Armed police were called out to deal with Leon Savastio in the incident in Turner Close and Huntington Road, said David Ward, prosecuting.

The 29-year-old thug pulled out a baton, extended it and swung it at a man who had been sitting on grass just after noon, said David Ward, prosecuting.

READ MORE: York stabbing victim jailed for shop thefts and assaults

He demanded money from the victim who managed to run and hide under a bush by the nearby Spar convenience store while he phoned police. He had minor injuries.

Armed officers arrived, threatened to taser Savastio and put him to the ground where he was arrested.

It was the third time he had been involved in serious street violence in York.

He had previously been jailed for attacking a man sitting outside a city centre pub without warning, causing brain injuries, and breaking the jaw of a third man, who had declined to give him a cigarette, and he has other convictions for violence.

Released on bail after the incident in Turner Close, he was caught by police carrying an axe in a West Yorkshire street.

Savastio, formerly of York, pleaded guilty on the day he was due to stand trial to attempted robbery and two offences of carrying an offensive weapon in public.

“You have a worrying record, really worrying,” the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told him at York Crown Court.

Of the attempted robbery, he said: “It was very close to the full offence. The only reason why you didn’t actually get the money was the resilience of the victim.”

He jailed Savastio for four years and four months.

Defence barrister Felicity Hemlin said Savastio had long-standing issues with cocaine and alcohol but had changed since October 2025. 

He was supported by family members and friends and had moved to North Nottinghamshire away from York.

His mother insisted on him taking weekly drug tests and he had been clean for 25 weeks.

“He is a different man now,” she said. “He doesn’t want to go back to prison and get involved in the lifestyle he was in.”

The judge said he was sceptical that Savastio had changed because he had denied the offences until the day he was due to stand trial.

A sinkhole appeared on Milton Road in Cambridge on June 22, and the road has remained closed ever since

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CambridgeshireLive readers have expressed frustration and concern following the closure of Milton Road due to a sinkhole, with many reporting a lack of visible repair work and mounting congestion on nearby routes. Cyclists passing the cordon are calling for clearer information on when the road will reopen and why workers have not been seen on site.

One of Cambridge’s busiest roads remains shut after a sinkhole emerged last week. The sinkhole appeared along Milton Road in Cambridge on the evening of June 22.

The road has remained closed since while highways authorities address the problem. A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: “Milton Road, Cambridge currently remains closed between Hurst Park Avenue and the Elizabeth Way roundabout in both directions due to a large sinkhole.”

The council confirmed that the investigation into the cause of the sinkhole has proven “complex”, as it extends beneath the road surface and there are numerous utility services in the vicinity.

The spokesperson added: “It has been important to ensure that any highway repairs we make would not adversely affect the other services in the area. We’ve been working with partners to make sure the right solution is delivered.

“Appropriate repairs, including foam concrete infill, will be scheduled as soon as possible. We appreciate your continued patience and apologise for the disruption. Please continue to plan your journeys and allow extra time for travel.”

Multiple readers have reported passing the closure daily without witnessing any repair work taking place. One reader, Brexit498 comments: “I cycle past this nonsense every day and have never seen workmen there investigating or repairing.”

Freddly suggests: “My advice to the council is getting Milton Road up and running for public transport, then step back for a while. There are no essential car journeys on Milton Road, just people who are too important to use the bus.”

Rhodabike says: “We don’t need to know the cause. (In fact, I could save you the effort and tell you the cause: poor workmanship.) We just need to know when it will be fixed and why no workmen have been near it for several days since the road has been closed off. What meaningful updates do you have on this?

“I, too, cycle past this daily. The only sign of activity I’ve seen was the other morning when someone (presumably not the contractors) had moved the barriers out of the way to allow traffic through. Whoever did that clearly has more knowledge of traffic management than the council and GCP. Meanwhile, Chesterton Road remains jammed due to all the diverted traffic.”

While over on our Facebook page, Christopher B writes: “I had a look down the hole when passing on Sunday. The cavity beneath the hole is much larger than the hole in the road, but there is a significant amount of water running through the bottom of the hole. The source of the water leak would have to be found and repaired before another sinkhole appears along the same stretch of road.”

Diane B says: “And meanwhile, all traffic, including buses, was diverted past our houses in Elizabeth Way, causing yet more queues. There’s a raised drain cover thing in road near Magic Roundabout and that will probably be causing problems too if this goes on with all the extra traffic going over it!”

Are you experiencing issues caused by the sinkhole and the diversions? Comment below or HERE to have your say.

On Tuesday Sir Keir announced there would be a further £15 billion increase to defence spending over the next four years (up to 2029/30). Much of that £15 billion is due to be spent between 2026/27 and 2028/29, so that means that total spending from 2025/26 to 2028/29 is now set to be higher than the original figure of £270 billion.

The 24-year-old strangled his victim twice

A rapist strangled his victim until she was unconscious and then attacked her. Jacob Negus, 24, began speaking to a woman on a dating app and then met her the following day.

After a month of dating, Negus became controlling. He told the woman to remove men from her social media accounts or he would stop seeing her. The woman chose to end contact, but Negas later sent flowers and apologised. The pair were then on-and-off dating for a couple of months.

In 2023, at his then home in Maxey, near Peterborough, Negus became violent. On one occasion, he strangled the woman until she lost consciousness, leaving her with a burst blood vessel in her eye. When she regained consciousness, the victim realised she was being raped. When Negus saw she was awake, he pulled her hair, forced her to stand and strangled her again.

During their relationship, Negus also left bruises on the woman’s thighs after grabbing them, subjected her to verbal abuse and made threats to harm her. The woman later told a family member and reported the abuse to police.

On Thursday, June 25 at Cambridge Crown Court, Negus, of Leofric Close, Crowland, Lincolnshire, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was found guilty of rape, intentional strangulation and engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship.

DC Frankie Enticknap said: “This was a sustained and deeply traumatic campaign of abuse, where Negus used control, violence and intimidation against his victim.

“It takes a great deal of courage to come forward and report offences of this nature, and I would like to commend the victim for the strength she has shown throughout this investigation. We are committed to supporting victims of sexual offences and domestic abuse, and we will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice.”

By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT

Published: 15:05 BST, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 15:49 BST, 2 July 2026

Donald Trump posted a bizarre AI-generated video of himself as a doctor trying to heal his celebrity detractors for their ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’

The video portrays nearly half a dozen celebrity critics of the President, including Rosie O’Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts, John Leguizamo and Edward Norton. 

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‘Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with TDS? The symptoms can be relentless,’ an AI-generated Trump dressed in a white doctor’s coat says.

‘Fortunately, I’m Dr Trump, and I have a treatment plan. Let’s hear what some of my patients have to say.’

Trump has for years said that those who oppose him suffer from ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ (TDS). Republican Congressman Warren Davidson took the joke a step further last year, proposing a bill to study TDS. 

The clip then cuts to testimonials from the AI-generated celebrities in a doctor’s office as soft piano music plays in the background. 

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‘I have been suffering for over a decade, and after listening to Dr Trump, I can see some results,’ a fake O’Donnell says. 

AI Leguizamo goes next, saying, ‘Man, I’ve been suffering for years. I really didn’t believe that there was help out there. That was when I came across this video on TV.’

The President appears as a doctor in the AI-generated video 

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The clip features a half dozen celebrities offering fake testimonials about how Dr Trump healed them from TDS 

‘I really thought I was a lost cause,’ says the fake Goldberg. ‘This was gonna affect me for the rest of my life, but after using the treatment plan, I can see a difference.’

Trump has a penchant for posting AI-generated content on his social media, some of which has caused an uproar from his supporters. 

Earlier this year, the President published an AI image of him appearing as Jesus Christ healing a sick man, outraging his evangelical Christian supporters who called the post blasphemous. 

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The backlash was so severe that the President later deleted the image of him appearing as Christ. He later said that he thought he was a doctor in the image, not Christ. Within days Trump posted another AI image showing him embracing Jesus. 

In February, the President again stoked anger with an AI-video showing Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. It sparked fury from his own Republican senators and was later deleted by Trump who blamed it on a technical glitch. 

‘I really wasn’t sure I could help some of these people. They were so far gone, I wasn’t really sure,’ the AI-generated ‘Dr Trump’ continues in the clip posted just before midnight on Wednesday. 

Fake De Niro then chimes in: ‘I had no idea how much this was affecting my life. My work has slowed down. I’m hardly recognizable anymore. I just needed help. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. Constantly angry, I made everyone miserable around me.’ 

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‘I feel like I’ve aged 20 years in the last two years. I’ve been so concerned, I was really starting to worry about my future,’ says AI Roberts. 

‘I feel like I’ve aged 20 years in the last two years. I’ve been so concerned, I was really starting to worry about my future,’ says AI Roberts

AI-generated Edward Norton

Dr. Trump then prescribes his AI-generated celebrity patients a strict regimen to recover from their TDS. 

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‘The treatment is simple: turn off fake news, say your prayers, and if you ever feel anxious, just have a Diet Coke like me, and you’re going to see a remarkable difference in your life,’ Dr. Trump concludes. 

The EastEnders and Holby City actress, 54, revealed on Tuesday that she underwent the procedure two weeks ago and she has since had the all clear from her doctors.

She said she still needs to undergo radiotherapy, however reassured her 372,000 followers on Instagram that she is feeling better.

Faulkner said: “I’ve had to have surgery because I’ve had the very early stages of breast cancer.

“I had surgery two weeks ago, and it was quite a big op, but it’s all good, and I’ve had my results back, and they’ve got everything out, and so it’s all clear, and I just need now to have some radiotherapy in a few weeks.

“I’ve still got quite a bit of healing to do, but I’m good, I’m well, and feeling so much better.”

She urged others to go for check-ups adding that if she did not go for her breast screening, the cancer would not have been picked up.

“I am so grateful that I went for my mammogram,” she said.

“Don’t put them off, go, because they found this and without that mammogram it wouldn’t have been picked up.”

Faulkner ended her video by thanking the “wonderful NHS” for the scan and early treatment.

The actress has four children and married the former MasterChef presenter in 2019. She recently appeared in Single White Female in Manchester after returning to the stage after 21 years.

The news comes nearly a year after Torode was sacked from the cooking competition show after an allegation that he used “highly offensive racist language” was upheld in a review looking into his former co-presenter Greg Wallace, who was also fired due to alleged misconduct.

Two powerful, back-to-back earthquakes shook Venezuela Wednesday evening, collapsing buildings, killing hundreds and leaving thousands more missing across the northern part of the country. Many more are feared dead.

Governments, nonprofits and members of the Venezuelan diaspora around the world are mobilizing to respond after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes. Help is needed for search and rescue efforts, emergency shelter for displaced families and emergency health care, followed by safe water and sanitation, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Humanitarian organizations will face many challenges, including airport closures and the need for fast-tracked visas for aid workers, said Michael Capponi, president of Global Empowerment Mission (GEM).

“No single organization can meet all the needs alone,” he said. “Collaboration across governments and NGOs is critical to ensuring we cover all ground efficiently and swiftly.”

Here are some of the responding organizations you can support. The nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator recommends donors avoid fraudulent fundraising campaigns by assessing whether an organization has a history of working on the specific type of disaster and in the affected region, and if it is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

How to help those affected by the Venezuela earthquakes

Global Empowerment Mission: The Doral, Florida-based humanitarian relief organization is collaborating with its long-term partner We Love Foundation, which supports Venezuelans. GEM immediately began packing emergency supplies for shipment Thursday to Caracas, where it has set up a distribution hub. GEM has responded in Venezuela before, including in 2018 and 2019.

CORE: The humanitarian nonprofit is deploying personnel and partnering with The Wayuu Taya Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Indigenous Wayuu communities in Venezuela and Colombia and who has staff on the ground in Caracas. They aim to support impacted families with food, drinking water, hygiene kits and other critical resources. CORE was founded after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Direct Relief: The California-based medical humanitarian organization is funding the deployment of a team from Spanish Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras (BUSF) to assist search-and-rescue efforts, and is poised to send medical supplies to local healthcare partners as needed. Direct Relief has responded to multiple earthquakes, including the 2023 disaster in Syria and Turkey.

International Red Cross: Despite experiencing damage to its own headquarters, the Venezuelan Red Cross’ nationwide network of hospitals and clinics remains active and continues to deliver care. Rescue teams are supporting evacuation and search efforts as well as mobilizing prepositioned relief supplies. Red Cross Societies in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Argentina — countries home to large Venezuelan communities — have activated services to restore family links and help people find news of their loved ones.

Children’s Bereavement Center/Lift from Loss: The Miami-based group offers free bereavement counseling to children and adults. It is offering free online support in Spanish and English to those impacted in Venezuela and in the diaspora. Those seeking support can sign up online.

Airlink: The global humanitarian organization helps facilitate transport and logistics for other nonprofits needing to send relief and personnel to disasters worldwide. It will mobilize airlines and logistics companies to send search-and-rescue teams, medical responders and supplies to Venezuela.

World Central Kitchen: The nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés is mobilizing to serve hot meals to affected families and first responders as quickly as possible. WCK has led multiple responses in Venezuela, most recently in 2024 when families in the state of Sucre were displaced by Hurricane Beryl.

Catholic Relief Services: The international aid agency of the U.S. Catholic Church is working with local partner Caritas Venezuela to deliver emergency shelter, food, water and medical care to impacted families.

Global Impact: The philanthropy adviser and intermediary has set up a Venezuela Earthquakes Response fund that will funnel aid to multiple vetted organizations, including UNICEF USA and Save the Children, which has had a team in Venezuela since 2019.

——

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The EastEnders and Holby City actress, 54 said ‘I’ve still got quite a bit of healing to do’

John Torode’s wife, actress Lisa Faulkner, has said she had to have surgery because she was diagnosed with the early stages of breast cancer. The EastEnders and Holby City actress, 54, revealed on Tuesday that she underwent the procedure two weeks ago and she has since had the all clear from her doctors.

She said she still needs to undergo radiotherapy, however, reassured her 372,000 followers on Instagram that she is feeling better. Faulkner said: “I’ve had to have surgery because I’ve had the very early stages of breast cancer

“I had surgery two weeks ago, and it was quite a big op, but it’s all good, and I’ve had my results back, and they’ve got everything out, and so it’s all clear, and I just need now to have some radiotherapy in a few weeks.

“I’ve still got quite a bit of healing to do, but I’m good, I’m well, and feeling so much better.” The actress and TV presenter sis encouraging people to educate themselves for the signs of the potentially lethal disease.

She urged others to go for check-ups adding that if she did not go for her breast screening, the cancer would not have been picked up.

“I am so grateful that I went for my mammogram,” she said. “Don’t put them off, go, because they found this and without that mammogram it wouldn’t have been picked up.”

Faulkner

the “wonderful NHS” for the scan and early treatment. The actress has four children and married the former MasterChef presenter in 2019.

The news comes nearly a year after Torode was sacked from the cooking competition show after an allegation that he used “highly offensive racist language” was upheld in a review looking into his former co-presenter Greg Wallace, who was also fired due to alleged misconduct.

Breast Cancer Org lists the following early symptoms:

In general, any of the following can be an early symptom of breast cancer:

• swelling of all or part of the breast
• the breast feeling tender, warm, or hard
• skin irritation or dimpling
• breast pain
• nipple pain
• an inverted nipple (the nipple turning inward)
• redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
• a nipple discharge other than breast milk
• a lump in the underarm area

The number of cases of breast cancer in women under 50 has risen by 5% in one year, according to new analysis. It comes as the charity CoppaFeel! claimed younger people with symptoms of the disease are “routinely dismissed” by health professionals.

It is now calling for a seven-minute risk assessment, which looks at factors such as family history, to be adopted, in a bid to spot those who need earlier or more frequent breast screening. The NHS invites women for a mammogram – an x-ray of the breast – from the age of 50 until their 71st birthday.

However, analysis by CoppaFeel!, which was founded by twin sisters Kris and Maren Hallenga after Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer at 23, suggests rates of the disease are rising in younger people.

According to its new report, one in six people diagnosed with breast cancer are aged 49 and under. Diagnoses in people under 30 jumped by 78% from 2001 to 2019 and from 2022 to 2023, breast cancer rates increased by 5% among 25 to 49 year olds.

The charity said patients diagnosed with breast cancer under 50 are almost twice as likely to have late-stage cancer compared with someone in their 60s, while under 25s are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease.

Sophie Dopierala-Bull, director of services and engagement, CoppaFeel!, said: “Early diagnosis depends too heavily on whether young people know their bodies, whether they feel confident seeking help, whether they can access healthcare, and whether they are taken seriously when they get there.

“Awareness matters – CoppaFeel! has spent more than 15 years helping young people know their bodies and feel confident seeking help.

“But awareness alone cannot carry the weight of a system that was not built with young people in mind.”

The NHS says the symptoms of breast cancer include a lump or swelling in the breast, a change in breast skin, a change in size or shape of breasts or nipples, or a pain in the breast or armpit which does not go away.

See a GP if:

• you have a lump or swelling in your breast, chest or armpit
• you have any changes in your breasts or nipples that are not normal for you
• you have pain in your breast or armpit, and there are other people in your family who’ve had breast cancer or ovarian cancer

Symptoms of secondary breast cancer

If breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body it’s called secondary breast cancer.

The symptoms depend on which part of the body the cancer has spread to. It can spread anywhere, but it most commonly affects the bones, liver, lungs or brain.

You may also have general symptoms including:

• feeling tired or having no energy
• loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to
• feeling unwell with no clear cause
• feeling or being sick
• difficulty sleeping

For more information from the NHS click here.