Author: Darren Smith

Four-day military exercises involving tanks, drones and artillery are under way in Belarus near the strategically vital Suwalki Gap, as Poland shuts airports amid mounting tension along Nato’s eastern flank. Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, has begun four days of military exercises involving tanks and drone units close to the Suwalki Gap, the narrow strip of Nato territory connecting the Baltic states to the rest of the alliance that has been described as Nato’s “weakest link.” The drills, taking place in the Brest and Grodno regions bordering Poland and Lithuania, come amid escalating tension along Nato’s eastern border, with Poland forced…

Police and trading standards officers have issued an urgent warning over a new automated phone scam impersonating the NHS, which threatens patients with losing access to their GP unless they hand over personal or banking details. A sophisticated new phone scam impersonating the NHS is circulating across the UK, with police and consumer watchdogs warning it could leave thousands of patients fearing they will lose access to their local GP practice. The automated calls falsely claim that a patient’s local surgery is “updating their registry” and instruct recipients to press a number to speak to an NHS staff member. Officials…

The Metropolitan Police has made a mandatory referral to the IOPC over its contact with Nicholas Brandram, after the banker was found dead at his Chiswick home following months of investigation into the 2017 Putney Bridge incident. The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its prior contact with Nicholas Brandram, a suspect in the so-called Putney Pusher case, after he was found dead at his home in Chiswick, West London. The 44-year-old, a descendant of Queen Victoria and a former Army officer, had been investigated in connection with an incident on Putney…

Mayor Katie Wilson interrupted an interview to justify her decision to block city surveillance cameras, as newly released text messages expose confusion within police leadership following July’s deadly Bite of Seattle shooting. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has defended her decision to block the activation of city surveillance cameras, interjecting during a television interview this week as scrutiny mounts over her handling of public safety. Wilson, who earlier this year halted plans to connect the cameras to Seattle’s real-time crime centre, cited privacy concerns and worries over their potential use by federal immigration authorities. The controversy comes as newly released text…

The engineering boss, who ran his family firm Amcanu in Burry Port, has been remembered as an “unstoppable force” following the crash of a Cirrus SR22T near Leukerbad in Switzerland’s Valais canton. A British millionaire businessman has died alongside two friends after the light aircraft they were travelling in crashed in the Swiss Alps. Owain Davies, 55, from South Wales, was one of three people killed when a Cirrus SR22T came down near the town of Leukerbad in the southern canton of Valais on Tuesday morning. Davies, a father of two, headed the engineering firm Amcanu, which his father, Spencer…

Security analysts say Vladimir Putin may be preparing a coordinated hybrid assault on airports across the Baltic states, designed to sow confusion over Russian responsibility and fracture Nato unity, following a string of drone incursions and military confrontations across the alliance’s eastern flank. Vladimir Putin could test Nato’s resolve with a “large-scale hybrid attack” targeting the Baltic region, according to security experts speaking to The Sun. The warning follows a chaotic 24-hour period in which Nato jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish military helicopter, and another drone washed up on a…

Doorbell footage captured Jamie Allen pulling a knife on a pensioner and spitting in her face after she and her husband challenged him for dumping rubbish near their Northamptonshire home. A 29-year-old man has been jailed after doorbell camera footage captured him threatening an elderly woman with a knife and spitting at her, in an attack that came days after she and her husband caught him fly-tipping outside their home. Jamie Allen, of Duston, Northamptonshire, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years at Northampton Crown Court on 4 September after admitting a string of offences, including threats to kill and possession of…

Nyadol Nyuon told a televised debate she has ‘no intention of assimilating’, as a bitter dispute with her former employer over allegations of racism drives her decision to quit the country and renounce her citizenship. An Australian-South Sudanese human rights lawyer has said she intends to leave Australia and give up her citizenship, telling a televised debate that she has “no intention of assimilating” and that the concept of a single “white culture” does not exist. Nyadol Nyuon, who was born in an Ethiopian refugee camp before settling in Australia at the age of 18, made the remarks during an…

A social media post by academy player Shea Lacey has drawn attention at Manchester United, coming just days after 15-year-old prospect JJ Gabriel asked to leave the club and was left out of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup squad. Manchester United’s academy has been thrown into turmoil after 19-year-old Shea Lacey appeared to aim a pointed message at teenage prospect JJ Gabriel, following Gabriel’s request to leave the club. It emerged on Tuesday that the 15-year-old, regarded as the standout talent of United’s youth setup, wanted to depart, and he was subsequently left out of the squad for the club’s Carabao Cup…

A handful of copies of Earl Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about his sister were taken from a lorry parked overnight in the Dutch countryside, just days before the book’s worldwide publication and its exclusive serialisation in the Daily Mail. Several copies of Earl Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, have been stolen from a lorry in the Netherlands, days before its scheduled worldwide publication. The book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, was due to be serialised exclusively by the Daily Mail ahead of its release next Tuesday by Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random…