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A selection of striking news photographs taken around the world this week.

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Once the party of “stop Brexit”, the Liberal Democrats toned down their zeal for the European Union ahead of this year’s general election.

The party swelled its ranks to 72 MPs - its most ever - without drawing much attention to its original policy of rejoining the EU.

But as Lib Dems gather for their autumn conference this weekend, will the B-word will be back on their lips?

“It’s no secret that a lot of the grassroots would have preferred the party leadership to take a slightly stronger line before the election on rejoining the EU,” says Rob Harrison, the chairman of the Liberal Democrat European Group.

Now the general election is behind us, Harrison says, “I do think the party leadership could be bolder on Europe”.

To the frustration of some Lib Dem Europhiles, a gradualist approach to rebuilding ties with the EU is favoured by party leader Sir Ed Davey.

His 2024 election campaigning focused on a few core issues, above all social care, and given the dramatic increase in Lib Dem MPs, few would dare to say it hasn’t worked.

In cautious wording, the general election manifesto, external laid out “essential steps on the road to EU membership, which remains our longer-term objective”.

The party's four-stage roadmap includes seeking to join EU programmes and eventually, the single market, which allows the free movement of goods, services and people.

This weekend, there’ll be another staging post on this journey, when activists vote on a policy proposal at the conference in Brighton, to give young people better access to the EU, through scrapping visa fees and joining the Erasmus Plus student scheme.

Before the conference, the BBC spoke to six Lib Dem activists and two MPs - and most of them seemed satisfied with the party’s direction of travel on Europe.

“Brexit has happened, and that’s unfortunate,” says Janey Little, chairwoman of the Young Liberals.

“But we will always be at the front of the agenda of pushing for a closer relationship with Europe and rebuilding those ties.”

Another Young Liberal, Ulysse Abbate, says the party should be focusing on “easy wins”, such as a youth mobility scheme between the UK and the EU.

There is some discontent though.

Mark Johnston is an EU policy specialist and member of the committee that prepared the party’s manifesto.

He says that “all parties have been silent on Brexit in the past few years” and there were no signs the Lib Dems would change tack.

“We shouldn’t be tip-toeing around this issue,” Johnston says.

“We should be making it a key part of our offer in every election going forward through this cycle to distinguish ourselves from Labour.”

Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly said he would not seek to rejoin the EU and has instead promised to "make Brexit work".

Johnston says: “We’ve got to differentiate ourselves from Labour in the voter's mind, and not just be running with a ‘we’re not the Tories' message, because the value of that will fade very quickly.”

Other Lib Dem activists do see differences with Labour, but aren’t so sure voters care that much about Brexit.

During the general election campaign, “it wasn’t really in the public’s mind”, says David Chalmers, a veteran pro-EU Lib Dem.

“They were really concerned about the cost of living, the NHS and sewage. If you start talking about rejoining Europe, you’re not actually listening to people.”

Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem MP for North Shropshire, says she has been listening to lots of people in her constituency, which voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

She says locally, A&E waiting times, potholes and energy costs this winter were the issues that came up on the doorstep most frequently.

“I spoke personally to probably more than 1,000 people during the course of the election campaign,” Morgan says. “I talked about Europe maybe a handful of times.”

Josh Babarinde - the new MP for Bournemouth - says there was no mass clamour to immediately rejoin the EU in mail from his constituents.

But if voters want that eventually, “our stance on Brexit was there in black and white”, he says.

“I don’t think anyone will be in any doubt where Liberal Democrat sympathies lie when it comes to Brexit.”

What is in doubt, though, is the timeframe the party has in mind for rejoining the EU.

Even the chairman of the Liberal Democrat European Group - which he describes as “the fan group for the EU” - is managing his expectations.

“We’re talking about the 2034 Parliament,” Harrison says. “That is when we might feasibly get a rejoin application in.”

Sir Ed has gone no way near such specifics. Rebuilding trust with European partners takes time, he often says.

As long as he’s in charge and the Lib Dems keep performing well in elections, the Europhile wing of the party will have to play the long game.

For now, as the Lib Dems celebrate a record result in the general election, the Brexit truce is holding.

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Around 780,000 pensioners in England and Wales are set to lose their winter fuel allowance because they are not expected to apply for benefits they are entitled to, according to the government's own analysis.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates were released under freedom of information laws on Friday.

The "equalities analyses" predicted many people entitled to pension credit - and therefore eligible for fuel payments under the new rules - will not submit a claim, and therefore lose the subsidy altogether.

The disclosure comes after the government told opposition parties it had not carried out a full assessment of the policy's impact, amid calls for analysis to be released.

No 10 has previously said it was not legally obliged to produce a full impact assessment on the decision to means test the benefit.

Under the changes, winter fuel allowance will still be available to those claiming pension credit and some other benefits, but around 10 million people are set to be stripped of the payment.

A Treasury spokesman told the BBC that more than a million pensioners would still receive the winter fuel payment, and the government is encouraging people eligible for pension credit to apply.

However, the DWP's internal analysis confirms the government is expecting hundreds of thousands of eligible people to miss out.

The government estimates around 100,000 more people could be persuaded to claim pension credit, but more than three quarters of a million pensioners who are eligible are still not expected to submit a claim, the document confirmed.

The analysis also suggested that nine in 10 pensioners aged between 66 and 79 would lose their allowance, and eight in 10 over 80s would do so.

Since those over 80 receive a higher payment - £300 as opposed to £200 - they would take the greatest financial hit, it said.

The analysis also found that while those with a disability would be most likely to retain the payment, around 71% will still lose their entitlement.

Conservative Party chairman Richard Fuller called on Labour to "immediately" conduct and publish a full impact assessment of "this harmful policy", accusing the government of having "sneaked out" the analysis.

Previously, the Liberal Democrats said not carrying out an impact assessment before cutting support was "absolutely unthinkable".

Speaking on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer said the decision to cut winter fuel payments was necessary to stabilise the economy, and that the government was putting "mitigations in place".

The DWP said the document - which is more limited than a full impact assessment - was not "routinely published alongside secondary legislation" after it was published in response to a Freedom of Information request.

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One day when struggling to get to grips with a spreadsheet to calculate his annual budget for art supplies, an idea popped into the mind of Ghanaian visual artist Joseph Awuah-Darko.

He could use the database to track his bipolar disorder, a mental illness that causes huge swings in a person's moods, energy and concentration levels.

“I'm a visual learner and I thought: 'Why don't I use colour as a language?'” Awuah-Darko told the BBC.

"Colour allows me to express things that I can't really capture in words.”

The 28-year-old started allocating to every hour a colour that represented how he was feeling at that point in time - with red being the most depressive state, and pastel blue the most positive.

“It became something that became addictive - and cathartic. And an interesting way of monitoring my life.”

Out of those meticulous digital records, the artist has also created a series of abstract oil paintings - portraits of his days.

His first UK solo exhibition, How’s Your Day Going?, “makes exterior” his struggles with bipolar disorder, with which he was diagnosed at the age of 16 when he had a breakdown at school.

Some days are better than others, as the blocks of colour in his worksheets show.

He uses oil sticks to create vertical linear stripes on the canvas - in blacks, browns, reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens.

Some paintings are almost as neat and precise as the coloured spreadsheet cells - others are less ordered.

The artist does not wait for one paint to dry before he applies the next colour - and as the wet paints run into each other, new colours are created.

This mixing, says Awuah-Darko, reflects the nuances and complexities of his own emotions.

"It's beautiful to see how, even though I have given these strict schematic colour assignments to my moods, emotions aren't sanitised,” he says.

“They are messy, and they flow into each other,“ he says.

Awuah-Darko was born in London to Ghanaian parents, but he grew up in Ghana, has travelled a lot and now lives in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

The colours he uses to capture his emotions depend on where he is in the world - and partly reflects “the nature of what I feel about the environment I'm in”.

The deep, warm blue-green of teal is a colour that he most associates with Brussels.

Teal covers a whole range of emotions and energies that he feels - somewhere in the middle between the deep, disruptive depression of red and the positivity of lighter blues.

He often paints while in “a state of teal”.

“I'm deep in thought and lost in the void of my own imaginations,” he says.

“I’m not exactly bursting with joy,” he laughs,” but I am engaging my mind and my hands in a way that I feel is productive.”

Yellow is what Awuah-Darko describes as “a nuanced state of anxiety”. It could be a moment of disappointment or rejection.

"It's not an absolute negative,” he says, “but it is something that could break you down - if you chose to allow it to.”

The first painting Awuah-Darko created in the How’s Your Day Going? series is entitled June 15 PM.

The date is the day recorded in the spreadsheet - and “PM” reflects that he finished the painting at night.

The image holds particular “emotional gravitas” for the artist because he says it is when he accepted that his life was going to be based for the foreseeable future in Brussels - not Accra, Ghana’s capital.

Awuah-Darko left Ghana because he wanted to live openly as a gay man - and he felt he could not do that because of restrictive legislation passed by Ghana’s parliament in February 2024.

The bill - which is yet to be signed into law by the president - imposes heavy sentences on gay, lesbian and bisexual people, anyone who identifies as transgender, as well as those seen as allies.

“I created June 15th at a time when I was really reconciling with what it meant to be an immigrant. That was daunting, heavy, beautiful and exciting.”

Awuah-Darko was inspired to transform the “spreadsheet diaries” into paintings by a two-month artist residency he attended earlier this year at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in the US.

The late German-born American artist Josef Albers put colour at the centre of his work and has inspired generations of artists.

"At the residency, I learned about the power of colour as language, as vocabulary, and it really enhanced my ability to capture that in my abstract painting.”

Awuah-Darko also pays homage in his art to the bold and colourful work of Atta Kwami - one of Ghana’s most respected artists who came from Kumasi but spent many years in the UK where he died in 2021.

“There's such an honesty about his painting and such a reverence for the colours he uses, which are so linked to his upbringing in Ghana and to how he viewed the world through lines and spaces.”

Another influence is Anni Albers, one of the world’s leading textile designers and printmakers, and wife of Josef Albers, who blurred the lines between the ancient craft of hand-weaving and modern art.

Awuah-Darko drew on Albers' work for his most recent paintings - and also his own heritage.

He comes from an influential family of financiers and chiefs in the south-central Ashanti region of Ghana.

The ancestral home is very close to Bonwire, the birthplace of the world-famous kente fabric, and the artist grew up wearing the traditional multi-coloured cloth.

He also learned how to weave it using a hand loom, stripe by stripe, colour by colour - a process that he finds “cathartic and meditative”.

His paintings are reminiscent of kente cloth, and the process has, he says, been “almost like weaving with paint”.

"It’s super interesting to see how my heritage has manifested itself in my work – beyond the way in which it obviously addresses my battle with depression.”

The exhibition How’s Your Day Going? by Joseph Awuah-Darko is on at Ed Cross Fine Art in London until 19 October 2024.

You can find out more about bipolar disorder here, external

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, external, on Facebook at BBC Africa, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, external

Published
11 minutes ago

Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set ablaze by her former boyfriend and later died, is due to be buried in a state funeral on Saturday.

Dickson Ndiema attacked her with petrol just under a fortnight ago outside her home in north-west Kenya, close to where she trained.

The 33-year-old's killing, and its brutal nature, left her family distraught and shocked many others across the world.

It underscored the high levels of violence against women in Kenya and the fact that several female athletes have been victims in recent years.

Cheptegei died in hospital four days after the attack. Doctors said she had suffered burns on more than 80% of her body which "led to multi-organ failure".

Ndiema, who was also burned after some of the fuel splashed on his own body, died on Monday.

He attacked the mother-of-two after she returned from a service at a church, the God's Dwelling Ministry.

The pastor there, Caroline Atieno, remembers a "wonderful... God-fearing person".

After hearing about what had happened, she managed to speak to Cheptegei on the phone while she was in hospital.

The athlete first asked about her children, who were both fine, the pastor told the BBC's Africa Daily podcast.

Then Cheptegei talked about her attacker: "You mean Dickson is not able to see all I have done for him? He could not remember even one or two things I have done for him and stop setting me on fire? Why has he done this to me?"

Cheptegei's funeral is being held in Bukwo, home to her family in Uganda and close to the Kenyan border.

On Friday, family members, friends and activists against gender-based violence viewed her coffin at a funeral home in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, before it was driven away.

Her mother, Agnes Cheptegei, covering her face in anguish, was wearing a souvenir bag that the athlete received at the recent Paris Olympics, where she came 44th in the marathon.

She was dressed in a T-shirt which had the slogan "being a woman should not be a death sentence" printed on it.

The mother-of-two was the third female athlete to be killed in Kenya over the last three years. In each case, current or former romantic partners were named as the main suspects by police.

In 2021, world-record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death and six months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.

Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. In 2022 at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey.

Some observers are saying that female athletes are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

"[This is] because they go against traditional gender norms where the woman is just in the kitchen and just cooking and taking care of kids. But now female athletes are becoming more independent, financially independent," said Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop’s Angels to help highlight the issue of violence against women.

"We don't want this to happen to any other woman, whether an athlete or from the village, or a young girl," Rachel Kamweru, a spokesperson of the government's department for gender and affirmative action, told the BBC.

When Cheptegei first got into running, she joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces in 2008 which helped support her.

Her last race was at the Paris Olympics. Although she came 44th people in her home area still referred to her as "champion".

She won gold at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, external, on Facebook at BBC Africa, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, external

Published
1 hour ago

“The money is just for the holiday kitty,” says Jon Harvey of the £300 he was given every winter to help with heating bills. “I could also use it to go out for a nice meal.”

The 80-year-old, like all pensioners in England and Wales, was given the winter fuel payment (WFP) automatically – until this week when the new Labour government voted to change the rules.

Now only pensioners who qualify for certain benefits will receive it, an estimated 1.5 million people. Last winter 10.8 million people got the payment.

Jon, a retired police officer, tells us “it’s about time” the rules changed as “there are people who need it more than me”.

The policy, launched by the last Labour government in 1997, costs nearly £2 billion per year but Sir Keir Starmer hopes the changes will save taxpayers £1.5 billion.

The prime minister says it could help plug the £22 billion "black hole" he says exists in the national finances - but the Tories and charities fear it could leave some over-65s cold this winter.

Beyond the political fray, the argument is nuanced - so the BBC spoke to pensioners to hear the full range of views. Some told us they rely on the payment for heating, while others said they spend the money on things like holidays, restaurants or their grandchildren.

Olwen Jones, 70, has been receiving the payment for the last four years since retiring from her job in IT.

“I thought about giving it to my brother the last time I was given the payment, except he started getting it himself. Now, I give the money to charity,” she says.

The payment acts as a bonus to the bank balance for Nick Plowright. “My mother, who died back in 2019, was also receiving it for many years. When she did, she'd tell us to give it to the grandchildren,” the 68-year-old explains.

He adds: “The government needs to make the means testing rigorous, right minded and focused on helping those most in need. Above all, stop paying it to the millions who very obviously do not need it, like me.”

The issue of who needs the support is at the heart of the change to the WFP. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that the proportion of wealthy over-65s has grown.

In 2010, 9% of this group lived in a household that had a total wealth – including assets like their home and pensions – above £1 million. Ten years later, this rose to 27%.

Liz Emerson, CEO of the Intergenerational Foundation, a charity that campaigns for youth-friendly government policy, says it is being fuelled by rising property values.

“Alongside that, they have more generous private pensions than young people,” she explains. “So when you combine housing wealth and pension wealth, older people have been doing far better than the younger generation over recent years.”

Yet this isn’t just about millionaires - many of those who say they do not need WFP, like those the BBC spoke to, are simply on healthy pensions after years of working.

Others are more wealthy, especially if they have sold high-value property and downsized to a house that is far less expensive to heat, ending up with leftover cash in the process.

For those who don't sell up, Ms Emerson asks: “Should these pensioners be subsidised by younger taxpayers to stay in a valuable home? It seems to us to be intergenerationally unfair.”

The vast majority of over-65s receive a state pension and it’s the main income for those who don’t get a private pension - which their former employer paid into. The state pension increases every year through the triple lock - in line with whichever is highest out of inflation, earnings or 2.5%.

This year it increased by £690 for people who reached retirement age before April 2016 and £900 for those after that date. Next year the increases are projected to be £353 and £460 respectively, driven by high inflation and energy costs.

The government points out that these increases are worth more than the annual WFP payments, which is £300 for those who retired before April 2016 and £200 for those after.

Under the new rules, WFP will be paid only to over-65s who are receiving one of seven benefits: pension credit, universal credit, income-related employment and support allowance, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income support, child tax credit or working tax credit.

Critics argue these alternative measures are not enough. Age UK estimates 2.5 million pensioners on low incomes – but not low enough to get pension credit – will struggle to pay their bills this winter.

The Conservatives and other opposition parties have criticised the government for not publishing an impact assessment that would have analysed which older people would have been most affected by the changes.

Shelagh Lind, 70, is £2 per week over the pension credit threshold, so will lose WFP. She now fears for the months ahead - and says she’s lost faith in Labour as a lifelong supporter of the party.

“I am so cross - I had that money earmarked and now it’s gone,” she says.

“I can’t predict how much the bills are going to be. We will suffer.”

Rose Brooks, 77, says her WFP money had been dedicated to paying the gas bill. “Without it, I cannot afford to put my central heating on. I honestly don’t know how I am going stay warm this winter.”

She adds: “I think I’m just going to have to go to bed early in hope of avoiding the coldest temperatures.”

Age UK have started a petition calling for the rule changes to be delayed - and more than 500,000 people have signed it.

Chris Brooks, head of policy at the charity, says: “The big problem is that a lot of pensioners, often those who are on very low incomes, don't claim what they're entitled to.

“Because they don't claim these benefits, they won’t get the WFP. This puts them in a really difficult financial position and lots of them tell us that they won't be able to turn their heating on this winter.”

Both Mr Brooks and Ms Emerson told us they are in favour of giving more support to pensioners on low incomes or those who are medically vulnerable.

And not just pensioners - others argue the payment should be widened to some families. Among them is Joan Jones, 76, who says the WFP sits in her bank account as she has “enough income to live on reasonably comfortably”.

“There are families with young children who are struggling,” she warns. “Whatever their age, those people who need it should have it first.”

Money Box examines who will be affected by the changing rules to winter fuel payments and how you can still receive it if you claim pension credit - are you eligible?

BBC Radio 4 - Winter fuel payment and using cash

Published
1 hour ago

What is it called when an artist's first album is already a greatest hits collection?

That's the question I kept asking during Chappell Roan's first UK show of 2024 on Friday.

Normally, concerts ebb and flow, but the audience at the Manchester Academy knew more than just the singles. They sang every word, every ad lib, of every song - some with mascara running, others with hands clasped to their chests.

At times, Chappell herself was drowned out. At others, she simply stopped and listened, as the fans chanted her lyrics back at her.

It's a phenomenon - or, to use Chappell's terminology, a Femininomenon - that only occurs once in a blue moon.

I saw it when Olivia Rodrigo played her first UK dates in 2022. I saw it when One Direction hit Wembley Stadium. And I saw it on the first leg of Amy Winehouse's Back To Black tour, before excitement turned to concern.

It happens when an artist speaks directly to their fans. More accurately, it happens when fans feel like an artist is speaking on their behalf.

For Chappell's audience, the devotion is particularly potent because of what she represents.

The 26-year-old is the first pop star to achieve mainstream success as an openly queer person, rather than coming out as part of their post-fame narrative.

Her debut album, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, is a real-life coming of age story, full of messy, complex relationships and tentative sexual experimentation.

She made the first half of it while dating a man, until she realised her lyrics had exposed her true feelings.

“I wrote a lot of queer songs while I was dating him, even though I had never even kissed a girl,” she told the Q with Tom Power podcast last year., external.

“It was something I wanted so bad, but I didn’t know how to make it real,” she added, in a BBC interview this April.

In those songs, Roan draws on the power-pop sounds of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, skewing them with campy cheerleader chants and bawdy sexual asides.

Her calling card is Pink Pony Club, the semi-autobiographical story of a small-town girl’s transformation into a go-go dancer, written after her first visit to a Los Angeles gay club in her early 20s.

But her break-out hit was this year's Good Luck Babe, about a fling with a girl who insists she's not gay.

At first, the song is one big eye-roll: Just shut up and admit the truth, Chappell insists, before you get trapped in a loveless, heterosexual marriage of convenience.

Then, in the closing bars, the song slows down like a toy whose batteries have run out. It’s the end of the argument. Chappell has screamed her case to the point of exhaustion. She drops an octave and sings, “you’d have to stop the world just to stop this feeling", and her voice is quietly resigned. This is one last plea, and she knows it will fall on deaf ears.

It's superb songwriting - pointed and specific, full of meaning.

Fans in Manchester said lyrics like those make her more important than other pop stars.

"Being a big, mainstream queer artist is really important," said Manchester fan Sarah. "She’s what we’ve been waiting for in pop music for a long time."

"When I first heard her, I looked her up and I was like, 'She looks like me, she’s queer like me and she’s killing it'," agreed Bethan, who had travelled to the show from Bristol.

"I was like, that’s my girl."

"If I was a younger, like a teenager, looking up to Chappell Roan, that would have been really inspiring," added Kim, a Newcastle fan who was at the gig to celebrate her third wedding anniversary with her wife, Jules.

"It’s something I would have really gripped onto. It would have helped us through the coming out phase."

For the uninitiated, Chappell Roan was born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz in the conservative city of Willard, Missouri, in 1998.

The eldest of four children, she grew up in a trailer park and attended church three times a week, where she was taught that being gay was a sin.

Shy and awkward, her life changed in 2014 when a song she’d written at summer camp and uploaded to YouTube caught the attention of several record labels.

Whisked out to Los Angeles and signed to Atlantic Records, she released her first EP, a downbeat, singer-songwriter affair, in 2017.

It sold poorly and when the pandemic hit, she was dropped amid a round of money-saving lay-offs. Despondent, she went back to Missouri and took a job serving coffee at a drive-through donut shop.

But she stayed in touch with one of her collaborators, Daniel Nigro, who was simultaneously working with another up-and-coming pop star called Olivia Rodrigo.

When Rodrigo's career took off, Nigro used the cachet to sign Chappell to his own label and they wrote her album together, discarding the self-seriousness of her teenage material and diving headfirst into hedonism.

“A lot of it is audience participation based,” she told me earlier this year. “I just tried to think, what's really hooky and what would be fun to sing with a crowd. Those were my parameters.”

The album came out to almost universal disinterest last September, selling just 3,000 copies in its first week. But it ended up on a few critics' end-of-year lists and, as word began to spread, Roan went out as a support act on Rodrigo's Guts tour.

After the first few dates, fans started coming to the shows early just to see her performance.

But the hot streak really kicked off with her televised set at the Coachella Festival in California this April. When Chappell leaned into the TV cameras and declared: “I’m your favourite artist’s favourite artist," the show went viral. It's subsequently been watched more than a million times.

She went on to dominate New York’s Governors Ball, where she memorably coated herself in green body paint and dressed as the Statue of Liberty; and Chicago’s Lollapalooza, where she drew the festival’s biggest-ever crowd - some 80,000 people - even though she wasn’t a headliner.

By the summer, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess had ascended to the top of the UK album charts. Earlier this week, she won best new artist at the MTV Awards.

As is so often the way, however, success has come at a price.

Chappell took to social media last month, asking some fans to stop being obsessive and "creepy", after one grabbed her and kissed her in a bar. In another incident, police at LAX Airport had to intervene when a fan who wanted an autograph wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

“I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don't owe you [anything]," wrote the singer on Instagram, external.

The audience in Manchester took no such liberties. They were "day one" fans - people who'd bought their tickets in January, before the singer's meteoric rise to fame - and they wanted to celebrate with her.

Scalpers were offering over £1,000 for tickets that had a face value of £19.50 - but no-one was selling.

Instead, they came dressed in the mermaid outfits Chappell had requested. There were fishtails, bikinis, and crowns befitting of Princess Ariel. One brave fan came dressed as a jellyfish. A couple who described themselves as "masculine-presenting" lesbians wore sailors outfits.

Chappell also joined the fun, wearing a one-piece bodysuit encrusted with pearls and seashells.

And she dedicated the show to the fans, saying their acceptance mattered as much to her, as her music did to them.

"Thank you for dressing up," she said. "Thank you for being here and showing up for the [LGBTQ+] community.

"I really needed this when I was 15. I needed it so bad to be in a room full of people that looked like me.

"The people in my hometown would call gay people clowns. That’s why I actually wear white face [drag make-up], because of how those people called us clowns.

"I was like, 'Bitch I’ll show you a clown'."

Cue a deafening round of applause.

And that's before we even discuss the show itself.

As a performer, Chappell is the full package. She doesn't have the budget (yet) for a spectacular stage set, but she's a pyrotechnic all of her own - a finger-snapping, hair-tossing, force of nature.

Backed by a full live band, her vocals are flawless. She moves seamlessly between her lower and upper registers, belting the high notes with a slight country twang, but equally capable of dropping to a hushed, heartbroken whisper.

Highlights included Coffee - a tentative ballad about meeting up with an ex - and the lemon-bitter My Kink Is Karma, which got an invigoratingly grungy rock makeover.

The crowd participation moments that the star envisaged in the recording studio also came to bounteous fruition.

Hot To Go, which she's described as "YMCA, but gayer", came with big goofy dance moves; and Red Wine Supernovas's singalong chorus gave me actual goosebumps.

Amusingly, the singer says her teenage self would have been horrified by this spectacle.

“I think she would be like, ‘Oh my God, you're so corny’," she told me in April.

“I don't think I'd have allowed myself to be silly back then. She’d think I’d sold out. But I'm not a sellout. I'm actually just having a good time.

“I love pop music and I make silly pop music because people want to have fun.”

Mission accomplished.

Published
1 hour ago

When she walks into the courthouse in the French city of Avignon, flanked by her children and a team of lawyers, Gisèle Pelicot cuts an unassuming figure.

The 72-year-old mother and grandmother, her hair styled into a neat bob, wears colourful dresses and Breton tops. She looks down as she passes the dozens of journalists gathered by the entrance, her eyes hidden by round-framed sunglasses.

Behind them, as she has put it, lies a "field of ruins".

Nearly every day since 2 September, Gisèle Pelicot has been at the centre of a trial in which 51 men are accused of raping her, including the man she was married to for 50 years.

As her story has rippled through France since the trial began, she has become a symbol of courage and resilience.

"I was sacrificed on the altar of vice," she said, explaining how she had learned that Dominique Pelicot had drugged her to sleep and recruited men to treat her "like a rag doll" for over 10 years.

The trial, due to run until December, has so far heard evidence from lawyers, police, psychiatrists, and from another woman whose husband drugged and raped her following instructions by Dominique.

The Pelicots’ daughter, Caroline, who believes her father abused her when she was unconscious, has also taken the stand.

Dominique Pelicot has admitted the charges against him, although he denies abusing his daughter.

Unsettling details of the defendants' pasts, psyches and alleged crimes have filled the airwaves, news websites and social networks.

This kind of access has only become possible because Gisèle has waived her right to anonymity.

In a case of such magnitude it is an unusual decision, not least because it means thousands of videos of the alleged rapes filmed by Dominique Pelicot - in some cases surreptitiously - will eventually be played in open court.

Gisèle's only request was that her children be allowed to leave the room when that happens.

Her legal team said opening up the trial would shift the "shame" back on to the accused.

Above all, the case has ignited a painful – and often uncomfortable – discussion about rape that many in France say is long overdue.

Protests are due to be held across the country on Saturday "in support of Gisèle Pelicot and of all rape victims".

When Gisèle gave evidence that she had to "start over from scratch" and was now only living off a small pension, an influencer set up an online collection that made €40,000 (£33,700) in under a day. It was quickly shut down following a request from Gisèle's legal team, who saw it as a possible distraction.

One key issue this case has thrown up is the little-discussed phenomenon of chemical submission – drug-induced assault in the home.

In 2022, 1,229 people in France suspected they had been drugged without their knowledge, according to Leila Chaouachi, a pharmacist at the Paris addiction monitoring centre and an expert on drug rape.

That number is probably “only the tip of the iceberg”, she believes. Victims often hesitate to file legal complaints because they know the assailant, they might be ashamed, or they have hazy memories of what happened.

Complaints also need to be filed before the substances disappear from the body, which is not always possible.

For the 10 years her husband was drugging her, Gisèle Pelicot had unexplained neurological symptoms as well as gynaecological issues, and yet no-one put the clues together.

It points to a lack of awareness of chemical submission as a phenomenon.

Dr Chaouachi says training healthcare professionals and police is important, because the key to stemming the issue lies in recognising that there are others out there besides Gisèle.

“We have the right to be shocked, but we also need to recognise that these aren't isolated cases,” she says.

“When we only focus on the justice system and investigators, we're hiding behind them in some way. I think it's a broader societal issue, and therefore it's societal change that we need.”

Judging from opinions voiced on the streets of Paris, that view is not universally accepted.

“It's a private affair,” said one man, who thought the case was awful but still an isolated event and not one for public debate.

“I don't understand why the media are making such a big deal about it. It is because people like drama, gossip.”

A friend agreed: “If you hadn’t asked the question, we would’ve never discussed this."

But a female companion said they were both wrong: “It's important this case is public... it raises a broader issue and raising awareness of it is necessary for change.”

What has shocked so many in France is the sheer number of men involved in the case.

Police were only able to identify 50 suspects out of the 83 that appeared in Dominique Pelicot’s videos.

Their ages range from 26 to 68 and they hail from all walks of life - firefighters, pharmacists, labourers and journalists. Many are fathers and husbands.

Of the other men accused, 15 admit rape, but all the others admit only to taking part in sexual acts.

“What shocked me even more is that so many men could have done this - more than 50 ‘normal’ men, who all lived nearby," said Caroline, a 43-year-old doctor from Paris.

"[Pelicot] didn't even have to look very far for them. It really scares me because it is a reflection of society. It's not the norm, but there are too many.”

Céline Piques of feminist organisation Osez le Féminisme hopes the fact that the accused come from ordinary backgrounds and all kinds of professions will mean that this trial has a lasting impact.

"It demolishes the myth of the rapist who is a psychopath... they raped because they were sure of their impunity."

Another concern that has not escaped the large numbers of women across France who are following the Pelicot case is that many other men knew and did nothing.

Dominique Pelicot had invited men to have sex with his wife “without her knowledge” in a post on the Coco.gg website, which was shut down only last June. Last year it counted 500,000 visitors a month.

“One hundred per cent of these people... never made a phone call to stop this abuse,” says Céline Piques. “Not one man thought about informing the police of these criminal facts.”

The Avignon trial is also dredging up questions over the language surrounding rape.

The defence of many of the accused hinges on the premise they did not “know” they were raping Gisèle - in other words, that they thought they were having consensual intercourse with her.

Some have accused Dominique Pelicot of “manipulating” them into believing they were taking part in an erotic game in which Gisèle was only pretending to be asleep because she was shy.

At least two of the defendants stated they did not feel they had raped Gisèle because she had been “offered” to them by her own husband, and one man said he did not consider his actions rape because "for me, rape is when you grab someone off the street".

"I don't have the heart of a rapist," he added.

Summing up this line of defence earlier this week, Guillaume De Palma, a lawyer for six of the defendants, caused outrage when he said that “rape is not always rape”, and argued that “without the intention of committing rape, there is no rape".

In French law, rape is sexual penetration obtained by constraint, violence or surprise – and Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyers are expected to argue that “surprise” covers the case of a sedated or unconscious woman.

But the comments caused outrage and dismay in the courtroom and beyond.

Gisèle's daughter Caroline stormed out of the trial exclaiming “I am ashamed of the justice system”, while the president of the court suspended the session amid a mood that reporters described as “extremely tense”.

Other lawyers reportedly distanced themselves from De Palma’s comments.

With the trial due to run for three more months, France’s soul searching will continue.

“It has shown how far behind we are at all levels,” said Sandrine Josso, an MP who was the victim of an attempted drug rape by a senator in 2023.

Thanks to Gisèle Pelicot, she said “we lift the veil, and we discover a lot of things”.

The ordinary nature of the couple at the centre of the trial – middle-class pensioners and grandparents – has made it easy for observers to identify with the story.

“I thought it could be my mother, my sister… and my father,” said Charley, a 35-year-old man living in Paris.

“For me, it's the trial of the century,” he added.

“There will be a before – and there will be an after.”

Additional reporting by Eva Van Dam

Published
2 hours ago

The situation is critical, a Ukrainian military officer in the east told the BBC near the front line south of Pokrovsk.

Russia’s military strategy now appears to be surrounding the city, which is a key transportation hub in the region.

The officer, who preferred to stay anonymous, said his military leadership want to hold their positions at all costs, often leading to the loss of troops and resources.

That approach, he says, was resulting in a number of “cauldrons”, large territories surrounded by the Russian forces.

One of them is south of Pokrovsk - between Nevelske, Hirnyk and Krasnohorivka.

“We are not planning to advance towards the city of Donetsk any time soon, so why are we holding positions near Nevelske when we’re losing Hirnyk?” said the officer.

Far better to retreat to Hirnyk, he believes, with a minimum loss of resources and hold those positions.

“When your enemy has more people and resources than you do, this strategy is reckless,” the Ukrainian officer added.

“Look at the Donetsk region, it looks like a squid. [To defend all the] tentacles, you need a far bigger number of positions, observation posts. You need to hold back far bigger assault groups because the Russians are trying to attack from all sides."

So, instead of withdrawing and reduce the length of the line they need to defend, the officer says, brigades get wiped out fighting along the entire perimeter of the "cauldron" simply because the main criteria of success for generals is to hold positions.

Roman Pohorily, an analyst and co-founder of the Deep State map that monitors the latest frontline developments in Ukraine, says Ukrainian troops have now pulled back from the village of Nevelske to avoid an encirclement.

That means the threat of being trapped is less acute, but the military officer at the front says pulling back should have been done long before.

Lives and resources have been wasted on something that they couldn’t hold anyway, he argues.

Russian troops are now advancing towards Kurakhove, a city 35km (21 miles) south of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian forces in that area confirm the fighting in their sectors has intensified lately.

This development is also reflected in the daily briefings of Ukraine’s General Staff. On Thursday they reported that there were 32 clashes in the Pokrovsk direction and 48 in the Kurakhove direction.

“They’re trying to strengthen their flanks so that they can get closer to Pokrovsk, half encircle it and then start erasing the city to the ground,” says Maj Serhiy Tsekhotsky from the 59th Brigade.

Lt Col Oleh Demyanenko, who commands a tank battalion of the 110th brigade, also says that Russian forces are now pushing along the sides, in addition to a direct assault on Pokrovsk.

However, he claims that the Russians are now focusing mostly on the southern flank – that’s the Kurakhove direction.

Russian troops assault Ukrainian positions with small groups and often they’re not accompanied by armoured vehicles, soldiers say.

“They send two or three people who try to reach a certain point in the field," explains Maj Tsekhotsky. “Then others try to get to that point as well. And when they have 10-15 people, they try to attack us.”

What makes the Kurakhove area challenging both to defend and to advance is that it’s flat, says Nazar Voytenkov from the 33rd Brigade.

“We constantly shell fields. Russians lose their vehicles and people.”

He says his brigade is successfully holding its position on the front line.

Kurakhove is linked to Pokrovsk with roads that are part of the infrastructure to move troops and supplies on the front line.

If the Russians take that city, then they can go north to attack Pokrovsk from a new direction, says analyst Roman Pohorily.

Another possibility is that they might attack Ukrainian troops in Vuhledar from behind, he adds. That’s a city on the southern part of the Donbas frontline that the Russians have been trying to seize since the beginning of their full-scale invasion.

Strategic mistakes made in the past mean that there is only one way left to defend Pokrovsk and stop the Russians seizing the entire Donetsk region, according to the officer on the front line.

"To have another Bakhmut”, in his words, referring to the city in eastern Ukraine that Kyiv defended for nearly a year before retreating, with the city in ruins.

“[They] will throw a lot of people and let them die there.”

Published
2 hours ago

The woman behind the latest season of Strictly Come Dancing has said she hopes the show can "move forward" from recent controversies as it returns to TV screens.

"I'm not going to say that once the show is on air, everyone will forget about it," Karen Smith, Strictly's co-creator and first executive producer, told BBC News.

"But hopefully people can recover and move forward and learn from it, and remember that Strictly is fabulous, and people love it, people love taking part in it, they love watching it."

The BBC One show - with its bright lights, sparkles and sequins - is back on Saturday night.

A brand new set of celebrities will be hitting the dancefloor, as the contest enters its 20th year.

But it's faced a rocky few months, with a number of former contestants making allegations about the way they were treated on the show.

The BBC has responded to complaints by making changes behind the scenes.

From this year, there are chaperones in all rehearsal rooms, and there are also two new dedicated welfare producers.

The corporation has always insisted it would always take any issues seriously, and act when made aware of inappropriate behaviour.

The show itself has long been a mainstay of Saturday night TV, and its "familiarity" is one of the reasons for its popularity, Ms Smith said.

"The hosts might change or the judges might change, the celebrities are new, but Strictly is always the same.

"People look forward to the series coming back."

This year's hosts are unchanged - Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

There's no change to the judges' panel either. Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge Shirley Ballas will be watching every step taken by the dancers.

But there's a whole new line-up of celebrities for 2024. Here is the list in full:

At Saturday's launch show, it will be revealed which professional dancer they have been paired with.

Once the pairings have been announced, the celebrities and professionals will perform a group routine, before the live shows begin next week.

This year’s series will also include all the usual theme weeks, including Halloween, Musicals and the Blackpool week.

Culture journalist Olivia-Anne Cleary told BBC News that the autumn slot is "integral" to the show's success.

It's the "countdown to Christmas", she said. "Can you imagine Strictly without the Halloween episode, without the costumes, without the music?"

"It's those kind of autumn moments that make it whole."

But while many elements of Strictly never change, this year's professional dancer line up will look different to last year's.

Two dancers have been dropped from the show following complaints about their behaviour and teaching methods in rehearsals.

In June, it was confirmed that Giovanni Pernice would not return for the new series.

It comes after his former dance partner Amanda Abbington made allegations about how he treated her on the show.

Pernice has denied any allegations of abusive or threatening behaviour. An investigation, launched by the BBC following the claims, will reportedly conclude soon.

Another professional dancer, Graziano Di Prima, has also left the show.

His spokesman admitted to BBC News that Di Prima had kicked his partner Zara McDermott in a rehearsal last year.

Other former celebrity contestants, the TV presenter Laura Whitmore and paralympian Will Bayley, have also spoken out about their experiences on the show.

Last month, a BBC News investigation heard allegations of a "toxic culture" from some former junior staff on the show, although other workers told a positive story of dancers and crew who were kind and respectful to them.

"Prior to 2024, the most controversial thing to happen to Strictly was the Strictly curse," said Ms Cleary - a reference to the idea that participating on the show threatens the status of your relationship.

"Amanda speaking up and her allegations becoming public very much opened the floodgates for former stars who had previously kept quiet, at least in the public sphere, to share their stories and say what they had gone through on the show."

Ms Cleary said she didn't think the claims would be forgotten, nor should they.

"It's part of Strictly's history now, and it's up to Strictly and the BBC to take all of this into account, to learn from it, to make sure it doesn't happen again, and to move forward with a fresh perspective."

More on Strictly Come Dancing:

So the show goes on - and the new contestants, speaking at a press event ahead of the launch, also expressed a desire to move on.

"It's about our own experiences really," former Love Islander Tasha Ghouri said.

And earlier this week, Strictly Come Dancing proved it has not lost its shine with viewers, who voted it best talent show at the National Television Awards.

"Strictly is the best of what the BBC does and people value it, and they look forwad to it, and they schedule their weekend around it, and they care," said Ms Smith.

She said it was "terrible" to think of the "upset" that has been caused, not only to celebrities and dancers who have been affected, but also to the production team and the viewers.

But she added: "It would be a shame if it was picked apart to death and was allowed to die.

"Because journalists, if you keep picking and you keep criticising, you could end up killing the show that you spend weeks and months of the year talking about.

"So, be careful."

The Strictly Come Dancing 2024 launch show will air on Saturday 14 September at 19:20 on BBC One & BBC iPlayer.

Published
14 September 2024, 00:28 BST

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not signal any decision on allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia after talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington.

When asked if he had persuaded Biden to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, Sir Keir said they had had "a long and productive discussion on a number of fronts, including Ukraine, as you would expect, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific".

The White House said they also expressed "deep concern about Iran and North Korea's provision of lethal weapons to Russia".

Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western nations not to let Ukraine fire long-range missiles at Russia.

Putin said such a move would represent Nato's "direct participation" in the Ukraine war.

Addressing reporters ahead of his meeting with Sir Keir at the White House, Biden said: "I don't think much about Vladimir Putin".

To date, the US and UK have not given Ukraine permission to use long-range missiles against targets inside Russia, for fear of escalation.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on Kyiv's Western allies to authorise such use, saying it is the only way to bring about an end to the war.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian cities and front lines have been under daily bombardment from Russia.

Many of the missiles and glide bombs that hit Ukraine's military positions, blocks of flats, energy facilities and hospitals are launched by Russian aircraft deep inside Russia.

Kyiv says not being allowed to hit the bases from which these attacks are launched hinders its self-defence capability.

The UK previously said Ukraine had a "clear right" to use British-provided weapons for "self-defence" which "does not preclude operations inside Russia", following Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion last month.

However, this excludes the use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles in territory outside Ukraine's internationally recognised borders.

The US provided long-range missiles to Ukraine earlier this year, but like Kyiv's other Western allies these have not been authorised for use on targets deep inside Russia.

Asked if he was intimidated by Putin's threats of a potential war with Nato, Sir Keir said "the quickest way to resolve" the war in Ukraine "lies through what Putin actually does".

Sir Keir said the White House meeting with Biden was an opportunity to discuss the strategy in relation to Ukraine, "not just a particular step or tactic".

The pair also discussed the situation in the Middle East, where the Israel-Gaza war has been raging for nearly a year, and "other areas across the world", Sir Keir added.

He told reporters they would get another opportunity to discuss these issues at the United Nations General Assembly next week.

In a separate briefing on Friday, ahead of the two leaders' meeting, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington was not planning any change in the limits it has placed on Ukraine's use of US-made weapons to hit Russian territory.

Earlier on Friday, Moscow expelled six British diplomats, revoking their accreditation and accusing them of spying.

The country's security service, the FSB, said in a statement it had received documents indicating Britain's involvement in inflicting "a strategic defeat" on Russia. The accusations were dismissed by the UK Foreign Office as "completely baseless".

In an interview with the BBC, UK defence analyst Justin Crump said Putin was testing the new Labour government and the outgoing Biden administration.

"Ultimately Russia already supplies weapons to the UK's adversaries, and is already engaged in 'active measures' such as subversion, espionage, sabotage, and information/cyber operations against Nato members' interests.

"This may all accelerate, but picking a fight against all of Nato is not something Russia can afford given how hard they're struggling against just Ukraine," Mr Crump added.

Also on Friday, the US announced new sanctions against the Russian media channel RT, accusing it of being a "de facto arm of Russia's intelligence apparatus".

The top US diplomat, Antony Blinken, told reporters RT is part of a network of Russian-backed media outlets, which have sought to covertly "undermine democracy in the United States".

In response to US allegations that RT had sought to influence elections, RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan - who was sanctioned by the US last week - said they were excellent teachers, adding that many RT staff had studied in the US, and with US funding.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said there should be a "new profession" in the US, of specialist in sanctions imposed on Russia.

Published
3 hours ago

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Published
4 hours ago

More men have come forward to the BBC accusing the former chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner of sexual exploitation. Some allege they were abused, and some that they were injected with drugs.

Luke says he was shocked as he was guided into Mike Jeffries’ presidential suite in a hotel in Spain. "It was like a movie set of an Abercrombie store," he recalls of the event in 2011. "And I thought we were going to do a photoshoot."

He says the room was dimly lit with erotic photos of men’s abs adorning the dark walls. In the middle, a group of assistants dressed in Abercrombie & Fitch uniforms - polos, blue jeans and flip-flops - were casually folding clothes on a table, pretending to be shop workers, he says.

Then aged 20, Luke says he had been offered the chance of being in a company advert if he flew from his home in Los Angeles to Madrid to meet the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F).

Luke says the proposal had come via a modelling website from a man who said he worked as a talent scout and executive assistant for Mr Jeffries - then head of the billion-dollar teen retailer.

Warning: This story contains accounts of sexual violence

In the suite, he says Mr Jeffries' assistants began engaging in role-play, encouraging him to act as a shirtless greeter, a hallmark of A&F stores at the time. Luke says he remembers the talent scout saying: "Now I have two very important guests, and these are going to be the customers that you need to impress and entertain because they're going to be buying a lot of clothes from you."

At that moment, he says Mr Jeffries and his life partner, Matthew Smith, came out of a corner of the room. They immediately started touching him and Mr Jeffries forcibly kissed him, he says. "I was trying to avoid the whole situation as much as I could, but Michael was very aggressive." He says the Abercrombie boss then performed oral sex on him.

“I tried to say no repeatedly. And then I just got kind of convinced to do something. But I constantly was saying no, and I wanted to go.”

___

Luke (not his real name) is one of eight more men who have spoken to the BBC in the past year since we revealed allegations of sexual exploitation at events hosted by Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith. The FBI launched an investigation following the BBC’s reporting, and 20 men in total have now told us they attended or helped organise these events.

As well as Luke’s allegation, the new witnesses reveal fresh details about the scale of the events, which took place from at least 2009 until 2015 while Mr Jeffries was chief executive.

The BBC previously found there had been a sophisticated operation involving a middleman tasked with finding men for these events, but the new testimonies detail additional recruitment methods.

The men also raise new questions about the role of Mr Jeffries' assistants - a select group of young men in A&F uniforms who travelled around the world with him and supervised these sex events.

According to multiple men, Mr Jeffries' assistants injected some attendees in the penis with what they were told was liquid Viagra.

Chris, not his real name, told the BBC he felt he was "going to die" after one of these injections caused an extreme reaction during an event at one of Mr Jeffries' New York homes. Feeling "hot, dizzy" and in shock, he said nobody called for an ambulance. Still disorientated, he said Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith, who had been waiting in another room, then tried to have sex with him.

Former model Keith Milkie, 31, says one of Mr Jeffries' assistants had also "bragged" about having done some work for Abercrombie & Fitch at the same time as working at these sex events. He says this assistant was named on an event itinerary and the BBC found he also had an A&F company email.

While personal assistants of Mr Jeffries’ were often dressed in A&F uniforms, this is the first claim that a member of A&F staff was involved in the running of Mr Jeffries' sex events. When the BBC asked the company about this, it declined to answer, saying it does not comment on legal matters.

Mr Jeffries, 80, Mr Smith, 61, and A&F - which also owns the brand Hollister - are facing a civil lawsuit alleging the retailer funded a sex-trafficking operation over the two decades he had been in charge.

Mr Smith and Mr Jeffries did not respond to requests for comment. However, their lawyers’ have previously said they deny allegations of wrongdoing, adding: "The courtroom is where we will deal with this matter."

One former attendee, Diego Guillen, who says he has been interviewed by the FBI, told the BBC he was paid $500 (£380) every Saturday to make wake-up calls to men expected to attend these sex events in 2011. He estimated he made about 80 calls over seven months.

Mr Guillen, 42, says there was also a roster of attendees. Other sources have said this "database" could have as many as 60 different men on it at any given time, revealing a snapshot of the scale of those recruited.

He says he had initially attended sex events at Mr Jeffries' former New York homes after being recruited on the street by the couple’s middleman, James Jacobson.

Mr Guillen, now a lawyer and real estate broker who runs his own firm, says he had never had sex for money before, but at the time he was unemployed and homeless, sleeping in a friend’s office. Despite his circumstances then, he says he did not feel exploited.

After the FBI turned up at his door, Mr Guillen says he contacted Mr Jeffries' lawyer who sent a private investigator to interview him to help build their legal defence.

Mr Guillen says the other men present at the events he attended had been "under no obligation, under zero pressure" and "paid quite well".

"Michael and Matthew are high profile gay men and liked having sex with young, handsome men. And being older, they knew that the real way to get this done was to be generous," he says. "But with full consent and making sure that the [men] wanted it and liked it. And that's it."

Unlike other men who were recruited by the middleman, Luke says his initial contact was an assistant working for Mr Jeffries’ family office - a private company run by Mr Smith, which managed the then-CEO’s wealth and properties.

Luke says this assistant interviewed him over Skype, telling him to expect to be topless for the Madrid hotel photoshoot, but there were no obvious red flags. This man then organised his travel and accommodation, he says.

"It didn't seem like anything too out of the ordinary for me because even working at an Abercrombie store when I was younger, there was guys who would stand outside shirtless. That was like a trademark thing," says Luke.

Leaked travel plans show Mr Jeffries was scheduled to be in Madrid several times in 2011 ahead of opening a real A&F store.

The night before the event, Luke says he was paid €3,500 (£2,950) in cash, which he believed was "general spending money" for the three days he was in Madrid. But he says the assistant was "vague" about the plan.

World Of Secrets - The Abercrombie Guys

Hear two new episodes on BBC Sounds or here, external if you are outside the UK

He says in the hotel suite, Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith began having sex with two slightly older men - one he thought was in his 30s and the other in his 40s - present for the same event. Luke says Mr Jeffries' then started kissing him. Soon after, he says Mr Jeffries performed oral sex on him and Mr Smith attempted to do the same. He says he tried to perform "some sort of oral" sex on Mr Jeffries, but "couldn't".

"I'm getting fired because I didn't do what this guy wanted," Luke remembers thinking, believing he was about to lose his chance of a modelling job. "I could have just ran out of that room, but I didn't even know how I would have gotten out."

Luke says he felt unable to leave as Mr Jeffries' assistants - whom he perceived as security staff - were "watching exits".

Back home in the US, he says he felt unable to report what happened because of the non-disclosure agreement he had signed prior to the event.

"There's an immense amount of shame associated with this idea that you're not a masculine man if you've been molested or taken advantage of by another man," says Luke, who identifies as straight.

"My whole life I've struggled with people thinking that I'm gay and I got bullied in high school because I have a soft voice. The last thing on earth I was going to do is say something emasculating, like, I got molested and orally raped by a guy."

Luke says what happened in Madrid was "rocket fuel" for a drug addiction he later developed. In 2016, he was arrested for selling drugs and served six months in a correctional boot camp. He now runs his own business alongside helping people with addictions.

Keith Milkie says he attended numerous events hosted by Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith between 2012 and 2014. He says he understood these events would be sexual but that nothing Mr Jacobson said could "prepare you for what's going to happen" next.

Then aged about 20, Mr Milkie says he had been struggling to pay his rent after being invited to move to New York by an agent, who ran a house full of aspiring models. He says a housemate soon introduced the idea of escorting, and a contact later introduced him to Mr Jacobson.

Mr Milkie, who identified as straight at the time, says he found some of the events "uncomfortable" and "painful". On one occasion, in Paris, he says Mr Jeffries instructed him to have sex with another man, which he "did not want or enjoy".

During another, he says he was verbally abused by Mr Jeffries after saying "no" to a risky sexual act while on board the Queen Mary 2, an ocean liner which sails from England to New York. He says Mr Jeffries was drunk and tried to insert a "bleeding finger" into him.

"I was in the bed putting on a fake smile, crying on the inside," he says. "Here I am in the middle of the ocean having this person four times my age in that position of power and influence belittle me to death and literally call me worthless… simply because I said no to something."

He says Mr Jacobson paid him about $24,000 (£18,400) in cash for the seven-night cruise.

According to his event itineraries, which had been sent by Mr Jacobson, another of these sex events was just days after it had been publicly announced Mr Jeffries was stepping down as CEO of A&F in December 2014. Mr Milkie believes that final meeting marked the end of these events.

"The personification of Mike Jeffries is Abercrombie. He had the hair plugs, the plastic surgery, he wore the clothes, he wore the flip-flops. I mean, you talk about power. He projected his image on the entire country. His places where he lived were literally an Abercrombie store. It was like fantasy land," he says.

"Without that sort of power, that sort of fear and influence, I imagine it's just like a lot harder to keep people quiet, which is why years later people are talking about it."

After the BBC’s initial investigation was published last year, A&F announced it was opening an independent investigation into the allegations raised. When we recently asked when this report will be completed - and if the findings would be made public - the company declined to answer.

Like Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith, the brand has been trying to get the civil lawsuit against it dismissed, arguing it had no knowledge of "the supposed sex-trafficking venture" led by its former CEO - which it has been accused of having funded.

Earlier this year, a US court ruled that A&F must cover the cost of Mike Jeffries' legal defence as he continues to fight the civil allegations of sex-trafficking and rape. The judge ruled the allegations were tied to his corporate role after he sued the brand for refusing to pay his legal fees.

The brand said it does not comment on legal matters. However, in its defence submitted to court, A&F said its current leadership team was "previously unaware of" the allegations until the BBC contacted it, adding the company "abhors sexual abuse and condemns the alleged conduct" by Mr Jeffries and others.

Mr Jacobson - the middleman - previously said in a statement through his lawyer that he took offence at the suggestion of "any coercive, deceptive or forceful behaviour on my part" and had "no knowledge of any such conduct by others".

Published
5 hours ago

Donald Trump has said he will mass deport migrants in a small Ohio town that has been rocked by baseless claims that its Haitian influx are eating pets and park animals.

"We're going to start with Springfield," Trump said on Friday, adding the town had been "destroyed" by immigration. He mentioned a second city in Colorado, which right-wing commentators have falsely claimed is in the hands of a Venezuelan gang.

Springfield officials say that the debunked claim of pet-eating has sent shockwaves through its community, and has led to violent threats that have shut schools.

President Joe Biden appealed for calm on Friday, calling criticism of Haitians in Springfield "simply wrong".

"This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop," Mr Biden said of Trump's statements.

The Republican candidate's promise comes after nearly a week of false claims about migrants killing pets and children in Springfield.

The claims of animal eating, which Trump repeated in his debate with Kamala Harris on Tuesday, has been debunked by Springfield's police chief and mayor, as well as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

On Friday, three schools in Springfield were evacuated due to bomb threats. At least one of the threats made disparaging comments about Haitians, according to Springfield Mayor Bob Rue.

It comes after city hall and several other buildings, as well as one school, were evacuated on Thursday due to threats.

Trump was asked whether he was considering a visit to the town during a press conference at his golf course in Los Angeles on Friday.

"I can say this, we will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio – large deportations. We're going to get these people out. We're bringing them back to Venezuela," he said.

The migrants in Springfield are mostly from Haiti, and have legal permission to be in the US under a federal programme for Haitians.

It was not immediately clear why Trump mentioned Venezuela. Although throughout his remarks he made references to an influx of Venezuelan migrants to Aurora, Colorado, and said deportations would also begin there if he won the presidential election in November.

On Friday, Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted posted a photo online of two migratory Canadian geese. "Most Americans agree that these migrants should be deported," he said.

Published
13 September 2024

In Cardigan Bay, bottle-nosed dolphin Tallie and her newborn Summer have been delighting wildlife spotters in recent days.

But few lucky enough to spot the cow and its calf will know they are both named after a 22-year old Sea Watch, external intern who died a little over four months ago.

Tallie Brazier was killed in a car crash on the A5117 in Elton, Cheshire, on 15 April.

Her mother Adele Nightingale said she would have been incredibly touched by the gesture.

"I just wish she was here to see it," she said.

Tallie, who was from Oswestry, Shropshire, graduated from Bangor University last year with a degree in Marine Biology with Vertebrate Zoology.

She then spent the summer working as an intern at Sea Watch in New Quay, Ceredigion, where she actually spotted and logged the dolphin that would go on to share her name.

"We would very often get video calls when she was on the boat and there’d be a pod of dolphins behind her and you’d hear squeals of delight and joy at what they’d seen," said Adele.

Sea Watch is a national marine environmental charity working to improve the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the seas around Britain and Ireland.

Its flagship project in New Quay monitors Cardigan Bay's 200 dolphins, the only semi-resident population of bottlenose dolphins in Wales, and the largest in the UK.

Adele said Tallie’s love of sealife began after watching animated film Finding Nemo when she was two or three years old.

Then from junior school she decided she wanted to work with dolphins and began scuba diving at eight. She eventually became a Padi-qualified rescue diver, diving all over the world.

This month she was due to return to Bangor to begin her Master's in Marine Predator Ecology.

“She had so much to do and so much to live for,” said Adele.

On the day of the crash, Tallie and her boyfriend had been heading out for lunch and a day of shopping.

"It was a very ordinary Monday," Adele said.

"All the times she’s gone diving 22 metres and I’ve been worried about her, but I did not worry that day."

Adele was working from home when she received a text message from Tallie's phone saying it had been involved in a collision.

It included a pin location.

"I tried to phone her straight away, her sister was here and we were both trying to phone her," said Adele.

"I phoned her dad and he said he’d had [the text] as well."

The three of them made the 40-minute drive to Elton while desperately trying to get through to Tallie.

But as they got nearer, they realised the road was closed and they could see ambulances and a helicopter ahead.

They made themselves known to the police and were blue-lit to the hospital.

"It was at the hospital while we were in the relatives' room that the doctor came in and told us that Tallie hadn't survived the crash," said Adele.

"I don’t remember a great deal. My younger daughter says that all she can remember is that I was screaming.

"I remember saying to the nurse 'it should be me, I would take her place'. It felt very surreal."

She said they were taken to see Tallie to say goodbye.

"I can still see that, I can still see Tallie on the resus table. Then the police talked to us and brought us home," said Adele.

Months on, the events of that day still don't seem real.

"I still think she's going to walk in. I can’t quite take in that this is permanent, that she’s gone forever," she said.

At Tallie's funeral, instead of flowers, the family asked for donations and raised almost £3,000.

Then TNS FC in Oswestry, who Tallie had played for as a goalie when she was younger, set up The Tallie Brazier Cup, which raised more than £6,000.

They donated the money to Sea Watch who set up the Tallie Brazier Scholarship, which will fund an intern next year.

Sea Watch then suggested naming a dolphin after Tallie.

"If she was here she’d be absolutely amazed, she would be so touched by that," said Adele.

Then last week Adele received another call from Sea Watch.

"They got in touch to say the Tallie dolphin has actually got a calf… and they asked us if we would like to name Tallie’s calf," she said.

They settled on Summer - Tallie's middle name.

Sea Watch estimates Summer was born between 16 and 19 August as Tallie was seen without a calf on the morning of the 16th and then with a calf on the 19th.

"We are absolutely honoured that Sea Watch came up with the idea and that they have done that for Tallie," said Adele.

"The outpouring of love and respect for Tallie from the town, from the university, from TNS, from Sea Watch has meant an awful lot to me.

"I've always been proud of both of my girls and I'm still proud of Tallie, she’s raising that awareness."

She said talking and being surrounded by family, work colleagues, friends and Tallie’s friends had been key to processing her grief.

"The best thing anybody ever says to me when I see them is 'I have no words'," said Adele.

"I’ve heard a lot of platitudes and I understand that very often they come from places of good intention but the best thing anybody can say is 'I have no idea how you’re feeling'... it really is one of those situations where unless you've walked in these shoes, you really don't know and cannot even imagine."

Now, Adele says the the focus is on keeping her intelligent, funny, considerate and affectionate daughter's memory alive.

"It is really important to me,” said Adele.

“She mattered, she absolutely mattered to all of us and the world has lost a really good person."

Published
13 September 2024

Around 1,500 stretches of Welsh roads could be considered to have speed limits put back to 30mph a year after they were reduced to 20mph, BBC research shows.

More than 10,500 requests have been received by Welsh councils from residents to reassess roads that saw their limit lowered when the policy was introduced in September last year.

Police point to a drop in road causalities and crashes to suggest Wales' flagship policy is working, although a recent poll said seven in ten people still oppose the new limit.

One motoring organisation has said traffic calming measures like speed bumps should be installed to force drivers to do 20mph.

Welsh ministers said a 20mph limit would reduce deaths and noise and encourage people to walk or cycle when it was implemented in September 2023 - but it caused controversy with some drivers.

The limit changed on about 35% of Welsh roads - about 22,000 miles (35,171 km) in total - last year where lamp-posts are no more than 200 yards (183m) apart.

There was a huge backlash to the £34m policy as almost half a million people signed a Senedd petition opposing 20mph and demonstrations were held. Road signs were also defaced.

Wales' new transport minister rolled back on parts of the controversial law earlier this year in response to “consistent” concerns and later gave councils an extra £5m to reassess speed limits on 20mph roads from this month.

Now the BBC can reveal authorties have received more than 10,500 requests to consider changing about 1,500 stretches of road back to 30mph from 20mph.

The Welsh government said it expected most changes to be on main A and B roads "which are typically main or strategic roads" and "away from places that attract frequent pedestrians".

Newport had by far the most requests, external to raise speed limits from 20mph with 3,500 appeals from local residents for 334 locations to go back to 30mph.

In other parts of Wales, 257 stretches of 20mph road in Carmarthenshire will be considered to revert back to 30mph, while 207 will be reviewed in Cardiff and 202 in Denbighshire. Three of Wales' 22 councils were unable to provide data.

Official statistics show 78,246 drivers have been caught doing more than 20mph since enforcement began in January, with 30,568 facing either a speed awareness course, external or points and a fine last month, the highest monthly total yet.

The average speed for those caught was just over 28mph.

Police have said enforcement is a last resort, with the speed enforcement threshold higher in Wales than England.

"Our preferred outcome is drivers are not fined, not getting points on their licence and seeing the benefits of lower speeds in the right areas," said Ch Insp Gareth Morgan of South Wales Police.

Speed thresholds in the UK are usually 10% higher than the speed limit, plus 2mph - so in England, the prosecution threshold for 20mph is 24mph.

But in Wales, the tolerance for 20mph is up to 26mph during a "transition period" for motorists in Wales.

"We've got to make allowances for people who are trying to do the right thing and were fractionally over the limit," added Ch Insp Morgan.

The 26mph threshold has been reviewed by GoSafe - a body made up of Wales' 22 councils, four police forces and the Welsh Government - this month and will remain until at least March.

"We'll see how traffic is behaving, and if we see there's an argument to bring it and those speeds down further in March, we will," said Teresa Ciano of GoSafe.

Motoring lawyer Jonathan Wilkins says the difference in tolerance levels between Wales and England can "cause real confusion".

But Ch Insp Morgan said: "The law is still 20mph regardless of whether it's a 4mph or 6mph allowance."

Statistics estimate 95% of those 28,272 drivers monitored in August on 20mph roads were complying with the enforcement threshold.

That data is drivers doing 26mph or under in Wales but one road safety and driving standards charity is calling on authorities to introduce traffic calming measures.

"The drop in the average speed is welcome, but you tend not to see people going 20mph," said Nicholas Lyes IAM RoadSmart.

"If the limit is 20mph, people should be going no faster than 20mph. When we look at compliance levels, a significant proportion are going faster. It's a slight concern.

"You need proper funding to implement safer infrastructure, including traffic calming measures such as speed humps and chicanes. Ultimately that'll be a huge influence on driver behaviour.

"We have to make sure that pedestrians and cyclists are safe as well so that would include things like protected cycle lanes."

Statistics show a drop in casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads in Wales in the first three months of 2024, after the default built-up area limit was reduced.

The number of serious casualties or fatalities has dropped 23%, and Wales' largest police force says there have been at least 11 less deaths on the roads in their area.

"There were nearly 100 deaths on Welsh roads every day, which is far too many," said Ch Insp Morgan.

"We needed to change something to bring that number down.

"It's early days but the number of collisions has reduced and where there were 35 fatalities in the South Wales Police force area last year, we're roughly a third down year-on-year.

"That's 11 or 12 less bereavements, 11 or 12 fewer families who haven't had to go through the trauma of losing a loved one.

"There's a significant change and shows slower speeds are safer. It's a positive impact."

The UK's first 20mph zone was introduced in Tinsley in Sheffield in 1991 now many areas of England - including Birmingham, Manchester and most London boroughs - have 20mph limits in built-up areas.

Most of Scotland's urban roads are due to drop to 20mph limits by 2025 while Northern Ireland has part-time 20mph speed limits outside more than 100 schools.

A recent YouGov poll, external claimed seven in ten people in Wales still oppose the new default limit in built-up areas with four in ten drivers saying they regularly break it.

The opposition Conservative party want to reverse Wales' 20mph speed limit policy and Wales' new First Minister Eluned Morgan has admitted the rollout created problems.

But the Welsh Labour government say they have no intention of scrapping it although they did update their guidance for local highways teams.

Published
13 September 2024

Pope Francis has called both major US presidential candidates "against life" and advised Catholic voters to choose the "lesser evil" when casting their ballots in the November election.

The pontiff said not welcoming migrants - seemingly referring to Trump - is a "grave" sin, and compared Kamala Harris's stance on abortion to an "assassination".

“Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ the Pope said in rare political comments at a Friday news conference as he wrapped up a 12-day tour through southeast Asia.

The Pope did not refer to Harris or Trump by name in his comments.

American Catholics make up 52 million of the 1.4 billion Catholics globally.

Pope Francis was asked to consul Catholic voters during the in-flight news conference and noted in his remarks that he was not an American and would not be voting in the election.

But he encouraged Americans to vote.

"Not voting is ugly. It is not good. You must vote," he said.

"You must choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don't know. Everyone, in conscience, (has to) think and do this."

The Pope has frequently criticised abortion, which is forbidden by Catholic teaching, in sharp terms.

"Forcing a child from the mother's womb is an assassination because there is life there," Francis said.

And this is not his first time making critical comments about Trump.

During the 2016 election, he described Trump as "not Christian" because of the presidential contender's anti-immigrant language.

"Expelling migrants, not letting them develop, not letting them have a life is an ugly thing, it's mean," he said on Friday.

Trump has repeatedly promised to crack down on illegal immigration and as recently as Friday afternoon said he would deport millions of immigrants if re-elected.

Harris has promised to expand nationwide protections for access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Pope Francis's remarks come days after Trump and Harris debated one another for the first time. The pair was expected to take the debate stage one more time before election day, but Trump has said he would not debate Harris again.

Published
5 hours ago

Online adverts for junk food will not be allowed from next year under new government rules introduced to tackle childhood obesity.

The ban, which will also apply to adverts shown on TV before 21:00, will begin in October 2025.

Health minister Andrew Gwynne said the restrictions will “help protect children” from advertising that evidence shows can influence their eating preferences from a young age.

More than one in five children in England are overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, government statistics, external suggest. This rises to more than one in three by the time they leave.

Under the new rules a particular food will be banned if it meets two criteria.

Firstly, if it is classified as “less healthy” on a government scoring system after its nutrients have been analysed – this includes salt, fat, sugar and protein.

Secondly, if it falls into one of 13 categories created by the government. They include:

Other foods also exempted from the ban include infant formula and baby food, weight control products, meal replacement products, food supplements and drinks used for medicinal purposes.

An advert ban is not the first government policy designed to help people eat less junk food - and generally consume fewer calories - that has been introduced in recent years.

Restrictions implemented in 2009 meant junk food could not be shown during the broadcast of programmes aimed at under-16s.

The policy also prohibited celebrities and animated characters from promoting claims about how healthy these food products were to children of primary school age and under.

A tax on soft drinks was announced in 2016. By 2019, it had helped remove around 45,000 tonnes of sugar from drinks sold in Britain, according to a report by Public Health England.

This is because manufacturers changed their recipes to lessen sugar content, which then reduced the tax they had to pay on sales of their drinks.

In April 2022, it became a legal requirement for hospitality businesses employing at least 250 staff - such as restaurant and café chains - to print how many calories were in each dish on their menu.

That same year, medium-to-large supermarkets in England were also stopped from displaying certain unhealthy food and drink in particular areas.

The UK government first began discussing the need to limit junk food advertising in the 1990s. A 2001 report by the National Audit Office showed obesity in England had trebled in the previous 20 years.

Shortly afterwards, the UK’s chief medical officers called obesity a “time bomb”, warning that otherwise healthy lives would be cut short and NHS costs would increase.

Other countries are also considering a ban on TV adverts for junk food aimed at young people.

Norway will ban marketing aimed at under-18s for products like soft drinks, sweets and ice cream.

Portugal has restricted the advertising of unhealthy food on TV and radio at broadcast times when at least 25% of the audience is made up of under-16s.

The EU published a report in 2023 recommending that member nations adopt restrictions on junk food marketing targeting under-18s across all media platforms. The policy has not been approved yet by the European Parliament.

Dr Xand van Tulleken and Dr Dolly van Tulleken join Adam Fleming on Newscast to chat about confusing portion sizes, ultra-processed foods and how the government could act to improve Britain’s diet.

Newscast - Junk Food for Thought

Published
5 hours ago

Falling mortgage rates may, at last, be bringing some relief to embattled homeowners and first-time buyers.

In a market described as "frenetic", lenders are locked in intense competition for new customers while simultaneously trying to hold on to borrowers already on their books.

On supposedly unlucky Friday the 13th alone, big-name providers such as the Nationwide, HSBC and NatWest reduced their fixed rates. In an unusual move, TSB did so for the second time in a week.

Analysts expect further cuts to come, but brokers say the fear of missing out (FOMO) on better deals is paralysing some borrowers.

Failing to act before their current deal expires leaves them exposed to a much more expensive variable rate.

During the last couple of years, mortgage rates have featured in discussions from chats around the dinner table to election debates.

About 1.6 million existing borrowers had relatively cheap fixed-rate deals expiring this year. Hundreds of thousands of potential first-time buyers have been hoping to get a place of their own.

Yet, rates have been volatile and much higher than what was the norm for more than a decade.

The interest rate on a fixed mortgage does not change until the deal expires, usually after two or five years, and a new one is chosen to replace it.

Average rates on new deals are now 5.49% for a two-year deal, the lowest for more than a year. Five-year deals have an average rate of 5.15%, according to the financial information service Moneyfacts.

However, the best, so-called headline, rates are reserved for those borrowing a small proportion of the value of the home (known as loan-to-value). A few are at levels not seen since rates shot up following the mini-Budget in the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss.

"Momentum is really starting to build now and the cuts are coming thick and fast.," said Emma Jones, managing director at broker When The Bank Says No.

"Borrowers are the winners as lenders seek to compete for all-important market share as we head into the final months of the year."

The Bank of England's interest rate cut in August, with the potential for more to come, is part of the reason for falling mortgage rates.

That came slightly too late for Johnny and Sophie Abbott, whose last mortgage deal expired at the end of July.

When they spoke to the BBC in March, the couple from Loughborough, who have three children, admitted every option seemed like a gamble.

In the end, they chose to buy a home that needed renovation.

"We took the plunge and can just about deal with the mortgage," said Mr Abbott. "It will be great when it's done."

In June, the Bank of England said three million households would see their mortgage payments rise in the next two years, and about 400,000 mortgage holders were facing some “very large" payment increases.

A few months ago, Gary Rees expected to have to make serious lifestyle changes when his current deal expires in October. Now, things are looking better.

Yet, typical of many, the benefit is a smaller rise in his monthly mortgage repayments, not a fall. To be blunt, the financial punch won't hurt as much.

"It's improved, but my mortgage rate is still likely to double, rather than triple," he said.

He is expecting to settle on a two-year deal, in the hope of further rate falls. The Bank of England's next interest rate decision is on Thursday, although analysts are predicting a hold at 5%.

These two cases show that, although things are looking more positive for borrowers, not all are getting an equal benefit. Savers, meanwhile, are seeing the interest they receive worsen.

Brokers say that lenders have been offering the best deals to new, house-purchasing customers, rather than those who are remortgaging.

With relatively few buyers, providers are trying to get a piece of a small pie, according to David Hollingworth, of broker L&C. That includes offering loans at higher multiples of income, up to 5.5 times.

He said that while the lowest rates were "not divebombing", the market was frenetic.

The market could also improve for remortgagers, he said, as lenders try to hit year-end targets.

Mr Hollingworth said the danger for any borrowers endlessly waiting for even lower rates to come is that they do nothing.

If a fixed deal expires, then borrowers automatically move on to their lender's standard variable rate - which currently carries an average interest demand of 7.99%, which is two-and-a-half percentage points higher than a new two-year deal.

Adviser Jo Jingree, director of Mortgage Confidence, said people in the process of buying or remortgaging could still switch to a better deal if rates continued to fall before their personal deadline.

"I’ve seen first-hand that customers have been able to achieve revised mortgage offers on the lower rates which will save them money on their monthly payments," she said.

Borrowers should monitor their rates, particularly a few weeks before their mortgage completes, to ensure they are getting the best possible rate, said Aaron Strutt, of broker Trinity Financial.

He expected rates to keep falling, especially if the Bank of England cuts the base rate on Thursday, or later this year.

With the cost of funding mortgages coming down, some in the industry suggest lenders could have cut rates more quickly.

They say lenders are making smaller price cuts week after week when they could be making larger reductions in one go.

Read more here.

Published
5 hours ago

Two US astronauts stranded in space for eight months have said it was hard to watch their malfunctioning craft depart the International Space Station without them, but they were happy and trained to "expect the unexpected".

In a press conference on Friday, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore appeared happy and healthy after being told by Nasa to stay onboard the ISS due to potential faults with their Boeing Starliner re-entry vehicle.

"This is my happy place," said Ms Williams, but she admitted she missed her family and two dogs.

They said they they were not "comfortable" with some issues on the Starliner, but were still sad to see it leave the station and return to Earth without them this week.

The pair thanked people for sending them messages and prayers. "The concern for us specifically is very heart-warming," Mr Wilmore said.

Asked if they felt let down by Nasa, Mr Wilmore replied "absolutely not".

The pair left Earth in June for an eight-day mission to test Boeing Starliner's capsule. Engineers noticed problems with its thrusters and a helium leak, and Nasa decided to keep Ms Williams, 58, and Mr Wilmore, 61, on the ISS until 2025.

They are scheduled to come back on spaceship made by SpaceX, which is Boeing's rival company.

Both companies were given contracts by Nasa to provide commercial space travel to its astronauts, with the hope that it will drive down costs.

Neither astronaut was likely to say anything critical of Nasa or Boeing.

Mr Wilmore acknowledged that there were issues with Starliner.

"We found some things that we just could not comfortable with when we had other options," he said.

But he then added he thinks the craft would have eventually been useable as a return vehicle.

"We could have got to the point where we returned on Starliner but we just simply ran out of time," he said.

The craft returned to Earth last week without the crew, and will now be analysed to identify what went wrong.

Both astronauts said it had been a challenging time for them and it had been hard to watch the Starliner craft leave without them.

"We were watching our spaceship fly away," said Ms Williams.

Mr Wilmore however said that 90% of training was "preparing for the unexpected".

He added that they would stay up their for "eight months, nine months, 10 months" if necessary.

They also discussed their routines - Mr Wilmore gets up at 04:30 and Ms Williams at 06:30.

And both said they enjoy the two hours or more of exercise they must do daily to combat the loss of bone density from living in space.

"Your joints don't hurt, which is quite nice," added Mr Wilmore.

They have applied for postal ballots so they can vote in the upcoming US election.

Ms Williams said that being in space makes her think more about planet Earth.

"It opens up the door to making you think a bit differently. It's the one planet we have, and we should be taking care of it," she said.

"There are so many people on Earth sending us messages it makes you feel right at home with everybody."

Published
6 hours ago

A Scottish government minister has told the BBC that there is a "possible buyer" for the Grangemouth oil refinery.

Owners Petroineos confirmed on Thursday that it was closing the facility on the Firth of Forth with the loss of 400 jobs.

Public finance minister Ivan McKee said: “Going from a conversation to concluding a deal is clearly a long journey - but my understanding is there absolutely is a potential buyer.”

Grangemouth is Scotland's only refinery and accounts for about 14% of the UK's overall refining capacity.

The Scottish and UK governments have said they have a joint plan to secure a long-term future for the site.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions? programme in Glasgow, McKee said: "We're working closely with the UK government to explore options of what can be done to support the jobs there and keep the plant going.

"I know that there's been talk of potential buyers coming in to run the operation and all of those avenues will be explored fully.

He added: "There is a possible buyer, clearly there’s a process to be gone through.

"The local MSP Michelle Thomson is working closely with them at the moment."

Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, had suggested there was the potential buyer at First Minister's Questions at Holyrood on Thursday.

But she said she could not identify the interested party because she had agreed to keep the information confidential.

The BBC understands the refinery - the oldest in the UK - is currently losing about $500,000 (£383,000) a day and is on course to lose about $200m (£153m) in 2024.

Petroineos confirmed on Thursday that it would close the refinery after announcing its intentions in November last year.

It said this was due to it being unable to compete with sites in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Petroineos said the closure would "safeguard fuel supply for Scotland" by converting the site into a terminal to import petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and kerosene into Scotland.

But this would require a workforce of fewer than 100 employees compared to the current 475.

First Minister John Swinney said it was a "deeply troubling" situation and denied there has been a lack of action by the Scottish government over the closure.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the UK government did everything it could, but Petroineos "didn’t countenance having a discussion” about keeping the refinery open.

Unions said the facility should have remained open longer to provide time for a green alternative to be established.

Derek Thomson of the Unite union said: "The failure of government to plan properly for a just transition will leave thousands of people out of work at Grangemouth but also thousands in the future if we don’t get it right."

The refinery was opened by BP in 1924 and expanded into petrochemicals in the 1950s.

It is the main supplier of aviation fuel for Scotland's airports and a major supplier of petrol and diesel ground fuels across the Central Belt.

Ineos acquired the site in 2005 and are responsible for the entire plant, while the the refinery itself is owned by Petroineos - a joint venture between Ineos and PetroChina.

Published
13 September 2024

The chances of Northern Ireland hosting matches at the Euro 2028 football tournament appear to have gone.

The UK government announced on Friday night that the estimated cost of rebuilding Casement Park stadium in Belfast has "risen dramatically" to more than £400m.

The government said it will not be providing funding to redevelop the stadium in time for the tournament.

It said there was a "significant risk" that the stadium would not be built in time.

In a statement, the Ulster GAA called the announcement “bitterly disappointing,” adding that it would provide a more detailed response in the coming days.

A spokesperson for the Irish FA said it will "consider the implications of this with our bid partners and UEFA.”

The announcement was made in a joint letter from NI Secretary Hilary Benn and Sports Minister Lisa Nandy to Stormont Minister Gordon Lyons, who is in charge of sport in Northern Ireland.

In the letter, Benn and Nandy said: "The estimated build costs have risen dramatically - from £180m when the EURO 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400m - and there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament.

"We have therefore, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at EURO 2028."

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said his department remains "committed to the 2011 agreement with the GAA for a GAA stadium".

He added that he will work with the UK government and other stakeholders to "ensure that there is a lasting legacy for football in Northern Ireland".

In order to be ready for the 2028 tournament, Casement Park needs to be rebuilt by the summer of 2027.

Northern Ireland could have a role as a training base or host warm-up matches at the existing Windsor Park stadium, but hosting tournament fixtures appears to be over.

Plans have been in place to build a new stadium at Casement Park since 2011.

The initial estimated cost of rebuilding Casement was £77.5m, with £62.5m coming from the Stormont executive and £15m from the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

That was more than a decade ago, and since then costs have risen dramatically.

To try to cater for soccer as well as GAA matches increased the cost further, as UEFA requires a higher specification of stadium.

Although hopes of being part of the Euro 2028 tournament may be over, it does not mean the stadium cannot be rebuilt for the GAA, which was the original purpose.

However, that will not be cheap either, and the GAA will be hoping that even though the UK government has said it will not be funding a Euro 2028 compliant stadium, it may still contribute to the redevelopment whenever it happens.

The Irish government has already pledged more than £40m.

Benn and Nandy's letter said the government has "always been committed to ensuring that Northern Ireland could host the Euros if there was any way to achieve that."

It added the decision was made after "swiftly but fully" analysing if Casement Park could be "successfully completed" to the UEFA timelines and with their "minimum requirements".

The letter added the stadium might not be completed in time due to "almost no progress" having been made in the period between the Euro game being awarded to Belfast and the election of the new government.

"This has been a very difficult decision to make, given our belief in the Euro 2028 partnership, but it is the only way forward in the circumstances," the letter added.

Negotiations on funding for Casement Park had long been in extra time, but the government has blown the final whistle on Euro 2028 happening in Belfast.

It was, of course, the Conservatives who passed this particular political football to Labour when they won the general election some two months ago.

However, the now-infamous quote that we’ll hear again in the days to come was then Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris saying in 2023: “Don’t you worry, we’ll get the money”.

From that moment on, an expectation was set, but for months there had been a growing sense that the money would not be coming.

The Labour government in its latest letter—pushed out on a Friday night after evening news programmes had ended (which will prompt its own questions)—makes clear the cost now is too big and the timetable too short.

Both the redevelopment's biggest cheerleaders and those in unionism who less willingly backed the project can now point the finger of blame at Number 10 for Northern Ireland missing out on hosting part of the tournament.

Those who feel an own goal in economic and sporting terms has been scored will make their voices heard in the days ahead.

But anger and frustration won’t change the fact that the dream of Euro 2028 matches in Belfast appears to be over, with the stadium’s future still far from clear.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill said the announcement is “deeply disappointing” and represents a “missed opportunity for sport and our economy”.

“Casement Park will be built,” she said. “It’s an Executive commitment, and something that both the British and Irish governments have committed to,” she said.

“We will continue to work with the GAA, our local executive and the two governments to push this project forward and get these state-of-the-art facilities built and a first-class stadium for Gaelic games delivered.

“Hilary Benn has said clearly that Casement Park will be built, so I would urge his government to honour the commitments they’ve made and let’s get it built.”

Published
13 September 2024

Thirty-seven people - including three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian national - have been sentenced to death over an attempt to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The men were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi in May.

Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin, the suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack, along with five others.

In total 51 people were tried in a military court, with hearings broadcast on national TV and radio.

Malanga's son Marcel, one of the US citizens sentenced to death, previously told the court that his father had threatened to kill him unless he took part.

His friend Tyler Thompson, was also given the death penalty. The pair, aged in their 20s, had played football together in Utah.

His stepmother Miranda Thompson in June told the BBC the family had "zero idea" how he had ended up in DR Congo.

"We were in complete shock as to what was happening, and the unknown. Everything we were learning was what we were getting off Google," she said.

The third American, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, had business interests with Christian Malanga.

Also sentenced to death was Jean-Jacques Wondo, a dual Congolese and Belgian citizen.

Human Rights Watch previously described him as a prominent researcher on regional politics and security, and suggested the evidence connecting him to the coup attempt was thin, external.

The AFP news agency reports that the Briton and Canadian nationals were of Congolese origin.

The court heard the British national, Youssouf Ezangi, had helped recruit some of the others who took part.

Of the 51 tried, 14 people were acquitted and freed, with the court finding they had no connection to the attack.

Those convicted have five days to appeal against their sentences.

Death sentences have not been carried out in DR Congo for roughly two decades - convicts who receive the penalty serve life imprisonment instead.

The government lifted this moratorium in March this year, citing the need to remove "traitors" from the nation’s dysfunctional army. However, no death penalties have been carried out since.

The attempted coup began in the capital, Kinshasa, in the early hours of 19 May. Armed men first attacked parliamentary speaker Vital Kamerhe’s home in Kinshasa then headed to the president’s official residence.

Witnesses say a group of about 20 assailants in army uniform attacked the palace and an exchange of gunfire followed.

An army spokesman later announced on national TV that security forces had stopped "an attempted coup d'etat".

Local media reports said the assailants were members of the New Zaire Movement linked to Malanga, an exiled DR Congolese politician.

Malanga was shot dead in the attack after resisting arrest, said army spokesperson Brig Gen Sylavin Ekenge.

President Tshisekedi was re-elected for a second term in disputed elections last year in December. He won about 78% of the vote.

DR Congo is a country with vast mineral wealth and a huge population. Despite this, life is difficult for many people, with conflict, corruption and poor governance persisting.

Much of the country's natural resources lie in the east where violence still rages despite Mr Tshisekedi's attempts to deal with the situation by imposing a state of siege, ceasefire deals and bringing in troops from neighbouring countries.

Additional reporting by Emery Makumeno in Kinshasa & Natasha Booty in London

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