On the night last month that he and 34 other young people were arrested in the Togolese capital, Lomé, for coordinating an anti-government demonstration, Bertin Bandiangou said gendarmes beat him with ropes and slapped him. The next morning he was tortured while a commanding officer filmed proceedings.
He was lucky to get out alive: at least 10 people have been killed by security officials since protests began in June calling for the resignation of the small west African country’s president, Faure Gnassingbé.
“From this bitter experience, it is clear that the Togolese regime is prepared to commit the worst atrocities to retain power,” said Bandiangou, a 24-year-old student union president at the University of Lomé.
With the exception of a three-month period in 2005, Togo has been ruled by the Gnassingbés since 1967, when Faure Gnassingbé’s father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, took power in a bloodless coup.
In February, the government hosted a flamboyant $34m memorial service for Eyadéma, who died in 2005. Observers said the ceremony, attended by five former African presidents, served as a lavish statement of the dynasty’s enduring power.
Then in May, Gnassingbé’s power was further consolidated when he was sworn in as “president of the council of ministers”, a new post that is not subject to term limits. The swearing-in was the culmination of a process that began in March last year when parliament amended the constitution, without a referendum, to do away with presidential elections – a move described by the Touche Pas à Ma Constitution coalition as “a coup against the Togolese people”.
The price of dissent
Though the memorial service and constitutional changes struck a nerve with young people in Togo who want political change, the spark for the recent protests was the arrest of Tchala Essowè Narcisse, a popular rapper known as Aamron, on 26 May.
Aamron has built a following on TikTok, and his songs denounce corruption, economic stagnation and state neglect. His arrest followed a satirical call for a mobilisation to mark Gnassingbé’s birthday.
According to Célestin Kokou Agbogan, his lawyer and the president of Togo’s Human Rights League, Aamron was arrested without a warrant and held incommunicado for 10 days. A video clip then surfaced in which, appearing disoriented, he claimed the state had labelled him mentally unstable and had detained him in a psychiatric facility in Zébé, just outside Lomé.
Agbogan said no official charges had been filed. The opposition alliance Dynamics for Majority of the People condemned the arrest as “unlawful, unjustified, and driven by political motives” and has called for Aamron’s immediate and unconditional release.
In the days after his disappearance, fans flooded social media with clips of his defiant lyrics. Then they took to the streets of Lomé, barricading roads, burning tyres and chanting “Libérez Aamron!” and “Togo Libre!”
“Since Faure Gnassingbé became president, any opinion that does not praise him is seen as a crime,” Bandiangou said. “He systematically imprisons all dissenting voices. Aamron’s arrest was … one too many.”
Bandiangou said his aim was to mobilise people in an attempt to end the practice of arbitrary imprisonment and allow political prisoners to regain their freedom.
Protesters have paid a steep price for their dissent: more than 100 have been arrested since June, and some are still missing. Amnesty International said last week it had interviewed victims and witnesses who described a series of abuses by security forces against demonstrators, including acts of torture.
On 1 July, the Economic Community of West African States urged restraint and called for dialogue. Otherwise, international reaction has been muted, drowned out by geopolitical crises elsewhere.
Nevertheless, diaspora communities and human rights groups are attempting to ramp up pressure on the regime, demanding sanctions and diplomatic scrutiny.
‘Our message was clear’
Experts say beneath the anger at the constitutional changes lies a deeper well of frustration over corruption and nepotism that has been exacerbated by a scarce jobs market and a rise in the cost of living.
Protests have erupted periodically for decades – usually over delayed elections, term extensions and heavy-handed crackdowns – but there are signs that discontent is widening.
Civil society groups and opposition parties held demonstrations on three consecutive days in late June over a planned pan-Africanist conference – later cancelled – that they claimed would whitewash the latest power grab, while protests have also broken out in recent weeks over electricity price rises.
“Young people are exasperated by shortsighted and aimless governance, and by being held hostage by a regime incapable of providing the population with the basic necessities of life,” said Bandiangou. “Our message is clear: we no longer want a regime that imprisons our dreams and has terrorised an entire people for nearly six decades.”
Firefighters also battled fires sparked by explosions in the Kyiv region on Wednesday
Ukraine's capital Kyiv is again under a massive overnight Russian drone attack, local officials say, with at least eight people reported injured and fires burning across the city.
Authorities in Kyiv say drone wreckage has hit the roof of a residential building in the central Shevchenkivskyi district.
Footage on social media, as yet unverified by the BBC, shows explosions in the night sky, as air defence units begin repelling the attack. Ukraine's military has also warned of a threat of a ballistic missile attack.
In the early hours of Thursday, morning Kyiv's military administration reported Russian drone strikes in six city districts.
"Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouses, office and non-residential buildings are burning," administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.
He urged city residents to shelter until the air raid siren was lifted.
Overnight, Ukraine's air force reported a threat of Russian drone attacks in a number of regions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties outside Kyiv.
Russia's military has not commented on the reported latest attack.
In other developments:
Ukraine's emergency service DSNS said late on Wednesday that three people had been killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Kostiantynivka - close to the front line in eastern Ukraine
The US resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, Reuters reported late on Wednesday, days after it halted shipments of some critical arms
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Firefighters also battled fires sparked by explosions in the Kyiv region on Wednesday
Ukraine's capital Kyiv is again under a massive overnight Russian drone attack, local officials say, with at least eight people reported injured and fires burning across the city.
Authorities in Kyiv say drone wreckage has hit the roof of a residential building in the central Shevchenkivskyi district.
Footage on social media, as yet unverified by the BBC, shows explosions in the night sky, as air defence units begin repelling the attack. Ukraine's military has also warned of a threat of a ballistic missile attack.
In the early hours of Thursday, morning Kyiv's military administration reported Russian drone strikes in six city districts.
"Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouses, office and non-residential buildings are burning," administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.
He urged city residents to shelter until the air raid siren was lifted.
Overnight, Ukraine's air force reported a threat of Russian drone attacks in a number of regions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties outside Kyiv.
Russia's military has not commented on the reported latest attack.
In other developments:
Ukraine's emergency service DSNS said late on Wednesday that three people had been killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Kostiantynivka - close to the front line in eastern Ukraine
The US resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, Reuters reported late on Wednesday, days after it halted shipments of some critical arms
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Two other former Tory MPs defected recently too – Anne Marie Morris and Ross Thomson.
Now it is Sir Jake Berry joining Nigel Farage's party.
A man knighted by Boris Johnson.
A man whose son counts Johnson as his godfather.
A man who used to be the chairman of the Conservative Party and who was a Tory minister in three different government departments.
And yet a man who now says this: "If you were deliberately trying to wreck the country, you'd be hard pressed to do a better job than the last two decades of Labour and Tory rule."
Read that sentence again and consider it was written by someone who was not just a Tory MP for 14 years but a senior one, occupying high office.
Extraordinary.
And this is probably not the end of it – both Reform and Conservative folk I speak to hint they expect there to be more to come.
Tories are trying to put the best gloss on it they can, saying Reform might be attracting former MPs – Sir Jake lost his seat at the last election – but they are losing current MPs.
The MP James McMurdock suspended himself from Reform at the weekend after a story in the Sunday Times about loans he took out under a Covid support scheme.
But the trend is clear: Conservatives of varying seniority are being lured across by Nigel Farage and are proud to say so when they make the leap.
PA Media
Sir Jake Berry was appointed as the Conservative Party chairman by Liz Truss during her brief tenure as prime minister
Reform are particularly delighted that Sir Jake has not just defected but done so by going "studs in" on his former party, as one source put it.
"For us this is really crucial. If you want to join us you need to be really going for the other side when you do. Drawing a proper line in the sand," they added.
They regard Sir Jake's closeness to Boris Johnson as "dagger-in-the-heart stuff" for the Conservatives.
But perhaps the more interesting and consequential pivot in strategy we are currently witnessing is Labour's approach to Reform.
At the very highest level in government they are reshaping their approach: turning their attention away from their principal opponent of the last century and more, the Conservatives, and tilting instead towards Nigel Farage's party.
Again, extraordinary.
It tells you a lot about our contemporary politics that a party with Labour's history, sitting on top of a colossal Commons majority, is now shifting its focus to a party with just a handful of MPs.
Senior ministers take the rise of Reform incredibly seriously and are not dismissing them as a flash in the pan insurgency.
After all, Reform's lead in many opinion polls has proven to be sustained in recent months and was then garnished with their impressive performance in the English local elections in May and their win, on the same day, in the parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire.
If Labour folk then were still in need of the jolt of a wake-up call, that night provided it.
In their immediate response to Sir Jake's defection, Labour are pointing to Reform recruiting Liz Truss's party chairman and so are inheriting, they claim, her "reckless economics".
But they know the challenge of taking on and, they hope, defeating Reform, will be work of years of slog and will have to be grounded in proving they can deliver in government – not easy, as their first year in office has so often proven.
Not for the first time in recent months, Reform UK have momentum and are making the political weather.
Kemi Badenoch will call for foreign nationals to be barred from claiming disability and sickness benefits, as she sets out plans for tighter curbs on welfare.
In a speech on Thursday, the Tory leader will describe Britain's benefits bill as a "ticking time bomb" that could "collapse the economy".
It comes after the party outlined some of its own proposals to reduce spending, after Labour largely gutted its own plan for benefits cuts after a backbench revolt.
Legislation to bring in remaining government cuts to sickness benefits was approved by MPs on Wednesday evening.
But other proposals, including changes to the eligibility criteria for disability benefits, have effectively been put on hold.
The government announced plans to shrink welfare spending in March, warning the working-age welfare bill was set to rise by nearly £30bn by 2030 and reforms to the system were required to ensure it remained sustainable.
It wanted to make it harder to claim personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability benefit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and make health-related top-ups for universal credit less generous.
But ministers significantly watered down the cuts earlier this month after a huge rebellion from Labour MPs, all but wiping out savings estimated to be worth £5bn a year by the end of the decade.
Plans to freeze the higher rate of universal credit for existing health-related claimants have been reversed, whilst all changes to the Pip system have been parked pending a government review into the assessment regime.
In her speech on Thursday, Badenoch will accuse Labour of being "beholden to left-wing MPs" and "turning a blind eye" to rising benefit costs.
She will also seek to create a dividing line with Reform UK over the two-child benefit cap, which Nigel Farage's party has pledged to scrap, branding him "Jeremy Corbyn with a pint and a cigarette".
"On welfare he shows his true colours - promising unaffordable giveaways with no plan to fix the system," she is expected to add.
A Labour spokesperson said "The Conservatives had 14 years to reform welfare - instead, they left the country with a broken system that holds people back and fails to support the most vulnerable."
The party also warned that the Conservative proposal could see disabled British nationals living abroad being denied support if other countries decided to take a similar approach.
Tory welfare proposals
The Conservatives have not backed the government's legislation to deliver the changes, arguing its proposals do not go far enough.
They have set out some plans of their own to shrink welfare spending in the form of amendments to the government's plans, which were defeated on Wednesday.
These include limiting access to Pips and the health-related part of universal credit to those with "less severe" mental health conditions, and preventing claimants from receiving payments without a face-to-face assessment.
They also say both benefits should only be paid to British citizens, with exceptions for those covered by international agreements, such as citizens from EU countries who have acquired settled status in the UK.
At the moment, foreign nationals gain access to the welfare system when they are granted indefinite leave to remain or refugee status. Applicants for Pip generally need to have lived in Britain for at least two of the last three years.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to apply for benefits, although they have access to taxpayer-funded accommodation and separate financial support.
Conservative shadow minister Neil O'Brien has said he has obtained figures under freedom of information laws showing universal credit payments to households containing at least one foreign national stood at £941m a month as of March.
But working out the exact scale of payments to non-UK nationals specifically is complicated, because the Department for Work and Pensions does not provide a breakdown of claimants by immigration status and nationality.
However, the department is due to publish the first such breakdown next week, and has committed to updates every three months thereafter.
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Locke said he enjoyed playing characters who had "a bit of a bite, a bit of a grey area"
Heartstopper star Joe Locke is to make his West End debut this autumn, in a play about two young men who bond while working night shifts at a warehouse in a rural US town.
Locke is currently filming the forthcoming Heartstopper movie after appearing in three series of the hit Netflix show about two classmates who fall in love, but will take on his new stage role later this year.
The 21-year-old will star in Clarkston, which follows two men in their twenties from opposite ends of the US who meet while working at Costco.
Locke told BBC News he was "so excited" for his West End debut, adding that his new role matched his desire to play "flawed characters... who have a bit of bite".
Producers have not yet announced the venue or run dates for the British production, but told the BBC it would open in a West End theatre in the autumn.
Set in Clarkston, Washington, the play opens with a Costco employee named Chris working night shifts when he meets new hire Jake, a young gay man originally from Connecticut.
Jake has Huntington's disease, a degenerative neurological condition that causes involuntary movements. He ended up in Clarkston by accident after finding himself no longer able to drive during a road trip west.
"He's this city boy in a small place," explained Locke. "Jake has got so many layers to him that really unravel in the play. A lot of the themes are to do with class and the different experiences of the characters."
Chris, meanwhile, struggles with the strained relationship he has with his mother, who is a drug addict.
Locke, who is used to portraying young men grappling with their identity, explained: "I really enjoy characters that have something to them, a bit of bite, a bit of a grey area.
"Everyone is flawed in some ways. And I've been lucky enough in my career so far to play a few flawed characters, and Jake is no different to that. And that's the fun bit, the meaty bit, getting to know these characters - they're good and they're bad."
Hunter noted the play "is fundamentally about friendship and platonic male love, which is something that I feel like we don't see a lot of on stage and screen".
Locke agreed: "Yeah, one of my favourite things about this play is there's a scene where these characters almost build on their platonic relationship and get to a romantic level, and they realise that no, the platonic relationship is what's important, and I think that's really beautiful."
Getty Images
Samuel D Hunter (right) also wrote The Whale, the film adaptation of which won Brendan Fraser an Oscar
Clarkston, which has previously been performed alongside another of Hunter's plays, Lewiston, received positive reviews from critics when it was staged in the US.
"You feel like you're eavesdropping on intensely private moments of people you don't always like but come to deeply understand," said The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck of a 2018 production.
"Toward the end, there's an encounter between Chris and his mother that is as shattering and gut-wrenching a scene as you'll ever see on stage. But the play ends on a sweet, hopeful note that sends you out of the theatre smiling."
Writing about a different production in 2024, Charles McNulty of the LA Times said: "Clarkston hints that some of our most instructive relationships may be the most transitory. That's one of the beautiful discoveries in Hunter's small, absorbing and ultimately uplifting play."
Anybody who has worked night shifts may relate to the idea that the early hours are a time when people often open up to each other and have have their deepest conversations.
Hunter suggests such an atmosphere results in a "more delicate, more intimate" backdrop.
"I had an experience working in a Walmart when I was a teenager," he recalled, "and I found that places like the break room were so intimate and vulnerable, you're in this very sterilised space so I think the need for human connection is made all the greater."
Netflix
Locke, pictured with Heartstopper co-star Kit Connor, said the forthcoming film will be "a really nice closing chapter"
Hunter had the idea of writing the play when visiting his home town of Moscow Idaho, about 30 miles from Clarkson, and became interested in "the idea that the American West is still kind of young", following the Louisiana Purchase in the early 19th Century.
"The markers of that history are still there," noted Hunter, "but they are right next to things like Costcos and gas stations and mini-malls.
"So it just got me interested in the experiment of the American West and the colonial past, and what that means in 2025."
The new production will be directed by Jack Serio, who has previously directed another of Hunter's plays, Grangeville, with Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville cast in the other two lead roles as Chris and his mother.
Locke has previously appeared on stage at London's Donmar Warehouse, and in a Broadway production of Sweeney Todd.
The actor said being a theatre actor "was the thing I wanted more than anything" when growing up.
"I'm from the Isle of Man," he explained, "and my birthday present every year was a trip to London with my mum to watch a few shows, so it's very full circle to bring my mum to my press night to my West End debut, it's going to be very exciting."
Locke has starred in three seasons of Neflix's Heartstopper since its launch in 2022. The show followed two teenage boys, Charlie and Nick, who fall for each other at secondary school, and their circle of friends. Locke spoke to BBC News while on set, shooting the film adaptation.
"It's going great, we're almost two thirds of the way through shooting now, and everything, touch wood, is going well," he said.
"We're having a great time doing it, it's a really nice closing chapter of the story."
Christian Horner's removal as Red Bull's F1 team principal leads several of Thursday's front pages. The Metro says the racing boss, husband of Spice Girl Geri, was "shunted out" 17 months after a female employee accused him of coercive, controlling behaviour. He was twice cleared of these claims, which he has strongly denied, but the fallout has been "blamed for the team's decline", the paper reports. Red Bull has won only two races this season.
The Daily Star references the energy's drink's slogan in its own headline on the Horner saga: "Red Bull gives you the boot." It adds that wife Geri has "stood by" her husband.
The Daily Mail's front page pictures the "humiliated" Geri and Christian Horner, but its lead story is based on fresh analysis suggesting "work doesn't pay under Labour". The Centre for Social Justice think tank has warned that sickness benefits will soon be worth "more than a minimum wage job", the paper reports. This "shocking finding" comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer failed to secure benefits cuts earlier this month, it adds.
The Daily Telegraph also covers the think tank's benefits analysis, saying someone on "full handouts" will receive £2,500 more a year than a minimum wage worker. It also covers a separate report from a group representing the beer industry, which warns one pub a day will close after what the paper calls Labour's "tax raids". Elsewhere, actor Hugh Grant is pictured talking to Queen Camilla at Wimbledon.
The i Paper has a different story about Labour's economic policy. It says a minister has told the paper that the government will introduce new taxes that "target wealthier people" to appease restless backbench MPs. It will not call these measures a wealth tax in public, but it will do so privately, the paper reports.
On the third day of French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK, the Sun's headline is "A kick in the Gauls". It says a deal on returning migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats is expected to be announced on Thursday, during a bilateral summit. But the paper highlights criticism of the deal, which it says will deport "just 50 migrants a week". The Tories have said this arrangement is "no deterrent at all", the paper says, as "40,000 are arriving annually". Home Office figures say more than 21,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year so far.
The Times also leads on the UK-France asylum deal, which it says will deport one in 17 people who arrive via the Channel, but is intended to expand at a later date. A UK government source has told the paper the scheme will be "scaled up" after a pilot period.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the Anglo-French migration deal "hangs in the balance" with negotiators still "deadlocked" over the details. Aides on both sides said there were "several significant hurdles" to overcome on Wednesday night. Sir Keir had hoped to unveil an agreement as the "key prize" of Macron's three-day visit at the bilateral summit on Thursday, the paper says.
The departure of X chief executive Linda Yaccarino is also covered in several newspapers. The Financial Times features a picture of Ms Yaccarino, who was hired to run the social media site by billionaire owner Elon Musk two years ago. She was tasked with "luring back advertisers" after Mr Musk controversially relaxed moderation on the platform, the FT reports. Its lead story is on AI chipmaker Nvidia, which has become the first $4tn (£2.94tn) company after a "rapid rebound for Wall Street technology stocks".
The Daily Express says there has been "fury" at a potential doctors' strike, with the prime minister branded as "weak". Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, in England have said they will strike for five days from 25 July after voting in favour of fresh action over pay if the government does not agree to negotiate their pay instead. The paper also features a picture of the Queen at Wimbledon on its front page - here shaking hands with Novak Djokovic.
The Mirror leads on the "astonishing bravery" of the children targeted by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, after an inquiry into the attacks revealed "incredible tales of bravery" on Wednesday.
PA Media
Christian Horner
The Times leads on the possible new immigration deal between Britain and France ahead of today's summit in London. The paper says 50 migrants a week will be sent back to France from the end of August, as part of a pilot scheme - and, reportedly, the UK would accept the same number of asylum seekers in return, if they have family connections in Britain. The paper points out that if crossings continue at the same rate the number sent to France would equate to one in 17 of all small-boat migrants.
The Daily Telegraph says the government is hoping the number of returns will grow significantly, if the trial is successful.
The Guardian however says the deal "hangs in the balance" - with negotiators haggling over how much the UK should pay towards policing the crossings. Aides from both countries tell the paper that other significant hurdles include potential legal challenges in France, and opposition from other European countries. A Downing Street spokesperson is quoted saying the prime minister hopes to make "concrete progress" on a range of issues.
The I Paper says Labour will target the rich with its new tax plans, but won't publicly call it a "wealth tax". The paper quotes an unnamed minister saying "we'll end up doing a few things that target wealthier people".
The Daily Express leads on resident doctors announcing a five-day strike over pay - saying it puts around 200,000 hospital appointments at risk of being cancelled. The paper's leader column calls the prime minister weak and says it's only a matter of time before Downing Street "waves the white flag".
The Daily Mail is among a number of papers to highlight a report by the right-leaning think tank, the Centre for Social Justice - which forecasts that full sickness benefits will soon be worth £2,500 a year more than the minimum wage. "Proof Work Doesn't Pay Under Labour" is the Mail's headline.
A picture of the former Red Bull Racing Formula One boss, Christian Horner, with his head in his hands covers the front of The Daily Star. He was fired yesterday after 20 years in the role. Its headline reads "Red Bull gives you the boot".
Firefighters also battled fires sparked by explosions in the Kyiv region on Wednesday
Ukraine's capital Kyiv is again under a massive overnight Russian drone attack, local officials say, with at least eight people reported injured and fires burning across the city.
Authorities in Kyiv say drone wreckage has hit the roof of a residential building in the central Shevchenkivskyi district.
Footage on social media, as yet unverified by the BBC, shows explosions in the night sky, as air defence units begin repelling the attack. Ukraine's military has also warned of a threat of a ballistic missile attack.
In the early hours of Thursday, morning Kyiv's military administration reported Russian drone strikes in six city districts.
"Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouses, office and non-residential buildings are burning," administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.
He urged city residents to shelter until the air raid siren was lifted.
Overnight, Ukraine's air force reported a threat of Russian drone attacks in a number of regions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties outside Kyiv.
Russia's military has not commented on the reported latest attack.
In other developments:
Ukraine's emergency service DSNS said late on Wednesday that three people had been killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Kostiantynivka - close to the front line in eastern Ukraine
The US resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, Reuters reported late on Wednesday, days after it halted shipments of some critical arms
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A sourdough baker turned entrepreneur in North Carolina has delayed his new product as he contemplates the prospect that higher costs will doom his company.
The two leaders are set to confirm details of a strengthened defense relationship at a summit Thursday. An agreement on tackling unauthorized migration may also be announced.
Firefighters also battled fires sparked by explosions in the Kyiv region on Wednesday
Ukraine's capital Kyiv is again under a massive overnight Russian drone attack, local officials say, with at least eight people reported injured and fires burning across the city.
Authorities in Kyiv say drone wreckage has hit the roof of a residential building in the central Shevchenkivskyi district.
Footage on social media, as yet unverified by the BBC, shows explosions in the night sky, as air defence units begin repelling the attack. Ukraine's military has also warned of a threat of a ballistic missile attack.
In the early hours of Thursday, morning Kyiv's military administration reported Russian drone strikes in six city districts.
"Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouses, office and non-residential buildings are burning," administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram.
He urged city residents to shelter until the air raid siren was lifted.
Overnight, Ukraine's air force reported a threat of Russian drone attacks in a number of regions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties outside Kyiv.
Russia's military has not commented on the reported latest attack.
In other developments:
Ukraine's emergency service DSNS said late on Wednesday that three people had been killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Kostiantynivka - close to the front line in eastern Ukraine
The US resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, Reuters reported late on Wednesday, days after it halted shipments of some critical arms
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
2025年4月2日｜宣布“对等关税”：特朗普4月2日在白宫玫瑰花园举行“让美国再次富有”（Make America Wealthy Again）记者会，宣布“对等关税”措施。美国对大多数国家征收10％的基准关税，但针对特定国家征收更高税额。中国、欧盟和越南分别面临34%、20%和46%的关税； 日本、韩国、印度、柬埔寨和台湾，分别受到24%、25%、26%、49%和32%进口关税的打击。
Anthony Pierce was bishop of Swansea and Brecon between 1999 and 2008 and was jailed in March after pleading guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a child
A convicted bishop and a former vicar of the Church in Wales are being investigated by detectives over allegations of historical sexual abuse, the BBC can reveal.
Four people have told BBC Wales Investigates about abuse being ignored at the crisis-hit Church and have called for an independent inquiry.
Former Bishop of Swansea and Brecon Anthony Pierce, jailed for child sexual abuse earlier this year, faces fresh historical sex abuse allegations while a former vicar is also being investigated by South Wales Police.
The Church in Wales have said they were "profoundly sorry" and apologised to "anyone who has suffered or been let down by failings."
Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault
The BBC investigation found concerns about Pierce were reported to Church officials in 1986 - 13 years before he became Bishop of Swansea and Brecon - but nothing was done.
One victim has waived his right to anonymity to speak out and questions how a "predator" was allowed to become a Bishop when serious concerns had been raised about him.
Former Bishop of Swansea and Brecon Anthony Pierce was high up in the Church of Wales and that enabled him to meet dignitaries like the Prince of Wales, now King Charles, during a visit to Swansea in 2002
It is the latest controversy to hit the Church in Wales after the Archbishop of Wales retired last month after two critical reports highlighted safeguarding concerns where "sexual boundaries seemed blurred" at his north Wales diocese of Bangor.
People who sang with the Bangor Cathedral choir also told the BBC there had been a "binge drinking culture".
Although there is no suggestion the former archbishop behaved inappropriately, the church's representative body said there must be a "change in leadership, procedures and governance in the diocese of Bangor".
BBC Wales understands the current police investigation is looking into historical sexual abuse allegations against Pierce, as well as a former vicar of the Church in Wales.
Three alleged victims, from across Wales whose allegations span decades, have told BBC Wales Investigates they want an independent inquiry into the Church in Wales abuse.
Alisdair Adams was 18 and at University College Swansea, now Swansea University, when he first met Pierce who was a parish priest in the city in the 1980s.
Alisdair Adams has described to the BBC in detail the alleged abuse he suffered at the hands of a former and now convicted Bishop
"He invited me to his house for dinner to see how we could work together and gave me lots of white wine and no food," said Alisdair, now 59.
Alisdair said Pierce moved to sit on the arm of the sofa before the lights went out suddenly.
"He grabbed me and pulled me into him and held me tightly," he added. "I could feel his erect penis through his brown nylon trousers."
'He was the predator and we were the prey'
Alisdair said he left immediately and reported the incident to a Methodist minister.
He said he was invited to speak to the Anglican campus chaplain and said two other students were interviewed that day about Pierce.
D J Photography
Convicted child sex offender Anthony Pierce was a priest in Swansea during the 1980s and was chaplain at the city's Singleton Hospital
BBC Wales Investigates has spoken to Mark Dickey-Collas, who was also interviewed.
He said he was also invited to Pierce's house and offered alcohol before the lights went out and Pierce came onto him.
Mark said the chaplain reported his concerns to the Church and Pierce was banned from campus and university halls.
The Church in Wales said it was not aware of the report but confirmed it was undertaking enquiries into how it responded at the time.
Alisdair Adams
Alisdair was a student in Swansea when he said 'the lights went out' and Pierce attacked him
Pierce continued as a priest and worked as chaplain at Swansea's Singleton Hospital.
He became Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in 1999, and met the then Prince Charles, now King Charles, while he was on a visit to Swansea in 2002.
Pierce admitted five charges of indecent assault against a boy under the age of 16 between 1985 and 1990 and was sentenced to four years and one month in March.
Former Bishop of Swansea and Brecon Anthony Pierce was sentenced to four years and one month after admitting abusing a young boy between 1985 and 1990
"I'm dumbfounded as to why this man with allegations swirling around him in 1985 and 1986 was allowed to be employed by the church," Alisdair told BBC Wales Investigates.
"And they promoted him to Bishop. He was a predator and we were the prey and the Church did nothing about it."
The Church is currently holding a review into claims "senior figures" were aware of a separate allegation of abuse against Pierce in 1993 which was not passed to police until 2010.
After becoming Bishop, Pierce was in ultimate charge of Church safeguarding in his diocese.
D J Photography
Anthony Pierce had established links in Swansea and Brecon and was considered a pillar of the community before his conviction earlier this year
Ruth, not her real name, told BBC Wales serious allegations she made about a choirmaster were not acted on by Pierce.
She says Brecon Cathedral choirmaster David Gedge assaulted her on a choir exchange to Ireland in 2001 when she was 17 years old.
"He suggested we go for a walk," said Ruth, who was a chorister at the cathedral.
"He held my arm and turned me round and kissed me. In that moment I felt just kind of shattered."
Brecon Cathedral choirmaster David Gedge at a social event in early 2000s with Ruth in the foreground
"He put his hand underneath my top and was touching me. He talked about his wife and as he was talking about this his hands were moving and he put his hands down my trousers and into my pants.
"All of this was happening whilst I was really frozen."
She said she was scared to report the abuse initially, but eventually did two years later to try and protect other choristers.
'The Church allowed my abuser to have more opportunities'
Pierce was Bishop of Swansea and Brecon at the time - and Ruth says he did nothing.
The Church in Wales admitted there was no record of action against Mr Gedge in 2003 and any decisions about the case would have been made by Pierce.
Mr Gedge continued to work with children in the choir for four years before retiring.
Ruth had a passion for music so joined the Church choir at Brecon before leaving for university
"Anthony Pierce did not abuse me, but he allowed my abuse to go unaccounted for and for my abuser to have many more opportunities to do the same thing," said Ruth.
"I don't know how many other people are without justice because Anthony Pierce stopped their case from moving forward - maybe to protect his friends, maybe to take the eyes off him."
Ruth said she went to the police in 2012 after the lack of action by the Church.
Brecon Cathedral choirmaster David Gedge was "like a father figure" to Ruth before he sexually abused her
BBC Wales Investigates has seen police documents that say Mr Gedge admitted holding Ruth's hand, taking her for a walk and talking to her about intimate details of his life but he denied assaulting her.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in Ireland said there appeared to be substance to Ruth's allegations but it was unlikely a prosecution would be successful.
Mr Gedge was prevented from holding any role in the Church after 2012. He died in 2016.
Former priest Graham Sawyer started working in Pontypool in south Wales in 2003 when he raised concerns about Darren Jenkins, a youth leader and lay reader - someone who can preach and take services.
'I was told I should be very careful about reporting abuse'
"I was worried about the inappropriate touching," he said. "It didn't appear sexual, it was hugging."
As a former sexual abuse victim himself, Graham tried to raise the alarm.
"I was told that I should be very careful or I'd end up in court," he said.
He said he went to the police after he became concerned at the lack of action by the Church in Wales and left Pontypool for Australia.
Graham said cases like Pierce's show "the culture has not changed".
Former priest Graham Sawyer has written to Welsh politicians urging them to call on the Senedd to hold an independent inquiry
"Whenever there's a problem, they will close ranks and ignore. If that doesn't work, they would attack you with great ferocity," he told BBC Wales Investigates.
The Church in Wales is a separate body to the Church of England and both have separate safeguarding departments to protect vulnerable people including children.
Graham has written to Welsh politicians urging them to call on the Senedd to hold an independent inquiry.
The Church in Wales has been subject to two independent safeguarding reports to date - the Historic Cases Review in 2009 and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) which started in 2014.
An IICSA panel member has questioned if the Church in Wales has done enough since that report and thought there should be an external review into the Church.
Professor Sir Malcolm Evans was part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse that examined sex abuse in the church and said the Church in Wales needs to act
"We did make it very clear that there were quite a lot of significant gaps and operational shortcomings," Professor Sir Malcolm Evans told the BBC.
"But there doesn't seem to have been a broad-ranging discussion as to the future in Wales as there has been in the Church of England. What we now need is that level of discussion, reflection, and action."
Church in Wales promise culture review
The Church in Wales has apologised and told the BBC that an external safeguarding audit of all cathedrals in Wales would be commissioned as well as a review into its culture.
"There is no place in the Church for abuse, misconduct or concealment," a Church in Wales spokesman said.
"We are determined that the issues identified will be fully addressed and practices improved so that all church members, and the wider society, can have confidence that the church is, as it should be, a safe and supportive environment for all."
The Church added its complaints handling process is now more independent, professional and robust and it is committed to continuous improvement.
A senior Homeland Security official testified in court on Wednesday that his department had relied in part on an anonymously compiled list to identify foreign academics for investigation.
Peter Hatch, the assistant director of the Homeland Security Investigations department within ICE, testified that a team he oversaw had been directed to pore over the thousands of individuals profiled by the Canary Mission, an anonymous group that has been accused of doxxing individuals engaged in anti-Israeli activism.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks about countering China as it expands its global influence. But President Trump’s tariff threats have created friction with U.S. partners.
Elected officials in New York and California are trying to upend President Trump’s deportation campaign by banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks in public.
Donald Trump was basking in the praise of a group of African leaders on Wednesday, when the Liberian president took the microphone.
“Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States and we believe in your policy of making America great again,” President Joseph Boakai said in English at a White House meeting before advocating for US investment in his country. “We just want to thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Trump, clearly impressed, inquired where Boakai got his language skills.
“Such good English, such beautiful …” Trump said. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?”
Boakai seemed to chuckle. English is the official language of Liberia.
“That’s very interesting, that’s beautiful English” Trump said. “I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Liberia was founded in 1822 as a colony for free Black Americans, the brainchild of white Americans trying to address what they saw as a problem – the future for Black people in the US once slavery ended. English is Liberia’s official language, though multiple Indigenous languages are spoken there as well.
Trump hosted the leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal at the White House on Wednesday, telling them that he was shifting the US approach to the continent from aid to trade and that the US is a better partner for Africa than China. Many of the leaders at the meeting spoke in their own languages through interpreters.
Trump said his administration was committed to strengthening friendships in Africa, which he hoped to visit at some point.
“We’re shifting from aid to trade,” he said at the start of a White House meeting. “There’s great economic potential in Africa, like few other places. In many ways, in the long run, this will be far more effective and sustainable and beneficial than anything else that we can be doing together.”
The African leaders, in turn, heaped praise on the US president for brokering peace deals around the world and expressed support for his receiving a Nobel Prize.
“We are not poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials. But we need partners to support us and help us develop those resources,” said Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, president of Gabon. “You are welcome to come and invest. Otherwise, other countries might come instead of you.”
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