'Angriest octopus' strikes man on Australia beach

A swim on vacation at a Western Australia beach has resulted in a painful octopus "whipping" — and a video of the encounter that has gone viral.

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  • Go vegan to help UK hit greenhouse gas targets, says Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng

    Going vegan can help to save the planet, a Cabinet minister said today. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the rising number of people giving up meat and dairy was helping to “drive the progress” towards the UK’s target of slashing emissions by 78 per cent. Mr Kwarteng is the most senior political figure yet to endorse veganism as a potential major contributor to the battle against climate change.

  • AstraZeneca blood clots linked to 32 deaths after over 21million jabs

    The MHRAs maintain that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine continue to outweigh the risks

  • William and Kate release new picture of Prince Louis to mark his third birthday

    A new photograph of Prince Louis has been released by his parents to mark his third birthday today. The Duchess of Cambridge took the picture of her youngest child in the grounds of Kensington Palace on Wednesday shortly before he left for his first day of nursery school. Louis was probably welcomed by the sight of his favourite toy or a picture from home when he arrived at Willcocks.

  • French fishermen block British lorries carrying UK-landed fish

    Boulogne-sur-Mer, France (Reuters) - French trawlermen angered by the slow issuance of licenses to fish inside British waters after Brexit on Thursday blocked lorries carrying UK-landed fish as they arrived in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Europe's largest seafood processing centre. Britain's post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union allowed the bloc's fishermen to keep fishing deep into British waters, but only once they had received a license. Those licenses were expected to be issued swiftly but instead some 80% of the French fleet in the northern Hauts-de-France region, from whose coastline Britain's southern shores are visible, were still waiting, French fishermen said.

  • It's 'fair' to call me a private education hypocrite, says Scottish Labour leader

    Anas Sarwar has admitted it is a “fair” to call him a hypocrite after he unveiled plans for an attack on private education despite sending his own children to a fee-paying school. Scottish Labour’s manifesto, published Thursday, calls for the charitable status of private schools to be revoked and for any public sector backing for them to end. The document states that such a policy would serve as “a contribution towards achieving a more socially just and inclusive society”. Mr Sarwar, the party leader, sends his own children to Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow, which he also attended, and currently charges annual fees of up to £12,924 per pupil. Asked whether he was a “hypocrite and humbug” for sending his own sons to a private school despite his own party presenting them as a force for social injustice, the father-of-three admitted criticism of him was valid. “I'm open about the fair question and the fair criticism that people make around the decision that my wife and I made for our children,” he said. “I want every child to have opportunity and that's why we put our education comeback plan at the heart of this manifesto. “There are different forms of inequality and prejudice that my children will face that other children won’t face, [but] that still means I accept the criticism around the choice I've made for my children's education.” Mr Sarwar also insisted that his support for the Union was “unequivocal” dispute pledging to “double down” on his attempt to win back support from pro-independence voters in the final fortnight of the Holyrood campaign. The manifesto includes a commitment not to support an independence referendum, warning a repeat vote would cause economic instability and “constitutional turmoil”. Mr Sarwar claimed the “political bubble” was wrong to focus on the constitution and that, despite failing to so far make a breakthrough in opinion polls, his plan to appeal across the constitutional divide was working. He was introduced at the manifesto launch by a business owner from Glasgow who said she was a lifelong SNP voter before switching to Labour. “I'll consider each issue on its merits,” Mr Sarwar said about potentially offering support to Nicola Sturgeon's SNP in the next parliament. “But does that mean I'm equivocating on the constitutional position? Absolutely not. I don't support independence, and I don't support a referendum.” Labour rebranded its manifesto a ‘national recovery plan’ and proposes handing every adult £75 to spend on high streets and offering state subsidised holidays in Scotland to boost the ailing tourism industry. The party did not propose immediate increases to income tax, however. It said if there is a need to raise revenues in the next term, rates should rise for those earning £100,000 or more. The better off could also be hit if Labour gets its way on council tax, which the party said should be scrapped and replaced with “a fairer alternative based on property values and ability to pay”.

  • Exclusive: Hollyoaks' Callum Kerr on George's departure from the show

    Callum Kerr speaks out after his final scenes.

  • Risk of suffering serious blood clot after AstraZeneca jab doubles in fortnight

    The risk of suffering a serious blood clot after the AstraZeneca jab has doubled in a fortnight, new figures show, but the British regulator said the benefits still outweighed the risks for the vast majority of people. New data from the Medical Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show cases have risen from 79 to 168 since April 8, and deaths from 19 to 32. The risk of getting a blood clot has also gone up from one in 250,000 to around one in 126,600 – or a rise of four in a million to 7.9 in a million. Earlier this month the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that under-30s should be offered an alternative to the Oxford jab, because the risk no longer outweighed the benefits for younger people. A source close to JCVI said the committee would be reviewing the new data carefully this week, to assess whether the risk was also still worth the benefit for older groups now that the chance of getting a blood clot had risen.

  • 11 Hollyoaks spoilers for next week

    What's next in the village?

  • ‘You’re old, impotent and an embarrassment’: Lincoln Project targets Trump with Mar-a-Lago advert

    The ad will air starting on Thursday in Palm Beach, Florida – where Mar-a-Lago is based

  • Jake Paul calls for Pete Davidson to be banned from boxing commentary after comedian ridicules him to his face

    Paul also said he believed Davidson was creating drama for ‘more clout’

  • Covid vaccine passports ‘ready for summer’, travel industry told

    Certificates for international travel could be used from next month as ministers step up plans to allow Brits to holiday abroad this summer

  • Best garden furniture 2021

    Transform your outdoor area into a chic retreat with these super-stylish garden furniture picks

  • Latest weekly Covid-19 rates for local authority areas in England

    Doncaster, Luton and Slough are currently recording the highest rates.

  • Prince Louis’s third birthday marked with picture of young royal on his bike

    The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have marked Prince Louis’s third birthday by releasing a photograph of their son pictured on his first day of nursery school. Louis is growing up fast and is shown sat on his bike in the grounds of Kensington Palace, smiling for mother Kate – who took the picture on Wednesday.

  • Pregnant women who catch Covid over 50 per cent more likely to suffer complications

    Pregnant women who catch Covid are over 50 per cent more likely to suffer complications such as premature birth, according to a major new study. Scientists have called on expectant mothers to get vaccinated after the findings indicated the risks from the virus are worse than originally assumed. Based on the medical records of 2,100 pregnant women across 18 countries, the study also found that newborns of infected women were nearly three times more at risk of severe medical complications that could require admission to a neonatal intensive care unit. Women who caught the virus but didn’t experience symptoms appeared to be at no added risk. Around eight per cent of births in the UK are preterm, affecting approximately 60,000 babies a year, higher than many countries in Europe. There is no evidence that being vaccinated against Covid poses a risk to pregnancy, and many scientists have said there is no plausible way that a jab could cause harm. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advises women who are pregnant to get either the Pfizer or Moderna jabs. However, officials believe that unfounded fears among pregnant women or those planning to become so are bolstering vaccine hesitancy.

  • Tyson Fury tips Billy Joe Saunders to shock Canelo Alvarez and unify middleweight world titles

    The undisputed world heavyweight title fight is due to take place this summer but terms are yet to be finalised

  • Man tells court how accused said he was paid £10,000 to kill actor Bradley Welsh

    The man accused of murdering T2 Trainspotting star Bradley Welsh told another male of how he was being paid £10,000 to kill the actor, a court has heard. Bradley Welsh, 48, was fatally shot at his flat in the west end of Edinburgh on April 17 2019. Giving evidence to the court on Thursday, Dean White, 49, also said that he warned the police of plans to murder Mr Welsh a month before his death. Sean Orman, 30, has pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges against him, including murder, attempted murder, firearms and drugs offences, and is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. The witness told the court that he had seen the accused at his brother Robert's home in Duddingston Row with a man known as Peem in March 2019 - a few weeks before Mr Welsh was found dead outside his home in the city. He said they were speaking about carrying out an attack on a man and his son in the Oxgangs area for money. He said the accused then claimed he was due to murder Mr Welsh, who ran a boxing gym, for £10,000, which prompted the witness to alert Police Scotland around March 18. Mr White said: "He brought a wad of cash out and it was like thousands and he had told us that he had seriously assaulted someone in Oxgangs and the guy that he'd assaulted got in the way and that he seriously assaulted his son as well." The witness then told the court that Mr Orman had claimed to have been paid by Dode Baigrie to carry out the attack. Mr White added: "He said that his next hit he was getting £10,000 to kill Bradley Welsh. I went to the police and reported this before it happened." He also said the accused had turned up at his brother’s home with an "old-styled" shotgun, which he was showing off and misfired into the floor of the property. Mr White said he then told officers about the incident and that they may be able to recover a bullet. Richard Goddard QC, advocate depute, asked how he had felt about the events in his brother's property. Mr White said: "Extremely nervous and I went straight to the police station and told them exactly what happened in my brother's house. "I told them what their plans were, that they were going to get Bradley Welsh and this was a month before the guy got murdered." The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.

  • Sir Tom Jones recalls words of advice from late wife Linda

    The pop superstar has dedicated a song on his new album to her.

  • Australian trade minister 'absolutely confident' of deal with UK

    Australia and Britain are heading towards a free trade deal during two days of talks in London. This is despite British trade secretary Liz Truss having to apologise to her Australian counterpart as talks began.

  • Border staff ‘catching 100 fake Covid certificates a day’ at UK border

    Immigration Services Union (ISU) says it is ‘very easy’ to forge documents