The Scottish Labour leader dismissed the comments by the senior Reform UK figure as a “desperate lie from a desperate man”.

Anas Sarwar has angrily denied a claim by Malcom Offord that he suggested doing a deal to remove the SNP from power after May’s election.

The Scottish Labour leader hit out after the second live TV debate of the Holyrood campaign saw Reform’s chief in Scotland make a bold accusation over a possible link-up between them.

During a heated segment on immigration broadcast live on Channel 4 News, Sarwar accused Offord – a former Tory peer – of being “racist”. He added: “Malcolm, one of your candidates wants my children deported. Where do you want us to go?”

Offord responded that there was “no prospect” of him or his family being deported. The Reform UK leader added: “This is the third time on national TV you’ve called me racist.

“This does not square with you coming up to me at the start of this campaign, bouncing up to me in Paisley Town Hall, and saying we need to work together, Reform and Labour, to remove the SNP.”

Sarwar snapped back “utter nonsense” while John Swinney – standing between the pair – looked visibily surprised. The SNP leader has repeatedly warned voters that Scottish Labour would be prepared to do a deal with Reform UK, much to Sarwar’s anger.

READ MORE: Scots should receive benefit payments without having to apply for them first, say GreensREAD MORE: Nigel Farage heckled on Shetland visit as Reform leader tours north of Scotland

Speaking to reporters after the debate in Maryhill, Sarwar said: “Claims of any backroom deal are absolute nonsense, it is a desperate lie from a desperate man.

“It is desperation from a party whose campaign has completely flunked.

“These are the same people who have spent tens of thousands of pounds on racist adverts targeting me, and whose candidates have made deeply racist remarks, including calls to deport all Muslims – which would include my own children.

“And for John Swinney to jump on this when he is happy to call out Reform’s lies and racism elsewhere, but somehow chooses to imply we are doing a deal with them when it concerns racism directed at me – is deeply disappointing.

“Our politics should be better than that, and frankly I thought John Swinney was better than that.

“I understand why he may think it is politically useful, but morally he should take a long, hard look at himself.

“Let me be unequivocal: no stitch-ups, no deals, no backroom chats, no back-channel contact with Reform. I only want one deal, and that is with the people of Scotland.”

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Thierry Henry believes Arsenal could face trouble in their Champions League quarter-final if Sporting CP use similar tactics to Bournemouth.

Arsenal have a 1-0 advantage going into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday night following their win in Lisbon last week.

However, Mikel Arteta’s side head into the game at the Emirates Stadium off the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League, which has cut their advantage over Manchester City at the top of the table to six points.

Arsenal delivered an unconvincing performance in the loss at home to Bournemouth as they struggled to create clear-cut chances in attack and failed to beat the press from Andoni Iraola’s players in their own half.

If they eliminate Sporting on Wednesday night, Arsenal will play Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final and Henry feels a positive result can help the team ‘make a statement’ in their crucial Premier League game against Manchester City this Sunday.

‘If you’re Sporting, if you see the way Man City played Arsenal and the way Bournemouth played Arsenal at the weekend, the way they put pressure in that 4-2-4 early doors, Arsenal didn’t have an answer on how to step out from that,’ Henry told CBS Sports.

‘I don’t know what Sporting are going to do, but yes, it is very important for Arsenal to win the game and make sure they can prepare for the game we are all waiting for, what time it is.

‘Because for a very long time, I wasn’t even focusing on Bournemouth, even before Bournemouth winning I wasn’t focusing on that, I wanted that game, if I was a player, I want to win at statement, I want to make a statement.

‘I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but that’s what I’m waiting for.’

Asked if he prefers Arsenal to face Atletico Madrid after they knocked out Barcelona, Henry replied: ‘We will see. We need to beat Sporting.

‘They [Atletico] can celebrate, we’re not there yet.’

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The work, led by the Environment Agency and carried out by Acumen Waste Services Ltd, will involve digging up and shifting 21,000 tonnes of waste, including tyres, shredded plastic and household rubbish from the illegal dumping site which covers 8,000 square metres – an area bigger than Wembley Stadium.

Some very worrying statistics for music venues across the country

Northern Ireland has produced Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema Club, The Undertones, Ash, Stiff Little Fingers, Gary Moore, Van Morrison and more from a population roughly the size of Greater Manchester. Every one of them learned their craft in grassroots music venues (GMVs). Now those venues are facing a very challenging and uncertain future.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) presented its Annual Report 2025 at Stormont on April 14 at a reception hosted by Matthew O’Toole MLA, Sian Mulholland MLA and Robbie Butler MLA.

For the first time in MVT’s eleven-year history, the report includes a dedicated section on Northern Ireland’s grassroots music venues following a year of targeted sector development work supported by Belfast City Council – and what the data shows is stark.

Seventeen active, dedicated grassroots music venues delivered 22,464 artist performances across 3,705 events in 2025, drawing over 460,000 audience visits. Their contribution to the Northern Ireland economy was £11.85 million. Yet only half of those venues made a profit.

Employment in the sector fell by 21 per cent in a single year, from 667 workers to 525. And live music, the thing these venues exist to provide, cost the sector £1.63 million more than it earned.

Beverley Whitrick, COO of Music Venue Trust, said: “MVT is incredibly grateful for the ongoing support from the Culture Team at Belfast City Council for our work in Northern Ireland, and the belief in the importance of GMVs shown by our host MLAs. Their assistance means that we have now been able to represent the vital contribution grassroots music venues make to the music ecosystem in all four nations of the UK, with events in every parliament. It has always been important to us to speak on behalf of GMVs across the whole of the UK so we are delighted that partners have enabled us to gather data to highlight the challenges for these venues, and an opportunity to lay out MVT’s plan for sector development.”

Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, a long-term MVT patron who attended the Stormont reception, listed some of the country’s most famous musical legends: “Phil Coulter, Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema Club, The Undertones, Clodagh Rogers, Van Morrison, Ash, Brian Kennedy, Therapy?, Mama’s Boys, D:Ream, Dana, And So I Watch You From Afar, Stiff Little Fingers, Gary Moore, David Holmes, The Divine Comedy”.

Adding that “Northern Ireland’s contribution to popular music has been vastly disproportionate to its tiny population. Along with the rest of the arts we have done our bit to challenge stereotypes, offset negativity and promote this brilliant little place. It was only by performing in small music venues around the province that I, and the aforementioned list of artists, became any good at all. Without them the next generation of Northern Irish stars will be unnecessarily stymied. This is not a charity case. This is a canny investment in the future.”

Throughout 2025, MVT worked closely with GMVs across Northern Ireland, delivering meetings, training, advice and support to enable participation in its Annual Survey and strengthen representation of the region within the UK-wide report. As a result, the 2025 report provides the most comprehensive picture to date of Northern Ireland’s grassroots music infrastructure and the venues that sustain it.

These findings underline both the cultural and economic importance of Northern Ireland’s grassroots music venues, and the urgent need for continued support to ensure their long-term sustainability.

Following the reception, which brought together venue operators, artists – including Hannon and Ciaran Lavery – policymakers and industry stakeholders, a Northern Ireland Venues Meeting took place at the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, focused on planning the next phase of development for the region’s grassroots music ecosystem.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man accused of trying to kill OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by throwing a Molotov cocktail at his San Francisco home was experiencing a mental health crisis and has been overcharged by prosecutors, his public defender said Tuesday.

Daniel Moreno-Gama made his first court appearance on state charges with disheveled hair and wearing an orange jail uniform. The 20-year-old, whose attorney said is autistic, kept his gaze down during the brief hearing and softly answered “yes” when asked by a judge whether he agreed to continue his arraignment. San Francisco Judge Kenneth Wine ordered him held without bail and set his arraignment for May 5.

Authorities say Moreno-Gama, of Spring, Texas, hurled the incendiary device at Altman’s home Friday, setting an exterior gate on fire before fleeing on foot. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building, they said. They said he traveled to the city from Texas.

No one was injured at Altman’s home or the company’s offices. San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward called the case a “property crime, at best,” and said that prosecutors are pursuing higher charges to curry favor for Altman. Moreno-Gama also faces federal charges.

“It is unfair and is unjust for the San Francisco district attorney and the federal government to fearmonger and to exploit the mental illness of a vulnerable, young man by turning a vandalism case into an attempted murder, life exposure case to gain support of a billionaire, and to get political points at the expense of true justice for everyone involved,” Ward said.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins disputed that he was overcharged, saying Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to back up the charges. She said prosecutors would act the same whether the victim was a “billionaire or a CEO or any average San Franciscan.”

“Regardless of a victim’s status, they all deserve justice and they all deserve safety,” she said.

Moreno-Gama’s parents said in a statement he has never harmed anyone and recently began having mental health issues.

“We have been trying our best to address these issues and get him effective treatment, and we are very concerned for his well-being,” they said.

Authorities said Moreno-Gama, who works part-time at a pizzeria and is attending community college, expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.

“This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo said during a news conference Monday.

Moreno-Gama is charged in California state court with two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson. He tried to kill both Altman and a security guard at Altman’s residence, Jenkins alleged. Officials have not said whether Altman was home at the time, prosecutors said.

Jenkins said the state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.

On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in a Houston suburb where they spent several hours before leaving. He has also been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective penalties of up to 10 years and 20 years in prison.

“We will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism, and together with our partners, prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law,” U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said.

The document in which Moreno-Gama discussed his opposition to AI also made threats against Altman and executives at other AI companies, officials said.

“If I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message,” Moreno-Gama wrote, according to authorities.

Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to society condemned the violence.

Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, said in a written statement Friday that “violence and intimidation of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of AI.”

Another group, PauseAI, said in a statement that the suspect had no role in the group but joined its forum on the social media platform Discord about two years ago and posted about 34 messages there, none containing explicit calls to violence but one that was flagged as “ambiguous.”

Discord said Monday that it has banned Moreno-Gama for “off-platform behavior.”

He targeted businesses just days after getting a suspended sentence for similar offences

A prolific criminal targeted businesses in a spree of raids in Cambridge just days after getting a suspended sentence for similar offences. Robert Rust, 38, was given a suspended four-week jail term at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court for burglary and theft offences on March 19.

Days later, he stole a locked bike from racks at Cambridge Railway Station overnight, on March 21 to 22. He then tried to break into Dino’s Barbers, in Green End Road, Chesterton, in the early hours of March 22.

He was unsuccessful and instead broke into the Mermaid Chinese Takeaway next door, stealing a tip jar containing £10. Later the same day, Rust stole a locked e-bike from the bike racks at Parkside Pools.

He then targeted the Co-op, at Cambridge North Railway Station, four times in April, where he stole meat, alcohol, vapes and chocolate. Rust was identified from CCTV footage and arrested by officers in Maitland Avenue on Thursday (April 9).

On Friday (April 10), Rust pleaded guilty to three counts of theft, two counts of burglary, attempted burglary, theft of a pedal cycle and theft of a conveyance other than a motor vehicle or pedal cycle at Cambridge Magistrate’s Court. Rust of Minerva Way, King’s Hedges, Cambridge, was jailed for six months.

DC Sam Andrews, who investigated, said: “Rust causes nothing but misery for residents and businesses of Cambridge with his repeated burglaries and thefts. He clearly isn’t learning and we will continue to do everything in our power to bring him to justice so long as he continues offending.”

ITV viewers admitted they were enjoying the split

I’m a Celebrity South Africa viewers admitted they love the “evil” addition of the wall splitting the two camps.

As the second week arrives for the celebrities in the I’m a Celebrity spin-off, the existing campmates were in for a surprise as they were joined by two new celebrities.

The Royal Express then arrived at the platform, with the campmates eager to see which new faces will be joining them. It was then revealed that Harry Redknapp and Jimmy Bullard were entering the camp.

Taking their place on the thrones, the pair were introduced as the Lion King (Harry) and the Rhino King (Jimmy), with them taking it in turns to create their new teams.

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With the new teams chosen, it was up to Adam Thomas and Craig Charles to fight for glory on behalf of Jimmy, as Ashley Roberts and David Haye worked hard for Harry.

As the stars were tied to bungee ropes, they dug through mud to find golden nuggets. It was then revealed that Adam and Craig had collected more, and therefore won.

Upon returning back to their respective camps, tensions ran high as the Rhinos cheered loudly as they celebrated. With only a tall screen separating them, the Lion camp couldn’t hide their disappointment.

When it got to dinner time, Mo Farah had to be stopped as he tried to help the winning camp to cook their food, with Adam rubbing it in by adding: “That’s what winning tastes like”.

David admitted he would have been “disappointed” if they hadn’t tried to get under his skin before Gemma attempted to comfort him.

On X (formerly known as Twitter), viewers admitted they love how “evil” the wall between the two camps is. @jesstwigg7 wrote: “That wall in the middle of camp is so evil I love it” as @catbunnyswift added: “the absolute shock from the lions hearing the rhinos im cryinggg”.

@song_covers01 penned: “This #ImACeleb is psychological warfare. Hearing the other camp celebrating and then smelling the food later is dire”.