Author: Darren Smith

Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed has claimed British intelligence services attempted to recruit him on three separate occasions — including through a senior figure at the BBC — saying the approaches were triggered by his roles in politically charged films about terrorism and British Muslims. The 43-year-old British Pakistani actor made the revelations during an interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan on his Zeteo platform, describing the alleged recruitment attempts as “inherently comedic” despite their unsettling nature. Ahmed said the first approach came immediately after filming The Road to Guantanamo, his 2006 debut in which he played one of the Tipton Three…

A deaf BBC presenter who summited Mount Everest was left stranded alone in the mountain’s lethal “death zone” for up to three hours after losing contact with his Sherpa guide during the descent — surviving the ordeal by thinking of his children before being reunited with his guide lower down the mountain. Michael Woods, 36, a British Sign Language presenter from Liverpool, reached the summit of the world’s highest peak on Thursday as part of a charity climb for the National Deaf Children’s Society. But during his descent near the Hillary Step, at nearly 29,000 feet above sea level, he…

A high school graduation ceremony in Tennessee descended into chaos when multiple fights broke out among attendees, resulting in eleven arrests and leaving officials to describe the scenes as “selfish and disgraceful” — while the school superintendent was keen to make clear the students themselves were not to blame. The brawl erupted at Ripley High School’s graduation ceremony in Lauderdale County on 14 May, with footage showing chairs scattered across the school gymnasium as the fighting spread. The person filming can be heard saying: “You can’t even have a f****** graduation.” Seven men, three juveniles and one woman have since…

An Afghan migrant has been arrested and remanded in custody after allegedly sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl at knifepoint in a bathroom at a special needs school in Germany, in an attack that has left parents in the area demanding answers about how two older men were able to access school grounds undetected. The girl, identified only as Samira to protect her identity, attends the Hans Zulliger School in Koblenz. On 28 April she briefly left her classroom to use the bathroom when she was allegedly attacked by a man and an accomplice. According to her family’s lawyer, Bilal Colak,…

Eight spectators have been taken to hospital after a motorcycle crashed into a crowd barrier at Parliament Square in Ramsey during the opening practice session of the 2026 Isle of Man TT, forcing the suspension of all activity on the famous Mountain Course for the remainder of the day. The incident occurred at around 1.30pm on Monday during an untimed practice session for Superbike and Superstock machines. A crashed bike on the exit of Parliament Square entered a spectator area and pushed crowd barriers back into onlookers, according to GB News. The red flag was immediately displayed, bringing the session…

Morrisons has become the first British supermarket to stop selling sharp-pointed kitchen knives, replacing them with blunt-ended alternatives that cannot pierce skin — in a move backed by anti-knife charities and survivors of some of Britain’s most devastating knife attacks. The retail giant has switched to Viners’ rounded-tip Assure Collection across its stores, with David Scott, Morrisons’ corporate affairs director, saying the knives were “just as effective in the kitchen but reduce the risk of harm.” He added that the company hoped the move would “help normalise safer knives and make our communities safer.” The decision comes as knife crime…

Half of unaccompanied child migrants reassessed by Kent County Council last year were found to be adults, according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws — raising serious concerns about the integrity of age verification processes for small boat arrivals. Of 19 so-called child migrants placed in the care of Kent County Council who were retested in 2025 after frontline staff raised doubts about their true ages, ten were determined to be adults, The Sun can reveal. The individuals had been due to be placed in foster care or children’s homes as minors. Kent is at the centre of…

A prestigious Los Angeles private school attended by the children of some of America’s biggest celebrities is facing legal action after a lawsuit alleged that a student-run group sexually abused children as young as seven in school bathrooms — and that staff covered up evidence rather than reporting it to authorities. The Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, which charges up to $48,600 a year in tuition and counts among its alumni Kendall and Kylie Jenner, LeBron James’s sons Bronny and Bryce, and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s daughter Willow, was named as a defendant in a civil complaint filed by…

Russia has issued a stark warning to foreign nationals and diplomats in Kyiv to leave the Ukrainian capital “as soon as possible,” threatening a fresh wave of strikes on government buildings, military command posts and drone manufacturing facilities — just days after one of the most devastating attacks on the city since the war began. Russia’s foreign ministry said it had recommended that the United States and other countries with diplomatic missions in Kyiv ensure the evacuation of their personnel, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov personally informing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Moscow’s plans to strike the capital.…

A senior Metropolitan Police commander has been suspended after an artificial intelligence system found alleged sexual content on his work phone — as the force confirms more than 100 officers have been flagged by the same technology since its rollout last month, triggering a major internal inquiry. James Deller, a Special Constabulary Chief Officer responsible for overseeing 1,200 volunteer officers, is under investigation after being identified by software developed by US data firm Palantir. The system, which scans data held on officers’ work phones and laptops, flagged Deller for allegedly holding “sexualised content” on a force device. The civilian volunteer,…