Author: Darren Smith

News, Science & Sport Darren Smith is a freelance reporter specialising in general news, science, and sport. His work covers breaking stories, scientific research, and major sporting events. darrensmith@britanniadaily.com

France has recorded its first case of Ebola from the current outbreak after a doctor who had been on a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo tested positive for the virus, French health authorities have confirmed. The French health ministry said the doctor is being held in isolation and that contact tracing is under way to identify anyone who may have been exposed. Officials stressed that the risk to the wider European population remained low. The case comes amid an extraordinarily rapid outbreak in the DRC that the World Health Organisation has described as the largest number of…

Read More

The national grooming gangs inquiry has announced that Oldham, Bradford and Keighley, and London will be the first areas to face detailed local investigations, with further locations to be named in the coming months. Oldham had previously been identified as a focus for the inquiry, with work already under way there. The inquiry confirmed that concerns about Bradford and Keighley had been raised over many years, which it said “formed an important part of the case for investigation.” In London, investigators will examine how abuse by grooming gangs has been “identified and responded to” across the capital, though the inquiry…

Read More

The body of 14-year-old Lilly Jones was found hidden in undergrowth just 50 yards from where dozens of volunteers had gathered to search for her, and only 500 yards from her family home, in a discovery that has left the small South Wales town of Blaina in a state of profound shock. Lilly had been reported missing on Saturday after failing to return from a trip to the high street, with her phone switched off — something her family and friends described as deeply out of character. Around 60 residents joined the search on Monday evening, using the town’s bowls…

Read More

West Yorkshire Police are appealing for witnesses after a 17-year-old girl was sexually assaulted while jogging at Chellow Dean Reservoir in Bradford last month. The attack took place on the footpath at the reservoir on 26 May, between 6pm and 6.30pm. The suspect is described as an Asian man in his early 20s, approximately 6ft tall with black hair and a beard. He was wearing sunglasses, a blue and white striped shirt and black shorts at the time of the incident. The assault comes less than two years after West Yorkshire Police launched a dedicated initiative to tackle the harassment…

Read More

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his second goal of the match against Uzbekistan at the World Cup, finding the net after a trademark burst of pace that underlined the 41-year-old’s enduring ability at the highest level. The Portugal captain, appearing in his record sixth World Cup, latched onto the ball after a great sprint and finished to double his personal tally for the evening. The goal adds to the remarkable collection of records Ronaldo has accumulated throughout the tournament and his career, as Portugal continue their World Cup campaign. We will update this article as the match continues.

Read More

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in six different World Cup tournaments on Tuesday, getting a goal in the sixth minute of Portugal’s match against Uzbekistan. The 41-year-old Ronaldo made history when João Cancelo crossed it to him and he shot with his right-foot to make it 1-0. He ran toward the bench and celebrated with his teammates after the score. His goal comes after he was criticized for failing to score in Portugal’s 1-1 draw against Congo in the team’s opening match.  Ronaldo and Argentina captain Lionel Messi became the only men in history to play in six World Cup tournaments this year. Ronaldo’s…

Read More

A 15-year-old who attended school dressed as a dog, wearing animal ears, a tail and gloves, has been charged with the double murder of their parents in the Netherlands after allegedly sharing graphic images of the crime scene with classmates on WhatsApp. The teenager, who is reportedly transitioning from female to male, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning in Groningen following the deaths of Johan and Mathilda, both 53, according to Dutch outlet RTL. The couple’s golden retriever was also found with suspected stab wounds and taken to an animal ambulance. Images allegedly shared by the suspect…

Read More

Jamie Varley, the teacher handed a whole life order for the murder and sexual abuse of adopted baby Preston Davey, spent his first night at HMP Wakefield “sobbing and quaking” in his cell as fellow inmates delivered a chilling welcome, warning him they would make him pay, it has been reported. Screaming prisoners banged on bars and hurled threats at the 37-year-old convicted killer as he was brought into the notorious Category A jail in West Yorkshire — known as Monster Mansion — immediately after being sentenced at Preston Crown Court, according to the Daily Star, which spoke to an…

Read More

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a teenage girl was discovered just 500 yards from the home of missing 14-year-old Lilly, who had not been seen since Saturday evening in the small South Wales town of Blaina. The body was found in the Duffryn Park area of Blaina, a former mining village near Ebbw Vale in the South Wales Valleys, at around 10.10pm on Monday by two young people who had gone out searching for the missing teenager. Formal identification has not yet taken place, but Gwent Police confirmed that Lilly’s family…

Read More

New details surrounding the disappearance and death of a nuclear laboratory worker have cast fresh doubt on the theory that she took her own life, after it emerged she packed her toothbrush and thyroid medication before vanishing — items, investigators say, that suggest she expected to survive. Melissa Casias, 53, an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, disappeared on 26 June 2025 after dropping her husband off at the facility. Her skeletal remains, bearing a gunshot wound to the head, were found in Carson National Forest on 28 May this year, lying beside a handgun her…

Read More