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Today — 9 July 2025News

Why small-time criminals burned a London warehouse for Russia's mercenary group Wagner

9 July 2025 at 02:35
Metropolitan Police A security camera's view captured the fire at the warehouse as it licks towards the lorry in Leyton, east LondonMetropolitan Police
Security cameras captured the fire at the warehouse

Just before midnight on 20 March last year, two small-time criminals from south London set alight a warehouse containing vital communications equipment destined for Ukraine.

They did not do it for ideological reasons. Instead, they did it for cash. The pair were arsonists for hire - referred to as "road men" in court - working indirectly for the Wagner Group, the mercenary group now controlled by the Russian state.

The fire-setters' connection to Wagner was through a small-time drug dealer from Leicestershire, called Dylan Earl.

Five men, including Earl, have now been convicted over their involvement in the arson attack, which caused £1m of damage.

Earl had been in touch with pro-Russian accounts earlier in the month on the secure messaging app Telegram.

With one account, which had the username Minsk KGB, he discussed whether he should go and fight for Russia in Ukraine, saying: "I need a fresh start bro. Do I need to speak Russian though? Because that's not the best. Litch [literally] know 30 words if that."

But by 16 March - four days before the attack - he was being tasked by a Telegram account linked to the Wagner Group to do some work in the UK.

It used the name Privet Bot - meaning "hello bot" in Russian - a notorious Telegram account that has encouraged sabotage attacks and murder in other parts of Europe.

The account wrote to Earl: "We have our first task for you. The map shows there are a few buildings at this address. And there are warehouses among them.

"They sponsor and provide aid to Ukrainian terrorists. Today we await from you photos and videos of the warehouse and the building and of the people owners of the warehouse."

Metropolitan Police Mugshot photos side by side of Dylan Earl (left) and Jake Reeves (right)Metropolitan Police
Small-time drug dealer Dylan Earl contacted Jake Reeves via Telegram for the job

Some of the messages the group exchanged were shortened or written in non-conventional ways, something that is commonly used to prevent social media filters tracking the content.

Earl contacted another man, Jake Reeves, who was a cleaner at Gatwick Airport, through a Telegram group set up to put criminals in touch with each other.

At Earl's request, Reeves, from Croydon, in south London, got hold of a local acquaintance of his, Nii Mensah, who was clearly ready to carry out crimes for cash.

Mensah had never met Earl, but he soon messaged him, saying: "I'm down for da causee bro. 3 ppl and car."

Metropolitan Police Mugshots of Nii Kojo Mensah (left) and Jakeem Rose (right) as he set the warehouse alightMetropolitan Police
Nii Kojo Mensah filmed Jakeem Rose as he set the warehouse alight

On the night of 20 March, four men set out from south London in a red Kia Piccanto.

Sixty-one-year-old Paul English was at the wheel. In court, he denied knowing what was going to happen on the night and was found not guilty of arson.

Nineteen-year-old Ugnius Asmena sat beside him in the passenger seat, while Mensah and his friend Jakeem Rose, both 21 years old at the time, sat in the back.

The four men drove north across the Thames and into Leyton, in east London, where they headed to the Cromwell Industrial Estate. They parked at the back of the warehouses.

Mensah and Rose got out, collected a jerry can from the boot, climbed over a wall and headed for units one and two. The warehouses the Wagner Group wanted to be burned were used by two businesses involved in sending parcels and equipment to Ukraine.

Both are owned and part-owned by Mikhail Boikov, a British-Ukrainian businessman.

It was not a sophisticated attack.

With Mensah streaming the whole event to Earl on FaceTime, Rose poured petrol along the front of the warehouses, lit a rag, and set the buildings alight.

The four men fled in the Piccanto. But not before Rose accidentally left a large zombie-style knife behind at the scene with his DNA on it.

Metropolitan Police A mugshot of Ugnius AsmenaMetropolitan Police
Ugnius Asmena was in the front passenger seat of the getaway car

In a lorry parked next to the warehouse, Yevhen Harasym was trying to sleep.

"I heard the crackling noise of the metal rolls of the warehouse door and realised that something was happening. I opened the door and saw the fire," he said while giving evidence in court.

"I grabbed the fire extinguisher from the back of the lorry.

"I was able to extinguish the fire outside the door, but the flames inside the warehouse continued to burn."

Eventually he had to retreat and move his lorry to safety, leaving the blaze to the fire brigade.

By the time the fire was out more than £100,000 worth of goods had been destroyed including communications equipment for Starlink satellites, which have proved vital on the frontline in the war in Ukraine.

Metropolitan Police A man pours a green jerry can while another films him on a phone at the side of a lorry - all captured on security cameraMetropolitan Police
Jakeem Rose was seen pouring petrol from a jerry can as Nii Mensah filmed him
Metropolitan Police A man uses a fire extinguisher attempting to put out the fire burning alongside a lorryMetropolitan Police
Yevhen Harasym left his bed to try and put out the fire

Earl was delighted, messaging an online contact: "Got that warehouse ting done. It was the one behind all the gates. Bro 8ft gates around whole ting."

But his Wagner Group handler Privet Bot was less pleased, saying on Telegram: "You rushed into burning these warehouses without my approval. Now it will be impossible to pay for this arson.

"We could have burned the warehouses much better and more if we had coordinated our actions. It was necessary to set fire in different places all around the perimeter at once and it would be bigger."

Metropolitan Police An image underneath a metal shutter shows a burnt out warehouseMetropolitan Police
Fire damage seen from one of the units

While encouraging Earl to be more patient, Privet Bot told him to watch the TV spy series The Americans, which tells the story of KGB agents operating patiently deep undercover in the US in the 1980s.

But further down the chain everyone Earl had hired was furious at not getting paid. Eventually, eager for more cash, they patched things up. Within two days Privet Bot had another job for Earl, and his men for hire.

"Two places burning in the west," Earl wrote to a contact who used the handle 'Kash Money'. Recon also. Wine shop. Restaurant."

"How much tho?" Kash Money asked.

"£5,000. Maybe 6", Earl replied. "If they nap [kidnap] the guy 15."

In a parallel discussion, he wrote to Reeves: "Correspondence London: £1,000.00 East Warehouse. £5,000.00 West Wine Shop. £5,000.00 West restaurant. Total - £11,000.00."

In his Telegram chat with Earl, Reeves was still wondering why Wagner had wanted the warehouse burned down. Earl wrote: "It's a mail provider to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus from UK. Ran by a Ukrainian man who send 100+ lorries to Ukraine."

Russian 'billionaire'

The wine shop and restaurant plot targeted exiled Russian businessman Evgeny Chichvarkin.

He had made hundreds of millions of pounds by creating Russia's largest mobile phone retailer, Evroset. But he had fallen out with the hard men in the Russian government and was forced to sell his business in 2008.

He now runs an award-winning wine shop in London's Mayfair, called Hedonism Wines, as well as a Michelin-starred restaurant, called Hide.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine he had personally driven several lorries of medical aid to Ukraine. Reeves wrote on Telegram that the Wagner contact wanted Mr Chichvarkin kidnapped "to get him sent back to Russia for imprisonment".

A man with a beard and moustache smiles at the camera. He is in a wine shop with bottles behind him on the shelf
Evgeny Chichvarkin was never attacked but his shop was scouted out for a plot

Earl persuaded a man - who was not charged with any offence - to conduct some reconnaissance of the wine shop.

The shop and restaurant were never actually attacked, as counter terrorism police disrupted the plot, nor was Mr Chichvarkin kidnapped.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Chichvarkin said even after the failed plot he has tried not to think about the threat he faces.

Partisan cells

The Wagner Group's strategy seems to have been to sow wider chaos in the UK, as well as targeting people who were helping Ukraine.

At one point Privet Bot asked Earl: "Do you have any friends among hooligans or acquaintances in the IRA?

"We need people that you have across Europe and the UK. We need those who are our kindred spirit.

"You need to organise partisan cells in the country and in Europe. And think of a name for your movement. We'll give you support."

As the plan developed, Earl started to drag other people into the proposed kidnap and attack on the Mayfair wine shop, including his drug-dealing contacts. Ashton "Ace" Evans was a small-time dealer operating out of Pontywaun near Newport, in South Wales, and was one of the people Earl approached.

"It has to be clean bro. Full masks, not ballies [balaclavas]. I can provide if needed. Gloves. No number plates," Earl wrote. "It's 10-15 minutes from Buckingham Palace."

"Yhhhh that's gonna bring a lot of attention", Evans wrote back. "MI5 etc."

"This owner is a billionaire from Russia," Earl explained.

"Does it need to be explo** [explosives] can it be just a fire?" Evans asked.

Earl replied: "Fire is possible, But if it doesn't fully burn they will not pay me more than 25%."

Evans was found guilty of failing to tell the police about the Mayfair plot.

Metropolitan Police Mugshot of Ashton EvansMetropolitan Police
Ashton Evans was a small-time drug dealer from South Wales

By 9 April, relations between Earl and his Wagner Group contact had shown signs of cooling. Earl was worried and sent Privet Bot a stream of messages.

"I know I can be the best spy you have ever seen but we need more communication and faster work with contracts," he wrote.

"I am a very good leader, coordinator and organiser," he boasted. "I am offering you… spy operations in my country against individuals, business, government, even in Europe."

Eventually Privet Bot wrote back urging him to be patient.

"You remind me of myself at your age and there are things you should learn. You are our dagger in Europe and we will be sharpening you carefully so that you will become sharper."

On 10 April, Earl was arrested by counter-terrorism detectives in the car park of a branch of B&Q, in Hinckley.

Verdicts

Earl pleaded guilty to preparing acts of serious violence on behalf of a foreign power (Russia), an offence under the new National Security Act. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated arson, possessing cocaine with intent to supply, and possessing £20,070 that was the proceeds of crime.

Reeves pleaded guilty to agreeing to accept money from a foreign intelligence service - the Wagner Group - also under the new National Security Act. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated arson.

During the trial, at London's Old Bailey, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said generations before them would have described what the pair had done simply as "treason".

Nii Mensah, Jakeem Rose, Ugnius Asmena were found guilty of aggravated arson. Rose had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a knife.

The driver Paul English, 61, was cleared of all wrongdoing.

Ashton Evans, 20, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot, but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson.

Another man, Dmirjus Paulauskas, 23, was cleared of two similar offences relating to both terrorist plots after the jury deliberated for nearly 22 hours.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said the response to state threats, particularly from Russia, had changed following the Salisbury nerve agent attack, in 2018.

"We've made the UK a hostile operating environment," he said. "As a result, they've diversified and are now contacting relatively young people to act on their behalf as proxies in doing their activity."

Steve Rosenberg: Russian minister's death serves as warning to political elite

9 July 2025 at 01:49
EPA Roman Starovoit arrives at a meeting of President Putin with Venezuelan President Maduro at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 07 May 2025. EPA

It was a dramatic start to the week in Russia.

On Monday morning, President Vladimir Putin sacked his transport minister, Roman Starovoit.

By the afternoon Starovoit was dead; his body was discovered in a park on the edge of Moscow with a gunshot wound to the head. A pistol, allegedly, beside the body.

Investigators said they presumed the former minister had taken his own life.

In the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets this morning there was a sense of shock.

"The suicide of Roman Starovoit just hours after the president's order to sack him is an almost unique occurrence in Russian history," the paper declared.

That's because you need to go back more than thirty years, to before the fall of the Soviet Union, for an example of a government minister here killing themselves.

In August 1991, following the failure of the coup by communist hardliners, one of the coup's ring leaders - Soviet interior minister Boris Pugo - shot himself.

The Kremlin has said little about Starovoit's death.

"How shocked were you that a federal minister was found dead just hours after being fired by the president?" I asked Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on a Kremlin conference call.

"Normal people cannot but be shocked by this," replied Peskov. "Of course, this shocked us, too.

"It's up to the investigation to provide answers to all the questions. While it's ongoing, one can only speculate. But that's more for the media and political pundits. Not for us."

The Russian press has, indeed, been full of speculation.

Today several Russian newspapers linked what happened to Roman Starovoit to events in the Kursk region that borders Ukraine. Before his appointment as transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been the Kursk regional governor for more than five years.

Under his leadership - and with large sums of government money - Governor Starovoit had launched the construction of defensive fortifications along the border. These were not strong enough to prevent Ukrainian troops from breaking through and seizing territory in Kursk region last year.

Since then, Starovoit's successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, and his former deputy Alexei Dedov have been arrested and charged with large-scale fraud in relation to the construction of the fortifications.

"Mr Starovoit may well have become one of the chief defendants in this case," suggested today's edition of the business daily Kommersant.

The Russian authorities have not confirmed that.

But if it was fear of prosecution that drove a former minister to take his own life, what does that tell us about today's Russia?

"The most dramatic part of this, with all the re-Stalinisation that has been happening in Russia in recent years, is that a high-level government official [kills himself] because he has no other way of getting out of the system," says Nina Khrushcheva, professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York.

"He must have feared that he would receive tens of years in prison if he was going to be under investigation, and that his family would suffer tremendously. So, there's no way out. I Immediately thought of Sergo Ordzhonikidze, one of Stalin's ministers, who [killed himself] in 1937 because he felt there was no way out. When you start thinking of 1937 in today's environment that gives you great pause."

Roman Starovoit's death may have made headlines in the papers here. But this "almost unique occurrence in Russian history" has received minimal coverage on state TV.

Perhaps that's because the Kremlin recognises the power of television to shape public opinion. In Russia, TV is more influential than newspapers. So, when it comes to television, the authorities tend to be more careful and cautious with the messaging.

Monday's main evening news bulletin on Russia-1 included a four-minute report about Putin appointing a new acting transport minister, Andrei Nikitin.

There was no mention at all that the previous transport minister had been sacked. Or that he'd been found dead.

Only forty minutes later, towards the end of the news bulletin, did the anchorman briefly mention the death of Roman Starovoit.

The newsreader devoted all of 18 seconds to it, which means that most Russians will probably not view Monday's dramatic events as a significant development.

For the political elite, it's a different story. For ministers, governors, and other Russian officials who've sought to be a part of the political system, what happened to Starovoit will serve as a warning.

"Unlike before, when you could get these jobs, get rich, get promoted from regional level to federal level, today, that is clearly not a career path if you want to stay alive," says Nina Khrushcheva.

"There's not only no upward mobility to start with, but even downward mobility ends with death."

It's a reminder of the dangers that emanate from falling foul of the system.

Alcaraz masterclass ends Norrie's Wimbledon hopes

9 July 2025 at 02:12

Alcaraz masterclass ends Norrie's Wimbledon hopes

Carlos Alcaraz celebrates during his Wimbledon quarter-final win over Cameron NorrieImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Carlos Alcaraz has won 33 of the 36 Tour-level grass-court matches he has played

  • Published

Wimbledon 2025

Venue: All England Club Dates: 30 June-13 July

Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full coverage guide.

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz produced a Wimbledon masterclass to end British hope Cameron Norrie's run and move into the semi-finals once again.

Second seed Alcaraz underlined why he is the tournament favourite with a scintillating 6-2 6-3 6-3 win.

The Spaniard will face Taylor Fritz - the American fifth seed bidding for a first major title - in the last four.

Fritz secured his place in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time with a 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Russia's Karen Khachanov.

Alcaraz is seeded behind Italian rival Jannik Sinner because of their respective world rankings, but his superior record on grass courts - and current hot streak - makes him the man to beat.

Victory over Norrie marked a 23rd win in a row for Alcaraz, who is bidding to become the fifth man to win three successive Wimbledon titles in the Open era.

"I'm really happy – to play another Wimbledon semi-final is super special," said Alcaraz, who secured victory in one hour and 39 minutes.

Norrie's defeat signals the end of British interest in the Wimbledon singles for another year.

But, when the dust settles on a brutally one-sided result, the 29-year-old left-hander will take positives from his run after a difficult 18 months.

After saving four break points in his opening service game, five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz quickly upped his level and wowed the Centre Court crowd with his all-court ability.

With Alcaraz serving strongly, hammering groundstrokes and moving elegantly around the court, 61st-ranked Norrie had little chance of causing a shock.

Norrie, who had been bidding to match his run to the last four in 2022, will regain his place in the world's top 50 when the ATP rankings are updated next week.

Norrie has no answer to Alcaraz

Many British tennis fans may have thought they would not see Norrie playing at this level again.

A forearm injury last year contributed to his ranking plummeting towards the bottom of the top 100 but, after soul-searching talks with his team after the Miami Open in March, he has rediscovered his form.

Since then, Norrie has reached the French Open fourth round before forging another deep Grand Slam run at Wimbledon.

Heading to party island Ibiza for a break is a strategy which has also served Alcaraz well.

Alcaraz plays at his fluent best when he is completely relaxed and barely thinking about the shots he is producing – although he can be prone to occasionally losing concentration.

He found the perfect balance against Norrie.

His deft touches at the net brought gasps of appreciation, and the explosive power and pinpoint accuracy of his baseline strokes were met by exhales of breath.

Norrie, simply, had no answer. Alcaraz lost just nine more points after seeing off the four break points and clinched the opening set after only 28 minutes.

Even when Norrie earned a break-back point at 3-2 in the second set, there was no mercy.

Alcaraz upped his serve and battered down three deliveries over 130mph to hold, breaking again to clinch the set and refusing to let his level drop in the third.

Fritz recovers to reach first Wimbledon semi-final

Taylor Fritz in action against Karen Khachanov at WimbledonImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Taylor Fritz is looking to go one better than his run to the final of last year's US Open

Fritz had to work hard to beat Khachanov, having looked on course to wrapping up the match in straight sets.

But things suddenly fell apart as he struggled to land his first serve while sending more shots beyond the baseline.

The 27-year-old then had a medical timeout to address some taping on his foot as he looked to avoid being taken to five sets for the third time in five matches at Wimbledon.

There was a bizarre incident at the start of the fourth set when a malfunction by the electronic line call system meant 'fault' was called during play, and the point was replayed.

But it didn't impact Fritz's return to form as he dug deep to come out on top of a tie-break.

"I'm feeling great to get through it," he said in his on-court interview.

"I've never had a match really just flip so quickly, so I'm really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done.

"I felt I couldn't miss and then all of sudden I'm making a ton of mistakes. Momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth."

World number five Fritz is looking to end his country's long wait for a male Grand Slam winner, with Andy Roddick the last to achieve it with a 2003 US Open success.

Related topics

Former PM Rishi Sunak takes job at Goldman Sachs

9 July 2025 at 00:51
Jeff Overs/BBC A medium close up shot of Rishi Sunak. He wears a white shirt and a blue tie.Jeff Overs/BBC

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has joined Goldman Sachs as a senior advisor.

Sunak, who resigned as PM in July 2024, will work part-time advising the bank's clients with his "unique perspectives and insights" on global politics and the economy, the company said.

He remains the Conservative MP for Richmond and Northallerton in Yorkshire.

Sunak previously worked at the bank as an analyst in the early 2000s before he entered politics.

Godman Sachs' chairman and chief executive David Solomon said he was "excited to welcome Rishi back" to the firm.

Alongside advising clients, Sunak will also "spend time with our people around the world, contributing to our culture of ongoing learning and development", Solomon said.

Sunak's salary will be donated to The Richmond Project, a charity he founded earlier this year alongside his wife Akshata Murty to try and improve numeracy across the UK.

The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which must sign off jobs taken by former ministers for two years after they leave office, said Sunak's new role presented a number of risks that Goldman Sachs could benefit from unfair access to information due to his time prime minister.

He will not be allowed to advise other governments or their sovereign wealth funds for the bank, or advise clients that he had direct dealings with while he was prime minister.

He also cannot lobby the UK government on behalf of the bank.

Acoba noted that Sunak previously spent 14 years working in the financial services sector before he became an MP, including at Goldman Sachs.

He first joined the bank as an intern in 2000, before working as an analyst from 2001 to 2004.

He later co-founded an international investment firm.

First elected as an MP in 2015, Sunak served as Boris Johnson's chancellor during the Covid pandemic.

He became a household name when announcing schemes such as furlough at pandemic-era press conferences.

His resignation as chancellor in July 2022 sparked the downfall of Johnson's government.

Following Liz Truss' brief spell in Number 10, Sunak became prime minister in October 2022. He held the role until July 2024, when he led the Conservatives to their biggest electoral defeat in history.

The job at Goldman Sachs is the latest role Sunak has taken since stepping down as prime minister.

In January he joined the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, as well as the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the US. He is not paid for either of these roles.

He has however been paid more than £500,000 since April for giving three speaking engagements.

Former prime ministers often join speakers agencies to give talks to major companies or at dinner events.

Supreme Court Clears Way for Mass Firings at Federal Agencies

9 July 2025 at 04:01
The Trump administration had asked the justices to block a lower court’s ruling that paused the largest phase of the president’s efforts to downsize the government.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

The case represents a key test of the extent of President Trump’s power to reorganize the government without input from Congress.

Why the Texas Floods Were So Deadly

9 July 2025 at 03:24
Scientists say a hotter planet is driving more intense storms. But experts say the U.S. is also not doing enough to adapt to increasingly intense floods.

© Loren Elliott for The New York Times

Search and rescue teams scouring areas along the Guadalupe River after catastrophic flooding in Center Point, Texas, on Tuesday.

California Rejects Trump Demand to Remove Trans Athletes From Women’s Sports

9 July 2025 at 03:02
The Trump administration signaled that it would pursue enforcement actions against the state and previously threatened to cut federal education funds.

© Adam Perez for The New York Times

President Trump ramped up his criticism of California after a trans athlete qualified for the California state track and field meet in late May.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Will Be Sentenced in October

9 July 2025 at 03:37
The music mogul was convicted last week on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, each carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison.

© Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Sean Combs was acquitted on the most serious charges in the indictment, sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

10 Charged With Attempted Murder in Officer Shooting at ICE Detention Center

9 July 2025 at 02:42
One police officer was wounded after at least two people shot at officers outside an immigration detention center in Texas, according to a criminal complaint in federal court.

© Louis Deluca/The Dallas Morning News, via Associated Press

The Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

Royal Family Welcomes President Macron to U.K. for State Visit With Pomp and Pizazz

9 July 2025 at 02:54
President Emmanuel Macron is on a state visit to Britain, the first of a French leader since 2008. His hosts are drenching him in pomp, pizazz and protocol.

© Pool photo by Jaimi Joy

King Charles and President Emmanuel Macron of France arriving at Windsor Castle via horse-drawn carriage on Tuesday.

鲍仁君|热不死的乘客,热死的大爷

9 July 2025 at 00:53

这段时间,从北京到济南,要说对气候的感受,就是热, 真热。

我有一天横穿人行横道,作为一个粗人,突然就想到了一个词,炙烤,把人放在火架子上烤。

说到热,想到了最近看到的两条社会新闻。

CDT 档案卡
标题:鲍仁君|热不死的乘客,热死的大爷
作者:鲍仁君
发表日期:2025.7.8
来源:微信公众号“鲍仁君”
主题归类:青岛大学宿管大爷中暑离世
CDS收藏:公民馆
版权说明:该作品版权归原作者所有。中国数字时代仅对原作进行存档,以对抗中国的网络审查。详细版权说明

第一个,就是浙江列车砸窗事件。

一列绿皮火车,因故停留。乘客被困在车里三个小时,因为炎热,门窗不开,已经有乘客出现了中暑症状,乘客要求列车员开门,被拒,有个小伙砸了窗户。事后小伙被警察带走,据说也没怎么着,就是警告了一下。

这也不是什么大事,事后引发了网络讨论。让我意外的是,居然有媒体认为小伙做的不对,是公然挑战公共安全秩序。言下之意,大家都没事,你砸个鸡毛?

我看到一个评论,特别扎心:如果是一车厢的猪,那么热的天被困三个小时,老板早想办法了。

更扎心的是,这还真的是事实。

认为小伙砸的不对,我想那个评论者在评论的时候,一定是在空调房里,如果是在炙烤的情况下,他也在车厢里,他可能要重新考虑一下,是脱衣服凉快,还是批评小伙子图个嘴快。如果这个评论者,感受到炙烤的温度,真的运了一车厢的猪,他也应该觉得做点什么吧。

或许评论者觉得, 砸窗不至于,又热不死人。

可是,真要热死了人,又能怎么样呢?

第二条新闻,就是青岛大学的一个宿管大爷,住在一个没有空调的房间里,热死了。

在事情发生后,引起了网络发酵,青岛大学做出了回应,给了一个声明,就这个声明,让我看了不吐不快。

图片

整个通报,都是学校做了什么,至于这个大爷为什么死,都没有提及。最后的表态,痛心和惋惜,我看到的是冷漠和表演。

这个大爷的名字,也没有说。

或许,在通报者看来,一个门卫是不配在通报里拥有名字的。

真要热死了人,批评小伙的人,就变成了通报者。

这两个事,表面上都是天热,背后的原因,都是一样的,什么时候,我们才能把人当人呢?

人的生命价值高于一切,这个不能仅仅是口号。在威胁到人的生命的时候,人的价值超过整个列车,何况是一车人?

我看了列车的视频,当事的列车员是个老实人,他拒绝开门,阻止乘客砸窗,因为他觉得这种做法违反规定,如果他这么做了,可能要受处分。

按照批评小伙者的逻辑,列车员这么做了,他还真的可能会受到处分,又没死人,这么做肯定是多此一举。现在列车员尽职尽责,阻止小伙未果,反而不会受处分。

如果你是列车员,你也会这么做。

只要批评小伙的人存在,人的生命高于一切只是口号,而不是共识,这种事情就肯定还会发生。

至于青岛大学的门卫,据说死前被拖欠了工资,这个我无法考证,但根据我们的生活经验,越是底层的工作,发生这种事情的概率越大。

我没有矫情的认为,我们必须给门卫配空调房,社会发展是需要时间的,以后每个门卫都有空调,这个会发生,还需要时间,但我觉得,青岛大学的态度是可以改善的。

青岛大学的通篇公告,都是说自己的努力,而没有提及事情发生的原因。只要不说原因,这事就没有解决的办法,甚至都不能算作一个事件,因为只是一个意外,他们没有做错什么。

所有的门卫,都有空调无法做到,但青岛大学以后的门卫给装空调,这个事情他们是应该能做到的吧?

只有你把大爷当成一个人,认为人死了是一个值得反思的事情,这是一个很容易得出的结论。

如果不把大爷当成人,那就真的只是一个意外了。

大爷叫张培生,58岁。

Texas floods death toll climbs to at least 107

9 July 2025 at 00:52
Watch: Volunteers help lead search for their neighbours after Texas flooding

The death toll from flash floods that struck central Texas on Friday has now climbed to more than 100 people and an unknown number of others are missing.

Search and rescue teams are wading through mud-piled riverbanks as more rain and thunderstorms threaten the region, but hope was fading of finding any more survivors four days after the catastrophe.

Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls' summer camp, confirmed at least 27 girls and staff were among the dead. Ten girls and a camp counsellor are still missing.

The White House meanwhile rejected suggestions that budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) could have inhibited the disaster response.

At least 84 of the victims - 56 adults and 28 children - died in Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River was swollen by torrential downpours before daybreak on Friday, the July Fourth public holiday.

Some 22 adults and 10 children have yet to be identified, said the county sheriff's office.

Camp Mystic said in a statement on Monday: "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy."

Richard Eastland, 70, the co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, died trying to save the children, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Local pastor Del Way, who knows the Eastland family, told the BBC: "The whole community will miss him [Mr Eastland]. He died a hero."

In its latest forecast, the NWS has predicted more slow-moving thunderstorms, potentially bringing more flash flooding to the region.

Critics of the Trump administration have sought to link the disaster to thousands of job cuts at the NWS' parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The NWS office responsible for forecasting in the region had five employees on duty as thunderstorms brewed over Texas on Thursday evening, the usual number for an overnight shift when severe weather is expected.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected attempts to blame the president.

"That was an act of God," she told a daily briefing on Monday.

"It's not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did, but there were early and consistent warnings and, again, the National Weather Service did its job."

She outlined that the NWS office in Austin-San Antonio conducted briefings for local officials on the eve of the flood and sent out a flood watch that afternoon, before issuing numerous flood warnings that night and in the pre-dawn hours of 4 July.

Watch: First responders save people caught in Texas flooding

Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts had hampered the disaster response, initially appearing to shift blame to what he called "the Biden set-up", referring to his Democratic predecessor.

"But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either," he added. "I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe."

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, told a news conference on Monday that now was not the time for "partisan finger-pointing".

Watch: Senator Ted Cruz talks about the children lost at Camp Mystic

One local campaigner, Nicole Wilson, has a petition calling for flood sirens to be set up in Kerr County - something in place in other counties.

Such a system has been debated in Kerr County for almost a decade, but funds for it have never been allocated.

Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick acknowledged on Monday that such sirens might have saved lives, and said they should be in place by next summer.

Meanwhile, condolences continued to pour in from around the world.

King Charles II has written to President Trump to express his "profound sadness" about the catastrophic flooding.

The King "offered his deepest sympathy" to those who lost loved ones, the British Embassy in Washington said.

Liberal Fund-Raising Drive Seeks $250 Million to Aid Pushback Against Trump

9 July 2025 at 01:47
Donors hope to raise huge sums of money to help those fighting what they see as a drift toward authoritarianism, but without attracting unwanted White House attention.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

If realized, the initiative would be among the most financially ambitious efforts to oppose Mr. Trump’s attacks on institutions.

State Dept. Is Investigating Messages Impersonating Rubio, Official Says

9 July 2025 at 01:55
A person or people imitating the secretary of state used artificial intelligence to send text and voice messages to foreign diplomats and U.S. officials, the department said in a cable to employees.

© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

The person or people impersonating Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent messages to at least five people outside the State Department.

I.C.C. Seeks Arrests of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

The arrest warrants, for Afghanistan’s leader and its top justice official, say the restrictions on women and girls are evidence of crimes against humanity.

© David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

A woman walking past an abandoned military outpost near Ghazni, Afghanistan, in December 2021.

Gregg Wallace sacked from MasterChef as 50 more people make claims to BBC News

9 July 2025 at 00:00
BBC/Shine TV A head and shoulders shot of Gregg Wallace. He is wearing a white shirt and a red waistcoatBBC/Shine TV
Gregg Wallace has been one of the most high-profile presenters on British television for 20 years

Gregg Wallace has been sacked as MasterChef presenter as a result of an inquiry into alleged misconduct, BBC News understands.

It comes as 50 more people have approached the BBC with fresh claims about the TV presenter - including allegations he groped one MasterChef worker and pulled his trousers down in front of another. Wallace denies the claims.

The inquiry into allegations against him, conducted by an independent law firm on behalf of MasterChef's production company Banijay, is expected back imminently.

In a lengthy statement on Instagram on Tuesday, Wallace claimed he had been cleared by that report of "the most serious and sensational allegations" made against him.

"I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks," he wrote.

He accused BBC News of "uncorroborated tittle tattle" in its reporting.

BBC News has not seen the Banijay report.

For 20 years, Gregg Wallace has been one of the most high-profile presenters on British television and the face of BBC One cooking show MasterChef.

But he stepped aside from the show in November after our initial investigation at the end of last year, when 13 people accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments.

The new claims come from people who say they encountered him across a range of shows and settings.

While the majority say he made inappropriate sexual comments, 11 women accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as groping and touching.

The allegations raise fresh questions for the BBC and the other companies he worked for about their safeguarding practices and duty of care.

All names have been changed for this article.

One woman, Alice, says Wallace took his trousers down in front of her in a dressing room, in what she described as "disgusting and predatory" behaviour.

Another, Sophie, says she was left feeling "absolutely horrified" and "quite sick" when he groped her.

Other people who contacted us with new claims about the presenter include:

  • A participant on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen - a show at the time that was produced in-house by the BBC - who says that, during a dinner ahead of filming in 2002, Wallace put his hand under the table and onto her groin, saying: "Do you like that?"
  • A university student who says she met him in a nightclub with friends in 2013. She says after she asked to take a photo with him, he reached under her skirt and grabbed and pinched her bottom
  • A woman who says, at an industry ball in 2014, he put his hand up her dress and groped her
  • Another junior worker, in addition to Alice, who says in 2012 he dropped his trousers in front of her and wasn't wearing underwear
  • A number of men who say they witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual comments
  • More recent claims, including a 19-year-old MasterChef worker who says she tried to complain about Wallace's comments about her body in 2022, and a former policeman who says he tried to raise concerns about Wallace's sexually inappropriate language to the BBC in 2023

Many of the women who spoke to us are young female freelancers.

They say they didn't feel able to complain about Wallace's behaviour at the time, fearing negative career repercussions.

'You're not being Jimmy Saviled'

Alice, however, told us she did raise concerns - but said they were dismissed.

She worked on MasterChef between 2011 and 2013 when she was in her 20s. At the time, the show was produced by Shine, a company now owned by Banijay.

She recalls an occasion when, she says, Wallace asked her into his dressing room, saying he needed help getting into a black-tie outfit.

He pushed her down onto a sofa, she says, pulled his trousers down and told her he wasn't wearing any underwear. Alice says she tried to avert her eyes.

She immediately reported what had happened, she says, but was told by a senior member of Shine's production team: "You're over 16, you're not being 'Jimmy Saviled'."

Alice says she felt let down by the company and was given the impression that, in a "lowly role as a production worker", she should just "be grateful and get on with it".

She has contributed to the Banijay inquiry, and says she hopes it leads to accountability.

Getty Images Gregg Wallace photographed in July 2023 at the 5th annual Boisdale Life Editor's Lunch & Awards at Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London. He is wearing a dark blue suit and white shirt and is standing in front of a well-stocked bar with various bottles of alcohol on shelves behind him.Getty Images
In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Wallace said the claims against him were "not all true" and he had felt "under attack"

The second woman who claims Wallace pulled his trousers down in front of her, Anna, worked on a photo shoot with him in 2012.

He took off his trousers when they were alone together in a dressing room area, she says, and she could see he was not wearing any underwear.

Anna says she looked away, but felt she could not do anything as she was holding his clothes for him to change into. She says he then got changed and she left shortly afterwards.

Throughout the shoot, as well as making lewd, sexually inappropriate comments, she says Wallace was very "touchy-feely". For instance, when she went on set to adjust the way his clothes looked, she says he would say, "Oh please do come in, I love it when you do that" and then grab her hips and squeeze her.

She says the whole experience made her feel "undermined".

Like the other women we spoke to, Anna says she felt she could not make a complaint because she was relatively junior and needed the job.

She is speaking up now because, she says, she was furious about Wallace's Instagram video last year, in which he claimed the allegations against him had come from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age".

"Is he saying it was OK to behave that way with younger women, like I was at the time?" she says.

'A full-handed squeeze'

Sophie, another young worker on MasterChef, recalls being groped by the presenter at a wrap party at the end of the 2013 series.

At the time, the show was produced by Shine.

She says she was standing at the bar talking to Wallace and his co-host John Torode. As she was about to leave, she says: "Someone squeezed my bum, a full-handed squeeze. I turned around and it was Gregg."

It was done "covertly", Sophie says, so she doesn't think anyone else noticed, including Torode.

She says she did not pursue a complaint because she feared that being a junior member of the team, "chances were, I'd be booted off the production, and he may have only got a scalding".

Sophie has also contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

Several new allegations happened away from television - one of them in the mid-to-late 2000s in Nottingham during a book tour.

Publicist Esther describes an incident when she says Wallace pushed his way into her hotel room, took off his clothes, and then asked her: "Exactly what is it that you do?"

She says she was shocked and made it clear she was not interested, telling him: "That's not part of my job."

But rather than leaving the room, she says he climbed into her bed and fell asleep.

She didn't know what to do, she says, as she was worried that if she asked the hotel for another room, she would potentially attract negative publicity for Wallace. So she decided to sleep at the edge of the bed, with her clothes on.

When he woke up, says Esther, Wallace put his hand on her bottom and commented that she had a "nice arse". She says she told him to get out of her room, which he did.

Esther wishes she had made a formal complaint at the time, but says she did not because he was an important author, and she didn't want to rock the boat.

However, she has now contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

'It's not banter'

On Tuesday, Wallace wrote a lengthy Instagram post in which he said the "most damaging claims" against him "were found to be baseless after a full and forensic six month investigation".

"To be clear, the Silkin's Report [sic] exonerates me of all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds me primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2008."

He added: "I will not go quietly. I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established."

He accused the BBC of "peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories".

In the days after BBC News published its original investigation last November, Wallace re-posted comments on social media from former MasterChef contestants who said they had positive memories of working with him.

Some readers have also been in touch with us to defend Wallace, saying his alleged comments were just "jokes" and "banter".

But others disagree.

One of the men who contacted us was a cameraman who says he witnessed Wallace asking a female worker if she had "any friends with nice tits like yours".

The cameraman worked on the BBC show Eat Well For Less in 2016. The show was produced by RDF TV, which is part of the Banijay group.

He says he heard Wallace make a string of other inappropriate comments in full earshot of the production team, including asking one female director, who was gay, about her "lesbian clothing".

"It's not banter, it's not how you should behave in a professional workplace," says the cameraman.

Sophie - who says Wallace groped her - believes the presenter has been protected for too long.

"Gregg's time has come. But the most senior leadership who have clearly heard these testimonies over the years and not chosen to remove him sooner, should also resign," she says.

"And both them and the BBC should consider why a presenter being in post is more important than the wellbeing and treatment of the people making the series."

'Too many cultures of silence'

The allegations against Wallace last year kickstarted a nationwide discussion about workplace behaviour, with the culture secretary warning there were "too many cultures of silence".

Speaking to MPs in December, Lisa Nandy warned she was "prepared to take further action" if the media industry could not address claims of misconduct.

Human rights barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chairs a new watchdog aimed at improving standards of behaviour in the creative industries, has told the BBC that, for freelancers, it can be difficult to speak up.

She says they may be afraid of losing work "if they are seen as being someone who's been a complainer, or who's raised issues, especially about stars".

Baroness Kennedy also warned there had been "multiple missed opportunities" to act on bad behaviour.

BBC News is aware of numerous occasions when complaints about Wallace were made. One, by the radio host Aasmah Mir, related to Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.

She told The Sunday Times last year that she had complained to Shine and later spoke to the BBC's Kate Phillips who was then controller for entertainment commissioning.

According to internal emails seen by the newspaper, Phillips told Wallace his behaviour had been "unacceptable and cannot continue".

Another complaint from a group of young workers just a year afterwards, concerned Wallace's time on the BBC show Impossible Celebrities, which is made by a different production company.

In a letter from 2018, seen by BBC News, Phillips wrote that she had spoken to Wallace for 90 minutes to make clear what the BBC expected of him. She confirmed in the letter that many aspects of his behaviour had been "unacceptable" and "unprofessional".

She also reassured workers on the programme that action would be taken "to prevent a similar reoccurrence and to safeguard others in the future".

Recent allegations

But further claims in the years after Phillips’ conversation with Wallace have since emerged.

One 19-year-old MasterChef worker says she flagged concerns about Wallace's comments about her body to a more senior member of the production staff in 2022, only to be told it was "just a joke". By this date, Banijay was the company responsible for the show.

A former police officer of 30 years also told us he had tried to report concerns to the BBC after, he says, he witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual comments at a charity event in 2023.

The former officer says he reached out via the BBC's online complaints portal and also tried to call by phone, but never heard back.

BBC News has been told that Kate Philips was unaware of any claims prior to 2017 or any of these subsequent claims.

A recent report into the BBC found that a small number of its stars and managers "behave unacceptably" at work, and that bosses often fail to tackle them.

In response, the broadcaster said it would introduce reforms, and its chairman Samir Shah said he would draw "a line in the sand".

We have repeatedly approached Wallace for an interview but he has not responded.

In April, he gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he said the claims against him were "not all true" and that he had felt "under attack" and contemplated suicide.

He admitted that some of the inappropriate jokes were "probably true", saying: "Some of what's been said sounds like the sort of comments I'd have made."

But he insisted he had never groped any workers, calling those claims "absolutely not true".

PA Media John Torode and Grace Dent stand side by side in a kitchen setting in a publicity shot for Celebrity Masterchef. John is wearing a black jacket over a white shirt, while Grace is dressed in a blue outfit with short sleeves and tied cuffs. Behind them, there are shelves with various kitchen items and a large illuminated logo on the wall.PA Media
MasterChef co-host John Torode pictured with Grace Dent, who has stepped in to host the next series of Celebrity MasterChef

In response to the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Wallace said: "Gregg continues to co-operate fully with the ongoing Banijay UK review and as previously stated, denies engaging in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature."

Banijay UK said: "While the external investigation is ongoing, we won't be commenting on individual allegations. We encourage anyone wishing to raise issues or concerns to contact us in confidence."

A BBC spokesperson said: "Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace.

"We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published."

Additional reporting by Insaf Abbas

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, help and support is available at BBC Action Line

Post Office scandal had 'disastrous' impact on victims, official inquiry says

9 July 2025 at 00:16
Getty Images A group of sub-postmasters outside a courtGetty Images

The Post Office Horizon IT scandal had a "disastrous" impact on those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences, the first report from the official inquiry into the scandal has found.

Sir Wyn Williams' report has revealed the scale of the suffering caused to hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted over shortfalls in their branch accounts, as well as others affected.

Sir Wyn said at least 59 people contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives, and more than 13 people may have killed themselves due to the scandal.

The Post Office apologised "unreservedly" and said it would carefully consider the report.

This first volume of Sir Wyn's report focuses on the human impact of the scandal, as well as issues around compensation.

Victims had divorced, suffered serious mental health issues and alcohol addiction as a result of their ordeals, the inquiry found.

"A number of persons said they could not sleep at night without drinking first. One postmistress said she 'went to rehab for eight months as the Post Office had turned her to drink to cope with the losses,'" Sir Wyn wrote.

The report makes a series of urgent recommendations, including:

  • free legal advice for claimants
  • compensation payments for close family members of those affected
  • a programme of restorative justice with Fujitsu, the Post Office and the government meeting individual victims directly

Sir Wyn also criticised the "formidable difficulties" around the delivery of financial redress for victims, which is currently organised around four different schemes.

Discussing one scheme, for those who experienced unexplained shortfalls related to Horizon but were not convicted, Sir Wyn says: "I am persuaded that in difficult and substantial claims, on too many occasions, the Post Office and its advisors have adopted an unnecessarily adversarial attitude towards making initial offers."

According to the report, 10,000 eligible people are currently claiming redress, and Sir Wyn expects that number to rise by "at least hundreds" over the coming months.

He called on the government to publicly define what is meant by "full and fair financial redress" and recommended changes to some of the schemes.

While Sir Wyn will look at how the scandal happened and who was responsible in a later report, in this first part, he said that he was satisfied that some employees of the Post Office and Fujitsu were aware, or should have been aware, that the Horizon software had "bugs, errors and defects" which could affect branch accounts.

Sir Wyn has asked the government to respond to his findings no later than October 2025.

The government said that some members of Horizon victim's families will be eligible for compensation.

Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said the scheme would be open "to close family members of existing Horizon claimants who themselves suffered personal injury – including psychological distress – because of their relative's suffering".

But he added that the government would need written evidence of that injury made at the time "other than in exceptional circumstances".

He said devising such a scheme "raises some very difficult issues".

"Nonetheless, we want to look after those family members who suffered most," he said.

A Post Office spokesperson said: "The Inquiry has brought to life the devastating stories of those impacted by the Horizon Scandal. Their experiences represent a shameful period in our history.

"Today, we apologise unreservedly for the suffering which Post Office caused to postmasters and their loved ones. We will carefully consider the report and its recommendations."

The report also gave details of the some of the legal costs of the various compensation schemes so far.

Newly published government figures show the total legal costs paid for the "operational delivery of Horizon redress schemes" have risen to £100m.

For their work on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme up to 2 December 2024, law firm Herbert Smith Freehills were paid £67m by the Post Office.

Post Office campaigner and former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton said it was "just mad" that the government is "spending millions on lawyers to pull the claims apart" that they have paid for to be brought.

She said the report out on Tuesday was "huge" because it laid bare the scale of the suffering.

The investigations into who is culpable for that suffering will be "interesting", she adds.

Marseille firefighters 'waging war' on wildfire at city's edge, mayor says

9 July 2025 at 00:21
Getty Images A fire currently burning in the hills north of Marseille, in the area of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, is producing thick smoke visible from the Vieux-Port. A large grey smoke cloud can be seen above orange-roofed buildings by the waterside, with small boats in the foreground.Getty Images
Smoke from the fire in the hills north of Marseille was visible from the city's Vieux-Port

A rapidly spreading wildfire has reached the outer edge of Marseille, France's second largest city.

"The marine firefighter battalion is waging guerrilla warfare, hoses in hand," said the city's Mayor Benoît Payan, referring to Marseille's fire and rescue service.

The prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône area, Georges-François Leclerc, urged local residents to remain indoors and said firefighters were "defending" the city.

He said that while the situation was not static, it was "under control".

Marseille Provence airport has been closed for the rest of Tuesday.

Some residents have been advised to stay inside, close shutters and doors, and keep roads clear for emergency services.

The fire, which broke out earlier on Tuesday near Pennes-Mirabeau, north of Marseille, is said to have covered about 700 hectares (7 sq km).

Local authorities said the blaze was sparked by a car that caught fire on the motorway, and that it could continue to spread as strong winds are set to blow until late this evening.

"It's very striking - apocalyptic even," Monique Baillard, a resident of the town, told Reuters news agency. She said many of her neighbours had already left.

The local fire service said 168 firefighters had been deployed to fight the blaze, as well as fire engines and helicopters.

Marseille's mayor, Benoit Payan, asked residents to remain "extremely vigilant" and to limit their movements. Locals told French TV of dense traffic jams as people tried to evacuate the city.

Footage posted online showed huge plumes of smoke above Marseille as fire raged in a hilly area to its north.

The Bouches-du-Rhône area has not recorded a single drop of rain since 19 May, according to French broadcaster BFMTV.

Elsewhere in France, another wildfire that started near Narbonne on Monday remains active, fanned by winds of 60km (38mph) per hour. Some 2,000 hectares have burnt, local officials said.

Wildfires were also reported in other parts of Europe, including Spain's Catalonia region, where more than 18,000 people were ordered to stay at home because of a wildfire in the eastern province of Tarragona.

Emergency units were deployed alongside 300 firefighters as high winds overnight fanned the flames, which have spread across nearly 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land.

Several other parts of Spain - which experienced its hottest June on record - were on high alert for wildfires.

In Greece, some 41 wildfires broke out across the country on Monday. Of those, 34 were contained early while seven remained active into Monday evening, according to the fire service.

Much of western and southern Europe was hit by a scorching early summer heatwave, sparking fires that saw thousands evacuated from their homes.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders for persecuting women and girls

9 July 2025 at 00:48
EPA A girl with her hair covered with a white scarf hides her faces behind a reading book with a picture of two young boys on it. She is sitting with her back to a concrete wall in what appears to be a classroomEPA
Only girls under the age of 12 have been able to attend school since 2021

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two of the Taliban's top leaders, accusing them of persecuting women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Hague-based court said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani had committed a crime against humanity in their treatment of women and girls since seizing power in 2021.

In that time, they have implemented a series of restrictions, including on girls over 12 accessing education, and barring women from many jobs.

In response, the Taliban said it doesn't recognise the ICC, calling the warrant "a clear act of hostility" and an "insult to the beliefs of Muslims around the world".

There have also been restrictions on how far a woman can travel without a male chaperone, and decrees on them raising their voices in public.

In a statement, the ICC said that "while the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms".

The United Nations has previously described the restrictions as being tantamount to "gender apartheid".

The Taliban government has said it respects women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

Akhundzada became the supreme commander of the Taliban in 2016, and has been leader of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since US-led forces left the country in August 2021. In the 1980s, he participated in Islamist groups fighting against the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan.

Haqqani was a close associate of Taliban founder Mullah Omar and served as a negotiator on behalf of the Taliban during discussions with US representatives in 2020.

The ICC investigates and brings to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, intervening when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.

However, it does not have its own police force and so relies on member states to carry out any arrests.

The prospect of warrants being issued for the two Taliban leaders was first raised in January, when the ICC's top prosecutor, Karim Khan, alleged they were "criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan girls and women, as well as persons whom the Taliban perceived as not conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women".

At the time, the Taliban's foreign ministry responded to the threat of arrests, saying the ICC had turned a blind eye to what it described as "numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their local allies", referring to US-led forces present in the country before 2021.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants for the two Taliban leaders.

It called on the ICC "to extend the reach of justice to victims of other Taliban abuses, as well as victims of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province forces, former Afghan security forces and US personnel".

"Addressing cycles of violence and impunity in Afghanistan requires that victims of all perpetrators have equal access to justice," it said in a statement.

Exhausted, angry, heartbroken: Postmasters react as horror of scandal laid bare

9 July 2025 at 00:25
Post Office scandal victims demand accountability

Victims of the Post Office scandal have been waiting years for justice.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted after the faulty Horizon computer system made it look like money was missing from their branch accounts.

Sir Wyn Williams has now published the first part of his report from the official inquiry into the scandal, focusing on the human impact as well as compensation.

Several former sub-postmasters travelled to the Oval cricket ground in London to see Sir Wyn deliver volume one of his report in person.

We spoke to some of those who were there, to hear about what impact the scandal had on their lives and to get their reactions to Sir Wyn's findings.

'I was 19. My life was over before it began'

Tracy Felstead

Tracy Felstead was just 19 when she was sentenced to six months in prison in 2002. She was wrongly accused of stealing £11,503 while working at Camberwell Green Post Office in London.

She had her conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2021.

"Emotional" is how she says she felt on reading Sir Wyn's report, in which her personal story featured.

"It doesn't matter how much therapy I go through, how much compensation you give me - I'll never get that back," she says.

"This was my first job and obviously, my life was over before it began."

Even now, certain things "trigger the memory" of what she went through and "that trauma comes flooding back".

Tracy is still waiting for full and final compensation.

"My claim is in, but they come back with 101 questions that you have to try and answer," she says.

She hopes Sir Wyn's recommendations will be implemented, but more than anything wants to move on with her life.

"For me, to get up in the morning and not think about this would be the best thing ever.

'I feel heartbroken, angry, and happy'

Seema Misra

Seema Misra's story is one of the most well-known of the scandal. She was jailed in 2010 while pregnant after being accused of stealing £74,000 from her Post Office branch. She was sent to prison on the day of her eldest son's 10th birthday.

"I've got mixed emotions," she says, reflecting on the publication of the report. "I feel heartbroken, angry - and happy, too, that it's finally here."

There are several recommendations in the report on financial redress, which it described as having been "bedevilled with unjustifiable delays".

Seema says she's hopeful that compensation payouts will speed up as a result.

"When we started the fight... we didn't think it would take this long, at all. Hopefully now the government will listen and implement sooner rather than later," she says.

The Post Office issued an unreserved apology for "a shameful period in our history", but that doesn't mean much to Seema.

"I don't accept their apologies at all. Go behind bars and then I'll think."

'We are getting tired. It's exhausting'

Kathy McAlerney

Kathy McAlerney was a sub-postmistress in a small branch in the village of Litcham, in Northern Ireland.

Like others, unexplained shortfalls began appearing in her Horizon account.

Following an audit by the Post Office in 2007, she was suspended "on the spot" and pursued for years to pay back the money back, which, under the terms of her contract, she was liable to cover.

A year later, her contract was terminated. She was eight months pregnant with her fourth daughter at the time.

Her daughter is now 18 years old - and Kathy is still awaiting compensation.

Kathy came with her husband Patrick to see Sir Wyn deliver his report, which she really hopes will make a difference.

"We have been waiting so long. We've been waiting decades now. And we really just want to get to the point where we can put this behind us and move on with our lives.

"We are getting tired, you know. It's exhausting."

Report shows 'horror they unleashed on us'

Jo Hamilton

Post Office campaigner and former sub-postmistress Jo Hamilton says the government is now under pressure "to get a grip on redress" because Sir Wyn Williams is "on it".

"They are under the cosh," she says.

When it comes to compensation, she says it is "just mad" that the government is "spending millions on lawyers to pull the claims apart" that they have paid for to be brought.

She says Tuesday's report is huge because it lays bare "the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us".

The investigations into who is culpable for that suffering will be "interesting", she adds.

'Stress has shortened my life considerably'

Sami Sabet

Sami Sabet was a successful businessman before deciding to leave the "rat race" and become a sub-postmaster for three post offices around Shoreham-by-Sea.

When he recognised shortfalls in his branch accounts in 2006, he contacted the Horizon helpdesk and spoke to regional managers about his problems, but was still prosecuted.

He ended up pleading guilty to fraud in 2009 to avoid prison, and received a suspended sentence. Even after his conviction was quashed in 2021, he says some of his neighbours still see him as a criminal.

Sami believes stress has "shortened my life considerably".

He has had a heart attack and during open heart surgery lost some of his peripheral vision.

He also suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks, and says his personality changed.

Sami says that although Sir Wyn's recommendations for compensation for more people are fair, there is a danger that could push compensation for him back even further.

"It has taken so long," he says.

Sami was awarded compensation for intangible damages, such as the negative effects on his health, but is still waiting for compensation for the loss of his money and businesses.

Five things we now know about the scandal

8 July 2025 at 19:54
Getty Images A group of those affected by the Horizon IT issue hold a banner, as the first volume of a report from the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is announced at The Kia OvalGetty Images
People affected by the Horizon scandal gathered outside the Oval in London on Tuesday where the report was announced

The first report on the findings from an inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal has been published.

It reveals for the first time the full extent of the suffering of sub-postmasters and others who were affected by being wrongly accused of stealing money and false accounting, based on incorrect data.

Here are five things we now know as a result.

1. Impact on lives was 'disastrous'

The inquiry heard many harrowing experiences from sub-postmasters who were incorrectly accused of theft and false accounting.

The report outlines how the scale of suffering was even greater than thought until now.

There had already been stories of two sub-postmasters taking their own lives due to the Horizon scandal – Michael Mann and Martin Griffiths.

The report says that more than 13 people may have taken their own lives due to the scandal.

Families have said that six sub-postmasters and seven people who were not sub-postmasters killed themselves, after Horizon showed "illusory" shortfalls in branch accounts.

Apart from this, at least 59 people told the inquiry they had contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives.

One sub-postmaster told the inquiry: "The mental stress was so great for me that I had a mental breakdown and turned to alcohol as I sunk further into depression. I attempted suicide on several occasions and was admitted to mental health institutions twice."

In the report, inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams described the impact on those affected as "disastrous", and said it was not easy to "exaggerate the trauma" that people went through being investigated and prosecuted.

Many sub-postmasters gave evidence of psychiatric and psychological problems that have "dogged them" and are still ongoing.

  • If you have been affected by the issues in this story the BBC Action Line features a list of organisations which are ready to provide support and advice.

2. Post Office knew its IT system had errors

A recurring question throughout the inquiry was: how much did the Post Office know that the Horizon data it was using to prosecute people was not accurate?

Sir Wyn is very robust in his initial response and says there will be more on this in the next volume of the report.

He says that senior and not so senior people in the Post Office "knew, or at the very least should have known, that legacy Horizon was capable of error" – legacy Horizon was the version in use until 2010.

"Yet, for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate."

After 2010, the next version of Horizon also contained "bugs, errors and defects".

Sir Wyn says: "I am satisfied that a number of employees of Fujitsu and the Post Office knew that this was so."

3. Post Office and Fujitsu behaved unacceptably

The report says many hundreds of people were wrongly convicted of criminal offences, and thousands were held responsible for losses that were illusory.

Just a reminder of the numbers: about 1,000 people were prosecuted, and only between 50 and 60 were not convicted.

Thousands of employees were suspended, and many later had their contracts terminated.

These people were victims of "wholly unacceptable behaviour" by individuals employed or associated with the Post Office and Fujitsu, and from time to time by the organisations themselves, Sir Wyn says.

4. Post Office was too adversarial on compensation

There have been a number of settlements and compensation schemes for sub-postmasters. While some have been satisfied by the level of compensation available, many who had more complex claims were not.

Sir Wyn says three of the compensation schemes have been "bedevilled with unjustifiable delays" and redress has not been delivered promptly.

Moreover, with difficult and substantial claims, "on too many occasions" the Post Office and its legal advisers had been "unnecessarily adversarial" in making initial offers for compensation, driving down the level of eventual financial settlements.

Sir Wyn recommends three things when it comes to compensation:

  • A mechanism to deliver redress "to persons who have been wronged by public bodies", should be established
  • Free legal advice should be extended to claimants on one of the schemes – the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
  • Close family members of people who have "been most adversely affected by Horizon" should be compensated

Sir Wyn estimates that there are currently 10,000 eligible claimants in three compensation schemes, and that number is likely to rise by at least hundreds, if not more.

5. Post Office and Fujitsu told to meet victims

In addition, by 31 October this year the report says the government, Fujitsu and the Post Office should publish a report on a programme for restorative justice.

This is where people who have caused harm should be brought together with people who have suffered it "so they can discuss the impact, take responsibility, and work collaboratively to make amends".

Sir Wyn is calling on the government to consider his recommendations without delay.

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