News 08/07/26

The Metropolitan Police officer who shot Chris Kaba is unlikely to face misconduct proceedings due to new government regulations.

Firearms officer Martyn Blake shot the twenty four year old in south London in 2022 after Mr Kaba rammed a police stop. Mr Blake was cleared of murder, but the watchdog says the disciplinary case will now be dropped. The Kaba family has been given three weeks to challenge the decision.

Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, has been granted a posthumous conditional pardon. Ellis was hanged at London’s Holloway Prison in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover David Blakely.

Her family campaigned for her conviction to be overturned, arguing she was a victim of domestic abuse. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told MPs the King granted the pardon.

Donald Trump has spoken for the first time about overnight US strikes on Iran, stating the US military attacked very powerfully.

Meeting Nato chief Mark Rutte in Ankara, the US president accused Iran of launching rockets and targeting ships yesterday despite warnings, leading the US to hit them very hard last night.

A murder investigation is under way after a mother and her two children were found dead at a home in Great Denham.

Bedfordshire Police forced entry into the property on Monday following concerns for three people who had not been seen for days. Officers have identified a suspect known to the victims, who they believe has since left the country.

A separate murder inquiry has been launched in Northampton after a teenager was stabbed to death.

Police were called yesterday evening to an address in Adnitt Road, in the Abington area. Despite efforts from the public, police and paramedics, the boy died at the scene. Detectives say several scenes are currently in place.

A man has been arrested after a highways worker from Kent was killed by a van on the M23 near Gatwick.

The incident happened near Crawley on Wednesday morning. The motorway remains closed southbound from the M25 to junction ten, causing severe delays and congestion across the M25 network in both directions.

Virgin Media has been fined £28m for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling contracts.

The regulator Ofcom said millions of calls were likely mishandled over nearly three years, preventing or delaying switches. Ofcom found deliberate call-dropping tactics and customers put on hold for no reason. The penalty was reduced by thirty per cent after Virgin admitted the failings, but remains the largest ever under consumer protection rules.

Twelve countries, including the UK, will spend over £37bn on a new long-range missile project to protect Europe.

The Deep Precision Strike project was unveiled by Number Ten ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara. Sir Keir Starmer faces potential criticism from US President Donald Trump for not detailing a plan to reach defense spending targets, but the Prime Minister will convene leaders to discuss the missile programme today.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims it has targeted eighty-five US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, responding to what it called a ceasefire violation after US strikes in the south.

Earlier, both nations sounded missile alert sirens following Iranian warnings. The Kuwaiti military stated its air defences are currently confronting hostile missile and drone attacks, explaining that explosion sounds result from its interception systems.

Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain have now all ruled out contesting the Clacton by-election triggered by Nigel Farage.

The Reform UK leader plans to re-fight the Essex seat in a people versus the establishment vote. Labour labelled the election a circus, accusing Farage of desperately trying to change the entire subject away from increasing scrutiny over his finances.

Amber and yellow heat-health alerts have come into effect across England as the United Kingdom braces for one of its longest heatwaves since 1976.

Temperatures are set to reach thirty-six degrees Celsius in parts of southern England this week. The Met Office warned an extreme marine heatwave could also develop, raising concerns for mass die-offs among some seagrasses and shellfish, while encouraging warm-water octopus.

A Mexican national has died in hospital after being shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston, Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo weaponised his vehicle to run over an agent during a targeted enforcement operation. Officials claim the agent fired in self-defence after Araujo refused to follow multiple verbal commands, having rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle.