Latest from Sky News
Sky News
13 minutes ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Trump denies claim he wrote birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein - and says he has ordered release of more case files
Donald Trump has called an alleged letter he wrote to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein "fake" and said he will sue the "ass off" Rupert Murdoch, who owns the paper that first published the claim. In multiple posts on Truth Social, the US president accused The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of fabricating the letter that it claimed was written by Mr Trump as part of a collection of letters addressed to Epstein that his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell planned to give him as a birthday present in 2003. According to documents seen by the WSJ, Mr Trump's letter featured several lines of typewritten text framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman. The paper said the letter concludes "Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret", and featured the signature "Donald", allegedly drawn across the woman's waist, meant to mimic the appearance of pubic hair. Responding to the WSJ's claims, Mr Trump wrote: "The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. "I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT." He said earlier he would also sue the WSJ and News Corp, which Mr Murdoch owns. The WSJ is published by News Corp subsidiary company, Dow Jones & Co. 1:47 In a separate post, Mr Trump said he has asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to release "any and all pertinent grand jury testimony" in the case of the paedophile financier who was found dead in his Manhattan cell in August 2019, shortly after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. The release of any documents, Mr Trump said, would be subject to approval by a court. The justice department has previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more. It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony - which is typically kept secret under US law. Ms Bondi responded to the president on X, writing: "President Trump-we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts." 👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈 The Trump administration has come under criticism after the president appeared to U-turn on his own promise to release more information about the Epstein case publicly. In the run-up to the US election last year, Mr Trump drew on rumours and conspiracy theories that appeared to accuse the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein's paedophilia, predatory behaviour and his so-called "client list" - thought to contain names of the rich and famous who conspired with him in a child sex trafficking operation. Ms Bondi fuelled these rumours in February by telling Fox News that the alleged Epstein client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review". In the same month, the Justice Department released some government documents regarding the case, but there were no new revelations. After a months-long review of additional evidence, the department earlier this month released a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself, but said no other files related to the case would be made public. The decision was criticised by many in Mr Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, who Mr Trump later called "weaklings".
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sport
- Sky News
Lionesses stumbled at start of Euros but want to feel like 'Proper England' again
Beyond the home comforts at the Lionesses' temporary base in Zurich, a permanent slice of English life can be found here at the Nelson. And while you'll never find the players dropping into the pub, the sign - "the real English place" - chimes with the team's mantra. Spending recent weeks around the team, there is constant talk about a "Proper England" approach to games. It was used to inspire the recovery through the group stage at Euro 2025, galvanising the Lionesses after opening their trophy defence with a defeat to France. And as Sarina Wiegman's side prepares to face Sweden on Thursday in the quarter-finals, it is a concept serving as a rallying cry as much as a footballing philosophy. 1:37 For some players, it's about showing fight and togetherness. For others, about being resilient and hard to beat. The best insight came from asking the player who has seen so much. Lucy Bronze is at her seventh major tournament with England under her fourth permanent manager. It was with Wiegman that she finally won a trophy with her country at Euro 2022 - adding to her collection of major club titles. "We've never negated tactics or anything else that comes with the game with the term 'Proper England'," Bronze said. "I think it was more the fact that we've said again, we're a new England and new team. "And what was meant by that was we had a lot of younger players and new players who have very different experiences of playing for England compared to the likes of myself where we know that England used to have to dig deep all the time, dig out performances and maybe as the underdog. You're not the favourites. "Whereas this England team has developed. Football has changed. Obviously we're a very talented team. A lot of technical ability, tactics. All that comes in the game. "But we don't want to ever forget that we are England. We are 'Proper England'. And if push comes to shove, we can win a game by any means possible." For Wiegman, the concept is still rooted in tactics, but more than that. "Also our behaviours," she said. "How we want to support each other together, work really hard and of course play to our strengths." Maybe there is nothing more English than a pint and fish and chips - even the Swiss version at the Nelson. There is even a darts board there. But that's one area Wiegman concedes she does not excel at. Both Wiegman and Bronze agreed, the team's darts star is Lauren Hemp. We don't know about Sweden's darts credentials but we know they are a country influenced by English football going back to the 19th century. And many of this Euros squad have experience with English clubs, including Kosovare Asllani - a league and cup winner with Manchester City, who just took the London City Lionesses into the Women's Super League. "We always had the physical part," the Sweden captain said. "I feel the Swedish team has become a more technical side and we play more intense football "So I think the combination... is why we have been developing so much as a national team. But I think the English team definitely has the physical part as well."
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sport
- Sky News
Lionesses went from sloppy to celebratory in nerve-shredding euros quarter-final
By the time Hannah Hampton appeared in the news conference, the England goalkeeper was relieved, ecstatic and wanting to share this night far and wide. So when her phone started ringing with a FaceTime call, she broke off speaking to the media about reaching the Euros semi-finals to answer it. And then share the call with the room in Zurich. After such a nerve-shredding night, this was the moment to relax and just savour it all. Savour how close they came to throwing it all away against Sweden before staging a stirring comeback inspired by Lucy Bronze. The 33-year-old scored the goal that began the fightback with 11 minutes to go and converted England's final penalty in the shootout. "Lucy Bronze is one of a kind," England manager Sarina Wiegman said. "It's that resilience, that fight. I think the only way to get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair." The Lionesses looked down and out, 2-0 down after 25 minutes. Completely outplayed. A defence run ragged. Just too sloppy. "We said at half-time we don't want to go home," Hampton said. "So it's up to us to turn the game around." That only came after Wiegman deployed the substitutes the manager calls "finishers". They fulfilled their mission. "Sweden in that moment had to adapt to some different things in the game," Wiegman said, "before they could, it was 2-2." Within seconds of coming on, match-winner Chloe Kelly showed the missing spirit. The spirit that saw her score the Euro 2022 winner. A creator of two goals in 103 seconds. A cross headed in with 11 minutes to go by Bronze - the only player still playing from the Euro 2013 group-stage elimination. It was a lifeline seized on so quickly. Another cross from Kelly was this time brought down by Beth Mead before Michelle Agyemang. The timeliest of goals from the teen - a first tournament goal on her third appearance as a sub. But there would be the anxiousness of extra time to follow, unable to find a breakthrough. So to the shootout that lasted 14 penalties between them. Hampton said: "It was stressful watching and playing, I thought every single time when I saved one, 'Please score and give us a cushion'. I feel so happy and relieved." Around Alessia Russo and Kelly scoring there were four England misses before Bronze converted England's seventh and Sweden missed a fifth. A frenzied 3-2 shootout win was complete. "I can't remember anything like this," said Wiegman, who has only reached finals in her four tournaments with the Netherlands and England. "I thought three times we were out," she said. But instead it's off to Geneva for the European champions for a semi-final with Italy. They'll be hoping it's less of a struggle, less dramatic - while just glad to have made it there.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Woman handed criminal conviction despite 'unlawful' strip search by police in Greater Manchester
Maria's treatment by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was so shocking the chief constable described it as "undefendable" and yet a year after a high-profile inquiry found she had been "unlawfully" arrested and strip-searched, Maria now has a criminal conviction for the crime the inquiry said she should never have been arrested for. The Baird Inquiry - named after its lead Dame Vera Baird - into GMP, published a year ago, found that the force made numerous unlawful arrests and unlawful strip searches on vulnerable women. A year on, the review has led to major changes in police processes. Strip searches for welfare purposes, where the person is deemed at risk of harming themselves, are banned, and the mayor's office told Sky News only one woman was intimately strip-searched to look for a concealed item by GMP last year. Women had previously told Sky News the practice was being used by police "as a power trip" or "for the police to get their kicks". However, several women who gave evidence to the Baird Inquiry have told Sky News they feel let down and are still fighting for accountability and to get their complaints through the bureaucracy of a painfully slow system. The case of Maria (not her real name) perhaps best illustrates how despite an inquiry pointing out her "terrible treatment", she continues to face the consequences of what the police did. 'Treated like a piece of meat' The story begins with an act of poor service. A victim of domestic violence, Maria went to the police to get keys off her arrested partner but was made to wait outside for five-and-a-half hours. The Baird Inquiry said: "This domestic abuse victim, alone in a strange city, made 14 calls for police to help her. "She was repeatedly told that someone would contact her, but nobody did. The pattern didn't change, hour after hour, until eventually she rang, sobbing and angry." The police then arrested her for malicious communications, saying she'd sworn at staff on the phone. Inside the police station, officers strip-searched her because they thought she was concealing a vape. Maria told Sky News she was "treated like a piece of meat". The Baird Inquiry says of the demeaning humiliation: "Maria describes being told to take all her clothes off and, when completely naked, to open the lips of her vagina so the police could see inside and to bend over and open her anal area similarly." After the inquiry found all this not only "terrible" but "unlawful", Chief Constable Stephen Watson described the actions of his officers towards Maria as "an inexplicable and undefendable exercise of police power". He added: "We've done the wrong thing, in the wrong way and we've created harm where harm already existed." Despite all of this, the charges of malicious communication were not dropped. They hung over Maria since her arrest in May 2023. Then in March this year, magistrates convicted her of the offence, and she was fined. Dame Vera's report describes the arrest for malicious communications as "pointless", "unlawful", "not in the public interest" and questions whether the officer had taken "a dislike to Maria". Yet, while Maria gained a criminal record, no officer has been disciplined over her treatment. A GMP spokesperson said: "The court has tested the evidence for the matter that Maria was arrested for, and we note the outcome by the magistrate. We have a separate investigation into complaints made about the defendant's arrest and her treatment whilst in police custody." The complaint was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in August 2023 and Maria was told several months ago the report was completed, but she has not heard anything since. 'There's been no accountability' Dame Vera's report also catalogues the "unlawful" arrest and strip search of Dannika Stewart in October 2023 at the same police station. Dannika is still grinding through the police complaints service to get a formal acknowledgement of their failings. She told Sky News: "Everyone involved in it is still in the same position. There's been no accountability from the police. We're still fighting the complaint system, we're still trying to prove something which has already been proved by an independent inquiry." Asked if anyone had been disciplined, Chief Constable Watson told Sky News: "There are ongoing investigations into individual failings, but for the most part the Baird review talked about systemic failings of leadership, it talked of failings in policy and failings of systems. "In some cases, those people who may have misconducted themselves at the level of professional standards have retired. There are no criminal proceedings in respect of any individual." He added: "Every single element of the Baird inquiry has been taken on board - every single one of those recommendations has been implemented - we believe ourselves to be at the forefront of practice." 'It's been three years' Mark Dove who was also found by the inquiry to have been unlawfully arrested three times and twice unlawfully stripped-searched says he's been in the complaints system for three years now. He told Sky News: "There have been improvements in that I'm being informed more, but ultimately there's no timeline. It's been three years, and I have to keep pushing them. And I've not heard of anyone being suspended." Sophie (not her real name), a domestic violence victim who was also found by the review team to have been unlawfully arrested by GMP, told Sky News that although most of her complaints were eventually upheld they had originally been dismissed and no officer has faced any consequences. She said: "They put on record that I'd accepted a caution when I hadn't - and then tried to prosecute me. Why has no one been disciplined? These are people's lives. I could have lost my job. Where is the accountability?" Since the Baird Inquiry, every strip search by GMP is now reviewed by a compliance team. GMP also provides all female suspects in custody with dignity packs including sanitary products, and they work with the College of Policing to ensure all officers are trained to recognise and respond to the effects of domestic and sexual trauma on survivors. The deputy mayor for Greater Manchester for policing and crime, Kate Green, says the lessons of the Baird Inquiry should reach all police forces. She said: "I would strongly recommend that other forces, if they don't already follow GMP's practise in not conducting so-called welfare strip searches, similarly cease to carry out those searches. It's very difficult to see how a traumatising search can be good for anybody's welfare, either the officers or the detainees. We've managed to do that now for well over a year." Ms Green also suggests a national review of the police complaints system. Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods, of GMP, said: "Our reformed Professional Standards Directorate (PSD) has increased the quality of complaints handling and improved timeliness. "Where officers have been found to breach our standards then we have not hesitated to remove them from GMP, with more than 100 officers being dismissed on the chief constable's watch. "Out of 14 complaints relating to Dame Vera's report, four have been completed. Our PSD continues to review and investigate the other complaints. "We're committed to being held to account for our use of arrests and our performance in custody. "By its nature, custody has - and always will be - a challenging environment. "However, basic provisions and processes must always be met and, while we're confident our progress is being recognised across policing, we stand ready to act on feedback."
Sky News
3 hours ago
- General
- Sky News
Supply teachers costing schools £1.4bn - as students say they are 'falling behind'
Chronic teacher shortages and increased sickness absences have pushed schools to rely heavily on supply agencies, costing the education system nearly £1.4bn in the last year alone. The majority of the £1.4bn was made up by academy schools which spent £847m on agency supply staff in the 2023-24 academic year, new analysis by Sky News using Department for Education data shows. That's nearly double the amount (in real terms) compared to 2014-15. One headteacher told Sky News it can cost schools upwards of £200 a day for a "decent supply teacher". "In some subjects like physics, supply agencies can charge £300-£400 per day, and schools are being held over a barrel," said Gary Moore, the headteacher at Regent High School in north London. But it's students like Zainab Badran who are feeling the impact. "Every lesson we would have a different supply teacher," the GCSE student said. "I didn't feel like I was learning anything. We were falling behind." Mineche Kyezu-Mafuta, a Year 10 student, remembered her science class being taught by five different teachers in a week. "We had subs, and we have science five times a week, so we had a sub for every single one of those lessons - the sub changed for every lesson," she said. "Students (were) out of their seats, throwing stuff, talking, just anything you could really think of would be happening in that class. "It was very loud, students weren't behaving, no one was really doing their work." The vacancy rate among classroom teachers is still three times higher than it was a decade ago. Last year, the number of classroom teachers leaving was twice the number of newly qualified teachers joining the workforce. At the same time, teacher pay has failed to keep up with the rising cost of living. Since 2015, the median teacher salary has increased by nearly 30%, while inflation has risen by about 50%. Agency commission rates Agency commission rates are another source of frustration for school leaders. A teacher earning £30,000 may cost a school approximately £36,900 through an agency, an effective 23% markup. This rate of fees continues to rise further with higher salaries. Andy De Angelis, headteacher of a secondary school in west London, said: "UK agencies provide a CV and possibly help with references. I arrange the interviews." Sky News contacted several leading supply agencies for comment, but none responded. A Department for Education spokesperson said work is "well under way to deliver on our pledge to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers so schools are less reliant on agency staff in the future". "We are already seeing early progress with over 2,300 more secondary and special school teachers in classrooms this year, and over a thousand more people than last year have accepted places on teacher training courses starting this September," they added. "To support schools to get better value for money when hiring supply teachers and other temporary school staff, we have established the agency supply deal." 'Significant failings' But the teachers' union NASUWT has said recent government-commissioned research shows less than 0.5% of school leaders reported obtaining supply teachers through the Crown Commercial Service framework. "Currently, the approach of government ignores the significant failings that exist in the provision of supply teachers," it said. "This creates unnecessary cost and adversely affects supply teachers, schools and pupils. "The best way forward for both schools and supply teachers would be for schools and local authorities to be supported by the government to maintain their own supply pools."
