Local news

A 26-year-old reality TV star who married a local councillor 35 years her senior is among the newly elected Tory MPs who helped smash Labour's red wall.  Dehenna Davison, who made the headlines in 2015 with her marriage to 59-year-old  John Fareham, won Bishop Auckland in County Durham, which had been held by Labour since 1935. Following her triumph, she paid an emotional tribute to her late father, who was killed by a single blow to the head when she was 13. Sheffield-born Ms Davison said she was motivated by her father Dominic's memory, and the tragedy inspired her to make a difference.  Dehenna Davison made the headlines in 2015 with her marriage to 59-year-old John Fareham (pictured together) Ms Davison reads her victory speech at Spennymoor Leisure Centre after snatching the Bishop Auckland seat from Labour for the first time in over 80 years She said: 'It gave me a very clear sense of injustice I grew up overnight, literally overnight.'  The young … [Read more...] about One of Boris Johnson’s new MPs is reality TV star, 26, who made headlines after marrying local councillor 35 years her senior

Sex and politics have been banned in TV soaps in a new wave of censorship in Egypt.   President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has come down hard on entertainment and news industries over the past three years and a new regulatory agency is overseeing output and censoring content.  Soap operas now must contain no sex scenes, no blasphemy and no politics. Police and other authority figures should be presented positively.  Gamal el Adl, who owns one of the most popular television production companies in the Middle East, says he thought he could manage by steering clear of the biggest taboos. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (pictured) has come down hard on entertainment and news industries over the past three years and a new regulatory agency is overseeing output and censoring content But when he heard that police had raided the film set of a rival early this year because it lacked a necessary permit, he revised his view. He immediately halted work on the two soaps he was … [Read more...] about Sex and politics are BANNED in TV soaps as Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unleashes new wave of censorship with his government using WhatsApp to tell the news media what to report

A 13-year-old boy has been arrested after a college student was stabbed while walking through a park earlier this week. New York City police arrested the boy after Tessa Majors, 18, was stabbed multiple times with a knife on Wednesday evening during an apparent mugging in a Manhattan park. Ms Majors was walking through Harlem's Morningside Park near her school, Barnard College when she was attacked, according to the New York Police Department. Police believe there were up to three attackers. Preliminary reports suggest Tessa was stabbed several times in the face, neck, and under her arm after she resisted her attackers. The victim was able to stagger out of the park to seek help at a nearby school security booth, but was declared dead at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital. She was completing her first semester at the women-only college after leaving her home in Charlottesville, Virginia, to move to the city. Morningside Park has long had a reputation for being unsafe and the site of … [Read more...] about Boy, 13, arrested after college student, 18, stabbed while walking through park

I have stepped into a children’s colouring book: happy brown chickens are running free, spotted piglets are grunting, and fluffy sheep and photogenic British Blue cattle are feasting on the herb-rich marshland meadows running down to the sea. Richard Stephens, winner of the 2014 Award for Best Local Farmer, manages Monkshill Farm for the Royal School for Deaf Children Margate as a working farm with an educational centre . Part of the John Townsend Trust, the school has owned the 65-acre farm since 1995 (it rents another 200 acres). Stephens, a passionate and gifted stockman, has been here for 11 years. He was a contract shearer grazing sheep nearby before accepting the position at Monkshill, named from the monks of Canterbury who once farmed the land to provide food for the cathedral kitchens. As we tour the farm, past the pretty pig sheds, the large flock of Christmas geese, and the room where children help sort the free-range eggs, its walls covered in kids’ paintings of … [Read more...] about OFM awards 2014 best local farmer: Richard Stephens at Monkshill Farm, Kent

The defections of the MPs Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston has prompted reactions ranging from disappointment to surprise among local Conservative members. Soubry was known to have been unhappy for a while. Uncharacteristically, she had been incommunicado in the 24 hours preceding Wednesday’s announcement she was quitting the Conservative party. Though speculation had been rife she could be tempted towards the Independent Group, no one locally in her Nottinghamshire Broxtowe constituency apparently knew for certain until her press release dropped. Bland, similarly-worded statements, dispatched from Conservative HQ, were issued by the three MPs’ local party associations, thanking them for their hard work over the years, and stressing the priority was to select Conservative prospective parliamentary candidates. Fellow Nottinghamshire MP Robert Jenrick tweeted that Soubry was “decent, patriotic & brave” but warned: “Brexit aside, we share the … [Read more...] about ‘Regret and reflection’: local Tories react to three MPs’ defections