News 21/08/26

A murder investigation is under way after human bones were uncovered at a west London park following a wildfire.

Emergency services were called to Bedfont Lakes Country Park in Hounslow on Wednesday evening, the twelfth of August, after a member of the public found the remains in woodland known as The Pits. A post-mortem examination confirmed the bones belong to a woman aged between twenty-five and forty-five. Police say it is not yet clear how long the remains had been at the location, and officers are continuing efforts to identify her.

Media regulator Ofcom has launched an investigation into Sky News over allegations of harassment made by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

The Clacton MP accused the broadcaster of infringing his family’s privacy after reporters were sent to a house where his adult daughter was living. Reform UK lodged an official complaint with Ofcom, demanding an on-air apology and a commitment to cease contacting family members at their homes. Writing on Facebook, Mr Farage said he was appalled by how his family had been treated.

A six-year-old girl has died after getting into difficulty in waters off the Sussex coast, becoming the fourth member of her family to lose her life.

Saja El-Khawas had been in a critical condition since being pulled from the sea at Shoreham on Tuesday. Her fourteen-year-old sister Sara and parents Hassan el Khawas and Zeina Alayn also died. The Palestinian embassy confirmed Mr el Khawas was a refugee from Lebanon.

One person has died following a sword attack by an eighteen-year-old wearing a helmet at a school in Sweden.

Police were called to Brinell high school in Fagersta, northwest of Stockholm, on Friday. Two teenage boys were severely injured, while a third person was taken to hospital with unclear injuries. The suspect was shot, arrested, and remains in custody.

Three Argentina players and their coach have been banned by FIFA following a World Cup final brawl, while the country’s football association was fined £235,000 over a Falklands Islands banner.

Leandro Paredes received a ten-match ban and a £66,000 fine, Nahuel Molina received seven games, Thiago Almada got one game, and coach Roberto Ayala was handed a three-match suspension.

The Duchess of Sussex is in early talks to return to acting with a role in the Netflix comedy series The Gentlemen.

Created by Guy Ritchie and starring Theo James, the series about a duke turned drug baron is filmed largely in the Cotswolds—the area where Prince Harry and Meghan are rumoured to be settling when they return to the UK later this month.

Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures, including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley, have been ordered to pay an initial £9.5m in legal costs to the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers Limited.

The ruling follows the dismissal of their High Court privacy case on the seventh of July, when Mr Justice Nicklin ruled the group failed to prove allegations of unlawful information-gathering. The seven claimants must pay the initial sum by the twenty-eighth of August and could potentially face up to twenty-five million pounds more.

Vulnerable groups are being warned not to eat undercooked or runny eggs, or products like mayonnaise, soufflé, and hollandaise sauce, when eating out due to a salmonella outbreak.

The Food Standards Agency says under-fives, over-65s, pregnant women, and those with underlying health conditions should avoid raw or lightly cooked eggs in restaurants and takeaways, though well-cooked eggs remain safe. The UK Health Security Agency declared a national outbreak after one person died and hundreds fell ill.

Two major providers of NHS patient data to the pharmaceutical industry are set to merge in a £140m deal.

Oxford-based firms Arcturis Data and Akrivia Health have agreed an all-share transaction expected to complete this autumn, giving them greater scale to compete with American giant Palantir Technologies. Investors and staff at both companies have been briefed on the proposed deal in recent days.

The Duchess of Sussex could make a return to acting after moving back to the UK, according to reports.

Sources close to the Sussexes have not denied that Meghan has been offered a role in the country, following reports that an upcoming project influenced their decision to return. Harry and Meghan are expected to arrive before the end of August, with their children enrolled in school for September.

The government borrowed slightly more than expected in July, according to figures published as Chancellor John Healey draws up his first Budget.

The Office for National Statistics said borrowing was two point three billion pounds higher than official forecasts. Borrowing reached one point eight billion pounds in July, two thirds higher than the same month last year. Economists warned the figures will restrict Healey and Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s room for manoeuvre as they target measures aimed at easing the cost of living, with little room to increase borrowing in the Budget on the twenty-seventh of October.

The Premier League season kicks off today, bringing nine months of competition, drama and debate.

It has been a busy off-season for top-flight English clubs, with extensive changes both on the pitch and in the dugout.

Two organisers of Hong Kong’s vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have been convicted under a national security law.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung pleaded not guilty to inciting subversion. Sentencing will take place later, with both facing up to ten years in prison.

The Met Office has warned that an El Niño event developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest in living memory.

Paired with climate change, it is very likely to make 2027 the hottest year on record.