Author: Darren Smith

The British government has ordered all UK nationals in Mali to leave the country immediately following a devastating wave of coordinated attacks that has left the West African nation’s military government fighting for its survival and its Russian-backed forces on the back foot. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office issued an emergency travel advisory advising against all travel to Mali and calling on those already in the country to depart by commercial flight without delay. “If you’re in Mali, you should leave immediately by commercial flight if you judge it safe to do so,” the statement said. Overland routes to…

Police have arrested multiple people in connection with allegations of serious sexual offences, forced marriage and modern slavery linked to a religious group in Crewe, following an investigation that began in 2023. Cheshire Constabulary said officers launched the probe after receiving reports of the alleged offences, all of which are believed to involve a single woman. The arrests were made as part of a coordinated operation targeting members of a group called the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. Chief Superintendent Gareth Wrigley was careful to draw a clear distinction between the individuals arrested and the broader religious community. “Today’s…

Dozens of migrants scaled the walls of the Gambian embassy in Madrid on Tuesday after being turned away without appointments, in the most dramatic flashpoint yet from Spain’s chaotic rollout of a mass regularisation programme that has granted legal status to half a million people. The scenes unfolded after migrants who had spent the entire night queuing outside the embassy were told early that morning that all available appointments had already been booked. Desperate for the vulnerability certificates needed to complete their applications, crowds began jumping over the embassy fence in an attempt to gain access by force. Police were…

A street in a California city has been renamed in honour of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, triggering an angry response from local residents who have condemned the decision as divisive and unwelcoming. New signs went up over the weekend in Westminster, approximately 30 miles south of Los Angeles, adding “Charlie Kirk Way” alongside the existing name All American Way. The change, initially approved late last year, does not alter official addresses on the street but adds Kirk’s name to the signage in what Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen described as a tribute to the late commentator’s values. Nguyen, who led the…

A Twitch streamer was struck by a car in Indiana while broadcasting his months-long walk from Philadelphia to California, with footage of the moment circulating rapidly across social media. The streamer, known online as hmblzayy — also referred to as Minister Zay or Humble Zay — was approximately 34 days into his cross-country journey when the incident occurred. A car had stopped behind him on the road when a second vehicle struck it from behind, pushing the stationary car into the streamer. The Mazda is reported to have absorbed much of the impact, which may have prevented more serious injury.…

An Indian man resorted to exhuming his dead sister’s remains and carrying her skeleton to a local bank branch after staff repeatedly refused to process a withdrawal without proof of her death, according to reports. Jeetu Munda, 50, allegedly dug up the remains of his elder sister, Kalra Munda, on Monday and transported them through the streets of the Keonjhar district of Odisha — roughly 180 miles west of Kolkata — before depositing them outside the entrance of a branch of the Odisha Grameen Bank. Video footage of the incident, reported by English-language outlet Lokmat Times, shows a shirtless and…

A Melbourne cafe has launched a public appeal after CCTV footage showed a woman shoving a plate into a waitress’s face and then slapping the plates onto the ground, leaving the employee with a chipped tooth in an incident that has sparked widespread outrage across the city. La Vallee, a cafe in Essendon in Melbourne’s north, shared the footage on Tuesday alongside an appeal for help identifying the woman responsible. “We are beyond shocked at the behaviour of this grown woman,” the business wrote. “This incident led to one of our beautiful staff members chipping their tooth from the plate…

An 89-year-old man has been arrested after a series of shotgun attacks on two public buildings in central Athens left several people wounded, triggering a manhunt that ended with his apprehension near the city of Patra, some 130 miles west of the Greek capital. The attacker, described by witnesses as tall and thin and wearing a blue trench coat concealing his weapon, first opened fire at the National Social Security Fund’s offices in the Kerameikos area of Athens. According to Alexandros Varveris, head of the fund, the man made his way to the fourth floor before raising his shotgun and…

Phone theft in London has fallen by 13,000 offences over the past year as the Metropolitan Police deploy heat-seeking drones, high-speed electric motorbikes and live facial recognition cameras in a targeted crackdown that officers say is beginning to deliver results — though figures showing fewer than one per cent of cases result in a charge have prompted warnings that the crime remains effectively unpunished. The Met’s Operation Catchclaw has been using Sur-Ron high-speed electric motorbikes alongside specialist plain-clothes interceptor teams to pursue thieves who use illegally modified e-bikes capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. A…

Police have launched an urgent manhunt after a woman in her 20s was sexually assaulted near a motorway service station in Leicestershire on Saturday evening. The alleged attack took place in Baines Lane, close to the southbound Leicester Forest East services on the M1, at around 6.45pm. According to Leicestershire Police, the victim was walking along Baines Lane towards Hinckley Road when she was grabbed from behind by a man, pulled to the ground and sexually assaulted. She shouted for help and the attacker fled in the direction of the southbound services. Officers are now appealing for information to help…