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    A Canadian woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by British sailors has filed a lawsuit against the UK government, arguing that it is vicariously liable for any harm caused by its employees. The lawsuit stems from a 2015 incident in Shearwater, Nova Scotia, in which four members of the British Navy were charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm. Charges were later dropped against one of the men, due to a lack of sufficient evidence. In 2017 charges were withdrawn against another of the accused after a judge ruled that his nearly one and half hour wait to see a lawyer had violated his rights. The two remaining men, Darren Smalley, 37, and Simon Radford,33, will face a criminal trial in Nova Scotia in September. None of the allegations have been proven i...

    That was the scene I encountered when I was sent into the blazing inferno of the Grenfell Tower fire. Outside it had been loud and chaotic like a war zone, but inside it was quiet. And the reason soon became apparent our radios weren't working and we had lost all communication. It felt like we were very much alone. We couldn't radio back to let our crews know where we were, what we were doing, if we had done the job we had been sent up there to do. So if any of us were in trouble, we had no way of communicating that back. We couldn't see much. Everywhere we went it was filled with smoke you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. Everything about our training is teamwork and communications. We talk to each other, we talk to the outside, communicatio...

    Theresa May today plunged into the gravest battle with Russia since the Cold War as she unveiled a hardline response to the reckless and despicable attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal. The Prime Minister announced 23 diplomats would be expelled as she condemned the nerve agent poisoning in a damning House of Commons statement. Her move is set to prompt furious retaliation by the Kremlin. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared today: Britain has continued to stage a political performance. Without concrete facts, it is a flagrant attempt to mislead the international community to which we will have to respond. Moscow flagrantly ignored a deadline of midnight last night to explain how Skripal, 66, his daughter Yulia, 33, and bystanders including DS Nick Bailey were hit ...

    Rushanara Ali MP Four Labour MPs have now received suspect packages or anti-Muslim letters in Parliament within 48 hours, as police investigate a potential link. Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq and Manchester Gorton MP Afzhal Khan were both sent suspicious items on Tuesday. Ms Huq revealed one of her staff members was sent to hospital after handling an irritant substance but was later discharged. Meanwhile, Mr Khan's parliamentary office was evacuated due to an unopened suspicious package that was later found to pose no risk. Both MPs spoke of a pattern of Islamophobic behaviour behind the incidents. It comes after two people were sent to hospital as a precaution on Monday as police assessed a package sent to the office of their Labour colleague Mohammad Yas...

    Scientist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76, a spokesman for his family has said. Professor Hawking's children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement that he had died at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday. They said: We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love. We will miss him forever. They asked for privacy but added their thanks to everyone who has been by Professor Hawking's side and supported him throughout his life. The world ...

    Counter terrorism police have launched an investigation into the ‘unexplained’ death of a Russian business partner of Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Putin’s arch enemy. Nikolai Grushkov, 69, was found dead at his home in New Malden in south London on Monday evening. Grushkov was the closest aide to Berezovsky who died in mysterious circumstances in 2013 at his home in Surrey. The death of Grushkov just eight days after the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal, the Russian double agent who sold state secrets to MI6, will cause alarm although Scotland yard has insisted there is no evidence to suggest the two incidents are linked. Friends of Berezovsky insist he was murdered on president Putin’s order. The metropolitan Police said in a statement issued on Tuesday af...

    A man is facing a lengthy jail sentence after he admitted choking a woman to death as they had sex after they met at the end of a night out. Mark Bruce, 32, killed 20-year-old Chloe Miazek at his flat in Aberdeen in the early hours of 3 November last year. Chloe, from Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, was waiting at a bus stop after she had been thrown out of a nightclub for being drunk eight days before her 21st birthday. There, she met Bruce, and they went back to his flat after discovering a shared interest in ‘erotic asphyxiation’, the High Court in Aberdeen was told. The court heard how Chloe died ‘in seconds’ after Bruce seized her neck while they had sex. The 20-year-old died ‘in seconds’, a court was told (Police Scotland) CCTV later captured Bruce wandering the st...