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International Space Station astronauts back after first ever emergency return
An astronaut who had a "serious medical condition" onboard the International Space Station is safely back on Earth, after the first-ever emergency return space flight.

The astronaut and three others returned from a mission in space a month early, making a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego early on Thursday.

With assistance from SpaceX, the capsule landed less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station (ISS).

Their first stop was a hospital for an overnight stay, going through standard procedure and medical checks.

As it happened: Agency gives update on astronaut

At a press conference ahead of their journey to hospital, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said that the four crew members are "safe" and in "good spirits".

And according to Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator for NASA, it was only "about a week ago" when NASA decided to bring home Crew-11 early.

He added that the team "meticulously went through all the processes". "You saw the result of that today," he said, noting that the crew completed 140 experiments during their time in space.

The four astronauts onboard the capsule were NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russia's Oleg Platonov.

Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who developed the health problem last week or explain what happened, citing medical privacy. But Mr Isaacman said the "crew member of concern is doing fine".

He said an update on their health would be given "when it is appropriate to do so".

The return marks the first time that NASA had cut short the rotation of an ISS crew due to a health emergency.

During the descent, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour parachuted into calm seas off San Diego at about 12.45am eastern time (8.45am in the UK).

In a radio transmission to the SpaceX flight-control centre near Los Angeles, Endeavour's commander, Ms Cardman, 38, was heard saying, "It's good to be home."

It's unclear what caused the medical issue, but the astronaut fell sick or was injured on 7 January, prompting NASA to call off the next day's spacewalk by Ms Cardman and Mr Fincke.

NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer James Polk also noted that the medical emergency did not involve "an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations".

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Crew-12 is expected to launch to the ISS in mid-February with four more astronauts reinforcing the crew.

In the meantime, it remains occupied by NASA astronaut Christopher Williams and two cosmonauts who flew to the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in November.


Gunman who disguised himself as Deliveroo rider jailed for 38 years after shooting eight-year-old girl
A suspected hitman who disguised himself as a Deliveroo e-bike rider to shoot three people, including a girl celebrating her eighth birthday, has been jailed for 38 years.

Jazz Reid, 33, fired 11 bullets, hitting the child twice and her 34-year-old father five times, as they sat with other family members in a car in Ladbroke Grove, northwest London, on 24 November 2024.

Both survived the attack, which was one of three targeted shootings prosecutors said were planned and executed with "precision".

The Old Bailey heard drug dealer Reid would drive to the area in a hire car before disguising himself with a Deliveroo backpack, takeaway box and e-bike.

The motive behind the shootings is not not known but Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said they could have been planned "contract killings".

She told Reid: "You may have been carrying out shootings on behalf of others, perhaps relating to drug dealing or for some other form of financial gain".

In the first shooting on 9 October 2024, he fired two shots, hitting Ameile Buncombe, 27, in the thigh at the victim's home in Notting Hill, leaving him seriously injured.

No one was injured in the second attack, when Reid shot four times towards an address in north London linked to the same target as the third shooting, 13 days later.

On this last occasion the father was shot in the back, chest, abdomen, and pelvis area, while his daughter was shot in her buttocks and foot after the family had been celebrating her birthday at a trampoline park.

Sentencing Reid to 38 years in prison, of which he'll serve at least two thirds, with another five-year extended licence period, the judge said: "The entire family was traumatised by the attack. No sentence I pass will remediate their suffering."

The mother of the girl and partner of the man who were shot said in an emotional victim impact statement she read to the court that the shooting had "shattered my family's life".

She said she has "flashbacks every day" and carries "huge guilt for not protecting my girl from what happened".

"Every time I see a Deliveroo bike I shudder, even though I know it's not him," she said.

She said her partner has been left with a bullet lodged in his shoulder, needing 24-hour care, with no feeling from the chest down and unlikely to be able to ever walk again.

"The incident has completely turned my daughter's life upside down. She is a shadow of the bubbly, bright, larger than life character she once was, and now rarely wants to go out and socialise while suffering daily trauma and questioning why it happened," she said in a statement.

The mother told the court she calls Reid the "Bad Man" and wants "him to be hurt two times like her" - referring to the two gunshots.

"It makes me sick there's still a bullet inside my baby girl," she said.

Dramatic police bodyworn camera footage captured the moment armed police boxed in the car Reid was driving in a hard stop manoeuvre before smashing the windows to make an arrest.

One of two guns used in the shootings was recovered from under a concrete slab outside Reid's home, in Uxbridge, west London, while the other was found in a moped.

The e-bike and Deliveroo disguise were found at the flat of an associate on the Swinbrook Estate in north Kensington.

The court heard there were references to gangs in a probation report but prosecutor Michael Goodwin KC said there is no evidence to suggest Reid is affiliated with any gang or that the shootings were gang-related, although the motive is unknown.

Reid continues to deny being the gunman, claiming to the jury he was "set up" over a £10,000 debt and the gun was "planted".

But he was found guilty of attempted murder of the father and wounding the girl with intent. Neither victim can be identified for legal reasons.

He was also convicted of wounding the other victim with intent and of firearms offences relating to the incidents.

Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Richard Scott, said: "This was a truly shocking series of crimes carried out by a man intent on committing murder.

"His actions were carefully planned and executed. He intended to kill his targets but also ended up seriously injuring an innocent young girl who must now live with the trauma caused by Reid's wicked actions."


Murder investigation launched after 68-year-old woman stabbed to death in village
Police have launched a murder investigation after a 68-year-old woman was stabbed to death at a Hampshire village home.

Officers were called to the address off the B3046 in Cheriton at 10.31am on 9 January, where they found Gilly Livie seriously injured.

Despite the best efforts of attending officers and ambulance workers, she was pronounced dead at the scene, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said.

A post-mortem confirmed Ms Livie died as a result of a stab wound to the neck, he added.

An injured 39-year-old man, known to the woman, was also found at the address, the spokesman said.

He said: "The man had injuries to his neck and leg that were initially described as life-threatening. He was taken to hospital where he remains in a stable condition."

The force spokesman said no one else was being sought in connection with the incident.

He added: "An investigation was launched and detectives have been working to establish the exact circumstances of what took place."

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Chief Inspector Korine Bishop said: "I want to reassure people we have a large number of officers working hard on this investigation.

"While those enquiries are ongoing, we do not believe there is any further or ongoing risk to the community. At this time we are not looking for any other third party in connection to this investigation, but will continue to investigate with an open mind."

The force has confirmed it has made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), as it is understood officers had attended the address prior to the fatal incident.

A force spokeswoman said: "A referral was put into the IOPC due to prior police contact but was returned for local investigation."

A police forensic officer wearing white overalls and mask could be seen entering the property, which is sealed off with a police guard.

The quaint cottage, with only a few neighbouring houses, is at the end of a tiny country lane that was flooded in Friday's heavy rain.


Former nuns and retired support worker punished for cruelty in children's homes
Two former nuns and a retired support worker have been sentenced for abusing vulnerable youngsters at children's homes in Scotland more than 40 years ago.

Carol Buirds, 75, Eileen McElhinney, 78, and Dorothy Kane, 68, subjected several victims to cruel and unnatural treatment at two homes run by the Catholic order Sisters of Nazareth.

The offences took place at Nazareth House homes in Lasswade, Midlothian, and Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, between 1972 and 1981.

During a five-week trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last year, jurors heard how Buirds, known as Sister Carmel Rose, rubbed urine-soaked bedding on children and forced food and soap into their mouths.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said she also locked one child in a cupboard and another in an unlit cellar without access to water.

Buirds also repeatedly assaulted children, often using implements such as a belt, a wooden ruler, and a stick.

In his sentencing statement, Sheriff Iain Nicol said: "The worst examples included repeatedly striking children's heads off walls, striking them with belts, sticks, rulers and slippers, punching and kicking them to the head and body, forcing soap into their mouths, locking children in cupboards, force-feeding them, rubbing urine-soaked bedding into the heads of children, forcing them to sit in cold baths and washing them with a floor brush.

"On many occasions the children were injured and on one occasion severely injured."

McElhinney, who was known as Sister Mary Eileen, violently assaulted children and also forced them to stand in cold showers and sit in cold baths.

The COPFS said she used a hairbrush to hit one child on the buttocks and hurt another with a metal comb, refusing to stop brushing his hair despite him being in pain.

Sheriff Nicol said: "The worst examples of your offending involved striking and punching children on the body, causing one to fall to the ground, repeatedly kicking and jumping on a child's body, forcing children to take a cold shower or sit in a cold bath, seizing children by their clothing, hair or arms and dragging them as well as repeatedly slapping them.

"Suffering and injury were caused by you."

Kane was convicted of repeatedly grabbing a boy, including by the hair, and restraining him by forcing her knees onto his chest.

She also failed to intervene when witnessing another member of staff assaulting the child and forced a second youngster into a cupboard before locking him in.

The victims, who are all now adults, were aged between five and 14 when the abuse began.

Sheriff Nicol said the victim impact statements made for "harrowing reading" as he paid tribute to the complainers' "bravery and fortitude" in giving evidence in the case.

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The trio were found guilty in November and sentenced on Thursday.

Buirds was convicted of 13 charges, including eight counts of cruel and unnatural treatment, assault to severe injury, assault to injury, and three counts of assault.

Sheriff Nicol noted how some of her victims continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions due to the abuse.

He added: "Medication and other forms of treatment have been and still are required.

"Some speak to being suicidal, requiring one of the complainers to be in hospital for a year and left her mute for a period of five years."

The sheriff added Buirds continues to deny any wrongdoing and has shown "no remorse whatsoever".

Buirds, of Wallsend in Tyne and Wear, was jailed for 15 months.

McElhinney was convicted of five charges, including three counts of cruel and unnatural treatment and two counts of assault.

Sheriff Nicol stated: "These offences were committed at the beginning of your vocation as a nun when you were young and the social worker considers it may well be the case that you were highly susceptible to the influence of older and more experienced nuns.

"There has been no suggestion of ongoing offending in the last 45 to 50 years.

"Over that time, you have worked as a social worker and then as a volunteer, supporting vulnerable individuals."

McElhinney, of Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire, was handed a 12-month Probation Order with 240 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to remain within her home address between the hours of 4pm and midnight for nine months.

Kane was convicted of two counts of cruel and unnatural treatment.

Kane, of Lasswade in Midlothian, was given a Community Service Order with 150 hours of unpaid work to be completed within nine months.

Faith Currie, procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders at COPFS, said such abuse has "never been acceptable and should never have happened".

She added: "Carol Buirds, Eileen McElhinney and Dorothy Kane were entrusted with the care of vulnerable children, but instead they betrayed that trust and inflicted lasting harm through their criminal actions."


Half a million patients left waiting on hospital trolleys for 12 hours or more
More than half a million people spent 12 hours or more on a hospital trolley waiting for an NHS bed last year.

The waiting times are the worst since figures began, with 10 times as many people enduring the delay than did 10 years ago.

Policy experts warned the figures showed how bad things have got for emergency services.

Trolley waits occur when patients are left waiting for hospital beds after being admitted from A&E.

It often leaves patients to be treated - and in extreme cases dying - in hospital corridors.

In 2025 there were 554,018 people were left waiting for more than 12 hours - an increase of 36,000 (7%) on the year before.

Such figures were unheard of until very recently. Just 48,626 patients were waiting more than 12 hours in 2021.

Figures rose sharply in 2022 - due to a multitude of reasons, including the COVID pandemic and lack of resources.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey MP branded the situation a "national emergency", and called for immediate plans to address the issue.

He said: "It's now confirmed in black and white.

"2025 confirmed as worst level of corridor care in NHS history, with over half a million people suffering degrading trolley waits in the last year alone.

"This deadly crisis is not what we expect from our NHS, and it's not what we pay our hard-earned money in taxes to fund our NHS for.

"Enough is enough. This is a national emergency, yet Labour ministers have allowed the crisis to get even worse. They must immediately implement our plan to end the A&E crisis once and for all.

"No government should tolerate this disaster, and ministers should be held legally accountable if they continue to fail in their duty to protect patients."

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Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said: "This is a grim milestone and a sign of just how bad things have got in our emergency services.

"Behind each statistic is a patient waiting unacceptably long for the care they need, with staff delivering care in impossible conditions.

"November saw a welcome fall in the waiting list for routine hospital treatment to 7.31 million and a substantial drop in the number of patients waiting over 52 weeks, despite industrial action by resident doctors.

"Nevertheless, the interim recovery targets set for March 2026 - a key marker of progress on the Government's pledge to restore the 18-week standard by 2029 - will remain difficult to meet."

The Department of Health has been approached for comment.


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