
Second refuge built through Independent campaign ready for family
The campaign, launched in partnership with Refuge, surpassed its fundraising goal, collecting over £585,000 from readers.
Built by Persimmon Homes, the identical properties are in secret locations and feature enhanced security.
The initiative addresses the nationwide shortage of refuge spaces for women and children escaping domestic violence.
The campaign garnered significant support from royalty, politicians including the prime minister, and celebrities.
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The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Green Party responds after Jeremy Corbyn's new party receives more sign ups
Ellie Chowns defended the Green Party after LBC 's Henry Riley pointed out that Jeremy Corbyn 's newly formed party has had more sign ups that them Chowns appeared to laugh saying, "Nobody's had to pay them any money to sign-up." Jeremy Corbyn and former Labour leader Zarah Sultana are reportedly 'getting 500 people a minute' wanting to join their new political party. Despite Chowns and other Green Party leadership candidates warning against the Greens becoming 'a Jeremy Corbyn support act' Zack Polanski has said he's 'open' to working with new Corbyn and Sultana party' opening a divide in the party.


Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Top Boy actor Micheal Ward breaks silence after being charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against a woman
Top Boy star Micheal Ward has spoken out to maintain his innocence as he faces trial on charges of rape and sexual assault. The 27-year-old actor and model, who has starred in a string of hit movies alongside stars including Olivia Colman, Colin Firth and Joaquin Phoenix, is accused of two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The alleged offences relate to one woman and are claimed to have taken place in January 2023. But Ward said in a statement: 'I deny the charges against me entirely. I have co-operated fully with the police throughout their investigation and will continue to co-operate. 'I recognise that proceedings are now ongoing, and I have full faith that they will lead to my name being cleared. Given those proceedings, I am unable to comment further.' The Jamaican-born British star is best known for his role of Jamie in Top Boy and appeared in 19 episodes of the gritty Netflix drama between 2013 and 2022. Ward during the 'Eddington' photocall at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2025 Jamaican dancehall singer Popcaan and Micheal Ward attend The Unruly City Splash after party hosted by Popcaan at The Aubrey on May 26, 2025 Micheal Ward and Austin Butler attend the 'Eddington' red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival in May Detective Superintendent Scott Ware, whose team is leading the Met Police's investigation, said: 'Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward - we know investigations of this nature can have significant impact on those who make reports.' The Crown Prosecution Services authorised the five charges this afternoon. Catherine Baccas, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London South, said: 'Having carefully reviewed a file of evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Micheal Ward, 27, with two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, and one count of sexual assault against a woman in January 2023. 'He will appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on Thursday, August 28. 'We remind all concerned that proceedings against the suspect are active and he has a right to a fair trial. 'It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.' The Jamaican-born star has enjoyed a great rise to fame since scooping the EE Rising Star BAFTA award in 2020 The Jamaican-born star has enjoyed a great rise to fame since scooping the EE Rising Star BAFTA award in 2020 for his part as Jamie in Top Boy, the much-praised Netflix series. He beat Jack Lowden, Awkwafina, Kaitlyn Dever and Kelvin Harrison Jr. to win the prestigious honour. That year he was also named in Forbes' 30 under 30 list of the UK's biggest young stars. As well as starring as Jamie in Top Boy, he also featured in TV series The A List, portraying the character of Brendan. The actor has also bagged roles in Small Axe, The Book Of Clarence and Sam Mendes' Empire Of Light, in which his character Stephen enjoys an age-gap relationship with Olivia Colman's character Hilary. He was nominated for the Bafta Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in BBC's Small Axe in 2021 and the 2022 film Empire Of Light. Last year, Micheal took on a lead role alongside film legend Bill Nighy in sports drama The Beautiful Game. This year he was at Cannes and the Paris film festivals to promote 'Eddington', starring him Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. He also appeared in the Sam Mendes drama Empire of Light for which he was nominated for the Bafta Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.


The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Two-fifths of mobile phones stolen in Europe are taken in UK, data reveals
Nearly two in every five phones stolen in Europe are taken in the UK, according to data collated an insurance firm. An analysis of claims made to the American insurance company SquareTrade showed that 39% of all phone thefts across the company's 12 European markets were in Britain. This was despite the UK only making up 10% of the company's European customers. The data revealed that phone theft claims in the UK had increased by 425% since June 2021 and 42% of phone thefts in the UK occurred in London. This equated to 16% of all phone thefts in Europe. The data, reported by the Times, comes amid growing concern about phone snatching, with police saying gangs are now stealing handsets as an easier way to make money than drug dealing. The Metropolitan police said about 80,000 phones were stolen in London last year, describing the phenomenon as an 'organised criminal enterprise'. The stolen devices had a street value of about £20m, with iPhones being targeted most frequently. James Conway, a Met police commander specialising in phone thefts, said phone theft had become more prevalent among gangs partly due to a growing demand for such gadgets in overseas markets, creating opportunities for 'huge profitability'. Conway said: 'These are the same sort of gangs that are also running county lines operations and dealing [drugs] but are getting increasingly involved in robbery and theft … They can make a far greater profit than from dealing drugs in the same period of time with a lower risk from a criminal justice perspective.' The commander added: 'The sort of sentences you see for drug trafficking or drug dealing offences, and those you might receive for a series of thefts as a young person are very different.' The police have called for phone companies to cut off cloud services on stolen phones in an effort to reduce their resale value. Representatives of Google and Apple told the House of Commons science and technology committee last month that security features were already in place to protect customer data. Simon Wingrove, a software engineering manager at Google, said its system for such situations was 'robust and works very well'. Gary Davis, a senior director in regulatory and legal at Apple, said the company was concerned about the potential for fraud. He said there was a risk of bad actors attempting to obtain data and the power to delete accounts for blackmailing victims. The Apple representative added the company had invested 'many hundreds of millions' in designing protections for its customers against phone theft.