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No Writer
May 29
Man, woman and child die after fall from high-rise block of flats in London

Emergency services were called to the scene on Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, following reports that three people had fallen from a height. Attempts by emergency responders to resuscitate them were unsuccessful. The Metropolitan Police said their deaths on Wednesday were being treated as unexpected. "At 7.29am officers, the London Ambulance Service, London's Air Ambulance and the London Fire Brigade attended a high-rise block of flats on Churchyard Row, Elephant and Castle, following reports that people had fallen from height," police said. The force added: "At the scene, three people - a man, a woman and a child - were found to have sadly died, despite resuscitation attempts by first responders. Their deaths are currently being treated as unexpected." Officers said there were no other reported injuries. Work is under way to formally identify the three people who have died. Their next-of-kin have been informed and were being supported by specialist officers, police added. Read more from Sky News:Two charged after woman shot deadBoy arrested on suspicion of murder A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team (Hart). "We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London's Air Ambulance. "Our first paramedic arrived in around four minutes. "Very sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, three people were pronounced dead at the scene." Police have urged any witnesses with information to come forward.

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No Writer
May 28
Man jailed for 15 years after plotting terror attack at Taylor Swift concert

The 21-year-old defendant, known only as Beran A, was accused of planning to use knives or homemade explosives to kill people at one of the singer's shows in the capital in August 2024. The plot was thwarted but authorities still cancelled Swift's three concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium. Many fans were travelling from outside the country for the US star's Vienna shows. Referred to in court as Beran A due to Austria's privacy laws, he pleaded guilty to the main concert plot charges when the trial began last month. Prosecutors said he attempted to buy weapons, including a machine gun and hand ‌grenade, and used an Islamic State video to try to make explosives. The video was called "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom". Beran A also networked with IS members ahead of the planned attack and swore allegiance to the militant group, it was alleged. Authorities searched his apartment on 7 August 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day. Beran A was accused at the same trial of plotting separately, with two school friends, to carry out a solo attack earlier in 2024 in separate Middle Eastern cities. He and co-defendant, known only as Arda K, admitted they travelled to Dubai and Istanbul respectively to carry out attacks but then did not follow through. Beran A said he roamed Dubai, in March 2024, in search of victims to stab but then had a panic attack when he tried to strike, the state court heard in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna. When he returned to the Austrian capital, he resolved to go further and eventually chose the concert as his target. Read more from Sky News:Sprinter in court over alleged cryptocurrency scamNATO planning 'large-scale conflict in the east' Beran A covered his face ​with a ring binder as he entered the courtroom to avoid being identified in pictures. Before the verdict, the man told the court he was sorry. In short final words to the court before it was adjourned, Beran A said: "I would just like to say that I am sorry." His defence lawyer, Anna Mair, said her client was "not an ideological mastermind". Arda K was given a 12-year jail sentence.

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No Writer
May 29
AI to be used to check age of asylum seekers posing as children

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No Writer
May 29
Premier League Darts: Luke Littler crowned champion after dramatic 11-10 victory over Luke Humphries in final

It was a truly dramatic affair in what marked a trilogy Premier League final between the world No 1 and No 2. Littler took glory in 2024, with Humphries hitting back in 2025. 'The Nuke' reclaimed the trophy with a match average of over 111. The win sees him take home £350,000, while runner-up Humphries collects £170,000. Premier League Finals Night: As it happened!Premier League darts: Full results ✅Darts in 2026: Key dates, calendar, results 📅Got Sky? Watch on the Sky Sports app 📱Not got Sky? Get instant access with NOW 📺 With the victory, Littler now holds eight major titles - the World Darts Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam, Players Championship, UK Open, World Masters and now the Premier League. Both players sealed their spots in the final after last-leg epics. Littler survived what was an almost almighty comeback from 9-4 down from Gerwyn Price in the opening semi-final, while Humphries managed to win his last-four tussle with Jonny Clayton 10-9. Remarkably, all 59 possible legs were played on Finals Night with all three matches going all the way. Littler was visibly emotional following his victory and admitted the Premier League campaign had taken its toll with the crowd often against him. The boos he has been receiving stemmed from an incident with Gian van Veen in Manchester when the Dutchman took issue with Littler celebrating a missed match dart. "It was a rollercoaster first four weeks, bottom of the table, but then the fifth night I won my first night. I had to pick myself up, some tough times," Littler told Sky Sports. "I think I had a 79 average in Brighton or something like that and it was tough. But I am here with the trophy. "After Brighton and the incident in Manchester, I was sat at home saying to Faith [his partner] 'I don't want to do it any more, just the crowd every week'. I said to her 'I'm down bad'." Littler and Humphries put on a show in world-class Premier League final The trilogy encounter was one of the most brilliant Premier League finals we have seen as Littler and Humphries went toe to toe in an intense 21-leg battle. The first session was all about Humphries as he averaged 114.73 and put on what can only be described as a masterclass of finishing with a 134 tops-tops finish, 112, then 121 on the bullseye in consecutive legs to move 6-3 in front. Indeed, it took an 11-darter from Littler to stop the rot as he went in at the break 6-4 behind. Littler always says that he comes back out after a break improved and that showed once again as the contest truly became nip and tuck - an 11-dart break of throw from Littler was followed by Humphries hitting back to lead 7-5. Humphries then spurned a number of chances as the world No 1 levelled things at 7-7 before they edged closer to the finish with the score primed at 9-9. Littler looked like he had things wrapped up when he found six perfect darts for a 10-dart break of throw that moved him one leg from victory, but Humphries showed nerves of steel to take out a pressurised D4. However, Littler did not back down and nailed tops to claim a second Premier League title. Littler comes through epic against Price Despite Price being the heavier scorer in the opening exchanges of their semi-final, Littler looked the most in control and rattled off five legs in a row to move 9-4 in front and one leg from another Premier League final. However, Price then found his groove and remarkably took five successive legs of his own, hitting a sensational 124 finish on the way, to level it at 9-9. There was some drama in the 15th leg when Price hit a 170 mid-leg and jokingly reeled in 'The Big Fish' to the crowd. The world No 1 was not impressed with the celebration in his eyeline and complained to referee Huw Ware. Ware then warned Price who quickly apologised to his opponent, putting his arm around Littler. In spite of the dramatics, the final leg saw normal service resumed and, with Price's scoring eluding him at precisely the wrong moment, Littler took out his seventh match dart on D16 to ensure he was in 'the big dance'. Humphries shows class in battle with Clayton In a similar showing to the first semi-final, Humphries and Clayton traded blows in the opening exchanges that saw the world No 2 go in 6-4 up at the break, but, as has been evident across this Premier League, the Welshman kept coming. That fighting spirit buoyed 'The Ferret' throughout the contest and, after bringing the score to 7-7, a 10-darter and break of throw moved the Welshman one leg from victory. However, Humphries has also been renowned for his resilience this Premier League campaign, battling hard to make it to Finals Night, and that had to come to the forefront once again as he clinched victory in some style, retaliating with three legs in a row, including a clutch 121 finish, to ensure he had the chance to retain his title. It was a bitter ending for Clayton who looked upset at some suspected whistling during his match darts. Sky Sports is once again the home of the World Cup of Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW

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No Writer
May 29
Two charged after woman, 30, shot dead outside bar in Sheffield

Shanice Brookes, 30, was rushed to hospital after the shooting at roughly 2.45am but was pronounced dead. South Yorkshire Police previously said Ms Brookes, who worked for a local charity, was shot outside the One Four One bar in West Street and was an "innocent bystander". The force has now charged two people over her death. Jemele Rhone, 30, has been charged with murder, possession of a firearm and possession of criminal property. Deiryen Dyce, 32, has been charged with assisting an offender, possession of ammunition, possession of drugs with intent to supply, possession of drugs and possession of criminal property. Both will appear at Sheffield Magistrates' Court later on Friday. A 30-year-old man arrested in Sheffield on Monday on suspicion of murder has now been released and is no longer being treated as a suspect, police said. See more from Sky News:UK maternity system crisisExtreme measures to retire early Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles from the force said: "Shanice was an entirely innocent bystander who should've been able to enjoy a night out in our city without the fear that she wouldn't come home safely. "Shanice's family, including her young son, now face the harrowing reality that they will never get to see her again." DI Knowles added officers are still "appealing for anyone with any information to come forward and speak to us".

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Gemma Peplow, culture and entertainment reporter
May 27
Matthew Perry's assistant jailed for three years and five months over star's death from ketamine

Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, repeatedly administered the drug to the actor in the weeks leading up to his death, prosecutors said in legal documents, without medical training or safe equipment. During this period in October 2023, he found Perry unconscious at least twice - and on one occasion, saw him "freeze up" and lose the ability to speak. Despite these "clear warnings", they said, he continued. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, sitting at a federal court in Los Angeles, also sentenced Iwamasa to two years of probation and a fine of $10,000 (about £7,400). "You were privy to his struggle with addiction," Judge Garnett said. "Your conduct was reckless, not just on the day of his death but in the days leading up to his death." However, she said there was "no hard evidence" he acted "with malicious intent, though some would disagree". "I am so sorry to all of you," Iwamasa said in court, turning to face ​the Perry family. "I'm just so sorry to have done illegal acts I will forever ⁠regret. I will take that to my grave." His lawyer, Alan Eisner, had argued for a six-month prison term with six months of home confinement, emphasising he was acting at the direction of a famous boss who had much more power. "His loyalty to Mr Perry was paramount," Mr Eisner said in court. "He worshipped Mr Perry, he looked up to Mr Perry. All he did was please and accommodate Mr Perry." In a filing before the hearing, defence lawyers said Iwamasa could "not simply say no" to his boss - and "that inability had tragic consequences". But in their own letters submitted to the court, Perry's family members made it clear they blame Iwamasa for the star's death. He was a friend for 25 years, they said, a man they thought would help the actor maintain sobriety. 'My son paid the price' "Matthew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny. Kenny's most important job - by far - was to be my son's companion and guardian in his fight against addiction," wrote Perry's mother, Suzanne Morrison. "We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price." The actor's sister Madeline Morrison said Iwamasa had spoken at his funeral. "The person responsible for my brother's death stood up and addressed the people who loved him most," she wrote. "He tainted our final memories of saying goodbye." In court, Lisa Ferguson, Perry's business manager and estate executor, described the assistant as "the monster who killed" the star. After Perry's death, Iwamasa "continued his wrongdoing by destroying evidence and taking other steps to cover his tracks and obstruct justice", prosecutors said. However, after investigators executed a search warrant at his home in January 2024, they said Iwamasa then accepted responsibility and agreed to co-operate in the government's investigation. He was the first of five defendants to reach a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, resulting in death. Iwamasa began working for Perry in 2022. The star was paying him $150,000 (about £112,000) a year to live at his home in Los Angeles and act as his assistant. The Friends actor had been taking the surgical anaesthetic ketamine legally for depression, an increasingly common off-label use in the US, after years of struggling with addiction. But he started to want more than his doctor would give him legally. In the final days of Perry's life, Iwamasa was injecting him six to eight times per day, legal filings said. On 28 October 2023, he injected the star with a shot of ketamine at about 8.30am and then again at 12.45pm. Forty minutes later, Perry asked Iwamasa to prepare the jacuzzi and told him to "shoot me up with a big one", according to court documents. The assistant then left to run errands, only to find the star dead on his return. The LA County Medical Examiner found ketamine was the primary cause of death, with drowning a secondary cause. Iwamasa, the last of the five defendants to be sentenced, was described by prosecutors in court documents as an "enabler" and "drug supplier" to the star. According to his plea agreement, he bought ketamine from another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, who taught him how to inject it. Plasencia was jailed for two-and-a-half years at a hearing in December. Another doctor, Mark Chavez, was sentenced later that month to eight months' home confinement after admitting to selling ketamine to Plasencia. Both have surrendered their medical licences, according to the US attorney's office for California's central district. Iwamasa also began buying ketamine from Erik Fleming, a drugs counsellor and former addict himself, who was an acquaintance of Perry's. He was jailed for two years earlier this month. Fleming was getting the ketamine from dealer Jasveen Sangha, known as "the Ketamine Queen" in Hollywood, according to prosecutors. She received the longest sentence of the five, 15 years, at a hearing in April.

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Ben Bloch, political reporter
May 27
Government gave 'misleading' information about student loans, senior committee chair tells Sky News

Dame Meg Hillier said the Department for Education "made a promise" about how Plan 2 student loans would be repaid, but that "hasn't been kept", which is having a "big impact on the generation who are paying off now". The previous and impending freeze of the repayment salary threshold, which will see graduates earning above a set amount being dragged into making larger repayments as their salaries increase, led the top Labour MP to accuse successive governments of "balancing the books on the back of people who have taken out student loans". Politics latest: Burnham hits back at Blair The Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday published documents produced by the Department for Education (DfE) and a contractor in 2018 and 2020 to explain to prospective university students how Plan 2 loans - for those starting courses between September 2012 and July 2023 - worked. They explained that they would only start repaying money to the Treasury once they earned more than a particular salary threshold, asserting: "The thresholds will be adjusted annually in line with average earnings." However, the previous government then froze the repayment salary threshold from 2021 until 2025, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that it will be frozen again at the 2026 level until 2030, meaning graduates whose incomes rise with inflation will repay more to the Treasury in real terms. The retrospective change to student loan repayment conditions is legal, as it was authorised in legislation, but the Treasury Select Committee boss said students were not fully informed of that possibility when they took out their loan(s), leading graduates to "feel angry and upset about the situation that they find themselves in". "That's partly because when they took out the loans they did not realise what they were signing up to and the full implications of that," Dame Meg told Sky News. She said that when the DfE "simplified" its advice to inform young people about the student loan system, they said "the threshold at which you start repaying will go up annually". "Well, that actually hasn't happened in the end," she explained. "You can understand that somebody in government thought it was a good idea to try and simplify that advice and make it clear for people to understand. But actually, you know, that was misleading." Dame Meg noted that the government has faced a series of crises in recent years, pointing to the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID pandemic in particular, and all chancellors "make decisions in order to balance the books". "But balancing the books on the back of people who've taken out student loans, and it's happened repeatedly under different governments, obviously it has had a big impact on the generation who are paying off now, and they feel very aggrieved by it, and not surprisingly," she said. How do graduates view their loans now? Her committee, which is conducting an inquiry into student loans and their impact on graduates, ran a survey earlier this year to understand their views on the system, and it received over 52,000 responses - one of the highest response rates to a select committee inquiry ever recorded. The unweighted survey found that: • Graduates overwhelmingly think the financial impact of repaying their loan(s) alongside the level of income tax is worse than expected, and has had a material impact on financial planning for the future; • They believe that the level of interest and repayment terms are or were unreasonable; • Graduates say they did not understand the full terms and conditions of their loan(s) before they took them out; • A majority would not take out a loan if given the choice again. Prospective students also submitted responses, and a majority told the committee that they do not have enough information to make an informed choice, and do not feel confident about making a decision. Experts to give evidence to parliament Asked what can be done, Dame Meg said there is a "huge understanding" on the Labour benches about the impact of student loans, and that is being communicated to the government. Her committee will be taking evidence from expert witnesses over the coming weeks, and aims to produce a report before the summer recess begins in July, which members "hope" will include immediate recommendations for ministers to ease the burden. "I wouldn't want to predict what they will be at this point, but we have an opportunity to press and push government to make some decisions that could make things better." In response, a government spokesperson said: "We recognise that some graduates have concerns about the cost of student loan repayments and understand why this is an important issue. "We inherited the current system and have taken steps to make it fairer - including raising the repayment threshold for the first time since 2021 and capping maximum interest rates this year to protect graduates from rising costs. We have also reintroduced targeted maintenance grants to expand opportunities for people from all backgrounds to go to university or college. "The student finance system protects lower-earning graduates, with repayments linked to income and any outstanding balances and interest written off at the end of repayment terms."

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No Writer
May 29
'I didn't want to do it anymore': Emotional Luke Littler reveals he nearly quit Premier League

Littler has been booed for large parts of the 17-week Premier League season, particularly over the last two months following an incident in early April with Gian van Veen in Manchester. Following his deciding leg win over Humphries in the Premier League Darts final on Thursday, the 19-year-old suggested the reaction from the crowds during those weeks made him not want to play, before the emotional interview with Sky Sports was cut short as he went to see his loved ones. Littler wins 11-10 epic over Humphries to be crowned PL championPremier League darts: Full results ✅Darts in 2026: Key dates, calendar, results 📅Got Sky? Watch on the Sky Sports app 📱Not got Sky? Get instant access with NOW 📺 He said: "After Brighton and the incident in Manchester, I was sat at home saying to Faith [his partner] 'I don't want to do it any more, just the crowd every week'. I said to her 'I'm down bad'." Littler highlighted the incident with Van Veen on Night Nine in Manchester where the pair clashed on the stage. Amid a tense deciding leg, Van Veen missed a match dart before turning to find Littler celebrating in front of the home crowd, with the world champion then gesturing angrily at his opponent as he turned back to the oche. Littler then missed his chance to throw for the match and Van Veen did not allow him another visit as he wrapped up the quarter-final win - but not before Littler made a crying gesture to the crowd, then exchanged a brief handshake with his rival. The following week at Brighton, Littler was booed once again as he recorded his lowest PDC TV average in defeat to Stephen Bunting. "It was a rollercoaster first four weeks, bottom of the table, but then the fifth night I won my first night. I had to pick myself up - some tough times," said Littler. "I think I had a 79 average in Brighton or something like that and it was tough. But I am here with the trophy." Humphries: Littler reaction shows how much it means Humphries was gracious as ever in defeat and, after comforting Littler, described why such big moments are full of emotion, especially given the number of weeks the players put in to a Premier League campaign. "It is emotional, you have seen it from Luke there. You are playing in big finals and it shows how much it means to us as players," he told Sky Sports. "You are on the road for 16 or 17 weeks and I don't get the chance to take my family with me. You want that trophy in your hands. "It was a great final, one of the best the Premier League has seen. I am proud that I made it a tough game." Sky Sports is once again the home of the World Cup of Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW

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