Author: Darren Smith

Eleven Australian nationals detained by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza are set to be released and deported within 24 hours, following an international outcry over footage showing a senior Israeli minister gloating over kneeling detainees — as the father of one activist claimed his daughter had been beaten during a previous interception. The Australians were among approximately 400 people aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza when Israeli forces intercepted the vessel at gunpoint in international waters on Tuesday. According to a statement issued on Thursday night by the Australian Delegation for Global Sumud Flotilla, the…

Britain is on course for its first heatwave of the year this Bank Holiday weekend, with temperatures expected to reach 31C and potentially break a 14-year May record — as health authorities issue a six-day alert and millions of families prepare to head out for the start of half term. The Met Office has confirmed that a sustained period of high pressure will take hold from Friday through to Tuesday, meeting the official definition of a heatwave — three consecutive days at or above a set temperature threshold. The southeast will feel the heat first, with central and western England…

Record numbers of young British people are leaving the United Kingdom and not coming back, official figures reveal — as overall net migration fell to its lowest level since the Covid pandemic and questions mount about whether high taxes and a stagnant economy are driving a generational exodus. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 136,000 more British nationals left the UK than returned in the year to December 2025 — the highest negative net migration figure for UK citizens since records began. Among those aged 16 to 34, 75,000 more departed than returned, also a record high…

Latvia has ordered residents in its eastern regions to seek shelter indoors and scrambled NATO fighter jets after a drone was spotted in its airspace, in the latest in a series of unmanned aircraft incidents that have put Baltic states on high alert and raised fresh questions about the security of NATO’s eastern flank. The Latvian Armed Forces confirmed on Thursday that at least one unmanned aircraft had entered Latvian airspace, with a military spokesperson telling broadcaster Latvian Television that one drone had crossed from Belarus, though its precise whereabouts were unknown. Residents in areas bordering Russia and Belarus were…

Senior police chiefs have warned that a government decision to allow pubs across England and Wales to extend their opening hours during the World Cup will lead to increased disorder — after ministers pressed ahead with the move against the explicit advice of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. The Home Office has granted a blanket licensing exemption permitting pubs to serve beyond their normal closing times for England and Scotland matches throughout the tournament, which is being staged across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Many fixtures involving home nations will kick off late in the evening UK time, prompting…

Aston Villa have won the UEFA Europa League, defeating Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul to claim their first European trophy since lifting the European Cup in 1982 — and handing manager Unai Emery an unprecedented fifth Europa League title. Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendía and Morgan Rogers sealed a commanding victory at the Beşiktaş Park stadium, with Villa dominant throughout and never seriously threatened by their Bundesliga opponents. Tielemans opened the scoring in stunning fashion on 41 minutes, meeting a Morgan Rogers corner with an audacious first-time volley that flew into the bottom corner. Minutes later, deep into first-half stoppage…

A retrial jury has been discharged after failing to reach verdicts in the case of two brothers accused of assaulting a police officer during a violent confrontation at Manchester Airport — leaving unresolved one of the most fiercely debated use-of-force cases in recent British policing history. The discharge at Liverpool Crown Court means that for the second time, jurors have been unable to decide whether Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, both from Rochdale, assaulted armed officer PC Zachary Marsden during the three-minute brawl in the Terminal 2 arrivals area on 23 July 2024. Amaaz had already been…

A Mexican sports journalist has been carjacked at gunpoint while broadcasting live on television, with his co-presenter watching on helplessly as the armed robbery unfolded in real time. Fernando Vargas, a well-known figure in Mexican basketball coverage through his work with the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, was sitting in his car on the night of 19 May in the state of Morelos, streaming live commentary for the women’s basketball play-offs, when a man in a sweater yanked open his car door and leaned inside. The footage, which has spread rapidly online, shows Vargas breaking off mid-sentence in confusion before…

Two Russian fighter jets repeatedly and dangerously intercepted an unarmed RAF reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea last month in an incident that triggered the plane’s emergency systems and brought one of the Russian jets within six metres of the aircraft’s nose, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The RAF’s RC-135W Rivet Joint — an electronic surveillance aircraft operated by No. 51 Squadron from RAF Waddington — was conducting a routine intelligence-gathering mission in international airspace when it was approached by a Russian Su-35 and a Su-27. The Su-35 came close enough to the Rivet Joint to activate its collision…

A car has been caught on CCTV apparently accelerating towards a Jewish family as they crossed a road in Salford, in an incident that has prompted widespread calls for police to investigate it as a hate crime. The footage, shared by Manchester Scoop, was recorded at around 10am on Monday 19 May on Leicester Road in Higher Broughton. It shows the vehicle stopping at a green light without moving, waiting as the light turns red, and then accelerating forward at speed precisely as the family stepped out to cross. No injuries were reported. The apparent deliberateness of the sequence —…