When a wildfire broke out in the Müritz National Park of north-eastern Germany in July, it was no routine firefighting job. Bomb disposal teams had to work alongside firefighters because the forest floor is contaminated with cold war-era munitions. Crews could not approach parts of the blaze directly for fear of detonations.

Soon after, a wildfire tore through 42,000 hectares of the Gironde region in south-western France. As it burned through fields near the village of Le Porge, the fire exposed a forgotten cache of second world war-era shells. At least 75 were recovered from the scorched earth.

Several of the shells had detonated during the fire and one projectile punched through the wall of a house that had been evacuated. The local mayor, Martial Zaninetti, said the municipality had no record the munitions were there at all.

These events are symptoms of a clear problem: Europe is full of buried explosives left over from 20th century wars, and the continent’s wildfires are now big enough, hot enough and last long enough to reach them.

While buried munitions are always dangerous, they are usually undisturbed enough not to go off. What changes during a wildfire is heat and pressure. Explosive fillings can ignite or detonate when heated past a critical threshold. Old ordnance is also often more unstable than it was when manufactured as decades of corrosion can make casings and fuses more sensitive.

A fire burning through leaf litter and topsoil for a few minutes generally is not hot enough to cause detonation. But a fire that burns for hours or days, or that sinks down into dry peat and smoulders underground for a prolonged period of time, can transfer enough sustained heat into the ground to trigger buried munitions directly.

This happened repeatedly in 2025 during the Langdale Moor fire in North Yorkshire, UK. Flames burrowing into deep peat set off more than 20 buried second world war shells over six weeks of burning.

Fires also expose ordnance that heat would not otherwise touch. Burning off vegetation and topsoil uncovers shells and mines buried further down, leaving them lying on the surface. This is how the Le Porge fire team ended up gathering 75 exposed shells from scorched fields that no one on the local council knew were there.

The underlying physics is not unique to wildfires. Six separate munitions sites exploded across Iraq during the summers of 2018 and 2019, when temperatures regularly climbed above 45°C. No fire was involved in this case – just prolonged, extreme ambient heat. A similar dynamic has been linked to a 2020 arms depot explosion in Jordan in 2020.

Europe’s buried munitions

Europe is contaminated with explosive remnants of two world wars and roughly four decades of cold war military activity. Many of these munitions sit precisely where wildfires now burn: in forests, moorland and heath that were requisitioned for military use and then largely left alone.

North-eastern Germany’s forests, including areas that are now nature reserves and Unesco world heritage sites, were Soviet and East German training grounds during the cold war. Germany’s ordnance-clearance service, the Munitionsbergungsdienst, works through this land area by area because the scale of contamination is too large to clear all at once.

Northern France and Belgium still produce a so-called annual “iron harvest” of first world war shells turned up by farmers every spring. Parts of the “Zone Rouge” near the French city of Verdun remain officially uninhabitable more than a century after the 1918 Armistice.

South-western France, including the Gironde forests that burned in 2026, also saw heavy fighting and stored ordnance during the second world war. And in the UK, moorland such as the North York Moors were used for tank training during the second world war, leaving buried ordnance in deep peat that is now increasingly prone to burning.

The nature of the fires that now burn in areas around this buried ordinance has changed. The devastating wildfires that have struck Spain and France in 2026 offer a striking illustration of Europe’s escalating wildfire crisis. Consecutive heatwaves, coupled with low rainfall and depleted soil moisture, created extreme fire weather conditions.

Climate change is a key factor driving the increase in fire weather in the region. Summer days featuring extreme fire-prone conditions across southern Europe doubled between 1981 and 2025, and climate change projections suggest this trajectory will continue. As temperature rise and rainfall patterns shift, the probability of extreme wildfires will continue to rise.

Climate is not the only factor behind Europe’s rising wildfire activity. While North America and Europe are seeing dramatic increases in fire frequency and intensity, global fire activity is declining. Changes in demographics and land management practices are changing the availability of fuel for fire.

In Africa, for instance, the fragmentation of grasslands and changing farming practices have contributed to a decline in wildfires. The opposite dynamic is at play in Europe. Rural abandonment in some parts of the continent has allowed vegetation to accumulate, creating the fuel loads that feed extreme wildfires.

The combination of drier ground, longer fire seasons and changing land use is turning Europe’s decades-old contamination problem into a live operational hazard.

Hunter Biden has told the BBC he is “the most privileged person there is” after receiving a presidential pardon from his father, former US President Joe Biden, acknowledging it was not a good choice for America or his father’s legacy.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, Hunter Biden defended the controversial pardon, reflected on his father’s declining health, ruled out seeking elected office and spoke about helping others recover from addiction.

Asked about the 2024 pardon, he said he understood the criticism but noted: “What would you have thought of my dad if he did not do that for me.”

“It’s something that is easily criticised and for good reason,” he added.

“It’s not fair… All I know is that I’m grateful that he did it for me,” he said, acknowledging the pardon was “not good” for the American people, the Constitution – or his father’s legacy.

He argued to the BBC that his father ultimately acted out of concern that he would become a target under Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

“I was the only one in the world that could have gotten what I got from the only person in the world who could give it, my father.”

Hunter Biden also insisted he and his father had never discussed the possibility of a pardon before it was granted.

“There is no way that you can have those kinds of discussions that would not become public,” he said.

President Biden granted his son a full and unconditional pardon in December 2024, despite repeatedly saying beforehand that he would not use the powers of the presidency to intervene in his son’s legal cases. In announcing the decision, the former president said his son had been “selectively and unfairly prosecuted”.

The pardon covered his son’s federal gun conviction, a tax case he’d pled guilty to and any federal offences committed between 2014 and 2024.

In a moment that must be seen to be believed, a 12-year-old boy miraculously avoided being flattened after a lorry dragged him underneath.

The boy was casually pushing his bicycle when he stopped and waited to cross as the lorry turned a corner.

But at the last second, the youngster was caught up in the vehicle’s manoeuvre and shoved down onto the road with a thud.

CCTV footage captured the extraordinary incident on Avenida Joaquim David in the city of Firminopolis, in the Brazilian state of Goias, on August 5.

Footage showed the boy even getting hit by the lorry’s wheels, which luckily only appeared to push him along the tarmac before he could roll free.

He was then seen rising to his feet without struggle and walking back to collect his bike, moments after the rear of the truck cleared him.

The lorry, a Volvo FH 540, was turning onto the GO-060 highway at the time, and the boy had been making his way home from school.

Staff from a nearby chemist witnessed the collision, gave first aid at the roadside, and drove him to Hospital Santa Gemma.

Medics there found he had fractured his left wrist and grazed his elbow.

While he was subsequently transferred to the Goiás State Emergency Hospital, Dr Valdemiro Cruz (Hugol) in Goiânia, where he is expected to undergo an operation, the outcome could’ve been far worse.

As for the lorry driver, he had been travelling to a rural property to load up the vehicle and contacted the Military Police several hours after the accident.

He explained to officers that he had carried on driving because the child had been in a blind spot behind his mirrors, and he had no idea he had struck anyone.

The man said he only became aware that something had happened when a friend sent him the shocking video.

He then asked for the contact details of the boy’s parents, adding that he intends to support the family and offering to meet the costs of his medical treatment.

The police are investigating the incident.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Ex-footballer dies aged 41 in freak accident after storm kills four others

Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has claimed he is officially declaring for the WNBA Draft in 2027 amid the ongoing debate surrounding transgender inclusion in sports. 

Freedom, who stands at 6ft 10in and played in the NBA for 11 seasons, shared the announcement with his fans through a post on social media on Friday afternoon.

In a video, the former New York Knicks and Boston Celtics star said: ‘After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect.

‘If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.

‘My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion. Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.

‘I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions. I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices.

Freedom’s announcement comes amid the WNBA’s bitter culture war after Sophie Cunningham advocated for restrictions to ‘protect young girls’ from ‘biological men’ in sports 

‘I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone – the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for.

‘My team and I are prepared to ensure these guidelines are applied equally, consistently, and without exception, and I look forward to the #WNBA honoring its stated principles. See you at training camp.’

The 34-year-old was previously picked third overall at the 2011 NBA Draft, before enjoying a career that took him to the Jazz, Thunder, Knicks, Trail Blazers and Celtics. He has not played a professional game since 2022.

Freedom’s post quickly went viral on social media as a number of political commentators threw their support behind the NBA veteran and his decision.

Riley Gaines was among those to respond to the post, writing: ‘Genius. Perfect. Waiting to see which WNBA team recruits’.

Similarly, Piers Morgan wrote on X: ‘Brilliant… now let’s see how keen the @WNBA stars are for men to play in their League.’

Clay Travis, meanwhile, who recently offered to pay $10 million to WNBA champions the Las Vegas Aces if they can beat a high school boys basketball team of his choosing, wrote: ‘Amazing. Well done.’

Freedom’s declaration comes amid an ongoing culture war within the WNBA, sparked by Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham after she said in an interview with ESPN that she wants to ‘protect young girls’ from ‘biological men’ in sports.

In a video, Freedom said he ‘meets every single requirement to compete in the WNBA’ 

Cunningham’s comments have left fans, players and coaches in the WNBA divided recently 

WNBA star Gabby Williams recently claimed she would ‘welcome’ a transgender teammate

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Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve recently wore a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ t-shirt 

Since making the comments, the sports world has been left divided. 

While some, such as Riley Gaines and Stephen A. Smith, have seemingly sided with the Fever star, others have openly criticized her and booed her on the court. 

Recently, the bitter culture war deepened after Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams claimed she would happily welcome a trans player to her team.

‘I think trans rights, right now, is our new battle,’ Williams said in a recent interview, adding: ‘We see people’s trans rights being stripped away from them; there’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and what they can compete in.

‘I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime,’ Williams added. ‘I don’t think it’s a problem in the world.’ 

In the wake of Cunningham’s comments, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve made her feelings on the topic extremely clear on Sunday – after opting to wear a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ t-shirt on the sidelines of their game against the Fever. 

Elsewhere on the day, meanwhile, Gaines showed her support attending a Fever game and bringing a sign for Cunningham – before allegedly being told to put it away by WNBA staff.

The sign read: ‘Sophie, Thank You – A Girl Mom.’

However, during the game, retired gymnast and friend of Gaines, Jennifer Sey, revealed that the political activist had been told to put her sign down by staff. 

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A number of political commentators were quick to praise Freedom for his announcement

Political activist Riley Gaines showed her support for Cunningham by attending her game 

After the game, Gaines took to social media to take aim at the WNBA staffer over the matter

Gaines swiftly reposted Sey’s post on X and added: ‘There were no fewer than 1000 signs in the arena. Most with trans paraphernalia. The only person who was told to put her sign down by WNBA officials was me. Wonder why.’

In the end, Gaines was able to keep hold of her sign and even had Cunningham hold it as they posed for a courtside picture together after the Lynx’s 108-100 win.

Gaines, Cunningham and Sey all posed together, with the two supporters performing Cunningham’s now-iconic ‘point’ towards the camera. 

Gaines also shared a picture with Cunningham on Instagram, writing: ‘I show up for @sophie_cham because she shows up for my daughter.’

Though she didn’t comment on it, the Fever star did take time to like Gaines’ post.

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 18:00 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 22:10 BST, 7 August 2026

A manhunt is underway for a child rapist who escaped from prison staff while on escorted leave.

Restricted patient, Cliff Lyons Dobbie, fled from officers in Perth city centre on Thursday.

He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, white trainers, light blue ripped jeans, a salmon-coloured golf shirt and a light blue jumper.

Dobbie was also carrying a puffer jacket and wearing a black backpack. 

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Police Scotland described him as a bald 5ft 3in tall white male with a stocky muscular build and distinctive tattoos on both arms.  

Dobbie has been held in secure facilities since 1990 after he raped a 10-year-old girl in Glasgow and sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in a field. 

He was admitted to State Hospital in Carstairs where he has remained since the depraved attacks. 

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Cliff Lyons Dobbie, a restricted patient, escaped from prison staff while on escorted leave in Perth city centre

He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, white trainers, light blue ripped jeans, a salmon-coloured golf shirt and a light blue jumper

Police have warned the public not to approach Dobbie and to report his whereabouts to the police if he is spotted.

He is currently being treated as a missing person and the investigation to locate him is ongoing. 

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It is understood NHS Tayside is working with Police Scotland during the search. 

Inspector Kris McCall said: ‘We want to trace Cliff, who also uses the name Clifford Lyons or Dobbie, as quickly as possible. 

‘I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has seen or spoken to him since Thursday, 6 August, 2026. He has links to Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

‘The public should not approach him but should report any sighting to Police Scotland.

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‘Those with information should contact police immediately on 101 or 999, or speak to any officer. Please use incident number 1696 of 6 August 2026.’

By NATALIA PENZA

Published: 21:24 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 22:13 BST, 7 August 2026

Former Strictly stars Ola and James Jordan have announced the end of their 22-year marriage. 

The pair were the show’s longest-standing couple after they started dating in 1999 and married in 2003. 

But Ola, 43, and James, 48, have now fallen victim to the infamous Strictly curse as they said they have decided to end their marriage after a trial separation ‘some time ago’. 

They remain committed to co-parenting their daughter, Ella, six.   

James and Ola’s representative said in a statement: ‘It is with great sadness that I can confirm that James and Ola began a trial separation some time ago.

‘Their shared priority remains co-parenting their daughter, Ella, and they are committed to putting her wellbeing first.

The pair were the show’s longest-standing couple after they started dating in 1999 and married in 2003 (pictured 2012) 

‘They would greatly appreciate your understanding as they navigate this difficult time.’

A source said the news has come as a ‘huge shock’ to family and friends. 

They told The Sun: ‘It’s been a huge shock to their friends and family because they always seemed like such a solid couple.

‘But they know in the long run it is the right decision. They have been together for almost 30 years and while they love and care for each other, things have changed.

‘James hasn’t been in a good place for quite a while now and things came to a head recently. They’ve had some open and honest discussions about their future over the past few months and have now decided that the best option is for them to separate.’

The insider added Ola has taken her wedding and engagement ring off. The last social media post with James dates back to April last year.  

The Daily Mail has contacted their representative for comment.  

They welcomed their daughter Ella in February 2020 via IVF following a three-year fertility battle.

The couple have long been open about the ups and downs in their decades-long romance, often opening up to fans about everything from disagreements to their sex life.

Back in 2017, when they’d been together for 18 years at the time, James said ‘life isn’t all smooth sailing’ as he admitted to troubles in the relationship.

During an appearance on Lorraine, he said life with Ola has not always been easy as he revealed: ‘Life isn’t all smooth sailing – we have had ups and downs’.

Back in 2017 when they’d been together for 18 years at the time, James said ‘life isn’t all smooth sailing’ as he admitted to troubles in his relationship (pictured together in 2024)

The couple spoke in the past about their love woes, with Ola saying: ‘It’s not all beautiful and sometimes you can look at people’s posts on Instagram and Facebook and you think, oh they’ve got perfect lives, but it’s not like that…

‘Marriage is not like that, no one’s got a perfect marriage. It’s a work in progress and I think if two people want to be together, they’ll make it happen.

‘Sometimes you have dark times and you need your other half’s support, and it’s not all pretty and perfect that people seem to think.’

Meanwhile, in July 2023, the pair revealed that their sex life was back on track after previously confessing sex is ‘definitely not better with mum and dad bods’.

The former Strictly Come Dancing professionals admitted that their bedroom activities had hit an all-time low after the couple become ‘obese’.

Ola said their ‘bellies got in their way’ of their romance the previous year before they shredded the pounds with their own fitness plan, Dance Shred.

She cheekily gushed that her partner’s slimmed down figure has boosted the appearance of what he’s packing in his underwear.

She told The Sun: ‘Well, let’s face it. It’s much more pleasant nowadays, isn’t it? The bellies don’t jiggle as much as they used to.’

The split comes just three years after they revealed their plans to renew their vows at Elvis chapel during 20th anniversary trip to Las Vegas.

Speaking to The Sun in 2023, the pair enthused over their upcoming getaway to mark the special occasion and admitted that they just might end up getting hitched again.

James said, ‘You never know where you’re gonna end up after a few drinks. We used to go there loads before Ella was born and we like letting our hair down every now and again.

‘We might end up somewhere saying, “I do,” he confessed while Ola chimed in, ‘At the Elvis chapel!’

James and Polish-born beauty Ola first met at a dance competition in Blackpool in 1999 and married four years later.

They were initially dance partners before their professional relationship developed into romance, James proposed two years later and the couple tied the knot in October 2003.

The pair shot to fame as professionals on BBC One celebrity competition Strictly Come Dancing, which they both joined in series four back in 2006.

James bowed out of the show after season 11 in 2013, while Ola left at the end of series 13 in 2015.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Keiko Fujimori, a business-friendly conservative politician who campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform, on Friday was declared the winner of Peru’s presidential runoff election, making the South American nation the latest in Latin America to elect a right-wing leader.

Fujimori, 51, the daughter of late former President Alberto Fujimori, whose government defeated the Shining Path violent extremist group in the 1990s but also took an authoritarian turn, has pledged an aggressive crackdown on crime.

She has promised to build four new prisons, including a mega-prison modeled after El Salvador’s CECOT facility, militarize Peru’s borders to curb drug trafficking and deport migrants working in the country without legal residency.

Conservatives have won seven major presidential elections in Latin American in the past few years, most of the them since the January 2025 inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, in a winning streak propelled by concerns over crime, immigration and slow economic growth

Here is a look at the Latin American countries that have elected conservative presidents recently:

Colombia elects a ‘tiger’ to take on rebels and drug gangs

Trump-endorsed outsider Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s presidential election in June by a narrow margin, defeating progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda.

De la Espriella, who is nicknamed “The Tiger,” campaigned on a tough-on-crime approach, which includes proposals like canceling peace talks with Colombian rebel groups and building mega-prisons, like those in El Salvador. De la Espriella’s election marks a pivotal moment for Colombia, which was governed for the past four years by a former member of a rebel group, who was critical of the Trump administration’s immigration and anti-drug policies.

“The tiger” has promised to tackle extortion and drug trafficking. He was endorsed by Trump, who described the lawyer and business owner as the candidate who could restore law and order in Colombia.

Argentina chooses libertarian to tackle inflation

Javier Milei, an economist and television commentator nicknamed “The Lion,” won Argentina’s presidential election in November 2023 by promising to slash government spending and tackle the South American nation’s decades-long inflation problem. The libertarian defeated the ruling Peronist movement.

During his tenure, Milei has stopped the nation’s central bank from printing money to finance the government deficit and has cut government spending by firing civil servants and halting investment in public infrastructure programs, while reducing subsidies for public utility bills.

Argentina’s inflation has fallen from 211% in 2023 to 32% in 2025. However, some have blamed Milei’s austerity policies for decreasing the living standards of many Argentines, including public sector workers.

Ecuador reelects leader that favors military

Daniel Noboa, a member of one of Ecuador’s wealthiest families, was reelected to a four-year term in April 2025, winning the election with 56% of the vote. The conservative leader has given the military a more prominent role in providing security in coastal cities overrun by drug gangs fighting over the control of ports and drug trafficking routes.

But the strategy has not substantially reduced homicide rates. The government also has been criticized for human rights abuses, such as extrajudicial executions.

Under Noboa’s watch, Ecuador’s military has started to conduct joint operations against drug traffickers with the U.S. Noboa also pushed for the reopening of a U.S. military base in Ecuador, but the proposal was struck down in a referendum last year.

Asfura, who belongs to the same party as former President Juan Orlando Hernández who was pardoned by Trump for a drug trafficking conviction, was endorsed by the U.S. president, who threatened to cut off aid to the small Central American country if Asfura was not elected. Under Asfura’s administration, Honduras has received dozens of deportees from third countries through an agreement that was signed with the U.S. in early 2025, most of them Guatemalan nationals.

Chile’s Kast defeats the progressive movement

In December, José Antonio Kast, a conservative and a devout Catholic, won Chile’s presidential election with 58% of the vote, defeating a progressive government that had been in power for the previous four years.

In his campaigns, Kast capitalized on fears over increasing crime rates in Chile and said he would expel migrants from countries like Venezuela and Haiti that had been working in Chile without residency permits. One of his first moves after taking office has been to expand a trench along Chile’s borders with Peru and Bolivia in a bid, his government says, to stop drug trafficking and migration.

Kast’s government has recently faced protests over increasing unemployment and budget cuts that have affected public servants.

Costa Rica proposes tough-on-crime approach

Laura Fernández, an economy minister under conservative ex-President Rodrigo Chaves, won Costa Rica’s election in February with 48% of the vote, defeating her closest rival by 15 percentage points and surpassing the 40% of votes needed to avoid a runoff election.

During her campaign, Fernández proposed tough-on-crime measures, including a state of exception that would enable police to arrest suspects without warrants, and said she would build a mega prison modeled after El Salvador’s notorious CECOT penitentiary.

Fernández’s government has received several flights with migrants from third countries deported by the U.S. as she complies with an agreement that was signed by her predecessor last year. In June, one of these flights had migrants from China, Vietnam, Colombia and Azerbaijan.

___

Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Counter-terror police investigating the death of Ann Widdecombe have re-opened an old probe into an attempted burglary last year.

The incident at an address in Greater London was reported in April 2025.

The Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London investigated but no arrests were made and the case was closed pending any new lines of inquiry.

Since it was re-opened, CTP London has identified a line of inquiry ‘which may have been relevant’ but was ‘not identified and pursued by them at the time’.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is now investigating the ‘conduct’ of a CTP London staff member, following an allegation that the employee ‘failed to identify and pursue a line of inquiry’ related to the attempted burglary.

Reform UK spokeswoman and former Tory minister Miss Widdecombe was having lunch at her home when Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, allegedly burst into her bungalow, the Old Bailey heard previously.

Kerry was arrested on suspicion of murder on July 11, two days after Miss Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her property in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon.

He was also arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism – but he has not been charged with this offence.

Senior national co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, Vicki Evans, said: ‘As part of the ongoing investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing South East into the murder of Ann Widdecombe, officers have re-opened an investigation into an incident reported to police last year.’

She added: ‘Given the nature of this matter and the significant public interest in the investigation into Ann Widdecombe’s death, it was of critical importance for us to provide this update. ‘

CTP London made a ‘mandatory conduct referral’ to the IOPC on Friday.

Joshua Kerry, 28, who has been charged over the death of Ann Widdecombe. He is pictured taking part in a charity fundraiser to guess the number of Easter eggs in a jar

An IOPC spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm that the IOPC has decided to independently investigate the conduct of a Counter Terrorism Policing London staff member following a referral received earlier today.

‘The conduct relates to an allegation the individual failed to identify and pursue a line of enquiry relating to an attempted burglary reported in April 2025.

‘Counter Terrorism Policing London has been notified of our decision, and no further information is available at this early stage.’

Last month a court heard how Miss Widdecombe was bludgeoned 21 times over the head with a hammer in a ‘ferocious’ two-minute attack captured on camera.

The 78-year-old former minister was ambushed in her own kitchen by a hammer-wielding intruder while she was having her lunch, it was said.

Disturbing details of her brutal murder emerged today as her alleged killer Joshua Kerry appeared in court for the first time.

The 28-year-old is alleged to have walked into the former MP’s kitchen through an unlocked front door asking, ‘Don’t suppose you have bank cards and ID?’ as he held a hammer out of sight.

Prosecutors described the violence used as ‘ferocious’, saying Kerry struck the victim 21 times before shoving her body to the floor, rifling through her handbag for a wallet and fleeing the scene.

On July 21 it emerged for the first time that the pensioner died from a ‘blunt force injury to the head’.

But, just hours earlier a coroner had insisted the cause of death was unascertained.

Philip Spinney, senior coroner for the county of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, opened an inquest into her death at 10am, declaring: ‘She was found to be unresponsive with visible injuries.

Counter-terror police have re-opened a probe into an attempted burglary at the London home of Ann Widdecombe last year

A cordon around Ms Widdecombe’s bungalow in Haytor on Dartmoor

‘A postmortem examination has taken place and at this stage the precise medical cause of death has yet to be established.’

But at a subsequent Westminster Magistrates Court hearing at 2pm, Prosecutor Kashir Malik said: ‘A provisional cause of death from the pathologist was given as a blunt force injury to the head.’

He told the court that the attack was caught on a kitchen camera installed in Ms Widdecombe’s home which recorded the defendant’s movements and sounds from the victim.

The defendant was seen parking on Ms Widdecombe’s drive on another camera and entering the property in Dartmoor around 12.01pm on July 8, the court was told.

Mr Malik said: ‘He is wearing black gloves and holding a hammer in his right hand, held by his side, hidden from Miss Widdecombe view.

‘The defendant hits her on the top of the head with the hammer 21 times. He then tips her out of the chair where she falls on to the floor.

‘The defendant then reaches for her handbag and takes her wallet out.

‘The defendant leaves the property and gets back into his vehicle.

‘From entering and leaving the property, he was in the property for two minutes.’

Her body was not found until the next day after the Reform immigration spokeswoman did not attend a Channel 5 interview.

The production team attempted to contact Ms Widdecombe through her personal assistant resulting in a gardener being sent to check up on her.

The prosecutor added: ‘The gardener entered the house; the front door was open and held back with the doorstop. The gardener discovered Miss Widdecombe was lying face down on the kitchen floor with a serious head injury.

‘The ambulance service was called and paramedics confirmed the death.’

This is a breaking news story, more to follow. 

An eyewitness described it as “a really bad accident” saying a car is on its side and a boat appears to have come off a trailer.

“Really bad accident on the M4 westbound in Cardiff. Car on its side and a boat has come flying off its trailer,” she said.

“All lanes blocked. Traffic at a standstill. Police and ambulance on scene.”