Cleaning an oven can be a nightmare, but one professional cleaner has shared it is easy to get rid of burned stains if you use two simple items that can easily be found at the supermarket.

Ovens are typically amongst the most challenging appliances to clean in any household, as grease from food splatters and subsequently becomes baked onto the surface each time the oven is switched on. What many people fail to realise is that grease stains undergo a chemical transformation when subjected to heat, developing into a burnt, thick and extremely adhesive substance.

Grease takes on an almost varnish-like quality, rendering it impossible to tackle with water-based products, leaving many people spending hours scrubbing with harsh chemical cleaners that can irritate the eyes. Fortunately, there is a natural yet remarkably effective method of eliminating grease stains without the need to spend a fortune or waste countless hours scouring your oven.

Jules Gordon, a professional cleaner and founder of Eco Cleaning Fairies, has revealed you can deep clean an oven “with a little bit of washing up liquid and a little shake of soda crystals.”

Washing-up liquid is specifically formulated to tackle stubborn food stains on crockery and contains surfactants that work to lift grease from surfaces by reducing their stickiness.

Soda crystals are strongly alkaline, enabling them to break down the fats and oils contained within grease, which rapidly softens stains, making them considerably simpler to remove.

What makes these cleaning products particularly impressive is their ability to dissolve food stains within an oven, allowing you to simply wipe them away without enduring a lengthy and laborious cleaning session.

Combining soda crystals with washing-up liquid makes oven cleaning far less daunting, allowing you to tackle even stubborn stains in roughly 30 minutes.

Soda crystals are typically available in the cleaning or laundry section of most supermarkets, though they may also be labelled as washing soda or sodium carbonate.

How to clean your oven

Start by filling a basin with hot water, adding a squirt of washing-up liquid and some soda crystals. Take out any trays or grills from the oven. Place smaller trays or grills in the basin to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

For larger trays and grills, sprinkle soda crystals over them, dip a scourer in soapy water and give them a gentle scrub. Then, place them inside a clean rubbish bag and leave them to soak for approximately 20 minutes.

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While it may seem unusual, rubbish bags trap moisture, preventing the soda crystal solution from drying out and helping to break down any built-up grime.

In the meantime, fill a bucket with washing-up liquid, soda crystals and hot water. Dip a cloth into the solution and use it to wipe down the oven interior.

Start at the top of the oven and work downwards. Then, use a scourer to tackle any greasy marks, which should lift away with minimal effort.

Rinse the oven with clean water and ensure it’s completely dry before switching it back on.

Buff the oven door with a dry cloth, though some people prefer using crumpled newspaper, a traditional method for achieving a streak-free shine on glass.

Take out the trays and grills from either the basin or rubbish bags. Scrub them using a scourer, and removing any marks will be considerably simpler.

Your oven will now be gleaming and entirely free from stains, meaning you’ll never need to delay cleaning it again.

The damage follows another incident in Thornton le Dale four days earlier, with police believing more households may have been affected and urging victims to come forward.

A recent appeal was issued regarding damage caused to residential property in Thornton le Dale on May 9.

Since then damage to another residential property has come to light occurring on May 5 at around 5pm. On this occasion a window was smashed.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: “The damage to properties in Thornton Dale involves one address having its door kicked and another having a window smashed.

“Enquires lead us to believe the window was smashed with an upright vacuum cleaner.

“Given this unusual choice of implement we are appealing to the public to see if they recall any persons seen carrying a vacuum down Maltongate around the time the damage occurred.

“Do you have CCTV or ring doorbell cameras that may have captured this unusual sight?

Are you missing a vacuum cleaner from a skip or bin for example?

The spokesperson added: “Officers are conducting enquiries around CCTV to identify any possible suspects.

“The local Neighbourhood Policing Team continues to conduct patrols in the area. We would encourage anyone with concerns – or with information about either incident – to speak to officers or call 101.

“Please contact the officer in the case PC1864 on email: Fiona.Wilding@northyorkshire.police.uk if you have any information that could help our investigation regarding the damage specific to 05 May 2026.

“Please quote reference 1226084664 when passing on information.”

“If you have a been a victim of recent damage in the village and have not yet reported this please contact the force control room to log a new report on telephone 101 or via the online reporting form.”

A heatwave in the UK is defined by the Met Office as at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures exceeding a county-specific threshold, reflecting unusually hot weather for the time of year.

The heatwave threshold temperature varies across the UK. In Greater London it is 28 Celsius whereas in Northern Ireland it is 25 Celsius.

It is possible that a few places could meet the heatwave definition during Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At the moment, counties like Herefordshire and Worcestershire look most likely.

But a lot depends on whether showers develop over the bank holiday weekend.

Matt Storey is supporting the Federation’s Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police initiative, as the number of hate crimes against Cleveland Police officers rises.

There were 78 recorded instances of hate crimes against Cleveland Police officers in 2024-25, an increase from 49 the previous year.

One of the campaign’s goals is for forces to gather specific data on racially motivated abuse of officers.

Mr Storey said he found the scale of the figures “really worrying,” noting a general increase in racism and racial abuse in society.

He said: “Unfortunately, people feel more emboldened to speak and act in ways that are deeply offensive.

“It shows how anyone, no matter who you are, even if you are a police officer, can still be a victim of racism in your daily life and work.”

Mr Storey, who also chairs the local Strategic Hate Crime Partnership, emphasised the importance of tackling racism.

He said: “I’m very supportive of the North East Anti-Racism Coalition, which is doing a lot of work around community cohesion and tackling racism in the North East.

“So when [Cleveland Police Federation Chair] Lauren suggested supporting this campaign, I thought it really does fit with what we’re trying to do here in Cleveland to make it a welcoming place for everyone, from every background.”

The Federation has reported instances of officers not reporting racist incidents due to not wanting to create more work for their colleagues and believing nothing would come of it.

Mr Storey acknowledged the difficulty in coming forward as a victim of hate crime, pledging to address any barriers to reporting.

He said: “It’s understandable that some people are reticent to come forward, but I would always say to them: if we don’t report these things, then we don’t know the full scale of the issues.

“But it isn’t always easy to come forward when you’ve been a victim of hate crime, so if there are barriers or things that need fixing to make that easier and make people feel more comfortable, then that’s part of my job and the Chief’s job to make sure that we get those things done.”

The campaign aims to have racist abuse against police officers recorded as a separate recordable offence, rather than under the broader category of hate crime.

Mr Storey hopes to influence this change and push the Home Office on the issue.

He also urged the courts to take hate crime and racist abuse seriously, expressing disappointment with some of the sentences given for hate crime.

He said: “I definitely think that the punishment should be as harsh as it can possibly be – if people are being targeted because of their race, it makes that crime that much more offensive and that much more serious.

“We need to make sure that we’re discouraging and deterring people from thinking it’s acceptable to behave in that way in society, and that we don’t normalise some of these behaviours.

“The best way to do that is to make sure that we come down as hard as we can on people who think it’s acceptable to target someone because of their race.”

Mr Storey plans to discuss with the local Crown Prosecution Service about following Humberside Police’s lead, where if an officer reports a racially motivated crime against them and no action is taken, the CPS will automatically review it.

He assured Cleveland Police officers that his door was always open to discuss their experiences of racist abuse.

He said: “While I’m not responsible for the operational side, and I wouldn’t ever want to encroach on what the Chief Constable does, I’m here to support people in whatever way I can.

“I have regular meetings with the local welfare support teams here at Cleveland Police, and I’ve got a good relationship with the Federation, so I’m more than happy to talk to officers or support officers in any way that I can, to help them if they are suffering from racial abuse.”

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenage shooters opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday and killed three men — then killed themselves a few blocks away — in an attack police are investigating as a hate crime.

There was no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. He declined to give more details, but said the “circumstances that led up to this” would come out in the days ahead.

Before the attack, officers were already looking for one of the teenagers since his mother called police concerned that her son was suicidal and had run away, Wahl said. There were weapons missing from the home and the mother’s vehicle was gone, he added.

The search took on even more urgency as police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and with an acquaintance — details that were unexpected for someone about to die by suicide, he said.

Police began using whatever technology they could to find the 17- and 18-year-old, including automated license plate readers. The department dispatched authorities to a mall near where the car had been tracked by police, and officers alerted a school where at least one of the suspects had been a student, Wahl said.

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As officers continued interviewing the mother about places the teens might be, they got reports of a shooting at the mosque.

Among those killed was a mosque security guard, who police believe “played a pivotal role” in keeping the attack from being “much worse,” Wahl said.

“It’s fair to say his actions were heroic,” the chief said at a later news conference. “Undoubtedly he saved lives today.”

A family friend identified the guard as Amin Abdullah, a well-known face at the mosque who had been working there for more than a decade.

“He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard,” said Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who had spoken with Abdullah’s son. The family could not immediately be reached for comment.

The center is the largest mosque in San Diego County and includes the Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran for students ages 5 and up, according to its website.

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Anthony Brennan was hauled into court for defrauding old soldier Bill Mackie, 72 – and this was his message to his victim even after admitting his guilt

Unrepentant serial fantasist and fraudster Anthony Brennan yesterday gave a defiant one finger salute to a blind ex-serviceman he’d duped into undertaking a bizarre “diplomatic mission” to Tanzania.

The notorious Walter Mitty made his getaway from his latest court shame – with his mum in the driving seat.

Brennan had been politely approached outside Kilmarnock Sheriff Court by blind veteran Bill Mackie, a victim whose only plea was for the return of the cherished Army medals Brennan had taken from him.

But even after admitting in court to fraudulently obtaining the pensioner’s service medals as part of the bogus mission to Africa in 2023, the only salute Brennan, 31, could offer the proud old soldier was the one-fingered one.

Bill , 72, said: “I went up to speak to him outside court and he came out with some rubbish about having sent the medals. Of course, everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie.

“I was quite polite with him and really just wanted to know if I’d get them back.

“But the next thing I knew he’d jumped into the car with his getaway driver – his mum – and drove away. He rolled down the window and gave me the one finger salute, so it doesn’t exactly paint him as being full of remorse.”

The Daily Record has told of the many crazy deceptions the deluded Walter Mitty- formerly known as Tony Adams – has concocted in recent years, which have ended up in people being scammed, humiliated and out of pocket.

Bill, from Linburn, East Lothian, unwittingly became the key figure in the centre of the latest fantasy, finding himself sent on a “wild goose chase” diplomatic mission for talks that had never been arranged with the Tanzanian foreign minister.

The pensioner had been duped in to believing Brennan was a world leading human rights advocate and a high ranking Interpol officer.

By the time Bill realised the “mission” was a pipe dream, he’d sent his medals, including one marking tours of duty in Northern Ireland, to the con artist, never to be seen again.

The fraud led to another conviction from the fraudster from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, leading to him being ordered yesterday to pay Bill £397 compensation and face a community payback order plus supervision for 12 months.

Brennan won the trust of Bill after the pair both signed up to join the obscure International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) charity.

The smooth talker had boasted of fabulous wealth and owning a private jet. The IHRC duly made him their UK Commissioner. He quickly appointed Bill as his deputy.

A bizarre plot the unfolded, which led to Bill and wife Heather, 67, buying plane tickets and turning up for a non-existent meeting with the Tanzanian foreign minister in 2023.

Bill was stunned and humiliated when the politician was not available – and had never heard of any meeting.

He was so furious at the wasted 9,000 mile round trip that he reported Brennan to the police. He told officers that it was only after reading stories about Brennan in the Daily Record that he knew he’d been deceived.

Prior to sentencing yesterday Brennan admitted a charge that, whilst volunteering for the International Human Rights Commission, he pretended to Bill that he had bought him gifts and diplomatic identification.

Brennan persuaded Bill to send him £326.49 and medals valued at €912 – by fraud.

During the trip to Tanzania, Bill and wife Heather were also emailed fake invitations for the Coronation of King Charles, as the fantasist’s manipulative imagination ran out of control.

After the sentencing Bill said: “I am happy that this case has concluded because it dragged on for ages.

“I’m angry that I was taken in but I had no idea of who this man was until I was in Tanzania awaiting a meeting with the country’s foreign minister and was told that no meeting had been arranged.

“When that lie was exposed all the others fell into place and I realised that Tony was just a wild fantasist.

“He’s caused me a lot of distress and he stole my medals, which I will never get back.

He added: “I’d like to think that he will learn from this latest court appearance but fear he won’t be able to stop himself from doing similar stuff to other unsuspecting victims.”

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The court heard that Brennan is a full time student and with income from benefits of £1100 a month.

His lawyer, Scott Agnew, said Brennan has suffered from for anxiety, depression and dissociative personality disorder.

He said: “This is an unusual set of circumstances, I think that Mr Brennan has acknowledged the motivations of being purely financial in his conduct.

“Previous assessments of Mr Brennan have confirmed a level of psychological disturbance, as the author of the report has put it, which presents as grandiose and is suggestive of narcissistic characteristics.”

It was suggested that Brennan’s “fantastic stories” arose from those key issues.

Trusting Bill had been fed lies that his new pal had a St George’s Cross and an OBE. Brennan has also made up fake degrees and claimed to be a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.

Bill earlier told the Record: “I was amazed at all his achievements as he was still in his 20s. He appointed me as the IHRC deputy UK commissioner. He also produced an Interpol badge and told me he was empowered to make me an honorary officer .”

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The Daily Record has repeatedly exposed other outlandish situations that Brennan has constructed, usually with victims left shell-shocked. out of pocket or angry.

In 2018 we exposed him for running a fake ambulance service that literally chased genuine NHS ambulances around. He then failed to pay wages to young recruits.

In 2022 Adams received a community payback order and 18 months supervision after impersonating a Celtic scout and telling coaches of young boys he could sign them for the club. Adams fabricated his own club ID.

And we also exposed him for stealing the identity of a world famous scientist after realising they shared the same name.

Most shockingly, in 2022 was jailed for impersonating a surgeon at Crosshouse Hospital and distressing the dead man’s family with his lies.

He callously said he’d heard the last words of a motorbike accident victim and was even asked to tale on an important role at the funeral.

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE.

Watch retailer Swatch was forced to close stores across the UK over the weekend amid safety concerns after huge crowds descended on shopping centres.

Officers were sent to the Trafford Centre in Manchester and “dispersed a large number of people”, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

Swatch announced it was closing a store in Greater Manchester on Sunday (May 17) for a second day after scores of people queued for the launch of a new pocket watch.

GMP was called shortly before 6am on Saturday “following reports of a disturbance at the Trafford centre”, a spokesperson said.

The force said: “Officers attended and alongside security staff dispersed a large number of people who were inside the centre.

“No arrests have been made.”

Videos posted online appeared to show huge crowds at multiple shopping centres across the UK with police near a number of stores.

Police were called to St David’s 2 shopping centre in Cardiff after reports of about 300 people trying to get in to a Swatch store at 6.20am on Saturday, South Wales Police said.

A 25-year-old man from Pengam was arrested and issued with a Section 35 dispersal notice, the force added.

A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: “South Wales Police was called at 6.20am on Saturday May 16 to a group of approximately 300 people trying to enter the St David’s 2 shopping centre.

“A 25-year-old man from Pengam was arrested and issued with a Section 35 dispersal notice with the conditions that they are not to enter Cardiff City Centre again during Saturday May 16.”

Swatch posted on Facebook on Saturday saying “in light of safety considerations for both our customers and our staff” stores in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow and Cardiff would be closed for the day, along with all of the London stores.

It posted later on Saturday saying: “To all our dear fans worldwide of our AP x Swatch collab, launched on May 16.

“To ensure the safety of both our customers and our staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product.

“The Royal Pop Collection will remain available for several months. In some countries, queues of more than 50 people cannot be accepted, and sales may need to be paused.”

The company posted again on Sunday saying the Manchester store would be closed for the day “in light of safety considerations”.

Swatch launched the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop Collection on Saturday at selected stores worldwide, according to the company’s website.

Purchases are limited to one watch per person, per day, and per store.

Donald Trump’s appraisal of his recent state visit to China was, typically, positive and self-regarding. At the end of the trip, the US president told reporters that it had achieved “a lot of good” and “fantastic trade deals” had been signed. He concluded that a lot of different problems were settled “that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve”.

As usual, the US president appeared to enjoy the pageantry of a state visit. He likes meeting other “great” leaders – strongmen who lead powerful countries.

At face value, the trip appeared largely successful. The Trump-Xi relationship appeared cordial. There were no undiplomatic comments by Trump. Xi described it as “a milestone visit” of “historic” proportions. Trump said that his relationship with Xi is “a very strong one”. China pledged to buy 200 Boeing aircraft and also committed to buying billions of dollars of soybeans and other agricultural goods. These are all things Trump can present as wins, even if their significance is disputed.

The cordiality of the visit was a contrast to the Biden years, when “extreme competition” with China – in Biden’s words – was the central organising principle of US foreign policy. The Biden administration viewed China as a once-in-a-generation challenger to US power: politically, economically, militarily and ideologically. It believed Beijing was aggressively trying to displace the US as the world’s dominant power and actively sought to prevent this.

Over the past year, the second Trump administration has shifted attention away from great power conflict with China and focused on other things. These have included regime change in Venezuela (and, all the signs suggest, Cuba is now in his sights). He has changed America’s relationship with Europe, introduced an at-times erratic regime of tariffs in an attempt to address US trade deficits. And, above all, he has started a war with Iran.

Ely Ratner, a China hawk from the Biden administration has accused Trump of “strategic deference” towards Beijing. And there can be little doubt that the Trump administration has dialled down the Cold War-style ideological rhetoric about China.

Its 2025 national security strategy stresses that: “We seek good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world without imposing on them democratic or other social change that differs widely from their traditions or histories.” This much was evident from Trump’s visit. Unlike Biden, Trump did not publicly raises human rights issues on his trip to China. This removed a persistent irritant in the relationship.

That said, the US Congress – and many of those around the president – still see the relationship with China as fundamentally competitive and adversarial. They want the US to remain the world’s primary power, militarily, economically and technologically. The desire to out-compete China is likely to drive policy in the longer-term.

The 2026 national defense strategy, published in January, states that Washington will be “clear-eyed and realistic about the speed, scale, and quality of China’s historic military buildup” and will “prevent anyone, including China, from being able to dominate us or our allies”. The strategy commits the US to deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan by keeping “a strong denial defense along the First Island Chain” north and south of Taiwan. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who accompanied Trump to Beijing, confirmed that US policy on Taiwan has not changed as a result of the leaders’ meeting.

The Trump administration’s approach is driven primarily by economic interests. This is because it believes that “the Indo-Pacific will soon make up more than half of the global economy” and, according to the defense strategy: “Were China… to dominate this broad and crucial region, it would be able to effectively veto Americans’ access to the world’s economic center of gravity.”

This means the Trump administration will try to preserve the giant US military presence in Asia Pacific that the Chinese see as encirclement.

‘Conscious de-coupling’

The US president remains a mercurial character who can make unpredictable decisions. He likes to tout his prowess as a dealmaker and it is always possible that he could undermine the consensus view within his own government. But the US Congress is also firmly behind the drive to out-compete China and to “decouple” in advanced technology.

In July 2025, the bipartisan “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act (OBBBA) included US$58 billion (£43.5 billion) of federal investments in, and tax incentives for, AI production inside the US. These measures barred “prohibited foreign entities” from US supply chains. In 2018, Congress passed strict new export controls and investment restrictions into law to try to decouple from China in emerging new technologies. The House Select Committee on China is pushing for more of this.

Over the past year, the Trump administration launched a new strategy for rare earth metals. China’s dominance of the mining and processing of these metals is a huge advantage – they are critical to modern weapons systems and widely used in electronics, from smartphones to EVs.

In April 2025, Beijing began to impose export controls on rare earths in response to US tariffs. Since then, the US has launched a US$7.3 billion global effort to secure supplies of rare earths outside China and invest in domestic mining and processing capabilities. While this will take years to come to fruition, the goal is to speed up decoupling from China in rare earths – hardly a sign of trust.

Finally, Trump reportedly refused to extend the trade truce signed in October 2025 until the end of his administration as he believed he would lose leverage over China in future. It’s a clear sign that even he expects tension in future.

The Trump administration says that, unlike its predecessors, it is not looking for conflict with China. But its insistence on US dominance of Asia Pacific is likely to drive competition with China in the long-term.

The soldier who died after falling from her horse during the show at Windsor has been identified

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Tributes have been pouring in for the ‘incredibly talented’ soldier described as the ‘pinnacle of equestrianism’ after her sudden death on Friday. The servicewoman died after falling from her horse during the Royal Windsor Show, which was attended by King Charles.

Ciara Sullivan, of the Royal Horse Artillery, fell at around 7pm as she left the arena in Windsor, Berkshire. Despite receiving immediate medical attention, the soldier suffered serious injuries from the fall and was sadly declared dead at the scene, Thames Valley Police said.

The King, who was in attendance at the event, only learned about the severity of Ciara’s injuries and said he was “saddened” to hear of her death.

King Charles has said he is keen to pass on his personal condolences to Ciara’s family in a statement, adding he was “greatly shocked” by the horrific ordeal, reports The Mirror.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “While His Majesty and other Members of The Royal Family were present at the arena at the time the incident took place, they were not made aware of the severity of the situation until later.

“The King was greatly shocked and saddened to have learned subsequently of the Troop member’s death, and will be in touch with the family to share his personal condolences. The thoughts and most heartfelt sympathies of the whole Royal Family are with the victim’s loved ones and military colleagues at this time of grief.”

Ciara’s father Pat shared a photo of Ciara on social media alongside a message, which read: “The honour. The service. They will never be forgotten.”

Tributes have now poured in for Ciara, with one friend Eleanor Lucas Bell speaking of her “incredible talent, horsemanship and dedication”.

She wrote on Facebook : “Today our sport lost one of its very best. The soldier who tragically lost her life at Royal Windsor Horse Show was someone known to us personally. She had ridden my boys, and I saw first hand the incredible talent, horsemanship and dedication she possessed.

“She was the very pinnacle of equestrianism — someone I looked up to enormously as both a rider and a role model. In truth, watching her do what she did with such skill, confidence and professionalism was part of what inspired me to consider joining myself. I was completely in awe of her.

“To lose her life simply doing the job she did every single day is a heartbreaking reminder of just how dangerous and unforgiving equestrian sport can be. No matter the experience, talent or preparation, we work alongside powerful animals and accept risks every time we sit in the saddle. Those within the horse world understand that reality all too well, but moments like this bring it into painfully sharp focus.

“In a strange twist of fate, we are at Windsor ourselves today. We will be taking a quiet moment to remember her and to think of all those who loved her — both her family by blood and her Military family. Her loss will be felt deeply by so many, which says everything about the beautiful soul she was. Stand down Gunner.”

Another friend Josephine Coates wrote: “Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I’ll miss you until we meet again. Goodbye my friend, rest easy.”