Author: David Pike

David Pike is an experienced news journalist with over 20 years experience as a UK News editor for WTX News and other news publications.

Sara Sharif: Pakistan court hearings take place over custody of children Pakistani courts are discussing the temporary custody of five children who travelled from the UK with Sara Sharif’s father. Sara, 10, was found dead at her home in Surrey on 10 August. Just a day before her father, uncle and stepmother fled the UK for Pakistan. Post-mortem examinations found Sara suffered “multiple and extensive injuries”. Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and his…

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Triple lock means state pension set to rise by 8.5% in April The state pension is expected to experience an 8.5% increase in April following the release of vital data integral to the triple lock system. This policy ensures that the state pension increment is determined as the highest among average earnings, inflation, or a fixed 2.5% rate. Those earnings – which are total pay, including bonuses – were recorded at 8.5%, and the inflation…

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Government may have broken law over sewage releases – watchdog The UK government and regulators may have broken the law over how they regulate sewage releases, the UK’s environment watchdog has said. The Office for Environmental Protection announced its preliminary findings into an investigation on Tuesday. The regulators and Defra now have two months to provide a response before a final decision is made. In response to the announcement the government said: “The volume of…

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Today’s news summary – Paper Talk Tuesday’s newspapers lead on a variety of stories. There is continued coverage of the parliamentary researcher arrested for spying for China – he is reportedly claiming his innocence. UK China spy The response from some MPs after they were told not to identify the parliamentary researcher facing accusations of spying for China, the Daily Mail says. The paper says the man was arrested under the Offical Secrets Act in…

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Accused U.K. Parliament Spy Is a 28-Year-Old Tory-Linked Hinge Bro: Report Daily Beast says Hours after it was reported that a researcher working in Britain’s parliament had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, The Sunday Times revealed his identity, reporting that the suspect is allegedly the director of a China-focused think tank co-founded by several high-profile conservative lawmakers—including the nation’s security minister. The researcher was named on Sunday night by the newspaper as…

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Parliamentary researcher arrested on suspicion of spying for China says he is ‘completely innocent’ Daily Mirror says A parliamentary researcher who has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China has said he is completely innocent. The man, who has not been named by his lawyers, is one of two suspects arrested under the Official Secrets Act. Reports of the spying allegation have sparked alarm in Westminster, with Rishi Sunak yesterday confronting the Chinese Premier…

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Parliamentary researcher arrested for ‘spying for China’ Sky News says Two men have been arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid reports that a parliamentary researcher spied for China. The researcher has links to several senior Tory MPs and has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, according to The Sunday Times. He was arrested along with another man by officers on 13 March, the newspaper reported. The researcher, who is in his 20s, is…

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Covid vaccines at care homes as BA.2.86 variant spreading The NHS will start handing out Covid booster shots and flu jabs to older people living in care homes in England over concerns about a highly mutated new Covid variant that is spreading.  The rollout begins on Monday and is to quickly top up the protection of those most at risk. There have, so far, been 34 confirmed cases of BA.2.86 in England, with 28 of…

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Daniel Khalife: Terror suspect may have used bedsheet to escape, court hears Daniel Khalife, 21, may have used bedsheets to escape from Wandsworth prison, a court has been told. Khalife attended Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday. He broke out of prison and led authorities on a UK-wide manhunt for four days last week. On Saturday he was pulled off a peddle bike on a towpath in Northolt in London. He is accused of escaping from…

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Today’s news summary – Paper Talk Monday’s front pages lead on the arrest of a researcher who was working in Parliament, amid claims he was spying for China. Two men – one in his 20s and one in his 30s were arrested under the Official Secrets Act in March. Spying for China The latest news has prompted some Tory MPs to renew calls for China to be categorised as a threat. The Daily Telegraph reports…

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