Author: Darren Smith

Two women from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, have been federally charged after allegedly defrauding the United States Medicaid system of more than $21 million through a four-year scheme that exploited a programme designed to provide autism therapy to vulnerable children — paying parents kickbacks to enrol their children in fake sessions while channelling proceeds into property purchases and overseas transfers to Kenya. Shamso Ahmed Hassan, 55, and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, 25, were arrested and charged by federal prosecutors as part of a sweeping Department of Justice operation announced in Minneapolis on 21 May, which brought charges against 15 individuals for Medicaid…

A supply teacher has pleaded guilty to 21 child sex offences after secretly photographing more than 100 girls up their skirts at schools across Greater Manchester — an investigation that began when a parent spotted an image of their child in school uniform circulating on social media. Abusali Rahman, 36, from Salford, admitted the offences at Bolton Crown Court on Wednesday, with sentencing adjourned until 1 September to allow a psychiatric report to be prepared. His defence barrister Emma Kehoe told the court he “was going through a mental health crisis at the time.” Rahman, a British national of Bangladeshi…

A man has been convicted of murdering an 18-year-old university student with a 21-centimetre Sikh ceremonial blade after a trial that centred on whether the fatal stabbing was an act of self-defence or murder — with the jury rejecting the defendant’s claim that he had been racially abused and attacked before drawing the knife. Vickrum Digwa, 23, was found guilty of murder at Southampton Crown Court, along with a charge of carrying a knife in public. His mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, was also found guilty of assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene after the attack. Henry…

A rare albino buffalo nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been saved from ritual slaughter in Bangladesh hours before the Eid al-Adha festival, after the government stepped in and ordered the animal transferred to the national zoo in Dhaka. The nearly 700-kilogram animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities intervened, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest ahead of Thursday’s festival. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed ordered the buffalo to be spared, the buyer refunded, and the animal moved to the national zoo. The buffalo’s former owner, Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, said his…

A garbage truck driver was filmed angrily confronting anti-ICE protesters who blocked him from doing his job outside Newark’s Delaney Hall immigration detention centre, as a week of escalating clashes between demonstrators and federal agents showed no sign of abating. Dramatic footage published by Freedom News TV showed the driver for Elizabeth-based Regional Industries pleading with masked protesters to let him pass. “If I hit one of y’all, I go to jail. What’s wrong with ya all?” he shouted at the crowd before eventually managing to drive away. The driver was one of several civilians caught up in the disorder…

Residents of a Welsh street who developed PTSD, anxiety and claustrophobia after years of catastrophic flooding are finally leaving their homes after Rhondda Cynon Taf Council agreed to purchase most of the properties on Clydach Terrace in Ynysybwl for £2.57 million — with the entire row expected to be demolished. The decision, approved by the council’s cabinet in February and reported by the BBC, marks what is believed to be one of the first times a local authority in the UK has bought an entire inland residential street purely as a measure of climate defence. The height of the main…

Anthony Gordon has boarded a private jet bound for Barcelona to undergo a medical and complete his £70 million move from Newcastle United, ending a transfer race that saw the England winger choose the LaLiga champions over Bayern Munich and Liverpool. Gordon departed Newcastle International Airport at 11.10am on Thursday and is expected to land in Spain early afternoon, with the medical scheduled for later in the day, according to the Daily Mail. Barcelona and Newcastle have agreed an up-front fee of £70 million plus bonuses, with the deal also including a future sell-on percentage for the Magpies. Personal terms…

A Polish military court has acquitted a soldier who fired 12 warning shots at a group of migrants illegally crossing the border from Belarus, ruling that he was fulfilling his constitutional duty to defend Poland’s frontier — in a verdict that has reignited debate about the use of force at one of Europe’s most volatile frontlines. The Military Garrison Court in Lublin cleared 25-year-old former private Karol S., from the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade, of all charges on Wednesday. He had faced prosecution for exceeding his authority and endangering lives during an incident on 25 March 2024 near the village…

An American YouTuber who illegally landed on North Sentinel Island and left a can of Diet Coke for one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes has defended his actions after releasing footage of the stunt — having escaped a potential five-year prison sentence with a fine of just £127. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, who runs the YouTube channel Neo-Orientalist, sailed to North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal on 29 March 2025 in a rubber dinghy, blew a whistle for an hour in an attempt to draw the attention of the Sentinelese tribe, and left a can of Diet Coke…

Terrified passengers screamed, sobbed, prayed aloud and vomited into sick bags as their Avianca flight aborted two attempts to land at one of South America’s most notoriously difficult airports — with videos of the harrowing scenes going viral across social media after the aircraft was forced to turn back to Bogotá. Avianca flight AV9401 was covering the route between Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport and the Antonio Nariño Airport in Pasto on 26 May when the aircraft encountered serious difficulties as it approached the runway due to severe adverse weather conditions. Footage captured by passengers and shared widely on TikTok,…