Austria is to become the first country in Europe to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory by law and has announced a full national lockdown from Monday, amid a fourth wave sweeping the continent.

English cricketer Alex Hales has apologised for appearing in blackface at a party in 2009, branding his behaviour "reckless and foolish".

A teenage boy is in hospital with "life-changing" injuries after being shot in the back as he walked down a street in Birmingham, police have said.

Andy Murray has joined an online campaign to help find missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.

Two children and two women have died in a house fire in Bexleyheath in southeast London.

Proof of booster jabs and third doses are being added to the NHS COVID Pass for international travel from today.

Grant Shapps has said promises the government made to the North on rail are "absolutely being fulfilled" despite the eastern leg of HS2 to Leeds being scrapped and plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail being downgraded.

Russia is paying "close attention" to the UK's flagship aircraft carrier, which lost an F-35 stealth jet after it crashed into the sea, the defence secretary has revealed.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has jumped 22% in the latest 12-month period, reaching its highest level since 2006, data from the country's space agency shows.

The government was not "fully prepared" for the "wide-ranging impacts" of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report, which found that Brexit both helped and hindered preparations for future crises.