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Maui fire: 96 killed as governor warns of 'significant' death toll rise - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | At least 96 people have died and hundreds are unaccounted for days after fires broke out in Hawaii. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Ninety-six people are known to have died in wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, with officials warning that figure is likely to rise.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green said more than 2,700 buildings had been destroyed in the historic town of Lahaina.
Hundreds of people are still missing and search teams have only covered 3% of the affected area.
"None of us really understand the size of this yet," a visibly emotional Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.
The local authorities are focusing their efforts on combing through what is left of the coastal area of the island, as work continues to identify victims.
The fires that started on Tuesday would "certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced", Mr Green warned, adding that the death toll would likely rise "significantly".
Meanwhile, it remains unclear if early warning systems were used or if they malfunctioned, with many people telling the BBC they were not forewarned about the fires.
The state's attorney general is conducting a "comprehensive review" into how the authorities responded.
Representative Jill Tokuda of Hawaii's 2nd congressional district told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme on Sunday that "serious questions" needed to be addressed.
"There's every justification for everyone to feel angry in this particular situation, and we all want answers," Ms Tokuda said.
She also described her visit to Lahaina over the weekend as "heart-breaking", saying that "so many of our families and friends lost everything".
The fires were fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane.
Mr Green said gusts from that storm reached speeds of as high as 81mph (130km/h), fanning the flames to travel at one mile per minute and giving people little time to escape.
While the fires are now largely under control, efforts to fully extinguish them are continuing in parts of the island.
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Jeremy Greenberg, a senior official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told the BBC that extra support was being sent included urban search and rescue, and fire suppression teams.
"The absolute number one priority is survivor safety," he said.
Mr Greenberg added that while close to 1,000 people were yet to be contacted, some of these may be safe but out of reach for a number of reasons.
In the emergency shelter at Maui's War Memorial Complex, hundreds of evacuees continued to gather over the weekend, receiving food, toiletries and medical aid from a still-growing number of volunteers.
Large whiteboards noted the most pressing needs - batteries, water, and generators - and an all-caps note that no more clothing was needed.
Keapo Bissen, a member of the War Memorial shelter team, said the list of the missing was fluctuating hour to hour as more people reported absent loved ones, and others were found.
"We've had a lot of great reunions happen in this parking lot," she said. "That's really been the bright side in all of this."
After flying over Maui, helicopter pilot Richard Olsten told the BBC that even most of the boats in the harbour were burnt and had sunk.
"The historic buildings, the church, the missionary building and so forth - all gone.
"The main tourist area where all the shops and restaurants are, the historic Front Street - everything burnt to the ground," he said.
Felicia Johnson (right) is among the locals who have been coordinating efforts to help victims of the wildfires
Felicia Johnson, who owns a printing business in the city of Kahului, Maui, is organising a massive grassroots response to the disaster.
Her family is from the Lahaina area. She has amassed hundreds of pounds of donated supplies to bring in, but has been unable to shuttle them through the government checkpoint.
She said that pleading with authorities to let her enter with her donated goods was the hardest part for her emotionally - not the devastation she witnessed while dropping off supplies."That's the part that I'm so wrecked on, is I got to keep begging you to come in to feed people," Ms Johnson said.
She added that many of the docks in the area are too badly damaged or destroyed to bring in supplies by boat. Some people that have made the journey have swum the supplies to the shore.
Some of the young men helping her load supplies blame government mismanagement and bureaucracy.
"Too many chiefs, not enough warriors," said Bradah Young, 25.
"Everybody is in charge but nobody is moving," said another man.
As they departed in hope of being allowed through the checkpoint, one man threw up a shaka, a traditional hand greeting in Hawaii.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66489815 |
Brighton 4-1 Luton: Brighton: Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra score in comfortable win - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | Luton's first match back in the top flight for 31 years ends in defeat as Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra mark their debuts with a goal each in a comfortable win. | Last updated on .From the section Premier League
Luton's first match back in the top flight for 31 years ended in heavy defeat as Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra marked their debuts with a goal each in a comfortable Brighton win.
Solly March headed in after 35 minutes before Pedro, signed for a club-record fee around £30m from Watford, scored a second-half penalty following a foul by Luton captain Tom Lockyer.
The Hatters pulled a goal back with nine minutes remaining when last season's top scorer Carlton Morris converted another penalty - awarded for handball against Lewis Dunk - but 21-year-old Ivorian Adingra sealed the Seagulls' win by slotting home after a bad mistake from Luton's Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu.
Eighteen-year-old Ireland international Evan Ferguson then tapped in Pervis Estupinan's cross in stoppage time to cap an impressive start to the campaign for the home side.
The Hatters had acquitted themselves well in their first Premier League outing - their last match in the top flight came in 1992 before Premier League rebrand - but Brighton were worthy winners.
Pedro, 21, should have opened the scoring after five minutes but scuffed a gilt-edged chance wide from eight yards.
The Seagulls, who left midfielder Moises Caicedo out of their squad amid interest from Chelsea and Liverpool, also hit the post three times.
"I think we played well," manager Roberto de Zerbi said.
"We are not at our best yet because there are new players and we need to give them time to understand our ideas, but I am happy."
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Brighton's summer has been dominated by outgoings, with midfielder Alexis Mac Allister having left for Liverpool, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez departed to Chelsea, and Ecuador international Caicedo seemingly also on his way to either Anfield or Stamford Bridge.
Although this may only be one win, and against newly-promoted opposition, the start made by De Zerbi's side suggested that they can cope with significant losses again, as they have done in recent seasons.
Brighton have built their success since earning promotion in 2017 on superb recruitment, allowing them to seamlessly replace those they sell, and the contributions made by Pedro and Adingra indicated the club may have struck gold again.
Pedro made a wasteful start but threatened regularly in the second half before deservedly getting his goal when he scored a soft penalty that was awarded to him after Lockyer put his arm across the Brazilian in the box.
Winger Adingra was signed in the summer of 2022 and after an impressive loan spell at Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise, also part-owned by Brighton chairman Tony Bloom, caught the eye in pre-season and was lively after replacing March in the 74th minute here.
Despite the outgoings, Brighton still have a dependable core, only added to by the arrival of the experienced and versatile James Milner who made a solid debut at right-back.
March, who came through the academy and has now played 276 times for the Seagulls, was a threat throughout while Ferguson's goal gives him the perfect start as he attempts to build on a debut season that included finding the net six times.
Tougher tests will come but this was an impressive start.
Luton have taken a measured approach since securing their top flight status.
Six new signings were handed debuts on the south coast - goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, wing-backs Ryan Giles and Issa Kabore, midfielder Tahith Chong, centre-back Mads Andersen and striker Jacob Brown - but their summer spending has totalled just £17m.
There were reasons to be positive for the Hatters. Their direct approach meant Brighton were threatened by crosses into the box and centre-forward Morris had forced a good save from Jason Steele before his spot-kick goal.
But, though it may be cliché to say it, at Premier League level their mistakes will likely be punished.
Amari'i Bell was caught under the ball when March headed in Kaoru Mitoma's cross and Mpanzu gifted Adingra his goal when trying to play out from his own box.
Midfielder Mpanzu has been with Luton since their time outside the Football League, which came as recently as 2014, and in playing at Amex Stadium he became the first player to feature for the same club in each of England's top five leagues.
The Luton players were still warmly applauded by their vociferous travelling support at the final whistle.
"I don't want anyone to be happy about losing football matches - we're certainly not," manager Rob Edwards said.
"[But} I was pleased with stuff I saw today. I know we're going to get better, but we've got to get better quickly.
"I thought we were right in the game at 1-0 and at 2-1 but we shot ourselves in the foot."
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• None Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 4, Luton Town 1. Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Pervis Estupiñán.
• None Attempt missed. Carlton Morris (Luton Town) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Cauley Woodrow following a corner.
• None Attempt saved. Jacob Brown (Luton Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Cauley Woodrow with a headed pass.
• None Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick on the left wing.
• None Offside, Luton Town. Tom Lockyer tries a through ball, but Jacob Brown is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. Pascal Groß (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Pervis Estupiñán.
• None Attempt saved. João Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Pascal Groß.
• None Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion) hits the right post with a right footed shot from the centre of the box. Assisted by Pervis Estupiñán.
• None Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 3, Luton Town 1. Simon Adingra (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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Radford: Drug lord jailed for 'senseless' killing of father - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | Faheem Younis will serve at least 24 years in prison for killing Darren Davis over a drugs dispute. | Faheem Younis was jailed at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday for a minimum of 24 years
A drug lord has been jailed for life for the "senseless" murder of a Nottingham father following a disagreement over a £20 deal.
Faheem Younis stabbed father-of-five Darren Davis through the heart in Graham Street, Radford, on 10 August last year.
Nottinghamshire Police said the victim, 46, had remonstrated the day after a drug deal about "being ripped off".
Younis will serve 24 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.
Darren Davis was described as the "best friend" of his fiancé in court, police said
Police said the 42-year-old lured the victim to the address before attacking him with a knife.
Mr Davis, from New Lenton, managed to flee down an alleyway into Ruskin Street but collapsed in Radford Boulevard where paramedics found him.
The force said CCTV footage showed Younis cycling past him as he lay dying in the street - on the bicycle he had stolen from the victim.
Younis, of Graham Street, Radford, was found guilty of murder on 27 July following a trial and sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday - one year on from the murder.
His associate Laney Aikens, 40, of Denman Street Central, Radford, was found guilty of assisting an offender after CCTV captured him disposing of the murder weapon in a nearby drain, according to police.
He has been jailed for two and a half years.
Laney Aikens will serve half of his sentence before being released on licence
Police said a pool of blood was found on Younis's driveway, which he had attempted to wash away.
A pair of shorts with Mr Davis's blood on them was also found at Aikens's home and two knives with DNA evidence were recovered near the murder scene.
Police said the trial heard Younis confessed to killing Mr Davis during a conversation with a fellow inmate at HMP Nottingham, where he was remanded after being charged with murder.
Mr Davis was described as "the best thing that had ever happened to me" by his "broken mother" in Nottingham Crown Court, the force added.
Mr Davis was attacked in the Radford Boulevard area
Two other defendants - Ryan Aziz, 35, of Ilkeston Road, Radford, and Levalle Likutu, 19, of Forster Street, Radford - were found not guilty of murder.
Det Insp Melanie Crutchley, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "This was a terrible tragedy in that Darren Davis was a loving family man who lost his life over a senseless drugs dispute.
"While I know Darren's family are heartbroken by their loss, I hope today's sentences brings some comfort to them.
"By refusing to accept responsibility for their role in this senseless murder, both defendants inflicted further suffering to Darren's family."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-66465382 |
Harry Kane joins Bayern Munich ending record-breaking Tottenham career - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | England captain Harry Kane joins German champions Bayern Munich on a four-year deal, ending his record-breaking career at Tottenham. | Last updated on .From the section European Football
England captain Harry Kane has joined German champions Bayern Munich on a four-year deal, ending his record-breaking career at Tottenham.
The striker signs for an initial 100m euros (£86.4m) plus add-ons and could make his debut in Saturday's German Super Cup game against RB Leipzig.
Kane, 30, leaves Premier League Spurs as their all-time top scorer with 280 goals in 435 appearances.
In a social media post he said he "felt this was the time to leave" Spurs.
Kane trained with his new team-mates on Saturday morning as Bayern prepared for their home game at the Allianz Arena against the German Cup champions RB Leipzig at 19:45 BST.
"So obviously I got straight into the Super Cup and hopefully I play some part in that," Kane said.
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Kane was linked with a move to Manchester City in 2021, and his future had been uncertain this summer because he only had one year left on his contract at Spurs.
He was also linked with Manchester United and Real Madrid earlier this summer, before Bayern made their move. After having several bids rejected, a deal was agreed on Thursday, with Kane flying to Munich on Friday to finalise matters.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said the club had "reluctantly agreed to his transfer".
"We sought over a long period of time to engage Harry and his representatives in several forms of contract extension, both short and long term," Levy said.
"Harry was clear, however, that he wanted a fresh challenge and would not be signing a new contract this summer."
Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot three times - in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2020-21 - and with 213 goals from 320 games in the English top flight, needed just 48 more to break Alan Shearer's Premier League scoring record.
Kane, who is England's all-time leading scorer with 58 international goals and was the top scorer at the 2018 World Cup, has never won a major trophy with club or country.
"I'm very happy to be a part of FC Bayern now. Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I've always said that I want to compete and prove myself at the highest level during my career," said Kane, who will wear the number nine shirt at Bayern and has signed until 2027.
"This club is defined by its winning mentality - it feels very good to be here."
Bayern Munich claimed their 33rd Bundesliga title last season - and 11th in a row - and have won the Champions League six times and German Cup on 20 occasions.
Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen said their pursuit had been "a long process" but that Kane was their "absolute dream player right from the start".
"He is a perfect fit for us and the club's DNA in terms of both football and character," he added.
"World-class centre forwards have always been an important factor when FC Bayern has celebrated its greatest triumphs, and we're convinced that Harry Kane will continue this success story
"Our fans can look forward to one of the best goal scorers of our time."
Club president Herbert Hainer said the transfer required "tenacity, bite and perseverance", adding: "Kane will not only strengthen FC Bayern, but also be a real asset to the entire Bundesliga."
Kane joined Spurs' academy in 2004, signing his first professional contract in 2010 and making his senior debut in 2011.
Loan spells away from the club followed before he returned to establish himself as Spurs' main striker in the 2014-15 season, scoring 31 goals in all competitions and winning the PFA Young Player of the Year Award.
He passed Jimmy Greaves as Spurs' all-time top scorer in February 2023 with his 267th club goal in a 1-0 win over Manchester City and finished last season with 30 Premier League goals as Spurs ended a difficult season in eighth place.
Kane posted a video on social media saying: "Obviously, a lot of emotions going through me right now and sad to be leaving the club I've spent 20 years of my life at, from an 11-year-old boy, to a 30-year-old man.
"There have been so many great moments and special memories; memories I will cherish forever."
He added: "I felt this was the time to leave. I didn't want to go into the season with a lot of unresolved talk."I think it's important for the new manager and the players to concentrate on trying to get Tottenham back to around the top of the table and fighting for trophies.
"It's not a goodbye because you never know how things will pan out in the future."
Levy said Kane was a "model professional" and "an inspiration for young players who dream of following in his footsteps".
"We have seen a product of our academy system become one of the best players to ever pull on a Spurs shirt and become one of world football's elite strikers," added Levy.
"It has been a truly remarkable journey.
"I should like to thank Harry for everything he's done for us, all the memories, all the records - we wish him and his family all the best for the future.
"It goes without saying, he's always welcome back. He's a much loved and valued member of the Spurs family, forever in our history."
Spurs face Brentford in their first match of the season on Sunday and manager Ange Postecoglou said the club would "move forward without Harry".
Kane's strike partner at Spurs, Son Heung-min, paid tribute to his departing colleague in a post on Instagram.
Son, who alongside Kane holds the Premier League record for goal combinations between two players, wrote: "Leader, brother, legend.
"Since day one it has been a joy to play by your side. So many memories, amazing games and incredible goals together.
"Harry, thank you for everything you have given to me, to our club, and to our fans. Wish you nothing but the best in your new chapter. Good luck brother."
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Electricity to be 100% renewable by 2035, say Welsh ministers - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | More heat pumps in homes and community energy projects are part of the plan to meet the target. | More heat pumps in homes and community energy projects are part of the Welsh government's target to meet 100% of its electricity needs from renewables in 12 years' time.
The latest estimates show renewables cover 56% of our energy consumption but Climate Change Minister Julie James called the new target "ambitious but credible", even with energy demand set to soar with the move towards electric cars and away from gas boilers.
It is considerable scaling up of ambition, as the previous target was to reach 70% by 2030.
The consultation includes plans to increase the capacity of renewable energy but also to reduce the demand for it.
But there is no room for complacency, according to the leading think tank the Institute for Welsh Affairs (IWA).
Auriol Miller from the IWA said "there's nothing automatic" about hitting these targets, and the government must focus on "finding new and alternative sources of energy", as well as reducing consumption through retrofitting homes.
Speaking in the Senedd, the minister announced a consultation on the new targets, which "propose a pathway for us to meet the equivalent of 100% of our annual electricity consumption for renewable electricity by 2035, and to continue to keep pace with consumption thereafter".
The plans include a target for at least 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of energy capacity to come from smaller-scale community-owned projects.
And, subject to strengthened support from the UK government and reductions in cost, the minister wants 5.5GW of energy to be provided by heat pumps in the same time-frame.
Julie James has announced a consultation on the target
The latest estimates, published in 2020, show Wales already meets 56% of it electricity needs from renewable sources like wind, sun and water, but to reach 100% in just over a decade many barriers will need to be overcome.
Energy infrastructure, like the grid and connecting the energy generated by windfarms in the sea to that grid, are some of the huge challenges.
As part of Tuesday's announcement, the minister said the Welsh government will provide £1m of funding to explore the potential of offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
The money will be match-funded by Associated British Ports (ABP) which says it will be used to "kick-start the development of a major green energy hub at Port Talbot".
Andrew Harston from ABP said the £2m "is key to the construction of transformational infrastructure, which will enable the manufacturing, integration and assembly of floating offshore wind components at Port Talbot".
Julie James conceded that the Welsh government's investment of £1m was a drop in the ocean, considering the level of funding needed to deliver floating wind offshore in south west Wales.
But she said the investment signals to the industry Welsh ministers' commitment, and added "this is not the end of our support".
Meanwhile, the UK government has acknowledged that a "step-change is needed" to boost grid capacity in Wales.
A group of MPs has published a report looking at the problems with the grid here and, in a response published on Tuesday, the UK government said it will continue to work on "strategic planning, regulatory approval, planning consents and streamlining connections across Great Britain, including Wales".
Planning procedures must be improved, according to industry representatives.
Manon Kynaston, deputy director of RenewableUK Cymru, a trade body that represents the industry, welcomed the revised target and agreed that it is ambitious but achievable.
However, she said there is a great deal of work to be done to not only reach the targets but to keep those benefits in Wales.
Manon Kynaston welcomes the announcement but warns that there is a long way to go
"To be able to reach those targets we need a system that is diverse and flexible, that includes fixed off shore wind from the coast of north Wales but also the significant opportunity we have of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
"We need to unlock some key barriers, mainly consenting and licensing, and also working closely with the UK government to ensure we have investment in our ports and infrastructure," she said.
"We really need anticipatory investment to make sure the grid is fit for purpose to take advantage of the opportunities."
Central to the Welsh government's vision is ensuring the benefits stay in local communities as much as possible, and the profits do not leave Wales to big multinational companies.
Ynni Ogwen is one example of a community project the minister would like to see more of.
It is a hydroelectric project on the Afon Ogwen near Bethesda in Gwynedd, which generates electricity and ploughs the profits back into the community.
Recently the scheme gave £20,000 back to help ease the cost of living crisis in the area.
Meleri Davies, a founder member of Ynni Ogwen, said it is great that there are new targets but the Welsh government "must ensure the projects are community based".
"We need more projects like this simply because of the economic, social and environmental impact of this scheme," she said.
But Ms Davies said she would like the government to go further and ensure the energy they produce can be used locally.
"At the moment the energy we produce here is exported to the grid who pay us for it.
"If we could use that energy to power homes locally at a reduced tariff that would be tremendous.
"That's the kind of aspiration we'd like the Welsh government to move towards."
Ms Davies also said that more funding is needed to make it easier for projects like Ynni Ogwen to get off the ground.
"We need funding, last year there were only four community owned projects developed.
"You need a lot of investment, a grant subsidy or support, to enable this kind of project to happen."
With consumption of electricity expected to rise in coming years, as we move towards electric vehicles and away from gas boilers, the pace of the rollout of renewable energy will need to increase if we are to have a chance of reaching the 100% target.
Part of that ambition is to encourage more of us to install heat pumps, but that is "not happening quick enough", according to Auriol Miller.
She said it is important not to put too much responsibility on individuals.
She said: "Welsh government [and the UK government] needs to be thinking about the investment for that to happen and then the deployment of that as well."
"So retrofitting homes is great, but it's not happening quick enough at the moment."
It seems the urgency to act is not lost on the industry, which says it is poised to take advantage of the opportunities available but that it is up to the governments to do more to ensure projects move quicker.
"We are in a climate emergency, the time to move is now," said Manon Kynaston.
And time is of the essence according to Auriol Miller.
"We know from the global climate change challenge that we've got ten years really to make a difference in terms of safeguarding the future of our planet.
"That goes for us here in Wales too." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-64400703 |
NFL star Tom Brady greets Birmingham City fans at local pub - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | The seven-time Super Bowl winner has "made everyone's day," Birmingham City fans say. | Tom Brady was spotted at The Roost pub near St Andrew's Stadium on Saturday
NFL star Tom Brady has been spotted introducing himself to Birmingham City supporters at a local pub.
The seven-time Super Bowl winner was serenaded by fans at The Roost pub outside St Andrew's Stadium in Birmingham on Saturday.
The 46-year-old recently became a minority owner and chairman of the club's advisory board.
Blues fans said his appearance at the pub, ahead of a home game against Leeds United, had "made everyone's day."
The retired quarterback won the Super Bowl seven times and played in the NFL for 23 seasons
"Tom Brady is here and he's perfect," tweeted Kelsea Ravenhill.
She said the retired quarterback had entered the pub alongside his bodyguards before he had introduced himself to fans.
"The place is rocking, completely changed the atmosphere, he is just a sports legend," she added.
"It's made everyone's day, was a pleasure to meet him and I just hope we can get the three points for him later now."
Birmingham City went on to beat Leeds 1-0.
The 46-year-old was also spotted signing autographs for fans
Brady tweeted on Saturday morning: "Any plans before kick off guys? See you at St. Andrew's", before he also made an appearance at the stadium, where he was pictured signing autographs.
The former American football player retired in February after 23 seasons in the NFL, before entering a partnership with Knighthead Capital Management LLC.
A subsidiary of the group, Shelby Companies Limited completed its takeover of Birmingham City, the Championship's longest-serving club, in July this year.
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England 2-1 Colombia: Lionesses book Women's World Cup semi-final with Australia - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | England set up a Women's World Cup semi-final with co-hosts Australia as they come from behind against a dangerous Colombia side. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
England set up a Women's World Cup semi-final with co-hosts Australia as they came from behind against a dangerous Colombia side.
The European champions, favourites to go all the way in Australia, have not played their best football in the tournament but this was a much more rounded display in front of a hostile crowd in Sydney.
Largely composed in defence and hard-working in attack, the Lionesses were rewarded with two slices of luck which they capitalised on, after goalkeeper Mary Earps had been beaten by a quick-thinking lob in the first half.
Lauren Hemp poked in the equaliser, just seven minutes after Leicy Santos had caught out Earps, when Colombia goalkeeper Catalina Perez spilled a routine gather in the six-yard area under pressure from Alessia Russo.
Arsenal striker Russo, who had only scored once in four World Cup matches prior to Saturday's quarter-final, worked tirelessly out of possession, earning her opportunity when she pounced on a kind deflection to drill in England's second.
Earps was called into action later, tipping Lorena Durango Bedoya's effort over the bar, while England were put under further pressure by Colombia's talented attacking line-up, which included Real Madrid's teenage sensation Linda Caicedo.
The Lionesses, who had to deal with a crowd of 75,784 who were largely backing Colombia, face co-hosts Australia next on 16 August at 11:00 BST, live on BBC.
It will be the Lionesses' third straight World Cup semi-final after defeats by the USA in 2019 and Japan in 2015.
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• None World Football at the Women's World Cup: Matildas mania sweeps across Australia
England have had to battle their way through the competition, needing 1-0 wins to creep past Haiti and Denmark in the group stages, before a penalty shootout victory over Nigeria in the last 16.
They were without suspended top-scorer Lauren James, who is serving a two-match ban following her red card against Nigeria, but England did enough in front of goal to seal victory in a tough encounter.
Colombia, ranked 21 places lower than England, had already proven their worth in Australia, seeing off Euro 2022 finalists Germany in the group stages and progressing in style.
Their attacking line-up caused England problems and they pushed desperately late on for an equaliser, testing the Lionesses' back five.
However, spearheaded by the centre-back trio of Millie Bright, Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter, England held their own against the physicality and tenacity of the Colombians.
Stadium Australia was filled with yellow shirts in the stands - Colombia fans were on their feet waving scarves around their heads following any advance over the halfway line and they whistled loudly when England were in possession.
This was by no means an easy victory but the resilience and grit that England have been forced to demonstrate so far in the tournament once again helped them over the line, deservedly so, on Saturday.
Heading into the quarter-finals, England's Earps said "there was more to come from them", having not shown their best aside from an impressive 6-1 thrashing of China.
So when the full-time whistle went in Sydney, several players fell to the floor in exhaustion and Sarina Wiegman gave a rousing team-talk afterwards - they had been in a gruelling battle.
Strong individual performances helped them. Russo barely put a foot wrong beside a wasted header in the first half and was rewarded for her endeavour when the ball bounced kindly for her to score.
"I always try to work as hard as I can on the pitch," said Russo. "There is often sometimes a bit of luck in football.
"I was glad I took [the chance] when it came. I was in the right position and I was fortunate it went in the back of the net."
Hemp ran at defenders with pace and purpose and Lucy Bronze dealt with the tricky feet of Caicedo for the majority of the match.
England's immense defence, which is starting to look more comfortable with a back three having now started three matches in a row with that formation, were well-organised and blocked shots when they needed to.
"These are big games and it has some physicality too - for them and for us. That's part of the game and we dealt with it really well," said Wiegman.
"They got through it really well and got the win over the line. That was what we were trying to do and fortunately we did that."
Earps once again made a crucial save to make up for her slight error in conceding England's first goal from open play in the tournament.
All-in-all, it was a positive performance to match a result which ensures England are just two matches away from glory.
They will have to navigate another hostile crowd in Sydney in their semi-final but they were rarely fazed by it on this showing.
• None Attempt missed. Linda Caicedo (Colombia) right footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Leicy Santos.
• None Attempt missed. Mayra Ramírez (Colombia) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Leicy Santos.
• None Attempt missed. Manuela Vanegas (Colombia) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
• None Lucy Bronze (England) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt blocked. Ivonne Chacón (Colombia) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Attempt saved. Leicy Santos (Colombia) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Catalina Usme.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match because of an injury Daniela Árias (Colombia).
• None Attempt blocked. Ivonne Chacón (Colombia) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked.
• None Attempt blocked. Ivonne Chacón (Colombia) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Linda Caicedo. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66470403 |
Niger coup: Russia warns Ecowas not to take military action - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | Protesters gather in Niamey after a West African bloc approves intervention against coup leaders. | A large crowd calling for France to leave Niger gathered near the capital on Friday
Russia has warned that military intervention in Niger would lead to a "protracted confrontation" after regional bloc Ecowas said it would assemble a standby force.
Such an intervention would destabilise the Sahel region as a whole, the Russian foreign ministry said.
Russia does not formally back the coup.
But the US, which backs efforts to restore deposed leader Mohamed Bazoum, says its Wagner mercenary group is taking advantage of the instability.
On Friday coup supporters, some waving Russian flags, protested at a French military base near the capital NIamey, some chanting "down with France, down with Ecowas".
Both France and the US operate military bases in Niger and they have been used to launch operations against jihadist groups in the wider region.
Military officials from Ecowas countries are reportedly set to meet on Saturday to draft plans for a military intervention.
The bloc has said it remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu said on Thursday that "No option is taken off the table, including the use of force as a last resort".
The US has not explicitly backed military action but has called on the junta to step aside and allow the restoration of the country's democratic constitution.
The Niger junta has not responded to the latest statements from Ecowas leaders.
Meanwhile fears are growing for the health and safety of Mr Bazoum, who has been held captive since the military seized power on 26 July.
He and his family had been "deprived of food, electricity and medical care for several days", EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
UN rights commissioner Volker Turk said he had received credible reports that the conditions of detention "could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment".
Rights group Human Rights Watch said Mr Bazoum had told them this week that he and his family were being treated in an "inhuman and cruel" way.
"My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor," HRW quoted Mr Bazoum as telling them. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66478430 |
Burnley 0-3 Manchester City: Erling Haaland scores twice in opening win - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | Erling Haaland scores twice as Premier League champions Manchester City start off their title defence with victory at Burnley. | Last updated on .From the section Premier League
Erling Haaland was back in the old routine with a devastating display of finishing as Manchester City opened the defence of their Premier League title with a comfortable victory at Burnley.
The goalscoring phenomenon, who hit 52 goals as City won the Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League last season, took only 185 seconds to open his account for the new campaign, striking a blow from which the newly promoted Clarets never recovered.
Haaland pounced in the area when Rodri headed down Kevin de Bruyne's cross, then curled in a magnificent left-foot strike into the top corner beyond Burnley keeper James Trafford after 36 minutes to effectively end the contest.
Burnley, roared on by a passionate home crowd, never gave up but City's control grew more emphatic as the game went on, Rodri turning home the third with 15 minutes left after the home defence failed to clear a free-kick.
It all ended very comfortably for City, their night only marred by another injury for De Bruyne, who limped off after only 23 minutes to be replaced by summer signing Mateo Kovacic.
Burnley had Anass Zaroury sent off in injury time, after a the video assistant referee review, for a dangerous lunge on Kyle Walker.
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Man City have just too much
Manchester City showed inevitable signs of rust even though they started their campaign with a win - as was proved by the animated behaviour of perfectionist manager Pep Guardiola.
If goal machine Haaland was expecting a congratulatory arm around the shoulder from his manager as he walked off at half-time, he received a rude awakening when he received an intense lecture from Guardiola, who demanded a cameraman move out of range as he spoke to the striker.
He clearly wanted even more from Haaland, who showed his lethal economy by scoring twice from only six touches in the first half.
It sounds ludicrous to suggest Haaland was often on the periphery of the action but such is his brilliance in front of goal that he still makes the decisive contribution and built the platform for what turned into a routine victory for the champions.
Kovacic slipped smoothly into the action as replacement for De Bruyne but the Belgian's recurring injury problems will be a real source of concern for Guardiola and City. He spent the summer recovering from the serious hamstring injury that forced him out of the Champions League final win over Inter Milan after only 36 minutes and looked crestfallen as he walked off here.
City will hope the injury to such a key player, who had already created the opening goal for Haaland, is not serious - as the rest of their opening Premier League night played out satisfactorily.
Burnley can take heart despite defeat
Burnley were presented with the toughest possible start to life back in the Premier League as manager Vincent Kompany tried to plot the downfall of the Treble winners and the club where he became an iconic figure as the inspirational captain during their glory years.
The result was locked in after City went ahead early but Burnley showed real spirit and character, even creating anxious moments for Guardiola's side as Lyle Foster and Zeki Amdouni threatened.
In the end, they were undone by some loose defending but more specifically by the predatory instincts and natural goalscoring prowess of Haaland - and they will not be the last to suffer that fate this season.
Burnley stuck to Kompany's passing methods, which made them such impressive winners of the Championship last season, while Trafford, the goalkeeping hero of England's European Under-21 Championship triumph in July, made an impressive debut against his former club.
Kompany's players got an early taste of what will be required this season but this was the most exacting examination of all and, even though they lost, there will still be plenty to encourage them.
Some booing was heard when the players took the knee before kick-off and Burnley removed a fan from Turf Moor after City defender Rico Lewis was struck with an object.
• None Attempt saved. Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Julián Álvarez with a cross.
• None Substitution, Manchester City. James McAtee replaces Kyle Walker because of an injury.
• None Kyle Walker (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Phil Foden (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Julián Álvarez following a set piece situation.
• None Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Attempt saved. Julián Álvarez (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Phil Foden. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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Migrant boat sinks in Channel killing six people - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | UK and French coastguards rescued 59 people but two may still be missing, authorities said. | Six people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Channel, off the French coast.
The French coast guard said the vessel got into difficulty in the sea near Calais in the early hours of Saturday.
Fifty-nine people - many of them Afghans - were rescued by French and British coastguards, officials said. But the search for two people who may still be missing has been called off.
Some people were seen being brought off a lifeboat in Dover on stretchers.
The extent of injuries remain unclear and the exact numbers of those rescued changed during the day as more information was released.
The six people who died were Afghan men thought to be in their 30s, the AFP news agency reported Philippe Sabatier, deputy public prosecutor for the French coastal city of Boulogne, as saying.
He said those rescued included some children and were mostly from Afghanistan, although there were some Sudanese.
The French coastal authority Premar said a passing ship first raised the alarm at around 04:20 local time that an overloaded boat was in difficulty off the coast of Sangatte.
When the French lifeboat arrived, they found people in the sea, with some screaming for help.
The Dover lifeboat, which was already in the Channel dealing with another boat carrying migrants, joined the rescue operation at 05:50.
One of the volunteer rescuers told the Reuters news agency migrants were using shoes to bail water out of the sinking boat.
Anne Thorel said there had been "too many" people on board.
Another French rescuer, Jean-Pierre Finot, said: "Some were suffering from sea sickness and the boats are quite simply overloaded... [and] can no longer move forward".
Rescue crews say this is the seventh time this week that they have had to pull people from the water, raising concerns that the smugglers organising the crossings may be using a defective batch of boats.
In its latest update, French officials said interviews with survivors suggest 65 or 66 people were on the boat. Often boats are so overloaded it is difficult to tell how many people are on them.
Premar said 23 people were taken to Dover by UK rescue crews and a French boat took 36 to Calais.
Two French boats were still searching for the two people who could still be missing, it added.
A French Navy aircraft and a helicopter had been deployed to help the search.
The MP for Calais, Pierre-Henri Dumont, said authorities are interviewing the migrants who are able to speak and not too unwell, to establish what happened and where they are from.
Although the incident happened in French territory, with these types of operations, British and French rescue teams work together to rescue as many people as possible.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, thanked the rescuers for their efforts but urged the UK government to work on creating an "orderly and humane asylum system".
The English Channel is one of the most dangerous and busiest shipping lanes in the world, with 600 tankers and 200 ferries passing through it every day.
A UK government spokesperson said the deaths were "devastating and our thoughts are with the victims' families and friends at this time".
They added: "This incident is sadly another reminder of the extreme dangers of crossing the Channel in small boats and how vital it is that we break the people smugglers' business model and stop the boats."
People were seen being brought ashore on stretchers at Dover, for medical treatment
Dover MP, Natalie Elphicke, said the incident highlighted the need for joint patrols on the French coast.
"These overcrowded and unseaworthy death traps should obviously be stopped by the French authorities from leaving the French coast in the first place," she said.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said it was an "appalling, deeply shocking tragedy".
Another small boat also got into difficulty on Saturday but all on board were rescued, the UK Coastguard said.
Meanwhile, people from other migrant boats that had made successful crossings could be seen being brought ashore at Dover during the day.
In the last two days more than 1,000 people made the journey across the Channel to the UK, government figures show. More than 100,000 migrants have crossed in small boats since 2018.
At least 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France in November 2021, the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.
Four people died at sea while trying to cross in December 2022.
The incident comes after the UK government faces pressure over fears of a Legionella outbreak on its new migrant barge, Bibby Stockholm, moored in Portland Port, Dorset. The first migrants to board the vessel had to be removed after bacteria was found in the water system.
Today's tragedy is a reminder of one thing that unites all parties when it comes to immigration policy at the moment - nobody wants people making the very dangerous route across the channel in small boats.
But people still are, and in great numbers.
The government is insisting it wants to push on with its plans to house some asylum seekers on barges like the Bibby Stockholm - and with its plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, which is still subject to legal challenge.
Two of its flagship policies are currently stalled. But the bigger overarching question for ministers, yet to be established, is will they work?
And will, as ministers suggest, reducing the "pull factors" be enough to stop people from making this dangerous journey when some are already not deterred by the very real risk of harm? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66484699 |
Niger coup: President Mohamed Bazoum 'in good spirits' despite detention - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | Mohamed Bazoum's doctor visits him in a basement prison amid fears for his health after military coup. | Mohamed Bazoum is reported to have lost a "worrying" amount of weight
Niger's president is in "good spirits" despite being held in "difficult" conditions by the junta that deposed him, his doctor has said after a visit.
Mohamed Bazoum, his son and wife have been held in the basement of his palace in Niamey since the coup on 26 July.
"Living conditions remain difficult, with the electricity still cut off," the doctor was reported as saying by French public radio station RFI.
The visit was approved amid growing international demands for his release.
RFI said it was the first outside contact the president had had since he was overthrown.
Mr Bazoum, 63, is reported to have lost a "worrying" amount of weight, while his 20-year-old son, who has a chronic medical condition, was also reportedly denied care.
"The doctor was able to talk to the Head of State, as well as his wife and son," RFI reported. "All are well, he said. The doctor was also able to bring them food and medicines."
"Following the visit, President Bazoum's family said they were relieved," the radio station added.
The decision by the junta, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, to bring in the family's doctor appears to be in response to widespread condemnation of the president's detention since the coup.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk described the conditions of the detention as inhumane, degrading and in violation of international human rights law.
His daughter Zazia, 34, who was on holiday in France during the coup, told the Guardian this week that her father, mother and brother had no clean water or electricity and were living on rice and pasta.
Fresh food was rotting in the fridge because there was no power, she said.
"The situation of my family is very difficult currently," she told the newspaper. "They say they will keep fighting, but it's hard to see our family in this situation and they can't go out."
The Niger military overthrew the democratically elected president in a coup on 26 July.
It mirrored similar military takeovers in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, amid an Islamist insurgency and a growing Russian influence in the wider Sahel region through its mercenary group Wagner.
Despite his captivity, Mr Bazoum was able to publish an article in The Washington Post stating that he was a hostage and that the coup would have "devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world".
More than a week has passed since US President Joe Biden called for Mr Bazoum to be "immediately released", and for the "preservation of Niger's hard-earned democracy".
That followed the expiration of a deadline by Ecowas, a power bloc of West African states, for the coup leaders to stand down.
Its threats of military intervention were not followed through, and the junta continues to ignore demands for the president's freedom.
Ecowas said on Saturday that it hoped to send a committee to Niger to meet coup leaders. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66487230 |
Australia 0-0 France (Pens: 7-6): Co-hosts reach World Cup semis with penalty shoot-out win - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | Co-hosts Australia reach the Women's World Cup semi-finals for the first time as they beat France in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at Brisbane Stadium | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
Co-hosts Australia reached the Women's World Cup semi-finals for the first time as they beat France in an incredible penalty shoot-out at Brisbane Stadium.
Following a goalless 120 minutes, the Matildas triumphed 7-6 in a shootout which defied belief with its dramatic twists.
Cortnee Vine scored the winning spot-kick for Australia, after Vicki Becho had struck the post for France.
Australia keeper Mackenzie Arnold made a total of four saves in the shoot-out - including twice from Kenza Dali, having moved off the line for the first stop, leading to a retake.
Arnold herself had the opportunity to score the winning penalty as the fifth taker for Australia, after saving from Eve Perisset, but struck the post as nearly 50,000 Australians inside the stadium went through every emotion imaginable.
But it is the hosts who march on, reaching their first ever Women's World Cup semi-final.
Australia will play England at Stadium Australia in Sydney on 16 August at 11.00 BST.
• None What do you know about past 24 hours at World Cup?
• None World Football at the Women's World Cup: Matildas mania sweeps across Australia
Australia were roared on by a capacity crowd who created a lively atmosphere at Brisbane Stadium, but having fallen at the quarter-final stage in three previous World Cups, initially they looked more cowed by the pressure than invigorated by it.
But they grew into the game and should have led four minutes before the interval.
France keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin - who looked a bag of nerves all evening - failed to command a loose ball in the box, allowing Van Egmond to nip in and square to Mary Fowler, who seemed certain to tuck the chance away.
Peyraud-Magnin was only bailed out by covering defender Elisa de Almeida, whose last-gasp sliding block was one of the finest pieces of defending seen at this World Cup so far.
Those nerves from Peyraud-Magnin extended into the second half, as she miscued a clearance straight to Fowler shortly after the break and was again helped out by a defender blocking the resulting shot.
Australia manager Tony Gustavsson had said he would only start Sam Kerr if she was definitely fit to play the full match, and duly kept back the Matildas talisman to make an impact in the latter stages.
On 55 minutes, he pulled the Kerr lever, activating an ear-splitting roar from the home fans. The 29-year-old Chelsea striker was immediately into the action, driving forwards to set up a move which resulted in Raso testing Peyraud-Magnin from range.
Australia, newly fired up, applied heavy pressure to the French goal but could not find a breakthrough in regulation time, making this the first in 31 Women's World Cup matches featuring Australia to be goalless after 90 minutes.
It was also goalless after 120 minutes - leading to a shoot-out which will go down in football history and Australian folklore.
They are the first hosts to reach the Women's World Cup semi-finals since USA in 2003 - and could be the first since the Americans in 1999 to triumph on home soil.
France had their own home World Cup spoiled in the quarter-finals four years ago as they lost to eventual champions the USA, and they revelled in the role of party poopers in the opening minutes.
Kadi Diani was furious when she shot wide after eight minutes, convinced she was held back and fouled by Australia defender Alanna Kennedy. She had a point.
Their best first-half chance fell to defender Maelle Lakrar, brought into the starting XI in place of Chelsea's Perisset.
Eugenie le Sommer dragged a shot across goal and Lakrar somehow squirted the ball over the top from three yards.
Lakrar was also denied by Arnold, her snap shot on the turn following an uncleared corner well palmed away by the West Ham stopper.
They failed to press home their advantage while they had it, allowing Australia to gain the ascendancy - especially following the introduction of Kerr.
There were shouts for a penalty with 10 minutes remaining as Lakrar grabbed a handful of Caitlin Foord's shirt, only for referee Maria Carvajal to wave them away.
As nerves grew for both teams the play became scrappier, with France thinking they had an extra-time winner when Alanna Kennedy headed into her own net from a corner, only for it to be disallowed as Renard had fouled an opponent.
France had the clearest extra-time opportunities, Arnold making a great diving save from Becho's drive before Steph Catley hacked another effort off the line.
Ultimately penalties were required - with France manager Herve Renard dramatically sending on sub keeper Solene Durand in place of Peyraud-Magnin for the spot-kicks.
Durand did her job, saving from both Catley and Clare Hunt - the latter with a phenomenal one-handed stop when a goal would have sent Australia through.
But subsequently Becko missed, Vine scored and France fell short, exiting at the last eight for the second successive World Cup.
• None Goal! Australia 0(7), France 0(6). Cortnee Vine (Australia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Penalty missed! Still Australia 0(6), France 0(6). Vicki Bècho (France) hits the left post with a right footed shot.
• None Penalty saved! Clare Hunt (Australia) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the top centre of the goal.
• None Penalty saved! Kenza Dali (France) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Goal! Australia 0(6), France 0(6). Ellie Carpenter (Australia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(5), France 0(6). Maëlle Lakrar (France) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
• None Goal! Australia 0(5), France 0(5). Tameka Yallop (Australia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(4), France 0(5). Sakina Karchaoui (France) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the top right corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(4), France 0(4). Katrina Gorry (Australia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(3), France 0(4). Grace Geyoro (France) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Penalty missed! Still Australia 0(3), France 0(3). Mackenzie Arnold (Australia) hits the right post with a right footed shot.
• None Penalty saved! Ève Périsset (France) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(3), France 0(3). Mary Fowler (Australia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(2), France 0(3). Eugénie Le Sommer (France) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Goal! Australia 0(2), France 0(2). Sam Kerr (Australia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
• None Goal! Australia 0(1), France 0(2). Wendie Renard (France) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66470396 |
Italy could host Musk v Zuckerberg cage fight - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | The culture minister says he has spoken to the X boss about hosting the showdown as a charity event. | Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been goading each other about the showdown since June
A planned cage fight between tech leaders Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg could now take place in Italy, and have an ancient Rome theme.
In the story's latest twist, Italy's culture minister on Friday said that he had spoken to Mr Musk about hosting the showdown as a charity event.
The billionaire CEOs of Tesla and Meta (formerly Facebook) have been goading each other into the fight since June.
If it goes ahead, millions are expected to be donated to children's hospitals.
However, Mr Zuckerberg has said no date has been agreed so far.
Detailing his vision on social media platform X (previously known as Twitter), Mr Musk said he had spoken to both Italy's prime minister and its culture minister.
"They have agreed on an epic location," he wrote. "Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all."
However the capital Rome, and its iconic Colosseum - where legendary Gladiator fights were held in ancient times - have been ruled out.
Italy's Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said in a statement that the "great charity" event would resonate with the country's historical significance while also preserving its cultural heritage.
"I had a long and friendly conversation with Elon Musk, we talked about our shared passion for ancient Roman history," Mr Sangiuliano said in a statement.
"We are thinking about how to organise a great charity and historical evocation event, respecting, and fully protecting the setting... It will not take place in Rome."
Mr Sangiuliano also said that a "substantial amount, many millions of euros" is expected to be donated to two Italian children's hospitals as a result of hosting the cage match.
Writing on Threads, the platform seen as a direct competitor to X, which he launched last month, Mark Zuckerberg said he has "been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me", and if a date was ever agreed, "you'll hear it from me".
"Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on."
Seeming to take a dig at the floated plans, Mr Zuckerberg said that when he competes, he wants "to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game".
"You do that by working with professional (organisations) like the UFC or ONE [mixed martial arts organisations] to pull this off well and create a great card," he said.
Elon Musk, 52, and Mark Zuckerberg, 39 are two of the world's most high-profile technology billionaires.
The bizarre idea to fight each other started in June, when Mr Musk tweeted that he was "up for a cage fight" with Mr Zuckerberg.
The Meta CEO, who already has mixed martial arts (MMA) training and has recently won jiu-jitsu tournaments, simply responded with "send me location". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66480636 |
PSNI data breach: Officers looking over their shoulders - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | PSNI staff share their concerns with the BBC that a data breach could increase the threat they face. | Constable Ronan Kerr was the last PSNI officer to be killed in Omagh in 2011
"I can't trust anyone here."
"We were looking over our shoulder, but now even more so."
"This has done half the job for the people who want to target officers."
These are some of the remarks from serving and recently retired members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) who spoke to the BBC this week.
They were articulating the fearful fallout from the unforeseen data breach - in which the names of all 10,000 PSNI staff were published on a website.
The words of the interviewees were spoken on TV and radio by BBC producers.
The media is used to taking steps to protect the identities of police officers in this part of the UK - in recognition of the security threat.
PSNI staff themselves are accustomed to checking under their cars every day - in case a bomb has been put there - and they vary their route to work.
Police everywhere face dangers in the course of doing their job.
But in Northern Ireland, the risk is at a different level - because of the presence of paramilitary organisations who actively aim to take the lives of people in the security forces.
The potential implications for the safety of PSNI members is of course the most serious issue in the data leak - but there are other important, possible consequences too.
Policing in Northern Ireland is tied up with the politics of the peace process.
During the conflict known as the Troubles, 302 officers were killed over three decades.
Most were murdered by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) - the main paramilitary group which wanted to take Northern Ireland out of the UK by force.
Northern Ireland had been policed since its foundation in 1922 by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the vast majority of members being Protestants - a marker they were from the community which supported the union with Britain.
The Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended the violence in 1998, promised reforms to policing.
A commission led by the former Conservative Party chair, Lord Patten, recommended big changes and, in 2001, the PSNI was created - designed to be an organisation which could gain the confidence of Irish nationalists, as well as unionists.
This involved a policy of '50:50 recruitment', in an effort to substantially increase the number of Catholics - who tended to be from the nationalist community.
In 2007, the political party linked to the IRA - Sinn Féin - endorsed the PSNI before it went into a power-sharing devolved government.
But that decision was not accepted by a minority of republicans - referred to as "dissidents".
The splinter groups from the IRA continued to target the police.
Peadar Heffron was captain of the PSNI's Gaelic football team
Dissident republicans also wanted to discourage people from the nationalist community from joining the PSNI - to try to disrupt a key aspect of peacebuilding.
It was acknowledged by nationalist politicians and others that Catholic officers were particularly vulnerable.
In 2010, Constable Peadar Heffron suffered life-changing injuries and Constable Ronan Kerr was killed in separate bomb attacks.
They were both keen players of Gaelic football - a sport which is hugely popular within the nationalist community.
Its governing body once banned members of the security forces in Northern Ireland from playing - such was the severity of community divisions.
The lifting of that ban - and the establishment of a PSNI Gaelic football team, which Constable Heffron captained - was seen as a symbol of progress.
After the data leak, the group which represents Catholics in the PSNI has said one officer has decided not to turn out for their Gaelic games club this week because they have kept their job a secret, and they are now worried their occupation may be known.
It is not uncommon for officers of all backgrounds to decide not to tell people - even family and friends - what they do for a living.
Before the data leak, recruitment figures were showing the PSNI had challenges attracting applications from people from the nationalist community.
They now make up about a third of officer ranks.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The roots of Northern Ireland’s Troubles lie deep in Irish history
Census figures last year indicated 45% of the population of Northern Ireland had a Catholic background.
Politicians and independent members of the Policing Board - an oversight body set up during the policing reforms - have also highlighted concerns about how the data breach could affect undercover officers.
For such officers, secrecy is all the more important.
PSNI intelligence specialists have links with the security service MI5.
Dissident republicans have claimed they have access to the data breach list
That is one of the reasons why PSNI commanders are discussing the course of action after this week's events with security chiefs and the government in London.
Budgets may come under more pressure, if compensation claims move forward or PSNI staff need to be given extra support with their personal security.
Police are assessing a claim by dissident republicans that they have the leaked information.
For the PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, and his leadership team, this is the most unexpected of crises, with still unpredictable repercussions. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66480799 |
Ukraine war: Crimea bridge targeted by missiles, Russia says - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | The bridge that connects Russia to occupied Crimea has been attacked at least twice before. | Two Ukrainian missiles have targeted a bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, Moscow says.
Videos on social media show plumes of smoke rising near Kerch bridge. Russia's defence ministry said S-200 missiles had been used and shot down causing no damage.
Ukraine has not commented on the alleged attack.
There have been at least two other attacks targeting the bridge in the past few months.
The Kerch bridge was opened in 2018 and enables road and rail travel between Russia and Crimea - Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014.
It is an important resupply route for Russian forces occupying parts of southern Ukraine.
Russia's defence ministry said that Ukraine had targeted the structure on Saturday at around 13:00 (10:00 GMT).
It identified the missiles used as S-200s - guided, Cold War-era surface-to-air weapons originally designed to destroy enemy aircraft that have apparently been adapted for ground-attack use.
The country's foreign ministry meanwhile said that "such barbaric actions... will not go unanswered".
Crimea's Russia-appointed governor Sergei Aksyonov later said that a third rocket had been shot down over the Kerch Strait.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia said it had shot down 20 Ukrainian drones near the peninsula.
An adviser to Mr Aksyonov said that traffic was halted and the smoke was an intentional "screen" generated by the military.
While Kyiv has not confirmed the attack, nor the weapons used, it would be the latest in a number of Ukrainian attempts to damage the bridge.
Last month, the Ukrainian website Euromaidan Press claimed that converted S-200 missiles had been used to attack the bridge as well as two military targets in Russia's Rostov and Bryansk Oblasts.
Also last month, two people died and another was injured when the bridge was struck by explosions.
Kyiv did not officially confirm it carried out the attack, but a source in its security service told BBC Russian it was behind it and that water-based drones had been used.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said afterwards that the bridge was a legitimate military target that supplied Russia's war effort "with ammunition on a daily basis".
"Understandably, this is a target for us. And a target that is bringing war, not peace, has to be neutralised," he added.
An explosion on the bridge in October still remains a mystery.
Footage from the time showed a huge fireball erupting as a number of cars and lorries made their way across the bridge.
The bridge was partially closed and only fully reopened in February.
Kyiv has repeatedly said it plans to retake Crimea and all territories seized by Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
An apparent increase in military operations around the bridge comes as Kyiv presses its summer offensive against Russian forces in the Ukraine's east.
Mr Zelensky has conceded that advances have been "slower than desired" as his Western-equipped forces face Russia's well-prepared defensive lines.
Moscow has also blamed Ukraine for a series of drone attacks on Moscow, including strikes on the Kremlin and a tower block housing government ministries.
While not officially confirming they were Ukrainian operations, Mr Zelensky said that "gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia ... this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process."
Meanwhile, Russia continues to attack civilian targets in Ukraine, including deadly missile strikes that destroyed a blood transfusion centre in Kharkiv and a residential area in Zaporizhzhia in the last week. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66484640 |
Watch: Survivor filmed his escape from Hawaii fires - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | Dramatic footage shows the final moments as the Lahaina resident fled his home. | Dramatic footage shows the final moments as Lahaina resident Bosco Bae Jr fled his home. He said the conditions were like "hellfire". Speaking to the BBC, he said he is waiting to return and hopes to rebuild. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66480627 |
Harry Kane makes Bayern Munich debut in German Super Cup defeat by RB Leipzig - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | England captain Harry Kane makes his Bayern Munich debut only hours after completing an £86m move from Tottenham. | Last updated on .From the section European Football
England captain Harry Kane made his Bayern Munich debut as they lost 3-0 to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup.
Only hours after completing his £86m move from Tottenham on Saturday, the striker came on as 64th-minute substitute to a huge cheer at the Allianz Arena.
He had only three touches and made little impact.
Dani Olmo scored a hat-trick for Leipzig to deny 30-year-old Kane the first trophy of his career.
Olmo's first goal was into the bottom corner after a cross was not cleared. His second was brilliant, spinning Matthijs de Ligt before slotting through Sven Ulreich's legs.
The Spain forward got his hat-trick with a penalty after Kane's introduction.
• None Where does Kane rank among Premier League forwards?
Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel said: "It is a big problem because it feels as if we had done nothing in the past four weeks.
"I cannot explain it. It was just not enough in every department. I have no idea why. There is no relation between our form and attitude going into the game and our performance on the pitch.
"It is the worst thing because there is such a big discrepancy."
Kane will have better days in Germany once he gets to know his new team. It was a slight surprise he was involved, having only become a Bayern player on the morning of the game.
He has scored 354 goals in his career and is the record scorer for Tottenham with 280, and England with 58.
Leipzig's performance was especially impressive considering they lost three of their leading players to the Premier League this summer.
Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol joined Manchester City for £77m, Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai went to Liverpool for £60m and France striker Christopher Nkunku moved to Chelsea for £52m.
The German Super Cup is the equivalent of the Community Shield in England, with Bayern the Bundesliga champions and Leipzig the German Cup winners. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66489307 |
Hawaii wildfires: Drone footage shows extent devastation in Lahaina - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | Charred trees, burnt out cars and collapsed buildings lie among the ashes left by the wildfires. | Video footage captured by a drone shows the destruction caused by wildfires that swept through the historic town of Lahaina, on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Dozens of people on the island have died in the wildfires, with scores of buildings and vehicles also being destroyed.
The coastal town attracts some two million tourists a year. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66489585 |
US returns haul of stolen artefacts to Italy - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | The items were all stolen from Italy in the late 1990s and some were worth millions of euros. | The artefacts date back thousands of years and are worth millions of euros
The United States has returned more than 250 ancient artefacts to Italy after police discovered that they had been stolen.
The art unit of Italy's police force found the items had been looted and sold to US museums and private collectors in the 1990s.
Among the precious artefacts are pots, paintings and sculptures - some up to 3,000 years old.
Several of the mosaics are worth tens of millions of euros.
The oldest item dates back to the Villanovan age (1000 - 750BC), while other artefacts were from the Etruscan civilisation (800 - 200BC), Magna Graecia (750 - 400BC) and Imperial Rome (27BC - 476AD).
Most artefacts had been stolen in the 1990s, then sold through a series of dealers with one selection apparently being offered to the Menil Collection, a museum in Houston, Texas.
The Italian Ministry of Culture said the artefacts were on display in the Menil Collection, but a spokesperson for the museum denied this and said they had never been a part of the collection.
The spokesperson said the museum had been offered the artefacts as a gift, but instead referred the donor to Italy's culture ministry.
The ministry said the owner of the collection "spontaneously" returned the items after police found that they had come from illegal excavations of archaeological sites.
Separately, the ministry said that 145 of the returned artefacts had come from a bankruptcy procedure against an English antiques dealer, Robin Symes, who amassed thousands of pieces as part of a network of illegal traders.
Italy has long sought to track down antiques and artefacts that have been stolen and sold to private collectors and museums.
In September 2022, New York returned $19m (£16m) worth of stolen art to Italy, including a marble head of the goddess Athena dated 200BC, worth an estimated $3m alone. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66486926 |
England 19-17 Wales: Owen Farrell could miss World Cup opener after 'bunker' red card - BBC Sport | 2023-08-12 | England captain Owen Farrell could miss their World Cup opener against Argentina after being sent off in their warm-up win over Wales at Twickenham. | England captain Owen Farrell could miss their World Cup opener against Argentina after being sent off in their warm-up win over Wales at Twickenham.
Farrell became the first England player to have a yellow card upgraded to a red by the new 'Bunker' review system, after a high tackle on Taine Basham.
Tomos Williams scored after a penalty try to hand Wales the lead with three England players in the sin bin.
Maro Itoje's try cut the deficit and George Ford kicked the winning penalty.
Farrell kicked three penalties in a scrappy Test match in which neither side was close to their best as England looked to avenge last week's defeat by Wales in Cardiff.
Wales reduced England's lead to a couple of points with a penalty try as Freddie Steward tackled Josh Adams in the air before the game sparked into life with Farrell's red card.
The newly introduced 'Bunker' review system for foul play, which is being used during the Summer Nations Series, was called into action as on-field referee Nika Amashukeli could not decide if Farrell's tackle on Basham warranted a straight red card.
He was initially shown a yellow card and took his place in a chair on the touchline before later being shown a red card and sent down the tunnel into the bowels of England's headquarters.
Wales cut loose with Steward, Farrell and 50th cap winner Ellis Genge all off the field as Tomos Williams scored a simple run-in to threaten a first Welsh win at Twickenham since the 2015 World Cup.
Urged on by a vocal home support, England quickly responded and Itoje was the beneficiary at the back of the rolling maul to end England's two hours and 34 minute wait for a try since Jamie George's consolation against Ireland in Dublin at the end of the Six Nations.
Ford kicked the winning penalty a few moments later as England ended their run of three defeats in a row, but any pleasure the home side take from the win will be offset by the prospect of a likely ban for their experienced skipper.
This was not a vintage England performance as they continued their preparations for this year's showpiece in France but the victory was important to boost morale.
Steve Borthwick's men returned to Twickenham for the first time since their humbling by France in the Six Nations and struggled for attacking cohesion early on as they made 11 changes to the side beaten in Cardiff last weekend.
Farrell's boot handed them the advantage but Ollie Lawrence's powerful run, as he cut back inside and shrugged off Tom Rogers with an outstretched palm, was a rare moment of incision.
England lacked discipline - with Henry Arundell also sent to the bin in the first-half - but showed resilience to recover from a losing situation to wrestle back momentum and clinch victory.
More important than warm-up results and performances, however, is the ability to come through a pre-tournament schedule unscathed and Borthwick will be concerned at the potential loss of half-back pairing Farrell and Jack van Poortvliet.
The scrum-half had to be supported as he hobbled off the pitch before later emerging on the sidelines in crutches, while Farrell's fate now lies in the hands of a disciplinary panel, who will determine the length of any ban and whether there were any mitigating factors.
Gatland will be concerned at defeat from winning position
For Wales, it was a completely different side at Twickenham from the one which overcame England last week with centre Joe Roberts handed a first cap.
The Scarlets back impressed in setting-up Tomos Williams' second-half try, while experienced full-back Liam Williams demonstrated his Test talents once again in his first game in five months.
It should also have been a chance for new captain Dewi Lake to showcase his leaderships skills but the hooker was forced off after 26 minutes after injuring his knee at a ruck.
Lake's injury adds to Wales' concerns at hooker after Ryan Elias was forced off the field with a hamstring injury during the win in Cardiff.
Lake, playing his first international for 13 months after missing the 2022 autumn internationals and 2023 Six Nations through injury, was replaced by fellow Ospreys hooker Sam Parry.
Elliot Dee is the other hooker in Wales' extended training squad with Ken Owens out of at least the World Cup group stages with a back injury.
Like their hosts, Wales failed to play with a freedom until veteran fly-half Dan Biggar came on to steer the ship. It was his pin-point cross-field kick that found 50th cap winner Adams, who was illegally brought down by Steward for the penalty try.
Gatland will be concerned that Wales conceded Itoje's try while having a three-player advantage as they let their 17-9 lead slip, and will want his charges to quickly respond in their next warm-up match against world champions South Africa back in Cardiff next Saturday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/66488909 |
Ukraine fires military conscription officials for taking bribes - BBC News | 2023-08-12 | Officials took cash and cryptocurrency and helped people to leave Ukraine, President Zelensky says. | Ukrainian conscription officials accused of taking bribes and smuggling people out of the country have been sacked in an anti-corruption purge.
Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that more than 30 people face criminal charges, with all regional officials in charge of military conscription removed.
He said bribery at a time of war is "high treason".
It comes amid efforts to bolster the armed forces, as Ukraine's counter-offensive operation continues.
A statement from the president's office said corruption allegations "pose a threat to Ukraine's national security and undermine confidence in state institutions".
Replacement officials will be chosen from candidates who have battlefield experience and have been vetted by the intelligence service, it continued.
Officials taking cash and cryptocurrency bribes or helping people eligible to be called up to fight to leave Ukraine are among the charges, said Mr Zelensky, in a video posted on social media.
Ukraine's general mobilisation rules mean all men over the age of 18 capable of fighting are eligible to be conscripted, and most adult men under the age of 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.
"We are dismissing all regional military commissars," he said.
"This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery at a time of war is high treason."
He said the conscription system "is not working decently", adding: "The way they treat warriors, the way they treat their duties, it's just immoral."
The corruption came to light after an inspection of local army offices.
Mr Zelensky said 112 criminal proceedings against 33 suspects have been launched against regional officials, and that abuses had been found across the country.
Neither Ukraine or Russia reveal how many of their soldiers have been killed since the February 2022 invasion, but both have sought recruits widely as attritional fighting continues.
The anti-corruption drive is the latest to be launched by the Zelensky government.
Corruption in public services has been a long-running problem in Ukraine and tackling it is one of the tests the country would have to pass to join Western institutions like the European Union.
According to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine ranks 116th out of 180 countries, but efforts in recent years have seen its position improve significantly. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66478422 |
Derry: Drug users warned they are 'playing Russian roulette' - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | People providing support to drug users speak out after three drug-related deaths in the north west. | Drug users who take medicines not prescribed to them have been warned they are "playing Russian roulette".
It comes after a court in Londonderry was told there were three drug-related deaths and five cardiac arrests in the north west at the weekend.
The Public Health Agency said it was aware of deaths where it was suspected pregabalin and a mixture of drugs were taken.
He said the drugs were often bought online.
"The drugs we are talking about are manufactured on a production line somewhere," Mr Kyle, manager of the HURT centre in Derry, told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.
"There is not any quality control, no one knows what's in them.
"To be honest it is Russian roulette for those people who are using them. Who knows what is in them?"
He said very few of HURT's service users took one substance on its own.
"There is poly-drug use and alcohol use, that really multiplies the risk factor," he said.
On Tuesday, police in Derry said a batch of extra-strength pregabalin tablets were missing after the three drug-related deaths.
News of the three deaths first emerged during a court hearing of a 36-year-old woman charged with a number of drug offences on Tuesday.
A police officer told Londonderry Magistrates' Court that pregabalin tablets found as part of the investigation were "four times stronger" than normal.
Pregabalin is normally used to treat epilepsy and anxiety, according to the NHS.
It was upgraded to a class C drug in Northern Ireland in 2019, which made it illegal to have the drugs without a prescription or supply or sell them to others.
In a statement, the PHA warned people against taking any substance that has not been prescribed by a medical professional.
Gary Rutherford is a founder of drug abuse charity Arc Fitness in Londonderry
Gary Rutherford, founder of drug abuse charity Arc Fitness in Derry, told BBC Radio Ulster more potent drugs are being sourced online.
"If you are using pregabalin amidst other medications, such as codeine-based medications, opiates or benzodiazepines, if you are using these or have bought them recently I would be extremely cautious on how you use them, if you use them at all," he said.
"Drug deaths are increasing year on year, so it's not going away.
"We need to get better at providing solutions and give help, support and provide better education around these drugs."
One man who turned his life around after being addicted to drugs has said there is always hope.
Henry Roddy now works with Mr Rutherford at Arc Fitness and helps provide support to people addicted to drugs.
Henry Roddy is a recovering drug addict and now helps provide support to those struggling with substance abuse
"When I got sober I realised how close I was to jail and even death," Mr Roddy said.
"It's a scary time to look back on and sometimes I take a shiver when I remember how I used to think about things and how I used to justify things." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66520831 |
World Cup: England Lionesses eye glory - but 'no plans' for bank holiday - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Fans are getting ready to roar on England's history-making team ahead of the World Cup final on Sunday. | England women's football team are 90 minutes away from immortality - but the government has all but ruled out an extra bank holiday if they win.
Fans are eagerly awaiting the final on Sunday after the Lionesses beat Australia 3-1 to secure their place.
If they beat Spain in Sydney on Sunday, they will become the first England team to win a World Cup since 1966.
But there are "no plans" for an extra day off if the Lionesses secure a famous victory, the government says.
Supporters across the country are already making plans for the final, which kicks off at 11:00 BST and will be shown live on the BBC.
Tickets for three London fan zones sold out in just eight minutes when they went on sale shortly after England's semi-final win against co-hosts Australia - nicknamed the Matildas - in Sydney.
Whether or not they win on Sunday, Sarina Wiegman's trailblazing Lionesses have already made history by becoming the first English women's football side to reach a World Cup final.
The King led tributes to the team on Wednesday, who are on the cusp of winning their second major trophy in just over a year after Euro 2022.
"While your victory may have cost the magnificent Matildas their chance for the greatest prize in the game, both teams have been an inspiration on and off the pitch - and for that, both nations are united in pride, admiration and respect," said the King, who is the head of state of both the UK and Australia.
The Welsh Guards Band could be heard playing Sweet Caroline - one of England's unofficial footballing anthem - during Wednesday's Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace after the match.
Despite popular support for an extra bank holiday whenever an England side looks to be on the brink of a major tournament win, there has never been one held to mark a sporting occasion.
The government resisted appeals for an extra day off in the run-up to the Lionesses' Euros win in 2022, and a petition calling for a bank holiday in the event the men's team won Euro 2020 also failed to get support.
Asked if there could be a change of heart this time around, a government spokesperson said: "We congratulate the Lionesses on their fantastic achievement in getting to the Women's World Cup final.
"The current pattern of public and bank holidays is well established and there are no plans to change this."
In a later statement issued after this story was published, a government spokesperson added: "Winning the World Cup would be a massive moment for the country and make no mistake we'll find the right way to celebrate.
"As Sarina Wiegman herself has said, the first thing to do is focus on the final and the whole country will be rooting for the Lionesses this weekend".
Despite a morning kick-off, fan zones were packed for England's semi-final on Wednesday.
London fan zones sold out within minutes of the semi-final victory.
But the government is understood not to be considering a bank holiday as part of any post-tournament celebrations.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the semi-final victory "phenomenal" and backed calls for an extra bank holiday.
Writing writing on social media, he said: "It's almost 60 years since England won the World Cup.
"I'm never complacent about anything… but there should be a celebratory bank holiday if the Lionesses bring it home."
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also backed the call, describing the England team an "inspiration" and saying a final win would "absolutely" deserve to be marked with a bank holiday.
Gurinder Chadha - who directed women's football classic Bend It Like Beckham - echoed calls for a bank holiday, telling Channel 4 News "it deserves some kind of marking, it deserves some kind of national holiday".
The match looks set to be played without the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak or the Prince of Wales - who is chair of the Football Association - in the stadium, with neither expected to make the journey to Australia.
After Wednesday's match, Mr Sunak congratulated the team, tweeting: "What a performance Lionesses. Just one more game to go... Bring on Sunday."
William tweeted: "What a phenomenal performance from the Lionesses - on to the final!".
The Right Reverend Libby Lane, Bishop of Derby and the Church of England's lead bishop for sport, told BBC Newscast that she would understand if people wanted to change their Sunday church plans to watch the final.
She said: "We know that lots of people will want to watch it live or to go to church and then catch up later on - and so to avoid the score while they're at worship. Either way, I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful occasion."
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Fans at Boxpark in Wembley on Wednesday morning
While there would likely be support from the public for an extra bank holiday, the government is wary of the costs associated with them.
Estimates of the impact on the economy vary widely, but in 2010 a House of Commons library report put the bill for an extra bank holiday at £2.9bn, and both the Bank of England and Office of Budget Responsibility say it negatively impacts growth.
Extra bank holidays have been held for various royal events, while one was moved in 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
England and Wales have eight bank holidays a year, while Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland 10. There was an extra bank holiday in 2023 for the King's Coronation.
Other countries do sometimes declare bank holidays for sporting wins - with Argentina enjoying a special day off last year after winning the men's World Cup. Panama even declared a national holiday in 2017 just for qualifying for the World Cup for the first time, while Saudi Arabia held one for beating Argentina in last year's group stages.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had called for a bank holiday there if his team won the cup. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66524191 |
Sarina Wiegman: England boss says reaching Women's World Cup final is a 'fairytale' - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | Sarina Wiegman says it's a 'fairytale' to lead England to the final of the World Cup and reach her fourth major tournament final overall. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman says leading England to a first Women's World Cup final is a "fairytale".
After England's 3-1 win over Australia in the semi-final, Wiegman is the first coach to take two countries to the final of the tournament, having led the Netherlands to the 2019 showpiece.
"We achieved the final, it's unbelievable," said Wiegman.
She also achieved back-to-back wins at the Women's Euros with the Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022.
"It feels like we won it [the whole tournament], we didn't win it, but we won this game," added Wiegman, 53.
She has now reached four major tournament finals in a row, with her two triumphs at the European Championships separated by a 2-0 defeat for her native Netherlands by the United States in the 2019 World Cup final.
"The chance that, as a coach or as players, to make it to finals is really special - we made it to four already," added Wiegman after England's semi-final success.
"I never take anything for granted but it's like I'm living a fairytale or something.
• None Reaction and analysis as England reach first final
• None World Cup final to be shown live on BBC
• None What do you know about past 24 hours at World Cup?
"We made the first final in 2017 [with the Netherlands] and thought this is really special, it might not ever happen again. Then you make the second, the third and the fourth and still think this might never happen again because there is so much competition."
England will play in a first football World Cup final since the men's side won the 1966 tournament.
"I can hardly describe how proud I am of the team," said Wiegman.
"This team has adapted all the time. Before the tournament, during the tournament then this game again - how we came through and found a way to win again is so incredible."
'Out of superlatives to describe Wiegman'
Before Wiegman took charge in September 2021, the Lionesses had made it to two consecutive semi-finals under Mark Sampson and Phil Neville.
But they lost on both occasions - defeated 2-1 in 2015 by Japan, before losing to the United States by the same scoreline in 2019.
Since Wiegman's arrival, England have gone on to win 30 of their 38 games, picking up two Arnold Clark Cup titles, the Euros trophy and the first Women's Finalissima.
A 30-game unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Australia in April - their only defeat under the Dutchwoman to date.
After England's victory over Australia this time around, captain Millie Bright said: "The mentality of this group is something I have never seen before. That comes through Sarina and the belief she gives us."
Former England international Izzy Christiansen said the semi-final win was "another masterclass" from the England manager.
"I'm out of superlatives to describe Sarina Wiegman," said Christiansen.
"To come in and change the culture, instil a winning mentality, to create a brand of football that is pragmatic, interesting and lets the talent flourish.
"We saw in the starting XI tonight that she had all of her best players on the pitch - some managers struggle to find ways to get the best out of their best players."
After Chelsea's Sam Kerr cancelled out Ella Toone's opener for England, it was Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo who stole the show for England with the decisive goals.
Hemp showed great determination in chasing down Australia defender Ellie Carpenter to grab the second, while Russo completed the scoreline with a calm finish for her seventh goal in 12 appearances at major tournaments.
"I came to this competition with so much belief. I just want to be fearless, I want to show what I can do on the biggest stage," said Hemp.
"I feel really fearless at the moment. I feel like I'm playing some of my best football but obviously there's still more to show.
Speaking about her partnership with Russo, Hemp added: "I feel like my connection with 'Less is so strong.
"We work off each other really well and I think we complement each other's strengths. We're both so different as players that we just work so well together.
"Throughout the tournament we have built such a great connection on and off the ball. She's a great person to be my strike partner."
Russo said: "I love playing with Hempo. First of all we have such a nice relationship off the pitch. I think we know how to get the best out of each other and she's brilliant."
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall, who will have Russo in the Gunners ranks for the forthcoming WSL season after her move from Manchester United, said the England pair are the "two hardest-working forward players" he has seen at this year's World Cup.
"I think when you see her and Lauren Hemp play together, they are not only good with the ball and with their movement, they are so hard working," said Swede Eidevall.
"Together they never give up. They hunt down every ball down to the last inch and it paid off two games in a row."
• None Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66524615 |
Clapham stabbing: New images released of homophobic attack suspect - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Two men were taken to hospital after being stabbed outside a nightclub in south London. | Det Ch Insp Jivan Saivb asked if members of the public recognised the man's clothes and mask
New images have been released of a man suspected of carrying out a homophobic attack on two men outside a south London nightclub.
The two victims, in their 20s and 30s, were attacked with a knife outside the Two Brewers, in Clapham High Street, at about 22:15 BST on Sunday.
The force has said it is treating the incident as homophobic.
The Metropolitan Police has released an image of a man on a number 50 bus in Thornton Heath at 20:30 BST that night.
Det Ch Insp Jivan Saib, who is leading the investigation, called on the public to think about whether they could name or identify the man pictured.
"I would urge people to look at these images - do you know this man? Do you recognise the clothes he is wearing?" he said.
"If you can help identify him then please get in touch."
The images, which are the latest to be released following a previous appeal on Tuesday, show the man wearing a black and grey hooded coat with a red zip and a black facemask, as well as red and black gloves.
The man was wearing a black and grey hooded coat with a red zip and a black facemask, as well as distinctive red and black gloves
The incident happened as the two victims were standing outside the nightclub, when they were approached by a man who attacked them with a knife before running away.
No arrests have been made so far, and police inquiries are ongoing. The men have since been sent home from hospital.
It comes as the Met Police have increased safety measures in the area following the attack, with nightclub staff being escorted to their cars by police in Clapham and Vaxuhall.
PC Hayley Jones, the Met's LGBT+ community liaison officer for Lambeth and Southwark, said a minibus of six officers and a sergeant were also patrolling the area every day this week and officers would be speaking to revellers outside venues to reassure them.
The attack took place outside Clapham's Two Brewers nightclub
In nearby Clapham Junction, the Clapham Grand nightclub, which holds its own drag and LGBTQIA+ events, said it was stepping up security including enhanced bag searches and increased staffing.
In a post on Instagram, it also said it would be liaising with police on a daily basis ahead of events, adding a communications network across all venues in the area would also be set up to share information and issues.
Dr Mahamed Hashi, Lambeth Council's cabinet member for safer communities, condemned "those who perpetrate violence in our borough, those who carry knives and those who carry out hate crimes against our communities".
He said: "This is a really distressing incident and our thoughts are with the two men who are now recovering from the attack, and their friends and family who will be deeply affected by this violence.
"There is absolutely no tolerance for hatred of this kind in our borough and we will work with the police to ensure that action is taken swiftly to deal with this terrible incident and prevent incidents of this kind in the future."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66526328 |
MP pledges to push for Crooked House law - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Marco Longhi wants to see better protection for heritage buildings after crooked pub's demolition. | Emergency services were called to a fire at the Crooked House pub on 5 August
An MP has told a public meeting he will pursue a law granting better protection for heritage venues in the name of a pub which was demolished after a fire.
About 100 people attended the meeting after the 18th Century Crooked House, near Dudley, was destroyed less than two days after the fire.
Marco Longhi, Conservative MP for Dudley North, said he would love to see a Crooked House law protect other venues from the same fate.
The fire is being treated as arson.
Marco Longhi, MP for Dudley North speaking at the public meeting in Himley near Dudley, about The Crooked House pub, more than a week after its burnt-out shell was demolished
South Staffordshire Council has said it was looking at possible enforcement action against those responsible.
Speaking at Himley Hall, Mr Longhi urged patience and asked residents to avoid speculating about the circumstances of the fire on social media.
Organisers of The Crooked House campaign group, Ian Sandall, Jackie Marsh, Paul Turner, Jacqueline Arriola and Tony Chen, were among about 100 who attended the meeting
He said the building, which sank due to subsidence caused by mining works in the area, would "rise from the ashes", but it would be a "marathon, not a sprint".
"I don't believe our current legislative framework is strong enough," he said. "I would love to see, in future, a Crooked House law.
"It is important we make a change in the law. Our historic pubs and buildings are not protected adequately."
The MP expressed disgust that people had removed bricks and debris from the site to "make a quick buck2
The MP pledged to bring the matter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, as soon as parliament reconvened in September.
The pub, known for its sloping walls and floor, was bought from Marston's by ATE Farms Limited in July.
On Tuesday, the BBC revealed its owners had experienced a huge fire on other land they owned.
Paul and Dawn Craig say the pub was a "landmark" and part of their heritage
Members of the public voiced concerns about a smell from the stream that runs alongside the pub and rubbish being dumped at the site.
Speaking after the meeting, residents reiterated their support for the venue to be rebuilt.Dawn and Paul Craig said the landmark should be reconstructed in the same spot, but better lighting would be needed on the approach to avoid people using the driveway as a "tip".
John Hutchinson managed The Crooked House for several years
John Hutchinson, who ran the pub as a relief manager in the 80s and 90s called for the new owners to explain what had happened. "Where are they, why haven't they come on camera and faced the public?" he asked.Others expressed disappointment South Staffordshire Council did not attend the meeting.
Fencing has now been erected around the ruins, after the Health and Safety executive ordered the owners to make the site safe.
Mr Longhi said the behaviour of people who had been removing bricks and other debris from the rubble was "disgusting" and said he was happy the fencing was up.
South Staffordshire Conservative MP Sir Gavin Williamson has also voiced his support for restoration of the site.
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66527229 |
Australia v England: Lauren Hemp your player of the match in semi-final - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | Lauren Hemp was your player of the match as England reached the World Cup final, where they will face Spain. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
Lauren Hemp was your player of the match as England beat co-hosts Australia to reach their first World Cup final.
Manchester City forward Hemp was once again the top choice for BBC Sport readers after you also named her player of the match in England's quarter-final win over Colombia.
Hemp secured a rating of 8.31 after scoring the goal to restore England's lead once Sam Kerr's wonder strike had cancelled out Ella Toone's sweetly struck opener.
She then set up Alessia Russo with a stunning pass for the Lionesses' third which sealed their spot in Sunday's final.
• None Relive England's semi-final win over Australia at the Women's World Cup
Goal scorers Russo and Toone were also highly rated, earning scores of 7.54 and 7.34 respectively, while defender Lucy Bronze also stood out with a rating of 7.43.
Chelsea forward Kerr, who scored but also missed two good chances, was rated highest for Australia with a score of 5.73.
Check out each player's rating, chosen by you, below. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66521248 |
Firm regrets taking Facebook moderation work - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The chief executive of Sama says it will no longer take work involving moderating harmful content. | A firm which was contracted to moderate Facebook posts in East Africa has said with hindsight it should not have taken on the job.
Former Kenya-based employees of Sama - an outsourcing company - have said they were traumatised by exposure to graphic posts.
Some are now taking legal cases against the firm through the Kenyan courts.
Chief executive Wendy Gonzalez said Sama would no longer take work involving moderating harmful content.
Some former employees have described being traumatised after viewing videos of beheadings, suicide and other graphic material at the moderation hub, which the firm ran from 2019.
Former moderator Daniel Motaung previously told the BBC the first graphic video he saw was "a live video of someone being beheaded".
Mr Motaung is suing Sama and Facebook's owner Meta. Meta says it requires all companies it works with to provide round-the-clock support. Sama says certified wellness counsellors were always on hand.
Ms Gonzalez told the BBC that the work - which never represented more than 4% of the firm's business - was a contract she would not take again. Sama announced it would end it in January.
"You ask the question: 'Do I regret it?' Well, I would probably put it this way. If I knew what I know now, which included all of the opportunity, energy it would take away from the core business I would have not entered [the agreement]."
She said there were "lessons learned" and the firm now had a policy not to take on work that included moderating harmful content. The company would also not do artificial intelligence (AI) work "that supports weapons of mass destruction or police surveillance".
Wendy Gonzalez said "lessons" had been learned
Citing continuing litigation, Ms Gonzalez declined to answer if she believed the claims of employees who said they had been harmed by viewing graphic material. Asked if she believed moderation work could be harmful in general, she said it was "a new area that absolutely needs study and resources".
Sama is an unusual outsourcing firm. From the beginning its avowed mission was to lift people out of poverty by providing digital skills and an income doing outsourced computing tasks for technology firms.
In 2018 the BBC visited the firm, watching employees from low-income parts of Nairobi earn $9 (£7) a day on "data annotation" - labelling objects in videos of driving, such as pedestrians and street lights, which would then be used to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Employees interviewed said the income had helped them escape poverty.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. In 2018 the BBC visited Sama in Nairobi
The company still works mainly on similar computer vision AI projects, that do not expose workers to harmful content, she says.
"I'm super proud of the fact that we've moved over 65,000 people out of poverty," Ms Gonzales said.
It's important, she believes, that African people are involved in the digital economy and the development of AI systems.
Throughout the interview Ms Gonzalez reiterated that the decision to take the work was motivated by two considerations: that moderation was important, necessary work undertaken to prevent social media users from harm. And that it was important that African content was moderated by African teams.
"You cannot expect somebody from Sydney, India, or the Philippines to be able to effectively moderate local languages in Kenya or in South Africa or beyond," she said.
She also revealed that she had done the moderation work herself.
Moderators' pay at Sama began at around 90,000 Kenyan shillings ($630) per month, a good wage by Kenyan standards comparable to nurses, firemen and bank officers, Ms Gonzalez said.
Asked if she would do the work for that amount of money she said "I did do the moderation but that's not my job in the company".
Sama also took on work with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
One employee, Richard Mathenge, whose job was to read through huge volumes of text the chatbot was learning from and flag anything harmful, spoke to the BBC's Panorama programme. He said he was exposed to disturbing content.
Sama said it cancelled the work when staff in Kenya raised concerns about requests relating to image-based material which was not in the contract. Ms Gonzalez said "we wrapped up this work immediately".
OpenAI said it has its own "ethical and wellness standards" for our data annotators and "recognises this is challenging work for our researchers and annotation workers in Kenya and around the world".
But Ms Gonzalez regards this type of AI work as another form of moderation, work that the company will not be doing again.
"We focus on non-harmful computer vision applications, like driver safety, and drones, and fruit detection and crop disease detection and things of that nature," she said.
"Africa needs a seat at the table when it comes to the development of AI. We don't want to continue to reinforce biases. We need to have people from all places in the world who are helping build this global technology."
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66465231 |
Texas woman awarded $1.2bn in revenge porn case - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The woman sued her ex-boyfriend for posting intimate photos of her online to "publicly shame" her. | The woman's ex-boyfriend shared intimate photos of her online, as well as with her friends and family, without her consent
A Texas jury has awarded a woman $1.2bn (£944m) after ruling that she was the victim of revenge porn.
The woman, who was named only by the initials DL in court documents, filed a harassment lawsuit against her former boyfriend in 2022.
The suit alleged that he posted intimate pictures of her online to "publicly shame" her after a break-up.
Her lawyers in the case said the settlement is a win for victims of "image-based sexual abuse".
"While a judgment in this case is unlikely to be recovered, the compensatory verdict gives DL back her good name," said Bradford Gilde, the lead trial lawyer, in a statement.
The lawyers had originally asked the jury for $100m in damages.
"We hope the staggering amount of this verdict sends a message of deterrence and prevents others from engaging in this despicable activity," Mr Gilde added.
According to court documents, the woman and her former boyfriend began dating in 2016.
The woman had shared intimate photos of herself with the defendant during the relationship. After a break-up in 2021, he is accused of having posted the photos on social media platforms and adult websites without her consent.
He allegedly sent links of the photos to her friends and family through a publicly accessible Dropbox folder.
He was also accused of having access to her phone, social media accounts and email, as well as to the camera system at her mother's home, which he used to spy on her.
At one point, the defendant allegedly sent the woman a message: "You will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet. Everyone you ever meet will hear the story and go looking. Happy Hunting."
Lawyers for the woman claim her former boyfriend posted the pictures "to inflict a combination of psychological abuse, domestic violence and sexual abuse".
He did not show up in court and did have an attorney to represent him, according to US media reports.
He was ordered to pay the woman $200m for past and future mental anguish, as well as $1bn in exemplary damages.
High settlements have been reached in US revenge porn cases in the past. In 2018, a California woman was awarded $6.8m after her former partner shared explicit photographs of her on porn sites.
DL told a Texas broadcaster that after receiving little assistance from local police she turned to a civil attorney.
In 2016, around 10 million Americans reported being victims of non-consensual - or revenge - porn. Many of them are women aged 18 to 29, according to a study at the time by the Data & Society Research Institute.
All US states, with the exception of Massachusetts and South Carolina, have anti-revenge porn laws in place. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66514052 |
Suspected spies for Russia held in major UK security investigation - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Three Bulgarian nationals suspected of spying in the UK for Russia face trial for "fake passports". | Three suspected spies for Russia in the UK have been arrested and charged in a major national security investigation, the BBC can reveal.
The defendants, all Bulgarian nationals, were held in February and have been remanded in custody since.
They are charged with possessing identity documents with "improper intention", and are alleged to have had these knowing they were fake.
It is alleged they were working for the Russian security services.
The documents include passports, identity cards and other documents for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.
The trio were among five people arrested in February on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act.
They were held by counter-terrorism detectives from the Metropolitan Police, which has national policing responsibility for espionage, and are due to answer police bail in September.
Three of them were charged later in February with an offence under the Identity Documents Act.
They remain in custody and are due to appear at the Old Bailey at a later date.
The trio have lived in the UK for years, working in a variety of jobs, and living in a series of suburban properties.
Mr Roussev has history of business dealings in Russia.
He moved to the UK in 2009 and spent three years working in a technical role in financial services.
His online LinkedIn profile states he later owned a business involved in signals intelligence, which involves the interception of communications or electronic signals.
Mr Roussev, whose most recent address is a seaside guesthouse in Great Yarmouth, also states he once acted as an adviser to the Bulgarian ministry of energy.
In Harrow, former neighbours described Mr Dzhambazov and Ms Ivanova as a couple.
Mr Dzhambazov is described as a driver for hospitals, and Ms Ivanova describes herself on her online LinkedIn profile as a laboratory assistant for a private health business.
The pair, who moved to the UK around a decade ago, ran a community organisation providing services to Bulgarian people, including familiarising them with the "culture and norms of British society".
According to Bulgarian state documents online, they also worked for electoral commissions in London which facilitate voting in Bulgarian elections by citizens living abroad.
Mr Dzhambazov and Ms Ivanova are described by former neighbours as a couple.
Speaking to the BBC, neighbours at two houses previously occupied by the couple said they brought round pies and cakes as gifts.
At their most recent Harrow home, neighbours said detectives spent a significant amount of time searching it, with a visible police presence for over a week.
The three defendants are due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in London in January. They have yet to enter pleas to the charges.
Counter-terrorism police have spoken publicly about the increasing amount of time spent on suspected state threats and espionage, especially relating to Russia.
Their concern follows notorious incidents from recent years involving Russian intelligence operations in the UK.
In 2018, Russian operatives attempted to murder former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, Wiltshire, using the deadly nerve agent Novichok. The pair, as well as responding detective Nick Bailey, were treated in hospital and could have died.
Later that year, local woman Dawn Sturgess - who was unconnected to the Skripals - died after being exposed to the nerve agent, which had been left in Wiltshire in a perfume bottle.
In 2006, former Russian-intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London after being poisoned by assassins working for the Russian state.
If you have information about this story that you would like to share with BBC News, please get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66504350 |
Cost of living: Five tips when asking for a pay rise - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Recruiters, a manager and a workplace psychologist give their advice on how to negotiate for more money. | If you feel like you're not getting paid enough, you're probably not alone.
While average wages have been increasing, they're still not keeping up with the pace of price rises, which means many people are finding it harder to get by.
Recent months have seen waves of strikes, with tens of thousands of workers walking out in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Many of these strikes have taken place in the public sector, where workers often do not have the power to negotiate individually.
And whether you work in the public or private sector, even if you do have a conversation with your manager there's no guarantee that it will result in a pay rise.
However, there are ways to give yourself the best chance of success.
We spoke to recruiters, a manager and a workplace psychologist to get five tips on how to best negotiate for more money.
Jill Cotton, a career trends experts at jobs site Glassdoor, says scheduling a talk in advance will allow you and your boss time to prepare, and means you're more likely to have a productive conversation.
"Don't spring this on your line manager," Ms Cotton says. "Be upfront and say that you want to book in a conversation that is specifically about pay."
Rowsonara Begum, who helps her brother run Saffron Indian takeaway in Salisbury, says it also needs to be the right time for the business.
The takeaway has five members of staff and occasionally takes on additional workers during busy periods.
Rowsonara Begum says workers seeking a pay rise should ask at a good time
She says if workers pick a time when the business is doing well, they will have the best chance of successfully negotiating more money.
If you're asking for a pay rise, you should have lots of evidence of why you deserve one.
"Know what you've achieved either from a work setting or what you've done to develop yourself, maybe to support your team, support your line managers. List all the pros of what you've done," says Shan Saba, a director at Glasgow-based recruitment firm Brightwork.
This evidence also helps your manager rationalise why you should be paid more, according to Stephanie Davies, a workplace psychologist.
"The brain needs a 'why' - why should I pay you this amount?" she says.
However, it's not just about bringing a list of all the things you've done. You should also be clear about what you want to do next, says Mr Saba.
"If you have aspirations of moving up through your organisation, have a plan of what you're looking to do over the coming year."
When asking your boss for more money, it helps if you're confident and know your worth.
That's something Ms Begum has noticed, from her experience of having these talks with staff.
"Here in Salisbury, it's quite difficult to get the staff we need," she says.
"It's also become harder to recruit from overseas. So workers have negotiating power because they know there's a shortage."
Often people don't feel confident because there is a "stigma" around talking about pay, says Glassdoor's Jill Cotton, but it's "an important part of work".
Women and people from minority backgrounds can often find it particularly hard to ask for more more, adds psychologist Stephanie Davies.
Her advice to them is to ask for a mentor or role model, who can help guide them through those conversations.
Most experts agree it's best to have an exact figure in mind before embarking on a conversation about pay.
Do your research, advises James Reed, chair of recruitment firm Reed.
"You can go online and look at job adverts and see what other comparable jobs are being recruited for and what the salaries are," he says.
Ms Cotton warns the figure should be realistic.
"We would all love to be paid millions of pounds every single year. But we are being paid to fulfil a role with the skillset we have," she says.
If the above steps don't result in a pay rise, try not to be disheartened.
"Sometimes these conversations can take a while, even months, but it's important to keep the communication open," says Ms Begum.
Pay is also not the be-all and end-all, says Mr Reed.
"It's not just necessarily about money. You might be able to get more holiday or more flexibility around working hours," he says, adding you could also negotiate extra training and development.
And if you don't feel you're getting what you want from your employer, remember, there are other opportunities out there.
"You can always look elsewhere, that's the really big lesson," says Ms Davies. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64288791 |
More than 60 migrants feared dead at sea off Cape Verde coast - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Almost all those on the boat, which was at sea for over a month, are thought to have been from Senegal. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
More than 60 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants was found off Cape Verde in West Africa.
Thirty-eight people, including children, were rescued, with footage showing them being helped ashore, some on stretchers, on the island of Sal.
Almost all those on board the boat, which was at sea for over a month, are thought to have been from Senegal.
Cape Verde officials have called for global action on migration to help prevent further loss of life.
The vessel was first spotted on Monday, police told the AFP news agency. Initial reports suggested that the boat had sunk but it was later clarified that it had been found drifting.
The wooden pirogue style boat was seen almost 320km (200 miles) off Sal, a part of Cape Verde, by a Spanish fishing boat, which then alerted authorities, police said.
The survivors include four children aged between 12 and 16, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
The boat left the Senegalese fishing village of Fass Boye on 10 July with 101 people on board, Senegal's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, citing survivors.
Moda Samb, an elected official in the village, told AFP news agency nearly all those on the boat had grown up in the community and that some local families were still waiting to hear whether their relatives were among the survivors.
The ministry said it was liaising with authorities in Cape Verde to arrange the repatriation of Senegalese nationals.
The passengers' other countries of origin reportedly include Sierra Leone and, in one case, Guinea-Bissau.
People in the small fishing community of Fass Boye are in shock - and there is a lot of anger too.
University student Moussa Diop, who lives here, told me he had three male cousins and a teenage nephew on the boat that left in secret last month. His sister had no idea her son was on the boat - and had been in a desperate state since his disappearance last month.
The first the family heard about their doomed voyage was when one of the cousins sent Mr Diop a WhatsApp video from Sal on Wednesday to tell them that three of them had made it and were in hospital - but one of the young cousins had died.
A screengrab from a video sent to a relative in Fass Boye of young men at a hospital in Sal
Mr Diop says sorrow for lost relatives and relief about those who have survived has boiled over into frustration. After news of the tragedy spread on Wednesday, people in the town began damaging cars and boats and they also set fire to the house of the mayor.
Young people blame a lack of opportunities and want the authorities to do more to help them.
Jose Moreira, a health official on Sal, said the survivors were improving and were being looked after, with a focus on rehydration and tests for conditions like malaria.
Health Minister Filomena Goncalves said: "We know that migration issues are global issues, which require international co-operation, a lot of discussion and global strategy.
"We all - all the nations - have to sit down at the table and see what we can do so that we don't lose any more lives at sea, above all."
Anger has boiled over in Fass Boye about the deaths
IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli said safe pathways for migration were "sorely lacking" and that their absence gave "room to smugglers and traffickers to put people on these deadly journeys".
The survivors may have ended up in Cape Verde, but it was almost certainly not their intended destination.
The archipelago sits around 600km off the coast of West Africa and on the migration route to the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory seen by many as a route to the EU. According to the IOM, it is one of the most dangerous journeys any migrant can make.
"This devastating loss of life demonstrates the continued failure of the Europe's hostile approach to refugee protection," Natasha Tsangarides, Associate Director of Advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said.
As ever with irregular migration, exact figures are hard to come by, but between 2020 and 2023 at least 67,000 people arrived in the Canary Islands.
Over that same period, just over 2,500 lost their lives. The IOM point out that figure covers the deaths that have been registered. Given the irregular and secretive nature of the route, the true figure could be far higher.
So, what is driving people to leave their homes and risk such a dangerous journey? In many cases, poverty is thought to be a key factor. Europe is seen by many as a route to a better life for the person migrating, as well as remittances to support the families they leave behind.
There are, however, other factors at play as well. Much of West Africa is increasingly unstable, with coups and Islamist insurgencies making an already difficult situation worse.
In Senegal, opposition politicians have been imprisoned, with claims of violent crackdowns by the authorities. President Macky Sall recently announced he would not seek a third term in office, but tensions remain high.
Are you or your family affected by the issues raised in this story? You can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66528273 |
Sarina Wiegman: England boss says reaching Women's World Cup final is a 'fairytale' - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | Sarina Wiegman says it's a 'fairytale' to lead England to the final of the World Cup and reach her fourth major tournament final overall. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman says leading England to a first Women's World Cup final is a "fairytale".
After England's 3-1 win over Australia in the semi-final, Wiegman is the first coach to take two countries to the final of the tournament, having led the Netherlands to the 2019 showpiece.
"We achieved the final, it's unbelievable," said Wiegman.
She also achieved back-to-back wins at the Women's Euros with the Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022.
"It feels like we won it [the whole tournament], we didn't win it, but we won this game," added Wiegman, 53.
She has now reached four major tournament finals in a row, with her two triumphs at the European Championships separated by a 2-0 defeat for her native Netherlands by the United States in the 2019 World Cup final.
"The chance that, as a coach or as players, to make it to finals is really special - we made it to four already," added Wiegman after England's semi-final success.
"I never take anything for granted but it's like I'm living a fairytale or something.
• None Reaction and analysis as England reach first final
• None World Cup final to be shown live on BBC
• None What do you know about past 24 hours at World Cup?
"We made the first final in 2017 [with the Netherlands] and thought this is really special, it might not ever happen again. Then you make the second, the third and the fourth and still think this might never happen again because there is so much competition."
England will play in a first football World Cup final since the men's side won the 1966 tournament.
"I can hardly describe how proud I am of the team," said Wiegman.
"This team has adapted all the time. Before the tournament, during the tournament then this game again - how we came through and found a way to win again is so incredible."
'Out of superlatives to describe Wiegman'
Before Wiegman took charge in September 2021, the Lionesses had made it to two consecutive semi-finals under Mark Sampson and Phil Neville.
But they lost on both occasions - defeated 2-1 in 2015 by Japan, before losing to the United States by the same scoreline in 2019.
Since Wiegman's arrival, England have gone on to win 30 of their 38 games, picking up two Arnold Clark Cup titles, the Euros trophy and the first Women's Finalissima.
A 30-game unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Australia in April - their only defeat under the Dutchwoman to date.
After England's victory over Australia this time around, captain Millie Bright said: "The mentality of this group is something I have never seen before. That comes through Sarina and the belief she gives us."
Former England international Izzy Christiansen said the semi-final win was "another masterclass" from the England manager.
"I'm out of superlatives to describe Sarina Wiegman," said Christiansen.
"To come in and change the culture, instil a winning mentality, to create a brand of football that is pragmatic, interesting and lets the talent flourish.
"We saw in the starting XI tonight that she had all of her best players on the pitch - some managers struggle to find ways to get the best out of their best players."
After Chelsea's Sam Kerr cancelled out Ella Toone's opener for England, it was Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo who stole the show for England with the decisive goals.
Hemp showed great determination in chasing down Australia defender Ellie Carpenter to grab the second, while Russo completed the scoreline with a calm finish for her seventh goal in 12 appearances at major tournaments.
"I came to this competition with so much belief. I just want to be fearless, I want to show what I can do on the biggest stage," said Hemp.
"I feel really fearless at the moment. I feel like I'm playing some of my best football but obviously there's still more to show.
Speaking about her partnership with Russo, Hemp added: "I feel like my connection with 'Less is so strong.
"We work off each other really well and I think we complement each other's strengths. We're both so different as players that we just work so well together.
"Throughout the tournament we have built such a great connection on and off the ball. She's a great person to be my strike partner."
Russo said: "I love playing with Hempo. First of all we have such a nice relationship off the pitch. I think we know how to get the best out of each other and she's brilliant."
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall, who will have Russo in the Gunners ranks for the forthcoming WSL season after her move from Manchester United, said the England pair are the "two hardest-working forward players" he has seen at this year's World Cup.
"I think when you see her and Lauren Hemp play together, they are not only good with the ball and with their movement, they are so hard working," said Swede Eidevall.
"Together they never give up. They hunt down every ball down to the last inch and it paid off two games in a row."
• None Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66524615 |
Alec Baldwin: Report casts doubt over Rust actor's account of shooting - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The actor denies pulling the trigger of the prop gun which went off, killing Halyna Hutchins in 2021. | Alec Baldwin's movie resumed filming this year, after having become a crime scene due to the 2021 tragedy
A new report into the fatal shooting on the set of the movie Rust appears to cast doubt over star and producer Alec Baldwin's accounts of events.
Mr Baldwin denies pulling the trigger of the prop gun which went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Weapons experts have now said the trigger would have "had to be pulled".
The actor's representatives told the PA news agency they had no comment to make on the latest development in the ongoing case.
Charges of involuntary manslaughter against the actor were dropped in April, but prosecutors said it did not "absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability".
They said charges against him could be refiled over the October 2021 shooting, which occurred on the set of the western movie.
A new report, written by weapons experts Lucien Haag and Mike Haag, was given to prosecutors in New Mexico on Tuesday.
According to the documents, prosecutors previously stated that they had information that there had been an alleged modification of the gun used by Mr Baldwin on the Rust set.
Lawyers for the movie's armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, said the Haags' report "does not indicate any modification to the gun" and "specifies that the trigger had to be pulled".
"Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver," said an excerpt of the weapons report included in the court documents.
"If the hammer had not been fully retracted to the rear, and were to slip from the handler's thumb without the trigger depressed, the half cock or quarter cock notches in the hammer should have prevented the firing pin from reaching any cartridge in the firing chamber."
It continued: "If these features were somehow bypassed, a conspicuously off-centre firing pin impression would result."
Last week, Ms Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering charges, related to the shooting.
Her plea came ahead of a jury trial scheduled for 6 December looking into the death of Ms Hutchins at the age of 42.
It is not yet clear whether or not the findings of the new report will result in charges against Alec Baldwin being refiled. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66518663 |
Rishi Sunak defends government cost-of-living support - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The prime minister says it is difficult for people to understand the scale of energy bill help. | Rishi Sunak has said it is difficult for people to understand the scale of government support with energy bills, as he defended his record on tackling the cost of living.
The prime minister said halving inflation was a top priority and his plan to ease rising prices was working.
It comes as the latest figures showed inflation slowed last month due to lower energy costs.
But food, restaurants and hotel costs are still rising.
The inflation rate, which measures price changes over time, fell to 6.8% in the year to July, down from 7.9% in June. This means prices are rising less quickly.
Inflation is much lower than it was at its peak of 11.1% in October, but it still remains high compared to historical rates and much higher than the Bank of England's 2% target.
Speaking at a business event in Enderby, Leicestershire, Mr Sunak said that unlike furlough, where the government subsidised wages of employees hit by the Covid pandemic, "no one quite understands the scale of what we've done" with energy bill support.
"A typical family will have had about half their energy bills paid for by the government over past several months - that's worth £1,500 to a typical family," he said.
"Now you wouldn't have quite seen that because you would have still just got your energy bill, it would have been very high and you'd have been, 'Oh my gosh, what's going on', but what you wouldn't have realised, maybe, is that before that even happened, £1,500 had been lopped off, and the government had covered it."
Under the Energy Price Guarantee, the government limited energy bills for a typical household to £2,500 a year, alongside a £400 winter discount.
However, the guarantee ended in July.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Rishi Sunak might want to patronise people by telling them they don't understand what's going on, but most families know that it was the Conservatives that crashed the economy and left them worse off, with higher bills and higher prices in the shops."
The Liberal Democrats described Mr Sunak's comments as "woefully out of touch".
The party's Cabinet Office spokeswoman Christine Jardine said: "Does he expect the public to give the Conservative Party a pat on the back for crashing the economy and adding hundreds of pounds a month to people's mortgages?
"He just does not get it."
Mr Sunak said the government was trying to deal with inflation by being responsible with spending and borrowing, "producing more stuff" and "increasing the supply of things", and helping "people get through this tricky period".
The prime minister claimed his plan to halve inflation by the end of this year was working.
However, speaking to journalists at the same event, he said he was "not complacent" and knew "things are tough right now".
The prime minister added that the government was also helping people by cutting fuel duty, capping bus fares outside London, and giving support payments to pensioners and people on Universal Credit. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66521633 |
Canada wildfire: Evacuees flee Yellowknife as fire nears northern city - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Thousands of residents crowded roads and airports as a wildfire threatens the city's outskirts. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: A dramatic helicopter rescue for three hikers trapped by wildfire in Canada
Thousands of people fleeing a wildfire on the outskirts of Yellowknife, one of the largest cities in Canada's north, have crowded into the local airport and the road out of town.
Hundreds have also lined up for emergency military evacuation flights.
Local officials have given the 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, a deadline of noon Friday (18:00 GMT) to leave.
As of Thursday, the fire was within 16km (10 miles) of the city.
The Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency late on Tuesday as it battles nearly 240 wildfires.
"Very tough days ahead - with two days of northwest to west-northwest winds on Friday and Saturday, which would push fire towards Yellowknife," the territorial fire service said in a statement on Facebook.
There have been reports of long lines at petrol stations in the city and on the road out of town.
Resident Bill Braden told Global News he was carrying extra petrol with him after a family member told him the line at one gas station stretched a kilometre in length.
Police advised drivers to slow down as they reach Fort Providence, about 300km southwest of Yellowknife by road, as a long queue for gas was affecting traffic.
For those not staying with friends or family in other communities, the closest centre for evacuees is 1,100km south of Yellowknife.
Military evacuation flights are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening on Thursday, with five flights to Calgary, in the neighbouring province of Alberta.
The federal transport minister has also assured evacuees that the country's largest airline, Air Canada, is capping the cost of flights out of Yellowknife.
Air Canada has added two extra flights out of the city.
Shane Thompson, environment minister for the Northwest Territories, told reporters on Wednesday that the fires had "taken another turn for the worse" and represented a "real threat" to Yellowknife, the region's capital.
"I want to stress that the city is not in immediate danger," he said. "[But] you put yourself and others at risk if you choose to stay."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the wildfire situation in the northern territory.
Some residents of Yellowknife had already begun leaving earlier on Wednesday after parts of the city were put on evacuation alert, meaning they could be asked to leave at a moment's notice.
"Watching the flights sell out and the prices go up I just kind of got to a point where we should leave," Ashley Maclellan, who fled south to Edmonton with her baby, told the CBC.
Another fire is threatening the community of Hay River.
One evacuee told the CBC her car began melting as she and her family drove through embers while fleeing that town over the weekend.
Cars on Highway 3 out of Yellowknife were bumper to bumper on Wednesday as people scrambled to evacuate
Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson pleaded with anyone remaining in the town to leave immediately.
The fire moved 30km in a few hours because of strong winds earlier this week, closing the only two highways out of the town. Then it stalled about 10km away from the town.
Resident Lisa Mundy described how her bumper had begun to melt, her windscreen had cracked and her car had filled with smoke as she and her husband left the town with their two children on Sunday.
"You couldn't see anything - we were driving through embers," she said.
About 46,000 people live in the Northwest Territories, and Canada's military has been co-ordinating the largest airlift evacuation effort in the region's history.
The communities of Fort Smith, K'atl'odeeche First Nation, Hay River, Enterprise, and Jean Marie River are all also under evacuation orders.
Kakisa, a community of about 40 people some 130km from Hay River, received an evacuation order on Thursday.
Kofi Yeboah, a social worker in Fort Good Hope, about 800km northwest of Yellowknife, said his community has had some smoky skies from the fires in the territory.
"We are all praying we get as much rain as we can," he told the BBC.
Canada is having its worst wildfire season on record, with nearly 1,100 active fires burning across the country as of Wednesday.
Experts have pointed to a warmer and drier spring than normal as the reason.
Scientists say climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
Are you personally affected by the wildfires in Canada? If it is safe to do so, you can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66526554 |
Australia 1-3 England: Lionesses reach first Women's World Cup final - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | England spoil co-hosts Australia's party by booking their place in the Women's World Cup final for the first time on a historic night in Sydney. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
England reached the Women's World Cup final for the first time as they spoiled co-hosts Australia's party on a historic evening in Sydney.
Silencing a sell-out crowd at Stadium Australia with their 3-1 victory, the Lionesses became the first England football team since 1966 to reach a senior final on the world stage.
It caps a sensational two years under manager Sarina Wiegman as England, crowned European champions for the first time last year on home soil, showed their superiority and know-how to see off an Australia side spurred on by a nation who have been inspired by the Matildas' success.
Ella Toone gave England the lead in the first half with a superb first-time strike which sailed into the top corner.
The Lionesses controlled proceedings until the second half when Australia threw everything at them and star striker Sam Kerr - starting her first match of the tournament - struck a 25-yard stunner over goalkeeper Mary Earps' head to make it 1-1.
But England, as they so often do, found a way back into the game when Lauren Hemp pounced on a defensive error to restore their lead, before Alessia Russo made sure of victory late on to set up a final with Spain on Sunday.
• None Reaction and analysis as England reach first final
• None World Cup final to be shown live on BBC
• None What do you know about past 24 hours at World Cup?
Build-up to this semi-final has dominated every aspect of Australian life this week as cities across the country became absorbed in 'Matildas Mania'.
Fans were queueing outside fan parks in Sydney five hours before kick-off, train stations were decorated in yellow and green balloons, shops sold out of merchandise, and newspapers had the players' faces plastered over their front and back pages.
All focus was on the co-hosts' attempts to create history, but England quietly went about their business and arrived in Sydney ready to compete in their third successive Women's World Cup semi-final.
Their experience of handling big occasions was evident from the first minute as they disrupted Australia's rhythm and made every attempt to frustrate the crowd, taking their time over throw-ins and breaking down dangerous counter-attacks.
It worked for large parts, but when Australia fought their way back into the game through Kerr, England had to find another way - and they did.
Backs against the wall, England's defence, who have been magnificent throughout the tournament, stepped up to make blocks, tackles and head away relentless balls into the box.
"My thought was 'we're not going to give this away now'," said Wiegman, reflecting on Australia's equaliser. "You are never sure. But it was later in the game so we got through."
Hemp and Russo's flourishing partnership up front ultimately decided the game when they combined late on - Manchester City winger Hemp with a superb no-look pass to set-up Russo.
"That was just an incredible pass," added Wiegman. "The finish was really good too. I'm really happy with the performance and the players themselves are happy too."
England's celebrations at full-time were initially subdued. They have created history but this is a team of winners and they have not finished yet.
From the first minute they showed they were not afraid to play with physicality, going in hard in 50-50 challenges and doing all it took to bring down Kerr and prevent her getting a run at England's defence.
Keira Walsh set the tone with a crunching tackle on Kerr within two minutes and Alex Greenwood later came sliding in on the Chelsea striker, earning herself a yellow card, to prevent a dangerous break.
With each tackle came a ripple of boos from the home fans, while Earps was in no rush to get things going again on goal-kicks.
It was England who controlled things early on - although both teams created a few chances - as they had 70% of the ball in the opening 15 minutes.
Their control did not really waver as the first half wore on and the crowd became increasingly frustrated, whistling as England enjoyed prolonged periods of possession and passed through Australia's press.
By the time the break arrived with England leading, the deafening roar which had greeted the players on their entrance had turned to polite applause as the Australians were still processing Toone's superb strike.
The second half was a different story, however. Kerr's sensational equaliser was followed by a dangerous strike from Cortnee Vine which called Earps into action.
Kerr headed another two chances over the bar, while Russo and Lucy Bronze came close at the other end for England.
However, it was the Lionesses who were more ruthless, keeping their composure in the big moments and delivering when it mattered.
"Knowing Sam, she will think that goal means nothing. She is a winner," said Australia manager Tony Gustavsson.
"I know she's upset that she missed those two chances at the end. We need to support her. She did everything she could tonight.
"The fact she played 90 minutes is unbelievable. It is a world-class goal and shows what Sam Kerr is about. We promised to leave every single thing out there and every player did."
England will go into the final full of confidence having overcome every hurdle so far in the tournament.
But this has also been a World Cup to remember for the Matildas, who hope to change the perception of women's football in this country forever.
It will be hard to ignore their impact and they were given a warm applause on a lap of honour at full-time.
• None Goal! Australia 1, England 3. Alessia Russo (England) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Lauren Hemp with a through ball following a fast break.
• None Attempt missed. Sam Kerr (Australia) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Mary Fowler (Australia) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Cortnee Vine.
• None Attempt saved. Cortnee Vine (Australia) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sam Kerr.
• None Attempt missed. Sam Kerr (Australia) header from very close range is too high. Assisted by Mary Fowler with a through ball.
• None Attempt missed. Millie Bright (England) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Alex Greenwood with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Alessia Russo (England) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Ella Toone. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66499185 |
Ireland ATM: Queues form as bank glitch allows extra cash withdrawals - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The glitch led to customers being able to withdraw more money than they held in their bank accounts. | Long queues formed at cash machines across the Republic of Ireland, after technical faults led to customers being able to withdraw large sums while having little or no funds in their accounts.
The glitch, which affected some Bank of Ireland ATMs, lasted for several hours on Tuesday, and it now appears to have been resolved.
Irish police said they were aware of an unusual volume of activity around some cash points, and deployed officers outside banks.
Some customers were allowed to transfer up to €1,000 (£850) from their accounts, the Irish Times reported.
The bank has apologised for the outage, but also warned customers that any money withdrawn over normal limits would be "applied to their accounts." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66524657 |
Darren Brown: Bridgend councillor charged with attempted murder - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Town councillor Darren Brown has been charged with attempted murder and wounding with intent. | Bridgend town councillor Darren Brown has appeared at Newport Crown Court charged wtih attempted murder and wounding with intent
A town councillor has appeared in court charged with attempted murder and wounding with intent.
Darren Brown, 34, of Tairfelin in Wildmill, Bridgend, attended Newport Crown Court via video from HMP Cardiff.
A woman was taken to hospital in a stable condition on 10 July after police were called to a serious assault at a home in the area.
He was ordered to appear in court in person for arraignment on 21 September and was remanded into custody.
His trial, if needed, is provisionally set for 2 January 2024 and is expected to last for five days. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66518851 |
Ecuador election: 'I'm wearing a bulletproof vest 24 hours a day' - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Andrea González aims to be vice-president in Ecuador after her party's presidential candidate was shot dead. | A week ago, her Construye party's presidential candidate in the Ecuadorean election this Sunday, Fernando Villavicencio, was shot three times in the head after a campaign rally in the capital, Quito.
Ms González, 36, will remain the party's candidate for vice-president, as the running mate of Christian Zurita. He is a journalist who has investigated corruption - as Fernando Villavicencio had.
"To me it's incredibly personal and hard to not be able to say goodbye to my friend. I'm wearing a bulletproof vest 24 hours [a day]," she said.
Mr Villavicencio, 59, a journalist and member of Ecuador's national assembly, was shot as he left a campaign rally in the capital last Wednesday - 11 days before the presidential election.
One attacker was killed in an exchange of fire with police, while several others escaped.
His death shocked a nation that has largely escaped the decades of drug-gang violence, cartel wars and corruption that has blighted many of its neighbours. Crime has, however, shot up in recent years, fuelled by the growth of Colombian and Mexican drug cartels.
Mr Villavicencio's campaign focused on corruption and gangs, and he was one of only a few candidates to allege links between organised crime and government officials in Ecuador.
"We are at the brink of becoming a narco state," Ms González said.
"We are totally sure that this is a political assassination, more than the gangs and the organised crime. There's a political feeling in this, there's a political intention in this," she added.
"Three days before the debate and Fernando clearly said he had very delicate information that was going to change the way these elections were turning. That information never got to light."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Fernando Villavicencio was shot as he left a rally in Quito
Ms González, whose career has mainly focused on environmental issues, said that these levels of violence had become normalised in Ecuadorean politics.
Initially her party wanted her to succeed Mr Villavicencio as presidential candidate, but later party officials decided to keep her as running mate and chose Christian Zurita as the replacement. They feared she could have been disqualified, as she was already registered as vice-presidential candidate.
As the ballot papers had already been printed, Fernando Villavicencio's name will remain on the ballot.
Violence has not ceased since the attack on the candidate. Pedro Briones, a local leader of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Party in Esmeraldas, was shot dead by gunmen on a motorcycle at his home on Monday.
"Any one of us is exposed to this level of violence," Ms González said.
"Taking your child to school is already a high risk. Every time you stop at a traffic light you are exposed to getting shot or having a bomb next to your car.
"The level of violence that Ecuador is experiencing has never been seen before."
But she says this will not stop her attempts to achieve what her mentor had dreamed of.
"I feel a lot of weight on my shoulders," she said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-66515140 |
Ukraine war: Ship leaves Odesa despite Russia Black Sea attack fears - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | It comes as Kyiv said Russian strikes damaged grain facilities in a river port 260km southwest of Odesa. | The Joseph Schulte has been trapped at Odesa since February 2022
A merchant ship has left the Ukrainian port of Odesa, despite concerns Russia could target vessels in the Black Sea.
The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte had been trapped in the port since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kyiv has announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea after a deal collapsed last month which had allowed it to export grain.
But Moscow has not said whether it will respect the corridor.
The ship left as Kyiv said Russian air strikes damaged grain storage facilities in Reni, a river port on the Danube river, about 260km (160 miles) south west of Odesa.
Ukrainian officials released photos showing destroyed storage facilities and piles of scattered grain and sunflowers in Reni, on Ukraine's border with Moldova and Romania.
An industry source told Reuters the port was continuing operations.
Russia has not commented on the latest attack.
Last month Russia pulled out of a deal guaranteeing safe passage for exports across the Black Sea, and said any ship heading for Ukrainian ports could be considered a military target.
Earlier this week it fired warning shots at a ship travelling towards Ukraine.
Ukraine is a major grain and oilseeds exporter, and the blockade has contributed to rising food prices globally.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Despite the threats, Ukraine last week announced a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea to allow ships to leave its ports, promising full transparency to make clear they were serving no military purpose.
"A first vessel used the temporary corridor for merchant ships to/from the ports of Great Odesa," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which jointly owns the Joseph Schulte with a Chinese bank, confirmed the ship was travelling to Istanbul, Turkey, Reuters reports.
It was carrying more than 30,000 tonnes of cargo, including food, in 2,114 containers, Mr Kubrakov said, adding that the corridor would mainly be used to evacuate ships trapped in Black Sea ports since Russia's full-scale invasion began.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials announced the capture of Urozhaine, a small hamlet in the eastern Donetsk region, from Russian forces.
"Urozhaine liberated - our defenders are entrenched at the outskirts," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram.
In recent months, Ukrainian forces have been conducting a huge counter-offensive, largely in the east and south east, aimed at retaking territory from occupying Russian forces.
Despite receiving billions of dollars of Western military equipment, it has seen only modest advances.
Earlier this week Ukraine said it had recaptured 3 sq km (1.2 sq miles) of territory around war-ravaged Bakhmut, also in Donetsk region, although it is facing "powerful resistance" in the south.
Intense fighting in the country's east has led to many residents being evacuated.
As she prepared to leave the frontline town of Kupiansk, in Kharkiv Region, Vira Vunesku, 53, said she was ill and needed to evacuate her grandson.
"My condition is serious - I was in a hospital in Kharkiv, came back home for a bit, and now I have to leave again," she told AFP news agency.
Separately, Russia said its air defence systems downed three drones overnight near Moscow, the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted Russian cities.
Ukrainian officials released photos of what it said was a Russian air strike on grain storage facilities in Reni, on the Danube river | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66518504 |
Father Ted writer Graham Linehan comedy show cancelled over gender views - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | An Edinburgh arts venue says Graham Linehan's beliefs do not align with its values. | A comedy show featuring Father Ted writer Graham Linehan in Edinburgh has been cancelled due to complaints.
Leith Arches said it had pulled the gig because it did not support the comedian, and his views do "not align with our overall values".
The writer has been an outspoken critic of transgender self-identification.
Mr Linehan urged the venue to reconsider its decision and suggested the cancellation might be unlawful.
The organisers of the gig said they were looking for an alternative venue.
Leith Arches said it had been unaware Mr Linehan would be taking part in the show which was organised by a third party.
In a social media post it thanked members of the public for their complaints about his scheduled appearance this Thursday.
It wrote: "We do not support this comedian or his views and he will not be allowed to perform at our venue and is cancelled from Thursday's comedy show with immediate effect."
Mr Linehan responded on X, formerly Twitter, by challenging the venue to explain which of his views it found offensive.
He posted: "It sure sounds like discrimination on the grounds of my legally protected beliefs."
Graham Linehan, pictured at a Let Women Speak rally in Belfast earlier this year
Earlier this year another Edinburgh venue, The Stand, cancelled a scheduled Fringe festival appearance by SNP MP Joanna Cherry after staff said they were not comfortable with her views on transgender issues.
But the comedy club later reinstated it and apologised, admitting the cancellation was "unfair and constituted unlawful discrimination against Ms Cherry".
The In Conversation With... Joanna Cherry event took place last week.
Ms Cherry, who is also a lawyer, later posted that the Linehan case "looks like a pretty clear case of belief discrimination" and hit out at "more petulant cancellation".
The booking website for the show had promised an evening of "edgy comedy" featuring four named comedians and a "surprise famous cancelled comedian".
It was organised by Comedy Unleashed, set up by GB News host Andrew Doyle and comic writer Andy Shaw, which says it supports comedians who "leave their self censorship button at the door".
Mr Shaw told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "We're very much against this cancel culture because we think it's killing the arts and it's treating the audience like children who need mollycoddling.
"Andrew Doyle and I set Comedy Unleashed up because we're sick of this. We want the extroverts, we want all the crazy stuff, we want people to be free and treat the audience like they're adults."
He added: "If there's any venue out there who wants an audience of 150 people - we're sold out - we will bring our audience and our pre-packaged act to your venue."
Mr Linehan co-created the Channel 4 comedy Father Ted and later wrote Black Books and The IT Crowd.
An episode of The IT Crowd from 2008 has been criticised over its transgender plot line.
In 2020 Channel 4 removed it from their streaming service saying that "in light of current audience expectations, we concluded it did not meet our standards for remaining available... and it was not possible to make adequate changes".
Mr Linehan was later involved in a number of acrimonious social media disputes with trans activists, and in 2020 was permanently suspended from Twitter which claimed he had breached rules on "hateful content". His account was reinstated after Elon Musk took over the social media platform.
In an emotional BBC interview last year, the Dublin-born writer told Nolan Live he had been unfairly targeted over his views, losing him work and contributing to the break-up of his marriage. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66516252 |
Councils failing to tackle anti-social behaviour, watchdog says - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Cases cited include a victim being told a neighbour's 13-hour long party did not warrant action. | Councils are frequently failing to use their powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, a watchdog has found.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman cited cases including a victim being told a neighbour's 13-hour long party did not warrant action.
The watchdog said it upheld three-quarters of the cases it had investigated in the past year and found fault in how the council had acted.
Councils said they took a "balanced and proportionate" approach to complaints.
A report published by the ombudsman on Wednesday highlighted issues including long delays responding to complaints, referring people to the police instead of taking action and failing to liaise properly with other agencies.
It said out of the 63 cases it had investigated in the last year - ranging from low-level issues such as dog-fouling and inconsiderate parking to more serious harassment and intimidation - 51 were upheld.
In one case a resident complained to the council about a neighbour's party with loud music which lasted more than 13 hours.
Despite another party a few weeks later, he was told by the council that its policy would only consider taking action if he recorded six incidents within 25 days.
The ombudsman said the council's policy was too inflexible and recommended it was reviewed.
Another case saw a man complain to his council about his neighbour placing bagged dog faeces outside his window in a bin until collection day, shouting abuse and throwing tennis balls at him.
The council decided it was not anti-social behaviour but a private dispute over rights of access to a courtyard area behind their properties and that he should report the incidents to the police.
The ombudsman said the council was at fault and should apologise.
John, not his real name, told the BBC he had been experiencing escalating problems with his neighbours since last November, which he had repeatedly reported to his council in south-east London.
He said it started with relatively minor issues like smoking, drug-taking and loud music in the building, but had grown in severity to him and his wife witnessing violence and racist abuse.
On one occasion he said he was personally threatened by the neighbours for reporting them.
Despite providing evidence including footage, John said he felt like the issues had not been taken seriously enough by the council and he was frustrated by how slow they had been to take action.
"When things have been really extreme, it's felt the same way they would if I said they were playing music," he said.
"It's been the most stressful thing I've ever had to deal with."
After giving written warnings to the tenants, John said he was told the council had applied for a court order to repossess the property but he was then told this had not happened yet.
John said he also felt the council had tried to pass him on to the police, but they had said there was not enough evidence to convict.
He said he and his wife now felt so uncomfortable in their own home they stayed with family at weekends when they could.
"It started off feeling on edge quite a lot of the time... to now being intimidated by coming back to our property."
Councils have a range of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, including community protection notices for issues like noise and litter. Failure to comply with a notice to stop the behaviour is a criminal offence.
They can also apply to the courts for an injunction to stop individuals engaging in certain behaviour - and if they fail to do so the council can apply to issue a warrant for their arrest.
However, the ombudsman found councils were either not using these powers or did not fully understand them.
The Local Government Association, which represents councils, said anti-social behaviour could have "a devastating impact" and councils were committed to working with partners and communities to protect residents from offenders.
A spokesperson said: "Councils will always take a balanced and proportionate approach to using the tools at their disposal to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour [ASB] and so it is vital all agencies - including the government - ensure all measures in the ASB Plan launched earlier this year are adequately resourced."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to crack down on anti-social behaviour, setting out an action plan earlier this year.
It included increasing the use of hotspot policing, forcing people who vandalise public spaces to repair the damage they cause and extending powers to disperse groups to councils.
A government spokesperson said: "Councils should use all available powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, and through our action plan the government is providing dedicated funding to support Police and Crime Commissioners, working with councils and others, to target enforcement in the areas where anti-social behaviour is most prevalent in their communities."
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Australia v England: Meet the fans with split loyalties at the Women's World Cup - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | Australia's clash with England at the Women's World Cup has left some families divided over who they will be supporting. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds and follow on the BBC Sport website & app.
England supporters will be outnumbered in Sydney when the Lionesses take on co-hosts Australia in their Women's World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
It will be a feeling one England super fan is very familiar with.
Kate Grant, originally from Surrey, lives in the New South Wales capital and has been backing Sarina Wiegman's side all tournament.
The problem? The rest of her family are diehard Australia supporters.
"I do sometimes feel outnumbered, this is the first time really where it has been a dogfight between England and Australia," Kate Grant told BBC Sport.
"Aside from the Ashes and the netball it's never really been a massive issue in this family until this Wednesday."
• None Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup
Kate, along with her husband Steve and son Ed, have tickets for Wednesday's clash at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
And the Englishwoman has been unable to convince Australian-born Steve and Ed into backing the European champions.
"Anyone who has grown up in Australia knows the team you want to beat is England," added Steve.
"There's always a difference, luckily they don't play together too often. We'll see who wins but I'm pretty sure I know who will."
Another football fan whose family is divided by England-Australia loyalties is Chris Calverley - originally from Southampton in England, he moved to Australia permanently in 2005 after meeting his now wife, Katrina, on a backpacking trip Down Under.
They have two sons - Blake, 12, and Alex, eight. Blake has followed in his England-supporting dad's footsteps, while Alex backs Australia in all sports - just like his mum.
"It's pretty much for all sports the house is split," say Chris, who lives with his family in the Sydney suburb of Pagewood.
"This match is huge for us. We go along on Wednesday night, and there will be two of us supporting England and two of us supporting Australia.
"The divided loyalties are at such a point that my wife went out yesterday and bought Alex an Australia top but she didn't buy Blake an England top because that's my responsibility. It's getting tense - in a friendly way."
Chris has previously been to a football match featuring both teams with his wife once before - when the Socceroos beat England 3-1 at Upton Park in 2003.
"We didn't talk for about three days," he jokes. "So I've probably got the most to lose in this, I could be in a bad way come 10pm on Wednesday night."
And if England lose, will he be supporting Australia in the final? "100%," he said.
"I'd be there at the final and I'd wear the green and gold. I'd be very happy for my wife and my youngest son. Although it might take me a couple of days to get over [an England defeat]."
'I never expected to have to pick a side'
The situation is less clear cut for Australia-born Beth Pankhurst, 26, who comes from a family which have dual British-Australian citizenship.
Her mother's side of the family are originally from Kent, in south-east England, but they moved to Australia.
"We grew up here, but we've always had a soft spot for the Lionesses," she said. "Mainly because domestic football in Australia, and particularly women's football, hasn't necessarily had the funding or the expertise or the advertisement that the Women's Super League [in England] has had.
"So my cousin and I are mad Chelsea women's fans. It's helped more that as time has gone on, the WSL [Women's Super League] particularly has a lot of Matildas players. They don't play in our A League here, they play overseas, a lot of the time alongside the Lionesses."
Her usual support for both teams has encountered a problem now the teams are set to meet on the biggest stage.
"An occasional friendly between Australia and England is fine, but I don't think we ever expected to be quite in this situation where we had to pick between which side to support."
So far Beth has gone to England's two World Cup matches in Sydney, as well as travelling around the country for all of Australia's games.
But she admits that when she originally bought tickets for Sunday's final, she never expected the Matildas to be in contention to get there, let alone at the expense of England.
"Now we're in this position we've very much conflicted," she added.
Beth currently has England-supporting family visiting from London, so a group of 20 of them will be going to the semi-final.
Some family members have said they will be painting their faces 50/50 "so they win either way".
Beth, who jokes that it will be cold enough to wear her England shirt under her Australia jersey, is going to be rooting for the Matildas.
"It will be a rough divide of 10 of us going for the Matildas and 10 of us going for the Lionesses," she said.
So could she call it a win-win situation for her?
"Exactly, either way we will be cheering in the car - either because Australia have won and we've never got to this point before or cheering because the Lionesses are well and truly bringing it home," she added.
• None Watch the chilling crime thriller, Wolf, from the makers of Inside Man and Sherlock
• None Will the faithfuls unmask the traitors? 24 Aussies take on the ultimate game of trust and treachery | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66498817 |
Rail fares in England to rise below 9% in 2024 - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Fare increases in 2024 will again be held below the rate of inflation, says the government. | Regulated train fares in England will again rise below the rate of inflation next year, the government has said.
The move is meant to help people with the soaring cost of living and follows a similar intervention in 2023.
Any rises will once more be delayed until March 2024, rather than kicking in in January as was normal pre-Covid.
However, one campaign group said fares should be frozen "in recognition of the burden high fares place on rail passengers".
Regulated fares cover about 45% of fares, including season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys and anytime tickets around major cities.
Before the pandemic, they were increased in January each year, based on the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation from the previous July. The normal formula is RPI plus 1%.
RPI in July was 9%, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.
It is not known what next year's increase will be, but this year the government increased national rail fares by 5.9%, which was well below July 2022's RPI figure of 12.3%.
That increase was still the largest since 2012, according to regulator the Office of Rail and Road.
At the time Labour called the rise a "sick joke for millions reliant on crumbling services".
The government's latest intervention comes as UK inflation - the rate at which prices rise - remains high although is starting to ease.
Millions are still struggling with higher prices for food and services at time when interest rates are also rising to tackle the problem, making it more expensive to borrow money.
A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman said the government would "continue to protect passengers from cost of living pressures".
Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, which represents passengers, said: "Nobody likes their fare going up, but after a year where many journeys have been blighted by disruption due to industrial action and patchy performance, passengers will be relieved to hear that fares will be capped below the Retail Prices Index and any increases will be delayed until March next year."
But Paul Tuohy, boss of pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, said the government should "freeze rail fares - as they have done with fuel duty - until the long-promised ticketing reform takes place".
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also called for an immediate rail fare freeze, adding: "We need real action to tackle the cost of living crisis."
The DfT promised in 2021 to simplify the entire ticketing system, reducing the vast number of fares available which can make it difficult for travellers to decide which is best for them.
Reforms so far have included a trial of "single leg pricing" and the introduction of flexi-season tickets. But the pressure group says overhauling the ticketing system has yet to take place.
Since last summer rail passengers have faced disruption due to a wave of strikes, with further industrial action planned on Saturday 26 August and Saturday 2 September.
Workers are demanding pay rises that reflect the soaring cost of living, while also trying to stop job cuts and changes to working conditions.
The Scottish and Welsh governments have not announced their policies regarding rail fare rises next year. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66514022 |
Trowbridge Rugby Club women's team praised for helping crash victims - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The team "undoubtedly saved lives" by using laces to make tourniquets after a crash near their pitch. | The team rushed to the aid of the injured, using the laces from their boots as makeshift tourniquets
The players of a women's rugby team have been praised for rushing to the aid of the victims of a car crash near their training pitch.
Trowbridge Rugby Club Women were finishing training on the evening of 9 August when they heard a "mighty crash" nearby and then cries for help.
They rushed to help four people injured when their vehicle ended up on its side.
Trowbridge police said: "What happened next has undoubtedly saved lives."
The incident happened at about 20:40 BST on the byway heading to Whaddon Lane near the rugby club.
The team's chair Emma Santer says the players' bond has "blossomed"
"We all just ran to the bushes," said the club's chair, Emma Santer.
"Half of us jumped over a barbed wire fence. The other half crawled through the bushes which were full of stinging nettles."
They discovered a single vehicle on its side, with four people who had suffered a variety of injuries.
Two women had managed to get out of the car but two men - the driver and front passenger - were still inside.
"We opened the boot and helped one get out of the car. There was lots of blood," said Ms Santer.
Ms Santer, who works as an emergency department nurse, said her initial response was to try and create a triage system.
"Two people got to each end of the lane, so they could stop traffic coming down.
"We had one person on the phone to 999 and three rugby players helping each patient."
The women made makeshift tourniquets from their rugby boot laces and players' bibs and shirts to try and stem the bleeding.
Other players helped to support the heads of two of the casualties to help prevent spinal injuries and to provide reassurance, said Ms Santer.
They also used foot mats, bits of carpet and a duvet to support the casualties so they were not on the cold ground.
Ms Santer says she is "proud" of the players for their actions
Once the emergency services arrived, the players assisted paramedics by holding IV poles, cutting away clothing and lifting the casualties on to stretchers.
Trowbridge Police said: "Without their assistance this could have very easily been a fatal.
"It was a fantastic effort by this rugby team in assisting."
"I'm proud of my team, I think they did really good," said Ms Santer, who joined the women's team in 2020.
"No-one even second guessed, they all just went to help.
"We're quite a new team, we had quite a few new players recently and it just shows how you naturally form into a team and over the few weeks and how that bond has blossomed.
"We always keep a calm head and communicate with each other."
A team de-brief was held the following day to make sure team members felt supported.
"There were some bad injuries. We had a team de-brief with pizza and mental health support was offered," said Ms Santer.
She added that she had been informed by the police that the driver and three passengers were recovering well.
Wiltshire Police said the driver, a man in his 30s, suffered an arm injury which was serious but not thought to be life-changing.
Three other people in the vehicle suffered reportedly minor injuries.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-66518977 |
Ella Toone: Lioness's family celebrate win at star's local pub - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Ella Toone's family joined raucous celebrations of her stunning goal at The Union Arms in Tyldesley. | The family of England's Ella Toone and other regulars at a pub which bears a mural of her have gone wild for the star's goal in the Lionesses' semi-final victory at the World Cup.
The Manchester United midfielder's Euro 2022 heroics saw her image painted on the side of The Union Arms in her home town of Tyldesley in Wigan.
Her family and other fans crowded into the pub for the semi-final against Australia and were not disappointed, as Toone's stunning opener put England on the road to victory.
Landlady Sharon Mattin said those assembled knew "Ella would do it".
"We knew it was going to be her game," she added.
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-66522927 |
Top A-levels fall, with steepest drop in England - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Overall top grades are nearly back to 2019 levels, but most university applicants get their first choice. | Top A-level results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have fallen for a second year running - with 27.2% of all grades marked at A* or A.
That is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
It follows a spike in top grades in 2020 and 2021, when exams were cancelled because of Covid.
The drop is steeper in England, where grades were due to be brought back in line with 2019 in this year's results.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, grades were always meant to be a bit higher this year.
Overall, there are 73,008 fewer top grades compared with 2022, but 31,834 more than in 2019.
The pass rate for exams in Scotland fell last week - but was still higher than before the pandemic.
The fall in top grades will mean disappointment for some students, but it has got nothing to do with students' individual performance.
It is part of a plan to bring grades back down in line with pre-pandemic levels, after sharp rises in 2020 and 2021 when exams were cancelled and results were based on teachers' assessments.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said 79% of 18-year-olds applying to university got a place at their first choice - which is lower than last year, but higher than before the pandemic.
Another 9% did not get into their firm or insurance choice of university and are in clearing, Ucas's online system that advertises courses with vacancies.
Ucas has previously warned that spaces on some courses at top universities would "go quite quickly" in clearing, with the number of 18-year-olds in the population growing and international applications to undergraduate courses up slightly on last year.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A-Level results: What to do if you missed your grades
AS-level results are also being released which, in Wales and Northern Ireland, count towards students' final A-level results next summer.
And 3,448 students in England are receiving vocational T-level qualifications in England. The pass rate was 90.5%, and 69.2% of students achieved a merit or above.
Lara, 18, is planning to move out of her family home in London and head to university in the next few weeks.
She was disappointed when she did not get the grades she wanted in her English literature, maths and computer science A-levels - but has since found a place through clearing.
"Luckily my parents and my teacher were on hand to offer me support and we got on the phone to clearing immediately," she said.
"Everyone should be proud of what they have achieved and remember, if you don't get the grades you want there are still so many options available to you."
Lara is a registered young carer for her younger sister, and says moving to university does "bring up some anxieties".
"I'll still be available to phone and pop down to visit, but there is that anxiety that I will be leaving and I'm not sure how either of us will react to that situation," she said.
With the support of her parents and family and the Carers Trust charity, Lara says she is ready to take the next step and would encourage other young carers to reach out and get some help.
"Hollie, my sister, would like to turn my room into a Lego room when I leave," she says. "She is very excited."
There was a steeper drop in the proportion of A-levels marked at A* and A in England than elsewhere:
Exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid. Pupils' grades were based on teachers' predictions instead, leading to a spike in top results.
England's exams watchdog, Ofqual, set out a two-year plan to bring A-level and GCSE results back down to pre-pandemic levels.
Last year was the first time students sat exams since the start of the pandemic. Ofqual called it a "transition year", with grades set to reflect a midway point between 2019 and 2021. About 36.4% of A-levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were marked at A* and A.
Now, in the second stage of the plan, grades in England are more similar to those in 2019, when 25.4% of A-levels were given the top grades.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said bringing them back down would ensure results carried "weight and credibility" with employers, universities and colleges, so they know what the different grades mean.
However, this year's A-level students also suffered from disruption because of Covid.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said students getting A-level and other Level 3 results had faced "unprecedented circumstances".
Most of them were in Year 10 when the pandemic hit and their GCSEs were cancelled, so this is the first time they have sat formal exams.
The impact on pupils was not equal, and MPs have warned it could take a decade for the gap between disadvantaged pupils and others to narrow to what it was before Covid.
These students have also faced disruption from teacher strikes this year, although unions said they tried to minimise the impact on exam year groups.
The Covid disruption means things are not quite back to normal.
Ofqual says there was "protection built into the grading process" so that students should achieve the grades they would have done if the pandemic had not happened - even if they did not perform as well in their exams.
Some Covid measures also remained in place for this year's exams. A-levels were spaced apart more than they were before the pandemic, allowing for rest and revision.
But, unlike in the rest of the UK, A-level students in England were not given advance information about the topics on which they would be tested.
The Higher Education Policy Institute said this week that "England has probably got it wrong" by trying to get back to normal "too quickly".
Jo Saxton, the head of Ofqual, told the BBC that students in England would not be disadvantaged because universities had been pre-warned that different nations were taking different approaches.
The Association of School and College Leaders has said the government must make employers aware that different year groups have been graded differently.
What questions do you have about results day? Whether you have queries about A-levels, GCSEs, Highers or vocational courses, you can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-66473620 |
Ulez expansion: Mayor of London urges councils to 'put their politics aside' - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Sadiq Khan urges Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire County Councils to allow Ulez signage. | Sadiq Khan has urged Kent and Surrey County Councils to allow ULEZ expansion signs
London's mayor has urged three councils to "put their politics aside" and allow signs warning drivers of Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) boundaries.
Sadiq Khan said Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire County Councils were "refusing to even allow TfL to install Ulez signage".
Surrey and Kent councils have refused signage whilst there was no mitigation to minimise impact on their residents.
The mayor has previously clashed with local authorities over the expansion.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor said refusal to erect signage meant councils may be responsible for drivers not being "fully aware" of the boundaries of the zone.
They added county highways authorities have "statutory obligations" and the councils have refused the TfL offer to fund the cost of the signs.
A Transport for London spokesperson said they have identified three locations where they believe the lack of advance warning signs "increases the risk of unsafe manoeuvres" and they raised this with the three councils numerous times.
The locations are on the Stanwell Moor Road approach to the roundabout with the Southern Perimeter Road of Heathrow Airport in Surrey, Hewitts roundabout in Kent and the A411 approach to Stirling Corner roundabout in Hertfordshire.
They said they believed signage was "of benefit" to residents of the home counties and urged the councils to work with them "constructively".
Sadiq Khan has urged the councils to do the "right and responsible thing" by putting up signage
Both councils confirmed they would not put up signage without any mitigation to minimise the impact of the expansion on residents of Kent and Surrey.
A spokesperson for Surrey County Council said the extended scrappage scheme would have "no impact on those outside of London".
They said it meant Surrey residents would have to pay the Ulez charge and the costs to scrap their own car as the scrappage scheme only applies to people living inside London.
They urged Mr Khan and TfL to do "what is right" and extend the scheme outside of London, provide exemption for key workers and better bus routes between the counties.
A spokesperson for Kent County Council said the aim of improving air quality must go "hand-in-hand with appropriate mitigations, including better availability of public transport."
They added plans for tolls at the Blackwall Tunnel were "another indication [Mr Khan] has no consideration for the impact it could have on Kent residents and businesses to be further financially penalised".
Hertfordshire County Council said the ULEZ expansion to Hertfordshire's borders would "price some of the lowest paid in our county off the roads".
"No amount of signage will change the fact that our residents and businesses face a £12.50 penalty for travelling into the capital," they added.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-66521469 |
Maui fire: First victims named as death toll reaches 111 - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | More than 1,000 people are still feared to be missing as the death toll continues to climb. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'This acrid smoke really sticks in your throat'
The first names of people killed by wildfires in Maui have been released by officials, one week after at least 111 people died on the Hawaiian island.
Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, were the first to be named.
On Wednesday night local time in Hawaii, County Maui officials confirmed Melva Benjamin, 71, Virginia Dofa, 90 and Alfredo Galinato, 79, were also killed in the fires.
More than 1,000 people are estimated still to be missing.
The fire, which destroyed the historic town of Lahaina within hours, has been followed by a slow and gruelling search for victims.
Mr Jantoc's body was discovered at his home in an old people's home in Lahaina, the New York Times reported.
Relatives told the newspaper he was known by family as "Mr Aloha" and regaled them with tales of his heyday as a bass guitarist playing alongside Carlos Santana and George Benson.
"I'm hoping he was asleep," his daughter-in-law said. "I hope to God he did not suffer."
Twenty sniffer dogs trained to detect bodies have led teams on a block-by-block search of the wreckage, a 5sq mile (13sq km) area now filled with twisted metal and other debris.
Another 20 canine teams are expected to join the search, said Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) Administrator Deanne Criswell on Wednesday.
"This is a really hard disaster. And this is a really difficult search operation," she told reporters in Washington DC. "This is also going to be a very long and hard recovery."
Previously on Tuesday evening, Governor Josh Green said 27% of the disaster site had been searched. In a televised address he warned the number of dead could climb significantly and even double over the next 10 days.
Officials must then complete the difficult work of identifying the dead, a process complicated by the severity of the victims' burns and one that requires forensic experts and DNA samples from family members.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'I just want to put my stepfather's body to rest.'
Thirty specialists from federal mortuary teams are already in Maui and will soon be joined by more from the US defence department.
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Hawaii on Monday, the White House said in a statement.
Mr Biden was asked by a reporter over the weekend about the rising death toll in Hawaii and responded: "No comment." The president's apparent delay in visiting Maui, as well as that remark, has angered many locals, who told the BBC they see his absence as a slap in the face.
"Hey Mr President, how about Hawaii?" said Chaymen Enomoto. "'No comment'? That is a big screw you."
Mr Biden said on Tuesday that he had not yet visited because of concerns it would divert resources and attention from the humanitarian response. Jill Biden will accompany him to Hawaii, he said.
"I don't want to get in the way. I've been to too many disaster areas," he said. "I want to be sure we don't disrupt ongoing recovery efforts."
It will probably be a long wait until the full scale of the destruction is understood. The Maui Emergency Management Agency has estimated it will cost $5.52bn (£4.3bn) to rebuild.
"We have officials who don't even want to go back to the site, that's how devastating [it is]," said Maui resident Koa Gomes.
Many people told the BBC they were frustrated by the scale and speed of the recovery efforts.
One resident, Les Munn, said he had so far received $500 (£392) from Fema - less than the price of a night in most hotel rooms on the island.
For now, he is still sleeping in a shelter.
Fema said Wednesday it had sent millions of litres of water and food to the island, and given $2.3m in assistance to families.
But in Lahaina, once Hawaii's royal capital, many people are relying on relief supplies co-ordinated by other Maui locals. Ice, water, clothing and other supplies are being delivered by grassroots groups.
On Wednesday morning, the Honoapiilani Highway, the primary route into Lahaina, opened to non-residents for the first time since last week's fires. For days, the road was closed even to residents who sat in long queues for hours hoping to get in.
The road will be open to everyone during the day, with late-night access limited to West Maui residents, employees and first responders. Still, officials have asked that people travel to this part of the island only if necessary to live, work, or volunteer.
The vast majority of Lahaina's wreckage is yet to be searched | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66518502 |
Climate change: Lough Neagh temperature rises 'alarmingly' - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | A study also finds ground around Lough Neagh has more carbon stored in it than previously thought. | Healthy peatlands are important for carbon storage, says Peter Harper
The water temperature in Lough Neagh is rising "alarmingly fast" researchers have said.
The temperature in the largest freshwater body of water in the UK and Ireland is 1C higher than in 1995.
A report also said more than twice as much carbon was stored in ground around the lough as previously thought.
The Lough Neagh Partnership (LNP) commissioned the study as it took up a lease on land on the south-west shoreline, with a view to restoring it.
Many peatlands around the lough have been milled over the years for compost and fuel.
The Climate Change Impact and Carbon Storage Study took core samples round the entire shoreline of the lough to assess the carbon stored there.
In some cases, those samples went 9m down below grass fields.
The report revealed a total of more than 14 million tonnes of carbon stored in the catchment area.
"Previously our best estimate of carbon stored in the Lough Neagh catchment area was about 6.6 million tonnes," said report author Jim McAdam.
"We got that from the surface soil maps that were done in the 1990s. In this study, we looked at the actual depth of the carbon itself, and we've come out with our calculation of carbon."
"It's more than 14 million tonnes of carbon, over twice what our original estimate was.
"That's really important, because nowadays the whole talk is how do we keep that carbon in the ground? That carbon and that habitat has the potential to sequester more carbon.
"So the more we have the better and, therefore, the more we know about it, the more we've measured, the better we can manage the whole site."
That whole site includes lands at Derrytresk and Derryloughan, which were gifted to the Royal School Dungannon in 1608, at about the time of the Plantation of Ulster.
The Education Authority granted a lease on the land to the LNP in December 2022.
Gerry Darby says the local community have been supportive of their conservation goals
The site has been affected by unregulated peat extraction.
The partnership will now manage the site with a focus on conservation, restoring the peatlands and enhancing the natural habitat.
The partnership's manager Gerry Darby said: "There has to be a balance between legal - and I emphasise legal - peat extraction, between that and protecting important species [like the curlew] as well.
"We're just trying to find that balance and the community, I think, are very supportive in trying to find that balance as well."
Mid Ulster Council said it was investigating seven potential breaches of planning in peat extraction.
It is also considering a planning application for extraction.
In the Republic of Ireland, a ban on extraction in Special Areas of Conservation was introduced in 2011.
A ban on the use of turf as fuel was also brought in by the Irish government in October 2022.
Farmer Michael Meharg said passing bills will not be enough to invoke change
In Northern Ireland, a peatlands strategy has been consulted on but cannot proceed without sign-off from a Stormont minister.
It is expected to include a ban on peat sales from 2025.
That, farmer Michael Meharg said, will need incentives.
He said: "There are government policies on peatland, there are government policies on farming with nature and being environmentally conscious and friendly.
"So passing bills when there's some sort of economic gain to be with it, it's very difficult to ask people to do something just for the sake of it."
The carbon found in the ground is more than double what Jim McAdam and the Lough Neagh Partnership thought
The partnership's shoreline environment officer, Peter Harper, is aware of the tradition of peat in the area.
However, he is also aware of what healthy peatlands mean for the environment.
"These are very important carbon stores. Now, traditionally, they have been extracted for compost and there's a commercial industry around that and that's fine," he said.
"But I don't think that can continue indefinitely because collectively, all these actions do have an impact on climate change." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66516358 |
Andrew Malkinson: Calls for inquiry into wrongful rape conviction - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Senior legal figures say an inquiry is needed into the case of Andrew Malkinson who spent 17 years in prison. | Calls are growing for a public inquiry into the case of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
DNA implicating another suspect in the crime was found just three years into his jail term, BBC News has learned.
Former Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) director Lord Ken Macdonald described the case as a "whole system failure".
Ex-Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland said "all agencies involved in this have some explaining to do".
Mr Buckland told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme that he was "deeply concerned and rather shocked" at revelations about the existence of DNA evidence in the case.
Calling for an inquiry, he said: "Clearly, this latest revelation is startling to say the least. Shocking, which is why I think we need to get to the bottom of this - not just for the sake of this case and Mr Malkinson but for any other cases that either might be out there or might be to come."
Mr Malkinson, 57, was found guilty in 2004 of raping a woman in Greater Manchester but always maintained his innocence.
He was eventually released in 2020 but remained on licence as a registered sex offender until his conviction was finally quashed last month at the Court of Appeal.
In July, judges said DNA evidence pointing to another man's involvement in the attack cleared Mr Malkinson's name after his long legal battle.
But case documents seen by BBC News show that all the key agencies involved in the case knew of this exonerating DNA by 2009, which first emerged two years prior.
The CPS has insisted this was not "ignored" and was handed to Mr Malkinson's defence team.
Greater Manchester Police has already apologised for its handling of the investigation, admitting that Mr Malkinson was the victim of a "grave miscarriage of justice".
Now senior legal figures say a formal inquiry is needed to establish where the fault lies for Mr Malkinson's wrongful conviction.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Andrew Malkinson speaks to Radio 4's Today programme about his first night of freedom
Lord Garnier, who was solicitor general from May 2010 to September 2012, expressed "jaw-dropping shock" over failures in the case.
He told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme: "It seems to me that what we need now is complete and utter disclosure, public disclosure, of every document that relates to this case, save those which if disclosed would impede the prosecution of a new suspect.
"And there should be a public inquiry which should reach conclusions about what went wrong, who knew what and when, within a sixth-month period."
Lord Ken Macdonald, who was director of public prosecutions between 2003 and 2008, told the BBC: "It's a perfect storm of injustice - everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
"This is a whole system failure which is why we need a public inquiry."
Barrister Michael Mansfield described the case as a "catastrophe" and pointed to other issues with the case beyond the DNA evidence, including the credibility of the witnesses who detectives relied on and the rules around identification parades.
He said the "whole of this case indicates a very basic malaise and rottenness at the system".
Mr Mansfield said he supports calls for an inquiry, adding: "However I don't want one that lasts six years. This has got to happen quickly, a rapid response to this - because there are other people sitting in jail."
A CPS spokesperson said: "It is clear Mr Malkinson was wrongly convicted of this crime and we share the deep regret that this happened.
"Evidence of a new DNA profile found on the victim's clothing in 2007 was not ignored. It was disclosed to the defence team representing Mr Malkinson for their consideration.
"In addition, searches of the DNA databases were conducted to identify any other possible suspects. At that time there were no matches and therefore no further investigation could be carried out." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66524197 |
Andy Malkinson: DNA evidence identified three years after rape conviction - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Fresh questions are raised over why Andy Malkinson was not granted an appeal as long ago as 2009. | Andy Malkinson was wrongfully convicted of raping a woman in Greater Manchester in 2004
Documents in the case of Andy Malkinson show the DNA of another man was identified three years after he was wrongly jailed for rape.
Mr Malkinson was found guilty in 2004 of raping a woman in Greater Manchester and only had his conviction quashed last month at the Court of Appeal.
Questions have now been raised over why Mr Malkinson was not granted an appeal as long ago as 2009.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission failed to follow leads, he said.
Mr Malkinson went to prison protesting his innocence. At his trial there had been no DNA or other forensic evidence to link him to the victim, or the scene of the savage attack.
Last month, the Court of Appeal quashed the 57-year-old's conviction after the Crown Prosecution Service accepted that DNA obtained long ago from the victim's clothing - but never fully and repeatedly tested for matches - pointed to another man.
Case documents seen by BBC News show that all the key agencies involved in Andy Malkinson's case knew by 2009 of this exonerating DNA.
Mr Malkinson's team argue the DNA evidence would have been more than enough to quash his conviction, even if the real suspect could not be identified.
In 2007, forensic scientists had run a nationwide operation to review biological samples from "cold case" unsolved crimes in the hope that technical advances in DNA profiling could identify more suspects.
In Andy Malkinson's case, the scientists tested for new DNA from the victim's clothing - and the results triggered new questions.
Documents now disclosed to Mr Malkinson show that in December 2009, the scientists told Crown Prosecution Service lawyers and Greater Manchester Police detectives they were sure they had identified DNA from an unknown man's saliva.
Between 2007 and 2009 the scientists carried out two searches on the National DNA Database for a match to known suspects. Those searches did not yield a match to any man - a result that also further underlined the sample could not have come from Mr Malkinson.
The team told the CPS and GMP that the DNA had been recovered from the victim's vest, close to where she had suffered a very serious bite wound.
DNA from an unknown man's saliva was found on the victim's vest top.
A senior CPS lawyer wrote in his notes: "If it is assumed that the saliva came from the offender, then it does not derive from Malkinson.
"This is surprising because the area of the clothing that the saliva was recovered from was crime-specific."
Despite recognition in the meeting that the DNA evidence appeared to point to another man having attacked the woman, the Crown Prosecution Service advised against any more work on the case, unless and until Mr Malkinson was granted permission for a fresh appeal.
Mr Malkinson had already begun that process by asking the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to reinvestigate and send his conviction back to the Court of Appeal.
His then lawyers were told about the new DNA work - and urged the CCRC to undertake a "full and comprehensive review of the forensic evidence".
But the agency's case log shows its investigators then concluded there was "nothing to be gained" by having any of the DNA retested.
The file, disclosed to Mr Malkinson, notes: "Would [testing] be a good use of public funds? I do not think on the basis of the material available that it would be a reasonable course of action."
A CCRC investigator later wrote that there was "no DNA material to speak of" and further testing "would be extremely costly".
The file goes on to question whether the location where the new DNA profile had been found was significant at all.
"There is no certainty that the vest top DNA sample is crime specific," wrote a CCRC investigator.
Greater Manchester Police later destroyed the victim's clothes - and the 2007 DNA profile lay buried in a scientific archive until Mr Malkinson's new legal team tracked it down and commissioned their own testing in 2019.
That work ultimately led to the identification of a different man whose profile had, in the meantime, been added to the National DNA Database.
Since Mr Malkinson won his freedom, more than 100,000 people have signed his petition for an independent review of how the CCRC handled the case.
"If the CCRC had investigated properly, it would have spared me years in prison for a crime I did not commit," said Mr Malkinson.
"I feel an apology is the least I am owed, but it seems like the very body set up to address the system's fallibility is labouring under the delusion that it is itself infallible. How many more people has it failed?"
Lord Edward Garnier, Conservative peer and former solicitor general, expressed his "jaw-dropping shock" over the handling of Mr Malkinson's case.
"The more one learns about this case, which is coming out in dribs and drabs, the more one is shocked about how Mr Malkinson was let down by the justice system, essentially let down by the state," Lord Garnier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He called for a public inquiry reaching conclusions within six months, and said all documents related to the case should be publicly disclosed.
"It's particularly distressing to hear that on grounds of cost, they [the CCRC] decided this was not worth pursuing. Well, here we are now in 2023, well over a decade since they were first involved in this matter, and the costs now are enormous.
"Not only have we had the cost to Mr Malkinson in every sense of the word, but we are going to see him paid justly huge amounts of compensation. I'd be very surprised now if somebody didn't say he should be given exemplary damages, not just compensatory damages, because of the oppressive and arbitrary behaviour of agents of the state," he said.
Exemplary damages are assessed to punish the defendant for the wrongful act and "overcompensate" the victim.
Senior Conservative and former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland backed Lord Garnier's call for a public inquiry.
"I agree with Lord Garnier. Clearly this latest revelation is startling to say the least", he told BBC Radio 4's World at One. "That's why I think we need to get to the bottom of this."
James Burley, the investigator at APPEAL, the miscarriages of justice charity that took on Mr Malkinson's case, said the CCRC's decision-making had been "deeply flawed".
"If the CCRC had applied common sense, it would have granted Andy a new appeal in 2009," said Mr Burley.
"Instead, the CCRC said this evidence wasn't enough and then failed to carry out DNA enquiries which might not only have further supported Andy's innocence but identified the new suspect years sooner."
In a statement to the Guardian newspaper, the CCRC said: "We note the observations that have been made in relation to Mr Malkinson's case and are considering the court of appeal judgment. As we have said before, it is plainly wrong that a man spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit." The organisation has not responded to BBC News' request for an interview.
In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jackson of Greater Manchester Police said that, when the force became aware of the new DNA material, it complied with all directions given to it by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
"This was an appalling miscarriage of justice and I am sorry to Mr Malkinson for all that he has suffered, and for any part GMP has had in the difficult journey of proving his innocence," she said.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is reviewing how Greater Manchester Police dealt with Mr Malkinson's complaints about his case. Last month the Court of Appeal ruled that two people who police relied upon as alleged witnesses, placing the innocent man at the scene of the crime, were in fact petty criminals. The judges said the jury should have been made aware of their dishonesty.
A spokesman for the CPS said it shared the "deep regret" that Mr Malkinson had been wrongly convicted - but denied the 2007 DNA evidence had been ignored.
"It was disclosed [in 2009] to the defence team representing Mr Malkinson for their consideration," he said.
"In addition, searches of the DNA databases were conducted to identify any other possible suspects. At that time there were no matches and therefore no further investigation could be carried out."
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Capt Tom Moore’s daughter's company was paid for charity event - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Hannah Ingram-Moore's company received money for an event, rather than the Captain Tom Foundation charity. | Hannah Ingram-Moore was the interim CEO of the Captain Tom Foundation when the event was held
The daughter of Capt Sir Tom Moore was paid thousands of pounds via her family company for appearances in connection with her late father's charity.
In 2021 and 2022, Hannah Ingram-Moore helped judge awards ceremonies which heavily featured the Captain Tom Foundation charity.
Promotional clips suggested she was there to represent the charity.
However her fee was paid not to the Foundation but to her family company. She is yet to respond to the claims.
The awards ceremony was the Virgin Media O2 Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards, which included the name of the charity and the charity's logo on its awards plaques. At the time Ms Ingram-Moore was the charity's interim chief executive on an annual salary of £85,000.
The name of the charity appeared on awards plaques
However her appearance fee was paid not to the Captain Tom Foundation but to Maytrix Group, a company owned by Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin.
For more than a year, the Charity Commission has been investigating potential conflicts of interest between the charity and the Ingram-Moores' businesses after concerns mounted about potential mismanagement and misconduct.
Replying to a BBC email about this matter, Hannah Ingram-Moore said via email: "You are awful. It's a total lie."
Six minutes later she added: "Apologies. That reply was for a scammer who has been creating havoc".
Ms Ingram-Moore has not responded to a series of questions from BBC Newsnight about the thousand of pounds that her company received.
BBC Newsnight understands Ms Ingram-Moore did not seek approval from the charity's board before entering into the commercial arrangement with Virgin Media O2, and an internal investigation into it was launched last November.
A spokesperson for the charity trustees said: "The Captain Tom Foundation is aware of the commercial arrangements made by Hannah Ingram-Moore with Virgin Media O2 in respect of the 'Virgin Media Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards'.
"This matter is subject of an ongoing internal investigation. The Charity Commission has been notified of the Foundation's review of this matter and the Foundation will share its findings once the investigation has concluded."
Ms Ingram-Moore is no longer running the charity, but her husband Colin remains a trustee. Both of them are directors of the companies Maytrix Group and Club Nook.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: "Our inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation remains ongoing. Its scope includes examining whether the trustees have adequately managed conflicts of interest, including with private companies connected to the Ingram-Moore family."
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: "When payment was made, we were not aware of any concerns about Maytrix or the Captain Tom Foundation that have since come to light after our campaign and relationship with Captain Tom finished."
Capt Tom attracted international attention during the first coronavirus lockdown, by walking 100 laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday, to support the NHS.
Having raised around £38m for NHS Charities Together, he died in early 2021 with Covid-19, less than six months after being knighted.
Capt Sir Tom won the nation's hearts with his fundraising walk, which took in 100 laps of his garden
Family members then established the Foundation, but its financial activities have since come under scrutiny, with the Charity Commission announcing a review in February 2022.
Concerns have been raised about whether some of the funds were going to separate companies run by the family, the salary paid to Ms Ingram-Moore and how much money was spent on management costs.
Separately earlier this month, the family defended plans to build an unauthorised spa that they have been told to demolish. An appeal hearing is due to be held on 17 October.
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Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli: Five protesters arrested - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Police can ask people to remove anything hiding their identity amid concern over balaclava wearers. | The hotel owner has secured a temporary High Court injunction against protesters which limits their activities
Five protesters have been arrested at a hotel set to house asylum seekers.
Police appealed for "calm and co-operation" amid "escalation" in demonstrations at Stradey Park Hotel, in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.
Dyfed-Powys officers said they were particularly concerned about people in balaclavas and they have been given the power to demand they are removed.
It comes after one man was arrested for allegedly damaging a hotel contractor's car on Monday.
Police said five further arrests were made on Wednesday in connection with further incidents.
The hotel owner took protesters to court last month over hindering access to the site.
Gryphon Leisure Ltd secured a temporary High Court injunction against protesters which limited their activities.
Protests began when the plans to house up to 241 asylum seekers were announced in June, and disrupted preparations to move the new residents in by 10 July.
Dyfed-Powys Police said a Section 60AA order, under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, had been put in place. This means police can ask anyone to take off something they believe is being used to hide their identity.
"We will always seek to facilitate peaceful protest, while balancing it with the rights of others, keeping the public safe and preventing crime and disorder," a force spokesperson said.
Demonstrators have blocked entrances of the hotel to try to hinder efforts to prepare for the arrival of asylum seekers
Protesters have previously said worry around the intended use of the hotel stemmed from a lack of information being provided to locals.
Furnace Action Committee previously responded to the threat of legal action by asking people to support an online "fighting fund".
The group hoped to raise at least £10,000 online to fund legal action to "defend the cause."
It claimed Gryphon Leisure had "picked on innocent locals to take to court". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66508308 |
How England crashed Australia's party to reach a World Cup final - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | It started as a night full of optimism in Sydney, with thousands desperate to see Australia create Women's World Cup history - but England had other ideas. | It started as a night full of optimism in Sydney as thousands flooded into Stadium Australia desperate to see their team create history - but England had other ideas.
England arrived this time, not with hope, but with expectation, despite experiencing heartache in previous back-to-back Women's World Cup semi-finals.
Memories of defeats by Japan in 2015 and the USA in 2019 were cast aside - any doubts the Lionesses would not succeed this time disappeared as they played with swagger and composure, producing arguably their greatest-ever performance in the 3-1 win over the Matildas.
As the higher-ranked side and the European champions, England would in theory have underwhelmed if they had lost. But in practice, the task was much tougher - they had to overcome serious injuries and adapt throughout the tournament before meeting fierce Australian opposition.
In the end, the performance they produced was a culmination of two years' worth of sensational growth under manager Sarina Wiegman, whose status as the world's best is unquestionable.
Having led England to Euro 2022 glory last summer on home soil, the Dutchwoman will now coach in a fourth successive major tournament final. Before joining England, she led the Netherlands to the Euro 2017 title and runners-up spot at the 2019 World Cup.
The squad have evolved under her leadership from being near-misses and contenders to relentless winners and tournament favourites.
• None 'This is just the beginning for disappointed Australia'
• None Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup
• None Get to know the England Women's World Cup squad
'Matildas Mania' had taken over Australia during their World Cup run, with their success dominating the front and back pages of every national newspaper. The momentum they had built en route to the semi-finals made for a carnival atmosphere in Sydney on Wednesday.
Streets were painted in green and yellow, supporters queued for hours to get into fan parks across the city and there were barely any shops left selling merchandise, with most stock sold out.
The match was sold out too; 75,784 fans piled into the stadium, most of them booing the England players as they emerged for the warm-ups, and then belting out their national anthem with pride.
But England were not fazed by any of it. They have lived in the bubble of their base camp out in Terrigal, an hour from Sydney, for the duration of the tournament and they arrived for the semi-final apparently oblivious to the hostility of the home crowd.
A crunching tackle from Keira Walsh on Australia's superstar Sam Kerr within two minutes set the tone. The next 15 minutes was a masterclass in killing momentum.
Whatever feverish excitement had built throughout the week, England dampened quickly as they controlled possession, broke up play and frustrated the home crowd by taking their time over set-pieces.
A few half-chances came Australia's way - Kerr raced through on goal and was offside when goalkeeper Mary Earps blocked her strike - but England brushed them off instantly.
At the other end, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo's flourishing partnership up front caused havoc for Australia as they linked up instinctively, creating chances and terrifying the hosts' defence.
It was not a surprise when the Lionesses took the lead through Ella Toone, someone synonymous with the big stage; she is the first England player to score in a major tournament quarter-final, semi-final and final.
The deafening roars that had greeted the Matildas on their entrance at Stadium Australia were quietened by half-time but England did not become complacent. They had been here before, they knew the score.
The fierce pressure promised by Australia arrived in the second half. Kerr burst into life, pouncing on England's lost possession and scoring a sublime long-range goal to make it 1-1.
In past semi-finals, this may have been the moment England's players began to doubt themselves. But this is a squad built on resilience and lifted with unwavering belief.
Another goal would come - they knew it would - and when the moment arrived, Hemp did not hesitate.
"I just want to be fearless, I want to show what I can do on the biggest stage," she said afterwards, having earlier stated England's intentions to go all the way in the tournament.
By the time Hemp linked up with Russo to add England's third, Australia's balloon had burst.
Meanwhile, England were creating more history, having come through a test that required steeliness and experience, yet the scenes of celebration at full-time were short-lived.
The Lionesses allowed themselves just a few minutes of dancing and applause, greeted by another rendition of Sweet Caroline by the travelling support, before heading down the tunnel. Job done.
While England gathered momentum during their successful Euro 2022 campaign, feeding off the memorable scenes of celebration after each victory in front of a home crowd, they have done the opposite here in Australia, having to navigate each match as if they were making their way across a board game of snakes and ladders, picking themselves up if they had an unexpected fall and finding a different route.
It has felt less like a party and more like a mission.
If this England team can reach the final without their captain Leah Williamson, the Euro 2022 top goalscorer Beth Mead, playmaker Fran Kirby - all out through injury - while also dealing with an injury scare to instrumental midfielder Keira Walsh and a two-match suspension for Lauren James during the competition, there is no reason why they cannot go all the way.
And while Australia absorbs the pain of defeat and the missed opportunity of a lifetime, England supporters are now believing that this team could be champions again. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66506744 |
Inflation slows to 6.8% but further interest rate rise likely - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Although the rate of price rises has dropped further, the Bank of England could take further action. | Rishi Sunak speaks to staff at Topps Tiles in Leicestershire Image caption: Rishi Sunak speaks to staff at Topps Tiles in Leicestershire
Halving inflation is the “number one priority,” says Rishi Sunak. The plan to bring down inflation is “working“ says the prime minister but “we’re not there yet”.
“Inflation is not some abstract economic concept… it’s very real,” Sunak tells Topps Tiles staff during his visit to Leicestershire.
He says there are “three quick things” he can do to make it happen.
Sunak says he will be “responsible” with spending, taxes and borrowing, even if it makes his life “tricky in the short term”.
Secondly, Sunak says the UK needs to increase its “supply of things”, like energy production “here at home”.
The PM says he is reforming the welfare system to support people entering the workforce, which will help businesses struggling to recruit staff.
Sunak’s third commitment is to help people “get through” the period of high inflation“, like we did with energy bills”.
“We’re doing lots of other things” to help, says Sunak, citing cuts to fuel duty, caps to bus fares outside London, and support payments for people on Universal credit and pensioners.
Earlier, Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said UK inflation "remains high and higher than many other major economies" and said people were worse off "after 13 years of economic chaos and incompetence". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-66502810 |
Matildas mania sweeps Australia ahead of England semi-final - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The team's never-say-die attitude has captured a nation long known for its love of an underdog story. | Fans hold their breath during the Australia v France penalty shootout on Saturday
A month ago, the 24-year-old hadn't ever sat through a match - of any kind - or even heard of the Matildas. Now, she lives and breathes football.
"I'm one of the Matildas many new followers on Instagram, I've been deep diving on YouTube, I made myself learn the offside rule… I've [even] been dreaming about their penalty shots."
"I'm like: 'What is wrong with me'… that's the kind of level of obsession."
It's a familiar story unfolding across the country. From rural pubs to city stadiums, Matildas fever has well and truly taken hold.
Getting a seat at Wednesday's semi-final against England has felt like finding a Willy Wonka golden ticket, with many arguing it's tougher than than securing admission to a Taylor Swift concert.
It's hard to walk anywhere in Sydney without seeing homages to the team - massive posters are plastered on skyscrapers, billboards scream players' names, and fans are decked out in green and gold.
Saturday's game against France was Australia's largest television sporting event in at least a decade, with an estimated average viewership of 4.17 million. Post-match highlights saturated social media.
Many hope the Matildas' meteoric rise and World Cup mania will be a turning point for women's football in Australia.
It was not long ago that the team was still playing to empty stadiums.
In 2014 one of the best women's sides, Brazil, flew to Brisbane to face the Matildas in two friendlies.
The first match sold fewer than 2,600 seats, forcing Australia's Football Federation to close the stadium for the second meet, as it was too costly to run an empty venue.
The Matildas played to an empty stadium during their 2014 friendly with Brazil
In the early years, players reportedly handed out fliers to attract people to their games, and phoned television stations to ask them to broadcast their matches. During the 2003 World Cup in the US, not a single journalist turned up to the Matildas' airport press conference.
But since then, the team has fought for recognition, airtime, and equality. Their efforts have paid off.
Throughout this tournament every Matildas match has been effectively sold out - with millions more fans flocking to viewing sites across the country, tuning in online or at their local watering hole.
The team's kit is flying off the shelves leaving suppliers like Nike struggling to keep up, and there's even talk of a national holiday if they lift the World Cup trophy.
"For decades they told us nobody cared. We didn't believe them. Now they believe us," the team's media manager Ann Odong posted on Saturday, following their dramatic quarterfinal penalty shootout with France.
The Matildas' success on-field is part of the story. They're history makers.
Australia has always been sports obsessed, but when it comes to football, no national squad has ever made it this far on the World Cup stage.
The best performances from the men's team - the Socceroos - were round of 16 finishes in 2006 and 2022. And until now, the Matildas have consistently bowed out around the quarterfinal mark.
But their grit in the face of adversity is what captures hearts and minds, says football journalist Samantha Lewis.
"The Matildas' motto is 'never say die', and that spirit of fight and perseverance is not only seen in the way they play on the field, but also in all of the things they've achieved off of it, such as collective bargaining agreements and equal pay," she told the BBC.
For a nation that's always loved an underdog story, the attitude is very on brand.
"That's the reason why they resonate so strongly with the country: they reflect how we want to see ourselves," Ms Lewis says.
The fact that it is England - one of Australia's greatest sporting rivals - that stands between the squad and a World Cup final, has created a fever pitch of nervous anticipation.
And Ms Wilson is counting down the minutes until the semi-final against the Lionesses.
"I'm incredibly stressed and also very excited. It's intense."
Regardless of the outcome on Wednesday, Football Australia says the Matildas have sparked a movement.
"The interest we're seeing around our game right now is phenomenal," the association's head of women's football Sarah Walsh says.
"I think this is going to be the World Cup where we move beyond saying 'no-one's watching' to 'hey, who's paying?'"
A former forward who played for the Matildas from 2004-2012, Ms Walsh aims to leverage the tournament's success to take the game to new heights here.
That means "driving structural change" to close the opportunity gaps that persist for women and girls, she says.
The Matildas want their tournament to leave a legacy
But Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson believes his team has already broken cultural barriers.
"This team can create history in so many ways, not just by winning," he told a recent press conference.
"[It's] the way that they can inspire the next generation, how they can unite a nation or [how] they can leave a legacy that is much bigger than 90 minutes of football. I think that is also why I believe in them so much."
Ms Wilson is a testament to that. As someone who felt sidelined from sports as a kid, she feels included in that world for the first time.
"Watching these women on screen I'm like: 'Oh my God, I want to be that strong. I want to be able to run that fast.'"
But above all, she's feeling proud.
"I literally went out [on Sunday] and bought myself a newspaper, just so I could have [the Matildas] photo on the front… crazy." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-66506541 |
Ukrainian prisoners of war say they were tortured at Russian prison - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Former prisoners of war tell the BBC they were abused by Russian guards inside a detention facility. | Artem Seredniak says he was beaten and electrocuted at the facility in Taganrog
Former Ukrainian captives say they were subjected to torture, including frequent beatings and electric shocks, while in custody at a detention facility in south-western Russia, in what would be serious violations of international humanitarian law.
In interviews with the BBC, a dozen ex-detainees released in prisoner exchanges alleged physical and psychological abuse by Russian officers and guards at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility Number Two, in the city of Taganrog.
The testimonies, gathered during a weeks-long investigation, describe a consistent pattern of extreme violence and ill-treatment at the facility, one of the locations where Ukrainian prisoners of war have been held in Russia.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify the claims, but details of the accounts were shared with human rights groups and, when possible, corroborated by other detainees.
The Russian government has not allowed any outside bodies, including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to visit the facility which before the war was used exclusively to hold Russian prisoners.
Russia's defence ministry did not respond to several requests to comment on the allegations. It has previously denied torturing or mistreating captives.
The prisoner swaps between Ukraine and Russia are a rare diplomatic achievement in the war and more than 2,500 Ukrainians have been released since the start of the conflict. Up to 10,000 captives are believed to remain in Russian custody, according to human rights groups.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman and one of the officials involved in exchange negotiations with Moscow, said nine in every 10 former detainees claimed they had been tortured while in Russian captivity. "This is the biggest challenge for me now: how to protect our people on the Russian side," Lubinets said. "Nobody knows how we can do it."
Last September, Artem Seredniak, a senior lieutenant, had already been in Russian captivity for four months when he and about 50 other Ukrainians were transferred to Pre-Trial Detention Facility Number Two. They travelled in the back of a truck for hours, without knowing where they were going, blindfolded and tied to each other by their arms, like a "human centipede", Seredniak told me.
On their arrival in Taganrog, he recalled, an officer greeted them: "Hello boys. Do you know where you are? You'll rot here until the end of your lives." The captives remained silent. They were escorted inside the building, Seredniak said, had their fingerprints taken and clothes removed, were shaven and forced to shower.
At every step, guards at the facility, who carried black batons and metal bars, beat them in the legs, arms, or "anywhere they wanted", Seredniak said. "It's what they call 'reception'."
Before his capture, Seredniak, who is 27, headed a sniper platoon at the Azov Regiment, the main military force in Mariupol. This, he said, made him a key target for the prison staff. Seredniak said he was separated from the others and, dressed only in his underwear, brought to a room to be interrogated for the first time. He was then pushed to the floor, he said, with his head facing down.
The guards asked him about his role in the army and the tasks he had carried out. With an electric stun weapon, they gave him shocks, Seredniak said, in his back, groin and neck.
"That's how they worked on everybody," he said. "They hammered you like a nail."
In May last year, as Mariupol was under a Russian siege, the Ukrainian authorities ordered hundreds of soldiers holed up in the city's Azovstal steelworks to surrender. Seredniak was among the last to be evacuated. He was first taken to a facility in Olenivka, a village in Donetsk, and, months later, sent to the prison in Taganrog, in the Russian border region of Rostov, about 120km (74 miles) east of Mariupol.
There, he told me, the captives were inspected twice a day, and anything appeared to be a motive for guards to abuse them. "They might not have liked how you left the cell, or you weren't quick to get out, or your arms were too low or your head was too high."
In one of those checks, Seredniak was asked whether he had a girlfriend. He said he did, and recalled a guard telling him: "Give us her Instagram. We'll take a picture of you and send it to her." He lied, not wanting to expose her, and said she did not have an account. He was then beaten, he said, and brought to a room in the prison's basement, where he met a twenty-something Ukrainian fighter. Seredniak told me the man was curled, holding his hands, apparently in pain, and said officers had inserted needles under his fingernails.
As the days progressed, Seredniak noticed that the prison guards were particularly brutal with those who belonged to the Azov Regiment, the former militia in Mariupol that once had links to the far right. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has said, among other things, that his war is an effort to "de-Nazify" Ukraine - a country led by a Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky - and Russian authorities often cite the unit to justify the invasion.
Seredniak said that, in his interrogations, he was accused of looting Mariupol and of personally telling his forces to kill civilians in the city, the site of one of the most deadly battles in the war so far. Seredniak, who speaks fast with a loud, determined voice, denied the claims, but it did not seem to matter. "Until you said what they were interested in, and in the way they wanted to hear," he told me, "they wouldn't stop beating you."
Once, Seredniak said, an officer used a wooden chair to hit him, and "he beat me so much that it broke in parts". On another day, he said, he was asked whether he could sing the "Azov anthem". He did not know of any Azov anthem, and assumed the guards meant the Prayer of the Ukrainian Nationalist, a 20th-Century oath usually read aloud by soldiers before being sent into combat. Seredniak reluctantly recited it, conscious of how the guards could react.
They punched him several times, he said. He fell, hitting his head against a wall, causing a cut near his eyebrow. He lay on the floor, while the beatings continued, he said, all over his body.
"When I finally got up," Seredniak recalled, "they told me: 'We hope we beat that out of you'."
Some of the prison staff seemed to have been heavily influenced by President Putin's "de-Nazification" narrative. For the detainees, this was apparent in how the guards demonstrated a particular interest in anything that could, in their view, be interpreted as being pro-Nazi. The captives were not allowed to have any personal items, so their tattoos inevitably drew the officers' attention. This reminded me of similar allegations I heard while investigating Russia's filtration camps in occupied areas of Ukraine last year.
Serhii Rotchuk, a 34-year-old senior sergeant at the regiment, also left Azovstal in the final convoys, and was taken to Taganrog a week after Seredniak. He said the guards, at first, "looked for swastikas or things like that". But, in reality, he said, "if you had any tattoo, you were seen as a bad guy". Rotchuk, who is a doctor, has tattoos on both legs, arms and chest. Weeks ago, when we met in Kyiv, he lifted his T-shirt to show me a raven that covered part of his chest and the symbol of an infantry platoon on his left bicep; he also had an emblem of the Jedi Order from Star Wars on his left thigh.
Serhii Rotchuk says he was singled out because of his tattoos
"Did these tattoos cause you any trouble?" I asked him. "Many times," Rotchuk replied. "They would say: 'What's this? Oh, I'll beat you for that'." Seredniak, who has no tattoos, said some fighters who had tattooed nationalist symbols, like the Ukrainian flag or the gold trident, were frequently targeted. "They hated us for being Ukrainian," he told me.
In March, a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Russia had "failed to ensure the humane treatment" of prisoners, with "strong patterns of violations".
Kris Janowski, a spokesman for the office, said there was a "long list of bad things that have been done" to the detainees at the facility in Taganrog. The fact that a prison was being used to hold captives was, in itself, a breach of international humanitarian law, he said, as they should be kept in specially designated places. Ukraine also faced some accusations of mistreatment of detainees, according to the March report; but, overall, they were "treated in better fashion".
Rotchuk said the captives "lived in permanent stress" in Taganrog. He recalled meeting a man, also a doctor, who had falsely admitted to removing the testicles of a Russian prisoner, desperate to put an end to the violence. "He said: 'OK, just leave me alone, I will sign the confession.' The officers then intimidated the other medics, saying: 'Ah, you helped him.'"
Guards gave Rotchuk electric shocks, he said, but he resisted. Rotchuk told me he was sent to solitary confinement for two months as punishment. The beatings happened almost every day; sometimes, several times a day, he said.
Rotchuk remembered one officer who appeared to take pleasure in kicking him in the chest, which left him with a persistent pain. He complained, but was given no help. "I had to tell myself: 'Dude, stay strong, you can't control the situation, so you need to accept it,'" Rotchuk recalled.
Not everyone had the same resilience, though. Seredniak said a fellow Azov fighter, in his late 20s, broke a small mirror that hung above his cell's sink, and used a shard to slice his throat. The man was rescued by other captives, who stopped the bleeding with their hands. Days later, Seredniak said, the prison staff removed the mirrors from all cells.
Russian doctors, Seredniak said, would occasionally visit the detainees, but "didn't necessarily help" them. He described the food portions they were given as limited; sometimes, he said, they were "so small, that if I ate 300-400 calories a day, I was lucky".
Seredniak, who is 1.86m (6ft1in) tall, said his weight dropped to about 60kg (9st 6lb) while he was there, from his usual 80kg. "Every time I got up," he said, "I felt dizzy. My eyes darkened, I couldn't make any fast movements." He believed this was deliberate: weakened, the captives would not put up any resistance.
According to Iryna Stohnii, female captives were dragged by the hair during twice-daily inspections
Iryna Stohnii, a 36-year-old senior combat medic at the 56th Brigade, described the detainees as "constantly malnourished". "They didn't feed us," she said. "They didn't even let us go outside... We could only see the sky through bars in the windows." Stohnii said the guards, in their twice-a-day inspections, forced her and other women to move in a stress position, with arms behind their backs and head to knees, and that some "dragged us by the hair". Other female captives told me women would be ordered to strip naked in front of male staff who, sometimes, made disparaging comments about their bodies.
One day, Stohnii said, a guard accused her of torturing pro-Russian soldiers in captivity and twisted her arms with so much force that "he almost broke them". A couple of times in our interview she cried. "Only devils live and work" at Taganrog, she said. After her release, Stohnii underwent surgery to remove adhesions - bands of scar tissue between organs that can be caused by trauma - which had developed in her kidney and bladder. "Apart from rape," Stohnii told me, "they did everything with us".
Denys Haiduk says his captors accused him of castrating Russian prisoners
Denys Haiduk, a military surgeon, said guards forced him and the other captives to run with their heads down while under blows during their "reception", with detainees being hit even after they were on the ground, unable to stand up. Haiduk, who is 29, had helped the wounded at Azovstal and, in his interrogation, he was accused of amputating and castrating Russians in captivity, he told me. He denied it, saying that only Ukrainian fighters had been brought to him.
As he recalled what had happened, I could sense the anger in his voice. Haiduk was pushed to the floor, and given electric shocks with a stun weapon until, he said, the battery ran out. Other captives said guards also used a military phone to give them shocks by connecting its wires to their bodies. "You're convulsing," Haiduk said. "If you lift your head up, they start beating you. And that circle never ends."
Taganrog is also used as a transfer point and, to his surprise, Haiduk was only held there for two days, before his release in a prisoner exchange. As he left, the officers tried to force him to sign a document, declaring that any injury to his body had been accidental. Haiduk refused. He said guards beat and kicked him, and he heard a crack.
Haiduk struggled to breathe, he recalled, and fell into the mattress he was holding. Later, after returning to Ukraine, he was diagnosed with three broken ribs as well as a cardiac contusion - a bruise to the heart muscle caused by trauma.
I asked him why he believed the guards were treating the Ukrainian detainees that way. "Because they can," he said. "You're a captive, and they abuse you." When I asked Seredniak the same question, he gave me a more practical answer: "They beat you to get some information. And then say: 'It's to make sure you don't go back and fight after the swap.'"
Lubinets, the Ukrainian ombudsman, said Russian authorities had created a "system of torture" for Ukrainian captives, typically in detention centres, in Russia and in occupied areas of Ukraine. Ukraine has opened up its facilities to experts; Russia, however, has restricted visits to only some locations. Janowski, from the OHCHR, said Moscow had repeatedly rejected the UN's requests for access without giving "any legitimate reasons". With most places closed to outside observers, Lubinets said, "Russian soldiers can do anything with Ukrainian prisoners".
During his "reception", Artem Dyblenko, a 40-year-old sergeant major at the 36th Marine Brigade, overheard the guards talking about playing football with the captives. He was intrigued. "What I didn't know was that we would be the ball," Dyblenko said. Blindfolded, he was ordered to run, he said, and fell. "There were constant kicks. You did feel like a football."
Dyblenko told me that, in September, one of his cellmates suffered a heart attack, which he attributed to the constant physical abuse. No-one came to treat him, according to Dyblenko, and the man died, aged 53. Three weeks later, Dyblenko was included in a swap and, in Ukraine, reported the case to the authorities. The body, he said, was returned at the end of last year. "[His son] was given pictures of it," Dyblenko said, "it was horrifying". Ukraine acknowledged that bodies were exchanged in December, without giving details of the victims' identities, or how and where they had died. The man's son said he was waiting for the result of a DNA test and did not want to comment.
The Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian organisation, recorded allegations of at least three deaths at the Taganrog prison, apparently because of torture and lack of food and health care. Mariia Klymyk, one of the group's investigators, said this was "one the worst places for Ukrainian detainees in Russia".
She heard accounts of men being taken to interrogation and asked whether they had any children. "If someone says they don't, they are beaten in the genitals," Klymyk said, "while the guard says: 'For prevention of procreation.'" And some Ukrainian soldiers had been put on trial, she said, with the apparent false confessions they had given in custody used as evidence against them.
After almost 12 months in captivity, seven of them in Taganrog, Seredniak was released in a prisoner swap on 6 May, alongside 44 other Ukrainian fighters. He said the date would be celebrated as if it were his second birthday. The same exchange included Serhii Rotchuk, the doctor, who later discovered he had a fracture in his sternum - the breastbone - a condition associated with significant chest trauma, which he blamed on the abuse he had suffered.
Seredniak pictured at the time of his release
I visited Seredniak four weeks after his return, at a flat in a residential compound on Kyiv's left bank, between his physical and mental rehabilitation sessions. Doctors had diagnosed him with a broken rib and cysts in the liver and kidney which, they said, were probably caused by the beatings. Seredniak had already regained some of the weight he had lost but still suffered lower back pain and, sometimes, struggled to walk.
On my phone, he watched for the first time a video of his swap, which had been published by the Ukrainian government. The captives were filmed shouting "Slava Ukraini!", or "Glory to Ukraine", and being welcomed by a cheering crowd. Pointing at a smiling man, Seredniak said: "This is me!" I could not recognise him. "I was pale, skinny, with no access to sunlight," he told me. "We were like bats, living in half-light."
Additional reporting by Daria Sipigina and Lee Durant. Photos by Lee Durant
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Sara Sharif: Trio known to Woking girl booked flights to Pakistan - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Police are investigating the death of the 10-year-old, whose body was found in Woking last week. | Three people known to 10-year-old Sara Sharif booked one-way tickets to Pakistan, and flew the day before her body was found, BBC News understands.
Sara's body was found at her home in Woking, Surrey, on 10 August.
The BBC has spoken to a travel agent in the town who said he was contacted by someone known to Sara, wanting tickets for three adults and five children.
Police want to speak to three people known to Sara - who they have not named - and who left the UK on 9 August.
Surrey Police launched a murder investigation after Sara's body was found alone in the family home 02:50 BST.
Speaking to the BBC, the travel agent in Woking identified the person making the booking on the evening of 8 August to travel the following day, whom he said had used his services before.
The BBC has spoken to police in Pakistan who have said that no formal approach has been made by the British authorities over the case.
Pakistan and the UK do not have a formal extradition treaty.
In an interview with the Sun newspaper Sara's mother spoke about her grief and disbelief that her daughter was dead.
Olga Sharif was divorced from Sara's father, who had custody of the child.
A post-mortem examination was due to be carried out yesterday (Tuesday) on the 10-year-old but a cause of death has not been formally confirmed. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66524189 |
The Killers apologise for offending fans in Georgia with Russian 'brother' remark - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Fans booed frontman Brandon Flowers for asking them to welcome a fan from neighbouring Russia. | The Killers played Glastonbury in 2019 (pictured), and Brandon Flowers joined Sir Elton John on stage as a special guest at this year's festival
The Killers have apologised after frontman Brandon Flowers invited a Russian fan on stage during a concert in Georgia to play drums on a song.
He told the crowd to treat the Russian fan as their "brother", drawing boos and walk-outs from parts of the arena.
Georgia, which gained independence in 1991, has a long history of tension with its neighbour.
Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and still occupies part of the former Soviet state.
Tensions have been exacerbated after a number of Russians emigrated to Georgia following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
In a statement posted on social media after the concert, the Killers said: "Good people of Georgia, it was never our intention to offend anyone!
"We have a longstanding tradition of inviting people to play drums and it seemed from the stage that the initial response from the crowd indicated that they were okay with tonight's audience participation member coming onstage with us.
"We recognise that a comment, meant to suggest that all of the Killers' audience and fans are 'brothers and sisters,' could be misconstrued.
"We did not mean to upset anyone and we apologise. We stand with you and hope to return soon."
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The backlash from sections of the crowd occurred after Flowers - as is now tradition at their gigs - invited a fan up on stage to play drums with them on their track Reasons Unknown, towards the end of Tuesday's concert at the Black Sea Arena, close to the city of Batumi.
"We don't know the etiquette of this land but this guy's a Russian. You OK with a Russian coming up here?" Flowers was heard asking the audience.
Fan footage recorded at the concert shows the crowd responded to his question with a mixture of boos and cheers.
The singer later addressed the issue, asking fans: "You can't recognise if someone's your brother? He's not your brother?
"We all separate on the borders of our countries? Am I not your brother, being from America?"
Georgian public opinion on the ongoing war is overwhelmingly pro-Ukrainian.
Flowers urged fans to celebrate "that we're here together", before adding that he didn't want the event to "turn ugly". "And I see you as my brothers and my sisters."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Grace played drums with The Killers hours after finishing her final AS-level exam
The Killers, a Las Vegas rock band known for indie anthems such as Mr Brightside, will headline Reading and Leeds Festivals later this month.
Their frontman made a surprise appearance as a guest of Sir Elton John as he played his final ever UK gig closing out Glastonbury Festival last month.
Georgia gained independence in 1991, just before the Soviet Union dissolved.
Speaking about "brotherhood" with Russia is a huge red flag in a small South Caucasus republic. This is mainly due to the memories of the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, as Russia has occupied 20% of Georgia's territory since.
"They [The Killers] came to Georgia without even realising what's going on and whom they are going to sing for," Ramaz Samkharadze tells the BBC. He owns a Radio Station Tbilisi FM, which has removed all of The Killers' songs from the air as "a gesture of support" to anyone offended.
Resident of Tbilisi, Mariam Chargazia, who attended the gig, says she was angry at Flowers' remarks, as the band should have considered the anxiety most of Georgia's population is currently facing.
"This would have been OK in some other country, perhaps, but you are not supposed to come to Georgia saying that Georgians and Russians are brothers and sisters," she says.
The fears of new aggression, omnipresent in Georgian society since 2008, were exacerbated by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Especially after thousands of Russians fled to Georgia, escaping military draft.
The majority of Georgians perceives this influx as a threat. According to a poll conducted in February by US organisation National Democratic Institute, 69% of the population fear that it might have a negative impact on the country.
Despite increasing calls, the ruling Georgian Dream party refused to introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens. Nevertheless, Russian opposition figures, journalists and civil activists are often denied entry to Georgia.
According to various public polls, over 80% of Georgians support joining the EU. In March 2022, Georgia applied for EU membership, together with Moldova and Ukraine, but unlike them, it didn't receive the EU candidate status.
After the start of the full-scale invasion, Georgian Dream also refused to impose economic sanctions against Russia, saying this would devastate Georgia's economy. Meanwhile, its leaders made numerous controversial statements accusing Ukraine, the EU and the US of "trying to drag Georgia into the war" with Russia.
Earlier this year, Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, praised Georgian Dream for "the courage to say that it will be guided by its own interests".
Interestingly, it was the Georgian Dream who invited The Killers to Georgia. On 22 November, Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced that he would spend 70 million GEL (around $26m / £21m) in two years "to bring international stars to the country" to boost its international appeal.
"The government is spending our money wrong. While their rating is decreasing, they try to buy themselves popularity," Ramaz says. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66518658 |
British Museum worker sacked over missing treasures - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The museum dismisses a member of staff and police are investigating after items go missing. | A number of the museum's items are "missing, stolen or damaged", it said
The British Museum in London has sacked a member of staff and police are investigating after treasures were reported "missing, stolen or damaged".
Items including gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones were among those missing from the museum, one of the UK's largest tourist attractions.
The majority of the items were kept in a storeroom, the museum said.
British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said the museum would "throw our efforts into the recovery of objects".
He added: "This is a highly unusual incident. I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.
"We have already tightened our security arrangements and we are working alongside outside experts to complete a definitive account of what is missing, damaged and stolen."
Legal action would be taken against the staff member who was fired, the museum added.
The Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police is investigating but no arrests have been made.
The British Museum has also started an independent review of security.
None of the items had recently been on display
None of the items, which dated from the 15th Century BC to the 19th Century AD, had recently been on display and were kept primarily for academic and research purposes, the museum said.
The PA news agency said it understood the items were taken before 2023 and over a "significant" period of time.
George Osborne, chair of the British Museum, said: "The trustees of the British Museum were extremely concerned when we learnt earlier this year that items of the collection had been stolen."
He added: "We called in the police, imposed emergency measures to increase security, set up an independent review into what happened and lessons to learn, and used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible."
Mr Fischer added the organisation had "brought an end to this", and was "determined to put things right".
The museum's independent review will be led by former trustee Sir Nigel Boardman and Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi, of British Transport Police.
They will provide recommendations regarding future security arrangements and start "a vigorous programme to recover the missing items", according to the museum.
Sir Nigel said: "It will be a painstaking job, involving internal and external experts, but this is an absolute priority, however long it takes, and we are grateful for the help we have already received."
The Bloomsbury-based attraction sees more than six million people visit it each year.
Its collection spans six continents and two million years of history, including the Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles - the fate of which is the subject of much discussion.
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Andrew Malkinson: Greater Manchester Police criticised over trial evidence - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Andrew Malkinson says Greater Manchester Police's actions caused his "wrongful conviction nightmare". | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Andrew Malkinson says there were "mass failings" by police
Police kept evidence from jurors in a case which led to an innocent man spending 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, judges have ruled.
Andrew Malkinson was cleared last month after new DNA evidence linking another suspect to the crime emerged.
Court of Appeal judges have now also called the original conviction "unsafe" because Greater Manchester Police did not disclose images during his trial.
Mr Malkinson had always maintained his innocence and was released in 2020.
He was jailed in 2004 for an attack on a woman in Salford and the prosecution case against him was based only on identification evidence.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the force was "truly sorry for this most appalling miscarriage of justice".
Following the Court of Appeal ruling, Mr Malkinson said he felt "vindicated by the court's finding that [GMP] unlawfully withheld evidence" and "caused his wrongful conviction nightmare".
He told the BBC: "They had control of the evidence, they chose not to disclose these vital pieces of evidence.
"The impact has been catastrophic on me, of course, to even have had to face trial for this.
"That could have been stopped, or at least reduced the amount of time I've had to spend behind bars which I can't even elaborate what it's like to be in prison at all for something you've not done, let alone aeons of time."
In July, Mr Malkinson's convictions for two counts of rape and one of choking or strangling with intent to commit rape were overturned by Lord Justice Holroyde.
The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Goose and Sir Robin Spencer, said last month that Mr Malkinson's legal team had "raised a number of substantial and important points" in other parts of his appeal that would be decided in writing.
In a ruling earlier, the three judges said Mr Malkinson's conviction was also unsafe because of failures to disclose evidence.
The police evidence included photographs of the victim's hands which showed the fingernail of the rape victim's left middle finger was noticeably shorter than her other fingernails, which corroborated her evidence that she scratched her attacker's face.
In his judgement, Lord Justice Holroyde said the failure to disclose the photographs had "prevented the appellant from putting his case forward in its best light and strengthened the prosecution case against him".
Mr Malkinson's defence team was therefore unable to highlight to the jury that he had no such scratch injury to his face.
Lord Justice Holroyde said: "If the photographs had been disclosed, the jury's verdicts may have been different".
In his judgement, it was also noted that two eyewitnesses who identified Mr Malkinson had convictions for dishonesty offences.
Lord Justice Holroyde said if the previous convictions had been disclosed during the trial it "would have been capable of casting doubt on their general honesty and capable of affecting the jury's view as to whether they were civic-minded persons doing their best to assist."
He added: "In our judgement, the challenge to the character and credibility of those two identifying witnesses would have been capable of affecting the jury's overall view as to whether they could be sure that the appellant was correctly identified."
Mr Malkinson said: "The evidence needed to overturn my conviction has been sitting in police files for the past two decades.
"Yet the [Criminal Cases Review Commission] did not bother to look and it fell to the small charity Appeal to bring it to light."
He said that cost him "extra years behind bars for a crime I did not commit".
He told the BBC it had caused him "immense pain" and "oceans of suffering".
GMP's Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jackson said the force accepted the Court of Appeal's judgement and added: "I speak on behalf of the whole force when I say that we are truly sorry for this most appalling miscarriage of justice.
She said she had "extended an invitation to meet with Mr Malkinson and say sorry to him personally for the time he wrongly spent in prison and for all that he endured as a consequence".
Ms Jackson said she could not comment further because the force was being investigated by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, in relation to the case and due to a live criminal investigation.
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Jordan Peterson: Critics complain over 'misleading' book cover quotes - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Two journalists say quotes used on a Jordan Peterson book jacket misrepresented their reviews. | Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychology professor who developed a following on YouTube
Two critics who reviewed a book by Jordan Peterson have said their articles were quoted on its cover in a misleading way.
Quotes from reviews published in the Times and the New Statesman were used on the cover of the paperback edition of Peterson's Beyond Order.
The book cover quoted a line from the Times saying the book was "a philosophy of the meaning of life".
But it didn't mention that the review described that philosophy as "bonkers".
Peterson and his publishers Penguin have not yet responded to the BBC's request for comment.
The Canadian psychology professor has gained a loyal following partly due to his opinions on so-called "culture war" issues such as white privilege, gender-neutral pronouns and gender roles.
But the 61-year-old is a controversial figure who is derided by others for his views.
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life, which was published in paperback last May, quoted Johanna Thomas-Corr's review in the New Statesman on its cover.
She said the quote that was selected to market the book was a "gross misrepresentation" of her 2,500-word review.
Thomas-Corr, who is also literary editor of the Sunday Times, posted on X (formerly Twitter): "I don't have it in me to write some causally witty thing about how horrifying this is." She added that her quote "should be removed".
Thomas-Corr's review appeared in the New Statesman, a left-leaning current affairs magazine, in March 2021, when the original hardback edition of the book was published.
Her article referred to what she called the "inadvertent comedy" of the book, and said Peterson spent several pages "ranting".
Her lengthy review also said: "His unwillingness to address detail or confront counter-arguments feels cowardly.
"He repeatedly identifies masculinity with order and femininity with chaos and makes it clear which side he feels we should favour."
But Thomas-Corr's review did feature some praise, and it was these passages that were quoted on the paperback's cover.
One line quoted Thomas-Corr saying it was "genuinely enlightening and often poignant".
Another said: "Here is a father figure who takes his audience seriously. And here is a grander narrative about truth, being, order and chaos that stretches back to the dawn of human consciousness."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Jordan Peterson speaking to the BBC in 2019
Elsewhere, the book jacket featured a line from James Marriott's review in the Times, which said: "A philosophy of the meaning of life... the most lucid and touching prose Peterson has ever written."
However, Marriot has also also suggested his review had been quoted selectively to "disguise" the fact it was largely negative.
In a since-deleted post, Marriott jokingly praised the "incredible work from Jordan Peterson's publisher", adding: "My review of this mad book was probably the most negative thing I have ever written."
The full-length review described Peterson's prose as "repetitious, unvariegated, rhythmless, opaque and possessed of a suffocating sense of its own importance".
Only in a paragraph praising one particular chapter did Marriott say the text was the best prose Peterson had written.
Marriott's full review otherwise said the book "nails together shower thoughts, random prejudices and genuine insights into a decidedly rickety structure", and repeatedly used the word "bonkers" to describe Peterson's philosophy.
At the time of writing, Marriott's review still features on Penguin's online page for the book.
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life was a follow-up to Peterson's 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.
Another review by Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph said Peterson's book featured "hokey wisdom combined with good advice".
The book jacket cut out the word "hokey" so the quote read only: "Wisdom combined with good advice."
However, Moore gave a positive review to the book overall, awarding it four stars.
Although it is normal for publishers to use techniques to increase sales, the complaints could raise questions in the publishing industry about selective quoting.
The matter does not fall under the remit of the Advertising Standards Authority because the quotes feature on a book jacket rather than in an advertisement. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66520089 |
World War Two aerial photos opened to public for first time - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The 3,600 photographs offer a birds-eye view of the country as it changed during the war. | This view of Salford includes landmarks like the Manchester Ship Canal and Salford Docks. Bottom-right are Old Trafford football and cricket grounds and White City stadium
A collection of photographs taken during World War Two have been opened to the public for the first time.
The aerial images were taken by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) Photographic Reconnaissance units while stationed at bases across England in 1943 and 1944.
The 3,600 photographs offer a birds-eye view of the country as it changed during the war.
This includes bomb damage to towns and cities as well as Old Trafford football stadium in Greater Manchester.
A photograph captures the damage to Old Trafford football ground
Damage to the main stand of the football ground can be seen in the photo, after it was hit in a bombing raid in March 1941.
The home of Manchester United was not used again for football until 1949.
They also captured ancient monuments surrounded by anti-tank defences in West Sussex, such as Cissbury Ring Iron Age hillfort in Worthing where ditches and concrete cubes can be seen laid out to impede an enemy advance.
There is also a low-level photograph showing part of a US Army camp in Wiltshire which shows firing ranges in the foreground while troops play a game of baseball in a recreation field in the top left of the image.
A shot of a US Army camp on the outskirts of Devizes, taken on 30 April 1944
The collection has been made available to the public for the first time in an online, searchable map on the Historic England Archive.
This image of Newbury Racecourse, which was was used as a marshalling yard, shows rows of containers of military equipment
One photograph captures Eighth Air Force B-17 bombers flying over The Brecks area of Norfolk
RAF Grafton Underwood (USAAF Station 106), Northamptonshire, 22 April 1944. The USAAF's first heavy bomber mission of the Second World War was flown from here on 17 August 1942
The shadows of USAAF bomber aircraft in flight dot the fields at RAF Watton (USAAF Station 376), Norfolk, 27 May 1944
Detail showing the extended runways and dispersal areas of RAF Bradwell Bay, Essex, on 25 January 1944. The dark lines along the runway may indicate where FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) pipelines were ignited.
Taken by the port side oblique camera, this photo captures the flight of RAF PR Mosquito PR Mk IX, MM247 over Brill in Buckinghamshire on 24 December 1943. The following April, MM247 was lost whilst on a PR mission over the Peenemünde Army Research Centre on the Baltic coast of Germany
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said the collection recorded "changes taking place in England" as well as "capturing fascinating incidental detail, like American troops playing baseball".
"Our collection of USAAF wartime photographs were taken in England by the pilots and aircraft of squadrons that provided intelligence for the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany," he said.
"This came at a cost, with many pilots killed in the line of duty.
"We are making these images available to the public for the first time online, giving people access to this remarkable collection of historic photographs."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-66511918 |
Tenerife wildfires lead to evacuation of villages - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Helicopters spraying water battle to contain fires that began at a nature reserve on Tuesday. | Aircraft is being deployed to tackle the flames on the island of Tenerife
A major wildfire on the Spanish island of Tenerife has led to the evacuation of five villages.
The fire has spread some 8 sq km (800 hectares) since it started in a nature reserve on the north-east coast of the island late on Tuesday evening.
Local authorities have cut off access to the forest around the Mount Teide volcano, Spain's highest peak, and say secondary fires have now broken out.
Helicopters spraying water have been seen flying over the area.
The main blaze is spreading through woodland and ravines in the Candelaria and Arafo areas, making it difficult for firefighters to tackle.
Rosa Davila, president of the Tenerife Council, said aircraft were necessary because it was a steep area.
"The blaze has a huge potential, we have asked for additional means," she said on local radio.
The villages of Arrate, Chivisaya, Media Montaña, Ajafoña and Las Lagunetas were evacuated on Wednesday morning.
Pedro Martinez, head of Tenerife's emergency services, said multiple secondary fires had also broken out.
Photos show large flames engulfing parts of the forest, and thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.
As of Wednesday evening, there was no apparent disruption to arrivals or departures at Tenerife's South and North airports.
It comes after the Canary Islands were hit by a heatwave that has left many areas bone dry, increasing the risk of wildfires.
Last month, thousands of residents on the nearby island of La Palma - which also forms part of the Canary Islands archipelago off the coast of northern Africa - were told to evacuate due to a wildfire amid a period of intense heat.
Wildfires have raged in many parts of the world this summer, including in southern Europe, northern Africa, Canada, and Hawaii.
Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66525861 |
Clapham stabbing: Man sought after homophobic attack - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Two men were taken to hospital after being stabbed outside a nightclub in south London. | The Met Police say it is "vital" that the man in the image is identified
Investigators are seeking to identify a man after two men were stabbed in a homophobic attack outside a south London nightclub.
The men, in their 20s and 30s, were attacked outside the Two Brewers in Clapham High Street on Sunday night.
The Metropolitan Police has released an image of a man taken from outside the venue at the time of the attack.
The force said it is treating the stabbings as homophobic.
The Met said the incident happened at about 22:15 BST as the two men stood outside the nightclub.
The were approached by a man who attacked them with a knife before running away.
No arrests have been made so far, and police inquiries are ongoing.
The men have since been sent home from hospital.
The attack took place outside the Two Brewers in Clapham
Det Ch Insp Jivan Saib from the Met's Central South Command Unit, who is leading the investigation, said: "I am asking the public to look at this image and see if they recognise this individual - it is vital that we identify and locate him as soon as possible."
PC Hayley Jones, the Met's LGBT+ Community Liaison Officer for Lambeth and Southwark said: "We understand some people from the LGBT+ community may not have the confidence to speak to police.
"You can contact me directly for advice and support, or to assist this investigation."
Speaking to the BBC at the scene, the chief executive of the charity LGBT Hero, Ian Howley, said the attack was "something that makes you think twice about your own actions; about the way that you talk, the way that you dress, the way that you are as a person".
"You kind of see yourself as a beacon for hate and people want to... physically and verbally abuse you for being who you are as a person. And I find that really shocking," he said.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan posted on X yesterday saying there was "no place for hate in London", adding he stood with LGBTQI+ Londoners.
Florence Eshalomi, Labour MP for Vauxhall, whose constituency area includes the street, said: "Having spoken to people in the area this afternoon, I know how alarming this shocking attack has been to the LGBTQ+ community in Clapham.
"My thoughts are with the victims, who I hope will be supported to make a full recovery."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66515319 |
Junior doctors in Scotland accept new pay offer - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The 12.4% pay increase for 2023/24 comes after the medics had planned to take strike action. | Scotland's junior doctors have voted to accept a pay offer from the Scottish government.
The deal will include a 12.4% pay increase for 2023/24.
This is in addition to a wage rise of 4.5% for 2022/23 with ministers also promising talks on future pay increases.
Junior doctors had been planning to take strike action before the latest pay offer was made by Scottish ministers.
The deal will cost the Scottish government £61.3m and will be met from existing budgets.
As part of the agreement, further talks to "make credible progress" towards full pay restoration to 2008 levels are planned.
These will see the rate of inflation used as the guarantee as the floor for each round of negotiations in the next three years.
Scottish ministers have also committed to agreeing a new pay review mechanism with junior doctors.
The result of the consultative vote of BMA Scotland members saw 81.64% vote in favour of the offer with a turnout of 71.24%.
In England, junior doctors have taken part in five rounds of industrial action this year as a result of an ongoing pay dispute.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: "This is the single biggest investment in junior doctor pay since devolution, and maintains our commitment to make Scotland the best place in the UK for junior doctors to work and train.
"Due to the meaningful engagement we have had with trade unions, we have avoided any industrial action in Scotland - the only part of the UK to avoid NHS strikes."
Junior doctors in England have been on strike on a number of occasions this year
Junior doctors had been due to strike between 12 and 15 July after previously rejecting a 14.5% pay rise over two years.
The new offer saw this action postponed.
The union had previously called for a rise of 23.5% - the amount they say junior doctors have seen their pay fall in real terms since 2008.
Junior doctors are fully-qualified medics who are not speciality staff doctors, consultants or GPs. They make up 44% of the doctors in the NHS in Scotland.
Dr Chris Smith, chairman of the BMA's Scottish Junior Doctor Committee, said the agreement was a "serious, welcome commitment to ensuring that pay for junior doctors in Scotland is restored to a fair level".
He added: "While we accept that this year's 12.4% uplift makes only a small amount of real terms progress towards fully reversing the 28.5% pay cut we have received since 2008, it represents a start.
"Earlier this year junior doctors in Scotland said enough is enough - they were clear that they will no longer stand aside and accept any more sub-inflationary pay awards year after year." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66524465 |
Hawaii wildfires: Joe Biden vows to visit soon amid criticism - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Questions have been raised about the federal response to the fires, in which at least 101 people died. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'This acrid smoke really sticks in your throat'
US President Joe Biden says he will travel to Hawaii "as soon as he can" amid criticism of his response to the island's deadly wildfires.
Speaking in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Mr Biden said he wanted to ensure that the people in the state had "everything they need".
The death toll from the fires is now 101 with some 1,300 people missing.
Hawaii residents have complained about the pace of the federal government's response to the disaster.
While at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, over the weekend, Mr Biden was asked by a reporter about the rising death toll in Hawaii, and responded: "No comment."
The president said on Tuesday he had not yet visited because of concerns that doing so would divert resources and attention from the humanitarian response. Jill Biden will accompany him to Hawaii, he said.
"I don't want to get in the way. I've been to too many disaster areas," Mr Biden said. "I want to be sure we don't disrupt ongoing recovery efforts."
Over 500 federal emergency personnel have so far been dispatched to help with relief efforts, including 150 search and rescue specialists.
Additional personnel are being sent to Maui to help those already on the ground, Mr Biden added.
He said that "all available federal assets" in the region would be used for recovery efforts, including the US military and Coast Guard.
"It's painstaking work. It takes time and it's nerve wracking," the president said.
The US Small Business Administration has also begun offering low-interest disaster loans to help local residents rebuild.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has approved one-time payments of $700 (£550) per household to help with immediate needs in the wake of the disaster.
"Every asset they need will be there for them," said Mr Biden. "And we'll be there in Maui as long as it takes."
In a video update on Tuesday, Governor Josh Green said he and Mr Biden were speaking "often" and would work out a time for the president to visit once "the heart-breaking work is done on the ground finding those we've lost".
Officials in Hawaii have said they expect the death toll to rise in the coming days as more bodies are recovered from the worst hit parts of Maui. Only 25% of the affected area has so far been searched for human remains.
Approximately 80% of Lahaina - a town of about 12,000 residents - was destroyed in the blaze.
On the ground in Maui, many residents told the BBC they have been frustrated at the scale and the speed of the recovery efforts.
One resident, Les Munn, said he had so far received $500 from Fema - less than the price of a night in most hotel rooms on the island.
For now, he is still sleeping on a cot in a shelter.
Another local, Felicia Johnson, said that "everybody wants the glory but nobody wants to put their feet on the ground".
On a street above the fire line in Lahaina, one woman said she feared she would starve to death in the days after the fire.
But now people are dropping bags of ice, water, clothing, batteries and small solar chargers at her neighbour's home, one of several grassroots relief supplies hubs co-ordinated by locals in the area.
Ahead of a second trip into the worst-hit area, Amory Mowrey spent $1,700 to load his and his friend's SUVs with toilet paper, cases of water, packs of batteries and sacks of rice.
"We're just trying to get supplies as fast as possible into the affected areas so people get what they need," he said. "There's a lack of response, it felt like, from large organisations."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: ''Thank God that he gave us tears' Maui resident
Others expressed frustration that locally sourced supplies were being turned away by government officials, or that road closures had prevented people from entering Lahaina to help.
"The government's getting in the way of people helping," said Liz Germansky, who lost her home in the fire.
"I don't think the government could have done less," she told the BBC while sitting in a traffic jam on the island.
"The way things are unfolding right now is typical of what we all experienced on Tuesday... it's no wonder that this got so out of hand." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66502287 |
Jail for teenager who murdered boy at Glasgow railway station - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Justin McLaughlin, 14, died in October 2021 after being stabbed in the heart by Daniel Haig in Glasgow. | Justin was killed two days after his 14th birthday
An 18-year-old who murdered a schoolboy at a Glasgow railway station has been jailed for a minimum of 16 years
Justin McLaughlin, 14, died in October 2021 after being stabbed in the heart by Daniel Haig, who was 16 at the time, at High Street Station.
He was taken to hospital after the attack but never recovered.
Haig had admitted delivering the fatal blow but had denied murder. He was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Haig was jailed for life and will have to serve at least 16 years before he can apply for parole.
The judge, Lord Clark, said the murder had "a devastating effect" on the victim's family.
"They are left with dreadful loss you have caused for the rest of their lives," he told Haig.
"Justin McLaughlin was only 14, a child, and he was getting back on his feet when you stabbed him. He was in a defenceless position."
The judge added it was "deeply disturbing" to see gang activity still happening in Glasgow.
CCTV footage showed Haig with a knife at the railway station
The court heard Haig had become involved in a scuffle with Justin and a group of his friends at the railway station on 16 October 2021.
The teenager pulled a knife out of his bag and was seen on CCTV chasing the group.
Justin tripped and fell before Haig caught up and stabbed him.
Haig told the trial that he had a knife in his rucksack for "protection" after claiming to have been attacked the day before.
He also said he had not intended to kill the 14-year-old.
Defence counsel John Scullion KC said that his client "bitterly regrets his actions and the tragic consequences for the deceased and his family".
Haig was found guilty of murder after a trial
The court had previously heard that Justin, from Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, had begged for his mother after being attacked.
A post-mortem examination concluded that he died from a stab wound to the heart.
Justin's family said their lives would never be the same after his murder.
"He was the character of the family, his younger brothers miss him so much. He was their best friend as well as their brother," they said.
"He'll be forever our big handsome boy with a smile that lit up the room."
Prosecutor Moira Orr, head of homicide and major crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said knives were blighting communities and destroying young lives.
"This case is tragic evidence of the destruction wreaked when young people carry bladed weapons," she said.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-66520511 |
Trump faces 4 March 2024 trial just a day before Super Tuesday - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | His trial for alleged election interference is set for 4 March, 2024 - a day ahead of Super Tuesday. | Donald Trump's campaign stops are just one part of his increasingly hectic schedule
Donald Trump, seeking a return to the White House in 2024, already had a crammed political calendar. Now, with multiple legal dramas set to unfold, it is approaching the point of pure chaos.
A federal judge has scheduled the trial for his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election for 4 March, the day before Super Tuesday, the biggest voting day in the Republican race.
That trial - in Washington DC - would pull Mr Trump off the campaign trail for a pivotal stretch of his campaign, when he could be securing himself as the Republican standard-bearer or engaged in an extended struggle with one or more remaining rivals.
Mr Trump's lawyers have already vigorously complained about proposed trial schedules conflicting with the presidential campaign, which the former president and his supporters have branded "election interference" by his enemies.
Mr Trump has vowed to appeal the trial date ruling. In a post on his social media site, he derided the judge as "biased" and "Trump hating" and said the timing was "just what our corrupt government wanted".
Mr Trump's legal team had initially proposed an April 2026 date for the federal trial - a timeline the judge said was unacceptable.
While the first presidential nomination contest, in Iowa, isn't until January, the Republican presidential race has already begun in earnest. The party has started holding monthly debates for qualifying candidates. The first took place in Wisconsin in August - and Mr Trump stayed away, saying an appearance was not necessary given his large polling lead over his rivals.
The schedule, however, provided an early indication of how his legal concerns could factor into his political calculations. The former president appeared in an Atlanta jail the day after the debate, where he was formally booked on charges of interfering in the Georgia 2020 election.
While much of Mr Trump's legal - and political - drama will take place in 2024, there's already one trial scheduled for later this year. On 2 October, New York state's civil fraud lawsuit against Mr Trump and his business empire is scheduled to go to trial. Mr Trump is not required to appear in court, but it still could be a distraction - and it comes just five days after the second scheduled Republican primary debate.
When the calendar flips to 2024, things start to really heat up. The Iowa caucuses - the first Republican presidential selection contest - are scheduled for 15 January, the same day a defamation trial against Mr Trump begins. It is the second case brought by writer E Jean Carroll, who has already won a $5m (£3.9m) judgement from the former president after a jury found he sexually assaulted and defamed her.
Mr Trump's New York hush-money case is scheduled for trial in late March, a few weeks after the federal 6 January trial is currently on tap to begin in Washington, DC. The federal case involving mishandling classified documents is set for May. That will be after many of the key Republican primaries have taken place. But preparation for those cases, including pre-trial hearings and depositions, will begin well beforehand.
Then there is the Georgia indictment, which is yet to be scheduled.
Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis has said she wants her sprawling racketeering case against Mr Trump and 18 co-defendants to reach trial within six months, but that timeline is also ambitious, given that one defendant is requesting the proceedings be moved to federal court and a second is calling for an earlier trial.
All the presiding judges in these cases will take into consideration Mr Trump's legal concerns, as well as the campaign timeline, and attempt to work out a schedule that best accommodates all the competing interests.
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In the second half of 2024, those interests include a Republican national convention that is slated for mid-July, and the traditional series of presidential debates that take place in early autumn. At some point the possibility of a trial in the shadow of November's presidential election - or even after it - becomes a real possibility.
The trials - and any pre-trial hearings, depositions and other various legal proceedings - will take up weeks if not months of Mr Trump's time. He will have to schedule his campaigning, including his beloved mass public rallies, around them. He could have judges issuing orders to limit what he can publicly say - and sanctioning him if he does not comply.
Then there's the massive financial drain that supporting multiple teams of lawyers to contest the criminal charges against Mr Trump and his associates presents. A Trump-affiliated political committee has already spent more than $40m on legal fees just in the first half of 2023, with the first criminal trial still months away.
Those numbers will only go up - and they will continue to limit the amount of money the former president can direct to the nuts and bolts of his campaign, such as grass-roots organising, television and online advertisements, and staff and infrastructure investments.
It is a daunting burden for any candidate - even one who has shown Mr Trump's remarkable political durability. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66516718 |
'The Russians said beatings were my re-education' - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Ukrainian citizens have told the BBC they were punched and electrocuted before being allowed to leave Mariupol. | Like many Ukrainians trying to leave Russian-occupied areas, Andriy was forced to go through a process called filtration
Ukrainians who want to leave cities under Russian occupation cannot do so without undergoing a terrifying process known as filtration. Phones are searched, social media accounts scoured. Anything deemed incriminating can lead to beatings, civilians say, and many are forcefully sent to Russia.
Andriy watched anxiously as Russian soldiers connected his mobile to their computer, trying to restore some files. Andriy, a 28-year-old marketing officer, was attempting to leave Mariupol. He had deleted everything he thought a Russian soldier could use against him, such as text messages discussing Russia's invasion of Ukraine or photos of the devastation in his city caused by weeks of relentless shelling.
But the internet in Mariupol, a once bustling port in southern Ukraine, had been cut off as part of the siege imposed by Russia, and Andriy had not been able to take down some of his posts on social media. He remembered the first days of the war, when he had shared some anti-Russian messages and speeches from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The soldiers, Andriy said, already had their focus on him. On that day in early May, when he first joined the queues for filtration in Bezimenne, a small village to the east of Mariupol, one of the Russians noticed his beard. The soldier, Andriy said, instantly assumed it was a sign that he was a fighter with the Azov regiment, a former militia in the city which once had links with the far right.
"Is it you and your brigade killing our guys?," Andriy was asked. He replied he had never served in the army, he started working directly after graduating, but "they didn't want to hear it".
As the soldiers went through his phone, they turned to his political views, and asked his opinion of Zelensky. Andriy, cautiously, said Zelensky was "okay", and one of the soldiers wanted to know what he meant by that. Andriy told him Zelensky was just another president, not very different from those who had come before, and that in fact, he was not very interested in politics. "Well," the soldier replied, "you should just say you aren't interested in politics."
They kept Andriy's phone and told him to wait outside. He met his grandmother, mother and aunt, who had arrived with him and had already been given a document that allowed them to leave. A few minutes later, Andriy said, he was ordered to go to a tent where members of Russia's security service, the FSB, were carrying out further checks.
Five officers were sitting behind a desk, three wearing balaclavas. They showed Andriy a video he had shared on Instagram of a speech Zelensky had given, from 1 March. With it was a caption written by Andriy: "A president we can be proud of. Go home with your warship!" One of the officers took the lead. "You told us you're neutral to politics, but you support the Nazi government," Andriy recalled being told. "He hit me in the throat. He basically started the beating."
Andriy said the soldiers found out he had shared speeches of President Zelensky after connecting his phone to their computer
Like Andriy, Dmytro had his phone confiscated at a checkpoint as he tried to leave Mariupol in late March. Dmytro, a 34-year-old history teacher, said the soldiers came across the word "ruscist", a play on "Russia" and "fascist", in a message to a friend. The soldiers, Dmytro told me, slapped and kicked him, and "everything [happened] because I used that word."
Dmytro said he was taken, with four other people, to a police station in the village of Nikolsky, also a filtration point. "The highest-ranking officer punched me four times in the face," he said. "It seemed to be part of the procedure".
His interrogators said teachers like him were spreading pro-Ukrainian propaganda. They also asked what he thought about "the events of 2014", the year that Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula and started supporting pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk. He replied that the conflict was known as the Russo-Ukrainian war. "They said Russia was not involved, and asked me whether I agreed that it was, in fact, a Ukrainian civil war."
The officers checked his phone again, and this time found a photo of a book which had the letter H in its title. "We got you!" the soldiers told Dmytro. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, claims his war in Ukraine is an effort to "de-Nazify" the country, and the soldiers, Dmytro said, believed he was reading books about Hitler.
The next morning, Dmytro was transferred with two women to a prison in Starobesheve, a separatist-controlled village in Donetsk. He counted 24 people in the four-bunk cell. After four days and another detailed interrogation, he was finally released, and eventually reached Ukrainian-held territory. Weeks later, he still does not know what happened to his cell mates.
Back inside the tent in Bezimenne, Andriy noticed two other people with their hands tied behind them, who had been left in a corner while the officers paid attention to him. "They started to beat me way harder," Andriy told me, "everywhere". At one point, after a blow to the stomach, he felt as if he was about to faint. He managed to sit on a chair.
"I wondered what would be better," he said, "to lose consciousness and fall down or tolerate the pain further."
At least, Andriy thought, he had not been taken somewhere else, away from his family. Ukrainian officials say thousands of people are believed to have been sent to detention centres and camps set up in Russian-controlled areas during filtration. In almost all cases, their relatives do not know where they are being held, or why. "I [was] very angry about everything," Andriy said, "but, at the same time, I know it could've been much worse."
His mother tried to get into the tent, but was stopped by the officers. "She was very nervous. She later said they had told her that my 're-education' had started," Andriy said, "and that she shouldn't be worried." His ordeal, he told me, continued for two and a half hours. He was even forced to make a video saying "Glory to the Russian army!", a mockery of "Slava Ukraini!", the Ukrainian slogan.
The final question, Andriy said, was whether he had "understood his mistakes", and "I obviously answered yes". As he was being released, officers brought in another man, who had previously served in Ukraine's military and had several tattoos. "They immediately pushed him to the ground and started to beat him," Andriy said. "They didn't even talk to him."
"I even try to justify the process somehow. Try to convince myself there's some logic," Andriy said about filtration
Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces and Russian-backed separatists have carried out filtration in occupied territories as an attempt to establish residents' possible links with the military, law enforcement and even local government, as the invading forces try to restore services and infrastructure.
Men of fighting age are particularly targeted, checked for bruises that could suggest recent use of weapons, such as on the fingers and shoulders. Strip searches are common, witnesses say, including for women. Oleksandra Matviychuk, the head of the Center for Civil Liberties, a Kyiv-based human rights group, said the process, even when not violent, was "inhuman". "There's no military need for this... They're trying to occupy the country with a tool I call 'immense pain of civilian people'. You ask: 'Why so much cruelty? For what?'"
Maksym, a 48-year-old steelworker, said he was forced to strip naked while officers in Bezimenne checked even the seams of his clothes. He was asked whether he was from the Azov regiment or was a Nazi sympathiser - he denied being either - and why he wanted to leave Mariupol. "I said, 'Actually, it's you who are on Ukrainian soil.'" One of the officers, who he said were all Russian, reacted by hitting Maksym with the gun butt in his chest. He fell.
"I leaned my head on the ground, holding my ribs. I couldn't get up," he said. "It was very painful to breathe."
He was taken to what he described as a "cage", where others were being held. He noticed that one man, a weightlifter, had a tattoo of Poseidon, the Greek god, with a trident. The soldiers, Maksym said, thought it was the Ukrainian coat of arms. "He explained it to them but they didn't understand." Those detained in the "cage" were given no water or food, and had to urinate in a corner in front of everyone, Maksym told me. At one point, exhausted, he tried to sleep on the ground. An officer came in and kicked him in the back, forcing him to stand.
People would be taken to be interrogated and, when they returned, "you saw the person had been beaten," Maksym said. He witnessed a woman in her 40s lying in pain, apparently after being hit in the stomach. A man, who seemed to be around 50, had a bleeding lip and red bruises on his neck. Maksym believed he had been strangled. No-one in the "cage" asked or said anything to each other. They were afraid that FSB officers could be disguised as prisoners.
After about four or five hours, Maksym was released and allowed to leave Mariupol. Days later, he reached safety in Ukrainian-controlled territory, and went to a hospital to treat the persistent pain in his chest. The diagnosis: four broken ribs.
Yuriy Belousov, who leads the Department of War at the Ukrainian general prosecutor's office, said his team had received allegations of torture and even killings during filtration. "[It seems to be] a Russian policy which was designed in advance, and pretty well prepared," he told me. "It's definitely not just a single case or [something] done by a local military guy."
He acknowledged it was difficult to verify the cases, or estimate the scale of the violence. The Ukrainian authorities are unable to carry out investigations in occupied territories and most victims remain reluctant to share their stories, concerned that relatives in Mariupol could be targeted if their identity is exposed.
Vadym, 43, who used to work at a state-owned company in Mariupol, said he was tortured in Bezimenne in March. Separatist soldiers had questioned his wife after finding out she had "liked" the Ukrainian army page on Facebook, and restoring a receipt on her phone of a donation she had made to them. "I tried to stand up for her," he said, "but was knocked down." He got up, but was beaten once more. A pattern, he said, that happened again and again.
When Russian soldiers realised where he worked, they took Vadym to a different building. There, Vadym said, separatist soldiers asked him "stupid things" and started to beat him. "They used electricity. I almost died. I fell and choked on my dental fillings, which had come out from my teeth," Vadym said. He vomited and fainted. "They were furious. When I recovered consciousness, they told me to clean everything up and continued to give me electric shocks."
The torture, Vadym said, only stopped after Russian officers intervened. They carried out another round of questioning before finally freeing him. As Vadym left the building, he saw a young woman, who had been identified during the process as a court clerk, being carried out.
"A plastic bag was put on her head, and her hands were tied," Vadym said. "Her mother was on her knees, begging for her daughter not to be taken away."
Vadym's release came with a condition: he would have to go to Russia. About 1.2 million people in Ukraine, including thousands of Mariupol residents, have been sent to Russia against their will since the invasion began in February, according to Ukrainian officials. Russia denies it is carrying out a mass deportation, which would constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law, and says it is simply helping those who want to go. Ukraine rejects this claim.
Some of those sent to Russia have managed to escape to other countries and even return to Ukraine. How many, remains unclear. Vadym, with the help of his friends, moved to another European country - he did not want to reveal the exact location. He had lost some of his vision, he told me, and doctors said this was a result of head injuries from the beating. "I feel better now, but rehabilitation will take a long time." I asked him what he thought about filtration. "They separate families. People are being disappeared," he said. "It's pure terror."
Russia's defence ministry did not respond to several requests for comment on the allegations. The Russian government has previously denied it is carrying out war crimes in Ukraine.
Andriy said his mother was told by a Russian soldier that he was going through "re-education"
Andriy and his family have now settled in Germany, after also having been forced to go to Russia. Looking back, he believes the occupying forces seemed to be using filtration to show their "absolute power". Soldiers, he said, acted as if it was a "type of entertainment", something to "satisfy their own ego".
I told him about another Ukrainian I had met, a 60-year-old retired engineer called Viktoriia. A soldier found out she had added a Ukrainian flag to her profile photo on Facebook, she said, and the message "Ukraine above all."
He pointed his gun at her, she told me, and threatened: "I'll put you in the basement until you rot!" He then kicked her. Viktoriia struggled to understand why he had acted like that. "What did I do? What right did they have?"
Andriy said he could not explain such behaviour. "I even try to justify the process somehow. Try to convince myself there's some logic."
But, he said, "there's no logic".
Some names have been changed to protect identities | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61683513 |
Travis King: North Korea says US soldier fled because of racism in army - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Travis King, 23, dashed across the border from South Korea on 18 July while on a guided tour. | Private Travis King dashed across the border to North Korea last month
North Korea has said US soldier Travis King crossed into its territory last month because of "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the army.
The 23-year-old private dashed across the border from South Korea on 18 July while on a guided tour.
Private King admitted to crossing illegally and wanted refuge in the North, state news agency KCNA reported.
It is the first time Pyongyang has acknowledged detaining the soldier. The claims have not been verified.
They appeared in a statement which has so far only been published by the government-controlled KCNA. It did not provide further details about Private King's health or whether the country would accept him as a refugee.
Concerns have been growing for the welfare of the US soldier, who has not been heard from or seen since his crossing.
The US is trying to negotiate Private King's release with the help of the UN Command, which runs the border area, and has a direct phoneline to the North Korean army.
Responding to the North Korean report on Wednesday, a Pentagon official said the US could not verify the claims and its priority was to have Private King brought home safely "through all available channels".
North Korea has given no information on how it plans to treat Private King but said the soldier admitted he had "illegally" entered the country.
The fact that North Korea's statement emphasised Private King's illegal entry suggests that it is not thinking of having him stay even if he wants to, said Christopher Green, a senior consultant at the think-tank International Crisis Group.
"That is not surprising. He would lose all his political value to them if that were the case," said Mr Green, but added that North Korea is in no rush to negotiate Travis King's return to the US just yet.
"They have very publicly thrown in their lot with Beijing and Moscow, as high-level delegation visits from both countries to Pyongyang in recent weeks show. It is a mistake to think that North Korea is or needs to be in a hurry to deal with the Travis King mess," he said.
The statement on KCNA did not say if he would face prosecution or punishment, and there was no mention of his current whereabouts or condition.
"During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK [North Korea] as he harboured ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army," KCNA reported.
"He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: What's next for captured US soldier in North Korea?
Private King is a reconnaissance specialist who has been in the army since January 2021 and was in South Korea as part of his rotation.
Before crossing the border, he served two months in detention in South Korea for assault charges and was released on 10 July.
He was supposed to fly back to the US to face disciplinary proceedings but managed to leave the airport and join a tour of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which separates North and South Korea.
The DMZ, one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world, is filled with landmines, surrounded by electric and barbed wire fencing, and monitored by surveillance cameras. Armed guards are supposed to be on alert 24 hours a day although witnesses say there were no North Korean soldiers present when Private King ran over.
His family have previously told US media that he had relayed experiencing racism in the army. They also said his mental health appeared to have declined after he spent time in a South Korean jail.
"It feels like I'm in a big nightmare," said his mother Claudine Gates, adding the family was desperate for answers.
North Korea is one of the few countries still under nominally communist rule and has long been a highly secretive and isolated society.
Its government, led by Kim Jong-un, also stands accused of systematic human rights abuse.
Analysts say the detainment of Travis King has played into North Korea's anti-US messaging, at a time when relations between the two countries are their worst in years.
Pyongyang will most likely have relished the opportunity to highlight racism and other shortcomings in American society, especially given the international criticism it receives for human rights abuses.
The UN Security Council is due to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the human rights situation in North Korea for the first time since 2017.
Ahead of its comments on Travis King, North Korean media had put out a statement on the UN meeting, which will be led by the US.
"Not content with fostering racial discrimination and gun-related crimes, the US has imposed unethical human rights standards on other countries", it read. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66517280 |
Crooked House owners' links to previous major fire - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | A huge fire broke out at a Buckinghamshire landfill site five years before the Black Country blaze. | The owners of a Black Country pub which was gutted by fire and then demolished two days later experienced another huge fire on land they owned.
The Crooked House, near Dudley, had recently been sold to new owners, who have now been ordered by the Health and Safety Executive to secure the site.
The safety watchdog said it was also now liaising with authorities.
The cause of a previous blaze at Finmere landfill, Buckinghamshire, in August 2018 was never established.
Adam Taylor is director of AT Contracting and Plant Hire Ltd, which, according to Land Registry documents, owns the Finmere site.
His wife, Carly, controls the company ATE Farms Limited, which bought the "wonky" Black Country landmark in July.
Adam and Carly Taylor have links to The Crooked House and Finmere landfill site
Mrs Taylor also currently controls AT Contracting and Plant Hire Ltd, which the BBC understands rented a digger a week before flames engulfed The Crooked House on 5 August.
Two days later the 18th Century building on Himley Road was flattened, leading to widespread protests.
Mr and Mrs Taylor have not replied to the BBC's requests for an interview.
Fire crews worked through the night to extinguish the blaze at Finmere landfill site, Buckinghamshire, five years ago
Four hundred tonnes of waste caught fire at Finmere landfill on 4 August 2018.
Firefighters from Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire worked through the night to extinguish it.
The landfill facility at Finmere is accessed from the A421 Banbury Road
Almost exactly five years later, firefighters worked overnight to save the historic Himley pub, which began to subside in the 19th Century.
Staffordshire Police confirmed last Wednesday the blaze was being treated as arson.
South Staffordshire Council said it was conducting an investigation into the "demolition of the entire building, without appropriate permissions".
The force previously said its investigation would be robust.
Protests against The Crooked House's destruction weeks after it was sold by previous owner Marston's have seen signs and other tributes placed among the rubble.
A petition to rebuild it has amassed more than 18,500 signatures.
Fences were put up at the site on Tuesday.
The HSE said it had issued an Improvement Notice requiring the site owner to secure the area.
A nearby notice states two adjacent footpaths have been closed to the public by the local authority, including one leading to the pub's car park, due to concerns over the instability of the ground.
Fencing has been placed around the site for safety reasons, according to workers
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi said a public meeting at Himley Hall on Wednesday at 18:00 BST would be a chance for concerned residents to "vent their anger" and voice ideas for the building's future.
He met with South Staffordshire Council on Tuesday and added, while he could not go into the details of what was discussed, was "much more reassured about where we are going with all of this".
Campaigners met Mr Longhi after the meeting and one of them, Ian Sandall, told BBC Radio WM he felt "very buoyant and very confident" afterwards.
"Everything seemed very positive. What I can say is we are all singing off the same hymn sheet," he said.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66514759 |
Harrison Ford has a new Peruvian snake species named after him - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Unlike his Indiana Jones character, Ford says he likes snakes and called the discovery "humbling". | Harrison Ford's legendary Indiana Jones character may fear snakes, but the actor now has a real reptile named after him.
A new found species of snake in Peru has been named Tachymenoides harrisonfordi to honour the actor's environmental advocacy.
Ford, who is the vice chair of non-profit group Conservation International, called it "humbling".
The actor also has an ant and a spider named after him.
"These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it's always the ones that terrify children," Ford told Conservation International. "I don't understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won't fear the night."
Unlike his character, Indiana Jones, Ford has repeatedly said he actually liked snakes and "found a quick kinship with this one".
"The snake's got eyes you can drown in, and he spends most of the day sunning himself by a pool of dirty water — we probably would've been friends in the early '60s," he said. "It's a reminder that there's still so much to learn about our wild world - and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere,"
The discovery, a joint collaboration between researchers from Peru and the United States, was made in Peru's Otishi National Park.
The Tachymenoides harrisonfordi was discovered in Peru's Andes Mountains
The Tachymenoides harrisonfordi is a slender snake, measuring a modest 16in (40.6cm) when fully grown. It is not harmful to humans.
"For a biologist, describing a new species and making it public with its new name is one of the most vital activities during the biodiversity crisis," said Edgar Lehr, the lead scientist on the project. "Only organisms that are known can be protected."
He hopes the discovery will draw attention to the extinction crisis facing species around the world.
Reptiles are particularly prone to extinction, with more than a fifth of all reptiles currently under threat, a study co-authored by Conservation International researchers found.
It was in 1993 that a new species was first named after Ford - the Calponia harrisonfordi, which is a California spider. Years later, an ant was dubbed after the actor - named Pheidole harrisonfordi. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66516576 |
Ukrainian prisoners of war say they were tortured at Russian prison - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Former prisoners of war tell the BBC they were abused by Russian guards inside a detention facility. | Artem Seredniak says he was beaten and electrocuted at the facility in Taganrog
Former Ukrainian captives say they were subjected to torture, including frequent beatings and electric shocks, while in custody at a detention facility in south-western Russia, in what would be serious violations of international humanitarian law.
In interviews with the BBC, a dozen ex-detainees released in prisoner exchanges alleged physical and psychological abuse by Russian officers and guards at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility Number Two, in the city of Taganrog.
The testimonies, gathered during a weeks-long investigation, describe a consistent pattern of extreme violence and ill-treatment at the facility, one of the locations where Ukrainian prisoners of war have been held in Russia.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify the claims, but details of the accounts were shared with human rights groups and, when possible, corroborated by other detainees.
The Russian government has not allowed any outside bodies, including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to visit the facility which before the war was used exclusively to hold Russian prisoners.
Russia's defence ministry did not respond to several requests to comment on the allegations. It has previously denied torturing or mistreating captives.
The prisoner swaps between Ukraine and Russia are a rare diplomatic achievement in the war and more than 2,500 Ukrainians have been released since the start of the conflict. Up to 10,000 captives are believed to remain in Russian custody, according to human rights groups.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman and one of the officials involved in exchange negotiations with Moscow, said nine in every 10 former detainees claimed they had been tortured while in Russian captivity. "This is the biggest challenge for me now: how to protect our people on the Russian side," Lubinets said. "Nobody knows how we can do it."
Last September, Artem Seredniak, a senior lieutenant, had already been in Russian captivity for four months when he and about 50 other Ukrainians were transferred to Pre-Trial Detention Facility Number Two. They travelled in the back of a truck for hours, without knowing where they were going, blindfolded and tied to each other by their arms, like a "human centipede", Seredniak told me.
On their arrival in Taganrog, he recalled, an officer greeted them: "Hello boys. Do you know where you are? You'll rot here until the end of your lives." The captives remained silent. They were escorted inside the building, Seredniak said, had their fingerprints taken and clothes removed, were shaven and forced to shower.
At every step, guards at the facility, who carried black batons and metal bars, beat them in the legs, arms, or "anywhere they wanted", Seredniak said. "It's what they call 'reception'."
Before his capture, Seredniak, who is 27, headed a sniper platoon at the Azov Regiment, the main military force in Mariupol. This, he said, made him a key target for the prison staff. Seredniak said he was separated from the others and, dressed only in his underwear, brought to a room to be interrogated for the first time. He was then pushed to the floor, he said, with his head facing down.
The guards asked him about his role in the army and the tasks he had carried out. With an electric stun weapon, they gave him shocks, Seredniak said, in his back, groin and neck.
"That's how they worked on everybody," he said. "They hammered you like a nail."
In May last year, as Mariupol was under a Russian siege, the Ukrainian authorities ordered hundreds of soldiers holed up in the city's Azovstal steelworks to surrender. Seredniak was among the last to be evacuated. He was first taken to a facility in Olenivka, a village in Donetsk, and, months later, sent to the prison in Taganrog, in the Russian border region of Rostov, about 120km (74 miles) east of Mariupol.
There, he told me, the captives were inspected twice a day, and anything appeared to be a motive for guards to abuse them. "They might not have liked how you left the cell, or you weren't quick to get out, or your arms were too low or your head was too high."
In one of those checks, Seredniak was asked whether he had a girlfriend. He said he did, and recalled a guard telling him: "Give us her Instagram. We'll take a picture of you and send it to her." He lied, not wanting to expose her, and said she did not have an account. He was then beaten, he said, and brought to a room in the prison's basement, where he met a twenty-something Ukrainian fighter. Seredniak told me the man was curled, holding his hands, apparently in pain, and said officers had inserted needles under his fingernails.
As the days progressed, Seredniak noticed that the prison guards were particularly brutal with those who belonged to the Azov Regiment, the former militia in Mariupol that once had links to the far right. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has said, among other things, that his war is an effort to "de-Nazify" Ukraine - a country led by a Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky - and Russian authorities often cite the unit to justify the invasion.
Seredniak said that, in his interrogations, he was accused of looting Mariupol and of personally telling his forces to kill civilians in the city, the site of one of the most deadly battles in the war so far. Seredniak, who speaks fast with a loud, determined voice, denied the claims, but it did not seem to matter. "Until you said what they were interested in, and in the way they wanted to hear," he told me, "they wouldn't stop beating you."
Once, Seredniak said, an officer used a wooden chair to hit him, and "he beat me so much that it broke in parts". On another day, he said, he was asked whether he could sing the "Azov anthem". He did not know of any Azov anthem, and assumed the guards meant the Prayer of the Ukrainian Nationalist, a 20th-Century oath usually read aloud by soldiers before being sent into combat. Seredniak reluctantly recited it, conscious of how the guards could react.
They punched him several times, he said. He fell, hitting his head against a wall, causing a cut near his eyebrow. He lay on the floor, while the beatings continued, he said, all over his body.
"When I finally got up," Seredniak recalled, "they told me: 'We hope we beat that out of you'."
Some of the prison staff seemed to have been heavily influenced by President Putin's "de-Nazification" narrative. For the detainees, this was apparent in how the guards demonstrated a particular interest in anything that could, in their view, be interpreted as being pro-Nazi. The captives were not allowed to have any personal items, so their tattoos inevitably drew the officers' attention. This reminded me of similar allegations I heard while investigating Russia's filtration camps in occupied areas of Ukraine last year.
Serhii Rotchuk, a 34-year-old senior sergeant at the regiment, also left Azovstal in the final convoys, and was taken to Taganrog a week after Seredniak. He said the guards, at first, "looked for swastikas or things like that". But, in reality, he said, "if you had any tattoo, you were seen as a bad guy". Rotchuk, who is a doctor, has tattoos on both legs, arms and chest. Weeks ago, when we met in Kyiv, he lifted his T-shirt to show me a raven that covered part of his chest and the symbol of an infantry platoon on his left bicep; he also had an emblem of the Jedi Order from Star Wars on his left thigh.
Serhii Rotchuk says he was singled out because of his tattoos
"Did these tattoos cause you any trouble?" I asked him. "Many times," Rotchuk replied. "They would say: 'What's this? Oh, I'll beat you for that'." Seredniak, who has no tattoos, said some fighters who had tattooed nationalist symbols, like the Ukrainian flag or the gold trident, were frequently targeted. "They hated us for being Ukrainian," he told me.
In March, a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Russia had "failed to ensure the humane treatment" of prisoners, with "strong patterns of violations".
Kris Janowski, a spokesman for the office, said there was a "long list of bad things that have been done" to the detainees at the facility in Taganrog. The fact that a prison was being used to hold captives was, in itself, a breach of international humanitarian law, he said, as they should be kept in specially designated places. Ukraine also faced some accusations of mistreatment of detainees, according to the March report; but, overall, they were "treated in better fashion".
Rotchuk said the captives "lived in permanent stress" in Taganrog. He recalled meeting a man, also a doctor, who had falsely admitted to removing the testicles of a Russian prisoner, desperate to put an end to the violence. "He said: 'OK, just leave me alone, I will sign the confession.' The officers then intimidated the other medics, saying: 'Ah, you helped him.'"
Guards gave Rotchuk electric shocks, he said, but he resisted. Rotchuk told me he was sent to solitary confinement for two months as punishment. The beatings happened almost every day; sometimes, several times a day, he said.
Rotchuk remembered one officer who appeared to take pleasure in kicking him in the chest, which left him with a persistent pain. He complained, but was given no help. "I had to tell myself: 'Dude, stay strong, you can't control the situation, so you need to accept it,'" Rotchuk recalled.
Not everyone had the same resilience, though. Seredniak said a fellow Azov fighter, in his late 20s, broke a small mirror that hung above his cell's sink, and used a shard to slice his throat. The man was rescued by other captives, who stopped the bleeding with their hands. Days later, Seredniak said, the prison staff removed the mirrors from all cells.
Russian doctors, Seredniak said, would occasionally visit the detainees, but "didn't necessarily help" them. He described the food portions they were given as limited; sometimes, he said, they were "so small, that if I ate 300-400 calories a day, I was lucky".
Seredniak, who is 1.86m (6ft1in) tall, said his weight dropped to about 60kg (9st 6lb) while he was there, from his usual 80kg. "Every time I got up," he said, "I felt dizzy. My eyes darkened, I couldn't make any fast movements." He believed this was deliberate: weakened, the captives would not put up any resistance.
According to Iryna Stohnii, female captives were dragged by the hair during twice-daily inspections
Iryna Stohnii, a 36-year-old senior combat medic at the 56th Brigade, described the detainees as "constantly malnourished". "They didn't feed us," she said. "They didn't even let us go outside... We could only see the sky through bars in the windows." Stohnii said the guards, in their twice-a-day inspections, forced her and other women to move in a stress position, with arms behind their backs and head to knees, and that some "dragged us by the hair". Other female captives told me women would be ordered to strip naked in front of male staff who, sometimes, made disparaging comments about their bodies.
One day, Stohnii said, a guard accused her of torturing pro-Russian soldiers in captivity and twisted her arms with so much force that "he almost broke them". A couple of times in our interview she cried. "Only devils live and work" at Taganrog, she said. After her release, Stohnii underwent surgery to remove adhesions - bands of scar tissue between organs that can be caused by trauma - which had developed in her kidney and bladder. "Apart from rape," Stohnii told me, "they did everything with us".
Denys Haiduk says his captors accused him of castrating Russian prisoners
Denys Haiduk, a military surgeon, said guards forced him and the other captives to run with their heads down while under blows during their "reception", with detainees being hit even after they were on the ground, unable to stand up. Haiduk, who is 29, had helped the wounded at Azovstal and, in his interrogation, he was accused of amputating and castrating Russians in captivity, he told me. He denied it, saying that only Ukrainian fighters had been brought to him.
As he recalled what had happened, I could sense the anger in his voice. Haiduk was pushed to the floor, and given electric shocks with a stun weapon until, he said, the battery ran out. Other captives said guards also used a military phone to give them shocks by connecting its wires to their bodies. "You're convulsing," Haiduk said. "If you lift your head up, they start beating you. And that circle never ends."
Taganrog is also used as a transfer point and, to his surprise, Haiduk was only held there for two days, before his release in a prisoner exchange. As he left, the officers tried to force him to sign a document, declaring that any injury to his body had been accidental. Haiduk refused. He said guards beat and kicked him, and he heard a crack.
Haiduk struggled to breathe, he recalled, and fell into the mattress he was holding. Later, after returning to Ukraine, he was diagnosed with three broken ribs as well as a cardiac contusion - a bruise to the heart muscle caused by trauma.
I asked him why he believed the guards were treating the Ukrainian detainees that way. "Because they can," he said. "You're a captive, and they abuse you." When I asked Seredniak the same question, he gave me a more practical answer: "They beat you to get some information. And then say: 'It's to make sure you don't go back and fight after the swap.'"
Lubinets, the Ukrainian ombudsman, said Russian authorities had created a "system of torture" for Ukrainian captives, typically in detention centres, in Russia and in occupied areas of Ukraine. Ukraine has opened up its facilities to experts; Russia, however, has restricted visits to only some locations. Janowski, from the OHCHR, said Moscow had repeatedly rejected the UN's requests for access without giving "any legitimate reasons". With most places closed to outside observers, Lubinets said, "Russian soldiers can do anything with Ukrainian prisoners".
During his "reception", Artem Dyblenko, a 40-year-old sergeant major at the 36th Marine Brigade, overheard the guards talking about playing football with the captives. He was intrigued. "What I didn't know was that we would be the ball," Dyblenko said. Blindfolded, he was ordered to run, he said, and fell. "There were constant kicks. You did feel like a football."
Dyblenko told me that, in September, one of his cellmates suffered a heart attack, which he attributed to the constant physical abuse. No-one came to treat him, according to Dyblenko, and the man died, aged 53. Three weeks later, Dyblenko was included in a swap and, in Ukraine, reported the case to the authorities. The body, he said, was returned at the end of last year. "[His son] was given pictures of it," Dyblenko said, "it was horrifying". Ukraine acknowledged that bodies were exchanged in December, without giving details of the victims' identities, or how and where they had died. The man's son said he was waiting for the result of a DNA test and did not want to comment.
The Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian organisation, recorded allegations of at least three deaths at the Taganrog prison, apparently because of torture and lack of food and health care. Mariia Klymyk, one of the group's investigators, said this was "one the worst places for Ukrainian detainees in Russia".
She heard accounts of men being taken to interrogation and asked whether they had any children. "If someone says they don't, they are beaten in the genitals," Klymyk said, "while the guard says: 'For prevention of procreation.'" And some Ukrainian soldiers had been put on trial, she said, with the apparent false confessions they had given in custody used as evidence against them.
After almost 12 months in captivity, seven of them in Taganrog, Seredniak was released in a prisoner swap on 6 May, alongside 44 other Ukrainian fighters. He said the date would be celebrated as if it were his second birthday. The same exchange included Serhii Rotchuk, the doctor, who later discovered he had a fracture in his sternum - the breastbone - a condition associated with significant chest trauma, which he blamed on the abuse he had suffered.
Seredniak pictured at the time of his release
I visited Seredniak four weeks after his return, at a flat in a residential compound on Kyiv's left bank, between his physical and mental rehabilitation sessions. Doctors had diagnosed him with a broken rib and cysts in the liver and kidney which, they said, were probably caused by the beatings. Seredniak had already regained some of the weight he had lost but still suffered lower back pain and, sometimes, struggled to walk.
On my phone, he watched for the first time a video of his swap, which had been published by the Ukrainian government. The captives were filmed shouting "Slava Ukraini!", or "Glory to Ukraine", and being welcomed by a cheering crowd. Pointing at a smiling man, Seredniak said: "This is me!" I could not recognise him. "I was pale, skinny, with no access to sunlight," he told me. "We were like bats, living in half-light."
Additional reporting by Daria Sipigina and Lee Durant. Photos by Lee Durant
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Bradley Cooper: Leonard Bernstein's family defend actor over Maestro nose row - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The trailer for a new film attracts criticism from some who say it plays up to Jewish stereotypes. | Bradley Cooper plays Leonard Bernstein, with Carey Mulligan as his wife Felicia
The family of Leonard Bernstein have defended actor Bradley Cooper in a row over his biopic of the late composer.
The first trailer for Maestro, which Cooper both directs and stars in, was released earlier this week.
It attracted some criticism over the size of Cooper's nose, which some social media users said played up to offensive Jewish stereotypes.
But Bernstein's family said they were "perfectly fine" with Cooper using make-up to "amplify" his appearance.
There has also been criticism that a Jewish actor was not cast to play the West Side Story composer.
"It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of [Cooper's] efforts," wrote Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein in a statement posted online.
"It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use make-up to amplify his resemblance, and we're perfectly fine with that. We're also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well."
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They continued: "Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch - a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.
"At all times during the making of this film, we could feel the profound respect and yes, the love that Bradley brought to his portrait of Leonard Bernstein and his wife, our mother Felicia. We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we can't wait for the world to see his creation."
Bernstein's family added that Cooper had "included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father".
"We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father's music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration."
When the first images of Cooper were seen last year, the Hollywood Reporter's film critic Daniel Feinberg said Cooper's appearance could be "problematic", suggesting the movie featured "ethnic cosplay".
Writing on Instagram, English actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, who is Jewish, compared Cooper apparently using a prosthetic nose to the use of blackface make-up.
"If Bradley Cooper can't do it through the power [of] acting alone then don't cast him - get a Jewish actor," she wrote.
Leonard Bernstein, pictured in 1974, composed songs such as America and I Feel Pretty for the musical West Side Story
Binyomin Gilbert, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism, said it was "astonishing that nobody thought twice about sticking a big nose on a non-Jewish actor playing a Jew".
"The filmmakers here need to show that they understand why this is a problem," he said. "A failure to do so would indicate that there is a double standard when it comes to the portrayal of Jews on screen."
Maestro is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month, before being released on Netflix in December.
It is said to examine the relationship between Bernstein, who died in 1990, and his wife, the actress and activist Felicia Montealegre.
Bernstein is best known for composing the songs for West Side Story, including America and I Feel Pretty. He also co-wrote Broadway musicals On the Town, Wonderful Town and Candide.
In his distinguished career, which also saw him become one of the most well-respected orchestral conductors of the late 20th Century, he won Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards for his work.
Another film scheduled for release in the coming months, Golda, has attracted similar controversy.
Dame Helen Mirren will play former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv's film, which will be released in US cinemas at the end of this month.
Last year, actress Maureen Lipman told the Jewish Chronicle she "disagreed" with Dame Helen's casting "because the Jewishness of the character is so integral". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66526446 |
Graham Linehan: New venue for Father Ted writer's cancelled gig - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | The original venue pulled out after complaints about Graham Linehan's views on transgender issues. | An alternative venue has been found for the Edinburgh stand up show cancelled for having Father Ted writer Graham Linehan on its bill.
Leith Arches said it pulled the gig because his views on transgender issues did not "align with our overall values".
Mr Linehan has threatened legal action if the venue refuses to reverse its decision and apologise.
Gig organisers Comedy Unleashed did not reveal the name of the new venue.
Ticket holders will be emailed the location of the show tomorrow afternoon.
Co-founder Andy Shaw told BBC News they received several offers after appealing for alternative venues which "believe in artistic freedom".
"We have found what we think is a really appropriate venue which will become obvious on Thursday night why we think it is particularly appropriate," he added.
Mr Linehan was one of five stand-ups due to appear at Leith Arches on Thursday night under the banner "edgy comedy is back".
His appearance was initially kept under wraps with organisers only describing him as a "surprise famous cancelled comedian" on the bill.
But the venue called off the entire show within hours of his identity being confirmed on Tuesday, saying they had not been made aware of the line-up in advance.
"We have made the decision to cancel this show as we are an inclusive venue and this does not align with our overall values," they said in a post on Instagram.
"We work very closely with the LGBT+ community, it is a considerable part of our revenue, we believe hosting this one off show would have a negative effect on future bookings," they later added.
Graham Linehan, pictured at a Let Women Speak rally in Belfast earlier this year
Mr Linehan told TalkTV on Wednesday he was considering legal action against the venue.
"I actually suggest that the Leith Arches reverse its course because they have said enough online for an easy win in the courts," he added.
"So if they apologise and put the gig on, I'll say no more about it but otherwise I'm going to be looking at legal action."
Mr Linehan is often at the centre of heated rows over trans issues and women's rights on social media, with opponents accusing him of transphobia.
In a BBC Newsnight interview in 2020 he compared the medical treatment of transgender teenagers with puberty blockers with Nazi human experimentation.
Following the cancellation of his Edinburgh show, he told TalkTV: "The most important view I have is that it is a crime against humanity to tell children they may have been born in the wrong body.
"I feel that the views that I and JK Rowling and [author] Helen Joyce have expressed on this matter have been completely vindicated because Mermaids is now under statutory investigation and the Tavistock is closed".
"The other views I have is that [transgender comedian] Eddie Izzard can dress how he likes but if he goes into a woman's toilet with my daughter I will pull him out by his ankles," Mr Linehan added.
The Charity Commission is investigating governance and management issues at youth support charity Mermaids, and the Tavistock NHS gender clinic for children in England and Wales is due to be replaced by two regional hubs after the service was heavily criticised in an independent review.
Joanna Cherry appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last week
Earlier this year another Edinburgh venue, The Stand, cancelled a scheduled Fringe festival appearance by SNP MP Joanna Cherry after staff said they were not comfortable with her views on transgender issues.
But the comedy club later reinstated it and apologised, admitting the cancellation was "unfair and constituted unlawful discrimination against Ms Cherry".
The In Conversation With... Joanna Cherry event took place last week.
Ms Cherry, who is also a lawyer, later posted that the Linehan case "looks like a pretty clear case of belief discrimination" and hit out at "more petulant cancellation".
However, NUS Scotland president Ellie Gomersall, who has campaigned for a change to gender laws, backed Leith Arches.
She told BBC News: "This is about the comedy club's right to decide who it is they are platforming, who it is they are promoting, who it is they are allowing their space to be used by.
"I have to say that Graham Linehan and the way he expresses his views are pretty deplorable and it's right that any comedy club would reject someone who expresses those sorts of views in the way Linehan does."
Mr Linehan co-created the Channel 4 comedy Father Ted and later wrote Black Books and The IT Crowd.
An episode of The IT Crowd from 2008 called The Speech has been criticised over its transgender plot line.
In 2020 Channel 4 removed it from their streaming service saying that "in light of current audience expectations, we concluded it did not meet our standards for remaining available... and it was not possible to make adequate changes".
Mr Linehan was later involved in a number of acrimonious social media disputes with trans activists, and in 2020 was permanently suspended from Twitter which claimed he had breached rules on "hateful content".
In an emotional BBC interview last year, the Dublin-born writer told Nolan Live he had been unfairly targeted over his views, losing him work and contributing to the break-up of his marriage. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66520643 |
Andrew Malkinson welcomes jail living costs reform - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | A man wrongly convicted of rape welcomes the scrapping of a rule which deducted living costs from compensation paid to wrongly imprisoned people. | A controversial rule which deducted living costs from compensation paid to wrongly imprisoned people has been scrapped.
The government announced the change on Sunday after the case of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit, prompted calls for it to be overhauled. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66420732 |
Derry bonfire: Poppy wreaths and flags treated as hate crime - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | Poppy wreaths and a number of flags were were placed on a bonfire in Londonderry. | The bonfire was lit on Tuesday night.
The placing of poppy wreaths on a bonfire is being investigated by police as a potential hate crime.
Hundreds of people gathered on waste ground in Creggan in Londonderry when the bonfire was lit on Tuesday night.
It featured several poppy wreaths, a number of flags - including a King Charles Coronation flag and UVF flag - and a Traditional Unionist Voice election poster.
Police described the material placed on the bonfire as a "provocative display".
Hundreds of people gathered to watch the Creggan bonfire on Tuesday night
Bonfires on 15 August are traditional in some nationalist parts of Northern Ireland.
In previous years a bonfire in the Bogside area attracted condemnation for the burning of flags and posters.
That bonfire did not go ahead this year.
A smaller bonfire was held in Galliagh where there had been disturbances last week.
It followed the removal of pallets from the bonfire site.
Police said material placed on that bonfire was also being investigated and was being treated as a sectarian hate incident. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66515098 |
What can Rishi Sunak do to tackle inflation? - BBC News | 2023-08-16 | There are some short-term levers the government could pull but they all involve tough political choices. | "Halving inflation this year" is one of the prime minister's top five priorities.
It's currently stuck at 8.7%.
When Rishi Sunak is asked how he'll meet his goal, he points to raising interest rates.
Something the Bank of England, not the government, controls.
The truth is there are some short-term levers government could pull.
The problem is they - as well as interest rates - all involve unpalatable political choices.
The Bank of England and government's argument for hiking interest rates - which some economists dispute - is that it makes borrowing more expensive.
That means people and businesses have less disposable income, less ability and incentive to spend, which pushes down the demand for goods and services.
If there's less demand for something, or more of it, the price usually goes down.
The downside of raising interest rates is it inflicts financial pain on anyone with loans, mortgages or credit card debt.
It means government debt, which is paid off by our taxes, also becomes a lot more expensive.
Raising interest rates also doesn't impact everybody equally - and so the impact on inflation is staggered.
ONS data shows more households own their home outright (37%) than with a mortgage or loan (26%).
So that 37% won't have less cash to spend.
Any of the 26% who are on a fixed rate mortgage that isn't up for renewal won't be hit just yet either.
The rest of the population privately rent, or are in social rent, so could well end up spending less due to rising rents.
Another question around rising interest rates is what it means for Rishi Sunak's second priority: growing the economy?
The strategy to get inflation down relies on stopping people from spending as much.
What does that mean for businesses? If people spend less in businesses, what does that mean for jobs? If people end up out of work, what does that mean for the government's welfare bill? And, therefore, for that third priority of the prime minister's: reducing national debt.
The increased cost of borrowing from high interest rates can also disincentivise investment in business, which can also lead to lower economic growth.
The tricky balancing act between inflation and recession is getting worse.
So what is in the government's power?
One quick lever the government can pull is taxes.
Raising taxes is another way to stop groups of people from spending more.
But that's an unpalatable political choice too.
Mr Sunak has previously made it clear, and pledged in the past, that he wants to cut - not raise - taxes before the next election.
Some Tory MPs have been repeatedly calling for tax cuts.
While we do hear ministers talk about making "efficiencies", departments talking about making cuts is - again - an unpalatable narrative ahead of an election.
Mr Sunak has said, for now, that he wants to make sure government is "responsible" with borrowing.
Another quick lever would be price controls - the government setting limits on price increases.
Mr Sunak says ministers are "looking at" supermarkets to make sure they are behaving responsibly, for example.
But Number 10 have been clear they are not introducing price caps and any such schemes would be at retailers' discretion.
The governor of the Bank of England has suggested workers shouldn't ask for excessive pay rises.
The government has also been very reluctant to hike public sector wages, especially if funded by more borrowing.
Both argue giving people more money in their pockets could fuel inflation: if people's wages keep up with rising prices, they can buy the same things, so demand (and prices) remain similar.
In blunter terms - their strategy of reducing inflation by reducing demand means people need to be able to afford less.
This argument has led to strikes in multiple sectors, with unions arguing this is unfair for workers.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Sunak makes five pledges on the NHS, economy and migrants
This is also a tricky balancing act here for the economy.
If people can afford less: what does that mean for growing the economy? And jobs?
Potentially putting people out of work has a government price tag too.
So what about pushing supply up, rather than demand down, to lower prices?
Supply-side reforms are, in simple terms, decisions that could make industries more productive to increase the supply of goods and services - and grow the economy too.
Free-market examples include things like cutting business taxes, regulation, red tape, or even certain worker protections or welfare benefits. Or increasing migration for certain sectors.
State-intervention examples could be building more houses, investing in infrastructure, or investing in homegrown energy supplies like nuclear power or renewables.
Clearly, any of these involve political choices too.
But they also take time to come into effect.
The government - and Labour - have ruled out direct support to help people with mortgages, saying this would fuel inflation - and instead point to existing benefits for the most vulnerable.
Ministers are continuing to point to interest rates as the solution, though most are reluctant to admit that involves a lot of pain for it to work.
It's important to remember when the government says it can't do something that what they're usually referring to is a choice.
Each choice comes with its own shade of political thorniness, and potentially means trading the prime minister's priorities off against each other. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65990413 |
Manchester City 1-1 Sevilla: Pep Guardiola's side win Super Cup on penalties - BBC Sport | 2023-08-16 | Manchester City win the Super Cup for the first time by beating Sevilla 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. | Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City added the Uefa Super Cup to the Treble they claimed last season with victory over Sevilla on penalties in Athens.
Pep Guardiola's Champions League winners lost the Community Shield to Arsenal in a shootout, but saw their fortunes transformed when Sevilla's Nemanja Gudelj hit the bar after nine successful penalties.
City had to come from behind in an entertaining encounter to force penalties after a towering header from Youssef En-Nesyri put the Europa League holders ahead on 25 minutes.
Sevilla goalkeeper Bono and his Manchester City counterpart Ederson both excelled with fine saves before man-of-the-match Cole Palmer rose at the far post in the 63rd minute to level with a looping header from Rodri's cross.
It set up the tense finale that resulted in another piece of silverware being added to Guardiola's vast collection.
• None What did you make of Man City's performance? Have your say here
The talented Palmer has already made an impact this season with a spectacular goal in the Community Shield against Arsenal.
The 21-year-old's performance here in Athens not only made a case for further first-team action but also drew praise from a predecessor.
Riyad Mahrez, now with Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, tweeted appreciation of Palmer's performance when he was substituted - and the youngster could be pleased with his work in stifling conditions.
He had already tested Bono and shown nice touches in the first half before guiding in the header for City's equaliser.
Palmer's languid left-footed style on City's right flank posed a real threat, with several inviting deliveries not getting the reward they deserved.
He was deservedly announced as the game's best performer on a night when City had to cope with fierce humidity and heat which were physically taxing for both sides.
Guardiola was able to give expensive summer signing Josko Gvardiol his first start in defence and when it came to penalties City were flawless.
Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker were successful, before Sevilla blinked first to start the celebrations for the English side that also won the Premier League and FA Cup last season.
While no-one could seriously make a case for the Uefa Super Cup being anywhere near the top of City's list of priorities, Guardiola made it clear how desperately he wanted to win the trophy - and his joy when the shootout was over was a clear illustration of that.
After previous triumphs with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he became the first coach to win the competition with three different clubs.
City finally climbed the mountain after seasons of disappointment in the Champions League with their June success against Inter Milan and wanted victory here as further affirmation of their new standing among Europe's elite.
They had to fight for it, though, and were not at their best against their Spanish opponents, who will regret missed opportunities in the second half before Palmer struck.
But the suffering was worthwhile for City as they were rewarded with another major prize.
• None Penalty missed! Still Manchester City 1(5), Sevilla 1(4). Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla) hits the bar with a right footed shot.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(5), Sevilla 1(4). Kyle Walker (Manchester City) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(4), Sevilla 1(4). Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(4), Sevilla 1(3). Jack Grealish (Manchester City) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(3), Sevilla 1(3). Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(3), Sevilla 1(2). Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(2), Sevilla 1(2). Rafa Mir (Sevilla) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(2), Sevilla 1(1). Julián Álvarez (Manchester City) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(1), Sevilla 1(1). Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Goal! Manchester City 1(1), Sevilla 1. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
• None Watch the chilling crime thriller, Wolf, from the makers of Inside Man and Sherlock
• None Will the faithfuls unmask the traitors? 24 Aussies take on the ultimate game of trust and treachery | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66513883 |
Waitrose offers police free coffees to deter thieves - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Waitrose and John Lewis are offering free hot drinks under the "Thanks a Latte" initiative. | Waitrose and John Lewis are offering free hot drinks to on-duty police officers in a bid to deter shoplifters.
John Lewis Partnership, which owns both brands, has written to the Police Federation to say officers can make the most of the offer - as long as they bring a reusable cup.
Its head of security said that even just having a police car parked outside might deter would-be thieves.
It comes as other shops have reported soaring levels of retail crime.
In Waitrose, police officers and community support officers will be able to get drinks from the in-store coffee machines.
The supermarket used to have a generous offer of free teas and coffees for all shoppers who had a loyalty card.
That scheme was tweaked in 2017, so customers now have to make a purchase in-store before they can claim a free drink from its self-service machines using a reusable cup. It was also paused during the pandemic.
In John Lewis, police officers will be able to use staff cafeterias for breaks and buy discounted food there too.
Nicki Juniper, head of security for the John Lewis Partnership, said: "Retail crime is a national problem and requires a national solution.
"Just having a police car parked outside can make people think twice about shoplifting from our branches, or becoming aggressive towards our partners [staff]."
The group said its chair Dame Sharon White had also written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman calling for tougher action against repeat and violent offenders.
With a rise in incidents on the shop floor, it has also had to increase spending on the number of guards and staff it employs who are trained to stop and detain shoplifters.
It has also trialled what it called "love bombing" in some of its stores - being extra attentive to customers, including asking if help is needed at self-checkouts, to act as a potential deterrent.
The convenience store chain Co-op has also called for action after crime in its outlets hit record levels, increasing by more than a third over a year.
There were about 1,000 cases of crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in its shops each day in the six months to June, the chain said.
It even suggested that some communities could eventually become "no-go" areas, with retail crime driven by "repeat and prolific offenders and, organised criminal gangs".
According to figures from retail trade body the British Retail Consortium, retail thefts across the sector in England and Wales rose by 26% in 2022.
Its crime survey suggested that nearly 850 incidents were taking place every day, with staff facing physical assault and being threatened with weapons on some occasions.
Data, analysed by the BBC, shows shoplifting offences have returned to pre-pandemic levels as the cost of living rises.
The British Retail Consortium previously told the BBC that these high level of theft cost retailers almost £1bn in the 2021 financial year, "money that would be better used to reduce prices and invest in a better customer experience." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66562640 |
In Pictures: Kate Winslet surprises crowds at Camp Bestival - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Festival-goers in the CBeebies Bedtime Story tent are treated to a reading by Kate Winslet. | Hollywood star Kate Winslet surprised festival-goers on the final day of Camp Bestival in the West Midlands.
The British actress treated crowds in the CBeebies Bedtime Story tent to an intimate reading of children's classic Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey on Sunday.
Also on day three of the festival, DJ Sara Cox judged a wildlife-themed fancy dress competition.
The event took place at Weston Park on the Shropshire-Staffordshire border.
A roller disco, yoga sessions, a craft village and wild swimming were among the activities to enjoy.
The star surprised the crowds in the CBeebies Bedtime Story tent
The actress read an extract of children's classic Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Children and their families dressed up as an array of animals for the competition
Camp Bestival took place at Weston Park for the second year
Festival-goers dressed up for the wildlife themed competition
This Morning star Josie Gibson then judged the Beard and Moustache competition
The presenter was also on hand to judge the Pimp My Ride contest
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-66566004 |
TV presenter Phil Spencer's parents die in car accident - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | The Location, Location, Location host says his family is "sad and shocked beyond all belief". | TV presenter Phil Spencer has paid tribute to his "amazing parents" after they died together when their car toppled into a river.
Anne and David Spencer died following the accident on their farm in Kent.
Mr Spencer, best known for presenting Location, Location, Location, said his parents "would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away".
His brother had pulled them out of the river but they never regained consciousness, Mr Spencer said.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Mr Spencer, 53, said the accident on Friday had been "what God planned" for his parents, who had been married for six decades and raised four children.
"As a family we are all trying to hold on to the fact mum and dad went together and that neither will ever have to mourn the loss of the other one," he said.
Mr Spencer said that while both his parents had been on "good form" before they died, his mother's Parkinson's disease and his father's dementia had been "worsening".
Describing the accident, which happened in Littlebourne, Mr Spencer said they had been on their way to lunch when their car "very slowly" toppled over a bridge, before falling upside down into the river.
Their carer had also been in the car, but she managed to climb out of the back window and raise the alarm, Mr Spencer said.
"As many farmers do, my brother had a penknife and so was able to cut the seat belts," he went on, adding: "He pulled them out of the river but they never regained consciousness."
Mr Spencer said the family was "desperately sad and shocked beyond all belief" but knowing his parents had died "together on the farm they so loved" would be "a comfort in the future".
Kent Fire and Rescue Service said they were called to the scene just after 12:00 on 18 August, where they stayed for 90 minutes.
Three fire engines and a water safety unit attended, and crews assisted South East Coast Ambulance Service and made the scene safe, they said in a statement.
Kirstie Allsopp, Mr Spencer's co-host on Location, Location, Location, said she was sending him "so much love".
"The only blessing is they died together, so will never have to mourn the loss of each other," she said.
Sharing a recent photograph of the couple on Instagram, Ms Allsopp said she was "desperately sad" and asked fans to "keep them in your thoughts and prayers".
This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Instagram The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip instagram post by kirstiemallsopp This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
"They were farmers, animal lovers and devoted parents to Robert, Caryn, Helen and Philip and adored their eight grandchildren," Ms Allsopp wrote.
"I suspect many of you may want to join me in sending so much love to Phil and all his family."
Mr Spencer and Ms Allsopp have presented Location, Location, Location together for more than 20 years, appearing in 39 series of the Channel 4 property programme as well as spin-off shows including Relocation, Relocation.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66562937 |
Baghdad advertising boards turned off over porn screening - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Electronic screens were shut down after a hacker used one to run a pornographic film. | The screens - which are generally used to advertise products or politicians - were switched off on Sunday morning
Iraqi officials have ordered all electronic advertising screens to be shut down in Baghdad after a hacker used one to show a pornographic film.
It happened at a major road junction in the Iraqi capital. Videos have been shared widely on social media.
A man has been arrested in connection with the incident, police say.
A statement said the suspect was a technician who had financial issues with the company that runs the advertising screens.
He was said to have acted in retaliation.
The hacker "showed a pornographic film for several minutes before we cut the power cable" on Saturday, a security source who requested anonymity told the AFP news agency.
These "immoral scenes" prompted the authorities to "turn off all advertising screens in Baghdad" while they review security measures, the same official explained.
Screens in the capital - which are generally used to advertise products or politicians - were switched off on Sunday morning. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-66563678 |
Women's World Cup final: England lose to Spain in Sydney - BBC Sport | 2023-08-20 | England's wait to win a first Women's World Cup title goes on following defeat by Spain in the final on a heartbreaking evening in Sydney. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
England's wait to win a first Women's World Cup title goes on after Spain deservedly triumphed in the final in Sydney.
The Lionesses, looking to become the first England senior side since the men's team in 1966 to win the World Cup, suffered heartbreak after being outplayed by a Spanish side full of flair and creativity.
England's players fell to their knees in tears at the final whistle as Spain celebrated inside their penalty area after dealing with a final corner kick in the 14th minute of nerve-wracking stoppage time.
Spain captain Olga Carmona slotted the winner past goalkeeper Mary Earps in the first half, capitalising after England's Lucy Bronze lost possession in midfield.
England manager Sarina Wiegman, who has now lost two successive World Cup finals, introduced Lauren James and Chloe Kelly at half-time but Spain maintained control despite the Lionesses' best efforts.
Earps, who won the Golden Glove award as best goalkeeper at the tournament, made several stunning saves, none better than from the penalty spot to deny Jenni Hermoso in the second half.
The Manchester United stopper moved early to her left and caught Hermoso's effort, the penalty having being awarded for handball against midfielder Keira Walsh following a lengthy video assistant referee review.
But it was one step too far for the European champions, who lost just their second match in two years under Wiegman.
"I'm just deflated," said England defender Lucy Bronze. "Obviously we went into the World Cup wanting to win it and we were so close, but in the end we couldn't quite get it over the line.
"I am proud of what we have achieved but I think everybody that knows me, knows that I only like gold medals."
Spain are crowned champions for the first time despite going into the tournament under a cloud of controversy following a dispute between players and the Spanish football federation.
Both teams came into the final full of confidence, having improved on their performances throughout the tournament.
England, who played in front of a sold-out Wembley crowd last summer to win the Euros final, started brightly, testing Spain's defence with balls over the top and in behind.
Manchester City forward Lauren Hemp was direct and aggressive, and had England's best chance but her curling effort from 15 yards hit the crossbar.
However Spain, packed with Barcelona stars who won their second Women's Champions League title this season, imposed their quality and worked out how to deal with England's high press.
They dominated large chunks of the game, exposing the spaces left by England's attacking full-backs and took their chance when Bronze cut inside from the right and gave the ball away when she was stopped by a wall of red in the centre circle.
Spain intelligently switched play to their left and Carmona ran on to a simple pass from Mariona Caldentey before stroking the ball low past a diving Earps.
Spain had several chances to extend their lead - Earps blocked shots from Ona Batlle, Caldentey and Alba Redondo in each half - while Salma Paralluelo's first-time strike brushed the post on the stroke of half-time.
It was a deserved victory for Spain but it will feel like a missed opportunity for the Lionesses, who have found a way to win so often under Wiegman but could not find the answers in the biggest game in their history.
Prior to this year's competition, Spain had only ever won one Women's World Cup match.
They had suffered defeat at the hands of England in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals but unlike that evening in Brighton when the Lionesses came from behind to win 2-1, Spain stuck to their task and saw out victory.
The streets of Sydney, which had been draped in green and gold for most of the competition, were transformed on Sunday to represent Spain and England's colours.
England fans came dressed in costumes, banging drums and chanting on the city's trains en route to the stadium and though they dominated numbers in the crowd, it was Spain's supporters celebrating at full-time.
Bronze, 31, was in tears lying on the pitch at full-time and had to watch on as many of her Barcelona team-mates danced for the cameras while they prepared the stage for the trophy celebration.
She has won almost everything in the game but still cannot get her hands on the most desired trophy of them all.
"The goal is always to win tournaments with this team. We have shown that we can do that," added Bronze.
"We have made a final. There is no reason why the team can't go and create more legacies and more winning legacies."
Meanwhile, Spain's achievement is a remarkable one given manager Jorge Vilda survived a player revolt less than 12 months ago. That unrest in the set-up meant they were missing Sandra Panos, Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina, who all helped Barcelona win the Champions League in June.
Their victory could transform women's football in Spain, which has been thrust into the limelight in recent years following Barcelona's domestic success.
• None Attempt blocked. Millie Bright (England) header from the centre of the box is blocked.
• None Attempt blocked. Salma Paralluelo (Spain) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Teresa Abelleira.
• None Attempt blocked. Aitana Bonmatí (Spain) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Teresa Abelleira. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66561827 |
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us star, dies aged 66 - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | The US actor, won two Emmy Awards for his role in the TV series, had long-standing lung problems. | US actor Ron Cephas Jones has died at the age of 66.
A veteran stage actor, he was best known for the series This Is Us - his role as a long-lost father who finds redemption earned him two Emmy Awards.
Jones had a "long-standing pulmonary issue", his manager told US outlets. He had a double lung transplant in 2020, according to media reports.
His "kindness and heart were felt by anyone who had the good fortune of knowing him", his manager said.
Jones's love for the stage "was present throughout his entire career, including his recent Tony-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning performance for his role in Clyde's on Broadway", the statement added.
Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer, who played alongside Jones in the series Truth Be Told, was among the co-stars remembering the late actor.
She wrote on Instagram that she was "heartbroken" by the news.
"Ron was an incredibly talented actor and, most importantly, a wonderfully kind human being," Spencer said. "Every day on set with Ron was a good day."
In This Is Us, Jones played William "Shakespeare" Hill, a father who abandoned his child at birth before connecting with his son's adoptive family in later life.
Sterling K Brown, who plays Hill's son, Randall Pearson, paid tribute to Jones on Instagram: "Life imitated art today, and one of the most wonderful people the world has ever seen is no longer with us."
New Jersey-born Jones, a jazz aficionado, once worked as a California bus driver before returning to New York in the mid-1980s where he pursued his acting career.
Speaking about his celebrated role with content platform Build Series, Jones said: "I knew William, I grew up with men like him. A large part of him is inside me already, so it was more about reaching inside and remembering the men I grew up with like him."
Jones won the Emmy for best guest actor in a drama series for the role in 2018 and 2020.
US actress Mandy Moore, who played Rebecca Pearson on the show, said getting to know and work with him was the "greatest gift".
"He was pure magic as a human and an artist... I will treasure all of the moments forever," she wrote on Instagram.
The show's creator Dan Fogelman described Jones as "the best of the best - on screen, on stage, and in real life".
"A massive loss... The coolest," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The easiest hang and laugh. And my God: what an actor."
Jones spent most of his career in the theatre before and after This is Us. He worked with Oscar-winning director Sir Sam Mendes on productions of As You Like It and The Tempest.
Sir Sam told the PA news agency he was "beyond sad" at the news of his death.
"An absolutely wonderful actor, and the gentlest, wisest, most soulful man," he said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66564317 |
Women's World Cup: Fans rejoice in Madrid as Spain makes football history - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | As their team wins its first-ever World Cup in Sydney, supporters of women's football celebrate back home. | "Girl power!" exclaimed one woman as the final whistle blew and the fan zone erupted into screams and tears of joy.
There were so many children and young people in the crowd, their faces painted in the red and yellow of the Spanish flag.
This, presumably, was a moment many will remember for the rest of their lives.
"We are especially happy to have had this experience with our baby daughter," one man said as he held his little girl who was wearing her very own Spain shirt.
"They play as well as the men and they have to make the same effort. I think we have to give them more support and more sponsorship by the big companies."
After all, he said, "they give us the same joy".
Spain's victory is all the more remarkable for two reasons.
First, the national side has been plagued by reports of a difficult relationship between some of the players and the coach, Jorge Vilda, a months-long feud that overshadowed preparations for the tournament.
It was notable that every time Mr Vilda appeared in shot, there were audible boos and jeering from the watching fans.
And second, the Spanish team does not enjoy the same level of support as the men's side.
This may be a football-mad country, but it was striking that there were few, if any, signs of support for the women in the bars, shops and restaurants that surround the fan zone.
That, many felt here, might now change significantly in the wake of such a victory.
"It's a beginning," said one young man. "It's very important for me because my sister plays football."
The Reds do enjoy the support of Spain's Queen Letizia, who was in Australia to watch the match with her football-playing daughter Sofia.
There is much excitement in the Spanish media, after the Queen joined the players on the pitch, jumping together in celebration. And acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted that the team had "made history".
One woman said: "I thought it was going to be England, actually." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66564318 |
World Cup final: Spain v England - how you rated the players - BBC Sport | 2023-08-20 | England goalkeeper Mary Earps is named your player of the match after saving a penalty in their 1-0 Women's World Cup final defeat by Spain. | World Cup final: Spain v England - how you rated the players Last updated on .From the section Football
England goalkeeper Mary Earps was named your player of the match after saving a penalty in the Lionesses' 1-0 Women's World Cup final defeat by Spain. We asked you to rate the players out of 10 and Earps led by the way by a mile with an average score of 7.55. No other player from either side got more than 6.27. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66562475 |
Ukraine war: Russia says drone injures five at Kursk railway station - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Kyiv is accused of attacking the transport hub in Kursk - and also the Rostov and Moscow regions. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: A fire resulting from an alleged drone strike on a railway station in Kursk, Russia
Russia says that a Ukrainian drone has struck a railway station in the Kursk region, injuring five people.
Another drone is said to have landed in the Rostov region - which shares a border with Ukraine, like Kursk - but no injuries were reported.
Russia also said it stopped a drone that was heading for Moscow, which then crashed in an unpopulated area.
Allegations of drone strikes inside Russia have become increasingly common in recent months.
Although Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for specific drone strikes, President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that attacks on Russian territory are an "inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process".
Footage verified by the BBC shows smashed windows and a fire burning at the railway station in Kursk, which is about 150 km (93 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Five people were injured by glass fragments, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported. The roof, exterior, and platform of the station were damaged.
The Russian foreign ministry said it "strongly condemns" the drone attack in Kursk.
"Ukrainian nationalists literally dealt a blow to our common history," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
In its own statement, Russia's defence ministry said it had "thwarted" an "attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by drone on infrastructure in Moscow" around 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT).
The Moscow-bound drone was destroyed by "electronic warfare" before losing control and crashing in an unpopulated area, the ministry added.
Russia's aviation agency Rosaviatsia said flights to the Domodedovo and Vnukovo international airports were "temporarily limited" as a result.
It comes after seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed when a Russian missile struck a theatre in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday.
Fifteen children were among 148 people wounded, officials said.
President Zelensky vowed to "respond to Russia for this terrorist attack - a tangible answer".
Five people were injured at the Kursk railway station
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66563675 |
Wildfire evacuees frustrated by Facebook news ban in Canada - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Canadians are using Facebook to share information on fire updates but Meta's news ban is a hurdle. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Like many in Canada's Northwest Territories, Poul Osted has been relying on social media to keep in touch with loved ones as they scramble to evacuate from nearby wildfires.
But Mr Osted said he has been left frustrated by his inability to share news articles on Facebook during the active emergency situation, due to Meta's ban on news content for Canadian users.
"Instead we have to screenshot parts of a news story and post that as a picture," Mr Osted told the BBC.
"Oftentimes this means you don't get the whole story, or have to go searching the web for verification."
A Canadian government minister has demanded that Meta - the company that owns Facebook and Instagram - "reverse its decision" as what it was doing was "completely unacceptable".
"Due to this ban, people do not have access to information that is absolutely crucial," Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez told a briefing on Friday.
Poul Osted, who lives in the small hamlet of Fort Resolution, said the ban had affected his family members who were forced to flee Hay River, which is threatened by a wildfire is burning nearby.
"The state of the highway system is one example," he told the BBC via Facebook messenger.
Several people were inquiring on the platform whether it was safe to drive out of town but couldn't share that information on the social network.
Meta began blocking access to news for its Canadian users on 1 August, not long after Canada's parliament passed an online news bill that will require platforms like Google and Meta to negotiate deals with news publishers for content.
It has called the law "fundamentally flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work".
In response to questions from the BBC, a Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the ban and its impact on evacuees. On Thursday, the company added a safety check-in feature on the platform.
As Meta rolls out the ban as part of its campaign against the legislation, a growing number of Canadian users have found themselves unable to view news shared by media organisations on its platforms.
They are also unable to view articles shared by friends, instead seeing a message that reads: "This content isn't available in Canada."
This has raised concern about people's access to information, especially during the wildfire evacuations.
"The timing could not have been worse for this," said Shawna Bruce, an instructor at the disaster and emergency management program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
About 77% of Canadians use Facebook, she said, and one in four of them rely on the platform as their primary source of news.
"I am wondering if we have a bit of an information void there because of this decision," Ms Bruce said.
Canada's Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, called Meta's decision to continue to block news for Canadians "irresponsible and unreasonable".
She too called on the tech giant to resume talks over the law and to restore access to news.
Residents in Yellowknife, the territory's largest city with 20,000 people, have been ordered by officials to leave by Friday afternoon over fears a wildfire burning about 16 km (10 miles) could reach the city limits by the weekend.
Other towns in the Northwest Territories, including Hay River and Fort Smith, are also under evacuation orders.
Many evacuees have been using Facebook groups like NWT Wildfires Safety Check to mark themselves safe from the fires and to ask about updates.
Officials have also relied on Facebook to share evacuation information and updates on the fires directly to their official pages and websites.
"Some of them have really stepped up in the absence of not being able to use Facebook in a way they could before," Ms Bruce said.
Meta's restriction on news has forced other jurisdictions in Canada to rethink how they disseminate essential information.
Police in Manitoba, for example, told the Canadian Press earlier this summer that it will rely on direct posts through social media accounts to get news out to the public.
Nearly 240 wildfires are active across the Northwest Territories as of Thursday, part of what has been Canada's worst forest fire season on record.
More than 1,000 wildfires are burning across Canada, including in British Columbia and Quebec.
Experts have pointed to a warmer and drier spring than normal as the reason.
Scientists say climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66535401 |
Canada wildfires: At least 30,000 households in British Columbia told to evacuate - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Officials restrict travel to Kelowna, a lakeside city of 132,000 people where smoke hangs on the water. | About 30,000 households have been ordered to evacuate in Canada's British Columbia province, where nearly 400 wildfires are raging.
Two huge fires in the Shuswap region merged overnight, destroying blocks of houses and other buildings.
To the south, travel to the waterside city of Kelowna has been restricted, and smoke from nearby fires hangs over Lake Okanagan.
Fires have charred homes in West Kelowna, a nearby city of 36,000.
The travel restriction around Kelowna is designed to ensure enough accommodation for evacuees and emergency workers. It also applies to the towns of Kamloops, Oliver, Penticton and Vernon and Osoyoos.
Hundreds of miles north, a huge fire continues to edge towards the city of Yellowknife.
An official deadline to evacuate the city - the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories - lapsed on Friday. A local official said later that day that nearly all residents had left, either by car or plane.
About 19,000 of the city's 20,000 inhabitants had evacuated. Authorities said 39 patients were moved out of a hospital to alternative facilities on Friday evening, making them the last people to be evacuated from the city.
Environment and communities minister Shane Thompson said some people had chosen "to shelter in place", but urged locals to leave.
In British Columbia, evacuation orders grew from covering 15,000 homes on Friday to at least 30,000 by Saturday evening. Another 36,000 homes are under evacuation alert.
The province's emergency management minister said officials "cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to follow evacuation orders".
Bowinn Ma added: "They are a matter of life and death not only for the people in those properties, but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave."
Premier of the province, David Eby, put the total number of people ordered to leave at 35,000, with 30,000 told to be prepared to evacuate.
One Kelowna resident told the BBC the fires came over the mountainside like an "ominous cloud of destruction"
Smoke from wildfires is hanging over Lake Okanagan, on which Kelowna sits
Canada is having its worst wildfire season on record, with at least 1,000 fires burning across the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
Experts say climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
Extreme and long-lasting heat draws more and more moisture out of the ground - which can provide fuel for fires that can spread at an incredible speed, particularly if winds are strong.
Although no deaths have been reported in the latest fires, at least four firefighters have lost their lives during this record-breaking season.
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Are you personally affected by the wildfires in Canada? If it is safe to do so, you can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66562610 |
Women's World Cup 2023: England's Lionesses 'on brink of defining moment' - BBC Sport | 2023-08-20 | As England prepare to face Spain in the Women's World Cup final, BBC sports editor Dan Roan looks at the impact of the Lionesses' success on, and off, the pitch. | England have not only made sporting history here in Australia. In what is potentially the most significant moment English women's sport has ever enjoyed, they have the opportunity to leave a legacy for years to come.
Whatever happens in Sunday's momentous showpiece against opponents Spain in Sydney, the Lionesses will become the first senior England football team to play in a World Cup final since 1966, and the only one ever to do so on foreign soil.
That in itself is a stunning achievement at this most memorable of tournaments. But the impact of this side extends way beyond the record books.
This is a team which continues to attract new fans, confound the sceptics, shift perceptions, and inspire millions with its blend of talent, spirit and humility.
When set against the cruel injuries that ruled out key players such as captain Leah Williamson, Euro 2022 Player of the Tournament Beth Mead and playmaker Fran Kirby, their slow start to the World Cup, and the disruption caused by the suspension of top scorer Lauren James, England's campaign seems even more remarkable.
Last year, their march to European glory was fuelled by home advantage. This time they have been thousands of miles away, and in the semi-final found themselves in the most intimidating of atmospheres imaginable, taking on inspired co-hosts Australia, buoyed by the will of an entire nation in their national stadium.
But as ever with this team, despite such adversity, England found a way to prevail.
And here at the biggest and most competitive World Cup to date, if they can add the sport's greatest prize to their European crown it will establish them as not only one of Britain's greatest teams in any sport, but as the dominant force in the international women's game - an astounding feat given the much smaller player pool compared with rivals like the United States.
• None The mastermind behind the Lionesses' success
England's success owes most to a golden generation of players. The way they have won graciously, consoling opponents, has reinforced the sense that these are role models the country can truly be proud of.
It underlines the already glittering reputation of their coach Sarina Wiegman, who has taken the side to the next level after arriving in 2021 following the disappointment of semi-final exits at the previous two World Cups.
And it is the latest evidence of the impact of investment in the women's game over the past decade; the FA's establishment of St George's Park as a centre of excellence for national teams in 2012, their talent identification programmes that discovered and then developed these stars, and the professionalisation of the Women's Super League (WSL) in 2018.
For many, the final will feel like the completion of a long journey the sport in England has been on since the FA's 49-year ban on women playing on league grounds was lifted in 1970.
The Lionesses have already achieved much for the game, and for women's rights more widely. Their Euros triumph on home soil last year provided a huge boost to the sport in terms of participation and profile, with the number of registered players and WSL attendances and viewing figures both leaping as a result. The team successfully campaigned for girls in England to get equal access to school sport, with the government subsequently committing £600 million in funding.
And yet, for all the progress that England reaching the final represents, for many, there is still a long way to go. Through their advocacy, the Lionesses have highlighted elements of that themselves: before the tournament began, Mary Earps said it was "hurtful" that fans could not buy a replica of her goalkeeper shirt.
In a separate controversy, it emerged that the players were disappointed by the FA's stance on performance-related bonuses - a dispute yet to be resolved - and part of a wider frustration concerning the governing body's commercial strategy. In a statement, the squad said their fight was driven by "a strong sense of responsibility to grow the game".
The Lionesses have unwittingly sparked discussions in other ways too. While the FA have tried to play it down, there is now a debate over the absence of its president Prince William and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Sunday's final.
There is also scrutiny over the fact Wiegman is paid around a tenth of the salary men's team boss Gareth Southgate enjoys. The FA have said she would be considered for his job in the future, provoking conversations over the lack of female representation off the pitch in the sport.
Of the 32 nations involved at this World Cup, only 12 had a woman as head coach. While the prize money on offer here in Australia and New Zealand has quadrupled since the last tournament, it is still only a quarter of that on offer for players at the men's World Cup. The way Fifa president Gianni Infantino said women must "pick the right battles" to "convince us men what we have to do", seeming to suggest they were responsible for action over equality, has also caused controversy.
Domestically, the review of women's football by former England international Karen Carney recently highlighted how women and girls remain significantly less active than men and boys, with gender stereotypes and facilities still holding girls back from participating. Carney made clear the need for minimum standards in the professional game, calling for much more investment, the urgent tackling of a lack of diversity, a new dedicated broadcast slot, and the professionalisation of the second tier Championship, among a raft of recommendations.
As London 2012 and other landmark British sporting moments have proved, inspiration can only do so much. Opportunities and investment are the other essential ingredients for legacy to be lasting and real.
Twenty years ago, in the very same stadium in which the Lionesses will walk out on Sunday, England's men's rugby union team memorably beat the hosts to win their only World Cup. It was one of English sport's most cherished moments, enjoyed by many millions back home, turning the players involved into legends. But it did not change sport and society in a way that victory for the Lionesses could.
Many will now be hoping that if England can become world champions, generating greater audiences, new players, more respect and fresh sponsors, the momentum needed to tackle the outstanding issues still facing the game will only accelerate. And that this team can become even more transformative, and bring about even more positive change for future generations of Lionesses, than it already has.
• None Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66553300 |
Michael Jackson lawsuits alleging sex abuse can be revived, US appeals court says - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | US judges rule Wade Robson and James Safechuck can pursue lawsuits against the singer's companies. | Wade Robson, pictured with Jackson in the 1990s, claims the singer sexually abused him
Two men who allege they were sexually abused as children by Michael Jackson can revive a lawsuit against his companies, judges at a US court ruled.
Wade Robson and James Safechuck, both in their 40s, claim Jackson abused them for years while they were boys.
They can now pursue previously blocked lawsuits against the singer's companies. They say these companies had a responsibility to protect them.
Lawyers for Jackson, who died in 2009, maintain his innocence.
Mr Robson and Mr Safechuck claim they were abused by Jackson in the late 1980s and early 1990s while staying at his Neverland ranch.
The accusations featured in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, which Jackson's family described as a "public lynching".
In 2020, a Los Angeles judge ruled Mr Safechuck could not sue Jackson's businesses, saying the companies didn't have a duty of care to him.
A year later, the same judge ruled against Mr Robson on similar grounds.
But on Friday, an appeals court in California disagreed, ruling that "a corporation that facilitates the sexual abuse of children by one of its employees is not excused from an affirmative duty to protect those children merely because it is solely owned by the perpetrator of the abuse".
"It would be perverse to find no duty based on the corporate defendant having only one shareholder," the court judgement said. "And so we reverse the judgments entered for the corporations."
Vince Finaldi, a lawyer for Mr Safechuck and Mr Robson, said that the court had overturned previous "incorrect rulings in these cases, which were against California law and would have set a dangerous precedent that endangered children".
Jonathan Steinsapir, a lawyer for Jackson's estate, said he was "fully confident" Jackson was innocent, saying the allegations were "contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66553229 |
Women World Cup: England goalkeeper Mary Earps wins Golden Glove award - BBC Sport | 2023-08-20 | England's Mary Earps is named the best goalkeeper at the 2023 Women's World Cup and wins the Golden Glove award. | Last updated on .From the section Women's World Cup
England's Mary Earps has been named the best goalkeeper at the 2023 Women's World Cup and claimed the Golden Glove award. The Manchester United player saved a penalty from Spain's Jenni Hermoso in the final, which England lost 1-0. Earps, 30, played in all of England's seven matches, conceding four goals. Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati was named player of the tournament with 19-year-old Spain winger Salma Paralluelo taking the young player award. Japan's Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals, with a total of five. She scored two in a 5-0 win against Zambia, two in the 4-0 victory over eventual champions Spain and one in the 3-1 success against Norway in the last 16.
• None Earps rated best player of the World Cup final Speaking after the final, Earps said her own performance was not much of a consolation for missing out on the World Cup. "The team result is the most important thing really and we couldn't get that," Earps told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I just try to go out and do my job for the team, leave everything on the pitch. "In a couple of weeks, when the emotion has settled down, we will probably be able to look back and feel proud - it is no small feat to get to a World Cup final. "But we are very competitive people, we came here to win the game and get a gold medal, not a silver one. "At the same time you need to try and be as present as possible. These moments don't come around very often. I will probably look back on this as up there as one of my career highlights but right now it just doesn't feel like it." Former England striker Ellen White felt Earps was a worthy winner of the award. "Mary Earps winning the Golden Glove award is so well deserved," said White on BBC One. "What she has done for this England side, she is the Fifa Best goalkeeper and she has shown it on the world stage. "She has been phenomenal, she has kept England in games, she gave them an extra boost with her penalty save. "What she has done and what she has gone through for the last three or four years, her development as a goalkeeper, her mentality has been absolutely phenomenal. It's credit to her and her character." Before the tournament, Earps criticised England kit manufacturer Nike for not selling replica women's goalkeeper shirts. "On a personal level, it is hugely hurtful," Earps said in July. "There has been an incredible rise in goalkeeping participation. "I can't really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try. It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful."
• None What's the cost of our obsession with houseplants?
• None 'It's very easy to plummet to your death': Will Jon Ronson convince Shaun to visit the Pacific Coast Highway? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66564405 |
Women's World Cup: Fans proud of England's Lionesses after defeat to Spain - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | Tearful fans still adore this England side after Women's World Cup final heartbreak. | In the end, it came down to that word that has haunted England fans for decades: hurt.
But after the Lionesses' heartbreaking defeat to Spain in Sunday's final, it was impossible to find a single person gathered in the fan zone to watch the match who thought this was the end of the line for a side the country has fallen head over heels in love with.
At Croydon Boxpark in London, hundreds of supporters began the morning hopeful as they crammed into the stiflingly hot fan venue.
In scenes repeated across the country, the faithful had arrived early, waving flags, many wearing shirts with names of their heroes on the back, and hoping for a historic win.
The final whistle might have brought the curtain down on this particular World Cup dream - but this team's place in fans' hearts has been cemented.
Dani and Georgia Beazley were the first in line when the doors opened, queuing from 07:30 BST to secure a front row seat.
"We're gutted, but they've done the country proud," said Dani. "And I think this defeat will only make people love them more."
Coach Sarina Wiegman has built a winning team and mentality - and a generation of fans who have got used to winning.
Before kick-off, Holly Cornford, 30, said: "I started watching women's football seriously during the [2022] Euros and just thought it was incredible. Before that it felt like you had to jump through hoops to watch it.
"I don't think there's any chance it will go backwards from here", she said. "It's only going up."
Her friend Phoebe Shavelar, who's 25, said: "This England team just make me feel positive about women's sport in general.
"For a little boy, that dream was always there for them. That's changing for little girls now."
Dani and Georgia were first in line at Croydon Boxpark
Among those watching was 10-year-old Isla Burton, from Horley, West Sussex.
Her dad Luke described them as a "football family" as he played for AFC Wimbledon, his sons compete at youth level and now Isla plays at Brighton's centre of emerging talent.
"The standard of women's football is amazing and for my daughter to be able to see that, it gives her drive and belief," Luke said.
"She was brought up on football but even five or 10 years ago I didn't know if she'd be able to have a career in it.
"But now there's just such a buzz around the sport."
Mum Sarah agreed, saying she hoped to see her daughter "up on that screen one day".
Similar events were held elsewhere across the country.
In Birmingham, the Witton Arms, next to Aston Villa's Villa Park, reopened after a refurbishment with a big screen and brand new fan zone.
Aston Villa fan Rhiannon Williams said: "It's good seeing how people have started watching it and [they] proved that they can play football.
"Hopefully Villa Park can be sold out at a women's game."
The crowd in Croydon watched as England started to try and break down a stubborn Spain side and there were groans when England went close early on (so close that five people sharing a bench ended up flat on their backs) and the nerves were palpable.
But across London, at a fan zone in Victoria Park in the east of the city, England supporters were stunned into silence as Olga Camona scored the opening goal on 29 minutes. A single Spain fan celebrated.
Back in Croydon there was still belief at half-time but the game slipped away from England.
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In the second half, a penalty save from Mary Earps sent the crowd into raptures and pints were thrown in the air.
At a screening in North Walsham, Norfolk - the home town of England forward Lauren Hemp - there was hope England could still find an equaliser.
"We will keep working hard and cheering them on," said Nicola Wicks.
But in the end, there were tears.
In Croydon, a despondent Holly Sohail was consoled by friends after the final whistle.
"I woke up at 2am and was convinced we could win", she said dabbing at her eyes with her England shirt.
"But we'll come back. We will win this tournament in four years' time."
Laura, Emma and Helen Davies had no doubt the Lionesses will keep growing
Nicola Byrne said: "We're devastated but they were amazing. We couldn't be any prouder. Will they be back? 100%."
Mum Helen Davies and daughters Emma and Laura, had arrived early, with their replica kits on.
And off the pitch, Emma said, this team's influence is beyond doubt.
"Girls are now seeing football as a career which never could before. Even some older players like Lucy Bronze - she wouldn't have dreamt of this as a child."
One of them who might go to bed tonight dreaming of playing on the big stage is Lilly Rush.
The three-year-old had one of the best seats in the house under the big screen alongside dad James Rush and mum Lisa Campbell.
Parents James and Lisa hope England inspire Lilly to believe she can pursue a career in sport
"She plays football on a Saturday and loves it," Lisa said.
"This final will show her that playing sport is something can do when she grows up.
"Even just before the Euros in 2022 it was hard to imagine.
"Let's face it, everyone wants a team to believe in."
World Cup winners or not, England has one. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66565103 |
World Championships 2023: Katarina Johnson-Thompson wins stunning heptathlon gold - BBC Sport | 2023-08-20 | Katarina Johnson-Thompson claims a stunning heptathlon gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. | Last updated on .From the section Athletics
Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed a stunning heptathlon gold at the World Championships in Budapest to complete a remarkable turnaround in her career. The Briton, now a two-time world champion, feared injury may end her career just months after her 2019 win. But Johnson-Thompson, whose Achilles rupture four years ago marked the start of a difficult period, has rediscovered her spark and this gold is her reward. She defended a narrow lead over Anna Hall in a captivating final 800m event. Johnson-Thompson held off Hall by running a personal best of two minutes 05.63 seconds to finish within 1.54 secs of the American favourite and take overall victory by 20 points. The Briton had reached the decisive two-lap race with an advantage of 26 points over Olympic and world silver medallist Anouk Vetter. However, it was 22-year-old Hall - 43 points behind in third - who provided the significantly greater threat with a personal best more than four seconds quicker than that of Johnson-Thompson. The 30-year-old's lead over Hall after six events represented an advantage of about two-and-a-half seconds, setting up a dramatic conclusion to an enthralling competition. And so it proved. Hall led from the front but could not break away from Johnson-Thompson, who measured her effort to perfection before collapsing to the ground in a mixture of exhaustion and celebration. Johnson-Thompson's triumph was followed by another British medal when Zharnel Hughes claimed bronze in the men's 100m to bring the team's total to three after two days. Since winning her first global title in Doha Johnson-Thompson has endured her fair share of heartbreak. Recovering from that career-threatening Achilles rupture - on the take-off leg which is crucial to her jumping capabilities - in just eight months to make the Tokyo Olympics, she was dealt another crushing blow. A calf tear sustained during the 200m left her writhing on the track in pain, the cruellest end to her bid for a first Olympic medal and led to a year of indifference and underperformance in 2022. But, just as she did that day when she refused medical assistance to cross the finish line, she has picked herself up and carried on. It was her experience at last year's World Championships, where she felt a spectator as she finished a disappointing eighth, that proved the catalyst for change. Gold at a home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 12 months ago reignited her desire to fight for titles and she hinted at a return to her former self in finishing runner-up to Hall in Gotzis in May. Now this unexpected triumph marks a significant personal moment for Johnson-Thompson who, when her achievement has had time to sink in, will look towards next summer's Paris Olympics with ambition and belief. In the absence of world champion Nafissatou Thiam it was Hall who began the two-day competition as the clear favourite. But, despite amassing the fifth-best points total in history when she beat Johnson-Thompson in Gotzis, the American had predicted a medal "dogfight" in Budapest - and that is exactly what materialised. Hall led overnight but Johnson-Thompson ensured she would begin the second day firmly in contention with a competition-leading time of 23.48 secs in the 200m moving her in to second after four events. The Briton was unrelenting as she maintained her podium push on Sunday, overtaking Hall with an unmatched 6.54m in the long jump before producing a superb javelin personal best of 46.14m to extend her overall lead. With a marginal advantage to lean on, it meant the 800m would decide the world champion. That Johnson-Thompson responded to the pressure with another personal best spoke volumes about her physically and mentally.
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Lucy Letby inquiry should be led by judge, committee chair says - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | The lead medical expert says hospital executives who failed to act should be investigated by the police. | Lucy Letby will be sentenced on Monday for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others
A judge should lead the inquiry into the circumstances behind Lucy Letby's attacks on babies, the health select committee chairman has told the BBC.
As it stands, the inquiry looking at the crimes will not have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.
Conservative MP Steve Brine said some "may not be so willing" to cooperate.
Meanwhile, the prosecution's lead medical expert in the case has said hospital executives who failed to act should be investigated by police.
Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016, following a 10-month trial.
The nurse was found not guilty of two attempted murders and the jury could not reach verdicts on six others. She will be sentenced on Monday.
The aim of the separate non-statutory inquiry is to ensure lessons are learned, the government has said.
But concerns have been raised by some over how effective it will be in examining the case.
Some have called for a statutory inquiry with legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence. Statutory inquiries are often led by a minister-appointed judge.
Non-statutory inquiries can be converted into statutory inquiries if they have been shown to cause public concern.
"I think a judge-led statutory inquiry is in order here," Mr Brine told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme.
"What I want to see... is not a process that drags on for years, an inquiry that can disappear down a rabbit hole."
He added that a "proper judge-led" inquiry was the only way to ensure public confidence.
Jane Tomkinson, acting chief executive officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust welcomed the announcement of the independent inquiry and would be supporting the ongoing investigation by Cheshire Police.
"Due to ongoing legal considerations, it would not be appropriate for the Trust to make any further comment at this time," she said.
Cheshire Constabulary has been approached for comment.
Mr Brine is the latest to question the powers available to the inquiry in its current form.
Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing two of the families of babies attacked by Letby, said a non-statutory inquiry "is not good enough" and lessons had to be learned by the hospital, NHS and wider medical profession.
Labour's City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon told the BBC that as it stood the inquiry would have to rely on "the goodwill of witnesses to attend".
But Dr Caroline Johnson, Conservative MP and consultant paediatrician, said lessons needed to be learned quickly and the government could decide to order a statutory inquiry at a later date if extra powers were needed.
Dr Bill Kirkup, who has led non-statutory reviews for other maternity units, said non-compliance had not been a problem in his experience and people were "ready and willing to cooperate".
The patient safety investigator told the BBC he had identified common features between the Letby case and the reviews he had conducted - including managers accused of "protecting reputations" above listening to staff concerns.
After the verdict, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said it was "extremely sorry" the crimes happened in its hospital and it had since made "significant changes" to their services.
Former chief executive of the hospital Tony Chambers and former medical director Ian Harvey, who were in charge at the time Letby was working at the hospital, have said they will co-operate fully with the inquiry.
Mr Chambers has also told The Observer newspaper that he took "prompt action" including to move Letby off the neonatal unit when concerns were first escalated to him in June 2016.
Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said on Friday: "Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services and I want to provide reassurance to every patient that may access our services that they can have confidence in the care that they will receive."
Retired consultant paediatrician Dr Dewi Evans, who gave expert evidence during the trial, said he believed the case demanded a criminal investigation into corporate manslaughter, in comments first made to the Observer.
He told the BBC he intended to write to Cheshire Police to ask it to investigate bosses for not acting on the concerns of doctors.
"I intend to write...[to say I] believe we need to investigate the senior executives in this hospital for what in my opinion is gross dereliction of duty and repeated failures to engage effectively with experienced senior medical professionals," he said.
"The NHS is a corporate organisation with a chief executive - they have a duty of care to patients and staff. They failed patients and staff, and hospital management should be accountable to a disciplinary body in the same way doctors are."
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by the issues raised here, there are details of organisations that may be able to offer support on the BBC Action Line. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66562938 |
Your pictures on the theme of 'summer walks' - BBC News | 2023-08-20 | A selection of striking images from our readers around the world. | Callum Jackson: "With such generous sunshine during the first weeks of British summer time, my friend and I ventured along the Green Chain Walk. As we strolled through the expansive Oxleas Wood, we reached Shooters Hill, where we found ourselves rubbing our eyes after happening upon this incongruous, unusually tall pedestrian crossing button. There is an equestrian centre nearby and the horses utilise this unique crossing designed to accommodate those at horse-rider height. These crossings are aptly named Pegasus crossings." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-66514232 |