Special education overhaul under threat amid surge in applications
● Worried parents rush to secure support before the system changes
Thinktank's analysis finds funding rise to pay for the reforms is at risk
Richard Adams
Education editor
Labour's flagship reforms to special education in England are at risk of unravelling because parents are rushing to secure support for their children before the system changes, new analysis has found.
The Institute for Government thinktank says the plans to largely replace education, health and care plans (EHCPs) with more widespread support in mainstream schools may be too optimistic and take longer to complete than their 2030 timeline.
The thinktank's report calls on the government to review the timetable for the changes. And it suggests that if ministers do not act they "risk basing both their reforms and spending plans on assumptions that the system cannot deliver".
The news will be seen as a sign that the ambitious plans to reform the special education system did not reckon with the scale of worry among parents, many of whom appear to have acted to ensure support to avoid uncertainty in the future.
The Guardian recently reported that councils and schools had recorded a surge in applications from pupils with EHCPs, individualised packages of support agreed between parents and local authorities that can be enforced by specialist tribunals. One school described the level of applications as “unreal” compared with previous years. Several councils now project that at the current rates of increase, nearly one in 10 pupils will have an EHCP by 2029.
Amber Dellar, the author of the IfG report out this week, said the introduction of the changes over a prolonged period created 7 →
Arise, Sir Kevin Rugby star who raised millions for MND
Ex-England rugby league captain Kevin Sinfield said his friend Rob Burrow, who died from MND, would be 'enormously proud' to see him become a knight bachelor
When the news broke that David Reuben, one of the UK's richest men, had apparently fled to the tax haven of Monaco, there was much pearl-clutching. Reuben had moved from his Holland Park house in London to live full-time in the principality.
Labour's tax regime was blamed, with fears of a cascading effect across the economy with wealth draining from the UK. It was reported across the world that he had probably left because of potential taxes on wealth in the forthcoming budget.
However, research by TaxWatch has found that Reuben, 88, has been tax resident in Monaco since at least 2014. A spokesperson for the
Newcastle United FC shareholder, who with his brother Simon, 85, shares a combined estimated wealth of almost £28bn, confirmed this was the case.
Simon Reuben has lived in Monaco for 40 years since moving on health grounds while he had cancer.
The principality is a popular place for those who do not wish to pay UK taxes as it does not 8 →
希利的预算预计将相对温和，重要决定将推迟到明年。其中包括英国何时将国防支出实施为 GDP 的 $3 —— 这是希利在 6 月辞去国防大臣职务时声称致力于实现的目标。在 28 October 的声明中，财政大臣预计将重点填补基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）政府在 6 月宣布的国防投资计划中的空白，并阐明部分所得税收入将如何下放到地区市长手中。
📄 Original Section
Christa Pike awake after botched execution
Adam Gabbatt
Maya Yang
Christa Pike, a Tennessee prisoner who survived the state's attempt to execute her, was awake and speaking in hospital, her lawyers said yesterday, as a judge ordered officials to preserve all evidence relating to the botched execution.
Pike, 50, survived two supposedly lethal doses of a sedative as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death last Wednesday in a case that shocked many in America and created headlines around the world. She was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Pike's lawyers said she had pneumonia and a blood clot, and was unable to move either of her badly injured arms, after she regained consciousness on Tuesday.
"The first thing she said was: 'Where am I and who are you?', one of Pike's lawyers said yesterday.
Pike was taken to hospital unconscious but alive from Tennessee's execution chamber last Wednesday after two doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital.
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Britain on course for record fall in living standards, Healey is warned
Heather Stewart
Jessica Elgot
Soaring energy and housing costs mean Labour is on course to preside over the worst parliament for living standards in modern times, a stark analysis warned yesterday.
With three weeks until John Healey's budget, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said Britain faced a "dire" outlook without "bold policy action".
The JRF predicts that, after housing costs, average household incomes will be between £440 and £770 lower in real terms in 2029-30 than when Labour came to power two years ago.
Even the lower end of that range would mark the biggest decline in living standards since modern records began in 1961, the thinktank said, and come on top of a tight squeeze in the last parliament.
Louise Haigh, the first secretary of state, has been tasked by Andy Burnham to lead the Cabinet Office cross-government taskforces, with two focusing on turning around living standards. One is looking at short-term cost of living measures to help on housing and energy, and the other at big structural interventions such as public control that might alleviate those pressures in the longer term.
Their work will form part of the 10-year plan expected this autumn, which Burnham began discussing with cabinet ministers this week.
Haigh has repeatedly told officials that there will have to be “trade-offs” in order to prioritise alleviating the cost of living and public control.
At the budget, Burnham has promised to offer “breathing space” to voters and Healey is expected to pledge £1bn in additional support to energy consumers, but there are ▲ A street in Harehills, Leeds. Rising energy prices and mortgage costs are hammering British households
PHOTOGRAPH: RICHARD SAKER/THE GUARDIAN
concerns inside government about whether that goes far enough.
Healey is reportedly set to rebuff a call from the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, to spend billions more on removing levies from bills altogether. The most likely solution is understood to be increasing the warm homes discount - a £150 discount to energy bills offered to households on certain benefits - by £100.
The JRF's living standards analysis used the Bank of England's two projections for energy prices - a "central" and an "adverse" scenario. The thinktank pointed out that since the Bank set these out in July, events have tracked close to the adverse scenario, with oil prices surging back above \$100 a barrel after hostilities resumed in the Middle East.
By driving up the cost of energy, the conflict has increased expectations
Largest fall in living standards since at least 1964 expected during the current parliament
Average annual change in real disposable income after housing costs by parliament, %
Source: JRF analysis of OBR and BoE data
that the Bank will raise the base interest rate to tackle resurgent inflation. Markets are now betting on four quarter-point increases to 4.75% by the end of next year.
Borrowing costs for homebuyers have already jumped in response to the turmoil in bond markets, with the average cost of a five-year fixed rate mortgage hitting 6% this week for the first time in three years.
Chris Belfield, the chief economist at the JRF, said: "Without bold policy action on living standards, families are set to be poorer than they were a decade ago. This is terrible both for families who are just treading water to get by and the more than 7 million families who are already routinely going without essentials like food and basic toiletries."
Some forecasts have suggested the typical household dual-fuel bill could leap by 16% to £2,000 a year in the first quarter of next year. The foundation has argued for more ambitious measures on energy than Healey appears minded to offer. It wants to see cheaper energy offered to all households, with those in greater need entitled to more of these cut-price units of gas and electricity.
Other recommendations include making benefits more generous, by relinking local housing allowance to average rents; and increasing universal credit, as the Conservatives did during the Covid pandemic. This could be paid for via changes such as increasing capital gains tax rates to match income tax, it argues.
Healey's budget is expected to be relatively modest, with important decisions delayed until next year. These include when the UK will implement spending $3\%$ of GDP on defence - a target Healey claimed to be committed to when he resigned as defence secretary in June. In his 28 October statement, the chancellor is expected to focus on filling the gaps in the defence investment plan announced by Keir Starmer's government in June, and laying out how some income tax revenue will be devolved to regional mayors.
Brexit, Covid and Truss 'caused lasting damage to mental health'
Denis Campbell
Health policy editor
Brexit, Liz Truss's mini-budget and other "shocks" over the past 10 years have led to a serious and lasting deterioration in the UK population's mental health, research has found.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the first and second Covid lockdowns also triggered big rises in psychological distress, as measured by the number of people suffering depression and anxiety.
The findings come as Prof Peter Fonagy prepares to publish the report of his long-awaited government-commissioned inquiry into the dramatic increases in recent years in diagnoses of mental illness, ADHD and autism. It will be published tomorrow amid concern that those conditions help explain why a record 2.8 million Britons are too ill to work and almost a million young people aged 16 to 24 have become "Neets" - not in education, employment or training.
Researchers led by Dr Annie Jeffery of University College London used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study of 87,857 people aged 16 and over, which was collected every year between 2009 and 2024, to estimate the mental health impact of those five “systemic shocks”. The team’s findings have been published in the journal BMJ Mental Health.
"The past decade or so has been tumultuous, shaped by multiple overlapping shocks and ongoing uncertainty and instability that have impacted mental health in Britain," said Jeffery.
"We have shown that major government decisions and current global events can have substantial impacts on people's mental health."
All five events caused immediate and serious damage to overall mental wellbeing across the UK. But the
Brexit referendum in June 2016 and first pandemic lockdown in March 2020 caused the most damage, the research team found.
Their analysis of the General Household Survey's GHQ-12 questionnaire, which measures mental health, found that the UK's vote to leave the European Union led to an increase in overall mental ill-health equivalent to about 120,000 more people overall seeking a GP's help for depression.
However, the first Covid lockdown had a much larger impact than Brexit, as measured by a bigger rise in the UK's GHQ-12 score. That jump equated to about 900,000 more people in total visiting a family doctor because they had developed symptoms of depression, Jeffery said.
▲ Liz Truss's budget led to 23,000 more people a month visiting a GP
Russia's full-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022 led to about 15,000 more Britons a month seeking a GP's help for depression. After the then prime minister Liz Truss's mini-budget in September that year, which proved disastrous for the UK economy, about 23,000 more people a month visited their family doctor's surgery for depression.
Andy Bell, the chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health think-tank, said: "There is clear evidence that Covid had a big impact on mental health. And it makes sense that the other 'shocks' listed here would do so, either directly by making people feel less secure and less connected, or as after-effects, for example the cost of living crisis."
Mental ill-health costs the UK £300bn a year, the thinktank said.
The number of people in England in contact with NHS mental health services rose from 2.638m in 2016-17 to 4.129m in 2024-25. New referrals to the NHS every month for mental ill-health have jumped from 360,000 in April 2022 to 530,000 in July 2026 - up 47%.
News
Jonathan in the grounds of Plantation House, the governor's mansion in St Helena. Above, pictured (left) in 1886, when he was in his early 50s
Live slow, die old? Jonathan the tortoise, 194, offers clues to the secrets of longevity
Ian Sample
Science editor
The ancient quest to extend the human lifespan has received a boost after scientists analysed the genetic code of the world's oldest living land animal, a giant tortoise called Jonathan.
The tortoise, who lives in the grounds of Plantation House, the official residence of the governor of St Helena in the south Atlantic, is believed to be 194 years old, making him a contemporary of Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin.
Analysis of Jonathan's DNA revealed several genetic variants in most of the biological pathways for ageing that scientists have discovered. Together they help organisms survive by repairing damaged DNA, regulating their metabolism and fending off cancer.
More intriguing to the researchers were chemical patterns on Jonathan's genes that appeared to protect the healthy functioning of his mitochondria, the tiny, battery-like structures that power biological cells. Ailing mitochondria have been strongly linked to ageing and age-related diseases.
"We're still trying to work out how ageing occurs and Jonathan gives us a real window on to what happens over a long period of time," said Stephen Clark, a senior researcher on the project at the nonprofit Kallel Foundation. "His mitochondria must be especially stable and that's an insight into longevity in general: it's important that the mitochondria are kept as pristine as possible."
The international team, led by Benjamin Vaisvil, looked at chemical tags that attach to DNA, creating patterns that change over time. The tags, known as methyl groups, typically silence the genes they latch on to.
Writing in the journal Science Advances, the researchers describe how they compared the methylation patterns on Jonathan's genes with those from other giant tortoises. The patterns on many of his genes were similar to those of other old tortoises,
🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Send overhaul under threat amid surge in applications》]
a “moral hazard” that encouraged parents to apply for EHCPs now rather than wait for the new system.
"There's a 'use it before you lose it' dynamic, as schools and parents have an incentive to secure EHCPs before they are phased out, because there's a lot of uncertainty about what these new specialist packages of support will contain and who will be eligible for them," Dellar said.
She said new resources had been added as part of the plan in order to reduce the need for families to seek EHCPs. However, she said budgets for the additional resources for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) would be eroded if demands for EHCPs shot above the government's own forecasts. Councils say that they have to keep issuing EHCPs until the legislation is repealed.
She said: “The government has a lot riding on the reforms taking effect before they fully kick in - its spending plans for the parliament have some assumptions about savings baked in that are based in particular on them being able to slow the growth or the trajectory of numbers of pupils with EHCPs. It has a lot politically riding on it as well, and of course in terms of the wellbeing of the children and families involved.”
A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said: "The figures in this report are speculative and there is no evidence that proposed reforms are driving additional EHCP demand.
"We inherited a Send system with record numbers of EHCPs and families waiting months for support. We are already investing to change that - backing schools to improve inclusion, widening access to specialists and rolling out training for every teacher to better support children before needs escalate.
"It is vital that we take the time needed to get this right, but we are completely committed to the implementation timelines set out in the schools white paper and will announce next steps soon."
▲ The Nuffield Foundation raises concerns about future Send funding
The changes announced in February under Keir Starmer promised to overhaul a system that parents have denounced for forcing them to seek EHCPs to secure specialist support or a place in a special school.
Many parents said the EHCP application process - introduced by the Conservatives in 2014 - required lengthy waits for NHS assessments for conditions such as ADHD or autism, or great expense for those who paid for private assessments. Families then face bureaucratic delays from schools and local authorities, or from legal appeals to a specialist Send tribunal to override council objections.
Mark Franks, the director of welfare at the Nuffield Foundation, which funded the report, said: "While there is broad agreement that the current system is under strain, uncertainty and concern remain about whether future levels of investment and the nature of reform will be sufficient to provide high-quality support for all children and young people."
The IfG said the extra costs of Send provision could absorb “around two-thirds of the generous schools funding uplift over this parliament”.
The package of reforms would see mainstream schools given greater support for SEN pupils, including the creation of specialist bases, allowing pupils to attend local schools and reduce pressure on special schools. The DfE also wants individual support plans to replace many EHCPs.
Dellar said: “The way the government is approaching these Send reforms is deliberately to take a slow, phased approach - largely because it knows that those investments are going to take a while to have an effect. Its investments in early assessment are going to take a little time to bear fruit, it has not yet properly set out exactly what preventative support it wants schools to put in place.”
Tycoon cited as Labour wealth tax exile 'in Monaco since 2014'
impose income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax.
In July 2019, when David became a director of the Reuben foundation, the paperwork filed at the UK company registry stated he was “usually resident” in Monaco. In 2024 he provided a signed declaration to a Los Angeles court stating: “I reside in Monaco. I have resided there for approximately 10 years.”
It was reported that the Reuben brothers were “non-doms”, which allowed them to pay tax only on income generated here. The then chancellor, Rachel Reeves, axed this system in April last year, prompting a reported exodus of foreign super-rich individuals.
Asked whether Reuben would have been caught by changes to these rules if he had not decided to move out of his UK residence, a spokesperson said: "That's an entirely hypothetical question to which it would be impossible to give an answer."
Mike Lewis, the director of Tax-Watch, told the Guardian: "When we started looking into this, we were surprised that publicly available documents completely contradicted a major news story. Sadly, these kinds of stories dominate the UK's public and political conversation about our tax system.
"The autumn budget may see some of the biggest changes in years to how gains from wealth are taxed. Perhaps it's time that our politicians, and our media, debate these changes based on public facts and verifiable numbers - not anecdotes and anonymous reports from billionaires and their spokespeople."
The Labour MP Clive Lewis, who campaigns for a wealth tax, said: 'If you want to live in this country, being British, having access to the culture of London, people want that, and there are lots of billionaires and millionaires who do stay because of that.
"It's instructive that there is a grouping of commentators who put on the scare tactics to say the wealthy are leaving this country. We can see that many of these billionaires don't reside here anyway, many of them do stay here, and those who want to
Simon Reuben, left, and his brother David, who had been said to have fled the UK recently over wealth tax fears go, we can't stop them anyway. This has always been the case."
Some of the super-rich are leaving. An analysis of Bloomberg's Billionaires Index has found that super-rich UK residents worth a combined £121bn had either left or loosened ties with the UK since the Labour government came to power in 2024. This represents more than half of all billionaire wealth. Among those who have left are the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and the shipping magnate John Fredriksen.
Inheritance tax changes in Reeves's budget were also blamed for pushing the wealthy out, and it is thought capital gains tax may be increased this autumn.
Born in Mumbai, the Reuben brothers moved to London as teenagers and went to a state school. They left aged 17 with no A-levels, started businesses in metal trading and carpet importing and have since built a property empire. They own prestigious locations including Mayfair's chandelier-festooned Burlington Arcade, Admiralty Arch, which is being developed into a five-star hotel, and Millbank tower in Westminster.
Milking it
Heifers are paraded for judging as part of the Dairy Show at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet. The event is one of the most important dates in a dairy farmer's calendar and includes a display of top breeds.
Husband of GP, 45, appears in court charged with her murder
Neha Gohil
Midlands correspondent
The husband of a GP appeared in court yesterday charged with her murder. Dr Hannah Cain, 45, was found dead at her home in Dersingham, near the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, last Sunday.
Mark Cain, 45, of the same address, was arrested and charged with her murder on Tuesday afternoon. He appeared before Norwich magistrates court, where he was not asked to enter a plea, and was remanded in custody.
Jacqui Hanlon, for the prosecution, told the court that when paramedics went to the house early on Sunday Dr Cain was “found in an upstairs bedroom not breathing, not conscious”.
The ambulance service contacted the police at 2:25am, the court was told. Children were present in the property at the time, the prosecutor said.
The district judge Matthew Bone said the case would be sent to King's Lynn crown court, where Mr Cain was due to appear this morning.
Dr Cain was listed as a member of the practice team at Grimston
◀ Hannah Cain, known to her patients as Hannah Terry, was found dead at her home on Sunday
medical centre, where she was known professionally as Dr Hannah Terry. According to the Sun, she served in a pool of doctors who were regularly on call for members of the royal family nearby.
The medical centre announced its temporary closure on Monday. "We are sorry to let patients know that Grimston medical centre, including the dispensary, is temporarily closed due to extremely difficult circumstances affecting our practice team," a Facebook post read. "We apologise for the disruption and appreciate your patience and understanding at what is a very difficult time for our colleagues."
Live fuel prices on Google Maps hailed as competition ‘game-changer’
Jillian Ambrose
Energy correspondent
Drivers can see live petrol prices on Google Maps for the first time from today, in a move that will help motorists shop around for the cheapest fuel.
Millions of motorists can find the cheapest petrol and diesel prices by searching for a local forecourt in the Google app, in what could prove to be “a major development” in making fuel prices more fair, according to campaigners.
The tech company will use data from the government's fuel finder platform, which displays real-time prices at $99\%$ of forecourts, to show Google Maps users the cheapest in their area.
It is expected to make forecourt pricing more transparent and encourage competition between fuel retailers, as millions face record-high fuel costs due to the global squeeze on supplies prompted by the US-Israel war on Iran. The average price of diesel in the UK recently hit a record £2 a litre, having risen by more than 40% since late February.
Edmund King, the president of motoring group the AA, said: "Getting transparent fuel prices on to Google Maps is a massive step forward and means most drivers will have easy access to pump prices. Hopefully, this high-level pump price transparency will also encourage more competitive prices from retailers.
"More transparent prices should reduce the extent of rampant price-matching between fuel stations that is currently seen in many areas. Forecourts that break rank and offer lower fuel prices will now stand out more."
The government's fuel finder scheme was launched in February to help drivers get more competitive fuel prices after a recommendation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2023. It is already available via apps including Waze, PetrolPrices, the AA, Confused.com and RAC Fuel Watch.
Luke Bosdet, a spokesperson for the AA, said the Google launch would not necessarily dampen interest in the existing apps, such was “the demand for fuel price information”.
However, the development could "signal trouble for the fuel trade by revealing pricing tactics which keep local prices artificially high", he said.
The CMA cautioned fuel retailers in August that many were still slow to pass on falls in wholesale diesel prices. These “passive pricing strategies” may have dented competition in the market and kept household costs higher than they needed to be, the watchdog said.
Polly Billington, the minister for energy consumers, said: "It is a game-changer for near real-time fuel prices to be shown on Google Maps for the first time in the UK."
National
国内新闻
📄 Original Section
Gene therapy can partially restore sight in blind people, trial of Nobel-winning technique reveals
Nicola Davis
Science correspondent
A type of gene therapy based on Nobel prize-winning science is safe and can partially restore sight in blind people, researchers have revealed.
The approach, known as optogenetic therapy, harnesses the technique for turning nerve cells on and off using light that scooped the 2026 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine.
It was first shown to partially restore vision in a single blind person in 2021. Now researchers have reported the results from a larger trial involving the original patient and nine others. "What we can say for sure is that the concept of optogenetics is valid for vision restoration," said Prof Botond Roska, director of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel and a lead author of the study.
Roska added that the aim was now to work towards restoring high-resolution vision, with the hope of achieving the goal in five to 10 years.
All 10 of the trial participants had advanced retinitis pigmentosa, a group of genetic disorders thought to affect more than 1.5 million people worldwide.
In these disorders, light-sensitive cells in the retina gradually lose their function. However, ganglion cells in the retina, which send visual information to the brain, deteriorate less quickly.
"These cells are not the primary cells targeted by the disease, so that's why they are good candidates for the therapy," said Dr José-Alain Sahel, another lead author of the study, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the US.
The gene therapy involves giving a single injection into the eye. This injection contains a harmless, synthetic virus that delivers the genetic instructions for producing a light-sensitive protein into a ring of surviving ganglion cells.
'What we can say for sure is that the concept of optogenetics is valid for vision restoration'
Prof Botond Roska
Lead author
As a result, these cells are made light-sensitive.
Each patient then receives a pair of light-stimulating goggles. These capture images of the world around the patient and convert them into pulses of light of a single wavelength. These pulses activate the ganglion cells that have been made light-sensitive, allowing the wearer to perceive a monochrome image.
Crucially, the technique does not depend on the exact genetic cause of the patient's sight loss.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers report how for each patient they treated only the eye with the worst vision, adding that participants' outcomes were then followed for up to five years.
Only one severe eye-related side-effect occurred, but this was resolved within minutes, while there were no side-effects related to the therapy in the rest of the body.
However, six of the 10 participants had clinically meaningful improvements in light sensitivity after the treatment.
What is more, some of the participants showed improvements in a range of tasks when wearing the light-stimulating goggles after the gene therapy - such as detecting, locating and touching a notebook, locating a door and walking on a line.
The team added that participants who spent more time training with the goggles tended to do better on the tasks.
However, the study has limitations. “[Patients] can detect objects, but they cannot yet detect faces,” said Roska. That, the team says, is down to the treated ganglion cells being in a ring-like arrangement around the fovea - the tiny pit in the retina responsible for sharp central vision.
Mark Hankins, professor of visual neuroscience at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the work, welcomed the study, noting that it provided reassurance on the safety of the approach and its application to people who still had some residual vision.
"We've gone from one patient to 10 patients, we've seen improvement in their light sensitivity ... and we've seen that we can give a stable restoration of some visual function, some light sensitivity, that lasts for four or five years in these patients," Hankins said. "They're baby steps, but they're critical."
He added: "If we can give people very primitive levels of vision, we can restore some level of independence," he said. "And that's really important."
Chemistry prize goes to pair for their work on mirror-image molecules
Linda Geddes
The 2026 Nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to two scientists for discoveries that show how chemical reactions can produce an overwhelming excess of one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.
Henri B Kagan at Paris-Sud University in France and Kensō Soai at Tokyo University of Science in Japan have been awarded the prize "for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis".
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners in Stockholm yesterday. They will share of a prize of 12m Swedish kronor - about £900,000.
Many molecules, including amino acids that form the building blocks of proteins, can exist in two forms that contain the same atoms, but are mirror images of one another, much like a person's left and right hands. This property is known as chirality.
However, the chemistry underpinning life is surprisingly homochiral, or same-handed. Proteins are built almost exclusively from L-amino acids, while the sugars that form the backbone of DNA and RNA have the opposite D-configuration.
How this homochirality could have emerged when chemical reactions in the laboratory typically produce equal quantities of both forms had long puzzled scientists. The question also had practical consequences: "Although these molecules look very similar, they can behave very differently when they interact with other molecules," said Prof Andre Cobb, an organic chemist at King's College London.
"This matters enormously for medicines because many of the molecules in our bodies, including proteins that drugs target, are themselves chiral," he added. "So the 'left-handed' and 'right-handed' versions of a drug can interact with the body in different ways which can lead to different or weakened drug effects."
The drug thalidomide provides a potent example. During the early 1960s, thousands of children were affected by birth defects after their mothers were prescribed it to combat morning sickness during pregnancy. Researchers subsequently found differences in the biological effects of the drug's two mirror-image forms.
Manufacturers wanted a way of steering reactions towards particular forms of the molecules that they produced, and Kagan and Soai eventually provided a solution.
Value of the chemistry prize in Swedish kronor - £900,000 - which will be shared by the two winners ▲ Kensō Soai, lecturer at the Tokyo University of Science and co-winner of the Nobel prize in chemistry, at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday
PHOTOGRAPH: KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS
12m
It began in 1986, when Kagan discovered that a relatively small imbalance between left- and right-handed forms of a catalyst could create a greater excess of one of the mirror image products than the other.
Soai took the idea further, developing a reaction in which the molecules that were produced themselves acted as catalysts for making more of themselves, a process known as autocatalysis.
"You have to be aware, this is probably the coolest experiment in organic chemistry ever," said Prof Peter Somfai, an organic chemist at Lund University and a member of the Nobel committee for chemistry.
In 2003, Soai demonstrated a reaction that produced almost exclusively one mirror-image form, reproducing the kind of molecular one-handedness found in living organisms for the first time.
Speaking by telephone at yesterday's announcement, Soai, 76, said he was "very proud" of the experiment as it offered a potential explanation for how the molecular one-handedness of life could have arisen. He described hearing the news about the prize as "one of the most exciting days of my life".
Taken together, Kagan and Soai's discoveries have "reshaped our understanding of molecular chirality, how it is created, amplified and transmitted", Somfai said.
These insights have since become embedded in the development of catalysts that steer chemical reactions towards producing a particular mirror image form across different industries.
"It might be difficult to say that this drug or that drug was developed using this," Somfai said. I would say all of them because we use this as a tool. We use this as an understanding of how to develop catalysts and how they function."
▼ Kemi Badenoch and her husband, Hamish, are greeted by supporters after her speech in Birmingham
在伦敦北部英国犹太人代表委员会（Board of Deputies of British Jews）办公室外的一次抗议活动中，共有11人被捕，其中5人涉嫌煽动种族仇恨。
警方表示，其余逮捕行动是在首都其他地点的学生亲巴勒斯坦抗议活动中进行的。
亲巴勒斯坦抗议者还在爱丁堡大学和格拉斯哥大学举行了集会。
国家版
📄 Original Section
Badenoch 'prioritising the wealthiest' with plan to abolish inheritance tax
Pippa Crerar
Political editor
Kemi Badenoch said yesterday that a Conservative government would abolish inheritance tax on family homes, prompting criticism she is prioritising cutting taxes for the rich.
The Tory leader also said couples would be able to leave an additional tax-free sum of £1m to their families as the party attempts to shore up its traditional base in southern England.
The move would mean the number of families paying inheritance tax - currently less than 5% do so - would fall by more than a half, Badenoch said, with the £6bn cost to be paid for by cuts including to the welfare bill the party says it has identified.
"My ambition is to abolish inheritance tax altogether as soon as we can afford it," she told the party conference in Birmingham. "I believe the people who work hard and save should be rewarded for that effort.
"So this is my guarantee: no stamp duty when you buy your home, no mansion tax when you live in your home, and no inheritance tax on your home when you pass it to your children or grandchildren."
The Tories' policy plans announced this week - including free childcare for those earning more than £100,000 - have been firmly focused on affluent middle-class voters, many of whom deserted the party at the last election.
They have been welcomed by Tory MPs and activists, who are relieved that Badenoch appears to be trying to shore up the party's core support despite her natural proclivity to lean into culture wars on the right.
However, the inheritance tax plans are likely to raise fears about overheating the housing market, giving elderly homeowners an incentive to stay in large family homes rather than downsize. The move also prompted accusations the party was favouring the rich over struggling families.
In a statement, the campaign group Tax Justice UK said: "Kemi Badenoch has just announced a massive inheritance tax giveaway to some of the wealthiest people in Britain. This is a reckless policy that will deprive public services of cash."
Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, said: "The biggest beneficiaries would be those with the highest wealth and the most valuable homes. These will mostly be people living in London and the south-east."
Reform UK suggested Badenoch's inheritance tax plans would affect just 2% of houses, mostly in London. Its finance spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, added: "The Tory party is looking after its own in Kensington, Reform is looking after the country."
Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair and a cabinet minister, said: "The Tories haven't changed. Kemi Badenoch has shown that the Tories' choice is to do nothing to help ordinary families struggling with the cost of social care, prioritising the wealthiest instead."
Despite the Tories appearing more united this week than they have done for years, Badenoch did acknowledge in her speech that the party, which is polling lower than at the time of its catastrophic 2024 election defeat, faces a long path to recovery.
She issued an appeal to Reform voters to back her. "We let them down and we want them to come back home. They deserve better than Reform politicians," she said.
"We have changed our party. There is still a lot of work to do. People are looking through the shop window. They like what they see, but let's be honest, not enough of them are buying it. We need to fix that," the Conservative leader added.
▲ Members of the shadow cabinet applaud during Badenoch's speech
Most of her speech was devoted to attacks on her opponents. Badenoch rejected calls from within her own party to “unite the right” by striking a deal with Nigel Farage’s party - reflecting warnings from her closest allies that doing so would risk toxifying the Conservative brand.
She said: "A year ago, those politicians were measuring up the curtains for No 10. Now some of them are measuring up the curtains for their prison cells.
"The circus goes on and on, and it will never stop because this is who Reform politicians are. So to those who say: 'Unite the right,' we are not uniting with that. People deserve better and we are going to give them better than that. Character, conduct and standards matter."
Badenoch also drew a sharp line with Reform on race after Suella Braverman, the former Conservative home secretary who defected to Farage's party, suggested minority ethnic people could not be English.
"I don't want to explain to my son when we're watching our brilliant England team play football that some people don't think our black players are English," she said.
"We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are. Reform MPs are openly questioning people's identity. I don't know whether you've noticed, but I am black. I am British. I am proud of my country. I'm proud of our history, all that we have done, and all that we will do in the world."
Captain, coach and owner Tory leader remaking party in her own image
Peter Walker
Pippa Crerar
Rowena Mason
Kemi Badenoch has long said the Conservatives are “under new management”, but in a TV interview to
mark the end of a party conference at which she has been front and centre of more or less everything, she took the analogy further.
"Your viewers will know that sometimes you have a football team that's disappointing," the Tory leader told GB News. "There's a new captain, there's a new coach, there's a new owner, effectively - which is all me."
These are bold words even for a politician known to possess an iron-clad self-confidence. But they are no exaggeration. Badenoch is not only outperforming her party in polling terms, she is busy remaking it in her own image.
The broad ideological direction was already set, with Badenoch saying explicitly at the start of the year that centrist ideas were no longer wanted. Some more moderate figures remain in her shadow cabinet, but they are signed up to a right-leaning agenda, including opposition to net zero and a bonfire of human rights protections.
Those around Badenoch say, however, her control goes further, with policy decisions such free childcare for people with incomes above £100,000 announced on the eve of the conference made simply because she believes they are the right thing to do.
"With policies it's not about chasing certain groups of voters," one shadow minister said. "She focuses on what she thinks needs to be fixed, what she feels is wrong."
Talking her out of a policy decision, they added, was a tall order: "It's not going to happen. It's tablets of stone. She's not going to change her mind. She knows what the policies have to be."
Many political parties are to some extent a cult based around the leader, but this is particularly the case for today's Conservatives, where MPs say Badenoch is talked about on the doorsteps with admiration and respect not accorded to the party more widely.
This starring role was obvious throughout the party conference in Birmingham, not least Badenoch's arrival, where she was greeted by a crowd of flag-waving activists chanting "Kemi, Kemi".
Inside the venue, Badenoch was the heroic centrepiece of the party's "Birmingham tapestry", shown in mocked-up, 12th-century form doing everything from chastising Wes Streeting to sitting in a tank.
Such veneration is not just wishful thinking by a Tory party eager to move on from a revolving door of leaders. Even with the Conservatives bumping along at 20% in the polls, her position is seen as secure, with the party more unified than it has been for years.
This is in part the result of malcontents leaving for Reform UK, especially Robert Jenrick, as well as the party's diminished size in the Commons, which as one shadow minister noted, was too small for factions: "We could just about fill a corner table in Pizza Express."
There are still private doubts, including Badenoch's instinct to lean into culture wars rather than focus on the economy, which those around her believe is the party's strongest electoral card.
Some party figures also wonder if Badenoch is thinking about election strategy at all with her very personal suite of policy choices, which in Birmingham mainly
'She's not going to change her mind. She knows what the policies have to be'
Shadow cabinet minister
Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory chair, with his black labrador Zuzu at the party conference PHOTOGRAPH: JONATHAN BUCKMASTER/MIRRORPIX
consisted of giving tax breaks to wealthier people.
This was capped in her closing speech yesterday, with the announcement that a Badenoch-led government would exempt people's homes from inheritance tax, an idea which, given the levy only begins on property worth more than £500,000, is a largely theoretical idea outside London and the south-east of England.
While such policies could be appealing to prosperous Home Counties voters who defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2024, this does not seem to be the plan. During another TV interview, Badenoch chided her questioner for suggesting her tax cuts were aimed at bringing back such support.
"I'm very sad that you're looking at this in crude electoral terms," she said. "That's how we've all got into this problem where we keep thinking about winning elections rather than thinking about what works."
One former Tory strategist said there was a risk of incoherence: "I can't understand what is being achieved with these announcements. Forget lots of the small ones, just use the money and do a big tax cut for middle earners."
There was, they added, little chance things would change: "People are scared of her to be honest. I think a lot of her team don't know how to say no to her."
However, much like football, politics is not a one-person game, and a star player or manager will only get you so far. And while Badenoch was at pains to praise colleagues in her speech, it is fair to say the rest of the shadow cabinet is lagging.
Andrew Griffith, Badenoch's shadow chancellor, was feted by his boss for his private-sector business expertise. But on Monday he gave a speech widely seen as one of the worst delivered to any conference in years.
There was some unease in Birmingham about Badenoch blotting out everyone else. “Isn’t there a danger we are becoming a one-woman party?” one activist asked a fringe meeting of shadow cabinet members.
Others disagreed. “It’s a normal dynamic for an opposition party that is unpopular,” said Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary. “It needs a strong, popular leader that can pull it up and we should thank our lucky stars that we have her.”
Chris Philp,
anti-French
vigilante
Either way, most Conservatives now accept that for now it is up to Badenoch to chart the Conservatives' course, whatever it involves.
One ally said: "We win elections on the economy, but there's no point telling Kemi not to do anything."
AI would have written Kemi a better speech. Or at least, mercifully, a much shorter one
W
here's AI slop when you need it? It could all have been so much simpler. Just ask ChatGPT to write me a leader's speech in the style of Kemi Badenoch. Make it an hour and 10 minutes long. Go heavy on the slogans, cliches and crap politician jokes. Make the usual digs at Labour and put the boot in to Reform. Try to reposition a party that is tanking in third place on 20% in the polls as the main opposition to the government. And just to give everyone a feeling of mild optimism, chuck in an uncosted tax cut.
Unfortunately, Kemi made the schoolgirl error of trying to write the speech for herself. It was too long, too flabby. No real argument, just a collection of random thoughts. Andy Burnham in Liverpool it wasn't. Parts of it even seemed to bore Kemi herself.
On the surface, the Tories have seemed a happy tribe this week. But the unity feels very fragile. The Tories are now Kemi and Kemi is the Tories. The party has bet the bank on her. This comes at a huge risk. Because Kemi has become almost too big for the Tories to allow her to fail. So they daren't question her. Anything she does has to be acclaimed as a work of genius. Just walking on stage is enough to secure her a standing ovation.
Just don't stop to ask why nothing the Tories seem to do is cutting through. Why it's odds-on that beyond the few hundred people in the hall, no one will pay a blind bit of attention to her speech.
Kemi has become almost too big for the Tories to allow her to fail. Anything she does has to be acclaimed as a work of genius
The morning's proceedings began with the Tory chair, Kevin Hollinrake. Kev's dog got a bigger cheer than Kev. Next up was the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, a one-man cluster of anti-matter. The only thing that would cheer him up is a public execution. Then the Philpster. The vigilante who took on the French. Endearingly, he still thinks the French navy knows who he is. Chris, most of the UK don't know who you are. Nor do they care.
A spot of Elgar and then it was Kemi. There was a fight for the soul of the country. There's always a fight for the soul of the country as far as the Tories are concerned. They don't seem to realise that it was them that ripped the soul out of it. "What a great conference we've had," she said. It was hard to know if she was being ironic. The one moment when Kemi became truly passionate - believable even - was when she talked about race. This was Kemi at her best, talking about something she really cared about. Even if she did imagine there was no racism in football in the 70s and 80s. But this was all too short and the speech began to feel like it was dragging into eternity.
Finally the reveal. The inheritance tax cut that would be funded by as yet unspecified welfare cuts. There would be no inheritance tax on anyone leaving their home to their children. With an extra million- quid freebie thrown in, in case you needed to do it up after your parents had let it get tatty. You could hear the cheers from the country's stately homes. Here was a party that really got it. That was prepared to do something about the cost of living for the rich.
There was just time for Kemi to pay tribute to Jeffrey Archer - the Tories have a soft spot for a convicted conman who ruined several lives - and then came the standing ovations. An echo chamber is going to echo.
'Jonathan gives us a real window on to what happens over a long period of time'
Stephen Clark
Senior researcher
but the patterns on genes linked to mitochondrial function matched those from much younger ones.
It is unclear whether or how much the chemical patterning contributes to Jonathan's impressive lifespan. Clark said the team now needed to validate the finding. "How do we test this idea?" he said. "Is there a way that makes the mitochondria young, or can we replace the mitochondria and see if it extends longevity? That's one of the next steps."
The former senior veterinary officer of St Helena, Joe Hollis, took over care of Jonathan in 2009. At the time, the giant tortoise was not far-ing well: cataracts had left him blind, he had lost his sense of smell and his beak was soft and crumbly, making it hard to forage. Hollis began hand-feeding him and six months to a year later the tortoise had regained weight and sported a hard, serrated beak.
In April, Jonathan was caught up in a viral scam when a message from a fake X account posing as Hollis claimed the tortoise had died, and asked for cryptocurrency donations. The news spread around the world before the Guardian made contact with Nigel Phillips, the governor of St Helena, who found Jonathan asleep under a tree but “very much alive”.
Jonathan certainly appears to be enjoying life. A few months ago, he was found mating with Emma, a female tortoise who shares his paddock. Shortly afterwards, the governor's wife, who is also called Emma, checked on Jonathan and found him upside down.
"Emma [the tortoise] has a very semicircular shell," said Hollis. "So if you slip sideways fast enough the momentum will flip you right over.
"It's phenomenal, though. He's 194. You're going to have an accident, aren't you, at 194?"
Bank of England reveals winning wildlife to feature on new notes
Heather Stewart
Economics editor
Bees, barn owls, puffins and hedgehogs have been picked to feature on the next generation of banknotes, the Bank of England has announced.
The creatures were selected after a large-scale consultation settled on wild animals as the theme, with members of the public then asked to pick their favourites out of 18 options divided into three categories.
The buff-tailed bumblebee got the most votes in the insects, fish and amphibian group; the barn owl won the bird division; and the European hedgehog was named top mammal. The Atlantic puffin was added to celebrate Britain's coasts, the Bank said.
It is as yet undecided which species will adorn which banknote. An image of King Charles will continue to be represented on the other side of the £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, which are expected to take several years to design.
Victoria Cleland, the Bank's chief cashier, said: "I am delighted that nearly half a million people responded to our wildlife imagery consultation, showing that cash still matters."
She said the public had chosen “four distinct and inspiring animals” that not only showcased the great variety of wildlife in the UK but would “also enhance the security of our banknotes”.
Among the species losing out were the basking shark, the common frog and the red fox - the latter celebrated in David Attenborough's recent Wild London documentary, but regarded as a pest by some.
Atlantic puffins, with their distinctive multicoloured beaks, spend much of their lives at sea, coming ashore in summer to nest in burrows on islands off the coast including the Farne Islands and Lundy Island.
With their numbers declining, the bird is classified as "vulnerable"
on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species.
The decision to replace the historical figures currently on the banknotes - including Winston Churchill and Jane Austen - sparked a backlash when first announced in March, with the Conservative leader, Kemi
Badenoch, accusing the Bank of "erasing our history".
Badenoch called it “a silly thing to do”. Her Reform UK counterpart, Nigel Farage, described the move as “absolutely crackers”.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, joined in, issuing a social media video in which he brandished a fiver and claimed that Churchill deserved “better than being replaced by a badger”.
▲ The barn owl is one of the quartet of creatures to feature on the notes
The badger was not among the 18-strong shortlist of animals eventually published by the Bank in June.
The selection had prompted the RSPCA to call for less obviously cute creatures to be included. "Gulls, badgers, rats and pigeons all divide opinion - but this would have been a great opportunity to discuss these fantastic animals," it said.
Germany's former spy chief held over alleged espionage for foreign state
Kate Connolly
Berlin
A judge has ordered Germany's former foreign intelligence chief to remain in pre-trial detention, a day after his arrest on suspicion of treason and spying on behalf of an overseas intelligence agency.
August Hanning, 80, is accused of buying secret documents from a former colleague and using them to advise a foreign intelligence service, according to the country's office of the federal prosecutor.
Yesterday's formal arrest warrant came after Hanning's arrest on Tuesday, along with that of his former office head, Manfred D. It has sent shock waves through Germany's political and intelligence community, with analysts calling it potentially the country's biggest espionage scandal since the end of the cold war.
It has also raised questions in Berlin over how Germany's foreign intelligence service can uphold its reputation internationally, in particular at a time of heightened security concerns. Under scrutiny as well is the sustainability of rules governing the conduct of retired top officials and their ability to earn extra income based on their insider knowledge and professional networks.
Hanning headed up the foreign intelligence service, the BND, between 1998 and 2005.
A lawyer for Hanning yesterday denied he had been involved in any wrongdoing, telling the daily Die Welt: "While it is true that he was in possession of confidential documents, the allegation that he passed on information contained therein to the detriment of Germany, let alone for payment, is incorrect."
Manfred D, who was also placed under formal arrest yesterday by the judge in Karlsruhe, has yet to respond to questions through his lawyer.
Hanning is alleged to have agreed in 2010 to pay for information from Manfred D, an official who then leaked it out of the BND. Manfred D, 64, had worked under Hanning and went on to serve subsequent BND bosses before retiring in March.
▲ August Hanning, a former head of Berlin's foreign intelligence service
According to prosecutors, Hanning received about 2,000 documents, some of which were classified, from Manfred D up to June 2022. He is alleged to have used the information in these papers for his private consulting work.
Prosecutors were alerted to Hanning's alleged criminal activities by investigators gathering evidence in a separate child kidnapping case involving a steakhouse restaurant dynasty, which the former spy chief is accused of participating in, using his former contacts with Israeli intelligence. Christina Block, the heiress to the business, allegedly paid Hanning and a retired police officer more than €100,000 (£85,000) for their roles in the alleged abduction of her two children from her ex-husband.
A report in Der Spiegel yesterday said that investigators were looking into a possible connection to the foreign intelligence service of Azerbaijan, as one of the agencies to which Hanning may have been passing on information.
Azerbaijan's media and broadcasting council denied any connection to Hanning or the investigation, calling it an attempt to harm the Baku-Berlin relationship.
The scandal has awakened memories of the Günter Guillaume affair, when an East German Stasi spy and his wife posing as refugees inveigled themselves into the government, leading to the resignation of the then chancellor, Willy Brandt, in 1974.
Marc Henrichmann, the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing the intelligence services, said he was “fairly flabbergasted” by the affair, but stressed that the breadth and extent of the alleged wrongdoing were as yet unclear.
Yesterday, politicians and intelligence analysts were urgently calling for stricter regulation around allowing former security employees to make use of their influence and knowledge after retiring.
The scandal comes at a time when Germany is attempting to make its intelligence agencies, including the BND and its domestic counterpart, the BfV, more robust, fit for purpose and independent from those of their allies, in particular boosting their powers of surveillance to enable them to more effectively tackle sabotage and hacking attacks at a time of rising threats from external powers, such as Russia and Iran.
The current scandal is yet another blow for the BND's reputation. Not only is it notoriously dependent on information from foreign agencies to foil terror attacks on its soil, but it has faced other cases of its staff allegedly spying for other countries.
$\triangle$ Christa Pike's attorney, Luke Ihnen, at the stand. He requested that all evidence related to the failed execution of his client, pictured below in 2007, be preserved by Tennessee authorities PHOTOGRAPHS: GEORGE WALKER; J MILES CARY/REUTERS
在谢普顿马莱特（Shepton Mallet）的巴斯与西部展场（Bath and West Showground）举行的乳制品展上，小母牛被牵出来接受评审。该活动是奶农年度日程中最重要的日期之一，包括顶级品种的展示。
照片：FINNBARR WEBSTER / GETTY IMAGES
📄 Original Section
'Where am I?' Pike wakes up after botched state execution
She had been on a ventilator, with an unknown prognosis, before she woke and spoke on Tuesday.
Continued from page 1
He added: "There's still a lot of cognitive confusion, and so I will say that she has wanted to know what's happened, and she's asked about several people. She's asked about her team. She's asked about the victim's family ... I think she is angry and confused about everything right now," one of Pike's lawyers, Randy Spivey, said.
"On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead, and that life support would be removed the next day," her lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters. "But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone, including me, including her team, and including the medical team, Christa woke up and began talking."
At a hearing in Nashville yesterday, asked that the shackles be removed and have been denied that request [by the Tennessee correction department],” he told Myles earlier. He added: “We would also amend our request and ask for that relief.”
The updates came after a contentious court hearing where Pike's legal team accused Tennessee officials of "secreting away" evidence.
Judge I'Ashea Myles said that "anything that was in the actual room" during the attempted execution must be preserved by the state, including all drugs, intravenous lines and tubing. Another attorney, Luke Ihnen, said the items could be key to future legal challenges by Pike, should the state attempt to kill her again.
"The state has made no promises that Ms Pike will not be subject to a future execution, and the evidence that we are seeking to preserve now is relevant for any future challenge that she makes, because as we pled in January, the same thing is likely to happen," Ihnen said.
Witnesses to the attempted execution of Pike described how they heard her breathing raggedly after receiving the first injection. She was then admitted to hospital after a second dose failed to kill her, and declared to be in a critical condition.
At a press conference following yesterday's hearing, Spivey said it was unclear "what if any function" Pike would regain in her arms. "Her hands look like if you were to blow up a surgical glove," he said.
Despite her condition, Pike was still being restrained, her team said, shackled to her hospital bed by her feet and right arm. "Based on our understanding, medical staff have
Following the botched execution attempt Spivey called the process "cruel and torturous", adding that he had counted seven needles in Pike's left arm, "one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her". Pike had lifted her head from the gurney to say her arms were burning as the drug was administered.
Her lawyers had warned before the execution that officials might struggle to locate veins and cause her suffering in the process, but the US supreme court had allowed the prison to move forward.
There is speculation from medical experts that perhaps some of the drug missed her vein and went into tissue; that one of her veins, which had been flagged up by her lawyers as problematic - had blown; or that the drug was faulty, or a combination.
Pike was 18 and her then-boy-friend 17 at the time when they killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, one of their classmates at Knoxville Job Corps, in Tennessee in 1995.
According to prosecutors, Pike was worried Slemmer was trying to take the boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. Together, they lured Slemmer into a wooded area, tortured and killed her. Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 and given a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Pike has never denied her involvement in Slemmer's killing. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder but, because she was 18, she was sentenced to death and has been on death row, isolated, for 30 years.
Prisoners due for early release lose key support as bail hostels are closed
Rajeev Syal
Home affairs editor
Eleven bail hostels which are supposed to house England and Wales's most dangerous prisoners have been closed during the early release of stalkers and domestic abusers, the Guardian can disclose.
Seven of the halfway-house facilities, known as approved premises, were shut owing to a lack of qualified staff, while four were closed because of problems such as infestations or lack of running water, Whitehall sources said.
The figures have emerged six days after about 700 male offenders, including violent criminals and burglars, were released across both countries. Some of those released told journalists that they had nowhere to stay and were likely to reoffend as a result.
Nearly one in eight approved premises for dangerous prisoners have been closed during the early release scheme - an increase from nearly one in 10 in July.
Martin Jones, HM inspector of probation, said the figures were "concerning" because of the crucial importance of the residential facilities.
“Approved premises play a critical role in the safe reintegration of the most complex individuals back into the community. It is therefore concerning if there has been an increase in closures at a time when releases are increasing. Action needs to be taken to ensure adequate staffing cover and contingency plans,” he said.
Ian Lawrence, the general secretary of the probation officers' union Napo, said his members were concerned that approved premises had been closing either owing to staff shortages or poor maintenance.
"At a time when we are seeing greater pressure on accommodation needs due to early releases, these closures are adding additional issues for our members to deal with and for those coming out of prison. HM Prison and Probation Service needs to urgently address this issue so safe and robust release plans can be made in advance of early releases," he said.
Approved premises supervise about 2,000 criminals across England and Wales considered too dangerous to release back into the community.
Residents often have drug and alcohol problems and complex mental health needs. They live in the hostels for about eight to 12 weeks, and can be recalled to prison if they refuse to submit to drug and alcohol tests or have their rooms searched.
Staff are required to monitor residents with rapid enforcement action needed to stop violent incidents, self-harm and overdoses.
Western, a hostel for 27 offenders in Weymouth, will close from tomorrow owing to staff shortages.
Bridgewood, in Northampton, which monitors 17 high-risk offenders, was also closed earlier this year owing to staff shortages, sources said.
A report from the probation
11
Number of bail hostels that have been forced to close because of problems including staff shortages watchdog in February found that Bridgewood “requires improvement”. They highlighted concerns over the “workplace culture, training gaps and inconsistent supervision” and found “staffing levels did not meet the requirements for safe and effective operation”.
While the government has not publicly named each of the affected locations, Lightfoot House in Ipswich, Suffolk, which operates as an approved premises hostel under the East of England Probation Service, is among the sites closed.
Insiders said high stress levels coupled with the expiry of contracts with Sodexo and OCS, which provided overnight staff cover at the hostels, had led to a staffing crisis.
The second tranche of early-release prisoners are due to leave prison on 13 October. About 2,000 criminals are to be freed this month.
Asked about the closures at Western, Bridgewood and Lightfoot, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We will always ensure that those who present the very highest levels of risk are placed in an approved premises."
London vigil remembers those killed in 7 October attacks
Chris Osuh
British Jewish organisations held a vigil yesterday near Downing Street in London to honour the victims of the 7 October attacks in Israel, after a day of tributes from politicians and community leaders.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said: "Three years ago, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, murdering 1,200 men, women and children, injuring thousands and taking 251 people captive. May their memories for ever remain a blessing."
The Jewish Leadership Council said 7 October 2023 had been “the deadliest day for our people since the Holocaust”.
The attacks were followed by Israel's war in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll in the past three years has exceeded 74,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government.
Andy Burnham assured British Jews "we stand with you" against antisemitism, in a statement marking the third anniversary of the attacks.
However, the Israeli embassy said in a statement: "It is a source of deep sadness that, in the years since 7 October, the position of the
British government towards Israel has changed so substantially from the solidarity expressed in those first days," adding "the atmosphere for Jewish people continues to worsen".
The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine last month.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism, said its research showed there were 1,926 antisemitic incidents recorded across the UK from January to June 2026, up by a fifth on the first half of last year and the second highest total reported to the CST in the first six months of any year.
It was exceeded only by the 2,019 incidents recorded in the first half of 2024, which followed the 2023 Hamas attacks and the start of Israel's subsequent war in Gaza.
In his statement, the prime minister described the rise in antisemitic behaviour in the UK since 2023 as “disturbing”, and pledged that his government was “committed to protecting our citizens from vile hatred”.
Burnham referenced an attack just over a year ago on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur by Jihad Al-Shamie at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester, which left two worshippers dead. He added: "Three years on from the 7 October ▲ The vigil in central London honoured victims of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks in Israel
PHOTOGRAPH: SARAH LEE/THE GUARDIAN
'I want the Jewish community to hear this from me: abuse against you will not be tolerated'
Andy Burnham
Prime minister
attacks on Israel, we remember those who were senselessly killed by Hamas terrorists.
"The impact of the attacks has been felt not just in Israel, but in Jewish communities across the world who still bear the burden of the tragic events that day.
"In the years since, we have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitic behaviour in the UK. I want Britain's Jewish community to hear this from me directly: we stand with you. Abuse and violence against you, in any form, will not be tolerated. Not on our streets, not online, not in our schools or universities.
“That’s why we are funding protection for synagogues, schools and community buildings, and why we will come down hard on antisemitism wherever it is found - in classrooms, on campuses and in neighbourhoods.
"At home, we are committed to protecting our citizens from vile hatred. Abroad, we continue to work towards a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security.
"An attack on Jewish people in Britain is an attack on all of us. Anti-semitism has no place in this country, and we will do everything we can to stamp it out."
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan police said they had “imposed stringent conditions” on those taking part in a pro-Palestine student march in London yesterday.
Eleven people were arrested, including five on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, at a protest outside the office of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in north London.
The force said the other arrests were made at student pro-Palestinian protests elsewhere in the capital.
Pro-Palestine protesters also held rallies at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.
UK's first testicular tissue transplant offers hope for boys after chemotherapy
Andrew Gregory
Health editor
Surgeons have performed the first testicular tissue transplant on a teenager in the UK, offering hope that boys left infertile by chemotherapy could one day have biological children.
The 19-year-old had his tissue removed and frozen three years ago before undergoing treatment for a serious blood disorder. He said he was “incredibly grateful” to the medical team behind the procedure, which represents a potential breakthrough for male fertility preservation.
Chemotherapy can permanently damage the cells needed to produce sperm, leaving children who undergo it at risk of infertility in adulthood.
Three years after his chemotherapy, tests showed he had no sperm in his semen. Now a team of NHS medics in Edinburgh have transplanted his previously frozen testicular tissue back into his body, in the hope that it will begin to produce sperm.
The operation is the first of its kind in the UK, and only the second to have taken place worldwide.
"Fertility is something I've struggled with personally for a long time," said the patient, who asked to remain anonymous. "I've always wanted to have children of my own but at some point, I found myself starting to slowly accept that that might never be possible for me. Having this procedure has given me genuine hope for the future."
Freezing semen is an established fertility preservation method for older teenagers and adult men. But for pre-pubescent boys, this is not an option. The treatment potentially opens a door to fertility preservation for children needing treatments that require chemotherapy.
Doctors should know in a matter of months whether the procedure, which took place in August, has enabled the 19-year-old to produce viable sperm. The transplant, carried out by medics at NHS Lothian and backed by funding from Children with Cancer UK, follows a decade of research by the University of Edinburgh.
Rod Mitchell, professor of developmental endocrinology at Edinburgh's Institute for Regeneration and Repair, and a consultant paediatric endocrinologist at NHS Lothian, said: "This is a big step towards helping boys facing treatments that damage their fertility to have children of their own.
“Ten years ago, we started our research programme to freeze and store pieces of testicle from boys before they start chemotherapy ... We are beginning to see some of these young men return to explore their fertility options.”
Two men freed after serving indefinite jail sentences for 20 years
Rajeev Syal
Home affairs editor
Two men jailed with indefinite sentences for public protection were freed yesterday after each serving about two decades in custody despite receiving minimum terms of two years or less.
A high court judge and a magistrate hearing an appeal after a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission told Luke Ings and Liam Bennett they would be freed.
They also replaced an indeterminate sentence given to a third man, James Ward. Ward, who was freed in 2017 after serving 10 years more than his one-year minimum and was later recalled to prison, was also in court to see his original sentence replaced.
Relatives of Ings and Bennett hugged in the public gallery at Wolverhampton crown court as Mr Justice Choudhury told them the indefinite sentences had been cancelled. Choudhury said Bennett would instead be sentenced to four years and 264 days, Ward to two years, and Ings to 42 months with a 30-month extended licence.
All three men's original sentences were quashed and replaced after they argued that judges had wrongly found them to be dangerous or had not considered alternative sentences.
▲ Luke Ings and Liam Bennett, both now 38, were jailed as teenagers
Choudhury, sitting with the magistrate Norma Grant, told the appellants: "You have already spent considerably longer than those [replacement] sentences in custody. The effect is that you, Mr Bennett, and you, Mr Ings, will be entitled to release without further supervision, and you, Mr Ward, will no longer be subject to supervision."
The CCRC referred the cases of the three men back to the crown court to review minimum terms imposed on them in 2006 and 2007.
Bennett and Ings, both now 38, were 17 when they committed offences that led to them being classed as dangerous offenders and given indeterminate sentences with respective minimum terms of 24 months and 21 months. Bennett was sentenced at Wolverhampton crown court in May 2007 after being found guilty of reckless arson for setting fire to items in the loft space of an empty council property, and admitting criminal damage and burglary.
Ings was sentenced to detention for public protection after admitting offences at East Berkshire youth court in March 2006, including a robbery in an underpass and an assault on a teenager in a fast food outlet.
Ward, now 41, was 21 when he was given a one-year minimum in 2006 at Leicester crown court for arson and criminal damage. He admitted arson - after setting fire to items in his prison cell while serving time for assault - and was released in 2017, but was later recalled to prison and remained there until August this year.
Detention for public protection and imprisonment for public protection sentences were abolished in 2012, having been made available in 2005 for offenders considered a significant risk to the public. More than 2,000 prisoners remain held indefinitely under such sentences, with 99% past their original tariff and 80% having served 10 years or more.
Additional reporting
Press Association
National
'When you look at this astonishing and bizarre tree, there's no doubt about what it has endured'
May Chemais
Woodland Trust
The wych elm tree located on the promenade in Newcastle, County Down, has grown sideways from being buffeted by strong winds blowing in from the Irish Sea
Northern Ireland's 'bendy' elm blows away competition to win tree of year
Pippa Neill
Environment reporter
An “astonishing and bizarre” elm in Northern Ireland known as the “bendy tree” has been crowned the winner of the 2026 tree of the year competition.
The wych elm in Newcastle, County Down, owes its name to its near-horizontal trunk, which has grown sideways owing to the strong winds coming off the Irish Sea.
The 150-year-old tree has resisted Dutch elm disease, a fungus that has destroyed most of the UK's 30m elms, making it a worthy winner given the competition's "against the odds" theme.
The tree was planted in the mid-19th century as part of a row of wych elms along the town's promenade to shelter the high street from sea winds. Many were felled during redevelopments of the town, with the bendy tree the last one standing.
"When you look at this astonishing and bizarre tree, there's no doubt about what it has endured," said May Chemais, the ancient tree inventory lead for the Woodland Trust, the charity that runs the annual competition.
"We've all been through changes and hardships that have shaped who we are," she added. "I think that's why the bendy tree has struck a chord with people."
For John Martin, the director of the Woodland Trust in Northern Ireland, it is the whimsical nature of the tree that makes it a worthy winner. Having visited Newcastle as a child, he recalls seeing the tree and being surprised to see it growing this way.
"You expect nature to behave in a certain way and we would expect a tree most of the time to grow upwards, whereas this one has grown sideways," he said. "I guess it gives people a bit of a smile on their day."
The tree's unusual shape has also provided welcome shade to residents and visitors resting on the bench located beneath its branches.
"Older trees like this one are providing our communities with so much - from shade, wellbeing and health benefits, to stories, culture and pride of place," said Chemais.
Other trees nominated in this year's competition included the Crowhurst yew in Surrey. Villagers hollowed out the trunk in 1820 to create a parish meeting room within the tree. The room's roof collapsed during a storm in 1845, but the tree lived on, with the wooden door to the secret room remaining to this day.
▲ The Crowhurst yew in Surrey was among the competition's finalists
Also in the top 10 was the Culmstock yew in Devon. This tree is perched on top of a 20-metre (65ft) church tower, with its existence predating residents' living memories.
Last year's honour went to a 75ft ash tree that shades homes on one of Glasgow's busiest roads.
Meanwhile, the Woodland Trust has this week launched its Igniting Innovation competition for young people aged 16 to 25, to share their ideas for projects that could benefit nature and make life better for woods, trees and people.
Three winners will receive £5,000 in funding and up to a year of expert mentoring to help bring their projects to life.
A £6bn inheritance tax gift may be great for rich people, but it's not going to boost the economy
K emi Badenoch's inheritance tax gambit is a Conservative classic. After all, it was George Osborne's high-profile pledge
to “take the family home out of inheritance tax”, in 2007, that put Gordon Brown off calling a snap general election.
In practice, Osborne's plan involved a £1m threshold for inheritance tax, and given that the global financial crisis had blown a hole in the public finances by the time the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition came to power in 2010 it never came to pass.
But the promise was grabby enough to change the political conversation - and contributed to Brown's fateful decision not to go to the polls early.
So, politically, Badenoch's flagship policy may have merit. IHT, as policymakers call it, is notoriously unpopular. Families never likely to be liable nevertheless fret about their kids having to paying it; while a cacophony of highly paid tax advisers offer to help them avoid it.
The furious response to Rachel Reeves's reform of the inheritance tax regime for family businesses and farms, with tractors streaming down Whitehall, underlined how unpopular it is.
But, whatever its political logic, the Tory plan makes little economic sense. First, it's worth pausing to underline how very wealthy the beneficiaries of this new policy are likely to be. The latest data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) shows that less than 5% of estates - the wealthiest 5%, that is - were liable for any inheritance tax at all in 2023-24. And under current rules, by combining their tax-free allowances a married couple can already pass on a property worth up to £1m to their children or grandchildren, without them being liable to pay inheritance tax.
Badenoch's new, much more generous regime would permit a couple to pass on the entire family
A married couple can already pass on a property worth up to £1m to their children or grandchildren without them paying IHT
home, however valuable, without paying any tax on it at all; and for good measure an additional £1m in other assets. And the more valuable the property, the bigger the gain.
Clearly, in a sluggish economy where resources are stretched, there's a question about whether that is the best use of the £6bn of taxpayers' money the policy is reckoned to cost - compared with, say, investing in infrastructure where there might be the prospect of a return.
Total revenue from inheritance tax is forecast to be about £9bn this year, rising to £15bn by 2030-31. Badenoch's plan would wipe out about half of that. Worse than that, though, it will create perverse incentives for older homeowners to do exactly what the economy needs them not to do, and hang on in a valuable property, for fear the proceeds of downsizing would be grabbed by the tax authorities.
The Tories claim they'll also abolish stamp duty, helping to oil the wheels of the property market and encourage downsizing; but for the most valuable homes the benefits of not paying $40\%$ inheritance tax above the current threshold would be likely to more than overwhelm the boon of a tax-free move. And that would be likely to mean far fewer family-sized homes coming on to the market in just the places up-and-coming buyers most need them.
As Arun Advani of the centre for the analysis of taxation at Warwick University points out, the biggest beneficiaries would be in areas where housing is expensive.
He says: “‘Where housing is expensive’ mostly means ‘where lots of people want to live’, usually because there are good jobs. Reducing housing sales here will make it harder for young working families trying to upsize. By staying put, they will in turn make it harder for school leavers and university/college graduates to move to the area for work. This is bad for growth.”
Indeed, he points out there would even be an incentive for those who can afford it to "upsize" - moving to a larger house, which would then in effect shelter the asset from inheritance tax.
If Badenoch and her party want to shovel an additional £6bn of taxpayers' money to the already-wealthy in the hope of winning back votes in the stockbroker belt, so be it - but she should not be able to claim the policy would be anything but bad for economic growth.
“（EDL与伊斯兰活动分子之间的）关系是相互强化地。对于那些寻找欧洲关于多元文化主义所谓后果的例子的人来说，卢顿提供了一套异常现成的图像、人物和故事，”伦敦里士满美国大学（Richmond American University in London）的极右翼专家威廉·奥尔肖恩（William Allchorn）表示。
No-go for white people? Luton leaders and residents pour scorn on Tory MP's claims
Ben Quinn
Political correspondent
F rom behind the counter of his chippie, Tanner Ahmed was wrestling with the notion that the regular stop-off point for fans attending Luton
Town's nearby ground could be in a no-go zone for white people.
"The whole point of setting up was to cater for thousands who were coming through here every week, especially in the first year when the club was in the Premier League," said Ahmed, affectionately known as Mr T in the Bury Park area, a predominantly Asian district of Luton.
Outside, on the day after a shadow Home Office minister had claimed there are no-go zones in Luton where “white people won’t go”, there was a hum of activity on the Dunstable Road, a thoroughfare lined with restaurants, jewellery stores and shops selling pakoras and other snacks. Farther along, shoppers of different racial backgrounds trundled trollies through the car parks of Sainsbury’s and Lidl.
Blake Stephenson, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who lives in a village 15 minutes away from Luton, claimed at the Tory party conference on Monday that the town was “a very dangerous place” where some communities “live in ghettoes”, adding: “There are parts where white people won’t go. They are like no-go zones.”
While the comments by Stephenson have been roundly condemned in Luton, they echo longer-term far-right framing of the English town as a poster child for the supposed dangers of Islamism and multiculturalism.
As the home town of the far-right activist who calls himself Tommy
Robinson, this was also where the English Defence League (EDL), the street movement he used as a springboard to celebrity status in like-minded circles, was launched.
▲ Luton is one of four places outside London that are majority non-white. Above left, its mayor, Javed Hussain, describes the town as 'very
The 2021 census found that $54.8\%$ of the population of Luton were non-white people, making it one of four places outside of London at that time where a
majority of the population was from minority groups.
A day after Stephenson's comments, there was little sign - if any - that Bury Park was a place where any group might fear to tread, even those giving out parking tickets. Among a few white faces on Dunstable Road was a traffic warden, who declined to give their name but said: "I've always felt perfectly safe and if there has been a minor incident generally a member of the public or a shopkeeper has come to my aid."
and urinated on in the centre. I've lived all over and Luton's not what it's made out to be." While he said Robinson "spilled a lot of shit", he did point to the past conduct in the area of some Islamist activists who in 2009 demonstrated against the Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade from Afghanistan. Although a tiny proportion of the town's Muslim community was involved, the incident became a useful one for the far right.
"The relationship [between the EDL and the Islamist activists] was mutually reinforcing and, for people looking for a European example of the supposed consequences of multiculturalism, Luton came with an unusually ready-made set of images, personalities and stories," said William Allchorn of Richmond American University in London, an expert on the far right.
Others included Joshua Bozier, 36, a homeless man who told the Guardian: "To be honest I feel safer here in Bury Park than in the town centre. I know everybody here, whereas I've been spat at
vibrant'. Below left, Tanner Ahmed's chip shop caters to football fans on their way to Luton Town
PHOTOGRAPH: GRAEME ROBERTSON/ THE GUARDIAN
"A series of confrontations occurred at exactly the moment when a new anti-Muslim form of street politics was developing, and an unusually effective political entrepreneur in Tommy Robinson was able to turn those local events into a national and eventually international story."
Stephenson was accused of pushing the same “rightwing nonsense” as Robinson by Sarah Owen, the Labour MP for Luton North. The police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire, Labour’s John Tizard, weighed in by writing to the Tory MP to say: “These statements are not supported by evidence and bear a troubling resemblance to far-right agitators seeking to divide communities.”
Luton's independent mayor, Javed Hussain, claimed to be baffled by Stephenson's claim as he strolled through Bury Park on Tuesday, pointing out several Christian places of worship - as well as others for Sikhs and Muslims - and emphasising local regeneration.
"I'm at a loss to know why he is saying this because Luton is a very multicultural, diverse town, as well as a very vibrant one, so it's disheartening," he said.
Reform Party's internal report clears officials caught in sting
Rowena Mason
Whitehall editor
Reform UK has cleared two senior officials of breaking laws that ban foreign donations, despite the matter remaining under police investigation.
The party published a 27-page report of an internal inquiry by its legal and general secretaries that found that Dan Jukes and James Orr had not breached funding rules.
Sources said the party intended to pursue legal action against Verbatim, the undercover reporting group whose footage led to the police investigation and was broadcast by Channel 4 News.
Labour said the report was a "whitewash" given it was undertaken by the party's legal secretary, the barrister Adam Richardson, and Tom Waterhouse, its general secretary.
Police have been investigating potential offences under electoral law since the broadcast in early September, saying they would widen an existing inquiry relating to donations made to Reform. Jukes and Orr will remain suspended by the party while the police inquiry continues.
Jukes, Nigel Farage's press adviser, and Orr, Reform's head of policy, were filmed discussing a scheme in which a US donor paid the polling firm JL Partners for three polls with favourable narratives for Reform, costing more than £30,000. Political funding laws prohibit donations of more than £500 from impermissible sources.
Jukes also discussed the idea of the
US donor giving £500,000 to Reform through his UK-based son. The men they thought were father and son were undercover reporters.
Farage later met the undercover reporters as would-be donors over lunch in Clacton, and did not object when the idea of the scheme was explained to him. He later said he had not been listening.
In its internal report, Reform said it did not excuse the “foolish” way in which Jukes and Orr had discussed donations with an overseas donor. But it said the party had not commissioned the £30,000 polling from the US donor, as Jukes was a contractor rather than a staff member.
Orr was recorded suggesting the US businessman could pay for opinion polling to help with the party's campaigns, which would "technically be a donation in kind" but "the reality is we could easily get away with it".
However, the internal report found that because Reform did not make any payment for the polls or directly arrange for them to be carried out, "the payments made to JL Partners were therefore not donations to Reform UK within the meaning of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000".
In relation to discussions about the £500,000, which was never handed over, the report said it had found no evidence that Orr or Jukes knowingly entered into or acted in furtherance of an arrangement to facilitate an impermissible donation.
▲ Undercover footage by Verbatim of Dan Jukes, left, and Nigel Farage, who later said he wasn't listening
Reform said: "Following the allegations raised by Verbatim and Channel 4, Reform UK commissioned a comprehensive internal investigation. The investigation examined all relevant evidence, including witness interviews, documentary records and electronic communications.
"Having concluded the review, the investigation found no evidence that any laws were broken. We consider that the production company - Verbatim - acted unlawfully and will be taking the appropriate legal action."
Jukes told the Telegraph, which first reported Reform's findings: "I welcome the finding of this investigation, which crucially has found I did not break the law, as I have maintained from the outset."
Verbatim said: "We note that this report is an internal one authored by Reform's own barrister and general secretary, and that a police investigation remains ongoing. We are confident in our journalism, which speaks for itself."
Jaguar's hulking car for our era Too big for parking spaces, it's a middle finger to the future
The £120,000 electric car's lavish cabin
PHOTOGRAPH: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY
Zoe Williams
The cutting-edge car du jour, even while few will ever buy one, is a good index of what the world's coming to. It's a dress-for-the-
job-you-want principle, on wheels: drive for the world you want to inhabit.
That's why when Tesla launched the Model X with a bioweapon defence mode - in 2016! - we should have been much more worried, and it's why the Jaguar Type 01 Grand Tourer EV has a lot to say.
A new era, the heritage carmaker calls it, and it's not wrong; but having test-driven the era - just with my eyes and imagination, rather than the car itself - I would like to return it to the showroom and choose pretty much any other era.
Its gigantic size alone makes it look as if it wants to wage war on the future. The whole point of the electrification revolution in motoring was that we could wean ourselves off energy profligacy and on to elegant sufficiency.
If you counteract all that with a car too wide (2 metres) and too long (5.2 metres) to fit into any UK car parking space, whatever advances you've made with aerodynamics cannot counteract the fact that you are hulking around in something that looks more like a tank than a
Its future owner
wants you to get your
children indoors at
his approach
▲ 'Rich, urban, design literate ...' Jaguar's Rawdon Glover introduces the world to the Type 01 in New York this week
car, the atmospherics underscored by the glassless tailgate and 23-inch (58cm) wheels. To unpack that a bit: you can't see into the back at all, the preference for all the other glass is blackout, and the wheels on a Toyota Hilux, the Chad warlord's vehicle of choice, are between 16 and 18 inches.
All the aluminium in the world (73%) can't put a dent in the 2.5-plus tonne weight, and they've busted their balls to reduce the drag coefficient, only to arrive at one (0.23) easily bested by any average electric saloon (0.21).
The look it's going for, according to the literature, is "monolithic", but it's a thin line, isn't it, between an immutable colossus and a
menace, so attempts have clearly been made in the design to introduce a note of friendliness.
It comes in peace, the Jaguar 01 GT; you can tell by the rounded nose. If it were in a cartoon, it would be driven by the heroes, not the villains, but they'd be heroes with no domestic life. They wouldn't be The Incredibles.
Traditionally, the Jaguar was driven by a guy in his 50s, wanting to signal to the world that he could afford a car that cost half his salary. That's what the company is now trying to steer away from, preferring buyers who are "rich, urban, very design literate, very technology literate", according to Rawdon Glover, Jaguar's MD.
Some texture on that 50-year-old of yesteryear, whose type I knew well: my uncle had a Jaguar. Its paintwork was maroon, its interior a buttery leather, which meant we all knew he was earning a tidy packet, and we weren't allowed to bring our dog for Christmas in case he scratched it. That, in a nutshell, was the personality type, which - I posit - was bad enough.
Jag Persona #0.1 is different. He doesn't want your social admiration, he wants you to jump out of your skin and get your children indoors at his approach, which you'll see before you hear and only fleetingly, as he races from 62mph to 112mph in 4 seconds.
He wants you to know he has 150 grand in spare change - the ticket price is £120,000 but the extras make that unlikely - and “urban” my aunt Fanny, for there is no city situation in which this is a useful car. Regular city driving would be unbearable, given its width, and its standout features of power and agility - three engines, one at the front, one on each rear wheel - are best conceived for a getaway vehicle. Considering its gargantuan size, it doesn’t even have much space, only four seats and boot space that a Skoda Octavia would look at and laugh.
And yet on the plus side, it comes in “London red”, inspired by our double-decker buses, post boxes and room 32 of the National Gallery. These are all different reds, by the way, but then so are red trousers, yet their message is always the same: “I am the kind of person who would wear red trousers.” So if you see one, just think of that person, and imagine them worse, a thousand times worse.
Procrastination the biggest issue for university students - survey
Richard Adams
Education editor
Procrastination is the biggest issue that can harm students' academic performance at university, according to a study of more than 65,000 young people who placed it above issues such as ADHD, anxiety or financial worries.
The study found nearly half of the students surveyed named procrastination as damaging their ability to do academic work, more than twice the number who named depression, while the same proportion said procrastination caused them significant distress, more than other life issues including family pressures or bullying.
Itamar Shatz, the author and an affiliated lecturer at the University of Cambridge, said while he had expected the survey of US students to show they experienced harm from procrastination, he was surprised by how strongly it affected them.
"Pretty much all of us procrastinate, but it's not a huge impediment for all of us," he said. "For the people that it is, it can be huge. It's not just something we occasionally run into, but as we can see in these findings it can be a major obstacle.
"It's an obstacle that can interfere with academic success, with success in the workplace, it can cause issues in relationships, it can cause stress, it can cause health issues and stop us reaching out for help."
The study published in the journal Plos One also suggested that procrastination could be a factor in a vicious cycle. "An example of such a feedback loop is a student procrastinating on a task, which causes them to feel stressed, which interferes with their sleep, which causes them to procrastinate on the task further," it noted.
Prof Fuschia Sirois of Durham University's department of psychology and a co-editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Health Psychology, who was not involved in the study, said: "The salience of procrastination in students' lives and its harms has been a topic of research for almost 30 years ... so this is an issue for which there is an established evidence base."
She said myths about procrastination “being a character flaw” had persisted: “People procrastinate to avoid the difficult emotions associated with a task, which affords them short-term mood repair. But in the long run the feelings of guilt, shame and stress from procrastinating catch up to them and take a toll on health and wellbeing."
Shatz, who has recently published a practical guide to overcoming procrastination, said the phenomenon should not be compared to laziness because procrastinators could often be highly motivated to tackle a task only to be derailed by other distractions such as perfectionism or burnout. Universities should also be aware of the problem, he said, adding: "They should understand that procrastination isn't just a time management flaw that they can fix with a flyer, but it is one of the biggest obstacles that students face and needs to be treated with positive interventions. The good thing is that research shows that interventions can help."
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▲ Louis Vuitton brought flying cars to Paris to create a feeling of walking in a future city PHOTOGRAPH: LOU BENOIST/AFP/GETTY
The heat is on A new take for Louis Vuitton's new knight
Jess Cartner-Morley
Paris
In silk slip dresses, breezy vented tunics and gossamer layers of chiffon, the models on Louis Vuitton's catwalk were perfectly dressed for an unseasonably warm October evening in Paris. As the show began at sunset, it was still 24C.
The record temperatures this summer were on designer Nicolas Ghesquière's mind. "The world is getting warmer. This definitely had a strong influence" he said.
The show took place in a courtyard of the Louvre, the catwalk illuminated by the tail lights of a fleet of 34 flying cars in Vuitton's signature Damier check, raised on stilts. The contrast between the futuristic set and the historic buildings was an elegant echo of the centrepiece of the Louvre, where IM Pei's glass pyramid
▲ Nicolas Ghesquière, head of the women's collection at Louis Vuitton
stands amid the French classical architecture.
The future is always on Ghesquière's mind. This season, his science fiction bent showed up in the models' beaded silver fringes that were somewhere between space-age hair extensions and sun visors. They were pedestrians in the cities of the future. "I was thinking about a woman walking through traffic, and how in the urban environment we sometimes feel vulnerable and sometimes feel strong."
The featherlight fabrics and free-floating silhouettes were a departure from the angular, ornate looks that are his signature. “I am a specialist in a kind of fashion that is like armour, fashion with strong architecture, but this summer I think we all felt like we needed a different wardrobe. The world is getting warmer. We need to think differently, for clothes to be relevant today and in the future.”
Zendaya wore a ruffled organza jacket last seen on her Odyssey press tour and the Rivals actor Bella Maclean was in sleek black tailoring. Ghesquière took his bow casually dressed in jeans - but then, this show was merely his second most important moment of Paris fashion week. Louis Vuitton is the flagship brand of luxury giant LVMH, which contributes about 1% to French GDP, placing it close to the core of economic and cultural power in Paris.
On Friday, Ghesquière, who has led Vuitton for a decade, was knighted by the president, Emmanuel Macron, for his contribution to French creative industries, at a ceremony at the Élysée Palace.
The first lady, Brigitte Macron, has long collaborated closely with Ghesquière, attending his shows and wearing custom looks for state occasions. President Macron began his speech joking that “it feels strange to be decorating someone tonight who is used to looking at my wife from every angle ... she just told me you are the second man in her life.”
Guests at the ceremony reflected the broad reach of Louis Vuitton, with Catherine Deneuve and the British designer Phoebe Philo alongside K-pop star Felix of Stray Kids. Ghesquière wore a striking double-breasted black Louis Vuitton suit, with a single-button fastening and no lapel.
Pinning the red-ribboned medallion to Ghesquière's chest, Macron said: "This evening ... it is the Republic itself that is adding a new element to your wardrobe."
“诡异”建议迫使 Mumsnet 否认使用 AI 撰写帖子
罗伯特·布斯 (Robert Booth)
英国技术编辑
在 Mumsnet 的一个留言板上出现了一份旨在帮助 AI 模型撰写其热门“我是否不合理”（am I being unreasonable，简称 AIBU）帖子的详细指令后， MSF 否认使用 生成内容。
成立于 2000. 在 2025 it faced a 19% drop in its monthly unique user numbers to 6.1m, and the number of posts fell by 600,000. 在其最新的年度报告中，该公司表示正在“嵌入 工具以提高生产力并增强用户体验”。
'Creepy' advice forces Mumsnet to deny using AI to write threads
Robert Booth
UK technology editor
Mumsnet has denied using AI to produce content after detailed instructions to help an AI model write one of its popular “am I being unreasonable” (AIBU) posts appeared on a Mumsnet message board.
Users of the long-established forum, which is known for its frank discussions of family tensions, were vexed when the AI prompt appeared in response to a user seeking advice about a family dilemma involving a neurodivergent uncle and a sick child. The user, called AmIACom-plete, had asked for "a sanity check" from other users after an awkward social interaction with their brother's family but was met with a prompt titled AIBU Response Schema v.1.0.
It instructed an AI to write an “interpersonal reasonableness” post and “give a clear, forum-style ruling plus brief actionable advice”. It included definitions of common Mumsnet abbreviations including AIBU, ND (neurodivergent) and DD (dear daughter).
The prompt said: "Do not diagnose anyone; do not demean ND people; do not imply a sick child owes social performance." It also said: "Prioritize compassion, boundaries, and de-escalation."
Users called the emergence of the prompt “really creepy”, “crazy” and “so disappointing”. It fed speculation about Mumsnet’s use of AI, with one user saying: “We might as well just go and do something else then.”
Mumsnet was founded in 2000. In 2025 it faced a 19% drop in its monthly unique user numbers to 6.1m, and the number of posts fell by 600,000. In its latest annual report it said it was “embedding AI tools to improve productivity and enhance the user experience”.
Recent research, published in Nature, has shown AI assistance in social media risks creating “semantic garbage” and is seen by users as less informative, “robotic” and “generic”.
Soon after the prompt emerged,
Mumsnet denied it used AI to write threads and said it had come from a tool to suggest thread titles that used an OpenAI model. But users refused to accept this explanation and some copied the prompt into an AI and found it generated a full post.
"We are not idiots," said one user, MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack. "Please can you give us a transparent explanation?"
Mumsnet then said it had not produced the prompt and suggested it had somehow transferred from AmI-AComplete's computer. Again, users were unconvinced and speculated
Drop in Mumsnet's monthly unique user numbers in 2025, to 6.1m. The number of posts fell by 600,000
the prompt must have leaked from Mumsnet's internal system.
Mumsnet's founder, Justine Roberts, joined the thread and confirmed the prompt had come from its system, which sends users' drafts to OpenAI, which is meant to suggest a title, although this time it sent a prompt for a whole reply. She said it "looks like an error on their side" and added: "We don't use AI to write threads or replies on Mumsnet."
Roberts told the Guardian: "I understand why it looked like it had 'appeared in the wrong place'. But nothing in our systems asks for, stores or uses anything like it."
She said Mumsnet had never tested a tool that drafted posts but it used AI for coding, advertising operations, conversational analysis and flagging potentially problematic posts to moderators.
HENRY GRAY HAS WORKED FORMSF IN NUMEROUS CRISES AROUND THE WORLD.
"I've worked for MSF on and off for twenty years, but I still remember the first project I worked on. We were setting up a hospital in the middle of a forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There had been a lot of fighting in this area, and although the conflict had died down, the legacy of war was still very visible. About 125,000 people lived in the immediate area, but there were no services, and not even basic medical care was available. Women couldn't get caesareans if they needed them; there were no medicines, no vaccinations, and no treatment for diseases. It was a desperate situation, and that's when MSF sent us to get an emergency hospital up and running.
From the start, our goal was to provide medical care and save lives. But we knew that for this work to continue and to have lasting impact, we couldn't just provide medical care. We needed to bring the community on board; we needed to hire local staff and train local people to do the jobs that we were doing. So that's what we did.
It was fantastic to see the immediate impact of that lifesaving work. But what really surprised me was seeing how the hospital transformed the entire area. I still remember the day we switched on the generators that would power the lights in and around the hospital. Suddenly, schoolchildren started turning up to sit under the lights and do their homework. Over the weeks, businesses sprang up, and the local economy grew.
Over the years I've worked in war zones, in Ebola outbreaks and in natural disasters, and I've seen over and over again how the simple actions we take as MSF can have massive and positive knock-on effects for people, for their families and their communities.
But none of those simple acts happens without your support. MSF doesn't take money from governments. We're privately funded by people just like you. By leaving a gift in your will to MSF, you can know that your gift will not only save lives, but will change lives now and into the future. Thank you."
For more than 50 years, we've brought medical care to people who urgently need it, no matter where they are. We've performed surgery on floors, in corridors and by the light of head torches. We've helped mothers deliver babies in warzones and resuscitated people caught up in explosions.
Because we don't take any government funding, it is only the generosity of people like you that helps keep us going. This means we remain independent, impartial and neutral, and can deliver care to anyone who needs it.
By leaving a gift in your will, you'll help to make sure our teams will always be able to respond, without hesitation and without borders.
1 in 5 of our projects are funded by gifts in wills
REQUEST OUR LEGACY GUIDE
Scan the QR code, search MSF Wills, or complete and return the Freepost coupon below.
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是的，我想了解更多关于在遗嘱中向英国无国界医生组织（MSF UK）捐赠的信息。
称谓
名
姓
地址
邮编
电话
电子邮件
---
📄 Original Section
Yes, I would like more information about leaving a gift in my will to MSF UK.
Sign up to our Frontline email, which provides first hand accounts of our work. You will receive Frontline, occasional emergency emails, asks for donations and event invites.
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📦 已折叠版面非核心信息：气象、潮汐与天文时刻表（《RESPECTING YOU AND YOUR PERSONAL DATA》— 点击展开）
Your support is vital to our work and we would like to keep you informed with first-hand accounts from our staff and patients about the lifesaving impact your support is having, from combatting epidemics to providing emergency surgery.
We won't allow other organisations to have access to your personal data for marketing purposes and we won't bombard you with appeals.
By supporting MSF, you will receive our magazine Dispatches, event invitations and occasional emergency appeals with requests for donations by post. You can change how you hear from MSF UK by emailing uk.fundraising@london.msf.org or calling 020 7404 6600. Visit our privacy notice for more: msf.org.uk/privacy.
Please fill in this form, place in an envelope and return postage free to:
FREEPOST RUHG-USYL-JUBB, Legacy Team, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF UK), Unit 12-13, 9 Prescot Street, London E1 8PR. Alternatively, you can phone 020 7404 6600 (open 8am–10pm seven days a week) or request your legacy guide online by searching MSF Wills.
National
▼ Touchstone (Greg Haiste), left, and Audrey (Gareth Snook) add ribald romance to an all-male cast
PHOTOGRAPH: MARC BRENNER
剧评：迷人的全男性冒险之作，绝非简单的角色扮演
《皆大欢喜》（As You Like It）
皇家莎士比亚剧院，
斯特拉特福
★★★★☆
阿里法·阿克巴尔（Arifa Akbar）
“是奔向自由，而非被放逐，”塞莉亚（Celia）对罗莎琳德（Rosalind）如此感叹，后者在伪装成男性的过程中找到了自由。这是莎士比亚这部具有变革意义、打破性别界限的田园喜剧中的关键表述，紧接着篡位者弗雷德里克公爵（Duke Frederick）的宫廷便被亚登森林（Forest of Arden）的浪漫所取代。在导演丹尼尔·埃文斯（Daniel Evans）执导的全男性制作的首演之夜，这一重大场景的揭幕引发了长时间的技术故障，导致演出暂停了一个多小时以进行修复。撇开这次技术故障不谈，这是一次令人心醉的舞台呈现，视觉效果惊人。
Theatre review No mere players in ravishing all-male escapade
As You Like It
Royal Shakespeare theatre,
Stratford-upon-Avon
★★★★☆
Arifa Akbar
T o liberty, and not to banishment," exclaims Celia to Rosalind, the exile who finds freedom in her disguise
as a man. It is a key statement in Shakespeare's transformative, gender-bending pastoral comedy, just before the usurping Duke Frederick's court is replaced by the romance of the Forest of Arden. That big reveal brought a prolonged technical difficulty on the opening night of director Daniel Evans' all-male production, which was paused for well over an hour so it could be fixed. That technical hitch aside, it is a ravishing staging, with stunning visual effects.
There is little comedy or light in the severe court, which reflects Duke Frederick's thuggery with slaps and shoves. It is replaced by Arden's verdant hills on Anisha Fields' exquisite set, so beautiful they verge on the voluptuous. The black Elizabethan gowns of the
court, Puritan-like, and designed by Colin Richmond, are stunning too, as is the chequered shadow-play of the early scenes, in Ryan Day's lighting design.
Jonathan Groff, the US screen star who is also Broadway theatre royalty thanks to his turn as the king in Hamilton, makes a fun Rosalind, perhaps too declamatory at the start, but more textured and subtle later on. He instantly establishes chemistry with Fisayo Akinade's Celia, performing femininity without caricature, and bringing an added charge to their relationship - a playful, same-sex eroticism which sees Celia straddling Rosalind at one point.
The all-male casting brings depth and subtlety of meaning, proving ingenious rather than gimmicky: a nod to the Elizabethan age when boys and men played female parts, yet now more queer and transgressive. The love between Orlando (Elliot Barnes-Worrell) and Rosalind's disguised male alter ego, Ganymede, stays rather superficial, but the homoeroticism is more effective in their quieter moments, when Groff almost prowls with desire. He is at his best when he is overtly performative - a male actor playing a woman (Rosalind) who is playing a man (Ganymede). He rolls these hoops without resorting to outright camp.
The comedy is light and frothy on the whole. Gary Wilmot, who is both Duke Frederick and the exiled Duke Senior, never overplays his lines. A fantastically prim Phoebe (Tim Preston) brings a kind of librarian comedy with her disdain for the shepherd, Silvius (Edward Judge), and her love-at-first-sight for Ganymede whose brute, masculine scolding seduces her. The ribald romance between Touchstone (Greg Haiste), and Audrey (Gareth Snook) is played for music-hall laughs.
Arden itself is rural Wales. Could this be a personal vision from Welsh-born Evans? There is a lung-opening splendour to the set as it rolls downstage, mowing over the darkness of the court, and Shakespeare's songs are replaced by Welsh folk hymns (music composed, arranged and supervised by Theo Jamieson). It is preceded by massive alarms made beautiful by sound designer Paul Groothuis, combining with lighting to conjure musical claps of thunder. The court could be Prospero's island, full of strange noises.
The only (other) glitch in the production is its pacing, which feels too slow in its latter stages, but perhaps this is due to the big technical pause of the night. Yet the big reveal of Arden is still awesome. Evans has created magic here.
Mei Leng Yew's juicily spooky romcom is a seductively assured debut about second-generation family dynamics, the all-in nature of a new relationship, and the strife of a young woman trying to work out what she wants.
You must not make big decisions during the Chinese Ghost festival, our protagonist's mum warns, or the hungry ghosts will get you. But Girl (Mei Mac) already has her bags packed to move in with her secret girlfriend of three months and - it turns out - a third-wheeling ghost with attachment issues, played giddily by Bridgerton's Isabella Wei.
As the ghost climbs into Girl's body, everything is new and tasty to her. Ailin Conant's sensuous direction has Wei following then dragging Mac, manipulating Girl until she is a bottomless pit of need. Yimei Zhao's sly set enables charming stage trickery as meals and shrines appear. When food spills across the stage, it becomes a knees-on-the floor affair - but still not enough to fill the hungry ghost.
Mac and Wei are gorgeous together, twisting across the stage as they vie for space in Girl's skin. As the situation escalates, the show veers between bright comedy and grotesque horror. A tongue serves up one deliciously vile moment for the squeamish to look away. This dark and sexy comic production is a treat for the taste buds.
摄影：MAHMUT SERDAR ALAKUS / GETTY IMAGES; ANDY ROUSE / WWF / PA
▲ 肖恩·皮尔斯（Sean Peers）抵达曼彻斯特明舒尔街刑事法院
📄 Original Section
Thatcherism, via the Walkman: web archive of Stuart Hall launched
Chris Osuh
Community affairs correspondent
Whether it was Thatcherism, populism or the story of the Sony Walkman, Stuart Hall was a public intellectual famed for defining the times. Now a major digital archive of his previously unpublished papers, notebooks, recordings and videos has been launched.
When the Jamaican-born sociologist and seminal figure in postwar Black British history died in 2014 aged 82, his obituary in the Guardian said he had been “among the first to identify key questions of the age”. Hall coined the term Thatcherism and in 1985 warned of the dangers of “authoritarian populism”.
The University of Birmingham, where Hall developed the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, has digitised and released more than 3,100 items donated by his widow, the historian Catherine Hall.
They include notebooks, index cards, his abandoned doctoral thesis and hours of previously inaccessible audio and video tracing the evolution of cultural studies, all within an interactive database.
Also released are his “Origins of the new left” lecture, notebooks on “race and moral panics”, and Encoding/Decoding Cybernetics, a research project exploring Hall’s impact on the architecture of large language models.
In response to the era of artificial intelligence, and the questions it raises about culture, copyright and corporate power, the academics behind the Stuart Hall Archive Project have barred AI bots from accessing the data.
The Cadbury Research Library, which has catalogued the original papers, has run the digital archive through a programme that “poisons the data” for bots.
The project lead, Dr Rebecca Roach, working with Helen Fisher and Dr Katherine Parson, said they did not create the archive “just for AI to scrape” and commercialise it. Roach said the platform was built to ensure “it doesn’t replicate the exploitation of people of colour and their cultural heritage that technology has historically enabled”.
Hall died before the AI era fully arrived, but he left a body of work with which to interpret it. His theory of representation - examining how media builds meaning through language, symbols and cultural codes - remains relevant amid concerns about algorithmic bias.
▼ The Jamaican-born sociologist Stuart Hall was a seminal figure in postwar Black British history
PHOTOGRAPH: ANTONIO OLMOS/THE GUARDIAN
Doing Cultural Studies, a textbook he co-authored, used the Walkman as a case study of how social, cultural and economic life could be expressed through a single technology.
Roach said it was important to celebrate Black British intellectuals who had made “incredible contributions” to British culture, and noted that while scholars had sometimes been “a bit sniffy” about popular culture, Hall was at its forefront.
Classically educated in Jamaica, Hall came to Britain in 1951 on a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, became the founding editor of New Left Review, and worked as a supply teacher in Brixton before pursuing his academic career.
He met Catherine on an anti-nuclear march in 1963 and they moved to Birmingham, where he made his university department a beacon for debate on media, race, politics, Marxism and critical theory.
From 1997 to 2000 he served on the Runnymede Trust's commission on the future of multi-ethnic Britain, going on to collaborate with young artists and film-makers, and in 2005 he was made a fellow of the British Academy.
Calling the archive “an extraordinary resource”, Prof Daniel McNeil, the Stuart Hall interdisciplinary chair at Birmingham University, said Hall “transformed how we think about culture, identity, power and belonging”.
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National
男子承认性侵被丈夫下药的女性
汉娜·阿尔-奥斯曼 (Hannah Al-Othman)
一名男子已承认性侵一名处于昏迷状态的女性，该女性被其丈夫下药，且丈夫邀请其他男子对其进行虐待。
38岁的肖恩·皮尔斯 (Sean Peers) 原定与另外11名男子一同受审，但在2024年9月15日出现在曼彻斯特明舒尔街刑事法院 (Manchester Minshull Street crown court) 时，承认了一项通过穿透方式实施袭击的罪名。
WWF hails comebacks of tigers and turtles but warns of global food production 'tipping point'
Matthew Pearce
Conservation comebacks for wild tigers, tuna and green sea turtles prove that global nature loss can be reversed, scientists have said. But a report warns food production must be the next “positive tipping point” if the world is to avert biodiversity collapse.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) analysed nearly 36,000 animal populations and more than 5,000 species, producing the largest ever database of vertebrate wildlife. Scientists found populations have declined by an average of 73% since 1970, showing that “nature continues to be degraded at an alarming scale”, with “no sign of losses slowing”.
Nature loss is no longer just an environmental challenge but a direct threat to the global economy, the report says, noting that about half of global GDP - roughly £44 trillion in 2023 - depends on nature and its ecosystem services. The authors write that species collapse now poses an “existential threat to economic stability, geopolitical security and human wellbeing”.
Animal populations were found to be falling most sharply in tropical, biodiversity-rich regions, but trends in northern temperate parts of the world appeared much gentler.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, land and freshwater wildlife populations fell by an average of 95% between 1970 and 2022, but the equivalent declines were 80% in Africa and 23% in Europe and Central Asia.
Freshwater wildlife suffered the sharpest losses across the world's ecosystems, with monitored populations in rivers and lakes down by an average of 85%, compared with 69% for land species and 59% for marine species.
Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF UK, said: "Nature loss is not just a crisis for wildlife. It's already sending us the bill through growing risks to our food security, water supplies, economy and resilience to climate shocks.
She added: "We stand at a fork in the road: either we continue paying the rising price of nature loss, or we invest in nature's recovery and a future where people and wildlife can thrive together."
But despite the pattern of global biodiversity decline, wild tigers, green sea turtles and bluefin tuna are recovering, the report said, showing that “it is still possible to reverse the global loss of nature when action is taken”.
In 2010, about 3,200 wild tigers remained globally, and the species was sliding toward extinction. But following sustained and targeted conservation interventions, the population has grown to roughly 5,700,
73%
Average decline in populations globally since 1970 across 36,000 species analysed by the WWF
£44tn
About half of global GDP depends on nature and services provided by ecosystems, the report noted an increase of more than 70%. Becci Day, WWF UK's tiger lead, said the remarkable comeback of wild tigers demonstrated the "science of hope", which proves that when climate and ecological action is taken, change is possible.
The report said Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna populations, which were collapsing after decades of overfishing, have now recovered to the point where neither is now considered threatened.
Last year, the green sea turtle became the first marine turtle ever downlisted from Endangered to Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, reflecting 50 years of coordinated conservation work across about 80 countries.
"These are examples that show that nature can recover even when pushed right to the brink, and they provide us with inspiration," said Dr Mike Barrett, chief scientific adviser for WWF UK and co-author of the report. "It's also very clear that conservation alone cannot tackle the scale of threats facing nature."
Barrett said nature would have no chance of recovery if “negative tipping points” - self-reinforcing, irreversible ecological changes that accelerate climate crisis - were passed. “The systems which drive nature’s loss have to be transformed. And that’s energy, food and finance.”
"Our report shows that we've already passed the tipping point in the energy sector with the take-up of renewable energy. That transition is now unstoppable. It's not happening fast enough, but it is unstoppable."
Humanity must likewise adapt the way it produces food, he said. "Agriculture is the single largest cause of habitat loss and degradation and therefore the loss of biodiversity."
Dr Steve Smith, research fellow at Global Systems Institute and a co-author of the report, said: "The biggest prize for nature recovery would be a sustainable and healthy food system, but it's currently the farthest away from positively tipping. For example, agricultural expansion drives almost 90% of deforestation worldwide."
Positive tipping points are thresholds beyond which a sustainable technology or practice becomes increasingly cheap, widespread or politically popular, allowing progress to become self-propelling.
Either we continue paying the rising price of nature loss, or we invest in nature's recovery
Tanya Steele
CEO, WWF UK
◀ Wild tiger populations have increased by 70%, while bluefin tunas, below, have also recovered
PHOTOGRAPHS: MAHMUT SERDAR ALAKUS/
GETTY IMAGES; ANDY ROUSE/WWF/PA
▲ Sean Peers arriving at Manchester Minshull Street crown court
世界
📄 Original Section
Man admits sexual assault of woman drugged by her husband
Hannah Al-Othman
A man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, whose husband had drugged her and invited other men to abuse her.
Sean Peers, 38, had been due to stand trial alongside 11 other men, but admitted one count of assault by penetration on 15 September 2024 when he appeared at Manchester Minshull Street crown court.
The husband, who cannot be named in order to protect the anonymity of his wife, had already admitted to offences, but pleaded guilty to a further two counts - one of rape and one of sexual assault - which took place in August last year.
Another man, Keith Fotheringham, 59, from Dundee, a former technician at the city's university, has also pleaded guilty to a number of offences. All three will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial, which is scheduled to open on 19 October. The case had been due to begin in early September, but has faced several delays for legal and practical reasons.
At a hearing on Tuesday, the jury of three men and nine women were told by Judge Maurice Greene that the husband had provided a witness statement detailing “what it is he says happened”, which had been disclosed to defence lawyers and meant the trial would be delayed while they went through it.
The jury, plus two female reserve jurors, were sent away and told to return to the same court on 19 October.
Eleven men are due to stand trial. They deny a range of offences. The abuse is alleged to have taken place between 2018 and November 2025.
They are Philip Wild, 58, from Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, from Manchester; Alan Keelan, 42, from Manchester; Jonathan Kirk, 43, from Stockport; Robert Stewart, 70, from Stockport; Mohammed Sabir, 28, of no fixed abode; Graham Brougham, 74, from Northwich, Cheshire; Richard Townsend, 37, from Heywood in Greater Manchester; Karl Lindsay, 55, from Taunton, Somerset; Daniel Rayner, 42, from Whitstable, Kent; and David Graves, 59, from Ilkeston, in Derbyshire.
'This is not a life' Families existing amid ruins in Gaza recall the past with despair
Seham Tantesh Gaza
Jason Burke
A hmed Ishtaiwi has six chairs. They are cheap and plastic and battered, but to the 43-year-old driver and mechanic,
they are among his most valuable possessions.
Ishtaiwi lives in a tent near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza with his two daughters. Their former home is far to the north, in the now ruined town of Beit Lahia, uninhabitable and cut off.
"When I sit on those chairs, I remember sitting in the garden at home, having breakfast and drinking tea. They remind me of my life there," he said last week.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the raid on 7 October 2023 by Hamas militants into southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and triggered a relentless Israeli military offensive that killed 73,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, wounded many more and reduced swathes of the territory to rubble.
It is when Layan al-Jbour, a 15-year-old from the southern city of Khan Younis, tries to bring some order to the crowded makeshift shelter she shares with her parents, brothers and sisters in al-Mawasi, a strip of coastline at the southernmost end of Gaza, that she recalls life before the war.
"When I tidy the tent, I remember how I used to tidy our home. I remember my room and how I used to make my bed. When I put a sheet over a table and arrange the bedding, the place looks like our old home," Layan said.
"We hardly took anything with us from our home. We left everything behind, and the only thing I took was my schoolbag. It is the most precious thing I own now. It reminds me so much of my school days. I loved going to school and meeting my friends there."
Across Gaza, Palestinians describe daily challenges that nothing in their former lives had prepared them to face: shortages of water and of nourishing food, minimal healthcare, disease, unemployment, economic collapse and the continuing threat of death or injury.
Despite a ceasefire a year ago, Israel's airstrikes continue. Palestinians who have approached the "yellow line" that divides Gaza into zones controlled by the Israeli military and by Hamas have been shot dead. In the past year, the overall death toll has risen by a further 1,400 people.
In recent days, Israeli attacks have intensified, killing at least two Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said. The Israeli military said the strikes had targeted militants. Yesterday,
'The only thing I still do from my past life is some beauty work. It takes me away from the misery'
Esraa Abu Taiba
Former beautician, 26 ▲ Palestinians living in tents on the edge of destroyed Gaza City. For most, daily life remains harsh
PHOTOGRAPH: ALI JADALLAH/GETTY IMAGES
Gaza medics said at least two Palestinians had been killed and others wounded in airstrikes in Beit Lahia and in Khan Younis in the south. "It is what we feared ... a ceasefire that just isn't a ceasefire," said one international aid worker now based in Amman, Jordan, who worked in Gaza throughout much of the conflict. "Daily life is horrible. People aren't hungry any more but they are still malnourished. Our local staff are telling us that this is just the next stage of the conflict."
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told the UN security council last month that despite the increase of supplies entering Gaza, the health situation remained critical, with “infectious diseases ... widespread amid overcrowded displacement sites and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene conditions”.
Inadequate funding exacerbated the “shortages of medical supplies, fuel and the overall humanitarian response”, Alakbarov said, while
'War crimes' Ukraine hit by new wave of deadly strikes Page 27
100-year-old women
Centenarians thrive
in Sardinian village
Page 28
"restrictions on the entry of critical humanitarian items imposed by Israel" were slowing preparations for cold weather.
Israeli authorities deny shortages and say adequate supplies are reaching Gaza, with more than 600 trucks entering the territory daily.
Saleh Kilani, 70, from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, used to have a farm and olive trees before the war. "Around this time of year, I used to press about 60 containers of olive oil. But I lost all of that too. If I go to my home I may die, and if I go to my farm, I may die too. This is not a life. We have lost hope."
Kilani said life before the conflict seemed very distant. "We never used to think twice about seeing orange and peach trees, green fields, grapes and figs. These things were simply part of our lives. Now when we see them, we are surprised," he said.
Hamas, which swiftly reimposed its authority over the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who live in the third of the territory not under the control of the Israeli military, has rebuilt a rudimentary administration that provides patchy education, some healthcare services and limited policing based on deterrence through often arbitrary punishment.
Donald Trump's plan to definitively end the war in Gaza has stalled, with little progress towards disarming Hamas, securing the withdrawal of Israeli troops and beginning reconstruction.
"My biggest fear is that this situation will continue," said Kilani.
For Esraa Abu Taiba, the only time she recalls her prewar existence is when she gets to practise her profession as a beautician. The 26-year-old lived in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis and now within the zone controlled by Israel.
Of her five brothers, two were killed in the conflict, two were wounded, and one is among the more than 1,500 Palestinians from Gaza in detention in Israel.
"Before the war my life was quiet and good. I could go wherever I wanted without fear or restrictions. We lived in our own home. We had a washing machine, a tap, a garden.
"Now we live in a tent. Our lives depend on carrying water and getting food from the community kitchen. A water truck comes to the end of the street and ... I go to collect it because my mother cannot carry it," Abu Taiba said.
Like most Palestinians in Gaza, her family was displaced multiple times during the conflict, and they have lost everything from their former home - except a house key, which her mother keeps close.
"The only thing I still do from my old life is some beauty work. I cut girls' hair in the tents around us and do their makeup for weddings," said Abu Taiba.
"It takes me away from the misery we are living through, even if only for a little while."
Jerusalem Palestinians to bear cost of consulate closure
William Christou and
Sufian Taha
Jerusalem
The UK consulate in East Jerusalem gave few signs that it was at the centre of a geopolitical controversy this week.
with little movement around the high-walled building save for the fluttering of the union flag and the occasional car exiting the compound.
The mission is to shut its doors today after Israel ordered its closure in response to a UK ban on trade with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and sanctions on those who help build or finance them.
The forced closure marked the lowest point in UK-Israeli relations for decades, with reports of the UK considering the retaliatory
expulsion of 27 Israeli diplomats from London.
It would be the Palestinians who pay the price for the consulate's closing, warned Amjad Iraqi, the International Crisis Group's senior analyst on Israel and Palestine. The UK consulate in East Jerusalem is separate from the UK embassy in Tel Aviv - which remains open - and provides services to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza - services they will now lose.
"It's quite telling that the Israeli government response was primarily about blocking the UK's ability to support Palestinians, rather than the core of UK-Israeli relations themselves," Iraqi said. "For [the Israeli] foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, the response is low-cost. In their minds, it's just Palestinians bearing the cost."
Israel has already curtailed the diplomatic activities of countries such as the Netherlands, Spain and Norway in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah, the East Jerusalem neighbourhood that is home to the consulate, appeared resigned when asked about the impact the closure would have on their lives.
"I mean, it was the British that were the basis of the issue, wasn't it? They were the ones who signed the Balfour declaration," said Abu Abdo, a 79-year-old former repairman and resident of Sheikh Jarrah, referring to the 1917 document by the then British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, which expressed support for a Jewish state in Palestine.
It was a dramatic end for the consulate's tenure in East Jerusalem, which, since its move to the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in 1967, had seen its fair share of political upheaval.
The UK government first bought the plot that would become its consulate in 1963, when East Jerusalem was still under Jordanian control. It was meant to be a direct liaison between the UK government and the Jordanian-administered West Bank and East Jerusalem. The compound took four years to build and was finally ready for the UK consul-general to move into by 1967.
But by the time the new consul-general, John Henry Lewen, moved in, East Jerusalem was no longer under Jordanian control. The six-day war had broken out, and Israel had captured East Jerusalem.
Lewen assumed his post at the present day consulate in a changed East Jerusalem under Israeli control. The consulate he oversaw occupied a unique position, as the UK did not recognise Jerusalem as being under any single country's control.
▲ The British consulate's tenure in East Jerusalem began in 1967
As the UK foreign secretary told parliament in June 1967: "Our consul-general in Jerusalem is subordinate neither to the ambassador in Tel Aviv nor to the ambassador in Amman, but directly to the Foreign Office."
Lewen's tenure was marked by the political problems that plagued Jerusalem in the aftermath of the six-day war and the birth of Israel. In 1969, a bomb was placed under the window of a consul secretary, harming no one but damaging the compound.
Years later, Palestinians would present their grievances to the British consulate in Sheikh Jarrah.
In 2017, protesters demonstrated outside the consulate to mark the centenary of the Balfour declaration. Men placed flags in the consulate windows reading “Balfour is a crime”, while schoolgirls carried thousands of letters written by Palestinian students asking Britain to apologise for the declaration.
This week, however, there was little sign of the political turmoil which the British consulate had withstood during its 60 years on the site. The neighbourhood, mostly made up of diplomatic missions and international organisations' offices, was quiet.
Residents in the area expressed disappointment over what they saw as a lack of international support for the Palestinian people in recent years.
"We have seen very little but studies and words, no action from the international community," said Abu Abdo.
South Sudan Surgeons struggle to cope with rise in conflict victims
Deng Machol Juba
Carlos Mureithi Nairobi
By 11am on a recent Thursday, Dr Slobodan Miroavljev had already seen two critically wounded patients at Juba
military hospital. The day was barely halfway through, but the surgeon couldn't say how long he would be at the facility.
A patient shot in the abdomen, head or chest could arrive without warning. A helicopter could bring several critically wounded people from another part of South Sudan. A mass casualty incident could fill the wards within hours.
For Mirosavljev and his colleagues, uncertainty has become part of the job at the hospital, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supports surgeries for people wounded by weapons during renewed fighting between the military, known as the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), which is loyal to the former vice-president Riek Machar, and allied groups.
The conflict has increased the demand for surgical care, overwhelming an already fragile and under-resourced health system in the world's youngest country. The fighting has intensified in the past year, particularly in Jonglei state, an opposition stronghold, amid a political crisis fuelled by the sidelining of Machar by the president, Salva Kiir.
Machar and Kiir had been members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, a guerrilla movement that fought for independence from Sudan, which it gained in 2011, with Kiir becoming president and Machar vice-president. South Sudan descended into a bloody civil war in 2013 after Kiir fired Machar and later accused him of planning a coup.
Machar founded SPLM-IO, whose fight against the army in the ensuing civil war killed more than 400,000 people and displaced nearly half the country's population. The fighting took place largely along ethnic lines, between Kiir's majority Dinka community and Machar's Nuer, the second largest ethnic group in the country.
In 2018, Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal - ending the civil war, creating a unity government of the two parties and returning Machar to the vice-presidency. But implementation of the agreement has barely got off the ground as the two parties are constantly at odds over power sharing.
The renewed conflict was triggered by a deadly attack by the White Army, a rebel group that was allied to Machar during the civil war, on a government garrison in Nasir county in Upper Nile state in March 2025. It resulted in Machar being charged with murder and
'We are doing what we can to keep pace, but demand is growing faster than the capacity of trauma services'
Rose Ochieng
Red Cross coordinator ▲ From top, surgeon Slobodan Mirosvljev (dark blue scrubs) speaks to a patient; an SPLA soldier in a market hit by the Sudanese air force in 2012; patients receiving treatment for gunshot wounds rest in Juba military hospital
Kiir suspending him from his post. This has inflamed tensions in the country, where elections are due in December. They have also coincided with increased fighting between militias and government forces in parts of the country that has killed hundreds and displaced more than 200,000 people.
t Juba military hospital, patients, medical workers and visitors moved between wards as the rainy season settled try.
over the country.
PHOTOGRAPHS: DENG MACHOL/THE GUARDIAN; GORAN TOMAŠEVIĆ/REUTERS; LUIS TATO/AFP/GETTY
The sounds of footsteps, hospital trolleys and hurried conversations mixed with the steady hum of ceiling fans, amid the smell of disinfectant. Some patients recovering from gunshot wounds were sitting along covered walkways. Others waited on crutches, while patients further
along in their recovery carried out morning rehabilitation exercises.
Mirosvljev has been working at the hospital since August last year. The Serbian surgeon's day usually starts before 8am with a briefing, followed by ward rounds, consultations, emergency admissions and operations. Surgeries end in the early evening on typical days, but can go late into the night when critically wounded patients arrive. Besides victims of political violence, the patients include those wounded in communal fighting.
In the first six months of this year, the ICRC evacuated 266 injured people from conflict areas and brought them to the facility. Most cases at the hospital are gunshot wounds, and others include stab wounds, broken bones and explosive injuries. Miroavljev estimated that one in 10 involved serious head injuries, including bullets entering the skull.
For surgeons, the numbers translate into a daily struggle against blood loss, infection and damage to vital organs.
Some patients require several operations. Every week, the medics received at least two or three “very difficult” injuries from bullet or blast injuries to the chest and abdomen that needed multiple surgeries, Miroavljev said.
For such patients, surgery is only the beginning. “They need a lot of blood; they need a lot of support,” he said. Blood is among the most critical resources in the trauma unit. The hospital may have about 15 units available, with capacity sometimes reaching 20. A single severely wounded patient can require half of that supply.
The consequences can be serious when several casualties arrive at once. Rose Ochieng, the ICRC's health coordinator in South Sudan, said the surgical department at Giada military hospital was operating at more than 160% of its bed capacity at the most recent peak this year.
She said: "We are doing what we can to keep pace: adding overflow beds and recruiting more physiotherapy staff. But demand is growing faster than the capacity of trauma services. And it is civilians caught up in the fighting who are paying the price."
Survival is not the end of treatment. For the physiotherapist Lotto Charles, the real measure of recovery is whether a patient can eventually return home and live independently. Many of his patients are recovering from gunshot wounds. He lists others: "There are multiple fracture patients, patients with nerve injury, patients with lung collapse, and bedridden patients with extensive soft-tissue injuries who are not able to move."
For Charles, the reward comes when a patient who arrived on a stretcher walks out of the hospital. "That really motivates me a lot - that at least I'm doing something to help the community," he said.
For Mirosvljev, that makes the difficult days worthwhile. "It's a good feeling when you do the job, and people survive ... and they walk out," he said.
World
▼ Rescue workers search wreckage for survivors in Pryluky. Across the country at least 24 people died
Zelenskyy says Russia bombed civilians as Putin birthday gift
Luke Harding
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia's military of deliberately killing civilians and bombing residential buildings as a macabre gift for Vladimir Putin, who celebrated his 74th birthday yesterday.
Ukraine's president described Russia's overnight drone and missile strikes, which killed at least
24 people, as "despicable". "The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively," he said.
Video showed a missile slamming into a five-storey apartment block in the town of Pryluky in the northern Chernihiv region. The concrete building collapsed, entombing those inside. Eighteen people died, including four children, officials said.
Zelenskyy named the children as Oleksandr, Kyrylo, Maksym and Serhii, who was one year old. He said five children were among about 50 people who were injured. Rescuers continued to pick through the rubble, with several residents not yet accounted for, he added.
"Today, on Putin's birthday, the Russian army 'presented' him with the destruction of a residential block in Pryluky," Zelenskyy wrote on social media. "The Russians know very well that they are striking ordinary cities, ordinary life. It is an absolutely deliberate choice of terror."
▲ A bomb slammed into a five-storey residential building in Pryluky
He also acknowledged that Ukraine was struggling to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles, and appealed to allies to provide US-manufactured Patriot interceptors. "Air defence packages for us right now are a vital necessity," he said.
The bombardment featured 70 ballistic missiles, as well as 46 jet-powered drones, which in recent weeks have been terrorising Ukrainians on a daily basis. Ukraine's air force said it had managed to down just over $80\%$ of the fast-moving drones - an improvement on the previous average of $50\%$ to $60\%$ .
Eleven regions were hit. Two people were killed in Kyiv, with other deadly strikes in the central cities of Kremenchuk and Oleksandriia, where four civilians died. There was also extensive damage in Dnipro.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russian generals had given Putin his favourite birthday present: "war crimes". Moscow's grim strategy of bombarding Ukraine's population so it capitulated would not work, he said.
"The Ukrainian people are not going to give up, because it's about Ukraine's survival as a nation and as a state," he said. The "ultimate" present would be a dock in The Hague, home to the international criminal court, where the Russian president would stand trial, Sybiha said.
One woman in Kremenchuk said the attack there had happened early yesterday. She told the media: "We were making tea in the morning. My husband was getting ready for work. And that was it. I found myself on the floor. It was very scary."
Local people in Dnipro said a blast wave had affected 16 buildings, blowing out doors and windows. One woman, Iryna, said her auto parts workshop had been hit for the sixth time. The ceiling collapsed after yesterday's strike, she said, with toilets, sinks and equipment damaged.
"The explosion happened around three in the morning. We were sleeping at home. Everyone was scared, probably the whole city heard it. We will restore the shop and continue to work," she told the Suspilne channel.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had carried out its own long-range strikes on economic and military sites inside Russia. They included two oil complexes and a training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions. "These are justified Ukrainian responses to all Russian attacks on our people," he said.
The president posted a dramatic video of a burning oil tanker close to the southern resort city of Sochi. Russian officials said naval drones had hit the Liberian-flagged ship, adding that "crude oil was burning openly on the Black Sea".
Both sides have heavily targeted commercial shipping around the Black Sea since Putin's invasion in 2022. In recent weeks, Russia has picked off vessels carrying grain, paralysing maritime traffic from Ukraine's southern ports.
Earlier this week, a civilian cargo ship sank after a suspected attack by Russian drones in the Black Sea.
但当红色的舞台幕布拉开时，路易斯·戈麦斯（Luis Gómez），也就是人们熟知的 JM，瞬间变了个人。在人群的欢呼声中，他轻快地跳上舞台，开始演唱一首波莱罗舞曲（bolero），期间穿插着顶胯动作和洗牌步。他是 Los Crack del Puerto 乐队的主唱，也是那个黄金一代最后仅存的几个声音之一。
JM 在智利充满活力的第二大城市瓦尔帕莱索出生并长大，他的音乐之旅让他走遍了全国，还去了墨西哥、英国、阿根廷和法国。但事情原本可能会有完全不同的走向。直到 65 岁时，他还在市场里叫卖蔬菜，而他从 8 岁起就在那里工作。
今年 5 月，Los Crack del Puerto 发布了他们的第四张专辑《Lo Mucho Que Nos Queda》（仍有许多期待），获得了极高的赞誉。
Woman who symbolised Spain's rent and housing crisis dies
Ashifa Kassam
Madrid
The 87-year-old Madrid woman whose eviction triggered nationwide protests over Spain's chronic housing crisis and a political debate that culminated in early elections has died, a tenants' union said yesterday.
"We are sorry to announce that Maricarmen passed away today," the Madrid Tenants' Union said in a statement about Maricarmen Abascal, adding that her cause marked "a turning point in the history of this country".
Abascal became a symbol of Spain's housing market on 23 September when she was evicted from her life-long Madrid home after the firm that owned the apartment drastically raised the rent.
Abascal had been hospitalised with exhaustion after her eviction, but a deal had been reached with the company that owned her flat allowing her to return home.
Outrage at her eviction triggered national demonstrations, with hundreds of people camping in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square in the most symbolic of the protests.
The movement piled pressure on the minority leftist government to present urgent housing measures, including more restrictions on evictions and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts.
After days of protests and encampments that have sprouted up across the country after Abascal's eviction, the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a snap general election in response to rightwing parties torpedoing emergency legislation to tackle the housing crisis.
Yesterday campaigners vowed to keep up the pressure. "The power of the people has ushered in a new era," said Alicia del Río of the Madrid Tenants' Union, as she floated plans for a general strike in November. "An election campaign is now beginning that will be deeply shaped by the housing issue.
"So we ask the members of parliament, are you going to introduce the measures people are demanding or are you going to continue to be the lackeys of the rentier economy?"
The election, which did not have to held until next August, is a high-stakes gamble for Sánchez. Polls suggest the most likely outcome will be a rightwing coalition between the People's party and the far-right Vox party.
But as people seethe over rents that have surged 80% in a decade and housing costs which have risen by 63%, the protests present Sánchez with a chance to keep his leftwing coalition in power.
"Bringing forward the elections is risky. But there's also a feeling of 'now
◀ Maricarmen Abascal, 87, being evicted last month by stretcher from the Madrid apartment she could no longer afford to rent
PHOTOGRAPH: SUSANA VERA/REUTERS
is the moment," said Antonio Prieto, 36, as he and other volunteers transformed the steady stream of food donations into lunch for those at the Madrid camp.
The eviction of Abascal, a wheelchair user who was carried on a stretcher from the home she had lived in for more than seven decades, catapulted the frustration over the deepening housing crisis into public view. It cast a spotlight on the intense competition for housing, one that pits local people against tourist lets, investment funds and short-term rentals.
As a wave of outrage swept the country, the investment firm that bought Abascal's home said she could return home without paying the 230% rent rise it had reportedly demanded. But the protests have continued to gain strength as people demand change.
Prieto described them as being a "moral duty", given that the Spanish constitution recognises the right to "decent and adequate housing" for all.
The growing tent city has had visitors, too. The vast majority express their support, said Juan Vázquez of the Housing Union of Carabanchel, a district in the south of Madrid.
"People of all ages have stopped by to wish us strength, bring us water and food, and tell us to keep going," he added. He called the coming weeks, as people across Spain prepared to vote, crucial.
“Basically, what we want is to channel all this energy so that it doesn’t just remain a footnote in a weeklong encampment - to organise, apply pressure and secure our rights.”
"We know the organisation of the working class is the only means of looking after our interests."
Jorge Rubio, 27, said the scale of the protests had hopefully made it clear to everyone just what was at stake.
"Housing is not just a problem here, it's a European problem," he says. "The revolution needs to reach them, too."
'People go mad for him' How an 80-year-old market trader became a sensation in Chile
John Bartlett
Valparaíso
A t a concert hall in the Chilean capital, Santiago, an 80-year-old man edges unsteadily down a steep staircase. He
grips the metal bannister with one hand and in the other he carries a mug of hot water with a slice of lemon, as if heading to bed.
But when the red stage curtain is pulled aside, Luis Gómez, or JM as he is known, transforms in an instant. He skips on to the stage to a roar from the crowd and launches into a bolero punctuated by hip thrusts and shuffling two-steps as frontman of Los Crack del Puerto, and one of the last remaining voices of a golden generation.
Born and raised in Valparaíso, Chile's vibrant second city, JM's foray into music has taken him around the country as well as to Mexico, the UK, Argentina and France. But things could have worked out very differently. At 65, he was still hawking vegetables at the market where he had worked since the age of eight.
In May, Los Crack del Puerto released their fourth record, Lo Mucho Que Nos Queda (So Much Yet to Come) - to great acclaim.
“Singing has always been my release,” JM says in a wavering voice, in contrast to his confident onstage vocals. The father of two speaks with captivating enthusiasm about his life. Scattered with bursts of song, most conversations return to his largely tongue-in-cheek fear of his wife of 55 years, his penchant for sports clothing, or the market on Avenida Argentina in Valparaíso.
JM was born in the O'Higgins neighbourhood of Valparaíso in 1945, the youngest of five children. He was three years old when his father died, and 10 when he lost his mother. For a time, he slept in the street between parked cars until his aunt and uncle took him in.
"JM" was a cheeky nickname bestowed upon him by the family - the initials of a childhood friend, Juan Muñoz, with whom they said he spent too much time.
▲ Luis Gómez, known as 'JM', with his band, Los Crack del Puerto, at a restaurant in Valparaíso, Chile, right, where the 80-year-old also works as a market trader
PHOTOGRAPHS: TAMARA MERINO/ THE GUARDIAN; DELPHOTOS/ALAMY
Valparaíso then, as it is now, was defined by music. As in many ports, cultures and ideas arrived in the city and were woven into its fabric; but the musical styles of its 20th-century heyday, from boleros to waltzes, tango to cueca, Chile's official national dance, have barely changed in generations.
"The same songs that were sung before are still the ones they sing now," says JM decisively.
One of his cousins, Juan Navarro, known as Juanín, would bring friends home and play his guitar for them, and the younger JM would sing along. The cousins remained lifelong friends while Juanín pursued a career in the police and JM sold vegetables at the market.
Through middle age, the double act entertained crowds in Valparaíso's bars - JM the entertaining foil to his more serious older cousin, who would perch on a stool to play his guitar, always in an immaculate pressed suit.
"JM was the entertainer, he can make anyone laugh," says Los Crack del Puerto's manager, Juan Nuñez.
But the dynamic worked. In 2017, JM and Juanín began taking their music more seriously, forming the band with a group of talented local musicians.
“That generation is an intangible cultural heritage. They’re a living legacy,” says Felipe Riveros, 33, who has played with JM as a guitarist. “He’s charismatic. People go mad when he comes on stage.”
Juanín died in 2025 aged 87. "For months, I missed him so much, I couldn't bring myself to get back on stage," says JM of his cousin.
Now, as he approaches his 81st birthday, the royalty cheques that supplement his state pension are of little consequence to him.
"I never planned any of this, and I'd be happy still working at the market," he says during a break at a restaurant where he sings every Sunday. "But I suppose it's never too late to give something a try."
MACH 此前对新南威尔士州上诉法院 2025 年的一项决定提出上诉，该决定推翻了普莱森特山煤矿的大规模扩建计划。在由 Dams Heg 发起的初步诉讼中，土地与环境法院曾裁定 MACH Energy 胜诉。
一名 MACH Energy 发言人表示，公司对结果感到失望，但接受法院的决定。
世界
▲ 内政部长昨日告诉国会议员，如果抗议活动是和平的，防暴警察将不会干预
摄影：THIBAULT CAMUS / AP
📄 Original Section
Sardinian home of centenarian women is new longevity hotspot
Angela Giuffrida
Rome
A tiny mountain village in Sardinia has emerged as a new potential candidate for classification as a blue zone - a geographic area with a high concentration of centenarians - researchers say.
The Italian island became known as a haven for longevity, especially for long-lived men, in 1999 when a cluster of remote villages in its central and eastern provinces were classified as blue zones.
But now Bolotana, located in the Mârghine area of central Sardinia and about 70 miles from the island's original blue zone, reportedly generates centenarians every year in a trend driven explicitly by women.
A study by researchers at Sardinia's University of Sassari and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Aging, found that $13.8\%$ of women in the village who reach the age of 70 will live to 100 - placing it second in the world for female longevity after Hong Kong.
▲ A study put Bolotana second in the world for female longevity
In Italy, where the number of centenarians has more than doubled since 2009, 3.5% of women who make it to 70 will achieve the milestone.
The researchers analysed records of people born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925 and that 38 had lived beyond 100, putting their longevity rate at 57% higher than the Italian national average.
The study began in 2024 and as of last year, there were 12 centenarians among a population of 2,266 in Bolotana - roughly 12 times the Sardinian average. Six have since died and the six who are left are all women, the two eldest being 102. More residents are expected to reach 100 by the end of this year and during 2027.
The findings also showed that compared with the world's other four blue zones, including Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece and Loma Linda in California, Sardinia's was expanding.
Giovanni Mario Pes, the study's lead scientist and the co-creator of the blue zone concept, said: "The important thing is that, for the first time in more than 25 years, we have found a place for longevity outside of the conventional blue zone [in Sardinia]. But Bolotana is even more exceptional. Whereas the original zone had an unusual balance between the two sexes, here female longevity prevails."
Pes said that while it was already well-established that women live longer for biological reasons, “the longevity of the women in Bolotana is three times higher than that of most western women.”
抗议活动还引发了一场激烈的政治争论，政府指责极左翼的“不屈法国”（La France Insoumise）党在众多该党议员参加学校封锁行动后，鼓励甚至策划了这场运动。
📄 Original Section
Australian court rejects coalmine expansion in landmark ruling
Lisa Cox
Donna Lu
A community group has won Australia's first high court case to take into account the climate crisis, in a ruling advocates say sets a binding national precedent for fossil fuel projects in the state of New South Wales.
In a landmark judgment, the nation's highest court ruled that the approval of MACH Energy's Mount Pleasant coalmine expansion in the Hunter valley town of Muswellbrook was invalid.
In a 3-2 split ruling, the high court dismissed the coal company's appeal. A majority of judges found the state's planning commission was required to consider how to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions that would be generated by the mine when the coal was sold and burned overseas, and had failed to do so.
The court found the Independent Planning Commission had failed to consider imposing conditions aimed at minimising these emissions.
The Mount Pleasant expansion would double the mine's coal output to 21m tonnes a year until 2048.
Wendy Wales, the president of Dams Heg, the community group that brought the original case, said: "Today the high court has said what we have always known: we cannot dig up coal, ship it overseas, watch it drive climate change, and then pretend the consequences have nothing to do with us and won't be felt by us."
The proceedings, brought by MACH Energy, were the first time Australia's top court had been asked to consider a case on climate grounds.
MACH had appealed against a 2025 decision by the NSW court of appeal that overturned a massive expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine. In the initial proceedings brought by Dams Heg, the land and environment court ruled in favour of MACH Energy.
A MACH Energy spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the outcome but accepted the court's decision.
World
▲ Riot police were not intervening if protests were peaceful, the interior minister told MPs yesterday
France halts use of stun grenades by police at high school protests
Jon Henley
Paris
France's interior minister has suspended the use of stun grenades by police at high school demonstrations but rejected mounting accusations of police brutality during a fortnight of protests marred by often violent clashes that have injured hundreds.
Laurent Nuñez told RTL radio yesterday that he had ordered a temporary halt to the use of the grenades "in the context of the high school students' movement" after a 15-year-old lost a hand during a protest in Lens, northern France, on Monday.
Authorities have not confirmed the exact circumstances - in particular, whether the boy had picked up the grenade or been struck by it - but have said up to 200 protesters had been hurling projectiles at police when the riot squad intervened.
Nuñez said he was suspending use of the grenades “until we know exactly what happened in this case”. But he later told MPs that accusations of “police repression” were “excessive” because officers “are not intervening if protests are peaceful”.
The injured boy's mother said yesterday that her son's hand had been amputated. She told BFMTV: "His life has been stolen. He's a 15-year-old kid. How can children be treated like that?" She said her son had not tried to pick up the grenade.
The education ministry said classes had been wholly or partially suspended in 429 of the country's 3,700 lycées - high schools attended by pupils aged between 15 and 18 - yesterday, a significantly lower number than on Tuesday.
However, 80 university campuses, including the prestigious Sciences Po in Paris, were blockaded in largely peaceful protests by students yesterday, unions said, and teachers' and other unions said they backed further strike action today.
Nuñez told parliament that 215 pupils and 89 school staff had been injured since the start of the protests, which are over chronic teacher shortages, crowded classes, dilapidated buildings and long school days, while 761 police officers had also been wounded.
He said 18 internal police investigations had been launched over allegations of brutality during the demonstrations, including one incident in which a young protester lost multiple teeth and another in which a student lost the use of an eye.
He said inquiries were always opened over accusations of “non-proportional” policing, but he insisted officers were there to protect
'His life has been stolen. He's only a 15-year-old kid. How can children be treated like that?'
Mother of boy who lost his hand at protest
the students. Rights groups and trade unions have repeatedly accused the police of using unnecessary force.
On Tuesday, at least 250,000 pupils, parents, teachers and unionists took to the streets in cities across France on the biggest day yet of the campaign, prompting the president, Emmanuel Macron, to hold an emergency cabinet meeting.
Most marches passed off without serious incident but some, including in Paris, ended in sporadic vandalism and running skirmishes with riot police, in which officers fired teargas and carried out baton charges to disperse protesters.
The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on Tuesday condemned the violence and told parliament it could not be tolerated, while also rejecting accusations that the government had ordered “police repression” against the protesters.
Over the past fortnight, demonstrators have set dustbins on fire outside schools, destroyed bus shelters and hurled projectiles at police.
Twenty-four schools have been burned or ransacked, while more than 6,600 people have been arrested, almost all of them minors. More than 1,800 are being prosecuted, nearly 1,500 of them under 18, the justice ministry has said.
Anne Savinel-Barras, the president of Amnesty France, yesterday welcomed the decision to suspend police use of stun grenades as “an important first step” but said the devices should be “permanently banned from the policing of all protests”.
The protests, months before next year's presidential election, have rattled a government trying to reduce a ballooning budget deficit amid mounting investor concern over France's sky-high debt and weak economic growth.
They have also sparked a heated political row, with the government accusing the radical-left La France Insoumise party of encouraging and even orchestrating the movement after numerous LFI MPs attended school blockades.
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冰岛
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📄 Original Section
'Another coup d'état': Bolsonaro fuels fears of erosion of democracy
Tom Phillips
Rio de Janeiro
Flávio Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner to become Brazil's next president, has vowed to "re-democratise" the South American country, fuelling fears of a move into authoritarian rule if he wins power.
Brazil was “re-democratised” in the 1980s after a brutal 21-year dictatorship, which Flávio’s father, the disgraced former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has long praised.
Last year, Jair Bolsonaro, a former soldier who served under that military regime, was jailed for 27 years for trying to engineer a coup after he lost the 2022 election to the current leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
But Flávio, 45, beat Lula, 80, in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday and goes into the run-off on 25 October as the favourite. On Tuesday, Flávio Bolsonaro vowed to capitalise on the hugely increased far-right presence in congress after the election to change the constitution and “re-democratise this country”.
"The only thing standing in the way of Brazil becoming a barbarity is called Flávio Bolsonaro as president," he claimed at a campaign event in Goiânia, a city near the capital, Brasília.
The incendiary comments caused outrage among historians and opponents of Bolsonaro's radical populist movement. Taliria Petrone, a leftwing congresswoman, wrote on X: "This is the announcement of a coup."
Marcelo Freixo, a newly elected congressman from Lula's Workers' party (PT), said: "Brazil was re-democratised in 1988. The person who tried to undo this was his father, who was convicted of an attempted coup. What they want ... is a coup."
▲ Flávio Bolsonaro is closing in on power after leading in the first round
Bolsonaro did not spell out what he meant by “re-democratising” Brazil, a vibrant if polarised multi-party democracy which the Sweden-based V-Dem institute ranks 28th on its liberal democracy index, two places ahead of the UK.
But Jair Bolsonaro, who has praised authoritarian leaders including Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet, has long hankered after a return to military rule.
Last September, the supreme court found Jair Bolsonaro guilty of trying to convince military chiefs to help him cling to power at the end of his 2018-22 presidency. The conspiracy culminated in the 8 January 2023 riots in Brasília, a far-right insurrection seemingly inspired by the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.
Writing in the O Globo newspaper, Míriam Leitão, a prominent political and economic journalist, warned that if Bolsonaro won, Brazil faced “the extreme and concrete danger of ... another coup d’état attempt”.
"Flávio follows the same ideas as his father and has already said that an intervention in the institutions is necessary," Leitão wrote. "If Flávio Bolsonaro is elected, he will have more tools at his disposal to carry out his father's authoritarian project.
"Political science shows it's in the second term that an autocrat doubles down on their plan. Look at the case of Donald Trump. The risk isn't of the son repeating the father, it's that he surpasses him."
The political scientist Miguel Lago said Sunday's far-right election triumph - in which Bolsonaro's Liberal party (PL) secured the senate's largest caucus, with 28 of its 81 seats - would permit radical changes, including the impeachment of supreme court ministers considered enemies of the Bolsonarismo movement.
Jair Bolsonaro and his jailed co-conspirators are also likely to be freed if his son wins, with the former president expected to become an influential minister able to select the new heads of the armed forces.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's authoritarian president, has been accused of "killing" democracy by using control over the country's congress and institutions to approve sweeping constitutional changes, including scrapping presidential term limits so he can seek indefinite re-election.
Flávio Bolsonaro recently met Bukele's security minister, Gustavo Villatoro, in São Paulo, praising the Central American country's hardline security policies, which have seen thousands jailed over nearly five years. Bolsonaro told reporters that during their conversation, Villatoro "stressed the importance" of using control of congress to make the "necessary legal changes".
The political scientist Celso Rocha de Barros said that by using the word "re-democratise", Bolsonaro sought "to smuggle his authoritarian purposes into acceptable language".
"Clearly, Flávio's plan is a corrosion of democracy so [Brazil] becomes a Hungary or Bukele-style system," Barros added.
Asked to clarify his plans yesterday, Bolsonaro rejected speculation he was seeking to finish “what his father didn’t do”. “Let’s stop lying. Let’s touch down in the real world,” he told reporters, adding: “Brazil needs to go back to normal, that’s all.”
Canadian family who once owned Selfridges buys Boots
Sarah Butler
The Canadian family that once owned Selfridges department store has bought the pharmacy and beauty retailer Boots for \$8.9bn (£6.7bn).
Wittington Investments, holding company of the Weston family that controls the Loblaws grocery chain and Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy chain in Canada, will own Boots's UK and Irish retail operations and opticians chain, the No7 beauty brand and a franchise arm in Thailand.
The acquisition of the Nottingham-headquartered chain, which has 1,800 stores across the UK and employs 50,000 people, is also being backed by the investment firm Fairfax, which owns The Sporting Life Group and Sleep Country, Canada's largest mattress retailer, which owns Simba Sleep in the UK.
Galen Weston, the chair of Wittington, who is likely to become chair of
Boots, said: "Boots is one of Britain's most enduring businesses, with a rich heritage, a trusted name and a vital role in everyday life across the UK and Ireland.
"We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence for generations to come."
The transaction, which involves the exit of Boots's long-term investor Stefano Pessina and his latest backer, the financial firm Sycamore Partners, is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
In 2022, the US pharmacy group Walgreens put Boots up for sale with a suggested price tag of up to £10bn but later dropped the plans as potential buyers, including Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, the US private equity investor Apollo Global Management and Asda's owners TDR
Capital, struggled to raise funds. A plan to float the business at a valuation of about £7bn was dropped in 2024.
"Boots is an iconic brand and a British institution," said Pessina, who took Boots private with the backing of the investment firm KKR in 2007. He has since kept a stake under different private equity owners and merged and demerged it from Walgreens.
"It has been one of the privileges of my and [my wife] Ornella's life to have been so closely associated with Boots over the last 20 years. We are delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage."
Pessina will retain ownership of
Boots's interests in the Farmacias Benavides pharmacy chain in Mexico and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland, a German drug distributor.
The acquisition of Boots marks the return of the Weston family's Canadian branch to the UK high street, after it sold off the Selfridges department store chain for £4bn in 2022.
The separate UK branch of the family is known for holding a majority stake in Primark through the parent company Associated British Foods, which is led by George Weston.
The veteran retail analyst Richard Hyman said the Weston family were "the most encouraging ownership of Boots" for many years. "Watching Boots has been a bit like watching corporate pass the parcel," he said. "Its ownership has changed with extraordinary frequency and each owner has stripped a bit more out of it."
Hyman said Boots had an opportunity to make more of its vast loyalty scheme and to offer more services through its network of stores across the UK, many of which had seen little modernisation in recent decades.
IMF chief urges
governments
to tighten their
belts as global
debt levels soar
Boots has closed more than 300 outlets in recent years. It is unclear whether its new owners plan to close more shops, but they are likely to take a close look given the rising costs of high street retail and the shift to online trade.
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on governments across big economies to tighten their belts as soaring bond yields hit budgets.
What the Weston family paid for Boots, which has 1,800 stores in the UK and employs 50,000 people
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📄 Original Section
Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs as letter volumes fall
Mark Sweeney
Royal Mail is to cut up to 2,500 jobs as the embattled company seeks to restructure its business amid intense competition and the continuing decline in letter deliveries.
Speaking in Singapore, the IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said global debt-to-GDP ratios were at their highest level since the second world war and on course to hit 100% in the coming years. Governments could not rely on rapid economic growth to lift the burden of debt, she said, and would have to make “very tough political choices”.
The postal service, which has been fined a total of £37m since 2023 for missing delivery targets set by the regulator, Ofcom, said the job cuts would focus on head office and “support function” roles, with the restructure to be completed by the end of next year.
Pointing out that the volume of letter deliveries had declined more than 70% since their peak in the mid-00s, Royal Mail said the cuts would be achieved through “natural attrition” and a voluntary exit programme with no compulsory redundancies.
The company said there would be no reduction in operational frontline roles in delivery and processing, including the number of postal workers and drivers it employs. The cuts amount to less than 2% of Royal Mail's workforce of more than 131,000.
However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents frontline staff, said about 200 ▲ The job losses reflected a 70% fall in letter deliveries, Royal Mail said
PHOTOGRAPH: ANDY RAIN/EPA
members with jobs in administration and revenue protection would be affected. Martin Walsh, a deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: "We will be meeting management to discuss this. We urge the government to confront the reality of a collapsing Royal Mail and intervene to save this national institution."
The cuts are the first to be made since the completion of the £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail's parent company, International Distribution Services, by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský's EP Group last year.
Royal Mail last made extensive job cuts in 2022 when it said it was targeting up to 10,000 roles, including 6,000 full-time frontline jobs.
Alistair Cochrane, the chief executive of Royal Mail, said: "We have been working hard to reduce costs and simplify processes across all areas of the business as we transform to win in a very competitive market."
Last week, the firm announced it was to hire 22,000 temporary workers in roles including sorting, delivery and collection to cover Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November, and Christmas deliveries.
A decade ago Royal Mail was delivering 20bn letters a year, but that has shrunk to 6.7bn and could drop to 4bn within four years.
Georgieva was speaking before the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, which are to be held in Bangkok next week.
She said: "My message to the world's economic policymakers will be this: we cannot keep delaying necessary policy action - you have the tools, now have the wisdom to use them. And yet we don't see decisive action in the high-debt advanced economies where the need of the hour is for credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plans, supported in some cases by upfront fiscal measures."
Bond yields - in effect the interest rate on the debt - have jumped in recent weeks, raising the cost of borrowing for many governments to multi-decade highs as markets adjust to the prospect of higher inflation as a result of the war in the Middle East.
"Elevated yields are inflating the interest bill at a time of tight budget constraints and competing spending priorities, including defence," Georgieva said, calling for "an urgent and comprehensive set of policy responses". The Bulgarian economist suggested central banks should be prepared to raise interest rates to see off resurgent inflation.
The European Central Bank, US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan have tightened policy in the face of rising inflation but the Bank of England has so far left rates on hold at 3.75%. "Now may be a good time for a prudently hawkish bias in many countries' monetary policy," Georgieva said.
◀ Kristalina Georgieva of the IMF says high-debt advanced economies need to make tough political choices
Business view
Nils Pratley
Burnham, take note: water shareholders have their uses - they can be squeezed for cash
W ater is "a service where the shareholders never lose and the public
never win," Andy Burnham, the prime minister, told the Labour party conference last week, reflecting the popular feeling towards the industry in England.
And, of course, his big-picture point is familiar: the £80bn, or thereabouts, that has been paid in dividends over the past 35 years represented over-the-top rewards for investors in many cases. It is easy to agree the public was taken for a ride.
But the idea that shareholders never lose is not correct - and has been out of date for a
while. For starters, the current owners of Thames Water have been wiped out. Their shares are worthless whatever the outcome of the interminable talks over whether to put the company into administration or opt for a recapitalisation by the creditors - who will get a sharp haircut on their debt in all circumstances.
Meanwhile, the owners of Southern Water have been obliged to shove in cash on dilutive terms. Now comes something similar at Pennon Group. The owner of South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water is tapping its shareholders for £550m via a rights issue to fund, in effect, the cost of clearing up past failures.
The new-ish Pennon chief executive, Keith Haslett, outlined an extra £1bn of capital investment on top of the existing £2.6bn in the current five-year period. Of the new £1bn, only £400m represents spending on new infrastructure that can be charged to bills - an extra £10 a year for South West customers if Ofwat gives a thumbs up. The other £600m hits shareholders and is the catch-up cost of fixing things that should not have gone wrong in the first place.
Reading between the lines, Haslett seems shocked by what he found. The rights issue document talked about improvement requiring “a fundamental change in how we plan, deliver and maintain our assets” and how previous efforts had been “held back by the way accountability sits within the organisation and gaps in the capability”.
Mr Fixit is not saying it's an overnight job. All the biggies of water companies' performance - pollution, leaks and supply interruptions - got a mention as items in need of improvement. The plan is merely to reduce regulatory penalties by $50\%$ in the current period. Haslett's hope is that, come 2030, Pennon will be closer to earning a few rewards via Ofwat's incentive mechanism.
The point is that none of this will feel like a case of "shareholders never losing" if you're unfortunate enough to own Pennon's shares. Anybody who bought at virtually any point in the past five years has lost a packet. The price was £13.30 in July 2021. Now it is 361p, down 20% yesterday with the rights issue to a 22-year low.
▲ A South West Water treatment works in Devon. Its owner is tapping shareholders via a rights issue
Burnham could do everyone a favour by hurrying up and deciding what he means by his 'public control' overlay
For good measure, the dividend is being cut by 30% on a per-share basis to reflect the new equity issuance. Reality has arrived at Pennon. Burnham might reflect that private investors can have their uses: the capital has to come from somewhere and shareholders can sometimes be forced to swallow some financial medicine.
One could take the view that those investors deserve something even sourer, such as outright nationalisation. It's a point of view but, since Burnham has pretty much ruled it out for water as a blanket policy - we wait to see what happens at Thames - the argument feels academic at this point.
If Burnham, despite it all, is going to live with a privatised system, he could do everybody a favour at this point by hurrying up and deciding what he means by his “public control” overlay. Keir Starmer’s water bill would have been published about now. Instead, we’ll get Burnham’s “strengthened” version some time next spring, according to the Westminster whisper.
Given that it could take 12 months to become law, that will be four years for Labour to reform the water sector. That is shockingly slow. As Pennon's fundraising demonstrates, even the current rickety system is moving faster.
Supermarket mergers Why time is ripe for UK brands to approach the checkout
▼ Sainsbury's would hold 23.6% of UK market if it bought Morrisons, top, taking it closer to Tesco's 27.8% PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS RATCLIFFE/GETTY IMAGES
Sarah Butler
They may be two of the most recognisable brands in Britain, with a combined 188 years serving shoppers, but industry watchers
say either Asda, Morrisons or both could disappear within a decade.
This week, it emerged that Sainsbury's and Morrisons - the UK's second and sixth largest supermarket chains - had held merger talks between last November and February, before the larger player decided to walk away.
News of the potential deal has relaunched speculation that the UK grocery market is now ripe for consolidation and revealed that Sainsbury's boss Simon Roberts - who has been in post for six years - is at least willing to consider the possibility of buying one of his troubled rivals.
Sainsbury's, which has 600 supermarkets and almost 900 convenience stores, has until recently been seen as wary of attempting to revive merger talks with its grocer rivals after the collapse of a deal to buy Asda for £7bn in 2019.
However, industry insiders say Asda and Morrisons' owners have held informal talks with each other and both with Sainsbury's team and predict talks could restart.
The industry has undergone
"The three of them, one way or another are talking to each other," one said. He suggested a combination of Asda and Morrisons could happen but was likely to be a weaker deal than a Sainsbury's takeover of either, as both businesses struggle with costs and interest on debt piles.
significant change since the collapse of the Sainsbury's-Asda deal seven years ago. While riding the wider retail trends towards online shopping and convenience stores, the grocery chains have been jockeying for market share.
Aldi is poised to overtake Asda to become the UK's third largest supermarket - with less than one percentage point separating them. Aldi is rapidly opening stores while Asda has struggled to find growth since a £6.8bn debt-fuelled takeover in 2020 amid heavy competition on price from the discounters and its bigger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's.
Another big change could emerge this month, when the UK's competition watchdog is due to publish its final ruling on whether Aldi and Lidl should now officially
One analyst described Sainsbury's as the "kingmaker" in any industry consolidation as it uniquely has the resources to snap up a rival without the market dominance to immediately prevent any deal.
be classified as "large grocery retailers" like Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons.
In August, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had provisionally found that Aldi and Lidl no longer qualified as “limited assortment discounters” as they now carry a “full range” of groceries and operate stores larger than 1,000 sq m across the UK.
This is the strongest hint yet that the CMA has changed its stance blocking the Sainsbury's buyout of Asda on the basis that shoppers would be worse off.
The change means the German owned discounters are now taken into account when assessing competition in different locations.
It also indicates that the CMA's "balance of competition" - its estimation of the impact of a deal based on drive times for customers around stores - has shifted, meaning Sainsbury's might have to dispose of fewer stores to gain regulatory clearance for a merger. A figure of 150 was suggested when it tried to buy Asda.
It is a step change from 2019 when analysts accused the former Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe and his board of directors
That comes amid what is seen as a more welcoming regulatory environment backed by the UK government's growth agenda combined with the appointment of Doug Gurr, a grocery industry veteran who has spent time at Asda and Amazon, to lead the CMA.
'[Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons], one way or another are talking to each other'
Industry analyst
On possible mergers of “arrogance” and “folly” for pursuing Asda. Now they say consolidation is almost inevitable.
Analysts agree it is unlikely to face significant competition if it opts to buy Morrisons or Asda - Tesco is too big to buy a rival while Marks & Spencer and Waitrose appear unlikely to have the financial firepower or desire to pursue such a deal.
The logic of a deal for Morrisons' American private equity owner Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is clear. They have few options for an exit, four years on from its £7bn acquisition of the Bradford-based chain.
The heavy debts that were taken on to fund CD&R's acquisition in 2022 have left Morrisons struggling to compete as interest rates have risen, pushing up costs, while competition has toughened as pinched households look to cut their grocery bill.
For Sainsbury's, the appeal is cost savings derived from larger scale. The combination of Sainsbury's and Morrisons would hold 23.6% of the UK market and add 500 supermarkets and 1,600 convenience stores to its portfolio - taking it closer to Tesco's 27.8% market share. Buying Asda would take it to about 26.7%.
One industry expert said a combination with Asda is the "sweetheart deal" as it would not only bring larger scale but fewer stores serving the same customers in the south of the country.
One issue is that businesses cannot seek pre-approval for a deal from the CMA so launching a formal takeover offer for either Morrisons or Asda would involve an element of risk - consuming management time, and costly fees for bankers and lawyers.
天气 2026年10月8日，星期四
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📄 Original Section
Shell's refinery profits forecast to soar amid global shortages
Jillian Ambrose
Energy correspondent
Shell's refineries are expected to make record profits on each barrel of fuel produced after shortages in the global market drove pump prices around the world to all-time highs.
In a trading update yesterday, the energy firm forecast profit margins of \$42 (£32) a barrel in the July to September period, far above the margins of \$24 a barrel in the second quarter.
The forecast margins are also significantly higher than the previous record for petroleum products of about \$28 a barrel, set in the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Shell's expected profit margin on each barrel of fuel in the third quarter of the year, up from \$24
The margins reflect the steep increase in the price of refined fuels relative to the cost of the crude oil. A partial recovery of Gulf oil exports has allowed crude market prices to ease back to about \$100 a barrel, while war damage to refineries in the Middle East and Russia has caused fuel prices to continue to climb.
That gap should make larger profits possible for refineries, particularly those in the US and Europe. The Middle East crisis has already helped Shell to a profit of almost \$10bn for the second quarter of 2026, more than double the figure for the same period last year and its second highest quarterly earnings on record.
The market value of Europe's biggest oil and gas company, now the second largest company on the FTSE
100 index, climbed to a record £36.23 a share at the end of last month.
That share price was reached despite oil prices retreating from their 2026 peak of above \$115 a barrel in spring. It was lifted by European gas prices, which doubled from the previous year over the summer, and record high diesel prices.
Global oil prices were slightly lower in the third quarter of the year. Brent crude averaged \$85.60 a barrel, compared with \$97.05 in the second quarter, but still well above the \$68.14 recorded in the third quarter last year.
The diesel price premium over the global oil benchmark jumped above \$100 a barrel for the first time, indicating record high profits from refining crude into fuels.
Shell operates some of Europe's largest refineries alongside the French company TotalEnergies, which has the continent's largest refining capacity. TotalEnergies' chief executive, Patrick Pouyanné, welcomed the opportunities created by the global energy crisis. He told an industry conference in London this week: "Integration means your refineries in Europe, which you thought were liabilities, are suddenly becoming goldmines."
Europe's benchmark gas price index more than doubled to €70.50 (£60) in August. Gas hit an average of more than €48 a megawatt-hour in the second quarter before leaping to almost €64 in the third.
Shell's gas production has been hard hit by the Middle East crisis, which led to severe damage to one of its key gas processing facilities in the Gulf, cutting its prewar gas production of 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by a third.
Lighting up | Belfast | 1844 to 0742 | Birm'ham | 1828 to 0722 | Brighton | 1823 to 0714 | Bristol | 1833 to 0724 | Carlisle | 1830 to 0729 | Cork | 1856 to 0748 | Dublin | 1845 to 0741 | Glasgow | 1835 to 0736 | Harlech | 1837 to 0732 | Inverness | 1831 to 0737 | London | 1822 to 0714 | M'chester | 1829 to 0725 | Newcastle | 1825 to 0724 | Norwich | 1816 to 0710 | Penzance | 1846 to 0735 | ---
✨ 【副刊微专栏拾遗 · 民俗与博物志】
全球概况
📄 Original Section
Weatherwatch
Northam Burrows in Devon has an impressive coastal defence: a bank of limestone cobblestones, 2 miles long and standing 2 metres above high tide. It looks artificial, but the bank is natural, made by wave action over centuries.
The Pebble Ridge is an example of a coastal boulder deposit. Longshore drift carries rocks from nearby eroding cliffs down the coast to Northam Burrows. During big storms, powerful waves carry a mixture of stones, gravel, pebbles and sand up the beach.
Afterwards, the backwash pulls this material back. But the backwash is not as powerful and drags the smaller pebbles and sand back down the beach, leaving the larger stones high and dry.
As a pebble beach forms, there is percolation, where retreating water drains through gaps between large pebbles rather than down the beach. This further reduces the backwash so more large stones are deposited and the bank stabilises into a permanent barrier.
The Pebble Ridge is essentially a fossil record of past storms, and provides effective protection from flooding and erosion. Shingle banks are common, but the only similar cobble barrier in the UK is Chesil Beach in Dorset. David Hambling
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足球运动员平托在保护期结束后被晾了83天
第 43 页 $\rightarrow$
足球
罗纳尔多列出
耶稣同意执行的
八点要求
第 41 页 $\rightarrow$
📄 Original Section
Around the world
体育
▶ 马克斯·维斯塔潘
在马来西亚的
巴林大奖赛中
赢得一场令人印象深刻的胜利
IADE GAO / 一级方程式赛车
📄 Original Section
Football Pinto left in dark for 83 days over end of protection
Verstappen victory should make rivals wary of Red Bull
Improvements to the car are paying off and suggest team could be back in contention at the top next season
Giles Richards
The importance for Max Verstappen of emerging triumphant from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was writ
large in the Dutchman's pleasure at finally being able to drive a competitive car. In a ride with which he was comfortable and able to take to a dominant victory for Red Bull, Verstappen was in his element. With it came a sense of what might have been had he not been long out of the championship fight, but also what might be to come next year.
The transformation was so marked because for so long this season the car has been a handful - the reason Verstappen's title hopes faded long ago. That the team have come back to deliver a win in such emphatic fashion was no little achievement.
In the opening period of the season, the RB22 was deficient in almost every department. It lacked pace, balance, even consistency, and for all his skill Verstappen seemed powerless. He described it as feeling like a passenger in the car at times.
The four-time world champion wrestled it to a couple of podiums but it was a sisyphean task. "At the start of the season, I really had weekends where I would turn the steering wheel and strange things would happen," he said. Which belies the fact that the last place a driver wants to be is in a car where he is unsure which way it is going to jump.
Red Bull, under Laurent Mekies, stuck at it and brought major upgrades. Yet the scale of what needed doing across so many facets of the car remained difficult to overcome. Only a month ago Verstappen could only qualify sixth at Monza, admittedly a power track where the relative paucity of their electrical energy deployment was a hindrance. Still, it suggested a win was as far away as ever.
Yet there were indications that each incremental development was bringing a greater understanding of the car and how to coax the best out of it. In Madrid, Verstappen qualified just over a tenth of a second off pole and had real pace in the race, which might have delivered more on a track where overtaking was possible. Next, in Baku, Red Bull brought their final upgrade. In qualifying Verstappen was unlucky with yellow flags to start from eighth but in the race the car was rapid. He flew through the field, chasing the winner, Mercedes' George Russell, to the flag right on his gearbox.
The car's speed on the straights was noted by rivals, as Verstappen closed on Russell. Red Bull's other driver, Isack Hadjar, who had spent three races out with a wrist injury, felt as if he had been given a new ride. "I definitely feel like I jumped in a car that's way better than when I left it in Budapest," he said.
What followed in Sepang was validation that Red Bull really
'I had weekends where I would turn the steering wheel and strange things would happen'
had got it right. Verstappen took pole and won with a drive that exemplified the improvements. The RB22 was quicker in a straight line than the Mercedes and fast in the medium and high-speed corners, its achilles heel previously.
On a track punishing to the tyres, the car was well-balanced, less damaging to the rubber, allowing better energy deployment. Having addressed problems which conflated with one another, the car coalesced into a more coherent whole. Verstappen described the process as having “pushed weaknesses out of the car”. It has taken them 16 meetings but on this form Red Bull are finally up with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Their progress stands as testament to a team working collectively to tremendous effect. It is an achievement that must be acknowledged alongside building their own engine for the first time and delivering a win; a feat that is recognised across the paddock as perhaps beyond expectations and which was far from guaranteed to be successful.
There may have been an element of the win in Sepang being track-specific. The Mercedes upgrades deployed there did not deliver at all, and they must contend with Russell starting the Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid following an engine change. But the Red Bull is a different car now and how it performs in Singapore this weekend will be telling.
Verstappen will want more wins, but it is instructive how he and the team are viewing these final meetings. They want to end strongly and feed every possible piece of information into next year's car. Hadjar said: "We have to try all the things, make all the mistakes now and do all the learning to arrive in 2027 ready to roll." It is an ambition which will not be lost on their rivals, who know only too well how formidable Red Bull can be if they are quick out of the blocks.
Cycling
结果
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📄 Original Section
Pidcock 'mad' after police motorbike collides with teammates
Jeremy Whittle
Tom Pidcock has admitted he almost quit the Tre Valli Varesine in a rage after a police motorcyclist drove into the peloton and struck two of his Pinarello Q36.5 teammates.
Speaking after the race in northern Italy, in which he finished second, Pidcock said: "A police motorbike was going the wrong way down the course and crashed into two of our guys. I wanted to stop racing myself. I was mad. The guys all riding in front of me - for me - and two of them on the floor."
The British rider's teammate Thomas Gloag was forced to abandon the race while Marcel Camprubí, of Spain, was able to continue, but finished last. "Luckily Marcel was OK, he could continue," Pidcock said. "Tom was also OK, in the end, but he stopped the race, and he has some stitches in the knee."
Camprubí posted images of his smashed bike on social media, with the caption: "Sad that you have to risk your life to race, one month after a tragic accident."
The latest lapse in race security came just weeks after the Welsh rider Fin Tarling was killed by a rogue van driving against the direction of the peloton during the Volta a Portugal in August. The incident remains
'The guys riding in front of me - two of them on the floor' under police investigation. Pidcock dedicated his recent win in the World Cross Country Mountain Bike Championship to Tarling and his family.
There have been a series of near-misses with non-race vehicles this season, although on Tuesday the police rider was part of the race convoy. All those driving "in-race" have to follow strict rules on safety and on positioning on the road. "Things like this shouldn't happen," Pidcock said.
According to team sources, the police motorcyclist was riding ahead of the riders and entered a roundabout, then circled back into the path of the advancing peloton. Gloag, who was treated on site in an ambulance, was described as “pretty shocked”.
Recent near-misses at races include one at the Sauerlandrundfahrt in Germany, when vehicles twice entered closed roads and almost hit riders. During the Tour of Britain Women, the Australian rider Maeve Plouffe found herself racing amid traffic and was nearly hit by a car.
Plouffe said: "While the race convoy was still in sight, and I was less than two minutes down [behind the peloton] there were cars from the general public coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout."
In the aftermath of Tarling's death, cycling's governing body, the UCI, was heavily criticised for its response to safety concerns. Richard Plugge, manager of Jonas Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a bike team, said: "Neither UCI president David Lappartient, nor anyone else, stands up and says: 'Wait a minute, we really need to think about how we are going to prevent this from happening in the future.'"
Last month, Plugge's British rider Matthew Brennan, who won five stages in the Vuelta a España, criticised race organisers and said "nothing has changed" in the aftermath of Tarling's death. "I really think that is disgraceful," Brennan told the BBC.
"Instead of someone somewhere in these organisations saying: 'OK, this should never ever happen again', it feels the world has moved on, nothing has changed and there's events where cars have been on the course still."
▲ Tom Pidcock says he wanted to stop racing after his teammates' collision DARIO BELINGHERI/GETTY IMAGES
Banks O' Dee L Fraserburgh L; Buckie Thistle L Lossiemouth L; Formartine L Deveronvale L; Forres Mechanics L Brora Rangers L; Inverurie Loco Works L Invergordon L; Keith L Turriff L; Nairn L Strathspey L; Rothes L Huntly L; Wick Academy L Clachnacuddin L
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网球
ATP日本公开赛锦标赛（东京）
单打：决赛：C 阿尔卡拉斯 (西) 击败 J 莱赫茨卡 (捷) 7-6 (4) 6-4
双打：决赛：N 梅克蒂奇 & A 克拉伊切克 (克罗 / 美) 击败 A 奥利韦蒂 & T 阿里巴格 (法 / 法) 7-6 (5) 5-7 10-6
单打：16强：I 斯瓦泰克 (波) 击败 I 约维奇 (美) 6-1 6-3；E 梅尔滕斯 (比) 击败 C 高夫 (美) 6-3 6-3
双打：16强：S 埃拉尼 & J 帕奥利尼 (意 / 意) 击败 K 鲍尔特 & Y 斯塔罗杜布采娃 (英 / 乌) 7-5 6-1；A 苏特贾迪 & E 鲁特利夫 (印尼 / 新) 击败 D 克拉夫齐克 & A 达尼琳娜 (美 / 哈) 6-4 6-4；张帅 & K 西尼亚科娃 (中 / 捷) 击败 M 赫瓦林斯卡 & N 巴图科娃 (波 / 捷) 6-2 6-1；谢淑薇 & J 奥斯塔彭科 (台 / 拉) 击败 I 赫罗马切娃 & L 萨姆索诺娃 (俄 / 俄) 6-3 6-2；E 梅尔滕斯 & D 施耐德 (比 / 俄) 击败 O 尼科尔斯 & T 米哈利科娃 (英 / 斯洛伐克) 6-1 6-3
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📄 Original Section
Cricket
THIRD WOMEN'S TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL
Harare Zimbabwe 142-6 (KT Ndhlovu 63). West Indies 143-2 (SR Taylor 64 no). West Indies beat Zimbabwe by eight wickets.
Doubles: Final: N Mektic & A Krajicek (Cro/US) bt A Olivetti & T Arribage (Fr/Fr) 7-6 (5) 5-7 10-6
Singles: Last 16: I Swiatek (Pol) bt I Jovic (US) 6-1 6-3; E Mertens (Bel) bt C Gauff (US) 6-3 6-3
Doubles: Last 16: S Errani & J Paolini (It/It) bt K Boulter & Y Starodubtseva (GB/Ukr) 7-5 6-1; A Sutjiadi & E Routliffe (Ino/NZ) bt D Krawczyk & A Danilina (US/Kaz) 6-4 6-4; Zhang S & K Siniakova (Chn/Cz) bt M Chwalinska & N Bartunkova (Pol/Cz) 6-2 6-1; Hsieh S-w & J Ostapenko (Tai/Lat) bt I Khromacheva & L Samsonova (Rus/Rus) 6-3 6-2; E Mertens & D Shnaider (Bel/Rus) bt O Nicholls & T Mihalikova (GB/Svk) 6-1 6-3
Montreal 4 Carolina 6; Detroit 5 Ottawa 3; Toronto 5 Nashville 4 (OT); Buffalo 3 Minnesota 2 (OT); New Jersey 3 Utah 5; New York Rangers 5 New York Islanders 2; Chicago 4 St Louis 2; Seattle 2 Vegas 6; Los Angeles Kings 1 Florida 2
Preseason Philadelphia 120 New York 97; Atlanta 123 Memphis 132; Detroit 109 Phoenix 107; Milwaukee 97 Minnesota 116; Sacramento 103 LA Lakers 127; Charlotte 90 Brooklyn 124; Oklahoma 110 New Orleans 116; Denver 97 Utah 109; LA Clippers 104 Golden State 101; Philadelphia 120 New York 97; Atlanta 123 Memphis 132; Detroit 109 Phoenix 107; Milwaukee 97 Minnesota 116
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赛程
足球
女子国际赛
印度 对 RFU 俄罗斯 (1.30pm)
SSE Airtricity 男子爱尔兰超级联赛
Shamrock 对 RFU 德罗赫达 (8pm)
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📦 已折叠版面非核心信息：赛事原始比分与赛马预测（《格雷格·伍德的赛马预测》— 点击展开）
📄 Original Section
Cycling
UCI PROSERIES TRE VALLI VARESINE (Varese, Italy)
Leading positions after race (196.1km): 1 J Widar (Bel)
Lotto-Intermarche 4hr 34min 26sec; 2 T Pidcock (GB)
Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team; 3 M Jorgenson (US)
Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the same time; 4 Q Simmons
(US) Lidl-Trek +3s; 5 M Hirschi (Swi) Tudor Pro Cycling
Team at the same time. Selected others: 20 B Healy (Ire)
EF Education-EasyPost +3; 101 L Nerurkar (GB) EF
Education-EasyPost +10:28
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格雷格·伍德的赛马预测
巴斯 (Bath) 1.30 Pacific Storm 2.05 Chanter Le Blues
'It's not about me': Venter takes aim at 'autocratic' Prem
Saracens technical director and head of culture compares rugby to winemaking and bemoans media obligations
Gerard Meagher
Brendan Venter began his long-awaited public appearance with head bowed, uttering one-word answers and with a general
demeanour suggesting he would rather be anywhere else. By the end he had compared Prem Rugby to an “autocracy”, mentioned Ukraine and Gaza, and detailed an inspirational talk he recently gave at a school. Of course there was wine to talk, too.
Gallagher
INSURANCE
An audience with Saracens' technical director and head of culture is rarely boring and the latest was worth the wait.
To recap, it was announced in February that Venter would replace Mark McCall as director of rugby, returning to the position he left 15 years ago. He has been conspicuous by his absence at press engagements this season, however, and was fined by Prem Rugby.
His job title was changed to head of rugby culture and wine consultant, which felt like a two-fingered salute to the powers-that-be, and then changed again. The missed media appearances continued until he held court yesterday on a rainy afternoon at Saracens' training base in St Albans.
After some monosyllabic responses Venter finally opened up. "I have the desire as a human being not to want to talk, because it's not supposed to be about me, it's about a team, and I expressed that desire before I came. And I'm not the director of rugby of this club. This club does not have a director of rugby. This club has an unbelievably competent head coach in Joe [Shaw]. And I ask really kindly, and eventually I bend over backwards to explain my situation and I'm expected again to come and do an interview.
"Joe's input is way more valuable than my input. And if we get obsessed and we get into an argument and we fine a club, that for me does not make sense. It sounds like something we do in an autocratic land, in a country, not in a democracy where people have got the right to say: 'This is not what I want to do.'"
Venter has history here, and found himself in disciplinary hot water for speaking his mind when previously in charge. Hence biscuit-gate and a bizarre interview when he offered the immortal line: "three cheers for Sireli Bobo". That he has little time for post-match platitudes, means he has been determined to keep a low profile on his return to north London.
▲ 'I want to coach. I do not want to be doing interviews,' Venter said LUKE HASTINGS/WIRED/S'STOCK
PE
"It stole my joy the previous time," he added. "I wanted to have a low profile. That was my desire. I want to coach or help coach the rugby team. I do not want to be doing interviews. And it's not because of you or anybody else.
"It's not because I'm mean or I think I'm better than other people. I think the input people can get
is brilliant from the people that work with me. To be put over as an arrogant person that thinks he's better than interviews, it's not at all that. My motivation is completely different. It's how do I just get on with my job and help coaching this rugby team. That is my desire.
"I am going to be authentic. And then I am going to have to go to Dublin and sit in some hearing and get a €10,000 fine. So I just want to prevent that. At my age, we actually look at life and go - I call them joy givers and joy stealers. There are things that give me joy and I do more of them. There are things that steal my joy and I cut them out of my life. And that was one of the things that took my joy."
It all raises the question: why did Venter choose to come back? He had remained at the club in a consultancy role, while working as a GP in South Africa, but was persuaded to take the reins after McCall signalled it was time for him to step back.
"I love coaching rugby, I love coaching, I love working with people," he says. "I love working with the players. It is a privilege which we get as human beings to be in a position where we can influence things for the good and the bad. People in life really get that privilege. When I work as a doctor, I have that same privilege. I have people coming to ask me for an opinion and I can treat them in a good way.
“Rugby is an amazing game because it is so complex and you don’t get to beat rugby. Rugby is always a step ahead of you. There are always more clever people than you. Rugby is very much like winemaking. When you get arrogant or you get too confident, you will not make a great wine. It is exactly the same as rugby.”
"We are privileged enough to be doing that on a daily basis. You know what? Nobody has died. That is an unbelievable privilege. That privilege normally happens in way more high-stakes environments like Ukraine or the Gaza Strip where people are actually dying when there are challenges. Yes, we have challenges and our body perceives it the same. It is a challenge and our ability to deal with it is a privilege. This is why I came back."
Springboks and All Blacks demand outstrips England
Gerard Meagher
Demand for South Africa and New Zealand tickets for the Nations Championship finals weekend has been greater than those for England despite Twickenham hosting the inaugural competition's finale.
Six rankings matches will all take place at Twickenham next month - two on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday - in a culmination of the competition's first edition. The grand finale on Sunday pits the top nation in the northern hemisphere pool against their southern counterparts. Second plays second, third plays third and so on.
Tickets are available for each day, as are bundles for all three days, or two of the three. To guarantee a ticket for a particular nation's rankings match, "support your team" tickets can also be bought.
Those for South Africa, top of the southern hemisphere table at the halfway point, and New Zealand have sold out. But those for England were still available yesterday for £164.80.
In total, 60-65% of tickets have been sold for finals weekend following a spike in interest after the July fixtures, with organisers bullish their "festival of rugby" idea is resonating.
England play three pool matches - against Australia, Japan and New Zealand - before the finals weekend, which may explain why demand has been higher to see the Springboks and the All Blacks. England's last appearance at Twickenham was calamitous, however, a 42-21 defeat by Ireland.
▲ Twickenham hosts the Nations Championship finals next month
Twickenham has come to be a home from home for South Africa and there is a sizeable New Zealander expat population in London, with the Springboks' thumping 2023 World Cup warm-up win over the All Blacks witnessed by more than 80,000.
That was the last Friday night Test at Twickenham and the Rugby Football Union will be anxious to see how November's double header plays out. The union is awaiting Richmond council's decision over its planning application to host more concerts.
According to submissions by residents in opposition to the RFU's proposal, that Friday night match was blighted by numerous examples of antisocial behaviour. Richmond council was initially due to return its decision this week but the worry at the RFU is that it will not do so until after this November's Nations Championship fixtures.
How Kop's chants propelled Burnham to step up fight for Hillsborough justice
Exclusive book extract
A 2009 speech at Anfield was booed but led to a change in tack by Labour government and David Cameron apology.
Brian Reade tells the story
Since dawn, visitors from as far afield as Australia had been laying flowers, scarves and messages underneath Anfield's Eternal Flame. These
Hillsborough memorial anniversary services were usually subdued and respectful affairs, with 10,000 mourners sitting on the Kop to give themselves and the families support on the most difficult of days.
But on the afternoon of 15 April 2009, the 20th anniversary of the disaster, it felt different. There was an edge in the air. An hour before the service began the Kop was full and the numbers in the three other stands were starting to swell. By the time I had walked with the families from the meeting place in the Centenary Stand to our seats at the front of the Kop, 29,000 people inside Anfield stood to give them the loudest and most heartfelt of ovations. After two decades in which a new generation had been born and reached adulthood, the wounds of Hillsborough were still gaping, the anger still raw at the lack of admission of guilt from above.
The players of '89, their furrowed brows and downcast expressions hinting at their inability to shed the mental scars they endured back then, when they were forced to turn from athletes into bereavement counsellors, took their seats behind us to warm applause. They were joined by the current stars, including Steven Gerrard, who lost his 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley in the disaster, and Jamie Carragher.
After 20 years, you'd have thought all the crying had been done, but when 96 candles were lit in the Kop goalmouth and the names were read out by clergy, streams still flowed down the cheeks. You still felt a cold sweat and weak limbs at the two-minute silence broken only by babies' cries. Outside the ground where the city's buses, trains and ferries had come to a standstill, church bells signalled the end of the silence, a comforting sign to the families that the wider world had come to a halt to remember a day it should never forget.
Andy Burnham, scouse-born and Evertonian, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, had controversially been invited to speak by Margaret Aspinall, who'd lost her 18-year-old son James at Hillsborough and was by then chair of the Family Support Group. "We had never allowed an MP to speak at the service because we hadn't really had any meaningful support from any of them. But I wanted to give Andy a chance," she told me.
Burnham agonised over whether to accept, knowing that Gordon Brown's Labour government had nothing new to offer the families. But the man who, on the day of Hillsborough had been at Villa Park watching Everton play Norwich in the other FA Cup semi-final, knew he would never forgive himself if he bottled out of giving a speech. His main worry was whether he could get through it without breaking down. He was right to feel worried as he stood before an emotionally charged Kop that day because there was a strong sense of betrayal from a Labour government that had been in power for 12 of the 20 years since the disaster and had done nothing to facilitate calls to unearth the truth.
Burnham started well. When he told the Kop that Britain's worst sporting disaster was "man-made" and praised the actions of the fans that day, he received nods of approval and a ripple of applause. But when he said he brought a message from the prime minister that the victims would never be forgotten, for the first time ever at one of these memorial services
▼ Fans at the Anfield service to mark Hillsborough's 20th anniversary
PAUL ELLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
'We would never have got verdicts of unlawful killing without the support of the Kop' pockets of the Kop began to boo and jeer, there was a shout of “When do we get justice?” and a scream of “Hypocrite.” It shocked us all and stopped Burnham in his tracks. He looked startled and tongue-tied and stared nervously at the Kop, unsure what to say for the best. Which was when, from the back of the Kop, a chant of “Justice for the 96” broke out, which quickly spread across the rest of the stand and the entirety of Anfield. The message was simple: words are easy, actions hard. You are a senior member of a Labour government which has ruled out the possibility of a fresh inquiry into Hillsborough. Don’t
▲ Andy Burnham said: 'The people on the Kop were right to barrack me'
patronise us with easy soundbites. Because you not only insult the living, you insult the dead.
Wisely, Burnham nodded at the Kop with an “I get it” expression. Margaret Aspinall, who was sitting directly in front of him, told me: “I was on eggshells throughout Andy’s speech. When the Kop began chanting for justice our former chairman Trevor Hicks looked at me as if to say: ‘What have you done, Margaret? Let’s say something.’ But I thought: ‘No, let them carry on, don’t say anything. Let the Kop tell the government and the country how angry we all feel.’” Her instincts were right. The dramatic scene of a cabinet minister being barracked during a memorial service led every news bulletin and made every front page.
Burnham later told me: “When the first justice chants rolled off the Kop, I was not surprised, as I half-expected them. And, actually, I wanted the country to hear them. The people on the Kop that day were right to barrack me. I don’t hold anything against anyone who shouted at me. It helped me find the political courage to do something.” He urged Gordon Brown to heed the Kop’s calls and despite some cabinet opposition the prime minister backed him. By the end of 2009 a Hillsborough Independent Panel had been set up, appointing experts to scrutinise hundreds of thousands of unseen documents relating to the disaster. Its final report in 2012 highlighted a litany of calamitous mistakes by police and emergency services, showed how dozens of lives could have been saved and revealed a massive cover-up. Tory prime minister David Cameron had to give a grovelling apology to the families and to Liverpool fans from the floor of the Commons, the original inquest verdicts of “accidental death” were quashed, and new inquests put in place. In 2016 they would return 96 verdicts of “unlawful killing” and exonerate the fans of all blame.
"We would never have got the verdicts of ‘unlawful killing’ without the support of the Kop," said Margaret Aspinall. "The fans played a vital part over the years in supporting us and getting accountability. But the turning point definitely came when those chants of ‘justice’ came at Andy Burnham. The Kop changed everything."
Five years later Burnham was invited to address the 25th anniversary service. This time it wasn't snarls, boos and chants of "hypocrite" he faced on the Kop but a banner that read "Thank You, Andy Burnham". He told them: "Five years ago things changed, not because of me but because of all of you. You made your voices heard and thank God you did. Your voices carried off this Kop into every living room in the land and into the heart of the establishment. I knew you were right and they were wrong. With that chant of 'justice' the dam burst. You were asking the most profound question about our country and how it is run. How can it be that an entire city shouted injustice for 20 years and no one was listening? There is still an uncertain road ahead but the country is with you now. The families will prevail because of all of you. You have made this city stronger and you will make our country fairer. You have given hope to people the world over. What was your call five years ago is my call today; justice for the 96."
▶ Myles Lewis-Skelly (front and centre) and Lewis Hall (right) both impressed during this latest run of games for England
Tuchel train gets rolling again with Scott, Hall and Lewis-Skelly all on board, but others risk being left behind
David Hytner
Thomas Tuchel's original idea had been for continuity. The England manager wanted to build on the positives from the World Cup
and was minded to stand by the vast majority of the players who had been a part of the journey to the semi-finals in North America over the summer. What was it about the best-laid plans?
Fast forward to the Czechia game at Wembley on Tuesday night and Tuchel could count only 12 players who were available to him during the World Cup. He knows the train moves quickly in football, stopping for nobody. That flexibility is a prerequisite in his line of work. This felt like something else.
Tuchel and his staff were resolved to road-test an updated game model. They wanted to give the players greater freedom in terms of where they could roam on the pitch; encourage them to trust their instincts and take risks, all within a framework where covering for a teammate was fundamental. Tuchel would need some new players to execute it and, as he reflects on a positive window, in which defeat by Spain was followed by three wins, two against Czechia either side of the 7-0 dismantling of Croatia in Rijeka, he will feel he has found them.
The biggest winners from the camp were Alex Scott and Lewis Hall, with Myles Lewis-Skelly getting an honourable mention. James Trafford pushed his claim to supplant Jordan Pickford as the first-choice goalkeeper, and then there was Trent Alexander-Arnold, ever tantalising, ever nuanced.
As for the losers, well, take your pick from those who were not present, with Tuchel making it clear that it would be harder for them.
Tuchel described Scott and Hall as “really excellent”. In the case of the former, Tuchel cannot contain his excitement. He does not want to. Scott did well when he came on as a 70th-minute substitute for his debut against Czechia in Prague and was very good from the start against Croatia.
It was noticeable that when Tuchel's assistant, Anthony Barry, spoke on Monday about fluid, hard-running midfielders to fit the team's style, he name-checked three: Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, who are well-established, and Scott. It is such a frustration that he aggravated a thigh problem against Croatia and is out for two months, which will rule him out of the matches in November against
Croatia and Spain. Tuchel worked with Scott in November 2025 and at the pre-World Cup camp in Florida. "Alex came in here now and was on a completely new level," Tuchel said. "He was super-strong."
It was a positive window for Lewis-Skelly, who Tuchel counted on as a midfielder rather than a left-back for the first time. The 20-year-old started three of the games and came on as a 79th-minute substitute against Croatia. The worry was how he picked up bookings in both matches against Czechia; he is now suspended for the home game against Croatia.
Kobbie Mainoo is a potential loser from the emergence of Scott and Lewis-Skelly. Tuchel was at pains to sympathise with the Manchester United midfielder over the injury that forced his withdrawal, particularly after he did not play him for a single minute at the World Cup. But with Rice certain to return after an agreed rest, and James Garner in the frame, Mainoo has work to do. Ditto Jordan Henderson, not up to speed fitness-wise after his broken arm.
Hall has taken his chance at left-back, stepping up after Nico
O'Reilly played against Spain and was then forced to withdraw. Hall started in each of the subsequent games - "three top matches from him", Tuchel said - and if he is plainly in possession of the shirt, he deserves to keep it in November. Which is bad news for O'Reilly and Djed Spence, who has not yet played this season.
Did Alexander-Arnold do enough at right-back after his surprise recall? He could not have done much more with his starting opportunities in both Czechia games. Everybody knows what he can do; he showed it again and the argument remains that he must be included for his points of difference.
But what does Tuchel do when Reece James, Tino Livramento and Spence are available? The manager has previously made it plain he considers all three to be ahead of Alexander-Arnold. He said he might have called up Ben White if he were fit and also has Jarell Quansah, even if the Bayer Leverkusen player would rather be considered in central defence. That was where Tuchel started him against Czechia at Wembley.
Cole Palmer has found himself under an unforgiving spotlight after his withdrawal. It looks a long way back for the Chelsea No 10 and the same is true of Phil Foden. Both were overlooked when Tuchel gave a late call-up to Morgan Gibbs-White, and neither looks an easy fit for this team's aggressive style. "I don't know [if they are]," Tuchel said. "That is the honest answer. They were not here. This team took another step and it's always about the guys who are here."
Tuchel has plenty to ponder before the November matches. He will hope to see John Stones recover his fitness and form at Inter. There is a belief that the centre-back's move to Serie A, where the tempo is slower, can help him find his rhythm. Marcus Rashford will be expected to return; he has credit in the bank with Tuchel, even if Anthony Gordon has nailed down the starting spot on the left wing.
Can Noni Madueke stage a comeback? And what of the strikers in the Saudi Pro League, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney, also dropped? Tuchel now sees Jude Bellingham as the back-up No 9 to Harry Kane. He gave Dominic Calvert-Lewin only brief substitute appearances. The train hurtles on.
最后一刻
📄 Original Section
Tuchel believes players have 'bought in' to reach next level
David Hytner
Thomas Tuchel believes England have unlocked a new level after moving forward with his tactical tweaks in the opening Nations League fixtures. The head coach wanted the players to retain their aggression, especially in the high press, to step on to the front foot and to harness the chaos often seen in the Premier League. But he has also tried to get them to play with greater freedom, to follow their instincts more - while being alive to the need to cover for teammates.
The results have been positive. After losing to Spain at Wembley, England recorded three wins: two against Czechia either side of the 7-0 victory against Croatia in Rijeka. They have in essence guaranteed their progress into the quarter-finals, while putting a bit of distance between themselves and the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina in July.
"I have never done a big tournament or a big camp after a tournament," Tuchel said. "It was new for me and brilliant to see how everyone bought in to the idea of the next steps and the details needed to adjust to maybe unlock the next level.
"It was football on a very high level, football that suits us, attacking football. It was a lot of high-ball wins and we took some calculated risks in the approach in the opponents' half. We did it in all four games and we had four good performances if unfortunately not four wins. We didn't beat Spain but it was always about the reaction and that was on a high level."
Tuchel's assistant, Anthony Barry, talked on Monday about adding more flexibility and fluidity to the game model. Tuchel was asked to elaborate: "We had the feeling that it was the next step because we saw them in training and we said sometimes we were missing the transfer [from the training pitch] into the game.
"So we made some slight adjustments to how we trained - not big ones because we always believed we had something to build on - but slight adjustments in the structure of how we build up and also how we defend. I am happy that what we did worked. We finally had two weeks with the team which helped a lot because we can do reviews of matches and training and we have a chance for a common language to sink in, for the patterns to sink in."
▲ Thomas Tuchel says players took 'calculated risks' in their approach
The defender Jarell Quansah said the style had evolved since the World Cup. "I think it's going all out. We can really dominate teams with the lads playing in the Premier League at such a high level and high intensity.
"It's being relentless and ruthless. As soon as we score a goal, it's not easing off, trying to get the next goal, trying to put the next player under pressure."
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用数字看里奥的阿根廷国家队生涯
208
自梅西 2005 年 18 岁首次亮相以来的国际赛出场次数
126
为“蓝白军团”打入的进球数……其中 33 个进球出现在他的 11 次帽子戏法中
67
为阿根廷队贡献的助攻……他平均每 88 分钟就能贡献一个进球或助攻
3
赢得的主要奖杯……在 2021 年和 2024 年的美洲杯冠军之间，是 2022 年的世界杯冠军
▶ 在布宜诺斯艾利斯的纪念碑球场，赛前揭幕了一件印有梅西 10 号的巨型复制球衣 RODRIGO ABD / AP
Messi's Argentina career was an act of sacred mystery
He may not be a man of many words, writes Marcela Mora y Araujo, but the retiring great achieved what his father Jorge wanted by making country fall in love
What Argentina is doing in this World Cup is of a sacred order," the
Brazilian writer Milly Lacombe posted at the height of the tide of anti-Argentinian sentiment during this year's tournament. She was exploring the contradiction she felt around her support of Lionel Messi: "a player who is a God and a man who shakes Trump's hand".
Lacombe highlighted the importance of acknowledging the complexities around Messi and the Argentina team. How is it possible that Messi was not speaking out against the racist incidents we all saw around the squad, she asked.
"That's why it hurts so much to see someone with Messi's power choosing to make himself small," she wrote.
Much was made of Messi's silence at the time. Then again, much has been made of his visible discomfort with words throughout his epic career. The journalist John Carlin once said that having interviewed Messi twice, he would decline a third opportunity, such was the challenge of getting the little giant to say anything of consequence. In 2010, Juan Sebastián Verón said he had never seen Messi as nervous as when he had to address his teammates for the first time as Argentina captain. Perhaps Messi's most famous public outburst was at the 2022 World Cup when he told a Dutch player to "go away".
Despite this reticence, Messi has always meant something, even when he doesn't speak. Messi and Argentina were treated as darlings when they won the World Cup in 2022. By the time the 2026 final ended in defeat to Spain, they had become villains.
"That's why it's important to understand that when Messi, in
the middle of a game that was lost, looks at the sky, and then after that he turns the game around and smashed it, there is something very mysterious there. Right? That we can't explain. That we just feel," Lacombe said after Argentina's semi-final victory over England. "I started supporting England but by the end I was weeping, surrendered to the commitment, the passion, the love I saw the Argentina team pour on to the pitch. It's only in that moment of intense passion that we reach the sacred."
Not everyone surrendered to the sacred in the same way. The final against Spain lacked sublime power and opened the floodgates of vitriol from all corners of the globe. Argentinian fans were offended, hurt, defensive and aware they might have just seen Messi's last appearance in an Argentina shirt. When he confirmed he would end his international career - his final appearance came against Benin on Tuesday - a wave of grief and gratitude swept the nation.
Messi grew up in Barcelona's youth system and was eligible to play for both Spain and Argentina. His debut for Argentina - in a youth match against Paraguay - set up a rush to ensure he pledged his allegiance to the country of his birth. He was already one of the Barcelona's academy most promising stars, but he was little known in Argentina. His father, Jorge, wanted nothing more than for his son to represent Argentina, and sent videos to the then manager, Marcelo Bielsa, hoping to expedite the process. For years, Jorge endured an uphill struggle to consolidate the ties between Lionel and Argentina. Messi's prowess, seemingly unstoppable in a well-oiled Barcelona system, did not come through at national level. Jorge would ask his compatriots the same question. How can we get Argentina to love my son?
Now, as we start to write Messi's football obituary, some of the most grievous incidents against him are resurfacing. There was the time when a panel of pundits stood in a minute's silence in protest against Messi's performances for his country. He was criticised for not singing the national anthem. We learned that before Argentina matches he suffered bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea. Diego Maradona mocked him, saying he was no leader (although he would later make Messi Argentina's captain). And when the campaign to win over the nation stepped up and he gave interviews, his discourse was shockingly basic.
But Messi never gave up. He missed penalties, wept, and stood to take them again. The Argentinian journalist Alejandro Wall says: "What characterised Messi in the national team is that he lost. He lost a lot. He's constituted in defeat."
But the vitriol more often came from the press than the people. When he quit the national team in 2016, a spontaneous show of love swept the nation, and he reversed his decision. From then on, the Argentinian Football Association's main priority mirrored that of Jorge Messi: finding a coach who could adapt the entire system to Lionel.
International appearances since Messi's debut aged 18 in 2005
126
Goals for La Albiceleste ... 33 of which featured in his 11 hat-tricks
67
Argentina assists ... he averaged a goal or assist every 88 minutes
3
Major trophy wins ... the 2022 World Cup in between the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles
▶ A giant replica shirt bearing Messi's No 10 is unveiled before kick-off at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires RODRIGO ABD/AP
◀Messi steps up to take his penalty against Benin in front of a heaving crowd of supporters FEDERICO PERETTI/ NURPHOTO/ SHUTTERSTOCK
Perhaps it was only after Maradona's death in 2020 that the new Messi started to emerge. He walked taller, more confident and comfortable as leader. In 2021, Argentina won the Copa América and snippets of Messi's pep talks filtered out. He made simple statements in his unmistakable Rosario accent, aspirating the "s" and not pronouncing most final consonants. The achievements since then speak for themselves.
Tuesday's farewell at the Estadio Monumental - much like that first youth game against Paraguay - had a rushed, improvised air. The FA struggled to secure opponents, not wanting to share box office with another footballing power. Benin were mocked by some as unworthy, and even Lionel Scaloni, the head coach, made reference to a desire to face bigger opponents than Bolivia and Burkina Faso, the other teams Argentina played this window. Burkina Faso ended up sending an under-23 side who arrived a few hours before the match, and the
stadium was not filled to capacity. Ticket prices were extortionate, and diehard fans refused to fall for what they called “a scam”.
But against Benin they turned up. Earlier, Messi had picked up an honorary doctorate, in a small and shabby ceremony in a back office of the FA. Delicately produced homages to No 10 were aired. Social media posts full of hyperbolic emotion appeared. "Like Scheherazade, he mocked destiny match by match, to gift the Argentina people another day of his magic. The thousand and one nights of Lionel Messi with the light blue and white come to their end," read one post. "Whoah, hold it! It's 9am. I can't start weeping yet" came a swift reply.
To paraphrase Wayne Rooney, the entertainment around the match was crap. There was a drawn out homage by Soledad Pastorutti, who sang the same number she had once performed with Maradona. A veteran of the Falklands/Malvinas war sang the national anthem, and then clad himself in the same flag that fell on the pitch in Atlanta. The terraces chanted against the AFA president, Chiqui Tapia, in a beautiful chorus, which went some way to atoning for the drone show at the end, with insurance adverts glittering in the sky.
But football is about redemption, and the night was redeemed. Benin actually put up a fight, bookended by the team's captain presenting Messi with a statue of a Dahomey Agojie, the group of women who fought against French occupation. Messi set up two of his team's three goals and scored a penalty.
The cameras zoomed in on weeping faces but the sounds from the terraces were decisively celebratory, relentless, trembling. It was football through and through. And Messi loved it. He picked up the microphone and launched into a speech so articulate and confident that it merits a dissertation. He addressed conspiracy theories surrounding the World Cup final: "Nothing odd happened. The match against England wore us out at an emotional level." He warned of hard times to come but said team unity is the way through.
"We had the dream of fulfilling our dream," he said, adding: "I don't know, I'm talking more than ever. I don't want to leave here. I love you." And Argentina loves him back.
As Lacombe said, when Messi looks at the sky, then turns a situation around and smashes it, there is mystery. There is something sacred.
The extraordinary eight points Ronaldo claims Portugal coach Jesus agreed to make
Cristiano Ronaldo said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday that the Portugal head coach, Jorge Jesus, had agreed to make eight points relating to him in a press conference before the team's game in Denmark last week.
Ronaldo said he had approved a document listing the points after a video meeting involving him, Jesus, his adviser Tiago Craveiro and his club Al-Nassr's sporting director, Simão Coutinho.
The meeting, according to Ronaldo, was at “the coach’s request” and he said the document was then “delivered to the coach, as he had requested”.
Ronaldo said Jesus's failure to make the points in the press conference constituted "the second time he had broken his word to me" and that he then "decided to leave the camp without waiting for any further breach of word".
Ronaldo's statement included reference to his failure to salute Portugal's fans after the game in Norway during which he warmed up extensively but was not brought on. He said: "The notes I validated were the following: 'I think it is important, also because it is the truth, to clarify a few things before talking about Denmark: 1 I myself, and no one else, proposed to Cristiano a plan for him this sporting season with the national team. It was a long and very good conversation.
2 I know how much he lives and loves the national team and the weight he has in the world, and even more the weight and the positive influence he has had on the national team for 24 consecutive years.
3 The plan I proposed to Cristiano was accepted.
4 He never questioned my options. He was exemplary, loyal and professional.
5 The match in Norway was not part of the plan I drew up for him. However, I felt that he had managed to recover physically from the first match and I warned him that I might have to use him. Cristiano agreed.
Cristiano Ronaldo departed Jesus's squad last week
6 I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it.
7 To close the subject: I want Cristiano in the national team. In fact I do not want him a little, I want him a lot. Fortunately he also believes in me. He believed at Al-Nassr and he does here as well.
8 About not greeting the fans. We have already spoken about that. Someone who has played more than 230 matches for the national team does not receive lessons from me on love for Portugal. It was a moment of frustration that erases nothing. He is the player who gives the most autographs, takes the most selfies, and shows the most affection to the fans. Let us not invent problems where they do not exist. When we are not happy we react."
Ronaldo's statement then said: "That was all. None of these notes, therefore, said that the coach should even apologise to me."
Reflecting on Jesus's conduct in the press conference Ronaldo said: "I heard expressions and an aggressiveness that I do not believe I deserved, an attitude of 'I want, I can and I command' that he never showed me, not even remotely, in private the day before." Guardian sport
Pocognoli's system raises questions after Scotland start
cotland are staring at a third-place finish in Group B1 of the Nations League after failing to impress in Sébastien Pocognoli's first four
games as manager. They were dismal for a half in Slovenia before a decent but scoreless recovery. They capitulated after an early sending-off against Switzerland, failing to register a shot on target in a meek 3-0 loss. North Macedonia were as poor an international team as Scotland have faced in recent times, rendering the 2-0 win in Skopje worthy of little more than a shoulder shrug. Pocognoli's men rounded off this window by being played off the Hampden Park pitch by Slovenia. Andy Robertson, the captain, strikingly questioned the attitude of his teammates.
Are Scotland suited to the way Pocognoli wants to play? It does not look that way. The manager deploys a three-man backline as routine, with an emphasis on pressing high and wingbacks being crucial to attacking phases. Scotland do not have an obvious two-man central defensive pairing, meaning they most definitely struggle when the number is increased by one. Time and again, they leave far too much space in behind and look woefully exposed. Counterattacks bypass Scotland's midfield all too easily.
Success under Steve Clarke came from being well-drilled, compact and difficult to beat. Unsexy perhaps, but effective. Playing with gay abandon is all well and good when having a level of security Scotland simply do not possess currently. Pocognoli's desired methods may be impossible to implement without day-to-day involvement with players. Ideology is fine when club football permits an overhaul of personnel.
When Scotland switched to a defensive four in the closing stages of the Slovenia clash, players appeared confused. This was a bad look for Pocognoli, who has insisted he is “flexible” in a tactical sense and disputed the idea he had a touchline row with Robertson. Scott McTominay’s return for the next set of fixtures would provide an iota of hope, were it obvious where the Napoli man fits in. The setup as is will not maximise the abilities of McTominay, John McGinn, Ryan Christie and Billy Gilmour.
▲ Scotland are struggling under new coach Sébastien Pocognoli
Ben Gannon-Doak - who has a searing pace and a directness that scares defenders, offset by woeful decision making - cannot operate as a right wingback against credible opposition. Deploying him there also denies a start to Aaron Hickey, who is undeniably one of Scotland's best players. Gannon-Doak is a winger (as are Josh McPake and Findlay Curtis). Pocognoli's first-choice method does not involve wingers. Something has to give.
Didn't fans want a revolution? A reality is Scotland have qualified for three of the last four major tournaments. Noise directed towards Clarke underappreciated the scale of his work. That said, after seven years, Clarke's tenure had run its course.
The obvious move at that point was to turn towards a coach who had succeeded in tournament football with a similarly sized nation. With the level of available talent dropping or ageing, there was also a requirement for pragmatism and realism. Instead, Scottish FA officials spoke of a data-led search for Clarke's successor, which led them to a coach who had never managed in international football before. Trying to be too smart by half? This team was not fundamentally broken, it just needed to progress.
What is the wider scenario that Pocognoli is part of? The Scottish FA suddenly has a chief football officer in Craig Mulholland, and a head of strategy, operations and performance in Graeme Mathie. The latter was plucked from the Scottish second tier. The move to insert this level of middle management carrying wishy-washy job descriptions is strange, not least when neither can provide working examples of markedly improving the big picture with an equivalent nation.
Scottish football has a reluctance to let others mark its homework. Scotland have to work far harder at finding resource for the men's A team. Six starters against Slovenia were 30 or older. Clarke could be obstinate but there was no raft of exciting footballers he chose to ignore.
There is no question of the Scottish FA becoming anxious towards Pocognoli. If this goes wrong, however, there will be significant questions to be answered about a chosen direction of travel.
▶ 'I would lie if I said this summer's been easy,' Tonda Eckert said of the fallout from 'Spygate', that erupted during last season's Championship playoffs
Eckert got off lightly but no sane manager will attempt spying again
Verdict has been a long time coming and the head coach has seemingly recaptured hearts and minds at St Mary's
Louise Taylor
H i Tonda, are you a cheat?" That simple, succinct, question cut to the heart of a matter that has
vexed the Football Association all summer. It was posed by the Northern Echo's Dominic Shaw after Southampton overcame Middlesbrough in the second leg of May's Championship playoff semi-final and proved the cue for Tonda Eckert to walk out of his press conference at St Mary's.
Although Southampton's manager subsequently admitted to authorising spying on opponents, England's football authorities struggled to decide what punishment best fitted an act some regard as heinous but which others fail to take seriously. Now we finally have an FA verdict, with Eckert given a six-week ban suspended until the end of the 2027-28 season, a £28,000 fine and a reprimand.
Despite the apparent leniency of the sanction, one thing is clear: Eckert's summer in purgatory surely dictates no sane England-based coach would contemplate engaging in espionage now.
Eckert may wish he could turn back time to early May and rewrite history. On the eve of the playoff semi-final first leg on Teesside, William Salt, then an intern Southampton first-team analyst, was caught lurking awkwardly beside a tree while filming a Middlesbrough training session on his iPhone. Spygate was born and an independent disciplinary commission convened by the Football League (EFL) expelled Southampton from the playoff final against Hull after their win against Boro across two legs. The governing body also decreed the Saints would begin the current Championship season on minus four points.
By then Southampton had also admitted to spying on Oxford and Ipswich training. There is a certain irony that Eckert's team won none of the three games
William Salt was caught lurking by a tree ... clandestine manoeuvres were not his strong suit - albeit Middlesbrough were ultimately beaten on aggregate - involving covert surveillance. Yet the EFL independent disciplinary commission panel made plain its discomfort regarding the "particularly deplorable" pressure placed on a young worker hired on a temporary contract. Salt has since been given a staff job as an analyst in Southampton's academy and is reportedly progressing well.
With the EFL empowered to sanction clubs but not individuals in such cases, it was down to the FA to punish Eckert. The 33-year-old German issued a public apology in June but was not charged with misconduct by the FA until late July. A further hiatus ensued before a hearing at Wembley on 24 September.
This extraordinary delay afforded Eckert ample time to regret dispatching Salt to Middlesbrough's training ground adjacent to the luxury Rockliffe Hall Hotel and golf course just south of Darlington. Salt's primary mission was to discover whether Hayden Hackney, Middlesbrough's star midfielder and the Championship player of the season, was fit after injury. Unfortunately, clandestine manoeuvres were evidently not his strong suit. Salt soon found himself being chased into hotel toilets, and realised that using his bank card to buy a coffee at Rockliffe had
not been the smartest move. That payment facilitated a search for his name on Southampton's website. It was swiftly identified, enabling Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough's owner, to make a formal complaint to the EFL regarding a breach of its anti-spying regulations.
It is understood that, until this point, Southampton's manager remained unaware of the Bev Priestman precedent. The former head coach of Canada Women was banned from all football activity for a year by Fifa after being found guilty of initiating spying. During the 2024 Paris Olympics her staff secretly filmed a New Zealand training session using a drone and the former England women's assistant manager paid a high price.
It is unclear whether Eckert has since been in touch with the 40-year-old, now in charge of Wellington Phoenix. Priestman met such extreme hostility in previously welcoming Canada that she relocated her family to New Zealand. During ‘Spygate’, Eckert’s wife was heavily pregnant and based in Berlin, preparing for the birth of their first child. Back in Hampshire, her husband received death threats via LinkedIn. Southampton supplied the manager with protection while police advised him that driving his own car was unsafe and that he should restrict his movements.
Plenty of people were extremely angry, with St Mary's regulars polarised between those who believed the manager had shamed their club and should be sacked, and others who reflected that what is euphemistically called "training observation" of opponents is commonplace and largely unpunished across tracts of Europe. The second camp remembered that, seven years ago, Leeds were fined £200,000 after the club's then manager, Marcelo Bielsa, sent an analyst to monitor a Derby training session. Frank Lampard, then in charge of Derby, complained after spotting him perched up a tree.
After that incident the EFL tightened its regulations regarding espionage appreciably. Nonetheless, Eckert's advocates claim that, given he started last season as Southampton's under-21s coach and became the
▲ William Salt pictured on his mission to Middlesbrough; Saints fans in camouflage at the playoffs
manager after Will Still's sacking in November, he had missed the EFL's summer rules refresher course.
Eckert, who began his career as a Germany national team analyst before moving into coaching at Cologne, RB Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, Barnsley and Genoa, was only half-joking when he recently told reporters that the EFL handbook was his staple bedside summer reading. He also made contact with Gareth Southgate and visited the former England and Middlesbrough, manager, with the pair discussing English football culture and its zero tolerance for spycraft at length.
"I would lie if I said this summer's been easy," said Eckert last month. "I've asked the FA for forgiveness." He has had unwavering support from Southampton's board who made it clear they had no desire to sack him in the face of dressing room hostility from players.
With first-team hearts and minds since seemingly recaptured by the coach who led them so close to promotion last season, Southampton have won four and drawn two Championship games. Next up on Sunday is the visit of Portsmouth. South-coast derbies are invariably tense but Eckert's reprieve may ensure he cuts an unusually relaxed figure in the technical area.
→ Continued from back page
adding: "Although there are three rule breaches, we do not consider there was a systematic or organised course of conduct." With Eckert having admitted three breaches of FA Rule E3.1, most of the hearing, which took place last month, was devoted to determining the sanction.
In their submission the FA's lawyers initially argued for a ban from football of "at least nine months", citing the 12-month ban given to Canada Women's coach, Bev Priestman, for using drones to spy on New Zealand during the 2024 Olympics, which they reduced to a suggestion of three months allowing for mitigation.
The commission accepted Eckert's evidence regarding the incidents, namely that he suggested observing Oxford's training session before a Championship game last December, accepted video footage from an Ipswich session later in the season without commissioning the spying and requested that someone watch Middlesbrough train before the play-off semi-final to determine whether Hayden Hackney was fit to play.
Eckert's claim that he did not know such acts were a breach of EFL regulations was also accepted by the commission, which concluded that a 16-week ban from football was proportionate before mitigation.
The commission noted what they described as Eckert's "genuine contrition", however, including consulting a psychologist to determine how his behaviour could affect other members of staff, and the fact that a lengthy ban would almost certainly cause him to lose his job, which led to the ban being reduced to nine weeks.
A further three-week reduction was applied in recognition of Eckert's guilty plea, before the commission opted to make the six-week ban suspended because of the wider impact such a punishment would have on Southampton as a club and their fans.
The Southampton chair, Dragan Solak, gave his backing to Eckert and praised the FA's handling of the process, but was extremely critical of the EFL. "We have already suffered enough, and we appreciate the panel's recognition of that," Solak said. "We are confident the manager has learned from this matter.
"The FA process has been a positive experience. Tonda has been given the opportunity to be open and honest with the panel, and the panel has been able to see that he is simply a good person who made poor decisions. The same cannot be said for the EFL process, and the way they have subsequently treated us is not something we will forget."
'They saw a good person who made poor decisions'
Dragan Solak
Southampton chair ▼ Mikel Arteta with CEO, Richard Garlick (left), and director Andrea Berta
'This is only the beginning': Arteta signs £80m-plus deal
Ed Aarons
Mikel Arteta has promised “this is only the beginning” of what he can achieve as Arsenal manager after signing a new long-term contract that would take his reign at the club beyond a decade if he sees it out.
The Spaniard is understood to have signed a four-year deal worth more than £20m a season, making him the best-paid Premier League manager. That is a hefty pay rise in recognition of his success last season as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to be crowned champions.
"It's a privilege to commit my future to the club and to continue to work with exceptional people who want the best for Arsenal," Arteta said. "This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel, and I have a great sense of privilege that our journey together will continue. We have already built a special bond and created memories that will last a lifetime, and what is so exciting is that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together.
"This is such a proud moment for me and my family. I feel the love and respect from our fantastic supporters, and they have mine - and ours - in return."
Arteta's previous contract, which was due to expire at the end of this season, was believed to be worth about £10m a season plus a £5m bonus for reaching the Champions League. The new deal, to June 2030, cements his status as one of the best-paid managers in the world. His coaching staff have also signed extended deals.
"It has been an incredible journey so far and we are excited for what lies ahead in this special relationship," said Arsenal's co-chairs, Stan and Josh Kroenke. "Last season was an incredible moment in Arsenal's history, a moment in which we created memories that will last a lifetime. We're determined to create many more in the years ahead."
Arsenal confirmed this week that they have shelved plans for a major expansion of the Emirates Stadium after Arteta is believed to have expressed concern over the disruption that would have been caused by a move. His side face Leeds on Saturday as they attempt to bounce back from a surprise 3-0 defeat at Brighton before the international break that ended the champions' 100% start.
'This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel'
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager
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The Guardian
周四
8 October
2026
📄 Original Section
City witness kept in dark over end to protection
Ed Aarons
Miguel Dantas
Portuguese authorities kept Rui Pinto in the dark for almost three months about their decision to end his status as a protected witness and notified the Manchester City whistleblower 10 days before it was due to expire, it can be revealed.
According to documents seen by the Guardian, the special security programmes commission (CPES), which oversees Portugal's witness protection programme, met on 8 and 9 July to discuss Pinto's case. It concluded that the threat level against him was low and that the special protection measures were no longer warranted.
Yet it was not until 30 September that Pinto, who has been a protected witness since 2020 after agreeing to grant Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest, was informed of the decision - 83 days after it had been made.
With 10 days' notice, Pinto was left with little time to address a number of immediate issues. He needs to find somewhere safe to live and establish a way of supporting himself in a new location, while avoiding contact with family members.
The Guardian contacted the CPES on two occasions seeking details of the criteria and evidence used to determine that Pinto's protection should be withdrawn. On Wednesday, the commission was also asked to explain the 83-day gap between its decision and the notification. None of the inquiries received a response.
On 30 September, the day Pinto was informed his protected-witness status was coming to an end, the Premier League's guilty verdict against City, which had been confirmed 24 hours earlier, was dominating headlines around the world. The authorities stood by the decision reached nearly three months earlier despite protestations from Pinto and his lawyers that he fears for his life.
Pinto entered Portugal's protection programme after cooperating with the country's justice authorities. His revelations have subsequently been used by judicial, tax and sporting authorities across Europe, including the Premier League's investigation into City's alleged financial irregularities.
Pinto's lawyers argue that the authorities should take into account his cooperation with the justice system and the continuing risks associated with his disclosures before ending his protection.
Mounting pressure appears to have prompted a rethink. Last Saturday Portugal's justice minister, Rita Alarcão Júdice, was questioned about the decision. She said the authorities would review Pinto's case and promised to respond by Saturday, the date on which his protection is due to end.
"I have received various requests and we are examining them very carefully," Júdice said. "If there has been any irregularity, or if any procedure was not handled as it should have been, that will, of course, be taken into consideration."
The Guardian understands that, as it first reported, Pinto remains willing to cooperate with British authorities in the City case and in other investigations stemming from his findings. He handed over millions of documents to investigators in France, which can now be shared with other nations - including the UK - under international cooperation and bilateral ties.
Pinto's lawyer, Francisco Teixeira da Mota, said an appeal against the decision would be filed this week. "The most shocking thing is the fact that he wasn't heard before the decision was made," he said. "It's something that goes against the European court of human rights."
In a press release last week, Pinto's defence team called the decision "an act of state terrorism". Their outrage has intensified after they learned their client had been kept in the dark for almost three months. "It says a lot," Da Mota said.
Southampton's Spygale escape Eckert given suspended ban and a fine but FA may appeal
Matt Hughes
The Southampton head coach, Tonda Eckert, has escaped a ban from the Football Association for his part in the Spygate scandal that led to the club being expelled from last season's Championship playoff final and denied the chance to win promotion to the Premier League.
The German has been given a six-week suspended ban and £28,000 fine by an independent commission after admitting all charges, but the FA could appeal against the sanction after its lawyers demanded a three-month ban from all football.
Tonda Eckert has a six-week suspended ban along with a £28,000 fine\*
Eckert was charged with misconduct in July after Southampton admitted they had spied on three Championship clubs last season in a breach of English Football League regulations, including their playoff semifinal opponents Middlesbrough.
Southampton beat Middlesbrough over two legs to reach the final, but were subsequently found guilty of a “contrived and determined plan”
to spy on Oxford, Ipswich and Middlesbrough by an EFL independent disciplinary commission, who removed the club from the playoffs and imposed a four-point deduction.
While Southampton appealed against that punishment it was upheld by the league arbitration panel two days before the playoff final, where Hull beat Middlesbrough.
In their written reasons for imposing a suspended ban the independent commission makes clear it disagreed with many of the findings of the EFL panels, describing Eckert as a “particularly impressive witness” who showed “genuine contrition”.
In contrast the EFL commission that kicked Southampton out of the playoffs had condemned Eckert's "deplorable" behaviour in pressuring junior staff to spy on training sessions, while it also said it was "unimpressed" with his testimony.
The commission hearing the FA charges concluded there was no evidence of Eckert pressuring staff, however, 43
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The Guardian
Special education overhaul under threat amid surge in applications
● Worried parents rush to secure support before the system changes
Thinktank's analysis finds funding rise to pay for the reforms is at risk
Richard Adams
Education editor
Labour's flagship reforms to special education in England are at risk of unravelling because parents are rushing to secure support for their children before the system changes, new analysis has found.
The Institute for Government thinktank says the plans to largely replace education, health and care plans (EHCPs) with more widespread support in mainstream schools may be too optimistic and take longer to complete than their 2030 timeline.
The thinktank's report calls on the government to review the timetable for the changes. And it suggests that if ministers do not act they "risk basing both their reforms and spending plans on assumptions that the system cannot deliver".
The news will be seen as a sign that the ambitious plans to reform the special education system did not reckon with the scale of worry among parents, many of whom appear to have acted to ensure support to avoid uncertainty in the future.
The Guardian recently reported that councils and schools had recorded a surge in applications from pupils with EHCPs, individualised packages of support agreed between parents and local authorities that can be enforced by specialist tribunals. One school described the level of applications as “unreal” compared with previous years. Several councils now project that at the current rates of increase, nearly one in 10 pupils will have an EHCP by 2029.
Amber Dellar, the author of the IfG report out this week, said the introduction of the changes over a prolonged period created 7 →
Arise, Sir Kevin Rugby star who raised millions for MND
Ex-England rugby league captain Kevin Sinfield said his friend Rob Burrow, who died from MND, would be 'enormously proud' to see him become a knight bachelor
PHOTOGRAPH: JORDAN PETTITT/PA
High-profile Labour tax exile 'left UK in 2014'
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📦 已折叠版面非核心信息：报社通联与订阅促销条款（《Helena Horton》— 点击展开）
Helena Horton
When the news broke that David Reuben, one of the UK's richest men, had apparently fled to the tax haven of Monaco, there was much pearl-clutching. Reuben had moved from his Holland Park house in London to live full-time in the principality.
Labour's tax regime was blamed, with fears of a cascading effect across the economy with wealth draining from the UK. It was reported across the world that he had probably left because of potential taxes on wealth in the forthcoming budget.
However, research by TaxWatch has found that Reuben, 88, has been tax resident in Monaco since at least 2014. A spokesperson for the
Newcastle United FC shareholder, who with his brother Simon, 85, shares a combined estimated wealth of almost £28bn, confirmed this was the case.
Simon Reuben has lived in Monaco for 40 years since moving on health grounds while he had cancer.
The principality is a popular place for those who do not wish to pay UK taxes as it does not 8 →
Christa Pike awake after botched execution
Adam Gabbatt
Maya Yang
Christa Pike, a Tennessee prisoner who survived the state's attempt to execute her, was awake and speaking in hospital, her lawyers said yesterday, as a judge ordered officials to preserve all evidence relating to the botched execution.
Pike, 50, survived two supposedly lethal doses of a sedative as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death last Wednesday in a case that shocked many in America and created headlines around the world. She was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Pike's lawyers said she had pneumonia and a blood clot, and was unable to move either of her badly injured arms, after she regained consciousness on Tuesday.
"The first thing she said was: 'Where am I and who are you?', one of Pike's lawyers said yesterday.
Pike was taken to hospital unconscious but alive from Tennessee's execution chamber last Wednesday after two doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital.
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Britain on course for record fall in living standards, Healey is warned
Heather Stewart
Jessica Elgot
Soaring energy and housing costs mean Labour is on course to preside over the worst parliament for living standards in modern times, a stark analysis warned yesterday.
With three weeks until John Healey's budget, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said Britain faced a "dire" outlook without "bold policy action".
The JRF predicts that, after housing costs, average household incomes will be between £440 and £770 lower in real terms in 2029-30 than when Labour came to power two years ago.
Even the lower end of that range would mark the biggest decline in living standards since modern records began in 1961, the thinktank said, and come on top of a tight squeeze in the last parliament.
Louise Haigh, the first secretary of state, has been tasked by Andy Burnham to lead the Cabinet Office cross-government taskforces, with two focusing on turning around living standards. One is looking at short-term cost of living measures to help on housing and energy, and the other at big structural interventions such as public control that might alleviate those pressures in the longer term.
Their work will form part of the 10-year plan expected this autumn, which Burnham began discussing with cabinet ministers this week.
Haigh has repeatedly told officials that there will have to be “trade-offs” in order to prioritise alleviating the cost of living and public control.
At the budget, Burnham has promised to offer “breathing space” to voters and Healey is expected to pledge £1bn in additional support to energy consumers, but there are ▲ A street in Harehills, Leeds. Rising energy prices and mortgage costs are hammering British households
PHOTOGRAPH: RICHARD SAKER/THE GUARDIAN
concerns inside government about whether that goes far enough.
Healey is reportedly set to rebuff a call from the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, to spend billions more on removing levies from bills altogether. The most likely solution is understood to be increasing the warm homes discount - a £150 discount to energy bills offered to households on certain benefits - by £100.
The JRF's living standards analysis used the Bank of England's two projections for energy prices - a "central" and an "adverse" scenario. The thinktank pointed out that since the Bank set these out in July, events have tracked close to the adverse scenario, with oil prices surging back above \$100 a barrel after hostilities resumed in the Middle East.
By driving up the cost of energy, the conflict has increased expectations
Largest fall in living standards since at least 1964 expected during the current parliament
Average annual change in real disposable income after housing costs by parliament, %
Source: JRF analysis of OBR and BoE data
that the Bank will raise the base interest rate to tackle resurgent inflation. Markets are now betting on four quarter-point increases to 4.75% by the end of next year.
Borrowing costs for homebuyers have already jumped in response to the turmoil in bond markets, with the average cost of a five-year fixed rate mortgage hitting 6% this week for the first time in three years.
Chris Belfield, the chief economist at the JRF, said: "Without bold policy action on living standards, families are set to be poorer than they were a decade ago. This is terrible both for families who are just treading water to get by and the more than 7 million families who are already routinely going without essentials like food and basic toiletries."
Some forecasts have suggested the typical household dual-fuel bill could leap by 16% to £2,000 a year in the first quarter of next year. The foundation has argued for more ambitious measures on energy than Healey appears minded to offer. It wants to see cheaper energy offered to all households, with those in greater need entitled to more of these cut-price units of gas and electricity.
Other recommendations include making benefits more generous, by relinking local housing allowance to average rents; and increasing universal credit, as the Conservatives did during the Covid pandemic. This could be paid for via changes such as increasing capital gains tax rates to match income tax, it argues.
Healey's budget is expected to be relatively modest, with important decisions delayed until next year. These include when the UK will implement spending $3\%$ of GDP on defence - a target Healey claimed to be committed to when he resigned as defence secretary in June. In his 28 October statement, the chancellor is expected to focus on filling the gaps in the defence investment plan announced by Keir Starmer's government in June, and laying out how some income tax revenue will be devolved to regional mayors.
Brexit, Covid and Truss 'caused lasting damage to mental health'
Denis Campbell
Health policy editor
Brexit, Liz Truss's mini-budget and other "shocks" over the past 10 years have led to a serious and lasting deterioration in the UK population's mental health, research has found.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the first and second Covid lockdowns also triggered big rises in psychological distress, as measured by the number of people suffering depression and anxiety.
The findings come as Prof Peter Fonagy prepares to publish the report of his long-awaited government-commissioned inquiry into the dramatic increases in recent years in diagnoses of mental illness, ADHD and autism. It will be published tomorrow amid concern that those conditions help explain why a record 2.8 million Britons are too ill to work and almost a million young people aged 16 to 24 have become "Neets" - not in education, employment or training.
Researchers led by Dr Annie Jeffery of University College London used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study of 87,857 people aged 16 and over, which was collected every year between 2009 and 2024, to estimate the mental health impact of those five “systemic shocks”. The team’s findings have been published in the journal BMJ Mental Health.
"The past decade or so has been tumultuous, shaped by multiple overlapping shocks and ongoing uncertainty and instability that have impacted mental health in Britain," said Jeffery.
"We have shown that major government decisions and current global events can have substantial impacts on people's mental health."
All five events caused immediate and serious damage to overall mental wellbeing across the UK. But the
Brexit referendum in June 2016 and first pandemic lockdown in March 2020 caused the most damage, the research team found.
Their analysis of the General Household Survey's GHQ-12 questionnaire, which measures mental health, found that the UK's vote to leave the European Union led to an increase in overall mental ill-health equivalent to about 120,000 more people overall seeking a GP's help for depression.
However, the first Covid lockdown had a much larger impact than Brexit, as measured by a bigger rise in the UK's GHQ-12 score. That jump equated to about 900,000 more people in total visiting a family doctor because they had developed symptoms of depression, Jeffery said.
▲ Liz Truss's budget led to 23,000 more people a month visiting a GP
Russia's full-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022 led to about 15,000 more Britons a month seeking a GP's help for depression. After the then prime minister Liz Truss's mini-budget in September that year, which proved disastrous for the UK economy, about 23,000 more people a month visited their family doctor's surgery for depression.
Andy Bell, the chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health think-tank, said: "There is clear evidence that Covid had a big impact on mental health. And it makes sense that the other 'shocks' listed here would do so, either directly by making people feel less secure and less connected, or as after-effects, for example the cost of living crisis."
Mental ill-health costs the UK £300bn a year, the thinktank said.
The number of people in England in contact with NHS mental health services rose from 2.638m in 2016-17 to 4.129m in 2024-25. New referrals to the NHS every month for mental ill-health have jumped from 360,000 in April 2022 to 530,000 in July 2026 - up 47%.
News
Jonathan in the grounds of Plantation House, the governor's mansion in St Helena. Above, pictured (left) in 1886, when he was in his early 50s
PHOTOGRAPHS: JOE HOLLINS; AL INNES
Live slow, die old? Jonathan the tortoise, 194, offers clues to the secrets of longevity
Ian Sample
Science editor
The ancient quest to extend the human lifespan has received a boost after scientists analysed the genetic code of the world's oldest living land animal, a giant tortoise called Jonathan.
The tortoise, who lives in the grounds of Plantation House, the official residence of the governor of St Helena in the south Atlantic, is believed to be 194 years old, making him a contemporary of Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin.
Analysis of Jonathan's DNA revealed several genetic variants in most of the biological pathways for ageing that scientists have discovered. Together they help organisms survive by repairing damaged DNA, regulating their metabolism and fending off cancer.
More intriguing to the researchers were chemical patterns on Jonathan's genes that appeared to protect the healthy functioning of his mitochondria, the tiny, battery-like structures that power biological cells. Ailing mitochondria have been strongly linked to ageing and age-related diseases.
"We're still trying to work out how ageing occurs and Jonathan gives us a real window on to what happens over a long period of time," said Stephen Clark, a senior researcher on the project at the nonprofit Kallel Foundation. "His mitochondria must be especially stable and that's an insight into longevity in general: it's important that the mitochondria are kept as pristine as possible."
The international team, led by Benjamin Vaisvil, looked at chemical tags that attach to DNA, creating patterns that change over time. The tags, known as methyl groups, typically silence the genes they latch on to.
Writing in the journal Science Advances, the researchers describe how they compared the methylation patterns on Jonathan's genes with those from other giant tortoises. The patterns on many of his genes were similar to those of other old tortoises,
🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Send overhaul under threat amid surge in applications》]
a “moral hazard” that encouraged parents to apply for EHCPs now rather than wait for the new system.
"There's a 'use it before you lose it' dynamic, as schools and parents have an incentive to secure EHCPs before they are phased out, because there's a lot of uncertainty about what these new specialist packages of support will contain and who will be eligible for them," Dellar said.
She said new resources had been added as part of the plan in order to reduce the need for families to seek EHCPs. However, she said budgets for the additional resources for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) would be eroded if demands for EHCPs shot above the government's own forecasts. Councils say that they have to keep issuing EHCPs until the legislation is repealed.
She said: “The government has a lot riding on the reforms taking effect before they fully kick in - its spending plans for the parliament have some assumptions about savings baked in that are based in particular on them being able to slow the growth or the trajectory of numbers of pupils with EHCPs. It has a lot politically riding on it as well, and of course in terms of the wellbeing of the children and families involved.”
A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said: "The figures in this report are speculative and there is no evidence that proposed reforms are driving additional EHCP demand.
"We inherited a Send system with record numbers of EHCPs and families waiting months for support. We are already investing to change that - backing schools to improve inclusion, widening access to specialists and rolling out training for every teacher to better support children before needs escalate.
"It is vital that we take the time needed to get this right, but we are completely committed to the implementation timelines set out in the schools white paper and will announce next steps soon."
▲ The Nuffield Foundation raises concerns about future Send funding
The changes announced in February under Keir Starmer promised to overhaul a system that parents have denounced for forcing them to seek EHCPs to secure specialist support or a place in a special school.
Many parents said the EHCP application process - introduced by the Conservatives in 2014 - required lengthy waits for NHS assessments for conditions such as ADHD or autism, or great expense for those who paid for private assessments. Families then face bureaucratic delays from schools and local authorities, or from legal appeals to a specialist Send tribunal to override council objections.
Mark Franks, the director of welfare at the Nuffield Foundation, which funded the report, said: "While there is broad agreement that the current system is under strain, uncertainty and concern remain about whether future levels of investment and the nature of reform will be sufficient to provide high-quality support for all children and young people."
The IfG said the extra costs of Send provision could absorb “around two-thirds of the generous schools funding uplift over this parliament”.
The package of reforms would see mainstream schools given greater support for SEN pupils, including the creation of specialist bases, allowing pupils to attend local schools and reduce pressure on special schools. The DfE also wants individual support plans to replace many EHCPs.
Dellar said: “The way the government is approaching these Send reforms is deliberately to take a slow, phased approach - largely because it knows that those investments are going to take a while to have an effect. Its investments in early assessment are going to take a little time to bear fruit, it has not yet properly set out exactly what preventative support it wants schools to put in place.”
Tycoon cited as Labour wealth tax exile 'in Monaco since 2014'
impose income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax.
In July 2019, when David became a director of the Reuben foundation, the paperwork filed at the UK company registry stated he was “usually resident” in Monaco. In 2024 he provided a signed declaration to a Los Angeles court stating: “I reside in Monaco. I have resided there for approximately 10 years.”
It was reported that the Reuben brothers were “non-doms”, which allowed them to pay tax only on income generated here. The then chancellor, Rachel Reeves, axed this system in April last year, prompting a reported exodus of foreign super-rich individuals.
Asked whether Reuben would have been caught by changes to these rules if he had not decided to move out of his UK residence, a spokesperson said: "That's an entirely hypothetical question to which it would be impossible to give an answer."
Mike Lewis, the director of Tax-Watch, told the Guardian: "When we started looking into this, we were surprised that publicly available documents completely contradicted a major news story. Sadly, these kinds of stories dominate the UK's public and political conversation about our tax system.
"The autumn budget may see some of the biggest changes in years to how gains from wealth are taxed. Perhaps it's time that our politicians, and our media, debate these changes based on public facts and verifiable numbers - not anecdotes and anonymous reports from billionaires and their spokespeople."
The Labour MP Clive Lewis, who campaigns for a wealth tax, said: 'If you want to live in this country, being British, having access to the culture of London, people want that, and there are lots of billionaires and millionaires who do stay because of that.
"It's instructive that there is a grouping of commentators who put on the scare tactics to say the wealthy are leaving this country. We can see that many of these billionaires don't reside here anyway, many of them do stay here, and those who want to
Simon Reuben, left, and his brother David, who had been said to have fled the UK recently over wealth tax fears go, we can't stop them anyway. This has always been the case."
Some of the super-rich are leaving. An analysis of Bloomberg's Billionaires Index has found that super-rich UK residents worth a combined £121bn had either left or loosened ties with the UK since the Labour government came to power in 2024. This represents more than half of all billionaire wealth. Among those who have left are the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and the shipping magnate John Fredriksen.
Inheritance tax changes in Reeves's budget were also blamed for pushing the wealthy out, and it is thought capital gains tax may be increased this autumn.
Born in Mumbai, the Reuben brothers moved to London as teenagers and went to a state school. They left aged 17 with no A-levels, started businesses in metal trading and carpet importing and have since built a property empire. They own prestigious locations including Mayfair's chandelier-festooned Burlington Arcade, Admiralty Arch, which is being developed into a five-star hotel, and Millbank tower in Westminster.
Milking it
Heifers are paraded for judging as part of the Dairy Show at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet. The event is one of the most important dates in a dairy farmer's calendar and includes a display of top breeds.
PHOTOGRAPH: FINNBARR WEBSTER/GETTY IMAGES
Husband of GP, 45, appears in court charged with her murder
Neha Gohil
Midlands correspondent
The husband of a GP appeared in court yesterday charged with her murder. Dr Hannah Cain, 45, was found dead at her home in Dersingham, near the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, last Sunday.
Mark Cain, 45, of the same address, was arrested and charged with her murder on Tuesday afternoon. He appeared before Norwich magistrates court, where he was not asked to enter a plea, and was remanded in custody.
Jacqui Hanlon, for the prosecution, told the court that when paramedics went to the house early on Sunday Dr Cain was “found in an upstairs bedroom not breathing, not conscious”.
The ambulance service contacted the police at 2:25am, the court was told. Children were present in the property at the time, the prosecutor said.
The district judge Matthew Bone said the case would be sent to King's Lynn crown court, where Mr Cain was due to appear this morning.
Dr Cain was listed as a member of the practice team at Grimston
◀ Hannah Cain, known to her patients as Hannah Terry, was found dead at her home on Sunday
medical centre, where she was known professionally as Dr Hannah Terry. According to the Sun, she served in a pool of doctors who were regularly on call for members of the royal family nearby.
The medical centre announced its temporary closure on Monday. "We are sorry to let patients know that Grimston medical centre, including the dispensary, is temporarily closed due to extremely difficult circumstances affecting our practice team," a Facebook post read. "We apologise for the disruption and appreciate your patience and understanding at what is a very difficult time for our colleagues."
Live fuel prices on Google Maps hailed as competition ‘game-changer’
Jillian Ambrose
Energy correspondent
Drivers can see live petrol prices on Google Maps for the first time from today, in a move that will help motorists shop around for the cheapest fuel.
Millions of motorists can find the cheapest petrol and diesel prices by searching for a local forecourt in the Google app, in what could prove to be “a major development” in making fuel prices more fair, according to campaigners.
The tech company will use data from the government's fuel finder platform, which displays real-time prices at $99\%$ of forecourts, to show Google Maps users the cheapest in their area.
It is expected to make forecourt pricing more transparent and encourage competition between fuel retailers, as millions face record-high fuel costs due to the global squeeze on supplies prompted by the US-Israel war on Iran. The average price of diesel in the UK recently hit a record £2 a litre, having risen by more than 40% since late February.
Edmund King, the president of motoring group the AA, said: "Getting transparent fuel prices on to Google Maps is a massive step forward and means most drivers will have easy access to pump prices. Hopefully, this high-level pump price transparency will also encourage more competitive prices from retailers.
"More transparent prices should reduce the extent of rampant price-matching between fuel stations that is currently seen in many areas. Forecourts that break rank and offer lower fuel prices will now stand out more."
The government's fuel finder scheme was launched in February to help drivers get more competitive fuel prices after a recommendation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2023. It is already available via apps including Waze, PetrolPrices, the AA, Confused.com and RAC Fuel Watch.
Luke Bosdet, a spokesperson for the AA, said the Google launch would not necessarily dampen interest in the existing apps, such was “the demand for fuel price information”.
However, the development could "signal trouble for the fuel trade by revealing pricing tactics which keep local prices artificially high", he said.
The CMA cautioned fuel retailers in August that many were still slow to pass on falls in wholesale diesel prices. These “passive pricing strategies” may have dented competition in the market and kept household costs higher than they needed to be, the watchdog said.
Polly Billington, the minister for energy consumers, said: "It is a game-changer for near real-time fuel prices to be shown on Google Maps for the first time in the UK."
National
Gene therapy can partially restore sight in blind people, trial of Nobel-winning technique reveals
Nicola Davis
Science correspondent
A type of gene therapy based on Nobel prize-winning science is safe and can partially restore sight in blind people, researchers have revealed.
The approach, known as optogenetic therapy, harnesses the technique for turning nerve cells on and off using light that scooped the 2026 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine.
It was first shown to partially restore vision in a single blind person in 2021. Now researchers have reported the results from a larger trial involving the original patient and nine others. "What we can say for sure is that the concept of optogenetics is valid for vision restoration," said Prof Botond Roska, director of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel and a lead author of the study.
Roska added that the aim was now to work towards restoring high-resolution vision, with the hope of achieving the goal in five to 10 years.
All 10 of the trial participants had advanced retinitis pigmentosa, a group of genetic disorders thought to affect more than 1.5 million people worldwide.
In these disorders, light-sensitive cells in the retina gradually lose their function. However, ganglion cells in the retina, which send visual information to the brain, deteriorate less quickly.
"These cells are not the primary cells targeted by the disease, so that's why they are good candidates for the therapy," said Dr José-Alain Sahel, another lead author of the study, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the US.
The gene therapy involves giving a single injection into the eye. This injection contains a harmless, synthetic virus that delivers the genetic instructions for producing a light-sensitive protein into a ring of surviving ganglion cells.
'What we can say for sure is that the concept of optogenetics is valid for vision restoration'
Prof Botond Roska
Lead author
As a result, these cells are made light-sensitive.
Each patient then receives a pair of light-stimulating goggles. These capture images of the world around the patient and convert them into pulses of light of a single wavelength. These pulses activate the ganglion cells that have been made light-sensitive, allowing the wearer to perceive a monochrome image.
Crucially, the technique does not depend on the exact genetic cause of the patient's sight loss.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers report how for each patient they treated only the eye with the worst vision, adding that participants' outcomes were then followed for up to five years.
Only one severe eye-related side-effect occurred, but this was resolved within minutes, while there were no side-effects related to the therapy in the rest of the body.
However, six of the 10 participants had clinically meaningful improvements in light sensitivity after the treatment.
What is more, some of the participants showed improvements in a range of tasks when wearing the light-stimulating goggles after the gene therapy - such as detecting, locating and touching a notebook, locating a door and walking on a line.
The team added that participants who spent more time training with the goggles tended to do better on the tasks.
However, the study has limitations. “[Patients] can detect objects, but they cannot yet detect faces,” said Roska. That, the team says, is down to the treated ganglion cells being in a ring-like arrangement around the fovea - the tiny pit in the retina responsible for sharp central vision.
Mark Hankins, professor of visual neuroscience at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the work, welcomed the study, noting that it provided reassurance on the safety of the approach and its application to people who still had some residual vision.
"We've gone from one patient to 10 patients, we've seen improvement in their light sensitivity ... and we've seen that we can give a stable restoration of some visual function, some light sensitivity, that lasts for four or five years in these patients," Hankins said. "They're baby steps, but they're critical."
He added: "If we can give people very primitive levels of vision, we can restore some level of independence," he said. "And that's really important."
Chemistry prize goes to pair for their work on mirror-image molecules
Linda Geddes
The 2026 Nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to two scientists for discoveries that show how chemical reactions can produce an overwhelming excess of one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.
Henri B Kagan at Paris-Sud University in France and Kensō Soai at Tokyo University of Science in Japan have been awarded the prize "for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis".
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners in Stockholm yesterday. They will share of a prize of 12m Swedish kronor - about £900,000.
Many molecules, including amino acids that form the building blocks of proteins, can exist in two forms that contain the same atoms, but are mirror images of one another, much like a person's left and right hands. This property is known as chirality.
However, the chemistry underpinning life is surprisingly homochiral, or same-handed. Proteins are built almost exclusively from L-amino acids, while the sugars that form the backbone of DNA and RNA have the opposite D-configuration.
How this homochirality could have emerged when chemical reactions in the laboratory typically produce equal quantities of both forms had long puzzled scientists. The question also had practical consequences: "Although these molecules look very similar, they can behave very differently when they interact with other molecules," said Prof Andre Cobb, an organic chemist at King's College London.
"This matters enormously for medicines because many of the molecules in our bodies, including proteins that drugs target, are themselves chiral," he added. "So the 'left-handed' and 'right-handed' versions of a drug can interact with the body in different ways which can lead to different or weakened drug effects."
The drug thalidomide provides a potent example. During the early 1960s, thousands of children were affected by birth defects after their mothers were prescribed it to combat morning sickness during pregnancy. Researchers subsequently found differences in the biological effects of the drug's two mirror-image forms.
Manufacturers wanted a way of steering reactions towards particular forms of the molecules that they produced, and Kagan and Soai eventually provided a solution.
Value of the chemistry prize in Swedish kronor - £900,000 - which will be shared by the two winners ▲ Kensō Soai, lecturer at the Tokyo University of Science and co-winner of the Nobel prize in chemistry, at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday
PHOTOGRAPH: KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS
12m
It began in 1986, when Kagan discovered that a relatively small imbalance between left- and right-handed forms of a catalyst could create a greater excess of one of the mirror image products than the other.
Soai took the idea further, developing a reaction in which the molecules that were produced themselves acted as catalysts for making more of themselves, a process known as autocatalysis.
"You have to be aware, this is probably the coolest experiment in organic chemistry ever," said Prof Peter Somfai, an organic chemist at Lund University and a member of the Nobel committee for chemistry.
In 2003, Soai demonstrated a reaction that produced almost exclusively one mirror-image form, reproducing the kind of molecular one-handedness found in living organisms for the first time.
Speaking by telephone at yesterday's announcement, Soai, 76, said he was "very proud" of the experiment as it offered a potential explanation for how the molecular one-handedness of life could have arisen. He described hearing the news about the prize as "one of the most exciting days of my life".
Taken together, Kagan and Soai's discoveries have "reshaped our understanding of molecular chirality, how it is created, amplified and transmitted", Somfai said.
These insights have since become embedded in the development of catalysts that steer chemical reactions towards producing a particular mirror image form across different industries.
"It might be difficult to say that this drug or that drug was developed using this," Somfai said. I would say all of them because we use this as a tool. We use this as an understanding of how to develop catalysts and how they function."
▼ Kemi Badenoch and her husband, Hamish, are greeted by supporters after her speech in Birmingham
PHOTOGRAPH: JACOB KING/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Badenoch 'prioritising the wealthiest' with plan to abolish inheritance tax
Pippa Crerar
Political editor
Kemi Badenoch said yesterday that a Conservative government would abolish inheritance tax on family homes, prompting criticism she is prioritising cutting taxes for the rich.
The Tory leader also said couples would be able to leave an additional tax-free sum of £1m to their families as the party attempts to shore up its traditional base in southern England.
The move would mean the number of families paying inheritance tax - currently less than 5% do so - would fall by more than a half, Badenoch said, with the £6bn cost to be paid for by cuts including to the welfare bill the party says it has identified.
"My ambition is to abolish inheritance tax altogether as soon as we can afford it," she told the party conference in Birmingham. "I believe the people who work hard and save should be rewarded for that effort.
"So this is my guarantee: no stamp duty when you buy your home, no mansion tax when you live in your home, and no inheritance tax on your home when you pass it to your children or grandchildren."
The Tories' policy plans announced this week - including free childcare for those earning more than £100,000 - have been firmly focused on affluent middle-class voters, many of whom deserted the party at the last election.
They have been welcomed by Tory MPs and activists, who are relieved that Badenoch appears to be trying to shore up the party's core support despite her natural proclivity to lean into culture wars on the right.
However, the inheritance tax plans are likely to raise fears about overheating the housing market, giving elderly homeowners an incentive to stay in large family homes rather than downsize. The move also prompted accusations the party was favouring the rich over struggling families.
In a statement, the campaign group Tax Justice UK said: "Kemi Badenoch has just announced a massive inheritance tax giveaway to some of the wealthiest people in Britain. This is a reckless policy that will deprive public services of cash."
Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, said: "The biggest beneficiaries would be those with the highest wealth and the most valuable homes. These will mostly be people living in London and the south-east."
Reform UK suggested Badenoch's inheritance tax plans would affect just 2% of houses, mostly in London. Its finance spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, added: "The Tory party is looking after its own in Kensington, Reform is looking after the country."
Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair and a cabinet minister, said: "The Tories haven't changed. Kemi Badenoch has shown that the Tories' choice is to do nothing to help ordinary families struggling with the cost of social care, prioritising the wealthiest instead."
Despite the Tories appearing more united this week than they have done for years, Badenoch did acknowledge in her speech that the party, which is polling lower than at the time of its catastrophic 2024 election defeat, faces a long path to recovery.
She issued an appeal to Reform voters to back her. "We let them down and we want them to come back home. They deserve better than Reform politicians," she said.
"We have changed our party. There is still a lot of work to do. People are looking through the shop window. They like what they see, but let's be honest, not enough of them are buying it. We need to fix that," the Conservative leader added.
▲ Members of the shadow cabinet applaud during Badenoch's speech
Most of her speech was devoted to attacks on her opponents. Badenoch rejected calls from within her own party to “unite the right” by striking a deal with Nigel Farage’s party - reflecting warnings from her closest allies that doing so would risk toxifying the Conservative brand.
She said: "A year ago, those politicians were measuring up the curtains for No 10. Now some of them are measuring up the curtains for their prison cells.
"The circus goes on and on, and it will never stop because this is who Reform politicians are. So to those who say: 'Unite the right,' we are not uniting with that. People deserve better and we are going to give them better than that. Character, conduct and standards matter."
Badenoch also drew a sharp line with Reform on race after Suella Braverman, the former Conservative home secretary who defected to Farage's party, suggested minority ethnic people could not be English.
"I don't want to explain to my son when we're watching our brilliant England team play football that some people don't think our black players are English," she said.
"We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are. Reform MPs are openly questioning people's identity. I don't know whether you've noticed, but I am black. I am British. I am proud of my country. I'm proud of our history, all that we have done, and all that we will do in the world."
Captain, coach and owner Tory leader remaking party in her own image
Peter Walker
Pippa Crerar
Rowena Mason
Kemi Badenoch has long said the Conservatives are “under new management”, but in a TV interview to
mark the end of a party conference at which she has been front and centre of more or less everything, she took the analogy further.
"Your viewers will know that sometimes you have a football team that's disappointing," the Tory leader told GB News. "There's a new captain, there's a new coach, there's a new owner, effectively - which is all me."
These are bold words even for a politician known to possess an iron-clad self-confidence. But they are no exaggeration. Badenoch is not only outperforming her party in polling terms, she is busy remaking it in her own image.
The broad ideological direction was already set, with Badenoch saying explicitly at the start of the year that centrist ideas were no longer wanted. Some more moderate figures remain in her shadow cabinet, but they are signed up to a right-leaning agenda, including opposition to net zero and a bonfire of human rights protections.
Those around Badenoch say, however, her control goes further, with policy decisions such free childcare for people with incomes above £100,000 announced on the eve of the conference made simply because she believes they are the right thing to do.
"With policies it's not about chasing certain groups of voters," one shadow minister said. "She focuses on what she thinks needs to be fixed, what she feels is wrong."
Talking her out of a policy decision, they added, was a tall order: "It's not going to happen. It's tablets of stone. She's not going to change her mind. She knows what the policies have to be."
Many political parties are to some extent a cult based around the leader, but this is particularly the case for today's Conservatives, where MPs say Badenoch is talked about on the doorsteps with admiration and respect not accorded to the party more widely.
This starring role was obvious throughout the party conference in Birmingham, not least Badenoch's arrival, where she was greeted by a crowd of flag-waving activists chanting "Kemi, Kemi".
Inside the venue, Badenoch was the heroic centrepiece of the party's "Birmingham tapestry", shown in mocked-up, 12th-century form doing everything from chastising Wes Streeting to sitting in a tank.
Such veneration is not just wishful thinking by a Tory party eager to move on from a revolving door of leaders. Even with the Conservatives bumping along at 20% in the polls, her position is seen as secure, with the party more unified than it has been for years.
This is in part the result of malcontents leaving for Reform UK, especially Robert Jenrick, as well as the party's diminished size in the Commons, which as one shadow minister noted, was too small for factions: "We could just about fill a corner table in Pizza Express."
There are still private doubts, including Badenoch's instinct to lean into culture wars rather than focus on the economy, which those around her believe is the party's strongest electoral card.
Some party figures also wonder if Badenoch is thinking about election strategy at all with her very personal suite of policy choices, which in Birmingham mainly
'She's not going to change her mind. She knows what the policies have to be'
Shadow cabinet minister
Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory chair, with his black labrador Zuzu at the party conference PHOTOGRAPH: JONATHAN BUCKMASTER/MIRRORPIX
consisted of giving tax breaks to wealthier people.
This was capped in her closing speech yesterday, with the announcement that a Badenoch-led government would exempt people's homes from inheritance tax, an idea which, given the levy only begins on property worth more than £500,000, is a largely theoretical idea outside London and the south-east of England.
While such policies could be appealing to prosperous Home Counties voters who defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2024, this does not seem to be the plan. During another TV interview, Badenoch chided her questioner for suggesting her tax cuts were aimed at bringing back such support.
"I'm very sad that you're looking at this in crude electoral terms," she said. "That's how we've all got into this problem where we keep thinking about winning elections rather than thinking about what works."
One former Tory strategist said there was a risk of incoherence: "I can't understand what is being achieved with these announcements. Forget lots of the small ones, just use the money and do a big tax cut for middle earners."
There was, they added, little chance things would change: "People are scared of her to be honest. I think a lot of her team don't know how to say no to her."
However, much like football, politics is not a one-person game, and a star player or manager will only get you so far. And while Badenoch was at pains to praise colleagues in her speech, it is fair to say the rest of the shadow cabinet is lagging.
Andrew Griffith, Badenoch's shadow chancellor, was feted by his boss for his private-sector business expertise. But on Monday he gave a speech widely seen as one of the worst delivered to any conference in years.
There was some unease in Birmingham about Badenoch blotting out everyone else. “Isn’t there a danger we are becoming a one-woman party?” one activist asked a fringe meeting of shadow cabinet members.
Others disagreed. “It’s a normal dynamic for an opposition party that is unpopular,” said Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary. “It needs a strong, popular leader that can pull it up and we should thank our lucky stars that we have her.”
Chris Philp,
anti-French
vigilante
Either way, most Conservatives now accept that for now it is up to Badenoch to chart the Conservatives' course, whatever it involves.
One ally said: "We win elections on the economy, but there's no point telling Kemi not to do anything."
Additional reporting Jessica Elgot
Sketch John Crace
AI would have written Kemi a better speech. Or at least, mercifully, a much shorter one
W
here's AI slop when you need it? It could all have been so much simpler. Just ask ChatGPT to write me a leader's speech in the style of Kemi Badenoch. Make it an hour and 10 minutes long. Go heavy on the slogans, cliches and crap politician jokes. Make the usual digs at Labour and put the boot in to Reform. Try to reposition a party that is tanking in third place on 20% in the polls as the main opposition to the government. And just to give everyone a feeling of mild optimism, chuck in an uncosted tax cut.
Unfortunately, Kemi made the schoolgirl error of trying to write the speech for herself. It was too long, too flabby. No real argument, just a collection of random thoughts. Andy Burnham in Liverpool it wasn't. Parts of it even seemed to bore Kemi herself.
On the surface, the Tories have seemed a happy tribe this week. But the unity feels very fragile. The Tories are now Kemi and Kemi is the Tories. The party has bet the bank on her. This comes at a huge risk. Because Kemi has become almost too big for the Tories to allow her to fail. So they daren't question her. Anything she does has to be acclaimed as a work of genius. Just walking on stage is enough to secure her a standing ovation.
Just don't stop to ask why nothing the Tories seem to do is cutting through. Why it's odds-on that beyond the few hundred people in the hall, no one will pay a blind bit of attention to her speech.
Kemi has become almost too big for the Tories to allow her to fail. Anything she does has to be acclaimed as a work of genius
The morning's proceedings began with the Tory chair, Kevin Hollinrake. Kev's dog got a bigger cheer than Kev. Next up was the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, a one-man cluster of anti-matter. The only thing that would cheer him up is a public execution. Then the Philpster. The vigilante who took on the French. Endearingly, he still thinks the French navy knows who he is. Chris, most of the UK don't know who you are. Nor do they care.
A spot of Elgar and then it was Kemi. There was a fight for the soul of the country. There's always a fight for the soul of the country as far as the Tories are concerned. They don't seem to realise that it was them that ripped the soul out of it. "What a great conference we've had," she said. It was hard to know if she was being ironic. The one moment when Kemi became truly passionate - believable even - was when she talked about race. This was Kemi at her best, talking about something she really cared about. Even if she did imagine there was no racism in football in the 70s and 80s. But this was all too short and the speech began to feel like it was dragging into eternity.
Finally the reveal. The inheritance tax cut that would be funded by as yet unspecified welfare cuts. There would be no inheritance tax on anyone leaving their home to their children. With an extra million- quid freebie thrown in, in case you needed to do it up after your parents had let it get tatty. You could hear the cheers from the country's stately homes. Here was a party that really got it. That was prepared to do something about the cost of living for the rich.
There was just time for Kemi to pay tribute to Jeffrey Archer - the Tories have a soft spot for a convicted conman who ruined several lives - and then came the standing ovations. An echo chamber is going to echo.
British Rump Steak, £22/kg, £16.50/kg
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'Jonathan gives us a real window on to what happens over a long period of time'
Stephen Clark
Senior researcher
but the patterns on genes linked to mitochondrial function matched those from much younger ones.
It is unclear whether or how much the chemical patterning contributes to Jonathan's impressive lifespan. Clark said the team now needed to validate the finding. "How do we test this idea?" he said. "Is there a way that makes the mitochondria young, or can we replace the mitochondria and see if it extends longevity? That's one of the next steps."
The former senior veterinary officer of St Helena, Joe Hollis, took over care of Jonathan in 2009. At the time, the giant tortoise was not far-ing well: cataracts had left him blind, he had lost his sense of smell and his beak was soft and crumbly, making it hard to forage. Hollis began hand-feeding him and six months to a year later the tortoise had regained weight and sported a hard, serrated beak.
In April, Jonathan was caught up in a viral scam when a message from a fake X account posing as Hollis claimed the tortoise had died, and asked for cryptocurrency donations. The news spread around the world before the Guardian made contact with Nigel Phillips, the governor of St Helena, who found Jonathan asleep under a tree but “very much alive”.
Jonathan certainly appears to be enjoying life. A few months ago, he was found mating with Emma, a female tortoise who shares his paddock. Shortly afterwards, the governor's wife, who is also called Emma, checked on Jonathan and found him upside down.
"Emma [the tortoise] has a very semicircular shell," said Hollis. "So if you slip sideways fast enough the momentum will flip you right over.
"It's phenomenal, though. He's 194. You're going to have an accident, aren't you, at 194?"
Bank of England reveals winning wildlife to feature on new notes
Heather Stewart
Economics editor
Bees, barn owls, puffins and hedgehogs have been picked to feature on the next generation of banknotes, the Bank of England has announced.
The creatures were selected after a large-scale consultation settled on wild animals as the theme, with members of the public then asked to pick their favourites out of 18 options divided into three categories.
The buff-tailed bumblebee got the most votes in the insects, fish and amphibian group; the barn owl won the bird division; and the European hedgehog was named top mammal. The Atlantic puffin was added to celebrate Britain's coasts, the Bank said.
It is as yet undecided which species will adorn which banknote. An image of King Charles will continue to be represented on the other side of the £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, which are expected to take several years to design.
Victoria Cleland, the Bank's chief cashier, said: "I am delighted that nearly half a million people responded to our wildlife imagery consultation, showing that cash still matters."
She said the public had chosen “four distinct and inspiring animals” that not only showcased the great variety of wildlife in the UK but would “also enhance the security of our banknotes”.
Among the species losing out were the basking shark, the common frog and the red fox - the latter celebrated in David Attenborough's recent Wild London documentary, but regarded as a pest by some.
Atlantic puffins, with their distinctive multicoloured beaks, spend much of their lives at sea, coming ashore in summer to nest in burrows on islands off the coast including the Farne Islands and Lundy Island.
With their numbers declining, the bird is classified as "vulnerable"
on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species.
The decision to replace the historical figures currently on the banknotes - including Winston Churchill and Jane Austen - sparked a backlash when first announced in March, with the Conservative leader, Kemi
Badenoch, accusing the Bank of "erasing our history".
Badenoch called it “a silly thing to do”. Her Reform UK counterpart, Nigel Farage, described the move as “absolutely crackers”.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, joined in, issuing a social media video in which he brandished a fiver and claimed that Churchill deserved “better than being replaced by a badger”.
▲ The barn owl is one of the quartet of creatures to feature on the notes
The badger was not among the 18-strong shortlist of animals eventually published by the Bank in June.
The selection had prompted the RSPCA to call for less obviously cute creatures to be included. "Gulls, badgers, rats and pigeons all divide opinion - but this would have been a great opportunity to discuss these fantastic animals," it said.
News
Germany's former spy chief held over alleged espionage for foreign state
Kate Connolly
Berlin
A judge has ordered Germany's former foreign intelligence chief to remain in pre-trial detention, a day after his arrest on suspicion of treason and spying on behalf of an overseas intelligence agency.
August Hanning, 80, is accused of buying secret documents from a former colleague and using them to advise a foreign intelligence service, according to the country's office of the federal prosecutor.
Yesterday's formal arrest warrant came after Hanning's arrest on Tuesday, along with that of his former office head, Manfred D. It has sent shock waves through Germany's political and intelligence community, with analysts calling it potentially the country's biggest espionage scandal since the end of the cold war.
It has also raised questions in Berlin over how Germany's foreign intelligence service can uphold its reputation internationally, in particular at a time of heightened security concerns. Under scrutiny as well is the sustainability of rules governing the conduct of retired top officials and their ability to earn extra income based on their insider knowledge and professional networks.
Hanning headed up the foreign intelligence service, the BND, between 1998 and 2005.
A lawyer for Hanning yesterday denied he had been involved in any wrongdoing, telling the daily Die Welt: "While it is true that he was in possession of confidential documents, the allegation that he passed on information contained therein to the detriment of Germany, let alone for payment, is incorrect."
Manfred D, who was also placed under formal arrest yesterday by the judge in Karlsruhe, has yet to respond to questions through his lawyer.
Hanning is alleged to have agreed in 2010 to pay for information from Manfred D, an official who then leaked it out of the BND. Manfred D, 64, had worked under Hanning and went on to serve subsequent BND bosses before retiring in March.
▲ August Hanning, a former head of Berlin's foreign intelligence service
According to prosecutors, Hanning received about 2,000 documents, some of which were classified, from Manfred D up to June 2022. He is alleged to have used the information in these papers for his private consulting work.
Prosecutors were alerted to Hanning's alleged criminal activities by investigators gathering evidence in a separate child kidnapping case involving a steakhouse restaurant dynasty, which the former spy chief is accused of participating in, using his former contacts with Israeli intelligence. Christina Block, the heiress to the business, allegedly paid Hanning and a retired police officer more than €100,000 (£85,000) for their roles in the alleged abduction of her two children from her ex-husband.
A report in Der Spiegel yesterday said that investigators were looking into a possible connection to the foreign intelligence service of Azerbaijan, as one of the agencies to which Hanning may have been passing on information.
Azerbaijan's media and broadcasting council denied any connection to Hanning or the investigation, calling it an attempt to harm the Baku-Berlin relationship.
The scandal has awakened memories of the Günter Guillaume affair, when an East German Stasi spy and his wife posing as refugees inveigled themselves into the government, leading to the resignation of the then chancellor, Willy Brandt, in 1974.
Marc Henrichmann, the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing the intelligence services, said he was “fairly flabbergasted” by the affair, but stressed that the breadth and extent of the alleged wrongdoing were as yet unclear.
Yesterday, politicians and intelligence analysts were urgently calling for stricter regulation around allowing former security employees to make use of their influence and knowledge after retiring.
The scandal comes at a time when Germany is attempting to make its intelligence agencies, including the BND and its domestic counterpart, the BfV, more robust, fit for purpose and independent from those of their allies, in particular boosting their powers of surveillance to enable them to more effectively tackle sabotage and hacking attacks at a time of rising threats from external powers, such as Russia and Iran.
The current scandal is yet another blow for the BND's reputation. Not only is it notoriously dependent on information from foreign agencies to foil terror attacks on its soil, but it has faced other cases of its staff allegedly spying for other countries.
$\triangle$ Christa Pike's attorney, Luke Ihnen, at the stand. He requested that all evidence related to the failed execution of his client, pictured below in 2007, be preserved by Tennessee authorities PHOTOGRAPHS: GEORGE WALKER; J MILES CARY/REUTERS
'Where am I?' Pike wakes up after botched state execution
She had been on a ventilator, with an unknown prognosis, before she woke and spoke on Tuesday.
Continued from page 1
He added: "There's still a lot of cognitive confusion, and so I will say that she has wanted to know what's happened, and she's asked about several people. She's asked about her team. She's asked about the victim's family ... I think she is angry and confused about everything right now," one of Pike's lawyers, Randy Spivey, said.
"On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead, and that life support would be removed the next day," her lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters. "But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone, including me, including her team, and including the medical team, Christa woke up and began talking."
At a hearing in Nashville yesterday, asked that the shackles be removed and have been denied that request [by the Tennessee correction department],” he told Myles earlier. He added: “We would also amend our request and ask for that relief.”
The updates came after a contentious court hearing where Pike's legal team accused Tennessee officials of "secreting away" evidence.
Judge I'Ashea Myles said that "anything that was in the actual room" during the attempted execution must be preserved by the state, including all drugs, intravenous lines and tubing. Another attorney, Luke Ihnen, said the items could be key to future legal challenges by Pike, should the state attempt to kill her again.
"The state has made no promises that Ms Pike will not be subject to a future execution, and the evidence that we are seeking to preserve now is relevant for any future challenge that she makes, because as we pled in January, the same thing is likely to happen," Ihnen said.
Witnesses to the attempted execution of Pike described how they heard her breathing raggedly after receiving the first injection. She was then admitted to hospital after a second dose failed to kill her, and declared to be in a critical condition.
At a press conference following yesterday's hearing, Spivey said it was unclear "what if any function" Pike would regain in her arms. "Her hands look like if you were to blow up a surgical glove," he said.
Despite her condition, Pike was still being restrained, her team said, shackled to her hospital bed by her feet and right arm. "Based on our understanding, medical staff have
Following the botched execution attempt Spivey called the process "cruel and torturous", adding that he had counted seven needles in Pike's left arm, "one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her". Pike had lifted her head from the gurney to say her arms were burning as the drug was administered.
Her lawyers had warned before the execution that officials might struggle to locate veins and cause her suffering in the process, but the US supreme court had allowed the prison to move forward.
There is speculation from medical experts that perhaps some of the drug missed her vein and went into tissue; that one of her veins, which had been flagged up by her lawyers as problematic - had blown; or that the drug was faulty, or a combination.
Pike was 18 and her then-boy-friend 17 at the time when they killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, one of their classmates at Knoxville Job Corps, in Tennessee in 1995.
According to prosecutors, Pike was worried Slemmer was trying to take the boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. Together, they lured Slemmer into a wooded area, tortured and killed her. Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997 and given a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Pike has never denied her involvement in Slemmer's killing. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder but, because she was 18, she was sentenced to death and has been on death row, isolated, for 30 years.
Tree of the year
Northern Irish 'bendy'
elm takes the prize
Page 7
Bouncing back
WWF hails recovery
of tigers and turtles
Page 21
National
Prisoners due for early release lose key support as bail hostels are closed
Rajeev Syal
Home affairs editor
Eleven bail hostels which are supposed to house England and Wales's most dangerous prisoners have been closed during the early release of stalkers and domestic abusers, the Guardian can disclose.
Seven of the halfway-house facilities, known as approved premises, were shut owing to a lack of qualified staff, while four were closed because of problems such as infestations or lack of running water, Whitehall sources said.
The figures have emerged six days after about 700 male offenders, including violent criminals and burglars, were released across both countries. Some of those released told journalists that they had nowhere to stay and were likely to reoffend as a result.
Nearly one in eight approved premises for dangerous prisoners have been closed during the early release scheme - an increase from nearly one in 10 in July.
Martin Jones, HM inspector of probation, said the figures were "concerning" because of the crucial importance of the residential facilities.
“Approved premises play a critical role in the safe reintegration of the most complex individuals back into the community. It is therefore concerning if there has been an increase in closures at a time when releases are increasing. Action needs to be taken to ensure adequate staffing cover and contingency plans,” he said.
Ian Lawrence, the general secretary of the probation officers' union Napo, said his members were concerned that approved premises had been closing either owing to staff shortages or poor maintenance.
"At a time when we are seeing greater pressure on accommodation needs due to early releases, these closures are adding additional issues for our members to deal with and for those coming out of prison. HM Prison and Probation Service needs to urgently address this issue so safe and robust release plans can be made in advance of early releases," he said.
Approved premises supervise about 2,000 criminals across England and Wales considered too dangerous to release back into the community.
Residents often have drug and alcohol problems and complex mental health needs. They live in the hostels for about eight to 12 weeks, and can be recalled to prison if they refuse to submit to drug and alcohol tests or have their rooms searched.
Staff are required to monitor residents with rapid enforcement action needed to stop violent incidents, self-harm and overdoses.
Western, a hostel for 27 offenders in Weymouth, will close from tomorrow owing to staff shortages.
Bridgewood, in Northampton, which monitors 17 high-risk offenders, was also closed earlier this year owing to staff shortages, sources said.
A report from the probation
11
Number of bail hostels that have been forced to close because of problems including staff shortages watchdog in February found that Bridgewood “requires improvement”. They highlighted concerns over the “workplace culture, training gaps and inconsistent supervision” and found “staffing levels did not meet the requirements for safe and effective operation”.
While the government has not publicly named each of the affected locations, Lightfoot House in Ipswich, Suffolk, which operates as an approved premises hostel under the East of England Probation Service, is among the sites closed.
Insiders said high stress levels coupled with the expiry of contracts with Sodexo and OCS, which provided overnight staff cover at the hostels, had led to a staffing crisis.
The second tranche of early-release prisoners are due to leave prison on 13 October. About 2,000 criminals are to be freed this month.
Asked about the closures at Western, Bridgewood and Lightfoot, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We will always ensure that those who present the very highest levels of risk are placed in an approved premises."
London vigil remembers those killed in 7 October attacks
Chris Osuh
British Jewish organisations held a vigil yesterday near Downing Street in London to honour the victims of the 7 October attacks in Israel, after a day of tributes from politicians and community leaders.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said: "Three years ago, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, murdering 1,200 men, women and children, injuring thousands and taking 251 people captive. May their memories for ever remain a blessing."
The Jewish Leadership Council said 7 October 2023 had been “the deadliest day for our people since the Holocaust”.
The attacks were followed by Israel's war in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll in the past three years has exceeded 74,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government.
Andy Burnham assured British Jews "we stand with you" against antisemitism, in a statement marking the third anniversary of the attacks.
However, the Israeli embassy said in a statement: "It is a source of deep sadness that, in the years since 7 October, the position of the
British government towards Israel has changed so substantially from the solidarity expressed in those first days," adding "the atmosphere for Jewish people continues to worsen".
The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine last month.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism, said its research showed there were 1,926 antisemitic incidents recorded across the UK from January to June 2026, up by a fifth on the first half of last year and the second highest total reported to the CST in the first six months of any year.
It was exceeded only by the 2,019 incidents recorded in the first half of 2024, which followed the 2023 Hamas attacks and the start of Israel's subsequent war in Gaza.
In his statement, the prime minister described the rise in antisemitic behaviour in the UK since 2023 as “disturbing”, and pledged that his government was “committed to protecting our citizens from vile hatred”.
Burnham referenced an attack just over a year ago on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur by Jihad Al-Shamie at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester, which left two worshippers dead. He added: "Three years on from the 7 October ▲ The vigil in central London honoured victims of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks in Israel
PHOTOGRAPH: SARAH LEE/THE GUARDIAN
'I want the Jewish community to hear this from me: abuse against you will not be tolerated'
Andy Burnham
Prime minister
attacks on Israel, we remember those who were senselessly killed by Hamas terrorists.
"The impact of the attacks has been felt not just in Israel, but in Jewish communities across the world who still bear the burden of the tragic events that day.
"In the years since, we have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitic behaviour in the UK. I want Britain's Jewish community to hear this from me directly: we stand with you. Abuse and violence against you, in any form, will not be tolerated. Not on our streets, not online, not in our schools or universities.
“That’s why we are funding protection for synagogues, schools and community buildings, and why we will come down hard on antisemitism wherever it is found - in classrooms, on campuses and in neighbourhoods.
"At home, we are committed to protecting our citizens from vile hatred. Abroad, we continue to work towards a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security.
"An attack on Jewish people in Britain is an attack on all of us. Anti-semitism has no place in this country, and we will do everything we can to stamp it out."
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan police said they had “imposed stringent conditions” on those taking part in a pro-Palestine student march in London yesterday.
Eleven people were arrested, including five on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, at a protest outside the office of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in north London.
The force said the other arrests were made at student pro-Palestinian protests elsewhere in the capital.
Pro-Palestine protesters also held rallies at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.
National
#
Not quite
curtains
A mural in
Newmilns,
where
hundreds of
people once
worked in the
lacemaking
industry.
There is one
mill left in the
East Ayrshire
town, with
about 40
employees.
PHOTOGRAPH: MURDO MACLEOD/ THE GUARDIAN
UK's first testicular tissue transplant offers hope for boys after chemotherapy
Andrew Gregory
Health editor
Surgeons have performed the first testicular tissue transplant on a teenager in the UK, offering hope that boys left infertile by chemotherapy could one day have biological children.
The 19-year-old had his tissue removed and frozen three years ago before undergoing treatment for a serious blood disorder. He said he was “incredibly grateful” to the medical team behind the procedure, which represents a potential breakthrough for male fertility preservation.
Chemotherapy can permanently damage the cells needed to produce sperm, leaving children who undergo it at risk of infertility in adulthood.
Three years after his chemotherapy, tests showed he had no sperm in his semen. Now a team of NHS medics in Edinburgh have transplanted his previously frozen testicular tissue back into his body, in the hope that it will begin to produce sperm.
The operation is the first of its kind in the UK, and only the second to have taken place worldwide.
"Fertility is something I've struggled with personally for a long time," said the patient, who asked to remain anonymous. "I've always wanted to have children of my own but at some point, I found myself starting to slowly accept that that might never be possible for me. Having this procedure has given me genuine hope for the future."
Freezing semen is an established fertility preservation method for older teenagers and adult men. But for pre-pubescent boys, this is not an option. The treatment potentially opens a door to fertility preservation for children needing treatments that require chemotherapy.
Doctors should know in a matter of months whether the procedure, which took place in August, has enabled the 19-year-old to produce viable sperm. The transplant, carried out by medics at NHS Lothian and backed by funding from Children with Cancer UK, follows a decade of research by the University of Edinburgh.
Rod Mitchell, professor of developmental endocrinology at Edinburgh's Institute for Regeneration and Repair, and a consultant paediatric endocrinologist at NHS Lothian, said: "This is a big step towards helping boys facing treatments that damage their fertility to have children of their own.
“Ten years ago, we started our research programme to freeze and store pieces of testicle from boys before they start chemotherapy ... We are beginning to see some of these young men return to explore their fertility options.”
Two men freed after serving indefinite jail sentences for 20 years
Rajeev Syal
Home affairs editor
Two men jailed with indefinite sentences for public protection were freed yesterday after each serving about two decades in custody despite receiving minimum terms of two years or less.
A high court judge and a magistrate hearing an appeal after a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission told Luke Ings and Liam Bennett they would be freed.
They also replaced an indeterminate sentence given to a third man, James Ward. Ward, who was freed in 2017 after serving 10 years more than his one-year minimum and was later recalled to prison, was also in court to see his original sentence replaced.
Relatives of Ings and Bennett hugged in the public gallery at Wolverhampton crown court as Mr Justice Choudhury told them the indefinite sentences had been cancelled. Choudhury said Bennett would instead be sentenced to four years and 264 days, Ward to two years, and Ings to 42 months with a 30-month extended licence.
All three men's original sentences were quashed and replaced after they argued that judges had wrongly found them to be dangerous or had not considered alternative sentences.
▲ Luke Ings and Liam Bennett, both now 38, were jailed as teenagers
Choudhury, sitting with the magistrate Norma Grant, told the appellants: "You have already spent considerably longer than those [replacement] sentences in custody. The effect is that you, Mr Bennett, and you, Mr Ings, will be entitled to release without further supervision, and you, Mr Ward, will no longer be subject to supervision."
The CCRC referred the cases of the three men back to the crown court to review minimum terms imposed on them in 2006 and 2007.
Bennett and Ings, both now 38, were 17 when they committed offences that led to them being classed as dangerous offenders and given indeterminate sentences with respective minimum terms of 24 months and 21 months. Bennett was sentenced at Wolverhampton crown court in May 2007 after being found guilty of reckless arson for setting fire to items in the loft space of an empty council property, and admitting criminal damage and burglary.
Ings was sentenced to detention for public protection after admitting offences at East Berkshire youth court in March 2006, including a robbery in an underpass and an assault on a teenager in a fast food outlet.
Ward, now 41, was 21 when he was given a one-year minimum in 2006 at Leicester crown court for arson and criminal damage. He admitted arson - after setting fire to items in his prison cell while serving time for assault - and was released in 2017, but was later recalled to prison and remained there until August this year.
Detention for public protection and imprisonment for public protection sentences were abolished in 2012, having been made available in 2005 for offenders considered a significant risk to the public. More than 2,000 prisoners remain held indefinitely under such sentences, with 99% past their original tariff and 80% having served 10 years or more.
Additional reporting
Press Association
National
'When you look at this astonishing and bizarre tree, there's no doubt about what it has endured'
May Chemais
Woodland Trust
The wych elm tree located on the promenade in Newcastle, County Down, has grown sideways from being buffeted by strong winds blowing in from the Irish Sea
PHOTOGRAPH: MICHAEL COOPER PHOTOGRAPHY
Northern Ireland's 'bendy' elm blows away competition to win tree of year
Pippa Neill
Environment reporter
An “astonishing and bizarre” elm in Northern Ireland known as the “bendy tree” has been crowned the winner of the 2026 tree of the year competition.
The wych elm in Newcastle, County Down, owes its name to its near-horizontal trunk, which has grown sideways owing to the strong winds coming off the Irish Sea.
The 150-year-old tree has resisted Dutch elm disease, a fungus that has destroyed most of the UK's 30m elms, making it a worthy winner given the competition's "against the odds" theme.
The tree was planted in the mid-19th century as part of a row of wych elms along the town's promenade to shelter the high street from sea winds. Many were felled during redevelopments of the town, with the bendy tree the last one standing.
"When you look at this astonishing and bizarre tree, there's no doubt about what it has endured," said May Chemais, the ancient tree inventory lead for the Woodland Trust, the charity that runs the annual competition.
"We've all been through changes and hardships that have shaped who we are," she added. "I think that's why the bendy tree has struck a chord with people."
For John Martin, the director of the Woodland Trust in Northern Ireland, it is the whimsical nature of the tree that makes it a worthy winner. Having visited Newcastle as a child, he recalls seeing the tree and being surprised to see it growing this way.
"You expect nature to behave in a certain way and we would expect a tree most of the time to grow upwards, whereas this one has grown sideways," he said. "I guess it gives people a bit of a smile on their day."
The tree's unusual shape has also provided welcome shade to residents and visitors resting on the bench located beneath its branches.
"Older trees like this one are providing our communities with so much - from shade, wellbeing and health benefits, to stories, culture and pride of place," said Chemais.
Other trees nominated in this year's competition included the Crowhurst yew in Surrey. Villagers hollowed out the trunk in 1820 to create a parish meeting room within the tree. The room's roof collapsed during a storm in 1845, but the tree lived on, with the wooden door to the secret room remaining to this day.
▲ The Crowhurst yew in Surrey was among the competition's finalists
Also in the top 10 was the Culmstock yew in Devon. This tree is perched on top of a 20-metre (65ft) church tower, with its existence predating residents' living memories.
Last year's honour went to a 75ft ash tree that shades homes on one of Glasgow's busiest roads.
Meanwhile, the Woodland Trust has this week launched its Igniting Innovation competition for young people aged 16 to 25, to share their ideas for projects that could benefit nature and make life better for woods, trees and people.
Three winners will receive £5,000 in funding and up to a year of expert mentoring to help bring their projects to life.
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Marcela Mora y Araujo
For Argentina, Lionel
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British Topside Beef Joint
Analysis Heather Stewart
A £6bn inheritance tax gift may be great for rich people, but it's not going to boost the economy
K emi Badenoch's inheritance tax gambit is a Conservative classic. After all, it was George Osborne's high-profile pledge
to “take the family home out of inheritance tax”, in 2007, that put Gordon Brown off calling a snap general election.
In practice, Osborne's plan involved a £1m threshold for inheritance tax, and given that the global financial crisis had blown a hole in the public finances by the time the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition came to power in 2010 it never came to pass.
But the promise was grabby enough to change the political conversation - and contributed to Brown's fateful decision not to go to the polls early.
So, politically, Badenoch's flagship policy may have merit. IHT, as policymakers call it, is notoriously unpopular. Families never likely to be liable nevertheless fret about their kids having to paying it; while a cacophony of highly paid tax advisers offer to help them avoid it.
The furious response to Rachel Reeves's reform of the inheritance tax regime for family businesses and farms, with tractors streaming down Whitehall, underlined how unpopular it is.
But, whatever its political logic, the Tory plan makes little economic sense. First, it's worth pausing to underline how very wealthy the beneficiaries of this new policy are likely to be. The latest data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) shows that less than 5% of estates - the wealthiest 5%, that is - were liable for any inheritance tax at all in 2023-24. And under current rules, by combining their tax-free allowances a married couple can already pass on a property worth up to £1m to their children or grandchildren, without them being liable to pay inheritance tax.
Badenoch's new, much more generous regime would permit a couple to pass on the entire family
A married couple can already pass on a property worth up to £1m to their children or grandchildren without them paying IHT
home, however valuable, without paying any tax on it at all; and for good measure an additional £1m in other assets. And the more valuable the property, the bigger the gain.
Clearly, in a sluggish economy where resources are stretched, there's a question about whether that is the best use of the £6bn of taxpayers' money the policy is reckoned to cost - compared with, say, investing in infrastructure where there might be the prospect of a return.
Total revenue from inheritance tax is forecast to be about £9bn this year, rising to £15bn by 2030-31. Badenoch's plan would wipe out about half of that. Worse than that, though, it will create perverse incentives for older homeowners to do exactly what the economy needs them not to do, and hang on in a valuable property, for fear the proceeds of downsizing would be grabbed by the tax authorities.
The Tories claim they'll also abolish stamp duty, helping to oil the wheels of the property market and encourage downsizing; but for the most valuable homes the benefits of not paying $40\%$ inheritance tax above the current threshold would be likely to more than overwhelm the boon of a tax-free move. And that would be likely to mean far fewer family-sized homes coming on to the market in just the places up-and-coming buyers most need them.
As Arun Advani of the centre for the analysis of taxation at Warwick University points out, the biggest beneficiaries would be in areas where housing is expensive.
He says: “‘Where housing is expensive’ mostly means ‘where lots of people want to live’, usually because there are good jobs. Reducing housing sales here will make it harder for young working families trying to upsize. By staying put, they will in turn make it harder for school leavers and university/college graduates to move to the area for work. This is bad for growth.”
Indeed, he points out there would even be an incentive for those who can afford it to "upsize" - moving to a larger house, which would then in effect shelter the asset from inheritance tax.
If Badenoch and her party want to shovel an additional £6bn of taxpayers' money to the already-wealthy in the hope of winning back votes in the stockbroker belt, so be it - but she should not be able to claim the policy would be anything but bad for economic growth.
No-go for white people? Luton leaders and residents pour scorn on Tory MP's claims
Ben Quinn
Political correspondent
F rom behind the counter of his chippie, Tanner Ahmed was wrestling with the notion that the regular stop-off point for fans attending Luton
Town's nearby ground could be in a no-go zone for white people.
"The whole point of setting up was to cater for thousands who were coming through here every week, especially in the first year when the club was in the Premier League," said Ahmed, affectionately known as Mr T in the Bury Park area, a predominantly Asian district of Luton.
Outside, on the day after a shadow Home Office minister had claimed there are no-go zones in Luton where “white people won’t go”, there was a hum of activity on the Dunstable Road, a thoroughfare lined with restaurants, jewellery stores and shops selling pakoras and other snacks. Farther along, shoppers of different racial backgrounds trundled trollies through the car parks of Sainsbury’s and Lidl.
Blake Stephenson, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who lives in a village 15 minutes away from Luton, claimed at the Tory party conference on Monday that the town was “a very dangerous place” where some communities “live in ghettoes”, adding: “There are parts where white people won’t go. They are like no-go zones.”
While the comments by Stephenson have been roundly condemned in Luton, they echo longer-term far-right framing of the English town as a poster child for the supposed dangers of Islamism and multiculturalism.
As the home town of the far-right activist who calls himself Tommy
Robinson, this was also where the English Defence League (EDL), the street movement he used as a springboard to celebrity status in like-minded circles, was launched.
▲ Luton is one of four places outside London that are majority non-white. Above left, its mayor, Javed Hussain, describes the town as 'very
The 2021 census found that $54.8\%$ of the population of Luton were non-white people, making it one of four places outside of London at that time where a
majority of the population was from minority groups.
A day after Stephenson's comments, there was little sign - if any - that Bury Park was a place where any group might fear to tread, even those giving out parking tickets. Among a few white faces on Dunstable Road was a traffic warden, who declined to give their name but said: "I've always felt perfectly safe and if there has been a minor incident generally a member of the public or a shopkeeper has come to my aid."
and urinated on in the centre. I've lived all over and Luton's not what it's made out to be." While he said Robinson "spilled a lot of shit", he did point to the past conduct in the area of some Islamist activists who in 2009 demonstrated against the Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade from Afghanistan. Although a tiny proportion of the town's Muslim community was involved, the incident became a useful one for the far right.
"The relationship [between the EDL and the Islamist activists] was mutually reinforcing and, for people looking for a European example of the supposed consequences of multiculturalism, Luton came with an unusually ready-made set of images, personalities and stories," said William Allchorn of Richmond American University in London, an expert on the far right.
Others included Joshua Bozier, 36, a homeless man who told the Guardian: "To be honest I feel safer here in Bury Park than in the town centre. I know everybody here, whereas I've been spat at
vibrant'. Below left, Tanner Ahmed's chip shop caters to football fans on their way to Luton Town
PHOTOGRAPH: GRAEME ROBERTSON/ THE GUARDIAN
"A series of confrontations occurred at exactly the moment when a new anti-Muslim form of street politics was developing, and an unusually effective political entrepreneur in Tommy Robinson was able to turn those local events into a national and eventually international story."
Stephenson was accused of pushing the same “rightwing nonsense” as Robinson by Sarah Owen, the Labour MP for Luton North. The police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire, Labour’s John Tizard, weighed in by writing to the Tory MP to say: “These statements are not supported by evidence and bear a troubling resemblance to far-right agitators seeking to divide communities.”
Luton's independent mayor, Javed Hussain, claimed to be baffled by Stephenson's claim as he strolled through Bury Park on Tuesday, pointing out several Christian places of worship - as well as others for Sikhs and Muslims - and emphasising local regeneration.
"I'm at a loss to know why he is saying this because Luton is a very multicultural, diverse town, as well as a very vibrant one, so it's disheartening," he said.
Reform Party's internal report clears officials caught in sting
Rowena Mason
Whitehall editor
Reform UK has cleared two senior officials of breaking laws that ban foreign donations, despite the matter remaining under police investigation.
The party published a 27-page report of an internal inquiry by its legal and general secretaries that found that Dan Jukes and James Orr had not breached funding rules.
Sources said the party intended to pursue legal action against Verbatim, the undercover reporting group whose footage led to the police investigation and was broadcast by Channel 4 News.
Labour said the report was a "whitewash" given it was undertaken by the party's legal secretary, the barrister Adam Richardson, and Tom Waterhouse, its general secretary.
Police have been investigating potential offences under electoral law since the broadcast in early September, saying they would widen an existing inquiry relating to donations made to Reform. Jukes and Orr will remain suspended by the party while the police inquiry continues.
Jukes, Nigel Farage's press adviser, and Orr, Reform's head of policy, were filmed discussing a scheme in which a US donor paid the polling firm JL Partners for three polls with favourable narratives for Reform, costing more than £30,000. Political funding laws prohibit donations of more than £500 from impermissible sources.
Jukes also discussed the idea of the
US donor giving £500,000 to Reform through his UK-based son. The men they thought were father and son were undercover reporters.
Farage later met the undercover reporters as would-be donors over lunch in Clacton, and did not object when the idea of the scheme was explained to him. He later said he had not been listening.
In its internal report, Reform said it did not excuse the “foolish” way in which Jukes and Orr had discussed donations with an overseas donor. But it said the party had not commissioned the £30,000 polling from the US donor, as Jukes was a contractor rather than a staff member.
Orr was recorded suggesting the US businessman could pay for opinion polling to help with the party's campaigns, which would "technically be a donation in kind" but "the reality is we could easily get away with it".
However, the internal report found that because Reform did not make any payment for the polls or directly arrange for them to be carried out, "the payments made to JL Partners were therefore not donations to Reform UK within the meaning of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000".
In relation to discussions about the £500,000, which was never handed over, the report said it had found no evidence that Orr or Jukes knowingly entered into or acted in furtherance of an arrangement to facilitate an impermissible donation.
▲ Undercover footage by Verbatim of Dan Jukes, left, and Nigel Farage, who later said he wasn't listening
Reform said: "Following the allegations raised by Verbatim and Channel 4, Reform UK commissioned a comprehensive internal investigation. The investigation examined all relevant evidence, including witness interviews, documentary records and electronic communications.
"Having concluded the review, the investigation found no evidence that any laws were broken. We consider that the production company - Verbatim - acted unlawfully and will be taking the appropriate legal action."
Jukes told the Telegraph, which first reported Reform's findings: "I welcome the finding of this investigation, which crucially has found I did not break the law, as I have maintained from the outset."
Verbatim said: "We note that this report is an internal one authored by Reform's own barrister and general secretary, and that a police investigation remains ongoing. We are confident in our journalism, which speaks for itself."
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Jaguar's hulking car for our era Too big for parking spaces, it's a middle finger to the future
The £120,000 electric car's lavish cabin
PHOTOGRAPH: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY
Zoe Williams
The cutting-edge car du jour, even while few will ever buy one, is a good index of what the world's coming to. It's a dress-for-the-
job-you-want principle, on wheels: drive for the world you want to inhabit.
That's why when Tesla launched the Model X with a bioweapon defence mode - in 2016! - we should have been much more worried, and it's why the Jaguar Type 01 Grand Tourer EV has a lot to say.
A new era, the heritage carmaker calls it, and it's not wrong; but having test-driven the era - just with my eyes and imagination, rather than the car itself - I would like to return it to the showroom and choose pretty much any other era.
Its gigantic size alone makes it look as if it wants to wage war on the future. The whole point of the electrification revolution in motoring was that we could wean ourselves off energy profligacy and on to elegant sufficiency.
If you counteract all that with a car too wide (2 metres) and too long (5.2 metres) to fit into any UK car parking space, whatever advances you've made with aerodynamics cannot counteract the fact that you are hulking around in something that looks more like a tank than a
Its future owner
wants you to get your
children indoors at
his approach
▲ 'Rich, urban, design literate ...' Jaguar's Rawdon Glover introduces the world to the Type 01 in New York this week
car, the atmospherics underscored by the glassless tailgate and 23-inch (58cm) wheels. To unpack that a bit: you can't see into the back at all, the preference for all the other glass is blackout, and the wheels on a Toyota Hilux, the Chad warlord's vehicle of choice, are between 16 and 18 inches.
All the aluminium in the world (73%) can't put a dent in the 2.5-plus tonne weight, and they've busted their balls to reduce the drag coefficient, only to arrive at one (0.23) easily bested by any average electric saloon (0.21).
The look it's going for, according to the literature, is "monolithic", but it's a thin line, isn't it, between an immutable colossus and a
menace, so attempts have clearly been made in the design to introduce a note of friendliness.
It comes in peace, the Jaguar 01 GT; you can tell by the rounded nose. If it were in a cartoon, it would be driven by the heroes, not the villains, but they'd be heroes with no domestic life. They wouldn't be The Incredibles.
Traditionally, the Jaguar was driven by a guy in his 50s, wanting to signal to the world that he could afford a car that cost half his salary. That's what the company is now trying to steer away from, preferring buyers who are "rich, urban, very design literate, very technology literate", according to Rawdon Glover, Jaguar's MD.
Some texture on that 50-year-old of yesteryear, whose type I knew well: my uncle had a Jaguar. Its paintwork was maroon, its interior a buttery leather, which meant we all knew he was earning a tidy packet, and we weren't allowed to bring our dog for Christmas in case he scratched it. That, in a nutshell, was the personality type, which - I posit - was bad enough.
Jag Persona #0.1 is different. He doesn't want your social admiration, he wants you to jump out of your skin and get your children indoors at his approach, which you'll see before you hear and only fleetingly, as he races from 62mph to 112mph in 4 seconds.
He wants you to know he has 150 grand in spare change - the ticket price is £120,000 but the extras make that unlikely - and “urban” my aunt Fanny, for there is no city situation in which this is a useful car. Regular city driving would be unbearable, given its width, and its standout features of power and agility - three engines, one at the front, one on each rear wheel - are best conceived for a getaway vehicle. Considering its gargantuan size, it doesn’t even have much space, only four seats and boot space that a Skoda Octavia would look at and laugh.
And yet on the plus side, it comes in “London red”, inspired by our double-decker buses, post boxes and room 32 of the National Gallery. These are all different reds, by the way, but then so are red trousers, yet their message is always the same: “I am the kind of person who would wear red trousers.” So if you see one, just think of that person, and imagine them worse, a thousand times worse.
Procrastination the biggest issue for university students - survey
Richard Adams
Education editor
Procrastination is the biggest issue that can harm students' academic performance at university, according to a study of more than 65,000 young people who placed it above issues such as ADHD, anxiety or financial worries.
The study found nearly half of the students surveyed named procrastination as damaging their ability to do academic work, more than twice the number who named depression, while the same proportion said procrastination caused them significant distress, more than other life issues including family pressures or bullying.
Itamar Shatz, the author and an affiliated lecturer at the University of Cambridge, said while he had expected the survey of US students to show they experienced harm from procrastination, he was surprised by how strongly it affected them.
"Pretty much all of us procrastinate, but it's not a huge impediment for all of us," he said. "For the people that it is, it can be huge. It's not just something we occasionally run into, but as we can see in these findings it can be a major obstacle.
"It's an obstacle that can interfere with academic success, with success in the workplace, it can cause issues in relationships, it can cause stress, it can cause health issues and stop us reaching out for help."
The study published in the journal Plos One also suggested that procrastination could be a factor in a vicious cycle. "An example of such a feedback loop is a student procrastinating on a task, which causes them to feel stressed, which interferes with their sleep, which causes them to procrastinate on the task further," it noted.
Prof Fuschia Sirois of Durham University's department of psychology and a co-editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Health Psychology, who was not involved in the study, said: "The salience of procrastination in students' lives and its harms has been a topic of research for almost 30 years ... so this is an issue for which there is an established evidence base."
She said myths about procrastination “being a character flaw” had persisted: “People procrastinate to avoid the difficult emotions associated with a task, which affords them short-term mood repair. But in the long run the feelings of guilt, shame and stress from procrastinating catch up to them and take a toll on health and wellbeing."
Shatz, who has recently published a practical guide to overcoming procrastination, said the phenomenon should not be compared to laziness because procrastinators could often be highly motivated to tackle a task only to be derailed by other distractions such as perfectionism or burnout. Universities should also be aware of the problem, he said, adding: "They should understand that procrastination isn't just a time management flaw that they can fix with a flyer, but it is one of the biggest obstacles that students face and needs to be treated with positive interventions. The good thing is that research shows that interventions can help."
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▲ Louis Vuitton brought flying cars to Paris to create a feeling of walking in a future city PHOTOGRAPH: LOU BENOIST/AFP/GETTY
The heat is on A new take for Louis Vuitton's new knight
Jess Cartner-Morley
Paris
In silk slip dresses, breezy vented tunics and gossamer layers of chiffon, the models on Louis Vuitton's catwalk were perfectly dressed for an unseasonably warm October evening in Paris. As the show began at sunset, it was still 24C.
The record temperatures this summer were on designer Nicolas Ghesquière's mind. "The world is getting warmer. This definitely had a strong influence" he said.
The show took place in a courtyard of the Louvre, the catwalk illuminated by the tail lights of a fleet of 34 flying cars in Vuitton's signature Damier check, raised on stilts. The contrast between the futuristic set and the historic buildings was an elegant echo of the centrepiece of the Louvre, where IM Pei's glass pyramid
▲ Nicolas Ghesquière, head of the women's collection at Louis Vuitton
stands amid the French classical architecture.
The future is always on Ghesquière's mind. This season, his science fiction bent showed up in the models' beaded silver fringes that were somewhere between space-age hair extensions and sun visors. They were pedestrians in the cities of the future. "I was thinking about a woman walking through traffic, and how in the urban environment we sometimes feel vulnerable and sometimes feel strong."
The featherlight fabrics and free-floating silhouettes were a departure from the angular, ornate looks that are his signature. “I am a specialist in a kind of fashion that is like armour, fashion with strong architecture, but this summer I think we all felt like we needed a different wardrobe. The world is getting warmer. We need to think differently, for clothes to be relevant today and in the future.”
Zendaya wore a ruffled organza jacket last seen on her Odyssey press tour and the Rivals actor Bella Maclean was in sleek black tailoring. Ghesquière took his bow casually dressed in jeans - but then, this show was merely his second most important moment of Paris fashion week. Louis Vuitton is the flagship brand of luxury giant LVMH, which contributes about 1% to French GDP, placing it close to the core of economic and cultural power in Paris.
On Friday, Ghesquière, who has led Vuitton for a decade, was knighted by the president, Emmanuel Macron, for his contribution to French creative industries, at a ceremony at the Élysée Palace.
The first lady, Brigitte Macron, has long collaborated closely with Ghesquière, attending his shows and wearing custom looks for state occasions. President Macron began his speech joking that “it feels strange to be decorating someone tonight who is used to looking at my wife from every angle ... she just told me you are the second man in her life.”
Guests at the ceremony reflected the broad reach of Louis Vuitton, with Catherine Deneuve and the British designer Phoebe Philo alongside K-pop star Felix of Stray Kids. Ghesquière wore a striking double-breasted black Louis Vuitton suit, with a single-button fastening and no lapel.
Pinning the red-ribboned medallion to Ghesquière's chest, Macron said: "This evening ... it is the Republic itself that is adding a new element to your wardrobe."
'Creepy' advice forces Mumsnet to deny using AI to write threads
Robert Booth
UK technology editor
Mumsnet has denied using AI to produce content after detailed instructions to help an AI model write one of its popular “am I being unreasonable” (AIBU) posts appeared on a Mumsnet message board.
Users of the long-established forum, which is known for its frank discussions of family tensions, were vexed when the AI prompt appeared in response to a user seeking advice about a family dilemma involving a neurodivergent uncle and a sick child. The user, called AmIACom-plete, had asked for "a sanity check" from other users after an awkward social interaction with their brother's family but was met with a prompt titled AIBU Response Schema v.1.0.
It instructed an AI to write an “interpersonal reasonableness” post and “give a clear, forum-style ruling plus brief actionable advice”. It included definitions of common Mumsnet abbreviations including AIBU, ND (neurodivergent) and DD (dear daughter).
The prompt said: "Do not diagnose anyone; do not demean ND people; do not imply a sick child owes social performance." It also said: "Prioritize compassion, boundaries, and de-escalation."
Users called the emergence of the prompt “really creepy”, “crazy” and “so disappointing”. It fed speculation about Mumsnet’s use of AI, with one user saying: “We might as well just go and do something else then.”
Mumsnet was founded in 2000. In 2025 it faced a 19% drop in its monthly unique user numbers to 6.1m, and the number of posts fell by 600,000. In its latest annual report it said it was “embedding AI tools to improve productivity and enhance the user experience”.
Recent research, published in Nature, has shown AI assistance in social media risks creating “semantic garbage” and is seen by users as less informative, “robotic” and “generic”.
Soon after the prompt emerged,
Mumsnet denied it used AI to write threads and said it had come from a tool to suggest thread titles that used an OpenAI model. But users refused to accept this explanation and some copied the prompt into an AI and found it generated a full post.
"We are not idiots," said one user, MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack. "Please can you give us a transparent explanation?"
Mumsnet then said it had not produced the prompt and suggested it had somehow transferred from AmI-AComplete's computer. Again, users were unconvinced and speculated
Drop in Mumsnet's monthly unique user numbers in 2025, to 6.1m. The number of posts fell by 600,000
the prompt must have leaked from Mumsnet's internal system.
Mumsnet's founder, Justine Roberts, joined the thread and confirmed the prompt had come from its system, which sends users' drafts to OpenAI, which is meant to suggest a title, although this time it sent a prompt for a whole reply. She said it "looks like an error on their side" and added: "We don't use AI to write threads or replies on Mumsnet."
Roberts told the Guardian: "I understand why it looked like it had 'appeared in the wrong place'. But nothing in our systems asks for, stores or uses anything like it."
She said Mumsnet had never tested a tool that drafted posts but it used AI for coding, advertising operations, conversational analysis and flagging potentially problematic posts to moderators.
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"I've worked for MSF on and off for twenty years, but I still remember the first project I worked on. We were setting up a hospital in the middle of a forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There had been a lot of fighting in this area, and although the conflict had died down, the legacy of war was still very visible. About 125,000 people lived in the immediate area, but there were no services, and not even basic medical care was available. Women couldn't get caesareans if they needed them; there were no medicines, no vaccinations, and no treatment for diseases. It was a desperate situation, and that's when MSF sent us to get an emergency hospital up and running.
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Anaesthetist and President
Forever without borders – thanks to your support
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National
▼ Touchstone (Greg Haiste), left, and Audrey (Gareth Snook) add ribald romance to an all-male cast
PHOTOGRAPH: MARC BRENNER
Theatre review No mere players in ravishing all-male escapade
As You Like It
Royal Shakespeare theatre,
Stratford-upon-Avon
★★★★☆
Arifa Akbar
T o liberty, and not to banishment," exclaims Celia to Rosalind, the exile who finds freedom in her disguise
as a man. It is a key statement in Shakespeare's transformative, gender-bending pastoral comedy, just before the usurping Duke Frederick's court is replaced by the romance of the Forest of Arden. That big reveal brought a prolonged technical difficulty on the opening night of director Daniel Evans' all-male production, which was paused for well over an hour so it could be fixed. That technical hitch aside, it is a ravishing staging, with stunning visual effects.
There is little comedy or light in the severe court, which reflects Duke Frederick's thuggery with slaps and shoves. It is replaced by Arden's verdant hills on Anisha Fields' exquisite set, so beautiful they verge on the voluptuous. The black Elizabethan gowns of the
court, Puritan-like, and designed by Colin Richmond, are stunning too, as is the chequered shadow-play of the early scenes, in Ryan Day's lighting design.
Jonathan Groff, the US screen star who is also Broadway theatre royalty thanks to his turn as the king in Hamilton, makes a fun Rosalind, perhaps too declamatory at the start, but more textured and subtle later on. He instantly establishes chemistry with Fisayo Akinade's Celia, performing femininity without caricature, and bringing an added charge to their relationship - a playful, same-sex eroticism which sees Celia straddling Rosalind at one point.
The all-male casting brings depth and subtlety of meaning, proving ingenious rather than gimmicky: a nod to the Elizabethan age when boys and men played female parts, yet now more queer and transgressive. The love between Orlando (Elliot Barnes-Worrell) and Rosalind's disguised male alter ego, Ganymede, stays rather superficial, but the homoeroticism is more effective in their quieter moments, when Groff almost prowls with desire. He is at his best when he is overtly performative - a male actor playing a woman (Rosalind) who is playing a man (Ganymede). He rolls these hoops without resorting to outright camp.
The comedy is light and frothy on the whole. Gary Wilmot, who is both Duke Frederick and the exiled Duke Senior, never overplays his lines. A fantastically prim Phoebe (Tim Preston) brings a kind of librarian comedy with her disdain for the shepherd, Silvius (Edward Judge), and her love-at-first-sight for Ganymede whose brute, masculine scolding seduces her. The ribald romance between Touchstone (Greg Haiste), and Audrey (Gareth Snook) is played for music-hall laughs.
Arden itself is rural Wales. Could this be a personal vision from Welsh-born Evans? There is a lung-opening splendour to the set as it rolls downstage, mowing over the darkness of the court, and Shakespeare's songs are replaced by Welsh folk hymns (music composed, arranged and supervised by Theo Jamieson). It is preceded by massive alarms made beautiful by sound designer Paul Groothuis, combining with lighting to conjure musical claps of thunder. The court could be Prospero's island, full of strange noises.
The only (other) glitch in the production is its pacing, which feels too slow in its latter stages, but perhaps this is due to the big technical pause of the night. Yet the big reveal of Arden is still awesome. Evans has created magic here.
Until 7 November
Review A dark comedy with extra bite
The Hungry Ghost
Bush theatre, London
★★★★☆
Kate Wyver
Mei Leng Yew's juicily spooky romcom is a seductively assured debut about second-generation family dynamics, the all-in nature of a new relationship, and the strife of a young woman trying to work out what she wants.
You must not make big decisions during the Chinese Ghost festival, our protagonist's mum warns, or the hungry ghosts will get you. But Girl (Mei Mac) already has her bags packed to move in with her secret girlfriend of three months and - it turns out - a third-wheeling ghost with attachment issues, played giddily by Bridgerton's Isabella Wei.
As the ghost climbs into Girl's body, everything is new and tasty to her. Ailin Conant's sensuous direction has Wei following then dragging Mac, manipulating Girl until she is a bottomless pit of need. Yimei Zhao's sly set enables charming stage trickery as meals and shrines appear. When food spills across the stage, it becomes a knees-on-the floor affair - but still not enough to fill the hungry ghost.
Mac and Wei are gorgeous together, twisting across the stage as they vie for space in Girl's skin. As the situation escalates, the show veers between bright comedy and grotesque horror. A tongue serves up one deliciously vile moment for the squeamish to look away. This dark and sexy comic production is a treat for the taste buds.
Until 31 October
National
Thatcherism, via the Walkman: web archive of Stuart Hall launched
Chris Osuh
Community affairs correspondent
Whether it was Thatcherism, populism or the story of the Sony Walkman, Stuart Hall was a public intellectual famed for defining the times. Now a major digital archive of his previously unpublished papers, notebooks, recordings and videos has been launched.
When the Jamaican-born sociologist and seminal figure in postwar Black British history died in 2014 aged 82, his obituary in the Guardian said he had been “among the first to identify key questions of the age”. Hall coined the term Thatcherism and in 1985 warned of the dangers of “authoritarian populism”.
The University of Birmingham, where Hall developed the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, has digitised and released more than 3,100 items donated by his widow, the historian Catherine Hall.
They include notebooks, index cards, his abandoned doctoral thesis and hours of previously inaccessible audio and video tracing the evolution of cultural studies, all within an interactive database.
Also released are his “Origins of the new left” lecture, notebooks on “race and moral panics”, and Encoding/Decoding Cybernetics, a research project exploring Hall’s impact on the architecture of large language models.
In response to the era of artificial intelligence, and the questions it raises about culture, copyright and corporate power, the academics behind the Stuart Hall Archive Project have barred AI bots from accessing the data.
The Cadbury Research Library, which has catalogued the original papers, has run the digital archive through a programme that “poisons the data” for bots.
The project lead, Dr Rebecca Roach, working with Helen Fisher and Dr Katherine Parson, said they did not create the archive “just for AI to scrape” and commercialise it. Roach said the platform was built to ensure “it doesn’t replicate the exploitation of people of colour and their cultural heritage that technology has historically enabled”.
Hall died before the AI era fully arrived, but he left a body of work with which to interpret it. His theory of representation - examining how media builds meaning through language, symbols and cultural codes - remains relevant amid concerns about algorithmic bias.
▼ The Jamaican-born sociologist Stuart Hall was a seminal figure in postwar Black British history
PHOTOGRAPH: ANTONIO OLMOS/THE GUARDIAN
Doing Cultural Studies, a textbook he co-authored, used the Walkman as a case study of how social, cultural and economic life could be expressed through a single technology.
Roach said it was important to celebrate Black British intellectuals who had made “incredible contributions” to British culture, and noted that while scholars had sometimes been “a bit sniffy” about popular culture, Hall was at its forefront.
Classically educated in Jamaica, Hall came to Britain in 1951 on a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, became the founding editor of New Left Review, and worked as a supply teacher in Brixton before pursuing his academic career.
He met Catherine on an anti-nuclear march in 1963 and they moved to Birmingham, where he made his university department a beacon for debate on media, race, politics, Marxism and critical theory.
From 1997 to 2000 he served on the Runnymede Trust's commission on the future of multi-ethnic Britain, going on to collaborate with young artists and film-makers, and in 2005 he was made a fellow of the British Academy.
Calling the archive “an extraordinary resource”, Prof Daniel McNeil, the Stuart Hall interdisciplinary chair at Birmingham University, said Hall “transformed how we think about culture, identity, power and belonging”.
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National
WWF hails comebacks of tigers and turtles but warns of global food production 'tipping point'
Matthew Pearce
Conservation comebacks for wild tigers, tuna and green sea turtles prove that global nature loss can be reversed, scientists have said. But a report warns food production must be the next “positive tipping point” if the world is to avert biodiversity collapse.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) analysed nearly 36,000 animal populations and more than 5,000 species, producing the largest ever database of vertebrate wildlife. Scientists found populations have declined by an average of 73% since 1970, showing that “nature continues to be degraded at an alarming scale”, with “no sign of losses slowing”.
Nature loss is no longer just an environmental challenge but a direct threat to the global economy, the report says, noting that about half of global GDP - roughly £44 trillion in 2023 - depends on nature and its ecosystem services. The authors write that species collapse now poses an “existential threat to economic stability, geopolitical security and human wellbeing”.
Animal populations were found to be falling most sharply in tropical, biodiversity-rich regions, but trends in northern temperate parts of the world appeared much gentler.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, land and freshwater wildlife populations fell by an average of 95% between 1970 and 2022, but the equivalent declines were 80% in Africa and 23% in Europe and Central Asia.
Freshwater wildlife suffered the sharpest losses across the world's ecosystems, with monitored populations in rivers and lakes down by an average of 85%, compared with 69% for land species and 59% for marine species.
Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF UK, said: "Nature loss is not just a crisis for wildlife. It's already sending us the bill through growing risks to our food security, water supplies, economy and resilience to climate shocks.
She added: "We stand at a fork in the road: either we continue paying the rising price of nature loss, or we invest in nature's recovery and a future where people and wildlife can thrive together."
But despite the pattern of global biodiversity decline, wild tigers, green sea turtles and bluefin tuna are recovering, the report said, showing that “it is still possible to reverse the global loss of nature when action is taken”.
In 2010, about 3,200 wild tigers remained globally, and the species was sliding toward extinction. But following sustained and targeted conservation interventions, the population has grown to roughly 5,700,
73%
Average decline in populations globally since 1970 across 36,000 species analysed by the WWF
£44tn
About half of global GDP depends on nature and services provided by ecosystems, the report noted an increase of more than 70%. Becci Day, WWF UK's tiger lead, said the remarkable comeback of wild tigers demonstrated the "science of hope", which proves that when climate and ecological action is taken, change is possible.
The report said Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna populations, which were collapsing after decades of overfishing, have now recovered to the point where neither is now considered threatened.
Last year, the green sea turtle became the first marine turtle ever downlisted from Endangered to Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, reflecting 50 years of coordinated conservation work across about 80 countries.
"These are examples that show that nature can recover even when pushed right to the brink, and they provide us with inspiration," said Dr Mike Barrett, chief scientific adviser for WWF UK and co-author of the report. "It's also very clear that conservation alone cannot tackle the scale of threats facing nature."
Barrett said nature would have no chance of recovery if “negative tipping points” - self-reinforcing, irreversible ecological changes that accelerate climate crisis - were passed. “The systems which drive nature’s loss have to be transformed. And that’s energy, food and finance.”
"Our report shows that we've already passed the tipping point in the energy sector with the take-up of renewable energy. That transition is now unstoppable. It's not happening fast enough, but it is unstoppable."
Humanity must likewise adapt the way it produces food, he said. "Agriculture is the single largest cause of habitat loss and degradation and therefore the loss of biodiversity."
Dr Steve Smith, research fellow at Global Systems Institute and a co-author of the report, said: "The biggest prize for nature recovery would be a sustainable and healthy food system, but it's currently the farthest away from positively tipping. For example, agricultural expansion drives almost 90% of deforestation worldwide."
Positive tipping points are thresholds beyond which a sustainable technology or practice becomes increasingly cheap, widespread or politically popular, allowing progress to become self-propelling.
Either we continue paying the rising price of nature loss, or we invest in nature's recovery
Tanya Steele
CEO, WWF UK
◀ Wild tiger populations have increased by 70%, while bluefin tunas, below, have also recovered
PHOTOGRAPHS: MAHMUT SERDAR ALAKUS/
GETTY IMAGES; ANDY ROUSE/WWF/PA
▲ Sean Peers arriving at Manchester Minshull Street crown court
Man admits sexual assault of woman drugged by her husband
Hannah Al-Othman
A man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, whose husband had drugged her and invited other men to abuse her.
Sean Peers, 38, had been due to stand trial alongside 11 other men, but admitted one count of assault by penetration on 15 September 2024 when he appeared at Manchester Minshull Street crown court.
The husband, who cannot be named in order to protect the anonymity of his wife, had already admitted to offences, but pleaded guilty to a further two counts - one of rape and one of sexual assault - which took place in August last year.
Another man, Keith Fotheringham, 59, from Dundee, a former technician at the city's university, has also pleaded guilty to a number of offences. All three will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial, which is scheduled to open on 19 October. The case had been due to begin in early September, but has faced several delays for legal and practical reasons.
At a hearing on Tuesday, the jury of three men and nine women were told by Judge Maurice Greene that the husband had provided a witness statement detailing “what it is he says happened”, which had been disclosed to defence lawyers and meant the trial would be delayed while they went through it.
The jury, plus two female reserve jurors, were sent away and told to return to the same court on 19 October.
Eleven men are due to stand trial. They deny a range of offences. The abuse is alleged to have taken place between 2018 and November 2025.
They are Philip Wild, 58, from Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, from Manchester; Alan Keelan, 42, from Manchester; Jonathan Kirk, 43, from Stockport; Robert Stewart, 70, from Stockport; Mohammed Sabir, 28, of no fixed abode; Graham Brougham, 74, from Northwich, Cheshire; Richard Townsend, 37, from Heywood in Greater Manchester; Karl Lindsay, 55, from Taunton, Somerset; Daniel Rayner, 42, from Whitstable, Kent; and David Graves, 59, from Ilkeston, in Derbyshire.
The trial is expected to last about nine weeks.
▼ Linlithgow, West Lothian
Steam locomotive 60163 Tornado,
built in 2008, makes its way to the
Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway steam fair
PHOTOGRAPH: KATIELEE ARROWSMITH/SWNS
World
'This is not a life' Families existing amid ruins in Gaza recall the past with despair
Seham Tantesh Gaza
Jason Burke
A hmed Ishtaiwi has six chairs. They are cheap and plastic and battered, but to the 43-year-old driver and mechanic,
they are among his most valuable possessions.
Ishtaiwi lives in a tent near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza with his two daughters. Their former home is far to the north, in the now ruined town of Beit Lahia, uninhabitable and cut off.
"When I sit on those chairs, I remember sitting in the garden at home, having breakfast and drinking tea. They remind me of my life there," he said last week.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the raid on 7 October 2023 by Hamas militants into southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and triggered a relentless Israeli military offensive that killed 73,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, wounded many more and reduced swathes of the territory to rubble.
It is when Layan al-Jbour, a 15-year-old from the southern city of Khan Younis, tries to bring some order to the crowded makeshift shelter she shares with her parents, brothers and sisters in al-Mawasi, a strip of coastline at the southernmost end of Gaza, that she recalls life before the war.
"When I tidy the tent, I remember how I used to tidy our home. I remember my room and how I used to make my bed. When I put a sheet over a table and arrange the bedding, the place looks like our old home," Layan said.
"We hardly took anything with us from our home. We left everything behind, and the only thing I took was my schoolbag. It is the most precious thing I own now. It reminds me so much of my school days. I loved going to school and meeting my friends there."
Across Gaza, Palestinians describe daily challenges that nothing in their former lives had prepared them to face: shortages of water and of nourishing food, minimal healthcare, disease, unemployment, economic collapse and the continuing threat of death or injury.
Despite a ceasefire a year ago, Israel's airstrikes continue. Palestinians who have approached the "yellow line" that divides Gaza into zones controlled by the Israeli military and by Hamas have been shot dead. In the past year, the overall death toll has risen by a further 1,400 people.
In recent days, Israeli attacks have intensified, killing at least two Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said. The Israeli military said the strikes had targeted militants. Yesterday,
'The only thing I still do from my past life is some beauty work. It takes me away from the misery'
Esraa Abu Taiba
Former beautician, 26 ▲ Palestinians living in tents on the edge of destroyed Gaza City. For most, daily life remains harsh
PHOTOGRAPH: ALI JADALLAH/GETTY IMAGES
Gaza medics said at least two Palestinians had been killed and others wounded in airstrikes in Beit Lahia and in Khan Younis in the south. "It is what we feared ... a ceasefire that just isn't a ceasefire," said one international aid worker now based in Amman, Jordan, who worked in Gaza throughout much of the conflict. "Daily life is horrible. People aren't hungry any more but they are still malnourished. Our local staff are telling us that this is just the next stage of the conflict."
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told the UN security council last month that despite the increase of supplies entering Gaza, the health situation remained critical, with “infectious diseases ... widespread amid overcrowded displacement sites and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene conditions”.
Inadequate funding exacerbated the “shortages of medical supplies, fuel and the overall humanitarian response”, Alakbarov said, while
'War crimes' Ukraine hit by new wave of deadly strikes Page 27
100-year-old women
Centenarians thrive
in Sardinian village
Page 28
"restrictions on the entry of critical humanitarian items imposed by Israel" were slowing preparations for cold weather.
Israeli authorities deny shortages and say adequate supplies are reaching Gaza, with more than 600 trucks entering the territory daily.
Saleh Kilani, 70, from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, used to have a farm and olive trees before the war. "Around this time of year, I used to press about 60 containers of olive oil. But I lost all of that too. If I go to my home I may die, and if I go to my farm, I may die too. This is not a life. We have lost hope."
Kilani said life before the conflict seemed very distant. "We never used to think twice about seeing orange and peach trees, green fields, grapes and figs. These things were simply part of our lives. Now when we see them, we are surprised," he said.
Hamas, which swiftly reimposed its authority over the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who live in the third of the territory not under the control of the Israeli military, has rebuilt a rudimentary administration that provides patchy education, some healthcare services and limited policing based on deterrence through often arbitrary punishment.
Donald Trump's plan to definitively end the war in Gaza has stalled, with little progress towards disarming Hamas, securing the withdrawal of Israeli troops and beginning reconstruction.
"My biggest fear is that this situation will continue," said Kilani.
For Esraa Abu Taiba, the only time she recalls her prewar existence is when she gets to practise her profession as a beautician. The 26-year-old lived in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis and now within the zone controlled by Israel.
Of her five brothers, two were killed in the conflict, two were wounded, and one is among the more than 1,500 Palestinians from Gaza in detention in Israel.
"Before the war my life was quiet and good. I could go wherever I wanted without fear or restrictions. We lived in our own home. We had a washing machine, a tap, a garden.
"Now we live in a tent. Our lives depend on carrying water and getting food from the community kitchen. A water truck comes to the end of the street and ... I go to collect it because my mother cannot carry it," Abu Taiba said.
Like most Palestinians in Gaza, her family was displaced multiple times during the conflict, and they have lost everything from their former home - except a house key, which her mother keeps close.
"The only thing I still do from my old life is some beauty work. I cut girls' hair in the tents around us and do their makeup for weddings," said Abu Taiba.
"It takes me away from the misery we are living through, even if only for a little while."
Jerusalem Palestinians to bear cost of consulate closure
William Christou and
Sufian Taha
Jerusalem
The UK consulate in East Jerusalem gave few signs that it was at the centre of a geopolitical controversy this week.
with little movement around the high-walled building save for the fluttering of the union flag and the occasional car exiting the compound.
The mission is to shut its doors today after Israel ordered its closure in response to a UK ban on trade with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and sanctions on those who help build or finance them.
The forced closure marked the lowest point in UK-Israeli relations for decades, with reports of the UK considering the retaliatory
expulsion of 27 Israeli diplomats from London.
It would be the Palestinians who pay the price for the consulate's closing, warned Amjad Iraqi, the International Crisis Group's senior analyst on Israel and Palestine. The UK consulate in East Jerusalem is separate from the UK embassy in Tel Aviv - which remains open - and provides services to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza - services they will now lose.
"It's quite telling that the Israeli government response was primarily about blocking the UK's ability to support Palestinians, rather than the core of UK-Israeli relations themselves," Iraqi said. "For [the Israeli] foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, the response is low-cost. In their minds, it's just Palestinians bearing the cost."
Israel has already curtailed the diplomatic activities of countries such as the Netherlands, Spain and Norway in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah, the East Jerusalem neighbourhood that is home to the consulate, appeared resigned when asked about the impact the closure would have on their lives.
"I mean, it was the British that were the basis of the issue, wasn't it? They were the ones who signed the Balfour declaration," said Abu Abdo, a 79-year-old former repairman and resident of Sheikh Jarrah, referring to the 1917 document by the then British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, which expressed support for a Jewish state in Palestine.
It was a dramatic end for the consulate's tenure in East Jerusalem, which, since its move to the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in 1967, had seen its fair share of political upheaval.
The UK government first bought the plot that would become its consulate in 1963, when East Jerusalem was still under Jordanian control. It was meant to be a direct liaison between the UK government and the Jordanian-administered West Bank and East Jerusalem. The compound took four years to build and was finally ready for the UK consul-general to move into by 1967.
But by the time the new consul-general, John Henry Lewen, moved in, East Jerusalem was no longer under Jordanian control. The six-day war had broken out, and Israel had captured East Jerusalem.
Lewen assumed his post at the present day consulate in a changed East Jerusalem under Israeli control. The consulate he oversaw occupied a unique position, as the UK did not recognise Jerusalem as being under any single country's control.
▲ The British consulate's tenure in East Jerusalem began in 1967
#
7 October memorial
Raz Zarfati,
the sister of
Ron Zarfati,
an Israeli
soldier who
was killed in
the 7 October
Hamas attack,
embraces a
poster of a
victim during
a service at the
Nova music
festival site,
near Kibbutz
Reim in
southern Israel
yesterday.
PHOTOGRAPH:
OHAD ZWIGENBERG/AP
As the UK foreign secretary told parliament in June 1967: "Our consul-general in Jerusalem is subordinate neither to the ambassador in Tel Aviv nor to the ambassador in Amman, but directly to the Foreign Office."
Lewen's tenure was marked by the political problems that plagued Jerusalem in the aftermath of the six-day war and the birth of Israel. In 1969, a bomb was placed under the window of a consul secretary, harming no one but damaging the compound.
Years later, Palestinians would present their grievances to the British consulate in Sheikh Jarrah.
In 2017, protesters demonstrated outside the consulate to mark the centenary of the Balfour declaration. Men placed flags in the consulate windows reading “Balfour is a crime”, while schoolgirls carried thousands of letters written by Palestinian students asking Britain to apologise for the declaration.
This week, however, there was little sign of the political turmoil which the British consulate had withstood during its 60 years on the site. The neighbourhood, mostly made up of diplomatic missions and international organisations' offices, was quiet.
Residents in the area expressed disappointment over what they saw as a lack of international support for the Palestinian people in recent years.
"We have seen very little but studies and words, no action from the international community," said Abu Abdo.
South Sudan Surgeons struggle to cope with rise in conflict victims
Deng Machol Juba
Carlos Mureithi Nairobi
By 11am on a recent Thursday, Dr Slobodan Miroavljev had already seen two critically wounded patients at Juba
military hospital. The day was barely halfway through, but the surgeon couldn't say how long he would be at the facility.
A patient shot in the abdomen, head or chest could arrive without warning. A helicopter could bring several critically wounded people from another part of South Sudan. A mass casualty incident could fill the wards within hours.
For Mirosavljev and his colleagues, uncertainty has become part of the job at the hospital, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supports surgeries for people wounded by weapons during renewed fighting between the military, known as the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), which is loyal to the former vice-president Riek Machar, and allied groups.
The conflict has increased the demand for surgical care, overwhelming an already fragile and under-resourced health system in the world's youngest country. The fighting has intensified in the past year, particularly in Jonglei state, an opposition stronghold, amid a political crisis fuelled by the sidelining of Machar by the president, Salva Kiir.
Machar and Kiir had been members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, a guerrilla movement that fought for independence from Sudan, which it gained in 2011, with Kiir becoming president and Machar vice-president. South Sudan descended into a bloody civil war in 2013 after Kiir fired Machar and later accused him of planning a coup.
Machar founded SPLM-IO, whose fight against the army in the ensuing civil war killed more than 400,000 people and displaced nearly half the country's population. The fighting took place largely along ethnic lines, between Kiir's majority Dinka community and Machar's Nuer, the second largest ethnic group in the country.
In 2018, Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal - ending the civil war, creating a unity government of the two parties and returning Machar to the vice-presidency. But implementation of the agreement has barely got off the ground as the two parties are constantly at odds over power sharing.
The renewed conflict was triggered by a deadly attack by the White Army, a rebel group that was allied to Machar during the civil war, on a government garrison in Nasir county in Upper Nile state in March 2025. It resulted in Machar being charged with murder and
'We are doing what we can to keep pace, but demand is growing faster than the capacity of trauma services'
Rose Ochieng
Red Cross coordinator ▲ From top, surgeon Slobodan Mirosvljev (dark blue scrubs) speaks to a patient; an SPLA soldier in a market hit by the Sudanese air force in 2012; patients receiving treatment for gunshot wounds rest in Juba military hospital
Kiir suspending him from his post. This has inflamed tensions in the country, where elections are due in December. They have also coincided with increased fighting between militias and government forces in parts of the country that has killed hundreds and displaced more than 200,000 people.
t Juba military hospital, patients, medical workers and visitors moved between wards as the rainy season settled try.
over the country.
PHOTOGRAPHS: DENG MACHOL/THE GUARDIAN; GORAN TOMAŠEVIĆ/REUTERS; LUIS TATO/AFP/GETTY
The sounds of footsteps, hospital trolleys and hurried conversations mixed with the steady hum of ceiling fans, amid the smell of disinfectant. Some patients recovering from gunshot wounds were sitting along covered walkways. Others waited on crutches, while patients further
along in their recovery carried out morning rehabilitation exercises.
Mirosvljev has been working at the hospital since August last year. The Serbian surgeon's day usually starts before 8am with a briefing, followed by ward rounds, consultations, emergency admissions and operations. Surgeries end in the early evening on typical days, but can go late into the night when critically wounded patients arrive. Besides victims of political violence, the patients include those wounded in communal fighting.
In the first six months of this year, the ICRC evacuated 266 injured people from conflict areas and brought them to the facility. Most cases at the hospital are gunshot wounds, and others include stab wounds, broken bones and explosive injuries. Miroavljev estimated that one in 10 involved serious head injuries, including bullets entering the skull.
For surgeons, the numbers translate into a daily struggle against blood loss, infection and damage to vital organs.
Some patients require several operations. Every week, the medics received at least two or three “very difficult” injuries from bullet or blast injuries to the chest and abdomen that needed multiple surgeries, Miroavljev said.
For such patients, surgery is only the beginning. “They need a lot of blood; they need a lot of support,” he said. Blood is among the most critical resources in the trauma unit. The hospital may have about 15 units available, with capacity sometimes reaching 20. A single severely wounded patient can require half of that supply.
The consequences can be serious when several casualties arrive at once. Rose Ochieng, the ICRC's health coordinator in South Sudan, said the surgical department at Giada military hospital was operating at more than 160% of its bed capacity at the most recent peak this year.
She said: "We are doing what we can to keep pace: adding overflow beds and recruiting more physiotherapy staff. But demand is growing faster than the capacity of trauma services. And it is civilians caught up in the fighting who are paying the price."
Survival is not the end of treatment. For the physiotherapist Lotto Charles, the real measure of recovery is whether a patient can eventually return home and live independently. Many of his patients are recovering from gunshot wounds. He lists others: "There are multiple fracture patients, patients with nerve injury, patients with lung collapse, and bedridden patients with extensive soft-tissue injuries who are not able to move."
For Charles, the reward comes when a patient who arrived on a stretcher walks out of the hospital. "That really motivates me a lot - that at least I'm doing something to help the community," he said.
For Mirosvljev, that makes the difficult days worthwhile. "It's a good feeling when you do the job, and people survive ... and they walk out," he said.
World
▼ Rescue workers search wreckage for survivors in Pryluky. Across the country at least 24 people died
PHOTOGRAPH: VALENTYN OGIRENKO/REUTERS
Zelenskyy says Russia bombed civilians as Putin birthday gift
Luke Harding
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia's military of deliberately killing civilians and bombing residential buildings as a macabre gift for Vladimir Putin, who celebrated his 74th birthday yesterday.
Ukraine's president described Russia's overnight drone and missile strikes, which killed at least
24 people, as "despicable". "The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively," he said.
Video showed a missile slamming into a five-storey apartment block in the town of Pryluky in the northern Chernihiv region. The concrete building collapsed, entombing those inside. Eighteen people died, including four children, officials said.
Zelenskyy named the children as Oleksandr, Kyrylo, Maksym and Serhii, who was one year old. He said five children were among about 50 people who were injured. Rescuers continued to pick through the rubble, with several residents not yet accounted for, he added.
"Today, on Putin's birthday, the Russian army 'presented' him with the destruction of a residential block in Pryluky," Zelenskyy wrote on social media. "The Russians know very well that they are striking ordinary cities, ordinary life. It is an absolutely deliberate choice of terror."
▲ A bomb slammed into a five-storey residential building in Pryluky
He also acknowledged that Ukraine was struggling to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles, and appealed to allies to provide US-manufactured Patriot interceptors. "Air defence packages for us right now are a vital necessity," he said.
The bombardment featured 70 ballistic missiles, as well as 46 jet-powered drones, which in recent weeks have been terrorising Ukrainians on a daily basis. Ukraine's air force said it had managed to down just over $80\%$ of the fast-moving drones - an improvement on the previous average of $50\%$ to $60\%$ .
Eleven regions were hit. Two people were killed in Kyiv, with other deadly strikes in the central cities of Kremenchuk and Oleksandriia, where four civilians died. There was also extensive damage in Dnipro.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russian generals had given Putin his favourite birthday present: "war crimes". Moscow's grim strategy of bombarding Ukraine's population so it capitulated would not work, he said.
"The Ukrainian people are not going to give up, because it's about Ukraine's survival as a nation and as a state," he said. The "ultimate" present would be a dock in The Hague, home to the international criminal court, where the Russian president would stand trial, Sybiha said.
One woman in Kremenchuk said the attack there had happened early yesterday. She told the media: "We were making tea in the morning. My husband was getting ready for work. And that was it. I found myself on the floor. It was very scary."
Local people in Dnipro said a blast wave had affected 16 buildings, blowing out doors and windows. One woman, Iryna, said her auto parts workshop had been hit for the sixth time. The ceiling collapsed after yesterday's strike, she said, with toilets, sinks and equipment damaged.
"The explosion happened around three in the morning. We were sleeping at home. Everyone was scared, probably the whole city heard it. We will restore the shop and continue to work," she told the Suspilne channel.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had carried out its own long-range strikes on economic and military sites inside Russia. They included two oil complexes and a training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions. "These are justified Ukrainian responses to all Russian attacks on our people," he said.
The president posted a dramatic video of a burning oil tanker close to the southern resort city of Sochi. Russian officials said naval drones had hit the Liberian-flagged ship, adding that "crude oil was burning openly on the Black Sea".
Both sides have heavily targeted commercial shipping around the Black Sea since Putin's invasion in 2022. In recent weeks, Russia has picked off vessels carrying grain, paralysing maritime traffic from Ukraine's southern ports.
Earlier this week, a civilian cargo ship sank after a suspected attack by Russian drones in the Black Sea.
Woman who symbolised Spain's rent and housing crisis dies
Ashifa Kassam
Madrid
The 87-year-old Madrid woman whose eviction triggered nationwide protests over Spain's chronic housing crisis and a political debate that culminated in early elections has died, a tenants' union said yesterday.
"We are sorry to announce that Maricarmen passed away today," the Madrid Tenants' Union said in a statement about Maricarmen Abascal, adding that her cause marked "a turning point in the history of this country".
Abascal became a symbol of Spain's housing market on 23 September when she was evicted from her life-long Madrid home after the firm that owned the apartment drastically raised the rent.
Abascal had been hospitalised with exhaustion after her eviction, but a deal had been reached with the company that owned her flat allowing her to return home.
Outrage at her eviction triggered national demonstrations, with hundreds of people camping in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square in the most symbolic of the protests.
The movement piled pressure on the minority leftist government to present urgent housing measures, including more restrictions on evictions and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts.
After days of protests and encampments that have sprouted up across the country after Abascal's eviction, the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a snap general election in response to rightwing parties torpedoing emergency legislation to tackle the housing crisis.
Yesterday campaigners vowed to keep up the pressure. "The power of the people has ushered in a new era," said Alicia del Río of the Madrid Tenants' Union, as she floated plans for a general strike in November. "An election campaign is now beginning that will be deeply shaped by the housing issue.
"So we ask the members of parliament, are you going to introduce the measures people are demanding or are you going to continue to be the lackeys of the rentier economy?"
The election, which did not have to held until next August, is a high-stakes gamble for Sánchez. Polls suggest the most likely outcome will be a rightwing coalition between the People's party and the far-right Vox party.
But as people seethe over rents that have surged 80% in a decade and housing costs which have risen by 63%, the protests present Sánchez with a chance to keep his leftwing coalition in power.
"Bringing forward the elections is risky. But there's also a feeling of 'now
◀ Maricarmen Abascal, 87, being evicted last month by stretcher from the Madrid apartment she could no longer afford to rent
PHOTOGRAPH: SUSANA VERA/REUTERS
is the moment," said Antonio Prieto, 36, as he and other volunteers transformed the steady stream of food donations into lunch for those at the Madrid camp.
The eviction of Abascal, a wheelchair user who was carried on a stretcher from the home she had lived in for more than seven decades, catapulted the frustration over the deepening housing crisis into public view. It cast a spotlight on the intense competition for housing, one that pits local people against tourist lets, investment funds and short-term rentals.
As a wave of outrage swept the country, the investment firm that bought Abascal's home said she could return home without paying the 230% rent rise it had reportedly demanded. But the protests have continued to gain strength as people demand change.
Prieto described them as being a "moral duty", given that the Spanish constitution recognises the right to "decent and adequate housing" for all.
The growing tent city has had visitors, too. The vast majority express their support, said Juan Vázquez of the Housing Union of Carabanchel, a district in the south of Madrid.
"People of all ages have stopped by to wish us strength, bring us water and food, and tell us to keep going," he added. He called the coming weeks, as people across Spain prepared to vote, crucial.
“Basically, what we want is to channel all this energy so that it doesn’t just remain a footnote in a weeklong encampment - to organise, apply pressure and secure our rights.”
"We know the organisation of the working class is the only means of looking after our interests."
Jorge Rubio, 27, said the scale of the protests had hopefully made it clear to everyone just what was at stake.
"Housing is not just a problem here, it's a European problem," he says. "The revolution needs to reach them, too."
'People go mad for him' How an 80-year-old market trader became a sensation in Chile
John Bartlett
Valparaíso
A t a concert hall in the Chilean capital, Santiago, an 80-year-old man edges unsteadily down a steep staircase. He
grips the metal bannister with one hand and in the other he carries a mug of hot water with a slice of lemon, as if heading to bed.
But when the red stage curtain is pulled aside, Luis Gómez, or JM as he is known, transforms in an instant. He skips on to the stage to a roar from the crowd and launches into a bolero punctuated by hip thrusts and shuffling two-steps as frontman of Los Crack del Puerto, and one of the last remaining voices of a golden generation.
Born and raised in Valparaíso, Chile's vibrant second city, JM's foray into music has taken him around the country as well as to Mexico, the UK, Argentina and France. But things could have worked out very differently. At 65, he was still hawking vegetables at the market where he had worked since the age of eight.
In May, Los Crack del Puerto released their fourth record, Lo Mucho Que Nos Queda (So Much Yet to Come) - to great acclaim.
“Singing has always been my release,” JM says in a wavering voice, in contrast to his confident onstage vocals. The father of two speaks with captivating enthusiasm about his life. Scattered with bursts of song, most conversations return to his largely tongue-in-cheek fear of his wife of 55 years, his penchant for sports clothing, or the market on Avenida Argentina in Valparaíso.
JM was born in the O'Higgins neighbourhood of Valparaíso in 1945, the youngest of five children. He was three years old when his father died, and 10 when he lost his mother. For a time, he slept in the street between parked cars until his aunt and uncle took him in.
"JM" was a cheeky nickname bestowed upon him by the family - the initials of a childhood friend, Juan Muñoz, with whom they said he spent too much time.
▲ Luis Gómez, known as 'JM', with his band, Los Crack del Puerto, at a restaurant in Valparaíso, Chile, right, where the 80-year-old also works as a market trader
PHOTOGRAPHS: TAMARA MERINO/ THE GUARDIAN; DELPHOTOS/ALAMY
Valparaíso then, as it is now, was defined by music. As in many ports, cultures and ideas arrived in the city and were woven into its fabric; but the musical styles of its 20th-century heyday, from boleros to waltzes, tango to cueca, Chile's official national dance, have barely changed in generations.
"The same songs that were sung before are still the ones they sing now," says JM decisively.
One of his cousins, Juan Navarro, known as Juanín, would bring friends home and play his guitar for them, and the younger JM would sing along. The cousins remained lifelong friends while Juanín pursued a career in the police and JM sold vegetables at the market.
Through middle age, the double act entertained crowds in Valparaíso's bars - JM the entertaining foil to his more serious older cousin, who would perch on a stool to play his guitar, always in an immaculate pressed suit.
"JM was the entertainer, he can make anyone laugh," says Los Crack del Puerto's manager, Juan Nuñez.
But the dynamic worked. In 2017, JM and Juanín began taking their music more seriously, forming the band with a group of talented local musicians.
“That generation is an intangible cultural heritage. They’re a living legacy,” says Felipe Riveros, 33, who has played with JM as a guitarist. “He’s charismatic. People go mad when he comes on stage.”
Juanín died in 2025 aged 87. "For months, I missed him so much, I couldn't bring myself to get back on stage," says JM of his cousin.
Now, as he approaches his 81st birthday, the royalty cheques that supplement his state pension are of little consequence to him.
"I never planned any of this, and I'd be happy still working at the market," he says during a break at a restaurant where he sings every Sunday. "But I suppose it's never too late to give something a try."
Sardinian home of centenarian women is new longevity hotspot
Angela Giuffrida
Rome
A tiny mountain village in Sardinia has emerged as a new potential candidate for classification as a blue zone - a geographic area with a high concentration of centenarians - researchers say.
The Italian island became known as a haven for longevity, especially for long-lived men, in 1999 when a cluster of remote villages in its central and eastern provinces were classified as blue zones.
But now Bolotana, located in the Mârghine area of central Sardinia and about 70 miles from the island's original blue zone, reportedly generates centenarians every year in a trend driven explicitly by women.
A study by researchers at Sardinia's University of Sassari and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Aging, found that $13.8\%$ of women in the village who reach the age of 70 will live to 100 - placing it second in the world for female longevity after Hong Kong.
▲ A study put Bolotana second in the world for female longevity
In Italy, where the number of centenarians has more than doubled since 2009, 3.5% of women who make it to 70 will achieve the milestone.
The researchers analysed records of people born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925 and that 38 had lived beyond 100, putting their longevity rate at 57% higher than the Italian national average.
The study began in 2024 and as of last year, there were 12 centenarians among a population of 2,266 in Bolotana - roughly 12 times the Sardinian average. Six have since died and the six who are left are all women, the two eldest being 102. More residents are expected to reach 100 by the end of this year and during 2027.
The findings also showed that compared with the world's other four blue zones, including Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece and Loma Linda in California, Sardinia's was expanding.
Giovanni Mario Pes, the study's lead scientist and the co-creator of the blue zone concept, said: "The important thing is that, for the first time in more than 25 years, we have found a place for longevity outside of the conventional blue zone [in Sardinia]. But Bolotana is even more exceptional. Whereas the original zone had an unusual balance between the two sexes, here female longevity prevails."
Pes said that while it was already well-established that women live longer for biological reasons, “the longevity of the women in Bolotana is three times higher than that of most western women.”
Australian court rejects coalmine expansion in landmark ruling
Lisa Cox
Donna Lu
A community group has won Australia's first high court case to take into account the climate crisis, in a ruling advocates say sets a binding national precedent for fossil fuel projects in the state of New South Wales.
In a landmark judgment, the nation's highest court ruled that the approval of MACH Energy's Mount Pleasant coalmine expansion in the Hunter valley town of Muswellbrook was invalid.
In a 3-2 split ruling, the high court dismissed the coal company's appeal. A majority of judges found the state's planning commission was required to consider how to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions that would be generated by the mine when the coal was sold and burned overseas, and had failed to do so.
The court found the Independent Planning Commission had failed to consider imposing conditions aimed at minimising these emissions.
The Mount Pleasant expansion would double the mine's coal output to 21m tonnes a year until 2048.
Wendy Wales, the president of Dams Heg, the community group that brought the original case, said: "Today the high court has said what we have always known: we cannot dig up coal, ship it overseas, watch it drive climate change, and then pretend the consequences have nothing to do with us and won't be felt by us."
The proceedings, brought by MACH Energy, were the first time Australia's top court had been asked to consider a case on climate grounds.
MACH had appealed against a 2025 decision by the NSW court of appeal that overturned a massive expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine. In the initial proceedings brought by Dams Heg, the land and environment court ruled in favour of MACH Energy.
A MACH Energy spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the outcome but accepted the court's decision.
World
▲ Riot police were not intervening if protests were peaceful, the interior minister told MPs yesterday
PHOTOGRAPH: THIBAULT CAMUS/AP
France halts use of stun grenades by police at high school protests
Jon Henley
Paris
France's interior minister has suspended the use of stun grenades by police at high school demonstrations but rejected mounting accusations of police brutality during a fortnight of protests marred by often violent clashes that have injured hundreds.
Laurent Nuñez told RTL radio yesterday that he had ordered a temporary halt to the use of the grenades "in the context of the high school students' movement" after a 15-year-old lost a hand during a protest in Lens, northern France, on Monday.
Authorities have not confirmed the exact circumstances - in particular, whether the boy had picked up the grenade or been struck by it - but have said up to 200 protesters had been hurling projectiles at police when the riot squad intervened.
Nuñez said he was suspending use of the grenades “until we know exactly what happened in this case”. But he later told MPs that accusations of “police repression” were “excessive” because officers “are not intervening if protests are peaceful”.
The injured boy's mother said yesterday that her son's hand had been amputated. She told BFMTV: "His life has been stolen. He's a 15-year-old kid. How can children be treated like that?" She said her son had not tried to pick up the grenade.
The education ministry said classes had been wholly or partially suspended in 429 of the country's 3,700 lycées - high schools attended by pupils aged between 15 and 18 - yesterday, a significantly lower number than on Tuesday.
However, 80 university campuses, including the prestigious Sciences Po in Paris, were blockaded in largely peaceful protests by students yesterday, unions said, and teachers' and other unions said they backed further strike action today.
Nuñez told parliament that 215 pupils and 89 school staff had been injured since the start of the protests, which are over chronic teacher shortages, crowded classes, dilapidated buildings and long school days, while 761 police officers had also been wounded.
He said 18 internal police investigations had been launched over allegations of brutality during the demonstrations, including one incident in which a young protester lost multiple teeth and another in which a student lost the use of an eye.
He said inquiries were always opened over accusations of “non-proportional” policing, but he insisted officers were there to protect
'His life has been stolen. He's only a 15-year-old kid. How can children be treated like that?'
Mother of boy who lost his hand at protest
the students. Rights groups and trade unions have repeatedly accused the police of using unnecessary force.
On Tuesday, at least 250,000 pupils, parents, teachers and unionists took to the streets in cities across France on the biggest day yet of the campaign, prompting the president, Emmanuel Macron, to hold an emergency cabinet meeting.
Most marches passed off without serious incident but some, including in Paris, ended in sporadic vandalism and running skirmishes with riot police, in which officers fired teargas and carried out baton charges to disperse protesters.
The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on Tuesday condemned the violence and told parliament it could not be tolerated, while also rejecting accusations that the government had ordered “police repression” against the protesters.
Over the past fortnight, demonstrators have set dustbins on fire outside schools, destroyed bus shelters and hurled projectiles at police.
Twenty-four schools have been burned or ransacked, while more than 6,600 people have been arrested, almost all of them minors. More than 1,800 are being prosecuted, nearly 1,500 of them under 18, the justice ministry has said.
Anne Savinel-Barras, the president of Amnesty France, yesterday welcomed the decision to suspend police use of stun grenades as “an important first step” but said the devices should be “permanently banned from the policing of all protests”.
The protests, months before next year's presidential election, have rattled a government trying to reduce a ballooning budget deficit amid mounting investor concern over France's sky-high debt and weak economic growth.
They have also sparked a heated political row, with the government accusing the radical-left La France Insoumise party of encouraging and even orchestrating the movement after numerous LFI MPs attended school blockades.
'Another coup d'état': Bolsonaro fuels fears of erosion of democracy
Tom Phillips
Rio de Janeiro
Flávio Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner to become Brazil's next president, has vowed to "re-democratise" the South American country, fuelling fears of a move into authoritarian rule if he wins power.
Brazil was “re-democratised” in the 1980s after a brutal 21-year dictatorship, which Flávio’s father, the disgraced former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has long praised.
Last year, Jair Bolsonaro, a former soldier who served under that military regime, was jailed for 27 years for trying to engineer a coup after he lost the 2022 election to the current leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
But Flávio, 45, beat Lula, 80, in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday and goes into the run-off on 25 October as the favourite. On Tuesday, Flávio Bolsonaro vowed to capitalise on the hugely increased far-right presence in congress after the election to change the constitution and “re-democratise this country”.
"The only thing standing in the way of Brazil becoming a barbarity is called Flávio Bolsonaro as president," he claimed at a campaign event in Goiânia, a city near the capital, Brasília.
The incendiary comments caused outrage among historians and opponents of Bolsonaro's radical populist movement. Taliria Petrone, a leftwing congresswoman, wrote on X: "This is the announcement of a coup."
Marcelo Freixo, a newly elected congressman from Lula's Workers' party (PT), said: "Brazil was re-democratised in 1988. The person who tried to undo this was his father, who was convicted of an attempted coup. What they want ... is a coup."
▲ Flávio Bolsonaro is closing in on power after leading in the first round
Bolsonaro did not spell out what he meant by “re-democratising” Brazil, a vibrant if polarised multi-party democracy which the Sweden-based V-Dem institute ranks 28th on its liberal democracy index, two places ahead of the UK.
But Jair Bolsonaro, who has praised authoritarian leaders including Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet, has long hankered after a return to military rule.
Last September, the supreme court found Jair Bolsonaro guilty of trying to convince military chiefs to help him cling to power at the end of his 2018-22 presidency. The conspiracy culminated in the 8 January 2023 riots in Brasília, a far-right insurrection seemingly inspired by the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.
Writing in the O Globo newspaper, Míriam Leitão, a prominent political and economic journalist, warned that if Bolsonaro won, Brazil faced “the extreme and concrete danger of ... another coup d’état attempt”.
"Flávio follows the same ideas as his father and has already said that an intervention in the institutions is necessary," Leitão wrote. "If Flávio Bolsonaro is elected, he will have more tools at his disposal to carry out his father's authoritarian project.
"Political science shows it's in the second term that an autocrat doubles down on their plan. Look at the case of Donald Trump. The risk isn't of the son repeating the father, it's that he surpasses him."
The political scientist Miguel Lago said Sunday's far-right election triumph - in which Bolsonaro's Liberal party (PL) secured the senate's largest caucus, with 28 of its 81 seats - would permit radical changes, including the impeachment of supreme court ministers considered enemies of the Bolsonarismo movement.
Jair Bolsonaro and his jailed co-conspirators are also likely to be freed if his son wins, with the former president expected to become an influential minister able to select the new heads of the armed forces.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's authoritarian president, has been accused of "killing" democracy by using control over the country's congress and institutions to approve sweeping constitutional changes, including scrapping presidential term limits so he can seek indefinite re-election.
Flávio Bolsonaro recently met Bukele's security minister, Gustavo Villatoro, in São Paulo, praising the Central American country's hardline security policies, which have seen thousands jailed over nearly five years. Bolsonaro told reporters that during their conversation, Villatoro "stressed the importance" of using control of congress to make the "necessary legal changes".
The political scientist Celso Rocha de Barros said that by using the word "re-democratise", Bolsonaro sought "to smuggle his authoritarian purposes into acceptable language".
"Clearly, Flávio's plan is a corrosion of democracy so [Brazil] becomes a Hungary or Bukele-style system," Barros added.
Asked to clarify his plans yesterday, Bolsonaro rejected speculation he was seeking to finish “what his father didn’t do”. “Let’s stop lying. Let’s touch down in the real world,” he told reporters, adding: “Brazil needs to go back to normal, that’s all.”
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Canadian family who once owned Selfridges buys Boots
Sarah Butler
The Canadian family that once owned Selfridges department store has bought the pharmacy and beauty retailer Boots for \$8.9bn (£6.7bn).
Wittington Investments, holding company of the Weston family that controls the Loblaws grocery chain and Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy chain in Canada, will own Boots's UK and Irish retail operations and opticians chain, the No7 beauty brand and a franchise arm in Thailand.
The acquisition of the Nottingham-headquartered chain, which has 1,800 stores across the UK and employs 50,000 people, is also being backed by the investment firm Fairfax, which owns The Sporting Life Group and Sleep Country, Canada's largest mattress retailer, which owns Simba Sleep in the UK.
Galen Weston, the chair of Wittington, who is likely to become chair of
Boots, said: "Boots is one of Britain's most enduring businesses, with a rich heritage, a trusted name and a vital role in everyday life across the UK and Ireland.
"We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence for generations to come."
The transaction, which involves the exit of Boots's long-term investor Stefano Pessina and his latest backer, the financial firm Sycamore Partners, is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
In 2022, the US pharmacy group Walgreens put Boots up for sale with a suggested price tag of up to £10bn but later dropped the plans as potential buyers, including Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, the US private equity investor Apollo Global Management and Asda's owners TDR
Capital, struggled to raise funds. A plan to float the business at a valuation of about £7bn was dropped in 2024.
"Boots is an iconic brand and a British institution," said Pessina, who took Boots private with the backing of the investment firm KKR in 2007. He has since kept a stake under different private equity owners and merged and demerged it from Walgreens.
"It has been one of the privileges of my and [my wife] Ornella's life to have been so closely associated with Boots over the last 20 years. We are delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage."
Pessina will retain ownership of
Boots's interests in the Farmacias Benavides pharmacy chain in Mexico and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland, a German drug distributor.
The acquisition of Boots marks the return of the Weston family's Canadian branch to the UK high street, after it sold off the Selfridges department store chain for £4bn in 2022.
The separate UK branch of the family is known for holding a majority stake in Primark through the parent company Associated British Foods, which is led by George Weston.
The veteran retail analyst Richard Hyman said the Weston family were "the most encouraging ownership of Boots" for many years. "Watching Boots has been a bit like watching corporate pass the parcel," he said. "Its ownership has changed with extraordinary frequency and each owner has stripped a bit more out of it."
Hyman said Boots had an opportunity to make more of its vast loyalty scheme and to offer more services through its network of stores across the UK, many of which had seen little modernisation in recent decades.
IMF chief urges
governments
to tighten their
belts as global
debt levels soar
Boots has closed more than 300 outlets in recent years. It is unclear whether its new owners plan to close more shops, but they are likely to take a close look given the rising costs of high street retail and the shift to online trade.
Heather Stewart
Economics editor
£6.7bn
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on governments across big economies to tighten their belts as soaring bond yields hit budgets.
What the Weston family paid for Boots, which has 1,800 stores in the UK and employs 50,000 people
Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs as letter volumes fall
Mark Sweeney
Royal Mail is to cut up to 2,500 jobs as the embattled company seeks to restructure its business amid intense competition and the continuing decline in letter deliveries.
Speaking in Singapore, the IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said global debt-to-GDP ratios were at their highest level since the second world war and on course to hit 100% in the coming years. Governments could not rely on rapid economic growth to lift the burden of debt, she said, and would have to make “very tough political choices”.
The postal service, which has been fined a total of £37m since 2023 for missing delivery targets set by the regulator, Ofcom, said the job cuts would focus on head office and “support function” roles, with the restructure to be completed by the end of next year.
Pointing out that the volume of letter deliveries had declined more than 70% since their peak in the mid-00s, Royal Mail said the cuts would be achieved through “natural attrition” and a voluntary exit programme with no compulsory redundancies.
The company said there would be no reduction in operational frontline roles in delivery and processing, including the number of postal workers and drivers it employs. The cuts amount to less than 2% of Royal Mail's workforce of more than 131,000.
However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents frontline staff, said about 200 ▲ The job losses reflected a 70% fall in letter deliveries, Royal Mail said
PHOTOGRAPH: ANDY RAIN/EPA
members with jobs in administration and revenue protection would be affected. Martin Walsh, a deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: "We will be meeting management to discuss this. We urge the government to confront the reality of a collapsing Royal Mail and intervene to save this national institution."
The cuts are the first to be made since the completion of the £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail's parent company, International Distribution Services, by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský's EP Group last year.
Royal Mail last made extensive job cuts in 2022 when it said it was targeting up to 10,000 roles, including 6,000 full-time frontline jobs.
Alistair Cochrane, the chief executive of Royal Mail, said: "We have been working hard to reduce costs and simplify processes across all areas of the business as we transform to win in a very competitive market."
Last week, the firm announced it was to hire 22,000 temporary workers in roles including sorting, delivery and collection to cover Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November, and Christmas deliveries.
A decade ago Royal Mail was delivering 20bn letters a year, but that has shrunk to 6.7bn and could drop to 4bn within four years.
Georgieva was speaking before the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, which are to be held in Bangkok next week.
She said: "My message to the world's economic policymakers will be this: we cannot keep delaying necessary policy action - you have the tools, now have the wisdom to use them. And yet we don't see decisive action in the high-debt advanced economies where the need of the hour is for credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plans, supported in some cases by upfront fiscal measures."
Bond yields - in effect the interest rate on the debt - have jumped in recent weeks, raising the cost of borrowing for many governments to multi-decade highs as markets adjust to the prospect of higher inflation as a result of the war in the Middle East.
"Elevated yields are inflating the interest bill at a time of tight budget constraints and competing spending priorities, including defence," Georgieva said, calling for "an urgent and comprehensive set of policy responses". The Bulgarian economist suggested central banks should be prepared to raise interest rates to see off resurgent inflation.
The European Central Bank, US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan have tightened policy in the face of rising inflation but the Bank of England has so far left rates on hold at 3.75%. "Now may be a good time for a prudently hawkish bias in many countries' monetary policy," Georgieva said.
◀ Kristalina Georgieva of the IMF says high-debt advanced economies need to make tough political choices
Business view
Nils Pratley
Burnham, take note: water shareholders have their uses - they can be squeezed for cash
W ater is "a service where the shareholders never lose and the public
never win," Andy Burnham, the prime minister, told the Labour party conference last week, reflecting the popular feeling towards the industry in England.
And, of course, his big-picture point is familiar: the £80bn, or thereabouts, that has been paid in dividends over the past 35 years represented over-the-top rewards for investors in many cases. It is easy to agree the public was taken for a ride.
But the idea that shareholders never lose is not correct - and has been out of date for a
while. For starters, the current owners of Thames Water have been wiped out. Their shares are worthless whatever the outcome of the interminable talks over whether to put the company into administration or opt for a recapitalisation by the creditors - who will get a sharp haircut on their debt in all circumstances.
Meanwhile, the owners of Southern Water have been obliged to shove in cash on dilutive terms. Now comes something similar at Pennon Group. The owner of South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water is tapping its shareholders for £550m via a rights issue to fund, in effect, the cost of clearing up past failures.
The new-ish Pennon chief executive, Keith Haslett, outlined an extra £1bn of capital investment on top of the existing £2.6bn in the current five-year period. Of the new £1bn, only £400m represents spending on new infrastructure that can be charged to bills - an extra £10 a year for South West customers if Ofwat gives a thumbs up. The other £600m hits shareholders and is the catch-up cost of fixing things that should not have gone wrong in the first place.
Reading between the lines, Haslett seems shocked by what he found. The rights issue document talked about improvement requiring “a fundamental change in how we plan, deliver and maintain our assets” and how previous efforts had been “held back by the way accountability sits within the organisation and gaps in the capability”.
Mr Fixit is not saying it's an overnight job. All the biggies of water companies' performance - pollution, leaks and supply interruptions - got a mention as items in need of improvement. The plan is merely to reduce regulatory penalties by $50\%$ in the current period. Haslett's hope is that, come 2030, Pennon will be closer to earning a few rewards via Ofwat's incentive mechanism.
The point is that none of this will feel like a case of "shareholders never losing" if you're unfortunate enough to own Pennon's shares. Anybody who bought at virtually any point in the past five years has lost a packet. The price was £13.30 in July 2021. Now it is 361p, down 20% yesterday with the rights issue to a 22-year low.
▲ A South West Water treatment works in Devon. Its owner is tapping shareholders via a rights issue
Burnham could do everyone a favour by hurrying up and deciding what he means by his 'public control' overlay
For good measure, the dividend is being cut by 30% on a per-share basis to reflect the new equity issuance. Reality has arrived at Pennon. Burnham might reflect that private investors can have their uses: the capital has to come from somewhere and shareholders can sometimes be forced to swallow some financial medicine.
One could take the view that those investors deserve something even sourer, such as outright nationalisation. It's a point of view but, since Burnham has pretty much ruled it out for water as a blanket policy - we wait to see what happens at Thames - the argument feels academic at this point.
If Burnham, despite it all, is going to live with a privatised system, he could do everybody a favour at this point by hurrying up and deciding what he means by his “public control” overlay. Keir Starmer’s water bill would have been published about now. Instead, we’ll get Burnham’s “strengthened” version some time next spring, according to the Westminster whisper.
Given that it could take 12 months to become law, that will be four years for Labour to reform the water sector. That is shockingly slow. As Pennon's fundraising demonstrates, even the current rickety system is moving faster.
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Business
Supermarket mergers Why time is ripe for UK brands to approach the checkout
▼ Sainsbury's would hold 23.6% of UK market if it bought Morrisons, top, taking it closer to Tesco's 27.8% PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS RATCLIFFE/GETTY IMAGES
Sarah Butler
They may be two of the most recognisable brands in Britain, with a combined 188 years serving shoppers, but industry watchers
say either Asda, Morrisons or both could disappear within a decade.
This week, it emerged that Sainsbury's and Morrisons - the UK's second and sixth largest supermarket chains - had held merger talks between last November and February, before the larger player decided to walk away.
News of the potential deal has relaunched speculation that the UK grocery market is now ripe for consolidation and revealed that Sainsbury's boss Simon Roberts - who has been in post for six years - is at least willing to consider the possibility of buying one of his troubled rivals.
Sainsbury's, which has 600 supermarkets and almost 900 convenience stores, has until recently been seen as wary of attempting to revive merger talks with its grocer rivals after the collapse of a deal to buy Asda for £7bn in 2019.
However, industry insiders say Asda and Morrisons' owners have held informal talks with each other and both with Sainsbury's team and predict talks could restart.
The industry has undergone
"The three of them, one way or another are talking to each other," one said. He suggested a combination of Asda and Morrisons could happen but was likely to be a weaker deal than a Sainsbury's takeover of either, as both businesses struggle with costs and interest on debt piles.
significant change since the collapse of the Sainsbury's-Asda deal seven years ago. While riding the wider retail trends towards online shopping and convenience stores, the grocery chains have been jockeying for market share.
Aldi is poised to overtake Asda to become the UK's third largest supermarket - with less than one percentage point separating them. Aldi is rapidly opening stores while Asda has struggled to find growth since a £6.8bn debt-fuelled takeover in 2020 amid heavy competition on price from the discounters and its bigger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's.
Another big change could emerge this month, when the UK's competition watchdog is due to publish its final ruling on whether Aldi and Lidl should now officially
One analyst described Sainsbury's as the "kingmaker" in any industry consolidation as it uniquely has the resources to snap up a rival without the market dominance to immediately prevent any deal.
be classified as "large grocery retailers" like Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons.
In August, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had provisionally found that Aldi and Lidl no longer qualified as “limited assortment discounters” as they now carry a “full range” of groceries and operate stores larger than 1,000 sq m across the UK.
This is the strongest hint yet that the CMA has changed its stance blocking the Sainsbury's buyout of Asda on the basis that shoppers would be worse off.
The change means the German owned discounters are now taken into account when assessing competition in different locations.
It also indicates that the CMA's "balance of competition" - its estimation of the impact of a deal based on drive times for customers around stores - has shifted, meaning Sainsbury's might have to dispose of fewer stores to gain regulatory clearance for a merger. A figure of 150 was suggested when it tried to buy Asda.
It is a step change from 2019 when analysts accused the former Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe and his board of directors
That comes amid what is seen as a more welcoming regulatory environment backed by the UK government's growth agenda combined with the appointment of Doug Gurr, a grocery industry veteran who has spent time at Asda and Amazon, to lead the CMA.
'[Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons], one way or another are talking to each other'
Industry analyst
On possible mergers of “arrogance” and “folly” for pursuing Asda. Now they say consolidation is almost inevitable.
Analysts agree it is unlikely to face significant competition if it opts to buy Morrisons or Asda - Tesco is too big to buy a rival while Marks & Spencer and Waitrose appear unlikely to have the financial firepower or desire to pursue such a deal.
The logic of a deal for Morrisons' American private equity owner Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is clear. They have few options for an exit, four years on from its £7bn acquisition of the Bradford-based chain.
The heavy debts that were taken on to fund CD&R's acquisition in 2022 have left Morrisons struggling to compete as interest rates have risen, pushing up costs, while competition has toughened as pinched households look to cut their grocery bill.
For Sainsbury's, the appeal is cost savings derived from larger scale. The combination of Sainsbury's and Morrisons would hold 23.6% of the UK market and add 500 supermarkets and 1,600 convenience stores to its portfolio - taking it closer to Tesco's 27.8% market share. Buying Asda would take it to about 26.7%.
One industry expert said a combination with Asda is the "sweetheart deal" as it would not only bring larger scale but fewer stores serving the same customers in the south of the country.
One issue is that businesses cannot seek pre-approval for a deal from the CMA so launching a formal takeover offer for either Morrisons or Asda would involve an element of risk - consuming management time, and costly fees for bankers and lawyers.
Shell's refinery profits forecast to soar amid global shortages
Jillian Ambrose
Energy correspondent
Shell's refineries are expected to make record profits on each barrel of fuel produced after shortages in the global market drove pump prices around the world to all-time highs.
In a trading update yesterday, the energy firm forecast profit margins of \$42 (£32) a barrel in the July to September period, far above the margins of \$24 a barrel in the second quarter.
The forecast margins are also significantly higher than the previous record for petroleum products of about \$28 a barrel, set in the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Shell's expected profit margin on each barrel of fuel in the third quarter of the year, up from \$24
The margins reflect the steep increase in the price of refined fuels relative to the cost of the crude oil. A partial recovery of Gulf oil exports has allowed crude market prices to ease back to about \$100 a barrel, while war damage to refineries in the Middle East and Russia has caused fuel prices to continue to climb.
That gap should make larger profits possible for refineries, particularly those in the US and Europe. The Middle East crisis has already helped Shell to a profit of almost \$10bn for the second quarter of 2026, more than double the figure for the same period last year and its second highest quarterly earnings on record.
The market value of Europe's biggest oil and gas company, now the second largest company on the FTSE
100 index, climbed to a record £36.23 a share at the end of last month.
That share price was reached despite oil prices retreating from their 2026 peak of above \$115 a barrel in spring. It was lifted by European gas prices, which doubled from the previous year over the summer, and record high diesel prices.
Global oil prices were slightly lower in the third quarter of the year. Brent crude averaged \$85.60 a barrel, compared with \$97.05 in the second quarter, but still well above the \$68.14 recorded in the third quarter last year.
The diesel price premium over the global oil benchmark jumped above \$100 a barrel for the first time, indicating record high profits from refining crude into fuels.
Shell operates some of Europe's largest refineries alongside the French company TotalEnergies, which has the continent's largest refining capacity. TotalEnergies' chief executive, Patrick Pouyanné, welcomed the opportunities created by the global energy crisis. He told an industry conference in London this week: "Integration means your refineries in Europe, which you thought were liabilities, are suddenly becoming goldmines."
Europe's benchmark gas price index more than doubled to €70.50 (£60) in August. Gas hit an average of more than €48 a megawatt-hour in the second quarter before leaping to almost €64 in the third.
Shell's gas production has been hard hit by the Middle East crisis, which led to severe damage to one of its key gas processing facilities in the Gulf, cutting its prewar gas production of 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by a third.
| Sun rises | 0712 | Sun sets | 1822 | Moon rises | 0425 | Moon sets | 1723 | New Moon | 10 Oct |
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Lighting up | Belfast | 1844 to 0742 | Birm'ham | 1828 to 0722 | Brighton | 1823 to 0714 | Bristol | 1833 to 0724 | Carlisle | 1830 to 0729 | Cork | 1856 to 0748 | Dublin | 1845 to 0741 | Glasgow | 1835 to 0736 | Harlech | 1837 to 0732 | Inverness | 1831 to 0737 | London | 1822 to 0714 | M'chester | 1829 to 0725 | Newcastle | 1825 to 0724 | Norwich | 1816 to 0710 | Penzance | 1846 to 0735 | ---
✨ 【副刊微专栏拾遗 · 民俗与博物志】
Weatherwatch
Northam Burrows in Devon has an impressive coastal defence: a bank of limestone cobblestones, 2 miles long and standing 2 metres above high tide. It looks artificial, but the bank is natural, made by wave action over centuries.
The Pebble Ridge is an example of a coastal boulder deposit. Longshore drift carries rocks from nearby eroding cliffs down the coast to Northam Burrows. During big storms, powerful waves carry a mixture of stones, gravel, pebbles and sand up the beach.
Afterwards, the backwash pulls this material back. But the backwash is not as powerful and drags the smaller pebbles and sand back down the beach, leaving the larger stones high and dry.
As a pebble beach forms, there is percolation, where retreating water drains through gaps between large pebbles rather than down the beach. This further reduces the backwash so more large stones are deposited and the bank stabilises into a permanent barrier.
The Pebble Ridge is essentially a fossil record of past storms, and provides effective protection from flooding and erosion. Shingle banks are common, but the only similar cobble barrier in the UK is Chesil Beach in Dorset. David Hambling
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Around the world
Football Pinto left in dark for 83 days over end of protection
Page 43 →
Football
Ronaldo lists
eight points Jesus
agreed to make
Page 41 →
Sport
▶ Max
Verstappen
roars to an
impressive win
at the Bahrain
Grand Prix
in Malaysia
IADE GAO/AFP/
GETTY IMAGES
Formula One
Verstappen victory should make rivals wary of Red Bull
Improvements to the car are paying off and suggest team could be back in contention at the top next season
Giles Richards
The importance for Max Verstappen of emerging triumphant from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was writ
large in the Dutchman's pleasure at finally being able to drive a competitive car. In a ride with which he was comfortable and able to take to a dominant victory for Red Bull, Verstappen was in his element. With it came a sense of what might have been had he not been long out of the championship fight, but also what might be to come next year.
The transformation was so marked because for so long this season the car has been a handful - the reason Verstappen's title hopes faded long ago. That the team have come back to deliver a win in such emphatic fashion was no little achievement.
In the opening period of the season, the RB22 was deficient in almost every department. It lacked pace, balance, even consistency, and for all his skill Verstappen seemed powerless. He described it as feeling like a passenger in the car at times.
The four-time world champion wrestled it to a couple of podiums but it was a sisyphean task. "At the start of the season, I really had weekends where I would turn the steering wheel and strange things would happen," he said. Which belies the fact that the last place a driver wants to be is in a car where he is unsure which way it is going to jump.
Red Bull, under Laurent Mekies, stuck at it and brought major upgrades. Yet the scale of what needed doing across so many facets of the car remained difficult to overcome. Only a month ago Verstappen could only qualify sixth at Monza, admittedly a power track where the relative paucity of their electrical energy deployment was a hindrance. Still, it suggested a win was as far away as ever.
Yet there were indications that each incremental development was bringing a greater understanding of the car and how to coax the best out of it. In Madrid, Verstappen qualified just over a tenth of a second off pole and had real pace in the race, which might have delivered more on a track where overtaking was possible. Next, in Baku, Red Bull brought their final upgrade. In qualifying Verstappen was unlucky with yellow flags to start from eighth but in the race the car was rapid. He flew through the field, chasing the winner, Mercedes' George Russell, to the flag right on his gearbox.
The car's speed on the straights was noted by rivals, as Verstappen closed on Russell. Red Bull's other driver, Isack Hadjar, who had spent three races out with a wrist injury, felt as if he had been given a new ride. "I definitely feel like I jumped in a car that's way better than when I left it in Budapest," he said.
What followed in Sepang was validation that Red Bull really
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'I had weekends where I would turn the steering wheel and strange things would happen'
had got it right. Verstappen took pole and won with a drive that exemplified the improvements. The RB22 was quicker in a straight line than the Mercedes and fast in the medium and high-speed corners, its achilles heel previously.
On a track punishing to the tyres, the car was well-balanced, less damaging to the rubber, allowing better energy deployment. Having addressed problems which conflated with one another, the car coalesced into a more coherent whole. Verstappen described the process as having “pushed weaknesses out of the car”. It has taken them 16 meetings but on this form Red Bull are finally up with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Their progress stands as testament to a team working collectively to tremendous effect. It is an achievement that must be acknowledged alongside building their own engine for the first time and delivering a win; a feat that is recognised across the paddock as perhaps beyond expectations and which was far from guaranteed to be successful.
There may have been an element of the win in Sepang being track-specific. The Mercedes upgrades deployed there did not deliver at all, and they must contend with Russell starting the Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid following an engine change. But the Red Bull is a different car now and how it performs in Singapore this weekend will be telling.
Verstappen will want more wins, but it is instructive how he and the team are viewing these final meetings. They want to end strongly and feed every possible piece of information into next year's car. Hadjar said: "We have to try all the things, make all the mistakes now and do all the learning to arrive in 2027 ready to roll." It is an ambition which will not be lost on their rivals, who know only too well how formidable Red Bull can be if they are quick out of the blocks.
Cycling
Pidcock 'mad' after police motorbike collides with teammates
Jeremy Whittle
Tom Pidcock has admitted he almost quit the Tre Valli Varesine in a rage after a police motorcyclist drove into the peloton and struck two of his Pinarello Q36.5 teammates.
Speaking after the race in northern Italy, in which he finished second, Pidcock said: "A police motorbike was going the wrong way down the course and crashed into two of our guys. I wanted to stop racing myself. I was mad. The guys all riding in front of me - for me - and two of them on the floor."
The British rider's teammate Thomas Gloag was forced to abandon the race while Marcel Camprubí, of Spain, was able to continue, but finished last. "Luckily Marcel was OK, he could continue," Pidcock said. "Tom was also OK, in the end, but he stopped the race, and he has some stitches in the knee."
Camprubí posted images of his smashed bike on social media, with the caption: "Sad that you have to risk your life to race, one month after a tragic accident."
The latest lapse in race security came just weeks after the Welsh rider Fin Tarling was killed by a rogue van driving against the direction of the peloton during the Volta a Portugal in August. The incident remains
'The guys riding in front of me - two of them on the floor' under police investigation. Pidcock dedicated his recent win in the World Cross Country Mountain Bike Championship to Tarling and his family.
There have been a series of near-misses with non-race vehicles this season, although on Tuesday the police rider was part of the race convoy. All those driving "in-race" have to follow strict rules on safety and on positioning on the road. "Things like this shouldn't happen," Pidcock said.
According to team sources, the police motorcyclist was riding ahead of the riders and entered a roundabout, then circled back into the path of the advancing peloton. Gloag, who was treated on site in an ambulance, was described as “pretty shocked”.
Recent near-misses at races include one at the Sauerlandrundfahrt in Germany, when vehicles twice entered closed roads and almost hit riders. During the Tour of Britain Women, the Australian rider Maeve Plouffe found herself racing amid traffic and was nearly hit by a car.
Plouffe said: "While the race convoy was still in sight, and I was less than two minutes down [behind the peloton] there were cars from the general public coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout."
In the aftermath of Tarling's death, cycling's governing body, the UCI, was heavily criticised for its response to safety concerns. Richard Plugge, manager of Jonas Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a bike team, said: "Neither UCI president David Lappartient, nor anyone else, stands up and says: 'Wait a minute, we really need to think about how we are going to prevent this from happening in the future.'"
Last month, Plugge's British rider Matthew Brennan, who won five stages in the Vuelta a España, criticised race organisers and said "nothing has changed" in the aftermath of Tarling's death. "I really think that is disgraceful," Brennan told the BBC.
"Instead of someone somewhere in these organisations saying: 'OK, this should never ever happen again', it feels the world has moved on, nothing has changed and there's events where cars have been on the course still."
▲ Tom Pidcock says he wanted to stop racing after his teammates' collision DARIO BELINGHERI/GETTY IMAGES
Banks O' Dee L Fraserburgh L; Buckie Thistle L Lossiemouth L; Formartine L Deveronvale L; Forres Mechanics L Brora Rangers L; Inverurie Loco Works L Invergordon L; Keith L Turriff L; Nairn L Strathspey L; Rothes L Huntly L; Wick Academy L Clachnacuddin L
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Cricket
THIRD WOMEN'S TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL
Harare Zimbabwe 142-6 (KT Ndhlovu 63). West Indies 143-2 (SR Taylor 64 no). West Indies beat Zimbabwe by eight wickets.
Doubles: Final: N Mektic & A Krajicek (Cro/US) bt A Olivetti & T Arribage (Fr/Fr) 7-6 (5) 5-7 10-6
Singles: Last 16: I Swiatek (Pol) bt I Jovic (US) 6-1 6-3; E Mertens (Bel) bt C Gauff (US) 6-3 6-3
Doubles: Last 16: S Errani & J Paolini (It/It) bt K Boulter & Y Starodubtseva (GB/Ukr) 7-5 6-1; A Sutjiadi & E Routliffe (Ino/NZ) bt D Krawczyk & A Danilina (US/Kaz) 6-4 6-4; Zhang S & K Siniakova (Chn/Cz) bt M Chwalinska & N Bartunkova (Pol/Cz) 6-2 6-1; Hsieh S-w & J Ostapenko (Tai/Lat) bt I Khromacheva & L Samsonova (Rus/Rus) 6-3 6-2; E Mertens & D Shnaider (Bel/Rus) bt O Nicholls & T Mihalikova (GB/Svk) 6-1 6-3
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Baseball
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MLB
Playoffs: National League Division Series
San Diego 4 Milwaukee 3 (Milwaukee lead best-of-five series 2-1); Los Angeles Dodgers 3 Atlanta 1 (Atlanta lead best-of-five series 2-1)
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Ice hockey
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NHL
Montreal 4 Carolina 6; Detroit 5 Ottawa 3; Toronto 5 Nashville 4 (OT); Buffalo 3 Minnesota 2 (OT); New Jersey 3 Utah 5; New York Rangers 5 New York Islanders 2; Chicago 4 St Louis 2; Seattle 2 Vegas 6; Los Angeles Kings 1 Florida 2
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Basketball
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NBA
Preseason Philadelphia 120 New York 97; Atlanta 123 Memphis 132; Detroit 109 Phoenix 107; Milwaukee 97 Minnesota 116; Sacramento 103 LA Lakers 127; Charlotte 90 Brooklyn 124; Oklahoma 110 New Orleans 116; Denver 97 Utah 109; LA Clippers 104 Golden State 101; Philadelphia 120 New York 97; Atlanta 123 Memphis 132; Detroit 109 Phoenix 107; Milwaukee 97 Minnesota 116
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Cycling
UCI PROSERIES TRE VALLI VARESINE (Varese, Italy)
Leading positions after race (196.1km): 1 J Widar (Bel)
Lotto-Intermarche 4hr 34min 26sec; 2 T Pidcock (GB)
Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team; 3 M Jorgenson (US)
Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the same time; 4 Q Simmons
(US) Lidl-Trek +3s; 5 M Hirschi (Swi) Tudor Pro Cycling
Team at the same time. Selected others: 20 B Healy (Ire)
EF Education-EasyPost +3; 101 L Nerurkar (GB) EF
Education-EasyPost +10:28
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Fixtures
Football
Women's internationals
India v Russia (1.30pm)
SSE Airtricity Men's Irish Premier
Shamrock v Drogheda (8pm)
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Greg Wood's racing tips
Bath 1.30 Pacific Storm 2.05 Chanter Le Blues
2.40 Pedros Dream 3.15 Pierian
3.50 Aethelstan Gold 4.21 Oman (nb)
4.55 Boy George 5.25 Courageous Sioux
Ayr 1.45 Motawaared 2.20 Caturra Rock
2.55 Launch Time 3.30 Topwarrior
4.05 Empirestateofmind 4.35 Myrrh 5.13 Aighear
Market Rasen 1.56 Sun Art 2.31 Nightflyer
3.06 Whitewinewednesday 3.41 Court In A Storm
4.16 Spit Spot 4.48 Ratemenow
Southwell 4.25 Princesse D'Orange
5.00 Sisterandbrother 5.30 Crown Of Crowns
6.00 Casablanca Dream 6.30 Whiskey Galore
7.00 Poets Praise 7.30 Asian Journey (nap)
8.00 Dorigo 8.30 Billyb
'It's not about me': Venter takes aim at 'autocratic' Prem
Saracens technical director and head of culture compares rugby to winemaking and bemoans media obligations
Gerard Meagher
Brendan Venter began his long-awaited public appearance with head bowed, uttering one-word answers and with a general
demeanour suggesting he would rather be anywhere else. By the end he had compared Prem Rugby to an “autocracy”, mentioned Ukraine and Gaza, and detailed an inspirational talk he recently gave at a school. Of course there was wine to talk, too.
Gallagher
INSURANCE
An audience with Saracens' technical director and head of culture is rarely boring and the latest was worth the wait.
To recap, it was announced in February that Venter would replace Mark McCall as director of rugby, returning to the position he left 15 years ago. He has been conspicuous by his absence at press engagements this season, however, and was fined by Prem Rugby.
His job title was changed to head of rugby culture and wine consultant, which felt like a two-fingered salute to the powers-that-be, and then changed again. The missed media appearances continued until he held court yesterday on a rainy afternoon at Saracens' training base in St Albans.
After some monosyllabic responses Venter finally opened up. "I have the desire as a human being not to want to talk, because it's not supposed to be about me, it's about a team, and I expressed that desire before I came. And I'm not the director of rugby of this club. This club does not have a director of rugby. This club has an unbelievably competent head coach in Joe [Shaw]. And I ask really kindly, and eventually I bend over backwards to explain my situation and I'm expected again to come and do an interview.
"Joe's input is way more valuable than my input. And if we get obsessed and we get into an argument and we fine a club, that for me does not make sense. It sounds like something we do in an autocratic land, in a country, not in a democracy where people have got the right to say: 'This is not what I want to do.'"
Venter has history here, and found himself in disciplinary hot water for speaking his mind when previously in charge. Hence biscuit-gate and a bizarre interview when he offered the immortal line: "three cheers for Sireli Bobo". That he has little time for post-match platitudes, means he has been determined to keep a low profile on his return to north London.
▲ 'I want to coach. I do not want to be doing interviews,' Venter said LUKE HASTINGS/WIRED/S'STOCK
PE
"It stole my joy the previous time," he added. "I wanted to have a low profile. That was my desire. I want to coach or help coach the rugby team. I do not want to be doing interviews. And it's not because of you or anybody else.
"It's not because I'm mean or I think I'm better than other people. I think the input people can get
is brilliant from the people that work with me. To be put over as an arrogant person that thinks he's better than interviews, it's not at all that. My motivation is completely different. It's how do I just get on with my job and help coaching this rugby team. That is my desire.
"I am going to be authentic. And then I am going to have to go to Dublin and sit in some hearing and get a €10,000 fine. So I just want to prevent that. At my age, we actually look at life and go - I call them joy givers and joy stealers. There are things that give me joy and I do more of them. There are things that steal my joy and I cut them out of my life. And that was one of the things that took my joy."
It all raises the question: why did Venter choose to come back? He had remained at the club in a consultancy role, while working as a GP in South Africa, but was persuaded to take the reins after McCall signalled it was time for him to step back.
"I love coaching rugby, I love coaching, I love working with people," he says. "I love working with the players. It is a privilege which we get as human beings to be in a position where we can influence things for the good and the bad. People in life really get that privilege. When I work as a doctor, I have that same privilege. I have people coming to ask me for an opinion and I can treat them in a good way.
“Rugby is an amazing game because it is so complex and you don’t get to beat rugby. Rugby is always a step ahead of you. There are always more clever people than you. Rugby is very much like winemaking. When you get arrogant or you get too confident, you will not make a great wine. It is exactly the same as rugby.”
"We are privileged enough to be doing that on a daily basis. You know what? Nobody has died. That is an unbelievable privilege. That privilege normally happens in way more high-stakes environments like Ukraine or the Gaza Strip where people are actually dying when there are challenges. Yes, we have challenges and our body perceives it the same. It is a challenge and our ability to deal with it is a privilege. This is why I came back."
Springboks and All Blacks demand outstrips England
Gerard Meagher
Demand for South Africa and New Zealand tickets for the Nations Championship finals weekend has been greater than those for England despite Twickenham hosting the inaugural competition's finale.
Six rankings matches will all take place at Twickenham next month - two on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday - in a culmination of the competition's first edition. The grand finale on Sunday pits the top nation in the northern hemisphere pool against their southern counterparts. Second plays second, third plays third and so on.
Tickets are available for each day, as are bundles for all three days, or two of the three. To guarantee a ticket for a particular nation's rankings match, "support your team" tickets can also be bought.
Those for South Africa, top of the southern hemisphere table at the halfway point, and New Zealand have sold out. But those for England were still available yesterday for £164.80.
In total, 60-65% of tickets have been sold for finals weekend following a spike in interest after the July fixtures, with organisers bullish their "festival of rugby" idea is resonating.
England play three pool matches - against Australia, Japan and New Zealand - before the finals weekend, which may explain why demand has been higher to see the Springboks and the All Blacks. England's last appearance at Twickenham was calamitous, however, a 42-21 defeat by Ireland.
▲ Twickenham hosts the Nations Championship finals next month
Twickenham has come to be a home from home for South Africa and there is a sizeable New Zealander expat population in London, with the Springboks' thumping 2023 World Cup warm-up win over the All Blacks witnessed by more than 80,000.
That was the last Friday night Test at Twickenham and the Rugby Football Union will be anxious to see how November's double header plays out. The union is awaiting Richmond council's decision over its planning application to host more concerts.
According to submissions by residents in opposition to the RFU's proposal, that Friday night match was blighted by numerous examples of antisocial behaviour. Richmond council was initially due to return its decision this week but the worry at the RFU is that it will not do so until after this November's Nations Championship fixtures.
Sport Football
How Kop's chants propelled Burnham to step up fight for Hillsborough justice
Exclusive book extract
A 2009 speech at Anfield was booed but led to a change in tack by Labour government and David Cameron apology.
Brian Reade tells the story
Since dawn, visitors from as far afield as Australia had been laying flowers, scarves and messages underneath Anfield's Eternal Flame. These
Hillsborough memorial anniversary services were usually subdued and respectful affairs, with 10,000 mourners sitting on the Kop to give themselves and the families support on the most difficult of days.
But on the afternoon of 15 April 2009, the 20th anniversary of the disaster, it felt different. There was an edge in the air. An hour before the service began the Kop was full and the numbers in the three other stands were starting to swell. By the time I had walked with the families from the meeting place in the Centenary Stand to our seats at the front of the Kop, 29,000 people inside Anfield stood to give them the loudest and most heartfelt of ovations. After two decades in which a new generation had been born and reached adulthood, the wounds of Hillsborough were still gaping, the anger still raw at the lack of admission of guilt from above.
The players of '89, their furrowed brows and downcast expressions hinting at their inability to shed the mental scars they endured back then, when they were forced to turn from athletes into bereavement counsellors, took their seats behind us to warm applause. They were joined by the current stars, including Steven Gerrard, who lost his 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley in the disaster, and Jamie Carragher.
After 20 years, you'd have thought all the crying had been done, but when 96 candles were lit in the Kop goalmouth and the names were read out by clergy, streams still flowed down the cheeks. You still felt a cold sweat and weak limbs at the two-minute silence broken only by babies' cries. Outside the ground where the city's buses, trains and ferries had come to a standstill, church bells signalled the end of the silence, a comforting sign to the families that the wider world had come to a halt to remember a day it should never forget.
Andy Burnham, scouse-born and Evertonian, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, had controversially been invited to speak by Margaret Aspinall, who'd lost her 18-year-old son James at Hillsborough and was by then chair of the Family Support Group. "We had never allowed an MP to speak at the service because we hadn't really had any meaningful support from any of them. But I wanted to give Andy a chance," she told me.
Burnham agonised over whether to accept, knowing that Gordon Brown's Labour government had nothing new to offer the families. But the man who, on the day of Hillsborough had been at Villa Park watching Everton play Norwich in the other FA Cup semi-final, knew he would never forgive himself if he bottled out of giving a speech. His main worry was whether he could get through it without breaking down. He was right to feel worried as he stood before an emotionally charged Kop that day because there was a strong sense of betrayal from a Labour government that had been in power for 12 of the 20 years since the disaster and had done nothing to facilitate calls to unearth the truth.
Burnham started well. When he told the Kop that Britain's worst sporting disaster was "man-made" and praised the actions of the fans that day, he received nods of approval and a ripple of applause. But when he said he brought a message from the prime minister that the victims would never be forgotten, for the first time ever at one of these memorial services
▼ Fans at the Anfield service to mark Hillsborough's 20th anniversary
PAUL ELLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
'We would never have got verdicts of unlawful killing without the support of the Kop' pockets of the Kop began to boo and jeer, there was a shout of “When do we get justice?” and a scream of “Hypocrite.” It shocked us all and stopped Burnham in his tracks. He looked startled and tongue-tied and stared nervously at the Kop, unsure what to say for the best. Which was when, from the back of the Kop, a chant of “Justice for the 96” broke out, which quickly spread across the rest of the stand and the entirety of Anfield. The message was simple: words are easy, actions hard. You are a senior member of a Labour government which has ruled out the possibility of a fresh inquiry into Hillsborough. Don’t
▲ Andy Burnham said: 'The people on the Kop were right to barrack me'
patronise us with easy soundbites. Because you not only insult the living, you insult the dead.
Wisely, Burnham nodded at the Kop with an “I get it” expression. Margaret Aspinall, who was sitting directly in front of him, told me: “I was on eggshells throughout Andy’s speech. When the Kop began chanting for justice our former chairman Trevor Hicks looked at me as if to say: ‘What have you done, Margaret? Let’s say something.’ But I thought: ‘No, let them carry on, don’t say anything. Let the Kop tell the government and the country how angry we all feel.’” Her instincts were right. The dramatic scene of a cabinet minister being barracked during a memorial service led every news bulletin and made every front page.
Burnham later told me: “When the first justice chants rolled off the Kop, I was not surprised, as I half-expected them. And, actually, I wanted the country to hear them. The people on the Kop that day were right to barrack me. I don’t hold anything against anyone who shouted at me. It helped me find the political courage to do something.” He urged Gordon Brown to heed the Kop’s calls and despite some cabinet opposition the prime minister backed him. By the end of 2009 a Hillsborough Independent Panel had been set up, appointing experts to scrutinise hundreds of thousands of unseen documents relating to the disaster. Its final report in 2012 highlighted a litany of calamitous mistakes by police and emergency services, showed how dozens of lives could have been saved and revealed a massive cover-up. Tory prime minister David Cameron had to give a grovelling apology to the families and to Liverpool fans from the floor of the Commons, the original inquest verdicts of “accidental death” were quashed, and new inquests put in place. In 2016 they would return 96 verdicts of “unlawful killing” and exonerate the fans of all blame.
"We would never have got the verdicts of ‘unlawful killing’ without the support of the Kop," said Margaret Aspinall. "The fans played a vital part over the years in supporting us and getting accountability. But the turning point definitely came when those chants of ‘justice’ came at Andy Burnham. The Kop changed everything."
Five years later Burnham was invited to address the 25th anniversary service. This time it wasn't snarls, boos and chants of "hypocrite" he faced on the Kop but a banner that read "Thank You, Andy Burnham". He told them: "Five years ago things changed, not because of me but because of all of you. You made your voices heard and thank God you did. Your voices carried off this Kop into every living room in the land and into the heart of the establishment. I knew you were right and they were wrong. With that chant of 'justice' the dam burst. You were asking the most profound question about our country and how it is run. How can it be that an entire city shouted injustice for 20 years and no one was listening? There is still an uncertain road ahead but the country is with you now. The families will prevail because of all of you. You have made this city stronger and you will make our country fairer. You have given hope to people the world over. What was your call five years ago is my call today; justice for the 96."
▶ Myles Lewis-Skelly (front and centre) and Lewis Hall (right) both impressed during this latest run of games for England
MICHAEL REGAN/ THE FA/
GETTY IMAGES
Clear winners and losers after England's reset
Tuchel train gets rolling again with Scott, Hall and Lewis-Skelly all on board, but others risk being left behind
David Hytner
Thomas Tuchel's original idea had been for continuity. The England manager wanted to build on the positives from the World Cup
and was minded to stand by the vast majority of the players who had been a part of the journey to the semi-finals in North America over the summer. What was it about the best-laid plans?
Fast forward to the Czechia game at Wembley on Tuesday night and Tuchel could count only 12 players who were available to him during the World Cup. He knows the train moves quickly in football, stopping for nobody. That flexibility is a prerequisite in his line of work. This felt like something else.
Tuchel and his staff were resolved to road-test an updated game model. They wanted to give the players greater freedom in terms of where they could roam on the pitch; encourage them to trust their instincts and take risks, all within a framework where covering for a teammate was fundamental. Tuchel would need some new players to execute it and, as he reflects on a positive window, in which defeat by Spain was followed by three wins, two against Czechia either side of the 7-0 dismantling of Croatia in Rijeka, he will feel he has found them.
The biggest winners from the camp were Alex Scott and Lewis Hall, with Myles Lewis-Skelly getting an honourable mention. James Trafford pushed his claim to supplant Jordan Pickford as the first-choice goalkeeper, and then there was Trent Alexander-Arnold, ever tantalising, ever nuanced.
As for the losers, well, take your pick from those who were not present, with Tuchel making it clear that it would be harder for them.
Tuchel described Scott and Hall as “really excellent”. In the case of the former, Tuchel cannot contain his excitement. He does not want to. Scott did well when he came on as a 70th-minute substitute for his debut against Czechia in Prague and was very good from the start against Croatia.
It was noticeable that when Tuchel's assistant, Anthony Barry, spoke on Monday about fluid, hard-running midfielders to fit the team's style, he name-checked three: Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, who are well-established, and Scott. It is such a frustration that he aggravated a thigh problem against Croatia and is out for two months, which will rule him out of the matches in November against
Croatia and Spain. Tuchel worked with Scott in November 2025 and at the pre-World Cup camp in Florida. "Alex came in here now and was on a completely new level," Tuchel said. "He was super-strong."
It was a positive window for Lewis-Skelly, who Tuchel counted on as a midfielder rather than a left-back for the first time. The 20-year-old started three of the games and came on as a 79th-minute substitute against Croatia. The worry was how he picked up bookings in both matches against Czechia; he is now suspended for the home game against Croatia.
Kobbie Mainoo is a potential loser from the emergence of Scott and Lewis-Skelly. Tuchel was at pains to sympathise with the Manchester United midfielder over the injury that forced his withdrawal, particularly after he did not play him for a single minute at the World Cup. But with Rice certain to return after an agreed rest, and James Garner in the frame, Mainoo has work to do. Ditto Jordan Henderson, not up to speed fitness-wise after his broken arm.
Hall has taken his chance at left-back, stepping up after Nico
O'Reilly played against Spain and was then forced to withdraw. Hall started in each of the subsequent games - "three top matches from him", Tuchel said - and if he is plainly in possession of the shirt, he deserves to keep it in November. Which is bad news for O'Reilly and Djed Spence, who has not yet played this season.
Did Alexander-Arnold do enough at right-back after his surprise recall? He could not have done much more with his starting opportunities in both Czechia games. Everybody knows what he can do; he showed it again and the argument remains that he must be included for his points of difference.
But what does Tuchel do when Reece James, Tino Livramento and Spence are available? The manager has previously made it plain he considers all three to be ahead of Alexander-Arnold. He said he might have called up Ben White if he were fit and also has Jarell Quansah, even if the Bayer Leverkusen player would rather be considered in central defence. That was where Tuchel started him against Czechia at Wembley.
Cole Palmer has found himself under an unforgiving spotlight after his withdrawal. It looks a long way back for the Chelsea No 10 and the same is true of Phil Foden. Both were overlooked when Tuchel gave a late call-up to Morgan Gibbs-White, and neither looks an easy fit for this team's aggressive style. "I don't know [if they are]," Tuchel said. "That is the honest answer. They were not here. This team took another step and it's always about the guys who are here."
Tuchel has plenty to ponder before the November matches. He will hope to see John Stones recover his fitness and form at Inter. There is a belief that the centre-back's move to Serie A, where the tempo is slower, can help him find his rhythm. Marcus Rashford will be expected to return; he has credit in the bank with Tuchel, even if Anthony Gordon has nailed down the starting spot on the left wing.
Can Noni Madueke stage a comeback? And what of the strikers in the Saudi Pro League, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney, also dropped? Tuchel now sees Jude Bellingham as the back-up No 9 to Harry Kane. He gave Dominic Calvert-Lewin only brief substitute appearances. The train hurtles on.
Tuchel believes players have 'bought in' to reach next level
David Hytner
Thomas Tuchel believes England have unlocked a new level after moving forward with his tactical tweaks in the opening Nations League fixtures. The head coach wanted the players to retain their aggression, especially in the high press, to step on to the front foot and to harness the chaos often seen in the Premier League. But he has also tried to get them to play with greater freedom, to follow their instincts more - while being alive to the need to cover for teammates.
The results have been positive. After losing to Spain at Wembley, England recorded three wins: two against Czechia either side of the 7-0 victory against Croatia in Rijeka. They have in essence guaranteed their progress into the quarter-finals, while putting a bit of distance between themselves and the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina in July.
"I have never done a big tournament or a big camp after a tournament," Tuchel said. "It was new for me and brilliant to see how everyone bought in to the idea of the next steps and the details needed to adjust to maybe unlock the next level.
"It was football on a very high level, football that suits us, attacking football. It was a lot of high-ball wins and we took some calculated risks in the approach in the opponents' half. We did it in all four games and we had four good performances if unfortunately not four wins. We didn't beat Spain but it was always about the reaction and that was on a high level."
Tuchel's assistant, Anthony Barry, talked on Monday about adding more flexibility and fluidity to the game model. Tuchel was asked to elaborate: "We had the feeling that it was the next step because we saw them in training and we said sometimes we were missing the transfer [from the training pitch] into the game.
"So we made some slight adjustments to how we trained - not big ones because we always believed we had something to build on - but slight adjustments in the structure of how we build up and also how we defend. I am happy that what we did worked. We finally had two weeks with the team which helped a lot because we can do reviews of matches and training and we have a chance for a common language to sink in, for the patterns to sink in."
▲ Thomas Tuchel says players took 'calculated risks' in their approach
The defender Jarell Quansah said the style had evolved since the World Cup. "I think it's going all out. We can really dominate teams with the lads playing in the Premier League at such a high level and high intensity.
"It's being relentless and ruthless. As soon as we score a goal, it's not easing off, trying to get the next goal, trying to put the next player under pressure."
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Messi's Argentina career was an act of sacred mystery
He may not be a man of many words, writes Marcela Mora y Araujo, but the retiring great achieved what his father Jorge wanted by making country fall in love
What Argentina is doing in this World Cup is of a sacred order," the
Brazilian writer Milly Lacombe posted at the height of the tide of anti-Argentinian sentiment during this year's tournament. She was exploring the contradiction she felt around her support of Lionel Messi: "a player who is a God and a man who shakes Trump's hand".
Lacombe highlighted the importance of acknowledging the complexities around Messi and the Argentina team. How is it possible that Messi was not speaking out against the racist incidents we all saw around the squad, she asked.
"That's why it hurts so much to see someone with Messi's power choosing to make himself small," she wrote.
Much was made of Messi's silence at the time. Then again, much has been made of his visible discomfort with words throughout his epic career. The journalist John Carlin once said that having interviewed Messi twice, he would decline a third opportunity, such was the challenge of getting the little giant to say anything of consequence. In 2010, Juan Sebastián Verón said he had never seen Messi as nervous as when he had to address his teammates for the first time as Argentina captain. Perhaps Messi's most famous public outburst was at the 2022 World Cup when he told a Dutch player to "go away".
Despite this reticence, Messi has always meant something, even when he doesn't speak. Messi and Argentina were treated as darlings when they won the World Cup in 2022. By the time the 2026 final ended in defeat to Spain, they had become villains.
"That's why it's important to understand that when Messi, in
the middle of a game that was lost, looks at the sky, and then after that he turns the game around and smashed it, there is something very mysterious there. Right? That we can't explain. That we just feel," Lacombe said after Argentina's semi-final victory over England. "I started supporting England but by the end I was weeping, surrendered to the commitment, the passion, the love I saw the Argentina team pour on to the pitch. It's only in that moment of intense passion that we reach the sacred."
Not everyone surrendered to the sacred in the same way. The final against Spain lacked sublime power and opened the floodgates of vitriol from all corners of the globe. Argentinian fans were offended, hurt, defensive and aware they might have just seen Messi's last appearance in an Argentina shirt. When he confirmed he would end his international career - his final appearance came against Benin on Tuesday - a wave of grief and gratitude swept the nation.
Messi grew up in Barcelona's youth system and was eligible to play for both Spain and Argentina. His debut for Argentina - in a youth match against Paraguay - set up a rush to ensure he pledged his allegiance to the country of his birth. He was already one of the Barcelona's academy most promising stars, but he was little known in Argentina. His father, Jorge, wanted nothing more than for his son to represent Argentina, and sent videos to the then manager, Marcelo Bielsa, hoping to expedite the process. For years, Jorge endured an uphill struggle to consolidate the ties between Lionel and Argentina. Messi's prowess, seemingly unstoppable in a well-oiled Barcelona system, did not come through at national level. Jorge would ask his compatriots the same question. How can we get Argentina to love my son?
Now, as we start to write Messi's football obituary, some of the most grievous incidents against him are resurfacing. There was the time when a panel of pundits stood in a minute's silence in protest against Messi's performances for his country. He was criticised for not singing the national anthem. We learned that before Argentina matches he suffered bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea. Diego Maradona mocked him, saying he was no leader (although he would later make Messi Argentina's captain). And when the campaign to win over the nation stepped up and he gave interviews, his discourse was shockingly basic.
But Messi never gave up. He missed penalties, wept, and stood to take them again. The Argentinian journalist Alejandro Wall says: "What characterised Messi in the national team is that he lost. He lost a lot. He's constituted in defeat."
But the vitriol more often came from the press than the people. When he quit the national team in 2016, a spontaneous show of love swept the nation, and he reversed his decision. From then on, the Argentinian Football Association's main priority mirrored that of Jorge Messi: finding a coach who could adapt the entire system to Lionel.
---
Leo's Argentina career in numbers
208
International appearances since Messi's debut aged 18 in 2005
126
Goals for La Albiceleste ... 33 of which featured in his 11 hat-tricks
67
Argentina assists ... he averaged a goal or assist every 88 minutes
3
Major trophy wins ... the 2022 World Cup in between the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles
▶ A giant replica shirt bearing Messi's No 10 is unveiled before kick-off at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires RODRIGO ABD/AP
◀Messi steps up to take his penalty against Benin in front of a heaving crowd of supporters FEDERICO PERETTI/ NURPHOTO/ SHUTTERSTOCK
Perhaps it was only after Maradona's death in 2020 that the new Messi started to emerge. He walked taller, more confident and comfortable as leader. In 2021, Argentina won the Copa América and snippets of Messi's pep talks filtered out. He made simple statements in his unmistakable Rosario accent, aspirating the "s" and not pronouncing most final consonants. The achievements since then speak for themselves.
Tuesday's farewell at the Estadio Monumental - much like that first youth game against Paraguay - had a rushed, improvised air. The FA struggled to secure opponents, not wanting to share box office with another footballing power. Benin were mocked by some as unworthy, and even Lionel Scaloni, the head coach, made reference to a desire to face bigger opponents than Bolivia and Burkina Faso, the other teams Argentina played this window. Burkina Faso ended up sending an under-23 side who arrived a few hours before the match, and the
stadium was not filled to capacity. Ticket prices were extortionate, and diehard fans refused to fall for what they called “a scam”.
But against Benin they turned up. Earlier, Messi had picked up an honorary doctorate, in a small and shabby ceremony in a back office of the FA. Delicately produced homages to No 10 were aired. Social media posts full of hyperbolic emotion appeared. "Like Scheherazade, he mocked destiny match by match, to gift the Argentina people another day of his magic. The thousand and one nights of Lionel Messi with the light blue and white come to their end," read one post. "Whoah, hold it! It's 9am. I can't start weeping yet" came a swift reply.
To paraphrase Wayne Rooney, the entertainment around the match was crap. There was a drawn out homage by Soledad Pastorutti, who sang the same number she had once performed with Maradona. A veteran of the Falklands/Malvinas war sang the national anthem, and then clad himself in the same flag that fell on the pitch in Atlanta. The terraces chanted against the AFA president, Chiqui Tapia, in a beautiful chorus, which went some way to atoning for the drone show at the end, with insurance adverts glittering in the sky.
But football is about redemption, and the night was redeemed. Benin actually put up a fight, bookended by the team's captain presenting Messi with a statue of a Dahomey Agojie, the group of women who fought against French occupation. Messi set up two of his team's three goals and scored a penalty.
The cameras zoomed in on weeping faces but the sounds from the terraces were decisively celebratory, relentless, trembling. It was football through and through. And Messi loved it. He picked up the microphone and launched into a speech so articulate and confident that it merits a dissertation. He addressed conspiracy theories surrounding the World Cup final: "Nothing odd happened. The match against England wore us out at an emotional level." He warned of hard times to come but said team unity is the way through.
"We had the dream of fulfilling our dream," he said, adding: "I don't know, I'm talking more than ever. I don't want to leave here. I love you." And Argentina loves him back.
As Lacombe said, when Messi looks at the sky, then turns a situation around and smashes it, there is mystery. There is something sacred.
'Someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona'
The extraordinary eight points Ronaldo claims Portugal coach Jesus agreed to make
Cristiano Ronaldo said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday that the Portugal head coach, Jorge Jesus, had agreed to make eight points relating to him in a press conference before the team's game in Denmark last week.
Ronaldo said he had approved a document listing the points after a video meeting involving him, Jesus, his adviser Tiago Craveiro and his club Al-Nassr's sporting director, Simão Coutinho.
The meeting, according to Ronaldo, was at “the coach’s request” and he said the document was then “delivered to the coach, as he had requested”.
Ronaldo said Jesus's failure to make the points in the press conference constituted "the second time he had broken his word to me" and that he then "decided to leave the camp without waiting for any further breach of word".
Ronaldo's statement included reference to his failure to salute Portugal's fans after the game in Norway during which he warmed up extensively but was not brought on. He said: "The notes I validated were the following: 'I think it is important, also because it is the truth, to clarify a few things before talking about Denmark: 1 I myself, and no one else, proposed to Cristiano a plan for him this sporting season with the national team. It was a long and very good conversation.
2 I know how much he lives and loves the national team and the weight he has in the world, and even more the weight and the positive influence he has had on the national team for 24 consecutive years.
3 The plan I proposed to Cristiano was accepted.
4 He never questioned my options. He was exemplary, loyal and professional.
5 The match in Norway was not part of the plan I drew up for him. However, I felt that he had managed to recover physically from the first match and I warned him that I might have to use him. Cristiano agreed.
Cristiano Ronaldo departed Jesus's squad last week
6 I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it.
7 To close the subject: I want Cristiano in the national team. In fact I do not want him a little, I want him a lot. Fortunately he also believes in me. He believed at Al-Nassr and he does here as well.
8 About not greeting the fans. We have already spoken about that. Someone who has played more than 230 matches for the national team does not receive lessons from me on love for Portugal. It was a moment of frustration that erases nothing. He is the player who gives the most autographs, takes the most selfies, and shows the most affection to the fans. Let us not invent problems where they do not exist. When we are not happy we react."
Ronaldo's statement then said: "That was all. None of these notes, therefore, said that the coach should even apologise to me."
Reflecting on Jesus's conduct in the press conference Ronaldo said: "I heard expressions and an aggressiveness that I do not believe I deserved, an attitude of 'I want, I can and I command' that he never showed me, not even remotely, in private the day before." Guardian sport
Analysis
Ewan Murray
Pocognoli's system raises questions after Scotland start
cotland are staring at a third-place finish in Group B1 of the Nations League after failing to impress in Sébastien Pocognoli's first four
games as manager. They were dismal for a half in Slovenia before a decent but scoreless recovery. They capitulated after an early sending-off against Switzerland, failing to register a shot on target in a meek 3-0 loss. North Macedonia were as poor an international team as Scotland have faced in recent times, rendering the 2-0 win in Skopje worthy of little more than a shoulder shrug. Pocognoli's men rounded off this window by being played off the Hampden Park pitch by Slovenia. Andy Robertson, the captain, strikingly questioned the attitude of his teammates.
Are Scotland suited to the way Pocognoli wants to play? It does not look that way. The manager deploys a three-man backline as routine, with an emphasis on pressing high and wingbacks being crucial to attacking phases. Scotland do not have an obvious two-man central defensive pairing, meaning they most definitely struggle when the number is increased by one. Time and again, they leave far too much space in behind and look woefully exposed. Counterattacks bypass Scotland's midfield all too easily.
Success under Steve Clarke came from being well-drilled, compact and difficult to beat. Unsexy perhaps, but effective. Playing with gay abandon is all well and good when having a level of security Scotland simply do not possess currently. Pocognoli's desired methods may be impossible to implement without day-to-day involvement with players. Ideology is fine when club football permits an overhaul of personnel.
When Scotland switched to a defensive four in the closing stages of the Slovenia clash, players appeared confused. This was a bad look for Pocognoli, who has insisted he is “flexible” in a tactical sense and disputed the idea he had a touchline row with Robertson. Scott McTominay’s return for the next set of fixtures would provide an iota of hope, were it obvious where the Napoli man fits in. The setup as is will not maximise the abilities of McTominay, John McGinn, Ryan Christie and Billy Gilmour.
▲ Scotland are struggling under new coach Sébastien Pocognoli
Ben Gannon-Doak - who has a searing pace and a directness that scares defenders, offset by woeful decision making - cannot operate as a right wingback against credible opposition. Deploying him there also denies a start to Aaron Hickey, who is undeniably one of Scotland's best players. Gannon-Doak is a winger (as are Josh McPake and Findlay Curtis). Pocognoli's first-choice method does not involve wingers. Something has to give.
Didn't fans want a revolution? A reality is Scotland have qualified for three of the last four major tournaments. Noise directed towards Clarke underappreciated the scale of his work. That said, after seven years, Clarke's tenure had run its course.
The obvious move at that point was to turn towards a coach who had succeeded in tournament football with a similarly sized nation. With the level of available talent dropping or ageing, there was also a requirement for pragmatism and realism. Instead, Scottish FA officials spoke of a data-led search for Clarke's successor, which led them to a coach who had never managed in international football before. Trying to be too smart by half? This team was not fundamentally broken, it just needed to progress.
What is the wider scenario that Pocognoli is part of? The Scottish FA suddenly has a chief football officer in Craig Mulholland, and a head of strategy, operations and performance in Graeme Mathie. The latter was plucked from the Scottish second tier. The move to insert this level of middle management carrying wishy-washy job descriptions is strange, not least when neither can provide working examples of markedly improving the big picture with an equivalent nation.
Scottish football has a reluctance to let others mark its homework. Scotland have to work far harder at finding resource for the men's A team. Six starters against Slovenia were 30 or older. Clarke could be obstinate but there was no raft of exciting footballers he chose to ignore.
There is no question of the Scottish FA becoming anxious towards Pocognoli. If this goes wrong, however, there will be significant questions to be answered about a chosen direction of travel.
▶ 'I would lie if I said this summer's been easy,' Tonda Eckert said of the fallout from 'Spygate', that erupted during last season's Championship playoffs
MATT WATSON/
SOUTHAMPTON FC/
GETTY IMAGES
Eckert got off lightly but no sane manager will attempt spying again
Verdict has been a long time coming and the head coach has seemingly recaptured hearts and minds at St Mary's
Louise Taylor
H i Tonda, are you a cheat?" That simple, succinct, question cut to the heart of a matter that has
vexed the Football Association all summer. It was posed by the Northern Echo's Dominic Shaw after Southampton overcame Middlesbrough in the second leg of May's Championship playoff semi-final and proved the cue for Tonda Eckert to walk out of his press conference at St Mary's.
Although Southampton's manager subsequently admitted to authorising spying on opponents, England's football authorities struggled to decide what punishment best fitted an act some regard as heinous but which others fail to take seriously. Now we finally have an FA verdict, with Eckert given a six-week ban suspended until the end of the 2027-28 season, a £28,000 fine and a reprimand.
Despite the apparent leniency of the sanction, one thing is clear: Eckert's summer in purgatory surely dictates no sane England-based coach would contemplate engaging in espionage now.
Eckert may wish he could turn back time to early May and rewrite history. On the eve of the playoff semi-final first leg on Teesside, William Salt, then an intern Southampton first-team analyst, was caught lurking awkwardly beside a tree while filming a Middlesbrough training session on his iPhone. Spygate was born and an independent disciplinary commission convened by the Football League (EFL) expelled Southampton from the playoff final against Hull after their win against Boro across two legs. The governing body also decreed the Saints would begin the current Championship season on minus four points.
By then Southampton had also admitted to spying on Oxford and Ipswich training. There is a certain irony that Eckert's team won none of the three games
William Salt was caught lurking by a tree ... clandestine manoeuvres were not his strong suit - albeit Middlesbrough were ultimately beaten on aggregate - involving covert surveillance. Yet the EFL independent disciplinary commission panel made plain its discomfort regarding the "particularly deplorable" pressure placed on a young worker hired on a temporary contract. Salt has since been given a staff job as an analyst in Southampton's academy and is reportedly progressing well.
With the EFL empowered to sanction clubs but not individuals in such cases, it was down to the FA to punish Eckert. The 33-year-old German issued a public apology in June but was not charged with misconduct by the FA until late July. A further hiatus ensued before a hearing at Wembley on 24 September.
This extraordinary delay afforded Eckert ample time to regret dispatching Salt to Middlesbrough's training ground adjacent to the luxury Rockliffe Hall Hotel and golf course just south of Darlington. Salt's primary mission was to discover whether Hayden Hackney, Middlesbrough's star midfielder and the Championship player of the season, was fit after injury. Unfortunately, clandestine manoeuvres were evidently not his strong suit. Salt soon found himself being chased into hotel toilets, and realised that using his bank card to buy a coffee at Rockliffe had
not been the smartest move. That payment facilitated a search for his name on Southampton's website. It was swiftly identified, enabling Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough's owner, to make a formal complaint to the EFL regarding a breach of its anti-spying regulations.
It is understood that, until this point, Southampton's manager remained unaware of the Bev Priestman precedent. The former head coach of Canada Women was banned from all football activity for a year by Fifa after being found guilty of initiating spying. During the 2024 Paris Olympics her staff secretly filmed a New Zealand training session using a drone and the former England women's assistant manager paid a high price.
It is unclear whether Eckert has since been in touch with the 40-year-old, now in charge of Wellington Phoenix. Priestman met such extreme hostility in previously welcoming Canada that she relocated her family to New Zealand. During ‘Spygate’, Eckert’s wife was heavily pregnant and based in Berlin, preparing for the birth of their first child. Back in Hampshire, her husband received death threats via LinkedIn. Southampton supplied the manager with protection while police advised him that driving his own car was unsafe and that he should restrict his movements.
Plenty of people were extremely angry, with St Mary's regulars polarised between those who believed the manager had shamed their club and should be sacked, and others who reflected that what is euphemistically called "training observation" of opponents is commonplace and largely unpunished across tracts of Europe. The second camp remembered that, seven years ago, Leeds were fined £200,000 after the club's then manager, Marcelo Bielsa, sent an analyst to monitor a Derby training session. Frank Lampard, then in charge of Derby, complained after spotting him perched up a tree.
After that incident the EFL tightened its regulations regarding espionage appreciably. Nonetheless, Eckert's advocates claim that, given he started last season as Southampton's under-21s coach and became the
▲ William Salt pictured on his mission to Middlesbrough; Saints fans in camouflage at the playoffs
Spygate ban reduced for guilty plea
manager after Will Still's sacking in November, he had missed the EFL's summer rules refresher course.
Eckert, who began his career as a Germany national team analyst before moving into coaching at Cologne, RB Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, Barnsley and Genoa, was only half-joking when he recently told reporters that the EFL handbook was his staple bedside summer reading. He also made contact with Gareth Southgate and visited the former England and Middlesbrough, manager, with the pair discussing English football culture and its zero tolerance for spycraft at length.
"I would lie if I said this summer's been easy," said Eckert last month. "I've asked the FA for forgiveness." He has had unwavering support from Southampton's board who made it clear they had no desire to sack him in the face of dressing room hostility from players.
With first-team hearts and minds since seemingly recaptured by the coach who led them so close to promotion last season, Southampton have won four and drawn two Championship games. Next up on Sunday is the visit of Portsmouth. South-coast derbies are invariably tense but Eckert's reprieve may ensure he cuts an unusually relaxed figure in the technical area.
→ Continued from back page
adding: "Although there are three rule breaches, we do not consider there was a systematic or organised course of conduct." With Eckert having admitted three breaches of FA Rule E3.1, most of the hearing, which took place last month, was devoted to determining the sanction.
In their submission the FA's lawyers initially argued for a ban from football of "at least nine months", citing the 12-month ban given to Canada Women's coach, Bev Priestman, for using drones to spy on New Zealand during the 2024 Olympics, which they reduced to a suggestion of three months allowing for mitigation.
The commission accepted Eckert's evidence regarding the incidents, namely that he suggested observing Oxford's training session before a Championship game last December, accepted video footage from an Ipswich session later in the season without commissioning the spying and requested that someone watch Middlesbrough train before the play-off semi-final to determine whether Hayden Hackney was fit to play.
Eckert's claim that he did not know such acts were a breach of EFL regulations was also accepted by the commission, which concluded that a 16-week ban from football was proportionate before mitigation.
The commission noted what they described as Eckert's "genuine contrition", however, including consulting a psychologist to determine how his behaviour could affect other members of staff, and the fact that a lengthy ban would almost certainly cause him to lose his job, which led to the ban being reduced to nine weeks.
A further three-week reduction was applied in recognition of Eckert's guilty plea, before the commission opted to make the six-week ban suspended because of the wider impact such a punishment would have on Southampton as a club and their fans.
The Southampton chair, Dragan Solak, gave his backing to Eckert and praised the FA's handling of the process, but was extremely critical of the EFL. "We have already suffered enough, and we appreciate the panel's recognition of that," Solak said. "We are confident the manager has learned from this matter.
"The FA process has been a positive experience. Tonda has been given the opportunity to be open and honest with the panel, and the panel has been able to see that he is simply a good person who made poor decisions. The same cannot be said for the EFL process, and the way they have subsequently treated us is not something we will forget."
'They saw a good person who made poor decisions'
Dragan Solak
Southampton chair ▼ Mikel Arteta with CEO, Richard Garlick (left), and director Andrea Berta
ARSENAL FC/GETTY IMAGES
'This is only the beginning': Arteta signs £80m-plus deal
Ed Aarons
Mikel Arteta has promised “this is only the beginning” of what he can achieve as Arsenal manager after signing a new long-term contract that would take his reign at the club beyond a decade if he sees it out.
The Spaniard is understood to have signed a four-year deal worth more than £20m a season, making him the best-paid Premier League manager. That is a hefty pay rise in recognition of his success last season as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to be crowned champions.
"It's a privilege to commit my future to the club and to continue to work with exceptional people who want the best for Arsenal," Arteta said. "This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel, and I have a great sense of privilege that our journey together will continue. We have already built a special bond and created memories that will last a lifetime, and what is so exciting is that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together.
"This is such a proud moment for me and my family. I feel the love and respect from our fantastic supporters, and they have mine - and ours - in return."
Arteta's previous contract, which was due to expire at the end of this season, was believed to be worth about £10m a season plus a £5m bonus for reaching the Champions League. The new deal, to June 2030, cements his status as one of the best-paid managers in the world. His coaching staff have also signed extended deals.
"It has been an incredible journey so far and we are excited for what lies ahead in this special relationship," said Arsenal's co-chairs, Stan and Josh Kroenke. "Last season was an incredible moment in Arsenal's history, a moment in which we created memories that will last a lifetime. We're determined to create many more in the years ahead."
Arsenal confirmed this week that they have shelved plans for a major expansion of the Emirates Stadium after Arteta is believed to have expressed concern over the disruption that would have been caused by a move. His side face Leeds on Saturday as they attempt to bounce back from a surprise 3-0 defeat at Brighton before the international break that ended the champions' 100% start.
'This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel'
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager
City witness kept in dark over end to protection
Ed Aarons
Miguel Dantas
Portuguese authorities kept Rui Pinto in the dark for almost three months about their decision to end his status as a protected witness and notified the Manchester City whistleblower 10 days before it was due to expire, it can be revealed.
According to documents seen by the Guardian, the special security programmes commission (CPES), which oversees Portugal's witness protection programme, met on 8 and 9 July to discuss Pinto's case. It concluded that the threat level against him was low and that the special protection measures were no longer warranted.
Yet it was not until 30 September that Pinto, who has been a protected witness since 2020 after agreeing to grant Portuguese authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest, was informed of the decision - 83 days after it had been made.
With 10 days' notice, Pinto was left with little time to address a number of immediate issues. He needs to find somewhere safe to live and establish a way of supporting himself in a new location, while avoiding contact with family members.
The Guardian contacted the CPES on two occasions seeking details of the criteria and evidence used to determine that Pinto's protection should be withdrawn. On Wednesday, the commission was also asked to explain the 83-day gap between its decision and the notification. None of the inquiries received a response.
On 30 September, the day Pinto was informed his protected-witness status was coming to an end, the Premier League's guilty verdict against City, which had been confirmed 24 hours earlier, was dominating headlines around the world. The authorities stood by the decision reached nearly three months earlier despite protestations from Pinto and his lawyers that he fears for his life.
Pinto entered Portugal's protection programme after cooperating with the country's justice authorities. His revelations have subsequently been used by judicial, tax and sporting authorities across Europe, including the Premier League's investigation into City's alleged financial irregularities.
Pinto's lawyers argue that the authorities should take into account his cooperation with the justice system and the continuing risks associated with his disclosures before ending his protection.
Mounting pressure appears to have prompted a rethink. Last Saturday Portugal's justice minister, Rita Alarcão Júdice, was questioned about the decision. She said the authorities would review Pinto's case and promised to respond by Saturday, the date on which his protection is due to end.
"I have received various requests and we are examining them very carefully," Júdice said. "If there has been any irregularity, or if any procedure was not handled as it should have been, that will, of course, be taken into consideration."
The Guardian understands that, as it first reported, Pinto remains willing to cooperate with British authorities in the City case and in other investigations stemming from his findings. He handed over millions of documents to investigators in France, which can now be shared with other nations - including the UK - under international cooperation and bilateral ties.
Pinto's lawyer, Francisco Teixeira da Mota, said an appeal against the decision would be filed this week. "The most shocking thing is the fact that he wasn't heard before the decision was made," he said. "It's something that goes against the European court of human rights."
In a press release last week, Pinto's defence team called the decision "an act of state terrorism". Their outrage has intensified after they learned their client had been kept in the dark for almost three months. "It says a lot," Da Mota said.
Emotional night in Buenos Aires brings down curtain on an extraordinary international career
Marcela Mora y Araujo
Page 40 →
GUSTAVO GARELLO/AP
Southampton's Spygale escape Eckert given suspended ban and a fine but FA may appeal
Matt Hughes
The Southampton head coach, Tonda Eckert, has escaped a ban from the Football Association for his part in the Spygate scandal that led to the club being expelled from last season's Championship playoff final and denied the chance to win promotion to the Premier League.
The German has been given a six-week suspended ban and £28,000 fine by an independent commission after admitting all charges, but the FA could appeal against the sanction after its lawyers demanded a three-month ban from all football.
Tonda Eckert has a six-week suspended ban along with a £28,000 fine\*
Eckert was charged with misconduct in July after Southampton admitted they had spied on three Championship clubs last season in a breach of English Football League regulations, including their playoff semifinal opponents Middlesbrough.
Southampton beat Middlesbrough over two legs to reach the final, but were subsequently found guilty of a “contrived and determined plan”
to spy on Oxford, Ipswich and Middlesbrough by an EFL independent disciplinary commission, who removed the club from the playoffs and imposed a four-point deduction.
While Southampton appealed against that punishment it was upheld by the league arbitration panel two days before the playoff final, where Hull beat Middlesbrough.
In their written reasons for imposing a suspended ban the independent commission makes clear it disagreed with many of the findings of the EFL panels, describing Eckert as a “particularly impressive witness” who showed “genuine contrition”.
In contrast the EFL commission that kicked Southampton out of the playoffs had condemned Eckert's "deplorable" behaviour in pressuring junior staff to spy on training sessions, while it also said it was "unimpressed" with his testimony.
The commission hearing the FA charges concluded there was no evidence of Eckert pressuring staff, however, 43
Rahm exit set to trigger mass player exodus from LIV Golf
Ewan Murray
Confirmation that Jon Rahm will play no part in LIV Golf in its post-Saudi Arabian form is likely to be only the start of a mass exodus from the breakaway circuit.
A bankruptcy hearing yesterday heard Rahm's lawyer say "unacceptable" terms proposed by LIV 2.0 mean the Spaniard will shortly walk away from a tour which has lingering hopes of continuing as a going concern.
"Mr Rahm has independently reviewed the proposed terms of LIV 2.0 and has determined that those terms are unacceptable to him and he will not be participating going forward in LIV 2.0," the two-time major winner's attorney, John Beck, said.
The expectation from those with knowledge of the LIV situation is that a batch of other players including Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and Adrian Meronk will also flee the scene when legalities permit, probably for the DP World Tour. LIV faces a race against time to earn commitment from players of even average quality in its mission to continue with 75-man events into 2027.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) abruptly confirmed in April it would end funding of LIV at the end of 2026. LIV entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US last month, which was always likely to facilitate the departure of big names who had signed contracts which had become unaffordable. Documents listing creditors had shown that Rahm had an unsecured claim of \$7.5m (£5.7m).
The status of Bryson DeChambeau, LIV's remaining marquee name, is unclear. DeChambeau is known to have little appetite to return to the PGA Tour, with that sentiment thought to be mutual. His preference has always been an elongated version of LIV but that competitive model remains open to much question.
▲ Jon Rahm joined LIV in 2023, becoming its most high-profile player
