A PARTIAL verdict has been reached in the federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Judge Arun Subramanian received a letter from the jury at around 4:40 pm informing the court that the jury has reached a verdict on some of the charges.
In closing arguments, prosecutors described Combs as the “leader of a criminal enterprise” who used his expansive “wealth, power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted.”
“He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law,” Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik said.
“It was his kingdom. Everyone was there to serve him.”
The core evidence of the prosecution’s case was the disturbing and graphic nature of the drug-fueled “freak-offs” that at times Combs allegedly coerced his ex-girlfriends to participate in with male escorts.
Slavik described to jurors how Combs forced his former lovers Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane” into participating in the punishing sex marathons and with the help of an inner circle of “loyal lieutenants” covered up the alleged crimes.
Ventura and Jane were sometimes required to perform the lewd acts, which were also called “hotel nights and wild king nights,” while they were hurting from urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to prosecutors.
Ventura testified that the choreographed encounters, which she said were directed by Combs, could last days, with the longest she ever participated in being four days.
On the other hand, Combs’ defense team slammed the prosecution’s case as an attack on “your bedroom” and one’s sex life.
“They go into the man’s bedroom. They go into the man’s most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That’s the crime scene,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, said during closing arguments.
Agnifilo summarized the seven-week trial as a “tale of two trials,” arguing one side is the one told by the evidence of the case, by witnesses, videos, and text messages, and the other was a “badly, badly, exaggerated” story told by prosecutors.
The defense attorney argued the sexual encounters involving Combs, Ventura, “Jane,” and male escorts were consensual, and called the “freak-offs,” which were sometimes video recorded, “homemade porn.”
“You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is – that’s what the evidence shows,” Agnifilo told the jury.
“He did what he did. But he’s going to fight to the death to defend himself from what he didn’t do,” Agnifilo told the jury.
Read our live blog of the verdict of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial…
LOVE Island fans have been left fuming at ‘gaslighter’ Harry and called for him to be axed from the villa.
Viewers weren’t impressed by Harry’s conversation with his villa partner Shakira.
During the steamy Heart Rate challenge, it turned out fellow Islander Helena’s routine got Harry’s heart racing more than any other girl.
In the saucy challenge Helena made her desire for him clear when she whispered in Harry’s ear: “I want to f*** you.”
He immediately told Tommy to pass it on to the boys afterwards, and Dejon was left open-mouthed.
During his go, Harry whispered “do you still want to f*** me?” in Helena’s ear.
However, when discussing the results with Shakira afterwards, Harry neglected to tell her what had happened.
Fans were left unimpressed, as one wrote: “Shakira deserves so much better than Harry, casa amor please save her asap.”
Another added: “they all gaslight shakira??? how is helena saying it’s not deep knowing what her and harry whispered to each other??????”
A third wrote: “Harry mugging off shakira.”
While a fourth remarked: “shakira now we can dump harry you’ve given him enough chances.”
Harry and Helena struck up a connection early on, however, the playboy couldn’t help but keep his options open and things fizzled out as quickly as they started.
Having switched his attention to Shakira, after a snog-filled terrace trip with Yasmin, Helena was reluctant to be friends with him.
But her stint in the second villa for the Sleepover, which saw the arrival of four bombshells, made her realise she still had feelings for Harry.
It comes as viewers predicted Shakira could couple up with another villa boy.
She shared a steamy smooch with Irish rugby player Conor during a challenge called Snog, Marry, Pie.
Islanders had to kiss who they fancied the most, propose and marry the Islander they most thought of as marriage material, and pie the Islander who they didn’t fancy or had any previous issues with.
Since the pair shared a steamy smooch and Conor declared Shakira as the “fittest girl in the villa”, fans have predicted their blossoming romance.
Departures:
One person wrote: “Conor and Shakira? I could see that.”
Another said: “Anyone else think shakira and Conor might couple up at some point or is that a stretch?”
While a third wrote: “Hear me out… shakira and Conor,”
Love Island airs on ITV1 and ITVX.
A PARTIAL verdict has been reached in the federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Judge Arun Subramanian received a letter from the jury at around 4:40 pm informing the court that the jury has reached a verdict on some of the charges.
In closing arguments, prosecutors described Combs as the “leader of a criminal enterprise” who used his expansive “wealth, power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted.”
“He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law,” Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik said.
“It was his kingdom. Everyone was there to serve him.”
The core evidence of the prosecution’s case was the disturbing and graphic nature of the drug-fueled “freak-offs” that at times Combs allegedly coerced his ex-girlfriends to participate in with male escorts.
Slavik described to jurors how Combs forced his former lovers Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane” into participating in the punishing sex marathons and with the help of an inner circle of “loyal lieutenants” covered up the alleged crimes.
Ventura and Jane were sometimes required to perform the lewd acts, which were also called “hotel nights and wild king nights,” while they were hurting from urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to prosecutors.
Ventura testified that the choreographed encounters, which she said were directed by Combs, could last days, with the longest she ever participated in being four days.
On the other hand, Combs’ defense team slammed the prosecution’s case as an attack on “your bedroom” and one’s sex life.
“They go into the man’s bedroom. They go into the man’s most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That’s the crime scene,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, said during closing arguments.
Agnifilo summarized the seven-week trial as a “tale of two trials,” arguing one side is the one told by the evidence of the case, by witnesses, videos, and text messages, and the other was a “badly, badly, exaggerated” story told by prosecutors.
The defense attorney argued the sexual encounters involving Combs, Ventura, “Jane,” and male escorts were consensual, and called the “freak-offs,” which were sometimes video recorded, “homemade porn.”
“You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is – that’s what the evidence shows,” Agnifilo told the jury.
“He did what he did. But he’s going to fight to the death to defend himself from what he didn’t do,” Agnifilo told the jury.
Read our live blog of the verdict of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial…
COCO GAUFF caught the attention of the Wimbledon crowd and the tennis fans watching at home with her impressive outfit for her first round match at the All England Club.
Gauff, 21, suffered a first-round defeat to Dayana Yastremska, bringing her Wimbledon journey to premature end.
But despite not putting on her best performance, losing 7-6 6-1, the US tennis star still looked stylish as he gave it her best shot.
Ensuring not to break Wimbledon’s strict all-white dress code, Gauff managed to sport something different than the rest of the players – wearing an embroidered top with her skirt.
The detailed top, made by her sponsor New Balance, appeared to have nods to Wimbledon on it with embroidered strawberries and butterflies across the front.
And fans loved her nod to the historic competition and her outfit overall, taking to social media to react.
Wimbledon 2025 LIVE – follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19
One wrote: “Just seen Coco’s outfit and I am in love”.
While another added: “Coco’s outfit is so cute!”
A third commented: “Coco Gauff’s outfit is too cute for her to go home in R1”.
And a fourth gushed: “Coco’s outfit deserves more than one match. Damn it!”
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
Gauff exited the tournament in the first round despite being the No2 seed coming into the Grand Slam.
Her opponent, Dayana Yastremska, is currently ranked outside the top 45 – making her victory one of the greatest of her career.
Yastremska will now face Anastasia Zakharova in the second round to try and keep her Wimbledon journey alive.
While Gauff waved goodbye to the chance at a third Grand Slam, as well as the extra £33,000 she would have banked by advancing to the next round.
STEPHEN IRELAND was a popular LGBT activist, who co-founded Surrey Pride and held the important position of its head of safeguarding.
But he will now spend the next 24 years in prison after raping an “extremely vulnerable” 12-year-old boy in April 2024.
I was in Guildford Crown Court on Monday to watch Judge Patricia Lees hand Ireland, 42, his sentence, which included a further six years on extended licence.
His 27-year-old boyfriend and flatmate, David Sutton, was jailed for four and half years for his part in the sickening ordeal.
The boy — referred to in court as Child A — who had been reported missing at the time, had been lured to Ireland’s home in Surrey after meeting him on the popular gay dating app Grindr.
In a carefully calculated move, Ireland provided the boy with a set of instructions and a key code to his flat, to avoid being seen together in public.
The boy, tired and hungry, was given a bong to smoke, which was later found to be laced with methamphetamine, while pornography played on a laptop.
Then he was raped by Ireland and the assault filmed, for the sadistic enjoyment of their cohorts.
The four-week trial followed an extensive investigation by Surrey Police’s Complex Abuse Unit.
It began following the reported rape, which led to Ireland’s arrest in April 2024.
A search of a phone hidden in his flat revealed indecent images of children.
Ireland and Sutton were both arrested on June 11, 2024, for distribution and possession of indecent images of children, and on August 14, 2024, charges were authorised for 44 offences (later increased to 45) relating to both, covering the period between August 2022 and July 2024.
Ireland’s full list of crimes is horrifying.
He was also convicted of three counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault, conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, facilitating a child sexual offence, six counts of making child abuse imagery, distributing pornographic images of children, and possession of one of the most serious child abuse images, involving a toddler.
Sutton, who was a Surrey Pride volunteer, was sentenced for offences including voyeurism and possession and distribution of prohibited images of children.
He was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice for disposing of a phone owned by Surrey Pride (supposedly used for Pride business only).
On a separate device, police found a message from Ireland to Sutton, telling him to wipe all the images and messages off the Pride handset.
That device has never been found.
Child A had originally told Ireland he was 17, but when he later claimed in a message that he was 13, Ireland replied: “OK — we just have to keep it a secret.”
Sickeningly, he later told the boy he found his young age “naughty and kinky”.
Other messages between Ireland and Sutton described the child as a “14-year-old baby . . . who wants to play with men’s bodies”.
Judge Patricia Lees said Ireland and Sutton “fed off one another” and had supported one another in their “perversions”.
She said: “Stephen Ireland is a man who prided himself on being versed in and highly alive to the vulnerabilities of young people linked to the Surrey Pride organisation he was at the time pivotal to.
“‘A’ was quite obviously to any adult an extremely vulnerable child who was highly sexualised.
“Any responsible adult would have quickly appreciated that there was a high likelihood ‘A’ is a young man who had been the subject of sexual grooming by adult men at a very early age and been concerned for him instead of taking advantage.”
It is clear that Ireland, who co-founded Surrey Pride in 2018, used his position to gain access to young people and children.
He was once so revered by the community, he was chauffeured around by Surrey Police in its “Pride Car”.
But some volunteers had complained after feeling uneasy about the young age of his then boyfriend.
One of those, Eve — not her real name — told me: “There were some volunteers that raised concerns and there was a full safeguarding investigation, which was also escalated up to Surrey County Council.
“They had a huge issue about the fact that Ireland had a younger boyfriend, but he was above the age of 18, so that was that.”
Ireland was also involved in the Pride Hub, which encouraged young people to join in-person social events.
There is video footage of him sitting with an older “trans woman” telling kids they could “have sweets and popcorn” if they came along to a film screening.
He also gave talks to schools.
Throughout his time at the helm of Surrey Pride, Ireland waged a harassment campaign against Policing and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend, which included lobbying for her removal from office, and regularly referring to her as “anti-trans” and “exclusionary” in public.
So militant were his views on trans rights, he targeted gender critical feminists, including author JK Rowling, who had spoken out against transitioning children, and for the protection of women-only spaces.
In June 2020, Ireland tweeted: “How to ruin a legacy . . . Become a TERF! Very disappointing JK!”
Rowling posted on X about his 30-year sentence on Monday.
Maria Esposito, an LGB campaigner since the 1980s and an attendee of the inaugural Surrey Pride, expressed unease about how quickly Ireland appeared to embed both himself and Pride within mainstream institutions.
She said: “Watching them gain access to Surrey County Council, Surrey Police and local radio stations was deeply concerning.”
Esposito believes Surrey Pride should now be shut down.
A SCHOOLBOY told his teacher “I’m not right in the head” after he stabbed his classmate to death, a jury has been told.
He fatally stabbed his fellow pupil, 15, in the heart with a hunting knife at school as his classmates fled in terror.
Sheffield Crown Court was shown “shocking” footage of the stabbing at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on February 3.
The incident left 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose dead and other pupils fleeing “in fear and panic”.
The defendant “had an unhealthy and apparently longstanding interest in weapons”, prosecutors told the court on Tuesday.
They explained how he had photos on his phone of him posing with different weapons including hunting knives and a machete.
Prosecutors also added how a police officer had given the boy advice about the dangers of carrying weapons months before after his mother found an axe in his bag.
Richard Thyne KC, prosecuting, told the jury that after the fatal stabbing, the defendant told his headteacher, Sean Pender: “I’m not right in the head.
“My mum doesn’t look after me right, I’ve stabbed him.”
The prosecutor said the boy confirmed to Pender that he was referring to Harvey and that he had stabbed him once or twice.
Thyne said: “Whilst waiting for the emergency services to arrive, he also told Mr Pender that he was carrying the knife for protection.”
He told the jury that the altercation took place in the school courtyard as lunch break was starting before playing CCTV footage to the jurors, telling them: “It is shocking, but it is necessary to play it.”
The CCTV shows Harvey appearing to put his left hand on the defendant’s right arm before the defendant “takes a knife out of his left pocket, passes it across into his right hand, and then stabs twice at Harvey’s torso”.
Thyne then said that the defendant then advances towards Harvey, who backs away across the courtyard, before “the defendant returns towards where the incident began, gesturing towards Harvey with his knife, and appearing to shout at Harvey”.
The video shows Harvey running towards the defendant, who then advances for a second time “bouncing on his toes, still brandishing the knife”, the prosecutor said, adding that then “Harvey backs away”.
Thyne added that “other pupils fled in fear and panic” as the defendant went into the dining hall still holding the knife.
He told the jury that assistant headteacher, Morgan Davis, arrived and “found the defendant still waving the knife around”.
As Mr Davis told him to hand over the knife, the defendant was saying to him: “You know I can’t control it,” which Thyne said the teacher took to be a reference to his anger issues, given previous incidents of violent behaviour at school.
The prosecutor said: “Mr Davis held his hand out and took the knife from the defendant.
“At the same time the headteacher, Mr Pender, placed his arm around his shoulder and took him along the corridor to his office.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Thyne told the jury Harvey was stabbed in the heart with a hunting knife which had a 13cm, serrated-edged blade.
He said: “He also admits that the stabbing was not carried out in lawful self-defence.”
The jury has heard the defendant has admitted Harvey’s manslaughter, but denies murdering him.
The boy, who cannot be named, has also admitted possession of a knife on school premises.
Thyne told the jury about an incident five days before the stabbing, when two members of staff physically intervened in a dispute between two other students.
The prosecutor said the defendant tried to get involved and “had to be physically restrained and removed by staff”.
He told the jury that the school went into lockdown after the defendant said he had seen one of the two boys with a knife, but the police who attended did not find a weapon.
The prosecutor said the defendant did not go to school the following two days and a relative contacted the school to say he was “scared of going to school because of the lockdown”.
He said that Harvey, who was not at school when this incident happened, sent a text message to his dad saying “am not going in that school while people have knives”.
Thyne said this incident led to Harvey and the defendant falling out in a Snapchat group, with each siding with one of the boys involved in the initial dispute, who had been suspended.
He said that in one message on February 1, Harvey sent the defendant his address, telling him that if he had a problem “you got my Addy I’ll deal with it simple”.
Thyne said that the defendant gave police a written statement about what happened in the courtyard on February 3.
He said Harvey came up to him and said: “Do you want beef, I’ll have you this time.”
The defendant said in his statement that Harvey refused to shake his hand and “at that point I felt like he was going to attack me”.
He said: “Obviously, all these threats had been made to me previously and at that moment I thought he was going to use a weapon or knife against me.
“Without thinking and instinctively I pulled out the knife I had in my pocket and thrust it towards Harvey.
“I did this in self-defence.
“It was not my intention to cause him serious harm.
“At that moment I felt it was me or him, I had to protect myself.”
Thyne said the defendant had “had a significant history of becoming angry and using violence at school”.
The prosecutor said records from his previous school “show a pattern of behaviour ranging from defiance, through to the use of physical violence towards other pupils and property”.
Thyne said the defendant’s phone had photos on it of him posing with weapons and his internet search history included terms like zombie killer knife, dagger, pocket knife, and machete.
He told the jurors how, in December 2024, the defendant’s mother contacted the school about finding what she described as a sword in his bag, which turned out to be an axe.
A police officer visited the defendant’s home and gave him advice about the dangers of carrying weapons, the prosecutor said.
Addressing the jury, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, said: “He accepts what he did that day.
“He accepts responsibility for the tragic and lasting consequences of his actions.
“That is why he’s pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
“The defendant did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone.
“The defence say his actions that day were the end result of a long period of bullying, poor treatment and violence – things that built one upon another until he lost control and did tragically what we’ve all seen.”
GARDAI smashed a Brit-led gang’s attempts to smuggle €31million worth of cocaine through Ireland today.
The massive haul was snatched off the southwest coast after armed gardai intervened in Courtmacsherry, Cork — with two men arrested.
Detectives are probing if the drugs had come from South America and suspect that Ireland was being used as “a gateway” to send the shipment onto England.
The Irish Navy caught two other members of the gang who had attempted to flee in a high-powered Rigid Inflatable Boat.
A source told The Irish Sun: “It was a hugely successful operation by gardai and their partners and should serve as a major warning for international drug gangs targeting the Irish coastline.”
The seizure is the largest since the €157million nabbed on board the MV Matthew in September 2023, with eight of its crew set to be sentenced at the Special Criminal Court later this week.
The dramatic operation in the early hours of this morning came off the back of intelligence received by gardai.
A joint task force led by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau — which included Revenue, the Irish Naval Service and local cops — had monitored a number of men and vehicles for over 24 hours in the run-up to the seizure.
The coke was brought ashore just after 4am this morning and packed into a van off Broadstrand.
When gardai looking on saw enough, the Emergency Response Unit intervened and stopped the van with their guns drawn.
Two men from the UK and Germany were taken from the vehicle as cops recovered the cocaine.
At the same time, two men who were on the RIB fled as the Naval Service gave chase.
The Irish Naval ship L.E. William Butler Yeats — on patrol in the area as part of the op — responded, supported by a Maritime patrol aircraft from the Irish Air Corps, who also provided overhead surveillance during the operation.
Two Naval Service rigid-hulled inflatable boats, carrying armed members from the Maritime Interdiction Team, were launched from the L.E. William Butler Yeats and intercepted the suspect boat off the coast of Cork.
These two suspects — one from Scotland and the other from England — were later caught and handed over to gardai.
A source said: “Gardai suspect these individuals were part of a UK organised crime gang.
“At this stage it appears the drugs were destined for the UK market and Ireland was being used as a gateway.
“Clearly a lot of planning had gone into this and work is underway to establish who else was involved, aside from the arrested men.”
The four suspects — all aged in their 30s and 40s — have been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and could be hit with a variety of charges under gangland legislation.
They can be held for a week before being either charged or released, with detectives liaising with the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Gardai are working closely with Interpol and colleagues in the UK as part of their efforts to establish the suspects’ backgrounds.
Investigators are also probing if Irish criminal gangs who provide certain logistical and transport support to other known criminal networks were involved.
The four men in custody are said to be vital cogs in the wheel in this particular operation but lower down the chain of command.
Two are suspected of collecting the drug shipment and bringing it to shore while the other two were there to collect it.
Gardai also believe the drugs were initially collected by a mother ship, but it has yet to be located.
In recent weeks, senior Gardai in Cork have held briefings to discuss the threat posed by transnational drugs gangs over the summer months.
Although Europe’s traditional drug networks have previously used the summer to transport shipments of cocaine across the Atlantic, they have also arranged shipments in late autumn and spring.
A source said: “The international gangs seem to be more brazen and their shipments are happening all year round now.
“They have vessels that can be used in adverse weather conditions.
“They also have access to RIBs that are faster than some of those used by the Irish Naval Service.”
West Cork Fine Gael Senator Noel O’Donovan and ex-member of An Garda Siochana commended the work of local and national units of the force as well as the Naval Service and Air Corps.
He said: “Early indications say this operation was under surveillance for the last number of days so that is a testament to all involved for their professionalism and success in combating the importation of drugs and its further transportation.
“This is a significant detection — the biggest drug bust in Ireland this year.
“In West Cork, we are well aware how narcotics can be smuggled into this country and the continent.
“All involved in this operation — An Garda Siochana, Naval Service, Air Corps — have worked extremely well together and shown their capabilities in taking on criminal gangs and international smugglers.”
O’Donovan added: “This capture highlights again the increased need for further Garda resources in West Cork — more Gardai patrolling our rural areas prevents and deters criminal activity.
“And indeed further investment in our Naval Service and Air Corp to continue this good work and combat criminality.
“I will be working with all, including Tanaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris, to progress this.”
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan also hailed yesterday’s op.
He said: “Another major cocaine seizure worth up to €31million by gardai this morning. Excellent co-operation involving Gardai, Defence Forces and Revenue, and another example of our work to disrupt the criminal gangs involved.”
Tanaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris posted on X: “I have been briefed by the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces on today’s significant joint-agency operation.”
He added: “I want to commend members of An Garda Siochana, Defence Forces, Naval Service and Revenue for their close collaboration in securing such a successful outcome.”
LEFTOVERS are a great way to save money and cut food waste, but keeping them safe and tasty for more than a day or two can be tricky.
But according to Plumbworld, a bathroom and kitchen expert, there is one humble kitchen staple that could help.
The simple, affordable ingredient has been trusted for centuries to help food stay fresher for longer thanks to its natural acidity, which can slow down bacterial growth and spoilage.
Vinegar does not just work for pickling — it can act as a light preservative even in ordinary meals.
When added in small amounts to cooked dishes, sauces or marinades, it can help limit the growth of bacteria and fungi that cause food to spoil quickly.
And with so many households throwing away perfectly edible food, this age-old trick could be a game-changer in modern kitchens.
Vinegar contains acetic acid, which lowers the pH of foods and creates an environment where many spoilage-causing bacteria and mould struggle to survive.
It is a preservation method still used today in pickling and quick marinades, and a splash of vinegar can help protect your leftovers in a similar way.
“The acid in vinegar makes it harder for bacteria to multiply,” says Plumbworld.
“It is a simple kitchen tool that can boost the safety of your leftovers without complicated steps.”
You do not need to turn all your food into pickles to prolong your leftovers with vinegar.
Simply adding a teaspoon of the cupboard staple to sauces or dressings before storing can help prolong their freshness.
For cooked vegetables, a light vinegar splash before sealing in the fridge may also delay spoilage.
A splash of white vinegar added to leftover soup or pasta sauce before chilling can help extend freshness without noticeably affecting the flavour.
With grains like rice or quinoa, mixing in a little vinegar-based dressing can slow bacterial growth while adding a subtle tang.
And you should always keep food in airtight containers as well, since proper sealing is just as important.
Vinegar can help slow spoilage, but it does not make food immortal.
Leftovers should still be stored promptly in the fridge (ideally below 5 °C) and eaten within 3–4 days. If anything smells, looks or tastes wrong, it should be thrown away.
It is also important not to rely on vinegar as a substitute for basic food safety — such as reheating thoroughly, cooling cooked food quickly, and never leaving leftovers out at room temperature for more than two hours. These practices work alongside vinegar’s preserving power — not in place of it.
Plumbworld reminds: “Vinegar is a helpful tool, but not a magic cure — good hygiene and proper refrigeration are still essential.”
Plumbworld notes: “Airtight containers work hand in hand with a bit of vinegar — the container limits oxygen, while the vinegar slows bacteria.”
White vinegar is the go-to option thanks to its neutral flavour, but apple cider vinegar or even mild wine vinegars can work depending on the taste of the dish.
But you should avoid strongly flavoured balsamic or spiced vinegars for delicate foods, as these can alter flavour more noticeably.
Plumbworld’s experts conclude: “Vinegar is one of those brilliant old-school tricks that deserves a place in modern kitchens.
“It helps you cut food waste, protect your health, and keep leftovers fresher for longer.”