© Max Whittaker for The New York Times
© Getty Images
AFP via Getty ImagesPassengers on several Eurostar trains are facing delays and cancellations after a power supply issue on a rail line in northern France led to its closure.
The Eurostar website shows at least nine services on Monday between London and Paris have been cancelled, while a further 15 services have been delayed.
The problem started at about 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Monday and disruptions are expected to continue until the end of the day, with trains being diverted to run on slower lines.
Eurostar has advised passengers to postpone their journeys if possible.
Some services between Brussels and Paris and between Amsterdam and Paris have also been cancelled, delayed or faced other disruptions due to the rail closure, which happened on the high-speed line between Moussy and Longueil in the Hauts-de-France region.
SNCF, which operates the line, said on its website that the "severely disrupted" services were due to a power supply issue which required "major repairs".
It predicted delays of between one and five hours on the Eurostar, as well as its other services TGV inOui and Ouigo.
Trains between London-Amsterdam, Brussels-Amsterdam, Brussels-London and Brussels-Cologne have not been impacted.
August is a peak period for cross-Channel travel due to school holidays, meaning services are often busier than normal.
Monday's disruptions come nearly a month after a Eurostar train travelling between Brussels and London had to be evacuated in northern France due to a power failure.
And in June, there were two days of major disruptions after separate fatal incidents on France's LGV Nord line, which was followed by cable theft.
Family handoutThe son of a British couple detained in Iran has learnt about their whereabouts after seven months of "silence and uncertainty".
Joe Bennett said the UK government had confirmed Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, had been separated and were being held in "Iran's worst prisons".
The couple, who were on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world, were detained by Iranian authorities in January and later charged with espionage – something the family denies.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said they were continuing to raise their case directly with Iran's government.
"We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members," they added.
Mr Bennett said his mum has been transferred to Qarchak Prison, a female-only facility that Iran Human Rights says "disregards the most basic principles of human dignity".
Violence, abuse, severe overcrowding, unsanitary drinking water, a lack of basic facilities or adequate healthcare services and degrading, gender-based treatment have been documented by the non-governmental organisation at the prison.
Mr Bennett said his dad was being held in Fashafouyeh Prison, where inmates reportedly suffer inhumane, overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, including severely limited water resources.
Joe BennettMr Bennett, from Folkestone in Kent, added the family "feared" for his parents' mental and physical welfare, though they were trying to be strong for them.
"We haven't really got proof of life," he said.
Mr Bennett said his understanding was they had been held in solitary confinement for 30 days.
"I could not imagine what that was like," he told BBC Radio Kent.
He said that visits by British officials had found his dad was "dishevelled and had lost a lot of weight", while his mum was not walking very well due to prison conditions.
Mr Bennett added he believed the couple were being held as political "leverage".
Iran's government previously held Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national, for six years in what was widely seen as an attempt to pressure the UK to pay a long-standing, multi-million-pound debt.
Mr Bennett called on the FCDO to "do everything they can" to secure their release.
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Liverpool legend Phil Thomson and Athletic president Jon Uriarte laid wreaths on the pitch before the first Anfield game since Jota's death
Liverpool paid tribute to Diogo Jota in their first match at Anfield since the late forward's death.
The 28-year-old Portugal international died in a car crash in Spain along with his brother Andre Silva, 25, in July.
The Reds played Athletic Bilbao in a double header of pre-season friendlies on Monday, with games at 17:00 and 20:00 BST.
Liverpool legend Phil Thomson and Athletic president Jon Uriarte brought wreaths out on to the pitch and laid them on the edge of the six-yard box before the opening game.
The billboards around Anfield read 'Rest in Peace Diogo Jota and Andre Silva - You'll Never Walk Alone', while fans sang about Jota.
Reds supporters also held up flags and banners remembering their number 20 - a number that has been retired by the club this summer.
Both sets of players, coaches and fans applauded as the game was stopped in the 20th minute.
Jota scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the Reds, helping them win the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup, following his arrival from Wolves in 2020.
"I know that you will want to pay your tributes before, during and after the games, and I know that we will hear his song ringing out throughout the evening," said Reds boss Arne Slot in his match programme notes.
"It has been a tough time for everyone connected with the club, but especially for Diogo's family, his wife, his children and friends.
"We cannot imagine the pain that they have been going through, and the club will continue to give them all the support they can going forward. We will always carry him with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go.
"Diogo's passing has had a big impact on us all, but what has been so important has been the love and care shown from the football world, and in particular of course the Liverpool FC community."
The Reds play Crystal Palace in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, 10 August, and open the Premier League season at Anfield against Bournemouth on Friday, 15 August.
EPA/ShutterstockNigel Farage has called on the police to release the immigration status of suspects charged with crimes following the arrest of two men in connection with the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Warwickshire.
The Reform UK party leader said he "absolutely" thinks such details should be released when asked about the matter at a news conference on Monday.
It has been reported that the two men charged in connection with the alleged rape in Nuneaton last month are Afghan nationals but the police have not confirmed this.
Warwickshire Police said once someone is charged with an offence, the force follows national guidance that does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status.
The authorised professional practice followed by forces across the country, and cited by the College of Policing, says the same.
Asked by a reporter at the news conference in Westminster whether police should release the names, addresses and immigration statuses of suspects after they have been charged with a crime, Farage said: "What caused unrest on our streets after Southport last year was us not being told the status of the attacker.
"That led to crazy conspiracy theories spreading online."
Last year's deadly attack in Southport, in which three young girls were murdered, led to the spreading of a false claim online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Linking a perceived lack of information from police about Nuneaton to what happened in Southport last July, Farage continued: "To have masses of speculation as to what might have happened makes things I think far worse than they otherwise would be".
Asked to clarify his thoughts further on whether he thought police forces should be obliged to publish such details, he said: "Yes, I absolutely think that they should."
Later in the news conference, Farage called the police's decision not to release details about the alleged Nuneaton attackers a "cover-up that in many ways is reminiscent of what happened after the Southport killings last year."
"It is not... in any way at all a contempt of court for the British public to know the identity of those who allegedly have committed serious crimes," he added.
"I felt that in the wake of the Southport attacks, and I feel that ever more strongly today."
Ahmad Mulakhil has been charged with two counts of rape, while Mohammad Kabir has been accused of kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting the rape of a girl aged under 13.
Mr Mulakhil, 23, appeared before magistrates in Coventry on 28 July, while Mr Kabir, also 23, appeared in court on Saturday.
Both were remanded in custody.
Leader of Warwickshire County Council George Finch told the same news conference on Monday morning that he was "begging" for information to be released following the charges.
Finch, who at 19 became the youngest council leader in the UK and represents Reform UK, said he had contacted the chief executive of the council, Monica Fogarty, saying he wished to speak to Warwickshire Police "to urge" them to release the immigration status about the first man charged.
"I was begging for this to be released, screaming, phoning, asking [for the information] to be released", he said.
Following the charging of the second suspect, Finch said he wrote a letter addressed to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Warwickshire Police's Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith calling for the immediate release of the two suspects' details.
Finch published the letter on his social media accounts on Sunday, in which he said Ms Fogarty had told him that Mr Kabir was an asylum seeker living in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO).
Speaking on Monday, Finch said he would be working to "fight against" houses of multiple occupancy that "have been put up to house illegal immigrants".
He also claimed Reform UK needed to "change things" and are "the last line of defence against the blob, the cover-ups of the councils".
When asked if police should release the ethnicity of people charged with offences, the prime minister's official spokesman said the police and courts were operationally independent but the principle was to be "as transparent as possible".
"We've always said and continue to say that transparency is important," he said.
"That is our position. For police up to central government, we should always be as transparent as possible when it comes to cases."
He added: "This is clearly a deeply upsetting and distressing case which the public are right to feel shocked and angry about.
"In relation to this case, the individuals have been charged and we are now in a live investigation."
In a statement, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: "It is essential to state that policing decisions - such as whether to release details about a suspect - must follow national guidance and legal requirements."
He added that he would not speculate on the personal circumstances of those involved while court proceedings were active.
The BBC has contacted Warwickshire County Council for comment.
PADame Stella Rimington, MI5's first female director general, has died, her family have said.
Dame Stella, who headed the service from 1992 to 1996, was widely credited as being the model for Dame Judi Dench's M in the James Bond films.
She joined MI5 full time in 1969, and served as deputy director general in 1991 before being promoted to director general a year later.
She was the first to be publicly identified when appointed - and when a newspaper published a photo of her house, she and her family had to move to a covert location for their own protection.
After leaving the service, Dame Stella began a career as a novelist.
In a statement, her family said: "She died surrounded by her beloved family and dogs and determinedly held on to the life she loved until her last breath."
Calvin Harris/InstagramDJ Calvin Harris has divided fans with a post announcing the birth of his baby boy.
The Scottish DJ, who is married to Radio 1 host Vick Hope, praised his "superhero" wife on Instagram in a series of photos, taken in Ibiza, showing the moments after son Micah's home birth.
He also uploaded a shot of Vick's placenta, alongside images appearing to show the organ being de-hydrated and turned into pills.
While many rushed to congratulate the couple, others said they were taken aback by the graphic photo - which has since been hit with an age restriction by the social media site.
Calvin told his 11 million followers that his son was born on 20 July - adding he was "so grateful" for the new arrival.
Singer Example and Scotland footballer Andy Robertson were among the celebrities to congratulate the couple, alongside Radio 1 presenter Arielle Free, who wrote: "Welcome to the world wee Micah".
Singer Becky Hill was among those who praised the decision to share pictures of the placenta.
"Amazing we grow a whole new organ to provide life!" she wrote.
"Good job not wasting it either, that's some goddess magic right there!"
Others also praised the post for "normalising" the aftermath of childbirth.
But some questioned whether it was necessary to include the photo without warning, while others expressed surprise.
"I was NOT prepared for the placenta pic," wrote one, and another replied: "Placenta and placenta pills were not on my bingo card for today but OK."
The placenta is an organ made in the womb during pregnancy that gives oxygen and nutrients to a foetus.
It also acts as a filter to protect it from toxins and pollutants.
Some people claim that eating the placenta after a baby is born has a range of health benefits for new mothers.
Various preparation methods are used, including consuming the organ raw or cooking it.
Some parents will get the placenta dehydrated and turned into vitamin-style tablets through a process called encapsulation.
A review of 10 scientific studies carried out in 2015 found no data to support the claim that eating the placenta carried any health benefits.
Organisations such as America's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) have warned of potential contamination risks if the organ is not properly stored and prepared.
© Cindy Schultz for The New York Times
© Sophie Park for The New York Times
© Melyssa St. Michael for The New York Times
© Matt Slocum/Associated Press
© The New York Times
A boat has capsized off Yemen’s coast leaving 68 African migrants dead and 74 others missing, the UN’s migration agency said.
It was the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen that have killed hundreds of people fleeing conflict and poverty in hopes of reaching the wealthy Gulf Arab countries.
The vessel, with 154 Ethiopian migrants onboard, sank in the Gulf of Aden off the southern Yemeni province of Abyan early on Sunday, the head of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Yemen said.
Abdusattor Esoev said the bodies of 54 people washed ashore in the district of Khanfar, and 14 others were found dead and taken to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan on Yemen’s southern coast.
Only 12 survived the shipwreck, and the rest were missing and presumed dead, Esoev said.
The Abyan security directorate described a huge search-and-rescue operation given the large number of dead and missing migrants. Its statement said many dead bodies were found scattered across a wide area of the shore.
Despite more than a decade of civil war , Yemen is a major route for people from east Africa and the Horn of Africa trying to reach the Gulf Arab countries for work. Migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.
Hundreds of people have died or gone missing in shipwrecks off Yemen in recent months, including in March when two migrants died and 186 others were missing after four boats capsized off Yemen and Djibouti , according to the IOM.
More than 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, down from 97,200 in 2023, probably because of greater patrolling of the waters, according to an IOM report in March.
南方周末中国企业社会责任研究中心
责任编辑：侯明辉
2025年7月第4周，129家上市公司曝光风险事件196起，风险指数233.05，其中治理风险占26.2%，环境风险占14.6%，社会风险占59.2%。风险事件数和风险指数较上周有所下降。
在本期风险榜中，中国建筑（601668）“断崖式领先”，ESG风险指数达到V级。具体来看，中国建筑旗下单位中建六局因存在多次虚开发票的违法违规行为，被国税总局天津市税务局处罚101.4万元。中建八局5月至7月发生违反安全生产管理规定、夜间违规施工、未取得建筑垃圾处置证等行为，相关罚单在本周被集中释出，从而使得中国建筑的风险指数累计达到21.3。
中国建筑在ESG方面获得多项荣誉，为推动ESG目标落地，中国建筑将环境、供应链、安全等ESG相关指标纳入经理层薪酬考核，激励经理层积极履行职责。但对于组织架构复杂、旗下工程单位众多的大型建筑企业来说，如何让ESG意识和治理制度穿透不同层级，落实到每一个业务单元和施工现场，仍是难点所在。
除此之外，本期监测的几起“抄袭”事件值得关注。7月25日，北京点众科技股份有限公司与短剧厂牌听花岛相继发布声明，公开指控中文在线（300364）海外子公司枫叶互动旗下短剧平台涉嫌抄袭其多部原创版权作品，并列举了作品目录。7月29日，有市场消息称，索尼近日以侵犯版权及商标权起诉腾讯，指控腾讯（00700）新游《荒野起源》涉嫌抄袭《地平线：零之曙光》，有媒体在法律研究网站上找到了索尼的诉状内容，这场纠纷的焦点围绕两款游戏的核心表现元素展开。目前，两起事件的涉事方尚未对此做出回应。
校对：赵立宇
广东新增报告病例数呈现下降趋势，但境外输入风险持续存在。
2025年1月1日起，无论一孩、二孩、三孩，每年均可领取3600元补贴，直至年满3周岁。
南方周末记者 宋炳晨
责任编辑：黄思卓
【《基孔肯雅热诊疗方案（2025年版）》发布】
2025年7月31日，国家卫生健康委办公厅、国家中医药局综合司在官网发布《关于印发基孔肯雅热诊疗方案（2025年版）的通知》。
该方案显示，基孔肯雅热是由基孔肯雅病毒感染引起，经伊蚊叮咬传播的急性传染病。临床以发热、关节痛、皮疹为主要特征。基孔肯雅热在全球热带和亚热带地区广泛流行，流行范围呈持续扩大趋势。此病重症少见，但境外基孔肯雅热疫情暴发时有重症及死亡病例报告，要加强病情监测，警惕重症病例发生。中国伊蚊分布广泛，近年来已经发生多起境外输入病例导致的本地传播疫情。
8月3日，广东省疾控局发布最新一周情况：7月27日0时至8月2日24时，全省新增报告2892例基孔肯雅热本地病例，未报告重症和死亡病例。本周全省新增报告病例数呈现下降趋势，但境外输入风险持续存在；叠加汛期台风、降雨等天气影响，蚊媒活动频繁，疫情防控仍然面临复杂严峻挑战。
健言：新版《基孔肯雅热诊疗方案》在2008年版基础上升级推出，表明官方对境外输入性传染病本地化传播风险的高度警觉。伊蚊在中国南方地区广泛分布，随着气候变暖、人员流动频繁，本地传播事件频发，防控压力上升。肯尼亚医学研究院（KEMRI）首席研究员Damaris Matoke-Muhia博士告诉南方周末记者，未来疟疾、登革热、基孔肯雅热这些蚊媒疾病同时暴发是有可能的，之前在肯尼亚的海岸地区就发生过类似情况，但目前不太确定他们是否会合并感染，但是疟疾治愈后继续感染登革热等是可能的。
近日，北京律师张晓玲称在爱康国宾体检10年未能查出患癌风险一事引发广泛关注。2025年7月30日，爱康集团召开
校对：吴依兰
OtherThe brother of an Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip has told the BBC that a Hamas video showing him emaciated and weak is a "new form of cruelty" that has left his parents shattered.
Hamas released the footage of Evyatar David, 24, on Saturday, drawing strong condemnation from Israel and Western leaders.
"He's a human skeleton. He was being starved to the point where he can be dead at any moment, and he suffers a great deal. He barely can't speak, he barely can move," David's brother Ilay said in an interview on Monday.
In the video, Evyatar says: "I haven't eaten for days... I barely got drinking water." He is seen digging what he says will be his own grave.
Ilay DavidHostages' families have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prioritise their release as reports suggest he might be planning to expand the military campaign.
The footage of Evyatar was released after Palestinian Islamic Jihad published video of another hostage, Rom Braslavski, thin and crying.
Both men were abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
Ilay David said his father had barely recognised his son Evyatar's voice on the video and had not been able to sleep. He said his mother cried all day.
"Seeing those images of my brother as a human skeleton, we understood it's, it's, it's a new kind of cruelty," Mr David said. "It's the lowest you can get."
He called on world leaders to unite to save him and other hostages "from the cruel, twisted hands of Hamas".
"So we have to be so focused on delivering the message, which is, Evyatar is dying, we need to give him medicine, to give him food, proper food, and you need to get this treatment now, or else will die."
Hamas's armed wing has denied it intentionally starves prisoners, saying hostages eat what their fighters and people in Gaza eat.
After the hostages' videos were released, Netanyahu spoke with their families, telling them that efforts to return all the hostages "will continue constantly and relentlessly".
But an Israeli official - widely quoted by local media - said Netanyahu was working to free the hostages through "the military defeat of Hamas".
The possibility of a new escalation in Gaza may further anger Israel's allies who have been pushing for an immediate ceasefire as reports of Palestinians dying from starvation or malnutrition cause shock around the world.
The main group supporting hostages' families condemned the idea of a new military offensive saying: "Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to doom."
That view was pointedly made in a letter by some 600 retired Israeli security officials sent to US President Donald Trump urging him to pressure Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza.
"Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: End the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering," they wrote.
The group included former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, Ami Ayalon, former chief of Shin Bet - Israel's domestic secret service agency - former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon among others.
"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," they said.
"At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war," said Ayalon.
The former top leaders head the Commanders for Israel's Security (CIS) group, which has urged the government in the past to focus on securing the return of the hostages.
"Stop the Gaza War! On behalf of CIS, Israel's largest group of former IDF generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents, we urge you to end the Gaza war. You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well," they wrote to the US president.
OtherIsrael launched a devastating war in Gaza following Hamas's 7 October attack in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.
More than 60,000 people have been killed as a result of Israel's military campaign in Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
On Monday, the ministry reported that at least 94 people had been killed in Gaza in the past day, including dozens it said had died in Israeli strikes.
The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.
Such reports have become almost daily in recent months but are hard to verify as international journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza.
UN-backed agencies have said the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza.
The territory is also experiencing mass deprivation as a result of heavy restrictions imposed by Israel on what is allowed into Gaza. The ministry says 180 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition since the start of the war.
AFP via Getty ImagesPassengers on several Eurostar trains are facing delays and cancellations after a power supply issue on a rail line in northern France led to its closure.
The Eurostar website shows at least nine services on Monday between London and Paris have been cancelled, while a further 15 services have been delayed.
The problem started at about 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Monday and disruptions are expected to continue until the end of the day, with trains being diverted to run on slower lines.
Eurostar has advised passengers to postpone their journeys if possible.
Some services between Brussels and Paris and between Amsterdam and Paris have also been cancelled, delayed or faced other disruptions due to the rail closure, which happened on the high-speed line between Moussy and Longueil in the Hauts-de-France region.
SNCF, which operates the line, said on its website that the "severely disrupted" services were due to a power supply issue which required "major repairs".
It predicted delays of between one and five hours on the Eurostar, as well as its other services TGV inOui and Ouigo.
Trains between London-Amsterdam, Brussels-Amsterdam, Brussels-London and Brussels-Cologne have not been impacted.
August is a peak period for cross-Channel travel due to school holidays, meaning services are often busier than normal.
Monday's disruptions come nearly a month after a Eurostar train travelling between Brussels and London had to be evacuated in northern France due to a power failure.
And in June, there were two days of major disruptions after separate fatal incidents on France's LGV Nord line, which was followed by cable theft.
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India win dramatic final Test by six runs to clinch series draw
Inside the JM Finn Stand at The Oval, opposite the pavilion, is a staircase that leads up to the Test Match Special commentary box. It is used by media and spectators alike.
In the hours after the sensational fifth Test between England and India ended, with the ground emptying, on that staircase was found a left shoe, then some underwear, then a right shoe.
Because of their size, they presumably belonged to a man. Quite how the owners misplaced them, or when they realised their loss, is unclear. However, it raises the prospect that someone left this famous old ground both shoeless and pantless.
It would have been entirely in keeping with the mayhem that had already played out on Monday morning.
There had been 57 minutes of the most intense, dramatic and emotional sport you could ever wish to see.
Twenty-five days of gripping Test cricket came down to a one-armed man painfully scampering 22 yards of south London turf. One wonders how the productivity of the UK was affected at the beginning of the working week, or how many offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru closed early.
There had been an element of farce to the previous evening. Players went to the dressing rooms because of rain and bad light when the game was on a knife-edge, then stayed there as the gloom turned to evening sunshine.
Any frustration over the events of Sunday turned into anticipation of what might be possible on Monday. Thirty-five runs or four wickets. The Oval was sold out, but would anyone bother to turn up?
Turn up they did, filling this historic venue with constant noise and nervous energy. There were echoes of the 2005 Ashes classic in Birmingham, when Edgbaston was full for what might have only been two deliveries of action. Just like then, there was a rich reward for turning up. India's six-run win here is the narrowest of its kind in this country since England beat Australia by two runs 20 years ago.
India began the day with a huddle that seemed to have every member of the touring party included. Security, chef, bus driver. England, naturally, played football.
Fittingly, it was Surrey v England. When Jamie Overton took fours off each of the first two balls of the day, England had almost a quarter of the runs they required. It was the best it got.
Jamie Smith has looked increasingly frazzled in his first five-Test series as a wicketkeeper. He wafted at two deliveries, then edged the third. The dhol drum of the Bharat Army beat out the rhythm of We Will Rock You, and rocked England were. When Overton was struck on the pad, umpire Kumar Dharmasena paid his own 2005 tribute with the slow finger of Rudi Koertzen.
Josh Tongue had a scattergun game with the ball and found himself as the last line of defence before the stricken Chris Woakes.
On Sunday evening, Woakes somehow folded his dislocated shoulder into a set of cricket whites, which sounds excruciatingly painful in itself. When Tongue had his stumps rearranged by Prasidh Krishna, security staff rushed on to the outfield, believing the match to be over. They had not been briefed that Woakes, the nicest man in cricket, is also the bravest.
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'Here he comes!' - Woakes comes out to bat with arm in sling
Earlier this year, Woakes had a tattoo inked on his left tricep in memory of his late father Roger, who died last year. Now the same arm was strapped under his England sweater as he descended the pavilion stairs, putting his broken body on the line for the Three Lions on his chest.
History will remember Woakes as a World Cup winner in both formats, an Ashes winner and one of the finest seamers in English conditions. This will trump them all. The Wizard will always be the man who tried to help England win a Test with only one functioning arm.
How painful it must have been for Woakes to run three times between the wickets, his shoulder jolted by every step. Mercifully, he never faced a delivery. While Woakes played Jack Leach, Gus Atkinson could not ape Ben Stokes. Atkinson was bowled attempting to hit the six that would have levelled the scores and won the series.
According to Stokes, Woakes' reaction in the dressing room was to "shrug his shoulder", which is probably the last thing he should have done.
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'England panicked' - Vaughan on fifth Test defeat
The last word went to Mohammed Siraj, who personified the unbreakable spirit and never-say-die attitude of a young India team. He carried the torch of the retired Virat Kohli, with the ability to get into a fight in a phone box.
There was barely a time in this Test when Siraj was not bowling, haring in with the pavilion behind him. Thriving on responsibility, both Siraj's average and strike-rate are better when he is not playing in the shadow of Jasprit Bumrah. India's two wins in this series came in matches Bumrah did not play.
A series level at 2-2 was a fair result, even if England will feel aggrieved they were denied in the drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford. If they had caught Ravindra Jadeja on nought in Manchester, or any of the six they dropped in India's second innings here, it might have been different. The sight of India great Sunil Gavaskar leading his TV production staff in song on the Oval outfield said much about which side would be happier with the result.
It was highly creditable for England to get so close to chasing down 374, what would have been their second highest of all time. It was also a missed opportunity for a statement series win.
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Watch all five of Siraj's wickets in England's second innings
Whisper it quietly, but there is a chance this was the last home Test for the England team as we know it.
There is certainly a scenario where a poor Ashes leads to one of captain Stokes or coach Brendon McCullum walking away. Stokes may simply decide he has had enough of rehabbing from injuries.
As cruel as it sounds, Woakes' heroics may be his last act in an England shirt. Mark Wood is 36 in January. England's next home Test is in June.
There was a moment on Saturday morning of this Test, when England were fielding and contemplating a potential DRS review. In the conversation were Smith, Atkinson, Zak Crawley, Jacob Bethell, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett. It was a window into what the senior England players will look like the next time India tour this country.
If this is the end of something, England went out playing the hits. Attempting the unthinkable, stirring the emotions like few other teams can. They are exhilarating and infuriating in equal measure, never boring, and responsible for the rebirth of Test cricket in this country.
Crucially, the Bazball era is still to claim a top prize. The full home series against Australia and India played under Stokes and McCullum have been drawn 2-2. England have beaten neither since 2018, when Alastair Cook was still in the team. Trips to both countries have recently ended in shellackings, regardless of who has been in charge.
The next chance to change that record comes quickly, starting in Perth in November.
Bazball in Australia. The drama, emotion and craziness would be nice. A win would be better.
Met PoliceA 17-year-old boy has been detained for the torture and killing of two kittens that were found cut open in a wooded area in west London.
He was given a 12-month detention and training order by District Judge Hina Rai, who said that the killings near Ruislip Golf Course were "without a doubt the most awful offences against animals I have seen in this court".
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, had also dreamed of killing a human and "getting away with murder". His accomplice in the animal abuse, a 17-year-old girl, will be sentenced later.
A passerby saw the boy holding a black bag, which was "moving slightly as if something live was inside it", Highbury Corner Magistrates' heard.
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing
The boy was given a lifetime ban on keeping or owning animals.
Along with the girl, who also cannot be named because of her age, the teenager had previously pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animals by mutilating and killing them.
A member of the public who found the kittens warned another passerby not to go down the footpath because "there is something horrific down there".
The black kittens were found with ropes attached to them and had been cut open. Also discovered at the scene were blowtorches, three knives and a pair of scissors.
One kitten was found hanging from a rope and was completely ripped open, with its eyes bulging, the court heard.
Alongside the tools, a significant amount of blood and fur were found.
The teenagers also admitted one count of unlawful possession of a knife.
AlamySentencing the boy, Judge Rai told him his actions had been "extensively planned" and were "clearly premeditated".
She told him: "You said sorry in your [police] interview but reports also show that you struggle to show empathy and realise that the kittens would suffer."
She added: "It seems you chose the kittens because they have emotion and you would have power over them."
Notes on the boy's phone detailed his desire to kill another person.
They read: "I really wanted to murder someone.
"Every day I was researching how to get away with murder. I have come close. I have killed cats to reduce my urges. I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats."
The boy, who may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism which has yet to be diagnosed, had no previous convictions.
Additional reporting by PA Media
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Getty ImagesBroadcaster and radio personality James Whale has died aged 74 following a cancer diagnosis, his agent confirmed on Monday.
His career spanned six decades, including stints on the BBC airwaves as well as stations such as LBC and TalkSport.
Whale's TalkTV colleague and friend Mike Graham read an obituary on air and paid tribute to Whale, who had stage four kidney cancer.
Known for being outspoken and often controversial, more recently Whale went on to front his own podcast and night-time weekly radio show on TalkRadio.
Whale was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000 and then, in 2020, he revealed it had returned.
In recent months, he had documented his deteriorating health on social media, his Talk TV programme and his podcast Tales of the Whales.
He first gained prominence in the 1980s as the host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire in Leeds, before hosting a night-time radio show on TalkSport in the late mid-late 90s.
When TV stations first started airing programmes after midnight in the late 1980s, one presenter seized the opportunity to gain fame - and infamy - with a type of live late-night show that hadn't been seen on British screens before.
On the James Whale Radio Show, the presenter was a cross between a shock jock, talk show host, gonzo roving reporter and working men's club MC.
Launched in 1988, Whale's live, often chaotic programme was like a daytime TV format gone rogue: one which had lost its inhibitions and any qualms about upholding the usual standards of taste and decency.
Some said it had completely lost its morals. But many viewers loved it.
Whale took calls from - and unceremoniously cut off - callers. He sparred with celebrities and expert guests, dallied with scantily-clad "bimbos", and offered combative, sardonic or flippant takes on topical issues, from immigration to teenage gambling to sex therapy.
In short, it entertained and offended in equal measure.
The James Whale Radio Show had "Radio" in its title because it went out live from Leeds on both Radio Aire and ITV simultaneously at 1am on a Friday night, as people sat at home after coming back from the pub.
ITV/ShutterstockAt first, it only went out in Yorkshire and the north-west, but was soon picked up elsewhere as ratings went up and other ITV regional counterparts floundered.
When it arrived on London Weekend Television in April 1989, the press started to take notice.
A review in The Stage newspaper noted how "Mighty Mouth" Whale had taken a "critical hammering" since transferring across the ITV network.
But it added that, because it was broadcast so long after any family audience had gone to bed, it was pointless to complain about the show's "crudities, ruderies, or the occasional swear word".
In fact, the reviewer found Whale "the liveliest natural new personality to turn up on TV for ages", saying he possessed "a surfeit of punch and charisma".
Getty ImagesThe smooth-voiced Whale, from Surrey, had been presenting on Radio Aire since 1982, after cutting his teeth on stations in Middlesbrough, Derby and Newcastle.
On Newcastle's Metro Radio from 1973-80, he set the template for phone-ins that gave callers short shrift.
Before that, Whale's first proper job in broadcasting had been to found a radio station inside Top Shop at London's Oxford Circus in 1970 - the country's first in-store station.
The 70s and 80s were the ages of larger-than-life radio DJs, and Whale's stint at Radio Aire saw him named local DJ of the year at the Sony Radio Awards in 1988.
Moving to the small screen that year, he gained a national reputation, for better or for worse.
As one sketch duo who appeared on The James Whale Radio Show half-joked, the programme was known for its "controversy, filth and degradation - and that's just behind the scenes".
It featured regular appearances from comics like Bernard Manning, Steve Coogan and Charlie Chuck, while Whale threw singers Wayne Hussey and Lemmy off for turning up drunk.
The host even stormed off his own show once, frustrated with things going wrong behind the scenes. But he also revelled in the chaos, and (usually) steered the show through it with some aplomb.
The James Whale Radio Show lasted until 1992, with the host keeping much of its flavour for another late-night format, Whale On, from 1993 to 1995.
But it was up against other, hipper shows like The Word, and a balding, middle-aged, middle-class man being risqué suddenly seemed less cutting-edge.
Getty ImagesIn 1995, Whale went back to radio with an opinionated late-night phone-in on Talk Radio.
He hit the headlines two years later when it was revealed that a female listener who appeared on air to invite him to "pop round for a coffee" was in fact his lover. Whale's wife of almost 30 years, Melinda, stuck with him.
The presenter was one of the few non-sport presenters to survive when the station rebranded as TalkSport in 2000, but was sacked eight years later after calling on his listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election.
Regulator Ofcom ruled it was a serious breach of impartiality rules, and fined the station £20,000.
Whale pitched for a job with Johnson, saying: "Ken Livingstone had 70 media advisers. Boris Johnson only needs me. I'm ideal. I know what the ordinary man or woman on the street thinks."
The future prime minister didn't take him up on the offer.
Having hosted an afternoon weekend show at LBC in the 90s, Whale returned to the station as drivetime host the same year (despite having called the station's programme director a "pillock prize-prat and a half" not long before).
Also in 2000, Whale was first diagnosed with cancer when a large tumour (he said it was "the size of a football") was found in his kidney.
The kidney and tumour were successfully removed. For the next few years, he and Melinda decided to live life to the full.
"Those were my hedonistic years - I ate as much steak as I wanted and drank copious amounts of wine," he said. "Every weekend, we flew off to a destination we'd never seen. We ran up huge bills. I didn't care."
He also wanted to raise awareness about the disease, so set up the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer in 2006. It merged with Kidney Cancer UK nine years later.
Whale stayed at LBC for five years before hosting the BBC Essex breakfast show for three and launching an online version of The James Whale Radio Show.
In 2016, he took part in the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother - becoming the sixth housemate to be voted out.
Three months later, he went back to TalkRadio, but was suspended in 2018 after an interview with author and journalist Nichi Hodgson about her being raped.
In a video clip, the presenter could be seen mouthing the words "orally raped", shaking his head and laughing when Ms Hodgson gave details about what had happened to her.
Getty Images"What began as a typically strident exchange between me and a journalist known for his belligerent presenting style became a merciless exercise in how not to interview someone who has experienced a sexual assault," Ms Hodgson wrote in The Guardian.
TalkRadio admitted the interview "completely lacked sensitivity", but Whale eventually kept his job.
In 2018, his wife Melinda died of lung cancer. Two years later, he was forced to take a break from broadcasting because his disease had spread to his remaining kidney, spine, brain and lungs.
He recovered enough to walk down the aisle with Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021. They had got chatting in their local pub in Kent when they found out their spouses were both being treated by the same doctor.
In 2024, Whale was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity, and he continued hosting a weekly radio and TV show on Talk.
He lost none of his fiery opinions or ability to outrage, causing controversy by saying the "Navy should be out there pointing weaponry" at migrants in small boats, and clashing with pro-Palestinian guests over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
He carried out his final interview, with his "good friend and political hero", Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.
Whale also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Express, which on 27 July included a series of tributes from friends and former colleagues.
Dragon's Den businessman Theo Paphitis hailed his charity work for Kidney Cancer UK, adding: "They broke the mould when they made James, and there's a good reason that he has lasted decades as a broadcaster on the airwaves."
Actor Shane Richie said: "Love him or loathe him there's been no denying that the Whale was and will always be regarded as a one-off unique broadcaster.
"In the eighties, James moved the goalposts when it came to live TV... his late-night Friday talk show was the stuff of legend and is still regarded as a show that moved the parameters of British television."
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said: "He made direct speech entertaining. With that he was ahead of his time. I'm just sorry he hasn't had more time."
Whale kept broadcasting for as long as he could as the cancer tightened its grip.
"I've spent much of my professional life winding people up about their stupidity, taking the wind out of their sails, and I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss that," he wrote in one of his last weekly columns for the Daily Express.
"It wasn't always presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and leaders of industry – though they often got their comeuppances – sometimes, it was just normal folk who needed taking down a peg or two.
"But boy have I had some fun, and hopefully created some entertaining, engaging radio that has made people think a bit harder."
Radio host Charlamagne tha God fired back at President Donald Trump, accusing the president of pushing authoritarian tactics after Trump called the radio host a “dope” in a recent social media post.
On Monday’s episode of his radio show "The Breakfast Club," Charlamagne said Trump also failed to deliver on key campaign promises and used his show to dissect the president’s Truth Social post point by point.
“Listen, my fellow Americans, we are in a strange time right now, a time we have never seen because authoritarian strategy is being used against anyone who speaks out against this administration,” Charlamagne, whose given name is Lenard McKelvey, said.
Charlamagne drew the ire of Trump after he joined Fox News’ "My View with Lara Trump," the president’s daughter-in-law. Charlamagne said under the new administration “the least of us are still being impacted the worst.” He also said the ongoing controversy around the release of information regarding the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is driving a wedge between the GOP and its supporters.
Soon after, the president responded by calling Charlamagne a “racist sleazebag,” a criticism Charlamagne defended against on Monday.
“He called me a racist. I didn't mention race, not one time on Lara Trump. I didn't bring up the fact that President Trump issued an executive order directing oversight of institutions like the Smithsonian to remove or suppress narratives about systemic racism and Black history,” Charlamagne said, referring to an executive order earlier this year demanding the Smithsonian remove exhibits that divided Americans "based on race."
Charlamagne added that he was “just talking to your base” and letting voters know Trump hasn’t kept the promises he made on the campaign trail.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Charlamagne also accused Trump of making the economy “worse” before criticizing the president's decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, after the latest monthly jobs report came in well under expectations.
“It's actually hilarious to see you upset about the high unemployment rates when you let Elon Musk take a chainsaw to the federal government and fire a bunch of government workers earlier this year. You did that, President Trump, and now you're doing exactly what the Biden administration did, trying to convince America the economy is all good when it's not,” he said.
Still, Charlamagne said that he is actually “rooting” for Trump.
“President Trump, don't worry about Lenard, okay, don't worry about Charlamagne tha God. I know something I said hit a nerve and rattled you a little bit, but I don't want you rattled,” Charlamagne said. “I want you to end wars, okay? I want you to keep the border secure. I want you to have the economy booming, okay? I want all these things to be true. I am an American. I don't care who's in the White House. I want America to succeed. But I need you focused, and right now you’re not focused.”
© Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had a message Sunday for the dozens of Democratic legislators who fled the state to derail a mega-partisan gerrymander: “This truancy ends now.”
But Abbott’s options to compel those Democrats — whose departure to Illinois and other states is preventing the state Legislature from conducting any business — to return and vote are more constrained and legally uncertain than he let on. And they may take significant time to resolve in court.
Abbott and other Texas Republicans face a hard deadline as they are preparing to adopt maps that could net the GOP five seats in the U.S. House, potentially cementing the party’s majority in Congress. Maps need to be completed before the end of the year so that election officials can prepare for the state's March 3 primaries. The move has also prompted retaliation threats by Democratic governors in other states and roiled expectations for the 2026 elections, when Democrats hope to take the House and act as a check on President Donald Trump.
Here’s a look at the central questions as Abbott’s standoff with Texas House Democrats deepens into a monumental political and legal brawl.
Texas’ constitution requires two-thirds of the state’s 150 House members to be present to conduct business. That gives the 62-member House Democratic minority a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option to grind the Capitol's business to a halt even if they would be outnumbered on an up-or-down vote.
By absconding from Austin — and the state altogether — Democrats ensured that the Legislature lacked a quorum to convene for a special session called by Abbott to address redistricting. There is some recent history on this: Democrats mounted a similar effort to “break quorum” in 2021 in protest of election-related legislation. The effort ended after Democrats gradually trickled back into the state, amid a similar flurry of arrest threats and lawsuits.
Importantly, breaking quorum is not a crime. However, if the absentee Democratic lawmakers remained in Texas, Abbott could order state troopers to haul them to the Capitol. That’s why they fled for the friendlier confines of Illinois and other blue states, where Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other allies have vowed to shelter them from Texas’ demands to bring them back.
Federal laws allow states to demand the return, or “extradition,” of criminal fugitives from other states. But because breaking quorum is not illegal, Abbott can’t seek help from the courts to compel the Democrats’ return.
Instead, Abbott threatened to take another action against the absentee lawmakers: Ask Texas courts to remove them from office altogether. State law permits a Texas district court to determine whether a public official has “abandoned” his or her office, declaring it vacant — enabling the governor to set new elections to fill the empty seats.
“Come and take it,” dared state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus leader, in an appearance Monday morning on CNN. Wu declared Abbott’s threat to be “all bluster.”
The governor’s threat is rooted in a nonbinding legal opinion issued in 2021 by Attorney General Ken Paxton, amid the last attempt by Democrats to break quorum. Paxton, notably, took no position on whether breaking quorum is constitutional.
The republican AG also declined to say whether fleeing Democrats could or should be removed from office. Rather, he called it a “fact question for a court” that he said was beyond the scope of his office to decide. He noted instead that he could file what are known as “quo warranto actions” in court, asking a judge to determine whether the missing lawmakers had officially vacated their seats.
How would a judge make that call? Paxton said he wasn’t certain.
“We find no constitutional provision or statute establishing an exhaustive list for why a vacancy occurs or the grounds under which an officer may be judicially removed from office,” he wrote.
This is the most uncertain aspect of Abbott’s gambit. Paxton’s office would need to file “quo warranto” actions in various judicial districts for more than 50 fleeing lawmakers. Judges may take up these cases on different timelines and reach different conclusions, requiring appeals that could wind their way to the Texas Supreme Court.
Paxton acknowledged in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that the timeline would be problematic.
“The challenge is that [it] wouldn't necessarily be an immediate answer, right?” he said. “We'd have to go through the court process, and we'd have to file … in districts that are not friendly to Republicans,” Paxton said. “So it's a challenge because every, every district would be different. We'd have to go sue in every legislator’s home district to try to execute on that idea."
And even if Abbott and Paxton win a clean sweep in removing the Democrats from office, it would then require a time-intensive process of calling special elections to fill the vacancies — and guaranteeing that the winners of those elections also remain in the state as well.
That timing matters when the GOP-led redistricting plan is on a fixed timeline: A new map must be adopted by early December in order to be in place for the 2026 midterm cycle. That would require Democrats to remain out of state for about four months while they accumulate $500-per-day civil fines. The current special Legislative session is slated to end on Aug. 19, but Abbott could call another one.
Abbott’s letter, though sharply critical, stopped short of actually accusing Democrats of breaking the law. Rather, he suggested that if outsiders are helping them fundraise to cover their fines, they might run afoul of bribery laws.
“It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature,” Abbott said in a Fox News interview Monday. “And the reports are these legislators have both sought money and offered money to skip the vote, to leave the legislature, to take a legislative act."
If Texas prosecutors in fact level any such charges, then Abbott’s authority to return them grows stronger. He could then ask courts in Texas and Illinois to seek the return of the missing lawmakers.
“I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons,” he said in his Sunday statement.
Liz Crampton contributed reporting.
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