Ann Widdecombe was found dead in her Devon home earlier this year

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.”

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.”

CTP London made a “mandatory conduct referral” to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Friday.

Want to see more of the stories you love from Belfast Live? Making us your preferred source on Google means you’ll get more of our exclusives… To add Belfast Live as a preferred source, simply click here.

Since March 2025, some Native cultural artifacts and sacred sites have been left vulnerable after Congress rescinded reporting requirements for development proposals on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Developers are no longer required to conduct archaeological surveys for proposed projects along the 3.2 billion acres of marine territory while the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) explores the potential for space launch and recovery infrastructure on the Outer Continental Shelf.

“It feels very sad and violating,” said Katrina Thompson-Upton, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, and co-founder of Northwest American Indian Coalition (NAIC). Thompson-Upton’s traditional lands along the coast of Northern California would be impacted by the development of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

“We did not glacier here, so we were not under ice,” Thompson-Upton said. “There’s a lot of older places in our area, and that extends well out into what is now underwater on the coast on the shelf out there.”

Because of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), federal agencies are required to consider the impacts of any federally funded, permitted, or licensed project affecting underwater cultural artifacts.

Development could happen faster without the requirement for archaeological reporting of cultural artifacts and sacred spaces along the OCS, defined as all submerged lands moving outward toward the sea from the shores to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

On July 17, 2026 the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) provided its members with sweeping revisions to Section 106 that would restructure the tribal consultation process and ultimately reduce the role of Tribal Nations, according to the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.

Some Native nations, like the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, plan to assert treaty rights to protect impacted lands. Other places lack formal tribal representation and rely on local community involvement to uplift Indigenous self-determination.

Thompson-Upton’s organization, NAIC, acts as the tribal representation for Curry County and southern Oregon coast without resources of federally recognized tribes.

“Because of the removal and termination we don’t have a tribal government here to engage in those conversations,” Thompson-Upton said. “We don’t have the protections.”

Many Indigenous peoples whose original lands exist along the coast of the current U.S. territories have artifacts embedded in the shores of the OCS that would be documented by marine archaeological surveys. A documentation that is no longer practiced, unless a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regional director has reason to believe that an archaeological resource may be present in the lease area, according to Congress.

Before the removal of marine archaeology protections, it was required that all proposed exploration or development plans that would result in seabed disturbance must be accompanied by an archaeological report.

Scott Williams, board advisor for the Maritime Archaeology Society, told Underscore Native News, “If I’m the regional director of BOEM, I could just say, ‘well, I don’t know (if) there’s any archeological sites there. You’re fine, go forth and destroy.’”

In adherence with the Trump Administration’s December 2025 Executive Order, Ensuring American Space Superiority, the BOEM opened a 30-day public comment period to gather information and input on the potential development for space launch and recovery that ends this Friday, Aug. 7 at 11:59 p.m. EST — the first step in evaluating the OCS for development.

“The Outer Continental Shelf presents a significant opportunity to support the future of America’s space economy. Offshore launch, re-entry, and recovery infrastructure could expand operational flexibility, increase capacity, reduce constraints on growing launch demand, and strengthen the nation’s commercial and national security space capabilities,” said Acting BOEM Director Matt Giacona in a July announcement about the request for input.

Underscore reached out to the original sponsor of the law change, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, and co-sponsor Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho. Neither responded to emailed requests for comment.

This law impacts cultural resources in a big way, according to Williams who has worked on marine archaeological sites from the shores of the Pacific Northwest all the way to Hawai’i where Kānaka Maoli have underwater shrines dedicated to shark spirits for protection — sacred sites that directly coincide with their oral histories.

“Whether it’s a shipwreck or a buried Native American site, it’s really part of everyone’s history,” Williams said.

An archaeological resource is considered the remains of human life or activities that are at least 50 years of age, according to the federal register.

According to the State of Oregon Guidelines for Reporting Archaeological Investigations, archaeology reports provide information and data needed to protect cultural sites and follow federal laws like the NHPA, the Native American Grave and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The Tillamook, as part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, are a tribe whose original lands are along the coast. Grand Ronde says their 2023 treaty is the supreme law of the land which supersedes any law that conflicts with tribal resources.

According to Grand Ronde Deputy Press Secretary, Sara Thompson, Grand Ronde recognizes resource protection laws as they existed in a 2023 signed treaty. “Any rollback or diminishment of federal protections below that standard will not be recognized by Grand Ronde for purposes of fulfilling Tribal consultation,” Thompson told Underscore News via email.

“It’ll be bad,” Thompson-Upton said when asked about the potential harm from a lack of archaeological protections.

“There’ll be lots of destruction and pollution and no real oversight to call that out.”

___

This story was originally published by Underscore Native News and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

New Mexico’s attorney general hopes a state court ruling ordering Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million and take steps to protect people under 18 is the impetus for addressing how Big Tech can harm children.

Thursday’s decision ended the second phase of a landmark trial. Jurors earlier this year determined Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

The first phase of the case saw a $375 million judgment against Meta, meaning the social media giant is responsible for $942 million.

Along with the additional penalties, Judge Bryan Biedscheid also ordered Meta on Thursday to make fundamental changes to its platforms to reduce addictive features, improve age verification and prevent child sexual exploitation.

“They have not shown any willingness to either accept responsibility for their conduct or concede they have a role to play in fixing and addressing the harms that they created,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said.

Here’s what the ruling means for New Mexico, Meta and the future of social media.

Judge orders Meta to make key changes to its platforms

For Torrez, the most important aspects of the ruling were requiring Meta to improve how it reviews and responds to reports of child sexual abuse, limiting how chatbots can interact with children and capping the number of hours people under 17 can spend on Meta’s platforms.

The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to build banner and informational screens to clearly explain protection features, best practices and tools to address inappropriate comments and display them regularly. Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.

Meta must also work to improve its age verification tools in New Mexico, which include using artificial intelligence to determine people’s age based on signals such as who their friends are and what types of content they post and consume.

“It’s only the beginning of a conversation nationally that we need to have around all of these issues to make this a safer space for all our kids and families,” Torrez said.

Where will the $942 million go?

The judge required $420 million to be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

How that money is doled out will be up to lawmakers in New Mexico.

When the state gets the money is also up in the air. Meta can appeal the ruling and request it not have to pay until its appeal is heard. If the company loses, it would have to pay interest.

What Meta will do next

The company said it will appeal and issued a statement after Thursday’s ruling.

“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,” Meta said. “We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

Meta posted a profit in 2025 of about $60 billion and investors seemed to shrug off the $942 million judgments. The stock was down about a half-percent to $586.78 a share when markets opened Friday but regained most of its value as the day wore on.

Torrez expects Meta to keep fighting both in court and for new laws and protections in legislatures in New Mexico and other states and the U.S. Congress.

“I have no doubt that Meta’s army of lawyers and lobbyists will be out in force in Santa Fe and Washington,” Torrez said at a news conference on Friday.

Later this month in federal court in California, Meta faces the first four of 29 states that sued it in a federal lawsuit filed in 2023 for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that get children addicted to its platforms.

Eight states, including Tennessee, where a trial is currently ongoing, filed lawsuits in their own state courts.

And late last month, Meta, along with TikTok, Snap and Google’s YouTube, were sued by the families of four teenagers who died by suicide over what they describe as “years of escalating harms” from using their platforms.

New Mexico hopes ruling will lead to changed laws

New Mexico used a 1970 consumer protection law to sue Meta. One penalty calculated under the parameters of that old law was $375 million — considered astronomical five decades ago but far less than what it would be if adjusted for today’s dollars: $3 billion.

The law “was built for a totally different economy and it didn’t conceive of or understand or anticipate companies of this size and scale or the business practices that they engage in,” Torrez said.

This is a good time to have broad discussions on changing older federal laws like the one from 30 years ago that protects social media from liability on what is posted on their sites, Torrez said.

Titled Sisters In Arms, it will serve as a three-part prequel to the hit BBC drama.

Set in Poplar in September 1939 during the outbreak of the Second World War, the special introduces a new cast including Julie Hesmondhalgh, Helena Wilson, Ellie McKay, Liv Andrusier, and Lizzie Back.

The BBC has shared the first look of Call the Midwife’s Christmas special for 2026 (Image: Neal Street/BBC/PA Wire)

Heidi Thomas, writer and showrunner, said: “Call The Midwife has a long and noble history of filming Christmas specials during heatwaves, and this year we welcomed the snow-machine back to the Nonnatus House set like an old friend.

“But I was surprised how many new emotions Call The Midwife: Sisters In Arms sparked.

“In particular, the evacuation of Poplar’s children, and the fear that they may not make it home for Christmas had us all in tears.”

The series, which has aired since January 2012, follows nurse midwives in east London.

Each of its 15 series has featured a Christmas special and this year is no different.

What to expect from Call the Midwife Christmas special 2026

A synopsis for the special from the BBC reads: “Sister Monica Joan is in her prime, Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina are young and zealous, and Nonnatus House is the beating heart of Poplar.

“Together with Sister Alice, and local GP Dr Kit, the nuns dedicate their lives to mothers, babies and those in need.

“But there is no gas and air, no penicillin, no cure for TB, and no welfare state.

Top 10 Best British TV series

“Then war is declared – and life gets even harder.

“The three young secular midwives who complete the team – Sybil, Olive and Marianne – receive a baptism of fire as the blackout and the Blitz take hold.

“While bombs rain from the sky, women give birth underground, families are shattered, children run wild, and whole streets are reduced to rubble.

“But courage, compassion and resilience triumph as the community unites in its efforts to survive.”

An exact broadcast date for the special has not yet been confirmed, but it will air during the festive season this year.

If you’ve not watched the series or want to rewatch episodes, BBC iPlayer currently hosts previous series of Call The Midwife.

Who is your favourite Call the Midwife character? Tell us in the comments below.

Bradley Dack‘s new girlfriend Emily Moloney has showed off a huge bunch of red roses, presumably from the footballer amid their recently rekindled romance.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the stylist included the image of the flowers amongst a carousel of snaps documenting her summer. 

And while she didn’t specifically name Bradley as the sender, the timing of the post is coincidental as it comes just weeks after his ex Olivia Attwood received a strikingly similar bunch from her new boyfriend Pete Wicks.

In June, the Love Island beauty revealed she was sent a large bouquet of red roses to nurse her nasty hangover after partying in Ibiza, days after Pete spoke about their romance for the first time.

Meanwhile, Bradley and Emily are said to have quietly reunited following his shock split from Olivia in January, amid her secret romance with Pete. 

And while Olivia is loved up with the ex TOWIE hunk, with their romance hard launched on social media last month, she didn’t react well when new photos of Bradley and Emily emerged recently.

The timing of the post is coincidental as it comes just weeks after his ex Olivia Attwood received a strikingly similar bunch from her new boyfriend Pete Wicks

In a series of scathing posts, Olivia branded Emily Bradley’s ‘bit on the side’ and called her a ‘professional benchwarmer’ after the couple were seen together. 

The photographs enraged Olivia who suggested they came as confirmation of what she has believed all along, that Bradley had been seeing Emily.

Emily denied four months ago that she was in a relationship with the Gillingham midfielder, but the photographs appeared to tell a different story.

Last week, Olivia went on a seven-hour bender after teasing she would share screenshots about Brad.

The TV star said that she was going to share ‘messy’ screenshots as she made a dig at Emily amid the photos.

After her manager told her to be the ‘bigger person’, Olivia went on a spontaneous boozy day – and night – out where she sipped champagne in Selfridges, purchased Christian Louboutin heels and ended up at Freedom Bar in Soho.

She said after fans begged her to post the ‘messy’ screenshots: ‘So the screenshots are on pause because my manager wanted me to be the bigger person.

‘So I’m going to have a spontaneous night out but I’m wearing vans so obviously we’re going to go and buy some shoes.’ 

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the stylist included the image of the flowers amongst a carousel of snaps documenting her summer

Earlier this week Olivia went on a seven-hour bender after teasing she would share screenshots about Brad (pictured together in 2021)

While Olivia is loved up with Pete, with their romance hard launched on social media last month [pictured], she didn’t react well when new photos of Bradley and Emily emerged recently

Advertisement

On Thursday, Olivia admitted she had a ‘mini nervous breakdown’ this week, before she drunkenly promised to share screenshots about her cheating ex Bradley.

The former Love Island star reflected on her ‘frantic’ week with her fans on Instagram, after teasing ‘no one knows what I’m going to do next, especially not me!’

In just the past week, Olivia has partied in Ibiza and St Tropez, enjoyed a spontaneous seven-hour bender in London, purchased designer gifts for herself and launched a magazine cover where she spilled all about her split from Brad.

The presenter jokingly asked fans on Instagram ‘What shall I do next… marriage, shave my head or get a neck tattoo’, to complete her hectic week. 

She said: ‘I was just reading my diary… [I] landed back from 24 hours in Ibiza. [Then] had a mini nervous breakdown, threatened to release everything from my receipts and screenshots folder.

‘Go to [Christian] Louboutin to calm my nervous system with new shoes, didn’t calm me enough so I went dancing in a gay bar until 5am.

‘Got up the next morning, I thought f*** this. Got on a plane to St Tropez and partied in St Tropez for three days.

‘Land in the UK, appeared on breakfast television to promote my new show. Said new show Price Of Perfection goes to number one on ITVX, the most watched show on the platform.

‘Drives to Wales to collect my two dogs from doggy residential and back. Had a meeting to find out four major supermarket chains want to stock Savano.

‘My Cosmopolitan magazine cover has launched… it’s not even been a week.’

Olivia teased: ‘There’s actually 10 more hours left until it’s one week, what shall I do? Neck tattoo, shave my head, get married, come on!’

Robert F Kennedy Jr revealed that his niece’s tragic death in 2019 was caused by a fentanyl overdose as he paid tribute to her on the anniversary of her passing. 

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary shared a touching tribute to his late niece Saoirse Kennedy Hill on Friday – but revealed never-before-reported details of how she passed away in 2019 aged 22. 

Kennedy wrote: ‘Remembering my beloved niece Saorsie (sic) Kennedy Hill, a luminous soul who died 7 years ago this week of an accidental fentanyl overdose.’

The post featured several photographs of Saoirse from her childhood, including beaming family photos and lavish yachting vacations. 

Kennedy promptly deleted the Instagram post soon after sharing it to his millions of followers, however it is unclear if he was aware of revealing her cause of death. 

The Daily Mail has contacted the HHS for comment. 

At the time of Saoirse’s passing in August 2019, toxicology reports found methadone, fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, diazepam, nordiazepam and alcohol in her system.

Fluoxetine is an anti-depressant, and diazepam is medication to treat alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol withdrawals. 

Kennedy shared a touching tribute, but released never-before-reported details of how she passed away in 2019 aged 22

Kennedy wrote on Friday that his late niece was ‘a luminous soul who died 7 years ago this week of an accidental fentanyl overdose’

Advertisement

Saoirse – the granddaughter of assassinated presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy – was found unresponsive at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts on the night of August 2, 2019. 

She was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill and Paul Michael Hill, who was imprisoned in Ireland for 15 years after being falsely accused of involvement in Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombings. 

Aged just 22, the heir to the Kennedy dynasty was at home with many of her family members, including grandmother Ethel Kennedy, when she overdosed. 

She was raced to Cape Cod Hospital, and she was pronounced dead soon after. 

Ethel Kennedy, then-91, shared a heartbreaking statement following Saoirse’s death, saying that ‘the world is a little less beautiful today.’

Saoirse had been open about her struggles with mental illness, depression and anxiety, including sharing an op-ed in her student newspaper at the prestigious Deerfield Academy in 2016. 

She wrote at the time that her depression ‘took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life.’

The political scion indicated that the weight of her family name wore on her, as she said she suffered from ‘deep bouts of sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest.’ 

Saoirse’s sudden death seven years ago marked one of the most heartbreaking chapter’s in the Kennedy family’s long list of tragedies, which have become commonly known as the ‘Kennedy curse.’

Saoirse’s uncle RFK Jr. shared several photographs of his late niece from her childhood, including beaming family photos and lavish yachting vacations

Kennedy family members at Saoirse Kennedy Hill’s funeral on August 5, 2019 in Massachusetts

The so-called ‘Kennedy curse’ began with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, when he was gunned down in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald. 

Just months before the assassination, the president’s son Patrick – who was born prematurely – died at just 40-hours-old in August 1963. 

In the decades since, the family has suffered numerous tragedies and unexpected deaths, including another assassination, four fatal plane crashes, and several overdoses. 

Five years after JFK’s shock assassination, his brother and then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was also assassinated in 1968 in California. 

The next year in July 1969, the presumed heir to the Kennedy throne, brother Ted Kennedy, was involved in a controversial car wreck on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. 

While Ted Kennedy survived the crash, his friend Mary Jo Kopechne died inside the car when it crashed into a pond, and his political reputation never fully recovered.  

In 1994, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis passed away aged just 64, following a battle with lymphoma. 

In 1997, JFK’s son Michael, a lawyer and activist, was killed in a skiing accident after smashing in to a tree while playing football on skis without any protective equipment on. He died aged just 39. 

The family’s troubles hit the headlines yet again in 1999, when JFK’s son, John F Kennedy Jr., died alongside his wife Carolyn Bassette and her sister Lauren in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. 

Saoirse Kennedy Hill is also not the only family member to die by drug overdose, as Robert F Kennedy’s son David, then-28, passed away in a Palm Beach hotel in 1984. 

The most famous death in the Kennedy family was that of President John F Kennedy who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on November 22, 1963

Robert F Kennedy was killed on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles shortly after he won the California Democratic presidential primary (pictured in March 1968)

JFK Jr crashed his small plane into the ocean around seven miles from Martha’s Vineyard in 1999, killing his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette

Advertisement

Robert F Kennedy’s son David, 28, was found dead of an overdose in a Palm Beach hotel in 1984 (pictured in New York in 1984). Right: Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the granddaughter of RFK died following an accidental overdose in 2019 at the family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

Tatiana Schlossberg, 35, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer, in May 2024, and she died last year 

In 2020, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, the granddaughter of RFK, and her son Gideon, 8, drowned. 

The pair disappeared as they were canoeing in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, when they climbed into the canoe to retrieve a lost ball from a waterfront home, but failed to return to shore.

In 2011, Ted’s daughter Kara died from a sudden unexpected heart attack while working out at a health club in Washington DC. 

It’s believed that the heart attack may have been brought on by the aggressive cancer treatment she was undergoing at the time. 

Last year, the family was struck by its latest heartbreak as Tatiana Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy’s granddaughter – died from cancer aged just 35. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor fired last year over critical comments he had written as a private citizen about President Donald Trump sued the Justice Department on Friday, saying his termination violated his First Amendment rights.

Will Rosenzweig was two weeks away from trying a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud case when a blog he had written years earlier covering a broad range of topics was publicized online by a conservative political commentator who also included a screenshot of Rosenzweig’s LinkedIn account and tagged senior Justice Department officials for their awareness.

Less than three hours after the post, the lawsuit says, Rosenzweig received an email signed by then- Attorney General Pam Bondi informing him that he had been fired. The news came as Rosenzweig was out of town with his family observing the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana.

The September 2025 termination was part of a sweeping personnel purge over the last year and a half inside the Justice Department, which has fired prosecutors who worked on investigations into Trump and others seen as being against the administration’s efforts.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami, where Rosenzweig worked as a federal prosecutor for five years, seeks reinstatement to the job as well as a court order declaring his firing unlawful. The complaint says Rosenzweig was a highly respected prosecutor who received “consistent praise and awards” and was so highly valued in his office that he was told just weeks before his firing that he would be getting a special parking spot.

The blog Rosenzweig had written had been defunct for over six years at the time of his firing and included his thoughts on travel, sports and other “apolitical, anodyne topics,” in addition to critical observations about Trump and other political candidates, the lawsuit says. The comments that the conservative commentator, Natalie Winters, chose to highlight in her post on X specifically highlighted his thoughts on Trump, according to the complaint, which says the firing was a direct assault on Rosenzweig’s free speech rights.

“The Department’s conduct rests on a single premise: a citizen must forever refrain from criticizing the government and its leaders to remain eligible to serve it,” the lawsuit says. “That rule would force every American who might one day serve to choose between speaking freely now and working for the government later. Conditioning public employment on political loyalty, where a party card rather than merit opens the door to a government job, is a way of life in Havana and Caracas. It has no place here.”

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

By JADA BAS, REPORTER and SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 20:40 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 20:52 BST, 7 August 2026

A mother and father have been pictured for the first time after they were charged over the death of their one-year-old son from ‘severe malnutrition’.

Police were called after Maero Johnson was rushed to hospital, where despite the best efforts of staff he passed away in the early hours of August 23, 2023. 

The baby died from ketonic hypoglycaemia and severe malnutrition, a Home Office postmortem confirmed. 

The condition is typically caused by long periods without food or a viral illness. It most commonly affects toddlers and young children.

Advertisement

A second child was also found by Merseyside Police officers to be ‘neglected and underdeveloped’. 

Adam Johnson, 26, and Kylie Smith, 25, both of St Helens, have been charged with causing/allowing the death of a child, child neglect and possession of a Class B drug, cannabis. 

Johnson and Smith are scheduled to appear at Liverpool Magistrates Court on August 13. 

Advertisement

Kylie Smith, 25, has been charged with causing/allowing the death of a child, child neglect and possession of a Class B drug, cannabis

Adam Johnson, 26, of St Helens, has also been charged for the same crimes

Police were called after Maero Johnson (pictured) was rushed to hospital, where despite the best efforts of staff he passed away in the early hours of August 23, 2023

Manchester United’s transfer business is not over this summer, and scouts have watched an enticing prospect to improve the club’s forward line

Manchester United reportedly scouts watched on as Shakhtar Donetsk forward Kaua Elias scored a perfect hat-trick on Monday. The 20-year-old sparked his side’s 5-1 thrashing of Kudrivka in Lviv and put in a convincing performance in front of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

United and Arsenal took in Elias’ performance, according to The Sun, with an official bid now expected for the Brazilian. Shakhtar are said to rate him at £30million.

The young striker has scored 12 goals and provided three assists in 39 appearances in his short time at the club, having joined from Fluminense in 2025. The Premier League sides are set to face competition from AC Milan and Porto.

Rossoneri chiefs are said to be weighing up a bid. Elias’ representatives have already received ‘concrete signals’ from interested parties.

United’s scouts were tasked with observing Elias up close after assessments of his recent performances. It is claimed that Old Trafford bosses were told that the Shakhtar ace holds the ‘potential to develop into a top-level centre-forward’.

It was also said that Elias would slot into United’s system well. He is said to have been described as ‘highly compatible with United’s press-heavy, fast-transition system’.

FOLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester United Facebook page

But United will not necessarily have it all their own way, with Arsenal reportedly monitoring the striker for several weeks. Elias is said to be open to a move to an elite European league.

Michael Carrick may have a vacancy in his forward line with only Benjamin Sesko recognised as an out-and-out forward among the senior squad. Joshua Zirkzee is also set to leave the club with interest from Serie A side Juventus.

United moved quickly to improve their midfield with the additions of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans but require further improvements. With weeks of the transfer window remaining, the club have been linked to a third midfielder, a full-back and a striker.

Friday saw goalkeeper Altay Bayindir join Celta Vigo on an initial loan. The La Liga side can make the Turkey international’s move permanent for £3.5m.

Thousands of Man United fans upgraded their matchday last season. This is how they did it.

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Various Prices

Seat Unique

Advertisement

Buy official packages at Seat Unique

Official premium experiences at Old Trafford are available now for the 26/27 Premier League season. Make it easier than ever to turn a regular fixture into something genuinely unforgettable.

Earlier this year, Levy, 40, was found guilty by a jury at Inner London Crown Court of groping 10 women on the Tube and an 11th while in prison.

Details of this trial can now be reported after his conviction at the Old Bailey.

The offences took place between April 2022 at the prison, followed by the Tube assaults between 24 October 2023 and May 2025.

He had already been convicted of sexually assaulting two women in 2018, which was why he was in prison in 2022.

The sex offender had lost sight in one eye in an attack in May 2024 and played on this, claiming that his partial sight made him unsteady on his feet and all contact was accidental on these crowded trains.

Levy’s tactic was to tie a jumper or hoodie around his waist, strap his arm down, and then back towards his victim with his hand fully or partially covered so he could grope them.

One of the Tube assault victims told the court: “It wasn’t long before I learned that my attacker was already known to the police for sexual violence and is a convicted sex offender.

“You could not begin to understand the horror I felt at hearing this.

“How could a male who does this so often and so brazenly be allowed to repeat his attacks?

“Knowing this made me feel even more unsafe, the possibility that I could encounter Simon Levy again made me fearful and the idea that he would harm more women and that there would be many more victims was unthinkable.”

During the sentencing hearing in June for the Tube attacks, Judge Michael Evans told Levy : “You were on the Tube for one purpose only, to sexually assault women.”

Levy was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault, including grabbing the prison guard in 2022, and given an extended sentence consisting of a six-year jail term plus a three-year period on licence.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk, external