While escape rooms are the latest craze for people wanting to feel a bit trapped there’s a puzzle that’s been around for a bit longer – the not so humble maze. For hundreds of years they’ve been a feature of Royal palaces where they’ve delighted kings from William of Orange to King Charles III. So can you solve any of these masterpieces of patient gardening or will you get lost in the splendor of the British countryside.

A man abandoned at an orphanage after he was born with one limb due to Chernobyl radiation said he is living his “dream life” – and loves proving people wrong. Tim Mason, 27, was born in Moscow, Russia, in April 1997 – 11 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Doctors told Tim his biological mother was exposed to high amounts of radiation following the nuclear accident in 1986, causing his disabilities. The day he was born, his biological mom left him outside an orphanage, with a note saying she didn’t want to raise “a monster”. At aged three, Tim was…

American forces have launched a nuclear missile in a show of strength. An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was fired on Wednesday (Feb. 19) to show “dominance in an era of strategic competition,” say the U.S. Air Force (USAF). A joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen and Vandenberg Space Force Base Guardians carried out the test from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. The missile reportedly flew 4,200 miles, reaching speeds of 15,000 mph, to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. “Today’s Minuteman III test launch is…

SWMRabuse – By Imogen Howse A woman who was assaulted by her ex-partner for “years” has revealed how the abuse made her fear he would kill her – and left her with nightmares, hair loss, and bruises “all over”. Haroun Berghout, known as Yas, behaved like a “monster” towards his victim, Surrey Police said. The 27-year-old strangled, punched, and kicked the woman, and controlled her every move – convincing her that the abuse was her own fault, according to the force. The victim, who was in a relationship with vile Berghout, became convinced he would eventually kill her. “It became…

A cross-country winter storm brought heavy snow to the eastern U.S. on Wednesday, disrupting travel and causing closures. Moderate snowfall continued across North Carolina and the southern Mid-Atlantic, expected to last through Thursday morning. Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware could see up to 12 inches of snow, leading to road closures and flight disruptions. Millions of people are also under winter alerts ahead of a major storm expected to dump snow across Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky, with Tennessee closing state offices due to hazardous travel conditions.

SWLScheating – by David Hannant and Faye Mayern A university has been hit by a cheating scandal after dozens of students were caught trying to get other people to write their essays. The University of East Anglia in Norwich, Norfolk uncovered the scam involving students on a postgraduate economics course using ‘essay mills’ to hoodwink lecturers and secure passing grades. Also known as ‘contract cheating’, essay mills are services which enable students to pay other people to write their assignments on their behalf. Officials at the UEA say the cheating was related to two of the course’s modules and when…

SWLNstein Tributes have been paid to a Rick Stein employee who was found dead inside staff accommodation. Police were called to the property in Padstow, Cornwall, where the man, a chef in his 30s, was found dead. Devon and Cornwall Police said the man, understood to have been an employee at The Cornish Arms, in St Merryn, was declared deceased at the scene. His death is not being treated as suspicious and his next of kin has been informed of his death. Police said: “Police were called to Grenville Road, Padstow, at around 8pm on Thursday,February 13, following a concern…

SWMRabuse – By Adam Dutton A thug who brutally battered his girlfriend days after being freed from jail for a similar attack on another woman was nailed by her Ring doorbell. Daniel Whelan, 29, subjected his petrified partner to an hour-long ordeal where he repeatedly hit her in the face and throttled her. She was so badly hurt she needed hospital treatment for face and neck injuries following the horrific attack on January 27 last year. The victim managed to escape and fled to a neighbour who dialled 999. Police arrested Whelan and used his victim’s Ring doorbell footage which…

SWTPraducanu New video shows Emma Raducanu taking comfort from her opponent after she was targeted by man ‘exhibiting fixated behaviour’ The tennis star hid behind the umpire’s chair two games into the second-round defeat by Karolina Muchova. The video, taken by a worried fan, offers a new angle of the incident – showing Raducanu bravely seeking help, before visibly shaking, and being comforted by Muchova, while security move around the venue. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said a man had approached the 22-year-old in the public area and “exhibited fixated behaviour” before turning up at her match on Tuesday. An…

A lightning strike caused a huge fire which has completely destroyed the home to a dozen priests and missionaries with the Legionaries of Christ. In the early hours of the morning, during storms which swept across the region, a fork hit the roof in Cumming, Georgia. While most of the community’s 12 priests and missionaries were away, four priests were inside when the fire broke out at 4.45am on Sunday. The priests escaped unharmed, thanks to neighbors and emergency responders. Father Scott Reilly, 58, associate pastor of St. Brendan the Navigator Parish, said they initially thought a tree had been…