Free Republic

Katrina Hodge was crowned Miss England over a decade ago while she was a serving Army soldier - now she wants to make a triumphant return to the world of beauty pageantsEx-soldier Katrina Hodge is shooting for glory in a beauty pageant again – more than a decade after being crowned Miss England. The mum of two, now 33, earned the nickname Combat Barbie when she won the title in 2009 while still serving in the Army. But she now wants to return in the Ms Great Britain contest to boost her own confidence and encourage body positivity in over-30s....

A seemingly dull marble slab, used for 10 years as a stepping stone in an English garden, is actually a rare ancient Roman engraving, a new analysis finds. The discovery surprised its owner, who learned that the 25-inch-long (63 centimeters) slab — a stone she had previously used as a stair while mounting her horse — dated to the second century A.D. and was worth about $20,400 (£15,000). However, no one knows how the marble masterpiece ended up in England. It was likely carved in Greece or Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), according to a statement from Woolley and Wallis, a...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England is adopting a national lockdown that he hopes will be tough enough to contain a new, highly contagious variant of Covid-19. People can only leave their homes to shop for essentials, work if they can't from home, exercise, go to the doctor's and escape domestic abuse, he said in an announcement Monday evening. Primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will also move to remote learning Tuesday, except in rare cases, he said.

England is going back to a full national lockdown in an effort to stem a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by a contagious new mutation, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday. The new “stay at home” order will go into effect Wednesday and is expected to last until at least mid-February. “With most of the country already under extreme measures, it’s clear that we need to do more, together, to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out,” Johnson in a televised address. “In England, we must therefore go into a national lockdown.”

Over 100,000 homes will need to be built in England every year as a result of mass migration, analysis from the Migration Watch UK think tank has found. A new home will need to be built every five minutes until the early 2040s as a result of immigration, representing 57 per cent of all new homes, or 107,400 homes per year, according to an analysis conducted of Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures by Migration Watch.

Last week, the long-awaited [UK] Home Office report into child grooming was finally published. Commissioned by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid, it was supposed to put the official spotlight on to one of the greatest scandals in British history – the systemic abuse of white working-class girls by Asian men. Instead, it was a whitewash. Literally. The sole definitive conclusion, cast amid a jumble of Civil Service sophistry, was that 'research has found that group-based CSE [child sexual exploitation] offenders are most commonly white'.

Downing Street is reportedly considering a third lockdown in England after Christmas, after more regions were added into Tier 3, putting two-thirds of the country under the harshest of coronavirus restrictions. Wales has announced a third lockdown, while Northern Ireland goes into shutdown the day after Christmas, Boxing Day.

BREXIT trade talks will continue this week after the EU appeared to buckle over Boris Johnson's demands that British sovereignty must be respected. If no trade deal is agreed by then, Britain will walk away from the European Union and begin trading on World Trade Organisation terms from January 1.Sources close to the talks said both sides had made “progress” on the level playing field issue - one of the key differences between sides - after the EU dropped its “ratchet clause” demand for Britain to be permanently tied to the bloc’s regulations.The two teams are now exploring how the...

A Black Lives Matter protester who spat in the face of a police officer in London was set free by Westminster Magistrates’ court because she “apologised”. Halina Kaszycka-Williams, 31, pleaded guilty to spitting in the face of PC Sam Franks during a Black Lives Matter march on May 31st in Notting Hill. She was also found to be in possession of cocaine at the time.

Socialists expand global Culture of DeathMADRID (ChurchMilitant.com) - Spain passed its first law that not only allows euthanasia but also recognizes death as a right. Spain thus becomes the fifth in Europe to legalize the practice. Euthanasia (namely, sanctioned homicide) or assisted suicide has extended even to children as young as 12 in the Netherlands, for example. So far in Spain, it is for the intended adult victim alone to request the combination of substances to induce death. Sponsored by Spain's Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), its proponents promise that it will allow a "dignified death." To be applied, however, the...

The head of the UK’s oldest conservative think tank has condemned government orders for supermarkets to barricade aisles containing ‘non-essential’ items during England’s lockdown, saying Boris Johnson’s administration should “leave it to the public to decide what they want and need to buy”. The Conservative national government has quietly instructed supermarkets to close departments selling so-called “non-essential” items during England’s second lockdown, with media reporting in recent days citizens’ anger at not being to buy items including kettles, socks, and baby clothes.

In countries across the globe, people reported fireworks, cheering and the sound of church bells ringing after President-elect Joe Biden was named the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Locals in the United Kingdom, where many had leftover fireworks from Guy Fawkes Night this week, reported fireworks going off in London. There were videos of church bells ringing in Paris and fireworks in Edinburgh, Scotland, and reports of celebrations in Germany.

Ministers believe that the four-week coronavirus lockdown in England could continue until next year, with a short break for Christmas. On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed media rumours that England was going to go into a second lockdown, starting from November 5th and due to end on December 2nd. The country would then return to regional tiered restrictions.

Coronavirus means Halloween will be very different across the UK this year. Here's our guide to what you can and can't do and where you can do it. England Trick-or-treating is off-limits to anyone living under Tier 3 restrictions, which limit meetings in outdoor private spaces, including front gardens. If you're in a Tier 1 area, you can trick-or-treat under the rule of six, meaning if you go and knock on someone's door, you can't go in if there are more than six people. Under Tier 2, you can't socialise inside somebody's home, so you'd have to stand outside in...

Carmelite friars established Whitefriars in 1270, but the religious site was destroyed during the Protestant ReformationArchaeologists digging under the remains of a demolished parking garage in Gloucester, England, have found the ruins of a 13th-century monastery, BBC News reports. Established around 1270, the Carmelite friary—known as Whitefriars—was all but demolished during the 16th century. Historians had long been aware of the house of worship’s existence, but they didn’t know exactly where it was located. Researchers from the Gloucester City Council and Cotswold Archaeology took advantage of a redevelopment project in the city’s King’s Quarter neighborhood to investigate. “For around 300...

A father described how he confronted the Manchester Arena bomber as he hid behind a wall with his bomb waiting to launch his attack,.... Chris Wild and his wife Julie Whitley exchanged a "look" as they walked around Salman Abedi, who was sitting with his back against a raised platform, out of sight of the arena doors, with his rucksack beside him. Ms Whitely said she believed he looked "dodgy" and Mr Wild went back to talk to him, ... Mr Wild said Abedi had "a big rucksack and it was full", adding: "I just thought it was strange, it's...

One of the Brixham boats was under attack as 15 boats surrounded himFish wars have broken out in the English Channel as French scallopers confronted their Devon counterparts - firing flares and throwing FRYING PANS. Two Brixham boats, the Girl Macey, skippered by Scott Glover, and the Golden Promise, by Brian Whittington, were involved in the deep-sea skirmish last night. They were surrounded by around 20 French vessels and were pelted by objects including frying pans and rocks and a dangerous flare was fired into the wheelhouse of the Girl Macy. The hostile French crews also threw oil at the...

SEVINGTON, England (AP) — Four years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, Brexit can still seem abstract. But in the county known as the Garden of England, it is literally taking concrete form. Just beyond the ancient oaks and yews that surround medieval St. Mary’s Church in the village of Sevington, bulldozers, dump trucks and cement mixers swarm noisily over a field. They are chewing up land to create part of Britain’s new border with the European Union — a customs clearance depot with room for up to 2,000 trucks. No one asked local people for permission, and...

A man in the UK was filmed kicking a teenage girl in the face because he was upset she wasn’t wearing a mask. Before he knew what happened, a brave bystander slammed him to the ground and stomped on his head. In the beginning of the viral video, a couple is heard arguing with a fellow passenger on the UK public transit bus. “All I’m saying is put your mask on!” the man screamed at the 16-year-old girl. “I’m not being racist but the virus is more common in Black and Asians. Put your f***ing mask on.” The girl tried...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed plans for fans to return to watch live sport events in England from 1 October will not go ahead. The plans were placed under review after a rise in coronavirus cases. The UK's Covid-19 alert level has moved to 4, meaning transmission is "high or rising exponentially".