Author: Darren Smith

US President Donald Trump has issued his starkest warning yet over America’s commitment to NATO, declaring the country may no longer “be there” for European allies who have declined to join military operations against Iran. The President’s extraordinary statement on Friday night suggested Washington could walk away from the transatlantic alliance after member states refused to provide material support during the conflict’s second month. Speaking at an investment forum in Miami, Mr Trump questioned the fundamental premise of collective defence, stating: “We would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have…

More than two dozen American servicemen have been injured in Iranian attacks on a Saudi Arabian military installation, as the Middle East conflict expands with Yemen’s entry into hostilities for the first time. Sources confirmed that 15 US personnel were wounded during a Friday strike on the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, part of a broader week of Iranian operations targeting American forces stationed in the region. The escalation has prompted warnings from US President Donald Trump, who suggested yesterday he may deploy troops to the area—a move Tehran has cautioned would come at considerable cost. Yemen’s Iran-backed…

A manhunt is underway after a young girl was sexually assaulted by an intruder who broke into her family home in broad daylight. West Mercia Police were called to the property on Willowfields in Woodside, Telford, following the attack on Tuesday afternoon. Officers have launched an urgent investigation to trace the suspect, who fled the scene after apparently believing someone else was in the house. The incident occurred at approximately 3pm when the man gained entry to the address. He touched the girl above her clothing before making his escape. Detectives are now hunting a white male suspect aged between…

Vladimir Putin held a closed-door meeting with Russian business leaders at which he is reported to have discussed military funding and asked oligarchs to contribute financially to the war effort in Ukraine, according to independent Russian outlet The Bell and the Financial Times. The Kremlin denied the characterisation. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was not true that Putin had made such a request, though he acknowledged that one participant had voluntarily offered to donate “a very large sum of money” to the state. Peskov said the individual — whom he declined to name — had acted on his own…

An Amazon delivery driver who picked up a family’s cat from their garden and walked off with her while making a parcel drop could now face a prison sentence, after pleading guilty to stealing the animal under legislation that treats pet theft as a serious criminal offence. Catalin Stancu, 42, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, appeared at Bradford Magistrates’ Court and admitted stealing Nora, a cat belonging to the Crowther family of Elland, near Halifax, on 18 January. Footage from the family’s Ring doorbell captured the moment Stancu delivered a parcel to the property, received no answer at the door, and…

An Afghan asylum seeker who arrived in the United Kingdom just four months before carrying out a series of sexual offences against a 12-year-old girl has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following a trial at Warwick Crown Court. Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, was convicted of rape, two counts of sexual assault, child abduction and taking an indecent video of the victim. He had already admitted a further rape charge prior to trial. The court heard that the girl was approached by Mulakhil in a Nuneaton park while she was playing on the swings. She told the court she had…

A Berlin youth centre allegedly failed to report the rape and sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl to authorities because a social services coordinator feared the perpetrators would be marginalised, according to a sworn affidavit submitted to German politicians. The claims, reported by German outlet Bild, relate to the Wutzkyallee youth centre in the Neukölln district of Berlin. The affidavit, submitted by employees at a neighbouring facility called MaDonna, describes the case of a Turkish-Kurdish schoolgirl who was allegedly raped by one boy and subsequently sexually assaulted by eight others in a secluded area of the centre. The alleged perpetrators…

A 15-year-old boy who woke during a sexual assault carried out on him while he slept in a tent at a house party has seen justice upheld after the woman responsible failed to overturn her conviction on appeal. Cynthia Frahn, 53, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the teenager at her home in Monarto, near Adelaide, Australia, in June 2023. The boy had lost consciousness at the party and was asleep in a tent when the assault took place, waking to find Frahn performing a sex act on him. A jury returned a guilty verdict, and Frahn was subsequently sentenced…

A former detective appearing before Zimbabwe’s High Court in Harare has claimed that invisible goblins tormented and compelled him to carry out a shooting that left four people dead and four others wounded. Jaison Muvevi, 42, faces murder charges in connection with the deaths of local religious figure Chrispen Kanerusine, 62, police inspector Maxwell Hove, barman Munashe Majani and a fourth man named Nyarai Round. Muvevi, who denies murder, told the court the goblins had been haunting him and directed him to drive to a church shrine with his mother before ordering him to open fire. His defence lawyer Jackie…

A secondary school in Greater Manchester used artificial intelligence to generate justifications for removing almost 200 books from its library — including some of the most widely read titles in modern literature — while placing the school librarian under a safeguarding investigation that ultimately ended her career. The case was uncovered by free expression charity Index on Censorship, which has withheld the names of both the school and the librarian due to concerns about her vulnerability. The librarian spoke to the organisation anonymously, describing events that began in November 2025 when the headteacher demanded the removal of Laura Bates’ nonfiction…