Nigel Farage was compared to “rubbish” piling up in the street by an MP in a brutal Commons slapdown.

Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, made the comment as he asked Keir Starmer to intervene to end a long-running strike by bin workers in the city.

Looking directly at the Reform UK leader, who was sitting in the row in front of him, Khan said “rubbish is building up right beneath my very nose”.

Farage sat grim-faced as MPs across the Commons roared with laughter and shouted “more”.

After a short pause, Khan went on: “It’s becoming a serious problem. In Birmingham, bin strikes are now running over close to two years.

“Can I ask the prime minister to intervene and perhaps speak to the leader of Birmingham City Council to see if he can re-enter negotiations with Unite the Union?”

Starmer said the government was “doing everything we can to resolve the situation, which absolutely needs resolving”.

“I was a children’s librarian for 10 years, and knowing that these children that I likely knew, that I likely read to… these are our friends, our friends’ children have been injured, lost their life, and we just have to think how to come together as a community and rely upon each other for support,” he said.

The story of the historical series picks up some years after a well known tale leaves off

A critically acclaimed and beloved period drama has returned to our screens and continues the story of some classic characters.

The Artful Dodger originally released on Disney Plus back in 2023. Fans were forced to wait three years but all episodes of its second season are finally available now on the streaming platform.

It is actually inspired by one of the most well known classic pieces of literature written by a celebrated author. The title of the series would probably give it away to most that it involves characters taken from Oliver Twist, which was written by Charles Dickens.

However, not only that but the second season introduces another iconic character from a different but equally well known book. But where and when do the events of The Artful Dodger take place compared to the original stories? Here’s all you need to know.

When is The Artful Dodger set?

At the end of the book Oliver Twist, Jack Dawkins who is also known as the Artful Dodger, is arrested for stealing a silver snuff box. He is sentenced to be transported to a penal colony in Australia for life.

Therefore the series imagines what happens to Jack some years following his conviction. In fact, in the first season we find out that his surrogate father and mentor Norbert Fagin, refused to stage a breakout for Jack, claiming there was too much heat and fearing that he would be caught and put to death himself, he ultimately leaves him to his fate.

The original book finished publishing as a serial in 1839. We actually find out in Season One’s premiere episode exactly when the action picks up.

A shot of a diary confirms the date of October 27, 1855. So if we take that the original tale happened in the same time it was published, then at least 16 years has passed since we last dealt with these characters.

While Fagin failed to help Jack, he did manage to escape himself. He was eventually seconded to the Royal Navy where his skilled fingers allowed him to go from picking pockets to assisting surgeons. He would become one himself, serving as a medic in the Crimean War, which actually took place between 1853 and 1856.

Afterwards, he was recommended to serve in the colony. This means he still arrived in Australia but as a respected doctor as oppose to a convicted criminal. The British penal system transported convicts from Great Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia until 1868.

Season Two picks up around six months where the first ended as The Artful Dodger remains in deep trouble. According to its synopsis, he’s got an appointment with the noose, he’s being hunted by new lawman, Inspector Boxer, and if he sees the woman he loves, Lady Belle, he’ll be hanged.

The Artful Dodger is streaming on Disney+.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A disruption in reimbursements to states for disaster relief costs. Delays in cybersecurity response and training. And missed paychecks for the agents who screen passengers and bags at the nation’s airports, which could lead to unscheduled absences and longer wait times for travelers.

Those were just some of the potential ramifications of a looming funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security, according to officials who testified before a House panel on Wednesday.

Congress has approved full-year funding for the vast majority of the federal government, but it only passed a short-term funding patch for the Department of Homeland Security that extends through Friday. In response to the killing of two American citizens in Minneapolis and other incidents, Democrats have insisted that any funding bill for the department come with changes to immigration enforcement operations.

Finding agreement on the issue of immigration enforcement will be exceedingly difficult. But even though lawmakers in both parties were skeptical, a White House official said that the administration was having constructive talks with both Republicans and Democrats. The official, granted anonymity to speak about ongoing deliberations, stressed that President Donald Trump wanted the government to remain open and for Homeland Security services to be funded.

Meanwhile, Republicans are emphasizing that a Homeland Security shutdown would not curtail the work of the agencies Democrats are most concerned about. Trump’s tax and spending cut bill passed last year gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement about $75 billion to expand detention capacity and beef up enforcement operations.

“Removal operations will continue. Wall construction will continue,” said Rep. Mark Amodei, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security.

Rather, agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Secret Service, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency would take the biggest hit, he said. Officials from those agencies appeared before the House subcommittee to explain the potential impact of a Homeland Security shutdown.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said the tragic loss of two American citizens in Minneapolis — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — should concern every lawmaker. He said that strong borders and a respect for human life are not competing values.

“When enforcement actions lead to outcomes like that, we have an obligation to ask the hard question and to make sure our laws and policies are working as intended,” Cuellar said.

He said on Homeland Security funding that “we were almost there. We were there, Democrats and Republicans and everybody, but the second shooting brought different dynamics. I think we can get there to address that.”

Essential work continues

About 90% of the department’s employees would continue working in a shutdown, but they would do so without pay. Vice Admiral Thomas Allan of the U.S. Coast Guard said law enforcement and emergency response missions continue during a shutdown, but that the possibility of missed paychecks creates significant financial hardships.

“Shutdowns cripple morale and directly harm our ability to recruit and retain the talented Americans we need to meet growing demands,” Allan said.

Ha Nguyen McNeill of the Transportation Security Administration shared a similar concern. She estimated about 95% of the agency’s 61,000 workers would continue to work, but potentially go without a paycheck depending upon the length of a shutdown. She noted that they just went through a lengthy shutdown last fall.

“We heard reports of officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,” she said. “…Some are just recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown. Many are still reeling from it. We cannot put them through another such experience.”

Homeland Security also includes the agency charged with working to protect the public and private sector from a broad range of cyber threats. Madhu Gottumukkala, acting director of that agency, said a shutdown would “degrade our capacity to provide timely and actionable guidance to help partners defend their networks.”

“I want to be clear, when the government shuts down, cyber threats do not,” he said.

Long-term impact

Gregg Phillips, an associated administrator at FEMA, said its disaster relief fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities during a shutdown, but would become seriously strained in the event of a catastrophic disaster. He said that while the agency continues to respond to threats like flooding and winter storms, long-term planning and coordination with state and local partners is “irrevocably impacted.”

For example, he said a lapse would disrupt training for first responders at the National Disaster & Emergency Management University in Maryland.

“The import of these trainings cannot be measured,” Phillips said. “And their absence will be felt in our local communities.”

At the Secret Service, “the casual observer will see no difference,” said Matthew Quinn, the agency’s deputy director. But he said reform efforts taking place at the Secret Service are affected.

“Delayed contracts, diminished hiring and halted new programs will be the result,” Quinn said.

Anthony Dale followed his intended victim before putting a knife to his neck and demanding that he handed over cash, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 44-year-old told the student that he was homeless and his intended victim offered to find him somewhere to stay.

Victoria Lamballe, prosecuting, said some of the incident was caught on CCTV as Dale followed the man through the Teesside University campus at around midnight on November 26, last year.

“The defendant approached him from behind and said ‘give me all of your money’ as he put a knife to his neck,” she said.

“Unaware of that weapon was, he instinctively grabbed hold of it and pushed the defendant away. It was at that point that he saw it was a butter knife.”

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Dale, of Borough Road, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery after he was arrested several hours later when he was traced through CCTV in the town centre.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said that his client ‘fully acknowledged he will receive an immediate custodial sentence’ for his offending.

Judge Nathan Adams locked Dale up for three years and nine months following his guilty plea to attempted robbery.

He added: “He responded with kindness after what must have been a terrifying ordeal at that time of night.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Alex Murdaugh has admitted he is a thief, a liar, an insurance cheat, a drug addict and a bad lawyer. But even from behind bars he continues to adamantly deny he is a killer.

Murdaugh’s lawyers argued Wednesday before the South Carolina Supreme Court, asking the justices to overturn the two murder convictions and life sentence Murdaugh is serving for the shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, outside their home in June 2021.

The defense argues the trial judge made rulings that prevented a fair trial, such as allowing in evidence of Murdaugh stealing from clients that had nothing to do with the killings but biased jurors against him. They detail the lack of physical evidence — no DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or any of his clothes, even though the killings were at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.

And they said the court clerk assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial influenced jurors to find Murdaugh guilty, hoping to improve sales of a book she was writing about the case. She has since pleaded guilty to lying about what she said and did to a different judge.

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Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming. His lawyer said that didn’t matter because the comments a juror said she made — urging jurors to watch Murdaugh’s body language and listen to his testimony carefully — removed his presumption of innocence before the jury ever deliberated.

“If only the people who may be innocent get a fair trial, then our Constitution isn’t working,” Murdaugh’s lawyer Dick Harpootlian told the justices.

Murdaugh won’t leave prison

The case continues to captivate. There are streaming miniseries, best selling books and dozens of true crime podcasts about how the multimillionaire Southern lawyer whose family dominated and controlled the legal system in tiny Hampton County ended up in a maximum security South Carolina prison.

Even if Murdaugh wins this appeal, he isn’t going anywhere. Hanging over the 57-year-old’s head is a 40-year federal prison sentence for stealing more than $12 million from clients intended for their medical care and living expenses after they or their relatives suffered devastating and even deadly injuries in accidents.

Wednesday’s state Supreme Court hearing featured the same lawyers who squared off at Murdaugh’s 2023 murder trial, although Murdaugh is not there. The hearing ran well beyond the scheduled 90 minutes. Written briefs from both sides blew past the 100 pages typically allowed for appeals.

The first half of the arguments focused on former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill. She pleaded guilty in December to obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits in Murdaugh’s case and then lying about it

The most pointed question from justices Wednesday came for prosecutor Creighton Waters. They asked if it was OK that the judge who initially rejected the appeal for a new trial was right to ignore testimony from a few jurors while believing the 11 who did not accuse the clerk of misconduct.

Waters agreed there were problems, but said they were so isolated in the six-week trial that they had no impact. Murdaugh’s lawyers said that is impossible to figure out because jurors could be influenced subtly, without realizing it.

“It was improper. Perhaps not improper to the point of reversal, but it was improper,” Chief Justice John Kittredge observed.

There will be no immediate decision. Rulings usually take months to be handed down.

Prosecutors reiterate evidence for conviction

Prosecutors have said in court papers there is no reason to throw out the guilty verdicts for murder against Murdaugh.

They carefully recounted the case for the first 34 pages of their brief. Murdaugh’s financial situation was crumbling as he stole from clients to repay his mounting debts from his drug habit and expensive tastes. He defrauded his insurance company when a longtime family employee fell and died at their home, and was financially vulnerable when Paul Murdaugh caused a boat crash that killed a teen.

The brief recalls evidence that helped convict Alex Murdaugh, who told investigators for months he hadn’t seen his wife and son for about an hour before they were killed. That story went unchallenged until investigators cracked the passcode on Paul Murdaugh’s phone and found a video with a barking dog and Alex Murdaugh’s voice admonishing it five minutes before the young man stopped using his phone.

Defense says court allowed an unfair trial

Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers argued Wednesday that several decisions by trial judge Clifton Newman allowed evidence that led to an unfair trial. They said the chief investigator lied to the grand jury that indicted Murdaugh by telling them the ammunition used in one of the killings was found in other guns at the Murdaugh home and that blood spatter was found on Murdaugh’s clothes.

In the insular world of South Carolina, the state Supreme Court’s decision could have impacts well beyond courtrooms. Sitting at the prosecution table on Wednesday with the case’s chief litigator was Republican South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a candidate in November’s election for the open governor’s seat.

England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), ⁠Jacob Bethell, ⁠Tom Banton, ⁠Harry Brook (captain), ⁠Sam Curran, Will Jacks, ⁠Liam Dawson, ⁠Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, ⁠Adil Rashid.

West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope (captain, wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie.

New signage and shopfront changes to 13a Piccadilly in York – which has stood empty for more than three years – have gone in this week, as celebration chain Cake Box looks set to open in the city.

As reported by The Press, plans for the empty unit, formerly home to Argos and a William Hill betting office, were approved by City of York Council last November.

The signage and shop front went up in Piccadilly this week (Image: Kevin Glenton)

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Trading as Eggfree Cake Box, the company says it specialises in fresh, made-to-order, 100 per cent egg-free cakes.

Its website said most of its cakes come with a beautifully hand-piped message of choice to add the personal touch.

More than 1,000 cake makers are said to work across the estate each day, producing personalised cakes for birthdays, weddings and other occasions.

Launched from a single East London store in 2008, the company has grown to more than 250 shops trading under a franchised model.

The news of preparations for the opening of York bakery follows openings this year in Sheffield and Bracknell.

The success of the business lies in founder and chief executive Sukh Chambal’s vision to restore Britain’s long-standing traditional cake bakeries, with a modern twist, the company said, adding that it is the UK’s largest retailer of fresh cream celebration cakes.

Group revenue for 2025 was £42.78 million, up just over 13 per cent on the prior year, and the company announced a pre-tax profit of £6.16 million.

The Press has contacted Cake Box for more information.

The comedian and presenter will return to host the ceremony for a record sixth time when it takes place on Saturday, February 28.

The 2026 edition of the BRITs will also mark the show’s debut in Manchester, taking place at the Co-op Live venue.

Mr Whitehall said: “I think I’ve been able to put my stamp on the BRITs as I’ve been given the space to do what I want to do, and insert my voice and attitude into the show.

“The more I’ve done that, the more freedom the producers have given me.

“Even ITV are good at giving me a long leash.

“In every other show that I’ve ever done, I’ve been much more policed or confined [by producers] when it comes to what I say.

“But with The BRITs, they’re more than happy for me to push boundaries.”

Mr Whitehall previously hosted the BRITs in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2025.

He also revealed his excitement about the show’s move to Manchester, drawing comparisons to his university days in the city.

Mr Whitehall said: “Manchester is a city famous for its nightlife which will make everything even more fun.

“I would probably take them on the tour of Fallowfield, to all the spots I used to go to.

“Last time I performed in Manchester, me and my mates from university went out after the show, and we ended up in Gaff’s, which was an infamous newsagent where you could buy all your nightclub tickets and whatnot.

“We ended up having a lock-in there. If it was still open, that’s where I’d take everyone.”

He said a ‘long friendship’ with Harry Styles would also make the night extra special.

Mr Whitehall said: “He’s great because he’s always up for chatting, playing around and doing a sketch with me; he gives you access and time, and that’s invaluable.”

He also acknowledged that the role comes with its risks.

Mr Whitehall said: “I guess I used to think more about upsetting people, or people taking issue with some of the jokes.

“Nowadays, I think I would be disappointed if they didn’t [take any offence] and if everyone went, ‘Oh yeah, your hosting was great.

“We loved all of it.’

“If that happened, I would think, ‘Oh, I failed.’”

“I like it when, every now and again, someone gets a bee in their bonnet over something that I’ve said.

“It shows that I’m still pushing all the right buttons.”