Day: October 9, 2017

    An Isis supporter who tried to make a bomb in his parents house after being bedroom radicalised by propaganda has been jailed for life. Zahid Hussain’s device was intended to cause a significant explosion and could have killed dozens of people, a judge told Winchester Crown Court. If detonated in a crowded area it would have been potentially fatal to those within metres of it and would have potentially caused serious injury among those up to 10 metres away, Mr Justice Sweeney said. Hussain’s pressure cooker device was would not have worked but the jury heard he was strongly committed to launching a deadly attack, packing the bomb with 1.6kg of shrapnel. The 29-year-old, from Birmingham, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years for preparing for acts of terrorism...

    North Korea is being closely watched amid fears it could launch another long-range missile test on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the founding of its ruling party. Bellicose rhetoric from Donald Trump has heightened tensions in the region in recent months, prompting British officials to draw up military plans for a response to a break out of hostilities, it was reported. Among the plans disclosed by the Daily Mail is the deployment of the Navy's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, before it has undergone flight trials. We have plenty of ships to send… the Type-45 destroyers, the Type-23 frigates. Britain’s new aircraft carrier could be pressed into service early if things turn south, a senior Whitehall source told the newspaper. HMS Queen Elizabeth, which arr...

    The Foreign Secretary reacted to articles in the Daily Telegraph and The Sun claiming Mr Johnson was calling for Chancellor Philip Hammond to be sacked and would refuse to leave his post if he was demoted by Theresa May. In a WhatsApp message to Conservative MPs, he wrote: "I am frankly fed up to the back teeth with all this. Heseltine: I would put Boris in Mongolia I do not know who these people are. I do not know if they are really my friends and allies or if they represent some sinister band of imposters. I heartily disagree with the sense, tone and spirit of what they are quoted as saying. Whoever they are they do not speak for me. The Prime Minister has come under pressure to sack both Mr Johnson and Mr Hammond as she tries to reassert her authority over the Tory part...

    Thousands of shops are likely to ignore the Royal Mint’s deadline next Sunday to stop accepting the old £1 coins. A trade organisation, which represents 170,000 firms, has advised its members to continue taking the coin as the changeover period with the new coins has been so short. Mike Cherry, the national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses , said small businesses had embraced the new £1 coin as an invaluable way to reduce counterfeits. Many had modified coin-operated equipment while others have separated out millions of old coins to be melted down. “But the changeover period has been fairly short,” he said. “While no business is obliged to accept the old coins beyond the deadline, it would help if small firms knew they were allowed a short transition period t...