legal costs


Eiffel Tower goes dark for Pope

The world-famous landmark went into darkness around midnight to honour the memory of Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88.


Larry David skewers Bill Maher’s Trump dinner with My Visit With Adolf essay

Larry David skewers Bill Maher’s Trump dinner with My Visit With Adolf essay - Curb Your Enthusiasm star pulls snide attack on talk-show host Bill Maher’s defensive and gushing meeting with Donald Trump


MTG sparks backlash after X post appearing to celebrate Pope’s death

MTG sparks backlash after X post appearing to celebrate Pope’s death - ‘Evil is being defeated by the hand of God,’ declared the Protestant convert congresswoman following announcement of the Pope’s death, without specifying what she meant


Rare ‘smiley face’ planet alignment to light up night sky this week

Rare ‘smiley face’ planet alignment to light up night sky this week - Sky watchers anywhere in the world can see the spectacle


Parking firms ‘issuing thousands of fines in England due to faulty ticket machines’

Thousands of drivers in England are being sent demands for up to £170 from private parking companies because of faulty ticket machines, campaigners have said. Many private car parks require motorists to input their vehicle registration when purchasing a ticket from a machine, which is supposed to ensure they do not receive a parking fine. Parking charge notices (PCNs) are issued when a ticket is not matched with a registration by automatic...


A day inside Britain’s ‘embarrassing’ court system (with the country’s former top policeman)

It doesn’t take long for Sir Paul Stephenson, once the most powerful police officer in the country, to despair. We are 55 minutes into proceedings inside court seven at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, when it’s clear sentencing for the second case of the day can’t go ahead. The probation officer tasked with writing a pre-sentencing report went on h...


‘Honest folk are paying for this’: the fight against Britain’s billion-pound energy heist

By the time a team of police officers and engineers stormed a disused office block in Wigan, Greater Manchester, on a November morning last year, the building had been abandoned. Left behind were rooms filled with thousands of cannabis plants: a nursery on the first floor, the growing crop on the second, and leaves drying out on the third. The criminal gang behind the marijuana farm is thought to have fled after the grid operator cut off the...


Glastonbury 2025 resale: When do tickets go on sale, do I need to register and other ways to get in

Glastonbury 2025 resale: When do tickets go on sale, do I need to register and other ways to get in - Music fans still have a chance of seeing Olivia Rodrigo, The 1975 and Neil Young headline this year’s festival


The results of a town-wide ban on smartphones in primary schools

The results of a town-wide ban on smartphones in primary schools -


Australians start voting in general elections as pope's death overshadows campaigning

Australians start voting in general elections as pope's death overshadows campaigning - Australians have begun voting at general elections as campaigning is overshadowed by the death of Pope Francis


Putin pays tribute to Pope Francis: ‘He had a highly positive attitude towards Russia’

Putin pays tribute to Pope Francis: ‘He had a highly positive attitude towards Russia’ -