Headline

Two-year-old Baby Starves To Death In UK

Published

2 years ago

January 17, 2024

A two-year-old toddler, Bronson Battersby, starved to death next to his dead father Kenneth five days after he suffered a heart attack in the United Kingdom, Daily Mail reports.

According to the family, Battersby was found curled up in his pyjamas next to his father, 60, who is believed to have suffered a heart attack shortly after he was last seen alive on Boxing Day.

A social worker visited their home in Skegness, Lincolnshire on January 2, for a routine visit but received no reply and contacted the police.

They visited again on January 4 but again there was no response. The social worker contacted the police again that day.

Shockingly the bodies of Kenneth and Bronson – who was classed as vulnerable and was being checked on weekly – were not found until January 9 when the social worker herself used a key from the landlord to get into the home.

The toddler’s mother, Sarah Piesse, 43, last saw her son before Christmas after a row with her ex.

She told The Sun, “If social services had done their job, Bronson would still be alive. But they didn’t do anything.

“I can’t believe it. They can’t let them get away with this. We have to be able to rely on social workers to keep our children safe.”

“I’ve had the results of the post-mortem. Bronson starved to death because his dad died. They think Kenneth died no earlier than December 29.

“It means if the social worker had pushed to get in when she got no reply on January 2 then Bronson would still have been alive.”

On Facebook, Bronson’s sister Melaniie Battersby wrote, “Beautiful little boy deserved so much better than this life. We love you, Bronson, forever a part of us, and forever my baby brother.”

Adding her ‘head and heart’ were ‘in pieces’, she said, “A lot of anger inside at minute when I just want to remember his little smile and soft nature instead. He were perfect.”

Mother-of-three Sarah last saw Bronson after getting into an argument with Kenneth before Christmas.

A friend of the family said the toddler enjoyed watching the Cocomelon, adored nursery rhymes, and often played his Little Tykes drum kit.

Bronson was last seen alive by his neighbour after they visited the house on Boxing Day. Kenneth then messaged the same neighbour saying, “Thanks so much for caring, it means the world to me and Bronson.”

That same day, the social worker texted Kenneth to arrange a visit on January 2.

She contacted the police when she did not receive any answer during the visit and did the same again when she returned to the house on January 4.

The social worker then decided to enter the property herself on January 9 using a key from the landlord.

She found the bodies of Bronson and Kenneth and contacted police, who then rushed to the scene along with paramedics at around 3.25 pm. The pair were pronounced dead at the scene.

Kenneth was unemployed and had a pre-existing heart condition which had caused him to become severely jaundiced in the months leading up to his death.

Bronson was also classified as vulnerable by social services meaning that he received weekly visits from social workers.

Heather Sandy, executive director for children’s services, said, “This was a tragic incident, and we are supporting the family at this difficult time.”

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

11 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

14 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

14 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP