BREAKING NEWS British teenager jailed in Dubai for sex with fellow UK tourist is HOME after being freed following royal pardon
Marcus Fakana, now 19, from Tottenham, was 18-years-old when he was arrested for having sex with a 17-year-old girl from London while he was on holiday with his parents in the UAE city in August.
The girl was just one month away from turning 18, but sex with anyone under the age of 18 is an offence in the Gulf state.
He returned to the UK on Thursday July 3 following several months in prison.
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10 of the best cruises from Southampton for 2025 and 2026
A cruise out of Southampton is a gateway to a wide range of destinations — from the short Channel hop to discover the delights of cities such as Amsterdam and Bruges, to the majestic Norwegian fjords and sunny beaches of the Caribbean. When you book a sailing out of the UK's largest cruise port, your holiday can start even closer to home without the hassle of airports, which is particularly appealing if you're travelling with young children. It's easy to reach Southampton by car or train, and helpful terminal staff will be waiting to get you on to your ship as quickly as possible. Here's our pick of some of the best cruises from Southampton for 2025 and 2026. This article contains affiliate links which may earn us revenue Get a taste of the renowned Cunard line on a four-night trip to Amsterdam and back on the Queen Victoria. You'll take in the city's charming canals and bridges, with time to explore at your own pace. Discover its famous galleries where you can admire the work of the Dutch masters, take a stroll through the vast Vondelpark, or sample the local beer and bitterballen (deep-fried meatballs). And while at sea, indulge in the institution of afternoon tea served in the grand Queens Room, or curl up with a book in the impressive library, grandly spanning two decks. Visit Zeebrugge and Cherbourg on MSC Cruises' shiny MSC Virtuosa, which is sailing out of Southampton this autumn. The trip offers a range of excursions such as a Belgian chocolate experience in Bruges (with tasting, naturally), a trip to Brussels, or a tour of the picturesque Saire Valley. Back on board, head to the Starship Club and order a drink from Rob, the first-ever humanoid bartender at sea. Discover the delights of Scotland and Ireland this summer on Norwegian Cruise Line's laidback Norwegian Dawn, where you can dress up or down as you please. Combine city life in vibrant Dublin and Edinburgh with the natural beauty of the Isle of Skye. Top heritage attractions for excursions include Edinburgh Castle and Powerscourt near Dublin, with its renowned gardens. As an added bonus, the cruise also visits Amsterdam (Ijmuiden), Zeebrugge and Le Havre. • The best cruise lines for every kind of traveller• Best Nile cruises Enjoy summer sunshine in some of the Mediterranean's hotspots on this two-week sailing on Sky Princess. From the Spanish city of Cadiz you can head inland to Seville to explore the 15th-century cathedral and test out some tasty tapas. Check out the Gothic Quarter and Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on your next stop, before heading to Toulon in France and then Italy, where you can glimpse the leaning tower of Pisa and see the sights of Rome. A soujourn in Sardinia completes the itinerary before you head for home. There's plenty to keep everyone happy on the ship too — from the spa and casino to the dedicated kids' spaces. Delve into the perennially popular Canary Islands on this autumn sailing on Celebrity Apex. A day stop in Lisbon offers the chance to discover the vibrant Portuguese capital, before calling at Gran Canaria, Tenerife — where you can visit Mount Teide, Spain's highest peak — and more. In Madeira, explore the island by cable car and wicker toboggan, or go for a wander around the beautiful botanical garden. If all that sightseeing wears you out, recharge your batteries in the ship's spa, before toasting your trip with a glass of something cold while soaking up the views from the cantilevered Magic Carpet. For the ultimate escape from the British winter, follow the sun on board the 5,200-passenger Iona, one of the biggest ships built specifically for the UK cruise market. This epic 35-night voyage will call at Tenerife en route, with visits to St Kitts, Barbados, St Lucia, St Martin, Antigua and more, before heading back to Southampton via La Coruña in Spain. If you're quick you may still be able to catch this golf-themed Azamara sailing, which visits top courses in England, Ireland and Scotland in mid July. One of a series of cruises run in conjunction with specialist PerryGolf, everything is taken care of including transportation to courses, green fees, buggies and the all-important 19th hole post-round drinks. The cruise calls at Liverpool, Dublin and Aberdeen among other stops, with excursions available for non-golfing partners, and ends in Edinburgh (Leith). If you get into the swing of a golf-cruise holiday and are happy to fly to alternative departure ports, other itineraries include Spain, the Caribbean, Australia and Japan. Norway is home to the world's highest concentration of fjords, including some of the deepest and longest. 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MPs and political candidates face ‘industrial' levels of abuse, minister says
MPs and political candidates are facing 'industrial' levels of intimidation and harassment, a minister has warned, as the government outlines plans for stricter punishments for those found guilty of abuse. Rushanara Ali, the minister for democracy, said her colleagues were suffering worse harassment than ever before and warned this was deterring many young people from becoming politically active. With two MPs having been killed in recent years and multiple candidates saying they were harassed during last year's election campaign, the government says it is acting before further acts of violence are committed. 'In the time that I've been an MP, we've lost colleagues – my friend Jo Cox, Sir David Amess,' Ali said. 'We also had the horrific situation of Stephen Timms being attacked in the first week that I was elected in 2010. 'What we've seen is the level of abuse and hostility increasing to the point where in last year's general election, there was industrial-scale abuse and threats and intimidation – creating a chilling effect on our democracy.' She added: 'Week in, week out, I hear of colleagues across different parties – particularly women, but not exclusively – being threatened and intimidated.' Ali was one of several candidates, several of them Muslim women, to be targeted by pro-Palestinian activists during last year's election. Videos showed campaigners following and shouting at her supporters in Bethnal Green, east London, while another image showed a fake Labour leaflet depicting her with devil horns. Her colleague Shabana Mahmood had to call the police twice in the course of one weekend to complain about harassment while out canvassing. But MPs say the harassment is not related to a single political cause, and is due more to a fragmented electorate who increasingly distrust their MPs while finding it easier than ever to contact or find them. Cox was killed by a far-right terrorist in 2016 and Amess by a supporter of Islamic State in 2021. A report by the Electoral Commission after last year's election found that 55% said they had experienced some kind of problem with harassment, intimidation or abuse, and 13% said the problem was serious. Vijay Rangarajan, the head of the commission, said earlier this year: 'Addressing the abuse and intimidation targeted at candidates and elected officials is crucial to safeguarding individuals and their families, but also the health of the UK democracy more widely.' A separate report by a panel of MPs convened by the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, warned: 'The nature of threats and abuse facing politicians today is a significant change from recent history and current trends suggest it could get worse.' Ali said she had received multiple death threats in the last year. 'Only yesterday I received a threat to torture and kill me,' she said, adding that she had received similar threats via email and through the post during the election campaign. 'A number of colleagues have had that sort of experience,' she said. 'So we've got to make sure that our democracy is safe and that people are protected when they decide to enter public life. 'I spent my whole life campaigning to encourage people into politics, young people, women, people from diverse backgrounds, men and women. And I fear that if we don't take action, then more and more people will be put off.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Ali said the government would take three concrete measures to make life easier for candidates and their supporters, and to discourage people from harassing those involved in politics. The measures will be included in an elections strategy paper, with the aim of including them in a bill at an unspecified point during this parliament. The first is that candidates will no longer be required to publish their home addresses on election material. At present, people standing for parliament have the option to remove their addresses from nomination forms, but not if they are acting as their own agents, which some do. The government's changes will allow everyone, including council candidates, to remove their addresses from the forms even if they are their own agents. It will not go as far as recommended by the MPs on Hoyle's panel, however, who said that even the option of including home addresses on election forms should be removed. Second, ministers plan to change legal guidance so that it will be considered an aggravating factor if someone is found guilty of harassing a candidate, campaigner or staff member. This will allow judges to hand down tougher sentences to those offenders. Finally, the government is planning to change the law to ban those found guilty of intimidating or abusing a candidate from standing themselves as a candidate in future. The measures reflect some, but not all, of the recommendations made by Hoyle's group of MPs in their report. That panel also suggested giving MPs protection by the Home Office during an election campaign, introducing ID and address checks for all candidates, and allowing returning officers to expand the exclusion zone around a polling station under certain circumstances. Ali said: 'It cannot be right that MPs, councillors and other others who seek public office are threatened with murder. Sadly, that climate of hostility has led to us losing two of our colleagues. 'This is about making sure that those people who are in public life, and those who seek to be in public life … receive the protection they need, and that people aren't put off politics. Because we are seeing increasing evidence of people not wanting to be in public life, not wanting to be in politics.'
