News 07/03/26

The King will describe this as a time of great challenge during his message to mark Commonwealth Day.

In an extract released ahead of the annual event celebrating Commonwealth nations, King Charles, who is also head of the Commonwealth, says the day comes at a moment of both challenge and possibility. He says communities and nations are facing increasing pressures from conflict, climate change and rapid transformation, but adds that in difficult moments the enduring spirit of the Commonwealth is often most clearly revealed.

Donald Trump has posted a message for Sir Keir Starmer on his Truth Social account about the possibility of the UK sending aircraft carriers to the Middle East.

He wrote that Britain is finally giving serious thought to sending two carriers to the region but appeared to reject the idea. In the post he said the United States does not need them any longer and added that America does not need people who join wars after it has already won.

A seven year old boy has died after being struck by a car in Staffordshire, police have said.

Officers were called at five o clock on Saturday morning after a vehicle collided with the child on the A38 at the junction with the A5206 near Lichfield. Staffordshire Police said the boy died at the scene. His family have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers while investigations into the collision continue.

The Conservative Party leader is facing calls to apologise after suggesting the UK military is just hanging around rather than taking action in the Middle East.

Kemi Badenoch said Iran’s ability to attack British bases should be reduced and claimed the UK is currently catching arrows. Defence Secretary John Healey said the remarks insult the men and women of the Armed Forces and she should apologise. She later said she would not apologise for criticising the government’s refusal to order the RAF to target missile launchers.

Soham murderer Ian Huntley has died following a prison assault.

The fifty two year old was taken to hospital after being found in a pool of blood following an alleged attack by another inmate on the twenty sixth of February. He was assaulted in a workshop with a metal bar at HMP Frankland in County Durham. Police said a man in his mid forties is being investigated over the incident.

Soham murderer Ian Huntley is understood to be close to death after being taken off life support following an attack in prison.

The fifty two year old has been in hospital since the twenty sixth of February after he was beaten over the head with a makeshift weapon at HMP Frankland in County Durham. The high security jail houses some of the most dangerous inmates. Prison sources say Huntley was found lying in a pool of blood after the assault and suffered significant head trauma from his injuries.

He was convicted in two thousand and two of murdering ten year old schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells in Soham in Cambridgeshire.

Russian missile strikes have killed seven people in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.

The region’s governor Oleh Syniehubov says the dead include two children. Officials say the ballistic missile strike damaged a five storey residential building in the city. More than ten people were also injured in the attack, including three children, according to regional authorities.

A senior official in the Trump administration says last night marked what he called America’s biggest bombing campaign in Iran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business the aim was to do the most damage to Iranian missile launchers and the factories that build the missiles. He said the United States was substantially degrading those capabilities and described the campaign as overwhelming. The White House has spent several days warning that its military attacks on Iran would intensify.