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Qing dynasty dish linked to Cixi found beneath Barnet family’s sofa
A large Qing dynasty porcelain dish made for Beijing’s Forbidden City has been found beneath a family’s sofa in Barnet and is expected to sell for £20,000 to £30,000 at auction. Its discovery matters because its imperial seal links it to the palace and the court of Empress Dowager Cixi. The 2ft-wide, 30lb dish was…
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Tories axe Environment Agency; realtor arrested in Taiwan spy scandal
The Conservatives plan to scrap the Environment Agency and Natural England as part of a deregulation drive. A California agent has been arrested at LAX accused of spying on Taiwan’s president’s son for Chinese handlers.
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Flydubai co-pilot attacked captain with axe during flight from UAE to Israel
Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar said his co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, asked him to pray before attacking him with the cockpit crash axe during a flight bound for Israel. Passengers and crew helped stop the attempted takeover, and the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Machchhar told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the plane plunged…
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Lidl overtakes Morrisons as sales top £13bn amid price cuts
Lidl GB’s sales have jumped 10% to more than £13 billion in the year ended February 2026, pushing it past Morrisons to become the fifth largest grocer in Great Britain. The German supermarket’s rapid growth reflects continued consumer demand for value amid persistent food inflation, with the retailer investing £315 million in price cuts and…
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Inquest hears alcohol raised co-sleeping risks before baby’s unexplained death
Five-month-old Nancy Hamilton was found unresponsive at home after her mother fell asleep while breastfeeding her in bed. The inquest heard that the mother had consumed five or six glasses of wine the previous day; the coroner said alcohol increases the general risks of co-sleeping, while stressing there was no evidence unsafe sleep practices caused…
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Seven-year-old dies after stabbing in Chicago as bystanders detain suspect
Seven-year-old Edi Mari Hernandez Chacon died after being stabbed in Chicago’s Chatham neighbourhood on Saturday morning. Witnesses described the attack as apparently random, and bystanders pursued and detained the suspected attacker while police were alerted. Edi Mari had been walking hand-in-hand with her older sister when a woman approached them at about 11.55am and attacked…
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Griffith rules out immediate inheritance tax cut if Tories return to power
The Conservative Party’s shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, has admitted his party will not immediately reduce inheritance tax if it returns to power. Griffith said any tax cuts or spending pledges would only be implemented once he could demonstrate how they would be funded, effectively tempering expectations set by party leader Kemi Badenoch, who has signalled…
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John Malkovich plays record-shunning conductor Sergiu Celibidache in biopic
This is a biopic about Sergiu Celibidache, the Romanian conductor who famously refused to allow any recordings of his music, a conviction rooted in Zen Buddhist philosophy. Directed by Celibidache’s own son, it charts his rise to principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1945 and his subsequent wandering musical career, all driven by his…
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Businessman ordered to tear down his huge ‘football director’s box’ extension fails in bid to stop demolition as planning bosses dismiss his appeal
Mani Singh must demolish or alter a large extension built without planning permission at his home in Sutton Coldfield after a planning inspector dismissed his appeal. The decision matters to nearby residents, who objected to the structure’s appearance and its effect on their gardens and the character of the street. The extension includes a loft…
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Dozens of villagers are threatening to ‘sell up and move’ as they fear the arrival of more than 1,000 migrants who could soon be housed in nearby RAF base
Residents of Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire say uncertainty over plans to house asylum seekers at a former RAF base is prompting some to consider leaving or sell their homes. The Government has not decided whether the site is suitable, but villagers and campaigners say the proposal is already affecting confidence in the area and the…