Dolly Parton 1946-2026 | Stars have lined up to pay tribute to Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country, after the singer and actress died yesterday, aged 80. Curtain falls for country icon, page 3

Wednesday August 26 2026 | thetimes.com | No 75121

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Pursuit of net zero has failed to cut manufacturers' energy bills

Geraldine Scott Assistant Political Editor

Britain's rush to net zero has failed to deliver cheaper energy, according to a report that found large manufacturers pay about four times more for electricity as rivals overseas.

The latest rise in the household energy price cap will be announced today, after a 13 per cent increase on

July 1. Cornwall Insight, an energy consultancy, said the next change, which will take effect in October, would bring prices to their highest level for three years.

Civitas, the think tank, said Britain had made some of the fastest progress in decarbonising its electricity system, but faced the highest industrial power prices for more than a decade among big manufacturing economies. Its report found industrial users paid an average of £238 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for electricity last year. The average was £138 in Germany, £112 in France, £73 in India, £65 in the United States and £44 in China.

Researchers calculated that British manufacturers spent £16.6 billion directly on energy in 2024, which would have been £5.2 billion if they had paid American industrial electricity and gas prices — a saving of £11.4 billion, or 69 per cent.

Officials questioned the accuracy of comparing costs with the US because it does not report to the International Energy Agency. Civitas, which said its researchers had analysed data from the US Energy Information Administration, acknowledged in its report that international figures were drawn from different sources, including potential differences in taxes and other levies.

The UK household energy price cap limits how much suppliers can charge for a unit of energy and the standing charge, which is paid whether or not you use energy that day. It is expected Continued on page 6

'Boycott' fears over Burnham's Israel plan

West Bank settlement sanctions split Labour

Steven Swinford Political Editor Aubrey Allegretti

Chief Political Correspondent

Andy Burnham is poised to announce “robust” sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank despite warnings they could spiral into a “de facto boycott” of the country.

The prime minister wants to strengthen the government's approach in response to Israeli plans to open tenders to construct 1,200 settler homes. Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, said Israel's plans would in effect cut the West Bank in two and destroy any hope of a two-state solution.

A senior government source told The Times that Burnham wanted to take a far more “robust” position than his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer. The source expected him to approve plans for a trade ban on Israeli settlements and the sanctioning of individuals.

Officials have warned, however, that distinguishing between goods from the settlements and goods from Israel would be challenging, and that a ban on services would be impractical.

They added there was a significant risk that “legitimate” Israeli businesses would be hit by the ban and it risked undermining trade with Israel more broadly. They also raised concerns that Palestinian businesses in occupied territories could be hit by the sanctions.

The issue has divided Labour. More than 140 Labour MPs, equivalent to about a third of the party, signed a letter calling for the government to ban trade with Israeli settlements. Supporters of the ban are also preparing to table a motion at Labour's conference next month. Burnham is expected to make the announcement before then to avoid the issue overshadowing his first conference as leader.

Labour Friends of Israel, which includes senior Labour MPs and peers, said it “strongly opposes” the Israeli settlements and supported “calibrated steps against extremist settlers and extremist settler groups”.

But it added: "A boycott of trade with settlements is practically impossible and will become a de facto boycott of all of Israel, which would be deeply damaging to the UK national interest, the British Jewish community and Palestinian workers.

“Moreover, with a general election [in Israel] on October 27, there is a real risk that untargeted action feeds the ‘siege mentality’ of the Israeli right and is thus politically damaging to Israel’s opposition, which is leading in the polls and will bring about a substantive change in direction.”

Burnham has repeatedly signalled he wants to take a stronger approach on Israel. Shortly before he became prime minister, he said: "I know that many people feel that at the start of Israel's Continued on page 2

PAUL HARRIS/GETTY IMAGES

US refuses to confirm CIA chief's visit to Moscow

Marc Bennetts

When a US military transport aircraft landed at Vnukovo airport in Moscow yesterday, it was not clear who was on board or why.

The mystery only deepened when a motorcade with US diplomatic number plates was spotted driving into the Russian capital.

Dmitry Peskov, President Putin's spokesman, declined to comment, but insisted no meetings were planned with American officials this week.

Shortly afterwards, CBS reported that the aircraft was carrying John Ratcliffe, the head of the CIA, on his first trip to Russia since being appointed by President Trump after his return to the White House last year.

The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III took off from Joint Base Andrews near Washington and made a stopover in Latvia before moving on to Moscow, flight data showed. It left Russia hours after it had landed. Neither American nor Russian officials said if Ratcliffe was on board.

The US had informed Ukraine that a senior delegation was travelling to Moscow and asked Kyiv to suspend strikes on the city until the group had left, Axios reported.

The purpose of the visit remains unclear. There has been speculation that Ratcliffe could be seeking to revive stalled talks on the war in Ukraine, or to oversee the release of American citizens from Russian prisons.

Unconfirmed reports in Russia and Ukraine said Ratcliffe would meet Putin, possibly for talks on a halt by both countries to strikes on energy infrastructure.

Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy for peace missions, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, were due in Russia this month for talks on the war, but these were postponed because it was felt they had no chance of success.

Ivan Timofeev, the head of the Russian International Affairs Council, a Kremlin-backed think tank, said: "Any Continued on page 2

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4.20pm Richard Nephew, President Biden's global anti-corruption tsar

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Birmingham plans to become England's first 20mph city

Joe Palmer

Birmingham is aiming to become England's first 20mph city by lowering speed limits on most of its roads.

The council has announced that it is pushing for all routes classified below A-roads to become 20mph zones.

That policy was implemented in 2023 across Wales, which was governed by Labour. In the year after the lower limit was introduced about 100 fewer people were killed or seriously injured on 20 and 30mph roads, ministers said.

The policy has since been softened and a number of councils have been re-introducing 30mph limits following widespread backlash.

Richard Holden, the shadow transport secretary, said that left-wing councils had turned 20mph into the “national speed of bureaucracy”.

Welsh Conservatives were also highly critical of the country-wide limit, despite the reduction in deaths. Last year Peter Fox, the Welsh shadow transport secretary, said it “created confusion and frustration for drivers and their current review must address these implementation issues and ensure a more sensible and effective approach”.

Birmingham council's commitment to the 20mph limit was revealed last week in an updated local plan which outlines the Lib Dem, Green, and independent-led authority's vision for the city. The council said it would promote walking and cycling by ensuring that cars “no longer dominate street life”.

Mat MacDonald, Birmingham's road safety commissioner, told the BBC: "Anyone who opposes these measures has to come up with a set of reasons, advantages, and benefits that eclipse the value of the human lives that will be saved by this," he said.

Birmingham, once regarded as the motor capital of Britain, has had plans to expand the rollout of 20mph zones since 2021, but these have been extended to encompass the entire city.

In the plan, which was put out for public consultation last week, the council said: “A limit of 20mph will be standard on all local roads. Residential neighbourhoods and local centres will be places where people are put first. Cars will no longer dominate street life around homes and schools.”

The number of drivers caught speeding in the UK's 20mph zones has trebled in two years, it was revealed last month. Police detected 37,219 drivers breaking 20mph speed limits in 2023, rising to 125,133, two years later — an increase of 235 per cent.

Jex Parkin of Reform UK, leader of Birmingham's opposition, said: "This is another anti-motorist policy from a council that seems determined to make getting around Birmingham harder.

"People already have enough congestion, restrictions and disruption to deal with without another blanket measure being imposed on them."

The Conservatives have also criticised blanket 20mph policies, and in April launched a plan for drivers that included a pledge to end them.

The Department for Transport said in June that 20mph limits “should only be used where they are appropriate and supported by evidence”.

Birmingham city council said: “Evidence from around the world on slower speed limits is very clear: it reduces collisions, saves lives and reduces injuries — so our message is simple: slower is safer.”

The council said its 20mph rollout had so far been done on a “targeted basis in response to local road safety concerns or near to schools”.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Burnham's Israel plan

military action in Gaza, my party didn't get it right, and I am sorry about that." Burnham promised to "do better".

Miliband said last week that Israel's plans, known as the EI settlement project, constituted an “unacceptable and destructive act”.

He said: "El would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from east Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution. Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution.

"In the coming weeks we will set out a comprehensive set of measures to respond to Israeli government policies, protect the viability of the Palestinian state, target sanctions at those who participate in illegal settlement expansion and support a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians."

Spain has imposed a total ban on arms sales to Israel and imports of products originating from “illegal” settlements. Advertising of any such goods is also prohibited under rules issued last September. Ireland passed legislation last month prohibiting the import of goods from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. These policies prompted warnings that the Trump administration, which is seen as Israel’s closest ally, could retaliate by imposing trade restrictions.

Analysis

Dame Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said: "Now is the time to act. We can't put it off any longer ... They're about to put out tenders on the El, which is the final piece of the jigsaw. It will cut the nation of Palestine in half and cut it away from access to Jerusalem.

In his bloodless coup Andy Burnham largely went out of his way to avoid

A way to avoid explicitly criticising his predecessor, with one notable exception — the party's position on Israel (Steven Swinford and Aubrey Allegretti write).

Shortly after entering Downing Street, he issued an apology on Labour's behalf, claiming that the party "didn't get it right" in its initial response to Israel's military action in Gaza.

Now in office, he is prepared to go significantly further. The Times has been told that he is poised to announce a trade ban within weeks on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The issue divides Labour, and officials have raised concerns about the practical difficulties. It is likely to be one of Burnham's most notable foreign policy announcements and would provoke a backlash from Israel and the US.

More broadly, pressure has been put on organisations and businesses to avoid using Israeli-made goods, in protest at the country's occupation of land claimed by Palestinians.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was inspired by the 1980s campaign of economic and cultural boycotts against apartheid South Africa, and has been backed by trade unions and student groups. Some councils have passed motions in support of BDS-aligned goals,

particularly focusing on pension funds with investments in companies linked to West Bank settlements.

In 2020, during President Trump's first administration, Mike Pompeo, his secretary of state, called the campaign "a cancer" and "a manifestation of antisemitism".

Israel claims the BDS campaign is motivated by antisemitism.

Plans by the Conservatives to ban public bodies from imposing boycotts or sanctions on foreign countries were halted abruptly in 2024 when the general election was called.

Burnham will have to navigate these criticisms carefully. Whichever way he turns, it is likely to be a highly contentious decision.

"They are trying to get these contracts signed before the elections, which they may not win. They have said

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CIA chief ‘visits Moscow’

consultations and negotiations require a specific agenda and at least a theoretical prospect of a solution."

Sergey Lavrov, Putin's foreign minister, said at the weekend that Russia would not stop fighting in Ukraine until it had toppled President Zelensky's govthey want to obliterate any chance of a Palestinian state. We have to stop it."

Steve Yemm, the Labour MP for Mansfield, stressed that he strongly opposed the EI development, but added: "A comprehensive ban on trade and financial dealings linked to settlements would raise serious questions about enforceability, territorial definitions

ernment. William Burns, the CIA director under President Biden, visited Russia shortly before its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Putin against going to war.

He also met Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian foreign intelligence service, in Turkey in 2022 to warn the Kremlin against using nuclear weapons.

and unintended consequences for legitimate organisations and individuals."

The government said: “We do not comment on speculation. The foreign secretary has been clear that illegal settlements threaten the viability of a Palestinian state and undermine security for both Israelis and Palestinians.” Politics, pages 6-7

European officials have warned that Putin could be planning to attack a Nato member to test the alliance's resolve. American intelligence staff believe an attack could come in the next few years, The Wall Street Journal reported this month. The Kremlin has denied such reports. Ukraine war effort needs our old

Ukraine war effort needs our old aluminium cans, Thunderer, page 20

News

Curtain falls for Queen of Country

LEON NEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; 20TH CENTURY FOX/GETTY IMAGES

On stage at Glastonbury for the Sunday afternoon legends slot in 2014 and, below, in 1976. Her film career included roles in Rhinestone, left, and 9 to 5, for which she wrote the song of the same name

Dolly Parton, 80, had been forced to cancel a string of shows due to health problems, writes Keiran Southern

Dolly Parton, the country music singer who rose from abject poverty in Appalachia to global superstardom, has died aged 80.

Parton, a powerhouse whose greatest songs include Jolene, I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5, had been suffering from ill health that forced her to cancel performances.

Her death was announced in a video message on social media. A cause of death and the location were not immediately available.

"This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality," Bryan Seaver, her nephew and head of security, said. "I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven't truly felt it until now. It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sad

ness lies with us, not with Dolly."

Seaver said Parton, who was deeply religious, would be reunited with her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March last year. They had been married since 1966. "Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens," Seaver said. He told fans Parton instructed

him that “she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest”. The video message finished with a black-and-white image of Parton alongside the message: “I will always love you.”

President Trump said in a post on Truth Social: "Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period ... Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you." News of Parton's

death came days after she vowed to keep working despite her health problems. She told People magazine that she had a spell of illness in the early 1980s before bouncing

back, "but I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn't years ago". She continued: "I used to joke that I was the Queen of the Tabloids, but now I guess I can say I'm the Queen of Social Media Al! Seriously, though, even though I'm still healin', I'm still workin'! You know me — as I've often said — I've dreamed myself into a corner and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I'm gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life."

In September 2025 she announced the postponement of a six-show residency in Las Vegas that December. In May this year she cancelled the performances, telling fans that she was not ready to return to the stage. Parton's rags-to-riches story could hardly have been more American: her father was an illiterate sharecropper, and she was the fourth of 12 children.

She began her career as a teenager, releasing her debut album in 1967, and went on to win Il Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award.

She was also successful as an actress, starring in 9 to 5 alongside Jane Fonda, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Burt Reynolds, Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone and Steel Magnolias with Julia Roberts.

Fonda said last night that she was “devastated” by her co-star’s death, adding: “Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever.”

Away from film and music, Parton had

dedicated her life to philanthropy. Among her favourite causes was childhood literacy and she donated millions of books via her Imagination Library.

Bill Clinton, the former US president, wrote last night: "Dolly Parton was one of a kind — a great songwriter and performer who told the stories of everyday Americans with honesty, humility and heart. She rose high from her East Tennessee roots and never forgot where she came from. And she always believed in giving back, especially in her efforts to promote literacy. Hillary and I were big fans and first saw her in 1974, and will always be grateful for the music and the memories."

Kacey Musgraves, the Grammy-winning country star, said: "The world

Is a lot less sparkly all of a sudden. So glad she's with her

Carl Dean." Obituary, page 43

Cheap shots couldn't dim the light of a real rock star

Ed Potton Comment

It costs a lot to look this cheap" was her most famous line, but there was a fireball of authenticity under Dolly Parton's slap and bling. One

Parton's slap and bling. One of 12 children born to an illiterate sharecropper and his wife in Tennessee, she said her biggest musical hero was her aunt Dorothy Jo, who played a mean banjo.

Some of Parton's most affecting music drew on her "dirt poor" childhood. "Life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh," she sang in a voice as sharp and slender as a sheaf of barley on My Tennessee Mountain Home in 1973.

"I've never thought of myself as a feminist," Parton told The Times in 2013 — but many others would describe her as one. She pursued her career on her own terms. Another measure of her success is how much she cut through to the non-country world, whether it was unsavoury Eighties comedians joking about the size of her bosom, punters flocking to her Legends slot at Glastonbury in 2014 or drunken karaoke singers murdering her crossover anthems.

Jolene, 9 to 5, Islands in the Stream, I Will Always Love You — how many of her country peers have as many songs that can be hummed by people who wouldn't know the Grand Ole Opry from the Royal Opera House? I Will Always Love You was given a rocket boost when it was covered by Whitney Houston but Parton's original was more poignant, a delicate adieu to Porter Wagoner, her early musical partner, when she went solo.

The Queen of Country considered herself a member of that club above all. When nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 she turned it down, because she didn't see herself as a rock artist. The Hall of Fame's church is broad — its inductees include Abba, the Bee Gees and A Tribe Called Quest. She deserved her place, and eventually relented. The following year she released Rockstar, an album of duets with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Nicks and Lizzo. Of course she was a rock star — tough, funny, moving and utterly herself.

I feared I'd be meeting a diva. Then she flashed me her huge grin

Georgina Roberts

When I asked Dolly Parton last year when she might retire, she told me cheerfully in her southern drawl: "Unless I get sick, I will be working, hopefully, till my last breath. [If] I live to be in my nineties and I'm still standing, I'll be standing in these high heels and I'll still be writing and singing." We now know she did not make it to her nineties, but she was working until the end.

I was so nervous about interviewing her because I worried that such an

A-lister might be standoffish, a diva, or difficult. But she was the complete opposite: warm, open and smiley.

When she appeared on my Zoom screen, sitting on a stool wearing tight jeans and holding a guitar, my first thought was how old-school glamorous she seemed. She cracked jokes, flashing her huge — and I mean huge — grin. #

She had even more make-up on than I did — and revealed that she slept in it when in California. "With the earthquakes ... I never know when you're going to have to run out in the middle of the streets," she said, stressing her desire not to end up on the news looking "like hell, which I do without the make-up".

Her dialled-up look was the exact opposite of the trend my 30-year-old friends and Gen Zers on TikTok are into at the moment — the “clean girl” look, where the aim is to look fresh-faced, like you’re not wearing make-up.

Parton came across as someone who couldn't give a damn about trends or other people's opinions. "As far as how I wear my make-up, how I dress, I don't care what people think," she said. When I asked her whether she had been criticised for her OTT sense of style, she replied: "Oh good lord! All through the years, people have thought that I was too gaudy, too this, too that, but as you can see, that didn't take ... Fashion is a very individual thing, and I've never cared what anybody said."

It was not just the critics she stood up to. When I asked her whether men tried to boss her around during her career, she told me: "Well, it's not easy to boss me around too much." I believed her.

She seemed like someone who would hold her ground and fight her corner.

Of all the celebrities I have interviewed, Parton is the one that most impresses my friends. That's because her memorable songs resonate across generations, even though we are 50 years her junior and most of her biggest hits came out before we were born.

Jolene, recorded in 1973, 20 years before I was born, is a classic we belt out to get fired up for a night out. Now that she has gone, I know what song we'll be putting on this Friday night.

News

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Partial eclipse Hot, dry weather has left the Moon Pond at the Studley Royal Water Garden near Ripon, North Yorkshire, full of pondweed. Five-day forecast, page 49

Running as good as a nap for coping with sleep deprivation

Eleanor Hayward Health Editor

If you are feeling exhausted after a sleepless night, the temptation is often to slump on the sofa while drinking several cups of coffee.

But a new study suggests that going for a jog or doing a short workout may in fact be the best strategy for countering the effects of sleep deprivation, including memory loss.

Researchers at McGill University in Canada found that 20 minutes of exercise was just as effective as a 90-minute nap for keeping the brain sharp while operating without sleep.

They ran a trial involving 54 healthy young adults who were made to stay awake for 30 hours under lab supervision. The volunteers were then assigned to one of three groups, doing a 20-minute cycling session, taking a 90- minute nap or facing control conditions.

They were tested on their memories, being shown a series of images and then asked three days later to recall what they saw. This revealed that those who exercised or napped remembered significantly more images than participants who did neither, scoring 22 per cent higher on average.

The study found that exercise was a "promising tool" to stay sharp for those working night shifts or struggling with insomnia, and it was often easier to implement than a nap.

The group who exercised also did not feel any more tired than those who did not exercise.

Marc Roig, a professor at McGill's physical and occupational therapy school and one of the study's authors, said: "Sleep loss affects nearly every aspect of how we think and function, but many people can't simply stop what they're doing and get more sleep. Our findings show that even a brief bout of exercise may help preserve one of our most important cognitive abilities."

The researchers stressed that “exercise cannot replace the many functions of sleep”, but it might help people function better when getting enough rest was not possible.

Madhura Lotlikar, a study co-author, said: "A nap isn't always possible in the middle of a shift. Exercise is accessible, inexpensive and easy to implement. That makes it a promising tool to help people stay cognitively sharp when sleep is limited."

The research, published in the journal PNAS, found that both exercise and napping protected memory, but through different mechanisms.

Participants had their brain activity recorded, which showed that napping appeared to help the brain recharge, making it easier to take in and remember new information.

By contrast, exercise helped the brain use its remaining resources more efficiently, without making participants feel more tired.

The authors said their findings could be particularly useful for shift workers in safety-critical industries, such as doctors, nurses and transport drivers.

Working night shifts has been shown to increase the risk of several mental and physical health problems, including depression, diabetes and heart disease.

The NHS says that most healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep a night, although the exact amount may differ for each person.

Vaping beats other methods for helping smokers to quit

Poppy Koronka Health Correspondent

Vaping helps people to quit smoking more than any other cessation method, a review has found.

Using e-cigarettes was more effective than other methods such as nicotine gum or spray, researchers have said.

About four more people in 100 had stayed off cigarettes after six months when using vapes, when compared with patches and gum. The analysis of 80 randomised controlled trials, involving nearly 30,000 participants, also found that there was no evidence of serious increased risk of harm from using e-cigarettes and vapes to quit.

While vapes were “unlikely to be completely risk-free”, they were “less harmful than smoking”, experts added as they called on stop smoking services to offer a range of products to help people in their attempts to quit.

"We have very strong evidence that regulated nicotine e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful than smoking," said Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, senior author of the Cochrane Review. "Based on the consistency of the findings, it's clear they are a proven and viable option for people wishing to quit traditional cigarettes. This update includes nine new trials and our main conclusions haven't changed."

Researchers found that vape use “increased quit rates compared to nicotine replacement therapy”, such as gum or patches, with vaping leading to a 61 per cent increased chance of an attempt to quit being successful after six months.

This means that for every 100 people using nicotine e-cigarettes to stop smoking, eight to ten might successfully stop, compared with six of 100 using nicotine-replacement therapy. Vapes containing nicotine outperformed those without, helping more people to quit.

Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive at Action on Smoking and Health, said: "Around two in three people who smoke long term will die from a tobacco related illness, so it's vital we support people to stop smoking.

"This review confirms that vapes are not only a highly effective quit aid, but that they are also far less harmful than smoking and are a key part of reducing the harm from tobacco."

Quintagram® No 2656 Solve all five concise clues using each letter underneath once only 1 Pent-up worry (5)

2 Faint (5)

3 Great success (7)

4 Childish fit of temper (7)

5 Insectivorous nocturnal bird (8)

A	A	A	G	G	H	H	I
I	J	M	M	N	N	N	N
O	O	P	R	R	R	S	S
T	T	T	T	T	U	U	W

Solutions see T2 MindGames p15 Cryptic clues T2 MindGames p14

Killing over fake Rolex

A student who stabbed a former friend through the heart in a row over a fake Rolex has been jailed for ten years. Harper Dennis, 19, attacked Khaleed Oladipo, 20, in Leicester on February 3. A jury at Leicester crown court found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Rom-com's second date

A sequel to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is in the “very early days” of development, with Paramount in search of scriptwriters. Kate Hudson, who will produce with Stacey Sher, and Matthew McConaughey are intended to reprise their roles from the 2003 romantic comedy which made \$177 million, sources confirmed.

Keeler between sheets

A 30-shot contact sheet of a nude Christine Keeler taken by David Bailey will be auctioned at Sworders in Stansted, Essex, on October 6, with a guide price of £1,200. Keeler, who gained infamy after an affair with John Profumo, died aged 75 in 2017. The sheet belonged to a friend of hers.

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Tributes paid to 23-year-old woman found dead in north London

Joe Palmer

The family of a 23-year-old woman found dead in a property in north London say they have been left with “an immeasurable void” in their lives.

Clara Bale, who has been formally identified by police, was found unresponsive at an address in Islington shortly after 9.30am on Thursday, August 6.

Police were called to the address after being told of concerns about a woman's welfare. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Bale was found in a flat in the

36-storey Valencia Tower in Bollinder Place, Islington.

Four women, aged 20, 21, 23 and 26, and two men, aged 21 and 24, who were arrested on suspicion of murder, have since been released on bail while police continue their investigation.

Bale's family paid tribute to her: "Clara was a brilliant young woman filled with dreams, a bright light whose loss has left an immeasurable void in our lives."

They added: "She embodied hope, resilience and love. Her inspiring aura was felt in every room she entered and in every space she had yet to step into. A beloved friend, daughter and sister who cherished life above all else. Our hearts bleed with grief following her loss. We will forever miss her smile, her presence and her humanity."

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Waller said officers had spoken to witnesses and were working to establish the events that led to her death. "I would continue to urge anyone with information, no matter how minor it may seem, to come forward and speak with officers. Every piece of information helps with our investigation," he said.

Reports say that police officers were seen carrying cardboard boxes and

camera equipment into a building. A security guard told The Telegraph: "I spoke to her literally every day. She was really kind. She was a lovely soul. I have a daughter so I keep thinking of her.

"There were so many

Six people were arrested over the death of Clara Bale people coming and going. The police have been taking pictures of everything

even the spa."

Another resident, Michelle You, 30, who has lived in the area for more than two years, said: "My housemate said she saw a guy in handcuffs in the lift and she said there was loads of water on the ground. It was like they had caught him in the shower."

Tates hired supercars so as to appear ‘uber-wealthy’

Jonathan Ames Legal Editor

Andrew Tate and his brother hired supercars to create an “uber-wealthy” façade, their lawyers have told a US court in a hearing about their potential extradition to Britain.

The social media influencers portrayed themselves as far wealthier than they were because their “business model depends on online attention”, lawyers for the brothers said in written submissions to a Florida court.

Officials at the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK announced last month that they would apply to the US government for an extradition order in connection with alleged sexual offences.

After the pair's arrest in Miami last month, the British authorities confirmed they were seeking extradition in relation to Andrew Tate, 39, who has been charged with seven counts of rape, three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 19 charges relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.

Tristan Tate, 38, has been charged with one count of sexual assault, two counts of rape and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Both brothers have dual UK-US citizenship and have denied wrongdoing.

In recent submissions to the court of the southern district of Florida, lawyers from four firms representing the brothers described their business model as dependent on “online attention”.

The remarks came in a hearing assessing a bail application from the brothers, in which their legal team attempted to demonstrate that the Tates were not wealthy and would not therefore be a flight risk.

According to the submissions, “the outrageousness of the posts by them and about them is the point ... The more hyperbolic and outlandish the post, the more likely it will generate views and likes, which in turn generates income. In short, they are playing a role.”

Therefore, the legal team said, images of luxury yachts, supercars and expensive watches posted by the Tate brothers should not be taken as evidence of their wealth.

"A promotional video filmed aboard a yacht is not evidence of title to the yacht," they gave as an example, adding that "the 'superyacht' does not belong to the Tates. They received payment to promote the ship on social media."

The brothers' lawyers went on to argue that "the Tates are engaged in several businesses 'teaching' men

Andrew Tate, right, and above with his brother Tristan, in images on social media that their lawyers say are "outlandish" and not evidence of their wealth

how to earn money" and that therefore it was "in their interest to portray themselves on social media as uberwealthy".

In another example, the lawyers noted that several rented supercars had featured in Tristan Tate's videos, including a £1.5 million Aston Martin and two Bugattis, valued at £3.7 million and £5 million each.

Andrew Tate is being sued in England by four women in civil law allegations of sexual violence. Lawyers for him have said he denies wrongdoing. Three of the women bringing the claims reported allegations of rape and sexual assault against Tate to Hertfordshire police in 2014 and 2015. The case concluded in 2019 without charges. The civil trial was adjourned in May after the force said it would reinvestigate the alleged offences.

In July, Malcolm McHaffie, a senior CPS official, said the decision to charge the Tate brothers "followed receipt of a further file of evidence from Bedfordshire police and bring the total number of alleged victims in this case to seven".

Matt Jury of McCue Jury & Partners, which represents four of the British alleged victims of Andrew Tate, said at the time that the influencer was “facing the real prospect of extradition to the UK after years of public campaigning by the four British women I represent”.

The Tate brothers are also facing legal proceedings in Romania. They were set to be extradited to the UK once those proceedings had concluded but Bedfordshire police secured European arrest warrants for the pair in 2024.

Three-year-old 'thrown to crocodiles' is back home

Seren Hughes

The three-year-old boy allegedly thrown into a crocodile enclosure at a Cambridgeshire zoo has been discharged from hospital after undergoing seven operations.

The boy was seriously injured after a 30-year-old man allegedly lifted him over a fence and threw him into the crocodile enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst zoo, near Huntingdon, on June 18. He is believed to have fallen about 15ft, before being bitten by a crocodile.

The man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the incident, but was assessed as unfit for interview and was released on bail. An investigation has been launched into his care.

The child suffered serious injuries including tendon, nerve, blood vessel and tissue damage as well as broken bones in his arms, neck, head and face.

He underwent 12 hours of surgery after being admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital. In July a graft procedure replaced part of a nerve that was missing in his left arm.

One of the crocodiles at Old Hurst zoo is said to have bitten the boy

The boy was discharged from hospital "a few weeks ago" and his rehabilitation continues at home, his family said.

They added: "He is happy to be home, playing with his toys, sleeping in his own bed and being a big brother. It is nice to have us all back together."

The boy's parents previously said he had limited movement in three of his left fingers and none in his right fingers, but it would take months for his nerves to heal.

They also shared how they lived at the hospital for weeks to support their son while also juggling a newborn baby. Both have taken time off work.

A fundraiser set up to support the family has raised more than £113,000. In an update shared on their GoFund-Me page, the parents said the donations had helped to cover their loss of wages and pay for their bills and mortgage.

They also detailed the donations made to the hospital and charities that helped them, including toys for the paediatric intensive care unit.

News Politics

UK ‘needs a new fiscal contract’ for ageing population

Ben Clatworthy Whitehall Editor Mehreen Khan Economics Editor

Britain should shift taxes away from young workers and on to older people and property, an influential think tank has said.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says such a move is required to address the rising costs of an older population. Ageing is on track to account for almost 80 per cent of the additional fiscal pressure facing the UK by 2075.

The paper, written by Ben Ansell, a professor at the University of Oxford, calls for a new “fiscal contract” to manage the additional costs and suggests extending national insurance to older earners, and replacing council tax and stamp duty with a single proportional property tax.

He wrote: “Britain cannot meet the fiscal challenges of the coming decades simply by asking people in work to pay more and relying on another round of stealth taxes.”

The proportion of over-65s in the UK is on course to rise from 18 per cent in 2024 to 27 per cent by 2075. This implies increases in spending on the state pension and health and social care to almost 10 per cent of GDP, or more than £320 billion, over the next four decades.

Andy Burnham has refused to rule out tax rises in the budget this autumn, telling reporters this week that he “won’t be unrealistic” about the state of the public finances.

Questions remain over how some Labour promises, including a £5 billion increase in defence spending and Burnham's plans for major reforms to the social care system, will be paid for.

Ansell said policymakers could no longer keep relying on “people in work to pay more” to support a larger state and that there should be a shift towards taxation of wealth and property.

"Ageing is going to become by far the biggest source of pressure on the public finances," he said. "Yet our tax system has increasingly shifted responsibility towards younger workers, while protecting many of those who have benefited most from decades of rising property and asset wealth.

Andy Burnham has said he "won't be unrealistic" about public finances

“Reform is politically difficult, but avoiding it has simply given Britain an ever more complicated tax system. We need a new fiscal contract: one that raises the revenue the country will need, shifts more of the burden from work towards wealth and property, and is honest with the public about who pays and why.”

The report says that all industrialised societies now face the “challenge of an ageing population”, with the percentage of over-65s in Britain having risen from 14 per cent in 1974 to 18 per cent in 2024. By 2074, it is expected to be 27 per cent.

“Assuming benefits remain the same, that would push the cost of the state pension from 5 per cent of GDP to 7.7 per cent,” it says.

“Adding in healthcare costs — rising with age — and social care, some estimates have the fiscal impact of ageing adding up to almost an extra 10 per cent of GDP by 2075.”

While benefits for older Britons are expected to become costlier, the IPPR says they are among the most tax-advantaged groups, largely because they do not pay national insurance.

The report argues that the “hardest hit” by recent decades of British fiscal policymaking have been those in work, “particularly younger people repaying student loans through the tax system” who also struggle to afford housing comparable to that of their parents and grandparents.

The government's fiscal headroom has been eroded by a sharp rise in government borrowing costs since March and is likely to force John Healey to find new tax revenues this autumn.

Ansell said the new fiscal contract should involve replacing council tax and stamp duty with a property tax that rises in proportion to home values, and taxing capital gains at the same rate as income tax. Older workers above the state pension age should also have to pay national insurance, he added.

The proportional property tax should be set at a rate of about 0.65 per cent, his report says.

Burnham has already ruled out any major changes to stamp duty in the budget. It has been reported, however, that he may consider lowering the threshold for the new mansion tax to properties worth £1.5 million. The current plan is for the council tax surcharge to be levied on homes worth more than £2 million from 2028.

The prime minister also said he would stick to the manifesto promise not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance and that Labour still wanted to invest in the long-term productive capacities of the economy. The government is looking at boosting spending using public financial institutions such as the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank.

Ansell also argued that more work needs to be done to prepare for an artificial intelligence-driven economy, in which companies no longer need the current levels of employment, and how taxes should be levied on the AI industry.

Net zero rush fails to cut energy bills

Continued from page 1 to rise by about 4 per cent from October, taking the annual bill for a typical household from £1,663 to about £1,730.

The increase would more than wipe out the £44 yearly saving from scrapping the 5 per cent VAT charge on electricity, which is also takes effect in October. The tax cut was one of Andy Burnham's first decisions as prime minister, and had been billed as giving families "breathing space" this winter.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, insisted that accelerating the move to renewables would bring prices down, but also suggested that standing charges could be reformed. She said gas had set the electricity price about 90 per cent of the time in the early 2020s but now did so about 60 per cent of the time, falling to 50 per cent by 2030.

"We are taking decisive action to break the link between gas and electricity prices," she said during a question and answer session on Reddit, the social media platform. "More renewables will mean that gas is setting the price less of the time. That's why our drive to clean power is so important."

Ministers have said the expansion of cheaper renewable power is the route to lower bills but have not always explained that those savings depend on how much power generation remains exposed to gas-linked wholesale prices. Britain's high energy costs are due in part to its reliance on gas, which sets the wholesale electricity price even when cheaper renewable power is used.

Civitas found Britain has also put unusually large costs, such as green levies, on bills to pay for renewable infrastructure and other policies. Some countries offer large industrial users greater discounts on network charges. Mike McWilliams, one of the authors of the Civitas report, said: "Some of our high energy costs are due to mistakes made in the past which cannot now be practically rectified. And some reflect geography — despite the current heatwave, we are unlikely to have [such] cheap solar power long-term as [in] Spain. However, there is scope to reduce energy prices without prejudicing the 2050 net zero target through better planning, changing our regulatory mechanism and making best use of our exceptional energy resources."

A government spokesperson said: "Clean power is key to how we bring down bills for good ... our business industrial competitiveness scheme will reduce electricity bills by up to 25 per cent for over 10,000 manufacturing businesses."

John Healey, the chancellor, third from left, and Treasury ministers in high Window from the effects of high temperatures; Rishi Sunak is still feeling the

Focus on Israel to beat Labour, Greens tell leader

tinue, making it "harder to build on" recent electoral gains.

Aubrey Allegretti

Chief Political Correspondent

Zack Polanski is under pressure from Green activists to take more radical left-wing stances to halt the rising popularity of Labour.

Senior grassroots figures have said there is evidence of “considerably less” support for the Greens since Andy Burnham became Labour leader and prime minister last month. The activists have tabled a motion for their party conference, for debate in early October, that says the trend will probably con-

If adopted, the motion would force the Green Party Council — which helps to set the party's political direction — to rewrite the advice given to regional organisers about local election campaigning, such as leafleting.

It says that campaigning should highlight the Greens' plan to introduce a wealth tax and also criticise Labour for allowing the sale of arms to Israel and for its stance on climate change.

The five-page motion, seen by The Times, warns that “unless the key dif-

SIMON WALKER/HM TREASURY; SHAUN CURRY; BEN DANCE/FCDO; BACKGRID

spirits at No 11. Katie White, the energy minister, below left, visited York Minster, which is seeking to protect its Rose effects of a skiing injury at Easter; Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, hosted Prolisok, a Ukrainian group of dancers

ferences in our national policies and principles to those of Labour are also frequently referenced, conference believes that we are likely to see a period of stagnation for the Green vote in local elections".

It adds: "If we are to flip Labour voters likely to vote Green in local elections, campaigning material must refer to some key national issues in addition to local issues, stressing that there will be no real change under Burnham."

The motion was backed by Animah Kosai, a member of the Green Party council, Mark Shotte, Stephanie Diffey and Steven Campbell-Robb, a Green councillor in Norfolk.

Concern was raised by the group about the “very likely” prospect of a Burnham bounce. In the Greater Manchester mayoralty by-election there were “considerably less votes for the Green Party candidate than we hoped for".

Labour comfortably won the vote, held days after Burnham became prime minister, bucking recent trends and national polls. The Greens were pushed into third place on 12.2 per cent, behind Reform UK. The “main voters” the Greens needed to “flip” would mostly be “giving Burnham a chance, rather than switching to us”, the motion said.

It was submitted as a “late motion” on August 18. These are allowed to be considered after the official deadline for points of discussion has passed under Green party rules for issues that relate to events that happened after the cut-off.

Motions will be debated and voted on at the Greens' autumn conference, in Brighton. The meeting will take place just over a year since Polanski's election as leader, having helped oversee a more than three-fold increase in the party's membership with his “eco-populist” platform.

The attempt to make the Greens take more stringent stances against Labour on national issues will be seen as a reflection of growing tensions over how to take on Burnham.

Some senior figures believe the party has been too timid to brave potentially alienating traditional environmentally minded but socially conservative-leaning voters, by seeking to attract more socially liberal ones on the left.

The party has also said it would immediately suspend all arms export licences and military collaboration with Israel if it took power, and voted at its conference in 2024 to recognise the Israeli government as an “apartheid” state.

News

PM refuses to rule out tax rises. What are his options?

Steven Swinford Political Editor Ben Clatworthy Whitehall Editor

Andy Burnham faces having to raise taxes to balance the books in his first budget amid significant pressure on the public finances.

Economists believe that the Iran war has already made the government's fiscal "headroom" — a cushion against future events — fall from £22 billion to about £15 billion.

Burnham has also made several unfunded pledges on the cost of living and needs to find £4.7 billion to fund defence spending. What are the potential options for the budget on October 28?

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

Capital gains tax is levied on the sale of second homes, shares and investments outside an Isa. It is also charged on the sale of “chattels” such as jewellery, antiques and fine art.

Senior allies of Burnham have backed bringing capital gains tax into line with income tax bands. This would mean bringing the 18 per cent and 24 per cent rates currently paid on gains into line with income tax bands of 20 per cent, 40 per cent and 45 per cent.

The trouble is that it may not raise any money. HM Revenue & Customs has previously suggested that a 10 percentage point increase in the higher rate of capital gains tax would reduce revenues by about £3.6 billion. Economists have warned about the “behavioural impact” of wealthy people choosing not to dispose of assets or moving their wealth abroad.

However, there are different approaches. HMRC says that increasing the business asset disposal relief rate by 5 points — a lower rate of tax when people sell their businesses — could raise £840 million. Wes Streeting has pointed to modelling by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax), which claimed that equalising the rates could raise £12 billion a year if ministers close loopholes that allow individuals to disguise income as capital gains.

BANK TAXES

The banks are increasingly concerned that they will be hit by tax rises. Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, has warned John Healey, the chancellor, about the risk of creating a “hostile environment” for banks. Banks could be a tempting target for Burnham and Healey given that the sector has been making big profits.

The Trades Union Congress has urged Healey to increase the surcharge on profits paid by banks, which is 3 per cent on top of the 25 per cent corporation tax rate.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said it would raise £400 million a year for every 1 per cent in the surcharge. But that doesn't account for "behavioural responses", and banks have said that it risks damaging economic growth, leading to lower revenues in the long term.

OIL AND GAS

The war in the Middle East has reignited calls for increased levies on the oil and gas sector given high wholesale energy prices have helped to boost profits. The energy profits levy (EPL) — the windfall tax on

producers — sits at 38 per cent, having been increased by three percentage points in Rachel Reeves's first budget in the autumn of 2024.

Since its introduction in May 2022 the tax has raised £9.1 billion. Healey is facing calls from environmental groups to extend the tax beyond March 2030 and also increase the levy. However, with a headline tax rate of 75 per cent on profits — which comprises corporation tax, a supplementary charge and the windfall tax — the sector has warned that further levies would cause their capital to be diverted to more profitable offshore basins.

COUNCIL TAX AND STAMP DUTY Burnham has previously argued that land is “undertaxed”, branding council tax and stamp duty — which together raise approximately £64 billion a year — as “regressive”. He and Healey could commit to a systemic overhaul or the introduction of a land value tax (LVT), though both would require considerable time to implement.

To calm market jitters, Burnham has ruled out immediate changes to stamp duty or council tax in the upcoming budget. Yet advocates maintain that an LVT — an annual tax levied on the underlying value of the land rather than the property on it — is fairer and could eventually replace stamp duty.

In the absence of an overhaul, the council tax system could be reformed. In England, its bands are based on property valuations dating from 1991, which economists argue has led to a distorted system. In Wales a revaluation is under way and a similar scheme in England could create additional bands so the system more closely tracks valuations.

MANSION TAX

In last year's budget Reeves announced a new mansion tax in the form of a surcharge on the council tax bills of high-value homes. It is due to begin in 2028 on homes worth more than £2 million.

According to Tax Policy Associates, the levy policy is expected to raise about £400 million, hitting 127,000 homes with levies of at least £2,500.

There have been reports that Burnham could lower the threshold to £1.5 million, which would nearly double the number of homes affected to 243,000 and raise revenues to £800 million a year. The policy has undergone a consultation and questions remain about how the mechanics of the tax could work.

WEALTH TAX

Burnham could introduce a comprehensive wealth tax, levied against total net holdings. Such a scheme would be complex and the Treasury is wary of the logistical hurdles of assessing non-cash assets and the threat of wealthy individuals leaving the country.

To counter this, officials could consider policies to deter an exodus. Analysis from CenTax indicates that an “exit tax” on those leaving the UK could be lucrative, with 73 per cent of the receipts coming from the top ten wealthiest departures annually. A milder option would be for Healey to make incremental adjustments to specific asset classes rather than a broad tax on the affluent.

News

Batter luck next time A trailer for The Great British Bake Off, which returns next month, shows its newest judge, Nigella Lawson, beating her fellow stars to a treat

Prisoner recalls ‘fill spaces emptied by release scheme’

Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor

Ministers are being urged to free up prison spaces by reducing the number of former inmates being recalled to jail.

The government's early release scheme is due to free 5,000 prisoners over the next year but there are almost double that number — some 9,900 — in jail after being recalled despite facing no new charges, according to a report by Nacro, a criminal justice charity.

The prisoners have breached their licences for reasons such as missing probation appointments due to illness or publishing posts on Facebook.

Many have been recalled because they were homeless and failed to comply with curfews. Almost 13,000 left prison homeless or as rough sleepers last year. Only a fifth of recalled prisoners had committed a further criminal offence.

The number of people recalled has more than doubled in the past five years and at any one time accounts for about 12,500, or one in seven of all prisoners. In the 12 months to March, there were more than 51,000 recalls to custody, compared with 47,000 admissions to prison after sentencing.

Last year nine out of every ten prison beds freed up by people being released were filled by those recalled to custody. In the first three months of this year, for the first time on record, more people were recalled to prison than released.

The recall rate is higher for women, with one for every four women under post-release supervision in the first three months of this year, compared with one recall for every five men.

Prisons are again running out of space — figures released this week show that men's jails are 98 per cent full with only 1,665 spare spaces.

Putting more pressure on spaces is the policy of adding days to a prisoner's sentence for bad behaviour. In the first three months of this year, 26,680 days were added as disciplinary punishments, a total of 73 years.

Measures introduced by the Sentencing Act have been blamed for worsening the recalls crisis. Now recalled prisoners are required to serve a fixed-term period of 56 days before they are automatically released, rather than 14 or 28 days as was the case previously.

Experts have expressed concerns that probation officers are too quick to recall offenders. Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, said too many ex-prisoners were recalled because of “excessive” licensing conditions.

Nacro has urged ministers to overhaul the system to reduce the numbers being put back behind bars for minor breaches of their licence. In one case, a man was recalled for 23 months after breaching a licence condition on Facebook. He was later found to have been a victim of mistaken identity.

In its report The Rise of Recalls, the charity called on the government to introduce a “clear ladder of interventions” for people who commit minor breaches, which would impose an escalating set of punishments with recall used as a last resort. Reoffending would still trigger an automatic recall.

It said the system lacked clarity for probation officers when deciding whether someone should be recalled and there was a lack of guidance about what support should be provided to someone before they were sent back to prison.

Nacro urged the government to set out a joint plan with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to meet a target of halving the proportion of people leaving prison homeless within this parliament and ending it altogether in the long-term.

Too many released prisoners are recalled for no crime, a report found

Enver Solomon, chief executive of Nacro, said: "The power to recall someone to prison plays an important role in protecting the public, but the current scale of recalls is neither sustainable nor effective.

"Addressing the scale of recalls must be a central part of the government's response to the prison capacity crisis. Without this, prison places freed up through earlier releases will simply be filled up again by people recalled to prison.

"The government needs to break the revolving door of custody by addressing the reasons people are recalled and ensuring on release that people have the housing and support they need to re-build their lives."

Campaigners have reiterated warnings about a lack of reassurance over the use of new “restriction zones” to protect victims from violent criminals after their release from jail.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said the measure will only be used on a case-by-case basis and will not be applied automatically. The zones, which could be as small as a few miles, will replace “exclusion zones” which prevented offenders from entering specific areas, such as their victims’ home or workplace. The new approach is designed to give victims more freedom.

It means that some dangerous criminals due for early release under the government's scheme may not be covered automatically by the zones.

Julian Hendy, founder of Hundred Families, a charity that campaigns for victims of mental-health related killings, said: "Our families deserve the same rights as other victims of homicides. Our families should not have to justify where they go in order to feel safe."

The MoJ said: "Less than one in seven offenders in custody are on recall, and it is a vital tool to keep the public safe. The numbers of recalls and first-time releases also can't be compared as the same prisoner can be counted more than once.

"This government inherited prisons in crisis but we are fixing this, reforming the length of time people spend on recall to reduce the prison population, building 14,000 new places, launching the biggest ever expansion of tagging, and giving victims a say in the strict licence conditions of offenders."

Checks on police after Nowak death

An independent inspection into police processes and training following the murder of Henry Nowak has been confirmed.

It will look into the police's effectiveness in responding to incidents of serious violence after issues were raised after the death of Henry, a University of Southampton student. Henry, 18, was on his way home from a night out in December when he was stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23.

Hampshire police officers initially arrested Henry and placed him in handcuffs after Digwa falsely claimed he had been racially abused. Digwa was jailed for a minimum of 21 years in June.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service will consider the end-to-end process through the control room, including call handling, dispatch and attendance at incidents of serious violence.

The inspection will also assess decision-making and risk assessment training, specifically how the organisation supports officers and staff in making sound, impartial judgments free from bias, and where immediate action including first aid is required.

It will not examine the conduct or actions of officers who responded to the December 3 incident, which is subject to a separate investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Caver turns rescuer after surviving fall

A caver left trapped underground for more than 50 hours has returned to the hobby that almost killed him to train as a rescuer.

George Linnane, 42, feared he might die after he fell 50ft from an underground ledge to a depth of 900ft and suffered devastating injuries including a broken leg, wrist and ribs, a shattered jaw, a dislocated collarbone and a ruptured spleen.

His ordeal in the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave in the Brecon Beacons started Britain's biggest rescue in which 250 volunteers saved his life after 54 hours.

He was exploring the cave network with friends from the South Wales Caving Club in November 2021. The group attempted to cross a rock bridge underground which gave way under him.

Linnane, from Bristol, said: "I know it's a cliche, but it all happened so fast, right? So I stepped on this thing and then the world kind of went mad from my perspective and I didn't really understand what was happening."

Linnane said the world went "black" before he regained consciousness and discovered his right leg was in "agony".

He said: "I wasn't sure I was going to make it or not. So I did think I might die in the bottom of that rift and my mind was going between two states."

Rescue teams were eventually able to retrieve Linnane through the “arduous and pain-staking” route out of the cave. The final stage of the extraction was to hoist him up a 30m rope.

Describing himself as “pretty determined and pretty stubborn”, Linnane has now trained to be a cave rescuer to help others as unfortunate as himself.

"I wanted to be fit and strong enough to be of use to a cave rescue team so I could help the next poor soul that this happened to," he added.

Pope and his Nikes praised to high heaven by Vanity Fair

Leo joins Harry Styles and Michaela Coel on the magazine's list of the most fashionable, writes Alex Farber

Nike trainers and a baseball cap are not usually paired with a papal cassock for a style match made in heaven.

But the sartorial combination has won Pope Leo a spot on Vanity Fair's list of the planet's best dressers. The magazine lauded him for propelling his style to "heavenly heights".

The 70-year-old is among the entrants in the US style magazine's first ranking this decade of the most fashionable people in the world this year.

The Pope was listed in "the originals" category. Other categories included "the duos" and "the

has category. Other categories included "the duos" and "the future". Michaela Coel, The actor and writer, Harry Styles, the pop star, and Erling Haaland, the footballer, were commended for being fashion originators and inspirations who are "always on the mood board".

"What the people in this list have in common is that when it comes to personal style, they have it in spades

— that and a singular point of view," Vanity Fair said.

The magazine, under its global editorial director, Mark Guiducci, has proclaimed the last six years to be “this millennium’s Roaring Twenties”.

"This year's list honors those who do more than wear clothes well or live their lives in head-to-toe ensembles handed to them by eager PR apparatchiks," it said.

"They are devout dressers whose appetite for beauty and self-invention is as voracious as their idiosyncratic taste.

"The inductees transcend generations, occupations, and sensibilities. They are as passionate about a vintage French chore jacket or a thrifted pair of earrings as they are beguiled by the charms of haute couture."

Leo, whose occupation was drily listed by the magazine as “head of the Catholic Church”, was feted for his effortless chic which has not been dented by his election last year.

"Even prior to the papacy, Leo, [formerly known as] Father Bob, took his modest cream cassock to heavenly heights by pairing them with Nikes," it said. "His fashion claim to fame:

The Pope was praised for matching trainers with his papal robes. From left, Michaela Coel, Jacob Elordi and Teyana Taylor made the best-dressed list

Leo has kept his sense of wry casualness, sometimes sporting baseball caps."

Other names that featured on the list were more predictable.

Styles's bold choice of "running shorts in every context" caught the eye of editors. "He understands the power of short shorts and knows how to wear a tie, sometimes at the same time," they said. "A tiny pair of shorts and a hulking tie, plus a white dress shirt and a blazer, all by Charles Jeffrey Loverboy."

Other notable labels favoured by Styles, 32, include Valentino, Dior, Celine, Prada and Adidas.

Coel, creator of BBC drama I May Destroy You, was described as "undaunted". The 38-year-old's bold choices encompassing brands Givenchy, Schiaparelli and Loewe gained acclaim. "Colourblocking and some extra fabric here and there ... such proficient use of colour and volume requires a sense of adventure," said Vanity Fair.

Haaland, the Manchester City and Norway striker, 26, attracted attention for his collection of Birkin bags, previously estimated to be worth up to £235,000, placing him in “the future” category.

Vanity Fair stylists were also im-

They wear it well

Best dressed
Michaela Coel (actress)
Jacob Elordi (actor)
Paloma Elsesser (model)
Frida Escobedo (architect)
Louisa Jacobson (actress)
Hunter Schafer (actress)
Harry Styles (singer)
Teyana Taylor (actress)
Anna Weyant (artist)

The originals Hilton Als (writer) Björk (singer) Thelma Golden (museum director) Spike Lee (film-maker) Pope Leo XIV (head of the Catholic church) Alysa Liu (Olympic skater) Colby Mugrabi (entrepreneur) Sandy Powell (costume designer) Rosalía (singer) Yseult (singer)

pressed by the “white silky suit and draped scarf” he donned for a post-World Cup Dolce & Gabbana Alta Sartoria event in Sicily.

It is unclear whether his decision to shear off his long hair in favour of a buzz cut since Vanity Fair compiled its list will prevent him from returning next year. "His fashion claim to fame: being an athlete with a Birkin bag obsession and his blond man bun," it said.

The singer Olivia Dean, 27, also made "the future" list after Chanel, Alaïa, and McQueen all "outfitted" her in custom dresses during her breakout year.

And the James Bond contender Jacob Elordi was named as one of the top ten best dressed overall due to his “ability to make a shopping bag look like an It bag”.

His combination of vintage workwear, luxury handbags, and "squeezing a book into the back pocket of a pair of jeans" gave the 29-year-old the "boyfriend" look, according to the title.

Also on the list was Teyana Taylor, 35, the American actress and singer.

Vanity Fair was also critical of some of this year's fashion faux pas.

It took aim at the impact of athleisure, President Trump and tradwives for setting back the style stakes by several decades. "Fashion is moving at breakneck speed, and not all of it, dare we say, is very good," it said.

"The pandemic elevated athleisure to unlikely, undeserving places, including the office and the cocktail bar; the return of Donald Trump to the presidency has exalted bad taste [and] Conservatism disguised as internet buzzwords ... the tradwife, for one, has walked fashion back a few years, or decades."

As Yves Saint Laurent once said: "Fashion fades, style is eternal."

Fringe pricing out working class, warns Dear England creator

Alex Farber Media Correspondent

The Edinburgh Fringe festival has become so expensive that it is letting down the “biggest area of underrepresentation of all, which is class”, says the creator of Dear England.

James Graham, 44, accused the industry of prioritising the wrong areas as bosses seek to make the creative sector more diverse.

"The industry's urgent pursuit of representation is still letting down the biggest area of under-representation of all, which is class, and we should be bold and ambitious about what protections and help can be offered up to address it," he said.

Last week Francesca Moody, the superproducer responsible for the breakout Fringe hits Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, said the cost of bringing a show to the festival had risen to a “crippling” £100,000 — ten times 2013’s cost.

Graham, who is responsible for Make It Happen, a satire about the role the Royal Bank of Scotland played in the 2008 financial crisis, said the opportunity for playwrights to showcase their work in Edinburgh had gone backwards since he made his debut with Coal Not Dole in 2002. "My first ever full-length play was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe — and it was completely transformative for me in terms of my confidence and steep learning curve. Even back then, coming from a working-class family, I had to postpone going up a year to work to earn the funds that others around me seemed to have," he said.

"The version of ‘me’ today wouldn't get anywhere close to affording it now, and so what was once an egalitarian, open-to-all testing ground for anyone and everyone is now pricing out the majority of young talent, which is so upsetting."

Delivering the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival two years ago, Graham highlighted that just 8 per cent of people working in television had a working-class background, limiting the types of shows which are created.

Sid Gentle Films, the producer of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's drama Killing Eve, went on to pay for a show put on by Rare Studios, a Liverpool acting school, at this year's Fringe.

Sally Woodward Gentle, the founder of Sid Gentle, said: "Edinburgh was always a breeding ground for TV creatives to uncover new talent but that is increasingly out of the reach of working-class youngsters. What we really wanted was to find a way of helping talented people who didn't necessarily have industry connections or financial support."

The ambition was for the student partnership to result in an annual show in Edinburgh. “Hopefully it creates opportunities, contacts and confidence for people who might otherwise never get through the door,” she said.

"For me, that's what this is really about. Not grand gestures or huge programmes. Just finding brilliant people, opening a door and helping them take the next step through it."

News

Isolated mice offer clue to why lonely men hit bottle

FILMS/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK

Rhys Blakely Science Editor

From the sodden despair of Withnail and I to Nicolas Cage drinking himself towards oblivion in Leaving Las Vegas, in the movies it is often lonely men who turn to the bottle.

Now a study has suggested that social isolation can biologically alter the male brain in ways that encourage drinking, albeit with one important qualification: the males in question were laboratory mice.

Scientists in the United States found that male mice kept alone progressively drank more alcohol whereas isolated female rodents drank less.

The researchers observed, for the first time, a change in the brains of the males that appeared to help drive their greater alcohol intake. They believe the findings, which have been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, may help shed light on how loneliness and alcohol misuse are linked in humans.

Reesha Patel, an assistant professor at Northwestern University, who led the study, said: "This is the first study to identify a specific brain circuit that explains how social isolation can drive increased alcohol use in males, marking a major advance for the field. These findings provide a much clearer biological target for understanding and eventually treating alcohol misuse that arises from isolation, a problem that is becoming increasingly common."

The study began by housing adult male and female mice in groups. Some were then moved into individual cages, where they were isolated, while the others remained living in groups with companions.

Each day, the animals were given an hour in which they could choose between plain water and a solution containing 15 per cent alcohol, making it equivalent in strength to a high-alcohol wine. Over the course of two weeks the isolated males steadily increased their alcohol intake. The females, by contrast, drank less.

The scientists also monitored the rodents' brains as they were choosing whether to drink. They focused on a pathway linking the basolateral amygdala, a region of the brain involved in processing emotion and stress, with the medial prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in decision-making.

In the isolated males, this connection became unusually active. The scientists then tested whether that change was actually making them drink more.

They used a technique, called optogenetics, that allowed them to switch the brain connection on and off using pulses of light. When they switched it on in male mice that had not been isolated, the animals began to behave more like the lonely mice and drank more alcohol. When they switched it off in the isolated males, the lonely mice drank less.

The results suggest that the changes seen in the brain were not purely a consequence of some of the animals drinking more; instead, the changes appeared to be helping to drive the consumption of more alcohol.

"Our work shows that a defined pathway becomes overactive during isolation and directly increases drinking," Patel said. "This may help explain longstanding sex differences in neuropsychiatric disorders."

Studies in people have also found differences between the sexes when it comes to loneliness or stress affected drinking, she added. What we can do about the antidepressants surge, Times2

Tennis club orders review of secret goose cull

David Brown Chief News Correspondent

One of the country's most prestigious tennis clubs has ordered a review of a secret cull of geese blamed for making a mess on courts.

Members of St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club in Weybridge, Surrey, discovered that eight Canada geese, including goslings, were shot last month by a marksman.

Some complained that they were assured the birds had flown away or been transferred to a nature reserve. The club announced details of the cull after it was revealed in The Times.

Valerie Crellin, the chairwoman of the club's board, sent a message to members yesterday. She wrote: "At its meeting last night, the board agreed that it would undertake a thorough and objective review of the circumstances surrounding the decision to cull the geese, including the processes followed and the subsequent handling of the matter.

"The board recognises the strength of feeling this issue has generated and a number of members have already shared their views. This correspondence will be considered as part of the review."

Crellin asked members not to send further letters so the review could “pro-ceed in an orderly and timely manner”.

The club is based on a gated estate that has been popular with celebrities and billionaires, earning it the nickname of the UK's Beverly Hills.

Annual fees at the club, which has 3,700 members, are £2,664, plus a £2,000 charge for new members.

Anger among members has focused on Miles Hill, the club's chief executive, who said: "We fully understand that some members and estate residents have been upset by what occurred. This was not a decision the club wished to take, nor one that was taken lightly. It followed many months of attempting to manage a growing resident population of Canada geese through enhanced cleaning and non-lethal measures."

Hill said in a later message to members that there was concern that goose droppings were an “obvious slip hazard” and could “contain harmful bacteria”. Ruffled feathers, letters, page 22

Father's house rammed before teenager killed in A66 crash

Sian Bradley

A house rammed by a car hours before a fatal crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough belonged to the father of one of the victims.

Cole Worthy, 17, was one of five people who died when a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way on the A66 collided head-on with a marked Cleveland police armed response vehicle. The crash left seven dead, including two police officers.

A house belonging to Gye Worthy, in the Acklam suburb of Middlesbrough, was severely damaged in the ramming; front brickwork was crumbled exposing the living room, windows were shattered and car bumpers and glass lay in

Cole Worthy was one of seven people killed in the crash on Saturday

the debris. Neighbours said they heard a loud bang around 2am on Saturday, just before the crash.

Police said they previously received numerous reports of two cars driving dangerously early on Saturday, including a Volvo XC60 that was seen ramming properties and believed to be linked to the Passat.

There is no suggestion that Gye Worthy, 39, was involved in criminal activity but neighbours said that his home had been repeatedly targeted.

Residents claimed that Worthy's windows had been smashed "countless" times, that men with "sledgehammers" had attacked the property, that the property had been rammed before, including recently by a van, and that he was stabbed in the street last September. "It is a tinderbox here," one neighbour said, and others added: "We knew somebody was going to get killed ... When he was stabbed, we knew that was going to happen to one of them. It has taken something like this for it to come to a head."

Five more people were arrested yesterday. Detectives investigating the events leading up to Saturday's pursuit have arrested 17 people in all. Two of them have been named. Kai Beattie, 19, of Redcar, appeared at Teesside magistrates' court charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The court heard that police believe that he was in the Volvo ramming properties as "part of the ongoing feud".

Beattie denied the charges and was remanded to crown court on September 22. Cameron George, 26, was also remanded on drug supply charges.

Further arrests range from a 16-year-old boy suspected of participating in an organised crime group to a 55-year-old man accused of assisting an offender.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed in the crash. Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, and Jakub Matusiak, 23, who were in the Passat, died at the scene.

Police confirmed that four of the five had a combined total of 22 criminal convictions, including thefts, vehicle taking, driving while using a mobile phone and assaults on a police officer.

At a vigil on Monday, hundreds of people released balloons, let off flares and masked youths revved motorbikes.

The Police Federation said officers were being “baited” by young drivers filming dangerous driving for TikTok and social media. Andy Burnham, the prime minister, condemned the practice as “truly reprehensible”.

NORTH NEWS AND PICTURES

A house belonging to Gye Worthy in Middlesbrough was severely damaged

Minister: Tribute used for ‘political points’

Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor

Anna Turley, the minister for border security and asylum, has insisted that Cleveland police asked her to pay tribute to all seven victims of Saturday's fatal crash on the A66 after she was accused of putting the five joyriders "on a par" with the two police officers who died.

Turley, whose constituency is Redcar where the crash took place, hit back at Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, who said that her statement “jars”.

In a letter she accused him of trying to politicise the crash and said that the Cleveland force had "specifically requested" that she pay tribute to all victims.

Her message, posted on Facebook on Sunday, was before the identities of the joyriders had been disclosed by the police. She wrote: "This morning I went down to South Bank to lay flowers and pay my respects, on behalf of our whole community, to the seven people whose lives were so tragically cut short yesterday.

"There really are no words for the heartbreak their families, friends and loved ones will be feeling today. May you all rest in peace."

On Monday Timothy took issue with her post, writing on X: "Anna Turley is a Home Office minister.

She wants to 'pay her respects to the seven people whose lives were tragically cut short' in the Middlesbrough crash this weekend.

"I can't be the only one for whom this statement jars. We may live in an age of emoting, but we should be able to see the difference between right and wrong. And it doesn't feel right for a Home Office minister to put two police officers on a par with the thugs who killed them."

Turley has accused Timothy of having “sought to create media hits and political points” and described his attack as “beneath contempt”.

Cleveland police declined to comment.

Driver dies after Stratford police chase

Herbie Russell

A man has died and a woman was left critically injured in a crash during a police pursuit near Stratford-upon-Avon on Monday afternoon.

The incident took place when officers attempted to stop a black Audi on Birmingham Road in Warwickshire.

The driver failed to stop and headed in the direction of the A46 before travelling back towards Stratford on the A439 Warwick Road. After a pursuit, the driver collided with a white Ford Puma, Warwickshire police said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The Ford driver, who is in her seventies, was taken to hospital and remains in a critical condition. A passenger in the Ford sustained injuries considered potentially serious, but not life-threatening, and was taken to Warwickshire Hospital, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.

Superintendent Steve Flavell said: "Our thoughts are with the families of everyone involved in this collision and we're providing specialist support to them at this extremely difficult time. We made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because a death had occurred following police contact. They have declared an independent investigation and we will co-operate fully with the investigation."

The A439 where the crash took place. It will remain closed for some time

A spokesperson for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was informed of the incident at 7.40pm on Monday and sent investigators to the scene. The watchdog said it declared an independent investigation two hours later. "We understand that the driver of a black Audi A3 failed to stop for police and was then pursued for around six minutes before the vehicle was involved in a collision with a car being driven by a member of the public," a spokesman said. "The male driver of the Audi sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other car, a woman in her seventies, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Our investigation is at an early stage."

The A439 from the Marraway roundabout and the junction with Ingon Lane and at Sand Barn Lane remained closed yesterday. Warwickshire police said it was likely to remain closed for some time, and advised the public to use alternative routes.

The crash came two days after two police officers and five occupants of another vehicle were killed in an accident crash after a pursuit on the A66 near Middlesbrough. Between April 2025 and March this year, there were 11 police pursuit-related incidents which resulted in 11 fatalities, according to an annual IOPC report.

Man fatally stabbed at Wembley council office

Peter Chappell

A young man has died after being stabbed at a council headquarters in Wembley, northwest London.

Officers cordoned off the Brent Civic Centre near Wembley Stadium after the incident yesterday.

Air ambulance crews and police were alerted at 2.25pm. On arrival they found the victim, believed to be a teenage boy or man in his early twenties, suffering from stab wounds. Despite their efforts, he died at the scene.

No arrests have been made.

More than 2,000 employees work in the centre, including administrators and local councillors.

Politicians hold meetings and surgeries in the building, and it is the central hub for services such as waste management, housing and planning.

One witness wrote on social media: "I was at the exact same place where the stabbing happened and had gone up to the first floor about ten minutes earlier. A staff member walked into the meeting room and told us to evacuate because someone had been stabbed. What I witnessed on the way down was unreal."

After the incident, a Section 60 order was authorised, granting officers enhanced powers to stop and search people and vehicles.

Superintendent Chris Clarke, leader for emergency response policing in the area, said: “An investigation is under way to establish exactly what has taken place and trace those responsible. We recognise the concern this incident will cause within the local community and are committed to keeping residents informed as our inquiries progress.”

He said there was not believed to be a wider threat, nor was the stabbing believed to be terror-related.

A statement later appeared on the council website telling users of the building to stay away.

News

Billie Piper's 'obsessive' stalker jailed for 12 months

An “obsessive” fan with a “sexual interest” in Billie Piper has been jailed for 12 months for breaching a stalking prevention order against the former Doctor Who star.

Philip Jerome appeared at Basing-stoke magistrates' court on his 49th birthday to be sentenced after pleading guilty to four breach charges.

Anisa Alrubaie, for the prosecution, told the court that Jerome, from Winchester, Hampshire, had been made subject to the stalking prevention order relating to Piper on July 21, 2022.

The court heard police had carried out an inspection of Jerome's devices on December 27, 2025 and found four images of Piper saved on his phone, and that he had tagged ll posts and pictures, including AI images, on X relating to her on four separate days that month.

Alrubaie said this included a single comment on December 7, 2025, in which Jerome wrote: "I think I know which image probably made me fall for [Piper], the GQ awards, and made me want to meet her. She is great without a bra too."

Alrubaie said Piper's X account was organised by her personal assistant and she did not have direct access to it.

She said: "She doesn't generally inform Ms Piper of posts — there is a significant amount of negativity ... and she doesn't need to be made aware."

The court was told that Jerome was made subject to a restraining order in 2018 after attending Piper's home

Billie Piper recognised Jerome at a fan convention address, posting cards through her door and sending letters by post to her. He then breached this order in December that year by sending messages on Facebook to her mother and sister “expressing a wish for them to meet up”, as well as for going to Piper’s home and making comments about her choice of partner.

Police also found binders at his home containing newspaper clippings, details of events and other merchandise relating to the actress.

Jerome was jailed for 12 months in 2022 for a breach of the restraining order by turning up at Comic Con, a fan convention, where he posed for a photograph twice on the same day with Piper, wearing different clothing for the second occasion.

The court heard that on the second occasion Piper recognised Jerome, and security guards ejected him from the event.

The defendant had also been convicted of harassment dating back to 2012 against a female friend by "sleeping outside her address in the woods", the court heard.

Sentencing Jerome, District Judge Kirsty Allman told him: "You demonstrated an entrenched

pattern of stalking and harassment ... and failing to comply with court orders."

Caroline Bonavia, for the defence, said: "Were it not for the order, these [offences] would be very similar to what a keen fan would post about a public figure."

Bonavia said that Jerome had a recent diagnosis of autism and had sought psychological support to stop him seeking “obsessive and unsuccessful relationships”.

Wedding dressage As her father had died when she was young, ex-showjumper Kelly Ogier, 34, chose her horse, Tink, to accompany her down the aisle

Appeal for Arday family raises £224k

The family of Professor Jason Arday have said they are “deeply moved” after a fundraiser launched in his memory passed £224,000.

Arday, 41, was found dead in Battersea, south London, on August 14, nine days after he resigned as a professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge.

The married father of two, who became the university's youngest black professor at the age of 37, had faced accusations of plagiarism. He was also alleged to have exaggerated his biography and achievements, including charity work.

An inquest into his death will be opened at London Inner South coroner's court at noon today.

Sir Patrick Vernon, a cultural historian who played a leading role in the campaign to establish a national Windrush Day, set up a GoFundMe page after Arday's death to help support the academic's family.

It was closed to donations on Monday at their request, having raised £224,474 from almost 8,000 donations.

Vernon said the money would be used to provide financial and practical support for the bereaved as well as meeting funeral and memorial expenses.

The GoFundMe page was updated yesterday with a message from Arday's family, who said: "We are deeply moved by the extraordinary support we have received. The response to this appeal reflects the number of people whose lives were touched by our beloved Jason and the affection, respect and admiration in which he was held.

"Jason devoted his life and career to advancing education, widening participation, tackling race and inequality, and championing autism and neurodiversity.

"It means a great deal to us that so many people wish to celebrate his life ... we hope you will understand our need for time and space as we come to terms with this devastating loss and consider how best to move forward."

Simon & Schuster, the publisher, confirmed on Monday that Arday's memoir, Great And Unfortunate Things, would be released as planned in the UK tomorrow. Arday's family said: "It is only right that we honour his wishes."

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News

Strangers at music festival help autistic man realise his dream

Peter Chappell

Music festivalgoers can often be painted as self-indulgent hedonists but a group attending this year's Boomtown have been praised for helping an autistic man attending one for the first time alone to "realise all of his dreams".

Adam James, 23, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, said that his father Andy was worried about how he would get by at the largely drum and bass festival in Hampshire when he decided to attend on his own.

However, his father's fears "melted away" after festivalgoers befriended James and asked if he would like to camp with them and helped him during the five-day Hampshire festival.

James's father wrote a thank you message on social media to the "lads from Bristol", saying that "it's been lovely to see my son have all of his dreams realised in the past week". The post has led to his son, an aspiring drum and bass DJ, being booked for several gigs.

"It's been overwhelming, but absolutely brilliant," he said.

James said that he had been nervous before attending Boomtown, but he knew everything would be fine after he met the group, who asked him if he had a mallet to help put up their tents.

"Next thing you know they were asking me to camp with them. I wasn't very confident in myself but as soon as I was

Adam James was adopted by "lads from Bristol"

with them, I was fine.

"They could have just ignored me, but the fact they saw I was on my own and took me in was just amazing," he said. His family had made an emergency evacuation plan if he did not enjoy the loud music and huge crowds.

However, he quickly sent a message saying "Dad, I think I've found my people" and their fears were allayed.

James will be reunited with his benefactors in the Trident pub in Bristol this week and Ciaran, one of the group, said that James fitted in absolutely perfectly, adding: "It was almost like he drove to the festival with us."

Unseen Mondrian squares up for sale

A £30 million painting hailed as the embodiment of Piet

Mondrian's radical artistic vision has emerged for sale at auction for the first time since its creation (David Sanderson writes).

Composition III is due to be sold in London in October. It has been described as having been created during a pivotal moment in the revolutionary Dutch artist's career as he developed his neoplasticism style, a system that only allows the use of the three primary colours alongside black, white and grey while deploying the two primary directions; horizontal and vertical.

Composition III was one of eight landmark works he created during 1920 with five held by museums including Tate and New York's Museum of Modern Art. Keith Gill, a vice-chairman at Christie's which is to sell the work with an upper estimate of £30 million, said it ranks "among the

He added:

most important and rarest of his paintings to come to market".

“Composition III dates from the breakthrough moment in Mondrian's career, in which he reached a new, radical abstract idiom that reshaped the language of modern art." The

painting has been in private collections since its creation and has been unseen in public for more than 25 years, the auction house said.

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE]

Gill said that in 1920, when Mondrian returned to Paris after spending the First World War in Holland, the artist had begun to

Composition III is one of eight works Piet Mondrian created in the 1920s in the neoplasticism style

establish the principles of his “pioneering abstract language”. Gill added: “By reducing his formal language to just a handful of elements — geometric planes of pure colour, sharply demarcated lines — Mondrian believed he could convey an absolute sense of harmony and explore the fundamental laws that governed the universe.”

Mondrian, who died in 1944 aged 71, is recognised as one of the most important artists of the 20th century whose work influenced fashion designers such as Yves St Laurent, composers including Pierre Boulez, and other artists.

His paintings have fetched huge sums at auction. These include Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue, sold for \$47.5 million in New York last year. And in 2022 his Composition No. II sold for \$51 million, a record for the artist at auction. The return of blockbuster art, Times2

Man ‘feared for life in watch robbery’

Joe Palmer

A fashion designer feared for his life as his diamond-encrusted watch was cut from his wrist in central London, a court was told.

Catalin Botezatu, a Romanian entrepreneur, had been enjoying a meal out in Mayfair with his assistant and a friend before three men allegedly robbed him of his luxury Richard Mille watch, worth more than £137,000.

Southwark crown court was told that a man spotted the designer watch while Botezatu, 59, was smoking a cigar on the terrace of the Latin American restaurant Amazonico in Berkeley Square on the evening of January 28.

Ali Eldahouzze, 22, and Abdel El Habchi, 30, are accused of snatching the watch, which the prosecution says was robbed just before midnight. Both men deny robbery.

Yesterday Arizuna Asante, for the prosecution, told the court that after leaving the restaurant Botezatu "stood near the car smoking for a few minutes with his friend before he was approached by three males".

Asante added: "The three males surrounded Mr Botezatu and robbed him of his watch by wrestling it from his left wrist.

"It is believed a knife was used to cut through the rubber strap because the victim had cuts on his wrists after the watch was taken."

He said the defendants then ran from the scene.

The jury was told that a third man, Younes Djoudi, had pleaded guilty to robbery.

The prosecution said that shortly after 10.15pm on the night of the incident, Djoudi had walked past Botezatu as he smoked outside the restaurant.

It is alleged that Djoudi later walked past again, accompanied by Eldahouzze and Habchi, and that they looked at him before walking away.

Catalin Botezatu at Southwark crown court yesterday. He told the jury that one defendant used a “sharp instrument” to sever his Richard Mille watch, which is worth at least £137,000

Asante told the court: "What the prosecution say about that is that it demonstrates that all three individuals I have named were scoping out not only the restaurant, but also the victim, and must have noticed the watch or recognised it." Eldahouzze, who wore a white shirt and dark tie, and Habchi, who wore a patterned short-sleeved shirt, were assisted by an Arabic interpreter in the dock.

Botezatu, who gave evidence from behind a screen and used a Romanian interpreter, told the court that he had been standing metres from the restaurant when the three men approached him.

"I was pushed into the fence and restrained," he said. Asked who pushed him, he said: "All of them, the three of them pushed me. The man in the middle had a sharp instrument, I don't know what, and he cut me. He cut the watch strap as well."

Botezatu told the court: "I couldn't believe that something like this could happen in London, in front of a luxury restaurant where I was a client.

"I feared for my life. Because of my cancer operation and because I have five stents and because the slightest blow or cut, God forbid, where I was operated, could have been fatal."

The court was told that the watch, which was given as a gift to Botezatu by a friend about 13 years ago, "had a lot of sentimental value".

He added: "It came from a very good friend of mine who is unfortunately no longer with us and it was a birthday present."

The prosecution says the watch would now be worth “significantly more” than £137,000.

One Richard Mille watch sold for £5.6 million in 2022.

The trial continues.

News

Where do we put our data centres?

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE

They stream our shows, host AI, store our files ... and the next generation will be truly gigantic, writes Adam Vaughan

A boom in artificial intelligence is set to drive a 36.6 per cent increase in the number of data centres across Britain,

many of them the size of a neighbourhood rather than a single building.

There are at least 500 in the UK today, according to the industry body Tech UK. The government agrees with US tech giants that we need more — for digital services, AI and economic growth — which will place huge demands on energy, water and green space.

What few people in Britain have fully digested, including residents who may soon find one of the shed-like buildings being erected near them, is the sheer scale of the coming projects.

The next generation of data centres are gigantic. Elsham Tech Park is a 1,761,500 square metre data centre campus given planning permission near Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire. It is one of the largest of the new wave. Documents show it will occupy a site that is about 70 per cent of the size of Hyde Park.

MPs including Toby Perkins, the Labour chairman of the Commons environmental audit committee, have called for a “national conversation” about data centres. The authorities have a surprisingly loose handle on how many are coming and the situation is constantly changing.

In February the energy regulator Ofgem said about 150 data centres could require 50 gigawatts (GW) of power capacity. By June the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero had said they could need 40 per cent more capacity than that.

In July, Ofgem announced that 315 data centres wanted a grid connection, although officials at the National Energy System Operator, the government body responsible for keeping the lights on, think developers are hedging their bets and applying for more connections than they'll need. The true figure could still be close to 200, according to figures shared with The Times.

SCALING UP

Barbour ABI, a construction research company, has compiled a detailed database from local authority documents. It found that 183 were in the planning system or already under construction. Many are big enough to be “hyperscale”, which is considered by IBM to mean at least 100 megawatts (0.1GW) of capacity, enough for hundreds of thousands of homes.

Few pass the hyperscale bar at present. The Newport centre, known as CWLI, has a capacity of 148MW.

"We are seeing a clear shift towards hyperscale and AI-driven developments," Steve Shelley, chief analyst at Barbour ABI, said.

About a dozen new projects will probably eclipse CWLI's electricity demands. They range from the plot of a former steelworks in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, to the site of a former power station in the Midlands. They will need new roads, perimeter fences, lighting and other infrastructure.

"It's the scale of new data centres, as well as their growing number, that's so worrying," according to Oliver Hayes, of the campaign group Global Action Plan. "The giant Xlinks data centre planned for Great Torrington in Devon is ten times the size of the biggest facility in operation today."

The government has declared five AI growth zones. There is no map, but they are broadly defined as being around Culham in Oxfordshire; at Blyth and North Tyneside in northeast England; in south Wales along the M4; in north Wales, mostly on the island of Anglesey; and off the M8 between Chapelhall and Newarthill in North Lanarkshire.

Shelley said there was significant growth in the north of England. Nonetheless, planning documents show that London remains the centre of gravity for new data centres. Many are clustered around the M25; Slough in Berkshire is a notable hotspot.

THIRSTY WORK

Data centres are effectively racks of computing equipment that stream Netflix shows, store our files and answer our ChatGPT queries. They generate heat, so require cooling. That can be provided by water or air.

Tech UK says that modern facilities in water-scarce areas tend to prefer closed-loop water systems, where water is reused rather than repeatedly drawn from reservoirs or rivers as happens with an open-loop system. Developers can avoid this entirely by using air to keep equipment cool, but that requires more energy.

Figures obtained by The Times using transparency laws suggest the majority of existing data centres use water for cooling. Only 10 of 82 data centres in England are cooled solely by air, according to previously unpublished data released by the Environment Agency. A further 48 are exclusively water-cooled while the remaining 24 take a hybrid approach.

Four of the 82 are using more than 100,000 cubic metres of water per year, the equivalent of 40 Olympic swimming pools. Future data centres could use much more because of their sheer size. The actual amount will depend on what technologies companies choose.

LONDON

Water UK, an industry body, expects the demand from future centres to reach 42 million litres of water per day, up from 14 million litres now. Water companies are most concerned about spikes in demand during hot spells such as the five heatwaves this summer.

An estimated 84 per cent of planned data centres are in areas of the UK that regulators expect to be water stressed by 2040, or already are, according to research by the

campaign group Global Action Plan.

Projects earmarked for the green belt include the Hertfordshire Campus. Jeremy Newmark, the leader of Hertsmere borough council, said he had actively sought to attract data centres.

dogmatic place," he said, claiming most locals he spoke to were more pragmatic. "It is worth sacrificing a very small percentage of

poor performing green belt land for healthy sustainable economic growth."

Equinix, a digital infrastructure company which is investing £3.9 billion in the project, said it would be powered entirely with renewable energy and use minimal water for cooling.

Other centres set to be built on greenfield sites include West London Technology Park in Buckinghamshire, for which ministers overruled the local council's opposition. The government later admitted its approval should be quashed because it had failed to properly account for the data centre's environmental impact.

POWER STRUGGLES

Nvidia, which makes many of the chips that will be used in AI data centres, has said Britain needs gas power stations to run them. The boss of Britain's biggest energy supplier, Octopus Energy, disagrees, arguing that renewables can supply them.

Planning materials show some schemes are described as “zero carbon” and “carbon-friendly”, with promises of solar panels and wind turbines. One enormous scheme planned for the site of a former coal power station in Nottinghamshire is considering US-designed miniature nuclear power stations. However, a

How 'open-loop' cooling works

Digital Realty cools its data banks in London with water, as do most centres. Greenfield projects have angered some locals

Computer servers

Water is taken from source

2 Water is recirculated to the cooling tower before being discharged

3 The heat exchanger uses water to cool the warm air leaving the data centre. The cool air is recirculated to continue cooling the servers

4 Water from the cooling tower is treated and returned to the original source

number of developers are eyeing gas power. That could help them avoid delays in getting an electricity grid connection, but would also drive up carbon emissions. Documents obtained by the campaign group Foxglove reveal the scale of interest: Cadent Gas has received 30 formal applications for gas connections by data centres; SGN has received ten; National Gas Transmission has had one formal connection application; and Northern Gas Networks has had 16 inquiries or formal applications.

The government has said the necessary infrastructure is required to cope with the growing use of AI — and to attract investment and create jobs — but getting there “must be done sustainably”. One idea being explored by water companies and ministers would involve using treated sewage to keep data centres cool.

The government is also considering whether to force data centre companies to be flexible about their electricity demands. That would probably require them to build large banks of batteries to reduce how much they draw from the grid during peak periods. Octopus Energy says flexibility would be

welcome but warns a stringent mandate could put off developers. Matthew Evans, director of markets at Tech UK,

data centres comes down to whether we want to attract the investment that will enable the UK's reindustrialisation, support jobs, and economic growth, or whether we are happy to offshore those benefits, as

well as our data, to other countries that potentially have much

more carbon-intensive electricity networks. Data centres are critical national infrastructure."

Thatcher has no head for jokes

Margaret Thatcher and jokes were not natural bedfellows. The new radio play No, Prime Minister has a scene about a joke going over the head of the Tory PM, which some assumed was artistic licence, but playwright Mark Burgess tells me:

"The story was certainly, and unfortunately, not invented by me." It concerns Thatcher's speechwriter Ronald Millar who tried to get her to describe the foreign secretary Lord Carrington as "the peer that reaches those foreign parts that other peers cannot reach". Sadly, she didn't get the reference to the Heineken ad. "Lord Carrington is a peer," she said. "I fail to see why it should amuse". Millar explained the pun but Thatcher, above, simply complained that Carrington wasn't a beer drinker. "I simply couldn't be seen to imply he enjoys drinking beer," she said. When it came to a joke such as this, Thatcher was bound to miss the pint.

Is it possible that Boris Johnson is feeling nostalgic? His wife Carrie has recently posted some pictures from inside their home, showing off the decor of their staircase, and it is

TMS diary@thetimes.co.uk | @timesdiary

immediately apparent that the walls have been painted in a shade of yellow that is remarkably similar to the one used in 10 Downing Street. All it needs is a load of photos of previous PMs and the effect would be complete. Perhaps the refurb allowed them to remove some John Lewis wallpaper just for old times' sake, or maybe they've got a special room downstairs for parties.

STICKY WICKET

As the cricket season trundles to its conclusion, the documentary-maker Michael Cockerell has shared some stories about the relationship between politics and the game. He tells The Cricketer magazine he was a keen member of the lobby team, with a highlight being their annual fixture against the Department for Trade. After one match, then secretary of state Norman Tebbit told the press that his team had lost by 44 runs, before adding: "However, after seasonal adjustments, we won." Cockerell also followed Mike Gatting's 1990 rebel tour to South Africa when it became apparent that Nelson Mandela might be released. Tour manager David Graveney asked the players what their attitude would be to this eventuality. The batsman Bill Athey replied: "Mandela can't bowl, can he?"

NESTING INSTINCTS

There is much sadness in Hollywood after the death of Jackie, a bald eagle who had shot to fame after a YouTube channel followed her every move. The LA Times's Lila Seidman reports that Jackie was part of a pair with a male called Shadow, but he seems to be coping well with the grief and has already found himself a new partner. Apparently the new bird is a third of Shadow's age. Seidman describes this as "very LA".

Another entry in our series of jokes about Morningside comes from Jock Gardner, who tells me that a BBC crew once went to this posh part of Edinburgh to get vox pops about Europe. They asked a lady whether she was for or against the Common Market. "Young man," she intoned, "I am against anything that's common."

JACK BLACKBURN

News

Is your blinking dog talking to you?

Rhys Blakely Science Editor

In 1966 Jeremiah Denton, a US Navy pilot held as a prisoner of war, famously blinked the word “TORTURE” in Morse code during a forced television interview in North Vietnam, secretly conveying what he could not say aloud.

Now scientists are asking whether the humble blink may carry meaning across an even wider divide: the species gap between humans and dogs.

Researchers in Italy found that dogs blink more when they see humans blink. However, they displayed this behaviour only when watching the face of their owner, not one of a stranger.

Writing in Royal Society Open Science, the researchers suggested that dogs “may use eye blinking as a subtle affiliative signal”. The findings raise the possibility that dogs use their eyes to communicate with their human companions and people they love.

"Eye blinking may play a role in dogs' behavioural repertoire in social contexts," said the team, led by Chiara Canori at the University of Parma.

The study involved 35 dogs shown videos of three people: their owner, an unfamiliar woman and an unfamiliar man. In one set of clips, each person blinked once every three seconds. In another, they stared ahead, unblinking and with a neutral expression.

The dogs' responses were filmed and their blinks counted. Overall, they blinked significantly more while watching the blinking faces than the motionless ones. There was also more blinking when the owners were female.

The authors cautioned that the study was small and the findings fell short of showing that dogs deliberately blinked to say "I love you" — tempting though that interpretation might be.

If dogs do communicate via blinking, it might put them on a par with their feline counterparts. A study in 2020 found that domestic cats responded to humans who narrowed their eyes in a kind of slow-motion blink.

That study suggested that cats were one of several animals that responded to aspects of the so-called Duchenne smile — defined as a natural smile, which raises the corners of the mouth and creates crow's feet around the eyes.

A range of other animals also show signs of being alive to human facial expressions. When goats were shown pictures of unfamiliar people looking either happy or angry, they tended to approach the happy faces first.

Experiments have found that photos of angry humans cause horses' hearts to beat faster; another study suggested they could remember whether someone had previously appeared happy or angry, and would alter their behaviour towards that person hours later.

And in another study published this year, cattle were shown videos of people displaying joy or anger. The cows later spent more time near people previously seen displaying happiness.

News

Councillor set up fake society, fraud trial is told

A councillor accused of scamming a local authority out of thousands of pounds was allowed to “do their own homework” when allocating funds for a good cause, a court was told.

Ashfield Independents councillor Jason Zadrozny, 46, who was first elected in 2007, is accused of using his position on Nottinghamshire county council to defraud the authority.

Prosecutors allege that Zadrozny created a non-existent organisation called the Ashfield Heritage Society to divert council funds because he was “short of money”.

On Monday at Northampton crown court jurors heard evidence from Sarah Ashton, the council's democratic services officer. Ashton was responsible for the administration of the Councillors' Divisional Fund, which offers a £5,000 allowance to every council representative to support local causes.

Three days after setting up the fake society's account, Zadrozny applied for £7,500 of funding for it, including £3,500 from his allocation.

Ashton said that between 2018 and 2021 it was “taken on trust” that the councillors understood where their money was going. “It was the councillors’ due diligence to do their own homework if you like,” she said.

She added that at the time there were "no checks" run on the bank accounts receiving the money.

Zadrozny nominated himself chairman of Ashfield Heritage Society and was the only signatory to the account, which provided him with a bank card and a chequebook. However, the address on the application form did not exist, the court was told.

Zadrozny, of Sutton Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, denies 12 counts of fraud and four counts of fraudulent evasion of income tax.

The trial continues.

PHIL WILKINSON

Hue and cry Blythe Scott, the Scottish mixed-media artist, prepares for her solo show at the Annan Gallery in Glasgow

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Reservists' training halted to save cash

Larisa Brown Defence Editor

Reservists in the British Army were told days before Christmas that they no longer had a job, forcing at least one of them to approach a military charity for food, The Times has been told.

Army chiefs were so short of cash that they were ordered to stop paying reservists for further training three quarters of the way through the last financial year.

This meant that at least a dozen soldiers who had completed 150 days of training and were expecting to do 207 were told not to come back to work in January. They were left without income for three months.

One reservist who was affected said that it was “disgusting”, adding: “The British Army is telling its soldiers there’s no money to pay them and don’t bother coming into work.

"We are meant to be one of the finest armies in the world ... and some [soldiers] are having to go get food vouchers from charities over Christmas. It was hanging over my head the whole time."

He claimed that the reserve force had been “decimated” and was nowhere near combat-ready. Standard reservists now tended to be paid for only 38 days a year, meaning that reservists were missing out on promotion opportunities, he added.

Previously, he said, reservists would have to carry out a minimum of 27 days but many did far more. He claimed: "Everyone has been cut down to so little the job can't be done. Reserve forces are failing massively."

An MoD source said that there was no cap on the 38 days and commanders had the flexibility to give them more. However, a second reservist said this had become rare.

Reservists have also been told they cannot be paid for gym sessions, which previously counted as physical exercise given the roles they are expected to carry out should there be a war.

The reservist, a former full-time soldier, had worked 207 days a year — roughly four days a week, the maximum servable by reservists — for about four years.

He said it was not unusual for soldiers to be reservists and work the maximum number of days while studying or choosing not do any other job. "That number of days was allocated at the start of the financial year on the app that controls pay," he said.

However, he said army chiefs capped the number of days for reserve forces to 150 days in December last year, three quarters through the training year. He had already served 150 days before going on Christmas leave.

"I couldn't believe it. It was a few weeks before Christmas — I had no days to come back to. Young corporals

Standard reservists tend to be paid for only 38 days a year

were having to have charitable help to feed themselves," he said, adding that, depending on the rank of the soldiers, they would be out of pocket by £5,000 to £8,000.

An army source defended the move and said a 207-day contract did not exist, adding “it was an upper limit imposed because at 208 days they were considered regular soldiers”.

They said: "If certain individuals have taken more than their allocated requirement it is because they are taking it from somebody else, so somebody else is less trained because these individuals have taken more than their share of the training available."

Robert Clark, a research fellow at the Yorktown Institute, a US think tank, and a British Army reservist, said: "It's very disappointing to see. Successive ministers and chiefs of defence staff rightly advocate that our people are our most important asset, yet the cuts to training opportunities for reservists — let alone cutting the days for many employed on more permanent contracts — highlights the dichotomy existing within many aspects of senior command structures.

"If we truly want to create resilience and a force that can fight, these policies that hamstring reserve capability while alienating many of our best soldiers are absolutely not the way to go."

An army spokeswoman said: “The army reserve is a critical part of our military capability ... Through the strategic defence review, we are strengthening the reserve forces to ensure they remain ready to support operations, strengthen UK resilience and meet our Nato commitments.”

News

Thameslink railroaded into getting rid of ‘ironing board’ train seats

Laurence Sleator Transport Correspondent

They are the source of serious gripes for millions of commuters, with many likening them to sitting on an ironing board for two hours a day.

But the infamous Thameslink train seats are set for an upgrade under plans to install a more comfortable alternative across the entire network.

From next year, standard-class passengers will have greater cushioning added to the base and backrest of all 115 of the operator's Class 700 trains.

The rollout will be gradual to maintain service levels and is expected to take up to two years, involving the installation of more than 60,000 cushion sets. Seat-back tables will be put in on the 70 trains without them.

It is understood that Siemens, which built the trains, will pay for the overhaul, although the legroom will stay the same and no power sockets will be added.

Thameslink, which is owned by the recently nationalised Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR), runs some of the busiest services into central London. Recent data showed its morning Bedford to St Pancras service was officially the most crowded in the country.

The announcement has been clouded in secrecy. Passengers were shown five potential designs at Blackfriars station in London yesterday morning and were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

The designs included changing the seat colour to red and patterns featuring British landmarks. Several customer feedback events have taken place over the past few months, and those involved have been sworn to silence.

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said: "This is what public ownership looks like in action. Less than 100 days since GTR transferred into public control, we're delivering on the improvements commuters have been asking for."

She added: "From next year, we'll start getting rid of the dreaded 'ironing board seats' so passengers can enjoy comfier, more pleasant journeys on some of our busiest commuter routes.

"We know fixing Britain's railway is more than a refurb job and moves like this are just the start of putting our railway back on the right track. We've frozen fares for the first time in 30 years and publicly owned operators have added 76,000 extra seats on to the network. Once established, Great British Railways will focus relentlessly on delivering a reliable, modern service that puts passenger experience at the heart of everything it does."

GTR was transferred into public ownership in May as part of the government's move to nationalise the rail network. An upgrade to the seats was suggested by Thameslink as part of an initial 100-day plan, and the government has been keen to push it forward.

The seats have been in place since 2017, installed as part of a £2.8 billion fleet investment. Experts have suggested that because Thameslink carries a high volume of passengers, the seats were designed to take up as little space as possible and give more room for those forced to stand.

Patchwork pothole repairs defended as fair and square

More than 50 potholes have been filled with tarmac

along one road in a "patchwork" pattern.

Aberdeen Avenue in Cambridge has been ridiculed for the hotchpotch repairs, in which crevices were filled individually at the junction with Brooklands Avenue. rather than as part of a wider road resurfacing.

Many of the 51 patchwork repairs overlap with one another and critics argue that bigger, more durable fixes are needed.

Cambridgeshire county council said the notholes had

"developed over a period of time and have been repaired as they have appeared".

But the decision to repair single potholes has led to allegations that the highways contractors were being paid by the square.

Jocelynne Scutt, a former councillor, said: "Clearly, all [of the work] could have been done as one major patch.

"Dedicated Highways workers now will stand aghast at this sort of money-grubbing practice that ought to be stopped."

The council defended its unusual approach.

It said: "The potholes at the junction of Aberdeen Avenue and Brooklands Avenue have developed over a period of time and have been repaired as they have

appeared, following routine safety inspections and reports from members of the public.

JAMES LINSELL CLARK/SWNS

Cambridgeshire county council said that its approach to repairs, far from hotchpotch, was a cost-effective solution to the proliferation of potholes

"Repairing individual potholes is

often the most appropriate and cost-effective way of dealing with defects as they emerge.

"The cost of a pothole repair varies depending on factors such as the

location, working hours required and any traffic management arrangements. However, the council is moving to a fixed-cost model under its term service contract extension.

"While resurfacing the entire area may be desirable, it can be more expensive and, with limited funding available, resurfacing schemes must be prioritised across the

county based on need. The council has recently approved an additional £5 million for its winter readiness programme, which will identify and prioritise areas requiring more extensive repairs

and surface treatments. However, demand for repairs continues to exceed available funding, so investment must be focused on those locations identified as the highest priority."

AI agents united in ‘scary’ cyberattack

Rhys Blakely Science Editor

Artificial intelligence agents developed by OpenAI began taking orders from one another when they went rogue and attacked another technology company this year — a situation one expert described as “very scary”.

The autonomous AI agents were supposed to be confined to a tightly limited environment with no access to the broader online world.

However, they found a way to break out and launched a cyberattack on Hugging Face, a French-American technology company whose online platform is used by researchers to share AI models, software and training data.

OpenAI had been testing several powerful AI models, including GPT-5.6 Sol and an unreleased model that the company has described as "highly persistent".

The models were being used as AI agents, meaning that they could carry out tasks on their own over relatively long periods and create smaller sub-agents to help them.

They were placed in isolated, self-contained computer systems known as sandboxes and were not supposed to have any access to the internet.

However, after one agent was given an impossible task — finding a file that did not exist — the systems began looking for ways to contact one another in case another agent had the answer.

They discovered that a software installation service could be misused to leave messages for other agents. The systems then began sharing information and, according to logs disclosed by OpenAI, assigning work to each other.

"Wow! Other agent(s) are co-ordinating!" one agent wrote.

Eric Wallace, an OpenAI safety researcher, said at a cybersecurity conference this month: "This incident involves a team of agents who are working together, finding exploits, sharing them with one another, moving laterally through our systems, through external systems, and doing this over the course of days and weeks."

Alex Mallen, an AI security analyst at Redwood Research, told The New York Times that the agents appeared to be "picking up tasks from each other that are just not the task that they were originally assigned at all".

He added: "This is very scary. You do not want AIs to be just trying to do random stuff that we didn't tell them to do."

The agents later found ways to reach the internet and exploit weaknesses in external computer systems. One of their targets was Hugging Face. When that company reported the breach, OpenAI rushed to check the integrity of its systems — not realising that its agents had been responsible.

According to OpenAI, the agents

Sam Altman, boss of OpenAI, has said he felt the AI hack "very viscerally"

exploited two security flaws at Hugging Face. They first revealed secret credentials and parts of its source code. They then used information in that code to exploit a second, previously unknown flaw. Within 13 hours, the agents had gained access to several clusters of Hugging Face computers and some customer data.

A senior official at GCHQ has called for stronger safeguards for similar agents, and the Trump administration is drawing up a voluntary code for US companies to submit their models for pre-release testing.

Alan Woodward, professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, said at the time that the trial methodology raised several ethical questions.

Woodward compared the research with that of virology, in which “you don’t let human researchers use enhanced viruses anywhere near real people, only a neutered version of it”.

OpenAI was approached for comment. Sam Altman, its chief executive, said on a podcast last month that this was the first AI security incident that he "felt very viscerally". How 'ethical doomer' split Silicon Valley, Business, pages 30-31

News

High flyers A low-flying swift racing a jet at Heathrow, an African bullfrog foiled by its snack in the Kalahari and a mosquito dining on a viper feature in the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalists

Road birth lessons as maternity unit shuts

Eleanor Hayward Health Editor

Women in rural Devon are being coached on how to give birth in the back of a car after their local hospital shut its maternity service.

The suspension of births at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple two weeks ago means pregnant women have to drive up to two hours to Exeter to have their babies.

Since then, about 20 women from north Devon have travelled 54 miles to Exeter to give birth, but others have had to go to the local A&E unit to deliver because they could not make it to the city in time.

Catherine Mchomvu, an antenatal class teacher at the Devon Antenatal Family Centre, said it was important that women and their partners had supplies in the car.

She told The Mirror: "It's about trying to create the birth environment that you would normally have in the hospital or at home, in your car.

"Birth can happen very quickly for some women — so I'm teaching them positions to potentially slow labour down, essentials for the car like big bottles of water, enough fuel in case you need to keep it warm, plenty of towels and blankets to catch and wrap the baby, and advice like not cutting the cord until help arrives.

North Devon District Hospital hopes to reopen the service next month

"Preparing to give birth is fraught with enough anxiety and anticipation for many women as it is, and where they should be having endless reassurance, they've had the rug pulled from under them — they're anxious, stressed, disappointed and don't feel heard or seen."

The region's roads are often blocked with holiday traffic and farm vehicles or have poor phone signal, adding to the anxiety for pregnant women.

Some women affected by the unit's closure have not made it to alternative wards on time. Pru Maskell, a Tory councillor in north Devon, described the case of a mother who had to "turn the car around en route to Exeter and rush to Barnstaple A&E, where the baby was delivered".

The hospital closed its maternity service on August 11 due to staffing shortages and has said it hopes to re-open it next month.

Last week Dr Karen Davies quit as medical director of the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in protest against the handling of the situation.

She said in her resignation letter: "We have known for several years that there have been concerns about fragility, as well as safety and culture, in the northern maternity unit. I have to accept that my repeated warnings and concerns over the last two years have not been heard and have not been acted upon."

Beauty therapist sacked over menopause

A senior beauty therapist has won more than £32,000 over being fired after saying she was struggling with the menopause.

Chantelle Van Vliet was the only therapist who was not rehired when the clinic in Petersfield, Hampshire, rebranded, days after she had asked for more flexible working because of the “severity” of her symptoms.

Van Vliet, who had worked at notable spas across the world, was let go with no warning after working at the company since June 2022. She was a 38-year-old single mother to a 12-year-old boy at the time.

The employment tribunal in

Southampton ordered the clinic to pay Van Vliet, from Chichester, £3,228 of unpaid wages, £510 of notice pay, £12,077 for loss of salary and £16,422 for injury to feelings. Because the company, Always Time To Be Me, formerly Footlaffs, is in voluntary liquidation, it is unclear when she will receive the £32,237 compensation.

Van Vliet had told the boss, Karen Dodds, about her struggles with the symptoms she had been experiencing for the past two years in April 2024 and had discussions about undertaking hormone replacement therapy.

The next month she took a day off because she "could not cope" with the pain and emailed her manager to re- quest flexible working a week later.

Van Vliet was taken off the rota at the end of the month.

The tribunal was told that “a large majority of the staff were offered new contracts so their employment could continue seamlessly with a phoenix business”.

Jonathan Burns, the employment judge, said: "It would have been reasonable for the [bosses] to allow [Van Vliet] to change her shifts as her request was modest and sensible, and to allow her to continue in employment so she could test out the new shifts as she had proposed."

Trump looks out of his depth on two fronts Roger Boyes Page 20

Comment

Zia Yusuf's rants reveal a man with a plan

It's easy to dismiss Reform UK's big hitter as a loose cannon, but like gazelles taunting wolves, he knows what he's up to

Daniel Finkelstein

@DANNYTHEFINK

Last autumn, the home affairs spokesman of Reform UK, Zia Yusuf, received an accolade at The Spectator's Parliamentarian of the Year awards, a sign of the significant political impact he had made in the preceding 12 months. And his victory required him to make a little Oscar-type speech as he collected his prize.

The Spectator event is a convivial occasion attended by politicians and MPs of all persuasions (I've been once, about ten years ago). The tradition upon winning is to speak briefly, wittily and generously. Yusuf certainly managed the briefly bit. Whether his remarks were witty I suppose depends upon your sense of humour.

He finished like this: “I encourage you all please, enjoy the delicious food, enjoy the beautiful wine, this incredible venue and the hospitality of our friends at The Spectator because soon enough you’ll all lose your seats and you will not be invited again.”

I remember reading this at the time and thinking it remarkably graceless. But I wasn't altogether surprised. It fitted with the Zia Yusuf I had experienced on social media. And is of a piece with his more recent behaviour which has included calling the former army officer Ben Wallace a "traitor" and a clash with Nigel Farage's confidant Tim Montgomerie, which has ended with the latter being suspended from the party.

And it is possible to explain all this just by concluding that Yusuf isn't very nice, thinks too highly of himself, requires others to share this estimation, and is too temperamental to succeed in politics. After all, his Spectator award was for resignation of the year. It marked his decision in June last year to quit the party chairmanship, declaring that working to secure a Reform government was not "a good use of my time". This was a fairly self-important way to describe a flounce. And in any case, within a few days he had decided that, in fact, it was a good use of his time and unresigned. Self-deprecation might have been a more appropriate tone for his acceptance speech. But perhaps he isn't capable of that.

Yet while all this is plausible, and is increasingly commonly accepted, I wonder whether it is quite right. This is not to challenge the picture Yusuf's internal and external critics draw of him — that he is high-handed, temperamental and

He is entirely serious about an assault on established institutions

arrogant — since I simply don't know him. Maybe he is like that, maybe he isn't. I met him only once and he was pleasant enough. What I mean is that whether he is or is not a nice person, behaving as he does is entirely politically rational.

The place to begin this argument is, as I am sure you anticipated, with gazelles. In their book The Handicap Principle, Amotz and Avishag Zahavi ponder the behaviour of gazelles when they encounter a predator. Instead of making a dash for it, gazelles jump up and down in front of the animal hunting them. Why do they do this? In what way can it

possibly make evolutionary sense?

The answer is that the gazelles are signalling to, say, wolves that going after them at all would be a waste of energy. They are simply too fast. The wolves should try someone else. The gazelles are conveying this information by deliberately showing themselves, increasing the danger they face but by that very display showing their complete confidence that they can run away. They've even got time to spare, so fast are they.

The point the Zahavis are making, which they say applies to lots of animals and to humans too, is that "in order to be effective, signals have to be reliable; in order to be reliable, signals have to be costly".

So being graceless at The Spectator dinner is costly. It is a cost that may not be paid while Yusuf is on the way up but will surely fall due when he is on the way down. When he stumbles, as surely he will, the journalists and members of other parties will remember his hubristic speech. I certainly will. But this very cost is what makes his performance rational.

The signal Yusuf wants to send is that he is not biddable. He is entirely serious about an assault on established institutions. He will see through his policy on migration no matter what anyone else says or does. And so he proves how robust he is by picking fights he doesn't need to have. The very fact that this alienates people unnecessarily makes his signal — that with him there is no compromise or messing about — more reliable.

This doesn't make calling Wallace a traitor excusable, but it does make it rational. And the more people complain about it, the more it works. It's not just that I don't find it acceptable, it's that I'm not supposed to. Me not finding it acceptable is the whole point of doing it.

STUART MITCHELL

Zia Yusuf won the Spectator award for resignation of the year last October

This costly but effective signalling may also explain the success of Donald Trump's rudeness. And of the development globally of disagreeable behaviour as a populist political style.

Beyond the individual name-calling, Yusuf has been notably aggressive towards Conservatives, openly scornful of any deals with Tories and sufficiently dismissive of Tory defectors that it has become public knowledge. This, too, is rational. The Nobel prize-winning academic Thomas Schelling, in his extensive writing on conflict, talks about the advantage of commitment devices, binding your hands so you reduce your own freedom of action and everyone else is forced to react. This was what General de Gaulle did on several occasions in his career, making it clear to others that they would have to move since he was

now publicly committed to his intransigence.

In other words, it may or may not be the case that Yusuf is actually disagreeable and temperamental but this is not a necessary explanation for his behaviour. It makes sense in its own terms. It's intelligent behaviour. It has advantages.

Nigel Farage has been asked about whether he approved of Yusuf's name-calling, particularly of Wallace,

Effective signalling may explain success of Trump's rudeness

and, looking embarrassed, he said he did not. He said he would have a word with his ally. But if you understand Yusuf's behaviour as strategic thinking rather than as an emotional outburst, the incident is far more serious than it looks.

What Farage has got to decide is not whether Yusuf is in control of himself, but whether Yusuf is in control of the party. Does Farage really want a party with a strong base, in love with the costly signalling of its home affairs spokesman? Or does he want, as once he did, a party that reaches out beyond its base to the very people Yusuf was insulting?

Farage might put up with a little over-emotional language. But with a strategic challenge? How long will he stand for that?

Daniel.finkelstein@thetimes.co.uk

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Comment

Trump looks out of his depth on two fronts

Trouble on the carrier Abraham Lincoln shows the US can no longer be everywhere at once

Roger Boyes

@ROGERBOYES

What happens when a superpower gets sea-sick? Aircraft carriers still have the capacity to shock

and awe, to flex geopolitical muscle. America has 11 of them and China only three. That must say something about the global order, no?

But carriers are also hulking, claustrophobic, cash-guzzling and antiquated fighting machines, only ever as good as their commander. America's commander-in-chief promised the 5,000 sailors, marines and pilots aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln they were in for only a short deployment against Iran. Yet 260 days later, deprived of shore leave, the crew was still stuck in a war that was supposed to free up the sea lanes of the Middle East.

The distress calls never quite reached the White House. Perhaps the Pentagon advised Donald Trump that operational fatigue was not a serious condition. The uncertainty about when the mission would end, about the nature of the war itself, sapped morale on the Lincoln. The broken toilets, the mouldy shower curtains, the suspension of laundry services, the weeks without hot water, the fitful supply of food and soap, the 16-hour shifts servicing hundreds of sorties a day, the wear and tear on

the flight deck, the relentless roar of the take-offs, the broken sleep: all this added to the mental strain. The kind of vulnerability that comes with knowing you are the biggest target on the water. According to some reports, men threw themselves into the sea.

After congressional pressure, the Lincoln was allowed to head back to San Diego. It is being replaced by the USS George Washington — which means there is no longer a nuclear-powered US carrier strike group in the western Pacific, ready to act if China makes a push for Taiwan. What does that tell the old men in Beijing? It suggests to them the US has a problem with finishing wars quickly. That it is prone to strategic

If they're not careful it could become a symbol of imperial overstretch

misjudgment. And that ultimately the US may be disqualifying itself as the arbiter of international maritime passage. The US, which constructed a big machine to fight big wars on multiple fronts, is no longer up for global challenge.

Nothing demonstrated the power slide of Russia more than the mechanical tribulations of the ex-Soviet carrier the Kuznetsov, which periodically made its way through the Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar and kept breaking down. Its days were surely numbered when an SU-33 fighter jet was allowed to slide off its deck in the choppy Atlantic. Since 2017, after a brief accident-prone operation against

Islamic State positions, it has been out of operation. Ukraine knew better than most how decrepit the Russian navy had become and quickly holed a significant chunk of the Black Sea fleet at the outset of its current war with Moscow.

Happily, the Lincoln is no Kuznetsov but the Trump team will have to be careful it doesn't turn into a similar symbol of imperial overstretch. Bill Clinton in 1996 deployed two US carrier groups to show solidarity with Taiwan; Trump has done the opposite. True, Taiwan has not been left naked. The US has attack submarines in the neighbourhood, guided-missile destroyers, land-based stealth fighters in Japan and the Guam base. But it does not have the big beast carrier group to show it means business.

To make its point, the US used to transit through the Taiwan Strait. It did so only 14 times over the past year; that's barely half the number of annual transits made during the first Trump presidency. China can read into this: the president's heart is not in the defence of Taiwan.

The treatment of South Korea also leads in this direction. Trump's relocation of the US Thaad missile defence system from South Korea — where it is needed to fend off a possible North Korean attack — to the Gulf was one pointer. So was the sudden downscaling of US participation in joint military exercises with South Korea. Robert Kaplan once pronounced that while the wars of the 20th century were fought on the landscape of Europe, the 21st century would be concerned with the seascape of east Asia. Trump does not currently seem to be much bothered by either.

He may be calculating that this apparent indifference is designed to shake up under-performing allies. Singapore after all developed its Changi naval base specifically to keep US carriers in Asia. The new Japanese government is showing surprising resolve in beefing up its defences. Europe is starting, after a long hibernation, to modernise its armies. If we can believe this is all performative, a way of turning allies into paid-up security partners rather than passive protected states, then some of what is happening makes sense. But that theatre remains credible only if Trump can demonstrate America's strategic singularity.

Shuttling his high-value carriers between oceans is not a token of that resolve but rather reflects the workings of a peripatetic brain. On the one hand he appears to be moving away from the idea of large military bases in the Middle East since the current war has shown how exposed they are to short-range missiles and drones. On the other hand his use of aircraft carriers — floating air bases — also entails asymmetric risk. The loss of a US carrier, through enemy attack or through negligence, would be a humiliation too far for any presidency. If Trump seems unhelpfully ambiguous it is because he is caught in the jaws of that old imperial trilemma: how to appear strong to the world, how to retain the gratitude of his citizens, and how to keep his troops loyal, watered and fed.

Matthew Parris Notebook

I'm missing Mrs Merton, a genius and great comic

miss Caroline Aherne. Last Thursday we recorded, for my Great Lives Radio 4 series, an episode in which my guest had chosen to change the life of

I chosen to champion the life of the comedian who co-invented Mrs Merton. Aherne, who was only 52 when she died, did so much more than co-create (and play) the elderly Manchester woman interviewer in old-fashioned hairdo and floral frock who tormented her interviewees with mock-naive questions: she was also co-creator of The Royle Family, a favourite of mine, in which a working-class family simply sat, chatting as they watched television, with occasional interruptions. Gradually, we, the viewers, entered their lives. She was never less than funny, but always more than just funny.

Mrs Merton was ground-breaking. Aherne assumed a totally different persona and inhabited Merton as she took her seat opposite her interviewee. Because this character

was a fiction, she (or it) could ask the most outrageous questions with an air of arch innocence: questions no professional interviewer, even a Michael Parkinson or Laura Kuenssberg, would dare broach. Most famous was her inquiry addressed wide-eyed to Debbie McGee, the lovely and much younger wife of the rich, famous and much older TV magician, the late Paul Daniels: "But what first, Debbie, attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" Almost everyone of my generation remembers that.

But what we might also have noted was the genius and novelty of the concept: an imaginary, apparently unscripted, person whom the public felt they knew, interacting with real people. Only the late Barry Humphries' alter ego, Dame Edna Everage, did the same. I remember footage of Dame Edna's conversation with a fresh-faced and pre-political Donald Trump, on the late Terry Wogan's TV couch. Worth watching. A bemused Trump appears unaware she's not real.

I'll never learn

The other day I came across a Times column I'd written 35 years ago. I'd unearthed (I wrote) a cache of my old school end-of-year reports from Swaziland. Here's the flavour. I'm 14. "He should keep a rein on his English style, remembering that the ingredients of good and clear writing are not always the same as those of interesting conversation ... Prone to oversimplification of the facts, he hardly ever supports his statements."

Now I'm 15. "He throws himself into everything. He has a quick, alert mind and likes expressing his opinion. But the realisation that ...

those who are to be the leaders can best express that leadership in modest helpfulness is surely growing. He is learning the importance of sometimes staying out of the limelight in

good-humoured recognition of others' efforts. RR." Note the "surely". Kindly Mr Roseveare preferred to hint.

Now I'm 16. "Later," observes Mr Hatton, "history calls for a good deal of expressing opinions. But at this stage Matthew should concentrate more on facts. Some exam questions were answered as though he were addressing a public meeting." Then the

headmaster, Mr Stern: "Always interesting, but Matthew must resist the temptation to follow a thesis to the exclusion of other equally valid considerations."

Now I'm 18. And here comes the killer from Mr Lomberg. "I'm sure I have only slightly less high an opinion of Matthew's literary ability than he does himself."

Today I reread that column, written when I was 41, only a couple of decades after the school reports. Now those reports are nearly 60 years ago. And it strikes me that there has been absolutely no character development between the teenager and the old man. "Do I talk too often about myself?" I asked my partner during this past weekend's celebration of the 20th anniversary of our civil partnership. "Yes," he replied. "You're doing it now."

Let the outsiders be

‘Get everyone in for Christmas,’ says the prime minister, and I’m sure he says so with heart in the right place. But “everyone”? I quite often talk to rough sleepers, even sit down with them for a minute or two, and can say with no shadow of doubt that, even in winter, some don’t want to be “in”. Many do, of course, but I suspect the problem is not, or not only, shortage of places. There is a kind of freedom in exile, and a right (I think) to be an outcast.

Ukraine war effort needs our old aluminium cans Mark Hollingsworth

U

Ukraine needs more missiles, ammunition and armoured vehicles. And fast. While its drones have been spectacularly effective in

raiding targets in Russia, supplies of US Patriot air defence interceptor systems have virtually run out.

A shortage of precision munitions could be the difference between winning and losing this brutal war. And yet one solution has been overlooked. Military strength depends not only on weapons but on the industrial capacity and supply chains that sustain them. Aluminium meets this challenge. Lightweight, durable and highly recyclable, it is found in fighter aircraft, armoured vehicles, drones, missiles and satellites.

One Ukrainian defence technology company, Ukr Armo Tech, which designs and manufactures armoured vehicles and artillery ammunition, believes this commodity is indispensable for the war. “Aluminium is genuinely a strategic material for modern defence manufacturing, particularly for armoured vehicles and artillery,” says Hennadii Khirhii, CEO of Ukr Armo Tech. “The key advantage of aluminium in artillery shell production is its suitability for high-precision machining.”

Last month the White House issued an executive order which created an incentive programme for US companies to build aluminium smelters for tanks and missiles. And Nato recently listed aluminium first among 12 defence-critical raw materials. But in the UK aluminium is filed under litter. We are not failing to collect drinks cans for recycling. The failure is retention. An estimated 50 per cent of the aluminium scrap the UK generates is exported, with more than 200,000 tonnes leaving in the first four months of this year. None of it is refined for defence purposes.

If the UK wants to help Ukraine without a huge increase in its defence budget, a deposit return scheme could be the solution. Turkey has built the world's most advanced scheme which works via QR codes, digital tracking and reverse vending machines. People deposit recyclables and receive refunds directly into their digital wallets.

Turkey claims the scheme, which processes 25 billion items a year, has contributed \$1 billion to reducing its deficit and created 20,000 jobs. "The scheme has consistently delivered higher collection and recycling rates wherever it has been implemented," says Murat Kurum, Turkey's environment minister. "Our experience is a well-designed deposit return scheme can provide industry with high-quality recycled materials."

A simple plan to keep aluminium inside the UK and recycle it for military purposes could yet make the difference between victory and defeat for Ukraine.

Mark Hollingsworth is an author and journalist

Comment

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Trees will cool us down better than air con

A planting programme in Colombia brought shade and better health, but here we leave saplings to wither and die

Alice Thomson

@ALICETTIMES

A decade ago, Medellin was a concrete jungle that sweltered all year round. Tarmac on its twisted roads bubbled, weeds

fried in the heat, dogs collapsed on the pavements, nights were torturous. Colombia's second city, the former headquarters of the drug cartels, was polluted and shunned. Air quality, humidity and heat had become unbearable, much as it's been in Europe this summer.

But then something miraculous happened. A new mayor announced he wanted trees and plants, not just by roadsides but up skyscrapers, in squares, on rooftops and overpasses, even under bridges. Within ten years temperatures were 20C lower under shady trees. Vertical gardens and verdant roofs kept direct sunlight off buildings and residents didn't need to install air conditioning. Streams have been opened up, embankments throng with 30 species of butterfly, balconies trail vines, neighbours compete over orchid displays, the elderly chat in the shade to the

sound of frogs and even at midday teenagers use the outdoor gyms in the park. Going for a run along the streets when I revisited this summer was a pleasure, unlike August in London.

Federica Gutierrez, the mayor, focused on 30 green corridors across the city and 124 pocket parks, planting 120,000 shrubs and bushes and 12,500 trees in his first two years. By 2021 the city had 880,000 new trees and 2.5 million smaller plants. The initial investment was £13.2 million with an annual maintenance cost that has risen to £504,000 for the saplings, but many parks are tended by volunteers and citizen gardeners. There is almost no rubbish on the streets now. Mental

Kew Gardens lostmore than 400 treesin the 2022 drought

health has improved. The city's morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections fell from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people last year.

Mango trees are the most efficient at absorbing the pollution, along with tropical ash and yellow guayacan. Palms are better for shade. A study of two of the parks showed its trees removed 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere a year. No wonder Bogota and Barranquilla are adopting the plans.

By 2050 more than 970 cities around the world will experience average summertime temperature highs of 35C. Trees, many countries are discovering, are a solution to the heat but Britain is lagging. Instead, the conversation here has turned to who can afford aircon, a far more expensive, less environmentally sustainable solution.

New planting in this country is inadequate and, where it does take place, badly managed. Driving down the A303 this week I saw miles of shrivelled saplings encased in plastic guards, almost all dead. Of the 860,000 trees planted for the A14 scheme in 2022, 45 per cent have failed having been poorly planted and abandoned. National Highways manages 30,000 hectares of “soft estate” and nurturing properly these trees and hedgerows could provide wildlife corridors while muffling the sound of the roads and countering air pollution. But unless targets are focussed on the aftercare, the planting figures become pointless.

Meanwhile in cities, residents complain that trees dig up pavements, spoil their views and drop leaves in gutters. The Royal Horticultural Society's "State Of Gardening" report last year found that 55 per cent of front garden space is concreted over, predominantly for cars. Yet shaded walls, roofs and road surfaces can be up to 25C cooler than areas hit by direct sun. If residents dug up their parking spaces and planted borders and hedges, they might also find, like 77 per cent of gardeners, that their mental health improved. Qing Li, a clinical professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo has spent 20 years proving the chemicals released by trees and shrubs calm stress and boost the immune system.

Shaded walls, roofs and road surfaces can be up to 25C cooler

Create Streets Foundation, a think-tank, found the temperature in London during one heatwave was only 26.2C under a canopy of plane trees along the Thames Path but 200 metres away on a sunny bench outside Lambeth Palace it was 43.4C. The director Nicholas Boys Smith calls trees “an urban wonder drug”. Affluent areas such as Hampstead know their worth, with 40 per cent canopy cover, compared with 2 per cent in Hartlepool.

Britain needs more mature trees to keep cool. The country can't rely on native species either, or the plantations of new conifers intended to offset the egregious $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$

consumption of some companies. Our elm and ash have already become too diseased, the native Quercus robur, English oak, may struggle in the next few decades. Beech, silver birch and holly are also showing their vulnerability in this unpredictable weather as are cherries with their shallow roots. They've gone into self-protection mode. Native hawthorn and pear fare better but there is now an urgent need for more diverse, imported drought-resilient species such as small-leaved limes, figs, cypress, Turkish hazel and Mexican oaks (Britain has two species of oak compared with 170 in Mexico, most of which are better adapted to extreme climates), alongside plants like agapanthus, crepe myrtle and lavender.

At Kew Gardens in London, the grass has shrivelled around the Henry Moore statues while stressed plants are shedding leaves. Kew lost more than 400 trees in the 2022 drought. Researchers found 72 per cent of London's canopy will struggle to thrive by the end of the century.

Plant and nurture a tree from Asia, America or Africa or install air conditioning units that pump yet more heat onto the streets — the choice is ours. But I know which will make us healthier and happier. As AE Housman said, “Give me a land of boughs in leaf.” No one writes an ode to a fan.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor should be sent to letters@thetimes.co.uk or by post to 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

Regulating Big Tech

Sir, In its efforts to bring the big social media tech companies to order, the US prefers to use the courts, which take an age, while in the UK we prefer statutory regulation (“Meta ‘hid the truth’ about impact on children’s mental health”, Aug 19). It is clear from the continuing horrors and harm being inflicted on young and old alike that these big tech companies are failing to stem the flow of damage for which they are directly responsible. From child harm (pornography, grooming, self-harm, etc) to promoting fatal online challenges, they display a reckless lack of responsibility. I have every confidence that, over time, the US courts and Ofcom are improving matters.

However, what if these companies lack the technology to manage this tsunami of toxic algorithms? Is the ubiquity of social media harm now so overwhelming that they are beyond the point of being able to control the (too often) fatal damage they have unleashed? We need to know.

While we await an answer, the government has one lever so far unused: to seek a consensus from advertisers that miscreant tech companies will be removed from their advertising spend lists until those social media services clean up their acts. Putting their advertising revenue at risk will get tech companies' attention much quicker than the courts or regulation are able to do. Lord Grade of Yarmouth Former chairman, BBC and Ofcom; former executive chairman, ITV

Migrant integration

Sir, Trevor Phillips is right to highlight integration in his article, and places such as Dorset prove it can work (“Integration is best way to handle immigration”, comment, Aug 24). Away from major cities, Britain’s growing immigrant population is largely well integrated. Local anxieties only peak when amplified by national and social media.

A real challenge of immigration is practical: the strain on schools, housing and the NHS. The answer is not just fewer immigrants but greater infrastructure capacity. Immigration can help to drive the economic growth that yields tax revenue. The money to expand services exists; what is lacking is the political will to spend it where the population pressure actually falls. Were we to start fixing that distribution, the anxiety would begin to fade.

Roger Hogbin Weymouth, Dorset

Corrections and clarifications

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content seriously. We are committed to abiding by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (“IPSO”) rules and regulations and the Editors’ Code of Practice that IPSO enforces. Requests for corrections or clarifications should be sent by email to feedback@thetimes.co.uk or by post to Feedback, The Times, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

Burnham's plan to give more power to mayors

Sir, William Hague lists important preconditions for the success of devolution, a policy I support (“Burnham’s devolution dream could backfire”, Aug 25). There is a further precondition, which he omits, if devolution is to lead to genuine decentralisation. The aim of the policy is to secure greater local accountability, but the proposed unitary authorities and mayors may appear remote. Would a resident of Bideford feel represented by Exeter, 42 miles away, or a resident of Ramsgate by Maidstone, 45 miles away?

Devolution to mayors and unitary authorities should be accompanied, as Florence Eshalomi, the housing minister and former chair of the Commons housing, communities and local government committee, has argued, by devolution to the most local layer of government: parish and town councils. There are about 10,000 of these. Genuine devolution requires that they be strengthened and established in areas without them. Sir Vernon Bogdanor Professor of government KCL; author of Devolution in the United Kingdom

Sir, One of the biggest problems with local government, as I learnt when I was a local councillor 30 years ago, is that no matter how it is organised, all too often it is viewed as nothing more than a stepping stone to Westminster.

As long as it is dominated by political parties, the interest of the community that members of local authorities are supposed to serve will always take second place to the prevailing dogma of the party to which they belong. Add to that factor the increasing presence of sectarianism in local elections, and the desires of the poor citizens who want nothing more than a good education for their children, roads in good condition and rubbish collected regularly count for little.

It is no wonder that the turnout at local elections is so low. Barry Kester Pinner, Middx

Sir, In his column William Hague highlights what he perceives as the public's confusion at various restructures of local government. But does this really matter? In my many years as a local newspaper editor I repeated the mantra to my colleagues that the public's view of their local councils — whatever their function and responsibilities — in reality came down to the three Bs: bills, bins and bumps in the road. It would surely serve everyone with a passing interest in this topic to remember this mantra when analysing public perception of those who govern them locally. Andy Cooper St Helier, Jersey

Sir, William Hague is right to cite the decline of local newspapers for why local councillors are not wholly accountable. As he says, local papers were “largely destroyed by the arrival of social media”. Print editorial space was thinned as advertisers and property agents sought different avenues for selling their wares. This meant not only that local politics was not properly covered but that criminal activity other than murder or fraud was hardly covered. Too often now, reporters are covering up to six editions from 30 or 40 miles away and have little understanding of areas. Those mayors or councillors given extra powers by Andy Burnham will have no proper scrutiny from the local media. Local websites do not have the same transparency as the print version. David Rimmer

Former local newspaper reporter; Hertford Heath, Herts

Tory candidates

Sir, By restricting the candidacy to those who support withdrawal from the European convention on human rights, and implicitly those who do not favour closer collaboration with Europe, the Conservative Party risks becoming a niche party, inhabited only by the dwindling band of those who now regard Brexit as a sensible idea. Robert Frazer (letter, Aug 25) suggests that if Grant Shapps can't bring himself to follow the Tory party order of service, he should preach out in the churchyard to the gravestones. But given that 60 per cent of those over 65 voted for Brexit (source: Lord Ashcroft Polls) in 2016, ten years on the graveyard is where an increasing number of those Leave supporters, most of them Tory voters, now reside. John Mann

Chagford Cross, Devon

Sir, I fear some contributors (Aug 25) have not fully understood the main point raised by Sir Malcolm Rifkind (Thunderer, Aug 24). The reason why the Conservative Party is the most successful in history is because it is a broad church. If it becomes an “echo chamber" then many more voters will depart. Whataboutery does not change the perilous position of the former foreign secretary's party. Robert Boston Kingshill, Kent

Thames Water plan

Sir, The government's stepping back from placing Thames Water into a special administration regime should not be mistaken for a resolution of the company's crisis ("Radical plans for Thames Water put on ice over price tag", Aug 25). It seems concerns over the immediate cost to taxpayers and possible legal challenges have made ministers pause. But the underlying problems — unmanageable debt, weak public confidence, inadequate environmental performance and the need for sustained investment — remain exactly where they were.

The creditors' proposed £10 billion restructuring, through the London & Valley Water consortium, is plainly an attempt to offer the government an alternative to temporary public control. Its proposals include a new chair and a number of experienced non-executive directors. Competent leadership is

welcome, but a refreshed board alone cannot make the public forget how the company reached this point.

For those who care about the Thames, the ownership matters less than the outcome. What matters is whether the company is able — and compelled — to protect the river, stop unacceptable pollution and rebuild public trust. This is an opportunity to establish a water company whose first duty is service to people and the environment, rather than the servicing of excessive debt. Greg Wilkinson Vice-chair, River Thames Society

Family treasures

Sir, My father bought an attractive 19th-century watercolour for £60 in a gallery in Jermyn Street in 1974. I recently had it valued and was told it is worth no more now, probably less ("Dated tastes blow hole in big boomer art giveaway", Aug 24). The valuer added that if my father had gone to Spinks auction house and bought some Chinese porcelain this would now be worth 100 times more. Caroline Johns London SE27

A SWEET PROSPECT FOR FARMERS

FROM THE TIMES AUGUST 26, 1926

The cost of the manual labour required in the cultivation of sugar beet is the primary difficulty to be overcome in the development of the beet sugar industry in this country. The tillage of the land and the maintenance of a high state of fertility are well within the competence of the average farmer; it is where manual labour is concerned that he competes at a disadvantage with his rivals on the Continent. In Germany, for instance, women and boys can be obtained from neighbouring States in great abundance at a rate of wage that would be out of the question here. It is felt that unless some means can be devised of diminishing dependence upon manual labour there must be difficulty in carrying on the industry here after the subsidy ceases.

The only alternative to handwork is the employment of machinery. Yesterday a representative company had the advantage of witnessing a demonstration of the Greyhound Sugar Beet Harvester imported from the United States by Messrs Stanhay, Limited. The trial was conducted on a farm near Peterborough. The arrival of a machine of this description at this time is opportune, as the harvesting of the largest area ever grown in this country will begin shortly, and farmers are seeking eagerly some means whereby the work can be performed in season. The first cost is heavy, the price being £595, but it is claimed that the machine soon pays for itself in the

saving of labour that it effects on farms of 20 acres or more.

The consumption of ice during the last few days has been very great. Most of the ice used by British vendors of perishable foods, and in hotels, restaurants and households, used to come from Norway, but that trade has dwindled as the output of machine-made ice has increased from season to season. In the year before the United Kingdom imported 104,894 tons of natural ice, mainly from Norway, as against about 5,000 tons this season.

So many centres in Great Britain and on the Continent have adequate facilities for manufacturing ice that the Norwegian natural ice industry is gradually languishing. A few more years will see, probably, the extinction of the industry.

THETIMES.COM/ARCHIVE

Club's geese cull

Sir, It has ruffled my feathers as a longstanding member of St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club to see so much publicity given to the discreet early-morning culling of eight unsanitary Canada geese (news and leading article, Aug 24; letter, Aug 25). Over the years these birds have become a menace to the club's lakeside dining staff while they carry trays laden with hot food. Members and guests expect to eat safely there, relaxing overlooking the lake, not avoiding multiple droppings on a slimy poop-deck. Although this issue may not have been handled optimally by the club's management, given current world events, one might consider it strictly one for the birds. Fiona Ritchie Pyrford, Surrey

Zero-hours jobs

Sir, Further to your report “Zero-hours ban will threaten jobs, warn businesses” (Aug 25), once I reached retirement age I carried on working for a few years as a doctor with a zero-hours contract. That meant I could work full-time during the summer, when younger employees wanted to take vacations, but have entire weeks off to travel in unpopular holiday times. Without my input the service given by my employer would have been severely curtailed as many of its employees had families and wanted to take holidays with them. Not all zero-hours contracts are unfair. Jane Stanford London SW13

Larwood's portrait

Sir, Mike Atherton's convincing argument that there should be a portrait of Harold Larwood in the Long Room at Lord's (sport, Aug 25) is reinforced when one considers that there is a stand at the ground named after the rather ineffectual manager of the Bodyline tour, Sir Pelham Warner. Alan Griffiths London W13

Eat, don't eat

Sir, I was interested to read about what top cardiologists do to avoid heart disease (Weekend, Aug 22). One of the four eats butter and drinks moderately, while another never eats butter and says we should all abstain from alcohol (but allows their patients an occasional glass of wine). If the experts can't agree, what hope is there for us poor mortals? Viv Ryan Liverpool

Daleks' test flight

Sir, As the director of Remembrance of the Daleks (letter, Aug 21), I think readers might be interested to know how we achieved that scary moment when a Dalek went upstairs for the first time, in 1988. Two parallel scaffolding poles were fixed to the staircase and an empty Dalek placed on a wooden pallet. At each corner a leg was screwed on (short for the front end and longer for the back so the Dalek was upright). A pair of roller-skate wheels were attached to each leg end then a rope tied to the front was led through a pulley at the top of the stairs. Two prop men, hidden on the landing, slowly pulled the contraption up the stairs. A flame effect and sound were added in post-production. Andrew Morgan London W9

Daily Universal Register

Ofgem announces changes to the energy price cap, to take effect from October 1; GDP estimates for Scotland are released.

Nature notes

Humans visit Byland Abbey for the ruins, which have the feel of a monastic Stonehenge. Wildlife prefers the

wetland surrounding the English Heritage site. Many migrating birds rely on it for food and a safe resting place, so it was heartening that after weeks of drought some of the Byland pools remained viable. A visitor at the height of the arid spell was the charismatic wood sandpiper. Stalking through the shallows on its long yellow legs, the bird probed the mud hungrily for worms and larvae. Wood sandpipers breed in subarctic wetlands, including 30 pairs in the north of Scotland which was the possible origin of this bird. After its Byland sojourn, the wood sandpiper will continue to make its way to Africa. JONATHAN TULLOCH

Birthdays today

Alison Steadman, pictured, actress, Abigail's Party (1977), Here We Go (since 2022), 80; Steven Bartlett, businessman, Dragons' Den investor and podcaster, 34; Sally Beamish, composer,

Spinal Chords (2012), 70; Ludger Beerbaum, German showjumper, four-time Olympic gold medallist, 63; Chris Boardman, cyclist, Olympic gold medallist (1992), 58; Michael Cockerell, journalist and documentary-maker, Inside the Commons (2015), 86; Macaulay Culkin, actor, Home Alone (1990), 46; Prof Marcus du Sautoy, mathematician, broadcaster and writer, Blueprints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity (2025), 61; Monica Galetti, chef, co-presenter, Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (since 2017), 51; Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 82; Lord (Michael) Gove, editor, The Spectator, Conservative MP for Surrey Heath (2005-24), education secretary (2010-14), 59; Paula Hawkins, author, The Girl on the Train (2015), The Blue Hour (2024), 54; Charlotte Hogg, chief executive, Alter Domus (alternative investments), Visa Europe (2017-25), deputy governor (markets and banking), Bank of England (2017), 56; Sir Craig Mackey QPM, deputy commissioner, Metropolitan Police (2012-18), who witnessed the 2017 Westminster terror attack, 64; Shirley Manson, singer, Garbage, Stupid Girl (1996), 60; Branford Marsalis, jazz saxophonist and composer, 66; Hamid Moghadam, co-founder and executive chairman, Prologis (the world's largest publicly traded logistics property company), 70; Mae Muller, singer-songwriter, Better Days (2021), 29; Chris Pine, actor, the Star Trek and Wonder Woman film series, 46; Louise Shepherd, regional director for NHS England (northwest region), chief executive, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool (2008-24), 62; Valerie Simpson, songwriter, co-writer of Ain't No Mountain High Enough (1966) and I'm Every Woman (1978), 80; Moe Tucker, drummer, Velvet Underground, After Hours (1969), 82.

On this day

In 1944 General de Gaulle led a liberation parade along the Champs-Élysées after the liberation of Paris by French and US troops.

The last word

"Learned Institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people." James Madison, fourth US president, letter to William T Barry (1822)

Staying Power

Donald Trump is promising to crush Iran's already weakened economy with more sanctions. But to prevail he must persevere in the face of a stubborn, ruthless regime

It wasn't supposed to be like this. When President Trump threw his lot in with Binyamin Netanyahu and attacked Iran on February 28, the war aims were clear and confidence was high. As bombs and missiles rained on the Iranian elite, killing the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, Mr Trump implored ordinary Iranians to rise up and claim their freedom. To regime change were added other aims: Iran's renunciation of terrorism and the end of its network of terrorist satellites in the Middle East, the end of ballistic missile production and development, and the final and complete dismemberment of its nuclear weapons programme.

None of that has so far come to pass. Though wounded, the Islamic regime in Tehran has shown itself to be brutally adept at survival. As Mr Trump contemplates America's midterm congressional elections in November, vote-sensitive gasoline prices remain elevated and the flow of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz is still a fraction of its peacetime level. Almost six months on, Mr Trump finds himself stuck in one of those debilitating forever conflicts he promised to avoid.

Now, to the rescue rides Scott Bessent, the United States treasury secretary. Where kinetic weapons have so far failed, Mr Bessent promises economic ones. Iran is not only the most bombed country on Earth, it is also the most sanctioned. But not enough, thinks Mr Bessent, who is promising to sever every last artery, banking, commercial and maritime, supplying the regime's lifeblood.

Operation Economic Outcast opened on Monday with a ferocious rhetorical bombardment from Mr Bessent, who promised to hunt down and punish the enablers who allow Iran to move and sell its oil, and process the earnings. Nations that turn a blind eye to sanctions-busting mid-ocean transfers of oil to tankers included on their shipping registers, that welcome Iranian flights, that host exchange houses and free trade zones through which Iranian money flows: these, he warns, will have Washington breathing down their necks. The penalty for non-compliance will be high: exclusion from the US-dominated international transactions system.

That Iran is suffering the effects of sanctions is beyond doubt. Inflation is soaring and the rial is plunging towards Weimar levels of worthlessness against the dollar. The Speaker of the Iranian parliament has warned that, despite the country's military prowess, it cannot endure if the people starve. However, the hardliners in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the driving seat after the decapitation strike of February 28, are unlikely to heed such warnings. Economic coercion tends to work better on a population that can express its displeasure. Unfortunately, there is no public opinion in Iran: there is only submission or death. Iran's intransigence and the partial closure of the strait are severe political irritants for Mr Trump, whose belligerent hyperbole has failed to translate into military success. For the IRGC, however, the struggle is existential. No amount of hardship on the streets is likely to force their capitulation. That said, the more repressive a regime is, the more brittle it can be. Sudden collapse in the face of an economic blockade can't be ruled out entirely.

To work, the sanctions offensive would have to enjoy at least passive support from China. Beijing is the biggest buyer of Iranian crude and the inclusion of Chinese refineries and state-owned banks on Mr Bessent's sanctions hitlist could, as he admits, result in a rupture that would "blow up the global financial system". These are high stakes and Mr Trump must somehow persuade President Xi not to call his bluff and retaliate.

Yet, despite the hurdles, a sustained sanctions campaign seems to be the only way to slay a regime that has terrorised its region and immerated its people for years. If Iran really is to be made an outcast, Mr Trump must show staying power.

Demolish Rules, Build Homes

Andy Burnham should make it easier for private sector developers to do their job

In announcing funds to solve the housing crisis, Andy Burnham said: “Councils built this country out of a housing crisis before. Backed properly, and trusted to get on with it, they will do it again.” But while the prime minister’s commitment to backing council housing sounds firm, the numbers tell a different story. Most of the money announced this week will not go to councils, and it will not solve the housing crisis.

Sir Keir Starmer's government promised £39 billion to solve that crisis. Yesterday, the government announced how £10 billion of it would be allocated. Despite Mr Burnham's promises to councils, most of the money will, as was planned under Sir Keir's premiership, go to housing associations. While bidding for funds has been made easier for councils, they do not have the resources to manage big housing programmes.

Moreover, the money is peanuts. The government says that the £10 billion will build 70,000 social and affordable homes, but that is spread over ten years: 7,000 a year will make hardly a dent in the 300,000 homes per year that the government has promised to build.

That so little money is available is regrettable. There is no doubt that the country needs more homes, and there is a lot to be said for the government getting involved. Housebuilding requires a lot of land and capital; and the government can assemble land more easily than the private sector can, thanks to its compulsory purchase powers. It can borrow money more cheaply, too.

But the government is too heavily indebted at the moment, and has too many other priorities, to fork out the kind of sums that would make a difference. It will have to continue to rely on the private sector but construction firms are struggling to provide the numbers ministers desire.

The government has made some creditable attempts to remove barriers to private sector housebuilding. It is, for instance, pursuing an initiative, started under Sir Keir, to facilitate development around railway stations — the most efficient locations to house people who need to travel to work. Under the revised National Policy Planning Framework, councils will be expected to approve applications for developments around stations that meet certain criteria.

However, government itself is a barrier to development. Regulation imposes costs that make promising developments unviable. Developers are, for instance, required to allocate a large chunk of their output to affordable housing. In London it is up to 35 per cent, a big reason why there has been so little housebuilding in the capital. Developments are also impeded by policies outside the realm of housebuilding. To biodiversity net gain rules, which require firms to add to biodiversity in the course of a project, is added the future homes standard, intended to meet net zero targets. Altogether, regulations introduced since 2020 add up to some £40,000 per home, more than a tenth of the total cost. In October another new tax, the building safety levy, kicks in. It is hardly surprising that in the first quarter of this year, the number of sites granted planning permission dropped to 1,200, down from 3,000 in 2017.

The government talks as though it is initiating a big public sector housing push, but it does not have the money. It should therefore make a serious effort to lighten the regulatory load so the private sector can do the job instead.

Peak Demand

Queues on Wales's highest mountain have become a source of tension

Standing in an orderly line is the closest thing we have to a national hobby. Whether it is waiting for a bus, paying for the weekly shop or even the strange new practice of lining up neatly at the bar, Britons thrive on queueing. This tradition reached its apogee in 2022 with the line of those wanting to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth. At its longest, the queue stretched out of Westminster Hall for ten miles and required more than 24 hours of patient waiting to reach the lying-in-state.

But queueing has its limits, and it has become a source of tension at, of all places, the top of Snowdon, the highest point in Wales. Hikers are reported to be waiting more than an hour to reach the 1,085m summit. Queues at the top of the mountain, also known as Yr Wyddfa, have been swollen this summer by the desire of visitors for the perfect summit selfie. This mindless quest for social media fodder has resulted in bottlenecks in what are potentially dangerous surroundings.

And it has created something else: bad feeling among those jostling their way to the top. Those who regard themselves as genuine hikers, as opposed to day-trippers, and make a break for the summit have been heckled and videoed by the mobile phone brigade as they pass. One hiker,

Marc Screeton, was videoed being heckled for skipping the queue with cries of "out of order". Mr Screeton retorted: "Imagine queueing on a mountain!" He has a point.

In a refreshing departure from nanny statism, Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park Authority is refusing to intervene, preferring “self-policing”. Good. In any case, lovers of Snowdonia have plenty of other viewing points from which to admire its majesty. The Times regularly publishes recommendations for scenic walks, and those seeking relief from the selfie contingent — those who prefer their views to be unframed — can start there.

World

Pope puts peace in the hands of his English envoy

Archbishop flies out to Moscow as the Vatican hopes quiet diplomacy will stop the bombs, Tom Kington writes

A Liverpool lad to his boots, the Most Rev Paul Gallagher once said hailing from Merseyside helped to keep “your feet firmly on the ground”. A sense of humour and pragmatic view of life, he added, prevented “you from taking yourself — or the pomp of diplomacy — too seriously”.

Now the Vatican's top diplomat, the archbishop is putting that lesson to good use as he emerges as a possible peacemaker in Ukraine after meeting Russia's foreign minister in Moscow.

Gallagher, 72, flew in to meet Sergey Lavrov yesterday, his first trip to Russia since President Putin's invasion of Ukraine — showing that his boss, Pope Leo, is serious about diplomatic efforts to end the four-year conflict.

Speaking alongside Lavrov after their meeting, Gallagher promised the Vatican would “provide strong spiritual, diplomatic and humanitarian support” to help halt the war. Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican said Moscow was interested in a proposal to hold further talks in Rome. Today, Gallagher is due to meet Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to Putin.

John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, also flew to Russia yesterday for a high-level meeting. In Ukraine, President Zelensky said he had a deal drafted with US and European officials, including a proposal for a free economic zone in Donbas, ready to be presented to Russia.

"The fact the Vatican is sending in Gallagher is noteworthy — he doesn't just drop in," Elise Ann Allen, a biographer of the Pope, said. Leo has regularly called for peace in Ukraine and said this year: "Let the weapons fall silent, let the bombings cease, let an immediate ceasefire be reached."

Berlin suspect 'Russian asset'

Elizabeth Rushton

A Ukrainian man who deposited weapons in a depot outside Berlin belonged to a network working for Russian intelligence, it is claimed.

Vadym S, 24, is awaiting trial in Romania for planning an attack on the Ukrainian courier service Nova Post. The magazine Der Spiegel said he was allegedly part of a group that is suspected of planning sabotage across Nato.

Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said he would soon reveal more about the suspect behind the “hybrid attack” at Leipzig airport on August 4, when two explosive drones were found. Local media said a third was discovered on August 14.

claimed: “God has a sense of humour.” One Vatican insider said: “Ambassadors to the Vatican know to have some gin on hand when he visits since he will accept a gin and tonic if offered.”

Paddy Agnew, an Irish expert on the Vatican, said Gallagher would turn up to Irish events in a nod to his Celtic ancestry. "He is ready to slip on a green jersey now and then," he said.

Gallagher was the first English priest to graduate from the Vatican's training college for diplomats and take on a role that since 1953 had been occupied only by Italian or French appointees. A globetrotting career involved postings in Tanzania, Uruguay, the Philippines, Strasbourg, Guatemala, Australia and Burundi, where he replaced a nuncio who was assassinated. He later recalled: "The circumstances were pretty grim."

who named him the Vatican's secretary for relations with states, essentially its foreign minister. "Gallagher is a very good, experienced diplomat," Luis Badilla, a Vatican analyst, said.

Being Leo's point man for deals with Putin, however, will be challenging — Moscow dismissed Zelensky's Donbas deal yesterday. Yet the Vatican appears ready to try its luck, leaning on its centuries-old reputation for diplomacy.

Leo may also prove a sharper operator than Francis, who was criticised for pro-Russian comments after Moscow's invasion, even as he warned the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church he risked becoming "Putin's altar boy".

Among Gallagher's role models is reported to be Ercole Consalvi, an Ital-

Iacopo Scaramuzzi, the Vatican correspondent for La Repubblica, said: "I believe Gallagher has an Anglo-Saxon view of the war which did not coincide with Francis's openings to Moscow."

According to Badilla, Francis sidelined Gallagher because of their differences, instead appointing Matteo Zuppi, an Italian cardinal, as his special envoy for Ukraine. “That means Gallagher’s visit to Moscow is a successful comeback,” he said.

Scaramuzzi said Putin might be more willing to talk to Leo, who hails from Chicago, than to Francis. "Putin never picked up the phone when Francis called but he did when Leo called, probably because Leo is American and he wanted to see if he could be an interlocutor with the US," he said.

Gallagher started work as a priest in Fazakerley, a Liverpool suburb, and says it prepared him for a career in diplomacy.

Allen said that Leo's deployment of Gallagher showed he was putting his faith in the Vatican diplomatic service. "Francis didn't trust the Vatican apparatus and would use people he trusted, like Zuppi, but Leo is the opposite," she said. "He wants the Vatican diplomats to do their job."

"Everything later brought to the diplomatic table — listening, empathy, patience — was learnt first on the streets and in the hospital wards of Liverpool," he said.

Gallagher is known for his wit and has ian Vatican diplomat. Consalvi responded to Napoleon's threat to destroy the Catholic Church by quipping: "Your Majesty, we, g. Your Majesty, we, the Catholic clergy, have done our best to destroy the church for the last 1,800 years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you."

By 2014 Gallagher had caught the eye of Pope Francis,

Gallagher's trip also involves meetings with Russian Orthodox Church officials, possibly to mend fences after they broke off relations in response to Pope Francis allowing the blessing of individuals in same-sex unions in 2023.

Paul Gallagher, right, met Sergey Lavrov

“Gallagher’s trip could help put the relationship with the Orthodox Church back on track,” said Allen. “But the fact he is going, instead of a Vatican ecumenical official, does imply that the main aim is diplomacy about Ukraine.”

Allen said Leo's brand of diplomacy was different to his predecessor's. "Leo does not see the Vatican as needing to mediate, but to advocate. He is not a political animal like Pope Francis."

In an interview with Allen last year, Leo said: “I’d make a distinction in terms of the voice of the Holy See in advocating for peace and a role as mediator, which I think is very different and is not as realistic as the first one.”

Allen added: “Everyone paid attention to what Pope Francis said, but he found it hard to move the needle in diplomacy. Pope Leo is more measured, but may be more successful at moving that needle.”

Pussy Riot star flees Putin's spies trying to turn her

A former member of the anti-Kremlin group

Pussy Riot has said she was recruited by Russian security service agents who tried to involve her in a plot to assassinate a well-known opposition figure in Serbia (Marc Bennetts writes).

Margarita Konovalova, who goes by the name Rita Flores, said the Federal Security Service (FSB) told her that if she did not agree to work for them they would jail her over social media posts about Russian atrocities in Ukraine and kill her mother. A senior FSB agent also said that Konovalova would “vanish without trace” if she refused to inform.

The threats were made during a raid on her flat in Moscow in 2023, she said. "It was just like in the films: we sat down at the table, and I wasn't allowed to move or look away," she told Port, a media outlet set up by exiled Russian journalists. "They started trying to recruit me, resorting to all sorts of threats and mockery, saying truly nasty things, threatening to kill my family and claiming I'd never be able to prove who killed my mother."

Konovalova was given the codename "Harley" and ordered to gather information on artists whose work was critical of the Kremlin. The FSB also ordered her to lure her former boyfriend Pyotr Verzilov, a

Russian opposition activist who has been fighting against President Putin's forces in Ukraine, to Serbia. They initially offered her up to three million roubles (£26,000) to assist but later told her to choose her price, she said.

"The plan was to sit in a specific café, one that would be absolutely packed with FSB agents, various security officials, and, crucially, gangsters. Gangsters who were watching [Verzilov], waiting for the moment he went to wash his hands. They'd throw a sack over his head, and that would be it," she said.

Verzilov is the ex-husband of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Pussy Riot, and he also co-founded the Mediazona opposition website. He was one of the Pussy Riot activists who invaded the pitch during the 2018 World Cup final in Moscow in protest against Putin's policies. The same year, he was rushed to a hospital in Germany after what doctors believed to be a poisoning. He and other opposition figures blamed the Kremlin.

Konovalova also said the FSB asked her to find out where Verzilov was staying in Ukraine so they could blow up the building with him inside. "They asked me about a hundred times to identify his house — or at least what the corner of the house or the roof looked like so that they could chuck some explosive device at it," she said. "That was the point of no return ... I realised how far they were willing to go."

Konovalova said she was able to convince the FSB that she would not be able to go to Serbia to meet Verzilov because her husband in Moscow would not allow her to travel. "My story was that he knew nothing [about her recruitment]."

Verzilov wrote on X on Monday: "The FSB has been trying to orchestrate my assassination in

Saudis' theme park outside Paris is a soft power push Page 27

Artist who mocked Mao jailed for three years Page 28

Margarita Konovalova was jailed for demonstrating against police violence, above left. In 2012, Pussy Riot activists held an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral, below various parts of the globe for the past ten years — including my poisoning in 2018 and other insane

operations. Over the last four and a half years, as my primary focus has been defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, these attempts have become even more deranged. You won't live to see it, you evil villains from the Russian FSB — you won't live to see it!"

Konovalova, who spent 20 days in prison in 2020 over a protest against police violence, said she had attempted suicide several times after her recruitment by the FSB. "There wasn't a

RITA FLORES/INSTAGRAM

single day, not one, when I felt good or at peace. I was simply consumed by an overwhelming, immense sense of fear and guilt," she said. No one was imprisoned because of Konovalova's co-operation with the FSB, and she had tried to provide them with useless information and drag out her assignments.

She managed to flee Russia last week with the help of Dmitry Zakhvatov, an exiled Russian human rights lawyer, and Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli businessman who also opposes Putin, she said. Both men are wanted by Russia on politically motivated charges. She did not reveal how she left Russia or her whereabouts. "By doing the impossible, they saved both my ass and my soul; they moved me to a safe, protected environment and gave me hope for a future I hadn't dared to dream of in a long time," she wrote on Instagram on Monday.

Maria Alyokhina, a prominent member of Pussy Riot who spent almost two years in prison over a protest against Putin at Moscow's biggest Orthodox cathedral in 2012, told The Times she had put Konovalova in touch with Zakhvatov after finding out about her situation. Alyokhina fled Russia in 2022 by disguising herself as a food delivery courier to evade police who were watching her apartment block in Moscow.

Konovalova said she had chosen to speak about her experiences to give hope to other opposition figures who may have been blackmailed by the FSB into informing. Igor Rogov, a former anti-Putin activist, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a court in Poland last month after admitting to providing the FSB with information on exiled dissidents. His wife, Irina Rogina, was jailed for three years.

"There is reason to believe that other people have also been recruited, and I would like to help them," Konovalova said. "I am living proof that you can simply contact the right people, and they will help you."

Emirs may have too much to lose from cutting Tehran ties

The tougher American sanctions regime could be complicated for the UAE, Samer Al-Atrush reports from Dubai

When the ceasefire between Iran and the US fell apart last month, Tehran and its proxies resumed attacks on Gulf countries with one exception. The United Arab Emirates, which bore the brunt of the missiles and drones in the first round, was mostly spared.

This respite may have been the work of the Gulf state's spy chief and troubleshooter Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, the brother of the president. Recognisable by his trademark shades, cropped beard and wiry figure, Tahnoun, who visited Tehran in 2021, is his country's point man on Iran. He is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sits astride a trillion dollars in sovereign wealth money and runs a business empire.

To Iran, the UAE's message was straightforward. It was more than capable of defending itself and even striking Iran, as it did during the war in retaliation for Iranian attacks, but it was open to business should the missiles and drones stop. For decades, the UAE had served as Iran's financial lungs, allowing it to breathe under suffocating western sanctions. In recent weeks, it has denied reports that it unfroze billions in Iranian assets to protect itself from the second round of Tehran's missiles and drones that pummeled US bases and infrastructure in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, while Iranian proxies in Iraq targeted Saudi Arabia.

But there was no denying that other transactions continued until last week, when it said it was severing all economic and financial ties with Iran. This was ostensibly a response to a failed Iranian missile attack but it came hours after President Trump called his counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and urged him to tighten sanctions.

To isolate Iran economically, both the UAE and China would have to cut off trade. Farzan Sabet, an Iran expert with the Geneva Graduate Institute, said: "I would guess that after China, which is a major export hub and [which holds] a lot of Iranian money, the UAE is potentially a second trade hub — or trade circumvention hub — for Iran."

The UAE, which is home to more than 100,000 Iranians, has also become a magnet for Iranian businessmen, some of whom are tied to the regime and have helped it to evade sanctions.

"You have a lot of regime-adjacent elite who use the UAE as a safe haven for themselves and their money and their family," Sabet said. One of them, it is claimed, is Ali Ansari, whom the US sanctioned last month. Based in Dubai, Ansari is accused of creating a real estate empire spanning the UAE, Britain and Europe on behalf of the regime to move and launder money.

"He's one of those regime-adjacent figures who are part of the sanctions evasion network — they're really money people," Sabet said.

Whether the UAE follows through with its threat to sever the lifeline to Iran remains to be seen as the country balances its interests against US demands.

Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, said on Monday that countries which “still finance the Iranian threat in the hopes of evading it” were making a mistake.

He said: "It is no longer acceptable to operate in the grey spaces of this conflict. Countries cannot claim that they are blind to enabling this activity.

"Iran's enablers purchase and transport its petroleum. They facilitate the flow of its finances through exchange houses and free trade zones."

The UAE, which prides itself on its multiculturalism and laissez-faire business approach, was infuriated by Iranian attacks during the war that seemed designed to destroy its economy. Aside from retaliating with airstrikes, it closed down exchange houses, which process big currency exchanges and were seen as linked to the Iranian regime. It also shut an Iranian-funded hospital in Dubai.

It has hedged its bets in case the Tehran regime survives, and continues to proffer an olive branch to Iran by not choking off all its business interests in the UAE.

Trump must persevere with sustained sanctions, leading article, page 23

Iranians urged to find and assassinate Barron Trump

David Charter Washington

A video describing how to find and kill Barron Trump has been broadcast on Iranian state television.

In the three-minute video, the president's 20-year-old son is depicted in AI form at home and university, including playing Xbox in an Arsenal shirt. Last month the Iranian Tasnim News Agency released a similar video on Melania Trump, the first lady. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is thought to be behind these and other threats to President Trump and his family. A billboard appeared in Tehran last month showing the president in a coffin. "This is just the beginning! Barron Trump, wait for us!" the latest video concludes, according to a translation by the news outlet Al Bawaba.

The video gives an address for a campus location as well as the names and images of two people it claims are friends of Barron. It claims there is a \$10 million bounty on his life.

The president's son is under the protection of Secret Service agents.

World

Novel twist A radical interior aims to entice customers to the Zhongshuge book shop in the Zhongguancun Dongsheng science and technology park in north Beijing

Sultans of the south reignite a forgotten war in paradise

Thailand

Richard Lloyd Parry Asia Editor

Thailand presents itself to the world as a place of sunshine and smiles, but a few hours south of the tourist beaches of Phuket and Ko Samui, a cruel and neglected conflict is bubbling away.

Somebody has been killed in southern Thailand in political violence on most days for the past 22 years, victims of an intractable conflict between shadowy Islamic independence fighters and the country's sometimes brutal security forces.

Among the dead have been monks, teachers and soldiers from the Buddhist north of the country. Others have included ordinary villagers from the Muslim Malay community that makes up 80 per cent of the population in the far south, and members of a separatist Islamic insurgency. It is a savage and ghostly conflict, fought by unidentified combatants in paddy fields, jungles and isolated villages.

The aim of the attacks is to drive out Buddhist migrants from the north and establish the three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani as an independent sultanate, which they were until their incorporation into Thailand a century ago. In the past few days the war has exploded again.

Between 8pm and midnight on Saturday, in carefully co-ordinated strikes in 78 places, unidentified attackers set fire to government buildings, shops, cars and utility poles.

The explosions were heard across the border in Malaysia. The attacks took place in the three southernmost provinces, as well as Songkhla, but there were only a handful of injuries and no deaths, suggesting it was intended as a political gesture, rather than a military assault, and a demonstration of the seeming helplessness of the Thai government to quell the low-level war within its borders.

A 2004 mass arrest in which 85 people died is the conflict's defining incident

The origins of the conflict date to 1902, when the independent Muslim Sultanate of Pattani was incorporated into the Buddhist kingdom of Thailand. The “sultan provinces” have always been among the poorest parts of the country; in language, ethnicity and religion, their people have more in common with the inhabitants of Malaysia across the border. Separatist unrest simmered for decades until policies aimed at reducing poverty caused it to peter out in the 1990s.

Then 100 armed men stormed a barracks close to the Malaysian border in 2004 and seized 400 assault rifles, machineguns, pistols and rocket launchers. Since then, deadly violence has occurred somewhere in the three provinces almost every day and more than 7,800 people have been killed.

There have been roadside bombs aimed at military convoys; hitmen on motorcycles have killed patrolling soldiers or village headmen; Buddhist rubber tappers have been beheaded in their lonely plantations and monks have been murdered in their temples.

Last month a car bomb blew up a police station in the Khao Tanyong district. The next day gunmen opened fire on a military checkpoint in Narathiwat province, killing five army rangers and wounding six innocent bystanders, including two children.

The attacks elicited a reaction from the army chief of staff, General Chaiyapruek Duangprapat. “Those who provide hiding places, and any country that provides hiding places, should know that we will pursue them to the ends of the earth,” he said. “The time has come for you to become the hunted.”

But whatever the rights and wrongs of the historical claim to independence, there is no doubt that the anger of southern Muslims has been intensified by the high-handedness and brutality of the army and the notoriously corrupt police. As the insurgency spread, the security forces handed it moral victory with a series of human rights violations.

Suspects have been held for months on treason charges only to be acquitted for lack of evidence.

In the defining incident in 2004, more than 1,000 men were arrested at a demonstration in the town of Tak Bai, handcuffed and piled on top of one another in the back of army trucks. Eighty-five were crushed to death.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the latest arson attacks, but there seems little doubt that they are the work of Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN), or the Patani Malayu National Revolutionary Front.

In the early years the group did little to press its independence agenda, but more recently it has engaged through intermediaries with the government of the prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul. The weekend attacks appear to be a calculated gesture intended to demonstrate the BRN's freedom to act and its capacity to inflict more and deadlier violence if its demands are not met.

The Thai regional commander, Lieutenant General Norathip Phoynok, says the BRN is also annoyed by a crackdown on local gangsters and drug and cigarette smugglers, who provide their funding, but the authorities' efforts to paint the insurgents as druggie criminals underestimates the genuine grievance fuelling their cause.

Norathip admits that some of his own troops could be complicit with the insurgents and that his intelligence officers knew of plans for imminent attacks, but not in enough detail to intercept them.

Inspector calls to end scourge of Delhi belly

India

Amrit Dhillon Delhi

Having grown up in a poor farming family in a rural part of India, Tukaram Mundhe never even stepped inside a restaurant during his childhood, much less ate in one.

It was only when he turned 16, left home and went to college in the nearest town that he dined out for the first time in his life.

These days, however, Mundhe frequents different restaurants every day, and how he rates them is more consequential than the judgment of the most influential food critics. He is commissioner of the food and drug administration (FDA) in Maharashtra, a western state of nearly 130 million people, making him its top hygiene inspector. His manner is taciturn and he does not smile easily. But he has become a celebrity in Mumbai, the state capital, for his rigorous enforcement of food safety standards and his taking to task of any kitchen that disrespects them.

Mundhe, 51, has been dismayed at finding expired food, rats, insects, fungus, rotting vegetables, non-operational air conditioners, stagnant water, unhygienic prep zones and improper food storage. He was promoted to the post in May, after a career inspecting more than 3,000 establishments, during which he suspended the licences of 161 and gave warnings to another 750 to raise their standards of cleanliness.

His efforts have captured the public imagination, earning him the nickname “Singham”, after the policeman who took on injustice in a Bollywood blockbuster from 2011.

"My mission is to give people safe and clean food," he told The Times. "Some owners, on hearing about our visits, chose to close down voluntarily until they had got their kitchens in order. I've never been a foodie really. But now I will think twice before eating out."

This week he publicly censured three Bollywood actors — Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff — for advertising cardamom products under a similar brand name to a “pan masala” chewing tobacco banned in the state.

His zeal for safety has unleashed pent-up anger over low standards. Social media has been flooded with photos and videos of dirty kitchens.

"I want citizens to be more demanding, to insist on food safety," he said. "It affects everybody. It affects everyone's health. The rules are there. They just have to be enforced and the public must keep up the pressure."

Santosh Desai, a columnist, noted Mundhe's rise from bureaucrat to celebrity status. "There is a visible awakening ... that governance is a right and not an occasional favour to be granted ... Today, competence feels like heroism," he wrote in The Times of India.

Many kitchens in India are blighted by rats, expired food or stagnant water

Pilgrims shatter cathedral's holy peace

H

ordes of young revellers shout, chant and dance in the streets waving flags and walking sticks. Some blast music from loudspeakers while others bathe naked in a fountain (David Sharrock writes).

They are not at Glastonbury or even its cooler cousin Green Man. Instead, they are on the home stretch of what has long been regarded as a path to spiritual growth: the Camino de Santiago or, in English, the Way of St James.

For centuries pilgrims completed their camino (path) amid an air of sacrifice and solemnity, shedding a tear and intoning a prayer of thanks before the granite façade of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

But a video filmed by a group of young Spanish pilgrims and posted on social media paints a different picture. They were dancing, shouting and singing into the city that gave birth to one of

Europe's enduring Christian traditions. Their cheerful refrain of "make a wish, arrive in Santiago with plenty of shaking", continues into the Plaza del Obradoiro where they break into another chant.

It is not an isolated case. Residents say they are plagued by pilgrims blasting music, drinking, picnicking and bathing naked in the fountains. One resident told Spanish TV that the Plaza del Obradoiro had become "a camping area", while another said he was slapped by a pilgrim after objecting

Camino pilgrimages end at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Rowdy tourists, top left, have been accused of destroying its ambience

to him cycling down a prohibited street. Another pilgrim was recently evicted by police after pitching a tent beneath the arcades of the Pazo de Raxoi, opposite the cathedral. Days earlier another group had lit a camping stove in the square to make coffee and heat up tins of stew.

"Santiago is increasingly becoming a place that is losing its residents, and being transformed into a theme park. People arrive singing, shouting, with trombones, tambourines, guitars. What they are allowed to do here wouldn't be tolerated in any other city," Iván, a resident, said.

Up to 4,000 pilgrims arrive in the square on a single day at peak season. By late August more than 376,000 had collected their certificates, which pilgrims earn by getting a Camino “passport” stamped along the route; 6 per cent more than at the same point last year. In July alone, 71,550 pilgrims arrived.

Hoteliers point out that tourism accounts for a fifth of the city's economy. Esteban Iglesias, president of the hotels guild, said: "Without the pilgrims, the city wouldn't exist. The city was born because of pilgrimage."

Yet some residents may feel the goose that lays the golden eggs has become too boisterous. Roberto Almuiña, president of the neighbourhood association, said: "There are people who don't know how to behave."

World

Dozens hurt as tornado rips up town

France

Joshua Thurston

A tornado has torn through a French village, ripping roofs off homes and causing a house to collapse on a pregnant woman.

Forty-one people were injured and hundreds of homes damaged in Pomas, in the Aude department, 60 miles southeast of Toulouse.

More than 120 emergency workers were sent to the village, which has about a thousand residents. Fifteen people were taken to hospital, including the pregnant woman.

Her husband said she had been hurt when their home collapsed.

"It felt as though death itself was falling upon us," Severine, a Pomas resident who did not give her surname, told BFM TV. Interviewed in front of her house, which had been flattened, she said: "We fled. It was survival instinct." She said residents had helped her family to sort through the ruins to see what could be salvaged.

A nearby village, Arquettes-en-Val, recorded wind speeds of up to 73mph, France's national weather service said.

Yesterday 1,400 households in the area were still without electricity.

Large parts of southwest France are on orange alert for storms, which have caused power cuts and transport delays affecting several areas. Flight delays and cancellations affected Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and Paris.

Saudis take on Mickey in power push

France

Adam Sage Paris

With Disneyland to the east and an Astérix theme park to the north, the Paris region has an abundance of roller-coasters, water rides, carousels and other such attractions.

But President Macron of France and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia believe it could do with more.

When the prince visited the French capital this week, the two men signed a memorandum of understanding for the Qiddiya Investment Company, the leisure arm of the Saudi sovereign investment fund, to finance what Macron called a “colossal” new theme park to the northwest of Paris.

Macron said the investment would run to €6 billion, more than the £5 billion that Comcast NBCUniversal, the US media conglomerate, is planning to spend on its theme park in Bedfordshire, which is due to open in 2031. The Parisian project will create 22,000 jobs, and involve three parks on the same site, the president said.

Qiddiya was more cautious, saying only that it had agreed to “explore the development of a new entertainment-led, mixed-use destination in France”.

Although details are scarce, French media outlets were told that one of the themes was likely to be Dragon Ball Z, a choice said to have been dictated by Macron and the prince after they discovered a shared love of the anime based on the Japanese manga.

The Saudi ruler, known as MBS, remains a controversial figure given his country's human rights record and the kidnapping and killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Several journalist unions signed a statement describing his visit to France as a “provocation”.

Élysée spin doctors seemed to be seeking to soften his image by casting him as a manga enthusiast keen to deepen his ties with France after enjoying an anime with Macron. The narrative had its appeal in a country that is the second biggest market for the genre outside Japan.

A proposed Dragon Ball Z park near Riyadh could be replicated in Paris

In practice, finance and diplomacy shaped the deal more than Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin and other Dragon Ball Z heroes. For a stumbling

French economy — with a €3.5 trillion debt, an unemployment rate of 8.3 per cent and growth likely to be less than 1 per cent this year — the leisure industry remains a rare bright spot.

The country was the world's top tourist destination last year, and the industry accounts for about 8 per cent of national wealth. Its 650 theme parks generate revenue of €4 billion a year, according to the consultancy Xerfi.

Some commentators have speculated that the Saudi theme park could rival Disneyland, which had about 15 million visitors last year, and Parc Astérix, which attracted 2.9 million people.

But Maxime Guény, the editor of Parcs & Loisirs Magazine, disagreed, saying: "It's not going to take their slice of the cake. It's going to make the cake bigger."

For Saudi Arabia, the plan has other advantages, not the least of which was to put human rights on the sidelines during the prince's visit. "At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others," Macron said.

The deal is in line with the Saudi Vision 2030, a long-term plan to wean the country off its oil dependency, notably through investment in tech, tourism and leisure. Qiddiya is developing what it claims will be the “world’s first city built for play” about 30 miles from Riyadh, for instance, which will include a Dragon Ball Z park.

The omens are not entirely good. The chosen site in the Parisian suburb of Cergy-Pontoise was once home to Mirapolis, France's first theme park, opened in 1987. The theme was French literature, notably with a Gargantua ride, in reference to the food, sex and drink-loving hero of Gargantua and Pantagruel, a work by the 16th-century novelist François Rabelais.

Mirapolis was vandalised by Parisian fairground operators on the opening day, shunned by locals and tourists, and forced to close with big debts in 1991.

World

Mocking Mao lands artist in jail

DAVID GRAY/REUTERS

The Gao brothers' works, such as unflattering 2007 sculptures of Mao, were targeted by a law passed after they made them

China

Richard Spencer Beijing

One of China's best-known and most controversial modern artists has been jailed for three years for his sculptures satirising Chairman Mao, in a test case for President Xi's restraints on cultural expression.

Gao Zhen, who with his brother Gao Qiang created striking, politically charged artworks during the more open early years of the 21st century, was arrested two years ago after returning to China for a visit from the United States.

He was accused of “infringing on the reputation of heroes and martyrs”, a crime introduced in 2018 — long after the brothers’ most contentious works were created.

The verdict against Gao, handed down in a closed court hearing in March and his sentence yesterday show that the courts have been empowered to act retrospectively.

It is likely to have a chilling effect on a generation of artists, writers and film-makers, many of whom have quietly moved abroad in recent years without openly defecting. One of the

Times+ members save £100^ main reasons for keeping a low profile was to ensure they could return home to visit their families — which the Gao case suggests would become more risky.

The sentence was passed at the Sanhe City people's court in Hebei province, just outside Beijing. There had been petitions and calls from outside the country for him to be freed. According to a human rights group that publicised the case, representatives of the American embassy were refused access to the courtroom.

Two brothers still living in China were allowed to attend. Gao Zhen's wife and nine-year-old son, who were with him in China when he was arrested in 2024, are still waiting to hear whether their travel ban will be lifted. The ban prevents them from returning to the US and his son from returning to school.

Before the hearing, Gao Qiang, who lived in New York, said: "Nearly two years have passed. This nightmare must end."

The Gao brothers grew up in the shadow of Mao's Cultural Revolution, which began in 1966 when Gao Zhen was ten and Gao Qiang was four.

Large parts of society were persecuted, in particular intellectuals and artists who failed to conform to Maoist principles, but also many ordinary workers. The brothers' father, a labourer, was taken away and never seen again. They believe he was either beaten to death or died by suicide under torture. In the 1980s and 1990s, as China opened up to the West, young Chinese artists were heavily influenced by the Young British Artist movement of conceptual artists such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

The Gao brothers' works were deliberately confrontational, depicting Cultural Revolution-style busts of Mao in blood red, or Mao in miniature being manipulated by giant images of Lenin.

The siblings and their works were not acceptable to the Communist Party mainstream. But at a time when Mao's legacy was being quietly reassessed, they were allowed to exhibit in newly fashionable art zones such as Factory 798 in Beijing, which was the subject of articles in cultural and style magazines worldwide.

After his brother's arrest, Gao Qiang said: "Although we encountered many big or small troubles due to the creation and exhibition of sensitive works, generally speaking, thank God, we were OK."

The mood in Beijing changed after the 2008 Olympics and in particular with the rise of Xi, who at the time was vice-president. He has taken a more conservative line both socially and culturally and in particular has seen attempts to explore modern Chinese history as threatening to Communist Party rule.

Gao Zhen was on a visit to family in August 2024 and staying at his studio outside Beijing when it was raided by police. The officers also took away the artworks kept there.

A petition started by Ma Jian, a Chinese writer who lives in London, called for Gao Zhen to be released. It was signed by 200 Chinese writers, artists and film-makers, including people still living in China, some of whom have since left the country.

The three-year sentence includes time already served. Gao Zhen is due to be released on August 25 next year.

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TIMES Holidays

Trump ally orders out all illegal migrants

Colombia

Stephen Gibbs

The new president of Colombia has ordered the deportation of undocumented foreigners “this very week”, in a break with his nation’s traditionally laissez-faire approach towards migration.

Abelardo de la Espriella, who was inaugurated this month, issued the order in the northern port city of Barranquilla, which he has turned into a de facto second capital.

"I will not accept any illegal immigrants, wherever they come from," he said. "They will have to leave."

In language that echoed the "America First" policy of the Trump administration, to which he has pledged allegiance, he added: "Colombians first, Colombians second and Colombians third."

He directed police and immigration officials to begin targeting migrants “committing crimes”, followed by any of those “who have not regularised their status”.

The policy will overwhelmingly affect Venezuelans, who account for roughly nine in ten of Colombia's immigrants.

About 2.5 million Venezuelans live in Colombia. Most arrived over the past 13 years when about eight million people, a quarter of Venezuela's population, fled an economic meltdown in the oil-rich nation presided over until this year by Nicolás Maduro. The left-wing president was captured by the United States in January and is facing trial in New York on drug-related charges, which he denies.

Estimates of Venezuelans without regular papers in Colombia range from about 500,000 to more than 800,000. There has been evidence of increased xenophobia towards the migrants, many of whom are accused of undercutting local wages.

Opposition politicians warned that de la Espriella's policies risked inflaming existing divisions. Migrants would become "scapegoats", María Fernanda Carrascal, a left-wing congresswoman, said.

Ministers eye privacy rules for smart glasses

Norway Plans to regulate the use of smart glasses and consumer facial recognition technology are being considered to protect the public. Smart glasses share many features with those of smartphones, including cameras. The digitalisation minister, Karianne Tung, said: "We can see that people's private lives and privacy are coming under pressure from new technology, and I therefore want to regulate smart glasses and similar devices more strictly than today."

Stranded Death Valley tourist dies in 46.6C heat

United States A French tourist died in California's Death Valley after becoming stranded on the side of the road in 46.6C heat. Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, whose car had become stuck in mud, was found after a brief search. He and his companion had sought help by walking across the salt flats but Formosa had been unable to continue after 1.3 miles. His companion hailed a passing driver before rangers and police found him later that afternoon.

AI-created songs banned from official music charts

Australia AI-generated songs are to be banned from weekly charts and the recording industry's official annual awards. The changes, which take effect on Friday, state that tracks are eligible only if "humans wrote the song and performed the lead vocal and the primary instruments", among other requirements. An AI variation of Madonna's Like a Prayer has spent 16 weeks in the Australian top 20, peaking at No 2 and remaining at No 4 yesterday.

Business

Deutsche Bank worker embezzled €600,000 from wealthy clients

Helen Cahill Financial Correspondent

A former Deutsche Bank employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than €600,000 of customer money while head of private banking at its marquee branch in Frankfurt.

The banker, 39, known only as Sven, admitted transferring money from clients' accounts to an account in the name of his mother-in-law, which he then used to speculate on derivatives.

He siphoned off money over a period of 18 months, targeting the bank's richest clients because there was a “relatively low” chance they would notice.

He said he returned the money when clients noticed a shortfall, blaming internal errors, and often used funds from other clients to plug the gap.

He told the court in Frankfurt that he started with transfers of between €50,000 and €81,500, before switching to smaller sums. He eventually lost track of the amounts transferred. In a statement reported by Bloomberg, Sven, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: "I have betrayed the trust people — consumers, colleagues and supervisors — placed in me for years. I regret every single transfer."

He has agreed to pay back the money in monthly instalments of €250, an agreement that will be taken into account as the judge determines whether to hand him only a suspended sentence.

The fraud took place at the branch in Deutsche Bank's offices in Frankfurt, which has been the site of several police raids over the years, with two enforcement actions taking place in July alone.

Deutsche Bank said fewer than ten client accounts were affected by the fraud and that the victims were “informed immediately and fully compensated”. The German bank, which is the country’s largest, discovered the scam in the spring of 2025. A spokeswoman for the bank said: “Deutsche Bank regrets this incident and terminated the employee involved with immediate effect. Since then, the bank has further strengthened its existing control mechanisms and increased awareness of such fraud schemes across its sales and branch network through targeted measures.

"We remain fully committed to living up to the trust our clients place in us."

The case will continue in September.

Failed firm faces 'Ponzi' scam claims

Woodville administrators investigate allegation

James Hurley Assistant Business Editor

A litigation finance firm that raised over £300 million to fund legal cases including car finance claims has been accused of operating a Ponzi scheme.

Insolvency practitioners from Kroll told investors in Woodville Consultants that they were reviewing “allegations that the company may have used investor funds to pay back” money owed to earlier investors.

Administrators were also examining the proportion of investor funds that went towards Woodville's stated purpose of backing legal claims, with "differing records as to the flow of funds" to law firms and questions over "the basis on which amounts may be recoverable".

Kroll warned: "At this stage, no reliable estimate can be provided as to the value of the litigation funding portfolio or the likely recoveries from it."

Woodville Consultants was placed into administration in July. The group, based in Pontypridd, south Wales, raised funds via “loan notes”, high-risk debt instruments previously known as “mini bonds” which are at the centre of concerns about mis-selling, undisclosed commissions and the possible misuse of investor funds.

The Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning last week telling people not to invest in loan notes and said Woodville's collapse "shows the potential risk to investors".

Woodville continued to raise funds, purportedly against legal cases including car finance claims, despite the FCA requesting that it stop four years ago. It is understood it focused on overseas investors after that point, including in South America, Europe and Africa.

The company told investors in May that repayments had been put back because complications in car finance litigation related to mis-sold vehicle loans had “delayed repayments to our law firms and ultimately to us”.

In an update, Andrew Stoneman and Robert Goodhew, administrators of Woodville, said they were reviewing “allegations that the company may have used investor funds to pay back investor coupons and redemptions”.

Ponzi schemes, which are unlawful, use money from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors rather than funds from business activities. A “mini-bond” scheme from London Capital & Fianance, which raised £237 million from investors and which collapsed in 2019, is widely regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme in British history.

The Times revealed last week that Woodville investors have more than £300 million at risk and that the scheme secured funds via promoters linked to alleged investment scams.

In June, shortly before its collapse, Woodville's directors, Ann Marie Bell and Peter Legge, had told investors that procedural issues had delayed a funding line of up to \$500 million. However, administrators said: "Based on the information reviewed, no such funding/refinancing arrangements appear to have been documented or progressed and nor do the company's books and records contain any details of the identity of any such funders/financiers."

Bell, 53, and Legge, 51, could not be reached for comment.

Gowns and glamour Dame Helen Mirren chose a custom Dolce & Gabbana dress for the 2024 Golden Globes. The Italian luxury fashion group has secured a debt waiver after reporting a full-year operating loss of just over €100 million Page 37

Rothschild business gets healthy jolt

Robert Lea Industrial Editor

Lord Rothschild found himself £50 million richer yesterday as shares in his Volex electrical cabling business rallied on rising demand from data centres.

Volex, which moved up to the main London stock market from the junior Aim exchange last month, has grown on the strength of its relationships providing components for Tesla charging points and Dyson electrical goods, as well as with the likes of Apple and Microsoft. It has been in demand among data centres, especially in the United States, fuelling the artificial intelligence boom.

Volex has been described by Rothschild, its chief executive and 26 per cent shareholder, as Britain's fastest-growing industrial company.

Investors at its annual meeting were told that revenues rose by 28 per cent in the four months to the end of July. As such, the company told analysts to scrap their estimates for the current financial year to the end of next March, saying that profits would come in better than expected.

The City consensus for Volex had stood at underlying operating profits of about \$138 million on revenues of about \$1.33 billion.

The new forecasts sent shares in Volex, weak in recent weeks after an all-time high of 696p in May, up 80p, or 15 per cent, to close at 614p.

That values the group at almost £1.12 billion and Rothschild's stake at about £300 million.

Nat Rothschild became the 5th Baron Rothschild following the death of his father, Jacob, the banker, in 2024.

Volex said it was being built on “continued electrification trends”, including in the automotive industry, and the search across the corporate world for more energy-efficient products.

The group traces its roots back to Victorian times. During the Second World War it provided components for military radio communications and wiring for fighters and bombers in the Royal Air Force.

Business

Need to know

1 Woodville Consultants, a litigation finance firm that raised more than £300 million to fund legal cases including car finance claims, has been accused of operating a Ponzi scheme. Page 29

2 A former Deutsche Bank employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than €600,000 of customer money while head of private banking at its marquee branch in Frankfurt. Page 29

3 Lord Rothschild found himself £50 million richer as shares in his Volex electrical cabling business rallied on rising demand from data centres. The company also provides components for Tesla, Dyson and the likes of Apple and Microsoft. Page 29

4 A chemical leak at an aerospace factory in California will cost its FTSE100 owner, Melrose Industries, up to £75 million in compensation, on top of tens of millions of pounds in lost revenues and profits. Page 32

5 Demand for World Cup and KPop Demon Hunters-themed Lego helped the toymaker deliver bumper sales in the first half of the year and outpace a struggling toy market. The Danish group posted a 21 per cent rise in revenue to DKr41.9 billion (£4.8 billion) for the past six months. Page 32

6 Members of a creditor group owed more than £1 billion by Aston Martin have filed for discovery to obtain information as they prepare a legal case over a £550 million financing deal secured by the loss-making car maker. Page 34

7 Tungsten West, an embattled company attempting to revive a tungsten and tin mine in Devon, has received taxpayer funding of up to £71 million, just over 18 months after warning that its future was in doubt. Page 35

8 Bankers to Dolce & Gabbana have agreed to waive its loan covenants if the Italian luxury fashion house were to breach them. It has reported an operating loss and higher debt. Page 37

We shouldn't talk ourselves into a fiscal crisis

David Smith, page 33

For expert business analysis subscribe to the business newsletter thetimes.com/newsletters

How ethical AI ‘doomer’

Dario Amodei, right, appeared reluctant to hold hands with his rival Sam Altman

THE TIMES TITANS OF AI PART 1: DARIO AMODEI

Chris Dorrell charts the rise of Anthropic's chief — the reluctant business mogul who is trying to save the world

Anthropic became the most valuable private company in the world this year, leapfrogging its arch-rival OpenAI. The company had been founded just five years earlier by a group of exiles from the ChatGPT maker, motivated by concerns that the world's leading AI developer was not taking AI safety seriously enough.

Dario Amodei, its chief executive, had never been a business leader before founding the company, but it seems he had a knack for it. The company is preparing for a record-breaking initial public offering this autumn, having booked the fastest revenue growth of any software company in history. This has come even while navigating high-stakes negotiations with the US government, and the ever-persistent risk of rogue AI. "We've been pretty stressed out," Jared Kaplan, Anthropic's chief science officer and one of the company's co-founders, told The Times.

The company's rise has caused Amodei to be thrust into the limelight. Opinions on him differ. For some, he is one of the adults in the room, a serious-minded chief executive trying to have an honest conversation about the very real dangers of AI. For others, he suffers from a “God-complex,” believing himself and his wider team to be the only people who truly care about AI safety.

Like Demis Hassabis, who founded DeepMind, Amodei is a scientist-turned-entrepreneur. Until 2014, he was an academic, working first on theoretical physics, before switching to neuroscience, and then finally to AI research in 2014, when he joined Baidu.

Kaplan, who has known Amodei since 2007, said he had “always been very altruistically motivated”. The pair were post-doctoral students at Stanford together in the early 2010s, and Kaplan remembers Amodei creating an organisation for young scientists which worked to make academia more impactful. His switch to AI research, Kaplan said, was also driven by a desire to have a positive impact on society.

Amodei joined OpenAI in 2016, where he led on AI safety — the potential for AI systems to display “unintended and harmful behaviour” as a result of poorly designed models. During his time at OpenAI, Amodei and others

in the safety team felt the company's leadership did not take their concerns seriously, and were instead focused on more rapid commercialisation. They were nicknamed "the doomers".

Amodei and the other doomers eventually grew so frustrated with Sam Altman's leadership that they left to form Anthropic. The split between the two companies has become one of the most consequential in Silicon Valley's history. Even five years later, there's no love lost between Amodei and Altman. Famously, the

pair refused to hold hands on stage at an AI summit in India, even while everyone around them did.

Discussing the divorce recently, Amodei said that there had been many disagreements at the company about the right approach to AI safety, but "that alone was not sufficient to leave".

"When you feel that you can't trust someone. When you feel that their values are not what they say they are. When you feel they're not honest ... When you see disturbing patterns of behaviour, dishonesty, that makes it very hard to continue working for them," he said.

From the start, Anthropic was an unusual venture. It had seven co-founders, all of whom are still at the company. Ravi Mhatre, co-founder of Lightspeed Capital and an investor at Anthropic, said: "To have a group of seven co-founders as a structure, not only is that unusual, from experience, you'd say that's a high-risk setup that probably won't succeed."

The other unusual thing about Anthropic is that it is a public benefit corporation, rather than a straightforward profit-making enterprise. This means it has a legal duty to balance its commercial interests with its wider social goal, which is the “responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity”.

"We didn't found Anthropic to be a successful business," Kaplan said. "We founded Anthropic to try to make transformative AI go well. Being a successful business is kind of a side effect or a necessity along that route. In the first few years, most of our investment was from people who were philanthropically motivated rather than people who were looking for a business return."

Amodei himself has even said he was not particularly interested in founding a business. "I did not start a company because I was initially excited about selling things or business, or anything like that," he told John Collison, the founder of Stripe, on the Cheeky Pint podcast.

So how did Anthropic become so successful so fast? Daniela Amodei, Dario's sister, has been crucial to the company's success. Dario only has one person reporting directly to him, his chief of staff, while all other senior executives report to the president, Daniela. "There are two things you need to do when you're running a company," Dario Amodei has said about the arrangement. "You need to operationally execute, and you need to have a good strategy and see the thing that nobody else sees. My job is the second, and Daniela's job is the first."

Mhatre credits Daniela with maintaining the company's culture even as it has grown rapidly, from about 240 people in 2023 to about 3,000 at the moment. "There's a culture not just of

being mission-aligned, but also a sense of care for each other. That all exists in the culture because of Daniela," he said.

Dario, meanwhile, is more than willing to field questions about the overall direction of the company. "He's famous for being on Slack engaging in Socratic debates with 3,000 people, that's his style," Mhatre said.

And while all of the seven co-founders are still at the company, Dario is the final decision-maker. Mhatre argued that Dario had made a "remarkably insightful set of decisions" which had helped the company's trajectory. He pointed to internal debates in early 2024, when the company was debating the release of its latest model, Claude 3.

“I just remember Dario saying early, when other people on the senior team were talking about ten different fires that needed to be put out, he said, no. We are going to prioritise one thing, and that's shipping Claude 3,” Mhatre said. “It was the clarity of a business decision that ultimately meant they got to market at the right time. Claude 3 was the first model that I think matched, and for a moment surpassed, the frontier models from Google and OpenAI.”

Growth has been explosive over the past few years, reflecting the rapidly advancing capabilities of its models. In May, Anthropic said its annualised run rate revenue was \$48 billion, up from \$9 billion at the end of 2025, and only \$1 billion at the start.

But now the question for many external observers of Anthropic is whether it can still be true to its founding principles. Can a company which has received billions of dollars of investment from the likes of Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon, and which was most recently valued at \$965 billion, really still be a public benefit corporation? Can the same company issue the most dire warnings about the possible dangers of AI, while also pushing ahead with ever more advanced models?

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Meta, recently raised the second point. “I do not understand why anyone who believes that AI will eliminate most jobs and much of humanity’s relevance would rush to build that future,” he wrote.

Some of Anthropic's own investors are said to be growing frustrated with Amodei's insistence on talking about the dangers of AI, particularly when public perceptions of AI are so low.

To recap, Amodei has previously warned that AI could destroy half of all entry-level white-collar jobs by the end of the decade, and lead to massive inequality. And in a long essay published earlier this year, he identified three separate ways that AI systems could “exterminate humanity,” alongside a host of other more minor worries, like the proliferation of bioweapons, mass surveillance, devastating cyber-attacks and even AI companies “brainwashing their customer base”.

Amodei's warnings have become a crucial part of his public persona. Some investors suggested to Amodei in May that he could try going on a charm offensive, but he did not budge. He explained his reasoning in another essay, released on his website in June.

"It's become popular in AI industry circles to view this as a PR problem: to say that AI needs 'better marketing'," he wrote. "I reject this framing completely. People are worried about AI because they correctly perceive that its risks are real, not because AI CEOs have been insufficiently Panglossian. I believe it is my duty as an AI leader to continue to be transparent about these risks."

Many of Amodei's warnings have still been described as marketing, effectively an attempt to sell the revolutionary power of the tools being developed by Anthropic. This feels unfair, but it still leaves open Zuckerberg's question: Why does a man who thinks there's a 10 to 25 per cent chance that AI could cause "civilisational collapse" lead a

split Silicon Valley

LUDOVIC MARTIN/AFP

at an AI summit in India in February, alongside Narendra Modi. His sister Daniela Amodei is helping to push tech forwards

company pushing ahead with ever more powerful AI models?

The most cynical argument is that it's for commercial gain, but Kaplan disagreed. He said Anthropic was trying to tread a "narrow path" in which its commercial success reinforced its work on AI safety, which remained the overriding concern.

"In order to have an impact for the better, I think it's absolutely essential that the business be successful ... I think that it's sort of a very narrow path. If you're an organisation that's just crying wolf about safety, then no one really trusts you, or thinks that you're innovative or pragmatic. And so I think the tension is not 'should we push for safety or should we push for commercial success'? It's more that in order to accomplish either safety or commercial success, we sort of have to walk that narrow path."

Amodei has also talked about the value of Anthropic being able to set standards across the industry as a whole, which he calls a "race to the top".

"The value of being the pre-eminent company both commercially and in terms of models, you know, it's not about beating rivals for the sake of beating rivals. It's about being able to pull the ecosystem along with us," he said.

In April, the company voluntarily delayed the release of its Mythos model. It gave access to a group of leading companies across different sectors so that they could test it, and prepare their cybersecurity defences. Anthropic also submitted Mythos to be tested by leading public sector AI institutes around the world. A few weeks later, OpenAI did the same for its GPT-5.6 Sol model.

A further reason why Amodei continues to push on with more powerful models is the threat posed by geopolitical rivals, in particular China. He has consistently highlighted the risks of China surpassing the US in AI capabilities, and has therefore consistently advocated for export controls on the most powerful chips, to ensure that US companies retain their lead.

Amodei has also pushed for greater regulation of AI. He has argued that the government should have the power to block the release of models that do not meet certain safety standards, and even called for heavier taxes on AI companies to help prepare society for the economic transition. Anthropic itself has called for leading AI labs to consider pausing development, particularly as model capabilities advanced so quickly.

For Amodei, the most likely obstacle to any such pause is China. "It would have to be the case that all of the relevant AI players, including geopolitical adversaries, would have agree to it, and it would have to be verifiable," he said about Anthropic's proposals, before adding "I don't trust China at all". He has argued that a unilateral slowdown would simply reward bad actors.

But perhaps the most underrated reason is that Amodei also thinks that a future in which the challenges of AI are successfully navigated would be a future of “transcendent beauty,” something that’s sometimes forgotten amid the warnings about human extinction.

This future could include “the defeat of most diseases, the growth in biological and cognitive freedom, the lifting of billions of people out of poverty to share in the new technologies, a renaissance of liberal democracy and human rights.”

It sounds all right. We just have to hope a rogue AI doesn't accidentally destroy us en route.

TOMORROW Sam Altman, the chief of OpenAI

Business

Let's hope mine deal isn't a money pit

BUSINESS COMMENTARY Alistair Osborne

Maybe this isn't an occasion to be digging up the famous definition of a mine attributed to Mark

Twain: “A hole in the ground owned by a liar”. Yet you can be forgiven a bit of scepticism when you see our cash-strapped government stick up to £71 million into a loss-making Aim-listed miner — Tungsten West.

Sure, in theory, the National Wealth Fund's punt on the owner of the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine near Plymouth, Devon, could be a move of strategic genius (report, page 35). In the words of the chancellor, John Healey, it taps into one of the world's "largest deposits of tungsten", a critical mineral "vital" to "British defence, energy and aerospace businesses". And not only will that cut UK dependence on China, the supplier of 80 per cent of global tungsten, but create 350 direct jobs and more indirectly, boosting the southwest economy.

Yet, you can't help noticing a few things about a deal which sent Tungsten West shares up 20 per cent to 51½p, where it's now valued at £644 million. First, the company was formed out of the ashes of Wolf Minerals: the Australia-owned outfit that collapsed in 2018 after failing to process as much tungsten as promised. Indeed, as recently as the half-year results — nicely buried on Christmas Eve — Tungsten West pitched up with £40.4 million of losses and a “material uncertainty” warning over its “ability to continue as a going concern”. By November, it had been down to £400,000 cash.

Since then, it's raised £44 million equity at 18p a share, while the stock has rocketed on the back of soaring tungsten prices: up from about \$1,000 per metric ton unit to \$3,000 thanks to China implementing export controls. That's rekindled the case for a mine, whose feasibility studies were based on a \$400 price.

All the same, that brings us to the second point. On the equity front, the taxpayer is investing £36 million for 100 million shares at 36p — four times the going rate in December — taking 7.42 per cent of the voting rights. Yet, most of that will simply repay a \$25 million bridge loan from Greg Coffey: the Aussie hedge fund manager. He also has a 15.6 per cent stake, now being given a nice lift by both the government stake and a key aspect of the deal: a potential UK offtake agreement for up to 50 per cent of the mine's production.

It's not just him, either, who is getting a boost, as a second update showed. The chief operating officer, Ronald Day, has had his made with five million shares under a long-term incentive plan exercisable at just 1p. They go with 75.7 million and 37.8 million, handed last month to chief executive Jeffery Court and finance chief Philip Povey, exercisable in the main at 3p. Even non-executive chairman Stephen Harrison got 30.3 million. Perhaps the new non-exec the government can appoint under the deal could explain that those awards are a right mickey-take.

Lob in a third point too. Tungsten West's broker is Hannam & Partners, founded and half owned by Ian Hannam: a chap who advised on the Bumi mining fiasco and was later fined £450,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority for two unrelated instances of "disclosing inside information", even if the regulator found no one traded on it and he "did not act without honesty or integrity". A fourth issue, too: the wealth fund doesn't always get it right as proved by blowing millions on broadband fibre. A fifth concern? The UK has no tungsten refining capacity, so needs to secure it outside the main player in that market — China again. What, too, if the tungsten price plummets?

Yes, having put in £25 million of debt, with a possible £10 million to come, the taxpayer has a decent interest rate of about 9 per cent. Production is due to start next year. And Court reckons Tungsten West "will underpin the UK's national interest for the long term". Even so, as investments go, the Devon mine is far from proving itself rock solid.

Aston's collision

Don't call it Grand Theft Auto or Aston Martin's lawyers will object. But the carmaker that has, since 2018's float, left the shareholders 99 per cent down on their money looks to be on track for a legal blowout with its creditors, the holders of £1.3 billion of debt.

The bondholders have filed for discovery of documents in a New York court over what, on the face of it, looks a total heist: Aston Martin shifting key assets, against which their debt is secured, to Cayman Islands companies and then using them as collateral to borrow up to £550 million more from the BlackRock-owned HPS and Authentic Brands (report, page 34).

The filing, by Arini Credit Master Fund and Tresidor Europe Credit, speaks of “an asset stripping transaction”. It alleges that Aston set up five new Cayman “restricted subsidiaries”, while releasing the bondholders’ security over 195 UK-registered trademarks, 474 UK-registered designs, 69 EU-registered trademarks, and 558 EU-registered designs. Creditors believe that spans “the Aston Martin iconic brand”.

The company declined to comment, though has previously said its antics are “fully permitted” under the bond agreements. Still, collisions with reality have long been an Aston Martin speciality.

FCA's hit record

Just the record-breaker the Financial Conduct Authority doesn't want: that the bust litigation funder Woodville Consultants, home to £300 million-plus of investors' money, looks like being an even bigger Ponzi scheme than London Capital & Finance, which fleeced punters out of £237 million. Woodville administrator Kroll is reviewing "allegations that the company may have used investor funds to pay back" money owed to earlier investors. So, quite a headache for the FCA, which asked Woodville to stop four years ago.

alistair.osborne@thetimes.co.uk

Business

Lego scores thanks to World Cup fever

Demand for World Cup and KPop Demon Hunters-

themed Lego helped the toymaker deliver bumper sales in the first half of the year and outpace a struggling toy market (Isabella Fish writes).

The Danish group posted a 21 per cent rise in revenue to DKr41.9 billion (£4.8 billion) for the past six months. Consumer sales grew by 22 per cent, which the company said was driven by strong demand across a broad product range.

Lego said sporting and entertainment partnerships, including with Formula 1, the football Fifa World Cup 2026 and KPop Demon Hunters, the popular Korean children's programme, "helped build strong consumer excitement".

The group, controlled by the Christiansen family since its founding in 1932, has broadened its appeal with a mix of licensed products and original ranges. Brick sets linked to popular franchises, alongside in-house themes such as botanical collections, art pieces and architecture, have attracted both children and adult collectors.

The brand launched more than 330 new products during the period. Demand was particularly strong for its botanicals and Star Wars ranges, the company said.

The boost in sales helped drive a 22 per cent increase in operating profit to DKr10.9 billion during the period, as well as what it described as “scale efficiencies and productivity efforts”. Net profit grew 32 per cent to DKr8.6 billion.

Niels Christiansen, Lego's chief executive, said: "Our portfolio of products offers something for everyone, and culturally relevant brand experiences

"Our success in the market means we can maintain high investment levels in growth and

sustainability for both the short and long term."

Lego has managed to defy the global toy market downturn by branching into new product categories and partnering with different brands. It also benefits from appealing to builders of all ages and interests.

Earlier this year the company said it planned to expand its footprint in the US, its largest market, despite political tensions stemming from the Iran

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP

A figure of Cristiano Ronaldo, made using 30,000 Lego bricks, was on display at Legoland in California during the tournament this summer; below left, Derpy the supernatural cat from the hit series KPop Demon Hunters

war and President Trump's tariff regime.

Mattel, the 80-year-old you company that is behind Barbie, recently posted a 10 per cent rise in net sales but missed profit estimates due to higher costs squeezing margins.

Melrose agrees £75m leak payout

Robert Lea Industrial Editor

A chemical leak at an aerospace factory in California will cost its FTSE 100 owner, Melrose Industries, up to £75 million in compensation, on top of tens of millions of pounds in lost revenues and profits.

The incident occurred at the end of May at the Garden Grove facility of GKN Aerospace, a company acquired by Melrose in 2018. Fears that the plant could explode led to the California governor, Gavin Newsom, declaring a state of emergency.

It led to the initial evacuation of 50,000 people over a 9 square mile area and the plant has been partially shut down since.

The news that Melrose has come to a compensation settlement with residents and local businesses, and that a criminal investigation into the incident had closed without charges against the company, sent shares up 48 $^{1/4}$ p, or 10.4 per cent, to 510 $^{1/4}$ p at the close. The stock had been under a cloud since the incident, not least over complaints from analysts that the company had not been transparent enough about the potential financial impact. Melrose has also paused its share buyback programme.

The Garden Grove factory in Orange County, near Los Angeles, makes windows for military aircraft and passenger planes. GKN's customers include Boeing and Airbus and it is on the programmes for the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets.

The incident involved the overheating of a storage container for methyl methacrylate, a key chemical in the production of the plastics used in aircraft windows.

The tank subsequently started leaking chemicals into the atmosphere.

In a statement yesterday, Melrose said that it was setting aside up to \$100 million to settle claims for damages from residents and businesses to cover hotel accommodation, the cost of out-of-home meals and transportation, and loss of wages.

Financial claims made by the emergency services that attended the incident will be settled separately.

Melrose further stated that the Orange County district attorney's office had confirmed that it would not be taking any further action following the closure of its investigation.

"Claims by emergency services agencies for costs incurred in responding to the incident and potential civil enforcement penalties will be resolved separately and are not included in the claims programme announced today," the company added.

In its operational update, Melrose said that the chemical tank had been permanently decommissioned and the business “has made substantial investments in safety enhancements at the facility”.

It said the factory, which employs 500 people, will go back into full production late next month and step up to full capacity and deliveries during the final weeks of the year.

The spill at Garden Grove in May led to a state of emergency being declared

Melrose did not indicate what the full financial impact is expected to be and said its insurance position around the incident and operational shutdown “remains under review”.

The factory has revenues of £136 million a year. Melrose had previously reported that the first 40 days of the incident cost it £16 million in revenues and £9 million in operating profits. It had indicated that scaled-back operations had led to a subsequent halving in monthly revenues and profits.

Melrose had initially taken a £13 million provision for costs around the incident and said that it expected an additional £30 million provision in its next accounts. GKN is targeting September 28 to resume full manufacturing operations with a phased return to full capacity and customer deliveries in the fourth quarter.

Mark Fielding, RBC Capital analyst, said in a note: "There is still some uncertainty around potential expectation costs, but an up to \$100 million programme for local residents gives a sense of end costs that while significant, will be manageable."

He added the timeline for reopening was a positive clarification.

David Smith

Panic over borrowing shows silly season is alive and well

John Healey is determined to avoid budget leaks but it won't stop speculation

“

Official figures for the public finances for July do not usually attract much comment. Thanks to

self-assessment tax receipts, they tend to show the government borrowing a bit, or paying back a bit, in a break from the usual pattern of larger monthly borrowing figures.

The other big self-assessment month, January, is usually associated with a budget surplus, a hefty one of £32 billion in January this year. The July figures, published a few days ago, were predictably unremarkable. Borrowing was £1.8 billion, which, as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) pointed out, was “marginally” higher than a year earlier.

And yet they were much remarked upon, some of it verging on hysteria, possibly because people are struggling to find anything useful to say about the new chancellor John Healey's first budget on October 28, in the absence of leaks or guidance.

Some saw the figures as very bad news, posing serious problems for Andy Burnham's new administration. Others saw an impending fiscal crisis, with the new chancellor being forced to impose swinging tax hikes to fix the deficit. It is the silly season, but this was all very silly. If people want to talk themselves into higher taxes—which we do not need—all well and good, but these figures provided no basis for doing so.

Borrowing so far this fiscal year is running £6 billion below last year and, as the ONS noted, is “the 12th lowest April to July period since comparable monthly records began, in 1993”.

Public sector debt continues to rise in cash terms and is nearly £3 trillion, a figure that will be exceeded soon, but fell to 94.1 per cent of gross domestic product last month, down from 94.9 per cent a year earlier and a peak of more than 98 per cent a few years ago.

The big story in the latest statistics was not the small increase in July borrowing but a downward revision of more than £3 billion for borrowing in June. The true picture of this summer's self-assessment season will only become clear when the August figures arrive.

And while the running borrowing total this tax year is “slightly” ahead of projections by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), to use its own terminology, the fiscal

watchdog is quite relaxed about it. The £2.3 billion overshoot is due to higher public spending than it had expected but, as it pointed out, "estimates of spending in the early part of the year are highly provisional and particularly prone to revision".

None of this should be taken to mean that everything is fine for the public finances and that the chancellor can relax as he prepares his budget. The cost of government borrowing has risen everywhere and this will reduce, though probably not remove, the fiscal headroom that Healey inherited from Rachel Reeves.

There is nothing UK-specific about the rise in government borrowing costs, however; in the United States this is being driven by a fiscally incontinent president, his ongoing war with Iran and his appointees, the Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh, both causing bemusement in the financial markets, as described here yesterday by Mehreen Khan.

America's national debt (government debt), now \$40 trillion, has doubled in a decade and the milestone has, along with other factors, including the rival attraction of big tech listings, weighed on government bond markets, pushing up yields; the cost of borrowing.

America's GDP, in current dollar prices, is about 7.5 times the size of the UK, but its debt is nearly ten times the accepted figure of just under £3 trillion for the UK.

If the UK is an outlier, with 10-year government bond yields currently a fraction over 5 per cent, it is not in the way that people tend to think. As the investment bank Morgan Stanley, commenting at the weekend on the rise in US debt to \$40 trillion, pointed out, the UK stands out among major economies in trying to do something about rising debt.

“Over the last decade, government debt/GDP has risen across the world's most important economies,” it said. “Outside of the UK [yes, that UK], deficits are not expected to narrow.”

America's budget deficit is set to rise from 5.4 per cent of GDP last year to 6.1 per cent next year, Germany's from 2.7 to 4.1 per cent, France's from 5.1 to 5.2 per cent and Japan's from 0.7 to 2.5 per cent. But the UK's budget deficit is set to fall from 4.3 to 3.1 per cent of GDP.

Pretty well every news report on the public finances also highlights the problem with defence spending that Burnham inherited from Sir Keir Starmer. There is indeed a hole to fill because £4.7 billion, over four years, was unfunded in the defence investment plan.

But in public finance terms, the proper way to describe that shortfall, as I have noted before, is just over £1 billion annually — the amount that has to be found to raise the level of spending by that much, which is much less scary.

The £4.7 billion is a product of quadruple counting, a device governments use to try to emphasise how much more they are spending, but we should not fall into that trap.

The bigger challenge will be getting to 3 per cent of GDP for defence spending (from the current 2.7 per cent target) and beyond that to 3.5 per cent, which will probably require reform of welfare, including state pensions.

None of this means that some people and some businesses will not face higher taxes in the autumn budget. Businesses are very much on edge, with some concerned about what the new prime minister and chancellor will decide to do about capital gains tax. Burnham has refused to rule out higher taxes.

Looked at from here, however, any such tax hikes — which have yet to be decided upon — look more like redistribution than a more general fiscal repair and a further increase in the overall tax burden.

Taxes on businesses and the better-off may be raised to benefit those on lower incomes, something you might expect a Labour government to do. Whether you

can do that without killing the goose that lays the golden egg is something I shall turn to shortly.

David Smith is Economics Editor of The Sunday Times david.smith@sunday-times.co.uk

Business

Canada will whack US for hockey stick tariffs

Louisa Clarence-Smith US Business Editor

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 per cent across 700 American products yesterday in the latest escalation of a trade war between the two countries.

Officials said that from September 8, Canada planned to impose duties of 15 per cent, 25 per cent and 50 per cent on about \$20 billion of US goods.

The 50 per cent tariffs will apply to imports including steel, aluminium, furniture and clothing, while the new 25 per cent tariffs will apply to cheese, appliances and some seafood.

The 15 per cent tariffs will be on electronics and tools.

Bradley Saunders, North America economist at Capital Economics, said: "The majority of these goods have been picked as they have readily available domestic alternatives, in an effort to hurt American businesses while minimising the hit to Canadian consumers and industry.

"Notably, the 25 per cent tariff on seafood will hit Maine and Alaska hardest — both Senate races which the Democrats are hoping to win from President Trump's Republican Party in the upcoming midterm elections."

The move by Canada comes after President Trump announced new 50 per cent tariffs across \$20 billion of Canadian imports, including wine, cement and hockey sticks last weekend. On Monday, he threatened to subject cars made in Canada to US import tariffs of 50 per cent from January 1, 2027.

Attempts to reach a trade deal collapsed on Friday, with both sides blaming last-minute demands.

Yesterday Canada set out financial support for Canadian businesses and workers caught in the escalating trade war. It announced C\$7.5 billion (\$5.4 billion) of funding including support for small and medium-sized businesses, a stream for funding cash flows of companies, and support for workers who could be at risk due to the new tariffs.

François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's finance minister, said: "Our dollar-for-dollar, rate for rate counter-tariffs as well as a multibillion-dollar support package will protect workers, farmers, families, and businesses."

Last weekend Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, said: “Canada will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses.”

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Business

Aston Martin's high-performance Valkyrie car. The company's pre-tax losses hit £154 million in the first half of this year

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Creditors move closer to suing Aston Martin

Helen Cahill Financial Correspondent

Members of a creditor group owed more than £1 billion by Aston Martin have filed for discovery to obtain information as they prepare to file a legal case over a £550 million financing deal secured by the loss-making carmaker.

Lenders to the London-listed group have issued court filings in New York to gather information after threatening to sue over the funding deal struck with the BlackRock-backed HPS, a private credit firm, and Authentic Brands Group, the owner of Ted Baker.

Aston Martin faces legal action from creditors owed £1.3 billion after it shifted valuable naming and branding rights out of the UK to the Cayman Islands to secure the lending from HPS and Authentic Brands.

Arini Capital Management and Tresidor Investment Management, two of the group's creditors, have filed a discovery application to demand information from HPS and Authentic Brands, as well as Moelis and Lazard, advisers to Aston Martin, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the story.

The FTSE 250 carmaker has signed an agreement that means it can only gain access to £100 million of the financing if it sells a 50.1 per cent stake in the transferred trademarks to Authentic Brands, which also owns Reebok and the David Beckham brands.

The carmaker has transferred 195 trademarks into the offshore vehicle, including its famous winged logo, and the trademark for the shape and design of its DB5 vehicle, the car used by Sean Connery in Goldfinger, the 1964 James Bond film.

Bondholders sent a "letter before action" to the board of Aston Martin

Share price

about the deal as they are concerned it will prevent them from claiming the assets in the event of an insolvency.

On an earnings call earlier this summer, Doug Lafferty, chief financial officer of Aston Martin, said the financing deal was “important for the company as a whole”. The company, which is majority-owned by Lawrence Stroll, the Canadian billionaire, sold the permanent naming rights to its Formula I team this year, raising £50 million. Other shareholders include Geely, the Chinese carmaker, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The group, which is based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, had been seeking to raise funds after pre-tax losses widened in the first half of this year to £154 million, from £141 million, while revenues rose 38 per cent to £629 million.

Reacting to the threat of legal action, Tom Clark, insolvency and asset recovery partner at Stewarts, the UK law firm, said: "Companies often need fresh financing to survive, but existing creditors will be concerned if the price of that financing is the movement of valuable assets beyond their reach.

"The key question is whether the transaction is permitted under the company's existing debt documents."

Aston Martin declined to comment.

Workers jeer VW chief as 50,000 roles face the axe

closures, which he called the “last and most expensive resort”.

Simon Freeman

Volkswagen's powerful labour unions are preparing an alternative to proposed mass lay-offs, which have "damaged trust" in the German carmaker's management.

More than 10,000 workers gathered at the group's headquarters in Wolfsburg, some booing the chief executive Oliver Blume as he urged staff to "pull together" behind a restructuring that could cut up to 50,000 jobs.

Blume's plans for the company's biggest upheaval "in its history" have so far failed to win approval from the supervisory board, where labour representatives and the state of Lower Saxony wield a strong influence.

"Our plan for the future is the largest transformation programme in our company's history. To make this happen, everyone needs to pull together now," Blume told thousands gathered inside Wolfsburg's Hall 11, and more watching on livestream broadcast outside.

Blume stressed that the 50,000 job cuts were based on a theoretical benchmark to bring Volkswagen's costs into line with competitors. He also said that no decision had been taken on factory

Outside, workers waved banners bearing slogans such as “Our jobs are not your balance sheet adjustments” and “Respect is not up for negotiation”.

Daniela Cavallo, a Volkswagen labour leader, said German factories were “an integral part” of the group, reiterating her opposition to closures.

"Our trust in this company's executive board, and especially in Oliver Blume, has been damaged. Not yet beyond repair, but damaged nonetheless," she said. The labour representatives have drawn up rival turnaround proposals which they intend to introduce at a supervisory board meeting next week.

Squeezed by aggressive Chinese competition, falling profits in China and billions in US tariff costs, Volkswagen is struggling with declining profits and costly overcapacity.

Blume has previously suggested repurposing idle factory space. The Osnabrück plant could be turned into a production facility for an Israeli defence firm. A question mark hangs over the future of four other plants in Emden, Zwickau, Neckarsulm and Hanover.

Emma Powell

An embattled company attempting to revive a tungsten and tin mine in Devon has received taxpayer funding of up to £71 million, just over 18 months after warning that its future was in doubt.

The National Wealth Fund will make an equity investment of £36 million in Tungsten West in exchange for a 7 per cent stake, alongside £25 million in debt. The company will also have the option to access an uncommitted facility of £10 million.

The funds will be put towards repaying a \$25 million (£18.5 million) bridging loan provided by Greg Coffey, the Australian hedge fund manager who is also the Plymouth-based company's second-largest shareholder, and enable the company to move the mine to full production capacity by the first quarter of next year.

Jeff Court, Tungsten West's chief executive, said that the company would "look after ourselves" once it reached full production without the need for outside capital.

In exchange, the government has the option to purchase 50 per cent of the tungsten produced by the Hemerdon mine in south Devon.

It will also have the right to nominate a non-executive director to the board and a board observer, set to be either fund employees or external appointees. The UK has no tungsten refining capability. Court said the company was working with the government on how to ensure that tungsten sent overseas for refining makes its way back to British users of the mineral.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said the investment was “a major vote of confidence in our critical minerals sector and another step forward in the prime minister’s plan to reindustrialise Britain”.

Both tungsten and tin are on the UK's list of critical minerals, which were part of the previous government's strategy to improve the availability of certain metals that are increasingly in demand and where there is a risk of supply shortages. China controls up to 90 per cent of the supply of some critical minerals.

Chinese export controls on tungsten production were put in place in February last year and have prompted the price of the critical mineral to reach record levels this year of more than \$3,000 a tonne.

Court pointed towards rising imports of tungsten by China as evidence that the powerhouse economy was unlikely to remove the export controls any time soon. "So all of that to me says it's not a tactical play from China, it's a structural shift that's been the case for many years," he said.

The Hemerdon mine has the largest deposit of tungsten in Europe and is capable of producing an average of up to 3,320 tonnes of tungsten trioxide a year, the company claims.

Tungsten is used in a range of industries including aerospace and defence, for example in the production of heli-

Business

New dawn for Devon mine as firm wins £71m

The Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in south Devon will receive up to £71 million from the National Wealth Fund to resume operations. The site was closed in 2018

Behind the story

Earlier this year it raised £44 million via a share placing.

At the end of September last year, its cash reserves stood at £1 million. Pre-tax losses widened to £40.4 million over the six months to the end of September, up from £13.9 million a year before.

copter blades, bullets and shrapnel heads.

Securing government backing for its efforts to bring an old tin mine back to life has provided a vital boost for Tungsten West, which has a chequered track record as a public company (Emma Powell writes).

The company has been racing to secure funds to restart production at the Hemerdon mine — which ceased in 2018 after its previous owner fell into administration — for the past five years.

Court said while the company had previously been “very hand-to-mouth with our funding position”, it was in a “very strong financial position now”. The company is due to report its full-year results in early September. “I think you’ll see any concerns in that area have been fully addressed,” Court said.

announcement contributed towards sending the shares to a record low of 1 $^{1/4}$ p at the start of 2024.

The company has had a tumultuous history since joining the public market in 2021 and cautioned in December 2024 that there was a “material uncertainty” over its ability to continue operating after its cash reserves dwindled to £40,000.

In 2023, it warned it was on the verge of failure without additional funding and it made some staff redundant in an effort to cut costs. The

The shares were suspended from trading at the end of that year after a delay in the

auditors approving the full-year results while it completed an earlier funding round.

meet its liabilities as they fell due without access to additional liquidity.

Tungsten West shares, which are listed on London's junior Aim segment, closed up 8½p, or 19.7 per cent, at 51½p yesterday.

A material uncertainty warning came shortly after, alongside its half-year results, where it said it would be unable to

Most of the financing has been in the form of convertible loan notes, which were converted into shares at the end of last year. Since then it has boosted its resources, completing a £40 million share placing in February and agreeing a \$25 million bridging loan with one of its largest shareholders.

The company has claimed that the funding injection from the National Wealth Fund will see it through to full production, at which point it will be able to sustain its own capital needs.

OnlyFans owner's \$700m dividend

James Hurley

The owner of OnlyFans, the adult website, was paid more than \$700 million in dividends before his death in March.

Leonid Radvinsky owned Fenix International, the UK company behind the service. Last year the company made a \$715 million pre-tax profit, a 5 per cent increase on 2024.

According to its annual accounts, \$535 million was paid to Radvinsky in dividends in its 2025 financial year and a further \$174 million was paid after the end of the financial year. He was paid \$497 million the year before.

Yekaterina Chudnovsky, Radvinsky's wife, took control of the company after

Leonid Radvinsky died of cancer this year, aged 43

her husband's death from cancer, aged 43, in March this year.

Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, acquired OnlyFans from its British founder in 2018.

The website, which grew in popularity during the pandemic, says that it is used by more than 2.5 million content creators to “connect with fans”—numbering 132 million with active accounts — and make money from the material uploaded.

It is most famous for its use by pornographers but is also used by musicians and comedians. The service takes a cut from the revenue generated.

The London-based company's biggest market is the United States, followed by the UK and continental Europe. The company employed only 47 people on average, according to the filing, though it also works with about 1,500 outside content moderators.

OnlyFans revenue grew 10 per cent for the year ended November 30, 2025, to close to \$1.6 billion.

The dividend payment was first reported by the Financial Times.

Thousands offered work experience at Sainsbury's

or training, the scale of the challenge facing us has never been clearer."

Isabella Fish Retail Editor

Sainsbury's is opening up 10,000 work experience opportunities over the next year in an effort to get more young people into employment.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of the UK's second-largest supermarket, said: "Far too many young people are growing up in the UK today without access to meaningful work experience, often because they cannot find the right connections or network.

"With nearly one million young people not in education, employment

The youth unemployment rate hit an 11-year high this year, aggravated by increased employment taxes. The rate fell to 16.2 per cent in June, down from 16.4 per cent in May. About 739,000 young people aged 16 to 24 are actively looking for work, official figures show.

Sainsbury's nationwide programme will allow people aged between 14 and 24 to work across the shop floor, logistics, technology and food. It will also offer practical support with CV writing, interviews and applications.

Sterling Class A Investment Funds 4
Episode Allocation A Inc ₱161.58	+0.4475941813	3.80

Business

The Times unit trust information service

Sell

Buy

+/-

Yld %

Strategic Bond Fund ‡	130.02	+0.10	8.07
UK Equity A ‡	402.2	+1.32	3.92
UK Growth ‡	10411.85	+35.04	2.22

	Sell	Buy	+/-	Yld %
UK Opportunities Fund A Dis	$\pm 107.1$		...	1.68

ARTEMIS FUND MGRS

Global Income Fund R Acc ⌊381.75		+1.79	...
Global Income Fund R Inc ⌊214.67		+1	...
Global Select Fund R ⌊	228.71	+0.13	...
High Income Fund R Inc ⌊	67.04	+0.18	...
Income Fund R Acc ⌊	809.28	+4.32	...
Income Fund R Inc ⌊	310.18	+1.65	...
Monthly Dist & R Inc ⌊	92.58	+0.33	...
SmartGarp Eurp Equity R ⌊896.96		+3.89	...
SmartGarp Global Equity R ⌊696.13		+2.15	...
SmartGarp UK Equity R ⌊	4293	+12.83	...
Strategic Assets R Acc ⌊	95.2	-0.01	...
Strategic Bd R M Acc ⌊	116.42	+0.07	...
Strategic Bd R M Inc ⌊	52.63	+0.03	...
Strategic Bd R Q Acc ⌊	116.22	+0.07	...
Strategic Bd R Q Inc ⌊	52.5	+0.03	...
UK Select R Acc ⌊	1348.43	+16.03	...
Uk Smaller Cos R Acc ⌊	2352.61	+12.94	...
UK Special Sits R Acc ⌊	1105.28	+7.46	...

AXA FRAMLINGTON UNIT MGMT

Dling: 0845 602 1952 Priv Clients:0845 777 5511

Health	3456	-14.00	...
UK Select Opps Inc	2150	+11.00	1.10
UK Sml Cos Inc	333.8	+1.90	0.37
UK Sust Eqty R Dis	238.2	+1.60	1.10

HALIFAX INVESTMENT FUND MGRS

Corporate Bond ‡	37.32	...	4.70
Intl Gwth ‡	215.0	...	0.60
UK FTSE 100 IT ‡	109.5	...	...
UK FTSE All-S IT ‡	121.6	...	...

HSBC GLOBAL ASSET MGMT (UK)

Enq:0845 745 6123 Dlg:0845 745 6126 Mon-Frid:8-6 HSBC Index Tracker Investment Funds (OEIC)

Amer Ind Acc ‡	1606	-4	0.79
Euro Ind Acc ‡	1857	+6	2.28
Euro Ind Inc ‡	1076	+4	2.33
FTSE 100 Ind Acc ‡	444.2	+1.9	2.48
FTSE 100 Ind Inc ‡	180.3	+0.7	2.63
FTSE 250 Ind Acc ‡	413.8	+2.7	2.84
FTSE 250 Ind Inc ‡	224.4	+1.5	2.83
FTSE All-S Acc ‡	1119	+5	2.64
FTSE FTSE All-S Inc ‡	503.2	+2.2	2.78
Japan Ind Acc ‡	231.9	+0.6	1.46
Japan Ind Inc ‡	168.2	+0.5	1.49
Pacific Ind Acc ‡	1071	+6	1.54
Pacific Ind Inc ‡	605.8	+3.4	1.57

AXA FUND MANAGERS

Admin & Enq 0117 989 0808

Global Gwth Acc R ‡	288.1	...	0.52
Japan Acc A ‡	162.3	...	1.51

HSBC Investment Funds (OEIC) Retail Share Class

CIS UNIT MANAGERS

European Growth *	298.6	+0.50	1.14
Sus Leaders ‡	1032	+0.58	1.47
UK Growth @	885.2	+0.56	1.69
UK Income @	260.2	+0.39	3.83

Corp Bd Acc @	311.8	+0.5	4.20
Income Acc	1062	...	3.28
Monthly Inc Acc @	313.4	...	3.75
Monthly Inc Inc @	155.9	...	4.02
UK Grth & Inc Ret B Acc @224.9		+0.8	2.99
UK Grth & Inc Ret B Inv @87.16		+0.29	3.05

Winchester ‡

5687.29

...

0.60

Euro Gwth & Inc ‡	1607	+8	0.10
FTSE All Shr Track ‡	601.5	+2.6	2.70
Global Gwth SCI ‡	398.2	-0.2	...
Strategic Bd ‡	228.5	+0.1	3.90

COLUMBIA THREADNEEDLE INVESTMENTS

EDENTREE INV MGMT

Sust Eur Eqty A Dis @	498.6	+1.20	1.84
Sust Gbl Eqty A Dis @	457.8	-0.20	0.53
Sust Mgd Income @	142	+0.60	4.02
Sust Sterling Bond A Dis @	85.15	+0.13	4.99
Sust UK Eqty A Dis @	255.1	+2.40	1.77
Sust UK Eqty Opps A Dis @	331.6	+3.20	1.47

American Index Retail Inc ₽1237

-3

0.77

FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL

INVESCO FUND MGRS LTD

Dling:0800 085 8571 Inv Serv:0800 085 8677 Brkr Serv:0800 028 2121

Corp Bond ‡	231.44	...	4.08
High Income Dis ‡	435.79	...	3.13
Income & Growth Dis ‡	507.73	...	3.08
Income Inc ‡	1684.83	...	2.84
Money Acc ‡	108.01	...	3.64
Monthly Inc Plus Dis ‡	92.35	...	5.74
UK Ops UK Acc ‡	1406.33	...	1.46
UK Sml Cos Eqty Acc ‡	1368.77	...	1.20

Private Clnts:0800 414161 Broker Dlgs:0800 414181

Amer Spec	2920	...	...
American	7858	...	...
Euro Opps	746.2	...	0.48
European	4436	...	0.77
Global Focus	3685	...	...
Global High Income Bond A Dis	122.38	...	6.38
Global Special Sits	8881	...	...
Japan	969.8	...	0.34
Moneyblder Bal	49.05	...	3.51
Moneyblder Inc	28.22	...	5.03
Moneyblder UK Ind	203.55	...	2.46
Special Sits	7565	...	1.63

INVESTEC FUND MGRS LTD

American A Acc ‡	879.26	+3.83	...
Cautious Managed A Acc ‡	473.64	+0.88	2.63
Cautious Managed A Inc ‡	271.47	+0.52	2.51
Diversified Growth A Acc ‡	333.25	+0.45	0.21
Diversified Growth Inc ‡	122.63	+0.16	0.96
Diversified Income A Acc ‡	377.24	+0.41	3.88
Diversified Income A Inc ‡	67.93	+0.07	5.28
Emerging Mkts Blended Debt A Inc ‡	444.34	+0.14	5.77
Emerging Mkts Blended Debt A Inc ‡	66.86	+0.06	7.47
Emerging Mkts Equity A Acc ‡	292.47	+2.49	0.04
Emerging Mkts Leaders A Acc ‡	1243.37	+12.62	...
Global Equity A Acc ‡	302.44	+1.35	...
Global Franchise A Acc ‡	408.18	+3.43	...
Global Free Enterprise A Acc ‡	2094.27	+1.12	...
Global Gold A Acc ‡	640.83	+4.12	...
Global Special Situations A Acc ‡	538.94	+6.95	...
Global Special Situations A Inc ‡	413.46	+5.33	...

	Sell	Buy	+/-	Yld %
UK Special Situations A Acc	$2760.87		+45.48	1.02
UK Special Situations A Inc	$949.49		+15.64	1.03

For ISIS Asset Mgmt see F&C Fd Mgmt Ltd (OEIC) JANUS HENDERSON INVESTORS Investor Serv: 0800 832 831 Dlng:0845 946 4646

All Stcks Credit A Inc ‡	113.6	...	4.50
Asian Div Inc U Trust Inc ‡	100.3	...	5.60
Cautious Managed Fd A Acc ‡	359	...	3.80
Cautious Managed A Inc ‡	154.1	...	3.90
China Opp Fund A Acc ‡	1294	...	0.10
Emg Mkts Opps Fd A Acc ‡	300.3	...	...
Erpn Sel Opps Fd A Acc ‡	3257	...	0.20
Fix IntMnthly Inc Fd Acc ‡	33.19	...	5.90
Global Equity Fund Acc ‡	6522	...	...
Global Equity Income A Acc ‡	88.23	...	2.30
Global Tech A Acc ‡	6830	...	...
Instl UK idx Opps A Acc ‡	180.1644	...	2.10
M-Asset Abs Rtn A Acc ‡	189.6	...	2.70
M-Man Active Fd A Acc ‡	335.8	+0.9	1.80
M-Man Inc Grth A Inc ‡	161.3	...	2.80
M-Man Inc Fd Grth A Acc ‡	232.3	...	2.70
Sterling Bond U Trst Acc ‡	229.6	...	4.30
Sterling Bond U Trst Inc ‡	55.47	...	4.30
Strategic Bond A Inc ‡	95.56	...	5.70
UK Abs Ret Fd A Acc ‡	206.9	...	2.10
UK Alpha Fund A Acc ‡	201.2	...	1.20
US Growth Fund A Acc ‡	2932	...	...

	Sell	Buy	+/-	Yld %
Extra Income Inc ‡	830.95		+0.3744639729	5.07
Gilt & Fxd Int Inc ‡	66.96		+0.23952095981	4.78
GI Hi Yd Bd Inc ‡	39.87		+0.05018820598	6.27
Index Linked Bd Inc ‡	101.43		+0.3661191371	1.57
Index Trckr Inc ‡	105.48		+0.4380118073	2.98
Short Dated Corp Bd Inc ‡	25.37		+0.0394321787	4.28
UK Select A Inc ‡	3353.48		+0.7513962872	2.61

Sterling Class A Investment Funds 3
MARKS & SPENCER UNIT TRUST 0808 005 5555

Corp Bd A Inc ‡	32.76	+0.2141327623	5.08
Dividend Inc ‡	66.93	+0.4804083471	5.34
Recovery A Inc ‡	142.79	+0.3372918277	2.84
Sml Cos Inc ‡	365.14	+0.8172731791	2.80

UK Equity Core E Net Acc @714.9000

+2.9000

2.50

JUPITER UT TRUST MANAGERS LTD 020 7581 3020

High Income ‡	87.04	...	4.60
High Income Acc ‡	297	...	4.60
UK 100 Comp Acc ‡	720.4	...	3.10
UK 100 Comp Inc ‡	324.1	...	3.10
UK Select Port ‡	481.2	...	2.90
UK Select Port Acc ‡	1100.9	...	2.90
W'wide Mgd Acc @	1331	...	0.20
Worldwide Mgd Acc @	740.5	...	0.20

Distribution & Growth	124.96	+0.6890	2.93
Euro Special Sits	601.15	+0.5127	0.71
European	4000.75	+0.5193	0.61
Financial Opps	1350.52	+0.7395	1.01
Global Macro Bd L GBP ACC	427.34	+0.4071	3.87
Merlin Bal Acc	346.88	+0.1913	2.26
Merlin Growth Acc	832.07	+0.2029	0.20

MORGAN STANLEY INVESTMENT MGMT

Class A Shares
Equity
Glob Bal Inc F F Acc ‡	1049.40	... 1.54
Glob Bal Inc F F Inc ‡	938.65	... 1.55
Glob Bal Inc F I Inc ‡	936.69	... 1.49
Glob Bal Inc F I Acc ‡	1046.53	... 1.47
Glob Bal Sust F F Acc ‡	1036.68	... 1.65
Glob Bal Sust F F Inc ‡	989.88	... 1.66
Glob Bal Sust F I Acc ‡	1034.12	... 1.57
Glob Bal Sust F I Inc ‡	989.45	... 1.60
Glob Br Eq Fund F Inc ‡	1125.55	... 4.24
Glob Br Eq Fund I Acc ‡	1772.94	... 4.21
Glob Br Eq Fund I Inc ‡	1189.79	... 4.32
Glob Br Fund I Acc (PH) ‡	£4379.68	... 0.32

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Merlin Inc Acc @	470.29	+0.2049	3.40
Merlin Wwide Inc ‡	609	+0.4982	...
UK Dynamic Equity L Dis ‡	294.54	+0.2771	1.75
UK Growth ‡	287.11	+0.7958	0.64
UK Income Trust ‡	1023.91	+0.5403	4.58

LEGAL & GENERAL (UT MANGRS) LTD Enquiries: 0870 050 0955 Dealing: 0870 050 0956

Euro Ind Acc @	815.1	+3.5	1.90
Euro Ind Inc @	486.7	+2	1.90
Fixed Int Acc ‡	150.3	+0.3	4.60
Fixed Int Dist #	62.11	+0.1	4.60
Global Health §	128	+0.3	0.90
Glob Tech Acc @	231.6	+2.1	...
High Inc Acc @	154.4	...	5.70
Japan Ind Acc ‡	111.4	+0.5	1.30
Pacific Ind Acc ‡	421.8	+2.1	1.40
UK Index Trust Acc ‡	543	+2.4	2.50
UK Index Trust Dist ‡	235.1	+1	2.50
US Ind Acc ‡	1403	+4	0.50
Worldwide Acc ‡	469.3	+1.3	0.90

Glob Br Fund I Inc (PH) ‡1674.71	...	0.45
Glob Br Fund I Acc (PH) ‡1785.07	...	0.45
Glob Br Fund I Inc (PH) ‡3867.67	...	0.32
Glob Quality Fund F Acc (PH) ‡1568.99	...	0.49
Glob Quality Fund F Inc ‡1521.11	...	0.51
Glob Quality Fund I Acc ‡ 1563.1	...	0.34
Glob Quality Fund I Acc (PH) ‡1563.47	...	0.34
Glob Quality Fund F Acc ‡1579.69	...	0.51
Stg Corp Bond F F Acc ‡ 144.54	...	4.88
Stg Corp Bond F F Inc ‡ 98.01	...	4.90
Stg Corp Bond F I Inc ‡ 1380.23	...	4.73
Stg Corp Bond F I Acc ‡ 3057.6	...	4.73
US Adv F F Acc ‡ 2447.41	...	...
US Adv F F Acc (PH) ‡ 1484.04	...	...
US Adv F I Acc ‡ 2576.57	...	...
US Adv F I Acc (PH) ‡ 1536.41	...	...

SANTANDER UNIT TST MGRS

M&G SECURITIES

Equity Inc Inc ‡	238.8	...	...
Stkmkt 100 Tkr ‡	230.8000	...	...
UK Growth I Acc ‡	662.5	...	...
UK Growth Inc ‡	318.1	...	...

Charifund Inc ‡

1920.65

+0.4476776721

5.08

SCOTTISH MUTUAL INV MNGRES LTD

Sterling Class A Investment Funds 2

Far Eastern Inc	617.0700	649.4700	...	...
Mutual Far Eastern	1368.8400	1444.6900	+6.39	0.39
Mutual UK Eq	1429.4900	1508.7000	...	7.81

	Sell	Buy	+/-	Yld %
UK Equity Inc	562.2300	593.3800	...	7.81

SCOTTISH WIDOWS UNIT TRUST MNGRS

UK Trkr A Acc ‡	608.3	+2.00	2.50
UK Trkr A Inc ‡	276.8	+0.90	2.50

UK & Income Investment Funds

Corp Bond A Acc @	328.3	-0.10	4.20
Corp Bond A Inc @	107.7	...	4.20
Envir Invtr A Acc #	473.5	+4.70	2.10
Hi Inc Bond A Ac @	299.1	-1.40	6.40
Hi Inc Bond A Inc @	70.48	-0.32	6.40
Hi Res A Acc #	564.2	+1.20	3.70
Hi Res A Inc #	152.7	+0.30	3.80
Strat In A Acc @	228.5	...	4.60
Strat In A Inc @	86.06	-0.02	4.60
UK Eq Trckr A #	137.0	+0.40	2.50

UK Trkr B Acc ‡	673.9	+2.10	2.60
UK Trkr B Inc ‡	275.3	+0.90	2.60

UK Eq Tkr C ‡

133.8

+0.40

2.60

STANDARD LIFE INVESTMENTS 0845 279 3003

Investment Funds (OEIC)-Retail Shares

AAA Inc CAT Acc ‡	98.47	...	2.52
AAA Inc CAT Inc ‡	51.11	...	2.52
AAA Income Acc ‡	108.60	...	...
Amer Eq Gth Acc ‡	283.10	...	...
Glb Advtg CAT Acc ‡	202.4	...	1.32
Glob Advtg Acc ‡	266.80	...	...
Higher Inc Acc ‡	186.10	...	...
Higher Inc Inc ‡	48.17	...	...
Managed Acc ‡	521.5	...	1.83
UK Ethical Acc ‡	262.10	...	...
UK Smlr Cos Acc ‡	823.90	...	...

SVS BROWN SHIPLEY FUNDS Enquiries:0141 222 1151

Balanced A Acc ‡	186.24	...	2.02
Blanced A Inc ‡	157.62	...	2.07
Cautious A Acc ‡	133.24	...	2.44
Cautious A Inc ‡	105.38	...	2.48
Dynamic A Acc ‡	496.38	...	1.40
Dynamic A Inc ‡	434.3	...	1.41
Growth A Acc ‡	491.33	...	1.63
Income A Acc ‡	319.02	...	2.17

THREADNEEDLE INVESTMENTS

Retail Shares Class 1

Threadneedle HY Bd Rtl Inc ‡39.3983	+0.38	...
Threadneedle Monthly Etr Inc Inc ‡101.8043	+52.93	...
Threadneedle SterlingCorp Bd Inc ‡54.8495	+8.78	...
Threadneedle SterlingCorp Acc ‡54.7412	+8.72	...
Threadneedle Stg Bd Ret Inc ‡39.48	+4.34	...
Threadneedle Strat Bd Ret ‡41.7768	+3.34	...
Threadneedle UK Eg Rtl Inc ‡120.414	+82.11	...
Threadneedle UK Growth & Inc Rtl Inc ‡113.0242	+71.81	...
Threadneedle UK Istl Rtl ‡251.7563	+115.16	...
Threadneedle UK Mthly Inc Rtl Inc ‡98.1106	+54.58	...
Threadneedle UK Rtl Inc ‡169.2656	+73.3	...
Threadneedle U Smaller Coms Rtl Inc ‡407.0735	+176.86	...

For Resolution see Ignis

TU FUND MANAGERS LTD

IFSL Marlborough Eur A Dis @1012

1012

...

1.21

* Yield expressed as CAR (Compound Annual Return); † Ex dividend; *Middle price; ... No significant data. # Periodic charge deducted from capital; @ Exit charge

British funds

12 month			Price(£)	+/-	Int Yld%	Grs rdyld
High	Low	Stock
Index-Linked
73.08	63.68	Tr IL 1⁄23⁄4 50	64.45	+.62	0.78	2.51
66.33	56.73	Tr IL 1⁄23⁄4 52	57.60	+.67	0.43	2.51
101.91	97.20	Tr IL 1⁄23⁄4 28	99.69	-.01	0.13	0.29
100.99	97.50	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 29	98.62	-.02	0.13	0.67
98.88	94.73	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 31	96.00	-.01	0.13	0.95
88.33	82.97	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 36	83.79	+.17	0.15	1.87
82.85	76.16	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 39	77.77	+.33	0.16	2.15
79.32	72.11	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 41	73.14	+.39	0.17	2.25
74.05	65.19	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 44	67.34	+.48	0.19	2.42
71.23	62.80	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 46	63.75	+.44	0.20	2.47
68.00	59.19	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 48	60.13	+.54	0.21	2.49
60.61	49.87	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 56	50.84	+.64	0.25	2.43
58.90	48.59	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 58	49.74	+.68	0.25	2.41
54.25	43.57	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 65	44.48	+.60	0.28	2.27
53.89	40.40	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 68	43.40	+.63	0.29	2.22
57.66	42.98	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 73	44.76	+.81	0.28	1.93
97.88	93.36	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 34	94.19	+.14	0.80	1.57
79.12	70.87	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 47	71.86	+.55	1.04	2.46
62.70	49.79	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 62	52.49	+.69	0.71	2.35
87.38	80.77	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 40	81.52	+.37	0.77	2.21
84.28	76.40	Tr IL 0 1⁄23⁄4 42	77.22	+.41	0.81	2.32
104.16	100.95	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 27	101.40	-.02	1.23	0.12
103.67	99.28	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 32	100.09	+.10	1.25	1.24
86.56	72.33	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 54	75.11	+.81	1.66	2.48
85.60	73.36	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 55	74.67	+.81	1.67	2.47
99.52	94.19	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 35	94.89	-.07	1.19	1.74
97.09	90.76	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 37	91.50	+.24	1.23	1.97
102.53	95.86	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 38	96.74	+.16	1.81	2.06
99.42	88.49	Tr IL 1 1⁄23⁄4 49	89.66	+.68	2.09	2.47
248.27	236.46	Tr IL 2 1⁄2 35	242.02	+.38	0.83	1.74
349.35	338.55	Tr IL 4 1⁄23⁄4 30	342.47	+....	1.20	0.91

Longs (Over 15 Years)

26.99	21.99	Tr 0 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 61	22.82 + .27	2.19	5.46
65.04	55.40	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 51	56.50 + .63	0.22	2.51
38.39	32.78	Tr 0 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 50	33.75 + .34	1.85	5.72
47.60	40.99	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 53	41.91 + .41	3.58	5.78
45.88	39.62	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 51	40.58 + .37	3.08	5.78
33.04	27.34	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 73	27.99 + .31	4.02	5.29
48.44	41.83	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 57	42.60 + .34	4.11	5.74
48.36	41.73	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 54	42.76 + .40	3.80	5.75
41.45	35.52	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 71	36.26 + .37	4.48	5.42
57.14	49.72	Tr 2 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 65	50.73 + .47	4.93	5.64
74.02	64.55	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 68	65.92 + .54	5.31	5.62
81.50	72.00	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 52	73.50 + .55	5.10	5.72
80.90	71.30	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 53	72.66 + .53	5.16	5.75
88.15	77.58	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}$ % 55	79.12 + .61	5.37	5.73
83.52	73.28	Tr 4% 60	74.67 + .59	5.36	5.71

Mediums (5-15 Years)

83.19	79.47	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 31	81.55 + .20	0.31	4.46
86.27	82.79	Tr 0 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 30	84.82 + .18	0.44	4.41
72.25	67.14	Tr 0 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 35	69.01 + .29	0.91	4.96
79.97	75.46	Tr 0 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 33	77.24 + .25	1.13	4.77
48.97	42.75	Tr 0 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 46	43.90 + .33	1.99	5.68
54.44	47.82	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 47	48.95 + .39	3.06	5.72
61.88	55.55	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 41	57.16 + .35	2.19	5.43
66.75	60.85	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 39	62.55 + .33	1.80	5.27
75.83	69.99	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 37	71.53 + .35	2.45	5.17
55.77	49.19	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 49	50.18 + .39	3.49	5.72
85.07	81.01	Tr 1 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 32	82.83 + .22	1.21	4.61
82.54	74.42	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 45	75.81 + .44	4.62	5.63
95.49	90.74	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 33	91.98 + .26	3.53	4.71
80.41	72.57	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 44	74.04 + .43	4.39	5.60
100.00	85.76	Tr 3 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 38	87.44 + .41	4.29	5.22
102.40	96.34	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 34	97.66 + .33	4.61	4.85
101.93	0.01	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 35	97.01 + .35	4.64	4.93
96.45	87.54	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 42	89.21 + .46	5.04	5.51
102.33	0.01	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 32	98.26 + .26	4.33	4.60
100.56	94.70	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 34	96.00 + .33	4.43	4.86
99.39	92.65	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 36	94.19 + .39	4.51	5.02
100.00	88.42	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 39	90.09 + .43	4.72	5.31
100.00	86.92	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 40	88.73 + .45	4.79	5.39
90.97	81.54	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 46	83.22 + .52	5.11	5.65
89.58	79.95	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 49	81.54 + .56	5.21	5.69
101.49	97.47	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 51	98.34 + .21	4.19	4.53
100.70	95.57	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 33	96.67 + .28	4.27	4.72
104.72	100.54	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 30	101.21 + .20	4.69	4.44
103.33	96.78	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 35	98.20 + .37	4.84	5.00
102.00	93.84	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 38	95.50 + .45	4.97	5.25
102.58	98.98	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 30	99.68 + .16	4.39	4.47
97.07	89.07	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 40	90.65 + .43	4.83	5.36
100.37	99.68	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 32	100.01 + .25	4.62	4.62
100.00	94.52	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 37	95.93 + .41	4.82	5.13
100.99	96.96	Tr 4 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 36	98.47 + .39	4.95	5.07
105.68	96.52	Tr 5 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 41	98.35 + .46	5.34	5.42
105.44	93.20	Tr 5 $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 56	94.99 + .71	5.66	5.73

Shorts (Under 5 Years)

91.87	89.09	Tr $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 29	91.33	+.13	0.55	4.30
98.67	91.49	Tr $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 28	94.63	+.10	0.13	4.03
99.51	96.22	Tr $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 26	99.49	+ nc	0.38	3.65
91.00	0.01	Tr $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 29	89.78	+.16	0.97	4.38
97.48	95.29	Tr $\frac{1}{4}\%$ 27	97.46	+.03	1.28	4.18
95.46	92.89	Tr $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 28	94.57	+.09	1.72	4.29
101.17	98.03	Tr 4% 29	98.90	+.14	4.04	4.43
101.39	99.44	Tr $\frac{1}{4}\%$ 27	100.02	+.02	4.25	4.23
101.88	98.28	Tr $\frac{1}{4}\%$ 29	99.18	+.14	4.16	4.43
100.70	99.60	Tr $\frac{1}{4}\%$ 27	100.04	...	4.12	3.99
101.65	99.40	Tr $\frac{1}{2}\%$ 28	100.08	+.07	4.37	4.32
107.15	103.38	Tr 6% 28	103.77	+.08	5.78	4.24

* maturities having an eight-month indexation lag.

This is a paid for information service. For further details on a particular fund, readers should contact their fund manager.

Data provided by ICE. Data as shown is for information purposes only. No offer is made by ICE or this publication

Fashion house has lending rules waived as debt grows

Isabella Fish Retail Editor

Bankers to Dolce & Gabbana have agreed to waive its loan covenants if the struggling Italian fashion house were to breach them.

An agreement has been reached to waive a clause that could put the luxury fashion label in breach of its lending covenants after reporting a fresh operating loss and higher debt.

The privately owned group is facing financial pressure from an increasing debt pile alongside a wider slowdown in the global luxury market.

Revenue at the company fell 2 per cent to €1.86 billion in the year to the end of March, according to a filing seen by Reuters. Growth in the beauty division helped offset a weaker performance in the group's core fashion business, the company said.

The company's operating loss totalled just over €100 million, while net debt increased to \$464.5 million from €379.6 million, breaching conditions attached to the group's bank loans.

Under a new agreement, the company's lending banks agreed to forgive broken loan rules and suspended covenant testing until March 2028 so that the company has enough cash to keep operating. Dolce & Gabbana agreed in exchange to complete "extraordinary financing transactions" to strengthen liquidity and to bring its net debt-to-earnings ratio under 3 in the same time frame.

Madonna wearing D&G. She hired the fashion label for her 1993 world tour

Dolce & Gabbana, also known by the initials D&G, was founded in 1985 in Legnano, near Milan, by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The fashion label is owned by its co-founders, alongside family members such as its chief executive Alfonso Dolce.

Domenico Dolce is active as co-creative director, while Stefano Gabbana owns a stake of around 40 per cent and remains co-creative director, though he stepped down from his executive and chairman roles. Other family members, including Domenico's sister Dorotea Dolce, hold smaller shares.

Global popularity arrived in 1993 when Madonna hired them to design 1,500 costumes for her Girlie Show world tour. Following the endorsement of major celebrities, the brand expanded into fragrances, menswear and luxury accessories.

In common with other luxury brands the label has struggled amid a wider sector slowdown, driven by higher inflation and cost of living. The company, advised by Rothschild, was exploring ways to raise money earlier this year, including asset disposals.

Other European luxury giants have started to see an improvement in performance. Kering, the group behind Gucci, recently returned to growth after three years thanks to a recovery in the US and Asia. LVMH and Burberry, the British luxury label, have also seen improvements.

Dolce & Gabbana and Rothschild were contacted for comment.

Pass the mic The supermodel Kate Moss stars in Gucci's latest advertising campaign for its Primavera women's collection

Zero-hours reform ‘will not raise costs’

Emma Powell

The business secretary has defended plans to restrict zero-hours contracts as “proportionate” and insisted this would not place an additional cost burden on employers, despite a backlash from retail and hospitality businesses.

"The policy is about the person on zero hours getting the right to a contract that reflects what they regularly work," Jonathan Reynolds said. "So, if you're regularly working a number of hours ... presumably the contract that reflects those hours is not higher cost to the business."

However, there would be a “monitoring cost” for businesses employing a large number of people on zero-hours contracts, Reynolds admitted.

The reforms would force companies to give staff a guaranteed number of hours a week, reflecting their workload. It would also require companies to give workers reasonable notice of shifts and to pay them for shifts that have been “cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice”. At present such contracts do not specify a minimum number of hours of employment to which workers are entitled.

An official government impact statement estimated that the policy could impose costs of up to £3 billion a year on employers, with hospitality and retail businesses the worst hit.

The British Retail Consortium, UKHospitality and the British Chambers of Commerce warned that the reform could “worsen the jobs crisis”

and raised concerns about the consequences for the one million young people who are not in education, employment or training.

The trade bodies have called on the government to delay the implementation of the plans so they can develop a “proportionate” approach and set guaranteed work at eight hours a week or less, to ensure the approach targeted “genuinely low hours work”.

Reynolds said of the reforms: “This is a well-known part of the [government’s] business plan. It’s a manifesto commitment and governments should fulfil their manifesto promises. It meets the balance between the flexibility employers will need [and] the discretion of the employees if they want a contract that reflects those regular hours.”

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Business

Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, will be overseeing the new homes programme that includes partnerships with developers such as Vistry

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Vistry boosted by £350 million housing award

Jessica Newman

Leisure Industries Correspondent

Vistry recorded one of its biggest intra-day share price rises after Britain's second-biggest housebuilder confirmed it had received £350 million in government funding.

Shares in the FTSE 250 company rose as much as 18 per cent at one stage yesterday before easing back to close up $43\frac{3}{4}\mathrm{p}$ , or 16.3 per cent, at $312\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{p}$ after it said it had secured the funding as part of the government's £39 billion social and affordable homes programme.

The funding, which Vistry said was the largest award possible in this phase, is significantly higher than the first grant under a previous programme. It will enable the delivery of more than 3,000 affordable homes, which is “well ahead of what was possible under the first phase of the last programme”.

Adam Daniels, Vistry chief executive, said the award reflected the group's "established track record and commitment to deliver much-needed affordable homes", adding that the funding would provide its partners and the wider housebuilding sector "with a much-needed stimulus".

Andy Burnham has pledged to carry out the biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period, spending £10 billion on more than 70,000 homes, with 60 per cent allocated for social rent.

Of the money, £2.5 billion is expected to be spent in six mayoral areas to deliver a target of 20,300 homes.

The Greater London Authority will be allocated £6 billion in an effort to address the housing crisis in the capital.

It means London will receive 37 per cent of the initial £16 billion from the government's social and affordable homes programme.

The funding will offer shareholders in Vistry, formed in 2020 when Greg Fitzgerald merged Bovis Homes with the housebuilding arm of Galliford Try, a long-awaited confidence boost. Shares in the company have halved in value in the past 12 months.

The sharp rise in the share price also led to a short squeeze for the hedge funds betting against Vistry. It is one of the most shorted stocks in London with 16.7 per cent of its shares on loan, according to data from Research Tree.

Short sellers borrow shares of a company that they expect to fall for a fee from a broker, sell them on the open market at the current price, wait for the price of the shares to drop, then buy the same number of shares back at a new lower price and return them to the broker, pocketing the difference. If the price rises suddenly, they are forced to buy back shares to reduce their losses, which helps lift the price even higher.

Towards the end of 2023, Fitzgerald pivoted the business towards a “partnerships” model, building homes for housing associations and institutional landlords rather than individuals. Three-quarters of the homes Vistry built last year were for partners.

The switch in strategy made Vistry the darling of the sector, but its standing in the stock market fell dramatically at the end of 2024 when the company admitted that it had underestimated by £165 million how much it would cost to build out nine sites in the south of England.

The company has been in recovery mode ever since and is now being led by Daniels, one of Vistry's regional managers who was promoted to the top job in April. His progress has been hamstrung by a slowdown in the market, triggered by the Middle East conflict, and housing associations waiting for the next round of grants before they committed to new developments.

Seasalt enjoys fair wind but US expansion dents profits

Isabella Fish Retail Editor

Expansion in the United States pushed sales upward, just, for a Cornish clothing brand despite tariff friction and broader macroeconomic headwinds.

Seasalt, which sells raincoats and knitwear, posted a 0.4 per cent increase in revenue to £149 million in the year to the end of January.

The brand, which has 83 shops in the UK and Ireland, said this was largely due to international expansion during the year, widening its presence across Europe via its partnership with the online platform Zalando and opening a fifth Irish standalone store in Cork.

Seasalt increased its US business both with third-party retailers, including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, and four standalone stores. As a result, international sales increased by £6 million to 15 per cent of its total revenues.

US operations weighed on the bottom line, however. Pre-tax profits fell to £3.3 million, from £3.95 million the year before, due to a non-cash £1.3 million loss on financial assets driven by US exchange rate “volatility”.

Earnings before interest, tax and other deductions rose 1.9 per cent to £12.1 million, while operating profit increased by 3.9 per cent to £8 million.

Seasalt was founded in 1981 when Don Chadwick went shopping at General Clothing Stores while on holiday in Penzance. The shop, which sold traditional items such as fishermen's overalls and Breton T-shirts, made such an impression that he went on to buy the business.

After Chadwick died in 2001, his sons David, Leigh and Neil took over and transformed it into the Seasalt of today, a nautical-inspired clothing brand known for its practical anoraks, jersey dresses and fleece-lined Wellington boots. The sons still own the business.

Paul Hayes, chief executive, said: "The strength and resilience of the Seasalt business is founded on our multichannel model allowing us to provide our customers with the best possible experience wherever they choose to shop with us, while giving us agility in a changing market environment."

The group ended the year with a cash position of more than £10 million.

Robert Stephens Tempus Buy, sell or hold: today's best share tips

Builder sitting on solid foundations

PERSIMMON

Market cap £3.7 billion

First-half rev £1.7 billion

Persimmon's recently released half-year results show the housebuilder is an excellent business operating in a challenging industry.

While the FTSE 100 member maintained its solid financial position, further expanded control over its supply chain and is on track to deliver profits for the full year that are in line with previous guidance, tough trading conditions during the six-month period meant that its earnings per share (EPS) rose by a paltry 3 per cent.

Given that its bottom line is forecast to produce further anaemic growth in the short term, inflation is expected to rise and additional interest rate cuts are not yet on the near-term horizon, should investors avoid the stock?

Persimmon has grown organically and through acquisition since it was established in 1972. It completed the sale of 11,905 new homes last year, 9 per cent of the total annual number of dwellings that were completed by private enterprise in the UK.

The company focuses solely on the domestic market from its York head office. It has two brands, Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships, in addition to its namesake brand that together build a wide range of one to five-bedroom homes.

Although Persimmon delivered a 13 per cent rise in completions of such homes in the first half of the year, homebuyer demand is likely to remain depressed in the near term.

Tools of the trade

ADVICE Buy WHY A low market valuation, long-term earnings growth potential and an attractive yield should equate to impressive total returns

Inflation, after all, is forecast to rise from 2.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent by the end of the year. This has the potential to squeeze profits across the sector, as incumbents struggle to offset the effects of rising build cost inflation on margins, and to cause a return to monetary policy tightening.

When combined with potentially elevated political risk as fiscal policy changes under a new prime minister become evident, this could equate to higher mortgage costs and suppressed demand for new homes. In fact, a downbeat industry outlook is evidenced in the company's financial forecasts. Its EPS, for example, is expected to be less than 3 per cent higher in 2027 than it was in 2025.

The business, though, is well placed to successfully emerge from a tough near-term outlook. Its half-year results, for instance, showed it has a net debt-to-equity ratio of just 5 per cent, with net finance costs amply covered nearly ten times by operating profits during the six-month period.

Persimmon, furthermore, has continued to become increasingly vertically integrated over recent months. It produces its own bricks and tiles, and has an automated timber frame line that went live in the second half of last year. Relative control over its supply chain should help it to keep overall cost rises to a minimum during a period of persistent above-target inflation.

Alongside a land bank that consists of 80,000 plots, this suggests that the firm is well positioned to capitalise on an eventual improvement in its operating environment. Indeed, inflation is set to fall next year so that it is just 20 basis points above the Bank of England's 2 per cent target by the end of 2027. This should provide scope for a return to the recent era of interest rate cuts that, once time lags have passed, boosts demand for new homes. And with new housing starts in the 12 months to the end of March this year still being 24 per cent down on their pre-Covid level, favourable underlying supply/demand dynamics within the housing market are likely to bolster the firm's long-term financial performance.

Given the share price has fallen by 59 per cent in the past five years, Persimmon's modest price-to-book ratio of 1.05 is somewhat unsurprising. This suggests there is scope for a material upward rerating as operating conditions improve over the coming years. When combined with a likely improvement in its EPS growth rate and a dividend yield of 5.1 per cent from a payout that was covered 1.7 times by net profits last year, the stock's total returns are likely to be substantially ahead of those of the wider FTSE 100 index.

As a result, the housebuilder offers investment appeal on a long-term view. Its status as an excellent business, when combined with an ultimate improvement in its trading conditions, is set to catalyse its share price performance.

Winning streak carries FTSE near pre-war high

MARKET REPORT

The FTSE 100 chalked up its longest winning streak of the year as London's crop of defensive heavyweights offered a haven from the chaos all around (Simon Freeman writes).

The blue-chip index advanced for the sixth session in a row, adding 31.84 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 10,886.16. The positive run leaves the FTSE 100 back within striking distance of the record high set in February, on the eve of the US-Israel attacks on Iran.

The Footsie's dearth of tech-focused stocks has long been a subject of derision, but has lately given its dependable collection of miners, defence firms and engineers an unaccustomed allure amid fears of overheated valuations of the US tech megacaps.

Nvidia, the \$5 trillion chipmaker and biggest of them all, is to report second quarter earnings after Wall Street's close this evening. Anything short of a near-doubling in revenue to above \$90 billion could prompt what traders euphemistically term "a sector reset".

Melrose Industries was the biggest riser on London's premier index as a £75 million payout to settle compensation claims drew a line under the chemicals leak in California. Shares in

Wall Street report

Equity and bond markets regained a sense of calm after Monday's sell-off. Investors shrugged off US plans to expand sanctions against Iran as, for now at least, the US Treasury stopped short of imposing actual penalties. AI-related tech companies led the way, with Super Micro Computer up 9.4 per cent. The S&P 500 rose 24.42 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7,677.28 while the Nasdaq was up 171.11 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 26,151.30. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 160.24 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 53,577.40.

The day's biggest movers

Company	Change
Melrose Industries	10.4%
AstraZeneca	3.0%
Next	2.4%
Polar Capital Technology	2.3%
International Consolidated Airlines	2.2%
Smith & Nephew	-1.3%
British American Tobacco	-1.5%
Compass Group	-1.7%
Diageo	-2.0%
Standard Chartered	-2.5%

IAG, which owns British Airways, was among the stalwarts lifting the blue chips

the GKN Aerospace owner advanced 48 $^{1/4}$ p, or 10.4 per cent, to 510 $^{1/4}$ p.

Elsewhere, leading the way were old faithfuls AstraZeneca, up 366p, or 3 per cent, to £124.76; Next, up 360p, or 2.4 per cent, to £156.35; and the British Airways-owner IAG, up 9¾p, or 2.2 per cent, to 442p. Worries over China's clampdown on back taxes continue to weigh on Standard Chartered, the Asia-focused bank, which retreated 55p, or 2.5 per cent, to £21.40.

STEVE PARSONS/PA

The domestically focused FTSE 250 also closed on the front foot, rising 138.6 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 24,856.05.

Vistry, the social housing-focused developer, was the biggest gainer after landing £350 million in public funding to drive the government's affordable homes programme. Its shares closed up 43 $^{3/4}$ p, or 16.3 per cent, at 312 $^{1/2}$ p.

On current valuations, September's FTSE reshuffle will see Ithaca Energy and the takeover target EasyJet (perhaps briefly) promoted to the FTSE 100, while Entain and Persimmon face relegation to the mid-cap index. Aston Martin Lagonda, meanwhile, faces an ignominious slide from the FTSE 250 back into the ranks of the small-caps.

Markets Business

NEWS IN BRIEF

EasyJet sale vote delayed

Any takeover of easyJet will not be voted on by investors until the late autumn at the earliest as the airline and the private equity firm it is selling out to wait for regulators at the European Commission to return from their summer holidays.

Following a brief bidding war with the North American investment firm Castlelake, Apollo, the US private equity group, was chosen by the easyJet board to take the airline over in a deal worth £5.7 billion or 715p in cash to shareholders.

The deal got the go-ahead after it attracted the support of Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the airline's founder and former chairman and its largest shareholder, who along with his family own 15.3 per cent. The deal is complicated by European ownership rules, which stipulate 50.1 per cent of easyJet has to be owned by European nationals. Under the proposals, Haji-Ioannou, a Monaco tax exile, will roll over his shareholding into the new ownership structure.

In a statement easyJet said under City rules it had to kick off the process for a change in ownership by early September. Given regulators are not likely to opine on the takeover plan before then, it has asked for an extension to the timetable that could see a shareholder vote on the plan in mid-November. Shares in easyJet are trading at a 5 per cent-plus discount to the offer price, at 676p,

Chesnara back in black

Chesnara, the FTSE 250 European life, pensions and investment company, swung back into the black with a pre-tax profit of £61 million in the six months to the end of June, compared with a loss of £4.6 million a year ago. Assets under administration increased by 38 per cent to £21 billion for the first half, from £15 billion for the full year of 2025. It completed the acquisition of HSBC Life (UK) in January, rebranded as Chesnara Life UK, which helped boost revenue by 88 per cent to £255.9 million, from £136 million in the first six months of last year. The shares closed up 9½p, or 2.9 per cent, at 339½p.

Dick's record share drop

Dick's Sporting Goods shocked investors as it cut its full-year forecast and signalled that bloated inventory and heavy discounting in the legacy footwear market were weighing on its recently acquired Foot Locker business. The US sportswear retailer's shares fell 29 per cent, a record one-day percentage drop, after the Dick's company also missed second-quarter estimates and reversed expectations for annual comparable sales growth at Foot Locker. Dick's completed its \$2.4 billion acquisition of Foot Locker in 2025 to strengthen its presence in the sneaker sector and gain entry into international markets.

Germany quickens pace

Germany's economy grew faster than initially indicated in the second quarter and business morale hit its highest level in a year this month, in the latest signs of a long-awaited turnaround following years of anaemic growth. Gross domestic product grew by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter against the previous quarter, slightly above last month's preliminary reading of 0.2 per cent, the statistics office said. The Ifo business climate index rose to 88.8 in August from 86.7 in July. "Despite the renewed rise in energy prices, the German economy is recovering," Clemens Fuest, Ifo's president, said.

Fuel Oil	497.055	-2.951
Euro Naphtha	748.472	-8.726

Business

EQUITY PRICES

Dividend yields Please note dividend yields are supplied by ICE Data Services. The yield is the sum of a company's annual 12-month dividend payments divided by the last day's closing share price.

12-month high and low High/low prices for UK equities and investment trusts are based on intra-day figures.

12 month			Price (p)	+/-	Forecast Yld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
Automobiles & Part
86 $\frac{1}{4}$	33	Aston Martin Lag	34 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	1	... -0.7
Banking & Finance
265	177 $\frac{1}{2}$	Aberdeen Group	246 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	$\frac{3}{8}$	5.9 11.4
1 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	Acuity RM♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$			... -3.4
4076	2624	Admiral	4072	+	72	3.5 16.5
662 $\frac{1}{2}$	414 $\frac{1}{8}$	AJ Bell	616 $\frac{1}{2}$			2.4 24.0
2876 $\frac{1}{4}$	2237 $\frac{2}{4}$	AON Corp	26165	-	122 $\frac{1}{4}$	0.9 ...
1130	765	Arbuthnot♦	820			6.7 7.5
276 $\frac{1}{2}$	145 $\frac{1}{8}$	Ashmore Group	226 $\frac{1}{8}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	7.5 18.6
2126 $\frac{1}{2}$	1590 $\frac{1}{2}$	Australia & NZ	1943 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	9 $\frac{1}{8}$	5.9 19.0
740 $\frac{1}{4}$	590 $\frac{1}{8}$	Aviva	730 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	2 $\frac{1}{8}$	5.5 27.2
1122	689	Banco Santander	1074	-	10	1.5 13.8
554 $\frac{1}{4}$	352 $\frac{1}{8}$	Barclays♦	496 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	$\frac{7}{8}$	2.3 11.3
17	4	Blue Star Capital♦	5 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	... -2.7
710	613	BP Marsh & Ptnrs♦	680	+	4	5.3 5.1
351 $\frac{1}{4}$	212	Bridgepoint Grp	316 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	4	3.0 63.3
352	264 $\frac{1}{8}$	Chesnara	339 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	9 $\frac{1}{2}$	6.8 -67.2
493	349	City of London Grp	490	+	1	6.7 16.7
556 $\frac{1}{4}$	318 $\frac{1}{8}$	Close Bros	428	+	4	... -6.4
753	203	CMC Markets	720	+	11	1.9 26.2
2957 $\frac{1}{4}$	2057	Deutsche Bank	2848 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	28 $\frac{1}{8}$	3.0 10.5
93	73 $\frac{1}{8}$	EFG-Hermes Hldgs	73 $\frac{1}{8}$			0.9 ...
240 $\frac{1}{4}$	136	EPE Special Opps♦	211			... 8.7
85	52	Fiske♦	67 $\frac{1}{2}$			1.7 5.9
92	80	Foresight Ventures VCT 83				4.3 15.5
4700	2215	Georgia Capital	4415	-	25	... 2.8
57	43 $\frac{1}{4}$	Hansard Global	51 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	2 $\frac{1}{8}$	8.6 39.6
230	194	Helios U/W♦	225			4.4 7.8
1904	1257 $\frac{1}{4}$	Hiscox♦	1827	-	5	2.1 13.8
1610	942 $\frac{1}{4}$	HSBC♦	1517	-	12	3.6 17.1
1956	1016	IG Group♦	1356	+	2	3.1 9.4
204	90 $\frac{1}{8}$	Impax Asset Mgmt♦	114 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	3	8.7 7.2
2340	1424 $\frac{1}{8}$	ICG	2018	-	8	4.3 12.1
145 $\frac{1}{4}$	115 $\frac{1}{8}$	Intl Public P'ship♦	140 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	$\frac{3}{8}$	6.3 -10.7
690	499 $\frac{1}{8}$	Investec♦	635 $\frac{1}{2}$			6.1 8.2
78	60	Investment Co	76	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	... ...
75	48	IP Group	72	+	$\frac{1}{4}$	1.8 9.9
24	6 $\frac{1}{2}$	Jarvis Securities♦	8			43.8 2.5
214 $\frac{1}{2}$	113 $\frac{1}{8}$	Jupiter Fund Mgmt♦	171 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	7	3.5 8.9
700	549	Lancashire Hldgs♦	610 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	2	2.7 6.9
318 $\frac{1}{4}$	217 $\frac{1}{8}$	Legal & General♦	289 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	7.6 29.0
13620	6905	Lion Finance Group	13330	+	100	2.4 9.4
375	223	Liontrust Asset Mgmt	314 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	6.0 20.4
61	35	Livermore Invs Grp♦	37 $\frac{1}{8}$			8.3 17.0
117 $\frac{1}{8}$	77 $\frac{1}{8}$	Lloyds Banking♦	111 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{8}$	3.6 15.9
22	14	LMS Capital	15 $\frac{1}{8}$			25.6 ...
10140	6684	London Stock Exchange	8798	-	42	1.8 36.9
367 $\frac{1}{4}$	247	M&G	348	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	5.9 27.6
327 $\frac{1}{4}$	154 $\frac{1}{8}$	Man Group♦	304 $\frac{1}{8}$			4.1 26.9
39 $\frac{1}{4}$	20	Manx Financial Grp♦	25 $\frac{1}{2}$			2.0 4.7
10	1 $\frac{1}{4}$	Marechale Capital♦	4 $\frac{1}{4}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	... -5.8
186 $\frac{1}{8}$	98 $\frac{1}{8}$	Metro Bank	169 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{8}$	... 21.7

12 month			Price(p)	+/-	ForecastYld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
$2621\frac{1}{4}$	$1864\frac{3}{8}$	National Australia	$2007\frac{1}{8}$	$+13\frac{1}{8}$	4.4	17.3
726	$500\frac{1}{4}$	NatWest Group $^{\S}$	$690\frac{1}{4}$	$+1\frac{1}{8}$	5.1	12.9
$833\frac{1}{8}$	$438\frac{1}{8}$	PayPoint	$628\frac{1}{2}$	$+3\frac{1}{2}$	6.3	10.6
1238	$910\frac{1}{4}$	Prudential	1035	$-7\frac{1}{2}$	1.9	9.2
$1\frac{1}{4}$	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Quantum Blockchain $\blacklozenge$	$0\frac{1}{8}$		...	-1.8
209	$150\frac{1}{4}$	Quilter	$193\frac{1}{2}$	$-\frac{1}{8}$	3.3	21.7
2500	1580	Rathbones Group	1702	$-6$	5.9	15.8
326	245	Rockwood Strategic	$324\frac{1}{2}$		...	0.0
$2458\frac{1}{2}$	1620	S & U	1970	$-5$	5.8	10.1
3	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Sancus Lending $\blacklozenge$	$1\frac{1}{8}$		...	8.1
$59\frac{1}{8}$	$42\frac{1}{4}$	Schroder REIT $\S$	$43\frac{1}{8}$		8.3	...
$599\frac{1}{2}$	$358\frac{1}{8}$	Schroders	$583\frac{1}{2}$		3.8	17.1
$1575\frac{1}{2}$	$1038\frac{1}{4}$	St James's Place $^{\S}$	1183	$-13\frac{1}{2}$	1.5	11.8
2278	$1351\frac{1}{2}$	Standard Chart'd $^{\S}$	2140	$-55$	2.4	14.9
$948\frac{1}{2}$	615	Standard Life	937	$+8\frac{1}{2}$	5.9	-198.9
$6347\frac{1}{2}$	$4254\frac{1}{2}$	Sun Life Canada	$5807\frac{1}{8}$	$-\frac{1}{8}$	3.5	...
$6\frac{1}{4}$	$2\frac{1}{4}$	Tavistock Invs $\blacklozenge$	$2\frac{1}{8}$		3.5	2.4
5200	3615	TBC Bank Grp $\S$	4966	$+90$	5.2	7.0
$1\frac{1}{4}$	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Term $\blacklozenge$	$1\frac{1}{8}$		...	-1.5
60	$40\frac{1}{8}$	Time Finance $\blacklozenge$	$57\frac{1}{8}$		...	9.1
$0\frac{1}{8}$	$0\frac{1}{8}$	Tooru $\blacklozenge$	$0\frac{1}{8}$		...	-1.7
4	$1\frac{1}{2}$	Truetide $\blacklozenge$	$3\frac{1}{8}$		...	-5.8
132	75	Vanquis Banking Gp	$79\frac{1}{8}$	$+1\frac{1}{8}$	...	24.9
2800	2000	Volvere $\blacklozenge$	2120	$+50$	...	11.2
$7239\frac{1}{8}$	$5453\frac{1}{8}$	Wells Fargo $\S$	$6187\frac{1}{4}$	$-26$	2.4	...
$2275\frac{1}{8}$	$1755\frac{1}{8}$	Westpac Bkg Corp	$1785\frac{1}{4}$	$+15\frac{1}{8}$	4.5	16.9
$31\frac{1}{4}$	23	Worsley Investors	$28\frac{1}{8}$	$-\frac{1}{8}$	...	...
57550	49947 $\frac{1}{2}$	Zurich Insurance	$54362\frac{1}{2}$	$+483\frac{1}{2}$	5.0	18.6

Construction & Property
357	181	Alumax◆	230			4.8	8.9
61⁄2%	43⁄4%	Aseana Properties	51⁄2%			...	1.3
21⁄2%	11⁄4%	Built Cybernetics◆	2			...	-195.0
973	5751⁄2%	Balfour Beatty	8851⁄2+	+	31⁄2	1.6	16.8
4101⁄4%	2351⁄2%	Barratt Redrow	3201⁄4+	+	51⁄2	5.3	23.6
2890	1715	Bellway	2178+	+	34	3.3	16.4
4442	2796	Berkeley	3610+	+	44	...	10.9
1208	8001⁄2%	Big Yellow Grp	902-	-	1	5.2	...
460	233	Billington Hldgs◆	4071⁄2			2.7	39.2
237	1331⁄2%	Boot (Henry)	153-	-	1	5.1	8.7
3833⁄4%	2713⁄4%	Breedon	357-	-	21⁄2	4.3	14.8
4513⁄4%	3183⁄4%	British Land	4321⁄2+	+	31⁄2	5.3	...
2900	2500	Cardiff Property	2750			1.1	20.7
2196	14691⁄4%	Derwent London	2060-	-	18	4.0	...
51⁄2%	41⁄4%	DCI Advisors◆	41⁄4+	+	3⁄4	...	-2.8
191⁄2%	11	First Property◆	131⁄2			1.9	7.5
75	29	Fletcher King◆	421⁄2			5.3	28.7
62	311⁄4%	Foxtons Group●	383⁄4+	+	3⁄4	3.0	9.0
638	4071⁄2%	Galliford Try Hldgs	628+	+	14	3.2	18.6
3911⁄2%	241	Genuit Group	2913⁄4+	+	71⁄4	4.4	16.0
435	221	Gleeson (MJ)	273+	+	1	4.0	10.1
10621⁄4%	7883⁄4%	Grafton Grp Units	10371⁄2+	+	111⁄2	3.6	14.8
205	1491⁄2%	Grainger	1751⁄2-	-	21⁄2	4.8	6.4
377	270	Great Portland Est	3491⁄4+	+	1	2.3	0.0
3911⁄4%	2631⁄4%	Hammerson	3791⁄4+	+	41⁄4	4.8	...
185	1163⁄4%	Harworth Group	178-	-	2	1.0	61.4
400	2151⁄2%	Heath (Samuel)◆	245			5.3	30.6
2361⁄4%	1803⁄4%	Helical	200			1.3	41.4

12 month			Price		Forecast
High	Low	Company	(p)	+/-	Yld%	P/E
144	82 $\frac{1}{2}$	Ibstock $\frac{3}{2}$	86 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{1}{2}$	2.3	...
161 $\frac{1}{2}$	112	James Halstead $\frac{1}{2}$	139	-	$\frac{3}{8}$	6.4	14.3
3518	1238	Keller $\frac{1}{2}$	2972	+	114	2.7	14.7
8837 $\frac{1}{2}$	860 $\frac{1}{4}$	Kingspan Group	8797			0.5	27.8
726	522 $\frac{1}{2}$	Land Securities	694 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	7	5.9	...
216 $\frac{1}{4}$	175 $\frac{1}{4}$	LondonMetric Prop194 $\frac{1}{2}$	+		$\frac{1}{2}$	6.5	...
24	4 $\frac{1}{2}$	Macau Prop Opp Fd	5	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	-0.3
187 $\frac{1}{2}$	124	Marshalls	163 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{1}{2}$	4.3	28.6
106	66	Michelmersh Brick $\frac{1}{2}$	76	-	1	6.1	18.9
1	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Mindflair $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$			...	-1.2
5730	3915	Morgan Sindall	4420	+	38	3.7	11.9
10200	8350	Mountview Estates	8725	-	175	6.0	16.7
85	65 $\frac{1}{4}$	NewRiver REIT	82 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$1\frac{1}{4}$	8.2	...
226	160	Palace Capital	183	+	2	8.2	40.7
320	261	Panther Securities $\frac{1}{2}$	280			4.3	11.4
1552	947 $\frac{1}{2}$	Persimmon	1184	+	23 $\frac{1}{2}$	5.1	13.3
24	15	Plaza Centers	14 $\frac{1}{2}$			...	-0.1
109 $\frac{1}{4}$	87 $\frac{1}{4}$	Primary Health Props	97	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	7.5	...
33 $\frac{1}{2}$	28	Real Estate Inv $\frac{1}{2}$	31 $\frac{1}{4}$			4.8	-62.4
849 $\frac{1}{2}$	554 $\frac{1}{2}$	Safestore	608	+	3 $\frac{1}{2}$	5.1	...
1142	791 $\frac{1}{2}$	Savills	1070	+	10	2.2	20.6
5 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Secure Prop Dev & Inv $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$			...	-0.1
997 $\frac{1}{2}$	603	Segro $\frac{1}{2}$	968	+	7	3.3	...
155 $\frac{1}{2}$	124 $\frac{1}{2}$	Shaftesbury Capital	152 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	2.8	8.2
12	6 $\frac{1}{4}$	SIG	8 $\frac{1}{4}$			...	-1.6
153	105	SigmaRoc $\frac{1}{2}$	129 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	...	17.8
113	86 $\frac{1}{4}$	Sirius Real Estate	97 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{1}{2}$	5.6	7.5
140	106	Smart (J)	115			2.8	8.8
23 $\frac{1}{2}$	16	Steppe Cement $\frac{1}{2}$	21 $\frac{1}{2}$			...	19.4
116 $\frac{1}{2}$	74 $\frac{1}{2}$	Taylor Wimpey	84 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	4.9	30.3
139	104	Town Centre	123	-	2	4.1	...
723 $\frac{1}{2}$	493 $\frac{1}{2}$	Travis Perkins	652 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	2	1.8	-7.8
175	132 $\frac{1}{4}$	Tritax Big Box $\frac{1}{2}$	160 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	5.1	...
737	442 $\frac{1}{4}$	Unite Group	528 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	1	7.1	...
746 $\frac{1}{2}$	220	Vistry Group	312 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	43 $\frac{1}{2}$	...	7.4
434 $\frac{1}{2}$	312	Workspace Group	363 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	7.2	...
930	730	Wynnstay Props $\frac{1}{2}$	915			3.1	12.7

Consumer Goods
229	$117\frac{1}{8}$	AEP Plantations	$193\frac{1}{8}$	-	$1\frac{1}{8}$	3.1	11.4
30	$17\frac{1}{8}$	Airrea◆	27	+	$\frac{1}{2}$	3.7	10.6
2359	$1729\frac{1}{2}$	AB Foods	2064	-	5	3.1	14.6
715%	589	Barr (AG)	604	-	5	3.1	14.3
5326	3677	British Amer Tob4133	-	61		5.9	11.8
$1376\frac{1}{2}$	976	Burberry Group	1080	+	2		...
177	$85\frac{1}{8}$	C&C Group	$96\frac{1}{8}$	+	$4\frac{1}{2}$	5.1	...
$5\frac{1}{8}$	$2\frac{1}{8}$	Capital Metals◆	4			...	-34.5
460	271	Churchill China◆	365	-	30	5.8	9.2
5195	3270	Coca-Cola HBC	4602	-	14	2.2	20.8
$1515\frac{1}{4}$	821	Colefax◆	1440			0.4	10.2
5810	4775	Cranswick◆	5410	-	20	2.1	18.3
2116	$1295\frac{1}{2}$	Diageo	$1735\frac{1}{2}$	-	$35\frac{1}{2}$	2.1	30.3
$0\frac{1}{4}$	0	Distil◆	0			...	-0.6
1918	1160	Evans (M.P.)◆	1758	+	24	3.4	10.9
$149\frac{1}{2}$	$1140\frac{1}{2}$	Fevara	139			1.7	6.0
23540	14070	Games Workshop18540	+	30		3.1	29.7
$2185\frac{1}{2}$	$1136\frac{1}{8}$	Glanbia◆	$1951\frac{1}{2}$	+	$17\frac{1}{8}$	2.0	36.4
$307\frac{1}{2}$	$191\frac{1}{8}$	Greencore	$267\frac{1}{4}$	-	$\frac{3}{8}$	1.0	20.2
76	$4\frac{1}{8}$	Headlam	$9\frac{1}{8}$	+	$\frac{1}{2}$	...	-0.1
$842\frac{1}{4}$	$447\frac{1}{8}$	Hilton Food	619	-	$\frac{1}{2}$	5.7	7.1
3632	2476	Imperial Brands12520	-	15		6.6	10.0
$7646\frac{1}{8}$	$5567\frac{1}{4}$	Kerry Group	$7275\frac{1}{2}$	+	$105\frac{1}{2}$	1.7	21.2
$172\frac{1}{4}$	$106\frac{1}{4}$	McBride	$168\frac{1}{8}$	+	$1\frac{1}{4}$	1.8	8.6
250	85	Mulberry Group◆	240	-	5	...	-18.5
1250	880	Nichols◆	1150	+	30	3.4	19.6
374	252	Norcross	324	-	4	3.5	...
$389\frac{1}{2}$	309	Origin Ents◆	$382\frac{1}{2}$			3.9	9.0
1	$0\frac{1}{4}$	PACSCo◆	$0\frac{1}{8}$			...	-0.0

12 month			Price (p)	+/-	Forecast Yld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
138	47 $\frac{1}{2}$	Portmeirion♦	53		...	-1.2
1 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Provexis♦	1 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-54.5
114	65 $\frac{1}{4}$	PZ Cussons	104	- $\frac{3}{8}$	3.6	22.1
138	92	REA	111	+ 2	...	-216.2
210	155	Tandem♦	186		1.6	12.0
320	220	The Character Grp♦	310	- 6	2.3	-46.0
10	5	Ukproduct Grp♦	7		...	-16.3
5542 $\frac{1}{2}$	3644	Unilever♦	4761 $\frac{1}{2}$	- 21	3.5	12.8
76 $\frac{1}{2}$	19 $\frac{1}{2}$	Victoria♦	55 $\frac{1}{2}$	- 1 $\frac{1}{8}$	...	-0.2
Engineering
59 $\frac{1}{2}$	10	Assoc Brit Eng	20		...	-6.9
2180	1458	Avon Technologies♦	1806	+ 28	1.0	70.6
1527	902 $\frac{1}{4}$	Babcock♦	1092 $\frac{1}{2}$	+ 11	0.7	26.0
2360	1529	BAE Systems	2098	+ 1	1.8	30.5
1500	500	Braime A N/V♦	1200		1.4	6.4
2490	1376	Braime Group♦	2350		0.7	12.5
550	350	Caffyns	500		2.0	-12.3
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Cap XX Ld♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-3.5
340	202 $\frac{1}{4}$	Castings♦	298	- 5	6.2	17.2
27	12 $\frac{1}{4}$	Checkit♦	20		...	-7.7
650 $\frac{1}{4}$	446 $\frac{1}{2}$	Chemring Group♦	554	- 4	1.5	31.1
55	28 $\frac{1}{4}$	Chesterfield Spec Cyl♦	35		...	-38.9
1538	881 $\frac{1}{4}$	Cohort♦	1194	- 26	1.5	22.9
570	190	Dialight	538	- 12	...	...
15	5 $\frac{1}{4}$	Feedback♦	6 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-0.3
1270	463 $\frac{1}{4}$	Gooch & Housego♦	1205	+ 10	1.1	88.0
28500	9292 $\frac{1}{2}$	Goodwin	17840	- 180	1.6	54.5
4902	3194	Halma	3576	+ 22	0.7	36.3
3220	1994	Hill & Smith	2915	+ 30	...	28.4
2 $\frac{1}{4}$	1 $\frac{1}{4}$	Image Scan♦	2 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-12.4
3166	2216	IMI♦	3102	+ 30	1.1	25.0
7000	3480	Judges Sci♦	4050	+ 100	2.8	49.0
90	34	LPA♦	77 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-29.4
685	409 $\frac{1}{4}$	Melrose♦	510 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ 48 $\frac{1}{8}$	1.5	17.6
261	179 $\frac{1}{4}$	Morgan Advanced	235	+ 1	5.2	31.3
405	200	Mpac♦	332 $\frac{1}{2}$	+ 2 $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-10.5
1800	1120	MS Intl♦	1690		1.5	25.1
3318	1682	Oxford Instruments	2806	+ 46	0.8	33.2
2413 $\frac{1}{4}$	1779 $\frac{1}{4}$	Phillips Elec	2004 $\frac{1}{8}$	- 14 $\frac{1}{8}$	3.6	-46.8
4 $\frac{1}{4}$	1	PipeHawk♦	1 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-2.7
5490	3110	Renishaw	5060	+ 25	1.5	43.9
1586	990	Rolls-Royce♦	1530	+ 29 $\frac{1}{4}$	0.7	22.0
489 $\frac{1}{4}$	286 $\frac{1}{8}$	Rotork♦	485	- $\frac{1}{8}$	1.7	35.1
105	60	SDI Group♦	91		...	19.4
318 $\frac{1}{8}$	161	Senior	294	- $\frac{1}{2}$	0.7	-288.2
2134 $\frac{1}{4}$	2089 $\frac{1}{4}$	SKF Group	2111 $\frac{1}{8}$		2.8	31.6
2754 $\frac{1}{4}$	2088	Smiths	2617	+ 7	1.8	30.5
215	135	Solid State♦	189 $\frac{1}{2}$	- 3	1.5	26.3
250	170	Somero Enter♦	240		3.1	17.2
8050	5950	Spirax Group	7160	+ 125	2.4	32.3
7 $\frac{1}{2}$	3 $\frac{1}{2}$	Tanfield♦	4 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-4.4
320	240	Thorpe FW♦	255	- 5	2.8	11.8
142 $\frac{1}{4}$	46 $\frac{1}{8}$	Transense Tech♦	46 $\frac{1}{2}$	- 1	...	5.0
507 $\frac{1}{2}$	350	Vesuvius	390	+ 7 $\frac{1}{4}$	6.1	18.5
710	325	Volex♦	614	+ 80	0.8	23.8
3580	2254	Weir	2910	+ 32	1.4	30.4
2060	843	XP Power	1812	+ 78	...	-43.1

Health
$284\frac{1}{2}$	187	Advanced Medical◆	$281\frac{1}{2}$ -	$\frac{1}{2}$	1.0	60.9
$12\frac{1}{8}$	5	Allergy Therapeutics◆	$5\frac{1}{8}$		...	-6.7
8	$0\frac{1}{8}$	CelLBxHealth◆	$1\frac{1}{4}$		...	-0.2
580	$391\frac{1}{8}$	Anpario◆	520		2.4	12.9

12 month			Price		Forecast
High	Low	Company	(p)	+/-	Yld%	P/E
15732	9892	AstraZeneca	12476	+ 366	1.9	25.8
$3\frac{1}{2}$	$1\frac{1}{4}$	Cambridge Nutri Sci◆	$1\frac{1}{8}$		...	2.7
$259\frac{1}{4}$	193	Convatec	$228\frac{1}{4}$ +	$\frac{3}{4}$	2.4	36.3
34	20	Potter & Moore◆	22		2.5	7.2
$116\frac{1}{2}$	72	Eco Animal Health◆	99	- 2	...	30.4
32	$21\frac{1}{4}$	EKF Diagnostics◆	$24\frac{1}{4}$ -	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	52.6
$10\frac{1}{2}$	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Futura Medical◆	$0\frac{1}{8}$		...	-0.1
$3228\frac{1}{4}$	1943	Genus	2298	+ 10	1.4	78.4
2282	$1440\frac{1}{4}$	GSK	$1905\frac{1}{2}$ +	15	3.7	13.5
$0\frac{1}{4}$	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Gunsynd◆	$0\frac{1}{8}$		...	-2.1
$416\frac{1}{4}$	$274\frac{1}{4}$	Haleon	$369\frac{1}{4}$ -	$\frac{1}{4}$	2.0	19.9
1865	1187	Hikma Pharma	1640 +	7	3.8	12.3
266	$150\frac{1}{2}$	Hutchmed China◆	179 +	1	...	4.6
$19\frac{1}{4}$	$1\frac{1}{4}$	ImmunoPharma◆	$3\frac{1}{8}$		...	-9.2
32	$12\frac{1}{4}$	Inspiration Health◆	$18\frac{1}{4}$ -	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	-15.8
15	$6\frac{1}{4}$	IXICO◆	$7\frac{1}{4}$		...	-4.2
1	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Thalia Therapeutics◆	$0\frac{1}{8}$		...	-3.9
$77\frac{1}{4}$	$53\frac{1}{4}$	NIOX Group◆	$66\frac{1}{8}$ -	$1\frac{1}{8}$	2.3	39.4
CHF13L50	96.03	Novartis	CHF128.34 +	1.58	2.9	41.6
962	$441\frac{1}{4}$	Oxford Biomedica	515 +	6	...	-19.1
$0\frac{1}{4}$	$0\frac{1}{4}$	Physiomics◆	$0\frac{1}{2}$		...	-3.0
$4\frac{1}{4}$	$1\frac{1}{4}$	Proteome Sciences◆	$1\frac{1}{8}$		...	-1.5
65227/2	3664	Reckitt Benck	5150 -	30	4.2	11.0
$29\frac{1}{8}$	$10\frac{1}{8}$	RUA Life Sci◆	28		...	-120.2
38	$9\frac{1}{2}$	Sareum Holdings◆	37 +	8	...	-15.4
$1441\frac{1}{2}$	1046	Smith & Neph	1068 -	14	2.7	20.2
$256\frac{1}{2}$	$140\frac{1}{4}$	Spire Healthcare	237 +	$2\frac{1}{2}$	0.6	57.8
14	5	Talisman Metals◆	7		...	2.0
$0\frac{1}{8}$	$0\frac{1}{8}$	ValRx◆	$0\frac{1}{8}$		...	-0.3

Industrials
79 $\frac{1}{8}$	58 $\frac{1}{4}$	Accsys Tech◆	71 $\frac{1}{8}$ +	1	...	31.4
4780 $\frac{1}{2}$	3665 $\frac{1}{4}$	BASF	4428 $\frac{1}{8}$ -	42 $\frac{1}{8}$	4.3	28.4
4606 $\frac{1}{4}$	2268 $\frac{1}{2}$	Bayer	4208 $\frac{1}{8}$ +	61 $\frac{1}{2}$	0.2	-13.4
98 $\frac{1}{8}$	73 $\frac{1}{8}$	Coats Group	80 $\frac{1}{8}$ +	$\frac{1}{8}$	3.0	18.7
3497	2437	Croda	3457 -	11	3.2	77.9
460	230	Cropper (James)◆	445		...	14.4
195 $\frac{1}{8}$	136	Elementis◆	178 $\frac{1}{8}$ +	$\frac{1}{8}$	1.9	-31.2
110	6 $\frac{1}{4}$	Hardide◆	96 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	...
3775	2095	International Paper $\frac{1}{2}$	2975 -	45	4.6	-7.5
3245 $\frac{1}{4}$	2224	Johnson Matthey◆	2238 -	30	4.6	-29.3
1078 $\frac{1}{2}$	660	Mondi◆	854 -	9 $\frac{1}{4}$	1.4	26.7
169 $\frac{1}{8}$	110	Robinson◆	127 $\frac{1}{2}$		4.7	9.4
992 $\frac{1}{8}$	597	Swire Pacific	983 $\frac{1}{2}$ +	8 $\frac{1}{4}$	3.8	48.4
11	5 $\frac{1}{2}$	Symphony Enviro◆	7 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	$\frac{1}{2}$	...	-6.9
124	16 $\frac{1}{4}$	Synthomer	99 +	1	...	-1.0
2858 $\frac{1}{4}$	2026 $\frac{1}{8}$	Takeda Pharma	2677 $\frac{1}{8}$ +	6 $\frac{1}{2}$	3.5	-60.1
841	515	Victrex	829 +	9	7.2	25.9
430	320	Wynnstay◆	375		4.8	38.0
479 $\frac{1}{8}$	318 $\frac{1}{2}$	Zotefoams	435		1.8	9.4

Leisure
451	231	Accesso Tech◆	$297\frac{1}{2}$ -	$7\frac{1}{2}$	...	14.5
260	160	Celtic◆	199		...	5.6
$221\frac{1}{8}$	164	Domino's Pizza§	$206\frac{1}{8}$ +	1	5.5	13.7
$915\frac{1}{8}$	$500\frac{1}{8}$	Entain§	540 -	1	3.7	-5.2
61	$19\frac{1}{4}$	Evoke	$44\frac{1}{8}$		...	-0.4
52	29	Gaming Realms◆	$30\frac{1}{4}$ +	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	14.9
310	210	Heavitree◆	300		2.2	5.5
244	130	Heavitree A◆	195		3.4	3.6
$175.70	116.00	InterCont'l Hotels‡	$162.95 +	0.20	1.2	33.2
$301\frac{1}{2}$	$223\frac{1}{2}$	Mitch & Butlers	285		...	9.6
297	$129\frac{1}{8}$	On The Beach	$191\frac{1}{8}$ +	$\frac{1}{8}$	2.1	34.8
$144\frac{1}{8}$	86	Rank Group	$108\frac{1}{8}$ -	$\frac{1}{8}$	3.2	17.0

12 month			Price(p)	+/-	ForecastYld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
219 $\frac{1}{8}$	137 $\frac{1}{4}$	SSP	201 $\frac{1}{2}$ +	$\frac{3}{8}$	2.2 -21.7
0 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Bow Street Group♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-0.3
857 $\frac{1}{2}$	530 $\frac{1}{2}$	Wetherspoon JD	854 $\frac{1}{2}$ +	9	1.4	14.2
3302	2098	Whitbread	2475 +	12	3.9	20.1
Media
76 $\frac{1}{8}$	51 $\frac{1}{4}$	Aeorema Comms♦	64 $\frac{1}{2}$		4.1	51.2
29	18	Altitude Group♦	23		...	-92.0
115	70 $\frac{1}{4}$	Arcontech Group♦	79 $\frac{1}{2}$		5.0	11.3
828 $\frac{1}{8}$	418 $\frac{1}{4}$	Autotrader	549 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	6 $\frac{1}{8}$	2.1	16.1
690	435	Bloomsbury Pub	656 +	4	2.5	19.8
3 $\frac{1}{2}$		Caledonian Hldgs♦	1 $\frac{1}{4}$ -	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-0.1
60	40	Catalyst Media♦	42 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	23.1
0 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Catenai♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-2.7
20 $\frac{1}{4}$	9	Ebiquity♦	9 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-0.9
785	262 $\frac{1}{4}$	Future	309 +	5 $\frac{1}{4}$	5.5	4.9
154	60 $\frac{1}{4}$	GlobalData	82 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	1 $\frac{1}{4}$	1.8	18.8
110	44	IG Design Group♦	98 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	1.0	-0.8
1000	719	Informa♦	898 $\frac{1}{4}$ -	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	2.5	...
87 $\frac{1}{8}$	65 $\frac{1}{4}$	ITV	72 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	$\frac{1}{2}$	6.9	12.3
208	98 $\frac{1}{2}$	ME Group	125 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	1	6.7	8.4
0 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Mediazest♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	13.8
27	12	Mission Group♦	21		...	-1.0
220 $\frac{1}{4}$	139 $\frac{1}{4}$	Mony Group♦	208 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	2 $\frac{1}{4}$	6.1	13.6
2341 $\frac{1}{4}$	1624 $\frac{1}{4}$	News Corp A	2249 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	6 $\frac{1}{8}$	0.7	...
2606 $\frac{1}{2}$	1891 $\frac{1}{2}$	News Corp B	2543 -	$\frac{1}{2}$	0.6	...
439 $\frac{1}{2}$	217	Next 15 Group♦	315 -	3	4.9	-10.5
1337	874 $\frac{1}{4}$	Pearson♦	1214 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	10 $\frac{1}{2}$	2.1	23.6
4 $\frac{1}{2}$	3	Primorus Inv♦	3 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	5.0
74	40 $\frac{1}{4}$	Reach♦	43 -	$\frac{1}{2}$	13.7	-1.0
59	40	React♦	42 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-29.3
3575	1991	Relix♦	2618 -	34	2.6	23.3
775 $\frac{1}{4}$	391 $\frac{1}{4}$	Rightmove	514 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	10 $\frac{1}{4}$	2.1	18.3
270	130	SpaceandPeople♦	135		...	6.2
130	95 $\frac{1}{4}$	STV Group	105 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	6	...	-9.8
447	170 $\frac{1}{4}$	System1 Group♦	335		1.8	32.2
5112 $\frac{1}{2}$	5112 $\frac{1}{2}$	21st Cent Fox A	5112 $\frac{1}{2}$		0.8	...
3355 $\frac{1}{4}$	3304	21st Cent Fox B	3355 $\frac{1}{4}$		1.3	...
369	230	Wilmington	270 +	1	4.3	21.0
412 $\frac{1}{2}$	218 $\frac{1}{2}$	WPP	392 $\frac{1}{4}$ -	7 $\frac{1}{4}$	3.8	7.8
71 $\frac{1}{2}$	40	Zinc Media♦	56 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-5.5

Natural Resources

Natural Resources
	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	0	ADM Energy $\beta$	0			... 1.2
	$17\frac{1}{8}\%$	$8\frac{1}{8}\%$	H-Power $\blacklozenge$	$10\frac{1}{8}$			... -4.5
	$89\frac{1}{8}\%$	$36\frac{1}{8}\%$	Afentra $\blacklozenge$	$75\frac{1}{8}$	-	$1\frac{1}{8}$	... -73.4
	0	0	Arkadian Strat Metals $\blacklozenge$	0			... -1.0
	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	Alien Metals $\blacklozenge$	$0\frac{1}{8}$			... -15.1
	$2\frac{1}{8}\%$	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	Aminex	$1\frac{1}{8}$			... -12.5
	8924	$3349\frac{1}{8}\%$	Anglo Amer Plat	$6292\frac{1}{8}$	-	$331\frac{1}{8}$	7.3 23.3
	4239	2185	Anglo Amer $\S$	4203	+	85	0.7 -17.3
	435	160	Anglo Asian Mng $\blacklozenge$	401	-	9	0.7 35.3
	4475	2115	Antofagasta	4009	+	37	1.4 40.5
	$1\frac{1}{8}\%$	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	Arc Minerals $\blacklozenge$	$0\frac{1}{8}$			... -1.4
	$2\frac{1}{8}\%$	$1\frac{1}{8}\%$	Ariana Resources $\blacklozenge$	$1\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{8}$	... -151.0
	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	Arkle Resources $\blacklozenge$	$0\frac{1}{8}$			... -10.6
	$2\frac{1}{8}\%$	$0\frac{1}{8}\%$	Asiamet Resources $\blacklozenge$	$1\frac{1}{8}$			... -13.6
	1094	508	Atalaya Mine	1030	+	20	1.0 19.8
	$4\frac{1}{8}\%$	$2\frac{1}{8}\%$	Beacon Energy $\blacklozenge$	$3\frac{1}{8}$			... -0.7
	13	4	Beowulf Mining $\blacklozenge$	$10\frac{1}{8}$			... -3.1

PRICES

Major indices

New York
Dow Jones	53577.40 (+160.24)
Nasdaq	26151.30 (+171.11)
S&P 500	7677.28 (+24.42)
Tokyo
Nikkei 225	65856.43 (+328.34)
Hong Kong
Hang Seng	25511.10 (-6.23)
Amsterdam
Amsterdam AEX	1108.34 (-1.61)
Sydney
Australia AO	9374.90 (+58.20)
Frankfurt
DAX	26266.14 (+159.54)
Singapore
Singapore Straits	5735.68 (+55.22)
Brussels
Brussels BEL20	5834.53 (+21.03)

Paris
Paris CAC	8439.20 (-13.81)
Zurich
Zurich SMI	14525.29 (+78.10)
Zurich DJ Euro Stoxx 50	6455.63 (+7.65)
London
FTSE100	10886.16 (+31.84)
FTSE250	24856.05 (+138.57)
FTSE350	5934.45 (+19.07)
FTSE Eurotop 100	5074.89 (+12.89)
FTSE All Share	5869.29 (+18.87)
FTSE Non Financials	6454.55 (+36.26)
TechMark Focus	9547.32 (+44.30)
US$	1.3634 (-0.0001)
Euro	1.1683 (-0.0004)
SDR	0.9932 (-0.0002)
CPI Jul (2015=100)	142.9
RPI Jul (1987=100)	419.1
RPIX Jul (1987=100)	412.2

London Financial Futures

	Period	Open	High	Low	Sett	Vol	Open Int
Long Gilt	26-Sep	86.23	86.94	86.02	86.78	781024	479713
	26-Dec	86.19	86.91	85.97	86.74	631525	963942
	27-Mar				86.72	0
3-Mth Sonia Index	26-Jun	96.2525	96.255	96.2525	96.2525	4150	389848
	26-Sep	96.155	96.17	96.145	96.165	96606	441464
	26-Dec	95.91	95.97	95.895	95.95	122506	570901
	27-Mar	95.73	95.81	95.71	95.785	84806	401107
3 Mth Sonia Index	27-Jun	95.64	95.735	95.615	95.71	87467	382624
	27-Sep	95.62	95.72	95.595	95.695	61796	252786
	27-Dec	95.645	95.74	95.62	95.715	61038	292739
3-Mth Euribor	26-Sep	97.385	97.395	97.375	97.385	95873	632867
	26-Dec	97.195	97.235	97.185	97.22	173215	938377
	27-Mar	97.065	97.125	97.05	97.11	129717	467001
	27-Jun	97	97.075	96.98	97.055	153900	500255
	27-Sep	96.99	97.075	96.97	97.05	114912	442523
3-Mth Saron Index	26-Jun	100.05	100.05	100.0475	100.0475	420	68830
	26-Sep	100.05	100.055	100.05	100.05	4732	66398
	26-Dec	100.02	100.03	100.015	100.025	13958	55665
	27-Mar	99.95	99.97	99.94	99.965	9243	40112
	27-Jun	99.86	99.895	99.855	99.89	6059	29660
	27-Sep	99.78	99.82	99.77	99.81	2310	26372
	27-Dec	99.715	99.755	99.7	99.74	2479	20809
FTSE100	26-Sep	10888.5	10922	10850.5	10909.5	42352	476966
	26-Dec	10978.5	10978.5	10965.5	10979.5	4	1465
FTSEurofirst 80	26-Sep				8778.3	0
	26-Dec				8824	0

Tradeweb

© 2021 Tradeweb Markets LLC. All rights reserved.re-distributed; The Tradeweb FTSE Gilt Closing Prices information contained herein is proprietary to Tradeweb; may not be copied or is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely; and does not constitute investment advice. Tradeweb is not responsible for any loss or damage that might result from the use of this information.

Commodities

Natural Gas $
2.743	-0.039
Light Crude Oil
81.92	-3.09

Crude Oils (\$/barrel FOB)

WTI NOV 26	80.49 -2.81
WTI DEC 26	78.76 -2.58
WTI JAN 27	77.26 -2.32
WTI FEB 27	76.02 -2.05
WTI MAR 27	74.99 -1.83

Products

ICE Futures

Nov87.12-87.11	Feb81.8-81.78
Dec85.03-85.02	Volume: 896874

Sep	4148 -105	Sep	4295 -66
Dec	4209 -89	Dec	4226 -64
Mar	4324 -80	Mar	4324 -80
May	4329 -81	May	4329 -81
Jul	4328 -79	Volume: 29827

Robusta Coffee

Sep 3742 -48	May 3638 -94
Nov 3678 -124	Jul 3601 -116
Jan 3665 -114
May 3638 -94	Volume: 35649

Oct518.2 -17.7	Aug509.9 -11.8
Dec515.5 -17.9	Oct 506.1 -9.6
May514.7 -15.7
May514.7 -15.7	Volume: 51303

London Grain Futures

LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)

Nov	205.5 -1	May	211.5 -1
Jan	208.5	Jul	214.5
Mar	210.5	Volume: 8169

12 month			Price(p)	+/-	ForecastYld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
0 $\frac{1}{8}$	0	Bezant Resources♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	11.2
3583	1918	BHP Group	3572	+ 18	3.5	25.2
14	7 $\frac{1}{8}$	Border & Sthn Pet♦	10 $\frac{1}{4}$	- $\frac{1}{8}$	...	-92.0
122 $\frac{1}{2}$	8 $\frac{1}{2}$	Bougainville	9 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-13.9
609 $\frac{1}{2}$	399 $\frac{1}{2}$	BP♦	528 $\frac{1}{4}$	- 5 $\frac{1}{4}$	4.7	...
0	0	Buccaneer Energy♦	0		...	-0.6
8 $\frac{1}{4}$	1 $\frac{1}{4}$	Cadence Minerals♦	5 $\frac{1}{4}$	- $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-10.9
5 $\frac{1}{2}$	3	Cadogan Energy	3 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-11.4
2900	1250	Caledonia Mining♦	1850		2.2	8.9
3 $\frac{1}{8}$	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	Caspian Sunrise#	1 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	3.5
244	125 $\frac{1}{2}$	Cent Asia Metals♦	167 $\frac{1}{8}$	+ 9 $\frac{1}{8}$	7.2	-5.4
2 $\frac{1}{4}$	1 $\frac{1}{4}$	Chariot Ltd♦	1 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	...
0	0	Clontarf Energy♦	0		...	-6.2
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Corcel♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-2.4
18 $\frac{1}{2}$	8	Crism Therapeutics♦	11 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-2.3
300 $\frac{1}{2}$	125 $\frac{1}{2}$	DRD Gold	226 $\frac{1}{8}$	- $\frac{1}{8}$	3.5	18.9
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	ECR Minerals♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-2.8
0 $\frac{1}{4}$	0	Empyrean Energy♦	0		...	-0.4
5620	2472	Endeavour	4793	+ 20	2.7	23.3
28	9 $\frac{1}{2}$	EnQuest	25 $\frac{1}{8}$	- $\frac{1}{2}$	3.2	...
6	2	Eurasia Mining♦	2 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	14.7
2 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	Europa Oil & Gas♦	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	+ $\frac{1}{8}$	...	-9.5
87 $\frac{1}{2}$	27 $\frac{1}{2}$	Ferrexpo#	28 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-4.6
4472	1693	Fresnillo†	3176	- 24	3.5	23.1
80	3	Galantas Gold♦	31		...	-8.5
21 $\frac{1}{2}$	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	GCM Resources♦	17	- 2	...	-24.3
7 $\frac{1}{4}$	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	Gem Diamonds	4 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ $\frac{1}{8}$	...	-0.1
3 $\frac{1}{2}$	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	Getech♦	3 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-7.9
707 $\frac{1}{2}$	281 $\frac{1}{2}$	Glencore	602 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ 9	2.1	...
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Geo Exploration‡	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-4.3
4582 $\frac{1}{2}$	2310 $\frac{1}{2}$	Gold Fields	3520 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ 49	4.5	...
21	6 $\frac{1}{2}$	Goldplat♦	18 $\frac{1}{2}$	- $\frac{1}{2}$	3.6	30.8
2	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Goldstone Res♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	- $\frac{1}{8}$	...	-0.8
800	255	Greatland Resources♦	714	- 4	...	21.4
353 $\frac{1}{2}$	176	Griffin Mining♦	285		...	32.1
235	160 $\frac{1}{2}$	Gulf Keystone	195 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ 11 $\frac{1}{4}$	3.9	38.2
858	246 $\frac{1}{2}$	Hochschild	625 $\frac{1}{2}$	- 4 $\frac{1}{2}$	0.7	21.9
553	300	Hunting	394	+ $\frac{1}{2}$	2.6	20.5
0 $\frac{1}{4}$	0	Ironveld♦	0		...	-2.5
219 $\frac{1}{2}$	57 $\frac{1}{2}$	ITM Power♦	107 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-14.5
5 $\frac{1}{4}$	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	Jubilee Metals♦	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	- $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-3.4
1 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Karel Diamond Res♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-3.9
2 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	KEFI Gold and Copper♦	1 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-11.5
330	178 $\frac{1}{2}$	Kenmare Res	204	- 4	...	-0.8
5 $\frac{1}{8}$	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	Landore Res♦	2		...	-2.0
0 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Lansdowne Resources♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-1.3
4 $\frac{1}{4}$	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	Lexington Gold♦	2 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-28.3
19 $\frac{1}{4}$	10 $\frac{1}{2}$	Metals Exploration♦	15 $\frac{1}{8}$	- $\frac{1}{8}$	...	20.6
0 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Nativo Resources♦	0 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-0.1
4 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Nostrum Oil & Gas	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ $\frac{1}{4}$	...	-0.0
0 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Oriole Resources♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-16.8
		Ormonde Mining			...	...
41	12	Orosur Mining♦	16 $\frac{1}{4}$	- $\frac{1}{2}$	...	...
190 $\frac{1}{2}$	60 $\frac{1}{2}$	Pan African Res	138 $\frac{1}{8}$	+ 1 $\frac{1}{4}$	1.6	26.3
33 $\frac{1}{4}$	6 $\frac{1}{2}$	Pantheon Res♦	13 $\frac{1}{2}$	- $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-48.5
27	12 $\frac{1}{2}$	Parkmead Group♦	22 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	3.3
21 $\frac{1}{2}$	5	Petra Diamonds	5 $\frac{1}{4}$	+ $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-0.2
1 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Petrel Resources♦	0 $\frac{1}{8}$		...	-4.0
1 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Petro Matad♦	1		...	-4.5
8 $\frac{1}{2}$	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	Plexus Holdings♦	3 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-1.4
938	672	Porvair	860	+ 4	0.8	21.9

Exchange rates
Australia $	1.90499 (-0.00136)
Canada $	1.88656 (-0.00012)
Denmark Kr	8.73422 (-0.00079)
Euro	1.1682 (-0.0006)
Hong Kong $	10.69 (+0.007)
Hungary	421.77 (-2.15)
Indonesia	24125.07 (-10.85)
Israel	4.0675 (-0.0211)
Japan Yen	217.163 (+0.348)
New Zealand $	2.28424 (-0.00282)
Norway Kr	12.7044 (+0.0175)
Poland	5.02567 (+0.00233)
Russia	114.142 (+0.424)
S Africa	21.74098 (-0.06936)
Sweden Kr	12.9112 (-0.0315)
Switzerland Fr	1.09457 (+0.00105)
Turkey Lira	65.597 (+0.0714)
USA $	1.3639 (+0.0007)

12 month			Price (p)	+/-	Forecast Yld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
5 $\frac{1}{8}$	2 $\frac{1}{4}$	Prosperx Energy◆	3 $\frac{3}{4}$ +	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-5.5
5	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Quadrise◆	1		...	-5.6
160	35	Reabold Resources◆	61 $\frac{1}{8}$ -	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-767.5
0	0	Red Rock Res◆	0		...	-0.3
10416 $\frac{1}{4}$	5502 $\frac{1}{4}$	Rio Tinto Ltd‡	9411 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	101	3.6	18.0
9117	4528	Rio Tinto‡	7730 +	64	4.4	17.2
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Rome Resources◆	0 $\frac{1}{4}$		...	-14.2
375	194	Serabi Gold◆	325		1.5	6.2
302 $\frac{1}{8}$	146	Serica Energy◆	257 $\frac{1}{2}$ +	3 $\frac{1}{4}$	6.2	-27.0
3758 $\frac{1}{2}$	2553 $\frac{3}{4}$	Shell◆	3386 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	10 $\frac{1}{2}$	4.5	15.2
7	2 $\frac{1}{4}$	Shuka Minerals◆	3 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-2.3
13	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	Sound Energy◆	1 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-1.6
27	5 $\frac{1}{2}$	Star Energy◆	22		...	-3.9
4 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{4}$	Sunda Energy◆	2 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-2.1
0	0	Sunrise Resources◆	0		...	-3.3
0		Synergia Energy◆	0		...	0.5
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0	Tertiary Minerals◆	0 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-7.2
0 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Thor Energy◆	0 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-0.6
7066	4293 $\frac{1}{2}$	Total Eng SE	6479 $\frac{1}{2}$ -	21 $\frac{1}{2}$	4.6	12.8
0	0	Tower Resources◆	0		...	-0.3
21 $\frac{1}{4}$	3 $\frac{1}{2}$	Tullow Oil	20 $\frac{1}{2}$ +	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	70.4
0	0	UK Oil & Gas◆	0		...	-0.2
13	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	URU Metals◆	4		...	-2.7
9 $\frac{1}{2}$	2 $\frac{1}{4}$	Vast Resources◆	4 $\frac{1}{4}$ -	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	-0.7
9	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	Westmount Energy◆	3 $\frac{1}{4}$ +	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-8.6
1 $\frac{1}{2}$	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Xtract Resources◆	1 $\frac{1}{2}$		...	-5.3
4 $\frac{1}{2}$	2 $\frac{1}{4}$	Zephyr Energy◆	3 -	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	-7.1

Professional & Support Services
5135	2980	4imprint $^{\ddagger}$	4502			4.0	15.2
615	464	Andrews Sykes $^{♦}$	597 $^{1/2}$			4.3	13.8
130	103 $^{1/2}$	BTG Consulting $^{♦}$	112 $^{1/2}$	+	1 $^{1/2}$	4.1	21.2
2886	1981	Bunzl	2794	-	4	2.7	19.8
416	215	Capita	288 $^{1/2}$	-	1 $^{1/2}$	...	-2.0
49 $^{1/2}$	25	CEPS $^{♦}$	40			...	-11.4
165	90	Christie Group $^{♦}$	152 $^{1/2}$			2.3	30.0
2581 $^{1/4}$	2000	Compass	2259 $^{1/4}$	-	38 $^{1/4}$	2.2	28.0
87	64 $^{1/2}$	Croma Security $^{♦}$	70			3.4	12.2
6740	4188	DCC Energy	6360	-	5	3.4	...
36	15	Diales Grp $^{♦}$	34 $^{1/2}$			4.3	26.5
7765	4970	Diploma	7230	+	30	0.9	52.4
840	505	DiscoverIE	781	+	23	1.7	25.9
115 $^{1/4}$	78 $^{1/2}$	Essentra	109 $^{1/4}$	+	1 $^{1/4}$	1.9	...
3987	2203	Experian	3009	+	46	1.7	24.9
330	110	FIH Group $^{♦}$	185	+	17 $^{1/2}$	3.6	-4.5
850	588	Hargreaves Servs $^{♦}$	828	+	12	4.8	8.9
5860	3519 $^{1/4}$	Intertek	5850	+	5	2.8	26.8
250 $^{1/4}$	163 $^{1/2}$	Int'l Workplace	180 $^{1/4}$	-	$^{1/2}$	0.6	...
172 $^{1/4}$	123 $^{1/2}$	Johnson Service	145 $^{1/4}$	+	$^{7/4}$	3.3	15.7
554	360	Journeo $^{♦}$	505			...	20.8
263 $^{1/4}$	178 $^{1/2}$	Kier Group	260	+	5 $^{1/4}$	3.0	20.3
1170	910	Latham (J) $^{♦}$	1075			3.4	11.6
3800	2100	London Security $^{♦}$	3650			2.7	18.8
298	204	LSL Property Servs	268	-	6	4.3	16.1
99	59 $^{1/4}$	Macfarlane	74 $^{1/4}$	+	3 $^{1/4}$	4.9	18.8
188 $^{1/4}$	64 $^{1/2}$	Maintel Holdings $^{♦}$	68 $^{1/2}$			...	-5.8
28	15 $^{1/4}$	Malvern Intl $^{♦}$	21 $^{1/2}$			...	-2.8
460	310	Mears Group	425	-	2 $^{1/2}$	4.3	7.6
260	101 $^{1/4}$	Michael Page	223	+	2	2.1	76.9
214	134 $^{1/4}$	Mitie Group $^{♦}$	208 $^{1/4}$			2.2	31.6
15 $^{1/4}$	0 $^{1/4}$	MobilityOne $^{§}$	6 $^{1/4}$			...	-2.1
137	71 $^{1/4}$	Newmark Security $^{♦}$	106 $^{1/2}$			...	15.1
260	170	Norman Broadbent $^{♦}$	201	+	11	...	6.3
158	84 $^{1/4}$	Northern Bear $^{♦}$	134	-	$^{1/2}$	5.6	4.4
187 $^{1/2}$	110	NWF Group $^{♦}$	151	+	$^{1/2}$	5.8	8.1

Gold/precious metals(US dollars per ounce)

Bullion: Open $4654.46

Close $4652.332 High $4697.07

Low $4605.45

AM $4625.65 PM $4615.45

Platinum $1857.8

Silver $68.812

Palladium $1335.739

12 month			Price (p)	+/-	Forecast Yld%	P/E
High	Low	Company
66	42	PCI-PAL◆	$62\frac{1}{2}$		...	...
$12\frac{1}{2}$	7	Petards◆	10		...	-14.9
$12\frac{1}{2}$	7	PHSC◆	$7\frac{1}{4}$		...	-2.6
$0\frac{1}{8}$	$0\frac{1}{8}$	PowerHouse Energy◆	$0\frac{1}{4}$		...	-3.0
$62\frac{1}{6}$	$41\frac{1}{8}$	Record	$43\frac{1}{8} - \frac{1}{8}$		8.2	11.2
978	772	Renew Holdings◆	966 +	14	2.1	15.7
507	329 $\frac{1}{8}$	Rentokil‡	$347\frac{1}{8} - \frac{1}{8}$		2.7	25.5
310	222	Restore◆	294 +	$\frac{1}{2}$	2.5	-62.6
7	$1\frac{1}{2}$	River Global A◆§	$2\frac{1}{2} - \frac{1}{2}$		...	-0.3
30	14	Roebuck Food Group◆	26		...	-9.0
$752\frac{1}{2}$	$536\frac{1}{8}$	RS Group	$743\frac{1}{2} + 12\frac{1}{2}$		3.1	21.5
150	85	RTC Group◆	95		7.1	6.7
$125\frac{1}{8}$	68	RWS Holdings◆	$120\frac{1}{8} - 2\frac{1}{4}$		5.3	-4.5
612	520	Science Group◆	578		1.7	7.7
$325\frac{1}{4}$	$212\frac{1}{8}$	Serco	260 -	$1\frac{1}{4}$	1.8	18.1
$79\frac{1}{8}$	$54\frac{1}{8}$	Smiths News	$69\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4}$		8.0	5.9
$27\frac{1}{4}$	$13\frac{1}{8}$	Software Circel◆	$15\frac{1}{2} - \frac{1}{4}$		...	-73.8
$52\frac{1}{2}$	$36\frac{1}{8}$	Staffline Group◆	$42\frac{1}{4}$		...	10.8
$300\frac{1}{2}$	$132\frac{1}{8}$	SThree	298 +	$2\frac{1}{2}$	4.8	21.8
350	146	Synectics◆	195 +	$2\frac{1}{2}$	2.6	8.9
2	$0\frac{1}{2}$	Thruvision Group◆	$1\frac{1}{4}$		...	-1.3
74	46	Tribal◆	$60\frac{1}{8} - 3$		2.2	14.4
81	58	Vianet◆	66		3.6	46.2
490	$294\frac{1}{2}$	ZIGUP	465 -	$\frac{1}{2}$	5.8	13.8

Retailing
117 $\frac{1}{2}$	82 $\frac{1}{2}$	AO World	93 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{3}{4}$	... 14.7
269 $\frac{1}{4}$	140	B&M European	246 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	3 $\frac{1}{4}$	3.9 15.1
115 $\frac{1}{4}$	58 $\frac{1}{4}$	Card Factory	76 $\frac{1}{4}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	6.6 8.5
1648	1062	CVS Group	1296	+	4	0.7 17.6
204	113	DFS Furniture	158	-	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	0.6 15.0
1248	707	Dunelm	889	+	1	7.9 11.5
843 $\frac{1}{2}$	598	Frasers Group	827 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	7 $\frac{1}{2}$	... 9.5
2046	1407 $\frac{1}{4}$	Greggs	1882	+	6	3.7 15.7
250	123 $\frac{1}{4}$	Halfords $\ddagger$	238 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	5 $\frac{1}{2}$	3.8 15.7
981	713	Howden Joinery	800 $\frac{1}{2}$			2.7 16.3
895	640 $\frac{1}{4}$	Inchcape $\ddagger$	820 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	4.1 11.3
1 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	Imaging Biometrics	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	-	$\frac{1}{8}$	... -3.7
106 $\frac{1}{4}$	64	JD Sports	85 $\frac{1}{4}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	1.4 9.9
372 $\frac{1}{4}$	240 $\frac{1}{4}$	Kingfisher	322 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	4 $\frac{1}{4}$	3.8 23.0
418 $\frac{1}{4}$	301 $\frac{1}{4}$	Marks & Spencer	391 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	6 $\frac{1}{8}$	1.1 30.8
3 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	Mothercare $\blacklozenge$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$			... -0.8
93 $\frac{1}{4}$	61 $\frac{1}{4}$	Naked Wines $\blacklozenge$	68 $\frac{1}{4}$	-	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	... -7.5
15900	11200	Next	15635	+	360	1.7 20.6
358 $\frac{1}{4}$	140 $\frac{1}{4}$	Ocado	246 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	13 $\frac{1}{4}$	... 5.2
240 $\frac{1}{4}$	167 $\frac{1}{4}$	Pets at Home	216 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	3.4 15.7
575	200	Pinewood Tech Group	450	+	2	... 93.8
747	192 $\frac{1}{4}$	Saga	679	-	4	... ...
380 $\frac{1}{4}$	292 $\frac{1}{4}$	Sainsbury's	335 $\frac{1}{4}$	-	$\frac{1}{2}$	4.1 19.4
719 $\frac{1}{2}$	378 $\frac{1}{4}$	WH Smith	415	+	$\frac{1}{4}$	... -3.7
14	4 $\frac{1}{2}$	Sosandar $\blacklozenge$	13			... 92.9
510 $\frac{1}{4}$	411 $\frac{1}{4}$	Tesco	464 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	3 $\frac{1}{2}$	3.1 16.9
50	30 $\frac{1}{4}$	Tops Tiles	35	-	$\frac{1}{2}$	8.9 11.5

Technology
252	140 $\frac{1}{3}$	Alfa Financial	167 $\frac{1}{3}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	5.7	16.4
307	195	Aptitude Software	214	-	4	2.5	29.3
129	55	Bango◆	62 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-8.6
20	11 $\frac{1}{4}$	BATM Adv Coms	12 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-4.0
33	19 $\frac{1}{4}$	Berkeley Res	26			...	-67.9
3 $\frac{1}{4}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	Blackbird◆	1 $\frac{1}{4}$			...	-1.9
194	74	Celebrus Tech◆	96 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	5	3.5	-108.7
28	12 $\frac{1}{2}$	Cirata◆	13	-	$\frac{1}{8}$	...	-3.0
0 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	CloudCoCo◆	0 $\frac{1}{8}$			...	0.5
5220	2234	Computacenter	5190	+	90	1.4	35.4
286	173 $\frac{1}{2}$	Concurrent Tech◆	230	+	7 $\frac{1}{2}$	0.5	39.2
13 $\frac{1}{2}$	6 $\frac{1}{2}$	Cororo◆	7 $\frac{1}{4}$			...	-98.8
2644	988	Craneware◆	1272	-	24	2.6	30.9
110	50	Crimson Tide◆	87 $\frac{1}{2}$			...	20.8
10	5 $\frac{1}{4}$	CyanConnode Hldgs◆	9 $\frac{1}{8}$			...	-8.4
15 $\frac{1}{2}$	8	Dillstone Group◆	12			...	-8.2

12 month			Price (p)	+/-	Forecast
High	Low	Company			Yld%	P/E
$0\frac{1}{2}$	0	Forgent◆	0			...	-0.0
$165\frac{1}{4}$	$94\frac{1}{2}$	FDM Group	$114\frac{1}{8}$	-	$\frac{3}{8}$	6.1	22.0
480	114	Filtronic◆	242	-	$4\frac{1}{2}$	...	...
265	$154\frac{1}{8}$	GB Group	$154\frac{1}{8}$	-	$\frac{3}{8}$	2.8	-5.0
51	24	Ilika◆	27			...	-6.7
138	56	Ingenta◆	$65\frac{1}{2}$			6.9	5.5
178	73	Intercede◆	112	-	$2\frac{1}{2}$	...	19.6
$28\frac{1}{2}$	$11\frac{1}{8}$	lomart◆	$15\frac{1}{8}$	+	$\frac{3}{4}$	...	-1.9
$72\frac{1}{8}$	$4\frac{1}{8}$	IQE◆	$47\frac{1}{2}$	+	$2\frac{1}{8}$	...	-12.6
$4453\frac{1}{2}$	$912\frac{1}{8}$	LG Electronics	$1833\frac{1}{8}$	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	1.3	...
79	37	MTI Wireless◆	66	-	$\frac{1}{2}$	3.1	15.4
$13\frac{1}{2}$	2	Nanoco Group	$2\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	-2.2
138	$94\frac{1}{8}$	Netcall◆	$116\frac{1}{2}$	-	$2\frac{1}{2}$	0.8	47.6
36	22	Northamber◆	25			2.4	-1.7
$60\frac{1}{8}$	$37\frac{1}{2}$	Oxford Metrics◆	39			8.3	-70.9
31	17	Pennant Intl◆	30	+	1	...	-6.0
447	210	Playtech	$404\frac{1}{8}$	-	$7\frac{1}{8}$	...	1.0
50	$24\frac{1}{8}$	Pulsar Group◆	$24\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{2}$	...	-3.1
$576\frac{1}{2}$	$398\frac{1}{2}$	QinetiQ	526	-	4	2.1	26.2
117	88	RM	101			...	38.8
$6\frac{1}{2}$	$2\frac{1}{8}$	Seeing Machines◆	$4\frac{1}{8}$			...	-11.5
66	$35\frac{1}{2}$	Shearwater Group◆	$58\frac{1}{2}$			...	-1.5
2084	1083	Softcat	2082	+	28	1.5	31.3
$39\frac{1}{2}$	5	Sorted Group◆	9			...	-0.2
$1018\frac{1}{2}$	$575\frac{1}{2}$	Tele Ericsson	753	+	$9\frac{1}{8}$	3.1	11.4
1181	$773\frac{1}{8}$	The Sage Grp	$1104\frac{1}{2}$	-	$\frac{1}{2}$	2.0	29.3
$89\frac{1}{2}$	$52\frac{1}{2}$	Touchstar◆	85			3.8	-6.4
435	280	Tracsis◆	335	-	5	0.8	...
430	236	Triad Group§	410			2.2	41.3
360	210	Water Intel◆	335	-	3	...	15.9
150	$96\frac{1}{8}$	Xaar	113	+	1	...	-26.3
18	$8\frac{1}{2}$	Zoo Digital◆	$17\frac{1}{2}$	+	$1\frac{1}{4}$	...	-6.3

Telecoms
436 $\frac{1}{4}$	212 $\frac{1}{8}$	Airtel Africa	334 $\frac{1}{8}$	-	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	1.6 24.5
242 $\frac{1}{8}$	173	BT Group $\frac{1}{8}$	206 $\frac{1}{8}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	4.0 18.8
169 $\frac{1}{2}$	106	Currys	147 $\frac{1}{8}$	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	2.0 9.5
1186	687	Gamma Comms	1120	+	25	2.0 16.1
247 $\frac{1}{8}$	127 $\frac{1}{8}$	Helios Towers $\frac{1}{8}$	204 $\frac{1}{8}$	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	0.9 75.2
0 $\frac{1}{8}$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$	Gana Media $\bullet$	0 $\frac{1}{8}$			... -3.1
1914	638	Telecom Plus $\frac{1}{8}$	860	-	3	5.8 8.5
131 $\frac{1}{8}$	83 $\frac{1}{8}$	Vodafone	118 $\frac{1}{8}$	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	3.4 -83.7

Money rates % Base Rates Clearing Banks: 3.75% ECB Refi 2.40% Fed Fund 3.5-3.75% Halifax Mortgage Rate (SVR) 7.24%

Transport
260	$203\frac{1}{8}$	Braemar‡	225	-	3	3.1	31.1
5485	3365	Clarkson	4992	-	58	2.3	23.3
$683\frac{1}{4}$	$332\frac{1}{8}$	EasyJet	676	+	$2\frac{1}{4}$	2.0	10.3
$227\frac{1}{4}$	$152\frac{1}{8}$	FirstGroup	$178\frac{1}{8}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	4.0	8.4
554	325	Fisher (James)	453			...	-52.1
$492\frac{1}{8}$	$332\frac{1}{8}$	Intl Cons Air	$441\frac{1}{8}$	+	$9\frac{1}{4}$	1.5	7.2
$699\frac{1}{8}$	458	Irish Cont	$622\frac{1}{2}$			...	15.6
$35\frac{1}{4}$	17	Mobico Group	$23\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{1}{4}$	...	-1.1
7	$1\frac{1}{8}$	Sutton Harbour♦	$4\frac{1}{4}$			...	-0.4
1453	832	Wizz Air	1085	+	26	...	...

INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Utilities
$220\frac{1}{4}$	$151\frac{1}{2}$ Centrica‡	$155\frac{1}{2}$ +	$\frac{3}{8}$	3.6	-103.7
$937\frac{1}{2}$	$613\frac{1}{8}$ Drax Group	757 +	$17\frac{1}{2}$	4.0	36.6
485	420 Jersey Electricity	435		5.0	12.1
$1428\frac{1}{2}$	1000 National Grid	$1185\frac{1}{2}$ +	16	4.1	18.1
606	$439\frac{1}{8}$ Pennon‡	473 +	$10\frac{1}{8}$	6.2	24.4
3335	2381 Severn Trent	3152 +	30	4.0	25.5
$2767\frac{1}{2}$	1597 SSE‡	2409 +	38	2.9	22.8
1497	1072 United Utilities	1436 +	11	3.7	16.7

12 month			Price			Forecast
High	Low	Company	(p)	+/-	Yld%	P/E
4497	1825	3I Group	2904	-	30	2.9	5.4
399 $\frac{1}{2}$	325	3I Infrastructure	396	+	1	3.4	12.4
1780	1408 $\frac{1}{8}$	Aberforth Smlr $\ddagger$	1772	+	8	2.7	27.7
1394	1178	Alliance Witan	1374	+	4	2.1	74.3
404	321	Artemis UK Future Lead	398	+	1	3.9	32.2
210	116 $\frac{1}{8}$	Athelney Trust	165			6.1	14.5
273	235 $\frac{1}{8}$	AVI Global	264	+	2	1.7	52.1
194	154 $\frac{1}{2}$	AVI Japan	173 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	4	1.3	59.0
331	277	Baillie Gifford Ch Gr	306			0.8	...
133	91 $\frac{1}{8}$	Baillie Gifford Eur Gr	125 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	0.6	...
1090	811 $\frac{1}{8}$	Baillie Gifford Jpn	1064	+	8	0.9	...
176	123	Baillie Gifford SN	169 $\frac{1}{8}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	0.4	...
231	180 $\frac{1}{8}$	Baillie Gifford UK Gr	226	+	1	2.7	36.3
154 $\frac{1}{4}$	121 $\frac{1}{4}$	Bankers Invstmt Tst $\ddagger$	149 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{3}{4}$	1.9	66.3
445	387 $\frac{1}{8}$	BH Macro GBP	424 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	...	20.0
1784	866	Biotech Growth	1748	+	42	...	-200.0
289 $\frac{1}{2}$	201	BlckRck Amer Inc $\ddagger$	280	+	3	5.3	98.9
205	123	BlckRck Eng&Res Inc	186 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	3.1	53.3
208	164 $\frac{1}{2}$	BlckRck Fro Inv	191			4.0	25.7
625	507	BlackRock Grt Euro	608	+	3	1.2	88.2
240	200	BlckRck Inc&Grth $\ddagger$	234			3.3	32.4
288 $\frac{1}{2}$	230 $\frac{1}{8}$	BlckRck Smlr $\ddagger$	276	+	1 $\frac{1}{2}$	2.9	31.5
1072 $\frac{1}{8}$	562	BlckRck Wild Min	1040	+	8	2.3	43.2
1665	1280	Brown Adv US Sm	1580	-	10	...	-263.8
1584	1336	Brunner $\ddagger$	1566	+	2	1.7	56.2
402	312	Caledonia Inv	391	+	4 $\frac{1}{2}$	2.0	50.8
599	486	City of Lon IT $\ddagger$	592	+	1	3.7	27.4
155 $\frac{1}{8}$	80 $\frac{1}{8}$	Crystal Amber Fd	83	-	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	-60.1	...
592	439 $\frac{1}{8}$	CT Priv Eq Ord	485	-	5	5.8	...
373	320	CT UK Cap & Inc	361	+	3	3.7	29.8
120	92	CT UK HIT B	109			5.5	22.5
126	97	CT UK HIT	119	-	3	5.0	24.5
480 $\frac{1}{4}$	460	Dunedin Ent $\ddagger$	475			...	...
865	737 $\frac{1}{8}$	Edinburgh IT	864	+	3	3.7	32.5
294 $\frac{1}{2}$	188 $\frac{1}{4}$	Edin Wwide	263 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	4	...	-237.4
1332	325 $\frac{1}{8}$	F&C Inv Trust	341 $\frac{1}{8}$	+	1 $\frac{1}{8}$	1.2	76.0
672	546	Fidelity Asian Val	620	+	4	3.3	27.5
339	241	Fidelity China Sp	262	+	1	3.4	28.4
1574	836	FidelityEmrgMkt	1490	+	18	1.3	65.5
447 $\frac{1}{2}$	367 $\frac{1}{2}$	Fidelity European Trust	439	+	$\frac{1}{2}$	2.3	38.8
477 $\frac{1}{2}$	372	Fidelity Spec Val	475 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	1	2.2	38.7
906	706 $\frac{1}{4}$	Fins Gwth & Inc	836	+	1	2.4	44.2
85 $\frac{1}{8}$	69 $\frac{1}{4}$	GCP Infrastructure $\ddagger$	81 $\frac{1}{4}$	-	$\frac{1}{4}$	8.6	38.0
370	316	Global Opps Tst	338 $\frac{1}{2}$	-	1	3.0	43.4
117 $\frac{1}{4}$	114	Golden Prospect $\ddagger$	115 $\frac{1}{2}$			-17.2	...
68 $\frac{1}{8}$	57 $\frac{1}{4}$	Greencoat Renew $\ddagger$	67 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{1}{4}$	-16.9	...
117	92 $\frac{1}{4}$	Greencoat UK Wind $\ddagger$	110 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	$\frac{1}{8}$	9.7	-12.7
346	250	Hansa Investment Co	332	-	4	1.3	75.5
335	244	Hansa Inv Co A	325			1.4	73.9
3500	2745	Hrvest Glbl Pt Eq	3345	+	5	...	-57.0
214	173 $\frac{1}{4}$	Hend High Inc	209			5.3	18.5
998	769	Hend Smlr	980	+	6	3.0	37.5
3290 $\frac{1}{2}$	2285	Herald Inv Trust	2970	+	50	...	...
514 $\frac{1}{8}$	318 $\frac{1}{8}$	HgCapital Trust	425	+	5	1.2	...
141	107 $\frac{1}{4}$	HICL Infra	140	+	$\frac{1}{4}$	6.1	10.1
1611 $\frac{1}{2}$	1288 $\frac{1}{4}$	ICG Ent Tr $\ddagger$	1466	-	20	2.9	-413.0
494 $\frac{1}{4}$	379	Impax Env Mkts	443	+	1	1.2	89.7

12 month			Price			Forecast
High	Low	Company	(p)	+/-	Yld%	P/E
519	368 $\frac{1}{2}$	Invesco Asia Dragon Tr494 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	8 $\frac{1}{2}$	3.9	50.3
178 $\frac{1}{2}$	150 $\frac{1}{4}$	Invesco Bond Inc	171		7.2	13.1
427	318	Invesco Glbl Eq Inc	416	+	4	3.8	83.0
1258	1041	JPM American	1210	+	4	1.0	...
652	398	JPM Asia Gro & Inc	584	+	14	5.3	...
313	259 $\frac{1}{2}$	JPM China‡	270	-	1	5.0	69.4
986	791 $\frac{1}{4}$	JPM Claverhs‡	980	-	2	3.7	29.1
310	181 $\frac{1}{4}$	JPM Emrg EMEA Sec	246	+	1	0.2	...
181 $\frac{1}{4}$	118 $\frac{1}{8}$	JPM Em Mkts	166 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	3 $\frac{1}{2}$	4.5	72.3
666	548	JPMorgan Euro	635	+	5	2.5	34.9
221	148	JPM Em Mkts Div Inc	209	+	3	2.9	36.7
641	529 $\frac{1}{8}$	JPM G&GI	618 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	4	4.0	74.8
1098	799	JPM India‡	876	+	10	5.1	...
867	661	JPM Japan	810	+	10	1.1	79.8
463	365	JPM Smlr Co	432	-	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	0.7	...
1290	977 $\frac{1}{8}$	Law Debenture	1252	+	4	3.0	33.6
191 $\frac{1}{2}$	145 $\frac{1}{2}$	Lowland Inv	187	+	1	3.6	27.8
137 $\frac{1}{4}$	137 $\frac{1}{4}$	Marwyn Val Inv‡	138 $\frac{1}{2}$			15.3	...
289	234 $\frac{1}{4}$	Mercantile IT	287	+	2	2.9	31.0
690	536	Merchants Trust	686	+	2	4.3	22.4
804	682	Mid Wynd	790	+	2	1.1	...
1664	1366	Monks Inv Trust‡	1612	+	14	0.1	...
189	142	Montanaro Eur Sml‡	178			0.9	91.8
1036	854 $\frac{1}{4}$	Murray Income Trust‡1002	-	2	4.1	26.0
374	293	Murray Intl	374	+	3	3.4	26.9
437	345	Pacific Assets Trust	423			...	75.5
409	325	Pantheon Intl	394 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	7	...	...
5095	3636	Pershing Sqr‡	3900	+	16	1.4	3.8
558	512	Personal Assets‡	555	+	3	1.0	92.0
743 $\frac{1}{2}$	385 $\frac{1}{4}$	Polar CapTech	638	+	14 $\frac{1}{2}$	...	-79.5
80 $\frac{1}{2}$	63 $\frac{1}{4}$	Renewables Infra‡	76 $\frac{1}{8}$			9.9	-14.2
2645	1932	RIT Cap Ptnr	2575	+	5	1.7	...
990 $\frac{1}{8}$	490	Riverstone	590			...	-370.7
738	488 $\frac{1}{8}$	Schroder TotRt	700	+	5	1.6	71.4
892	608	Schrd Asia Pac	832	+	11	1.6	63.0
379	311 $\frac{1}{8}$	Schrod Inc Gwth	378	+	2	3.9	30.1
401	276	Schrod Jap Gwth	384	+	7	3.2	55.6
782	652	Schrod UKMid	774	+	2	2.9	30.9
17 $\frac{1}{4}$	12 $\frac{1}{4}$	Schroder UK PP Tr	17 $\frac{1}{2}$	+		...	-72.1
572	480 $\frac{1}{8}$	Scot American‡	562	+	4	2.9	35.9
1563	1015 $\frac{1}{4}$	Scot Mortgage	1477 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	19	0.3	...
88	75 $\frac{1}{2}$	Sequoia Eco	85 $\frac{1}{4}$	+	$\frac{7}{8}$	8.0	12.5
253	215 $\frac{1}{8}$	STS Glbl Inc Grwth	230 $\frac{1}{2}$	+	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	3.7	35.5
352	198 $\frac{1}{4}$	Temp Emg Mkt	319	+	4 $\frac{1}{2}$	1.6	59.2
429 $\frac{1}{2}$	334	Temple Bar‡	422 $\frac{1}{2}$			3.7	30.6
198 $\frac{1}{8}$	162 $\frac{1}{8}$	The Glbl Smaller‡	192 $\frac{1}{4}$			1.6	65.2
9	0 $\frac{1}{2}$	Potentially AI	6 $\frac{1}{4}$			-1.6	...
364 $\frac{1}{2}$	291	TR Property	309	+	2 $\frac{1}{2}$	5.2	19.5
208	188	UIL	208			20.5	...
302	243	Utilico Emerging Mkt	277	-	2	3.5	20.4
865	682	Vietnam Ent Inv	714	-	8	...	4.7
401 $\frac{1}{2}$	320	Ww Health	396	+	5	0.6	...

Mkt Rates for	Range	Close	1 month 3 month
Copenhagen	8.7343	8.7350	-142.456	-400.672
Euro	1.1682	1.1684	-14.75	-41.18
Montreal	1.8868	1.8865	-26.74	-78.77
New York	1.3639	1.3630	-0.19	-0.37
Oslo	12.7036	12.6849	48.39	155.47
Tokyo	217.1740	216.8210	-54.88	-154.69
Zurich	1.0945	1.0931	-38.3	-112.3

Other sterling
Argentine peso	2060.71729-2060.71948
Australian dollar	1.90509-1.90528
Bahrain dinar	0.51330-0.51530
Brazilian real	7.01810-7.02010
Euro	1.16820-1.16900
Hong Kong dollar	10.69000-10.69400
Indian rupee	129.84779-129.92780
Indonesian rupiah	24125.07031-24165.07031
Kuwaiti dinar	0.42000-0.42200
Malaysian ringgit	5.51130-5.51330
New Zealand dollar	2.28408-2.28464
Singaporean dollar	1.73134-1.73168
South African rand	21.74350-21.75130
UAE dirham	5.00850-5.01050

♦AIM company; # Price at suspension; † Ex dividend; § Ex scrip; ▲ Ex rights issue; ▼ Ex all; § Ex capital distribution; * figures or report awaited; ... No significant data. Companies in bold are constituents of the FTSE 100 Index. Investment Cos sector Nav Dis or Prm supplied by ICE Data Services.

Dollar rates
Australia	1.39640-1.39720
Canada	1.38335-1.38337
Denmark	6.40414-6.40441
Euro	0.85650-0.85690
Hong Kong	7.83823-7.83855
Japan	159.21500-159.21899
Malaysia	4.04400-4.05000
Norway	9.31480-9.31730
Singapore	1.26944-1.26951
Sweden	9.46700-9.46900
Switzerland	0.80245-0.80250

Data provided by ICE. Data as shown is for information purposes only. No offer is made by ICE or this publication

Are you suffering with failing teeth and dentures?

Dr Simran, Clinical Director at EvoDental, explains how full mouth dental implants may provide a solution.

What is full mouth dental implant treatment?

Full mouth dental implant treatment involves attaching a single set of artificial teeth to titanium implants placed in the jawbone. The teeth are fixed securely in place, so they do not need to be removed or risk coming loose. Depending on the patient's anatomy, each jaw typically receives 10 to 12 teeth.

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This treatment is intended for people with failing or missing teeth, or dentures, who want a fixed, long-term solution.

It may also be suitable for patients who have been told they are not candidates for traditional dental implants.

Traditional full mouth implant treatment can involve bone grafts, sinus lifts, and a lengthy healing period. Our experts can place implants in advanced areas of the mouth, such as the pterygoid bone, which may help patients avoid these preparatory procedures and reduce treatment time.

How long does the full process take?

The full process usually takes around 20 weeks at EvoDental.

On the day of surgery, your bespoke temporary teeth are made in our onsite lab. Under sedation, we remove any remaining natural teeth and place the implants, which takes around two hours per jaw. Later that day, we fit your first set of new teeth.

12 weeks later, you will return for a review so we can check your healing and see how you are getting on with your initial teeth. If any adjustments are needed, we will make them before fitting your final teeth 18-20 weeks after surgery.

What do full mouth dental implant teeth feel like?

If you have had missing or damaged teeth for a long time, your new teeth may feel unusual at first.

As you adjust, they should feel as natural as possible, without the bulky palate often associated with dentures.

Is full mouth dental implant treatment painful?

In short, no. The procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic to numb the mouth, and IV conscious sedation, most patients tell us they remember very little of the procedure. As with any extensive dental treatment, some patients may experience tenderness and swelling for a few days afterwards.

How much experience does EvoDental have?

We perform more full mouth dental implant treatments than anyone else in the UK, over 1,700 jaws and 10,000 implants last year alone. Each of our clinicians carries

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Obituaries

Dolly Parton

Big-haired, wisecracking queen of country who was also a successful businesswoman, philanthropist and Glastonbury 'legend'

When Dolly Parton was asked how she would prefer to be remembered, she invariably answered as a songwriter. "You're putting something in the world that wasn't there yesterday and which you hope people are still going to be singing after you've gone," she said.

Her compositions such as Jolene, Nine to Five, Heartbreaker and, above all, I Will Always Love You, will surely be sung as long as popular music exists. But she was also an outstanding performer who crossed easily from country music to the pop charts, a star of film and television, a larger-than-life celebrity and an astute businesswoman who ran her own “Dollywood” theme park dedicated to propagating the Parton legend.

She liked to crack wise about her full-bosomed blonde image. “I’m not offended by the dumb blonde jokes,” she said, “because I know I’m not dumb, and I’m not blonde either.” And: “It’s a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I’d be a drag queen.” And: “People ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know. I’m never there.”

It gave permission for comedians and even politicians to join in the fun. The former chancellor Kenneth Clarke once memorably chided his Labour opponent, Gordon Brown, that his budget proposals were drawn from the Dolly Parton school of economics — “an unbelievable figure blown out of all proportion with no visible means of support”.

The family's cabin had no running water and her father was illiterate

Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be cloned, was named after her, because she was cloned from a cell taken from a ewe's mammary gland.

Parton always had the last laugh, not least because having sold more than a 100 million records she had become one of the best-selling pop singers of all time, also one of the richest, with more than \$500 million in the bank.

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in 1946 and brought up in abject poverty in a family of 12 children in the mountains of east Tennessee; her dirt-poor background shaped and influenced every aspect of her life and career. Her grandfather was a stern preacher and she grew up in a religious family where it was “a sin to shave your legs and you weren’t allowed to dance”. Her father was a share-cropping farmer who could not read or write.

The family cabin had no running water or electricity and the children were dressed in hand-me-down clothes. The experience was later chronicled in songs such as My Tennessee Mountain Home and Coat of Many Colours.

Even her famously trashy look was influenced by her childhood. When she went into town as a small girl, she would admire the glamorous local prostitute with her blonde wig, short skirt and high heels. When Parton told her mother she thought she was “the prettiest lady” she had ever seen, her mother would reply that she was “trash”. With no other role model, Parton resolved there and then that when she grew up she, too, wanted to look like trash. Years later when she was rich enough to employ the world's most expensive designers, she would joke about "how much money it takes to make me look this cheap".

She sang in the local church, drummed in the high school marching band and grew up steeped in Appalachian mountain and bluegrass music. Her mother's family were musicians and her uncle Bill Owens particularly encouraged her musical talent. Under his guidance by the age of 11 she had appeared on local radio and cut her first record, Puppy Love, for the tiny Goldband label. She travelled to Nashville in 1959 to make her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry show and when she left school at 18, she packed a bag and made a permanent move to the country music capital in search of a musical career.

On her first day in town she met Carl Dean. They married two years later and although he was not involved in the music industry — or perhaps because

DISNEY GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT/ABC PHOTO ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

Parton was proud of her self-described "trashy" style, joking about "how much money it takes to make me look this cheap"

of that very fact — they remained together for the rest of their lives. He died last year (obituary, March 5, 2025).

They never had children, but four of Parton's younger brothers and sisters came to live with her and she and Dean raised them as if they were their own offspring.

In 1965, a year after moving to Nashville, she was signed by Monument Records and enjoyed her first hit in 1967 with Dumb Blonde, a typically forth-right composition that sought to dismantle sexist stereotypes. Her success led to her being recruited as the female foil to the country singer Porter Wagoner on his popular weekly television show. Together they recorded a large number of hit songs, including The Last Thing on My Mind, Tomorrow is Forever and Daddy was an Old Time Preacher Man.

She also pursued a solo career away from Wagoner. After a hit with Jimmie Rodgers's Mule Skinner Blues in 1970, she went on to record some of her best-known compositions, including Coat of Many Colours and My Tennessee Mountain Home. They soon turned her into a bigger star than Wagoner and when she enjoyed another huge hit in 1973 with Jolene — in the lyrics she begs Jolene not to take her man “just because you can” — she decided it was time to leave his show. That year she wrote her best-known song, I Will Always Love You. Wagoner continued to produce her records for a further two years but when she announced that she no longer wished to work with him in any capacity, he took their split very badly.

After she had recorded I Will Always Love You and had a hit on the country charts with it, Elvis Presley asked to record the song. When he demanded that in return she should give him half of the songwriting credit and ensuing royalties, she refused and he never recorded the song. Yet Parton had the last laugh when in 1992 Whitney Houston recorded I Will Always Love You for the film The Bodyguard. Her version be-

'I'm not offended by dumb blonde jokes ... I'm not dumb nor blonde'

came a No I hit around the globe and as the sole author Parton earned some \$10 million from the recording.

If she had agreed to Presley's demands, half of the money would have gone to his estate. Yet she still harboured regrets about her decision. "I know I did the right thing. But I would have still loved to have heard him sing it," she said many years later.

By 1977, Parton was the biggest star in country music and decided to turn her attention to achieving a similar dominance in the pop world. Although her country roots were still recognisable in Here You Come Again, the song was given a shiny contemporary pop production which paid dividends when the record was taken up by not just by the country stations but by pop radio. Here You Come Again made No 3 in the American pop charts and was also a British Top 20 hit. Further pop success followed with Two Doors Down and Heartbreaker and in 1979, she even had an improbable country-disco crossover hit with Baby I'm Burnin'.

The following year she enjoyed an even bigger hit with Nine to Five, which topped the charts in the US. The record's success was assisted by her movie debut in the film of the same name, in which she played a secretary alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Further film work followed, including a notable performance as a madam in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) with Burt Reynolds and a co-Continued on page 44

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Sir Billy Boston

Speedy rugby league back who played in the GB side that won the 1960 World Cup and was the first of his sport to be knighted

Boston playing for Wigan in the Challenge Cup final in 1965, one of three he won

When Billy Boston came to prominence as a speedy rugby union three-quarter, the chairman and vice-chairman of Wigan Rugby League Football Club travelled to his home in Cardiff to try to entice him to change codes and play for them. They offered him £1,000, a large sum in 1953, especially so as he was one of 11 children. Nonetheless, his mother rejected it on his behalf. A second offer of £1,500 was made in cash, the money spread out on the table in five-pound notes to emphasise just how much it was.

Boston, then 18, still did not want to sign the contract, whereupon his mother told him: "Don't worry son, I'll get rid of them for you. I'll ask them for so much that they'll go home." She told the delegation that Billy would only sign for £3,000 — triple the initial offer — and within a minute the chairman had agreed to the terms. Boston said he still did not want to join Wigan, but his mother had given their word and he duly signed the contract.

So began a stellar career in rugby league that led to Boston scoring 24 tries in 31 appearances for Great Britain and being a member of the side who won the 1960 World Cup, scoring a try in the final in a 10-3 defeat of Australia in Bradford. He finished his playing days with Blackpool Borough and in all scored 571 tries in his career — a total surpassed in top-class rugby league only by the Australian Brian Bevan. Last year Boston, a member of Great Britain's squad at the World Cup in 1957 as well as in 1960, became the first rugby league player to be knighted.

In addition to his pace, he possessed a strong hand-off and physique coupled with a sidestep that only Gerald Davies among his fellow Welshmen would emulate in later years. He could read the game adroitly. Nonetheless, in spite of his eminence in rugby league and the overriding influence of his mother, Boston contended that he would have continued in rugby union, then structured in the amateur code, if the Welsh Rugby Union had seemingly not discriminated against black players.

He was the first non-white player to be selected to tour Australia and New Zealand, setting in 1954 a record of 36 tries in 18 matches. During that trip, Boston became the first individual to score four tries in a match for Great Britain, when he played against New Zealand. When he was knighted Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister at the time, said that “it was an historic wrong” that Boston was the first to receive the honour in the history of the sport, which began in 1895. Starmer’s successor, Andy Burnham, counted Boston as a good friend.

"I was disappointed that Cardiff never showed any interest in me and I think that was because of my colour," Boston said. "I used to catch the bus from Cardiff's ground to play for Neath. Cardiff didn't want to know. I wanted to play for Wales with all my heart. But it wasn't to be. They wouldn't let me into their clubhouse after I turned professional. I don't think I would ever have been picked for Wales at union."

William John Boston was born in 1934 in Tiger Bay, a dockland district of Cardiff that became renowned later for being the birthplace of Shirley Bassey, the singer. He was the sixth of II child-

He claimed Cardiff never showed interest in him because of his colour

ren born to John Boston, a merchant seaman from Sierra Leone, and Nellie, who had an Irish background. Billy was educated at South Church Street School and quickly took to rugby, representing Cardiff Schoolboys and, when he was 16, the newly formed Cardiff Internationals Athletic Club.

After leaving school he worked at an equipment factory manufacturing rubber dinghies and parachutes, but it was his explosive sporting talent that swiftly took centre stage. His rapid ascent through south Wales rugby led to a choice in late 1951: play for Aberavon and Neath against the touring Springboks, or represent Welsh Youth in an international. Advised by his mentors, he chose the national youth side. He also played, briefly, for Neath and Pontypridd.

When conscripted for National Service the following year at Catterick, North Yorkshire, he was recruited by the Royal Signals, regarded as the premier rugby union side in the armed forces. His performances in the north of England attracted interest among the rugby league clubs, not least from Workington and Hunslet. He scored six tries for the Royal Signals in the Army Cup final against the Welsh Guards at

Aldershot. Wigan, however, recruited him and he was to score his 100th try in only 68 matches.

Boston's eventual tally was remarkable: 478 tries in 488 games as a winger or centre for Wigan, helping them win three Challenge Cups and the Championship. In addition, he was a member of the team who won the Lancashire Cup in 1966 and two Lancashire Championships in 1958-59 and 1961-62.

Boston concluded his playing days as a winger and, finally, as a second row with Blackpool Borough, playing 11 times and scoring five tries before retiring when he was 36. He was among the first players inducted into the rugby league hall of fame in 1988 and is one of five rugby league players to be featured in a statue at Wembley Stadium. He is immortalised in two more statues, in Wigan and in Cardiff. He received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace after a campaign by local councillors, MPs and sporting figures.

In retirement Boston became the licensee of the Griffin Hotel, a drop kick from Central Park, Wigan's ground until 1999. Supporters would come in and buy a pint just to be photographed with him. He was showered with numerous other honours: an MBE in 1996; honorary life membership of Wigan Warriors; induction into the Welsh sports hall of fame in 1990; the Tom Mitchell trophy as Lion of the Year from the British Rugby League Lions Association in 1999 and honorary freeman of the Wigan borough in 2000. He was awarded the BBC Wales lifetime achievement award in 2016.

Boston's wife, Joan, whom he met on a blind date at the Hippodrome Theatre in Wigan and whom he married in 1956, predeceased him last month. He is survived by three of their children: Stephen, Karen and Christine. Two other daughters, Lisa and Angela, predeceased him. One of his grandchildren, Wes Davies, has played rugby league for Wigan, Salford and Wales and rugby union for Cornish Pirates.

Despite suffering from vascular dementia when he received his knighthood, Boston retained a marked sense of humour. At his investiture, the King said to him: "I played rugby, but it's not as dangerous as the sport you do." Boston responded: "No, your job's a lot more dangerous than mine!"

Sir Billy Boston, rugby league player, was born on August 6, 1934. He died of the effects of dementia on August 25, 2026, aged 92

Continued from page 43 Dolly Parton

starring role with Sylvester Stallone in Rhinestone (1984).

A duet with Kenny Rogers on Islands in the Stream in 1983 gave her another American No I and the biggest-selling single of that year. Yet by the middle of the decade, as she approached 40, a younger generation of female country stars was emerging and her pre-eminence waned. She invested much of her songwriting royalties in the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near her birthplace. It opened in 1986. It wasn't sheer vanity but a hard-headed business investment. Ten million tourists a year pass through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and as Parton noted: "You didn't have to be a genius to work out that a theme park would do rather well."

She also established a Dollywood Foundation to provide books and scholarships to local schools.

The late 1980s brought a collaborative album called Trio with Emmylou Harris and Linda

Parton's duet with Kenny Rogers, Islands in the Stream, went to No 1. She played Glastonbury in 2014, below

Ronstadt, a television reunion with Wagoner 14 years after she had left his show and a further film appearance in Steel Magnolias. In 1989, she returned to her more traditional

country roots with the album White Limozeen. But by 1992 she had abandoned touring and, although Whitney Houston kept her name in the charts as a songwriter, she settled for a quieter life.

She wrote her autobiography My Life and Other Unfinished Business, released Honky Tonk Angels, a collaborative album with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, and built up her business interests. Then in 1998 she launched a surprising career renaissance. “I wasn’t getting on the radio and nobody was interested in me as an artist any more. When you’re over 35 they think you’re too old in modern music. I couldn’t even get a record label,” she explained.

Her response was to forget about sounding commercial and to return to her roots and record the traditional kind of old-time country and bluegrass music she loved best. Hungry Again launched her roots revival and was followed in swift succession by a prolific series of albums. The Grass is Blue came

'Life is short, so keep your dreams big and your hair bigger,' she said

in 1999, Little Sparrow in 2001 and Halos & Horns a year later. No longer signed to a major label, she recorded the albums at her own expense and then leased them to the record company prepared to make her the best offer. In 2002 she also returned to touring for the first time in ten years and played her first British concerts since 1983.

Although she still looked as glamorously fake as ever, there was a deep sincerity about the all-acoustic music to which she had returned. "I might look totally artificial but underneath my fans know I am totally real," she announced.

In 2014, at the age of 68, she donned a white rhinestone-studded trouser suit to perform to 180,000 people at Glastonbury in what is known as the legend's slot. With its high energy and singalong crowd participation, it is still considered to be one of the festival's most memorable moments. "Ridiculous, yet sublime," The Guardian called it.

When the Covid-19 pandemic began she donated \$1 million to part-fund research into a vaccine. The Moderna vaccine proved 95 per cent effective. In due course she went on camera to have "a dose of my own medicine" and encouraged her fans to do the same. She even broke into song, replacing the name Jolene with vaccine. In May this year, Parton postponed her residency at the Colosseum in Las Vegas to deal with "health challenges".

"Life is short," she liked to say, "keep your dreams big and your hair bigger."

Dolly Parton, country singer and songwriter, was born on January 19, 1946. She died on August 25, 2026, aged 80

The Rev Ed King

Methodist minister who braved prison beatings and a disfiguring car crash to become the most prominent white activist in the battle to desegregate Mississippi

King and Aaron Henry led a Freedom Democratic Party delegation to the national convention in 1964

Ed King sometimes opened his meetings with civil rights activists with a reading from Psalm 56: "All day they twist my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil; they gather together; they hide, they mark my steps."

"Everybody knew what I was talking about," King said. "People who knew that somebody might be hiding in wait for them on the way home from church. Or that their car might be run off the road."

In 1963, Mississippi's civil rights movement was beginning to make progress after a series of nonviolent demonstrations that brought the state's severe segregation measures to national attention. "A goal of the struggle in Mississippi was to make the state more like the rest of America," King, a white Methodist minister and activist, said. "For Mississippi, that would have been a kind of progress."

Co-ordinating much of this struggle was the man who had called King back to his native Mississippi, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) field secretary Medgar Evers. "We need you," Evers had urged King. "This, my friend, is your calling." Both men would be arrested numerous times during what became known as the Jackson Movement, often together. But King never forgot the privileges conferred by his white skin and clerical collar: "I was in jail less than a dozen times," he remarked. "Some of my black friends were in jail at least 40 times."

In June, at the height of the movement, Evers was shot dead outside his home. “He had successfully and massively defied the fascism and violence of the Mississippi police state,” King wrote. “So they killed him.” Six days later, King and John Salter, another of Evers’s allies, were advised to leave Mississippi by an NAACP lawyer, who revealed that the police were planning to arrest them.

King and Salter suspected the government was trying to take advantage of Evers's death to drive through an unfavourable settlement on black Mississippians' rights, and refused to flee. After leaving the NAACP office in Salter's car, they noticed they were being followed at a distance by the police. Then a civilian car fired out from a side street and ran them off the road.

King's jaw was shattered in the crash, leaving his face permanently disfigured. The police reported it as a traffic accident, but most were sure it was an attempt on the lives of Evers's two close allies. By the time they came to in hospital, a deal had been settled with the new black leadership in Jackson, full of concessions that Evers would have never approved.

The Jackson Movement was halted, but another effort soon took its place. While recovering from his injuries, King was approached with the proposition: a mock election to protest against the state's discriminatory voter registration laws. King agreed to run on the “Freedom Vote” ballot with the regional NAACP head Aaron Henry. Soon, his face, still bandaged, would appear on posters across the state. He would become, in the words of one historian, “the most visible white activist in the Mississippi movement”.

Ralph Edwin King Jr was born in 1936 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Ralph, a flood control engineer, and Julia King. The family, King said, “supported segregation totally”. His great-grandfather had even fought under the Confederate General Lee in Virginia. “Anybody who had progressive thoughts didn’t share them.”

He was first introduced to more liberal ideas through the church, where he spoke to black children and learnt about Gandhi and nonviolent protest. When, in 1953, a tornado struck Vicksburg, King volunteered with the relief effort, and for the

King married in secret after fearing that his wedding would be bombed

first time witnessed the poverty in the black parts of the city. "Before this, I had been blind," he wrote.

King graduated from Carr Central High School and enrolled at Millsaps College to study sociology. Through Millsaps, he gained access to programmes at the black Tougaloo College and met several civil rights leaders and thinkers, including Evers. After graduating in 1958 and beginning his master's studies at the Boston University School of Theology, he discovered another mentor in the young Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr.

Though his own interest in civil rights was born in the church, King was aware of several white ministers who had been ostracised by Mississippi's white Methodists for engaging in civil rights activism. He endeavoured to assist the movement secretly, but in 1960, he was caught in a police raid on a black restaurant and arrested.

King's family were horrified, but now that he was "publicly marked", King himself was set free. He began participating in sit-ins, and was arrested several more times, including for inviting a black minister, Elroy Embry, to lunch in a white hotel. King and Embry were sentenced to two weeks in a prison chain gang, and photos of them in striped uniforms reached the front page of Jackson newspapers. In prison, King was savagely beaten by both guards and white convicts, while back home his family were driven out of Mississippi by their neighbours. King's wedding to Jeannette Sylvester, another activist, was later moved over fears of a bombing. They married secretly in 1960, and divorced in 1983. King is survived by their two children, Lillian and Margaret.

After his graduation in 1963, King returned to Mississippi at Evers's request, and became chaplain of Tougaloo College, the first white man to hold the post. King was able to work out a unique compromise with the church whereby he received the rites of ordination without being formally connected to the Mississippi Methodist church. The day after his ordination, he used the authority of his collar to meet imprisoned freedom riders, deliver messages from their families, and take down their reports of police brutality.

During the 1963 Jackson

Movement, King attended an infamous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, where he helped to recover the bloodied demonstrators. He also led interracial groups to "pray-ins" at white churches, spurring several to desegregate. King and Evers were particularly touched by the actions of two white pastors who resigned their posts in outrage after their ushers barred the activists from entering. "That has made me feel better than anything in this movement," Evers told King only days before his assassination.

In the Freedom Vote later that year, more than 80,000 Mississippians cast ballots for King and Henry, setting the stage for the following year's “Freedom Summer” in which they campaigned to increase the number of black Mississippians registered to vote. King co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), and directly challenged the all-white Mississippi Democratic Party delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

King remained active in the MFDP for several years, and later held posts in the Delta Ministry, a civil rights project, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

He also lectured on civil rights, though he often downplayed his own part in its history. In a 2002 lecture, King returned to Psalm 56, and drew attention to its final lines: "I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" "Well they can kill me," King conceded, his face still decorated with scars. "But that's not really what ultimately matters."

The Rev Ed King, civil rights activist, was born on September 20, 1936. He died on July 4, 2026, aged 89

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BECKETT William Cartwright LLM CB died peacefully on 23rd August 2026, aged 96. Much-loved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

CHICHESTER Giles Bryan died peacefully on 12th August 2026, aged 80. Beloved husband of Virginia. Devoted and proud father of George, Jessica and Charlie and grandfather of Isla. Funeral service at the Church of the Blessed Mary, Aylesbeare, EX5 2BU on 15th September at 2pm. Service of committal at St Peter's Church, Shirwell, EX31 4JU on 16th September at noon.

HOUSLEY Helen Russell (née Ransom) died peacefully on 7th August 2026, aged 90, after a short illness and with family present. Beloved wife to Michael (d. 2024), mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. A great friend and inspiration to many. A service will be held in her memory at St Mary's, Chigwell, on 4th September at 3pm. Family flowers only please, but donations if desired for the Children's Society.

JONES Thomas Charles passed away peacefully at North Middlesex Hospital on Tuesday 11th August, aged 95. Formerly district health education officer with Enfield Health Authority and one-time head of biology department at Marlborough Grammar School and St John's. Funeral strictly private. Family only. Donations in lieu of flowers to British Heart Foundation.

KEEVIL Philip Clement died peacefully on 17th August 2026, aged 79. Beloved husband of Daisy, much-loved father of Adrian, Augusta and Peter and grandfather to seven. Brother of Harriet and the late Julian. Funeral at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York, at 11am on 19th October. In lieu of flowers, donations in Philip's memory may be made to the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.

KRUGER Diana Barrani died peacefully on 3rd August 2026, aged 84. Loving wife of David (deceased) and much-loved mother of Kathy, Jonathan and Helen. Grandmother of James, Georgie, Alex, Lucy and Ben. She will be sadly missed by her family and friends. Funeral to be held at Holy Trinity Church, Penton Mewsey, on Wednesday 2nd September at 2pm. All inquiries via S&J Maddocks Funeral Directors, 01264 355600.

LEEFE Jane Camilla passed away peacefully on 14th August, aged 93. Adored wife of the late Neville Leefe and much-loved mother to Simon and grandmother to Charlie and Georgie. Funeral service to be held at noon on Wednesday 2nd September at St Mary's Church, Petworth. Inquiries to W Bryder & Sons, 01798 342174.

MATTHEWS Ann Margaret (née Symington) on 17th August 2026, aged 98, died peacefully at the Andover Nursing Home. Beloved mother of Fionna, Christian, Alexandra, Mark, Emma and Georgina. Grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother of 12. Private family burial at St Peter's Church, Pimperne. Requiem Mass at 2.30pm on Tuesday 15th September at Farleigh School Chapel, Hampshire SP11 7PW. Inquiries to S&J Maddocks Funeral Directors, 01264 355600, sjmaddocks.co.uk

Birthdays

PETER STANLEY SACKETT ESQ Dear Dad, wishing you a very happy 90th birthday. Love your son x

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Today Some warm and sunny spells but areas of cloud will bring showery rain in places. Max 27C (81F), min 10C (50F)

Around Britain

Key: b=bright, c=cloud, d=drizzle, pc=partly cloudy du=dull, f=fair, fg=fog, h=hail, m=mist, r=rain, sh=showers, sl=sleet, sn=snow, s=sun, t=thunder *=previous day **=data not available

	Temp C		Rain mm	Sun hr*
	midday yesterday		24 hrs to 5pm yesterday
Aberdeen	16	C	1.2	10.8
Aberporth	20	D	0.6	11.9
Anglesey	21	C	0.0	11.5
Aviemore	19	PC	0.0	8.3
Barnstaple	20	C	0.0	**
Bedford	24	PC	0.0	**
Belfast	18	C	0.0	11.0
Birmingham	23	S	0.0	**
Bournemouth	25	PC	0.0	10.4
Bridlington	19	PC	0.0	**
Bristol	24	PC	0.0	10.4
Camborne	20	R	0.8	10.9
Cardiff	21	C	0.0	11.9
Edinburgh	17	C	0.0	9.6
Eskdalemuir	16	PC	1.4	12.3
Glasgow	18	R	0.2	10.4
Hereford	24	PC	0.0	**
Herstmonceux	25	S	0.0	8.1
Ipswich	22	S	0.0	7.3
Isle of Man	20	C	0.0	11.0
Isle of Wight	25	S	0.0	**
Jersey	25	PC	0.4	5.1
Keswick	19	C	0.0	**
Kinloss	**	**	0.0	11.5
Leeds	18	C	0.0	**
Lerwick	14	C	0.0	7.8
Leuchars	17	C	0.4	10.8
Lincoln	22	C	0.0	7.1
Liverpool	21	C	0.0	**
London	26	S	0.0	10.3
Lyneham	24	S	0.0	11.8
Manchester	20	R	0.0	8.6
Margate	22	S	0.0	11.0
Milford Haven	20	R	0.2	**
Newcastle	18	C	2.0	**
Nottingham	22	PC	0.0	5.9
Orkney	16	PC	0.0	**
Oxford	25	S	0.0	**
Plymouth	21	R	4.2	**
Portland	20	PC	0.4	**
Scilly, St Mary's	19	C	0.6	**
Shoreham	26	S	0.0	10.9
Shrewsbury	21	PC	0.0	11.0
Snowdonia	19	S	0.0	**
Southend	22	S	0.0	8.6
South Ulist	18	PC	0.0	**
Stornoway	18	S	0.2	6.8
Tiree	18	C	0.0	9.8
Whitehaven	18	C	0.0	8.4
Wick	16	S	0.0	**
Yeovilton	24	PC	0.0	11.5

The world

All readings local midday yesterday

Alicante	34	S	Madeira	25	PC
Amsterdam	24	S	Madrid	24	PC
Athens	34	S	Malaga	28	S
Auckland	16	B	Mallorca	32	PC
Bahrain	43	S	Malta	33	S
Bangkok	33	PC	Melbourne	14	B
Barbados	30	PC	Mexico City	20	C
Barcelona	31	PC	Miami	25	T
Beijing	29	DU	Milan	24	PC
Beirut	***	***	Mombasa	30	PC
Belgrade	***	***	Montreal	17	SH
Berlin	23	S	Moscow	15	B
Bermuda	30	PC	Mumbai	30	M
Bordeaux	24	R	Munich	15	R
Brussels	22	S	Nairobi	25	PC
Bucharest	29	S	Naples	32	PC
Budapest	29	S	New Orleans	32	PC
Buenos Aires	12	C	New York	27	PC
Cairo	34	S	Nice	29	S
Calcutta	31	R	Nicosia	32	S
Canberra	14	SH	Oslo	20	S
Cape Town	21	S	Paris	26	S
Chicago	26	PC	Perth	19	B
Copenhagen	22	PC	Prague	20	S
Corfu	34	S	Reykjavik	11	B
Delhi	30	M	Riga	17	B
Dubai	43	PC	Rio de Janeiro	19	M
Dublin	18	PC	Riyadh	43	S
Faro	23	PC	Rome	32	PC
Florence	29	PC	San Francisco	21	PC
Frankfurt	18	R	Santiago	13	M
Geneva	27	PC	São Paulo	16	DU
Gibraltar	26	PC	Seoul	30	PC
Helsinki	17	PC	Seychelles	28	PC
Hong Kong	28	SH	Singapore	33	B
Honolulu	***	***	St Petersburg	15	DU
Istanbul	32	S	Stockholm	18	B
Jerusalem	33	S	Sydney	19	R
Johannesburg	24	S	Tel Aviv	33	S
Kuala Lumpur	32	PC	Tenerife	28	PC
Kyiv	***	***	Tokyo	33	PC
Lanzarote	29	PC	Vancouver	22	PC
Las Palmas	28	PC	Venice	26	PC
Lima	21	DU	Vienna	25	S
Lisbon	24	PC	Warsaw	21	PC
Los Angeles	28	PC	Washington	27	PC
Luxor	40	S	Zurich	21	PC

Five days ahead

Mainly unsettled with cloudy skies and spells of rain, perhaps heavy and thundery at times

Tomorrow

An unsettled, warm and humid day with widespread rain and heavy, thundery showers. Best of any dry and sunny weather in western Scotland and southwestern England. Max 25C, min 10C

Friday

Mainly dry with sunny spells and a few isolated showers in southern Britain. Rather cloudy with showery rain elsewhere, especially heavy and prolonged across Scotland.

Saturday

Some periods of sunshine, but cloud and rain spreading eastwards across the British Isles, heavy in places. Max 22C, min 6C

Sunday

Brief sunny intervals, but most of the day will be cloudy with showery rain spreading eastwards, heavy at times over Ireland and southwestern Britain. Max 23C, min 8C

Monday

Blustery with mostly cloudy skies and outbreaks of heavy rain in northern Britain. Sunny spells and scattered showers elsewhere. Max 21C, min 6C

The Times weather page is provided by WeatherQuest

Sea state

Temperature

Calm Slight Moderate Rough

28 (degrees C)

Flood alerts and warnings

At 17:00 on Tuesday there were five flood alerts and no warnings in England and no flood alerts or warnings in Wales or Scotland. For further information and updates in England visit check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk, for Wales naturalresources.wales/flooding and for Scotland SEPA.org.uk

General situation: A humid and mostly cloudy day with showery outbreaks of rain spreading northwards. Mostly dry in northern and eastern Scotland. Glasgow, Aberdeen, Cen Highland, Moray Firth, N Isles, NE Scotland, Edinburgh and Dundee, NW Scotland: A dry day with some thicker cloud around in the morning, followed by a mainly sunny afternoon. Light to moderate southeasterly winds. Maximum 22C (72F), minimum 10C (50F). SW Scotland, Argyll: Mainly dry

Tides

Heights in metres. All times in local time
Today		Ht		Ht
Aberdeen	01:03	3.8	13:39	3.8
Avonmouth	06:52	11.3	19:14	12.0
Belfast	11:14	3.1	23:24	3.3
Cardiff	06:43	10.7	19:04	11.3
Devonport	05:27	4.7	17:42	5.1
Dover	11:04	6.1	23:22	6.1
Dublin	11:37	3.6	23:36	3.9
Falmouth	05:07	4.5	17:20	4.9
Greenock	--:--	--	12:30	2.9
Harwich	11:39	3.7	--:--	--
Holyhead	10:30	4.9	22:33	5.3
Hull	05:52	6.7	18:33	6.5
Leith	02:21	4.9	14:52	5.0
Liverpool	11:12	8.3	23:19	8.8
London Bridge	01:30	6.4	13:50	6.4
Lowestoft	09:10	2.4	22:06	2.3
Milford Haven	06:08	6.0	18:23	6.5
Morecambe	11:23	8.2	23:30	8.8
Newhaven	11:05	6.0	23:18	6.1
Newquay	05:01	5.9	17:15	6.3
Oban	05:51	3.4	18:07	3.7
Penzance	04:35	4.7	16:49	5.1
Portsmouth	11:33	4.3	23:38	4.3
Shoreham	11:14	5.6	23:23	5.6
Southampton	10:32	4.1	22:45	4.2
Swansea	06:06	8.1	18:27	8.6
Tees	03:23	5.0	15:56	5.0
Weymouth	06:35	1.6	18:48	1.9

with sunny spells in the morning, then turning cloudy with increasing amounts of rain. Light to moderate east or southeasterly winds. Maximum 23C (73F), minimum 13C (55F). N Ireland, Republic of Ireland, London, Wales, Midlands, IoM, E Anglia: Rather cloudy with outbreaks of rain during the morning, followed by sunny spells and scattered showers in the afternoon. Light to moderate easterly winds. Maximum 27C (81F), minimum 12C (54F).

Synoptic situation

Low pressure to the west of France will bring a more moist air mass from the Atlantic to Britain and Ireland. This will lead to a series of fronts spreading northwards, bringing the risk of rain and thunderstorms in southwestern and central areas. Temperatures will become cooler over the next few days with limited amounts of sunshine.

Borders, E Eng, Cen N Eng, NE Eng, Lake District, NW Eng: Some sunshine but an area of cloud and showery rain will spread northwards, perhaps thundery in places. Light to moderate southeasterly winds. Maximum 25C (77F), minimum 12C (54F). SW Eng, Cen S Eng, Channel Is, SE Eng: Many areas will have a dry day with sunny spells, but the risk of an isolated shower in places. Light and variable winds. Maximum 24C (75F), minimum 16C (61F).

Highs and lows 24hrs to 5pm yesterday Warmest: Otterbourne, Hampshire, 28.4C Coldest: Braemar, 1.0C Wettest: Plymouth, Devon, 4.2mm Sunniest: Boulmer, 12.6hrs*

Sun and moon For Greenwich Sun rises: 06.03 Sun sets: 20.00 Moon rises: 19.30 Moon sets: 04.58 Thu Full moon: August 28

Hours of darkness
Aberdeen 20:52-05:30
Belfast 21:00-05:52
Birmingham 20:39-05:40
Cardiff 20:42-05:47
Exeter 20:42-05:50
Glasgow 20:57-05:42
Liverpool 20:46-05:42
London 20:30-05:35
Manchester 20:43-05:39
Newcastle 20:44-05:33
Norwich 20:27-05:27
Penzance 20:49-05:59
Sheffield 20:40-05:36

Weather Eye Paul Simons

The town of Ottery St Mary in Devon may be best known as the birthplace of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was born opposite the

medieval church where his father was vicar. The church itself is unusually grand with two towers, the north of which has an unusual weather vane of a cockerel containing two sound-producing funnels that whistled in the wind. The stronger the wind, the louder the bird sang.

One traveller recalled how the "curious whistling of the hours had disturbed my night's rest. He trumpets through two trumpet-like tubes passing from the breast through the body, each tube being fitted with a tongue so as to produce a siren moaning." In recent times the cockerel has had its whistle blocked off and silenced for the sanity of residents.

The noisy cockerel may have been designed to ward off witches, demons and ghosts that were believed to conjure up fierce winds. The noise of the weathercock would have driven away spirits from the churchyard at Ottery St Mary and restored calm, as an old legend claimed: "A cock on a church tower watching over a graveyard would help to keep the ghosts of the dead contained."

Weather vanes are some of the earliest weather instruments, first recorded in ancient Greece in 48BC atop the Tower of the Winds near the Acropolis in Athens, in honour of the ancient Greek god Triton, the ruler of the sea who commanded the wind to rise or fall. By Saxon times in England, the word “fane” meant a long triangular pennant or flag, and there is an intriguing detail from the Bayeux Tapestry showing what appears to be the figure of a man fixing a weather vane with a cockerel on Westminster Abbey.

The Vikings also flew pennants made of fabric on their longships to gauge the wind, later replaced by the more familiar flat metal quadrant weather vane. Medieval weather vanes made of fabric were used in battle to help archers gauge wind speed and direction.

Speak directly to one of our forecasters on 09065 777675

8am to 5pm daily (calls are charged at £1.55 plus network extras)

WeatherQuest weatherquest.co.uk

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TIMES Holidays

4.10 Nursery (2-Y-O: £5,757: 7f) (15)

6.20 Al Wathba	7.51 Bint Kilfrush
6.51 Sea Brave	8.21 Bintaryana
7.21 Ribenska	8.51 Cosmo Brown
Going: standard to slow
Draw: 5f-1m, low numbers best

Sport

Moody: It's hard to watch my slow physical decline

World Cup winner tells John Westerby about mission to help find a cure for motor neurone disease in his lifetime

Lewis Moody looks well. The shoulders are still broad, the smile even more so, the shock of bright, blond hair marking him out as it always

did, his physique and 6ft 3in frame identifying him unmistakably as a former professional rugby player.

He is holding court on the outfield at the County Ground in Taunton, home of Somerset cricket club, where a charity match has just been played featuring Saracens rugby players and Somerset cricketers to raise funds for research into motor neurone disease, the degenerative condition with which Moody, the former England flanker, was diagnosed last September.

The charity match was the brainchild of Jamie George, the Saracens and England hooker, who persuaded team-mates including Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly and Ben Earl to pit their varied cricketing skills against the likes of Jack Leach, James Rew and Lewis Gregory. The highlight of the day was an over bowled so spectacularly badly by Alfie Barbeary, the Saracens No 8, that it featured a ball going backwards and trickling past the umpire. A crowd of 3,000 were amply

entertained and valuable funds were raised.

Moody, at present, still looks well enough to have played in the game. Could he have taken part? “Jamie [George] invited me to play. I said, ‘I’m sure you can find some more youthful and athletic individuals than me,’” Moody, 48, says. “Then I saw Alfie Barbeary bowling and thought, ‘Actually, I could have done a stint out there.’ But no, I’m just grateful to be able to be here and the fact the lads have chosen the MND Association as one of the charities they want to support is even more reason.”

When Moody is offered such opportunities, the decision is not so straightforward now that he has been given a diagnosis of MND, the life-shortening neurological condition that affects nerves controlling movement and causes progressive muscle weakness.

"I love my cricket, but it's always weighing things up," he says. "I weigh everything up in the sense of, 'Is this the last time I might be able to do it? And if I'm going to do it, what's the impact it's going to have on me?' My experience of playing cricket in retirement has been enjoyable, but sadly there's been calf [injury], hamstring [injury], broken finger... my body just can't heal in the way it did. It was better to leave these lads to it and do their thing."

Somerset has been home to Moody since he spent the final two years of his career with Bath, after a 14-year spell with Leicester Tigers. His older son, Dylan, 18, played junior cricket for Somerset before settling on football and he is now a goalkeeper with Southampton. Ethan, two years younger, is following his father's path and is mad keen on rugby. "It's nice to have some rugby continuing in the family," Moody says with a smile.

The recent sporting exploits of Moody Sr have generally been directed at the fundraising that is now his firm priority. In June, he led a 500-mile cycle ride in aid of MND research that has so far raised almost £700,000, and Moody is determined to follow in the footsteps of Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow, Joost van der Westhuizen and Ed Slater, other rugby players diagnosed with the disease who made it their mission to raise awareness around the globe.

“Motor neurone disease is a difficult thing to be diagnosed with, even more so when you find out very little can be done,” he says. “There’s a huge amount of people doing great research, but what’s needed is more awareness and more funding. People often say MND isn’t curable, but it isn’t incurable. It’s just underfunded. My energy is being placed into this space to try to generate as much financial support and awareness as possible, to try to make a difference.”

Moody wants to make an impact while he still has that energy, because he knows the decline is inevitable. How does he feel at the moment?

"I'm well," he says. "It's a weird disease and the specialists tell you, 'You'll never feel ill.' I don't feel unwell, I'm likely to never feel unwell. But it's hard to watch the slow decline of your physical state. That is a daily battle, mentally.

"There is sadness, of course, but I choose to stay positive, to enjoy the time I have. My wife [Annie] is here, my kids are good. Until that changes, we'll learn and adapt."

For his own part, Moody attaches no blame to rugby for his condition and is grateful for the lessons learnt over a career in which he won 71 England caps, including victory in the 2003 World Cup final.

“Sport more than anything else prepares you for challenges like this,” he says. “You’re given loads of different obstacles, nothing that relates to a diagnosis like this, but mentally you’re given the opportunity to overcome obstacles weekly, daily. For me, it was just another thing to figure out how to handle... ‘overcome’ is probably the wrong word... to deal with.”

He chose not to use “overcome” because he knows this challenge will inevitably defeat him. He has set his mind, instead, to funding research so that the ultimate aim of a cure for MND may become a realistic possibility in his lifetime.

“From a campaign point of view, there will be more to talk about in the new year,” he says. “I’m trying to create the space for everyone to get together under one banner to do what we need to do with this baton that Doddie and Rob and Joost have passed on to me. I feel I need to get as close to the finish line as possible. There’s work to be done and I’m looking forward to it.”

Moody, centre, pictured with George,

Newbury Rob Wright

4.10 Star Bayside Boy	6.30 Abundant (nap)
4.45 Perfect Strike	7.00 Lion Of Mali (nb)
5.20 Martaban	7.30 Eagles Attire
5.55 Somers Isles
Going: good to firm
Draw: no advantage	Sky Sports Racing

4.10	Nursery (2-4) 05,37, 71) (15)
1 (8)	440 MAGI MELCHIOR 25 R Hannon 9-9	S M Levey
2 (10)	6404 PRIMAL 27 A Balding 9-7	O Murphy
3 (1)	303 SOVEREIGNS HIGH 24 R Beckett 9-7	H Crouch
4 (6)	422 REGAL TIGER 37 (BF) H Palmer 9-7	B Loughnane
5 (13)	652 MINO 12 M Botti 9-7	M Ghiani
6 (4)	6601 MOBADIR 23 E Walker 9-6	K Shoemark
7 (11)	51065 EL LAMBO 16 C Hills 9-4	C Rodriguez
8 (15)	562 FOSCARINI 20 E J-Houghton 9-3	C Bishop
9 (3)	01 STAR BAYSIDE BOY 23 M Tregoning 9-3	R Hornby
10 (9)	055 LILYWHITE HART 21 D Ivory 9-3	J F Egan
11 (2)	051 GOLDEN OASIS 49 (D) Robert Edwards 9-2	R P Downey
12 (5)	63252 GLOBAL SUCCESS 17 (P,BF) J S Moore 9-1	T Fisher
13(12)	515 DISSENTER 23 M Tregoning 9-1	A Lewis (3)
14 (7)	53230 LUSHILL 16 J S Moore 8-9	D Egan
15(14)	0050 ITS A GINGER THING 21 R Hughes 8-7	S Osborne
10-3	Mobadir, 5-1 Regal Tiger, 13-2 Primal, 8-1 Global Success, Golden Oasis, Mino, 12-1 Star Bayside Boy, Sovereigns High.
Rob Wright's choice: Star Bayside Boy steps up in trip after staying on to win at Windsor Dangers Mobadir, Mino

4.45 Maiden Stakes

(2-Y-O: £6,480: 6f 110yd) (10)
1	(7)	CHEVERE Owen Burrows 9-7	C Rodriguez
2	(2)	5 CRUSHERMAN 131 B Meehan 9-7	D Egan
3	(4)	FLICK OF AN EYE S & E Crisford 9-7	J Mitchell
4	(8)	KICKING BEAR E Walker 9-7	K Shoemark
5	(9)	MOOFEED A Watson 9-7	W Cox
6	(3)	0 PERFECT STRIKE 32 W Haggas 9-7	T Marquand
7	(6)	SOLAR SWING G Boughey 9-7	B Loughnane
8	(10)	SOL DORADO M Tregoning 9-7	R Hornby
9	(1)	YABREEN J Channon 9-7	O Murphy
10	(5)	00 VELMA DINKLEY 56 Faye Bramley 9-2	O Carmichael (7)
9-4 Solar Swing, 7-2 Crusherman, 13-2 Flick Of An Eye, Moofeed, 10-1 others.
Weight choices: Perfect Strike was scored on his debut at

5.20	Maiden Stakes(2-Y-O: £6,480: 6f 110yd) (9)
1 (9)	BATTLEWORTHY A Balding 9-7	O Murphy

2 (8)	DARJEEL R Hannon 9-7	S M Levey
3 (7)	EPISTLE H Main 9-7	J Mitchell
4 (4)	KINGDOM OF KUSH R Varian 9-7	R P Downey
5 (6)	MARTABAN E J-Houghton 9-7	C Bishop
6 (5)	SATURN STAR R Beckett 9-7	H Crouch
7 (1)	SCYTHE B Meehan 9-7	S Osborne
8 (2)	TOM THUMB Billy Aprahamian 9-7	T Fisher
9 (3)	0 UNCLE ZELLO 7 J Channon 9-7	G Bass

Wright choice: Martaban, a son of Kameko, is related to several winners Dangers Saturn Star, Kingdom Of Kush

5.55 Maiden Stakes

1 (10)	00 BEST YET 9 R Hughes 9-2	David Egan
2 (4)	BIDSTA G Boughey 9-2	B Loughnane
3 (11)	BLING H Palmer 9-2	M Ghiani
4 (2)	CIRCLET Owen Burrows 9-2	C Rodriguez
5 (7)	INMYOPINION (H) A Perrett 9-2	R Hornby
6 (1)	LETTER TO HERMIONE E Walker 9-2	T Marquand
7 (3)	55 ROYAL MESSAGE 55 E Walker 9-2	K Shoemark
8 (9)	2 SOMERS ISLES 40 A Balding 9-2	O Murphy
9 (8)	4 STARBURSTER 79 R Spencer 9-2	S Osborne
10 (5)	STATE OF AMERICA Ollie Sangster 9-2	H Crouch
11 (6)	URUMITA R Hannon 9-2	S M Levey
11-4 Bidsta, 4-1 Somers Isles, 11-2 Starburster, 7-1 State Of America, 8-1 Letter To Hermione, Royal Message, 10-1 Urumita, 14-1 Bling.
Wright choice: Somers Isles travelled well when second over seven furlongs at Newmarket Dangers Starburster, Bidsta

6.30 Handicap (£7,328: 1m) (13)

1 (8) 41135 BEST RATE 11 (D) R Hannon 4-10-4 S C Cronin (5) 2 (3) 622 CLOUD FOREST 21 (BF) S bin Suroor 4-10-0 H Crouch 3 (13) 33112 DISTINCT SPIRIT 19 (D) D & C Kubler 6-10-0 E Nader 4 (6) 14-45 PRINCESS RASCAL 75 Oliver Cole 4-9-13 K Fraser 5 (1) 10322 ZATSGOOD 12 (P,T,D) G Boughey 4-9-13 B Loughnane 6 (7) 31-45 MARLBOROUGH PLACE 70 (D) A Wintle 4-9-11

7 (12) 210- RIVER CARD 326 (D) B Meehan 3-9-11 T Marquand 8 (5) 4010 ELECTRIC DREAMS 27 (D) J Fanshawe 3-9-10 O Murphy 9 (4) 30044 WALSON'S LAW 12 (C,D) E Johnson Houghton 5-9-10

10 (2) -4335 ABUNDANT 27 (D) T Ward 3-9-5	S M Levey
11(11) 00151 HOME HERO 18 (V,D) H Palmer 3-9-5	L Catton (3)
12(10) 4-511 ACCADEMIA 40 (CD) E Walker 3-9-3	K Shoemark
13 (9) 0-200 TRIBAL RHYTHM 44 (P) D Coakley 5-9-3	R Hornby
9-2 Accademia, 11-2 Home Hero, 6-1 Distinct Spirit, 7-1 Zatsgood, Cloud Forest, 8-1 Watson's Law, 10-1 Abundant, 12-1 River Card.

Wright choice: Abundant did well when fifth from a wide draw at Goodwood Dangers Zatsgood, Electric Dreams

7.00 Handicap

(3-Y-0: £7,328: 7f) (6)

1 (3) 22064 BRISK SYMPHONY 15 (P,C) J Portman 9-9 R Hornby 2 (6) 23-15 ARTANIS 168 (BF,D) Ollie Sangster 9-8 B Loughnane 3 (4) 30603 COOL MOLLY 32 (BF,D) Ollie Sangster 9-7 T Marquand 4 (1) 15122 LION OF MALI 25 (BF,D) J Fanshawe 9-3 D Egan 5 (5) 441 BOLD SHOUT 14 (Cox 8-13 H Crouch 6 (2) 24102 SHOW ME GOLD 19 (D) T Dascombe 8-12 O Murphy 2-1 Bold Shout, 11-4 Lion Of Mali, 9-2 Artanis, 6-1 Show Me Gold, 8-1 Cool Molly, 10-1 Brisk Symphony.

Wright choice: Lion Of Mali was unsuited by a slow early pace when second at Newmarket Danger Bold Shout

7.30 Handicap

(3-Y-O: £7,328: 1m 2f) (9)

1 (9) -0311 EMPIRICAL 30 (B,D) E Walker 9-9 K Shoemark 2 (1) -0251 EDWIN HUBBLE 20 (B,D) B Meehan 9-9 O Murphy 3 (6) 51 LIVEMORE 40 T Kent 9-9 C Rodriguez 4 (5) -4030 MAGNATURA 26 (V) T Ward 9-6 S M Levey 5 (2) 53434 MAGICAL MERLOT 13 E Dunlop 9-4 D Egan 6 (3) -0546 ISLAND BEAR 48 (B) Dr R Newland 9-4 B Loughnane 7 (8) 6-06 EAGLES ATTIRE 114 Oliver Cole 9-3 H Crouch 8 (7) 33512 GUESSTIMATE 15 (D) W Haggas 9-2 T Marquand 9 (4) 31153 FANS FAVOURITE 26 (P,D) H Palmer 8-11 M Ghiani 13-8 Livemore, 5-2 Empirical, 13-2 Edwin Hubble, 7-1 Guesstimate, 10-1 Magical Merlot, 14-1 Eagles Attire, 20-1 others.

Wright choice: Eagles Attire is well bred and should relish this step up in distance Dangers Empirical, Edwin Hubble

Kempton Park Rob Wright

Draw: 5f-1m, low numbers best

6.20 Novice Stakes (2-Y-0: £7020: 1m) (8)
1 (7)	22 AL WATHBA 17 (BF) C Appleby 9-7	W Buick
2 (2)	BURNINGRINGOFFIRE (H) R Hughes 9-7	F Marsh
3 (3)	CITES R Beckett 9-7	R Ryan
4 (5)	GILDER ROY James Owen 9-7	C Fallon
5 (6)	46 PEAK TRAM 34 Sir M Prescott 9-7	D E Hogan
6 (8)	PURE CONCEPT R Hannon 9-7	S Foley
7 (4)	2 SOMMOOD 19 S & E Crisford 9-7	H Davies
8 (1)	WYKEHURST PARK A Balding 9-7	C Hutchinson
6-4 Al Wathba, 4-1 Sommood, 9-2 Pure Concept, 6-1 Cites, 10-1 Wykehurst

Park, 12-1 Burningringoffire, 16-1 Gilder Roy, 66-1 Peak Tram.

6.51 Novice Stakes

1	(2)	00 BIG SNOOPY 103 (W,H) E Walker 3-9-7	G Downing
2	(3)	03 COILLTEDUDEISBACK 35 Adam Kirby 3-9-7	Doubtful
3	(6)	02-3 KAINDY 21 R Varian 3-9-7	R Dawson
4	(4)	0 MR G FORCE 10 D Ivory 3-9-7	T Greatrex
5	(8)	6 PALLISER 7 A Watson 3-9-7	P-L Jamin
6	(5)	40- PEDROS DREAM 243 A Carroll 3-9-7	M Slater (7)
7	(7)	2- SEA BRAVE 251 R Hughes 3-9-7	F Marsh
8	(1)	TALKING BEAR R Phillips 3-9-7	C Hutchinson
8-15 Kaindy, 2-1 Sea Brave, 25-1 Palliser, Talking Bear, 33-1 Big Snoopy, Mr G Force, 50-1 Pedro Dream.

7.21 Handicap

(£6,281: 7f) (10)

1 (8) 56005 PARIS BABE 26 (P,D) A Watson 4-10-0 P-L Jamin 2 (6) -5063 MUSICAL ANGEL 41 (D) S Dow 4-9-8 H Davies 3 (3) 00065 BRIDGET'S VIEW 14 (H,P,T,CD) S C Williams 4-9-8

4 (10) 232-0 STAR MIRAGE 29 H Al Jehani (UAE) 3-9-5 C Fallon 5 (7) 215 SHUSHU 63 (D) R Varian 3-9-2 R Dawson 6 (4) -4521 MERRY 7 (CD) James Horton 3-9-2(6ex) D Muscutt 7 (1) 0-203 RIBENSKA 69 (P,D) C Fellowes 4-9-1 C Shepherd 8 (5) 1-334 AFRAJ 35 (D) J & T Gosden 3-9-0 W Buick 9 (2) -0033 GHISA 26 (H,D) C Fellowes 3-8-13 P Bradley 10 (9) 5-250 SAHANA 22 (D) D M Simcock 4-8-11 D E Hogan 3-1 Merry, 5-1 Afraj, 11-2 Ribenska, 6-1 Shushu, 7-1 Bridget's View, 10-1 Ghi- sa, 12-1 Musical Angel, Star Mirage.

7.51 Handicap (£6.281: 1m 4f) (8)

1 (7) 6-032 GLORYOUS 13 J Osborne 4-10-2 W Carson 2 (2) 21-33 APHRODITE SPIRIT 40 R Teal 4-9-12 J Leavy 3 (6) 2-552 LADYKIRK 14 J Chapple-Hyam 3-9-9 W Buick 4 (4) 155 BINT KILFRUSH 109 J Tate 3-9-7 R Dawson 5 (1) 03100 BIG BEAR HUG 15 (C,D) J Boyle 7-9-7 P Bradley 6 (8) 5121 BINTKNIGHT 25 Harry Charlton 3-9-6 L Edmunds 7 (3) 01134 AFFECTION 27 (D) I Pipe 3-9-4 H Vigors (5) 8 (5) 242 SEACOLE 29 (H) R Beckett 3-9-4 R Ryan 2-Bintknight, 3-Ladykirk, 9-2 Seacole, 8-1 Aphrodite Spirit, Gloryous, 10-1 Bint Kiflrush, 20-A Affection, 25-1 Big Bear Hug.

8.21 Handicap

(3-Y-O: £6,281: 6f) (12)

1	(7) 0-051 AIGEAS 55 (CD) Oliver Cole 9-9	H Davies
2	(2) 3120 WEZZEER 74 (D) R Varian 9-9	R Dawson
3	(10) 21254 CAVIAR COWBOY 34 (H) J Fanshawe 9-7	D Muscutt
4	(8) 10-32 SOCIETY KISS 79 J Mackie 9-7	P J McDonald
5	(3) 11041 ARRY UP 34 (CD) B Millman 9-6	L Edmunds
6	(6) 26040 AUGUSTUS GLOOP 19 (D) J Fanshawe 9-4	G Wood

7 (12) 02152 MANLY FIREBALL 27 (D) R Hughes 9-3 Doubtful 8 (1) 12210 BINTARYANA 29 (D) W Knight 9-3 C Fallon 9 (4) 31010 KING OF CHAOS 26 (D) D Cunha 9-2 P Dobbs 10 (9) 00405 KOLKATA KNIGHT 12 (T,D) T Dascombe 9-2 P-L Jamin 11 (5) 5-000 SLAY QUEEN 44 (D) R Hannon 9-1 J Leavy 12(11) 11-31 FROM THE HIP 79 (CD) M Usher 9-0 T Heard 9-4 Algeas, 4-1 Arry Up, 7-1 From The Hip, Wezzeer, 8-1 Caviar Cowboy, 10-1 Society Kiss, 14-1 King Of Chaos, Bintaryana.

8.51 Handicap (3-Y-O: £4,187: 1m 4f) (12)

1 (6) 03631 TRAVELING MAN 6 (D) C Fellows 9-9 P Bradley
2 (8) 54105 RELENTLESS HERO 18 (H) A Balding 9-8 J Watson
3 (3) 00363 COSMO BROWN 20 W Muir & C Grassick 9-8 C Shepherd
4 (11) 20501 MADJID 39 Harry Charlton 9-7 L Edmunds
5 (9) 44432 HOT SILK 16 (P) J Fanshawe 9-6 H Vigors (5)
6 (12) 00203 SEMPER FEMINA 35 R Hannon 9-5 P Dobbs
7 (10) 00610 AMRUM 63 Ollie Sangster 9-3 W Buick
8 (4) 500 FAR FAR OUT 58 A Carroll 9-1 W Carson
9 (7) -6442 EVENING FADES 27 (T) W Haggas 9-1 C Fallon
10 (1) 03-33 LORD MAYOR 197 A Balding 9-1 P J McDonald
11 (2) 61-40 TINSEL 30 H Morrison 9-1 C Hutchinson
12 (5) 51665 COSPICUA 18 (CD) J Tate 8-7 R Dawson
3-1 Traveling Man, 4-1 Madjid, 5-1 Hot Silk, 8-1 Evening Fades, 10-1 Lord Mayor, Amrum, 12-1 Relentless Hero, Semper Fernina.

Wolverhampton Rob Wright

2.00 Rajeteriat 3.30 Boilermaker
2.30 Lovely Dark Angel 4.00 Lawmans Blis
3.00 Diamondinthedark 4.35 Grand Vista

Going: standard Sky Sports Racing Draw: 7f-1m, low numbers best

2.00 Handicap

1 (4) 00324 SUB THIRTEEN 22 (P,D) J Scott 5-9-9 O Tubb (3) 2 (1) 6-021 BRIDGET'S BABY 69 (D) A Carroll 3-9-8 M Gunn (5) 3 (6) 20504 DUSK DAMSEL 9 (B) J S Moore 3-9-7 M Wonnacott (3) 4 (7) -3003 RAJETERIAT 9 (V) C Gordon 4-9-5 L Wright 5 (3) 00520 FANCY DANCER 11 (P,C,D) Hayley Burton 4-9-4

6 (5) 31466 SIXCOR 2 (P,CD) Miss L Perratt 8-9-2 T Kiely-Marshall 7 (2) 35055 NAD ALSHIBA SNOW 4 (T) M Murphy 4-9-0 R Kavanagh 13-8 Bridget's Baby, 5-2 Sub Thirteen, 13-2 Rajeteriat, 8-1 others.

The following horses are wearing blinkers for the first time today: Catterick 3.45 Lilykoy; 4.52 Twilight Dawn.

PHIL MINGO/PINNACLE

left, and Gregory, right, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year

All Blacks given scare and now Kolisi's back for Boks

Lions

New Zealand

Alex Lowe Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Rassie Erasmus stayed away from this game at Ellis Park, anxious to avoid "awkward" interactions with supporters after South Africa's first-Test defeat, but he did confirm that Siya Kolisi will captain the Springboks in the second Test against New Zealand on Saturday.

With Kolisi returning to the side after a grade two hamstring injury, the Springboks will field the most experienced starting XV in their history for the high-stakes showdown in Cape Town, featuring a total of 1,012 caps.

After years of global dominance, the Springboks are feeling the heat. South Africa cannot afford to go 2-0 down in the four-game series and Erasmus admitted his squad evolution plans had been put on hold this week, with 12 of the starting side now aged 30 or over.

Erasmus watched the game on a screen at the Springboks' hotel — and he saw the Lions succeed where South Africa had failed on Saturday, as they profited from sharp execution and an ability to turn scrum dominance into points, scoring five tries.

The Lions always threatened to be the toughest of the franchise opponents for the All Blacks. Not only had they spent three weeks training against the Springboks, but these fixtures between Test matches are notoriously awkward for touring teams.

The Lions were the more cohesive unit, racing into a 14-0 lead inside seven minutes before opening an 18-point advantage early in the second half, courtesy of an emphatic pushover try, scored by their captain, Francke Horn.

Eventually, the All Blacks tidied up the handling errors and bossed the final 30 minutes to haul in the Lions with a commitment to playing fast, ruckless rugby while exerting growing control up front. They scored four tries after falling behind 35-17, seven in total.

Most of Dave Rennie's selections for the Test match will be settled in his mind but history shows that players can use these fixtures as a springboard into Test match consideration.

The outstanding player on the field was Ethan Blackadder, the All Blacks captain, who scored two tries and could have done no more to thrust himself into the frame as Rennie considers the balance of his bench.

"I am keen to look back on his performance," Rennie said. "He was all over the park. He got his hands

loane scored two tries to make his case for playing in the second Test on a lot of ball post-tackle. He carried a lot. He made a lot of tackles. He has a big engine. He had a massive impact on the game tonight."

Rieko Ioane also did his Test chances no harm with an incisive performance at outside centre, scoring two long-range tries. When New Zealand's attack clicked they delivered some dazzling rugby.

Emoni Narawa also scored twice, including the final try of the evening which he finished by beating four cover defenders with one devastating step and then powering through two more.

With Josh Lord out of the second Test after suffering a concussion, Rennie was relieved that both of his locks, Patrick Tuipulotu and Sam Darry, emerged unscathed from the game to be in contention for the Test.

"Paddy carried really well early," Rennie said. "He got in behind and created a lot of go-forward for us. Both locks came through really well."

Jamie Hannah, the replacement lock, made an impressive contribution given he only arrived in the country on Monday. "The

Lions came to play and at 35-17 I was really pleased with our composure and our ability to grind out the last 30 minutes," Rennie added. "The scrum was pretty pivotal late in the game."

Rennie confirmed that Anton Segner, the All Blacks flanker who had to pull out of the first Test, had undergone keyhole surgery to clear out an infection in his ankle. He

will play no further part in the series.

2.30 Novice Stakes

1 (2) 0 HIRAM BINGHAM 30 M Bell 9-7 J Peate 2 (10) 642 HE'S READYTORUMBLE 11 J Channon 9-4 E Greatrex 3 (9) 00 LAUNCHPAD 11 N Littmoden 9-4 R Kavanagh (3) 4 (12) MARHABA YA TAYI8 R Hughes 9-4 Doubtful 5 (5) 0 PREMIUM SEAT 11 J S Moore 9-4 M Wonnacott (5) 6 (4) REDDY E J-Houghton 9-4 R Clutterbuck 7 (7) 640 VENTURA POWER 71 G Boughey 9-4 M Smith (7) 8 (11) 4 LOVELY DARK ANGEL 23 G Boughey 9-2 P Cosgrave 9 (6) 43222 MY MARIA 19 (P.BF) A Watson 9-2 G Mangan 10 (1) 06 MR MONTGOMERY 5 (H) Ollie Sangster 9-1 S Donohoe 11 (8) NIL SATIS SUPREME M Loughnane 9-1 H Regan (7) 12 (3) SOLAR MISSION G Nicholls 9-1 K O'Neill 15-8 Lovely Dark Angel, 9-4 My Maria, 3-1 He's Readytorumble, 12-1 Marhaba Ya Tayib, 14-1 others.

3.00 Handicap (£4,187: 6f) (9)

1 (4) 2-000 ROYAL ACCORD 4 (D) P Chapple-Hyam 4-9-11 O Haines (7) 2 (7) 21-02 DIAMONDINTHEDARK 22 (T,CD) M Loughnane 3-9-9

3 (5) -5004 NIGHT MISSION 40 M Appleby 3-9-7 A Rawlinson 4 (2) -6000 CAMPENAERTS 48 (C) J Portman 3-9-7 O Tubb (5) 5 (1) 110-0 BELLAGIO MAN 117 (B,D) A Brittain 8-9-6 C Hardie 6 (8) 66250 GUERNSEY ANGEL 13 (C) P Evans 3-9-5 D Keenan 7 (9) -0644 CURRAHEE 12 (P,T) S C Williams 4-9-2 P Cosgrave 8 (6) 1362- ALSHIMALI 254 (H) A Carroll 5-9-1 J Gordon 9 (3) 4-256 MIRACLEOFTHEANDES 14 W Greatrex 3-9-0 E Greatrex 9-4 Diamondinthedark, 4-1 Night Mission, 5-1 Alshimali, 11-2 others.

3.30 Handicap

(£4,187: 1m 6f) (7)

1 (3) 2-405 KINGDOM OF STARS 8 Kerry Lee 5-10-0 R Havlin

2 (4) 51211 THE CRAFTYMASTER 12 (T,CD) A Carroll 6-9-12

3 (1) 5104- LETMEBETHEBOSS 252 (D) A Carroll 5-9-10 K Fox 4 (5) 05243 FAIR DINKUM 36 (T,D) J Scott 6-9-9 K O'Neill 5 (7) -2406 ONE COOL DREAMER 34 (P) R Stephens 5-9-9

6 (2) 35152 V POWER 18 (T,CD) T Faulkner 6-9-7 Z Lewis (7) 7 (6) 42321 BOILERMAKER 28 (P,D) Harry Charlton 3-9-4 D Probert 2-1 Boilermaker, 3-1 The Craftymaster, 5-1 Letmebetheboss, 6-1 others.

4.00 Classified Stakes (£3,454; 1m 4f) (11)

1 (9) 6-006 BEAT THE ODDS 61 A Brittain 4-9-9 C Hardie 2 (4) 0-605 D DAY MAJOR WINTER 22 (P) James Owen 4-9-9

4 (2) 26131 DESIDERATA 130 (CD) T Faulkner 6-9-8 R Havlin 5 (11) 32315 MANTON ROAD 6 (P,CD) R Phillips 4-9-7 K Fox 6 (9) 24520 BOOK OF LIFE 32 (P,CD) P Morris 6-9-6 D J Murphy (7) 7 (6) -0006 ROGUE OFFICER 26 (H) A Brittain 4-9-4 C Hardie 8 (7) 03036 GRAND VISTA 20 (P) W Muir & C Grassick 3-9-0

3 (6) 60023 FIGHTING POET 8 (V,D) R Phillips 8-9-9 J Peate 4 (8) 00006 HAMMAL 43 (T) M Young 5-9-9 K O'Neill 5 (1) 66146 LAWMANS BLIS 74 (CD) Jessica Macey 8-9-9

6 (11) 00-50 RAVENSWELL 83 (P) T Faulkner 5-9-9 R Havlin 7 (10) 6-002 SOMEONE'S WISH 8 (P,C) P Morris 6-9-9

8 (2) 52264 SPACEAGE LOVE SONG 21 (P,CD) M Bell 4-9-9

9 (7) 56006 N'ION 22 (P) I Williams 3-9-0 E Greatrex 10 (3) 00230 RAISE THE STAKES 18 Ewan Whillans 3-9-0 G Fairley 11 (5) 00643 SMOKER BELLAMY 34 (P) Dr R Newland 3-9-0

3-1 Someone's Wish, 7-2 Fighting Poet, 6-1 Smoker Bellamy, Lawmans Blis, 7-1 others.

4.35 Handicap

(£3,454: 1m 1f) (12)

1 (4) 20504 SHAMACID 11 (T) S Woods 4-9-12 D Probert 2 (10) 31323 ON KEY 10 (P,C) S Dixon 4-9-11 K O'Neill 3 (8) 00004 CY TWOMBLY 27 (T,V) J Mackie 4-9-10 J Doughty

B French-Davis (5) 10 (1) -0063 ROKUNI 49 (T,V) C Wallis 4-8-12 C Howarth (3) 11(12) 30445 ANORAH UNLEASHED 54 A Carroll 3-8-11 J Gordon 12 (3) 00-03 THOMAS TALLIS 20 J Mackie 3-8-5 F Bassett (7) 3-1 Desiderata, 4-1 On Key, 11-2 Thomas Tallis, 6-1 Manton Road, 10-1 Rokuni, Shamacid, 12-1 others.

Catterick Rob Wright

2.15 Shaniko 3.45 Niffler
2.45 Royale Union 4.15 Our Absent Friends
3.15 Powernap 4.52 Without Delay

Draw: 5f-7f, low numbers best

9 (9) 30 PURRISTA 19 G Tutty 8-10 C Beasley 6-5 Mugheer, 9-4 Shaniko, 4-1 Romidijo, 10-1 Ghazalia, 20-1 others.

Racing TV

2.15 Maiden Stakes

(2-Y-O: £5,400: 5f) (9)

1 (7) 00 NEVERBEATDESWALKER 42 M Walford 9-4 J Garritty 2 (8) 0244 SHANIKO 19 (H) Craig Lidster 9-2 D Tudhope 3 (1) MUGHEER K R Burke 9-1 C Lee 4 (3) 5 NORTH COATES 10 M & D Easterby 9-1 B Garritty 5 (6) 0 REDROSECASTANA 18 C Kellett 9-1 M Winn 6 (4) 04225 ROMIDIJO 17 Charlie Clover 8-13 S James 7 (2) 0 SCOTTYS ROCKET 37 B Ellison 8-13 A Mullen 8 (5) GHAZALIA H Kobeissi 8-10 S D Bowen

2.45 Maiden Stakes (£5,400: 7f) (8)

1 (5) 60050 AURORA'S DOUBLESIX 13 (H) B Rothwell 4-9-7F McManoman 2 (3) 0 KHANIMAMBO 18 D & N Barron 3-9-7 D Nolan 3 (6) SKEWSBY M & D Easterby 3-9-7 B Garritty 4 (2) 00 DREAMADERA 123 T Easterby 3-9-2 D Fentiman 5 (4) -2325 LADY GORMIRE 27 M Dods 3-9-2 C Beasley 6 (8) 544 MOONLIGHT MELODY 46 D McCain 3-9-2 D Allan 7 (7) 032 ROYALE UNION 23 K R Burke 3-9-2 C Lee 8 (1) -2555 SOCA STAR 8 S Spencer 3-9-2 D Swift 11-8 Royale Union, 3-1 Lady Gormire, 7-2 Moonlight Melody, 5-1 others.

3.15 Handicap

(£3,664: 6f) (6)

1 (3) 01143 RUN THIS WAY 81 (B,D) P Midgley 8-9-9 D Nolan 2 (4) -0020 MISS WILLOWS 12 (C) S Whitaker 7-9-8 J Mason 3 (5) 10140 BARMYBLADE 9 (P,CD) T Easterby 4-9-8 D Allan 4 (2) 03060 OVERBUDGET 19 M Appleby 3-9-8 A Mullen 5 (1) 52210 POWERNAP 48 (T,C) J Bedi 3-9-4 D Costello 6 (6) 21533 BATTENBURG BELLE (2D) C R Menzies 3-8-12 J Hart 6-4 Run This Way, 4-1 Battenburg Belle, 5-1 Powernap, 6-1 others.

3.45 Handicap

(£3,664: 1m 6f) (8)

1 (6) 0-653 ANIMATO J39 (T,V,C) D McCain 7-9-12 D Nolan 2 (2) 03656 ZEPHLYN 22 (T,C) Ewan Whillans 7-9-11 J Hart 3 (3) -0645 MR WITHINGTON 15 (E) Ewan Whillans 5-9-6 C Beasley 4 (8) 0001 NIFFLER 6 Sir M Prescott 3-9-1(6ex) L Morris 5 (4) 30420 FAIRYDALE 15 (V) T Easterby 3-9-0 D Allan 6 (1) -P054 THIS RIB 28 (T) D Loughnane 3-9-0 Joanna Mason

7 (5) -5404 MANBEARPIG 11 (P) R Menzies 3-8-12 F Bughanaim 8 (7) -5603 LILYKOY 35 (B) D Cunha 3-8-8 A Jary (3) 8-11 Niffler, 7-1 Zephlyn, 8-1 Fairydale, 10-1 Lilykoy, 12-1 others.

4.15 Handicap (£5,234: 5f) (10)

1 (6) 25602 FIDELIUS 18 (D) N Tinkler 5-9-13 A Jary (3) 2 (8) 40431 MARCHING MAC 75 (T,D) P McEntee 5-9-13 G McEntee 3 (2) 06340 CANON'S HOUSE 5 (D) M & D Easterby 5-9-13 B Garrity 4 (3) 05160 NOVAMAY 15 M Dods 4-9-12 R Elliott (5) 5 (7) 0-213 SECRET MISTRAL 32 (D) A Carroll 6-9-10 M Coppins (5) 6 (5) 04110 ANGEL NUMBERS 14 (BF,D) R Carr 3-9-10 J Dickson (5) 7 (4) 02600 CALL MARGOT 7 (D) G Tutty 3-9-6 C Beasley 8 (10) 00020 VINCE L'AMOUR 11 (B,T,D) T Easterby 5-9-0 D Allan 9 (9) 00101 OUR ABSENT FRIENDS 9 (CD) T Davidson 8-9-0 (dAlex) H Jart 10 (1) 55202 CANARIA QUEEN 9 (P,D) T Easterby 6-8-11 D Fentiman 11-4 Marching Mac, 3-1 Our Absent Friends, 5-1 Fidelius, 8-1 others.

4.52 Classified Stakes

1 (9) 41004 BIZARRE LAW 49 (P,D) M Herrington 7-9-9 K Stott 2 (2) 43302 GOLDEN PROSPERITY 19 (P,C) T Coyle & K Wood 7-9-9

3 (1) 06303 I CAN BOOGY 32 (D) N Tinker 4-9-9 A Jary (3) 4 (1) 05434 MISTER SKY BLUE 14 G Tutky 4-9-9 C Whiteley (5) 5 (7) 000 MORAL VICTORY 34 L Mullaney 5-9-9 B McHugh 6 (14) 04503 RAIN CAP 22 (V,CD) I Riches 9-9-9 Doubtful 7 (10) 03202 RIDGEMASTER 26 (D) S Waugh 4-9-9 A Waugh (3) 8 (6) 00002 WITHOUT DELAY 22 (V,CD) T Waggett 7-9-9 C Beasley 9 (5) 05400 BELLING THE CAT 32 T Coyle & K Wood 3-9-4 D Nolan 10 (13) 05-00 DEE'S HONEY 12 Michael Keady 3-9-4 J Hart 11 (4) 23435 LANARRA 18 R M Smith 3-9-4 JP Sullivan 12 (8) 00406 RUNNINMAN 7 (P,T) D Whillans 3-9-4 A Brookes 13 (3) -0000 RYEFIELD 14 L Mullaney 3-9-4 T Eaves 14 (12) -5330 TWILIGHT DAWN 32 (B) S Whitaker 3-9-4 R Elliott (3) 9-2 Without Delay, 5-1 Golden Prosperity, 11-2 Barzar Law, 6-1 others.

Yesterday's racing results

Lingfield

Going: Standard

2.30 (1m 1yd) 1, Dannick (Ashley Lewis, 10-3); 2, Havana Touch (10-3); 3, Great Blasket (9-2). 9 ran. $1 \frac{1}{2}$ l, $1 \frac{1}{2}$ l. G & J Moore.
3.00 (6f 1yd) 1, Lazurite (Finley Marsh, 2-5); 2, Thai Baht (8-1); 3, Lady Of Lucca (40-1). 6 ran. NR: Ambience. $6 \frac{1}{2}$ l, $37 \frac{1}{2}$ l. R Hughes.
3.30 (5f 6yd) 1, Let's Go Hugo (Tom Kiely-Marshall, 13-8); 2, Apple's Angel (14-1); 3, Banana (4-1). 9 ran. NR: Bust A Moon. $1 \frac{1}{2}$ l, nk.

Ollie Pears.

4.00 (7f 1yd) 1, Musical Soldier (Billy Loughnane, 9-4); 2, Strong Voice (11-4); 3, Bird Of War (9-4). 8 ran. NR: Viking Glory. 2l, 2 $^{1/2}$ l. Ollie Sangster.

4.30 (1m 2f) 1, Floating Market (Isobelle Chalmers, 9-1); 2, Devil's Brigade (15-8); 3, Sax Avoidance (40-1). 7 ran. $\frac{1}{2}$ l, 3l. A M Balding.

5.02 (1m 2f) 1, Time To Sparkle (Harry Vigors, 9-4); 2, Thunder Goddess (7-2); 3, Minerality (33-1). 7 ran. NR: Hove Ranger. $2 \frac{1}{2} l$ , nk. J Keane.

Placepot:£4.20 Quadpot:£2.70

Musselburgh

Going: Good (good to soft in places (straight))

2.15 (7f 15yd) 1, Inns And Out (Jason Hart, 7-1); 2, Pigeon Pete (33-1); 3, Coul Blue (80-1). 10 ran. $1 \frac{1}{4} l$ , $17 \frac{1}{2} l$ . T D Easterby.

2.45 (5f 1yd) 1, Needin' U (Billy Garritty, 5-2 fav); 2, Lauralynn (5-2 fav); 3, Aodhan (13-2). 7 ran. $2^{1/2}$ l, $4^{1/2}$ l. M & D Easterby.

3.15 (1m 208yd) 1, Dalamara (A Mullen, 10-1); 2, Horwich (22-1); 3, Amber Hamur (6-5 fav). 8 ran. $\frac{1}{2}$ l, 1l. B Haslam.

3.45 (2m 2f 28yd) 1, Gallus Norman (Amie Waugh, 14-1); 2, Fast Fred (11-1); 3, Trojan Sun (8-1). 9 ran. NR: Ned Broy. $3^{1/4}$ l, $4^{1/4}$ l. J S Goldie.

4.15 (7f 15yd) 1, Novak (A Mullen, 7-2); 2, Luminous Warrior (22-1); 3, Vince Le Prince (15-2). 10 ran. NR: Joshuas Dream. nk, $17\frac{1}{2}$ l. I Jardine.

4.45 (5f 1yd) 1, Albegone (Jake Dickson, 6-1); 2, Beerwah (10-3); 3, Zuffolo (14-1). 6 ran. nk, $\frac{3}{4}$ l. T D Easterby.

Placepot:£1,245.50 Quadpot:£53.50

Stratford

Going: Good to Firm

5.10 (2m 2f 148yd) 1, Guts And Glory (Stan Sheppard, 4-1); 2, Steal A Glance (8-1); 3, Let-meseethecolts (9-4). 8 ran. 7l, 3l. C Boultbee-Brooks.

5.40 (2m 6f 7yd) 1, Delgany Second Now (Harry Skelton, 15-2); 2, Captain Connor (33-1); 3, Brionywells (6-1). 8 ran. 8l, 4l. D Skelton.

6.15 (2m 213yd) 1, Duke Of Luckley (Freddie

Keighley, 5-1); 2, In This World (25-1). 4 ran. 26l. M Keighley.

6.45 (2m 2f 148yd) 1, Mi Sueno (Harry Reed, 11-8 fav); 2, Dream Jet (12-1); 3, Juggernaut (5-1). 8 ran. 4l, 1l. Nick Scholfield.

7.15 (2m 4f 205yd) 1, Youdecide (Ben Jones, 1-1 fav); 2, Pescatorius (12-1); 3, Watchoutitscookie (8-1). 8 ran. 9l, sh. B Pauling.

7.45 (2m 70yd) 1, Goliath Power (Fern O'Brien, 9-4); 2, Roccana Rose (11-4); 3, Talladale (7-2). 8 ran. 6l, l. F O'Brien. Placepot: £117.30 Quadpot: £15.60

Sport Cricket

Smith must focus on simplest

England's wicketkeeper-batsman needs a mindset change at crease — otherwise his Test spot may be up for grabs, writes Steve James

It should have been a situation tailor-made for Jamie Smith, certainly the sort for which Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had selected him in the Test side in 2024 as a freewheeling wicketkeeper-batsman at No7.

England already had a healthy lead nudging 200 going into the third

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morning at Headingley, so it seemed an ideal opportunity for Smith to kick on. Yes, eight wickets had already fallen and he had Jofra Archer for company, but he appeared strangely subdued, and Archer looked the more positive and impressive, launching the first and only six of the match over deep square leg off Khurram

Shahzad, while Smith often got squared up and poked singles down to third man.

One ball from Mohammad Abbas encapsulated Smith's tentative state of mind. It was short but only timed at 79mph — more long hop than bouncer. Smith usually hits those out of the ground. Remember those two huge sixes at Lord's and Edgbaston in 2024?

But now he motioned to duck and, then probably recognising the absurdity of such a course of action, remained relatively upright and paddled the ball away on the leg side for a single. In the next over another short ball, this time from Khurram but even slower at 78mph, was skied to mid-on.

FLY-CRUISE AND SPORTS EVENT

It was a new ball but still, what on earth was going on? Where was the real Jamie Smith?

It probably does not require reiteration that I rate Smith very highly. At his best he can destroy the finest attacks, and his glovework is not as sloppy as so many would have us believe — he kept very decently at Headingley, particularly when up to the stumps to Ollie Robinson.

But Test cricket is a demanding, all-seeing beast that rarely permits the most straightforward of paths. The Ashes last winter was a thoroughly uncomfortable experience for Smith; a silly dismissal to Marnus Labuschagne's unthreatening medium-paced offerings in Sydney was lambasted as much as the odd error with the gloves.

For me, Smith's batting in that series highlighted two technical glitches that had long been promising to become full-blown problems: a front foot crossing over that produces a straight leg when defending and sometimes creates a huge inviting gate for any ball nipping back, and a propensity to pull with too much weight on the front foot, rendering him susceptible to higher pace and bounce because he cannot get his hands high enough from that position.

Smith admitted before the season began that he had been working on technical stuff, and good on him for that, but here is the thing: when thinking about technical issues, it is so easy to forget about what matters most, and that is hitting the ball. And in Smith's case, that is hitting the ball very hard.

He is a ball- striker, not a technician

when being positive and therefore moving well and naturally in both attack and defence. A good mindset usually creates a good technique.

At the moment, Smith appears to possess neither, as the third morning at Headingley evidenced. Maybe the winter's woes, allied to a new regime that is clearly not going to permit Bazball's most flagrant excesses, have tightened his body and mind a little too much. If ever there is a role that can continue just as it was

Smith was subdued at Headingley when he could have attacked

curfew imposed by Rob Key, England's director of cricket, earlier in the year, but said that he still felt that curfews were not the right way to go.

"I think we actually have an opportunity moving forward here," Root said. "Clearly we are not portraying ourselves how we want to but we have an opportunity now to build a culture that is very strong, that we can be proud of, that is player driven. That's not going to happen overnight, though."

— their technique — even worse, because almost all players bat best , and sometimes that balance can be tricky to manage. For some, it can make the very thing they are trying to fix

CONTINUED FROM BACK

May 26, 2027

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during Bazball, then surely it is Smith's. He needs to be set free, and he was anything but free there.

Root urges his England team to ‘earn back trust’

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He also said that he had given some strong messages to the team in the dressing room at Lord's and added there had been "robust conversations".

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Root revealed that he had spoken to the former captain Stokes about what happened in Derby and also to

TIMES Holidays inquire about the emotional state of Carse.

It is only a snapshot, of course, and just as we should not draw too many conclusions from England's facile victory in Leeds, perhaps we should use the same rules of caution for that part of Smith's innings — he had played reasonably well on the second evening in gloomy conditions, first wisely contenting himself with the back seat while Harry Brook pursued his century and

thing — hitting the ball

PHILIP BROWN/GETTY IMAGES

then, after losing Gus Atkinson and Robinson as well as Brook, defending nicely until the close against Ali Usman's left-arm spin (facing spin he is able to move his front foot again after pressing and therefore able to bend his front knee).

But it was odd, and the wider picture is that Smith has made only two half-centuries in his past 20 Test innings. After a bright start to the County Championship season with Surrey, he has not continued that form, making only two fifties in his past 18 innings in all cricket, with a series of middling scores as an opener in the Hundred.

Jamie Smith's declining average

England's wicketkeeper-batsman had a swashbuckling start to his Test career, but his scores and average have suffered of late

Source: ESPN Cricinfo

There are always other options, and taking Smith to South Africa this

winter while concerns about his ability against the short ball continue would be ill-judged. At the end of a piece about Jordan Cox during the Headingley Test, I suggested that Cox must have a future somewhere in the Test team, even if his game does not look that well-suited to No 3 despite his half-century at Headingley,

and replacing Smith as the wicketkeeper-batsman could indeed be one of the possibilities. Before injury struck, Cox had been slated to fulfil that role when Smith was on paternity leave in New Zealand in 2024.

Ben Foakes is back playing for Surrey after injury, and I would still not rule out another Surrey player, Ollie Pope, in that role, while the 18-year-old Thomas Rew will be

Root shows his frustration at having to address more poor behaviour by an England player after the incident in Derby involving Carse, top left

what we do on the field but off it as well," he said. "We have a chance to build something that lives alongside what we achieved last week on the field. I thought it was a brilliant performance. I thought the way we played was exceptional and we have to align that with being exceptional off the field as well and understand what that looks like.

"We're going to have to earn a lot of trust back and it's something we are going to have to live and breathe consistently.

"I still don't believe curfews are the way to go — we need to create something bigger than that, something long lasting that we can be proud that we can pass on to the next generation.

"There is a group of players in this dressing room [that are] going to be around for the next ten years. I have made it very clear what is expected of them and we have to show people what I see on a day-to-day basis and how much they do care, not keep having these isolated incidents. That is going to take a bit of work."

knocking on the door very soon, with his older brother James having taken the gloves over Cox in the calamitous

Oval Test against New Zealand.

Test against New Zealand. But for now it is Smith's position to lose, and it probably only requires a small change in mindset for things to click again.

The talent is there. We have seen it before. This is a player, remember, who made 184 not out and 88 against

India last summer. He is only 26 and still to reach his best years, but it is undoubtedly time to deliver once more.

Sport

'World Cup' finale ushers in new era of PGA Tour

Golf

Rick Broadbent

The PGA Tour season will climax with a World Cup-style matchplay finale in a radical shake-up of the schedule.

Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour chief executive, said: "We are creating something different, something distinct within professional golf that can resonate far beyond it."

That remains to be seen, but the return of matchplay will be welcomed by fans even if players had previously balked against the format being used to decide the winner of the season-long points race.

The revamp was unveiled at this week's Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, where the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings are playing for a top prize of \$10 million (£7.3 million).

From 2028, the top 90 players in the new Championship Series, akin to the Premier League, will move on to the PGA Tour Championship Series Finale. The victor in the 72-hole strokeplay event will determine the winner of the points race.

That is where it gets interesting. The top 32 progress to the Tour Championship, which will be two weeks of matchplay on two different courses. Players will be split into eight groups of four and each have three matches.

The top 16 will progress to week two and four days of matches on two different courses. Those 16 will be whittled down to two top undefeated players, who will meet for the right to be named Tour Champion.

The initial idea to reintroduce matchplay was opposed by a string of players if it was going to be used to determine the season-long race. That is why the Tour has been careful to separate the Championship Finale from the new Tour Championship, with the prize funds and venues due to be announced in February.

"Excited to usher in a new era of matchplay on the PGA Tour," posted Tiger Woods, who chairs the Future Competition Committee.

Rolapp also offered little hope for Jon Rahm if he wants a route back to the PGA Tour next season.

"There's no current plans for the Returning Member Programme like you saw earlier in the year," he said. That programme enabled Brooks Koepka to return to the PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf, as long as he agreed to conditions including a \$5 million charitable donation. That deal was also offered to LIV players Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, but they turned it down.

Pressed further, Rolapp said: “I don’t know the future of LIV. It sounds like they’re working really hard to come up with the next iteration of it. We’ve been consistent. Anyone who’s interested in coming to the PGA Tour needs to demonstrate that they are relieved of their contractual commitments or any tail obligations they might have in that legacy model. Brooks certainly did that, and until then, we weren’t really able to consider anything seriously. I would say the same thing here. It’s unclear what we’re reacting to.”

Although Rolapp said he knew the fans wanted to see the best players competing against each other more often, he also highlighted the need to adhere to rules.

"Rules matter and rules only matter if they're enforced," he said.

Sport Sir Billy Boston 1934-2026

Rugby league's first knight was the sport's defining player in Britain

AARON CHOWN/GETTY IMAGES

Sir Billy Boston, who has died aged 92, scored 478 tries for Wigan as a thunderous wing, writes Elgan Alderman

Sir Billy Boston, the first rugby league player to be knighted, has died three weeks after his 92nd birthday. Great Britain's defining rugby league player died peacefully surrounded by his family, a month after the death of his wife of 70 years, Joan.

Boston received his knighthood just over a year ago, long overdue, highlighting the importance of a man who has statues at the three great places of his life: Wales, Wembley and Wigan. One needed only to hear the reaction of a crowd when Boston appeared on the big screen to experience the warmth towards him. Even as he lived with dementia, he met the cheers of thousands with a huge smile.

There is a wall by the entrance to the Rugby Football League headquarters in Manchester that lists historic moments in the sport. In 1948 the Challenge Cup final was televised for the first time, and in 1954 a crowd of 102,569 watched the final replay at Odsal. Between those, there is one date: 1953 — Billy Boston makes his Wigan debut against Barrow. His arrival in the sport was that significant.

Anyone born after 1970 never saw Boston play at the highest level, yet we heard tales of this thunderous wing. There was an old joke about him running at a brick wall and, just before impact, the wall stepped out of the way. "When he first came into the game, Boston was 13st with a nine-foot sidestep," Jack Winstanley, Boston's biographer, wrote. "When he left it, he was 15st with a nine-inch sidestep. Whatever his size it was impossible to read him. He mesmerised his opponents."

Growing up in Wales in the Nineties and Noughties, I recall hearing about this mythical man as the greatest wing Wales never had (in rugby union, at least) because he was lost to league as a teenager, one of hundreds of Welshmen who left the amateur game for the professional ranks in the north of England. League writers did little to play down Boston's brilliance.

"The original Smash! Bang! Wallop! winger," David Hodgkinson wrote, while Dave Hadfield called him "the only man whose name comes close to that of

George Orwell in terms of being synonymous with Wigan".

In Gone North, his account of Welshmen who went to league, Robert Gate described Boston as "a Man For All Seasons, liable to score from any situation, under any conditions, with the armoury to vanquish any opponent". Gate added: "It is doubtful if any other player in the game's history ever made a crowd tingle as much as Boston."

Even if you never felt the tingle, the numbers of Boston's career tell the story. Between 1953 and 1968, he made 488 appearances for Wigan and scored 478 tries. He had more than 30 appearances for Great Britain and was part of the team that won the 1960 World Cup. His career haul of tries (571) is second only to Brian Bevan.

Boston was born in the area known as Tiger Bay, in the south of Cardiff, to a father from Sierra Leone and an Irish mother. He had talent for cricket — one of his dreams was to play for Glamorgan — and rugby, and he had outings in the 15-man game with Welsh Youth, Cardiff International

Athletic Club, Neath and Pontypridd, but never made it on to the field for Cardiff. Vivian Jenkins, the former Wales full back and journalist, warned the Welsh union not to lose Boston like it had Jim Sullivan, another Wigan legend, 32 years earlier. They lost him anyway.

Given that other black players from Cardiff, such as Johnny Freeman and Colin Dixon, also switched to league, there is an established belief that racism played a part, although there was never a smoking gun.

“Having spoken to other individuals, they just weren’t encouraged,” Sharon Dixon, Clive Sullivan’s sister, told me when the Codebreakers statue was unveiled in 2023, in Cardiff Bay. There was debate around who would make up the trio memorialised on that statue, but one of them was always going to be Boston, who stands arm in arm with Gus Risman and Sullivan.

After Boston demonstrated his rugby ability while on service with the Royal Corps of Signals, his departure to league bore all the hallmarks of the generations of

Welshmen who moved to league between 1895 and 1995. Northern scouts in the kitchen, notes on the table, an uncertain mother and one guarantee: he would never play union again.

Boston said that he cried when he realised his dream of representing Cardiff and Wales was over. Any Welshman that went north didn't know they would succeed up there, but they knew they would never be allowed to play union again and wouldn't even be allowed in clubhouses back home.

So it was in Wigan that he made a new home, becoming a beloved figure. A young man hit Boston with a stolen car in 1996, causing serious leg injuries. “I’m doing this for your own good,” the magistrate said as he handed down a curfew order. “There are people out there who are very unhappy with what you’ve done. If there’s one person you don’t knock down in Wigan, it’s Mr Boston.”

Boston at Buckingham Palace last year to receive his long overdue knighthood; playing in the 1963 Challenge Cup final for Wigan, below left; and his statue in the town, above right — one of three erected in his honour

As a statue and a Sir, Boston's status is secure outside of league heartlands. Shirley Bassey is the Dame of Tiger Bay, and Bouncing Billy B is the good knight.

"Billy Boston was everybody's hero, including my mum's," Mike Danson, the Wigan Warriors owner, said. "His achievements in rugby league were extraordinary, and his knighthood was a fitting recognition of a career that brought great credit to Wigan and to the game.

"But Billy's legacy was not simply what he achieved. It was the humility with which he carried it. Despite everything he accomplished, he remained a quiet, dignified and deeply respected man."

Pogacar crushes rivals' spirit with long-range attack at La Vuelta

Cycling Sean Russell

Tadej Pogacar needed to find another way to stamp his authority on La Vuelta after Monday's mountaintop finish was abandoned due to a hailstorm. And so, on a day of rolling climbs yesterday, the Slovenian decided to treat stage four as a one-day classic by launching a devastating long-range attack.

The 27-year-old got out of the saddle on the Collada de Beixalis with 50km still to go and left everyone behind to win in Andorra la Vella, putting a dominant gap of 3min 2lsec between him and second-placed Primoz Roglic of

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in the overall classification.

It almost seemed like it wasn't part of the plan. When the day's early break-away went up the road including Britons Ben Tulett, Matthew Brennan and Paul Double, it wasn't Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG who took up the chase, but rather Decathlon CMA CGM in service of their general classification contender Felix Gall. The French team were set on making the day hard, trying to do something courageous to take the fight to Pogacar early.

But this seemed only to help the Slovenian and when they reached the second first-category climb of the day he wanted to show Decathlon that they weren't going fast enough to control him. Pogacar burst out from behind the line of Decathlon riders and went up the road. Gall held on for as long as he could but there was nothing to be done and so he dropped back.

"The pace was super high on the first climb and on the second climb we were going all out from the bottom," Pogacar said after the stage.

"I didn't want to be isolated against the GC riders because they would all play against me so I tried an attack on the climb and then just hoped I could survive to the finish when I saw I could open the gap. And I did it and it was pretty tough but a beautiful day out there."

Pogacar didn't necessarily want the Red Jersey after stage one's time-trial. He said afterwards that he wanted it to go to the Welshman Josh Tarling following the death of his 19-year-old brother, Finlay, at the Volta a Portugal. But when Pogacar saw at the first intermediate timing point that Ethan Haytter was newly atop the timing sheet instead of Tarling, Pogacar went all out to try to win the stage. He could now become the first man since Tony Rominger in 1994 to wear La Vuelta's Red Jersey from stage one until the end.

Pogacar is nothing if not versatile.

Yesterday's stage may not have gone the way he had imagined, but he still won by 2min 39sec over Jarno Widar of Lotto Intermarché. La Vuelta is now very much in his hands. Was there ever any doubt?

Behind, the group had to reassess. There was little point trying to close the gap. Gall had already tried to fly too close to the sun. There is no point going into the red when second place is still up for grabs.

Gall took third with the same time as Widar in second. Britain's Oscar Onley managed fourth, moving into fifth overall and 24 seconds off Roglic in second place.

Bruno lands PFA award to do the double

Paul Hirst

Bruno Fernandes completed a clean sweep of individual awards for last season after being named men's player of the year by the Professional Footballers' Association last night.

Nico O'Reilly, 21, won the men's PFA young player of the year award after breaking into the England team following an impressive season with Manchester City.

Khadija "Bunny" Shaw, who

plays for City's women's team, won the vote for the women's PFA player of the year award, while Arsenal's 22-year-old

Canada forward Olivia Smith claimed the young player of the year vote.

Earlier this year, after a stunning season in which he set up a record 21 goals and scored nine of his own, Fernandes won the Football Writers' Association footballer of

Fernandes and Shaw at last night's ceremony

the year award and was named the Premier League player of the season for the first time.

Last night, Fernandes added the PFA award to his collection after topping a vote of his fellow professionals. The 31-year-old Portuguese collected the award at a ceremony at Manchester Opera House after seeing off competition from the Arsenal trio of Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice, and the Manchester City players Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, who were also on

the shortlist.

The PFA Premier League team of the year contained five members of the Arsenal side that won the club's first title for 22 years last season.

The goalkeeper Raya, Gabriel, William Saliba, Jurrien Timber and Rice made the cut, as did the City quartet of

O'Reilly, Cherki, Antoine Semenyo and Haaland. The other two players in the team were Fernandes, the United captain, and the Brazil striker Igor Thiago, who scored

PFA Premier League team

PFA League Two team

22

Premier League goals for Brentford last season.

Shaw won the WSL Golden Boot for the third consecutive year last season, scoring 21 goals in 22 appearances. The 29-year-old Jamaican was on the verge of leaving Manchester City for Chelsea in May, but performed a last-minute U-turn and signed a new four-year contract with City instead.

Shaw's City colleague, Yui Hasegawa, was also on the shortlist for the PFA

PFA Championship team

PFA WSL team

women's award, as were Kirsty Hanson of Aston Villa, Chelsea's Lauren James, the Manchester United attacker Jess Park and Arsenal striker Alessia Russo.

Lily Crosthwaite, who scored eight goals for Birmingham City last season, won the WSL2 player of the year award.

Karen Carney and Sir Kenny Dal- glish received the annual merit awards for their contributions to the game.

Hayden Hackney, the 24-year-old midfielder who earned a £25 million move to Everton on the back of a

Football Sport

PFA League One team

PFA WSL2 team

successful season with Middlesbrough, won the Championship player of the year award. Dom Ballard won the League One player of the year award thanks to his 23-goal haul for Leyton Orient. He scored an outrageous back-heel volley for his new club, Bristol City, against Birmingham City last weekend.

Aaron Drinan, the Swindon Town striker, won the League Two player of the year crown thanks to his return of 28 goals and seven assists in 46 matches across all competitions last season.

Heat on new boss Glasner as he's turned over by Leeds again

Nottingham Forest

Leeds United James 50, Williams 75 (og)

Ian Whittell

After winning only two Premier League games on their travels last season, Leeds United recorded a second away win in the space of a little over 72 hours last night, beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, the scene of their weekend opening-day victory.

On this occasion, victory came in the Carabao Cup, as Daniel Farke's team advanced to the third round, which means they will have to wait a little longer to match last season's league tally, although early form suggests the wait should not be long. After Dan James's opener, Leeds scored a killer second when an almighty scramble ended with Lukas Nmecha and James Justin eventually hooking the ball over the line, via home defender Neco Williams, after Tarik Muharemovic had headed goalwards on 75 minutes.

It was a goal that summed up the difficulties being experienced by Forest and their fifth permanent manager in less than 12 months, Oliver Glasner.

Taunts from Leeds fans of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” may be premature but, still, Glasner, right, may need more than the pending arrival of Chelsea striker Liam Delap to improve the state of his new squad and his own job security. “It’s up to us, we are the only ones who can change this," Glasner said. "By working on the pitch, speaking together and not finding excuses. The reality is nine months of relegation battle, losing our top midfielder and now we're together six weeks. No magician, no Messiah, it's just hard work.

"If you ignore the reality then you live in dreamland and this is never the best thing to do."

With 11 of the 22 players having also started the Premier League meeting between the clubs at the same stadium on Saturday, there was no lack of familiarity between the sides. And, having won that game thanks to a late goal from Anton Stach, Leeds looked capable of a repeat victory, and should have had control of the tie after 22 minutes when the latest enterprising right-wing sortie from James ended in a cross that Sean

Longstaff stroked feebly at Matz

Sels. Forest started brightly, with their best first-half opportunity created by attacking wingback Ola Aina, who spotted James Trafford out of position and tried to beat him at his near post. Trafford readjusted well to beat out his effort. Leeds also required a magnificently timed tackle by Joe Rodon on Chris Wood to deny the striker what looked a certain goal as he raced through from Arnaud Kalimuendo's pass. It was just, on the balance of play at least, that the visitors took the lead, five minutes after the restart, through James, who had been the most threatening figure to that point.

It was a self-inflicted goal, though, as Aina's poor backward header fell directly to Longstaff, who threaded through a perfect pass for James to steady himself with a controlling touch and score past Sels. Within minutes, Wood had forced Trafford into a solid diving save at the foot of his post, before Leeds sprinted up to the opposite end of the field, where Noah Okafor rushed a disappointing effort over from 12 yards.

"To perform at this level is remarkable," Farke said.

Results

Football

Carabao Cup: Second Barnsley (3)3 Cleary 29, Noslin 31 O'Keeffe 38 Blackburn (0)1 Afolayan 55 6,826 Blackpool (1)1 Clarkson 45 2,407 Sent off: Ashworth (1) Doncaster (0)1 Hutchinson 90+2

and round Crewe (1)2 Thibaut 21 Ewusi 89 Sheff Utd (1)2 Cannon 20 Donovan 81 Lincoln City (1)4 Olaofe 36, Bayliss 53 Street 55, Elder 77 (ackpool) 52 Middlesbro (1)3 Joseph 34 Lankshear 78 Sarmiento 87

Fleetwood (3)4 Boyle (og) 8 Evans 28, 35 Davies 90 Nottm Forest (0)0 Sheff Wed (0)0 Stoke (1)1 Bozenik 39 Hull win 5-4 on pens Birmingham (1)1 Gray 28

Shrewsbury (0)0 Leeds (0)2 James 50 Justin 75 Wolves (2)2 Swinkels (og) 3 Olagunju 45+1 Hull (1)1 Dowell 45 Brentford (3)6 Wilson 6, Hickey 35 Collins 40,77 Damsgaard 70, Thiago 73

Cambridge (0)0 Cardiff (0)1 Salech 90+3 5,432 Ipswich (0)3 Egeli 62 Núñez 71, 90+1 Plymouth (1)2 Irow 21 Amaechi 54 14,210 Southampton (1)1 Scienza 10

Millwall (1)1 Cooper 10 Norwich (1)2 Kvistgaarden 25 Crnac 78 Leicester (0)1 Aluko 67 21,559 Coventry (2)4 Awoniyi 3, Rudoni 5 Mason-Clark 67 Torp 78 (pen) West Ham (1)4 Ajala 41, 53 Castellanos 75 Bowen 84

Stevenage (0)0 2,013 Walsall (0)0 Leyton Orient win 6- Watford (0)1 Doumbia 73 7,978

Peterboro (2)5 Clarridge (og) 10 Leonard 23, 51 Shofowoke 55 Jones 64

Uefa Champions League: Play-offs, second leg Sabah 5 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2 (agg 6-4; Sabah progress); Bodo/Glimt 3 NEC 0 (agg 6-1; Bodo progress); LASK 4 Celtic 1 (agg 4-4; game went to extra time). Uefa Women's Champions League: Qualifying, third round Brann 2 Austria Wien 1.

Tennis

US Open: Mixed doubles: Round of 16 K Siniakova (Cz) & H Patten (GB) bt A Sabalenka (Bela) & N Djokovic (Serbia) 1-4, 4-2, 10-2; B Bencic (Switz) & F Cobolli (It) bt T Townsend (US) & A Zverev (Ger) 4-2, 4-2; S Williams (US) & C Alcaraz (Sp) bt E Routliffe (Nz) & L Glasspool (GB) 5-3, 4-1; E Svitolina (Ukraine) & G Monfils (Fr) bt A Eala (Phil) & F Auger-Aliassime (Can) 4-1, 4-1; K Muchova (Cz) & J Mensik (Cz) bt K Mladenovic (Fr) & M Arevalo (El Sal) 4-1, 2-4, 10-7; E Navarro (US) & T Paul (US) bt A Anisimova (US) & L Tien (US) 5-3, 4-2; M Andreeva (Russ) & A Rublev (Russ) bt S Errani (It) & A Vavassori (It) 1-4, 4-1, 11-9. Quarter-finals E Svitolina (Ukraine) & G Monfils (Fr) bt K Siniakova (Cz) & H Patten 5-4 (8-6), 4-5 (3-7), 10-8; K Muchova (Cz) & J Mensik (Cz) bt E Navarro (US) & T Paul (US) 4-1, 5-3.

Fixtures

Football

(Kick-off 7.45 unless stated) Carabao Cup Second round Bradford City v Burnley; Newcastle United v West Bromwich Albion; Preston North End v Everton (8.00); Tottenham Hotspur v Charlton Athletic. Champions League Play-offs, second leg AEK Athens (0) v Levski Sofia (0) (8.00); Celje (1) v SK Slovan Bratislava (1) (8.00); Lyon (1) v Fenerbahce (1) (8.00); Viking (2) v Dinamo Zagreb (2) (8.00). Conference League Play-offs, second leg Rapid Vienna (2) Heart of Midlothian (2) (5.45). La Liga Real Madrid v Real Sociedad (8.0).

Sport Football

Martin Samuel Chelsea shouldn't be fixing weakest link of key rivals

There is one question that needs to be answered if Enzo Fernández does end up a Manchester City player this season. Why? Not from City's point of view. Fernández might not be

everybody's cup of tea but, without Rodri, we can see what is in it for them. But Chelsea? However great the final settlement — and it is almost certainly not going to be as much as the £120million demanded — there comes a time when it simply isn't worth it.

If Chelsea have any ambition of challenging for the title, and if that's not the aim what has been the point of the post-Abramovich years, why would they solve the main problem impacting a direct rival? Anyone who saw City at the weekend would have noticed a Rodri-sized hole in their midfield. Marc Guéhi demonstrated unexpected versatility in his new position but he's not the answer there for a club with pretensions of catching Arsenal.

So City have a Rodri replacement issue. Why on earth would Chelsea solve it for them, however attractive the offer for Fernández? It's a transfer window six-pointer. Losing Fernández takes from Chelsea, obviously, but it also greatly adds to City. So it's not a normal exchange because the gulf between the two gets so much wider, and particularly at this late stage in the summer. There may have been a time when Fernández could have been sold; but it isn't now.

When the window first opened, Rodri was still with City. Plainly, having Fernández by his side would make their midfield stronger, the way Fernández and Moisés Caicedo can be potent for Chelsea. Yet, back then, the money would be more of a factor. If Chelsea could get £100million-plus for the player then it was good business; they could reinvest and whether Fernández was a solution for City would still be unknown. He's been good, but not necessarily great for Chelsea, given his £106.8 million transfer fee, and the club have finished no higher than fourth since his arrival.

Fernández is in the Premier League's top six for goals and assists combined across the past two completed Premier League seasons, but is still some way short of Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United. In June, if he wanted to leave and there was the opportunity to cash in, Chelsea might feel selling to City was a risk worth taking.

But that was then, this is now. Circumstances have changed. Now we know Rodri isn't a City player any more, and that Enzo Maresca thinks it's a problem. Starting Guéhi in midfield was a distress signal, particularly with Mateo Kovacic and Nico González on the bench. So the risk-reward around Fernández has changed. It is no longer a favourable deal, no matter the potential benefits.

Of course, Xabi Alonso might have other players he prefers. Chelsea have made several bids of up to £60 million for Alex Scott at Bournemouth, all of which have been rejected. Alonso has the title of manager, not coach, and it could be he fancies Scott over Fernández in the system he wishes to play.

Bournemouth are insistent he is not for sale but Chelsea may think they can find a price. Say they can. By selling Fernández, they would still be digging City out of a sizeable hole, even if it opens the way for Scott.

Pep Guardiola may be gone, but City aren't suckers. They're still the team with Erling Haaland up front, Antoine Semenyo and Jérémy Doku nearby, Rayan Cherki in reserve; they are still the club that could afford to dispense with Julián Alvarez, who Arsenal are now angling to buy for £100 million. Helping City remains the best way Chelsea can ensure staying in their shadow.

This is before we get into why exactly Chelsea would wish to help a club and a manager that their hierarchy believe gravely damaged them last season. It was less than two months ago that City paid Chelsea £17million in compensation for Maresca, who also agreed a personal

The voice of sport

settlement with his former club and apologised for the impact of his departure. Maresca told Chelsea he had been sounded out by City as successor to Guardiola, while still in employment. It does not make good business sense to bear grudges but, even so, Chelsea could be forgiven for not wanting to facilitate City and Maresca's success after such disloyalty.

History suggests there may be further twists the nearer we get to the window's end. Fernández played in Chelsea's opening game with Fulham, albeit as a 65th-minute substitute. He didn't look full of delight when the whistle blew, but isn't on strike, yet.

Fernández was booed at Stamford Bridge in a pre-season friendly, but those emotions can quickly heal with a dispute's resolution.

Wayne Rooney got a similar reaction from Manchester United's fans after falling out with the club in October 2010. Shortly after, he signed a five-year

contract and played his final game for United in the 2017 Europa League final. Take it with a pinch of salt if Chelsea say Fernández is leaving due to adverse crowd reaction. He's been a pest the past six months, courting Real Madrid, but if Chelsea put that behind them, so would the fans.

Financial regulation has changed football, we know. Arsène Wenger used to be an outlier in selling to rivals. Robin van Persie to Manchester United, Samir Nasri, Gaël Clichy and Kolo Touré to Manchester City. Wenger saw it as a sign of strength, that Arsenal were not intimidated by the opposition, yet those players all ended up winning titles with their new clubs; the Arsenal they left, did not.

These days, the fear of transgression and points penalties is such that clubs make deals where they can. Manchester City sold Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling to Chelsea, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, Kelechi Iheanacho to Leicester City the summer after they won the title. Yet none of those players were the important piece in the jigsaw that Fernández represents. At the moment, it is hard to see past Arsenal retaining the title, unless City can solve the Rodri conundrum.

There was a very obvious weak link when Chelsea defeated Fulham on Monday, and a seemingly obvious solution, too. As stated here previously, a case cannot be made for Chelsea as champions while Robert Sánchez remains in

Trent must reveal the worrier within

Long before the purchase of Denzel Dumfries, there was reason to fear for Trent Alexander-Arnold under José Mourinho at Real Madrid. Dumfries was the starting right back against Espanyol on Saturday, relegating Alexander-Arnold to an 80th-minute substitute appearance — during which time Real won the game — and turning all eyes to Wednesday's home fixture with Real Sociedad.

It could be that Alexander-Arnold is preferred and the pair share duties, or is played in a different role further forward, yet Mourinho's defensive philosophy does not make for an easy fit. He does not care for optimists at the back. He seeks the miserable, the negative, the worrywarts.

Forwards can be optimists, he believes. Forwards must think that every movement they make is going to be productive, that the defender is going to miss his kick, that the ball will sail an inch over his head, the goalkeeper will get his angle wrong, the linesman's flag will stay down or VAR is on his side.

Defenders must be the opposite. Defenders must be permanently fearing danger, the counterattack, the unfortunate bounce or ricochet. One of Mourinho's first acts on returning to Chelsea was to sanction the £50 million sale of David Luiz to Paris Saint-Germain. The deal was completed on June 13, 2014, and 25 days later when a Brazil team featuring Luiz at centre half lost 7-1 to Germany in Belo Horizonte, there were many acclaiming Mourinho's footballing insight.

Yet he rated Luiz as a footballer. He thought he was technically strong, athletic, a great tackler, he just lacked one attribute as a defender that Mourinho found vital. Pessimism. Luiz played as if he thought it would all turn out for the best. He would keep hold of the ball, he would find his man, so would all his team-mates, the move wouldn't break down, there would be no counter, he could stay high, there really was nothing to worry about. That's not Mourinho's idea of a defender. He likes them fretting. John Terry was Mourinho's man, throwing his body at the ball to block a shot, like a secret service agent trying to take a bullet for the president.

Now, what is Alexander-Arnold's style? Does it tack towards optimism, or pessimism? A bit of both, it might be argued. He is certainly not as cavalier as Luiz or a lot of the modern full backs. Yet he is not a pessimist, either. His passing, his positioning, is often ambitious. Jürgen Klopp could work with it, so too Arne Slot, and Alexander-Arnold finished last season well with Real Madrid. But it wasn't right for Gareth Southgate, and certainly not for Thomas Tuchel and it will be no surprise if it is not Mourinho's way, either.

If so, Alexander-Arnold has no time to waste. He is far too good to be sidelined by both club and country. Can he learn to be a pessimist? The way the past few months have played out, he has every right to be.

goal. The hope that the Club World Cup victory would prove a turning point has proven false and he appeared as vulnerable as ever.

With Emiliano Martínez now training away from the first-team at Aston Villa following the arrival of Zion Suzuki and the collapse of his move to Juventus, there seems an obvious way out. Martínez will turn 34 next week and has been agitating for a move in recent seasons but is, undeniably, a goalkeeper capable of landing the biggest prizes. He is exactly what Chelsea need right now.

Doesn't the same apply then? Why would Villa sell to Chelsea who are in need of a world-class goalkeeper? Villa are in the Champions League, Chelsea aren't even in Europe. Ostensibly, if Chelsea have title ambitions, so do Villa. Realistically, however, that isn't true. Villa already sold Morgan Rogers to Chelsea this summer and after more departures it is a stretch to call them contenders. Plus, Villa cannot afford to keep two high-calibre goalkeepers such as Suzuki and Martínez on the books. They need Martínez gone, Chelsea require a Sánchez upgrade. It all makes sense.

Yet that's why Fernández's status when this window closes is so consequential. Chelsea's strategy was beginning to make sense, too. Repair City's weakest link, however, and we're back to wondering what it's all about.

Is it already time to drop Sánchez?

DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS

Alonso has dilemma as familiar goalkeeping problem rears its head at Chelsea, says Peter Rutzler

In the summer of 2025, Chelsea unexpectedly made a move for an international goalkeeper. AC Milan's Mike Maignan, the France No1, had entered the final

12 months of his contract and, aware that the player may be receptive to a move, the club saw a market opportunity. They tested the waters before the Club World Cup, tabling a £12.75 million bid, but it was flatly rejected. After deliberation, Chelsea decided to move on.

Chelsea have rarely stood on ceremony in the transfer market. If they feel a player is not going to work out or is underperforming, then they cut their losses at the first opportunity and reinvest. Alejandro Garnacho was coveted for more than six months before he was signed for £40 million but, a year on, he has gone, quickly shipped off to Aston Villa. Liam Delap, signed that same summer, is set to experience the same fate — Nottingham Forest have agreed to sign him for £50 million.

But in the goalkeeping department there have only been changes behind the throne, subtle alterations to those lower down the pecking order underneath the first-choice goalkeeper. Robert Sánchez has held firm, despite recurrent moments of doubt and scrutiny, and the constant debate about whether he is good enough to help the club win the title.

The move for Maignan was the closest the club have come to upgrading Sánchez in the transfer market over the past three years. After further analysis with the club's goalkeeping department, who were poised to make a club review of their goalkeepers that summer anyway, they decided Maignan was just not enough of an upgrade on what they upgrade on what they had to warrant significant financial investment. Sánchez, for his faults, is regarded as an elite shot-stopper.

But there was a little more to it as well. They had placed faith in another signing the club had made in 2024, and they did not want to block his pathway to the first

Mike Penders, a 21-year-old Belgian goalkeeper, was signed by Chelsea from Genk for around £17 million two years ago this month. Chelsea's interest in the 6ft 7in player actually caught the Belgian club a little bit by surprise; they had scouted him very early, and caught wind of him while he was playing for Genk's second team. After a deal was agreed,

Sánchez struggled against Fulham on Monday evening, making an early blunder in Chelsea's 3-2 win, meaning Penders, below, could be called up for his debut

he was loaned back to Genk for the season, and then, in the Maignan

Summer, he joined Chelsea for the Club World Cup, watching on as Sánchez — who was sublime against Paris Saint-Germain in the final — helped the team win the trophy, before going on to join Strasbourg on loan for the season. Penders returned this summer, becoming the new

summer, he joined Chelsea for

club against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night. But after an early Sánchez blunder in the 3-2 win against Fulham on Monday, just one game into the Xabi Alonso era, scrutiny has returned to the goalkeeping position. Will Penders be fast-tracked into taking Sánchez's place?

It is a dilemma for Alonso, one that his predecessors have all experienced since Sánchez joined Chelsea from Brighton & Hove Albion, for £27 million, in 2023.

Mauricio Pochettino, in his season in charge in 2023-2024, reverted to Djordje Petrovic, after Sánchez picked up an injury and did not reclaim his place.

How Chelsea's goalkeepers compared Sánchez in Premier League v Penders in Ligue 1 in 2025-26 season R Sánchez M Penders

Enzo Maresca, in the summer of 2024, returned to Sánchez, with Filip Jorgensen, signed from Villarreal, as his deputy. He too dropped the Spaniard because of his errors; in January 2025, he said Sánchez was "far, far, far from where I want him to be". But he was restored within a month and then went on to impress at the Club World Cup.

His subsequent form, and a tactical switch allowing him to be a little more direct with his distribution, seemed to vindicate the faith shown in him: in the league, he had made ten errors leading to a shot, five leading to goals during Maresca's first season in 2024-25; but he made only a single error leading to a shot during the 2025-26 season, until Liam

Rosenior unexpectedly dropped him for a crucial game against Aston Villa in March this year, and then for a Champions League round-of-16 match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Rosenior preferred Jorgensen, who was, internally, regarded as better with his feet. That decision backfired spectacularly, however, as he made a costly mistake at the Parc des Princes in the biggest game of his career, leading to a collapse — from 2-2 in the 74th minute to a 5-2 defeat — and ultimately marked the beginning of the end of Rosenior's tenure.

There will be something to learn in that episode for Alonso as he navigates Chelsea's goalkeeping woes. In December 2024, as the club pushed towards the top of the Premier League under Maresca, The Times wrote about whether Sánchez could support a title challenge and Alan Kelly, the former goalkeeping coach at Everton, pointed to a fundamental flaw. "He's got the agility because he makes some unbelievable saves," Kelly said. "Where he could improve is his psychology, his mentality going into games."

Sánchez has always been regarded as an elite shot-stopper and also a player with immense self-confidence, but on the field it is hard to ignore the impact of doubt on his game — illustrated by erratic errors and a return to wayward form after Rosenior's decision to drop him.

Alonso did leave the door open to changing his goalkeeper before Monday's match against Fulham, suggesting selection would be down to form. "The pitch is the boss of everything," he said on Thursday. "I don't decide. The players need to show me."

The Craven Cottage pitch was not kind to Sánchez, whose display was flaky, a combination of nervy moments on the ball — including

dribbling it out of play before conceding an equaliser that, according to Opta data, would usually be saved 95 per cent of the time.

The concern at Chelsea is that Penders is still young. He was part of Belgium's World Cup squad, learning from Thibaut Courtois, this summer after a fine season with Strasbourg. His statistical data is comparable to Sánchez's, but where he is regarded as superior is with his feet: his better passing accuracy (86 per cent to 67 per cent) and aggressively high starting position with Strasbourg illustrate his confidence in possession.

He is, though, prone to mistakes too (three leading to goals to just one for Sánchez last year). The spotlight on Sánchez is inevitable given the repetitive nature of this issue. But Alonso is aware of more collective teething issues. Chelsea played with a back five yet conceded far too many chances against Fulham. During pre-season they conceded four goals against Western Sydney Wanderers and three against Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim. Fulham was the 17th consecutive match without an away clean sheet, reflecting a long-term problem.

"It's about the team, it's not about the individual," Alonso said after Monday's match. "We can adjust a few things. The first goal, we can do better to defend, we can do better to avoid it, but it's part of the game. We need to accept and to learn from them, and this is going to be a process. All the lines, from the strikers, the midfielders, the defence, the goalkeepers, we want to do better in everything."

For now, Chelsea are content to hold firm rather than return to the market, putting faith in the potential of Penders. But they will hope that it does not hold them back in the here and now.

Sport Football

What each Premier League side needs in window's final week

Gakpo, Jackson and Barcola are among those who could be on move before deadline at 11pm on Tuesday

With one week remaining in the transfer window, our football writers look at how much

business could be done by each of the 20 Premier League clubs. There are a few sagas to be resolved — and could there be a few surprise late deals too?

Arsenal Still looking for stardust, Arsenal are trying to persuade - Arsenal are trying to persuade Julián Alvarez to join them over his preference for Barcelona, which has caused a toxic situation at Atletico Madrid. Arsenal's alternatives would be problematic. Bradley Barcola's valuation is too high, and Kenan Yildiz has a foot injury and will not be permitted to leave Juventus this summer.

Forward Gabriel Martinelli is finalising personal terms for a £50 million move to Al-Hilal and could be followed out of the door by Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson and Fábio Vieira, who may return to Hamburg.

Their sales would reduce the present net spend of £155 million so far. Gary Jacob

Aston Villa What a window it has already been for them, and not

necessarily for the right reasons. There have been some very big outgoings and potentially a few more to come before Tuesday's deadline. The future of Ollie Watkins is the biggest one. Villa have so far rejected four bids for the 30-year-old but there is still the potential he leaves. The club are consequently looking for replacements and have had a bid for Jean-Philippe Mateta rejected by Crystal Palace and spoken to Chelsea about Nicolas Jackson, while Rafael Leão (AC Milan) is another option.

Emiliano Martínez could still leave but since his move to Juventus fell through there haven't been any concrete offers for the goalkeeper from elsewhere. In terms of other incomings, Villa are also looking to sign a centre back to replace Ezri Konsa, with Southampton rejecting bids for Taylor Harwood-Bellis and talks taking place with Club Bruges over Joel Ordóñez. Meanwhile the arrival of Leon Goretzka, the 31-year-old midfielder, should also be confirmed after he left Bayern Munich at the end of last season following the expiration of his contract. Charlotte Duncker

Bournemouth Bournemouth completed the signing of Michele Di Gregorio, a 29-year-old goalkeeper, on loan from Juventus this week and that deal, their fifth of the summer, should conclude their business. At least that is the plan.

They have no intention of allowing Alex Scott to leave, and rejected a £64 million bid from Chelsea earlier in the window. Could their resolve be tested again though in the final hours? The £100 million-rated Junior Kroupi is injured and they do not want to lose him either. Last summer was bruising, given a spate departures, but for now, before a European campaign, Bournemouth feel a little more stable. Peter Rutzler

Brentford Brentford have been in talks to sign El Hadji Malick Diouf

from West Ham United for as much as £40 million. Presumably the left back would compete with Rico Henry if the deal happens, meaning Keane Lewis-Potter plays further forward.

Keith Andrews has suggested he has enough squad depth after the arrivals of Jannik Schuster, Jaidon Anthony, Callum Wilson and Mamadou Sangaré, who was signed for a club-record transfer fee of £42.5 million.

Perhaps another left winger would be handy. An approach for the winger Mykhailo Mudryk was rejected by Chelsea. GJ

15 players have departed and there may be more to follow, given Liverpool's interest in Yankuba Minteh. They have, though, recruited seven new players and another is set to sign in Jaouen Hadjam, a left back from Young Boys.

The loss of Danny Welbeck, who scored 13 league goals last year, puts a lot of onus on their young back-ups in attack and Georginio Rutter, who perhaps plays best as a No10. They may be tempted to strengthen up front. PR

Chelsea

At Chelsea, it is that time again: all passengers please head to the departure lounge. At the time of writing, they still have 38 first-team players on the books (which excludes Axel Disasi) and they really need to shift more bodies.

Of the more recognisable names, Mykhailo Mudryk, Nicolas Jackson, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu and Mamadou Sarr all need new homes, either temporary or permanent, while a £50 million deal for Liam Delap has been agreed with Nottingham Forest. Mudryk has interest from Leeds — they had a loan bid turned down — and others, while Tosin is wanted by Marseille and Jackson could be a replacement for Ollie Watkins at Aston Villa. Jackson's price tag may be an obstacle given he is valued at £65 million. Disasi, unwanted last year, is close to joining Crystal Palace.

The big question is about Enzo Fernández. Will Manchester City table a bid? The £120 million price tag is now off the table but if City do

strike an agreement, it would push Chelsea back into the market for a replacement. Pedro Neto, valued at £100 million, is another whose future is uncertain. PR

Coventry City The arrival of the centre back Ethan Pinnock from Brentford would be Coventry's tenth signing of the summer and take their spending beyond £110 million.

The head coach, Frank Lampard, could seek reinforcements at left back and on the left wing. He has been linked with Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk on a season-long loan. Paul Joyce

Crystal Palace Once again, Palace must resolve the uncertain futures of crucial players with deadline day looming. Jean-Philippe Mateta is keen on a move away — going as far as a Fifa tribunal to argue the final year of his Palace deal is not legally binding — and he is of interest to Aston Villa even if his contract remains valid.

Another Palace forward, Ismaila Sarr, unexpectedly missed Saturday's defeat by Everton, officially with a groin injury. Palace have rejected Galatasaray's €30 million (about £25.7 million) bid for Sarr, who was the London club's top scorer last season.

Pierre Sage, the Palace manager, said last week that he expected both to stay. If that outlook changes, then he will surely need attacking reinforcements before the deadline. Elsewhere, Sage had said he needed another centre back even before Chadi Riad went off on a stretcher against Everton, and Axel Disasi is likely to arrive from Chelsea to address this issue. Kit Shepard

Everton

The search for a right back continues with Crystal

continues with Crystal Palace's Daniel Muñoz, Timothy Castagne of Fulham and Strasbourg's Guéla Doué having been looked at. Jack Grealish's return to Hill Dickinson Stadium from Manchester City continues to be mooted.

Otherwise, further incomings could be dictated by outgoings. Fiorentina's interest in Beto will only be sanctioned if David Moyes has a striker he can bring in as a replacement.

Jake O'Brien, Tim Iroegbunam, Charly Alcaraz, Adam Aznou and Tyler Dibling could leave permanently or on loan. PJ

Alvaro Arbeloa has overseen an injection of youth so far this summer, signing Gonzalo García, 22, César Palacios, 21, and Shea Charles, 22. His high-energy style smashed into Chelsea on Monday night and threw up a few square pegs in his gegenpressing holes that will need addressing. Fulham need pace to

carry off his style of play and they simply don't have enough of it.

As ever, they will be active in the final week of the window. They are looking for a right-sided centre back, after selling Issa Diop to Ipswich Town and amid uncertainty about whether Joachim Andersen is a good stylistic fit, as well as a winger. PR

Hull City Hull have beaten Manchester United and signed 11 players since winning the play-offs — but they won't be stopping there.

Possibly another three or four players are expected to arrive before the window shuts next week. Long-term target Mohamed-Ali Cho, a forward, is expected to sign from Nice for £13 million. Talks are continuing regarding the Union Berlin striker Ilyas Ansah, who would cost £15 million, and there is still interest in Pablo García at Real Betis. Martin Hardy

Ipswich Town Although Ipswich have already spent about

£150 million this summer and started their season with a win, the newly promoted side still want to strengthen all over the pitch. They would like another centre back while multiple offers for Exequiel Palacios, the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, have been rejected. Up front, a striker with Premier League pedigree would ease the burden on Emersonn, their 22-year-old Brazilian signing. Kit Shepard

Leeds United Daniel Farke has promised Leeds will be working to

strengthen their squad “until the last second” despite already signing four new players. Interest in Mykhailo Mudryk remains despite an agreement with Chelsea appearing some way off. Leeds want a loan and Farke likes the Ukraine winger but Chelsea want him to go to Strasbourg.

Leeds will look to sign a new goalkeeper, with Michael Zetterer, of Eintracht Frankfurt, the most likely back-up to James Trafford. MH

option. There isn't much money left in the kitty, though, so they are looking at a cut-price signing or loan deal.

United had expected to have a bigger budget this summer, but they were unable to sell Manuel Ugarte because of the long-term knee injury he suffered at the World Cup, and because Barcelona failed to trigger the £26 million clause that

Rashford's move to the Nou Camp permanent. As it stands, Rashford will remain at Old Trafford for the season because no club will pay that fee or his £325,000- a-week wages.

BEYOND

United will look to sign a striker if Joshua Zirkzee departs on a permanent deal, but at present that looks unlikely as nobody has declared an interest in the 25-year-old Dutchman. PH

agreed a £50 million fee with Manchester City for Nico González. The midfielder is booked in for a medical and the deal is expected to be announced in

the next 24 hours — but that looks unlikely to be the end of what has been a hectic window for the North East club.

Matthias Jaissle wants another attacking player, essentially a No10 — the club like Matias Fernandez-Pardo of Lille but aren't overly confident of that deal at the moment

— and the likes of Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy could yet depart. Nick Pope has been frozen out and Nick Woltemade's future at the club is again in doubt. MH

Nottingham Forest Forest's plan heading into the final week of the window was

final week of the window was very clear. Oliver Glasner wanted a forward and a right wingback. The new Forest head coach was confident he didn't want or need any more and that both of those positions would be strengthened before the window closes. The first part is done — Forest have agreed a club-record £50 million deal with Chelsea for Liam Delap. A shortlist of players, including Newcastle United's Jacob Murphy, is being considered for right back. CD

Liverpool

Interest in Paris Saint- LEC. Germain's Bradley Barcola and Brighton & Hove Albion's Yankubu Minteh is being held up by a difference in Liverpool's valuations of the players and those of the selling club.

Signing wide men has been the priority all summer and they have already missed out on Anthony Gordon and Yan Diomandé. Cody Gakpo could leave if Liverpool bring in two wingers. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have checked on the Netherlands international. PJ

Manchester City Seven players have left — Nathan Aké, John Stones.

Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, Sávio (Savinho) and James Trafford — while as many as three more (Omar Marmoush, Nico González and Jack Grealish) could follow, which would leave Enzo

Maresca with 16 senior outfield players. He has boosted the ranks by promoting Kayden Braithwaite, Ryan McAidoo and Floyd Samba from the academy, but senior reinforcements are on their way. Two midfielders (Ayyoub Bouaddi and — they hope — Enzo Fernández), plus the Brazilian winger Allan from Palmeiras are set to join Elliot Anderson, who is the only notable outfield arrival of the summer so far.

Another forward will be sought if Marmoush leaves for Tottenham Hotspur and Cody Gakpo is one target on their shortlist to fill that position. Paul Hirst

Manchester United United have addressed their main problem, in midfield, by

Sunderland Sunderland have signed Jules Ahoka, Thomas

spending £150 million on Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, but there are still holes in their squad, such as at left back, where Luke Shaw is their only senior

Meunier and Dayann Methalie but there is a desire to add at least another two players to Regis Le Bris's Europe-bound squad. A wide attacker is the priority and the club are hopeful a deal can yet be done with Sporting Lisbon for Geny Catamo. The 25-year-old has a £51 million clause in his contract but Sporting will sell for £35 million. Don't rule out a young centre forward or another centre half arriving too. MH

Tottenham Hotspur Spurs have been working to reshape their front line. The Brazil winger Sávio's arrival should be followed by Egypt striker Omar Marmoush, also from Manchester City. The pair would add mobility and versatility to the squad and take the net spending above £200 million this summer.

Tottenham could potentially still bring in the Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo and sell the Brazil forward Richarlison. GJ

Sport

United confirm Baleba deal for £70m as Forest get Delap

Charlotte Duncker, Peter Rutzler

Manchester United announced the signing of Carlos Baleba by listing the stats the club believe show they have signed “one of the most talented midfielders in the Premier League”.

United agreed a deal with Brighton & Hove Albion worth an initial £65 million, plus £5 million in potential add-ons. The 22-year old Cameroon international has signed a contract until June 2031, with the option to extend for a further year.

In their statement announcing the deal, the club noted that in the 2024-25 season, Baleba's “combined number of tackles and interceptions was the sixth-highest among midfielders in the league”, while he also ranked “fourth-highest for progressive ball car-ries per 90 minutes”. United also said he ranked “in the top eight per cent of players for combined tackles and interceptions as well as the top one per cent for second balls won”.

United held an interest in Baleba last summer but did not meet Brighton's asking price of about £100 million. They returned this summer, further strengthening their midfield after signing Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa.

Baleba, who is recovering from an ankle injury that is expected to keep him out until September, said: "It is an incredible feeling to join the club of my dreams. I cannot wait to work with Michael Carrick; his experience and knowledge of the game make him the perfect coach to help me reach the highest level."

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest have agreed to sign Liam Delap from Chelsea for a club-record £50 million. The fee surpasses Forest's previous record deal, for Elliot Anderson, who was signed for £35 million from Newcastle United in 2024. Delap was deemed surplus to requirements by Chelsea after just one season. He was signed for £30 million from Ipswich Town, Chelsea having seen off multiple Premier League suitors to land him, but struggled to establish himself ahead of João Pedro. Forest, under new head coach Oliver Glasner, have had a quiet transfer window but

Delap scored three times for Chelsea in 47 appearances last season

have been looking to add to their attack. They are also seeking a right wingback.

Aston Villa have spoken to Chelsea about the forward Nicolas Jackson after having a bid of about £25 million rejected for the Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. The deal would need to be a permanent transfer as Premier League rules do not allow for more than one loan between the same clubs at the same time. Villa have signed Alejandro Garnacho on loan from Chelsea. They may also need to be creative to meet Chelsea's £65 million valuation for Jackson and his arrival would depend on Ollie Watkins moving to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal for about £40 million. If Jackson moves to Villa, it may be treated as part of a swap deal for Morgan Rogers, who moved the other way for £116 million.

De Zerbi issues Sávio challenge

CONTINUED FROM BACK

him, he's arrived at that moment, and we are here to help him, to hug him, to give all the instruction, all the information he needs. But in the end, he has to put his face on the pitch like the other players.

"We have to increase the number of chances to score. If you analyse the last season, we need players capable of winning one-v-ones, creating chances to score. In terms of one-v-ones, he's one of the best players."

Asked if he was the right man to transform Sávio's scoring output, De Zerbi said: "I don't know if I'm the right man"—but he challenged the Brazilian to emulate the best wingers in the world who score "ten, 15 goals per season". De Zerbi added: "He has the qualities, he has to change habits."

De Zerbi warned that the mentality at Tottenham has to change after his team started the season with a 3-0 defeat by Brentford. Tottenham are coming off two consecutive 17th-place finishes in the Premier League, having survived at the end of last season thanks to three wins in the seven games after De Zerbi took charge in March.

"We need to get used to winning matches," the Italian said. "We have to change the mood. We can because we already did last season. I think the environment has to change, the players and the people inside. When I said we have to become a team, it's about this. The quality of the players we had against Brentford [was enough] to do much better."

Omar Marmoush, the forward, is expected to follow Sávio to Spurs from City. Sávio has signed a six-year deal and the fee could rise to £85 million.

Sterling's court date to face driving and drugs charges

Sterling is due to appear at Basingstoke magistrates' court on September 15."

CONTINUED FROM BACK

substance. A Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesman said: "A driver will appear in court next month to face charges following a collision on the M3

collision on the M3.

"Raheem Sterling, 31, from Berkshire, has been charged for the following offences: dangerous driving, possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation, failing to provide a specimen. The charges come following a single vehicle colli-

sion, involving a Lamborghini, on the M3 southbound, close to the Minley Interchange, on May 28, 2026. Mr

Sterling, who joined Liverpool from QPR in 2010, moved to Manchester City in 2015, where he enjoyed a

abao Cups and the FA Cup. He left City for Chelsea in July 2022, but failed to recapture his best form. Sterling, left, was loaned to Arsenal in 2024, before returning to Chelsea, where Enzo Maresca, now of City, said he had no room for the

forward in his first-team squad. Sterling's representatives were approached for comment.

THE TIMES 1GS1M

Sport

Carse leaves Root feeling 'hacked off'

Test captain blasts 'stupid mistakes' off the field

Elizabeth Ammon

Joe Root is “hacked off” that “stupid mistakes” off the field keep blighting the England cricket team and says Brydon Carse has apologised for his part in the latest nightclub incident.

The England Test captain was speaking after Carse was dropped from the squad to face Pakistan at Lord's tomorrow, pending an investigation by the Cricket Regulator into an incident in Derby town centre at the weekend, when the 31-year-old seam bowler was handcuffed by police after a nightclub altercation.

"If I'm being brutally honest, I'm really hacked off," Root said. "I am really disappointed after last week's performance [victory in the first Test at Headingley] we are sitting here talking about something not related to that. In terms of the incident itself, it is obviously with the regulator. There isn't a lot I can say. It's in their hands now."

Carse was arrested and then de-arrested outside a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday having had a night out with his Durham team-mates after their County Championship victory over Derbyshire, which extended their lead at the top of Division Two.

Ben Stokes, Root's predecessor as captain, and the England seam bowler Matthew Potts were visible in a video that emerged showing Carse in handcuffs. The Times understands that the incident took place at about 4am outside Molly Malone's in Derby, after Carse had stepped outside the club and tried to get back in but was refused re-entry by the bouncers, leading to an altercation. The police were nearby and intervened. Carse was held in handcuffs for a brief period before being de-arrested and released having agreed to leave the area.

Root said he had spoken to Carse since the incident, although he had not seen him in person.

"I have spoken to Brydon. He's someone I have known for a long time," Root said. "In this job, you obviously develop personal relationships with players. I don't think I am speaking out of turn by saying he is very upset, being very apologetic and understands his actions — and when he gets a chance, I am sure he will say that himself."

This latest incident comes after several months of accusations of a drinking culture within the England team. In June, Stokes and Gus Atkinson were dropped for the second Test against New Zealand after a late-night incident in which a Saracens rugby player swung two punches at Atkinson, and last November Harry Brook was punched by a bouncer in Wellington, New Zealand, after being refused entry to a nightclub.

"The fact we keep making stupid mistakes away from the game is detracting from what we are doing on the field," Root, who urged his players to "be adults", said.

The new captain, in conjunction with the incoming head coach Stephen Fleming, decided to scrap the midnight Continued on page 52

Why sell Fernández? If Chelsea are serious about title, they won't help rivals Martin Samuel, page 56

Smith's lost confidence England wicketkeeper must focus on hitting ball (hard) Steve James, pages 52-53

Sir Billy Boston (1934-2026)

Rugby league legend Sir Billy Boston, the former Wigan winger who was the sport's first player to be knighted, has died aged 92. Tribute, page 54

Sterling charge after car crash

Matt Lawton Chief Sports Correspondent

Raheem Sterling has been charged with dangerous driving and possession of laughing gas after a car crash earlier this year.

The 31-year-old, who has played for Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, and won 82 caps for England, crashed his Lamborghini, worth about £270,000, in May near Farnborough. He was also charged with failing to provide a specimen and will appear at Basingstoke magistrates' court on September 15.

Sterling left Chelsea in February, having been ordered to train on his own last season. He joined the Dutch side Feyenoord in February, but that deal expired in the summer. The possession of laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, was made illegal in November 2023 when it was reclassified as a class C controlled Continued on page 59

De Zerbi: Sávio to be key man

James Gheerbrant, Gary Jacob

Roberto De Zerbi said Sávio "must become one of the key players" at Tottenham Hotspur after the club completed a £75 million deal for the Brazil winger.

Sávio, 22, showed flashes of his quality at Manchester City but never established himself as a regular contributor, starting 28 Premier League matches across his two seasons and mustering only two goals.

He was known as Savinho at City, but has asked to be referred to by the name Sávio. He becomes City's most expensive sale and is now at a crossroads in his career, De Zerbi said.

"The improvement is to become better, to take more responsibility," he said. "In a football career, you arrive one day [at a point where] you have to show if you are good enough or not, and for Continued on page 59

Times Crossword 29,631

ACROSS

1 Food bank donation possibly protecting large family (4)
3 March issue taken on by extremely sensible reporter from far-flung places (5,5)
9 Being a landlord, say, is gratifying, but not at first (7)
11 Satisfying company get-together (7)
12 Earlier on, fashionable parts of Nevada changed to accommodate casinos, primarily (2,7)
13 Small, lean bird (5)
14 Comic actor looks to take on curt, vacuous Liberal (5,7)
18 Expert in discounting forged artwork? (12)
21 Orwell piece periodically taken as something of historic interest (5)
22 Enjoy yourself, as many sports require you to? (4,1,4)
24 Aristocratic Frenchman's struggle involving company minutes and report's conclusion (7)
25 Group split apart by excessive corruption (7)
26 Withdrawal almost reminiscent of past performance (10)
27 Money obtained from somewhat finicky ATM (4)

DOWN

1 Name one work where, ultimately, she was an inspiration? (8)
2 A skill in fine material giving lots of options (1,2,5)
4 Lacking faith, people are generally always negative at first (5)
5 Drove that lady in Paris to join daughter after school (9)
6 Clears up after disordered party boat? (8,5)
7 Might this affect hearing over time? Yes, correct! (6)
8 Figure having great influence from the second point on (6)
10 Varied comment about very first bit of quote? (8,5)
15 Unusual artiste — he is the most vulgar (9)
16 Welcome ordinary people accepting king's funny business (8)
17 Like lofty entertainment on the run? (2-6)
19 Tees maybe beneath key item in golf bag (6)
20 Bring out drug sanctioned by law (6)
23 Part of book really devoid of excitement at the beginning (5)

Yesterday's solution 29,630

Check today's answers by ringing 0905 757 0141 by midnight. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company's network access charge. SP: Spoke 0333 202 3390.

Newspapers support recycling The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2024 was 34.7%

Don't pack sunglasses away

Bare legs are still OK

Barrel trousers will see you into autumn (Uniqlo's are best)

My 14 late summer style rules

Goodbye, heatwave — here's what to wear now

The actress Monica Barbaro; the Times Weekend editor Lesley Thomas in Uniqlo jersey barrel trousers; street style in Copenhagen

by Harriet Walker

times2

Snowdon queue-jumping? It's making a mountain out of a molehill Carol Midgley

GETTY IMAGES

A re we supposed to be outraged that a young man seemingly “pushed in” to reach the top of Wales’s highest mountain, thus disrespecting the

sacred British ritual of forming an orderly queue?

Because I am not outraged.

I wish to congratulate Marc Screeton, 27, from Manchester, who posted a video of the incident. He saw the obeisant, snaking line of sheeple waiting their turn to reach the summit of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) and evidently thought, sod this for a game of soldiers. He bounded up a steeper column of stone steps, bypassing the lemmings, quickly slapped the trig point and left. Good man.

Some sheeple lamely bleated, "There's a queue, you know," and "It's out of order!" but Screeton replied: "Imagine queueing on a mountain. No chance." Quite right.

It's hardly like the time when Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were accused of skipping the five-mile line to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state, is it? It's Snowdon, not Chessington World of Adventures.

Do they realise why there's a queue of up to an hour in the first place? It's because many morons tit around at the top for an age taking their stupid selfie for their stupid social media post that interests no one, checking they look "smokin" and retaking it 70 more times. There have been complaints that there have been "full-on model shoots" at the summit (hopefully of the clothed kind) and two hikers raising money for charity were booed in May after avoiding the queue.

Isn't this a classic example of us taking docile queueing too far? Yes, it's nice to be polite and wait your turn, blah blah, but what next — waiting in line to enter the sea at Bridlington?

I wish Screeton would visit a few pubs and teach other young people how to get served at a bar in the proper way rather than standing in single file like five-year-olds at a Mr Whippy ice-cream van.

I suspect that secretly he made those fellow hikers' day. If there's one thing Brits enjoy more than meekly joining the end of a pointless queue, it is bitching about people who disobey that pointless queue. I've done it myself, swaddling my bosom with indignation. Those Snowdon queuers probably had a whale of a time afterwards, telling people in their local about his barefaced cheek as they stood 25th in line for their drinks, halfway out of the pub door.

Remember that terrible two-hour Easter Monday traffic jam several years ago in an Ikea car park in Reading? The unfortunates caught in it (though if you go to Ikea on a bank holiday you deserve everything you get) couldn't have been happier, tweeting triumphantly about how hellish it all was and how their day had turned to rat shit. They probably dined out on it for months.

Brits love the Wimbledon queue and the 5am queue for the Next sale, and absolutely adore waiting in line for a royal event. I vow to you that I would rather bash myself repeatedly on the bridge of my nose with a house brick than join a two-day wait on the Mall in teeming rain which, if I was very lucky, might result in me snatching a two-second glimpse of the back of a passing duchess's coat sleeve. "Ooh, it's been the best day of my life," they'll say, gathering up their tents and foil blankets, presumably to stagger off to A&E to be treated for lumbago and double pneumonia. Baffling.

But can I just say, failing to queue politely at supermarkets, cash machines and public lavatories? An outrageous violation of the social code and a recipe for a fat lip.

Golf and the double entendres

Does playing golf make you better at sex? I doubt it but a university study suggests so. Something about the physics of a golf swing, the “precisely coordinated sequence of muscle activations to enable a smooth and repeatable motion”. Eh? You’re having sexual intercourse, not milking a cow.

I can think of no point during bedroom shenanigans where a good downswing would help matters. Though it might explain why some golfers wear those hideous checked trousers. It's to kill the libido of all those rampant ladies wanting to rip their clothes off. (Newsflash: it works!)

I suppose you're expecting some lame double entendres now about long shafts and holes in one. Nope. I won't even joke about players being told to "keep your head down and widen your legs". Or mention the hilarious time a TV commentator said Nick Faldo often liked to "use Fanny" (it was the name of his caddie).

I don't see why golfers statistically have had more sexual partners and are more likely than other sportsmen to have sex twice weekly. Aren't golfers known for embellishing the truth? And aren't golf and sex the only two things you can enjoy while being terrible at them?

How to give birth in your car

Pregnant women are being taught how to give birth in their cars after the sudden closure of a local maternity ward in north Devon. Nothing to see here, is there? What could possibly go wrong with women in agony being told to load blankets, towels and water in the car in case, during the long

journey they must now make to Exeter, they have to stop and push out a small human in a lay-by? (Ladies, ensure you have “plenty of fuel” to keep the car warm.)

People have already been extracting their own teeth due to a

lack of NHS dentists so it's perfectly logical. Coming soon: lessons in how to examine your own prostate using a slotted spatula and how to perform an emergency appendectomy using a humble potato peeler.

What we can

One in seven people in England are now on antidepressants. By overrelying on them we undermine our ability to deal with distress. By Professor Tanya Byron

ife is full of ups and downs. And the down moments have value too. Sadness deepens joy. Discomfort sparks growth. Anger can signal injustice. Frustration builds problem-solving

skills. Unhappiness teaches empathy. Grief reveals what mattered. If we treat these states as problems to fix rather than experiences to feel, we rob them of meaning — and rob ourselves of growth.

So how can we “learn” to be unhappy? This is where distress tolerance comes in: the ability to be unhappy without falling apart. Distress isn’t a malfunction — it’s simply part of being human. Yet we’ve started thinking that if we’re not happy, something’s wrong. As if the goal of life is constant positivity. It’s not. One of the most powerful things we can do for our mental health is to learn how to endure uncomfortable feelings — not fix, numb or run from them, but sit with them. Here’s the paradox: the more we accept that distress is inevitable, the easier it becomes to manage. Denial is what keeps us stuck.

We are raising generations of young people who have been protected from pain, then are surprised when they don't know what to do with it. A child who's never failed, or sat with sadness, boredom or frustration, is blindsided when distress finally hits.

Overprotection, while well-meaning, can leave us emotionally fragile. I worry about this in today's landscape. Rates of antidepressant and anti-anxiety prescriptions in children and teens have skyrocketed:

Antidepressants: the number of under-17s prescribed antidepressants in England rose by 26 per cent between 2015 and 2020, and rates in 12 to 17-year-olds more than doubled between 2005 and 2017

● ADHD medications: prescriptions rose 34-fold between 1995 and 2013 and continue to rise

Antipsychotics: prescribed to approximately 0.3 per cent of under-18s; use has doubled since 2000; an often-used off-label for autism and anxiety

● Overall mental-health prescribing: up 56 per cent between 2015 and 2021; boys receive more prescriptions, but the rate is rising faster in girls (up 84 per cent)

● Guidelines versus reality: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) advises using therapy first, but only one in four under-18s sees a specialist before starting antidepressants

Adult prescribing tells the same story: Antidepressants: 96 million prescriptions last year; around one in seven adults in England takes them

● ADHD medications: up 32 per cent in a single year, with adult prescriptions now outnumbering children's

- Antipsychotics: prescriptions also continue to rise, particularly in deprived areas

These trends mirror global shifts, but with some important differences. Antidepressant, ADHD and antipsychotic prescribing has increased sharply over the past two decades in high-income countries. In the US, rates are often even higher. Scandinavia also reports upward trends, although some countries, like Finland and Norway, put the emphasis on early psychosocial intervention. Elsewhere in Europe stricter guidelines, or better access to talk therapies, temper overuse. Around the globe, medication is often being used to plug gaps left by underfunded mental health services and long waits for therapy. The worry is that we're medicalising distress instead of addressing its root causes. The UK is notable for how starkly the mismatch between Nice guidelines and actual practice highlights the pressures on front-line services.

As a clinical psychologist, I don't prescribe medication. Nice guidelines recommend talking therapies for depression, sometimes alongside medication, so when appropriate I may refer someone to a medical colleague for an assessment while the therapeutic work continues.

The medical model of assess, diagnose, treat, cure doesn't neatly apply to mental health. How we think, feel and behave is caused by many variables: biology, psychology and social contexts. A purely prescriptive and diagnostic approach to the functioning of our mental health is short-sighted. Worse, it sets us up to fail.

In clinical psychology, when we meet a new patient we take a multifactorial approach — it's all about the bigger picture. We use a framework called the “biopsychosocial model”. It's a fancy term for something very human: looking at the whole person. Not just what you're feeling, but also:

- Biological factors: is there a family history of mental health conditions? Are there physical health issues that might affect your mood or cognition? - Psychological factors: what are your beliefs about yourself and the world? What emotional patterns have you picked up over time? - Social factors: what's your current environment like? Are you dealing with relationship problems, financial stress, trauma or isolation?

Only by looking at all three factors can we start to understand what's

do to fix the antidepressants crisis

really going on, and what might help. In short, diagnosis is a tool, not a verdict. And it's always the start of a conversation. Mental health isn't a flatpack diagnosis that you can assemble with only one tool.

Psychiatry tends to use diagnostic manuals, which define the signs and symptoms of each recognised condition — for example, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, PTSD,

DAN KENNEDY FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE; GETTY IMAGES

be beneficial, helping someone understand their experience, reduce shame and access the right kind of care. If used carelessly, it can become a label that limits rather than liberates.

yourself back to the present moment when your brain does its usual runaway routine. The goal isn't to escape, but to stay present without being hijacked by panic or shame. Try this: breathe, feel your feet on the floor, listen to the sounds around you.

5 Try progressive muscle relaxation: this is one of my favourite quick fixes for stress: easy, effective and totally backed by science. You simply tense and release different muscle groups, one by one. It sounds basic, but it sends a powerful message to your nervous system: "You're safe. You can chill."

Try this: tense one muscle group (say, your fists) for five seconds. Release and notice the difference. Move through your body — shoulders, jaw, legs — letting go of tension. Pair with slow, deep breathing.

6 Employ grounding techniques: when your emotions threaten to sweep you away, grounding anchors you. These simple techniques pull you away from your spinning thoughts and back into the here and now. With your feet on the floor, name five things you can see, while holding something cold — it tells your brain. "You're safe."

— it tells your brain, "You're safe. You're here. You're OK."

Use your senses: See: notice five things around you Touch: feel four textures Hear: identify three sounds Smell: name two scents Taste: notice the taste of one thing

7 Use breathing exercises: breath is the remote control for your nervous system. Slow, deep breaths signal safety to your brain. Try these: - Diaphragmatic breathing: breathe into your belly, slow and steady. Use this daily, especially during moments of general stress or anxiety. - Box breathing: inhale for four seconds — hold for four — exhale for four — hold for four. This is best for high-stress situations — before exams, public speaking or conflict. - 4–7–8 breathing: inhale for four seconds — hold for seven — exhale for eight. This is ideal for sleep, during panic attacks or to interrupt racing thoughts.

Make your bed. Send one email. Step outside. One small action can shift your mental state and give your brain a little hit of "Yes, I can."

10 Limit negative inputs: step away from anything that's dragging you down: news, toxic social media or draining conversations. Your emotional bandwidth is finite — protect it. This isn't avoidance; it's emotional hygiene. Cutting back on doomscrolling or setting boundaries gives your brain space to reset and refocus.

11 Use distraction and perspective: think of these as a mental first-aid kit — they don't heal the wound, but they stop the emotional bleeding so that you can think clearly again. Take a break: step away. Pause for a moment, take a breath, move. Even just a few minutes can stop the stress cycle from spiralling. Cognitive grounding: break the thought loop. Count backwards from 100, hum a tune, repeat a calming phrase. These simple acts activate different brain circuits and give your mind something else to do. Positive distraction: watch a feel-good show, read something fun, go for a walk, play music, do a puzzle. Distraction isn't denial — it's a psychological breather and reduces overactivity in the amygdala, letting your nervous system settle down. Get perspective: a bad moment isn't a bad life. Emotions pass, even the heavy ones. Remind yourself that feeling low is part of being human. Remind yourself: "This feeling isn't permanent. It's a wave. It will pass."

12 Talk it out: you don't need to go through it alone. Sharing your feelings is like letting steam out of a pressure cooker. Putting feelings into words helps the brain settle, because it recruits the prefrontal cortex (the area involved in thinking and meaning-making), which dampens the emotional alarm response and turns chaos into coherence.

A child who's never failed is blindsided when distress hits

Here are some practical tools that you can start using today. Think of them as your emotional life raft when the waters get rough. This is not to say that medication isn't sometimes necessary — it absolutely can be. But if we medicate every difficult emotion, we lose the chance to build tolerance, perspective and grit. And those are the very things that help us get through.

racing thoughts.

13 Get creative: creativity is like a mental reset button. Paint, write, dance, doodle, bake: anything that gets you out of your head and into the moment.

schizophrenia — by a set of criteria. They also consider other important indicators, such as substance misuse, self-harm, thoughts of suicide or harming others, extreme mood swings between despair and euphoria, and excessive rage. But critics argue this can be reductive — a tick-box approach that ignores issues such as socio-economic inequality. I don't disagree entirely with this criticism, but I also recognise the importance of clinical diagnosis in differentiating between mental ill-health and extreme emotional distress. When I suffered from post-natal depression, that distinction was essential: without it, I might not have agreed to take medication when I needed it.

Diagnoses aren't fixed identities, they are working hypotheses — ways of organising symptoms and guiding support. Used wisely, a diagnosis can

1 Acknowledge the emotion: name it; don't push it away: "I'm feeling overwhelmed," "This hurts," "I feel angry."

4 Use mindfulness: train your brain to stay in the present. It's not about emptying your mind but noticing what's going on right now, without judgment, and gently bringing

2 Identify the cause: once you've named the feeling, ask what may be driving it. Write it down. Break it into parts. Clarity reduces overwhelm.

3 Practise self-compassion: stop beating yourself up for being human. Negative emotions aren't flaws, they're part of your wiring. Be as kind to yourself as you would be to a struggling friend.

15 Reframe the story: reframing isn't toxic positivity. It's about looking at things differently so that you're not stuck in a loop of doom. When we reframe, we shift from "This is a disaster" to "This is tough, but I can handle it."

Tanya Byron - Hold an ice cube to your cheeks

8 Cool down: stress flips our body into fight-or-flight mode — heart racing, blood pressure up, cortisol flooding our system. We may feel hot, flushed, even sweaty.

Cooling the body can turn down that stress response. Try these:

14 Practise gratitude: yes, I know it's a cliché, but it works. Reflecting on things that are still OK doesn't erase the pain, but it shifts the perspective enough to keep going.

- Splash cold water on your face

You Are Not a Diagnosis: The Therapy-Speak Trap and the Lost Art of Listening to Ourselves by Tanya Byron (Penguin £18.99) is published on September 3. To order a copy go to timesbookshop.co.uk. Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members

Soak your feet in icy water

- Drink something cold - If you're feeling brave, jump under a cold shower briefly or go for a quick wild swim

9 Set small, achievable goals: overwhelm eases when you break tasks down.

Post-heatwave chic — my 14 late

It's been scorching for so long, we've forgotten how to dress when the temperature dips. Here's what I'm reaching for now, says Harriet Walker

nyone recall what we used to wear, back in the long long ago of Before Heatwave? I have vague

no give, yet whole cupboards of clothes, entire chests of drawers, have become a foreign land to me. I have had to reteach my children how to put on socks.

If you feel similarly flummoxed now that the days look to be turning cooler, here are my 14 fashion rules for when you've forgotten how to wear real clothes. These are the things you do and don't need in your wardrobe as this long hot summer comes to an end.

Bare legs

A hardy perennial. Now that the American Vogue approach to tights (essentially on the banned list, replaced by a temperature-influenced roster of hemlines/boots) has taken hold more broadly, extend your bareleg span as you do your tan: first with moisturiser, then with the fake version.

Shirts

Shirts are your gateway drug to jackets again — City stripes open over T-shirts and sporty bottoms are perfect for the autumn-onset casual period, which requires nothing too starchy or formal just yet. Shirtdresses are all summered out by this point, I'm afraid, and beginning to look a bit too garden party for what's coming next.

Barrel trousers

Many of my Times colleagues (including Lesley Thomas, on the cover) swear by Uniqlo's jersey barrel leg trousers. If you don't have any, now's the time. If you do, they're back in khaki green this autumn, reduced until August 30 (£29.90, uniqlo.com).

Shorts

The allure of thigh-high styles may fade as your heatwave tan does, but longer boardshorts — whether

tailored, denim or loose linen — are the new skirts, and you wouldn't be pulling on your tights with one of them just yet, would you? Swap what's on top for long-sleeved cotton T-shirts and light (then heavier) knits or, if you're Gen Z-minded, a loose shirt (untucked). My money is on shorts very much still being a thing.

very much still being a thing long into September and at various fashion weeks, fading out only when true autumn arrives. It's often warm well into October these days, says everyone hopefully.

Loafers

You don't have to put your toes away if you're not ready but I'm already spotting loafer-creep among the fashionable. Maybe it's all the back-to-school energy, though here is a good transitional shoe you probably already own and which gives you a few styling options. Either barefoot — at least pseudo bare with M&S's sole-saving footsies (£12 for three pairs, marksandspencer.com), but you must never admit

to them — with cropped jeans, or bobby soxer-style, with white ankle socks, bare legs and a skirt or shorts. Then into autumn with a statement sock just visible beneath full-length trousers (no cartoon characters,

Slimline trainers £89.99, nike.com

Suede loafers £56, marksandspencer.com please; think plain but colourful; £12, pairs-socks.com). If you need a new pair, Marks's suede loafers went viral because they are good (£56, as before).

Sunglasses

Straight-through crew — no need to pack these away, I never do. Just don't use them to hold your hair back when not wearing them (bit rah).

Stripes

Shirts, T-shirts, your classic Breton boatneck: the stripes you staycationed in ride again as a preppy segue

into cooler days. Consider striped trousers — such as Beyond Nine's saffron and chocolate wide-leg crops (£145, beyondnine.co.uk) — an early autumn micro-trend. Time to shelve the polka dots, alas, which tend to be on the more summery styles of

blouse, dress and strappy top, all of which you probably need to part ways with, just for the next eightish months.

Khaki jackets

Youthful TikTokkers are calling the return of the green military-ish jacket a Noughties redux but we who never really stopped wearing them have the last laugh. If yours is in need of a refresh, I rate Sezane's Will in olive green (£115, sezane.com).

COVER: TOM JACKSON FOR THE TIMES; GETTY IMAGES

summer style rules

Knee-length skirts

After all those many years of midis, hemlines are — for now — trending at knee-height (or higher, if you feel like it). The more straight knee skirts you can find in your archive, the better, although any tapered pencil or tube styles will do too. Wear Nineties-style with long-sleeved jersey tops or fine-gauge knits for now; avoid blazers until it's colder — the late summer skirt is more laid-back than corporate.

Trench coat

Death, taxes and trench coats: yours probably hasn't moved from where you last hung it up in May, but the trench is here to stay for another autumn, winter and spring beyond that. Don't panic about whether yours is "right" — whether beige, green, belted or loose, whatever is in your arsenal is bound to work. Of the new-in crew, I like Cos's long funnelneck style (£199, cos.com). Layer yours up or down depending on the weather, and sling it on over work clothes and gym kit alike. Just don't use up all your small talk on the first wear — you two are going to be spending a lot of time together in the coming months.

Denim shackets

Anything vaguely oversized or chore jacket-related, good. A denim jacket that is too boxy, a bit dated.

Funnels are in, ruffles are out File frilly and fussy under heatwave mirage, and reach for streamlined and sporty cuts instead: funnelneck tops and jackets will be everywhere this autumn and winter. Get a head start, either with a windcheater (£130, massimodutti.com) or jersey tops and knits. Uniqlo's final collab with the Paris insider Christophe Lemaire is full of funnels and lands on September 11.

Slimline trainers, not dad trainers

All those barrel cuts call for slim shoes, so think low-profile trainers over big and bouncy kicks. Yes, that does mean your Adidas Sambas are still fine — although the new It trainer is the even more streamlined Nike Moon style (£89.99, nike.com). Keep slipping into ballet pumps, mary-janes and jelly shoes. Nothing much is changing on the footwear front for now, so make the most before boot season arrives. But do put your sandals away promptly when your feet get cold.

Leopard

Yes, it's a neutral. Yes, it's never out of style. Yes, it goes with everything and you have the bag, shoes, jeans, jumper, hairband. But maybe give it a breather so it starts feeling special again? This isn't goodbye, it's until next time. @_harrywalker1

times2

My husband is like my third child on holiday

As soon as he lands on foreign soil he sheds all adult responsibilities, says Eilidh Dorgan

When I was young I packed for my holidays the night before the flight and danced out of the door in the

W

morning. Those days are gone. Now, with two children under five, packing for a summer holiday is like prepping for Doomsday. There's the clothes, the toys, the bedtime stories, the snacks, the plane distractions, the pens, the crayons, the colouring books, the headphones that need to be charged, the films that need to be downloaded — the list goes on.

My husband remains, shall we say, hands off when it comes to holiday planning and booking. Sometimes he knows where we are going, sometimes he's unclear. He packs a few T-shirts and wakes up when he's told to — like the third child we're too scared to have. Most holidays he acts like someone who's joined a tour in the wrong language. He follows along obediently, nods appreciatively, but generally has no clue what's going on.

On our most recent holiday in Belgium I had to stop him from ordering waffles with chocolate syrup for lunch and gently remind him that it was not a good example to set for our children. After a few lively minutes of sign language reminding him that we needed to wean our children off ice cream, he agreed to order a steak with a look of deflated melancholy. On the last day of the holiday he looked sadly at the lunch menu we'd been given, which surprisingly did not have a section for

waffles sandwiched between the salads, pastas and proteins. "Guess I'm just going to leave Belgium without waffles," he whispered wistfully with a tear in his eye.

I'm never as inclined to think that my husband is an enemy spy on a mission to destroy me as I am when on holiday. Whatever assumptions I make — that he'll pack his phone charger, or the toothpaste along with his toothbrush — something will invariably come back to haunt me. I must remain vigilant at all times.

Then there's the fact that he sheds the burden of adult responsibilities as soon as he sets foot on foreign soil. "I didn't think I needed it!" he'll cry out about his phone while we're lost on a Portuguese back road with my battery drained from the day's activities. I've also temporarily lost him in Italian towns when he's been distracted by ice cream, or believed him to be dead when he's just found a crevice in our holiday home to watch athletics on an iPad.

That is not to say my husband abdicates all parental responsibility while on holiday. He happily plays with the children, puts them to bed and helps out as needed — but he is, generally, along for the ride, a passenger princess in the car of life.

And while it's stressful and overwhelming a lot of the time, there are at least some upsides to the situation. It can be nice, for example, to not have anyone provide an opinion when it comes to holidays. I can book trips on a whim without fear of a differing view. We've gone to less obvious places, such as Montenegrin villages and Slovenian mountains, just because I was intrigued to see what's there, and stayed in odd locales to remain within budget. And through it all, he doesn't complain (much — he wasn't a fan of the vineyard shack by a Hungarian lake).

But it is a slog, every time — the emotional equivalent of walking a marathon while flipping a tractor tyre as you go — except that everyone is also crying or screaming, and something important has been forgotten or lost. I once heard someone describe parenthood as

drowning in open water and then someone throwing you a baby. This is what summer holidays feel like to me every year.

Yet like an idiot I dutifully book them without fail. A temporary amnesia seemingly befalls me as I forget what life is like bearing the responsibility of three people, attempting to drag them across foreign lands without anyone causing an international incident.

Like a siren's call, fruity alcoholic drinks and exotic lands beckon me, quietening the shrieks in my brain urging me to reconsider — to rethink my options and contemplate a mini-break alone. Anything but another summer of planning, preparing, packing and panicking.

But despite my better judgment, I can't resist the allure of summer holidays. And even through the stress, strain and pain of them — when I look at my, let's face it, three children with their gelato cones frolicking on the beach or playing together in the pool — I know that it's actually somehow worth it.

fashion

New season, new It bag? I've got some suggestions for you

Luxury bags now cost four figures with mark-ups of up to 1,200 per cent. I rate the chic mid-market brands at less than half the price. By Anna Murphy

et's get straight to the point, no blethering, as my Scottish nana would have put it. Posh handbags have become astronomically expensive, not so much an investment as a

divestment. Classic styles at big luxury brands have typically more than doubled in price in the past decade.

Then there's the fact that, aside from their four — or five — figure price tags, many of them come blathered (thanks for that one too, Nana) in logos or other obvious tells. None of my friends who don't work in fashion, even if they were to have the spondulicks, wants that, be it for aesthetic reasons (too try-hard) or personal safety (it can feel vulnerable-making to carry an obviously spenny bag around) or both.

But let's look at the opposite end of the spectrum. It's rare, alas, that a high street bag delivers on the kind of quality that makes it look and feel really special. Certain brands do a good job of pulling off a decent proposition for under £200. Yet the mark-up on a high street handbag is, my spies tell me, about 60 per cent. There is only so much you can do — given that leather and what's known in the business as "hardware" is so much more expensive than other materials — when the make cost is typically, for a £120 bag, no more than £75.

For many luxury bags the mark-up is more along the lines of an incredible 800-1,200 per cent. You pay for what marketeers call “value perception” as opposed to production cost. These days it’s called “logo tax”.

Mid-market bags sit somewhere in between. Adam Bryer, the managing director of Stow London, one of my favourite operations, tells me that its bestselling Everyday Tote has a make cost of £150 and costs £525. That represents a still far from negligible 250 per cent mark-up, of course, one that's typical in this category, but what that make cost gets you is, well, a properly great bag that can make you feel differently about your day.

I can say this hand on heart, not to mention strap over shoulder, because I have a Stow bag. More on this in the round-up below. But let's allow Bryer to drill down into the detail at this point. "There are high street tote bags

Curve, £575, stowlondon.co.uk

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Sign up for free via the QR code below, or visit thetimes.com/newsletters available for a fraction of this price," he says, "but we know the quality of craftsmanship and materials used is much lower. You only have to pick up such a bag and look for the loose threads, edge paint stains and lack of 'hand feel' in the leather — assuming it is even real leather — to realise this, not to mention what it will look like in a year's time."

Bryer's not wrong on any of the above. "But perhaps even more concerning is that you will find bags priced at our level or higher that will often exhibit the same issues," he says. Also true.

Which is why, if you have the means to stump up, I am an advocate for what I believe to be a proper investment in a mid-market bag from one of the standout small brands I am about to tell you about. It's an investment that is going to cost you a lot more than a high street bag but will have a price that's near Lilliputian when compared with luxury's big boys.

What's more, in terms of price per wear, if you buy right in the first place, over the long term I'll wager it's going to end up costing you less than the high street alternative.

What to buy to look contemporary and ensure longevity? Sleek lines and sculptural simplicity. Soft neutrals rather than black, or a look-lifting shade that has depth rather than being too harsh. (Ruby red not vermilion, teal not turquoise, forest green not emerald etc.) Two carrying options, over the shoulder and crossbody. Perhaps a point-of-interest texture such as mock croc, ponyskin or on-trend suede. A size that skews pretty large or pretty small.

You don't need me to tell you about the Coaches, Longchamps and Michael Kors of this world (all worth a look), so here — with one exception — are my small specialist brand picks.

DeMellier

This brand's bestselling New York tote is the boutique brand bag I see most often being carried around the capital by women of all ages and personal styles, but especially those who skew corporate. It comes in a wide range of mainly neutral leathers (£550,

demellierlondon.com). The slightly smaller midi version starts at £475. Classicism with a contemporary edge is DeMellier's strong suit, sorry, bag. Celebrity fans include the Princess of Wales, who carried the Nano Montreal (£365) at Wimbledon this year.

Cyme, £440, uk.polene-paris.com

J&M Davidson This London label is where I bought my first smart bag, 30 years ago. And the ultimate indication of the quality is that said bag is still — yes, still — going strong. The Twist shoulder style is a favourite on the British front row for a reason (£595, jandmdavidson.com). A handful of colourways are reduced to £416.50.

Kaai

I often carry a Kaai bag. Lovely leather and, when it comes to the totes, great for being organised — the interiors are cleverly compartmentalised. Sign up to our fashion newsletter before Ilam on Thursday if you haven't already to receive an exclusive 20 per cent discount on all full-price Kaai products. I know women who are obsessive about the bestselling Pyramid tote with its fold detailing (£685 for the maxi, kaai.eu), but I have my eye on the new-for-autumn-winter doctor's bag-ish Voyager, especially

Mini Voyager, £425, shop.kaai.eu

The New York, from £550, demellier london.com

fashion

in burgundy (£545). So chic, and both these options have a laptop sleeve inside (the mini Voyager starts at £425). For a yet smaller alternative, I have a longstanding love affair with the Mini Bowler, available in cognac (£345).

OK, so this one isn't a bag specialist, and it's no longer a small brand either — it's conquering America as I write — but I am including it because you may not know it does bags (it launched its first full collection in 2024) and/or how good they are. It's really nailing the mid-market accessory. The Everything Day bag, another doctor's bag style, which launches on October 17 in brown suede, is £695 (meandem.com).

Me+Em

Polène

Rabbit meat: catch it if you can. Here's the top chef's recipe

Stow London

This French brand delivers just-different-enough attitude. Nothing de trop, in other words, yet what it does always looks interesting, not to mention expensive. A friend swears by its neat Numéro Dix saddle bag, in a range of colours (£480, poleneparis.com). I like the squishy yet structured Numéro Neuf, which is £440 for the midi size or for the more rectangular East West.

You know I am a big fan of Stow, which specialises in arm candy that is discreetly sculptural and thus looks bang-on for now. Celebrity devotees include the Duchess of Sussex, which means — given last week's announcement that she and Harry are UK-bound, and that she is not exactly shy and retiring — we will soon be seeing a lot more of Stow. My pick number one is the Curve, another tote take, which comes in three sizes and a range of neutrals and colours, leathers and suedes. It's £295 for the mini, which I would argue is an evening-only size, £495 for the midi and £575 for the maxi (stowlondon.com). Pick number two is the East West Curve, a rectangular shoulder bag that comes in two sizes and has a cross-body strap. This is £425 for the mini, which is not that small (this is the bag I have), and £525 for the midi.

Strathberry

Devotees of this Scottish brand include none other than the Princess of Wales, not to mention everyone from Jodie Comer to Pamela Anderson. Its new Sway shoulder bag, a subtly squishy rectangle, looks especially of the minute (from £375). @annagmurphy

Jeremy Clarkson is finding breeding rabbits hard — cooking it is easy, though, says Hannah Evans

It was meant to be a simple idea. Jeremy Clarkson wanted to breed rabbits, he wrote in The Sunday Times. Top-end restaurants were

getting theirs via butchers who imported the

lean white meat from France since no one breeds rabbits over here, he noted. Good luck getting yours next to the cellophaned chicken in the meat aisle of a supermarket — or in the online shop. At Ocado you can buy rabbit food, but you can't buy rabbit itself (yet you can pick up other specialist meat such as goat).

For Clarkson it seemed like an opportunity. What could go wrong? Well, the rabbits didn't breed like rabbits, he discovered, they bred like pandas: "It's nigh on impossible to get them to have sex." And they were vicious: he suffered daily rabbit attacks, leaving him

"bleeding so profusely I look like that fountain in Geneva". Still, he soldiers on.

Where can you get yours? At some butchers (eg the Ginger Pig shops in London) or online. See the Dorset Food Company, where you can get a whole farmed rabbit for £21.85.

Here's what to do with it.

Jeremy Lee's rabbit legs in mustard vinaigrette
Serves 6-7 Cooking time: 50 min
Ingredients
1 pork chop
1 large handful flat-leaf parsley
3 cloves garlic
zest of 1 lemon
6 boned legs of rabbit
1/2 nutmeg grated
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

6 tbsp olive oil 1 sprig of thyme 12 sage leaves 6 rashers of streaky bacon salt and pepper

Method

1 Finely mince the pork chop. Chop the parsley with the chopped garlic clove and the lemon zest. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix together. Spread evenly over the rabbit legs.

2 Whisk the red wine vinegar with some salt and pepper. Add the mustard and keep whisking while adding the olive oil slowly. Add 2 chopped garlic cloves and the thyme.

3 Lay 2 sage leaves on each leg. Spoon over the mustard vinaigrette. Lay one bacon rasher cut in half on top and refrigerate.

4 Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Warm a wide pan (or two) and spoon in a light film of oil. Lay the rabbit bacon-side down in the pan and cook over a fierce heat for 1 min before placing in the oven. Cook for 10-12 min. Remove from the oven and let the legs sit for 10 min or so to settle. Serve with a tomato and herb salad.

times2

We eat the same thing every day (don't call it food monotony)

JOONEY WOODWARD FOR THE TIMES; JASON ALDEN

A report has found that a mono-diet can help you lose weight — it's certainly less faff, says Hilary Rose

It only occurred to me that eating the same thing every single day was strange when a colleague commented on it. "Is it OK to eat the same things every day?" The answer, fortunately for me, is yes, at least assuming it isn't pizza and chips. But even

better, and contrary to what my colleague believes, I am not a curmudgeon who's stuck in a rut. In fact, it turns out that I'm practising food monotony, which is completely different and much cleverer.

Lunch, again, is a needs-must attempt not to have a sandwich, because a nutritionist once suggested that three bread-based meals a day could perhaps be improved upon. You can't eat unlimited bread at my age

Advocates of food monotony, I now know, find it an excellent way to simplify their daily routine and avoid decision fatigue, such as having to go to a shop, decide what you want to eat, buy it, carry it home and cook it, which sounds exhausting. In the time it takes me to do all that I could have cured cancer, or read a magazine. A recent report by Drexel University, a respected American research institution, has found that adults who ate the same meals every day lost more weight over 12 weeks than people who didn't. The New York Times quoted a professor from NYU, Marion Nestle, who responded to this news by saying: "I can think of worse things than eating the same meal over and over again, if it's balanced and healthy." She didn't specifically mention a poached egg on toast, but I am confident that's what she meant, even as she might gasp at the amount of butter I use.

where home catering beats Deliveroo every time.

My daily menu is really just a stab at combining decent nutrition with a deep and enduring love for poached eggs and toast. The green juice is a needs-must attempt to achieve two things: not eat toast for breakfast, and get many more than five a day before I've got dressed. It contains exactly the same things in the same proportion every day (celery, watermelon, cucumber, parsley, mint, apple, ginger, spinach) but that is not, to be clear, curmudgeonly control freakery. I do not give in to panic if, for example, I run out of ginger. I can roll with life's punches. It's because it's harder than you'd imagine to make a palatable green juice without shedloads of fruit to sweeten it.

Esther Walker

Health is where home catering beats Deliveroo every time

What Esther eats Breakfast: yoghurt and fruit Lunch: eggs Dinner: one of five family meals

What Hilary eats Breakfast: green juice Lunch: salad Dinner: poached egg

But it's still a pain. The need to streamline the whole process has, to me, felt urgent. So for breakfast and lunch I eat the same thing every day, leaving only dinner to take up some of my precious centimetre square of remaining brain space.

even have enough personality to make them worth hating. They're utterly, utterly joyless, boring to look at, tedious to chew, offensive to swallow. That they're so good for you is a daily slap in the face, and the idea that

tahini or olive oil makes them delicious is pernicious nonsense peddled by the metropolitan liberal elite of which I am, it occurs to me,

Lunch, at about 2.30pm, is three eggs, any style. Sometimes an omelette, sometimes scrambled on toast with anchovies, sometimes boiled and dressed with a tonnato sauce. If I've remembered to buy

and expect only good things to happen and the result is a sad plate of lentils or chickpeas with seeds, protein and whatever salad I can forage from the bottom of the fridge. I will, by the by, argue you to a standstill over my belief that chickpeas are the most pointless thing on God's green earth. They don't

a member. Whatever.

The greatest lie ever told in public is that cooking healthy meals at home is quicker, easier and more delicious than a takeaway.

As for monotony, where does "knowing what works for you" morph into "stuck in your curmudgeonly ways"? I'll tell you: it's the point where you take your Marmite and teabags on holiday and balk at having a croissant for breakfast, which I don't. I don't actually like Marmite or croissants, but that's not the point. The point is that I don't order a poached egg when I go out for dinner although, come to think of it, I do always have the same thing, which is a caesar salad. Sometimes, though, I add halloumi, because I know how to live. The important thing is never get stuck in your ways. Quite obviously, I am not.

There's always some bozo from the government or a needy telly chef rolling this out and it's just not true.

Breakfast is at Ilam and it is this: plain Greek yoghurt, chopped nuts, seeds, prunes and a handful of diced, seasonal fruit and/or berries. It's a bit of a dustbin, the sort of mixed mash you might feed a horse, but it works for me.

I don't care about food: it's my superpower by Esther Walker

As someone who cooks healthy meals at home and also occasionally gets a takeaway, I know the truth, which is that for speed, ease and pure tastiness, Deliveroo wins every time.

Cooking is a huge, all-encompassing ballache. Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul her very self, agreed. In a 2008 interview she declared that the greatest challenge she faced in her life was “trying to figure out what to cook for dinner, nightly, you know just night after night. What is it going to be tonight? That’s the hardest thing right there.”

And R-E-S-P-E-C-T to her for that.

It's not just time spent at the chopping board, it's the planning and the shopping and then the clearing away and washing up. I only do it because I love my family more than I hate the process. Because health is oranges, I will eat an orange at around 4pm. Very occasionally, if I'm feeling wild, I will have pinhead oats for breakfast instead, with a dollop of yoghurt, nut butter and of course the seeds and the prunes.

Dinner is one of the five tiresomely healthy meals that all my family will agree to eat, unless it's Friday (takeaway night! Whoop!) or my husband, Giles, decides he's had enough of these gulag conditions and takes us all out for dinner.

I love my mono-diet and I never get bored with it. Delaying my breakfast until Ilam means I'm truly hungry when it comes around and any old thing feels luxurious. I quite often go to bed looking forward to that first cold, sour mouthful of yoghurt. And eggs are so versatile! They are the Meryl Streep of ingredients.

It's not a recipe for weight loss, but it is a recipe for weight maintenance (I have been 9st 3lb for ten years), for decent gut health and basic nutrition. This might all sound joyless, but I don't care! I get my joy from other places, like sewing buttons back on duvet covers or leaving very detailed Amazon reviews for household products.

But what makes this diet possible is my superpower, which is that I don't care about food. I don't want to be fat or hungry or injure myself through a poor diet but that's all. Those are my motivating factors when it comes to eating and my mono-diet definitely helps with that.

My children are now 13 and 15, and very soon — please, God! — I will not be chief dinner lady any more. I often wonder what I will do with more time on my hands. I tell myself I will be vegetarian and eat 50 different plants a week. But in reality, it'll probably be more of the eggs.

Show me the Monet! The return of the blockbuster

From the Bayeux Tapestry to the Tate's Monet, is this a golden age for art loans? By Laura Freeman

- imagine the impossible. It's the sort of vague motivational slogan dreamt up by the marketing departments of sports shoes and energy drinks. It also captures the present go-get-'em curator mood in big museums and galleries.

At the British Museum the Bayeux Tapestry is resting in its custom display case. For years, decades, centuries, it was the impossible loan. It had been requested before but negotiations had foundered. Too fragile to travel. Too vulnerable to light and motion. (Not enough goodwill.)

Yet here — thanks to the passion, persistence and tenacity of the curator Michael Lewis, to suavely persuasive diplomacy and to a transport campaign planned with precision — the Bayeux Tapestry very much is.

It heralds the beginning, curators hope, of a new golden age of museum loans. If the British Museum can secure the Bayeux Tapestry then why not... the Mona Lisa? The Birth of Venus? Or how about something truly unwieldy? I've always wanted to see the Isenheim altarpiece.

If it has seemed quiet on the exhibitions front, that's because August is a fallow month. The spring and summer shows quietly close — if you missed Zurbarán, kick yourself — and the galleries prepare for their autumn openings. Ready yourself for Renoir at the National Gallery in September and secure your tickets for Van Eyck in November. At the Barbican there's the master of minimalism, Robert Ryman, and at the Royal Academy visions of the French Riviera to bring you light and heat in darkening days. Mark your calendars too for Monet: Painting Time at Tate Modern in the new year, promising knockout, never-before-in-London loans from around the world.

The death of the blockbuster has been greatly exaggerated. In 2022 Frances Morris, then director of Tate Modern, warned that big loan shows were over in the age of tough budgets and the climate emergency. “We will continue to do exhibitions of this type but in a very selective way,” she said. “And only ever in partnership and only when we can consolidate loans to minimise impact on carbon emissions in terms of transport.” Well, after a challenging few years, the big-loan blockbuster is back.

“Long Covid” had many manifestations, physical, individual, financial and global. It caused lasting damage to museums and galleries. Many British museums, galleries and heritage institutions still haven’t recovered their pre-pandemic visitor numbers. (Although not the British Museum, which, like a charging Norman knight, is in full conquest: 6.4 million visitors last year, beaten only by the Natural History Museum’s 7.1 million.)

The extended closures of 2020 and 2021 threw the international exhibition calendar out of sequence. At the time, one curator I spoke to likened it to a flight holding pattern at Heathrow. Some galleries in countries that had reopened were pressing ahead with their programme, others in more cautious territories were stuck in lockdown. The sought-after Van Gogh that was due in America in the autumn was still needed in Paris and wanted back by Amsterdam for another big show in the spring.

Exhibitions do not happen

Above: one of Monet's Water Lilies paintings. Top right: Portrait of a Man with a Blue Chaperon by Jan van Eyck. Below: part of the Bayeux Tapestry

overnight. They are years in the planning. Speaking to a curator friend recently about a juicy-sounding show he is working on — a highlight of the autumn programme — I eagerly asked: "Next autumn?" Nope. Autumn 2030. There are waiting lists for star loans and museums like to let their treasures rest, like ageing actresses, between shows.

Brexit has also littered the paths of curators with assorted tin tacks, booby traps and endless paperwork. This too is getting better, or at any rate more tooth-grindingly routine.

There was also a period immediately post-pandemic that we might call the great atonement. In a post-MeToo, post-Black Lives Matter world institutions hastened to re-examine their collections and rebalance the roll call of artists on their walls: fewer great white males, more women and artists of colour. Some of these exhibitions were successful, some less so. Two rights do not make a wrong and righting wrongs does not always make for an enjoyable exhibition.

But here we are: 2026. Bright new dawn, golden age, Andy Burnham hopeful in an open-collar shirt and an exhibition programme that promises pleasure, not penance. Galleries are cagey about figures for individual exhibitions — though very keen to share when blocks are busted — but exhibitions that told a largely white, retired member base how tainted and hateful the artists and country houses they loved were was not a brilliant business tactic. Tate Britain's Hogarth and Europe exhibition in 2021-22 infuriated many stalwart supporters.

Money is tight, perhaps tighter than ever. Sponsorship is fraught in the age of Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action. The cost of living has made many families question whether they can afford to renew their membership or do a day out. Top-price tickets can be

arts

as much as £30 for a show such as Schiaparelli at the V&A. Adult tickets to the Bayeux Tapestry are £33. (Though that hasn't stopped the first batch selling out.)

Why not give the punters a good time? Put on a show, not a show trial. Bring them sunshine direct from the Riviera. Give them names guaranteed to give them a good time. Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir, Monet. More Monet. More Renoir. Bring them a big swinging minimalist from America (Ryman) and a swaggering line-up of loans from across Europe (Van Eyck). I notice, incidentally, that after a hot art-girl summer — Rose Wylie, Tracey Emin, Beatriz González, Frida Kahlo, Ana Mendieta — the boys are back in town.

The National Gallery's exhibition will gather all ten of Van Eyck's surviving portraits for the first time. It will also be the first time that the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna has lent both its Van Eyck portraits together. There are Van Eycks coming from Berlin, Dresden and Bruges.

The Monet exhibition is the first dedicated Monet show at Tate for 70 years and will bring together 60 paintings from lenders in Australia, France, Japan, Germany, Greece, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland and across America. The exhibition will shine light on Monet's series paintings: the water lilies, the poplars, the haystacks and Rouen Cathedral.

"It would be nearly impossible," the curator Juliet Bingham tells me, "to show any series in its entirety — some institutions have lending restrictions, some works are too fragile to travel, a few are hidden in private hands — but the exhibition will feature a rare gathering of some of Monet's great series paintings." The Tate's Poplars will be joined by further Poplars from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the old rules don't apply. Part of the Wallace Collection bequest stipulated that the collection should never be lent but that was broken by the National Gallery's great coup in reuniting Titian's six mythological scenes painted for Prince Philip of Spain. The Frick Collection in New York strictly never lent paintings donated by Henry Clay Frick, but it did send three Vermeers to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam when the Frick was closed for refurbishment. And the Bayeux Tapestry was never, ever — jamais! — going to leave France. But here it is. Write your wish lists.

times2

Your weekday brain boost

Sudoku easy

More puzzles Pages 14-16

Train Tracks

Every day, Monday to Thursday, a page of extra puzzles to give your brain an extended workout

Samurai difficult

Fill each grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Where the puzzles overlap, the rows and columns do not go beyond their usual length.

FUTOSHIKI

			1	2	6							8				2		3	9
			4			8	6						6		7		8		2	1
1	4			3		2						3		7				8
7			2				1	8									2		7
	1	2				6	5					4	7	1				2	3	6
8	9				1			7					9		4
		4		1					8	4								7		2
	2	7			4			6		7			4		8		7		1
			3	6	7				1		9					6				9
								3				4	9	7
								4	3	1	7	6
						6	7	5				3
2				7					7		6				7	9	6
	4		8		2		6			3		8			1			6	9
6		8								8	1					4		1
					5		8					9			5				6	3
8	7	1				5	3	2					8	5				7	1
	2		3									6	4				9			5
		2				6		4						8		2			4	6
7	8		4		6		1						9	6			3
	6	3		2				5							6	7	4

Play Mini Sudoku every day Monday-Sunday online at thetimes.com and on Live app

		5
6	3							9
			4		2	6	5	1
8		6	2				9
				9			4	5
9		3	8				7
			9		1	4	3	2
3	6							8
		2

Killer gentle

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted lines, a digit cannot be repeated.

Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of track go in each row and column. There are only straight sections and curved sections. The track cannot cross itself.

4	4	2	1	6	2	2	3

Futoshiki

Fill the blank squares so that every row and column contains each of the numbers 1 to 5 once only. The symbols between the squares indicate whether a number is larger (>) or smaller (<) than the number next to it.

Sakuro

Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces, and each colour total is correct

20	26	24	13	24	26	14	10		23	9	24	10
2		23		26		21		17		8		1
26	14	16	23	8		9	21	24	8	12	3	12
14		14		6		6		12		7		25
22	14	12	19		9	10	22	23	15	10	3	8
		14		11		22		3				24
12	3	5	19	12	5		25	24	10	14	11	5
3				18		9S		5		26
8	14	12	7	10	9	8	5		25	26	26	17
23		15		8T		12		4		20		5
4	21U	23	10	8	10	3		21	3	8	23	24
21		9		10		18		23		26		26
10	24	9	10		15	12	14	18	23	17	12	3

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

Yesterday's solutions

3	2	5	8	4	9	1	6	7
6	8	9	1	5	7	2	3	4
1	7	4	3	2	6	9	8	5
9	1	6	7	8	5	4	2	3
2	5	3	4	6	1	7	9	8
7	4	8	9	3	2	5	1	6
4	9	2	6	7	3	8	5	1
5	3	7	2	1	8	6	4	9
8	6	1	5	9	4	3	7	2
						7	2	4
						9	6	5
						1	8	3
9	7	6	5	4	1	2	3	8
5	1	2	3	8	7	4	9	6
8	4	3	6	2	5	1	7	7
6	5	8	1	7	3	9	4	2
4	2	7	6	5	9	3	8	1
3	9	1	4	2	8	6	7	5
7	6	4	8	3	5	1	2	9
1	8	5	2	9	4	7	6	3
2	3	9	7	1	6	8	5	4

SUDOKU

3 4 2 6 5 9 1 8 7 7 1 6 8 3 4 5 9 2 5 9 8 1 7 2 4 6 3 8 6 3 2 4 1 9 7 5 1 2 7 5 9 8 3 4 6 4 5 9 7 6 3 8 2 1 9 7 4 3 2 5 6 1 8 6 3 1 4 8 7 2 5 9 2 8 5 9 1 6 7 3 4

8	6	4	9	5	2	1	7	3
7	5	2	4	1	3	8	6	9
1	9	3	6	8	7	4	5	2
9	3	7	5	4	8	2	1	6
5	1	6	2	7	9	3	4	8
4	2	8	1	3	6	5	9	7
2	4	9	3	6	5	7	8	1
3	7	1	8	9	4	6	2	5
6	8	5	7	2	1	9	3	4
9	3	8
2	7	1	4
5	2	6
1	9	7	3	6	2	8	5	4
8	5	3	9	7	4	2	1	6
4	6	2	8	5	1	7	9	3
9	2	1	6	8	3	4	7	5
7	3	6	2	4	5	9	8	1
5	8	4	1	9	7	6	3	2
3	7	8	5	2	6	1	4	9
2	4	5	7	1	9	3	6	8
6	1	9	4	3	8	5	2	7

KILLER

9	8	4	1	7	5	2	6	3
5	3	1	6	2	9	7	4	8
6	7	2	8	4	3	5	1	9
2	4	8	5	9	6	1	3	7
7	6	3	2	8	1	4	9	5
1	5	9	4	3	7	8	2	6
3	1	6	7	5	4	9	8	2
4	2	5	9	6	8	3	7	1
8	9	7	3	1	2	6	5	4

TRAIN TRACKS

3	4	2	5	1
			∨
5 >	2	3	1	4
				∨
1	5	4	>	3
^		∨
2 <	3	1	4 <	5
	∨		∨
4	1	5	3 >	2

Mini Sudoku

Fill in the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x2 box contains the digits 1 to 6

Solutions in tomorrow's Times2

Codeword

	5		2
2		4			1
4			1	2
5			4	3
1		5			2
	2		5

Every letter in the crossword-style grid, right, is represented by a number from 1 to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded.

Radio choice

Spies, sabotage, secrecy... this story is still astonishing

DOCSVILLE STUDIOS LIMITED 2022

James Jackson TV review

Rainbow Warrior Sky Documentaries/Now ★★★☆☆

The hyper-real vision of a nuclear bomb being tested in French Polynesia — the blinding white flash, the relentlessly expanding

mushroom cloud against the serenity of a blue, tropical sky — forever exerts a terrible fascination. You know it's appalling yet you can't help being mesmerised by it.

Such a clip comes a few minutes into Rainbow Warrior. It's the footage of a French nuclear test at Moruroa atoll, and it's cut around the memory of a resident from the island of Mangareva, downwind from Moruroa.

There, he recalls, about 100 children and others watched the nuclear test from afar. Five minutes after the white light 248 miles away the island suddenly shook as the reverberations hit. In the years after, children on Mangareva were born without skin.

We see a clip of a French official declaring in no uncertain terms: "There is no danger to human health. This is official, and everything else is nonsense, a lie, naivety... propaganda." Step forward Greenpeace, born soon after, and as one founding member recalls: "France was lying about Moruroa, so we said, let's take on the French then!"

Suffice to say, the French government back in the day does not come out well here — it set off 193 nuclear bombs in the Pacific, blew up the boat daring to raise an objection, then lied constantly about it.

The film first evokes a sense of Greenpeace's ecowarriors as buccaneering hero-hippies before, in 1985, its ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk in Auckland Harbour after two mines were placed on the hull by French intelligence agents.

Initially there is an almost knockabout spy thriller vibe as the film imagines how the French secret service assembled a group of crack frogmen for “Operation Satanique”. But things soon turn deadly serious: a photographer, Fernando Pereira, drowned on the sinking ship after he ran below deck to retrieve his camera shortly before the second explosion.

The Rainbow Warrior was sunk by two mines in 1985

The Auckland detective who investigated the case still sounds affronted by the “arrogance” of the French in “thinking they could come to New Zealand as some sort of backwater, plant a bomb... and somehow get away with it”.

From there the lies, the wriggling of the French government, is still something to watch — the humiliation of the prime minister Laurent Fabius when he was forced on live television to own up. The minister of defence Charles Hernu would take the fall (over the closing credits we see him having a heart attack during a press conference — he would die shortly after), and President Mitterrand denied knowledge of the sabotage to his death. Years later, admissions from former spy chiefs said Mitterrand did indeed authorise the mission.

I found the final half-hour a touch knotty as French investigative journalists talk with glee of their part in exposing their government, while the use of the nostalgic 1980s hit Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung is rather at odds with the very real tragedy here, one we're reminded of by a former Rainbow Warrior at the end. "There was no justice for Fernando and what happened to him." But it remains an extraordinary story of political duplicity, always worth revisiting.

Word from Cupid Radio 4 Extra, 3pm

Today is the 80th birthday of the brilliant actress Alison Steadman, above. The station celebrates with her appearance in Louise Oliver's drama, in which a couple (George Costigan and Steadman) try to reignite their relationship with help from a parrot called Cupid. Elsewhere, there's an early radio appearance by Steadman in Eddie Braben's sketch show The Show With Ten Legs on the YouTube channel RandomRadioJottings, while her 1995 episode of Desert Island Discs, in which she picks lemon-scented flannels from Chinese restaurants as her luxury, is on BBC Sounds. Clair Woodward

Times Radio

Digital, web, smart speaker, app 5.00am James Kitchin 6.00 Kate McCann and Calum Macdonald with Times Radio Breakfast 10.00 Hugo Rifkind 1.00pm The Times at One: with Daniel Finkelstein 2.00 Jane Garvey 4.00 John Pienaar with Times Radio Drive 7.00 The Evening Edition with Kait Borsay 10.00 Neil Breakwell 1.00am The Best of Times Radio

Radio 2

FM: 88-90.2 MHz

6.30am The Radio 2 Breakfast Show 9.30 Mark Goodier 12.00 Tina Daheley 2.00pm DJ Spoony 4.00 Jason Manford 7.00 Jo Whiley 9.00 The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe 10.00 Melvin Odoom 12.00 OJ Borg 3.00am Alternative Sounds of the 90s 4.00 Owain Wyn Evans

Radio 3

FM: 90.2-92.4 MHz 6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1.00pm Classical Live Linton Stephens celebrates summer music-making in the UK and beyond, including horn-player extraordinaire Felix Klieser playing Mozart at the BBC Proms. From the BBC Proms 2026: Mozart (Horn Concerto No 3 in E flat, K. 477); Elgar (Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra); From Cheltenham Music Festival 2026: Fauré (Violin Sonata No 1 in A, Op 13); From the BBC Proms 2026: Mozart (Symphony No 35 in D, 'Haffner') From Cheltenham Music Festival 2026: Juon (Trio-Miniatures from clarinet, cello and piano); From the BBC Proms 2026: WG Still (Summerland - 3 Visions, No 2)

3.00 Choral Evensong
From the Chapel of St John's College, Cambridge with the Rodolfus Choral Course, with music by Joanna Marsh and Britten
4.00 Composer of the Week: Sally Beamish
Donald Macleod joins Sally Beamish at her home to discuss the life-changing move that took her from London to rural Scotland
5.00 In Tune

7.00 Live BBC Proms 2026 The Met Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin performs an all-Strauss programme, including the final scene of Salome with Elza van den Heever. Presented by Martin Handley, live from the Royal Albert Hall. R Strauss (Der Rosenkavalier – suite – arr. attrib. A. Rodziński); R Strauss (Salome – final scene). 7.45 Interval. 8.05 R Strauss (Ein Heldenleben) 9.30 Classical Mixtape 10.00 Night Tracks (r) 11.30 'Round Midnight James Mason chooses an album from a group straight out of the UK acid jazz scene (r) 12.30am Through the Night

Radio 4

FM: 92.4-94.6 MHz
5.00am News Summary
5.04 BBC Inside Science (r)
5.34 Shipping Forecast
5.43 Prayer for the Day
5.45 Farming Today
6.00 Today
9.00 Sideways
Matthew Syed explores the ideas that shape individuals' lives (7/8)
9.30 Breakin' the Cycle
A chance encounter has devastating consequences for Colin and D (5/6)
10.00 Woman's Hour
Nuala McGovern presents

11.00 The Coroners Question (r) 11.40 This Week in History 11.45 Book of the Week: All the Beauty in the World By Patrick Bringley (3/5) 12.04pm You and Yours 1.00 The World at One 1.45 Human Intelligence A profile of Italian Renaissance cultural and political figure Isabella d'Este (8/10) 2.00 The Archers (r) 2.15 Drama: Broken Colours By Matthew Broughton (1/5) (r) 3.00 Ringing the Bullring (r) 3.30 Lab-Grown Life Caroline Steel explores the science of synthetic biology 4.00 NatureBang (4/5) (r) 4.15 The Media Show 5.00 PM 6.00 Six O'Clock News 6.30 Best Medicine A look at seaweed underwear, bubbles and saunas (5/6) 7.00 The Archers It's an emotional day for Robert 7.15 Front Row 8.00 The Moral Maze (2/6) 9.00 Invisible Hands David Dimbleby tells the story of Paul Wolfowitz (5/6) (r) 9.30 Michael Sheen Gets into Character Michael explores the shift from Stanislavski's system to Strasberg's method (2/3) (r) 10.00 The World Tonight 10.45 Book at Bedtime: Mr Sidhu' Post Office By Amman Brar (8/10) 11.00 Nora Meadows' Week of Wellness (2/6) (r) 11.15 Follow the Rabbit (5/5) (r) 11.30 Everything Is Fake and Nobody Cares (3/6) (r) 12.00 News and Weather 12.30am Book of the Week: All the Beauty in the World (r)

12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.00 As BBC World Service

Radio 4 Extra Digital only

8.00am You Heard It Here First
8.30 Underland 8.45 Breathing
Underwater 9.00 Best Medicine
9.30 Human Hosts 9.45 Daily
Service 10.00 Generation Games
11.00 Five Red Herrings 11.30 Kill
the Pharaoh! 12.00 Men of
Intelligence 12.30pm Hancock's
Half Hour 1.00 You Heard It Here
First 1.30 Underland 1.45
Breathing Underwater 2.00 The
Ultimate Choice 2.30 Getting
Nowhere Fast 3.00 Choice Word
from Cupid 3.45 Summer Picnic
4.00 Generation Games 5.00 Five
Red Herrings 5.30 Kill the Pharaoh!
6.00 Men of Intelligence 6.30
Hancock's Half Hour 7.00 You
Heard It Here First 7.30 Underland
7.45 Breathing Underwater 8.00
The Ultimate Choice 8.30 Getting
Nowhere Fast 9.00 Word from
Cupid 9.45 Summer Picnic 10.00
Comedy Club: Best Medicine
10.30 Delve Special 10.55 The
Comedy Club Interview 11.00
Welcome to Wherever You Are
11.30 Drop the Dead Panda

Radio 5 Live MW: 693, 909

5.00am Wake Up to Money 6.00 Breakfast 9.00 Rima Ahmed 11.00 Emma Vardy 2.00pm Nick Watt 4.00 Drive 7.00 5 Live Sport 8.00 Live Football. Preston North End v Everton (Kick-off 8.00). 10.30 Laura McGhie1.00am Dotun Adebayo

talkSPORT MW: 1053, 1089 kHz

5.00am Early Sports Breakfast 6.00 Breakfast with Alan Brazil

10.00 Jim White and Simon Jordan 1.00pm Max Rushden & Charlie Baker 4.00 talkSPORT Drive 7.00 Kick Off: Tottenham Hotspur v Charlton Athletic (Kick-off 7.45). Carabao Cup action 10.00 The Sports Bar 1.00am Extra Time with Paul Ross

Talk

Digital only

6.00am Jeremy Kyle 10.00 Julia Hartley Brewer 1.00pm Ian Collins 4.00 Kevin O'Sullivan 7.00 Peter Cardwell 10.00 Petrie Hosken 1.00am Paul Ross

6 Music

Digital only

5.00am Chris Hawkins 7.00 Nick Grimshaw. With Mike D of Beastie Boys 10.00 Lauren Laverne 1.00pm Craig Charles 4.00 Huw Stephens 7.00 New Music Fix Daily 9.00 Riley & Coe 11.00 6 Music Artist in Residence: Loyle Carner 12.00 Freak Zone Playlist 1.00am Gideon Coe – A Tribute to the Upsetter 3.00 6 Music Live Hour 4.00 6 Music's Jukebox

Virgin Radio Digital only

6.30am The Chris Evans Breakfast Show 10.00 Emma B 2.00pm Ben Jones 6.00 Will MacDonald 10.00 Goldierocks 2.00am Steve Denyer

Classic FM FM: 100-102 MHz

6.30am Dan Walker 9.00 The Hall of Fame Hour 10.00 Aled Jones 1.00pm Anne-Marie Minhall 4.00 Margherita Taylor 7.00 Relaxing Evenings with Zeb Soanes 10.00 Calm Classics 1.00am Bill Overton 4.00 Early Breakfast

television

PICKS OF THE DAY

Bookish U&Alibi, 8pm/9.15pm

Mark Gatiss returns to the smoky streets of postwar London for a second series as the shopkeeper turned sleuth Gabriel Book, a role he attacks with pleasing relish. Mrs Dredge has taken herself to a seance, where the medium, Harold Sneed (Jason Watkins), has a flair for the dramatic. As he connects with the afterlife, his gathered

audience is agog. However, intrigue turns to terror when one of the group ends up on the other side earlier than planned. Swooping in with his swishy coat and brilliant mind, Book doesn't waste a moment inspecting the crime scene and investigating his suspects, assisted by Inspector Bliss, Jack and Trottie. Book is the latest in a long line of nosy interlopers to outwit the trained professionals (Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes being just two), so stand by for a genius revelation. Emma Bullimore

Mark Gatiss as Gabriel Book

9/11: Inside the President's War Room BBC2, 9pm

"It's the job of a president to protect the American people from harm, and some presidents don't need to worry about that, and some do. And it turns out I was one that did," George W Bush says in this 2021 film made to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. It bears the repeat five years on, a remarkable historical document

that records the US government's response to events that shocked the world. Helen Stewart

Kirstie and Phil's Love It or List It: Brilliant Builds Channel 4, 8pm

Kirstie Allsopp is horrified by what she finds at a Victorian semi in Whitley Bay. It's a beautiful, spacious seaside property but owners Sarah and Sean share one solitary bathroom with their five children. "I'd rather sleep in a chest

BBC1

6.00am Breakfast

9.30 Morning Live Top Tips and Best Bits
10.30 Garden Rescue (r)
11.15 Homes Under the Hammer (r) (AD)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (r) (AD)
1.00 BBC News at One; Weather
1.35 BBC Regional News; Weather
1.45 BBC News at One; Weather
2.00 Money for Nothing. Sarah Moore finds items to repurpose in Surrey
2.45 Escape to the Country. Sonali Shah helps a couple buying their first house together in the Devon countryside (r)
3.30 The Repair Shop. The team members take on four more items, including a remarkable wartime diary from Nazi-occupied Guernsey, a rusted railway lantern and a beloved 1980s dolls' house (r) (AD)
4.30 The Answer Run. Quiz show (r)
5.15 Pointless. Quiz show hosted by Alexander Armstrong and Nish Kumar (r)
6.00 BBC News at Six; Weather
6.30 BBC Regional News; Weather

7.00 The One Show JB Gill and Clara Amfo present the magazine show

7.30 EastEnders Alfie throws Kat a surprise party and Oscar is asked to organise Max's stag do (AD)

8.00 Fake or Fortune: What Happened Next? Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate the legitimacy of a piano that may have belonged to John Lennon and a guitar believed to have belonged to Ronnie Wood (6/6) (AD)

9.00 Celebrity MasterChef The second round of heats continues. Television and radio broadcaster Zoe Ball asks the celebrities to make their ultimate pudding (5/15) AD)

10.00 BBC News at Ten

10.30 BBC Regional News and Weather

10.40 MOTD: Uefa Champions League Action from the play-off round second-leg ties, including LASK v Celtic at Raiffeisen Arena, Bodø/Glimt v NEC Nijmegen at Aspmyra Stadion and Lyon v Fenerbahce at Groupama Stadium

A surfer strays into the hunting territory of a great white shark and faces a life or death struggle to get back to shore. Thriller starring Blake Lively and Oscar Jaenada. See film choice

BBC2

6.30am Escape to the Country (r) 7.15 Money for Nothing (r) 8.00 Sign Zone: Great Continental Railway Journeys (r) (AD, SL) 9.00 BBC News

1.00pm Richard Osman's House of Games. With Jessie Cave, Ayesha Hazarika, Simon Hickson and AJ Pritchard (r) 1.30 The Edge. Game show (r) 2.15 Do You Know Your Place? (r) 2.45 Animal Park. Kate Humble spots a wild white-tailed sea eagle in the park (r) (AD) 3.30 Serengeti III. The animals struggle to survive after the freat fire (r) (AD) 4.30 Vintage Antiques Roadshow. From Cressing Temple Barns in Essex (r) 5.10 Flog It! From Chiddingstone Castle (r) 6.00 Richard Osman's House of Games. Jimi Famurewa, Harriet Kemsley, Colin Murray and Sara Pascoe compete (r) 6.30 Great Continental Railway Journeys. Michael Portillo's journey reaches Rennes, the capital of Brittany (r)

7.00 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip Leslie Ash and Phil Daniels, of cult movie Quadrophenia, are reunited on Lincolnshire's roads in a pink Cadillac, with guidance from Phil Serrell and Serhat Ahmet (r)

8.00 Inside the Factory Paddy McGuinness goes inside the Warburtons bread factory in his hometown of Bolton, where he had a Saturday job over 30 years ago (2/6) (r) (AD)

Room Documentary revealing how President George W Bush and his staff dealt with the September 11 attack, in which four commercial aircraft were used as missiles on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon with testimony from Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell. See picks of the day (r) (AD)

10.30 Newsnight Headline analysis presented by Paddy O'Connell

11.05 Couples Therapy Shay and Clinton are set homework in order to learn to compromise (4/9)

11.30 Couples Therapy Sienna explores how childhood bullying led her to bury uncomfortable feelings (5/9)

12.00 Buried with Michael Sheen Michael's search leads him to Ruabon in north Wales (r) 1.00am Sign Zone: Celebrity MasterChef. The contestants cook a pie for guest Paddy McGuinness (r) (AD, SL) 2.00-3.00 Brexit: A Very British Civil War. The referendum to leave the EU (r) (AD, SL)

ITV1

6.00am Good Morning Britain 10.00 This Morning

1.30pm ITV News; Weather
2.00 Dickinson's Real Deal. In Blackburn, Alys Dobbie meets a time-travelling fan, Matt Taylor hopes a big deal will not go up in smoke, and things start to heat up for Karen Dalmeny (r) (AD)
3.00 Deal or No Deal. Stephen Mulhern hosts as another contestant tries to open the 22 red boxes in the right order, taking on the infamous Banker for the chance to win a life-changing cash prize (r) (AD)
4.00 Tipping Point. Ben Shephard hosts the arcade-themed quiz in which contestants drop tokens down a choice of four chutes in the hope of winning a £10,000 jackpot (r)
5.00 The Chase. Contestants from Braintree, Nottingham, Burton-on-Trent and originally from Kidderminster, take on a Chaser. Bradley Walsh hosts (r)
6.00 Regional News; Weather
6.30 ITV News; Weather

7.30 Celebrity Lingo Judy Murray and Mark Pougatch take on Helen Skelton and Rav Wilding (9/10) (r)

8.00 Emmerdale Caleb is triumphant, Dawn has a big decision to make and Graham is in a tricky position (AD)

8.30 Coronation Street Ollie comes to Christina's aid, and Bethany spots blood on Kit's shirt (AD)

9.00 Professor T Jasper is visiting a retirement home with Zelda when one of the residents apparently kills a woman but there may be more to the perplexing case than meets the eye (2/6) (AD)

10.00 ITV News at Ten; Weather; followed by Regional News

10.45 FILM: Spectre (12, 2015) James Bond goes rogue in his in search of the elusive mastermind behind a secret criminal network with links to his own past. Spy thriller starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes (AD)

1.10am Shop on TV 3.00 Love & Death. Candy testifies that she feared for her life. Last in the series (r) (AD, SL) 4.00 Inside the Langham: Britain's First Grand Hotel (r) (AD, SL) 4.20 Unwind with ITV 5.35-6.00 Tom Kerridge Cooks Italy. Tom explores Sicily's citrus heritage (r) (AD, SL)

Channel 4

6.30am The King of Queens (r) (AD) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (r) (AD) 9.10 Frasier (r) (AD)

11.10 Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back. Gordon Ramsay tries to improve a troubled New Orleans bistro in just 24 hours (r) (AD) 12.05pm Channel 4 News Summary 12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It. Henry Cole and Simon O'Brien visit Leicestershire (r) (AD) 1.10 The Great House Giveaway. Two wannabe property developers transform a wrecked house in Birmingham (r) 2.10 Countdown. With Richie Anderson 3.00 A Place in the Sun. Jasmine Harman helps a couple find the perfect holiday home that their children, grandchild and parents can all enjoy in Mojácar, Spain (r) 4.00 The Great B&B Challenge. A pair's garden party ends up falling flat (r) 5.00 Château DIY. A couple battle the vines that threaten their tower (r) (AD) 6.00 American Pickers. An Oktoberfest gem has Frank Fritz's name written all over it (r)

8.00 Kirstie and Phil's Love It or List It: Brilliant Builds New series. Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer look back at two builds where smart solutions and practical thinking helped save the day. See picks of the day (AD)

9.00 The Murder Detective New series. Documentary telling the inside story of the seven-year-long mission to find out who murdered journalist Lyra McKee in Derry in 2019 and secure justice for her family (1/3) (AD)

10.00 The Never Ending Murder New series. True crime documentary re-examining the case of Nicola Payne, an 18-year-old mum who went missing in Coventry in 1991 and has never been found (1/4) (AD)

11.05 The Never Ending Murder The police begin their forensic investigation, question two local men, and discover possible links between Nicola's case and other serious cases in the area (2/4) (AD)

12.05am Spy Next Door: The Anna Chapman Story (r) (AD, SL) 1.55 Celebrity Hunted. Two runners make an appearance at Bristol Pride (r) (AD, SL) 3.50 Couples Come Dine with Me (r) (SL) 4.45 Jamie: Eat Yourself Healthy (r) (AD, SL) 5.40 Find It, Fix It, Flog It (r) 5.50-6.30 Countdown (r)

5

6.00am Milkshake! 9.15 Jeremy Vine 11.30 Storm & Alexis 12.45pm 5 News at Lunchtime 12.50 Matt Allwright

2.20 FILM: Murder for Mortgage: Secrets on Maple Street (PG, TVM, 2024) A couple move into a late busybody's house, but strange events make them suspect the woman's death concealed a secret. Thriller, starring Frances Leigh
4.00 Castle. A priceless work of art is stolen and the person transporting it is murdered, so Castle and Beckett must work with the key witness to catch the killer (r)
4.55 Love Nature. From Birmingham (r)
5.00 5 News with Dan Walker
6.00 Motorhoming with Merton & Webster. Paul Merton and Suki Webster explore the New Forest, encountering "commoners" Tess and Ollie, who have earned the right for their ponies to roam freely in the area (r)
6.55 5 News Update

7.00 Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026
Rebecca Charlton presents action from stage five of the Grand Tour race, a hilly 173.4km route from Falset to Roquetes

7.55 5 News Update

8.00 Call the Bailiffs: Time to Pay Up New series. Documentary following the work of High Court enforcement agents. Agents attempt to recover a debt owed by an estate agent to a former client (AD)

9.00 The Great Wall of China with Dan Snow Dan Snow heads to China to find out more about the country's iconic landmark – the world's biggest building project that changed the course of Chinese history. See picks of the day

10.30 A&E: Crash Scene Emergency Twenty-year-old Jess is critically injured and her older sister Jaimie-Leigh suffers a broken neck when their car collides with another vehicle and flips (r)

11.30 Ambulance: Code Red A 52-year-old man complains of neck and shoulder pains after being thrown off his motorbike (r)

12.30am Cops (r) 12.55 Entertainment News 1.00 Cruise TV (r) 2.00 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (r) 2.50 Castle (r) 3.40 Friends (r) (AD) 4.35 Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles (r) (SL) 5.25 Entertainment News 5.35 Paw Patrol (r) (SL) 5.45-6.00 Mixmups (r) (SL)

freezer than share a loo with six people!" Allsopp declares, and suddenly redesigning the layout of the house becomes her raison d'être. She reckons an extra shower room, downstairs WC and redesigned kitchen/diner will help the family to fall in love with their home once again... but there are other problems, such as a lack of decent garden space. Meanwhile, Phil Spencer is on Team "List It" — he wants the family to up sticks and move somewhere better equipped for family life. EB

The Great Wall of China with Dan Snow 5,9pm

A few months after Ben Fogle visited the wall in his China series, Dan Snow is there to explore “the biggest building project ever undertaken”. Asking why and how it was built, he travels from China’s east coast to its far west desert, and also takes in a stretch near Beijing. This makes for an absorbing film with engineering, social history and politico-military strands, and myths are busted — you can't see it from space. John Dugdale

STREAMING CHOICE

Kinahan BBC iPlayer

Anyone wondering about the full story behind the extradition this month of the 49-year-old boxing promoter Daniel Kinahan from his home in Dubai to a maximum-security unit in Portlaoise Prison in Dublin should watch this four-part documentary. Beginning in the 1970s, when Daniel's father, Christy, was a fraudster and fixer for Dublin's gangs, it shows how his family is alleged to have grown its drug empire to become one of the largest organised crime groups in the world. Andrew Male

FILM CHOICE

The Shallows (15, 2016) BBC1, 11.25pm

If you're looking for a short, sharp

television

hit of sun-soaked adrenaline, you won't do better than this endurance thriller that pits woman against shark. It strands a resourceful surfer (Blake Lively) on a jagged outcrop 200 yards from the shore while the tide rises, threatening to wash her into the sea and into the jaws of a circling great white shark. Jaume Collet-Serra, the director, does well in teasing us with the prospect of imminent terror: shots of crabs, in their hundreds, scuttling out of the sea; seagulls flocking ominously away. (84min) Kevin Maher

BBC4

7.00pm Villages by the Sea (5/10) 7.30 Canal Boat Diaries (3/4) 8.00 Rome: A History of the Eternal City. Simon Sebag Montefiore charts Rome's rise to become the capital of Western Christendom (2/3) (AD) 9.00 Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit. The scholar examines how and why the Roman Empire fell. Last in the series (AD) 10.00 I, Claudius. Caligula announces he is leaving to fight the Germans (9/12) 10.55 I, Claudius (10/12) 11.50 The Australian Wars. The absence of memorials for the conflict in Tasmania (AD) 12.50am Canal Boat Diaries (SL) 1.20 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (AD, SL) 2.20 Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit (AD, SL) 3.20am-3.50 Villages by the Sea (SL)

Sky Arts

6.00am Jonas Kaufman at Arena di Verona 8.00 Artist of the Year: Masterclass (AD) 9.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 10.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.00 Discovering: Laurence Harvey 12.00 The Art of Film with Ian Nathan (AD) 1.00pm Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 2.00 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 3.00 The Nineties 4.00 Discovering: Donald Sutherland 5.00 Portrait Artist of the Year: 2023 (AD) 6.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 7.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 8.00 Discovering: Gene Wilder 9.00 Battle of the Irish Dancers 10.00 The Eighties (AD) 11.00 Accelerate or Die! 12.20am Blind Eye Artist 2.00 Matisse: The Last Masterpiece 3.10 Stories from Tate Britain 4.05 A Play in a Day 5.05am-6.00 The Art of Film with Ian Nathan (AD)

More4

8.55am Find It, Fix It, Flog It (AD) 10.00 Four in a Bed 12.40pm Come Dine with Me (AD) 3.20 Four in a Bed 5.50 Car SOS (AD) 7.55 Grand Designs. Kevin McCloud meets a couple planning to create a hybrid structure by slotting in an entirely new home within the walls of a 200-year-old former blacking mill in Cumbria (AD) 9.00 The Roman Empire by Train with Alice Roberts. Alice catches a train up and across the Alps (AD) 10.00 24 Hours in A&E. A 78-year-old man is rushed in with breathing difficulties (1/11) (AD) 11.05 24 Hours in A&E. Doctors carry out tests on a 77-year-old man, who was rushed to St George's after collapsing at home (AD) 12.10am 999: On the Front Line 1.15 24 Hours in A&E (AD) 3.25am-3.55 The Perfect Pitch

Alfie Devine of Preston North End

Live US Open Tennis Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports+, 4pm-7 Day three of the qualifying event for the Grand Slam, which takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

Live sport today

Talking Pictures

7.15am FILM: Inner Sanctum (PG, 1948) (b/w) 8.30 FILM: Autobiography of a Princess (PG, 1975) 9.45 FILM: Carry On Admiral (U, 1957) (b/w) 11.25 FILM: Blind Corner (PG, 1964) (b/w) 1.00pm The Buccaneers (b/w) 1.30 FILM: Doctor in Trouble (PG, 1970) 3.15 Look at Life 3.30 Dial 999 (b/w) 4.00 That's My Boy 4.35 FILM: The Happiest Days of Your Life (U, 1950) (b/w) 6.15 The Last Day of Trolley Bus 666 Edgware 6.30 Give Us a Clue 7.00 Out of Town 7.30 Scotland Yard 8.05 Van der Valk (1/6) 9.05 FILM: The Deadly Affair (15, 1967) Espionage drama 11.15 FILM: Hands of a Stranger (PG, TVM, 1962) Thriller 12.55am-2.55 FILM: I Am a Camera (12, 1955) Fact-based drama (b/w)

Film4

11.00am Patrick (PG, 2018) Comedy starring Beattie Edmondson 12.50pm American Gangster Special 1.00 Ride Lonesome (12, 1959) Western starring Randolph Scott 2.30 Send Me No Flowers (U, 1964) Romantic comedy starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day 4.35 Harvey (U, 1950) Comedy starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull (b/w) 6.45 Entrapment (12, 1999) Crime thriller starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones (AD) 9.00 The G (15, 2023) A woman seeks revenge on the corrupt legal guardian who destroyed her life. Crime thriller starring Dale Dickey 11.10 Memento (15, 2000) Christopher Nolan's thriller starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss (AD) 1.25am-3.15 The Day Shall Come (15, 2019) Crime comedy

BBC3

7.00pm The Catch Up
7.05 Deadly 60. Alaska
7.30 FILM: Paddington (PG, 2014)
A bear from the Peruvian jungle starts a new life in London, but catches the eye of a sinister taxidermist. Family comedy starring Hugh Bonneville (AD)
9.00 Top Gear. The presenters take on a rush-hour race across London
10.00 Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee Australia. The panel go back to school
10.50 Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee Australia. Aaron takes the panel of comedians to a spelling carnival
11.35 The Young Offenders (AD)
12.05am The Young Offenders (AD)
2.40 Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad? 3.30am-4.00 BBC New Comedy Awards 2024

ITV2

6.00am Backyard Builds (SL) 6.30 Dress to Impress (AD, SL) 7.30 The Real Housewives of Potomac 8.20 Real Housewives of Beverly Hills 9.15 The Only Way Is Essex 10.15 Dawson's Creek 11.10 Charmed 12.10pm Deal or No Deal (AD) 1.10 Celebrity Supermarket Sweep (AD) 2.10 Wheel of Fortune (AD) 3.10 The Only Way Is Essex 4.10 Real Housewives of Potomac 5.00 Real Housewives of Beverly Hills 6.00 Celebrity Catchphrase. With Jeff Stelling, Charlotte Hawkins and Andy Whyment (AD) 7.00 Wheel of Fortune (AD) 8.00 The 1% Club Rollover (AD) 9.00 Family Guy (AD) 11.35 American Dad! (AD) 12.35am Bob's Burgers (AD) 1.30 G'wed (AD, SL) 2.00am-2.25 Transaction (AD, SL)

ITV3

6.00am George and Mildred 7.05 Classic Emmerdale (AD) 8.05 Classic Coronation Street (AD) 9.10 Agatha Christie's Poirot (AD) 11.30 Heartbeat (AD) 1.35pm Midsomer Murders (AD) 3.35 Classic Emmerdale (AD) 4.40 Classic Coronation Street (AD) 5.50 Heartbeat. Double bill (AD) 8.00 Midsomer Murders. The launch of a new sculpture park in Angel's Rise is marred by murder (AD) 10.00 Lewis. The detective comes out of retirement to assist on a murder case (1/6) (AD) 11.50 Inspector Morse. Lewis and Morse pursue a former supergrass all the way to the Australian Outback, where the detectives soon begin to miss the comforts of home. John Thaw stars (AD) 2.00am-2.30 George and Mildred

Live EFL Cup: Preston North End v Everton

Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football, 7pm-10.45 (Kick-off 8.00). The second-round match from Deepdale

Live EFL Cup: Newcastle United v West Bromwich Albion Sky Sports +, 7pm-10.45 (Kick-off 7.45). Coverage of the second-round match at St James' Park

Live Uefa Champions League: Viking v Dinamo Zagreb TNT Sports 2, 8pm-10 (Kick-off 8.00). The play-off round second-leg match at Lyse Arena in Norway

Live Test Cricket:

TNT Sports 1, 5.15am-1.30pm Day five of the second Test in the two-match series

ITV4

6.00am Magnum, PI (AD, SL) 8.05 Robin of Sherwood 9.10 Boon 10.15 The Professionals (AD) 11.25 Robin of Sherwood 12.25pm Magnum, PI (AD) 2.35 The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (AD) 3.45 Boon 4.50 The Professionals (AD) 5.55 Minder. Arthur stages a darts tournament, but finds himself scrambling to raise the prize money (AD) 7.00 Target Sports Stars Fishing Championship. Action from the annual charity event 9.00 River Monsters. Tales of fatal attacks in Florida's waterways 9.30 FILM: Universal Soldier (18, 1992) Sci-fi thriller starring Jean-Claude Van Damme 11.35 Ligue 1 Highlights 12.05am EFL Carabao Cup Highlights 1.20 Benidorm (AD) 2.10-2.40 Auto Mundial

U&Drama

6.00am Teleshopping 7.15 The Bill
8.10 Doctors 9.20 Classic Holby
City 10.40 Casualty (AD) 11.40 The Bill 12.40pm Classic EastEnders
2.00 Classic Neighbours 3.05 Whitstable Pearl (AD) 4.10 Kingdom
5.15 As Time Goes By
6.00 Last of the Summer Wine
8.00 The Chelsea Detective.
Part one of two. Drama starring Adrian Scarborough (AD)
9.00 The Chelsea Detective.
Part two of two. The investigation into the bodies on the allotment startst to heat up (AD)
10.05 New Tricks. The team reopens a murder case from 17 years previously (3/10) (AD)
11.25 Luther (2/4) (AD)
12.40am Lovejoy 1.50 Sister Boniface Mysteries (AD) 2.50-4.00 The Chelsea Detective (SL)

Variations BBC1 N Ireland

10.40pm The Big Deal with Steph McGovern 11.40 MOTD: Uefa Champions League 12.25am FILM: The Shallows (2016) Thriller 1.55am-6.00 BBC News

BBC1 Scotland

11.30pm Scotcast (r) 12.00 FILM: The Shallows (2016) 1.20am Weather for the Week Ahead 1.25am-6.00 BBC News

STV

11.05pm Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace – What Happened Next (r) 12.00-3.00 Shop on TV 4.20am-5.35 Unwind with STV

BBC Scotland

7.00pm News at Seven 7.30 Scotland's Home of the Year 2023 (r) 8.00 Island Crossings (r)

9.00 Dolly: The Sheep That Changed the World (r) 10.00 River City 10.30 Icons of Football (r) 11.00 Scotcast 11.30pm-12.00 The Trials That Shocked Scotland (r)

S4C

6.00am Cyw 11.00 Camau Bach 12.05pm Cartrefi Cymru (r) 12.30 Heno (r) 1.00 Lowri Morgan: Her 333 (r) 1.30 Garddio a Mwy (r) 2.00 News 2.05 Prynhawn Da 3.00 News 3.05 Siwrna Scandi Chris (r) 4.00 Awr Fawr: Howie (r) 4.05 Dreigiau Cadi (r) 4.20 Pentre Papur Pop (r) 4.30 Ein Byd Bach Ni (r) 4.40 Waw! (r) 5.00 Stwnsh: Li Ban (r) 5.15 Gwrach y Rhibyn (r) 5.35 Mabinogiogi (r) 6.00 Dan Do (r) 6.30 Adeiladu'r Freuddwyd: Camp Out West (r) 7.00 Heno 7.30 News 8.00 Pobol y Cwm 8.25 Cartrefi Cymru (r) 9.00 Priodas Pum Mil (r) 10.00 Y Deis (r) 10.30-11.35pm Ty Ffit (r)

PBS America

8.00am Weathered: Earth's Extremes 8.35 The World After Stonehenge 9.45 The Normans 11.00 Bronze Age Apocalypse 1.00pm Weathered: Earth's Extremes 1.50 The World After Stonehenge 2.55 The Normans 4.15 Bronze Age Apocalypse 6.20 The World After Stonehenge 7.30 The Normans. The expansion towards southern Europe and the Middle East (3/3)

12.00 The Normans 1.15am-2.00 Weathered: Earth's Extremes

Sky Atlantic

6.00am Urban Secrets (r) 8.00 Billions (r) (AD) 10.15 House of the Dragon (r) (AD) 12.40pm Homicide: Life on the Street (r) 2.30 Billions (r) (AD) 4.40 The White Lotus (r) (AD) 6.45 House of the Dragon (r) (AD) 7.50 House of the Dragon. Rhaenyra and Daemon focus on how best to deal with Ormund (r) (AD) 9.00 The Terror: Devil in Silver. After unwittingly assaulting plainclothes police officers during a fight, Pepper finds himself in a psychiatric hospital (1/6) (r) 10.05 The Terror: Devil in Silver. Pepper is attacked by a mysterious entity (2/6) (r)

11.05am Station Eleven (9/10) (r) 12.05am Station Eleven (r) 1.10 Possession (r) (AD) 2.00 Fightland. New series. Crime drama starring Howard Charles and Nicholas Pinnock 5.05am-6.00 Fish Town (r)

Sky Docs

6.00am History of the Sitcom (r)
7.00 Discovering: John Travolta (r) (AD) 8.00 The Directors (r) 9.00 Janet Jackson (r) (AD) 9.55 Branson (r) (AD) 11.00 Juan Carlos: Downfall of the King (r) 12.00 Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple (r) 2.50pm Young Guns: The New Tennis Titans (r) (AD) 4.00 The Directors (r) 5.00 Discovering: John Travolta (r) (AD) 6.00 Chimp Crazy (r) (AD) 7.00 Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (3/3) (r) (AD) 8.00 Costa Concordia: Chronicle of a Disaster. Documentary (r) 10.00 Rainbow Warrior

12.00 The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door (r) 1.40am Scouting for Girls: Fashion's Darkest Secret (r) (AD) 4.40 My Icon: Kate And Helen Richardson-Walsh (r) (AD) 5.00am-6.00 Discovering: John Travolta (r) (AD)

U&Yesterday

6.10am Abandoned Engineering (AD) 8.00 Bangers & Cash 10.00 Secret Nazi Bases 11.00 The World at War 12.00 Antiques Roadshow 2.00pm Bangers & Cash (AD) 4.00 Secret Nazi Bases 5.00 The World at War. The battle for the Atlantic 6.00 Antiques Roadshow 7.00 The Blue Planet. Marine life in coastal regions (AD) 8.00 Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime. The presenter reflects on his fourth travel series, exploring the Sahara 9.00 Explore. Simon Reeve seeks the hidden side of tourist locations 10.00 Bangers & Cash. Dave Mathewson collects a stylish Swedish Volvo P1800S (AD) 11.00 Bangers & Cash (AD) 12.00 Bangers & Cash 1.00am Find It, Fix It, Flog It 2.00-3.00am Abandoned Engineering (AD)

Poker Byron Jacobs

Adapt or die

A mistake recreational players tend to make in tournaments is to assume the rhythm of play is consistent throughout the event. Tight players playing tight and loose players loose the whole time: that is how cash games function. In cash play the underlying structure remains broadly unchanged, so everybody tends to keep doing what they've always done. This is absolutely not the case in tournaments and, without wishing to sound overly dramatic, players transitioning from cash to tournament play need to adapt or die.

At the start of play most players are a bit cagey, especially if they've paid a large-ish buy-in. Everyone is feeling things out, getting used to the mechanics of this particular event, so play tends to be a little conservative. This is a good moment to create the image that you like a bit of action. Get involved with a few substandard hands and maybe make a bluff or two. These plays may be slightly dubious in isolation but cost very little if they backfire. First impressions are very sticky and if people mark you down as an "action player", it will help later on. You will tighten up and get involved only with strong hands. Now your loose image will work to your advantage.

The first big inflection point in terms of general strategy in a tournament is when the majority of players have busted out and maybe about 15-20 per cent of the initial runners remain. We are now approaching the "bubble". Let's say prize money is paid to the top 100 finishers and about 120 players are still in. By now the tournament may have been going several hours and no one wants to bust out when the first prizes (albeit quite minimal ones) are getting so seductively close.

Winning Move

Players with decent stacks now often tighten up dramatically, reasoning that as long as they don't do anything "stupid" a prize is guaranteed. Be inclined to take the opposite view and try to steal chips whenever you sense the slightest weakness. You'd be amazed how much you can chip up during this period by remaining appropriately active when everyone else is sitting on their hands.

And finally, there is the holy grail – a seat at the final table. Some tips on what to do if you get there next week.

For more puzzles, including Mini Sudoku, extra Codeword, Train Tracks and Futoshiki go to page 10

At some point the bubble will burst and a mass sigh of relief can be felt around the tournament hall as everyone is now guaranteed a prize. This is the trigger for a total change in temperament. Chips that only a few moments ago were guarded as though they were the crown jewels are now hurled around freely. So, back off and wait for strong hands. Do not run bluffs – simply play good hands for value and you will be in a position to profit from the collective letting off of steam permeating the room.

White to play. This position is from Grebnev-Meng, Liaocheng 2026.

The exposed situation of the black king and the active, centralised white pieces give White a substantial advantage and a simple move such as 1 Qf4 leaves Black with very difficult problems. However, White was on the lookout for an immediate tactical solution and quickly found what he was looking for. How did the game conclude?

Codeword No 5929

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23N	24	25	26O

Every letter in this crossword-style grid is represented by a number from 1 to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded. Yesterday's solution, right Cluelines Stuck on Codeword? To receive 4 random clues call 0901 293 6262 or text TIMECODE to 64343. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company's network access charge. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. For the full solution call 0905 757 0142. If you have an old newspaper and need clues from the past 7 days, call 0905 624 0024. Calls to 0905 cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company's network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm).

Lexica Easy No 9077
Hard No 9078

Slide the letters either horizontally or vertically back into the grid to produce a completed crossword. Letters are allowed to slide over other letters

Train Tracks No 2954

Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of track go in each row and column. There are only straight sections and curved sections. The track cannot cross itself.

Quintagram®No 2656

Solve all five cryptic clues using each letter underneath once only

1 Left an English path (4)

Challenge your mind with puzzle books from The Times

2 Using sword, fight seller of stolen goods (5)

3 Strict moralist cooked a turnip (7)

4 Address oxygen quota (7)

5 Art models upset renowned painter (3,6)

A	A	A	A	C	D	E	E
E	E	F	I	I	L	L	M
N	N	N	N	O	O	O	P
R	R	R	S	T	T	T	U

timesbookshop.co.uk

Solve Ponder crossword on Wednesdays and Fridays at thetimes.com/puzzles and on the Live app

KenKen Medium No 6921

All the digits 1 to 6 must appear in every row and column. In each thick-line "block", the target number in the top left-hand corner is calculated from the digits in all the cells in the block, using the operation indicated by the symbol.
Fill the blank squares so that every row and column contains each of the numbers 1 to 5 once only. The symbols between the squares indicate whether a number is larger (>) or smaller (<) than the number next to it.

Kakuro No 4428

Fill the grid using the numbers 1 to 9 only. The numbers in each horizontal or vertical run of white squares add up to the total in the triangle to its left or above it. The same number may occur more than once in a row or column, but not within the same run of white squares.

Brain Trainer
Easy 330
Medium 107
Harder 174

times2 Crossword No 10,245

Across

4 Airtight drinks container (5)
7 Mexican beach resort (8)
8 Ardently hope or desire (4)
9 Medieval book of animals (8)
10 Moist and sticky (6)
13 Succumb, surrender (4,2)
14 Hurry about busily (6)
15 Hold tightly (6)

18 Warlock (8)
19 Praise (4)
20 With the narrow side foremost (8)
21 British snake (5)

Down

1 Arranged like the spokes of a bicycle (6)
2 Sound the depth of (6)
3 In a modest manner (6)
4 Smaller landform at the bottom of a mountain (8)
5 Next (to) (8)
6 Citizen of Nairobi, eg (6)
11 Soaked up (8)
12 Seasickness (3,2,3)
14 Region that forms a country with Herzegovina (6)
15 Tooth or bone decay (6)
16 Transfer (data) to a larger system via a network (6)
17 Awkward (6)

Solution to Crossword 10,244

Need help with today's puzzle? Call 0905 757 0143 to check the answers. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company's network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).

Bridge Andrew Robson

Modern Bidding Developments 34. Natural and Trial

My students often ask, "How do I know if a bid is a natural, or a trial bid?" Let me first state that a trial bid can occur only as a player's second bid, immediately after major-suit agreement eg 1♠-2♠-3♣.

My main point, though, is that "natural" and "trial" are almost the same thing. OK, so a trial bid can be three cards (never fewer) but it's essentially a natural-ish bid, asking for help in the suit.

In the auction 1♠-2♠-3♣, responder will bid 3♠ or 4♠ largely depending on what she has in clubs. With three rubbish cards (three losing tricks), she'll sign off in 3♠. With, say, ♣Ax, ♣Kx or a singleton (one losing trick), she'll jump to 4♠. If her clubs are medium (two losing tricks eg ♣Qxx, ♣xx), she'll look at how good her trumps are.

How about in the slam zone, an auction such as 1♠-3♠-4♣? By our definition above, this is a trial bid (because it's a player's second bid after major-suit agreement). However, you're hardly going to be looking for slam with some cheesy three-card club holding such as the 953. Think of the 4♣ bid more as a natural, second suit bid, potentially with a decent (but not great) suit such as ♣ AQxx or ♣ KJl0x.

Ater 1♠-3♠-4♣, what should responder bid with these? (Note, you should jump to 3♠, not merely bid 2♠, holding a nine-count 4♠432.)

♠ AJ92 ♥ J1032 ♦ 832 ♣ K2 ♠ J643 ♥ AQ62 ♦ Q4 ♣ 842 ♠ Q1082 ♥ J643 ♦ A62 ♣ Q3

With the first, with its fabulous club holding and decent trumps, jump to 5♠, or make a control bid of 5♣, or jump to 6♠, or bid 4NT. I don't really mind. As long as you don't sign off in 4♠.

With the second, with its awful club holding and poor trumps, sign off in 4♠. Don't make a control bid of 4♥ — control bids are never forced, they always show suitability.

With the third, a decent-but-not-great hand in terms of fitting black cards, make a control bid of 4♦. If partner now signs off in 4♠, let it go. Dealer: South ♠ K1054

(1) Nine-count 4432s should bid Three. (2) Technically, a trial bid (the player's second bid, after major-suit agreement). But let's call it what it is: natural. (3) Must co-operate with the excellent clubs (and trumps). Could make a 5♣ control bid (more on control-bidding kings next time).

You win the ♦Q lead (East ♦10) with ♦A and draw two trumps. Before you draw the third, however, you must unblock ♣KJ.

Now cross to a third spade and cash ♣ AQ5, dropping ◆75. Ruff ◆4 and lose just one heart — slam made. andrew.robson@thetimes.co.uk

MindGames

Brain Trainer

EASY

9

x 2

DOUBLE IT

-6

+14

÷2

x 12

DOUBLE IT

$+1/4$ OF IT

HALVE IT

ANSWER

MEDIUM

48

÷4

x 16

HALVE IT

÷8

x 36

-321

+89

DOUBLE IT

-293

ANSWER

HARDER

317

DOUBLE IT

-468

HALVE IT

SQUARE IT

-5443

÷6

+13

-167

DOUBLE IT

ANSWER

Cell Blocks No 5812

	4	6
8
	3
	12		4
			8
		4

Divide the grid into square or rectangular blocks, each containing one digit only. Every block must contain the number of cells indicated by the digit inside it.

Polygon

Set Square No 4431

From these letters, make words of four or more letters, always including the central letter. Answers must be in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, excluding capitalised words, plurals, conjugated verbs (past tense etc), adverbs ending in LY, comparatives and superlatives. How you rate 13 words, average; 18, good; 24, very good; 30, excellent

Yesterday's answers

bel, belt, bibelot, bible, bilbo, bile, bleb, blob, blot, boil, bole, bolt, botel, lei, let, lib, lie, lit, lite, lob, lobe, lot, loti, oil, olé, tile, toil, toile

Please note, BODMAS does not apply

Enter each of the numbers from 1 to 9 in the grid, so that the six sums work. We've placed two numbers to get you started. Each sum should be calculated left to right or top to bottom.

Killer Tricky No 10,896

Killer Deadly No 10,897

As with standard Sudoku, fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted lines, a digit cannot be repeated.

Cluelines Stuck on Sudoku, Killer or KenKen? Call 0901 293 6263 before midnight to receive four clues for any of today's puzzles. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company's network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).

Solutions

Quick Cryptic 3389

Sudoku 17,052

Tetonor 703
Codeword 5928

Kakuro 4427

Train Tracks 2953

112			40			252			32
1	+	111	8	+	32	36	x	7	26	+	6
43			156			23			256
36	+	7	26	x	6	15	+	8	8	x	32
297			24			144			111
11	x	27	12	+	12	12	x	12	111	x	1
38			135			48			120
27	+	11	45	x	3	45	+	3	15	x	8

Set Square 4430

Cell Blocks 5811

4	2	8	7	1	3	5	9	6
1	5	6	4	9	2	3	7	8
3	9	7	6	5	8	4	1	2
9	7	5	3	4	6	8	2	1
8	6	3	9	2	1	7	4	5
2	4	1	5	8	7	6	3	9
7	8	9	2	3	5	1	6	4
6	1	2	8	7	4	9	5	3
5	3	4	1	6	9	2	8	7

Sudoku 17,053

9	6	1	5	3	8	7	2	4
2	3	5	7	9	4	6	8	1
8	4	7	6	2	1	5	9	3
3	2	9	8	1	7	4	5	6
6	7	8	9	4	5	1	3	2
1	5	4	3	6	2	8	7	9
5	1	3	2	7	6	9	4	8
7	9	6	4	8	3	2	1	5
4	8	2	1	5	9	3	6	7

Sudoku 17,054
Futoshiki 5468
Lexica 9075

KenKen 6920

6+5	1	2-4	36×3	6	2
6×2	3	6	7+4	6+1	5
2-4	1-6	1	2	9+5	3
6	5	9+3	1	9+2	4
3÷1	8+4	2	5	3	5-6
3	2	15+5	6	4	1

3	1	5	4	>2
√
2	5	>4	1	3
		√
4	2	3	5	>1
	^
1	4	2	<3	5
		√		√
5	3	1	2	4

1	5	6	2	9	7	8	4	3
4	3	8	1	6	5	7	2	9
7	2	9	8	3	4	1	5	6
2	9	7	4	5	6	3	8	1
3	4	1	7	8	9	2	6	5
6	8	5	3	1	2	4	9	7
8	6	4	5	7	1	9	3	2
5	7	2	9	4	3	6	1	8
9	1	3	6	2	8	5	7	4

Lexica 9076

Killer 10,894

4	1	8	7	3	2	9	5	6
6	3	7	5	9	4	8	1	2
9	2	5	8	1	6	4	3	7
3	6	4	1	8	9	7	2	5
1	8	9	2	7	5	3	6	4
7	5	2	4	6	3	1	9	8
5	4	1	9	2	7	6	8	3
2	9	6	3	4	8	5	7	1
8	7	3	6	5	1	2	4	9

Killer 10,895

4	5	6	7	9	3	1	2	8
1	9	3	2	5	8	7	4	6
2	7	8	6	4	1	3	5	9
8	2	4	5	1	6	9	7	3
7	6	5	9	3	4	2	8	1
9	3	1	8	7	2	5	6	4
6	4	9	3	2	5	8	1	7
3	1	2	4	8	7	6	9	5
5	8	7	1	6	9	4	3	2

Today's solutions

Concise Quintagram	Cryptic Quintagram
1 Angst	1 Lane
2 Swoon	2 Fence
3 Triumph	3 Puritan
4 Tantrum	4 Oration
5 Nightjar	5 Old master

Word watch

Mickery (b) A well in a dry riverbed (Chambers) Dehortation (c) Dissuasion (Chambers) Sylloge (b) A collection or summary (OED)

Chess — Winning Move

1 Rf7+! destabilises the black position, allowing the white forces to invade. After 1 ... Kg8 (1 ... Bxf7 2 Qxd3+ wins) 2 Rg7+ Kh8 3 Qh6+ Bh7 the swiftest and most aesthetic finish is 4 Rg8+! Rxg8 (4 ... Kxg8 5 Qg7 mate) 5 Qf6+ Rg7 6 Qxg7 mate

Sakuro 4830

Quiz

1 BP 2 JM Barrie 3 The Irish 4 First World War
5 Stilton 6 Hyacinth Bucket
7 Winchester Cathedral
8 Pete Best 9 David Lloyd George 10 Dentist!
11 Roger Bacon 12 French Without Tears 13 Evelyn McHale 14 Wimbledon
15 Kenneth Clark

MindGames

Sudoku Difficult No 17,055

Fiendish No 17,056

Super fiendish No 17,057

				7			9	3
		7			5			6
			4	3	9
7				6		5	2
8					2	6		4
6		3				8
2		1	3				7
		9	2	5	1

				3
		1			8		4	3
		6	1				8
	1			8				2
			7		6
4				1			7
	8				2	6
2	5		9			3
				4

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.

		4	9		8	2
			3		5
	6						1
8								3
		9				7
2	3						9	4
	9			7			6
	5		6		4		8
		8				9

Word watch David Parfitt

Mickery a The writing of humorous verse b A well in a dry riverbed c A nut-bearing American tree

Dehortation a The act of going outside b The winding back of a clock c Dissuasion

Sylloge
a A cold dairy dessert
b A collection or summary
c An accomplice or confederate

Answers on page 15

The Times Daily Quiz Olav Bjortomt

1 Which oil giant was known as British Petroleum from 1954 to 1998?

2 A statue of Peter Pan in Kirriemuir town centre commemorates which Scottish writer?

3 A Hibernicism is an idiom or characteristic peculiar to which people?

4 Henri Barbusse's novel Under Fire (1916) was one of the first literary accounts of which war?

5 The name of Stichelton blue cheese comes from an old spelling of the name of which Cambridgeshire village?

6 In Keeping Up Appearances, who described a riverside picnic as a “waterside supper with riparian entertainment”?

7 Located in Hampshire, what is the world's longest intact medieval cathedral?

8 Which drummer's band released the 1965 album Best of the Beatles?

9 Which Welsh politician famously referred to the House of Lords as "Mr Balfour's poodle"?

10 Which song in the musical Little Shop of Horrors refers to "the leader of the plaque"?

11 According to Guinness World Records, which English Franciscan friar and scholar invented the magnifying glass?

12 Joie de Vivre is a musical version of which 1936 play by Terence Rattigan?

13 Andy Warhol appropriated Robert Wiles's 1947 photo of which woman for his Suicide: Fallen Body (1962)?

14 In 1884, Maud Watson won the first ladies' singles title at which tennis tournament?

15 Which host of the TV series Civilisation is pictured?

Answers on page 15

Sakuro No 4830

Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces, and each colour total is correct

For interactive puzzles visit thetimes.com

The Times Quick Cryptic No 3390 by Frank

Across
1 A purge devastated European city (6)
4 Metric unit largely forced on golf (6)
8 When exposed, press pool react (7)
10 Bowl or field? (5)
11 Periodic features of Neptunian volcano (4)
12 Sinner always embracing false idol (8)
14 Dreary game on board accommodating new roller periodically (9)
18 Legal representative announced a medieval tournament (8)
20 Enormous stone rolling with acceleration (4)
22 Group of soldiers sacked Porto (5)
23 Live TV broadcast about a city (3,4)
24 Connect engineers behind schedule (6)
25 Essentially accept sponsors adjusted official count (6)

1 Player about to negotiate with opposing side (6)
2 Element in charge replacing aluminium in weaponry (7)
3 Supported by university, finally limp to graduation (4)
5 Rejected red lentil possibly splits (8)
6 Too much included in flash slogan (5)
7 Strongly advise X to stop other broadcast (6)
9 Cheating footballer and decent chap tending to differ (9)
13 Feeble daughter lost receipt (8)
15 Delays: they hold things up (7)
16 Buffet, regrettably, only partially taken up (6)
17 Preserve most of huge painting surface (6)
19 Charge to cross river that lurks beneath bridge? (5)
21 Escape insect in auditorium (4)

Yesterday's solution on page 15

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