Author: Darren Smith

Aston Villa have won the UEFA Europa League, defeating Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul to claim their first European trophy since lifting the European Cup in 1982 — and handing manager Unai Emery an unprecedented fifth Europa League title. Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendía and Morgan Rogers sealed a commanding victory at the Beşiktaş Park stadium, with Villa dominant throughout and never seriously threatened by their Bundesliga opponents. Tielemans opened the scoring in stunning fashion on 41 minutes, meeting a Morgan Rogers corner with an audacious first-time volley that flew into the bottom corner. Minutes later, deep into first-half stoppage…

A retrial jury has been discharged after failing to reach verdicts in the case of two brothers accused of assaulting a police officer during a violent confrontation at Manchester Airport — leaving unresolved one of the most fiercely debated use-of-force cases in recent British policing history. The discharge at Liverpool Crown Court means that for the second time, jurors have been unable to decide whether Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, both from Rochdale, assaulted armed officer PC Zachary Marsden during the three-minute brawl in the Terminal 2 arrivals area on 23 July 2024. Amaaz had already been…

A Mexican sports journalist has been carjacked at gunpoint while broadcasting live on television, with his co-presenter watching on helplessly as the armed robbery unfolded in real time. Fernando Vargas, a well-known figure in Mexican basketball coverage through his work with the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, was sitting in his car on the night of 19 May in the state of Morelos, streaming live commentary for the women’s basketball play-offs, when a man in a sweater yanked open his car door and leaned inside. The footage, which has spread rapidly online, shows Vargas breaking off mid-sentence in confusion before…

Two Russian fighter jets repeatedly and dangerously intercepted an unarmed RAF reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea last month in an incident that triggered the plane’s emergency systems and brought one of the Russian jets within six metres of the aircraft’s nose, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The RAF’s RC-135W Rivet Joint — an electronic surveillance aircraft operated by No. 51 Squadron from RAF Waddington — was conducting a routine intelligence-gathering mission in international airspace when it was approached by a Russian Su-35 and a Su-27. The Su-35 came close enough to the Rivet Joint to activate its collision…

A car has been caught on CCTV apparently accelerating towards a Jewish family as they crossed a road in Salford, in an incident that has prompted widespread calls for police to investigate it as a hate crime. The footage, shared by Manchester Scoop, was recorded at around 10am on Monday 19 May on Leicester Road in Higher Broughton. It shows the vehicle stopping at a green light without moving, waiting as the light turns red, and then accelerating forward at speed precisely as the family stepped out to cross. No injuries were reported. The apparent deliberateness of the sequence —…

A 14-year-old boy has been found murdered in an abandoned building in Bavaria, allegedly killed by a rejected asylum seeker who had remained in Germany for years after authorities were unable to establish his identity or secure the documents necessary to deport him. The case has reignited an intense national debate about the failures of Germany’s deportation system. Jermaine B. was reported missing on the evening of Saturday 2 May after failing to return home in Memmingen. A major police search was launched before his body was discovered in the early hours of Monday 5 May in a derelict building…

A disqualified driver who mounted a pavement in Birmingham, struck a husband and wife and then reversed over the fatally injured man before fleeing has been jailed for 11 years and three months. His widow, who now uses a wheelchair, told the court she cries for her husband every day. Harinderpal Athwal, 41, of Tividale, was behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Corsa on Soho Road in Handsworth at around 11.15am on 16 December 2025 when the vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic and mounted the pavement without braking. Jatinder Verma, 54, and his wife Bandana, 47, had been walking hand…

Surrey Police have launched formal investigations into two separate allegations of historical child sexual abuse contained within the Epstein files, making the force the third British police service to open a criminal inquiry since the US Department of Justice released millions of documents relating to the convicted sex offender. The force confirmed that one allegation relates to locations in Surrey and Berkshire between the mid-1990s and 2000, while the second concerns west Surrey in the mid to late 1980s. In a statement, officers said alleged victims are currently being interviewed and that no arrests have been made. “We take all…

Pep Guardiola is set to leave Manchester City at the end of the season, bringing down the curtain on one of the most successful managerial reigns in the history of English football — with an announcement expected on Sunday following City’s final Premier League game against Aston Villa. The Daily Mail reports that City have begun informing their commercial partners that the announcement is imminent, and that the news has been an open secret among those close to the Catalan coach for some time. Sources inside City’s training ground suggest Guardiola made his decision weeks ago, with further changes to…

A 22-year-old Israeli man was beaten to near unconsciousness by a group of masked attackers in Golders Green in the early hours of Monday morning after they overheard him speaking Hebrew on his phone — the latest in a wave of antisemitic attacks targeting one of London’s most prominent Jewish communities. Shalev Ben-Yakar had stepped outside his flat on Golders Green Road, close to the King Solomon Hotel, at around 2am to take a call from friends in South America, not wanting to disturb his flatmates. After hearing him speaking Hebrew, a group of five or six men wearing tracksuits…