Author: Darren Smith

Hundreds of thousands marched against rising living costs and conditions in schools, but clashes, fires and looting broke out in several cities. Sixty police officers were injured. Violent clashes, fires and looting marred demonstrations across France on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of people protested against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. Interior minister Laurent Nunez said about 400 people were arrested nationwide. He put attendance at about 550,000 across 110 marches, while organisers, including the CGT union and student groups, said about 800,000 took part. President Emmanuel Macron said: “There is no place for violence in our…

Some growers say crops have failed almost entirely, while major retailers are still selling Halloween pumpkins from 55p. Farmers across Britain have reported smaller and fewer pumpkins this Halloween after the hottest summer on record. About 24 million are sold in the UK each year. In Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Liz Paterson and Andrew King, who usually grow around 10,000, have just 50. Supermarket sales have nonetheless risen, and several chains are still advertising low prices. ‘They just didn’t pollinate’ Ms Paterson said: “The pumpkins just didn’t grow this year. We could have tried to irrigate; we have got water,…

The Chelsea head coach says the team will sometimes use three central midfielders while James recovers from knee surgery, and has praised the options he has in the position. Xabi Alonso has said Chelsea will sometimes line up with a three-man midfield while Reece James is out. James is expected to be sidelined for around three months after knee surgery. Alonso said he would sometimes need “a third midfielder” for “a different approach to the game”, even though Chelsea have tended to play a 3-4-2-1 under him. He was speaking ahead of Saturday’s 12.30pm BST game at Everton. The midfield…

A tribunal found Rebecca Burwood used “manipulation and coercion” against a care home resident who had no family. Burwood was deputy manager at the home when the exploitation took place. Rebecca Burwood, a nurse, has been struck off the register after a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found she took about £770,000 from a “vulnerable and lonely” 99-year-old woman. She was deputy manager at Bryn Yr Haul Care Home in Mold, north Wales, between 2017 and 2023. The panel heard the money paid for vehicles, home improvements, utility bills and council tax. It was also alleged to have paid…

A £61m contract has been awarded to build a robotic “space grabber”, with the first removal targeted for around 2030 and a second by 2032. British scientists are developing a robotic “space grabber” to capture old satellites, then either bring them back to Earth safely or burn them up on re-entry. The UK Space Agency (UKSA) aims to remove an ageing UK satellite from orbit by 2030, and a second two years later. The Government hopes its funding will boost the British space economy and encourage other countries to make low Earth orbit (LEO) safer. The UK would become the…

Stanislav Carpiuc, jailed for two years, has been removed from Britain, the Home Office says. The Russian-speaking Telegram contact who ordered the attacks has not been publicly identified through the courts. Stanislav Carpiuc, 28, has been deported from the UK after being convicted over a series of arson attacks targeting a car and properties linked to Sir Keir Starmer, the Home Office has announced. The Romanian national was sentenced to two years in prison. The Old Bailey heard that he and a Ukrainian, Roman Lavrynovych, 22, acted on the orders of a Russian-speaking Telegram user called “El Money”. The Home…

The victim’s teenage sister raised the alarm, leading to the arrest of all three at the scene. The man says the attack has left him “constantly so frightened, paranoid and completely petrified”. Three men have been jailed for breaking into a man’s home in Bristol and threatening him in a failed attempt to steal cryptocurrency. Terroll Paul, 31, Mohamed Samagassi, 37, and Pierre Madzou, 30, forced their way in during the early hours of 15 May and assaulted the victim. They were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday 15 October after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary. The victim was…

The City manager says the striker is available for Saturday’s match against Ipswich, but that he and other players who play for both club and country will need some time off. Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has said he may need to give Erling Haaland a rest, though the striker has been included in the squad for Saturday’s Premier League game against Ipswich. Haaland, 26, has scored 10 goals in nine games for City this season after an unusually busy summer. City also play AEK Athens at home in the Champions League on Tuesday. Maresca has not said whether Haaland…

Ministers have ordered water companies to step up monitoring after the driest April to September in more than a century left reservoirs dangerously low, though household supplies are not currently affected. A severe drought has been declared in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex, prompting the Government to activate measures to protect water supplies. According to the Government, the South East and South West had their driest April to September in more than 100 years. Water companies have been ordered to increase monitoring and take further action to prevent disruption. Household supplies will remain uninterrupted…

The park has been closed since Saturday’s fatal incident. An inquest opened on Thursday into the death of William Chapman, 24. Yorkshire Wildlife Park will reopen on Friday 16 October and has confirmed that Altai, the tiger involved in the death of William Chapman, will not be euthanised. The park has been closed since Mr Chapman died after entering the tiger enclosure on Saturday 10 October. An inquest heard on Thursday that he died from severe injuries sustained in the incident. The hearing was also told he had a history of mental illness and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The park’s…