Adeel Khan, 32, was convicted earlier this year of sending money to Daniel Khalife after he escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south London in September 2023. Khalife escaped after clinging to the underside of a food delivery lorry to break out of the Category B jail. It sparked a nationwide manhunt and he evaded capture for three days before he was spotted riding a stolen mountain bike along a canal towpath in Northolt, west London - about 14 miles away. He was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison in February last year after being found guilty of spying for Iran. Snaresbrook Crown Court previously heard that Khan, who worked with Khalife in the prison kitchen, helped him from inside jail. He asked another person to withdraw £400 for Khalife after his escape and arranged for him to be paid £120 for the job, jurors were told. When Khalife was arrested, police found he had a diary with Khan's name, an illegal prison phone number, a personal mobile number, and his Snapchat account. The court also heard that after his escape, Khalife called Khan several times using the phones of members of the public in a pattern of "regular and persistent" contact, the court heard. Sentencing Khan, Judge Murray Shanks told him Khalife was "assisted greatly, no doubt, by the money you organised from Wandsworth". He said that while Khan was not charged with assisting the escape itself, he was "quite sure" there had been some discussion about Khalife's plan. "That was why he had your number and your brother's details I think when he escaped in that little book," the judge said. Read more from Sky News:Schools close early over A66 crash funeralWoman sentenced after cousin, 19, killed by XL Bully Khalife, a serving soldier in the British Army at the time, was being held on remand awaiting trial for spying for Iran when he escaped from Wandsworth prison on 6 September 2023. At the time of the escape, Khan was on remand at HMP Wandsworth, facing extradition to France having been convicted in absence of playing a leading role in a human trafficking operation along with firearms offences. Khalife was found guilty of a charge under the Official Secrets Act and another under the Terrorism Act after a trial, having admitted escaping from lawful custody part-way through his trial. He was cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax at his base.

Russell Howard has revealed his baby son Felix died shortly after his wife Cerys gave birth earlier this year. In a post on Instagram, the 46-year-old comedian called it the "most devastating time of our lives". Paying tribute to the hospital staff for their "extraordinary compassion, kindness and humanity", he announced he and his wife were setting up The Felix Foundation in memory of their son, to help other families facing the same "devastating circumstances". In his post describing their loss, Howard wrote: "Earlier this year, our family changed forever when our beautiful baby boy, Felix, died shortly after birth. "During the most devastating time of our lives, the hospital staff who cared for us showed extraordinary compassion, kindness and humanity. "They helped us navigate an unimaginable heartache and gave us support when we needed it most." He described the support they received from a bereavement midwife named Lauren, who had lost her own baby, adding, "her care meant more to us than we can ever put into words". Sharing further details of their time in hospital, he said, "Felix was placed in a cool cot which meant that my wife and I were able to spend precious hours with our beautiful boy. "Those hours are among the most precious memories we have of Felix." Howard will host a special charity gala at The O2 in London on Monday 8 February, to help launch the foundation. The show will feature comedy stars Michael McIntyre, Jimmy Carr, Aisling Bea, Guz Khan, Greg Davies, Mo Gilligan, Michelle Wolf and John Bishop. Howard ended his post remembering Felix, saying: "We miss him dearly, every single day but we take some comfort in knowing that his name will stand for kindness, compassion and laughter, and that his legacy may help other families through the darkest moments of their lives." The foundation will aim to relieve the needs of parents, siblings and other close family members affected by miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, neonatal death or related bereavements by providing funding for specialist facilities, training, or other forms of support. Howard and his wife, Cerys Morgan, an NHS doctor, married in 2019 and have another little boy who was born in the summer of 2024. Howard is best known for his shows Russell Howard's Good News and The Russell Howard Hour, as well as appearances on panel shows including Mock The Week, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Never Mind The Buzzcocks. He's also known for his live stand-up shows and two podcasts: Russell Howard's Five Brilliant Things and GoalLess.

When the party gathered for its 2025 conference, it was topping the polls with shares well above 30%, and MRP projections suggesting this could deliver a Commons majority. Now Reform has fallen behind Labour, rarely breaks 25%, and a majority looks a long way off. Reform's average poll share across nine pollsters has dropped by eight points from August 2025 to August 2026, from the low thirties with most to the mid-twenties at best. This drop is not a short-term blip driven by Andy Burnham's arrival as prime minister. In fact, Reform's share has been dropping steadily since last autumn, suggesting the party's star was fading well before it faced reinvigorated competition, though the most recent figures show the decline has continued since the change in Labour's leadership. Yet while Reform have experienced a recent reversal, they remain on track to advance on their last general election showing, when they finished a distant third on 15%, well behind the Conservatives. Reform's current poll average of around 24% is nearly 10 points up on that result. And though their Downing Street aspirations have taken a knock, Reform remain ahead of the Conservatives as the strongest party on the right - something which looked implausible just two years ago - though the most recent polls have them closing the gap. So while they no longer top the polls, Reform are still on track to become the first party to disrupt the Labour-Tory duopoly for a century. That's no mean feat. Leader approval The news on leader approvals is bad on two fronts here. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's approval ratings have declined, weighed down by a steady stream of scandal and strife, and this decline has come at the same time as his rivals are reviving. As Reform headed into their 2025 conference last autumn, an average of 36% of the electorate said they approved of Nigel Farage's performance as leader, while 38% disapproved. In these cynical times, this marginally negative approval rating counts as a major achievement - at that point, more voters approved of Farage than any other major party leader. Things look very different now. Only 25% on average now approve of the Reform leader, while 54% say they disapprove. Both numbers are a problem - Farage no longer attracts sufficient voters to put Reform ahead of its rivals, while his growing toxicity with a majority of the electorate will help opponents mobilise against him. Nor can this decline be written off as a blip driven by recent hostile coverage about his finances, donations and the company he keeps. Farage's ratings have been sliding steadily for most of the past year. Reform topped the polls for most of this period, so it seems the more voters contemplated Farage moving into Downing Street, the less they liked the idea. Even worse for Reform, their leader's implosion has coincided with rebounds for both of his main rivals. Kemi Badenoch's approval ratings have risen over the past year, while new Labour leader Andy Burnham is currently enjoying a polling honeymoon with positive approvals, and is far more popular than his departed, very unpopular, predecessor Sir Keir Starmer. Nigel Farage has fallen behind them both. Things look even worse for Farage when voters are asked to choose who they would prefer as prime minister. Farage was running Sir Keir Starmer very close on this measure last year, but he now trails Andy Burnham by huge margins. There are two voters who prefer Burnham as PM for every one who prefers Farage. The Reform leader, long the party's greatest asset, is beginning to look like a liability. Issues The issue agenda has been a more positive story for Reform. Immigration is the party's core issue, and all three of the pollsters who regularly track the issues voters focus on - YouGov, MoreInCommon and Ipsos - show it remains one of the top, if not the top, issue concerning voters. Concern about immigration has continued to run high even as overall immigration levels have fallen sharply, and the numbers of illegal migrants crossing the Channel on small boats have also fallen back. As arrivals have fallen, Reform have shifted the conversation towards the rights of migrants already in the country, and the polling figures suggest this has succeeded in keeping their core electorate exercised about their strongest issue. That said, the party are still yet to offer a consistent and coherent message on the cost of living, economic growth and health - three other top voter priorities and topics gaining increasing focus by their political rivals. Election performance Reform put in an impressive performance in this May's local and devolved elections. The party gained more than 1,400 seats in England's local elections, winning the most council seats for the second year in a row, and taking control of 14 councils. But despite these gains, Reform fell back somewhat in Sky's National Equivalent Vote, winning 27%, a decline from 32% last year. Reform won 29% of the vote and 34 of 96 seats in the Welsh Senedd elections, becoming the main opposition to the incoming Plaid Cymru government and pushing Labour into a distant third place. In Scotland, Reform won 17% of the regional vote and 17 seats, tying with Labour as the largest opposition party. These showings in Scotland and Wales far outstrip anything achieved by Farage's previous party UKIP in earlier devolved contests. But Reform fell short in the biggest contests of the past year. They came second in two by-elections for Westminster seats - losing to the Greens in Gorton and Denton, then to Labour in Makerfield, where they hoped to disrupt Andy Burnham's return to Westminster. Then they came second again in the by-election to replace Burnham as Greater Manchester Mayor. A concerning pattern emerged in these contests - Reform's vote went up sharply, but this was not enough to win, as a larger anti-Reform vote coalesced behind the party best placed to defeat them. Potential Reform victories seem to mobilise the party's opponents as much as its supporters, encouraging large-scale anti-Reform tactical voting. This was even evident in the recent Clacton by-election, triggered by Reform leader Nigel Farage in his own seat. While Farage won comfortably, he faced no major party competition, and despite this, anti-Reform voters nonetheless coalesced behind the novelty candidate Count Binface, whose 27% share was by some margin the highest recorded by a satirical candidate in electoral history. Overall This has been another remarkable year for Reform UK, a party which has only existed for less than a decade and started standing full slates of candidates in the last couple of years. Reform led the polls for much of the last 12 months and made record gains in England, Scotland and Wales this May, a sweeping advance which helped hasten the demise of Keir Starmer as prime minister. If 2025 was the year Reform emerged as a real contender for office, 2026 consolidated the party's status as the strongest challenger to the Westminster Labour government, and the main challenger to nationalist governments in Cardiff and Edinburgh. But the past year has seen Reform slide back on several fronts. The party has fallen in the polls and lost its lead to a reinvigorated Labour party. The public have turned strongly against Reform leader Nigel Farage, whose approval ratings are now far behind his rivals. Reform have weakened in local elections and failed to win any of the biggest by-elections of the past year, as anti-Reform voters mobilised to shut the party out. Reform have become more polarising as they have become more prominent. The party continues to make the political weather as Labour's strongest current challenger. But Nigel Farage and his party still have a lot of work to do to convince sceptical voters they are ready for government. This is the first in a series of posts reviewing the polling and electoral performance of the parties as they gather for their annual conferences

The 34-year-old's agreement was due to expire this summer but she has committed to another 12 months as Sonia Bompastor shapes her squad following a difficult season - the first time since 2019 that Chelsea failed to win the WSL. Bronze arrived at Stamford Bridge from Spanish giants Barcelona in 2024, going on to win a domestic treble in her first campaign, but endured an injury-hit second year. In total, she had made 56 appearances, scoring five times. Bronze said: "I feel like this is the right thing for me at this time. I've really enjoyed the last two years being at Chelsea and back in England, and I feel like we're in a place now where we're moving forward as a club." Transfer Centre LIVE! | Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺 The club's official statement read: "Her experience and never-say-die attitude are invaluable to the Chelsea side, and we are delighted that she has committed to remain with us." The full-back, a five-time Champions League winner, has also played an integral role in England's success over the past decade, a key part of the European Championship-winning squads of 2022 and 2025. News about the situations of out-of-contract goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and forward Aggie Beever-Jones is yet to be confirmed. Bronze a stabilising figure at changeable Chelsea Sky Sports' Laura Hunter: Lucy Bronze has been a vital part of Chelsea's post-Emma Hayes era. She was seen as a staple signing when first recruited by Sonia Bompastor and remains as important now as the club navigates choppier waters. Everyone connected with Chelsea has spoken of the difficulties of last season. Finishing six points adrift of eventual champions Manchester City is not good enough by their lofty standards. And as a consequence, change was inevitable. Sam Kerr, Millie Bright and Guro Reiten's respective exits were a part of that evolution. But Bronze is viewed in a different camp. Her leadership is highly valued by Bompastor and her experience is stabilising for a side that, at times last term, were in freefall. Additional incomings must surely now be the club's focus, as well as concluding negotiations with other members of the squad. No news on Hampton or Beever-Jones, nor are there many murmurings of further approaches for a much-needed striker after missing out on Man City's Khadija Shaw and Salma Paralluelo, who remains without a club after leaving Barcelona. Plenty of work to be done, then, but this is a positive step and one that should aid what looks to be an arduous rebuild process.

The former kickboxer was also indicted on charges of alleged money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering on Friday. His brother Tristan was indicted for alleged complicity, years after the prosecutors began investigating them. The duo, who have dual US and British citizenship, were arrested in Miami in late July after Britain requested their extradition. They have been under criminal investigation in Romania, where they are based, on charges including human trafficking since December 2022. They deny all wrongdoing. Romanian prosecutors said the Tates recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage before forcing them to produce pornographic content. It is alleged by the Romanian anti-organised crime prosecuting unit DIICOT that one of Tate's alleged victims was 15 when he seduced her in Britain in 2012 before moving her to the Romanian capital of Bucharest and using physical violence and mental intimidation to sexually exploit her by forcing her to produce pornographic content for social media sites. It is alleged Tristan was an accessory, using physical aggression to coerce the victim. They kept $1.25m from the videochat income generated by the victim, roughly 80% of all her gains, it is alleged. A Romanian lawyer for the Tates, Eugen Vidineac, said in a statement: "We will examine every aspect of (the indictment) with ⁠the same level of scrutiny and ⁠we will challenge any evidential, procedural or legal deficiencies through the appropriate judicial process. "Our clients continue to reject the allegations against them." The brothers remain in jail in the US, where a judge decides on the request for extradition to Britain, where they are wanted on rape charges. A spokesperson for DIICOT, which is investigating the Tates, said it was not immediately clear whether the unit will seek their extradition from the US. Mr Vidineac added: "Today's decision by DIICOT does not determine guilt and it should not be presented as though it does. It represents the prosecution's latest attempt to bring this case before a court following the failure of its previous indictment to proceed to trial. "The history of these proceedings matters. The previous indictment was subjected to judicial scrutiny and the court identified significant irregularities which prevented the case from moving forward to trial. "DIICOT has now chosen to file a new indictment. We will examine every aspect of it with the same level of scrutiny and we will challenge any evidential, procedural or legal deficiencies through the appropriate judicial process. "Our clients continue to reject the allegations against them. They have the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to properly examine the evidence relied upon against them and the right to mount an effective defence." They can be tried in absentia in Romania but the trial will not start immediately. Under Romanian law, the indictment gets sent to a preliminary court chamber where a judge will inspect the case files to ensure legality. The law states that the preliminary chamber judge has 60 days to finalise the report, but indictments routinely take significantly longer. Read more:Police given 40 potential names for woman found inside bin bagIs Argentina about to invade the Falklands Islands? Tate is a self-described misogynist and previously said he moved to Romania because law enforcement was more lax there. Together, the brothers have grown a large social media following, comprising mainly young men, by flaunting a flamboyant, hyper-macho lifestyle.

The actor, who was also famous for playing the title character in the period adventure Dick Turpin, died surrounded by close family on Friday, aged 82. He passed away at Brinsworth House, the Royal Variety Charity's care home, in west London, where he had lived for 23 years. In a statement issued by the charity, his son James O'Sullivan said: "My dad was as funny and charming in real life as he appeared on our TV screens over the years. Always kind spirited, good humoured, a doting grandfather and a wonderful dad - I will miss him dearly. "Although much of his career happened before I was born, I was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy and witness his incredible talents on the countless re-runs of his shows that made him the respected and loved actor that he was. "I would like to thank the incredible team at Brinsworth for their love, kindness and care over the last 23 years. They have been truly amazing and will always hold a special place in my heart." Giles Cooper, life-president of the Royal Variety, paid tribute to "a master of effortless charm and impeccable comic timing", who brought "pure warmth, wit, and unforgettable joy to millions of living rooms as a true giant" of British television. "He will be sorely missed by us all at the Royal Variety Charity." Read more from Sky News entertainment:Theatre team responds to actor quitting showSky News launches new Sunday current affairs programme O'Sullivan was a child actor when he made his first film appearance, playing a young boy singing in the Sunday School sequence of The Yellow Balloon, filmed in 1952 when he was eight and released the following year. His credits also included two Cliff Richard films - The Young Ones in 1961 and Wonderful Life in 1964 - as well as Cleopatra, in which he starred as Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, the younger brother of the title character played by Elizabeth Taylor.

Agricultural goods from Israeli settlements, in areas like the West Bank, have entered the UK in violation of trade rules, according to a letter sent by law firm Leigh Day, representing the Global Echo Litigation Center. Some products entering the UK were labelled Israeli but in fact came from occupied Palestinian territory, according to the July correspondence, seen exclusively by Sky News. Settlement imports are supposed to be subject to tariffs, while Israeli products get preferential tax treatment and mostly enter the UK levy-free. There had been a "failure" by HMRC to determine the true origin of UK imports, the letter read, citing Global Echo's four-year investigation, which suggests "current processes adopted by HMRC to verify the origin of Israeli products are flawed". This has meant settlement products "unlawfully benefitted" from preferential tax treatment, the letter continued. It outlined five companies, identified from 357 invoice declarations, which the non-profit said regularly source agricultural products from settlements but declare the origin as Israel. This is done either by mixing settlement agriculture with Israeli products, by using a settlement postcode but saying the country is Israel, or using a "sham" proxy address within Israel, Global Echo said. The letter also gives an example of what it says is a company listing its corporate headquarters as the origin of the goods, rather than a particular agricultural location, as required by trade rules. Specific months when a producer's items were shipped to and arrived in the UK last year are given in the letter. Aside from the five companies listed, Global Echo said it obtained documentary evidence suggesting a "widespread, systemic issue of origin obfuscation occurring across Europe and specific instances of misleading statements of origin occurring in the UK". Read more from Sky News:Top cop 'flabbergasted' by release of suspectsWorld-first pig kidney transplant is a success A June report from the organisation said one in six shipments it investigated contained agricultural products originating in settlements in occupied Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights, at least 42% of which had been mislabelled as Israeli-grown. What's it asking for? As a result of the details outlined in the letter, Global Echo has called on HMRC to view imports said to come from Israel as high risk, which would require HMRC to "take reasonable steps" to ensure compliance. It asks HMRC to put in place arrangements to closely scrutinise future claims from exporters of entitlement to preferential treatment based on items originating in Israel and review verification processes to ensure risk and intelligence-based enforcement for all Israeli agricultural imports. What does HMRC say? But the tax agency's response said the Global Echo's letter is not a formal written notice before starting court proceedings, according to an HMRC reply also obtained by Sky News. It also said no specific HMRC decision was identified which would be subject to a legal challenge by Global Echo, and providing the kind of information sought by the non-profit would involve, to the extent it existed, the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information. An HMRC spokesperson said: "We do not comment on potential litigation nor on the tax or customs affairs of individual customers." What are settlements? Israeli settlements have long been opposed by the UK government, which believes them to be a breach of international law and a threat to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Settlements have rapidly expanded in recent years, with more planned by the Israeli government. Israel officially recognises and administers some settlements. Palestinians face increasing attacks and, in the past weeks, have had homes besieged. It's in this context that the government is expected this month to announce a ban on imports from and exports to the outposts.

Negotiations for the Fury vs Joshua fight had hit a major stumbling block after Madison Square Garden in New York emerged as the preferred venue to stage the blockbuster bout. But Hearn has released a statement on social media, revealing that Wembley is again being considered as the venue for the fight. He wrote: "I want to thank everyone for the unbelievable support!" "You have been heard and talks have now re-opened for Wembley. "Let's make history with one of the biggest sporting moments (British flag) has ever seen." Latest boxing headlines, reports, highlights and interviewsBoxing in 2026: Key dates, results and upcoming scheduleGet Sky Sports or stream boxing and more with no contract Fury had taken to social media earlier this week to label Joshua a 'coward' while insisting he had been 'conning' boxing fans amid the continued hold up. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has meanwhile urged Fury and Joshua's promoters to "get the fight to London". "I understand the temptation of going to Madison Square Gardens," Khan told Sky Sports News. "I understand the temptation of the money and offer, but the fans are here. "We've been loyal to Tyson and to Anthony. We love them both, and we'd love to see them boxing here in London. "I'm positive Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua know how much we love both of them. I'm not sure how much the promoters know how much we love both of them, but my message to the promoters is why don't you do what Tyson and Anthony want, which is get the fight in London. "We'll get 100,000 people watching them live, plus millions watching across the globe fighting amongst the fans who've loved them from the beginning." Khan also revealed he had been in direct contact with Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn, saying the Matchroom chairman had approached him for help with organising the fight: "We've hosted some of the biggest boxing events in history in London during my mayoralty. "Many British fans are fans of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Many Londoners love both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua recognise the importance of British boxing fans. "The promoters know we're here to help. We've approached those in the know to say we're here to help. "Eddie Hearn has approached us and we're keen to work with Eddie and the team." Joshua is coming off a second-round knockout victory over Kristian Prenga in July, during which he was notably floored twice in the first round. Fury also last fought in July when he took on Mariusz Wach, with the 46-year-old retiring in the seventh round.