Winter cold ‘becomes lethal’ as Israel restricts entry of tents, blankets and other shelter supplies to ravaged enclave.

A Palestinian infant has frozen to death in the Gaza Strip, local authorities say, as Israel continues to restrict the entry of shelter supplies and other humanitarian aid to the enclave despite the harsh winter conditions there.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Tuesday that the two-week-old baby, Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, died a day earlier after seeking treatment for severe hypothermia, brought on by the extreme cold gripping Gaza.

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Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum noted that the child’s death comes as basic protections in Gaza have been “systematically dismantled” due to Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the territory.

“Families are living in tents on wet ground without heating, electricity or sufficient clothing,” Abu Azzoum said. “When food, fuel, shelter and aid are banned, cold absolutely becomes lethal.”

Israel’s two-year war has decimated more than 80 percent of the structures across Gaza, forcing hundreds of thousands of families to take refuge in flimsy tents or overcrowded makeshift shelters.

A huge storm that recently hit the Strip killed at least 11 people as torrential rains and fierce winds flooded tents and caused damaged buildings to collapse.

“We try to dry the children’s clothes over the fire,” Umm Mohammed Assaliya, a displaced Palestinian mother, told Al Jazeera from Gaza City.

“There are no spare clothes for them. I am exhausted. The tent we were given cannot withstand winter conditions. We need blankets,” she said.

Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to allow unimpeded deliveries of aid to Gaza.

But the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which the UN says is best suited to distribute supplies in the territory, says the Israeli government has blocked it from bringing aid directly into Gaza.

“People have reportedly died due to the collapse of damaged buildings where families were sheltering. Children have reportedly died from exposure to the cold,” UNRWA said in a social media post on Tuesday.

“This must stop. Aid must be allowed in at scale, now.”

Hamas slams Israeli ceasefire violations

Meanwhile, Hamas has condemned Israel for its repeated violations of a ceasefire deal that came into effect in October.

At least 393 Palestinians have been killed and 1,074 others wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the first full day of the ceasefire on October 11, according to the latest figures from the enclave’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli military also killed a senior Hamas leader, Raed Saad, in a targeted attack on a vehicle in western Gaza City on Saturday, further straining the tenuous truce.

On Tuesday, Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad accused Israel of “manipulating” the text of the US-brokered agreement.

“We want to make it absolutely clear: the ceasefire agreement is straightforward, detailed, and unambiguous. However, it’s evident that the Israeli occupation has distorted the text, manipulating and violating every single article,” Hamad said.

“Since day one, Hamas has fully abided by the agreement and honoured its commitments. In contrast, Israel has deliberately committed several systematic and preplanned breaches.”

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Nardine Saad,Los Angelesand

Regan Morris

Reuters

A California doctor who sold ketamine to Friends star Matthew Perry has been sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release, making him the second person to be sentenced in the actor’s death.

Dr Mark Chavez is among five people – including another doctor and a dealer known as the Ketamine Queen – who have pleaded guilty to drug-related charges stemming from sitcom star’s 2023 death at his Los Angeles home.

The San Diego-based physician admitted to obtaining ketamine from his clinic and a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription and sold it to Dr Salvador Plasencia, who supplied the dissociative anaesthetic to Perry.

Plasencia was sentenced earlier this month to 30 months in prison.

The multiyear federal investigation into Perry’s death examined how the Emmy-winning actor acquired ketamine through an underground drug network in Hollywood.

Ketamine, a surgical anaesthetic, is used as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain.

Perry, who had battled drug addiction and depression, had been prescribed the drug as part of his treatment but soon started seeking more than what he was allotted.

That ultimately led him to the drug ring that ensnared the two doctors, Perry’s live-in assistant, a man named Erik Fleming and American-British dual-national Jasveen Sangha, the dealer known as the Ketamine Queen.

The latter three are due to be sentenced in the coming months.

A post-mortem examination of Perry found a high concentration of ketamine in his blood and determined that “acute effects” of the substance killed him.

Reuters

Mark Chavez, a doctor accused of supplying ketamine to ‘Friends’ actor Matthew Perry before his death, arrives in federal court in Los Angeles, California, on 2 October 2024.

Prosecutors said Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked with Chavez and Plasencia to provide the actor with more than $50,000 (£38,000) of ketamine in the weeks before his death.

In his plea agreement, Chavez admitted that he obtained ketamine from both his former clinic and a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription. He submitted a fraudulent prescription for 30 ketamine lozenges under a former patient’s name – without her knowledge or consent – to sell to Plasencia to give to Perry.

He confessed to selling 22 vials of liquid ketamine and nine ketamine lozenges to Plasencia, according to his October 2024 plea agreement.

The transaction was part of a broader scheme in which Chavez and Plasencia discussed exploiting Perry’s addiction for financial gain by mocking him in their text exchanges.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia wrote to Chavez.

Chavez faced up to 10 years in federal prison. As part of his October 2024 plea deal, he surrendered his medical licence and passport.

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Nick Reiner, the son of director Rob Reiner, will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a press conference Tuesday. 

Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found stabbed in their LA home on Sunday. 

Prosecutors said they would formally file the charges later Tuesday. 

More to follow…

Film director Rob Reiner and wife found dead in their home

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Polish authorities have foiled a suspected ISIS-inspired plot to attack a Christmas market, charging a student accused of preparing a mass casualty bombing, according to officials.

The case comes as Germany and the U.K. also raised security measures around religious and cultural events after the Sydney shooting Sunday in which 16 people were shot dead at a Jewish Hanukkah party on Bondi Beach.

Polish authorities say the suspect, identified as Mateusz W., 19, was detained in late November at an apartment in Lublin by officers from the Internal Security Agency (ABW).

According to Jacek Dobrzyński, a spokesperson for the Minister’s Coordinator of Special Services, investigators believe the teen had been studying how to make explosives and intended to join a terrorist organization to help carry out the attack.

EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS MARKETS FORTIFY SECURITY MEASURES AS TERROR THREATS FORCE MAJOR OPERATIONAL CHANGES

Polish authorities foil an alleged ISIS Christmas market bombing plot targeting holiday shoppers. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“The purpose of the crime was to intimidate many people, as well as to support the Islamic State,” Dobrzyński said in a statement shared on X.

Items linked to Islam and digital storage devices were seized, and the suspect has been remanded for three months as the Szczecin branch of ABW continues its investigation.

At a news conference, Dobrzyński also referenced a June case in which three 19-year-olds were charged over alleged extremist plots, including a reported plan to attack a school in Olsztyn.

MOSSAD–EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE OPERATION LAUNCHES SWEEPING CRACKDOWN ON HAMAS GLOBAL TERROR NETWORK

Authorities arrested five on suspicion of plotting a terror attack on a Christmas market in Bavaria.  (Juergen Sack/Getty Images)

“You are familiar with this issue from Olsztyn; now we have another example of preparing an attack before Christmas,” he told reporters, according to GB News.

In Germany, police in Lower Bavaria also arrested five men on Dec. 12 on suspicion of preparing an attack on a Christmas market, according to reports.

Authorities said an Egyptian national described as an Islamic preacher had allegedly called for an assault during gatherings at a mosque in the Dingolfing-Landau area, per Euronews.

CANADIAN SPY CHIEF WARNS OF ALARMING RISE IN TEEN TERROR SUSPECTS, ‘POTENTIALLY LETHAL’ THREATS BY IRAN

In the U.K., counterterrorism officials have stepped up armed patrols and public alert messaging across London and other major cities. (Matthew Chattle/Future Publishing via Getty Image)

Special operations forces carried out the arrests, and investigators believe the group had begun early-stage preparations.

In the U.K., counterterrorism officials stepped up armed patrols and public alert messaging across London and other major cities on Tuesday.

“Sadly, as shown by the appalling attack on Sydney’s Jewish community during a Hanukkah event, we know they can also be a target for terrorist activity,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jon Savell said in a press release.

He cited large festive gatherings, religious services and Christmas markets as potential targets.

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In the release posted Tuesday, he urged the British public to report anything that “doesn’t feel right” as part of the annual winter vigilance campaign.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities say they separately disrupted a New Year’s Eve plot in Southern California.

Four alleged members of an extremist anti-capitalist, anti-government group suspected of rehearsing coordinated bombings against sites linked to two U.S. companies were arrested on Monday.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture. 

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Donald Trump just can’t stop griping about 60 Minutes and how the vaunted CBS Sunday night newsmagazine is very nasty and unfair to him.

At the same time, the president’s obsession with the long-running program is causing him to blast the new ownership of CBS News’ parent company Paramount, which has been blatantly currying favor with him in an effort to secure his approval of its hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery.

“For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before. If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!” Trump fumed in a Tuesday Truth Social rant.

The president’s screed comes a week after he melted down over a 60 Minutes interview with Trump loyalist turned foe Marjorie Taylor Greene, grousing that the broadcast showed that Paramount chairman David Ellison – whom he has repeatedly praised as a “great person” was “NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP.”

Meanwhile, Ellison – along with his ultrawealthy father Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder and longtime Trump ally – has been banking on his family’s close ties with the president to give him a leg up in his aggressive attempt to acquire WBD and add it to his burgeoning media empire.

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Donald Trump, who heaped praise on David Ellison during a recent ‘60 Minutes’ interview, is now suggesting they are no longer friends. (YouTube)

While Trump has seemed to privately and publicly favor Paramount in the bidding war for Warner Bros. – the studio’s board of directors has already approved an offer from Netflix – he appears to want the Ellisons to know who is in charge, and that’s him.

On the same day that the younger Ellison submitted the hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, the president raged about the Greene interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, which featured the Georgia congresswoman claiming Trump was “directly fueling” death threats against her family.

Besides attacking Greene and Stahl over the interview, Trump blasted Ellison – without naming him – for seemingly allowing the interview to air in the first place. The president also made a point of referencing the $16 million the prior Paramount leadership paid him to settle a “meritless” lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. That settlement took place weeks before the Trump administration approved Paramount’s merger with Ellison’s Skydance.

“My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME!” Trump exclaimed. “Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”

Later that afternoon, the president was still steaming about the telecast and suggested to White House reporters that he was no longer on friendly terms with the Ellisons.

“I know the companies very well. I know what they are doing. But I have to see… what percentage of market they have. We have to see the Netflix percentage of market, Paramount percentage of market,” he said when asked about his involvement in approving a WBD deal. “I mean, none of them are particularly great friends of mine. I want to do what’s right.”

Later that week, however, Trump made it apparent that he favored Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros., saying that it was “imperative that CNN be sold” as part of any deal for the media giant. While WBD would spin off CNN in a separate company as part of the Netflix merger, Paramount is proposing to buy all of Warner’s assets.

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David Ellison has said he’s had ‘great conversations’ with Trump about his plan to combine CNN – which Trump has long reviled as ‘fake news’ – with CBS News. (AFP/Getty)

On top of that, Ellison has said he’s had “great conversations” with Trump about his plan to combine CNN – which Trump has long reviled as “fake news” – with CBS News, which Ellison recently put under the control of anti-woke culture warrior Bari Weiss.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Ellison “offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN.” All the while, the Ellisons have also brought on Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner as an investor in the Warner Bros. bid.

“I think any deal, it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately, but I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN, which is a very dishonest group of people,” Trump declared on Wednesday. “I don’t think that should be allowed to continue.”

On top of that, Ellison and his father have gone out of their way to do damage control with the White House over the 60 Minutes interview that has sparked the president’s ire.

According to the New York Post, the younger Ellison has “told people close to Trump he was unaware of the broadcast until the day it ran, as was Jeff Shell, president of Paramount Skydance, and Weiss.” One source added that “[t]hey’re saying those guys went rogue and when Paramount Skydance found out about it, they were caught flatfooted.”

Based on Tuesday’s Truth Social tirade, it looks like the Ellisons will need to do some more pandering.

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NEED TO KNOW

• Kylie Minogue reflects on 10 years of Kylie Christmas
• The Australian pop star tells PEOPLE that she wanted to commemorate its anniversary with a deluxe version because this record remains in “people’s homes and hearts, and it rolls around every year”
• Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) is out now

Kylie Minogue may have released her Christmas album a decade ago, but she wasn’t quite done with it just yet.

To commemorate the album’s 10th anniversary, the Australian pop star released Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped), a special 10th anniversary of her Kylie Christmas album, which features the LP’s timeless, tracks with a collection of new favorites that capture the warmth, glitter and glamour of the holidays.

The project, which was released on Friday, Dec. 12, features four new tracks including “Hot In December,” “This Time of Year,” “Office Party,” and the Amazon Music Original “XMAS.”

While the project was “ambitious” for Minogue, 57, following her Tension tour, she tells PEOPLE that it was “the perfect time” to honor her 2015 holiday album.

Here, she discusses the making of Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped), her holiday traditions and what her next album could potentially look like.

PEOPLE: What made you want to make a Christmas album 10 years ago?

KYLIE MINOGUE: Actually, good question. I’m not really sure. I think I’d just done Aphrodite, I toured Aphrodite, I toured Kiss Me Once…. I guess it just was a thought, and we said, “Hey, yeah, it’s time. Let’s do it.” Certainly when I did my cover of “Santa Baby” in 2001, I didn’t see a full Christmas album coming. The reason a lot of artists do it is it’s open to interpretation as to what’s your version of Christmas and seasonal songs.

But I can tell you this much. It was so much fun. It was just a beautiful, beautiful experience. And this time around, there’s one, lonely Christmas stocking decoration. But 10 years ago, we had the entire place decked out with decorations and life-size toy soldiers and full orchestra and choir, et cetera, et cetera.

PEOPLE: Amazing. Why was it important for you to commemorate the 10th anniversary of this record with Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped)?

MINOGUE: Because this record, or some of the songs on the original record, are in people’s homes and hearts, and it rolls around every year. It might’ve seemed like lunacy at the start of this year with a world tour on the horizon. Now that I finished my world tour, and I’m doing the work for this Christmas album, maybe it was ambitious, let’s say. But [the] 10th anniversary, it’s the perfect time.

Kylie Minogue for ‘Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped)’.

PEOPLE: How did “XMAS” end up becoming one of the new songs on this deluxe edition?

MINOGUE: That particular song [was an] Amazon Exclusive, but that has been in my brain for 10 years. So, it was time to exorcize the song. “XMAS” was a chorus idea after a performance in 2015. So, I’d just done the whole shebang, recording the first album, but we went all out in July or something. After those sessions, I was with my band and dancers after another performance of something else, and my guitarist and I were mucking about doing “XMAS.” All we had, was “X-M-A-S, X-M-A-S.” And we thought, “Oh, there’s something in there.” It was a mission. We just [had] to flesh out this song, wrap it up in a bow, send it out. I knew that I just had to see it through.

I just came back from doing a few things today, and the guy on reception at one of the places was doing the “XMAS” dance to me. It’s wild that it’s been living in my head, and my guitarist’s head, for 10 years — and we got to finally do it. So, that was the gateway [for the deluxe edition of Kylie Christmas].

PEOPLE: How do you plan to celebrate Christmas this year?

MINOGUE: Family, family, family. That’s it. Me and my family, a few close friends. We always have a few ring-ins on Christmas. I’m going to rest, take stock, be thankful, and then workshop my way toward 2026.

PEOPLE: Do you have a favorite holiday tradition?

MINOGUE: Just hanging out with the family. Because it’s summer in Australia, they’re really long, hot days, and the kids are all on school holidays. They have a five or six-week break then. I wouldn’t say there’s one tradition. Maybe cricket in the backyard, jumping in the pool, getting the barbecue on. I mean, those things all seem pretty normal to me, but I guess not to everyone else.

PEOPLE: So obviously we touched on “XMAS,” but how did you decide to add the other three songs to this version of the album? Were any of them recorded years ago, or were outtakes?

MINOGUE: There’s a story for all of them. “Hot in December,” which is a total banger, the incredible Sarah Hudson sent that to me about four years ago. It was like, “Hey, babe, you need a Christmas song? What do you think of this?” At the time, I didn’t need a Christmas song, but I said, “That’s just a great tune.” And I wondered, “If you took the Christmas out of that, would that just be a great song?” which is probably still true. But this time around, I just said, “Hey, is that song still there?” So it was. We got to workshop that in our sessions over here in London. It’s a bonafide bop.

“Office Party,” I’m sure you’ve seen the U.S. version of The Office, which originated here in the U.K. Part of that was, what’s that kind of office party like and having fun with those lyrics. Finally, “This Time of Year” is the real mushy, emotional, very sentimental version. We didn’t aim to do four very different tracks, that was more a case of us just changing the pace up in the studio when you reach a bit of a lull working on one song or you need to step away.

PEOPLE: Do you ever envision yourself making another holiday album?

MINOGUE: Let’s see how I get through this one. Probably. I could imagine maybe doing something slightly different with what I have. Maybe doing a full orchestral version of all songs, strip it back, do an intimate performance, and have that as another album.

To get four [songs] done in this small amount of time that I had more or less between continents this year was all we had time for, but I’d say there’s two others that we’d love to flesh out at some point.

PEOPLE: We’ve had Tension I and Tension II. Are you working on Tension III to release next?

MINOGUE: I’m literally on a tilt as you ask that. I think we could do Tension III, but I need a rest before any of that. I think it’d be moving on to something fresh and different next. I’m sure it’s no surprise that there’s already thoughts, and perhaps a little time in studio that’s gone into that so far. I don’t think it will be Tension III. It’ll be something else.

But Tension I and Tension II gave and gave and gave. At the end of this year, I will really be giving thanks to this era because it’s been a wild ride since “Padam Padam.” I’m thinking of my Vegas residency, which I investigated and signed up for before “Padam Padam” even came out. It’s been fruitful, fun, pretty exhausting, but very rewarding.

PEOPLE: You’ve had a huge year with the Tension Tour. What was your favorite moment from the tour?

MINOGUE: Oh, it’s hard to pick one moment. I’m speaking to you in the States, and two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden was mind-blowing and as amazing as everyone said it would be, so that will definitely be a standout. The concert felt really different. It really felt like togetherness. That line between on stage and not on stage … we broke that line a lot, which was my intention.

So in every place that could accommodate this, having the C-stage out in the audience and traipsing through the audience to “The Loco-motion” and ending up right in the center of everything and the disco ball coming down…it just felt we were all united. My takeaway is that everyone felt a real solidarity, even if they’d never met each other before.

Kylie Minogue for ‘Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped)’.

PEOPLE: Is there a sonic direction you haven’t explored that you’d like to in the future?

MINOGUE: I’ve touched [on] lots of different genres. But I’ve always joked that “Thrash Metal Kylie’s” probably not going to be unleashed from any place anytime soon. I quite like an indie-folk playlist, just something that’s quite mellow and tuneful. I mean, I didn’t give myself this moniker, but the “Indie Kylie” period, I think there’s something to be explored with a little seasoning.

I won’t say too much more. That’s not a place I haven’t been to before, but a place that I guess I normally try to touch on most albums. We could say “Padam Padam” had something of that because it was a risk or something, like slow. Even “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” was really different. Now that those songs were hits, it’s easy to say, “Oh, yeah, of course that was a hit.” But I think they all involved an element of risk and trying to make the right call, and giving some space on the album for some experimentation.

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Any murderer would surely need to show sincere remorse before they could ever be released from prison. 

But for ‘callous’ police killer Harry Roberts, a sentence of ‘life imprisonment’ still meant he could enjoy more than a decade of freedom after serving 48 years behind bars. 

The notorious British career criminal, who died on Saturday aged 89, was released 11 years ago after the fatal shootings of three unarmed policemen in Shepherd’s Bush in August 1966 – murders which he coldly described as ‘electric’ in 2014. 

Roberts was one of a gang who murdered Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and Constable Geoffrey Fox, 41 – two of whom he killed himself within the space of just 30 seconds. 

At the time of his sentencing, Mr Justice Hildreth Glyn-Jones told Roberts: ‘I think it likely that no Home Secretary regarding the enormity of your crime will ever think it fit to show you mercy by releasing you on licence.’ 

But in 2014, an independent Parole Board deemed he was eligible for release, despite the killer showing little to no remorse for his catastrophic crimes. 

The decision, which was supported by then deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, caused outrage across the nation, with other politicians declaring that anyone who kills a police officer belongs ‘behind bars for life’.

Roberts was found guilty of three murders after a trial for what the judge described as ‘the most heinous crime for a generation or more’. 

Notorious triple police killer Harry Roberts (pictured) died aged 89 on Saturday

Roberts (right) in August 2009 with a prison guard in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire 

He was jailed for shooting dead Sgt Christopher Head, Det Con David Wombwell and PC Geoffrey Fox in 1966

Squads of detectives and uniformed police searching for Roberts, who was wanted after shootings of three London police officers

A police officer searches for Roberts after the shootings, after he went missing for 96 days 

He had been sitting with his accomplices John Duddy and John Witney in a van near Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London.

The trio had been preparing for an armed robbery when they were approached by the officers and Roberts opened fire with a Luger pistol on the three unarmed officers.

Roberts shot dead two of the policemen, DS Head and DC Wombwell, while DC Fox was killed by Duddy.

His accomplices were caught but Roberts, then 30, remained on the run for 96 days – relying on his training as a soldier to survive. His disappearance sparked Scotland Yard’s biggest ever manhunt.

He was later found near Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, living in a camouflaged den made out of plastic bags and branches.

On November 15, 1966, Roberts was given three life sentences with a 30 year minimum tariff. He went on to become on of Britain’s longest serving prisoners until his release 48 years later – almost to the day.

The judge’s daughter, Anne Glyn-Jones, said her father regarded Roberts as evil and would have sentenced him to death if he could have done.

However, the death penalty had been abolished the year before the case was heard at the Old Bailey.

Scenes at West London Magistrates Court on August 14, 1966, after the murders took place 

Police search for clues at the crime scene on August 14, 1996 

Roberts’s accomplices Witney and Duddy are both dead. Duddy died in prison, and Witney was murdered after his release from jail.

Roberts showed little to no remorse for his heinous crimes, in 2014 describing the atmosphere as ‘electric’ while taking the lives of the three men. 

‘With half a smile, my mate Jack said quietly, “Let the slag have it, Harry.” Instantly, I raised my arm and, with the Luger Jack had just handed me, I shot the copper point blank. The bullet hit him just below the eye. He slumped to the ground. I could hear my heart thumping. The air was electric,’ he told the Daily Mail in an interview on the year of his release.    

Roberts had lost his bid to be granted parole in 2009 after he threatened and intimidated Joan Cartwright, her husband Peter and her son James, who had given Roberts work at their animal sanctuary while he was on day release.

He had threatened to kill the couple after she complained about his behaviour, and he rang her from prison up to five times a week after learning she had given evidence against him.

Several attacks were also carried out on her animals at the East Midlands sanctuary.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe had also criticised plans to release Roberts.

He said: ‘In this case “life” should have meant what it said.’

Sir Bernard added: ‘Roberts pleaded guilty to two cold-blooded murders and was involved, with his accomplices, in a third. He was convicted of all three murders.’

Roberts died in the hospital last Saturday after battling a short illness, more than a decade after being freed. 

He was released on licence from Littlehey Prison in November 2014, aged 78, and remained under the supervision of the probation service. 

Following his controversial release from HMP Littlehey, Roberts lived in sheltered accommodation in Peterborough.

Police search for clues at the crime scene on August 14, 1996, after the killings 

One associate of the former public enemy number one told The Sun: ‘He went into hospital recently and died suddenly last Saturday from natural causes.’

In a 2014 interview with the Mail, Roberts gave a detailed account of the killings. 

He told how he and his two accomplices were planning a robbery at a local engineering works and how his anger started to build when Whitney’s attempt to steal the third car they needed failed. 

‘I got the right hump. We were driving in the van to the factory and spotted a Triumph 2000 following us. There were three men in the car. I turned to Jack. “That’s the Old Bill. I bet they’re going to nick us.” 

‘He looked worried and carried on driving. We drove into Braybrook Street. It was 2.45pm. The car overtook us and stopped about 130ft ahead. One of the men got out of the car and started to come towards the van. We were panicking, trying to hide all our tools including the shooters.’

Roberts continued: ‘Jack reached into the glove compartment and gave them to him. Wombwell walked back to the police car and we could see him talking to the other officer, Sergeant [Christopher] Head. 

‘Jack handed me the 9mm Luger that he had under the dashboard. Wombwell returned to Jack’s side of the van. Now he wanted to see what was in the back. “F*** off,” said Jack and a violent row erupted. ‘Sergeant Head came around to my side of the van and with my elbow, I quickly flicked the switch down so he couldn’t open my door.   

‘That annoyed him and he started shaking the van, grabbing hold of the door handle and screaming, “Open the door!” Me and Jack looked at each other. By this time Wombwell had his head through the open window, screaming at Jack.

‘With half a smile, Jack said quietly, “Let the slag have it, Harry.”

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Manchester United drew 4-4 at home to Bournemouth on Monday night with Ruben Amorim’s formation change one of the talking points from a thrilling game at Old Trafford

20:46, 16 Dec 2025Updated 20:46, 16 Dec 2025

Ruben Amorim saw his Manchester United formation change leaked before Monday’s game against Bournemouth (Image: Getty Images)

Manchester United have reportedly launched an inquiry into how Ruben Amorim’s plans to tweak his system leaked out on the day of the Bournemouth game. United’s head coach has favoured a three-man defence since his move from Sporting to Old Trafford in November 2024.

However, he made a slight adjustment during Monday night’s 4-4 draw at home to the Cherries, with Diogo Dalot moving from his usual wing-back position on the left to a traditional full-back role in a four-man defence.

Nevertheless, word of this change was leaked on Monday afternoon, reportedly causing concern at United that Bournemouth may have been given advance notice of their strategy on the day of the match.

The Mail now claim that United are committed to identifying the source of the leak to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future. A club spokesperson declined to comment.

READ MORE: Paul Scholes thinks he knows Arsenal aces’ view on player Mikel Arteta was ‘forced to sign’READ MORE: Ousmane Dembele wins FIFA Best award as PSG star beats Lamine Yamal again

A concerned Amorim was asked about the change post-match on Monday and chose to turn the question back onto the media.

He said: “That is for you to discuss, not for me. I know that you guys know that I trained this week with a back four. I don’t know how, but that is a good thing for you guys to discuss this week.”

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Monday’s incident is not the first involving leaks at the club under Amorim, with United said to have been ‘furious’ in September over reports that Red Devils captain Bruno Fernandes is ‘unhappy’. United’s team selection was also leaked well ahead of the Manchester derby in December 2024.

Several other stories were leaked last season, including those over squad issues and team news, with United’s hierarchy taking steps to identify the mole in the camp. Other managerial tenures at M16, under Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Jose Mourinho, were also plagued by leaks.

United started well against Andoni Iraola’s team on Monday, with Amad deservedly putting Amorim’s men a goal ahead in the first half before they were pegged back by Antoine Semenyo’s equaliser.

Casemiro nodded United back in front on the stroke of half-time from a corner, before a quick-fire double at the start of the second half gave Bournemouth the lead. Fernandes then equalised with a stunning free-kick before Matheus Cunha put the Red Devils ahead again.

Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot of Manchester United(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

But again, United could not hang on to their lead with Eli Junior Kroupi pulling the Cherries level once more. The hosts have now moved up to sixth in the top-flight table, with Bournemouth nudging themselves up to 13th.

“If you understand a little bit,” Amorim said post-match. “If you follow the club like I follow the Premier League for so long, you [know you] have not just the duty to try to win the games. The way you try to win the games is so important for the fans.

“Of course they are desperate to win, but also, I feel that they are desperate to be inspired when they come to Old Trafford. Today was inspiring, I think, also because of Bournemouth. But in the end that’s the feeling of frustration of not winning the game.”

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FIFA has announced “more affordable” tickets for all 104 matches at next year’s World Cup after an outcry over pricing.

The cheapest tickets will now be on offer from $60 (£45) as part of a new “Supporter Entry Tier” which will be available specifically to supporters of qualified teams.

However, only 10% of participating member association’s allocated tickets will fall under this most affordable category.

As a result, the number of $60 tickets for each game is likely to be in the hundreds, rather than thousands.

Supporter value tier prices will apply to 40% of their tickets with the remaining 50% being split evenly between supporter standard tier and supporter premier tier.

Ronan Evain, the executive director of Football Supporter’s Europe (FSE), a group that represents the interests of supporters in European football, said the group was “looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash”.

He added: “This shows that FIFA’s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush, and without proper consultation – including with FIFA’s own member associations.”

While he welcomed FIFA’s “seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause”, he insisted “the revisions do not go far enough to reconcile” the harm done.

Image:
England and Scotland have qualified for next year’s World Cup. Pics: Reuters

In a statement, FIFA said: “With demand in the current sales phase achieving 20 million ticket requests, FIFA has confirmed that fans of the national teams that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will benefit from a dedicated ticket pricing tier, which has been designed to make following their teams on football’s greatest stage more affordable.

“The newly introduced Supporter Entry Tier will be available at the fixed price of USD 60 per ticket for each of the 104 matches, including the final.”

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Where will England and Scotland play their World Cup games?

FIFA had been urged to halt World Cup ticket sales after it emerged countries’ most loyal fans faced paying “extortionate” prices for tickets, with the cheapest for the final coming in at over £3,000.

The cheaper tickets, which will be made available for every game at the tournament in North America, will be given to the national federations whose teams are playing.

It will then be up to those federations to decide how to distribute them to loyal fans who have likely attended previous games at home and on the road.

FIFA caving into criticism like rarely before

Rob Harris

Sports correspondent

@RobHarris

This is FIFA caving into criticism like rarely before under Gianni Infantino. It has still not shut down the outcry at the cost of going to the World Cup.

“We have listened to feedback,” a senior FIFA official acknowledged to Sky News.
Suddenly cutting World Cup ticket prices amid a growing fan backlash is a significant climbdown.
FIFA admitted it got it wrong by pricing tickets too high.

Groups, including England’s Football Supporter’s Association, said last week it was “scandalous” its cheapest group stage tickets in the United States would cost about £165 ($265) and the cheapest for the final £3,130.
Now, FIFA says there will be $60 (£45) tickets for every match. The US-Canada-Mexico bid book ahead of the 2018 FIFA vote said the cheapest tickets would be $21.

“This new category is the right thing to do,” the FIFA official close to talks said.
But only 10% of the allocation for each team will be made available at the new cheaper entry point.
So for England’s opener against Croatia, there could only be 750 tickets at £45. The Dallas stadium has a capacity of 94,000.

It will be for the FAs to work out who should receive these cheapest tickets from their fan base.
The men’s World Cup is FIFA’s main source of income every four years – with revenue of $13bn (£9.75bn) across the 2023-26 cycle.

It helps to fund expanding women’s and youth tournaments as well as draws, conferences and award ceremonies.
And this U-turn overshadowed one of their glitziest nights of the year – the FIFA Best awards in Qatar.
That was one FIFA event supporters couldn’t buy a ticket to – for any price.

The news shows how the organisation is continuing its weeks-long move to back away from using dynamic pricing for all 2026 World Cup tickets.

FIFA did not specify exactly why it so dramatically changed strategy, but said the lower prices are “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament”.

Read more from Sky News:
The politics behind FIFA’s reshaped Club World Cup
Unapologetically political – a World Cup draw like no other

Prices for England’s fixtures at the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico were revealed last week, with the cheapest ticket for the final – should England, one of the home nations reach that stage – costing between $4,185 (£3,120) and $8,680 (£6,471) for members of the England Supporters’ Travel Club.

Outrage over such high prices was made worse due to co-hosts having pledged eight years ago to have hundreds of thousands of $21 (£15.64) tickets.

In another climbdown, FIFA has also announced that fans applying through the participating member association’s tickets allocation whose teams do not advance to the knockout phase will have the administrative fee waived when refunds are processed for unsuccessful applications.

Fan anger had intensified when it became clear that fans who wanted to reserve a ticket for all of their team’s potential games – through the final – would not get refunded if their teams didn’t make it to the final until after the tournament.

The World Cup in North America will be the first edition that features 48 teams – up from 32 – and is expected to earn FIFA at least $10bn (£7.4bn) in revenue.

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Saying the unedited video of a September 2 strike on a boat in the Caribbean is “top secret,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that its viewing will be restricted to select lawmakers, not the general public.

Published On 16 Dec 202516 Dec 2025

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