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距离时任国防大臣、深受尊敬的约翰·希利告诉当时并不那么受尊敬的首相基尔·斯塔默爵士——“你一直无法，且财政部一直不愿，投入国家在威胁日益增加的当下为保卫国家所需的资源”——仅过去六周左右。
正如我们现在所感知的，希利先生的变动是那场“被抛弃”过程的最后阶段，而该过程始于韦斯·斯特雷廷早前决定退出政府，以及安迪·伯纳姆在梅克菲尔德补选中的致命干预。
好在时代在变，且就国家防御而言，这种变化方式颇为古怪。在离开斯塔默政府时，希利先生的要求清晰且精准。正如他在下议院所言：“英国必须设定在 2030 年国防开支达到 3 per cent 的目标，并开辟一条在 2035 年达到 3.5 per cent 的清晰路径——这是所有北约 (北大西洋公约组织) 国家向彼此及其人民所做出的承诺。我相信这将赢得广泛的跨党派支持。”
根据最新证据，希利先生尽管被提升到如此显赫的职位，却甚至无法赢得关键同事的支持。公平地说，伯纳姆先生对增加国防开支的态度一直听起来不温不火，他最近的言论也同样缺乏同情心。在与劳拉·昆斯伯格于新唐宁街 10 号北楼进行的采访中，伯纳姆先生仅止于重复其前任向北约伙伴做出的承诺——而未提及那个将希利先生推向崩溃边缘的中期目标数字。
对于那些关心国家防御的人来说，更令人沮丧的是，与希利先生掌管军队时形成鲜明对比的是，斯特雷廷先生被证明同样随和。如今，斯特雷廷先生（可能令他自己也感到惊讶）被安置在国防部（他可能曾希望获得更宏大的职位），他似乎对目前的支出计划相当满意。在与特雷弗·菲利普斯的电视采访中，他依然是那个惯常的流利且好斗的自己，但并不打算为了争取更多资金而战。他的不情愿被掩饰得很好。他宣称：“我们共同面临的首要挑战是确保国防投资计划获得充分资金。”他还指出：“如果我对这位首相和这位财政大臣能够投入足够的国防资金来保护我们的国家没有信心……那么，不，我不会接这个职位的。”
然而，所有这些都没有为国防增加哪怕 1 英镑，而希利先生提出的“到 2030 年达到 3 per cent”的目标则被明显地忽略了。
因此，现在轮到由“偷猎者转职为护林员”的希利先生本人去实现他自己如此渴望的——或者说，曾经渴望的——目标了。现在希利先生担任财政大臣，自从欣然接受那位他费尽心机操纵进入唐宁街 10 号的新首相的职位邀请以来，他对任何事情都鲜有地提及，更不用说他之前的职责范围了。事实上，这位财政大臣最接近讨论支出计划的一次，是在一次拍照机会中与首相公开讨论猪皮炸脆和各种其他酒吧小吃之相对优劣的讨论中。
事实上，约翰·希利并不需要成为财政大臣才能理解武装部队所面临的战略、工业，尤其是财务挑战的规模。在他之前的岗位上，他比大多数人都更了解这些情况，并亲眼目睹了英国国防采购中浪费的种种惨状。在现有承诺的基础上，每年已有近 £5bn 的资金缺口；而要达到约翰·希利此前设定的到 2030. 国防开支占国民收入 3 per cent 的目标，每年还需要另外 £8bn。这是一笔巨额资金，与安迪·伯纳姆拟议中的“国家护理服务”所需资金相差无几。这将要求对公共支出进行严重的优先级重新调整，削减社会保障资金，且其规模不太可能赢得工党后议员，或者目前看来，总理和现任国防部长的支持。但而这正是约翰·希利此前正确且真诚地呼吁的。
前景不容乐观。很可能在 11 月预算案出台时，所有人都会发现，这个新政府（包括约翰·希利在内）最终并不愿意“投入国家在威胁日益增加的时期保卫国家所需的资源”。在这种情况下，约翰·希利先生，你辞职的意义何在？
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在警方搜捕后被击毙
这名 21-year-old 青年持“刺击武器”冲向应急服务人员
Amy-Clare Martin 犯罪报道记者
阿卜杜勒·巴卢特在柏林施潘道地区的配植地被捕 (路透社)
警方已抓获并击毙一名男子，该男子涉嫌在柏林的一次骄傲节活动中杀害一名女性并导致 29 others 受伤，当局认为这是一次伊斯兰主义恐怖袭击。
嫌疑人名为阿卜杜勒·巴卢特，是一名具有黎巴嫩血统的 21-year-old 德国公民。昨晚，在发生汽车和砍刀袭击事件近 24 hours 后，他在该市施潘道地区的一个配植地被发现。
在袭击中受了危及生命的重伤后，昨天仍有 3 victims 在医院与死神搏斗，另有 8 others 受重伤。
警方认为，巴卢特在周六晚上 8pm 左右开车冲进勃兰登堡门附近蒂尔加滕公园的人群中。随后他下车，用刀刃袭击受害者。
周六晚袭击后在柏林巴黎广场举行的守夜活动——昨天仍有 3 victims 在医院与死神搏斗 (盖蒂图片社)
他的死亡结束了一场搜捕行动，在此期间居民们被警告巴卢特可能持有武器且具有危险性。
“我们在这里看到的一切都表明，我们面对的是一次伊斯兰恐怖袭击，”内政部长亚历山大·多布林特此前表示，并补充说该嫌疑人“通过大量的犯罪行为、激进化以及与伊斯兰主义圈子的关联而引起了关注”。
受害者包括参加节日的人员以及公园内的其他当地人，该公园距离勃兰登堡门的克里斯多夫大街日 (CSD) 游行闭幕派对仅数百米之遥。
数十万人前往柏林参加骄傲节游行，这是欧洲最大的 LGBTQ+ 庆祝活动之一。活动在晚上 10.15pm 左右突然被叫停，一名乐队在舞台上的表演被中断，人们被敦促回家并避免经过公园路线。
德国总理弗里德里希·默茨和内政部长亚历山大·多布林特在蒂尔加滕公园向受害者表示哀悼 (路透社)
昨天，当人们聚集在柏林圣玛丽亚教堂举行守夜活动时，德国总理弗里德里希·默茨敦促那些参加骄傲节活动的人不要被恐吓。
“我想对柏林以及全德国的克里斯多夫大街日参与者说：不要让你们自己，让我们不要让自己被恐吓，”他说道。
“这些行为只有一个目的：旨在分裂我们的社会。他们想要夺走我们最重要的一样东西：即我们的开放与自由。”
德国内政部长亚历山大·多布林特承诺将审查其他大型活动的安保措施，包括其他地方的骄傲节庆祝活动，并承认不能排除模仿袭击的可能性。他表示：“这种情况在此类活动中并不典型，但也不能将其排除在外。”
昨天，参加节日的人们聚集在勃兰登堡门前举行了一场自发的抗议活动，场面十分感人，他们献上鲜花并向袭击的受害者致敬。在公园里，一张随花束留下的标牌上简单地写着：“爱在获胜”。
警方认为巴卢特在勃兰登堡门附近的蒂尔加滕公园冲入人群 (AP)
英国国防大臣韦斯·斯特雷廷与其他世界政治人物一起谴责了这次“绝对恐怖”的事件。这位内阁部长暗示，此次袭击表明了为什么这类 LGBTQ+ 活动仍然是必要的。
他在 Sky News 的《周日早晨与特雷弗·菲利普斯》(Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips) 节目中表示：“我认为社会上有许多人不接受多样性和差异，这就是为什么骄傲节既是一次庆祝，也是一次抗议——抗议那些不接受 21 世纪生活、不接受人们在同性关系中彼此相爱，且在最极端情况下试图伤害我们的人。”
此次袭击发生在英国最大的骄傲节在布赖顿和霍夫举行前一周。斯特雷廷先生表示：“内政大臣显然会与警方负责人一起，就我们需要什么样的警力部署做出正确决定。”
人群聚集在勃兰登堡门外，举行支持 LGBTQ+ 社区的游行 (AP)
布赖顿和霍夫骄傲节的组织者与其他 LGBTQ+ 团体一起，在袭击发生后表达了强烈的支持。“这就是为什么我们为争取权利而游行，”他们在社交媒体的一篇帖子中写道，“骄傲节应当是一个庆祝和喜悦的地方。布赖顿与柏林同在。”
勇气与团结。在难以想象的痛苦时刻，我们凝聚在一起。我们记得为什么游行，为什么发声，以及为什么彼此支持。”
曼彻斯特村庄骄傲节 (Manchester Village Pride) 表示，该事件令其“深感悲痛”，并向柏林骄傲节社区发送了“爱、力量和坚定不移的支持”。
“骄傲节是对爱、多样性、包容以及成为真实自我的自由的庆祝。当一个骄傲节社区受到影响时，我们所有人都团结一致，共同支持，”他们补充道。
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伯纳姆告诉 BBC “除非修复社会护理系统，否则 NHS 将崩溃”
David Maddox 政治编辑
安迪·伯纳姆周末在切郡家中附近跑步 (PA)
安迪·伯纳姆正寻求削减福利支出，此举可能会激怒那些在促使其接替基尔·斯塔默爵士方面起到关键作用的工党议员。
在成为首相后的首次重大采访中，安迪·伯纳姆在接受 BBC 劳拉·昆斯伯格采访时承认，必须降低福利开支。
并且他明确表示，在未来，某些福利（包括心理健康支持）将变为基于以下条件的“有条件”领取：
在接受 BBC 《全景》(Panorama) 节目的采访中，他还警告说，除非社会护理系统发生“实质性改变”，否则 NHS 将会崩溃；他希望解决这一困扰英国政坛数十年的危机。
安迪·伯纳姆明确表示，他不会通过提前大选来寻求新的授权 (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA)
随着重大变革即将到来，伯纳姆先生在昨天发布的采访片段中已经明确表示，他不会通过提前大选来寻求新的授权。他还坚持认为，当“符合英国国家利益”时，他将公开指责唐纳德·特朗普，并且正在寻求筹集高达 £13bn 的资金，以实现英国国防开支占 GDP 3 per cent 的目标。
但由于资金紧张，伯纳姆先生明确表示，与基尔·斯塔默爵士一样，他打算将重点放在福利领域以实现削减开支。
由于在发生大规模后座议员反叛后，斯塔默爵士被迫放弃每年削减 £5bn 福利开支的计划，这一问题导致他失去了作为首相的权威。
在被问及福利改革时，他并未回避降低开支的必要性。他表示：“你想要探讨的是福利账单。我认为，作为一个国家，我们必须认真考虑如何降低福利账单。”
尽管伯纳姆先生与名声扫地的前工党贵族彼得·曼德尔森（Peter Mandelson）之间的短信显示，工作与养老金大臣帕特·麦克法登（Pat McFadden）曾抱怨工党议员，但伯纳姆先生仍保留了麦克法登的职务。
麦克法登告诉曼德尔森：“我参加的每一次会议都是在讨论‘我们可以向谁征税，以便向他人支付福利’。他们问错了问题。”
在其他 11 位内阁部长被解雇的情况下，他得以留任，这表明了伯纳姆先生的意图。
在概述其方法时，伯纳姆先生解释道：“关键在于改变支持的性质，并使部分支持以人们抓住眼前的机会为条件。因此，你可能会增加领取福利所需的条件。”
在 11 位其他内阁部长被解雇的同时，帕特·麦克法登继续担任工作与养老金大臣 (Getty)
“我认为政府为年轻人提供了机会保障，这是一件好事。”
“我认为我们需要继续采取这种方法。例如，在需要心理健康支持的地方，应在工作中提供支持，以帮助人们把握机会。”
然而，伯纳姆先生确实试图通过强调他不想惩罚领取福利的人，来与前任在基调上做出改变。
“我不会必然直接去责备这些人。我想说的是，福利制度中有些人，比如 20 多岁的年轻人，我认为他们被相当严重地辜负了，因为在他们应该获得支持的时候，支持并没有到位。”
“所以我不责怪他们。我不认为他们获得的支持方式应该是那样。”
后座议员中的福利叛逆者，如理查德·博根 (Richard Burgon)、蕾切尔·马斯克尔 (Rachael Maskell)、克莱夫·刘易斯 (Clive Lewis) 和金·约翰逊 (Kim Johnson) 等人，曾是伯纳姆先生接任首相的拉拉队成员；在进行任何改革时，他必须争取党内左翼的支持。
但在采访中，他还希望将焦点放在他的重大优先事项之一——修复社会护理上。
伯纳姆先生表示：“如果我们不这样做，NHS 将会在试图照顾那些其实不需要进入 NHS 体系的人群的沉重压力下崩溃。”
但当被追问是否会在下次大选前建立一套新系统时，他表示此时此刻他“无法给出具体的时间表”，不过他会投入“我所拥有的一切政治资本”来修复它。
伯纳姆先生早在 2009 年担任戈登·布朗 (Gordon Brown) 领导下的卫生大臣期间，就首次在英格兰提出了普惠制社会护理系统，但由于保守党指责他想要征收“死亡税”，获得跨党派共识的希望破灭了。
完整采访 BBC Panorama 节目《安迪·伯纳姆：劳拉·昆斯伯格访谈》于今日早晨 6 点在 iPlayer 播出，晚上 8 点在 BBC One 播出。
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在接受 BBC 采访时，首相誓言要“在任何事情之前首先捍卫我们自己的国家利益”，并筹集资金投资国防。
大卫·马多克斯 (David Maddox) 政治编辑
安迪·伯纳姆在接受劳拉·昆斯伯格 (BBC) 采访时，两次拒绝透露他是否信任特朗普总统。
安迪·伯纳姆表示，在与美国的打交道中，他将始终把英国的利益放在首位——即使这意味着与唐纳德·特朗普产生分歧。
这位新首相告诉 BBC 的劳拉·昆斯伯格，如果有必要，他将在公开场合顶住美国总统的压力，并补充道：“你必须在任何事情之前捍卫自己的国家利益。如果你想正确地履行这项职责，这就是你必须做的。”
他表示：“我不能在任何时刻说我不会与他 [特朗普] 持不同意见，我需要表达一个对英国而言正确的不同观点。”
他还两次拒绝透露是否信任特朗普总统，随后他的国防大臣韦斯·斯特雷廷也传达了同样的信息。
两人在上周一通过电话进行了交谈，就在伯纳姆先生进入 No 10, 不到一小时的时间里，唐宁街将这次通话描述为“极其热情”。
通话后，特朗普先生在 Truth Social 的一条帖文中称，伯纳姆先生“面前有一项艰巨的任务，但他能够完成”，并承诺美国“将提供帮助”。
在此之前，由于英国最初拒绝允许美国使用基地对该政权发动进攻性袭击，华盛顿与基尔·斯塔默爵士政府在伊朗冲突问题上的关系变得日益紧张。
与此同时，伯纳姆先生明确表示，他打算筹集资金以填补英国国防开支的黑洞，并履行其国际承诺。
由于在接替基尔爵士以来没有进行重大采访或新闻发布会，首相面临着一些批评。
但在今天将完整播出的 BBC 采访中，伯纳姆先生正面应对了他作为首相将面临的重大问题之一。
他的财政大臣约翰·希利此前因国防改进计划中 £13bn 的缺口而从斯塔默政府辞职。随后发现，在已承诺的款项中还存在进一步的 £4.7bn 黑洞。
安迪·伯纳姆与他的新任财政大臣约翰·希利周五在 No 10 North (路透社)
伯纳姆先生明确表示，他在任命希利先生为财政大臣时，考虑到了他关于国防开支的言论，并明确表示他打算筹集这笔资金。而与此同时，人们正在质疑他计划如何为其他较小的承诺提供资金，包括取消能源账单的增值税、降低酒吧和俱乐部营业税 20 per cent，以及将公交车票价上限设定在 £2.。
伯纳姆先生表示：“我任命我的新任财政大臣时，非常清楚他之前关于国防开支的关键重要性以及他对此所持的立场。”
“我们两人面临的首要挑战，是确保国防投资计划获得充分资金。这是我们眼前最重要的事情，随着我们向今年晚些时候的预算案推进，我们需要共同解决这个问题。”
但伯纳姆先生也明确表示，他排除了提前举行大选以获得新授权，从而允许他提高所得税、增值税或国民保险等税项的可能性。
他表示：“我将排除这一可能。我认为人们并不希望如此。”
他补充说，他的重点相反地在于“让国家回到它应该在的位置”。
在接受 Sky News 的《与特雷弗·菲利普斯的周日早晨》采访时，斯特雷廷先生也坚持认为资金问题将得到解决。
他表示：“嗯，财政大臣的立场很明确，我的立场也很明确。在我担任后座议员那短暂的自由时期，我也明确表示我们需要增加国防投资。”
与此同时，希利先生已经声明，伯纳姆政府将积极寻求在所有其他选择之前优先“购买英国产品”。
他告诉《周日太阳报》：“你们将看到一个英国政府前所未有的坚定推动力。”
“购买英国产品，不是‘如果可能的话’，而是‘通过设计实现’。因此，每一英镑的采购资金都将支持英国的就业、英国的学徒计划和英国的技能。”
“推动财富创造，使我们在政府中做出的政策决定有助于提高英国企业的投资、利润和创新水平。”
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但国防大臣声称，欧洲将感谢美国总统将其从自满中唤醒
大卫·马多克斯 政治编辑
(PA)
国防大臣韦斯·斯特雷廷拒绝透露他是否信任美国总统唐纳德·特朗普，坚称“我们还处于第一印象阶段”。
然而，在接受 Sky News 的特雷弗·菲利普斯爵士的一次坦率采访时，这位新任国防大臣坚持认为，欧洲将感谢特朗普总统迫使他们为自己的国防承担责任。
当被问及是否信任特朗普总统时，斯特雷廷先生表示：“我不认识他，但我信任美国。我们还处于第一印象阶段。我接手这份工作还不到一周。”
韦斯·斯特雷廷拒绝透露是否信任唐纳德·特朗普 (盖蒂图片社)
“我们并不总是喜欢他所说的话，也不总是喜欢他的方式，但我真诚地认为，当这段历史被记载时，欧洲将感谢特朗普总统将我们从自满中震醒，迫使我们独立行走，并结束在国防上过度依赖美国的时间。”
他继续说道：“他关于欧洲的言论并非特朗普总统、MAGA 运动或共和党所独有。无论是民主党还是共和党总统执政期间，美国对欧洲的这种挫败感一直长期存在。”
“在我们生活的这个世界上，能够采取行动确保自身安全是正确的。我们可以与欧洲的盟友采取行动，当然也可以与美国合作，而不会像北约 (北大西洋公约组织) 和欧洲之前那样过度依赖。”
“我一直意识到美英之间的联盟在世界上是独一无二的，当然，这是历史性的、文化性的、政治性的，也是由自身利益以及共同利益所驱动的。
“但在我担任国防大臣的第一周里，我就在国防与安全领域深刻体会到了这种关系的密切程度及其不可或缺性。”
在谈到与美国同行皮特·海格塞斯 (Pete Hegseth) 的首次通话时，斯特雷廷先生表示：“我明确表示，我们不支持在伊朗采取进攻性行动，且我们将不会支持在伊朗采取进攻性行动。
“但在确保伊朗不开发核武器方面，无论是在投资我们的能力还是北约 (北大西洋公约组织) 的能力方面，在采取直接措施时，有很多我们可以且应该共同协作的事情。”
唐纳德·特朗普总统 (美联社)
这位新任国防大臣还声称，安迪·伯纳姆让他担任这一职务，是因为他在
他声称，由他负责国防事务，而前国防大臣约翰·希利担任财政大臣，军费开支将会增加。
在基尔·斯塔默爵士的国防改进计划缺口达 £13bn 且随后又出现 £4.7bn 的资金黑洞后，希利先生辞去了国防大臣一职。
斯特雷廷先生告诉特雷弗爵士：“财政大臣的立场很明确。我的立场也很明确。在我短暂地担任后座议员期间，我也明确表示我们需要在国防方面投入更多资金。
“首相让我担任这个职位的原因之一是我是一个现代化主义者，而且我在卫生部门的方法是：一是争取并赢得更多资源，我确实做到了；二是确保已投入的资金能得到更好的利用，以确保效果。
“在国防部的背景下，国防采购、物有所值等方面显然一直存在长期问题。”
斯特雷廷先生被追问其之前担任卫生大臣的经历，他在5月份灾难性的地方选举结果后辞职，希望能促使基尔·斯塔默爵士辞职。
安迪·伯纳姆已将修复社会护理（属于卫生职能范围）作为优先事项，并抱怨前几任政府未能正面解决这一问题。
但斯特雷廷先生坚称，相关批评并非针对他个人。
他表示：“我的沮丧之处在于，我无法将社会护理在政府的整体议程中提升到足够的高度，而且那是”
“一是我们认为社会护理应该发挥什么样的作用，其次是应该如何为其提供资金。历任政府由于我能理解的原因，一直将其视为英国政治的‘第三轨’（极具争议、不可触碰的话题）。
“因此，我试图通过路易丝·凯西 (Louise Casey) 委员会来做的一件事，就是尝试就这些问题建立全国性的共识。”
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约翰·史蒂文斯 (John Stevens) 正在为“重新加入欧盟党”竞选，但他警告说，选民不喜欢被告知去支持“垃圾脸伯爵” (Count Binface)，这让他们成了“威斯敏斯特内部笑话的笑柄”。大卫·马多克斯 (David Maddox) 观察
“甚至连奈杰尔·法拉格都不想谈论脱欧，”约翰·史蒂文斯（重新加入欧盟党）表示
这场竞选之战
一名正与奈杰尔·法拉奇 (Nigel Farage) 竞争的前欧洲议会议员 (MEP) 声称，克拉克顿 (Clacton) 补选是一个将“脱欧重新纳入政治议程”并迫使主流政党考虑重新加入欧盟的机会。
约翰·史蒂文斯 (John Stevens) 代表“重新加入欧盟党” (Rejoin the EU Party) 参加克拉克顿补选，他警告称，埃塞克斯 (Essex) 選區的选民对媒体将此次补选描绘成法拉奇先生与喜剧候选人“垃圾桶面孔伯爵” (Count Binface) 之间一场不严肃竞争的报道感到不满。
“从克拉克顿当地人的角度来看，这并不是一场玩笑选举，”他告诉《独立报》 (The Independent)。“我可以告诉你，‘垃圾桶面孔’的闹剧完全没有效果。人们觉得他们成了威斯敏斯特内部笑话的笑柄。”
相反，他声称该选区的选民，尤其是年轻人和女性，对重新加入欧盟的想法更为接受，尽管十年前克拉克顿是“脱欧”阵营支持最强烈的地区之一。
但他警告说，奈杰尔·法拉奇在这次主流政党均拒绝参选的补选中，希望获得像“朝鲜水平”般高达 95 per cent 或更多的支持率。
史蒂文斯先生在 1999, 之前曾担任十年的保守党欧洲议员，他告诉《独立报》：“全国人民需要明白，这不是‘垃圾桶面孔’对阵法拉奇。这是一个在法拉奇真正痛处给予打击的机会。”
“如果他面临显著的反脱欧选票……这对他以及改革党 (Reform cause) 的事业来说，比仅仅被一个垃圾桶羞辱要 damaging 得多。”
然而，由于克拉克顿在 2016 年有 70 per cent 的选票支持脱欧，且埃塞克斯整体支持率为 62 per cent，他承认：“这可能行不通，但这次……”
[[IMG_XXXX]] 史蒂文斯先生声称，法拉奇在克拉克顿“希望获得朝鲜水平的支持率” (路透社)
史蒂文斯先生补充道：“在梅克菲尔德 (Makerfield) 举行补选是为了让某人成为首相，那是另一回事；但为了让我们重新回到欧盟则是另一回事。如果我在这里表现出色，我希望主流政党会受到鼓舞，将重新加入欧盟再次摆在讨论桌上。”
他坚称，在他登门拜访时，他的信息在克拉克顿得到了关注。
“相当多的人说‘不，嗯，脱欧并没有起作用’，或者‘我当时是反对的’，尤其是女性比男性更多，”史蒂文斯先生说。
“在这些新住宅区，带着家庭的年轻人对脱欧提出质疑，而我则在说，‘这是你们一个绝佳的机会，可以通过一场绝对纯粹的竞争，对一件没人谈论的事情表达意见——甚至连奈杰尔·法拉奇都不想谈论脱欧。’”
伯纳姆先生在去年 9 月表示他支持重新加入，但随后当他在支持脱欧的梅克菲尔德选区竞选时，撤回了这一言论。
然而，史蒂文斯先生认为：“工党的所有后座议员都支持重新加入欧盟。”
[[IMG_XXXX]] “垃圾桶面孔伯爵”在克拉克顿竞选 (PA)
这位候选人与法拉奇先生一样，曾是一名城市交易员，但他认为，扭转脱欧结果的答案是，像他这样曾经支持留欧的人也应承认他们在十年前犯了错误，而不仅仅是责怪脱欧选民。
“我非常坚信，我们不能在脱欧者和留欧者之间制造对抗。留欧者说出这一点很重要，而且我完全相信，我们在造成 2016 年脱欧结果中扮演的角色与脱欧者一样多。”
“所以，关键不在于说，‘嗯，你们错了，而你们知道我们是对的，而且我们已经得到了证明’。”
“必须有更多地去做。必须有所不同。必须更具调解性。就应该是‘我们都犯了错误，并且……”
这不是他第一次与法拉奇先生对抗。在 2010 年，他在前议长约翰·伯科 (John Bercow) 的白金汉 (Buckingham) 选区与他竞争，当时他获得了 10,000 多票，位列第二并击败了法拉奇先生。
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Grindr敲诈导致死亡的案件
监管机构称，在斯科特·高夫（Scott Gough）死于一群人在其家中出现的一天后，赫特福德郡警局（Hertfordshire Constabulary）在调查中犯了“若干错误”
Holly Evans
(Supplied)
在投诉监管机构的指示下，警方被要求重新审查有关恐同的指控，此前警方在调查一名据称在约会应用Grindr上被骗男子的自杀案中犯了“若干错误”。
两年前，斯科特·高夫在赫特福德郡的家中被发现死亡。发现他的是与其相伴 14 年的伴侣卡梅隆·蒂威森（Cameron Tewson）。就在此前一天，一群男子出现在他的家中，要求索要车钥匙并留下了一张阴森的便条。
尽管一份报告揭露，警员们已知该团伙使用的电话号码至少与高夫先生当地地区的四起类似案件有关，但他的死亡并未被作为敲诈勒索案调查，而被判定为自杀。
在赫特福德郡警局未能采集闭路电视（CCTV）画面、未提取高夫先生的笔记本电脑等证据并丢失DNA样本后，蒂威森先生发起投诉，指控该警队存在歧视和潜在的恐同偏见。
高夫先生的伴侣卡梅隆·蒂威森（左）指责警方在调查中存在恐同偏见 (Supplied)
他告诉《独立报》：“从 2024 年 7 月起，在我给警方的所有信件和正式表达关切的声明中，没有一个人愿意认真考虑我想提出的问题：即我直觉认为影响了斯科特案件处理过程的恐同倾向。”
“这里一直缺乏好奇心和理解力，我的担忧被反复记录在案，但似乎是被轻视而非客观地审查。这感觉就像是一次‘勾选式’的走形式，机构的自我防御优先于真正面对潜意识偏见是否影响了关键决策。”
“警方并没有处理这些担忧，斯科特的死似乎变成了另一个统计数字，而不是一个应当被充分理解、妥善调查，并以应有的尊严和严肃态度对待的人的逝去。”
当警员们接受专业标准部门（Professional Standards Department）询问时，一名警员声称蒂威森先生与他们之间有“私人恩怨”。
独立警察行为办公室（IOPC）的一份报告现在得出结论，该警队对其投诉的调查“不合理且不相称”，且未能妥善审查高夫先生的性取向是否影响了关键的调查决定。
在去世前，高夫先生是一个外向、热爱生活且富有冒险精神的人，他热爱汽车、烹饪，并与蒂威森先生共同养了一只名为奥蒂斯（Otis）的狗。
2024 年 3 月 28 日，这对伴侣在钱德勒斯克罗斯（Chandler’s Cross）的高夫先生家中听到敲门声，六名男子要求与“白色路虎车主”交谈。
该团伙留下了一张便条，上面写着：“我认为给你我打电话是对你最有利的选择。拨打这个号码。”高夫先生坚称他不认识这些人，在报警后，接警员认为没有生命危险或威胁。
次日从探亲返回后，蒂威森先生发现他死在楼上，餐桌上留有一张便条。
鉴于高夫先生此前使用过 Grindr，其伴侣向警方提出了此事，但认为警方持有“关于滥交生活的恐同假设”，并表示警方未能从该房产中提取关键证据。
在七周之内，调查便被关闭，并因“证据不足”被判定为自杀。2024, 年 7 月，特威森先生向专业标准部门投诉，该部门支持了相关指控，即警队未能审查其他敲诈勒索案件之间的联系，导致高夫先生的死亡未能得到充分调查。
这包括手写便条上的电话号码与其他报告的涉及 Grindr 的敲诈勒索案有关联，且警方已确认嫌疑人并走访了他们以“提供严厉的警告建议”。
据信高夫先生在 Grindr 上遭到敲诈（图片由相关方提供）
报告发现，警方在“[斯科特·高夫]去世后犯了几个错误，结果导致未能对其猝死进行全面调查”。
然而，报告并未支持特威森先生关于恐同的投诉，因此他将此案提交至独立警察行为投诉委员会 (IOPC)。他的指控包括在
高夫先生去世仅一天后的一次不敏感对话，其中一名警官表示，“那个年龄段的人要么是因为健康问题、金钱问题或恋童癖而自杀”。
IOPC 的一项调查现在得出结论，警队应重新调查投诉中的两个方面：即警方犯了“几个错误”且未对其死亡进行全面调查，以及“恐同假设可能影响了调查”。
该警队的一名发言人表示：“赫特福德郡警局愿再次向特威森先生对其伴侣高夫先生的离世表达最诚挚的哀悼和同情。”
“由贝德福德郡、赫特福德郡和剑桥郡专业标准部门完成的针对特威森先生投诉的重新调查发现，本应考虑进行敲诈勒索调查，警局已寻求对原调查进行独立审查。”
“此项工作目前由贝德福德郡警方承担，且如果被认为有必要，他们还将接手新的调查。特威森先生投诉中所提出的所有关注点的进展均处于持续的高层监督之下。”
该警队补充说，其致力于支持 LGBTQ+ 社区成员，并已设有专门的联络员。
一名 Grindr 发言人表示：“我们对斯科特的去世深表悲痛，并向卡梅伦及所有热爱他的人致以诚挚的哀悼。Grindr 非常重视用户安全。”
“我们的社区准则禁止敲诈、勒索及其他形式的剥削或胁迫。被发现从事此类行为的账户可能会被暂停或永久删除，包括设备级别的封禁。”
如果您感到痛苦或难以应对，可以通过电话 116 123（英国和爱尔兰共和国）与好 samaritan 组织（Samaritans）进行秘密交谈，或发送电子邮件至 jo@samaritans.org，或访问好 samaritan 组织网站以查找最近分会的详细信息。
如果您在美国，且您或您认识的人现在需要心理健康援助，请致电或发送短信至 988，或访问 988lifeline.org 以使用 988 自杀与危机生命线（988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline）的在线聊天。这是一个免费、保密的危机热线，每天 24 小时，每周 7 天向所有人开放。如果您在其他国家，可以访问 www.befrienders.org 查找您附近的帮助热线。
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托马斯·怀特在一家安全医院接受了九个月治疗后，被无限期送回监狱
艾米-克莱尔·马丁 犯罪报道记者
托马斯·怀特在2012年被判处备受争议的“公众保护监禁”（IPP）刑期（玛格丽特·怀特）
一名14年前因抢劫一部手机而被定罪的父亲，正被送回监狱执行一项被描述为“心理酷刑”的无限期监禁。
43岁的托马斯·怀特（Thomas White）此前因心理健康状况在无限期刑期的压力下崩溃，在绝望中尝试自焚。联合国（UN）已对此类刑期表示谴责。
去年10月，他的家人经过六年的争取，终于让他被转移到一家中级安全医院接受治疗。他们——
他的妹妹，克拉拉·怀特（Clara White）牧师担心，在没有出狱日期的监狱中，他的心理健康状况将迅速恶化，她补充道：“因此，他的酷刑再次开始了。”
他因2012年抢劫一部手机而被判处备受争议的“公众保护监禁”（IPP）。法官告诉他，他必须服刑至少两年，但他的家人表示，到目前为止他已被监禁了14年零四个月。
这种无限期惩罚在2012年被废除，但没有追溯既往，导致数千人在刑期届满后仍被囚禁多年且没有出狱日期，其中一些人仅犯下轻微罪行。一旦获释，许多人发现自己陷入了因轻微违反严格假释条件而导致被无限期召回监狱的循环中。
怀特的困境已成为向联合国提交的一项重大申诉的一部分。上周，三位特别报告员因此警告英国未能对仍被困在该刑期中的近2,400人重新量刑，构成了“严重侵犯人权”的行为。
托马斯·怀特的妹妹克拉拉·怀特牧师与大卫·布伦克特勋爵（Lord David Blunkett）合影，后者表示遗憾在托尼·布莱尔时期引入了IPP刑期（怀特家族）
另有207人在安全医院服刑，这通常是因为他们在监狱中心理健康状况恶化；此外，有96人在羁押期间自杀。
联合国在一次措辞强烈的干预中表示，这些监禁刑期使囚犯陷入了“过度惩罚、重复召回、心理健康恶化以及希望渐失”的循环。
“这些处罚涉及长期的不确定性，导致囚犯出现严重的心理恶化，包括自残和自杀风险增加。此类惩罚可能等同于心理酷刑，”这些人权专家补充道。
在怀特在监狱中经历多次心理健康危机后，怀特牧师长期为其争取转移到诺森伯兰郡的治疗单元——《独立报》对此表示支持。除了自焚外，他还曾将脸猛击在牢房地板上。
在被告知将返回监狱后，怀特牧师告诉《独立报》：“这就像他刚刚得到了一点喘息之机，然后就结束了。”
她继续说道：“托马斯被送回去后，情况会迅速恶化，因为他并没有好转。也许只有轻微的好转。
“我认为九个月的时间不足以让一个崩溃的人开始信任并开始开口说话。
“所以，仅仅因为他没有符合你们关于他应该在那里待多久的时间表，你们就惩罚他。因此，他的酷刑再次开始了。”
怀特被转移回监狱，将标志着他在被反复转移到全国各地监狱的14年里，第14次被调动。
安全单元的医生结论认为，他患有多种心理健康疾病。
联合国酷刑特别报告员爱丽丝·吉尔·爱德华兹博士（Dr Alice Jill Edwards）谴责了IPP监禁刑期（AFP/Getty）
然而，2024年的两份医疗报告揭示了毁灭性的IPP（不定期刑期）监禁对其心理健康的打击，警告称其“长期的监禁”为其康复制造了“无法逾越的障碍”。
在向安迪·伯纳姆的新政府及新任司法大臣亚历克斯·诺里斯（Alex Norris）发出的紧急恳求中，怀特牧师呼吁他们纠正这一“巨大的不公”。
她补充道：“新政府拥有一个前所未有的机会，去修复一个其他任何首相都不愿解决的最大不公之举。”
“我敦促你们优先处理IPP丑闻——这一错误行为已导致近 100 名IPP囚犯死亡。”
“我的哥哥托马斯·怀特（Thomas White）在遭受IPP判决带来的多年折磨后，在过去的九个月里一直作为一名患者在司法精神病院就诊。”
“在接下来的几天里，托马斯将被送回监狱，因为这段远离那个非人道系统的短暂喘息即将结束。尽管最初被判处仅两年的刑期，但托马斯在IPP判决下已在羁押中度过了 14 年多。”
一名司法部发言人表示：“废除IPP判决是正确的，正如IPP年度报告所示，我们已显著改善了对这些罪犯的支持。”
“他们在出院时有权获得后续护理，并且能获得更多康复和心理健康支持——帮助他们应对医院外的生活。”
“我们决心在确保这些人安全且可持续地释放方面取得进一步进展，但绝不会以损害公众保护为代价。”
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数千人无法使用厕所
“假期糟糕的开始”
汤姆·杰弗里斯 (Tom Jeffreys)
机场大多数厕所已关闭 (照片 PA)
由于供水故障，盖特威克机场的乘客无法使用功能完好的厕所，酒吧和餐厅也无法营业。
尽管航班没有延误，但这家西萨塞克斯郡机场的两个航站楼内多项服务受到影响，乘客在网上发布消息称，他们无法买到饮料、无法洗手或在水瓶中灌水。
由于这一问题（该问题同样影响了肯特郡和萨塞克斯郡部分地区的居民），机场正在向旅客发放瓶装水。
SES Water公司表示：“我们目前在 TN 11, RH1, RH6 和 RH10 邮编区域的部分地区经历了供水中断。”
“我们的团队已在现场，正努力尽快且安全地恢复供水。在修复工作完成期间，部分地区的客户可能会遇到水压低或无水的情况。”
盖特威克机场表示：“霍利（Horley）地区的一个用水问题导致今天上午机场出现混乱。该问题影响了两个航站楼的供水，目前正在调查中。”
“机场正向全体乘客和员工提供瓶装水，并采取其他应急措施以确保乘客的福祉。”
TalkTV 主持人朱莉娅·哈特利-布鲁尔（Julia Hartley-Brewer）在X上发帖称：“如果你正前往盖特威克机场，了解整个机场都没有自来水可能会对你有帮助。”
“这意味着没有咖啡，没有饮水机，没有可冲水的厕所，也没有洗手设施。”
“盖特威克机场竟然没费心向乘客发布相关的公开公告。真是‘太有帮助’了……”
在Facebook上，一名用户发帖称：“我现在渴得要命，而且在憋尿。这简直太荒谬了！盖特威克机场因停水关闭了所有餐厅和大部分厕所。”
“假期糟糕的开始。”
来自肯特郡汤布里奇韦尔斯的罗杰·伍德（Roger Wood）于昨日上午 11 点左右抵达盖特威克机场南航站楼，准备飞往纽约。
他告诉英国 l 报社（Press Association）：“我们在酒吧见到了朋友，但由于他们无法洗手，所以没法为我们提供服务。”
“我从未见过 Wetherspoons 这么空。不知道什么时候能解决，洗手间也没有洗手水。”
直到傍晚，安检前的南航站楼内，Wetherspoon 酒吧、Greggs、Giraffe 餐厅和 Black Sheep Cafe 仍处于关闭状态；而北航站楼的星巴克则拉下了卷帘门。
洗手间关闭，且洗手室内的水压非常低。
包括 Marks and Spencer、Boots 和 WHSmith 在内的零售店保持营业，瓶装水供应充足。
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坚果之作
在中国台州市张家源社区的一个池塘里，农民们正在采收芡实。AFP/Getty
吹之惊叹
在瑞士嫩达兹（Nendaz）特拉库埃（Tracouet）的高山牧场上，阿尔卑斯号角吹奏者在国际阿尔卑斯号角节的最后一天表演合奏曲目。路透社
接地气
美国国家航空航天局（Nasa）宇航员克里斯托弗·威廉姆斯（Christopher Williams）和俄罗斯国家航天局（Roscosmos）宇航员谢尔盖·库德-斯韦尔奇科夫（Sergey Kud-Sverchkov）与谢尔盖·米卡耶夫（Sergei Mikaev）在从国际空间站（ISS）返回后，身处哈萨克斯坦杰兹卡兹甘（Zhezkazgan）附近偏远地区的联盟号 MS-28 空间舱内。路透社
越多越热闹
数百名全身着红衣的凯特·布什（Kate Bush）粉丝在福克斯通（Folkestone）聚集，旨在通过 2026 年的“史上最风原高地之日”（The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever），重现这位歌手标志性的《风原高地》音乐录影带。PA
信仰之展
在印度钦奈，一名打扮成阿曼女神（goddess Amman）的印度教信徒参加庆祝“Aadi”节的宗教游行。AFP/Getty
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新闻
杰米·查佩尔在建筑工地工作时遭到袭击（资料图）
男子涉嫌遭螺丝刀袭击，目前正与死神搏斗
一名 25 岁的男子在威尔特郡的一处建筑工地涉嫌被螺丝刀刺中头部，目前正处于生死关头。
杰米·查佩尔（Jamie Chappell）被家人描述为“进入任何房间都能成为灵魂人物的人”。周四事件发生时，他正在斯温顿附近的珀顿（Purton）工作。
他的姐姐凯莉·查佩尔（Kelly Chappell）表示，这次事件让全家生活陷入混乱，但他们决心全力支持他，目前他正在布里斯托的南米德医院（Southmead Hospital）接受救命治疗。
来自东威切尔（East Wichel）的詹姆斯·德尼斯（James Denys），36岁，在以涉嫌造成严重身体伤害的袭击罪在斯温顿治安法院（Swindon Magistrates Court）出庭时被还押候审。他预计将于8月21日在斯温顿皇冠法院（Swindon Crown Court）出庭。另一名36岁的男子因涉嫌协助罪犯被捕，随后被保释。
查佩尔女士（Ms Chappell）表示：“杰米是你能遇到的最善良、最温柔的人之一。今天，杰米依然病危。他的伤势不仅改变了他的生活，而且目前仍威胁到他的生命。”
德比车祸导致四人死亡，司机被捕
警方表示，德比 A38 公路上一辆汽车撞上树木，导致包括一名女婴在内的四人死亡。周六晚上 11 点左右，紧急服务部门接到通知前往该路段，地点位于 A50 丰田岛（Toyota Island）与 A516 之间。报告称，一辆载有五人的红色现代汽车驶离车道并撞上树木。
两名女性（分别为 18 岁和 30 岁）以及一名 36 岁的男性被宣布在现场死亡。一名女婴被送往医院，不久后被宣布死亡。这四人均为车内乘客。司机是一名 33 岁的男性，被送往医院治疗严重伤势，目前仍在住院。他因涉嫌危险驾驶导致死亡而被捕。所有涉事人员均来自西约克郡的利兹（Leeds）。
经济学家预计利率将再次维持不变
预计英格兰银行本周将再次维持利率不变。经济学家表示，尽管中东地区的袭击和美国的威胁再次引发了对通货膨胀的一些担忧，但他们仍预计银行的利率设定委员会大多数成员将选择将基准利率维持在 3.75%。
包括牛津经济研究院（Oxford Economics）和野村证券（Nomura）专家在内的多位经济学家预测，在周四的会议上，将再次以七比二的投票结果支持维持当前利率。
货币政策委员会的会议还将公布最新的经济预测。英格兰银行行长安德鲁·贝利（Andrew Bailey）可能会就冲突重启如何影响银行对通胀的预期，以及委员会如何处理利率决策发表讲话。
RSM UK 首席经济学家托马斯·普（Thomas Pugh）表示，他认为油价将在很大程度上决定未来一年的利率走向。
警察被面包车撞击导致重伤
在格拉斯哥东南部的拉考尔（Larkhall），一次“蓄意且卑劣的袭击”导致两名警察受重伤住院。
苏格兰警方表示，周六下午警员在对一处房产进行调查时发生了这起事件。
一辆白色雷诺 Trafic 面包车向他们驶来。“这是一次针对两名仅在履行职责的警员的蓄意且卑劣的袭击，”侦查督察加里·斯米利（Gary Smillie）说道。
两名男性警员（分别为 43 岁和 41 岁）因伤势严重被送往医院；其中一人已出院，另一人目前仍在医院，情况稳定。
“性议员”警告称需要终身性教育
南德比郡工党议员萨曼莎·尼布莱特（Samantha Niblett）在建议同行将性玩具带到威斯敏斯特宫并呼吁开展“性之夏”时引发了广泛关注。
但最近担任性与生殖健康全党议会小组主席的尼布莱特女士已经获得了
她告诉 BBC：“我认为，如果我的某些同事——他们本应是最前卫的议员——觉得这很有趣，那么我期待看到这次活动将带来积极的影响。”
被戏称为“性议员”的尼布莱特女士表示，她并不后悔引起关注。在为她关于性玩具的观点辩护时，她表示，在讨论这些问题时需要采取一种“摆脱羞耻感和污名化”的举措。
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世界
在面对大规模撤离令时做准备
居民描述天空被浓烟笼罩，并表示他们难以入睡和呼吸。
消防员通过焚烧植被来创建无燃料缓冲区，以应对波尔多附近的山火（法新社/盖蒂图片社）
“气味非常糟糕，让人无法呼吸，”住在波尔多市中心的伊拉·什穆克 (Ira Szmuk) 说道，此时狂暴的山火每小时都在向这里逼近。
“在下午和晚上，风把所有烟雾都吹进了镇上，所以我们无法出门。我们在早晨完成所有需要做的事，然后把自己锁在房子里。”
由迈拉·巴特 (Maira Butt) 报道
市长托马斯·卡泽纳夫 (Thomas Cazenave) 昨天警告称，在周六外围郊区被撤离后，火焰目前距离城市边缘仅九英里。随着火势推进，警察昨夜在马什普里姆 (Marcheprime) 和塞斯塔斯 (Cestas) 两个市镇逐户敲门，将居民一名接一名地撤离。
官员们表示，进一步的撤离计划正在考虑中，包括可能下令让这座法国第六大城市的所有居民撤离。
对于伊拉、她的丈夫及其家人来说，感觉火灾已经到了眼前。她的孩子们，年龄分别为 10, 8 和 4 岁，由于这些事件，他们的夏令营已被取消。她的年迈父母，年龄分别为 76 和 70 岁，由于空气质量恶化极其严重，只能禁足于家中。
“尽管最严重的火灾距离这里有 40 分钟车程，但情况依然很艰难，因为离我们只有 15 分钟路程的人已经被撤离了，”她告诉《独立报》。
她说，随着晚上风势恶化，早晨晴朗的天空迅速变为深灰色并充满烟雾。
“这是一种非常不愉快的感觉。非常极端。在一小时内，整个天空就被覆盖了，”她说。
“就像你一次性烧了很多纸一样。如果你在户外，你的头发和衣服会吸收所有烟味。我现在在外面待了一个小时，闻起来就像在烧烤炉里面一样。”
在旅游业工作的伊拉说，她收到了许多游客发来的“惊恐信息”，他们担心如果山火不减速，该去哪里以及该怎么做。在居民等待官方指导时，她说她自己对于接下来的行动也感到“困惑”。
虽然伊拉和她的家人很幸运地在家里安装了空调，但她有些带着小孩的朋友家里没有。
“我所有没有空调的朋友都说，屋里感觉相当糟糕，因为气味太浓了。真的感觉就像身处火中一样。他们说晚上非常难以呼吸，会开始咳嗽。”
伊拉家内部（左）和外部（右）的空气质量情况（伊拉·什穆克）
她表示，居民们被建议避免使用公共交通，且撤离区域的机场虽然充满烟雾，但仍保持开放，因为人们急于离开。
这件事也影响了依赖旺季维持全年运转的当地企业。
“人们还没有讨论这件事，因为我们仍处于危及生命的局面，但对许多人来说，他们全年的收入都取决于这几个月。一旦失去了夏天，对我们来说这一年就结束了。”
波尔多肆虐的野火带来的灰暗云层 (Ira Szmuk)
随着剧烈的热浪席卷南欧，已有超过 280,000 人被迫撤离家园。根据路透社气候监测站 (Reuters Climate Monitor) 的数据，本月平均气温达到了 32 摄氏度，比 1961 年至 1990 年间的该月正常最高气温高出近 6 摄氏度。
在西班牙，总理佩德罗·桑切斯 (Pedro Sanchez) 昨日访问了阿维拉 (Avila) 的受火灾影响地区，该省与马德里和托莱多一起，是受重大火灾影响的三个中部省份之一。火焰已摧毁阿维拉 123,500 英亩以上的乡村土地，使其成为西班牙近代史上规模最大的野火。
“火势已失去控制，从技术角度来看很难扑灭，尤其是因为不利的天气条件将在全天持续，”瓦伦西亚地区领导人胡安弗兰·佩雷斯 (Juanfran Perez) 告诉记者。
野火已进入埃斯帕丹山脉 (Sierra de Espadan) 自然公园，该公园拥有大片松树林和栓皮栎林。
世界
纳伦德拉·莫迪作为一名强有力且果断的领导人已治理印度十年，且长期以来一直抵制解雇部长。纳米塔·辛格 (Namita Singh) 分析为何“蟑螂”抗议活动产生了如此大的影响。
教育部长达曼德拉·普拉丹 (Dharmendra Pradhan) 辞职后，蟑螂人民党 (CJP) 的支持者在庆祝 (AFP/Getty)
周六，在印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪政府屈服于 Z 世代抗议者的要求，教育部长达曼德拉·普拉丹因医学入学考试泄题事件而辞职后，印度民众在街头跳舞、唱歌并高喊胜利口号。
这是一次莫迪罕见的挫败，但对于蟑螂人民党 (CJP) 来说是一个巨大的胜利。这是一个讽刺性运动，其年轻支持者数周以来通过说唱、标语和涂鸦公开嘲讽总理及其内阁同事，要求就国家资格兼入学考试 (Neet) 执行过程中的失误追究责任。
此次泄题影响了 5 月份约 2 million 名学生，并与多起学生自杀事件相关联。
十年以来，莫迪一直以一名强有力、果断且极少承认错误的领导者身份治理国家，其政府长期以来抵制在压力下解雇部长的做法。印度农民在莫迪于 2021 年废除具有争议的农业法之前，不得不抗议了近一年。
对于一个自 2014 年莫迪上台以来，政治几乎完全由其主导的国家来说，这场全国性的抗议在几周前还是一个几乎无法想象的局面。
Z 世代抗议者因医学入学考试试卷泄露而要求普拉丹辞职 (AP)
今年早些时候，政府面临越来越大的压力，要求解雇联邦石油和天然气部长哈迪普·辛格·普里 (Hardeep Singh Puri)，原因是他在美国期间与已故金融家兼被定罪的性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦 (Jeffrey Epstein) 有接触。普里是一位由职业外交官转型的政治家，他表示当时他是国际和平研究所 (International Peace Institute) 的成员，该研究所是一家纽约智库，由挪威外交官、前内阁部长特耶·罗德-拉森 (Terje Rod-Larsen) 直至 2020 年领导，他在那里期间与爱泼斯坦见过“三次，最多四次”。
罗德-拉森已为其与爱泼斯坦的关系道歉；其妻子、挪威大使蒙娜·尤尔 (Mona Juul) 也因与这位美国金融家的联系而辞职。
在其他民主国家，不受欢迎的政府和部长要么辞职，要么被强制下台，而莫迪政府则以不屈服于公众压力而闻名。
2018 年 10 月担任初级外交部长，以应对印度 #MeToo 运动期间十几名女性提出的性骚扰指控。
泄露的考卷影响了约 200 万名学生——并与几起自杀事件相关联（路透社）
CJP 发言人 Saurav Das 在向《独立报》解释将普拉丹（Pradhan）辞职作为首要诉求的重要性时表示：“这是走向一个更好的、负责任的体制的第一步。必须强制要求基本的问责制。在本来应该是自动触发的情况下，我们不得不竭尽全力地去推动它。”
他提到莫迪政府之前的政府时说：“在 2014 年之前，这是自动触发的。”Shivraj Patil 在 2008 年辞去内政部长职务，为导致 175 人死亡的孟买恐怖袭击承担道义责任。2010 年，A Raja 因 2G 频谱分配中的腐败指控而辞去通信和 IT 部长职务。
“但在 2014 年之后，政府在不撤换部长这件事上表现得极其傲慢。因此，我们首先要恢复那个印度，然后我们再讨论那些问题。而我们可以
Pralhad Joshi 昨日接管了教育部，同时保留他在莫迪内阁中的消费者事务部职责，随着抗议活动的停止，这标志着总理在第三任期内面临的最严重的政治危机宣告结束。
Joshi 自 2004 年起五次当选议员，来自卡纳塔克邦，他在达尔瓦德（Dharwad）的选区内得知自己被任命为教育部长。随后他从胡布利（Hubli）乘机返回德里。
危机在本周达到顶峰，数千名抗议者向议会进军，警方使用催泪瓦斯进行控制。年轻选民构成了莫迪领导的印度人民党（BJP）的关键基础。
CJP 创始人 Abhijeet Dipke 在普拉丹辞职后向支持者发表讲话（盖蒂图片社）
自称“蟑螂”的年轻人自 6 月下旬起走上街头，要求重新考试，这激起了
人们对印度年轻人缺乏前景的愤怒。Abhijeet Dipke 创立 CJP 是为了嘲讽印度最高法院法官 Surya Kant 在一次演讲中将印度失业青年比作“蟑螂”的尖锐言论。
近年来，类似的青年主导的抗议运动在邻国斯里兰卡、尼泊尔和孟加拉国导致了政府倒台。
为了平息抗议，75 岁的莫迪发布了一段罕见的自拍视频，在视频中他表示对年轻人的苦难感到痛心，并承诺将采取补救措施。这段视频于周四发布在 Instagram 上——而在 5 月的短短几天内，CJP 在该平台聚集了 22 million 名主要是 Z 世代的追随者——但对于聚集在德里中心地带、在几天前顶住大规模警方镇压并随后激励全国抗议的数千人来说，这还远远不够。
“试卷泄露是一个触发点，”政治分析师 Amitabh Tiwari 告诉路透社。“这在很大程度上反映了年轻人心中的焦虑、紧张、不满、挫败和愤怒。”
Tiwari 表示，估计 18 至 40 岁的印度人约占人口的 40%，但在议会下院仅占据约 10% 的席位——低于 1950 年代的两倍以上。内阁的平均年龄超过 60。尽管 CJP 不是一个政党，但所有反对党都试图利用针对莫迪抗议活动中出现的罕见机会，通过支持学生事业来从中获利。
CJP发言人索拉夫·达斯（中）和阿舒托什·兰卡（右）与印度卫生部长JP·纳达在新闻发布会上（AFP/Getty）
青年愤怒情绪的首次考验可能会出现在明年的选举中，地点包括人口最多的北方邦、旁遮普邦以及莫迪的家乡古吉拉特邦。印度人民党（BJP）同时执政于北方邦和古吉拉特邦。如果CJP转型为政党，莫迪面临的更大风险可能在于 2029 年的大选。
迪普克表示，目前尚未就参与选举政治做出决定。一些分析人士认为，年轻选民此前在很大程度上是沿着宗教或种姓界限投票的，这使莫迪的印度教民族主义印度人民党获益。但情况可能正在发生变化。
然而，强迫普拉丹退出内阁的决定并未得到总理支持者的认可。
“这是暴力的胜利，而不是任何一代人或任何委屈的胜利，”X（原推特）用户拉胡尔·鲁尚写道。
另一位用户写道：“这辈子我第一次在我的左翼朋友面前抬不起头——多亏了莫迪先生。”
CJP发言人阿舒托什·兰卡和达斯在与联邦部长吉滕德拉·辛格和JP·纳达的联合新闻发布会上，宣布出于“诚意”撤回抗议活动。
武装部队在旁观看CJP示威者庆祝（Getty）
纳达表示，政府已接受抗议者的所有要求，其中包括考试制度改革、撤销对抗议者的警方起诉，以及向在试卷泄露后自杀的学生家庭提供赔偿。
兰卡表示：“底线是我们赢了——你们的奋斗、努力和耐心得到了回报。”
这些示威活动已成为近年来公众对莫迪政府不满的最明显迹象之一，即使在本周警方使用催泪瓦斯和警棍驱散试图前往议会的游行者后，仍有数千人重返街头。
抗议活动还反映了印度国内对就业短缺和政府问责制日益增长的愤怒。
“年轻一代在这里。这是宪法的胜利，”抗议者特卢安加·拉尔特在普拉丹辞职后的抗议现场拿着一份印度宪法副本走在路上时说道，“我们不是一个懒惰的世代。”
一名演员——代表自己的政党参选并与反对党结盟——最近在繁荣的南部泰米尔纳德邦被选为首席部长，其推动力来自他在Instagram上优先建立的Z世代粉丝群。
一名CJP支持者举着标牌，抗议者对普拉丹辞职做出反应（AFP/Getty）
“这对莫迪总理来说是一个清算的时刻，它表明他们与Z世代的需求完全脱节，”作者阿努拉格·米纳斯·维尔玛表示。
“多年来，印度人民党的数字化政治战略集中在像X这样的平台，大多数政治对话都在那里进行。但现在，这种对话已越来越多地转移到Instagram，尤其是在年轻用户中。”
印度人民党可能统治着印度的大部分地区，并自称为世界上最大的政党，但多年来它在Instagram上仅获得了 10 million 粉丝——还不到CJP在几天内获得粉丝数的一半。
印度人民党在X上有 23 million 粉丝，在Facebook上有 18 million 粉丝，尽管莫迪个人在这三个社交媒体平台上的粉丝数量极其庞大，在 60 到 107 million 之间。
“在Instagram上需要一种真实感，”专栏作家桑托什·德赛表示，“经过预先策划、精心润色的信息是行不通的。这个媒介是由这一代人创建的，并由于这一代人才变成了现在的样子。这一代人没有敬畏之心。”
“从现在起，能够倾听的领导者可能会取得成功，”蒂瓦里补充道。
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15 岁的 Jenna Chan 被船只螺旋桨击晕并受了重伤，
Jenna 的父母指控学校“拒绝承担责任”（家庭提供照片）
Jenna Chan 在 2024 年 11 月 8 日的一次远足中被船只螺旋桨击中后死亡，此次远足由总部位于新加坡的 St Joseph’s Institution International Ltd 以及一家在英国注册的慈善机构组织。
James C. Reynolds 报道
一名在马尔代夫学校旅行中丧生的英国学生父母，在女儿去世近两年后，仍在为其寻求正义。
来自该家庭的一项诉讼称，这名 15 岁的女孩被击晕并受了重伤，随后在深受创伤的同学们的帮助下被拉回船上。她在短暂地恢复意识并低声说出“救救我”之后，在不到一小时后被宣布死亡。
她的父母 Jennifer Liauw 博士和 Alan Chan 告诉《独立报》，他们花了 20 个多月的时间恳请学校与他们合作，以查明女儿究竟发生了什么，并确保此类事件永远不再发生。
Jenna 的父母在新加坡接受采访时，回忆起他们的女儿是“纯粹的阳光——温暖、爱笑，并且总是考虑到他人。”
他们说：“她是凝聚我们家庭的人，与她的妹妹 Alisha 特别亲近，Alisha 是她的灵魂之友。她希望成为一名老年科医生，因为她热爱老年人并想照顾他们。这就是 Jenna：善良、乐于助人且充满爱心。”
Jenna 的母亲 Jennifer Liauw 博士表示，他们曾恳请学校帮助他们查明发生了什么（家庭提供照片）
他们表示，对他们来说最重要的目标是通过“确保风险管理、应急计划和事后决策的透明度”来“追究学校的责任”。
在谈到他们的诉讼时，他们说：“我们希望这一过程能让海外学校考察活动的规划、监督和管理产生有意义的改进，并且在未能达到这些标准时有明确的问责机制。”
“如果此案能为未来的学生带来更强的治理和更好的保护，那么它所实现的将远超我们家庭自身的意义。”
在诉讼中，Jenna 的父母指控学校“拒绝为他们女儿的死亡承担责任”，并且“反而保持好斗的态度”。
“对我们来说，问责意味着透明度、对学校责任的认可，以及有意义的改变已落实的明确证据，”该家庭在联合声明中表示。“在我们看来，学校未能达到这些期望。”
Liauw 博士说：“我们并不想走到这一步。一年半多以来，我们请求学校与我们合作找出发生了什么，这样这件事就再也不会发生在另一个孩子身上。但所有的门都关上了。这次起诉是为了问责，为了确保 Jenna 是最后一个。”
马尔代夫学校旅行期间发生的悲剧（资料图）（AFP/Getty）
他们指出，学校律师的一封信中直截了当地断言，学校“对于保护和维护 Jenna Chan 女士使其免受伤害风险，不承担积极的、不可委派的注意义务”。
2024年的马尔代夫考察活动，该活动是9年级学生的必修课，也是升入下一学年的要求。
珍娜在参加由在英国注册的慈善机构“马尔代夫鲸鲨研究计划”(MWSRP) 组织的考察活动期间，在马尔代夫南阿里海洋保护区乘坐“蓝宝石黑号”(MV Sapphire Black) 参加鲸鲨出海游时进入水中后死亡。
在该名青少年进入水中后，船长或一名船员启动了船只发动机，导致螺旋桨在船底击中了她。
起诉书称，当时可以听到“一声沉闷的巨响和噼啪声”，但船只继续“向水中的人们驶去”。
随后，该校的一名教师潜入船底救出珍娜，随后她被带回船上，当时已陷入昏迷，腿部被切开，背部有开放性伤口。另一名学生也因旋转的螺旋桨导致脚踝受创。
珍娜的老师们在她的同学面前尝试对其进行心肺复苏，据称同学们因此受到了心理创伤。由于“蓝宝石黑号”船上没有任何应急氧气，附近的一艘潜水船为他们提供了应急氧气。
由于该地区没有直升机可供救援，珍娜最终于上午10:15左右被送往迪古拉岛的迪古拉健康中心，距离他们进入水中已过去约45分钟。
她的父母表示，学校未能采取合理措施确保 MWSRP 适合且有资格组织学生出海游，且未能对马尔代夫进行妥善审核，他们称马尔代夫的潜水和游船之旅存在致命海洋事故的模式。
根据去年夏天流传的警方数据，在2020年1月至2023年10月期间，马尔代夫共有多达112名游客在与海洋相关的事故中丧生。
他们还表示，其他家长在他们之前就得知了珍娜不幸去世的消息。
此外，当她的父母在研究如何将女儿的遗体运回国时，学校向参加此次旅行的学生家长发送了一封电子邮件，写道：“又是一天，我们得到了我们所期盼的一切！”并列出了当天进行的各项活动。
尽管学校管理层在几小时前就已得知她的死讯，但该邮件中仍包含学生（包括珍娜在内）的照片。
学校的一位发言人表示：“珍娜的离世是一场悲剧，我们的心与她的家人同在。作为一所学校，我们继续向他们提供坚定不移的支持，每天在心中为他们祈祷。”
“我们可以确认，珍娜的父母已于周二在新加坡高等法院对学校提起诉讼。”
“学校否认诉状中所述的指控，认为这些指控将责任错误地归咎于学校。因此，学校已聘请法律顾问来应对此次诉讼。”
根据诉讼文件，学校律师在2025年11月21日致家长的信中称，“事故是由船长在珍娜进入水中后将船只挂倒挡的行为引起的”。
诉状称，因此学校“不能且不应对船长的行为承担责任”。
学校发言人补充道：“学校还告知珍娜的父母，它不同意任何...”
暗示学校在向他们隐瞒信息，并且虽然学校已采取措施从调查该事件的马尔代夫当局那里获取信息，但学校并未收到任何此类信息。
“学校已多次与 Jenna 的父母联系，并在他们准备好时随时愿意与他们见面。我们深切关注他们巨大的损失，并努力在所有可能的方面保持尊重和敏感。
“由于该事项目前已提交至新加坡法院，学校在现阶段将避免就此事发表进一步的公开评论。”
马尔代夫鲸鲨研究（Maldives Whale Shark Research），原名为马尔代夫鲸鲨研究计划（Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme），未回应置评请求。
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在西岸库斯拉（Qusra）村一次袭击中被焚毁的清真寺外的儿童（美联社）
定居者暴力周末期间，西岸清真寺被纵火
在以色列占领的西岸，两座巴勒斯坦清真寺在一次明显的定居者袭击中被纵火。官员表示，这些事件发生在昨日，此前发生的一系列暴力活动导致四名巴勒斯坦人和两名以色列士兵死亡。
与此同时，总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡的强硬政府被指对定居者袭击巴勒斯坦人的行为视而不见，这威胁到将在整个地区引发广泛的暴力。
袭击发生后，以色列士兵和警察在西岸展开部署，封锁了主要道路并阻断了进入
以色列在周末还逮捕了 70 多名巴勒斯坦人，试图遏制升级的暴力活动。
以色列军方表示，正与警方合作调查清真寺袭击事件。
教皇利奥十四世昨日在每周祈祷结束时呼吁中东和平。他呼吁双方寻求通过谈判达成解决方案，并“拒绝新的军事行动和单方面决定，特别是那些违反对各宗教信仰神圣场所的尊重及其现状的决定”。
古巴庆祝关键周年纪念日，劳尔·卡斯特罗缺席
古巴昨日举行了一场传统集会，纪念革命最重要的周年纪念日之一，但 95, 岁的前总统劳尔·卡斯特罗（Raúl Castro）明显缺席。
这是至少 30 年来卡斯特罗先生首次没有出席该活动，且没有给出任何解释。不再担任任何正式职务的卡斯特罗先生最后一次公开露面是在六月。
活动由总统米格尔·迪亚斯-卡内尔（Miguel Díaz-Canel）主持，他宣读了卡斯特罗先生的贺信。
这一年度活动是为了纪念 1953 年由菲德尔和劳尔·卡斯特罗兄弟领导的对蒙卡达和卡洛斯·曼努埃尔·德·塞斯佩德斯军营的袭击。这次针对前独裁者富尔亨西奥·巴蒂斯塔（Fulgencio Batista）的行动虽然失败了，但它标志着革命斗争的开始。
美国边境主管被质询有关 ICE 探员致命枪击事件
唐纳德·特朗普的“边境主管”汤姆·霍曼（Tom Homan）昨日在 CNN 主持人的追问下，谈到了近期 ICE 探员发生的致命枪击事件，并承认他不确定涉事探员的现状。
据多份新闻报道，一周内发生在缅因州和德克萨斯州的两次致命事件导致移民与海关执法局（ICE）探员暂时停止交通拦截并重新评估其战术。在其中一起案件中，受害者拥有美国合法居留权。
霍曼先生表示，虽然涉及此类事件的探员被给予行政休假的通用政策，但他并未追踪这些案件，无法确定该政策是否在执行。
这已经是不到一年内，特朗普移民当局的致命枪击事件第二次促使华盛顿的管理人员重新评估战略。
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一份泄露的军事报告警告称，天气的波动是对粮食安全、经济和国际稳定构成的生存风险。报告称，如果政府拒绝倾听，我们将面临灾难。
一份泄露的军事报告警告说，气候变化意味着我们的国土不再安全，也无法被防御（AFP/Getty）
德本勋爵 (Lord Deben)
英国军方首次向政府发出警告，称气候变化以及我们对自然造成的破坏严重威胁着我们的国家安全。这些人并非拥抱树木的环境活动家，而是履行向权力机构告知真相这一官方职责的高层、经验丰富的军方人员。
他们的报告让政府部长们如此恐惧，并暴露出他们对此毫无准备，以至于他们禁止了报告的发布。相反，公众只能看到一个删减版本，所有严酷的现实都被剔除了。
这种策略也符合反对党的利益。通常情况下，保守党会发起一场无情的运动以获取全部真相。然而，这将损害他们目前淡化气候扰动的立场，因此他们在很大程度上保持了沉默。
只有通过泄露，我们这些选民才得知真相。那些我们依赖其保护我们的男女军人认为，我们的国土正面临真实威胁。他们表示，我们很可能无法喂饱自己的国民；我们的国内生产总值受到的打击可能是金融危机时的两倍；而喜马拉雅地区的水资源短缺可能会引发中国、巴基斯坦和印度之间的核冲突。
他们还指出，随着移民所在国家变得过于炎热而无法居住或无法生产所需的食物，全球范围内迁移的人口压力日益增加。他们甚至警告说，永冻层的变暖可能会释放出危险的病原体，包括炭疽杆菌。
现在，这并不是军方在为自己寻求更多资源。这是一个明确的声明：除非我们采取行动保护自然、节约用水、增加国内粮食生产并应对气候变化，否则我们的国土是不安全的，也无法被防御。
部长们试图将军方的担忧斥为“最坏情况的假设”，并大谈他们增加了在防洪和再生农业方面的支出。然而，如果我们想要将威胁降低到可以应对的水平，就必须采取行动来防止最坏情况的发生。
正是气候变化决定了采取行动的时间表。假装我们有时间以更缓慢的步调推进，纯属痴心妄想。我们需要这份军事评估的冲击力将我们拉回现实。
而该评估的核心在于，我们可能无法喂饱自己国民的可能性。今天，当我们看着英格兰干涸的田野，准备迎接又一次热浪时，问题的规模已然显而易见。
仅仅三天不习惯的高温，就使英国的牛奶产量下降了 11%。上周，水资源短缺导致英国最大的鸡肉加工厂停产，该工厂只能通过公路运水才能重新启动。
由于一个多月没有下雨，农民们警告称产量将大幅下降，且牲畜饲料将出现大范围短缺。在英国的粮仓——英格兰东部，小麦收成很可能会减半。
所有这些都不能被简单地视为一个糟糕的年份。气候风险已成为现实。这就是现在的英国气候——冬季暴雨，夏季热浪。我们对此变化几乎完全没有准备。事实上，政府和私营部门都削减了用于支持农民适应气候变化的资金。
独立专家组——气候变化委员会 (Climate Change Committee) 警告称，按照目前的速度，由于我们根本没有投入必要的资金来应对改变后的气候，到 2050 年，英国的高质量生产土地面积将从 40% 下降到仅 10% 略多。
军方正确地强调，如果我们想要自卫，就需要士兵、舰船和无人机。但他们也明确表示，如果我们无法喂饱自己的国民，这些防御措施将毫无用处。
军方正确地强调，如果我们想要自卫，就需要士兵、舰船和无人机。但他们也明确表示，如果我们无法喂饱自己的国民，这些防御措施将毫无用处。
世界上没有其他任何地方可以弥补我们在粮食生产上的不足。这里发生的事情在各地都在发生——事实上，我们比大多数人要幸运。从西班牙到加拿大和中国的山火正在大规模地摧毁农作物。
高盛（Goldman Sachs）表示，在接下来的两年里，粮食短缺将推动价格上涨 16%。受高温和缺水影响，大米产量可能会下降约 20%。
长期的高温将意味着非洲、亚洲和南美洲的整个地区将变得无法生产，其人民将不得不去其他地方寻找食物。目前必须进口近一半粮食的英国将特别容易受到影响，而这将从根本上损害我们的国家安全。
然而，与许多其他国家不同，英国可以扭转这一局面。我们拥有所需的水资源，如果我们现在投资，就可以将其输送到需要的地方。在得到适当支持并能够使用先进技术的情况下，我们的农民可以提高生产率。
如果我们拒绝听信自满之词，并将目标锁定在 2050, 年前停止失控的气候变化，我们就可以
德本勋爵（Lord Deben）曾任气候变化委员会主席
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歌剧制作人约翰·贝里（John Berry）表示，在丽莎·南迪（Lisa Nandy）内阁的第一任期内，这位所谓的政府艺术倡导者往往是一个旁观者，而非支持者。
丽莎·南迪作为文化大臣过于胆怯——她的重新任命是一个洗刷过去、重新开始的机会（Getty）
文化大臣丽莎·南迪在过去两年中受到了很多批评。其中大部分是合理的：太多的不作为，太少的政策，而且给人一种她对自己的职责并不特别适应的感觉。
长期以来，文化大臣这一角色一直被视为在接手一个所谓的更重要职务之前的一个“软派遣”岗位。这种情况必须结束。它应该是一个承担经济和外交责任的严肃部门，在国内外倡导艺术。南迪必须以该行业需要的方式维护文化，否则，我们可能会面临三年的停滞，导致产生一个毫无实权的文化大臣，而坦率地说，这是我们承担不起的。
文化，更具体地说是我所从事的歌剧领域，需要更多具有企业家才干的领导者。它还需要来自更广泛娱乐产业的现代经纪人，能够创造令人惊喜的高知名度合作，并帮助观众发现其明星。将合适的人聚集在一起正是经纪人的职责。顺便一提，这也描述了南迪的工作。
南迪女士的部门将从新一代的顾问中获益，而不是依赖于英国艺术界的旧精英。迄今为止，文化顾问们很少做除了召集小组讨论和制定政策之外的任何事情，而他们应该建议那些能够改变人们生活、并为伦敦及各地区的日常制作人和艺术领导者带来影响的切实活动。向国际艺术管理人员咨询筹款方面的意见也将大有裨益。
南迪不能孤军奋战——她需要内阁其他成员的支持。安迪·伯纳姆本人曾任文化大臣，已经表现出做出决定以改善人们日常生活的意愿。他与南迪需要向财政部 (英国) 证明，文化是这些改善的一部分，而且他们不能在前往财政部时拿着乞讨碗。两人都必须强调我们有多少可以提供的东西：增加的国际投资和出口收益、就业机会、旅游业以及全球影响力。
曾经有一个时代，人们可以偶然发现歌剧。卡鲁索属于留声机时代；帕瓦罗蒂和“三大男高音”通过电视传播给数百万人。那些偶然发现的路径已经消失，但南迪可以改变这一点。
凭借她的职位， 南迪可以接触到 广播公司。最优秀的 经纪人能将愿景转化为 现场活动和壮观场面。 1992年那次令人难以置信的 罗马现场实地播出的 《托斯卡》，或是英国国家歌剧院 双频道直播的《波希米亚人》， 似乎已成为过去的事。 为什么不用她的关系 来创造如此规模的作品？
南迪女士的部门 将从新一代的顾问中获益， 而不是依赖于 英国艺术界的旧精英
资助并鼓励新的作曲家和作家不是一个愿望，而是一个绝对的优先事项。新歌剧必须讲述关于当代生活的有力故事，并获得必要的支持，以便在首演之后继续生存。有证据表明，由制作人主导的雄心勃勃的项目是可以成功的。苏格兰歌剧院的表现超出了其规模，其通过 Opera Ventures Productions 合作制作的、由 Missy Mazzoli 创作的《奔腾的治疗》(The Galloping Cure) 面对的是阿片类药物危机，并将于下月在爱丁堡国际节日首演，这正是她应该探究的模板。
权力下放是政府议程的核心，文化应该成为其中的中心部分。我们已经看到，当格拉斯哥和利物浦成为欧洲文化之都，以及赫尔在 2017 年成为英国文化之都时，文化权力下放是如何使它们焕发生机的。南迪应该走得更远——英国各地的城市到处都是废弃、未使用的建筑，通常由议会所有。为什么不赋能并帮助当地社区将它们重新规划并用作艺术场所，就像曼彻斯特所成功做到的那样？
在新领导层上任的前 100 天内，我还敦促南迪（Nandy）建立一个覆盖全英的“歌剧与新作品倡议”（Opera and New Work Initiative），其目的应当是务实的：委约创作重要新作品，让优秀的歌剧在首演之后依然具有生命力，将培训与就业相结合，维持全年的歌剧演出，并为观众开辟新的接触路径。该倡议应寻求将艺术卓越转化为公共价值、经济活动和国际影响力，而且这一模式可以推广到其他学科和艺术形式。
我的朋友、已故文化大臣特莎·乔威尔（Tessa Jowell）将邂逅伟大艺术描述为一种“超越性的快感”。文化大臣的职责应当是为公众提供更多机会来体验同样的感觉。至于能否实现这一点，就取决于南迪女士了。
约翰·贝里（John Berry）曾任英国国家歌剧院（English National Opera）艺术总监，也是 Opera Ventures Productions 的创始人。他的最新作品《奔腾的疗法》（The Galloping Cure）将在爱丁堡国际艺术节（9-12 August）展出。
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Section 2/Feature
I
历史上规模最大的代际财富转移已经开始，但斯蒂芬·阿姆斯特朗（Stephen Armstrong）承认，尽管将继承数万亿之巨，如今的五十多岁者在应对能力方面却异常匮乏。
无所事事的重要性：X 世代注定将变得极其富有——而他们能否把握住这一时刻则是另一回事（Getty）
这被人们称为“大财富转移”。在接下来的 30 年里，仅在英国，将有高达——嗯，数字范围在 £5.5 trillion 到惊人的 £27.9 trillion 之间——的财富从婴儿潮一代转移给 X 世代和千禧一代。这将是历史上最大规模的代际财富转移，而且坦白说，X 世代看起来可能会把这件事搞砸。
首先，让我们看看可能性。如果全球的 X 世代（出生于 1965 和 1980 之间的人）组成一个国家，我们在 2025 年消费的 $15.2
trillion 将使我们成为全球第二大消费市场。我们中的许多人已经从繁荣的房地产市场中获益（尤其是在东南部，许多现年五十多岁的 X 世代因为足够幸运地在房价暴涨前买房而成为了百万富翁）。在英国，一项代际对比研究发现，55 per cent 的 X 世代在 27, 岁左右拥有自己的住房，而同年龄段的千禧一代仅为 32 per cent。
许多 X 世代在 80 年代和 2000 年代初期开始职业生涯，那时长期雇佣、内部晋升和养老金仍然很普遍。他们在企业和技术部门扩张期间晋升至管理层，并在人工智能仍是数据处理之梦时达到了收入能力的顶峰。
由于具备良好的沟通能力，且较早采用了计算机和数字化技能，使他们成为了值得留用的有价值员工。他们现在是做出解雇决定的人，并且可以依靠强大的专业网络，在最坏的情况发生时至少能维持生存。
然而，英国 33 per cent 的 X 世代现在正面对着深渊，面临退休后收入不足的高风险。这些现象如何能同时存在？事实是，是的，如果全球的 X 世代组成一个国家，那也将是一个非常混乱的国家，经常会浪费掉成为富国的机会。
婴儿潮一代财富转移的最高预估值
X 世代可能是历史上理财能力最差的一代。根据巴克莱银行（Barclays）今年 7 月的“投资准备指数”，资金紧张的 Z 世代投资最频繁，几乎每月都会增加储蓄和投资。他们和千禧一代一样，追随社交媒体上的财富影响力者——愿上帝保佑他们，因为所有社交媒体创作者中实际上只有 15 per cent 能够赚到
“学生贷款”一代密切关注着自己的钱财，计算着如何最大限度地利用每一分钱；而愤世嫉俗的 X 世代——毫无疑问地在孩子面前幸灾乐祸地指出某些创作者在经济上是多么失败——他们运气好时才会在一年中四次将钱存入储蓄账户。根据国际长寿中心 (International Longevity Centre) 的数据，英国的 X 世代（占总人口的五分之一）平均每月仅向养老金账户投入可怜的 £200 或更少。相比之下，该年龄组建议的投入额为 £500 以上；而世界经济论坛指出，我们同时也是全球最大的消费群体，这使得情况更加令人担忧。
根据国际长寿中心 (International Longevity Centre) 的数据，英国的 X 世代（占总人口的五分之一）平均每月仅向养老金账户投入可怜的 £200 或更少
而且即使我们获得了一笔意外之财，我们中的许多人也不知道该如何处理。Al Spalding, 55, 是一名布赖顿的营销顾问，他在新冠疫情期间失去了双亲。“首先，处理起来非常复杂，”他解释道。“他们之前离婚了，所以有两栋房子、存款和一些投资，最后花了很长时间才完成遗嘱认证或类似手续。基本上就是交完税。然后突然间，我的储蓄账户里有了超过 50 万英镑，我在想——我应该用这笔钱做点聪明的事情。这是我最后的机会了。”
他在谷歌上搜索财富管理，找到了一家知名公司并将资金交给对方，结果却发现每年有超过 £10,000 消失在手续费中。“整个过程简直是一场噩梦，”他承认道。“他们收我的平台使用费、顾问费，还从我参与的基金中抽取顶层分成。每一层都在向我收取费用。而且他们投资我资金的地方表现非常糟糕。伙计，我的钱在亏损。”
此类公司通常根据投资金额收取初始建议费，以及年度持续建议费、产品行政费和基金管理费。
“对于那些一直依赖房产、艺术品或——显然——继承遗产的 X 世代来说，这一切都令人困惑，因为他们的养老金几乎为零，”Nick Perrett, 51, 说道，他是 Prosper 的联合创始人，该公司是包括 Nutmeg、Moneyfarm 和 Addepar 在内的一波数字化财富管理公司之一。
我是 X 世代且对此感到自豪，但我们疲惫地接受了自己是“三明治一代”的事实。我们的父母在年轻时生下了我们，我们在年纪较大时才有了孩子，现在我们必须同时照顾父母和孩子，被夹在中间。所以我们消费，不储蓄，并且寄希望于未来。希望是至关重要的。看看安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 就知道了，他将“希望”作为自己的格言。这并非巧合：at 56, 他恰好处于 X 世代的滑动区间正中（如果你好奇的话，是指 1965 和 1980, 之间出生的人）。
因此，当这次巨大的财富转移发生时，X 世代很可能会浪费这个时机。James Bridgman, 56, 是一名初创公司的首席营销官，他在 2021 年失去了父亲，最近在 2024 年失去了母亲。“父亲有一份来自 IBM 的非常不错的养老金，母亲则投资了一家财务管理公司，”他说。“他们都是非常好的人，但我并不太认同其性价比。结果一切变得非常复杂，试图出售母亲的房产，然后试图弄清楚所有这些不同的资金池和不同类型的投资在哪里，以及每项适用多少税款。我最终雇用了另一家公司来查找她所有的钱在哪里。”
詹姆斯·布里奇曼在处理父母的房产和养老金时，陷入了财务管理公司一个“复杂”的乱局中（由受访者提供）
中年导师詹姆斯·戴维斯表示，这种混乱是 X 世代的典型特征。“我们在 1990 年代赚钱相对容易，”他解释道，“当时的租金和房价很便宜，还有自我证明抵押贷款，理财在当时并不酷。每个人都想成为波西米亚风格的摇滚明星。我的意思是，Soho House 在 1995 年为作家和艺术家推出，并禁止金融城职员进入。”
那么，当我们被政府政策设定为失败者时，我们几乎没有察觉，这也许并不令人惊讶。财务顾问克里斯多夫·史密斯指出，X 世代进入就业市场的时间太晚，无法充分从真正的大额最终薪金养老金中获益，但又太早，无法从自动入职养老金计划中获益。
“X 世代经历过 80 年代的经济衰退、撒切尔的私有化、黑色星期五、90 年代的经济衰退、2000 年的科技泡沫破裂（英特尔的股价用了 26 年才恢复），以及 2007. 年的崩盘。因此，他们本能地对金融体系持谨慎态度。”
这相当令人不知所措——那是你父母辛苦赚来的钱。在这种情感驱使下，你会希望做正确的事
“这相当令人不知所措——那是你父母辛苦赚来的钱。在这种情感驱使下，你会希望做正确的事。于是你上网查询，如果你不是很精通财务，很容易就抓住第一个机会。外界有很多糟糕的建议。”
“如果我把所有鸡蛋放在一个篮子里，而那个篮子出了问题，那么我就一次性失去了所有的鸡蛋，”她解释道，“我见过掏空员工养老金的公司，在那些将政策切换为明显更差的养老金计划的公司工作过，也经历过初创公司的崩溃。对冲风险听起来可能很愤世嫉俗，但对我来说这只是理性的做法。”
在这种心态下，当 X 世代突然发现自己继承了财产时，他们完全陷入恐慌也就不足为奇了。“我看到有些人获得了钱，然后做出了决定，但随后又后悔了，因为他们反应过于迅速，”价格比较网站 MoneySuperMarket 的个人财务专家卡拉·加梅尔解释道。
卡拉·加梅尔，MoneySuperMarket 个人财务专家
在涉及大笔资金时尤其如此。“资金如何在代际之间传递，在很大程度上是一个税务问题，对吧？”佩雷特说。他此前共同创立了环保挑战者银行 Tandem，但在该行变得过于庞大且稳定后选择了离开。“我当时在银行工作，但我从未想过要在银行工作。”
许多 X 世代天生不信任金融体系——但当意外之财降临时，他们必须在其中寻找方向 (Getty/iStock)
“将一个税务问题打包成一套复杂的费用方案，这毫无道理，”他补充道，“就像你搬家时会给律师付钱一样，你只需要按小时向解决你税务问题的人支付费用，仅此而已。”
因此，这些自力更生、叛逆且热爱摇滚的愤世嫉俗者——X 世代，发现自己处于一种奇妙的境地。他们并未追求的财富正向他们走来。而这其中交织着希望与巨大的焦虑。
佩雷特、加梅尔和史密斯都表示，X 世代敏锐地意识到，这一时刻将让一些人有机会最终建立某种稳定性。他们有机会建立世代财富，而不是将数以百万计的钱挥霍在派对上。与之前的性格相反，他们希望最终认真对待这个时刻。
这可能是他们一直等待的时刻——终于，他们拥有了能够稳定局面的东西。但我也了解我们的本性，我敢打赌这将会是一场疯狂的旅程。这就是我们的风格。
第 2 节
温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士在 1964 年的这一天辞去议员职务 (Getty)
1694：英格兰银行在政府的支持下成立。
1866：“大东号”轮船抵达加拿大纽芬兰的哈特内容，成功铺设了跨大西洋电报电缆。
1890：艺术家文森特·梵高开枪自杀。两天后，他去世，享年 37 岁。
1921：加拿大人弗雷德里克·班廷爵士及其助手查尔斯·贝斯特首次分离出胰岛素，这是为糖尿病提供有效治疗的第一步。
1949：世界上第一款喷气式客机“德·哈维兰彗星”首飞。
1964：温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士辞去议员职务。
1980：被废黜的伊朗国王穆罕默德·礼萨·巴列维在开罗死于癌症。
1988：水星通信公司在滑铁卢车站开设了首批非英国电信公司（British Telecom）的公用电话。
1996：亚特兰大百年奥林匹克公园发生炸弹爆炸，导致 1 人死亡，110 人受伤。
2005：美国国家航空航天局 (Nasa) 推迟所有航天飞机飞行，以调查“发现号”外部油箱的泡沫脱落问题。
2013：利比亚班加西的一座监狱中 1,000 名囚犯逃狱。
去年今日：卫冕冠军英格兰队在加时赛 1-1 平局后，通过点球大战以 3-1 击败世界冠军西班牙队，赢得 2025 年女足欧洲杯。
生日
波比·根特里，歌手，84 岁；艾伦·波德，前板球运动员，71 岁；克里斯托弗·迪恩，前奥运会花样滑冰选手，68 岁；乔·杜里，前网球运动员，66 岁；乔纳森·里斯-迈尔斯，演员，49 岁；乔治·谢利，前 Union J 音乐人，33 岁。
回到顶部
第 2 部分
探索 7 月 27 日至 8 月 2 日期间的重大事件如何被记录在《独立报》的头版上
Tizane Navea-Rogers
回顾：塑造世界的转折点之周（《独立报》）
恐怖主义和冲突给本周的头条新闻投下了沉重的阴影，从亚特兰大奥运会的炸弹袭击、伦敦的以色列大使馆袭击，到加沙日益升级的悲剧。美国政治成为焦点，约翰·克里启动了他的 2004 年总统竞选；而十年后，共和党候选人唐纳德·特朗普则因被指控鼓励俄罗斯间谍活动而陷入危机。然而，希望与胜利的时刻依然闪现：爱尔兰共和军 (IRA) 正式结束了其 36 年的武装斗争，伦敦点燃了 2012 年奥运会的圣火——这一切都被记录在《独立报》的档案中。
在破纪录的高温导致农作物毁坏并在一个周末内引发大规模向海岸线转移后，希腊宣布进入国家紧急状态。尽管最初的报告提到有数百人伤亡，但 1987 年这场前所未有的热浪最终夺走了 1,000 多条生命，预示了如今席卷欧洲的极端天气。
1994 年 7 月 27 日 —— 伦敦以色列大使馆遭炸弹袭击
一颗巨大的汽车炸弹在伦敦的以色列大使馆爆炸，造成 14 人受伤，并因安保措施的失职令英国政府感到“尴尬”。爆炸发生仅几小时后，北伦敦的一家犹太慈善机构外发生了第二次汽车炸弹爆炸，最终导致两名巴勒斯坦学生因参与袭击而在 1996 年被定罪，此裁决在当时引发了争议。
（《独立报》）
1996 年 7 月 28 日 —— 亚特兰大奥运会发生致命炸弹爆炸
一颗恐怖主义管状炸弹在亚特兰大百年奥林匹克公园爆炸，导致 2 人死亡，100 多人受伤，这是自 1972 年慕尼黑奥运会以来最严重的奥运袭击事件。随后的调查臭名昭著地毁掉了安保人员理查德·朱厄尔的生活，他发现了炸弹，随后却被错误地视为嫌疑人。这次袭击后来被追踪到右翼极端分子埃里克·鲁道夫，他曾逃避抓捕数年。
（《独立报》）
约翰·克里在关键的代表大会演讲开篇以敬礼并说出“前来报到”之语，正式接受民主党的提名，承诺结束美国的孤立主义并恢复国家的全球地位。然而，他在那年 11 月试图击败乔治·W·布什的竞选最终失败，现任总统在一次激烈争斗、高度极化的战争时期选举中赢得了第二任期。
2005 年 7 月 29 日 – IRA 结束 36 年的斗争
在一份具有里程碑意义的声明中，临时共和军 (Provisional IRA) 正式命令结束其 36 年的武装斗争，指示所有单位停止武装活动，并严格致力于和平的政治计划。这一历史性宣言导致几个月后，所有剩余的 IRA 武器完成了最终的经核实的除役。
(The Independent)
伦敦正式迎来奥运会，由电影制作人丹尼·鲍尔导演的开幕式广受赞誉，展现了一场穿越英国历史的戏剧化旅程。这次成功的
(The Independent)
严重破坏了当地的基础设施。这场 50 天的冲突在 8 月底达成一项不定期停火协议之前又持续了一个月，到那时为止，已有 2,200 多名巴勒斯坦人和 73 名以色列方面的人员被杀。
(The Independent)
共和党总统候选人唐纳德·特朗普在针对民主党网络攻击的持续调查中，公开呼吁俄罗斯寻找希拉里·克林顿丢失的电子邮件，随后面临激烈的批评。他在那年 11 月赢得了总统大选，从而引发了长达数年的穆勒调查，该调查证实了俄罗斯大规模的选举干预，但并未认定特朗普竞选团队内部存在刑事共谋。
第 2 节/音乐
T
该乐队被指责（并承认）发布了触发如今我们所知的“填埋场独立音乐” (landfill indie) 的催化剂。在发行其第二张同名专辑 20 年后，强尼·波雷尔 (Johnny Borrell) 接受了罗辛·奥康纳 (Roisin O’Connor) 的采访，讲述他如何及时地与乐队成员达成和解以进行重聚巡演。
Razorlight 乐队的强尼·波雷尔（左起第二位）：“我希望学校能教授外交技巧” (Press)
二十年前，有一首歌成为了英国吉他音乐崩溃的替罪羊，预告了一整代乐队的消亡，而这些乐队唯一的使命似乎就是登上《NME》杂志的版面。“我想你可以这么说，在 2006 年，在这首[歌]的开头，音乐处于一个相当有趣的状态，”强尼·波雷尔在 2016 年表示。“然后三分半钟后，一切就完蛋了。”
事实上，这位 Razorlight 的主唱在谈论的是他们自己的热门单曲《Before I Fall to Pieces》。该曲收录在他们的第二张
在同名专辑《Razorlight》中，那首清脆的吉他曲被博雷尔 (Borrell) 认为是导致我们现在所称的“填埋场独立音乐” (landfill indie) 的催化剂——那是那个充满黏腻舞池、汗湿侧刘海以及紧到切断血液循环的紧身牛仔裤的狂热场景。“我认为 Razorlight 的第二张专辑绝对为英国音乐界涌现的大量平庸之作铺平了道路，”他宣称道。
“填埋场独立音乐”是一个轻蔑的术语，由记者安德鲁·哈里森 (Andrew Harrison) 在 2008. 年于《The Word》杂志中创造。但在两年前的 2006, 年夏天，英国乐队仍占据主导地位：Arctic Monkeys 已经凭借其处女作《Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not》点燃了世界；Muse 即将凭借《Black Holes and Revelations》再次登顶排行榜；而 Coldplay 正在凭借第三张专辑《X&Y》获得的两项重大 Brit 奖项，为其规模宏大的 Twisted Logic 巡演收尾。紧身牛仔裤、围巾和口号 T 恤（全部来自 Topshop）正流行，晕染的眼线和侧刘海也同样如此；卡姆登的酒吧 Hawley Arms 是当时的必去之地，尤其是当艾米·怀恩豪斯 (Amy Winehouse) 在那里掌控全场时。The Libertines 乐队在 2004 年分道扬镳，但皮特·多赫蒂 (Pete Doherty) 凭借其混乱的个人生活，依然是小报的常客。而 Razorlight 则拥有了职业生涯中最成功的专辑，这在一定程度上归功于像《In the Morning》、《America》以及没错，《Before I Fall to Pieces》这样的热门单曲。
博雷尔在专辑发行 20 周年之际重新审视这张作品。不仅是音乐，还包括所有的一切——褒贬不一的评价（NME 给出了 8/10 的评分，但次年又将其提名其颁奖礼的“最烂专辑”）、粉丝们在 Razorlight “商业化”后的抵制，以及乐队成员之间在应对突然而来的成功以及决定未来方向时发生的肢体冲突。这位目前定居法国的主唱表示，这一切感觉就像发生在 “300 年前”。过去，他与乐队其他成员关系不佳——鼓手安迪·巴罗兹 (Andy Burrows) 曾声称与博雷尔共事简直是“地狱”——但四位原成员正回归到他们的
我问博雷尔记得那时候什么。 “我不敢相信当时在发生什么——迪克·切尼 (Dick Cheney)、唐纳德·拉姆斯菲尔德 (Donald Rumsfeld)、乔治·W·布什 (George W Bush)……伊拉克战争，阿富汗。我当时想，美国的军事工业机器，怎么可能比这更糟？”他说道。但没有人想和他谈论这些。在 Razorlight 的全盛 era, 他的采访堪称传奇：在 2004 年接受 NME 的第一次采访并宣传 Razorlight 的处女作《Up All Night》时，他自封为“天才”，随后抛出了那句永恒的名言：“迪伦在炸薯条，而我在喝香槟。”（他此前一直坚称自己经常被误传。）
我想知道他内心是否有一部分在享受自己作为独立音乐界最傲慢主唱的地位。 “那时候还没有社交媒体，所以如果你想以任何方式与粉丝沟通，没有其他选择，”他耸了耸肩，可能忘记了 MySpace。 “如果那时候有社交软件，我绝对会在 2005, 2006, 年左右停止接受采访，因为有时我简直愤怒至极。当人们传达你的话语却完全不是你的原意时……那才是令人愤怒的，而且这种情况以前经常发生。”
约翰尼·波雷尔 (Johnny Borrell)（左起第三位）：“我认为我一生中最令我困惑的地方就是主流” (Getty)
评论家们将波雷尔视为容易被嘲笑的目标，这并不令人惊讶，尤其是当他们的第二张专辑将他们从一个适度的成功故事——他们的第一张专辑在排行榜上排名第 3，并产生了几首单曲，包括《Golden Touch》——推向主流的胜利（所以这不那么摇滚）。该专辑在英国首次亮相即排名第 1，并产生了他们首支且唯一的一首冠军单曲《America》。评论家们讨厌这首歌：有人将其贴上“软摇滚地狱”的标签，而其他人则批评所谓的“伪感性”，认为这是一个他们认为没有权利发表严肃政治评论的人在尝试进行政治评论。一名持异议者是《独立报》已故的评论家安迪·吉尔 (Andy Gill)，他在五星级评论中赞扬了该曲目“波动起伏、具有斯普林斯汀风格的高潮”，以及乐队对“一种与该国文化习俗普遍脱节感”的认可。
波雷尔实际上认为，在某种程度上，推出 Razorlight 乐队反而更具朋克摇滚精神。但粉丝和媒体似乎认为他是在渴求更多的专辑销量和更多的体育场演出。吉尔在评论中开玩笑说，如果所有摇滚音乐人都拥有波雷尔那样的自信，
“就不需要公关人员了……有时，这支乐队似乎是凭借（他的）纯粹意志在繁荣发展”。一位朋友曾在接受《独立报》匿名采访时表示，尽管英国有一种贬低成功者的文化，“约翰尼·波雷尔在想要成为世界上最大巨星这一点上毫不掩饰。这种态度不符合英国人的习惯。因此他们因此而攻击他”。
二十年后，波雷尔记得音乐媒体对该专辑的反应是压倒性的积极，尽管《滚石》杂志的一篇报道仍留在记忆中：“一次毁灭性的打击……对我们来说真是狠狠地被打了一耳光，”他说。当时，他更关注专辑带来的名声——到 2007 年，他正与电影明星克尔斯汀·邓斯特 (Kirsten Dunst) 约会，并出现在由马里奥·泰斯蒂诺 (Mario Testino) 拍摄的英国版《Vogue》封面上。“我认为我一生中最令我困惑的地方就是主流，”他说。“因为那不是我……我认为当时有一种观点，认为 Razorlight 是下一个 U2，而我在想，‘不，Razorlight 只是制作了一张非常有意思的唱片。’在第一张专辑取得如此巨大的成功之后，最显而易见的操作应该是每个独立乐队都会做的事：穿上皮夹克，带着同样风格但稍微差一点且稍微阴暗一点的专辑回归。”
聚光灯下：波雷尔与克尔斯汀·邓斯特在 2007 年纽约市大都会艺术博物馆舞会 (Met Gala) 上 (Getty)
也许是法国乡村的影响，但波雷尔确实变得温和了。他无法将自己与他朋友口中的那个版本的他联系起来
在接受《独立报》采访时谈到：一个因为公开表达自己的抱负（经常赤裸上身）而不断处于舆论风口浪尖的人。 “我认为那样看待这件事很奇怪，”他说，“因为那意味着你想胜过他人。”他难道不想吗？“不！我认为你只是想尽力而为。但有一种典型的英国式作风，就是假装自己没有任何野心。” 他与乐队对这张专辑的呈现方式感到非常兴奋，从充满活力的开场曲《In the Morning》（显然受到了布隆迪乐队《Rapture》的启发），到那首带有Police乐队风格、气场十足的《Back to the Start》。尽管当时的评论家对Borrell的歌词持有不同看法，但许多歌曲在今天看来依然耐听。《I Can’t Stop This Feeling I’ve Got》非常优美，充满了某种忧伤的渴望。“我当时感觉到自己在一段关系中做了不可挽回的事情，正处于那个后悔的时刻，”Borrell在讲述创作灵感时说道。
作为2000年代二十多岁的男人，我们确实不具备以任何建设性方式进行沟通的能力
在专辑发行后不久，他与鼓手Andy Burrows在Hawley Arms酒吧发生了激烈争吵；Burrows于2009年退出，后来声称他与Borrell无法忍受对方。“我真的希望学校能教一些有用的东西，”这位主唱现在说道。“我希望他们能教外交技巧，如何倾听他人，以及如何表达自己。那难道不是他妈的太有用了吗？”
他认为，特别是对于男性，尤其是在那种像孔雀开屏一样炫耀的独立音乐圈里，承认自己的真实感受几乎是不可能的。“如果有正确的教育，你可以坐下来地说：‘你知道吗，我感到非常害怕，而且他妈的非常担心。’ 然后对方会说：‘该死，我们的想法一致，我们能怎么解决这个问题？’ 但作为2000年代二十多岁的男人，我们
Johnny Borrell
确实不具备以任何建设性方式进行沟通的能力。”相反，他记得，当时只有大吼大叫和生闷气，或者如果这两招都没用，就互殴。“所有最糟糕的行为。所以我觉得现在我们在沟通方面进步了一点。”
在许多同辈以及他们所启发过的乐队都逐渐没落的时候，他们依然在坚持。与此同时，Z世代承认他们在向往一个他们未曾经历的时代——在那个时代，一次醉酒后的胡作非为不会让你在TikTok上走红，而且可以说是在大规模文化同质化发生之前的最后一个真正的“阵地”。Razorlight为从足球比赛到热门电影及电视剧（如《加文和斯泰西》、《中间人》以及《安格斯、丁格和完美接吻》）的一切提供了全国性的背景音乐。在他们庆祝成立20周年之际，Razorlight是否预示着吉他乐队光辉岁月的回归？更奇怪的事情也发生过。
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法拉利车手汉密尔顿在冠军争夺战中进一步落后于获得第三名的梅赛德斯车手安东内利
Philip Duncan
迈凯伦车队的兰多·诺里斯夺得了今年的首场比赛胜利 (Getty)
兰多·诺里斯利用奥斯卡·皮亚斯特林与一名垫底赛车发生离奇碰撞的机会，赢得了匈牙利大奖赛——而路易斯·汉密尔顿在追求第八次世界冠军纪录的过程中，与基米·安东内利的距离进一步拉大。
诺里斯在杆位起步失误后将领先位置让给了皮亚斯特林，但随后他利用迈凯伦队友在尝试套圈时与卡洛斯·塞恩斯发生纠缠的机会实现了反超
皮亚斯特里在右前胎与赛恩斯威廉姆斯赛车的左后胎接触后冲出赛道，导致他损失了近两秒。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里在第 32 圈进入维修站更换轮胎时放弃了领先位置 (AP)
诺里斯立即停下来更换轮胎，并在净排名中升至领先。随后，诺里斯在第 46 圈超过了安东内利，之后轻松冲过终点线。
马克斯·维斯塔潘获得第二名，安东内利紧随其后获得第三名，这使得这位意大利青少年对汉密尔顿的冠军积分领先优势从 45 分增加到 50 分。
汉密尔顿在更换轮胎次数比维斯塔潘及其冠军竞争对手安东内利多一次后，必然会对法拉利的策略产生质疑。他最终获得第四名，但由于在维修道超速被罚时五秒，他在这个本应有更多收获的下午被降至第五名，排在队友查尔斯·勒克莱尔之后。
诺里斯在起跑时表现出色，在第一个弯道将追随群体甩在身后，但随后在进入下一个弯道时速度过快，导致跑宽，让皮亚斯特里趁机超车。
在两名麦拉伦车手之间起跑的勒克莱尔从第二名下滑至第五名，而维斯塔潘和汉密尔顿则分别上升到第三名和第四名。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 刘易斯·汉密尔顿对车队的战术感到懊悔 (Getty)
汉密尔顿使用了速度最快的软胎，开始向维斯塔潘发起猛攻，迫使这位红牛车手拼命防守。在第三个弯道，汉密尔顿的右前胎撞击了维斯塔潘的左后胎，但两名车手均未受损。
对于拉塞尔来说，这是他霉运故事的新篇章。在起跑灯灭时，他的梅赛德斯新引擎进入了防熄火状态，导致他在第一圈结束时排在第 19 位。到第 10 圈开始时，拉塞尔升至第 12 位，在第一次进站后升至第九名。
“马克斯真的很慢，”无法找到超越维斯塔潘之道的汉密尔顿抱怨道。汉密尔顿尝试通过在维斯塔潘之前一圈进站来实施“undercut”（提前进站策略），并且起效了。然而，维斯塔潘在第一个弯道——一个以维斯塔潘岳父尼尔森·皮奎命名的弯道——出其不意地夺回了位置。对于最初让策略奏效的汉密尔顿来说，这是一个沉重的打击。
诺里斯在紧追皮亚斯特里，并要求麦拉伦命令这位澳大利亚车手为其让路。皮亚斯特里在第 32 圈进入维修站更换轮胎时放弃了领先位置，而六圈后，他的下午局面离奇地崩溃了。赛恩斯正沉浸在与费尔南多·阿隆索争夺第 15 名的对决中，无视蓝旗，将一脸困惑的皮亚斯特里撞出了赛道。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 在紧追队友奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里之后，兰多·诺里斯在离开维修道时超越了他 (Getty)
“滚开，你这个白痴，我的天啊，”皮亚斯特里大喊道。这位澳大利亚人不敢相信眼前发生的一切，但对于诺里斯来说，这是夺取领先地位的绝佳机会。他毫不犹豫地更换了轮胎，并在皮亚斯特里之前重新回到了赛道。
“奥斯卡，是赛因斯导致我们失去了那个位置，”皮亚斯特里（Piastri）的赛车工程师汤姆·斯塔拉德（Tom Stallard）说道。“噢伙计，千万别他妈跟我说话，”他回答道。
当皮亚斯特里的变速箱在还剩 14 圈时损坏时，情况变得更加糟糕。虚拟安全车（Virtual Safety Car）部署，诺里斯（Norris）得以进入维修站进行第三次停站并保持领先。
PA
汉密尔顿（Hamilton）进站排在第二位——据推测法拉利担心他的轮胎无法撑到最后——但出站时处于维斯塔潘（Verstappen）之后并与安东内利（Antonelli）并排。汉密尔顿超过了安东内利，但随后被告知要还回这个位置，因为梅赛德斯被判定此前处于领先。
汉密尔顿随后因在维修通道超速被处以五秒的延迟处罚——这是由于他急于在第三次停站后领先于安东内利出站——他最终在冲线时仅领先勒克莱尔（Leclerc） 4.3 sec，从而失去了第四名。“像疯了一样地发处罚，”汉密尔顿在无线电中说道，这是这位 41 岁车手在三轮比赛中第四次受到裁判处罚。
汉密尔顿本希望以此削减安东内利在冠军积分榜上的领先优势，但他将在夏季休赛期面临更大的分差，待赛季于 8 月 23 日在荷兰恢复后需要去追回——那是计划中剩余 12 轮比赛的第一场。
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对手在热身赛中未能给人留下深刻印象，现在他们那场迟到已久的对决正趋于崩溃
史蒂夫·邦斯（Steve Bunce）发自吉达
安东尼·约书亚在吉达从画布上爬起，避免了一场重大失利 (PA)
泰森·富里（Tyson Fury）周五在七轮中获胜，次日晚上安东尼·约书亚（Anthony Joshua）在两轮中获胜，但这并不能概括这个非凡的比赛周末的故事。
两人已同意在今年晚些时候进行一场规模巨大且迟到已久的对决。残酷的真相是，这两次胜利都没有给人留下深刻印象。
富里看起来反应迟钝，而约书亚在首轮被克里斯蒂安·普伦加（Kristian Prenga）两次击倒，随后才恢复意识并完成了一次惊人的击倒获胜。
然而，他们的比赛目前仍没有日期，没有场地，甚至没有确认的国家。两个月前签署的原始合同几乎要被撕毁；这些合同仅在比赛于英国举行时才有效。
两人自 2016 年夏天同时持有不同版本的世界重量级冠军头衔起就产生联系；这是拳击史上最持久的传奇故事之一，一场潜在的伟大对决现在正离崩溃越来越近。
泰森·富里在泰国面对 1,500 名观众比赛后，周六并未出现在约书亚的比赛现场 (PA)
这是约书亚自去年 12 月在拉各斯发生致命车祸后的首场比赛；约书亚最亲密的两名好友在车祸中丧生，约书亚幸存。
他进入吉达的拳击场时看起来平静且放松，但在开场 15 秒内被一次短促的右勾拳击倒在地。他看起来伤势严重，既震惊又迷茫。他
他重新站了起来，又被击踉跄了数次，随后再次被击倒，遭遇第二次倒地。这场富里之战似乎已经结束了。预计富里会出现在场边，但他始终没有出现。约书亚勉强撑过了这一回合。
在第二回合中，普伦加一次也没有出拳，约书亚恢复状态并在回合剩余约 20 秒时击 knockout 了这位阿尔巴尼亚选手。普伦加昏迷不醒，约书亚欣喜若狂。这是一次令人印象深刻的反击。
约书亚凭借毅力坚持了下来，但与富里的对决仍有障碍需要克服 (AP)
在前一晚的泰国芭堤雅，富里终于在七回合结束时迫使年迈且体型巨大的波兰老将马里乌什·瓦赫（Mariusz Wach）放弃比赛。这并非巅峰时期的富里，但对于在一家泰拳体育场活跃观众面前的演出来说已经足够。这场比赛没有进行直播，而是将作为一部关于富里家族生活的 Netflix 系列剧的一部分播出。
在过去的三周里，大家的共识是他们两人都会赢得热身赛，然后富里在经历 4,000公里的旅程后抵达吉达的场边，约书亚会邀请他上台，他们将面对面并宣布日期和
地点；但当纽约和拉斯维加斯也成为举办这场比赛的竞争者时，计划似乎开始瓦解。推广人埃迪·赫恩（Eddie Hearn）确认，两名拳手签署的合同规定比赛仅在英国举行。
“我可以在任何地方与他战斗，”富里坚持道，“我只是无法想象他站在我对面的角落里。”
富里长期以来一直坚称约书亚绝不会与他交手；约书亚则对此轻蔑一笑。“他才是那个一直在宣布退役的人——我从未离开过，”约书亚反击道。
与此同时，富里的商务经理斯宾塞·布朗（Spencer Brown）确实完成了从芭堤雅场边到吉达场边的艰苦旅程，并对比赛的举行充满信心。“这 100 ％会发生——很快会有大消息，”他坚持说。
没有人预料到约书亚在一次看起来像是合理匹配但实则不相称的比赛中如此接近失败；普伦加差点毁掉这些大人物的宏伟梦想。
这场比赛将在未来一两周内公布，这足以让所有参与者向前看，而不再回首这个极其离奇的周末核心部分的两次混战。
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梅奥支持者在连续输掉 11 场盖尔式足球决赛后，庆祝赢得山姆·马奎尔杯 (Getty)
梅奥赢得全爱尔兰决赛，结束 75 年等待
梅奥郡（County Mayo）在 75 年来首次赢得了全爱尔兰决赛，打破了体育史上最著名的干旱期之一，并解除了他们的“诅咒”。梅奥在克罗克公园球场一场激烈的决赛中击败了热门球队凯里（Kerry），为这个爱尔兰西部郡结束了数代人的心碎。
自 1951 年获得上一次盖尔式足球冠军以来，梅奥已经连续输掉了 11 场决赛，据说“诅咒”正是从那时开始的。根据传说，1951 年的夺冠球队在乘坐卡车从都柏林回家的途中，他们的庆祝活动干扰了一场葬礼。主持葬礼的牧师说，只要该球队有任何成员还活着，梅奥就无法再次赢得全爱尔兰冠军。
但 1951 年球队的最后一名成员米克·洛夫图斯博士 (Dr Mick Loftus) 于 2023 年去世。而梅奥队 (Mayo) 昨天在对阵克里队 (Kerry) 时，自 2021 年以来首次重返全爱尔兰决赛。克里队作为创纪录的 39 次冠军得主和卫冕冠军，试图在比赛后期反击，但未能阻止梅奥队捧走萨姆·马奎尔杯 (Sam Maguire Cup)（克里 1-17 梅奥 1-20）。
梅奥队队长杰克·科因 (Jack Coyne) 告诉 BBC：“这就是梦想中的场景。告诉全世界每一个梅奥的男孩或女孩，要敢于梦想。一切皆有可能，我们今天证明了这一点。俗话说要保持信念，我们保持了信念。我们现在是全爱尔兰冠军。”
波加查创历史，范德佩尔赢得收官战
马修·范德佩尔 (Mathieu van der Poel) 在环法自行车赛最后一站惊险夺冠，而塔代伊·波加查 (Tadej Pogacar) 则在巴黎街头锁定了追平纪录的第五座总冠军奖杯。
在三次攀爬蒙马特高地鹅卵石坡的过程中，范德佩尔和波加查都发起了进攻。在冲线前 10 公里的艰苦路段中，两人拼尽全力试图甩开大主车群。然而，波加查在距离终点不足 400 米时体力不支被追上，而范德佩尔则奋力前冲，在追赶群体逼近之时，以仅一个车身的优势率先夺冠——他的 Alpecin-Premier Tech 队友贾斯珀·菲利普森 (Jasper Philipsen) 获得第二名。这是波加查连续第二年尝试在巴黎的分站赛中为环法冠军收尾，也是他第二次以微小差距失之交臂，12 个月前他曾输给沃特·范艾特 (Wout van Aert)。
他最终的领先优势是比埃内费尔 (Evenepoel) 快了 6 分 26 秒，波加查的 UAE Team Emirates-XRG 队友艾萨克·德尔托罗 (Isaac del Toro) 紧随其后，在法国青少年球员保罗·塞克萨斯 (Paul Seixas) 之前完成领奖台之行。“这是不可思议的一天，”波加查说。“每一次胜利都非常特别。已经参加了七次环法，七次登上领奖台，五次夺冠，这是一件你...”
伊劳拉执教利物浦首胜，戈梅斯受伤
安多尼·伊劳拉 (Andoni Iraola) 表示，在他在纳什维尔率领利物浦以 4-2 击败桑德兰开启执教生涯后，乔·戈梅斯 (Joe Gomez) 的受伤是“最糟糕的消息”。在利物浦季前赛的第一场友谊赛中，戈梅斯在开赛 10 分钟内似乎因肌肉问题被迫离场。
在安菲尔德效力期间，戈梅斯一直饱受伤病困扰。这次最新的挫折意味着利物浦的防线选择非常有限，队长范戴克 (Virgil van Dijk) 在世界杯后尚未回归。新签球员杰里米·雅凯 (Jeremy Jacquet) 仍在恢复体能，而乔瓦尼·莱奥尼 (Giovanni Leoni) 仍在从上赛季初遭受的前十字韧带 (ACL) 伤势中康复。
“可能最糟糕的消息就是乔立刻受伤了，”伊劳拉在获胜后说道。“我们之前很高兴，因为在整个训练过程中没有损失任何一名球员。不幸的是，我们立刻失去了乔。”
多米尼克·索博斯洛伊 (Dominik Szoboszlai)、费德里科·基耶萨 (Federico Chiesa)、基兰·莫里森 (Kieran Morrison) 和刘易斯·库马斯 (Lewis Koumas) 的进球确保了利物浦 4-2 获胜，该队将于周四再次出战对阵雷克瑟姆 (Wrexham)。
中东动荡，马来西亚重返 F1 赛历
随着这项运动执行 2026 赛季下半年的应急计划，马来西亚将自 2017 年以来首次重返一级方程式赛车 (F1) 赛历。由于中东冲突，巴林和沙特阿拉伯的比赛于 4 月取消，F1 渴望增加其目前的 22 场比赛赛历，并希望在 10 月、即已定档的阿塞拜疆 (9 月 26 日) 和新加坡 (10 月 11 日) 比赛之间，在巴林举行比赛。
然而，鉴于在美伊停火协议结束之后该地区近期局势升级，F1高层被迫寻找替代方案，而位于吉隆坡郊外的雪邦国际赛道成为了他们最终选择的方案。
马来西亚在 2017 年因无法支付所需的主办费而退出了这项运动，但该赛道仍被定期用于 MotoGP 等其他赛事。在这种情况下，它与新加坡的地理临近性意味着在 9 月最后一个周末和 10 月前两个周末举行一个“欧亚三连赛”，增加了其可行性。然而，相当奇怪的是，出于合同原因，该赛事将被称为在马来西亚举行的巴林大奖赛。
伊迪·阿敏的孙子寻求英联邦运动会奖牌
前乌干达独裁者、自封的“苏格兰之王”伊迪·阿敏的孙子，正力争在周三于格拉斯哥举行的英联邦运动会拳击比赛中晋级奖牌轮。
被称为“Ringo”的阿齐兹·阿卜杜勒并不避讳他与阿敏的家族关系。阿敏是一位残酷的军事独裁者，在 1971, 年夺权，杀害了多达 500,000 人的民众，并在八年后被推翻并流亡之前，驱逐了乌干达所有的亚裔人口。
阿敏曾是一名出色的拳击手，连续九年持有乌干达轻重量级冠军头衔。在 1958, 年输给对手彼得·塞鲁瓦吉的一场比赛后，他在就任总统后策划了一场重赛，并在依然穿着西装外套和打着领带的情况下，上演了一场精心编排的击倒对手戏码。“我祖父的成就激励了我，”25 岁的阿齐兹说道，“他和我一样是重量级拳击手，我为他感到非常自豪。”
阿齐兹来自与他祖父（卒于 2003, 年）相同的偏远西尼罗地区，尽管抽签结果令人畏惧，但他展现出了同样的强悍自信。他的对手是达马尔·托马斯，一名 21 岁的欧洲青年冠军，后者旨在成为连续第四位获得超重量级冠军头衔的英国选手。
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News/Editorial
I
t is only six weeks or so since the then defence secretary, a widely-respected figure by the name of John Healey, told the not-so-widely-respected prime minister at the time, Sir Keir Starmer, that “you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.
As we can now sense, Mr Healey’s move was the last stage in the process of defenestration initiated by Wes Streeting’s earlier decision to quit the government, and the fatal intervention of Andy Burnham at the Makerfield by-election.
Well, times change, and in somewhat strange ways so far as the defence of the realm is concerned. At the time he left the Starmer administration, Mr Healey’s demand was clear and precise. As he told the Commons: “Britain must set the headmark of spending 3 per cent on defence in 2030 and a clear path to 3.5 per cent in 2035 – the commitment all Nato nations have made to each other and to their people. I believe that this would command wide cross-party support.”
On the latest evidence, Mr Healey, despite his promotion to such a powerful position, hasn’t even been able to command the support of key colleagues. To be fair to him, Mr Burnham has
always sounded lukewarm about increased defence spending, and his latest remarks are no more sympathetic. During an interview with Laura Kuenssberg at the new Number 10 North, Mr Burnham would only go so far as repeating the commitment given by his predecessor to Nato partners – and not the interim figure that pushed Mr Healey beyond breaking point.
Even more dispiritingly for those concerned about the nation’s defences, and in marked contrast to when Mr Healey was in change of the armed forces, Mr Streeting is proving to be equally easier-going. Now installed, probably to his own surprise, in the ministry of defence (he may have hoped for something even grander), Mr Streeting seems fairly content with current spending plans. In his own television interview, with Trevor Phillips, he was his usual fluent, combative self, but wasn’t going to go into battle for more money. His reluctance was well camouflaged. He declared that “the first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded”. He also pointed out that: “If I didn’t have confidence that this prime minister and this chancellor would be investing in our defence sufficiently to protect our country… then no, I wouldn’t have taken the job.”
However, none of that adds up to a single extra pound for defence, and the “3 per cent by 2030” target proposed by Mr Healey went conspicuously unmentioned.
So it falls to the poacher-turned-gamekeeper Mr Healey himself to achieve what he himself so dearly desires, or, rather, once desired. Now Mr Healey is chancellor of the exchequer he has said very little about anything, let alone his old brief, since gladly accepting the job offer from the new prime minister who he did so much to manoeuvre into No 10. Indeed, the nearest the chancellor has got to discussing spending plans was in a public discussion of the relative merits of pork scratchings and various other bar snacks with the prime minister during a photo op in a
In truth, Mr Healey didn’t need to become chancellor to understand the scale of the strategic, industrial and above all financial challenges facing the armed forces. In his old job he knew them better than most, and witnessed at first hand the full horrors of the waste in British defence procurement. There is already a funding shortfall of almost £5bn a year on existing commitments; and another £8bn a year would be needed to meet Mr Healey’s old headmark of 3 per cent of national income by 2030. This is a great sum of money, and not so far off what is envisaged for Mr Burnham’s putative “national care service”. It would require a serious re-prioritisation of public spending away from social security and on a scale unlikely to win support among Labour backbenchers, or, so it seems, the prime minister and the current defence secretary. But that is what Mr Healey rightly and sincerely called for.
The outlook is poor. It may well be the case that by the time of the Budget in November it will be apparent to all that this new government, ie Mr Healey included, will not after all be willing to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”. In which case, Mr Healey, what was the point of your resignation?
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shot dead by police after manhunt
Twenty-one-year-old ran at emergency services personnel with a ‘stabbing weapon’
Amy-Clare Martin Crime Correspondent
Abdul Ballout was captured on allotments in the Spandau area of Berlin (Reuters)
Police have captured and shot dead a man suspected of killing a woman and injuring 29 others at a Pride event in Berlin in what authorities believe was an Islamist terror attack.
The suspect, named as Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots, was found at an allotment site in the Spandau area of the city yesterday evening, almost 24 hours after the car and machete rampage.
Three victims were still fighting for their lives in hospital yesterday after sustaining life-threatening injuries, and eight others were seriously injured in the attack.
Police believe Ballout drove into crowds in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate at around 8pm on Saturday. He then got out of the car and lashed out at victims with the blade.
A vigil in Berlin’s Pariser Platz after Saturday night’s attack – three victims were still fighting for their lives in hospital yesterday (Getty)
His death ended a manhunt in which residents were warned Ballout he may be armed and dangerous.
“Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack,” interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said earlier, adding that the suspect had “drawn attention to himself through a high volume of criminal offences, radicalisation and affiliation with the Islamist scene”.
Victims were a mix of festival-goers and other locals in the park, which is a few hundred metres from the Christopher Street Day parade closing party at Brandenburg gate.
Hundreds of thousands of people had gone to Berlin to celebrate at the Pride parade, which is one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations. It was abruptly called off at around 10.15pm and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted as people were urged to go home and avoid taking the route through the park.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz and interior minister Alexander Dobrindt pay their respects to the victims at Tiergarten park (Reuters)
As crowds gathered for a vigil at St Mary's Church in Berlin yesterday, German chancellor Friedrich Merz urged those celebrating at Pride events not to be intimidated.
“I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don’t let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated,” he said.
“These acts have only one purpose: they aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: namely our openness and our freedom.”
Germany’s interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, promised to review security measures at other major events, including Pride celebrations elsewhere, admitting they cannot rule out copycat attacks. He said: “This is not typical of such situations, but it also can’t be ruled out.”
There were emotional scenes as festival-goers gathered at the Brandenburg Gate yesterday for an impromptu protest, leaving flowers and paying tribute to victims of the attack. One sign, left with a bouquet of flowers at the park, read simply: “Love wins.”
Police believe Ballout drove into crowds in Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate (AP)
UK defence secretary Wes Streeting joined other world politicians in condemning the “absolutely horrific” incident. The cabinet minister suggested the attack showed why such LGBTQ+ events were still necessary.
He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme: “There are lots of people who I think don’t accept diversity and difference in our society, and that’s why Pride is a celebration but it’s also a protest against those who do not accept life in the 21st century, do not accept people loving each other in same-sex relationships, and in the very worst cases, would seek to do us harm.”
The attack came a week before Britain’s biggest Pride festival is due to take place in Brighton and Hove. Mr Streeting said: “The home secretary will obviously, with police chiefs, make the right determinations around what kind of policing presence we need.”
Crowds gathered outside the Brandenburg Gate for a demonstration in support of the LGBTQ+ community (AP)
Organisers of Brighton and Hove Pride joined other LGBTQ+ groups in an outpouring of support following the attack. “This is why we march for our rights,” they said in a post on social media. “Pride should be a place of celebration and joy. Brighton stands with Berlin.”
courage and solidarity. In moments of unimaginable pain, we come together. We remember why we march, why we speak out and why we stand with one another.”
Manchester Village Pride said it was “deeply saddened” by the events and sent “love, strength and unwavering support” to the Berlin Pride community.
“Pride is a celebration of love, diversity, inclusion, and the freedom to be who you are. When one Pride community is impacted, we all stand together in solidarity,” they added.
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as he vows to cut welfare bill
Burnham tells BBC ‘the NHS will collapse’ unless he fixes social care system
David Maddox Political Editor
Andy Burnham running near his home in Cheshire at the weekend (PA)
Andy Burnham is looking at cracking down on the welfare bill in a move which could provoke the ire of the very Labour MPs instrumental in bringing him in to replace Sir Keir Starmer.
In his first major interview since becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham admitted to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the welfare bill has to come down.
And he made it clear that going forward certain benefits including mental health support will become “conditional” on
The interview for BBC’s Panorama also saw him warn that unless there is "substantial change" to the social care system the NHS will collapse as he looks to fix a crisis which has dogged British politics for decades.
Andy Burnham makes it clear that he will not seek a fresh mandate with an early election (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA)
With major changes set to come, Mr Burnham has already made clear in clips from the interview released yesterday that he will not seek a fresh mandate with an early election. He has also insisted that he will call out Donald Trump when “it is in the British national interest” and is seeking ways to find the up to £13bn of cash needed to hit the UK’s target of 3 per cent of GDP on defence.
But with money tight, Mr Burnham has made clear that, like Sir Keir Starmer, he intends to focus on welfare to make savings.
The issue led to Sir Keir losing his authority as prime minister after he was forced to retreat from plans to cut welfare by £5bn a year following a massive backbench rebellion.
Asked about welfare reform he did not hide from the need to bring the bill down. He said: What you’re driving at, which is the welfare bill. I think we’ve got to get really serious as a country at getting the welfare bill down.”
Mr Burnham kept work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden in place despite texts between him and disgraced former Labour peer Peter Mandelson revealing that Mr McFadden had complained about Labour MPs.
Mr McFadden told Mandelson: “Every meeting I have is ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’. They’re asking the wrong questions.”
His staying in place while 11 other cabinet ministers were sacked was a sign of intent by Mr Burnham.
Outlining his approach, Mr Burnham explained: “It’s about changing the nature of the support and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented in front of them. So you might increase the conditions required to receive benefits.
Pat McFadden remained as work and pensions secretary while 11 other cabinet ministers were sacked (Getty)
“I think it's a good thing that the government has given guarantees of opportunities for young people.
“And I think we need to continue down that approach and where mental health support is needed, for instance, it’s provided in work to support people in an opportunity.”
However, Mr Burnham did try to strike a change of tone from his predecessor by emphasising that he did not want to punish those on benefits.
“I wouldn't necessarily go straight to blaming those people. What I would say is that there are people in the benefits system, young people in their 20s, who have been, I would, say, quite seriously let down because the support wasn’t there for them when it should have been there.
“So I don’t blame them. I don’t think the support has been there for them in the way that it should have been.”
Welfare rebels on the backbenches, like Richard Burgon, Rachael Maskell, Clive Lewis and Kim Johnson among others, were cheerleaders of Mr Burnham taking over as prime minister and he will have to bring the left of the party with him on any reforms.
But in the interview he also wanted to focus on one of his big priorities of fixing social care.
Mr Burnham said: “If we don’t do it the NHS will collapse under the weight of trying to care for people who’ve really not needed to end up in the NHS system.”
But pressed on whether he would create a new system before the next election he said he “couldn't put a timeline on it right here, right now”, though he would put “whatever political capital I have” into fixing it.
Mr Burnham first proposed a universal system of social care in England in 2009 when he was health secretary under Gordon Brown but hopes of getting cross party consensus fell apart when the Tories accused him of wanting a ‘death tax’.
The full interview, BBC Panorama 'Andy Burnham: the Laura Kuenssberg Interview’ is on iPlayer from 6am and BBC One at 8pm today.
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says Burnham
In an interview with the BBC, the prime minister vows to defend ‘our own national interest before anything else’ and find the money to invest in defence
David Maddox Political Editor
Andy Burnham twice refused to say if he trusted President Trump in his interview with Laura Kuenssberg (BBC)
Andy Burnham has said he will always put Britain’s interests first in his dealings with the US – even if it means disagreeing with Donald Trump.
The new prime minister told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that he would publicly stand up to the US president if necessary, adding: “You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly.”
He said: “I can’t at any point say that I won’t take a different opinion from him [Trump], that I will need to voice a different idea that is right for Britain.”
He also twice refused to say if he trusted President Trump with the same message coming later from his defence secretary Wes Streeting.
The pair spoke over the phone last Monday, within an hour of Mr Burnham enterin No 10, in a call described by Downing Street as “extremely warm”.
After the call, Mr Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that Mr Burnham “has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it” and pledged that the US “will be there to help”.
It comes after relations between Washington and Sir Keir Starmer’s government became increasingly fractious over the Iran conflict after the UK initially refused to allow the US to use bases for offensive attacks on the regime.
Meanwhile, Mr Burnham made it clear he intends to find the money to fill the UK’s black hole on defence spending and meet its international commitments.
The prime minister has faced some criticism for not doing major interviews or press conferences since taking over from Sir Keir.
But in an interview with the BBC to be broadcast in full today, Mr Burnham tackled head on one of the big issues he will face as prime minister.
His chancellor John Healey had resigned from the Starmer government because of a £13bn shortfall in the Defence Improvement Plan. It then transpired that there was a further £4.7bn black hole in what had been committed to.
Andy Burnham and his new chancellor John Healey at No 10 North on Friday (Reuters)
Mr Burnham made it clear that he appointed Mr Healey as chancellor with his words on defence spending in mind and made it clear he intends to find the money at a time when questions are being asked how he plans to fund other smaller commitments including removing VAT from energy bills, 20 per cent from pub and club business rates and capping bus fares to £2.
Mr Burnham said: “I appointed my new chancellor very aware of what he had said about the critical importance of defence spending and the position that he had taken about that.
“The first challenge facing us both, is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded and that’s the thing that’s right in front of us and we need to work that through as we go towards the budget later this year.”
But Mr Burnham also made it clear that he is ruling out an early election to get a fresh mandate to allow him to raise taxes like income tax, VAT or national insurance.
He said: “I’m going to rule it out. I don’t think people want it.”
He added that his focus instead was on “getting the country back where it should be”.
Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Streeting also insisted that the money would be found.
He said: “Well, the chancellor’s position is clear. My position is clear. During my brief period of freedom on the backbenches, I was also clear we need to invest more. in our defence.”
Meanwhile, Mr Healey has stated that the Burnham government will actively seek to buy British ahead of everything else.
He told The Sun on Sunday: “You will see this as a determined drive that you have not seen before from a British government.
“Buying British not if possible, but by design. So every procurement pound supports British jobs, British apprenticeships and British skills.
“Driving wealth creation so the policy decisions we take in government help raise levels of investment and profit and innovation in British business.”
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But defence secretary claims Europe will thank US president for waking it from complacency
David Maddox Political Editor
(PA)
Defence secretary Wes Streeting has refused to say whether he trusts US president Donald Trump, insisting “we are in first impressions territory”.
However, in a candid interview with Sky News’ Sir Trevor Phillips the new defence secretary insisted that Europe would thank President Trump for forcing them to take responsibility for their own defence.
Asked if he trusts president Trump, Mr Streeting said: “I don't know him, but I do trust the United States. We're in first impressions territory. I've not even been in the job a week.”
Wes Streeting refused to say if he trusts Donald Trump (Getty)
“We don't always like what he says, we don't always like his methods, but I genuinely think when this period of history is written, Europe will thank President Trump for shaking us out of our complacency and forcing us to stand on our own two feet and end the period of over-reliance on the United States for defence.”
He went on: “What he said about Europe isn't unique to president Trump, the Maga movement or the Republican Party. This has been a long-standing grain of US frustration with Europe under Democratic and Republican presidents.
“And in the world we live in, it is right that we can act to secure ourselves. We can act with our allies here in Europe, and of course work with the United States without being overly dependent to the extent that NATO and Europe has been.”
“I've always been aware that the alliance between the US and the UK is unlike any in the world, and of course, that's historic, it's cultural, it's political, it's driven by self-interest as well as mutual shared interests.
“But just in my first week as defence secretary, I have had a unique insight into just how close and integral that relationship is when it comes to defence and security.”
Speaking of his first phone call with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth, Mr Streeting said: “I was clear that we've not supported offensive action in Iran, and we won't support offensive action in Iran.
“But there are plenty of things that we can and should do together when it comes to securing the straightforward moves in making sure that Iran doesn't develop nuclear weapons in terms of investing in our capability and Nato’s capability.”
President Donald Trump (AP)
The new defence secretary also claimed that he was given the job by Andy Burnham because he had proven when he was
He claimed that with him in the defence brief and former defence secretary John Healey as chancellor, there will be an increase in military spending.
Mr Healey resigned as defence secretary after Sir Keir’s Defence Improvement Plan fell £13bn short and then had a £4.7bn black hole in addition.
Mr Streeting told Sir Trevor: “The chancellor's position is clear. My position is clear. During my brief period of freedom on the backbenches, I was also clear we need to invest more in our defence.
“One of the reasons the prime minister's asked me to do this job is because I'm a moderniser, and because my approach at health was yes to argue for and to win more resources, and I did that, but it was also to make sure the money that was already going in is better spent to make sure.
“In the Ministry of Defence context, there have clearly been long-standing issues with things like defence procurement, value for money.”
Mr Streeting was pressed on his former job as health secretary which he resigned from after the disastrous local election results in May in the hope that it would for Sir Keir Starmer to quit.
Mr Burnham has made fixing social care, which is in the health brief, a priority complaining that past governments had not tried to tackle it head on.
But Mr Streeting insisted that the criticism was not of him personally.
He said: “My frustration was I couldn't get social care higher enough on the government's overall agenda, and and that that's a
“One is what is it we think social care should do, and secondly how should it be funded. And successive governments, for reasons I understand, have treated it like the third rail of British politics.
“So one of the things I tried to do with the Louise Casey Commission was to try and build a national consensus about those questions.”
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reversing Brexit back on the table, says
John Stevens is running for the Rejoin the EU Party but warns that voters don’t like being told to support Count Binface making them ‘the butts of a Westminster inside joke’. David Maddox looks
‘Not even Nigel Farage wants to talk about Brexit’ says John Stevens (Rejoin the EU Party)
at the race
he Clacton by-election is a chance to “put Brexit back on the political agenda” and force the mainstream parties to consider rejoining the EU, a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who is running against Nigel Farage has claimed.
T
John Stevens, who is standing for the Rejoin the EU Party in the Clacton by-election, has warned that voters in the Essex constituency are unhappy with the media portrayal of the by- election as an unserious contest between Mr Farage and comedian candidate Count Binface.
“This is not a joke election from the perspective of people in Clacton,” he tells The Independent. I can tell you the Binface saga is going down like a lead balloon. People feel they are the butt of an inside Westminster joke.”
Instead he claims that voters in the constituency, particularly young people and women, are much more receptive to the idea of rejoining the EU, even though Clacton was one of the strongest areas for Leave a decade ago.
But he warned that Nigel Farage wants “North Korean levels of support” of 95 per cent or more in the by-election which the main parties have refused to contest.
Mr Stevens, who was a Conservative MEP for a decade up to 1999, told the Independent: “People nationally need to understand this is not Binface versus Farage. It is an opportunity to hit Farage where it really hurts.
“If he gets a significant anti-Brexit vote... that is far more damaging to him and to the Reform cause than simply being humiliated by a dustbin.”
However, with Clacton voting 70 per cent for Leave in 2016 and Essex 62 per cent overall, he admitted: “It may not work, but this
Farage 'is hoping for North Korean levels of support' in Clacton, Mr Stevens has claimed (Reuters)
Mr Stevens added: “Having a by-election in Makerfield to make someone prime minister is one thing, but to get us back into the EU is another. If I can do well here I hope the main parties will be emboldened to put rejoining back on the table.”
He insisted that his message is getting a hearing in Clacton as he knocks on doors.
“Quite a few people say ‘no, well, Brexit hasn't worked,’ or ‘I was against it,’ particularly many women more than men,” Mr Stevens says.
“On these new estates, younger people with families question Brexit, and I'm saying, ‘this is your chance to have an absolutely clean fight to express an opinion on something which nobody's talking about – not even Nigel Farage wants to talk about Brexit.’”
Mr Burnham said last September that he supported rejoining, but then retreated from that remark when he stood in a pro- Leave seat in Makerfield.
However, Mr Stevens believes: “Labour backbenchers all are all in favour of rejoining the EU.”
Count Binface is running in Clacton (PA)
The candidate, a former City trader like Mr Farage, believes though that the answer to reversing Brexit is for former Remainers like him to admit they made mistakes a decade ago as well and not just blame Leave voters.
“I do believe very strongly that we mustn't have a confrontation between Leavers and Remainers. It's important for Remainers to say that, and I do believe this actually completely, that we had as much of a role in getting the Brexit result in 2016 as the Leavers.
“So this is all about not saying, well, ‘you were wrong and you know we were right and we've been vindicated.’
“It's got to be much more. It's got to be different. It's got to be much more reconciliatory. It's just ‘we all made a mistake and
This is not the first time he has taken on Mr Farage. In 2010 he stood against him in former Speaker John Bercow’s Buckingham constituency where he came second with more than 10,000 votes beating Mr Farage.
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Grindr blackmail death
Watchdog says Hertfordshire Constabulary made ‘several errors’ after Scott Gough was found dead a day after a gang appeared at his home
Holly Evans
(Supplied)
Police have been told to reexamine claims of homophobia by the complaints watchdog after they made “several errors” in the investigation of the suicide of a man who was allegedly scammed on the dating app Grindr.
Scott Gough was found dead at his home in Hertfordshire two years ago by his partner of 14 years, Cameron Tewson, just one day after a group of men had turned up at his home demanding his car keys and leaving a sinister note.
His death was not investigated as blackmail and was deemed a suicide, despite a report uncovering that police officers had known the phone number used by the gang had been connected to at least four similar cases in Mr Gough’s local area.
After Hertfordshire Constabulary failed to take CCTV footage, evidence such as Mr Gough’s laptop and lost DNA, Mr Tewson launched a complaint accusing the force of discrimination and a potential homophobic bias.
Mr Gough's partner Cameron Tewson, left, has accused the police of a homophobic bias in their investigation (Supplied)
He told The Independent: “Throughout my letters and formal expressions of concern to the police from July 2024 onwards, not one person appeared willing to seriously consider what I was trying to raise: the thread of homophobia that I instinctively felt had influenced the handling of Scott's case.
“There was a persistent lack of curiosity and understanding, with my concerns repeatedly documented yet seemingly dismissed rather than objectively examined. It felt like a tick-box exercise, where institutional defensiveness took precedence over genuinely confronting whether unconscious bias had shaped key decisions.
“Instead of engaging with those concerns, Scott's death seemed to become just another statistic, rather than the loss of a person whose case deserved to be fully understood, properly investigated, and treated with the dignity and seriousness it warranted.”
When officers were questioned by the Professional Standards Department, one officer had claimed that Mr Tewson had a “personal vendetta” against them.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report has now concluded that the force’s investigation of his complaint was "not reasonable and proportionate", and they had failed to properly examine whether Mr Gough’s sexuality influenced key investigative decisions.
Prior to his death, Mr Gough had been an outgoing, fun-loving and adventurous person, who was interested in cars, cooking and shared a dog, Otis, with Mr Tewson.
On 28 March 2024, the couple received a knock on the door at Mr Gough’s home in Chandler’s Cross, with six men demanding to speak to the “owner of the white Range Rover”.
The group left a note reading: “I think it’s in your best interest to give me a call. Call this number.” Mr Gough insisted he did not know who the men were, and after calling the police, the call handler deemed there was no danger or threat to life.
Upon returning from visiting family the next day, Mr Tewson discovered him dead upstairs with a note left on the dining table.
Given Mr Gough’s previous use of Grindr, his partner raised it with the police but felt they “had a homophobic assumption of a promiscuous lifestyle”, and said they failed to remove key evidence from the property.
Within seven weeks, the investigation had been closed and deemed a suicide due to “insufficient evidence”. In July 2024, Mr Tewson complained to the Professional Standards Department, which upheld allegations the force had failed to examine links between other cases of blackmail, which led to Mr Gough’s death not being adequately investigated.
This included the phone number on the handwritten note being linked to other reported blackmails involving Grindr, and that the police had identified suspects and visited them to “provide stern words of advice”.
Mr Gough is believed to have been blackmailed on Grindr (Supplied)
The report found the police "made several errors following the death of [Scott Gough] and did not investigate [his] sudden death fully as a result".
However, it did not uphold Mr Tewson’s complaint of homophobia so he referred the case to the IOPC. His allegations include an insensitive conversation just one day after Mr
Gough’s death, in which an officer said that “people their age either kill themselves due to ill health, money issues or paedophilia”.
An investigation by the IOPC has now concluded the police force should re-investigate two aspects of the complaint: that the police had made “several errors” and did not investigate his death fully, and that “homophobic assumptions may have influenced the investigation”.
A spokesperson for the force said: “Hertfordshire Constabulary would like to reiterate its sincere condolences and sympathy to Mr Tewson at the loss of his partner, Mr Gough.
“The reinvestigation finalised by Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire Professional Standards Department into Mr Tewson’s complaint found that a blackmail investigation should have been considered and the constabulary has sought an independent review of the original investigation.
“This is currently being undertaken by Bedfordshire Police, and they will also take on the new investigation if this is deemed necessary. The progress of all concerns raised as part of Mr Tewson’s complaints are subject to ongoing and senior oversight.”
The force added it is committed to supporting members of the LGBTQ+ community and has dedicated liaison officers in place.
A Grindr spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened by Scott's death and extend our sincere condolences to Cameron and everyone who loved him. Grindr takes user safety seriously.
“Our community guidelines prohibit blackmail, extortion, and other forms of exploitation or coercion. Accounts found engaging in such conduct may be suspended or permanently removed, including device-level bans.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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News/Exclusive
father who stole a phone 14 years ago
Thomas White is being sent back to jail indefinitely after nine months inside a secure hospital
Amy-Clare Martin Crime Correspondent
Thomas White was handed a controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence in 2012 (Margaret White)
A father who was convicted of a mobile phone robbery 14 years ago is being returned to prison on an indefinite jail term described as “psychological torture”.
Thomas White, 43, previously set himself alight in desperation as his mental health crumbled over the open-ended sentence, which has been condemned by the United Nations (UN).
Last October, his family won a six-year fight for him to be transferred to a medium secure hospital for treatment. They have
His sister, Pastor Clara White, fears his mental health will rapidly deteriorate back in prison without a release date, adding: “So his torture starts all over again.”
He was handed a controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence for street robbery of a mobile phone in 2012. A judge told him he must serve a minimum of two years, but he has now been incarcerated for 14 years and four months, his family say.
The open-ended punishments were scrapped in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands languishing in prison without a release date for years beyond their tariff, including some for minor crimes. Once released, many find themselves trapped in a cycle of indefinite recall for minor breaches of strict licence conditions.
White’s plight has formed part of a major complaint to the UN, which resulted in three special rapporteurs last week warning Britain is perpetrating “serious human rights violations” by failing to resentence almost 2,400 still trapped on the jail term.
Pastor Clara White, Thomas White’s sister, with Lord David Blunkett, who has said he regrets bringing in IPP sentences under Tony Blair (White family)
A further 207 are serving their sentence in a secure hospital, often after their mental health deteriorated in prison, and 96 people have taken their own lives in custody.
In a strongly worded intervention, the UN said the jail terms have left prisoners trapped in a cycle of “excessive punishment, repeated recall, deteriorating mental health, and diminishing hope”.
“These penalties involve prolonged uncertainty and cause serious psychological deterioration among prisoners, including an increased risk of self-harm and suicide. Such punishments may amount to psychological torture,” the human rights experts added.
Pastor White had long campaigned for her brother’s transfer to the unit in Northumberland – backed by The Independent – after he endured repeated mental health crises in prison. As well as setting himself alight, he also smashed his face on a cell floor.
After being told he would go back to prison, Pastor White told The Independent: “It’s like he’s just had a bit of respite and that’s about it.”
She continued: “Thomas will get very poorly very quickly when sent back, because he hasn’t improved. He’s maybe slightly better.
“I don’t think nine months is enough for a man to unravel and to start trusting and start speaking.
“So you punish a man because he’s not fitting into your timescale of how long he should be there. So his torture starts all over again.”
White’s transfer back to prison will mark his 14th move in as many years after he was repeatedly transferred to prisons across the country.
Doctors at the secure unit have concluded he has a number of mental health conditions.
United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Dr Alice Jill Edwards, has condemned IPP jail terms (AFP/Getty)
However two medical reports in 2024 laid bare the toll of the devastating IPP jail term on his mental health, warning that his “lengthy incarceration” was creating “impermeable barriers” to his recovery.
In an urgent plea to Andy Burnham’s new government and new justice secretary Alex Norris, Pastor White called for them to put right the “huge injustice”.
“The new government has an unprecedented opportunity to fix one of the greatest injustices that no other prime minister has been willing to address,” she added.
“I urge you to prioritise the IPP scandal – a wrongdoing that has contributed to the deaths of almost 100 IPP prisoners.
“My brother, Thomas White, has spent the last nine months as a patient in a forensic psychiatric hospital after years of suffering caused by the torture of the IPP sentence.
“In the coming days, Thomas is due to be returned to prison, as this brief respite from that inhumane system comes to an end. Thomas has now served more than 14 years in custody under an IPP sentence, despite receiving a tariff of just two years.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished, and as the IPP annual report shows, we have significantly improved support for these offenders.
“They are entitled to aftercare when they leave hospital and have greater access to rehabilitation and mental health support – helping them cope with life outside hospital.
“We are determined to make further progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those on this sentence, but not in any way that undermines public protection.”
News
Gatwick with no working toilets
‘Not a great start to the holiday’
Tom Jeffreys
Most toilets at the airport were closed (Photos PA)
Passengers at Gatwick airport were left with no access to working toilets or bars and restaurants because of a water supply failure.
Although flights were not delayed, several services have been compromised at both the West Sussex airport’s terminals, with passengers posting online that they were unable to get drinks, wash their hands or fill up water bottles.
Bottled water is being given to travellers at the airport because of the problem that is also affecting residents in parts of Kent and Sussex.
SES Water said: “We are currently experiencing interruptions to water supplies in parts of the TN 11, RH1, RH6, and RH10 postcode areas.
“Our teams are on site and working to restore supplies as quickly and safely as possible. Customers in some areas may experience low pressure or no water while recovery work is completed.
Gatwick Airport said: “A water issue in the Horley area is causing disruption at the airport this morning. The problem is affecting water supply in both terminals and is currently under investigation.
“Bottled water is being made available to passengers and staff across the airport and other contingency measures are being put in place to ensure the welfare of our passengers.
TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer posted on X: “If you’re on your way to Gatwick Airport, it might be helpful to know that there is no running water across the entire airport.
“That means no coffees, no water fountains, no flushing toilets and no hand washing.
“Gatwick hasn’t bothered to make a public announcement about this to passengers. How helpful…”
On Facebook, one user posted: “Gasping for a drink & crossing my legs right now. This is ridiculous! Gatwick airport has shut all restaurants and most toilets due to a water outage.
“Not a great start to the holiday.”
Roger Wood, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, arrived at Gatwick South Terminal at around 11am yesterday to fly to New York.
He told the Press Association: “We met friends at the bar but they couldn’t serve us as they were unable to wash their hands.
“I’ve never seen Wetherspoons empty. No idea when it’ll be resolved, the toilets also lacked water to wash hands.”
By late afternoon, the Wetherspoon pub, Greggs, Giraffe restaurant and Black Sheep Cafe were still shut in the South Terminal before security, while in the North Terminal Starbucks had its shutters down.
Toilets were shut with water running at very low pressure in the restrooms.
Retail shops including Marks and Spencer, Boots and WHSmith remained open with well-stocked water bottle supplies.
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Nut job
Farmers harvest water chestnuts in a pond in Zhangjiayuan community in Taizhou, China. AFP/Getty
Blow and behold
Alphorn blowers perform an ensemble piece on the last day of the International Alphorn Festival on the alpine pasture of Tracouet in Nendaz, Switzerland. Reuters
Down to Earth
Nasa astronaut Christopher Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev inside the Soyuz MS-28 space capsule after returning from the International Space Station (ISS) in a remote area near Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. Reuters
Moors the merrier
Hundreds of Kate Bush fans, dressed head to toe in red, gather in Folkestone to recreate the singer’s iconic Wuthering Heights music video, for the 2026 The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever. PA
Show of faith
A Hindu devotee dressed as goddess Amman takes part in a religious procession to celebrate “Aadi” festival in Chennai, India. AFP/Getty
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News
Jamie Chappell was attacked while working at a building site (Supplied)
Man fighting for life after alleged screwdriver attack
A 25-year-old man has been left fighting for his life after he was allegedly stabbed in the head with a screwdriver on a building site in Wiltshire.
Jamie Chappell, described by his family as “the life and soul of every room he walks into”, was working in Purton, near Swindon, when the incident happened on Thursday.
His sister, Kelly Chappell, says the family’s lives have been turned upside down but they are determined to support him as he undergoes life-saving treatment in Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
James Denys, 36, of East Wichel, was remanded in custody when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm. He is due to appear at Swindon Crown Court on 21 August. A second man, aged 36, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and has since been released on bail.
Ms Chappell, said: “Jamie is one of the kindest, most gentle souls you could ever meet. Today Jamie remains critically ill. His injuries are not only life changing they are still life threatening.”
Driver arrested after four die in Derby crash
Four people, including a baby girl, have died after a car crashed into trees on the A38 in Derby, police said. Emergency services were called to the scene on a stretch of the road between the A50 Toyota Island and the A516 at about 11pm on Saturday. Reports say a red Hyundai car, containing five people, had left the carriageway and crashed into trees.
Two women, aged 18 and 30, and a 36-year-old man, were declared dead at the scene.A baby girl was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead a short while later. All four were passengers in the vehicle. The driver, a 33-year-old man, was taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries where he remains. He has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. All those involved are from Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Economists expect interest rates to be held again
The Bank of England is expected to hold interest rates again this week. Economists have said they still expect a majority of the Bank’s rate-setting committee to opt to keep the base interest rate at 3.75 per cent despite attacks in the Middle East and US threats reigniting some concerns over inflation.
A number of economists, including experts at Oxford Economics and Nomura, have predicted another seven-to-two vote in favour of holding the current rate at the meeting on Thursday.
The meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee will also unveil fresh economic forecasts. The Bank’s governor Andrew Bailey is likely to address how renewed hostilities have influenced the Bank’s outlook for inflation and how the committee is approaching its decisions on rates.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said he believes oil prices will “largely” steer the path of interest rates for the next year.
Police seriously injured after being hit by van
Two police officers have been hospitalised with serious injuries after a “deliberate and despicable attack” in Larkhall, south-east of Glasgow.
Police Scotland said that officers were carrying out inquiries at a property on Saturday afternoon when the incident occurred.
A white Renault Trafic van was driven at them. “This was a deliberate and despicable attack on two officers who were simply carrying out their duties,” Detective Inspector Gary Smillie said.
Two male officers, aged 43 and 41, were taken to hospital with serious injuries; one has been released, while the other remains in hospital in a stable condition.
‘Sex MP’ warns of need for lifelong sex education
South Derbyshire Labour MP Samantha Niblett made headlines when she suggested that fellow parliamentarians bring sex toys to the Palace of Westminster and called for “a summer of sex”.
But Ms Niblett, who recently became chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sex and Reproductive Health, has won
She told the BBC: “I think if some of my colleagues – who should be some of the most progressive MPs that there are – are finding it amusing, then I look forward to seeing the goodness that will come off the back of the campaign.”
Ms Niblett, who has been nicknamed “the sex MP”, said she did not regret the attention. Defending her views on sex toys she said that there needs to be a move “away from shame and stigma” in discussing these issues.
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World
braces for mass evacuation order as
T
Residents describe skies laden with thick smoke and say they are struggling to sleep and breathe,
Firefighters burn vegetation to create a fuel-free buffer zone as they fight a wildfire near Bordeaux (AFP/Getty)
he smell is horrible, you can’t breathe,” said Ira Szmuk, who lives in the centre of Bordeaux, as raging wildfires crept closer every hour.
“In the afternoon and evening, the winds bring all the smoke into town so we can’t go out. We do everything we need to do in the morning and then we lock ourselves in the house.”
as Maira Butt reports
The city’s mayor, Thomas Cazenave, warned yesterday the flames were now only nine miles from the city edge, after outlying suburbs were evacuated on Saturday. As the blaze advanced, police officers went door-to-door overnight in the municipalities of Marcheprime and Cestas, evacuating residents one home at a time.
Officials said further evacuation plans were being considered, including the possibility of orders to leave the entire city, the sixth-largest in France.
For Ira, her husband and their family, it feels like the fires are already here. Her children, aged 10, 8 and 4, have already seen their summer camp cancelled in light of the incidents. Her elderly parents, aged 76 and 70, are housebound as the air quality has deteriorated so severely.
“Even though the worst of the fire is 40 minutes away, it’s been hard because people that live only 15 minutes away from us have already been evacuated,” she told The Independent.
She says that as winds worsen in the evening, the morning’s clear skies swiftly turn to dark grey and filled with smoke.
“It’s a really unpleasant feeling. It’s extreme. Within an hour the whole sky is covered,” she said.
“It’s like if you burned a lot of paper at once. If you’re out, your hair and clothing absorbs all of it. I've been outside now for an hour and I smell like I've been inside a barbecue.”
Ira, who works in the tourism industry, said she has received “scared messages” from visitors worried about where to go and what to do if the wildfires don’t slow down. As residents wait on official guidance, she said she feels “confused” herself as to what to do next.
While Ira and her family are lucky to have air conditioning in their home, she has friends with small children who don’t.
“All my friends that don’t have it say it’s quite horrible inside the house because the smell is so strong. It really feels like you’re in the fire. At night they say that it’s very hard to breathe, you start coughing.”
The air quality inside Ira's home (left) and outside (right) (Ira Szmuk)
She said residents have been advised to avoid public transport and airports in evacuated areas are filled with smoke but remain opened as people are desperate to leave.
It has also had an impact on local businesses who rely on the peak season to get them through the year.
“People aren’t speaking about it yet because we’re still in a life- threatening situation but for many people their whole year’s revenue depends on these months. The year is over for us the moment you take summer away.”
Grey clouds from raging wildfires over Bordeaux (Ira Szmuk)
As a blistering heatwave bakes southern Europe, more than 280,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. High temperatures this month have have averaged 32 degrees Celsius, almost 6C above the month's normal high between 1961 and 1990, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.
In Spain, prime minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central provinces affected by major blazes, alongside Madrid and Toledo. Flames have devastated more than 123,500 acres of countryside in Avila, making it the biggest wildfire in Spain's recent history.
“The fire is out of control, it's very difficult to extinguish from a technical standpoint, especially because of the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day,” regional leader of Valencia, Juanfran Perez, told reporters.
The wildfire has entered the Sierra de Espadan natural park containing large forests of pine trees and cork oaks.
World
Narendra Modi has governed India for a decade as a strong and decisive figure, and has long resisted sacking ministers. Namita Singh looks at why the ‘cockroach’ protests had such impact
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters after the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan (AFP/Getty)
ndians danced, sang songs, and raised victory slogans on the streets on Saturday after prime minister Narendra Modi’s government bowed to the demands of Gen Z protesters seeking the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a leaked medical entrance exam.
I
It was a rare setback for Modi but a big win for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical movement whose young supporters have openly mocked the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues through raps, placards and graffiti for weeks, demanding accountability for the lapses in how the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Neet) was conducted.
The leak affected some 2 million students in May, and has been linked to several student suicides.
For a decade, Modi has governed as a strong, decisive figure who admits few mistakes, and his government had long resisted sacking ministers under pressure. Indian farmers had to protest for nearly a year before Modi repealed the contentious farm laws in 2021.
The nationwide protests were an almost unthinkable development only weeks earlier in a country whose politics has been almost fully dominated by Modi since he came to power in 2014.
Gen Z protesters had demanded Pradhan’s resignation over a leaked medical entrance exam paper (AP)
Earlier this year, there was mounting pressure on the government to sack the federal minister for petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, over his communication with late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during his time in the United States. Puri, a career diplomat-turned- politician, said he was part of the International Peace Institute, a New York think tank headed by Norwegian diplomat and former cabinet minister Terje Rod-Larsen until 2020, and met Epstein “three or maximum four times” during his time there.
Rod-Larsen has apologised for his connection to Epstein, and his wife, Mona Juul, a Norwegian ambassador, stepped down over her links to the US financier.
At a time when unpopular governments and ministers either resign or are made to step down in other democracies, Modi’s administration has come to be known for not bowing to public pressure.
junior foreign minister in October 2018 to fight allegations of sexual harassment made by more than a dozen women during India's #MeToo movement.
The leaked exam paper affected some two million students – and has been linked to several suicides (Reuters)
Explaining the importance of the resignation of Pradhan as their primary demand, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das tells The Independent: “It is the very first step to a better, accountable system. The basic level of accountability had to be forced. Heaven and hell had to be moved to force it when it should have been automatic.”
“It was automatic before 2014,” he says, referring to governments prior to that of Modi. Shivraj Patil resigned as the home minister of the country in 2008, taking moral responsibility for the Mumbai terror attack in which 175 people were killed. In 2010, A Raja resigned as minister of communications and IT due to allegations of corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum.
“But post 2014, the government takes great arrogance in not sacking its minister. So we are restoring that India first, and after that we are going to talk about those issues. And what can be
Pralhad Joshi took charge of the education ministry yesterday in addition to the consumer affairs portfolio he holds in Modi’s cabinet, marking an end of the worst political crisis the prime minister has faced in his third term as the protests were called off.
Joshi, a five-time parliamentarian since 2004, who is from Karnataka, was in his constituency in Dharwad when he was informed that he had been made education minister. He took a flight from Hubli to return to Delhi.
The crisis peaked this week when thousands of protesters marched on parliament, with police using teargas to control them. Young voters form a critical base of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the CJP, addresses supporters following Pradhan’s resignation (Getty)
Young people, calling themselves “cockroaches”, had taken to the streets since late June, forcing a resit which galvanised anger
about the lack of prospects for young Indians. Abhijeet Dipke founded the CJP as a mocking response to a pointed comment from India’s top judge, Justice Surya Kant, who likened India’s unemployed youth to “cockroaches” in a speech.
Similar youth-led protest movements brought down governments in neighbouring Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh in recent years.
To quell the protests, Modi, 75, posted a rare selfie video in which he said he was pained by the suffering of the youths and promised remedial steps. The video, posted on Thursday on Instagram – where CJP amassed 22 million mainly Gen Z followers in a matter of days in May – was not enough to satisfy the thousands who had gathered in central Delhi, braved a massive police crackdown days earlier, and then inspired protests across the country.
“The paper leak is a trigger point,” political analyst Amitabh Tiwari told Reuters. “It is largely a reflection of the anxiety, nervousness, discontent, frustration and anger among the youth.”
Indians aged 18 to 40 are estimated to make up about 40 per cent of the population but hold only around 10 per cent of seats in the lower house of parliament – down from more than double that in the 1950s, Tiwari says. The cabinet’s average age is more than 60. Although the CJP is not a political party, all opposition parties have tried to cash in on the rare opening they have seen in the protests against Modi, by taking up the cause of the students.
CJP spokespersons Saurav Das (centre) and Ashutosh Ranka (right) with India’s health minister JP Nadda at a press conference (AFP/Getty)
The first tests of the youth anger could be in elections next year in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, in Punjab, and Modi’s home state of Gujarat. The BJP runs both Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The bigger risk for Modi could lie in the 2029 national election if the CJP turns itself into a party.
Dipke has said no decision had been made so far on joining electoral politics. Some analysts say young voters have hitherto largely cast ballots along religious or caste lines, benefiting Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP. But things may be changing.
The decision to force Pradhan out of the cabinet, however, has not gone down well with the prime minister’s supporters.
“It’s a victory of violence, not of any generation or grievance,” wrote Rahul Roushan, an X (Twitter) user.
“For the first time in my life, I can’t hold my head high in front of my leftist friends – thanks to Modi Ji,” wrote another user.
CJP spokespersons, Ashutosh Ranka and Das, in a joint press conference with federal ministers Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda, announced the withdrawal of the agitation “in good faith”.
Armed forces look on as CJP demonstrators celebrate (Getty)
Nadda said the government had accepted all demands of the protesters, which included reforms in the exam system, dropping police cases filed against protesters, and compensating families of students who died by suicide after the exam paper leaks.
Ranka says: “The bottom line is we have won – your struggle, hard work, and patience have paid off."
The demonstrations have become one of the most visible signs of public dissent against Modi’s government in recent years, with thousands returning to the streets even after police used teargas and batons this week to disperse marchers trying to reach parliament.
The protests also reflected growing anger in India over job scarcity and government accountability.
“Young generation is here. This is a win for the constitution,” protester Tluanga Ralte says, walking with a copy of the Indian constitution at the protest site after Pradhan's resignation. “We are not a lazy generation.”
An actor – running for his own party and allied with opposition parties – was recently elected chief minister in the prosperous southern state of Tamil Nadu, propelled by his Instagram-first fanbase of Gen-Zers.
A CJP supporter holds a placard as protesters react to Pradhan’s resignation (AFP/Getty)
“This has been a moment of reckoning for PM Modi and it shows how they are completely out of touch with what Gen Z wants,” says author Anurag Minus Verma.
“For years, the BJP’s digital political strategy was centred on platforms like X, where much of the political conversation took place. But that conversation has increasingly shifted to Instagram now, particularly among younger users.”
The BJP may rule most of India, and calls itself the world’s largest political party, but it has managed just 10 million Instagram followers in years – less than half what the CJP gained
in days. The BJP has 23 million followers on X and 18 million on Facebook, though Modi’s personal followers on all three social media platforms are massive, ranging between 60 and 107 million.
“You need a kind of authenticity for Instagram,” says columnist Santosh Desai. “Pre-laboured, carefully massaged messages won’t work. This medium was created by this generation and has become what it has thanks to this generation. This generation has no reverence.”
“From now, a leader who listens is likely to do well,” Tiwari adds.
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World
Maldives school trip sue after two
T
Jenna Chan, 15, was knocked unconscious by a boat propellor and sustained critical injuries, as
Jenna’s parents allege the school has ‘refused to be held accountable’ (Family handout)
Jenna Chan died on 8 November 2024 after being struck by the propeller of a boat during an excursion, organised by the Singapore-based St Joseph’s Institution International Ltd and a UK-registered charity.
James C. Reynolds reports
he parents of a British student killed on a school trip to the Maldives are still seeking justice for their daughter nearly two years on from her death.
The 15 year-old was knocked unconscious and sustained critical injuries before she was pulled up to the boat with help from her traumatised classmates, a lawsuit from the family says. She regained consciousness briefly, whispering “help me”, before being pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Her parents, Dr Jennifer Liauw and Alan Chan, told The Independent that they have spent more than 20 months pleading with the school to work with them to establish exactly what happened to their daughter and ensure it can never happen again.
Speaking from Singapore, Jenna’s parents remembered their daughter as “pure sunshine - warm, smiley, and always thinking of other people.”
“She was the person who held our family together and was especially close to her sister, Alisha, who was her soulmate,” they said. “She hoped to become a geriatrician because she loved older people and wanted to care for them. That was Jenna: kind, helpful, and full of love.”
Jenna's mother, Dr Jennifer Liauw, said they have pleaded with the school to help them establish what happened (Family handout)
They said the most important objective for them was to “hold the school accountable by ensuring transparency” in risk management, emergency planning and post-incident decision making.
“We hope the process will lead to meaningful improvements in how overseas school expeditions are planned, supervised, and managed, with clear accountability when those standards are not met,” they said of their lawsuit.
“If this case results in stronger governance and better protection for future students, it will have achieved something far beyond our own family.”
In the lawsuit, Jenna’s parents allege that the school has “refused to be held accountable” for their daughter’s death and “instead remained belligerent”.
“For us, accountability means transparency, recognition of the school’s responsibilities, and clear evidence that meaningful changes have been made,” the family said in a joint statement. “In our view, the school has failed to live up to these expectations.
“We did not want to be here,” said Dr Liauw. “For over a year and a half we asked the school to work with us to find out what happened so this can never happen to another child. Every door was closed. This claim is about accountability, and about making sure Jenna is the last.”
Tragedy struck during the school trip to the Maldives (file photo) (AFP/Getty)
They point to a letter from the school’s lawyers asserting bluntly that the school “does not owe Ms Jenna Chan a positive non- delegable duty of care to protect and safeguard her from the risk of harm”.
Maldives Expedition in 2024, which was compulsory for Grade 9 students and a requirement to progress to the next academic year.
Jenna died after entering the water during a whale shark excursion aboard the MV Sapphire Black in the South Ari Marine Protected Area in the Maldives, while on an expedition run by the UK-registered Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) charity.
After the teenager entered the water, the captain or a member of the crew started the engine of the boat, causing the propeller to strike her on the underside of the boat.
A “loud thud and a crackling sound could be heard”, the lawsuit states, but the boat continued “towards those in the water”.
A teacher from the school then dove under the boat to free Jenna, who was then brought back on board unconscious with her leg sliced open and an open wound on her back. Another student also sustained cuts to her ankle from the rotating propeller.
Jenna’s teachers attempted to resuscitate her in front of her school friends, who were said to be traumatised by the incident. A nearby diving boat provided them with emergency oxygen as the MV Sapphire Black did not have any on board.
Without a helicopter in the area available to help them, Jenna was finally taken to the Dhigurah Health Centre on Dhigurah Island at around 10:15am, some 45 minutes after they entered the water.
Her parents say the school failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that MWSRP was suitable and qualified to run excursions for school children, and failed to properly vet the Maldives, which they say has seen a pattern of fatal marine incidents on diving and boat tours.
As many as 112 tourists died in marine-related incidents in the Maldives between January 2020 and October 2023, according to police figures circulated last summer.
They also say that other parents found out about Jenna’s tragic passing before they did.
And while her parents were working out how to repatriate their daughter’s body, the school sent out an email to parents of children on the trip writing, “Another day when we got what we hoped for!” and listing the various activities that had taken place that day.
The email included photographs of the students, including Jenna, despite the school’s management having already learned of her death hours earlier.
A spokesperson for the school said: “The loss of Jenna was a tragedy, and our hearts remain with her family. As a school, we continue to offer them our unwavering support and hold them in our thoughts and prayers every day.
“We can confirm that Jenna’s parents had on Tuesday filed a claim against the school in the Singapore High Court.
“The school denies the allegations stated in the claim, which have misattributed fault to the school. As such, the school has retained legal counsel to defend the claim.”
A letter to the parents from the school’s solicitors dated 21 November 2025 said that “it was the boat captain’s act of putting the vessel into reverse after Jenna had entered the water that caused the incident,” according to the lawsuit.
They said as a result that the school “cannot be and is not liable for the boat captain’s act”, the statement of claim said.
The spokesperson for the school added: “The school also informed Jenna’s parents that it did not agree with any
suggestion that the school was withholding information from them and that while the school had taken steps to obtain information from the Maldivian authorities who were investigating the incident, the school did not receive any such information.
“The school has reached out to Jenna’s parents on numerous occasions and remains open to meeting with them when they are ready. We are deeply mindful of their immense loss and strive to be respectful and sensitive in every way possible.
“As the matter is now before the Singapore Courts, the school will refrain from commenting further on the matter publicly at this juncture.”
Maldives Whale Shark Research, formerly the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, did not respond to a request for comment.
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World
Children outside a mosque that was burned during an attack in the West Bank village of Qusra (AP)
West Bank mosques set on fire during weekend of settler violence
Two Palestinian mosques in the Israel-occupied West Bank have been set on fire in an apparent settler attack. Officials said the incidents happened yesterday after a spate of violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers.
It comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government has been accused of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians, which is threatening to ignite widespread violence across the territory.
Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a
Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend as they attempted to contain the escalating violence.
Israel's military said it was working with police to investigate the mosque attack.
Pope Leo XIV yesterday appealed for peace in the Middle East at the end of his weekly prayer. He called on both sides to find a negotiated solution and to “reject new military actions and unilateral decisions, in particular those that violate the respect and status quo of the holy places of every religious faith”.
Raúl Castro missing as Cuba celebrates key anniversary
Cuba held a traditional rally yesterday to commemorate one of the revolution’s most important anniversaries, with former president Raúl Castro, 95, conspicuously absent.
It’s the first time in at least 30 years that Mr Castro did not attend the event, and no explanation was offered. Mr Castro, who no longer holds any formal positions, last made public appearances in June.
The event was presided over by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who read a congratulatory message from Mr Castro.
The annual event commemorates the 1953 assault led by brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks. The action against former dictator Fulgencio Batista failed, but it marked the beginning of the revolutionary struggle.
US border czar quizzed about ICE agents behind fatal shootings
Donald Trump’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, was pressed by a CNN host yesterday about recent fatal shootings by ICE agents and admitted that he wasn’t sure about the status of the agents involved in those shootings.
Two deadly incidents in Maine and Texas within a week caused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents temporarily to halt traffic stops and reassess their tactics, according to multiple news reports. In one case, the victim had legal residence in the US.
Mr Homan said that while it was general policy for agents involved in such incidents to be placed on administrative leave, he wasn’t tracking the cases and couldn’t say whether that policy was being followed.
This is the second time in less than a year that fatal shootings by Mr Trump’s immigration authorities have spurred reassessments of strategy by those in charge in Washington.
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Voices
A leaked military report has warned that weather volatility is an existential risk to food security, economy and international stability. If the government refuses to listen, we face catastrophe, says
A leaked military report warns climate change means our homeland is not safe, nor can it be defended (AFP/Getty)
Lord Deben
For the first time ever, the British military has warned the government that climate change and the damage we have done to nature seriously threaten our national security. These are not tree- hugging environmental campaigners, but top-level, hard-bitten military men carrying out their official duty of telling the truth to power.
Their report so frightened government ministers, and showed them to be so unprepared, that they banned its publication. Instead, the public was only allowed a pared-down version, with all the stark reality removed.
That tactic also suited the opposition. Normally, the Tories would be carrying out a relentless campaign to get the full truth. However, that would undermine their current downplaying of climate disruption, so they have been largely silent.
It’s only through leaks that we electors have learned the truth. The men and women we rely on to defend us believe that our homeland is under real threat. They say that we may well not be able to feed our people; that our gross domestic product could be hit twice as hard as it was in the financial crisis; and that a Himalayan water shortage could trigger nuclear engagement between China, Pakistan and India.
They also point to the increasing pressure of migrants moving across the world as their own countries become too hot to be habitable or to produce the food they need. They even warn that the warming of the permafrost could release dangerous pathogens, including anthrax.
Now, this isn’t the military seeking more resources for themselves. It is a clear statement that, unless we take action on protecting nature, conserving water, increasing home food production and countering climate change, our homeland is not safe, nor can it be defended.
Ministers have sought to dismiss the military fears as “worst- case scenarios“, and they talk up their increased spending on flood prevention and regenerative agriculture. Yet we have to act to prevent the worst-case scenario if we are to reduce the threat to a level with which we can cope.
It is climate change that sets the timetable for that action. Pretending we have the time to move at a more gentle pace is just wishful thinking. We need the force of this military assessment to jerk us back into reality.
And that assessment centres on the likelihood that we will not be able to feed our people. Today, as we look out over the parched fields of England and prepare for yet another heatwave, the scale of the problem is all too evident.
It took just three days of unaccustomed heat to cut UK milk production by 11 per cent. Last week, water shortages halted Britain’s biggest chicken-processing factory, which could only get started again by trucking in water by road.
With no rain for more than a month, farmers warn of significantly reduced yields and widespread shortages of feed for livestock. In Britain’s breadbasket, the east of England, the wheat harvest may well be halved.
All this cannot be dismissed as one bad year. Climate risk has become a present reality. This is now the British climate – torrential downpours in winter and heatwaves in summer. We are almost entirely unprepared for this change. Indeed, funding to enable farmers to adapt has been slashed by both the government and the private sector.
The independent experts – the Climate Change Committee – have warned that, at this rate, the UK’s high-quality productive land area will fall from 40 per cent to just over 10 per cent by 2050 because we are simply not making the investment necessary to cope with our changed climate.
The military rightly emphasise that we need soldiers, ships and drones if we are to defend ourselves. But they also make clear that, if we cannot feed our people, those defences will be to no avail
The military rightly emphasise that we need soldiers, ships and drones if we are to defend ourselves. But they also make clear that, if we cannot feed our people, those defences will be to no avail.
And there’s nowhere else in the world from which we can make up the deficit in food production. What’s happening here is happening everywhere – indeed, we are more fortunate than most. Wildfires from Spain to Canada and China are destroying crops on a vast scale.
Goldman Sachs says that, over the next two years, food shortages will push prices up by 16 per cent. It is likely that rice yields will fall by about 20 per cent, hit by the heat and water shortage.
Prolonged high temperatures will mean that whole areas of Africa, Asia and South America will become unproductive, and their peoples will have to look elsewhere for food. Britain, which now has to import nearly half of its food, will be particularly exposed, and that fundamentally undermines our national security.
Yet, unlike so many others, Britain can turn this around. We have the water we need and, if we invest now, we can get it to the places where it is needed. Properly supported, with access to advanced technology, our farmers can become much more productive.
If we refuse to listen to the voices of complacency and fix our sights on stopping runaway climate change by 2050, we can
Lord Deben was chairman of the Climate Change Committee
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Voices
culture is much more than a sideshow
Too often during Lisa Nandy’s first term in cabinet, the government’s supposed advocate for the
arts has been a bystander, rather than a cheerleader, says opera producer John Berry
Lisa Nandy has been too timid as culture secretary – her reappointment is an opportunity to wipe the slate clean (Getty)
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has come in for much criticism in the last two years. Much of this is justified: too much inaction, too little policy, and a sense that she wasn’t particularly comfortable with her brief.
For too long, the role of culture secretary has been treated as a soft posting before a supposedly more important job. This must end. It should be a serious office of economic and diplomatic responsibility, championing the arts at home and abroad. Nandy must stand up for culture in the way the sector needs: otherwise, we risk three years of inertia resulting in a lame-duck culture secretary, and that, frankly, we cannot afford.
Culture, and more specifically the opera sector in which I work, needs more leaders with entrepreneurial flair. It also requires modern impresarios from the wider entertainment industry who can create surprising, high-profile collaborations and help audiences discover its stars. Bringing together the right people into the room is the role of the impresario. Incidentally, it also describes Nandy’s job.
Ms Nandy’s department would benefit from a new generation of advisers, rather than relying on the old elite of British arts. To date, cultural advisers have rarely done anything other than convene panels and create policy, when they should be suggesting tangible events that can change people’s lives and make a difference for everyday producers and artistic leaders both in London and the regions. Soliciting input from international arts administrators on fundraising would also not go amiss.
Nandy can’t work in isolation – she needs support from the rest of the cabinet. Andy Burnham, himself a former culture secretary, has already shown willingness to make decisions to improve people’s daily lives. He, along with Nandy, needs to make the case to the Treasury that culture is a part of those improvements, and they cannot arrive there carrying a begging bowl. Both must emphasise how much we have to offer: increased international investment and export earnings, jobs, tourism, and global influence.
There was a time when people could stumble upon opera. Caruso belonged to the gramophone era; Pavarotti and the Three Tenors were beamed to millions through television. Those routes of accidental discovery have disappeared, but Nandy could change that.
By virtue of her position, Nandy has access to broadcasters. The best impresarios convert vision into live events and spectacle. The incredible 1992 live, on- location broadcast from Rome of Tosca, or English National Opera’s live two-channel transmission of La Boheme, seems like a thing of the past. Why not use her contacts to create something on this scale?
Ms Nandy’s department would benefit from a new generation of advisers, rather than relying on the old elite of British arts
Funding and encouraging new composers and writers is not a wish but an absolute priority. New opera must tell powerful stories about contemporary life and receive the support required to live beyond its premiere. There is evidence that ambitious, producer-led projects can succeed. Scottish Opera is punching above its weight, and its Opera Ventures Productions collaboration of The Galloping Cure by Missy Mazzoli, which confronts the opioid crisis and premieres at the Edinburgh International Festival next month, is exactly the template she should be inquisitive about.
Devolution is at the heart of the government’s agenda, and culture should be a central part of it. We’ve seen how cultural devolution revitalised Glasgow and Liverpool when they were European Cities of Culture, and Hull as the UK City of Culture in 2017. Nandy should go further – cities across the UK are full of derelict, unused buildings, often council owned. Why not empower and help local communities to repurpose and use them as arts venues, in the way Manchester has done so successfully?
Within the new leadership’s first 100 days, I would also urge Nandy to establish a UK-wide Opera and New Work Initiative, and its purpose should be practical: commission important new work, give the strongest operas a life beyond their premieres, connect training to employment, sustain year-round opera and create new routes to audiences. It should seek to turn artistic excellence into public value, economic activity and international influence, and it’s a model that can be scaled to other disciplines and art forms.
My friend, the late culture secretary Tessa Jowell, described encountering great art as a “transcendent thrill”. The role of the culture secretary should be giving the public more opportunities to experience that same feeling. It’s up to Ms Nandy to be the one to make it happen.
John Berry is a former artistic director of the English National Opera and founder of Opera Ventures Productions. His latest production, The Galloping Cure, is at the Edinburgh International Festival (9-12 August)
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Section 2/Feature
I
fortune – what can possibly go wrong?
History’s biggest intergenerational wealth transfer is already underway, but despite inheriting trillions, today’s fiftysomethings are uniquely ill-equipped to cope, admits Stephen Armstrong
Importance of being idle: Gen-Xers are set to become incredibly wealthy – whether they’ll meet the moment is another question (Getty)
t’s being dubbed the “Great Wealth Transfer”. Over the next 30 years, as much as – well, figures range from £5.5 trillion to an astounding £27.9 trillion – will pass from baby-boomers to Gen-Xers and millennials in the UK alone. It will be the greatest transfer of wealth between generations in history and, frankly, it looks like Generation X might mess it up.
First, let’s look at the possibilities. If Gen-Xers (people born between 1965 and 1980) worldwide became a country, the $15.2
trillion we spent in 2025 would make us the world’s second- largest consumer market. Many of us already benefited from a booming housing market (especially in the southeast, where many Gen-Xers, now in their mid-fifties, became millionaires thanks to being lucky enough to buy before the boom). In the UK, research comparing generations found that 55 per cent of Gen X owned their home at around age 27, compared with 32 per cent of millennials at the same age.
Many Gen-Xers also entered careers in the Eighties and into the Noughties when long-term employment, internal promotion and pensions were still common. They have reached management positions during the expansion of corporate and technology sectors and the peak of their earning power while AI was still a data-processing dream away.
Being good human communicators, as well as early adopters of computers and digital skills, has made them valuable employees to keep. They are the ones now making the firing decisions and can rely on strong professional networks to keep them at least afloat should the worst happen.
However, 33 per cent of Gen X in the UK are now looking into an abyss and are at high risk of retiring with insufficient income. How can these things exist side by side? The truth is that, yes, if Gen-Xers worldwide became a country, it would also be a very messed-up country which would regularly blow the opportunity to become a rich one.
The top estimate of the wealth transfer from baby-boomers
Generation X is possibly the least financially savvy generation that’s ever lived. According to Barclays’ Investment Readiness Index this July, cash-strapped Gen Z invests the most frequently, topping up savings and investments almost monthly. They, like millennials, follow social media wealth influencers – bless them, since only 15 per cent of all social media creators actually earn a
The “student loan” generation watch their money closely, working out how to maximise every penny; cynical Gen X – no doubt gleefully pointing out to their kids how unsuccessful creators are financially – are lucky to put money into savings four times a year. On average, Gen-Xers in the UK – one in five of the total population – put a pitiful £200 or less into their pension each month, according to the International Longevity Centre. This is compared to the £500-plus that is recommended for this age group, doubly worrying when, according to the World Economic Forum, we are the world's biggest spenders too.
On average, Gen-Xers in the UK – one in five of the total population – put a pitiful £200 or less into their pension each month, according to the International Longevity Centre
And even when we do get a windfall, many of us have no idea what to do with it. Al Spalding, 55, a marketing consultant in Brighton, lost both his parents during Covid. “For a start, it was really complicated to sort out,” he explains. “They’d been divorced, and so there were two houses and savings and some investments, and they took ages to finally get clear of probate, or whatever it is. Tax paid, basically. Then suddenly I had over £500k in a savings account, and I’m thinking – I should do something smart with this. It’s my last chance.”
He googled wealth management, found a well-known company and handed the cash over, only to find over £10,000 vanishing in fees every year. “The whole thing was a nightmare,” he admits. “They charged me to use their platform, for the adviser, a slice off the top of a fund I was in. Every layer was charging me a fee. And the place they had my money invested was not performing well at all. Mate, I was losing money on my money.”
Firms like this typically charge a fee for initial advice based on the size of the money invested, an ongoing annual advice fee, product administration fees and fund management charges.
“This is all baffling for Gen X people who have been relying on a house, or some art, or – obviously – inheritance because they have next to nothing in a pension,” says Nick Perrett, 51, who co- founded Prosper, one of a new wave of digital wealth management companies including Nutmeg, Moneyfarm and Addepar.
I am Gen X and proud, and yet wearily accept that we’re the sandwich generation. Our parents had us when they were young, we had our kids when we were older, and now we have to care for both our parents and our children, sandwiched in between. So we spend, we don’t save, and we hope. Hope is the biggie. Just ask Andy Burnham, who has made hope his mantra. It’s no coincidence: at 56, he is bang in the middle of the Gen X sliding scale (people born between 1965 and 1980, if you were wondering).
So when this great wealth transfer does happen, Gen X is liable to waste the moment. James Bridgman, 56, a CMO for startups, lost his father in 2021 and, most recently, his mother in 2024. “Dad had a really good pension from IBM and Mum had invested with a financial management company,” he says. “They were lovely people, but I wasn’t very keen on the value for money. It all ended up being really complicated, trying to sell Mum’s property and then trying to work out where all these different buckets and different types of investments were and how much tax applied for each. I ended up hiring another firm to find out where all her money was.”
James Bridgman ended up in a ‘complicated’ tangle of financial management companies when sorting out his parents’ property and pensions (Supplied)
This chaos is typical of Gen X, says James Davies, a midlife mentor. “We made money fairly easily in the 1990s,” he explains. “Rents and house prices were cheap, there were self-cert mortgages and being sensible with money wasn’t cool. Everyone wanted to be a bohemian rock star. I mean, Soho House launched in 1995 for writers and artists and banned City boys.”
Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that when we were being set up to fail by government policy, we barely noticed. Gen X entered the job market too late to properly benefit from the really big final salary pensions and too early to benefit from auto-enrolment, points out financial adviser Christopher Smith.
“Gen X have lived through the Eighties recession, Thatcher’s privatisations, Black Friday, the Nineties recession, the tech crash in 2000, which took Intel 26 years for its share price to recover from, and the crash of 2007. So they’re instinctively wary of the financial system.”
It’s quite overwhelming – it was your parents’ hard-earned money. There is an emotional feeling that you want to do what’s right
“It’s quite overwhelming – it was your parents’ hard-earned money. There is an emotional feeling that you want to do what’s right. So you go online and, if you’re not that financially savvy, it can be easy to just jump at the first opportunity. There is a lot of bad advice out there.”
“If I put them all into one basket and something goes wrong with that basket, then I’ve lost all my eggs at once,” she explains. “I’ve seen companies that have emptied workers’ pensions, and worked for companies that have switched policies into measurably worse pensions, and for startups that have collapsed. Hedging my bets may sound cynical, but to me it’s just rational.”
With a mindset like this, it is no surprise that when Gen X suddenly find they’ve inherited money, they completely freak out. “I see people who have come into money, then made a decision and regretted it because they’ve reacted quickly,” explains Kara Gammell, personal finance expert at MoneySuperMarket, the price comparison site.
Kara Gammell, personal finance expert at MoneySuperMarket
That is especially the case when it comes to large sums of money. “How money passes between one generation and the next is largely a tax question, right?” says Perrett, who previously co-founded eco-friendly challenger bank Tandem but left when it became too large and stable. “I was working in a bank and I never wanted to work in a bank.”
Many Gen-Xers have an innate lack of belief in financial systems – but will have to navigate them when a windfall hits (Getty/iStock)
“The idea that you should bundle what is a tax problem into a complex set of fees makes no sense,” he adds. “Just like you would pay a lawyer when you move house, you just need to pay an hourly rate for someone to solve your tax problem, and that’s it.”
And so, Gen X, the self-reliant, rebellious, rock’n’roll-loving cynics, find themselves in a curious situation. Wealth they did not seek is on its way. And it is beset with hope and enormous anxiety.
Perrett, Gammell and Smith all say that Gen-Xers are intensely aware that this moment will give some a chance to finally build some stability. They have a chance to build generational wealth rather than waste squillions on a party. Against character, they want to finally take this moment seriously.
It could be the moment they've been waiting for – finally, they get to have something to steady the ship. But I also know what we’re like, and I’m putting my money on a wild ride. It’s just the way we roll.
Section 2
Sir Winston Churchill stood down as a Member of Parliament, on this day in 1964 (Getty)
1694: The Bank of England was founded with government backing.
1866: The Great Eastern ship arrived at Heart’s Content in Newfoundland, Canada, having successfully laid the transatlantic telegraph cable.
1890: Artist Vincent van Gogh shot himself. He died two days later, aged 37.
1921: The first insulin was isolated by Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best, a first step to providing an effective treatment for diabetes.
1949: The de Havilland Comet, the world’s first jet airliner, made its maiden flight.
1964: Sir Winston Churchill stood down as a Member of Parliament.
1980: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the deposed shah of Iran, died of cancer in Cairo.
1988: Mercury Communications opened its first non-British Telecom payphones at Waterloo Station.
1996: A bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, killing one and injuring 110.
2005: Nasa postponed all shuttle flights pending an investigation into a foam-shedding problem on Discovery’s external tanks.
2013: One-thousand inmates escaped from a prison in Benghazi, Libya.
On this day last year: Defending champions England won Women’s Euro 2025, beating world champions Spain 3-1 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 following extra-time.
Birthdays
Bobbie Gentry, singer, 84; Allan Border, former cricketer, 71; Christopher Dean, former Olympic ice-skater, 68; Jo Durie, former tennis player, 66; Jonathan Rhys Meyers, actor, 49; George Shelley, former Union J musician, 33.
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Section 2
Explore how major events between 27 July and 2 August were captured on The Independent’s front pages
Tizane Navea-Rogers
Retrospective: a week of turning points that shaped the world (The Independent)
Terrorism and conflict cast a heavy shadow on this week’s headlines, from bomb attacks at the Atlanta Olympics and an Israeli embassy in London to escalating tragedy in Gaza. US politics takes centre stage as John Kerry launches his 2004 presidential bid, while a decade later Republican candidate Donald Trump is rocked by accusations of encouraging Russian espionage. Yet moments of hope and triumph break through as the IRA formally ends its 36-year armed campaign and London ignites the 2012 Olympics – all captured in The Independent archive.
emergency amid deadly heatwave
A national state of emergency is declared in Greece after record- breaking temperatures ruin crops and prompt mass evacuations to the coast over a single weekend. Though initial reports cited hundreds of casualties, the unprecedented 1987 heatwave ultimately claimed over 1,000 lives, foreshadowing the extreme weather sweeping across Europe today.
27 July 1994 – Israeli embassy bombed in London
A massive car bomb rips through the Israeli embassy in London, injuring 14 people and “embarrassing” the British government over failures in their security measures. The blast was followed just hours later by a second car bomb outside a Jewish charity in North London, eventually leading to the controversial 1996 convictions of two Palestinian students for their roles in the attacks.
(The Independent)
28 July 1996 – Deadly bomb explodes at the Atlanta Olympics
A terrorist pipe bomb detonates at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, killing two people and injuring over 100 more in the worst Olympic attack since Munich in 1972. The ensuing investigation infamously derailed the life of the security guard Richard Jewell, who discovered the bomb and was subsequently wrongly viewed as a suspect. The attack was later traced to right- wing extremist Eric Rudolph, who had evaded capture for several years.
(The Independent)
for the White House
Opening his pivotal convention speech with a salute and the words “reporting for duty”, John Kerry formally accepts the Democratic nomination, promising to end American isolationism and restore the nation's global standing. However, his bid to unseat George W Bush ultimately failed that November, as the incumbent secured a second term in a bitterly fought, highly polarised wartime election.
29 July 2005 – IRA ends 36-year campaign
In a landmark statement, the Provisional IRA formally orders an end to its 36-year armed campaign, instructing all units to end armed activity and commit strictly to peaceful political programmes. The historic declaration led to the final, verified decommissioning of all remaining IRA weapons just months later.
(The Independent)
alight’ for 2012 Games
London officially welcomes the Olympics with a highly praised opening ceremony directed by filmmaker Danny Boyle, featuring a theatrical journey through British history. The successful
(The Independent)
violence escalates
severely damaging local infrastructure. The 50-day conflict continued for another month before an open-ended truce was reached in late August, by which time more than 2,200 Palestinians and 73 people on the Israeli side had been killed.
(The Independent)
hack Clinton's emails
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump faces fierce criticism after publicly calling on Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails amid an ongoing investigation into a cyber attack on the Democrats. He went on to win the presidency that November, triggering the years-long Mueller investigation, which confirmed sweeping Russian election interference but established no criminal conspiracy within the Trump campaign.
Section 2/Music
T
The band were blamed (and fessed up) for releasing the catalyst to what we now know as ‘landfill
indie’. Twenty years since the release of their second, self-titled album, Johnny Borrell talks to Roisin O’Connor about how he patched things up with his bandmates in time for a reunion tour
Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell (second from left): ‘I wish they taught diplomacy in schools’ (Press)
wenty years ago, one song would become the scapegoat for the implosion of British guitar music, the death knell for a generation’s worth of bands whose sole mission seemed to be to make it into the pages of NME. “I think you can kind of say that in 2006, at the start of this [song], music was in quite an interesting place,” Johnny Borrell said in 2016. “Then three-and-a-half minutes later it’s fucked.”
The Razorlight frontman was, in fact, talking about his band’s own hit single, “Before I Fall to Pieces”. Featured on their second
album, the self-titled Razorlight, the jangling guitar track was branded by Borrell as the catalyst for what we now refer to as “landfill indie”, that heady scene of sticky dancefloors, sweaty side-fringes and jeans so skinny they cut off your circulation. “I think the second Razorlight album definitely opened the way for a flood of mediocrity in UK music,” he declared.
“Landfill indie” was a disdainful term coined in The Word by journalist Andrew Harrison in 2008. But two years earlier, in the summer of 2006, British bands ruled the roost: Arctic Monkeys had already set the world alight with their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, Muse were about to top the charts again with Black Holes and Revelations, and Coldplay were concluding their huge Twisted Logic Tour off the back of two major Brit awards for their third album, X&Y . Skinny jeans, scarves and slogan T-shirts (all from Topshop) were in, as was smudged eyeliner and the side fringe; Camden boozer the Hawley Arms was the place to be, especially when Amy Winehouse was holding court. The Libertines had split in 2004, but Pete Doherty was still a tabloid fixture thanks to his chaotic personal life. And Razorlight had the biggest album of their career, thanks in part to hit singles like “In the Morning”, “America” and, yes, “Before I Fall to Pieces”.
Borrell is revisiting the album as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. Not just the music, but all of it – the mixed reception (NME gave it 8/10 but also nominated it for Worst Album at their awards show the following year), the backlash from fans as Razorlight “went commercial”, and the fist-fights between bandmates as they tussled with their newfound success and which direction they should go next. The frontman, who now lives in France, says it all feels like “300 years ago”. In the past he and the rest of the band have been on the outs – drummer Andy Burrows once claimed that working with Borrell was “hell” – but the four original members are returning to their
I ask Borrell what he remembers from that time. “I could not believe what was going on – Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George W Bush… the Iraq War, Afghanistan. And I thought, the military industrial machine of the United States, how could it be any worse?” he says. But no one wanted to talk to him about any of that. In Razorlight’s vintage era, his interviews were the stuff of legend: he proclaimed himself a “genius” in his first interview with NME in 2004, while promoting Razorlight’s debut album Up All Night, then threw in the immortal line: “Dylan is making the chips, I’m drinking the champagne.” (He’s previously insisted he was regularly misquoted.)
I wonder if there was any part of him that relished his status as indie’s cockiest frontman. “Back then there wasn’t any social media, so if you wanted to communicate with your fans in any way, there was no other option,” he shrugs, possibly forgetting MySpace. “Had there been socials back then, I definitely would have stopped doing interviews in about 2005, 2006, because at times I was just furious. When people put what you’ve said across in a way that is just not what you’ve said… that was what was infuriating, and it used to happen all the time.”
Johnny Borrell (third from left): ‘I think the most confusing place I’ve ever been in my life is the mainstream’ (Getty)
It’s no surprise that critics viewed Borrell as an easy target for ridicule, particularly when their second album propelled them from a modest success story – their first album hit No 3 on the charts and spawned a handful of singles, including “Golden Touch” – to a mainstream triumph (so not rock’n’roll). It debuted at No 1 in the UK and also produced their first and only No 1 single, “America”. Critics hated the track: one branded it “soft rock hell” while others criticised what they called “faux- sentiment”, an attempt at serious political commentary from someone they believed had no right to do so. One dissenter was The Independent’s late critic, Andy Gill, who in his five-star review praised the track’s “billowing, Springsteen-esque climax” and the band’s acknowledgement of “a general sense of dissociation from the country’s cultural mores”.
Borrell actually thinks it was more punk rock, in a way, to come out with Razorlight. But fans and the media seemed to take it as him grasping for more album sales, more arena shows. In his review, Gill joked that if all rock musicians had Borrell’s self-
belief, “there wouldn’t be any need for publicists… at times, it seemed as if the band were prospering by sheer force of (his) will”. And a friend once said, anonymously to The Independent, that in spite of a culture in the UK where we knock success, “Johnny Borrell has made no bones about wanting to be the biggest and the world. That kind of attitude is not a British thing. And so they knock him for it”.
Twenty years later, Borrell remembers the music press’s reaction to the album being overwhelmingly positive, although one writeup in Rolling Stone stayed in the memory: “A hatchet job… which was a real bitch-slap for us,” he says. At the time, he was more preoccupied by the fame the album brought – by 2007 he was dating movie star Kirsten Dunst and appearing on the cover of British Vogue, shot by Mario Testino. “I think the most confusing place I’ve ever been in my life is the mainstream,” he says. “Because that’s not me… I think there was this idea that Razorlight were the next U2, and I was thinking, ‘No, Razorlight have just made a really interesting record.’ The obvious thing to do after having such huge success with the first album would be what every indie band does: put on the leather jackets and come back with the same album, but slightly worse and slightly darker.”
In the spotlight: Borrell with Kirsten Dunst at the 2007 Met Gala in New York City (Getty)
Perhaps it’s the French countryside, but Borrell has definitely mellowed. He doesn’t connect with the version of him his friend
spoke to The Independent about: someone who was constantly in the firing line for being open about his (often shirtless) ambition. “I think that’s a weird way of looking at it,” he says, “because that implies you want to outdo other people.” Did he not? “No! I think you just want to do the best that you can do. But there is a certain Britishness to pretending you don’t have any ambition.” He and the band were thrilled with the way the record turned out, from perky opener “In the Morning”, clearly inspired by Blondie’s “Rapture”, to the swaggering, Police-esque “Back to the Start”. Many of the songs still stand up today, however critics felt about Borrell’s lyrics at the time. “I Can’t Stop This Feeling I’ve Got” is gorgeous, and full of a sad kind of yearning. “I had this feeling of having done something irreparable in a relationship, and being at that moment of regret,” Borrell says of what inspired it.
As blokes in our twenties in the 2000s, we certainly weren’t equipped to communicate with each other in any constructive way
Not long after the album’s release, he and drummer Andy Burrows had a bust-up at the Hawley Arms; Burrows quit in 2009, later claiming he and Borrell couldn’t stand one another. “I wish they taught you something useful in schools, I really do,” the frontman says now. “I wish they taught diplomacy, how to listen to other people, how to express yourself. Wouldn’t that be so fucking useful?”
Particularly for men, he thinks, and especially in the peacocking indie scene, it was near-impossible to admit how you were really feeling. “With the right education, you could sit down and say, ‘You know what, I feel really scared, and really fucking worried.’ And it’d be like, ‘Shit, we’re on the same page, what can we do about this?’ But as blokes in our twenties in the 2000s, we
Johnny Borrell
certainly weren’t equipped to communicate with each other in any constructive way.” Instead, he remembers, there was shouting, and sulking, or, if neither of those worked, beating each other up. “All of the worst things. So I think now we’re just a bit better at communicating.”
And they are still going, when so many other of their peers and the bands they inspired faded into obscurity. Meanwhile, Gen-Z have admitted to pining for a time they didn’t get to experience, one before a drunken exploit could make you go viral on TikTok and arguably the last proper “scene” before mass cultural homogenisation ensued. Razorlight provided a national soundtrack for everything from football matches to hit films and TV shows like Gavin and Stacey, The Inbetweeners, and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. As they celebrate 20 years, could Razorlight be heralding a return to the glory days of guitar bands? Stranger things have happened.
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misfortune in Hungary to secure his first win of F1 season
Ferrari's Hamilton loses more ground in title race to Mercedes’ Antonelli who took third place
Philip Duncan
Lando Norris of McLaren claimed his first race victory of the year (Getty)
Lando Norris cashed in on Oscar Piastri’s bizarre collision with a back-marker to win the Hungarian Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton lost further ground to Kimi Antonelli in his bid for a record eighth world championship.
Norris surrendered the lead to Piastri following a sloppy start from pole position, but he took advantage of his McLaren team- mate tangling with Carlos Sainz – as he attempted to put a lap on
Piastri ran off the road after his front-right tyre made contact with the rear-left of Sainz’s Williams, losing him up to two seconds.
Oscar Piastri gave up the lead on lap 32 when he went in for his pit-stop (AP)
Norris immediately stopped for tyres and emerged in the net lead. Norris then passed Antonelli on lap 46 before cantering to the chequered flag.
Max Verstappen finished second, with Antonelli a place back in third, allowing the Italian teenager to increase his title advantage over Hamilton from 45 points to 50.
Hamilton, who will surely be left questioning Ferrari’s strategy, after he stopped for tyres one more time than Verstappen and championship rival Antonelli, finished fourth but a five-second penalty for pit-lane speeding demoted him to fifth behind team- mate Charles Leclerc on an afternoon which promised so much more.
Norris excelled off the line and kept the chasing pack behind at the opening corner only to carry too much speed into the next bend, running wide and allowing Piastri to sneak through.
Leclerc, who started between the McLaren drivers, slipped back from second to fifth with Verstappen and Hamilton moving up to third and fourth respectively.
Lewis Hamilton was left to rue his team’s tactics (Getty)
Hamilton, on the speediest soft tyre compound, set about harassing Verstappen with the Red Bull driver having to defend for his life. Hamilton’s right-front tyre slapped Verstappen’s rear- left through the third bend but both drivers escaped without damage.
For Russell, it was another chapter in his bad-luck story. His new Mercedes engine went into anti-stall as the lights went out, leaving him 19th at the end of lap one. Russell was up to 12th by the start of the 10th lap, and then ninth after his first pit stop.
“Max is really slow,” bemoaned Hamilton, unable to find a way past Verstappen. Hamilton attempted the undercut by stopping one lap before Verstappen, and it worked. However, Verstappen caught Hamilton off-guard to snatch the place back at the first corner – a turn renamed after Verstappen’s father-in-law, Nelson Piquet. A major blow for Hamilton having initially made the strategy work.
Norris was hot in his pursuit of Piastri and challenged McLaren to order the Australian out of his way. Piastri gave up the lead on lap 32 when he came in for his pit-stop, and six laps later his afternoon bizarrely unravelled. Sainz was preoccupied in his duel with Fernando Alonso for 15th and ignored the blue flags to ram a mystified Piastri off the road.
Having been in hot pursuit of team-mate Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris upstaged him as he left the pit lane (Getty)
“Get out of the f** way you idiot, oh my God,” yelled Piastri. The Australian could not believe what had unfolded in front of him but for Norris it was the ideal opportunity to snatch the lead. He did not hesitate to change tyres and rejoined ahead of Piastri.
“Oscar, that’s Sainz that cost us that,” said Tom Stallard, Piastri’s race engineer. “Oh mate, just don’t even f** talk to me,” he replied.
It would get worse for Piastri when his gearbox expired with 14 laps remaining. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed and Norris was able to dive in for a third pit-stop and retain the lead.
PA
Hamilton pitted for second – presumably Ferrari fearing his rubber would not last to the end – but came out behind Verstappen and alongside Antonelli. Hamilton cleared Antonelli but was then told to give the position back with the Mercedes adjudged to have been ahead.
Hamilton was then handed a late five-second penalty for speeding in the pit-lane – in his haste to emerge from his third stop ahead of Antonelli – and he crossed the line only 4.3 sec ahead of Leclerc to lose fourth place. “Handing out penalties like crazy,” said Hamilton on the radio, the 41-year-old’s fourth sanction by the stewards in three rounds.
Hamilton will have hoped to slash Antonelli’s championship advantage, but he will head into the summer break with a greater deficit to turn around when the season resumes in the Netherlands on 23 August – the first of a scheduled 12 rounds still remaining.
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boxing drama overshadows the dreams of the big men
Rivals fail to impress in their warm-up fights and now their long overdue bout is moving closer to collapse
Steve Bunce in Jeddah
Anthony Joshua climbed off the canvas to avoid a major upset in Jeddah (PA)
Tyson Fury won first in seven rounds on Friday, the next night Anthony Joshua won in two rounds, but that does not tell the story of an extraordinary weekend of fights.
The pair have agreed to fight each other later this year in a massive, and long overdue, showdown. The harsh truth is that neither victory was impressive.
Fury looked sluggish and Joshua was dropped twice by Kristian Prenga in the opening round before recovering his senses to deliver a stunning knockout.
However, there is still no date, no venue and not even confirmation of a country for their fight. The original signed contracts from two months ago are close to being ripped up; the contracts are only valid if their fight takes place in Britain.
The pair have been linked since they both held versions of the world heavyweight title at the same time in the summer of 2016; it is one of boxing’s longest running sagas, a potentially great fight that is now moving ever closer to collapse.
Tyson Fury was not at Joshua’s fight on Saturday after competing in front of 1,500 fans in Thailand (PA)
Joshua was having his first fight since the fatal car crash last December in Lagos; two of Joshua’s closest friends died in the crash, Joshua survived.
He entered the ring in Jeddah looking calm and relaxed, but was sent sprawling by a short right uppercut in the opening 15 seconds. He looked badly hurt, both stunned and dazed. He
recovered his feet, was staggered several more times and then touched down again for a second knockdown. The Fury fight looked over. Fury was expected at ringside but never showed. Joshua survived the round – just.
In round two, Prenga never threw a punch, Joshua recovered and knocked out the Albanian with about 20 seconds of the round left. Prenga was out cold, Joshua was ecstatic. It was an impressive comeback.
Joshua leant on his heart, but a showdown with Fury still has hurdles to overcome (AP)
In Pattaya, Thailand, the night before, Fury finally forced the ageing and hulking Polish veteran, Mariusz Wach to quit at the end of seven rounds. It was not vintage Fury, but it was enough on the night in front of a lively crowd at a Muay Thai stadium. The fight was not shown live and will instead be part of a Netflix series about family life in the Fury household.
The consensus, during the past three weeks, was that they would both win their warm-up fights, then Fury would arrive at ringside in Jeddah after a 4,000km journey, Joshua would invite him to the ring, they would face off and announce a date and a
venue; the plan seemed to start unravelling when it was clear that New York and Las Vegas were also contenders to stage the fight. Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed the contracts – signed by both boxers – were for a fight in Britain only.
“I will fight him anywhere,” insisted Fury. “I just can’t see him in the corner opposite me.”
Fury has long insisted that Joshua will never fight him; Joshua has laughed at the slight. “He’s the one that keeps retiring – I’ve never gone anywhere,” countered Joshua.
Meanwhile, Fury’s business manager, Spencer Brown, did make the arduous journey from ringside in Pattaya to ringside in Jeddah, and was confident the fight will take place. “It’s 100 per cent happening – there will be big news soon,” he insisted.
Nobody expected Joshua to come so close to defeat in a fight that looked like a sensible match, but a mismatch; Prenga came close to ruining the big dreams of the big men.
The fight will be announced in the next week or two, and that will be long enough for everybody involved to look forward, and not back at the two scraps at the very heart of a truly bizarre weekend.
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Mayo supporters celebrate winning the Sam Maguire Cup after losing 11 Gaelic football finals in a row (Getty)
Mayo win All-Ireland final to end 75-year wait
County Mayo have won the All-Ireland final for the first time in 75 years, breaking one of sport’s most famous droughts and lifting their “curse”. Mayo defeated favourites Kerry in a thrilling final at Croke Park to end generations of heartbreak for the west- Ireland county.
Mayo had lost 11 finals in a row since their last Gaelic football title in 1951, which is when the “curse” was said to begin. According to the legend, the 1951-winning team were travelling home from Dublin on the back of a lorry when their celebrations disrupted a funeral. The priest presiding over the funeral said Mayo would not win another All-Ireland title while any member of the team was still alive.
But the last member of the 1951 side, Dr Mick Loftus, died in 2023, with Mayo returning to the All-Ireland final for the first time since 2021 when they took on Kerry yesterday. Kerry, the record 39-time winners and defending champions, attempted a late comeback but could not prevent Mayo from taking home the Sam Maguire Cup (Kerry 1-17 Mayo 1-20).
Mayo captain Jack Coyne told the BBC: “This is the stuff of dreams. To every Mayo boy or girl around the world, dream big things. Everything is possible and we showed that today. The saying is keep the faith. We kept the faith. We’re All-Ireland champions.”
Pogacar makes history as Van der Poel wins finale
Mathieu van der Poel won a thrilling final stage of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar sealed a record-equalling fifth overall title on the streets of Paris.
Van der Poel and Pogacar attacked on each of the three times up the cobbled climb to Montmartre and the two of them desperately fought to hold off the peloton over 10 gruelling final kilometres before the line. But where Pogacar faded, caught with less than 400 metres to go, Van der Poel powered on to win it by just a bike length as the chasing pack bore down – with his Alpecin-Premier Tech team-mate Jasper Philipsen snatching second. It was the second straight year in which Pogacar attempted to crown a Tour title with a stage win in Paris, and the second where he fell narrowly short having lost out to Wout van Aert 12 months ago.
His final margin of victory was six minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Evenepoel, with Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Isaac del Toro completing the podium ahead of French teenager Paul Seixas. “It was an amazing day,” Pogacar said. “Every victory is really special. Seven Tours already and seven times on the podium, five wins, it’s something that you
Gomez injured in Liverpool’s first win under Iraola
Andoni Iraola said an injury to Joe Gomez was the “worst news” after he began his Liverpool reign with a 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville. Gomez was forced off within 10 minutes of Liverpool’s first friendly of pre-season after appearing to suffer a muscle issue.
Gomez has struggled with injuries throughout his time at Anfield. His latest setback means Liverpool’s defensive options are thin, with captain Virgil van Dijk yet to return following the World Cup. New signing Jeremy Jacquet is still building up his fitness, while Giovanni Leoni is recovering from his ACL injury suffered early last season.
“Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe,” Iraola said after the win. “We were happy because we were kind of going through all the training without losing any player. Unluckily for us, straight away we’ve lost Joe.”
Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa, Kieran Morrison and Lewis Koumas secured a 4-2 win for Liverpool, who will be back in action against Wrexham on Thursday.
Malaysia joins F1 calendar amid Middle East unrest
Malaysia will return to the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 2017 as the sport executes its contingency plan for the second half of the 2026 season. After races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were cancelled in April due to the conflict in the Middle East, F1 was keen to add to its current 22-race calendar and was hopeful of racing in Bahrain in October, in between already scheduled races in Azerbaijan (26 September) and Singapore (11 October).
However, given the recent escalation in the region after the ending of the US-Iran ceasefire, F1 bosses were forced to seek alternatives, and the Sepang International Circuit, just outside Kuala Lumpur, is the option they’ve landed on.
Malaysia withdrew from the sport in 2017 when they couldn’t match the host fees required, yet the racetrack is still used regularly for other series such as MotoGP. In this instance, its proximity to Singapore means a Europe-Asia triple-header, over the last weekend in September and the first two weekends in October, added to its feasibility. However, and rather oddly, it will be known as the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia for contractual reasons.
Idi Amin’s grandson seeks Commonwealth medal
The grandson of Idi Amin, the former Ugandan dictator and self- proclaimed “King of Scotland”, is vying to progress into the medal rounds of Commonwealth Games boxing competition in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Aziz Abdul, known as “Ringo”, is not shy of his family connection to Amin, the brutal military dictator who seized power in 1971, killing up to 500,000 people and expelling Uganda’s entire Asian population before he was deposed and sent into exile eight years later.
Amin was an accomplished boxer who held the Ugandan light- heavyweight title for nine consecutive years. Having lost a bout to rival Peter Sseruwagi in 1958, he orchestrated a rematch after becoming president, delivering a staged knockout of his opponent while still wearing his suit jacket and tie. “My grandfather’s achievements inspired me,” said 25-year-old Aziz. “He was a heavyweight boxer like myself, and I am so proud of him.”
Aziz hails from the same remote West Nile region as his grandfather, who died in 2003, and displays the same bullish confidence despite a daunting draw. He’s pitted against Damar Thomas, a 21-year-old European youth champion who is aiming to become the fourth consecutive English winner of the super- heavyweight title.
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Back, Aziz Abdul, Bahrain Grand Prix, Bedfordshire Police, Berlin Pride
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