News 24/04/26

Five males, three aged sixteen or under, have been charged over the rape of a teenage girl in Kent.

Police say four of those charged are Romanian, while one of the sixteen year olds is British. Kent Police received a report on Tuesday that a teenage girl had been raped in Gravesend between the twenty fifth of March and the nineteenth of April. Two men and three boys were later arrested in connection with the incident.
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The Israel Defence Forces say six Hezbollah members have been killed in a strike in Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

The IDF said its soldiers identified Hezbollah fighters and an exchange of fire began, during which two militants were killed. It added troops then struck the building the fighters had been operating from, killing the remaining four. No Israeli soldiers were injured during the operation.

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of nearly fourteen years after the religiously aggravated rape of a Sikh woman.

John Ashby, thirty two, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court. He had faced charges including rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault linked to an incident in Walsall last October. Prosecutors said he targeted the victim after they travelled on the same bus before following her and entering her home.

A driver who killed a woman after crashing into the back of a broken down car on a smart motorway has avoided jail.

Barry O’Sullivan, forty five, was given a six month prison sentence suspended for twelve months after being convicted of causing the death of sixty eight year old Pulvinder Dhillon by careless driving. The court heard a technical failure on the M4 smart motorway meant alerts for broken down vehicles were not properly communicated before the crash.

People in the UK are being urged to move away from passwords and use passkeys to secure their online accounts.

The National Cyber Security Centre says it is overhauling decades of security advice and now recommends passkeys as the most secure option. Passwords have long been the default for accessing services, but platforms including Apple, Google and X already allow passkeys instead.

A man has been jailed for child sexual offences in Maidenhead following his arrest last year.

Matthew Smither, twenty six, of Fifield Road, was sentenced to five years in prison and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday. He admitted causing or inciting a child under thirteen to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual communications with a child, and meeting a child under sixteen following grooming.

A man has been charged with murder after a headteacher was knocked off his bike.

Simon Richardson, thirty four, faces charges including murder, manslaughter, dangerous driving, failing to stop and driving without insurance following a collision in Altrincham, Cheshire, at around ten past six on Monday evening. Michael Mullins, fifty six, from Northwich, was treated at the scene but died shortly after. Richardson has been remanded in custody and is due in court today.

A transgender prisoner has been charged with sexually assaulting another inmate at a Scottish jail.

Alexandra Stewart, previously known as Alan Baker, is accused of carrying out the attack at the mixed sex HMP Greenock in Inverclyde. Police Scotland say a thirty eight year old prisoner has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

Downing Street says sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with the United Kingdom following reports the United States could review its position.

An internal Pentagon email suggested options to punish Nato allies over the Iran war, including Britain’s claim. A Number Ten spokesman said islanders had overwhelmingly voted to remain a UK territory and their right to self determination has always been supported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is in excellent physical condition after doctors found and removed an early stage malignant tumour.

He said the discovery came during routine monitoring after surgery for an enlarged prostate. He added treatment removed the problem and left no trace, and said he delayed releasing the report to avoid false propaganda during the Iran conflict.

The United States is considering options to punish NATO allies for failing to support the Iran war, according to Reuters.

An internal Pentagon email reportedly suggests reviewing Washington’s support for Europe’s so called imperial possessions, including Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged attacks overnight despite a ceasefire extension agreed just hours earlier. The Iran backed group launched strikes on northern Israel, according to the Israeli Defence Forces.

The Bank of England says global stock markets are likely to fall as share prices do not reflect the risks facing the world economy.

Deputy governor Sarah Breeden said there is a lot of risk out there while asset prices are at all time highs, adding an adjustment is expected at some point. She said it is unusual for the Bank to be so direct on markets, but pointed to complacency among investors about multiple risks. She did not say when or how large any fall might be.

Donald Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend the ceasefire in the country by three weeks.

The decision followed a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese government representatives at the White House, which the US president also attended. In a social media post, he said the meeting went very well. He added the United States would work with Lebanon to help it protect itself from Hezbollah.

Tickets for this summer’s football World Cup final have gone on sale for more than two million dollars each.

FIFA’s official resale and exchange marketplace lists four seats for just over two point two nine million dollars, around one point seven million pounds. Buying all four tickets for the match at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey would cost more than nine million dollars, equivalent to about six point eight million pounds.

A proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales is set to run out of time.

It comes almost seventeen months after MPs first voted in favour. The bill has stalled in the House of Lords despite support in the Commons for allowing terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek medical help to end their life, subject to safeguards. Supporters and opponents accept it will not complete its stages, though another attempt may come next session.