Stories

At Preston Crown Court, Jamie Varley, 32, who is accused of murdering and sexually assaulting his 13-month-old adopted son Preston Davey, was heard on body-worn footage saying 'I'm definitely going to Hell' as he held the baby after life support was ceased at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on July 27, 2023, with a post-mortem finding 40 separate internal and external injuries.

In a MetroTalk letters roundup published on May 6, 2026, readers discuss Keir Starmer's alleged plan to pay £1 billion a year for closer EU trading links ahead of the May 2026 local elections, Andrew Neil's restaurant tipping controversy from April 29, utility company roadworks disruption during holiday weekends, and the symbolic snooker match where Iranian Hossein Vafaei beat world No. 1 Judd Trump amid US-Iran tensions.

Jagger Strang, 18, from Stafford, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to possessing gunpowder and thermite and making threats to kill peers at Stafford College and set off a bomb there in September 2025, and will be sentenced on June 29, 2026 at Birmingham Crown Court.

The UK National Lottery is urgently appealing for four winners across England and Wales to claim prizes totaling over £1.5m, including a £1m EuroMillions Millionaire Maker prize (code JLZG97793) from a March 13, 2026 draw purchased in Hartlepool, a £177k EuroMillions prize from January 16, 2026 purchased in Watford, a £112k EuroMillions prize from December 12, 2025 purchased in Powys, and a £120k Set For Life prize from April 2, 2026 purchased in Croydon, with deadlines ranging from June 10 to September 29, 2026.

Pub landlord Anthony Wiazcek, 65, was convicted at Burnley Magistrates' Court of selling five pints of lager to 16-year-old Hector Eccles at Roggerham Gate pub near Burnley on March 30, 2024; Eccles later died in a quad bike crash, and Wiazcek was fined £660 with his alcohol licence suspended for three months.

The Arizona House of Representatives rejected a GOP-backed bill creating a class 1 misdemeanor for 'unlawful alerting'—warning others about impending immigration arrests—by a 29-22 vote, one shy of passage; Rep. Cody Reim of Scottsdale flipped his vote to enable future reconsideration, but the bill cannot be revived for at least four weeks as lawmakers recess until June 1 amid a budget stalemate with Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, who is expected to veto it.

Newcastle Green Party withdrew endorsements for candidates Philip Brookes (Manor Park) and Mohammed Suleman (Arthur's Hill) on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, amid allegations of antisemitic social media posts, including an image branding Israel 'a bunch of Polish, Russian, Hungarian terrorists killing Palestinian people for 76 years' and a reposted TikTok video claiming Jewish POWs buried Soviet prisoners alive; the party had also previously withdrawn support for candidate Tina Ion (Blakelaw and Cowgate), though all three will still appear as Greens on ballot papers on Thursday, May 7.

The Partnership for Public Service is awarding only four Sammies in 2026, down from 23 in 2025 and 25 in 2024, after receiving just 140 nominations from 39 agencies amid the Trump administration's cuts that eliminated over 300,000 federal jobs through layoffs, deferred resignations, and agency closures including USAID.

Thirteen Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department officers, including high-ranking officials, were suspended on Tuesday by interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll following an internal investigation into crime statistic manipulation, a scandal also investigated by Congress, the U.S. Attorney's Office (headed by Jeanine Pirro), and the District's inspector general.

In the 'Inside AfD' podcast, POLITICO's Pauline von Pezold and WELT's Frederik Schindler critique the soft interview of AfD figure Björn Höcke on 'ungeskriptet by Ben' (reaching millions), analyze René Springer's welfare plan (massive cuts for non-Germans, mandatory civic labor), and discuss Rhineland-Palatinate's post-election raising of investigative committee thresholds.

A Black woman and NHS administrator suffered a major stroke at age 24 in July 2019, three months after giving birth, went into cardiac arrest twice, and now volunteers with Different Strokes' Black and Asian Stroke Survivors Project after new King's College London research showed stroke incidences are 131% higher in Black African and 100% higher in Black Caribbean populations compared to white counterparts.

The M8 motorway westbound between Junctions 4A and 5 near Harthill fully reopened by 5am on Wednesday after overnight emergency repairs by BEAR Scotland following an HGV bridge strike that detached multiple steel cross beams, requiring re-welding, bolting, and installation of four new beams.

Argos is offering a two for £20 promotion on 60 Nintendo Switch games with free next-day delivery, and new TopCashback members can get two titles for £4.75 (effectively £2.39 per game) before the deal ends.

A 17-year-old girl is in critical condition with life-threatening injuries after a vehicle crashed on Walker Fold Road in north Bolton at around 6:30pm on Tuesday, May 5, 2025, following a brief police pursuit that began when the car activated an ANPR camera; a 17-year-old boy driver was arrested on suspicion of multiple offences including aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving causing serious injury, assaulting an emergency worker, possession of a bladed article, and possession of a controlled drug, while two other passengers aged 19 and 18 were also arrested.

Hamleys, the iconic 1760-founded toy store, will open two new pop-up stores in London — one at Liverpool Street Station (500+ sq ft, opening early May 2026) and another at Heathrow Terminal 2 (1000 sq ft, opening mid-June 2026).

A March 30, 2026 article published a correction stating the RAC advised drivers to depart early on Thursday before Easter to avoid road congestion, not to fuel up before 10am as originally misreported.

NRCC Chair Richard Hudson urged voters to ignore high gas prices and criticism of the Iran war, claiming Republicans have brought prices down from $9/gallon, while also celebrating a Supreme Court ruling on Louisiana's racial gerrymander and suggesting states delay primaries to redraw maps ahead of the 2026 House elections.

Over a year after Trump's Liberation Day tariffs (a blanket 10% levy plus country-specific duties), Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi reports the tariffs have done significant damage to the US economy, with $195 billion in revenue generated in FY2025, the Supreme Court ruling in February that Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, and the Tax Foundation finding the levies will cost the average household $1,300 more this year.

On May 3, 2026, 16-year-old tourist Liu fell to her death from a cliff swing at Maliuyan Waterfall in Huayin, southwestern China, after repeatedly telling staff her safety rope was 'not tight enough'; the rope snapped as she left the platform, and local authorities have classified it as a production safety responsibility accident with the scenic area closed until May 10.

A study by University of Edinburgh and UK Dementia Research Institute researchers published on Wednesday analyzing 229 patients found lacunar strokes, affecting about 35,000 people annually in the UK, are caused by enlargement and widening of brain arteries rather than fatty blockages, explaining why aspirin and blood thinners are ineffective as treatment.