There is no evidence that malign activity was responsible for yesterday’s outage of air traffic control systems, the transport secretary has said. Heidi Alexander said she has spoken with the chief executive of National Air Traffic Service (NATS), Martin Rolfe, and added that what happened was an isolated incident. NATS has apologised for the IT…

Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs have called for him to be acquitted of prostitution-related offences, or given a new trial on the same charges. Combs, 55, was found guilty of two counts of transportation for engagement in prostitution at the end of his high-profile trial in New York earlier this month – for flying girlfriends…

A minister has denied claims that Sir Keir Starmer could risk breaching international law with his pledge to recognise Palestine as a state. Nearly 40 members of the House of Lords, including prominent UK lawyers, made the claims in a letter to Attorney General Lord Hermer yesterday. Politics latest: Starmer launches late payment crackdown The…

A yellow thunderstorm warning will come into force this morning – with heavy rain, lighting and hail set to hit parts of southern England. The alert, covering areas including Bristol, Oxford, Southampton, London, Kent and Ipswich, will be in effect from 10am to 9pm. Forecasters have said downpours could dump up to 60mm of rainfall…

Infections from a strain of E.coli that causes stomach issues rose by more than 25% last year – with toddlers most commonly affected, figures show. The UK Health Security Agency has said the rise was partly down to a single outbreak linked to contaminated salad leaves, but also warned cases have been gradually increasing since…

The mother of a 10-year-old girl who died from complications of measles has urged parents to have their children vaccinated amid a surge of cases. Renae Archer was too young to have the MMR vaccine when she caught the infection at just five months old. A decade later, she was diagnosed with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis,…

Protests at a hotel in Essex housing asylum seekers “is a crisis that risks boiling over”, the local MP has said as pressure builds on the home secretary to close it down. Neil Hudson, the Conservative MP for Epping Forest, has signed a letter along with other local politicians urging Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to…

A man has been found guilty of assaulting two female police officers at Manchester Airport last year. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz punched PC Lydia Ward in the face, knocking her down and breaking her nose. The 20-year-old was also convicted of assaulting PC Ellie Cook and the earlier assault of a member of the public at…

Resident doctors have “squandered the considerable goodwill” they had with the government by going on strike, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told them. The medics – formerly known as junior doctors – finished a five-day strike over pay on Wednesday morning. The group were awarded a close to 30% raise last year but say they…

Olympic gold medallist Laura Dahlmeier has died in a mountaineering accident in northern Pakistan. Dahlmeier had been stranded on the Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range since Monday. Military helicopters had been unable to set off due to low visibility and rainfall, said Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the regional Gilgit-Baltistan government. The 31-year-old…