The Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has reportedly detained a 20-year-old Ghanaian-British student, Osei Parker, for attempting to smuggle 19.4kg of potent cannabis into Nigeria.
Parker, who is based in London, was apprehended on April 3, 2025, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos as he arrived aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand.
According to reports, during his initial interrogation, Parker stated that he was studying Computer Science at the University of East London.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed in a statement on Sunday that the agency’s officers uncovered 36 parcels of cannabis hidden inside a large suitcase during routine security checks.
“On Thursday, April 3, 2025, officers at the MMIA Strategic Command intercepted 20-year-old Ghanaian-British national Parker Darren Hazekia Osei, who was carrying 36 parcels of ‘loud,’ a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 19.40kg,” Babafemi said.
He went on to explain that Parker claimed he had traveled from London to Bangkok a week before, where he picked up the illicit substance for delivery to Nigeria.
In another operation, NDLEA officers in Abia State on April 5 arrested a 75-year-old man, Nna Nnanna Felix, who was found with 1.6kg of skunk, a cannabis strain, during a raid at Umunteke Asa,
British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has described reparation demands as exploitative, arguing that calls for financial redress from the United Kingdom are attempts to manipulate guilt over colonial history.
While acknowledging the British Empire’s flaws, she emphasized the importance of recognizing its positive contributions as well. Badenoch suggested that the British Empire’s role in abolishing the Atlantic slave trade should be more widely discussed.
In a GB News debate in October, then Conservative leadership candidates Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch shared their views on the demand for reparation by some African countries.
Kemi Badenoch dismissed calls for reparations as misguided and said people in former colonies may not view Britain as negatively as some left-leaning critics suggest but urged the UK to consider how it could assist other nations in meaningful ways moving forward.
“There are many things the British Empire got wrong. But there are many amazing things the British Empire also did and we need to be honest about that and stop pretending that it was all bad. The British Empire ended slavery, the Atlantic Slave Trade. We need to talk about that more.
“I grew up in a Commonwealth country. Many people in these countries don’t normally carry the barrage that a lot of the left-leaning comments want to put on our country. We need to look at how we can help other countries best as they can. We did a lot to help those countries, we can do more again. I would like to see that but the answer is no reparation.
“We don’t need to be embarrassed by our colonial past. Every country in this world, at one point or the other either colonised or attempted to colonise another group of people. This is the past, we need to talk about the future. There are many countries now who want to use guilt to try to exploit the UK. They ask for reparation. I saw it as Trade Minister. I was at the WTO, I wouldn’t want to name the Minister from another country but he was telling me that we needed to give up some of the things we were doing because of colonialism and because they needed time to develop. These arguments are a scam. Don’t fall for it. We need to make sure that we put this country first,” she said.
The 44-year-old is now the first black woman to lead a major political party in the UK after fellow right-winger Robert Jenrick, 42, by 12,418 votes following a marathon contest to replace Rishi Sunak, who led the party to the biggest defeat in its history in July’s general election.
African and Caribbean countries have called for paying reparations or making other amends for slavery during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Per reports, from the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations under inhumane conditions in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while European settlers and others profited from their labour.
Ghana then Gold Coast was colonised by the British in the late 19th century. Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan nation to break free from colonial rule.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has indicated that financial reparations are long overdue to Africans and the diaspora as compensation for the enslavement of people of African descent.
“No amount of money can restore the damage caused by the transatlantic slave trade. But surely, this is a matter that the world must confront and can no longer ignore.”The entire period of slavery meant that our progress, economically, culturally, and psychologically, was stifled. There are legions of stories of families who were torn apart. You cannot quantify the effects of such tragedies, but they need to be recognised,” President Akufo-Addo said at the launch of a four-day reparations conference in Accra in November last year.
Delegates at the reparations summit agreed to establish a Global Reparation Fund to push for overdue compensation for millions of Africans enslaved centuries ago during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The United Nations has indicated that countries could consider making financial payments among other forms of compensation, but cautioned that legal claims are complicated by the time passed and the difficulty in identifying perpetrators and victims.
Activists such as the Director of the U.S.-based Reparation Education Project, Nkechi Taifa, have said reparations should go beyond direct financial payments to also include developmental aid for countries, the return of colonized resources and the systemic correction of oppressive policies and laws.
In the historic coastal town of Elmina on the Gold Coast, a remarkable leader named King Kobina Gyan emerged as a beacon of resistance against British colonial expansion.
King Kobina Gyan’s legacy is one of fierce opposition and enduring courage. As a member of Elmina’s royal family, he became king during a critical period when European powers, especially the British, were intensifying their efforts to dominate the region.
Elmina, with its strategic location and iconic Elmina Castle, was at the heart of this colonial clash.
By the late 1800s, the British were aggressively pursuing control of Elmina Castle, which had been under Dutch rule.
The castle was not merely a symbol of authority but a vital economic and military asset. King Gyan, fully aware of the implications of this potential takeover, strongly resisted the British encroachment.
He recognized that surrendering the castle would not only erode his people’s autonomy but also pave the way for harsher colonial rule.
In 1873, as tensions reached a peak, King Gyan and his subjects mounted a determined defense of the castle.
Their refusal to yield without a fight was a bold defiance against the British Empire, signaling that Elmina would not capitulate easily.
Despite their valiant efforts, the British launched a military campaign against King Gyan’s forces. The ensuing conflict ended with King Gyan’s capture.
The British, viewing him as a significant obstacle to their colonial ambitions, decided to exile him to the Seychelles, a distant island in the Indian Ocean, intending to diminish his influence and break his spirit.
Nevertheless, King Gyan’s spirit remained unbroken even in exile. His story continued to inspire future generations in their quest for freedom.
His legacy is one of bravery and unwavering dedication to his people’s independence.
King Kobina Gyan is remembered today as a courageous leader who stood resolutely against British colonialism.
His defense of Elmina Castle is a notable chapter in Africa’s broader struggle for sovereignty and resistance to colonial rule.
King Kobina Gyan of Elmina and members of his tribe, GoldCoast. He was a significant leader in the late 19th century, known for his resistance against British colonial rule. In 1873, he opposed the British takeover of Elmina Castle, leading to his arrest & exile to the Seychelles pic.twitter.com/VGMs11yQEt
Great Britain’s Daryll Neita, Dina Asher-Smith, and Bianca Williams all advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at Paris 2024, following the withdrawal of world champion Shericka Jackson.
Neita, who narrowly missed out on a 100m podium finish, coming in fourth, clocked 22.39 seconds in her 200m heat. Julien Alfred of St Lucia, who won gold in the 100m, continued her strong performance with a time of 22.41 seconds.
Asher-Smith, who was disappointed with her 100m result, ran 22.28 seconds, finishing second in her heat behind Nigeria’s Favour Ofili. Williams qualified with a time of 22.77 seconds.
An emotional Asher-Smith expressed her frustration after the 100m, stating to BBC Sport: “I’m just angry from yesterday to be honest. I was angry but coming down the home straight I was like ‘relax, relax.’ Yeah, I’m very upset,” she added.
Jamaican sprinter Jackson, the reigning world 200m champion, withdrew from the event, shifting the spotlight to American Gabrielle Thomas, who is now the favourite for gold. Thomas, the fastest woman in the 200m this year, set the fastest time of the first round with 22.20 seconds.
Alfred, celebrating her historic gold in the 100m, won her 200m heat with a time of 22.41 seconds. Jackson’s withdrawal from the 200m has opened up the competition, especially with reigning champion Elaine Thompson-Herah out due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Neita, reflecting on her performance, told BBC Sport: “It feels like I went to sleep here [at the track] last night. It has been a quick turnaround. Fourth was so bittersweet. I’ve had a little sleep on it and honestly I’m really proud of myself. It gives me so much confidence and a lot of motivation going into tomorrow.”
In other events, Lina Nielsen qualified for the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals with a time of 54.65 seconds, while Jessie Knight will have to go through a repechage after finishing fifth with 55.39 seconds. Femke Bol won her heat with 53.38 seconds, securing a mixed 4x400m relay gold for the Netherlands. Defending champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won her heat in 53.60 seconds, setting up a potential gold-medal showdown with Bol.
Great Britain’s Elizabeth Bird advanced to the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final with a time of 9:16.46, while Aimee Pratt did not qualify. Jacob Fincham-Dukes reached the men’s long jump final with a qualifying leap of 7.96m, while Miltiadis Tentoglou led the qualifiers with a jump of 8.32m.
A retired 74-year-old Ghanaian man, Nelson Shardey, residing in the UK for almost five decades, has been told to wait 10 years before the Home Office grants him permanent residency.
Shardey, from Wallasey in Wirral, believed he was considered British until 2019 when he discovered otherwise.
Despite contributing to the UK economy through taxes, he now faces substantial costs to secure his residency and access NHS services.
Having arrived in the UK in 1977 to study accountancy on a student visa, Shardey built a life in the country. He held various jobs, got married twice to British women, and raised two sons.
Nelson Shardey pictured alongside his two young sons
However, when he applied for a passport to visit Ghana after his mother’s passing, he learned he wasn’t recognized as British.
The Home Office instructed him to apply for the 10-year settlement route, costing approximately £7,000, plus £10,500 for NHS access.
Struggling with finances, especially after battling prostate cancer, Shardey expressed frustration at the process, feeling it unjust given his lifelong commitment to the UK.
Despite his contributions and recognition, including receiving a police award for bravery, Shardey faces a prolonged bureaucratic process.
Nelson Shardey was presented with the Police Bravery Award in the year 2007.
“Now, it would be inappropriate to comment on active legal proceedings,” said a Home Office spokesman.
Now, with legal assistance from Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) and support from his sons, Shardey is challenging the Home Office’s decision in court, arguing that his case warrants exceptional treatment.
“We know that at least one caseworker has looked at his file and suggested that he should be granted indefinite leave to remain because there are exceptional facts,” said Nicola Burgess, a lawyer at GMIAU.
“And when you look at it on a personal level, if Nelson was your friend or your neighbour, you would absolutely agree that he should be given the immediate right to settle.”
Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta is currently being kept in a holding area at the Charles de Gaulle airport and will be sent out of the country. This decision was made by French Sen Raymonde Poncet-Monge, who had invited him to speak at the Senate.
“Poncet-Monge expressed his disappointment on X. ”
A French person in charge said that Abu Sitta was not allowed to enter because all countries in the Schengen area were told not to let him in by Germany. The person in charge, who wasn’t allowed to give their name, wouldn’t share any details or more information.
Abu Sitta shared on social media that he was not allowed to go to France because Germany had banned him from entering Europe for a year. Last month, Germany refused to let him come in. France and Germany are part of a border-free area in Europe called the Schengen zone. Abu Sitta said on Saturday that he was going back to London.
Abu Sitta was asked by a group in the French Senate to talk about Gaza at a meeting on Saturday. The meeting had doctors, reporters, and legal experts who have experience with Gaza.
Abu Sitta was not allowed to go to Germany for a conference supporting Palestine last month. He said he was stopped at passport control, kept for a long time, and then told he had to go back to the UK. The airport police said he was not allowed in because of safety concerns for people at the conference and public order.
Abu Sitta, who recently helped as a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, has worked during many fights in the Palestinian areas, starting in the late 1980s during the first Palestinian uprising. He has also worked in other places with fighting, like Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
France has been experiencing a lot of arguments and fighting because of the conflict in the Middle East ever since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. Recently, the police in France have removed students from campuses where they were protesting and doing sit-ins, which is similar to what is happening in the United States.
The British Museum (BM) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) of the United Kingdom have returned thirty-two royal objects which were taken from the Palace in Kumasi during the Anglo-Asante Wars of the 19th century, including items from the Sargrenti War of 1874, to Ghana.
Gold and silver regalia associated with the Asante royal court will be displayed at the Palace Museum as part of a long-term loan commitment by the V&A and the British Museum. Many of these items will be seen in Ghana for the first time in 150 years.
The hundred- and fifty-year-old mostly golden royal regalia, on loan for an initial three years and renewable for another three, include fifteen pieces from the BM and seventeen from the V&A.
The return follows the final signing of official documentation in London two weeks ago by the directors of the BM and V&A, Sir Mark Jones and Dr. Tristram Hunt, and chief negotiator Mr. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, who represented and signed on behalf of the Manhyia Palace.
The return is in the context of the silver jubilee year of the Asantehene Osei Tutu II, who first opened negotiations in May 2023. It is also connected to the 150th commemoration last February and the coming centenary of the return of the Asantehene Prempeh I from exile in Seychelles.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will receive the objects and specially designed Belgian cases in Kumasi. The subsequent closure of the Manhyia Palace Museum for three weeks will be for installation works and encasing of over forty returned objects, including seven that have already been permanently given by the Fowler Museum of the University of California, Los Angeles.
These objects will collectively constitute the star objects of an international exhibition titled “Homecoming- Adversity and Commemoration,” curated by a team of British and Ghanaian curators from the BM, V&A, Foundation for Contemporary Art, Manhyia Palace, and KNUST. The exhibition is supported by partners such as British Airways, Fidelity Bank, and the Otumfuo Foundation.
The opening by the Asantehene on May 1, 2024, will be attended by directors, curators, and trustees of the BM and V&A from London, as well as journalists and photographers from major media outlets. The occasion will also see the launch of two major books: “A History of Manhyia Palace Museum- Inaugural and Other Objects” by Agyeman-Duah and “Images of Ghana- Museums, the Ownership of Cultural Property and Restitution” by Prof. Malcolm McLeod.
As Manhyia Palace engages in cultural initiatives, new paradigms on restitutions with British organizations and others continue, as seen recently in South Africa with the Gold of Africa Collection. The Asantehene will also give a major public lecture on Asante Culture and Heritage- Past and Present at the BM in London in July 2024, as part of evolving cooperation in international cultures and mutual technical and business development.
The BM and V&A have selected world-leading Anglo-Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of New York University to introduce the occasion and lecture. Appiah is also the current President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
British politicians who might have been tricked into sending sexual messages were told on Friday to report it to the police. This came after a senior Conservative member admitted giving some colleagues’ phone numbers to someone who had embarrassing information about him.
William Wragg, who leads a government committee, gave his phone numbers to a man he met on a dating app for gay people. This happened after he sent private pictures of himself.
Wragg, 36, said to The Times that the man had bad stuff on him and he was frightened and tricked into giving his colleagues’ numbers to the person he met on Grindr.
“I gave them a few numbers, but not all of them,” he said. “I talked to a guy on an app and we shared photos. ” We were supposed to meet for drinks, but we didn’t. Then he began asking how many people there were. I was scared because he had information about me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, but it doesn’t work anymore. I have made people sad because I was not strong. I was very afraid. I am very embarrassed.
“Will Wragg apologized for what he did, and I think it’s clear that people react differently in different situations,” he told Sky News.
The honeytrap sexting scam is a type of cyber-attack that targets specific groups, and it’s called “spear phishing. ” Scammers pretend to be someone you trust in order to steal important information.
Wragg’s big discovery came after people had been wondering for days, sparked by an article in Politico. It said that some current and former members of parliament had been messaged on WhatsApp by an unknown number. The messages talked about past meetings with politicians and asked for personal or secret information. The report said that some people were sent pictures of naked bodies. At least two of them then sent pictures of themselves back.
“If you ever feel like you’re in a bad situation or being threatened, go to the police right away. It’s very serious,” Davies said.
Police in Leicestershire, England are looking into messages sent to a local politician that were mean and unwanted.
The YouGov model predicts which party will win in different areas based on how many people they think will vote for them. It says that the Conservatives will win 155 seats and Labour will win 403 seats. Britain’s parliament has 650 places for politicians to sit.
Surveys have shown that Labour is ahead of the Conservatives by a lot of points. Sunak has said that he plans to hold an election in the second half of the year.
The Conservatives have been in charge since 2010, but there have been five different prime ministers during that time because of the Brexit vote and the COVID crisis.
The poll showed that Sunak is having a hard time getting support after cutting taxes last month. This is happening before the local elections in May. The prediction showed that the Conservatives are not doing as well, and Labour is doing better compared to when YouGov last made a similar prediction in January.
According to YouGov, some well-known Conservative politicians like finance minister Jeremy Hunt and former leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt might not win their seats in the election.
The model predicted that Labour would not win as many seats as it did when Blair was in charge. It also predicted that the majority of seats they would win would be less than what they won in 1997.
YouGov talked to 18,761 adults in the UK from March 7-27 for the survey. The number is a lot bigger than typical surveys, and YouGov said the way they did it correctly guessed the results of the last two elections.
The model predicted that in the election, Labour would get 41 percent of the votes and Conservatives would get 24 percent. However, it mentioned that the results might be different from the usual polls because it included people who are not planning to vote.
A British student nurse tragically died in Ghana after going for a midnight swim with friends while on a placement.
Millie Ann Gentry, 19, from Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, was two weeks into a one month volunteer programme in the west African country when she drowned.
The tragedy happened on March 17 last year but the details have now been made public with the teen’s inquest opening this week.
Gentry was staying with Erin Byrnes, from Halifax, in Busua – a beach resort town in southern Ghana.
The coroners’ court heard that the two friends had decided to go for a late night dip with their friend Lewis Mallinson after drinking at the beach bar.
They defied a 10.30pm curfew to nip out for a swim at half past midnight but encountered strong waves.
“I laid on my back, screaming for help. I was so close to giving up,” she said.
After returning to the beach, both she and Mr. Mallinson managed to summon assistance in the search for Ms. Gentry. Despite their efforts, her body was discovered four hours later.
Mallinson recounted that numerous nearby villages rallied together to aid in the rescue mission. A subsequent post-mortem examination revealed that she had sustained a head injury.
According to The Mirror, Ms. Gentry had a boyfriend named Elvis, and her placement in Ghana was described as the “trip of a lifetime” for her.
Busia Beach resort in Ghana
A Crowdfunding page has now been set up to support the Gentry family.
A statement on the site reads: “Mims was a beloved member of the Gomersal Primary School community as well as daughter to one of our much loved colleagues and friends.
“As a past pupil Millie will be remembered as a bright, smiley and caring individual.
“She was studying to be a children’s nurse at Bradford University and participating in a volunteer program in Ghana.
“She will be sorely missed and lovingly remembered by all who knew her.”
The page, at the time of writing, had raised more than £4,000.
Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington had a heart problem on Saturday after doing something called “chroming” on TikTok, his family told the news.
Chroming or “huffing” is when someone breathes in the fumes from things like nail polish remover, hairspray, deodorant or markers.
Chroming is getting popular because of apps like TikTok, but it’s something that teens have been doing for a while. For instance, a report from the US said that around 684,000 young people sniffed chemicals in 2015.
CAMH said that most of the things people inhale, like glue, gasoline, cleaning liquids and sprays, are meant for other uses, not for breathing in.
Inhalants are popular with teens because they are inexpensive, legal, and easy to find. CAMH said that these substances can be easily misused by children and young adults.
CAMH found that most people who use solvents and aerosols like this are between 10 and 16 years old.
The American Addiction Centers say that inhaling these substances can make you feel really good, but they can also make you feel dizzy, throw up, or even have heart and brain problems.
A research report in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Research showed that using drugs or alcohol for a long time can cause memory problems, trouble focusing, and poor decision-making.
The UK boy’s death is the second one to be in the news in the last two years. In 2023, a 13-year-old boy from Australia named Esra Haynes passed away after breathing in chemicals from a deodorant can, according to a report from 7News.
Billingtonâs mom started a website to collect money for the funeral. They got over £4,000 (C$6,935) and let people leave their sympathies.
One person said that no parent should have to feel the sadness of losing a child.
The 59-year-old person, whose name has not been given, was flying with Chilean airline LATAM to Punta Arenas on Saturday when he passed away.
The Chilean police met the plane when it arrived at Carlos Ibanez del Campo Airport. They do not believe that the man’s death was caused by a crime.
Diego Díaz, Deputy Commissioner of the specialist unit in Punta Arenas, said that detectives from the Punta Arenas Homicide Brigade went to Carlos Ibanez del Campo Airport after a 59-year-old British tourist died on a plane traveling from the Falkland Islands to Punta Arenas before his connecting flight to Santiago, following instructions from local prosecutors.
‘The man’s wife was asked questions and said he had various health problems. ‘
A post mortem, which is an examination of a dead body, is expected to happen today or tomorrow to find out why he died.
This news story is still being updated. Come back later for more information.
British Palestinian doctor, Dr. Salim Ghayyda, expresses deep concern as 25 of his family members remain trapped in Rafah, where Israeli airstrikes claimed the lives of dozens overnight.
In an interview with the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland program, Dr. Ghayyda reveals that his relatives are cramped in a small flat along with 25 other individuals, including children. The dire living conditions force all 50 occupants to sleep on the floor, with the constant sound of exploding bombs disrupting their rest.
Dr. Ghayyda explains that his brother, a nurse, has transformed the flat into an improvised health facility, given that all other clinics in the area have been “dismantled and destroyed.”
As a consultant pediatrician in Inverness, Dr. Ghayyda describes the situation as “unbearable,” particularly as he worries about the safety and well-being of his family, including a nephew battling cancer.
“He has no idea whether his cancer is spreading or not. One of my nephews is autistic, so imagine the meltdown he goes into every time he hears the noises around him.”
” There is nothing in their life at the moment that you could consider a life. Water is contaminated, they have one meal a day, they have all become malnourished – especially the children.”
“They have got no idea what time of the day they are going to be killed. It’s unbearable to be honest.”
Recent revelations indicate that the looted treasures during the Sagrenti War of 1874 in Kumasi extended beyond mere artifacts.
During a keynote address at a symposium commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Sagrenti War of 1874 on February 6, 2024, Head of the Centre of West African Studies at Birmingham University, Prof. Tom McCaskie, noted that a significant portion of the wealth amassed by Asantehene Kofi Karikari’s predecessor, Nana Kwaku Dua I, was lost in the looting, with the entire city of Kumasi left in ashes.
“Kwaku Dua was somebody who really really enforced the laws of Asante. In the process, he gathered together a great deal of money in gold dust principally but also in species and other things,” he said.
Expanding on the significance of the gold, the historian elucidated that a substantial sum of money was stored in three distinct locations within Kumasi: Kumasi itself, Aburaso, and Breman. This wealth had been passed down to Kofi Karikari following the death of Nana Dua in 1867.
“The amount of gold contained in Adakakese alone at Kwaku Dua’s death was in excess of 400,000 ounces. This in 1867 was worth 1.2 million pounds sterling. The current value of the Adakakase is somewhere over 2 billion pounds.”
“The attempt to get back the treasures looted from Kumasi by Garnet Wolseley in 1874, takes no account- because it cannot- of the gold or gold dust that the British must have carried away with them. We don’t know about this because it was loot, a private loot and so it is separate from the cultural artefacts that Otumfuo is trying to retrieve for Asanteman,” he added.
It is believed that the Asantes may be seeking restitution for more than just gold artifacts from the British.
The 10th Asantehemaa, Nana Yaa Akyaa, reportedly made substantial investments in sophisticated weaponry to confront and resist British threats.
Ghanaian historian Eugenia Anderson recounts that upon assuming the role of Asantehemaa after ousting her mother, Nana Yaa Akyaa formed alliances to safeguard the kingdom during a tumultuous period.
Amid internal disputes over the true heir to the Golden Stool following the brief reign of Nana Kwaku Duah II, Yaa Akyaa fought to secure the stool for her son, Prempeh I. This conflict resulted in a prolonged war lasting four years, during which she acted as a rival ruler of Asante, maintaining possession of the Golden Stool to prevent any opponent from being enthroned.
Known for her wealth as a successful trader, Yaa Akyaa used her resources to support her children’s ambitions, particularly investing heavily in weaponry.
She acquired a significant supply of snider rifles and ammunition, earning her the title “Obaa Barima.” Yaa Akyaa adamantly opposed diplomatic missions.
In 1896, she and her son, Prempeh I, were exiled to Seychelles Island, where she passed away on September 2, 1917, at the age of 77.
Professor Tom McCaskie, a renowned expert in Asante History at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham, UK, has noted that the Sagrenti War marked a significant milestone in British military history.
It was the first war in which a substantial number of British press, he said, accompanied the troops with the explicit purpose of spreading propaganda.
He did so at the launch of a book on the History of Asanteman.
After more than five decades since his passing, a book on the History of Asanteman, authored by Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II, has been launched in Kumasi.
Edited by Prof. Tom McCastie, a distinguished professor of Asante History at the Centre of West African Studies of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, the book serves as an autobiography of the 14th Asantehene, who reigned from 1931 to 1970.
The book launch was part of the activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Sagrenti War and the silver jubilee of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
The narrative of Ghana’s history remains incomplete without acknowledging the coexistence of Christianity and African traditional religion, both sharing common approaches in appeasing a Supreme Being through thanksgiving and divine petitions.
While Christians worship God through Jesus Christ, adherents of African traditional religion revere the Supreme Being through lesser gods and ancestral veneration.
However, in recent times, leaders of the African Traditional Religion have expressed concerns about Christianity potentially eroding their identity, branding it as fetish.
Chief Priest of Osu, Wor-Lumor Nuumo Noi Sekanku Kpenuku II, revealed in a People & Places interview that the controversy traces back to British influence.
He explained that, in an attempt to diminish Ghana’s monarchy, the British labeled the chairs of Ghanaian chiefs as ‘stools,’ contrasting with the term ‘thrones’ for their own monarchs.
“Let me enlighten you on something. When you go to England, the Queen is sitting on a chair they call the throne; you go to the Netherlands the same. You go to all these European countries where we have monarchs, they are sitting on thrones. Why is it that our monarchs sit on stools? Have you ever found the dictionary meaning of stool? When you get into the medical laboratories, stool means…the excreta that we leave in the gents. Oxford Dictionary, stool means something that you put your feet on.”
“So you see, by this naming of our thrones, they have degraded our chiefs. The British, the colonial masters they degraded our chiefs. But they call their chairs thrones and they call ours stools. And they call the chair of God, throne. So they are gods to us, and they are not gods to us.”
Expressing disappointment, he highlighted the negative connotation of the word ‘stool’ in medical laboratories, referring to excreta.
He argued that the British, considering themselves colonial masters, equated their monarchy to God, positioning themselves as ‘gods.’
Wor-Lumor Nuumo Noi Sekanku Kpenuku II emphasized that the British’s nomenclature degraded Ghanaian chiefs, portraying them as inferior.
“No, we are holier than them. They came to kill and steal our minerals and goods, stole our human resources, and took our people as slaves. So we are cleaner than them,” he stated.
He underscored the need for the public to recognize that Christianity, introduced by the British, is not as ‘holy’ as claimed. According to him, the traditional religion, as the first on earth, holds a holier status than Christianity.
Hon Andrew Murrison, has revealed to the Royal African Society that “London is the destination of choice for corrupt individuals and illicit finance. ” He also said that the government will be working with the overseas territories to improve financial transparency. “Respected” Andrew Mitchell said.
He says the UK is willing to assist Ghana in getting back any stolen money that goes through London.
The white paper talks about dirty money or stolen funds. This happened when David Cameron was the Prime Minister of Britain, and is now the Foreign Minister. As Prime Minister, he focused on fighting worldwide corruption and stopping the illegal movement of money.
“I want to say that our two countries are very close and help each other in all areas. If money is stolen from Ghana because of corruption, Britain will support Ghana in trying to get it back. ” Around 40% of stolen money and dirty funds from around the world usually go through London or British Overseas Territories. Britain wants to help Ghana if Ghana needs it, the President said in an interview on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on January 31.
Alfred Ocansey and Mr Mitchell sat on the sidelines of the ninth UK-Ghana Business Council meeting in Accra. They both helped to lead the meeting with Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The Council members talked about how money is used to help with climate issues around the world. They were happy that Ghana is working to get money to support projects that help with things like reducing carbon emissions, electric vehicles, shipping, and using hydrogen as a fuel.
“We must make sure that ships can travel freely in the Red Sea, and we promise to keep working towards that goal,” he said on X.
The company that runs the Marlin Luanda ship is called Oceonix Services Ltd. They are based in the UK.
The big ship is from the Marshall Islands and is used by Trafigura, a big company that trades around the world.
On Saturday, Trafigura said everyone on the ship was okay and they had put out the fire in one of the cargo tanks. The ship is headed to a safe place to dock, the company announced.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said that the tanker, which had 22 Indian and 1 Bangladeshi crew members, did not have any injuries or deaths.
The Houthis recently attacked commercial ships in and around the Red Sea. The group is attacking ships in the area to help the Palestinians in Gaza who are fighting against Israel.
A Houthi spokesperson said they targeted the Marlin Luanda because they believed it was a British ship, in response to what they see as American-British aggression against their country.
The UK government said it is not okay to attack commercial ships. They also said that Britain and its allies have the right to retaliate if needed.
The US Central Command said that these illegal actions are not connected to the fighting in Gaza.
“The boat and its crew are not connected to Israel in any way. ” The Houthis have shot into the Red Sea without aiming at specific targets, which has affected more than 40 countries, according to Centcom.
It told other boats to be careful and tell authorities if they saw anything suspicious.
Later, Centcom announced that they attacked a Houthi anti-ship missile that was ready to be launched into the Red Sea at 03:45 local time on Saturday. Centcom said they destroyed the missile to protect themselves.
Since November, the Houthis have attacked many ships in the Red Sea, which is a very busy shipping route.
Ian J Stones is accused of getting secret information for people in other countries, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The spokesperson said he tried to change the sentencing but it was still the same in September.
This information was only told to us in a meeting on Friday.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) says that Stones worked in China for a long time with big American companies like General Motors and Pfizer. He is thought to be about 70 years old.
15 years ago, he started a company in Beijing that helps people manage their investments. The Wall Street Journal found this information in corporate records, online profiles, and interviews with people who know him.
Wang Wenbin from Mofa said the court followed the law when handling the case. He also said that Beijing made sure the man’s rights were protected and allowed British officials to visit him and attend his trial.
Stone’s daughter said to the WSJ that embassy officials and one family member were allowed to watch one hearing but not the trial. They were also not allowed to see any legal documents for the case.
She said her father was healthy when he was first taken into custody, but he didn’t get good medical care or enough food, so he got really hurt and his life was in danger.
Ms Stones said that people from the British Embassy have been able to see Stones every four to six weeks to make sure he is ok. But sometimes they didn’t hear from him for a long time and weren’t allowed to visit him.
Mr Wang said that Stones was accused of taking bribes to give information to outside people.
“He said that the court system makes sure that cases are handled according to the law, protecting the rights of Chinese citizens and foreigners. ”
China has been sharing more and more cases of spying by Western countries.
Beijing is trying to make people aware of spying by other countries and asking them to report any strange behavior.
Earlier this month, Chinese officials said they had arrested someone they believe was spying for Britain’s MI6. The BBC could not confirm these statements on its own.
The UK government won’t say yes or no about claims about intelligence.
If the university student is found to be responsible, they will have to pay a lot of money for the costs of sending two Spanish Air Force jets.
The UK security services noticed Mr Verma’s message and told the Spanish authorities while the easyJet plane was still flying.
A court in Madrid was told that it was believed the message caused concern after it was found using Gatwick’s Wi-Fi network.
Soon after that, the court was informed that two Spanish F-18 fighter jets were sent to fly next to the aircraft.
A jet followed the plane all the way to Menorca and when it landed, the plane was searched a lot.
Mr Verma, who was 18 years old, was taken by the police. He was held in a police jail for two days and then let out on bail, the court was informed.
When he got back to the UK, the British military intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 asked him some questions before he went home to Orpington, Kent.
Mr Verma went to court on Monday. He is studying economics at Bath University. He told the court that the message was just a joke in a private group.
“He said he just sent it to my friends who I was traveling with that day. ”
When asked about why he sent the message, Mr. Verma said: “People have made fun of how I look since I was in school. ” It was to make people smile and have some fun.
When he saw the fighter jets next to the plane, Mr. Verma thought it was a military practice for the Russia-Ukraine war.
He said the pilot of the plane told everyone that fighter jets were sent by mistake, because someone sent a distress signal by accident.
The police looked through Mr. Verma’s phone and found that he had been looking up information about fights between Pakistan and India and potential attacks by the Islamic State in that region. But they didn’t find anything to show that Mr. Verma was involved in radical terrorist beliefs.
Mr Verma could be fined €22,500 if he is found guilty, but he is not in danger of going to jail for terrorism charges. The Spanish defense ministry is also asking for €95,000 to cover their expenses.
Hamas in Gaza is still holding two people from Britain as hostages, as said by David Cameron.
The UK’s chief diplomat is being questioned by a group of legislators at a foreign affairs meeting. Two British citizens are still being held as captives. I don’t want to say anything else abou tthem.
When he was asked if we know if they are alive, he said, “I don’t want to say anything else. ” We don’t have anything to tell you.
Israel says that they still can’t find 123 people who were taken to Gaza by Hamas during the attacks on 7 October.
Almost 100 people from Britain have been given permission to leave Gaza and go to Egypt on Friday.
The Palestinian border authority has a list of approved foreigners in the UK. There are 127 people on this list, and 92 of them are British citizens.
Out of the remaining 35 names, most of them are Palestinians. There are two people who are listed as dependents from Ireland, and one woman from Morocco.
Around 200 people from the United Kingdom are thought to be in Gaza.
We are not sure yet if the Rafah border will be open on Friday. However, on Wednesday, some people from other countries and Palestinians who are injured started to be allowed to leave Gaza and go to Egypt through the crossing.
A few British people have already left along with many other foreigners leaving Gaza this week.
Since 7 October, the border crossings in and out of Gaza have been shut down. This happened because Hamas, a terrorist organization banned in the UK, attacked Israel. They caused the death of over 1,400 individuals and held 240 people as hostages.
After that, the Israeli army has carried out a very large bombing attack on Gaza, isolated the area completely, and just now started a ground attack on the northern part of Gaza. The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, says that over 9,000 individuals have lost their lives.
On Friday, the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, stated that the British government is being careful in providing an exact count of the number of people who can be rescued. This is because they do not have control over the border or the situation inside Gaza.
“What we want to avoid is giving people unrealistic expectations that they will be able to cross today,” he said during an interview on BBC Breakfast.
Mr Tugendhat said that there is a list of people who have been given permission to leave Gaza quickly. The Egyptian and Israeli governments have agreed to this.
He said that the UK government has approved the list to include British citizens, as well as dependent or entitled individuals.
The UK has sent a group of Border Force members to Cairo and consular officials to Arish, close to Rafah. They are there to help UK citizens who have left Gaza.
Dr Abdel Hammad, a surgeon from Liverpool, was able to leave through the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Thursday, according to his family.
The UK government said that two aid workers from the UK successfully crossed the border into Gaza through a crossing called Rafah. This crossing is not under the control of Israel.
The Foreign Office stated on Thursday that some people from the UK were able to cross the border between Gaza and Egypt. However, they didn’t give any information about the exact number.
A person with citizenship in both the UK and the US, who was in Gaza with her family, said that her British-Palestinian husband was allowed to cross the border because he was with his family and on the list of US citizens who could leave.
Dr Emilee Rauschenberger, a teacher who lives in Salford, said that things are very disordered and confusing in Rafah. Many people are finding it difficult to travel to the southern part of Gaza because they don’t have cars or any other means of transportation.
She said on BBC Radio 4’s Today show on Friday that there was no way to separate people who could leave from those who wanted to but couldn’t, causing a lot of stress.
After waiting for a long time on the Gazan side of the border, the family successfully entered Egypt. In Egypt, they received food, water, and medical attention.
Dr Rauschenberger was informed by the British embassy in Egypt that approximately 10 British citizens, who she believes are employed by aid agencies or other international organizations, also crossed over on Thursday.
The UK government has shared a list with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. This list includes British citizens and their family members and is organized based on their medical vulnerability.
Dr Ahmed Abou Foul, who works in Birmingham, said that 16 of his family members are in the process of trying to leave Gaza. This includes eight children.
He feels both good and bad about the news because his two young nieces and their moms cannot go since their names are not on the list.
Dr Abou Foul said on BBC Breakfast that his family is puzzled about why they were not included, despite being promised by the Foreign Office.
Mohammed Ghalayini is a scientist from Manchester. He is currently in Gaza with his family because of the conflict happening there.
He said to the BBC’s Newshour show that he went to the border between Gaza and Egypt today because some of his family members, who have Jordanian passports, were told they could leave.
Mohammed found someone at the border who had a list of people allowed to leave. However, the list did not have any British people on it.
He said that the list also included people from Austria, Jordan, Indonesia, and Australia.
But Ghalayini said he will stay in Gaza, even though he has a British passport that allows him to leave. He wants to inform everyone about what is going on in Gaza, he explains.
This is a very difficult situation for the people of Palestine. Everyone I know and care about in the UK will yell at me for saying this, but ultimately we have to make our own choices in life,” he says.
Rescue workers from Germany have decided to stop looking for four crew members who are lost from a British ship that sank in the North Sea on Tuesday morning.
The Verity crashed into a bigger boat called the Bahamian Polesie near the German shore.
The rescue service said they stopped looking for survivors on Tuesday night and won’t start again.
They found another person’s body in the water, about 22km (13 miles) southwest of Heligoland. Heligoland is a group of islands that belongs to the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany.
The Verity ship was traveling to the UK, carrying steel from a city called Bremen in Germany to a place called Immingham in Lincolnshire. The collision happened around 5:00 AM on Tuesday between the Verity ship and another ship called Polesie. The Polesie ship had departed from Hamburg in Germany and was heading to La Coruña in Spain.
No one on the Polesie ship got injured. We don’t know yet why the crash happened.
Two boats and a helicopter from Germany helped in the search, according to the rescue service.
Rescue divers tried to find any signs of life in the wreck, but they had a hard time because of challenging conditions.
The German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies said that the situation around the wreck was very challenging. The visibility was only one to two meters, and the strong currents made it difficult for the rescue team to carry out their work. Eventually, the rescue efforts had to be stopped. Passengers were told at about 5:30 AM local time that the ship was assisting in the search. The company told ITV that the Iona had done what it was supposed to according to “international and moral law”.
The Iona ship, which started its trip from Southampton on Saturday and was going to Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Bruges, was allowed to continue its journey.
Canada removed 41 diplomats and their families from India because India said they might take away their special protection as diplomats. This happened because there is a growing argument between the two countries about the killing of a Sikh activist.
The decision comes after both countries kicked out each other’s diplomats as a response to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and important Sikh leader. Nijjar was shot by two masked attackers in British Columbia.
A rift between the countries started because Canadian leader Justin Trudeau said that his intelligence services were investigating “believable accusations” that the murder could be connected to Indian government agents. India strongly denies any involvement in Nijjar’s death and accuses the claims of being ridiculous and driven by ulterior motives.
Apart from the reciprocal removal of diplomats, India has stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens due to concerns about the safety of Indian diplomats in Canada.
Last month, India announced that it would request some Canadian diplomats to depart from the country, in order to have equal diplomatic representation.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said India’s recent actions were not fair when she talked about the removal of the 41 diplomats on Thursday.
I always prioritize the safety of Canadians and our diplomats. Joly said at a press conference in Ottawa that because India’s actions could put our diplomats’ safety at risk, we have helped them leave India safely.
Joly mentioned that most diplomats and their families have left India, but 21 Canadian diplomats are still staying there.
Joly said the Canadian government will not respond in the same way, as it would break international law.
Joly said we are only asking India to follow the rules of the world.
Nijjar strongly supported the idea of creating a separate Sikh homeland called Khalistan, which would be made up of certain areas in India.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada says that Nijjar often led peaceful protests against what the group believes are human rights violations happening in India and in support of Khalistan.
The Khalistan movement is not allowed in India and the government sees it as a danger to the country’s safety. Some groups related to the movement are labeled as terrorist organizations under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Nijjar was listed by the Home Ministry as a UAPA terrorist.
In 2020, the Indian National Investigation Agency accused him of attempting to influence Sikh communities worldwide to support the formation of ‘Khalistan’. They also said he tried to encourage Sikhs to vote for independence, protest against the Indian government, and carry out violent actions.
Nijjar’s followers have refused to accept the terrorist label. They believe this label is being used to harm Nijjar’s reputation. Nijjar’s death has caused great shock and anger among the Sikh community in Canada, which is one of the biggest Sikh communities outside of India. In Canada, there are over 770,000 people who belong to the Sikh religious minority.
A woman appeared in court for allegedly giving a three-year-old British girl to someone who would perform female genital mutilation (FGM) on her in Kenya.
Amina Noor, who is 39 years old, has been accused of helping someone from outside of the UK to harm a girl’s genitalia in 2006.
The supposed crime became known when the person who reported it, who is now 21 years old, told her English teacher at school when she was 16.
Ms Noor, who lives in Harrow, which is in the north-west part of London, says she did not do what she is being accused of.
At the beginning of the trial, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC informed the court that when they questioned Ms. Noor about what had happened, she explained that the procedure included giving an injection and the girl was happy and able to freely move and play afterwards.
But in 2019, when the person who made the complaint was checked, it was found that her clitoris had been completely taken away, according to Ms.
During the court session, it was explained that Ms Noor initially told the story of going to a “clinic” with another woman. In that clinic, a girl was taken to a room for a certain procedure.
The person on trial said that she was asked to come inside, but she didn’t because she felt frightened and anxious.
The jurors were informed that Ms. Noor said the girl was silent, cried all night, and said she was in pain.
‘Supported and helped’
During a later interview with the police, Ms Noor said that nobody had threatened her before the FGM was done to her.
When the defendant was asked if she ever didn’t want the FGM to happen, she said that she had thought about it but ultimately went ahead with it.
Ms Noor said that the things done to the girl were called “Sunnah” in Arabic, which means “tradition” or “way”. She also said that this practice had been happening for a long time because of cultural reasons.
The person in charge of proving the crime in court said that Ms. Noor supported and helped in the offense. They also questioned her statement that she only thought the girl would be slightly hurt to get some blood.
Ms Heer said in court that the defendant talked about the exact type of female genital mutilation before taking the girl to the clinic.
She did not ask if the people were doctors or if they were qualified to do their job.
She didn’t ask the Kenyan lady what would happen during the procedure. After the event, she didn’t look at the girl’s wound and said she didn’t seem to be hurting.
Ms Heer then said, “Considering the harm that was done to the girl, can we really believe that. Or is the defendant trying to downplay her own involvement. ”
Ms Heer told the court that there was no argument about the fact that the girl had undergone FGM (female genital mutilation) outside of the UK by a woman from Kenya, and it was also not disputed that the girl was a citizen of the UK.
The jurors learned that Ms Noor was born in Somalia and went to Kenya when she was eight because of the war in her country. She then came to the UK when she was 16 and became a British citizen.
A person from Britain who was on vacation was one of three people who died in a “sneaky terrorist attack” at a national park in southwest Uganda, according to officials.
The police in Uganda said that three people were killed and their car was set on fire in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
It was reported that a group of people were being chased by a team of soldiers and police officers. The group is believed to be members of a rebel organization called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). This happened on Tuesday night.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority said that two tourists and a guide were the people who were affected.
The tourists were from the United Kingdom and South Africa. Their guide was from Uganda.
The ADF is a group of Islamist fighters that has connections to the IS. They originally come from Uganda but mainly operate in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two countries have increased their efforts to target the group more strongly in the past few months.
On Monday, the president of Uganda said that the police stopped a plan to bomb churches in the Butambala district. The plan was allegedly made by ADF militants.
The police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said on a social media platform called X (formerly known as Twitter) that there was a very scary terrorist attack on two tourists from other countries and one person from Uganda in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Three people died, and their safari car caught fire.
He said that the police are actively trying to catch the suspected rebels and he also said that we feel very sorry for the families of the people who were hurt or killed.
The police shared a picture of a green car that was on fire.
Bashir Hangi, who speaks for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, said the attack happened on Tuesday night.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority said that all parks are still open. They asked everyone to be patient and let the investigation continue.
The UK Foreign Office has changed its travel advice for the country, saying that the people who attacked are still not caught.
It means: “If you are in the area, you should stay alert and listen to what the local security authorities or your tour guide tell you to do. ”
Ugandan officials have told people to stay in Queen Elizabeth National Park overnight.
A man was taken into custody because he allegedly attacked a woman near the Eiffel Tower.
The person who was hurt, who is 23 years old, said that a man with a knife attacked her near some bushes right before midnight on Monday.
According to Le Parisien, it is believed that the woman was walking with a friend at the Champ-de-Mars in Paris. She went behind a bush to use the bathroom.
The man is said to have attacked her by jumping on her and attempting to sexually assault her. When she tried to defend herself by pushing him away, he pulled out a knife and scared her. She didn’t resist anymore and he forced her to have sex against her will.
The person who got hurt is a British police officer. They were in Paris for a two-day trip with a friend.
The police took a 35-year-old person into custody later after about an hour, and they were kept in custody overnight.
Even though there was a lot of news about the violence done by the Islamic State (IS) group, Dure Ahmed says she didn’t know about it when her British husband El Shafee Elsheikh was doing awful things.
He was involved with a group of IS terrorists who kidnapped, hurt, and killed Western captives.
The mother of two children says that she wasn’t influenced to have extreme beliefs, but that she was just a naive person who was deeply in love.
She said yes to answering questions from the BBC and Canadian broadcaster, CBC. She said, “I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. ”
Ahmed believes that there will be negative consequences for speaking out in public, but she wants to bring attention to the difficult situation of women and children who are trapped in Syrian camps and are likely family members of people suspected of being involved with IS. She was kept in that camp for over three years.
She says she has to come to terms with the fact that the time she spent with Elsheikh was a part of her life, whether she wants to accept it or not.
Ahmed says that Elsheikh did not tell her he had joined IS before she left to be with him. She says she didn’t know about the group’s terrorist beliefs when she went from Canada to Syria in 2014. She says she hardly recognized the controlling and violent person her ex-husband had turned into. Some captives gave Elsheikh and his IS cell members a nickname because they spoke with British accents. The men were accountable for killing many hostages, most of whom were had their heads cut off. They recorded and shared the videos of the killings on social media.
During Elsheikh’s trial in 2022 in the US, lawyers said that his actions caused the deaths of four Americans. These Americans included journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. They claimed that he was involved in the killings of four people: two British aid workers, David Haines and Alan Henning, and two Japanese journalists, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. No one has ever found the bodies.
Elsheikh, who is from west London, is currently in a high-security prison in the US, where he has been sentenced to life imprisonment for eight counts. The UK took away his citizenship before he was found guilty.
However, there are still questions about what his wife, Ahmed, knew about the activities of IS while he is in jail.
Ahmed went to Syria to join Elsheikh two months after their IS group committed murders that made people angry worldwide. It happened right after IS did many bad things when they took control of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. They also started killing a lot of people from Iraq’s Yazidi religious group.
While Ahmed was away, she had two sons. She and her sons were part of a group of women and children who returned to Canada in April. The person who is 33 years old was arrested when they arrived because authorities suspected they may be involved in terrorism. They were later released from custody, but they have to follow certain rules while they are out on bail. On Monday, the conditions were looked at in a court in Brampton, Ontario.
The lawyer for the government said that Ahmed was very involved in the ideas of IS and it is very probable that she knew about her husband’s involvement with the group before moving away from Canada in 2014.
The Crown and Ahmed’s legal team suggested they both agree to certain rules and conditions. These rules would involve her being monitored by GPS and having to stay at home between 10:00 pm and 06:00 am. The judge stated that he will announce his decision on 19 October.
We talked to Dure Ahmed two times. The most recent time was last week in Toronto, where she was more open and spoke more easily. However, we actually first met in the detention camp in Syria in November of last year. She agreed to talk to us about a British child who was missing. This is for a podcast series called Bloodlines that will be on BBC-CBC soon.
At first, we did not know who her husband was – but, after looking into it more, we found out about their relationship. Then we wanted to find out about Elsheikh’s radicalization, the people he harmed, and his fellow IS “Beatles”.
Ahmed and Elsheikh met in Toronto in 2007. (Rewritten) In 2007, Ahmed and Elsheikh became friends when they met in Toronto. She was seventeen years old, and he was nineteen years old. We wanted to know how they had initially become friends when they were teenagers living in Canada.
“She giggled about smoking marijuana. ” “He didn’t believe in God and it had nothing to do with the Islamic State. ”
The two friends stayed in contact after Elsheikh,whose parents are refugees from Sudan, came back to London. In 2010, they got married in a Muslim ceremony. However, they mostly had a long-distance relationship because Ahmed stayed in Toronto while she was studying for an English degree.
He didn’t like being around other people. He is very shy and keeps to himself a lot. So, she says he had all the qualities that could make someone become radicalized and go down a dangerous path.
In 2012, Elsheikh went to Syria to fight in the war happening there – then he decided to join IS. He kept telling his wife to come with him.
‘Please come and have a look. She said it as if going back was an easy thing to do.
Elsheikh refused to tell her about his activities in Syria,according to her. She also says she didn’t know where exactly he was living in the country.
Disbelieving it was better to not know than to know.
But, while she thought about going on the trip, she says that members of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service,alsoknown as CSIS, asked her questions about her husband.
“They [CSIS] clarified that in Syria, there are events occurring that are more complex than I previously believed. “”But, they didn’t let me watch a video. “
Ahmed says she had nothing to say to CSIS and she told Elsheikh that agents had reached out to her. CSIS told the BBC that they cannot provide details about any particular case. Ahmed, who was 24 years old and had no job after finishing school, finally went on a trip. She says she did not see the terrible acts of the IS be headings that were being talked about a lot at that time. “It may be difficult to believe, but it’s genuinely true. “
We told her that she was smart and had taken a course on the Middle East. We thought she would know about the problematical Muslims around the world.
She said that she kept away from what was going on in Syria. She told us that her study was about the ancient Egyptian writings called hieroglyphics, not about what is happening right now.
According to Ahmed, Elsheikh planned everything – all she had to do was “get on a plane” to Turkey.
I just brought a small bag with me. Three sets of pants and two shirts.
In all the time we have been reporting on IS, we have noticed that the majority of women are unwilling to discuss why or how they became involved with the group. Everyone has their own story.
Some people experienced abuse at home, some were tricked or forced to travel and work-against their will. Some people joined eagerly because they wanted to have exciting experiences. Some people went with their husbands and children. Some of them were kids too.
And then, of course, there were many women who strongly believed in and followed the IS ideology.
Ahmed says he did not support IS. In the responses she gave us, she liked to portray herself as an innocent person who believes in love stories. When we talked to her in the Syrian detention camp, she strongly criticized IS – even though it was dangerous to do so in that location. Elsheikh and Ahmed lived in Raqqa, the main city of the Islamic State group in Syria. There, they witnessed many killings happening at a popular roundabout in the town center. It became a regular occurrence to see severed heads being shown in public after these killings.
When we talked to Ahmed in the Syrian camp, he mentioned that his daily life consisted of doing regular activities with his female friends, like going out to eat or taking kids on rides at the amusement park.
When we spoke again in Toronto, she said that Elsheikh’s important position did not give them a luxurious lifestyle while they were under IS rule. She said that her house in Raqqa made her feel like she was in prison because they hardly ever went outside. No phones or internet – only she, her children, and Elsheikh’s other wife. Many people had more than on espouse. We inquired if they had Yazidi slaves at home. She replied that they did not.
She said her husband liked to keep things to himself a lot. “We couldn’t even open the curtains. “
She said that she thinks her children are fortunate to be alive, considering the harm Elsheikh caused her when she was pregnant.
Ahmed says she attempted to escape many times, but she had no choice but to come back because she didn’t have any family or support from the IS group. She finally left him when he ended their marriage, and went to find a safe place to live with her sons in a women’s guest house.
We mentioned that she had told us more information during our second interview. We asked if she was only saying these things now because it was easier for her since she was back in Canada and could go to jail.
“If I have to pay, I will have to pay no matter what. ”
A student pilot from the United Kingdom died when their plane crashed in Spain.
The 26-year-old was riding in a small airplane with a pilot from Spain when it had an accident and crashed in a national park in the province of Almeria in the region of Andalucia.
The accident occurred right after midnight on Wednesday.
The passenger doesn’t have a name yet, but we know the pilot is a 24-year-old named Rafael Ricote. He had a job teaching at a school that trains people to fly planes in Malaga.
They were flying from an airport in Velez-Malaga, which is east of Malaga. They were going towards the city of Valencia when the crash happened.
The couple had recently stopped at a nearby airport to fill up their vehicle before continuing their trip. They did not make any emergency calls before the accident happened.
The mountain rescue team from the Civil Guard found and brought back the bodies of the men who were in the crashed plane. The police and officials investigating aviation accidents are now conducting their own separate investigations.
A representative from a government organization that handles emergency response confirmed that two people died in a plane crash early on Wednesday morning in a town called Nijar. A call for help was received at around 12:30 in the morning from Valencia Airport. They said they couldn’t reach a small airplane in the Cerro del Fraile area.
The person who called said that the plane belonged to a school that teaches people how to fly planes in Malaga. The plane was going to Valencia with two people inside it.
Firefighters and different police forces were quickly notified about the situation, along with coastguards, civil protection workers, and other people who can help.
Firefighters later reported that they had discovered the remains of two individuals in a hard to reach location near Cerro del Fraile.
The Foreign Office has said that the families of British diplomats are leaving Israel as a precautionary measure.
The embassy will stay open and help people by providing consular services.
Israel is being attacked with a lot of rockets from Gaza after Hamas attacked the southern communities of the country and caused death.
More than 1,200 people have died in Israel and 1,200 people have died in Gaza.
The UK government is saying that you should not travel to Israel unless it is absolutely necessary. The Foreign Office also made a decision about the families of diplomats based on this advice.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverley went to Israel on Wednesday. He said that the UK is fully supporting Israel and its plans to take military action in Gaza.
He said that Israel can protect itself, but he also wants to make sure that not many innocent people get hurt.
The conflict outbreak is causing problems for flights going to and from Israel.
British Airways announced on Wednesday that it will temporarily stop all flights to the country. This decision was made after they instructed a plane heading to Tel Aviv to return due to safety worries.
Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates have all stopped their airplane trips.
On Wednesday, the government said that 17 British people, including children, were killed or cannot be found after the Hamas attack.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will have an urgent meeting called Cobra on Monday due to the continuing violence in Israel and Gaza after the Hamas attack.
Sunak, who was speaking at an event in Nottinghamshire, said that what was happening in Israel was very scary. He also mentioned that Hamas was doing acts that can be considered as acts of terrorism.
Sunak mentioned that he was working closely with Israel to assist British citizens in the country.
He said he would help Israel in any way they needed, because he thinks Israel is a good friend.
The UK Foreign Office suggests not traveling to the region unless it is necessary.
The supposed attack supposedly happened at a hotel in Ayia Napa, which is a well-liked place for tourists to visit.
A crowded courtroom in a place called Famagusta, which is close to Ayia Napa, had many family members of the accused people present to show their support.
The people being accused are 19 or 20 years old and are from a town called Majd al-Krum in Israel. They say the accusations are not true.
During the meeting on Thursday, their attorneys expressed dissatisfaction that they had not yet been shown important evidence, such as the DNA report.
Someone said that the report could prove that his two clients were not in the room when the alleged attack happened on September 3rd.
The person in charge of enforcing laws for the government said that the test on the DNA would be finished by the end of today.
After the meeting ended, the families of the defendants hurried to hug them. One of the men was clearly crying while hugging his mother.
A previous lawmaker from Cyprus, Skevi Koukouma, went to the meeting along with members of a prominent women’s group called Pogo.
Ms Koukouma said they were there to send a message that “people who have been hurt should feel comfortable telling their story and trust that others will believe them”. “She said there are other people with them. ”
The trial will start again on 16 October.
Israel’s foreign ministry first stated that six Israeli citizens were taken into custody for their suspected involvement in the attack.
Ukraine produces a lot of food, especially grain. To make sure it can sell its crops overseas by ship, an agreement was made.
The agreement, called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, ended in July. It was organized by the United Nations and Turkey.
A short time after, Russia decided not to continue with the deal. This had a big impact on worldwide food prices and put at risk the lives of people who were already hungry, as well as those who were struggling to afford the high cost of living.
Since then, the Home Office said, Moscow has been focusing more on attacking Ukrainian ports and civilian buildings, such as 130 harbors in Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Reni.
The department said: ‘We are working with Ukraine and other partners to make shipping safer. We still strongly recommend that British ships in Ukrainian ports and waters should be extra cautious because of the danger from Russia. The UK is using technology to keep an eye on what Russia is doing in the Black Sea. These abilities will allow us to identify and expose any additional Russian attacks on ordinary ships or buildings.
We promise to make sure Ukraine can keep sending its agricultural products out of the country using different ways, such as the “humanitarian corridor”, land routes, and the Danube River.
‘The UK will keep working with Ukraine and many other countries to accomplish this. ‘
The woman, whose name is not known, had a medical procedure done at a private hospital in Palma in the middle of September. The surgery was performed by a doctor who worked in the main city and had also been to different countries in Europe.
During the operation, some problems happened and she was quickly taken to the Son Espases University Hospital in Palma. Unfortunately, she passed away a few hours later.
We are not sure about the specific kind of cosmetic surgery that the woman had.
A court on the island is now looking into how she died, and the family went to Majorca to manage her body.
Investigators will now find out if her death happened because of medical mistakes.
But the Majorcan newspaper Ultima Hora described the surgeon as someone who has worked in Palma and other European countries for many years.
The police or court officials have not said anything official about the death yet.
This image is of a hospital called Son Espases University Hospital in Palma de Mallorca. A man from Britain has been found to have the coronavirus there on February 9, 2020. We don’t know if the family told the island authorities about their complaint or if an investigation started even without telling them.
This has happened before when a British woman died in Turkey from cosmetic surgery.
Melissa Kerr, a 31-year-old woman from Denton in Norfolk, passed away after a cosmetic procedure known as a ‘Brazilian butt lift’ went wrong. During the procedure, which took place in Istanbul on November 19, 2019, fatty material entered Melissa’s veins and caused her death. The procedure cost £3,200.
She went to the Medicana Haznedar hospital for the procedure.
Jacqueline Lake, the main coroner for Norfolk, mentioned during the investigation that she will contact the health secretary to express her worries about individuals going abroad for cosmetic procedures.
She said: ‘Ms Kerr did not see a surgeon or doctor before the procedure and only had a brief evaluation beforehand. A message has been sent to surgeons all over the world warning them about a high number of deaths related to this operation. In simple words, the UK has decided to temporarily stop allowing this procedure, and it is not compulsory.
She said: ‘People in Turkey are not following these clearly. ‘ I am worried that patients are not being told about the dangers or the chance of dying from this surgery. I am worried that more people might die in the future, but I believe that we can prevent those deaths by providing better information.
People are sending letters of appreciation and admiration to Lucy Letby, who was a nurse that killed many children and has become the most famous child killer in recent British history.
Letby, who is 33 years old, has been found guilty of killing seven newborn babies and trying to murder six others. She will now spend the rest of her life in prison.
Now, some people in a Facebook group who think the neonatal nurse is not guilty are planning to send letters to the prison where she is being kept.
The person who wrote before said that they called HMP Low Newton, which is a jail in County Durham where Letby is being kept, to ask how they could get in touch with a prisoner.
Another person in the group said, “Please tell us if she answers. ” I might write as well. Someone else wrote in a different post: ‘I will let her know in a letter that I feel really sorry for all the bad things that happened to her and her parents. I am also praying for them every day. ‘
In a different message about how to reach Lebty, someone else said: “I have always believed that Lucy Letby is not guilty. ”
‘I’m very happy that people have been trying to talk to her. ‘
The people in the group are separated based on the outcome of the trial. Some people are questioning the jurors, the evidence used in the case (which includes things like medical records, texts, diaries, and handwritten notes), and the continuing media coverage.
Some people think Letby is simply someone who kills children.
“Are you guys serious. Why would you send a letter to someone who caused the death of seven babies. ” an individual asked.
Another person suggested writing a letter to a murderer who specifically targets children.
“Wow, are there already people who admire serial killers. ” commented another person on Facebook.
In a very disturbing and shocking case that affected the whole country, a trial lasting 10 months took place at Manchester Crown Court. During the trial, it was revealed how Letby committed multiple murders and attempted killings from June 2015 to June 2016.
Letby worked as a nurse in a special hospital in England. She took care of babies who were born too early or were not strong enough.
Jurors heard that Letby intentionally hurt newborns by giving them too much milk and injecting them with air and insulin.
According to prosecutors, some victims displayed signs of injuries caused by strong impacts.
In a note that Letby wrote by hand and which the police got, she said: ‘I intentionally caused their deaths because I feel inadequate in taking care of them. ‘
A prosecutor named Pascale Jones said in court that she used her knowledge in a bad way to cause harm, sadness, and death.
‘She deeply hurt the people who trusted her by betraying them with her actions. ‘
The jury could not decide if she was guilty of six charges for trying to kill someone, and they said she was not guilty of two charges for attempting murder.
Letby, who said she did not do anything wrong during the trial and wants to challenge the verdict, may have caused the death of three additional babies and attempted to harm another 15 babies, according to a doctor who testified in court.
The police are checking the records of about 4,000 babies who were in the hospitals where Letby worked as a nurse for five years.
On Tuesday, a bus in Montenegro went off the road and fell into a deep valley, causing the death of two people, including a person from Britain. Nine other people were also seriously hurt in the accident.
The local police reported that a bus belonging to Papović Bus company fell off the main road and went down a 20-meter deep cliff around 12:10 pm local time.
The bus with 30 people crashed into a barrier on the side of the road in Obzovica, in the hilly area of Cetinje. After crashing, it went forward for about 15 meters before breaking through the barrier.
One person on the radio said, “I was listening to music and everything was fine. ” Then, out of nowhere, people started screaming and there was the noise of glass breaking.
The police announced at 2pm on X, previously called Twitter, that two individuals passed away at the place.
A newspaper in Montenegro called DAN said they talked about a British man who is 66 years old and a 19-year-old person from Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica. LB, who is 29 years old and from Ukraine, SK, who is 20 years old and from Podgorica, and NO, who is 25 years old and from Tivat, all experienced severe injuries and were quickly taken to the orthopaedic unit of a nearby hospital. Additionally, a 72-year-old individual named LDK also sustained serious injuries and was brought to the same hospital ward.
AS, a 33-year-old person from Ukraine, is currently receiving medical care in the intensive care unit at the Clinical Center of Montenegro. JTK, who is from Britain, has been taken to the emergency department at the same hospital.
At least 16 other passengers, who were tourists, got minor injuries. Some of them were a 25-year-old person from Britain, a 48-year-old person from Russia, a 38-year-old person from Japan, two people from Poland, and two people from Sweden.
Only three people were not harmed in the accident.
The police have accused a bus driver named NS, who is 36 years old and from Nikšić, of breaking the rules for driving safely on the road.
The person who was driving says that they passed out while they were driving, according to the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti. The person with a neurological condition got badly hurt and had to stay at the hospital’s neurosurgical department overnight in the city.
Lawyer Anđa Radovanović wants the driver’s blood and pee to be checked for alcohol and drugs.
The bus was driving its usual path to the village of Budva, which is about nine miles west of Obzovica. It was coming from the town of Cetinje when it had an accident.
Pictures from the area showed several of the 42 rescue workers using tools to lift the bus out of the deep valley.
A firefighter said that people from nearby towns assisted with the rescue operation.
British folk singer of Kenyan descent, Roger Whittaker, known for his 1982 hit song My Land is Kenya and skilled whistling, has passed away at the age of 87.
“It is with great sadness we share the news of Roger’s passing at age 87. His life, artistry and legacy has meant so much to so many all over the world,” his friend, Jesse Waggoner, posted on Whittaker’s Facebook pageon Monday.
“We are thankful that the gift of his music remains with us.”
The multilingual singer passed away on September 13, 2023 at a hospital in southern France, where he settled after an outstanding career spanning more than 50 years, according to a statement from his family and his official website, rogerwhittaker.com.
“Roger was an iconic artiste, a wonderful husband and father. He touched so many hearts with his music throughout his life and will always live on in our memories,” the family statement said.
His passing occurred just a month after his Facebook page had announced his illness, and he had been under medical care in a hospital. It is reported that Whittaker, recognized for his distinctive Henri Quatre beard, suffered a stroke from which he did not recover. On his final day, medical efforts to save his life were unfortunately unsuccessful, as reported by German media.
In his later years, the pop icon faced various health challenges, including heart and stomach issues, necessitating multiple surgeries. Whittaker’s legacy endures among Kenya’s enthusiasts of folk and country music, primarily due to his iconic work “My Land is Kenya.”
In this touching tribute to Kenya, Whittaker expressed his profound affection and connection to his homeland. He celebrated its natural beauty, its people, their diverse cultures, and historical heritage, including their valiant struggle for independence against British colonial rule.
“This melodious masterpiece captures the heart and soul of Kenya, evoking a sense of pride and unity among its listeners,” Jennifer Bell writes in The Meaning Behind The Song.
“The lyrics paint a vivid picture of Kenya’s breathtaking landscapes… It encapsulates the rich diversity of wildlife, highlighting Kenya’s position as a jewel of natural beauty. Whittaker’s smooth vocals bring to life the imagery of roaring lions, graceful giraffes, and shimmering.”
One line in the chorus, “you’ll always stay with me here in my heart,” repeated after each stanza, serves as a reminder to the Kenyan diaspora that wherever they go, Kenya is undoubtedly their home.
“The song’s uplifting melody and heartfelt lyrics inspire a sense of unity and pride among Kenyans, reinforcing the idea that Kenya is not just a land but a deeply cherished home,” says Bell.
The artist, who also performed in German and French, had several other chart-topping hits, including “Indian Lady,” “Durham Town,” “The Last Farewell,” “New World In The Morning,” and his rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
According to his website, he sold nearly 50 million records worldwide and received 250 platinum, gold, and silver awards during his illustrious career before retiring to France in 2012.
Born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1936 to English parents Viola and Edward Whittaker from Staffordshire, England, Roger Whittaker initially pursued higher education in South Africa after completing two years of national service in Kenya. Later, he began a medical course in the UK but decided to drop out after a year, opting to concentrate on his musical career, which took him to various European countries, including France and Germany.
Roger Whittaker was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Saturday, as reported by the German news outlet Bild.de. He is survived by his wife Natalie O’Brien and their five children: Emily, Lauren, Jessica, Guy, and Alexander Whittaker.
A 32-year-old woman has passed away and a few other people are getting medical care because of a rare illness caused by contaminated food in Bordeaux.
The government health group in France, called Santé publique France, said the person who owns a wine bar in France had stored homemade sardines.
The Irish Embassy in Paris is telling people who ate at the restaurant and feel sick to see a doctor right away.
This tweet cannot be seen on your browser. Please turn on Javascript or use a different web browser to see the original content on Twitter. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) was told that a few British people went to a bar called Tchin Tchin Wine Bar in Bordeaux from September 4th to September 10th.
People who the French authorities have found and who have come back to the UK are getting medical help.
The statement says that there might be more people in the UK who ate at the Bordeaux restaurant, but the French authorities cannot find them.
Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) said they knew about a few Irish people who were affected and getting treated in France.
Both health organizations advise anyone who went to the restaurant from September 4th to 10th and currently feels sick to go and see a doctor right away.
According to the NHS, botulism is a serious and rare condition that can be life-threatening. It is caused by toxins made by bacteria. These toxins usually develop when food is not preserved correctly.
These harmful substances can damage the nervous system and lead to paralysis. This can then move to the muscles that help us breathe.
It takes some time for this illness to show symptoms, which can be as short as a few hours or as long as a few days. If it’s not treated correctly, it can cause death in 5 to 10% of cases. People who really like something a lot and live in the same place
Bordeaux is hosting some Rugby World Cup games. There are many Irish fans in the city for the team’s match against Romania on 9 September.
A doctor at Pellegrin hospital in France said that they are treating people from Ireland, America, and Canada.
Benjamin Clouzeau said that a person from Germany and a person from Barcelona had gone back to their homes to get treatment for the sickness.
Five out of the 12 patients who were getting treated needed help with their breathing as of Wednesday morning.
A thorough investigation to find out why Mr. Chadwick died will take place in February.
Mrs Chadwick told the BBC that he always dreamed of being a soldier since he was young.
She said that his strong desire to help people and promote freedom made him leave the UK and go to Ukraine in early October 2022.
But on 26 June, Mrs. Chadwick was told by Lancashire Police that her son had died. A man from Britain who went to fight for the International Legion in Ukraine was discovered dead in water. It was found that his hands were tied behind his back.
Jordan Chadwick, a 31-year-old person from Burnley in Lancashire, was part of the Scots guard in the British Army for four years, from 2011 to 2015.
His mom, Brenda Chadwick, said her family was very sad and upset about the death of her son, who everyone called Joe.
The Ukrainian International Army helped bring him back home on August 7th.
A meeting will take place in February to find out why Mr.
Mrs Chadwick said to the BBC that he always wanted to be a soldier since he was a child.
“She said he had a strong desire to help people and promote freedom, so he left the UK and went to Ukraine in October 2022. ”
But on June 26th, Mrs. Chadwick was told by Lancashire Police that her son had died. The FCDO called her the next day and gave her the sad news.
She said: “We are very proud of how brave and strong he was, but his death has been very sad and difficult for us. ”
It is hard to explain how sad it is to lose a life that was very young.
“A person who was deeply loved by his parents, siblings, grandparents, relatives, and nieces/nephews. ”
A spokesperson from the FCDO said: “We are helping the family of a British man who passed away in Ukraine and talking to the local authorities. ”
The 57-year-old person, whose name is unknown, was found unconscious on a beach in the village of Laganas. They were taken to a hospital on the island and were pronounced dead there.
According to local news, a lifeguard helped provide immediate medical care to him after he was rescued from the sea.
This happened just one day after a four-year-old boy from Poland was taken away by the sea in the same village.
A boy who was not named was wearing a life-jacket, but strong winds pulled him out to sea. The emergency services saved him.
In simpler terms, people are honoring a British man who died in a gliding accident in the lower parts of the Pyrenees mountain range last Saturday.
Mike Evans, who was 75 years old, passed away after his plane veered off the runway and crashed into some trees while coming in for a landing at the Santa Cilia aerodrome near the city of Jaca in northern Spain.
Emergency workers got a message at around 4pm saying that he was awake and saying his neck hurt.
The Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, expressed his worry and disapproval to China’s leader about possible Chinese involvement in the UK’s democratic process. This came after an employee of parliament was arrested under suspicion of spying for China.
Speaking to reporters at the G20 meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, Sunak said he talked to Chinese Premier Li Qiang about a few concerns, including interference in our parliamentary democracy.
This happened after two men were arrested in the UK for breaking a law about keeping secrets. It was reported that a person who works for the government and has connections to important politicians from the Conservative Party, including a security minister named Tom Tugendhat, was also arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
The Sunday Times, a newspaper from the UK, revealed on Sunday that the researcher was taken into custody with another person on March 13th.
London’s Metropolitan Police have stated that they have arrested two men, one in his 30s in Oxfordshire, southern England, and another in his 20s in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“The inquiry is being done by police officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. This department is responsible for investigating cases related to accusations of Official Secrets Act and spying offenses,” the statement explained.
The two men taken to a police station in south London were released on police bail until early October, as stated.
China’s embassy in London said that the accusations of spying are not true.
A spokesperson said that the claim of China stealing British intelligence is made up and meant to harm China’s reputation.
“We strongly disagree with it and urge the people in the UK who are involved in anti-China political schemes to stop orchestrating this fake political drama,” the statement said.
The Sunday Times reported that the parliamentary researcher who was arrested is connected to Alicia Kearns, the chairperson of the British government’s foreign affairs committee.
In a post on Saturday on X, which used to be called Twitter, Kearns said that they would not comment on the alleged connections. They said that it is important for everyone to make sure that the authorities’ work is not put in danger.
A group of politicians from different parties who are focused on relations with China, called the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), said in a statement on Saturday that they were shocked by reports that someone who may be working for the government of China had secretly entered the UK Parliament. The alliance wants the authorities to share the name of the person who is accused. They also hope that justice will be done quickly.
The 75-year-old was harmed after hitting trees near to the runway as he landed at the Santa Cilia aerodrome close the northern Spanish city of Jaca.
Crisis responders gotten an alarm around 4pm recently saying he was cognizant and complaining of neck torment.
Nearby reports said he was lively for around 40 minutes after the mishap but was articulated dead at the scene after losing awareness and going into cardiac capture.
Individuals of an discuss club who knew him well since he had been going to the aerodrome for more than 20 a long time are caught on to have been with him within the minutes after the mischance.
The dead man, who has not been authoritatively named, is said to have been a standard at the aerodrome since 1999 and been a part of another flying club within the UK where he was a chef.
An examination into the mishap is presently underway.
Photographs of the mishap scene appeared the harmed lightweight flyer in undergrowth close the runway with its cleared out wing against a fallen tree.
Police tape had been put up around the fixed-wing flying machine.
The dead man was voyaging alone within the single-seat lightweight flyer.
An anonymous companion told a nearby paper said: ‘We saw him coming in to arrive from the aerodrome, ‘Perhaps he was going a small quick and high but we’ll got to hold up to see what the investigation says.
‘We’ve known him a long time. He was chef at an awfully imperative flying club within the south of London.
‘He’s went through up to four months of the year here at times since of the enthusiasm he had for flying.’
Yesterday’s mishap was the primary within the province of Huelva, which Jaca is portion of.
Santa Cilia aerodrome is respected as one of the leading areas in Spain for floating, with the thermals and discuss streams within the zone making it a reference point for both beginners and experts.
Much obliged to its position at the foothills of the Pyrenean run, it is conceivable to appreciate a delight flight over the marvelous Pyrenees.
The aerodrome facilitated the Spanish National Coasting Championships in 2010 and is gone to yearly by hundreds of lightweight flyer pilots from all over Europe.
According to the BBC, Jordan Chadwick, who is 31 years old and from Burnley, Lancashire, went to Russia in October 2022 to fight against them.
He was found dead in the water. His hands were tied together behind his back.
Mr Chadwick’s family found out that he died on June 26 from Lancashire Police. He was brought back to his home country on August 7.
Mrs Chadwick said that she was very upset when she heard the news that he had died.
“Even though we are very proud of his strong bravery and determination, his death has been very sad,” she said. His family said that he was loved a lot.
There are no words to explain how sad it is to lose someone who lived for a short time.
‘A person who was loved very much by their family, including their parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and nieces/nephews. ‘
She said that he had always wanted to be a soldier from a young age.
A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said that they are helping the family of a British man who died in Ukraine. They are also talking to the local authorities there. Another person named Sam Newey, from Britain, died in Ukraine last month. Now, there is news that Mr. Chadwick has also passed away.
The 22-year-old student from Birmingham University, who had no previous military experience, decided to join the frontline after Vladimir Putin started an invasion in February last year.
Mr Newey was a part of a group of fearless volunteers from different countries called the Dark Angels. He participated in many fights while serving in a country that was heavily damaged by war.
A group of MPs from different political parties are asking Rishi Sunak to help a British man who may be sentenced to death in India.
Over 70 members of Parliament signed a letter asking the Prime Minister to urge Narendra Modi to release activist Jagtar Singh Johal right away, when he goes to Delhi for the G20 leaders’ meeting.
They claim that Mr Johal has been held against his will for more than five years without a fair reason.
The person speaking for the Prime Minister did not say if they would bring up the situation or not.
Mr Johal, who is currently 36 years old, is originally from Dumbarton, which is in Scotland. He was a person who wrote blogs and spoke up for the rights of Sikhs. The authorities in India noticed him because of this.
He went to India in October 2017 to get married. According to the campaign group Reprieve, when he was shopping with his wife, some men in regular clothes covered his head, forced him into a car, and hurt him very badly. They also made him sign empty sheets of paper.
Tory politician David Davis said on the BBC that the main responsibility of a government should be to keep its citizens safe. He also stated that if a citizen is harmed and treated unfairly, the government should strongly voice their concerns about it.
He said: “It seems like that is not happening right now, and the Foreign Office is failing to do its most important job. ”
The MPs wrote a letter saying that when Jagtar was arrested, the people questioning him shocked him with electricity and threatened to pour petrol on him and set him on fire. To stop the torture, Jagtar made videos where he said certain things and signed empty papers.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention explained that he had been singled out because of his involvement in writing public messages asking for punishment to be given to those responsible for mistreating Sikhs.
The letter from the MPs says that the UN Working Group determined that Jagtar’s ongoing imprisonment is not supported by any laws.
After almost six years, Mr. Johal is still in jail in India. He is accused of committing 10 murders and planning to commit murder along with others, all related to violent acts in India’s politics. His family say that court hearings have begun but have had to be postponed many times.
His brother Gurpreet Singh Johal, who is a lawyer and Labour councillor in Dumbarton, told the BBC: “The family is afraid that untrue accusations could turn into formal charges, leading to a wrongful conviction and possibly the death penalty. ”
He said that both former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May talked about the case with India’s prime minister. He also said that it would be really hard for Rishi Sunak to not bring up the case. If Rishi Sunak doesn’t do it, people will ask why he didn’t do it.
Since Rishi Sunak has a good connection with the Indian prime minister, it shouldn’t be difficult to request something from them. It has been almost six years, but no proof has been shown against Jagtar. These are just accusations made against him, and he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
He said that it should be really simple to ask for Jagtar’s freedom. The UK took the right action for Nazanin and Anousheh in Iran before.
When asked if Mr. Sunak would bring up the matter, the prime minister’s spokesperson said they couldn’t predict what will be talked about.
In answer to more questions, the spokesman said the government has expressed worries about Jagtar to the Indian government “over 100 times”.
He said that they talked about getting help from their country’s representatives, following legal procedures, and finding out if there were any cases of abuse.
He said the family is getting help from the consulate and that Lord Ahmad, a government official, recently met with them.
But, in a letter sent to Gurpreet Singh Johal in July and seen by the BBC, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he had decided it was better not to pressure India about the matter.
Mr Cleverly said that he doesn’t think asking for Jagtar to be freed would make the Indian authorities actually release him. I am afraid this could affect the teamwork that we rely on. To visit consulates, help with welfare issues, and go to court hearings.
Both Davis and Mr. Johal’s family are really mad about it. Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “Basically, it means ‘I refuse to do it and I would prefer to see him stay in jail. ‘ That’s what I understand from it. ”
Mr Davis said it sets a bad example and makes other governments more sensitive to complaints.
Gurpreet Singh Johal said that he thinks the UK is not talking about the case now because they want to sign a trade deal with India, which Rishi Sunak wants.
“They seem to be mainly focused on India, a country that is growing rapidly, and they want to finalize this trade agreement with them. It seems like they prioritize trade more than human rights,” he explained.
Mr Davis stated that he believes protecting the legal rights of British citizens should be the top priority, even if it means putting a trade deal in second place.
He said: “You don’t need to be a high-ranking official to understand that the most important thing for a British government is protecting the rights of its citizens. We will not agree to torture as a condition for making a trade deal. ” The period punctuation mark is called a full stop.
In response to allegations that two men desecrated the Quran, authorities allege that thousands of Muslims in a Pakistani city have burned down at least four churches and vandalised the homes of Christians.
Residents of Jaranwala, in eastern Punjab, claimed that up to a dozen structures belonging to churches were also harmed.
More than 100 protesters have been detained by police, who have also opened an investigation into the violence.
Authorities claim that things are still tight in Jaranwala.
According to Reuters, police have also denounced two local Christians for violating the death-sentence-carrying blasphemy statute.
Although no one has been punished in accordance with the law, hundreds have in the past been murdered by mobs after being falsely accused of blasphemy.
A man from Sri Lanka was slain and his body was burnt on fire two years ago after he was accused of blasphemy. Six persons were killed and over 60 homes were destroyed by a mob in Punjab’s Gorja area in 2009 after they were accused of disrespecting Islam.
During their colonial rule, the British enacted a blasphemy-punishing statute in the nineteenth century. But in the 1980s, law enforcement imposed harsher penalties for infractions, including the death penalty for anybody who insults Islam.
The majority of people in Pakistan are Muslims—about 96%. Other nations, such as Iran, Brunei, and Mauritania, also execute people for defaming a religion.
According to a local official who spoke to BBC Urdu, as stories of the two men reportedly desecrating the Quran, the holy book of Islam, spread on social media early on Wednesday morning, authorities received complaints concerning protests and fires.
According to the authorities, blasphemous writing was purportedly found on torn pages of the holy book that were discovered close to a Christian settlement.
The reports went viral on social media and in the city, upsetting the Muslim population. Mobs attacked and pillaged Christian homeowners’ homes during the ensuing bloodshed.
Christian Yassir Bhatti, age 31, was one of many who had to leave their houses.
He told the AFP news agency, “They broke the windows and doors and took out refrigerators, sofas, chairs, and other household objects to pile them up in front of the Church to be burned.
“They were ruthless; they burned and desecrated Bibles as well.”
Social media videos show demonstrators demolishing Christian structures as it appears that cops are looking on.
The alleged blasphemy was denounced by Punjab province’s communications minister, Amir Mir, who also said that thousands of police officers had been dispatched to the scene and that dozens of people had been detained.
According to a government source who spoke to Reuters, the majority of the mob was made up of members of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) political party. The TLP has refuted all accusations.
Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, the acting prime minister, urged immediate action against the perpetrators of the violence.
The adjoining city of Lahore’s bishop, a Pakistani named Azad Marshall, expressed that the Christian community was “deeply pained and distressed” by the happenings.
X, formerly known as Twitter, is where he issued the statement. “We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice, and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland,” he wrote.
A boat transporting asylum seekers capsized in the English Channel, killing six people.
Following a coordinated operation by the British and French coastguards, 51 persons have been saved.
Although the severity of the other injuries is unknown, several individuals were observed being carried off a lifeboat at Dover, Kent, on stretchers.
The RNLI reported that a lifeboat crew launched immediately before 4:00 BST.
According to France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea, up to six persons were transported by helicopter to a hospital in Calais, where one person was later declared dead.
According to a local prosecutor who spoke to AFP news agency, the first casualty was an Afghan male between the ages of 25 and 30.
According to a volunteer on board, migrants were using their shoes to bale water out of the sinking boat.
There were too many people on the boat, Anne Thorel remarked in reference to her group’s 54 lifesaving efforts that included one woman.
15,826 persons had used a small boat to cross the Channel as of August 10.
It is expected that Suella Braverman, the home secretary, will preside over a meeting with Border Force representatives.
Her ‘thoughts and prayers’ were with the people impacted by the tragedy in the Channel, she continued.
According to a spokeswoman for the UK government, “We are aware of an incident in the Channel.” A coordinated response is being developed by HM Coastguard, and more details will be given as soon as possible.
In addition to Folkestone and Langdon Bay coastguard rescue teams, the Dover Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crew and South East Coast Ambulance have been dispatched to assist.
Natalie Elphicke, a Dover MP, stated that the episode demonstrated the necessity for combined patrols on the French coast.
The French authorities should, she argued, “clearly” prevent these crammed-to-capacity death traps from ever leaving the French shore.
The Refugee Council’s chief executive, Enver Solomon, hailed the rescues for their efforts while pleading with the UK government to create a “orderly and humane asylum system.”
Stephen Kinnock, a shadow immigration minister, called the most recent occurrence “an appalling, deeply shocking tragedy.”
“We need to halt these crossings and take down the nefarious people smugglers.”
He stated on Twitter that “there can be no more headline-chasing gimmicks or madcap schemes that just make everything worse.”
The prosecutor’s office in Boulogne has started an inquiry.
Unaware customers were startled when Prince William showed up as the waitress distributing vegetarian burgers at a food truck in London.
The meat-free burger was constructed using the environmental solutions of the 2022 winners of The Earthshot Prize in a collaboration between the British heir to the throne and YouTube channel Sorted Food.
In a video posted to the channel on Sunday, the Sorted Food team was seen cooking the burgers with Earthshot supplies Prince William had given them, before going outside to serve diners from a food truck.
Four Earthshot burgers were ordered by a team member, and as the “chef” turned around to answer, gasping diners saw that it was Prince William.
One of the women in the video said, “Of all the things I was expecting, it was not that,” and afterwards enquired of others, “What just happened?”
One man continued, “My brain took about three seconds to buffer.” Is this a dream? Have I had enough rest?
Another customer said, “I was at a loss for words.
Customers were informed by William that the Earthshot Prize, a 10-year initiative he created in 2020, seeks to “repair and restore the planet.”
The award honours those who have made significant contributions to the environment in five categories: “Protect and Restore Nature,” “Clean Our Air,” “Revive Our Oceans,” “Build a Waste Free World,” and “Fix Our Climate.”
Prince William’s presence at Sorted Food’s studio and food truck was a “pinch me” moment, according to Jamie Spafford, co-founder of the company. “Hearing him explain how passionate he is about helping the planet and what the Earthshot Prize is doing was incredibly inspiring, and has already given us a lot of ideas for future projects to work on with our community,” Jamie Spafford said in the release.
Utilising veggies that would typically be cultivated in Kheyti’s Greenhouse-in-a-Box, the Sorted Food team created plant-based burgers. According to the prize’s website, the invention of the Indian start-up is intended for small-holding farmers and provides protection for their crops from erratic weather and harmful pests.
After that, the team prepared the meal on Mukuru Clean Stoves, which Charlot Magayi introduced to Kenya in 2017. The webpage for the prize claims that when burning, they emit 90% less pollution than an open fire and 70% less than a conventional cookstove.
After that, the burgers were served in Notpla food boxes, which are composed of plants and seaweed rather than plastic.
