News

Updated: 21:51 EST

Black Friday spree: Shoppers will spend £8bn this weekend

Shoppers will spend nearly £8billion this weekend as stores slash prices for Black Friday. Discounts on some products are expected to be so big that sellers will actually make a loss. Retailers are using bargains to lure shoppers through the door – as they struggle to reverse a drop in sales fuelled by a squeeze on household budgets. Price cuts of 40 to 50 per cent are being promoted on many clothes and electricals, with the biggest deals seeing around two-thirds knocked off the cost. A record number of stores are running promotions as they fear losing business to rivals or online giant Amazon. Even Next has felt the pressure, and for the first time has brought forward its Boxing Day sale to start at 3am today. It has previously refused to hold sales in the run-up to Christmas.

James Bulger’s father says killer should never be freed

James Bulger's father Ralph (left) has said his toddler son's killer should never be freed again after he was dragged back to jail over child porn for the second time. Jon Venables (pictured in 1993, right) was arrested last week after officials making a routine visit to his home discovered the 'sickening' images on his computer and alerted police. It is the second time that the monster, now 35, has been put behind bars for child porn offences, having been caught with a large hoard of images in 2010. Venables and Robert Thompson were ten when they abducted James (inset) outside a Merseyside butchers before torturing and murdering him in 1993. Ralph Bulger, James' father, said that monster Venables could kill again and should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Drivers are suffering delays of up to six minutes every mile in the City of London as congestion hits all-time highs across the UK.

Statistics show that the two British countries accounted for 64,500 of the 215,000 crimes recorded by the police across the European Union in 2015.

The death of the lovely Rodney Bewes, of Likely Lads fame, got RICHARD LITTLEJOHN wondering what Bob and Terry would be up to if they were around today.

Officials confiscated 110 real and 353 imitation firearms at air, rail and sea ports. The Border Force also seized 5,849 ‘firearms-related’ items, including pepper sprays and stun guns.

Students had invited Heather Brunskell-Evans (pictured) to speak at King’s College London. However the event was cancelled amid concerns that views she expressed on a radio show.

Join GLEN WILLIAMS for live coverage of the second day from Brisbane with updates from PAUL NEWMAN, MARTIN SAMUEL, OLIVER HOLT and session reports from LAWRENCE BOOTH.

Since June, more than 820,000 households have switched from Centrica, the owner of British Gas, after it put up electricity tariffs by 12.5 per cent.

Despite trying to save people's lives, fire crews have been pelted with rocks and bricks - and had fireworks and coins thrown at them.(File photo.)

Technology start-up bosses, footballers, pop singers and heirs like Tamara Ecclestone,(pictured) make up London's 19,966 ‘Millennial Millionaires’ new figures reveal.

Bing

Following an article on September 9, which included the English Democrats in a list of ‘far right’ organisations, we are happy to make clear that they consider themselves to be modern democratic English nationalists and to fall neither on the right nor left of the political spectrum.

Pet Beagle mauled to death by staffs in Eccles

WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: Chester the two-year-old beagle had 'chunks missing from his body' after he was set upon by the dogs in Eccles, Greater Manchester (top right). Paul Baxter (left), the owner of the dogs (bottom right), says he is devastated by what's happened, and claims that the dogs are usually gentle with his three-year-old daughter. Janet Payne, Chester's dog walker, said she was forced to watch him being thrown around 'like a rag doll' and claims when she asked the dogs' owner for help, he simply replied: 'Why the f*** wasn't your dog on a lead?' Chester is pictured inset with his owner Jennifer.

Flood victims whose homes have been hit for the second time in two years were told to buy their own sandbags as a river burst its banks after rain caused chaos in the North West.

Dominic O’Neill, 37, was put in a police car for drunk driving, but he hijacked the vehicle and drove off before smashing into two vehicles, Leicester Crown Court heard.

More than one in eight British men have missed the birth of their own baby, according to a new study. But it's not just men failing to attend important occasions as all Brits cite busy lives for missing out.

Thousands of people are needlessly dying of bowel cancer because they are too embarrassed to get screened, with men particularly bad, Public Health England officials have warned.

Parents who drive their children to school in the UK are unwittingly ‘poisoning’ them as toxic fumes are three times higher inside cars than outside and increases the country's obesity problem.

A radical new cancer treatment inspired by patients who seem to ‘shrug off’ the disease could be tested next year. 'Neutrophil' cells are may be a key reason why cancers are rejected.

Uma Thurman hints she was victimized by Harvey Weinstein

Uma Thurman posted a notice on her Instagram account (left) Thursday hinting that she was victimized by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. ‘I am grateful today, to be alive, for all those I love, and for all those who have the courage to stand up for others,’ the Pulp Fiction star wrote. 'Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators - I’m glad it’s going slowly - you don’t deserve a bullet) - stay tuned.’ Thurman and Weinstein are seen right in New York last year.

Britain will never be safe from jihadis unless Islamic State is wiped from the internet by web giants, a Downing Street terrorism expert said yesterday.

From the Tory backbenches came a measured, serious speech from a grey-haired chap who looked as though he could - and should - be in the Cabinet. It was Sir Michael Fallon.

Drinks retailer Majestic wine has seen sales of sherry soar over the past year in Britain, as hipsters swap craft beer and gin for fortified wines.

Medical group the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health overwhelmingly voted to remove the threat of criminal sanctions against doctors who perform abortions.

Chairman Sir Michael Barber said the Office for Students will force institutions to allow diverse opinions to be heard amid concerns that some views are being shut down

Bosses at an NHS trust who wanted to stop providing life-support treatment to a brain-damaged baby boy have won the right to protect their privacy over fears of public harassment.

Budget 2017: First-time buyers who saved on stamp duty

Katie Bourke (pictured right) is about to buy her first £335,000 one-bed flat in Battersea, London and thanks to yesterday's budget giveaway she'll see her stamp duty bill crash from £6,750 to £1,750. Chelsie Love, 27, (left) an environmental consultant with Waterman Group and her boyfriend Matthew Cox, (centre) who works in finance, saved for almost one year to accumulate nearly £10,000 for stamp duty costs. But they will now only have to pay approximately half of that at £5,000.

NHS bosses are drawing up national rationing guidelines for routine operations and prescription medicines after getting only a third of the money they asked for in the Budget.

Officials will be able to raid people’s salaries for unpaid tax under new rules buried in the Budget.

The Bishop of Birmingham, the Right Reverend David Urquhart, said: ‘There is more that could have been done to alleviate the situation of those who are struggling to manage.’

Partner of Buncrana pier driver says heart is shattered

A mother whose partner's Audi plunged off a 'treacherous' pier in killing himself, his two children and two other relatives says her heart is 'shattered'. Sean McGrotty, 49, was more than three times the legal drink-drive limit when his Audi Q7 jeep slid off a 'slippery as ice' slipway in Buncrana, Donegal (inset), and sunk beneath the waters of the Lough Swilly. With him in the car were his sons Mark, 11, and eight-year-old Evan, his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels, 57, and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie-Lee Tracey, all of whom died. Today, after a two-day inquest, a coroner ruled that the family died through 'misadventure'. During the hearing, the coroner heard how the sole survivor was Mr McGrotty's four-month-old daughter Rionaghac-Ann, who had been plucked to safety by hero bypasser Davitt Walsh (together right). Pictured left: Mr McGrotty (back left), with his two sons, his surviving baby daughter and his partner Louise James, who today spoke of her heartbreak after the inquest (bottom right inset).

Huw Jones was found dead in the grounds of a churchyard in Lavernock, south Wales, in two days after officers searched his home following reports he had indecent images.

The grieving parents of a teenager killed in the Manchester terror attack will fulfil one of her dearest wishes by tying the knot in a ceremony she planned.

The Victoria Cross won by a naval hero who allowed his ship to be torpedoed so he could lure a German U-boat close enough to sink it today sold for a world record £840,000.

Latvian Gunars Gureckis and Poles Mariusz Cielecki and Mariusz Perlinski say ministers have adopted a policy on rough sleepers which is unjustified and discriminatory.

One of the Royal Navy's most advanced warships, HMS Diamond, a £1 billion destroyer, broke down while on deployment in the Gulf and is now heading home to Portsmouth.

A pair of Sir Winston Churchill's iconic circular tortoiseshell glass, which he wore in his later years, are to be auctioned and could fetch up to £2000 with interest expect from abroad.

Reality TV star Marco Pierre White Jr is accused of dodging a £33 taxi fare by the driver who gave him a lift to his famous father’s hotel in Corsham, Wiltshire.

D-Day vet who danced with Camilla battered with hammer

Second World War veteran Jim Booth, honoured for gallantry on D-Day and who danced with Duchess of Cornwall, was beaten with a claw hammer when he opened his door to a burglar. The 96-year-old remains in hospital, was left with life-threatening injuries to his head and body when he was savagely attacked on the doorstep of his own bungalow. He is the only survivor of a 10-man team that spent five days in two mini-submarines, half a mile underwater, guiding Allied landing craft to Sword beach. The team spied on Nazi troops across the shorelines before shining beacons to guide Allied forces away from treacherous rocks. His bravery during the 1944 invasion earned him the Croix de Guerre French military medal.

Leicestershire rallIies to turn homeless man's life around

Michael Peaks, 45, (inset and right, this week) was sleeping in a shop doorway in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, when he was spotted by Shane Sharkey. Mr Sharkey, who just finished playing snooker with his friends, said he 'felt guilty that everyone was enjoying their Friday night', so decided to try and help. He posted an appeal for help on Facebook and within 24 hours, Mr Peaks (pictured left in 2014) had been offered a room in someone's home and a job. The rough sleeper described the response as 'like something out of a Christmas film.'

Petrolheads turn their Volvo into mock military vehicle

Graham Smith, 47, and three of his friends spent more than 50 hours turning the Volvo V70 (top left) into a tank-style vehicle complete with 'armoured' sides, camouflage paint, a turret and a cannon (right). The foursome - which also included Peter Orton, Bud Davidson and Josh Whitmee - then spent three days driving it through France, Switzerland, Italy and Luxembourg as part of the 'Bangers4Ben' charity event. When they returned, they sold the estate for £2,500 on eBay. But Mr Smith, a roadside technician from Shepshed, Leicestershire, said the group got more than they bargained for when 'suspicious' border guards mistook the vehicle for an actual tank. Pictured, bottom left, is Mr Whitmee, Mr Smith and Mr Orton.

Joe Pritchard, 25, from Cornwall let his three-year-old son watch some genuine Peppa Pig videos on the internet but was appalled when he saw how somebody had edited the show.

Sean McGrotty, 49, was more than three times the legal drink-drive limit when his Audi Q7 jeep slid off a 'slippery as ice' slipway in Buncrana, Donegal.

Tributes have poured in from animal fans to Blossom, who arrived at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling, when she was thought to be aged 17.

Kim Tribe, 47, of Hull, East Yorkshire, said she had been Christmas shopping when Richard Brown, 48, suffered fatal injuries in Workington, Cumbria, while delivering kitchen worktops.

Christopher Dyson, 25 - described by his family as a kind-hearted man who 'would give you his last pound' - was found foaming at the mouth, at the west Hull house he shared with friends.

Conor Lewis, now 18 from Nottinghamshire, was diagnosed with ‘medically unexplained’ functional neurological disorder. His physio team unexpectedly captured him walking after years of therapy.

Jean Malcherczyk, 87, sustained horrific facial injuries after falling from a hospital trolley onto hard flooring at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Greenwich.

WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: Chester the two-year-old beagle had 'chunks missing from his body' after he was set upon by the dogs in Eccles, Greater Manchester.

Paula Teixeira, three, from Zamora, Spain, has Ondine Syndrome, which causes her to stop breathing the moment she falls asleep, putting her at risk of death. She requires a ventilator at night.

Moped gang who robbed 17 London phone shops face jail 

The gang stole phones, tablet computers and caused damage to more than £1million London stores using hammers, knives, a gun and even a fencing post as a battering ram. They hit different 'Three Mobile' outlets several times in the early hours of the morning to grab the latest handsets and were in and out in 'a matter of minutes.' Members of the gang threatened to shoot security guards in the head if they got in their way. They left two officers with cuts after a violent struggle during another raid at a Wood Green store.

Stalker abseiled through friend's bathroom in Fulham

Fatmir Stafasani, 49, warned Blerta Sulaj (pictured together inset) ‘This is your last day’ before smashing her over the head in her own top-floor apartment in Fulham, until she lost consciousness. Ms Sulaj identified Stafasani as her attacker and said she had known him for a number of years from their native country of Albania. She was left with serious head injuries including a fractured skull, severe bruising to her back and bottom, and fractured hands, spent four weeks in hospital and is now registered disabled. Stafasani, from Bermondsey in southeast London, denied attempted murder and aggravated burglary but was convicted by the jury. Chilling CCTV captured Stafasani inside Ms Sulaj's building (left and inset, bottom) and detectives investigating the crime scene uncovered black webbing straps, typically used by climbers, used to abseil into the flat (right).

Jeremy McConnell arrives at court over community service

McConnell was hauled in front of Cardiff magistrates for failing to comply with a community order he was given in August after being found guilty of assaulting his ex partner Stephanie Davis. Despite being pictured wearing a hi-vis jacket while sweeping roads around the Welsh capital, McConnell skipped out on doing his total required hours.Instead he went to get a hair and beard transplant at a clinic in Istanbul. Dressed in a hoody and ripped jeans, he bowed his head as he walked past photographers waiting for him outside. While he appeared remorseful on his way into the court, before arriving, he posted sarcastically on his Snapchat account: 'If I don't see yas have a good Christmas'.

Scotland Yard detectives have released new CCTV images showing when the moped-riding killers rode past father Danny Pearce (pictured), 31, in Greenwich, South East London.

Joyce Msokeri, 46, faces five counts of fraud and one of possessing false identity documents relating to the fire, which killed 71 people in Kensington on 14 June.

Susan Okoya, 44, from Bournemouth, is facing jail after she was found guilty of breaching a restraining order by texting the former footballer Rio Ferdinand's personal trainer.

Natalie Gordon allegedly encouraged Matthew Birkinshaw to kill himself at Rutland Water, but had messages on her phone suggesting she was entering further suicide pacts, a court heard.

The clip shows one female and two male officers restraining boxer Adam Salman, 27, on the ground in a residential area in Morden, south London.

Aveesha Ahsan, 33, from Lewisham, south east London, allegedly assaulted the teen, by hugging and kissing her, and said she could not live without her, London Inner Crown Court heard.

Fearless Lorraine McCalliskey, 36, turned the tables on the hooded thug who turned and fled the shop in Tiverton, Devon.

A woman named locally as Helen Louise Corlett, and a man have been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury to a child, after the toddler was found dead at home in Birmingham.

Haunting video footage shows the sinister sex dungeon in Cornwall where a drugs gang tortured and threatened to rape a man they had chained up.

Retired civil servant Catherine Burke's body was discovered at her £700,000 house in a quiet street in Muswell Hill , north London last Thursday evening.

Queen has 20ft Christmas Tree erected at Windsor Castle

Staff at her Majesty's Berkshire home have been busy decking the halls and trimming the trees in preparation for the festive period. As usual the centre piece is an enormous 20 foot Nordmann Fir tree (left and top right) taking pride of place in St  George's Hall at Windsor Castle. The table in the dining room is set with silver-gilt pieces (bottom right) from the spectacular Grand Service, commissioned by George IV and still used today by The Queen and her guests at State Banquet.

Photographer Howard Kennedy sues National Trust for £50k

Howard Kennedy (left, outside the High Court today) and his wife Karen used Craigievar Castle in Aberdeenshire (inset top) as the setting for an 'artistic nude' photograph shoot of glamour model Rachelle Summers (right) in 2012. The castle, a 'beautiful, pink' 15th century fortress gifted to the National Trust in 1963, is believed to be the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle. But National Trust Scotland (NTS) later claimed that staff had not allowed the photo shoot to take place. They then issued a public statement, accusing Mr Kennedy of failing to get permission and insisting NTS would 'never sanction' such pictures. It came after Gabriel Forbes-Sempill (inset bottom) - the daughter of the former owner Lord Sempill -  complained to NTS about the photographs. Now Mr Kennedy is suing the body for £50,000 over claims his professional reputation has been ruined by NTS's claims.

Photographs show construction of Beachy Head light house

These are the amazing photographs showing the construction of Beachy Head light house in East Sussex which was manned by a team of three lighthouse keepers until 1983. Engineers had to install a special cable car system, left, to carry equipment, and large pieces of rock from the cliff top to the building site. It was made from 3,500 tonnes of granite rock mined from a quarry in Cornwall which was transported by rail to Beachy Head.

British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured with her husband Richard and their daughter Gabriella has been told she will appear in court in Tehran on December 10.

Ukrainian Ganna Ziuzina, 38, has asked judges in London for a 'murder determination' as she fights to unlock the £2m estate of Barry Pring (pictured together on their wedding day).

Speculation has been ramped up in recent weeks that Prince Harry could have proposed to 36-year-old US actress Meghan Markle, with the couple said to be 'head over heels' in love.

British former public schoolboy Rory Farquharson, 19, who was pictured kissing former First Daughter Malia Obama at an American football match at Harvard, has links to the Queen

Men make up more than a third of the 1.9million adults in England and Wales who say they were attacked or abused by spouses or family members in the past year.

Mr Justice Sweeney discharged them because they could not agree a verdict on whether Emile Cilliers had twice attempted to murder his wife Victoria.

Staff at Amazon's new 'fulfilment centre' in Cambridgeshire, pictured, are busily preparing for tomorrow's Black Friday rush as Britons seek to buy bargains ahead of Christmas.

Nightingales Pre-school in Penarth, South Wales, (pictured) failed to safeguard and promote welfare of the children who were not 'treated with dignity or respect', inspectors found.

The three-bedroom home is within the Hockerton Housing Project, a self-sufficient community of five houses in Nottinghamshire, where residents grow their own food and maintain the site.

Lost souls of the San Juan: Pictures emerge of sub crew

Photographs of the crew of Argentina's lost submarine San Juan (inset) have emerged for the first time since relatives revealed that an underwater explosion killed all on-board. Among the likely deceased is female weapons officer Eliana Maria Krawczyk, 35, (main) and captain of the vessel Pedro Martin Fernandez, 45 (top right). Luis Niz, 25, (middle left) was due to marry his soldier fiancee in less than three weeks, while Fernando Santilli, 35, (top left) had recently become a new father. Renzo Martin Silva, 32, (middle right) planned to marry his girlfriend next year. Mario Armando Toconas Oriundo (bottom right) is a father of an eight-year-old boy. Family members claim to have received phone calls from Navy officials telling them the entire crew had perished in a blast. Officially, Argentina's Navy is refusing to speculate on the fate of the sub's 44 crew members and have vowed to continue the search for the stricken vessel.

Robert Mugabe has been 'granted immunity' in Zimbabwe

Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace have been pictured for the first time since the former dictator was granted immunity as part of a resignation deal. Under the agreement drawn up to get the former dictator to stand down, Mugabe's whole family are understood to have been given assurances of their safety - including his hated wife Gucci Grace. The pair were pictured inside their Blue Roof mansion in Zimbabwe alongside the aides who helped secure their bumper retirement package. In the top row, standing behind the former first couple, is Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Acting Director General Aaron Daniel Tonde Nhpera, Gideon Gono and Father Fidelis Mukonori (left to right).

Mafia Godfather Salvatore 'Toto' Riinais buried in Sicily

Salvatore 'Toto' Riina (inset), one of the most feared godfathers in the history of the Sicilian Mafia, was buried Wednesday in his hometown of Corleone, Italy. Riina had been serving 26 life sentences when he succumbed to cancer aged 87 on November 17. His remains arrived in Sicily earlier this week. The family buried him in a private ceremony as public ceremonies are banned for mafiosi. Nicknamed 'The Beast' because of his cruelty, Mr Riina was was laid to rest in the family tomb, which sits near the graves of other famed mobster chiefs.

Accounts of Nazi atrocities in Warsaw Ghetto go on display

Notes (top right) describing the annihilation of Jews in the Polish capital were stuffed into milk jars (bottom right) before being stashed underground to avoid detection - and were only discovered after the war (inset, bottom left). Dubbed the 'first history of the Holocaust', the archive contains shocking witness accounts of how people were loaded on to trains and sent to their deaths, parents were dragged away from their children and people were executed on the spot for trying to flee through gaps in the walls. Nazi occupiers in 1940 corralled some 400,000 Jews into a small section of Warsaw (left) most of whom were then sent to camps to be killed or died from the conditions in the Ghetto itself.

Robert Mugabe was told he would be exposed as a corrupt mass murderer by Zimbabwe’s military leaders unless he ‘volunteered’ to resign as President following a military coup.

The Islamic State beheaded 15 of its own fighters after a bout of infighting in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, an area on the border with Pakistan which is its stronghold.

As well as the iconic governmental landmarks of The White House and The Pentagon, Manhattan, Guam, Kyoto and Tokyo are all earmarked by Kim Jong-un's North Korea as nuclear targets.

The 24-year-old North Korean solder, identified only by his surname, Oh, was suffering from hepatitis B and parasites longer than ten inches when he defected on November 13.

Angela Merkel's future is looking increasingly unstable in the wake of failed coalition talks, as a new poll reveals that more than half of Germans do not want her to stand in another election.

Chatunga Bellarmine, one of the Zimbabwean dictator's four children, changed his profile picture on Facebook to a downcast image of his father to mark the end of the 37-year Mugabe reign.

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali signed a repatriation deal on Thursday. It is unclear how many will be able to return the country.

Iraqi forces launched an operation on Thursday to clear the desert bordering Syria of ISIS fighters, in a final push to rid the country of the terrorist group, the military said (not pictured).

A secret operation by Israeli special forces in Syria found out that ISIS terrorists were working on transforming laptops into bombs. Donald Trump controversially told Russia about the intel.

One of Mexico's bloodiest criminal organizations took complete control of the Piedras Negra state prison in 2010 and 2011 without any resistance from Coahuila state officials.

The tense situation started yesterday morning in Urk, a traditional fishing town in the heart of the Netherlands, when he entered a petrol station at around 8.30am looking confused.