Author: Darren Smith

Hundreds of swimmers returned to a protected wildlife pond on Hampstead Heath for a third consecutive day during the Bank Holiday heatwave — scaring nesting birds, kicking ducks off inflatables and swimming through waters where cygnets were only thirteen days old, as furious residents accused authorities of standing by and doing nothing. The scenes at the Model Boating Pond, a no-swimming zone that sits at the heart of a wildlife sanctuary created with £50,000 in public donations, have provoked some of the sharpest public anger seen on the Heath in years. Footage posted to Instagram account @swansofhampsteadheath showed boisterous swimmers…

The Taliban has introduced sweeping new family legislation that contains no minimum age for marriage, effectively legalising child marriage in Afghanistan and prompting urgent condemnation from the United Nations, human rights organisations and women’s rights groups around the world. The 31-article regulation, titled the Code on Judicial Separation of Spouses and approved by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, was published by the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice on 14 May. It dismantles legal protections that existed before the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, when Afghanistan’s civil code set the minimum marriage age at 16 for girls — and the 2009…

Clashes broke out in Norwich city centre on Wednesday after hundreds gathered to protest following the charging of seven Afghan asylum seekers with 40 child sexual exploitation offences — including multiple counts of rape against two teenage girls — in one of the most serious grooming gang investigations Britain has seen in years. The demonstration, advertised as a “Rape gang protest Norwich,” drew crowds to the steps of Norwich City Hall, where speakers addressed demonstrators carrying St George’s flags, Union Jacks and placards bearing slogans including “Stop Immigration, Start Deporting.” Tensions escalated when counter-protesters walked through the crowd, prompting shouting…

Bristol’s historic former Lloyds Bank regional headquarters is to undergo a £74 million transformation, with planning permission granted for a major overhaul that will turn the landmark harbourside building into a premium workspace destination complete with waterfront restaurants, saunas, a cold plunge pool and a rooftop boardroom. Canon House, a Grade II listed building on the city’s harbourside known for its distinctive crescent design and expansive courtyard, has been given the green light for the project by real estate investors Mactaggart Family & Partners and workspace company Kinrise, who acquired the site in 2024. The revamp will create 197,000 square…

A man filmed an 18-year-old student as he bled to death after stabbing him multiple times with a large ceremonial Sikh blade, a court has heard — with prosecutors alleging he then falsely accused the dying teenager of making racist remarks to justify the attack. Vickrum Digwa, 23, is on trial at Southampton Crown Court charged with murdering finance student Henry Nowak on 3 December 2023. Henry, who was studying at the University of Southampton, was making his way home from a night out when Digwa allegedly stabbed him repeatedly with a Shastar — a ceremonial Sikh blade measuring 21…

A deepening scandal in Sweden has revealed a pattern of sexual assaults — including rape — carried out against elderly women, some aged over 80, by migrant care workers who in several cases deliberately sought employment in the sector to gain access to vulnerable victims, with authorities and care providers accused of covering up crimes rather than reporting them. The cases, spread across multiple Swedish cities and municipalities, bear disturbing similarities to the grooming gang scandal in Britain — a comparison drawn explicitly by Spiked, which published a detailed investigation into the pattern in April 2025. As in the UK,…

A prominent Ukrainian economist has proposed bringing in up to 450,000 low-skilled migrant workers every year to plug a massive labour shortage that could cripple the country’s post-war reconstruction — as Ukraine grapples with one of the most severe demographic crises in modern European history. Oleg Pendzyn, executive director of Ukraine’s independent Economic Discussion Club and a regular media commentator on economic policy, has argued that the country faces a shortfall of 4.5 million workers needed to return the economy to pre-war levels. To address it, he has suggested attracting hundreds of thousands of migrant workers annually from Southeast Asia…

Merseyside Police are investigating after video footage emerged appearing to show a group of men swinging long sticks or poles at young beachgoers — including teenage boys and girls — during disturbances at Crosby Beach on Bank Holiday Monday. The approximately 14-second clip, which spread rapidly on social media, shows chaotic scenes on the sandy beach near the boating lake. Several men are seen aggressively swinging what appear to be long poles or sticks at a group of younger people wearing beachwear, who are seen running and scattering across the sand. The footage was filmed during the busy bank holiday…

A black labrador has accidentally shot a woman after firing a loaded shotgun left unsecured in the back seat of a truck — in an incident that has left police investigating a case that sounds implausible but is, according to officers, entirely genuine. The shooting took place in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, when the dog, left alone in the back of the vehicle, bounced between seats and somehow managed to pull the trigger of a loaded shotgun that had been left alongside it. A woman who had stopped at a nearby traffic light was struck in her right arm by a rogue…

Five of seven villagers who became trapped in a flooded cave in central Laos after going in search of gold have been found alive, rescue teams confirmed on Wednesday — as the operation to locate the remaining two missing people continues. The Laotian rescue group Rescue Volunteer for People announced the breakthrough in a social media post, saying: “We’ve found five people alive and all safe. There are still two people we are searching for.” Volunteer Bounkham Luanglath confirmed the news in a voice message, adding: “I’m still shaking. Our team made it happen.” The seven villagers entered the cave…