Crime

Britain’s first gay surrogate parent, who co-owns Maldon and Tiptree football club, has “strenuously denied” grooming young men for sexual exploitation, a court heard

Britain’s first gay surrogate parent has “strenuously denied” grooming young men for sexual exploitation, a court heard. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 57, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Friday alongside his 32-year-old partner, Scott Drewitt-Barlow.

The men, both of Danbury, Essex, face multiple charges including rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation. The alleged offences, which are said to have taken place in Essex and Manchester between April 2013 and January this year, relate to four different men, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The defendants are alleged to have “recruited” young men before grooming them and subjecting them to sexual assaults including rape, the court heard.

READ MORE: Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and husband charged with human trafficking and sexual offences

Defence barrister Oliver Snodin said the allegations against Barrie and Scott Drewitt-Barlow are “strenuously denied” by them both. Flanked by custody officers, the defendants, wearing hooded sweatshirts, spoke only to confirm their personal details.

The two men were remanded into custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on June 5. Prosecutor Serena Berry said: “Barrie Drewitt-Barlow is in a relationship with Scott Drewitt-Barlow… they are what could be termed to be celebrities, who live multi-million [pound] lifestyles and have featured in many documentaries and reality TV shows.

“They own the Maldon and Tiptree football club, and they have other businesses in the Essex area and also abroad in other countries.

“It is alleged they have both targeted young males, they have recruited them, they have befriended them, they have groomed them. They have invited them to their home and other premises.”

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow became Britain’s first gay surrogate parent in 1999 and made a name for himself in the media. He was due to be in ITV reality show Up The Jammers.

The charges follow co-ordinated searches at premises in Danbury, Maldon and Braintree on Wednesday, Essex Police previously said.

He is charged with three counts of sexual assault on a male, four counts of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Scott Drewitt-Barlow is charged with one count of sexual assault on a male, one count of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Essex Police are appealing for information on the case and ask witnesses to contact them using the major incident public portal (MIPP) on their website, or by calling 0800 051 4526, or 0207 126 7612 internationally.

Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads

A large scale immigration enforcement operation launched under Donald Trump in Minneapolis significantly disrupted federal crime fighting efforts in the region, according to a review of court records and interviews with law enforcement officials.

The operation brought thousands of immigration agents into Minnesota beginning in December as part of a broader crackdown targeting undocumented immigrants and alleged criminal networks.

While the administration described the campaign as a public safety initiative focused on violent offenders, officials and legal records suggest the crackdown diverted federal resources away from investigations into serious crimes including gun trafficking, drug offenses, gang activity, and sex trafficking.

Federal Criminal Prosecutions Dropped Sharply

Court records reviewed by Reuters showed a steep decline in federal prosecutions during the first four months of the year.

Between January and April, federal prosecutors charged only eight individuals with gun or drug crimes compared with seventy seven during the same period last year.

Overall felony prosecutions also fell sharply, with ninety felony cases filed compared with nearly double that number a year earlier.

A significant portion of those cases involved immigration related offenses or arrests linked to protests against the crackdown itself rather than traditional violent crime investigations.

Prosecutors and Agents Were Reassigned

Officials said many federal agents who had previously worked on drug task forces and gang investigations were reassigned to immigration enforcement duties.

Some investigators reportedly became unavailable for ongoing criminal investigations because they were focused on immigration operations.

The crackdown also triggered major staffing problems inside the Minnesota office of the United States Attorney.

Several prosecutors reportedly resigned after being ordered to investigate the widow of a protester who was fatally shot during the immigration operation.

Sources familiar with the office said staffing levels dropped to roughly half of their normal strength, leaving prosecutors struggling to manage existing cases.

Local Authorities Say Public Safety Was Affected

Mary Moriarty, the top prosecutor in Hennepin County, said federal investigators had begun bringing complex criminal cases to local authorities because federal prosecutors lacked the resources to handle them.

She argued that the diversion of resources toward immigration enforcement weakened efforts to address serious crimes such as drug trafficking and sex trafficking.

Former federal prosecutor John Marti warned that reduced federal involvement could leave dangerous criminals operating without effective intervention.

Officials also expressed concern that the long term impact on federal and local cooperation could continue even after the immigration operation ends.

Immigration Crackdown Sparked National Controversy

The operation became one of the most controversial domestic security actions of Trump’s presidency.

Federal agents conducted large scale raids, detentions, and deportation efforts across Minneapolis, leading to protests and confrontations with demonstrators.

Two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot during the unrest, intensifying public outrage and increasing political pressure on the administration.

The crackdown eventually prompted a partial retreat by federal authorities amid growing criticism over aggressive policing tactics.

Cases Delayed and Dismissed

The shortage of prosecutors and staff disruptions also affected ongoing criminal cases.

In one example, a federal judge dismissed a firearms case against Tavon Timberlake after prosecutors repeatedly missed deadlines, with staffing shortages cited as one factor.

Federal prosecutors also sought to drop a major carjacking case involving multiple deaths so that local prosecutors could take over.

At the same time, authorities continued pursuing charges against dozens of protesters linked to demonstrations against the immigration operation, although many of those cases were later dismissed.

Analysis

The Minneapolis operation highlights the broader national debate over balancing immigration enforcement with traditional public safety priorities.

Supporters of the crackdown argue that stronger immigration controls are necessary to combat crime and restore law and order. Critics contend that redirecting federal resources toward mass immigration enforcement weakens efforts to investigate violent crime and organised criminal activity.

The situation in Minnesota also illustrates how large scale political priorities can reshape the functioning of federal law enforcement agencies at the local level.

Analysts say the long term consequences may include weakened cooperation between federal and local authorities, reduced capacity for complex investigations, and growing concerns over whether public safety resources are being allocated effectively.

With information from Reuters.

British crime drama fans won’t want to miss this gripping murder mystery series set in Scotland

Crime drama fans will be hooked on this “addictive” series packed with twists and turns.

Shetland is a cherished British programme adapted from Ann Cleeves’ novels by David Kane. The show centres on police detectives investigating murders across the remote, tight-knit Shetland islands.

Douglas Henshall portrayed DI Jimmy Perez throughout the first seven series, before Ashley Jensen assumed the lead role as DI Ruth Calder from series eight onwards.

The murder mysteries unfold primarily on the eponymous archipelago, though certain scenes are filmed on mainland Scotland. Last month, the BBC announced that production has commenced on Shetland’s 11th series, with Ashley reprising her role as DI Calder alongside Alison O’Donnell as DI Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh.

The upcoming instalment will shoot at various Scottish locations and across the Shetland Isles throughout the coming months, with fresh episodes scheduled to debut on BBC One and iPlayer later this year. This comes just months after series 10 wrapped up, reports the Express.

The new six-part series welcomes Christine Bottomley, Kevin Harvey, Stella Gonet, Gregor Fisher, Gavin Mitchell, John Wark, Jude Bain, Robin Weaver, Beth Marshall, Daniel Boyd, Charlene Boyd, and Helen Mackay to the cast.

Returning favourites include Steven Robertson, Lewis Howden, Samuel Anderson, Steven Miller, Anne Kidd, Angus Miller, Connor McCarry, and Eubha Akilade.

The forthcoming series will focus on a historical killing destined to “forever change the lives of all those connected in the present day”.

The official synopsis reveals: “When a car is pulled from the water, a grim discovery is made – crammed in the boot are the decomposed, skeletal remains of an unknown male. The team’s search to uncover the victim’s identity begins with a hunt for the vehicle’s owner – a respected, local GP who left the Isles under a cloud of troubled rumours nine years ago.

“As Calder and Tosh dig deeper into the enigmatic GP’s state-of-mind and the lives of the loved ones he left behind, the investigation takes them to dark and dangerous places in their quest for the truth.”

Before the fresh episodes arrive, viewers can delve into numerous Scottish murder cases as the first ten series of Shetland are currently available on BBC iPlayer.

Shetland has won over millions of devoted followers, ranking amongst the top five most-watched BBC drama programmes of 2025. Furthermore, it held its position as Scotland’s leading BBC drama, with numerous fans drawing comparisons to other BBC favourites including Line of Duty and Blue Lights.

When a Reddit user sought recommendations similar to Line of Duty, one fan responded: “Shetland is a fantastic show. Was a bit slow at first but really gets going quickly and is addictive.”

An IMDb reviewer commented: “Stunning, gripping, dynamic noir series. Beautiful scenery, laid back pace but still a gripping series with great characters.” Another viewer chimed in: “We just started this series and absolutely love it. It gets better as you go, we’re just now on Season 3 and can’t wait to see what’s next. Incredible actors, strong storyline. Worth the watch, just be patient as you start!”

A third enthusiast declared: “This is a superb series that never disappoints. The writing is great and well thought-out, something that is missing in most shows today. The pace is excellent. This series could go on for dozens of seasons and would still hold my interest. Add this to your must-have watch list,” while another echoed the sentiment: “Outstanding mystery series. Absolutely perfect. The characters are likeable, the stories are compelling, the cinematography is stunning.”

Shetland is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

The incident in London comes after the UK’s national threat level was raised to severe last week.

British counterterrorism police are investigating an arson attack at a former synagogue in London, the lates in a wave of attacks targeting the Jewish community in the United Kingdom’s capital.

Officers said they responded to the incident early on Tuesday in the Tower Hamlets borough.

Police said no one was injured in the arson attack but confirmed the fire was deliberately set, adding that a set of gates and a lock at the front of the building sustained minor damage.

Last week, the UK’s national threat level was raised to “severe”, meaning an attack is considered highly likely. The government said the increase was due to what it described as a “broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat” posed by individuals and small groups in the UK.

The arson attack came just hours before Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a meeting at his London residence focused on tackling anti-Semitism. The government said the meeting was arranged in response to rising anti-Semitism in the UK after two attacks last week in which two Jewish men and one Muslim man were stabbed in London.

Several arson attacks have occurred at synagogues and Jewish sites in London since late March.

“We are taking this incident extremely seriously, and we will be working closely with colleagues from counterterrorism policing to support the investigation,” Detective Chief Superintendent Brittany Clarke said. “The building targeted has not been operational as a synagogue for some years, but that will be of little comfort to the Jewish community in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and beyond, who are first in my thoughts this morning.”

Starmer said he was fast-tracking legislation in response to the increase in attacks, calling the situation a “crisis”.

Secret Service agent at White House correspondents’ dinner was ‘definitively’ hit by suspect’s bullet, prosecutor says.

Authorities in the United States have said that the suspect accused of attempting to kill President Donald Trump was the one who shot a Secret Service agent at the White House correspondents’ dinner last month.

Officials initially did not provide details on how the agent – who was wearing a bulletproof vest – was injured. On Sunday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro told CNN that investigators have confirmed that the agent was shot by the alleged gunman, Cole Tomas Allen.

“It is definitively his bullet. He hit at that Secret Service agent. He had every intention to kill him and anyone who got in his way, on his way to killing the president of the United States,” Pirro said.

“This was a premeditated, violent act, calculated to take down the president, and anyone who was in the line of fire.”

She added that a pellet that came from the suspect’s shotgun was “intertwined with the fiber” of the agent’s protective vest.

The determination could lead to additional legal charges against the 31-year-old suspect. It also rules out speculation that the agent may have been struck by so-called “friendly fire”.

The Justice Department announced three charges against Allen last week – attempting to assassinate Trump, the transportation of a firearm across states with intent to commit a felony and the discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

A sentence of life in prison faces anyone convicted of attempted assassination.

Last week, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Allen had travelled via train from his home near Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, DC.

He arrived in the US capital on April 24, the day before the dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel, and checked in.

According to Blanche, during the dinner, Allen approached a security checkpoint on the terrace of the hotel, one level above the ballroom where Trump was.

“He ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun. As he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot,” Blanche said.

“One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic vest that worked. This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot, but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.”

Officials have said Allen was carrying a shotgun, a semiautomatic pistol and three knives.

The shooting, considered to be the third assassination attempt against Trump since 2024, has shaken US politics. The White House has accused the US president’s Democratic rivals of inspiring political violence with their verbal attacks on the administration.

But Trump himself is known for personal attacks against opponents, and critics have accused him of using the shooting to censor his rivals.

Ruben Rocha Moya again denies allegations he shielded cartel, says taking ‘temporary leave’ to defend self.

The governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state has temporarily resigned days after being charged by United States authorities in a sweeping drug trafficking indictment that has further strained relations between the two countries.

In a brief video statement posted late Friday, Ruben Rocha Moya again denied any wrongdoing, but said he was taking “temporary leave” to defend himself against the US allegations.

The indictment unsealed by US prosecutors earlier this week claimed that Rocha Moya and nine other officials directly aided the Sinaloa drug cartel in its smuggling operations in exchange for political support and bribes.

That support included members of the powerful cartel kidnapping and threatening opposition candidates in the 2021 election and stealing paper ballots cast for those running against Rocha Moya, the indictment charged.

Rocha Moya is a member of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s progressive Morena party.

“My conscience is clear,” Rocha Moya said in the video message. “To my people and to my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will.”

Juan de Dios Gamez Mendivil, the mayor of the Sinaloa state capital Culiacan who was among the other officials charged by the US, also announced he would step down on Saturday. He has denied the allegations.

Sheinbaum has also pushed back on charges, which come at a time when she has sought to navigate tense relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, she said her government had not been provided with any concrete evidence to back up the claims, suggesting the information laid out in the indictment was insufficient.

“My position on these events is as follows: truth, justice and the defence of sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said.

She added that if “clear and irrefutable evidence” is presented, the US still must proceed “in accordance with the law under our jurisdiction”.

Sheinbaum maintained her government will not “shield anyone who has committed a crime”.

“However, if there is no clear evidence,” she added, “it is evident that the aim of these charges by the [US] Department of Justice is political.”

Tense US-Mexico relations

Since taking office in January of last year, the Trump administration has heaped pressure on Mexico to do more to address migration and drug smuggling.

The approach has included Washington imposing a host of tariffs as leverage against Mexico’s government.

The US State Department has also labelled several Latin American drug cartels as “Foreign Terrorist Organisations”, an unorthodox move in line with the administration’s more militaristic approach to Latin America.

The administration has broadly argued that the criminal groups are driven, in part, by efforts to destabilise the US, a claim rejected by many longtime experts.

Sheinbaum has walked a careful line with Trump, increasing cooperation in countering cartels while pledging to protect Mexico’s sovereignty. Notably, she has staunchly opposed the prospect of any US military action on Mexican soil.

But experts have said charging elected officials in Mexico represents a major escalation in the Trump administration’s strategy.

Speaking to Al Jazeera this week, Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on non-state armed groups at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, DC, said the approach had “long been considered a very big step, almost a ‘nuclear option’”.

She predicted more US indictments were likely to come.

Addressing the cameras following reports of spiralling youth violence, including the killing of the 21-year-old former Israeli soldier Yemanu Binyamin Zalka last week, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was clear.

“This will be a total war,” he said, announcing a national operation to target a surge in youth violence. “We will restore security to the streets and calm to parents. Anyone who harms Israeli civilians will face the strong hand of the Israel Police and pay a heavy price.”

The response was sharp, aligned itself with the victim, and promised a solution.

That, critics say, is a sharp contrast to Ben-Gvir’s response – or lack of one – to the ongoing epidemic of violence in Israeli towns and villages populated by Palestinians, which has so far led to the deaths of almost 100 people and, according to Israel’s own finance ministry, costs the country up to $6.7bn a year.

Allegations of two-tier policing, to the detriment of what Israelis refer to as the “Arab sector”, have dogged Israel’s police for decades. But the situation has gotten worse under the current administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has been in power since the end of 2022, and Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician who is in charge of the police.

The statistics since Ben-Gvir came into office back up the narrative that the crime wave in Palestinian communities has gotten significantly worse. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the murder rate in Israel’s Palestinian communities increased from 4.9 per 100,000 in 2020, to 11 per 100,000, on par with the murder rate in Sudan and Iraq.

In contrast, the murder rate in Israel’s Jewish society stood at approximately 0.6 per 100,000.

That increase can not totally be attributed to the current government – Netanyahu himself was prime minister in 2020, when the murder rate was lower. But critics argue that the introduction into government of figures like Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who they say are openly disdainful of Palestinians, has contributed to the sharp uptick in violence.

Analysts and experts who spoke to Al Jazeera had little doubt over the Netanyahu government’s culpability in the increased murder rate.

“They really don’t mind that Palestinians are killing each other, as they’ve been left to do for years,” lawmaker Aida Touma-Suleiman, a Palestinian member of the Hadash party and a longstanding critic of the lack of policing in Palestinian communities in Israel, said.

“It would never occur to the police that they should provide a service to Arab neighbourhoods,” she said of the lack of physical police presence within Palestinian communities. “It’s about enforcement. It’s hostile.”

While police stations are standard in Israel’s Jewish-majority areas, there are only about 10 in Palestinian-majority areas.

Among the decisions that have most angered Palestinian advocacy groups in Israel was the government’s December approval of a $68.5m cut to an economic development programme for Palestinian communities in Israel, in order to fund more policing in the communities.

Critics agreed that more funding was needed for the police, but bemoaned that the money was coming from a fund designed to address the root causes of criminality by addressing housing and economic development, areas where Palestinian communities are notoriously underfunded in comparison to Jewish ones.

Hardwired poverty

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up around 21 percent of the country’s population. Disadvantaged economically, they are the descendants of Palestinians who did not flee after the 1948 establishment of Israel – an event they know as the Nakba, when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed and forced out.

Often concentrated in separate towns and villages from Israeli Jews, Palestinians frequently describe a reality of chronic underinvestment, with the presence of the state either limited or non-existent.

Joblessness has long been woven into their daily lives, analysts say, but the unemployment rate has worsened since Israel choked off access to the occupied West Bank, where many worked, after the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel and the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in 2023.

The most recent official date, based on 2024 figures, shows that 37.6 percent of Palestinian households in Israel live below the poverty line.

Local criminal networks in Israel’s Palestinian towns and villages have grown in scale and influence in recent years, in some cases taking on the form of mafia-style organisations, untroubled, critics say, by the current government.

“There is a wide network of criminal gangs who exert control across Arab neighbourhoods,” said Daniel Bar-Tal, professor of social-political psychology at Tel Aviv University, adding that criminality and even murder were allowed to continue with the state’s own complicity.

“In part, the government just likes it. They get to say, ‘Look, this is Arab culture, this is Arab society. This is what they do.’ They also rely on the collaboration of the gangs to gather information on what’s going on in these communities,” he said, referring to numerous accounts of how friends who had reported criminal activity in their neighbourhoods were dismissed. “And lastly, it is because the police force is controlled by Ben-Gvir, a racist who actively enjoys dehumanising Arab society.”

Ben-Gvir has previously rejected accusations of racism and says he is only against those who harm Jews.

Policed by the enemy

From leveraging his position in government to urge on the genocide in Gaza, to defending officers under his charge filmed raping a Palestinian prisoner, Ben-Gvir’s actions have dismayed many of Israel’s self-styled liberals, just as they have shocked observers around the world.

However, following an uptick in crime in Israel, criticism of Ben-Gvir’s performance in his role as national security minister has begun to enter the domestic mainstream.

As well as more predictable opinion pieces in Israel’s liberal press, accusing the National Security Minister of being “busy on TikTok” while Zelka was killed, or concentrating his efforts on arresting professors wearing Palestinian flags on their kippahs while murder rates break records, there have also been criticisms from those closer to the establishment.

Earlier this month, Israel’s High Court intervened in a row between Ben-Gvir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, ordering the two to reach an accommodation after Baharav-Miara called for his ousting following what she claimed was his attempts to make political interventions in the police’s work.

“Nobody cares if Ben-Gvir’s good at his job,” political scientist Ori Goldberg said. “He’s there to punish Palestinians, even those in Israel. They’re punished through a lack of security, just as they’re punished through hostile planning, and a lack of healthcare punishes them. This is how the apartheid Israel always works.”

A child sexual assault case filed against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will proceed to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The singer is accused of grooming, sexually assaulting and impregnating 16-year-old Julia Misley in the 1970s. The suit, first filed in 2022 in Torrance, claims he “used his role, status, and power as a well-known musician and rock star” to exploit Misley. The complaint also argues Tyler admitted to the alleged crimes in his own memoir, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?,” where he refers to her as his “teen bride.”

Earlier this week, a judge dismissed most of the case, citing the statute of limitations in Massachusetts, where the pair lived during their three-year relationship. But they allegedly crossed state lines while Tyler toured the country with his band, including to California, according to the complaint. Because of California’s Child Victims Act — a 2020 statute that allowed a “lookback window” where alleged victims can file lawsuits regardless of a statute of limitations — a portion of the case will still be tried.

“This is a massive win for Steven Tyler. Today, the Court has dismissed with prejudice 99.9% of the claims against Mr. Tyler in this case,” Tyler’s lawyer, David Long-Daniels, said in a statement to The Times. “The court has decided that only one night, 50-plus years ago, out of a three-year relationship is allowed to remain.”

New York has a similar statute that was recently employed by singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in her case against Sean Combs. She filed a sex-trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit against the music mogul in 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, just days before the expiration of a lookback window.

The lawsuit against Tyler, who previously appeared as a judge on “American Idol,” claims he and Misley first met at an Aerosmith concert in 1973. According to the document, he “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff that night.” At the time, Tyler was in his mid-20s and Julia was 16.

The alleged encounter was the first of many, the lawsuit claims. In 1974, Tyler was named Misley’s legal guardian and took her on tour with the band.

According to the complaint, he described the nature of the relationship in his 2011 memoir, writing, “She was 16, she knew how to nasty … with my bad self being twenty-six and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her. … She was my heart’s desire, my partner in crimes of passion. … I was so in love I almost took a teen bride. I went and slept at her parent’s house for a couple of nights and her parent’s fell in love with me, signed paper over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me.”

The lawsuit also describes Misley’s alleged pregnancy with Tyler’s child, which ended in a “pressured” abortion.

In previous court documents, Tyler has denied the allegations and attempted to get the case dismissed.

“This reflects years of resilience and courage by Ms. Misley, driven by an unwavering pursuit of truth and justice. It is time for justice and for Tyler to be held accountable by a jury,” Misley’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, said in a statement.

The trial is scheduled for August.

Warning follows Jewish man’s arrest over brutal attack in which a nun was pushed and kicked in Jerusalem this week.

The head of a Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has condemned a brutal attack on a nun in the city earlier in the week and warned of growing concerns over the future for Christians living in the Holy Land.

Archbishop Atallah Hanna said on Facebook that “the attack on a nun in the city of Jerusalem comes amid escalating violations against Christian institutions in the city”.

He added that “this reflects increasing concerns about the future of the historic Christian presence in the Holy Land”.

In his post, which was accompanied by a video, he warned that such attacks “are no longer isolated incidents, but part of a recurring pattern that threatens the Christian presence,” calling for international action to stop them.

On Thursday, Israeli police released a video showing what witnesses said was an attack by a Jewish man on a French nun in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Video footage showed the man following the nun, forcibly pushing her to the ground, causing an injury to her head, then briefly walking away before returning to kick her as she lay on the ground, before bystanders intervened.

According to The Times of Israel, police said they had arrested a Jewish man suspected of assaulting the nun in Jerusalem.

“The suspect, a 36-year-old male, was identified and subsequently arrested by police,” the police said in a statement on Wednesday, adding it viewed with “utmost severity” any violent act “driven by potentially racist motives and directed toward members of the clergy”.

Father Olivier Poquillon, director of Jerusalem’s French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, told the AFP news agency the 48-year-old nun is a researcher at the institution and did not wish to speak publicly.

Rising attacks on Christians

Attacks on Christian communities in occupied East Jerusalem and Israel have risen in recent years, according to the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, which tracks such incidents.

Churches in Jerusalem have repeatedly called on Israeli authorities to act decisively to put a stop to them.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the incident a “shameful act” in a statement on X.

“In a city sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, we remain committed to protecting all communities and ensuring those responsible for violence are held accountable,” the ministry added.

Last month, a viral photograph showing an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer caused outrage.

The military said an investigation had been opened and that “appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings”.

Israel later said the soldier had been jailed for 30 days, along with another soldier who had been filming him. Six other soldiers have been summoned for questioning.

A CLEANER accused of supplying Liam Payne with drugs before his death could be let off with community service and a rehab course after reportedly striking a plea deal.

Ezequiel David Pereyra, who worked at the Argentina hotel where the ex-One Direction star died, might not face trial and his sentence could be cut from a possible 15 years to a suspended term.

Last night sources said Pereyra was “over the moon”.

The sources also claimed waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, who is also accused of supplying cocaine to the star, has been offered the same deal. However it is understood that Paiz, 25, will not be accepting the deal.

It came as Liam’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, posted a heartbreaking video of her last day with the singer, showing them riding horses together.

A source said: “This will be terribly upsetting for Liam’s  loved ones to hear — as there is now the possibility that there will never be a trial and they will never get answers as to what happened that night.

MAGIC MOMENT

Cheryl gives rare glimpse of son Bear, 9, at Disney after ex Liam’s death

TO THE STARS

Liam Payne’s name blasted to moon in sweet gesture to late space-loving singer

“No one will be held accountable for his death.”

Pereyra, 22, was awaiting trial for allegedly selling cocaine to Liam, 31, before he fell to his death from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires in October 2024.

He was facing a hefty jail sentence if found guilty.

But his new lawyer, Augusto Maria Cassiau, is said to have struck a deal  with prosecutors to lessen his charge if he admitted his role in the incident.

His new charge will be “facilitation for personal consumption, non-profit” —  admitting he gave the drugs to Liam when he died but he was not a dealer.

Pereyra has been offered a two-year suspended sentence, with time already served in custody awaiting trial being  taken into consideration.

He will have to  perform community service and complete a drug awareness course. 

Pereyra  was released from jail and put under house arrest in December after an appeal court agreed he had  family support, a fixed address and no criminal record.

Last month Paiz, who was also released from prison in December, had his house arrest conditions scrapped.

No new evidence has appeared in the case file and prosecutors have been unable to  secure a trial date.

In October, on the first anniversary of Liam’s death, Pereyra exclusively spoke to The Sun, offering his condolences to Liam’s family.

He also claimed bosses at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel ignored Liam’s drug use.

In a TikTok video posted on Wednesday, the same day prosecutors offered a plea deal, Kate, 27, can be seen riding horses with Liam.

She wrote: “Enjoy each moment life brings you.

“Because I didn’t know this would be the last time I’d ever see my boyfriend again in this lifetime.”

Liam had flown to Argentina with Kate   to see his former 1D bandmate Niall Horan in concert.

Liam extended the trip but Kate returned to the US.

An autopsy confirmed he died from multiple trauma and internal and external bleeding.

A young girl in southern Lebanon joined hundreds mourning her father, one of three paramedics killed in an Israeli “double-tap” strike during the US-brokered ceasefire. At least 95 emergency responders have been killed in Lebanon, a pattern the UN says may amount to a war crime.

Netflix is set to bring this “unsettling” best-selling novel to life sooner than you think.

Severance and The Godfather legends are teaming up for a Netflix thriller that will leave your “flesh crawling”.

Based on Alex North’s New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, The Whisper Man is making its way to Netflix on Friday, August 28.

The official synopsis for the upcoming “disturbing” film reads: “When his eight-year-old son is abducted, a widowed crime writer looks to his estranged father, a retired former police detective, for help, only to discover a connection with the decades-old case of a convicted serial killer known as ‘The Whisper Man.’”

What’s even more exciting about The Whisper Man’s pending arrival is its star-studded cast.

The Netflix thriller will star Severance legend Adam Scott, Hollywood icon Robert De Niro and The White Lotus actress Michelle Monaghan.

While subscribers wait to see how the movie will play out, The Whisper Man already has a loyal fanbase of book lovers ready to watch the adaptation.

Taking to Amazon Prime to sing the book’s praises, a fan shared: “This is one of the most gripping and mind-blowing books I have read this year, and it takes suspense and terror to a whole new thrilling level.”

A second described it as “gripping and flawless”, with another posting: “This book genuinely makes your heart pound.”

Someone else remarked: “Creepy and chilling? Yes! Addictive and clever? Totally!

“It made my skin crawl, it’s sometimes heartbreaking, it’s dark and twisty and just mind-blowingly fabulous!”

“The Whisper Man is one of the best thrillers I have read in years. It is in equal parts gripping and truly terrifying”, a reader commented.

While another added: “I will undoubtedly be keeping my window shut for a little while, and will be obsessively checking on my sleeping children!”

Working behind the scenes as producers are brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, famed for directing Marvel films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

The Whisper Man premieres on Friday, August 28, on Netflix

The actress has a brand new ‘collab’ – playing a solicitor in Jeff Pope’s hard-hitting factual drama about the horrific sex attacks of John Worboys

She’s best known for her role as smiley Anne in Amandaland – but Philippa Dunne is taking an altogether more serious role in ITV’s new true crime drama about black cab rapist John Worboys.

Believe Me tells the story of how the victims of one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history fought back after being failed by the system. And Philippa, 44, plays the solicitor who represents three of the women, who decide to sue the Metropolitan Police under the Human Rights Act for their failure to properly conduct investigations into their allegations of sexual assault.

Worboys, played by Daniel Mays, preyed on women under the cover of being a “respectable” licensed taxi-cab driver. He would target solo women to pick up, claim he’d had a win at a casino or on the lottery, then offer them a drug-laced glass of champagne to help him celebrate – which would knock them out. The women often had little or no memory of what had happened to them.

READ MORE: Sir David Attenborough reveals astonishing secrets behind mountain gorilla scenesREAD MORE: Channel 4’s Virgin Island has ‘more sex’ second time around, with two couples forming

The drama, to air on ITV next month, focuses on Sarah (Aimée-Ffion Edwards) and Laila (Aasiya Shah), who reported sexual assaults by Worboys but felt they had not been believed by the police.

Phillipa plays Harriet Wistrich who joins forces with the women and with barrister Phillippa Kaufmann QC to sue the police over the handling of their complaints, claiming it led to them being subjected to degrading treatment and contributing to their distress. Not only did they win, they won twice after the Met appealed that judgment all the way to the Supreme Court.

Irish comedy star Philippa she had not previously worked with writer Jeff Pope, whose credits include Little Boy Blue, Philomena and See No Evil. “I just did a couple of auditions over Zoom – auditioning is still a big part of any actor’s life,” she explained. “And it was the most dialogue I’ve ever had to learn in my life so I was glad it was on Zoom because I had post-it notes everywhere.”

Once she’d landed the role, she continued to write down some of her more complicated lines. “Because of how jargon-heavy all the legal stuff is, I had a lot of it written on the paper in front of me,” she laughed. “So if you see me doing this at any stage, I am literally reading my script in front of the camera.”

Worboys, 68, was first convicted on 19 offences in 2009 and has since been found guilty of further sexual assaults. His next parole hearing is due to be held in public in June.

Speaking about writing the drama Pope – who will next tackle Sarah Everard’s story for the BBC – said he chooses his subjects carefully. “The first thing is – does something get you angry?” he explained. “Or really affect you? With this one I spent six months of my life being angry as I was pulling it together. Then there’s a long process of meeting the people involved, particularly the three main survivors – not to use the word victims. We spent a lot of time with them – as a man I had to understand a lot of personal, difficult, unpleasant stuff that they were telling me. And just listening and listening.”

He said that what had surprised him the most was hearing from the many women in his life about what they’d had to put up with from men over the years. “I realised early in the process that there’s a whole world, and one half of the population really don’t know much about it and the other half live with it. Stuff like what women put up with just on a night out. Talking to my wife, my daughters-in-law, my sister and understanding what women go through in a normal day, it was such an education for me. I hope one half of the audience are going to go ‘yes, that’s what happens’ and the other half are going to go ‘what?’”

The drama will also feature Miriam Petche playing Carrie Symonds, now the wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was targeted by Worboys in her youth but had a narrow escape. When he was first being considered for parole, she was working in the Conservative Party press team and put her career on the line to spearhead a campaign pushing for a judicial review of the Parole Board’s decision.

Philippa will also return as much-loved Anne in the second series of BBC1’s Amandaland from May 6. Speaking about the new run, the actress said: “Anne is still in SoHa, juggling her high-powered job while raising her kids, attending all of Darius’s soccer matches, volunteering for activities at school while also being at the beck and call of her best pal Amanda.”

Both she and Lucy Punch, who plays Amanda, have been nominated for Best Comedy Actress at the Bafta TV Awards alonside Jennifer Saunders, who appeared in the Christmas special. Amandaland – which this time has a guest role for Call the Midwife actress Pam Ferris – has also been nominated for the Best Scripted Comedy category.

More than 20 years after Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot to death in a New York recording studio, a man admitted to his role in the killing.

Jay Bryant, 52, pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg that he helped others gain access to the building where the hip-hop icon, born Jason Mizell, was shot in 2002.

“I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” Bryant told the judge, per the Associated Press. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”

Bryant didn’t name the people he helped, but in 2024, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were convicted of Mizell’s murder in a case that prosecutors had been working for decades.

“Y’all just killed two innocent people,” Washington yelled at the jury at the time of the verdict.

Jordan Jr., Mizell’s godson, won an appeal last year to overturn his conviction, with a judge finding that the prosecutors’ case against him didn’t add up. The judge said the evidence didn’t support the contention that he was motivated by anger after he was cut out of a $200,000 drug deal. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy approved Jordan Jr.’s $1-million bond package.

Washington has challenged his conviction as well.

According to Courthouse News, prosecutors claimed that Washington and Jordan both confessed to the murder, based on witness testimony that both men discussed being involved in Mizell’s shooting while they were in prison.

As for Bryant’s role in the murder, his uncle Raymond Bryant testified in 2024 that his nephew confessed to killing Mizell, saying he “did it.”

Additionally, a hat with Bryant’s DNA that law enforcement officers found in the recording studio placed Bryant at the scene of the crime.

Bryant told the court Monday that he was in cahoots with people who were wrapped up in a drug deal with the DJ and that he played a part in the killing by helping them gain entry to the recording studio. According to the Associated Press, Bryant flashed a thumbs up to a person in the courtroom before leaving.

Bryant faces 15 to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder, as well as separate narcotics trafficking and firearms charges to which he already pleaded guilty.

“More than two decades after the cold-blooded, execution-style killing of Mr. Mizell, an exhaustive investigation revealed Bryant’s role and today he finally admitted his guilt,” stated U.S. Atty. Joseph Nocella in a news release.

“Justice in the murder of Jam Master Jay has been pursued with determination and resolve for more than two decades. The defendant’s role in facilitating access for the killers was integral to this crime,” added Bryan DiGirolamo, special agent in charge for ATF New York field division.

Although Mizell’s public persona as the “master of the disco scratch” promoted the wholesome side of hip-hop and encouraged a drug-free lifestyle, officials said he turned to dealing after the group’s heyday had come and gone. According to prosecutors, Mizell became involved in arranging the sale of kilogram-size quantities of cocaine.

In August 2002, Mizell was fronted 10 kilos of cocaine from a supplier. Prosecutors alleged that Jordan Jr. and Washington planned to deal the drugs in Maryland, but a dispute led to the men being cut out of the $200,000 deal.

On Oct. 30, 2002, Mizell was playing video games with a friend inside his Queens, N.Y., recording studio, 24/7. According to prosecutors, around 7:30 p.m., Bryant entered the building containing the recording studio and opened a locked fire escape exit door to allow others to slip in without being seen by Mizell.

Two shots were fired and Mizell was hit once in the head, killing him. The second shot struck another individual in the leg.

ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack on Guyaku village, which lasted several hours.

Armed attackers killed at least 29 people in Guyaku village in Nigeria’s Adamawa State, an attack that lasted several hours and left property destroyed, officials said.

“My heart breaks for the people of Guyaku,” state Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri said in a post on social media as he visited the bereaved community on Monday.

“Today, I stood on the ground where our brothers and sisters were cruelly taken from us. This act of cowardice is an affront to our humanity and will not go unpunished,” he said.

Fintiri also said his administration would continue to support “military and vigilante groups” as it intensified security operations in response to the attack.

The ISIL (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the Telegram messaging app, according to the Reuters and Associate Press (AP) news agencies.

There are two major ISIL-backed armed groups in Nigeria, but it was not immediately clear which one was behind the attack, according to the AP.

The Guyaku attack occurred on the same day that armed attackers raided an orphanage in north-central Nigeria and abducted 23 children.

Fifteen were later rescued, and the government said “intensive operations” were under way to “secure the safe return of the remaining eight victims and apprehend the perpetrators”.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abductions in a region of the country that has seen an increase in kidnappings for ransom.

The statement did not say how old the abducted children are, but the term “pupil”, which the statement had used, in Nigeria usually refers to someone in kindergarten or primary school, covering ages up to 12.

US President Donald Trump and other US conservative voices have accused Nigerian authorities of failing to protect the nation’s Christians from a “Christian genocide“, amid violence from armed groups, including Boko Haram.

The Nigerian government has said that while it wants to do more to protect civilians from ISIL and al-Qaeda affiliated groups, people of all faiths have been killed in attacks, including Muslims and traditional worshippers.

Data from ACLED, a US crisis-monitoring group, found that, out of 1,923 attacks on civilians in Nigeria between January and November 2025, the number of those targeting Christians because of their religion stood at just 50.

US forces launched air strikes on ISIL-affiliated fighters in December, and then deployed 100 soldiers to northern Nigeria in February to train and advise local forces.

WASHINGTON  — A divided Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether the police use of phone tracking data violates the Constitution’s protection against “unreasonable searches.”

Most of the justices sounded wary of barring investigators from obtaining precise location history from Google or cellphone providers if it helps find a murderer or a bank robber.

“I’m trying to figure out why this was bad police work,” Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh told an attorney representing the defendant, Odell Chatrie.

He said a police detective in Virginia was seeking clues to find a bank robber and sought a “geofence warrant” from a judge that told Google to turn over data from phones that were near the bank during the hour of the robbery.

“In the end, he got three names,” Kavanaugh said, including Chatrie, who pleaded guilty. He said these searches have proved to be practical for finding criminals.

But other justices said the court should not rule broadly to endorse digital searches of vast data bases held by private companies.

What about emails or Google photos, asked Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.

All three said this information deserves more privacy protection than location data.

In the past, the court has said the 4th Amendment protects against government searches that intrude upon a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” The two sides in this case differ on whether a digital search of location data violates privacy rights.

Gorsuch said he was generally skeptical of broad searches if the government had no particular suspect.

Is it OK to search “all the rooms in a hotel for a gun or all the storage units or all bank deposit boxes for the pearl necklace that has been stolen?” he asked.

Eric Feigin, a deputy solicitor general, said the government probably could not obtain a search warrant for all storage units or hotel rooms, but a Google search is different because it is a software filter.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. proposed a narrow ruling.

Perhaps unwittingly, Chatrie had agreed to have Google store his location history data. Roberts said he could have turned off the public location data, and for that reason, he may have lost his right to appeal.

“If you don’t want the government to have your location history, you just flip that off,” he said.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. agreed. Chatrie “voluntarily disclosed to Google the information about where he was going to be,” he said.

Eight years ago, Roberts wrote an opinion for a 5-4 majority that said investigators needed a search warrant before they could obtain 127 days of cell tower records that helped convict a Michigan man of several store robberies.

Four of the court’s liberal justices joined that majority, but only two of them — Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — remain on the court.

Since then, Kavanaugh, Barrett and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson have joined the court.

The National Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers and other civil liberties groups backed Chatrie’s challenge to the government’s use of geofence warrants.

Chatrie had “a reasonable expectation of privacy in his location history given both its sensitive and revealing nature and the fact that it was stored in his password-protected account,” Washington attorney Adam Unikowski told the court. “There was not probable cause to search the virtual private papers of every single person within the geofence merely because of their proximity to the crime.”

Feigin, the Justice Department attorney, said a ruling for Chatrie “would impede the investigation of kidnappings, robberies, shootings and other crimes.”

He agreed, however, that email should be protected because it involves personal communication.

The justices will hand down a ruling in Chatrie vs. U.S. by the end of June.

Another episode of the popular show is set to air tonight (April 27)

The BBC’s “best” programme that grips viewers will return to television screens, and it’s coming sooner than you think.

Scam Interceptors is a crime documentary series that first aired on BBC One in 2022, spanning across five series. Hosted by Rav Wilding, each instalment follows experts as they monitor and often intervene in real life fraud to prevent victims losing money.

Viewers will also be able to get their Scam Interceptors fix tonight (April 27) as a chilling episode will be airing at 8.30pm on BBC One. Despite being a repeat episode, the instalment, titled ‘I’ve been scammed 11 times’ will feature a “high octane chase” as well as calls against scammers that are “plaguing lives”.

An official synopsis reads: “Rav Wilding and Nick Stapleton are back, working with ethical hacker Jim Browning to call out the scammers plaguing our lives and prevent people from losing their money.

“In this episode, the team are in a high-octane chase to intercept scammers claiming to be from Sky broadband. They have full access to a woman’s mobile and are only seconds away from transferring her cash. But the scammers are on to us and want answers.”

With a focus on preventing members of the public from falling victim to scams and losing money, the series also aims to expose, intercept and stop scams in real time.

Over the years, the series has become a huge success with viewers as one IMDb user described it as being “Superb, Gripping Public Service Television.” Another said: “You cant beat this show”, adding: “The best show on tv hands down. Suspense and action.”

Over on Instagram, one viewer said: “I think this program is fab but it scares the bejesus out of me to watch it!” Another wrote: “Oh wow. Just got this on my IG page. I didn’t know there was a show doing this. I definitely am going to watch full episodes.”

A third commented: “Absolutely gripping television at its best. The very best by the BBC”, as a fourth added: “This was a great programme!”

Viewers on X also praised the programme as one person wrote: “This show stresses me out #scaminterceptors.” Another said: “Another heart-stopping episode. #ScamInterceptors.”