Author: Lucas Bennett

A photograph showing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Peter Mandelson seated alongside convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has emerged from a vast archive of documents published by the United States Department of Justice — marking the first time all three men have been pictured together. The image, believed to date from between 1999 and 2000, shows the trio at an outdoor wooden deck table, with American flag-patterned mugs visible in front of them. ITV News reported the photograph was taken at Martha’s Vineyard. No formal location or timestamp is included in the DOJ files themselves. The presence of individuals in the documents…

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has put fuel retailers on notice that the government will not allow companies to exploit rising oil prices for profit, as the Competition and Markets Authority is placed on high alert ahead of a crunch meeting with the industry on Friday.Miliband and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are set to sit down with petrol retailers later today, with officials preparing to warn the sector that unjustifiable price rises will face scrutiny from the competition watchdog. The move comes after the Chancellor this week highlighted a stark variation in forecourt prices, with petrol ranging from £1.27 to £1.80 per…

Four members of a US military KC-135 refuelling aircraft have been killed after the plane crashed in western Iraq, bringing the total American death toll in the ongoing war with Iran to 11, US Central Command has confirmed.The crash occurred at around 14:00 ET on Thursday during active US operations against Iran. A second aircraft involved in the same incident landed safely. Centcom said neither hostile nor friendly fire had caused the crash, though the circumstances remain under investigation. Iran’s military claimed on state television that an allied group had brought the plane down with a missile.The KC-135 Stratotanker, built…

A large-scale police operation across parts of Liverpool has resulted in 237 arrests and the seizure of weapons, drugs and tens of thousands of pounds in cash following a week of raids involving around 300 officers.Operation Vanguard, led by Merseyside Police, targeted Anfield and surrounding areas with teams drawn from specialist units including Matrix, County Lines, dog handlers, mounted police and underwater search teams. Officers executed 36 warrants during the first wave of activity, working from a list of 46 named suspects.Among those arrested, offences included possession and supply of Class A and B drugs, drug driving and carrying offensive…

Sir Keir Starmer has publicly admitted that appointing Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States was a mistake, offering a direct apology to victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a political row over the handling of related documents intensified. Speaking on Thursday during a visit to Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister said: “It was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein, and I do that.” The admission came after the government released due diligence files on Wednesday showing Starmer was warned before confirming the appointment in December…

India has moved to deepen its energy ties with Russia after state-owned oil company ONGC’s overseas investment arm secured a significant share in one of Siberia’s most productive oil fields. OVL, the international investment division of India’s ONGC, has agreed to purchase a 15 percent stake in the Vankor field in Russia’s far east for a reported $1.2 billion. The field is the second largest in Russia and had until this point been developed exclusively by the Russian state energy company Rosneft. Political backing for the acquisition was reportedly granted at the recent BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit held…

A new daily pill to treat menopausal hot flushes and night sweats is now available on the NHS in England, offering an alternative for the hundreds of thousands of women for whom hormone replacement therapy is not suitable. The drug, called Veoza — also known by its clinical name fezolinetant — works by blocking the nerve pathways in the brain responsible for triggering hot flushes and night sweats. Unlike HRT, it contains no hormones, making it an option for women who cannot take hormonal treatments due to underlying health conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, known as…

Canada has passed sweeping new anti-terrorism legislation that significantly expands the powers of its intelligence services and places new restrictions on speech both online and in print — drawing comparisons to measures introduced in the United States following the September 11 attacks. Bill C-51, which became law in June despite sustained opposition from civil liberties groups, makes it a criminal offence to encourage terrorism or distribute terrorist propaganda. It also grants the government authority to remove material it classifies as propaganda from the internet and dramatically expands the operational powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, known as CSIS. Under…

A non-psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis may have the ability to speed up and strengthen the healing of broken bones, according to new research from Tel Aviv University. Scientists injected rats with cannabidiol — commonly known as CBD — following mid-femoral fractures and found that after just eight weeks the compound had significantly enhanced the healing process. Crucially, the effect was present even when CBD was administered without tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis more commonly known as THC. The study tested two groups of rats — one receiving CBD alone and another receiving a combination of CBD and THC.…

If your office always feels freezing, there may be a scientific reason behind it — and a new study suggests the problem has been built into the system from the start. Research has found that climate control systems in office buildings were designed around a formula based on male thermal comfort, leaving women consistently colder and wasting significant amounts of energy in the process. The study highlights that heat exchange between the body and its environment depends on several individual factors including body size, surface area, metabolic rate, tissue insulation and clothing. Because these vary between individuals, no single office…