Row upon row of tents, hurling dishwater onto the road, bathing on the central reservation, harassing passersby, and stealing booze and solvents from the local newsagent.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this was Los Angeles's Skid Row. Unfortunately, it's on our doorstep.

Welcome to Britain's latest shame – a Romanian and Bulgarian beggar encampment in the heart of central London.

More than 40 tents perched on the central reservation of the capital's arterial Euston Road are home to dozens of chancers who fly in from Romania and Bulgaria to beg and commit crime for a living.

In fact, on Thursday, four men were allegedly stabbed by a female suspect, said to be homeless and from Romania, after she went on a rampage around Covent Garden.

The incident took place on Endell Street, just one mile from the Euston Road encampment.

The suspect was arrested by police a short time later. The incident is believed to be mental health-related.

Meanwhile, over at the nearby camp, where squatters play games and scroll 

Pupils are due to celebrate their best A-level results ever with top grades at a record high outside of the Covid years, a report predicts.

New analysis from the University of Buckingham suggests almost three in ten entries will get at least an A, with almost one in ten getting an A*.

In addition, it predicts boys will increase their lead over girls in top grades – a trend which began last year.

Hundreds of thousands of sixth formers will pick up their grades this Thursday and discover whether they have won a university place.

The report, from Buckingham's Centre for Education and Employment Research, said although the increase in top grades may be less than half a percentage point, this would still translate into thousands of entries.

It would be the third year in a row that top grades had risen, but the report said artificial grade inflation was not to blame.

Instead, it said the trend was down to the rising popularity of maths, which produces more A and A* grades than other subjects.

Report author Professor Alan Smithers said: 'The good news for those anxiously awaiting the

A £10,000 reward has been offered in the hunt for a masked robber nicknamed the 'Gingerbread Man'. 

The man, named after his ability to escape, has been targeting lone women and elderly pensioners in Solihull, West Midlands, and stealing their jewellery. 

More than 50 offences linked to the man have been reported to West Midlands Police over the past year.

Victims are ambushed from behind and violently attacked before jewellery is snatched from them. The man is then said to flee the scene on his bike.

Crimestoppers has now placed a £10,000 bounty on the culprit, which the charity offers to anyone who can help identify the masked felon. 

This comes after an 80-year-old woman was violently attacked by the man at around 3.15pm on July 13. 

The vulnerable woman was pushed to the ground and her gold chain necklace was taken from her neck. He then rode off on his bike, leaving her on the ground.

She was helped by passersby and rushed to hospital, where she was treated for injuries to her head and ankle. 

More than 50 offences

Daily Mail

A Labour council in Cambridge has installed squat toilets said to be favoured by international visitors and are charging users £1 per visit.

The public toilets – which include three 'squat-style flushing toilets' – on Silver Street, opposite Queens' College at the University of Cambridge, cost Cambridge City Council £1million to build. 

They replaced a 1980s block that was repeatedly flooded by the River Cam, which runs next to it. 

The council said the style of toilet was 'preferred by some international visitors'. 

Locals have since criticised the 'crazy' £1 charge to use the toilets, which opened last month. 

Heather Boyd, from the nearby village of Orwell, told the BBC: 'I certainly think if I'm going to spend £1, I'm not going to squat as well. That is absolutely crazy.'

'I'd much rather they built just a normal set of toilets and charged nothing, than one really slick one and charged a pound,' the 60-year-old added. 

Meanwhile, one resident took to social media, writing: 'My grandmother's great achievement as a member of the London Townswomen's Guild (not a jam and Jerusalem organisation) was to get the penny

A five-year-old autistic boy is the second to drown at one Florida apartment complex pool in just two months. 

The boy, who was not publicly identified, was found in a retention pond at the Northgreen at Carrollwood apartment complex in Tampa after a search by more than 140 police units on Friday. 

He was reported missing by his 'frantic' father around 9.30am. 

The pair had woken up around 5am in their shared bed, where the father had offered his son a drink of water, but the boy declined, and they had both gone back to sleep, Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a press conference. 

After waking up at 9am, he noticed his son was not in bed and began searching the apartment. He eventually noticed a screen door to the patio had been broken. 

The father then called his mother, who lives with them, to ask if the boy was with her. When he wasn't, he called the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. 

The sheriff deployed more than 140 deputies to the area to search for the child using aviation and drone technology, a K9 unit, and a dive team. 

One of the bloodhounds

Hundreds of tourists have fallen ill after visiting UK beaches, new figures have revealed. 

Marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) received more than 700 reports of sickness across 406 locations this year alone, including from 'Blue Flag' beaches which must pass strict tests for cleanliness. 

While more than 15,000 days – equivalent to 41 years – have been taken off work due to sickness contracted from the UK's waters since 2019. 

The polluted water, the charity said, has caused swimmers to suffer from illnesses such as gastroenteritis and ear infections, which has led to hospitalisations and time spent off work. 

Some 765 people contacted SAS about their illness in 2026, with nearly half – 322 – reporting sickness since the UK's temperatures rose on May 1. 

This prompted Britons to flock to the nation's coast and beaches to cool off from extreme heat. 

The findings come as the UK faces its fifth heatwave this year, with highs of 36C (97F) expected next week – and a prediction that the annual record for days exceeding 30C (86F) will be broken.

Bournemouth was the most reported location in the study, with 16 reports of illness, as thousands have

A Kosovan politician threw eggs at the acting prime minister in the country's parliament this week as attempts to form a new government remain deadlocked.

Albin Kurti, leader of Kosovo's ruling Left-wing party Vetevendosje, was scheduled to announce a candidate for a new speaker on Thursday but instead asked for more time for MPs to reach a consensus on a new president.

The latest elections, held on June 7, took place after parliament failed to elect a new president within the constitutional deadline. 

They came after the chamber remained gridlocked through much of 2025, when no party had enough seats to elect officials or form a government.

An election was called for December, but fresh polls were held in June after lawmakers failed to agree on a new president.

As Mr Kurti – whose party, which roughly translates as 'self-determination', won 53 of the 120 available seats – asked for an extension in the chamber on Thursday, he said: 'Consultations are continuing and we have not yet reached an agreement [on the president]. Therefore, I am asking for additional time to avoid new elections.'

But his announcement meant matters boiled over for

Andy Burnham says his father, who doesn't know he is Prime Minister because he is suffering from Alzheimer's, may have recognised him as he came into Downing Street as PM thanks to the staff at his care home.

Mr Burnham has previously spoken movingly about how his father Roy, a former telephone engineer, is suffering from advanced Alzheimer's and is being cared for in a home in the North.

He also revealed ahead of taking up his premiership that this meant Roy did not know his own son was becoming PM.

And in an emotional podcast appearance this week, he broke down as he told broadcaster Elizabeth Day that care home staff still ensured Roy was in front of the television as he appeared outside No10 Downing Street, adding they believed he knew what he was seeing.

Mr Burnham, who has vowed to reform the social care system drawing on his father's experiences, recounted: 'Something wonderful happened when I went into his care home the Sunday after I became Prime Minister.

'One of the staff said "the manager wants to speak to you

An Egyptian has been sentenced to a year in prison for trying to smuggle 173 migrants into Britain on a single 'mega-dinghy' that burst into flames in the English Channel.

The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was beginning his sentence in France on Saturday, following a fast-track trial held on Friday.

Eleven people suffered burns in the blaze, which happened in the early hours last Tuesday.

Boulogne Criminal Court heard how the Egyptian was 'piloting a boat' which contained 173 people, including 50 women and children.

He was found guilty of 'facilitating the illegal entry, movement, or stay of foreign nationals in France' by 'coordinating and piloting the departure on an inflatable boat'.

A judge also ruled that these acts were committed 'under circumstances directly exposing the foreign nationals to an immediate risk of death or injuries likely to result in mutilation or permanent disability.'

Such crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison, and a fine equivalent to £26,000.

The man was told he would be deported from France after serving his sentence, and his mobile phone was confiscated permanently.

America's most powerful banker has made a huge bet on San Francisco by investing $200 million in Bay Area housing and opening a new headquarters there. 

JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon designated the region as a new corporate center for the bank this week, after pledging to fund hundreds of waterfront units in the city. 

Dimon praised the Golden City's booming economy and the stunning comeback it has made on public safety since the initiation of Mayor Daniel Lurie in January 2025. 

Speaking at the San Francisco Chase Center on Monday, Dimon said Lurie has been 'doing all the right stuff' as crime rates have plummeted in the downtown retail hub. 

Dimon also lauded Lurie's new zoning plan, but said eye-watering rent prices are still pushing public sector workers like nurses and teachers out of the California city.

'If you had proper (housing) supply that could be rapidly deployed, you wouldn't have that problem,' Dimon said. 'I think we should raise our hand and do things that fix it.' 

America's biggest bank is helping alleviate this by investing $200 million to help fund a

This is the terrifying moment an airline passenger allegedly tried to open the emergency exit at 30,000ft because he 'felt like it'. 

Indian national Jamsheer Athanikkal, 36, has been arrested for the attempted murder of his fellow flyers after smashing the window panel on a Batik Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Kochi, India, on Wednesday. 

The plane was mid-air when the suspect is alleged to have opened the emergency exit 'without any provocation' before he threatened passengers and crew who tried to stop him. 

However the 36-year-old was overpowered and restrained with cable ties before he was later arrested after the pilot returned the Batik flight to Malaysia. 

Footage shows chaos in the cabin as those on board appear to try to prevent the suspect from opening the emergency exit.

Scratch marks can be seen on the window which Athanikkal is accused of trying to open during the flight.  

Athanikkal, who works in the hospitality industry, allegedly said he was flying home to see his newborn child prior to the incident. 

He told officers after he was arrested that he had 'felt like dying while travelling on the

A luxury yacht worth £220million that features an expansive swimming pool has moored up in an English south coast harbour. 

The 300ft (89-metre) vessel called Milky Way journeyed from Holland where it was built, having been commissioned by a mystery billionaire. 

The owner is described as a 'keen swimmer' hence the inclusion of the 55ft long pool on the main deck of the vessel.

The yacht was launched in June and is understood to have been undergoing sea trials when it stopped off in the dock of Poole Harbour in Dorset. It then turned heads.

It is the latest in a series of superyachts that moor in the Dorset harbour. 

Poole has gained a reputation for hosting some of the world's most expensive yachts, enticing owners with its deep-water berths, security and close proximity to London.

And has since been awarded five gold anchors, the prestigious global marina accreditation scheme managed by The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA).

Marinas are rated across categories such as ambience, customer service, on-water and onshore facilities and infrastructure.

Daily Mail