The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which has almost 260,000 members, has said that from March it will stop allowing students to take online exams in all but exceptional circumstances. We're seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards, Helen Brand, the chief executive of the ACCA, said in an interview with the Financial Times. Remote testing was introduced during the Covid pandemic to allow students to continue to be able to qualify at a time when lockdowns prevented in-person exam assessment.
Look at the condition we're living in. I've lived here for 64 years, I came to this country at 16 I've never seen it this bad. I'm sick, he says. I try my best. At the end of the day, I just want my area clean. That's all I want. Piles of bin bags, broken glass and furniture have been dumped on the street outside his home and the mosque next door.
By and large, these wait times depended on practice's capacity and an overall increase in demand. In November, Labour said that around 45% of patients were being seen on the day they requested an appointment. However, analysis of data from NHS England found that across the country there were 1.77 million four-week waits for appointments with a GP in November - up almost 250,000 on July 2024
Our officers are determined to ensure women and girls live free from violence and abuse. We are relentless in our focus on tackling domestic abuse. It will not be tolerated, and perpetrators will be held accountable. We tackle violence against women and girls every day of the year, preventing harm and bringing offenders to justice. We don't do this alone but work with partners to identify and address the societal issues at the root of gender-based violence, so that we can stop abusive behaviour before it begins.
The analysis of Department for Transport data shows that Hounslow in west London offers advertisers the greatest potential audience, with an average of 232.2 vehicles passing over each kilometre of road every hour - nearly 50 times more than the least trafficked area. Hillingdon, another west London borough, ranks second with 225.2 vehicles per hour per kilometre of road. This high volume reflects its position as home to Heathrow Airport and several major motorways.
Fires can cause devastation all year round, but this is heightened around Christmas with families potentially left homeless and possessions destroyed. We want to ensure Londoners take every precaution to prevent fires from spoiling the festive period. Keep candles well away from any Christmas decorations. Decorations can easily fuel a fire and as Christmas trees dry out, they can burn quickly and cause flames to spread in seconds.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
Police sirens were still sounding and the pavement was stained with blood when I first met Abdullah Tanoli in August 2024. It was only a few hours after he had intervened in a knife attack on a young girl in central London. Abdullah stood nearby, calm and composed, having just disarmed a man who had stabbed an 11-year-old child multiple times. The attacker, 33-year-old Ioan Pintaru, was sentenced on Tuesday to indefinite detention in a high security mental hospital.
Detectives are warning cable thieves bringing chaos to train and Eurostar services their activities will not be tolerated, as the bill reached 12.1 million and caused over 202,000 hours of delays. British Transport Police hit out after one brazen offender, Frank Lane, 47, was jailed for brazenly stealing metal from a railway depot in broad daylight. The soaring value of raw materials such as copper means wiring used to power the network has become a multi-million pound haul for criminals.
Born in Cardiff in 1963, Morris became Glamorgan's youngest ever captain at the age of 22 before returning to the role later in his career, leading them to the Sunday League title in 1993, their first trophy in 24 years. The recipient of three Test caps in 1991, when he was unable to make much of an impression as he averaged 19.16, Morris also led England A on tours to South Africa, the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
"County lines is where strangers, or gangs, or those involved in criminal activities try to use children for their own benefit," explains Leo Powell, a county lines educator. He was carrying out a role play with the children about grooming. "I've bought some food for him, he thinks we're friends, so now I say, "you owe me money', explains Mr Powell to the class. "That's called debt bondage."
The expansion of contactless payments on trains has caused the price of travelling on some services to soar as they now require more expensive peak time tickets. The change allows people to pay by tapping a bank card or contactless-enabled device on readers at stations, avoiding the need to manually purchase a ticket. But Rebecca Paul, Conservative MP for Reigate, said the new rules - introduced to 30 more stations in the South East on 14 December - risked "pricing passengers out of rail altogether".
who found work as a full-time security guard thanks to Stockton-on-Tees's JobsPlus project. The 47-year-old father has since become a community champion, encouraging his neighbours to enrol. It got to the point where even my little boy was coming home and saying, my friend's mam and dad are looking for work', he grins. They [the project] have a lot of contacts, they can open doors into places.
Holly, 25, kept the finer details of her dress under wraps as she arrived at the abbey shrouded in a white cloak, hand-in-hand with father Gordon Ramsay. Gathered well-wishers could only catch a glimpse of some lacy detail, with a hint of a scalloped skirt and long train. The bride, who opted for a dewy make-up look, styled her hair in an up-do and was wearing a veil.
Boxing Day sales are expected to deliver a £3.6 billion boost to UK retailers this year, around £1 billion less than in 2024, as cost-of-living pressures continue to weigh on household spending. The forecast comes from Barclays, which tracks nearly half of all credit and debit card transactions across the UK. The anticipated decline represents a blow to retailers during their all-important "golden quarter", traditionally the most lucrative period of the year.
Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
On Christmas Day, just before midnight at 11.27pm, emergency services responded to Wilfred Drive in Darnall after a 20-year-old man was reported to have been shot in his chest. The victim was taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical, life-threatening condition. Following the incident, detectives immediately began working at pace to understand the circumstances and quickly had four men arrested in connection to the incident.
"Sadly, one man passed away in hospital a short time later. He was Padraig McDonald, aged 20 and from the Loughmacrory area. "A boy aged in his late teens has sustained life-changing injuries, while a second boy in his late teens suffered serious facial injuries. The injuries to the other two occupants are not thought to be serious at this time. "The occupants of the black Golf and black Corsa are not believed to have suffered serious injury."
Josh Breslaw was looking forward to a homecoming gig with his band of two decades' standing. Oi Va Voi, a predominantly Jewish collective mixing traditional eastern European folk tunes with drum'n'bass and dance, were due to conclude a spring tour of Turkey with a gig in May at Bristol's Strange Brew club, plus one in Brighton where Breslaw lives. But then, after protests from local activists about both the band's past performances in Israel, and with Israeli singer Zohara, Strange Brew abruptly cancelled, citing the ongoing situation in Gaza.
The Natural History Museum in South Kensington plans to open two spaces, one of which hasn't been seen by visitors since World War II. The aptly named Old General Herbarium has not been seen by Londoners since 1948 and is set to launch in 2026 as a pop-up Hidden Histories gallery. Origins gallery, which has been shut since 2004, will also reopen as a 'Land and Air gallery' sometime before the institution's 150th birthday in 2031.
One of the City of London's most prominent financiers has become the latest billionaire to relocate abroad, adding momentum to the growing exodus of wealthy individuals from the UK. Alan Howard, the co-founder of hedge fund group Brevan Howard Asset Management, is understood to have taken up residency in Switzerland, according to UK registry filings cited by Bloomberg. Howard, 62,
CCTV footage shows the moment a drink-driver crashed his car into a Nottingham city landmark. Melvin Mugambe, 20, swerved into the corner of the Guildhall building on 4 December at 4am. Nobody was injured in the crash. Significant damage was caused to the car. No structural damage was caused to the Grade II-listed building. After being checked over by paramedics, he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving when a breathalyser test recorded 59 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, way over the legal limit.
We have been running large-scale multimedia campaigns to tackle sexual offences and sexual harassment on our transport networks since 2015. These campaigns have aimed to raise awareness of unwanted sexual behaviour; reassure victims that we take this issue seriously and improve their confidence to report knowing that action will be taken; and sending a strong message to perpetrators that this behaviour is harmful and won't be tolerated on our networks.
