29+ min ago (554+ words) Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick hits out at the expected changes, saying Britons shouldn't lose "ancient liberties", but Mr Lammy insists reforms are vital to deliver for victims and cut a huge crown court backlog. Sunday 30 November 2025 06:23, UK Victims will be put "front and centre" in reforms to be announced this week, the justice secretary has said, amid reports jury trials will be scrapped in some cases. Sky News understands ministers have already been briefed on the changes, which would see a judge decide most cases on their own except for murder, rape or manslaughter - or those in the "public interest". The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the reforms would speed up justice and save victims from "years of torment and delay". Nearly 80,000 cases are currently waiting to be heard in crown courts, but a bid to limit the right…...

39+ min ago (321+ words) Sunday 30 November 2025 08:50, UK The chancellor has insisted to Sky News that she did not lie to the public about the state of the public finances ahead of the budget. Rachel Reeves is facing widespread accusations that in a speech from Downing Street on 4 November in which she laid the groundwork for tax rises, she lied about the state of the public finances. Asked directly by Sky's Trevor Phillips if she lied, she said: "Of course I didn't." Ms Reeves said the decision by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to review and downgrade productivity meant that the forecast for tax receipts was "16bn lower than expected, and said she needed tax rises to create more fiscal headroom to reassure the financial markets and create stability in the economy. But coupled with other changes in the fiscal forecast, the chancellor knew…...

4+ hour, 5+ min ago (1309+ words) It comes as Aston Villa's Europa League game against BSC Young Boys last Thursday was classified as "medium risk", despite disciplinary cases against the Swiss club. Sunday 30 November 2025 03:16, UK West Midlands Police is facing growing scrutiny over the information used to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from Aston Villa, with counterparts in Amsterdam disputing the evidence it provided on high-profile incidents involving the Israeli club's fan base. The ban was imposed after the force in Birmingham concluded that the visit of Maccabi was too "high risk" to allow visiting fans amid inflamed community tensions over the Gaza war. And the decision will be challenged by the Home Affairs Select Committee on Monday when leaders from the force are questioned by MPs. It comes as Sky News can reveal officers only classified Thursday's Europa League match between Aston Villa and BSC…...

6+ hour, 13+ min ago (1601+ words) Work on Donald Trump's Ukraine peace plan continues today as Ukrainian delegates will meet US negotiators Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for talks. Meanwhile, Russia again hit Kyiv in a deadly overnight attack. Follow the latest. Sunday 30 November 2025 08:17, UK Kazakhstan's foreign ministry has issued a scathing critique of a Ukrainian naval drone attack on the Russian terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. The pipeline had to halt operations yesterday after one of its moorings was significantly damaged in the strike. Kazakhstan's foreign ministry said it was protesting "over yet another deliberate attack on the critical infrastructure of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of the Port of Novorossiysk"." "This incident marks the third act of aggression against an exclusively civilian facility whose operation is safeguarded by norms of international law," the ministry said." Ukraine has stepped…...

6+ hour, 26+ min ago (605+ words) Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country's delegation is looking to "swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war" with Donald Trump's top officials. Saturday 29 November 2025 23:41, UK Ukraine's representatives are preparing for renewed peace talks in the US, while dramatic footage has shown Russian tankers being hit by Ukrainian naval drones. On Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a delegation headed by national security chief Rustem Umerov was on its way to "swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war." They were set to be met in Florida by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a senior US official told Reuters news agency. After the US-Ukraine talks, a US delegation is expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian…...

7+ hour, 7+ min ago (873+ words) Sunday 30 November 2025 03:01, UK The Amsterdam Police has issued a statement regarding the violent clashes in the city during and around Ajax's Europa League tie against Maccabi Tel Aviv in November 2024. Here is the statement in full: The Amsterdam police and the West Midlands Police spoke during a video meeting in the first week of October. The subject of the conversation was the risk of having Maccabi supporters visiting the city of Birmingham for a European football match. The Amsterdam police made clear that among Maccabi supporters there were 500-800 ultras visiting the city in November 2024. Like other European ultra groups, these fans were organised and, on some occasions, seemed willing to fight. The Amsterdam police also stated that a lot of disorder in those days were the result of different groups provoking each other. Ukrainian officials head to US for peace…...

11+ hour, 50+ min ago (816+ words) The chancellor is under pressure after Treasury forecasters revealed public finances showed a "4.2bn surplus, while Rachel Reeves was pointing to a significant black hole that she needed to fill in this week's package of measures. Saturday 29 November 2025 20:04, UK Rachel Reeves is fighting claims that she "lied" to the public about the state of the finances in the run-up to last week's budget - in which she raised "26bn in taxes. It follows a letter published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the official watchdog which draws up forecasts for the Treasury, published on Friday. In it, OBR chair Richard Hughes (who is already under fire for the leak of the budget measures) said he'd taken the unusual step of revealing the forecasts it had submitted to Rachel Reeves in the 10 weeks before the budget, and which is normally shrouded in secrecy....

11+ hour, 50+ min ago (927+ words) The chancellor is under pressure after Treasury forecasters revealed public finances showed a "4.2bn surplus, while Rachel Reeves was pointing to a significant black hole that she needed to fill in this week's package of measures. Sunday 30 November 2025 05:47, UK Rachel Reeves is fighting claims that she "lied" to the public about the state of the finances in the run-up to last week's budget - in which she raised "26bn in taxes. It follows a letter published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the official watchdog which draws up forecasts for the Treasury, published on Friday. In it, OBR chair Richard Hughes (who is already under fire for the leak of the budget measures) said he'd taken the unusual step of revealing the forecasts it had submitted to Rachel Reeves in the 10 weeks before the budget, and which is normally shrouded in secrecy....

13+ hour, 18+ min ago (272+ words) The US president made the announcement on Truth Social amid a growing row over drug trafficking with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro. Saturday 29 November 2025 15:53, UK Donald Trump says the airspace "above and surrounding" Venezuela is to be closed "in its entirety". The US president made the announcement on Truth Social amid growing tensions with the government of President Nicolas Maduro. He wrote: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY." It comes after the US aviation regulator warned airlines of a "potentially hazardous situation" when flying over Venezuela due to a "worsening security situation and heightened military activity". The South American nation subsequently revoked operating rights for six major airlines that heeded the warning and suspended flights to the country. What's more, Trump told the military…...

13+ hour, 57+ min ago (676+ words) Sir Tom received countless accolades and honours during his lengthy career, including being knighted by the late Queen for his services to literature in 1997. Saturday 29 November 2025 18:03, UK Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Shakespeare In Love, has died at the age of 88. A statement from United Agents said: "We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved client and friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family. "He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language. "It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him." King Charles said in a tribute: "My wife and I are deeply saddened to learn of the death…...