Deanne Forrest (pictured) admits she was charmed into submission by Peter Parker - if that ever was his real name. The 50-year-old artist was looking for a way to boost her modest savings and support her teenage sons through university when a friend recommended Banc De Binary (inset) - a website that would let her trade on the stock market for instant returns of up to 60per cent. Peter, her smooth-talking Cypriot account manager, assured Deanne that the trades she was placing were 'absolutely zero-risk'. When she wavered, Peter became flirtatious, calling the divorcée 'beautiful' and 'glowing' and asking 'dear Deanne' if she would paint a portrait of him.
- ‘I have no idea how I will pay off my credit card bill': Mother's agony after losing £12.5k through trading site in a bid to send her sons to university
- UK's mobile reception is worse than Romania and Peru: Britain comes 54th in table of 4G coverage with users only having a signal 58% of the time
- Truly appalling! The damning verdict on £285million aid wasted on useless airport ... which could have paid for 7,500 care home beds
- Deaths of 185 British soldiers will NOT be investigated... as up to 1,000 retired troops face a witch-hunt
- Tour firm's £50 Brexit tax on your HOLIDAY! Company hammers customers who booked their trips months ago because of the pound's collapse since referendum
- Clarifications and corrections
- The heartbreaking ruins of a 4,000-year-old city as the brutal Battle for Aleppo finally ends after four and a half years: Assad's troops reveal epic destruction that has virtually razed the world heritage site to the ground
- Heartbreaking images show the bodies of dead children lined up on the streets in Syria after they died in a 'gas attack'
- 'This may be my last video': Civilians trapped inside the war-torn Syrian city post emotional goodbye messages on social media
- From economic powerhouse to a bombed-out shell of a city: Historic images show how tourists flocked to Aleppo to visit the world's largest markets and admire the ancient buildings
- Going in would have been a calamity: MICHAEL BURLEIGH says it is nonsense that Britain holds some responsibility for the horrors in Syria after not intervening
- Our minds were wrenched from the chamber to a dusty Hades: QUENTIN LETTS hears vivid descriptions of events in Aleppo as MPs held an emergency debate on the bloodshed
- The wreckers and the man who calls Corbyn the Messiah: How union behind rail strike is co-led by a Harley-riding Rick Wakeman lookalike who tattoos his name on his knuckles - and another who has promised TEN YEARS of passenger misery
- Hypocrisy of rail wreckers: After day of misery, how union bosses agreed FIVE years ago to reforms at centre of strike
- Kanye 2024: Rapper makes VIP trip to Trump Tower to meet president-elect and Ivanka, talk violence in Chicago, bullying and schools - then hints he will run for White House too
- Shocking moment a woman was physically dragged off a Delta flight by two cops after she 'stormed past the gate agent without checking in and then demanded overhead bin space'
- It's not 'he' and 'she'. It's 'ze': Oxford University union tells students to use gender neutral pronouns so as 'not to offend transgender undergraduates'
- Actor Alan Thicke is dead at 69: Shock as Growing Pains star suffers 'heart attack and dies while playing hockey with his son'
- Bill Cosby's lawyer gets in a screaming match with the DA during a hearing about his rape accusers - as shamed comedian jokes with guards 'don't tase me bro'
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle buy £60 Christmas tree in London park - from a New Yorker who had NO idea who they were
- Mother-of-two who let her paralyzed husband get eaten alive by maggots and rot to death in their cockroach-infested hovel to serve just four years in prison
- 'I can't feel anything Meg. I love you so much': Groom is paralyzed in front of his bride-to-be after accidentally diving into a sandbar during their joint bachelor-bachelorette party
- The lavish $2m Florida mansion built by a wealthy citrus farmer in the roaring twenties that can't find a buyer and now lies in ruin
- PIERS MORGAN: Hillary and the hypocritical Democrats aren't defending American democracy from foreign meddling, they are a clear and present danger to it
- Trump's Iran stance could threaten a WORLD WAR and the destruction of Israel, warns Tehran as it cautions the Donald against 'provoking' them in the Middle East
- EXCLUSIVE: Angelina demands Brad Pitt be drug tested four times a month in order to get access to their kids - as he accuses her of making confidential information public
- EXCLUSIVE: Pregnant Tori Spelling moves for the eighth time in six years to a $9,500-a-month home in a gated community to make room for her fifth child with husband Dean McDermott
- Duterte's back-street butchers: Bodies pile up as crackdown claims 5,900 lives in five months and president declares 'You want me to stop? Then stop taking drugs'
- MOST READ IN DETAIL
BATTLE FOR ALEPPO ENDS
The heartbreaking ruins of a 4,000-year-old city as the brutal Battle for Aleppo finally ends after four and a half years: Assad's troops reveal epic destruction that has virtually razed the world heritage site to the ground
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: A ceasefire deal has been struck between the pro-Syrian government forces and the rebels effectively ending the battle for Aleppo that has raged for many years. It comes as the once proud Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo, also known as the 'Great Mosque' now lies in ruins in the middle of Aleppo following intense fighting. Several of the walls surrounding the UNESCO-listed building have been destroyed and pro-government fighters have been inspected looking on at the ruins. And images emerging of Aleppo's citadel and the old city also show how it has been destroyed by the bloody conflict that has left over 30,000 people dead.
The wreckers and the man who calls Corbyn the Messiah: How union behind rail strike is co-led by a Harley-riding Rick Wakeman lookalike who tattoos his name on his knuckles - and another who has promised TEN YEARS of passenger misery
At the heart of the relationship between Corbyn and Britain's biggest rail unions is Tosh McDonald (pictured, left), the ultra-Left president of Aslef, who has his own name tattooed on his hand (left). McDonald introduced Corbyn to the stage at the union's raucous Christmas party on Friday, a demonstration of the intimate relationship between Corbyn and Britain's biggest rail unions. The union's general secretary, Mick Whelan, is also a long-standing ally of Corbyn. As well as the close ties, Whelan also shows the staggering hypocrisy of the unions. The union has led staff into strikes that caused travel chaos for millions over the last year (pictured, bottom right). Yet Whelan, who has seen huge pay rises over the last two years, personally signed off on the passenger-operated doors for another franchise in 2011 that Aslef now claim are dangerous - an issue at the heart of the dispute.
'Worse than prison': Workers are treated like 'scum' in JD Sports warehouse - where they can be FIRED for having a mobile phone on them and some even earn LESS than the minimum wage
Many workers are effectively earning less than the minimum wage and are threatened with being sacked if they sit down during long shifts. The practices are taking place despite public uproar about working conditions at warehouses operated by other large retailers, including their rivals Sports Direct, as well as Amazon and Asos. The investigation involves the Kingsway Business Park facility in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, which supplies all of JD Sports' stores in the UK and abroad, as well as its thriving online business.
How we fell in love with supermarkets' own-brand luxuries: Record season predicted for retailers' premium food ranges as shoppers splash out for a taste of fine dining
Budget-conscious shoppers have long turned to supermarkets' own-label products to get more for their money. But now it seems increasing numbers are upgrading to retailers' premium food brands, with figures showing they are spending 13 per cent more on them than they did last year. Analysts predict a record festive season for ranges such as Tesco's Finest, Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, Morrisons' The Best and Asda's Extra Special.
Man flu DOES exist! Viruses want to kill men more than women, study finds
WESTMINSTER TODAY
- It's a Scottish invasion! Nicola Sturgeon says the SNP could stand candidates in elections south of the border because no-one is 'speaking up for' English people
- George Osborne tells MPs the 'price' of their vote not to bomb President Assad in 2013 is thousands of dead Syrians, ISIS and a stronger Russia - but Boris Johnson can only offer UN talks
- Three top footballers are on the verge of coming out as gay for the first time, MP reveals as sports minister says 'there's never been a better time' to defeat the game's last taboo
Cut it out! Amir Khan wades into feud between his wife and family as he tells them to stop 'bashing' each other after his parents slammed her for wearing un-Islamic clothes and she hit back with a NAKED picture of the boxer's brother
The parents of the British boxer slammed his wife for wearing un-Islamic clothes and no headscarf while denying she has suffered domestic abuse. Model Faryal Makhdoom Khan (right), 25, claimed last week that for the past three years she had been bullied 'physically and mentally' by her in-laws. She also said she was considered a 'bad Muslim' if she bared any skin and claims she was even cropped out of family photographs. Today, speaking for the first time over the growing rift, Khan's parents (inset) rejected accusations of bullying and domestic abuse by their daughter-in-law. She then hit back on Snapchat with a picture of their other son Haroon Khan lying on a bed naked (left). But tonight, the boxer described the actions of both parties as 'childish'.
'I was the last person to kiss her on the lips before I had to leave her': BA captain reveals how he battled in vain to save his daughter, 14, after she died of 'a heart attack'
Hannah Cubin collapsed suddenly after going to a sleepover at a friend's house. Her mother Dawn got an 11pm call from Hannah's friend saying something was wrong and she and Mr Cubin rushed to their daughter's side. While Mrs Cubin performed CPR, her husband gave mouth to mouth before paramedics arrived at the house in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. They spent an hour trying to save the youngster but to no avail and she was pronounced dead from a suspected heart attack.
'You've left me with nothing, I'll leave you with only memories': Father drowned daughter, six, and put her next to the dogs he also killed before hanging himself to punish his wife for leaving him
Keziah Flux-Edmonds (pictured left) was killed by her father Darren (right with his daughter and wife Nikki), 44, who drowned her in the bathtub of the family home in East Cowes, Isle of Wight before laying her body in the master bedroom. The father-of-one also killed the family's two terrier dogs. Keziah's lifeless body was found with her arms wrapped around her beloved pets Arnie and Maximus. Both the dogs were soaking wet and it is believed Flux-Edmonds drowned them too. Flux-Edmonds, who suffered from depression, was looking after Keziah while her mother Nikki Flux-Edmonds was at work for an hour. He sent her a chilling text 25 minutes after she left the house. The inquest heard the long message began with 'Congratulations' and ended with: 'You have left me with nothing, I'll leave you with only memories.' Keziah's grandmother June Lillian Flux is pictured inset leaving the inquest today.
Married father-of-two teacher, 32, who had three-month fling with 15-year-old girl asking her to send naked selfies and begging her to run away with him to New York is jailed
Lloyd Garratt, 32, had a three-month fling with the teenager in which he was accused of encouraging her to send him naked selfies. He was also said to have kissed the girl in his car and asked her to allope to the US so they could be together. Garratt, who worked as head of creative arts at Garstang Community Academy, in Lancashire was arrested in August 2015 after the relationship came to light.
How can Beyonce and Bridget Jones EVER be considered to have the calibre of Maggie? Anger over Woman's Hour's list of the most influential women of the past 70 years
Britain's first female prime minister (left) was an obvious choice for the top spot, while second place went to Helen Brook, who set up Brook Advisory Centres in 1964, offering contraceptive advice to unmarried women. They were followed by Labour MP Barbara Castle, who was behind the Equal Pay Act. Feminist writer Germaine Greer and Jayaben Desai, who campaigned for better working conditions for women, were also chosen. The list was completed by Bridget Jones (centre) and Beyonce (right) - apparently leaving no room for influential women such as current Prime Minister Theresa May, American civil rights activist Rosa Parks, or Catholic missionary Mother Teresa.
Balmy boost to tea harvest... in Cornwall! Leaves are still being picked at UK's only plantation three months after the season was supposed to end
Britain's balmy winter has seen a record-breaking crop at England's only tea plantation. Crops at Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall have been boosted by exceptionally mild conditions. The region has been even warmer than Darjeeling in India, which is known as the Champagne of Teas, and as such the estate has been able to harvest much later into the season than its illustrious counterpart.
WATCH: TODAY'S TOP NEWS VIDEOS
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HOMEOWNER TROLLS BUNGLING BURGLAR WITH...
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HUNTERS FORCED TO SHOOT A WILD BEAR DEAD...
Terrifying footage shows a wild bear charging towards a group of shocked hunters...play video
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DOG DRAGS CHILD IN FRONT OF TRAFFIC...
Dog drags child in front of traffic across busy road in Russiaplay video
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ELON MUSK CAPTURES VIDEO OF SPACE X...
Elon Musk captures video of Space X forming a rocket nozzleplay video
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DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR ATTACKED BY GANG OF...
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ADORABLE BABY DRESSED AS LION COMES FACE...
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SHOCKING! ROTTWEILER SAVAGES 3-YEAR-OLD...
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GUINEA PIGS FIGHT OVER CRUNCHY BABY...
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VALLEY STREAM BEST BUY ASSOCIATES GIFT A...
Best Buy associates at Valley Stream, NY gift a teen with a Wii U.play video
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THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
The most heartbreaking, powerful, and astonishing pictures of 2016: News agency AFP releases its best photographs of the year
This collection of images is taken from Agence France Presse, or AFP's 'Pictures of the Year 2016' - a selection of the press agency's most important and powerful photographs from the past year. Every year AFP, which has photographers around the globe, chooses a selection of their most powerful, moving, shocking or fascinating images, offering a look back at the highlights - and lowlights - of the last 12 months. Pictured, left, a woman is sprayed by police during a public sector protest against austerity measures in Brazil. Top right, A biker shows off his 12-year-old cat named Chiquinho, which always rides with him on his motorbike, also in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bottom right, people watch the Euro 2016 final match between Portugal and France on a giant screen near the Eiffel Tower, while Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo is evacuated on a stretcher after being injured
Duterte's back-street butchers: Bodies pile up as crackdown claims 5,900 lives in five months and president declares 'You want me to stop? Then stop taking drugs'
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has pushed the death toll to 5,927 since he took office in June vowing to get rid of narcotics in the country. The radical leader insists he is not a killer, despite the country's streets being littered with dead bodies due to his crackdown on illicit drugs (main and inset). President Duterte said he is not about to pull the plug on his operation, but would happily allow citizens to enjoy Christmas and New Year in peace if people stopped taking drugs.
WORLD NEWS
- The rubble that cost 30,000 lives: Syrian forces stand among ancient mosque destroyed during fighting after ceasefire is agreed in eastern Aleppo
- Duterte's back-street butchers: Bodies pile up as crackdown claims 5,900 lives in five months and president declares 'You want me to stop? Then stop taking drugs'
- 'Nobody even told us to put on our seat belts': Journalist who survived Colombian plane disaster says those on board had NO IDEA they were about to crash
- The REAL battle for Mosul: Engineers desperately trying to repair dam which is slowly collapsing and will be 'more devastating than a NUCLEAR BOMB' if it falls
- ISIS Paris attack masterminds who helped orchestrate the deaths of 130 people are killed in coalition air strike in Syria
- 'They raped me until I fainted': Yazidi women who were sexually assaulted hundreds of times while kept as ISIS slaves are awarded human rights prize
- Inside the 'House of Horrors' where 'Germany's Fred and Rose West lured young women with lonely hearts adverts to 'drug, torture and murder them'
- £2million 'anti-migrant wall' funded by British taxpayer is completed in Calais - only for French to immediately call for it to be demolished
- Naked German cannibal killer poses in sandals and socks with an axe in the basement where he murdered and chopped up WILLING victim he'd met online
- Dream comes true for Afghan boy, six, who charmed the world with his Lionel Messi carrier bag football shirt as he finally gets to meet his hero
- Bag ladies: Two Afghan women trying to illegally enter Austria are found stuffed inside a pair of SUITCASES
- Vet who sparked outrage posing with big game animals he shot DIES in 100ft fall while hunting wild birds in Italy
- ISIS savages blow up a prisoner using a BOMB before butchering 11 more accused of being spies in sickening footage from Egypt
- Danish student faces six months in prison as she goes on trial for fighting ISIS in Syria
- Jihadis of the Caribbean: Country with the highest rate of ISIS recruits in the western hemisphere is... TRINIDAD
- Men and women are slammed for taking pictures of themselves with a suspected BOMB in Turkey after 38 people were killed in a terror attack in the country
- The most important news of 2016 in pictures: News agency AP selects its best pictures that tell this year's big stories from Europe and Africa
- The most heartbreaking, powerful, and astonishing pictures of 2016: News agency AFP releases its best photographs of the year
- Mexico's wealth gap laid bare: Extraordinary photos show how the rich live side-by-side with the destitute in the unequal society
- Trump picks Rex Tillerson to lead State Department, hailing Exxon CEO as 'one of the truly great business leaders of the world'
Wires: Latest Headlines
Dream comes true for Afghan boy, six, who charmed the world with his Lionel Messi carrier bag football shirt as he finally gets to meet his hero
The Barcelona star carried six-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi in his arms (inset) at a specially arranged meeting in Doha, Qatar today. Murtaza was pictured in January wearing a shopping bag with Argentina's blue and white stripes along with five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi's name and No 10 on the back, written in black marker pen (right). The child eventually received a signed shirt from the prolific forward. But the youngster's dream of actually meeting the star came true today when the pair came face-to-face (left).