Author: Darren Smith

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has shared video of a heated confrontation with a group of Knicks fans in Times Square who chanted “Free Palestine” at him and his son during chaotic celebrations following New York’s narrow Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs — sparking a sharply divided online reaction over whether the encounter constituted antisemitic harassment or boisterous post-game crowd behaviour. The incident took place on Wednesday night as thousands of fans gathered around giant screens in Times Square to watch the Knicks secure a 107-106 win. The celebrations that followed turned chaotic in parts of the city, with…

People smugglers are charging migrants £7,000 for guaranteed passage into Britain through a loophole in the Common Travel Area between Ireland and Northern Ireland — the same route allegedly used by the Sudanese man charged with the Belfast knife attack that has triggered two nights of rioting across the UK. According to The Telegraph, Albanian smuggling gangs are advertising the route on social media as a safer alternative to small boat Channel crossings, with adverts promising guaranteed success. One post read: “Every day, only success. Reserve your place. Guaranteed passage to England.” Another stated: “Route to the UK. You pay…

Two Iraqi brothers have gone on trial in Germany accused of raping a 7-year-old girl who lived next door and was a friend of their younger sister, with prosecutors alleging the attacks took place on two separate occasions while the child was visiting their family home. The trial of the brothers, reported as aged 18 and 20, opened at the Essen Regional Court around 9 to 10 June, with a verdict expected in August. Both men have not entered public pleas and remain presumed innocent until proven guilty under German law. Despite the severity of the allegations, mainstream coverage of…

A man who burst into his former parents-in-law’s home with a masked gang, restrained them with cable ties and a sock taped into one victim’s mouth, and drove them to a remote rural location in a desperate attempt to win back his estranged wife has been jailed for nearly four years. Klodjan Xhepa, 28, admitted two charges of kidnap at Ipswich Crown Court and was sentenced to two concurrent terms of three years and ten months — a total of 46 months. Judge David Pugh described the six-hour ordeal he inflicted on Lukasz Saczkowski and Miroslaw Chojnacka as “terrifying.” Prosecutor…

Police have deployed water cannon against protesters in Belfast as disorder continued for a second night, while Scotland’s First Minister has warned against further protests after violence erupted across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayr — with worshippers locked inside a mosque as demonstrators attempted to reach it. Officers in riot gear faced a fresh wave of projectiles in north Belfast, approximately ten minutes from the city centre, as around 20 police vehicles moved into position and a crowd gathered near a nearby fire. Water cannon were deployed after a group of protesters dressed in black continued to hurl objects at police…

A mother killed her eight-year-old son by lacing his blackcurrant juice with prescription medication before attempting to take her own life, a court has heard — with relatives arriving at the family home to find the boy dead in bed beside his unconscious mother. Louise Cameron, 41, has been charged with murder but was found unfit to stand trial, with jurors at Teesside Crown Court asked instead to determine whether she carried out the alleged acts. The court heard that Cameron’s son Rhys, who had learning difficulties and mobility issues and had been born prematurely, was found dead at the…

Immigration detention staff have been warned that wearing England badges or flags during the World Cup risks intimidating migrants and could damage professional standards — in a ruling that has sparked immediate controversy as the Three Lions prepare to begin their tournament campaign against Croatia next week. The guidance, contained in a report by the Independent Monitoring Board, found that staff at a short-term holding facility were observed wearing England flags affixed to their uniforms on two separate occasions during the summer of 2025. The IMB warned the displays risked “perceptions of bias or even intimidation among detained people, especially…

The man described as Africa’s finest football referee has been stripped of his World Cup appointment and flown home to Somalia after American border officials refused him entry — with the New York Times revealing his name closely resembles that of a man linked to the al-Qaida-backed extremist group al-Shabaab, though there is no evidence the referee himself has any connection to terrorism. Omar Abdulkadir Artan, 34, was turned away at Miami International Airport after an 11-hour immigration interview, held in a separate cell for several more hours and then put on a flight to Istanbul without officials giving him…

Every animal at a beloved children’s mini zoo in Hertfordshire has been killed after a devastating fire tore through the soft play centre that housed them in the early hours of Wednesday morning, leaving staff and the local community devastated. The blaze at The Jungle Box on the Watermill Industrial Estate in Buntingford broke out at around 3am, with ten fire engines rushing to the scene as flames engulfed the building and thick black smoke billowed into the night sky. Residents nearby were urged to keep their windows and doors closed. No people were injured. Among the animals that perished…

A teenage Norwegian hitman who flew to Britain to carry out an assassination for an Iran-linked organised crime network smiled at armed police, pretended to shoot an officer and asked “You happy Kev?” when arrested at a hotel in his boxer shorts — before officers found two loaded guns and 12 rounds of ammunition in his room. Johannes Natland, then 18, had arrived in the UK from Stavanger two days before his arrest at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on 19 March last year, the Old Bailey has heard. Body-worn camera footage shown to a jury captured…