Staff shortages because of COVID infections or isolation are driving the current crisis in the NHS.

Yellow weather warnings have been issued for snow and ice in large parts of the UK - amid the threat of lightning strikes that could cause some homes to lose power.

A third state of emergency has been declared in Kazakhstan - with the alert now raised in the capital Nur-Sultan - after violent protests broke out in several major cities.

An ambulance service in the northeast of England is still asking patients suffering from suspected strokes or heart attacks to get a lift to hospital due to pressures on staff from coronavirus and the new year.

The Carabao Cup semi-final first leg between Liverpool and Arsenal has been postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases within the Merseyside club.

Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group has declared a critical incident with services currently "under unprecedented pressure" amid surging COVID cases across the country.

People in England who test positive on lateral flows will no longer need a follow-up PCR to begin their isolation period if they do not have symptoms, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed.

Shoppers' monthly grocery bills were nearly £15 higher in December than a year earlier according to industry data - adding to evidence of growing pressure on the cost of living over Christmas.

A juror in the sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell has called Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice a "predator" and described his own sexual abuse ordeal.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he wants to "p*** off" people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 - and warned he plans to make life harder for those who refuse to get jabbed.