A serious collision on the M23 has forced the northbound carriageway to close this morning, causing long tailbacks near Gatwick Airport.The crash occurred shortly after 5.30am on Thursday, April 2, between junction 10 for Crawley and junction 9 for Gatwick.Multiple vehicles are believed to be involved. Emergency crews are at the scene working to make the area safe, while traffic officers and...

A Paris court has sentenced Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in prison after finding him guilty of raping three women.The verdict follows a separate conviction in Switzerland two years earlier for a different sexual assault.The case in France surfaced in 2017 amid the wider Me Too movement, when two of the three complainants first went public. The women said the assaults took place in...

Russia carried out an unprecedented drone offensive against Ukraine, firing 948 unmanned aircraft over a single 24‑hour period, Ukrainian authorities said.The country's Air Force reported 556 drones were launched from 09:00 local time in a rare daytime wave of strikes that struck cities across Ukraine.Officials said many machines were intercepted, but several made direct hits that caused deaths...

Four Syrian nationals have been detained in Germany after coordinated raids aimed at a criminal network that supplies boats and equipment for crossings of the English Channel.Police in North Rhine‑Westphalia seized inflatable boats, an engine, petrol cans, life jackets and boxes of tyre inner tubes during Wednesday’s early‑morning searches.The action follows a joint probe led by the UK’s...

Larry Fink, chief executive of asset manager BlackRock, warned that oil at around $150 a barrel would likely push the global economy into a deep downturn.He told the BBC that if tensions with Iran persist and energy prices remain elevated, the fallout would be severe for growth and living standards.Fink, who runs a firm with about $14 trillion under management, outlined two broad paths for the...

Russian forces launched an unprecedented daytime drone assault across western Ukraine on Tuesday, hitting multiple cities and damaging a historic monument.Local officials in Lviv said the 16th-century Bernardine monastery, a UNESCO-listed landmark, sustained damage.Video shared by authorities shows flames spreading through the roof of a nearby residential building. The drone wave also struck...

CCTV footage has captured people approaching ambulances shortly before several vehicles serving a Jewish community were set alight in north London.The Metropolitan Police say the incident, which damaged four Hatzola ambulances, is being investigated as an antisemitic hate crime.Fire crews were called to Highfield Road in Golders Green at about 01:40 GMT after reports of the blaze. The London...

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides has called for a frank review of the UK’s two sovereign military bases on the island, saying their presence is a legacy of colonial rule and needs to be discussed once tensions in the Middle East ease.The bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia were established under the 1960 treaty that granted Cyprus independence, with Britain retaining sovereignty over roughly...

Crown Princess Mette-Marit has agreed to speak publicly about her contacts with the late Jeffrey Epstein in an interview due to air on NRK on Friday.The conversation, filmed at the couple’s Skaugum residence alongside Crown Prince Haakon, comes as her son’s high-profile trial reaches its conclusion.Marius Borg Høiby’s seven-week trial in Oslo District Court began in February and has drawn...

A ceremonial sword tied to the incident that left Ed Sheeran bleeding has reappeared as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shifts his belongings from Royal Lodge to a new Norfolk home.The blade is believed to be part of the controversial royal's private collection, and its possible transfer has reignited interest in the bizarre party moment when Sheeran was cut just inches from his right eye.Reports say...