Author: James Grant

Two men from Islington have been charged in connection with a ram raid at a luxury fashion store in central London, during which handbags worth up to £30,000 each were stolen. Ryan Brough, 32, of Courtney Road, and Max Tyson, 25, of St Peter’s Street, are due to appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Both have been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary between November last year and January 2026. The pair were arrested on Friday, the same day thieves used a black SUV to smash through the window of the Yves Saint Laurent store on Old…

Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino has described his officers as “the victims” following the fatal shooting of a legally armed ICU nurse during a confrontation on the streets of Minneapolis. Alex Pretti, 37, was shot dead by federal agents in broad daylight on Saturday morning near Glam Doll Donuts at 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara later confirmed that Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit and had no serious criminal history beyond some parking tickets. Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Bovino was pressed by presenter Dana Bash over the circumstances of the shooting.…

Residents of a quiet East Sussex town say they are living in a “state of complete fear and terror” after asylum seekers began arriving at a former army barracks, as thousands gathered for the largest demonstration since the first migrants were moved in. Crowds descended on Crowborough on Saturday morning, waving Union Jacks, St George’s Crosses and Sussex flags while chanting “Keir Starmer’s traitor” and “Who’s streets? Our streets.” Protesters assembled at the gates of the camp at around 10am before marching into the town centre. The demonstration follows the arrival of 27 asylum seekers at Crowborough Army Camp at…

Counter-terrorism operations, fraud investigations and serious organised crime units are to be brought together under a single national police force in what ministers are calling the most significant reform of British policing in a generation. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will set out plans on Monday for a new National Police Service, which will operate across England and Wales with its own uniform and be headed by a national commissioner who will become the country’s most senior police officer. The restructuring will see multiple agencies and functions currently spread across different forces consolidated into one organisation. Counter-terrorism responsibilities, presently managed by…

Federal law enforcement officers have been involved in another shooting in Minneapolis, prompting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to demand the President immediately withdraw agents from the state. The incident took place on Saturday morning in the area of 26th Street West and Nicollet Avenue. Minneapolis city officials confirmed they were aware of reports and said they were working to establish further details. It is the second shooting involving federal agents in the city in recent weeks, following a fatal incident involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Governor Walz confirmed he had spoken with the White House following the shooting.…

A forthcoming book argues that William Shakespeare was not the true author of the works attributed to him, claiming instead that the plays and poems were written by a black Jewish woman of Moroccan descent. Feminist historian and LSE graduate Irene Coslet makes the case in her upcoming publication, ‘The Real Shakespeare: Emilia Bassano Willoughby’, that a woman named Emilia Bassano was the real figure behind the famous literary canon. According to Coslet, Bassano was born in London in 1569 to a Venetian court musician. Following her father’s death when she was seven, she was fostered into an English noble…

Physicists have demonstrated that quantum computers can crack a problem that is fundamentally impossible for classical systems — and the solution relies on a phenomenon Albert Einstein once dismissed as “spooky action at a distance.” Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Hunter College of CUNY showed that quantum entanglement can substitute for physical labels when determining whether rearranging a set of particles requires an even or odd number of swaps. Classical systems cannot perform this task unless every particle is marked with a unique identifier. With four particles, four distinct labels are needed. But qubits — the quantum…

Scientists have analysed 140 million galaxies across six billion years of cosmic history in the most comprehensive study yet of the mysterious force accelerating the expansion of the universe. The Dark Energy Survey collaboration released results from its complete six-year dataset, producing constraints on how the universe behaves that are more than twice as strong as previous analyses. Dark energy accounts for approximately 70 per cent of the universe’s total content, yet remains one of the most poorly understood phenomena in physics. The findings largely support the standard model of cosmology, in which dark energy density remains constant over time.…

EasyJet is creating 130 jobs in the North East after announcing Newcastle as its newest UK base, with the first flights to Rome and Lisbon launching within months. The budget carrier confirmed the expansion will support around 1,200 jobs across the UK in total, while bringing two sought-after European destinations to the region for the first time in easyJet’s network. Lisbon is an entirely new route from Newcastle Airport, with officials confirming strong customer demand had driven the decision. Rome Fiumicino will provide a second Italian connection from the North East. Both services go on sale today, with one-way fares…

Londoners can travel for free on a new express bus service for the next seven days after Transport for London launched the SL11 Superloop this weekend. Pay as you go passengers using Oyster or contactless cards will not be charged during the promotional period, though they must still tap in when boarding. The SL11 connects North Greenwich and Abbey Wood, replacing the 472 bus which ran its final journey this weekend after serving the route for years. However, passengers will notice a significant change. As a Superloop service, the SL11 skips most of the stops previously served by the 472.…