Northampton Saints have reached the Premiership final after a thrilling East Midlands derby victory against Leicester Tigers. Tom Litchfield's first-half hat-trick was crucial, with Archie McParland and George Furbank also scoring tries in a high-scoring encounter.
Northampton Saints defeated Leicester Tigers 45-31 in a thrilling semi-final to reach the Prem final. Captain George Furbank scored two tries in his final home game for Saints, who will face the winners of Bath vs Exeter Chiefs.
Two children have died from measles in England this year, with one succumbing to acute measles and the other to its late effects. Health officials report over 100 new cases in the last fortnight, primarily among unvaccinated children under 10.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have sacked manager Rob Edwards after failing to keep the club in the Premier League. Edwards was hired in November and the team was relegated in April. Gil Vicente manager César Peixoto is reportedly targeted as his replacement.
The UK is set for the hottest day of the year this bank holiday weekend, with temperatures expected to reach the low 30s Celsius. Amber heat health alerts are in effect for several regions, warning of potential impacts on health services and vulnerable groups.
The UK is bracing for an intensifying heatwave over the bank holiday weekend, with temperatures forecast to reach the low 30s Celsius. Heat health alerts are in effect, and London has already seen its warmest day of the year.
Amber heat health alerts issued across parts of the UK as record-breaking May temperatures up to 33C are forecast for the bank holiday weekend. The Met Office warns of potential risks to life, property damage, and travel delays.
The Mease River in the UK has won the River Restoration Centre's UK River Prize 2026 for its 13-year restoration campaign. The project, led by Trent Rivers Trust and funded by the Environment Agency, involves farmers, volunteers, and water companies to combat pollution and habitat degradation.
Police in the Midlands arrested a man suspected of selling banking information and money laundering, linked to romance fraud. The Cyber Defence Alliance (CDA) provided exclusive access to the operation, which has led to hundreds of arrests.
A new £20m National Crime Agency unit will target "dodgy" retail outlets like vape stores and mini-marts suspected of laundering £1bn of criminal money annually. The initiative aims to combat tax fraud, counterfeit goods, and illegal work, with 75 officers recruited for investigations and raids.
Northampton Saints shattered scoring records, defeating Bristol Bears 96-39 with 14 tries. The win secures Northampton's playoff spot, while Bristol's top-four hopes are diminished.
Northampton Saints achieved a record-breaking performance, scoring 14 tries and 61 points in the first half against Bristol Bears. The 96-0 victory secures Saints' playoff qualification, while Bristol's top-four hopes are diminished.
Stuart Prior, who was elected in Essex last week, allegedly celebrated the rape of Sikh woman and called Muslim people ‘rats’A Reform UK councillor has resigned days after being elected, after he allegedly celebrated on social media the rape of a Sikh woman in the Midlands, declared white people the “master race” and called Muslim people “rats”.Stuart Prior was elected as a councillor for Essex county council last Thursday, winning 2,404 votes, the highest total of any candidate in the ward. Continue reading...
East Midlands electric car club helps residents and cuts emissions – but the need for a volunteer-led scheme reflects a much wider problemIn the aftermath of the Covid pandemic Miriam Stoate, a regenerative farmer from rural Leicestershire, noticed that too many people in her small village in England’s East Midlands were struggling to get around.Although there were plenty of cars parked in Tilton, too often she found some of the village’s residents did not have access to one when they really needed it. Continue reading...
With Trump wavering on Nato and war in Ukraine, Europe is scrambling to spend billions on weapons such as dronesIn a small workshop in England’s East Midlands, engineers at the British startup Skycutter are designing weapons for Ukraine. A row of 3D printers make the fuselage for interceptor drones, while parts such as motors and navigation chips are slotted together by hand. The same process happens hundreds of thousands of times a month in partner Ukrainian factories.The swarms of cheap, deadly and often autonomous drones deployed in that war have already changed combat completely. Troops far behind the frontline must move constantly to avoid attack from the air, travelling along netted tunnels and landscapes crisscrossed by fibre optic cables used to steer drones past radio jamming. Cities are terrorised by guided missiles that are cheaper and therefore more widely used than those that came before. Continue reading...
Leicester 41-17 NorthamptonFreddie Steward caps six-try victory for hostsYou can play all the fancy rugby you want, you can be recent champions leading the table with only a few matches to play, but certain elemental truths still apply. One of them is that if you find yourself overpowered up front away from home in a sold-out East Midlands derby, you will be blown away.Northampton could have secured a place in the playoffs here if they had won with a bonus point, but they did not even come close. Amid a ferocious atmosphere, records tumbled as Leicester claimed the bonus-point win to move within one point of Bath, who play Exeter on Sunday, and five shy of Saints. Continue reading...
Leicester post a record win over Prem leaders Northampton in a feisty East Midlands derby with hooker Jamie Blamire scoring two tries.
Leicester post a record home league win over Prem leaders Northampton in a feisty East Midlands derby with hooker Jamie Blamire scoring two tries.
Leicester post a record win over Prem leaders Northampton in a feisty East Midlands derby with hooker Jamie Blamire scoring two tries.
Senior Labour MPs urge prime minister to step down within year as party suffers loss of hundreds of English council seats and humbling in WalesElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesKeir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.In a disastrous set of results, Labour lost hundreds of council seats in England, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made big gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the South.Nigel Farage said a “truly historic shift in British politics” had occurred after Reform UK won hundreds of seats and control of more councils in England. The gains included Essex where the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has her constituency and which the Conservatives held for 25 years.Plaid Cymru became the largest party in Wales, beating Reform into second place, after Labour admitted it was on course to lose control of the Senedd for the first time since devolution. Morgan, the first woman to lead the Welsh government, became the highest-profile casualty and called on Labour to “go back to being the party of the working class”.The SNP leader, John Swinney, declared victory in the Holyrood elections – though was expected to fall short of an outright majority. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, conceded defeat saying his party had failed to counter “national dissatisfaction” with Starmer.The Greens gained their first two directly elected mayors – in Hackney and Lewisham – although they missed out on some more ambitious targets in London, as their leader, Zack Polanski, declared Britain’s two-party politics “dead and buried”. They also won three councils: Norwich, Hastings and Waltham Forest.The Tories were on course to lose hundreds of seats – both to Reform and the Liberal Democrats – across the south of England. However, they won back the flagship Westminster council in central London, with Badenoch announcing it meant the party was “coming back”.Labour appeared to be struggling in its London stronghold, despite early indications that its vote was holding up, unexpectedly losing control of Brent. Party insiders were closely watching councils including Lambeth, Lewisham and Haringey. Continue reading...
After Labour’s demise was overestimated, the prime minister’s potential challengers are staying quiet – for nowElections 2026 – live updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesAs the results rolled in, a trickle of voices from MPs in the governing Labour party calling for Keir Starmer to name an exit date turned into a steady stream.The numbers in England’s crucial local election results on Friday were undoubtedly bad for Labour, as Reform UK made sweeping gains across pro-Brexit heartlands in the Midlands and north, including the historically deep red Sunderland and Hartlepool. These could even be the party’s worst losses for 50 years, with more than 1,000 councillors gone alongside the loss of control of the Welsh parliament – and similar disappointment expected in Scotland. Continue reading...
After Labour’s demise was overestimated, the prime minister’s potential challengers are staying quiet – for nowElections 2026 – live updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesAs the results rolled in, a trickle of voices were calling for Keir Starmer to quit – MPs from the governing Labour party, some trade union leaders, and a Labour peer.The numbers in England’s crucial local election results on Friday were undoubtedly bad for Labour, as Reform UK made sweeping gains across pro-Brexit heartlands in the Midlands and north, including the historically deep red Sunderland and Hartlepool. These could even be the party’s worst losses for 50 years, with more than 1,000 councillors gone alongside the potential loss of control of the Welsh parliament – and similar disappointment expected in Scotland. Continue reading...
Results are undoubtedly bad but expectations had been set even lower, and any potential challengers are quiet for nowElections 2026 – live updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesAs the local elections results rolled in, a trickle of voices were calling for Keir Starmer to quit – a couple of MPs, a trade union leader, and a Labour peer.The numbers are undoubtedly bad for Labour, with Reform making sweeping gains across pro-Brexit heartlands in the north and midlands. These could even be the party’s worst losses for 50 years with more than 1,000 councillors gone and the potential loss of control of the Welsh parliament. Continue reading...
Tottenham secured a vital 2-1 victory at Villa Park, their first win at the ground since 2019, climbing out of the Premier League relegation zone. Conor Gallagher opened the scoring after 12 minutes before Richarlison doubled the lead midway through the first half. Emiliano Buendía's late consolation proved mere formality as Roberto De Zerbi claimed his second consecutive win in just his fourth game in charge, with Spurs now swapping places with West Ham.
