Author: Darren Smith

News, Science & Sport Darren Smith is a freelance reporter specialising in general news, science, and sport. His work covers breaking stories, scientific research, and major sporting events. darrensmith@britanniadaily.com

Jack Wolff was hit on the shoulder when a rival’s kart flew over his cockpit in Italy on Friday. Reports say he walked away, and he finished tenth in a ten-lap race on Saturday. Toto Wolff’s nine-year-old son, Jack, was involved in a frightening multi-kart crash on Friday at the Leopard Circuit in Viterbo, Italy. He was taking part in Qualifying Heat 3 of the X30 Mini category. Reports say he got out of the kart unaided, though he is said to have received minor medical treatment. Official timing records show he returned to racing on Saturday and finished tenth…

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Thousands marched over school funding and living costs on Saturday, while up to 70,000 officers were deployed to prevent a repeat of last weekend’s looting and arson. Some rallies were banned, and tear gas was used in Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand. Thousands of students and workers marched in Paris and other French cities on Saturday over school funding and soaring living costs. Authorities confined the Paris march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the centre, and banned rallies in places including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier. The Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais closed their doors…

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Police detained a suspect near the Kehlsteinhaus as about 200 emergency personnel tackled the blaze. Bavaria’s interior minister says the site will “under no circumstances remain a ruin”. Police in Bavaria have arrested a 33-year-old German man during a fire at the Kehlsteinhaus, the Alpine mountain retreat also known as Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. Dispatchers in Traunstein received a fire alarm from the building at 21:15 local time (19:15 GMT) on Friday, and firefighters found it engulfed in flames. No injuries were reported. Police said they apprehended the suspect riding a motorcycle near the scene, and that a criminal investigation has…

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Five men have been jailed at Hove Crown Court over a 425kg cocaine haul seized from the New Horizon at Eastbourne Marina. The NCA values it at £34m, though the prosecution put the wholesale value at more than £9m. Bodycam footage has captured the moment armed National Crime Agency (NCA) officers found a cocaine smuggler hiding in a kitchen cupboard on a fishing boat. Officers raided the New Horizon at Eastbourne Marina in June and recovered 425kg of cocaine. Five men were jailed at Hove Crown Court on Friday 23 October. Alan Colquhoun, 49, from Alloa, and William Donohoe, 38,…

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Rob Jones says “you cannot pivot towards one threat without there being an opportunity cost”, as the National Crime Agency retrains staff to backfill its drugs teams. Police resources have been pulled away from the fight against drugs, firearms smuggling and child sexual abuse to tackle the small boats crisis, a senior National Crime Agency (NCA) figure has told MPs. Rob Jones, the NCA’s director-general (operations), said specialists in the global drugs trade had been switched to people-smuggling cases. The agency is now training new staff to rebuild its narcotics expertise. The NCA does not directly stop crossings but works…

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Another 10 people were injured in the attack in Karak governorate, according to local media. No group has claimed responsibility and the authorities have not said who was behind it. At least seven people have been killed after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan, reports say. Another 10 were injured, according to local media. The church is in Karak governorate, about 110 miles south of the capital, Amman. A witness said two men, one carrying a rifle and the other a pistol, fired for several minutes. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate has not…

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The Government has temporarily blocked the sale abroad of the rare Bronze Age stone axe, found in North Yorkshire in 1974. Buyers have until 22 December to come forward. The UK Government has placed a temporary export bar on the Scarthingwell battle-axe head, a well-preserved survivor from prehistoric Britain, in the hope that a UK museum, gallery or institution can buy it for public display. The axe is about 4,000 years old and was found near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. The bar follows a recommendation from the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.…

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The manager used a five-minute opening address to say Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat at Como “hurt a lot”, and denied that his squad is divided after criticism from captain Bruno Fernandes. Michael Carrick has admitted that Manchester United have “lost our way”, while insisting he is the right person to turn the club around. He asked to speak for five minutes before taking a question at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game against Bournemouth. He is under pressure after a seven-game winless run in all competitions and Fernandes’s criticism of his tactics following the defeat in Como.…

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The man in his 30s was flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries after the shooting on Frances Street. No arrests have been made. A manhunt is under way after a man was shot on Frances Street in Woolwich, south-east London. The Metropolitan Police were called at around 8pm on Thursday 22 October. The victim, in his 30s, was treated at the scene and taken to an east London hospital. He was left with serious, life-threatening injuries, and no arrests have been made. The Times reports that police do not believe the shooting is connected to the nearby Royal Artillery Barracks.…

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Flames were seen around the Antonov An-124 at Chubu Centrair airport near Nagoya, closing a runway for about 15 minutes. No one was hurt, and the cause has not been established. A giant Ukrainian cargo plane appeared to catch fire as it landed in Japan, forcing the temporary closure of a runway. The Antonov An-124 Ruslan, the world’s largest operational military transport aircraft, was involved at Chubu Centrair International Airport, near Nagoya. Flames were seen around the four-engined plane shortly after it landed on Thursday evening. Flight records show it had been operating from Leipzig in Germany days earlier, where…

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