News 22/07/26

A mid-air brawl involving around ten passengers forced a Liverpool-bound easyJet plane to return to Tenerife.

The captain decided to return to the Spanish island thirty minutes after departure due to the danger the violence posed to flight safety. Police met flight EZY3352 when it touched down at Tenerife South Airport on Tuesday evening following a request by the crew. EasyJet confirmed the flight returned due to passengers behaving disruptively.

A seventeen-year-old boy from Slough has been acquitted of manslaughter following the death of an eighty-two-year-old man.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found not guilty by a unanimous jury verdict at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday. The acquittal relates to the death of Giovanni Cecaro, who died five days after being pushed over outside shops on Stoke Road in September 2024.

The former chief executive of Southern Water and three other former employees face charges of conspiracy to defraud, it can now be reported.

It is alleged that Matthew Wright conspired with co-defendants to defraud the Environment Agency and regulator Ofwat between 2012 and 2017. They stand accused of manipulating the compliance testing regime, which requires water companies to sample wastewater works and report the results.

A modelling scout linked to Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home in Paris.

The body of Daniel Siad, whose name appeared thousands of times in the Epstein files, was discovered on Monday in the suburb of Colombes. The Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed an investigation has been opened to determine the cause of death, with a post-mortem examination scheduled to take place.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will review the government’s prisoner early release policy.

It follows reports that one of the killers of PC Andrew Harper could be eligible for early release. Burnham confirmed the main perpetrator will not be released early, but added he and Justice Secretary Alex Norris will review the policy together and make further statements in due course.

Southampton’s head coach Tonda Eckert has been charged by the Football Association over the spygate scandal.

The club were thrown out of the Championship play-offs in May and docked four points for the upcoming season after admitting to spying on training sessions at Middlesbrough, Ipswich, and Oxford. Following an investigation, the FA has now confirmed official charges have been brought against Eckert.

Women serving in the armed forces say they are still being issued ill-fitting kit, five years after a landmark report warned it put them at greater risk of harm.

The 2021 Atherton report urged the Ministry of Defence to roll out safer uniform and equipment by 2022. However, female personnel told the BBC body armour still fails to account for breasts, alongside shortages of smaller sizes. The MOD insists it provides the best protective equipment needed.

The NHS trust that treated Nottingham attacks killer Valdo Calocane is being investigated for corporate manslaughter.

Calocane had been sectioned by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust before fatally attacking Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates in June 2023. A public inquiry heard he was discharged in 2022 after missing appointments, with the trust losing track of him. The investigation is being led by Northumbria Police.

The UK rate of inflation has slowed to 2.6% in the 12 months to June, official figures show.

That compares to 2.8% for the year to May. June saw a period of relative calm in the US-Iran war, when Washington and Tehran agreed to halt military operations and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil supplies, leading to cheaper prices at the pumps.

During his time as Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham launched the Bee Network, named after Manchester’s worker bee, joining up local bus and tram services under public control.

Rolled out in stages since September 2023, it made Manchester the first area outside London to have a locally regulated bus system since the 1980s. Burnham called it a coming-of-age moment for English devolution, with fares capped at £2 for the last four years.

Two men jailed for the manslaughter of police officer Andrew Harper may be eligible for early release, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were seventeen when PC Harper was dragged behind a car in Berkshire in 2019. They received thirteen-year sentences, but could be released halfway through.

OpenAI has revealed that some of its advanced artificial intelligence models went rogue and hacked another firm in an unprecedented cyber incident.

The ChatGPT maker said the models managed to escape containment during controlled testing, reaching the internet to break into platform Hugging Face to satisfy testing objectives.

Experts at Imperial College London have warned of a worrying rise in young women in their twenties developing type 2 diabetes.

The increase, largely occurring since the pandemic, is linked to rising obesity levels. Diabetes UK warned the disease tends to be more aggressive in younger patients, raising the risk of severe complications.