LORRY DRIVER ARRESTED AFTER FIVE KILLED IN M6 CRASH NEAR STOKE

A 60-year-old lorry driver has been arrested after five people died in a crash between a car and a HGV on the M6 near Stoke.

Four females and a male, all believed to be adults, died in the car - a Nissan Micra.

The accident happened on the southbound carriageway, between junctions 15 and 14 at around 4.30am.

The male lorry driver, from the West Midlands, has been arrested on suspicious of causing death by dangerous driving.

A sixth person is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

An ambulance spokesman said: "When emergency services arrived they discovered a car with six occupants inside which had been involved in a significant collision with a HGV.

"Sadly, it quickly became apparent that nothing could be done to save the driver and four passengers. All five were confirmed dead on scene.

"The sixth occupant, a man in his 40s, suffered multiple serious injuries and received advanced trauma care by the team of medics at the scene.

"Once stabilised, the man was taken by land ambulance on blue lights to Royal Stoke University Hospital for further care.

"The driver of the lorry, a man, was uninjured."

Long traffic jams have been reported as a result of the crash and motorists have been advised to avoid the area.

THE VICTIMS OF THE MANCHESTER TERROR ATTACK

Thousands of young people and parents were attending the sold-out Ariana Grande concert when it was targeted by a terrorist - and 22 people have been killed.
Police in Greater Manchester are confident they have identified all of those who lost their lives, and their families have been informed.
Some of their names are beginning to emerge, with loved ones making emotional tributes.

Jane Tweddle

Jane Tweddle was 50 years old and a mother of three. She worked as a receptionist at the South Shore Academy in Blackpool.
Principal Jane Bailey said messages of condolence from parents, students and colleagues have described Ms Tweddle as "bubbly, kind, welcoming, funny and generous".
Her statement added: "She is irreplaceable, much loved and will never be forgotten."

Nell Jones

Nell Jones was 14 years old - and a Year 9 student at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School in Cheshire.

In a statement, the school said: "Nell's family have been searching for her since the incident in the hope that they would find her being cared for in hospital. Unfortunately, the police have now confirmed that Nell died at the scene."
Her form tutor, David Wheeler, said: "Nell was a very popular girl, always smiling, always positive. Her tutor group have been together since the transition from primary school. It feels like they have lost a sister not a classmate."

Martyn Hett

Martyn Hett was 29 years old - and on Tuesday night, his friends learned of his death.

Russell Hayward wrote on Twitter: "Our wonderful, iconic and beautiful Martyn didn't survive. He left this world exactly how he lived, centre of attention ... I love you Martyn. I always will."

Marcin and Angelika Klis

The Polish couple had been missing since the suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena on Monday night. On Wednesday morning, Poland's foreign minister confirmed they were among the dead.

Alison Howe and Lisa Lees

Alison Howe and Lisa Lees were both killed as they waited for their children to come out of the concert.

On Facebook, Mrs Howe's stepson Jordan said: "They took a caring beautiful mum and step mother away from us all she was amazing to us all x love you loads."
Lisa's brother, Lee Hunter, said: "For those who don't know Lisa is gone but never ever forgotten I love you Lisa I'll miss you so much."

Kelly Brewster

Kelly Brewster was at the Ariana Grande gig with her sister.

Confirming her death, her partner Ian Winslow said: "Kelly really was the happiest she has ever been and we had so many things planned together ... Love you loads."

Olivia Campbell

Olivia was one of those unaccounted for following the attack, and her family had made a desperate appeal for information about what had happened to the 15-year-old.

She was at the concert with her friend Adam, who has had surgery for serious injuries he sustained in the explosion.
Her death was confirmed by her mother Charlotte, who wrote on Facebook: "RIP my darling precious gorgeous girl Olivia Campbell taken far far to soon go sing with the angels and keep smiling mummy loves you so much."
Olivia was a student at Tottington High School, and the headteacher said: "As a school community we are absolutely devastated and heartbroken at the news that Olivia has passed away. Olivia was a delightful young girl in Year 10, and will be dearly missed."

John Atkinson

Greater Manchester Police confirmed John Atkinson, a 26-year-old from Bury, was among those killed.

Loved ones described him as a "beautiful soul" and a "true gentleman".
A fund for his family set up by friends has raised more than £4,500.

Saffie Rose Roussos

Saffie, a pupil at Tarleton Community Primary School, had been attending the concert with her mother and older sister. They were injured and are being treated in separate hospitals.
The eight-year-old's headteacher, Chris Upton, described her as "simply a beautiful girl" - and said her death had come as a "tremendous shock" to the school.
He added: "The thought that anyone could go out to a concert and not come home is heartbreaking.
"She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly. Saffie was quiet and unassuming with a creative flair."

Georgina Callander

Georgina, who was 18 years old and from Chorley, was the first victim to be named.
She was a super-fan of Ariana Grande who had posed for pictures with the American pop star in the past.
A day before the concert, she had tweeted Grande and said: "SO EXCITED TO SEE U TOMORROW."
She was a student at Runshaw College in Lancashire, where she had been studying health and social care.

SOUTH AFRICAN MAN HAS BEEN KILLED WHILE TRYING TO DEFEND HIS GIRLFRIEND FROM GANG OF RAPISTS

A man has died while trying to defend his 21-year-old girlfriend from being gang-raped by 6 men in Durban, South Africa.

The heroic boyfriend, whose identify has not yet been disclosed, died at the scene and his girlfriend was taken to an undisclosed local hospital with severe injuries.


The incident unfolded when the woman and her boyfriend were walking near the Umgeni River Bird Park on last Friday evening. It is a popular walking and cycle trail. Her boyfriend did his best to defend his girlfriend from being attacked, but was assaulted and killed by the gang who had earlier got out of a Quantum minibus taxi.

R24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak said the boyfriend was certified dead at the scene by paramedics.

“The paramedics found the man with fatal injuries. There was nothing that they could do for him and he was declared dead. The woman was treated and taken to the hospital,” Vermaak said.

Police were yesterday hot on the heels of the suspects and appealed to the public for any information they might have on the whereabouts of the minibus taxi to assist them in bringing the suspects to book.

Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said the police were still investigating and were hoping to make arrests soon.

“The investigations are continuing. We are appealing to anyone who might have information about the suspects to contact the local police station,” she said.

Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Mxolisi Kaunda condemned the incident and urged police to work around the clock to bring the suspects to book before they continued their criminal activities elsewhere.

"It was unfortunate that the incident happened after other incidents of abuse against women and children in the country, he said.

He was concerned by the allegations that the suspects were travelling in a minibus taxi, a commonly used mode of public transport.

“Following these allegations, we will be engaging with the leaders of the South African National Taxi Council in the province to discuss crimes that involve minibuses, and hopefully, find a solution so that such crimes do not escalate like in other provinces," he said.

Kaunda urged the public to work with the police by reporting crime so that the perpetrators were caught.

Source: TimeLive/IOL

YAYA TOURÉ AND HIS AGENT HAVE DECIDED TO DONATE £100,000 TO VICTIMS OF MANCHESTER ARENA BOMBING ATTACK

Ivory Coast and Manchester City football star, Yaya Toure and his agent, Dimitri Seluk, have agreed to donate £100 000 to help victims of Monday's suicide bomb attack in Manchester.

Toure, alongside several football stars on Tuesday took to their social media pages to mourn the victims who died in the blast. They all poured out their condolences and hearting messages to the family and friends of the victims.

22 people, including many children, were killed and dozens more were injured after a bombing attack happened at Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.

While speaking to Sky Sports News, Seluk said: 

'The news an eight-year-old girl went to see her favourite singer and didn't return home is too much to bear. My son is eight years old and I can't image the pain and the suffering that the parents of Saffie will be going through today.

'Yaya and I want to help. We talked this morning about what happened and he asked me what he thought we could do.

'We have agreed to donate £50,000 each to help the victims of this terrible crime. It doesn't matter whether the victims are from Manchester or not. 

'Yaya is from Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), I am Russian. It doesn't matter. Today is a chance for those of us in football to help out.'

TOM CRUISE HAS CONFIRMED THAT A TOP GUN SEQUEL IS IN THE WORKS

Tom Cruise himself confirmed the exciting movie news while promoting his upcoming flick, The Mummy, in an interview with Australia's Sunrise earlier today.

"It's true, yeah it's true," he said while beaming from ear-to-ear. "You know what? I'm going to start filming it probably in the next year. I know, it's happening, it is definitely happening."

Just last year, during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the A-list actor admitted that he was still in the very early stages of trying to plan the sequel with Jerry Bruckheimer.

"We're discussing it. We're trying to figure it out," he admitted to the late-night host. "I'd love to work on it if we can figure it out."

The film star also opened up about filming his own stunts and admitted that initially being a part of those memorable plane stunts wasn't as easy as he may have anticipated.

"When you first start flying you get sick, like properly sick, like fill a bag sick," he explained before adding that he "couldn't wait to fly" regardless.

He also recalled his very first stunt, with the help of a flight instructor named Bozo, on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

"For our first flight in the morning, we were going really hard, moving around. We did 9.5 gs, very hard on my body. I had a vomit bag right there, so in between takes, I learned down to quickly empty my guts in the bag. The second I did that, [Bozo] pulls up."

He continued, "My head was literally on the ground from the pressure. I was pressed on the floor, holding my vomit…I was like, ‘Bozo, what's the matter with you, man? Didn't you see my head was on the floor?' He was like, ‘Well I told you, they don't call me Bozo for nothing.'"

KATY PERRY'S CARPOOL KARAOKE ADDRESSES FEUD WITH TAYLOR SWIFT: "SHE STARTED IT AND IT'S TIME FOR HER TO FINISH IT"

Katy Perry was not holding back when, during her Carpool Karaoke that aired during tonight's Late Late Show Primetime Special, James Corden followed up a jam sesh to "Swish Swish" with a question about the alleged beef between her and Taylor Swift. 

"There's a situation," Perry said. "Honestly, it's really like she started it, and it's time for her to finish it." 

In case you've been a bit out of the Perry/Swift loop, the two have been publicly feuding for a few years now without really calling each other by name, or even unfollowing each other on social media. Many people believed Taylor's "Bad Blood" to be about Katy, and now, it appears that "Swish Swish" is Katy's response. 

While she didn't directly confirm that the song is referring to her feud with Taylor, Katy did have a lot to say about the feud in general.

"I tried to talk to her about it and she wouldn't speak to me," she tells Corden in the video, and he tries to confirm that there was a phone call. 

"I do the right thing any time that it feels like a fumble," Perry says. "It was a full shutdown and then she writes a song about me, and I'm like, OK, cool, cool, cool, that's how you want to deal with it? Karma!"

And she wasn't done yet.

"But what I want to say is that I'm ready for that BS to be done. Now, there is the law of cause and effect. You do something, there's going to be a reaction, and trust me daddy, there's going to be a reaction. It's all about karma, right? I think personally that women together, not divided, and none of this petty bulls--t, women together will heal the world." 

Perry agreed "100%" that if she were to get a text from Taylor saying "the beef is off the grill," as Corden put it, she would take that beef off the grill. 

Then Corden started playing "Roar," and it was back to what Carpool Karaoke is all about. But man, what a ride. 

The Late Late Show with James Corden normally airs weeknights at 12:35 a.m. on CBS. 

ACTOR FEMI BRANCH SET TO REMARRY FOR THE THIRD TIME JUST A YEAR AFTER SEPARATING FROM SECOND WIFE, IBITOLA

Nigerian Actor Femi Branch is set to marry for the third time, just a year after separating from his second wife Ibitola Branch. Before Ibitoye, who has two kids for the actor, he was married to another woman for just a few months.

Femi Branch is best known for his role in a popular television series Domino where he acted as a husband that despised and maltreated his wife.

Ibitola left Femi in 2016 after it was alleged that she was suffering from domestic violence at the hands of Femi and she was also dealing with his constant absense from their home.

Femi is planning to marry a lady named Fadeke Akanbi, who is also a divorcee, sometime this year!

JETBLUE KICKS FAMILY OFF PLANE OVER CAKE

A New Jersey man says he and his family were kicked off a JetBlue flight in New York over a birthday cake, marking the latest in a series of recent controversial incidents involving passengers on a variety of airlines.

An airline spokesperson said they refused to remove their items by request of the crew members and then "cursed and yelled" at them.

Minta Burke and husband Cameron Burke were flying with their two children to Las Vegas for a surprise trip earlier this month and had brought with them a buttercream birthday cake for her 40th birthday, The New York Daily News reported. They said they stored it in an overhead bin. Cameron told the outlet a flight attendant told him to store it under the seat in front of him instead and that he complied. He said another flight attendant then got into an argument with the first one.

"You know, you could see the gestures—then she was pointing to her, 'Did you tell him he couldn't put anything in the overhead compartment?'" Cameron told WABC-TV. "I had approached them, and I said everything was fine, and she said, 'Sir, this does not involve you.' When she told me I had been non-compliant, then I said 'Ma'am, had you been drinking?' because her behavior was not normal."

Cameron told The New York Daily News that another JetBlue employee asked him to leave the flight with his family and that he refused and instead pulled out his cell phone and started recording. He said two airport police officers then boarded the plane, took down his information and then left.

As seen in Cameron's video, the family's 7-year-old son Cameron Jr. began crying, while their 9-year-old daughter Camille appeared scared as the dad calmly talked to officers.

JetBlue reps then told all passengers they had to exit the plane in order to get the Burke family off and that the four were ordered to leave, Cameron said, adding that their tickets were refunded. However, their luggage remained on the flight and flew with the other passengers to Las Vegas.

A JetBlue spokesperson told the outlets Cameron's family "refused multiple requests from the crew" to remove the cake and "became agitated, cursed and yelled at the crew, and made false accusations about a crewmember's fitness to fly."

"After the customers refused to speak with a team leader about the situation, the Port Authority Police Department was called and the entire aircraft deplaned," the spokesperson said, adding that the pilot made the call to boot the family and have the other passengers reboard for the flight to Vegas.

"The passengers were very understanding. They knew that this was a strange situation," Cameron told WABC-TV.

 "It's just crazy. I'm surprised. I'm surprised. I thought highly of JetBlue before," Minta added.

Last month, United stirred controversy after a passenger refused to give up his seat and was dragged off a plane to make room for crew members. The airline also made headlines that month with a giant rabbit died while being transported in the cargo hold. Also in April, a passenger was booted off a Delta flight for using the restroom during a 30-minute tarmac delay.

KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN TELLS SCOTT DISICK THEY ARE "NEVER" GETTING BACK TOGETHER: "WE JUST NEED TO MOVE ON"

Kourtney Kardashian ultimately pulled the plug on any hopes of rekindling her relationship with ex Scott Disick in Sunday night's episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

In the aftermath of learning Scott had secretly flown a woman out on the family vacation, Kourtney decided it was finally time to end that chapter once and for all. "I think after everything that's happened here in Costa Rica, Scott knows it's done," she said, "But just saying those words just lets both of us move on."

In a private moment together by the pool, Kourtney flat-out told him, "I think the moral of the story is we are never getting back together."

Prior to that moment, Kourtney had slammed Scott at the confrontational dinner for inviting a female guest on the trip. "There's a level of respect and appropriateness that should just be known," she told him. "But, apparently it's not. That is so disrespectful."

In an attempt to defend his actions, Scott replied, "Every night you f--king go to bed with our kids and I have to sleep alone, sad and miserable. That's my life."

MISS DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA KÁRA MCCULLOUGH CROWNED MISS USA 2017

Miss District of Columbia Kára McCullough was crowned Miss USA 2017 on Sunday night. Competing against 50 other women, Kára wowed the judges with her beauty, bikini, talents and intelligence at the annual beauty pageant broadcast live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

While there was plenty to celebrate in the final moments, the final three ladies went through several big tasks before a winner was crowned, but Kara was the one who walked away with the crown.

Miss Minnesota Meredith Gould was the second runner-up and fan favorite Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg was runner-up for the title.

In the Final Question round, the final three women were each asked, "What do you consider feminism to be?"

Dancing With the Stars' Julianne Hough and Terrence J hosted the competition that featured dance numbers by the 51 competitors, as well as performances from Pitbull and country star Brett Eldredge.

The show featured a performance by Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson ONE, Pitbull and Brett Eldridge. Ashley Graham served as the backstage host. Halima Aden, Carson Kressley, Brooke Lee, Nancy Lublin, Jeannie Mai and Janet Mock were on the judging panel.