Drivers and rail workers on South Western Railway will go ahead with two days of strike action in a long-running dispute over guards on trains.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) announced strike action for Thursday and New Year's Eve.
On Saturday RMT members held strikes over the dispute with South Western Railway, and Northern Rail.
South Western said it would run a reduced service across the network, with some lines having no service.
The two 24-hour strikes are expected to affect transport for Christmas shoppers and new year revellers.
Some rail replacement bus services will be in place, but South Western has advised passengers on some parts of the network to seek alternative transport.
The RMT has said South Western will be reimbursed for revenues lost as a result of the strike action.
General secretary Mick Cash said the "strike bailout" could be worth more than £26m to the rail franchise, adding it would be "enough to fund a 2019 fare cut for all South Western passengers".
The union said former rail minister Jo Johnson had admitted to MPs that South Western had made an application to be reimbursed.
Which services are affected?
Basingstoke to London Waterloo: Reduced service with one train an hour running in each direction
Salisbury to London Waterloo: An hourly reduced service will run
Guildford to Ascot: A bus service will be in operation
Portsmouth to London Waterloo: Due to planned engineering works there will be a reduced service and rail replacement services between Woking, Guildford and Haslemere
Portsmouth to Southampton: Trains will run between Southampton Central and Fareham, with one service every two hours
London Waterloo to Reading: Two trains an hour will run between Clapham Junction and Reading
London Waterloo to Weymouth: Hourly trains will run between Waterloo and Bournemouth, with a shuttle service between Bournemouth and Weymouth
Elsewhere, the RMT union has also instructed conductors, conductor instructors and train driver members on Northern to take action on Saturday 5, 12, 19 and 26 January.
Pic:Casper Platt-May (left) and his brother Corey were on a family trip when they were killed/bbc/wp Staff reporter(wp/bbc):
A driver who killed two brothers in a hit-and-run crash while high on drugs has been found dead in prison.
Robert Brown, 53, was jailed for 10 and a half years for killing Casper Platt-May, two, and Corey, six, as they crossed a road in February.
He had previously been jailed for possessing a machete and was let out on licence six days before the crash.
Serco, which runs HMP Dovegate, confirmed a prisoner had been found dead on Christmas Day.
Brown was jailed in April after admitting causing the boys' deaths by dangerous driving, and had his sentence increased in July from nine years to 10 and a half.
Casper and Corey were with their mother Louise on the way to a park when they were hit by Brown's Ford Focus as they crossed MacDonald Road in Coventry.
Brown, who had 30 previous driving convictions, had never had a driving licence and was banned from driving at the time of the crash.
West Midlands Police's Collision Investigation Unit calculated that Brown, who had taken cocaine, diazepam and zopiclone, was driving at more than 60mph.
At a plea hearing, the court was told Brown, of Attwood Crescent, Wyken, and his passenger Gwendoline Harrison had tried to flee the scene on foot but members of the public attempted to stop them.
Harrison, 42, of Triumph Close, Wyken, hit someone who intervened. She admitted a charge of assault intending to resist arrest and was jailed for six months.
A spokesman for Serco, which manages the prison where Brown had been serving his sentence, said: "We can confirm a prisoner died [on Christmas Day] at HMP Dovegate and, as is normal, the death will be subject to a coroner's investigation."
The 5p fee for plastic carrier bags in England will be doubled to 10p, and extended to all shops, under plans set out by the environment secretary.
The change is contained in a government consultation aimed at further reducing the plastic used by consumers and could come into effect in January 2020.
Smaller retailers, who are exempt from the current levy, supply an estimated 3.6 billion single-use bags annually.
Schools in England are also being told to eliminate unnecessary plastic.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds is urging school leaders to replace items such as plastic straws, bottles and food packaging with sustainable alternatives by 2022.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: "We want to do even more to protect our precious planet and today's announcement will accelerate further behaviour change and build on the success of the existing charge."
Since the 5p fee was introduced in 2015 for retailers with at least 250 employees, an estimated 15 billion bags have been taken out of circulation.
Trade bodies representing about 40,000 small retailers have launched a voluntary approach to a 5p charge, but this accounts for less than one-fifth of companies likely to be affected by the proposed changes.
'Fee has impact'
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all retailers, including smaller shops, already charge a minimum of 5p for plastic bags.
The Marine Conservation Society says the levies have had an impact on reducing plastic waste on beaches and in the sea
Oceanographer Dr Laura Foster, head of Clean Seas at the MCS, said: "We are able to measure the impact of legislation and we've seen that since the introduction of the plastic bag charge in the UK the amount we find on the beaches has gone down.
"That's also been replicated by studies that have been done offshore. They've also seen a reduction in the amount of plastic bags they find."
While retailers are given the choice on what to do with the money consumers pay for plastic bags, they are expected to give it to good causes. According to Defra, an estimated £51m was donated in 2017-18.
The Association of Convenience Stores, which is backing Defra's plans, says about half of the small shops it represents in England are currently charging for plastic bags.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: "This has been shown to be highly effective at reducing waste, whilst also raising money for local, national and environmental charities."
Pic:More than £17,000 has been raised for the families of Jason Francis and Alice Robinson/facebook/wp
International correspondent(wp/bbc):
Thousands of pounds has been raised to help the families of a British couple who died within hours of each other in Australia.
Former Market Drayton Town footballer Jason Francis, 29, was hit by a car near the home he shared with partner Alice Robinson in Scarborough, Perth.
Ms Robinson, who was said to have been "heartbroken", was later found dead.
More than 32,000 Australian dollars (£17,938) has been donated since Christmas Eve.
A Go Fund Me Page said this would help their relatives with any costs that might be incurred in sending the couple's bodies home.
Mr Francis had been on a day out with friends from Cottesloe Rugby Club, before getting a taxi home on Saturday evening.
Western Australia Police said a white VW Jetta, driven by an 18-year-old man, hit a male pedestrian on Stanley Street in Scarborough.
The force confirmed it was also investigating the death of a woman, and was preparing a report for the coroner.
Sam Diamond, president of the rugby club, which Mr Francis joined at the beginning of the year after moving to the area, said of the couple: "They were two of the finest people you could meet.
"They well and truly ingrained themselves in our club."
He said he understood Ms Robinson had gone outside the couple's home to investigate when she saw the flashing emergency lights.
"She was told by first responders that it was Jason they were working on," he said.
"We don't know what happened to her after this. I know the police have launched an inquiry into it.
"She has gone missing after notifying some of our friends of what's happened (to Mr Francis) and hasn't been found until the next morning."
He described Ms Robinson, who worked for a digital marketing company but was also a talented artist, as having "an infectious laugh" and being "very bubbly".
'Fantastic people'
Mr Diamond added: "Jason was the sort of person that's always got the time of day for everyone. Loved talking, loved working out, loved staying fit and healthy.
"They were just genuine, down-to-earth, fantastic people."
He said the mothers of both Mr Francis, who was in the process of becoming a firefighter, and Ms Robinson had expressed their appreciation for the funds raised.
A number of Shropshire sports clubs paid tribute to Mr Francis, including the captain of Market Drayton Town FC.
Paul McMullen said: "You young man were such a fine piece of our puzzle at MDTFC during our success and it was a pleasure to be part of it playing alongside of you."
European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Thursday there is still a chance that Britain’s parliament will vote in favour of the Brexit agreement in January and that there was no public support for a disorderly Brexit or another referendum.
Prime Minister Theresa May has struck a withdrawal agreement with Brussels but she was forced to postpone a parliamentary vote on it earlier this month after admitting she would lose by a large margin. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29.
“It is not entirely unlikely that the British parliament will vote for the divorce agreement in January,” Oettinger told Funke Media Group in an interview. “There is certainly no majority for a disorderly Brexit or for a new referendum.”
Oettinger said that the likelihood of Britain remaining in the EU had increased slightly over the past few months. “Nevertheless, I assume that it will come to an exit at the end of March,” said Oettinger, the EU’s budget commissioner.
Out-of-town stores and shopping centres were hit harder than towns and cities, but visits to both fell for the third year in a row, according to data for the first hours of trading on the morning after Christmas.
Shopping centre visits were down 6.7 percent by midday, market research firm Springboard said, while traditional town and city shopping streets saw a 2.8 percent drop.
Britain’s retailers had been hoping Christmas would revive spending after a bleak year for much of the sector that has seen a string of chains go out of business or announce shop closures.
The sector has faced uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union, rising labour costs and higher business property taxes as well as unseasonably warm weather.
Stores were pinning hopes on a surge in shoppers seeking bargains to counter poor trading in November and early December.
Clothing chains such as Primark (ABF.L), Superdry (SDRY.L) and online retailer ASOS (ASOS.L) warned of weak sales earlier in December, after what Sports Direct (SPD.L) owner Mike Ashley said was “the worst November in living memory” for retailers.
Springboard said one reason for the drop in footfall was the almost continuous discounting, particularly since November’s Black Friday.
“However, many retailers offer greater discounts online than in store, which discourages shoppers to visit retail destinations and bricks and mortar stores,” Springboard said.
Springboard said many people were eating and drinking as well as visiting shops, a trend that was benefiting high streets, where there were more restaurants and other venues, more than retail parks.
London’s Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street saw a 15 percent increase in footfall year-on-year by 10.30 on Wednesday, the New West End Company said, and it forecast 50 million pounds would be spent in the district by the end of the day.
“International tourists are out in force driven by the weaker pound, as well as domestic shoppers who are looking for a day out after family celebrations yesterday,” said chief executive Jace Tyrrell.
Business correspondent(wp/reuters): Business leaders’ confidence in the British economy has sunk to its lowest level in more than 18 months as the risk of a no-deal Brexit in a little over three months grows, the Institute of Directors (IoD) said on Thursday. The group, which represents business directors and leaders, said its confidence tracker briefly reached positive territory earlier this year when there was agreement on a Brexit transition period, but had fallen steadily since April and hit its lowest level this month.
Prime Minister Theresa May faces deep opposition from both her own lawmakers and opposition parties to the divorce agreement she has negotiated with the EU, raising the risk of a “no-deal” departure, something that could hurt the economy.
IoD senior economist Tej Parikh said there was no doubt that the tumultuous Brexit process was having a damaging impact on firms’ outlooks.
“Business leaders are looking ahead to the new year with trepidation about the economy,” he said.
“While we saw cautious optimism emerging when the Brexit talks appeared to be moving towards a transition period after March 2019, that has utterly dissipated now.
“The prospect of a no-deal in the near future will be weighing heavily on directors’ minds.”
Business investment has fallen for three consecutive quarters, official figures showed earlier this month, and other recent data has pointed to a slowdown in growth ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union in 93 days.
The IoD said, however, that while business leaders were pessimistic about the economy, confidence in their own firms remained relatively upbeat.
Optimism levels for the wider economy stood at -38 percent in December, it said, but the corresponding level for respondents’ own companies was +30 percent, little changed from 31 percent a year ago.
The IoD said 724 business leaders contributed to the survey in December.
