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Today — 5 April 2026Main stream

镜相工作室|一亿独居者,不想独自死在家中

5 April 2026 at 11:13

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文丨李丹

深夜,昆山的一栋公寓里,钢管急促敲打墙壁、天花板的声响充斥着楼道。那是独居女孩瑶瑶的呼救——修理门锁时,她把自己反锁在了卫生间,而手机落在了玄关外。

相关阅读:中国新闻周刊|“死了么”,能活多久?

她用尽力气敲打,呼喊邻居的门牌号。在漫长的数十分钟里,她面对着独居生活最现实的恐惧:若无人发现,她要如何脱身?

近年来,独居被困的事件屡见不鲜。2021年时,有新闻报道了一名独居女子被困卫生间30小时获救的事件;2025年10月,同样有独居女性被困浴室,最终由消防员破拆三道门(入户门、卧室门、浴室门)才获救。这些事故每次发生,均能引发公众的关注与讨论。

人们对独居,更深的恐惧在于“无声的消失”——猝死、突发疾病或意外跌倒后,因无人知晓而错过黄金救援时间,甚至多日后才因异味被发现。

CDT 档案卡
标题:一亿独居者,不想独自死在家中
作者:佚名
发表日期:2025.7.9
来源:微信公众号“镜相工作室”
主题归类:甘肃天水幼儿园铅中毒事件
CDS收藏:公民馆
版权说明:该作品版权归原作者所有。中国数字时代仅对原作进行存档,以对抗中国的网络审查。详细版权说明

在隔海相望的日本,独居问题早已经成为一个日益严峻的社会问题。半个世纪以前,“孤独死”这一术语就出现在日本社会学与媒体报道中,用以描述无人陪伴死亡且遗体长时间未被发现的现象。

这种对“独居被困”“孤独死”的焦虑,在今年年初催生了一款名为“死了么”的App爆火。用户只需每日签到,系统便能确认其“存活”;一旦连续两日未签到,预设的联系人将收到提醒。这款仅靠“确认存在”功能登顶付费榜的应用,折射出的正是原子化社会中,个体对生命脆弱性的集体不安。

如今,“死了么”的热度已经退去,但许多独居者对“孤独死”的焦虑和恐惧,仍是一个值得思考和重视的问题。

意外发生的那一夜

洗完澡去开门,卫生间的门把手断在手里那一刻,贾月大脑一片空白。缓了两秒钟,她意识到自己现在赤身裸体地被困在了卫生间。更糟的是,她独居,家里没有其他人,手机也放在了别的房间。

首先感到的是慌张、无助和恐惧。等深呼吸几口,稍稍冷静下来,贾月在心里过了几种可能:房子是民宅不是公寓,墙体结实隔音好,指望邻居听见呼救不太可能;卫生间有扇窗户,但她觉得“即便往外喊,别人也不知道是哪里发出的声音”。

贾月放弃了呼救,环顾四周寻找自救的办法。门正中央是一块双层玻璃,“这是破局的关键。”她想。还缺一样把玻璃敲碎的工具,她的视线扫过脸盆、水桶、花洒,最后看向了拖把上的那根棍子。

贾月将拖把棍砸向玻璃,开始的几下,玻璃纹丝不动。她联想到公交车上的破窗锤,一点点倾斜拖把棍的角度,找到最受力的那个点,砸开了第一层玻璃。有一大片碎玻璃从高处掉下去,她差一点没躲开,玻璃渣飞溅到了拖鞋和脚面。在敲第二层玻璃的过程中,有半个多小时她始终找不到受力点,接近绝望。

一个多小时后,她终于将玻璃砸开,手从门中间伸出去,拧动外层的把手,终于开了门。脱离险境后,贾月崩溃地大哭,浑身发抖。

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图源:《独自生活的人们》

事后贾月有些埋怨自己,“其实门把手早就老化了,是自己一直没当回事。”贾月不知道的是,像这样意外被困的遭遇,并不是极端个例,也不完全是因为个人的疏忽。

瑶瑶正是在修理卫生间门锁时被困在里面的。去年2月份的一天,晚上十点多,瑶瑶拿着电钻、螺丝刀等工具,准备把卫生间坏了很久的门锁拆下来。卫生间就在玄关边上,为了空出手拿工具,她顺势把手机放到了玄关处。把外面一侧的锁拆掉后,她绕到卫生间里,“脑子搭错筋”地把门关了上去。

一开始她没有察觉到自己陷入了危险,依然在试图拆锁。直到发现锁怎么也拆不下来,门也打不开,她才后知后觉自己被困住了。她在卫生间的角落找到过去拼装家具剩下的两根钢管,用钢管疯狂地敲击四周的墙壁和天花板,大喊邻居们的门牌号,“2508,救命!”“2607,救命!”,也对着下水道呼救,“因为那时候11点多,这个时间可能邻居在洗澡洗漱,有几率听到。”

敲了好一会,没有回音。

她又尝试把钢管插到锁孔里,想强行把锁破开,却发现自己力气不够大,卫生间的空间也太小,难以操作。好在门中间也是玻璃,最后她用钢管和电钻又砸又撬,把玻璃砸出了裂口。

砸到一半时,门铃响了。不知道是朝哪个方向的呼救被听到,门外来了一对情侣,问瑶瑶是不是需要帮助。她想如果叫修锁师傅,还要将大门的门锁强行破开,于是朝门的方向喊,“我再试一遍,不行再帮我喊师傅。”最后一遍敲击,玻璃整块掉了下来,露出一道窄窄的缝隙,她从缝中挤了出去。后来她找师傅把锁拆掉,没再装,全家只剩下大门一个锁。

独居四年,这是瑶瑶第一次对独居产生恐惧。后来,她将这段经历发到网上,有一个网友回复说,他也曾经历过类似的事情,还是靠喊Siri报警,消防员从窗户翻进家里破开了卫生间门,自己才脱困。

给自己织一张安全网

几乎每一个独居者都能讲出一个“差点出事”的瞬间。

有的是高烧、低血糖忽然在家晕倒,醒来时自己已经摔得鼻青脸肿;有的是不慎滑倒磕到头,陷入昏迷;如果是女性,还要时刻提防着被骚扰、跟踪、标记。

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图片来源:电影《门锁》

在独居之前,瑶瑶和大学同学合租过,也和比她大两轮的嬢嬢住过,还住过和陌生人共享一个客厅的套间。不论是哪种情况,她都很少考虑安全问题,“但独居了,就一定要考虑这个事情,因为任何一种情况即便发生概率再低,只要发生了,后果就是无法预估的。”

瑶瑶养成了一些新习惯。早晨去家对面的健身房,等电梯时,她会转过身,视线正对电梯前的空地,背对电梯门,因为“我不会把我的后背留给空空的地方。”等电梯到了,再后退着走进电梯。

下班回家,在地库停好车,她会在出车门的同时摘掉一只耳机,只戴一只,以便留心身边环境的变化。如果有人与她同乘电梯,并且在一个楼层,她会往上再坐几楼,或者出电梯后往家的反方向走。

进家门前,她会观察一圈门周围的墙壁,看是否出现奇怪的标记。晚上睡觉,门、窗的保险是一定要全部打开的,她还会特意把钥匙收进抽屉,不会放在公开的地方,“因为我很担心(陌生人)通过门或者窗把钥匙掏出去。”

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图源:《百元之恋》

这种对陌生人的高度戒备,在独居女性中极为普遍。独居在云南的建模设计师林灵,就曾因一次“送猫”经历惊出一身冷汗。她在网上为小猫找领养,对方问得很细,她看微信头像是个女生便放松了警惕,告知了地址。对方却将取猫时间一拖再拖,最后说要半夜12点上门。

“我越想越害怕,不会没遇到虐猫的,遇到人贩子了吧?”当时她刚把车停进地库,不敢直接上楼,谎称“我让我老公拿过去给你们”。对方立刻不再回复。她叫了个外卖,确认家门口无人蹲守后,才从后备箱拿出小锤子,电梯故意多坐两层,再从楼梯间悄悄摸回家。

为了对抗这种无处不在的不安,一套套“独居安全SOP”在社交媒体上流传:门口常年放一双男士拖鞋,阳台上挂几件男式衬衫,营造“家中有壮丁”的假象;外卖和快递一律写化名,地址只写到小区,绝不暴露具体门牌;智能猫眼、阻门器、门窗传感器成了标配,甚至有人建议随身带一支录音笔,录几句男声对话,关键时刻播放震慑。

这些繁琐的生存法则,本质上是一场关于“被看见”的博弈——她们既渴望在突发意外时能被及时听见,又不得不在日常生活中,极力隐藏自己独自一人的痕迹。

与年轻独居者不同,形势更迫切的是老年独居者们的担忧,往往不是门口那双“男士拖鞋”能否吓退陌生人,而是深夜突发心梗时,能否在“黄金4分钟”内被救援;自己若无声无息离去,要过多久才会被发现。

“孤独死”正在成为一个迫近的现实隐忧。

这种对“无声消失”的恐惧,并非空穴来风。在已进入超老龄社会的日本,“孤独死”已被量化。根据日本警察厅公布的数据,2024年日本有约7.6万名独居者在家中去世,其中超过2.1万人被认定为“孤独死”,有253人是在死亡超过一年后才被发现。

日本曾报道过许多孤独死事件,每一则读起来都让人不忍。曾有一名69岁男子在家中去世,他的月租和水电费被自动从银行账户中扣除,直到去世三年后他的积蓄耗尽,人们才在他的家中发现了他,尸体已被蛆虫和甲虫啃噬。

在国内,相关的“孤独死”新闻报道,也开始频繁出现。

全年龄段的独居者都需要“生命确认”和“紧急求助”,“死了么”的走红即是这些需求的显影。

刚性的需求,稀缺的供给

“死了么”App,如今已改名为“Demumu”(“De”取自Death,“mumu”试图营造萌感)。它在年初的爆红,充满了黑色幽默。

这款由几名95后开发的轻量工具,逻辑简单到残酷:用户每日手动签到,若连续多日未操作,系统会自动向预设的紧急联系人发送邮件。它没有复杂的救援功能,卖的纯粹是“万一出事有人知道”的心理保险。

2021年中国统计年鉴显示,我国“一人户”超过1.25亿。据贝壳研究院,2030年中国独居人口或将达到1.5亿-2亿人。“死了么”凭借直击痛点的命名和独居人口的庞大基数,迅速冲上苹果App Store付费榜首位,日均新增用户暴涨数百倍,团队估值一度被推至数千万元。

流量来得快,争议与模仿者更快。因名称被指“晦气”及商标争议,这款APP进行了改名。几乎同时,应用商店涌现出“活着么”“报平安”等大量仿品,甚至有开发者利用AI工具在数小时至一天内复刻出同类应用。

但这场热闹来得快去得也快:随着话题降温、仅靠邮件提醒且误报率高的功能短板暴露, 加上运营主体(月境(郑州)技术服务有限公司)因经营异常被列入名录,这款曾刷屏的App最终从榜单消失。

“死了么”的昙花一现,像极了此前流行的“熬夜险”“猝死险”——它们都是焦虑催生的一次性安慰剂,却没能真正解决独居救助的难题。

去年六月,呼吸检测产品开发者夏喆骏的父亲,因为一个人呆在储藏室里,心脏骤停倒下十多分钟后才被人发现,错过了黄金抢救时间而离世。

父亲的离世给夏喆骏带来很大震动,一方面让他意识到急救的重要性,“如果发生危险的时候能有什么工具通知到身边的人,救回来的概率就会大很多。”另一方面他想到父亲走后母亲一个人独居在家,要如何避免重蹈覆辙?

事实上,市场并不缺少和安全相关的产品,许多主流科技公司都有这方面的尝试,Apple的Apple Watch有跌倒检测、心率异常提醒、SOS紧急求助等功能;华为的智能手表和手环等可穿戴设备思路类似;以小米为例,许多公司都开发了智能摄像头、门磁感应器等产品,可以远程实时查看访客、监测门窗异常开启等。

但这些产品并没有完全解决独居者们的痛点。

在夏喆骏看来,现有的解决方案不是价格太高,就是有信任门槛。以Apple Watch为例,“它是穿戴设备,数据来自光电信号传感,需要一个独立的硬件存在,一是价格几千块,二是续航、充电会有限制,无形中拉高了使用门槛。”

而在家里安装摄像头,通过摄像头观察老人的状态,或监控是否有陌生人闯入,一是考虑到隐私,独居者未必愿意;二是即便愿意,白天或许行得通,但晚上所有人都要睡觉。“夜晚又是很多危险发生的时间。”

他还知道有团队做了一个毫米波雷达的设备,通过非摄像头的方式监测老人的健康情况,售价两千多元。但这样的设备大多提供给一些高端养老院,很少应用到社区或是居家养老。

有没有一种近乎免费的、人人都能享有的服务?夏喆骏决定创业来做这件事,他做了一款叫“阿油OK”呼吸检测产品。在技术上,他想到自己之前看的一篇论文,国外一个研究团队实验了通过AI算法分析呼吸声音来监测健康以及身体指标的可行性,他找来合伙人,找到大学实验室合作,把论文复现了出来。

夏喆骏的产品差一点就叫“噶了么”,看到“死了么”爆火,夏喆骏很开心,“又一次验证了这是一个真需求。”产品内测时他做用户调研,发现付费意愿也远超预期,“非常多用户愿意每天为此付一块钱。”

虽然“死了么”短暂爆火又快速消失,访谈者们也觉得这不是坏事。“我觉得还是要相信中国的产业发展。因为我们没有办法避免老去。也没有办法做好十足的准备迎接老去这件事情。只是期待社会的进步能让我们在老了之后有尊严地活着。”瑶瑶说。

(除夏喆骏外,其余人名为化名)

China Built the World’s Drone Industry. Now It’s Locking Down the Skies.

By: Joy Dong
5 April 2026 at 12:01
The Chinese government tightened rules to curb what it described as illegal drone use, but some users say the changes are now restricting too many flights.

© Cheng Xin/Getty Images

A delivery drone last month above Shenzhen, China. China has sharply tightened rules for the use of recreational and civilian drones.

Hollywood Writers Union and Studios Reach Contract Deal

5 April 2026 at 11:41
With the global entertainment business reeling during a period of rapid change, there was little enthusiasm on either side for a costly standoff.

© Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times

Members of the Writers Guild of America on striking in 2023. The contract talks then were particularly drawn out and acrimonious.

Storm Dave brings 'disruptive' winds to parts of UK

5 April 2026 at 09:09
BBC Breaking NewsBBC

An amber wind warning has been issued for Saturday evening as Storm Dave is expected to bring "disruptive and potentially damaging winds" to parts of the UK.

The warning, covering northern England, north-west Wales and southern Scotland, will begin at 19:00 BST and is due to expire at 03:00 on Sunday.

The Met Office said injuries or danger to life could occur as a result of flying debris, with potential travel disruption and a "good chance" of power cuts.

A series of yellow wind and snow warnings are set to take effect on Saturday afternoon as the country braces for a blustery Easter weekend.

Gusts of 60-70mph are possible in some parts of the UK, with some coastal and exposed locations predicted to reach 80mph, the Met Office added.

People are being advised to stay indoors as much as possible, and check for loose items outside that need securing ahead of the warnings coming into effect.

RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis said: "We recommend taking extra care on exposed, higher routes and being especially cautious when overtaking high‑sided vehicles, as the buffeting effect can catch some people out."

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Is season running away from frazzled Arsenal?

5 April 2026 at 07:32

Is season running away from frazzled Arsenal?

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Media caption,

Southampton shock Arsenal to reach FA Cup semi-finals

By
Arsenal reporter at St Mary's Stadium
  • Published

"Enjoy your quadruple, pal."

That was the message from the official Southampton X account to a disgruntled Arsenal fan who had chirped back at the Saints' post celebrating their shock FA Cup victory.

Just 14 days ago the Gunners were being tipped for an unprecedented quadruple but after defeats to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the loss to Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, those dreams are in tatters.

Shea Charles scored an 85th-minute winner to dump the Gunners out of the competition after substitute Viktor Gyokeres had levelled following Ross Stewart's first-half opener.

It is the first time this season the Gunners have suffered back-to-back defeats and it is just their fifth loss of this campaign.

The talk will now move to whether Arsenal will be able to block out the noise and deal with the pressure that will be heaped onto them following this result, with the Premier League and Champions League still to play for.

'They have to not let the season run away from them'

The Gunners have not won the Premier League for 22 years and have finished in second place for three successive seasons.

The Carabao Cup final was Arsenal's first chance to win a major trophy for six years.

And after losing to City and now being knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower league team for the first time since 2021-22 - a third round loss to Nottingham Forest - the Gunners need to ensure these defeats do not turn into a slump in form.

"They have to not let the season run away from them," former Arsenal and Southampton forward Theo Walcott told BBC Sport.

"Everything they have built this season, don't let it affect them. They have been in this situation before and they don't want to relive that."

Mikel Arteta has consistently spoken about everyone at the club's desire to win but with the end of the season approaching, games running out, and a £250m spend in the summer, the pressure is at an all-time high.

Walcott said he noticed a "nervous energy" on the touchline at St Mary's that has been seen before in recent years.

"Visually watching Mikel on the sidelines, it was elements of previous years where that energy reflected into the team," he said.

"It was very tense. Not just Mikel but a lot of the staff were out there at times. It was like too many cooks in the kitchen, too many messages."

It was a poor Arsenal performance by the high standards they have set throughout the season.

And despite dominating possession, having 23 shots and levelling the game in the 68th minute, the Gunners never really looked like they would go onto win.

"I love my players. What they have done for nine months. I'm not going to criticise them because we lost a game here in the manner that they tried," Arteta said.

"And the way they are putting their bodies through everything. Some of them probably didn't even have to be here. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to defend them more than ever.

"Someone has to take responsibility. That's me and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us.

"In the season, you always have moments. Normally two or three. This is the first moment that we have.

"So stand up, make yourself comfortable and deliver like we've been doing all season."

The Gunners boss was then asked how he can prevent this form rolling into the rest of the season and derailing their Champions League and Premier League campaigns.

"Giving them [the players] clarity, giving more conviction, trusting our players, believing in what we are doing," Arteta said.

"And continue to do that with the tweaks that every game demands.

"But especially maintaining the speed, the attitude and the energy at the highest possible level. Because that's critical to perform at the level that we need to win matches."

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BBC pundits react to Arsenal's 'disappointing' performance

Injuries cause disruption and worry

The side Arteta picked for the match against the Saints showed seven changes from the team that lined up against Manchester City at Wembley two weeks ago.

This was not just down to rotation from the Arsenal manager but to a bout of injuries that have hit the squad.

Including the lead up to the international break, 11 Arsenal players withdrew from their national teams.

That led to speculation Arteta was putting pressure on his players to pull out but the team on the pitch for the loss to Southampton suggested that was not the case.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, three of the players to withdraw from international duty, were not in the squad while William Saliba was named on the bench.

Captain Martin Odegaard made his first start since January and Kai Havertz was withdrawn while Arsenal were chasing a winner.

And in a worry for Arteta, Gabriel Magalhaes had to be withdrawn with a knee injury.

But Christian Norgaard, one of the Arsenal players who has had limited game time this season and started the match, says the fact it was an unfamiliar side did not play any part in the loss.

"No, there are no excuses. It has nothing to do with injuries or availability," Norgaard said.

"We had a really good team on the pitch that should have been competing on a high level. We need to pick ourselves up. We have two big competitions left to compete in."

Despite an error against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, Arteta stuck with cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in favour of regular David Raya.

"I don't think it was anything to do with Kepa in terms of them losing, but you have to play your best team," former England defender Micah Richards told BBC Sport.

Walcott added: "Playing your best team was the right thing to do.

"It's easy if I say that now, but you want a reaction off the cup final and it wasn't that - it was worse."

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Arteta reacts to Arsenal's loss against Southampton

'Man City are going to push them all the way'

Manchester City have been a thorn in Arsenal's side in their quest for silverware.

In two of Arsenal's three second-placed finishes in the Premier League, the Gunners have been behind Pep Guardiola's side.

City beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final with one of their best performances of the season and that seems to have galvanised them.

They put four past Liverpool in the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals earlier in the day and the Gunners have to travel to Etihad Stadium in April, which is likely to play a big part in this season's title race.

"It was only a couple of weeks ago people were saying Arsenal could do the quadruple, Now they are in two competitions," Richards added.

"Man City, after what they did earlier on, look like they are going to push them all the way for the league.

"The most disappointing thing for me was watching Arsenal and their attitude. They have been excellent defensively, in transitions they have been very good, the shape has been good and the effort has been as good as anyone.

"For them to turn up the way they did, I thought was very poor."

Arsenal will hope this blip is only a footnote in what can still be a successful season - but the Gunners are going to have get back to their best, and quickly.

Related topics

Man charged over fatal shooting of baby in pram in New York

5 April 2026 at 07:28
Getty Images A mourner ties balloons to a memorial and vigil where a 7-month-old baby, Kaori Patterson-Moore, was killed by a stray bullet on April 1 while sitting in her stroller in Brooklyn on April 04, 2026, in New York City.Getty Images
A memorial has been growing at the scene of the shooting in Williamsburg

A man has been charged with murder after a seven-month-old baby died after being shot while sitting in her pushchair in New York.

Amuri Greene, 21, has been charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder after police accused him of fatally shooting Kaori Patterson-Moore on 1 April.

Greene appeared in court on Friday where he pleaded not guilty, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner. Officers believe the baby was the unintended victim of a gang-related shooting.

Police said a second suspect, Matthew Rodriguez, 18, had been arrested in connection with the shooting in Pennsylvania and charges were pending.

Footage from the incident appears to show two men on a motorcycle riding against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, before a man on the back of the vehicle took out a gun and fired, police said.

Officers believe Greene carried out the shooting and was on the back of the scooter, CBS reported.

He was thrown from the vehicle following the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment where he was placed in police custody.

Greene also pleaded not guilty to charges of five counts of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, and two counts of assault, CBS reported.

Rodriguez is believed to be the man seen driving the scooter the gunman was on during the shooting. The driver crashed into oncoming traffic after the gunfire and fled, police said.

Family and friends gathered on Friday night for a candlelight vigil at the corner where the shooting took place.

Cambodia unveils statue to honour famous landmine-sniffing rat

5 April 2026 at 09:09
Reuters A statue of a giant rat with a black harness and medal dangling from its neck, made from stone, is pictured with trees in the background. Reuters
The statue of Magawa is made from local stone

A famous mine-clearing rat, who was awarded a gold medal for his heroism, has been commemorated with the world's first statue dedicated to a landmine-detecting rat.

Magawa, who lived to eight years old, sniffed out over 100 landmines and other explosives in Cambodia during his five-year career that started in 2016.

A statue of the rodent carved from local stone by artists was unveiled in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday, in time for the International Day for Mine Awareness on 4 April.

Landmines remain an ongoing risk to Cambodia, and more than a million people continue to work and live on land contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance, according to the United Nations.

PA Media A rat trained to detect landmines, wears a gold medal with a blue collar around its neck while perched up on a wooden bench. PA Media
Magawa was pictured in 2010 with his PDSA medal for gallantry - sometimes described as the George Cross for animals.

Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, was trained by the Belgian charity Apopo before moving to Cambodia to begin his bomb-sniffing career in 2016.

Using his acute sense of smell and training to detect a chemical compound within explosives, Magawa would then alert human handlers of mines that could be later safely removed.

During his time, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square metres (1,517,711 sq ft) of land - the equivalent of 20 football pitches – and could search a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes.

In 2020, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal – known as the George Cross for animals – for his "life-saving devotion to duty". He was the first rat to be given the medal in the charity's 77-year history.

Following a short retirement due to old age and "slowing down", Magawa died in 2022.

Apopo's Cambodia Programme Manager, Michael Raine, said on Friday the monument for Magawa "is a reminder to the international community that there's still a job to be done here".

Cambodia now has a target date of 2030 to become mine-free, he added.

The charity has been training its rodents, also known as HeroRATS, since the 1990s.

Because of their small size, the rats are not heavy enough to detonate mines, making them a safer option than humans.

They can even detect tuberculosis, an infectious disease that commonly affects the lungs, far quicker than it would be found in a lab using conventional microscopy, Apopo has said.

They have also been trained to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking in Tanzania.

Another Apopo-trained rat, named Ronin, set a new world record in 2025 by uncovering 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since 2021.

Ronin's impressive work in Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province surpassed the previous record held Magawa.

Giant rats in tiny vests fight crime

AI videos fuel rhetoric as Orbán bids for four more years in Hungary

5 April 2026 at 07:15
Fidesz/Hungary Girl at a window Fidesz/Hungary
The controversial AI-generated video depicts a girl waiting at a window for her father to return from war

Warning: This piece refers to scenes of violence from the start

When a video went viral appearing to show a Hungarian soldier's execution, its disturbing nature came as a shock to anyone who saw it.

Ahead of pivotal Hungarian elections on Sunday 12 April, the AI-generated, fake clip was posted on the social media accounts of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party in February.

It tells the story of a young girl at a window yearning for her father's return home from war, and then the video cuts to him - blindfolded, bound by the hands, and then shot by his captors.

The video targeted Orbán's election rival, Péter Magyar, who could unseat him after 16 years in office.

The Fidesz campaign has made unsubstantiated claims about the war in Ukraine and Magyar's intentions, at times using AI-generated videos like this, even though it makes clear the video is fake.

"The video is an AI video, but the war is really horrible," the video says. "Péter Magyar doesn't want you to see this video. He doesn't want you to see what an irreversible tragedy it is to join a war."

Fidesz alleges that Magyar, from the centre-right party Tisza, will bring Russia's war against Ukraine to its doorstep if elected, even using pension money to support Ukraine and imposing forced conscription.

Reuters A man holds a red, white and green Hungarian flagReuters
Péter Magyar's Tisza leads the election race, according to most opinion polls

Such narratives have been widely rejected by Magyar and by his party Tisza. In its manifesto, it pledges it will not send troops to Ukraine and does not plan to revive conscription.

We asked ruling party Fidesz whether it had made the AI execution video and why it had posted it on to its social media channels, but the party has not responded to our questions.

In an interview with a journalist posted to Facebook, Támas Menczer, who is communications director of the Fidesz-KNDP alliance, responded to a question about the AI video saying he believed "the greatest possible danger is that Hungarian people could die if Tisza wins, because Tisza supports the war, Tisza supports sending money".

However, he did not comment on the video being made with AI.

Magyar has condemned the video stating that Fidesz "crossed all limits", and called the video "heartless manipulation".

Zsófia Fülöp, a journalist at Hungary's only dedicated independent fact-checking website, Lakmusz, says while such narratives from the ruling party are not new, the use of generative AI is.

"It is omnipresent in this campaign, especially in the communication of the ruling party and its media and proxies. They've used it before but now it's massive."

The strategy does not appear to have had much of an impact on voters, with Magyar leading in most opinion polls.

NEM/Hungary A woman holds a red phone at a windowNEM/Hungary
Another AI-generated video depicts European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen

Social media posts by Fidesz's allies have parroted similar anti-Ukrainian narratives.

Last month the National Resistance Movement (NEM) - a pro-Fidesz political activist group - shared a video made using AI that depicts a phone call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Péter Magyar discussing sending money to Ukraine.

It was viewed more than 3.7 million times.

"When the phone rings and a request comes, then he won't be able to say no," the accompanying caption read. NEM did not disclose the video had been made using AI.

Magyar called it out as fake, but the video had already been shared widely by pro-government media as well as Fidesz politicians, including the prime minister. In his post, Orbán stated that the video had been AI-generated but warned it could become a reality.

We asked NEM why they had posted the AI video and whether they had made it, but they did not comment.

"We're in a state of hallucination," says Éva Bognár, a researcher at the Central European University's Democracy Institute. "In a way the whole campaign is a disinformation campaign because it's all based on a complete false narrative that we're on the brink of war."

In another instance a few weeks ago, Hungary's anti-terrorism police arrested seven Ukrainian bank workers who were transiting through with $80m (£60m) worth of cash and 9kg (20lb) of gold in cash-transport vehicles to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha accused the Hungarian government of taking the group hostage and stealing money.

Ukraine's state savings bank, Oschadbank, said they had a valid licence and that it was a routine journey between Austria and Ukraine.

But the Hungarian government alleged that money laundering was taking place and suggested it might be to "finance pro-Ukraine forces".

Although the Ukrainian bank workers have been released without charges, authorities are yet to return the money and gold.

On Facebook, pro-government outlets used AI images to report on the arrests. One pro-government outlet uploaded hyper-realistic images of the arrest, reporting the images as fact.

When compared with images and videos of the event posted on the Hungarian government's official Facebook page, they are wildly different. Inaccuracies can be seen in the uniforms of the officers as well as the clothes of the Ukrainian individuals.

Facebook's third party fact-checking service has labelled the post as "partly false".

Facebook Men kneel on the ground on the road Facebook
One pro-government outlet used AI-generated fake images of Ukrainians being arrested

Hungary had better relations with Ukraine in the past, and even backed Ukraine's bid to join the EU until late 2023, but relations deteriorated as Orbán maintained close ties to Russia's Vladimir Putin.

One survey by research institute Policy Solutions suggests the level of anti-Ukrainian feeling in Hungary is barely lower than anti-Russian sentiment, with 64% of Hungarians holding a negative opinion of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, and 67% disliking Putin.

"One side holds all the cards," says researcher Éva Bognár. "Fidesz has infinite resources at its disposal: from public funds, state agencies and offices to a media conglomerate that operates as a propaganda machine, including the public service media."

Magyar is partly cutting through the fraught media landscape using social media.

Reuters A man speaks at a microphone in front of statuesReuters
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been in office for the past 16 years

According to 20k, a Hungarian election integrity watchdog tracking the social media activity of political actors during the election, Magyar's posts on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram receive twice the level of engagement of Orbán's.

Magyar posts a mixture of professional content and images portraying himself as a younger and more relatable leader, showing him partying, playing volleyball, flipping burgers at a restaurant, and enjoying water sports.

But the Tisza leader has also engaged in milder forms of misleading rhetoric, including inaccuracies about the number of Hungarian babies born outside of the country in an attempt to evoke a sense of missing national pride.

He has even played the ruling party at their own game, alleging that it is Fidesz, not Tisza, that wants to reintroduce compulsory military service.

Apart from it being briefly mentioned by two Fidesz politicians in 2016, we found no evidence that the party wants to revive compulsory military service.

Péter Krekó, who heads independent political research institute Political Capital, says Magyar has also been able to "exploit... strong public resentment" towards the government.

Much of that is being driven by people between the ages of 18 and 40.

A survey by the Median agency suggests that support for Tisza remains strongest amongst those under 40, while nearly half of people over 65 support Fidesz.

Despite this, Fidesz clings to its anti-Ukrainian narrative, in both traditional media and online, with posters showing Zelensky and Magyar together under the warning "They are dangerous!"

If Fidesz wins, we will see the same disinformation tactics being used beyond the election, says Krekó. But if it doesn't win, there will be a "more tumultuous relationship between the media and politicians".

ICE wanted to build a detention centre - this small farming town said no

5 April 2026 at 08:06
Getty Images A view down a street in Social Circle, with small homes on one side and a white church spire in the distance. On one lawn is a sign that says ICE - crossed outGetty Images
A proposed detention centre would triple the population of Social Circle, Georgia

For months, two neighbours, Democrat Gareth Fenley and conservative John Miller, have been united in the same daily mission.

Each morning the two get into their cars and drive several miles down the farm-lined roads of their small Georgia town to an empty one-million square-foot gray warehouse.

On arrival, they search meticulously for signs of construction, breathing a sigh of relief each time the massive property appears untouched.

The sprawling industrial warehouse, which the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bought in February, is part of a $38.3bn (£29bn) plan to open up dozens of immigration detention centres across the US.

Those plans have faced fierce opposition, not just in Democratic communities, but in conservative towns like Social Circle, which overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the last election - including his campaign promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

"People have different reasons for aligning with the exact same message," Fenley said. "That message is: 'Detention centre, not welcome here.'"

Watch: Residents from both parties push back against detention center

Many who support the president's immigration policies are concerned the facility would starve the small town of critical resources by tripling its population, turning a place once known for its quaint Blue Willow Inn buffet restaurant into a prison town.

In March, those concerns led City Manager Eric Taylor to shut off the water in the warehouse, a move that made this one-stoplight town the unlikely face of resistance to the administration's plans.

"If you open up that water meter, it gives them full access to the entire supply of the whole city," Taylor told the BBC. "I can't let that happen without knowing what the ultimate impact is going to be."

Now those plans for a 10,000-person detention centre appear to be on hold.

The department also signalled that it is pausing plans to buy more warehouses like the one in Social Circle - though the fate of facilities it already has spent millions on remains unclear. DHS did not directly respond to a comment from the BBC about Social Circle's facility.

"As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals," a statement from the department said.

DHS cancelled a scheduled meeting about the Social Circle warehouse because it was planning a "department review of processes" under new leadership, Taylor said.

Residents are cautiously optimistic.

"We're anxious to see what happens out of this review. They have already pulled the trigger on it. They have already bought the building, so there's going to be some effects no matter what's done or not done," Miller said.

"We're still whispering up the chain as much as we can to make sure that if they are indeed reviewing it, we can give input."

Reuters A blue and white mural depicts Social Circle's historic wellReuters

'We don't have the capacity'

In the centre of Social Circle is a replica of a well, a nod to the origins of the town, which was established in 1832. According to a plaque, a group of men sitting around a well enjoying "their usual drink" invited a passing stranger to join them. "This is surely a social circle," the stranger replied.

Nearly 200 years later, Social Circle's wells are at the heart of residents' fight against ICE. They say the town's water system - which serves 5,000 people - has had problems for decades, and the ICE facility would require much more than the fragile system could provide.

Taylor, the city manager, said the town has a permit to pull only one million gallons of water each day from the Alcovy River, south of the town, and during the summer, the town uses about 800,000 gallons at least. ICE has said the facility on its own will require one million gallons a day.

Taylor told the agency as soon as an application for water service was filed that he was not going to turn it on, he said.

"I told them at that time that there was a lock on the water meter, and it was there until we had a better understanding of what the impact was going to be on our water."

John Miller pets his golden-coloured horse while standing by a wooden fence in his field
John Miller's horse farm is across from the proposed detention centre

Miller, whose 50-acre grassy horse farm sits just across the road from the Social Circle warehouse, said officials had not done due diligence on selected locations.

"It's the same story over and over," he said. "Communities weren't informed. They weren't consulted."

"I understand the why, but I just don't understand how they're handling it."

Miller said federal officials have floated several solutions, including either digging a well on the warehouse property or trucking in a million gallons of water a day.

But the father of seven said drilling new wells could take away from the well he uses to nourish his horses, chickens, barn cats and dogs.

Bringing in gallons of water on Social Circle's two-lane roads poses problems too. "That's six or seven trucks every hour, 24 hours a day," Miller said.

DHS did not directly respond to a list of questions from the BBC inquiring about how it would address the water supply.

Taylor also worries about the town's old sewage systems, established in 1962 and in need of replacement for 20 years, he said.

"Where's the sewage supposed to go?" he asked. "We don't have the capacity to support a million gallons of sewer coming off that site."

A country-wide fight against ICE plans

Residents in Social Circle have been waging their battle against the ICE facility ever since they found out, in a Washington Post report last December, that the warehouse was one of 23 sites earmarked to become detention centres.

They quickly appealed to the government and their federal representatives, arguing they did not have resources for the facility - but ICE still purchased it in February for nearly $130m - more than four times its initial estimated worth.

Since then, Miller, Fenley and others have led the charge to slow the project, holding protests and meetings with hundreds of concerned residents. Georgia's Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock visited the facility, and his office participated in a briefing with ICE officials, but "many questions remain unanswered", a spokesperson said.

Other communities who have been tapped for similar projects also have fought back.

In Michigan last week, the state sued to block DHS from converting a warehouse into an ICE facility in Romulus, arguing it was too close to residential neighbourhoods and schools and posed a flooding risk. New Jersey and Maryland also sued to halt ICE projects, while residents in Merrimack, New Hampshire, successfully lobbied elected officials to stop a facility in town.

Gareth Fenley sits in a cafe wearing a blue cardigan over a red shirt
Gareth Fenley, a Democrat, says she is worried about the human-rights issues that a detention centre could bring to the town

For some Social Circle residents, their opposition is not only a question of resources, but of human rights.

Fenley said she and other Democrats in town were concerned about having people "warehoused in a place that was not built for human habitation".

She worries about reports of people being abused in detention centres. At least 13 immigrants died in ICE custody from January 2026 through early March, according to ICE, while civil rights groups have said immigrants are being subjected to unsafe conditions such as a lack of food, overcrowding and medical neglect.

Others raised alarms not only for those inside the facility, but the community around it.

"We have one high school, one zip code, one grocery store, one stoplight. And we are going to triple the size of our town," said Valerie Walthart, who works on a veterinary farm down the road from Miller. "We're going to be overwhelmed."

Walthart added that as a mother, she was concerned about safety, with a detention facility perched just a five-minute drive from the local elementary school.

"It's unnerving," Joy Coker, a mother of three in the area, said of the warehouse's location.

A two-part map showing the location of Social Circle, Georgia, in relation to Atlanta, and a satellite view of the area. The top map highlights Atlanta and the smaller town of Social Circle to its east. The lower satellite image shows Social Circle and marks a large warehouse site where the US government intends to build an ICE detention centre. Scale bars indicate distances on both maps.

'Georgia's greatest little detention centre'

Social Circle's Republican Representative Mike Collins also publicly opposed the ICE project.

"Although I am aligned with the mission of ICE to detain and deport the criminal illegal aliens who have flooded across our border due to Joe Biden's reckless policies, I agree with the community that Social Circle does not have the sufficient resources that this facility would require," he wrote.

Rick Cook, a resident of neighbouring Monroe, said he wasn't in favour of the facility, but believed the US had to clamp down on illegal immigration. He said he and others in his Social Circle church hoped to provide religious counseling to immigrants held in the facility.

"It's going to be what it's going to be, and we're going to try to find the ways to make the best with whatever happens," he said.

To Steven Williford, the owner of a cattle farm in Social Circle who voted for Trump, ICE is a "necessary evil". But he couldn't believe the news when he learned the detention centre was coming to his hometown.

"I just thought it was crazy to put something like that in this community, with no forethought, no prior authorisation, not even asking the community," he said.

"I'm all for doing what's best for the country, but is it best for this community?" he added. "That's the question."

Miller said he understood why some would be confused by the Republican town's reaction. He said detention facilities were necessary to detain people so they could be guaranteed due process.

"You can't say that it's something that's needed and then not be somewhat willing to allow a facility to be there," he said.

But, he said, realistically, no community wants such a facility tarnishing the reputation of their town.

"I miss the days we were known for the Blue Willow Inn," he said, referencing the famous buffet restaurant that closed during Covid, once visited by celebrities including actress Helen Mirren.

"Now," he said, "we're going to be known as Georgia's greatest little detention centre."

EPA A participant holds a rain-soaked sign saying "NO detention center in Social Circle" at a rally against the proposed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centre.EPA

Some residents had been hoping that a change in federal leadership would put the warehouse plans on pause. Trump fired his Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem at the beginning of March, after backlash for the administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year, when federal agents shot dead two US citizens.

The president nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin to take her place, which was followed by DHS signalling it may be rethinking its plans.

In its statement to the BBC, DHS referenced remarks from Mullin's confirmation hearing:

"We got to protect the homeland and we're going to do that, but obviously we want to work with community leaders," he said in March. "We want to be good partners."

Joy Coker looks directly at the camera, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with her hair down and blowing in the wind
Some residents are worried about the safety of having 10,000 detainees move into their town

Social Circle's facility was originally slated to open in April, but work appears to have stalled. The agency has yet to award a contract for the warehouse or begin the massive construction needed to convert the bare warehouse into a sprawling court facility, complete with holding areas, gyms and recreational spaces, court facilities, cafeterias and even a gun range.

Residents have been thrilled about the potential pause, including Walthart, who said the decision gives locals "a little time to breathe, since we wake up nearly every day wondering if today will be the day the trucks start rolling in".

"We can enjoy our small town life," she said, "for at least a little while longer, we hope."

Apple at 50: Three products that changed how we live - and three that really didn't

5 April 2026 at 07:56
Getty The Apple store with the white Apple logo with people inside. Getty

Few companies have managed to define how people use technology in their everyday lives as resoundingly as Apple.

The company, which celebrated its 50th birthday this week, was started by two Steves in a San Franciscan garage. It has had some truly standout successes - and some notable flops.

These days, nearly one out of every three people on the planet owns an Apple product - a success that Emma Wall, chief investment strategist for financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, said had as much to do with the company's marketing as it did its hardware.

"They sold a dream," she said, and they added something that was "quite new at the time - the idea that branding was as important as the product line".

Apple's string of hits has arguably slowed since the death of its visionary co-founder Steve Jobs, as the company focuses more on refining its existing technology.

Ken Segall, Jobs's creative director for 12 years, told the BBC that Apple's current chief executive, Tim Cook, had done an "amazing job" at changing with the times and keeping the company profitable.

But he added that many Apple purists still do not feel as excited by the company's current phase because "they remember that older Apple was Steve Jobs".

As the company pushes past its half-century, we asked technology analysts and experts to take a look at some of the significant ways the company changed the tech world, and some of the ways it arguably missed the mark.

iPod (hit)

Getty An advert for the iPod showing two black silhouettes dancing to a white iPod, with white wired headphones, against a pink background. The apple logo alongside the word iPod is shown.Getty
The iPod was released in 2001 and paved the way for legal digital music downloading to hit the mainstream

While by no means the first portable digital music player when it was released in 2001, the iPod is one of "Apple's most iconic products" argued Craig Pickerell of The Apple Geek. Not just because of what it was, but "because of what it changed".

"MP3 players were clunky, storage was limited, and managing your music library felt like a chore," he said.

"The iPod changed all of that almost overnight."

The click-wheel design distinguished the device and introduced the iTunes library, paving the way for legal digital music downloading to hit the mainstream.

Released in 2007, the iPod Touch was designed by the same team, who later invented the iPhone - which quickly overshadowed the iPod.

"Without the iPod, Apple would likely have lacked both the financial strength and the operational maturity required to take on the complexity of the smartphone industry," said Francisco Jeronimo, technology analyst at market research firm IDC.

iPhone (hit)

AFP via Getty Images Steve Jobs is smiling and holding up an iPhone. He is wearing a black turtleneck sweater.AFP via Getty Images
"An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator": Steve Jobs unveiled the first edition to the world in 2007

More than 200 million iPhones are sold each year - with roughly one purchased somewhere in the world every seven seconds.

To Ben Wood of CCS Insight, a market research firm, it is the "Hotel California of smartphones" - once you have one, you are "very unlikely to leave" the Apple ecosystem for a rival Android-powered device.

"An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. These are not three separate devices, this is one device," said a beaming Steve Jobs holding up the first edition of the phone at its unveiling to the world in 2007.

Like many revolutionary Apple products, the iPhone was not the first example of its kind - other phones had internet capabilities, or touchscreens.

But tech journalist Kara Swisher argues its "gorgeous marketing" helped catapult it into the mainstream.

"It made you think of it not as a tech device, but a device of romance," she said.

Apple Watch (hit)

Getty Images An black faced Apple Watch with an orange bezel strap, lying on a table. The time reads 1:03.Getty Images
Jobs' successor Tim Cook wanted to make the best watch in the world

By the time the wearable Apple Watch launched in 2015, Jobs had died from cancer.

But his successor Tim Cook came with an aim befitting of his innovative predecessor - to make the best watch in the world.

In terms of revenue generated for Apple - roughly $15bn (£11.3bn) - it's hard to argue that the world's best-selling smartwatch has not succeeded in that aim.

"As a standalone business, Apple Watch would sit comfortably among the top 250 to 300 largest companies in America," said Wood.

While the first prototype was relatively basic, its future models also pioneered wearable health tech with features like ECG monitoring and fall detection, making it a key driver of health and fitness technology.

The device now reportedly shifts more units annually than the entire traditional Swiss watch industry.

Apple Lisa (miss)

Science & Society Picture Library The Apple Lisa, a grey personal computer with a rectangular monitor and keyboard in front of it. Science & Society Picture Library
The Apple Lisa was released in 1983 for nearly $10,000

In some ways the Apple Lisa, a personal computer released in 1983 at the pricey sum of nearly $10,000 (approximately £6,600 then), was groundbreaking.

It was one of the first PCs to feature a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse.

But tech analyst Paolo Pescatore said the computer, targeted at business users, was "far too costly", unable to succeed commercially.

The failure, he said, demonstrated "being ahead of the curve is not enough if the product is poorly positioned".

Apple would learn from its mistakes when they released the original Macintosh a year later, with a relatively more consumer friendly price tag of $2,495 (approximately £1,900 in 1984).

'Butterfly' keyboard (miss)

Bloomberg via Getty Images Two hands are typing code on a grey MacBook Air.Bloomberg via Getty Images
The keyboard design was a "rare misstep in reliability"

Apple's "butterfly" keyboard design - a mechanism introduced in 2015 for laptop keyboards - was a "rare misstep in reliability", said Pickerell.

The design for devices such as the MacBook Air saw keyboards fitted with a two-sided hinged keyboard switch, which somewhat resembled butterfly wings.

But it divided opinion, with some saying the mechanism made keyboards less easy to type on, making it feel as though Apple was "prioritising thinness over durability", said Pickerell.

By 2019, the company unveiled a new16in MacBook Pro - without the butterfly keyboard.

Vision Pro (miss)

Getty Images A man sitting down wearing a white Apple Vision Pro headset on his head in an Apple store, which is connected with a white cable. He is holding his hands out in front of him. An Apple staff member is sitting next to him and smiling. Getty Images
Apple's big bet on mixed reality was ultimately too "cumbersome"

A far more recent notable miss for Apple has been the Vision Pro headset, argued Wood.

The first major new product to be released by the firm since the Apple Watch, Wood said Apple's big bet on mixed reality was ultimately too "cumbersome" and lacking in content to match the success of Apple's other products.

According to tech news site The Information, the company scaled back production of the $3,500 (£2,600) headset just a few months after launching, due to low demand and a high amount of unsold stock.

The misstep means Apple will "likely be cautious about moving quickly into related areas such as smart glasses", said Wood.

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How will rising fuel costs affect driving lessons?

5 April 2026 at 07:06
BBC A female, wearing a grey top and necklace, smiling, standing in front of a dark coloured car, in a car park. Behind her on the right is a maroon car and on the left a black car with a blurred out number plate.BBC
Rachael Hutson-Lumb is a driving instructor worried by fuel costs

If you're learning to drive, you'll know the cost of lessons has shot up and it can feel like it takes forever trying to get a practical test booked. But could it now get worse?

Since the start of the Iran war, prices at the pumps have jumped, and bodies that represent driving instructors have warned that further disruption could push up lesson prices further and make it even harder to get a test.

BBC Newsbeat checked in with instructors, learners and officials to find out what could happen for new drivers.

Rachael Hutson-Lumb has been a driving instructor for four years.

She told Newsbeat she's been "keeping an eye" on fuel prices, and has had to raise lesson prices by 50p to £37.50 per hour.

"My prices are going up a bit, not a lot, because I appreciate lessons are already not cheap for learners.

"I don't want to put prices up but at the end of the day, if it's a cost that's increasing, it's going to have to be reflected.

"Changes are going to have to be made just because that's my income stream," she says.

According to motoring group the RAC, UK petrol and diesel prices jumped more than in any previous single month, largely due to the war, although the government has said fuel supplies are "resilient".

The Driving Instructors Association (DIA), the UK's largest group representing the profession, says passing costs on to learners "will be a consideration for trainers".

Rachael, 26, says "most" of her learners are fine, for the moment, with the price.

"They were coming to me and asking me: 'Oh, fuel's really expensive, are the prices going to go up?' They're so aware of it," she says.

"And they also understand that when they go on to pass, it's going to be something that's going to impact them as well."

'It's my income stream'

Catherine Thoyts A female, smiling, wearing glasses and a striped white and grey top, with a silver necklace. She is standing in front of a cream-coloured wall.Catherine Thoyts
Catherine, 26, has been learning to drive in Bristol since November

Catherine Thoyts has been learning to drive since November and says any price rises would make affording lessons more challenging.

The 26-year-old from Bristol works in a care home and a chunk of her income goes on driving lessons, with her instructor charging students £80 for a two-hour lesson.

"Higher prices would definitely make it harder for me, because as a carer, I only make so much a month. It's not a huge amount," she says.

While her own instructor hasn't yet increased prices due to rising fuel costs, Catherine feels with "a lot of young people, there is a jobs crisis", and with prices already high, "that's a lot to afford for most people".

With a test booked for July and hoping to pass first time, she adds higher fuel prices wouldn't put her off buying a car, but would impact how she uses it.

"I would use it for more essential travel than long journeys.

"I wouldn't drive to my friends in the north of England if it's going to cost a whole tank of petrol," she says.

Another worry that's been aired by the DIA and fellow professional organisation the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADINJC) is fuel rationing.

Countries around the world have introduced measures to reduce fuel consumption, such as encouraging working from home or opting for public transport over driving, and urged people not to panic-buy fuel.

Slovenia, in the European Union, has introduced rationing - limiting the amount of fuel customers can purchase - because drivers were travelling from other countries due to its low prices.

However, only a handful of countries have introduced the measure.

The UK petrol industry says there is no supply shortage in the UK, and told Brits to continue to buy fuel as normal, when needed.

Both the DIA and ADINJC have written to the UK government urging it to give trainers and examiners "priority access to fuel" if rationing is implemented in Britain.

The UK government and Fuels Industry UK have described Britain's fuel supplies as "resilient", saying petrol stations are well stocked with petrol and diesel.

Instructor Rachael, who teaches in Shropshire, says if there were any plans to ration fuel, it would "be a massive problem", and not only for her business.

"I think it's impacting everyone," she says.

"If we can't get fuel, no one's going to be able to work and that's going to be a problem."

BBC Newsbeat has asked authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for comment.

A spokesperson for Transport Scotland said "the availability of driving tests is a reserved matter for the UK Government and is the responsibility of the DVSA".

"We are in touch with our counterparts in DVSA on a regular basis to understand and to press on what more can be done to alleviate the long wait times for driving tests that too many across Scotland are experiencing."

Additional reporting by Srosh Khan

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Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Our new reality show leaves nothing out

5 April 2026 at 07:08
Hulu Sophie Habboo and Jamie LaingHulu
The couple say "nothing is off limits" in their new documentary which follows their pregnancy and parenthood journey

From the moment Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo met on Made in Chelsea, their relationship has played out in the public eye with audiences following everything - the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Their on-screen will-they-won't-they storyline evolved into the NearlyWeds podcast when they got engaged, later rebranding as NewlyWeds after their marriage.

Now, they are sharing their next chapter - pregnancy and parenthood - in a new three-part documentary.

Raising Chelsea follows the couple as they try for a baby, navigate the highs and lows of pregnancy and adjust to the early days of parenthood.

For many, the idea of filming and broadcasting such intimate moments, including the actual birth of their child, would be unthinkable.

But for Laing and Habboo, it was never really a question, and inviting cameras into such a personal chapter in their life felt to them like a continuation of what they had already built with their audience.

"People are used to following our journey, so documenting this and having an audience come with us felt really natural and fun," Habboo says.

Their commitment to creating authentic reality TV shaped how Raising Chelsea was filmed, and, rather than a traditional multi-camera set-up, "we only had one camera so it was very vlog style and there are lots of times I didn't know we were even filming" Habboo explains.

She adds that she quickly "forgot the cameras were there", which meant arguments would unfold as they normally would, only for Habboo to then "worry about it afterwards".

Hulu Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo with her hand on her stomach in a baby cloth's shopHulu
In the series, the couple attend medical appointments, have candid conversations about the anxieties of parenthood

Laing, who is also the founder of sweets brand Candy Kittens, says that approach was intentional because "if there were three cameras and a set-up, it feels forced".

"We wanted to capture everything and I wanted to make sure it was really real so you see everything," he says.

"Even when things happened that were intense we kept it in because we made a deal."

He tells the BBC that holding anything back defeats the point.

"There is nothing off limits - I don't like the idea of a filtered version of ourselves, it's not true, authentic or real," he reflects.

"Everyone has arguments, bad moments, good moments, feels up or down and capturing that is real life."

They wasted little time in sharing those moments as the documentary airs less than four months since their son, Ziggy, was born.

'I never get my way'

Their willingness to share didn't mean there weren't moments of hesitation about where, if anywhere, the line should be drawn.

At times, they draw that line in different places - Habboo is more instinctively protective of what should remain private while Laing is more comfortable letting even the most personal moments play out on screen.

"There are moments where it's a lot," Habboo admits. "You can even hear me in the show saying 'I'm not doing this' at certain points.

"If I had my way there would be things off limits but I never get my way."

Getty Images  Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo attend the ten years celebration of gourmet sweets by Candy Kittens at White Rabbit Dereham Place on July 29, 2022 in London, England. Getty Images
The pair started dating in 2019 and got married in 2023

When the pair started their podcast in 2021, the 31-year-old says she wanted "to put my best foot forward" so was keen that some things were edited out.

"I didn't want people to hear the nitty-gritties of our relationship."

But, she was rarely in the edit and "Jamie made sure every episode kept everything in, which was horrifying".

Habboo got used to that pretty quickly, and the "reaction from listeners was that they loved it and felt connected, like they weren't alone".

"So going into this, I thought we had to keep that authenticity," she continues.

"I'm happy we did it that way because I love reality TV, I'm the biggest fan, but I feel like today everything is so produced and constructed which is a shame for the viewer.

"There's not much authentic TV out there, so we wanted to create something real."

'People are so mean'

That level of exposure comes at a cost; being so open means inviting opinion and criticism, and Laing knows that "you have to have thick skin if you're going to do this".

It is something he says he has learned over time while Habboo "is still developing it".

Laing laughs as he recalls one nasty comment that stuck. "Sophie thought she'd read the Daily Mail one day and the first comment was: 'Why does she look like an Afghan hound?'"

"There are so many comments like that," Habboo says. "People asking what's wrong with my eyebrows. They're evil, they're so mean. I don't know what they're going to say when they see me pregnant."

Hulu Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo carrying a babyHulu
The couple gave birth to Ziggy in early December 2025

It is the willingness to show both joy and discomfort that underpins their documentary - Laing describes himself as "more anxious", while Habboo admits she is "worse on no sleep".

There is playful debate over who does more nappies. "I do," Laing insists, met with visible disbelief from Habboo.

Their differences continue in how they parent - Laing calling Habboo the stricter of the two - a claim that surprises her. "She has routine," he says. "I'd let him eat chocolate."

Yet beneath the teasing is a clear sense of partnership and they reflect on how they have grown together.

"I thought we were strong," Laing says. "But we've become even stronger."

"So there's no divorce yet, we're saving that for season two."

Raising Chelsea is available to watch on Disney+ now.

Trump's 'hellfire ultimatum' to Iran and 'PM slams Kanye gig'

5 April 2026 at 08:10

"Trump gives Iran hellfire ultimatum" reads the headline on the front page of the Sunday Telegraph.
US President Donald Trump has given Iran a "hellfire ultimatum" and is preparing alongside Israel to "dramatically escalate attacks", the Sunday Telegraph reports. Two grinning University of Oxford rowers are splashed across the front page as the women's team won their race against Cambridge University for the first time since 2016.
"PM slams Kanye gig after Nazi row" reads the headline on the front page of the Sun on Sunday.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer "slams Kanye gig after Nazi row", headlines The Sun. The rapper, who goes by Ye, has been booked to perform at Wireless Festival, which the PM has said is "deeply concerning". The festival booking follows years of widespread criticism of Ye for antisemitic comments, which the rapper later publicly apologised for. In January Ye said he is "not a Nazi or an antisemite".
"A picture of home" reads the headline on the front page of The Observer.
The Observer carries "a picture of home" for its lead - a photo of Earth from Nasa's Artemis II as it winds its way towards the Moon. The paper teases a piece titled, "Washington, we have a problem", "Trump's chaos on earth."
"Drill, Ed, Drill" reads the headline on the front page of the Mail on Sunday.
"Drill, Ed, Drill" urges the Daily Mail as "fuel prices soar". The paper says research conducted by former Conservative deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft suggests voters want Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to "ditch his Net Zero obsession and untap the North Sea oil and gas". The Mail includes a quote from Miliband last week saying: "people who say new exploration licences will somehow create huge amounts of energy for us" are "just wrong".
"End for toxic chemicals in Britain's sofas" reads the headline on the front page of the Sunday Times.
It is the "end for toxic chemicals in Britain's sofas" heralds the Sunday Times in an investigation into flame retardants used in couches. The government has changed rules that required British sofas to include toxic flame retardant, which isn't used in other parts of the world, it writes.
"Brexit reset will cost UK £3bn a year" reads the headline on the front page of the Sunday Express.
The Sunday Express claims that a "Brexit reset will cost UK £3bn a year". It says Sir Keir has been accused of "quietly signing Britain up to Brussels" as part of an "ambitious" new trade deal. The paper quotes a UK government spokeswoman saying: "Our deal with the EU supports businesses by removing the costly red tape that holds back our exporters from our largest trading partner."
"Slash our spending on Royals" reads the headline on the Sunday Mirror.
A call to "slash our spending on Royals" leads the Sunday Mirror. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told that the "taxpayer handout" to the Royal Family "should be cut in the wake of the scandal over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor." A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: "The Sovereign Grant is reviewed every five years by the Royal Trustees, which include the Chancellor, to ensure the level of funding for the Royal Household remains appropriate".
"Lucy Letby's 'Huntley attack fear'," reads the headline on the front page of the Daily Star.
Lucy Letby, the nurse who is serving 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, now "fears she could be murdered", reports the Daily Star. This comes after the deaths of prisoners Ian Huntley and Ian Watkins, who both died after being injured in prison. A spokesman for Sodexo, which runs HMP Bronzefield, told the paper they do not comment on individual prisoners.
"Betrayal of a hero" reads the headline on the front page of the Sunday People.
The Sunday People headlines on the "betrayal of a hero". It reports that an Afghan translator who fled the Taliban to the UK has serious injuries after an alleged assault.
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20260405

5 April 2026 at 09:09

典范条目

賈乃錫(1888年—1971年),加拿大英國陸軍將領,1938年11月至1941年7月在香港擔任駐華英軍司令二戰後期於1944年4月至1945年7月出任盟軍遠征部隊最高司令部G-5科總長,戰後於1945年8月至1953年10月奉派海峽群島擔任澤西副總督。賈乃錫早年於加拿大接受軍事教育,1909年加入英國陸軍,一戰期間於法國比利時參與戰事。一戰完結後曾獲兩度調派往英屬印度,1938年獲擢升為陸軍少將

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Judge Pauses Trump Demand for Student Race Data in 17 States

5 April 2026 at 08:51
The Trump administration had said it would collect data from colleges to ensure compliance with a Supreme Court ruling ending affirmative action in admissions.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Linda McMahon, the education secretary, last year.

20260405

5 April 2026 at 08:17

From today's featured article

Page from the original score
Page from the original score

The Easter Oratorio, BWV 249, is one of three oratorios composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for high holiday services of the Lutheran church in Leipzig. He wrote an autograph score (page pictured) in 1738, but had already composed the music in 1725 for two works: the congratulatory Shepherd Cantata and a church cantata for Easter. The text of the Shepherd Cantata was written by Picander, in his first documented collaboration with Bach. Picander may also have adapted the text for the Easter work, using unusually neither Biblical text nor chorales. Both works are musical dramas involving male and female characters, which, in the cantata, are from the Biblical Easter narratives. The music is structured in eleven movements, and scored for a festive Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, a variety of wind instruments, strings and continuo. Bach performed the Easter Oratorio in 1749, the year before his death. (Full article...)

Did you know ...

Al-Baitul Amien Mosque
Al-Baitul Amien Mosque

In the news

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Artemis II in flight

On this day

April 5: Easter in Western Christianity (2026); Qingming Festival in Greater China (2026); Feast day of Saint Vincent Ferrer (Catholicism)

First edition dust jacket of Carrie
First edition dust jacket of Carrie
More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Nadar

Nadar (born Gaspard-Félix Tournachon; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910) was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloonist, and proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take aerial photographs, and during the Siege of Paris in 1870–71, he established the first airmail service. In 1863, Nadar commissioned the prominent balloonist Eugène Godard to construct an enormous balloon, 60 metres (196 ft) high and with a capacity of 6,000 m3 (210,000 ft3), named Le Géant (The Giant). For publicity, he recreated balloon flights in his studio with his wife, Ernestine, using a rigged-up balloon gondola. This 1862 illustration by Honoré Daumier is titled Nadar élevant la Photographie à la hauteur de l'Art and shows Nadar taking photographs from a balloon basket.

Photograph credit: Honoré Daumier; restored by Adam Cuerden



US and Iran trade threats to unleash 'hell' as search for missing US airman continues

5 April 2026 at 06:54
Reuters Satellite image from April 2025 shows various buildings from the Bushehr nuclear plantReuters
Satellite image of the Bushehr plant from before the start of the conflict

The area around Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been attacked for the fourth time during the current war, Iranian officials say, as the US and Israel continue to target energy and other industrial sites.

One of the plant's employees was killed in the attack, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said. It blamed the US and Israel for the attack, but neither country has confirmed carrying it out.

Bushehr is Iran's only operational nuclear power plant and was completed with Russia's help.

The International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN's nuclear watchdog - said it had been informed of the strike and had expressed "deep concern".

Reuters Uniformed member of Israeli security services stands in the right of the picture looking right. Beside him is the wreckage of a vehicle and behind it another man is walking.Reuters
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at central Israel on Saturday

"No increase in radiation levels was reported," it wrote on X.

It said nuclear power plant sites and nearby areas "must never be attacked" and called for "maximum military restraint" to avoid a nuclear accident.

On 27 March US President Donald Trump announced he was pausing attacks on energy plants for 10 days for Iran to "make a deal", and on Saturday he reiterated his threat on Truth Social that "all Hell will reign down on them" if they failed to do this, or to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Iran has continued to fire missiles at the Gulf States, Iraq and Israel, with falling debris from intercepted missiles causing damage.

And both Iranian and US forces are continuing to search for a missing American crew member after an F-15 fighter jet was shot down on Friday.

A pilot who was on board has been rescued, according to US media.

Map showing Iran's main nuclear sites

The Iranian statement on the Bushehr attack said the main parts of the plant did not appear to be damaged and its operation was "not affected".

Moscow has evacuated many of its staff from the plant. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said on Saturday that the evacuation of 198 people remaining in the plant had started that morning.

Iran's nuclear programme has long been a point of contention, leading to extensive international sanctions. The US-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February, two days after a third round of indirect US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against precipitating a major accident, which would "end life" in Gulf Arab states allied to the US.

He wrote on social media: "Remember the Western outrage about hostilities near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine? Israel-U.S. have bombed our Bushehr plant four times now."

EPA A woman in a red top carrying a microphone walks through debris in front of a damaged building at the Shahid Beheshti University, in Tehran.EPA
Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University was attacked on Friday, Iran said

Meanwhile a local Iranian official said that the Mahshahr petrochemical complex and the Bandar Imam petrochemical company in south-western Iran had also been targeted. Five people were injured in the attacks.

And Iranian Science Minister Hossein Simai Sarraf said that more than 30 universities across Iran had been hit by strikes since war broke out.

Visiting Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University - which was attacked on Friday - he said the US and Israel belonged to the "stone age".

"A civilised country, a civilised government never targets institutions of knowledge, laboratories or research centres," he said.

Archbishop to pray for Middle East peace in first Easter sermon

5 April 2026 at 05:30
PA Media The Archbishop of Canterbury pictured during her installation. She has short blonde hair and wears black-framed glasses. She wears white and yellow robes and holds a tall silver sceptre. She is speaking to a congregation with her right hand pointing upwards.PA Media
Dame Sarah Mullally will deliver her first Easter sermon as archbishop at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday

The Archbishop of Canterbury will call for an end to "violence and destruction" in the Middle East during her first Easter sermon as leader of the Church of England.

Dame Sarah Mullally will pray "with renewed urgency" for peace before a congregation at Canterbury Cathedral, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its sixth week.

She will call for all people of the Middle East and the Gulf to "receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for".

Her Easter sermon comes just shy of a fortnight after her installation as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, during which she said her teenage self could "never have imagined the future that lay ahead".

She will tell the congregation on Sunday: "This week our gaze and our prayers have been turned towards the land where Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.

"Today, as we shout with joy that Christ is risen, let us pray and call with renewed urgency for an end to the violence and destruction in the Middle East and the Gulf.

"May our Christian sisters and brothers know and celebrate the hope of the empty tomb - and may all people of the region receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for."

Thousands of people are reported to have been killed in the ongoing conflict that began on 28 February with widespread US and Israeli strikes on Iran, to which Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.

Israel has also since launched broad strikes across Lebanon after the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the war.

Preaching on St John's Gospel, the archbishop will tell the congregation that Jesus Christ's resurrection began while Mary waited at his tomb in grief.

She will also pray for people dealing with personal struggles and their "own version of the dark", such as illness or bereavement.

"I pray you know that God walks with you through that darkness," she will say.

Previously the chief nursing officer for England, Dame Sarah will pay tribute to those caring for others - such as loved ones and carers in hospitals or hospices.

"This vigil of care is the work of remaining - of staying present in the quiet and the dark."

During her installation as archbishop in late March, Dame Sarah similarly prayed for peace and justice to prevail in "all war-torn areas of the world".

She told the congregation of some 2,000 guests, including the Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, that the conflict in the Middle East had prevented some members of the Church from being able to attend the service

It marked the symbolic beginning of her ministry as archbishop, a role to which she was appointed after her predecessor Justin Welby resigned in 2024 after criticism of his handling of a serious abuse case.

Dame Sarah will lead a global church navigating deepening divisions over issues such as sexuality and female leadership, with some traditionalists in the church and the wider global Anglican Communion still opposed to the idea of women being priests at all.

German men under 45 may need military approval for long stays abroad

5 April 2026 at 05:16
EPA German army soldiers march at Hamburg Port terminal during the German Armed Forces and civilian authorities' military exercise 'Red Storm Bravo' in Hamburg, Germany, 25 September 2025EPA
Compulsory military service in Germany was ended in 2011

German men aged between 17 and 45 may need to seek approval for lengthy stays abroad, under changes introduced as part of a a new law which introduced voluntary military service.

The Military Service Modernisation Act, which came into force on 1 January, aims to boost defences following threats from Russian in the aftermath of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement sent to the BBC, a defence ministry spokesman confirmed that males aged 17 and older were required to obtain prior approval for stays abroad lasting longer than three months.

Under the current law, travel approvals must generally be granted and it remains unclear how the rule would be enforced if breached.

The requirement to obtain permission had gone largely unnoticed until it was reported by the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper on Friday.

The defence ministry spokesman said that the regulation was intended to "ensure a reliable and meaningful military registration system", adding: "In the event of an emergency, we must know who may be staying abroad for an extended period."

The statement acknowledged that consequences for young people could be "far-reaching" and said that regulations on exemptions were being developed "in part to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy".

The legal basis for the requirement lies in Germany's 1956 Conscription Act, which has been amended several times, most recently last December.

Prior to the latest amendment, the obligation to report extended stays abroad applied only if Germany was in a state of national defence or mobilisation.

The defence ministry official said that a similar provision was "in effect during the Cold War and had no practical relevance".

The Military Service Modernisation Act sets out plans to expand the number of active personnel from around 180,000 to 260,000 by 2035.

In December, the German parliament voted to introduce voluntary military service, meaning that from January all 18-year-olds would be sent a questionnaire asking if they were interested in joining the armed forces.

From July 2027, they must also undergo a fitness assessment to determine whether they would be eligible for service should war break out.

Women may volunteer for military service but cannot be compelled to serve under Germany's constitution.

While the plan is for voluntary service, if the security situation worsens or if too few volunteers came forward, a form of compulsory military service could be considered.

When the law was approved by parliament, many young people joined protests against the change.

"We don't want to spend half a year of our lives locked up in barracks, being trained in drill and obedience and learning to kill," one organiser wrote on social media.

Like other European countries, Germany ran down its armed forces during the peacetime years of the 1990s. During the Cold War it had an army of almost half a million.

Compulsory military service in Germany was ended in 2011 under then-chancellor Angela Merkel.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to rebuild the Bundeswehr into Europe's strongest conventional army in response to what his government describes as a more dangerous security environment in Europe.

Streetwear and crop tops take World Cup fashion to new heights

5 April 2026 at 07:01
Adidas/Getty Images A backdrop of a stadium with various footballing figures, celebrities and others wearing streetwear-inspired football fashion in the foregroundAdidas/Getty Images

Shirt launches are a hotly anticipated part of every World Cup.

And this year's campaigns from the two main kit-makers - Adidas and Nike - mark a notable departure from previous competitions, featuring more streetwear-inspired collections than traditional matching football shorts, socks and boots.

Inspired by football culture on and off the pitch, the collections mix archive classics with streetwear staples.

Nike launched its World Cup home shirts with a Hollywood-worthy short film of star players including Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba and Cole Palmer modelling their kits with cargo trousers, jeans and trainers.

Nike Ronald Araújo wears the Uruguay home kit with chunky silver accessories, an oversized jacket and baggy trousersNike
Barcelona's Ronald Araújo models the Uruguay home kit for Nike with chunky silver accessories, an oversized jacket and baggy trousers

Adidas went one step further when they launched their away shirts in Los Angeles recently. Celebrities including Kendall Jenner and Damson Idris watched models styling their kits with flared trousers, distressed denim and micro-shorts.

It's a way of showing fans "how to bring the kits into their own life", says Adidas football's global manager.

Sam Handy has "known for a while that the worlds of streetwear, music, fashion and culture converge in football as a universal shared passion across the world.

"It took a few seasons for everyone to see it."

Adidas Group shot of models in the new Adidas World Cup away kitsAdidas
Adidas launched its away kit in Los Angeles, one of the World Cup locations, earlier this month with models in streetwear

Streetwear is woven into the casuals subculture which emerged in the UK in the 70s.

Casuals ditched full team colours for a more everyday look. Polo shirts, denim jackets or flared trousers from brands like Adidas, Fila, Sergio Tacchini, Lacoste, Slazenger, Stone Island and Fred Perry took over the full kit.

Over time, these styles were adapted outside football and became more mainstream.

Dave Hewitson A group of young men wearing garments associated with the casual subcultureDave Hewitson
The casual subculture is thought to have grown out of fashions brought home from Europe by Liverpool fans

Adidas has nodded to this with an £80 Britcore Jersey in its new collection. Described as a 90s-inspired look which is perfect for "layering up" or "making a statement at a weekend event", it's clear it's not just designed for football fans.

Meanwhile, Nike has launched its Jordan and Brazil collaboration ahead of the World Cup, with an "old-school jersey" goalie top that's described by the brand as being "field-ready style, remixed for the streets", costing £79.99.

Adidas Picture of a woman in a cropped Adidas Germany away kit, wearing black joggersAdidas
Many of the federations with World Cup kits designed by Adidas have a cropped shirt available for the first time

Ahead of the 2026 World Cup - which takes place in the US, Mexico and Canada between 11 June and 19 July - some brands have pushed the boundaries between sportswear and streetwear even further by launching cropped versions of many of their shirts.

First introduced by Adidas for major European clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in 2025, they've been described as a "more exciting product for female fans".

The crop tops were inspired by "seeing lots of fans cutting jerseys and re-sewing them to get the fit they wanted", says Handy.

"The future of football is women and the people who don't credibly invest in them are missing out on expanding fandom in 50% of the population," he stresses.

Ellie-Ann Prendergast Picture of a blonde football fan in a cropped Liverpool shirt with a scarf, stood in the stands at Anfield StadiumEllie-Ann Prendergast
Ellie-Ann Prendergast says match day outfits helped inspire her to get into supporting Liverpool and going to her first games

Match-day outfits have deepened 22-year-old Ellie-Ann Prendergast's love for Liverpool. "Styling myself for games has made me enjoy them more," Prendergast says.

She's "obsessed" with styling outfits and keeping up with the latest kits - and loves seeing fans dressing up on match days.

"As a new football fan I feel like I've been accepted straight into the fanbase because they're such a family," she adds.

MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images A shop clerk fixing the tie of basketball player Monta Ellis, wearing a suit, in 2005MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images
Basketball player Monta Ellis having his suit adjusted in 2005 after the NBA's dress code insisted basketball players wear "business casual"

Given its deep ties with the trend-setting US basketball and American football leagues, the NBA and NFL, it feels apt streetwear styles are included in this year's North American World Cup kit collections.

But while streetwear is increasingly featured in collections now, fashion in sport hasn't always been embraced.

In 2005, an NBA dress code asked players to dress "business casual" while representing the sport - an attempt to banish streetwear from the league.

Players hired stylists to bend the NBA's rules as much as possible to still incorporate streetwear looks and showcase their own personal fashion sense.

Many of today's footballers have grown up "looking up to basketball players", says British football content creator Tiannah Pedler.

She believes fashion is one of the few opportunities footballers have to show off their personality. "The ones that are interested in fashion can create this really strong personal brand," the 26-year-old says.

David Beckham is an example of this in the early 2000s, but more recently, Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham have all attended Paris Fashion Week shows when off the pitch.

Getty Images Picture of Jules Kounde in a long green jacket, holding a handbag and wearing a beanie. There is grass and concrete behind him.Getty Images
Barcelona player Jules Kounde's arriving at the French national camp in a fashion-forward outfit, November 2025

It's also something players in France have long been known for - with boundary-pushing outfits regularly going viral.

Back in 2018, streetwear was integrated into the sport when club Paris Saint-Germain launched its commercial partnership with the Nike Air Jordan brand.

This collaboration with the Jordan brand - founded by basketball's Michael Jordan - helped "kickstart" this fashion trend in European football.

"PSG are very good at making the club a bit of a lifestyle brand where even non-football fans might like to wear merch," Pedler says.

Tiannah Pedler Picture of Tiannah Pedler in a blue England shirt and jeans in front of a yellow brick wallTiannah Pedler
Football content creator Tiannah Pedler believes fashion has helped create a safe space for women in football

Pedler sees Arsenal as leading the way in this area, having already collaborated with a number of London streetwear brands in the last year, including Places + Faces, LABRUM and Aries.

"Arsenal have done a really great job with all their collections.

"If they do win the league, they are going to have the best-dressed parade in the entire world," Pedler jokes.

Other clubs like Everton have recently created a collection with LA brand Anti Social Social Club, while Manchester United's The Stone Roses collection with Adidas has been a big hit with fans.

As football clubs look to cash in on fans looking for more fashionable ways to support their clubs, you can expect to see more streetwear collaborations in the future.

Adidas Joy Crookes set against a brown background in a white and red Arsenal shirtAdidas
Singer Joy Crookes models a new Adidas cropped shirt in collaboration with Arsenal and streetwear brand Places + Faces

U.S. Fighter Jet Downed Over Iran Was Probably Based at R.A.F. Lakenheath, U.K. Airfield

5 April 2026 at 00:43
A military analyst identified markings consistent with a squadron based at R.A.F. Lakenheath, one of two British bases that host the largest U.S. fighter jet operation in Europe.

© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A fighter jet at R.A.F. Lakenheath in Mildenhall, England, in January.

US and Iran trade threats to unleash 'hell' as search for missing US airman continues

5 April 2026 at 05:56
Reuters Satellite image from April 2025 shows various buildings from the Bushehr nuclear plantReuters
Satellite image of the Bushehr plant from before the start of the conflict

The area around Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been attacked for the fourth time during the current war, Iranian officials say, as the US and Israel continue to target energy and other industrial sites.

One of the plant's employees was killed in the attack, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said. It blamed the US and Israel for the attack, but neither country has confirmed carrying it out.

Bushehr is Iran's only operational nuclear power plant and was completed with Russia's help.

The International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN's nuclear watchdog - said it had been informed of the strike and had expressed "deep concern".

Reuters Uniformed member of Israeli security services stands in the right of the picture looking right. Beside him is the wreckage of a vehicle and behind it another man is walking.Reuters
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at central Israel on Saturday

"No increase in radiation levels was reported," it wrote on X.

It said nuclear power plant sites and nearby areas "must never be attacked" and called for "maximum military restraint" to avoid a nuclear accident.

On 27 March US President Donald Trump announced he was pausing attacks on energy plants for 10 days for Iran to "make a deal", and on Saturday he reiterated his threat on Truth Social that "all Hell will reign down on them" if they failed to do this, or to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Iran has continued to fire missiles at the Gulf States, Iraq and Israel, with falling debris from intercepted missiles causing damage.

And both Iranian and US forces are continuing to search for a missing American crew member after an F-15 fighter jet was shot down on Friday.

A pilot who was on board has been rescued, according to US media.

Map showing Iran's main nuclear sites

The Iranian statement on the Bushehr attack said the main parts of the plant did not appear to be damaged and its operation was "not affected".

Moscow has evacuated many of its staff from the plant. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said on Saturday that the evacuation of 198 people remaining in the plant had started that morning.

Iran's nuclear programme has long been a point of contention, leading to extensive international sanctions. The US-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February, two days after a third round of indirect US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against precipitating a major accident, which would "end life" in Gulf Arab states allied to the US.

He wrote on social media: "Remember the Western outrage about hostilities near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine? Israel-U.S. have bombed our Bushehr plant four times now."

EPA A woman in a red top carrying a microphone walks through debris in front of a damaged building at the Shahid Beheshti University, in Tehran.EPA
Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University was attacked on Friday, Iran said

Meanwhile a local Iranian official said that the Mahshahr petrochemical complex and the Bandar Imam petrochemical company in south-western Iran had also been targeted. Five people were injured in the attacks.

And Iranian Science Minister Hossein Simai Sarraf said that more than 30 universities across Iran had been hit by strikes since war broke out.

Visiting Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University - which was attacked on Friday - he said the US and Israel belonged to the "stone age".

"A civilised country, a civilised government never targets institutions of knowledge, laboratories or research centres," he said.

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