Passengers were left stranded when the international airport in the Caribbean island of Martinique was forced to close by unrest over the cost of living in the French territory.
On Thursday dozens of protesters stormed the runway at the airport in the capital, Fort-de-France, prompting its closure. Inbound flights were re-directed to nearby Guadeloupe, also a French territory. The airport reopened on Friday.
A curfew has been imposed until at least Monday following a wave of violent protests.
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Authorities have banned public gatherings, as well as the purchase of items that could be used for arson attacks.
Protests began in September to demand the alignment of local food prices with those of mainland France, where they are 40% lower. One protester has been shot dead and 26 police officers injured in the unrest.
Curfews have been introduced on the island since then, and in late September the French government sent in riot police after protesters ignored bans on public gatherings.
Unrest flared again on Monday when police tried to dismantle a road block, AFP news agency says.
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In recent days burning barricades have been erected, businesses looted and vehicles set alight in many parts of the island.
One of the 26 officers injured had bullet wounds, AFP says. A man died in hospital from similar wounds on Thursday, following a night of rioting. An investigation has been launched into his death.
The local government said police had not opened fire.
French Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet condemned the violence and called for “responsibility and calm”.
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Residents of France’s overseas territories have long complained about the high cost of living.
The protests in Martinique were launched by the Assembly for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources, which says food prices should be the same as on mainland France.
On Tuesday Fort-de-France Mayor Didier Laguerre acknowledged that people in Martinique – a territory of 350,000 people – were struggling: “I understand the suffering and anger.”
“You caught the bad guy”: McCullough’s confession was captured on police bodycam footage
Virginia McCullough knew why the police had smashed through her front door, but part of her wondered why it took them so long to discover she had murdered her parents. “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy,” she calmly told the officers handcuffing her. Neighbours thought John and Lois McCullough had retired to the seaside, but the reality was they were callously poisoned by their daughter. Why did she do it?
The goings-on inside the McCullough family home in Great Baddow near Chelmsford, Essex, were becoming increasingly secretive in 2019.
Relatives were asked to stay away and friends were told Mr and Mrs McCullough had retired to the Clacton area on Essex’s sunshine coast.
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The gruesome reality was very different. It would be four years before anyone found out the horrors that took place behind closed doors on Pump Hill.
John McCullough, a retired business studies lecturer, had been fatally poisoned and the 70-year-old’s body was hidden in a crudely-built tomb made out of breeze blocks and blankets.
The corpse of his 71-year-old wife, Lois, was stashed behind sleeping bags and duvets in an upstairs wardrobe.
Mrs McCullough had been battered with a hammer and stabbed, but she too had also been poisoned with prescription medication administered by her daughter.
“The curtains were always drawn and you couldn’t see if anybody was in the house,” said Phil Sargeant, who lived next door to the McCulloughs for 20 years.
“They were just like shadows, they’d move very quickly from A to B.”
Mr Sargeant now knows why there was such secrecy at his neighbours’ house.
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“I find it quite difficult even to say that Virginia murdered her parents or killed her parents,” he added.
“She’d come across as quite pleasant; she was funny, she was irreverent as well. She had a dark sense of humour.”
‘Fantasist’
In September 2023, Essex Police took a call from Essex County Council’s safeguarding team.
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A GP at Mr and Mrs McCullough’s registered practice had raised a concern for their welfare, having not seen them for some time.
Their absences had been explained by their daughter, who offered a range of excuses for each appointment she cancelled on her parents’ behalf.
Conveniently for her, the country had been in Covid-enforced lockdowns for a large period of time they had not been seen.
But when police spoke to McCullough, it became clear something was not adding up – why were her parents always out of the area?
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Alan Thomson, who rented a television to the McCulloughs, also had his suspicions.
It followed a phone call from McCullough, abruptly cancelling the rental on her parents’ behalf.
When Mr Thomson’s staff arrived at the family home to pick it up, they were told they could not enter the property – and the TV was already prepared by the front door.
“I got the feeling perhaps she was a bit of a fantasist, but no way would I have thought she’d be a murderer,” he said.
“I did know that this day would come eventually,” she confessed.
“I deserve to get what’s coming, sentence-wise, because that’s the right thing to do and then that might give me a bit of peace.”
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Documents recovered inside the property painted a picture of a woman desperately trying to keep her parents from discovering a financial black hole she had dug.
Abusing their goodwill, she had been living rent free, spending their money and racking up large credit card debts in their names.
Forged letters showed McCullough had been tricking her parents into thinking they had lost money through scams. In reality, it was money “frittered away” by their daughter.
To them, she was well-qualified, suitably employed and working hard towards becoming an artist – a future she claimed would also bring financial benefits for her parents.
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Instead, she was reaping the financial rewards of manipulating, abusing and taking advantage of her parents’ kindness.
In total, McCullough benefited from £149,697 as a result of murdering her parents – combined from their pensions and spending on their credit cards, as well as selling assets.
The court also heard she spent £21,000 on online gambling between 2019 and 2023.
Her lies – and the fear of being exposed – ultimately led to her cruelly killing her parents.
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Paul Hastings, a greengrocer at the Vineyards shopping centre near their home, had also noticed their disappearance.
He was told by McCullough that her parents, who used to purchase goods from his shop, were no longer living in Great Baddow.
Mr Hastings said her peculiar nature meant she could say things without arousing much suspicion.
“She came in to the shop and said ‘The police are after me, they think I killed my mum and dad’,” Mr Hastings said.
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“I thought ‘That’s a bit odd’ but didn’t think anything else of it, I just thought it was her eccentric nature.”
He explained McCullough would sometimes visit his shop four times a day, before disappearing for the next fortnight.
Debbie Pollard said McCullough would visit the flower shop she ran and bombard her with food and presents.
“We knew she was odd but I would never have dreamt she would ever be capable of doing what she actually did,” she said.
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“She’s actually lived in that house all those years with her mum and dad’s remains in there – that horrifies me. Horrifies me.”
Both Mr Hastings and Ms Pollard both said McCullough had also pretended to be pregnant, even creating a fake bump under her clothing.
Throughout her sentencing on Friday, McCullough stared at the floor, emotionless.
It was only when she listened back to her interview with police, describing how she murdered her mother, that she began to weep.
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“She looked so innocent; she was just sat there listening to the radio,” McCullough told the officers.
“I did go in three times to build up some gumption but I knew I had to get it done and can’t hesitate.
“She was just staring at me in disbelief.”
Det Supt Rob Kirby, from Essex Police, said her otherwise composed reaction in court was typical of the “considered, meticulous” murderer she was.
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“Throughout the course of our investigation, we have built a picture of the vast levels of deceit, betrayal and fraud she engaged in,” he said.
“It was on a shocking and monumental scale.
“McCullough lied about almost every aspect of her life, maintaining a charade to deceive everyone close to her and clearly taking advantage of her parents’ good will.
“She is an intelligent and adept manipulator who chose to kill her parents callously and without a thought for them or those who continue to suffer as a result of their loss.”
Kim Kardashian, it seems, is a fan of the FT (“Under her Skims: inside Kim Kardashian’s $4bn apparel empire”, HTSI, Life & Arts, FT Weekend, October 5).
In the accompanying photograph, I count a good 20 sections scattered on and around her sofa.
This suggests she follows the markets, the environment and the Olympics, but what she clearly loves is a crossword: three on the cover photo and four inside.
But she never fills in an answer and, even more strangely, she has multiple copies of the same puzzle — front left on the sofa and far right at her feet — from, presumably, multiple copies of the same edition of the paper. The article tells us, “she is one of one,” but one copy of the FT is clearly not enough for her.
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I do hope she carefully bundles up and recycles all those sections she has flung around, after she skims them.
Where does a wounded political party start after suffering its worst defeat in a general election ever?
It is a big question, and both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick have a different prescription.
The two remaining candidates in Conservative leadership race – after centrist James Cleverly was ejected by MPs – are both young and seen as being on the right of the party.
But there are plenty of points of difference for Tory members – who begin voting soon – to chew over.
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Policies
Badenoch, the 44-year-old former business secretary, has argued for returning to core Conservative values.
“You start with principles first, not throwing out a succession of policies,” one Badenoch campaign source said.
The actual plan for renewal, Team Badenoch says, will come in time. Her campaign is entitled Renewal 2030 – which she says will be her first year as Conservative prime minister.
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A source from Jenrick’s team said party members faced a choice between a candidate with detailed policies to fix the NHS, the economy and migration, or “risking being drawn into endless” spats and distractions.
In his conference speech, 42-year-old Jenrick laid out five key changes for the party to challenge Labour: an immigration cap, opposing Labour’s “mad plans” on net zero, embracing housebuilding, reducing the size of the state and “defending our culture”.
Personal style
Badenoch is known for her direct approach and willingness to speak her mind.
But Badenoch’s pugnacious approach to debate means she “has cut through to the public,” says supporter and conservative commentator Albie Amankona.
People see she is “fiery, opinionated, brave and competent,” without the need to be attention grabbing, he adds.
Her allies see hints of Margaret Thatcher in her take-no-prisoners style. Jenrick is also a Thatcher fan – one of his daughters has Thatcher for a middle name – but Badenoch’s supporters have accused him of being a “shapeshifter”.
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Seen initially as an ally of David Cameron on the more “moderate” wing of the party when he became an MP in 2014, Jenrick has shifted to the right after quitting as immigration minster last year.
Those backing Jenrick insist his right-wing credentials are bona fide.
Jamie Mulhall, a Conservative councillor in Derby, called Jenrick a “conviction politician” whose views adapt when evidence changes.
Mulhall, who is part of Jenrick’s campaign team, said the former minister likes to “step back and has had a good long hard look at what happened” before coming up with the “clarity, vision and polices that appeal to the common-sense common-ground”.
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European Court of Human Rights
Cutting immigration is a top priority for both candidates.
Robert Jenrick’s signature policy is UK withdrawal from the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which he argues had made it “impossible to secure our borders”.
He describes the idea of reforming the treaty – as some Tories want – as a “fantasy” and has said all members of his shadow cabinet will have to share his position on this issue.
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Badenoch has said she would be willing to leave ECHR if necessary but thinks wider – and deeper – reform of the British state and the immigration system should be tried first.
Focusing on the ECHR “shuts down the conversation we need to have with the entire country” about migration, she has said.
Cultural issues
Sometimes labelled a “culture warrior” – a tag she disputes – Badenoch is popular with many on the right of the party for her “anti-woke” stance.
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As equalities minster, she gained attention by rejecting claims of widespread institutional racism in the UK and fighting to preserve single-sex spaces for women over gender-neutral toilets.
Jenrick has in the past stayed away from these hot-button topics, reportedly warning young activists in his party not to “go down a rabbit hole of culture wars”.
But in his conference speech, he vowed to “take a stand to protect our nation, culture, identity and way of life” which he said were at risk due to mass migration and a lack of integration.
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Backgrounds
Both candidates have served in the cabinet, but their journey there could not have been more different.
Born in south London, to parents of Nigerian origin, Badenoch grew up in the US and Nigeria, where her psychology professor mother had lecturing jobs.
Her exposure to instability in Nigeria “a place where fear was everywhere” forged her conservative appreciation for “security, democracy, equality under the law and above all else freedom,” Badenoch said.
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She is married to Hamish Badenoch, a banker and former Conservative councillor – they have two daughters and a son.
At the Tory conference in Birmingham, Jenrick described himself as “a Midlands man” – having been raised in Shropshire while attending a private school, Wolverhampton Grammar.
After working as a corporate lawyer in London and Moscow, he moved into business, becoming an international managing director at auction house Christie’s before becoming an MP at the age of 32.
He is married to US corporate lawyer Michal Berkner, the grandchild of Holocaust survivors. They have three daughters.
Every week as I tuck into Tim Hayward’s column, I think to myself, he can’t be witty and insightful every time. This week as I read his article (“The cult of St John”, FT Globetrotter, September 28), with all the details of the two people (restaurateur Trevor Gulliver and chef Fergus Henderson) behind the St John restaurant in London’s Smithfield district, I thought this is an interesting and informative piece. But that was it — until the very last sentence, where Hayward told of the two old friends holding hands across the tablecloth, and there it was. Your restaurant critic had got me again . . . every time.
AS the leaves begin to turn and a chill creeps into the air, the country is transforming into a playground of eerie delights.
From pumpkin patches to haunted castles, this year’s Halloween attractions promise thrills and chills for all ages.
Whether you are seeking family-friendly fun or scream-your-lungs-out scares, Jacob Lewis has found the best bewitching Halloween events across the country.
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Budget-friendly boos
FOR those watching their wallets, Pembrokeshire’s Milford Water-front offers a free Halloween trail from October 28 to November 3.
To make it a full getaway, Hotel Ty Milford Waterfront is offering a “kids stay free” deal when sharing a family room, with prices from £116 per night.
Major Scots tourist event returns – and this year it has an ultra spooky theme with 10 new features
Grownup goose bumps
EXTREME scare experience PrimEvil at ROARR! in Norfolk is not for the faint of heart.
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Running between October 17 and November 2, the fully immersive event features five terrifying haunts, including Werehouse 51: Toxic Mutation, and roaming street actors.
Other attrac-tions include high ropes courses and zombie archery. Tickets from £28 at primevil-scare.com.
Ghost hunters will find their perfect Halloween treat at Hever Castle in Kent.
This year, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn invites brave souls on an after-dark tour, delving into the castle’s most unfortunate owners and their gruesome fates.
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The experience begins with a glass of prosecco (or a non-alcoholic alter-native) at the Moat Cafe, setting the stage for a truly haunting night.
Or check out Millets Farm Centre in Oxfordshire, which secured third spot, thanks to its low £2 entry fee and annual Halloween Spook-tacular that includes pumpkin-picking, a Halloween circus and a spooky disco.
In Blackburn, Scare Kingdom Scream Park is pushing the boundaries of fear.
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Running on select nights to November 9, it boasts 80 scare actors across 130 themed spaces around five scare mazes promising pulse-pounding adventures.
Minimum age of 13 (accompanied by an adult).
With tickets starting at £27.79, this one is an intense experience that’s not for the faint-hearted.
The Halloween in the City festival returns to Manchester on October 26 and 27, when the city centre will be overrun by giant inflatable monsters, including eight-metre-long Leech.
As darkness falls, buildings across the city will glow an eerie green, while thousands of pumpkin lanterns line the streets.
FOR those who prefer their scares with a side of natural beauty, Moors Valley Country Park in Dorset is debuting a Halloween illuminated trail.
Running from October 25 to November 3, the after-dark adventure winds through the forest, revealing hidden surprises including a secret cemetery, ghostly undertakers and tree demons.
With thunderstorms, wicked witches and giant spiders along the way, it is a multi-sensory experience that blends the beauty of nature with Halloween theatrics.
Just outside Port Talbot, Margam Country Park is launching Fright Nights – a spine-tingling experience that draws on the location’s haunted history.
The trail begins in the ruins of the gardens where visitors encounter 7ft Cistercian monks before venturing into a forest rumoured to be home to the ghost of a murdered gamekeeper.
The journey continues into the 19th-century castle, considered one of the UK’s most haunted places.
With two scare levels available – one for younger visitors and a more intense version for those 15 and up – it’s a customisable fright fest for those with different terror thresholds.
CHRIS Kaba’s chilling last words to his friend before he was shot dead have been revealed, a court heard.
The 24-year-old rapper was killed by a single gunshot following a pursuit in Streatham, South London, on September 5, 2022.
He had been trying to escape a police “hard stop” in his Audi when firearms officer Martyn Blake shot through his windscreen.
Blake is on trial accused of murdering Mr Kaba – something the officer denies.
Now, the court have heard how Kaba told a friend cops were behind him minutes before he was shot dead.
Elisha Fizul called her friend on WhatsApp 10 minutes before he was killed by Blake, the Old Bailey was told.
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His last words before they lost contact were “Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me”, jurors heard.
Kaba’s Audi registration had been linked to a firearms incident after reports a man had been seen with a shotgun the previous evening and gunshots were heard in Brixton, the Old Bailey was told, leading to police following the car.
In a statement read to the court, Ms Fizul said she had been friends with Mr Kaba for about two years before the fatal incident, on 5 September 2022.
She said: “I called Chris by WhatsApp at 8pm on 5 September. Unfortunately, he did not answer my call right away.
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“Chris returned my call at 9.57pm. Chris told me that he was driving at the time he returned my call. I was at home.
“Chris and I were having a normal conversation. At some stage during the course of the conversation Chris stated ‘Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me’.
“I continued talking to Chris. Chris did not respond and it was at that stage that I realised the call had been muted at Chris’s end.”
She continued: “I did not hang up the call right away. I continued to ask ‘can you hear me’, and ‘take me off mute’. The call ended at 10.07pm.
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“I redialled within seconds to see if he would answer. He did not. I assumed Chris would call me back within ten minutes but he did not.
“I found out the following morning that Chris had passed away. I was and still am very shocked and saddened by Chris’s death.”
The trial has already heard Blake’s account of the shooting and the crucial 15 seconds in which Mr Kaba turned down Kirkstall Gardens, followed by three police cars, one unmarked and two marked.
Mr Kaba had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors have previously been told.
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Metropolitan Police firearms officer Blake, 40, has denied his murder.
The trial was adjourned until Monday, when Blake is expected to give evidence in his defence.
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