A woman who was known as the UK’s oldest witch has died at home at the age of 97.

Patricia Crowther was a follower and “high priestess” of the Wicca pagan religion and co-created the show “A Spell of Witchcraft” on BBC Radio Sheffield in the 1970s.

Introducing the first of the six episodes, she said: ” ‘Witchcraft’ simply means the craft of the wise people – nothing sensational or horrific in that.”

The show hoped to “redress some of the balance” in attitudes towards witchcraft by delving into the history and rituals of the then-obscure religion, and is credited with bringing it to a wider audience.

Mrs Crowther, who lived in Sheffield all her life, created the show alongside her husband, Arnold Crowther, with whom she established Sheffield Coven.

She was initiated into Wicca in 1960 by Gerald Gardner, who is credited with developing the religion, according to pagan publication Wild Hunt.

Her husband, who had been initiated a short time after her, died in 1974.

Before joining the occult, she had spent summers as a performer on piers and theatres, and did pantomimes in winter, said Ian Lilleyman, her partner of more than 40 years.

“She loved the theatre. That was the best part of her life, she just loved it,” the 75-year-old said.

The pair met at a vegetarian society meeting, where she had been a speaker, and Mr Lilleyman a member of the audience.

Mrs Crowther had been a professional dancer for years and spent time as a children’s entertainer but, as she told The Guardian in the nineties, witches do not work for money.

But she kept dancing as part of witchcraft practices, Mr Lilleyman said.

From aged four, when she took lessons at the Constance Grant Dance Centre in Sheffield, she never stopped until she lost her mobility later in life, he said.

And, during wartime, she had sung and played the accordion as part of a group which entertained the troops.

“If I remember rightly, they weren’t allowed to know where they were going and the windows were blacked out,” he added.

She maintained her interest and belief in witchcraft for her whole life and wrote multiple books, including Witchcraft in Yorkshire and From Stagecraft to Witchcraft.

Mr Lilleyman said there was “never a time she would just sit down and do nothing”.

“At night, I would go off to bed and she would be sat reading a book. She never stopped learning, even as she got older,” he said.

“She said, ‘you’ve got to read to learn, you don’t know everything, you might think you do but you don’t’.”

The couple also enjoyed visiting their cottage in Whitby.

After about five years of struggling with dementia, she passed away on Wednesday morning with her partner at her side.

Reporting her passing, pagan news site Wild Hunt described her memory as a “blessing” to those who have been touched by her work.

“Her spirit continues to live on in the covens and communities she inspired,” it added. (BBC)

Former Democratic Republic of Congo President, Joseph Kabila, has been sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes and treason.

The charges concern accusations that Kabila had been supporting the M23, a rebel group who have wreaked devastation across the country’s eastern region.

Kabila was convicted on Friday of treason, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection.

Kabila however rejected the case as “arbitrary” and said the courts were being used as an “instrument of oppression”. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The 54-year-old led DR Congo for 18 years, after succeeding his father Laurent, who was shot dead in 2001.

Kabila handed power to President Félix Tshisekedi in 2019, but they later fell out and Kabila went into self-imposed exile in 2023.

In April this year, the former president said he wanted to help find a solution to the deadly fighting in the east and arrived in the M23-held city of Goma the following month.

President Tshisekedi accused Kabila of being the brains behind the M23 and senators stripped him of his legal immunity, paving the way for his prosecution.

Decades of conflict had escalated earlier this year when the M23 seized control of large parts of the mineral-rich east, including Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports.

Pointing to overwhelming evidence, the UN and several Western countries have accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the M23, and sending thousands of its soldiers into DR Congo.

But Kigali denies the charges, saying it is acting to stop the conflict from spilling over onto its territory.

A ceasefire deal between the rebels and the government was agreed in July, but the bloodshed has continued.

The UK’s foreign intelligence service MI6 on Friday launched a “dark web portal” to try to recruit spies in Russia and around the world by offering a them secure communication channel.

The “Silent Courier” portal lets anyone with access to sensitive information relating to terrorism or hostile intelligence activity to securely contact the UK, the agency said.

Instructions on accessing the portal are available on the verified YouTube channel of the Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6.

“Our virtual door is open to you,” outgoing MI6 chief Richard Moore said to potential spies as he launched the portal.

The intelligence agency, which achieved global fame through Ian Fleming’s fictional agent James Bond, advised users to utilise the secure Tor browser to access the dark web, and to use devices and email accounts not linked to themselves so as not to rouse suspicions.

If Tor is banned in their country, then people are advised to utilise VPNs, added the advice, which was posted in multiple languages.

“As the world changes, and the threats we’re facing multiply, we must ensure the UK is always one step ahead of our adversaries,” said foreign minister Yvette Cooper.

“Now we’re bolstering their efforts with cutting-edge tech so MI6 can recruit new spies for the UK — in Russia and around the world,” she said.

Moore has previously warned that his agency had “recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe” as tensions continue to deepen over the war in Ukraine.