Author: Darren Smith

Britain’s only native venomous snake is facing a growing threat of extinction as housing developments, road construction and rural fires continue to destroy the fragmented habitats it depends on — with experts warning the adder could be confined to just a handful of locations across the UK within the next decade. A report by the West of England Nature Partnership identified “intense habitat loss” as one of the most serious dangers facing adder populations, warning that without urgent action the species could be restricted to isolated pockets of countryside by 2032, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to dying out altogether. Chris…

A US Army helicopter has gone down near the Strait of Hormuz in circumstances that remain unclear, triggering a rescue operation that successfully recovered both crew members, according to US media reports. The New York Times, citing two people briefed on the incident, reported that it has not yet been established whether the Apache helicopter was shot down by Iranian forces or suffered a mechanical failure before crashing. Both crew members are believed to have been safely rescued following the incident. The incident comes at an extraordinarily sensitive moment. The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between Iran and…

A man has been arrested after a violent stabbing attack in north Belfast in which bystanders intervened to overpower the knifeman as he attacked a victim on the ground — with witnesses telling arriving police officers the attacker was “trying to cut his head off.” Police were called to Kinnaird Avenue at approximately 10.30pm on Monday 8 June following reports of a serious stabbing. Disturbing footage circulating on social media appeared to show a man being stabbed repeatedly to the head before bystanders stepped in to intervene. An eyewitness told the Belfast Telegraph that “three men, one armed with a…

A 19-year-old with no driving licence or insurance drank six pints and took cocaine before mounting his friend’s motorcycle and ploughing into a pedestrian at speed, leaving the 22-year-old with life-changing brain injuries — then fled the scene leaving his victim unconscious in the road. Liam Kenny spent several hours drinking at the Ship Inn in Hartlepool on 10 May last year, ordering his last pint at 6.30pm before walking out with it in his hand and taking his friend’s Yamaha motorcycle for a ride through a 20mph zone. CCTV footage shows him knocking back drinks from around midday. Moments…

A married couple killed in a hit-and-run crash on the M4 have been named and pictured as a 28-year-old man has been charged with causing their deaths by dangerous driving. Diljan Hagila, 62, and Mohammed Hagila, 63, died following a collision on the M4 westbound near junction four in Hillingdon on Sunday 1 June. Mohammed died at the scene despite the efforts of emergency services. Diljan, who had been a passenger in the car, was rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition and died there on Saturday 6 June. Maninder Singh Brar, 28, has been charged with two counts of…

An Oxford University law professor has been forced to cancel a series of lectures on gender law after pro-trans activists repeatedly stormed his talks, stood in front of his lectern and urged audiences to walk out — in scenes that have drawn widespread condemnation and fresh accusations of a coordinated attempt to suppress academic debate. Dr Michael Foran, 32, an associate professor of law and fellow at Keble College, was due to deliver four lectures drawing on his new book Sex, Gender Identity, and the Law, which examines how the legal definition of sex has evolved and what it means…

Donald Trump has issued an urgent public demand for both Israel and Iran to immediately halt their exchange of fire, posting on Truth Social as the two countries traded missile and drone strikes in the most dangerous escalation of Middle East hostilities since the spring ceasefire collapsed. “Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting,” the US President wrote, in a post that came after Israeli forces carried out retaliatory strikes on Iranian targets despite Trump’s earlier personal appeals to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back. Prior to Israel’s decision to retaliate, Trump had told multiple US and international media…

The families of the three victims of the 2023 Nottingham attack have delivered a devastating verdict on the public inquiry into their children’s deaths, declaring that every single agency involved failed without exception and demanding a meeting with the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Home Secretary and Justice Secretary within the next month. Speaking at a press conference in central London on the eve of the third anniversary of the attack, Emma Webber — the mother of 19-year-old Barnaby Webber, who was stabbed to death alongside Grace O’Malley-Kumar as they walked home from a night out celebrating the end of their…

A 19-year-old woman has been shot dead at a house in north London in the early hours of this morning, with the Metropolitan Police launching an urgent manhunt for the gunman after no arrests have been made. Emergency services were scrambled to an address in Dale Grove, Finchley, at around midnight after gunshots were heard at 12.15am. Paramedics worked to save the young woman at the scene but she was pronounced dead. Police have not yet released her identity. The Met Police confirmed the shooting and said officers are conducting an urgent search for the suspect. A significant police presence…

Two 17-year-old boys are fighting for their lives in hospital after a head-on collision between two cars near Saltburn left six people injured, with three of them requiring urgent medical treatment. The crash occurred just before 5pm on Saturday on Saltburn Lane, north of Skelton-in-Cleveland, when a Ford Fiesta travelling toward the A174 collided head-on with a Toyota Corolla travelling in the opposite direction. The two 17-year-olds, who were in the front seats of the Ford Fiesta, sustained the most serious injuries and remain in a critical condition. A 15-year-old boy in the back seat of the same vehicle suffered…