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Becca Ahern, 31, who grew up in Colchester and now lives in Bradwell, Braintree, will run 26.2-mile race in memory of her mum.

Police officers were called to an address in Highwoods on February 20, where they tried to arrest Danny Beddoes.

Major road closures are causing "nightmare" traffic conditions for drivers and businesses in Halstead, Essex.

Publisher Conde Nast Traveller (CNT) has rounded up its picks of the 15 prettiest villages near London to visit.

Only three of the last 20 Grand National winners had human names - I Am Maximus, Nick Rockett and One For Arthur.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Women in the U.S. gave birth to roughly 710,000 fewer children last year compared with the nation's peak in 2007, according to preliminary data released (PDF) this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lead researcher Brady Hamilton, a demographer with the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, said the latest one percent drop in "general fertility" from 2024 to 2025 is part of a long-running downward trend. "Since 2007, there's been a decline in the general fertility rate [in the U.S.] of 23%," Hamilton told NPR. The impact of that change in real numbers is sizable: In 2007, there were 4,316,233 babies born. Last year, even though the nation's population as a whole is larger, there were only 3,606,400 newborns. There's no consensus over why women and couples have shifted their behavior so significantly. Some experts point to economic factors, others say cultural influences, and better access to education and contraception for women are driving the change. "We're seeing big drops in fertility rates for young women, teenagers and women in their 20s," said economist Martha Bailey, head of the California Center for Population Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. "What's not yet clear is whether or not those same women will go on to have children later on." "People are having the number of children they want and that they can afford at a time that makes the most sense for them," she said. "What I don't think anyone is in favor of is a Handmaid's Tale type policy regime, where we're trying to talk families into having children they don't want." One silver lining in the data is the 7% decline in teen pregnancies in 2025. Bianca Allison, pediatrician and associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said: "What is actually affecting the birth rates are likely lower rates of teen pregnancy overall, which is in the context of higher use of contraception and lower sexual activity for youth, and then also continued access to abortion care."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

They are a menace that blight communities and have even sparked a parliament debate.

It emerged yesterday that the Kremlin had sent one attack sub and two spy submarines into the North Sea where they were able to observe vital undersea cables and pipelines serving the UK.

King Charles will address the nation later this month to mark what would have been the late Queen Elizabeth's 100th birthday, according to reports.

Cleveland Police were called to Hardale Grove, in Dormanstown, Redcar, following concerns for a child just after 1.30pm on Thursday.

A troubled student who was devastated after finding his girlfriend dead in her university halls took his own life just weeks later in a double teenage tragedy.

Sister Genevieve, previously called Anne Clanchy, died after being hit by a car on Stow Park Avenue in Newport.

Prime minister Nawaf Salam ordered his army to disarm the Iranian proxy group in the Lebanese capital Beirut and begin negotiations with Jerusalem.

Trump's request came as the US prepares to meet with Iranian leaders in Pakistan to negotiate an end to the war.

With growth plunging, inflation surging and British business staggering under the vast £75billion burden of Labour taxes, the economic outlook has rarely been more alarming.

Corporation bean-counters discovered Fiona's Antiques Roadshow actually delivers the best value for money for licence-fee payers, former BBC1 controller Peter Fincham reveals.

Talks over a new migrant patrol deal were plunged into chaos after Shabana Mahmood pushed for Border Force vessels to be able to intercept boats.

Settling down in front of the television is an evening ritual in homes across Britain. And a poll has found that strict rules are laid down by many families as they wind down together.

The Labour-run authority introduced the new bills on April 1 in a decision which leader Jane Meagher argued would help boost housing availability in the Scottish capital.

Stephen White was a teacher at St Wilfrid's Catholic School in Crawley when he 'engaged in an inappropriate relationship' with Pupil A, between March 2020 and March 2023.