A cordon is in place at the Lidl in Seaward Way, Minehead after a man in his 30s suddenly died – police have now launched an investigation

Police have launched an investigation after a man died suddenly outside a Lidl supermarket in Somerset.

A cordon is in place at the Lidl in Seaward Way, Minehead after paramedics gave emergency treatment to a man in his 30s.

The South Western Ambulance Service called Avon and Somerset Police to the scene shortly before 5am today. Despite the efforts of the emergency services, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Avon and Somerset Police say his death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. The man has been formally identified and his next of kin have been informed.

A spokesperson for the force said there will be a heightened police presence in the area throughout the day while further enquiries are carried out, Somerset Live reports.

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Avon and Somerset Police said: “A scene is in place in Seaward Way, in Minehead, this morning (Saturday 16 May).

“We were called just before 5am by the ambulance service who were administering treatment to a man in his thirties. Sadly, despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. His death is currently being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.

“Formal identification has taken place and his next of kin has been informed. Our thoughts are with them during this incredibly difficult time and they are being offered support.

“Members of the public can expect to see a heightened police presence throughout the day while enquiries are carried out.

“If you were in the area and witnessed anything, please call us on 101 and quote reference 5226134077.”

The arrest came shortly after law enforcement agencies released details of 12 fugitives believed to be living in Spain under false identities or within expatriate communities.

Simon Dutton, aged 49 and from Bolton, was arrested in La Nucía near Benidorm on Thursday, May 14.

He had been named as one of the most wanted fugitives linked to Spain, with authorities warning the public that the individuals “are not the people you want in your neighbourhood”.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the operation is part of a wider, long-running effort to trace suspects believed to be evading justice overseas.

Rob Jones, NCA Director General of Operations, said: “Fugitives rarely stop offending while on the run.

Simon Dutton, a wanted criminal thought to be hiding in Spain who is named in the latest list under Operation Captura. (Image: NCA/PA Wire)

“They continue to harm communities in both Spain and the UK, and attempt to stay under the radar by blending into large British ex-pat populations.

“These are not people you want in your neighbourhood.”

He added that suspects “will generally integrate themselves into these communities” and use them to avoid detection while continuing to offend.

The agency said some fugitives use false identities and, in some cases, change their appearance in an attempt to avoid being recognised.

Authorities believe many continue criminal activity while on the run, including drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering across borders.

Dutton had previously been sentenced for organising large-scale cocaine importations into the UK and money laundering offences.

He was also wanted over alleged false passport offences and breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

he 12 most wanted criminals thought to be hiding in Spain who are named in the latest list under Operation Captura. (Image: NCA)

One interception linked to the investigation was valued at around £1.5 million, according to the National Crime Agency.

The wider appeal forms part of Operation Captura, which has been running for 20 years and has led to numerous arrests of suspects believed to be in Spain.

Officials say that since the campaign began, 11 public appeals have resulted in 98 arrests out of the 111 fugitives identified.

In the past year alone, 56 suspects have been extradited back to the UK from Spain as part of ongoing cooperation between police forces.

Members of the public are being urged not to approach suspects but to report any information anonymously to Crimestoppers.

Tonight the final of the Eurovision Song Contest will get underway in Vienna, but several countries have been noticeably absent this time around.

Last year, five countries – Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia – announced they were boycotting the event due to Israel’s ongoing inclusion.

Over the past few years, the European Broadcasting Union has faced increasing pressure to disqualify Israel from the contest given the current genocide in Gaza.

Late last year, there was also a vote by EBU members on measures to prevent political interference and fraudulent votes, which followed scrutiny of Israel’s public vote in last year’s contest.

At the time of announcing their exit from Eurovision, Ireland’s RTÉ said it felt that its ‘participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk’.

This week, it was also revealed that the broadcaster will instead air an old Eurovision-themed episode of Father Ted, while broadcasters of other boycotting countries were also refusing to air the contest. Here’s the latest update on the 2026 Eurovision boycott.

Which countries are boycotting Eurovision?

In December last year the EBU conducted a vote that gave Israel the green light to compete in this year’s Eurovision, which begins in Vienna, Austria, tonight.

However soon after, Ireland, Spain Slovenia and the Netherlands confirmed they would boycott the event on account of Israel’s inclusion.

As the deadline for participation in the contest counted down, Iceland also confirmed last minute it was also pulling out.

Why are they boycotting?

Even before the EBU vote, RTÉ announced its plans for a boycott, saying it would not take part ‘if the participation of Israel goes ahead’.

In a statement, the broadcaster said it would be ‘unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza’.

‘It is RTÉ’s position that Ireland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, if the participation of Israel goes ahead, and the final decision regarding Ireland’s participation will be made once the EBU’s decision is made,’ its statement continued.

‘RTÉ is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages.’

In May, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had also called on Israel to withdraw, saying it should be held to the same standards over the war in Gaza as Russia has been over the invasion of Ukraine. Within days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it was banned from Eurovision.

In December Spain – one of the contest’s so-called ‘Big Five’ as it is one of the largest financial contributors to the EBU – announced it was boycotting.

A few months earlier Spanish broadcaster RTVE held a vote in which its board members approved a boycott if Israel was allowed to participate, which happened on the same day as a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Explaining the decision, RTVE’s president José Pablo López, said the broadcasters who fund the EBU and thus Eurovision ‘shared a collective responsibility’.

‘While Israel has regularly participated in the competition, the current events and the genocide currently taking place make it impossible for us to look the other way,’ he said.

‘It is not accurate to claim that Eurovision is merely an apolitical music festival. We are all aware that the contest carries significant political implications. The Israeli government is equally aware of this fact and leverages the event on the international stage.’

Slovenia’s national broadcaster RTV also issued a statement saying it would boycott ‘on behalf of the 20,000 children and 250 journalists who died in Gaza’.

‘We are a public broadcaster, and we must uphold high ethical values. We made our decision out of respect for the people of Gaza. History will prove we stood on the right side, we believe that,’ RTV board chair Natalija Gorscak said.

When announcing its plans to boycott in September, Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros said it could no longer justify Israel’s inclusion ‘given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza’ and the ‘serious erosion of press freedom’.

‘Human suffering, the suppression of press freedom and political interference are at odds with the values of public broadcasting,’ it added.

Meanwhile Iceland’s broadcaster RUV said the following when announcing it would also not be participating this year: ‘It is clear from the public debate in this country and the reaction to the EBU’s decision last week that there will be neither joy nor peace regarding RUV’s participation.’

Although these five countries have boycotted Eurovision, Germany previously said it would pull out of the event if Israel was barred, while this year’s host country Austria have also supported its ongoing inclusion.

Meanwhile a BBC spokesperson previously said of the EBU vote: ‘We support the collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive.’

What do they plan to show instead?

Since announcing their boycotts, three countries that have bowed out of Eurovision this year have also confirmed they won’t be broadcasting the contest at all.

On Thursday, instead of showing the Second Semi-Final, RTÉ showed a special episode of the travel show The End of the World with Beanz featuring former Eurovision champion Niamh Kavanagh.

In place of Saturday’s live final, it will also air a 1996 episode of Father Ted centred around the Eurovision Song Contest.

Meanwhile, RTV Slovenia director Ksenija Horvat told The Associated Press: ‘We will not be broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest. We will be airing the film series Voices of Palestine, featuring Palestinian documentaries and feature films.’

Spain’s RTVE will run its own musical special, titled The House of Music.

Despite not taking part, the Netherlands and Iceland will still air Eurovision 2026.

Aside from the five public broadcasters around Europe boycotting the contest, in recent weeks an open letter that was signed by over 1000 musicians including Kneecap, Massive Attack and Paloma Faith also called for fans to boycott.

‘As musicians and cultural workers, many living within the reaches of the [EBU], we reject Eurovision being used to whitewash and normalise Israel’s genocide, siege and brutal military occupation against Palestinians,’ the letter, organised by No Music for Genocide and the BDS movement, said.

‘We stand in solidarity with Palestinian calls for public broadcasters, performers, screening party organisers, crew, and fans to boycott Eurovision until the EBU bans complicit Israeli broadcaster KAN.’

Last year the winner of 2024’s contest, Switzerland’s Nemo, pledged to return the trophy in protest over Israel’s continued participation. This action was followed by Irish artist Charlie McGettigan, who won in 1994.

Following the EBU’s vote in December, Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcome the news of his country’s ongoing participation, posting on social media: ‘Israel deserves to be represented on every stage around the world, a cause to which I am fully and actively committed.’

Meanwhile Eurovision director Martin Green has said in respect to the five boycotting countries: ‘All of us here respect their position and decision. We will continue to work with them as friends and colleagues in the hope they return to the contest soon.’

Although three countries will be returning to Eurovision in 2026 – Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania – the 35 entrants mark the lowest number since 2004.

The Eurovision final will air at 8pm tonight on BBC One

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He is very familiar with Swiss sensitivity, and shame, over its role in World War Two, when Jewish refugees were turned away at the border, while Swiss banks kept the money of Jewish families who later died in Nazi concentration camps. “It is a problem for a democratic state that these files are still closed,” Tanner argues.

They say their attempts at contacting landlord Touchstone over the fault have been ignored.

Disabled residents in a Glasgow flat block have told how they were left “trapped in their homes” for months after a flood broke their lift.

Tenants at Thread Court in Bridgeton say they have been unable to leave their properties due to the broken lift, which has been out of action since February 10. They claim a burst pipe caused the lift to break.

They say their attempts at contacting landlord Touchstone over the fault have been ignored. Touchstone has since apologised for its lack of communication with tenants.

Keira Thorburn-Scott, a disabled tenant living on the fourth floor, says she has found it increasingly difficult to leave her home due to being unable to walk up and down the stairs.

She told Glasgow Live: “The lack of repairs from Touchstone has completely disrupted my life. I have fibromyalgia and suffer from bad flare-ups of pain in my joints. When we moved into the flat the fact it was accessible was ideal – especially on bad flare days. However, living on the fourth floor without a working lift has made it incredibly difficult for me to leave my home.

“I feel trapped – I recently wasn’t able to leave the flat for seven days due to my pain and not being able to navigate the stairs. I’ve tried reaching out for help multiple times, but nothing has been done and Touchstone never reply to my emails. During all of this, they have increased our rent despite not communicating about repairs for essential services.”

Margaret Welsh, another resident in the development and member of Living Rent, said: “I have been living in this property since September 2024 and have had nothing but issues. All emails and phone calls are completely ignored by Touchstone. Our rent has gone up twice, yet we are not being provided with basic services like a working lift.

“Any email I have sent, Touchstone goes unanswered for months, and I feel totally let down and stuck. I’ve just given up trying to contact them at this point. It makes me wonder why I even pay rent.”

Other residents on the ground floor of the building say they were left without carpets after the pipe burst, but Touchstone says all flood-related repairs, including carpet replacement, have been completed this week.

A spokesperson for Touchstone said: “We met with residents from Thread Court this week to listen to their concerns directly. We’re very sorry for the disruption caused by the flood in February and recognise it has taken too long to resolve some issues. We know this has been frustrating, and our communication should have been much better. We have committed to improving how we keep residents informed moving forwards.

“All flood-related repairs to the three affected homes and communal areas have now been completed, and we’re working quickly to finish a small number of unrelated issues. The lift has required specialist repairs following significant water damage, with contractors attending to restore service today.

“We will continue to support residents, including considering compensation on a case-by-case basis and helping those with additional needs. Rent levels remain in line with tenancy agreements and below local market benchmarks, and we will support any residents with affordability concerns.”

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The area remains cordoned off.

A lane in the city centre of Glasgow has been taped off by police after a reported rape.

Police were alerted to the attack on West Regent Lane at 2am on Saturday, May 16. Officers say inquiries into the incident are ongoing and are currently at an early stage.

The area remains cordoned off.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received a report of a serious sexual assault which happened around 2am in the West Regent Lane area of Glasgow on Saturday, May 16. Inquiries are at an early stage.”

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Belfast Live understands that a second football team fell victim to the alleged fraud earlier this week

Police are investigating allegations of fraud linked to a Northern Irish coach firm.

The investigation was launched earlier this month after a coach failed to pick up children from Lisburn Rovers FC who were due to travel to Scotland for a football tournament.

Belfast Live understands that another children’s football team fell victim to the alleged fraud earlier this week.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Nichola Blamer from Lisburn Rovers explained that this was set to be their first trip away with the children.

“This was the first trip that we had organised away with the kids, so the planning was taking place last August, and we decided to book the ESF Festival in Scotland.

“W hen we were discussing arrangements with the parents and how we were going to get across, one of our other parents had previously used this company with other football trips, so the plan was that we were going to just hire the coach off him. We didn’t even require him to come over, and the other parent has a bus licence, so the plan was that we were going to get his bus and she was going to drive the bus for us, then onto the ferry, and then we would have transport over there to take us from the caravan park to the football tournaments.

“I made contact with him, and he said it was no problem, that he would do all the booking with the ferry. He told us we were booked on the P&O ferry at 12 o’clock sailing on the 1st of May and returning at 4 p.m. on the 4th of May. He required an £800 deposit, which was paid to him in October, because apparently that’s when the ferry listings come out for the following year, so you have to get on early to get booked on.

“I insisted on being given an invoice, and the total was £95 per passenger, and we had 42 passengers going over. So the total invoice was £3990. The invoice clearly showed that an £800 deposit had been paid, with a balance of £3190 due in March.”

Nichola said that the owner of the coach company had been in touch with her regularly while payments were being made and had offered to take the parent who would be driving the coach on a test drive, but cancelled on the day he was due to meet her.

After the test drive was cancelled, Nichola said that she struggled to get in contact with the owner of the company until her husband contacted him, and he said that everything was going to plan and sent them an itinerary for the trip.

“The night before the trip, I was feeling a wee bit uneasy about it. My husband then texted him again to make sure everything was going to plan, and he said, ‘all good so far’.

“The next morning, I was up getting ready, finalising the packing, and I got a message at 7 am to say that he had gone to collect his bus and the bus was gone, and he didn’t have a bus for the trip.

“I quickly messaged him asking for the booking reference so that we could, as a team, try to organise another coach from somewhere else, and the message didn’t go through. His phone was then switched off and remained off for the whole of the weekend, so nobody could make contact with him.”

Nichola told us that the parents of the children were luckily able to book their cars onto the Stena Line service and made it to Scotland.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police in Lurgan are investigating a report of suspected fraud concerning a coach company reported on Friday, 1st May.

“Enquiries are ongoing at this time.”

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Emergency services were called to Romano Park on Friday (May 15) after a child fell from equipment at the Lamb Lane play spot.

An air ambulance was called to the scene alongside a team from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), who treated the child’s suspected broken arm.

Romano Park in Ingleby Barwick (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

They were then taken to hospital by road crew.

A NEAS spokesperson said: “We were called just after 5.30pm yesterday (15 May) to a child who had fallen from equipment at the Romano Park Play area in Ingleby Barwick.

We dispatched the air ambulance and a paramedic crew who treated the child with a suspected broken arm before transporting to hospital by road.”

Derek McInnes’ men did all they could on Wednesday to try and wrap things up with a game to spare as they brushed aside Falkirk, though Celtic kept the battle alive by eking out a highly-controversial 3-2 victory at Motherwell. Kelechi Iheanacho converted a contentious 99th-minute penalty at Fir Park, the award of which following a VAR review has been strongly criticised including by McInnes, who called it “disgusting”.