Author: Darren Smith

A millionaire property tycoon is suing Britain’s biggest water company for more than £1 million at the High Court, claiming United Utilities stood by and protected its own land while a catastrophic moorland fire engulfed his neighbouring estate, destroying hundreds of acres of conservation work and prized red grouse breeding grounds. David Livesey, the former chief executive of estate agency giant Connells Group, alleges the utility company had the manpower and specialist equipment needed to stop the blaze from spreading to his 300-acre Lords Hall Estate in Lancashire but chose to focus its firefighting resources on its own property, leaving…

A Syrian man has pleaded not guilty to raping and sexually assaulting a woman on Brighton beach in the early hours of the morning and will face trial later this year. Bilal Alkadour, 35, of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, appeared at Hove Crown Court on Wednesday, where he denied four charges: rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration of a woman aged 16 or over. Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, he entered not guilty pleas to all counts and was told he would stand trial in November. Judge Jeremy Gold KC told Alkadour it was important…

Wayne Rooney has been hailed for a striking transformation by football fans watching his BBC punditry at the World Cup, with viewers praising the Manchester United legend for appearing noticeably slimmer and fresh-faced after shaving off his beard. The 40-year-old appeared alongside Gael Clichy and Olivier Giroud as part of the BBC’s team for France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal in New Jersey on Tuesday night, and his new look quickly became a talking point online. “Is it me or has Rooney lost weight? Good on ya fella,” one viewer wrote. “Is it me or does Rooney look noticeably thinner? Looks…

Google has been ordered by the UK’s competition regulator to make its search results fairer and more transparent, in the latest set of legally binding requirements imposed on the technology giant since it was designated as having strategic market status last year. The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed on Wednesday that Google must rank “organic” search results using objective and non-discriminatory criteria and provide greater transparency to businesses about how its rankings work. A second requirement makes legally binding a data-sharing process that was previously voluntary, through Google’s UK Data Portability Application Programming Interface. The CMA said businesses had complained…

Stanley Johnson, father of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has revealed he has undergone surgery for colon cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, sharing a cheerful photograph from his hospital bed as he recovers. The 85-year-old former Tory MEP posted the image on social media following a successful operation last Friday to remove half of his colon, captioning it with characteristic wit: “I am enjoying a brief summer break at the Royal Marsden, destination of choice.” Speaking to the Daily Mail, Stanley revealed the cancer was discovered almost by chance during a routine chest scan late last year.…

A one-year-old boy has been shot and killed by a Mississippi police officer who opened fire on a car carrying the infant and two women fleeing from a Walmart after an alleged shoplifting incident, sparking outrage in the local community and calls for accountability against the department. Kohen Kartier Wiley died after officers from the Senatobia Police Department discharged a weapon at the vehicle in which he was travelling with his mother and aunt. A statement from the department acknowledged that officers knew a child was present in the car before they fired. “Upon arrival, officers encountered two subjects and…

A devoted father-of-one was shot dead in front of his wife in an Alabama Walmart car park after accidentally bumping into a teenager with his shopping trolley, in a senseless killing that unfolded over half an hour despite two desperate 911 calls by the victim. Stephen Justus “Fro” Morrow, 46, was fatally shot at the Walmart in Sumiton, Alabama, just before 9pm on 3 June, as his wife Kayla watched helplessly. His last words to her, according to Al.com, were: “Kayla, I’m dying and I love you.” The incident began when Stephen accidentally struck 18-year-old Timothy Braden Crawford with his…

Up to 15,000 England supporters are expected to pack into Dallas Stadium on Wednesday for the Three Lions’ World Cup opener against Croatia, but the joy of a tournament on American soil has been overshadowed by ticket prices that fans say have made the tournament feel like the “people’s game” no longer. England’s campaign begins six days after the tournament kicked off, and while the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit told BBC Sport that between 12,000 and 15,000 England fans are anticipated at each group stage fixture, many in Dallas have arrived without tickets — and some have seen hotel…

A woman accused of acting as a deputy while her father allegedly raped a young female slave at the height of Islamic State’s rule has been refused bail by an Australian court, which ruled the risk she posed to the community was too great to allow her release. Zeinab Ahmad, 31, is facing two counts of crimes against humanity — enslavement and using a slave — in what are the first such charges to be prosecuted before an Australian court. Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan delivered an hour-long ruling on Wednesday refusing Ahmad’s bail application, dismissing her claims of having renounced…

One person has been killed and five others on board escaped after a small passenger plane crashed and burst into flames on a Texas highway, with bystanders launching a desperate rescue attempt to pull survivors from the burning wreckage. The aircraft came down on Texas State Highway Loop 20 in Laredo at around 10pm on Tuesday, according to Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. Witnesses had earlier reported seeing the plane falling from the sky over Highway 59 already on fire, according to KIITV. Footage shared online showed the small aircraft lying upside down with flames bursting…