News 07/04/26

Two men have been arrested after a teenager was taken to hospital following a serious attack in Maidenhead.

Police were called at around 10.30pm on Monday, March 30, after reports a boy had been assaulted in an alleyway by an unknown number of people. The victim suffered serious injuries to his hand and was taken to hospital for treatment. The incident happened between Calder Close and Calder Court, and officers have confirmed two men have now been arrested in connection with the attack.

Scott Mills is stepping back from his role as an ambassador for the MS Society following recent developments.

The 53 year old was sacked by the BBC after it emerged the alleged victim in a police investigation into claims of sexual offences involving the DJ was under the age of 16. In a statement, the charity said he had been a valued ambassador for more than ten years, adding he is stepping back while the situation is reviewed. It said concerns of this nature are taken extremely seriously.

An unnamed Strictly Come Dancing star arrested on suspicion of rape last year will not face criminal charges.

The man was arrested on October the 13th 2025 and released on bail while under investigation. Hertfordshire Police said it sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, and detectives concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring charges. Reports at the time claimed he had been accused of raping a woman after a BBC event.

An inquest has heard the cause of death of a 15 year old boy found dead at Eton College earlier this year has yet to be determined.

Isaac Edison Albrow Stringer was found at Godolphin House in Windsor on February the 27th. Berkshire senior coroner Heidi Connor said the precise cause of death is not yet known, and that he has been returned to his family for his funeral.

Promoter Festival Republic has cancelled Wireless Festival after Kanye West, who was due to headline in July, was blocked from entering the UK.

The organisation said: “The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders. As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.”

A former Meta worker is under police investigation over allegations he downloaded around 30,000 private Facebook images.

Court documents suggest the engineer designed a programme to access the pictures while avoiding internal security checks. A specialist detective from the Metropolitan Police cybercrime unit is handling the inquiry. Meta confirmed the suspected breach was discovered over a year ago and said it had referred the matter to police.

Walker Smith, a former Waitrose employee, has been offered a job by Iceland after he was dismissed for tackling a shoplifter.

Smith, who had worked at the Clapham branch for 17 years, was sacked two days after a brief struggle with a thief trying to steal Easter eggs. He told the Guardian he was reprimanded by his manager and apologised, but the issue was escalated. Lord Richard Walker, Iceland’s executive chairman, posted on LinkedIn: “You’re welcome to a job with us. We even share the same name…”

The UK government has blocked Kanye West from travelling to the UK following controversy over his planned headline performance at this summer’s Wireless Festival in London.

The Home Office said the rapper applied for entry using an Electronic Travel Authorisation yesterday. Officials refused permission on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good. West has caused outrage for almost half a decade over a series of antisemitic, racist and pro-Nazi comments.

Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social platform, appearing to refer to his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

He had given Tehran until 1am on Wednesday UK time in an earlier post. His latest message says a whole civilisation will die tonight, but adds that something revolutionarily wonderful could happen. Trump also suggested he is negotiating with new leaders in Iran following what he described as total regime change.

An Iranian official has urged young people to form human chains around power plants following threats of further US strikes.

Alireza Rahimi, speaking during a television call, invited young people, athletes, artists, students and professors to gather at 2pm on Tuesday around facilities he described as national assets. He said they belong to Iran’s future and its youth, regardless of political views. The appeal comes as Donald Trump warned of further action if Iran fails to meet a deadline of 1am UK time on Wednesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Interest rates on plan 2 and plan 3 student loans will be capped at 6% from September, the government has announced.

The move follows criticism of the system, with some graduates seeing debts rise beyond what they borrowed due to interest. Plan 2 loans currently range between RPI and RPI plus 3%, meaning rates vary from 3.2% to 6.2% depending on earnings. Plan 3 loans are set at RPI plus 3%, both during study and after graduation.

A train driver has died after a high-speed passenger service collided with a lorry carrying military equipment at a level crossing in France.

The crash happened on Tuesday morning between Béthune and Lens in the Pas-de-Calais region. Two people were critically injured and 11 others suffered minor injuries, according to reports. Regional president Xavier Bertrand confirmed the driver’s death and described the incident as a terrible tragedy.

Kanye West, the rapper whose antisemitic remarks have sparked calls for a ban from an upcoming UK festival, has offered to meet the British Jewish community.

The US star, now known as Ye, wrote a letter saying he must “show change,” updating an apology he made earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal. The move follows widespread criticism after Wireless Festival announced him as headliner in London this July. Several sponsors have withdrawn, and there have been calls for the government to refuse him entry to the UK.

More than 1,700 people have joined legal action against travel company Tui after falling ill on holiday in Cape Verde, lawyers say.

Irwin Mitchell, leading the personal injury claims, report being contacted by those affected as recently as two weeks ago. At least eight Britons are believed to have died following trips to the West African islands in recent years. In February, UK health authorities warned travellers after reports of stomach bugs. Tui is investigating the claims and said it is “not in a position to provide a statement at this stage.”

In the latter half of the 20th Century, the US and the Soviet Union raced to develop nuclear arms.

Today, the US faces a different contest, this time with China, focused on dominating technology, particularly artificial intelligence. The competition unfolds in research labs, university campuses, and the offices of innovative start-ups, under the watch of global business leaders and government officials. The pursuit involves trillions of US dollars and reflects the high stakes in shaping the future of technology and global power.

US President Donald Trump has set clear deadlines, demands and threats over the five-week US-Israeli war against Iran.

In a Monday statement, he warned that new strikes will begin at 20:00 Washington DC time on Tuesday, or 00:00 GMT Wednesday. Within four hours, every bridge and power plant in Iran will be “decimated.” Trump said very little is off-limits and added that for Iran to avoid this fate, it must reach a deal “that’s acceptable to me.” A key part of the agreement should include “free traffic of oil” through the Strait of Hormuz.

The price of stamps in the UK has risen again amid criticism of Royal Mail’s failure to meet delivery targets.

First-class stamps now cost £1.80, up 10p, while second-class letters have increased by 4p to 91p. Royal Mail says the rises are necessary because fewer letters are being sent while the number of delivery addresses continues to grow. Many businesses and consumers have expressed dissatisfaction that the increase is going ahead despite the company’s underperformance.

Fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters reached record levels last year, according to new figures.

There were 432 e-bike blazes in 2025, a rise of 38% compared with the previous year. Meanwhile, 147 e-scooter fires were reported, up from 123 in 2024. Many of these incidents are linked to failing batteries, conversion kits and chargers. Products bought through online marketplaces are considered a higher risk because they are not subject to the same regulations as those sold by established retailers.

The UK is moving from Storm Dave to much warmer weather, with the possibility of the warmest start to April in six years.

Temperatures could reach 24 degrees and will be well above average across much of the country. Western parts of Wales are forecast to see the highest temperatures, surpassing the 20.9 degrees recorded in Worcestershire last week. Conditions are expected to be even warmer tomorrow before a sharp drop, with temperatures falling to between 10 and 13 degrees by Thursday.

Resident doctors in England have begun a six-day strike from seven this morning, marking the fifteenth walkout in a long-running dispute over pay.

The action is expected to cause significant disruption, with resident doctors making up nearly half of the NHS medical workforce. Senior doctors are being brought in to cover emergency care, but some planned treatments and appointments are being cancelled. The strike follows a breakdown in talks between the government and the doctors’ union last month.

Parents are being urged to teach children about online privacy as a basic life skill, similar to stranger danger or road safety.

The Information Commissioner’s Office says three in four parents fear their child cannot make safe privacy choices online. A new campaign is encouraging families to have simple conversations about protecting personal information, after research found privacy is one of the least discussed aspects of online safety.

Up to 250 schools in knife crime hotspots will receive specialist training under new government plans.

A £1.2 million investment will fund measures including mentoring for high-risk pupils and chaperones on school routes. The announcement comes as ministers prepare to outline how they aim to halve knife crime within a decade. The Conservatives criticised the plans, while the Liberal Democrats said the measures alone would not be enough.

Victor Glover, one of the astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, has been describing the solar eclipse, which began earlier today.

The crew can see the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, as it passes behind the moon. Communication with Mission Control has now been restored after a blackout lasting roughly 40 minutes, marking the first time in over 50 years that humans have been completely unreachable from Earth.