Crime

The true crime documentary will return to screens sooner than you think

Channel 5’s gripping true crime series will return with new chilling episodes – and it’s coming sooner than you think.

First aired in 2023, Murder Scene: The Incident Room is a true crime series that explores real-life murder investigations across the UK, but with a twist. The investigations are told through the eyes of real detectives who worked on the cases.

The series, which has seen two seasons so far, plunges viewers into the centre of police investigations, revealing how officers gather evidence and make critical conditions. Channel 5 has teased: “Inside the nerve centre of murder inquiries, revealed through the detectives themselves.”

Featuring first hand accounts as well as heartbreaking interviews with family members of the victims, the series also shows real archive footage as well as using reconstruction sequences.

Murder Scene: The Incident Room will return to Channel 5 tonight (September 30) with yet another harrowing case. Airing at 8pm on Channel 5, the brand new episode will transport viewers back to a horrific event on Christmas Eve in 2022.

Taking viewers behind the scenes of a murder investigation, tonight’s episode will explore the heartbreaking murder of 26-year-old Elle Edwards, who was killed by a gunman armed with a submachine gun outside of a pub in Wirral, Merseyside.

After firing the weapon into a group of people on Christmas Eve, the gunman fled the scene as CCTV revealed this was not a random act, with detectives working around the clock for justice.

An official synopsis reads: “The Incident Room is the place where Britain’s toughest murder cases are cracked. Behind closed doors, detectives work against the clock, piecing together the clues, chasing down suspects, and searching for the breakthrough that will bring a killer to justice.”

About tonight’s episode, it continues: “Christmas Eve 2022: a packed pub, a burst of gunfire. Within seconds, six people are shot outside the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey.

“Twenty-six-year-old Elle Edwards dies at the scene. A gunman armed with a military-grade machine gun has opened fire on innocent bystanders – and he’s still out there.

“CCTV reveals this was no random act. As pressure mounts, a crucial breakthrough changes the direction of the case, triggering a nationwide manhunt for a dangerous and desperate fugitive.

“This is the story of a community shattered, a family devastated, and the relentless pursuit of a killer who believed he could disappear into the night.”

New episodes will air every Wednesday on Channel 5, with the next instalment dropping on October 7 at its usual 8pm slot. Episodes can also be streamed on Channel 5 online. Previously praising the show, one person said episodes were “too good to miss” as another admitted it was a “must watch”.

Murder Scene: The Incident Room returns tonight at 8pm on Channel 5

The deaths appear to be the first at the hands of Somali pirates in more than a decade.

Pirates have killed five crew members on board a Palau-flagged oil tanker off the coast of Somalia before security forces rescued the ship, according to Somali authorities.

The deaths on the tanker, the MT Honour 25, were announced on Tuesday.

They appear to be the first deaths at ⁠the hands of Somali pirates in more than a decade and come amid a resurgence of Somali piracy that experts have attributed in part to the effects of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

The MT Honour 25, which authorities said was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil, was seized by pirates off Somalia on April 21.

The Information Ministry of Puntland, a semiautonomous region of Somalia, said in a statement that a rescue mission had freed the ship and captured 16 suspected pirates.

“Before the operation began, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew,” the statement said. “Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India.”

Four other crew members, three Pakistanis and one Indian, were injured, it said.

In a post on social media, the Puntland Maritime Police Force said the vessel was “safe” and under the government’s control. It said efforts were continuing to find others involved in the hijacking.

The rescue follows another operation last week in which the maritime police freed the Sibu 1, a tanker sanctioned by the US that Somali pirates had hijacked in August.

But 28 of the 41 pirates arrested in that operation later escaped while being transferred to jail, and several Puntland security officials accused local police of complicity.

At least 15 attacks have been reported off Somalia since April, according to officials.

A previous wave of piracy, from 2008 to 2014, disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, cost the global economy billions of dollars and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.

Warden among five officials suspended over the discovery of an apartment-style compound for inmates at the Cibinong prison.

A prison warden in Indonesia has been suspended, along with four other officials, after investigators discovered a compound of luxury apartment-style residences allegedly used by inmates at a penitentiary near the capital, Jakarta.

The action was announced on Tuesday by Rudi Setiawan, the inspector general of the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections. “We have suspended five structural officials, including the Cibinong prison chief, who are suspected of being responsible for the incident uncovered by the Ombudsman,” he said.

Dozens of inmates and prison employees have been questioned, he said.

The units, more than 10 in all, stood apart from the regular cellblocks at Cibinong prison in Bogor, near Jakarta.

They were found on September 23 during a surprise inspection by Indonesia’s Ombudsman, the government’s public-service watchdog.

Investigators said the residences contained air-conditioners, big-screen televisions, refrigerators, sofas and dining areas. They also reported finding a gym, a golf simulator under construction, and luxury vehicles on the grounds.

“We found strong indications that certain inmates had access to special facilities unavailable to ordinary prisoners,” Syafrida Rachmawati Rasahan, an Ombudsman member, said at a news conference.

“We encountered inmates inside the residential compound and discovered facilities resembling homestays, apartments and villas rather than prison housing,” she said.

The buildings were originally intended as official housing for prison personnel, but investigators are examining whether they were converted into unauthorised accommodations for inmates.

The incident has drawn widespread public attention and renewed scrutiny of Indonesia’s prisons, which have long faced allegations that wealthy or well-connected inmates can obtain preferential treatment through bribery.

The Cibinong prison, which sits on 4 hectares (10 acres), holds a mix of inmates, including people convicted of corruption and other high-profile prisoners. The identities of those who lived in the compound have not been officially disclosed.

Lawmakers, anticorruption activists and watchdog groups have urged authorities to identify which prisoners occupied the facilities and whether prison officials accepted payments in exchange for the privileges.

The case is the latest embarrassment for the Indonesian corrections system, which has struggled for years with overcrowding, corruption and repeated allegations that affluent inmates can buy privileges unavailable to the broader prison population.

An investigation into Indonesia’s prisons in 2010 already found that some inmates live a life of luxury behind bars.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez has disputed the government’s account of what led to his shooting during a Doordash delivery in Austin, Texas.

A Venezuelan asylum seeker who was shot in the back by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Texas is facing a federal assault charge, after prosecutors accused him of striking the officer with his car’s side-view mirror.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, appeared in federal court in Austin on Tuesday, where he was charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The charge stems from a September 20 encounter that began while Garces Perez was making a DoorDash food delivery near a shopping centre in Austin, the Texas state capital.

A federal complaint filed on Monday says immigration officers noticed that Garces Perez’s car had its emergency lights flashing, and they ran a database check. They found it was registered to Garces Perez, who was subject to a final order of removal from the US.

When the officers approached, Garces Perez handed over his driver’s license through a partially opened window but did not get out of the car, the complaint says. He asked the officers to wait until his wife could arrive to retrieve the vehicle.

Court documents describe the exchange up to that point as “pleasant and not aggressive”.

About a minute later, however, court documents say Garces Perez “abruptly” closed his window and drove off, striking one of the officers in the torso with his driver’s side mirror.

That officer chased Garces Perez in his own vehicle and caught up with him a short time later. In the complaint, the officer alleges that Garces Perez then tried to drive into him, prompting him to open fire.

There is no publicly available footage showing the events described in the complaint, including the shooting.

Videos, however, have circulated online showing the shooting’s aftermath, with Garces Perez injured in his car.

The complaint relies on unreleased body-camera footage from one of the two ICE officers who stopped Garces Perez.

The second officer was not wearing a body camera, according to the affidavit. That officer says he was struck by Garces Perez’s side mirror and later shot him.

Garces Perez, however, gave federal investigators a different account of the moments immediately before he was shot.

He told investigators that, after a brief chase, a law enforcement SUV struck his car, causing it to spin around, according to the affidavit. He said the officer then opened fire, shooting him in the back.

Garces Perez has been held in a detention facility in south Texas since the shooting.

His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said on Sunday the bullet was still lodged in his body and that he has a fractured clavicle. In a social media post, Lincoln-Goldfinch explained that his supporters were worried he could develop sepsis or suffer permanent damage if he didn’t undergo surgery soon.

The Department of Homeland Security has argued, however, that Garces Perez is receiving adequate medical care.

Garces Perez’s legal team is also seeking to stop his removal from the US.

The Venezuelan national entered the US in 2024 through CBP One, an online programme expanded under former President Joe Biden to allow asylum seekers to make appointments with immigration authorities at the US-Mexico border.

Trump ended the programme on his first day back in office, accusing the app of contributing to an immigration crisis in the US. His administration has since relaunched CBP One as CBP Home, a self-deportation portal.

Lincoln-Goldfinch has said Garces Perez was legally seeking asylum in the US and had a valid work permit. She has asserted that he was ordered to be deported after missing an immigration court hearing because the notice had been sent to an old address.

Garces Perez is due back before a federal immigration judge on Wednesday for a separate hearing on whether he can remain in the country.

The case comes amid a surge in immigration enforcement during Trump’s second term, with ICE reporting more than 50,000 arrests in both July and August.

Matthew VanDyke and six Ukrainians were accused of smuggling weapons and drones to armed ethnic groups fighting India.

Matthew VanDyke, a United States citizen held in India for more than six months and accused of supporting ethnic separatist groups, has been temporarily released on bail and returned to the US.

The 47-year-old arrived on Saturday morning and reunited with his family, according to a family spokesperson.

VanDyke, who runs a Washington, DC-based consultancy that says it provides “free security consulting, training, supplies and other services to vulnerable populations”, was detained in March by Indian authorities, along with six Ukrainian nationals who were also released on Saturday.

India’s main opposition Congress party said that, despite being “accused of plotting terrorist acts”, VanDyke was allowed to return home from New Delhi.

“Obviously US pressure determined this outcome, but what did India get in return?” Jairam Ramesh, a legislator and spokesperson for the party, posted on X.

VanDyke’s family told Al Jazeera before his release that his health was failing and he had lost weight after going on a month-long hunger strike in Tihar Jail to try to improve conditions in prison. He had to use a wheelchair to attend hearings, according to his mother, Sharon. VanDyke denied the accusations against him, and his family said he was in the region documenting the situation faced by minority ethnic groups.

Earlier this month, Indian prosecutors declined to bring terrorism charges against VanDyke and the others. Instead, prosecutors formally accused them of visa violations for entering restricted areas along the Myanmar border.

The Maryland native is a former filmmaker and rebel fighter during the Arab Spring and spent about six months in a Libyan prison during the Muammar Gaddafi regime. He was held alongside James Foley, a journalist who was later killed by ISIL in Syria. In recent years, VanDyke was based in Ukraine, where his consultancy helped train Ukrainian military forces.

In a statement to Al Jazeera before VanDyke’s release, James Foley’s mother, Diane, who now heads a foundation named after him, said she was “deeply saddened by his arrest in India and by his apparent poor health.” She added that her foundation called for “his release on humanitarian grounds.”

Cuba’s deputy foreign minister slams US sanctions, labelling them ‘equivalent to genocide’.

A senior official in Cuba has warned that any prospective United States military action taken against the island nation would constitute a serious international crime, and has rejected claims made by US President Donald Trump that Cuba is a failed state.

On Sunday, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, the country’s deputy foreign minister, told the US cable television channel C-SPAN’s flagship programme, Washington Journal, that it would be an “atrocious international crime for the US to use military force against Cuba, which is a peaceful neighbouring country”.

His comments come after Trump said during his Tuesday speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that “freedom will be coming” to the island. His remarks prompted the Cuban delegation to exit the assembly hall. On Saturday, Trump brought up military action, telling reporters, “I don’t think we’ll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly.”

Fernandez de Cossio said that coercing nations who do not “submit” by disrupting their commercial shipments, attempting to handicap a population through starvation, depriving it of stable healthcare and withholding fuel, as the US has “done for nine months now”, is “equivalent to a genocide”.

The US has maintained a foreign policy of maximum economic pressure against Cuba for more than 60 years. The Trump administration has previously said that it wants a shake-up in Cuba’s government. Earlier this year, the administration enforced an additional oil and fuel blockade against the island, which has crippled the nation’s infrastructure, causing widespread fuel scarcity and rolling power outages. Government officials in Cuba cited systemic difficulties in securing food supplies and other basic necessities for the country of more than 10 million.

Fernandez de Cossio said Havana must ready its citizens for the prospect of US military aggression, adding that while Cuba recognises it might stand alone, it will still exercise its legitimate right to self-defence.

He explained that bilateral diplomatic channels with the US remain open but have yielded minimal results due to the economic stranglehold of ongoing sanctions, adding that Havana remains willing to engage with Washington in a “respectful manner” only if discussions accommodate mutual dignity, benefit both populations, and respect state sovereignty.

Several countries condemned the US’s continued economic sanctions and blockade of Cuba during the UNGA earlier this week.

The Dosa King built a restaurant empire worth millions. But when a young woman rejects him, he threatens her marriage. Soon after, her husband is found dead. For nearly two decades, he fights to escape justice. Can his wealth and power protect him? Find out in Season 2 of True Crime Reports, an Al Jazeera Originals Production.

The illustrations in this video were created by artists aided by AI-powered software.

In this episode:

Episode credits:

True Crime Reports is an Al Jazeera Originals Production. Our host is Halla Mohieddeen. This episode was written by Ryan Gaffney. The Head of Podcasts is Jo de Frias. The EP of Podcasts is Alexandra Locke. Our Executive Producer is Ney Alvarez. Our Senior Producer is Fahrinisa Campana, Leo Danczak is our producer and Catherine Nouhan is our Assistant Producer. The Production Coordinator is Ashley McCarry. Fact-checking by Catherine Nouhan, Zaina Badr and Chiara Brambilla. The Senior Script Editor is Dan Hawaleshka. Our Post-Production Supervisor is Nacho Corbella. Our Video Editor is Nacho Corbella. Osama Alsaadi is our AI Animator. Alan Leer is the Supervising Sound Editor. The Sound Designer is Lizzy Andrews. Music composition by Tom Biddle. Adam Abou-Gad is our Engagement Producer.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

The new Netflix thriller is currently sitting at number one on the streaming platform’s most-watched films

The true-story thriller has been slammed by furious viewers who ‘wasted an hour and a half of their lives’.

Brand new film Unabomber is based on the real story of lone wolf American terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, who carried out a mail bombing campaign that killed 3 people and injured 23 more. Known as the Unabomber, he committed his crimes between 1978 and 1995.

He was apprehended in 1996 and later pleaded guilty to his crimes. Theodore was consequently given multiple life sentences and spent over two decades in prison. He died by suicide on June 10, 2023, at the age of 81.

Netflix’s take on the late criminal’s story explores his transformation from a bright Harvard student into the infamous Unabomber. It stars 19-year-old actor Jacob Tremblay as the title character.

The main cast also features Oscar winner Russell Crowe, playing a Harvard professor who gets caught in Theodore’s orbit. While beloved actress Shailene Woodley portrays an FBI agent determined to get to the bottom of the Unabomber’s crimes.

The film has already climbed to Number 1 on Netflix’s most-watched charts after just one day on the streaming platform. But many viewers have urged others to skip the star-studded drama.

Writing on Rotten Tomatoes, one disappointed viewer said: “What an absolute waste of time. As far as movies go this had an okay cast. The story was based on real life so interesting I guess as it did happen. It’s sad it happened though but it did. I watched it and was expecting more than I receive.”

Someone else joined in to add: “A word that comes to mind is HOW. HOW DO THEY GET SO MANY BRILLIANT ACTORS IN 1 MOVIE AND STILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THE MOVIE SUCK. I WAS BARLEY ABLE TO FINISH IT. COULD OF USED THESE ACTORS TO MAKE SOMETHING GREAT. LET DOWN.”

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Someone else simply wrote on X: ” #unabomber on Netflix is an hour and a half of my life I’m not getting back.” At the time of writing, the thriller has a sour 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

But others have rushed to the movie’s defence, with one sharing: “Surprised by the negative reviews. I found the film very well done and with a captivating story, quite well engineered. Acting is brilliant and everything is top notch (costume, music, etc). Great film.”

While a second fan added: “I actually loved this. I was just hooked at the very start. And I’m not easily entertained by movies. First of all I loved the switch from the 50s to the 90s it was refreshing. “

Unabomber is streaming now on Netflix

Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella has emerged as close ally the of Trump administration in South America.

The Colombian government has extradited an alleged drug trafficking leader to the United States, part of a shift in the country’s security policy into greater alignment with Washington.

President Abelardo de la Espriella announced on Friday the extradition of Geovany Andres Rojas, who is accused of leading an organisation formed by previous members of the FARC rebel group.

“You don’t build peace by protecting narco-terrorists like this bandit,” de la Espriella said after he personally oversaw Rojas’s transfer to the US. “I ask US authorities … that he cannot negotiate deals that will leave his crimes unpunished.”

De la Espriella’s left-wing predecessor, Gustavo Petro, shielded Rojas from extradition in order to use him as a mediator in talks between the government and armed and criminal groups, which Petro sought to rein in through negotiations rather than military confrontation.

The far-right president has tossed out that approach, promising to crack down on groups that split off from the former FARC rebel group following a peace deal with the government in 2016. Many of those groups have jostled for control over lucrative drug routes and illicit industries.

Rojas, also known as “the Spider”, was flown to California and placed in the custody of federal agents. He allegedly served as the commander and spokesperson of Comandos de la Frontera, a group associated with cocaine trafficking in the Colombian province of Putumayo that borders Ecuador and Peru.

He will face drug trafficking and terrorism charges in the US, which has sought to expand military operations across Latin America under the pretext of combating crime and drug trafficking during President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Colombia’s new president has aligned himself closely with those efforts, scrapping peace talks and launching military operations against armed groups since taking office in August.

The New York Times reported that de la Espriella, a former defence lawyer, was previously investigated by US authorities over his ties to powerful drug traffickers, but never charged, and defended politicians linked to right-wing paramilitaries.

Rights groups have warned that a return to militarised confrontation could lead to rights abuses by government forces and an escalation in violence, but many Colombians have expressed support for a harder hand against criminal groups whose operations have often led to violence and mass displacement of civilians.

In 2002, 91-year-old Edwin Hiles was murdered in his Oxfordshire home and the way police tracked down his killer changed forensic investigations forever and led them straight to the killer

Frail 91-year-old Edwin Hiles was brutally murdered in his Oxfordshire home by a former local slaughterman who cut his phone line so he couldn’t call for help.

Paul Weedon, 24 – who worked in the ‘gut room’ of Mutchmeats’ slaughterhouse in Witney, Oxfordshire – stabbed the pensioner in the throat in 2002 after trying to rob the widower when he refused to give him money for rent.

Mr Hiles’ body was found in the front downstairs living room of his semi-detached home by a neighbour who had called in to see him. But there was no sign of the killer.

Mr Hiles was known in his community for his small-scale money lending to those in hard times and detectives immediately linked his murder to his generosity and that he may have had cash at his house

What followed changed British forensic science forever. In order to catch the killer, investigators pioneered a breakthrough technique known as “fibre-taping” for the first time in the UK – linking the victim’s body directly to bloodstained clothes Weedon had stashed in a nearby woodland close to where he was living in Chipping Norton.

Rather than just gathering loose fibres to see if the two people interacted, investigators used a complete, grid-indexed tape on both the killer’s clothing and Mr Hiles’ body to reconstruct their positions during the attack.

During the trial in 2003, Weedon had changed his story multiple times, even claiming to have seen drug dealers kill the elderly widow, according to the Oxford Mail. He also claimed he had been deliberately framed by an acquaintance who had had dealings with Mr Hiles.

But later on, he then said he stabbed Mr Hiles in the throat after the pensioner came at him with a kitchen knife to stop the robbery. In mitigation, Julian Baughan, defending, said: “This wasn’t pre-planned. It was intended possibly as an application for a loan which turned into a robbery which went wrong.”

The breakthrough forensic testing from 2003 will be shown and explained on the brand new documentary series UK Forensic Breakthroughs on the True Crime channel. Spanning across 10 episodes, each instalment will focus on its own murder case where scientific breakthroughs and microscopic evidence secured justice for grieving families.

Forensic scientist Jo Millington will give exclusive access to the experts behind the investigations, including the case of Edwin Hiles, which is set to air on September 27. Jo Millington has been a forensic scientist for over 30 years, even working behind the scenes on BBC’s Silent Witness.

Speaking of the new documentary, Jo Millington said UK Forensic Breakthroughs stands out from other crime shows and explained: “The first difference is that it puts forensic science at the heart of the show, which normally sits on the periphery in the shadow.

“Over a 10 part series, we’re using the programme to kind of assure a spotlight on forensic science. And more importantly, the scientists that do forensic science, every single day.”

Jo explained how forensic evidence isn’t just about fingerprints and bloodstains. Speaking to the Mirror, she said: “Forensic science is based on the principle that every contact leaves a trace and that’s exactly what people do when they commit a crime. Every interaction, every step has the potential to leave material in the crime scene or take it away.

“The challenge sometimes is finding the evidence in the first place, but once forensic scientists do find it then they can start to interpret it and put it into the context of an investigation.

“The evaluation of the science is really important. For example, finding my DNA in a place where I live or work is unlikely to unlock a case, but if investigators find my fingerprint in the blood of the person that has been injured, then that is like a timestamp.

“It tells you I was there when the person was bleeding – that contextual evaluation is vital – and in that particular example, I would have questions to answer.”

As well as shining a light on the forensic science work, Jo aims to tackle one common misconception about her job. She added: “The thing about forensic science is it’s mostly a process – things need to happen in a particular order in line with a particular method and the results need to be checked and double checked by people who are trained and competent.

“The chain between the evidence that is collected from a crime scene and the scientific findings that are presented to the court, and the jury, needs to be water-tight. That level of diligence and checks takes a longtime.”

TRUE CRIME is available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freeview, Freesat and Freely as well as for streaming via TRUE CRIME UK (FAST), accessible on platforms including Prime Video, Rakuten TV, Pluto TV, Plex, LG Channels, Samsung TV Plus, ITVX and 5.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy denounces ‘horrific crime’ after 31-year-old attacks clergy and worshippers in border town.

One person was killed and four others injured when a man armed with a knife attacked clergy and worshippers at a Catholic monastery in southern Poland.

Police said the 31-year-old attacker, a Ukrainian national, went on a stabbing spree at the 17th-century Benedictine abbey in Jaroslaw, some 30km (19 miles) from the border with Ukraine, on Thursday morning.

The suspect, who had entered Poland from Germany earlier in the day, reportedly grabbed a knife from the abbey’s kitchen and attacked four men and one woman, including a priest in a confessional, police said.

“Three of the victims are clergy members and two are laypeople; one person has died,” said prosecutor Bozena Harasz-Wołoszyn. Two others were in “critical, life-threatening condition”.

Polish media identified the man who died as a priest. Police did not immediately confirm the identity of the deceased.

Prosecutors said the attacker was headed for a nearby border crossing back into Ukraine but instead went to the abbey.

The motive remains unclear, and doctors will assess whether he was under the influence of alcohol, Harasz-Wołoszyn said.

Leaders respond

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the “murderer” would be “punished with the full severity of Polish law”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack a “horrific crime”.

“The perpetrator of this evil must bear full responsibility in accordance with the law … We are shaken by this evil. Justice must be done.”

The mayor of Jaroslaw, Marcin Nazarewicz, declared a period of mourning until the end of the week.

Stabbings, particularly at religious sites, are extremely rare in Poland, one of Europe’s most Catholic countries.

After the aircraft touched down in Birmingham, airport police boarded the plane and escorted the four adults off

A group of adults were escorted off an easyJet flight by police after allegedly vaping throughout the five-hour journey. Passenger Annalise Galstaun captured the moment four adults were removed from the plane by airport police after it landed at Birmingham Airport.

Annalise was travelling from Larnaka International Airport in Cyprus to Birmingham on the evening of September 16 when the incident unfolded. Sitting just two rows behind the group, she said she saw EasyJet cabin crew warn them multiple times to stop vaping during the flight.

But despite the repeated warnings, Annalise claimed the passengers continued to vape discreetly, hiding the devices behind their legs while sitting in their seats.

After the aircraft touched down in Birmingham, airport police boarded the plane and escorted the four adults off, causing a 25-minute delay on the tarmac.

Annalise said: “They were warned a few times by EasyJet staff but continued to vape on the sly throughout the journey, hiding the vapes behind their legs on the seat.

“I felt quite annoyed as we were delayed around 20/25 mins grounded on the floor waiting for them to be escorted.

“There were children on board crying as it was about 11pm and we were just stuck on the tarmac.”

EasyJet said in a statement: “Flight EZY6610 from Larnaca to Birmingham on 16 September was met by police on arrival due to a group of passengers behaving disruptively onboard.

“Our cabin crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time.

“We take these incidents seriously and do not tolerate disruptive behaviour onboard.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.”

US-led anti-cartel alliance backs sanctions against crime groups after Trump urges stronger action.

United States President Donald Trump has pledged to use “unmatched military might” against drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere during a meeting of the Washington-led Shield of the Americas coalition in New York City.

In a meeting with leaders and foreign ministers from the anti-cartel alliance, Trump on Tuesday urged member countries to join the US in targeting 24 criminal organisations, which he earlier described as the “ISIS of the Western Hemisphere”.

He said he was asking “all nations in the Shield of the Americas to formally designate narco-terrorists as common threats to stability and apply crushing sanctions” against all of the groups. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.

The coalition’s 15 governments later issued a joint statement saying they intended to impose asset freezes and visa restrictions on members and supporters of the groups and to pursue criminal charges against them.

At the top of the list are two groups that have been declared “terrorist” organisations by Washington: Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) – one of Central America’s most powerful criminal gangs – and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that is also active in Colombia, Peru and Chile.

The list also includes major Mexican cartels, Colombian armed groups such as the National Liberation Army, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho groups, and Peru’s Shining Path.

Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, Colombia, said the statement was largely symbolic for now, because each country must follow its own legal procedures.

“For example, here in Colombia, it will require a law to pass in Congress. We understand that the government here has asked Congress to move forward in drafting such a law. So while the consequences may not be immediate, this is clearly an important step towards building what the US has been trying to do in Latin America [through] this alliance,” he added.

The coalition is made up of governments closely aligned with Trump, including Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador, whose leaders he has praised or endorsed. Colombia and Peru joined after Trump-aligned presidents took office in recent months.

Brazil and Mexico have not joined.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also attended, praised “the emergence of strong leaders who are committed to the challenge of taking on transnational terrorism”.

The gathering was the administration’s latest effort to rally the region behind a more aggressive approach to drug trafficking. Since returning to office last year, Trump has designated cartels as foreign terrorist organisations and ordered dozens of strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that US officials say were carrying narcotics bound for the US.

The strikes have killed more than 223 people, and UN experts say they violate international law and could amount to crimes against humanity.

The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, released late last year, laid out plans for a revamped Monroe Doctrine, the 19th-century policy asserting US primacy in the hemisphere that critics associate with decades of US intervention.

Trump has also spoken of retaking the Panama Canal and annexing Greenland and Canada. On Tuesday, he signed an agreement on Greenland that stopped short of his demand that the island become US territory.

The focus on the hemisphere has raised concerns across the region.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in his UN speech, bristled ⁠at the approach, warning countries in Latin America and the Caribbean of “renewed hegemonic temptations”.

“Brazil is nobody’s back yard,” Lula said.

The series is hosted by BBC Silent Witness expert Jo Millington

True crime fans do not want to miss a brand new chilling documentary series, plunging viewers into the heart of a crime, and it’s coming sooner than you think.

UK Forensic Breakthroughs is a brand new release, dropping today (September 22) on the True Crime channel. Spanning across 10 episodes, each instalment will focus on its own murder case where scientific breakthroughs and microscopic evidence secured justice for grieving families.

From the murder of a Witney local, whose investigation was the first time in the UK fibre mapping technique was used, and the conviction of a serial arsonist in Cornwall, forensic scientist Jo Millington will give exclusive access to the experts behind the investigations.

Jo Millington has been a forensic scientist for over 30 years, even working behind the scenes on BBC’s Silent Witness. An official synopsis teases: “A rare in-depth dive into the unseen world of forensic science – from ballistics and fibre analysis to forensic ecology and fire investigation. Firsthand testimony from detectives and leading forensic experts directly involved in the cases.

“Ten real UK murder cases where scientific breakthroughs and microscopic evidence secured justice for grieving family, friends and all those impacted by the crime.”

Premiering at 10pm tonight on the True Crime channel, the series will show how forensic science continues to shape major criminal investigations across the UK.

Speaking exclusively to Reach ahead of the show’s new launch, Jo Millington said UK Forensic Breakthroughs stands out from other crime shows, adding: “The first difference is that it puts forensic science at the heart of the show, which normally sits on the periphery in the shadow.

“Over a 10 part series, we’re using the programme to kind of assure a spotlight on forensic science. And more importantly, the scientists that do forensic science, every single day.”

Giving unprecedented access into the world of a forensic scientist, dubbed the “unsung heroes of investigations”, tonight’s episode will explore the story of Edwin Hiles who was found murdered in his own home, but a pioneering fibre mapping technique was used to link one suspect to the crime.

With episodes released weekly, one particular instalment viewers do not want to miss is episode 8 where teams take a deep dive into the world of forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology.

Jo added: “The teamwork that was involved in recovering Natalia Doherty’s body from a clandestine burial site is one of the most painstaking tasks that I have encountered in forensic science.

“Every layer of soil, every root system, and every fragment of evidence had the potential to reveal how her grave had been created, when it was dug and whether it had been disturbed over time.

“Caroline Sims’ archaeology team worked centimetre by centimetre – to record the grave’s construction, the position of the remains and to methodically recover every item from within it.

“Their meticulous approach ensured that the burial itself became evidence, allowing detectives to understand not only where Natalia had been hidden, but how her body had been concealed for so many years.”

TRUE CRIME is available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freeview, Freesat and Freely as well as for streaming via TRUE CRIME UK (FAST), accessible on platforms including Prime Video, Rakuten TV, Pluto TV, Plex, LG Channels, Samsung TV Plus, ITVX and 5.

UK Forensic Breakthroughs premiers tonight at 9pm on True Crime

Jason Eaton faces up to life in prison after a jury rejected his insanity defence.

A jury in the US state of Vermont has convicted a man of attempted murder for shooting three Palestinian college students in 2023, rejecting his defence that he was not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jason Eaton, 51, faces up to life in prison for the attack near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington. It left Hisham Awartani paralysed from the waist down and wounded his friends Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid.

The jury deliberated for several hours on Monday before reaching its verdict after a week-long trial that included testimony from the three men and psychiatric experts called by both the defence and prosecution.

Eaton was ordered jailed pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Awartani and Aliahmad, who were sitting in the front row of the courtroom, smiled and hugged people around them as the verdict was read.

Eaton did not dispute that he shot the three men in November 2023. Instead, his lawyers argued that he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The defence said Eaton was suffering from a delusional psychotic disorder and believed the CIA and Israel’s Mossad were transmitting messages to him through FM radio.

Joshua O’Hara, the supervising attorney at the Chittenden County Public Defender Office, told jurors that Eaton believed the intelligence agencies had enlisted him to “overwatch duty” to protect a Jewish family living across the street and that God was commanding him to act.

Prosecutors rejected the insanity defence, telling jurors that a state psychiatrist had concluded Eaton did not have a mental disease or defect and that the evidence showed he intended to kill the three men.

‘He pulled out a handgun and started shooting’

Awartani, Aliahmad and Abdalhamid, now 23, grew up together in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank before moving to the US for university.

They were visiting Awartani’s grandmother in Burlington over the Thanksgiving holiday when they went for a walk near the University of Vermont campus after dark.

Awartani testified that the friends were smoking cigarettes and speaking a mix of English and Arabic. Two of them were wearing keffiyehs.

He said Eaton was standing on the porch of the apartment building where he lived before approaching the friends without saying anything.

When Eaton was about five to 10 feet (1.5 to three metres) away, Awartani testified, he pulled out a handgun and began shooting.

Awartani, then a student at Brown University, was shot in the chest and left paralysed from the waist down. Aliahmad, who attended Trinity College, was shot in the collarbone, while Abdalhamid, a Haverford College student, was shot in the right buttock.

The shooting prompted calls for a hate crime investigation, but no hate crime charges were filed.

Police later found three shotguns in Eaton’s apartment as well as a Ruger .380-calibre handgun that crime laboratory testing identified as the weapon used in the shooting.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed legislation to increase security for the state’s voting systems and protect Californians’ ability to cast ballots in an effort to guard against potential interference in the Nov. 3 election, including by the Trump administration.

Newsom pointed to the Trump administration’s recent effort to restrict mail-in voting through the U.S. Postal Service, which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the presence of federal monitors at California polls last year as evidence that Trump “will continue his efforts to interfere with the November election.”

“Donald Trump won’t stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November. California will stop him at every opportunity,” Newsom said in a statement.”We have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling — the future of democracy is on the line. These bills today build upon the wall California has built to safeguard our electoral process.”

The governor signed the package of bills at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, where a year earlier federal agents gathered outside a political rally he was hosting. Then Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, who had been leading the immigration operations in California, was among those outside the event, joined by agents in helmets, camouflage, masks and holding guns. Newsom described their presence as political intimidation.

One bill Newsom signed Saturday cites efforts to “weaponize law enforcement authority for political purposes,” including Republican “Sheriff Chad Bianco’s seizure of ballots in Riverside County,” and the election monitors sent by the U.S. Justice Department to polling sites in five counties during a 2025 special election on redistricting.

Such moves “have given rise to unprecedented concerns about law enforcement interference” in elections and “[demonstrate] that these threats are not merely hypothetical,” the bill by Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) reads.

The law, Senate Bill 884, which takes effect immediately, requires counties to open ballot drop-off locations 30 days before an election — two days earlier than usual — and allows counties to ban electioneering, or trying to influence voters’ decisions, within up to 200 feet of polling sites. It also bans police from making arrests near voting locations except for crimes against people, property, or disrupting the voting process.

Bianco, a GOP candidate for governor who placed fourth in the primary, drew swift condemnation and legal challenges this spring after he ordered deputies to seize more than 650,000 ballots from the Riverside County elections office. Voting rights groups and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta challenged the move, which is being decided by the California Supreme Court.

Bianco carted off truckloads of ballots from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters in February after securing a warrant based on claims that the office allowed fraudulent votes in the special election to redraw California’s congressional districts under Proposition 50 in 2025.

Earlier this year, Newsom signed a bill preventing local and federal law enforcement agencies from taking ballots without a warrant.

On Saturday the Democratic governor signed a bill making it a felony to seize or order the seizure of ballots, election records or voting machines. Future seizures could be punishable by up to four years in prison.

“The federal administration and those seeking to spread lies about our democracy continue to call for interference in elections in ways we have never seen before in this country,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz), the bill’s author and a former longtime county elections chief, said last month. “AB 282 helps ensure that every lawfully cast vote can be counted, and that the will of the voters of every political party will be respected.”

Republican lawmakers argued in previous hearings that the bill is unnecessary because it is already a crime to steal ballots.

Another bill, Senate Bill 259, makes it a crime to interfere with a mail ballot on the way to or from a voter or order the seizure of ballots that are in transit to a local elections office.

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1664, which requires elections officials to immediately notify the attorney general and secretary of state immediately upon learning of any warrants, subpoenas or law enforcement investigations involving election records or voting equipment.

Newsom also signed bills to boost protections under the California Voting Rights Act, including an explicit ban on voter suppression and expanded access to election materials in languages other than English.

The governor also signed legislation to require more transparency from social media influencers who are paid by political campaigns. The measure, Assembly Bill 1130, came in the wake of a controversy in the June primary election when social media influencers took on a more visible role in the campaigns.

Candidates including Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer paid thousands of dollars to influencers who posted videos endorsing Steyer or talking about him in a positive light. These videos did not always disclose that influencers were paid by a candidate’s campaign.