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Revealed: councils paid inadequate care homes £2.3m to house children Twenty-three councils placed 58 children in homes owned by failing providersCouncils are placing children in care homes that inspectors say do not provide a good standard of care at a cost of millions of pounds, an investigation has found. Related: 'They got angry at me': woman tells of abuse in children's home Continue reading... Go to Source

Hogmanay fury as Edinburgh residents told to apply for access to own homes Local people must ask Underbelly if they want more than six passes to their housesEdinburgh residents have vented their anger at having to apply to a private company for access to their own homes during this year’s Hogmanay celebrations amid growing concern that the council’s hunger to attract tourism is reducing the Scottish capital to a “theme park”.People living in some parts of the city centre will also face potential restrictions on the number of guests they can invite if they wish to have parties of their own on New Year’s Eve, when the entertainment giant Underbelly will be running an event expected to attract more than 70,000 people. Continue reading... Go to Source

Rough sleeper gives birth to twins outside wealthiest Cambridge college Woman delivered premature babies in front of Trinity College on MondayA homeless woman gave birth to premature twins while sleeping rough outside Cambridge University’s wealthiest college.The woman, believed to be about 30, gave birth outside Trinity College. She was helped by members of the public, who called an ambulance, according to reports. Continue reading... Go to Source

Prominent lawyer Jolyon Maugham clubs fox to death while wearing kimono RSPCA looking into QC’s tweets about hitting trapped animal with baseball batThe prominent remain-supporting lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC has announced on Twitter that he clubbed a fox to death on Boxing Day morning, while wearing his wife’s satin kimono and nursing a hangover.“Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat,” the barrister tweeted just after 8am. “How’s your Boxing Day going?” Continue reading... Go to Source

UK father and children who drowned in Costa del Sol pool named Gabriel Diya, his son Praise-Emmanuel and daughter Comfort died at holiday resortPolice in Spain have named the three members of a British family who drowned in a hotel swimming pool on the Costa del Sol on Christmas Eve.They were identified as Gabriel Diya, a 52 year-old London-based pastor,his son Praise-Emmanuel Diya, 16, and daughter Comfort Diya, nine. Continue reading... Go to Source

Post-Brexit UK always welcome back in EU, says Timmermans European commission’s VP writes ‘love letter’ to Britons, saying UK unnecessarily damaged by BrexitBritain has been unnecessarily damaged by Brexit and “more will follow”, the vice-president of the European commission has written in a “love letter” to the British people in which he promises a warm welcome back should attitudes change.Frans Timmermans, who is Ursula von der Leyen’s deputy in her role as European commission president, writes that British scepticism of the EU had been an asset to the bloc as he expresses his own feelings of rejection ahead of the country’s impending departure on 31 January, likening himself to a jilted “old lover”. Continue reading....

Children with brain tumours to benefit from new scan New scan predicts how rapidly tumours will grow thus sparing patients unnecessary treatmentChildren with cancer will be spared unnecessarily aggressive treatments thanks to a new scan that can predict how rapidly tumours will grow, doctors say.The test has been hailed as a major advance towards being able to tailor treatments for brain cancer to the needs of individual patients and is predicted to improve survival rates. Continue reading... Go to Source

Varadkar dismisses Johnson plan to make EU pay for 'interesting' bridge Irish PM says UK must pay for any bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland Ireland’s prime minister has said he will not dismiss the idea of building a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland, but insisted the UK must pay for it.Boris Johnson and the Democratic Unionist party have spoken in favour of the idea. Continue reading... Go to Source

Kylie Minogue tries to lure Brexit-weary Britons in new Tourism Australia ad 'Matesong' Pop star reprises Neighbours character in a song that also includes tennis star Ash Barty, comedian Adam Hills and former cricketer Shane WarneA new $15m tourism campaign featuring Kylie Minogue is aiming to lure Brexit-weary Britons to Australia with the perennial promise of cute marsupials, white-sand beaches and locals who “speak your language”.The three-minute musical advertisement aired on televisions in the UK before the Queen’s message on Christmas Day, with Minogue and another well-known Australian export, Adam Hills, addressing the nation from Sandringham – a beachside suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK set for gloomy Boxing Day with heavy rain across all regions Shoppers hoping to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales are likely to face a deluge of rain across most of the country, the Met Office has saidShoppers hoping to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales are likely to face a deluge of rain across parts of the UK, the Met Office has said. Christmas Day’s clear skies will give way to cloud, wind and rain on 26 December, with the south-west of England experiencing the heaviest downpours.The Environment Agency has issued 36 flood warnings – where flooding is expected – and 96 flood alerts, where flooding is possible. Continue reading... Go to Source

Revealed: thousands of children in care placed in unregulated homes Lack of facilities to house vulnerable children in UK has led to rise in unsafe placementsThousands of children in care are increasingly being placed in homes that are illegal or unregulated, in what critics have labelled a national scandal, a Guardian investigation has found.A lack of places to house vulnerable children in the UK is prompting a surge in placements that are less safe. These include those that are unregulated or not registered with Ofsted. Continue reading... Go to Source

Notre Dame Cathedral stays dark for first time in 200 years French Catholics go to nearby church in Paris for Christmas mass following fire in AprilNotre Dame Cathedral was unable to hold Christmas Eve mass for the first time in more than 200 years after a fire ravaged its structure in April.French Catholics instead gathered at the church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, a few hundred metres away from the Paris landmark, for a service celebrated by the cathedral’s rector Patrick Chauvet. Continue reading... Go to Source

Queen acknowledges 'bumpy' year as royal family attends Christmas services Prince Andrew attends celebrations but not main service, while Queen acknowledges young people’s action on climate crisisThe royal family was out in force in a public show of Christmas unity as the Queen dwelt on the themes of friendship and reconciliation in her annual message and acknowledged a “quite bumpy” path during a turbulent year for both the monarchy and the nation.The beleaguered Duke of York joined other members of the family for the traditional celebrations at Sandringham in Norfolk in his first appearance since he was forced to step down from official royal duties over his friendship with convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading... Go to Source

Shoppers expected to spend more than £4bn on Boxing Day In-store takings will be down, analysts say, as Black Friday eclipses post-Christmas salesShoppers are expected to spend more than £4bn in the Boxing Day sales on Thursday, but the annual discount extravaganza is likely to be dampened after a month of price cuts.Sales in stores are expected to be down by just over 12% to £3.2bn, according to VoucherCodes and the Centre for Retail Research, while bank holiday queues are expected to be up to 2% shorter than they used to be as the post-Christmas sales have been eclipsed by November’s Black Friday promotional stint. Continue reading... Go to Source

2020 set to be year of the electric car, say industry analysts Mini, Vauxhall Corsa and Fiat 5oo will join rapidly expanding European EV marketEurope’s carmakers are gearing up to make 2020 the year of the electric car, according to automotive analysts, with a wave of new models launching as the world’s biggest manufacturers scramble to lower the carbon dioxide emissions of their products.Previous electric models have mostly been targeted at niche markets, but 2020 will see the launch of flagship electric models with familiar names, such as the Mini, the Vauxhall Corsa and the Fiat 500. Continue reading... Go to Source

Allee Willis, songwriter behind Friends theme tune, dies aged 72 Willis penned hits for Earth, Wind & Fire, and wrote score for musical The Color PurpleAllee Willis, the US songwriter behind the Friends theme tune as well as hits such as September by Earth, Wind & Fire, has died aged 72.She had suffered a sudden heart attack and Willis’s partner, Prudence Fenton was described as being “in total shock” over the news. Continue reading... Go to Source

Notre Dame Cathedral cancels Christmas mass for first time in 200 years French Catholics worship at nearby church in Paris following fire at cathedral in AprilNotre Dame Cathedral was unable to hold Christmas Eve mass for the first time in more than 200 years after a fire ravaged its structure in April.French Catholics instead gathered at the church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, a few hundred metres away from the Paris landmark, for a service celebrated by the cathedral’s rector Patrick Chauvet. Continue reading... Go to Source

Erdoğan arrives in Tunisia for surprise talks with president Turkish leader’s visit comes as Ankara moves to strike deals with Mediterranean nationsThe Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has arrived in Tunisia on a surprise visit for talks with his Tunisian counterpart, his office has said.The visit, the first by a head of state since the Tunisian presidential elections in the autumn, comes as Turkey has ramped up efforts to strike deals with nations on the Mediterranean, where Ankara has been at odds with Greece over resources off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus. Continue reading... Go to Source