The United Nations expert on violence against women and girls has denounced a claim by a Green MSP that rape is a 'spectrum' of offences.

UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem said rape should not 'ever be spoken of in those terms' as it risked 'undermining important progress' in criminalising it worldwide.

Ms Alsalem, who has previously given evidence to Holyrood, added to the growing backlash against Q Manivannan for saying there had been a 'demonisation' of rape.

A powerful coalition of rape crisis centres yesterday warned 'there is no hierarchy of rape' and survivors should never have to ask themselves: 'Was my rape serious enough?'

Manivannan yesterday insisted the words were taken out of context and apologised for the 'abstract' language causing 'considerable upset'.

The Edinburgh and Lothians East MSP said: 'I know from my experience of surviving sexual violence and speaking about recovery how deeply those experiences can affect people.

'And this complete mischaracterisation of my words has now returned me to my trauma.'

Daily Mail

More than 175,000 visas held by foreign nationals have been canceled by the Trump administration, officials confirmed Monday.

Authorities cited alleged document non-compliance, ties to unlawful conduct and incitement of violence targeting Americans as key drivers behind the enforcement push.

State Department representatives stated that the bulk of these revocations stemmed from 'law enforcement encounters,' an explanation that has drawn criticism from legal experts. 

Immigration attorneys worry that officials are stripping visa statuses over trivial police interactions or unproven accusations that were never tried in court.

'The majority of these visas were revoked due to law enforcement encounters for a range of criminal activity, with assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug crimes being the leading causes,' the State Department said in a statement, listing other reasons like reckless driving, sexual assault, fraud, child abuse and 'other crimes.'

Government officials are characterizing the widespread cancellations 'as a result of the State Department's continuous vetting operations, which ensure that visa recipients abide by the terms of their visa and do not endanger Americans.' 

'Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio's leadership, the State Department will continue to identify, investigate, and revoke the visas of foreign nationals who threaten

President Donald Trump repeated his longstanding frustration with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, acknowledging there was 'contractor error' involved in the renovation project.

'As with many jobs, there was also some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening, but it was a very small area of this massive Pool, and was relatively inconsequential,' Trump wrote in a post on social media on Sunday.

Trump repeated his claims that the pool lining was vandalized by bad actors after the renovation became a flashpoint for controversy.

Trump repeated accusations against former Olympian David Hearn after he was arrested for vandalizing the pool, citing a 'highly credible witness' who claimed Hearn was 'violently ripping and tugging' the liner in the pool that bubbled up after it was installed.

Trump expressed disappointment there was no video evidence to convict Hearn and other suspects, but indicated there would be additional security cameras installed in the location to ward off future vandals.

'There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself,'

Tyler Boebert, 21, son of Colorado Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, has been released on a $10,000 bond after he was charged with 'sexual exploitation of a child.'

According to Colorado court records entered on August 6, 2026, Tyler was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, including a video charge. The charges are all felonies that allegedly occurred on January 1, 2024.

He was also slapped with two charges of 'contributing to the delinquency of a minor.' 

Boebert told the Daily Mail, 'I love my son. We take these allegations very seriously and pray for everyone affected during this challenging time.'

The records indicate that Tyler was released on August 9. He is scheduled to appear in Garfield County District Court on August 19th.

He has not yet entered a plea in the case first reported by American Muckrakers.  

This is not the Congresswoman's son's first run-in with the law, as he was charged with child abuse in February 2026.

Tyler, one of Boebert's four children, was slapped with a 'misdemeanor charge of child abuse without injury' according to 9News.

He is accused of leaving his

Republican Senators on Capitol Hill have released new COVID-era text messages from Dr Anthony Fauci's government-issued cellphone in a bombshell revelation Monday.

Ron Johnson and Rand Paul published a series of messages from January 25 and 26, 2021, which included discussions of the COVID vaccine as it pertained to pregnant women. 

The conversation in question was between Fauci, Rochelle Walensky, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Vivek Murthy, former United States Surgeon General.

One of the texts released by the GOP duo reveals that Fauci was concerned in January 2021 that the second dose of the COVID shot 'theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.' 

In another text message, Murthy asked Fauci and Walensky if they had seen a WHO advisory, 'against pregnant women taking the Moderna vaccine bc of lack of data?'

'It has led to a flurry of questions. What is your take? I imagine we will all get asked about this,' Murthy probed his colleagues.

Fauci responded that 'pregnant

A 22-year-old passenger died after suddenly becoming unresponsive aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas to Los Angeles.

Rain McMillan Walmsey suffered a medical emergency aboard Southwest Flight 958 on Friday as the plane headed toward Southern California, according to the New York Post.

Crew members and fellow passengers desperately tried to save Walmsey, performing multiple rounds of CPR while the aircraft continued toward Los Angeles.

Emergency responders were waiting for the plane when it landed at Los Angeles International Airport but their efforts to revive the young passenger were unsuccessful.

Paramedics attempted to resuscitate Walmsey before firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office later identified the passenger as Walmsey, according to the Post.

His cause of death has been deferred and the case remains open while officials investigate what led to the medical emergency.

Authorities have not disclosed what symptoms Walmsey experienced before he became unresponsive or what may have caused his death.

Southwest

A Wyoming restaurant owner took matters into her own hands after a family of four allegedly ate $130 worth of food before running out without paying.

Zoey Aldahash, owner of Sweet Zoey Mediterranean restaurant in Casper, said the group ordered appetizers, drinks, entrees and desserts during lunch last May.

'They ate everything, appetizers, drinks, sweets, mains, everything,' Aldahash told news organization Cowboy State Daily.

'Then the four of them stood up in the same moment together, they walked to the door, and once they opened the door, they ran to the car.'

Rather than call the police, Aldahash posted a security camera image of the group on the restaurant's Facebook page and asked the community for help identifying them.

'Today at Sweet Zoey's, a family came in, ate and drank about $130 worth of food, then left without paying,' she wrote.

'As a small local restaurant, this really hurts. That food is not "just food" - it is labor, ingredients, bills, and the hard work of our team.'

Aldahash said she was not looking for 'drama' and left the possibility

Don't punish your children with cleaning chores unless you want them to become messy adults, TikTok's 'Cleaning Queen' Ann Russell has advised.

Ms Russell is famous on social media as 'that English cleaner lady', posting tips on housework along with her own reasoned musings on current affairs.

A professional cleaner for more than 20 years and the mother of four adult children, she has amassed a staggering three million followers and 100 million likes on TikTok alone.

Described in the Washington Post as 'a TikTok cleaning queen', Ms Russell's largely young fan base frequently compliment her non-judgemental style of issuing advice.

And she told the Mail this week: 'Cleaning is not a moral thing, and a lot of people – an awful lot of girls – have spent their childhood [believing otherwise]. My grandmother [who raised her] spent her time saying, "Oh, child, look at this mess! I don't know how I'm going to tidy it." 

'And I felt awful, but I didn't know how to do it. I didn't understand what she wanted, and I had to teach myself.

Daily Mail

Tyson Fury has been dealt a blow after plans for a huge airport car park at the bottom of his garden were given the green light by the local council.

A 1,384-space parking area is set to be built next to the ex-world champion's home in the posh village of Styal.

It's part of Cheshire's 'Golden Triangle', an area that is hugely popular with footballers, soap actors and reality stars including Tyson's brother Tommy and his fiancé Molly-Mae Hague.

Cheshire East Council has given nearby Manchester Airport the thumbs up to build the car park as part of its 10-year, £1.3billion expansion plan, despite objections from four of Fury's neighbours.

The site, which is a stone's throw from Wilmslow, is one kilometre from the airport and is currently 'a series of large derelict horticultural glasshouse buildings', according to planning documents.

It is not clear if Fury was one of those who objected, although the huge lot will back directly onto a parcel of land he owns and which he has been trying to renovate for years. 

In 2023 he was denied permission to

Ellen DeGeneres has seen her bid to build a huge riding arena at her £15million Cotswolds home dashed after the local council rejected her plans.

The TV star, 68, had wanted to build an 'all weather' venue for her horse-loving wife Portia De Rossi, 53, as they look to cement their roots in the area after moving to Britain in November 2024.

They had previously said: 'When we decided to live here full time, we knew that Portia couldn't live without her horses.'

And, perhaps mindful of the torrential rain that left floodwater lapping at their doorstep last year, the couple had asked for permission to build a 22-metre by 39-metre arena on their land for use all year round.

The couple would have been encouraged from being given the nod of approval for new stables earlier this year despite local opposition.

But their latest move has been knocked back by planning officials at West Oxfordshire District Council, who say it would be too out of keeping with its idyllic surroundings and would bring 'unacceptable' development to the area.

In a scathing decision notice issued by the

A double murderer dubbed 'the most dangerous man in Australia' cannot be sent back there despite violently attacking his former partner in the UK.

Francis Carter, 71, spent 25 years in behind bars for killing two men in Australia, but authorities there will not take him back when he walks free from a UK prison after judges in Queensland said the monster should never be released, a court has heard.

The killer, who moved to Australia from Britain in 1973, beat a man to death with a baseball bat before slitting his throat and dumping his dismembered body in a barrel. He was jailed for the murder in 1989. 

Then, while in prison, Carter escaped and spent a week on the run before he was recaptured and thrown back in jail. 

But, behind bars once again, he then 'mutilated' and murdered an inmate he believed had told prison authorities about his escape plan.

The double killer was released from the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, west of Brisbane, in 2015 and sent back to the UK.   

Carter was described by author Paul Kidd as 'the most dangerous man in

Photos of Britain's ten most unusual and extraordinary defibrillator locations have been released by the British Heart Foundation to raise awareness of the lifesaving devices.

From Lundy Island, where there are more puffins than people, to the summit of Mount Snowdon in Wales, the pictures show off some of the most unexpected places that the kit lives.

The BHF has published the images as it pushes towards a new milestone of having 125,000 of the heart jump-starters registered on the UK's national defibrillator network.

With more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year, the foundation said there is a need for a defibrillator in every corner of the country.

The current survival rate for non-hospital cardiac arrests is less than one in ten - but timely defibrillation and CPR can double the odds.

The pictures span from the most northerly device, at Hermaness National Nature Reserve on Unst in Shetland to the most southerly based outside a gin distillery in St Agnes, Isles of Scilly.

The unit in St Agnes is perched on a rock as waves crash into the beach behind it. The whole island is just a mile across, with no cars