Mirror Daily Digest: Our top stories from Jay Slater bombshells to PM’s winter fuel U-turn

We’ve compiled the biggest stories of the day in this Wednesday’s Mirror Daily Digest, from the most heartfelt new details about Jay Slater’s tragic passing to Keir Starmer’s PMQ’s winter fuel U-turn and the eagerly awaited Europa League final.

Jay Slater’s mum broke down in tears during the inquest into her son’s death(Image: Chis Neill)

Welcome to the Mirror’s Daily Digest, where we pull together all the best stories of the day from our News, Showbiz, Sport teams and more. This Wednesday, we’re featuring everything from the inquest into Jay Slater’s death to everything we know ahead of the Europa League final and Starmer’s huge winter fuel PMQs bombshell.

This morning, Jay Slater’s inquest began to establish the events in the build up to the apprentice bricklayer’s shock death which grabbed headlines across the UK. Elsewhere, manchester-united-fc>Manchester United are set to take on Tottenham Hotspur this evening in an all-English Europa League final and Keir Starmer has made a shock winter fuel payments U-turn.

As she pleads for missing pals to come forward, Jay Slater’s mother bursts into tears.

Jay Slater and his mum
Jay Slater was found dead in a ravine on the Spanish island of Tenerife(Image: Facebook)

Jay Slater’s disappearance in Ibiza last summer drew national attention, with many questioning what might have transpired before his tragic death was tragically announced. As our news team live blogged Jay Slater’s death, which was being investigated by the police, his name came back to prominence on Wednesday.

Jay Slater’s mum broke down in tears at the inquest into her son’s death. She told the court: I know you have tried to locate them but how can we ever get any understanding we know he died and he had an accident but from him leaving that holiday resort to going up to there we have read their statements and we want these people to be here sat in front of us, we want to ask them questions”

Jay’s friends Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves were not able to be tracked down to give evidence. The pair flew to the Spanish island in June last year with Jay, 19, to attend the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas. Following the event, Jay travelled with two men to the remote Rural de Teno national park area in the early hours of June 17.

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Read the entire story here.

Spurs and Man Utd square off in the Europa League final against “Leaked lineups.”

This evening's Europa League final pits Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
This evening’s Europa League final pits Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

In a hotly awaited all-English Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs on Tuesday night, our sports team will be live blogging one of the biggest matches of the season. The two teams are aiming to win silverware in the Europa League while putting their miserable years behind them.

While the final represents a huge chance to lift a trophy, it also offers each a chance to return to the Champions League. Each side have seen their hopes of playing in the competition evaporate due to their league positions amid woeful league form. But both sides can put that right in the Basque country.

Both Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou are each chasing a first trophy in English football. Both spoke in their pre-match press conferences on Tuesday, and while Amorim and the United camp were in relaxed mood, the Spurs boss was anything but – in spiky mood as he hinted at this being his penultimate Spurs match.

Read the entire story here.

Keir Starmer makes a huge winter fuel U-turn when he drops bombshell during PMQs.

Mr. Starmer dropped a winter fuel bombshell during PMQs.
Mr. Starmer dropped a winter fuel bombshell during PMQs.

During PMQs this Wednesday, our politics team broke the news that Keir Starmer said he wanted more pensioners to get winter fuel payments in a huge U-turn on the controversial cut. The Prime Minister said with the economy showing signs of improvement he wants to ensure “more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments”.

The surprise announcement at PMQs – a fortnight after No10 ruled out a change in policy – came amid mounting pressure to roll-back the decision to strip the £300 payment from all but the very poorest pensioners. Labour has argued the unpopular decision – announced just weeks after the party’s election victory last year – was necessary to fix the Tory mess they inherited.

However, Labour MPs have blamed the policy for the party’s disastrous results earlier this month in a crucial by-election defeat and defeat to Reform UK. We all know that the Tories left the economy in utter chaos, Mr. Starmer said during PMQs. We had to make difficult but wise economic decisions to stabilize the economy. It is starting to improve as a result of those choices.

Read the entire story here.

In sweet snaps, Eamonn Holmes, 65, and Katie Holmes, 43, finally declare their engagement to Instagram.

Eamonn Holmes and his girlfriend, Katie Alexander
Eamonn Holmes and his girlfriend, Katie Alexander, have gone Instagram official(Image: Instagram)

With their hawkish eye on celebs’ Instagrams, our showbiz team spotted GB news presenter Eamonn Holmes and his girlfriend, Katie Alexander, go social media official after months of low-key holidays and date nights. Katie, 43, who is a marriage counsellor, took to her Instagram page to share a reel of her recent day out with the 65-year-old former ITV presenter.

With The Levellers’ song What a Beautiful Day playing over it, Katie, captioned selection of photos: “Lovely weather…. Lovely company,” along with the sun emoji. In one photo, Katie rested her chin on Eamonn’s shoulders as they posed for the camera. Both rocked sunglasses as they soaked up the sunshine.

Another showed the blonde beauty rocking a polka dot dress as she posed in the sunshine with her pooch, Dottie, and Eamonn, who was in a wheelchair. The new snaps came not long after it was claimed their relationship could already be in trouble.

Read the entire story here.

In the midst of heavy rain, the Met Office issues a tornado and funnel cloud warning for the UK.

'Small tornado' spotted in the sky over the English Channel near Thanet
Brits are being warned to brace for a possible tornado(Image: Steve Hodgson)

As southern England is stricken by heavy rain following the driest spring in decades, Brits are being warned to prepare for a tornado that may strike some areas of the nation today.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said it was “not out of the question that we could see a funnel cloud, maybe even a brief tornado across parts of the South East” of England on Wednesday. Southern areas are also facing thunder, lightning, and hail.

Burkill added that the weather “separated somewhat from the north-south throughout today.” While the North has enjoyed some pleasant, sunny weather, the South has experienced rain, he said, “and there will be more showery bursts coming as we go through the remainder of today.”

Read the entire story here.

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Dangote Greatest Black Man In Past 300 Years — Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has paid tribute to Africa’s richest man and Founder of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, describing him as the “greatest black man in the past 300 years”.

Shettima stated this while speaking at the Taraba International Investment Summit, tagged ‘ Taravest, ‘ in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, on Wednesday.

Dangote was on Tuesday named on TIME Magazine’s inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list, recognising the world’s most influential individuals shaping the future of charitable giving.

He is the only Nigerian featured on the prestigious 2025 list, which honours 100 philanthropists from 28 countries under four categories—Titans, Leaders, Trailblazers, and Innovators.

The Vice President, said, “I want to celebrate the greatest black man in the last 300 years, who single-handedly established the largest single train refinery in the world with the capacity to refine 650, 000 barrels of oil per day, 67 percent of Nigeria’s refining capacity, occupying 2, 635 hectares, larger that Victoria Island, employing 135, 000 Nigerians and training 900 engineers abroad”.

READ ALSO: &nbsp, Dangote Named On TIME’s 100 Global Philantrophy List

Shettima also commended the businessman for demonstrating patriotism by establishing the refinery.

“He started this project in 2007, 2008. If he had invested the $19 billion that it took him to set up the Dangote Refinery in Microsoft, in Amazon, in Google, he is going to be worth $120 billion now.

” But he decided to invest in his own country. Alhaji Aliko Dangote, we are mightily proud of you, “he added. &nbsp,

Dangote earned a spot among the 23 global figures recognised as Titans as he joined the ranks of Michael Bloomberg, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, and Melinda Gates.

TIME Honour

TIME commended him for his business success and robust philanthropic impact.

It said”, Business magnate Aliko Dangote, founder, president, and CEO of the Dangote Group, built a net worth of $23.9 billion through cement, agriculture, and oil refining operations in Nigeria.

“His Aliko Dangote Foundation, which he endowed with $1.25 billion in 2014, aims to give back to the continent that facilitated his success, spending an average of $35 million a year on programmes across Africa”.

Speaking on his foundation’s focus, Dangote said, “Health, education, economic empowerment, disaster relief, and food—these are the five main things that any African nation needs.

” We need to create the next generation of African leaders. Investing in nutrition, health, education, and economic empowerment is our contribution to setting Africans up for success. “

Blackburn Women players felt ‘devalued’ over club withdrawal

Images courtesy of Getty
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Rachel Dugdale, a defender for Blackburn Women, claims that players’ “lack of communication” with the club regarding their decision to withdraw from the Women’s Championship has caused them to feel “devalued.”

Rovers announced on Tuesday that the club would leave the second-tier next year because Venky, the league’s administrator, is unwilling to meet its standards for facilities, player welfare, and staffing.

Dugdale claimed that manager Simon Parker only received the news an hour before it was made public before the club’s HR department sent an email.

According to the email, which was viewed by BBC Sport, the decision would “significantly impact the staffing and playing structure moving forward.”

Dugdale told BBC Sport the day after the news was confirmed that “there is just a feeling of being devalued.”

“Our sacrifice and dedication paid off” despite having by far the league’s most modest budget for the amount of work we put in this year.

“We really felt devalued as players by not having that communication,” he said. Owners and those in charge don’t have the will or desire to do what right by us, so it sends a really bad and powerful message to younger female footballers.

The 28-year-old added that since the announcement, the club has “absolutely nothing” and that the club’s members are still unsure of their future.

Dugdale has played for a squad that has since dropped out of the league after Reading moved up to the fifth tier in 2024 for the second time in a row.

The Northern Ireland international defender added that there have been discussions with us about paying out the rest of our contracts or what that would mean.

“They still don’t know what tier we’ll be in,” he added. That is currently the main subject we are thinking about.

We “demorise and need additional support for the staff and the players.”

I didn’t have the courage to speak up before.

Rachel Dugdale playing for Reading last yearImages courtesy of Getty

Dugdale wanted to speak out about the situation because she believed it was crucial that clubs treated footballers as “people not just players.”

Players from Wolves Women were frustrated in April because the organization had already decided not to apply for the Women’s Championship, despite the players’ claims that they were chasing promotion. This was followed by players from Reading last year.

Dugdale said she was “too worried to speak up about it” last year while studying in Reading, but she doesn’t want women’s teams to continue to suffer lower down the pyramid.

All of the advice that was given to us was really well-intentioned, including that we shouldn’t speak out, we should protect ourselves in terms of making sure we get those final salary payments, and make sure we don’t appear a troublemaker for future clubs.

That advice was given to me last year. However, my current top priority is influencing and improving the women’s game.

“I don’t believe there was enough noise at Reading last year. I had no sense of bravery to speak out. That, in my opinion, has made it acceptable and acceptable for Blackburn to do it this year.

“I don’t want any more players or staff to go through this uncertain and challenging time.” I want the women’s soccer team to continue to expand.

Dugdale claimed that she made £15, 000 annually at Blackburn, which is below the national minimum wage, and that the majority of players make an average of £9, 000 annually.

She stays with a friend and travels from the south of England to Blackburn on weekends to play games.

The 28-year-old added that while the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), which represents the majority of Blackburn’s players, does not provide that legal support, she is “lucky.”

She demanded change before moving forward.

“The issue is that you can only be a part of the PFA as a female player if you have participated in the Women’s Super League, like I did with the Doncaster Belles,” said Dugdale.

It descends to the fourth tier in the men’s game all the way down. I don’t see why the PFA shouldn’t be covering the Women’s Championship because it is completely professional going into the following season.

“It is very important that many of my team-mates haven’t received the support I do right now,” said one of my teammates. That needs to change, in my opinion.

Dugdale also wants the “fit and proper person test,” a background check conducted by the Football Association, to make sure potential club owners and directors are qualified to buy and run them.

What requirements must that meet? Is it a “sweeping test” that the men’s team takes while the women’s team is “bolted on”? she continued.

related subjects

  • Football
  • Women’s Football

Russia blames Ukraine war, Europe for delaying arms supply to ally Armenia

Russia’s top diplomat has blamed the war in Ukraine for affecting the supply of arms to Armenia, and has expressed concern that Moscow’s longstanding ally would now look to the West for military support instead.

Speaking in Yerevan on the second day of a two-day visit to Armenia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that some of Russia’s weapons contracts with the former Soviet republic had been delayed or reassigned due to the pressures created by the war in Ukraine.

Armenia has long relied on Russian weapons in its bitter dispute with neighbouring Azerbaijan, against whom it has fought a series of conflicts since the late 1980s.

“We are currently in a situation where, as has happened throughout history, we are forced to fight all of Europe,” Lavrov said, in a barbed reference to European support for Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion.

“Our Armenian friends understand that in such conditions, we cannot fulfil all our obligations on time.”

As Russia has failed to deliver on weapons contracts paid for by Armenia, Yerevan has increasingly turned to countries like France and India for military supplies.

Lavrov said that Russia would not oppose these growing ties, but said that they raised concerns about its traditional ally’s strategic intentions.

“When an ally turns to a country like France, which leads the hostile camp and whose president and ministers speak openly with hatred toward Russia, it does raise questions,” he said.

Armenia has strengthened its ties with the West amid recent ongoing tensions with Azerbaijan, fallout from the last major eruption of conflict and Russia’s role in that.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military operation to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave in Azerbaijan with a mostly ethnic Armenian population that had broken away from Baku with Armenian support amid the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Armenia accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to protect the more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians who fled the region, fuelled by decades of distrust, wars, mutual hatred and violence, after Azerbaijan’s lightning takeover.

Reps Demand Implementation Of All Approved Pension Increments

The House of Representatives demanded the immediate implementation of all approved pension increments in response to a motion that was made regarding the need to address the Federal Government’s failure to pay pension increments and withholding of approved palliatives.

The House also urged the Federal Ministry of Finance to release all palliative measures that had been delayed and to ensure that pensioners’ suffering was alleviated.

The President’s approval of a N25, 000 wage award palliative and an additional N32, 000 pension increase for federal pensioners was brought to the House by Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka, who moved the motion.

Also read: Senate Moves to Make Fruit Ripening With Chemicals Legal.

The House of Representatives has decided to take the move after considering a separate motion.
to examine operational issues involving driver’s license issuance, revenue generation, and usage over the past three years.

The Hon. sponsored motion. Afam Ogene stressed the need to know exactly which government agency is legally responsible for creating, producing, and issuing a driver’s license.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has a state of emergency, which the House wants to see enforced by the federal government, to ensure that necessary medical equipment is purchased, medical personnel are hired, and hospitals are upgraded.

This is a follow-up to Hon. Hon.’s motion of urgent public importance. Nnamdi Ezechi speaks about the FCT healthcare system’s imminent health crisis.

The House noted that the population of the FCT has increased significantly over the past 20 years as a result of the government hospitals and medical facilities being severely overstretched, leading to a severe shortage of bed spaces and medical personnel.

The House is concerned that many of the country’s current government hospitals have been constructed.
several years ago, little or no expansion was made to meet the growing demand for healthcare services.

French Prosecutors Urge 10-Year Terms For Key Accused In Kardashian Theft

The four men accused of robbing American superstar Kim Kardashian of about $10 million worth of jewelry at a Paris hotel were ordered on Wednesday by the prosecution to offer them 10-year prison sentences.

The reality TV star’s sentencing demands were made during the trial’s final days, when she told a packed court last week that she feared the masked men who held her at gunpoint on October 3, 2016, would kill her.

Despite the “trauma,” where most of the suspects are now in their 60s and 70s and are now known as “Grandpa robbers” in French media, she also offered her forgiveness.

The four men accused of committing the robbery are facing sentencing nine men and one woman, with the prosecution seeking the most severe 10-year prison sentences.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Anne-Dominique Merville told the court that she “knows, just like you do, that eight of the ten accused reaffirm their innocence.”

She continued, “It is my steadfast conviction that they are all guilty.”

Read more about the Kim Kardashian trial in Paris over the 2016 racial robbery.

Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian (C) will testify at the Assize Court for the trial that will take place on May 13, 2025, at the same time she is scheduled to testify about the robbery that resulted in her being held hostage to millions of dollars worth of jewelry in Paris. On April 28, 2025, Paris’s trial for this outrageous nine million euro jewelry robbery began. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON/AFP)

Kardashian was tied up, taped, and threatened with a gun by the attackers.

They robbed of items that, notably, were never recovered, including a diamond ring that rapper Kanye West gave to Kardashian in her early marriage, and that were only estimated to be $3 million ($3.9 million).

They were wearing gloves and were holding her while wearing gloves. They don’t care about Kim Kardashian or the receptionist, Merville claimed.

She made an appeal to the panel of judges and jurors, who will decide the verdict on Friday and remember that the defendants are accused of being involved in a violent crime.

She said that “thieves” were recruited in this “meticulously prepared” robbery because they “came for the ring, they got it, and they knew what they were doing exactly.

“Give him compensation for his crimes”

Aomar Ait Khedache, the alleged mastermind of the robbery, should be given a 10-year prison sentence, according to the prosecutor.

He denies being the robbery’s ringleader, but he has acknowledged tieding up Kardashian.

According to the prosecutor, Khedache, 69, “gave orders,” recruited others, and traveled to Belgium to sell the jewelry.

Khedache, who admitted to being one of the men who went to Kardashian’s bedroom, was accused by the prosecution of “minimising the violence.”

She acknowledged that he must “pay for his crimes,” but that there is no chance of him reoffending.

Didier Dubreucq, 69, who was also in the hotel room, according to the prosecution, is still unharmed. Merville demanded a similar sentence.

Yunice Abbas, 71, who wrote a book about the robbery, acknowledged that she and two accomplices were riding bicycles to “keep watch” at the scene of the robbery.

The prosecutor asked for a 10-year sentence, citing for him as well, that “the truth has many facets.”

Also available are Kim Kardashian’s Rise to Fame, From Sex Tape to Reality TV Star, and &nbsp.

Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian, a socialite from the US, attends the Met Gala in New York on May 5, 2025. The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art receives funding from the Gala. The Costume Institute’s exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” will open to the public on May 10th, with the theme “Tailored for You.” (Photo by Angela WEISS/AFP)

Marc-Alexandre Boyer, the only youngster at the time, was the fourth suspected team member of the night, and she also demanded 10 years, citing his denials, criminal history, and “risk of reoffending.”

Gary Madar, the chauffeur’s brother of Kardashian, and Florus Heroui, both of whom the prosecution claims obtained and shared information about his schedule in Paris, are serving seven-year sentences.

Harminy, Khedache’s son, is accused of driving the robbery’s evening and is serving eight years in prison.

The prosecution claims that Cathy Glotin, the only woman on trial, was in charge of setting up the meetings between her partner Khedache and the accomplices, and that she deserves six years.

defendants who are aging

Regardless of the court’s decision, the accused are above all attempting to avoid being put in jail again regardless of whether they are currently detained.

Some of the accused could have faced up to 30 years in prison as a result of the armed robbery and sequestration charges, but it appears the prosecution took their ages and medical conditions into the sentencing demands into account.

Abbas has Parkinson’s disease, which he underwent while undergoing heart surgery while awaiting trial.