UK News

The new HBO Harry Potter series has found their Harry, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. A casting call, announced in September, saw around 32,000 children audition for the lead roles, with the team reviewing up to 1,000 tapes per day, according to HBO. Dominic McLaughlin will play brave Harry, Arabella Stanton will be the clever Hermione, and Alastair Stout will portray clumsy Ron, the TV company and Warner Bros said. […]

A voiceover artist says her voice data is being used for ScotRail’s new AI train announcer without her permission, saying she feels “violated” and does not have control. The government-owned train operator recently rolled out “Iona”, an AI voice on some routes, which replaced older messages recorded by a human. But established Scottish voiceover artist and actress Gayanne Potter said Iona is based on recordings she made in 2021. Now, […]

Queen drummer Roger Taylor said he and Sir Brian May felt “so proud” as they picked up the Polar Music Prize. The King of Sweden presented the award to rock band Queen, US jazz musician Herbie Hancock and Canadian conductor Barbara Hannigan during a gala ceremony held in Stockholm on Tuesday. Founded by Abba publisher, lyricist and manager Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, the gong celebrates the power and importance of music, […]

The Duke of Sussex has made an unannounced trip to China to warn about climate change and push for sustainable tourism. In his first trip to the country, Harry travelled to Shanghai to speak at a tourism conference where he underlined China’s importance in combating climate change. Harry discussed China’s influence over global tourism practices, and urged businesses to continue to focus on green efforts, saying: “If there’s one thing […]

The King has warned Canada is facing a “critical moment” in its history, with the world a “more dangerous and uncertain place” in a speech to open the nation’s parliament. Charles delivered an address written by the Canadian government that said Prime Minister Mark Carney’s administration would bond with “reliable trading partners and allies”, a move that follows Donald Trump’s economic tactics. Many Canadians have seen the King’s two-day visit […]

Nigel Farage has declined to commit to the triple lock pensions guarantee as he said his party would scrap the two-child benefit cap because “it’s the right thing to do”. The Reform UK leader also committed his party to fully reversing the winter fuel payment cuts announced by Labour upon entering government. The two-child benefit limit was first announced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect in 2017. […]

Detectives are probing whether the car which ploughed into a crowd during Liverpool’s victory parade tailgated an ambulance before running down pedestrians. The city’s metro mayor Steve Rotheram said the vehicle should not have been on the street and the “big question” was how the incident happened. Mr Rotheram said four people are still “very, very ill in hospital” after the vehicle struck dozens of pedestrians on Water Street in […]

A van driver who took “at least 20 lines of cocaine” in the hours before he hit a tram and then ran down a three-year-old girl has been jailed for 12 years. Rawal Rehman, 36, of Lambton Road, Manchester, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving after hitting the youngster with his Mercedes Sprinter van. Louisa Palmisano, known as Lulu, died in hospital from her injuries after she was […]

The car which ploughed into a crowd during Liverpool’s victory parade should not have been on the road and the “big question” is how the incident happened, the city’s metro mayor has said. Steve Rotheram said four people are still “very, very ill in hospital” after the vehicle struck pedestrians on Water Street in the city centre on Monday. A 53-year-old man was arrested after the “horror” incident and four […]