News 27/07/26

The French president has sent a message of defiance. Emmanuel Macron says we will win this battle together, and we will do everything we can.

He adds they will adapt to the needs to win, emphasising that the priority is obviously lives, and when necessary to relocate people, they will.

Reform UK have reported Green Party leader Zack Polanski to the police, after he shared an Instagram post including a photo of a man wearing a top featuring the name “Nigel” alongside a guillotine.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said if he posted anything as inciteful he would expect to be arrested. A Green Party spokesperson said that once brought to his attention, Polanski immediately unshared the post.

A masked rapist who abducted a fifteen-year-old girl from an Edinburgh city centre bus stop has been jailed under a lifelong restriction order.

Aaron Strachan, aged twenty-one, pulled a knife on the girl on Princes Street in May last year, before marching her to a basement storage area and raping her. The High Court in Edinburgh heard he also attacked a man with a hammer. Strachan was jailed for a minimum of five years.

The family of a British woman killed in Florida say she was deeply loved and had the gentlest soul.

Sonia Exelby, aged thirty-two, was reported missing from Southsea, Portsmouth, on the twelfth of October last year. Her body was discovered in Marion County on the seventeenth of October. Dwain Hall, aged fifty-three, of Ocala, was subsequently arrested on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Labour has drawn level with Reform UK in polling following the takeover of Andy Burnham as prime minister and party leader.

A YouGov survey for Sky News and The Times shows the government matching Nigel Farage’s party, which previously dominated public opinion during this parliament. Today’s results come as Labour gained a slight boost after Burnham took power, while Reform fell in popularity.

The mayor of Bordeaux is bracing for all eventualities as wildfires raging in France reach within nine miles of the city.

Thomas Cazenave says preparations are underway to accommodate a large number of people if further evacuations are ordered. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says firefighters face an unprecedented situation. Some 220,000 people have evacuated in France, and over 100,000 in Spain.

Singer Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and says she is learning how to live with the unpredictable condition.

In a statement the star aged 83 described the disease as sometimes frightening, leaving her tired on some days but able to work on others. Best known for You’re So Vain, she recently had surgery to remove a cancerous facial growth.

English football will implement a trial to eradicate the goalkeeper tactical timeout this season.

The measure was agreed by leagues including the Premier League. To tackle the issue, if a referee signals that a physio can treat a goalkeeper, the coach will have ten seconds to nominate another player to leave the pitch for exactly one minute after play has restarted.

The wildfire ravaging the Bordeaux region in France has created a fire cloud which risks further fuelling the catastrophe.

Pyrocumulonimbus clouds generate their own winds and lightning, making fires unpredictable. They form when ground heat creates an updraft of fast-rising hot air, smoke, and ash. Rising water vapour condenses into thunderstorm clouds that produce lightning, starting new fires.

Suggestions that replacing council tax or stamp duty is under active consideration are not true, Number Ten has said.

It follows reports that Andy Burnham is looking to change the system to an annual house-price tax. Asked about the claims, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson slapped them down, insisting that all decisions on tax are matters for the chancellor at the budget.

A twenty-two-year-old man has been charged with murder after a man was stabbed to death during a street fight.

Javed Khan is accused of stabbing Abdulkadir Mahamed and faces a charge of violent disorder on Clapham High Street. Khan appears at Bromley Magistrates’ Court alongside Adonay Berhan, who is accused of assisting an offender. Metropolitan Police were called on Saturday morning after Mr Mahamed was taken to hospital.

A forty-two-year-old man from Langley has been arrested on suspicion of computer misuse offences.

Detained on Friday following an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit with Thames Valley Police, officers searched a residential address and seized digital devices. He was arrested on suspicion of unauthorised access to computer material and making or obtaining articles for use in an offence.

Wildlife presenter and comedian Bill Oddie has died aged 85, his agent has announced.

David Foster paid tribute to the intelligence and wit of Britain’s best loved birder. Announcing his passing with deep sadness, Mr Foster described Bill Oddie as a multi talented celebrity who worked as a wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist, adding that it was never fame that he valued.

Two people have died, and at least five others were left injured, after a shooting at the Seattle Center overnight.

Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Grace Nunez confirmed that first responders attempted lifesaving efforts for two victims, but were unsuccessful. The civic centre was hosting a food festival on Sunday evening. A Seattle official told local news outlet K-U-O-W that two suspects have now been arrested in connection with tonight’s shooting.

Some of the UK’s driest regions have missed their chances for rain ahead of another heatwave beginning this week.

Northern and western areas saw some rainfall over the weekend, with further showers and unsettled conditions expected across the next few days. However, southern parts of the country — where the least rain has fallen — are set to see temperatures climb again with more dry and sunny weather. Parts of Wales have officially entered drought status.

French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday as wildfires close in on the south-western city of Bordeaux.

Mayor Thomas Cazenave warned another heatwave will complicate efforts to tackle the expanding blaze, currently nine miles from the city, though no evacuations are planned for its 850,000 residents. Over 330,000 people have been evacuated across France and Spain as wildfires rage, with President Macron pledging his government will help rebuild.

Police have charged a suspect following a criminal damage incident involving one of the Thames Hospice elephant sculptures.

Officers arrested the individual under suspicion of causing significant damage to one of the “Trunks Across the Thames” sculptures, as well as committing an act capable of outraging public decency. The suspect has been remanded to appear in court on Monday. Thames Valley Police thanked everyone who assisted with their enquiries.